I was the first to catch up

USA, Boston.After the snow, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind in Boston was strong and strong, which always made people's cheeks flushed and it was difficult to move an inch.

When it rains again at this time, holding an umbrella is almost useless, the ribs of the umbrella will be bent, rainwater and snow trapped in the clothes will pour into the clothes, and the umbrella will not be folded well, which will always make people miserable in the end.

There is a fried chicken restaurant near Chinatown on Boylston Street. The business is not very good in the wind and snow outside the door, and the orders are usually take-out orders.There was a crackling sound of frying oil, and the girl standing behind the counter was in her early twenties and looked Asian.She occasionally spoke a few words in Cantonese to someone in the back kitchen, and then wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

There were no customers at this point, so the door opened suddenly—the girl raised her eyes in surprise, and another girl stumbled in from the door—the short hair she cut off herself some time ago grew back again, and the broken hair stuck to her neck , she shook her head annoyed, but the rain had already soaked her clothes.

"......sorry."

The girl saw the girl behind the counter looking at her, so she stuck out her tongue, showing her the broken umbrella in her hand with some helplessness.

"I shouldn't have picked it out today - I'll buy another one and give it back to you tomorrow."

She put the umbrella on the table as if discouraged, and the clothes were still dripping when she walked. The girl saw her, wiped her hands, found a towel and threw it to her:

"Shut up."

Guan Buyu turned her head to catch the towel. The 21-year-old has grown a little taller, and she can easily catch the towel thrown a little high by the girl.She grinned and said thank you, then went to brush her wet hair.

"Also, it's Guan, no, Yu."

While brushing her hair, she corrected the girl's tone of voice. The girl smiled and said, "I know, I'm just used to it." You will be amazed when you see it: it turns out that speaking a different language can give people such a different feeling.

Having said that, she probably struggled more than Zhou Liu when she spoke English herself, and in the eyes of others, she probably looks like an idiot.

Thinking of this, Guan Buyu no longer struggled with this kind of problem.She was sitting on a high stool, her clothes were wet and uncomfortable.She casually said "Set meal A", and Zhou Liu over there responded, and the crackling sound of fried food came and went.

"Guan, there is a party at your school on Saturday, do you want to go?"

When Zhou Liu spoke to her in English, Guan Buyu was looking down at his phone.She raised her head two seconds later, looking a little confused.But she quickly understood what Zhou Liu meant, so she shook her head and said:

"No. I have to catch up with my homework."

Zhou Liu blinked, and the corners of his mouth suddenly curled up.No matter how many times he heard similar words, Zhou Liu would always find Guan Buyu very interesting.

She picked up the fried chicken wings and tidied up the box.Guan Buyu was too tall, she had to bend over when she sat there with her arms resting on the table to sit properly.

Looking at her back, Zhou Liu remembered that it was the same when he first met Guan Buyu at the party at the university next door a year ago. She was bent over and sitting on a high stool, holding a glass of cocktail but didn't drink much.

With the same Asian face, Zhou Liu leaned over to say hello to her.Guan Buyu raised her head, her somewhat slack eyes tried to focus, she looked at Zhou Liu, and stammered a little hello, in English.

Zhou Liu is a second-generation immigrant whose parents are both Cantonese. She came to the United States when she was very young, so when talking with Asians, she can very keenly perceive the identity of the other party.For example, at that time, she realized that Guan Buyu was Chinese, so she immediately switched to Mandarin and said:

"Zhou Liu."

She smiled, because the object of the offer hadn't arrived yet, and she just wanted to pass the time.And Guan Buyu's eyes lit up as soon as she heard Mandarin, and after seeing Zhou Liu's smile, she was startled for a moment, but still squeezed out a few words:

"...Guan is silent."

Zhou Liu unceremoniously pushed aside the stool next to her and sat on it. By the way, she said:

"My Chinese is not good, so don't laugh at me."

Guan Buyu shook his head and said "It's okay", Zhou Liu knocked on the paper cup in her hand and asked:

"Don't drink?"

"Well, my head hurts a bit."

Guan Buyu handed her the paper cup, and Zhou Liu took a sip.Then she asked again:

"What are you going to, sophomore?"

Guan Buyu nodded, and Zhou Liu continued:

"I'm also a sophomore. It's just not this school. The tuition of this school is too expensive. But the parties here are very good, with many tricks."

When she said that, Guan Buyu smiled wryly and nodded in agreement.Then the atmosphere fell silent, Zhou Liu looked at her for a long time, and suddenly said:

"Don't you want to stay here?"

Guan Buyu was stunned for a moment, she scratched her head, looking a little uneasy.She replied in a low voice:

"It's not too much... It will be better if you drink alcohol, but it will feel very boring when you are sober."

Zhou Liu was a little surprised when she said that directly.Then she pushed the paper cup to her again and said:

"Then why don't you drink?"

Guan Buyu waved her hands, she curled her lips, a bit like complaining:

"I don't want to get drunk. I'm thinking about going back to my homework later."

Then she counted her fingers and said to Zhou Liu with a frustrated face:

"I have to hand in two papers and three drawings this weekend, alas, I haven't moved a pen yet."

Zhou Liu found this person more and more interesting.According to her usual experience, she has seen many international students get rid of the shackles of their parents and have some money when they come abroad. Many of them will hand over their homework to the kind of "competing for A and protecting B" agency .

Generally speaking, this kind of people also loves to play - Zhou Liu also likes to play, so most of the people she meets are this kind of people.Usually in school, Zhou Liu usually walks with Chinese students like himself or foreigners with whom he can chat.Zhou Liu seldom sees a Chinese like Guan Buyu.

She held her chin and asked again:

"Then why are you still here?"

Guan Buyu replied even more frustrated:

"It's so stressful. I was trying to blow off steam and I'm sitting here thinking I haven't even started writing a single word and I'm getting stressed and my head is starting to hurt."

Zhou Liu laughed out loud when she heard the words, she shook her head, thinking that this person is a little innocent and cute.At this time, a phone call came, and the person she was dating finally arrived.

So Zhou Liu stood up, took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to Guan Buyu - this is what her mother often asked her to do, if she met a Chinese, she would give the business card to them to promote their fried chicken shop.Her mother always seemed to wish there were some Chinese in the store so she could chat with her.

When she was young, Zhou Liu always felt that this kind of behavior was very embarrassing, so she threw the business card into the trash can every time.But now, Zhou Liu can already hand it to Guan Buyu very naturally:

"My family owns a fried chicken restaurant, which is next to Chinatown. If you're hungry, come over and order some. It's delicious, so you must come."

She waved her hand and left after she finished speaking. At that time, she still thought it was just an adventure. In most cases, the person who got the business card would not really patronize the fried chicken shop, so now she only regards it as a way to end the chat. Way.

But Zhou Liu didn't expect that—Guan Buyu was indeed a strange person. Two days later, she really appeared in the fried chicken shop, and he happened to be looking at the shop at that time.

"Zhou Liu."

Zhou Liu has heard many people say her name in Mandarin, nothing special, she is not sensitive to intonation or anything, and many foreigners will simply mispronounce her name and end up calling her "CocoZhou".

But Guan Buyu remembered it, and she opened her mouth and pronounced her name earnestly without even the slightest hesitation.

At this moment, Zhou Liu was surprised to find that he actually remembered Guan Buyu's name.

She replied "Guan Buyu", and Guan Buyu corrected her pronunciation.This kind of back and forth continued in the following year until today. Many times, Zhou Liu did it on purpose, but Guan Buyu seemed to know nothing about it.She likes Guan Buyu's earnestness when correcting her pronunciation, and also likes her helplessness when she frowns, and a little more is——

She likes to keep silent.

Huanjiang at the same moment - the earth rotates, adding [-] hours to Huanjiang is already late at night.Xiaomin Canteen has been open for more than a week, and it is the weekend, Yu Xiaomin's home is very quiet, the kitchen sink is piled with clean dishes and chopsticks, the sound of water ticking, and a car occasionally drives by in the silent night.

Some whispers sounded somewhere.

"Yu Xiaomin, are you still awake?"

"Ah."

The voice paused for a while, and then it sounded again with a softer voice:

"Earlier, my mother passed away. About three or four months ago."

"Ah."

"I didn't cry, and neither did my dad. When it was time to go back to America, he drove me to the airport and asked me—what do you think he asked me?"

In the dark, Fang Ranran put his hands on Xiao Min's waist.She gently scraped Xiao Min's skin with her index finger.

After the curtains were drawn, the room was so dark that it was impossible to see anything clearly.Being deprived of sight, the sense of hearing becomes extraordinarily sensitive.Yu Xiaomin didn't know where Fang Ranran talked to her, she only knew that she was very close to her.

She didn't know the answer, but she knew that what Fang Ranran wanted was not a simple answer.She heard Fang Ranran ask again:

"If it were you, what would you say?"

Yu Xiaomin wanted to speak, but suddenly there was a slight electric tremor from her body. She bit her lower lip, waved her right hand a few times, pushed Fang Ranran away, and complained:

"Don't mess around. It's almost daylight."

Then she calmed down her heartbeat, and slowly answered Fang Ranran's question:

"I won't say anything."

Yu Xiaomin has experienced similar things - not rare, at her age, life and death will only experience more and more.

She knew that death and time were synonymous, she couldn't grasp it like sand, she could only watch it slip away and happen.

So she had no choice but to hug Fang Ranran tightly beside her, and let her bury her in her chest. There was an inaudible sigh from the thick shadow.

If it was me, I would do it.

Is it a bit late?

Fang Ranran didn't answer.She shook her head in Xiao Min's arms.After a long time, Yu Xiaomin heard Fang Ranran smile vaguely and say:

"But, my dad, do you know what he said? He said, when will the project I told you about two days ago be launched? I've already started looking for someone."

Fang Ranran smiled twice, but it sounded a little sad.

"I originally wanted to do that project, after all, it was my idea. But at that time, I suddenly didn't want to do it. I felt that it was meaningless to do it. I told him, I won't do it, you can find someone else .He asked me, why?"

"I said, I have other things to do. He asked, what? You clearly know that if that project is done well, your resume will jump directly to another level."

"I said, yes, I know. But I don't want to do it."

Yu Xiaomin heard Fang Ranran suddenly laugh and asked her, Yu Xiaomin, do you know what I'm going to do?

I told Fang Jiayuan that I was going to invest in a breakfast restaurant.A breakfast place that closed a few years ago, but was so good I'd love to try it again.

He was silent, then said I was wasting time and money, that I was "off the rails".

I said, you are right.

I just want to waste it.Just like when I was 17.That I wasted all my love, pouring it all on the same person.I knew it was impossible, and all my efforts were in vain——I knew it, but I still couldn't give up.

Hey, Yu Xiaomin, think about it carefully, my rebellious period seems to have started after I met you.

Do you want to think about how to compensate me?

Fang Ranran's words gradually fell silent with a chuckle, Yu Xiaomin didn't speak, she seemed to be asleep.Fang Ranran felt the temperature beside her and got under the quilt.

In a little while, it will be daylight.

Spring break goes by so fast, it's never been so fast.In a few days, she will leave here again.

Fang Ranran sighed under the quilt, but no one could hear her.She spoke sullenly, as if talking to herself:

"Yu Xiaomin, tell me, what is our relationship now?"