Ying Yunsheng was a little uncomfortable with the enthusiasm of the people inside: "Why did you pull me in?"
Ji Li said, "We'll grab some red envelopes later."
Sending red envelopes in the group on New Year's Eve has almost become a tradition. Everyone plays a red envelope relay game, with five red envelopes for ten yuan each. The person who gets the largest amount has to send the next one.
Ying Yunsheng had never experienced grabbing red envelopes in a group chat in the previous nineteen years of his life. Now, experiencing it for the first time, the only thought in his mind was: Why are the people in there so fast?
The relay lasted for nearly an hour, with almost thirty or forty red envelopes sent out. Ying Yunsheng only managed to grab three, and one of them happened to be his luckiest one, which ended up costing him three yuan and sixty cents.
Ying Yunsheng tapped his phone screen in frustration, just as his phone rang twice.
He exited the chat and saw two red envelopes prominently displayed in the pinned chat box.
It was sent by Ji Li.
Ying Yunsheng clicked on it, and the first item was standard, a full two hundred yuan.
The second display showed 40 yuan and 62 fen.
It's not an integer, nor is it a lucky number.
What does "Forty Yuan and Sixty-Two" mean?
Ji Li: "The red envelope I just grabbed is forty yuan and sixty-two cents."
Ying Yunsheng was taken aback.
Ji Li sat by the fireplace, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "The luck I snatched is now all yours."
.
Ying Yunsheng woke up very early the next day and went downstairs to see the old lady already sitting on the sofa.
The old lady stood up and took a red envelope out of her pocket: "Yunsheng, Happy New Year."
Ying Yunsheng paused for a few seconds before thanking him and carefully accepting the gift.
Since his grandmother passed away, he has never accepted red envelopes from his elders again.
Ji Li walked behind him: "We're going to the cemetery to pay respects to our ancestors later, do you want to come along?"
Ying Yunsheng nodded: "Okay."
In addition to the deceased Mr. Ji, we also need to pay our respects to Ji Li's biological parents.
When Ji Li stood in front of the grave, she introduced Ying Yunsheng with the same words and tone: "This is my boyfriend."
"If you don't object, please remember to bless him in heaven."
Ying Yunsheng couldn't think of anything to say, so he didn't speak. He simply followed the other person in offering three sticks of incense to each elder, bowing and kowtowing.
After the New Year, Ji Li and Ying Yunsheng returned to Chongliu, mainly to deal with the house they left in Tingfeng Lane.
In the past two years, the businesses around Tingfeng Lane have gradually developed, and during the Lunar New Year, you can still hear the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers being set off in the square outside.
Ying Yunsheng was disturbed by the sound of fireworks during his sleep that night. Half asleep, he reached out and found that the person next to him was empty.
He was startled, and his sleepiness vanished instantly. He got out of bed and ran outside. As soon as he stepped out, he saw a shadow on the balcony on one side of the living room.
Hearing the noise, Ji Li turned around and was immediately embraced by him: "Were you woken up?"
Ying Yunsheng told the truth: "You scared me awake."
"Uh..." Ji Li felt a little wronged for being unfairly blamed. Looking down at his thin pajamas, she nudged him and said, "Go put on some clothes first."
Ying Yunsheng went back into the room, put on a cotton-padded coat, and came out again: "What are you doing standing here?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I came out to take a look." Ji Li held a water glass in his hand. "I didn't look closely last time I came, but now I realize that this place has really changed a lot."
"For example?"
"For example, there used to be no illuminated fountains in the square, no department stores or supermarkets outside the residential buildings, and when you look across from here, there is no newly opened kindergarten, and there are certainly no fried food stalls open at this hour."
"Do you want some fried skewers?"
"A little."
"Should we go downstairs and buy some?"
Ji Li chuckled: "Never mind, it's too late."
Ying Yunsheng: "Then I'll go buy it."
“Uh…” Ji Li estimated the possibility of him sneaking downstairs afterward if he refused, and finally went downstairs with him.
There weren't many people in the square. The supermarket was still open, and you could see pedestrians coming and going at the entrance. Occasionally, a motorcycle would speed by, kicking up dust that would linger in the air for a while before slowly dissipating.
The fried skewers were sold at a late-night food stall, with several tables set up outside where people were drinking and playing drinking games.
Since they were already down there, the two of them weren't in a hurry to go back up. They strolled around the fried food stall and picked up a paper tube.
Ji Li couldn't eat too much fried food, so he only tasted a little bit of each before feeding the skewers to the side.
Ying Yunsheng held the paper tube in one hand and led him with the other, then turned his head and bit off a piece of tofu from the bamboo skewer.
It didn't bite through; it almost fell off completely.
Ji Li watched as he, like a hamster, ate a piece of tofu the size of half his face, bit by bit stuffing it into his mouth, his cheeks bulging out. Ji Li reached out and poked him.
Ying Yunsheng looked up, bewildered, and mumbled, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much."
The fireworks are still going off.
Ji Li stared blankly at the supermarket rooftop: "Do you think it's possible to get up there?"
Ying Yunsheng followed his gaze and glanced at him, without asking why he had such an idea: "Yes."
The building appears to have at least seven or eight floors, but the supermarket only occupies the bottom two floors. The passageway to the top is not inside the supermarket. Ying Yunsheng pulled him to the safety passageway on the side of the building.
This place probably isn't used often. Pushing open the door, you can smell a strong dusty odor. Through the dusty window, you can vaguely see cobwebs in the corner. There's a rickety chair that someone put there.
Without voice-activated lights, Ying Yunsheng walked in front, and Ji Li walked behind, holding one of his hands.
The dim lighting made Ji Li unaccustomed to the surroundings, but he rarely stopped to hold onto the wall or try to grab the railing. He didn't try to keep the initiative in his own hands at all times, but simply followed forward step by step, his eyes always fixed on the hair of the person in front of him, not afraid of falling because he wasn't looking where he was going.
Ying Yunsheng couldn't possibly let him fall; he would always remember to protect him.
After climbing about two or three steps, a door suddenly creaked open from below, and a flashlight shone directly in, knocking hard on the door twice.
"Who's there? Show yourself! Don't you know this area is off-limits?!"
Ji Li's hand tightened.
Ying Yunsheng grabbed him and ran upstairs.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the stairwell. The patrolmen below probably didn't expect anyone to be so bold, and they immediately gave chase: "Stop! Don't run!"
The two only ran a few steps up the stairs before Ying Yunsheng stopped between the floors and pulled Ji Li aside.
Ji Li's back was pressed tightly against his chest, and they squeezed together behind the cubicle door. His heart was still pounding from running so fast, and all he could hear were thumping sounds.
One goes from the inside out, while the other goes from the outside in.
He was stunned for a few seconds before realizing that it was Ying Yunsheng's heartbeat, transmitted along his spine, the disordered rhythm gradually coming together, stepping in the same rhythm.
The patrolmen's flashlights swept outside, with a few beams squeezing through the cracks in the door, flashing past their eyes before quickly disappearing.
The footsteps faded into the distance.
Ying Yunsheng's voice rang in his ears: "Are you feeling unwell? Does your heart hurt?"
"fine."
They had only run a few steps, and their heartbeats had already calmed down considerably.
When I think back on what I just did, I always feel like it was so stupid.
Ji Li is probably in this state right now. He could have explained it, he could have gone out and waited for people to leave before coming back in, or he could have gone to another building. He said that he wanted to come up here on a whim, and now the tide has basically receded.
Ying Yunsheng, however, thought of a little more than him.
For example, on the night after their class placement exam in their second year of high school, he and the other person were standing on the dormitory building when they heard the dormitory supervisor shouting downstairs. They reflexively squeezed into the same balcony and ended up being exposed to the wind all night.
It seems that from that moment on, his image in front of Ji Li was set, and he could no longer be serious and aloof.
The moment the two pushed open the door and walked out, Ji Li suddenly grabbed him: "Look outside."
It was early morning, and the sky was still gray. From this angle, you could see a stretch of pale blue-green, which gradually turned into a pale white-green from bottom to top, with the blue-green as the boundary.
Then, golden light spilled out from below the horizon.
Ying Yunsheng stared intently.
Ji Li didn't watch the sunrise, but instead turned her head to look at him, her gaze moving from his forehead to his eyelashes and then to the bridge of his nose.
People often say that the winter sun is more precious than gold, but they rarely see it, and this is the first time they've had the leisure to watch it rise.
Although the location wasn't the rooftop he initially envisioned, but rather in the stairwell, separated by a dusty window.
Ying Yunsheng didn't actually look at the sun much.
He had noticed the gaze fixed on his face long ago, but the sun was already halfway up the mountain and there was still no further movement. Finally, when the other person suggested going back, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you just leaving like that?"
Ji Li blinked in confusion: "Otherwise?"
"Uh..." Isn't it said online that when couples watch the sunrise together, their hormones tend to surge, and it's usually accompanied by some things that don't conform to socialism?
Ying Yunsheng: "Then why were you staring at me like that?"
"I just wanted to see you," Ji Li asked. "Can't I see you?"
"Uh..." Ying Yunsheng's face practically screamed "resentment": "Why didn't you watch the sunrise for no reason..."
Ji Li walked down to the first floor and finally smiled, saying, "Because I think you're prettier than the sunrise."
Ying Yunsheng was stunned. Just as he looked up, a soft, gentle kiss landed on his cheek.
Ji Li pushed open the safety door, then suddenly stopped.
The patrolman outside stood with his arms crossed, a forced smile on his face, and said, "So, you were the ones who sneaked in just now?"
Ji Li: "..."
Ying Yunsheng: "..."
The patrolman shouted, "Stand still! What are you doing here in the middle of the night?! Are you a grown man or a child?!"