Quirrell Reeves writes back

We descended the mountain before the sun completely dipped the horizon.

It was quite a distance from the ski resort to the apartment we rented, and the driver with his meticulous hairstyle quickly judged from the conversation of the two passengers in the back seat that we were not locals.I thought he was not very proficient in foreign languages, so he did his job conscientiously, stared straight ahead, and focused on driving.

Unlike our taxi drivers in Shanghai, they can chat with you for a long time through the baffle.

Shen Lu answered a phone call in the taxi, and chatted English with the opposite party, and they communicated for a while before hanging up.I leaned on the back seat and asked him casually, who is it.

He put the phone back into his coat pocket and said with a smile, the cake shop employee.

Oh, I nodded and reacted suddenly, "What do you order cake for?"

He was surprised: "Did you forget that tomorrow is your birthday?"

Of course I remember, but in the past I didn’t pay much attention to these forms of birthday celebrations.It doesn't matter where you live, whether you want to cut the cake, or even not.Birthday is not a big sense of ritual for me, and occasionally it reminds me of unpleasant memories in high school.

Especially when I was an adult, except for Shen Lu who gave me a gift every year, I actually didn't have much real feeling about birthdays.

Flying abroad for vacation this year, I took this trip as another birthday present from Lu Shen.Unexpectedly, he ordered another cake. He really became more childish the older he got.

Having said that, I'm still very happy.A strange thought popped into my mind——

It would be great if I could be loved by him like this for the rest of my life.

The well-dressed driver in the front row is too decent, and a glance at him can kill all my beautiful thoughts.I quietly went to shake Shen Lu's hand, the heater in the taxi couldn't warm it up, so leave it to me.

Back at the apartment, Shen Lu volunteered to wash the vegetables.Winter is a wonderful season, you will be shivered by the cold wind, and you will sweat because of not too much exercise.I took off my fluffy booties and went upstairs to take a shower while he was busy doing the dishes.

When I stepped on my slippers and came down from the second floor, the delivery boy from the cake shop had already come by at some point and placed the gift box on the square table in the living room.

As night fell, Shen Lu came out of the kitchen with a plate, and he fried a few home-cooked dishes, saving me a lot of work.

I exaggerated: "Fortunately, I have a name for my birthday, otherwise I would wonder why you have nothing to do."

He shook the water off the back of his hands, pulled out the chair and sat across from me, and said, "It's as if I never cook at home."

"It feels like we're getting old early," I sigh, "and I still prefer those moments to drinking with a bunch of friends."

Shen Lu smiled, and took a chopsticks of shrimp balls for me, "You will say that in front of me, it's good once in a while, if it really makes you stay at home every day, you will be bored to death."

I buried my head in eating, ignoring his ruthless debunking of my behavior.

Shen Lu was very active today, he ran to wash the dishes after eating, leaving me alone in the living room.

It’s past ten o’clock in the East Ninth District time, an hour faster than in China, and the sky outside is already dark. I walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and pulled up the screens to completely isolate myself from the outside world.

The tablecloth was the same light beige color as the window screen. I rolled up my sleeves and lay down on the table, slowly undoing the ribbon that bound the cake box.Open the box, and the cake inside is in the shape of a cat.

Shen Lu came from behind, with a deep smile in his voice, "Does it look like you?"

I retorted him in a low voice: "Not like!"

He didn't argue with me on trivial things like this. He looked up at the time and said that it was still early. He wanted to take a shower first and let me watch TV programs first.

I hold the remote control to turn the channel back and forth. At the end of the year, the TV station will do some family fun programs, and most of the entertainers invited are well-known celebrities in Japan.I recognize some, and I can vaguely understand the exaggerated jokes, so I laughed out loud along with the entertainers on the TV screen.

Shen Lu put on a shirt and came out, his hair was mostly dried, and sat down next to me.

I leaned on him, laughed and explained to him some difficult jokes for people who don't understand Japanese. I reluctantly turned off the TV until the show was over.

Shen Lu took the lighter from the coffee table, ready to light the candles on the birthday cake.

I twisted a little cream with my fingers, the sweetness was just right, and it melted in my mouth instantly.I think of the birthday presents that Shen Lu gave me that were never the same in the past ten years.

Ten-year-old Lego toys, 16-year-old out-of-print tapes, exquisite wristwatches, and 25-year-old huge oil paintings.

I began to look forward to it, stopped his hand holding the lighter, and said shamelessly: "The time zone is different, wait a minute, it's not tomorrow yet."

Shen Lu really listened to my opinion, the silver lighter got stuck in the tablecloth, he stretched out his hand and asked me to walk to him.

He pressed my shoulders and made me sit on the chair.Then I rubbed the top of my hair like petting a pet, and said, baby, what wish do you plan to make this year?

This is a difficult problem.

Because the wishes I made in the previous four years were very consistent, and in the fifth year, they have been fulfilled before my birthday.

I shook my head and said reverently, "I don't have any special wishes to fulfill."

Good health and smooth work are difficult to control. Ms. Lin also burns incense and worships Buddha in Putuo Temple every year to pray for her family. Worshiping two different gods should not increase the power of vows.

Shen Lu smiled, he said, can the baby lend me this year's wish?

I was a little stunned, but I still nodded and asked him curiously, what wish do you want to make?

He glanced at the clock on the wall, picked up the candle again, "Put in the candle first, and I'll tell you after the promise is over."

Out of strong curiosity, I closed my eyes with him.When he was about to open it again, Shen Lu raised his hand to cover my sight.

I don't know what trick he's up to, but he puts his hands down quickly.

"What are you doing?"

Shen Lu lowered his body and said softly: "My wish is that the baby will not be angry with me because the birthday present is too simple."

"Oh, what are you talking about." I went to shake his hand, but I touched a piece of cold and hard metal.

Shen Lu spread out his palms, revealing two plain men's rings of the same style.

I know what he means by simple, the two rings are no different from plain rings, with a little more texture, and there is no time to inlay any gems.

But does it matter?

I lowered my head and stared at his palm, unable to utter a word.

He paused for a moment, then said slowly: "Do you still remember that in [-], I accepted a lawsuit and stayed in Guangzhou for a long time?"

what.

How can I forget this.

Shen Lu knew that I must remember, so he continued without waiting for a reply: "Actually, the case was over long ago. I went to Hong Kong in the third week, and I bought these two rings in Hong Kong. I haven't sent them after so long." Get out, it's kind of embarrassing to say."

"When I was ordering the ring, I met the client in that case, Zhou Yu'an. She is still very popular now, and we have all heard her songs. Zhou Yu'an and her assistant went to Hong Kong for vacation together, and happened to meet me, and we went together I stayed in Hong Kong for a while. Sometimes the arm exposed in the photo is Zhou Yuan herself, and sometimes it is her very thin assistant. You are so stupid, you must not have noticed that there are actually two people."

I couldn't quite digest what he said, so I asked in a daze, "What are you talking about..."

"Actually, you may not be the only one who is stupid." Shen Lu smiled bitterly. "I haven't had much contact with Zhou Yu'an in the past few years. After all, she is a public figure. But occasionally she comes to Shanghai to hold concerts and make appointments. I went out to drink, and by the way, ask me when I can meet the owner of the ring."

"It may be that the comfortable life has paralyzed me. The ring I planned to give away at that time has been kept until now. After a long time, I finally realized how stupid I had done, and then I thought of returning it to the original owner."

He squeezed the ring into my palm, and then took mine with his own.

I seem to finally know what he is talking about.

I asked him slowly, "Are you proposing?"

Shen Lu shook his head and said no, it was just a belated birthday present.He kissed the back of my hand, "Of course the proposal ring is not so simple, I have to wait for the baby to forgive me before I can propose to you."

"So you lied to me that time that you were with someone else?"

Shen Lu said, yes.

A string in the head was beating desperately, disturbing the rest of the nerves.I tightened my ten fingers, and slowly figured out the blunders, and suddenly realized that it was just two fools who missed each other.

I suddenly wanted to ask that question that I couldn't ask, so I lowered my eyes, "Then when did you like me?"

As expected, Shen Lu got stuck, with an almost self-deprecating expression on his face, he said softly but firmly: "If there is a specific time, it should be when I was just in the first year of high school."

"Ah," I said dryly, "it's so early."

Shen Xiaoba, who is always skinny and shameless, showed what can be called a shy expression. He whispered in my ear, because I was on the small bed in the dormitory... I had a nocturnal emission.

I:"……"

"I'm sorry," he said over and over, putting his arms around the back of my neck, "I'm sorry, baby."

There is nothing sorry, I am very happy now.My mood is very simple, I just think it's funny, how stupid do I have to be, to be like the two of us, dragging on for ten years before expressing our feelings for each other.

I said, it's okay, it's really okay.But the cheeks were wet, and something came out of the eyes.

Shen Lu touched my face, and hugged me helplessly, "Stop crying, baby, it's my birthday today, you can't be sad."

I nestled on his shoulder and nodded silently, trying my best to restrain myself.

"Are you made of a crystal bag? Tears drip when you touch it." Shen Lu kissed my tears away, and looked at me quietly for a long time, "Happy birthday, baby."

I looked down and put one of the rings on his long thin finger, and couldn't help smiling.

"It's never too late."

【fin.】