I'm in Delingha tonight

"I'm afraid it's going to rain today..." Lian Shiyu leaned against the window with a thermos in her hand, sighing vaguely, "It's only four o'clock, and it's so dark."

Chi Nian was helping a female student change a painting. Hearing this, he took a look, only to realize that the light source in the studio changed from skylight to the eye-protecting lamp on the top at some point, but they were all dim yellow, making him sleepy after looking at them for a long time.

The air began to get damp again, and the smell of wet soil could be faintly smelled.

"It's a bit dark." Chi Nian said, and wiped the acrylic paint on the thumb joints.

Lian Shiyu turned around and made a merciful decision: "School is over after 45 minutes of painting. If it really rains, they won't be able to leave without an umbrella."

The students immediately made a fuss, with one group saying "Mr. Lian, do you want to skip class?" and the other group saying "Mr. Lian is so kind".

Chi Nian smiled: "Whatever, I'll go back to sleep early if I let you go."

Lian Shiyu asked, "Did you go play too late last night?"

"No, it will be over at 09:30." Chi Nian pressed the end of the paintbrush against his temple, "It's my own insomnia."

Last night, he and Xi Shan went to Nanshan Mountain to see the night view. The sky was clear at first, but it started to fog when they finally squeezed into the viewing platform. Fortunately, the scenery was not affected. The photos taken were a bit crowded, and there were still one or two photos Xi Shan was very satisfied with.The evening glow walked into the Yangtze River, and the misty mist was also a different kind of beauty, but Chi Nian felt that something was missing.

Looking at the moon in the water and looking at the flowers in the mist is not like the sunset they watched in Qinghai. On Nanshan, the lights in Yuzhong were bright, but he and Xishan were separated by a floor after all.

Two emotions of aggrieved and happy pulled him, Chi Nian didn't sleep well all night.

"I don't know what Xi Shan is doing now, maybe he's playing with his friends, he said yesterday that he would go to visit the grave today..." Chi Nian hesitated for a moment when he wrote.

The classroom door was opened from the outside, Xia Yaning poked her head forward, made a breathy voice, afraid of disturbing the students, and greeted her with hands and feet: "Chi Nian! Hurry up——"

"what?"

"Someone is looking for you!" Xia Yaning beamed, fearing that he hadn't turned the corner, she added without hesitation, "Oh, it's the handsome guy who came to pick you up yesterday afternoon, hurry up, he's waiting—"

Chi Nian stood up abruptly.

Xi Shan?How did he come?

Because "it's too troublesome for you to go there", Xi Shan asked Chi Nian to find a location yesterday, so that he could pick him up when they went to play together.One day ago, he drove to the studio to find Chi Nian, it was still the black Toyota, but when he arrived, the students had almost dispersed, only Xia Yaning and Lian Shiyu knew about it.

So he became the "handsome guy" in Xia Yaning's mouth. When he came again for the second time, Xia Yaning rushed into the classroom and called Chi Nian for him without saying a word.

Chi Nian lightly put the paint away, anxious in his heart, but he explained a few words to the female students who were waiting to change the painting before going out.

He was wearing a dark brown apron that is common in studios, and he was slightly sweating, with sideburn hair sticking to his cheeks.Chi Nian wiped it indiscriminately, feeling that there was paint on his face, he didn't care to wash it now, he was full of thoughts: "Why did Xi Shan appear here, shouldn't he have a party with his friends?"

What happened to the party, or was the mood in the cemetery changed today and the event was canceled...

These questions ended at the moment when Chi Nian saw Xi Shan.

Xi Shan was leaning against the window, staring at the cars passing by on the street in a daze, his clothes were a little wrinkled, his half-length hair was untied, scattered decadently on the side of his face, almost covering the entire side.He had no expression on his face, and was hooking a small plastic bag with one hand, in which a small bowl could be vaguely seen.

The dim light shone on Xi Shan's face like Rembrandt's meticulous arrangement, Chi Nian was stunned for a moment, and walked over: "Brother Xi?"

Xi Shan was suddenly awakened by his voice, and when he turned his face away, there was a fleeting trace of fatigue in his eyes.But he quickly laughed, and raised the plastic bag at Chong Chi Nian: "Do you want to eat cold cake?"

Chi Nian conditioned reflex: "Eat."

After listening, Xi Shan seemed to smile, stretched out his other hand in his trouser pocket, and rubbed Chi Nian's hair.

There is a small semi-exposed balcony in the living room. The partition in the middle prevents the room and the classroom door from seeing what is going on here. There is a small table and two wicker chairs.Xi Shan put the small bowl on the tea table and asked Chi Nian to lean over it. When he bent to open it, Chi Nian smelled a slight rose fragrance.

But soon, the roses were gone, and the sweet smell of brown sugar distracted Chi Nian.

The cold cake is not soft like the ones I have eaten before, it is a little springy, the brown sugar only floats on the surface, and the white part inside is still cool, with the sweetness of natural spring water.

After chewing twice, Chi Nian raised his eyes to meet Xi Shan's gaze, feeling that he was much more relaxed.

It was tense and sharp just now, like a hedgehog full of vigilance, no matter how natural his posture is, but Xi Shan standing by the window makes people can't help but want to stay away.

It's much better now, Chi Nian put his mind at ease for now, and teased him with the air conditioner: "Brother, you didn't come here to deliver cold cakes, did you?"

Xi Shan shook his head: "Passing by, buy some painting materials for my friend's sister."

"Who is it?" Chi Nian finished asking smoothly, and explained in a superfluous way, "Forget it, I don't even know it."

"I mentioned it to you, Qi Xing." Xi Shan pulled a tissue and wanted to help Chi Nian wipe the brown sugar from the corner of his mouth. He raised his hand halfway, but changed it into his hand, "Her sister is a freshman." , joined an art club... I was supposed to bring her to buy it today, but it turned out that something happened temporarily."

Chi Nian nodded, and wiped it casually twice.Although there were chairs, no one chose to sit on them. Xi Shan leaned against the wall, while Chi Nian stood in front of him, bowed his head and ate cold cake seriously.

"If you want to get to know each other," Xi Shan said abruptly, "next time, ask her to have dinner with us."

Chi Nian slowed down his chewing: "Huh?"

Xi Shan's lips were drawn into a line, and his eyes were bent towards him.

Slowly, Chi Nian began to digest Xi Shan's meaning - he can know Xi Shan's friends, right?And Qi Xing is not just anyone, he is one of the best friends Xi Shan has known since he was a student, and he can even be said to be the only close friend of the opposite sex.

That's right, fuck, Qi Xing seems to be a woman!

It's over, he seems to start broadcasting all his hostility again, indiscriminately, towards people he doesn't know.

... I'm jealous again.

Fortunately, Xi Shan couldn't feel it, so Chi Nian swallowed the cold cake and agreed nonchalantly, "Okay, let's have dinner together next time." Then he changed the subject without showing any emotion, "Do you know how to choose painting materials? Would you like me to help you?" .”

"No, I'm done buying." Xi Shan leaned his back against the wall.

"what?"

Is it so omnipotent?

Seeing Chi Nian's question, Xi Shan drew a circle in mid-air with his hand: "I learned to draw here before, Huangjueping."

"No, you are also our poor art examinee, right?"

"I'm not." Xi Shan casually looked at the layout of the studio's front hall, and said naturally, "You know the kind of hobby class when I was young? My dad knew a teacher from the Academy of Fine Arts, so he sent me to follow his wife Learning. Sketching or something, I learned it for several years...but then I stopped drawing. "

"what?"

"That's when I..." Xi Shan frowned, paused to think, "Graduated from primary school?"

After Chi Nian finished eating the cold cake, he quickly cleaned up the mess and said casually, "It's a pity to give up so early, Brother Xi, maybe if you stick to it, you will become a rising star in the world of Chinese painting and calligraphy."

"It's overdone!" Xi Shan laughed, and slapped Chi Nian on the back.

"Ouch—" he called half-truly, lowered his head and threw the small plastic bowl into the trash can, and was about to turn around when Xi Shan pressed his shoulder from behind.

Chi Nian's whole body straightened up immediately when his body touched Chi Nian, but this time, Xi Shan's mood was obviously different from when he was hugging his shoulders and pushing forward at the SkyBar - at that time, he was overjoyed and overwhelmed by the joy of reunion. But now, Xi Shan grabbed him hard, but his fingertips were trembling.

Chi Nian's throat trembled, and he asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Xi Shan remained silent, and lightly rested his forehead on Chi Nian's shoulder.

His back bent into a curved line, like a river turning, or a mountain peak collapsing.With two arms hanging helplessly by his side, Xi Shan closed his eyes and remained silent, drawing warmth from Chi Nian.

He felt that Chi Nian was nervous and his whole body was stiff, but he had no time or mood to comfort him temporarily.

Chi Nian hesitated and said, "You..." "Don't ask, don't talk." Xi Shan said hoarsely, "Let me lean on for a while."

Chi Nian pursed his lips, and after a long while, he hesitated and grabbed Xi Shan's fingertips, wrapping the first joints of the four fingers in his palm.

Outside the window, the dark sky was torn apart by a bolt of lightning, and the rain poured down.

The door leading to the classroom was slightly opened, a figure flashed past, and then closed again.

After the second roar of thunder, the rain was strong and sometimes weak, but the sky began to light up.The leaves of the camphor tree trembled violently in the wind, and the autumn chill poured into the balcony, making Chi Nian shiver.

He vaguely understood: Xi Shan had just returned from the cemetery, and at this time people are usually very fragile.Zhuo Pei'an had a deep relationship with her grandfather. For many years after the old man died of heart failure, Zhuo Pei'an was always out of his mind every time he went to worship and had to sit there for a while to relax.

When Xi Shan saw his dead friend, he couldn't help thinking of the past, and because the accident was unacceptable, that's why he was... very sad.

Chi Nian didn't say anything, just held him.

The rain in early autumn is not as vigorous as that in midsummer. At first, the momentum was huge, but soon, the overwhelming rainwater lacked stamina and became pattering, rolling down the street like beads, and dripping across the shiny asphalt road.

He felt much better, and Chi Nian, who was relying on him, smelled very good, faintly, it might be some kind of washing powder.Not being seen in his distress, Xi Shan sighed, forced himself to take his fingers out of Chi Nian's palm, put away his lost soul, and hid in that reserved shell again:

"I'm all right."

"So, where are you going now?"

Xi Shan pulled out the rattan chair and sat down without paying attention: "If you don't go anywhere, I will wait for you to get off work. I recently found that there is a Mexican restaurant in Vientiane City that is not bad. I will take you there to eat."

He didn't look abnormal at all, and Chi Nian cared about it, but felt that there was no need to speak.

"However..." Xi Shan hesitated to speak, took a rubber band from his wrist, and tied his over-long hair into a low half bun in two or three strokes, "I'm sorry, I lied just now."

"What?" Chi Nian was confused.

"For example..." Xi Shan's words were vague, "For example, I actually bought cold cakes because I wanted to have dinner with you."

I wanted to see you, so I bought cold cakes; I wanted to stay longer, so I found an excuse to eat.Knowing that Chi Nian would not refuse, Xi Shan took a small step forward.

Stay away from the cliff and don't let yourself fall.