He was even more straightforward than I expected, which basically meant that I could disappear immediately...
The next day, I got up early to pack my things. I have always been a very efficient person, so I could finish my things in no time. I could have just left, but since he said he would take me home, I had no choice but to wait for him to come back.
The weather was extremely hot and humid, and I didn't want to go out, so I just surfed the Internet and watched TV to pass the time.
However, by the afternoon, no one was seen.
I thought that when he said "tomorrow and the day after tomorrow" yesterday, maybe he didn't mean today.
The guest should follow the host’s wishes. I thought about it, took out my pajamas and toothbrush again, and waited for tomorrow to come.
When it was almost time for dinner, he called and said he had an appointment and would not be home for dinner. I thought he would hang up, but he said, "I have something to do here, so I will be home late. It will rain soon, so I will take you tomorrow."
I said, "Yeah. That's okay."
I cooked some noodles for dinner by myself, and then the property security guard knocked on every door, informing everyone that there would be heavy rain in the evening and that the flower pots and other debris on the windowsills and balconies should be cleared away to prevent them from being blown down and hitting people.
There were two Clivias on the balcony. They were originally one plant, but later they sprouted new buds and were planted in two pots. This thing has always been Mu Chenghe's treasure. After it got dark, the wind really started to blow. It hurriedly looked for gaps between the doors and windows and poured wind into the house, making the two pots of Clivia outside sway from side to side, and the chandelier in the living room also made a rattling sound.
I sat in front of the glass, watching the albizzia trees outside swaying, dust, sand, and leaves all rolled up. Suddenly, the sky was dyed dark gray. In the past, when we encountered this kind of weather, Song Qiqi would occasionally recite that poem in the dormitory, which made her sound very cultured. Compared with me, she was a person of a different level.
I propped my chin up and racked my brains before I could recall something like: Stream clouds are rising as the sun sets in the pavilion, mountain rain is about to come and the wind is blowing in the building.
After the lightning and thunder, heavy rain followed.
The ideas that were instilled in me since childhood made me afraid to turn on the TV or surf the Internet, for fear that these appliances would be damaged by lightning. I was alone, lying on the sofa reading a book. Suddenly, there was a loud thunder, which startled me. Then there were thunders and lightnings one after another, each stronger than the last.
I moved my butt, and decided to stay away from the doors and windows just in case, so as not to hurt innocent people. Then, I continued reading.
Not long after, Mu Chenghe came back.
I was quite surprised when I saw him. First, he came home much earlier than usual. Second, it was rare for someone to be so calm and take the risk of fighting nature to drive home in such a thunderstorm. Third, he looked a little, uh... embarrassed.
He was holding an umbrella and breathing heavily, which showed that he was running home. Except for his hair which was a little dry, his clothes and shoes were soaked. Wherever he stood, there was a puddle of water.
"You are so brave," I said, "You dare to walk around the street in such heavy rain."
"I hurried back after meeting someone." He said lightly.
"You should hide somewhere first."
He took the towel I handed over and said kindly, "It's okay."
"Hurry up and change your clothes."
"I'm going to take a shower first," he said.
"Take a shower? You can also be struck by lightning while taking a shower. When I was a kid, I saw a girl on the news who was struck by lightning while taking a shower. It seems like you can't even make phone calls."
As he spoke, the God of Heaven cooperated with him and struck again with a loud thunder.
He couldn't help but laugh: "You are afraid of thunder." He used a declarative tone.
"No...ah." I denied it unreasonably, "I'm not afraid."
"You said last time that you had a relative..." In order to prove that I was stubborn, he was probably preparing to repeat the incident.
"Okay, okay. I admit it." Surrender immediately.
The story goes like this, that person is also my relative. In the countryside, basically everyone in the same village can be considered a relative. At that time, I was in the first grade of elementary school. There was no one to take care of me during the summer vacation, so I was sent to my grandmother's house in the countryside. I happened to be going to the market that day, and there was a thunderstorm on the way back. My grandmother took me to hide in an acquaintance's store for a while. Summer rain comes and goes quickly. When it cleared up, I heard that someone was killed by lightning in front. We saw the scene on the way home. The place was exactly the mouth of a col. Because it was far from the market, only a few families nearby gathered around. The body was still there, and the clothes had turned to ashes. It was a hot day, and no one brought extra clothes to cover her. My grandmother couldn't bear it, so she held my small flower umbrella next to the body to cover her.
This scene is particularly profound in my mind.
Last time in the car, I told Mu Chenghe this story vaguely, just to make conversation. He didn't say anything at the time. I thought he didn't even listen.
At this time, Mu Chenghe's cell phone rang.
"Yeah." He picked up the phone and said, "I saw you were busy so I left first. I'm home now. Everything is fine."
"The last time I went to City B, I arrived in the middle of the night and left early in the morning, so I didn't get to see my grandfather."
"I know my limits."
He hung up the phone and looked at me.
It's not that I wanted to eavesdrop on his phone call, it's just that we were so close, there was nothing I could do but eavesdrop.
"It's my mother," he said. "I went to see her in the evening."
"Oh." I responded casually, but then I suddenly realized the weight of this title and regretted not sneaking away in time in the afternoon. Now his mother came and suddenly saw her beloved son "living together" with someone else. I don't know if it would be horrifying.
"She is here to inspect the work and will only stay for two days. She never comes to my place." Mu Chenghe explained.
It would have been fine if he didn't explain, but his words made me feel even more that we were secretly living together. I felt embarrassed and found an excuse to go to the kitchen to get some water.
After he took a shower, I felt really sticky and uncomfortable, so I also found some clothes to take a shower. But halfway through my shower, the power went out.
I was suddenly plunged into darkness, the rain was pouring down outside the window, and the water from my shower head was also flowing.
"Xue Tong?" Mu Chenghe knocked on the toilet door.
"Why."
"The power is out in the whole yard. Maybe it will come later."
"Oh." I quickly washed off the bubbles on my body.
"Don't panic, take your time, the water won't be cut off for a while." He paused and said, "Don't be afraid, I'll be here, call me if anything happens."
"Um."
The last sentence soaked my heart like a basin of sweet honey, and it slowly expanded.
In fact, I am not afraid of the dark or thunder. Even if I am afraid, I have to pretend to be indifferent. But when there is someone I can rely on who is quietly taking care of me, I feel that being weak and timid is actually such a pleasant thing.
My heart began to become greedy again.
"You..." I said hesitantly, "Don't go away."
"Okay, I won't leave." There seemed to be a smile in his words.
At night, I sat cross-legged on the sofa and listened to him tell many stories, even some of his parents' experiences. His father returned from studying in the United States and taught at University A, where he met his mother.
"How did they know each other?" I asked.
He seemed a little regretful about bringing up this topic, but he couldn't resist my curiosity and could only slowly answer: "My mother was his student at the time."
For a moment, I was stunned.
He added: "My mother was said to be bold and aggressive when she was young, and my father was rather conservative even though he had studied abroad, so it took many years for the two of them to get married."
He used two simple sentences to pass over the story, but he did not mention the details of how bold Mu's mother was, how traditional Mu's father was, and how the two of them ended up getting married.
"and after?"
"Later, they divorced," he said calmly.
After I heard this, I opened my mouth but couldn't utter a word. I always thought that it was because of the death of Mu's father that Mu Chenghe became a single parent, but I didn't expect that this love had ended before that.
"After getting married, my mother started working in politics, and my father continued to study at the institute, basically isolating himself from the world. At first they quarreled and separated, and then they divorced."
"Why?"
"I think there may be many aspects, social relationships, personality traits, life goals, family backgrounds are all different, and all these things intersect to produce this result."
After a moment, he said, "Also, it could be because of me." There was a hint of self-blame in his voice.
"What does it have to do with you?" I was angry.
"I had the disease when I was five years old, and my parents took me to seek medical treatment everywhere. It is very rare for children to have this disease, and the doctor said it might be inherited from the previous generation. Because my grandfather also became deaf in his prime, my mother blamed it on my grandfather who passed it on to me."
"My father got angry at the time, saying that my mother's family had always looked down on him. Not only did they give the child her last name, Mu, but now that he had a problem, they were blaming him."
"This was the trigger for them to separate. My mother was too busy to take care of me, so I lived with my father."
"One time, I was playing by the pool in the school library, and I suddenly had a seizure and fell into the water. I almost drowned."
"They left soon after."
His tone was so calm that when I first heard it, I thought he was telling someone else's story.
"How old were you then?" I asked.
"Ten years old."
In the darkness, I saw Mu Chenghe glanced at the door of the house intentionally or unintentionally. There seemed to be a layer of sadness on his face as light as mist, almost transparent.
At that time, I didn’t know that behind this story, there was a suffering that Mu Chenghe would never dare to face for the rest of his life.
Even though I had thousands of doubts in my heart, I didn't want to ask anymore. I didn't expect that these past events would still bother him as he approached his thirties.
So what is his position now? He lives in the house left by his father, keeping a distance from his mother. No matter where he is mentioned, it is just Mu Chenghe, not his mother's son.
Before going to bed, the phone finally rang. The sudden brightness brought us back to the real world. I squinted my eyes uncomfortably.
Before Mu Chenghe returned to his room, he suddenly said, "Xue Tong, have I ever told you that I actually have a younger sister?"
I was stunned: "… Not yet."
"My mother later remarried. She is my stepfather's daughter, younger than you."
In the early morning, the sky was clear after the storm.
Today is the last day of the appointment with Mu Chenghe, should I leave or not
"You were quite determined originally, why did you back down today? Did he do something to you last night?" Bai Lin asked ambiguously.
"You're a pervert," I said.
"How can I be a nymphomaniac? You two kissed, so it's normal for something to develop between you two, a single man and a single woman. Did it happen? Did it happen?"
"No!" I protested.
"Ah..." Bai Lin sighed in disappointment, "Did he ask you not to leave yesterday?"
"… No."
"Then why are you still hesitating? Just leave. If he doesn't like you, find a way out as soon as possible. If he likes you," Bai Lin smiled evilly, "then you leave on purpose, just to piss him off to death!"
After thinking it over, I felt that although Bai Lin was as heartless as I was, what he said was quite right. I should leave myself a way out as soon as possible.
I tinkered around at home for a while and also helped him tidy up the living room.
A few days ago, I don't know where he brought back a bottle of red wine, and he just put it on the shoe cabinet in the entrance. I'm not good at wine, so I don't know how to put it. I just remember that there was a waist-high cabinet next to the dining table, and it seemed that all the wine was placed in it.
After opening the cabinet door, I saw a small rectangular paper box next to several bottles of vodka. The cross section was a diamond shape, and a circle of dark purple was wrapped around the waist of the gray-white box. At first glance, it looked simple yet exquisite.
I thought it was a small wine box, so I took it out and looked at it curiously. Then I found out that it was not wine at all, but a bottle of perfume.
After reaching this conclusion, my heart suddenly sank.
It was something I first found in his house, something for women.
I have never bought this kind of stuff. Firstly, I have no interest in it, and secondly, I don't have the money. A small bottle can cost me one or two months' living expenses. But Zhao Xiaotang used to use it frequently. She never bought it herself, but received it from her brothers.
In Zhao Xiaotang's words: When a man doesn't know what gift to prepare for a woman, giving her diamonds or perfume is a sure thing. The former has a higher consumption threshold, while the latter is more popular.
At that time, Bai Lin gave her a disdainful look: I think you either have to be a love saint or become a nun. This is a complete epiphany. No matter how romantic and touching something is, once it comes out of your mouth, it becomes vulgar.
The box was unopened, and judging from the corner it had just been in, it must have been there for some time. What kind of person of the opposite sex did he want to give as a gift? Why did he buy it and leave it here? Was it because he never had the chance, or was it because I was standing here recently that he had no contact with that person at all
I remembered Bai Lin saying, did he think of you as a stand-in? Mu Chenghe said, I have a younger sister, the same age as you. These two sentences kept turning over and over in my mind. I know I have watched too many TV dramas, and my imagination has been successfully stimulated, and all of them are bloody and shocking plots.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I felt an indescribable emotion pent up in my heart.
After carefully putting the perfume back, I went back to my room to continue packing.
He came back before noon with the ingredients and said to me for the first time: "I'll cook fish for you." Then he excitedly flipped through the recipes in the bookcase, reading as he cooked.
After a while, the fragrance wafted out from the kitchen.
"Xue Tong, eat." He said as he brought two plates of food to the table. He just happened to see me putting the toothbrush and daily necessities from the bathroom into my luggage bag.
His eyelashes fluttered, and he repeated, "It's time to eat."
I am not picky about food, I will eat whatever others cook, but I still cannot deny that the fish dish was quite delicious, a little sweet and a little sour, which is the taste I usually like.
"Have you contacted the dormitory over there?" he asked.
"Yes. I live with another new female teacher, and we will have training together next week." I buried my head in eating.
"Are you missing anything?"
"Nothing is missing. Just bring whatever you need from home."
"When are you planning to leave?" he asked again.
I felt a little uncomfortable when I heard this. I stuffed the rice in my mouth, chewed a few bites, and said angrily, "I'll leave after eating."
"I send you."
"No thanks." I also insisted.
After eating, I rushed to pick up the dishes and chopsticks, washed them quickly, and packed the rest of my luggage.
The atmosphere is solemn.
I organized all my stuff into two large bags and placed them in the entrance hall, then started to change my shoes.
Mu Chenghe watched me busying around motionlessly, and finally came over and bent down to help me carry the things.
I wanted to take the bag back from him.
But he didn't let go.
After I persisted a bit, he gave in.
I said goodbye, "Goodbye, Teacher Mu." Then I went to open the door.
At the moment the lock was opened and a gap appeared in the door, his hand suddenly reached out and pulled the door back forcefully. With a bang, it was locked tightly.
I was a little surprised by this sudden change.
There was a hint of anger in his eyes, his lips were tightly pursed, and his ears were red. It was the first time in my life that I saw him angry, and I didn't expect that the target of his anger was me.
I said, "I will disappear immediately and will not bother you anymore."
He suddenly asked me: "Xue Tong, what do you want from me?"
I was stunned.
Even if he was angry, he couldn't be unreasonable, right? I argued with him, "What do you mean? It was you who wanted me to leave. It was you who kissed me first, then ignored me, and avoided me all day. It was you who looked like you would get stye if you looked at me for one more second."
The more I spoke, the more indignant I felt. Finally, I couldn't help but call him by his full name: "Mu Chenghe, I want to ask, what do you want?"
He was stunned by what I said, and the anger on his face was replaced by another expression: "I..." Still no further words.
I waved my hand, pushed his arm away and said, "I'm leaving." Then I went to open the door.