It has been drizzling in Hong Kong City for a whole week.
Even if it rained, Xia Li still visited the distinctive places in the port city, and the photo album on his mobile phone was already filled with materials from this collection.
Early on Sunday morning, Xia Li came to the front desk pushing her packed luggage.
He happened to bump into Qizhou, who was still wearing black short-sleeves and sitting at the front desk after her morning exercise, drinking water. Qizhou's eyes fell on the white suitcase in her hand and paused for a moment, then slowly put down the cup in her hand.
He stood up with a smile: "Leaving?"
"Well," Xia Li handed the room card in his hand to the bar with a soft voice, "check out."
Qizhou took the room card that Xia Li had placed on the bar table, bent over the computer to handle the check-out procedures, and then returned the 100 yuan in cash as a deposit to Xia Li.
"Let's play again when we have time."
Xia Li glanced at the hazy drizzle outside the window, smiled and nodded: "Yes."
After completing the check-out procedures, Xia Li's taxi has not arrived yet.
There are always traffic jams in places when it rains, let alone tourist destinations like Lamma Island. Xia Li looked at the long section of red on the taxi navigation page and sighed secretly.
"The car hasn't arrived yet?"
Qizhou poured a glass of water for Xia Li and looked sideways at the increasingly heavy rain outside: "Traffic jams are normal in this weather."
Xia Li responded in a low voice. She sat down in front of the bar, held the suitcase beside her with one hand, and looked down at the taxi navigation in her hand that was slowly approaching.
Qizhou took out a pen and a stack of notes from the bar and placed them on the table.
"If you're happy, you can write something and post it on the wall over there."
Xia Li raised his head and followed Qizhou's line of sight. There was a blackboard hanging on the wall not far away.
There are a lot of sticky notes on the blackboard.
She stood up and walked to the blackboard, looking at the sticky notes and photos posted on the blackboard. Many of them were left by tourists who came to visit, and some were taken by Qizhou himself and recorded every detail about the elegant room. .
Xia Li turned back to the bar and picked up the pen on the bar.
She took off the cap of her pen and stared at the non-stop rain outside and thought for a long time before lowering her head and writing seriously on the pile of notes.
She tore off the note she had written on, walked to the blackboard, and stuck it in a corner that wasn't too obvious.
While I was pasting the note, the taxi happened to stop at the door of the B&B.
"The car I'm waiting for has arrived." Xia Li's eyes shifted from the sticky note to Qizhou.
She took the suitcase and greeted Qizhou: "I'm leaving first."
"Well, have a nice trip."
Xia Li pushed open the glass door of the B&B. The wind chime hanging on the doorknob swayed softly and made a pleasant sound as the door opened.
The crisp sound of wind chimes rang in the house, and Qizhou, who was standing at the bar, looked at Xia Li's back as he pushed the door open.
When Xia Li stepped out of the B&B, the wind blowing in her face messed up her hair, and the heavy drizzle hit her face with the wind.
She couldn't help but let go of her hand on the door handle, raised her hand above her head to try to block some of the raindrops, and dragged her suitcase into the car.
The moist summer breeze that was brought into the room when the door was closed gently blew past the light yellow note on the blackboard, and the hem of the paper that was not stuck slightly ruffled in the breeze.
The light yellow sticky note hidden in the corner reads——
“May everything go well.
See you again if we are destined.
——2023.6.Xia Li”
Qizhou didn't look back until the taxi that Xia Li got in drove away from the door of the B&B.
He sat back on the soft chair he bought specially and was about to turn on his mobile phone when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the long black umbrella placed at the bottom of the bar.
As if remembering something, he clicked on the camera with his fingertips...
Red and white taxis are driving in the rain.
After getting in the car, Xia Li looked at the Lamma Island Bay slowly disappearing behind her. The music in her headphones happened to be playing the prelude of Zhou Huimin's "Favorite".
"The sky is blue."
"The breeze adds to the romance."
"The tenderness and sweetness in my heart is like the ocean."
"unlimited."
"We met in that distance intentionally or unintentionally."
"Who didn't have daydreams about you when we met for the first time?"
.......
Xie Yin had just finished a meeting in the conference hall of Tan Palace when he saw the message from Qizhou.
He clicked on the message from Qizhou on the screen. In the picture was the umbrella he gave to Xia Li at the temple, and there was a black and white gift box next to the umbrella.
Xie Yin exited the picture and clicked on the voice message from Qizhou:
"That sister asked me to give it to you. When will you be free to pick it up?"
Xie Yin's eyes fell on the picture again, with an unknown smile filling his eyes.
The door to the conference room was pushed open, and Xie Yin walked out.
"Sir, the car is ready."
When the driver saw Xie Yin walking out of the conference room, he immediately greeted him respectfully.
Xie Yin replied to Qizhou and then closed his phone and put it in his suit pocket.
"I know, let's go to the private room first."
-
Xia Li returned to the capital at four or five o'clock in the afternoon, which was dusk.
The bloody red sun slowly hid under the Western Mountain, and the rays of light on the horizon were no longer as dazzling as during the day.
Before getting on the plane, Su Jing originally told her that Qi Du would come to pick her up and go back for dinner together.
But after getting off the plane, she didn't see Qi Du at the exit.
Xia Li pushed her luggage and stood at the exit. The hot summer wind occasionally blew across her face, slightly blowing her hair that was spread over her shoulders.
She looked at the long row of taxis parked at the door, then looked down at the chat page between her and Qi Du.
I still remember the words I said on the day I arrived in Hong Kong City [Remember to collect your certificate at 9:30 tomorrow. 】
She hesitated for a moment, remembering that she heard the two little girls next to her on the plane discussing the gossip about Qidu's tryst with a female internet celebrity in a bar. In the end, she chose to exit the chat page with Qidu and pushed her luggage towards the parked car in front of her. The taxi left.
As soon as she got in the car, she received a call from Su Jing.
Su Jing's voice on the other end of the phone was somewhat helpless:
"Li Li, I heard that Uncle Qi said that Qidu might not be able to go because something happened. Mom and dad are going to pick you up now?"
"No, mom," Xia Li replied, turning to look at the sunset outside the car window, "I can just take a taxi back."
"Okay, then please pay attention to safety on the road."
"I know, Mom."
When Xia Li arrived home and opened the door, he saw Xia Youming running out of the kitchen without even putting down the spatula.
"Li Li is back," Xia Youming looked at Xia Li with doting eyes and couldn't hide the excitement in his tone, "Did you have fun in Hong Kong City?"
Since the Xia family's capital chain was cut off, they had no choice but to fire all their servants, and since then all the household chores have fallen on them.
"I'm super happy," Xia Li put the suitcase at the entrance. "I even went to the temple to burn incense for the Bodhisattva and asked him to bless us."
Xia Youming smiled: "We Li Li are really too sensible."
Xia Li looked around the house for a week, but could not find Su Jing: "Where is mom?"
Xia Youming turned around and walked into the kitchen and said to Xia Li:
"She heard that you were coming back and went to buy your favorite roast duck. She has been out for a while and should be back soon."
Xia Li followed Xia Youming into the kitchen. His eyes fell on Xia Youming's slightly clumsy back while cooking, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
The sound of the door lock turning came to his ears. Xia Li heard the sound and turned his head to see Su Jing coming back.
After not seeing each other for just a week, Su Jing seemed to be a lot more haggard.
After seeing Xia Li, a smile appeared on the tired-looking Su Jing's face, with wrinkles piling up at the corners of her eyes:
"Li Li is back."
"mom."
Looking at Su Jing's tired but forced smile, Xia Li felt her nose was a little sore for some reason.
She watched Su Jing walk slowly in front of her, and she, who was always attentive, saw that at some point a lot of white hair appeared on Su Jing's head.
Xia Li suddenly remembered the day after the accident. She watched Su Jing, who had not slept all night, hand over all kinds of jewelry to the auction house from the dressing room. Even the pearl necklace she had carried for half her life was sold. Got out.
But the money in exchange still cannot make up for the company's losses.
During the meal, Xia Youming and Su Jing kept picking up vegetables for Xia Li.
Xia Li looked at the bowls that were about to pile up into a small hill, and quickly covered them with his hands: "That's enough, that's enough, I can't finish it."
"Li Li, you have lost weight, you need to eat more."
While talking, Su Jing wrapped another piece of roast duck for Xia Li, dipped it in sweet sauce and put it into Xia Li's bowl.
Xia Li looked helplessly at the endless dishes in the bowl and sighed.
"By the way, parents." Xia Li seemed to suddenly remember something, and raised his eyes to look at Xia Youming and Su Jing sitting opposite him.
"Then our engagement with the Qi family...does it still count?"
Xia Youming paused, lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Su Jing was silent for a moment before speaking: "Li Li, do you really want to marry Qi Du?"
Not long ago, the Qi family came to talk about getting the certificate, and Su Jing and Xia Youming learned that Qi Du had released Xia Li's pigeon.
They had always loved Xia Li, and they could see that Qi Du didn't value the engagement.
Su Jing's words slowly reached Xia Li's ears. Xia Li lowered his head silently and poked the rice in the bowl with his chopsticks.
Do you really want to marry Qidu...
She had never even met Qi Du a few times, and knew very little about him.
Of course she didn't want to marry someone who didn't understand each other at all, but now she had to make this choice for the Xia family.
The originally warm atmosphere on the dining table suddenly became quiet, and the cool incandescent lights of the restaurant were reflected on the glass windows.
Xia Li's hand holding the chopsticks tightened, as if he had made up his mind, and his tone was calm:
"I thought so."
As long as I can contribute to the Xia family, that's fine.
Su Jing's voice was trembling:
"Li Li, marriage is a major event in life, you don't have to force it..."
"Mom," Xia Li raised her eyes to meet Su Jing's red eyes, feeling sad, "I know you all have a headache because of the company, and you can't eat or sleep well all day long."
Her eyes were a little moist, and even her voice trembled slightly when she spoke:
"Growing up, you would satisfy me no matter what I wanted. Now that I have grown up, something happened at home, and I want to help you share some of the pressure."
Xia Li will never forget the entire constant-temperature white rose garden prepared for her by Xia Youming and Su Jing in the harbor city where it first snowed that year.
Xia Li took a deep breath and held back the tears that were about to burst out of her eyes: "I don't feel forced. As long as I can help you, I am willing to do anything."
Xia Youming, who had not spoken for a long time, sighed and said in a heavy tone:
"But Li Li, your parents don't want to exchange your life's happiness. If you run out of money, you can make money again. Even if you go bankrupt, your mother and I can find a way to survive, but..."
"If you have to exchange your life's happiness, your parents would rather live like this."
