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The plane went through the clouds with a jolt.

Qin Zhou woke up suddenly, seeing the cramped environment around him, he felt disappointed that his dream had come to nothing.Meng Xuan, who was beside him, had just finished taking the airsickness medicine and was soundly asleep.

Qin Zhou touched his lips subconsciously. He had just woken up and his mouth was bitter. There was no water to moisturize his throat. Qin Zhou endured it until the flight attendant came to get a new bottle.

He usually brings his own water glass on business trips, but at the beginning he was always forgetful and often needed to be reminded by Bai Zhiwang. Later, he got together less and left more, and he could do well by himself.

When the mineral water entered his throat, there was a cold touch, and Qin Zhou suddenly had tinnitus, and had to press his mandible to open and close.He looked at the clouds outside the window, and suddenly a thought flashed in his mind, how did you sing that song?

No one is inseparable from anyone.

The plane flew across the sky, leaving behind a white cloud line that spread to the far west.

There is still a distance from the plane to the hotel.Inland, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and it is especially cold at night.Qin Zhou wore little, just a long-sleeved T-shirt, and was shivering on the road before entering the van.

After another hour of exhaustion, we finally arrived at the Shazhou Hotel.

Qin Zhou rubbed his eyes, got out of the car, and saw blowing sand everywhere, and the crescent moon was dim. He came here 13 years ago, when the moon was still round, and there were densely packed stars hanging in the sky; now the stars have been replaced by lights, flickering vigorously at the end of the desert.

Meng Xuan was walking ahead, seeing that Qin Zhou was not moving, he leaned towards him curiously and asked, "Teacher Qin, what are you looking at?"

"It's nothing." Qin Zhou withdrew his eyes and silently put away the memories he shouldn't have.

In the low season of tourism, there are not many people coming to the small hotel, and the front desk at ten o'clock in the evening is already exhausted.

The Research Institute has rented dozens of rooms here for the project members to settle in. There are not many room types to choose from, most of them are single rooms, and a few who bring their families or have special requirements can upgrade to family rooms.

Without even thinking about it, Qin Zhou took a pen to sign on the registration form and ticked "Single Room".

Meng Xuan happened to be right behind him, caught a glimpse accidentally, and asked doubtfully, "Aren't you living with Teacher Bai?"

Qin Zhou was turning his pen, choking on this sentence so much that he almost threw it to the ground.

It was only then that he remembered that he hadn't had time to tell the little girl about his breakup, but it was weird to mention his private life in the hall, so he had no choice but to ignore it: "Well, live by myself."

Meng Xuan intuitively sensed that something was wrong with the two bosses, so he didn't dare to ask again.

There was something wrong with the machine for swiping the ID card, and the front desk yawned while repairing it, wasting a lot of time.Qin Zhou stomped his feet while turning the suitcase for fun. This was the couple's Rimu tile that he and Bai Zhiwang bought last year. He deliberately chose the blue color to show off the bag, which is very eye-catching.

Meng Xuan's eyes followed the blue ball all the time, and he was dizzy from being turned.The hall door opened suddenly, and a group of yellow-green uniforms walked in from the outside, and the one in the middle looked very familiar.

Meng Xuan coughed lightly, and poked Qin Zhou's arm to remind him, "Cough, is that person Teacher Bai..."

Qin Zhou's back was facing the door, and when he heard this, he immediately tensed up, and turned his head in the opposite direction like a conditioned reflex, blocking himself tightly with Meng Xuan's back, wishing he could be buried in the soil like an ostrich.

The researchers who had just returned to the hotel were busy all day and still thinking about work, talking about the difficulty of collecting multi-layer murals, whether the lighting is not good, the noise is too much, or what difficult ground is deformed, it is better than a meeting. Still lively.

Bai Zhiwang's voice became farther and farther away. He was serious and unfamiliar, and he was responding to the questions raised by each group one by one, but it easily disturbed Qin Zhou's mind.

While Qin Zhou was hiding, God's credit card machine was suddenly repaired.The front desk shouted loudly without eyesight: "Mr. Qin? Where are you? Come and swipe your ID card!"

The crowd entering the elevator immediately fell silent, and Bai Zhiwang paused when he heard the sound, and turned around in astonishment.

Qin Zhou responded subconsciously, and happened to meet Bai Zhiwang's eyes.

The four eyes met, and there were still chattering and discussions around, but the two of them remained silent.

"Qin Zhou? Meng Xuan? Are you there?" The receptionist was still urging.

Qin Zhou averted his eyes as if saving his life, stepped forward to register, took the wallet in a panic, and warned himself not to look back.

The hand suddenly lost control, clattered, the leather bag slid to the ground, and cards of various colors were scattered.

Meng Xuan had already registered and was about to leave. When he heard the movement, he hurriedly helped to pick it up, and asked worriedly and strangely, "Teacher Qin, are you feeling well?"

"It's okay, my hands are sweating, it's too slippery." Qin Zhou adjusted his glasses and pretended to be calm, "Then what, when you're done, go back to the room and clean up. If you have time, look at the information first. See Director Cen at eight o'clock tomorrow." report."

"Okay!" Meng Xuan responded, and left first tactfully.

The work clothes just now entered the elevator one after another, and the hall quickly fell silent.

After Qin Zhou took the room card, he sighed tiredly, not knowing which room Bai Zhi was staying in, what he would do when he returned, and whether he thought it was bad luck to come to Dunhuang by going back on his word.

His mind was so full of jumbled questions that he almost missed looking back and bumped into someone.

It was Bai Zhiwang who stood behind him for a long time.

"Bai..." His mouth was faster than his brain, and Qin Zhou felt that his tone was wrong after blurting out, and he couldn't take it back.

Bai Zhiwang's sleeves were rolled up high, and his wide trousers were tucked into his boots, looking very neat, maybe because he entered a cliff hole, there was a scratch on the back of his hand.Qin Zhou stared at the blood mark, his brows furrowed tightly.

The two can clearly feel the change in each other.They have lost weight, their hair has grown, and their dark circles are obvious. They don't seem to be living comfortably.

"We meet again." Bai Zhiwang said.

Qin Zhou wasn't sure what the words meant. He was afraid that Bai Zhiwang would feel that he was rushing over to find him, so he immediately explained, "I didn't mean it."

Bai Zhiwang didn't understand why he suddenly apologized: "What?"

"It's your lack of talents for the project that called me, and I didn't want to bother you." Qin Zhou explained preemptively.

"You didn't want to come?" Bai Zhiwang was very good at focusing on the key points, and he would be itchy with anger after he caught it, "Okay, then I've wronged you."

Qin Zhou didn't dare to say anything else, no matter what he said now, it was inappropriate, so he could only take his card and leave with his suitcase.I wanted to get rid of my ex-boyfriend, but I didn't expect that he had been following behind me, and I pressed the elevator first.

"Which floor?" Bai Zhiwang put his hand on the floor key.

What Qin Zhou asked and answered: "The fifth floor." After speaking, afraid of being misunderstood, he added: "Single room!"

Bai Zhiwang ignored the second half of the sentence, glanced at the huge box, and asked, "Do you need help packing it?"

"No, there aren't many things." Qin Zhou took a special look at which floors Bai Zhi lived on, and silently wrote down the word "3".

After remembering, he immediately felt guilty, remembering what the floor is doing, and still trying to plot something wrong?

There was awkward silence in the elevator.Qin Zhou prayed that the time of suffering would pass faster, but at the same time he didn't want to waste the short time alone.

When they came here, there was not even this hotel, the research institute was far from the scale it is now, and the monitoring system of Yadong did not achieve full coverage.

Bai Zhiwang suddenly said, "It's been a long time since I came."

Qin Zhou was in a daze at first, then laughed when he realized it: "It's been a long time."

In 13 years, the old place revisited, and the confidant became a stranger.

Bai Zhiwang said "um" meaningfully, but Qin Zhou couldn't understand him, so he stopped talking.

The electronic screen jumped from "1" to "3". Seeing that Bai Zhiwang should go out, Qin Zhou heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, but for some reason, his chest was still very tight, as if his big hands were holding him tightly.

When Bai Zhiwang stepped out of the elevator, he softly called "boat".

Qin Zhou stopped and looked up.

In fact, Bai Zhiwang wanted to ask a lot.He wanted to say that he had dreamed about Qin Zhou last night, and wondered if he was also in the opposite dream.

I also want to know how Qin Zhou slept, did he have enough luggage, and whether he took stomach medicine on time.

I want to know if Qin Zhou still feels uncomfortable when thinking about the past after more than half a month, is he still blaming him?Or... have you let go?

He held the words on the tip of his tongue for three seconds, but he still didn't say it in the end—it really seemed to be good if he let it go.

Qin Zhou waited for a long time but did not wait for the next sentence. Bo Zhiwang walked back to the elevator with a standard business smile and stretched out his hand to him.

"I forgot to say just now," Bo Zhiwang's gaze stayed on Qin Zhou's mouth for a moment, and then quickly moved away, "I hope the cooperation will go well."

Qin Zhou stared at those hands for a long time, reluctantly holding them.He didn't want to do such a distant action. He used to hug someone who didn't even have to wear clothes, and he couldn't avoid suspicion to this extent.

But it was Bai Zhiwang's hand, and he had no reason to refuse: "Well, it's a pleasant cooperation."

When the elevator closed, Qin Zhou looked at the back of the door shut outside, and shook his head heavily.

The author says:

Teacher Bai (after getting out of the elevator): My wife is holding hands with me, happy!