“The capital city,” Ji Li explained. “My aunt is in the hospital right now, and I have to go see her.”
Ying Yunsheng: "How long will it take?"
Ji Li ladled the soup out of the pot: "I don't know, but I estimate it will take a few days."
Ying Yunsheng didn't ask any more questions.
Ji Li went to his room to pack his things. He already had many of his things in the capital, so he didn't need to bring much; he only packed a backpack.
Ying Yunsheng helped him carry his things out and pressed the elevator button.
Ji Li followed behind and said, "Ying Yunsheng."
Ying Yunsheng instinctively ran over: "What's wrong?"
Ji Li grabbed his index finger and pressed it onto the recognition area on the door lock.
The door lock beeped, indicating that fingerprint registration was successful.
“From now on, you can just use your index finger to unlock the door,” Ji Li said, handing him the access card. “Take this, and remember to take it with you wherever you go. The computer on my desk in my room isn’t password protected; just turn it on if you want to use it. Don’t skimp on meals; the groceries in the fridge are all freshly bought. The air conditioner remote is on the bedside table, and the trash bags are on the coffee table in the living room. After you change them, just put the trash by the door. Sanitation workers come to the building every day to clean, and they’ll collect it when they see it. Also…”
Ying Yunsheng grabbed him and led him into the elevator: "You really treat me like a child?"
Ji Li: "You are a minor."
Ying Yunsheng: "Aren't you the same?"
That concludes our discussion on age.
As soon as they stepped out of the residential area, they saw the car they had called ahead. Ying Yunsheng stopped and said, "Ji Li."
He took the bag: "Hmm."
Ying Yunsheng was silent for a moment: "Take care of yourself."
Ji Li smiled and said, "I know."
Ying Yunsheng was silent for a while, then his voice suddenly softened: "I kind of regret going to work a few days ago."
If he had stayed indoors all the time, he could have spent at least a few more days with the other person.
Instead of what we're experiencing now, where we finally escape being separated from each other, only to have to part ways again after a short time.
Ying Yunsheng knew very little about romantic relationships, and Ji Li was well aware of this. Although he was a complete novice in terms of knowledge, he was like a seasoned veteran in some aspects, expressing "I like you" without any attempt to hide it in his words and actions.
Ji Li felt that this might be why he couldn't bear to see the other person sad: "I'll be back soon."
Ying Yunsheng looked at him and asked, "Can I come with you?"
Ji Li chuckled: "You can't bear to part with me, can you?"
Ying Yunsheng nodded.
"What happens if you sign a contract with your workplace and breach it?"
Ji Li said, "Besides, you didn't bring anything with you, not even your ID card. I don't know if you can get a ticket to go with me, and you won't have a place to stay when you get there. Are you going to stay at my grandma's house with me? Are you already preparing to meet my parents?"
Ying Yunsheng could not answer.
Actually, these are not very difficult problems to solve.
The key point is that Ji Li's words made it very clear that he had no intention of letting him come along.
Ying Yunsheng could not go against his wishes.
"I'm just going to visit relatives, it's not like I'm going to the battlefield, and it's not like we'll be separated forever." Ji Li kissed him on the lips against the light of the street lamp. "Take good care of yourself, and wait for me to come back."
He waved and got into a taxi.
Ying Yunsheng's arms suddenly felt empty, and the night wind made them feel cold.
.
Ji Li arrived in the capital at nearly midnight.
His aunt had just come out of the delivery room and was currently fast asleep. Besides her husband and the hired postpartum nanny, the only other person in the room was the baby still lying in the cradle.
My aunt is a light sleeper; she woke up at the sound of movement. She was happy to see him, but after saying only a few words, she fell asleep again, exhausted.
My uncle, worried about disturbing his wife and children, pulled him aside to talk in the hallway: "You came over as soon as you got the call?"
"Um."
The two didn't have much in common, mainly because his uncle treated him with a cautious demeanor, afraid of accidentally saying something inappropriate. In fact, almost all the elders in the Ji family treated him similarly—polite yet distant, with only his peers showing him any real warmth.
Having already met the person, Ji Li didn't stay at the hospital for long before taking a car to the old house.
The lights were still on in the house, and the air conditioner in the living room was whirring. The girl who opened the door was carrying a plush teddy bear that was as tall as herself. She threw the bear on the ground and was about to pounce on him: "Brother!"
Ji Li pressed her forehead, then touched his lips with his finger: "Are you alone? Are Grandma and the others asleep?"
“Grandma can’t stay up all night, my parents have to go to work tomorrow, and my brother has to catch a plane,” the girl said, counting on her fingers one by one. “Only I am here to wait for you and open the door for you.”
Ji Li glanced at the computer screen, which was still glowing: "Did Grandma tell you to wait?"
The girl didn't deny it, and said in a drawn-out tone, "You can't stop me from finding a way to pass the time."
Because she had just started junior high school, the girl's computer time was strictly controlled by her parents. Now, as soon as summer vacation arrived, she immediately went to her grandmother's house, staying in a place where her parents couldn't control her, and playing games with the mouse. Once she got into the game, she forgot about time.
Although the others in the room had already gone to bed, some people woke up during their conversation and went downstairs.
Ji Li called out to the woman coming down the stairs, "Auntie, did I wake you?"
Auntie laughed and said, "Not at all, it's just that your uncle called me and said you're almost home." Then she turned and glared at her daughter with a sharp look, "Turn off the computer before midnight, didn't you promise me that?"
The girl said expectantly, "The game has already started, and we can't stop in the middle..."
"Why didn't you just log off when the time was almost up?" Auntie had a terrible temper. "Are you trying to get out of control, or have I called you 'Silly Baby' so many times that your brain has really gone dull?"
The girl didn't want to hear that ridiculously silly nickname at all: "If you know it'll make me stupid, then don't call me that."
"Look at your classmates, they're all taking advantage of the summer vacation to sign up for tutoring classes, and what about you? All you do is sit in front of the computer all day. Do you want to spend your life with the computer?!"
The girl whispered, "It's not that it's impossible."
"Uh..." Seeing that her mother was about to lose her temper, the girl quickly turned her gaze to Ji Li, her eyes saying two big words: Help!
Ji Li called out, "Auntie."
The effect was immediate.
The aunt's anger immediately dissipated as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, and she turned to him with a smile: "You must be tired after sitting in the car for so long, right?"
Ji Li shook his head: "Can I borrow Yao Yao's computer later? I want to look up some information."
“Sure, sure,” Auntie readily agreed. “You can use it as you like, just don’t let her play games.”
The girl didn't breathe a sigh of relief until her mother went into the room. She happily carried the computer back, saying, "Brother, you're really my brother!"
Ji Li: "Tang's."
"Okay, cousin." The girl sat back down on the sofa and went back to fighting.
Ji Li plugged in her phone, which had run out of battery and turned off, and took the time to take a shower. When she came out while drying her hair, her phone was already lit up.
He replied to each message one by one, and when he got to the last one, he suddenly saw a text message from an unknown number.
Only one sentence: 【Have you arrived yet?】;
There were no notes or records.
Ji Li was a little confused. He originally wanted to delete it and pretend he hadn't seen it, but then the number sent another message: "[I am Ying Yunsheng.]"
He closed the door and made a phone call.
Ying Yunsheng rarely uses a mobile phone and didn't know where the microphone was, so his voice came through in a low voice: "Have you arrived yet?"
“I’m home now,” Ji Li said. “My phone was dead before, so I didn’t see the messages.”
Ying Yunsheng asked, "Have you had dinner?"
Ji Li had left in a hurry, so they only prepared a meal for him before packing their luggage and rushing to catch the train, without even touching their chopsticks.
"have eaten."
What did you eat?
"Bread bought from a convenience store at the train station."
Even through the screen, Ying Yunsheng's tone revealed his disapproval: "You told me before not to settle for cheap meals."
When the people stopped lighting lamps, the magistrate started setting fires.
Ji Li chuckled: "By the time we got to the station, it was almost time to check tickets. There wasn't enough time."
"And what happens after you get off the bus?"
“Everyone in the house is asleep, and it’s past midnight already, so eating now might not be a good idea.” Ji Li took the initiative in the conversation. “Don’t talk about me, what about you? Where did you get this number? Did you borrow it from someone?”
“No,” Ying Yunsheng said, “I bought it.”
When was it bought?
"After you left."
Ji Li was taken aback: "You went out in the middle of the night to buy a phone card?"
Ying Yunsheng: "It was a free gift with the purchase of a mobile phone."
After the college entrance examination, the school and the community gave him a bonus. He is not actually short of money now. He works part-time because he has developed a habit over the years. He is always afraid and wants to be prepared for any eventuality.
The phone he has now is the same model as Ji Li's. He remembered it after he saw Ji Li take off his phone case once, but he didn't know the brand. He found it after describing it to the shop assistant. The only difference is the color.
Ji Li's is white, while his is black.
But Ji Li didn't know any of this: "Why buy this all of a sudden?"
Ying Yunsheng said, "You don't have a landline phone at home. I was planning to borrow someone's phone to call you when I went to work tomorrow, but I found I couldn't resist."
The capital city showed no signs of falling asleep at night. Standing in the room on the third floor, one could vaguely see the streets in the distance still bustling with traffic and the howling wind.
Ji Li stood on the balcony wearing only a thin nightgown.
Ying Yunsheng's voice was muffled: "I miss you now."
Suddenly a gust of wind blew by, ruffling the hem of her pajamas.
Ji Li reached out and smoothed it out, then said softly, "Have you ever been to the capital?"