Entertainment from Divorce

They were looking for food in Mingwalang when the neon lights of Xinjie came on.

Tan Yue queued up to buy the national football team's stinky tofu, while Chen Ziyu went into the small shop next door to buy plum cakes. When he came out with the steaming paper box, he saw her standing on tiptoe to feed plum cake crumbs to the stray cats on the street.

"Be careful, it's hot." He took out a tissue and handed it to her. "Cats can't eat anything too sweet."

"But it keeps rubbing my hand." Chen Ziyu finished feeding the last bit of cake, and the cat licked her fingertips reluctantly. "Look, even the cats in Jinling are so gentle."

They sat down at a duck blood vermicelli soup restaurant.

The restaurant was packed with people. When the auntie at the shared table heard that they were tourists, she enthusiastically recommended: "Go to Deji Plaza after dinner. The internet-famous toilet on the underground first floor is very interesting."

Chen Ziyu choked with laughter, and Tan Yue quickly handed her a tissue: "Auntie, she can't eat spicy food."

"Oh, young man, you are so thoughtful." The aunt smiled so much that the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothed out.

It was almost ten o'clock when we came out of Deji Plaza.

The fountain outside the mall is performing, and the colored lights dye the water into dreamy colors.

Chen Ziyu was standing by the fountain taking pictures when suddenly the splashing water wet her skirt.

"Be careful!" Tan Yue reached out and pulled her behind him, but his trouser legs were wet.

"Look at you." Chen Ziyu took out a tissue to wipe it, but he grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t move.” He looked down at her, the water from the fountain flowing in his eyes. “Looking at you like this is like watching a firework display.”

The night wind blew over with the scent of the sycamore trees, and in the distance, the LED screen of the Xinbai Building was playing a city promotional video.

Chen Ziyu suddenly thought of the glazed tower he had seen in the big temple during the day. Are those thousand-year-old glazed tiles also standing in some corner at this moment, witnessing such a moment?
"Ayue," she said softly, "Let's come back next time in the fall."

"Okay." He put her hand in his pocket, "Come and see the sycamore trees all over the city."

On the way back to the hotel, the subway was less crowded.

Chen Ziyu dozed off on Tan Yue's shoulder, with 237 photos taken today lying in her phone album.

There is the light and shadow of the glazed tower, the pages of books in the bookstore, the fireworks of the Ming Tile Gallery, and a candid photo - Tan Yue squatting on the side of the road tying a bell for a stray cat, his profile coated with a layer of warm yellow by the street lamp.

She recalled a sentence she had read in the Pioneer Bookstore during the day: "The essence of reading is to allow us to see our own lives through the stories of others."

At this moment, she suddenly felt that the essence of travel is probably to allow lovers to turn ordinary days into poetry in a strange city.

The night lights in the hotel room glowed warmly.

When Chen Ziyu came out of the shower, he saw Tan Yue sitting by the window writing postcards.

"Who is it written to?" She leaned over to take a look.

"For our future selves." He paused, "Let's open it and read it together when we come to Jinling next autumn."

Chen Ziyu leaned on his shoulder and watched him write the last sentence: "I hope that every morning when I wake up, you are by my side."

The city of Jinling outside the window breathes quietly in the night, and the lights in the distant buildings are still on, like a star that never goes out.

……

The next day.

When Tan Yue was awakened by the morning light filtering through the gap in the curtains, the electronic clock on the bedside table showed seventeen.

He subconsciously reached out to his side, but only touched an empty duvet.

Turning around, I saw Chen Ziyu kneeling in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, the hem of her white nightgown spread out on the carpet, she was holding a cup of coffee in her hand, the morning light cast a layer of gold on the ends of her hair.

"Are you awake?" She turned around when she heard the noise, with sleepiness still in her eyes. "The breakfast menu sent by the hotel is on the coffee table. What do you want to eat?"

Tan Yue sat up, and his spine made a slight cracking sound.

The damp smell left by last night's rainstorm still lingers in the air, but the wind blowing from the lake in the distance is cool.

He grabbed his phone and opened the weather app, and sure enough, he saw the notification that the weather was changing from sunny to cloudy, with clouds slowly accumulating over Jinling City.

"Pictured egg and lean meat porridge, please." He pulled the shirt thrown on the back of the chair and put it on. "Check-out time is ten o'clock?"

"Yeah." Chen Ziyu put the coffee cup on the windowsill, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the pattern on the wall of the cup. "I checked the guide yesterday and it said there is a musical fountain in Baihu. If it doesn't rain in the afternoon..."

Her words were cut off by the sudden explosion of thunder.

Tan Yue walked to the window and saw gray-blue waves surging on the lake in the distance, and the clouds were pressing down like torn cotton wool.

Chen Ziyu cried out softly and hurried to close the half-open window. Her hair was blown by the wind and brushed across the back of Tan Yue's hand.

It was raining heavily when breakfast was served.

Tan Yue poured the hot porridge from the takeout bag into the bone china bowl and watched Chen Ziyu curled up on the sofa browsing the internet.

She suddenly turned her phone towards him. On the screen was a photo of Baihu Lake at dusk, with the orange-red sunset reflected in the rippling waves.

"This location seems to be in Phoenix Square?" She bit the straw, "How about we wait until the rain stops to check out the spot first, and then come back to see the fountain in the evening?"

Tan Yue scooped up a spoonful of porridge and blew it to cool it down, watching the mist lingering between them.

The rain subsided to a drizzle at half past nine.

Chen Ziyu pushed the suitcase into the trunk and turned around to find Tan Yue staring at the camphor tree in front of the hotel entrance in a daze.

The leaves, washed shiny by the rain, trembled slightly in the wind, and a few drops of water happened to fall on his shoulders.

"What are you daydreaming about?" She took out a tissue to help him wipe his face. "The navigation shows that Baihu will be there in 20 minutes."

Tan Yue took the tissue and put it in his trouser pocket, suddenly remembering that it was a rainy day like this before.

At that time, they were reading in a corner of the library. Her umbrella was always tilted towards him, but her right shoulder was soaked by the rain.

There are already quite a few cars parked in Baihu's parking lot.

Chen Ziyu jumped out of the car holding an umbrella, and the tip of his shoe stepped into the puddle, splashing tiny water.

Tan Yue took out the camera bag from the trunk and saw her standing on tiptoe to look at the sign on the side of the road, with water droplets still on the ends of her hair.

"Let's go see the Tunnel of Love first?" She pointed to the red dot on the map. "It's said to be a long corridor planted with roses."

The stone road was shiny from the rain, and the weeping willows on both sides hung down to the lake.

Tan Yue followed half a step behind, watching Chen Ziyu stop from time to time to take pictures.

She squatted by the roadside and took pictures of the water-stained clover, and held up her mobile phone to take pictures of the egrets flying over the lake. The hem of her skirt was blown against her calves by the wind.

"Can you take a picture for me?" She suddenly turned around and stuffed the phone into Tan Yue's hand.

Tan Yue adjusted the angle, and Chen Ziyu in the camera was standing under the arched flower stand.

The raindrops dripped down the rose petals. She reached out to catch them, and the water drops on the ends of her hair happened to fall on her collarbone.

The moment he pressed the shutter, he heard children's laughter behind him. Several children holding colorful umbrellas ran past on the gravel road, startling a group of sparrows perched on the branches.

"Show me how the photos turned out." Chen Ziyu came closer, the scent of jasmine in her hair mixed with the smell of rain.

Tan Yue handed her the phone and saw her eyes light up. "This angle is great! When did you learn how to take pictures?"

"Just taking random photos." He turned his face away, and the tips of his ears felt slightly hot. When we walked along the lake to Egret Island, the rain stopped completely.

There were cracks in the clouds, and the sun shone obliquely on the water, with golden spots swaying with the ripples.

Chen Ziyu took off his sandals and stepped into the shallow water. The waves flooded over his ankles and then retreated, leaving fine water marks on the beach.

"It's so cool!" She laughed and jumped back, but accidentally stepped into a deeper puddle.

Tan Yue reached out to support her, and just as his fingertips touched her wrist, he heard her scream - a dragonfly flew from somewhere and landed in her hair.

"Don't move." Tan Yue took out his camera. The dragonfly's wings in the lens were translucent, and the wing veins glowed amber in the sunlight.

Chen Ziyu held her breath, her eyelashes casting tiny shadows under her eyes.

As the shutter sounded, the dragonfly suddenly flapped its wings and flew away, and the wind blew a few strands of her hair around Tan Yue's fingers.

While having lunch at a lakeside cafe at noon, Chen Ziyu's mobile phone received work messages one after another.

She replied with a frown, her fingertips sliding quickly across the screen.

Tan Yue stared at the spoon she used to stir the latte, watching the milk foam spread into irregular patterns in the coffee.

"Sorry." She put down her phone, her brows still showing anxiety. "The client wants to change the plan at the last minute."

"Don't worry." Tan Yue pushed the freshly baked scones in front of her, "You can eat them first and then deal with them? They will get cold soon."

The clouds outside the window began to gather again, and the light on the lake dimmed.

Tan Yue turned the coffee cup, and the water drops on the wall of the cup slid down and left water marks on the wooden tabletop. "One time you stayed up late to modify the data and wrote 'significant difference' as 'conspicuous difference'."

"It's all your fault!" Chen Ziyu glared at him in mock anger, "You insisted on telling me a bad joke, and I made a typo."

They didn't notice that the girl in school uniform at the next table was secretly taking pictures of them with her mobile phone.

The girl sent the photo to the class group with the caption "A super sweet couple I met at Baihu today!"

As soon as the message was sent, it received more than 20 likes and comments of “I’m so excited”.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky became completely gloomy.

Chen Ziyu finally finished his work and found Tan Yue staring at the lake outside the window.

The coffee in front of him had already gone cold, and the condensed mist on the glass was used by him to draw a crooked heart shape with his fingers.

"Where are we going next?" She stuffed her phone into her canvas bag. "The musical fountain starts at seven o'clock, I think?"

Tan Yue glanced at his watch and suddenly stood up: "Follow me."

He led her through the square, which was increasingly crowded with tourists, and turned into a tree-lined path by the lake.

Tender green moss emerged from the cracks in the rain-washed stone slabs, and the sycamore trees on both sides intertwined into an arch overhead.

Chen Ziyu trotted to catch up and saw Tan Yue stop in front of him. When he turned around, he had a wild daisy in his hand that he had picked from somewhere.

"For you." His ears turned red and he stuffed the flower into her hand. "Just now I saw you staring at the flowers on the roadside for a long time."

Chen Ziyu lowered his head and smelled the fragrance of the flowers.

At six o'clock in the evening, the clouds finally dispersed completely.

Tan Yue and Chen Ziyu occupied a great spot in Phoenix Plaza. The lake in front of them was like a deep blue mirror, reflecting the gradually changing color of the sky.

Chen Ziyu put the wild daisies in the mineral water bottle and turned around to find that Tan Yue was stuffing roasted sweet potatoes into her hands.

"I just bought it on the roadside, it's hot." He also took one for himself, and white hot steam rose from the peeled sweet potato skin.

The musical fountain starts on time at seven o'clock.

When the first column of water shot up into the sky, Chen Ziyu subconsciously grabbed Tan Yue's wrist.

Colorful lights interweave in the water mist, and the melody of "The Blue Danube" mixes with the exclamations of the crowd.

When the first column of water shot up into the sky, Chen Ziyu subconsciously grabbed Tan Yue's wrist.

Colorful lights interweave in the water mist, and the melody of "The Blue Danube" mixes with the exclamations of the crowd.

She looked up at the water splashes dyed rainbow colors by the lights, and suddenly felt something falling gently on her head.

“Fireworks!” she exclaimed, pointing to the sky.

Fireworks were being set off in some corner, and orange-red sparks exploded in the night sky, illuminating the profile of Tan Yue as he looked down at her.

His eyelashes were gilded by the light, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his eyes were filled with starlight.

The crowd began to disperse as the fountain show ended.

Chen Ziyu followed Tan Yue to the parking lot when he suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Wait a minute." He said, pulling out a small box from his camera bag.

In the moonlight, the silver bracelet shimmered in his palm, and the pendant was a small freshwater pearl.

Chen Ziyu looked at the reddened tips of his ears and suddenly remembered what he had said in her ear when the fireworks were blooming twenty minutes ago.

"Actually, I've always wanted to say this." His voice was blown away by the evening breeze, but it fell clearly into her heart.

At this moment he clumsily helped her put on the bracelet, the pearls sticking to the skin of her wrist like a warm tear.

The chirping of night birds could be heard from the lake in the distance, and a few scattered lights were swaying in the waves, as if the whole world had quieted down, leaving only the overlapping sounds of each other's breathing.

Tan Yue bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head. In the distance, fireworks rose into the sky, lighting up the night sky of Baihu.

This time, he no longer had to hide his love among wild daisies, and no longer had to conceal his heartbeat with cold jokes.

On the way back, Chen Ziyu dozed off leaning against the car window.

Tan Yue was driving, turning his head from time to time to look at her sleeping profile.

The light from the street lamp brushed across her eyelashes, and the pearls on her bracelet gleamed in the darkness.

When the navigation prompted that they were about to arrive at the hotel, he reached out to turn off the music, leaving only the steady sound of the engine in the car.

In the rearview mirror, the lights of Baihu gradually faded away and turned into a string of blurry spots of light behind me.

But Tan Yue knew that something had been quietly growing in the morning light and dusk by the lake - just like the roses watered by rain, which would eventually bloom with tenderness all over the wall on a sunny day.

……

Tan Yue squatted in front of the trunk of the SUV and checked the list for the third time: folding tables and chairs, car refrigerator, first aid kit, drone, and two boxes of mineral water shining silver in the morning light.

"Are you sure you want to bring a tripod?" Chen Ziyu came over with her camera bag, her ponytail swinging with her steps, "I'm not a professional travel photography blogger."

“But you said last time that you wanted to take pictures of star trails.” Without even looking up, Tan Yue stuffed the moisture-proof mat into the corner. “Bachu is at a high altitude, so there’s less light pollution.” When he stood up, sweat stains appeared on the back of his T-shirt.

The navigation shows that the total distance is 1200 kilometers and the estimated driving time is 14 hours.

Chen Ziyu placed the mint candy cane on the center console and ran his finger over the winding blue line on the electronic map: "How about we go to Jiangcheng to rest for a night?"

"A new tunnel has been built on the highway. It will take ten hours to get there now." Tan Yue turned the key, and the engine sound woke up the sparrows on the roadside. "If you are tired, I have prepared an audio book." (End of this chapter)