Attempted first love

It is rare for Xia Yan to go to bed early and wake up early.

He was used to turning upside down day and night. When he opened his eyes on the sofa and saw the rising sun, he was so dazed that he didn't know what night it was. He took out his mobile phone to check it, and it was only seven in the morning. For a while, he didn't know whether he should go back to sleep or not.

While hesitating, the phone rang quickly, and it was Ji Qilin calling.

Although he has been immersed in the art circle for decades, and his thinking is at the forefront, he still stubbornly retains some middle-aged characteristics, such as his enthusiasm for WeChat voice.

Thinking of what happened at the hotel yesterday, and Ji Qilin's inexplicable words after he got in the car, Xia Yan decided to pretend he wasn't awake and ignore his call.

The ringing of the bell died down, and he couldn't fall asleep either. He propped himself up on his elbows in a daze, until his whole arm was numb, and then he let out a long and slow breath.

The morning light penetrated the light curtains, the room was fully illuminated, and everything was bright.The water in the fish tank is also moistened by the sun, reflecting jumping irregular apertures.

After returning home yesterday, Xia Yan threw himself onto the sofa exhaustedly, before going to sleep, he accidentally opened the video of Lu Zhouyu's work that Ji Qilin had sent him.

In the video, there is a red goldfish jumping out of the flower stamen, its swaying fish tail overlaps with the flower petals, shaking in the water, it is so beautiful that in his dreams, that fish is wandering around.

Move your eyes to the ecological fish tank at the entrance, and a round-headed goldfish is shuttling through it. In comparison, it is clumsy and depressing.

After starting the Mirage Art Museum project at the beginning of the year, Xia Yan moved from Chuncheng to Haicheng for a long-term stay. One day, when he finished work early, on the way home, he met a gray-haired grandma, squatting on the side of the road, guarding a plastic fish tank, The street lamps pulled her shadow into a lonely line.

Xia Yan folded his arms and watched, and after a while, there was a plastic bag containing goldfish in his hand.

I vaguely remember that the species is called Longyan, and it is shaking its head and tail in the ecological fish tank.

He is not good at raising fish, but fortunately, the aunt who comes to clean up every week is proficient in this skill and fed the goldfish a lot.

Xia Yan returned to the video and took a picture of the goldfish in his dream. He wanted to identify the species through the software, but the identification results were varied. After browsing for a long time, he did not get accurate information.

After getting up from the sofa and washing up, it was already past nine o'clock, Xia Yan called the person in charge of the art museum to confirm the time of the field survey, and learned that it was closed today, so he agreed to go there tomorrow.

After feeding the goldfish again, he sat back on the sofa and sent Lu Zhouyu a WeChat message to inform him that the scouting time was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

As soon as I sent it, I received a reply: "Okay."

A businesslike attitude.

Xia Yan hesitated for a moment, not knowing what else to reply, when he was about to exit the interface, the top of the chat box suddenly showed that he was typing...

The fingertips paused, waiting for the other party to send a message.

That line was appearing intermittently while typing, and before Xia Yan ran out of patience, he finally sent three files with simple names.

Click on the file named "Flower", and there are five electronic manuscripts in it, using the interior floor plan of the exhibition hall as the base, and a flower-themed conceptual framework is outlined on each page.

Lu Zhouyu didn't draw many, and he didn't pile up lengthy theories to support it. He only added a few keywords next to each picture to convey his ideas in place.

The WeChat rang again, and Lu Zhouyu said, "Three options, you should read them first."

After skimming through the documents, Xia Yan straightened his spine, straightened his back, turned his neck left and right, and made a brisk clicking sound. "It's all good." He replied truthfully.

Although there are only lines to outline, it is an excellent and practical creative project that can easily build a picture.

After thinking for a few seconds, he asked again: "You didn't sleep all night, did you?"

Lu Zhouyu quickly replied: "Jet lag."

Xia Yan often travels on business, and he understands the pain and boredom of being jet-lagged, so he compared his heart to Lu Zhouyu's: "I still have to force myself to sleep for a while."

Until the screen was turned off and turned on again, no new message was sent, and the chat page no longer showed that it was typing.

Swipe your fingertips on the screen, the chat history is very short, and it takes only two taps to reach the end, and then slide to the bottom, still no news.

Don't you chat except for work?

Xia Yan guessed wildly, and couldn't help yawning while waiting.His biological clock is extremely chaotic, he never gets up early in the morning when there are no necessary tasks, and it is common for him to sleep until the afternoon.

With a loose hand, he threw the phone between the quilts, picked up a fluffy doll from the carpet, hugged it to his chest, buried his face in it, and tried to prolong his sleep.

Hearing is most acute when you are asleep.

He heard the sound of the water pump in the fish tank making oxygen, the faint sound of the wind outside the window, the boring sound of the central air conditioner, and the footsteps of children upstairs rushing to school.

Occasionally, when I go out in the morning, I will meet the fat boy in the elevator and say hello to him in a rough voice.

Xia Yan's relationship with children has always been very good, and the children in the whole community will call him brother when they see him.

The imposing footsteps became farther and farther away, Xia Yan raised his head to take a breath of fresh air, and buried his face again.

Everything returned to calm, it was a good time to go back to sleep, the consciousness gradually sank, and was suddenly pulled back by a crisp mechanical sound.

Lu Zhouyu finally replied: "I was drawing a manuscript just now, and there is one that needs to be revised."

Xia Yan sent a voice in a daze: "Which one?"

A picture was sent, and it took up the entire screen after clicking on it.There is a page of illustrations on the screen, and the original green line is marked with a red circle, "There is not enough space here, and it is not easy to light up later."

Xia Yan zoomed in on the picture and looked at the part he circled, but his sight was caught by the glass ashtray in the upper right corner, with half a deflated cigarette sticking out of it.

He suddenly felt a tickle in his throat, coughed, and typed and asked, "Is it convenient for you to speak?"

Just after sending it, Lu Zhouyu called directly, "Huh?"

"I sent you the picture list to see that the value is limited." Xia Yan turned on the speaker, put the phone on the coffee table, got up to look for cigarettes, and said while walking: "The actual space should be enough, but the part of the leaves is a bit overhanging."

The other end of the phone was silent for a while, Lu Zhouyu seemed to be looking at the picture, and then said after a pause, "I'll change it and send you another version later."

Searching through all the drawers at home, I only found a box of fruit-flavored cigarettes, which was given by Xiao Jiang a few months ago, saying that it does not contain nicotine, and is healthy and healthy.

How can smoke be healthy.Xia Yan took a deep breath to relieve the itching in his throat, his vocal tract was wrapped in white mist, and the words he spoke were no longer clearly defined.

"Don't be in such a hurry, just sleep for a while, aren't you sleepy?"

"I don't think so yet." Lu Zhouyu laughed, accompanied by the sound of the pen tip rubbing through the speaker, as if he was by his side.

Inexplicably, Xia Yan felt his heart tighten.

Since he can remember, his parents are rarely at home, and his history of living alone can be traced back to kindergarten.Ji Qilin has always believed that with his irregular work and rest and unhealthy diet, the risk of living alone is very high, so he urgently wants him to start a family.

Ji Qilin's original words were, "If you die, someone can call 120 for you!"

Working in the art industry requires Xia Yan to keep a keen eye on all perceptions, but perhaps he is still awake, and he is unable to make a fair analysis for the time being, so he has no choice but to attribute the fleeting heart wrinkle at that moment to the loneliness that grows with age.

After a while of silence, Lu Zhouyu questioned one of the data.Xia Yan squeezed the cigarette filter, took out two wet wipes and put them next to the phone, shook off a piece of ash, thought for a while and said: "If you have nothing to do, we can meet and discuss this afternoon, and we will go to the art museum for field inspection tomorrow." ,May I?"

Lu Zhouyu said yes.

"That's here..." Xia Yan wanted to say the name of the coffee shop he often went to, but realized that Lu Zhouyu had just returned to China and probably didn't know the way, so he said again: "I'll pick you up, two o'clock in the afternoon?"

With a "click" of the lighter, he said, "Yes."

Subconsciously, Xia Yan squeezed the filter tip and took another puff. He inhaled so hard that the smoke scrambled to fall into his body.He choked for a moment, and considering that he was on the phone, he had to cover his mouth and cough dryly.

The voice on the phone suddenly faded away, and Lu Zhouyu said, "I'll sleep for a while, see you in the afternoon."

Xia Yan said "hmm" twice, and hung up eagerly.After a good cough, he crushed the cigarette on a wet tissue paper, thought for a while, and then threw the whole pack of cigarettes into the trash can.

This pack of healthy, fruity smokes is still unbearably bitter.

There was a shower at noon, and it had stopped when we went out. The sun was shining and the air was humid. Xia Yan lowered the car window to let the wind blow.

It was working hours on Monday, the road was smooth, and I didn't even encounter a red light.

He drove happily, unconsciously humming the song he heard in the taxi, unable to remember the words, and could only vaguely match the tune.

When they stopped at the entrance of the hotel, Lu Zhouyu happened to come out of the revolving door, not as formally dressed as yesterday.

A loose dark gray linen shirt with shoulders straightened by him, a loose neckline, and cuffs rolled up to the elbows. Underneath are black jeans and sneakers.

Seeing Xia Yan lower the car window, he raised the file bag in his hand and shook it, striding over, the hem of his shirt fluttering in the wind, like a fish flicking its tail.

You should ask him about the species of goldfish in the video, Xia Yan thought, seeing his brisk footsteps, he thought he must have had enough sleep.

When he came back to his senses, the man had already walked to the side of the car, leaned down, and looked in from the co-pilot's window, "Good afternoon."

"Have you ever slept?" Xia Yan asked, and added rather pretentiously: "It's easy to get sleepy in the afternoon, which affects work efficiency."

"I've slept, don't worry."

"Come up then."

With her palms on the window frame, Lu Zhouyu looked at him and asked, "Where should I sit?"

Xia Yan tapped the steering wheel with his index finger, "Sit wherever you want."

Lu Zhouyu opened the car door, got into the co-pilot with a short body, and said while fastening his seat belt, "Mr. Xia, please come and pick me up."

Hearing the teacher's title again, Xia Yan didn't say anything, but turned his head and looked at him through the center console.

After a few seconds, I restarted the car, turned on the air conditioner, and said, "You're welcome."