[Tao: I walked for an hour, how come I am still full?]
[hr: Little Bear doesn’t know.jpg]
[hr: I sit on the bed and watch TV! ]
[hr: Not good looking.]
Tao Zhiyue subconsciously glanced at the TV. It turned out that Huo Ran was sitting in the same place as him, also playing with his phone with the TV as background music.
[Tao: I don’t think it looks good either.]
[Tao: Where are we going to play tomorrow?]
[hr: Confidential!]
[hr: Oh, I forgot to show you the picture of breakfast.]
[hr: I’ll send it to you now!]
Huo Ran immediately sent a lot of pictures, including everything from fried dough sticks, porridge to glutinous rice balls. Tao Zhiyue was dazzled by the pictures.
He was so moved that he couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.
[Tao: You really ate a lot this morning...]
[hr: !!!]
[hr: I exercised this morning! I won’t get fat!]
[hr: I have abs! ]
[Tao: Pass the Coke to the boss.jpg]
[Tao: Let me take a look.]
The moment it was sent, Tao Zhiyue immediately discovered the ambiguity and quickly corrected it.
[Tao: It’s breakfast!]
[Tao: Which one do you like to eat?]
[Tao: No, you will definitely say you like to eat them all.]
[hr: I love them all!]
[hr: Ah, I was discovered.]
[hr: cat giggles.jpg]
So Tao Zhiyue also laughed foolishly along with the emoticon, and looked carefully at the photos he sent.
Among a pile of delicate-looking foods, Tao Zhiyue's eyes were immediately attracted by a brown pancake.
The cake is golden and brown in color, with uneven horizontal stripes on the surface, which coincidentally form a funny ugly face.
He forwarded this picture.
[Tao: I want to eat this.]
[hr: This is a sugar-coated pancake, very delicious! ]
[hr: But it’s sweet, very sweet, would you like it?]
[Tao: Eat!]
[Tao: This one is the ugliest, very cute.]
[hr: OK.]
[hr: Let’s line up together to buy it tomorrow. It tastes best when it’s fresh out of the pot. The one I ate today is already cold.]
[hr: And the people behind will be very greedy when they see it.]
[hr: Little Bear Spinning.gif]
This person is so childish.
Tao Zhiyue couldn't help laughing, then he changed his mind and felt that he was just as childish as he was chatting with the other person on the phone through a wall.
As a result, they chatted childishly across the wall all night long, and even rolled dice at each other for ten minutes.
We chatted until we were so sleepy that we fell asleep holding the phone.
The next morning, the two of them sat side by side on the bus, and the scenery outside the window passed by like flowing light.
Although he had not slept for long, Tao Zhiyue did not feel sleepy at all. He held his backpack and looked at everything outside the window curiously. It seemed that even the world in front of him seemed a little brighter.
The urban style of Yanping is completely different from that of northern Shanxi. People walking on the streets are in a hurry and can often see quaint and elegant historical buildings.
Although he had been in Yanping when he first arrived, he had never paid attention to anything here.
Huo Ran noticed his gaze and immediately came over to introduce it to him.
"That is the old city wall built 3,000 years ago. You can't go up there now. When I was very young, I lived nearby and would come here every day to play in the mud."
"Yanping has changed a lot over the years, every year, every day."
As he spoke, Huo Ran began to solicit customers enthusiastically, "So you can come here often, there will always be new scenery."
The breath brushing against my ears was so hot that even my heart was itching.
Tao Zhiyue smiled and said, "I will."
Now he doesn't need to escape from anyone or anything, maybe one day in the future he will move back.
According to yesterday's plan, Huo Ran took him to eat Chou Chou's sugar-coated oil pancake. It was a big, dark brown, fluffy pancake. When Tao Zhiyue took a bite, it was so sweet that his tongue almost melted.
delicious.
Tao Zhiyue never thought that extremely sweet food could be so delicious.
He and Huo Ran were standing at the door of the store and eating happily. The people queuing behind them really showed envious expressions, eagerly leaning their heads into the oil pan, counting how many pieces needed to be fried before it was their turn.
So they looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
For the rest of the time, Huo Ran accompanied him to the two most famous attractions in Yanping, took a quick look at the amazing flow of people in the capital, and then had an exquisite lunch in the luxurious sky restaurant on the tallest building in the city.
Tao Zhiyue felt that he was probably the only adult who came here to eat with a backpack.
And at some point, Huo Ran took the backpack away without leaving any trace.
Huo Ran was very curious about his backpack the whole way. "What's in it? It's quite heavy, but I didn't see you open it all morning."
Tao Zhiyue used the same rhetoric, "Keep it a secret. Where are we going this afternoon?"
He booked a flight back to northern Shanxi in the evening, so he could only have a simple dinner before heading to the airport.
Huo Ran hesitated for a moment and answered honestly: "I want to take you to a very special museum this afternoon."
Tao Zhiyue was a little surprised, "Museum?"
"It's not the kind that many people visit." Huo Ran tried to explain, "No one else has been there, I don't know if you will like it."
"But I hope you like it."
It was not until he got off the car and walked a long way that he saw quiet and elegant villas at the end of his sight, and then Tao Zhiyue gradually reacted.
This is probably a wealthy area, very quiet, each villa is far apart and has its own independent garden, the environment is beautiful and pleasant.
Huo Ran took him to one of the houses. The yard was filled with lush green sycamore trees, which swayed in the breeze, casting mottled light and shadows.
Tao Zhiyue even spoke very softly, for fear of disturbing the peaceful atmosphere.
“It’s beautiful here.”
Huo Ran became visibly nervous. He took a deep breath and walked to the door.
"It's not really a museum, I'm just kidding."
At the moment before opening the door, Huo Ran began to patch it up, "It's just my own collection, but I really want you to see it..."
Infected by his mood, Tao Zhiyue also became nervous and didn't dare to blink.
Then the next second, the door was gently pushed open and he saw the most gorgeous and unique scenery.
The first floor should have been the living room, but it was filled with several rows of log-colored display cabinets filled with all kinds of strange and quirky gadgets, which were dazzling and colorful.
"I used to go out and play whenever I had a holiday. I have been to many countries and cities. I have unforgettable memories in every place and always wanted to leave souvenirs. Gradually, I have accumulated so many."
Huo Ran whispered beside him.
Tao Zhiyue's attention was deeply attracted. He held his breath and walked in lightly.
He looked through them carefully, one by one. There were exquisite woodcuts, shiny silverware, carefully stacked foreign-language train tickets, and amber frozen in time...
Several boxes were filled with colorful wooden nesting dolls, some very beautiful, some strange-looking, arranged in neat rows.
Huo Ran kept watching his gaze. Seeing him stop here, he explained a little embarrassedly: "This one is very cute. I couldn't help it and bought a lot... Even the ugly ones are cute."
"When I finally returned to China, my suitcase was filled with these round nesting dolls. When I took a photo, they looked like a few black lumps. When I went through security, the security officer even asked me to open them for inspection."
"As soon as I opened the box, they came over to look and found that it was full of colorful nesting dolls. They were shocked. Maybe it was too strange, so they opened them one by one, thinking that there was something hidden inside... I was so embarrassed that day."
Tao Zhiyue was very happy to hear this, with smiles on his face.
In the past, he was busy studying and furthering his education. After he finally graduated, he got a job directly after his internship. After that, he was always very busy and hardly traveled.
But today, he saw many souvenirs that he had only seen in travel magazines before, as well as stories unique to Huo Ran.
In the next cabinet there is a very delicate little polymer clay house with a white castle-like appearance, a sky blue semicircular roof and doors and windows, and a small white cross on the roof.
There was also a photo next to it. In the photo, Huo Ran was smiling brightly and looked younger than he is now. Behind him was a blue and white building that looked exactly like the polymer clay ornaments, and the azure blue sea.
"This was taken in Santorini. The stall owner was very smart. He sold polymer clay souvenirs in the busiest little square. If you bought them, he would take a photo of you in front of the building. It happened to be the same as the decorations he was selling. I thought it was fun, so I bought it."
“It’s really beautiful there, like something out of a fairy tale.”
Then he added very quietly, "If there is a chance, I would like to go with you once."
When Tao Zhiyue heard it, his ears began to turn red as usual, so he pretended not to hear it.
He looked at every collection that Huo Ran had placed here very attentively, as if he wanted to memorize every detail.
There are not only cute and exquisite souvenirs, but also many weird things.
Tao Zhiyue saw a red and yellow can sealed in a transparent bag with a simple fish drawn on it.
"Is this... canned herrings?"
"Yes, because it's so special." Huo Ran said embarrassedly, "No, don't worry, it's washed very clean and sealed in a bag, so there won't be any bad smell."
Hearing his words, Tao Zhiyue couldn't help but pick it up and smell it.
Huo Ran had an expression that said, "As expected, if you put it that way, I will definitely pick it up and smell it."
Tao Zhiyue glared at him, and then saw a straw hat decorated with plastic flowers on the display shelf behind him. It had a very tropical feel, but it was a little old.
“Did you buy this too?”
He walked over curiously to take a look, and there seemed to be a scent of sea breeze lingering on it.
"Yes, the sun was so strong on the beach that day, and many people were wearing them. The one I bought was already the simplest one, and I hadn't thought of bringing it back. I just wanted to temporarily block the sun."
As Huo Ran spoke, he remembered something and described it with a vivid expression.
“I bought this straw hat, covered my face with it, and took a nap on a beach chair. When the sun got a little bit smaller, I went to ride my bike on the beach.”
"While riding, a strong wind suddenly blew and I forgot to tie the windproof rope, so the straw hat was blown away in an instant."
"It was rolling on the road and running forward at the same time. I chased it on my bike for a long time before the wind finally stopped."
"After I picked it up, even though it became a little dirty, I couldn't bear to throw it away because I had snatched it back from the wind."
"It was too big and easy to break, so it was hard to put in the suitcase, so I just wore it all the way back. People kept looking at me and laughing at me along the way."
So Tao Zhiyue also smiled. The scene described by Huo Ran seemed to really appear in front of his eyes: the scorching sun and the soft sandy beach, the tall coconut trees, and the salty sea breeze that suddenly blew away the straw hat with the flower on it.
He spent the entire afternoon touring this most special museum, listening to Huo Ran's patient chatter.
All of Huo Ran's unforgettable memories of the vast world, whether good or bad, no matter how trivial, are carefully stored here.
So here he saw a world he had never seen before.
Tao Zhiyue remembered what Huo Ran had said before, so he responded seriously: "I like it very much, thank you."
Huo Ran breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes shining: "Fortunately you like it."
"Because... I have something else to tell you."
At this moment, the sun was setting, and the pale golden light passed through the window eaves, gently falling on them, and tiny specks of dust were dancing in the beam of light.
Tao Zhiyue raised his head slightly and looked at the man in front of him who was starting to get nervous again.
"Here are all the things I like. I thought maybe you would be interested in some of them, and then I could go with you, like I did when we picked out breakfast yesterday."
"I also prepared something you like." Huo Ran looked at the sycamore tree outside the window, whose leaves were gently shaking. "It was transplanted here a few days ago, and it's growing well."
"In autumn, the leaves will turn golden yellow, just like your profile picture."
“I really hope that by then, this room will contain more than just my memories.”
Finally, he mustered up his courage, looked at the other person, and uttered those four most solemn words.
"I like you."
In the quiet air of the sun, the setting sun made a sound, burning the clouds in the sky fiercely.
Tao Zhiyue was in a daze for a long time.
This time he did not blush, but just stared at the person in front of him for a long time, as if to confirm whether this was an illusion.
It was not until Huo Ran became nervous that his soft voice was heard.
"Actually, I also have a gift I want to give you, but the day is almost over and I haven't found the opportunity to give it to you yet."
"Because this gift is very small and ordinary, and you have secretly taken it away."
Huo Ran then turned his head and looked at the backpack that he had forgotten to take off.
"In here?"
His eyes were full of anticipation.
Tao Zhiyue couldn't take his eyes off him no matter what. He nodded, and the world before his eyes was filled with the image of this person.
After getting his confirmation, Huo Ran immediately unzipped his backpack and saw a transparent glass jar.
He picked it up and saw that it was filled with colorful paper stars.
"I also want to bring you something you like, and then tell you that I like you, which will seem more sincere."
"But I don't know you well enough to know what you like, so I got drunk on purpose the night before yesterday. I thought I could think back to the day I was also drunk and remember if you told me anything that day."
"Unfortunately no, I failed, and the paper I prepared in advance was blank."
Tao Zhiyue looked at him and smiled, with the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"I don't remember exactly what I did that night."
"But when I woke up the next day, I walked into the living room and saw the dining table was covered with confetti and folded stars."
"Maybe it's because I remember very clearly that night when we walked out of the hot pot restaurant, you looked at the night sky and said there were no stars tonight."
"Even when I was drunk I remembered this, so I prepared this childish gift for you."
In the forgotten memory of the previous night after he sobered up, Tao Zhiyue stubbornly walked out of the door while sending exclamation marks to Huo Ran.
He returned to the 24-hour convenience store and asked the boss to find the colorful long strips of origami that only children would buy. He then staggered back on his own shadow, and sent messages to Huo Ran every few minutes to report that he was safe.
In the long and silent night, he sat upright at the dining table with a red face. Accompanied by the Cupid that was pasted back on the wall, he folded long pieces of colored paper into small stars one after another.
No one knew what happened that night, not even Tao Zhiyue himself.
But he was very sure that this must be the gift he prepared for Huo Ran.
Huo Ran was still in shock, looking down at the glass bottle full of stars.
Tao Zhiyue kept looking at him, and the sunlight cast a light golden shadow on him.
So he vaguely remembered that this kind of sky was very similar to the evening when the fog had dissipated two weeks ago.
At that time, he gazed at the setting sun and waited quietly.
Now, he has waited.