After he went upstairs, Lai Hui wandered around the room. The living room wasn’t large but was warm. There were sea-blue sofas against the wall and window, and a low table almost flush with the floor, with a bowl of shiny purple grapes on it. She sat cross-legged on the floor, picked a grape, and slowly chewed it, savoring the sweet, slightly tart juice. She spat the seed into her palm, then found several DVDs under the table, all award-winning films. Lai Hui always considered herself a commoner, rarely watching these acclaimed films. Bored, she randomly inserted “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” into the DVD player, then returned to her spot, leaning against the sofa edge, holding a pillow, and eating grapes while watching the movie with leisure. Unfortunately, she picked a tear-jerking film. The entire movie was a sea of green waves, the color of the Irish flag, and by the end, this color faded into a gray mist until it disappeared, leaving everything in a haze. Her heart sank as the color faded, watching young Irish fighters being executed, tears uncontrollably streaming down her face. When Zhou Yuqian took the grapes from her hand, the movie had ended. “You choose such a sad movie to watch on vacation?” Zhou Yuqian laughed. Lai Hui wiped her tears, embarrassed to admit she had never heard of the film, and quickly said, “I thought I wouldn’t understand it, so I wouldn’t get sad!” “So, you mean you still have taste?” Zhou Yuqian handed her a tissue from the rattan table. “How does it compare to your noisy comedies?” “That’s for everyone’s taste, besides, commoners need entertainment! Life has enough sorrows, who would want to watch something sad and heavy, needing to delve into its depth? That’s self-torture!” Zhou Yuqian listened to her logical defense, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Lai Hui then exclaimed in surprise, “So you watch movies too?” “Can’t I watch movies? Don’t forget I was young once, and I was crazy about movies and… movie stars!” His expression became unnatural at the end, his voice quieter. Lai Hui noticed but casually said, “So you’re old now?” After looking him over, she concluded, “Not exactly old, just older than me!” He chuckled, sounding aged, “You’re good with words; it’s the heart that ages, and you can tell. When one sees through many things, the heart grows old, and so does the person!” Lai Hui noticed the faint wrinkles on his forehead and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy. He must have been hurt deeply in the past. In his youth, he loved someone with a burning heart, marrying the tear-jerking heroine from the screen, and his feelings must have been of excitement and joy. But life was too cruel, slowly stripping away his excitement and joy. By the time he broke free from the shackles of time and the harshness of life, his heart was like ashes. When one sees through many things, the heart ages, and so does the person! The passion is gone! The pursuit is gone! Always on guard, building high walls around himself, behind which lay a suppressed loneliness! She suddenly wanted to hug him, like comforting her own child, gently patting his back, whispering, “Don’t be afraid, I care for you!” And she did just that, startling Zhou Yuqian with her sudden move. Her face rubbed against his hair, pleasing him like a little dog, almost sticking out her thin, long tongue to lick him. He wanted to laugh, but before he could, he heard her gentle voice, “I understood that movie too!” His body stiffened, the smile on his lips froze, the TV screen turned a deep blue, devoid of images, just like his paused thoughts. Was she saying — she understood him too? What a warm and caring hug! He sat there stunned for a long time, his body sinking into the soft sofa, along with his heart, inch by inch. He suddenly felt incredibly soft, as if after a week of continuous work, he had finally found a place to collapse, not thinking, not remembering, not caring about anything, just wanting to lie down with a grunt.
Dinner was seafood, not at a grand restaurant but at a well-known night market stall. The plate was piled high with steamed red crabs. Breaking open the shells revealed glistening crab roe, fresh and flavorful. Lai Hui’s appetite was aroused; she cracked a crab leg, pulled out the tender white meat, and happily popped it into her mouth. Zhou Yuqian, however, was picking out the meat from the scallops, discarding the noodles, and she frowned slightly, “You’re really picky!” Sitting on a bench under the cloth canopy of the night market, Zhou Yuqian still exuded an air of nobility. After picking out another strand of noodles, he said calmly, “They can’t make scallops with noodles like they do in the south!” 来茴 was silent, thinking that his willingness to come to such a place was already a great concession, so she forgave him for wasting food. After all, lightning wouldn’t strike her. In no time, four crabs were reduced to empty shells, and 来茴 was full. Seeing that 周于谦 had barely touched his food, she asked with concern, “Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t eat on the plane either!” 周于谦 just shook his head, put down his chopsticks, and called for the bill. He then asked her, “Are you full?” 来茴 nodded and asked, “If you don’t like this kind of place, why did you bring me here?” “I heard from others that the food here is good, but it seems I was deceived!” Actually, it was because a subordinate mentioned that the dishes here were very authentic, so he brought her to try them. Just as he finished speaking, he turned to face the sharp, bluish-black face of the boss, awkwardly paid the bill, and quickly left with 来茴.
The road was bumpy, lined with stalls touching each other end to end. The street was not crowded with customers at this time, and the dim streetlights flickered. The cold wind was rustling, and 来茴 cupped her hands over her mouth to warm them with her breath, her laughter breaking through occasionally. She glanced at 周于谦’s stern face, which seemed frosted over, and coughed, “Doesn’t the boss’s face look like a peeled chestnut?” 周于谦 burst into laughter, his stern features softening. He took 来茴’s hand, saying, “It really does look like a roasted chestnut, all yellow with a big black patch!”
As they were laughing, a voice with a Tianjin accent came from a roadside stall. “Hey! Sir, our chestnuts aren’t peeled. Would you like to buy some to try?” They turned to see a chestnut roasting stand, where a woman in her forties, probably the owner’s wife, was smiling overly enthusiastically at them. Her husband was scooping bright red chestnuts into paper bags from behind the glass counter. “We’ve been here for generations, every chestnut is handpicked, plump and sweet. Want to buy a bag?” “Do you want some?” 周于谦 asked 来茴. Seeing the woman rubbing her hands in the cold, 来茴 thought they weren’t easy, and she wanted some too, so she quickly said, “Yes!” The woman, delighted, nudged her husband, “Give them the hot ones from the bottom!”
