slowly

"This is the first time Ning Zhi has brought friends to our house." Zheng Qiudai said to Jiang Chan.

Perhaps because of the guests, she turned on all the lights on the first floor, the villa was brightly lit, and the depressive feeling dissipated a lot.

"Really." Jiang Chan smiled.

Ning Zhi avoided his gaze, before he had time to see whether it was joking or sympathy on his face, he thought to himself, is this my fault?When I was a child, I was held in the arms of my grandfather every day to teach oracle bone inscriptions. I went to kindergarten and elementary school, and I had nothing in common with my classmates. It was rare to make friends, so I didn’t want to take them home, and let the old-fashioned and boring elders ruin the friendship.

After a while of fuss, Zheng Qiudai brought out a plate of apples with toothpicks from the kitchen: "I'm really sorry, there are no fruits at home."

"Auntie, you are welcome." Jiang Chan observed quietly, and found that Zheng Qiudai's life was very simple, so simple that he was a bit poor.

But it shouldn't be like this.

Whether it is the legacy left by Ning Ranzhang or Zheng Qiudai's own income, it is enough for her to live a good life, and she will not open the refrigerator, leaving only two apples and three eggs.

"Where does Xiao Jiang work?" Zheng Qiudai asked kindly.

Jiang Chan replied, "It's a small company."

Ning Zhi who was sitting across from him let out a "poof", like a goldfish bubbling, and condemned Jiang Chan's hypocrisy.

Zheng Qiudai asked again: "What is your position? Are you also a curator?"

"No," Jiang Chan took a sip of tea, "I'm considered a professional manager."

Ning Zhi pouted again, but his eyes were smiling, bent into willow leaves.He leaned back, knocked something hard, touched it, it was his mother's violin case, it was here when he came home last time.

In the past, Zheng Qiudai practiced the piano every day. Since when did it become abandoned?

He wanted to ask, but he didn't know how to ask. The mother-child relationship that was not close in his childhood has continued to this day. He can't be that kind of self-conscious and coquettish child, and he doesn't know how to be tactful and caring.

Zheng Qiudai and Jiang Chan are still chatting, the rhythm is well controlled, like a soothing old song, somehow Jiang Chan's education experience is mentioned, Ning Zhi is surprised to find that Jiang Chan also studied in Maoshi University, and with He is at the same level.

"Which school are you from?" He interjected excitedly, "Is it the university town in Dongwen District?"

There are several colleges and universities in Dongwen District. If Jiang Chan went to school there, they might have met them on the street.Although this kind of encounter was meaningless, it was already a fate that Ning Zhi tried his best to dig out.

Jiang Chan shook his head: "I'm in University A, Xihe District."

"Ah." Ning Zhi was taken aback for a moment, and then took it for granted that University A is a top university, and Jiang Chan's conversation is good, so he must have excellent grades, so it would be strange if he didn't study at University A.

And the reason why he earnestly hoped that Jiang Chan would study in Dongwen District, and that they would pass each other, might be because subconsciously, he still wanted to explain what happened on the day they first met.Wanting to prove that he didn't agree to Jiang Chan casually, there is a deep relationship between them, the meeting in the bar is just a leaf exposed on the ground, and there are countless roots attached to it.Such a thought is too naive, Ning Zhi secretly despises himself.

Zheng Qiudai said: "One city is east and the other is west. It's really far away."

Jiang Chan joked: "That's right, my college roommate's girlfriend is in Dongwen District, one city away, which is equivalent to a long-distance relationship."

Zheng Qiudai laughed softly, and a few wrinkles formed at the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, she remembered something, and the wrinkles froze, and they were engraved seriously on her face: "I haven't asked yet, how did you and Ning Zhi know each other?"

Pretty simple question, but didn't get a quick answer.Perhaps because of guilty conscience, Ning Zhi always felt that in those few seconds, the living room was suddenly quiet.

"actually……"

"Watch the exhibition!" Ning Zhi interrupted Jiang Confession loudly, maintaining an artificially joyful tone, "A few years ago, there was an exhibition of Andy Warhol's works in S City. We met by chance and found that it was Lujiang People, you know."

He has good lying skills, and he has a good nose and eyes in such a short period of time.Jiang Chan nodded with a smile, covering for him, and added what he hadn't finished: "Actually, my dad collects Teacher Ning's paintings."

Ning Zhi was stunned, the tips of his ears were hot, he couldn't lift his head up, he pricked a piece of apple hard, put it in his mouth and chewed it violently.

Hearing her husband's name, Zheng Qiudai was slightly distracted, and clenched his fingers crossed on his chest: "Really? There is a boss in Lujiang City who has collected several works by him, also surnamed Jiang, called—"

"Jiang Qiping," Jiang Chan paused, "it's my father."

"That's really destined." Zheng Qiudai seemed to lack breath in his lungs, and after a while he said: "I met Mr. Jiang a few times before, and he knows how to paint."

"Mom," Ning Zhi held the toothpick and asked hesitantly, "Are you sick?"

Zheng Qiudai's tone of voice has always been calm, weak, and calm, and now it is slightly raised: "Is there any disease, I don't know about my own body."

She turned to Jiang Chan again: "Xiao Jiang, are you married yet?"

Jiang Chan was surprised, but still behaved gracefully: "Not yet."

"You don't have a girlfriend either?"

Jiang Chan shook his head, vaguely noticed something, and glanced at Ning Zhi.

"Young people of your generation seem to advocate establishing a career first before starting a family." Zheng Qiudai nodded in understanding, then changed the subject and blamed his son: "Ning Zhi is the same, let him go on a blind date, he always pushes back and forth, and finally goes once. , Come back and get angry at me, tell me not to introduce girls to him, but to introduce boys."

She laughed, and there was something very fragile in her laughter, which seemed weak in the spacious living room, only echoed by the vague chirping of insects in the yard.

"Let's eat," Zheng Qiudai stood up, beckoned them to the restaurant, and apologized to Jiang Chan, saying that he didn't know he was coming today, and he didn't prepare any decent banquet.

At the dining table, the three of them maintained good etiquette, eating in silence, and occasionally exchanging a word or two.Zheng Qiudai ate very little, and in the end he only drank half a bowl of porridge. Seeing them put down their chopsticks, he asked Ning Zhi to show Jiang Chan around.

In fact, there is nothing to see. This villa is not big in size, and the decoration style is not avant-garde. The only thing worth stopping by is Ning Ranzhang's studio.

Pushing open the door, the faint aroma of turpentine floats to the tip of the nose.Jiang Chan looked at the easel in the empty room and the tightly drawn curtains, recalling Ning Zhi's remarks last night that "father is still alive", and asked, "You still think your father is hiding behind the curtains, following Do you play hide and seek?"

Ning Zhi felt it for a while, and said honestly: "Not anymore, maybe because you are here, he left when you came."

Jiang Chan smiled, and said with a pun: "It seems that I shouldn't come."

It not only refers to entering the studio, but also casually visits Zheng Qiudai.

In the silence, the hair on Ning Zhi's forehead hung down, brushing lightly between his troubled brows, he sighed, and said freely, "Anyway, it will come sooner or later."

Jiang Chan asked, "You haven't come out yet?"

"No." Ning Zhi has a pair of cat-like eyes, which are round and round, with a short point at the end of the eyes. When looking up at people, they are agile and cunning, "Are you out?"

Jiang Chan shook his head and said nonchalantly, "But my dad can't control me."

"My mother..." Zheng Qiudai is a reserved person, highly educated, and pursued a career when he was young. The relationship with Ning Zhi is not close, and there is an atmosphere of gentlemen's friendship between mother and son.Ning Zhi guessed that she would not object violently, but she would definitely be sad, crying behind her back and in places where there was no light.

"I don't want to make her feel bad, but there are some things that can't be helped."

They walked through the studio and came to the storage room with constant temperature and humidity. There were large and small oil paintings hanging on the wall, like many pairs of eyes, staring straight at the two people in the center of the room.

Ning Ranzhang belonged to the realistic painting school in the early days, and later turned to non-figurative creations. He left important works in different periods. Jiang Chan carefully looked at them one by one, appreciating the beauty captured and discovered by paints, colors and lines.

As for Ning Zhi, he was not that interested in his father's oil paintings, so he edited Weibo with his head down.

That's right, he is a small self-media person. He has been running official accounts and Weibo since he was a senior, and he often posts art reviews, anecdotes about artists, and experiences from visiting exhibitions.Ning Zhi was hit hard by his father's death two years ago, and almost stopped writing long articles, so the official account was put on hold, but Weibo is still being updated, sharing some life fragments from time to time.Up to now, the number of his Weibo fans has exceeded [-], which is nothing compared to a big V, but he can still get hundreds of likes if he posts a photo.

What he sent was a photo of riding a horse in the club, with the blue sky and green grass in the background, Ning Zhi was dressed as a rider, straddling a tall and mighty racehorse, like a tall and straight pine tree.

As soon as the photo was posted, the comment section started blowing rainbow farts. Praising him for being handsome was expected, but what I didn't expect was that some netizens praised the man who led the horse for being handsome.Ning Zhi was speechless, he didn't post a frontal photo of Jiang Chan, how could these people have imaginations based on just a back view?

Although they did guess right.

In addition to commenting on the appearance, there were also people asking where this place was. Ning Zhi said the name and address of the club, and made a lot of advertisements for Jiang Chan with a lot of bragging.

"The girl playing the violin." Jiang Chan suddenly read out the name of the oil painting, "Is the painting your mother?"

Ning Zhi looked up, and the slender girl on the canvas was standing in the sea of ​​flowers playing the violin, her hair was dancing gently, he smiled: "Yes."

"It seems that your parents have a very good relationship."

"How should I put it, anyway, when my dad was alive, I didn't feel it. The two of them always treat each other like guests, and rarely show their affection in front of me." Ning Zhi quit Weibo, put his phone back in his pocket, and confessed to Jiang Said: "Actually, I am quite similar to you."

Jiang Chan raised his eyebrows slightly, listening to what he had to say.

Ning Zhi said: "Look, your mother is gone, and so is my father. You don't have a good relationship with your father, and my mother and I... don't have much to say."

It is indeed sympathetic.But there are still some differences in the details. Jiang Chan said: "You and your mother at least care about each other. My father... hates me in his heart."

The word "hate" blocked Ning Zhi's throat tightly, and all the words fell back into his stomach. He and Jiang Chan looked at each other for a while, and raised their hands symbolically: "Okay, you are worse, you Won."

Jiang Chan looked dissatisfied: "That's it?"

"Then what else do you want? Give you a hug?" Ning Zhi didn't look at Jiang Chan, and raised his hand to press the switch. There were two "pa, pa" sounds, and the room was dark and bright again.

Jiang Chan smiled: "It's not impossible."

He joked casually, but he didn't expect to get it.

In a rough hug, Ning Zhi put his arms around Jiang Chan's shoulders, patted his right hand on the bottom of his neck, let go in less than two seconds, took a step back, and said awkwardly, "Is that okay?"

He walked towards the door: "There's nothing to see. Let's go out. I'll pinch a handful of vegetables that are still alive in the yard and cook soup for you. It's a gift you gave to my mother."

Jiang Chan followed silently. Before leaving the studio, he grabbed Ning Zhi's wrist, and when Ning Zhi stopped, he politely let go: "What I said before is true."

"what?"

"Next Saturday, the Wonderful World Paradise in Lujiang City will be closed. You can play every event, as many times as you want."

Ning Zhi didn't dare to turn around, Jiang Chan's solemn tone made him feel confused: "Why?"

Jiang Chan laughed.He is a gentle and patient hunter, not eager for success, not to mention that this game of pushing and shoving with Ning Zhi each pulling one end of the spring is particularly interesting.He replied: "Throw me a peach, and give me Qiongyao."

In the living room on the first floor, Zheng Qiudai sat sideways, casting a glance towards the stairs from time to time.A few minutes later, Ning Zhi and Jiang Chan came down, obviously visiting the paintings left by Ning Ranzhang.In front of Zheng Qiudai, Jiang Chan expressed his appreciation for Ning Ranzhang's works, especially mentioning the painting "Girl Playing the Violin". The compliment was natural and sincere, and Zheng Qiudai couldn't fault it.

This is a very good young man, gentle and elegant, exuding the calmness cultivated by a wealthy family in his gestures and gestures, but he will not make people feel condescending or greasy and hypocritical. No matter what his real personality is, at least he presents this side to Zheng Qiudai Impeccable.

Zheng Qiudai looked at Ning Zhi again.She is almost 26 years old, as far as she knows, she has never been in a relationship, she does not cooperate with blind dates, and she made such an outrageous joke last time, she couldn't help thinking about it.

The three chatted for a while, and Jiang Chan got up to say goodbye.Ning Zhi wanted to take a ride back to his apartment, but Zheng Qiudai persuaded him to stay, his tone was still low, with a hint of pleading: "Let's stay here tonight."

Ning Zhi hesitated for a short moment, agreed, and said, "Then I'll see him off."

The community is full of detached villas, not far from each other, the public lighting is very weak, and the street lamps are dimmer than the moon.Jiang Chan started the car, and the glass completely lowered, like a hole, or a picture frame, framing Ning Zhi's face.

"Hey," Jiang Chan put his left hand on the window, and his body leaned outward, Ning Zhi was startled, thinking he wanted to kiss, but Jiang Chan said, "I think Auntie's spirit is not very good, and she didn't eat much. "

Ning Zhi nodded. The last time the Municipal Art Museum borrowed paintings, he found out when he went home to discuss with Zheng Qiudai, but Zheng Qiudai only said that he was a little tired and that it was good to rest.This time, the situation did not improve.He made a plan: "In two days, I'll take her for a physical examination, gastrointestinal endoscopy and so on..."

Jiang Chan frowned: "Have you ever thought that it might be depression?"