under the filth

London and Paris are not far apart, and it took Tang Cen just over an hour to reach Paris.He has been studying abroad all year round, and the transit procedures are not complicated. An hour after arriving in Paris, he was standing in front of the front desk of a hotel in central Paris.

Although Tang Cen intends to stay in France for a while, he has just arrived and has not had time to do many things, so he can only temporarily stay in a hotel and move there after finding a temporary house.

In order to avoid the sudden high fever last time, Tang Cen booked rooms for two weeks in a row, and even asked for the address of a pharmacy near the hotel.In the past few years, whether it was due to the side effects of the medicine or his own practice, Tang Cen's physique has been getting worse and worse, and various minor problems have emerged one after another. Just the stomach pain when the season changes is enough for him.

Tang Cen opened the door, kicked the suitcase in and went downstairs with his wallet and room card.It happened to be noon at this time, and he thought about finding a place to have lunch first, and then go to the pharmacy to buy some standing medicines, and get acquainted with the surrounding environment by the way.

Since he planned to live in this strange country for a period of time, Tang Cen must understand everything here as soon as possible, after all, he is alone now.

After wandering around the hotel for a long time, Tang Cen finally found a restaurant with a small family.

Tang Cen sat down at the corner, casually flipping through the menu handed over by the waiter.He was not very hungry, and he just felt that there should be something in his stomach for lunch, so he only ordered three simple items and returned the menu to the waiter.

Hearing his not-so-fluent French and the monotonous choices, the waiter asked in surprise, "Sir, don't you need to add anything else?"

Tang Songyuan seldom took Tang Cen to dinner parties, but Tang Cen had also tasted many national cuisines, so now even if the waiter said it tactfully, Tang Cen could understand what he meant.According to the French dining habits, these three dishes are indeed a little small, but Tang Cen still politely declined: "No, thank you."

The waiter didn't say anything more after seeing this, took away the menu and left.

Tang Cen leaned on the cushion of the seat and counted the things he had to do. Not only did he need to buy medicine, but he also needed to rent a suitable house and get a phone card to contact his uncle.There are many odds and ends, but none of them are important. He still has fourteen days to do one by one slowly.

After recovering from a serious illness and taking a short flight, Tang Cen looked haggard. The other people in the restaurant just looked at him a few more times, and no one came up to chat with this man from the east, which also allowed Tang Cen to be quiet. Finished a lunch.

After lunch, Tang Cen followed the road signs and detoured two more streets based on his memory before finding the pharmacy on the street behind the hotel.This was not the pharmacy mentioned by the front desk, but he had already walked near the hotel, and Tang Cen didn't bother to go shopping any further. He just bought a few necessary medicines in the pharmacy and went back to his room.

After entering the room, Tang Cen threw the medicine on the table, closed the curtain beside the bed, and then took out the mobile phone from the suitcase that had been pushed to the corner.He collapsed on the bed with his mobile phone in his hand, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, and fumbled around the edge of the phone a few times with his fingers.

When his fingers touched the slightly raised power button, Tang Cen pressed the phone a few times and threw the phone aside.The phone lay quietly beside him, and the screen that was on for tens of seconds when it was turned on became the only light source in the dark.

Tang Cen, who had let himself go, didn't touch it again. After a while, the screen slowly dimmed, and the room became even darker without the only light source.

After lying on the bed for a while, Tang Cen remembered the mobile phone that had been left aside.He picked up the phone and pressed it a few times, and the screen soon lit up, but when he saw "No Service" displayed on the notification bar, Tang Cen let go of his hand impatiently, and the phone dropped from his hand. After rolling over on the mattress twice, he lay down back to his original position.

After boarding the flight to the UK, Tang Cen turned off his mobile phone and threw it into the bottom of the suitcase.After nearly ten days, although the mobile phone is still half charged, it cannot be used normally without a local calling card.

Forget it, let's wait until tomorrow to apply for a new phone card. Anyway, the time is still long, and no one will look for him.

Thinking of this, Tang Cen turned over and lay on his side on the bed, touched the edge of the bed again, and pulled a corner of the quilt to cover his body.At this time, Tang Cen was in a state of relaxation physically and mentally, and not long after the drowsiness swept over him, he fell into a deep sleep.

…………

On that night fourteen days later, Tang Cen took advantage of the moonlight to walk around the litter everywhere in the alley with his suitcase.Ignoring the ambiguous sound coming from the shadow at the corner, he walked quickly through the dark alley, stood in front of a certain house at the end of the alley, and gently pushed open the heavy door.

The door opened gently, Tang Cen stepped inside, and the unsupported door closed gently, isolating him from the mess outside.

A few days ago, Tang Cen rented a room on the third floor of this apartment building from an intermediary, but he didn't get the key to the room until noon today.

Before renting, the agent reminded him that although it is quiet here, it is dangerous at night, so he, a foreigner, should try to avoid going out alone late at night.

Yes, foreigners.Tang Cen laughed at himself when he heard this sentence.

Later, Tang Cen looked at the apartments in other places, but after searching, he only found the house here as he wanted, and it happened to be a bustling downtown area when he walked out of the alley.

After hesitating all afternoon, Tang Cen still rented it, but when he actually found it, he regretted it a little.

This apartment building was hidden in the corner of an alley, and he searched for the address on his phone for a long time before finding the apartment building when it was completely dark.

It's still not late at night, but all kinds of dirty transactions have already begun in the alley.Hearing those voices, Tang Cen felt nauseous for a while, but after thinking about it, he rarely went out during the day, let alone late at night, so what does the night here have to do with him?

Entering the interior of the apartment building, Tang Cen's dissatisfaction just now disappeared immediately.

Tang Cen carried the suitcase up the stairs, and the warm yellow chandelier illuminated the entire corridor and stairs, allowing him to see the interior of the apartment building clearly and completely.

This apartment building looks unattractive from the outside, but the actual interior decoration, just from the finely carved wooden stairs, it can be seen that the owner of the apartment has put a lot of thought into it.

Moreover, the sound insulation effect of the apartment is also good. At least Tang Cen didn't hear any noise from other rooms when he went up to the third floor. The people who rent here are probably not of the highest rank, so it's no wonder that the rent is still so high in this remote corner. .

There are only two rooms on each floor of this apartment, and the third floor where Tang Cen lives is no exception.He didn't know if there were already people at the door opposite him, but he was not used to dealing with neighbors, and he just hoped that he would not be an overly enthusiastic person.

Tang Cen pushed open the door, turned on all the lights, scanned the interior of the room and began to pack his luggage.After tossing around all afternoon, Tang Cen just wanted to tidy up the room quickly and go to bed early.

In fact, Tang Cen didn't have many things. When he came out, he didn't even have a suitcase full. He didn't buy anything when he was in England. He only bought some necessities after arriving in Paris.It doesn't take long to pack up now, he just needs to pile the clothes in the closet and put away the odds and ends.

It's just that Tang Cen's clothes are a little thin, and he can't avoid adding a few thick coats when changing seasons. Although the apartment is full of things, there are no ingredients, so he will go out to buy a few times no matter what.

By the time Tang Cen finished packing his things, it was already twelve o'clock at night. He was sleepy and woke up after taking a hot shower in the bathroom.

Unable to sleep on either side, Tang Cen was wrapped in a bathrobe and pushed open the door of the small balcony with his mobile phone.There was a rocking chair on the small balcony. Tang Cen sat on the rocking chair and swayed while writing the things he needed to buy in the memo.

The memo filled a whole page, Tang Cen saved the list, then clicked on the dial pad, and pressed a long series of numbers based on his vague memory.

Putting the phone to his ear, Tang Cen hugged his knees and looked at the dark night sky, waiting for the person over there to pick up the call.

Su Yuqing had already woken up at this time, so Tang Cen didn't wait too long. After a weak electric current, a familiar voice quickly rang in his ears: "Hello?"

"Uncle, I'm in Paris." Tang Cen put down his legs, stood up and walked towards the house.

Tang Cen didn't know much about his uncle. His contact with Su Yuqing only started after he was exiled by Tang Songyuan. Before that, he didn't even know that he had an uncle.But from the first time he saw Su Yuqing, his face overlapped with that of the woman in the black and white photo he got from Tang Songyuan.

Su Yuqing was very kind to him. Although he didn't interfere in his private affairs, as long as Tang Cen needed it, Su Yuqing would never refuse him.So now that he found a temporary place to live, he naturally remembered to mention it to his uncle.

"Paris?" Su Yuqing was a little surprised that he went to Paris, but didn't ask why, "How long do you plan to stay?"

Su Yuqing didn't quite understand Tang Cen's thoughts, but he was different from Tang Songyuan in that he didn't feel that Tang Cen's actions would be shameful, nor would he forcibly reverse Tang Cen's consciousness.

Tang Cen lowered his eyes, and his uncle still didn't ask much about other things as usual. Although he was a bit fickle, it also relieved Tang Cen of a lot of psychological burden.So Tang Cen always answered Su Yuqing's questions honestly: "I don't know."

Su Yuqing sighed, and asked again: "Have you found a place to live?"

Tang Cen responded softly, "En."

"Where is it?" It was rare for Su Yuqing to ask these details. Tang Cen hesitated for a while and gave an address. He heard rustling voices from the other end of the phone, which sounded like Su Yuqing was taking notes.

Soon the rustling stopped, and Su Yuqing's voice came again: "Call me if you need anything, and go to bed early."

"Okay." As soon as Tang Cen finished speaking, Su Yuqing hung up the phone.

Crisp and neat, not sloppy like him.