At that time, although Qixiang was still dealing with the legal affairs of Bank Z, it had already dissociated itself from the bank in terms of personnel and signed an agency contract instead. He is currently a partner in a law firm, using the experience and contacts he has accumulated over the years in the prosecutor's office and the financial system, mainly engaged in some non-litigation business, and if someone asks me how he is doing, I will answer, okay.

But this "okay" comes at a cost, for example, he doesn't have much time to spend with me and his parents, and for example, he even has to spend his 28th birthday in a foreign country. It was the end of October, I originally wanted to give him a good time, but a week ago, a large enterprise in Lingcheng applied for an additional loan, ready to acquire a raw material factory in a city in Northeast China, this loan not only includes the acquisition cost itself, but also covers a series of budgets such as signing agents with local freight agencies in the future, the amount is very weighty, the leaders of the provincial branch pay full attention, personally lead, and enjoy as the legal counsel of the bank.

I was very depressed about this, and after he finished speaking, I went back to my room and sat on the yoga mat and got angry. Qi Xiang gave me twenty minutes to stay alone, and then when this short period passed, he went to find me, and sure enough, I was almost angry, and I could listen to the words. Here's what he said - I still have a lunar birthday, and I will definitely come back when the time comes, and I will also rush back halfway through the contract. And, when this is over, I won't go anywhere, I'll stay at home with you until you're annoyed, you see?

I didn't have any temper at all when he coaxed me like this, and I was embarrassed. But I couldn't wipe it off for a while, so I got up and went to cook dinner. Qi Xiang also went to the kitchen, I cooked mung bean porridge, then cut the cowpeas into small pieces and stir-fried them with red pepper shreds, and he made my favorite improved banana rolls, with bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms and diced yellow croaker instead of the original filling. We were all about our duties, and all we could hear was the dense blades of the blades against the cutting board, the slight resistance of the vegetables in the midst of it, the screaming of the oil in the pan when it boiled and anything touched, and the cat's teeth and rice blooming one by one under the pressure.

He handed over a plate of small rolls of noodles, and I brushed them into the pot one by one, and as I stirred them slowly, I exclaimed:

Well.

Well?

Am I annoying?

Not annoying. He smiled, it was not easy to trick him home, how could he be annoyed.

On the day he left, he said that he would call the place, but I waited until ten o'clock in the evening, but I didn't wait, and the phone was turned off when I called, so I had to go to the shower and prepare for bed. As soon as I unscrewed the water, I heard a noise, so I wrapped myself in a bath towel and rushed back to my room, where I saw my phone waiting quietly. A bath is like this again and again.

The consequence of this incident was that it wasn't until two days later that I went shopping with Yan Weiwei, and I kept sneezing along the way, and while I was resting in Starbucks, I covered a tissue and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm a cold, and it's not contagious." "

"How did this happen?" She asked me, this sister has now changed her mind, has taken the civil service exam, and her life is regular.

I told it in a nasal voice.

She sighed: "You don't always love someone simply, Xiaozhuang." "

"What do you mean? Have you recently rewritten literary films? "

"You, every time you really like someone, you make yourself very tired and entangled."

"I'm not tired or entangled, what kind of emotion is that?"

"Who told me a few years ago that if you work hard, you can't forget it."

"Do you remember?"

"It's no clearer." She said: "On the balcony we shared, I saw through the red dust with a small face. "

"Hahaha."

"When did it start to become so ......" she thought for a moment: "Input? "

I remembered the drama I watched in Shenzhen, that line. Things necessarily come into being from something at some point, but this probably does not include feelings.

I relayed it to her, and then said, "But if you have to talk about it, what a specific thing does." I remember a few years ago, when I was in a car with him to a friend's house for dinner, and the latter's girlfriend drove the car. "

Sudden changes, oncoming heavy trucks, and darkness.

"I reacted and found that he was, you know, holding me." I said a little embarrassed and turned my head to look out the window: "Until then, I may have always had this thought, the two of us, that is, making do with each other, it is not a big deal. "

"At that moment did you believe he loved you?"

"It's better to say that, I believed it at that moment, it turns out that I still deserve to be like this, uh, like." I said, "I was disillusioned with Shen Sibo for a long time, and I was very self-loathing, but since then I have slowly started to like myself again. "

She smiled, "I kind of get it." "

"Got it? I don't think I was able to express it clearly. "

"What do I do, don't I? That's what I live on......"

She was still in the hurry, my phone rang, and when I looked at the number, it turned out to be the person we were talking about just now.

I thought to myself, oops, it's only six or seven o'clock, it's not good to be so sticky, haha.

"Hello? You ......"

"Zhuang Ning, listen to me." His tone was very serious: "My dad had a heart attack, just now. "

He gave me two seconds to react, and then said, "It will take about ten minutes for the ambulance to arrive, my mother is panicking now, you call her in five minutes, try to be calm, if she can't say it clearly, ask her to give the phone to the ambulance staff next to her, and let them tell you which hospital to go to." "

"I understand." I had already stood up, and Yan Weiwei also had a good look, so he quickly packed up his things and got up. I asked, "What about you?" Are you rushing back? "

"The earliest flight that can be booked here is at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, I see if I can think of another way, you keep your phone unblocked."

"Okay." I said, "Don't worry, I'm here." "

He cut off the call without answering.

Qi's mother was indeed very panicked, she cried when she saw me, I looked at the light on in the CCU ward, sat down next to her and asked her to lean on me: "It's okay, Mom, medicine is so advanced now, it's okay." "

I pay lip service to such science, but in my heart I am begging for the unknowable mystery, that is a good old man, he has not yet reached the age of sixty, and has not yet seen the third generation he has been looking forward to for a long time, please do not take him away.

Qi Xiang made several phone calls, and I told him truthfully that he was still rescuing.

Uncle Qi is a myocardial infarction caused by coronary heart disease, I always knew that he had this problem, but I didn't expect it to come to this point, he usually pays attention to his diet, and he is not short of exercise.

Time went fast and slowly, I sat there, patted Qi's mother gently, for a while her face was red, I was scared, she said that she had high blood pressure, it was not an exaggeration, this is another one, how can I explain to Qi Xiang? I went to the duty room to call the doctor, and then went to the pharmacy to get the medicine, so that I could coax her to take it. After this toss, it was almost ten o'clock in the evening, I was terrified, I had just read the promotional materials on the wall, coronary artery occlusion is reversible 6 hours after the onset of the disease, this looks like it is almost here, what is the situation?

But I could not consult with the old woman, but to find a way to distract her, and I led her to tell her about the things that had happened to her childhood, but as she spoke, she turned back to the situation before her.

You don't know, he was a senior at the time and could go abroad. It was because of his father's illness that I was not in good health, so he gave up. Qi's mother was probably a little confused, she said: "I even lost my girlfriend." "

I nodded.

After another half an hour, someone finally came out of the ward and told us that the danger had passed for the time being.

"Proper pre-admission first aid measures and sufficient time are the key to getting patients out of danger." This is a very good female doctor, who can be patient even when she is tired: "You'd better leave someone here to take care of you." "

Of course Qi's mother refused to leave, can I leave the two of them to go home and sleep by myself, of course I can't go, and went to the duty room to borrow a blanket, I said, Mom, you sleep, there is me.

After coaxing her to lie down and rest, I went to the side to call Qi Xiang, but he turned off the phone.

Forty minutes later, he came back to me, and I said, "Hello? He didn't speak, I shouted again, I heard his breath, but he still didn't speak. At this time, I suddenly understood, and quickly said: "It's okay, Qi Xiang, Dad is okay, don't you be afraid, Qi Xiang?" "

He moved his phone away for about ten seconds, and when he spoke again, his voice was different from before, slightly changing pitch but trying to suppress it: "Well, I see." "

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Shanghai Airport, and I'm about to go to the train station to take the nearest train back."

"Huh?"

"Where's my mom, is she okay?"

"I slept, I gave her blood pressure medicine and she was fine."

"I guess I'll be able to arrive in the early morning, thank you."

"What do you say?"

I got permission from the doctor to go in and see Uncle Qi, but he was still unconscious, and everything was normal on the monitor. I came out and took a nap on the bench next to me, only to wake up again.

I woke up the next morning, and I saw Qi Xiang for the last time in a daze, he was the same as many years ago, very young, downstairs in the girl's dormitory, lit a cigarette, his lips were red and his teeth were white under the moonlight, but his expression was stunned, I called his name, he ignored it, I knew he was sad for another woman, I couldn't do anything, and I was sad to death, and I woke up when I was hurt.

The sky was slightly bright, I went to see the old couple, they were all good, and Qi's mother woke up after a few minutes: "Xiao Ning didn't sleep all night?" "

"Sleep, sleep well, Mom, what do you want to eat? I'm going to buy it. "

"Whatever."

"What about raw fried and soy milk?"

"Okay."

When I went to get my coat resting on the bench, was it because I didn't have glasses and had a blurred focus, or because I didn't know enough about things? Anyway, as soon as I lowered my head, bang, and slammed the back of the chair, I made a loud noise.

Qi's mother ran over: "Oh, it hurts, you child, you don't sleep and don't admit it, you look dizzy." "

Even if I fainted just now, I'm really awake now, and I don't have to be awake anymore, it hurts. I covered my head, and for several seconds I couldn't speak, when I heard footsteps from far and near, and before I could raise my eyes, someone pulled me over.

The hug was very strong but it didn't last long, because there were still people who needed his comfort, he turned around and hugged the middle-aged woman: "Mom, I'm so sorry. "

Uncle Qi woke up in the morning, thinking that maybe the ambulance alarmed the neighbors last night, and the news spread, and by noon, people were calling to greet him.

We talked with Uncle Qi for a while, and Qi's mother suddenly remembered: "By the way, today is my son's birthday." "

As soon as she said that, I remembered it too. Before he went on a business trip, I made a fuss about this for a long time: "Look, you haven't come back yet?" "

Smile and smile.

Uncle Qi lay there weakly and said, "Then you young people go out for a romantic time, don't stay with us." "

"How's that going to work?"

"What are you doing sitting here staring at each other?" Qi's mother said: "Your father looks tired, go back to rest for a while, and come back in the evening." "

On the way I asked him, "How did you get back?" "

"Don't you know?"

"I'm asking, where did you find the plane?"

"The company acquired the raw material factory, transportation is a problem, can only find a local freight forwarder, this cargo operation and the airline has an agreement, six small planes from time to time to fly to the country's logistics transfer stations, Shanghai is one of them." "I thought at the time, if you can't buy a ticket on your birthday, this is also a way," he said. "

I reacted, "You're saying you were going to come back?" "

"That's the plan."

"Then why didn't you say it before?"

"Not necessarily, any unexpected situation may occur, what if you can't honor it when you say it?"

"That makes me happy, too."

"I'd rather surprise you."

I sighed, "What to do, I don't have any gifts." "

He turned his head to look at me, and I thought, is he going to say, then you wrap yourself up and give it to me, I shook myself at this thought, but he just reached out and touched my forehead: "Does it hurt?" "

"You try?"

He laughed: "What more gifts, it's not enough to have this?" "

We got home, took a shower, went to bed, and fell asleep, and we couldn't think of anything else. I don't know how long it took, but I got up and pushed and pushed:

"I'm having nightmares."

"？" He opened his eyes.

"I dreamed of you."

His expression was "Don't mess with me".

"No, I dreamed that we were in class together, and the teacher stayed in class to do homework, I won't, so I stole your homework and ran away."

"And then?"

"Then I wanted to copy it back as soon as possible, but I didn't know what was going on, I was outside, and I forgot where I had just taken class, and I finally found it, and that classroom was already in other classes, so I begged the teacher to let me finish my homework there, and she said, oh yes, I signed this contract."

"Contract?"

"Well, I looked, the good guy's contract is more than my homework, sign a lot of things, I said, can you not sign it, help, I'm almost too late." The teacher was very polite, embarrassed and said no, classmate, this is our rule, you have to sign a contract to copy homework. "

He couldn't help but laugh: "And then? "

"No, I woke up very tired and depressed, and your homework was not returned, how could I do this? It's a shame. "

"yes, how can you do that? You've dreamed what I should have dreamed. He kissed me: "Zhuang Ning, I see that you are tired, and I am the same, go back and find a place to go out to play, just the two of us." "

"Okay."

We went to buy delicious food and nutritional products, happily, hand in hand back to the hospital, just out of the elevator, heard a female voice ask:

"Miss Nurse, may I ask, how do I get to the CCU ward?"

Qi Xiang's hand, in such an instant, suddenly tightened.

The owner of the voice was wearing a pair of ankle-length culottes and a sleeveless top of the same color, which was a great test of her figure, but she withstood it, and you can imagine how chic and slender her back was.

As if she had a sense, she looked back, and then her whole person turned around, and a bunch of peace lotus bloomed indifferently in the crook of her arm.

"Hey, enjoy."

In my imagination before, Qi Xiang's ex-girlfriend should be a beautiful and incomparable classical beauty, the kind of cigarette lock with a smile and a shy smile, what do you think she studied? Chinese Literature.

I learned a truth that day.

She may not be the flower of the Academy of Humanities, she may not be "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", she can also be "Freedom to Guide the People", a young woman like Carmen.

She handed me the flower and smiled, you must be Zhuang Ning.

After that, until the end of the visit, there was nothing abrupt or inappropriate except for her rash coming. She made Uncle Qi and his wife happy, and when I peeled fruit for her, she also thanked me seriously, and she hadn't even seen Qi Xiang much.

I watched her, she made a joke, and she laughed to herself, so happy, so dignified, as if she didn't care about anything.

If someone suspects that she is "the ex-girlfriend who came to stir up the situation" at this moment, I am afraid that she will stand up with a smile and shake the placket of her clothes, shaking this suspicion out of herself: "Oh my God, spare me." "

But I always think that I have seen her like this somewhere.

Half an hour later, she got up to say goodbye, and we escorted her to the elevator, and Qi Xiang asked, "How long are you going to stay when you go back to China this time?" "

"Not necessarily, I want to spend more time with my parents, and I want to go back to my hometown in Xi'an in two days."

"Your home is in Xi'an?" I asked, "Do you think you're from Lingcheng?" "

"My family moved here when I was fifteen years old, hey Senior Sister Zhuang, I'm right to call it that, right?"

"That's right, that's right."

"Have you ever been to Xi'an?"

"Nope."

"It's worth going there, and if you have the chance, I'll take you to eat the most authentic mutton steamed buns."

"Okay, I can't ask for it."

"But you can go with him, he also knows the place, haha." She shook my hand: "Then I'll go first, and we'll get together when I'm free." "

Then she didn't look at Qi Xiang, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the floor.

The ladder door slowly closed, Qi Xiang hugged my waist and turned back to the ward, and before entering the door, I heard Qi's mother say, "How did Xiao Jiang become like this?" "

Uncle Qi replied casually: "Maybe you have been nurtured abroad, you have become lively, what's wrong?" "

"What tricks can a person who reads Chinese learn when he goes to a foreign country? I really don't understand. "

"You, you really worry about the ancients."

"What the hell am I worried about, I'm afraid that Xiao Ning will mind, she will come, why should she come alone."

Uncle Qi smiled: "Then what do you mean, people come to see me, and you have to bring a large family?" Press conference? "

"Forget it, I won't tell you, I'll go and rub the towel and come back to wash your face."

I pretended to meet her head-on: "Mom, what are you going to do?" Wash things, I'll go. "

She pushed, and I said, "I'm in a state of crisis right now, and you have to make me behave quickly." "

Their mother and son laughed, and Qi's mother said after laughing: "Xiao Ning, don't ...... it"

"You're so nervous again." Qi Xiang put his arm around his mother's shoulder: "It's really unclear when your son comes home." "

I slowly rubbed my towel under the water and looked up at myself in the mirror.

Not to mention, there are some similarities that can't be talked about. She had just sat there talking and laughing, and I remembered where I had seen a similar scene - how I used my strength to hold back my unwillingness and frustration at that party more than four years ago.

I didn't see Miss Jiang again for a short time after that day, and our lives weren't affected in any way. Enjoy fulfilling your promise and giving yourself a long vacation. We went out to travel according to the plan, and originally planned to play as far as possible along the way, but after half a month, I was tired enough, maybe it was because I sat too much in the office, so I ran around without stopping in one breath, and it was a very long time ago in my memory.

In addition, I don't know if it's because I'm old, I used to think about traveling everywhere, and now I still feel that the journey is fulfilling and happy, but at the same time, it's not worth looking forward to staying at home and staying quietly.

On the return train, I leaned on Qi Xiang's shoulder and pretended to sleep, from time to time I opened my eyes to look out the window, this place may never come again, this train may never be re-seated, these scenery outside to me, maybe in the moment of encounter, has been old, fleeting, it can also be this meaning.

I was thinking of something so desolate, but at the same time it was so peaceful, as if I had something strong enough to resist it.

When I got home, the battery of the mobile phone I enjoyed was exhausted, I found a charger for him and plugged it in, and as soon as I turned it on, countless missed calls poured in, one of which was named Wu Qian.

He came over after taking a shower and asked, is it the Wu Qian who graduated from the L University Scholastic Academy, 04?

He wipes his hair with a towel, yes, the same class as you.

How did you know this person?

He told me that the last time they went on a business trip to the Northeast together, this person was one of the representatives of the company. Then he asked, "Have I offended you?"

I told him about Chairman Wu's bad deeds, and Qi Xiang actually laughed when he heard it: "You really knocked a book on his head?" "

"Really, aren't you angry?"

"What do I have to be angry about, I have won all the wins, can I still have this kind of bearing?"

"Hmph, I feel pretty good."

"Of course." He said, "You see, you are an attractive woman, and I am all right, and if we are both angry with each other's suitors, or in the past tense, then nothing else will have to be done." "

I laugh. Also, at this point, we all give each other full trust.

But I also know that trust doesn't mean no taboos. Some wounds can still be touched occasionally, but not carefully cared for. It's not suspicion, it's just not necessary. What we are facing is an invincible time, it has its own measure, and why should others try to overstep it.

I soon ran into one of the "taboo" ones, or one of the children to be exact.

Originally, in such a large business district, encounters were occasional, and it was not uncommon for them to pass by each other, but this child was just a naughty age, running all over the ground and refusing to stop, crashing into my arms, and I was dizzy, and I raised my face and was very angry, as if I was trying to block her way.

I was happy and gently grabbed her little arm: "Little baby, where are the adults in your family?" "

"Nian Nian." The adults of her family came over, and we were stunned when we saw each other, and immediately reacted, and I said, "Your child? It's so cute. "

Qi Xiang did tell me that Jiang Ling was already a mother, and when I saw it with my own eyes today, I suddenly felt a little relieved in my heart.

Jiang Ling said, to her daughter: "Tell Auntie what is your name?" "

The child is the same as who debates, and the speed of speech is very fast: "I miss, Jiang misses - Mommy I want egg tarts." "

Although this little girl doesn't take her name seriously, I still noticed that her surname is Jiang, which has two possibilities, one is that Jiang Ling married a man with the same surname, and the other is that Jiang Ling didn't marry anyone at all.

Anxious to eat the egg tart, her mother pulled her and asked me, "Is my uncle cured?" "

"Oh, I've been discharged from the hospital a long time ago." I replied, "Thank you, I'm sorry I didn't bother to greet you when we first met." "

"Actually, it's not the first time we've dealt with each other. "

"Really?" I thought for a while: "I really can't remember, I'm sorry, I can't rely on my memory." "

"It's okay, it's okay, it's been a long time ago, 03 years about the Spring Festival just passed, Qi Xiang is still in Shenzhen, one night you greeted him on MSN, I replied to you, forgot?"

When I thought about it, I had the impression that "Oh, that's you." "

"But isn't it, I happened to be in ** at the time, so I went to meet Tiantian, and then SARS made a fuss, and I was quarantined for a while, very unlucky."

"Hey." I didn't want to stay longer at that time: "It's okay, have you been back to Xi'an recently?" "

"Not yet, the plan can't be scheduled, maybe next month."

"Take her there?" I mean Niannian, the little guy is glaring at me.

"No, she's too young to be here with my parents."

"My granddaughter is so cute, your parents must love her very much."

Jiang Ling was stunned: "Granddaughter? Do you think Nian Nian is a girl? "

"......"

She laughed, "We miss being a young man. "

"Huh?" The boy is so beautiful and has such a lingering name, is his mother afraid that he will like women when he grows up?

Qi Xiang got off work I originally wanted to tell him the news about how beautiful Comrade Jiang missed, but after thinking about it, forget it, I don't know how to say it, it doesn't look like an impure motive. Instead, he asked me, "How did you get back today?" "

"Take Xiao Luo's hitchhiker." Xiao Luo is the girl who is in the same office as me, across the street.

He came over and kissed me: "What did you eat at night?" "

"Peanut porridge, steamed eggs with minced meat, stir-fried shrimp with leeks." I said, "Strictly follow the recipe." "

"Very well-behaved." He said, "When is the next check-up?" "

"Next weekend."

"Okay, you remind me, I'll go with you then."

In fact, of course, I told a little lie, if I took the car and came back directly to eat, how could I meet Jiang Ling's mother and son in the city center. The fact is that after work, I went to have a Malatang meal with Xiao Luo, and after shopping, I ate McDonald's and ice cream, and then I took the subway home.

I hadn't touched any of these non-nutritious but taste-savvy things in over a month, starting with a plus sign on the pregnancy test stick one evening in early December.

In the very beginning, it was nothing more than that, dizziness, vomiting, and when this period passed, I would start to crave from time to time, but I was stared at by the whole family with ten eyes in turn, and Qi Xiang usually even picked me up and down to work, and I really couldn't find a chance to make a mistake.

I threw the chicken wings into the pot full of peppercorns, and said to Xiao Luo, if I don't eat this meal quickly, I feel that I will be depressed immediately.

I'm not completely joking, emotional instability is also one of the symptoms of pregnancy, this has a certain relationship with your life status, whether it was happy before, whether love is enough, but it is not absolute and inevitable, this part is hormones, and the other part is the common mentality of people in the face of major transitions, am I ready? Am I already loving and patient enough to spread out my life in the future? Also, what about my own life, is that it?

But I have no one to say anything about my fears and anxieties, and I fear that the listener will misinterpret and make judgments, no matter who he is, whether he is a loved one or a lover, as long as he is not an individual who I am, as long as he has not thought about it with my brain, he may reduce my worries to simple material things, and then misinterpret my doubts as regrets. I don't want to.