At 8pm on August 12, 2017, at Jiangcheng International Airport, Lin Jiayu and Jiang Lu stood outside waiting. Lin Jiayu stared at the exit where people were coming and going. Jiang Lu, wearing a mask and a baseball cap, stood in a casual manner, with his arm on Lin Jiayu's shoulder and his head down watching the live broadcast of the game. He asked casually, "Is my brother not out yet?"
"No."
“So slow.”
Lin Jiayu was not happy with him staring at his phone every time he went out, so she moved aside and said, "Don't touch me, I'm not a phone stand."
Jiang Lu lost his phone holder and sighed, "You are just the right height."
Lin Jiayu is 162 cm tall, which is not short, but the two brothers of the Jiang family are both over 185 cm tall. She glared at him, and when she turned around, she saw an unusually eye-catching man in the crowd.
She quickly stood on tiptoe and waved her hand vigorously: "Here!"
Jiang Lu then looked up and said, "I almost didn't recognize my brother. He doesn't usually take pictures or post to Moments."
Jiang Tu was carrying a suitcase and walking towards the exit. He was wearing a gray shirt, black trousers, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He glanced at them and walked over. He was tall and had long legs. He walked very fast. He had lost the aloofness that he had in his student days. But temperament was something that was hard to change. He had a cold and hard outline, a calm look, and didn't look like someone who was easy to get along with.
Even so, it does not stop passers-by from turning back to take a second look at him.
Lin Jiayu suddenly sniffed and felt a little emotional. She hadn't seen Jiang Tu for two or three years.
Jiang Lu turned to look at her, a little speechless: "Are all novelists so sentimental? Don't cry."
Lin Jiayu quit her stable job in Shenzhen two years ago and ran back to Jiangcheng. She stayed at home and started writing novels full-time. She ignored Jiang Lu. What does this guy know? He only knows how to train, play games, and watch live broadcasts all day long.
Her eyes were red. Jiang Tu walked up to them and looked down at Lin Jiayu: "Didn't I tell you not to pick me up?"
His voice was always low and cold, with a hint of magnetism. It was obvious that he was in a good mood today, at least his tone was gentle. Lin Jiayu smiled with red eyes: "Of course we're coming. If we don't come, who else will come?"
Jiang Lu put away his phone and opened his arms for a brotherly hug.
Jiang Tu glanced at him, patted him on the shoulder, walked around him, and said indifferently: "Let's go, did you take a taxi?" He remembered that Jiang Lu had never had time to take the driving test, and Lin Jiayu hadn't had time either.
Jiang Lu: “…”
He turned to Lin Jiayu and said, "How heartless."
Lin Jiayu grinned and ran to catch up with Jiang Tu: "I drove here. I just bought a new car."
Jiang Tu paused and turned to look at her: "Can you drive now?"
Lin Jiayu curled her lips and said, "I posted my driver's license on WeChat Moments last month, but you didn't even pay attention."
"Those who failed the third part of the test three times before finally passing it, stop bragging." Jiang Lu, who followed, ruthlessly exposed the reality, just like how Lin Jiayu ruthlessly told him back then that if he left Hexi Lane, no black internet cafe would accept him.
"Shut up." Lin Jiayu sighed and muttered softly, "You were so good at saying nice things when you were little, how come you became so sharp-tongued when you grew up?"
After WeChat was launched in 2011, more and more people started using it, and the Moments became a form of implicit social interaction. Some people like to take photos and share them after eating or taking a walk. Jiang Tu's daily routine is all about work, and his Moments is empty, with nothing in it.
He rarely uses WeChat except for colleagues and work partners. Lin Jiayu posts very frequently in her Moments, at least one a day. He checked it once at the beginning of last month, and saw a photo of her and Zhu Xingyao on the eve of the 2017 Spring Festival. He never checked it again.
Lin Jiayu drove very slowly and carefully.
Jiang Lu, sitting in the passenger seat, urged: "Can you drive faster? I'm starving."
Lin Jiayu ignored him and asked Jiang Tu: "Jiang Tu, what do you want to eat?"
Jiang Tu leaned back in the back seat, looking out the window nonchalantly. He thought, even Lin Jiayu can drive, I wonder if Zhu Xingyao has ever taken a driver's license test? Maybe not, she has a driver. He said, "I ate on the plane."
Lin Jiayu: “…”
Jiang Lu's face was blank, and he said, "How heartless."
They have all grown up over the years, and their personalities have changed somewhat. Jiang Lu has changed a lot, but fortunately he has not changed for the worse. With his good looks, he is now one of the most popular e-sports players. He has made a lot of money in the past two years, winning prize money from competitions and commercial endorsements.
He started participating in the competition when he was 17 years old. When he just earned a little money, he stayed in the team training all day. He had no place to spend the money and didn't know how to make money. Later, as soon as he got the bonus, he gave all the money to Jiang Tu.
Since the demolition of Hexi Lane, the housing prices in Jiangcheng have been rising again and again. Two years ago, Jiang Tu returned the money he earned from investment to Jiang Lu and asked him to look for a house. Jiang Lu bought a house of more than 150 square meters in Lin Jiayu's community and moved in with Shu Xian. They had a home again.
On the way, Lin Jiayu parked the car at Cao Ji Duck Blood Vermicelli Shop near the Jose Stadium. They had been eating at this shop since they were young. Lin Jiayu and Jiang Lu ordered duck blood vermicelli and pot stickers. They were very hungry and ate with great concentration.
Jiang Tu leaned back in his chair, looking at Lin Jiayu and Jiang Lu across from him, and naturally recalled the scene many years ago when Zhu Xingyao and Jiang Lu sat across from him. He remembered Zhu Xingyao asking him if she was the prettiest, remembered her being splashed with duck blood vermicelli soup, took off her coat worth more than 3,000 yuan and stuffed it into the trash can, remembered her running to him wearing his coat...
After they finished eating, the three of them walked out of the store and stood next to the car. Jiang Tu turned to look at Jiang Lu and said, "You go back by yourself. Tell mom that I'll go back for dinner tomorrow night."
When the accident happened, Jiang Lu was still young. At that time, he didn't quite understand how much the college entrance examination would affect Jiang Tu. Later, he went to play in competitions and didn't take the college entrance examination. His life didn't depend on the college entrance examination. But he will always remember that day when Jiang Jinhui tried to negotiate with Chen Yi to delay, and when Shu Xian hesitated to sign, Jiang Tu looked at her with despair and pain.
Over the years, Jiang Tu and Shu Xian's relationship has always been distant, so it's normal that he doesn't want to go back to live.
Jiang Lu scratched his head: "Okay then."
Lin Jiayu turned to look at Jiang Tu: "Where do you live then? I'll take you there."
The new company arranged an apartment for Jiang Tu to live in, but Jiang Tu came back a few days early and the furniture in the apartment had not been moved in yet. He looked at her and opened the car door: "Let's find a hotel."
Shu Xian had been waiting at home for a long time, and the door was not opened until ten o'clock.
She quickly stood up and rubbed her hands on her trouser legs. As a result, she saw only Jiang Lu.
Jiang Lu was changing his shoes in the entrance hall, and he looked up and said, "Don't look, my brother won't come back to live here."
Shu Xian looked at Jiang Lu and sighed. Jiang Lu went over and put his arm around her shoulders and smiled, "Okay, my brother will be back for dinner tomorrow night."
Shu Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up and asked, "Has your brother lost weight? Has his appearance changed a lot?"
Jiang Lu said: "That's it, similar to me, but not as handsome as me."
If Lin Jiayu heard this, she would definitely say that he was narcissistic and had no self-awareness at all.
Lin Jiayu parked the car in front of the hotel. Jiang Tu went to the trunk to get the luggage. Lin Jiayu got out of the car and looked around. Jiang Tu walked up to her with the luggage. He stood beside Lin Jiayu with broad shoulders, blocking the light. His expression was in the shadows. He whispered, "Send me her WeChat ID and phone number."
Before in the car, Lin Jiayu had been waiting for Jiang Tu to bring up the topic. They had not been in contact very often, and every time they did, she would not take the initiative to talk about Zhu Xingyao in front of him, because Zhu Xingyao spent more time abroad and did not contact her very often.
In other words, she didn't dare to contact her too much, for she was always afraid that she would not be able to control herself and tell others about Jiang Tu.
Zhu Xingyao didn't ask either.
Jiang Tu didn't ask either.
She was almost suffocating keeping the secret all by herself.
No, Lu Ji also knew the secret. If you put yourself in his shoes, he should feel worse than her.
Jiang Tu's feelings for Zhu Xingyao were like a lamp covered in dust. Only the two of them could touch that layer of dust, and others could not interfere. Moreover, she wanted a good ending for her book "Waiting for the Stars", and secretly considered them a couple.
Lin Jiayu suddenly smiled, and she deliberately asked, "Whose is it?"
Jiang Tu looked down at her. Without any explanation, he said, "Send it to me when you get home." Then he picked up his luggage and walked towards the apartment building.
Lin Jiayu stared at his back helplessly, returned to the car, and happily sent him all of Zhu Xingyao's contact information.
After completing the check-in procedures, Jiang Tu went downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes. He stood in front of the glass window of the hotel lobby and tore open the cigarette box. He poured out a cigarette, lowered his head to light it, took a light puff, and looked up at the starry sky tonight.
He lowered his head and opened Lin Jiayu's WeChat. She had sent Zhu Xingyao's personal mobile phone number and WeChat ID more than ten minutes ago. Her last message was sent a few days ago: "Zhu Xingyao doesn't have a boyfriend yet. Come back soon. If you don't come back, your wife will leave!"
Lin Jiayu sends this sentence every once in a while. As they rarely contact each other, if you scroll up the chat history, you can see about ten messages, which look like they were copied and pasted.
Jiang Tu slid his slender fingers upwards and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
A minute later, he put out his cigarette, took a deep breath, lowered his head, opened WeChat, and searched for the WeChat ID.
He paused on the friend verification and entered his name.
After a few seconds, it was deleted again.
Sent successfully.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the time. It was already 23:45.
He thought, she should be asleep, right
Zhu Xingyao was still suffering from insomnia at around eleven o'clock. Finally, she couldn't fall asleep, so she got up and went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water. She returned to her room, took the medicine bottle from the cabinet and poured out a pill.
After taking the medicine, she put the cup of water on the bedside table, and the cell phone next to her suddenly flashed.
WeChat prompts friend request.
Few people added her personal WeChat account, so she picked up her phone and clicked it in confusion.
The other person’s profile picture was a star map in gray-blue tones, clean and tidy. Even his name was a simple symbol.
Her heartbeat suddenly stopped for a second, and she stared blankly at the portrait. Suddenly, the corners of her mouth turned downwards, feeling a little aggrieved. Without any warning, her eyes turned red.
2009—Yaoyao Tianshangxing: "Brother Tu, you haven't told me your cell phone number yet."
2010—Stars in the Distant Sky: “Brother Tu, is that star light you gave me?”
2011—Yaoyao Tianshangxing: "Brother Tu, Xixi is participating in the xx female singing competition. If you have time, please vote for her."
February 2013—Stars in the sky: “Brother Tu…”
The last one was from August 2013 - Yaoyao Tianshangxing: "Brother Tu, can you pay attention to me for a moment?"
All the messages Zhu Xingyao sent fell on deaf ears. She stared at the profile picture, tears suddenly falling on the screen of her phone. She didn't need to guess, she instinctively knew that this person was Jiang Tu. After a while, she quit WeChat, put down her phone, turned off the light and got into the thin blanket.
She ignored him too.
The author has something to say: Chapters 40-44 are new content. The timeline in this chapter has changed a little, and some small details have been changed. The details will also be deleted and modified later. I will release one chapter after I finish revising it.