Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

I spread out a report with the calculation results printed, and there were only a lot of numbers on it. And these numbers are like a flood that has just overflowed the embankment, treating each of my brain nerves as the intertwined and complicated roads in the city, flowing around. I was about to deliberately think of Ye Meigui to change my mood when my phone rang. "Is it convenient to come out? I'm downstairs in your company." It was the voice of my college classmate. "Okay. But what are you going to do?" "Here's a coupon for a restaurant." "So good? What kind of preferential treatment?"

"Two people go together, one is free." "Oh?" I thought for a while: "Then I don't need it. I don't know who to ask for dinner." "You'll need it." "how do you know?" "My grandpa told me." "Hey!" I yelled, causing my colleagues to look sideways, and I quickly lowered my voice: "Don't make such a joke." "I'm not kidding. Go downstairs and get it." After finishing speaking, he hung up the phone. I went downstairs and saw my friend at the gate. As soon as he saw me, he gave me a coupon.

"Why do you have this?" I pointed to the coupon in my hand. "I went to this restaurant last night and they said I was the hundredth person to eat in a tie after the restaurant opened, so they gave me this coupon." "Do you go to this restaurant often?" "I went last night for the first time. My grandpa told me in a dream that..." "It's okay, it's really okay." I quickly covered his mouth, not daring to listen any more. "Then I'm going back to work." After a while, I let go of my hand covering his mouth. "You want to find me when you have time, don't always keep talking about me."

"I'm busy with work, I'll find you for dinner another day." "I've been your friend for so long, but you never took the initiative to ask me for dinner." He laughed a few times. "Really?" I also smiled: "It seems that it is just my mantra to find you for dinner another day." "Okay. You go back to work, I should go too." He took two steps and turned around: "Remember to eat." "Yes." I shook the coupon in my hand to him: "How can you forget to eat?" After seeing off my friends, I walked back slowly.

When I walked into the elevator and was about to press the number "7", my fingers suddenly paused in the air. Yes, of course I won't forget to eat; but I actually forgot that I told Ye Meigui that I wanted to invite her to dinner. I hurried out from the elevator door that was about to close, and dialed my cell phone to Ye Meigui at the elevator entrance. "Hello, Ye Meigui?" "Yes. Why?" "I'll treat you to dinner tonight, are you free?" "Why did you invite me to dinner?" "Because... that... I said last time that I would treat you to dinner."

"Last time?" She snorted, "Eight hundred years ago is also called last time?" "Sorry. I actually forgot, so it took so long." "Then why did you suddenly think of it today?" "Because someone sent me a coupon for a restaurant." "Yeah. So if someone doesn't send you a coupon, you keep forgetting it?" "Should...probably not." "Should?" She snorted again: "That means you may still forget." "From the perspective of probability, there is such a possibility." "Very good." Her breathing became heavier: "Then the chance of me having dinner with you tonight is zero."

Then the phone disconnected. I was annoyed and made her angry, so I stood there for a while before turning around and taking the elevator upstairs. When I entered the office and sat back in my seat, the cushion hadn't warmed up yet, and the phone rang again. "Hello!" It was Ye Meigui's voice. "What's wrong?" "Won't you call again when you hear that the phone is cut off suddenly?" "Didn't you hang up?" "Yes. But you should call again and ask why." "Oh. Then why did you hang up?" "Because I'm angry."

"Oh, I see. Sorry." "It's good to know." "Ok." Then, as is customary, we fell silent at the same time. "Hey!" "what?" "I just said that I won't have dinner with you tonight, but I didn't say that I can't be late." "Is it okay tomorrow night?" "Yes you can." "Okay. See you tomorrow then." "Stupid, aren't you going home today? We can meet tonight." "I'm so confused." I laughed a few times: "Then I'll make an appointment with you at night."

"Ok." "That's it." "Why are you in a hurry to hang up the phone?" "Oh? Is there anything else?" "Why don't you ask me why not tonight?" "Okay, why not?" "Because I have something to do tonight." "Oh." "Why don't you ask me what's going on tonight?" "Okay, what's the matter with you?" "Someone invited me to dinner tonight." "Oh." "Why don't you ask me, who invited me tonight?" "Okay, who asked you out?" "My dad."

"Oh." I was afraid that she would ask me to ask again, so I had to ask her first: "Why did your father invite you to dinner?" "There is no need to ask such questions." "yes." "In short, I will go back later today." "it is good." "When you go back today, the lights on the balcony will be dark. You have to be careful, don't bump your feet again." "Well, I'll be careful." I thought for a while and said, "Then what else should I ask but didn't ask?" Ye Meigui laughed, "It's gone."

"Well, Bye-Bye." "Bye-Bye." Hanging up the phone, I thought that since Ye Meigui will be going back later today, I'm not in a hurry to go back. I didn't get off work until about nine o'clock. I ate something casually outside, and when I got back to 7C, it was already in the early ten o'clock. Ye Meigui was not there, so I had no choice but to take Xiaopi out for a walk first. When Xiaopi and I came back, it was almost 11 o'clock, and Ye Meigui hadn't come back yet. I turned on the lights in the living room and the balcony, then went back to the room, the door was ajar. Although I was arranging the materials on the desk, I still listened to the movement in the living room. Maybe I was so absorbed in noticing if there was any sound coming from the living room that I could almost hear the clock on the wall in the living room ticking. I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until I heard the sound of Ye Meigui opening the door. Slowly put the materials into the briefcase, and after sorting out, I walked out of the room. Ye Meigui sat on the sofa, didn't watch TV, didn't read books or newspapers, just closed her eyes. He folded his hands on his chest and leaned on the back of the sofa. Like a night rose in bud. "Night Rose" <10.3> Byjht.I stopped for a long time, not daring to disturb her. As if my movement would cause the night rose to shed a petal. So she turned around quietly, and entered sideways through the half-closed door. Sit on the bed, flip through some magazines and books, and pay attention to the changes in the living room. I don't know how long it took until I yawned and I looked at my watch. It was almost time for me to sleep. I walked softly to the living room. Ye Meigui was still lying on the sofa with her eyes closed. No matter how much time passed, nothing seemed to change for her. I suspect she is asleep. "Ye Meigui." I tried to call out. "Yeah." She responded, and then slowly opened her eyes. "Go back to your room to sleep when you're tired, you'll catch a cold if you sleep in the living room." "I'm just thinking about something." She looked up at the clock on the wall: "Why haven't you slept yet?" "I'm worried about you, so come out and have a look." "So kind?" Ye Meigui laughed: "Are you sure you're that rambunctious Ke Zhihong who didn't invite me to dinner?" I smiled, took out the restaurant coupon from my pocket, and handed it to her. "I've never heard of this restaurant. Hmm..." Ye Meigui thought for a while, returned the coupon to me, and said, "Let's meet at the entrance of the restaurant at 8 o'clock tomorrow night, okay?" "Okay." I accepted the coupon, walked to my sofa and sat down, and said, "Dinner with your father tonight, okay?" "It's okay. He probably feels that he hasn't seen me for a long time, so he talks a lot." "How long has it been since you two met?" "It's been three or four years." "so long?" "Will it be a long time? I don't think so." She called Xiaopi to the sofa and stroked it: "Some people don't think it's long even if they haven't seen each other for thirty or forty years." "Are you sure you're talking about your father?" "Frankly speaking, I'm not sure." Ye Meigui smiled: "I'm not sure if he is still my father." I looked at her in surprise, although she tried to put a smile on the corner of her mouth, her voice and her movements of stroking Xiaopi had already betrayed her smile. I saw her spread her five fingers slightly, and only use her fingers to caress Xiaopi, without using her palm. "You..." I paused, but still couldn't think of the right words, so I simply said, "Can you, don't be so lonely?" "Huh?" She turned to me and asked, "Are you worried?" "yes." "Thank you." She smiled again: "I'm fine." "Can you talk about your father?" Ye Meigui suddenly stopped all voices and movements, even smiling, and just stared at me. "My parents divorced when I was in high school, and my father lives in Canada now." "Oh." I felt that I asked a question that shouldn't be asked, and I was a little embarrassed. "He returned to Taiwan this afternoon, called me, and invited me out for dinner. That's it." "that's it?" "Yes, what else would it be?" She shrugged, nonchalantly. "Oh." "But if only you had called me ten minutes earlier." "Oh?" "So I can have dinner with you first tonight. I don't like eating with him very much." "Oh." "Don't worry, no one stipulates that a daughter must like to eat with her father." "Ok." "It's not enough to just um. Contribute a little dialogue." "you are so pretty." "Thank you." Ye Meigui smiled again. I suddenly thought of something, so I stood up and said, "Sit still and don't move." "why?" "I'm going to show you something, you close your eyes first." "Why? Want to kiss me secretly?" "Hey!" "Alright." Ye Meigui sat up straight and closed her eyes. I turned off all the lights, including the lights in the living room, balcony and my room, making the whole house dark. I raised my left foot, stepped on the coffee table, pulled up my trousers, and said, "You can open your eyes now." "Wow..." Ye Meigui said excitedly, "The Big Dipper." "Yes. The stars you sewed are fluorescent, so they are very bright." "Ok." "In the future, even if we are indoors, we can see the stars." "That should hang the pants from the ceiling again, so it's more like that." "Really? Then I'll take off my pants." "Hey!" "It's so dark, you can't see anything." "Maybe I can't see anything with the lights on." She giggled. "Hey, this is a dirty joke, not suitable for girls." "It's your own thinking. Don't forget, I once wondered if you were a girl." "Sorry, I was thinking wrong." I smiled: "Next time I will hang these pants on the ceiling, okay?" "OK." Ye Meigui and I looked at the Big Dipper quietly, without speaking to each other. In the darkness, I seemed to be back in the square again, and saw the eyes of my senior when she said that she also longed for a sense of belonging. I remember the senior sister's eyes at that time, although they were bright, they were very lonely. Like a star shining alone in the night sky. I tried to close my eyes, I couldn't bear to recall the look in my senior sister's eyes again. But when I opened my eyes again, I immediately came into contact with Ye Meigui's eyes in the dark living room. Ye Meigui's eyes also shone like stars. "Ye Meigui." I called her. "Ok?" "You are like a star, destined to shine." "yes?" "Well. It's just because there's so much darkness around you that you always feel like you belong to the darkness." I pointed to the stars on my pants and said, "But you shine brighter because you exist in the dark." "Ok." "There is never only one star in the night sky. So you are not alone." Ye Meigui didn't reply, just looked at me, blinking her eyes. It may be that I am used to the darkness in the living room, or it may be that her eyes are getting brighter, so I found that the living room suddenly became much brighter. "Put your feet down. Aren't your feet sore?" "It's okay, it won't." "It's unsightly to put your feet on the tea table." "Really? When I first saw you, your feet were straddling the coffee table." "Oh. That's self-defense." "Self-defense?" "At that time, I didn't know if you were a good person, to me, you were just a strange man. A strange man came to see the house, of course I would be worried. " "You can protect yourself by putting your feet on the coffee table?" "At least it can make you think that I look fierce and not easy to bully." "Yes." I smiled. "Go to bed. You have to go to work tomorrow." "Ok." I retracted my left foot on the coffee table and turned on the light in the living room. "Don't go to bed too late, you know?" "Ok." "Don't forget about dinner tomorrow." "I'm not as confused as you are." "Oh, then don't be so excited that you can't sleep." "Don't be boring." Ye Meigui gave me a glare. "good night." "Good night." This should be the so-called one-word prophecy, because I was the one who couldn't sleep that night after tossing and turning. "Night Rose" <10.4> Byjht.Before going to work the next morning, I used the Big Dipper pants to push Xiaopi, who was close to me, back to the corner of the balcony. I was very proud and laughed out loud on the balcony. "Hello!" Ye Meigui called out suddenly. "I'll be leaving right away." I immediately stopped laughing and turned around to run away. "Wait a minute." Ye Meigui walked to the balcony and handed me a pill and a glass of water. I took the pill in my mouth, it tasted so strange, I couldn't help shaking my head. "Why are you shaking your head? This is not ecstasy." I drank the water and asked her, "What is this?" "It's just a multivitamin." "Oh. I'm leaving. See you tonight." I'm in a strange mood at work today, my heart beats faster for no reason, it seems to be nervous. Every once in a while, I take a deep breath and relax. Then remind yourself that it's just a meal, don't be nervous. After six o'clock, I start to feel like I don't know what to do, and I can't concentrate on anything. So I started to sort out the files on my desk, sorting them into categories and arranging them neatly. Even the drawers are neatly organized. Shu Hongdao passed by my desk, startled, and said, "This is really Xiao He's success and Xiao He's failure." "What's the meaning?" "You're the one who messes up the desk, and you're the one who cleans it up." "Hey, your desk is much messier than mine." "The world is a mess, how can my desk be alone?" I didn't bother to care about him and continued to clean up. "Xiao Ke, you are acting weird today." "Where is it?" "Hey, you're going to have dinner with the girls later." "how do you know?" "An excellent engineer will naturally have sharp eyes like an eagle." "yes?" "Hmm. You went to the bathroom too many times today." "so what?" "You don't go for a long time each time, so it's not diarrhea. It should be to look in the mirror." "This……" "I'm right. How? With which girl?" Shu Hongdao asked several times, but I pretended to be dead and did not speak. "You sound like a virgin..." He changed his words suddenly. "How?" I asked unconsciously. "It's very tight." After finishing speaking, Shu Hongdao laughed. I didn't want to talk to him anymore, I picked up my briefcase and left the office quickly. When I got downstairs at the company, I looked at my watch, it was only seven o'clock. After hesitating on the spot for a few minutes, I decided to take a taxi to the restaurant first. When we arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, it was only half past seven, so we had to wander around. Calculate the time exactly, and return to the entrance of the restaurant at eight o'clock. After waiting for less than a minute, Ye Meigui appeared. "Go in." She came to me and said simply. This restaurant looks like a Japanese restaurant from the outside; after sitting down, it looks like a simple Chinese restaurant; the waiters are dressed like Thai food; I didn't know until I saw the menu It is a western restaurant. After we finished ordering, Ye Meigui asked me, "Who gave you the coupon?" "My friend. You saw it once the day I moved." "Oh. What's his name?" "He's just a small supporting role and doesn't need a name." "Hey." "Okay. His surname is Lan, and his name is Heyan. Lan Heyan." "The name is common." "Really?" I smiled. This name is also homonymous with another engineering facility of the water conservancy project - the weir. The weir spans the river, but the height of the weir body is not high, and the purpose is only to raise the upstream water level so that the river water can be introduced into the water inlet on the bank, and then used for irrigation or waterworks. Lan Heyan works in another engineering consulting company, and his title is engineer, which is one alias less than mine. "Hey, look." Ye Meigui pointed to the dining table on her left and whispered. A waiter is putting away two menus, holding one in each hand, and then using the menus as wings, he spreads his hands and flaps his arms to fly. "It was fun," she said with a smile. "I'm sorry." Another waiter came to our table: "Add some water for you." After pouring the water, he held the jug in his right hand, moved his left hand as if pulling the rein while riding a horse, and then walked and jumped forward. "Did you bring me to this store on purpose to make me laugh?" After Ye Meigui finished speaking, she couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. "It's my first time here too." "Yes." She thought for a moment and asked me, "Then look, what are they doing?" "I guess..." I pondered for a while, and said, "The owner of this store should be a Mongolian." "why?" "Because the movements of the two waiters are very similar to Mongolian dance." "yes?" "One characteristic of Mongolian dance is that the dancers often imitate the movements of riding a horse and flying an eagle. The waiter receiving the menu is like a goshawk soaring over the grassland; while the waiter pouring water is riding a horse and galloping across the desert. .” "You even know this? Who taught you?" "Yes..." I kept drawing out the end of my voice, but I still didn't say the answer. Because, this is what my senior sister taught me. I can't count the number of times I thought of Senior Sister because of Ye Meigui. The number of times became more and more frequent, and the heart was hit hard when I thought of my senior, and it became stronger and stronger. Ye Meigui, why do you always remind me of my senior sister? "Night Rose" <10.5> Byjht. "What's wrong with you?" Ye Meigui saw that I was silent, and asked me. "Nothing." I smiled. "Are you tired from work?" Her eyes were warm and her voice was soft: "I see you've been busy late these days." "I've been working a lot lately, so I can't help it." "Don't be too tired, take care of your body." "This should be the dialogue I told you." I smiled, she seemed a little embarrassed. When the dishes were served, the waiter neatly placed the dishes on the table one by one. "Let's eat together." Ye Meigui had sly eyes and a bright smile. I was taken aback for a moment, and then I remembered the meaning of this sentence, and my heart was relieved. Ye Meigui, you are the one who succeeds and loses Xiao He. Because you are the one who pulls me into the memory of the square, and you are the one who pulls me away. She had picked up the knife and fork, smiled at me, and seemed to be waiting for me. So I also picked up the knife and fork and motioned her to do it together. "By the way, why did you study hydraulic engineering?" "When filling out the volunteers for the college entrance examination, I accidentally filled in the wrong one." "Mistake?" "At that time, I just finished my afternoon nap, and I was in a daze, so I made a mistake." "Really?" Ye Meigui temporarily put down the knife and fork, looked at me: "I want to hear the truth." I looked at her for a while, then put down the knife and fork. "I live by the sea. When a typhoon hit when I was a child, the road was often flooded. At that time, I just thought it was fun to be flooded, because a group of us children would run to the road to catch fish. Sometimes we were accidentally hit by fish on the calf Oh." I laughed. "Where did the fish come from?" "Some come from the influx of sea water, and some come from the overflow river. But most of the fish swim out of the fish ponds where the fish are raised." "Oh." "Later, there was a classmate in the class who had a fish farm at home. His father was worried about the loss of the fish farm when the typhoon hit, so he went out in the rain, but was washed away by the flood. From then on, I..." "So what?" "It's nothing, it's just that I don't catch fish on the road anymore. But whenever I think of the fish I caught before, I feel an inexplicable sense of guilt." "Children are of course ignorant, they just think it's fun. You don't have to worry about it." "Well, thank you." I nodded, and continued, "When I was filling out my volunteer application, I saw the Department of Water Conservancy Engineering. I filled it out without even thinking about it. After I went to college, the feeling of guilt gradually disappeared." I turned the teacup in my hand and asked her, "What about you? What do you read?" "I studied preschool education." "Is there any particular reason?" "I just simply like the work of education, there is no particular reason." She smiled suddenly, "If you let me teach when you were young, maybe you wouldn't have to bear the guilt for so long." "Then you are now..." "I'm an employee of a trading company now, please give me your advice." Ye Meigui laughed, "Why don't you..." "I worked as a kindergarten teacher after graduation. Then because... because..." "Ok?" "Ke Zhihong." She glanced at me, then lowered her head: "Don't ask, okay?" "Hmm." I nodded. Then of course we fell silent again. But this quiet atmosphere is not awkward, it's just my habit when I talk to her. I would feel uncomfortable if there wasn't any simultaneous silence during our conversation.I believe the same is true for Ye Meigui. I also know that when she doesn't feel like talking, she won't say a word; but when she wants to, and she's sure you'll listen, she'll say it without defense. "Let's go." Ye Meigui looked at his watch. "Yeah." I also looked at my watch, it was ten o'clock. When we walked to the counter to check out, the cashier was saying to the couple who checked out before us: "Congratulations." The cashier smiled happily: "You are the hundredth couple holding hands since the opening of this restaurant. Checkout customers, so this restaurant will give you a coupon." When it was our turn to check out, I handed him the coupon, and he smiled and said, "Congratulations. You are the 100th customer who came to check out with a coupon after the opening of this restaurant, so this restaurant requires Here's a coupon for you." After speaking, he gave me the same coupon again. When we were about to leave the store, the waiters who collected the menu and poured the water were standing by the door. As I passed them, I said to the waiter pouring water: "Your upper body should be straight, and the beat of your feet is a bit slow, so your steps are not smooth enough. This can't show the feeling of running happily in the desert. " Then he said to the waiter who took the menu: "Your fingers should be close together, and when you flap your wings to fly, your shoulders and elbows should have enough turning force, so that you look like an eagle looking down on the Mongolian grassland." After they finished listening, they said in unison: "May Changshengtian bless you with eternal peace and happiness." After leaving the store, Ye Meigui turned to me and said with a smile, "You guessed it right, the boss is indeed a Mongolian." I also laughed, and then looked at the coupon in my hand: "They gave another coupon, what should I do?" "Then find time to eat." "You like this store?" "Yeah." She nodded, and then said, "You can even see the subtle movements of the waiter, it's amazing." Ye Meigui, do you know? I can see that the riding posture of the waiter pouring water is not bold enough; and the flying posture of the waiter collecting menus is not like a mighty eagle; but you are very much like Night Rose, and I can't fault your coquettishness at all. "How did you get here?" I asked her. "Ride a motorcycle. It's parked right in front." I accompanied her to her motorcycle and told her: "It's getting late, be careful when riding back." "Yeah." She nodded. "Then I'll go first, see you tomorrow." I turned around and wanted to leave. "Stupid, did you forget that we live together?" "Oh, I'm so confused, I should see you later." I patted myself on the head. "You can take another shot." "why?" "Because of course we have to go back together, why did you go first?" I looked into Ye Meigui's eyes, and unconsciously, I patted myself on the head again. "Let's go home together." Ye Meigui said.