I am a southerner, not used to the dry and cold north. Because I knew Li Chuan, I fell in love with Beijing. When I had the opportunity to go to Shanghai when I graduated—in fact, Shanghai is my real hometown—I gave up. Sometimes, I even feel that the whole city of Beijing is filled with the breath of Li Chuan. After many years, whenever I passed by a Starbucks, or smelled the familiar smell of coffee, I would feel flustered and inexplicably nervous, thinking that I would meet Li Chuan again. Now, I am about to leave Wenzhou, because I am reluctant to part with Li Chuan again.
René said that when you are walking on the streets of a small Swiss town, an old man will come up to talk to you. If you don’t understand the language, you can only understand it after asking someone to translate. The old man just wants to shake hands with you and wish you a happy day. When crossing an intersection, the car will slam on the brakes and stop ten feet away from you in order to let a pedestrian who does not know the road sign. In the same situation in the United States, the driver has already yelled at you, but the Swiss will smile at you with a good temper, wave their hands, and give you way. “Siss people are freaky nice!”
Besides Li Chuan, the only Swiss I recognized was tennis star Roger Federer. I think Li Chuan's smile is very similar to Federer's: very gentle, very kind, very humble, without ecstatic gestures; a little reserved, a little shy.
On the night of winning the bid, everyone went to the most luxurious restaurant in the city to celebrate. Many people drank too much. René drank half a bottle of Wuliangye, and five or six of them, including Mr. Zhang, got drunk. Only Li Chuan did not drink a single drop under Ji Chuan's strict supervision. I was the only woman among the men besides the waiter, and I was always used as a secretary by everyone. It is said that the former Zhu Bixuan was also like this. I had to show up early to arrange the menu, talk to the manager about the price of drinks, etc. Although I also love to drink, it is not appropriate to go crazy on this occasion. I only drank a glass of dry red, very restrained.
After eating, those who drank and got down were all taken back to the hotel by taxi. Those who didn't drink and lay down stayed in the KTV private room to karaoke. I didn't want to be a free escort among a large group of half-drunk men, so I said I was a little sleepy, worried that I would get airsick tomorrow, wanted to rest early, said hello to Mr. Jiang, and slipped away.
I came out of the bathroom and met Li Chuan at the door.
"Are you going back to the hotel?" he asked.
"… No return."
"Should I call a taxi to take you?"
"No, I'll go for a walk." I was wearing a short woolen skirt and a thick shawl. Winter in Wenzhou is actually not too cold.
My eyes are still two walnuts, and his expression is still on the verge of breaking out.
He didn't insist.
The door of the hotel is the kind of golden stainless steel "ten" revolving door, which is very heavy to push. I secretly thought, Li Chuan's legs are not convenient, and it will be very difficult to walk through this kind of revolving door. So when I got to the door, I suddenly said, "Wait, is there another door? I don't like to go through this kind of door."
"Ustrophobia?" he turned to me.
"no… "
With a glance back and forth, he guessed my intention, and walked straight into the door with the stick. I followed and gently pulled the revolving door to prevent it from turning too fast. His actions were indeed a little slow in the revolving door. However, he came out quickly, and I followed quickly. Walking to the open steps, he said to me: "In this situation, let me walk in front, okay? I'm a man, and the door is very heavy, so I should be the one to push the door."
"Don't say yes, women first?" I asked back.
"If the door has already turned, you can go first, and I will come to the rear."
"No way, is this the rule of which era?" Seeing him ordering me solemnly, I just want to laugh.
"It's not a rule, it's just to make it more convenient for you, that's all."
"When it comes to convenience, I think it should be those who are able to take care of those who are handicapped."
"Thank you for reminding me, it's very convenient for me to move around." Li Chuan did not show weakness, and responded with one sentence. I was stunned for a long time, but I couldn't reply.
After all, he waved for a taxi. Seeing him sit in, I got in too.
"Didn't you say you want to take a walk back?" He asked.
"There is a Guan Temple in front of me. I have always wanted to visit it. Today is just on the way, so you can go with me." He sat there coldly, not understanding what I meant, so he didn't speak all the way. I said to the driver: "Excuse me, stop in front of Guan Gong Temple."
After driving for less than ten minutes, Guanmiao arrived. I got off the car with Li Chuan.
A small temple, but there are very good incense. There is a row of red lanterns in front of the door. In the middle stood a wooden man standing one foot long, holding a big knife in his hand. The face is like a jujube, the long beard flutters, and the momentum is mighty. There are four big characters on the top of the head: "Yi Bing Qian Kun".
The knee-high threshold made it very troublesome for Li Chuan to enter. He had to lift the prosthetic leg with his hands to get over it. We came to Guan Gong together.
I lit three sticks of incense, bowed to the sky, muttered something, and said: "Li Chuan, have you heard of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"?"
"heard about it."
"Do you know about Liu Guanzhang's sworn marriage?"
"Know."
"Li Chuan, I want to make a sworn oath with you."
"What?" He couldn't believe his ears, "What?"
"I, Xie Xiaoqiu, want to sworn brothers with you, Wang Lichuan."
His eyes turned to confusion: "Why?"
"You know, with our current situation, brotherhood is better than colleague relationship."
He shook his head: "I don't understand."
"The reason is simple. If it's a colleague relationship, colleagues can develop into lovers at any time. You certainly don't want our relationship to develop in this direction, do you?"
He nodded: "Yes."
"So a co-worker relationship isn't the best solution to the problem," I looked into his eyes, not letting him look away, "But brothers are different. Brothers can't develop into lovers. If that's the case, it becomes Incest. You and I will definitely not do incest, right?"
He looked at me coldly, didn't say anything, didn't answer, guessing that I was playing tricks.
I continued, with both emotion and emotion: "I think back then, the three of Liu, Guan and Zhang got married in Taoyuan, sacrificed black cattle and white horses, and vowed not to be born in the same year, the same month, and the same day, but to die in the same year, the same month, and the same day—every time I see this passage, I'm very excited."
Li Chuan frowned, as if I was an alien.
No matter what, the three pillars of incense were stuffed into his hand, and I swore loudly to the wooden man: "The sky is above, and the loess is below. I, Xie Xiaoqiu and Wang Lichuan, will become brothers at this time today, in front of Emperor Guan. From then on , share the blessings, share the difficulties, the emperor and the empress, learn from this heart, betray righteousness and forget gratitude, and kill heaven and man together."
Yes, readers, I am repeating a certain martial arts plot. I have watched too much martial arts, and I can't figure out where it all came from. I feel that the problems between me and Li Chuan cannot be solved by modern methods, and can only be replaced by ancient ones. So I chose this place: ancient temples, ancient statues, ancient incense sticks, and ancient incense burners. Travel briefly in the light of ancient candles. From ancient times to the present, how many people are acting to talk about love, but I am acting for love. Just think about how tired I am.
I recited the oath impassionedly, only to find that Li Chuan looked at me sideways and sneered repeatedly: "I am a man and you are a woman. Excuse me, how can we be brothers?" incense burner. He took out his handkerchief to wipe his hands, and planned to leave.
Li Chuan was gentle on the outside and stubborn on the inside, once he made up his mind, he would never turn back.
"Wait!" I held him back, "This is exactly the purpose of asking you to come today. As long as you and I are sworn brothers. I swear that from now on, I will only be a man in front of you, not a woman. I am with you, yes male-to-male relationship."
The person in front of him frowned into a big "V": "Male?"
"Of course you know that there are many relationships between people, and love is just one of them. For us, it can become important or unimportant. If we cut this level of relationship, It will be very easy between us. The so-called tolerance for a moment of calm, further smashing into pieces, is better than taking a step back. What do you think?"
I licked my lips, I didn't know how these words came out, in fact, I didn't want to be sublimated so soon at all. However, Li Chuan was obviously confused by my series of parallel sentences. I continued to earnestly said: "If you marry me, everything will be over. I promise you, I will start a new life immediately, and start looking for a boyfriend immediately. Then I will fall in love, get married, buy a house, have children, honor my parents-in-law, buy pension insurance, Live a happy family life."
He was a little dazed, looked at me, and said for a long time: "You promise? Can you really promise?"
"Of course! Who is Grandpa Guan? Grandpa Guan is the Great Emperor of the Three Realms, the Great Emperor of the Three Realms, and the God of God. If I lie in front of his old man, I am not afraid of thunder and thunder?" I patted Li Chuan on the shoulder, "Li Chuan , you Swiss have always been very forthright, please be quick and don’t discredit your culture, okay?”
Be honest. Li Chuan thought it was an ancient tradition of the Chinese nation, so he honestly followed me and swore in front of Grandpa Guan.
"Hey," I patted him, "From now on you will be my boss, you have to cover me."
"No matter who I am your older brother," Li Chuan said to me sincerely with his eyes wide open, "I will always cover you. You can alays count on me. (Translation: You can always count on me.) "
Li Chuan has a problem that all foreigners who love Chinese culture can't get rid of: they love our culture to the point of obsession. For example, Li Chuan was full of praise for our Buddhist buildings; whenever there were any religious ceremonies, he worshiped devoutly, for fear that others would regard him as a foreigner.
He said this from the bottom of his heart, and my heart was pounding. You know, whether it is a lover, a friend, or a brother, it is not easy for anyone to say this to you.
The following words came out of my mouth excitedly, definitely not the moon, absolutely not representing my heart: "Li Chuan, you should go back to Switzerland, don't worry about me anymore. As the saying goes, all are brothers. You just have to remember to send me an email every now and then."
He looked at me with a slightly surprised expression: "You?—Let me go back to Switzerland?"
"Yeah." I sucked in the cold air, my nose was sour, and the string in my heart was about to break. Simply cheer him up: A good man will do his best to the end and send the Buddha to the west, "New year and new atmosphere, you said it, right?"
He stood there without saying a word for a long time. After a while, he said "um" and said, "Let's go."
When I crossed the threshold, I gave him a hand, but he didn't refuse.
Before getting into the car, he suddenly said: "Xiaoqiu, you changed gender so quickly, okay? At least give me a transition period."
I looked at him faintly, and my heart ached very painfully: "Li Chuan, are you a little more relaxed now?"
He didn't answer.
Get a good night's sleep.
The next day, we packed up our luggage and took the plane, arriving in Beijing two hours later.
Relatives have already crowded in the crowd. After a hug, they went home. René and Ji Chuan directly transferred back to Switzerland. Li Chuan said that the Wenzhou project had just started, and there were still many follow-up design points that he would be in charge of. He would stay in Beijing for a while.
We have been walking together and made an appointment to call a taxi together. However, as soon as I walked out of the crowd, I heard someone calling me.
"Annie." Following the sound, it was Xiao Guan. It's been a long time, I can't believe that the person standing in front of me is Xiao Guan. Wheat-colored skin, wearing short sleeves in winter, revealing thick and powerful arms. My impression of Xiao Guan has always been that of a successful Confucian businessman. I didn't expect him to look thin when he was dressed, and fleshy when he undressed. The whole body is filled with festive joy and extraordinary energy. Wearing a white tennis shirt and carrying a huge tennis bag, he waited leisurely.
"President Xiao?"
"I just came back from playing. I'm here to pick you up. This must be the famous Mr. Wang Lichuan." He extended his hand and shook hands with Lichuan, very warm and sophisticated.
"you are… "
"Xiao Guan. From Jiutong translator. Annie's current personnel relationship is still in Jiutong. So you and I are her boss."
"Mr. Xiao, hello."
"I am very familiar with Mr. Jiang and Mr. Zhang of your company. Apart from translation, we have other business contacts. I also do a little real estate. This is my business card."
In order to take the business card with both hands, Li Chuan put down his luggage and his cane: "I'm sorry, I didn't bring the business card, I will make it up next time."
"I heard that the project CG in Wenzhou has won the bid?"
"Yes. Mr. Xiao is a well-informed person."
"I used to work for the National News Agency. Congratulations! How is it, my go-getter, Annie, is doing well?"
"Very good. Thank you for recommending her to CG."
Xiao Guan waved his hands and said with a smile: "What's the relationship between Jiutong and CG? Of course, I will pick the best one for you. Does Mr. Wang have a car to pick you up? I can drive you."
"Thank you, no need. I can take a taxi by myself."
"Then I'll take Annie away without hesitation." Xiao Guan snatched my luggage carelessly and held it in his hand.
"No problem. Annie needs to relax." Li Chuan said lightly, "Goodbye."
"goodbye."
On the way to the parking lot, Xiao Guan said: "What hit you, your eyes are swollen like this?"
"Stinged by a wasp."
"Hey, you have to be scientific when you lie. How can there be wasps in winter? They don't cry, right? What is so serious that you cry like this?"
"It's none of your business." I was in a bad mood and hated him asking after him.
"I sent you an email and I didn't see you replying. You are too negligent of my boss." He opened the car door and motioned for me to sit in. "Did you notice that I bought a new car."——It was a small Audi sports car, The car smelled of real leather.
"Really?" I haven't studied cars, and I don't remember what brand he drove before.
"I ate two orders in just one week after I bought it."
"Why?"
"Speeding."
Then he talked about Audi for a full fifteen minutes. The performance, indicators, and comparison with other cars of the same grade, I heard nothing interesting.
"That Wang Lichuan, do you know him well?"
"Generally, working relationship."
"Is he easy to talk to?"
"It's okay, I don't really understand."
"I've taken a fancy to a project, and I've almost got the money together. I want to lure him in as an investment, and I want to ask him to design the main building."
"Then you have to go talk to him yourself."
"Don't be in a hurry." He said, and the car turned into a small street. "There is a new Suzhou restaurant here. I heard that the chef's cooking skills are good. I've always wanted to try it—my hometown is in Suzhou. Are you interested? "
"How dare I let you treat me?"
"Why are you being polite to me?"
After parking the car, I listlessly followed him into the restaurant. Looking around, although the facade is not big, the decoration inside is extremely elegant. The waitresses were all dressed in satin cheongsams.
Actually, apart from Li Chuan, Xiao Guan was the second man who took me out for dinner alone. It has to be said that men and women in this world are as diverse as they are. I couldn't help but think of the words Li Chuan asked me to move on. Then, I kept saying to myself in my heart: move on, move on, move on...
When the menu came, Xiao Guan asked me what I wanted to order. I don't have much impression of Su cuisine, so I asked him to order it for me. He ordered good dishes and wine. I didn't have an appetite, and Su dishes were a little sweet, so I asked the waiter for chili sauce.
Only then did Xiao Guan realize that I might not be used to Su Cai: "Sorry, I forgot to ask, where are you from?"
"From Yunnan."
"People from Yunnan, no wonder they like chili. I can't touch any chili, and I choke when I eat it. Last time I went to a friend's house. His wife is from Sichuan. There was a strong smell of chili in the air. I choked as soon as I entered the door." , Coughed for a long time at the entrance of the stairs to catch my breath."
"Then you have to stay away from me, I don't like anything spicy." I looked at him and smiled.
"Chili sauce is a good thing. When I take you to a restaurant in the future, I must remember to bring a bottle of chili sauce with me."
It feels good to be yourself, and you don't ask others if they are willing to accommodate you. I muttered in my heart. For people who eat chili, the word "chili sauce" is an insult. I am not a general lover of chili. I love the chili in the last season of autumn.
Next, he began to talk about the international news of the year, including the U.S. stock market, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, crude oil prices, North Korea’s nuclear test, the military uprising in Thailand, and the EU’s China policy. Then it was sports news: Italian football, NA, Formula 1, Wimbledon. I kept listening and nodding. That's great, I don't have to read the newspaper. Why didn't I meet this person during the postgraduate entrance examination, and I didn't need to review the current affairs questions.
"What do you usually do for entertainment?" Seeing that I kept silent for a long time and kept nodding to eat, he finally turned the topic to me.
"Watching TV, reading, sleeping..."
"Do you watch "News Network"?"
"Never."
His jaw seemed to drop and he said, "Never look? You never care about world affairs?"
"Don't care, I'm very narrow."
"Then how did you get into graduate school?"
"Guaranteed."
"Then what TV do you watch?"
"Marriage dramas at eight o'clock: "Holding Hands", "Don't Talk About Love", etc. I also like to watch martial arts movies, and Stephen Chow is my favorite."
He sighed.
"Then do you read the newspaper every day?"
"Look. Entertainment, Home, City Life—just read these three editions, and throw the rest away."
"Where are the magazines?"
"I like "Reader" the most, and I also watch "Family" and "Friends". Sometimes I watch "Legends of the Ancient and Modern Times", not just watching it regularly."
"Who is your favorite author?"
"Du Ruo, Blue Lotus."
"Why don't I seem to have heard of these names?"
"They are all very famous internet writers. Du Ruo's "Tian Wu" is highly recommended."
"I think... your literary taste... um... how should I put it, it needs to be improved. I like Su Tong, and I recommend his "Wives and Concubines". Zhang Ailing is also very good. Emma likes Yi Shu and Liang Fengyi."
I quickly said, "By the way, how are you and Emma doing? Have you continued your relationship?"
"Front edge? How is it possible? A good horse never turns back."
"Emma is pretty good. Young, beautiful, talented, stylish. It's a perfect match for you. Really."
He took a sip of wine and smiled: "You know, there is a book that says that people in love are divided into two types. One is the lyrical type. This type of person only pursues an ideal figure in love, even if they hit a wall every time, One is the narrative type, who likes all kinds of hues of all living beings. Emma belongs to the latter, and I have been narrated by her once. What about you? Is it lyrical or narrative?"
"I don't know, I haven't studied it." I wiped my mouth and said, "I'm done."
His face was a little ugly. Because he was busy talking just now and didn't move his chopsticks much. Instead, I listened and ate, and the fight was quickly over.
"I didn't expect you to talk so little." He said, "By the way, can I trouble you to hurry up on that manual, I'm waiting for it."
"I need a week, isn't that too much?"
"Of course not too much. Are you free in the evening? Come to my house to listen to music? A friend brought back some new CDs from abroad. I have a good stereo..."
"A little airsick today, let's try another day." I pointed to my head, fainting.
He looked at me and smiled wryly: "Am I that unattractive, Anne. I've never felt so frustrated in front of any woman."
"Life can't always be full of flowers and flowers."
He called the waitress to check out, and asked without giving up: "Do you not like to associate with all the men? Or do you not like being with me alone?"
"Are you implying I'm a Lesbian?"
"How come?" He looked at me and said, "Are you?"
Completely speechless! I rolled my eyes and stood up.
Xiao Guan sent me home, keeping his head silent all the way, with a look of being beaten.
When getting out of the car, he rolled down the window and said to me: "Annie, I am also a lyric type. When a lyrical type meets a lyrical type, it will be a matter of time before a spark is struck."
He looked at me with burning eyes, which made me feel guilty: "Xiao Guan, I'm not in a good mood today, and you can see that my eyes are swollen. Don't take what you said just now to your heart."
"I'm in a bad mood, why don't you come to my house to listen to music at night? Just talk about your mood." He didn't give up and made the last effort.
"Thank you, I'm not going."
I went back to the house, fell on the bed, and remembered what Li Chuan said before: "If you get used to having men treat you like this, you will marry a better man in the future."
Li Chuan, you killed me!