three feet away

When returning home from the coffee shop, it was already dusk. After entering the door, Xu Nuo hanged the keys behind the door a little tiredly. When she changed her slippers, she was still a little dazed. After Yan Ruyi left, she still couldn't really calm down. Come on, she still owes the magazine the translated manuscripts that have not been released. Originally, she planned to go home earlier to make product explanations and then catch up with more manuscripts, but she did not expect that in the not-so-comfortable coffee shop booth, Sitting for a whole afternoon, the most uncomfortable thing for her was that when she was woken up from the fugue by more and more people coming to drink coffee, what was still circling in her mind was Yan Ruyi's face, which made her feel uncomfortable. She felt angry, and it made her feel ridiculous.

With a sigh, she pulled on her slippers and walked into the small living room. Before going upstairs to change her home clothes, she added water to the kettle to boil a pot of boiled water.

When she opened the floor-to-ceiling curtains of the room, she had already changed into loose and comfortable cotton pajamas. The setting sun was hanging in the distance, and the red light shining from the two rows of buildings in front was falling on her floor-to-ceiling windows. On the ground, the warm sunlight enveloped her tall and slender body. Although the sudden light was soft, it still made her uncomfortable. A faint black shadow was left on her slender and fair neck, and under her feet was her slender shadow pulled out by the crimson light. When she raised one eyebrow, she could see the silhouette of that shadow, the tall nose and curves Fairly exquisite body.

Looking at her own shadow, Xu Nuo sighed again subconsciously, walked up to the bookshelf, took out a pair of glasses from one of the spaces and put them on, when she turned around, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror next to her, and then Suddenly he laughed self-deprecatingly at the person in the mirror, and then, without stopping at all, he turned and walked downstairs.The kettle on the stove at the lower side of the hanging ladder has already boiled water, the spout is spraying water vapor, and the base is beeping an alarm.

She quickly filled the water storage tank, found a box of sandwiches in the refrigerator, and went upstairs.

When she raised her head again, the surroundings were completely dark, the night was dark and dewy, the cool wind blew in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, the gauze curtains swayed slightly, and the edges brushed past her feet again and again, making it a bit cold.

Xu Nuo silently stared at the densely packed French on the computer. After a long time, she took a big sip of the cold boiled water at hand. The cold and tasteless liquid slid down her throat and into her stomach. She shivered for no reason and sighed. In one breath, she stood up, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked at this bustling but already unfamiliar city, clasped her arms with her hands, and for some reason, the neon lights all over her suddenly made her feel lonely.

The mobile phone next to the computer received an incoming call alert, promised to turn around, and when he bent over to pick up the mobile phone, he saw a half-eaten sandwich next to him. It's Zhang Qing.

"Hey?"

"Ah, college bully, why haven't you slept so late? What are you eating?"

"sandwich."

On the other side of the phone, Zhang Qing howled exaggeratedly: "No way, you really haven't eaten enough veal steak with butter and bread. This is what you have for dinner?"

Xu Nuo swallowed the food in his mouth, took a sip of water, closed the window and drew the curtains, leaned against the bed, chewed the somewhat dry bread in his mouth tiredly and asked, "I'm used to it, what's the matter?"

"It's okay. It's not that you've been back for almost two weeks, and you haven't received the wind yet. It just so happens that Xiao Huang is going to host an offline program in another place the day after tomorrow. The radio station will arrange a day off for her tomorrow. We discussed it. Give you a wind? Wash the dust?"

"where is it?"

"Look at you, Xiao Huang is at home, you can eat home-cooked food or eat out, I'll let you in and listen to you."

"Then..." After thinking for a while, Xu promised to answer: "Let's eat hot pot. Isn't your wife going on a business trip? After eating early, go home and rest, and stop cooking. There will be opportunities in the future."

"Ah? Hahaha, yes, but what did you just say?" Zhang Qing laughed loudly on the phone.

"What" promises inexplicable.

"What do you say Xiao Huang is me? Come on, say it again baby."

Across the screen, Xu Nuo got goosebumps from this greasy word "baby". She raised her hand and touched her arm holding the phone, softly asked, "Zhang Qing, do you have any questions?" Quirks?"

"what?"

The other side of the phone was stunned for two seconds, and then there was a howl: "You are the only one who has quirks, and your whole family has quirks. I haven't heard anyone mention her like that to me before. I'm happy to hear it at first. Don't you?" Sexy nerd, what a shit."

Xu Nuo smiled slightly, listening to Zhang Qing talking non-stop on the phone, it didn't feel too quiet that night, until another voice came from the phone asking Zhang Qing to wash up, that person didn't care. Reluctant but obedient, he immediately said to Xu Nuo: "I'm going to take a shower, and I'll find a good store tomorrow and send you the address."

Xu Nuo nodded on the phone, and answered clearly and politely: "Okay. Then I'll hang up, goodbye."

"Huh~" Zhang Qing clicked his tongue twice, and complained: "You have really learned the fake politeness from abroad, and the real alienation temperament to the bone marrow. Goodbye, come on. Fortunately, you are back. If you stay there for a few more years, I guess we should forget how we speak Chinese. Hang up and say goodbye.”

Xu Nuo smiled bitterly, glanced at the screen that was slowly turning black after hanging up the phone, and sighed softly.Four years is not a short time, but who would have thought that her life in a foreign land could be summed up in a few words?In the past years, what changed her was not the strange humanity, but the irresistible loneliness.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Nuo spent 3 minutes in a daze. Later, she sent a backup of the written document to Yang Liu, and then opened another document without pausing, and carefully read the article on the screen about traveling in France. The original text of the magazine, and then, bit by bit, replace those words with vivid Chinese.Until three o'clock in the morning, when sleepiness struck, she finished simple washing, went to bed, wrapped herself tightly in the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Zhang Qingxuan's hot pot restaurant is a little far from the promised bachelor apartment, and it took her nearly four or ten minutes to arrive by car.

The hotpot restaurant is not a big one, but its business is booming. When Xu promises to arrive, the plastic stools by the door are already full of people waiting in line for a table.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, she looked towards the door of the quaint hot pot restaurant, and just in time saw Zhang Qing who came out of it and waited for her.

"Promise, oh, breach of trust, this way!"

Fearing that Xu Nuo might not see him, Zhang Qing walked sideways towards Xu Nuo and waved at her.The people sitting next to her listened to the movement, and looked back towards Xu Nuo in twos and threes. Most of them turned their heads quickly and continued to chatter and wait, while the other few people lingered on her for a while, and then There was a sigh.

Hearing all kinds of voices around him, Xu Nuo frowned, walked quickly towards Zhang Qing, and didn't answer until he got in front of her, "I saw you."

"Then you don't answer me." Zhang Qing said casually, turned around and walked back, and jokingly promised while walking: "Hey, why are your ears red? Are the French really so gentle? Don’t even sigh, feel embarrassed to be stared at by a group of people when you come back? It seems that I will not be able to tell you to break your promise outside. Look at those handsome potters next to you just now, and the eyes that look at you are from the beginning The fascination turned into doubts. I must be thinking in my heart, such a beautiful girl, the wrong name is called betrayal."

Xu Nuo rolled her eyes at Zhang Qing speechlessly, and felt that even though she hadn't improved in anything in the past few years, her quick and vicious tongue skills definitely took it to the next level.

When she got there, Huang Siying was already adding vegetables to the pot, she looked up and saw Xu Nuo, and smiled.

Xu Nuo looked at her, she hadn't seen her for a few years, except that her attire looked a little more mature and charming, she didn't seem to have changed much, she was still tall and outstanding.

When the two approached, Huang Siying asked, "Are you back?"

"En." Xu Nuo nodded, followed Zhang Qing's call and sat down by the window facing the hall.

"I didn't book a private room. The business of this store is very good. Xiao Huang came to line up before four o'clock. After waiting for an hour and a half, I finally got a seat." Zhang Qing rubbed his hands and gave Xu Nuo a sigh of relief. A cup of tea, and then naturally took the dish from Huang Siying's hand, poured it into the pot and continued: "Look at your face, I usually want to eat here, but she doesn't want to accompany me Wait. Today I have been exposed to your light."

Xu Nuo thanked Huang Siying with a smile, and asked Zhang Qing jokingly: "You said, you have been together for so many years, why is it that the little yellow characters can't break the mandarin with all kinds of sounds? Woolen cloth?"

Zhang Qing raised his hand holding the colander, as if he was going to make a promise, and smiled awkwardly: "Which pot you don't open or carry, be careful of getting beaten."

Huang Siying looked at her, smiled helplessly and said to Xu Nuo: "I have no other choice. If she wants to learn Mandarin well, I don't think she has a chance in this life."

"Did you bang? It doesn't affect me telling you that I love you."

"Speak well, there are so many people." Huang Siying glared at Zhang Qing, her ears turned red.

Zhang Qing giggled and put a quail egg for her in her bowl: "Hey, my lord, this is the only one that is cooked now. You're a veteran, don't blame it."

This remark made Huang Siying even more embarrassed, and she didn't have much to say in front of Xu Nuo, so she gave Zhang Qing an angry look, lowered her head and said nothing.

Xu Nuo sat on the side, quietly watching the two people's natural, happy and unaffected way of getting along with each other, and unconsciously curled the corners of their lips into a smile. Such a scene made her a little envious.

The meal was coming to an end, Xu Nuo was a little dizzy, and she was a little happy when her old friends were reunited. She drank two more glasses of wine with Zhang Qing, and when her tongue became a little stiff, she completely opened up the conversation box and talked freely with Zhang Qing stand up.

All the people queuing at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant have already entered the restaurant. Although it is close to ten o'clock in the evening, it is still very lively.

When the clerk came to add the soup base for the fourth time, Zhang Qing finally waved his hand and said no more, and it was almost time to leave.Saying this in his mouth, but still holding Xu Nuo's hand, he babbled about what happened in the past few years, from Xu Nuo's going abroad, to graduating from university, to Zhou Qingming's disappearance.The more you speak, the quieter you speak, and the quieter you speak, until in the end, your eyes turn red.

Xu Nuo was a little enraged by this scene, she simply asked where Zhou Qingming had gone, and turned her gaze to Huang Siying who hadn't said much, but she only got a shaking of her head answer.

She knew that maybe Huang Siying knew it well, but she just didn't want to tell her.

Taking a deep breath, he promised to drink the remaining half glass of beer in the glass, patted Zhang Qing's hand, got up and went to the toilet.

She felt a little dizzy, and her feet were a little erratic, but her consciousness was still very clear, so she clearly saw the back of the woman squatting in front of the toilet sink, and recognized who she was at a glance, and then froze in place , staring blankly at that figure, almost unconscious from the heartache.

Yan Ruyi squatted on the ground, and was reaching out to wipe the hands of a little girl less than two years old standing in front of her. She lowered her head, and her voice was soft enough to squeeze out water: "Yi Yi, after washing your hands, be careful to wipe them. Oh clean."

The little girl raised her head half-understood, giggled, and blurted out two words: "Well, well."

Yan Ruyi raised her head, took the child's hand with one hand, threw the tissue in her hand into the trash basket next to her with the other, and turned around with a smile: "Yi Yi, call again..."

The eyes of the two people met in the air, Yan Ruyi was stunned on the spot, she looked at the person standing in front of the toilet door, the smile that hadn't receded in time remained on the corner of her lips, as if she didn't know what expression to use to face it promise.

"Oh...what a coincidence."

Xu Nuo leaned to the side, grinned his lips, and gave way to the person in front of him: "Director Yan, are you bringing your family to eat hot pot?" The child who was five points similar to her raised her eyebrows: "The child is very beautiful, just like you."

"..."

Yan Ruyi didn't speak, the redness on her face from the fumigation of the hot pot restaurant turned pale the moment Xu Nuo spoke.

Xu Nuo saw her complexion suddenly changed, she was amused, she looked around, she didn't bring a bag, and there was nothing else in her slacks pocket except a mobile phone, which made her a little annoyed, after fumbling around for a while, she finally remembered Like nothing, he lowered his head and hooked his neck to get a necklace he was wearing.

She didn't know whether it was because her hands were shaking from drinking too much or her long hair was tangled, but she couldn't take off the necklace for a long time, until she became impatient and cursed angrily: "Damn it!"

As soon as the words fell, the slender chain broke from the buckle. She finally smiled contentedly, bent down, picked up the child's tender right hand, and put the chain with a piece of her hair in it. Li, and then touched the child's face: "Xiaobao, we met for the first time. I was a little surprised. I didn't prepare anything. Let me give you this necklace that has been with me for several years as a meeting gift. Be good, give auntie a smile, okay?" good?"

The child got the necklace, and strangely raised his right hand and yelled vaguely at Yan Ruyi: "Well, well, hey."

Yan Ruyi finally came back to her senses, she took a deep look at Xu Nuo, bent down and reached out to take the necklace from the child's hand: "Xu Nuo, this is too precious..."

Xu Nuo smiled, she shook her head, and said slowly: "It's nothing, for me, it's useless, just right, it's also appropriate to listen to you call her one by one, and play with her..."

Yan Ruyi closed her eyes, she let go of the child's hand, took Xu Nuo a step forward, and trembled uncontrollably with emotion for a moment: "Xu Nuo, I didn't expect to meet you here. I...Actually. ..”

"Ruyi? Yiyi? Are you done washing?"

An adult man's steady questioning sound came from outside the toilet door, interrupting Yan Ruyi's words.Yan Ruyi sniffed, looked back at the toilet door, and started to loosen Xu Nuo's hand.

"Ah, let's go, let's go." Hearing the voice outside the door, the little girl happily held Yan Ruyi's hand and kept babbling.

Xu Nuo lowered his eyebrows, looked at the hand that was still grabbing his wrist, closed his eyes, and pushed her away.

"Promise..."

"Ruyi? Ruyi? Are you in there?"

"...I'm here..." Yan Ruyi turned around and responded.

Xu Nuo turned around the moment she turned her head, walked quickly into the nearest cubicle, and closed the door and locked it.

She held her breath and listened to the movement outside, and when she heard the child still calling mom and dad, her heart ached like a knife.She bit her lip, leaned against the compartment door quietly, clenched her fists and pressed her chest, and didn't let herself make any movement.

She didn't know how long she had waited, but she remembered that it was a long time after the child's voice disappeared before she finally opened her mouth, wanting to breathe heavily to fill the lack of oxygen in her chest, but the moment she let go of her hand, there was nothing Sympathetic, he bent down and vomited out the contents of his stomach.

When the tears and gastric juices were washed away by the running water, she suddenly felt a little dizzy. After holding on to the partition baffle to stand firm, she raised her head, grinned, and cried silently.