Some of the pedestrians on both sides held umbrellas, and some walked in a hurry. Only Lin Yiyang and her walked at a leisurely pace. Lin Yiyang was very familiar with the neighborhood here, turned left, walked to the sidewalk of a small road, and pulled Yin Guo to his right.
There is a string of apartments on the left of the two, and each apartment has a slanting staircase leading to the basement. In snowy days, the steps are covered with snow and cannot be seen clearly. If you accidentally get too close, it is easy to fall.
So he still walks on the left side, which is safer.
Of course, Yin Guo didn't understand his intention at all.
She just felt that Lin Yiyang must have a certain degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder when walking, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, weird...
After another turn, I saw the narrow stairs of the subway entrance.
She stomped the snow on the bottom of her feet and followed Lin Yiyang down.
On the steps, there was a row of wet footprints left by Lin Yiyang, and she added another row. Lin Yiyang deliberately stopped at the bottom step, waiting for her. There were three homeless men lying in the subway station, and each of them found a sheltered corner to sleep. One of them slept next to the ticket vending machine.
Yin Guo took out the credit card from the wallet, and wanted to go to the vending machine to insert the card to buy a ticket, and politely took two steps away.
"Follow me," Lin Yiyang said behind him, "the car is here."
Inside the station, the subway roared into the station with the noise of rolling the tracks.
The New York subway is wayward, and it is even more difficult to catch up with a trip in heavy snow. It is too late to buy a ticket. He pulled Yin Guo away from the ticket vending machine, sent her into the ticket gate, and swiped his subway card.
Immediately afterwards, he swiped again and entered the station himself.
Before Yin Guo could see what the platform looked like, he had already been pushed into the carriage.
The door closed behind him.
She looked around, and it was the worst kind of car again.
There is no air conditioner, no electronic display screen, and I don’t know if the car speaker is good...
no one yet
She and Lin Yiyang were the only ones in the whole carriage. Two rows of empty orange seats were waiting for them, and they could sit anywhere. Yin Guo pointed to a seat, and seeing that Lin Yiyang had no objection, he sat down next to the door.
Lin Yiyang sat beside her, took off the cue barrel, and stood beside his lap.
It was the only thing he held, and it still belonged to her. Speaking of which, this man really didn't bring anything except his mobile phone and wallet, so he just went to Flushing to gamble on a game of football, which was really casual.
The soles of both of them still had residual snow, and they stepped on a puddle of water on the floor of the carriage.
No signal in subway cars, no internet, nothing to pass the time. There was no scenery outside the carriage, it was pitch black, only the sound of driving filled the empty carriage.
She has almost adapted to Lin Yiyang's quiet temper, so she can only act as a lubricant between the two of them.
"We—" she said two words.
Lin Yiyang's gaze turned and stopped on her face.
She said, "I haven't met formally yet."
Her face is pale and rosy, her nose is small, her eyes are big, but not round, rather long, with obvious double eyelids. Because the hair is tied up high, the outline of the whole face is exposed, round, and the chin is not sharp. It is a youthful appearance, so beautiful that it is not aggressive, very sweet.
"How do you want to know each other?" Lin Yiyang met her eyes.
"My name is Yin Guo."
"You said it in the first WeChat message you sent." He reminded her.
… Well, forget it all.
She had no choice but to bite the bullet, and continued: "My brother and I are in the first year, a senior. He should have told you everything else."
Both of them are in the second half of their senior year and have no classes. It is the "internship period" required by the college. She wants to switch to professional nine-ball, and her cousin wants to study abroad, so naturally they put the internship time in New York.
Lin Yiyang nodded.
After she finished speaking, it was his turn.
Lin Yiyang was silent for a while, and asked her back: "You have seen all my valid documents, what else do you want to know?"
When he asked this question, he had a seven-point smile and three-point embarrassment.
Nationality, date of birth, and place of birth were all clearly written on those documents, and even the school magnetic card was shown to her. He couldn't think of anything else to explain besides the major he studied.
"I didn't look at it seriously that day, and I didn't look at your privacy." She explained.
All he knew was that he was twenty-seven years old, six years older than himself.
Lin Yiyang smiled.
"I studied in China for my undergraduate degree. I earned two years of money after graduation, so I came here because I didn't think it was interesting." He leaned on the back of the seat and told the girl simply, "What I study here is communication, part-time, Three years, this year is the last year."
After finishing speaking, he thought for a while and said, "I live in DC most of the time, and come to New York occasionally."
He paused, Yin Guo was still waiting.
"No," he said at last, "if you want to know anything, just ask."
"Me too." She smiled helplessly.
very good. It's better not to talk than dry chat content.
They continued to sit side by side.
When the subway entered the station, she thought of a more important matter. She was too anxious to get on the subway just now, and the written WeChat message hadn't been sent yet.
When the subway stops, look for the signal quickly.
She held up her mobile phone and shook it left and right for a long time. She didn't know whether it was because of the snow, or the network on this platform was extremely poor. No matter whether it was mobile or the platform Wi-Fi, she couldn't connect to it. She could only watch the car start up again and wait for the station .
"Didn't send it out?" People around her saw her embarrassment.
"It's been like this all the time, and there is no signal at all." Yin Guo was discouraged, and showed him her mobile phone.
Lin Yiyang glanced.
On the screen, there is a WeChat message that she failed to send—
Xiaoguo: I'm starving to death, is there instant noodles in the room? If not, go out and buy a pizza for me, while it's still available. It's closed when I get back.
Really confused, she asked Lin Yiyang: "Is it because I use a domestic mobile phone number? Will it be more difficult to connect?"
"It will be a little bit affected. You can wait for the transfer and get off the bus before leaving."
It had to be like this.
She let out a breath and put away her phone.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yiyang took out his mobile phone instead, and as the car just left the station, he didn't know who he was chatting with.
When he was completely inside the tunnel, he put his phone into his pants pocket and said, "Are you hungry?"
Yin Guo was stunned for a moment, then thought of her WeChat, and understood.
"It's okay, I can persevere."
Stick to the hotel, it shouldn't be a big problem.
"Hold on to what? Go back to eating pizza?" He laughed.
So what to do
She didn't want to eat that either: "The location of our hotel is too far away, so late, only gas station supermarkets sell pizza."
"Wu Wei, that's the one who wore glasses that day. He told me to eat ramen," Lin Yiyang asked her casually, "Want to go?"
Now
"Is it too late?" She hesitated.
"Sit directly at this station, and you will be there in three stops." He leaned there, looked at his watch, and gave a friendly suggestion, "We can go first, and then continue to take the subway."
After finishing speaking, he added: "I didn't eat either."
In such a snowy day, when she was hungry, when she heard the word "Ramen", all that appeared in front of her eyes was hot thick soup with pork cartilage, kelp, kimchi, corn... the hesitation just now was gone.
It's fine if you're hungry, but it's inhumane to let others deliver you hungry. Anyway, I didn't eat it myself, so I might as well get out of the car and solve it together, and save myself eating dry pizza.
Thinking about it this way, it's more time to go, not for myself, but also for him.
Yin Guo agreed immediately.
As a result, the two people who were going to transfer to another line sat directly after three stops in order to eat ramen.
When the two went outside the noodle shop, they saw a few people standing in the snow, waiting for a seat at the noodle shop. Lin Yiyang took Yin Guo, pushed aside the crowd, walked down, and entered a ramen restaurant converted from a basement.
The moment the glass door was pushed open, the aroma hit my face.
White mist is steaming on every table and every big ramen bowl. On both sides of the narrow aisle, every table is full of people, the room is hot, and the noodles are hot. This is really the best choice to make today.
Wu Wei had already occupied a table for four inside, and when he saw two people, he smiled and waved: "Here it is."
Yin Guo met him for the second time, greeted him friendly, put down his bag, and went to the bathroom first.
Seeing Yin Guo leaving, Wu Wei immediately lowered his voice: "You are so mean. I took off my clothes and foamed my hair. I was picked up by you to occupy a seat? Just to eat a bowl of ramen?"
"Don't talk nonsense when you come."
Lin Yiyang took off his winter clothing, put it on the back of the chair, waved, and greeted the boss. After the two chatted enthusiastically in Japanese, he ordered sake first.
The boss asked if he wanted to order, but he said no, we have to wait for Yin Guo to come out.
Wu Wei was confused: "Didn't you go to Flushing to gamble? How did you meet the little beauty?"
"Back in the ball room," he said.
The two talked a few words, explaining the ins and outs of the future, and Yin Guo just returned.
Wu Wei immediately put away his expression of "watching a good show", and asked with a smile: "Listen to him, you are also here to participate in the Open?"
"Yes, it's the women's group." She smiled and sat opposite the two men.
"I am also on the list," Wu Wei stretched out his right hand, "Come on, if you are so destined, hold one."
"It's fate." Yin Guo shook hands with him.
"I walked in the door that day, and your brother talked to me. I thought it was a liar. Later, when I saw the clubs on the box, I felt relieved," Wu Wei said with a smile about the night of Blizzard, "At first I thought the clubs were Your brother's, I didn't expect it to be you."
No wonder, they became friends so easily, and even specially invited them to drink.
She finally figured it out.
The two chatted for a while, and Yin Guo gained a lot of information about Lin Yiyang from Wu Wei.
Wu Wei was studying at New York University. Lin Yiyang helped prepare the materials at the beginning, and he came to study for a master's degree. The two have different majors. Lin Yiyang came a year earlier and had to study for three years, while Wu Wei only had to study for one year. He didn't leave after graduation, he just wanted to wait for Lin Yiyang to finish his studies and return to China together.
"Actually, my nine-ball game is average, and I practiced it when I was young. It's just that nine-ball ball is popular in the United States, and I do as the Romans do." Wu Wei said with a smile.
He was right.
Many people in the United States regard nine-ball as family entertainment, and there are tables at home, but few people play snooker. Today she met Lin Yiyang's ball room, and the ball room where she usually trains, there is only one snooker table, no one is playing.
In the professional game, people here are not keen on snooker either.
For Yin Guo, she plays American billiards, and the U.S. Nine-Ball Open is very important.
But from Wu Wei's words, she could tell that the other party mainly played English billiards and was a snooker player.
It's the same as my cousin.
His friends are all pros, why isn't he
Yin Guo looked at him.
Lin Yiyang has been sitting there, drinking the sake that was served first. The small glass bottle, the size of a palm, was blue and translucent. He held it in the palm of his hand and took two sips. Most of the bottle was gone.
He didn't seem to be listening to their conversation seriously. When Yin Guo was looking at him, he pushed the menu in front of her: "Order first, then talk."
"Yes, order first, order first." Wu Wei agreed.
On the menu, there are pictures.
For things like ramen, opening a store all over the world is an easy way, just look at the pictures to choose noodles and add dishes. Yin Guo quickly looked at the menu, and she returned it to Lin Yiyang. Lin Yiyang waved and asked someone to take an order. He was so familiar with this place that he and Wu Wei could be blind without even looking at the order.
Wu Wei then changed the subject, chatting about daily life in New York, and concerned about Yin Guo's next residence arrangement.
"It should still be a hotel," Yin Guo said, "the one now."
"Didn't consider renting a house? Short-term rent?"
"I have thought about it, but I feel that three months is not long or short. I am afraid of trouble, and I can't find a good one."
Wu Wei immediately warmly invited, saying that the apartment he rented was a three-bedroom apartment, two of which were a pair of sisters, and they were going to move out this month. He can help and ask the landlord if he can let Yin Guo rent for a short period of time first. In this way, there are two advantages. The first is to save money at this stage, and the second is that if Cousin Yin Guo gets an offer from New York University, it would be good to rent it directly.
Good location, convenient transportation, ready-made house.
Wu Wei's words really moved her.
When she came here, her friend also suggested short-term rental, but because her friend was in China, it was not convenient for her to find a house, so she let it go. Since there are trustworthy housing sources, it is of course cost-effective to rent a house.
Yin Guo happily thanked her and added Wu Wei's WeChat account.
"I'll ask the landlord first, and I'll give you the exact news tomorrow." Wu Wei finally said.
Because they had to go on their way, they didn't talk any more, and quickly finished their noodles.
After supper and dinner, Lin Yiyang and Yin Guo got on the subway again, and it was already eleven o'clock when they arrived at Yin Guo Hotel.
The hotel she lived in was a relatively remote neighborhood, surrounded by repair factories, and the only lively place was a small gas station. From the subway entrance to the hotel, you have to go through a dark road. Except for the light of the gas station, there are no extra lights, and the journey takes three to five minutes.
A wind blew up in the middle of the night, and it chilled her heart.
He took Yin Guo to the door of the hotel, where two barmaids were smoking. When the two approached, they just stubbed out the cigarette butts. With their help, they opened the heavy black-painted iron door of the hotel and entered.
She stopped in front of the steps: "Do you still have the subway when you go back?"
"The subway operates 24 hours a day." Lin Yiyang took off the cue barrel on his shoulder and hooked the rope, as if he was about to hand it out, as if he was waiting for something.
His hand hooked on the rope was exposed outside, Yin Guo saw it, and thought of it with his right hand when holding the club.
Billiards is a sport that requires long, uninterrupted years of polishing and hard work. Like any sport, you can't slack off in a day. A layman can't see it, and an insider can't see it. His level has been cultivated all the year round, he doesn't look like an amateur...
A knock on the glass door behind her interrupted her thoughts.
She turned her head and saw her cousin waving at them behind the frosted glass.
Lin Yiyang's arm passed over her shoulder at the same time, pulling open the iron door for her. He pushed Yin Guo into the warm room, and handed the cue bucket to Meng Xiaotian.
"Thank you, Brother Yang, take my sister back." My cousin thanked me with a smile.
He nodded as a farewell.
Immediately, I put my hands in my pockets, turned around, and turned back along the path next to the gas station without street lights.
Yin Guo rubbed her ears, Lin Yiyang pulled the door just now, and the zipper of the cuff scratched her ears: "You got here by such a coincidence?"
"Brother Yang sent me a WeChat message, saying that you are coming, let me pick you up," the cousin said, "I guess I mentioned that there is a bar under our hotel, so he is not at ease, afraid that you will run into a drunk?"
Unexpected answer.
Yin Guo looked back outside again.
Lin Yiyang was pulling up his hat to keep out the cold wind. In the distance are the lights of the gas station, and on the left is the wall beside the road. Gradually, the figure disappeared into the snowy sky, and he should have gotten off the subway.