be late

The meeting place was not far from a coffee shop. Shu Yubai parked the car, opened the door, turned his head to look outside, and saw the glass windows in the flying shattered snow.

A woman is sitting by the window.

Long curly hair, elegant profile.He held the white porcelain cup with one hand and put it to his lips, leaning on the coat draped over the soft leather chair against his slender waist, and turned his head to look at her.The two of them were separated by the window pane, neither far nor close.

After staring at each other for a while, the woman curled her red lips and smiled without saying a word.

Shu Yubai was stunned for a while, slightly embarrassed, but gradually began to smile.

She looked down at the profile picture and nickname in WeChat, and then looked up at the woman in front of her.

What a coincidence.

is her.

Are you a college classmate?

Long time no see, memory is fuzzy.

Shu Yubai opened the glass door and let out a breath.

Those peachy past events in the past, together with the ridiculous past, were scattered in the mist of the night.

Ding.

-"When are you coming back?"

WeChat pop-up message.

Nan Xue lowered her eyes, staring at these words over and over again, tapped the screen with her white fingertips to enter a few words, and then deleted them.The dialog has nothing.

It was her father who sent her the message.

Nanxue is a single parent, her father raised her alone, and her mother remarried when she was young.

The message was sent a few days ago, but Nan Xue didn't reply, and her father said again: "Come back, don't be the same as when you were a child, clinging to your sister Shu all day long."

"She has her life. Get married, have kids. What are you talking about with her all day long?"

Nan Xue looked at that sentence, her fingertips trembled, suspended in the air, and stopped.

Ding

The elevator door opened, Nan Xue put the phone back in her bag, and did not reply to her father's urging.

The place I live in is nothing more than a single apartment, a two-story duplex, well-decorated, but the space is very narrow.On the first floor, there is only space for changing shoes. It is cramped and dark. If you step on high-heeled shoes, the wooden floor will be soaked in snow soon.

She took off her moccasin boots in silence, sighing softly in her heart.

Shu Yubai hasn't had a good time in the past few years.

Looking at the small window through the dark night, Nan Xue thought, it might be the first time Shu Yubai has lived in such a narrow house for so many years.

The space on the first floor is small, and the light-colored oak staircase spirals upwards.There are some sundries piled up under the stairs, brushes, paints, canvases.The taste is slightly pungent and spicy.There is a small bucket in the corner, in which is the brush that I just used this morning, and the grass green paint is smudged.

She put on her slippers and stared at the stairwell as usual.There was a faint smell of ink and gouache in the air.

From a small window opposite, the light from the closet came in.

Illuminates the paintings stacked under the stairs.

Dusty, the paintings are stacked, some are framed, some are just a piece of paper or canvas.The framed ones are sold, and the unframed ones are bought by no one.

one two three four.

Four in total.

Only four were sold.

Nan Xue saw that there were a few more paintings in the two stacks.On the surface, one pair of distant mountains and villages, and the other pair of green willows in the south of the Yangtze River.

The inscription is in elegant lower case: Yubai.

Nan Xue looked at the painting, leaned over, and gently sniffed it with the tip of her nose. The smell was very similar to that of Shu Yubai's, it was refreshing, with a bit of warm and dry agarwood.

Nan Xue closed her eyes, thinking about Shu Yubai.

That smell is reassuring.

It's been too long since Yue Mo didn't reply to his father's message. After a while, the phone rang again.This time it was accompanied by an urgent knock on the door.

Three words lit up on the screen: Nan Mingzhuo.

her father.

Nan Xue frowned restrainedly, picked up the phone: "Dad."

"Come back, I don't know Beijing well, and I have no one to take care of you."

"Sister Shu is here." Nan Xue said.

"Forget it, it's up to you." Nan Mingzhuo seemed helpless, and only said: "I asked Xiao Zhu to come over this morning to see, has he arrived yet?"

Nan Xue glanced at the gate.

The door is locked, looking out through the peephole, there is a person in the corridor.

The knock on the door was well-behaved and patient.

Nan Xue sighed and hung up the phone.

After a while, open the door.

Outside the door is my father's assistant, Xiao He.

"Mr. Xiaonan, the chairman invites you to go home."

"Father is a Zhejiang businessman. He is from Hangzhou."

"As for my mother, she hated the poor and loved the rich in the early years. Her father divorced him when he went bankrupt. This woman is also short-sighted. That is Nan Mingzhuo, and now she is the leader of the real estate tycoon in Jiangnan. Ha, the one her mother remarried He is the boss of a small run-down company, so I regret it to death."

"Hey. Who would have thought that old man Nan would be prosperous again after being so poor back then."

……

Shu Yubai frowned slightly, raised his eyelids, and glanced at the side table impatiently.

There were a few men sitting at the four-person table next to them, watching gossip and gossiping while chatting.Very annoying.

"how?"

The woman opposite raised her eyebrows.

He looked at Shu Yubai carefully.

Her eyebrows were long, sharp and rather aggressive, as before, with an invisible sense of oppression.

Her name is Xiao Yi, which is clearly a very gentle name.

Shu Yubai came back to his senses, and apologized: "It's okay, I..."

"Have you considered it?"

The woman smiled slightly, her red lips curled up, and her eyes softened slightly: "Working in an auction house is not good enough for you."

"Don't dare." Shu Yubai hurriedly shook his head.

While brushing up the broken hair around her ears, she lowered her eyelashes:

"In my current situation, I can't even talk about whether I deserve it or not. Having a job is enough."

Xiao Yi was startled, looked at her hands, and sighed: "A good pair of hands for painting—what a pity."

The complexion of those hands is soft and fair, thin, just like warm white jade, the veins are light blue, and with the joints exerting force, they have a delicate and skinny beauty.

How much indescribable beauty these hands have created on the canvas.

It's a pity that once was only once.

When Shu Yubai was preparing for the exam with her in the same studio, the teacher squeezed her hand and said, there are only two students I take with spiritual roots.

Now one hand is destroyed, only the other remains.That person opened a solo exhibition and won awards. He has been on the cover of countless periodicals at a young age.Shu Yubai should be like her.

pity.

"There's nothing to be sorry about."

Shu Yubai said calmly: "Each has its own way of living."

"Although the work of the auction house has little to do with painting, you can see many famous paintings and collections. If you look at those collections and paintings every day, you will be very lucky."

"Yeah." The woman smiled: "That's right."

She took out a business card from her bag and handed it over: "Do you want to work in another place? It will be easier than now, and your vision and circle will be bigger."

There was an inexplicable smile in her eyes, as if implying something.

Shu Yubai knew her.

I was a university back then and knew a lot about her.

There are many girls in art colleges who like girls of the same sex, and this is the person in front of me.She has a gentle personality and a good appearance. When she was in college, she often walked around the campus hand in hand with her girlfriend.

But Shu Yubai has remembered her for so many years, not because of her beauty, or anything else.

Only because Xiao Yi chased after her.

"Thank you." Shu Yubai said, "I'll think about it."

Meeting her is certainly not a blind date, or a date.The date is just an angry word she casually said to Nan Xue.

I heard from a colleague that there is a job opportunity related to painting.It's just that the job needs to be across provinces and far away, so Shu Yubai still hesitates.

If I had known that it was Xiao Yi who came

So what?

Shu Yubai shook her head lightly, she was no longer the girl full of aura.

After chatting about work for a while, the topic changed.

Xiao Yi picked up the coffee in hand, took a sip as if to cover up, and pursed his lips lightly: "If I had known that the person who came was me, would you still go to the appointment?" The atmosphere was delicate for a moment. "Yes." Shu Yubai chuckled: "What's the matter? It's you, so I should come."

Xiao Yi was slightly surprised, raised his eyes, and a flash of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

But Shu Yubai said: "Students, why don't you come?"

Ah.

Xiao Yi stared at her speechlessly for a long time before changing the subject: "How are you doing now, where do you live? I have a suite over there with a yard, if necessary..."

"Thank you, no need." Shu Yubai shook his head lightly, explaining: "I live with someone else, it's inconvenient to move here."

Shu Yubai bowed his head, a strand of extremely fine and soft hair fell on his shoulders, his white chin was illuminated by the skylight outside, like porcelain, translucent.

The woman was slightly taken aback.

"with who?"

Shu Yubai whispered, "With a friend."

"Friend?" Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows.

Shu Yubai lowered his head, his soft long hair fell down, and the soft black hair in the forest, a very light crimson color floated from the tips of his snow-white ears.

"Her surname is Nan."

Frost formed on the glass windows.

The cold light of the street lamp shone from a distance, carrying a chill.

Nan Xue was waiting at home, the box of dumplings on the table was not opened, and it was still braving the air-conditioning from the outside, with icicles falling from it.

Over time, it gradually thawed.

-"Have you eaten?"

As soon as the screen lit up, the person chasing her asked again.

Nan Xue frowned, but didn't reply.

She lowered her head and scrolled up the chat history with her fingertips.

That person was a student who had just graduated a few years ago, not much older than her.Every chat starts with him and ends with Nan Xue.

The person who fell in love seemed to be particularly dull, and Nan Xue's reply was so cold that he couldn't notice it.

Nan Xue glanced at the table, took a picture, and sent the photo of the box of dumplings.

- "Wait for her to come back and eat together."

-"roommate?"

- "Well, sort of."

- "You have a good relationship? Is she the one who came to pick you up at night?"

-"Um."

- "She picks you up every day?"

-"Um."

What did the boy post again, she glanced at it, not very interested.

After a long time, the phone "ding" and the boy joked: "You two have an unusual relationship." Squinting and smiling." She looked at that sentence and frowned, not knowing why.

Nanxue has a cold personality, and she doesn't talk much when getting along with her on weekdays. Those who chase her feel that their hearts are hanging and they don't know what to do.The man wanted to take the opportunity to test her out and say something to mobilize her emotions, but Nan Xue didn't reply for a long time, the man panicked, and said: - "Sorry, just kidding."

Nan Xue paused with her fingertips, was speechless for a moment, and replied: "She is a girl."

Nan Xue didn't want to talk to him anymore, but the man continued to send:

- "Do you have someone in your heart?"

- "Why are you always single?"

Looking at those words, Nan Xue was a little dazed.She exited the interface, there was a moment of blankness, and she swiped a few times on the screen with her fingertips.When she regained consciousness, she was already calling Shu Yubai.

A hoarse piano piece in the microphone, the sound quality is very poor.After a while, the music finally ended.

"Hello." A soft voice came from over there.very warm.

"When will you be back?"

Nan Xue asked.

Keenly noticed that there was a soft sound of violin and another woman's voice from the microphone.

"Not coming back tonight."

Shu Yubai said softly: "Don't wait for me, go to bed early."

Then the phone hung up.

not coming back.

Don't wait for me.

Not going home at night?

Nan Xue's fingertips paused slightly, and they stopped in mid-air.It's not that she doesn't know what it means to go on a date and not go home.

Shu Yubai...

Facing her painting by the window, the tip of his nose seems to smell a little warm fragrance.

An hour ago.

The coffee shop was very quiet, and the voices of the two were cautiously lowered.

"Is she a straight girl?"

The woman on the opposite side smiled lightly: "The friend you mentioned is the one named Nan."

Her voice was a little teasing, casually:

"you like her?"

Shu Yubai raised his eyes suddenly, his dark pupils were very clear, full of emotion, surprised and flustered.

And shy.

"No."

She shook her head hastily.

The clear pupils flashed through the water, and there was a guilty conscience in the eyes, as if asking: How do you know.

"I guessed it." The woman seemed to see through it at a glance, and smiled: "Don't rush to deny it. I'm just kidding you."

joke?

Shu Yubai breathed a sigh of relief.

click.

A woman in a plaid apron puts the cake on the table: "Please take your time."

It was already a dark snowy night outside.

Shu Yubai leaned against the window, and the chandelier fell, woven of thin rattan, like a bird's nest.The shadows falling on the table and the window glass are like the forest floor in daytime, the light and shadow are very fragmented.

"Actually, I guessed right?"

The shadow of the eyelashes of the woman on the opposite side made the eye sockets deep, and her eyes were a little mysterious.

"guessed wrong."

Shu Yubai took a deep breath: "It all happened a long time ago. Now she and I are ordinary friends."

"Oh."

The man smiled slightly: "You have given up on her."

"..."

Shu Yubai bowed his head and remained silent.

But the fingertips were clenched tightly, and they were slightly white.

But then, the woman asked interestingly: "But, do you want to test her again?"