After hearing this, my face was hot, as if I had been slapped by my dad again. I secretly prayed, Li Chuan and my dad, it would be best not to see each other forever.
When I got out of the car, I hung a Nikon camera around my neck—it was used by Li Chuan to take pictures of landscapes. He often takes pictures, but never himself. But today, I lied that I would take pictures of the archway of the Golden Horse Arch for him, but in fact I secretly planned to leave a photo of me and Li Chuan.
We first went to the Hump Bar for a drink, and the lights were feasting inside. Li Chuan asked for beer, but I was not allowed to drink it. Said that I am under twenty years old and can only drink fruit juice. I chose pineapple juice, but he said pineapple juice was too sweet and unhealthy. Orange juice is the best. By the time we finished drinking, it was already dark. Back at the archway, I grabbed a passerby and asked him to take a group photo for us.
"He doesn't know how to shoot," Li Chuan said in a low voice, "Why don't I do it to ensure the quality."
"You've already taken a lot of pictures of me, and now I want to take a group photo." I emphasized, "Group photo."
"Can I just take a photo of you and this building?" He frowned, "I don't like taking pictures."
"No. I want our group photo. We—you and me—are together." I said with a sullen face, word by word.
"Okay." He nodded helplessly.
The passerby made a professional pose and asked us to get closer to each other. Then, with a flash of light, he took five or six pictures in a row.
I said: "Excuse me, brother, take a picture farther away, I want all of this archway."
He took the camera and backed away, backed away, and suddenly turned around and ran away.
Li Chuan's camera is expensive. That person was probably interested in seeing money, and seeing that Li Chuan was inconvenient to move, so he took the opportunity to attack.
"Stop!" I yelled, and ran after him.
The man shuttled among the crowd and quickly walked into a narrow alley. It seems that he is not very familiar with this section of the road, and he hesitates whether to turn at every intersection. I chased him all the way, through the narrow alley, into a quiet side street, and the man was always about a hundred steps in front of me. I ran for about two stops, and the man turned his head several times, thinking he had left me behind, but he didn't know that I was following him like a shadow and getting closer. He turned and entered an alley again. The alley continued to have exits leading to the road. Gradually, the alley became narrower and narrower. It seemed to come to an end, but suddenly another fork appeared. He hesitated for a moment, and was about to turn around when I caught up with him. He had to stop, holding the camera in his hand and saying, "Don't come here! You are the only one here. Believe it or not, I can break your neck!"
I said, "Why is there only one person, and there are two policemen behind you."
There were pedestrians behind him, two men, and there were loud footsteps. I yelled: "Catch the thief!" A flower pot, the thief couldn't help but look back.
At this moment, I remembered an important movement in the physical education class when I was learning Sanda, kicking his crotch!
With an "oh", he knelt on the ground and passed out from the pain. I grabbed the camera and ran away. Only then did I realize that I was already sweating profusely and panting because of the long-distance run just now. The heart was beating violently. After running a few steps, we arrived at the intersection, and a black car approached suddenly and stopped in front of me. The door opened, and Li Chuan's voice came: "Get in the car!"
I jumped in and the car sped away.
"Are you injured? Huh?" Li Chuan grabbed me and asked eagerly.
"No."
"How did you snatch the camera back?" He wiped my sweat with a handkerchief and continued to ask.
"I kicked him and he passed out."
"No way? It's so easy? One kick and you'll faint? Is this the level of a professional thief in Kunming?" He said, "It's so useless that you can't even grab a camera?"
"Hey, who are you speaking for?"
"I praise you as a heroine in disguise."
"That's about the same."
We went back to the archway of the Golden Horse Arch—the place where we took pictures just now, and got out of the car together.
Li Chuan looked at me and said, "Are you tired from running? How far have you run? Two kilometers?"
"Almost." I was still panting.
"Can you make another trip?" he said, "Just now, right here, someone stole my wallet."
"Ah!? What?! You? Lost your wallet?" I yelled, "What kind of place is this!? Why are there so many thieves? Where did you lose it? Which direction did you go? What else did he steal? ?”
I looked at him and found that he was smiling faintly.
"Li Chuan, I know you don't care about losing cash. But credit cards can be maxed out!"
"I'm just kidding, look at your haste." He helped me tuck the loose hair behind my ears, "If this kind of thing happens again in the future, you would rather leave the camera than me."
"Yes, yes, I was wrong. The son of a daughter, I can't sit still. I have to protect you first."
"That's right." He looked at me with eyes as serene as moonlight.
I hugged the camera, immersed in the joy of victory: "Li Chuan, there is our group photo inside. I won't let others steal it."
"What if there's no group photo?" he asked.
"This is your camera, not mine, so steal it. Even if it's valuable, you can't afford to lose it, can you? Besides, my life is also very precious, right?" I spoke plausibly.
"Say you don't understand and don't know how to settle accounts, but you understand very well and can calculate very clearly." He sighed, "I just ask God to bless me, and never offend you in the future, or I will get kicked by you."
I wrapped my hands around his waist: "Well, he has always been gentle. It's just this time that he was fierce, and I showed you."
"Always gentle? No way? The first time I saw you, you spilled coffee all over me. The second time, you climbed the wall in front of me. The third time, you attacked the campus police. I think you are a violent woman." , violent and perverted, really scary."
Although Li Chuan always said modestly that he did not understand Chinese. In fact, his vocabulary is quite large and practical, and I was speechless after hearing what he said.
In order not to let him continue talking, I quickly interrupted: "Li Chuan, I'm hungry, I want to eat rice noodles."
"Didn't you just finish eating dumplings? Why are you hungry so quickly?"
"I'm worried that my aunt will make you uncomfortable. I'm so anxious that I lose my appetite. I used to like eating dumplings."
"Then go to LD."
"Old Yunnan taste."
"LD."
Old Dianwei looks like a state-owned enterprise, and you have to go to the small counter by the door to buy tickets before eating.
I asked Li Chuan, "Have you eaten here before?"
"No. I've seen the ad. They say it tastes real."
"The cross-bridge rice noodle is on the second floor, and the stairs are slippery. Let's not go up."
"There are few people up there, so go find a seat first." He queued up at the counter door. Long queue, about ten people. People in line saw him leaning on crutches and said, "No need to wait in line, just go to the window and buy."
I don't know who added a sentence: "The disabled are given priority."
Those people spoke Kunming dialect, I believe Li Chuan understood half of it. He put on an indifferent posture and stood motionless at the end of the row. After taking the tickets, we went upstairs together and found a side seat to sit down. After a while, the waiter brought rice noodles and a small cup of steam pot chicken. I asked Li Chuan: "I only bought one bowl, don't you want to eat it?"
"I've already eaten at my aunt's house."
"Why don't you have some cold dishes?"
"Too spicy."
In fact, when they walked with Li Chuan along the way, both men and women looked back at him. It made him uncomfortable. Even now that he is sitting down, I can still feel a lot of eyes looking at him from behind. Regardless of the hot soup, I wanted to finish the rice noodles quickly.
"Don't eat in such a hurry, be careful not to burn your mouth. We have nothing to do tonight." He persuaded.
The locals know that there are three ways to judge the quality of Guoqiao rice noodles. First, the soup is good, second, the ingredients are fresh, and third, the rice noodles are smooth. It was really good chicken soup. I drank half a bowl in one go, and then said: "No, I can't drink it anymore."
"Then put it here, no one is forcing you to finish it."
"It's not good to waste too much, I'll go to the toilet first, and drink when I come back." As I said that, I stood up and looked for the toilet. Li Chuan grabbed me, "Don't go, I'll help you finish your drink."
He dragged the huge soup bowl in front of him, and drank it with a porcelain spoon very gracefully, until he drank it completely.
I looked at him and smiled: "I said I would leave some rice noodles for you, but now there is no soup left."
"Xiaoqiu, have you ever been to Xiamen?" He said suddenly.
"No."
"I have to go back to Xiamen after the Spring Festival. The investor has an important meeting, so I have to go. You can go with me, okay?"
"How long do you want to stay in Xiamen?"
"Two days. Then you go back to Beijing, and I'll go to Shenyang. Shenyang is too cold, so don't go."
"Why do you have to bring me, not your secretary."
"I have a secretary, she is a peerless beauty, do you want to know him?" He smiled mysteriously.
"Liar! Your secretary is a man!" I remembered that time, it was his secretary who reported to me that he was hospitalized.
"It's a work assistant. I have a secretary who doubles as my translator."
"You? Still need a translator?"
"I can speak a lot of English when I actually talk about business, and I ask my secretary to translate. Every word is worth a lot, and you can't make mistakes."
"Okay, anyway, I have nothing to do on vacation."
A week later, I flew to Xiamen with Li Chuan. This week, he was sick for three days, had a fever and caught a cold, and lay down in the hotel every day. After recovering from his illness, he worked hard and finished drawing three design drawings.
Li Chuan took me to see the construction site, a large open space by the sea.
"Here, a large resort area is to be built, Bishui Jincheng. The investment is more than one billion. CG takes care of all the architectural design: exterior, interior, and garden."
"Well, it looks like a nice place, empty and open."
"Come and see in three years, it's full of buildings and villas designed by me."
"Li Chuan, I adore you so much!"
"Me too."
I was stunned: "I'm just a student, I haven't started my career yet, there is nothing worthy of your admiration!"
"You have given me a lot of inspiration. Design, like love, requires passion."
The sea breeze was very cold, he hugged me hard, and we faced the sea and cuddled tightly.
After returning from the construction site, in the lobby of the hotel, I saw a tall woman sitting quietly on the sofa. Cashmere top, dark blue wool skirt, small ears, wearing a pair of small pearl earrings, beautiful profile.
The woman saw us and stood up: "Mr. Wang."
Her face is delicate and beautiful, with an indescribable classical and solemn beauty. Seeing her reminds me of sentences in the "Book of Songs" or Song Ci.
"Let me introduce," Li Chuan said, "This is my secretary, Miss Zhu Bixuan. This is Miss Xie Xiaoqiu."
We shook hands and smiled at each other.
There was a hint of doubt in Zhu Bixuan's eyebrows. When Li Chuan was talking, he kept holding my hand.
"What's the matter?" Li Chuan asked.
"There are several documents that need your signature. Also, the final translation of the bid document needs your review."
"You can read the English ones. Leave the French and German ones to me."
He took the pen, sat down, looked at the document quickly, and signed it quickly.
Zhu Bixuan and I looked at each other and smiled very politely.
"Is Miss Zhu from the English Department?" I asked.
"The English Department of BFSU. Where's Miss Xie? Also learn English?"
"Yes. A freshman in Normal University."
"Professor Feng Jieliang in your department is an expert on Lawrence. When I wrote my thesis, I studied his monograph carefully."
"Well, his teaching reputation is very good. I plan to take his class next year."
"Does Miss Xie like Xiamen?"
"I like it very much. Is it the first time for Miss Zhu to come to Xiamen?"
"No, because of this project, I have followed Mr. Wang several times."
I think that the way Zhu Bixuan speaks has a professional demeanor that has attracted countless people from beginning to end. She chatted shallowly, but she was actually very cautious, not hurting or itching, for fear of saying a word wrong. And I, while talking, rubbed my feet on the carpet, like a pupil who was punished to stand.
Li Chuan finished signing, stood up and said, "President He will attend the Schindler Group's dinner for me."
"Well... Mr. Ke over there has repeatedly said that Mr. Wang must come, and he will drink 300 cups with you, and you will never get drunk."
"It's because of this that I asked Mr. He to go. He has a lot of alcohol." After thinking about it, he sighed: "Forget it, I didn't go to the last meal, and I didn't mind. If I don't go this time, would doubt my sincerity. I'd better go. What time?"
"Seven o'clock."
Li Chuan came back drunk at ten o'clock, went straight to the bathroom, and threw up by the toilet.
I watched worriedly: "Why are you so honest, you really drink three hundred cups with others!"
He vomited for a full ten minutes before getting up to take a shower. He walked upside down and couldn't stand still with the help of a cane.
"Sit down, I'll wash it for you." My heart ached.
"No, I can do it myself." With some strength, he pushed me out of the door and closed the door with a "bang".
After a while, the water splashed. After a quarter of an hour, he finished washing and became sober. He put on his pajamas, got under the quilt, and sighed: "Oh, it's not easy to do business with people here. For a contract, you can smoke and drink with me. , Accompanying the meal, it’s just a matter of sacrificing the color. The private room of the hotel is clearly marked as a 'non-smoking area', but the people inside don't seem to see it. Everyone smokes, and the whole room seems to be foggy. How can it be how about this!"
"While earning money and complaining, think about the children in impoverished mountainous areas."
"I donate to Project Hope every year."
He pulled me into the quilt: "Every time I drink a cup, I think in my heart, let's end it quickly, let me come back early to accompany Xiaoqiu."
"No way, so nasty?"
"I can't bear to leave you alone in the hotel."
"I'm not alone," I said, "after dinner, I went swimming, played video games, and went to the street to watch a movie, a New Year's movie, played by Ge You, it was really good. Not long after I arrived at the house, You're back."
He hugged me from behind and turned on the TV with the remote control: "The last episode of "Holding Hands", which episode was it on?"
Li Chuan is a little different from the men I know. He doesn't really like watching football, or watching sports channels. He likes to watch TV series, romance dramas, martial arts dramas, historical dramas are all fine, the ones that cry and cry, the longer the better, all comers are welcome. His reason is that TV dramas can help him become familiar with Chinese, especially in daily conversations. You don't need to watch the sports station, just remember to keep exercising.
He searched and changed dozens of channels, but he couldn't find "Hand in Hand". In the end, it landed on a Japanese TV series with no beginning and no end. There is an episode in the film, which is in Japanese, and he immediately said: "I changed it, it's a tragedy, don't watch it."
"Didn't it mean you don't know much Japanese?"
"No matter how much you don't understand, you still know more than you."
"My second foreigner is Japanese." I said in Japanese.
Then, he said a sentence in Japanese, and I stared at him, but I couldn't understand it.
"Matsuo Basho's haiku," he said, "are you convinced?"
"Is there a bottom line for your modesty?"
"No. If I were you, at this level, I would simply not tell people that I have learned a second foreign language."
I jumped up and made a gesture to pinch him. He raised his hands in surrender: "Next time, if there is an assignment in Japanese that I don't understand, I'll do it for you, and you won't be charged for it. Really. Please forgive me!"
The next day, we said goodbye at the airport. I went back to Beijing, and Li Chuan went to Shenyang. When he came back from Shenyang, the winter vacation was over. I'm still working in my old place. Dad still sends me money, one hundred yuan a month, twice as much as before. He doesn't write to me. I wrote him a letter, he did not reply. I feel that Dad has a deep insight into me. He seems to know what I am doing, and he knows that I will be like him, no matter which way I go, I will go further and never look back. So, he didn't want to waste time trying to persuade me.
After Li Chuan came back, I stayed with him in the apartment of Longjing Garden for ten days. In the past ten days, we were like glue, living like a couple. Our group photo hangs on the wall. Although the thief stole the camera, his photography skills are not bad. I like one of them the most. The background is a street lamp in the distance. Li Chuan turned his head and helped me brush a strand of hair floating on my face. At that moment, he turned sideways to me, showing full of love. After that, he went back to his hometown in Zurich to visit his sick grandmother.
Li Chuan went there for a week and called me the next day. Then he said that there were other things at home and he needed to stay longer. After a month, he said that he would go skiing with his brother. There is no phone call. He stayed in Switzerland for two full months.
On Monday, I picked him up at the airport and found that he suddenly lost a lot of weight. The edges and corners of the face are more distinct.
"Hi!" He saw me in the crowd, and we hugged tightly.
"How did you lose weight?"
"I don't think so, you are fat."
"I eat well." Before leaving, Li Chuan insisted on giving me money. I didn't want it. I went to work in a cafe again. I don't take many courses this semester, so I can work a few more hours, so the income is quite good.
"Is your ear okay?"
He went to the side of the road and inspected my newly pierced ears. The last time I saw Zhu Bixuan's pearl earrings, I liked them very much. When I was living in Longjing Garden, Li Chuan took me to the jewelry store downstairs to have my ears pierced. He said my skin is fair, pearls don't look good, but rubies, the rose-red ones, look good. So I have a pair of ruby earrings on my ears. Before Li Chuan left, he wiped my ears with alcohol three times a day for fear that I might get an infection. As a result, my ears were still swollen.
"Okay."
"It doesn't hurt anymore?"
"It doesn't hurt at all. I took it off myself several times."
"Didn't it take six weeks to take it off?"
"Li Chuan, you have been back for two months, six weeks have already passed." I tapped his forehead.
He smiled, with a trace of worry hidden in his smile.
"Today I'm treating you," I said, "to eat sushi.—It's the same restaurant as last time."
We got in a taxi, and he said, "Since it's you, let's have rice noodles. Sushi is too expensive."
Along the way, he didn't speak much. He didn't talk much when eating. After dinner, he drove me back to the dormitory.
"What happened, Li Chuan?" My heart was heavy.
"There is something at home. It's troublesome. It's about business. Besides, my grandfather is not in good health... critically ill."
I seldom hear Li Chuan mention his family. But I know he is very much favored at home. As long as he mentioned his family, his face was full of emotion.
"Didn't you say that grandma is sick? So grandpa is also sick?"
"I'm sorry I misspoke, but my grandma is critically ill," he said. "I may have to go back to Switzerland soon. I'm waiting for a call."
He avoided my gaze, his face was full of thoughts.
"So," I gently held his hand, "you came here specially to see me?"
Under the shade of the trees outside the dormitory, he cupped my face and kissed it quietly: "Yes."