On Wednesday, Zeng Li had to go to the hospital to have the stitches removed, and that day happened to be Ai Jing Chu's outpatient clinic. Ai Jing Chu had contacted Ge Yi in advance. Ge Yi had an operation in the morning and asked Zeng Li to go early in the morning.

Ai Jing Chu drove to her home to pick her up before going to the hospital.

"For you to go around so far, you will be busy for a long time in a while, can I go by myself?" Zeng Li said.

"If I'm free, I'll pick you up when you go to and get off work."

"It's unnecessary, right? You're much busier than me at work, and you still have to find time to pick me up. What a bother."

"Then give you the car, and you come to pick me up every day?"

"I..." She never knew that Ai Jing Chu also liked to climb up the pole so much.

When she arrived at the hospital, she went to the ninth floor to find Ge Yi, and he went to his own department on the sixth floor for a consultation. When he got off the elevator, he couldn't help turning around and telling him, "Come down and find me when you're done."

She agreed.

On the ninth floor, Ge Yi just changed her clothes, and asked the nurse to take Zeng Li to the treatment room to wait. Ge Yi then came in and checked carefully, "It looks good, just avoid hyperplasia in the future."

Seeing that she didn't understand, Ge Yi explained: "After the wound is healed, the skin undergoes a repair process, and the newly grown flesh will expand outwards, protruding out, and the scars will be more obvious for people with physique."

"Should I just remember to stick the silicone sticker?" Zeng Li asked.

"Well, it can have some physical effects."

Ge Yi sterilized her, made her chin up, and then cut off the navy blue thread piece by piece.

"Be patient, it will hurt." Ge Yi said, "For the sake of looking good, we removed the stitches earlier, but the wound hasn't fully healed yet, so we have to take good care of it when we go back."

"Yeah." She wasn't afraid of the pain.

When she was done, she thanked Ge Yi.

Ge Yi looked at her back, feeling uncomfortable. Some people can't get what they want no matter how hard they ask, while others can get it easily.

At this time, something happened to Ai Jing Chu. The female student named Fan Fan, who had the lowest qualifications under him, made a mistake.

Ai Jing Chu received a new patient and wanted to make a dental model. Fan Fan is not experienced enough, she has never taken on new patients alone, she just does chores for everyone. Ai Jing Chu ordered her to take the dental model for the patient. In fact, this is a very simple matter. Stir the calculus powder with water into a suitable dry and wet jelly, and then spread it evenly on the mold, put it in the patient's mouth for a few minutes, take it out when it is half dry, and fill it with plaster. But Fan Fan was usually timid, and the patient was a delicate little girl who started crying before she let it out, which made Fan Fan trembling.

Ai Jing Chu was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground, and he was worried, so he asked Zhou Wen to give advice.

Calculus powder tastes like toothpaste, it's not too bad, but some people really don't like to have something in their deep throat, and the thing needs to be heated up slowly with the temperature of the mouth to dry, so it needs to stay for several minutes, and it's definitely uncomfortable.

"Take it out when it fits." Zhou Wen said.

"En." Fan Fan still has this judgment.

The child kept crying, and the mother next to him urged, "Is that all right?"

"Done yet?"

"Not good?"

"What happened?"

"Can you?"

The sound of urging made Fan Fan flustered and made her anxious. When the time was almost up and she wanted to pull out the mold, the child didn't cooperate, and kept pulling back vigorously without opening her mouth.

Fan Fan was in great pain, and with an oops, she retracted his fingers, and the mold fell on the child.

The thing was ripped out, and the blockage in the baby's throat was cleared, just enough to cry aloud.

Seeing this, the woman thought her child was being bullied, so she slapped Fan Fan indiscriminately.

It happened so suddenly.

Zhou Wen immediately became furious, "What are you doing? Why hit someone?" He pulled Fan Fan behind him.

"What do you think I'm doing?" The woman raised her voice.

Ai Jing Chu heard the sound and came over.

The woman didn't stop, and even Ai Jing Chu was scolded: "What's your attitude? She's clearly an expert, so why call a student to take a model for her? My child is used as a test subject for you? Doctors are also considered a service industry. I paid for it, and I asked you to serve me. Now I'm not satisfied with the service, is it okay?"

"How do you talk?" Zhou Wen's stubborn temper also broke out, "If you want to treat it, you will cure it, if you don't treat it, you will fall down!"

Ai Jing Chu glanced at Zhou Wen and stopped her. He looked at Fan Fan again, turned around and explained slowly to the woman: "We are a teaching unit here, not only treating people, but also instructing students how to treat more people in the future. Every patient is informed of this process before coming for treatment. If you don't accept it, you should bring it up. There are many other good hospitals in the city. As long as in our hospital, students will participate in all treatments, but I, as the treating doctor, will sign and be responsible for every procedure. This student is Fan Xiaoyi. If you are not satisfied with her actions just now, you can directly tell me, but you can't beat her. What right do you have to beat her? If she did something wrong, I am responsible, and you can go to the hospital to complain to me, but if you beat her, you should apologise first."

"What's your tone? Do you know what I do?" The woman said angrily, "Let me tell you, I know your dean very well. Do you think that you are a great doctor? You, an ordinary doctor, can turn the world upside down?"

At this time, the head nurse also came, but if anything happened in the hospital, it must be the hospital and the doctor's fault in the eyes of outsiders, so she simply said a few words to Ai Jing Chu, and coaxed the mother and daughter to go to the office.

Zeng Li saw this scene as soon as he came down from the ninth floor.

She remembered Zhou Wen's complaint about suspension or something, and she was a little worried. She walked through the gap, leaned to Ai Jing Chu's side, and pulled his clothes off to tell him not to be angry.

Ai Jing Chu turned his head and saw her, his eyes softened, and then he turned around and told the students to take their places.

Fan Fan was pulled to a chair by Zhou Wen, asked her to sit, and examined her.

The woman hit her from behind, slapped her on the back of the neck, probably wearing a ring, and there was a scar on the skin where it protruded.

Ai Jing Chu said: "Zhou Wen, you disinfect her."

Fan Fan cried out of nowhere, "Teacher Ai, I'm sorry to cause you trouble."

"Nothing." Ai Jing Chu replied.

Zhou Wen had sharp eyes, and saw Zeng Li as soon as he looked up, "Hey, Zeng Li, why are you here?"

Zeng Li nodded, not knowing how to answer.

"I remember you didn't come back for a follow-up visit today. Could it be that the braces fell off?" Zhou Wen was worried about the braces under his jurisdiction.

"No, I..." Zeng Li glanced at Ai Jing Chu, and said falteringly, "I'm looking for...I'm looking for him."

Ai Jing Chu was very cooperative, took off the gloves, took the car key from his trouser pocket and handed it to Zeng Li directly, saying, "Drive the car back first, eat lunch by yourself, and remember to pick me up after get off work in the afternoon."

His voice was not loud, but it was very important. Even Fan Fan, who was still wiping tears, couldn't help but looked up at the two of them, and then – everyone present understood.

As a result, two gossips came out from the Dental Hospital today, both about the same person. Article 1: Professor Ai was complained about by a patient today. Article 2: Professor Ai really has his own name.

Mixed joys and sorrows, mixed joys and sorrows...

The next day, the news reached Dou Dou's ears, but it became: Professor Ai's girlfriend is very jealous and possessive, and she is worried about her boyfriend showing up in public, so she drives him to and from get off work every day.

The sweltering weather lasted for almost a week. In the afternoon, the sky seemed to be pierced and it rained heavily. The whole city was foggy, and there was a refreshing coolness in the rain. And this day happened to be Friday, and Ai Jing Chu had an outpatient clinic, and he would not get off work until 5:30 to 6:00. In order to avoid a traffic jam in the rain, she went out an hour early to pick him up.

Except for that one time, she never went to pick him up as rumoured.

But tonight Wu Wan Xia and Director Li are going to be invited to dinner, so they made an appointment to go there together.

Her mobile phone did not turn on bluetooth, nor was it bound to his car phone. When the phone rang, Zeng Li was driving on the main road, with surveillance cameras all the way. She was afraid of being caught and deducted points, so she didn't dare to answer it. She took it out and looked.

"Hi—" she said.

"Xiao yu," said the other party.

As soon as that voice appeared, she almost forgot to breathe, there was only one person in this world who could call her that in such a tone. "Xiao yu" and "less than", walking on the road, when someone calls, both of them will turn their heads at the same time.

"Yeah," she said.

"I'm back, do you have time to meet?" Yu Yi asked.

"En."

"I came back at the beginning of the year and called you, but it didn't work. I thought you had changed your number." He said, "So if I can't get through again, I have to ask my third cousin."

"I've never changed it." Yu Yi's third cousin is Mama Zeng, and the whole family didn't change their names because the couple divorced, but it's conceivable how Mama Zeng hates Yu Yi.

"Xiao yu," Yu Yi paused, "Did I make you unhappy when I contacted you?"

"No."

"I just want to see if you are doing well, are you free at night?"

"I have a dinner tonight, I made an appointment early, can it be later?" Zeng Li asked.

"No problem." Yu Yi replied with a smile.

After agreeing on the time and place, I hung up the phone. Zeng Li threw her phone on the passenger seat next to her. After watching the screen turn from bright to dark, and finally turned into pitch black, she buried her head on the steering wheel.

How long have they not seen each other?

After the breakup phone call, she was afraid to see him at first, but gradually he really seldom returned home. After a few years, he probably felt that each other's hearts should be healed, so he occasionally sent some holiday greetings in emails. Sometimes she replies, sometimes she doesn't.

They never saw each other again.

But Zeng's mother never gave up asking her relatives for any news that could hurt Zeng Li. For example, Yu Yi has already done immigration, for example, he has a girlfriend again, for example, he started talking about marriage, for example, he broke up again, for example, he changed to a more enviable job...

He lived such a wonderful life, but she was ashamed.

Once he asked her in an e-mail: "Can we go back to the old days?"

Others might misunderstand this sentence, but Zeng Li didn't. She knew that his past was a long, long time ago, the little girl at the age of cardamom, and her little cousin who was five or six years older than her.

The knocking sound forced Zeng Li to lift his head from the steering wheel.

A traffic policeman wearing a white brimmed hat stood outside the cab and knocked on the window glass. The rain had stopped, and the traffic policeman took off his navy blue raincoat, revealing his light blue short-sleeved uniform.

Zeng Li pushed down the car window.

"Girl, you've been parked here for a long time. This is a motorised lane and you can't park."

The police uncle looked sideways at Zeng Li and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Zeng Li shook his head, apologised, and drove away.

Ai Jing Chu got off work, but Zeng Li didn't come. They talked on the phone before she went out, and if it wasn't for the traffic jam, they would have arrived by now. He checked the time and stood under the eaves of the outpatient hall. The heavy rain stopped for a while, and the ground was full of water. The stagnant water was originally clear, but it became more and more turbid as the footsteps gradually increased.

He found that Zeng Li was not used to answering the phone while driving, and was always in a hurry every time the phone rang, so he didn't rush her, but just waited quietly for a while.

However, after a long time, he began to feel a little worried, and finally dialed Zeng Li's number.

"I'm almost there." She followed up with these four words.

"Okay, I'll wait for you downstairs."

After about ten minutes, he saw Zeng Li's car.

On the way to the hotel, Zeng Li kept silent. She used to explain for a long time when she was late, but today she didn't say a word. Ai Jing Chu sensed her strangeness, and couldn't help asking her softly: "What's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood?"

She was silent.

He called her: "Zeng Li."

"Ah?" She glanced at him blankly, then quickly turned her head to look at the road ahead, "What?" She was completely immersed in her own thoughts, not paying attention to what others were saying.

Ai Jing Chu turned on the radio, turned his face to the side window, and then said flatly: "It's nothing, drive seriously." He was a little tired after a busy day, and his throat was uncomfortable, so he just closed his eyes and rested for a while.

Then, the two were silent all the way.

When we arrived at the destination, our colleagues hadn't arrived yet. She came here with Ai Jing Chu at noon, and had already selected a private room and finalised the menu.

After waiting for a while, the guests came one after another. They booked a large table for more than 20 people, and they sat neatly in a short while. The leader hadn't arrived yet, so everyone was more casual.

Wu Wan Xia shouted, "Zeng Li, why should I introduce you formally?"

"Yes." Everyone agreed.

Zeng Li glanced at Ai Jing Chu, who was also looking at her. She pointed to her colleagues and told Ai Jing Chu their names one by one. After she finished speaking, she paused, then pointed to Ai Jing Chu and said, "Ai Jing Chu, he is a teacher of A University."

"Which one of us doesn't know that he is a teacher of University A? Do you want to tell me?" Wu Wan Cia laughed out loud.

Zeng Li was extremely embarrassed, and when Ai Jing Chu was about to help her out, Director Li's family was just brought in by the waiter, interrupting everyone's noise.

As soon as Mrs. Li came in and saw Ai Jing Chu, she smiled all over her face, "Professor Ai, we meet again."

Zeng Li and Ai Jing Chu got up at the same time to greet Director Li and his wife to take their seats.

Now, when they were all seated, the waiter went to the kitchen to deliver the dishes.

Zeng Li is not very good at drinking, so the task of accompanying wine all fell to Ai Jing Chu alone, but Director Li, Wu Wan Xia and several male colleagues are all good drinking masters. If it's just someone else's invitation to the banquet by yourself, you can find some reasons to decline when you are persuaded to drink, but the reverse is not the case at all. Although Ai Jing Chu is not good at socialising, he is clear about these principles.

This was the first time he met Zeng Li's colleagues as a boyfriend, and it was a thank-you banquet for Zeng Li, so everyone naturally felt sorry for him.

Zeng Li had other things on her mind, originally she was absent-mindedly socialising, but when he saw Ai Jing Chu drinking cup after cup, she couldn't help but feel worried.

His seat was next to hers, and their arms would touch each other from time to time. After he drank, although he didn't show his face, the temperature of his skin was frighteningly hot.

There is a dish on the dinner table highly recommended by the waiter, which is to mash peanuts into a pulp and then cook soup with shredded cabbage. It is a strange way to eat, but it tastes really good.

Ai Jing Chu didn't have the ability to speak eloquently, Zeng Li was also not good at talking, and didn't know how to grasp everyone's topics. Fortunately, Mrs. Li and Wu Wan Xia were both good at speaking. They cared about Zeng Li's injury, commented on the current news, talked about celebrity gossip, talked about Ai Jing Chu's hospital, and talked about Zeng Li's wound after a while.

During the banquet, some people also offered Zeng Li's wine, but Ai Jing Chu stopped them all. His throat was not in good condition, and the liquor hurt his throat, making his voice even hoarse. Mrs. Li was careful, thought that Ai Jing Chu had a cold, so she cared for him a few words, but he didn't explain it, so she assumed that she really had a cold.

Mrs. Li complained to Director Li: "You guys bullied Xiao Ai, is it fair or not?"

Director Li is known to be afraid of internal affairs, he laughed and agreed, "It's not fair, it's not fair."

Mrs. Li said again: "It will be a long time in Japan, don't go singing for a while, and go when Xiao Ai recovers." Originally, everyone was arranged to go to karaoke after dinner, but thanks to Mrs. Li's words, everyone stopped in time.

She didn't know how much Ai Jing Chu drank, nor how much he could drink, but Zeng Li was a little relieved when she saw that he was still able to see off the guests with a clear mind after the meal.

"Are you okay?" She asked him back in the car.

"It's okay, just sleep for a while." He replied.

"Would you like something for your hangover?" She couldn't help asking again.

"Need not."

"Are you feeling bad?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes and replied.

Hearing this word, her heart twitched again, and she couldn't help stretching out her hand to touch his forehead to see if it was still that hot. But he didn't want to be caught by his hand as soon as his fingertips touched his skin. He put her fingertips in his palm and kissed her lightly on his lips. If this move was placed when he was sober, he would definitely not be able to do it.

Zeng Li blushed and pulled her hand away.

"Do you want some water?" she asked again.

"Don't drink." He said these two words in a childish tone.

She remembered that he drank alcohol last time, and he did the same on the way to send him home.

He said consciously, "You don't need to talk to me, I talk a lot after drinking, just let me talk to myself."

"Then shall I take you home?"

"No," he said.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I have something to tell you."

"Don't you want me to talk to you?"

"Why are you ignoring me?" he asked.

"It was you who told me to ignore you." She couldn't laugh or cry.

"Zeng Li," he said, "I don't eat peanuts, why did you give me peanuts just now?"

It was only after he asked her that she remembered that he really didn't eat a bite of the cabbage and peanut paste just now. Fortunately, she put a bowl for him and put it in front of his eyes.

"I don't know," she explained.

"Also, you ignored me just now."

The question went back to the original point. Zeng Li thought it was funny, so he had to repeat: "You told me to ignore you." It turned out that this was how he nagged.

He murmured: "You came so late, you didn't talk to me along the way, I asked you, but you still ignored me."

She froze for a moment, and only after listening did she understand what he was referring to.

Suddenly, she suddenly thought of Yu Yi.

What she was thinking about was completely forgotten after seeing him being drunk. She checked the time, and it was almost nine o'clock.

But what about Ai Jing Chu?

"Hey—" she called him.

"Call me 'hey' again, I'm going to be angry," he said.

"I'll take you home, okay?" she asked.

This time he didn't continue talking to her, and leaned his head on the headrest, eyes still closed, put his index finger in front of his lips, and made a "shh" gesture.

She had to keep silent.

In almost a few seconds, as soon as his hand was put down, he fell asleep.

Zeng Li didn't know what to do.

She couldn't get in touch with Yu Yi, and Ai Jing Chu's situation made her feel worried.

After a while, she thought about it quietly, opened the door and got out of the car to make a phone call.

When Yu Yi called her in the afternoon, it was a mobile phone number, she didn't know whose it was, so she dialed it by chance, but a female voice answered the phone.

"Excuse me, can I find Yu Yi?" Zeng Li asked.

"He went out just now," the female voice over there paused, "Are you Zeng Li?"

"Hmm." Zeng Li also thought the voice was familiar, and when she heard the other party calling her name, she asked in confusion, "Older Cousin?"

"It's me." She is Yu Yi's eldest sister, Yu Nan.

"Are you here too?"

"You don't know, do you? For your cousin's high school entrance examination, we came to A City to buy a house this year, and I also resigned to take care of him, and I found a job by myself." Yu Nan is the closest person in the Yu family to Zeng Li, but due to the big age gap, the two of them have no intersection.

"Then if you need any help, just ask, this is my number." Zeng Li said.

"Thank you, you have always been a good girl." Yu Nan said, "Didn't Ah Yi go looking for you?"

"I can't leave because I have something to do, and I don't know his phone number."

"Oh. He has been back to China for a long time. He stayed with his mother in his hometown a few days ago. He just arrived in A City this morning. In fact, he bought this house for his children. He came to visit us today and said that he will leave early tomorrow morning, and he doesn't know when he will come back."

The meaning of Yu Nan's words is very clear.

She got into the car and stared at Ai Jing Chu's sleeping face. After a while, she turned sideways, put her hands around, pulled out the seat belt from the side window to fasten it for him, and then drove the car out of the hotel's parking lot. She sent him off once and remembered his home address.

Zeng Li drove the car into the parking space where he asked her to park last time, but she was in trouble. She didn't know which building he lived in...there were a row of houses on the left and right, so she couldn't ask one by one, could she?

She called him softly, but he was in a deep sleep and there was no response, so she couldn't be more cruel.

So, she got out of the car and called Yu Yi according to the number Yu Nan gave.

"I have something to do and I can't come." Zeng Li explained.

"It's okay, I'll wait for you." Yu Yi said.

"I don't know when yet, so..."

"You did it on purpose?" Yu Yi said, "You don't want to see me."

"No, I really can't get away."

"Where do you live?" Yu Yi asked, "I'll wait for you at your house."

Zeng Li thought for a while, that's fine, in case she didn't go back until midnight, at least he would have a place to sleep, so she told him the address number, "I have a spare key."

He interrupted her, "Under the doormat?"

"Right."

Settling in was better than Yi, and her mood stabilised a little, and she went back to the car to take care of Ai Jing Chu. His head was turned towards her side, and with the help of the orange light on the side of the road, he was finally able to see this face clearly without restraint. His eyelashes are neither long nor curled, but they are extremely thick, no wonder his black eyes look like they are wearing eyeliner when staring at people...

Zeng Li was afraid that it would be unhealthy for him to breathe the air in the small space after falling asleep, so he turned off the air conditioner, opened all the windows, and turned off the engine.

She turned off the sound on her phone and played a little game with him for a while.

Later, even the mobile phone alarmed when the battery was low, and she didn't dare to continue playing, and there was nothing else to do.

The moonlight is very shallow, and the night breeze smells of yellow jujube orchids blooming in someone's yard. She likes this kind of flower very much. When she was young, she also planted such a tree in the courtyard of her grandmother's house. It grew very fast and grew taller every year. Before she knew it, it became a big tree. Every summer, the tree was full of yellow jujube orchids, and her brothers and sisters would pick them on footstools. She was timid and only dared to look around below.

In such a quiet and silent night, accompanied by the moonlight and the fragrance of flowers, recalling all the past in her childhood, some pictures will be with Yu Yi, and some pictures will be without him. She seems to feel that time and memory are flowing away from her side. She was afraid that he would catch a cold if he fell asleep like this, and there was nothing to cover his body, so she couldn't help reaching out to check if his skin was cool.

Unexpectedly, this disturbed his sound sleep, he moved and opened his eyes.

He really fell asleep so soundly that he was a little confused when he opened his eyes. After a while, he remembered where he was.

"Awake?" she asked.

He rubbed his eyes, and after a few seconds he asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

Zeng Li turned on the phone screen and looked, "About two hours or so."

"Are you better?" she asked.

He didn't answer again, his eyes were sleepy.

The first time Zeng Li saw him after waking up, it seemed that after a long time, his thoughts were still a little dull, and he was not at all similar to the usual Ai Jing Chu.

Seeing him sitting bored for a while, he spoke again: "Did you drive the car back?"

"Hmm." Who else?

"Why don't you go in?"

"I don't know where you live."

Hearing this, Ai Jing Chu pointed to the left, "This is it."

Zeng Li looked in the direction he indicated, and it turned out to be the small courtyard in front of the house where the orchids were planted.

"Go in and sit down?" Ai Jing Chu asked.

"No."

He was good at drinking, but he didn't eat much at the wine table just now, and he mixed up the white wine and red wine again, which was a bit over the top, and after sleeping like this for a while, most of his alcoholic energy has gone away. He felt his throat was dry and unbearable, like a fire, got out of the car and opened the back door, took out a bottle of mineral water from inside and drank it with his head raised.

Zeng Li also got out of the car with him, "I'll take a taxi back by myself."

"I'll go back with you," he said.

"No need!" She firmly vetoed.

He froze for a moment, such an abnormal Zeng Li gave him a strange feeling, and then said lightly, "Then I'll take you to a taxi."

The two closed the windows, locked the car, and walked out along the path side by side.

The night wind was blowing, and the scent of the yellow jujube orchid wafted in the air again, Zeng Li couldn't help but look back at the tree. She remembered that he said to her just now when he was drunk: "You came so late, you didn't talk to me along the way, I asked you, but you ignored me." That tone was not angry and complaining, but murmured like a child, revealing a trace of loneliness and sensitivity that was hard to detect.

Thinking of this, she suddenly stopped.

He was a little surprised, walked a few more steps, and turned back to wait for her.

She stood still.

"I have something to tell you," she said.

He tilted his head and waited for her next words without saying a word. As long as she has this expression, she must be very cautious.

"Yu Yi is back. He called me in the afternoon and asked me to meet. You were drunk just now, and I couldn't wake you up. He just waited for me. He's leaving tomorrow, so I have to go." She finished speaking in one breath, afraid that she would flinch if she paused for a while.

After listening, his eyes moved slightly, his eyelashes trembled, covering all his emotions, and he asked slowly after a long while: "Do you have to go?"

"I promised him." Zeng Li didn't dare to look at him.

Ai Jing Chu stared at her.

For a long time.

"Then let's go."

Finally, he said.

Afterwards, they walked out of the compound of the military area, walked a little further, and arrived at the side of the street. It was already past eleven o'clock, and the traffic on the road was much less.

The two were silent all the way.

When Zeng Li got into the taxi, he gave her a tug.

She looked at him.

Ai Jing Chu let go of her hand, "Call me when you arrive." He said.

Zeng Li agreed, and then closed the car door.

Ai Jing Chu, who sent Zeng Li away, stood there for a long time.

He felt that his chest was filled with unspeakable emotions, which made him a little uncomfortable, as if he was being kneaded by a pair of hands, as if he would only stop if he destroyed it. As he stood there, taxis kept stopping because they thought he was going to stop them, and even private cars that came out to pull people at night couldn't help but drive past slowly, asking him if he wanted to go.

The cleaners on the night shift were picking up the collected beverage bottles. Almost all the surrounding shops began to close, and the sound of zippering and rolling shutter doors could be heard frequently. Only a 24-hour convenience store was still open. On this long street, it was the only bright place.

The sanitation worker next to him had already walked back and forth. Seeing that Ai Jing Chu was still standing there, he finally couldn't help but care about him, "Young man, what's the matter? Are you feeling unwell?"

Ai Jing Chu shook his head, stamped his numb legs, walked towards the convenience store, and bought a pack of cigarettes.

After he came out, he found that he had no lighter on him, so he went back and bought one.

When taking the first puff of cigarettes, Ai Jing Chu glanced at the phone, wondering if she had arrived, if she had seen Yu Yi, and if she had forgotten to write him back when she arrived.

He took a second breath, and exhaled a puff of green smoke from his nose and lips. He frowned and glanced at the screen through the smoke, then opened the text message box. The last text message was also sent to him by Zeng Li in the afternoon, telling him that she was out.

Ai Jing Chu raised the cigarette in his left hand again, put it in his mouth and took a deep puff, the sparks on the cigarette were bright and flickering, burning rapidly.

He always had a feeling that as soon as she went to see Yu Yi, he would lose her, and the girl who brought him medicine on a snowy night in Dongshan would never show up for him again. But Dongshan was also sealed another memory for her, and he remembered her crying under the sunrise in the morning, but those tears were not shed for him.

So, is Yu Yi still more important than him?

While hesitating, he pressed the reply on the phone with his hand, and the moment his fingertips touched the screen again, he didn't know what to write, telling her not to go? let her come back? Tell her his reluctance?

Even, begging her?

He was startled suddenly, and suddenly felt that he was a stranger.

How could he be such a man?

Ai Jing Chu, who has lived for thirty years, when has he ever been so humble to others in this life?

Ai Jing Chu silently put away the phone, and stood upright under the streetlight, his figure lonely. He suddenly felt that he was wrong, the person who would have been with him for the rest of his life did not actually exist, it was just his wishful thinking all along.

He stubbed out the cigarette butt and threw it in the trash can beside the sidewalk, and just as he turned around, he heard a call.

"Ai Jing Chu!"

The voice was extremely loud, so abrupt and clear in such a late night on the empty road. He looked back in the direction of the sound source in disbelief, and saw that the figure across the road was actually Zeng Li who had gone and returned.

There is a road between them, Zeng Li is on this side, he is on the other side.

He didn't speak or move, just stared at her blankly, a little unbelievable.

She called him again: "Ai Jing Chu!" This time, the voice was a little softer than before, without the eagerness, but the emotions in her heart were revealed.

On the driver's way back, Zeng Li thought about which intersection she would get off at, how she would explain to the guard at the door, and how she would find the small yard planted with yellow jujube orchids. However, she never imagined that after so long, he would still be standing there, smoking a cigarette by himself.

The road between them is the main road of the city, and the middle is just the exit of the sunken passage. There is no pedestrian crossing across the road. She wanted to cross it, but she couldn't. She went down the steps of the sidewalk and wanted to cross the driveway and turn over the railing in the middle, but although there were not many vehicles passing by, the speed was too fast. She took two steps and was forced to retreat. When she took advantage of the gap in the traffic to rush forward again, Ai Jing Chu became anxious and yelled at her: "Zeng Li!"

She stopped and looked at him.

He was a little angry, raised his hand, pointed to the pedestrian bridge more than 100 meters away on the right and said, "Go over there!"

She looked at it, hurriedly followed what he said, and walked a few steps before looking at the other party, and he was also looking at her while walking.

The two people ran in the same direction on these two parallel lines.

But he was tall and long-legged, with big steps, and he walked much faster than her.

She trotted a few steps quickly.

The distance of 100 meters is so long.

She had never wandered the streets alone at such a late hour, so she would glance at Ai Jing Chu from time to time to embolden herself. But Ai Jing Chu's gaze never left her. On such a dark street, he was afraid that she would disappear in the blink of an eye, and also afraid that she was just a phantom he made up to comfort him.

They stepped up the stairs one after the other, walked up a dozen steps, turned a 180-degree turn, and went up a dozen more steps. Then they boarded the overpass and saw each other.

She walked too hastily, she was slightly out of breath, and a little timid when she came to the front, she didn't know how to explain her behavior of going and returning.

But he didn't hesitate at all, stepped forward quickly, pulled her to his chest, and kissed her involuntarily.

He kissed so hard, so violently, one hand tightly grabbed her wrist, one hand pressed the back of her head and pressed hard against himself, and there was still a metal aligner in her mouth that he had glued on with his own hands, but he didn't care about these, he just wanted to kiss her fiercely, crush her, and then stuffed her into his chest, so that no one could covet her again.

His behavior was so outrageous that she instinctively dodged it. But her head has long been controlled by him, so there is no freedom to escape. As for the wrist that was clamped by him, no matter how much she struggled, he did not let go.

Zeng Li snorted in pain, and put his other hand, which was still movable for the time being, on his chest, separating the two tightly pressed bodies, and finally opened a little gap. With this gap, she took the opportunity to stagger her face a little bit, so the angle was slightly off, and the metal nails on the braces scratched his lip, leaving a bloodstain.

She didn't notice it.

He also became stubborn, nonstop, and exerted force on his hand to make her lips return to their original position.

He was greedily immersed in it, and it took him a long time to let her go.

While calming down his shortness of breath, Zeng Li said, "You hurt me."

It didn't take long for the stitches to be removed from her wound, and the flesh was still very new, it would still hurt if she didn't pay attention to it, and the wrist bone seemed to be broken by him.

But he said cruelly: "You don't hurt, do you know how uncomfortable I am?"

"If you don't tell me, how would I know?"

"I like you, don't you know?" Originally, he hurt his throat during the day, and was drunk at night, and his voice was hoarse now, without the usual charm, but he uttered such a sentence slowly, with a slight pause in the middle, and then at the end of the sentence, the coda sound rose again, like a feather lightly plucking at the tip of her heart.

She replied with a duplicity: "I don't know."

When she spoke, her expression was slightly annoyed, her eyes were full, and her ravaged lips were bright red, still stained with the moisture left by him.

He couldn't help himself, he couldn't help lowering his head, and wanted to do it again.

Due to the situation, she retreated a little again, but this time his movements were much softer, he gently wrapped her waist around her, and pressed her against him.

"If someone..." She stopped him.

"Hush."

As soon as the words fell, the lips touched, warm and soft, and the breath of each other immediately filled the chest.

Her thoughts gradually went blank, her perception of the outside world was closed, she forgot the sound of traffic and the location, it seemed that only she and him were left in this world.

I don't know how long it took before those warm lips were willing to leave her.

After being separated by two inches, he held her face in his hands and asked, "You know now?"

Only then did she realize that the wound on his lower lip seemed to be scratched by her braces. Although the bleeding did not continue, the skin was actually scratched, leaving a small opening. The wound was red, and it seemed that there was still blood eager to ooze out, with a strange magic power, which made Zeng Li feel tempting when his eyes touched that spot.

She had already been kissed by him until she blushed, and when she heard his question, she said stubbornly: "I just don't know..."

Unexpectedly, before the last word was uttered, his lips were covered for the third time, so lingering and gentle, as if if she didn't admit it with her own mouth, he would kiss her forever, endlessly.

When she thought of the wound, her heart trembled slightly, and she responded to him shyly and softly.

In an instant—

Something is lit.

It seems that a beam of current spreads from their respective hearts, and conducts to the limbs, and the places where they are closely entwined and tenderly rubbed together seem to have been shocked by electricity.

His hand slowly let go of her waist, and turned to follow her arm, finding her hands hanging by her side. He guided her hands to wrap around his waist, but his hands were released, all the way up, one was caressing her back, and the other hand inserted five fingers into her hair. The fingertips were entwined with her hair, which felt soft and delicate to the touch, so he couldn't help rubbing it gently with his fingertips, extremely gentle.

The tempting fragrance in her mouth intermingled with the taste of tobacco and alcohol on his lips.

Clinging to each other.

Suck, toss and turn.

Lick and bite, entangle.

It's getting deeper and hotter, almost melting each other together, and no one is willing to push it away.

At this time, a voice came. This is not a busy city, and there are few people coming and going in the early hours of the morning, but there are still people crossing the road on the bridge, not one, but a group of people, and the sound of laughing and joking can be heard from a distance.

The noise brought Zeng Li back to his senses, she hurriedly left his lips and shrank into his arms.

He turned an angle, hugged her to his chest, and turned his back to the person who came.

The noise of those people's fighting gradually subsided, and they were a little curious about the couple on the bridge. They walked a few steps away before they started whispering, and they kept discussing until they got off the bridge.

Has Zeng Li ever done such a thing in his life? From face to neck, she was deeply buried in Ai Jing Chu's arms.

"Why are you back?" he asked her.

"On the way, I called Yu Yi, and I said I had something else to ask him not to wait for me." She answered in a nonchalant manner, with her nose pressed against his clothes, in a low voice.

"Hmm." He didn't correct the problem either.

"Ai Jing Chu," she raised her head and looked straight into his eyes, "are you jealous?"

"No." He denied it bluntly while turning his head away. His expression was extremely uncomfortable, but his face seemed to be dyed with a thin layer of shyness. There was no slight resemblance between this expression and the domineering action just now.