Sunset Boulevard

Chen Boqiao had a full three-day itinerary in the newly independent country.

In order to meet Zhang Fu's original requirements, blur the real reason for Chen Boqiao and Zhang Jue's marriage, and give the outside world more room for imagination, in addition to agreeing on the marriage with Zhang Jue's family, Chen Boqiao will also marry several important business people. Meet, sign several agreements that have been negotiated before arriving, and relocate some of Zhaohua Energy's operations in North America to the newly independent country.

However, the next afternoon, Chen Boqiao ended the negotiation as soon as possible, leaving his subordinates and accompanying reporters at the hotel, and went to visit Zhang's mansion in advance.

Nearly four o'clock, when Chen Boqiao set off, he sent a text message to Zhang Jue, but Zhang Jue didn't see it.

He has been very lethargic these past few days. He went to bed at two o'clock, fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, and was not awakened by his mother until five o'clock.

He opened his eyes, and saw his mother standing not far from his bed, wearing a beautiful long dress, with a flustered expression: "Xiaojue, Chen Boqiao is here."

Zhang Jue sat up, and for some reason, the old habit suddenly relapsed. He reached out to touch the cigarette on the bedside table, but when he touched the cool metal edge, he was stunned and withdrew his hand.

"Downstairs with your father," the mother didn't notice his movement, "and brought me a present."

Zhang Jue got out of bed and asked his mother, "What did you get?"

"I didn't watch it," my mother shook her head, "I'm a little nervous."

Zhang Jue went into the dressing room to change his pajamas, walked out, and saw his mother leaning against the door, looking at him hesitantly, as if he had something to say, he approached her and asked, "What's wrong?"

The mother looked at Zhang Jue for a while, without speaking, stood on tiptoe, and quietly brushed out the few strands of hair that Zhang Jue accidentally got stuck in the neckline of the turtleneck sweater, and walked out holding Zhang Jue's hand.

Chen Boqiao chatted with Zhang Jue's father.

The sofa in the living room was huge, and Chen Boqiao sat on the single sofa by the floor lamp, listening intently to Zhang Fu repeating the doctor's prediction on Zhang Jue's physical condition.

Zhang Jue's condition was a little more stable than Dr. He expected at the time. There was no major pregnancy reaction, and all indicators were developing normally. They decided to follow the hospital's conservative advice and let it develop. Regular checkups and observation for a period of time.

The date of the marriage must be rescheduled.

As soon as Zhang Jue and his mother passed the corner of the promenade, Chen Boqiao's eyes moved over. He smiled at Zhang Jue and said, "Are you awake?"

Zhang Jue hummed vaguely, and his father cleared his throat, and asked his wife how the meals in the kitchen were getting ready.

My mother asked through the internal line, and the chef said it was okay to eat, so they went to the restaurant.

The western dining table is very long, and four people sit at opposite ends of the table, and everyone is far away from each other.Halfway through the meal, Zhang Fu suddenly received a temporary appointment from the president. After eating a few more bites in a hurry, he said sorry and went out.

Zhang Jue's mother didn't have many words to say, so the three of them finished their meal quietly and sat in the living room for a while.

Due to the presence of the elders, Chen Boqiao kept a distance from Zhang Jue, and his expressions and movements were also very restrained, as if the two were fairly good friends, sitting and chatting peacefully together.

Mother asked Chen Boqiao some innocuous questions. She didn't know much about Zhang Jue's school days, and asked if they were friends when they were in Luoshi.

"I thought he had only one friend at school, Harrison," she said over the china mug.

Chen Boqiao didn't lie to Zhang Jue's mother, saying that they had a good relationship, but just smiled very gently, avoiding the seriousness and mentioning that he had lost his high school graduation album, and turned to ask Zhang Jue if he was still there.

On this day, Chen Boqiao talked more with Zhang Jue's parents than with Zhang Jue. Zhang Jue listened quietly all the time. When he saw Chen Boqiao's eyes, he froze for a moment before realizing that Chen Boqiao was asking him.

"Should be here." Zhang Jue thought for a while and said.

But he had forgotten whether it was in the study, the attic or in his own room. He had a photocopied version of the photo that was widely circulated on the Internet, and Chen Boqiao's graduation photo, but he was embarrassed to say it.

Chen Boqiao put down the cup and asked Zhang Jue to take him to see it.

Mother paused for a few seconds and said that she wanted to go to the greenhouse to prune flower branches, so she would not go upstairs with them.

Zhang Jue and Chen Boqiao got up together, and led Chen Boqiao through the short corridor covered with deep red carpet, to the wooden stairs.Zhang Jue turned on the wall lamp on the stairs and looked back at Chen Boqiao.

Zhang Jue's father believed that bright lights interfered with thinking, so the nights in his home were always dark and quiet.

Chen Boqiao was also standing in the warm yellow light watching Zhang Jue, tall and handsome, perfect, like an expensive wax figure in the twilight.

The heat evaporates from the wooden floor, making the not-so-narrow stairwell cramped and hazy.

"Go upstairs." Zhang Jue said lightly.Chen Boqiao didn't speak, and followed him up the stairs without haste.

The study room is the second room on the left on the second floor, where Zhang Jue’s father works. There is no carpet on the mahogany floor, and densely packed books cover the entire wall. Turning on the lights, he walked to the wall with the label "Zhang Jue", lowered his head slightly, and looked for the graduation album that Chen Boqiao wanted.

Chen Boqiao stood not far behind him and waited.

There are too many books on the bookshelf. There are picture albums from his childhood and reading materials from his student days. He has not found them for a long time. As he pressed his fingers on the spine of one book after another, he couldn't help but start to wonder if the graduation book was not in the study room at all. , suddenly a hand rested lightly on his shoulder, and the very faint smell of rosin and sea salt approached him.

Chen Boqiao hugged him from behind neither lightly nor heavily, Zhang Jue turned his head to look at it, Chen Boqiao briefly glanced at the bookcase, looked down at him, and easily described Zhang Jue: "You are looking too seriously .”

He pressed Zhang Jue's shoulder, made Zhang Jue turn around, lowered his head slightly, kissed Zhang Jue's forehead, and then gently put his right hand on Zhang Jue's lower abdomen through the soft sweater.

"I just—" Chen Boqiao said with a faint smile, "—I want to find a place with you where no one is around."

Zhang Jue's back was pressed against the bookshelf, his waist was hanging in the air, and Chen Boqiao soon hugged him tightly.