Dear boy, it's been a long time

Chapter 4 It turns out that the heartbeat is a secret that I didn't tell anyone when I was young
【1】

The car drove out of the gate of Peking University smoothly, Bai Jianxing drove the car with concentration, Wen Juefei sat in the co-pilot, and inadvertently saw his fingers out of the corner of his eyes.This is really a pair of hands that played the piano since childhood. She remembered that when she was in class at Bai's house, she would occasionally hear the sound of the piano from Bai Jianxing's room upstairs, and painting with the music was one of her pleasant memories.His hands are white and slender, with well-defined joints, and he wears a silver men's ring on his ring finger, which looks like a special promotional picture on the ring advertisement.Thinking of this, I couldn't help but stare twice more in a daze, but when I raised my head, I met his gaze, and my heart rate became messy for no reason.

Bai Jianxing asked, "What are you looking at?"

Wen Juefei was embarrassed for a moment, before he had time to answer, he suddenly said: "Oh, look at my ring?" After speaking, he subconsciously glanced at his right hand, and added, "This is a wedding ring."

Wen Juefei, who didn't think about the meaning of wearing a ring on his ring finger at all, was stunned for a moment, his words swallowed her consciousness instantly like a surging sound wave.After careful calculation, he is 24 years old this year, and he has already reached the legal age of marriage in our country. If he is in Germany, he can register for marriage when he reaches eighteen.

Thinking about it, I'm really surprised that the newly promoted male god of thousands of girls in Beijing University has already married in private. After thinking about it, the Beijing University gossip circle, which is known as "no gossip, no knowledge", is not so magical.Reluctantly, she moved towards the car door to show a distance from him, and subconsciously asked, "Is your wife German?"

Bai Jianxing turned his head to look at her when he heard the words, and what he saw was her trying to control herself but still feeling a little uncomfortable, and there was a cheerful smile on the corner of her mouth: "You seem to care about the question of whether I am married or not?"

With a cold voice, Wen Juefei found a way for himself: "I'm okay, the other thousands of female students from Beijing University should care more than me."

Bai Jianxing smiled lightly and said, "I'm not married yet. The ring was a gift from my grandma when I was 20 years old, and she said it was worn on the little finger to guard against villains. The old man doesn't understand the style, and the ring is a little too big, so I can only Wear it on your ring finger."

Wen Juefei was stunned for a long time after hearing the words, and then he laughed and said, "But the ring has prevented me from a lot of trouble."

Most of the things that a ring worn on the ring finger can block are the troubles of peach blossoms.That's why he said it was a wedding ring when he first came up, Wen Juefei thought, maybe he was also warning her not to have unreasonable thoughts, because he didn't know what to say for a while.

Fragmentary light came in with the intermittent sound of the horn, and Bai Jianxing felt that the atmosphere was not right. Just when there was a red light ahead, he stepped on the brake to stop, turned his face and said seriously: "I am single."

Wen Juefei was stunned again. Looking at Bai Jianxing's sincere eyes, he said with a straight face: "I don't seem to have known you formally. I am 24 years old, and I come from the same city as you. I have the same relationship with you in middle and high school. You are in the same school, and I believe you know my address. I won’t repeat the basic information. For more personal information, such as: I have never been in a relationship, and I am still single. I think it is necessary to let you know these things of."

Wen Juefei was a little fainted by the bombardment of this series of self-reported family information, and subconsciously followed the topic: "Why didn't you fall in love?"

Bai Jianxing paused, and said: "I used to like a girl, but because of my personality, I seemed to miss it. Later, I met many people, but I always felt inferior to her. What's more, love is not the most important thing in life for me. There is no need to start the necessary link if you don’t meet what you want.”

Wen Juefei nodded in agreement, and Bai Jianxing said, "To understand a person, it's not enough to just know these things. But, you can try to get to know me. After all, the future is long."

In my impression, he who has always rejected people thousands of miles away can actually say such sincere words. Wen Juefei was flattered and felt a little warm in his heart, so he replied in a soft voice: "Okay."

When the green light turned on, she raised her eyes to look forward, and the light of the setting sun stretched far away on the asphalt road.

【2】

Bai Jianxing's apartment is near Beijing University, on the sixteenth floor, the lighting is exceptionally good.When Wen Juefei came in, Grandma Shushen was sitting alone in the living room, wearing presbyopic glasses and reading the newspaper. Her silver hair was neatly coiled as usual, and a jade hairpin was pinned to it, looking chic and elegant.Although the skin is layered with many wrinkles, it shows a reddish ivory white.

Grandma Shushen is a well-known Chinese painting artist all over the country. Although she is in her [-]s this year, she is open-minded and open-minded, and travels everywhere with the spirit of "still young".Naturally, the Bai family was worried that the old lady would go out alone, and hired an aunt to take care of grandma's daily life, and she was currently preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Looking up and seeing Wen Juefei, Grandma Shushen beamed with joy, put down the newspaper quickly, and greeted her without taking off her glasses.When the thin and warm hand touched Wen Juefei's shoulder, Grandma Shushen, who was full of smiles, frowned slightly, stood at the entrance of the living room, looked her over carefully, and asked distressedly: "Little girl, why are you so thin?" gone?"

The concern in Grandma Shushen's words was so warm that Wen Juefei, a gentle smile appeared in her usually moody eyes, she raised her hand to hug Grandma Shushen affectionately, and said softly: "Maybe it's because I've been too busy at school recently, and I lost a few Jin. When I came to see you today, I hope to make up for it with grandma."

Grandma Shushen laughed when she heard that, besides Dusun Bai Jianxing, she loved this little apprentice the most.Not only does he look like a finely carved jade, but he also has a cold personality that is not easy to fight for, but when he gets close to people, he will dig out his heart and lungs.She patted the back of Wen Juefei's hand lovingly: "What are you busy with?"

"Recently, the school chess club is going to participate in the national competition, so we all have to sign up for it. As you know, according to my level of chess skills, if I play rashly, it will really destroy my ancestors."

After speaking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Bai Jianxing who was looking for something at the entrance, standing up straight, holding a pair of disposable slippers in his hand, and walking towards him while taking them apart.Just as he was wondering what was going on, he suddenly squatted down, picked up the shriveled upper with one hand with well-defined knuckles, and the moment he raised his head to meet her eyes, she already understood, and stretched out the foot that was stepping on the cold floor. , Put on your shoes obediently.

A series of tacit and smooth movements, not even a word of extraneous words, Grandma Shushen's eyes lit up, and she once again felt the desire to match.Grandma Shushen first pretended to be distressed on purpose, and said, "Girl, you see, your brother Jian Xing is also 24 years old, a doctoral student at Beijing University, and he has never been in a relationship. In my heart... "

"Grandma, don't, now is the time to talk about that." Bai Jianxing seemed to know what grandma wanted to say next, and interrupted anxiously.

Wen Juefei was at a loss.She raised her eyes and saw a suspicious blushing on Bai Jianxing's face, recalled what he said to herself in the car just now, and suddenly realized: "I see. What do you mean, let me introduce a girl to Teacher Bai?" know?"

As soon as these words came out, the grandparents and grandson who lived there obviously had ulterior motives.Bai Jianxing stood there with an expression of being struck by lightning, stared at Wen Juefei for a long while, and finally squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "You think, I am the kind of person who needs someone Introduce a man you can fall in love with?"

Wen Juefei had a harmless face: "Isn't it?" Although theoretically he was definitely not, but what if?
It was Grandma Shushen who was clever, and she continued to follow along, patted Wen Juefei on the shoulder kindly, and said, "He is, he is. Girl, you should get in touch with him for a while, and investigate him for your friends." .If you think it’s good, I’ll introduce a few more to him..."

"How many?" Wen Juefei couldn't believe it.

"No, no, one, one is enough."

Wen Juefei thought that what Grandma Shushen said was also reasonable. Although Bai Jianxing's face was ever-changing, he had no intention of objecting, so he could only nod and reluctantly agreed, but he had no idea who to introduce to him.Grandma Shushen beamed with joy, she dragged the two of them to the living room to sit down, made tea and began to gossip.

Grandma Shushen can still remember the rainy season when Wen Juefei came to the Bai family compound. The raindrops hit the jujube leaves on the right side of the north room, and the little girl who was so thin that she would fall down in the breeze was brought to her.

In the washed-out blue dress, she pinched the hem of the skirt timidly, and her black and white clear eyes were intertwined with fear and melancholy. It was hard to believe that these were the eyes of a teenager.

The Bai family is a famous family from their ancestors, and they have cultivated either high-ranking politicians or amazingly talented scholars, and Grandma Shushen is the best representative of them.Just the title of "famous contemporary Chinese painter" is enough to attract countless people to send their children to Baijia to learn painting. There are even training institutions offering a lot of money to hire her to give lectures, but she refuses them all.

Grandma Shushen's acceptance of apprentices is not only based on the talent of the students, but also on the fate between the master and the apprentice.The Bai family and the Wen family have a long history. Wen Juefei's long-dead grandmother was Shushen's close friend. As early as when Wen Juefei was still young, she had been amazed by the aura in the children's eyes.Later, Wen Juefei's father died of illness, and Wen's mother specially trained her to be an art student in order to allow her to be admitted to the No. [-] Middle School, and followed the doorway to beg the Bai family to accept her as an apprentice.Grandma Shushen remembered Wen's girl, so she agreed to accept her without even thinking about it.

Wen Jue is not precocious, but she started late, so naturally she spent more time teaching her than other students.Often classes are held in the afternoon, and Wen Juefei is still painting at Bai's house until Bai Jianxing returns from self-study in the evening.But the two children were shy at that time, and they didn't even say a word when they sat and ate together occasionally. On the surface, it seemed that they had no intersection at all.Grandma Shushen was still a little worried about why these two children were so weird, until one day she picked up a small ball of paper with Wen Juefei's name written on it under Bai Jianxing's desk.

It turns out that the heartbeat is a secret that I didn't tell anyone when I was young.

【3】

Thinking of these things a few years ago, Grandma Shushen couldn't help laughing, patting the back of Wen Juefei's hand lovingly.The nanny who was busy in the kitchen poked her head out and said that dinner was almost ready, so Grandma Shushen sent Wen Juefei to wash her hands.Wen Juefei entered the bathroom in the direction pointed by grandma, and when he came out, he passed the bedroom with the door open, and by the light of the living room, he saw a landscape painting hanging on the wall at a glance.

Bai Jianxing, who was in the third year of high school, received an offer from the University of Mannheim in Germany, and he wanted to go abroad to study a bachelor's degree in management as he wished.Bai's father held a very grand university banquet for him, and invited all the relatives and friends of the Bai family, including Grandma Shushen's students.

She was still young that year, and there were no adults at home to give advice, so she didn't know what gift to give, so she drew a picture and gave it to him as a token of blessing.That is the light crimson landscape painting she is best at.The autumn mountains are as clear as makeup, the mountains are high and far away, and the smoke and clouds are beautiful.With a flying eaves building as the eyebrows, the plaque on the building is written "Mingyue Building", standing against the mountain, and there is a cold bright moon hanging in the sky on the eaves.The biggest shortcoming of the whole painting is the lack of title and purpose. Because calligraphy was still her shortcoming at that time, she was afraid that a rash inscription would be self-defeating, so she only stamped a vermilion seal with her name on it.

He still kept it.It is unbelievable that someone who grew up watching Grandma Shushen's national treasure-level calligraphy and painting works hung in her room was a blunt and immature work drawn by her less than a year after she first started.

She was wondering when Bai Jianxing came to her side at some point, reached out and turned on the light in the bedroom, and said, "What's the matter, I don't hide any treasure in my room."

The light filled the room in an instant, and what caught the eye was the minimalist home layout, clean and tidy beds and bookshelves, and slightly messy game cards. Only then did Wen Juefei realize that his painting was hung at the core of the room layout.It would be too hypocritical to find other excuses at this time, Wen Juefei honestly pointed to the painting on the wall: "I'm looking at it..."

"You remember it?"

"Of course, the painting is too ugly, and it can be seen at a glance that it is my handwriting." She complained about herself without being soft-spoken, "I didn't expect you to keep it."

Bai Jianxing looked down at her, and answered after a while: "Yes. I still keep it."

An answer that did nothing to advance the conversation made the atmosphere freeze for a moment. Feeling a little embarrassed, Wen Juefei was determined to carry his self-deception to the end: "Hanging it up as a negative teaching material is a good way to motivate yourself." If If you don't work hard, you can only be the same as Wen Juefei, and you can only draw this level of painting after working hard for so long', thinking about it this way..."

He suddenly interrupted: "No. I just liked it, so I hung up."

"But even the mountain line is broken."

"It doesn't matter if the painting is broken. I just like it."

The words have come to this point, it would be boring for Wen Juefei to continue complaining ignorantly. Anyway, being admired is not an annoying thing. If he just likes this painting, there is nothing wrong with it. Narcissistic.So, she smiled and thanked, Bai Jianxing replied: "I thank you, after all, you gave it to me."

Wen Juefei had no choice but to reply dryly that you are welcome, and Bai Jianxing raised his hand to turn off the light. When the light dissipated, he whispered: "To be honest, you used to feel resentful and a bit hostile. But now you look You feel a lot softer. Over the years, you must have met many gentle people. "

Bai Jianxing's understanding of her should only be six years ago.Knowing that her parents divorced when she was young, and after losing her father at the age of nine, her mother was unwilling to take her to take care of her. Only during the long vacations such as winter and summer vacations, she was occasionally taken to live with her grandparents.For the rest of the time, she either lived in school or went back to live in the small house her father left her. She has always been a child who grew up too independently, like an orphan.He didn't know what happened to her later, so it was normal not to know that she would change to this point.But he was right about one thing, she did meet a lot of gentle people.

Wen Juefei said: "When you grow up, you will naturally change. Didn't you also become a good teacher from a big devil?"

Bai Jianxing was noncommittal, just smiled lowly.The two walked to the dining table together.

Dishes, large and small, filled the dining table, which was not considered big. When he sat down, Wen Jue was counting the dishes: fried tofu, steamed fish, boiled shrimp, braised lion head, stir-fried cabbage...

Grandma Shushen said: "Girl, this is prepared according to your preferences. Even the Laohuo soup is simmered with your favorite corn keel soup."

Wen Juefei understood what he said, and smiled sweetly: "Thank you grandma."

"Thank me for what?" Grandma Shushen couldn't hide her smile, and gestured to Wen Juefei with her eyes, "He made the menu."

How does he remember what she likes to eat?
Although he was puzzled, Wen Juefei still maintained that polite smile, and said to Bai Jianxing who was sitting beside him, "Thank you, Teacher Bai."

Facing Wen Juefei like this, Bai Jianxing was completely helpless, coughed a few times unnaturally, and imitated his grandma's tone and said seriously: "Thank you for what I did. Auntie made the dishes."

Wen Juefei had no choice but to thank Auntie again, and Grandma Shushen laughed amused by her appearance: "It hasn't been 2 minutes since I sat down, and my girl tricked me into thanking everyone at the table!"

Everyone laughed, and then began to eat.Wen Juefei draped his hair down before going out, and when he lowered his head to pick up vegetables, the strands of hair would always fall down disobediently, which was a hindrance.But this is Bai Jianxing's personal apartment after all, a boy will never have a rubber band for his hair, if he said it, he would have to make everyone busy for a while, so Wen Juefei kept silent.For some reason, Bai Jianxing beside him took a few bites and put it down. He got up and walked into the room. After a while, he came out with a red ribbon, which seemed to be taken from a high-end gift box.He walked up to Wen Juefei's side and asked, "Shall I help you?"

Wen Juefei was flattered, he didn't expect that such a small gesture of his would be taken care of by others, he hastily took the ribbon to thank him, and said that he could do it by himself.It's a pity that her tying skills are limited. After the ribbon tied her hair, she couldn't tie it into a knot no matter what. Just as she was sweating profusely, a warm and dry hand reached out and twitched the ribbon, helping her without saying a word. Tie a beautiful bow.

It's Bai Jianxing.Wen Juefei thanked again, he teased dumbfoundedly: "Are you thanking the repeater?"

"Thank you very much."

Bai Jianxing who was standing saw her bright eyes, she was as obedient as a small animal, and thought to herself, how can a girl who usually looks so cold and distant have such a cute side?Then he didn't stop, stroked the top of her hair, and said with a smile, "You're welcome."

The few people ate happily, Wen Juefei sat with Grandma Shushen for a while, and got up to say goodbye after the sky completely darkened.

Bai Jianxing said to see her off, and went downstairs to pick up the car first.Wen Juefei sat in the co-pilot as usual. The width and inclination of the seat had been adjusted. The neck pillow was very soft. She felt very comfortable as soon as she sat in. Sure enough, luxury cars are expensive for a reason.Although Bai Jianxing had just obtained a domestic driver's license, he drove very safely. In addition, the sound insulation of the car was very good, and Wen Juefei, who was suffering from food sleepiness, soon fell asleep.

In a daze, she had a dream. It was the time when she learned painting from Grandma Shushen six years ago.The temperature below zero, heavy snow and deep winter, is the coldest season of the year, and everything is wiped out by the cold winter until it withers.It seemed to be her birthday that day, and the monthly grade exam happened, and her mother was busy with work in other places, so no one would have time to check whether it was her birthday or not.

But no matter what, the gift she received from Zhu Yan when she got up early was enough to support her through this boring day.After the monthly exam, she plunged into the school's traditional Chinese painting art room. For her at that time, the best way not to think about "what would have happened if Dad was still alive" was to immerse herself in painting.

She continued to paint until the night breeze knocked on the window. She heard the bell ringing for evening self-study in the third year of senior high school, and realized that the dormitory access control time was approaching.The traditional Chinese painting art room is on the fifth floor of the art building. She ran all the way downstairs only to realize that it was snowing, and the cold wind blowing against her face made her shiver.

Then, unexpectedly, she saw Bai Jianxing.It was Bai Jianxing, who was 17 years old at that time. Although she didn't meet many times, she could tell at a glance.He didn't know when he came to the art building. It stands to reason that he should have just finished his evening self-study in the third year of high school and picked up the car from another road to go home.How would it appear here?

Puzzled in her heart, she couldn't help but look sideways at him, and he also slowly walked into the light.She nodded to him as a greeting, and she caught a glimpse of something in his hand out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't want to delve into it.But he suddenly stretched out his hand in front of her, and said in a low voice, "Grandma said...today is your birthday. I wish you... a happy birthday."

She was startled, and when she saw the gift in his hand, it turned out to be a pale pink wood chrysanthemum that was packed in a rectangular transparent box.The bright white light falls on the petals through the gift box, which is crystal clear and beautiful.She reached out to take it, and looked straight at Bai Jianxing's face hidden in the sweater hat, and saw that his thin lips seemed to be sickly white due to the cold.

She didn't know how long he had been here, and she didn't know where she bought the wood spring chrysanthemum. Holding the delicate gift box, she felt warmth and unknown emotions surging in her body at the same time.

"Thank you. Go back, it's cold."

He said "um" and was about to leave. Looking at his tall and straight back, she remembered the knowledge of painting flowers and plants that Grandma Shushen had taught her a few days ago, and thought that it was Grandma who sent him to give the flowers, but it was true. Best wishes and encouragement.But no matter what, the feeling of being cared about was very warm, which gave her a sense of belonging in this cold weather.

She unconsciously followed him a few steps, and saw that most of his trousers were wetted by the snow, she felt even more suspicious, but she didn't dare to ask any more questions, and only added a sentence: "Thank you Grandma Shushen for me."

He didn't answer, and left in a hurry, as if he was afraid of being discovered by her.

I don't know how long this dream has been going on, and it's not a dream at all, everything happened in real life - it was one of the few contacts between her and Bai Jianxing when she was young.

When he opened his eyes again, Wen Juefei realized that the car had stopped.The lights in the car were not turned on, and she was covered with a suit jacket, so she knew it was Bai Jianxing without thinking about it. There was a faint woody aroma in the clothes, which was unique to him.

She heard Bai Jianxing's breath approaching her, but she didn't dare to turn her face to look at him.Just when she was about to make a sound on purpose to remind him, he suddenly stretched out his hand to gently cover her eyes, and said softly, "I turned on the light."

The milky white light filled the car, Wen Juefei's eyelashes brushed against his palm, and he withdrew his hand after his pupils finally adjusted to the light.She opened the suit on her body and asked as she folded it, "How long have I been asleep?"

Bai Jianxing looked at his watch: "About four to ten minutes."

"You should wake me up."

He gave a low laugh, his eyes reflected the silver shattered light, and fell on her face undisguisedly: "It seems that you are having a very happy dream. You have been laughing all the time, so I didn't wake you up."

Connecting the content of the dream with this sentence, Wen Juefei blushed uncontrollably, raised his hand to rub his cheeks, and asked softly, "Is the smile exaggerated?"

Bai Jianxing looked at her for a long time, then nodded thoughtfully, and said, "It's like dreaming that I won the lottery."

It was a bit embarrassing, Wen Juefei blushed, looked down and saw the folded coat in his arms, and buried his face in shame.

Seeing this, Bai Jianxing couldn't help laughing, the light in his eyes fluctuated with the laughter: "It's just a smile to tease you." After finishing speaking, he added, "It's a nice smile."

Wen Juefei buried his face even deeper.

Bai Jianxing seemed to think of something suddenly, and asked: "When I first got home, I heard you said that you were going to participate in a chess match? What kind of chess did you learn?"

Wen Juefei replied, "Go."

Bai Jianxing was a little surprised: "You also like Go?"

Wen Juefei knew why he used "yes". Back then, Bai Jianxing was known as the "Genius Go Boy" in No. [-] Middle School. He won the gold medal in the National Go Competition for many years in a row. Some introverted and mysterious demeanor.

"I can't say I like it, but... I chose it somehow."

Bai Jianxing nodded and said, "I also like Go. But it's been a long time since I played it. It's hard to meet friends who like Go abroad. If you have time, we can play together."

"Where can I compete with you? I'm simply the worst member of the chess club, worse than novices."

"I can teach you."

Wen Juefei said: "Generally few people are willing to teach novices. If you play chess together, your experience will be very poor."

"Not all chess players think this way. As long as the person you teach is important enough, your own experience can be temporarily put aside."

"But I'm really bad at..."

"It doesn't matter. It's been many years since I won the gold medal in the national competition. Maybe I can't play now. By the way, do you know that I won this award?"

Wen Juefei nodded and said to himself, why don't you know?Every time he wins an award, no matter it is about chess games or other events, it will be broadcast on TV, radio, and school LED screens in turn.And it was precisely because she knew—so she had one more reason to choose the chess club and enter the Go group in her freshman year.

But the following words are all secrets that she has kept alone for a long time. Although it can't be said that she can't forget it all the time, she can also keep it in her heart so that she can remember it for survival.She couldn't tell how she felt about Bai Jianxing back then. All the news about him was just heard. In fact, all she could see was his back in a hurry. Although he was close at hand, he was also elusive. .She never intentionally wanted to get close to him, but her brain often subconsciously remembered everything about him clearly. The more she remembered, the more vague the feeling of the dialogue with Jian Xing became, and she couldn't figure it out by herself. well.

"Teacher Bai doesn't think I'm stupid, so I won't be polite to you..."

Bai Jianxing put his elbows on the steering wheel, looked at her with a half-smile, and asked, "What did you call me?"

Wen Juefei replied, "Teacher Bai."

He deliberately frowned and pretended to be puzzled: "I can't hear you, what?"

Wen Juefei immediately understood: "Senior Bai."

He was still dissatisfied: "still can't hear, can you say it again?"

"Bai Jianxing."

He finally nodded: "Well, that's it for the chess match. When will the match be?"

"The preliminary round will be held in about a month."

"Then I'll meet you every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon at the Space Cafe on the South Campus. I'll let you get started before the preliminary round. It should be fine."

Seeing his smug look, as if he really wanted to help her win the gold medal, Wen Juefei couldn't help but joked: "You don't have to teach me so hard, just reach a level where you don't lose face, or else It’s not good to accidentally win a gold medal.”

After hearing this, Bai Jianxing couldn't help but laugh: "Isn't it good to have a gold medal?"

"I've seen the photo of you holding the gold medal trophy, and it feels very heavy. I'm weak, and I'm afraid I'll sprain my hand."

Bai Jianxing's smile deepened: "If you can get it, then I will be a coolie for you to hold the trophy for free."

She looked troubled, as if she was really thinking about whether to hire him as a coolie, but finally said: "Then...you may never have a chance in this life."

Bai Jianxing smiled helplessly. He, who always had a straight face on weekdays, smiled softly and brightly. It was because of her that he had a smile.

(End of this chapter)