Venus

Qiu Ziming has changed a lot.

He has a neat short haircut, his cheeks are not as sharp as before, and there is a faint rosiness, and even his eyes are no longer hollow and cold.

He was wearing a cheap dark gray sweater, surrounded by several blind children, like a handsome and gentle big brother next door.

But he has not changed - he is still the same Qiu Ziming who can always recognize Xia Qiyou immediately.

Qiu Ziming's light-colored pupils were out of focus for a while, and then he smiled strangely, "Happy New Year's Eve."

He bent down slightly, and carefully stroked the blind child from the top of his head to his back with both hands, and asked softly, "Have you picked out everything? If there is nothing left, go to pay the bill."

Xia Qiyou had a strange feeling that his soul was withdrawn from his body.He watched Qiu Ziming take three blind children to check out, and joked with them in a low voice while waiting in line.He couldn't believe what he saw.

After paying the bill, Xia Qiyou followed Qiu Ziming on the walkway for the blind.The children walked slowly with a small shopping bag each, and Qiu Ziming walked behind the children with a large shopping bag.

None of them showed the characteristics of most blind people's travels-no tandem and one behind each other's shoulders, and no timid groping and tentativeness.

Xia Qiyou thought for a long time before he thought of what word to use to describe them: decent.

A long time ago, Xia Qiyou was very puzzled, how could a blind man be as decent as Qiu Ziming?

He is like a gentleman who has removed all deliberate and pretentiousness, can walk through the busy streets like ordinary people, can maintain an elegant demeanor in a meeting of confrontations, and can surprise countless people at a banquet where celebrities gather and expressions of admiration.

"Ziming..." Xia Qiyou plucked up the courage to whisper, and after saying two words, his mind went blank, and he didn't know what to say.

"Long time no see" is too perfunctory, "How's it going?" is too old-fashioned, and "What a coincidence" is too exaggerated.

And the words "I've been looking for you"...he couldn't say it.

Qiu Ziming's pace was delayed for an instant.He turned his head and smiled at Xia Qiyou, "Why?"

When he smiled like this, the hustle and bustle of the whole city seemed to subside in an instant, and the grand landscape of the whole street turned into a hazy background picture.

Xia Qiyou took half a step towards him, "Where are you going next?"

"Send them back to school." Qiu Ziming replied flatly.

"And then?" After the first question was thrown out, Xia Qiyou's heart was filled with countless questions.He tried his best not to ask so many questions.

"And then?" Qiu Ziming blinked, "Prepare the New Year's Eve dinner with Mr. Li, and celebrate the New Year with them."

Xia Qiyou looked at the children walking in front, and then at Qiu Ziming, "Can I... celebrate the New Year with you?"

Qiu Ziming frowned unhappily, Xia Qiyou's heart ached when he saw it.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Ziming quickly agreed: "If you are not busy, you can take care of them for me this afternoon."

"Not busy, not busy at all." Xia Qiyou stared at him blankly, "Where is the school?"

"We'll be there soon. Go through an intersection ahead and turn right..."

Xia Qiyou followed Qiu Ziming to a simple school for the blind.The school is very small, there are only more than 30 blind children in total, the oldest is six or seven years old, and the youngest is three or four years old.

Qiu Ziming took Xia Qiyou to the office and introduced him to the school's director, Teacher Li: "This is my friend Xia Qiyou, who said he wanted to celebrate the New Year with the children."

Only then did Xia Qiyou realize that it would be inappropriate for him to come here empty-handed.When he was working at the foundation in the past, every time he went to an institution for the blind, he would bring some small gifts.It's still New Year's Eve, so the etiquette is really not good enough.

Teacher Li is not blind. He was a little surprised to see Xia Qiyou, and then extended his hand in a friendly way, "Thank you for your kindness. I thank you for the children."

Xia Qiyou was even more embarrassed: "I met Ziming on the road and followed me. I didn't prepare anything. I'm really sorry. I'll be back right away after I do some shopping!"

Qiu Ziming grabbed him, "No need, if you really want to do something, just send some communicators."

Xia Qiyou glanced at Qiu Ziming in astonishment - he knew nothing about Qiu Ziming's life these years, but Qiu Ziming seemed to know him well.

His thoughts were confused, he only made some vague greetings to Mr. Li, and then asked Qiu Ziming to take him to the classroom.

This special education school has only one classroom; the three children who went to the canteen with Qiu Ziming before are distributing candy.

As soon as Qiu Ziming came in, the children immediately fell silent.He briefly introduced Xia Qiyou to the children; before leaving, he smiled at him: "I'll trouble you in the afternoon, if you encounter any problems, you can find Teacher Li or me."

Xia Qiyou has not been active with so many blind children for a long time.He was a little uncomfortable, his expression and limbs were very stiff.Good thing the kids can't see it.

He could feel the children's liking for him; in such a festival, suddenly there was another person who cared about them, and he would always feel happy.

In the evening, Teacher Li brought some paper-cut window grilles and ribbons to decorate the classroom and add some New Year flavor.Xia Qiyou divided the work with her, and it was completed soon.Pointing to different shapes of window grilles, he described the shapes of different paper-cuts to the children.

He said "snowflakes are hexagonal", and all the children disliked "hexagonal flowers are ugly"; Imagine what the feather would look like.

The New Year's Eve dinner is held in the classroom.Teacher Li assembled the desks into a big table, and the children gathered in a circle. In front of everyone, there was a staple food of dumplings and a variety of side dishes.Teacher Li also moved his computer to the classroom and listened to the Spring Festival Gala program with everyone.

Xia Qiyou waited for a while but did not see Qiu Ziming, so he went to the kitchen.Qiu Ziming took off his sweater, only wearing a white shirt and an apron, and was slowly making dumplings.

Even with the strong smell of fireworks in the background, he still doesn't look down-to-earth at all.Xia Qiyou struggled to pull himself out of the chaotic emotions, and shouted, "Don't pack it, you can't finish it. Go eat, everyone is waiting for you."

Qiu Ziming dexterously made a beautiful dumpling and put it on the chopping board, "People here like to eat a strong food. Those dumplings contain onions and fatty meat. You can't get used to it."

Xia Qiyou felt that his throat was dry, "Are you making a special treatment for me?"

Qiu Ziming didn't answer, but counted the number of dumplings, turned around and said, "You go back to accompany them first, I'll be fine soon."

It was the first time for Xia Qiyou to eat dumplings so seriously.He has never liked this kind of northern food, but this time the taste is really impeccable.

Teacher Li was very cheerful. While chatting, he mentioned Xia Qiyou's metaphor of "snowflakes are six feathers around a round hole" to Qiu Ziming, saying that Xia Qiyou is still a child at heart.

Qiu Ziming smiled softly: "He's always been like that, he's unconstrained."

Xia Qiyou's cheeks were a little hot, "I'm an R&D person, so I don't understand so many fancy descriptions. What would you say?"

Qiu Ziming put down his chopsticks, "Actually, I don't know what the shape of a snowflake is, and I can't describe it. I only know that it is colorless, odorless, icy to the touch, very soft, and easy to melt. But the window grilles you mentioned, I can't describe them. You have to touch its outline with your own hands to know."

The children are young, and they play more happily during the festival than usual, and they get sleepy earlier at night.

At around nine o'clock, Teacher Li took them to the dormitory to help them fall asleep.Xia Qiyou and Qiu Ziming cleaned up, then sat in the classroom and listened to the Spring Festival Gala program.Xia Qiyou wanted to speak several times, but seeing Qiu Ziming's flat expression, he swallowed the question again.

It was almost ten o'clock when Teacher Li came back. Seeing that Qiu Ziming was still there, he hesitated and took out a red envelope from his bag, "Mr. Qiu, Happy New Year."

Before Qiu Ziming could refuse, she handed another red envelope to Xia Qiyou, "Mr. Xia, thank you today too."

"Thank you. Happy New Year." Qiu Ziming said, gently touching Xia Qiyou with his arm.

Xia Qiyou also reacted, and thanked him and took the red envelope.

Qiu Ziming's apartment is in the nearby residential building.He arrived at the intersection with Xia Qiyou, and suddenly asked, "Where do you live?"

Xia Qiyou reported the address of the hotel, and Qiu Ziming said: "This place is very remote. I don't know if there is a taxi at this time. If you don't mind, why don't you come and stay with me for one night?"

"Okay." Xia Qiyou was so excited that his voice was a little excited.

After arriving at Qiu Ziming's home, Xia Qiyou suddenly remembered that he had missed a project decision from the company.He was in a trance for a while, and then he forgot all about work.

Qiu Ziming's apartment is a common two-bedroom apartment in this city, with a large balcony outside the living room.

Xia Qiyou followed him into the door, as if breaking into a dark and alien territory.Qiu Ziming didn't know if it was on purpose, but it took a while before he remembered to turn on the light.He asked Xia Qiyou apologetically, "Why didn't you remind me to turn on the light?"

The light in the living room is not strong, and the mild orange light dimly blurs the deserted space through the paper cover.

Xia Qiyou unconsciously sat down beside him, "I can adapt." He was worried that Qiu Ziming would not understand what he meant, and said, "I can adapt to an environment without light. It doesn't matter whether the light is on or not."

Qiu Ziming's side face looked very lonely.

Xia Qiyou raised his hand to wrap his arms around his shoulder, but when he touched him only a centimeter away, he still reluctantly took it back.

Qiu Ziming didn't seem to notice anything, and asked casually, "Why did you go back to China?"

"I met Qiao Dailing in Los Angeles half a year ago." Xia Qiyou watched the slightest expression change on his face, "She said that your engagement was cancelled."

"What a coincidence..." Qiu Ziming seemed a little surprised, "How is she doing?"

Xia Qiyou's voice became cold: "It's been so long, can't you let her go?"

Qiu Ziming turned his head, his light gray eyes were moist, "Don't mention her. Why did you go back to China?"

"Of course it's for..." Xia Qiyou suddenly stopped his voice, his Adam's apple rolled, "For work."

"You are doing very well now." Qiu Ziming smiled approvingly, "Mr. Xia will definitely be proud of you."

The three words "Mr. Xia" made Xia Qiyou collapse in an instant.He covered his face with his hands, then scratched his hair irritably twice, with a hoarse voice, "Brother..."

Qiu Ziming frowned slightly and interrupted him, "The bed in the guest bedroom isn't made yet, I'll prepare it. You take a shower first."

Xia Qiyou was tossing and turning on the bed in the guest bedroom wearing Qiu Ziming's pajamas.He couldn't sleep, he had too many things he wanted to ask Qiu Ziming, but Qiu Ziming didn't seem to want to tell him.

In the early morning, Xia Qiyou turned over and got out of bed, went to the door of the master bedroom and whispered: "Ziming? Are you asleep?"

There was no sound from behind the door, Xia Qiyou raised his voice slightly and asked again.He thought, if Qiu Ziming really fell asleep, he would knock on the door vigorously to wake him up.

The door opened silently.Qiu Ziming was behind the door, his voice was a little tired, "What's wrong?"

"It's the New Year's Eve." Xia Qiyou was a little nervous, "Let's celebrate the New Year together."

"I'm a little tired, I'm going to rest." Qiu Ziming said and was about to close the door.

Xia Qiyou hurriedly put his arm against the door and growled, "Qiu Ziming!"

"..." Qiu Ziming opened the door, "How do you want to celebrate the new year?"

The New Year's Eve is just an excuse for Xia Qiyou.All the windows were shut and the curtains were drawn.

When the clock reached zero, Xia Qiyou could neither see nor hear the sound of fireworks.All he saw was Qiu Ziming, and all he heard was his breathing.

"You always knew, didn't you?" He asked, "Qiu Minze wanted me to have no place in that city and set me up. You knew it from the beginning, am I right?"

Qiu Ziming raised his head slightly and sighed softly: "Don't you already know the answer?"

"And what I did," Xia Qiyou laughed self-deprecatingly, "I really can't hide anything from you."

Qiu Ziming lowered his eyes and said in a low voice after a long time, "I'm sorry."