【47.】

  The next morning I woke up very early, the old Beijing in early spring still had a chill, I was muddled all night, until dawn when I felt uncomfortable in my throat, probably caught a cold.

  After getting up, I drank the water given to Shen Dang yesterday in one breath. The cold water went down my stomach and I suddenly became much clearer. My phone was charged and rang, it was an unfamiliar number. It must not be Shen Dang, so I answered it.

  "Hello."

  "Liuyang... is me."

  I have a lingering feeling of unease, although I think so in my heart, I can't say anything too out of line. We are all adults now, and it's not our business to show off with words.

  "Ah, senior."

  "What's wrong? What's wrong with your throat?"

  My voice was hoarser than usual due to a cold, and I coughed lightly before responding: "I'm probably coming down with something... Senpai, I don't want to do this internship. Just give me whatever grades you want."

  I've rarely been so capricious since I grew up, just like what I told Shen Zhong yesterday. My family is just an ordinary middle-to-upper-class one, which can ensure me a worry-free life but not a luxurious one. So after entering university, I have never been so capricious and irresponsible again. Moreover, at the critical moment of applying for postgraduate study, I know that internship performance is also a very important item, but I'm really tired of coping with it.

  I never thought that Shen Zong would have such a big impact on me one day, although we had a fight, but in the end I still compromised with him.

  "You don't have to worry... Liu Jia, if you don't want to see me, I promise that until your internship is over, I won't appear in your line of sight. You're not a kid anymore, being so willful and reckless, what if you regret it later?"

  I looked out the window at the morning sun, as if I had received a kind of encouragement: "Senior, I don't know if I will regret today's decision in the future, but I know that if I didn't do this, I would definitely regret it now."

  This sentence is quite awkward, I don't know if he understood it or not. Maybe the decisiveness in my tone finally moved him, Du Bin sighed: "You're always so stubborn, before I thought you were a great person to get along with. Now I see clearly, you're just pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger."

  It's rare for him to say something so humorous and interesting, I smiled: "Let's just take it as a compliment."

  "Alright." He seemed quite helpless "Don't worry, the company will give you a very good internship evaluation."

  "This isn't good..."

  "Just consider it as me helping you this once."

  You've helped me too much...

  In that case, I don't know what to say. It's better not to mention it, anyway everyone understands each other, there's no need to put everything on the table and make each other uncomfortable.

  After hanging up the phone, I started staring blankly at my mobile phone. It turned out that all the calls last night were made by Du Bin. Shen Duan didn't even call me once, and I felt disheartened and suddenly found everything tasteless.

  I thought about the last time I came to old Beijing and didn't have a thorough play, after taking a bath, I decided to revisit old Beijing.

  The moment I opened the door... I was completely stunned.

  "Shen Dang?"

  He sat on the stairs, heard my voice, raised his head, wrinkled clothes, messy hair. He had never been so disheveled before...

  He stood up and looked at me, probably wanting to say something, but couldn't get it out. The anger in my heart had actually dissipated by more than half, and now seeing him like this, the remaining bit of anger was gone too. However, I still couldn't bring myself to admit fault first, so I just silently stared back at him.

  He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to speak, but his voice seemed to be stuck, and he coughed before saying: "Liu Jia."

  The voice seems to be hoarse, just like me with a cold coming on.

  I turned sideways: "Come on in and talk."

  He looked at me for a moment, somewhat uncertain of my attitude, before walking in after a while.

  I went to the bathroom and turned on the water for him: "Take a bath first, let's talk about everything after you're done."

  Shen Duan stood behind me without speaking, and I also knew that it was not suitable to say anything at this time, so I didn't deliberately find a topic.

  While he was taking a bath, I ran to the convenience store downstairs to buy him some spare underwear and also bought a set of pajamas. Can't let him wear those tattered clothes anymore, can we?

  I put the clothes outside the bathroom and gently knocked on the door: "The clean clothes are all placed outside for you, there's only a convenience store nearby, it's not a good brand, just make do with wearing them."

  After finishing speaking, she turned around and went back to her bedroom.

  The bed in the bedroom was like a battlefield, I sighed and picked up my torn clothes, Shen Dong's coat that he had covered me with, and the sheets and quilts that had fallen to the ground.

  After everything was tidy, I walked to the window and pondered for a moment how to communicate with him.

  In a daze... I only felt a wave of heat behind me. Then fell into a familiar embrace.

  "Liujia..." Even after taking a bath, his voice was still hoarse. "It's my fault, I'm sorry."

  "You didn't spare me: 'But you really did it.'"

  He didn't say anything, he just held me tighter.

  "Shen Duan, we're not kids anymore. Do problems have to be solved in that way?" I turned around and looked at him "I understand your anger, if it were me, I'd probably make a bigger fuss than you. But I think you're not that kind of person, everyone understands reason. How did you end up like this?"

  He looked at me with a hint of grievance: "The more you care, the more chaotic..."

  This little temper, looks like you've been greatly offended. I was going to say a few soft words, but when my eyes swept across the bed, I suddenly remembered yesterday's events. Instantly, my face turned stern: "You speak eloquently, but it's just your strong possessiveness. I'm not being kept by you, why do I have to consider your feelings in front of others? As for Du Bin's matter, I don't know anything about it at all. Even if I did, since they had good intentions, what reason would I have to refuse?"

  He nodded repeatedly: "Right, it's my fault."

  At such a close distance, the red blood vessels in his eyes were very obvious, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look haggard. I sighed and said, "Forget it, anyway, I've already told Du Bin that I won't be going to the internship company anymore. You can rest assured now?"

  He smiled, though very tired, but indeed it was a heartfelt joy. Such a smile finally moved me, as if all the efforts were nothing. In fact, for me, what I gave up, I knew clearly in my heart. How much trouble this impulsive behavior would bring to myself, I had thought about it, but at this moment, his smiling face made me feel that everything was worth it.

  Even if I have to give up all the good things in my life, I am willing to do so.

  I kissed his cheek: "Go sleep for a while. Did you sit in the stairwell all night yesterday?"

  He silently didn't answer.

  I sighed: "You..."

  Shen Diao lowered his head and gently kissed my lips, very gentle...

  After a long time, he leaned on my shoulder and whispered: "I didn't dare to call you, but I wanted to see you, I had no other choice..."

  My eyes welled up with tears: "Idiot!"