Chapter 10

Late at night, the balcony without lights is pitch black, only the city outside the glass window is still twinkling with lights. After Ji Heyi took a shower, he leaned on the sofa and waited for his hair to dry naturally. The hair dryer is already the most noise-reducing model, but in the quiet bedroom late at night, he still finds that little noise annoying.

After sitting quietly for a while, he reached under the tea table where he remembered and took out a lighter.

With a snap, the flame illuminated the outline of the tea table.

There was a book spread out on the table next to him. It was a pet care guide that he had found after getting Chi Cong’s assurance to send a kitten a few days ago. The book was published many years ago, and the content might need to be updated.

He closed the lighter and closed the book in the dark.

How to raise a cat well? He thought aimlessly, if he was well prepared, even without experience, it didn’t seem to be a difficult task.

Feed on time, place the cat’s nest in a place where it can bask in the sun. Call its name, give it a light pat or stroke when it needs attention. Don’t disturb it hiding in the corner to observe the room, quietly wait for it to sniff the smell of human fingertips briefly and vigilantly, in three weeks or a month, trust will be established like a habit.

What about raising a fish? He just fed the two peacock fish in the living room.

Live bait and artificial feed need to be combined to fully guarantee their nutrition. In winter, special attention needs to be paid to the temperature of the aquarium. Give them good names, occasionally express admiration for their beauty with a gaze, and once you have them, it’s not suitable to keep a cat at home.

What about a potted plant?

Adequate water, plenty of sunlight, protect its fragile roots when repotting. If it has been on the balcony for a long time, clean the dust on its leaves when you have some free time.

What about a lover?

After exchanging glances, hug, kiss, caress, remember the necessary holidays and anniversaries, leave alone accompanying time for him in the schedule. Give trust, respect, understand and appropriately accommodate his preferences and habits. If it’s not a problem with the lovers themselves, no matter how much external resistance there is to this love, it actually doesn’t need to be taken too seriously, it just needs some time to clear up.

What else?

The thoughts of the sleepy brain are dull and slow, the night is really deep, even if the confession heard an hour ago is enough to make people stunned, Ji Heyi also thinks that he should go to sleep now and leave things to be dealt with tomorrow.

But until his hair was completely dry, he was still sitting on the sofa in a daze.

The metal exterior of the lighter had already been completely warmed by his palm. He found a cigarette that matched it, but didn’t light it. The last time the balcony was filled with the smell of smoke, he had to open the window for a long time to ventilate. There are always some things, habit is one thing, liking is another.

Suddenly, there was a sound from the doorknob at the bedroom door, and Ji Heyi came back to his senses.

Although the noise was subtle, it was still abruptly noticeable in the silence. The person who touched the door might have realized it, and the next second there was no sound.

Ji Heyi put down the lighter in his hand, and for a while, he didn’t hear any other movements from the guest he had taken in.

He opened his phone and glanced at the time, it was two in the morning.

He swiped the screen twice, involuntarily opened Chi Cong’s WeChat, lingered on the chat box for a moment, and clicked into his Moments. Chi Cong was one of the few friends who would keep updating their Moments. Every time he went on vacation, there would be more than one record.

He slowly scrolled down according to the time and stopped five years ago.

There was one without any words, nine pictures of snow mountain scenery. The only one with a person in it, was also just a distant black figure embellishing the vast snow scene. Ji Heyi looked at the picture until the screen turned black, he couldn’t distinguish or remember whether this figure was a companion or a stranger who accidentally entered the frame.

The next morning, Ji Heyi woke up on time, got dressed and left the bedroom. When he passed by the guest room, he saw the door wide open, there was no one inside, and the quilt on the bed was still neatly spread out like last night.

He closed the door casually, the TV in the living room was silently playing the morning news. He turned off the TV, and when he turned around, he saw the person lying on the sofa had opened his eyes and was staring at him intently.

“Good morning.” He greeted the guest who seemed to have not rested well, and took the cup on the coffee table to the kitchen.

The guest who hadn’t really woken up slowly got up, with drooping eyelids, followed him to the kitchen door.

Ji Heyi opened the kitchen door, looked back at him and said, “There are new toiletries in the drawer under the sink in the guest room.”

Chi Yan stopped, his unfocused eyes turned clear, he stood in place for a moment listening to the sound of the coffee machine grinding, then wiped his face and returned to the guest room.

After washing up and coming out, Ji Heyi was already cleaning the cups in the kitchen.

Chi Yan looked at a cup of fresh coffee on the living room table for a while, stepped forward to touch the heat coming out of the cup, and hesitated to hold the warm cup wall. The sound of the kitchen sliding door rang out, he turned his head, quietly watching the master of the house wipe his hands with paper, adjust his cuffs, and pick up the keys on the cabinet.

Then he stopped in front of the entrance, his eyes looked over, and just about to speak.

Chi Yan asked first, “Aren’t you going to the company?” He saw that he was dressed casually, and when he raised his hand, his wrist was not wearing a watch.

“A little personal matter.”

His hand was already on the doorknob, Ji Heyi said briefly, “There’s breakfast in the fridge, help yourself. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be back before two in the afternoon. If you’re free, can you wait for me here? Or we can talk on the phone later.”

“What?” Chi Yan rubbed the rim of the cup, “Talk about what?”

“Talk about what we didn’t finish discussing yesterday.”

He opened the front door, Ji Heyi waited for a while with his shoulder sideways, and then heard his response.

“…….Okay.”

The door closed, and the large room quieted down instantly.

Chi Yan stood in the middle of the empty living room for a while, then remembered to sip the coffee in his hand. The timed water supply sound of the fish tank pump broke the silence in the living room. He followed the sound and saw two peacock fish in a brand new nest.

He walked up to observe, and reached out to touch the delicate small fake mountain in the aquarium. The live grass was dense and slippery, and the fish darted past. He could almost imagine their owner patiently arranging this water tank.

He casually picked up the fish food next to him and sprinkled a small handful, a blue and a purple fish saw the bait and bubbled at the same time.

One year and ten months, he calculated in his mind, plus the half-year age they had when they were brought back, two years and four months.

The two fish leisurely enjoyed their food, he tapped the fish tank: “Old immortals.”

The petite and lively peacock fish hid into the water grass upon hearing the sound, leaving two uneven strings of bubbles for the rude guest.

He lost interest in teasing the fish, so he went to pull the drawer next to the fish tank out of boredom. Inside there was a glass marble that would make a clanging noise when the drawer was pulled. It was a gift that came with the aquarium. He didn’t like the colorful marbles and never put them in the tank, occasionally shaking the drawer to make a noise, scaring the two startled fish. But when he pushed and pulled it once, the expected sound did not ring out, he looked down, and the drawer was already clean.

He closed the drawer, looked at this familiar yet strange room, and suddenly felt a bit at a loss.

How long had he been gone? Chi Yan subconsciously looked at the clock hanging high, It’s thirty minutes.

He began to regret not driving out with him just now. Park the car two or three spaces away from him, no need to follow, just watch his car door switch, look at his closed car window, anything is fine, that kind of time is easier to endure than waiting in this room – the broken pot was already broken last night, why care if it’s a light or heavy fall?

“A little personal matter.”

His mind was spinning with every expression he saw and every word he heard after waking up. A personal matter that is more important than the topic that was left cold all night.

Chi Yan paced around the living room twice, barely restraining the habitual urge to send a message to Chi Cong for confirmation.

He opened his phone, clicked on the first app on the frequently used software page, and skillfully located the license plate number that he knew by heart.

He closed the door and drove according to the navigation.