Zhu Xingyao sat on the bed in silence. She felt that Jiang Tu didn't seem to be deceived by her. Xiao Kui came over anxiously: "Xingxing, did I say something wrong?"
"You didn't say anything wrong. I just didn't want Brother Tu to know that I was taking medicine. You don't have to blame yourself." Zhu Xingtu stood up and touched Xiaokui's head. "Pack up and prepare for dinner. You are tired from the flight. Go to bed early. You have to meet up with the band tomorrow morning."
Xiao Kui couldn't help but ask: "Why can't Mr. Jiang know?"
Zhu Xingyao said: "Because Mr. Jiang would be very sad if he knew."
After dinner, Zhu Xingyao sent a WeChat message to Jiang Tu and waited for a long time but received no reply. After sitting on a plane for more than ten hours and taking medicine, she could not resist the tiredness and fell into a deep sleep.
After sleeping for a few hours, she had another nightmare.
It was still dark outside the window. She picked up her phone, but still didn't see Jiang Tu's reply.
At four o'clock in the morning in China, Jiang Tu walked out of Zhu's house. The biting cold wind made his eyes hurt. The pain spread to every bone in his body, including his tendons and muscles. He felt pain every time he moved.
He opened the car door and got in.
Zhu Yunping stood in front of the window and sighed deeply. He waited for a long time before he saw the car lights come on and heard the sound of the car driving away.
It was six in the morning, and the sky was still as dark as the night. The street lights on the tarmac cast a dim light. Jiang Tu sat in the economy class seat, his long legs unable to stretch out, his body empty, and numbly listened to what the flight attendant said.
He took off his glasses and looked out the window. There were lights flashing in the dark night sky, sometimes bright and sometimes dim. They were the lights on the wings. The plane landed, and the lights seemed to fall straight to the ground. Jiang Tu thought of Zhu Xingyao's injury in the hospital, and his dark fantasy that one day she would fall from the sky, and he would be able to be closer to her. But he finally restrained himself, not daring to touch her, not even daring to reply to her messages, and slowly moved away -
But, in the past that he didn't know, in the invisible place.
The stars fell because of him.
Jiang Tu looked at the glass window, where his face was reflected. He was pale and his eyes were red.
He seemed to have returned to his high school days, that state of self-loathing and self-abandonment.
for a long time.
The plane takes off.
Jiang Tu slowly withdrew his gaze. After all, he was not eighteen years old anymore.
No matter how much he hated himself, he would not take a step back.
The temperature in Dubai was still very warm in the evening. Zhu Xingyao carried her cello and returned to the hotel with the members of the orchestra. She lowered her head to look at her mobile phone. She had not received a reply to the WeChat message she sent to Jiang Tu last night. At noon, she tried to call him using Xiao Jiang, but received an automatic reply from a robot.
for example:
Be good, it’s already twelve o’clock, eat well.
I may be in a meeting now. I will call you when I am done.
Wait for me, it will be soon.
Maybe I'm really busy, please wait for me a little longer, I'm sorry Xingxing.
wait…
How long do we have to wait
Zhu Xingyao had a subtle premonition that Jiang Tu might know about it. She panicked and called Zhu Yunping quickly. She was suddenly afraid that Jiang Tu would cut off contact with her and ignore her after knowing the truth, just like he did during the college entrance examination.
When the call was connected, Zhu Xingyao asked hurriedly: "Dad... has Jiang Tu looked for you?"
"Ahhh! Look over there, stars!"
Suddenly, Xiaokui grabbed her hand and pointed towards the hotel gate.
Xiao Kui was so excited that she was incoherent: "Did I see it wrong? Mr. Jiang!"
Zhu Xingyao suddenly looked up. From a distance of more than ten meters, through the crowd of foreign pedestrians, she saw Jiang Tu's tall, thin and straight figure. He was wearing a wrinkled black sweater, with his coat draped over his arm. He had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and there was a circle of dark blue on his chin.
He was in a dignified and dusty state.
Zhu Xingyao was stunned, tears rolling down her cheeks without warning.
Zhu Yunping obviously heard Xiaokui's voice on the phone. He asked in surprise: "He went to see you?"
Zhu Xingyao looked at Jiang Tu and said in a tearful voice, "Yes, Dad, Jiang Tu came to see me."
He must know everything.
Zhu Xingyao hung up the phone and ran over with his cello bag on his back. Jiang Tu took a few steps forward, opened his arms, and hugged Xingxing tightly. Zhu Xingyao raised her little face and looked at him with red eyes. He looked very tired, with bloodshot eyes.
Her voice trembled slightly: "Why are you here? You didn't even tell me..."
Jiang Tu buried his nose in her hair, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice: "I don't know what to say, I just want to see you soon."
Zhu Xingyao never thought that she would suddenly see him in a foreign country.
The emotion and excitement have long outweighed the anxiety in my heart.
Pedestrians stopped and looked at them.
The band members were even more curious, and someone started to make a scene and asked Xiaokui in English: "Is that Xingxing's boyfriend?"
Xiaokui’s English is not very good, but she is very excited: “yes! yes! yes! yes! yes!”
She shouted five yeses in one breath!
Everyone laughed loudly.
When Zhu Xingyao heard the voice behind her, she remembered that the band members were still there. She raised her head from his arms and turned to look at everyone. She grabbed Jiang Tu's hand and said to everyone with a smile: "This is my boyfriend. I can't have dinner with you tonight. I have to accompany him."
She speaks fluent English and has a pleasant and cheerful voice.
Jiang Tu suppressed the emotions in his chest, raised his eyes and said, "Thank you for taking care of her."
As soon as the door opened.
Zhu Xingyao turned around and hugged Jiang Tu, standing on tiptoes to kiss him. Jiang Tu restrained himself by holding her waist and raised his chin. Zhu Xingyao's lips fell on his jaw. Jiang Tu's throat rolled, and he lowered his eyes to look at her, and his voice was very low: "Xingxing, I... I smell like cigarettes, and I have been sitting in economy class for more than ten hours, so I smell a little bit, and I haven't shaved my beard yet." He didn't want to kiss her like this.
"It doesn't stink." Zhu Xingyao hugged his neck tightly, buried her head in his neck and sniffed. The smell of cigarettes was quite strong, as if he smoked a lot. She had never smelled such a strong smell of cigarettes on him before, and Jiang Tu rarely kissed her after smoking, so he paid attention to these things.
Zhu Xingyao rubbed her cheek against his collar and whispered, "I don't dislike you."
Jiang Tu pursed his lips, lowered his head and buried it in her neck, his warm breath pressed against her thin white neck, and he restrained himself and kissed it. Zhu Xingyao was rubbed by his stubbled chin, which was very itchy. The itching was fine and intense, very stimulating, and she couldn't help trembling and whispered: "Brother Tu..."
"Um?"
Jiang Tu raised his head and looked down at her.
Zhu Xingyao took off his glasses and looked up into his eyes: "Do you know everything?"
Jiang Tu looked at her silently, with emotions surging in his eyes. He said, "Yeah."
Zhu Xingyao bit her lip. She suddenly didn't know what to say. She lowered her eyelashes, turned her head to look at the bathroom next to her, and muttered softly: "I... I'll get you some toiletries first. You really stink. I'll ask Xiaotian to buy you some clothes later. How could you not bring anything..."
She pushed him into the bathroom, a little aggressively, not tolerant of rejection.
Jiang Tu rarely saw her like this, so he lowered his head and smiled.
Zhu Xingyao asked Xiaotian to buy a set of clothes according to Jiang Tu's height. Time was tight, so Xiaotian bought two sets of black sportswear. Xiaotian was also very sensible and bought a razor.
Half an hour later.
Jiang Tu shaved his beard and changed into clean and refreshing clothes. He circled Zhu Xingyao from behind as he stood by the window, looking down at his phone.
In the past half hour, Zhu Xingyao has adjusted her emotions, but she still doesn't know where to start, how to say it... Jiang Tu picked her up and let her sit on his lap. He rested his chin on her shoulder and asked in a low voice: "You didn't send me any messages on QQ in 2014 and 2015, right?"
After Jiang Tu went abroad, he did not use QQ. At that time, he thought she was still with Lu Ji. He had not been on QQ for a long time, and he was not sure if he had missed some information.
Zhu Xingyao shook her head and said aggrievedly: "No, you don't even care about me, what should I post..."
Jiang Tu was silent, took a deep breath, and asked again: "What's the last one?"
The last one...
In August 2013, she was in Berlin when she woke up from a nightmare.
I sent him a message: "Brother Tu, can you pay attention to me?"
From then on, nothing happened.
Even the one-sided contact was severed.
Jiang Tu's breathing became heavier beside her ear. Zhu Xingyao knew that he was trying to control his emotions. He asked, "Have you visited me at the house my mother rented in the suburbs?"
"I did look for it, that day..." Zhu Xingyao felt that Zhu Yunping should tell him everything he knew. She intertwined her slender white fingers and turned back to look at him, "It was dark that day, and I didn't know the way very well. I couldn't find your house after wandering around for a long time... Later, I heard an aunt mention your name to your mother, asking why you didn't come back for the New Year again..."
"Did you see my mother?" Jiang Tu looked at her.
"I saw it. She even said something to me." Zhu Xingyao lowered her eyelashes, puffed up her cheeks and sighed, "I was so ugly that day that your mother didn't recognize me and didn't remember me anymore."
“Not ugly.”
Jiang Tu pressed her towards him and kissed her almost fiercely. During these long twenty hours, all the emotions of heartache, guilt, self-blame and self-loathing had accumulated to the highest point. He bit her lips, as if he wanted to put all his emotions into this kiss.
Zhu Xingyao felt like she was about to suffocate, and she whimpered a few times.
As if that’s not enough.
Jiang Tu closed his eyes, moved his lips to her ear, and said in a trembling voice: "Xingxing, I love you."
The author has something to say: 55555 I thought I could write an extra 10,000 words this week, but reality hit me in the face again, so I’ll have to put my marriage on hold for a little while…