Can't tell the truth from the fake

In the winter of the first year thereafter, Gu Wen received a postcard from Xuexiang, Heilongjiang Province in the northeast.The photo was still pasted on the back. Lu Xi was wrapped in a heavy down jacket, sitting on two large Alaskan sledges, bending over and playing with snowballs on the snow.

In the autumn of the second year, Gu Wen took out a letter from Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia, from the mailbox.He opened the envelope and took out a piece of letter paper. On the letter paper, a vast grassland was outlined with simple strokes. At the bottom, it was written in flowing characters: "Horse riding is really tiring!" followed by a contemptuous expression .

In the summer of the third year, Gu Wen received a photo album mailed from the ancient city of Fenghuang.He opened it with full anticipation, looked at each photo and smiled and frowned.He seems to have seen Lu Xi wearing a Miao-style double-breasted short jacket, standing by the red sandstone city wall, and gestured to the stilted building not far away.

In the spring of the fourth year, Gu Wen just came back from a business trip.At exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, Gu Wen stepped through the gate of LUG Company.He straightened the collar of his suit and walked towards the elevator without looking sideways, but was stopped by the girl at the front desk.

The girl just started working, and she was a little scared when she looked at Gu Wen. She said tremblingly, "Mr. Gu, a gentleman came to you just now. He didn't make an appointment, but he said that you...you will definitely go see him." , and now he is waiting for you in the reception room on the first floor."

Gu Wen frowned slightly, he raised his hand and glanced at his watch and said, "I have a meeting right now, you ask him to make an appointment."

"Gu...Mr. Gu." Seeing that Gu Wen was about to turn around and leave, the girl hurriedly stopped him, "The gentleman said, if you don't see him, he, he said he won't send you anything this year."

Gu Wen's whole body froze suddenly, he stopped his pace and asked anxiously: "Did he... say what his name is?"

"The gentleman called himself 'Lucy', but...is it clearly a woman's name?" The girl was puzzled, but her eyes widened in the next second.

Because she saw Mr. Gu, who had always been serious and indifferent, suddenly ran towards the lounge, completely disregarding her own image.

"Here, they...that man..." The girl's black eyes were full of surprise, as if she was remembering something, and finally sighed in a low voice, "He's so handsome!"

"Lu Xi!" Gu Wen knocked open the solid wooden door of the lounge, he stumbled and ran in, when he saw the man leaning on the sofa and staring at him, tears instantly soaked his eyes.

"So it's really you, it's really you..." Gu Wen kept repeating this sentence, his eyes were flushed, and the corner of his mouth pulled out an ugly curve.

He stood at the door and didn't go forward. After a while, he covered his face and laughed in a low voice. The laughter was hoarse and ugly: "So I'm hallucinating again."

"It's not a hallucination." A familiar voice came into Gu Wen's ears, he suddenly raised his head, and saw the man in the army green coat walking towards him step by step.

Slightly cold fingertips slid along his browbones to the corners of his eyes, wiping away the tears on his eyelashes.

Gu Wen hugged Lu Xi violently, his arms tightened tightly, his head hung on Lu Xi's shoulders, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"Hey, take it easy." Lu Xi rubbed Gu Wen's back and smiled, "I'm about to suffocate."

Gu Wen didn't pay attention, instead he hugged him even tighter. He pressed against Lu Xi's ear and asked softly, "Are you back?"

Lu Xi replied, "I'm back."

Gu Wen paused, his throat was a little dry, he opened his mouth to ask something but he didn't make a sound, he hesitated for a long time before saying: "Then you still go?"

Lu Xi pushed Gu Wen away with all his strength, he turned around and picked up the travel bag on the sofa, and smiled: "Let's go now."

"..." Gu Wen was silent for a moment, then grabbed Lu Xi's sleeve and asked, "Do you still hate..."

"Just pretend that I have forgotten the past, don't mention it again." Lu Xi interrupted what Gu Wen was about to say.

Gu Wen sniffed, and his voice was nasal: "Why are you so fast...just leave?"

Lu Xi shrugged and said, "I'm going to Yunnan from city G tomorrow morning, just passing by here to see you, to prove that I'm not dead."

Gu Wen frowned after hearing what he said, but he endured it and said, "Don't say that about yourself."

"I don't have so many taboos." Lu Xi pouted.

Gu Wen's expression obviously dropped a lot. He wiped his eyes, and when he raised his head, he put on a smile again, and said awkwardly: "Then...can I treat you to dinner tonight?"

He anxiously waited for Lu Xi's answer, his heart beating violently in his chest.

Lu Xi raised his eyebrows and looked at Gu Wen, Gu Wen's rolling eyes had revealed his uneasiness.He deliberately delayed for a long time before slowly giving an answer.

"alright."

"Then... I will wait for you at the gate of the company at 07:30 in the evening."

"it is good."

Lu Xi looked at Gu Wen's slender back and erratic steps, and laughed out of the contrast.He shook his head, casually took out a magazine from his bag, and flipped through it absently.

After a while, there was a knock on the door of the lounge, Qing Shi pushed open the door and walked in.

"I want to talk to you."

"it is good."

Lu Xi looked at her and smiled, and Qing Shi also raised her full red lips to Lu Xi.

One person's smile is full of emotion, and the other person's smile is full of joy.

For a moment, both of them had mixed feelings.

***

"It's this store, so it's still open after so long." Lu Xi stood on this old street in City G, looking at the old store with an old plaque in front of him, secretly fascinated.

"I remember you used to like to eat claypot rice from this restaurant." Gu Wen said softly standing beside him.

"The taste of his house is the most authentic." Lu Xi nodded, walked in first, and after ordering from the boss, walked to the seat near the window.

Gu Wen propped his chin on the back of his hand, and looked at Lu Xi, who bowed his head while he was eating. The face of that person was obscured by the steaming heat, but it miraculously overlapped with him many years ago.

Even though his appearance is no longer what it used to be, the soul in his body is still the one he is most familiar with.

"See what I'm doing? You don't want to eat?" Lu Xi raised his head and asked suspiciously.

Gu Wen's eye sockets gradually became hot again, he bent down with a dry cough to cover up and said, "I'll tie my shoelaces."

Lu Xi looked at him with some amusement, and as Gu Wen bent over, a slender metal chain slipped from the collar of his shirt, and a silver metal ring was worn on it.

Even though he couldn't see the details of the ring clearly, Lu Xi clearly knew that there was a small letter "L" engraved on the inner wall of the ring.

——This was the birthday present he gave Gu Wen that year.

It turned out that he still kept it, and the way he wore it was exactly the same as when he was wearing it.

Lu Xi's gray eyes were also flooded with water. While stirring the rice with a spoon with his head down, he asked casually, "I don't know how you have been doing these years?"

"It's okay." Gu Wen didn't look at Lu Xi, his eyes dodged, and he continued, "You know, I've been busy with work. Although I didn't travel around like you, I also, I also made a deal. With a few deals, the company has made a lot of profits.”

Lu Xi's eyes flicked across Gu Wen's pursed lips, and stayed on his wrist blocked by the dial, and the conversation between him and Qing Shi just now sounded in his mind.

——"Gu Wen, how has he been these past few years? Is work going well?"

"He hasn't worked for a long time and only took over the company last year."

"……why?"

"After the explosion, he committed suicide twice, and was insane for a long time. For about a year, he talked to the air every day, assuming you were still by his side."

"Then he now..."

"He is basically recovered now. It was the first postcard you sent from Dunhuang that healed him and gave him hope for the future."

……

"Xiao Xi?" Gu Wen stretched out his hand and waved in front of Lu Xi, "Why are you distracted?"

Lu Xi was stunned, the corners of his eyes slowly turned red where the light did not shine, and he asked, "Why did you invite me to dinner today?"

Gu Wen was silent for a moment, and after a while he said, "Today is May 21st."

"……so what?"

Gu Wen stared at Lu Xi who was sitting opposite, staring at this sweetheart who was more mature than before, with endless affection and sincerity in his eyes.

"That's why I love you."

Lu Xi paused, turned his head away with an unnatural expression, and changed the subject in a muffled voice: "I'm done eating."

"Then... let's go." Gu Wen lowered his eyes, and his fine eyelashes concealed the great loss in his heart.

***

After Lu Xi got out of the hotel's elevator, he looked at Gu Wen who was walking in front of him. He still had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Every step he took with his slender and straight legs, he always walked much faster than others.

Only, he lost weight.

Wearing a slim suit, he made his shoulder blades stand out more prominently.

This person who has been entangled with him for many years, it turns out that he has not been as energetic as before.

Gu Wen stopped in front of the room numbered 909 and whispered, "Here we are."

Lu Xi didn't speak, took out his room card and swiped the door.

Gu Wen knew that he should behave more casually, after waving goodbye to Lu Xi, he turned and left.But for some reason, he still couldn't move his feet.

He looked at Lu Xi who was sitting by the bed and was arranging his backpack, with one hand in his pocket, and kept grabbing the fabric of his trousers, and asked awkwardly, "Really...do you want to go?"

After hearing this, Lu Xi zipped up his backpack and stood up. He raised his eyebrows, as energetic as before.

Step by step, he walked up to Gu Wen, who was frozen into a stone sculpture, stretched out his right hand, pressed it against Gu Wen's cold palm, and clasped his fingers tightly.

Just listen to him say softly——

"No, let's go home together."

(End of text)

The author has something to say: Today is May [-]st, so I still have to work hard to sweeten it!

This is the end of writing here, and there will be a few episodes in the follow-up, explaining things that are not mentioned in the main text.