It was past midnight and the whole city was silent.
The street lights on the street have long been turned off.
A crescent moon is hanging diagonally on the treetops.
In the dim night, a figure walked alone.
He is Li Ji.
Sneaking out of the Haitian Hotel like a thief, Li Ji felt an unspeakable emotion in his heart.
Like a parrot that has just escaped from its cage, after a brief period of tension and rejoicing, what it feels is not all relief, but sudden loss and deep regret.
He was convinced that he was not a person with strong desires, let alone a lustful person who was greedy for fish and fish.
But, what happened to Li Ji tonight?
Hungry and thirsty, impatient, unable to control himself; like a torrent that was suddenly blocked, it seems that if it is not vented, it will go crazy.
Is it possible that there is an evil little pervert hidden in every decent man's body?
My heart is empty, yet full.
Simple yet complex, clear yet confusing.
Li Ji walked silently, with only the sound of breathing and the gentle friction of his feet against the ground in his ears.
He suddenly remembered something and quickly took out his mobile phone from his bag.
After looking at the missed calls, it turned out to be Liao Ying. Li Ji dialed back without thinking.
The receiver vibrated twice, and he quickly put the phone to his ear.
Beep, beep, beep... The dial tone continued to sound, followed by the familiar piano music of "Autumn Whispers".
Li Ji suddenly remembered that it was already late at night and Liao Ying should have gone to bed long ago. If you call at this time, wouldn't it be obvious that you want to wake her up?
He was about to hang up when he heard Liao Ying's voice, which was obviously very sleepy.
Liao Ying coughed twice in succession and asked in a hoarse voice: "You haven't gone back yet?"
Li Ji was suddenly startled and replied casually: "I'm back..." Thinking that something was wrong, he hurriedly added: "I just came back and haven't entered the house yet..."
"Why is it so late,..." Liao Ying yawned over there, "I have been waiting for your call,...Waiting, waiting, falling asleep... .whee......"
"Then go to bed quickly," Li Ji felt distressed and guilty at the same time, "I've told you that I can't make it right, so why are you still waiting? Are you stupid..."
"Oh, I can't help but worry about you..."
Although she grew up in a water town in the south, in a misty and rainy family, and was a watery girl, Liao Ying rarely acted like a spoiled child like this.
Li Ji's heart suddenly melted, and he wished he could run to Liao Ying immediately and kiss her.
"Well, I understand," Li Ji said softly, "Now that I'm back, you should rest assured. Go to sleep, be good..."
"Well," Liao Ying hummed, "You should go to bed quickly..."
"Well, okay..." Li Ji agreed, looking up into the dark distance, suddenly feeling a little lonely.
A "beep" busy tone sounded in the receiver, and he hung up the phone.
The night wind was blowing, and it felt a little cold on my body.
Li Ji let out a long breath and secretly felt lucky: Fortunately, he didn't do anything sorry for Liao Ying tonight, otherwise he would never have the honor to see her in the future.
Putting away the phone, I felt a little confused for a moment.
The crescent moon in the sky was no longer visible, and the surroundings became dark.
There was no one on the street. There was only one gray avenue, extending forward like a silent python.
Li Ji walked along the street leisurely.
The wine has completely sobered up, and the body is no longer so restless.
Thinking about everything that had happened before, I was still a little confused.
On weekdays, when chatting with colleagues or drinking with people from the company, I often tell some dirty jokes.
Li Ji knew that no matter how hard we cracked down on pornography, there would always be people who were doing special business to meet certain special needs of men under the guise of legality.
Where there is sunshine, there are always shadows.
Whether you admit it or not, as long as there is a need, it will exist.
Its existence is reasonable, even though it may not be legal; just like crime, it does not disappear because of the introduction of criminal laws. Instead, it grows and spreads at any time like spring grass burned by wildfire.
Since ancient times, many talented people have been romantic.
Needless to say, people in ancient times, Lin Yutang once commented:
“Most famous scholars, such as the poets Su Dongpo, Qin Shaoyou, Du Mu, and Bai Juyi, have visited brothels or married prostitutes as concubines.
Even during the Republic of China, it was still common for literati to meet up to visit brothels.
In June 1931, Xu Zhimo, who went to teach at Peking University, wrote a letter to Lu Xiaoman: "Speaking of my coming here, I have never danced, but I have been to a brothel once, and it was Lao Deng who forced me to go there. If I don't go, you rest assured."
In October of the same year, he confessed again: "In the evening, so-and-so was waiting at Chunhua Tower to bid farewell to Hu Shi. Three or four girls were invited, but after dinner they were pulled to the alley. I'm sorry, good lady! I didn't want to Go, but so-and-so said it would be okay as long as he was there."
And Yu Dafu is a person who likes to miss romantic places.
Every time he goes to a place, the first thing Yu Dafu knows is not where he will stay, but the most famous place for sex.
Yu Dafu likes to see beautiful women and makes no secret of it. However, what is puzzling is that every time he goes to a brothel, the women he orders are all old and ugly.
He told his boss that the woman he wanted to talk to must meet three conditions: she was old enough, her appearance was ordinary enough, and she had not had any customers for a long time.
Of course, there are also people who almost never visit brothels, and Zhu Ziqing is one of them.
The only time he went into sensual places was when he was writing a bet with his friends and took a swim in the Qinhuai River.
This leads to the essay with the same title as Yu Pingbo: "The Qinhuai River in the Sound of Oars and Shadows of Lanterns".
When I met Zhu Ziqing, a busking girl, her cheeks were flushed and she looked like a shy young man, I felt pity for him.
In today's law-governed society, brothels have long been relics, but their charm remains and the ancient customs remain.
Shampoo room, massage room, high-end club... all have different styles and distinct levels.
Li Ji even knew that some people liked to go to this kind of place.
When you go to a company for loan investigation, they will often make special arrangements after meals, such as sauna and massage. Li Jidu smiled and refused directly.
If you can’t control others, how can you not control yourself?
However, tonight Li Ji seemed to be unable to control himself and could only "think with the lower body", becoming a hairless animal that had lost its rationality and only retained its bestiality.
A deep sense of shame washed over me. In the dark night, Li Ji still felt that his face was burning.
He remembered the summer vacation when he was in the first grade of junior high school.
It's terribly hot.
He couldn't go out to play and was bored staying at home, so Li Ji went to browse the books on his father's bookshelf.
Dad likes to read and buy books.
Li Ji searched for a long time, mostly classical novels such as "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Water Margin" and "Three Words and Two Patterns". Half-literate and half-white, it looks laborious and tiring.
He didn't want to read this kind of book at this time.
I have already read several books such as "Lin Hai Xue Yuan", "Railway Guerrilla" and "New Heroes". One of them, "History of Entrepreneurship", seems to be a new one bought by my father.
He took it out and lay on the bamboo mat under the big locust tree in the yard, reading quietly in the cool breeze that came and went.
The story in that book was not attractive, but Li Ji still read it patiently. After that, he put the book back where it belonged and never looked at it again.
The contents of the book gradually blurred, but he clearly remembered the author's name was Liu Qing, and the rather long paragraph at the front of the book:
"Although the road of life is long, critical points often only take a few steps, especially when people are young. No one's life path is straight and without forks. There are forks in the road, such as political forks, career forks, etc. A fork in the road, a fork in the road in personal life. If you make a wrong step, it can affect a period of your life, or it can affect your whole life."
After so many years, Li Jimo recited the still familiar sentences, and suddenly felt a different feeling in his heart.
