Chen Mingsheng bowed his head on the bed and smoked.
He didn't bother to look at his watch, and probably knew that he had been sitting like this for more than an hour. His right leg was uncomfortable, but he didn't want to move.
Next to Chen Mingsheng's hand was an ashtray with more than a dozen cigarette butts stuck in it.
In one hand, he held a mobile phone. He turned on the phone and looked at the last call log—it lasted thirty-four seconds.
He took another drag on his cigarette.
At this time, his cell phone rang. The moment the phone rang, he couldn't deny that his heart also beat violently. He looked at the phone screen, and the contact person for the call displayed on it was Song Hui.
Chen Mingsheng held the cigarette in his hand and connected the phone.
"Hello."
"Hello, Brother Sheng, I'm Song Hui."
"Well, what's the matter?" Chen Mingsheng responded lightly.
"Ah, it's like this..." Song Hui hummed a few times and said, "Let me treat you to dinner tonight."
Chen Mingsheng said, "Why do you want to eat suddenly?"
Song Hui smiled and said, "You invited me the last few times, so give me a chance to show my brother."
Chen Mingsheng smiled lightly and said, "Don't bother."
Song Hui said, "Brother Sheng, you look tired recently."
Chen Mingsheng said, "Really."
"Just come out to relax." Song Hui said, "Xiaoqing is also here, and she wants to tell you something else."
Chen Mingsheng was startled, "What's the matter?"
Song Hui faltered and said, "I can't tell you clearly on the phone, let's go out for dinner tonight."
Chen Mingsheng still hesitated.
Song Hui added: "Xiaoqing said that it seems to be related to my sister-in-law."
Chen Mingsheng tightened his hand holding the phone slightly, "What?"
"Oh, anyway, come out." Song Hui said, "How about eight o'clock in the evening."
Chen Mingsheng paused for a while, then said, "...where is it?"
Song Hui said: "Let's go to the Lotte food stall near your home, it's a little closer to yours."
Chen Mingsheng took a puff of cigarette and said, "Okay."
Yang Zhao sat on the bed in the bedroom until Xue Miao knocked on the door and came in.
"Oh, Xiao Zhao, I thought you were taking a bath, so you were hiding in the house." Xue Miao entered the room, and it was the first time he entered Yang Zhao's bedroom, looking around curiously.
Yang Zhao sat on the bed smoking a cigarette without turning his head.
Xue Miao came to Yang Zhao, her strong body blocked Yang Zhao's sight.
Yang Zhao raised his head in the darkness and said, "You will leave someday."
Xue Miao looked bitter, and said, "You're chasing me, aren't you..."
"No." Yang Zhao said, "I just asked."
Xue Miao said: "There will be a trade fair in Beijing in a few days, and I'm going to attend it."
Yang Zhao nodded.
Xue Miao looked at her and said, "The sun is almost setting, are you hungry?"
Yang Zhao had no appetite at all, shook his head and said, "I'm not hungry."
Xue Miao covered her stomach with one hand and said, "But I'm hungry..."
Yang Zhao pinched out the remaining cigarette and said, "What do you want to eat?"
Xue Miao said: "I am not familiar with this place, this is your hometown, you come to think about the place."
Yang Zhao looked at him and said, "You will eat wherever I take you?"
Xue Miao nodded obediently and said, "Eat it wherever you go."
Yang Zhao said, "Okay, take a rest, and I'll take you to dinner later."
Xue Miao looked down at Yang Zhao, he saw the top of Yang Zhao's black head and a corner of her forehead. Xue Miao walked over, raised her hand, and gently supported Yang Zhao's chin.
Yang Zhao looked at him, and Xue Miao whispered, "Xiao Zhao, you look tired."
Yang Zhao turned his head and left Xue Miao's hand. She said, "It's nothing."
Xue Miao said, "How about giving me a cigarette?"
Yang Zhao turned his head suspiciously, looked at him, and said, "You don't smoke, don't you?"
Xue Miao smiled and said, "I'll hear it."
Yang Zhao gave him the cigarette case. Xue Miao took it over, pulled out one from the inside, turned it over and over between her slender fingers, and put it to her nose again to ask.
He said, "Xiao Zhao, do you still remember the scene when we first met?"
Yang Zhao said flatly, "At an artist gathering in California."
Xue Miao smiled, held the cigarette between her two fingers, shook it quickly, and said, "You misremembered the time and thought the party was the next day. But before you came that day, you just smoked a lot of cigarettes, and you didn't have time to change." Clothes, in order to cover the smell of smoke, sprayed a lot of perfume."
Yang Zhao also seemed to recall the embarrassment at that time. At that time, she was just a graduate student and a complete newcomer in the art circle.
She chuckled and said, "Yes."
Xue Miao curled her lips, and said mischievously, "The conversation with you almost killed half my life."
Yang Zhao glanced at him, and Xue Miao said, "Fortunately, I have seen your work, otherwise I would have missed it."
Yang Zhao snorted lightly, looked at him again, and found that Xue Miao was still looking at him quietly.
He said it again: "Fortunately..."
Yang Zhao lowered his eyebrows slightly.
Xue Miao said: "Sometimes I always feel that you still seem to be that indifferent and innocent child back then."
Yang Zhao lowered his head quietly.
Xue Miao said in a low voice: "But I know, you are not such a naive person. Xiao Zhao, I am not looking down on that man, I just feel a little strange because the heroine is you."
Yang Zhao was speechless.
She raised her eyes occasionally and saw Xue Miao's expression, and couldn't help lowering her head again. It's really like what he said, she is like a primary school student who has not graduated, under the watchful eyes of the teacher, she has nowhere to escape.
And the answer the teacher needs, she doesn't know herself.
She thought of Chen Mingsheng, his appearance, his kiss, and finally his missing leg... Maybe she knew the reason vaguely, but the answer seemed to be hidden in a very deep place, and she couldn't give it right away.
Seeing that Yang Zhao didn't speak, Xue Miao stopped forcing her. He put the cigarette in his arms, then returned the cigarette case to Yang Zhao, and said, "I'll go and pack it up, we'll have dinner later."
Yang Zhao hummed in a low voice.
Xue Miao walked to the door and stopped, "That's right." He held the doorknob, turned his head and said to Yang Zhao, "I have to tell you one more thing—"
Yang Zhao turned her head, Xue Miao looked at her not far away, and said, "Those people who make you feel tired and unhappy, whether they are friends or others, don't touch them." Xue Miao said, blinking, and said : "You have the right to be nice to yourself."
Yang Zhao chuckled lightly and said, "Thank you."
When going out for dinner at night, Yang Zhao drove his own car. Xue Miao sat in the co-pilot's seat and asked her, "Then, let's go eat something."
Yang Zhao looked at the rearview mirror intently and said, "Didn't you say that you can eat anything?"
Xue Miao said, "That's right, anything is fine, where do you want to take me."
Yang Zhao drove the car out of the community and said, "Go to the place I like."
At eight o'clock in the evening, Chen Mingsheng arrived at the Lotte food stall on time, and Song Hui and Jiang Qing had already arrived.
Chen Mingsheng walked over with his cane, and they chose a table outside. Song Hui greeted Chen Mingsheng, "Brother Sheng, sit here."
Chen Mingsheng put his crutches aside and said, "Have you guys been waiting long?"
Jiang Qing shook her head and said, "No, we just arrived."
Chen Mingsheng nodded.
Song Hui called the waiter, ordered food, and ordered several bottles of beer.
"Brother Sheng, you were the one who treated guests a few times before. This time we invite you to come and drink." Song Hui poured Chen Mingsheng a glass of wine. Chen Mingsheng held the glass and said in a low voice: "You also helped me a lot Busy, don't be so polite."
Song Hui smiled and said, "Yes, we are all brothers, so why not be polite."
Chen Mingsheng drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
While they were drinking, Jiang Qing picked up food for Song Hui and said, "You two drink slowly, and no one will grab it."
Song Hui said with a smile: "You don't understand, men have to gulp down when they drink, but motherfuckers only sip it."
Jiang Qing snorted softly, picked another scallop for Chen Mingsheng, and said, "Brother Sheng, you eat too."
Chen Mingsheng nodded and said, "Thank you."
Jiang Qing shook her head, "No thanks, no thanks."
Soon, the five bottles of beer were all drunk, Song Hui blushed a little, patted Chen Mingsheng on the shoulder, called the waiter, and ordered a few more bottles of wine.
Chen Mingsheng said: "Let's drink almost to this point, you can pay it back later, don't get too drunk."
"It's okay, it's okay." Song Hui hiccupped and said, "I'm just a little drunk, not drunk."
Chen Mingsheng lowered his head, then looked up at Song Hui, and said, "You said today that there is something about Yang Zhao..."
Song Hui paused, then frowned, waved his hands and said, "She..."
Chen Mingsheng said, "What happened to her."
Song Hui took a deep breath, his eyes were bloodshot due to drinking.
"Brother Sheng, let me ask you, are we brothers?"
Chen Mingsheng looked at Song Hui's panting face, nodded, and said, "... yes."
"Yes! We are brothers, so I am doing it for your own good!" Song Hui pointed his finger in an unknown direction, and said, "Brother advises you, break off with that woman!"
Chen Mingsheng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "What are you talking about?"
Song Hui said: "Brother Sheng, why are you so determined, huh? What are you doing with her, what are you trying to do—?"
Chen Mingsheng didn't speak.
Jiang Qing couldn't see it anymore, she quickly grabbed Song Hui and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, Brother Sheng is not that kind of person."
"I know!" Song Hui said loudly, turned his head to stare at Chen Mingsheng, and said, "There are too many women with good conditions in this world! Doesn't she just have a couple of dollars, what's so much—"
He pointed to Jiang Qing, and said: "Xiaoqing—Xiaoqing's family is from the countryside, and there are two younger brothers in the family. She has to take care of the house and go to school since she was a child. But she has to be strong on her own. It is true that her parents are not as rich as that girl's parents when she got a scholarship to be admitted to graduate school, but how is she worse than that Yang Zhao—?"
Jiang Qing bit her lip, her eyes were a little red, she pulled Song Hui and said, "Stop talking about that."
Chen Mingsheng took out a cigarette, lit it, and said in a low voice, "You came to me to talk about this."
Song Hui wiped his nose and sat on the side panting. Jiang Qing quickly said: "Brother Sheng, that's not the case. In fact, we, we have something else to tell you."
Chen Mingsheng glanced at her and said, "What's the matter."
Jiang Qing paused, she didn't realize that Chen Mingsheng's eyes looked so dark.
She lowered her head, took out a stack of papers from her bag, and said to Chen Mingsheng: "Brother Sheng, I'm actually not sure, but..." She handed the paper to Chen Mingsheng, who took it and looked at it twice.
"What's this."
"It's the girl you fell in love with!" Song Hui said from the side, "She's a pervert!"
Chen Mingsheng frowned, and Jiang Qing hurriedly said, "No, no, I, I also saw it by accident, please read what is written on it." She kept looking at Chen Mingsheng's face, and whispered: "Brother Sheng, you know there is a Is this kind of psychopath, they only like disabled people."
Chen Mingsheng looked at the paper in his hand, while Jiang Qing said, "I heard that when they see the body of a disabled person, they will have..." She seemed a little embarrassed, and whispered, "There is such an impulse."
Song Hui said: "It's a pervert! You know, like homosexuals and pedophiles, they are all fucking perverts! I don't care about these things. If I'm responsible for this, I'll arrest them all!"
Jiang Qing pulled Song Hui and said, "Keep your voice down, others will think what we are doing at this table."
With a cigarette in his mouth, Chen Mingsheng read the pages in his hand one by one.
Song Hui said: "Brother Sheng, let me tell you why this woman came to you for no reason. You saw that when she was at the police station, she dragged her for two to five or eighty thousand yuan. Later, I found out that you are—— that you have inconvenient legs. It's time, I'll hurry to find you."
Chen Mingsheng sat quietly and flipped through the paper in his hand.
"She's fucking playing with you, is she treating us like idiots...Brother Sheng, you have to—" Song Hui was half-speaking, but was suddenly stopped by Jiang Qing. When he turned his head, he saw Jiang Qing looking at the place behind Chen Mingsheng. Song Hui glanced over and saw Yang Zhao standing two tables away, looking at them.
Jiang Qing quickly smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, why don't you come—"
Chen Mingsheng turned his head and met Yang Zhao's eyes.
"What's your sister-in-law!" Song Hui interrupted Jiang Qing, stood up, stared at Yang Zhao, and didn't know whether to tell Jiang Qing or Yang Zhao, "Who is sister-in-law, we are all normal people."
Jiang Qing was a little scared.
She was wondering how much Yang Zhao had heard, they said she was a pervert, what would she do if she made trouble with her... But she thought again, she guessed right at the beginning, Yang Zhao really did have other purposes.
She was helping Chen Mingsheng.
On the outer shed of the food stall, there was a single light bulb hanging. Yang Zhao was just standing under the light bulb, and the white light shone on her face, making her look a little pale.
Yang Zhao looked at Chen Mingsheng. He was sitting on a plastic stool. Under the light, his outline seemed clearer. She saw the messy seafood shells on the table again, and the empty wine bottles piled up next to it...
Also, Song Hui and Jiang Qing were sitting next to them.
Several tables around people heard what Song Hui said just now about being abnormal, and they thought there was something lively, so they all stared at Yang Zhao.
That's right, Yang Zhao thought, besides her brother, her boss, and them...
She has always lived in her own world, occasionally including some receptive people. But now, someone wants to use other methods to pry open the door. They seem to think that there are some strange or hidden things there.
They swarmed up and tore open Yang Zhao's inner world with their hands. They opened their eyes wide, growled, and smiled, looking for things that they thought were unknown, dirty, and invisible.
Yang Zhao wanted to ask them, did you find it
Many people looked at Yang Zhao, as if they were waiting for the moment when she would break down and start cursing.
But Yang Zhao finally just smiled.
Chen Mingsheng had never seen her smile like this, and he had never seen her look so relaxed, as if he had found the answer he had been looking for for a long time.
She looked around, street lamps, ceilings, plastic tables, and a few people staring at her... Finally, she looked back at Chen Mingsheng's eyes.
Yang Zhao's gaze was a little gentle, a little free and easy, and even a little arrogant.
She said to him softly: "Chen Mingsheng, my affairs are true, and my feelings are also true. I am frank and frank."
Chen Mingsheng's heart beat wildly without warning.
Not far away, Xue Miao stood in the shadows, with his head down, holding the cigarette in his hand, turning it gently. He turned his face and looked at Yang Zhao standing under the white light—
Everyone here is on the opposite side of her, perhaps, for a moment, even that man is vacillating. But she still expressed her feelings to him honestly, even if she might suffer more embarrassment.
She is like a soldier, Xue Miao thought, defending herself in front of thousands of troops.
…
You can laugh, you can abuse, you can despise.
She will not be sad, will not justify, and will not be wronged.
The human heart is a barren plain, shrouded in darkness, only the occasional thunder, tearing apart the boundless sky.
And Chen Mingsheng saw a complete soul through the shallow crack at that accidental moment.
At that moment, Chen Mingsheng knew that he was finished.