The snow that had accumulated for a whole winter finally fell heavily.
Xu Shiqi let out a breath, drew a heart shape on the glass, then looked at his masterpiece and smiled slightly.
"Waiter, pay the bill!"
In the still noisy restaurant, the sudden high-pitched voice brought Xu Shiqi back to her senses. She reached out to wipe away the heart, turned around and walked to the counter to collect the money.
Wen Jialuo left yesterday.
In fact, their date only lasted one day.
When I woke up the next morning, I opened the curtains and found that it was snowing outside. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, but the sky was still gloomy.
"It's snowing?" Wen Jialuo woke up and became excited. "When it snows hard, we can go out and make a snowman."
Xu Shiqi looked at the sky with some concern: "It looks like the snow won't stop falling anytime soon. Can we get down the mountain in the afternoon?"
Wen Jialuo was stunned for a moment, and as he was struggling, his cell phone rang.
The call was from Secretary Nie, who asked the same question as Xu Shiqi.
"If we don't go down the mountain in the morning, it might not be safe to drive down. If you feel comfortable there, it's okay to stay for a few more days. I'm just worried that the food you prepared is not enough. Should I have someone send some up?"
"No need." Wen Jialuo took a breath, "We'll leave in the morning."
"Do you want me to send someone to pick you up from the mountain?"
"I'll drive slower, it's okay." Wen Jialuo said goodbye again and hung up the phone. She lowered her hands and raised her head, her eyebrows furrowed: "We will go down the mountain in the morning."
"I heard it." Xu Shiqi sat back on the bed, leaned over and hugged her, "Will we never see each other again after we go down the mountain?"
"Who said that?" Wen Jialuo broke away from her. "I won't leave until the day after tomorrow. And we can still be together after we get down the mountain."
"Forget it." Xu Shiqi held her hand. "If love lasts forever... it doesn't matter if you are together day and night. You should spend some time with your mother and the others."
Wen Jialuo looked at her in silence until she could no longer maintain the forced smile. Then he reached out and pinched her face: "A woman who says one thing and thinks another." Then he threw off the quilt and got out of bed.
Xu Shiqi smiled bitterly, touching her sore cheek, and sat hugging her knees. She looked at everything in the room. It was only a short time, but she was already reluctant to leave. She must have never forgotten this place in her life, so she might as well stay here for a few days every winter. Thinking that she had taken advantage of the government, she smiled, stood up, gathered her long hair, and asked loudly, "I'm packing up now, right?"
"Do you want to break up with me so soon?" Wen Jialuo's gritted teeth voice came out a little vaguely.
Xu Shiqi stood leaning against the wall and laughed. She just liked teasing girls.
"It's always better to clean up first. Don't come out. I'm going to change my clothes." She said as she pretended to untie the belt of her nightgown.
The bathroom door in the room is "inlaid with a mirror"
The girl had a messy head of short hair and her lips were covered with white foam from toothpaste. Xu Shiqi stared at her blankly, then burst into laughter. She bent down, almost laughing to tears, but her waist was sore that she couldn't straighten up.
"You wait." Wen Jialuo stomped her feet, uttered a harsh word, and rushed back to the bathroom. After a bunch of messy noises, she rushed out again in a glamorous manner.
Xu Shiqi was really standing there waiting. She stood by the bed, and seeing the girl's aggressive look, she simply opened her arms and caught her in her arms, and then the two of them fell on the soft big bed.
Wen Jialuo quickly got up and stretched out his hands to hold Xu Shiqiu's hands, supporting them on both sides of his body. Xu Shiqiu tilted his face slightly, offering his beautiful neck, and his collar was also half open, revealing an infinitely beautiful view.
The minty toothpaste scent left a mark on Xu Shiqi's neck and filled her mouth. The two of them used the same toothpaste, and the cool scent seemed to be doubled, gradually extinguishing Wen Jialuo's irritability caused by the impending separation.
Although he wanted to stay a little longer, the snow outside was indeed getting heavier, so Wen Jialuo knew that he had to act quickly.
When leaving, looking at the villa in the rearview mirror, Wen Jialuo grabbed Xu Shiqi's hand, pulled it to his lips and kissed it, then concentrated on driving.
After coming down the mountain, the two first found a place to have breakfast. In fact, it was not morning anymore. Wen Jialuo sent Xu Shiqi home again. She wanted to go upstairs and sit for a while, but Xu Shiqi stopped her.
"Go back. I can't spend the New Year with you. Your mother must want you to come home soon. Let's... contact each other by phone."
Wen Jialuo nodded and looked ahead, not at her.
"What's the matter?" Xu Shiqi turned around and teased, "You are an adult, not a child who can't eat candy."
Wen Jialuo turned his neck stiffly: "If you want me."
"I know." Xu Shiqi smiled.
"call me."
"I will remember it." Xu Shiqi nodded.
"You'll be the first person I see when I get back."
"Ah," Xu Shiqi tilted her head, "That's not necessarily true." Seeing that Wen Jialuo was about to explode, she leaned over and kissed the thin lips, "Be good, let's go, and drive carefully."
After receiving the kiss, although it was only a comforting one, Wen Jialuo's face looked better, but she still did not move.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?" Xu Shiqi asked gently.
Wen Jialuo turned around and looked at her strangely: "How can I leave if you don't get off the car? Do you want to go home with me?"
Xu Shiqi was stunned, gritted his teeth, and turned stiffly to open the car door.
Just as she opened the car door, Wen Jialuo suddenly asked, "Hey, do you want to go back to my hometown with me for the New Year?"
Xu Shiqi steady himself without turning his head: "Don't seduce me." Then he decisively got out of the car and closed the door.
Wen Jialuo sighed. These words were indeed blurted out in a fit of anger. It was because Xu Shiqi's pretended calmness was full of flaws. His ears were flushed before he got off the car.
Since then, they had not seen each other again until Wen Jialuo boarded the plane. Originally, there were still more than two days left, but suddenly Wen Jialuo became busy.
When they are not together, phone calls are indispensable. Xu Shiqi just found out that some of Wen Jialuo's childhood friends have returned from abroad to celebrate the New Year. Those people are also second-generation officials, and their parents sent them abroad to study. Because they are old friends of the Wen family, they are close. In the past, Luo Linyi also wanted to follow the trend and send Wen Jialuo abroad, but she saw that her health was too poor and her stomach digestion function had always been poor. In her eyes, a medium-rare steak would definitely torture her daughter to death, so she didn't want to. This time they came back and Luo Linyi arranged for them to have a party at home, so Wen Jialuo couldn't spare the time.
Xu Shiqi always had friends around her, and she knew that Wen Jialuo didn't usually have many friends to socialize with. Now she was happy to hear her say that, and she hoped that she would have a good time. However, Luo Linyi's enthusiastic attitude made her slightly suspicious, but she didn't dare to think about it, so she could only listen to her voice on the phone to relieve her feelings.
Wen Jialuo also suggested that she go to the old house to play, but Xu Shiqi didn't go. As the year-end approached, the business in the store became even busier. The phone for reservations kept ringing, and there was a constant stream of people coming to eat. Although there would be more people eating at this time every year, it was not as popular as this year. She also paid attention to the newly opened restaurant across the street. The decoration was more luxurious than hers and there were always many tricks, but it didn't seem to be doing as well as hers, which made her father very proud.
The day Wen Jialuo boarded the plane was the second day after the Little New Year. Before leaving, she called Xu Shiqi, her voice full of reluctance. She said she would be back on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
"Take good care of grandpa and grandma," Xu Shiqi said, "and don't do anything impulsive."
Wen Jialuo replied calmly: "It's a typical Jiangnan town. There will be spring-like rain in winter. That rain may make me miss you very much."
"Just maybe?" Xu Shiqi smiled softly, "If there are willow branches in early spring, remember to pick one for me."
"If there are flowers to be picked, do you have to pick them?" Wen Jialuo narrowed his eyes and noticed that his grandmother's gaze had turned to him, so he softened his tone, "I'm leaving. Goodbye."
Xu Shiqi didn't say anything. He felt nervous as he listened to the faint breathing sounds on the other end of the phone.
"Speak." Wen Jialuo ordered.
Xu Shiqi still kept her mouth shut. She felt that if she opened her mouth, she might say something irrational like "You stay" or "Take me with you". Why is it so hard to separate? In fact, it won't be long at all. They haven't seen each other for two days and she didn't feel such a sense of loss. But she still kept her mouth shut. The girl could easily influence her, and she knew that she could also easily influence the girl.
Wen Jialuo put his lips close to the phone, sighed, then picked up the phone and hung up.
In the first two days after Wen Jialuo left, Xu Shiqi often heard her sigh in her dreams, which made her toss and turn and unable to fall asleep. When she woke up, fireworks were bright outside the house, and she didn't know which one was setting off. Because the family prepared a lot of cigarettes for the New Year, she took a pack and put it in the house. Originally, she thought that after the girl left, she would be more empty and lonely than before, so she would smoke a cigarette and miss the girl's face in the smoke. But when she thought of things like second-hand smoke, she decided not to smoke again.
She took out all the cigarettes, tore them open, and poured the tobacco leaves onto a piece of white paper. Then she opened the window and blew a breath outside.
The tobacco leaves were blown away, carrying with them a strong burnt aroma, and then no one knew where they would fall.
Later, the girl called and her voice was normal, and Xu Shiqi gradually felt relieved. She was afraid that she had hurt the girl's heart by not even saying goodbye, but she didn't dare to indulge herself, so she could only be sweet in torment and torment in sweetness.
But she didn't have much time to think about Wen Jialuo. The New Year had arrived and all the relatives were out and about. She suddenly became the target of gossip at the dinner table, and she had to deal with exhausting things wherever she went.
My aunt said that women are most beautiful at the age of 25. After that, even the leaves that set off their beauty begin to wither. Shiqi, you are one year older and it is time for you to find a husband.
My second aunt said that we should take our time to live our lives and look for a husband, but we have to have this idea in mind. It’s okay for you to start picking slowly now, but if it’s too late, you can only pick what others have left and will be picked up by those who have left.
At this time, Wang Yuan, who had a backer, was particularly bold in speaking out. She had seen her daughter come back from the hot spring with a happy look on her face, but after several inquiries, it seemed that she did not have a boyfriend as she wished. Now she listened and nodded in agreement, and hurriedly added that while we are still young, you should get married and have children as soon as possible, and then live your life as you want. Don't worry about the children, we will help you take care of them. When you are a few years old, we will be old and can't take care of the children, so don't blame your mother for not being a good grandmother.
Xu Shiqi nodded frequently while eating chicken, duck, fish, vegetables and radish. She swallowed the food like wax and pretended to enjoy the food. The wax soaked in her stomach, smelling sour, making her feel uncomfortable. Her mother wanted nothing else but to help her take care of the child and reduce her burden. This wholehearted love only made her feel more heavy on her shoulders, and even her back felt a little hunched.
When she returned home and saw that the plates of cacti on the desk had been replaced with nine brightly blooming red roses, she almost couldn't breathe.
Wang Yuan followed her, carefully watching her daughter's expression, and said with a smile: "I heard that this flower symbolizes love. I hope it can bring you a good marriage in the new year."
Xu Shiqi walked forward and looked at the flower in silence, then gently touched the thorns under the flower. "Mom, my love has arrived, but how can I use it to pierce your heart and make it bleed?"
Although she couldn't see her daughter's expression, she could feel that she was not in a very good mood. Wang Yuan guessed that she was pushing her daughter too far and she didn't even say a word.
Xu Zhongda followed behind, smoking and watching, pulling Wang Yuan and winking. After the couple went out, they talked in a low voice. Xu Shiqi couldn't hear clearly, but she also knew that she would gradually become a source of worry for them. In fact, she always believed that mother and daughter were connected by heart. Even if her mother didn't really understand what she was thinking, she could sense that she was really indifferent to marriage and had no idea about it. It was because of this intuition that she would test her again and again.
Later, when visiting relatives, Xu Shiqi simply did not sit at the table. She simply served herself some rice and dishes, went outside to play with the children of the relatives, watched them eat, and then slipped into the kitchen to help with some chores. Before leaving, she said goodbye to the elders respectfully, said goodbye to her brothers and sisters politely, pinched the children's faces one by one, and waved goodbye with a smile.
No one could see her true thoughts. In fact, she spent every Chinese New Year like this. But as she got older, some things that were taken for granted became urgent.