Except for CG, everyone in this city has already started celebrating the festival. The horns of "big clearance, big sale" on the street are louder. Every facade is decorated with lights and festoons. Pedestrians on the road are laid back and dressed in bright clothes.
I suddenly realized that it was Christmas night when I picked up the plane at the airport. No one reminded me, everyone forgot. Yes, those who came to Wenzhou on business trips were all middle-aged CG backbones. When they were young, Christmas was not a Chinese holiday. Their only wish is to end the battle before the Spring Festival, get a generous year-end bonus, and return to the arms of their wives and children. For this reason, all the people stayed in this lonely high-end hotel, isolated from the world, and forgot about their work.
I am no exception. For the past three days, I have been translating various drawings and documents in my room, and I sleep an average of less than four hours a day. Today, 80% of the drawings and design specifications have been released. Rolls piled on my bed. Li Chuan's design task was the heaviest, but his speed was the fastest. Of course, the last few pictures were redrawn by Ji Chuan based on his sketches. After all, they are brothers, and they cooperate seamlessly. Even the English writing styles of the two seem to be written by the same person.
The main building of C City renovation is the C City Grand Theater located at the foot of the mountain in Xicheng District, which belongs to one of the main buildings of Qinglian Villa. It is also the most expensive building in the total investment. Jiang Haotian's original design was an open glass structure, which looked like the crown of the Statue of Liberty, or a sunflower in full bloom when viewed from a distance. Even a layman like me finds it very eye-catching. However, Li Chuan's design is a closed steel structure shell, very simple, without any specific shape. It's a bit like a huge pebble with natural water patterns. Above it was an unusually smooth glass surface, light gray, reflecting the clouds in the sky like a mirror. The large circle of ancillary buildings around the theater is also designed like "pebbles". From a bird's eye view, it looks like a row of pebbles scattered on the beach, and like planets in the Milky Way. It is natural, mysterious, elegant and magnificent. , It blends with the surrounding mountains and rivers and echoes from a distance, reflecting the ecological, environmental protection and energy-saving concepts he has always advocated. I like it very much. Although it is not as eye-catching as Mr. Jiang's design, it has a kind of fun of returning to basics.
However, there are many people who are not optimistic about this "cobblestone". People nicknamed the theater "The Stone" behind their backs. During the meal, I heard several designers muttering quietly, saying that Li Chuan was never an OMO, why did he become so post-modern this time? He also said that Xie Heyang, the person in charge of the bidding office, was stubborn and old-fashioned, and he was quite difficult to deal with. Will he accept the postmodern solution? In addition, the strongest competitor of CG is Tian Xiaogang, the chief designer of Jiayuan International, a famous expert in classical garden design. He is actually Jiang Haotian's senior brother. He debuted early, has a great reputation, and knows Jiang Haotian's style like the back of his hand. In the last Xiamen project, his design lost to CG by one vote, and this time he tried his best to take revenge, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to steal information.
The bidding document requires that all documents must be in both Chinese and English. It was not until the morning of the 31st that I finished all the translations in my hand. Afterwards, I spent the whole morning checking, revising, and polishing, and then handed it over to Mr. Jiang for review, and then Mr. Jiang handed it over to the drawing department for printing.
After handing over the work at hand, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I went to the restaurant and had a good bowl of fish soup, thin yellow croaker slices, accompanied by shredded shiitake mushrooms and ham, and the sweat on my face came out after a bowl. I thought of Li Chuan. Li Chuan likes to eat fish, and also likes to drink soup. He also likes Cantonese fish porridge. I wonder if he has tasted fish soup? I ran to the kitchen to ask the chef how to make the fish soup, only to realize that it is very troublesome to make it delicious. It's best to make a batch at a time. Whatever it is, I took a pen to write down the recipe, and I plan to take it back to Beijing and study it carefully to make it my specialty.
It's a pity that Li Chuan is still in the hospital. Because Ji Chuan was afraid that his wound would not stop bleeding and was afraid of infection, he insisted on staying in the hospital for "observation". All mobile phone signals are blocked in the ward, but there is a dedicated line for Internet access. I know that Li Chuan is very busy, probably like me, he only sleeps a few hours a day. I sent him a simple email asking if he was doing better. For this question, he didn't answer a word, and only three attachments were given to me. When I clicked on it, it was three drawings. This is his consistent attitude towards me since he came to Wenzhou. Even so, there was a touch of sweetness in my neglected heart. In order to make me quit smoking, he is willing to jump into the trash can. I am beyond happy, so why complain!
Next, I took a good nap, and at five o'clock, Zhang Shaohua suddenly called: "Annie, you can join the management's New Year reception tonight. Can you have some wine?"
"Yes." In addition to my addiction to cigarettes, I also have addictions to alcohol, chili, and cumin, which can be regarded as all five poisons. Li Chuan only discovered one thing. Besides, Zhu Bixuan's drinking capacity is so good, as her next job, I can't be much worse than her.
"You stay by Mr. Wang's side. He can't drink, not even a drop. When the kindness is hard to turn down, you can block him for a while, okay?"
"no problem."
"Among them is Director Xie, who is the key person. He has a strong Wenzhou accent, and Mr. Wang may not understand it. Be careful when you translate."
My face turned pale immediately. I can't understand Wenzhou dialect either, not only I can't understand it. I heard that most outsiders who have lived here for three years can't understand.
"How heavy is his accent?"
"He graduated from the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University, how much do you think he will weigh?" Zhang Shaohua said at the other end, "He is an insider, and he has heard of Mr. Wang's name."
"Okay! What time does the reception start?"
"Six o'clock sharp. We only received the notice in the morning. Get ready. There are only four of us going here, Mr. Jiang, Mr. Wang, me and you. You take Mr. Jiang's car, and I will go to the hospital to pick Mr. Wang. We are here See you at the hotel."
In order to cooperate with this operation, I wore a small bun with a purple wooden hairpin on it, and wore a cheongsam with blue flowers on a white background. My curves are fine except for my chest. The cheongsam wrapped me tightly, making me look skinny. I want to dress up as the lovely Lin Daiyu, so that those who force me to drink can't bear it.
Sitting in Mr. Jiang's car, I was still reviewing "Wenzhou Dialect Encyclopedia": "Liaozhizhi" means "clean"; "… Etc., etc. When I arrived at the gate of the hotel, I found that Li Chuan and Zhang Shaohua, the "head grain Zhuer (Wenzhou dialect: boss)" of CG, were already waiting there.
On formal occasions, Li Chuan is used to wearing a pure black suit and holding a red cane in his hand. Black shirt, black and white tie, against his slender face, high forehead, straight nose bridge and stubborn jaw, he looks very tough. In fact, what attracts me the most about Li Chuan is his eyes. No matter how resolute and ruthless his appearance looks, his eyes are very pure without any distracting thoughts. In the depths of his eyes, there is an almost religious piety and affection hidden.
Among the designers participating in the bidding this time, 31-year-old Li Chuan is the youngest and the most famous. He is known as a cold-faced gentleman in public, reticent and very reserved. So when I saw Li Chuan, his emotions and behavior had already entered the "public state". When he saw me, his eyes moved slightly, and he quickly returned to his original state.
"Did you two wait long?" Jiang Haotian said.
"No."
"Is Mr. Wang feeling better?" Jiang Haotian went up to shake hands with Li Chuan.
"It's ready."
At the reception desk in the lobby, Li Chuan helped me take off my overcoat under the watchful eyes of everyone, and handed it to the waiter together with my windbreaker. I was a little uncomfortable, feeling that many people present would misunderstand me as Li Chuan's wife. Therefore, every time Li Chuan shook hands with someone, I never forgot to step forward and explain: "I am Annie, Mr. Wang's translator." After all, the people who came here were all colleagues in the industry, and everyone knew each other. Therefore, many people smiled and asked: "Mr. Wang's Chinese is so good, do you still need a translator?"
Of course, a few people misunderstood me as Zhu Bixuan and called me Miss Zhu when shaking hands. This time it was Li Chuan's turn to explain one by one: "This is Miss Xie, my new translator."
We exchanged pleasantries all the way until we got close to the wine table, only to see a square-faced man in his sixties surrounded by a group of designers like stars holding the moon. Jiang Haotian came over at some point and whispered to Li Chuan, "That's the director of the Bidding Office, Xie Heyang."
Xie Heyang was nicknamed "Shoebox" because of his dark and square face. Of course, no one dared to call him that in person. Li Chuan took a glass of water and drank slowly beside him. Seeing that the people around Xie Heyang had dispersed to make room for some space, he took me up quickly and introduced himself: "Hi, Director Xie. I'm Wang. Li Chuan, the CG designer."
"Oh! Mr. Wang!" Xie Heyang shook hands with him calmly and enthusiastically, "I've heard about you for a long time, so I'm lucky." He still spoke Mandarin, but there was a strong flat tongue in his voice. There was a polite smile on Li Chuan's face, he hesitated for a moment, and I immediately translated these words into English.
"I don't dare to be that." Li Chuan replied, "Foreign designers have little talent and learning, and they admire the profound Chinese culture."
I silently glanced at Li Chuan, a little surprised. I couldn't believe that this extremely polite sentence came from Li Chuan who only knew 950 Chinese characters.
Sure enough, more smiles appeared on Xie Heyang's face: "Mr. Wang is too modest. When I was young, Dr. Wang Yuhang, a famous architect in the field of architecture, was invited to give lectures at Tsinghua University. Among the accompanying staff, I was the last one. I heard that he is also a Swiss Chinese. , I wonder if Mr. Wang knows him?"
"That's my grandfather."
"I remember that at that time, Mr. Wang was accompanied by his eldest son, Mr. Wang Chuning. We were about the same age and had a good conversation. Mr. Chuning spoke fluent Chinese, was very elegant, and was also a well-known architect."
Li Chuan nodded slightly: "That's my father."
"When did Mr. Wang's family come overseas?"
"It was around the end of the Qing Dynasty."
"Could it be an old man from the former Qing Dynasty?" A middle-aged man who had been standing next to Xie Heyang suddenly interjected.
Li Chuan said indifferently: "No. According to the genealogy, we belong to the Langya Wang family, and we are of pure Central Plains blood."
Xie Heyang said: "By the way, let me introduce, this is Mr. Tian Xiaogang, the chief designer of Jiayuan International."
"Xiao Gang, long time no see."
"To be exact, I haven't seen you for six years, Li Chuan, why do you seem to have disappeared from China?"
"Where, my company is still here, and I will come to take care of it when needed." Li Chuan paused, and then said: "Director Xie, Xiao Gang is an architect in Wenzhou, and he has the right time, place and people. Although CG is overseas Corps, but they all come from the same Chinese lineage. During the review, Director Xie won’t treat one more favorably than another, right?”
Xie Heyang laughed and waved his hands again and again: "Where, where! CG has very strong design capabilities, and the renovation of City C will become a model project for Wenzhou's opening up to the outside world. We very much welcome overseas companies to participate in the bidding. Don't worry, the competition is absolutely fair."
The three chatted together for ten minutes before Xie Heyang was surrounded by another group of people. I was translating on the side, but I felt my lips were parched, so I went to the bar to find a drink. Li Chuan followed all the way.
"Pure blood of the Central Plains?" I teased, "After the five chaos, what blood is pure?"
"It's just to scare people, it's not pure and true," Li Chuan said, "For example, my grandmother is a real French." I looked at Li Chuan's face and felt relieved. It's no wonder that Li Chuan not only has a full Chinese appearance, but also has an unusually distinct facial outline.
"That Tian Xiaogang came here with bad intentions. I'm afraid he might have some secret deal with Xie Heyang. I heard that many bureaucrats here are quite corrupt." Li Chuan said again.
"Don't worry, the government is now very strict on violations of law and discipline. How many people are watching such a large project. If any corruption is found out, the whole army will be wiped out and all families will be wiped out." Li Chuan looked at me with a look on his face. Doubt: "What is 'annihilation of the whole army'? What is 'slashing the whole family' and... what is 'natural and man-made disaster'?"
"Natural and man-made disasters?"
"Didn't Director Xie say that there were natural and man-made disasters among the accompanying personnel? I didn't understand that sentence."
"Didn't I translate it for you?"
"I don't understand your translation either."
What? How can it be? I almost jumped up: "Why don't you understand? Did I translate it wrong? Didn't the words convey the meaning?"
"No, no... Your cheongsam is so pretty, I'm... a little distracted."
I sighed and said, "It's not 'natural disasters and man-made disasters', it's 'the end of the world'. This is a humble speech. He said that although he himself is not qualified, he is also included in the company."
"Okay. Remember to write these four words for me to recognize when you go back."
No wonder Li Chuan needed a translator. I always thought it was superfluous, but it seems that it is really impossible for him not to translate.
Each of us stood next to the bar with a glass of red wine.
Architecture is really a man's world. Looking around, the whole hall was crowded with people, but there was no female designer in sight. I was about to make a speech about this, but Li Chuan asked me another topic: "Xiaoqiu, what did you do for your graduation thesis? DHLarence?"
"No. Are you interested in this?"
"I have always been interested in English literature."
"I do sisu, sisu and joyce."
"Joyce, I know. Who's Sisu?"
"Hélène Cixous." It's a French name. It seems that my pronunciation is wrong, and he has obviously heard of Cixous: "Cixous is French. Aren't you from the English department?"
"Cixous himself is from the English Department, and he is with me. The famous Joyce expert."
He nodded, then said, "So, what you do is French feminism?"
"Hmm. Isn't it scary? Pretty edgy?"
"It's not scary. You see, you are a woman and I am a disabled person. We are all Vunerable groups (vulnerable groups), comrades in the same trench."
I laughed, thinking it was funny. Li Chuan's literary interest is very high, and he claims to like reading high-modern ones. I couldn't help asking again: "Have you read sisu?"
"I've only read Le rire de méduse, that is, The Laugh of the Medusa."
"That's what I did."
He looked at me in disbelief: "No way. Sisu is the one who advocates women's liberation the most. Six years have passed, why do you look like you haven't liberated your mind at all?" He shook his head repeatedly, "I don't think you have done it at all. If you understand the essence of feminism, your knowledge will be in vain.”
"Why am I not liberated? I am quite liberated!" My voice was raised, challenged.
He stopped talking, bowed his head and sighed.
"Then tell me, what should I do to be liberated?"
"If I say so, will you pour wine on my face?"
"Won't."
"Six years ago, I said goodbye, why send me an email?"
"I... I haven't posted much." I muttered, a little short of breath.
"Is 1,500 letters a small amount? The shortest is thirty words, and the longest is twelve thousand words. All together, it's equivalent to three novels. I can't believe that you wrote these letters at the same time. I'm studying feminism! If I were Cixous, I would be ashamed to death when I heard about your actions." He looked into my eyes and said word by word, with a very serious tone.
I took a deep breath and felt a little weird. Li Chuan has always been considerate to me, and he also pays attention to the occasion and method of speaking. I don't understand why he chose to humiliate me in this public place today, New Year's Eve.
"Hey, Li Chuan, tell me," I remained calm, "Do you like reading my letters?"
"Okay...with a dictionary."
"That's it." I took a sip of wine, "My feelings for you go beyond any doctrine, including feminism. In fact, in China, people like me have a proper term."
"What proper noun?"
"Love Saint." He opened his mouth, closed it again, finally had nothing to say, so he had to divert his firepower: "The discussion is over for now. I think that old lady needs my help." After speaking, he turned to help a The old lady who was trying to get a big bottle of Coke: "Old lady, this bottle is very heavy, please leave it there, and I will pour it for you."
The old lady was about eighty years old, with thinning hair, and she was wearing a hand-embroidered Tang suit. She looked very neat, like an old man from a wealthy family. Li Chuan poured her a glass of Coke and asked her what she wanted. The old lady said, "Young man, please bring me that cake."
A two-tiered cake sits on a tall tray in the distance. No one ate it because most people thought it was a dessert after a meal. Li Chuan stretched out his long arm, took out a table knife, unceremoniously cut off a piece, put it on a small plate and handed it to her. Ask again: "Do you want fruit? Here are watermelons and grapes."
"A few slices of watermelon, and a few grapes." The old lady looked at him with a strange look, with a very loving look.
Li Chuan brought her a plate of things, took her with him, and found a seat for her.
"Young man, why is your leg lame? Was it injured?" the old lady asked with a smile. Li Chuan is perfect in the eyes of many people, except for his legs. So I think the old lady is obviously using her age to get close to Li Chuan, her eyes are very impure.
"It was... a car accident." Li Chuan looked a little embarrassed. Then, he reached out to shake hands with the old lady seriously and said, "My name is Wang Lichuan, and I'm a CG designer."
The old lady smiled heartily, and her dentures looked white and neat. I was afraid that her dentures would fall out halfway through her smile. Just thinking about it, there was a "ding dong", her dentures really fell out!
Li Chuan and I reached out our hands at the same time. Li Chuan picked it up from the ground with long hands, and said softly, "Madam, wait here for a while. I'll come as soon as I go." He took a disposable paper cup from the side and went to the cup. Toilet.
The old lady didn't care, she pursed her lips and said to me: "Little girl, is he your boyfriend?"
"No. Granny, I am his translator."
Without dentures, she spoke out: "Why, is he a foreigner?"
"Swiss Chinese."
"Oh. He's so cute!"
"yes."
"Didn't you see that he likes you very much? He is so physically inconvenient that he can't even stand without a cane. You are obviously right next to him, but he doesn't let you do it for me. He works so hard to carry things for me."
I felt that the old lady was criticizing me in disguise, so I quickly explained: "Mr. Wang is very confident and capable. If he needs help, he will tell me."
"Your grandma, I have seen countless people, good and bad, and both good and bad. Believe in your grandma's eyes, this is definitely a good man."
I was elated and smiled brightly.
Li Chuan came over, put the cleaned dentures in a cup and handed them to the old lady, and handed her a napkin as well. The old lady covered her face with paper, put on her dentures, and smiled back at us, as bright as snow.
She shook hands with Li Chuan, and said, "My surname is Hua, and my name is Huaxiao. I'm a painter." Every word starts with "H". drop down. In the end, I couldn't hear what she said, I thought her name was Huajiao, and I wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.
Li Chuan asked with great interest: "Madam, do you paint Chinese paintings or oil paintings?"
"I am so old-fashioned, of course it is Chinese painting."
"There is a painter in the judging committee, named Mr. Longxi, who is also a painter of traditional Chinese painting. Have you known him for a long time?"
"Yes, he is my student."
My heart sank. There is indeed a well-known Mr. Longxi in the jury, a successor of the Zhejiang School, who is very prestigious in the painting world. Well, this old lady must have a lot of background.
Then, Li Chuan suddenly coughed lightly. He hurriedly said, "I'm sorry."
While talking with the old lady, he took a snack and took a bite. He probably ate too fast, and then he coughed again, this time he came in such a hurry that he didn't have time to turn around and avoid it.
"I am so sorry. It happened before I could stop it.
Gentleman style is here again. It took me a minute to figure out that he was apologizing again for coughing. I laughed secretly in my heart: That old lady and Li Chuan are really a couple. One was too careless, he didn't care if his dentures fell out, and kept talking; the other was too careful, coughed and apologized for a long time.
"Old lady, please sit down slowly, I will accompany Mr. Wang to the lounge." I pulled Li Chuan and walked away like a gust of wind.
We walked together to the side hall outside the restaurant. Li Chuan covered his mouth with a handkerchief, still coughing continuously. I looked at him, sighed, and said, "There is mustard in that plate, which you never eat. How did you forget this time?"
"How do I know it's mustard?"
"Then are you better?" I was a little worried, "Why don't we go back now."
"Go back? The reception hasn't started yet."
"In the final analysis, bidding depends on strength and design. No matter how well you perform at the reception, it's useless."
"It's true to say this abroad, but I have no idea what to say here. Besides, Jiang Haotian came to ask for my help this time. I'm leaving now. No matter what the reason is, it's too embarrassing for him."
Li Chuan was called by Jiang Haotian to turn the tide. However, that Tian Xiaogang and Xie Heyang have been standing together, and their attitude seems to be more intimate than ordinary people, which makes people feel discouraged. In the past ten days, Li Chuan has been inspecting the site, surveying the construction site, and engaged in cultural research. It can be said that he is going all out and aiming to win the competition. As the chief designer, the pressure on him is actually the greatest.
"Back in Switzerland, maybe you should write a paper titled "A Foreign Architect's Confusion in China."
He looked up at me and suddenly smiled.
I stared at his face feeling dizzy. This is the smile I have dreamed of for six years. At this time, it is like the sudden release of Utan, which makes me almost have the intention of facing the Buddha.
He stood up, and I suddenly noticed that gauze was still wrapped around his wrist. Could it be that the wound was deep? It's been three days and it's still not good
"Li Chuan, your hand—"
He interrupted me and said, "Xiaoqiu, tomorrow is the new year. Can you have a new look for the new year?"
"what does this mean?"
"Can you carry feminism to the end?"
"cannot."
The teasing and jokes just now made me feel like I went back to the time six years ago, but Li Chuan's words made me feel that the happiness that came suddenly was taking a turn for the worse.
"Just let it go, please." He stared into my face, "I beg you."
"No!" I flatly refused.
His eyes gradually turned cold, and his expression suddenly became cold, exactly the same as the day we broke up six years ago.
At this moment, I suddenly understood why he came to China.
Even if CG wins the bid, even if the earned money is handed over to Li Chuan, to him, this amount is not worth mentioning. He couldn't afford to give up the job at hand, give up the recuperation in the hospital, and come here all the way for this money.
He's only here because twenty days ago, I sent another email to his old address in the middle of a drunk. Five words were written on it, followed by a series of exclamation points:
"Li Chuan, come back!!!"
That was the first email I sent him after a three-year hiatus from our correspondence. I regret it when it's over. The letter actually bounced back three seconds later. The system shows that the other party's address refuses to accept this email, and the system will continue to try to deliver it.
So, he's back. Because I haven't forgotten my feelings yet, he has the responsibility to make a complete end to me on this New Year's Eve.
My smile disappeared and my face turned pale in an instant.
"I've already booked a flight back to Zurich. After presentation, I'll leave right away."
I sneered and reached out to him: "I don't believe it! Where is the ticket? Show me."
He literally pulled a ticket out of his pocket and handed it to me.
I tore it to shreds: "The ticket is gone."
I admit, I'm crazy, I'm desperate, I'm violent. This time, I can't let Li Chuan leave me again!
"It's an electronic ticket," he said.
"So, this time is another farewell?" I lowered my eyes and said tremblingly.
"You need a closure. (Translation: You need a closure.)"
"Tell me why you left last time."
"..." There was a solid silence.
"Li Chuan, are you seriously ill?" I looked at him with tears in my eyes, "You know, no matter what disease you have, I don't care. I don't care that you only have one leg, and I don't care about you What's wrong?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"Then, I want you to look into my eyes," I stared at his face, "look into my eyes, and then tell me: You, Wang Lichuan, don't love me."
He bowed his head in silence for a moment, then raised his head again, looked into my eyes, and said to me word by word: "Yes, Xiaoqiu. I don't love you anymore. I hope everything between you and me, It's all over before New Years. I want you to completely forget about me, put no hopes in me, and never email me again. Can you… can you do that?"
My heart shrunk little by little, and in an instant, it became a hard core.
I said, "I can do it. But I have one condition."
"What conditions?"
"I can end everything. However, you have to stay in Beijing, stay in CG."
He looked at me, studying my expression. Then say, "How long?"
"Stay until I say you can go."
He thought for a while and sighed softly: "Maybe you need a transition period. During this period, can you guarantee that we are just ordinary colleagues?"
"I promise."
"Well, I promise you." He said, "ut you must move on."
I didn't answer his words, but stood up coldly and said, "Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom."
I walked into the bathroom quickly, closed the door, and sat on the toilet, tears streaming down my face. What kind of feminism is this, I said to myself, for Li Chuan, I have no choice but to cry. I was sobbing on the toilet, so distraught that I thought I could stop it in an hour. By the time I finally finished crying and stood up unsteadily from the toilet, five hours had passed. I used up all the toilet paper next to the toilet, and when I came to the sink, I saw in the mirror that my face was covered with water, my hair was disheveled, and my eyes were swollen into two huge walnuts. And my tears haven't stopped yet, they are still flowing out. I hugged a large roll of toilet paper, and for some reason, sadness came from it. I whimpered and cried by the door for another 20 minutes, and finally stopped crying. He wrapped his face in a scarf, bowed his head and walked out of the hotel gate.
Someone came up and helped me put on my coat.
We walked to the car in silence, he opened the door, and I quickly got in.
My turbulent mood gradually calmed down in the cold air in the middle of the night. The man sighed softly, leaned down, and fastened my seat belt for me.
At that moment, I suddenly said, "Li Chuan, I want to touch the back of your head."
Regardless of whether he agrees or not, like an archaeologist, I held his head with my hand and touched his skull carefully.
He closed the car door, sat next to me, and asked, "Why are you touching my head?"
"Want to know what your head is made of."