People say that time can easily erode a person's impression of a city.
It has been five years. Logically speaking, City S has become very unfamiliar to Lu Shizhen, who settled in the capital and traveled around all year round.
But when she heard Xiaoning say the name of this city, she paused for a moment.
If there is anything that can stand between the passage of time, it is only deliberateness.
Over the years, Lu Shizhen has been intentionally or unintentionally avoiding the possibility of going to City S.
For her, S City is not only full of unknown risks, but also contains some people or things that she doesn't want to see.
The avoidance in the body and eyes was like an unnoticed knife, carving into the bones again and again, leaving a brand.
It's not that the passage of time has been stopped, but that the mark is too deep to be erased by the passage of time.
Seeing Lu Shizhen's reaction, Xiao Ning couldn't help but ask tentatively: "Teacher Shiliu, do you have any grudges against S City?"
Lu Shizhen narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this, raised his head and smiled: "Why do you say that?"
"It's just the feeling." Xiaoning replied.
She was Lu Shizhen's first assistant, and she was quite familiar with her, so she didn't hide her words: "Last time we said we were going on a business trip to S City, or sometimes when we brought up topics about S City, you weren't that keen to participate."
When Lu Shizhen heard Xiaoning's words, he couldn't help but pause again.
It was hard to describe how it felt to be seen through. Lu Shizhen felt her heart drop for a second. Then she curled her eyes and half-jokingly admitted, "So I was so obvious."
"Yes." Xiao Ning nodded honestly, and then seemed to realize something, and asked: "So you are not going to S City this time, right?"
The little girl's voice was full of regret, and the hand that was caressing Qiuqiu collapsed.
She knew that this knot in her heart could not be eliminated in a short period of time, and she had no right to let Lu Shizhen attend the book signing event with this knot in her heart.
But before she could spread her regret to the work group, she heard a nod of affirmation: "Go ahead."
Lu Shizhen had already removed the plastic wrap from the boiled pork slices packaging. The sound of the sealed lid being opened rang out along with her voice, both sounding so crisp: "It's all in the past. I guess it's nothing."
"Really!" Xiao Ning was overjoyed, her eyes lit up, "Great, I'll tell them now and let them start the preparations. The posters can be printed!"
The little girl put Qiuqiu down on the ground and walked out with big strides, waving to Lu Shizhen and saying, "I'm leaving now, Teacher Sixteen, see you at dinner!"
Lu Shizhen looked at the impetuous girl who was walking further and further away, and couldn't help but be infected by her. She smiled and waved to her: "See you at dinner."
The heavy door was opened and then closed, and the room that was filled with conversation just now became quiet.
Qiuqiu nimbly jumped from the ground onto the table, staring at Lu Shizhen with a pair of round cat eyes: "Host, have you really decided?"
"It's decided." Lu Shizhen nodded, his voice firm.
White porcelain chopsticks were used to stir the red soup stained with chili peppers, and piles of bean sprouts were skillfully covered on the meat that covered the surface.
Lu Shizhen's movements were very relaxed, and her tone was almost the same: "Just go once, it's been so many years, maybe it's okay now. She has already vented her anger, how could she still be obsessed with me."
"It should be brooding over it." Qiuqiu took a starch sausage in her mouth and corrected it vaguely.
"Yeah." Lu Shizhen listened and lowered his eyes as if thinking about something, "I still feel a bit upset."
She just kept repeating Qiuqiu's words in a low voice, as if she was correcting her own mistake.
It's like correcting my mistakes.
.
The plane flew across the sky, drawing a long, straight line in the clear blue sky.
The weather in spring is always so good, even the sunshine is so full of vitality. When Lu Shizhen walked out of the airport with her suitcase, she was embraced by the warm sunlight.
The book signing event in city B ended successfully yesterday. Lu Shizhen has been used to traveling and exploring alone over the years, so as usual, he came to city S before the main group.
Lu Shizhen still remembers that the last time he came here, he took the airport to the Northeast.
It was still winter at that time, and the flower beds outside the airport were covered with white snow. This time, she walked out with her suitcase and saw flowers everywhere. The tulips reflected gentle colors and swayed slightly in the wind.
The gentle spring breeze blew up the hem of her skirt, and the sunlight-filled fabric swept across Lu Shizhen's calves.
It seems that emotion always arises when one senses changes in something familiar, and the same goes for uneasiness.
This feeling is completely different from traveling to different cities or even countries in the past.
Lu Shizhen just looked at the tall buildings rising from the ground in her memory not far away, and for a moment she felt as if she was in another world.
She felt unfamiliar with this place, but not too unfamiliar. She felt familiar with it, but not too familiar with it either.
Lu Shizhen grasped the suitcase in his hand, still feeling a little hesitant, his eyes filled with homesickness.
In the past five years, this place has changed so much that it is hard to describe. She also doesn't know whether this place has abandoned her.
"There are many fun places in our city S. Here is a travel brochure for you. I wish you a pleasant stay." After Lu Shizhen checked in at the hotel, the front desk clerk handed her a travel brochure.
Lu Shizhen knew more about the places worth visiting in this city than the manual. Just when she was about to decline the front desk clerk's offer, the words on her lips turned into: "Okay, thank you."
She almost forgot.
She is not from City S; she is a guest visiting this city on business or pleasure.
Although her name is still Lu Shizhen, there are at least ten people with this name in this world.
Lu Shizhen, who belonged to this city, died in the fire five years ago. His bones were crushed and his ashes were scattered. It seems that he doesn't even have a grave.
As if she was looking for a support point that would allow her to stand firm in the present, or as if she was looking for the point where the present and the past intersected, Lu Shizhen followed her past habit and took a bus to the bookstore where they would hold a book signing event in a few days, which was also the place where she had bought tutoring materials before.
Even though this place is so big that it is easy to get lost, Lu Shizhen felt at ease because of this corner of memory that has not changed with time.
Periodicals and magazines are on the first floor, literary works are on the second floor, comics are on the third floor, and teaching materials are on the fourth floor.
Following this memory, Lu Shizhen took the elevator to the third floor and saw Lilylian's human-shaped stand from a distance at the elevator entrance. Her comics were placed in the most conspicuous position, and they were all the twelfth volume that she had just published at the beginning of this month.
The promotional illustration that Lu Shizhen had drawn not long ago stood aside, and Lililian stretched out her arms towards her with the smile that she had drawn countless times.
This familiarity made Lu Shizhen feel a little ashamed for some reason. The corners of her lips were filled with an indescribable sense of accomplishment, as if she had returned home in glory. However, she was also cautious, fearing that she could not live up to this idiom.
It's really rare to be able to spend your entire life doing what you love.
Lu Shizhen thought so in his heart and picked up a comic book.
On the cover, Lillian, who had just finished a battle, was sitting under the starry sky, holding her weapon. The half-moon took up most of the cover, casting moonlight on her in an eerie yet gentle way.
She had just experienced a desperate fight and lost the companions she had met along the way, so the world also cast a rare bright light on her.
Just like the ideas that used to pop up from time to time.
A question suddenly popped up in Lu Shizhen's little head: I don't know how Xu Shiyue is doing now.
Inexplicable.
Just like when Lu Shizhen gave himself this name, Sixteen.
In fact, at the beginning she wanted to call herself Sixty. After all, the first two characters of "Lu Shizhen", "Lu Shi", are homophonic to sixty.
But for some reason, just when she was about to officially register the name, her hand somehow swapped six and ten, making it sixteen.
Lu Shizhen didn't know why he suddenly changed his mind and insisted on turning the name upside down.
It's like the meaning is different if you read it forwards or backwards.
But what's the difference
baffling.
It's really inexplicable.
Lu Shizhen frowned and put down the comic book in his hand.
It was just a fleeting thought, and my interest in wandering around here suddenly disappeared, so I turned and left.
The sunlight was projected on the tall glass, and the bright spring light was decomposed and refracted into a series of halos falling on the highly recommended comics booth.
A hand with distinct bones reached out from the side, spanning the incandescent halo, and silently picked up the book "The Girl Who Lost Herself in a Fantasy World" that Lu Shizhen had just put down.
Her long hair fell smoothly on the satin shirt, and her superior facial features could be vaguely seen.
It was as if a light was knocked onto her, and the overly bright sunlight made it impossible to see her expression.
Compared to the children sitting on the floor reading comics around him, the sound of this person turning the pages was very light.
The black and white are clearly contrasted with each other. The monotonous color forms a strong contrast with the colorful comics, and it even seems a bit out of place, as if you have walked into the wrong area.
More and more people were looking at him, but Xu Shiyue didn't care.
She just looked at the comic book in her hand, her calm gaze falling on the protagonist's face.
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The tiny black mole was faintly visible and clear in the long hair blown up by the storm.
Close the book and check out.
Xu Shiyue walked out of the bookstore leisurely, and Li had already parked his car on the side of the street.
It seemed as if the world never gave her any time to rest. As soon as she got into the car, Lu Shien sent a message: [Don’t answer, don’t answer, don’t answer. ]
Maybe the girl felt that her hint was not enough, so she continued: "I have already debugged it according to your requirements, but I want to remind you that it is meaningless to send signals to the unknown unilaterally.]
Xu Shiyue looked at it and simply tapped the keyboard: [Just do as I say. ]
[I don’t know what you are doing.] Lu Shien muttered to Xu Shiyue.
She just looked at the complex computer system in front of her, and although she didn't understand it, she calmed down and said, "I will keep this set of loop signals within a controllable range. If the program shows any signs of crashing, I will interrupt this experiment without asking for your consent."
[Um.]
After a pause, Xu Shiyue said: [Thank you.]
.
Although the huge city of S has changed a lot at first glance, in fact, the familiar places are still there.
Lu Shizhen went to the night market again after five years. Although there was not much business during the day, there were still many people coming to the food stalls for lunch.
Under the surprised gaze of the landlady that seemed to reappear yesterday, she once again carried two heavy bags back to the hotel.
She spread the things out on the table neatly, and was just about to raise her hand to call Qiuqiu, who was used to being a cat, to come out for lunch, but she saw this Thai guy nimbly appearing from nowhere and jumping over in two or three steps.
"I bought you five strings of starch sausage. That's very considerate, isn't it?" Lu Shizhen proudly introduced the delicious food to Qiuqiu, but Qiuqiu didn't seem to be that interested.
Lu Shizhen didn't know if real cats would also show such a human-like state. She just watched Qiuqiu suddenly sit upright in front of her and said to her seriously: "Host, Yuanzi's condition seems to be a little bad."
(End of this chapter)