The first time Shi Jiamu met the woman he liked was in Brighton, a famous seaside resort city in the United Kingdom.

She was standing on the sparkling seashore, her hands comfortably in the pockets of her trench coat, her eyes following the flying seagulls. Under the clear blue sky, a few rays of sunlight cast on the side of her face, the lines of the bridge of her nose and lips were flawless, and her pale complexion was almost transparent.

At that moment, Shi Jiamu couldn't help but hold his breath. He felt that the scene in front of him had appeared in his dreams countless times, as if his previous life had been predestined, and he had come all the way to the other side of the world just to see her.

Team leader Shi Dahuai patted him on the shoulder and teased: "This classmate, look at the beauty?" ”

Shi Jiamu was a little embarrassed, he ignored Shi Dahuai, and quickened his pace to keep up with the large army. When he couldn't help but look back at the beach again, he couldn't see the graceful figure anymore.

Only the agile seagulls remained, spreading their wings and trembling slightly, gliding between the sea and the sky.

Shi Jiamu, a sophomore at Songjiang High School in Surabaya City, participated in a 15-day visit to the UK on a 15-day "summer study trip" organized by the school, and Brighton was one of the stops. Excluding the teacher who led the tour, the tour group consisted of about 40 students, mostly high school students, scattered in a dozen British homes, a method called "homestay". The reason for not staying in hostels is said to be to allow students to go deep into ordinary British families, learn about their life and culture, and take the opportunity to practice speaking.

The itinerary of the study group in the UK was entirely arranged by Shi Dahuai. Every morning, he leads his students through the streets of Brighton, visiting museums and parks that are open to the public, sitting, eating a sandwich on a grassy area at noon, and in the afternoon they attend classes at a small language school.

Students from well-to-do families privately complained that the school trip was nondescript and extremely boring, and in their eyes, if they couldn't do their shopping, the trip to England would be in vain.

Famous brands, luxury goods, duty-free, these are the words they often hang on their lips.

Shi Jiamu didn't think it mattered. The purpose of his trip was to get a feel for the climate and life in the British Isles, and to prepare for studying abroad. If there are no surprises, he will start applying to universities when he returns home, preferably Cambridge or Oxford. The main reason why he chose the United Kingdom over the United States is that Shi Jiamu likes English literature.

With such a peaceful state of mind, he can feel the touching place of living in a foreign country even more.

The "homestay" was provided by a fat British, a taxi driver with good cooking skills, who often chattered and boasted while renovating authentic British food for Shi Jiamu, with nimble hands and feet, and tinkling pots and pans. Shi Jiamu learned English for the exam in China, and he could only do questions, and his listening and speaking were very poor, so he could only agree with him, leaning against the door frame, watching him busy with interest.

British cuisine is very different from Chinese cuisine, most of the vegetables are mixed into salad and eaten raw, and the main dish is usually baked in the oven and rarely stir-fried. It is said that British food is unpalatable, but Shi Jiamu is very adaptable, olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, and unknown exotic spices, which taste unique.

After the owner finished cooking, he was left in the kitchen to enjoy it alone, and drove out to club.

The British have the habit of clubbing, drinking beer, watching football games, and not coming back in the middle of the night until the third watch, in the empty house, Shi Jiamu is lonely, listening to his own chewing sound, but he does not feel unbearable.

Compared with the scorching heat of thirty or forty degrees in China, the temperature in Brighton is much cooler, especially at seven or eight o'clock in the evening, the sky is not dark, the wooden fence separates a quiet world, the sea breeze blows from the English Channel, sitting on the rattan chair in the backyard, the body and mind quickly calm down.

In a completely unfamiliar country, far away from familiar people and things, Shi Jiamu felt that there was an extra blank in his life, and he could look at the sky and the clouds luxuriously, thinking about nothing, waiting for the sky to dim little by little. In the whole of Brighton, it was as if he was the only one left.

He really enjoyed the time.

In the final days of their school trip, the group left Brighton and stayed in a small hotel half a day's drive from London, where they visited Bath, Windsor Castle and Churchill Manor before hurrying home.

At the airport's duty-free mall, Shi Jiamu bought a few boxes of cigars and a Swarovski crystal pendant, which he planned to give to his parents when he returned.

He picked up a set of DVDs for himself, The Naked Chef, and pondered learning to cook a few British dishes when he returned home.

There was still a period of time before boarding, Shi Jiamu sat in the waiting hall and waited patiently, and in the corner by the window, he saw the seaside girl again, with her bags by her side, holding a half-new English book in her hand, immersed in her own world.

Her lips were thin and bloodless, but her shiny black hair had a luster of vigor and blood.

Shi Jiamu secretly looked at the girl, guessing that she was a Chinese-British mixed-race, and her British blood was very light, only a straight nose bridge and a pale complexion, revealing a little exoticism.

He was a little shy and didn't dare to come forward and strike up a conversation.

Half an hour later, they boarded the same plane, and unfortunately, the girl's ticket was first class. Until the plane landed at Chunshen Airport, Shi Jiamu followed the noisy crowd to board the bus, and he didn't see her again.