Manhattanhenge

Carl thinks his boss has been acting weird lately.

Obviously he is the most efficient person, he can't accept that work doesn't go according to the schedule, and he hates emergencies, but he actually asked three times whether the road show arrangement can be changed.

When Karl gave a negative answer for the third time, he gave a hotel address in Los Angeles and told him that he wanted the magazine to arrange the interview here.

The difficulty of this requirement has been reduced all of a sudden. After all, it is not like a road show, which needs to be coordinated with schools, hotels, organizers and other parties. Magazine interviews can be done anywhere, not to mention that this magazine is originally located in Los Angeles, which is even more important to them. For convenience.

But not for Ning Yixiao.

"But it's a waste of time, Shaw. The last road show is in Boston, and it ends at 10:30 in the morning. I checked, and the earliest flight to LA will take five and a half hours at the fastest, including the time to go to the hotel." Time, you spend an extra six hours for an interview, but the interview itself is only four or 10 minutes.”

After hearing all these time plans, Ning Yixiao uncharacteristically showed a nonchalant attitude.

"So I can get to Los Angeles at 05:30 pm, yes?"

Carl didn't understand, "Shaw, do you have any personal itinerary in LA?"

"That's right." Ning Yixiao didn't explain too much, "You book the plane ticket first, and then you don't have to go to the road show in Boston, but go to Los Angeles one day in advance, and I need you to do some other work for me."

Carl was in a fog, and felt that the boss seemed to be a different person.

In the past, he never had a personal schedule, and all his time was spent on work.

But this time he gave several tasks at once, none of which seemed to be related to work, but rather like a date.

According to the task list, Karl completed one by one, and suddenly felt that something was missing, so he took the initiative to give Ning Yixiao a suggestion.

"Shaw, I see that you didn't arrange dinner. LA recently opened a very good western restaurant, and now you can reserve the best location, with a complete view of the sunset by the sea, and the dishes are all exquisite and high-end."

Ning Yixiao was sitting in the back seat, dealing with work, subconsciously replied: "No need, he doesn't like high-end restaurants."

Carl froze.

he?

Could it be that Ning Yixiao wants to date a man?

Under Karl's calm appearance, a piece of explosive news suddenly exploded.

"By the way, did you ask about the theater I gave you last time?"

Hearing Ning Yixiao's question, Karl immediately turned around, "Yes, they said that it is only open in summer, and it will be more difficult to make a reservation now, as there are not enough people."

"You don't need to do it." Ning Yixiao looked down at the computer screen, tapping the keyboard with his fingers, "You do as I tell you."

Carl felt that his boss might really be in love, regardless of the cost and price.

In order to squeeze out a free night, Lining hardly slept all night during the six-hour flight, and had been dealing with work all the time.

The flight landed in Los Angeles as planned. Carl took the driver to pick him up at the hotel where he was interviewed. The magazine had been waiting for a long time. As soon as Ning Yixiao arrived, they planned to do styling for him, but they were rejected.

"That's it." Ning Yixiao said, "I still have work to do."

When the magazine knew about it, it immediately flattered, "You don't actually need to do styling, so get ready to start."

Carl's gossip seeds were about to break out, and it was really uncomfortable, so he had to chat with the driver during Ning Yixiao's interview, but the driver was well-trained, and he pretended not to understand when he mentioned personal issues, which made Carl even more uncomfortable.

An hour later, Ning Yixiao finished the interview, glanced at the time, and when he walked up to the two of them, he asked the driver for the car keys.

"Are you going to drive?" Carl was a little surprised, "But you're not..."

"Yes." Ning Yixiao said to the two of them, "Thanks for your hard work, you can go back to the hotel and rest first."

The driver honestly handed over the car keys to Ning Yixiao, and half dragged the unwilling Karl away.

Carl was heartbroken. He usually worked so hard and was on call anytime and anywhere, but he knew nothing about Ning Yixiao's sudden secret love affair.

Sitting in the back of the taxi, looking at the blue-purple twilight and orange sunset in Los Angeles, he thought, what kind of person would he be?

The dusk in Los Angeles was so beautiful that it was trance-like. For a moment, Su Hui thought of Manhattan six years ago.

Beautiful sunsets are just around the corner, and so are loved ones.

It took him a while to distinguish between illusion and reality, so when he faced Ning Yixiao, he looked a little dazed.

Ning Yixiao didn't urge him, but stood closer, staring at him like a wild animal, showing a moment of meekness and tenderness.

Facing his question, Su Hui couldn't give a definite answer. After all, if he knew that he only saw a blurred silhouette, he would be too stupid to chase him out for it.

So he answered the question with the question.

"What about you?" Su Hui leaned on the railing. He was wearing a small silver Saturn earring, which was brilliantly illuminated by the setting sun. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be interviewed at the company at this time?"

"So you know my itinerary so well?" Ning Yixiao smiled faintly. He took a puff of his cigarette, and his straightforward eyes were faintly visible in the wind and smoke.

Su Hui tilted her head slightly, and said in a light tone, "My memory is not bad."

"The location of the interview was temporarily changed to Los Angeles. This magazine is here and invited me to come. I agreed and came by."

Hearing this, Su Hui had a little doubt, "It seems that you like this magazine very much, and you are willing to change the itinerary for them."

Ning Yixiao smiled.

"What are you laughing at?"

The wind blew Ning Yixiao's hair a little messy, and he really looked like him six years ago, with a vitality that couldn't be suppressed by a heavy life.

"Anything else for a while?"

Ning Yixiao moved closer, lowered his head, and looked like he was about to kiss Su Hui, which made him hold his breath.

But in the end, Ning Yixiao only lightly tapped his forehead.

"Come out with me."

Su Hui couldn't deny the disappointment in her heart, but because of Ning Yixiao's invitation, the disappointment was suppressed, and some expectations were raised.

"Where are you going?" He hesitated for a moment, "I might have to say hello to them first, and we agreed to have dinner together."

"Then go say hello." Ning Yixiao opened the door of the small rooftop for him, and went in with his head bowed.

In this way, Su Hui returned to the agreed place and saw them taking a photo with the large public art outside the art museum, so he walked over.

But he didn't expect Ning Yixiao to follow him every step of the way, which made Su Hui quite stressed.

Professor White saw Su Hui and asked with a smile, "Where did you go? They have been looking for you for a long time."

"I went to smoke a cigarette."

The professor looked past Su Hui and saw Ning Yixiao beside him, so he asked with a smile, "Who is this?"

Su Hui touched the back of her neck unnaturally, "This is ShawNing, mine..."

He was stuck here, Ning Yixiao turned his head and deliberately stared at him at this moment, making Su Hui even less sure what to say.

"Friend." Ning Yixiao relieved himself, stretched out his hand, and shook hands with the professor, "Hello, Professor White."

Professor White is very friendly, "Nice to meet you, would you like to come with us?"

A female student behind him recognized Ning Yixiao, "I know you! The founder of MsnF, right? God, my best friend is your huge fan, and he complained that he didn't get a ticket to participate in the new product road show ..."

She couldn't stop talking, Ning Yixiao could only smile, "Thank you."

"Can you sign me?" She was very excited, "I can give it to him!" After speaking, she took out the book and pen from her schoolbag, opened it and handed it over.

Ning Yixiao glanced at Su Hui, but Su Hui had an expression of "you decide for yourself". He turned his head and agreed to the little girl's request very friendly.

"Thank you so much! He must be very excited." She collected the autograph with great satisfaction.

Ning Yixiao smiled, "Thank you Eddy."

He clearly saw the hostility and disappointment on the face of the student named Ryan, so he hugged Su Hui's shoulder and said to everyone, "Sorry, I have to borrow your assistant teacher, he can't accompany everyone to celebrate."

Su Hui turned her head and glanced at his hand on her shoulder, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"It's okay." Professor White saw that the relationship between the two was unusual, "Eddy, you have been tired recently, so relax."

Ryan, who won the championship, was a little sad, and called Su Hui, "Are you really not going to drink with us?"

Su Hui was also a little apologetic, "You are really great today, when I get back to New York, I will treat you to dinner..."

Before Su Hui could finish speaking, Ning Yixiao forcibly pulled his shoulders, with a strong attitude, so that he had to leave immediately with her.

They have already left, and Ning Yixiao deliberately teased Su Hui, "When will you treat me to eat? Eddy, I want to eat taco."

"Why are you so childish?"

"Because I've changed."

Ning Yixiao drove the car again, but she still seemed tense, Su Hui could tell, so she played the song on her own initiative.

The coastal road is so beautiful, it reminds Su Hui of Neil Patterson's famous painting "Sunset", but this beauty is also very short-lived. After about half an hour, the sky turns into a dreamy purple blue, exactly like In the scene in the movie, the last ray of sunlight remains on the skyline and gradually fades away.

Su Hui took a picture of the scene before him, waiting for the night to fall.

Although the thoughts in his mind were mixed and erratic, Su Hui didn't want to affect Ning Yixiao's driving, so he chose to remain silent, but he would carefully observe Ning Yixiao's state, and when he felt that Ning Yixiao was not relaxed, he would open his mouth and talk to him. Share some trivial things, mostly boring.

But Ning Yixiao responded to every sentence, chatted like this, and arrived at the destination in a short time, which was a very quiet nature reserve.

When the car drove in, Su Hui couldn't help but lowered the car window, poked out half of his head, and saw a large lake in the shadow of the swaying trees, sparkling in the night.

"Don't stick out, sit down."

Hearing Ning Yixiao's words, Su Hui groaned and closed the car window, but he was still very happy.

He likes nature very much, and every day in the city life is killing Su Hui's enthusiasm for life.

"How did you come here?" He was a little curious, and turned to look at Ning Yixiao.

"I took a look at the gift certificate from the magazine. If I don't come tonight, it will expire. It's a waste not to use it. It's too deserted to come alone." Ning Yixiao lied, and in order to be more convincing, he He added, "They also came here a few days ago to take pictures."

Su Hui nodded and laughed, "But they're so interesting, they'll give you this to someone who doesn't need anything."

"Who said I don't lack anything?" Ning Yixiao found a parking spot and turned in.

Subconsciously, Su Hui wanted to ask him "what do you lack", but swallowed the words again, feeling that it was not appropriate.

"Will the lake here freeze?" He changed the subject.

"No, Southern California is not cold in winter."

After parking the car, Ning Yixiao took Su Hui down, along a path paved with cobblestones, they passed through the woods, everything here was shrouded in the dark blue night, very quiet.

There is a wooden house area in front of it, with warm yellow lights on. Ning Yixiao led Su Hui over there, and someone greeted him at the entrance.

The staff greeted them warmly, and led the two of them to another place, passing a small bonfire area, where there was a fire, but there were no tourists. Su Hui suddenly thought of the bonfire party without a bonfire on campus.

At that party, Ning Yixiao found himself who had disappeared in the crowd.

"It's here, it's here."

They were taken to the lake, where the night lights were dotted with stars, and it was very warm. There were also some white boats with canopies parked on the lake, and a large movie screen on the shore, all immersed in the blue-purple night.

"Some things are prepared on board. If you have any new needs, you can contact us at any time."

Ning Yixiao nodded, said thank you, and walked Su Hui to the boat designated by the staff.

"You go up first."

Su Hui was afraid that the boat would move and she would fall, so she moved very carefully. Ning Yixiao saw it, so she reached out and grabbed his wrist, "I'll support you."

"Thank you." Su Hui got on the boat, and wanted to stretch out his hand to comfort Ning overnight, but he got up easily with a step on his legs.

Right in front was the huge screen, Su Hui was a little excited for no reason, "Shall we watch an outdoor movie?"

"To be precise, it's an open-air movie on the water." Ning Yixiao said.

There were some delicate and delicious snacks on the table in front of their seats, and there were steaming fresh popcorn and pearl milk tea on the right hand side, which surprised Su Hui very much.

"I haven't had milk tea for a long time." He took a big sip and said vaguely, "Is their service so considerate?"

Ning Yixiao's expression was very pale, with a faint smile, "Who knows?"

Soon, the screen in front of her turned on, and Su Hui was in a happy mood. She glanced around and saw that the boats were empty, and there were no other spectators on the lake.

"Just the two of us."

"Probably so." Ning Yixiao found an excuse, "Maybe the weather is too cold and no one came."

Su Hui nodded understandingly, "But it's also very beautiful here in winter. The scenery and atmosphere are good. I like this feeling very much."

Hearing that he said he likes it, Ning Yixiao's mood also improved, although it was completely invisible on his expression.He lowered his head, took out a blanket from the storage box on the side, spread it out, and covered Su Hui's lap.

But in the next second, he heard Su Hui ask, "Since there are no people on these boats, can I go to another one?"

Ning Yixiao frowned, "Why do you want to go to another boat, you think it's crowded?"

Su Hui immediately shook her head, showing a lovely smile, "No, I just feel a pity to be empty."

Ning Yixiao didn't speak anymore, the title had already passed, so he had no choice but to say to Su Hui, "The movie has started."

Su Hui took a sip of milk tea and leaned against the soft leather backrest. The boat swayed slightly due to his movements, causing aftermath waves on the lake.

He accidentally discovered that what was playing here was the second part of the love in the trilogy - "Love at Sunset and Dusk".

"Great, not a horror movie."

"I haven't watched this one yet." Su Hui was a little surprised, "We've watched both the first and third ones."

Ning Yixiao didn't answer, Su Hui suddenly realized that he used "we".

Like forbidden words in a magic book, Su Hui was flustered and embarrassed at the same time. Mentioning the movies they watched together inevitably reminded people of the absurd things they did while watching movies.

"It seems to be." Ning Yixiao opened his mouth, very considerately alleviating Su Hui's embarrassment, "But I don't remember the plot anymore, I just remember that they have endless things to say."

Su Hui hummed, and didn't dare to say too much all of a sudden.

The movie begins with the beautiful scenery on the streets of Paris. Su Hui has almost forgotten many plots of the previous film. He has received too many electroshock treatments over the years, and his memory is not as good as before. All memories are like puzzle pieces that cannot be put together, with too many blanks , there is no way to connect the general pattern.

But he always remembered watching the first movie, after he was drenched in sweat, he was lying in Ning Yixiao's arms.

So he imitated it too, put his hand next to his ear, pretended to call his good friend, and asked Ning Yixiao, who didn't like to play childish games the least, to pretend to be the "friend" who answered the phone.

He looked into Ning Yixiao's eyes at that time, and said bluntly that he had never been so happy as now, and that he really liked Ning Yixiao.

After the exchange, Ning Yixiao was coerced by him, and reluctantly gestured for a phone call, but couldn't think of what to say.

He kept urging, and finally Ning Yixiao lowered his eyes and said that he thought he would always like Su Hui.

The word forever is too heavy, that's what Su Hui thought at the time, but he was even more surprised that someone like Ning Yixiao could also say "forever".

Su Hui liked Ning Yixiao so much, so he couldn't believe it. Facts proved that his caution was right, they did not have "forever".

Thinking of this, the movie has been played a lot, and the plot has been taken away by Su Hui's escaping thinking. He ate a few popcorns, and the distance between Ning Yixiao and Ning Yixiao was so close that he couldn't turn his head to look at him casually.

He had no choice but to lower his head halfway, glance over, and look at Ning Yixiao's legs and knees, as well as his gloves. Today he is wearing a pair of gray ones, which look good.

Su Hui was afraid that he would be cold, especially his injured knee, so she picked up a thick blanket and divided half of it to cover Ning Yixiao's leg.

Ning Yixiao was stunned for a moment, and turned to look at him, but Su Hui had already pretended nothing happened, hugging the milk tea cup on the sofa and sipping.

The movie is the same as the other two, full of high-density dialogues, but Su Hui likes it very much, watching it very much, and will unconsciously nod when it resonates, and will share some of his views with Ning Yixiao, like a true friend .

Seeing that the heroine said to learn to forget unrealistic fantasies, Su Hui frowned and subconsciously said, "But I still have a lot of unrealistic fantasies."

Ning Yixiao suddenly said, "You can have it, not everyone has to accept the reality."

Su Hui took a bite of the cold crepe, "Really? But I'm 26 years old. For many people, this age has already taken on the burden of the whole family, but I still have many practical problems that have not been solved. Always running away.

Credit card bills, social relationships, unavoidable interpersonal conflicts at work, and those expensive and unhelpful consultations, I want to escape every day, just want to hide in fantasy, and I have not learned how to be a mature adult at all. "

90.00% of his fantasies are Ning Yixiao, Su Hui didn't say it, otherwise he would look like a pervert.

Ning Yixiao told him, "Su Hui, you don't need to be a mature adult."

Su Hui turned her head and looked at him.

"Some people arrange their days in an orderly manner without mistakes, but they are very boring. They must envy you. Every day's life is different. They can pursue their own ideals and have the ability to imagine."

His eyes reflected the sparkling lake water, with a gentleness that was different from usual.

Rather than being mature, Ning Yixiao wants to be Su Hui's naive and romantic refuge. Even though he himself is very boring and can't catch up with Su Hui's unconstrained style, he is very good at waiting patiently.

Su Hui is a very emotional person. After hearing Ning Yixiao's words, the tip of his nose became sour, and he lowered his eyes and whispered "Thank you", then turned his head and continued watching the movie.

It was the first time they watched an entire movie with undivided attention, without any distractions.

But at the same time, Ning Yixiao also found that even if he didn't do anything, he couldn't concentrate on the plot, because Su Hui himself was the biggest interference.

Even if he didn't do anything and stayed quietly beside him, he couldn't help but think about everything about Su Hui.

When the movie was about to end, someone walked by the shore, but Su Hui was too focused to notice, until a white boat came from the shore and circled behind theirs.

Su Hui turned around and saw two staff members.

"We're here to deliver some things."

Su Hui said thank you in a low voice, turned back to continue watching the movie, and after 1 minute, the boat also left.

On the big screen, the heroine picked up the guitar and sang the song she wrote.

[You are everything I've ever dreamed of. ]

[But you are no longer there. ]

Su Hui suddenly felt a little sad, but Ning Yixiao spoke at this moment, with a low and gentle voice.

He asked, "Su Hui, do you know what day it is today?"

Su Hui thought for a while, "February..."

He suddenly froze, turned to look at Ning Yixiao, "...28?"

Ning Yixiao raised the corners of his mouth, there was a very beautiful birthday cake on his lap, and he also used his palm to protect a burning candle, "It seems that you really don't remember."

Su Hui didn't even know when he lit the candle, so he couldn't speak, frowned and stared at the small ball of fire.

The light from the huge screen on the shore reflected the profiles of the two, intertwining blurred and dreamy silhouettes, and the shadows were closer than the real ones, like an intimate embrace.

The guitar continues, and the soft singing of the female voice is like the aftermath.

[I just want to try again

I just want to have one more night

Even if it's wrong. ]

Ning Yixiao leaned slightly, close to Su Hui's side face, a small piece of ambiguous universe was left between the lips and the earlobe, and the Saturn earrings dangled in it.

"Happy birthday, immature kid."