Jiang Lin couldn't come back to his senses until he got into the car.
After Ji Minglun said that the dreamcatcher was lost, he immediately wanted to go downstairs to look for it, but Ji Minglun's subsequent words reminded him that the thing was no longer suitable for existence. Just like Ji Minglun's feelings for him, they gradually disappeared in the year he was away.
Even though he almost blurted out that he liked her, when facing Ji Minglun's calm and emotionless eyes, he realized that if the other party no longer loved him and he confessed his feelings, would the ending be like his reaction at that time, and they would not even be able to be friends in the future
It was predictable from the beginning that this relationship would be ended, but the moment it was confirmed, he felt like a hand was grasping his heart, squeezing it with the frequency of the beating, making him feel so uncomfortable that he couldn't breathe, and he almost couldn't hide it anymore.
After leaning on the headrest for a long time, Jiang Lin finally had the strength to drive the car back to his home.
After leaving the basement, the wind on the ground was stronger than last night, and the landscape plants on the green belt were rustling. After driving past the Yanwu Bridge, the view became wider. The heavy clouds in the sky were rolling visibly because of the typhoon, and the sea was also turbulent due to the wind. Unfortunately, although the sea view was beautiful, he did not feel relaxed at all.
After arriving home, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. When squeezing shampoo, he was once again enveloped by the scent of that person, but this time, he could no longer experience the feeling of secretly being moved and as if being embraced.
The smell penetrated into his lungs like poison, making his chest feel sore and painful, and reminded him of the scenes of this morning.
Obviously, Ji Minglun was in a conciliatory attitude, but he found it even harder to accept. In fact, he would rather Ji Minglun resisted him and avoided him like before, than for that person to say that he had let it go and let it go like a verdict.
He had to go to work at Chaka in the afternoon, but he still felt exhausted after taking a shower, so he sent a message to Deng Feng asking for leave. He lay down on the bed, turned off his phone, hid his head under the pillow, and fell into a deep sleep.
He woke up once in the evening. Today's sunset was not affected by the typhoon. The light was dazzling and shone through the floor-length curtains on the opposite wall, adding a light and charming orange-red color to the room.
Such a bright sunset brought back a distant memory. In his senior year of high school, he and Ji Minglun secretly went to Wuyi Mountain to spend a night there a month before the college entrance examination.
It was Ji Minglun who suggested going to watch the sunrise. He had no special feelings about sunrise or sunset, but he could not resist Ji Minglun's nagging. The man also said that the destination was a mountain behind a temple, and if he could see the sunrise, he could make a wish to be on the list.
Neither of them had to worry about the college entrance exam with their grades, but after a year of intensive study, he did feel tired, so he agreed to the suggestion of traveling on the weekend.
At that time, Ji Minglun was 18 years old. He borrowed a car from a friend and took him to Wuyi Mountain. The two found a hotel to stay in near the scenic area. At 3:30 in the morning of the next day, Ji Minglun dragged him to watch the sunrise.
He was so sleepy that he couldn't even open his eyes, and he fell asleep even when the car was shaking on the bumpy mountain road. When he arrived at the destination, he saw that it had not been developed into a tourist attraction. Except for two dim street lights at the intersection where he parked, the mountain in front of him and the surrounding mountains were all pitch black. Only the flashlight in Ji Minglun's hand could illuminate the road ahead.
He was coaxed out of the car by Ji Minglun without knowing what was going on, and followed the man's footsteps up the winding path. Under the night sky, the mountains were completely silent, and apart from the sound of the two of them talking, there was no one around. At first, he was still skeptical, but when he walked for more than ten minutes to the middle of the mountain, he looked up at the vast sky and suddenly felt the significance of this trip.
Regardless of whether he could see the sunrise or not, at least the starry sky he was gazing at at the moment did not disappoint him.
Ji Minglun looked up with him. He could not remember what they said at that time, but he remembered that after they climbed to the top of the mountain and squatted until sunrise, Ji Minglun put his arm around his shoulders and asked him with a smile if it was worth it.
Looking at the rising sun with golden light on the other side of the mountain and the Jiuqu River in the lower right corner that looked like a jade belt across the mountain stream, he smiled and said it was worth it. Ji Minglun laughed with him, and the two of them didn't make a wish later. They only remembered this when they returned to the entrance of Baiyun Temple.
Distant memories will be covered in dust by the years, but this one is vivid and colorful because he remembered it not long ago.
Before returning to Xiamen, he went to Baiyun Temple alone and waited for five consecutive mornings to see the sunrise. On the last day, he finally saw the brilliant sunrise and made a wish in his heart.
I hope it's not too late.
Hopefully he still has a chance.
Staring at the sunset for too long, his vision began to blur. He closed his eyes again and slept until ten o'clock in the evening.
After pressing the power button, he leaned against the headboard and opened WeChat. Deng Feng had replied to his message asking for leave in the morning, and the junior high school class monitor had confirmed with him whether the location for the class reunion was okay. Apart from that, there were messages from other insignificant people. As for the only name that was pinned to the top, it remained silent.
He went to the kitchen to heat a cup of milk. When he drank it, his stomach ached slightly. He remembered that he had only eaten breakfast today, so he cooked a pack of instant noodles. While he was eating at the table, he received a message from Lu Zhe about a promotion at the duty-free mall.
[I'm going to the duty-free mall in Kowloon tomorrow. See if there's anything you need. I'll bring it to you.]
He was not in the mood for that now, so he replied [No thanks]
Lu Zhe sent another message: [How are you these days? Is there any progress in your relationship with him?]
Jiang Lin originally wanted to digest his negative emotions alone, but Lu Zhe only sent a caring message, which stirred up all the emotions he had suppressed with great difficulty. He didn't have time to hold on, and his emotions fell all the way to the bottom.
The fragrant instant noodles in the milk pot suddenly became tasteless. He pushed it to the middle of the table, paused, and replied: [It should be over.]
After pressing the send button, he took the pot back to the kitchen. He originally wanted to throw away the noodles and wash the dishes, but he didn't expect Lu Zhe to call him.
After wiping the water off his hands, he put the phone to his ear and listened to Lu Zhe ask, "What happened? It was fine a few days ago."
Turning around and leaning against the cold brick wall, he looked at the row of wall cabinets across from him that had faded from white to beige. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Nothing happened. He told me today that he didn't want to talk about the past anymore and that he would continue to be friends with me in the future."
"He suddenly said that?" Lu Zhe asked in confusion, "Tell me what happened in the past few days and I'll give you some advice."
Sitting down on the sofa in the living room, Jiang Lin recounted the past few days with Ji Minglun. When he said that he couldn't stop hiccuping, Lu Zhe felt something was wrong, but he resisted the urge to interrupt. After he finished talking about last night's conversation, Lu Zhe said firmly, "Lin, don't you think he has been very accommodating to you? Even if his attitude is not good, he basically agrees to whatever you say."
Jiang Lin stared at the English books on the coffee table, his left hand resting on his thigh, fingers tightening the fabric of his pajamas.
He didn't answer, so Lu Zhe continued, "And the dreamcatcher, he kept it hanging for more than a year after you left, but now he's decided to be friends with you and he's thrown it away?"
"Have you ever thought that he might be doing this just to let go of his worries? If he's willing to continue being friends, it means you still have a chance."
After Lu Zhe finished speaking this time, Jiang Lin fell into an even longer silence.
He leaned back on the sofa, the curtains behind him brushed over his head, blocking most of the light in the room. He looked at the dim sky outside, and the clothes hung outside the window of the upstairs neighbor had not been put in yet, and were swaying left and right in the strong wind outside, just like him who was helpless at this moment.
"Lin?" Lu Zhe called him.
Jiang Lin raised his hand and pushed aside the curtains, returning his vision to the bright room: "I'm listening."
"Before you went back, we talked about how difficult this matter was. Now that you've taken this step, it won't be over unless he rejects you in person, or stops communicating with you like you rejected him before."
Sighing in his heart, Jiang Lin said: "I know, let me think about it again."
"Okay," Lu Zhe said straightforwardly, "Don't worry too much. The more you worry about love, the harder it is to move forward. Don't forget that I am an example."
Jiang Lin nodded. Not wanting Lu Zhe to be affected by him, he changed the subject. After chatting for a few more sentences, Lu Zhe ended the call first, and he lay down on the sofa. The world became quiet again. He thought about Lu Zhe's analysis, and then thought about Ji Minglun's various behaviors after he returned to China. The haze in his heart was gradually dispelled.
Maybe Lu Zhe was right. Ji Minglun had just let go of his worries. Even if he really didn't have that thought now, it didn't mean that he had no feelings for her at all.
The next morning, after Jiang Lin woke up, he wanted to see if Ji Minglun had sent any message as usual. As a result, he saw the notice from Deng Feng first, saying that a typhoon would land today and tomorrow, and the store would be temporarily closed, reminding him to be careful.
He replied with an "OK", his eyes lingered on Ji Minglun's profile picture for a moment, then he got out of bed and opened the curtains.
The typhoon landed after midnight tonight. It was already raining outside and thick dark clouds covered the sky, which was depressing just by looking at it.
After returning yesterday, he didn't look for Ji Minglun, and that man didn't look for him either, but this was normal, and after a night's rest, he figured it out.
Ji Minglun looked cold on the surface, but he would still appear by his side when he really encountered problems. This meant that he still had a chance to fight for it. No matter whether the final result could be what he wanted or not, at least he would not have any regrets.
When he got up and washed up, he heard the news anchor on TV reminding people of typhoon precautions. Thinking that there was almost nothing to eat at home, he drove to a nearby supermarket. Halfway through the fresh food section, he received a call from Deng Feng.
Deng Feng asked him if he was at home now. The cakes and other food in the store could not be kept for three days, so instead of wasting them, it would be better to share them with everyone as snacks.
Knowing that he was outside, Deng Feng wanted to bring it to him, but he declined Deng Feng's kindness. Deng Feng heard that his voice was not right and asked if he had a cold. He said that it was just a sore throat. Deng Feng reminded him to keep warm during typhoon days and take medicine in time if he had a cold.
He thanked Deng Feng for his concern, then continued shopping and finally took two large bags of food home.
At noon, he simply ate bread and milk, and spent the afternoon in front of the computer preparing his thesis. Although he was occasionally distracted by Ji Minglun, he still warned himself not to fall behind in his studies. By the evening, the wind outside the window was getting stronger and stronger, and he was too hungry to concentrate, so he got up and went to the kitchen, put the hot pot ingredients he bought at noon into the sink and washed them, then found the induction cooker and prepared to cook a small hot pot.
After adjusting the power of the induction cooker to maximum, he just picked up the hot pot base when he heard a "pop" sound. His vision suddenly fell into darkness and the sound of the induction cooker stopped.
He immediately realized that there was a power outage. He walked to the window and saw that the lights in every house across the street were on. He opened the door and tried the porch light and found that only his house had a power outage.
Turning on the flashlight on his mobile phone, he opened the electrical switch box in his home. A whole row of switches covered in dust appeared in front of him. He tried to push the main switch several times but it didn't work. He had to call an electrician to come to his house, but no one was willing to take the business in this kind of weather and told him to wait until the typhoon was over.
He had lived in Xiamen since he was a child and knew that once a typhoon hit, it would take at least two or three days. Even if he could use gas to cook, what about his computer and thesis materials
Looking at the phoenix tree downstairs swaying in the wind and rain, he hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but send a WeChat message to Ji Minglun.
[Minglun, there is a power outage at my house. The electrician I found said that he can't come to my house in this weather. Are you free now? Can you come and help me take a look? ]