After being discharged from the hospital, the two had their first real date.

Chen Lian called Vivian to borrow a car and made an appointment to pick it up in the evening, and then she leaned against the kitchen door frame, reading a book while watching Shi Jiamu hurriedly prepare a picnic. This time he made Parma ham roast chicken, as well as bread, chickpeas, salads, and milkshakes, using a lot of ingredients and a complicated recipe, which took almost a whole day.

Early the next morning, taking advantage of the morning light and cool breeze, they drove to the Shahu Wetland Park in the north of the Yuejian River.

The Lexus SC430 exits the river tunnel and passes through the Surabaya Development Zone all the way to the north. The road stretches into the distance, with no end in sight, and is lined with barren land, collapsed houses, and overgrown with weeds. A few years ago, it was a vast area of fertile land supplying the city of Surabaya with locally produced grain, vegetables, cash crops and agricultural products, but urbanization swallowed everything up, and before new reinforced concrete forests were erected, artemisia grass and thorns replaced the farmers as temporary owners of the land.

In order to balance the drawbacks of the city's rapid expansion, the suffocating forests of reinforced concrete are the largest wetland park in the province, the Sand Lake Wetland Park, the starting point of a new round of expansion in the northernmost part of the Surabaya Development Zone.

The park covers an area of thousands of acres, with Sand Lake as the center, and a series of themed landscapes are constructed. In Shi Jiamu's view, these landscapes are full of traces of man-made carving, clumsy and dazzling, and only a few places still retain the original wetland environment.

In a sense, construction is destruction.

Chen Lian parked the car and walked side by side with Shi Jiamu on the embankment by the lake.

The sky is slightly overcast, and the wind blows across the lake, and the moist water vapor comes in front of you, giving you a refreshing feeling. Shi Jiamu looked absentmindedly at those wetland landscapes, his heart beating lively, and he was thinking about what to say to Chen Lian.

They made a big circle around the sand lake, rested in a pavilion by the lake, opened their backpacks, and began to eat a picnic.

Shi Jiamu chewed bread and chicken, washed his stomach with mineral water, and talked about his views on the wetland park - the man-made landscape is the biggest damage to the wetland environment, just like the Qing people usurped the "Siku Quanshu" and the ancient books died, a truth.

Chen Lian silently listened to his discussion, and then interjected to interrupt him: "They need time. ”

"What?" Shi Jiamu asked in astonishment.

"I mean, it takes time for them to wear away the traces of man-made, the incongruous parts, and eventually become part of the wetland. Just like a newly built house, only after the washing of time, when the walls fade and turn white, mottled and cracked, and the yard is covered with moss and vines, can there be something that was not there before...... In your words, a taste that was not there before. ”

"You're talking about an old wooden house."

"It's all the same." Chen Lian chuckled softly, "In the UK, if the economy allows, people would rather live in a centuries-old house, which will breathe with the old streets, the city, and even the whole country. But here, you don't seem to be patient, whether it's a house or a street, it's always being demolished and rebuilt, built and demolished. How to describe this mentality - impetuous, utilitarian, inferior, radical, it seems to be a little bit. ”

She turned her head sideways and glanced at Shi Jiamu, "However, in this city, I can find so many interesting books, and I can have you by my side, and these unsatisfactory places don't matter." ”

Shi Jiamu looked at her blankly, and he suddenly felt that everything in front of him had become less dazzling and unacceptable because of Chen Lian's existence.

Chen Lian didn't eat much, and then stopped after tasting it, Shi Jiamu cleaned up the leftovers and burned them coldly, and the two sat down for a while, walking back along the road they came.

Chen Lian took the initiative to hold his arm, the little bird walked beside him like a human, the skin contact made Shi Jiamu's body stiff, this was the first intimate contact with the opposite sex in his life, he felt that he was dreaming.

Although it was just a simple walk, for Shi Jiamu, walking by her side is not leaving, even if he doesn't speak, it is also a kind of happiness.

The Lexus SC430 stopped not far away, Chen Lian slowed down and calmly told Shi Jiamu: "This is our first date, and I think, it will be the last time." Thank you for everything you've done for me these days, I know what you have in mind. ”

Her voice was so calm, like her body temperature. Shi Jiamu's heart continued to sink, and he clearly felt that even if he hugged her tightly and transmitted more heat to the other party, he would not be able to warm her cold body.

"If, I'm just saying if, there's a person with whom I'm willing to spend my life, and that person is you!"

“…… But there's no if, right? ”

Chen Lian was silent for a moment, then laughed softly and helplessly, "Yes, there is no if." ”

Shi Jiamu didn't ask why, he took Chen Lian's hand and continued to walk like nothing had happened. The words have been spoken, and it is difficult to collect the water, and any explanation is superfluous. Pleading and gaffes can't change the established ending, low to the dust, even if flowers bloom from the dust, it's not what he wants.

Sorrow is like a great poisonous snake, which entangles his heart.

I am fortunate to have gained, I have lost my life, and when it comes to the end, I must really look down on the gains and losses, and how many people can do it. Shi Jiamu asked himself, he is just a mortal, there is no essential difference between him and the ordinary beings in this world, and the so-called walking by the river of life is just an excuse for him to avoid his efforts and dedication.

He and Chen Lian belong to two different worlds.