Bronze looked down. It was a bumpy scar, the size of the tip of a finger. "Oh, that's just—"

"You've got another piece on your right thigh." Gong Yu frowned and knelt down to take a closer look. "I don't quite understand it, but I want to say-"

Bronze couldn't think of a way to avoid this topic. "These are gunshot wounds."

"Gunshot wounds? What the hell is this—"

"I don't know how to hide myself."

"What are you talking about?"

"I used to be a special operator." Bronze is sad again because he had to lie to her. "When the gunshots rang out, I couldn't get down in time."

"Did they give you a medal?"

"For this stupidity?" Bronze giggled. "I was given a medal for a wounded soldier."

"These scars look painful."

"It doesn't hurt at all."

"Can I touch it?"

"Please."

She gently stroked the sunken scar on his side with her fingers, then the one on her thigh. "Do they really not hurt?"

"Occasionally, it hurts on wet winter nights."

"Tell me when it hurts, I know how to make you feel better." Gong Yu leaned over, "These scars are out of the way, right?" She asked.

"Everything works fine. It's a pity that when I was in a military hospital, there were no nurses like you. ”

"If you had a nurse like me, you wouldn't want to sleep." Gong Yu snuggled up to him.

"Sleep isn't the most important thing." Bronze said.

He was close to her, enjoying her heat. For a few minutes, none of them moved or spoke. Through the window, the crimson afterglow grew more and more solemn.

"I think it's time to take a shower," Gong said, "and you can use the bathroom outside the living room, or ......"

"Or what?"

The white-lit bathroom is spacious and has room for two people to take a steam bath. Inside there is a tiled bench with a sprinkler on one side.

It was one of the most special nights in a bronze's life. He had never had the experience of such emotional investment, and had never been so respectful – or rather in awe – of the person with whom he shared. After that, I took another shower and got dressed. At this point, he sprouted a strange emotion, a sense of completeness, a sense of belonging, as if they had produced another invisible and mysterious combination. As long as he is by Gong Yu's side, he can feel that he has her, and she has him. He didn't even need to be near her. He could feel it all just by looking at her.

He sipped wine while barbecuing Gong Yu's favorite beef. He looked up at the sky, the stars had begun to twinkle, and the color of the night sky was very similar to Gong Yu's eyes. He looked behind Gong Yu's house again, and the wood-covered hillside below stretched into the distance, finally merging into the lights of Santa Fe. A sense of satisfaction that he had never felt before came over him. He looked through the glass door into the lighted kitchen and vaguely saw Gong Yu preparing cold dishes. She was humming a little song alone.

She noticed that he was looking at her. "What are you looking at?"

"Look at you."

She smiled happily.

"I love you." Bronze confessed again.

Gong Yu walked over, opened the door, leaned out, and kissed him. It was like sparks bursting out of her and falling on him. "To me, you are the most important person in the world."

At this moment, the bronze finally got rid of the emptiness that had plagued him for many years. He recalls his days in Shanghai a year and three months ago and his 40th birthday, the boredom and emptiness he endured. He longed for a wife, a family, a comfort zone, and now he was about to have it all.

"I'm afraid I'll have to get out of here for a few days." Gong Yu said.

"How?" Bronze was driving down the narrow road north of the city. The road is winding and lined with dwarf pines. Hearing this, he looked at her in bewilderment. It was Friday, September 9th, the last day of the tourist season, and it had been 8 days since he and Gong Yu became lovers. "Did something happen all of a sudden? You've never mentioned it to me before. ”

"Suddenly? Yes and no. Gong Yu said. Her gaze looked beyond the low sunset hills nearby to the mountains to the west. "It was a bit of a sudden, but I knew I had to do it eventually. I need to go back to Hangzhou and meet with a lawyer – that's the kind of thing that has to do with my late husband's property. ”

At the mention of Gong Yu's late husband, Gu Tong felt a little uncomfortable. Whenever he could, he avoided the topic. He was worried that Gong Yu's nostalgia for that person would affect her relationship with him and make her ambivalent. Is he still jealous of a dead man? He couldn't tell.

"How many days? When do you plan to come back? Bronze asked.

"Actually, maybe a few more days, about half a month. This matter, although trivial, is important. My husband has partners and they now have difficulty determining the value of the business shares he enjoys. ”

"I see." Bronze said. He wanted to ask her all sorts of questions, but he couldn't help it. If Gong Yu wanted to tell him about her past, she would. He made up his mind not to force her to speak. Besides, they were going to have a good time this night. They were about to go to a party at a friend's house, and Bronze was the rich man's real estate agent. Obviously, Gong Yu doesn't want to talk about her legal issues anymore, so why bother to force others? "I'll miss you."

"Me too," Gong Yu said, "it's going to be a long half a month." ”

“…… Died early. ”

Bronze sat in a corner of the spacious living room, sipping hot tea and listening to the songs of the golden voice on the record player, the words of several ladies behind him drifting in his ears.

"I've got tuberculosis," Bronze heard someone say behind him, "just 25 years old." He didn't start writing until he was 21 years old. It's amazing how much he has done in such a short period of time. ”

Instead of listening to the music, Bronze took a closer look at the more than 200 guests who had come to the party. These were all invited by his client, the rich man. Uniformed waiters bring cocktails and tapas. Guests walked from room to room and admired the luxurious residence. Famous local residents gathered at will, but the only one in the house who could grab Bronze's attention was Gong Yu alone.

When Bronze first saw her, she was dressed as a Jiangnan lady. But her clothes gradually changed. Tonight, she wore a Northwest dress with a local twist. The short skirt and blouse were tanned in leather, and the black and blue outfit added a touch of beauty to her eyes and hair. She combed her hair into a ponytail and held it in a hairpin. The silver hairpin matched the pumpkin-shaped silver necklace around her neck. She was sitting around a large table with a few female guests. The table was made of wrought iron removed from a 200-year-old gate. She looked at ease, as if she had been living in Santa Fe for 20 years.

"I haven't read his works since I left the mainland." One of the women said.

"What makes you so interested in poetry?" The other woman asked, looking surprised.

"Why did you choose Keats?" A third woman asked.

Bronze listened attentively to their conversation. Before that, he hadn't figured out which writer the guys were talking about. Their mention brought back his memories. That intricate array of associations brought him back to Shanghai. He recalls following Ryan down the stairs and past the house where Keats died, and the scene came to him clearly. He tried his best to restrain himself from frowning.

"Because I like it, I'm taking this course at the academy," said the fourth woman, "and the name of the course is 'The Great Romantic Poets.'" ”

"That's right," said the second woman, "and I can guess which word in the name you like the most." ”

"Where do you think," said the fourth woman, "not the romances you like to read." I'll admit, I love reading these kinds of books too, but it's not like those. Keats was writing about men and women, but none of them had anything to do with him. ”

When they mentioned Keats's name again, Bronze remembered not only Ryan, but also the 23 Americans who had been killed. He couldn't understand how the poet was a symbol of truth and beauty, and how he could always associate him with a restaurant full of charred corpses.

"He writes of emotion," said the fourth woman, "of passionate beauty, and he also describes ...... It's hard to tell. ”

I listen in the dark; There are many times

I almost fell in love with the serene death.

Keats's elegiac verses naturally came to Bronze's mind. He involuntarily joined the conversation. "He also writes about beautiful things. In the eyes of a young man who is about to die, the beautiful things seem to be even more heartbreaking. ”

Several people raised their heads and looked at him in amazement, except for Gong Yu. She had been staring at him affectionately as the others had been talking.

"Mr. Gu, I didn't expect you to know poetry too." The fourth woman said, "When you're not helping people find a beautiful house like this, you don't want to take an elective course at the college." ”

"No, I learned Keats's poems when I was in college." Bronze lied.

"You piqued my interest," said one of the women, "was it true that Keats was in his early 20s when he wrote these great poems, and that he was soon to die of tuberculosis?" ”

Bronze nodded. He remembered the shootout that had taken place in that courtyard on that dark, rainy night.

"He died at the age of 25," the fourth woman repeated, "and was buried in Wuxi." ”

"No, it's Shanghai." Bronze said.

"Are you sure?"

"He died in a house not far from the fountain, and from there to the right, there was a row of steps."

"Sounds like you've been there."

Bronze shrugged.

"Sometimes I guess you've been everywhere," said one attractive woman, "and your life before you came to Santa Fe must have been interesting." I'm going to let you tell me about it someday. ”

"I'm running real estate somewhere else, so I'm afraid there's nothing particularly interesting."

Gong Yu seemed to have sensed that Bronze wanted to leave, so he stood up calmly and took his arm. "If anyone wants to hear Mr. Koo tell the story of his life, that person is me."

Thankfully, Bronze was finally freed from this state of mind. He and Gong Yu walked out of the door and came to a large courtyard paved with bricks. In the cool night, they looked up at the starry sky.

One of Gong Yu's arms wrapped around his waist. Bronze smelled the perfume on her body and couldn't help but kiss her cheek. His throat tensed happily.

Bronze led her out of the courtyard, away from the lights and the crowds, and hid into the shadows of the dwarf pine trees.

"Come, come on—tell me that interesting story of your life."

"Let's find another time." Bronze said. "Now, there's something better to do."

But he couldn't help but think of Shanghai, of Ryan, of what happened in that yard. This terrible nightmare haunted him forever. He wished he could have left the side represented by Ryan far behind. Now, as anxious as he had been two months ago, he was anxious to find out why Ryan had come to Santa Fe to spy on him.

"Did you send it?"

"Sent this afternoon," said bronze, "I haven't had time to show you yet." After the evening, they drove back along the shady Lindo Road.

"Now let me see."

"Are you sure you're not tired?"

"Hey, if I'm tired, I'll be able to stay with you and use it." Gong Yu said.

"It" refers to a bed, commissioned by a local craftsman for bronze, and is unique in that it is cast in metal. Using a hammer and an anvil, the locals have created elaborate patterns on the bed bar that look like wood carvings.

"It's amazing." Gong Yu said. By this time, Bronze had parked the jeep in the carport and walked indoors with her. "It's even more imposing than you described." She stroked the glossy black paint of the metal surface. Moreover, these patterns are engraved on the headboard – or should be the headboard – of the headboard. Whatever you call it, it's made of iron anyway. The motifs look like references to Tatar motifs, but also like Arabic hieroglyphs, with their feet stretched out in one direction and their hands stretched out in the other. In fact, they look like drunks. ”

"The patterns don't refer to anything, they are original to the locals themselves."

"Well, I really like it," Gong said, "and these patterns make me happy." ”

Bronze and Gong Yu admired the bed from different angles.

"It does look sturdy." Bronze said.

Gong Yu pressed the mattress with one hand, and then raised his eyebrows, showing a naughty look. "Want to check it out?"

"Of course," said bronze, "if we crush it, I'm going to get Marcy back." ”

They must have come in through the back wall. It was 307 a.m. Decker knew the exact time because he had an old-fashioned alarm clock with hands. When he looked at it later, he found that the hands had stopped at exactly that time.

He was not asleep, he was lying on his side, admiring Gong Yu's face by the moonlight, imagining that she had finished her transactional journey and returned to his side, and their separation was finally over. In the distance, there was a faint sound of firecrackers "bang-bang-bang", which was set off by people attending the party. The festivities continue. Bronze thought, tomorrow morning there must be scraps of paper everywhere. Sleepy neighbors were kept up all night by the meetings, and town officials were busy dealing with complaints from everywhere. Curious to see how late it was, he turned his head to look at the clock.

He couldn't see the light of the bell at all. He guessed that he must have thrown some of Gong Yu's clothes in front of the bell. He reached out to remove the shield in front of the bell, but he touched the bell. He frowned in confusion. Why is the nightlight of the bell gone? The sound of firecrackers in the distance was still thumping, thumping, but in the midst of the noise he heard something else—the faint scraping of metal against metal.

He sat up with a feeling of uneasiness. The sound was not the rubbing of the legs of the bed, but from the door to the right at the end of the lighted hallway outside the bedroom. This gate leads to the small garden and yard outside. The faint scraping sound of metal-to-metal continued.

He suddenly reached over and covered Gong Yu's mouth. He could see it faintly in the moonlight, and she opened her eyes in surprise. She was about to struggle to push his hand away, when he leaned his head over her left ear and whispered nervously, "Don't make a sound, listen to me, someone wants to break in." ”

The metal scraping continues.

"Get out of bed and go to the closet, quick."

Gong Yudi climbed out of bed and rushed into the closet on the right wall of the room. The closet was large enough to walk into, had no windows, and was darker than a bedroom.

Bronze quickly pulled open the bottom drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a Sigurt pistol, which he had bought when he first arrived in Santa Fe. He squatted on the edge of the bed, using the bed as cover, and reached for the phone next to the bed. However, when he put the microphone to his ear, he understood that it was impossible, and there was no dial tone in the microphone at all.

The scraping of metal stopped, and the sudden silence made Bronze feel more and more nervous. Bronze rushed into the closet, but Gong Yu was not seen. Using the small dresser beside him as a cover, he aimed through the open door of his bedroom towards the hallway outside, shaking nervously. Although his body was still sweating, he still felt chills. The back door on the right creaked open, and the bronze had been going to oil it a little.

He asked himself, what was it that wanted to break in? Is it a robber? It's possible. But once again, the suspicions developed in previous life experiences prevailed. The unfinished matter came to him again—he couldn't dispel the thought that had sent chills to his heart.

Several dark shadows burst into the bedroom. Blinding flashes cut through the darkness, and the intermittent roar of automaton crashed against the bronze eardrums. In the flash, countless bullets were fired at the sheets, feathers in the pillows flew everywhere, and mattress fillers burst out.

Taking advantage of the fact that the gunmen had not yet realized the mistake they had made, Bronze opened fire on them. He pulled the trigger continuously, and the two gangsters were shot and fell, and the third gangster crawled out of the bedroom. Bronze shot him, but missed, the bullet shattered a window of light, and the man disappeared into the hallway.

The bronze palm is a little damp, but thankfully there is a non-slip checkered carving on the handle. His body was drenched in sweat. His eardrums were jolted and buzzed by the roaring gunshots. He could barely hear the screams, and he couldn't detect if any gunmen were trying to sneak up on him. Therefore, he did not know if these were the only three gunmen who broke into his house, nor did he know how the two people who were shot were injured. If he tried to leave the closet, would they shoot him?

The glare of fire from the shot ruined his night vision, and he anxiously waited for it to recover. What worries him is that he doesn't know where Gong Yu is. It's somewhere in a spacious closet, yes. But has she found a place to hide? Maybe she's hiding behind a cypress cabinet? He didn't dare venture to glance behind him to see if he could spot her in the darkness. He must keep his eyes on the bedroom, ready to eliminate the gangsters who rush in. At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine, and then realized in horror that there was another exit to the closet. This exit leads to the laundry closet, just behind him. Suppose the gunman goes around and attacks from that direction......

Bronze thought, I can't hold both directions at the same time. Maybe the people outside have run away.

Will you run away?

Maybe.

Damn it.

Fear strengthened him. In the middle of the night, the telephone and power lines were cut and there was no way to call for help, no alarm, and the only thing that worried the gunman was that his neighbor would be awakened by the sound of gunshots or sirens. But can these noisy sounds be heard through the adobe walls? The nearest house is also a few hundred meters away, and the distance will greatly reduce the noise of these noises. Perhaps the gunshots were a lot like the distant firecrackers he had heard earlier. Maybe the gangster thought he had a little more time.

The gangsters didn't rush in from the direction of the laundry. The whistling of automatic weapons rang out again outside the bedroom door, the fire flashed, and bullets flew to the walls on either side of the closet door. The thugs kept strafing the room, bullets hitting the opposite wall, tearing clothes from hangers, smashing shoeboxes and garment bags, and flying pieces of cloth, wood and cardboard falling and smashing onto the bronze's back. The choking smell of gunpowder filled the room.

The piercing sound of gunfire suddenly rang out and stopped suddenly, and Bronze did not dare to shoot at the place where the muzzle flashed, because the gangsters had most likely changed positions and were waiting there. If he returns fire, he will immediately shoot at the flash of the bronze pistol.

Then, Bronze felt movement in the closet. Gong Yu's figure jumped out of the dark corner. She knew the house well and knew that there was a door leading to the laundry room. Just as she unscrewed the door with the spherical handle on the door, the submachine gun went off, and a burst of bullets shot at her. Bronze felt as if he heard her moaning.

Did she get shot? Bronze is very worried!

。