night torrent

Sleeping in the middle of the night, Yan Chen woke up suddenly, opened his eyes and found that the quilt beside him was empty, and the quilt that he reached out to touch was cold, and Lu Yao was gone.

Yan Chen sat up from the bed, turned on the bedside lamp and looked around but did not find Lu Yao's figure, so he got out of bed, put on his nightgown and walked out of the bedroom.

The living room was dark, with the smell of tobacco filling the room, only the cool night wind coming in from the open window flapped the white curtains, slightly stirring the pungent air in the room.

"Don't turn on the light."

In the darkness, Lu Yao stopped Yan Chen from groping the wall to find the switch.

Yan Chen moved forward following the sound, the air floating around his feet made his bare ankles feel cold.Lu Yao sat on the sofa by the window, like a melancholy black marble statue.

"Can't sleep?"

"I am divorced."

"..."

"We've been married for eight years, and the only thing we can talk about is money..."

"Where's your daughter?"

Yan Chen remembered the little girl's voice he had heard on the phone.

"The custody belongs to my ex-wife. I am not a good father. I am busy with work all year round and rarely take time to accompany her."

"Then you can spend more time with your daughter in the future."

"My ex-wife won't allow it, and I don't have the time..."

Lu Yao seemed to think of something bad, and his whole body exuded a gloom darker than night.

"Are you ok?"

Yan Chen hesitantly leaned forward and approached Lu Yao, but Lu Yao suddenly reached out and hugged him.

"She will slowly forget about me..."

Lu Yao said sadly.

This was the second time Yan Chen saw Lu Yao's fragile appearance. He couldn't understand the feelings of a man who lost his daughter, and he couldn't bear to push Lu Yao away.

Lu Yao bent over Yan Chen's abdomen, his arms wrapped around his waist like a helpless child hugging his doll.Yan Chen couldn't move for a while, so he could only raise his hand to stroke Lu Yao's fine black hair gently as if giving up.

Being so close, one could smell the strong smell of tobacco on Lu Yao's body, as well as the faint scent of Dior Wilderness men's perfume.When Yan Chen went in and out of Lu Yao's apartment, this limited edition perfume in a dark glass bottle was placed on the sink, and he once played with it curiously.Unknowingly, his sense of smell remembered the smell of Lu Yao.

The next morning, cloudy, moderate temperature.

The two of them didn't get up until nine o'clock, and they called room service to ask the waiter to bring breakfast. Yan Chen hid in the bathroom until the waiter set up the knife and fork and left.

Breakfast includes poached eggs with ham, toast, and fruit salad. Lu Yao only drinks coffee.

"Don't you want to eat something?"

"No appetite in the morning."

Yan Chen ate all the food, and he wiped his mouth with a clean white napkin.

"Where are you going later?"

"Let's just take a walk in the hotel garden."

At ten o'clock, the two left the room.The hotel faces the West Lake on three sides, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and monopolizes the beautiful scenery of the West Lake.Weeping willows line the shore of the lake, and cedars stretch straight to the sky.

Tired of looking at the lake view, Yan Chen deviated from the main road and took a winding path. There was a mirror-like inner lake hidden in the depths of the flowers and green trees, and a unique four-corner gazebo was built on the lake.Passing through the winding corridor, Yan Chen stopped to rest in the gazebo.

"It's so quiet." Looking at the surrounding green trees and blue sky, Lu Yao sighed, "It feels like being forgotten by the world."

The two stood side by side on the gazebo, what Yan Chen saw was a beautiful landscape, but Lu Yao was depressed.

"Are you hungry?"

It's been a while since I came out, Yan Chen reckoned that it should be time for dinner now.

"Are you hungry?" Lu Yao looked at his watch, it was almost twelve o'clock, "Let's go to the peony garden ahead for dinner."

The courtyard was deep and the winding paths were lost. Yan Chen had no sense of direction. He was already lost. He followed Lu Yao to the restaurant by turning left and right.

After having lunch in the restaurant decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, Lu Yao answered a phone call.

"Are you all right?"

Lu Yao returned to his seat, and Yan Chen asked him.

"Well, let's go."

Lu Yao smiled.

Went to Leifeng Pagoda in the afternoon.Because it was on the back hill of the hotel, the two still walked there.After buying tickets, we first looked at the exquisite and elegant ancient lacquerware, bronze Buddha statues, jade ware, etc. displayed in the pagoda, and then climbed to the top of the pagoda to see the smoke and mountains that are always suitable for heavy makeup and light application.

When the sun slanted to the west, the two walked back to the hotel along the original road.

"Take a rest first, I have to go out to meet someone at six o'clock in the evening."

Lu Yao sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest, looking very tired.

"Is anyone coming?"

"A very familiar friend here. I plan to have a meal together."

"Am I going too?"

With an ambiguous identity like his, he would feel reserved whenever he met a stranger. What is even more worrying is that Lu Yao has no scruples. If the other party sees something...

"Don't worry, he is a very easy person to get along with."

Lu Yao looked indifferent, Yan Chen felt even more headache.Lu Yao's arrogant temper made Yan Chen hateful, and he couldn't help but speculate on the word "rest assured".

It was already four o'clock, and the setting sun lit the windows red.Yan Chen closed the curtains and left Lu Yao to go to bed to take a nap.

As soon as he lay down, Yan Chen felt a little irritable before he calmed down, and his starry eyes dimmed after a while.I usually sit at work, and after walking around for a day, the muscles in my legs and feet become sore, and the fatigue floats up from my body as soon as I get out of bed.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark outside, and Lu Yao took a shower and came out of the bathroom.

Lu Yao shaved his beard, tidied his hair, and changed into a brown jacket.Having been in touch with Lu Yao for a long time, Yan Chen noticed that Lu Yao's delicacy and attention are kept calm.

Yan Chen hurriedly got up and changed clothes, took a taxi from the hotel and sat next to Liulang Wenying.

Yan Chen kept silent all the way, and followed Lu Yao to a garden-style restaurant located in the forest, where the person he had made an appointment with was already waiting there.

As soon as they entered the restaurant, the man sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows raised his hand to greet them.He looked about the same age as Lu Yao, but his figure was out of shape due to middle age.

"long time no see!"

"I don't even say hello when I come, I insist on inviting you."

The two looked very familiar, patted each other's shoulders, and took their seats affectionately.

"This is Yan Chen, and this is my college friend Hao Lian."

Lu Yao introduced each other.

"Hello."

Yan Chen greeted her, then sat down on the seat next to Lu Yao with lowered eyes.

"Now the boss is full of style!"

"I can't compare with you."

Lu Yao glanced at Hao Lian's protruding belly, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

"In the past two years, my weight has been increasing, I'm really old," Hao Lian sighed, "You don't see any changes."

The waiter brought the wine list, Lu Yao and Hao Lian drank baijiu, and Yan Chen ordered the restaurant's self-brewed bayberry wine.

The dishes are served on a cold plate first, a piece of springy and delicious rice fish cake, a piece of frozen meat with bright red color, a piece of creamy red and tender three-door drunk crab, and then a piece of crispy and mellow chicken sauce taro soup.

"The Dongpo steak here is a famous dish, and the bamboo forest chicken steamed with Shaoxing wine is also good. The chickens are all free-range in the bamboo forest and only eat grass seeds and rice. They are absolutely natural and pollution-free."

Hao Lian enthusiastically introduced the exquisitely prepared dishes.

"The quality of the ingredients is the most critical to the quality of a dish."

Yan Chen poured it all by himself, the pale pink bayberry wine was sweet in the mouth, and the sweetness of the bayberry filled his mouth.Hao Lian suddenly remembered something, and said, "A while ago, Yuqing came back."

"..."

"He has stayed in the United States for so many years, so he must have found a foreign wife there."

"Maybe."

"Have you not been in touch? Weren't you two very close at school?"

Hao Lian said in surprise.

"I remember that there was a farewell party in Yuqing's study abroad class, but you didn't come. Did something happen to you two?"

Lu Yao played with the wine glass in his hand for a while, and then said lightly: "That's all in the past."

After drinking for three rounds, Hao Lian was speechless.Yan Chen's sitting at the side completely became the foil, and he was so happy.

"My wife can't talk to her at all. The family obviously has two houses. I don't know why I got crazy this year and bought another house with a loan."

"..."

"If I hadn't been pregnant with my son, how could I have gotten married so quickly."

"Every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite."

"The mistakes made by the lower body will have to be repaid with the rest of my life."

It took more than an hour to eat a meal, and when they walked out of the restaurant, all three of them were drunk.Yan Chen's knees were weak, and he felt like he was stepping on clouds when he walked.

"Where do you want to go for a drink?"

Hao Lian asked Lu Yao.

"Next time, I've almost drunk today."

"Okay." Hao Lian nodded and waved to a taxi, "Then we'll meet again next time."

"Goodbye."

Yan Chen said goodbye to Hao Lian, Hao Lian waved his hand: "Drink next time."

Hao Lian got into the car, while Yan Chen and Lu Yao stood by the side of the road and watched the taxi run away.

The two walked side by side to Hefang Street.

This is a retro old street with blue brick pavement and black tiles and white walls. There are row upon row of teahouses and restaurants on both sides of the skyward road, and the bright lights illuminate the night.

"Thank you."

Turning into a secluded alleyway, Lu Yao suddenly said.

Yan Chen raised his head, and his eyes met Lu Yao's.Lu Yao's eyes are deep and serene, like a snowy night in winter, the whole world is covered by the white snow, and time seems to stand still.