Chapter 20 Chapter 19: Human Fireworks

Luo Zhi spent a whole day in the library reading the introduction to law, and was so bored that the veins on her forehead twitched. At around four o'clock in the afternoon, she received a text message from Jiang Baili: "Speaking of treats, is it still valid today?" In fact, two days have passed since the last exam of the professional course.Jiang Baili missed her appointment twice in a row, and each time she disappeared mysteriously. She just sent a text message asking to wait another day.Luo Zhi has no choice but to change Haidilao's reserved seat repeatedly. "Well, it still works, so let's do it tonight. If you dare to miss the appointment again, just wait for the cake and birthday peach. I will burn it for you every July 15th."

When the two of them were about to reach the entrance of Haidilao, Jiang Baili's cell phone rang.She lowered her head and glanced at the screen, then quickly glanced at Luo Zhi, turned her head away in embarrassment, and answered softly, "Hello? Hello?" Luo Zhi smiled: "I'll go in first, it's too noisy inside, come in and find me after you're outside on the phone." The waiters of Haidilao are as enthusiastic as ever, with bright and sincere smiles, without any stylized feeling.The smiles of the waiters elsewhere make you think they are polite, but the smiles of the waiters here make you wonder-why are they so happy?

The heart that had been frozen during the final exam moved little by little, and was melted into pieces of ice by the smell of the hot pot. Now seeing such lively smiling faces, she finally felt that her heart began to move slowly and tentatively. jumped up. It's over. Put away old textbooks, clean the room, buy train tickets, and then go to see Tiffany and Jake, whom I haven’t seen in half a month, translate all the part-time materials, complete all the animation updates that I missed, bought them back in the New Year but haven’t had time to dismantle them Feng's "Historical Research" can finally be read bit by bit...

What a fulfilling life, it seemed that it was easily and seamlessly spliced ​​together with the days before meeting Sheng Huainan, and the tossings and entanglements in the middle half a year never happened. Many things can be figured out and seen through, but they cannot be let go or forgotten. Then even if she can't let it go or forget it, she can stop mentioning it and don't think about it anymore. The waiters who come and go briskly, and the young man throwing kung fu noodles in the aisle, the sound of the hot pot boiling, the dense heat, the laughter surging like a tide, and the spicy and greasy human fireworks in the air aroma.

Luo Zhi's smile widened a little bit. The naked poverty and humbleness that I experienced in my simple youth can still be gritted my teeth, because I look forward to the "better" in the future, because I know that I can become strong and stride over obstacles.However, the sourness flowing slowly on the shallows of the soul at this moment can only be neutralized by time. The unrequited love is a reality that she cannot change no matter how hard she tries to become "better". However, Luo Zhi knew that as long as she was still living in the bustling world, even if what she felt while sitting amidst the hustle and bustle of people was just exaggerated emptiness, as time passed, her memory would eventually evaporate completely.

She was in a daze when the waiter came over and asked her if she wanted to order. She told the other party that she was waiting for someone.Just as they were talking, someone knocked on the table. Luo Zhi only saw the silver ring on the finger that knocked on the table. Knowing that it was Jiang Baili who had returned, she threw her a sentence without raising her head: "It's slow, I just came back." Hurry up and order." "Luo Zhi..." Jiang Baili hesitated to speak. She raised her head in doubt, and saw Jiang Baili who was flushed and her neck was tucked into the down jacket, and Gu Zhiye who was wearing a black coat and smiling softly behind her.

Luo Zhi thought for two seconds, then said hesitantly: "Why are you in such a hurry... It was agreed at the beginning that you can't find foreign aid or pack it away, but you really want to make me poor, you are so unqualified! " The man behind him smiled brightly, and seemed very happy: "I treat you to this meal, you two let go of your belly and eat, how about it?" Luo Zhi gently pinched the shy Jiang Baili's face, smiled at Gu Zhiye, and said, "I knew you were a good person a long time ago." "I think your complexion is getting better and better."

Luo Zhi raised her head when she heard this, and accidentally poured all the vegetables in the bamboo basket into the pot, splashing her own face. "Are you okay?" Belle hurriedly passed the sterilized towel over from the table, Luo Zhi took it and wiped it on her face lightly a few times: "It's okay, just splash a few drops." She used chopsticks to put the excess vegetables in the spicy pot into the milky white bone soup pot, and laughed: "Maybe it's because the exam is over, of course I'm in a good mood." The meal was a bit boring, but fortunately the noisy background sound made the silence not so awkward. The act of eating hot pot itself was full of participation. Facing the steaming water, the three of them were still very happy.

Gu Zhiye seldom ate much, and had been helping them put various dishes into the hot pot.Belle was halfway through eating before remembering to ask the other party: "Didn't you say you didn't eat? Why didn't you eat?" "Not very hungry." "Then why do you..." Why do you have to come over?In the middle of her speech, she stopped, "Let's eat something, I'll be hungry before going to bed." "Also." Belle took out a lot of vegetables from the bone soup pot, noticed Luo Zhi's smiling eyes, and said to Gu Zhiye embarrassedly: "Well, I remember you said you don't eat spicy food, right?"

"Well, you still remember." Luo Zhi lowered her head and smiled even brighter, feeling Belle kicking herself under the table, she stood up quickly and said, "I'm going to the bathroom." When she was smiling with her twelve white teeth in the mirror of the bathroom, a figure jumped out from behind and strangled her neck fiercely: "You want to die, don't you? Are you tired of living? Are you willing to kill me?" Just be willing to bury it, believe it or not?" Through the mirror, Luo Zhi saw the embarrassing half-smiling expression on Jiang Baili's face behind her, and her smile deepened: "It doesn't matter whether I die or not, anyway, I know you will not want to die."

Belle let her go, leaned in front of the mirror and sighed: "It's not what you think." Luo Zhi also stopped laughing: "I didn't think about anything. I just thought it was funny that you were nervous." Belle lowered her head in embarrassment, and put the broken hair behind her ears: "Actually, I don't know what it looks like. But, Luo Zhi, if it was Jay Chou who was eating with us now, I would blush too. It doesn't matter if you like it or not, I mean..." Jiang Baili was still struggling with her words, but Luo Zhi smiled clearly, touched her head, and said, "Uncle Gu is more handsome than Jay Chou, huh?" Belle immediately raised her head and bared her teeth. Luo Zhi thought she wanted to seek justice for Jay Chou, but unexpectedly she barked her teeth and yelled, "What Uncle Gu?! How can he be so old?!" Luo Zhi smiled slightly.Like is still some distance away from love.But, by the looks of it, at least I like it a little bit. The waiter in the bathroom who was in charge of delivering paper towels to the customers kept bowing her head and pursing her lips. When Belle shouted to the top, she realized that she had become a scene in the bathroom, and hurriedly dragged Luo Zhi out the door. Gu Zhiye drove them back to school, but they stopped at Xizhimen without accident. "The bridge at Xizhimen..." Gu Zhiye laughed helplessly after speaking halfway. "I heard that no one doesn't complain about this bridge. Why on earth? It's even more congested with the bridge built than without it?" Belle leaned over on Luo Zhi's body. "I heard that it's because of the design of this bridge that it looks like a Chinese knot when viewed from the air." Luo Zhi said. Belle snorted and poked Luo Zhi: "Hey, was this bridge invested by China Unicom back then?" This extremely boring joke made Gu Zhiye laugh. Luo Zhi saw the warmth in the corners of this man's eyes and brows through the rearview mirror directly in front of him. It was the bearing and charm that young boys like Sheng Huainan and Gobi could not yet possess. There is an indescribable sense of solidity and danger, intertwined together, stretching into the perfect arc of the corners of his mouth. Gu Zhiye said that it was already night, and worried about safety, he insisted on sending Luo Zhi and Belle to the dormitory.When passing by the supermarket, Belle secretly murmured to Luo Zhi, "The sanitary napkins are used up" and ran in hastily, leaving Gu Zhiye, who was confused, and Luo Zhi, who was a little slow to react, standing in place. "What did she do?" "A very important matter." Luo Zhi's mouth twitched. "Belle is really interesting." Luo Zhi paused for a moment, and said slowly: "Yes, a very good girl." She missed the hot pot restaurant a little, because the silence at the moment was too harsh.When Jiang Baili was away, Gu Zhiye stopped looking for topics to chat, and took out his phone to watch.Luo Zhi stood there blankly for a while, then yawned, and turned her head to the side away from Gu Zhiye. She saw Sheng Huainan, strolling in the courtyard with her hands in her pockets, passed the school hospital, approached the supermarket door step by step, then raised her eyes inadvertently, and caught a glimpse of herself and Gu Zhiye standing here side by side. Luo Zhi watched him approach all the way, the man blended into the thick night leisurely, the white breath out of his mouth made him look like a slowing down train.She was amused by her own thoughts, and suddenly discovered that the Dongmen Small Supermarket was the first place she mustered up the courage to rush to help him and Xu Riqing out of the siege. Surprise was written in Sheng Huainan's eyes. He stood still for a second, then restored his smile, walked over gracefully, nodded and said, "Mr. Gu." Then he turned his head and asked her, "Why are you here?" Kind and natural, and even somewhat contrived enthusiasm and familiarity.So much like him, so much like him. Although Luo Zhi has long been familiar with each other, every time he and Sheng Huainan had an embarrassing quarrel or met again after the Cold War, the other party would be able to make the scene look peaceful—but this time it was a bit too much.In fact, I am not the same.Even if the corners of the mouth are sour and drooping, it will rise to the maximum arc even if it is desperate.You can close the door and grit your teeth, you can hide and gnash your teeth, and you can only laugh in front of others.Shouldn't he be glad that he and himself have always been the same kind. "I'll wait for someone." Luo Zhi also smiled politely. "Oh, wait with Mr. Gu?" Gu Zhiye couldn't help laughing, and said, "Yes, we're waiting for the same person," he finally laughed out in the middle of speaking, and asked, "Luo Zhi, this cadre of the student union is your boyfriend. ?” Luo Zhi and Sheng Huainan said at the same time: "No." "Not yet." What does "not yet" mean?Luo Zhi stared at him with wide eyes, Sheng Huainan's expression did not intend to play tricks on her, but was a bit competitive. She was suddenly irritated - what kind of ambiguity is she playing? !Are you finished?Luo Zhi's face turned cold, and she tried her best to adjust her breathing so that the heaving of her chest could calm down.She turned her head and didn't speak, and Gu Zhiye didn't even smooth things over. Sheng Huainan stood for half a minute. The silence of the three people was far more difficult than the two. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly hoarse: "I have something to do at night, so I'll go first." "Goodbye." Luo Zhi nodded goodbye. "It's not the same when I first met you." Luo Zhi thought of the domineering and childish Sheng Huainan who warned her not to become a female college student in a compensatory relationship that day, and felt a little sad. She sighed, but saw the unpredictable smile on Gu Zhiye's face. "I said, it feels like you've become different." He repeated. "Maybe she was a little thinner during the reception." She said lightly. Gu Zhiye was silent for a while: "These words are so cold." Jiang Baili still didn't come out for a long time. He lowered his head, lit a cigarette, and said vaguely, "You seem to be wary of me." "No way. But the two of us don't want to make friends, what do we want to do so much." She laughed. "Belle's best friend should naturally be my friend." Such a posture and position complicated Luo Zhi's mood. She lowered her head and tidied up the pockets of her jacket, and said solemnly: "Although I know this is nonsense, I still have to say, please treat her well, even if you don't want her. chase her." "What if I were?" "Then you have to be kind to her more sincerely. I hope you are a good person." "Speaking as if you don't believe I'm a good guy at all." "Probably because I really don't believe it." "Intuition?" Luo Zhi raised her head and looked at him calmly: "Just based on the way you approached me the first time I met you."