"This extra chapter is set on May 8, 2028. It is before the beginning of the seventh volume in September, and it belongs to the same timeline, not IF."
London, England, Tavistock Square.
The city has ushered in the first ray of sunshine, and the atmosphere in Tavistock Square in the early morning is peaceful and pleasant. On the fourth-floor balcony of a certain street-facing house, there is a figure holding a shower head, and tiny drops of water are falling on the violet and green trees on the balcony. On the petals of the carnation, under the refraction of the sun, the water droplets shine brightly, and the flowers are delicate and charming.
"Mia, Amanda and the others want to come to your house as guests tonight and taste your specialty Chinese food. They have been talking about it for a long time. If you are willing, can you make a list of ingredients? I will bring the ingredients back with them in the afternoon. Home."
In the living room, a white girl in pajamas walked out of the bathroom. While tying her hair, she asked her back as she watered the flowers on the balcony.
The beautiful figure on the balcony half turned around after hearing this and showed a gentle smile to her roommate. She moved her chin and replied:
"Of course. I'll think about sending you a message later."
"……do not move!"
"Um?"
The white girl who had received the promise was so happy that she hadn't come yet. When she saw the scene in front of her, she suddenly screamed, then looked around, picked up her mobile phone from the sofa, opened the camera and pointed it at the balcony, only to hear a "click" and freeze this second. scenery.
On the phone, there was an oriental beauty wearing a white off-shoulder nightgown. She turned her head, with an elegant blush on her cheeks and curved lips. The sun was just right at the moment, and her waterfall-like hair exuded... The golden luster, the sunlight penetrated her thin dress, and the crystal skin and alluring curves were faintly visible.
She stood on the balcony, her whole body exuding a bright and soft halo, and her smile was surrounded by flowers, full of vitality and vividness.
This one's name is Mia...
In other words, this girl named Cao Aiqing...
I have always loved the sun.
"Wow~"
The white roommate looked at the photos on his phone and couldn't help but exclaimed.
"To be honest, Mia, you should play more social software like Instagram or TikTok. You will definitely gain a lot of fans! Do you still remember the boy named Hugo you met at the art exhibition last time?"
"That famous painter from your college?"
Cao Aiqing put down the shower and walked into the living room from the balcony.
"Yes! After meeting you last time, he searched all social platforms but couldn't find your account. I told him that you don't do this. He was very disappointed. But guess what happened in the end, he used his memory to You drew a sketch and posted it on Instagram, and wrote below that you met your muse, and it received more than 300,000 likes. This French boy is really romantic."
"Aha, then have you told him that I have someone I like?"
The two girls sat down on the sofa. The white girl crossed her legs and replied:
"Of course I did, otherwise he wouldn't have given up. But Mia, you have always said that you have someone you like, but I have known you for almost two years. Why has there been no progress in your relationship at all?"
"There are many factors involved..."
Cao Aiqing lowered his eyes and thought for a moment.
"Emily, you think that French boy is romantic, right?"
"certainly!"
"But there needs to be a balance between sincerity and romance. To him, this is romantic, but to me, it may be offensive.
On that note, the guy I like... he's always done a great job.
You can understand it as two clouds under the same sky, admiring each other's beauty. However, they know the power of the wind. Once they get too close, they may be swept into the strong wind and lose their original shape.
So they would rather keep a distance, float gracefully in their respective worlds, and watch each other silently. This is a kind of cherishment and respect, and fortunately, we all understand this tacitly and have a tacit understanding. "
Emily was very envious of Cao Aiqing for having such a relationship, but after hearing this, she still gave a suggestion:
"But love always requires a bit of adventurous spirit, a bit of radicalness and initiative. Mia, you sometimes feel too calm and indifferent to others, which may cause you to lose some of the due relationship between you and your ideal person... ...Passion? And you should be more aware of that since you're so far apart."
After hearing this, Cao Aiqing paused for a while, then nodded and said sincerely:
"Thanks for the advice, Emily."
"By the way, Amanda and the others also want to bring their boyfriend over tonight..."
"Ai~mi~li~!"
"Hahaha, I understand. Men are not allowed to join girls' gatherings. I told them. By the way, I just paid the rent to the landlord yesterday..."
Cao Aiqing understood what his roommate meant and stood up from the sofa.
"Okay, I will sort out the ingredients list later and send it to you together with the rent. Also, my Tesco supermarket membership points can be exchanged for many things, and I have also saved some coupons. You can use mine when you buy ingredients. Members, how about buying some common daily necessities with the money you saved? For example, the shampoo in our bathroom is almost gone..."
"Mia~! I love you so much~!"
Bartlett College does not provide graduate dormitories. Most postgraduate students in London, including Bartlett College students, choose to rent apartments off campus or share houses with other students.
The apartment where Cao Aiqing currently lives is in Tavistock Square, which is very close to Bartlett College and other universities. It is a very popular place for students. It takes less than ten minutes to walk to the school. The rent in this area is not cheap. The rent for a studio apartment is about 1,200-1,800 pounds per month. Even if it is shared, the monthly rent will be around 1,000 pounds.
But fortunately, Cao Aiqing comes from a well-off family. Her father is a university professor and the leader of the Hong Kong Museum, and her mother is a self-media person. She does not feel any embarrassment in terms of living expenses, and she is also very ambitious. She can apply for a scholarship and scholarship every year. Housing subsidies, coupled with her always frugal temperament, mean that her monthly expenses are not much. In recent years, she has even saved a large amount of remaining living expenses and scholarships.
After having breakfast with their roommates, the two packed up and walked west from the apartment, then turned north onto the familiar Gordon Street. After a few minutes of walking, Cao Aiqing arrived at Bartlett College.
There was a lecture on bioarchitecture in the morning, followed by a seminar with her classmates. It just so happened that their current group topic was about bioarchitecture. If she could get an A+ grade in the demonstration stage next week, she would start from last year. The preparation materials for applying for scholarships in the first half of this year will be perfect.
For this reason, she made an appointment with the professor for an afternoon tutorial early, but the situation changed and the time was postponed to tomorrow. As a result, her time in the afternoon was free.
I was already ready to kill time in the library, but today Cao Aiqing was inexplicably a little impetuous. As calm as she is, such a situation would not happen normally, but today...
no the same.
She took out her mobile phone, and on the open screen interface, there were also two times...
It's eight o'clock in the evening over there now. He shouldn't have slept at this time, right?
The girl thought in her mind, and the first person who clicked on the top of the chat software said this.
Orange Sea: "I made an appointment with the professor for a small class today, but I was rejected ()..."
After a few minutes, the other party did not respond, so she sent another sentence:
Orange Sea: "What are you doing? Are you still working? Or playing games?"
A few more minutes passed, and this time the girl waited for a response.
Zhanlan Tian: "Sorry, I was dealing with something just now. Ai Qing, I'm really sorry that I can't say happy birthday to you in person."
Looking at the text sent in the chat box, Cao Aiqing seemed to be able to imagine the other party hurriedly replying to her message after putting down work. She smiled quietly, and her irritability quickly disappeared.
From the senior year of high school to before I went abroad, on their birthdays, they all loved each other.
This has almost become a habit, so even a blessing from across the ocean made Cao Aiqing feel satisfied.
She is not a greedy girl.
Orange Sea: "It doesn't matter, I'll be happy if you remember me."
Azure Sky: "What birthday present do you want?"
Orange Sea: "Well... I don't want anything, so don't spend money. Even if you give me something, it feels like a waste if I don't use it."
Zhanlan Tian: "Hey, even though you don't say it, I know what you like~"
Cao Aiqing was stunned, and before she could reply, the other party sent her a photo. It was the photo on the balcony that her roommate Emily had taken in the morning!
Orange Sea: "How come you have this photo?!"
Azure Sky: "Hahaha, don't worry about this for now. Is your school very close to the Dickens Museum?"
A premonition came to the girl's heart, and she quickly replied: "Yes! Are you in England?"
The other party avoided talking about it, but replied in a mysterious way:
"How about we play a game first?"
"what game?"
"Hide and seek, I'll help you pass the boring afternoon time after the professor missed your appointment. I left a clue for you here. Do you want to look for it?"
Later, the other party sent a photo of the residence where Dickens lived and the iconic red wooden door.
"Are you there?"
"You'll know when you get here."
"Wait for me, I'll be right over."
In the library, Cao Aiqing suddenly stood up with her cell phone in hand. The chair scraped against the floor and made a harsh sound. People around her looked at her, but the excited girl could no longer care about so much. She cleared the table. After taking the courseware, I put on my backpack and ran all the way out of the college.
The Dickens Museum is indeed not far from Treat College. It only takes fifteen minutes to walk to the location. She has been here many times in the past few years, so when Cao Aiqing walked to the location of the photo, she looked around without looking at it. To that expectant figure.
Orange Sea: "I'm here, where are you?"
Blue sky: "Under the tree at the door."
Seeing the text sent to her by the other party, Cao Aiqing followed the instructions and looked at the big tree at the door again. There was no one under the tree. She approached slowly and saw a Polaroid photo taped to the trunk. She gently Take it off. The above content is St. Martin's Church in Trafalgar Square. This place is also very close to the current museum, just two stops on the subway.
Turning to the back of the photo, there is this sentence written on it:
"If you love someone, let it be and set her free, if she comes back to you, it's meant to be."
Cao Aiqing smiled knowingly. This is a sentence from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities".
If you love someone, let nature take its course, let her be free, and if she comes back to you, then that's love.
"It's so childish..."
The girl muttered softly and put away the photo with a smile. She had already guessed what the other person wanted to do, and her heart was no longer as excited as before, but slowly calmed down.
Reading such a sentence in front of Dickens's former residence, it was prepared by that person for herself. This really made the girl feel a warm feeling. If she had known that when Emily asked herself a question in the morning, she should have used this sentence to answer .
A leisurely afternoon, coupled with a childish game of hide and seek, why not enjoy it?
Although he really wanted to know whether the other party had really come to London, Cao Aiqing suppressed his curiosity and began to experience this game carefully prepared for him.
Orange Sea: "I found the clue, let me continue. If the place where you hide your things is too difficult to find next, I will show it to you!"
Zhanlan Tian: "You are so smart, I can't beat you~ Come on, come on, don't be in a hurry, listen to some music to relax your mood~!"
Orange Sea: "Strange~looking~"
Having said that, Cao Aiqing still took out his headphones from his bag and clicked on a piece of pure music called "Dehors" sent by the other party. This is a mode of listening to music together. You can see the other party at the top of the APP. The avatar shows that the two of them are listening to the same song.
Accompanied by a relaxed and agile rhythm, Cao Aiqing took the subway to Charing Cross Station and officially started this childish game of hide and seek.
Trafalgar Square is located in the center of London. It can be said to be a must-see for everyone who travels to the UK. Whenever it is Christmas or New Year, thousands of London residents will gather in Trafalgar Square. The square held carnival all night long, and the scene was quite lively.
Therefore, when Cao Aiqing came to St. Martin's Church in the northwest corner of the square, she was a little worried that the clues left by that person would be taken away by other tourists or local residents in advance, but she was obviously overly worried.
Just as she was lingering in front of the church, hesitating whether to listen to the phone and ask the other party for the specific location of the hidden clues, an old British lady who was sitting in the square feeding pigeons waved to her kindly.
"Kid, are you looking for this?"
The old lady handed over a Polaroid photo. Cao Aiqing nodded and accepted it. She asked with a little doubt:
"Madam, how did you know it was me who was looking for this?"
The old lady smiled kindly and said, "Because a boy came over just now and told me that a young oriental lady will be wandering in front of God in a while, and she needs my help to guide her."
Cao Aiqing couldn't help but laugh after hearing this. For some elderly people with faith, this is indeed a request that is difficult to refuse.
She turned around and looked around. There were many oriental faces in the square, and there were also quite a few people wandering aimlessly sightseeing in the square, so she asked jokingly:
“But it seems that I’m not the only one wandering before God.”
"No~" the old lady shook her index finger and said in an elegant tone: "I was also confused at the time, but the boy used the word 'Serendipity' to describe the oriental lady, so when I saw you, I I knew he must be talking about you."
Serendipity, encountering beauty unexpectedly.
The young girl's cheeks turned red, and the old lady patted the seat next to her.
Cao Aiqing sat down next to the old man and lowered her head to look at the photo in her hand. The photo above was of Buckingham Palace, which was also not far from here. This should be her next destination.
She turned to the back of the photo again. There were also a few words on it, but this time they were in Chinese.
"Do you still remember the architectural drawing book you showed me in high school? There were buildings such as St. Martin's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace that you drew in it. You must have visited it many times since you came to the UK? You must have been copying it since you were young. The dream lines have become a physical building. This feeling must be great. There is no need to doubt whether I understand it, because last year, I actually took a picture of the fantasy picture in my mind. I know what kind of excitement it is. Feel.
: But to be honest, when I saw these buildings, I was far from as shocked as you originally described them to me. So, rather than listening to you talk about buildings, I prefer the way you truly describe your dreams.
Again: The name St. Martin's Church is too bad. When you search, this name appears everywhere, including in China. It is comparable to names like "Lanzhou Ramen". Is there anything special about it? "
The words behind the photos made Cao Aiqing smile. She put the photos away again, thinking that if the location in each photo was the next location, then the other person came from the opposite location to hers?
These scenic spots are all places that I have visited on purpose after coming to the UK, and they all appeared in my architectural picture books in high school. Of course, the most important thing is that they are all near the school, making it very convenient to move around.
To be able to plan these routes within the radius of the school, for a person who has never lived in London, he must do his homework and take good steps in advance.
that person……
It is true that he does this kind of behavior of checking out the spots in advance before meeting.
Thinking of the other party's contribution, Cao Aiqing was moved and happy. At the same time, she was worried about him acting alone in a foreign country. She asked the old man next to her:
"Ma'am, how long has that person been gone?"
The old man recalled: "About...twenty minutes."
twenty minutes?
So, when I was at Dickens's former residence, the other party was here at St. Martin's Church?
Cao Aiqing rested for a moment and stood up again.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Before she left, the old man asked: "Child, I'm a little curious. If it were you, how would you describe that boy?"
The girl paused for a moment after hearing this, and then said one word cheerfully:
"Iridescent~"
The old woman raised her eyebrows, her blue eyes glowed with clear light, she raised the corners of her mouth slightly, nodded, and sent her blessing:
“Have a nice day.”
When the girl left, she was startled by the pigeons pecking on the ground around her. They flapped their wings and flew past her. Amid the exclamations of tourists, the two fountains in Trafalgar Square suddenly sprayed out jets of water. The splashed water droplets formed small colorful rainbows under the refraction of sunlight.
On this day, the weather in London, which has always been gloomy, was surprisingly sunny.
The route that the boy designed for Cao Aiqing not only included some famous scenic spots, but also some places that girls usually go to. It was as if the other party had deliberately walked the radius of her daily life area, where they had chatted thousands of miles apart. A place name that I accidentally mentioned, a cafe, a dessert shop...
Following these familiar tracks, Cao Aiqing felt more and more that that person lived beside her, living in every detail of her walking, not so far away.
Time came to dusk during these walks...
The clouds in the sky were dyed golden yellow by the setting sun, and the sunlight slanted down on the Thames River, causing ripples and shining brightly.
London Bridge is bustling with traffic. Pedestrians shuttle back and forth. Their figures cast long shadows under the sunlight, blending into the bridge. Boats float leisurely under the bridge, leaving a beautiful waterline that cuts through the reflections on the water. The Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, the scenery at this moment is poetic and extremely romantic.
The shadows of dusk flow around Cao Aiqing. The girl's figure blends into the waves of the river, jumping and shining lightly and softly. The breeze blows her hair. Without the photo, this should be the last stop of her trip today. .
The girl sitting alone on a bench by the river was quietly thinking about the message that person sent her at noon.
He said that even though he didn't say it, he knew what he liked.
What do you like?
The girl held the photos collected today in her hand, and she flipped through them one by one. They had never been to these places together, but after walking through them, it seemed like they had been there many times.
Yes……
Cao Aiqing is very fond of this "moment of eternity".
Whether it is architecture or photos, these momentary scenes or permanent things, they all seem to be the foreshadowing for a trance, a smile many years later.
But luckily, it's not many years from now.
She also looks forward to creating more such “moments of eternity”…
It's best to be with that person.
Orange Sea: "I'm here. There are no more photos. I must have reached the finish line, right?"
Azure Sky: "The finish line is early. Where are we now? If we don't have a photo, why don't you take one yourself?"
Orange Sea: "But you have already photographed the Thames..."
Zhanlan Tian: "Then just take pictures of yourself~"
Looking at the text on the phone, Cao Aiqing's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She thought of something, subconsciously turned on the camera and raised her hand.
The picture on the phone accurately showed the face she expected. Of course, there was a man standing not far behind her...
A man holding a dessert in one hand and even a flower in the other.
Cao Aiqing in the camera smiled, and then the camera froze this second.
"Ai Qing~! Happy birthday~!"
"He Tianran, you can come as soon as you come. You didn't even notify me in advance. It took you most of the day to go back and forth! I'm exhausted!"
"Isn't this romantic? How about it? Have you compared it to that French painter?"
"Oh~ ever since you learned to direct, you've been putting on these weird looks all day long!"
"It won't be like this next time, I'll do something different next time~"
"Do you want to die--!"
On the banks of the beautiful Thames River, the figures of two people rippled.
(PS: Thank you to the three brothers "But Do It Again", "The Boy Running Under the Sunset" and "Love Cao Aiqing" for being the leaders on Ai Qing's birthday. I am grateful and grateful~!)
It stands to reason that today is the 9th, and Ai Qing’s birthday was yesterday, but British time is eight hours behind ours. In other words, the 9th is still ten minutes away, and it is still within the scope of the birthday, not counting this blessing. be late.
(End of chapter)
