Through Thick and Thin

After getting off work on Saturday, Lu Chuiqing took a taxi to the restaurant Chen Yuan told him about.It is a well-known top-floor western restaurant located in the central business district of the city. The environment is very good and the consumption is naturally high.

While in the taxi, Lu Chuiqing thought of the phone call Xiao Zhan had made to him a few hours ago.

Today he planned to live at Xiao Zhan's house, and Xiao Zhan also said that he would have dinner with him after work, and Lu Chuiqing still had an appointment with Chen Yuan, so he told Xiao Zhan that he was going to meet an ex-girlfriend tonight. Friends, let him not wait for him to eat together.

Lu Chuiqing can eat every meal with Xiao Zhan in the future, but today's meal must be given to Chen Yuan, he doesn't want to wait any longer.

Xiao Zhan didn't ask too much, and said that he would send him a message when he was about to finish eating, and he would ask the driver at home to pick him up.

After arriving at the business district, Lu Chuiqing took the elevator to the top floor of the shopping mall.There is a garden terrace on the top floor, a small pond with exquisite glass paths, and a small observation deck at the other end of the restaurant, where many dating couples lean together under the vaulted roof.

Lu Chuiqing was led by the waiter through the aisle of the restaurant, and saw Chen Yuan sitting on the balcony seat.

Lu Chuiqing let out a breath slowly, stepped forward and said, "Manager Chen."

There was only a bottle of red wine and two slightly poured wine glasses on the table, Chen Yuan turned his head to look at him, maybe he didn't have time to calm down his emotions, his eyes were the loneliness that Lu Chuiqing had rarely seen for so many years.

Lu Chuiqing's heart tightened. He understood Chen Yuan's feelings, and he was willing to say 1 more sorrys to him, but the only thing he couldn't do was to accept his feelings.

"Sit down." Chen Yuan smiled softly. He stared at Lu Chuiqing's face, then pushed the wine glass on the table in front of Lu Chuiqing, his expression seemed to be recalling something, "I didn't have time to tell you last time. When I saw you for the first time, I thought you might be the right person I met in this life, it might sound unbelievable...but it's true."

Lu Chuiqing quietly listened to Chen Yuan's words: "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, you deserve it." Chen Yuan smiled shallowly, "So I still want to meet you, I hope you can give me a chance...or a reason."

"Manager Chen," Lu Chuiqing's voice was soft but very firm, "I already have someone I like."

Chen Yuan's eyes dimmed for a moment. At that moment, he didn't know whether he should say that the person in front of him who he could never forget from the first time he met was too gentle or too cruel. Gentleness was due to frankness, and cruelty was also due to frankness.

To be honest, Chen Yuan was not too surprised by this reason, the moment Lu Chuiqing said that they were not suitable, he already had this premonition in his heart.

There was unavoidable bitterness in his chest, and the tingling in his heart was sharper than Chen Yuan imagined, and Chen Yuan's voice was a little hoarse: "I envy him very much."

"Manager Chen, maybe you don't want to hear it anymore, but I still want to say, I am very grateful to you." Lu Chuiqing's eyes were slightly wet, and he said in a low voice, word by word, as if through the Chen wish in front of him , confided to another past shadow, "I really appreciate your kindness to me...Thank you for everything."

"What I want is not gratitude, you know." Chen Yuan smiled bitterly, "Even if you reject me and thank me, I will never forget you. What are you thanking for?"

This may be unfair to the current Chen Yuan, but feelings are inherently unfair. God gave him a second chance. In this life, Lu Chuiqing met Xiao Zhan first, so he would not have any other feelings in his heart. people.

Lu Chuiqing took a deep breath and said, "Manager Chen, in fact, I had a very deep relationship before. At that time, I also thought that he was the best and most suitable for me in the world. I thought that as long as I was with him Together, no matter what happens in the future, I can calmly face it... But it turns out that I was wrong. It was only later that I fully realized that feelings cannot solve all problems. If the small cracks in life at the beginning are left alone , will become bigger and bigger, and in the end, no one can make up for it. I gave up too many things I wanted for him, and I regret it."

Lu Chuiqing paused. He stared at the distant street and the lights of the city, and said in a low voice, "In the end I left without saying goodbye...I owe him an apology, and I may never have another chance in the future."

Chen Yuan listened quietly to Lu Chuiqing's words. For some reason, at that moment, he really wanted to reach out and hug him.

"If I had met you earlier, earlier than the person in your heart," Chen Yuan whispered, "Would we have a chance?"

Lu Chuiqing smiled, instead of answering the question, she said, "I'm not your best choice, Manager Chen."

Lu Chuiqing took a last sip of the red wine on the table, the rich and mellow taste passed his throat and flowed into his heart.He put down his wine glass, and put a stop to him and Chen Yuan tonight, to his immature feelings and lonely self in the past: "Manager Chen, I'm about to go, please come this far, I hope you will be happy in the future." all good."

Lu Chuiqing stood up from his seat, Chen Yuan looked up at him, his eyes were like deep pools, filled with reluctance and pain.

Lu Chuiqing turned around and walked forward, but Chen Yuan stood up at that moment, grabbed his wrist, stepped forward a few steps, and hugged him gently.

This hug does not mean coercion, but only the struggle and nostalgia when the relationship was finally separated.The hug lasted only two seconds, and Chen Yuan forced himself to let go of him, letting go of the slightly thin body in his arms, which he wanted to protect with all his might.

Lu Chuiqing was slightly taken aback, he didn't mention the hug, he gave Chen Yuan a final look, nodded to say goodbye, turned and left.Chen Yuan stood where he was, watching his figure disappear at the end of the corridor.

Lu Chuiqing walked out of the gate of the shopping center, and heaved a sigh of relief. His eyes were slightly moist. From today on, he has nothing to do with his past self. He can go to what he really thought about without any burden or hesitation. Live, to love the one you truly love.

The person who came to pick Lu Chuiqing was Uncle Wang whom he had only met when he was on a business trip to City D in the first half of the year. When he saw Uncle Wang, Lu Chuiqing was still a little surprised: "Uncle Wang?"

"Good evening, Mr. Lu." Uncle Wang smiled, "Hurry up and get in the car, the road to the boss's house is a bit congested."

Lu Chuiqing got into the car, thanked her, and couldn't help asking curiously, "Are you from City D?"

Uncle Wang: "Yes, actually, I have been driving here for the boss, and another colleague of mine is driving Aunt Fang in City D. In April, my colleague's son had a major operation, and I The colleague asked for leave to go home to take care of the child. The boss was worried about letting others pick up the aunt, so he asked me to go over and take my colleague's place temporarily. After my colleague returned to work, I returned here and continued to drive for the boss."

"Aunt Fang?" Lu Chuiqing was startled, pondering over the surname for half a second, and almost guessed who it was, "Xiao Zhan... Mom?"

Xiao Zhan hasn't mentioned the family matters to him yet, but Lu Chuiqing is not in a hurry, after all, they have only dated for a few days, so these things can be taken slowly.

"Yes, the boss is really filial." Uncle Wang said with a smile, "You don't know, do you? Aunt Fang is a university professor, Mr. Xiao will spend at least a few days every two months to visit Aunt Fang in City D Yes. My colleague said that every day when Auntie Fang was being picked up to and from work, the eyes of those colleagues around her were envious. For a promising person like Mr. Xiao, who is not happy as a mother? "

Lu Chuiqing thought, so the last time Xiao Zhan went to City D was to visit his mother?

But according to Uncle Wang, Xiao Zhan's mother doesn't seem to live with their family.In the past, Xiao Zhan was someone that Lu Chuiqing could only meet in financial news, and he didn't have the hobby of inquiring into other people's family affairs—but it's different now, as his boyfriend, he wanted to care about every aspect of Xiao Zhan's life.

Because of the traffic jam, it took nearly 10 minutes to drive from the business district to Xiao Zhan's home.Xiao Zhan's home is a single-family, three-storey villa in a new building named Mixiangshan that was completed four or five years ago in Linjiang.

Each floor of the villa has a large area of ​​floor-to-ceiling glass, and the lighting is very good. There is also a large sun room in the yard of each household.

Lu Chuiqing likes this kind of bright and warm room with sunlight shining in all the time during the day, full of life atmosphere.

Uncle Wang sent Lu Chuiqing to the gate of Xiao Zhan's house. Before leaving, Uncle Wang smiled and said to Lu Chuiqing: "Mr. Lu, you can contact me directly if you have anything to do and wherever you want to go."

Lu Chuiqing said gratefully: "Thank you."

After Uncle Wang left, Lu Chuiqing walked up the steps in front of the gate, and was about to ring the doorbell, but the door was opened, and Xiao Zhan stood behind it.

Lu Chuiqing's hand that pressed the doorbell paused in the air, staring at Xiao Zhan, feeling a little dazed involuntarily.

It was the first time that Lu Chuiqing saw Xiao Zhan without a shirt and a suit. The latter was wearing a dark gray house coat with close-fitting long sleeves and loose trousers, which made Xiao Zhan look a little less cold and aloof than usual. Aggressive, with a lot more casualness.

Lu Chuiqing was a little stunned, Xiao Zhan stretched out his hand to cover the back of his neck, and gently pushed him in: "Come in, there are many mosquitoes outside."

The moment Lu Chuiqing was pulled in, Xiao Zhan seemed to have noticed something by accident, and frowned slightly.

Lu Chuiqing snapped back to her senses, looked around the room in a hurry, and then her eyes fell back on Xiao Zhan.

A pair of slippers for Lu Chuiqing were placed on the ground by the door. After changing the shoes, he neatly arranged the leather shoes he had taken off.At this time, there was a light and subtle sound of small animal footsteps on the side of the stairs. Lu Chuiqing followed the sound and looked up, and saw a light golden short-haired cat squatting on the side of the steps, with its fluffy tail tucked neatly around its legs. .

Lu Chuiqing's eyes lit up immediately, it was the cat on Xiao Zhan's personal WeChat account profile picture, for a moment he couldn't care less about the formality of his first visit to his boyfriend's house, and said pleasantly: "You really have a cat! "

Lu Chuiqing stepped forward and knelt down, impatiently reaching out to touch the cat's head, but afraid of scaring the kitten, she turned her head and blinked at Xiao Zhan, with "May I pet it" written all over her face.

"Touch it." Xiao Zhan looked down at the fondness in Lu Chuiqing's eyes, "But it's a little familiar."

Lu Chuiqing touched the cat's head, and the fluffy fur and soft ears of the kitten made him feel very healed.The kitten was indeed a bit unfamiliar, Lu Chuiqing didn't want to let Lu Chuiqing touch it after touching it a few times, but returned to Xiao Zhan's feet, rubbing his legs in circles.

Xiao Zhan bent down, picked up the cat, put it in the crook of one arm, and said to Lu Chuiqing, "Go upstairs."

Lu Chuiqing watched the scene where Xiao Zhan was hugging the cat, and the cat was lying on Xiao Zhan's shoulder, and for a moment didn't know whether to envy people or cats.

Lu Chuiqing followed Xiao Zhan upstairs and asked, "What's the kitten's name?"

"kid."

"……kid?"

"My mother brought it from her friend's house and raised it for me. She named it after her."

Wow...is this the personality of a college professor?

In addition to the hall, kitchen and bathroom, there is a nanny room, a sports equipment room and a utility room on the first floor. On the second floor, there is a guest room, an empty room with no decorations, and a small activity room specially prepared for cats.

In the activity room, there are cat climbing frames, mats on the floor, bags of cat food and cat snacks in the cabinets, and some small cat toys on the table.

Lu Chuiqing looked at the empty room curiously, and asked, "Why is this room empty?"

"It's useless now, leave it empty for now." Xiao Zhan replied, "It can be changed into a children's room in the future, or anything else."

When hearing the word "children's room", Lu Chuiqing blushed for some reason: "Oh..."

He followed Xiao Zhan to the master bedroom on the third floor. The bedroom is very spacious, and the bathroom and cloakroom are connected together.Lu Chuiqing stepped on the carpet in the bedroom and looked around: "I...will I sleep here tonight?"

"Otherwise?" Xiao Zhan replied, "You should wear the pajamas on the bed. The underwear is in the drawer of the wardrobe."

"okay."

"I still have something to read. I'm in the study next door. Call me if you need anything."

After Xiao Zhan finished speaking, he walked out of the bedroom and gently closed the door.Lu Chuiqing stood there for a while, then lay face down on the big bed, swept her arms on the cold and comfortable sheets, and took a deep breath.

This place is full of Xiao Zhan's smell.