A heartbeat, a lifetime

Chapter 6 Devil's Contract (2)
"Miss Qin is very hardworking. She has to stay in the library until late every day after class. But she will go home before ten o'clock." The other party said, "She is alone, and she rarely goes to any party."

I saw him frowning slightly, as if he didn't know what to say.

"She will forget to eat when she is busy, you remind him." After a long time, Shen Qinjuan sighed softly.

Such a gentle and helpless tone, even I, a bystander, was almost intoxicated by it.I stared at him blankly. At that moment, I couldn't tell whether it was envy or jealousy.

"Are you looking for someone to follow her?" I asked uncomfortably after the phone hung up.

"No." He said simply, "There are friends over there, and she went abroad alone, so she has to take care of her."

"Oh." I foolishly asked again, "Then does she know?"

"Of course I don't know." He smiled gently, "This kid is stubborn and stupid, and he's still angry with me."

I can't explain how I feel at this moment, it's like a cat's paw scratching my heart, there are bloodstains, painful and sore, but I still can't speak.

He was silent all the way, and he seemed to be full of thoughts, so he didn't speak again.As for me, I was too lazy to speak, and I didn't say until I was about to get out of the car, "How long will it take for me to act with you?"

He smiled softly, "What? Can't continue acting?"

I wondered, "Can she know? It's so far away. Besides, she must know that we are fake when she sees my photo. What kind of threat can I pose to her?"

Shen Qinjun couldn't help but smile, "Don't worry, whether you look like it or not, you won't be paid less."

I nodded indiscriminately, and opened the door to get out of the car, but he suddenly stopped me, "Bai Xi, why do you like photography so much?"

I am stunned.

In this world, he was the first to ask me this question.

I already knew the answer, but never told anyone.

Colorful clouds are easy to disperse, glass is fragile, and the scenery is fleeting, nothing can be kept.

But my camera can save them.Those beautiful, painful, and fleeting things are all in my camera-no one can steal them, not time, life or death.

It's that simple.

I made a haha, not letting him see what was on my mind, and dropped the bookbag in a serious manner:

"If you don't do something useless, why spend your time?"

However, I didn't take a few photos today, and I received a call from my boss, who was ordered to go on a business trip temporarily.

I carefully put the camera back in the bag, then ran non-stop to the bus stop, ready to go home and pack my things.As a newcomer, I haven't had a business trip yet this year, and the end of the year is coming to an end. The remaining few small projects are all run by subsidiaries, and they are all thrown to me.

I have no complaints, but feel a little lucky.

Ever since I agreed to Shen Qinjun, I haven't been able to sleep well in the past few days, and my mood is hard to describe in words... I am somewhat looking forward to him contacting me, but when we are really together, I feel very sad.So it’s okay to go on a business trip, and come back after a few days of calming down, so you don’t have to think about it.

When I went home to pack my things, Xu Zhuo had already returned.

Xu Zhuo is a good friend I met in college. She graduated from law school. She is different from living a foolish life like me. As soon as she graduated, she joined a well-known law firm.

"Where's the handsome guy?" She looked around behind me.

"Let's go." I replied angrily, "He came to get something."

"What did you guys do this afternoon?" Xu Zhuo asked with a smile on his face.

"Go to film. He left early."

She looked disappointed, "What is he doing?"

I didn't answer, just said: "Xu Zhuo, I'm going on a business trip for a few days."

"It's almost the Spring Festival holiday, and you are still on a business trip?" Xu Zhuo was angrily, "Is your company bullying newcomers?"

"Actually not. The leader asked me for my opinion, and I think it's OK." I smiled and said, "Anyway, it's just like this during Chinese New Year. I'm fine by myself."

Xu Zhuo looked at me, stroked my hair and said, "Should I go to my house to celebrate the New Year this year? My parents miss you very much."

"I miss my uncles and aunts too!" I rested my chin, "I must go to give them New Year's greetings in the New Year!"

The next day at the station there were already signs of Spring Festival travel, and when the train was moving, I received a call from the boss.

"Bai Xi, your household registration problem hasn't been resolved yet?"

I immediately remembered that when I was arguing with Shen Qinjun yesterday, I mentioned it, and he said it was a "small problem" indifferently.I made up my mind and returned to the boss: "Not yet, I was recruited by the agency, and I didn't talk about this issue at the time."

"Okay, I got it. Go back and tell HR. Now I'm asking you to go on a business trip, thank you for your hard work."

When I arrived in Chucheng, my colleagues from the subsidiary picked me up and went straight to work.The data was not checked until late at night. Fortunately, the hotel I stayed in was near the company. After I took a shower, because I had to choose a bed, I couldn’t sleep for a while, so I stood on the terrace to watch the night view.

At such a time, looking at the brightly lit city alone, light and shadow flowing wantonly under my feet, I suddenly felt a little at a loss, so I took out a cigarette from my pocket.

I found a box of matches by the sofa, lit it, and took a deep breath. Every cell in my limbs seemed to be ignited. I filtered the acrid gas in my body over and over again like greedy, until I woke up completely.

Taking advantage of this momentum, I sent Shen Qinjun a text message: Thank you for the account.

He did not hear back.

There was a still, burning smell in the air, and as the hour hand of the watch moved toward midnight, I still lit a cigarette and started working.

Until the phone rang, I was suddenly pulled out of the data and reports.

It was Shen Qinjun.

"Are you still tossing so late?"

"The boss hasn't slept yet, how dare the employees take a rest?" he said suddenly, his voice a little hoarse.

He was silent for a while, and probably smiled, "Tired and caught a cold?"

I said indifferently: "I'm on a business trip, I can't go home if I don't finish my work."

"The company will be on holiday the day after tomorrow." He was a little surprised, but also seemed a little displeased, "Why are you still on a business trip at this time?"

You can't blame our department, can you?

I hurriedly said, "I asked for it on my own initiative. There are travel allowances and holiday allowances."

He said "hmm", "Can I come back the day after tomorrow?"

"It's only half a day by car." I said naturally, "Of course I can come back."

He was silent for a while, "Okay, come back and tell me."

The project really took two days to finish.I am still very busy every day, not like other people's leisurely energy when the New Year is approaching.A colleague from the subsidiary company kindly reminded me: "Would you like to book tickets in advance for you?"

I didn't take it seriously, "No need, it's a short trip!"

They didn't mention it anymore.

I thought the journey between the two cities was only half a day, so I didn't buy the train tickets in advance, but I didn't know that the short-distance train tickets were sold out as the Spring Festival travel season approached.The weather began to be unreliable and windy. It was raining, snowing and freezing. I rarely took long-distance passenger transport. It seemed that I had to wait in Chucheng for two days.

I called my boss outside the crowded West Passenger Transport Station, with a frowning face, "Boss, I can't seem to go back."

The boss was proudly preparing to get on the plane to go home for the New Year. After hearing what happened to me, he said sympathetically, "You just have no experience, so of course you have to book the tickets a few days in advance! How about this, don't go back to the company when you come back, just go on vacation. "

I want to cry but have no tears: Boss, I have to come back!
After hanging up the phone, I calmed down.

What's the matter, the big deal is that I'm spending New Year's Eve here, anyway, it's deserted everywhere, and the company's designated hotel is still a five-star hotel!It's just a pity that I don't have a camera with me...

The streets were full of mud, water and ice, my hair seemed to be covered with moisture, and my leather boots were half soaked.It was almost evening when I returned to the hotel, entered the room, turned on the air conditioner to the hottest, took a shower after shaking off my boots.

The skin all the way to my fingertips was already white and wrinkled, and my whole body was hot again and again, before I came out of the bathroom and fell on the bed exhausted.

In fact, I was not very sad. When I was studying, I was the only one who stayed at school for the New Year. On New Year's Eve, the "left-behind children" of the whole school would be invited to the school cafeteria.Most of the students who stayed for the Chinese New Year did not want to go back and forth because they could not buy train tickets, and some were from difficult families who did not want to go back and forth. But I am different, I really have no home.It's just that in my senior year, Xu Zhuo insisted on inviting me to her house to celebrate the New Year, and finally I didn't complete the four-year grand slam.

The headmaster will come to have a New Year's Eve dinner with us in person, and everyone will get a red envelope.By the time I was in my junior year, the headmaster knew me and sat next to me to chat with me.The teacher at the side praised me without losing the opportunity: "Bai Xi, I get the first-class scholarship every year." Now that I think about it, those words always have a dark humorous meaning, as if to say: "Hey, I have a poor life, and I am a talented person." You are so hardworking!" I was suddenly a little sad, I shook my hair, hugged my laptop, and clicked on the webpage.

On the pop-up window of the portal website, on the home page of the entertainment news, there was a very familiar figure of a woman.

A loose dark beige cardigan, straight and slender skinny jeans, a pair of well-worn sneakers, Qin Mou is carrying a schoolbag, holding a cup of coffee, striding on the streets of a foreign country, her thick long hair It is so casually tied up with a leather ring, with a small face, relaxed and casual, but also has a strong bookish atmosphere.

Did the paparazzi chase Qin Mou and go abroad?I clicked on the comments, and it was rare that there were no ugly scoldings on this sham website, most of them were praises and appreciations.

I touched my hair and forgot to use conditioner again.Looking at others again, I lost even my inferiority complex in an instant.Forget it, I didn't bother to think about it, so I lit a cigarette, took a fierce puff, and closed the computer again in a fit of anger.

Amidst the smoke, the phone rang suddenly.

It was Shen Qinjun.

I picked it up lazily, but his tone was calm: "Haven't you gone back yet?"

"I can't buy tickets anymore." I remembered that I should have told him that New Year's Eve and Spring Festival are also rare good opportunities to act.Think about it, Qin Mou is alone in a foreign country, and feels desolate during the holidays, if he can know that Shen Qinjun and I are "together", how exciting it will be?Zhunbao returned to his embrace immediately.

He said "um", "Then come down and go back with me."

"Cough! Cough!" I sat up, covered in soot, and said incoherently, "Where are you?"

He reported the name of the hotel, and explained casually: "I just came back from a business trip, and the plane landed in Chu City, and I will take you back by the way."

I panicked for a moment.

I'm totally unprepared now!She was still wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was dripping wet!

"Don't dawdle, if the road is icy at night, it will be even more difficult to drive." His tone was already a little bit bad.

"I...I don't want to go back." I said with a sad face, "I have to wait for the train ticket."

There seemed to be a pause on the phone, and his tone was milder, "What's wrong with the car?"

I'm really afraid of taking a car, especially for long distances and night trips.When I was in college, we used to organize outings, and we also drove at night. There was a section of the road where the car almost rolled off the cliff, and it was only a body short. After that, I was cast in the shadow.

My faltering tone probably made him even more displeased, and he finally said in a cold voice, "Ten minutes, come down for me."

I was very reluctant to get out of bed and change clothes, looking at my pale face in the mirror, I really looked like a ghost.At that moment, I made up my mind to do everything I could - I would die, and it would be good to die with Shen Qinjun.

I dragged my suitcase and ran to the lobby, and he was already waiting for me at the front desk.Seeing that I was out of breath, he reached out and took my box, smiled slightly, "7 minutes."

"Miss, check out." I handed over the room card, intentionally avoiding his smile, I knew that my face was pale and my blushing was too obvious.

The clerk at the front desk answered a phone call and said to me with a smile: "Miss, there are cigarette burn marks on your bed sheet. According to regulations, you have to pay for it."

I thought about it with a guilty conscience. It was about when he called me. In a hurry, a piece of cigarette ash fell on the bed sheet. Just as he was about to admit it, Shen Qinjun suddenly said, "Cigarettes?"

He frowned and looked at me up and down, as if I was a bad girl, a little disgusted, and like looking at a stranger.

My heart broke, and I simply said, "Okay, let's pay."

"Do you sign the bill or pay now?" The waiter handed over the bill.

He took it over without saying a word, signed his name, and then pulled me away, "Let's go."

Just where it reached my shoulder, he looked sideways at my hair again. A large piece of clothing was already wet, and his face became darker and darker. He took off the coat he was holding and draped it on my shoulders. .

"I'm not cold." I whispered.

His eyes were extremely sharp, "What's the matter with your hair? Is there no hair dryer in the room?"

I looked at him dumbfounded, and argued, "You said you'd be down within 10 minutes."

In fact, I don't know why, usually I am a person who is too lazy to argue, whatever the leader and colleagues ask me to do, I do everything I can, and I have no complaints, but to him, I always want to justify a few words.

I saw that his cheeks were tense, and he twitched for a moment, probably wanting to laugh, but held back.

This half-smile expression made me feel even more depressed in my heart, and I couldn't help it, "Look at my shoes, they're still wet!"

"Okay." He pulled me to the door, and the doorman drove an SUV over, jumped out of the car and handed him the keys.

The cold wind rolled over with drizzle, and I hid in his coat, still shivering from the cold.He put my suitcase into the trunk, and brought over something else before motioning for me to get in the car.

I sat in the co-pilot seat, and when I touched the hair with my hand, I only felt a few hard pinches, which turned out to have been frozen into ice bars.I just thought it was strange and fun, so I pulled some up, smiled and said to him: "Look! It's frozen in just a few minutes!"

He was pulling his seat belt, but when he heard this, he turned his head and glanced at me. Before I could react, his face was already in front of me.The straight bridge of the nose was so close that it almost touched my cheek, I didn't know what he was going to do, I just knew that his voice became hoarse for a moment, I couldn't say anything, I just felt my heart beating violently.

He stretched out his hand to brush my hair away, my body froze, the coat that was originally draped over my shoulders slipped onto the seat, and he kept his posture unchanged, so close that we could touch each other, our breaths blended together—— The breath is refreshing and slightly lingering.

Time seemed to be slipping away under such staring, I knew that the blood in my whole body was gradually rising to my cheeks, and suddenly I was annoyed at his incomprehensible intimacy, I stretched out my hand, pushed him away with all my strength, turned my head and said: " what are you doing?"

He straightened up, looked ahead, and said calmly, "You smell very strongly of smoke."

(End of this chapter)