Hu Meizi

96.

After Christmas, Sun Du and Xie Tang planned to stay in England for another week or so.

Firstly, there was nothing to do in City C, which seemed to be calm, and secondly, Xie Tang rarely had too many things to deal with, so the two simply planned to spend a week in England before returning to City C.

For Sun Du, this was indeed a rare relaxation.

Ever since Wu Moqing passed away, the string in his mind has been tense and never stopped. Accompanying Xie Tang to England this time also allows him to take a breather during this high-pressure period.

Xie Tang and Sun Du chose to go to the Lake District of England.Because during the Christmas period, few musical actors are still working, and many exhibitions are set up after Christmas. After all, Christmas is also a holiday for family reunion and rest for Westerners.

In fact, winter is the off-season for tourism in the UK. It is too cold in the UK in winter, and it gets dark early in the northern regions, so there is no chance for tourists to hesitate.It stands to reason that in the UK in winter, only a big city like London can have more places for people to visit.The British Lake District, generally speaking, is the most popular and vibrant in spring and summer.

But Xie Tang and Sun Du still chose to go to the lake area, because the lake area in winter is deserted and there are not many people.The two of them went because of this "off-season".

Xie Tang was driving, and Sun Du was sitting in the passenger seat holding a box of snacks, peeling nuts to eat.Originally, he wanted to eat junk food, like buying some French fries at the McDonald's and Burger King they passed by.

"It's just a rare indulgence for me," he explained to Xie Tang, "I haven't eaten this kind of salty, oily, and nutritious junk food for a long time."

"I want to eat—" Sun Du pushed Xie Tang, leaning on him coquettishly, unable to get up as if he was so hungry that he had no energy left.

In fact, he is just hungry.

Xie Tang glanced at him, but didn't say anything.

He parked the car, but didn't buy it for him.Instead, he went to the trunk and took out a small box, and handed it to Sun Du.

Sun Du raised his eyebrows, and opened the somewhat heavy box, which was stuffed with packs of nuts, several bottles of yogurt, several sandwiches in transparent boxes, and a few pieces of walnut crisps.There are also ice packs under the box.

"Are these snacks?" Sun Du took out the nut bag in surprise and asked Xie Tang.

Xie Tang nodded. He watched Sun Du happily choose the snacks he was going to eat on the next journey. He took out several packs of nuts, a bottle of yogurt, picked and picked, and finally took out a small sandwich.Apparently, he had forgotten about the junk food he was craving just now.

"Here," Sun Du handed the sandwich to Xie Tang, "Eat something, you didn't eat anything this morning."

Xie Tang gave a hum and took the sandwich.

Sun Du took out a wet tissue and wiped his hands, then peeled the almonds. He peeled a few and stuffed them into his mouth, and then stuffed a few for Xie Tang from time to time.

Xie Tang honestly opened his mouth and let him stuff it in.

The two of them parked the car on the side of the road and ate.

Xie Tang finished eating the sandwich, chewed several almonds, wiped his hands and mouth with a tissue, reminded Sun Du to fasten his seat belt, and continued driving to his destination.During Christmas time, Xie Tang doesn't like to disturb the Filipino maid and driver at home, it is impolite and not in line with the rules to bother others during their vacation time.

They first went to Lake Windermere, which is the largest and most famous lake in the Lake District, and there is a small town by the lake.The private vacation villa that Xie Tang bought was there, and it was also the place where they stayed this time.

It happened to be evening when they arrived, and the sunset glow was bright red, reflected on the huge lake, like a fire burning from the sky to the bottom of the lake.It's just that Lake Windermere is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and it's cold everywhere. Silent dead trees and bushes stand upright, and it's not disturbed by the bustling bustle at all.

Sun Du got off the car and took many photos of Lake Windermere.

It turns out that nature has its own unique beauty at all times.

When Sun Du came back to his senses, Xie Tang had already carried their luggage to the holiday villa.

This villa has always been cleaned and cleaned at a fixed time, so Xie Tang and Sun Du lived in it, and there was no need to clean it by themselves.

The villa is not big or small, with a total of three floors. The first floor is the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The second floor is mainly bedrooms, study rooms, and bathrooms. The first floor is a home theater and some fitness equipment.

Sun Du opened the refrigerator, and the ingredients inside were piled full.

"Wow," Sun Du smiled and took out a sirloin steak packed in a vacuum bag, and shook it at Xie Tang.

Sun Du glanced at it. It was the matured steak that Xie Tang used to like. It was about 60 to 70 days old. "I should be glad that I learned the dry-aged steak when I signed up to learn Western food. Otherwise, you will not be able to eat it this week. Come drink oatmeal with me."

To Sun Du's surprise, Xie Tang said, "I will do it."

Sun Du raised his eyebrows.

Xie Tang arranged the shoes at the door.

"When I was in college, I lived alone in the United States and learned Western food," he said.

Most of the Western food itself is not difficult, but it is just a few simple steps to control, and the supervision of some data such as temperature.As for the handling of ingredients, as long as they are done step by step, there will be basically no major problems.

"That's great," Sun Du smiled and put the steak back into the refrigerator, "You make lunch, and I'll make dinner." He stepped on his slippers, ran towards Xie Tang, and hugged Xie Tang.

Xie Tang nodded, as he agreed with the proposal.

So in the evening, Xie Tang ate the steak Sun Du handled, a bowl of vegetable salad and corn soup. Sun Du knew that he ate too many snacks today, so he ate an apple at night.

The two went upstairs to wash up. One side of the study on the second floor was connected to the outside balcony. Looking out from there, you could just see the continuous mountains. The mountains in front were shorter, and the mountains behind were higher. It was covered with snow, and it was so quiet under the starry sky at night that it seemed to be sleeping.

"The mountain in front is Loughrigg, and the mountain behind is Helvellyn." Xie Tang walked behind Sun Du at some point. He was wearing pajamas and had finished washing.

"They're so pretty." Sun Du turned his head and said to Xie Tang with a smile, then he stopped looking, turned around and led Xie Tang to the bedroom.

The two of them went back to bed, not finishing the last volume of Warren's poetry.

Buried in Xie Tang's arms, Sun Du fell asleep in Xie Tang's voice as before.

They have formed a rule, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they have to read poems and sleep well, and on February, Thursday, and Saturday, they do bed exercises, and on Sundays, it depends on their mood.

Seeing that Sun Du had fallen asleep, Xie Tang also turned off the lights, ready to rest.

Before closing his eyes, he gently flicked out a piece of hair that Sun Du had accidentally held in his mouth, and flicked it up for him.

When they woke up the next day, they went to a mountain with a somewhat unique name, the old man named Coniston, also known as Old Man Mountain by the locals.This is one of the highest mountains in the Lake District and has always been popular with climbers.

Xie Tang said that when he was in high school, his favorite mountain to climb was Old Man Mountain.

Sun Du asked, why?

Xie Tang replied, there are stars on the mountain.

Sun Du just laughed, he thought of when he and Xie Tang climbed the mountain before, Xie Tang told about his experience of climbing the mountain alone when he was ten years old.

"Are they shining?" Sun Du asked, holding Xie Tang's hand.

Xie Tang held Sun Du's hand, and they walked slowly on the old man's mountain road. They took the easiest road. This mountain road has been trampled by thousands of travelers. The road is flat and wide. The two of them It's just right for people to hold hands and walk side by side.

"Yes," Xie Tang said, "They are shining."

There was a shallow smile on his face, which couldn't be called a smile.

As usual, it was a softer and more relaxed expression, but Sun Du was willing to define this as a thankful smile.

Sun Du looked at him with a smile, he didn't tell Xie Tan, but in fact, he has seen the most vast starry sky in Xie Tan's deep blue eyes all this time.

Inside, there are the brightest stars.

The two of them walked to the top of Old Man Mountain, where they could overlook the entire Niston Lake and the small town of Niston.

In the next few days, they successively visited Kramerk Lake, Gummers Howe and several other snow-capped mountains that were somewhat confusing or had no names.

In winter, the British Lake District has a quiet and lonely beauty. White snow, blue lake, and dark brown or scorched trees are the main body of this lake and mountain scenery.But in the tranquility, there is also vitality.The green moss on the tree trunks, the sheep that Sun Du and Xie Tang occasionally met on the hillside in twos and threes, and a few dogs that were dressed in Santa Claus costumes by local residents and wagged their tails, all of these were considered the hidden vitality in the lake area.

On the sixth day, when the two were planning to go back, Xie Tang suddenly received a call.His expression was rarely dignified.

This stunned Sun Du, who was packing his luggage.

"What's the matter? Did something important happen?" Sun Du stepped forward to hold Xie Tang's hand that put down the phone, he frowned slightly, and looked at Xie Tang worriedly.

Xie Tang shook his head, "Lin Qingqing is dead." He said.

Sun Du raised his eyes and looked at Xie Tang.

"It seems that the vacation is over," he said calmly, "Assistant Zhou is coming back to work overtime."