Yu Youyang was on a date, and the date had reached a critical moment--
He had already put his arm around the woman's waist, and the next step was to kiss the woman's mouth.
However, his lower body made a buzzing vibration. He cursed in his heart. He let go of the woman's waist and answered the phone.
"What are you doing late at night? Don't you have a wife?"
Chen Zhuan didn't answer, but said: "My house is on fire, I'm on the way."
"What on the way?"
"On the way to your house."
Yu Youyang's home is located on the 33rd floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel Apartment in Xicheng District. The housing prices in Xicheng District are very high, and the buildings built in the early years are now old. He works in the Financial Street 500 meters away. He hunts for beauties in the executive lounge on the 3rd floor of the hotel. Within a radius of one thousand meters, all his sensual needs are met.
When he opened the door, Chen Zhuan had already arrived.
The man was dressed in black, lying on his back on the sofa, with a whiskey glass beside him. Right under his feet, there was a 20-inch suitcase and a bag of whiskey, red wine and sake. He was already tall and slender, and now he was lying with his legs sticking out of the sofa.
At this moment, Chen Zhuan was shrouded in depression and confusion.
"What's going on with you?" Yu Youyang was confused. The house burned down? Such a big blow?
With his eyebrows down, he blurted out a sentence without thinking: "She doesn't like me anymore."
"Who?!"
Yu Youyang poured wine when he heard the gossip, sat next to him, and looked at him with a piercing look: "Do you have someone outside?"
Chen Zhuan rolled his eyes at him: "Sheng Yiqing. She seems to be really ready to leave me."
Yu Youyang instantly lost the motivation to gossip: "Isn't that right? You are ready to go abroad, and people don't want to be in a long-distance relationship. It's normal for them to be too lazy to care about you." Having said that, he stood up and pulled Chen Zhuan: "Let's go, there are people waiting for me downstairs, I will shake you another one?"
Chen Zhuan didn't move: "Go by yourself."
Yu Youyang snorted, "Then stay by yourself, I'll come to you for a drink when I'm done." After saying that, he looked at the person lying motionless on the sofa, pulled a blanket over him, and thought that there were beauties waiting in the bar downstairs, and hurried downstairs.
The lamp beside the sofa was dazzling. Chen Zhuan frowned slightly and put his wrist in front of his eyes. The watch was hitting his eyelids. He stretched his wrist and looked at the dial. The girl on the dial was smiling at the moment, with a heart rate of 19, and seemed to be in a good mood.
He was upset and too lazy to look at her position, so he simply reached out and took off his watch.
.
"Cheers!"
The bar played jazz music, and there were not many guests. On an autumn night, half of the people were sitting on the open-air sofas in the lounge. Qiu Zining had just finished a sharing session when he received a call from Sheng Yiqing. The two of them met at the executive lounge of a hotel near Wangfujing.
After two glasses of wine in a row, his mood finally brightened. Sheng Yiqing looked at the clouds outside the window and complained about Chen Zhuan. Qiu Zining was sitting opposite the bar. Through the glass, she looked far away: she saw a woman sitting on a bench and drinking a glass of wine by herself. She was dressed lightly but appropriately, revealing her shoulders and slender arms just right. Her long hair hung straight down, and her fingers tapped the table one by one, seeming a little impatient. Not long after, a man came to the bar. Qiu Zining squinted her eyes and continued to gossip. She felt that the man looked familiar, but she couldn't tell where she had seen him.
However, the straight-haired beauty seemed to dislike the man. Before the man's charming smile bloomed, he was pushed away by the woman and left with his hair tossed. The man was frustrated and left with his nose touched.
Qiu Zining was amused and took a sip of wine to celebrate the failure of another greasy old man to hunt for beauty.
"Hey, are you listening carefully?" Sheng Yiqing glared at her.
Qiu Zining raised her wine glass and slumped on the sofa back, then she looked back at Sheng Yiqing: "I'm tired of listening, big sister. Even if I don't listen, I know what you are twisting."
Sheng Yiqing was so angry that she looked down at Qiu Zining's foot and was about to kick it, but this woman was wearing a pair of sheepskin slippers inlaid with diamonds today. At this moment, she took off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the sofa. She couldn't kick it, so she had to kick her shoes away angrily, denying it: "How can I be twisted?! He is unreliable. He doesn't want to be with me properly."
Qiu Zining interrupted "Bah! Of course he wants it! But he doesn't dare. Just like you, Sheng Yiqing, you want it too badly, but you don't dare. You don't even dare to tell him that you have changed a long time ago and you want to be with him forever." At this point, Qiu Zining reached out to take the French fries on the coffee table, pointed at Sheng Yiqing, and made a conclusion: "It's really difficult for two cowards to meet true love, it's a fantasy." After taking a bite of the French fry, he reacted: "I bet on it!"
"...What do you mean by he wants it?" Sheng Yiqing only focused on one point.
"You burned down his house, sister. If it were me, I would fight you to the death. But this man was not angry with you at all. Instead, he was thinking about how to advertise your broken whitening cabin. Isn't this true love?"
"Is it, is it like this?" Sheng Yiqing's mouth curved uncontrollably, but when she thought of something, the corners of her mouth that had just risen shrank again: "But we are not suitable to be together. During the time we lived together, he was very miserable."
"...You oppressed him crazily at that time. He had no human rights at home. Of course he was miserable." Qiu Zining rolled her eyes at her.
"Damn it!" Sheng Yiqing was anxious, lowered his head and kicked Qiu Zining's slippers: "You were the one who made me oppress you at that time!"
"Because I was wrong." Qiu Zining said shamelessly, "I used to think that the relationship between a couple should be a struggle. They are partners on the surface, but enemies behind the scenes. If one party wants to be happy, the other party must suffer. This is my 'zero-sum game theory for couples'. But now, I find that this theory is wrong."
"What is your new theory?"
Qiu Zining smiled calmly, but did not rush to answer. Instead, he pointed at the floor and ordered Sheng Yiqing with a smile: "If you still want to listen to my broken theory, pick up my slippers first."
.
Chen Zhuan had just thrown his watch aside, and he began to wonder why Sheng Yiqing was in such a good mood at night? He kicked his long legs and sat up and put on his watch, wanting to see where this woman was now. However, as soon as he put on the watch, the door opened, and it was Yu Youyang who looked unhappy.
"You're out?" Chen Zhuan asked him.
Yu Youyang glared at him, sat down opposite him, flipped a whiskey glass, poured himself some wine, clinked Chen Zhuan's glass, and said slickly: "How can I? I dumped her, isn't it because she's afraid that you'll wait too long? I told that girl that I have to drink with my good friends tonight."
Chen Zhuan smiled, didn't expose him, and clinked his glass with him. The two drank one glass after another, and no one spoke. After a long while, Yu Youyang asked: "How long do you plan to stay?"
"I don't know." Chen Zhuan's alcohol tolerance is not very good. He drank more than half a bottle, but fortunately his mind is still clear. Alcohol does not help people sort out their thoughts, and their minds are still confused. He looked around and asked him, "How long have you lived in this hotel?"
"At least three years. But it will expire next year, and I want to move to another community."
"Are you a prodigal son?"
Yu Youyang pulled the corner of his mouth, "I'm tired of playing. Living in a hotel all the time is free, but also lonely." He glanced at Chen Zhuan and said half-truthfully, "I want to start a family."
Chen Zhuan was almost choked and asked him, "Have you met someone who wants you to start a family, or do you just want to find someone to start a family with?"
"I want to start a family, but I haven't met him. But once I meet him, I will start a family honestly." Mr. Yu rarely said seriously, "Although I am a scumbag, I will not let you down. True feelings. "
Chen Zhuan laughed: "What are you talking about? Thieves also have their own code of conduct?"
"Of course, emotional transactions are also transactions, you have to have your own rules. Only by keeping the bottom line can you play for a long time." He glanced at Chen Zhuan: "Scumbags are also divided into high-quality and low-quality ones, okay? Speaking of which, compared to men like me, you are much more dangerous."
"I am dangerous?"
"Looks harmless, but actually poisonous." Mr. Yu took a sip of wine and said firmly: "You love to escape too much. To put it bluntly, it's cowardly. To put it nicely, uh... There is no nice way to say it, Chen Zhuan, you are just a coward."
Chen Zhuan raised his eyelids and looked at him, without denying it.
"What are you afraid of?" Mr. Yu didn't understand: "Aren't you two a legal couple? Oh, you think she doesn't like you anymore, then go get her back, why are you hiding in my house like an idiot? You are just a coward! You dare not chase her, dare not be shameless, because you are afraid that you can't give her what she wants, so you would rather shrink like a turtle than try to save the relationship." Chen Zhuan took a sip of wine. After a moment of silence, he was a little depressed: "I am indeed a coward. I dare not gamble everything and make a lifelong commitment." He looked up at him, his eyes red, "Don't you think so? Yu Youyang, marriage is a sacrifice, you dedicate your life, love, passion, all to another person. What if, I mean, what if you invest everything and fail in the end? You will become penniless and lose the person you love most." "But there are some things in the world that can only be obtained by sacrifice." Yu Youyang said softly. "For example?"
"Lifelong companionship and dependence. And, a lover who belongs to you exclusively. Marriage is a very secret ceremony. It authorizes you to stamp each other's bodies from the perspective of religion and law, and then announce your ownership of each other to the society. You understand, right? Its essence is a transaction, but what you pay is not money, not time, but your whole self. It is the oldest barter, handing over yourself and getting the other person."
Chen Zhuan was silent.
.
"So, you can talk about your new theory, right, Mr. Blogger Qiu." Sheng Yiqing put Qiu Zining's sheepskin slippers neatly and listened attentively.
"Only fools would treat marriage as a zero-sum game. The essence of marriage is not wrestling, but trading."
"Trading?"
"Yes, you give some, he gets some; he gives more, you get more. Only a relationship that goes back and forth can last. Take Chen Ziang and I for example. He obeys me in this relationship and is willing to do all the housework. Why do you think that's the case?"
"Because he uh... loves you?"
"No! Because I spent money. He pays, I work hard, and we can both get what we want from each other. This is the core of this relationship that can move forward steadily. And in the cohabitation game between you and Chen Zhuan before, think about it, what did you give?"
Sheng Yiqing was silent.
"If he is the only one who is giving, then it is his feelings that are consumed, and he will feel tired, which is also human nature. Then again, even if he feels tired, he still does not stop the game, but wants to continue to be with you. Why do you think that's the case?"
"Because..." Those words were on the tip of his tongue.
"Because he wants to. If you don't stop playing that crappy cohabitation game, he can play it with you for the rest of his life, do you believe it?" At this point, Qiu Zining looked at Sheng Yiqing and said sincerely: "My best friend never looked down on each other's partner, and so did I. I used to think that this guy was good for nothing except being handsome, very self-centered, very proud, and even a bit of an avoidant personality. It was really twisted to death, but this handsome guy really likes you, likes you to death."
The base of the cocktail glass hit the glass coffee table, and Sheng Yiqing stood up suddenly. The alcohol was in her head, and her eyes went dark all of a sudden. She shook her body, picked up her bag, and said to Qiu Zining: "I, I have to go..."
"What for?"
"Go find him." She subconsciously glanced at her watch and pressed the side button to display the location. The watch reminded: The straight-line distance between the other party and you: 0m.
He's in this building? !
.
She drank half a bottle of whiskey. Yu Youyang's words were vague, but the alcohol stimulated his desire to express himself, and the two continued the conversation between men:
"Chen Zhuan, let me ask you a question. Do you think I am someone who can have true love?"
"Of course not." He answered in seconds.
"Right?" Mr. Yu smiled indifferently, "Because I have never given my true heart. The love market is much simpler than the futures market. If you want to get true heart, you must first have one yourself. If you don't have it, you will never get it. There are more junk relationships than junk stocks these days, but true love is rare, very rare, and not everyone deserves it. So now the question is, Chen Zhuan, do you think you can get true love?"
"Me?" He opened his mouth.
"You can't get it either." Yu Youyang smiled and gave the answer: "Even if you are dedicated, loyal and handsome."
Chen Zhuan looked at him quietly, waiting for an explanation.
Yu Youyang drank too much, his cheeks were slightly red, his eyes were shining, and when he was slightly drunk, he became particularly talkative, with a casual smile on his lips at all times. He swung the whiskey glass in his hand, "Besides, you are even less worthy than me. You have true love, but you don't have the slightest courage. When you meet commitment and responsibility, you will only run away cowardly. People like you are a hundred times more poisonous than me."
"Give the girl a way out, Chen Zhuan. Marriage is a game for the brave."
Alcohol takes over the brain, and people become impulsive.
He knew that Mr. Yu's words contained provocation, but he didn't want to care. Chen Zhuan put down the glass, didn't even look at the time, took his phone, pushed the door and went out.
Mr. Yu was stunned, and asked behind him hypocritically: "Hey, where are you going so late?"
"Buy wine."
Chen Zhuan rushed out of the door a little fast, and a few steps to the elevator. There were six elevators going up and down. He pressed the down floor, looked down at his watch, and froze in his place: The straight-line distance between the other party and me, 25m?
After thinking for a moment, he reacted-I understand, she went to the executive lounge of Park Hyatt to drink?
. When the elevator reached the 33rd floor, Sheng Yiqing vaguely remembered that Chen Zhuan had mentioned to her that Yu Youyang lived in a hotel apartment near Wangfujing. When she saw the distance reminder, she realized that Mr. Yu lived in this building. She went to the front desk to ask and learned that from the 33rd floor to the 45th floor, they were all hotel apartments. But when she arrived, she found that looking for Yu Youyang in so many identical rooms was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
She looked at the location of her phone again - the distance became 25m. What the hell?
She gritted her teeth and dialed the number. The other end showed that the number you dialed was turned off.
.
The phone ran out of power at the most critical moment.
Chen Zhuan was going crazy. The only thing he could rely on was the smart couple watch at that time. He ran to the executive lounge and looked around but didn't see Sheng Yiqing. The location display was still 25m, and then he looked at the other party's heart rate, 95. An inexplicable thought came up, is she looking for me too?
If that's the case - Chen Zhuan ran to the elevator without stopping.
.
The distance between the two people became 0m when Sheng Yiqing entered the elevator. Did he suddenly enter the elevator again? However, there are six elevators going up and down in the same building. It's not difficult for him to find her, and it's not difficult for her to find him. The most difficult thing is that the two people want to find each other at the same time.
The numbers change, the elevator goes down, and as it stops at each floor, people get out one after another. The elevator door opens and then slowly closes. The distance displayed on the watch changes rapidly. She searches floor by floor and then returns to the elevator.
She arrives at the 3rd floor and returns to the executive lounge again. She is discouraged and returns to the elevator. The watch shows that the distance is 0 - which elevator is he in again?
The elevator door slowly closes, and just when the door closes,
At that moment, a hand reached in and pressed the door——
"Beep, beep, beep!"
Sheng Yiqing was stunned, her eyes fell on the wrist of that hand.
The next second, the watch on that hand and the watch on her wrist vibrated at the same time. The door that was about to close slowly opened, and at the moment when he and her eyes met, the two watches made a rapid mechanical sound at the same time:
"Please pay attention! Your lover is missing you! Please pay attention! Your lover is missing you!"
The lights in the hotel corridor shone on him. Chen Zhuan's eyes were bright, and the lights plated his hair with golden light. He ran too fast just now, and his chest was heaving violently. He gasped and looked at her steadily. In his eyes, she saw her reflection, and the world seemed to be quiet in an instant. In the heartbeat like a drum, she suddenly remembered a sentence:
Do you know how you look at me? Just like the way I look at you.
"You..." She opened her mouth for a long time, wanting to say something, but couldn't make a sound.
The next second, her wrist tightened. It was Chen Zhuan who held her hand and pulled her out of the hotel without saying anything. As the night fell, their figures flew on the streets of Beijing's Second Ring Hutong——
"What are you...doing?" She stared at his back, not knowing where he was going to take her.
"Convenience store." Chen Zhuan turned around and smiled at her with a curved mouth. His raised hair covered his forehead. Under the moonlight, he saw stars in her eyes.
"...Go, what are you going to the convenience store for?"
"Borrow a power bank." He tightened her wrist.
Sheng Yiqing was even more confused and let him lead her to run. "Why do you want to borrow a power bank?"
"Give you a gift."
"Huh?"
Perhaps the gift was in the phone. Chen Zhuan plugged in the power bank and waited for the phone to start up. At the moment when it showed that the phone was successfully started, he made a video call. The voice waiting to be connected was repeated again and again. Sheng Yiqing was stunned, not knowing what this guy was up to.
Finally, the call was connected, and a weak voice said "Hello?"
And Chen Zhuan's next sentence almost scared Sheng Yiqing to jump up on the spot-
"Mom!"
It was pitch black on the other side of the video, but on this side, Chen Zhuan led Sheng Yiqing, whose cheeks were flushed, to stand straight at the door of the convenience store. Under the overhead light, Sheng Yiqing's stunned expression made his face hideous. She looked at Chen Zhuan in horror:
"What are you doing?!" At the same time, Chen's mother was also talking. She was still in a bad mood and seemed to have not opened her eyes. She was more energetic and said to Chen Zhuan: "I just fell asleep! Why are you calling me in the middle of the night!"
"Didn't you say that I haven't gotten married and you can't sleep every night? I see you are sleeping well now?" Chen Zhuan seemed to be in a good mood. He curled his lips and looked relaxed, but his arms were tightly around Sheng Yiqing's waist to prevent her from escaping: "Okay, let me introduce someone to you."
The light on the other side of the screen came on, and Chen's mother stood up while wearing reading glasses, with an unbelievable look on her face: "This, this is?"
"My wife. We have already obtained the marriage certificate. She is beautiful, excellent, and has a good personality. Everything is good. Because I like her too much, I acted first and asked for permission later. By the way, unless she doesn't want me anymore, there will be no changes in this life. That's it, Say to you...now. "He looked at Sheng Yiqing who was already scared, and smiled with a smile: "Say hello to my mother?" "
...
The phone was hung up, and before Sheng Yiqing could recover, she glared at Chen Zhu: "What the hell do you want to do!"
The dog man smiled. The man who had drunk the wine had his eyes glowing with water. He grabbed her hand and was reluctant to let go. "My mother likes you very much. I said, this is my gift."
"What is this gift?"
"This gift is called dignity. I have already left this. If you run away again, I will never go home again." After saying that, he lowered his head, clamped Sheng Yiqing's hand under his arm, and pressed his hands against the screen of the phone with both hands, "There is another gift, please check it."
The next second, Sheng Yiqing received a transfer reminder on her mobile phone: the user with a bank card ending number of 3285 transferred 1,250,000.00 yuan to you.
"More, how much?" Sheng Yiqing widened her eyes.
The watch beeped, "Pay attention! Your lover is frightened! Pay attention! Your lover is frightened..." Chen Zhuan turned off the beep, grabbed her hand, and placed it on his chest. He drank and wanted to stand steady, but he still swayed unconsciously. He looked at her face and forgot to give it to you, with unprecedented seriousness:
"Listen to me, my wife. I know there are too many men better than me in this world. I have an average income and my family is not rich. Yu Youyang said that I am selfish and timid. I have never really loved anyone, and I have never been seriously married. I have many shortcomings... But I really really like you."
"This money is all my savings. I saved it before and planned to use it for studying. Oh, by the way, there is also my house. Yu Youyang said I was stupid before, because it was bought after marriage, and it belongs to the common property of the couple. And the phone call I just made to my mother, I guess she will announce to the world tomorrow that I am married... Sheng Yiqing, I gave you everything that is most important to me, my dignity, my money, my future, all to you. This is my betrothal gift, the full price I can pay, I want..."
"I want to use these to exchange with you, in exchange for your second half of life."
He spoke quickly, with the impulse of alcohol. But every word he said was clear, and it was the most selfless intention he could give.
In the convenience store late at night, the cold air seeped out from the gap of the sliding door, gently blowing Sheng Yiqing's hair. Maybe it was because of drinking, or the intense running a moment ago, or because of his words, she couldn't help but tremble slightly. Sheng Yiqing looked at him stupidly, and didn't know how long she looked at him before slowly speaking:
"So, in your eyes, marriage is no longer a subway ride?"
"I don't like the subway. The subway stops at every station, and every time it stops, I have to be nervous." He sighed softly: "I am reluctant to get off the train myself, but I am afraid that you will get off the train, and I am even more afraid that other people will appear around you."
Love is far more stubborn than you think. It is the rarest and most terrifying plant in the world. The soil for survival is the heart, and the conditions for survival are so harsh that they are deadly. However, once it survives, it begins to grow uncontrollably in your heart and becomes the most tenacious life. Do you want to kill it? It's like a dream.
At this point, Sheng Yiqing remembered something: "Well, you wished me and Yu Yue a happy marriage before..."
"I did it on purpose. I wanted to tell you not to try to use a third person to provoke me. Of course--" He paused and reluctantly admitted, "I was indeed provoked by you."
Sheng Yiqing slightly curved the corners of his mouth, half-truthfully and half-falsely testing, "Aren't you afraid that I will really get married with him?"
Chen Zhuan shook his head, "Although I may fantasize, I know you won't."
"Trust me so much?"
"This has nothing to do with trust." At this point, Chen Zhuan looked at Sheng Yiqing, "You really don't Have you ever thought about why we got married? Do you really think it's because we are suitable? Because it will bring good luck to each other? You know much better than me, these are all excuses. There are 10,000 people in this world who can bring you good luck, and there is indeed one living next door to you, but you don't want to marry him, and you don't want to sign such a stupid contract with him. The person who married you is me, Sheng Yiqing. "He sighed lightly and pulled her into his arms: "Would you like to be honest?" Those various excuses are rough wrapping paper, peeled off layer by layer, nakedly exposed, only a true heart. There is only one real reason to willingly join this lifelong barter game, to exchange me and get you. "Why?" She continued to play dumb. "Because you love me." He looked at her bluntly, "From the beginning." The alley was very quiet late at night, isolated from the sound of traffic and noise. The wind blew through Sheng Yiqing's hair. He reached out to brush it for her. After a pause, he spoke again:
"Because I love you, too."
Her heart was burning. She looked up at him. In the night, the tenderness in his eyes was so strong that it could not be dissolved. She took a step forward, tiptoed gently, and willingly admitted: "Yes, from the beginning, I loved you."
Her lips kissed his Adam's apple. Chen Zhuan's breathing tightened. He carefully held her face and pressed it against her lips. His voice was low and hoarse:
"Let's go home, okay?"
"Beep beep beep."
Without waiting for Sheng Yiqing to respond, the watches of both of them issued reminders at the same time. The stern and short mechanical sound tore through the tranquility of the night: "Please pay attention! Don't do shameful things in public! Please pay attention! Don't do shameful things in public!