Time passed quickly, and in the second year of their graduate studies, Lin Weixia and Ban Sheng both received Fang Jiabei's wedding invitations. It happened to be during summer vacation, so they rushed back to Nanjiang to attend the wedding together.
After Fang Jiabei was admitted to a normal university in the southwest, she kept in touch with everyone every year. Because every winter and summer vacation, she would take the long-distance high-speed train home with her fellow students from the same school, and everyone would take care of each other on the way.
Because of this opportunity, she fell in love with a senior, and the two of them dated from their freshman year until graduation.
Finally, they returned to Nanjiang to work. After planning to get married in the past two years, they set the wedding date after meeting each other's parents.
On the wedding day, Liu Sijia was unable to return home due to some matters, so she asked someone to prepare a generous gift. On the card, she wished Fang Jiabei well and greeted every friend, saying that she was looking forward to their ten-year appointment.
Because of an earthquake in the southwest region, Ning Chao's detachment was assigned to support earthquake relief efforts. Although he was unable to make it to the scene, he asked a friend to send a gift over.
The wedding was held in a forest park in Qinglian Mountain. Lin Weixia and Ban Sheng sat in the friends' seat. Above the stage, Jiabei was wearing a white veil. With the polishing of time and growth, she has become more confident and beautiful. She is no longer the girl who hunched her shoulders and hid herself in the shadows and felt inferior.
When she stood on the stage and said to the groom, "Thank you for bringing me happiness," tears flashed in Lin Weixia's eyes. Ban Sheng, who was sitting on the side, stretched out a bad face and asked her:
"Why, you want to get married?"
Lin Weixia sniffed, looked at him, and replied: "You wish."
Ban Sheng looked up at Lin Weixia's fair and quiet face, smiled loosely, and continued:
"I wish."
Lin Weixia was immersed in the touching moment brought by Fang Jiabei's beautiful wedding. The phone on her knees made a "ding" sound. It was a message from Men Zi:
[I met Ning Chao.]
Another border town in the southwest is Baiying. In the past three years, Men Zi, as a documentary director, has been producing continuously and has been very popular in the industry. She has received many invitations, but one day, Men Zi found that she could not shoot any works. She decisively closed the studio and went to the mountainous area to teach alone, hoping to calm herself down and find inspiration.
But the earthquake came suddenly. She was still teaching children in the classroom at that time. The ground suddenly shook continuously, and the wall paint kept falling off, as if the whole building was about to collapse.
The moment the alarm sounded, Men Zi took prompt action and took the children out. They ran out of the school playground and continued to evacuate the crowd. Although she was panicked, she tried her best to stay calm and counted the number of people in an orderly manner.
When he realized that two people were missing, Men Zi rushed back to the shaky concrete building, grabbed two panicked and crying children in his class and ran out.
But she didn't expect that she was unlucky. The cement-supported building collapsed like a domino after shaking for a few minutes, and the rubble flew straight towards Men Zi. She didn't even have time to dodge, and was injured the moment she ran out of the building and suddenly fell to the ground.
It started to rain heavily halfway through the journey. The teachers from other classes and the security guards were either counting the number of people or trying to calm people down. The scene was in chaos with the crying of children.
Firefighters and police officers arrived and began to carry out the rescue in an orderly manner. Men Zi was helped by her colleagues to sit on a rock. Her back hurt so much that she couldn't straighten up. She laid her face on her knees, cursing in pain.
Men Zi was trying hard to hold back the pain when he suddenly heard a shout, "Captain Ning, there are still people here—"
My heart sank, and I looked up, and I saw Ning Chao here. The man was wearing a military green uniform, which made him look tall and straight, with a face as tough as a knife, a short haircut, and a pair of black and shiny eyes.
Ning Chao obviously saw her as well, with emotions surging in his eyes. He paused for a moment, and saw the wound on her back. Then he shifted his grim gaze away and walked over to continue saving people.
During the whole process, Men Zi kept staring at Ning Chao. He had broad shoulders and held the two injured people in both hands as he strode towards the rescue tent. He turned back again and continued to clean up the scene. He ran back and forth, the sweat on his forehead kept sliding down his chin, and his eyes were always firm.
By the time dusk fell and all rescue efforts were basically completed, Ning Chao walked up to her, glanced at her with his dark eyes, squatted down, and spoke:
"I'll carry you."
Men Zi did not move either. She sat there, looking dishevelled, with wet hair sticking to her charming face, and looked at him:
“Are you a good cop now?”
After attending the wedding, everyone returned to the hotel for dinner. At the banquet, Ban Sheng hardly ever touched alcohol, and when someone toasted him he only took a few sips symbolically. However, Lin Weixia tasted the delicious rice wine at the wedding banquet, and secretly drank a lot of wine while he wasn't paying attention.
When Ban Sheng found out, Lin Weixia was half drunk, her cheeks were flushed, and she was smiling at everyone. His face was a little gloomy, but he sighed when he saw her happy look, and he couldn't bear to say a word of scolding.
When the dinner was over, Ban Sheng took his people back. Lin Weixia leaned against his broad chest, only 50% sober.
Ban Sheng didn't drive today. He stood on the wide road, waved his hand to stop a car, got in and told the address.
Lin Weixia was sitting relatively quietly in the car, not making too much noise. She leaned on Ban Sheng's shoulder and whispered, "It's hot." She placed her light blue hand with distinct veins on the car door, pressed a button, and the window rolled down, letting in the moist evening breeze.
The neon lights and night shops outside the car window receded all the way. The taxi turned into a street on the left. A blue road sign stood at the door with the words "Minle East Road" engraved on it.
His heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the sealed memory was revealed. Lin Weixia slowly got up from his shoulder and looked out the window on the right. This street had hardly changed. It was said a few years ago that a subway line would be added, but the road has been under construction until now.
There are a few new shops, but the old ones are still there.
His amber eyes accidentally swept across the streets on both sides of the road, and his gaze stopped when he saw the familiar dumpling shop. The dumpling shop was open again!
"Master, stop for a moment." Lin Weixia shouted in response.
The taxi driver stepped on the brakes and the car stopped. Lin Weixia opened the door, turned around and said to Ban Sheng who was sitting next to her: "That dumpling shop is open again. Wait for me to pack some."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man ran out of the car. A shout came from behind, but Lin Weixia didn't hear it clearly. She hurriedly crossed the road and walked into the dumpling shop.
The blue rolling shutter door was pulled up to the top, the light box in front of the shop was flickering dimly, there was a stove at the door, white mist kept coming out of the pot with hot steam, it was still the couple who were the owners, busy at work, there were several tables of guests sitting inside, the incandescent lights above their heads shone down, everything was as usual, exuding a warm atmosphere.
Lin Weixia walked in, feeling a little drunk, and moved a red plastic stool to sit down. She smiled at the boss and said, "Boss, pack me some beef dumplings."
"Okay."
A plate of plump dumplings was put into the pot, steam continued to rise, Lin Weixia picked up her phone and scanned the QR code on the wall, and asked, "Boss, how much?"
The boss was a middle-aged man in his mid-40s, who was cooking dumplings in silence. His wife habitually wiped her hands on her apron and was about to speak when she subconsciously looked at the person behind her and smiled with two fine lines on her eyes: "Here you are."
Lin Weixia paused pressing the phone screen, turned around, and saw Ban Sheng walking towards her slowly with his hands in his pockets.
He stood at the door of the store, with a tall figure, and the incandescent light lengthened his shadow. Ban Sheng greeted the boss, and his tone was familiar.
The proprietress also brought out a plate of candy and enthusiastically asked him what he wanted to eat.
Ban Sheng smiled faintly and indicated that he didn't need it, but he couldn't refuse, so he symbolically grabbed two candies, turned his hands behind his back, raised his hand towards Lin Weixia who was sitting behind him, and quietly handed the candies to her.
The proprietress caught a glimpse of Ban Sheng's actions, suddenly realized what was going on, and said, "Finally he brought his girlfriend here."
Ban Sheng looked back at Lin Weixia and said with a smile:
"yes."
Lin Weixia sat there, confused. She didn't understand why Ban Sheng had such a close relationship with the boss. Seeing her puzzled expression, the boss, who had been silent all this time, spoke:
"Several years ago, my wife got seriously ill. We had no money and no children, so we closed the store. This young man found me and gave us some money to use to treat my wife. After my wife recovered, I didn't even give him the IOU, so I contacted him again, thinking that I would have to do hard labor to earn money to pay him back. But the boy refused everything he said. He had only one request."
"He said if we are willing, he wants us to continue to run the store. If the revenue is not good, it doesn't matter, he will take care of it."
The corners of the boss lady's eyes, which were full of fine lines, were a little wet. She reached out and wiped them, and recalled: "I asked the child why he did this, and he said -
At that time, the boy was sitting in the store wearing a black windbreaker, with a half-scabbed blood-red wound on his wrist. After he told the couple these requests with a pale face, they were puzzled.
Ban Sheng raised his hand and rubbed his eyelids. His dark eyebrows drooped, as if he was hiding endless worries. He pulled the corner of his lips and said:
"I didn't get to eat at your house last time."
The proprietress recalled, and continued with a sigh: "This is what the kid said. During those years abroad, every time he came back to my shop on vacation, he didn't eat anything, didn't talk, and sat at that table until the shop closed. When I asked him if he wanted to eat dumplings, he said next time."
"I'll bring her with me next time." Ban Sheng smiled, with expectation in his eyes, and then left.
Ban Sheng said this every time, but he never brought anyone over.
Because that was the first time Lin Weixia invited him to dinner, and that was where their relationship became better.
It was also a regret that the two of them separated and ended up not even having a meal of dumplings.
Lin Weixia was speechless. Her heart was surging like huge waves pouring in, filling every corner of her heart.
Regarding Lin Weixia, he would do everything without any reservation, and then—
Take the initiative to turn regrets into perfection.
Ban Sheng loved her for a long time, a period of time that she didn't know about.
Seeing that Lin Weixia looked like she was about to be sad, Ban Sheng raised his hand and touched her face, then spoke in a nonchalant manner:
"Tsk, Aunt Zhang, you are exaggerating. There is no such thing as too many layers of meaning. I just think your dumplings are delicious and I am greedy for them."
"I'll take her away first and come visit you another day."
After walking out of the dumpling shop, Lin Weixia took a few steps and then acted coquettishly, saying that she felt dizzy and asked him to carry her on his back. Ban Sheng had no choice but to accept his fate and carried her home on his back.
The summer night breeze was gentle and the night was intoxicating. Occasionally, when passing under the banyan tree, one could hear the sound of insects. Lin Weixia hugged his neck tightly with both hands, buried her face in the man's broad shoulders, and whispered:
"How can you be so nice?"
Ban Sheng couldn't bear to see her immersed in the sentimental atmosphere, so he interrupted her intentionally, his Adam's apple rolled, and he raised his eyebrows:
"It's all so good, do you like me?"
"I like it." Lin Weixia raised her face and kissed him quickly on the face.
The alcohol made Lin Weixia feel comfortable, and she could smell the cool and refreshing scent on Ban Sheng's body. Her eyelids were drooping, and she couldn't hold on any longer, so she fell asleep on Ban Sheng's back.
After Ban Sheng brought the person back, he carried her to the sofa and found a soft pillow to support her head.
Later, when the alcohol took effect, Ban Sheng saw that Lin Weixia was very drunk and whispered that she felt uncomfortable. Ban Sheng sighed lightly, walked over, unbuttoned two buttons of her shirt around her neck as if serving an ancestor, and took off Lin Weixia's shoes and socks.
He walked to the dining room, opened the refrigerator, took out a jar of honey, picked out an apple, and went into the kitchen to make hangover tea for her.
After Ban Sheng finished making the hangover tea, he turned off the fire and walked out, and subconsciously looked for the person lying on the sofa in the living room.
Empty.
Until I heard a "click" sound diagonally in front of me, indicating that a wine bottle was broken in half, and I opened my eyes and looked over.
Lin Weixia sat on the floor with her back against the double-door refrigerator, seven or eight scattered beer cans scattered around.
The girl's long hair draped softly behind her. Because it was too hot, she raised her hands and unbuttoned two buttons of her shirt, revealing half of her white bra, with her round curves faintly visible.
His eyes were full of water and he kept saying he was thirsty and wanted to eat ice cream.
If Lin Weixia was only five percent drunk just now, then with what she drank now, she was completely drunk.
This scene alone was enough to make Ban Sheng react.
Ban Sheng walked over, casting a tall, oppressive shadow. Lin Weixia burped, and when she saw Ban Sheng squatting down, she immediately grabbed his arm and complained:
"Where... where did you hide my ice cream?"
The girl's fair cheeks were tinged with pink, and her dark eyelashes drooped down, as thin as butterfly wings, making her look so pitiful that people wanted to bully her.
The emotions in Ban Sheng's eyes kept surging, and the look he cast on her changed. A low voice sounded, coaxing:
"Xia Xia, let's play a game. You do what I say."
"Be good, and I'll give you a box of ice cream as a reward."
Her eyes, which had been dull before, suddenly lit up. Lin Weixia raised her face and said, "No problem."
Ban Sheng's eyes fell on the moist red lips, and his voice became hoarse uncontrollably:
"Kiss me."
Lin Weixia felt very dizzy and hesitated for a moment. The light came on and fell on Ban Sheng's cold face. He did nothing and waited for her to come to him, like a hunter who was patiently luring her.
I was confused for a long time.
Ban Sheng stood up and opened the refrigerator. The cold air rushed over him, but it failed to extinguish the anger in his body.
He found a box of lemon-flavored ice cream hidden in the top freezer, half-knelt down, rested his elbows on his thighs, and looked at her leisurely.
Lin Weixia's eyes immediately lit up. Ban Sheng opened the ice cream, scooped a bite and put it in her mouth.
Lin Weixia subconsciously opened her mouth and wanted to take a second bite, but Ban Sheng casually closed his mouth. His soft lips brushed against his index finger, very lightly, as if it was electrified.
Ban Sheng only gave her a little taste of sweetness.
If you still want a reward, it depends on how she does it.
Lin Weixia leaned forward like a cat, pressed her moist lips against his cold lips, and gently sucked on the tip of his tongue. She also shuddered as if she had received an electric shock, then withdrew and asked cautiously:
"May I?"
There was still a little bit of cream on her lips.
Her fragrance and the sweetness of the ice cream that Lin Weixia had tasted filled his lips and teeth. Ban Sheng swallowed hard, his lower abdomen swelled and tightened. He glared at her and spoke calmly:
"not enough."
Lin Weixia thought for a moment and lay on his chest again. Because Ban Sheng was too tall, she didn't lower her head to accommodate him this time. She tilted her head back and put her lips directly on the pointed Adam's apple that protruded from Leng Bai's neck.
He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked and bit it.
The protruding Adam's apple on the man's slender neck was still covered with melted white cream.
The ambiguous atmosphere of wanting to refuse but also wanting to welcome reached its peak.
Ban Sheng froze for a moment, then his body changed. He immediately grasped her hand, the darkness in his eyes deepened, and the gaze in his eyes came at her like a violent storm. He pulled her under him and pressed his lips down.
Lin Weixia tilted her neck back and passively endured his deep kiss, but when he was distracted and distracted, she directly snatched the box of ice cream in his hand and pushed him away.
Lin Weixia ran to the balcony with the ice cream in her hand, locked the French window, sat on the floor and ate her box of ice cream, raising her eyebrows at him smugly.
It is true that the person was drunk, but it is true that he wanted to eat ice cream.
Ban Sheng laughed angrily and let her do what she wanted. Lin Weixia started the fire and ran away.
I had to go to the bathroom and take a cold shower to cool down.
After Ban Sheng came out, he raised his hand to wipe the water droplets on his jet-black hair, and glanced at Lin Weixia who was sleeping against the glass door of the balcony.
He walked over and pressed the fingerprint lock on the wall. The glass door of the floor-to-ceiling window opened and he came to Lin Weixia.
The moonlight was dim, draped over Lin Weixia's cool and simple face. She was sleeping soundly, probably because she was tired. Her eyelashes were tightly closed, and in her hand she was holding a box of unfinished ice cream, which was half melted.
Ban Sheng took the ice cream from her hand and picked up Lin Weixia. She naturally nestled in the man's chest, her consciousness became blurred, and she yawned:
"Tomorrow morning I want to eat Chen Ji's fried dough sticks and... soy milk."
Ban Sheng glanced at the girl in his arms and said lovingly:
"Well, I'll buy it for you."