The direct flight from Beijing to France takes about twelve hours. It is now seven or eight o'clock in the evening in Beijing.
Translated to the other side, that's around 2 p.m.
That statement was indeed no joke.
There was indeed a flight back to China in the evening, but it took off at two in the morning.
Shi Li calculated in his mind and was confused for a moment, "Didn't I say you're not allowed to come over?"
There was a faint "hmm" from the other side.
Shi Li opened his lips, not knowing what to say. In the end, he could only turn the distress that he didn't even realize into words of concern, "Are you tired? Did you sleep on the plane?"
"You did, it's okay."
"Which airport?"
"..."
The words coming from the earphones paused and whispered four words.
"I'm coming here now, don't run around."
It was like telling some misbehaving little animal.
After Shi Li finished speaking, he hung up the phone. He quietly put the unfinished paper into his schoolbag, planning to stay up late to finish it when he came back tonight. Then he pretended to have just finished his homework and walked out of the corridor with his schoolbag in his arms. walked through the aisle.
Then he pretended to be nonchalant and glanced down at the living room.
Because both mother and Lele came back tonight, Shi Fuchuan was rarely in the mood to sit in the living room, occasionally chatting with Lele, and chatting with Xiang Xiaoying from time to time.
Switch to a few familiar channels and watch TV and the news.
Shi Li quietly returned to his room, closed the door and looked at the time on his phone. It was eight o'clock in more than ten minutes.
Around this time, Dad will go back to the study to work. After a while, it will be time for him to take a shower and go to bed.
As long as Shifuchuan goes up, my mother will go back to the room to remove her makeup. My eldest brother has been in the study for the past two days and rarely does anything.
Shi Li mentally demonstrated the process of sneaking out of the house, nodded, and secretly made up his mind to do that later.
He placed his bag at the foot of the bed.
He leaned against the door of his room, hugged his knees and sat on the carpet, breathing in and out quietly, listening attentively to whether there was anyone walking by outside the door.
From time to time I look at the time on my phone.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes...
the almost stagnant time passed slowly in the anxious waiting.
It was already past eight o'clock, but Shi Li still didn't hear anything. He couldn't help but quietly turned the door handle, opened it a crack, and put his ear to listen to the sounds outside the door.
I could vaguely hear the vague sound of the TV coming from the living room.
Mom and dad haven't gone upstairs yet.
Shi Li took a deep breath and couldn't help but glance at the time.
He was afraid that the other party would wait too long, but Shi Li rarely tried to go out at such a late hour, and even asked for a car to go to a place as far away as the suburban airport.
I don't want my parents to worry.
But...
time passed by minute by second, and Shi Li closed the door again tiredly. Finally, at 8:30, the sound of staggered footsteps came from the corridor outside the door.
The two of them kept each other company, occasionally chatting and laughing.
Shi Li pricked up his ears, held his breath, and listened quietly. When it was completely quiet outside, he carefully opened the door, walked out quietly, and went down the stairs step by step.
Lele, who was lying in the living room, raised her head and saw him. Just as she was about to say "Woo", she saw the little master raised a finger, put it in the middle of his mouth, and said "Shh" silently.
Lele calmed down, tilted her puppy head slightly, and looked at her little master quietly with her small puppy eyes.
There is also Aunt Liu in the kitchen who is washing the fruit plate.
Seeing that Aunt Liu's back was turned, Shi Li trotted to the door, took her fingerprints, and slipped out through the crack in the door.
As soon as I left the house, I took out my phone and ordered a ride-hailing service.
It took more than an hour of walking out of the Shi family compound, waiting for the bus, getting in the bus, and driving before Shi Li finally got out of the car and looked up slightly at the vast airport gate in front of him.
The inside of the smooth glass door reflects the hurried figures inside. Beijing is a big city, and even at this point in the night, flights are still very full.
Shi Li looked at the phone again. It had been two hours since the call was hung up.
He let out a breath of late night air.
This season, Beijing and the city have not yet warmed up, and the temperature at night is also much lower.
Shi Li was still wearing his school uniform during the day, and had not changed out of it. The short-sleeved shirt made him look particularly immature. He looked around and saw no familiar figure outside the glass door, and finally passed the sensor gate and entered the airport.
After taking two tentative steps, he was ready to take out his cell phone to make a call.
But in the blink of an eye, when he looked sideways, Shi Li paused. There was a young man dressed in black sitting outside the convenience store inside the airport.
Loose suit pants, a jacket pulled up to the top, two long legs that seemed to have nowhere to rest, slightly spread, elbows on the knees, quietly looking down at the phone with the screen on.
Next to his feet is a travel backpack, facing him sideways, and you can vaguely see the sharp eyebrows on the side, and the hairstyle is a bit messy due to the rush of travel.
The skin color is as white as a mixed race, but the color of the eyes is extremely pure black. When they are slightly lowered, they have a loose feeling.
He seemed to have walked out of the terminal specially, went to the convenience store at the entrance of the airport, picked a spot where he could see it as soon as he entered, and then sat quietly, waiting, and saw that he had not received anything since he hung up. Message on mobile phone.
Shi Li suddenly felt guilty, as if he had left something behind in this empty and spacious airport.
And the other party has been waiting for him to come back and take it away.
"Sorry, I'm late."
The boy stopped next to the young man.
The cell phone with the screen on was turned off. Gu Ze raised his eyes slightly, looked over, and then frowned, "Why are you wearing so little?"
His tone was familiar.
It was as if they had never been apart for more than half a year. Since he went to Europe as an exchange student in his sophomore year, he could only see each other during the holidays after every semester.
Shi Li took two steps and sat on the bench in front of the convenience store, next to Gu Ze. "Next time, don't run back without saying a word."
No response was heard.
Shi Li stretched out a finger and poked the young man's arm with his fingertips. "Did you hear that?"
He looked a little angry.
Gu Ze then straightened up and explained, "I didn't come back suddenly. After the seminar, I have to go back to London." He said, "There is a flight back to London from France, but I have to transfer in Beijing."
Shi Li said "Huh?" and was stunned for a moment, "Then did you buy this flight?"
Gu Ze spat out two words, "No."
Shi Li was stunned for a moment, and his expression became a little confused.
Gu Ze, "That flight was a bit late and the duration was a bit long."
Shi Li said, "How long will it take?"
Gu Ze said, "A day or two?"
Shi Li said "Ah", "That's indeed a long time."
" But it only takes an hour to fly back to London." Gu Ze said the words clearly, and he looked at the stunned Shi Li intently.
The implication is that I came back specifically to see you.
Not too troublesome and not too tired, I took the 2 o'clock flight in the middle of the night and landed in Beijing in 12 hours. Later, I took another flight from Beijing back to Paris, which also took 12 hours.
Going around and around, back and forth.
Just for these ten minutes of sitting together and chatting quietly.
Shi Li held his breath slightly for a while, then said "um" in a nasal voice, which sounded a bit muffled, and said "hmm" to indicate that he understood.
"Don't do this next time -"
He couldn't remember the first time he said this.
Gu Ze still didn't reply and avoided answering, "Is the college entrance examination coming soon?"
Shi Li nodded, "There's still half a month."
Gu Ze asked, "Where are you going to take the exam?"
Shi Li thought for a while, "Just It's in Beijing, the same university you went to before."
Although they are two years apart, they all went to the same college in kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school.
Gu Ze said "Okay" and asked, "Do you want to come to Europe to play after the exam?"
Shi Li hesitated for a moment, "I don't know if I have time, if my eldest sister and my second brother take me out to play." He seemed to know The other party would be unhappy, and would tug at the corner of Gu Ze's clothes like a hair, "I'll come over and play with you when I have time."
Gu Ze said "Yeah".
Shi Li thought of something, "By the way, have you eaten? Are you thirsty?" He stood up and said, "I'll buy you some. Do you have any domestic cash on you?"
Before he could leave, his arm was People catch.
It's windy and rainy over there, and it's still very cold in this season. Gu Ze wore a pair of black half-fingerless gloves. When he pinched Shili's wrist bones with his palms, he felt the smooth fabric and the slightly rough texture on his fingertips. .
He raised his head slightly, looked at Shi Li, and said, "We'll start boarding the plane in half an hour."
After Shi Li came to his senses, he asked dully, "Are you leaving soon?"
Gu Ze said "Yeah."
After a while, he stopped talking. Just quietly, he raised his face slightly, raised his sharp eyebrows, and stared at Shi Li, with the corners of his lips straightened.
Silently.
Shi Li refused to agree, "Then we have to eat."
Gu Ze seemed dumb.
Shi Li was in a stalemate with him for a second or two, then sat down again without any solution, "Okay, after I sit with you for half an hour, you have to eat after boarding the plane, you know?" He racked his brains. , and then he came up with a threat without any momentum, "Otherwise I won't call you in the future."
Gu Ze responded.
Half an hour passed quickly. When the boarding reminder sounded, Gu Ze stood up. Before Shi Li could react, a warm jacket covered him, "It will be cold outside. "
Shi Li wanted to take it off, "It's colder over there than in Beijing. After you get off the plane -" Before he could finish, he watched the other party take out a black coat from his travel bag and put it on.
Underneath was a black shirt with two buttons open. It was probably for a seminar, so he was dressed more formally. He didn't have time to change when he was catching a flight, so he just put on a jacket.
Gu Ze picked up his travel bag and said, "Let's go." He said, "I booked a car for you to go back to Shi's home. I gave you the license plate, the black one."
He gave Shi Li a push.
After watching the young man get into the car and leave, he turned around and strode towards the boarding gate.
When I got home, it was already midnight, just past midnight. At this time, all the lights in the house were usually turned off, and the walk back from the courtyard gate was silent.
Wearing a large coat that didn't match his figure at all, Shi Li rubbed his eyes sleepily, stood by the door, and unlocked the door with his fingerprint.
I was about to go in and go upstairs to take a shower and go to bed.
The next second, before he could react, he saw from the corner of his eye a dim light, only a small lamp on in the kitchen, and a tall figure leaning against the door, holding a cup of hot water.
Shi Cheng, who had just returned home from work, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where did you go to come back so late?"
"Whose clothes are you wearing?"