It was quiet for half a minute.
He threw down the pipe, turned and walked back to the house.
"Uncle Gu."
The man's steps suddenly stopped.
Mu Ning stood outside the fence, staring at his thin and stiff back, and said softly, "I'm back."
The sunlight shone on the exposed part of his neck, making it look particularly pale.
After pausing for a few seconds, the man opened his long legs and walked quickly into the house.
Mu Ning looked at his figure without looking back, her fingers tightly clenching the suitcase's lever.
Until the door of the small bungalow slammed shut.
Mu Ning pursed her white lips and her eyes darkened.
After standing still for a while, she walked to the door of the courtyard and raised her hand to ring the doorbell.
After pressing the button for a long time, no one opened the door. The yard was extremely quiet, except for the water in the water pipes that was still trickling.
They were obviously flowers and plants that he had carefully maintained. Now the soil has been washed away, and he has not been seen to take care of them.
Mu Ning felt that if he didn't leave, these flowers would be drowned.
She put down her hand, glanced at the small bungalow, turned around, dragged her suitcase, and walked out with her head lowered.
Walk three hundred meters along the tree-lined road and emerge into an alley, which is a vegetarian restaurant.
This is the restaurant closest to the small bungalow.
Mu Ning sat by the window and could vaguely see the second floor of the small bungalow through the shadows of trees on the roof.
Then the phone rang.
"Hey, Ning Ning, have you arrived?" Lu Xinting heard that Mu Ning had left for Tian County and wanted to call her to express her condolences.
"Well, we'll be here in the morning."
"Have you found Gu Zhiyin?"
"found it."
"Damn it, you are really a god, I told you that you can definitely find him!"
Lu Xinting was even more surprised than she was, "Where did he hide? We thought he went to some country to mine. At that time, we made a bet that it was either Barcelona or Malaysia. How did he go to that mountain cave... Bah, isn’t Tian County your hometown? Heh, I’m telling you, he will definitely not be able to let you go.”
Mu Ning laughed dryly, unable to express what he felt in his heart.
"How was it? Have we met? Has he been so excited that he was speechless and trembling, then rushed over to give you a warm hug, rubbed you into your bones, and gave you a hot and passionate kiss!"
Mu Ning thought of the scene when they met just now and smiled bitterly, "He doesn't want to see me."
Lu Xinting was stunned for a moment, "What did you say?! He doesn't want to see you?"
She suspected she was hearing hallucinations.
"Yeah." Mu Ning described the scene just now to Lu Xinting, feeling a little embarrassed, "I feel like I came to him so recklessly, which was quite offensive and bothered him."
"How could this happen..." Lu Xinting stopped being excited and calmed down to think about it, "But his reaction is unexpected and reasonable."
"If I were Gu Zhiyin, something like this happened two years ago, and you come to me two years later. Even if you kneel in front of me, I won't forgive you, because the damage has been done."
How could Mu Ning not understand?
I think back when Song Heng's words hurt Lu Xinting, it didn't work even if Song Heng knelt down. It was only after he had to sacrifice so much that Lu Xinting slowly melted away.
What's more, she hurt Gu Zhiyin so deeply.
There is no comparison at all.
Mu Ning didn't hear anything for a long time, and Lu Xinting was worried that her words made her feel uncomfortable.
"Hey, don't listen to my nonsense. I am me and he is him. I just want to tell you that it is normal that he doesn't want to see you now. If you are determined to get along with him, don't ignore it just because of this difficulty. He's gone."
"To put it bluntly, he is just trying to get angry with you. There is no way he won't give you any room."
Mu Ning lowered his eyes dimly and stirred the coffee, "I don't know if I am right or wrong to come to him like this. It seems that he really doesn't want to see me."
"I don't believe it. If we really live without contact, is there no place for Gu Zhiyin in this world? Why did he go to Tian County? I remember that he picked you up in person when you were a child, right? This is the place where you met. Hey, he is obviously very affectionate and pretends to be unfeeling. Men like him like to put themselves in a cold shell, but in fact it hurts terribly."
Mu Ning was amused by her words, "Why do you say it as if you know him well?"
"Of course, based on sister's experience, anyone with a discerning eye can see any man... ahem!"
With Song Heng by her side, she immediately changed her story to save her life.
"Tell him about your previous misunderstanding, show your sincerity, and warm him up. His tofu heart has been ground to ashes by you a long time ago... Don't you think so, Brother Song?"
"Well, Mr. Gu will only be soft-hearted towards Miss Mu." Song Heng's voice came from the phone.
"And you have to think about it, Ningning, only you can heal the pain in his heart, otherwise he will hide in that small town and never come back."
As an outsider, Lu Xinting is always the most sober one.
Ning Ning finally came back. She didn't want the two people who loved each other to be separated again.
After Lu Xinting hung up the phone, Mu Ning stared at the small bungalow not far away, thoughtfully.
In the afternoon, she sat in the vegetarian restaurant and opened her laptop to work.
By evening, Mu Ning packed up his things and left the vegetarian restaurant.
She came outside the small bungalow again, this time she hid behind a tree.
After waiting for a while, she saw the courtyard door open and a tall figure walking out.
Mu Ning immediately hid behind a tree.
Gu Zhiyin walked further in the opposite direction, holding fishing gear in his hand. Mu Ning guessed that he was probably going fishing.
He is living a really leisurely life now.
Mu Ning couldn't help but think that Gu Zhiyin was so boring before. Apart from being invited to nightclubs by a few young men in the Beijing circle, he usually liked playing golf and fishing.
But he was too busy at that time, and now he finally has a lot of time to calm down and relax.
Afraid of being discovered by him, Mu Ning kept a distance from him and followed him to the top of the hill where Jing Shiyan was buried. Over the hill, there was the river bank.
Gu Zhiyin was sitting by the river. There was a small black table next to him with half a glass of wine on it.
From time to time he stretched out his hand to pick it up, and in one gulp it was half a cup.
Then he leaned back in his chair and stared at the river in a daze.
When the wind blows, the reeds sway, and the fiery red setting sun is reflected on the river and ripples with the waves.
At dusk, that silhouette became increasingly silent and lonely.
Mu Ning stood by the banyan tree in the distance and watched, not daring to disturb.
This peaceful and far-reaching scene was just nice to look at. If she went there, he would definitely be disturbed.
That night, he didn't catch a single fish.
Maybe he didn't come here to fish.
As the night got darker, Gu Zhiyin put away his fishing rod, got up and left.
Mu Ning followed him back, but he didn't seem to go back the way he came.
Mu Ning was a bit lost in the twists and turns in the alley.
Suddenly, he turned into a narrow alley.
Mu Ning quickly followed.
As soon as she turned in, she suddenly stopped.
Gu Zhiyin stopped two meters in front of her.
Turn your back to her.
The moonlight fell coldly on his back.
"Is it interesting?"
Mu Ning lowered his head and clenched his thin white fingers.
With Gu Zhiyin's intelligence and sensitivity, he was able to ask this question, so he must have noticed her early on.
Mu Ning took a deep breath, closed his eyes and said slowly, "Gu Zhiyin, if I come back, will you still..."
"don't want."
"..."
"Stop following."
