Half-baked

47
Ever since the day when Huai Nian said "break up", Duan Huai'an's emotions have been fluctuating violently and he has found it difficult to suppress them.
Duan Yixing has tried to persuade him with kind words and also scolded him coldly.

to the end.
Duan Huai'an collapsed on the sofa in the bedroom. He covered his face with one hand and hid his expression with his arm. It was as if there was a mouthful of gravel in his throat. His voice was hoarse and dry: "Dad, I can't break up with her."
"But she broke up with him, didn't she?"
"She doesn't understand."
"..."

Duan Huaian took away his hands that were covering his face and stared at the bright lights on the ceiling. His eyes were soaked by the moist mist. His throat choked and there was an uncontrollable cry in his voice.
"Everyone thinks that I have a lot of choices. Without nostalgia, there are more women."
"The truth is, I can't live without nostalgia."

Duan Yixing was speechless for a moment when he saw his son who was so proud and arrogant, now in such an embarrassed and humble state.

There was silence for a long time.
Duan Yixing said: "Her mother is right here. If you rashly go to look for her, her mother will think too much."
Duan Huai'an said, "Let's make it public."

Duan Yixing said: "If you make it public now, do you think your girlfriend will come back? Huai'an, the only bond between you and her is her mother. If you make it public, will her mother still stay here to work? I always praise you for being mature and steady, and for being watertight in your dealings, but I didn't expect you to be so irrational when it comes to relationships."

Duan Huaian said nothing.

Duan Yixing said: "Don't go out these few days. I don't think you have the heart to work. Stay at home and think carefully about how to deal with this matter."
Duan Huaian's lips moved.

Duan Yixing seemed to have guessed what he was going to say and interrupted him, "Don't even think about going downstairs to find her. I'll lock the door."
"..."
"Don't get crazy. You won't die from falling from the second floor. But if you dare to jump from the second floor, I will make sure you will never find her in your life."
"..."

Until today, Duan Huai'an said: "Dad, I want to go somewhere."
He said: "I miss you not replying my messages."
Taking a deep breath, he begged Duan Yixing: "Can you help me bring her here, please?"

Through the car window, Duan Huaian couldn't see the person inside, but he heard a voice coming from the receiver of the mobile phone, a choked cry.

It was not until he heard what she said that Duan Huaian realized that he had done something wrong.
It was wrong from the start.
Even though he hated the word "force".
But he had to admit it.

He forced her.

In addition to coercion, there is also deception.
He forced their first kiss, and he also deliberately concealed their first night together.

His hands were shaking as he held the phone: "It's my fault. I'm sorry, baby."

In the car, Duan Yixing asked Huai Nian: "He has something to say to you, are you willing to give him a chance to talk?"
Huai Nian nodded slowly, she reached out, pushed open the car door, and the hot air from outside hit her in the face.
The voice from the phone receiver overlapped with Duan Huai'an's voice not far away: "No need to get off, just stay in the car."

Hearing this, Duan Yixing patted the back seat of the driver's seat, signaling the driver to get out with him to give the two of them some space alone.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.
Even the chirping of cicadas disappeared.
It seemed as if they were the only two people left in the world.

Huai Nian was sitting in the car while Duan Huaian was standing outside the car.

Summer sun exposure and high temperature scorching.
I couldn’t bear the thought of missing you: “How about sitting in the car?”
"No." He paused for a few seconds, then changed the subject and said, "We first met here."
"..."
The nostalgia suddenly stopped and my heart felt like it was falling from a high altitude.

Like the dark side of summer, no matter how deep it is hidden, it will be captured by the sun.
There is no escape.

She had a slight feeling of vertigo.

Then I heard him say again.
"The summer vacation of the year of the high school entrance examination."
Have a chat.
"You were holding onto a lot of helium balloons, remember?"

"..."

Fate took her and brought her back to the past.
She looked at everything around her, the lush green trees, and in the distance, she saw the Ferris wheel in the amusement park.
The fragmented memories in his mind, like a puzzle, were pieced together into a complete picture through his lips and teeth.

That summer, Huai Nian was admitted to the best high school in South City with the second highest score in the city.

The amusement park opened that day, and my friend dragged me to the amusement park when I was doing nothing at home.
Her friend gave her a bundle of helium balloons, and the two of them sold helium balloons in the amusement park.
The vendors around sold them for 20 yuan each, while Huai Nian and Du Xuezhao sold them for 10 yuan each. Soon, the two bundles of helium balloons in their hands were almost gone.

I missed the last one left.
It was a helium balloon she made herself.
A transparent balloon with three-dimensional PVC butterflies around it.

After selling everything, Du Xuezhao asked her, "Do you want to go on the pirate ship?"
The night gradually drew its curtain, and Nostalgia was afraid of missing the last bus, so she said, "I have to go home. I'll play with you next time, okay?"
"I'll go with you."
"No need." Huai Nian knew that the last bus that passed by her house was at 10 pm. She also knew that she wanted to play, so she smiled and refused, "You won't take the same bus with me. It's okay. I'll go first. You can continue playing."

Du Xuezhao was so playful that he finally boarded the pirate ship.
I miss walking out of the amusement park slowly with my fingers wrapped around the plastic string of a helium balloon.

There were thick fiery clouds hanging in the sky, and the sunlight was like sweet berry juice. I missed sitting on the chair at the bus stop and looking up at the helium balloons floating in the air.

She was in a good mood.
The bus hasn't come yet.
Her eyes unconsciously swept around.

then.
Then I saw the boy coming out of the amusement park.
He was holding a food storage box in his hand, and judging from its shape and size, it should contain a cake.
But the expression on his face didn't look like he was celebrating his birthday.

Very depressed, very cold, the warm light casts a world-weary and tired face.

When passing by the trash can, he threw the lunch box in his hand into it.

I can’t really describe how I felt at that time.
She ran towards him almost without hesitation.
"classmate."

Duan Huaian raised his eyelashes slightly under his forehead, and looked at the person who came to chat with him for no apparent reason with an indifferent yet sharp look in his eyes.

"This is for you." She forcefully stuffed the plastic string of the helium balloon in her hand into Duan Huai'an's fingers. Seeing the bus coming from afar, she hurriedly said, "I'm leaving. Goodbye."
Run towards the parked bus.
Before getting in the car.
She tilted her head and smiled widely, her eyes curved into beautiful arcs and there were dimples at the corners of her mouth.
"Happy birthday."

She was standing against the light a few meters away, but in Duan Huaian's eyes, her smile was very clear, and her facial features were also very clear, engraved into his mind stroke by stroke.
Until the bus left, until the driver stopped the car in front of him.
Duan Huaian realized that he had remained in a dazed posture and had not moved at all.

He got in the car.

The driver asked him, "Master, what about this balloon?"
Duan Huaian finally came to his senses, lowered the car window, loosened his tightly wrapped fingers, the plastic line lost its pulling force, and the balloon floated out of the car.
He rolled down the window.

When I looked down, I saw a butterfly on my knees.
It’s the decorative butterfly that was stuck on the balloon just now.
He stared at the butterfly for a long, long time, and suddenly he had an urge to keep the butterfly by his side forever.

……

I suddenly remembered the butterfly specimens in his room.
She recalled how she had accidentally entered that room and was surprised to see the walls covered with butterfly specimens.
"How come you collected so many specimens?"

"Do you know the process of making butterfly specimens?" Duan Huaian asked instead of answering. He stood behind her, leaned over and put his arms around her waist, lowered his chin and rested it on her neck. He spoke slowly and in a deep voice, "We need to use poison gas to prevent organ damage caused by the production process, and pour boiling water into its body. In order to ensure the integrity of the scales, we need to insert a bead needle from the back of the butterfly." The wall was full of brilliant golden light, sprinkling on the butterfly, as if the butterfly would dance anytime and anywhere.

But they know that the butterfly stays in that summer forever.

His hot breath touched her ears, which made her feel a little itchy and a little scary.
"How cruel." She lowered her eyes.
“Butterflies don’t survive the four seasons,” he said. “When they become specimens, they last forever.”
"But perhaps what they want is not to be bound forever, but a moment of freedom."

"Is it important?" Duan Huai'an sneered with contempt and disdain, "What I want is for them to last forever."

……

Everything was foreshadowed.

What he wanted to keep was never the butterfly.
But miss.

……

The air seemed to freeze and my breath also condensed into a ball.
Duan Huai'an looked at her with his eyes downcast, his eyes were dark and no emotion could be seen. His eyes were like a swamp, and one look would sink you deeper and deeper, making it hard to extricate yourself. The feeling of oppression and suffocation was so strong that she wanted to look away, but it seemed as if there was an invisible hand around her, forcing her to look at him.

It's hard.
It's hard not to look at him.
It's hard to leave him.

"That day was my birthday. I have always hated celebrating my birthday because my parents are away from home all year round and they rarely remember my birthday. But that day," Duan Huaian looked at her deeply, "you told me, happy birthday."
“I felt so happy at the time.”
"It's not because of my happy birthday, but because of you."

Huai Nian felt her body tense up. She lowered her eyes and did not respond to his words. Instead, she asked him, "So later, we lived together and were assigned to the same class. Was it all arranged by you?"

"No." Duan Huai'an said, "I haven't met you in school. I didn't even know that we were in the same high school."

Fate didn't tell me that it would help me find you.

She is too low-key, and he is a person who is extremely indifferent to the people and things around him.
He had passed by the top 100 list countless times, and it was clear that as long as he turned his head, he would see the photo of the No. 1. Unfortunately, he missed the opportunity to meet her a year earlier.

"It's a coincidence."
"Do you think I will still believe it?" Huai Nian asked him.

"..." Duan Huai'an opened his lips slightly, his voice slightly hoarse, "I won't lie to you."

"Maybe." She pulled the corner of her mouth with an ambiguous look of nostalgia and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I like you." He squatted down, looked up at her in the car, and reached out to hold her hand tightly. "The first time I saw you, I fell in love with you."

and so.
Don't talk about breaking up.
Don't talk about breaking up.
You can't...break up with me.

Miss leaning over him.
The person she had always looked up to, one day, actually looked up to her.

He actually still couldn't understand why she broke up with him. He just apologized profusely and told her over and over again how much he liked her and loved her.

"Are you going to force me to stay with you?" Huai Nian asked him softly, "Are you going to force me to stay with you?"

On the asphalt ground, his shadow trembled slightly.
Miss getting off the other side.

"Was it all forced? You took the initiative to kiss me that day. Did I force you to kiss me?" Duan Huaian's tone was very cold, with his usual arrogance.

Huai Nian was stunned for a moment, she lowered her eyes: "I took the initiative to kiss you."
"Now."
"It's me who doesn't want you anymore." Huai Nian said, "Don't you like to make choices? Choose between me dumping you and you dumping me. Make a good confession so I can tell everyone."

“This is not a multiple choice question!”

"But you have always forced me to make this kind of choice."

"..."

There was a car parked on the side of the road, probably the car that just brought Duan Huai'an over.
Duan Yixing motioned for her to sit in.

With tears in her eyes, she looked back at Duan Huaian who was standing next to the car.
He lowered his head, a tall and handsome man, standing straight. But slowly, his shoulders slumped and his head lowered. It seemed that all his edge and arrogance disappeared in an instant. From a distance, he looked tired and decadent.

She just took a look, then turned and got into the car.

The car drove away.
It passed behind Duan Huai'an and drove away.

At that moment, it seemed as if all the air in his lungs was sucked out. Duan Huai'an held the car door and breathed rapidly.

I don’t know how long it took, but the phone in my pocket continued to vibrate.
Duan Huai'an thought that Hua Nian had changed her mind, and hurriedly took out his cell phone from his pocket. His hands were shaking, and the phone fell out of his palm. Before it fell out, his finger touched the answer button.

The voice coming from the phone was Chi Jingting.
He said nonchalantly: "Happy birthday, buddy. Guess who's next to me - Chen Jiangce. Come here quickly. I wish our good buddy Duan Huai'an to be handsome forever. Of course, he can't be more handsome than me."

"Idiot." Chen Jiangce cursed him and took the phone. "Where are you? I came back specially to celebrate your birthday."

Duan Huaian froze in his attempt to pick up his phone. The high temperature seemed to have dried up all his strength. He took a deep breath, and the heat in the air rushed into his throat.

"I found her on this day," he lowered his eyes on his birthday, his voice so soft that it was swallowed by the air, "and I also lost her on this day."

"She doesn't want me anymore."

He picked up the phone, and the screen was all wet and blurry. He wiped it, but it didn't get dry. He wiped it again, but it still didn't get dry.
Repeating this action over and over again, and repeating this sentence over and over again,
——"She doesn't want me anymore."

(End of this chapter)