vast

After a meeting, Qin Zhou was full of worries and wanted to go out for a cigarette.

He didn't dare to look at his phone until he got out of the conference room, and several WeChat messages came in when the screen was turned on.Seeing that he didn't reply, Ding Gu became anxious and said he wanted to come to him.

Ding Gu's office building is just across the street from the Academy of Fine Arts, and he likes to smoke Qin Zhou's shredded tobacco, so every time he is free, he will come to the rooftop to chat.

Qin Zhou replied to him: [Mute at the meeting, now at the old place. ]

The roof of the Academy of Fine Arts has a unique design. There is a small balcony protruding from the vertical surface dedicated to the smoking area. Standing there, you can overlook the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Qin Zhou leaned on the railing, still sorting out the main points of the project mentioned at the meeting in his mind.Seeing Ding Gulai, he dusted the cigarette, rolled the shredded tobacco with his slender fingers, and handed it over.

A little hair was scattered in front of his forehead, blown into a mess, and the overalls were full of accumulated mineral pigments.

While sizing him up, Ding Gu took the cigarette and said skillfully, "Oh, you're playing a decadent artist."

Qin Zhou was stunned: "What?"

"What's the 'what'?" Ding Gu imitated his tone, and retorted eccentrically, "You look at your own state and ask again."

Qin Zhou twitched the corner of his mouth in embarrassment: "I didn't control my emotions well."

Emotionlessness at work is almost a compulsory course for every social animal. Qin Zhou has worked for so long and won no less than three advanced commendations. It is impossible not to understand this truth.Being able to turn a stubborn optimist into a bitter gourd shows that the impact of breaking up is really great.

Seeing Qin Zhou's tired face, Ding Gu frowned and said, "You really didn't sleep all night yesterday?"

Qin Zhou twitched his lips lightly, making the filter slightly wet.

Although he didn't answer, Ding Gu could tell.Qin Zhou's skin is fair, and the haggardness at the moment can't be concealed at all.

"I figured it out, you can't let anyone go." Ding Gu got angry when he mentioned this, and bumped his elbow, "Don't, break it up if you want to break it, and hurry up if you want to get back together. What are you doing here to humiliate yourself? Who are you waiting for? "

Qin Zhou was so choked that he didn't say a word. After all, anxiety and insomnia was not his intention: "Don't worry, I'm not that hypocritical."

Ding Gu had a cigarette in his mouth, and the mist dispersed when he spoke against the wind, "You'd better be."

Qin Zhou laughed dumbfounded: "What?"

"You go now..." Ding Gu held a cigarette between his fingers and blew on the tallest landmark in Shanghai, "Like a little widower worrying about gains and losses."

Qin Zhou laughed: "Indeed, the best way to treat your ex-boyfriend is to treat him as if he is dead."

Although he still has to work with the "dead man" on the subject.

Ding Gu didn't smile at him: "I'm serious. I didn't feel how lonely you were even in the years when you were in different places. On the contrary, after he returned to China, you always asked me to chat with you and watch exhibitions. I don't believe you even I didn’t even have the chance to watch a movie, and in the final analysis, there must be something wrong with my relationship.”

Qin Zhou didn't have a straight face: "This is not nonsense, no problem what to do?"

"I just don't think you should live like this. It was so sweet before, why did it feel like... procrastinating?" Ding Gu sighed, "Oh, I can't say, it's just that I haven't seen you for a long time. It's so funny. Passed. You are obviously a boat that will rejoice in many things."

Qin Zhou was stunned for a while, and then deliberately smiled: "I'm so happy now."

"Oh?" Ding Gu raised his chin towards the west bank, "Then when do you plan to hold the art exhibition you wanted to hold?"

The gray sky is shrouded in blue-green light, and at the end of the field of vision is the neon light that has just lit up on the West Bank.

Qin Zhou held the filter in his mouth, and the bitter taste of tobacco lingered on the tip of his tongue. He said vaguely, "Something went wrong in the middle, so I stopped messing with it a long time ago."

Ding Gu sneered and didn't refute. He still had a lot of work to do, so he left after smoking.

Qin Zhou didn't move, and looked into the distance alone.The lights on the riverside of the West Bund Art Center are flickering, reflecting a group of shadowy pedestrians.He thought of how happily he had been with Zhang Luo's studio with a group of art associations before graduation, and smiled absently.

Back then, when Bai Zhiwang said he would go to his exhibition, he wanted to send him flowers and spread roses all over the exhibition hall, which was vulgar and funny.

The results of it?The ending was even more clichéd, the studio didn't work out, they missed a lot of each other's invitations, and the roses rotted on the floor and never got cleaned up.

The cigarette butt flickered in the wind, Qin Zhou crushed it twice in the ashtray, leaving gray marks.

Thoughts were flying, the phone suddenly rang.

Qin Zhou thought it was the management personnel from the scientific research institute who came to meet him for the itinerary, so he was anxious when he unlocked the screen, but he didn't expect to see a friend verification.

[Bright. Request to add you as a friend]

Qin Zhou had a lot of things in his heart and wanted to talk to someone, so he circled the word "refused" several times with his thumb, hesitating.

After a few more seconds, he nodded emphatically: Agree.

After passing the verification on the opposite side, I typed for a long time.Qin Zhou stared at the line [the other party is typing], but after waiting for a while, he found that there was no news, and he didn't know what he was doing.

So Qin Zhou took the initiative to say hello: [Hello? ]

Bright. It took a while to reply: [Hello. ]

Then there is no more text.

Qin Zhou didn't know where to start the conversation, and typed a lot of words.

He wanted to say that he knew how beautiful Bai Zhiwang was, but no matter how good Yu stayed with him for a long time, he would probably be stained with flaws, and it was a tragedy that was difficult to undo if the flaws were overshadowed by Yu.He didn't dare to guess who would be lucky enough to get this piece of jade in the end, but after they separated, he missed those flaws very much.

It's hard to tell a stranger all these twists and turns, so Qin Zhou deleted them all.

The other party took the initiative to guide again: [I see that you have made many appointments for consultations but have not come. Is there any trouble? ]

Qin: [Actually, it’s not a problem. ]

B.: [That is? ]

Qin: [My partner and I have broken up, so there is no need to go now, I want to put these things aside and look forward, sorry. ]

B.: [Sounds like you guys are not happy, excuse me, did he treat you badly? ]

How can it be bad, Bai Zhiwang will cook porridge for him and give him an umbrella, he will travel all over Shanghai to buy gifts, and he will make the most compatible love with him, and he was once the most gentle person Qin Zhou has ever seen.

Qin Zhou answered firmly: [No, no, no.Although we had a lot of disagreements afterwards, he was really a good person. ]

The other party typed for a long time, and finally only sent one sentence, probably because a lot of time wasted due to deletion: [Okay, then you can contact me anytime if you need (*^_^*)]

Qin Zhou frowned and looked at the emoji, thinking that the opposite person should be an unreliable young man, shook his head and put away his phone.

Two weeks later, Qin Zhou finished the itinerary and accommodation with the scientific research institute, and got on the plane to Dunhuang.

Not many people were transferred this time, so he took the new research interns with him.

The newcomer's name is Meng Xuan, a Fudan undergraduate, New York University's MA+MS, double majoring in art history and chemistry, who is a rare compound talent in the field of cultural relics restoration.If she was in college, she would probably be the girl Qin Zhou would admire. She is full of passion and carefree, and she dares to raise objections in remote meetings with international experts, and she is neither humble nor overbearing.

The little girl deliberately chose a seat across the corridor, so that she could speak when she wanted to, and the silence would not be embarrassing.

As soon as she got on the plane, she called someone softly, with a strong Northeast accent: "I really have to turn off the phone, I will write to you when I arrive in Dunhuang."

Qin Zhou found it interesting and asked her, "Boyfriend?"

"Hmm." Meng Xuan smiled embarrassedly after hanging up the phone.

"Sounds like a good relationship."

"Come on, he works in my hometown, but now he's in a different place, quarreling every day."

It takes more than five hours to fly from Shanghai to Dunhuang. Sitting alone must be boring. Fortunately, the little girl is not flattering or stage fright when talking to the teacher.Scientific research, store visits, repeated quarrels and reconciled boyfriends...

Just graduated, youth flamboyantly flaunted, even quarreling violently.

Qin Zhou listened quietly, and suddenly interrupted when he heard the word "reconciliation", and asked leisurely, "How old are you?"

Meng Xuan said, "Huh? It's 25."

Qin Zhou took a piece of meat from the plane meal and put it in his mouth, but it was a pity that it was wrapped with peppers that he didn't eat, so he could only swallow it with a frown.

"Very good." When he was in his twenties, he also thought that he could stick to one person and do one thing for a lifetime.

Meng Xuan chuckled, put his phone in his pocket, put down the small table and started to eat, and said to the teacher: "Yeah, so I really don't bother arguing with him, what's the matter? I'm already my age."

Qin Zhou "tsk": "You are scolding me?"

Meng Xuan waved his hand: "How dare! I mean I am not young anymore, I should know something."

Qin Zhou said suddenly: "Sometimes don't be too sensible."

Meng Xuan gave him a strange look.

Qin Zhou added: "Otherwise it's easy to take a detour."

Meng Xuan could hear the meaning of "someone who came here" from this sentence, but she didn't dare to ask about the teacher's privacy, she guessed that it was related to his significant other.Qin Zhou didn't deliberately hide his sexuality at all. He and Bai Zhiwang had too many mutual friends and jobs that overlapped so much that they couldn't hide it.

Meng Xuan just came to the Academy of Fine Arts not long ago, and he was just curious: "How long have you known Teacher Qin and Teacher Bai?"

Without thinking, Qin Zhou blurted out, "It's been 13 years."

"So long?" Meng Xuan said "tsk tsk", "I can't even imagine what it's like to walk with someone for more than ten years."

Qin Zhou raised his head, following his gaze, he could see the clouds outside the window and the exposed corner of the wing.Specific flights of China Eastern Airlines will have regional characteristics, such as this flight, even the fuselage has a flying pattern.

Qin Zhou leaned on the seat, talking to himself, and said very softly: "I didn't expect to get here."

I didn't expect that this is the end.

Qin Zhou closed his eyes.He hasn't been able to sleep well these days, his eyelids are already fighting.

Meng Xuan saw that the teacher was breathing peacefully, as if falling into a sweet dream.

She didn't dare to disturb her, so she also took out the portable pillow, leaned against her neck and closed her eyes to rest.

What she didn't know was that in the dream of the neighbor, 20-year-old Bai Zhiwang was kissing Qin Zhou.