I'm in Delingha tonight

Shapingba, Three Gorges Square.

It is still noisy at ten o'clock in the evening, and the night can't stop the increasingly vigorous fireworks in the world.

The more you walk towards the edge of the bustle, the narrower the alley, but the more it has the taste of the city.Most of the supper stalls sell barbecues, some are crowded in cramped pavements, and the electric stove is placed at the door, a large puff of smoke mixed with cumin and chili smells flies up to the tall buildings; some are placed directly at the corner of the road, A few small foldable tables were spread out, and there were only so many of them.

Put the food bag on the stainless steel plate, and put the supper on the table.Sweet potato skin, streaky pork, dried bean curd... Arranged in order, it is not even possible to take mouth-watering photos under the shroud of dim night light.

This kind of barbecue is generally not too hygienic, but it has a magical power that makes people want to stop.

Considering Ding Li's acceptance, Chi Nian and Xi Shan didn't let her go to the roadside barbecue that the two of them are used to eating, but went into a very famous restaurant - the store was not big, even a bit dirty, but the crowd was almost loud. Can't put it in my mouth.

"Boss, three people!" Xi Shan yelled as he spoke, and after finding a seat near the outside, let Chi Nian and Ding Li sit first.

He went to order, and Chi Nian nervously observed Ding Li's expression.

Although Ding Li didn't express any opinion on Xi Shan when he was in the hotel just now, and even praised Xi Shan for his good appearance and being considerate to his elders, Chi Nian was still very disturbed.

In Chi Nian's memory, Boss Ding has never been a casual person. Her motto is "details determine success or failure." She has obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe cleanliness.Ding Li is self-disciplined, and her strong style extends from the company to her family. Lao Chi dare not confront her head-on.

Will such a person endure cooking fumes, dull heating and air-conditioning, and barbecues with excessive salt, spicy, and monosodium glutamate?

Chi Nian's apprehension lasted until Xi Shan came back, but Ding Li remained silent, looked around with interest, and politely said "Thanks for your hard work" to Xi Shan.

At a very narrow table, Ding Li and Chi Nian sat facing each other. When Chi Nian saw him coming, he patted the seat beside him.

Xi Shan hesitated before pulling the stool away, and finally chose to sit next to Chi Nian: "I don't know if Auntie has any taboos, so I ordered some vegetarian dishes."

Chi Nian was used to being extremely talkative by Xi Shan in Chongqing, and he protested: "Then what about my favorite brain roast!"

Xi Shan bent his eyes: "Don't worry, both are yours."

Chi Nian was satisfied, and held his chin to Ding Lianli: "Mom, this baked brain is delicious, you really have to try it later. I didn't eat it before..."

Ding Li listened to him quietly, and when Chi Nian Anli finished, she looked at her with starry eyes and said, "It must be delicious. You look much better after coming to Chongqing...Look at the flesh on your face."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, and quickly pinched it across the table. Chi Nian was educated by his mother in front of Xi Shan, and was a little embarrassed for a while: "I'm not fat."

"I didn't say you are fat, you are healthy." Ding Li smiled, "Xiao Xi is very good at taking care of others."

Her words seemed to admit the relationship between Chi Nian and Xi Shan in disguise.

Chi Nian was taken aback for a moment, not understanding his mother's brain circuit, "Ah", and was about to say something when Ding Li fired a second shot at the unsuspecting Xi Shan: "Speaking of it, Xiao Xi, you We've known each other for so long, and the baby hasn't mentioned it to his family. I know how much older you are now, but the others..."

It turned out to be to check the family background.

"Mom." Afraid that Xi Shan would be unhappy, Chi Nian smoothed things over, "How can you be so direct with this kind of question—"

"My mother is an ordinary worker, the finance of the factory, and she will retire in July this year." Xi Shan didn't underestimate himself, and didn't show off on purpose. This business is not very good, and in Chongqing, there is still a lot of savings every year, so it is no problem to support myself."

Ding Li asked with interest: "What does your father do?"

The scar was caught off guard, and Chi Nian was afraid that Xi Shan would be injured, so he refused to let anyone mention this topic intentionally or unintentionally.But now, Xi Shan took the initiative to show up.

With a calm tone and a relaxed expression, he swayed around with a cup of tea, and there was a vague smile on the corner of his mouth: "My dad used to be a middle school teacher, and he passed away the year I graduated from university."

If Chi Nian didn't know the inside story, he would almost believe his words.

He couldn't help touching Xi Shan's shoes under the table, and the other party quickly came back like a sign, the corner of his eye swept over Chi Nian's worried gaze, and his eyelashes fluttered quickly, as if to reassure him.

Chi Nian sighed, drinking water to cover up his anxiety.

Ding Li expressed regret, and apologized to Xi Shan, who accepted it without any flaws, and added: "I don't have a deep relationship with him, there is no need for Auntie to say sorry."

Ding Li had eaten more salt than they had tasted rice, and immediately heard the obscure implication in Xi Shan's words.She frowned, and intuitively felt that the enthusiastic and cheerful young man in front of her was not simple, as if she was hiding a little deepness, but these did not make her worry about Chi Nian——

After all, if many careful thoughts are useless to Chi Nian, there is no need to worry too much.

They chatted for a while, and the barbecue was quickly served.The vegetarian dishes are stacked together, and the roasted brains will have to wait for a while.

With the delicious food in hand, Chi Nian soon lost the intention of arguing with Ding Li.He picked up a bunch of sweet potato skins familiarly, tore them apart on the plate, and started to eat with a small plate.

"It's been a long time since I had supper." Ding Li sighed.

After saying this, she no longer held Mrs. Fu's airs, picked up a few leeks with disposable chopsticks, and skillfully dipped them in vinegar, her posture was like any woman who was supper on the street.

When Chi Nian was born, Lao Chi's company was already quite large, and he had never seen the specific appearance of his parents when they "started from scratch".He stopped chewing for half a beat, looked in front of him, and felt that Ding Li was very strange.

Ding Li raised her head, with a sweet smile on her lips: "What are you doing? Your dad and I used to be so busy that we ate our last meal, and it was common for us to squat on the side of the street eating noodles in our free time."

The hard work of the parents can't be more specific in just a few words.

Chi Nian was in a complicated mood, bowed his head with an "oh" and continued to eat.He didn't know that when Ding Li ate supper, he was rough and subtle, even though he was enjoying it, his eyes were always on him and Xi Shan.

The bean curd skin was crumbling on the bamboo stick, but Chi Nian didn't notice that it suddenly broke in half and fell rapidly.

"what!"

Before Chi Nian could express his short sigh, a paper towel was placed on the palm of one hand, and he accurately caught the dried tofu that almost fell on Chi Nian, wrapped it up, and placed it on the edge of the table.

Xi Shan tore off another piece of paper, and brought it under Chi Nian's nose without raising his head.

"Thank you brother." Chi Nian reflexively said, wiping his mouth full of spices.

There was nothing special about this sentence, but after Chi Nian finished speaking, he inadvertently raised his head to meet Ding Li's playful eyes, and his face immediately became a little hot.He crumpled the piece of paper silently, threw it into the trash can, continued to dismantle the sweet potato skin into several small pieces, and put them in Xi Shan's dishes.

On winter nights, the hot shop is full of smoke and fire, and behind the tangy aroma of barbecue is a layer of warm-colored filters to appease all cold and hunger.

Chi Nian inadvertently met Xi Shan's gaze, and there was a little light in those eyes.

After eating supper without any risk, it was natural to send Ding Li back after the meal.

It was already late at night, and the hotel was deserted. The doorman came to welcome Ding Li. As soon as she opened the car door, she involuntarily closed it with a "snap".Before Chi Nian asked in surprise, Ding Li looked in the rearview mirror.

"Sorry, Xiaoxi, I have a few words to say to Niannian." Ding Li said gently and politely, but did not allow any objection, "Can I trouble you to avoid it for 5 minutes?"

In the driver's seat, Xi Shan nodded and obediently unfastened his seat belt and got out of the car.

With the car window half open, Chi Nian watched Xi Shan walk to the corner of the small square in front of the hotel, and sat casually on the steps.Xi Shan took out a pack of cigarettes in his pocket, and then took out a one-yuan plastic lighter that he had just bought from a barbecue shop. The red light flashed, and then the smoke was lingering. He relaxed and squeezed his shoulder.

Chi Nian was a little lost in thought, Ding Li called him several times before turning his head stiffly: "Ah? Mom..."

"Are you going back to him tonight?"

When Chi Nian was asked by her, he felt more and more that the pure relationship between himself and Xi Shan, which was just a kiss, was running in an indescribable direction. It was not good to explain, and it was even worse not to explain, so he finally chose to remain silent.

In Ding Li's view, silence is equivalent to acquiescence.

She leaned against the backseat of the Toyota, pursed her lips—the maple leaf-colored lipstick was almost gone, she was not like in the past, she always propped up her spine to protect someone from the wind and rain, and sank into the seat quietly, finally Showed a little fatigue.The light in the car was dim, and Chi Nian couldn't see her eyes clearly.

"Mom." Chi Nian tentatively called her, "Are you particularly disappointed in me?"

Made big and small mistakes, ran away from home, and had a cold war for half a year... But at those times, Chi Nian didn't think about it, and didn't ask Ding Li, "Are you disappointed in me?"

Maybe the humid winter night in Chongqing has some kind of magic power, which froze his rationality, so emotional emotions dominated his brain, and he blurted out questions that he cared about but was afraid of getting answers.

Ding Li glanced at him in surprise, then said after a short silence: "I was indeed disappointed in you once."

Chi Nian: "..."

"However, I can see that you are serious." Ding Li stroked Chi Nian's hair, "Don't blame Xiaopei for telling the truth, if she doesn't tell you, you won't think of me when you're feeling sad...so I decided not to blame you , baby, everyone is stupid sometimes."

She already knew about Zhou Hengwen, but she didn't attribute "running away from home" to a joke to mock herself.

Chi Nian's nose became sore.

"Xi Shan is a good person." Ding Li continued, "I treat you well, and I can see that I don't want you. In the past six months, my mother has figured out that some things cannot be forced. As for what you said before' I won’t marry a girl’... Don’t worry, my parents are not that kind of people, I’m sure I’m going to feel uncomfortable, but I hope you’ll be healthy and happy in the end.”

"Old Chi must want to kill me..." Chi Nianweng wiped the corners of his eyes in a low voice.

Ding Li: "He wants you to go back for the New Year."

Chi Nian was stunned, and after a long while, he made his choice firmly from the struggle - he had thought about it countless times earlier, and it was not as difficult as expected when facing the real situation of choosing one or the other.

Ding Li saw his hesitation: "Are you unwilling to forgive Mom and Dad?"

"Mom, it's not that I have to... It's really a special situation. You talked to Brother Xi today, his family..." Chi Nian's throat moved with difficulty, "Auntie returned to Qinghai for the Chinese New Year this year, not in Chongqing. His friends, everyone They will always stay with their parents, as for other relatives, Brother Xi doesn't have much contact with each other, this matter is quite complicated."

Ding Li said sadly, "I know what you mean."

But Chi Nian insisted on making it clear: "If I go back to Beijing with you, celebrate the New Year with excitement, and leave him alone in Chongqing... There is only one Spring Festival every year, and he is usually lonely enough."

If I'm not there, will Xi Shan stay alone in that house, with a cat and a dog as companions?

In the past ten days, Chi Nian had already tasted this kind of feeling, and said it was uncomfortable, but it was not too painful.But when the New Year's bell rang, he remembered the kiss at the last moment on December 12——

Except that Wushan is not Yun and Xishan is not there, any other perfect reunion is meaningless.

"Okay." Ding Li tidied up her messy sideburns, pushed the door and got out of the car.

"Mom." Chi Nian stopped her and said incoherently, "I didn't mean that, it's just..."

"Understood." Ding Li turned her head, and there was a smile in her eyes, "Baby is finally willing to think about others, I am very happy-after a while of busy work, anyway, Xi Shan doesn't have to clock in from [-] to [-] to work, you Find a vacation during the break, take him back to Beijing and introduce him to Lao Chi."

"Hey?!" Before Chi Nian could react, Ding Li had already closed the door.

he is...

Doing a good job of mental training for many years of fighting, and finally won the victory without any defense?