After slowly finishing his coffee, Zhu Jingru got up and left. He did not stay for long. Although it was clear to everyone where his thoughts lay, on the surface, it really was not apparent.
Not clingy, not long-winded, his sense of propriety was handled very well. His back quickly disappeared across the street, exceptionally dashing and open.
Yue Chuan reluctantly retracted his gaze. The world of a person who judges by looks is very simple; whoever is good-looking gets more looks. He clicked into Zhu Jingru’s Moments. After adding him as a friend, he had already scrolled through it numerous times, and he started shooting the breeze with Li Wenxue, one topic after another.
“I swear, this time I’m for real.”
“Which time weren’t you for real?”
“This time is the most real. He’s just too extraordinary. I’ve seen good-looking people, but I’ve never seen anyone this good-looking… By the way, is his family in Nanhai? Should I consider marrying into his family?”
Li Wenxue couldn’t help but tap him on the head, “What nonsense are you dreaming about? You still haven’t given up after seeing him? The man has traveled over half the globe. If he decides to go to Antarctica to see penguins next, you won’t be able to marry in even if you wanted to.”
Yue Chuan feigned profundity, “As the saying goes, distance is not an issue, love knows no distance.”
Li Wenxue: “Teacher Yue, you’re about to be promoted to associate professor. Are you getting a raise next year?”
Yue Chuan’s smile immediately vanished. “Don’t bring that up. I’m so poor I want to die.”
“Endure it. Think about your mortgage and car loan. You can’t afford to die in the slightest.”
Yue Chuan’s heart shattered into pieces. A common man and a beauty were destined to have no future together. His hand trembled and he swiped a few more times, instantly returning to Zhu Jingru’s most recent Moments post about getting sick from fishing. He looked closely and asked with suspicion, “This fishing rod next to him with letters engraved on it, why does it look a bit like Old Bai’s?”
Li Wenxue enlarged the picture and pondered for a moment. “Don’t say ‘looks like’. It really is.”
The gears in Yue Chuan’s head finally started turning. He muttered in disbelief, “I can’t believe it took me until now to smell the scent of an affair.”
The other protagonist of the affair was not far from them, less than five meters away. There was a door in the back kitchen that led out to another street.
Bai Qinglin took off the brown bib apron, a cigarette held between his fingers, his back leaning against the door. He looked at the utility pole standing by the streetlight in front. Day after day, the traffic flowed endlessly. A light snow began to fall from the sky, but the city remained clamorous.
In the trash can to Bai Qinglin’s left was a bouquet of pink roses, thrown in last night.
The petals were wilted, and the color of the pistils was no longer fresh.
Bai Qinglin glanced casually at the trash can, finished his cigarette, and then closed the door. The bouquet of roses also vanished along with it.
At night, the coffee shop closed. The four rolling shutter doors were shut, and the streetlights stretched out the shadows.
Bai Qinglin had a gray scarf wrapped around his neck. He walked home on foot along the main road. Halfway there, he stopped. A lit cigarette was held between the fingers of his right hand. His expression was faint, not mixed with any annoyance. He was obviously waiting.
Zhu Jingru simply walked to a position shoulder-to-shoulder with Bai Qinglin. The two of them were close, their breaths mingling in the air, their shadows intertwined.
“If I said it was on the way, would Brother Bai believe me?”
Bai Qinglin gave him a lukewarm glance, too lazy to speak. He then looked straight ahead and continued walking, with an air of not wanting to be bothered.
Zhu Jingru did not take offense and continued to follow beside him. When he saw a stray cat pass by or a sign on a building, he could say a few words about it. The rambling nature of his speech was indeed interesting…
Although there was no response, Bai Qinglin was listening.
Zhu Jingru felt as if his heart was being scratched by a cat’s paw. He couldn’t hold back his curiosity and reached out to gently tug on Bai Qinglin’s sleeve, shaking it a little. “Brother Bai, why is the coffee shop called South Bank?”
The color of Bai Qinglin’s pupils was naturally darker than that of most people. Under the illumination of the dim yellow streetlight, they appeared even deeper. He furrowed his brow and looked at Zhu Jingru.
Zhu Jingru was not afraid. Instead, he explained on his own, “The name of my place is in Latin. It means to penetrate through smoke.”
“Let go.”
“I’ll let go in a little while.”
Bai Qinglin stopped walking. The irritation from having the initiative completely taken from him made his face darken slightly. At this moment, the expression with which he looked down was a bit cold.
Zhu Jingru looked up and met his gaze frankly. Not only was he not afraid, but he also approached with brazen audacity. The mix of the tobacco scent and that faint fragrance of laundry detergent was addictive to smell. Perhaps the scents themselves were ordinary, but what was captivating was the way Bai Qinglin looked at him, even the curve of his Adam’s apple as it rolled.
They had already reached the corner, with a white wall behind them.
Bai Qinglin took a step back. The palm of his hand was surprisingly hot. The first thing he did was turn his head to the side to prevent Zhu Jingru’s hair from brushing lightly against him. This caused Zhu Jingru to press against Bai Qinglin, who was leaning on the wall, in an almost forceful posture.
Any closer and they would be in a kissing embrace.
The shadows of the tree branches by the road were jumbled. Bai Qinglin’s face was in darkness, his expression unclear.
Just as Zhu Jingru was about to say something, his eyes widened in an instant. The positions of the two people changed rapidly—that hand with long, slender joints and calloused fingertips clamped down hard on the nape of Zhu Jingru’s neck. Then, with unquestionable force, he was suppressed. Even the soft, thin vines entwined on the white wall trembled for a moment.
Bai Qinglin easily pinned Zhu Jingru against the wall in reverse. His hand made contact with the skin on the nape of his neck again. The sensation was the same as before, slightly cool but soft. He pinched the nape of Zhu Jingru’s neck, and a strange sense of satisfaction rose in his heart.
His fingertips once again couldn’t help but caress that spot. The expression on Bai Qinglin’s face was still very calm, but his voice was no longer steady as before, low and hoarse with a hint of agitation.
“Are you still going to follow?”
