Standing on the platform at the corner of the second floor, Jiang Lin watched Ji Minglun's car drive away and disappear at the end of his sight after turning the corner.
Just now when he asked if they could meet again, Ji Minglun answered with a long silence. The silence was so long that there was no room for imagination at all, and made him realize that there would be no other answer if he sat any longer.
After leaning on the platform for a while, his cell phone rang. As soon as he answered it, he heard Lu Zhe's cheerful voice: "Lin, I just got home. Sorry, this phone was not turned on during the day."
He said, "It's okay, I'll be home soon."
"Why is your voice hoarse?" Lu Zhe asked suspiciously, "Do you have a cold?"
"No," Jiang Lin cleared his throat, "I'm just a little tired."
"Are you going to bed?"
"Well, I'll go to bed soon."
"Then I won't talk to you any more. By the way, did you meet him? Did you make up with him?"
Listening to the caring greetings from the only person who knew the situation, Jiang Lin stared at the empty space where Ji Minglun had parked his car just now, without saying a word.
There was a sigh from the other end of the phone, and Lu Zhe comforted him, "Don't be discouraged, we were prepared from the beginning."
He raised his head and looked at the starless night sky: "I'm not discouraged."
"That's good. How have you been getting along these days?"
As the only friend who saw through his sexual orientation, Lu Zhe helped him a lot in pursuing Ji Minglun after returning to China. Although he couldn't say it to others, he really wanted to talk to someone at this moment, so he continued to go upstairs while talking. After entering the door and turning on the air conditioner, he heard Lu Zhe ask: "Does your stomach still feel uncomfortable now?"
"Much better."
Jiang Lin leaned back on the sofa, the fabric of his sweatpants stretched out and rubbed against his sensitive areas, reminding him that he was wearing Ji Minglun's pants without any underwear.
His fingertips pulled at the fabric on his inner thighs, his gaze resting on his crotch, and he inexplicably felt his face getting hot.
"I think everything is as expected," Lu Zhe analyzed. "Think about it, you ignored him for a year, and he just kept talking to you, but when you really needed him, didn't he come right away?"
Closing his eyes, Jiang Lin said, "I know that was my fault. He can't forgive me so quickly."
"It's not all your fault," Lu Zhe still sided with him, "You're already very good. At least you can respond to his feelings now. Compared to me, he is very lucky."
Even if Lu Zhe said it in a positive way, Jiang Lin knew that Ji Minglun might not need him now, nor might he need his response.
"You have two months, don't give up easily."
Before ending the call, Lu Zhe encouraged him again. Jiang Lin curled his lips, put down his phone, leaned back on the sofa, and stared at the ceiling light in the living room.
Lu Zhe said so much because he cared about him, but in fact, he was unwilling to give up even without Lu Zhe's reminder.
He stood up and walked into the bathroom, wanting to take another shower before going to bed. As he took off his sweatpants, his fingers stopped at the elastic band around his waist and stared at himself in the mirror.
This pair of sweatpants is an old style. He has seen Ji Minglun wearing them before, and he has worn Ji Minglun's clothes many times. It seems that their previous relationship was not very "straight".
Thinking about the bold behavior I did today, I wonder what Ji Minglun would think. I wore his sweatpants even though I didn’t wear anything. Should I return the sweatpants
His mind was filled with all sorts of messy fantasies, so much so that he found himself in an embarrassing situation when he took it off. The impulses had become more and more frequent recently. He raised his hand to turn off the light. He didn't want to look at himself in the mirror, and relaxed for once under the cover of the sound of the shower.
The next day he slept until noon, and still felt tired when he woke up, so he ordered takeout from the porridge shop, ate, and went back to sleep. When he woke up in the evening, he ate another bowl of porridge and then went back to sleep.
It has been almost a week since he returned to China, and he still hasn't recovered from the jet lag. Taking melatonin didn't help much. He slept like a log until today, and was completely awake at around four in the morning the next day.
Sufficient sleep helped my body recover. Although my stomach still felt a little uncomfortable, I felt much better.
He got up, washed, and went to a nearby breakfast shop to eat salty porridge and buns. Then he took a taxi to the Ring Island Road to walk on the wooden boardwalk and watch a long-lost sunrise.
When the dazzling morning sun shone onto the sea, he took a few photos and posted them on his Moments. He didn't attach any text, but he did capture the location.
This circle of friends only blocked Jiang Jianchen, and many people liked it as soon as it was posted. The comments below were all asking when he would return to Xiamen. The class monitor of his junior high school also sent a WeChat message to ask if he would have time in two weeks, as they were organizing a class reunion.
It was almost noon, and he still hadn't received the likes or comments he wanted to see the most.
He didn't know whether Ji Minglun hadn't woken up yet, or had seen it but didn't react. He didn't want to think of the second possibility, so he touched the Corgi quietly lying at his feet with his medical-gloved fingers and said, "Cheese, let's go back?"
The Corgi with soft and shiny yellow and white fur raised its head, licked his fingers with the tip of its tongue, looked at him with its big, round eyes, and woofed.
He walked towards the car holding the dog leash. After getting in the car, Cheese lay down on the passenger seat. Whenever he turned his head on the road, he could see Cheese staring at him and sticking out his tongue.
He brought Cheese home when he was 20 years old. He kept Cheese for less than a year before deciding to study abroad. The original plan was to temporarily put him in Ji Minglun's home, but unfortunately he and Ji Minglun had a falling out, so he had to send him to a pet store for foster care. He would video chat with him once a week to see how he was doing.
Perhaps because the animal resembles its owner, Cheese is much quieter than other corgis, and looks at people with a particularly sweet look. When Ji Minglun first raised him, he was worried that such a quiet dog might have some problems, so he took him to the veterinary hospital for a mental test, which confirmed that Cheese was just quiet by nature, and he was relieved.
He pushed open the door of the pet shop and handed Cheese to the lady boss. Cheese looked back at him as she walked away, and the look in her eyes made him feel sad, but he could only stand there.
His eczema has been recurring for almost a year. The doctor said that this was due to his inability to adapt to the environment in Los Angeles and excessive stress. He was told to relax as much as possible and avoid contact with any possible sources of allergies, including pets.
After walking out of the store, he took off the disposable medical gloves on his hands and drove to Shapowei.
The sun was shining brightly at noon, and there were visible heat waves outside. He walked to the door of the [Chaka] shop and looked inside. Finding that Ji Minglun was still not in the shop, he walked in and found a seat in the corner by the window.
A pretty girl in a plaid miniskirt walked up to him with a menu, handed it to him and said, "See what you need? We also have simple meals here."
He took it and looked at the names on the menu. They were all greasy fried foods or cold salads. His stomach problem had not yet healed, so he couldn't touch these. He said to the girl, "A cup of hot cocoa."
It was July now, and almost no one in the store ordered hot drinks. The girl went back behind the counter and poked the tall boy who was busy with his work with his head down with the menu: "Brother, bring me a new bag of cocoa powder."
Deng Feng took a bag of fat-free cocoa powder from the highest cabinet and handed it to Deng Yi. After Deng Yi made the hot cocoa, he was about to take a smoothie in. Deng Yi handed it to him and said, "Take it together, for table 5."
Deng Feng took it and first went to table No. 1 to deliver the smoothie, then came to table No. 5 and paused before putting down the cup.
Jiang Lin was facing the window, looking out of it absentmindedly. His face looked very gentle in the bright light from the window, his skin was fair and delicate, and a strand of slightly long hair was half-curled against his earlobe. Deng Feng's gaze slid from the corner of his eye to the collarbone at the neckline, lingered for a moment on the slightly protruding Adam's apple on his neck, and finally retracted his gaze.
"Hello," Deng Feng smiled, "Here's your hot cocoa."
Jiang Lin came back to his senses, his eyes swept across Deng Feng's handsome face, nodded casually and continued to look out the window. Deng Feng returned to the counter, and for the next ten minutes, he frequently looked in the direction of Table 5, and was blocked by Deng Yi with a tray the last time.
Taking Deng Yi's hand away, he saw the malicious smile on his sister's face: "That guy is pretty good-looking, isn't he?"
Deng Feng didn't respond, and Deng Yi didn't take it seriously. Just as she was about to ask him when the bread would be delivered in the afternoon, she was interrupted by a voice at the door.
Both the brother and sister turned to look and saw that someone was applying for a part-time waiter position.
The recruitment information has been posted at the door of the store for nearly half a month, and more than a dozen applicants have come. Some of them are not suitable to be waiters, or they cannot coordinate the time.
Deng Feng brought the girl who came for the interview inside, picked a table in the corner, sat down, and started chatting.
There was an empty table between that table and Jiang Lin's, and the sound of their conversations could be heard from time to time. The girl who was interviewing was not satisfied with the salary and said she would think about it again. Deng Feng stood up and shook hands with her, sent her outside and went back to the counter to work. After ten minutes, a man stood in front of the counter. When Deng Yi looked up, she heard him say, "Excuse me, can I have an interview?"
Deng Yi turned around and called out "Brother". Deng Feng turned around and looked at her with a surprised expression, "You want to interview for a part-time clerk position?"
"Yes," Jiang Lin looked at him seriously, "I'm on summer vacation now, so I have a lot of free time."
Deng Feng washed his hands, came out from the counter, pointed at table 5 where Jiang Lin was sitting, and said with a smile, "Come over and sit down and chat."
Jiang Lin followed him and they sat down face to face. Deng Feng extended his hand to Jiang Lin. After Jiang Lin took it and shook it, he smiled brightly: "My name is Deng Feng, Feng as in maple leaf. What should I call you?"
"Jiang Lin."
"Which Lin?"
"It's so chilling."
Deng Feng smiled and said, "It's a nice name. It suits you very well."
Jiang Lin did not continue with this question, but only asked: "Have you signed a contract to work part-time here?"
"Of course." Deng Feng thought he was asking because he was worried about the lack of security in part-time jobs, so he quickly explained, "Let me explain the salary and nature of the job to you. If you think it's okay, we can sign the contract right away, and you can start working in shifts tomorrow."
Jiang Lin nodded and listened attentively to what Deng Feng said about the job. He said, "I have no problem with what you said. I worked part-time for a friend abroad for a while as a clerk in a Western-style fast food restaurant."
"That's great," Deng Feng said happily, "I'll take you to see the environment of the store. If you think it's okay, we can go to the office to sign the contract."
"OK."
Jiang Lin said readily, and after Deng Feng took him around the place, Deng Feng took him into the office at the back and handed him a part-time job contract.
After a quick glance, Jiang Lin took out a pen and signed. It was the first time Deng Feng saw him so straightforward. He signed without discussing working hours or salary. However, Deng Feng did not say anything. After he signed, he also signed his name and took out the store's contract seal to stamp it.
After handing a copy of the contract to Jiang Lin, Deng Feng wanted to remind him to bring a copy of his ID card tomorrow, but he found that Jiang Lin was staring at the place where the signature and seal of the contract were. He didn't know what he was happy about, but his whole state became very excited.
The author has something to say:
Boss Ji: