Xunnu stood in front of the hotel window, looking at the endless stream of people and cars below. This was a world he had never seen before. Even though he had been here for a day, he still felt amazed. He had learned to use a knife since he was a child, and his heart was tough. If not for this, he would have been frightened by these things he had never seen before.
There was some noise behind him, Xun Nu turned his head and saw Tang Li sitting up on the big bed.
"Xun Nu." Tang Li put on her bathrobe and walked behind Xun Nu, leaning on his shoulder, watching the traffic and people outside with him.
"Is this your previous world?" Xunnu's voice was hoarser and deeper than that of most people, and he was particularly gentle when speaking to Tang Li, which was very seductive.
Tang Li said with some regret and nostalgia: "Yes, my relatives and friends are all here." After she finished speaking, she hugged Xun Nu's waist and said, "I want to take you to see them, okay?"
"Okay, I'll accompany you." Xunnu held her hand, his dark eyes full of tenderness.
They came to this world yesterday because before that, Tang Li and several other people completed a mysterious game. The mysterious gift for completing the game was that she could return to her original world with her lover and live there for seven days.
The next day, Tang Li decided to take Xun Nu back to see her mother.
In this world, Tang Li's body is from another world, and so is Xun Nu. He has long hair, and wears trousers and a shirt. He still has a strange classical temperament. Even without a knife in his hand, his aura is as sharp as a knife. In fact, he is not like this on weekdays, but he is not familiar with this world, so he is inevitably nervous and wants to protect Tang Li. This is a subconscious reaction.
Tang Li held his hand all the time. They left the hotel. Xun Nu stared at the elevator for a long time. When the elevator started, he protected Tang Li in the corner.
Tang Li leaned against his chest and laughed softly.
Xunnu lowered his head: "It's too dangerous."
They walked on the street, and every time a car approached, Xun Nu would pull Tang Li away from those steel monsters that he didn't understand. Tang Li let him pull her and explained everything on the roadside. He was handsome, and the bold girls on the roadside couldn't help but look at him, then look at Tang Li next to him, and then whisper: "That couple is a couple, my god, so handsome!"
Xunnu walked to the side of the road and saw the poster on the bus stop sign, and suddenly stopped.
Tang Li: "What's wrong?"
Xunnu said: "I have seen this person before. He has also appeared in that strange world."
Tang Li looked at the poster. It showed a star named Xi Shaoyuan. She didn't pay much attention to stars or the entertainment industry, but she seemed to have seen this face on TV before. She smiled and continued walking forward, "Then the friends I met in that world should also be here."
The hotel she chose was not far from her home, so they walked there and bought some fruits and gifts when they were almost there. Tang Li didn't plan to tell her mother that she was Tang Li, but only planned to visit her as Tang Li's friend. In this case, of course she had to prepare gifts.
Tang Li's parents divorced early, and her mother lives alone now. Her family lives in an old residential area. All the residents moved there from the same place and have known each other for decades. If anything happens to one family, the whole community will know about it.
A few years ago, Tang's mother's daughter died in a car accident and Tang's mother was hospitalized. Apart from Tang Li's friends, the people who took care of her were the neighbors in the community on good terms. Now, a few years have passed, Tang's mother has recovered a lot and her life is back on track. When Tang Li brought Xun Nu to her house, she saw Tang's mother playing mahjong with a few aunts in the community.
"Who are you looking for?"
"I'm visiting Aunt Tang Shuyun."
"Shuyun, you have guests at home!" The old woman who was sitting there basking in the sun called out, and Tang Li saw her mother sticking her head out and looking at her with a puzzled expression.
Tang Li's home was on the third floor. The house was very clean. Tang's mother poured them tea and sat on the sofa.
"You said you were my daughter's friend, but I don't think I've seen you before?" Tang's mother asked curiously. She looked at Tang Li. She had never seen her before, but for some reason she had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Tang Li: "I was abroad before, quite far away, and never had the chance to come. I recently returned to China for some business, so I remembered to visit my aunt." She introduced Xun Nu beside her to Tang's mother, "This is my husband."
Tang's mother looked at Xunnu carefully and said, "Oh, you are married, do you have children?"
Tang Li nodded, "There are two children."
Tang's mother nodded repeatedly: "Okay, girls should get married early, but Tang Li is just... Alas." She sighed.
Tang Li sat opposite her, without showing any strangeness, nor did she make any comment on her words. She just gently comforted her and listened to her talk about things like raising a husband and children. Like every middle-aged mother, she was keen to ask about family, children and work. She was always like this, and Tang Li had long been accustomed to it. She and her mother received different educations and grew up in different environments, so she could not understand each other, nor could she live according to each other's wishes, but her greatest kindness to this mother was patience.
In the afternoon, Tang Li politely said goodbye.
When they left, Tang's mother looked at their disappearing backs, feeling inexplicably lost.
"If you can't bear to let her go, we can come to visit her every day. You can also tell her that you are her daughter, and maybe she will feel better." Xunnu held her hand and walked on the street as night fell.
Tang Li shook her head and said softly, "There's no need to disturb her current life, and there's no need to tell her my identity. If I really tell her, it won't be a good thing. Not only will she not be happy, but she'll probably be restless for the rest of her life."
She looked at the night sky which was completely different from Xunnu's world. "My mother was a stubborn woman. She wanted to control her husband and daughter all her life, but my father didn't want that, so he left her. From then on, she became more nervous about me. She would ask about everything about me. If I wanted to learn something or do something and she thought it was not good, she would cry and make me obey her. If I didn't want to do something she wanted me to do, she would do the same. She often said that I couldn't live without her as a mother."
Having said that, Tang Li suddenly smiled.
"But she is wrong. She can't live without me because no one else can tolerate her temper. I am the only thing she has." Her tone was a little strange. At this point, her tone changed and became gentle again. "Xunnu, you must be hungry. I will take you to eat something delicious."
When she said she was going to visit her mother, she really just went to visit her mother. She didn't say or do anything much, and even acted a little ruthless, which was completely different from her usual gentleness.
In addition to visiting her mother, she also went to see her father. This time she didn't go over to talk to him, she just took a look and then took Xunnu to a nearby store for lunch.
What she does most often these days is to take Xunnu around to eat different dishes.
"This shop was once opened by me and my friend, and I used to be a chef here." On the fourth day, Tang Li took Xun Nu to meet her former friend.
They walked into the restaurant, and Tang Li found that the interior decoration had changed, the chefs had changed, but the menu was mostly the same. She ordered a few dishes and spent an hour here, whispering to Xun Nu about what she had done here before.
The friend who opened the store with her would come over every afternoon at 6pm, and this habit has not changed. Tang Li saw her. She drove over and sat at the front desk waiting for a plate of fried rice. She loved it. When the store first opened, business was not good, and friends came to support them. Everyone sat at the bar and talked and laughed.
Tang Li pulled Xun Nu over and smiled at the friend who was smoking a cigarette and browsing his phone, "Zhao Yi."
Zhao Yi looked up at her with a puzzled look. She didn't know Tang Li in front of her.
"I'm Tang Li's friend." Tang Li repeated her excuse for returning to China. "I visited Aunt Tang and she told me that when she went to the hospital, you found someone to take care of her and gave her all of Tang Li's commission from this store. Thank you."
Zhao Yi laughed and shook his head, "Why are you thanking me? I'm her friend, and it's my duty to do this. It's not just me, other friends are the same."
Tang Li nodded: "Yes, she told me that the happiest thing in her life is to have friends like you."
Zhao Yi stared at her and tilted his head. "Why do I feel like you're weird? Are you really Tang Li's friend? Why can't I remember her talking about you?"
Tang Li smiled but said nothing. She pointed to the kitchen in the store and said, "I can cook too. Can I make you some fried rice?"
Zhao Yi looked into her gentle eyes and agreed to it. Tang Li went into the kitchen. About ten minutes later, she came out with fried rice, put it in front of Zhao Yi, wiped her hands and said, "Eat slowly, we'll leave first."
She and Xunnu left together. Zhao Yi sat there, put out her cigarette, picked up the spoon and started eating fried rice. She took two bites and suddenly stopped, with some disbelief in her eyes. She took several more bites carefully, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes. She threw down the spoon and ran out of the store shouting, "Tang Wanzi! Wanzi?"
The two people disappeared from the street. Although they looked completely different, Zhao Yi felt that they were her best friend Tang Li. She stood outside for a while, then went back to eat the fried rice that tasted special and familiar. She was willing to have this beautiful fantasy that her good friend was not dead, but was just living in a different form in a corner of this world.
"My friends have given me more support and understanding than my family." Tang Li heard Zhao Yi calling from behind, but she did not look back. She still held Xun Nu's hand and walked towards the dimly lit street. "The Tang Li of this world has long gone and can no longer return to them. Fortunately, they are all doing well and I don't need to worry about them anymore."
Reunions are rare in life, but separations are common.
Xunnu: "Let's go home, the children are still waiting for me."
Tang Li: "Well, let's go home. I miss them too."
They held hands and their figures slowly disappeared in this busy modern city.
(over)
The author has something to say: This is a side story requested by a girl. She wanted Tang Li and Xun Nu to travel back to the modern era, and then Li Li would take Xun Xun to recognize various modern items, and then take Xun Xun to meet relatives and friends (pay attention, the mom who always urges her to get married~). The side story may be different from what I wrote, but I can only write it the way I want to write it.
I feel very sorry about the story of Tang Li and Xun Nu, as I was not able to expand it. Many of the settings are in my mind and I cannot write them out. I feel very sorry for them.
However, this article is finally finished. See you in the next one.
Do you want to read the new article "Offering Salted Fish to Master"