woman wearing irish linen shirt

Walking on the road, I was a little wobbly.My brain can't be quiet, and the exhaustion that has been unloaded and piled to the corner is still on my shoulders. The previous one is just a kind of vain and short-lived imagination. I just can't feel the heaviness for the time being due to the effect of alcohol. Sensation—but as long as I yaw a little, as long as my forward steps fall a little slower, the deviated center of gravity and the power of the fall can instantly restore my sobriety.

According to Jocelyn, the episode between her and the big boss happened recently, so it is entirely possible that Ms. Cui heard about our plan from the big boss before.Of course she wouldn't pick this kind of time to mess things up, but explaining everything by "coincidence" is always unbelievable.

Is it really such a coincidence?

Our access control is relatively strict. If you are an ordinary visitor who does not know the front desk, you need to declare in advance on the intranet, and the staff will come down to pick you up after the visit, but Ms. Cui has a special status after all, and she chooses to take the initiative The reason for bypassing the filing process...I still feel uneasy.

It seems to be calm, but I feel that the mountains and rains are about to come; until now, there is no danger, who knows, what will happen after autumn?

In a land with four distinct seasons, autumn has already entered.

And the heat I felt didn't stop.

I picked up the phone, and Miss Pender's voice came from the handset: "I was taking a shower just now. What's wrong?"

"Old Pan." I called her.

Miss Pan De laughed like the gentle wind in the night: "What's the matter?"

"Can I find you tonight?" I scratched my nose and sat on the outermost seat on the bus platform.I was a little dizzy, but luckily my body was instinctively looking for the safest position.

"Now?" She paused for less than a second, "OK. When will you arrive?"

"Hmm..." I dragged out my voice, "Nine twenty?"

"Yao."

"Ok?"

"Are you drinking? Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No need." I stood up slowly, the car was almost here, "Then we will see you in 10 minutes?"

"Well—can you keep it like this? I mean keep the call." Miss Pender spoke very quickly.

I reacted for a while, "di" the traffic card, found an empty chair and sat down: "Okay. Did you miss me? You rarely make such requests."

She didn't know what she was laughing at: "If you insist, that kind of speculation is also valid."

"What do you mean by 'guess'?" I lowered my voice as much as I could, and rummaged through my bag to put on my earphones.I know that when I drink too much, I can't control the volume of my speech. At this moment, I feel like I am speaking like a mosquito, but Miss Pender still seems to be able to hear clearly.

She didn't answer my question, and there was only a slight noise from the receiver.I didn't ask further - to be honest, I have forgotten what the first half of my sentence was at the moment.

After a while, Miss Pan De said: "You didn't take the subway?"

"I came here on the bus and didn't want to go down the stairs," I said. "How do you know?"

She pondered, and finally said: "I have superpowers."

I double-checked what I brought to make sure nothing was missing, and said, "I know, it's the radio in the car that's different. No lies, bitch."

She is laughing again.

"What are you laughing at!" I tried my best to keep my voice low but intimidating at the same time.

Miss Pan De didn't stop smiling, she still didn't answer me, she just said, "What are you packing? I've heard 'eyebrow pencil' three times."

"How do you know I'm packing?" I frowned slightly, looking around, "Are you in the car?"

She burst out laughing, seemingly unable to stop.When she spoke again, Miss Pan couldn't hold back her smile: "Yao, listen, I think yours..." She laughed for a long time again, "I think your things should be in the bag. Are you sure Have they been taken out?"

"No." I shook my head, picked up the bag and put it on my lap, and looked around again, "There is nothing outside, except my earphones."

"Where are the headphones?" she asked me.

"The earphones are in the ears."

"Good boy." Miss Pender coaxed me, "Pick up your bag, will you?"

I reluctantly said, "Okay."

"Which bus do you take?" Her coaxing tone became more and more obvious. I was a little unhappy, but at the same time felt very useful.

As I answered her, I squeezed the bag tightly.I also wanted to open it up again to make sure I had everything I had with me: that's when the car stopped.

Miss Pender was waiting for me at the drop-off place. Her hair was still wet, and a straw-brown shawl made of cotton and linen wrapped her arms, hiding her white T-shirt and her pretty lines.She reached out to help, and I passed the bag over.

"It's a bit like a salesman who just came home from a business trip. It would be more similar if he was carrying a briefcase with buckles like lawyers." I walked a little ahead, and when I saw that she hadn't followed, I turned my head, "Sonny Ya?"

She pushed the bag to my chest: "I'm not here to carry your bag."

Holding the bag, I felt inexplicable, but still vaguely realized that I had done something wrong.I waited for her, walked side by side to her house, and asked in a low voice, "Don't you like my analogy? I'm not saying that you have to be the kind of little girl who waits for the salesman's parents to bring gifts home..."

She glanced at me: "Why do you have to be the parent?"

"I don't know." I was thinking hard, and Miss Pender was standing by, waiting for me to think.She had one hand on my left elbow in an awkward position, as if she were some sort of caretaker for me.Maybe you want to hold me?I lifted my hand up a little bit, and Miss Pender rolled her eyelids, and there was a slight smile in the corner of her eyes.

She was still holding my arm.I looked left and right, and the hand holding the bag was lifted up with difficulty, and the mask was pulled up.

"You look like a thief," said Miss Pender.

"Ah." I looked at her. "I know, because I feel so warm. It's not like I feel like a parent—I feel like someone who's been greeted and finally going home."

She walked forward with my arm, only looking at the road, and her pace was slower than usual: "Okay."

I frowned slightly: "What's 'okay'? Oh - by the way, why do I look like a thief?"

"The way you pull the mask." She only answered the second half, "You're still a stupid thief."

Miss Pender held my arm all the way to the living room, not even letting me change my shoes.I stepped on the carpet, and immediately felt a strong sense of guilt, wishing I could get up and find a vacuum cleaner to clean it right away.But she will definitely be upset if I say that, I can only say: "Why do you miss me so much today?"

Miss Pender rolled her eyes at me for the first time ever.

She never rolled her eyes at me!

I was shocked in my heart and stood up immediately: "What's wrong!"

She pointed to the sofa: "Sit down."

So I sat down obediently.

Miss Pender brought me water and a towel for me.She was not far or close to me, but her eyes stayed on me, and after observing for a while, she asked, "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No." I felt that at least two or three seconds had passed, "What brand of carpet cleaner do you use? I don't think the cleaners that claim to be dry-cleanable are good."

Miss Pender held her chin: "How much wine have you drank?"

"No more than two hundred milliliters of vodka. But I didn't drink much water today, and the quality of dinner is also worrying." I said honestly, "You think I'm drunk?"

Her sigh sounded like nothing, in a trance, I thought it was my illusion.Miss Pande sat down beside me, and put the back of her warm hand on my cheek: "I think you're a little hyper. Drink some water, okay?"

I grabbed her hand and prevented her from getting up: "It's so comfortable."

She smiled softly, and then stuffed the towel that I had pushed aside just now into my hand: "How about this?"

"But I like you more." I frowned slightly, with a drawn-out voice.

Miss Pande rubbed my hair: "If you promise to drink a glass of water first, I will lend you my hand to apply to your face."

I feel a little awkward: "You shouldn't negotiate terms with your girlfriend."

She raised her eyebrows and made a gesture to pull her hand away: "Say it again."

I pouted and took the water glass on the coffee table.

Miss Pender embraced me with one hand and patted my arm lightly. As expected, the other hand stuck to my face, changing to the palm of the hand for a while, and the back of the hand for a while.I was afraid that her muscles would be sore from lifting her hand for too long, so I changed my mind, but Miss Pender just shook her head.

The night view of the city is submerged under the tall buildings, and the distant skyline is dotted with industrial lights by the pier.The coast has never had a familiar smell, but for some reason, those crude oil silos waiting for distillate, the tall cooling towers and the containers coming in and out of the port make me feel very nostalgic. It makes me feel like I have finally arrived to unload my In the place of burden, it seems that the danger has gone away and the spirit can be relaxed, like the tangy aroma from the pastry shop deep in the cafeteria, the siren sounding in the family area during the shift change time, the brothers and sisters calling for friends after school, the neighbors The sound of the TV turned on too loud—

It was as if I had come home.

When I opened my eyes, the factory disappeared.I am in the heart of the city, where oil is indeed refined.However, where can one find the black gold on Jurong Island in the unbearably cold heights?

I was still as safe as curled up in my own bed.

Miss Pande pursed her lips, moved her hands slowly, and asked softly, "Did you sleep well?"

"I'm not sleepy anymore." I squeezed my neck, "I dreamed about the oil factory."

She was a little surprised, and stretched out her entire left arm in front of me: "You mean the ones in the west? Which company?"

I didn't find it funny for no reason, but in the end it was me who crushed people's arms so that they were numb.I gently relaxed my arm for her, while paying attention to her expression so as not to strike too hard.I said, "It must have been a dream about where my parents work. Did I ever say I could play the piano?"

Miss Pender nodded slightly.

"Every time I go back to Langfang for a long vacation, I go to a place about two blocks away from our community to practice the piano. My teacher is very old and his hand was injured in the 70s. He can no longer play the piano, but I respect him very much. Him." I roughly gestured the direction, and I don't know if she can understand, "I told you before that our place is basically self-sufficient. Even if people come on business trips, there are also internally operated hotels that can receive them. We call it 'guest house', and 'reception' means reception."

She listened attentively while enjoying my massage.

"When I was in the fourth grade, a hotel near the teacher's house opened. I found it very strange, because few people travel to our place, and people with business contacts don't tend to live outside." The movements of my hands did not Stop, "At that time, I always felt that when I went home during the winter vacation, I would hear the news of the closure of the hotel. After all, it is difficult for the commercial scale of general banquets to support such a luxurious building."

"You had a wide range of interests when you were young."

"Maybe it is influenced by classmates. You may not know that Beijing is a city where students from elementary school to taxi drivers care about social development." I smiled.

Miss Pan De raised her eyebrows: "What's the result? Has your judgment come true?"

I shook my head: "That hotel is still alive."

She put down her hand, no longer let me massage, and gently held my right hand.

Miss Pender's eyes rested on my face.

I said lightly: "The second day after I went home during the winter vacation, I saw my dad and a strange woman walking out of the hotel."