47
Zhou Jun looked at Meng Shuyu motionlessly. After a while, he nodded calmly.
Meng Shuyu thought he would see expressions of disbelief, disbelief, and sighing on his face.
In the end, I only saw it on his face - you are worthy of it.
"Then can restarting fix it?" Zhou Jun accepted it quickly.
"If it restarts quickly, it should..." Meng Shuyu blinked, "There's a chance, right?"
"I see." Zhou Jun glanced and smiled, "But I may have to stay in Beicheng for one more day. I didn't finish talking with Lan Chen last night, and I made an appointment with Mr. Cheng to meet again tonight."
According to the original itinerary, they should have returned home this afternoon.
Meng Shuyu uttered a low "ah": "Then you don't need me to go with you?"
"It's a private game, so there's no need for an assistant," Zhou Jun hissed softly, "A girlfriend is fine, but isn't this a rollback?"
"… "
"Who wants to go with you? I don't have time to go home for a big dinner!" Meng Shuyu snorted coldly and went to close the door, but stopped halfway and looked at him hesitantly, "... You know where I go to this weekend, right?"
Zhou Jun suppressed his laughter and nodded: "I know."
"Okay, then go on your way." Meng Shuyu took one last look at him and closed the door.
As soon as the door closed, I couldn't help but glance at the door mirror.
When she looked up, she saw Zhou Jun standing outside, smiling at her door.
"… "
Meng Shuyu, what joke did you just tell
Well, if you tell them that you can restart "quickly", there is a chance.
I also specifically asked people if they knew where you were this weekend.
You might as well tell him directly that you can't wait to hear his confession right away.
Meng Shuyu lowered his head, leaned his forehead against the door, and closed his eyes.
It's not about the wine.
It's her problem.
Whether she was drunk or sober, she wanted to fall in love with Zhou Jun.
After finishing the half-day trip, Meng Shuyu and Zhou Jun parted ways at the hotel in the afternoon, and went to Beicheng Airport in the car arranged by the forum organizer.
Originally, Meng Shuyu was a little worried in the morning. Zhou Jun had a conflict with Wei Mingzhi from Mei'anzhi's family last night. He was worried that the matter would spread and become a big deal today, or that Wei Mingzhi would come up with a back-up plan.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the venue early in the morning, Wei Mingzhi came over and apologized to Zhou Jun.
Only then did Meng Shuyu realize that the Zhou family had shares in Mei An, and that Wei Mingzhi, Mei An's second-in-command, was promoted to the position by the Zhou family.
In short, Wei Mingzhi listens to the Zhou family very much—of course, the Zhou family members except Zhou Jun.
That's why he came to pick a fight with her and Zhou Jun last night at the instruction of Zhou Jun's brother.
But the way he apologized today didn't seem like Zhou Jun's brother's style at all.
Meng Shuyu thought that maybe Zhou Jun's parents heard about this matter. Thinking that it was ultimately a feud between the two brothers and that family disgrace should not be made public, they stepped forward to put an end to this little episode.
However, Zhou Jun obviously didn't care about Wei Mingzhi's apology, nor did he show the slightest emotion towards his parents' actions.
What kind of family is this
With nothing to do while waiting for the flight at the airport, Meng Shuyu used his mobile phone to search for information about Yuanyu Real Estate and the Zhou family.
Of course, although information is becoming more transparent in the era of big data, when it comes to capital, most of the information disclosed is still what capital wants the public to see.
So apart from the visible decline in Yuanyu Real Estate's stock price and shrinking market value in recent years, Meng Shuyu did not find any other private negative news.
Meng Shuyu swiped the screen, looking at the relevant reports of Yuanyu Real Estate, and his fingertips slid to the name of Zhou Jun's brother and suddenly paused—
Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun's brother is Zhou Jun.
There was nothing strange about the name when looking at it with eyes, but when reading it in his mind, Meng Shuyu always felt that something was wrong.
The "jun" in Zhou Jun can be pronounced as jun or juan. Although Zhou Jun used the pronunciation juan, it is a polyphonetic character after all. Outsiders may misread it as jun if they have not confirmed it.
In this case, the pronunciation is exactly the same as the character "Jun" in Zhou Jun's name.
How could any parents name their two sons like this
Meng Shuyu suddenly remembered that she and Zhou Jun had taken the wrong cell phones, and when she received a call from Zhou Jun's grandmother, the person on the other end was not Xiao Juan, but Xiao Jun.
Grandma also said that she had a bad memory and she couldn’t change it because she was used to it.
So Zhou Jun's name was once pronounced as jun
Isn't that even weirder...
With a bunch of questions in mind, Meng Shuyu boarded the flight back to Nanhuai in confusion.
At around seven o'clock in the evening, Meng Shuyu landed safely at Nanhuai Airport.
As soon as she turned on the phone, she saw the message from Zhou Jun, asking her to report that she was safe.
There was still some distance from the airport to home, so she acted as a robot to report safety all the way—
Report, Mr. Meng has landed.
Report, Mr. Meng is getting in the car.
Report, Mr. Meng got off the car.
Report, Mr. Meng is home and is going to have a big dinner. He will ignore you.
On the other end, Zhou Jun went from "Okay, get in the car and give me the license plate number", "Okay, don't fall asleep in the car", "Okay, don't play with your phone while walking", to the last message, he couldn't reply with "Okay", so he just sent "Yeah".
Meng Shuyu sat in front of a table full of delicious dishes and studied the word "hmm" on the screen for a long time.
I tasted a bit of grievance.
Thinking that Zhou Jun had been a tool for her to chat and entertain herself along the way, but she ignored him as soon as she got home, it seemed a bit unfair.
Then she should be a little less rude and take a photo of the delicious food and send it to him.
“Ahem!”
Just as she raised her phone, she was interrupted by her father's cough. Meng Shuyu looked up and found that she had been stared at for a long time.
Meng Zhouping frowned at Meng Shuyu.
It's a rare opportunity to go home, and I can't even eat in peace, as if I'm in Cao's camp but my heart is with Han.
It was exactly the same as the trip we took during the National Day holiday.
It can even be said that it is even worse than before.
Although Meng Shuyu didn't hear how many flowery words her father cursed in his heart, she could tell from his expression. She put down her phone, laughed, picked up her chopsticks and said, "Let's eat. I won't reply to work messages."
"Work news? Didn't your Chinese teacher teach you what the phrase 'to conceal one's own faults' means?" Meng Zhouping sneered, "Last time Li Dong was supposed to come back, but he said he had a temporary job. I think you made that up, didn't you?"
"What? Dad?" Meng Shuyu complained. "I really did have a job that time!"
Meng Zhouping raised his chin towards Fang Manzhen: "Did you hear that? She said that time was true, which means that what happened just now was false."
"… "
"Mom, my dad is so picky about words. You must be tired of living with him for so many years, huh?"
"Isn't it? Talking to your dad is like sweeping a mine." Fang Manzhen glanced at the angry Meng Zhouping, then softened her attitude and said to Meng Shuyu, "I think you inherited your picky personality from your dad."
"How can I be as picky as my dad?"
Meng Zhouping: "Aren't you picky enough about words when looking for a partner? You complain that this one can't talk, that one can't talk, and everyone you mention can't talk. I think you should just find a mute. If they really can't talk, maybe you won't be picky!"
"Didn't you make me read so many books since I was a child? I have developed my literary qualities, but I just feel childish when I hear them talking..." Meng Shuyu picked up the food with chopsticks and suddenly changed the subject, "But it's okay now, right? I don't think people have to speak in a particularly nice way..."
Meng Zhouping sighed at Fang Manzhen, "Did you hear that? When your daughter feels that she doesn't need to be spoken nicely, it means she is about to be deceived again."
Meng Shuyu: “…”
Meng Shuyu was not worried this time, as she felt that Zhou Jun's recent behavior did not seem like he was lying to her.
But after all, it was just the finishing touch. When Meng Zhouping said this, she suddenly thought of a dramatic technique often used in literary works: once the protagonist's joy reaches its extreme, he will inevitably turn into sorrow.
Especially after dinner, she saw Zhou Jun sent a message saying that he had gone to a dinner party and would finish late, and asked her to go to bed first as he was sleepy. She realized that she was waiting for his message again.
It was normal for Zhou Jun to have a meeting, and it was also normal that he was not convenient to use his mobile phone during the meeting. If he still took the time to chat with her at this time, she would dislike him for not doing his job properly.
There was nothing unusual about Zhou Jun. Meng Shuyu just felt that the situation was damn similar to the time when he was at home during the National Day holiday.
She would come home after a long and tiring journey and see a table full of delicious food, immersed in a pink bubble, even taking photos of Zhou Jun while eating, and then being criticized by her father. Zhou Jun was out of town, so she would hold her phone and wait for his news.
Why is there such an ominous atmosphere
Will Zhou Jun return to Nanhuai to find her on time this time
Once bitten by a snake, you will be superstitious for ten years. After taking a bath and watching TV for two hours with his parents, Meng Shuyu returned to the room. He couldn't wait for Zhou Jun to finish his work and didn't want to sleep, so he lay on the bed and watched entertainment news on his mobile phone to pass the time.
As I watched this, I couldn't help feeling sleepy.
Meng Shuyu held his eyelids open and held the phone in a daze. He didn't know what time it was when he felt a vibration in his palm.
Her eyes lit up and she looked at the screen intently. Sure enough, it was a message from Zhou Jun. She clicked on it to see—
Zhou Jun: I can’t come to Nanhuai on the weekend.
Meng Shuyu was stunned and typed: Why can't I come? I told you to restart quickly to fix it!
Zhou Jun: Forget it, let’s not repair it.
Meng Shuyu held the phone for a long time without coming to his senses. When he came to his senses, he stared at the four words "Forget it then". His nose felt sore and tears flowed down without warning.
With warmth filling her eyes, Meng Shuyu sobbed bitterly. Looking at the phone in her palm which was no longer moving, she angrily threw it away.
With a "bang", the cell phone fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Meng Shuyu opened his eyes with a start.
When I opened my eyes, I found that the phone with a black screen was still in my hand.
Meng Shuyu looked at the ceiling light in the room that was still on, touched his wet cheek, and hesitantly unlocked his phone.
Four unread messages popped up—
I'm done here. Have you slept yet
Fell asleep
I let you sleep first if you are sleepy, but I didn’t let you sleep without telling me.
Good night.
There were several minutes between each message, just like the stubborn monologue of a man who came home from overtime and found no one waiting for him at home.
Meng Shuyu stared blankly at Zhou Jun's four messages and flipped through them.
There is no such thing as “I can’t come to Nanhuai this weekend” or “Forget it”
She accidentally fell asleep and didn’t receive the real message from Zhou Jun, but received the fake message in her dream...
Meng Shuyu breathed a sigh of relief.
But I did breathe a sigh of relief, but the anger and sadness, the despair that was about to explode were brought out from the dream, lingering in my heart and lingering for a long time.
It was so real, so real that it felt like she had fallen in love again.
How could she have such a sad dream...
As Meng Shuyu was thinking, tears began to fall for no apparent reason. She looked at the dialog box on the screen and made a voice call directly.
The call was connected quickly, and before Zhou Jun could speak, Meng Shuyu called out "Zhou Jun" in a crying voice.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Zhou Jun paused and then spoke quickly.
"Something bad happened..." Meng Shuyu sobbed, "I had a nightmare..."
There was silence for a while, and then Zhou Jun's relieved voice came: "Meng Shuyu, can you talk about the situation first and then cry? This is the first time I know that I may have a heart disease."
"You still blame me..." Meng Shuyu sniffed and sat up from the bed, "Do you know what you did in my dream?"
"I—" Zhou Jun hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively, "I cheated?"
"You wish for it. You haven't had the chance to cheat yet!" Meng Shuyu said with full energy, and then his voice became softer. "You told me you wouldn't come, you said forget it, you actually said forget it..."
Zhou Jun took a few seconds to roughly understand what she meant, and said with a sigh and a smile: "Why wouldn't I come? I've already booked an early flight."
"I don't care. Anyway, you haven't come yet, and I just dreamed about it..."
Zhou Jun's voice in the receiver became quieter, as if he had moved the phone further away: "… Is there an earlier flight? Is it too late to check in now? It doesn't matter, economy class is fine."
Meng Shuyu checked the time and quickly interrupted him: "Hey Zhou Jun!"
"Hmm?" Zhou Jun brought his phone closer again.
"I'm kidding you. It's almost twelve o'clock. Tomorrow's early morning flight is very tight. Why are you still trying to catch a midnight flight?"
Zhou Jun was laughing: "What if you cry?"
"I... I'm fine. I'm not crying anymore," Meng Shuyu realized belatedly and felt ashamed. "It's normal to cry after having a nightmare. The main thing is that I just dreamed of zombies. You don't know that the whole Nanhuai is surrounded by zombies."
"Then are you still looking forward to my going to Nanhuai?" Zhou Jun laughed again.
"Why, you won't come because there are zombies?"
"Come, even if the sky falls."
Meng Shuyu snorted, thinking that this was such a corny thing, but it sounded nice. She wanted Zhou Jun to rest early, but also wanted to listen to his voice for a while longer. Just as she was struggling, she suddenly heard Zhou Jun call her seriously: "Meng Shuyu."
"Um?"
"I should be responsible for you having such a dream."
Meng Shuyu felt that he was right. It was all his fault that he always changed his face in the past. Zhou Jun was still quite reflective.
"Then how will you be responsible?" Meng Shuyu asked in a low voice.
"Didn't you ask me last night how much I liked you?"
"Oh, yes, you said you would wait until I sobered up..."
"Then can I finish my bedtime story now?"
Meng Shuyu was stunned: "What?"
"Have you forgotten the story I told you last night?"
Meng Shuyu actually couldn't remember it very clearly, after all, she was still half asleep and half awake due to the alcohol at the time. But after hearing what Zhou Jun said, she thought about it carefully and suddenly found something wrong.
A strong premonition came to her mind, with a bit of disbelief, and she asked uncertainly: "Wait a minute, the story you told..."
"Listen to me first?"
Meng Shuyu slowly sat up straight, and his hand holding the phone tightened: "Okay, you talk, I'll listen."
"Last night we talked about the little white rabbit leaving the forest. The little fox was very sad at first and locked himself up again, but one day he suddenly remembered that when he was sent back to the forest it was the rainy season in the south of the Yangtze River, and it rained every day outside. When the little white rabbit came to find him, he went out and found that the rainy season had passed and the sky had cleared up a long time ago. It was because he had been hiding in the house that he missed many sunny days."
"He thought that now that the little white rabbit would not come to see him, if he continued to stay in the house he would not have the chance to bask in the sun, let alone see the little white rabbit again, so after a few days, he reconciled with himself."
Meng Shuyu held the phone in one hand and clenched the corner of the quilt with the other: "Then, did Little White Rabbit not come..."
"Well, the little white rabbit didn't come to the forest again, but it doesn't matter, the little fox has come out. And soon, an interesting thing happened."
"What's up?"
"Not long after, the wolf couple walked into the forest again and said they wanted to take the little fox back. The bear couple got angry and asked what they thought of the little fox. The little fox overheard them and found out that the news that the wolf couple had terminated their adoption relationship with him had somehow spread and appeared in the newspapers."
"The wolf couple heard a lot of scolding, and the gold and silver in their home were almost drowned in saliva. They couldn't afford the loss, and hoped that the bear couple would give them another chance. The bear couple refused and asked them to ask the little fox if he was willing. The little fox walked out at this time and said he was willing."
Meng Shuyu felt choked up and almost couldn't breathe. He took a deep breath and asked, "Why?"
"Because the little fox has seen the outside world. When he lived with the wolf couple, he found that the animals outside were different from the animals in the forest. If he continues to stay in the forest, he may be further and further away from the little white rabbit and animals like it."
"After living with the wolf couple for less than three years, the little fox learned their shrewdness. He thought that it didn't matter if the wolf couple just used him as a tool to calm down the storm, and it didn't matter if the little wolf continued to oppose him. He wanted to live a life outside, and he didn't want to be different from the animals outside, so the little fox followed the wolf couple."
"After returning home, the little fox lived a good life and received a high-level education. Gradually, he rarely remembered the little white rabbit. Until the summer when he was nineteen, the little fox was going to study abroad."
"In the past, the little fox never went home in the summer and always lived in the school dormitory. But this summer, the new school was not ready for him to move in, so he had nowhere to go. A former classmate of the little fox heard that he was looking for a house and invited him to stay at his home for a while. At that classmate's home, the little fox accidentally met the little white rabbit who was visiting there with his parents."
Meng Shuyu was stunned.
"Little White Rabbit is already sixteen years old. She is not cute, but beautiful. After so many years, Little Fox certainly didn't recognize her at first sight, but he recognized Little White Rabbit's father, so he knew that it was Little White Rabbit from back then. That day he really wanted to walk up to Little White Rabbit and ask her, 'Do you still remember me?' But he felt that this question didn't seem to make sense. Even if he did, he wouldn't know what to say when he said hello, not to mention that Little White Rabbit probably didn't remember him anymore."
Meng Shuyu held back the sob that was about to come to his lips: "Then what..."
"Then the little fox thought that the little white rabbit might just be a beautiful image in his not-so-good childhood. Now he was living a good life and was going abroad, so there was no need to bother her. But he still wanted to thank her. Although their separation was not pleasant, he seemed to only remember the cuteness of the little white rabbit. So he wanted to give her a gift."
"Gift? Did he give it to me..."
Zhou Jun laughed and said, "Little Fox was reading foreign books every day at that time. I remembered that I had a half-translated poetry collection on hand. There was a poem in it that was very suitable for giving to Little White Rabbit."
Meng Shuyu suddenly raised his eyes and thought of something.
Hearing Zhou Jun still talking on the other end, she threw back the quilt, got out of bed, and hurried to the study.
Turning on the light in the study, Meng Shuyu looked around the bookshelf, shook his head to himself, squatted down and opened the bookcase under the bookshelf where old books were stored.
There were many books in the bookcase, and they were very thick. She took them out one by one, looked at them and threw them aside, then looked at them again and threw them aside again.
It shouldn't be possible to find...
That was the book that made her fall in love with Borges. After bringing it back from Jian Cheng's house, she often read it. Although she stopped reading it later, she must have kept it well.
The most precious thing in their family is books, which they will never throw away...
Meng Shuyu became more and more anxious as he turned the page, and he even broke out in a sweat in the middle of winter.
Zhou Jun heard the sound of her rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and said with a smile: "Don't look for it, I'll recite it to you."
As the voice fell in the receiver, Meng Shuyu touched a rough cover.
I took it out and saw Borges' name.
Meng Shuyu gently stroked the old, yellowed cover: "Which poem is it?"
"What can I hold you with" from two of Borges' poems in English."
Meng Shuyu held the mobile phone in one hand and flipped to the catalog of the poetry collection with the other hand and found the page number of this poem.
“‘I offer you lean streets, desperate sunsets, the of the suburbs.’”
Zhou Jun's voice came to his ears. Meng Shuyu mustered up the courage to turn to the page where the poem was, and saw at a glance the faded handwritten Chinese characters sandwiched between the full English text.
The sixteen-year-old girl didn't recognize the handwriting.
Even just a few months ago, she still thought it was Jian Cheng's handwriting.
But now she was very sure that this was Zhou Jun's work.
On the phone, Zhou Jun read out the English words one by one, and Meng Shuyu silently read the translation lines in his mind.
"How can I keep you
I give you the lean streets, the desperate sunsets, and the moon in the wilderness.
I give you the sadness of a person who has gazed at the lonely moon for a long time. "
"I give you all the insight that my books can contain, and all the manliness and humor that my life can contain.
I offer you the loyalty of a man who has never had faith.”
"I give you the core of myself that I have managed to preserve—a core that does not deal in words, does not trade in dreams, and is untouched by time, joy, and adversity."
“I give you my loneliness, my darkness, the hunger of my heart;
I try to impress you with confusion, danger, and failure.”
The nineteen-year-old little fox met the sixteen-year-old little white rabbit again. He put the words he wanted to say to the little white rabbit ten years ago but did not have the chance and did not know how to say them into a collection of poems and gave it to her.
He said - what can I do to keep you
Meng Shuyu sat on the ground in a daze, blinking his eyes and shed hot tears.
"Why..." Meng Shuyu wiped her tears, "Why didn't you tell me earlier when we had a fight? You didn't even tell me when you went to make a birthday wish..."
Zhou Jun fell silent.
Why? Perhaps he had done something wrong and wanted to make amends with "now" and "later" instead of simply using "the past" to get her forgiveness.
Whether she still likes him or not, she will be moved to some extent after hearing this story.
If I told her at that time, it would be like using guilt to hold her back, which would be a form of mental kidnapping.
But now these things can untie the knot in her heart and stop her from having nightmares, so he should tell her.
"Because..." Zhou Jun thought for a moment and said, "My story only makes sense if you want to know how much I like you."
The author has something to say: The little fox and the little white rabbit finally recognized each other qaq
The poem quoted in this chapter is "What Can I Do to Keep You" from Borges's "Two Poems in English". I have quoted all the appropriate parts, but don't worry, the rigorous Xiao Gu has counted the words, and it still costs the same amount of coins without this poem, so it doesn't cost any money!