During the Snowstorm - Chapter 14

The long hair slipped quietly from her ear and swept across the phone, her fingers hanging on the phone’s screen couldn’t fall down.

Time jumped to the next minute, and it seemed like a century had passed…

“Is the signal bad?” Lin Yiyang asked suddenly.

“Ah?” Yin Guo was startled and looked up at him.

He put away the phone, got up, stretched and said, “The signal here is not good, and we can’t connect to WeChat. Go out for a cigarette.”

After he finished speaking, he passed by the uncle next to him. The uncle is about 1.8 meters tall, with a burly physique, weighing around 180 pounds. Lin Yiyang is about the same height as the uncle, but he is taller because he is thin. He walked behind the uncle, with such a contrast in his body shape, his walking posture was more like that of a dangerlang in his early twenties.

Yin Guo watched him leave the laundry room.

The burly uncle also watched him go, and said “hey”: “You two don’t talk, you think you are from which country. Quarrel? Look at this low pressure, I can only hum a song.”

The uncle smirked, picked up a stack of clothes, and left.

Yin Guo glanced at WeChat again, her head was buried in her arms, and she was lying on the long table.

In the shadows around his arms, he opened his eyes and looked at his shoes—

My mind was empty just now, but now there are hundreds of thoughts flying out, fragmented, messy, and completely illogical. I even wondered if I was joking, but no one was joking like that. Even if it’s in the distance, it’s still face to face.

He suddenly said that the signal was not good and the person had left, so he wanted to take this matter with him, right?

Do you want to pretend you didn’t see it?

***

Outside the laundry room, Lin Yiyang stood for a while.

The burly uncle came out with a stack of clothes, and was bluffed by him. After seeing that it was him, he smiled clearly, winked at the inside, and said softly, “Go in.”

The uncle figured that his acquaintance and leaving was to complete the quarrel, and then hummed a song and stepped up the stairs.

Lin Yiyang put his hands in his pockets, took two steps around the door, and left the apartment.

He came down with little clothes and was too cold to stand in the wind, so he stepped back, leaned against the door, took shelter from the wind, and took out a traditional white cigarette along the way. It took five or six times to light a cigarette.

It’s true that I regret a little, and I asked in a hurry.

It is estimated that I haven’t slept well for two or three days, my head is dizzy, and I have taken a hot bath. I am too relaxed.

The atmosphere just now was too good, I couldn’t hold it back for a while, and I was impulsive.

He is a person who believes in how much he pays in return. He thinks that chasing girls is the same, and he hasn’t done anything yet, and he doesn’t expect people to really look at him, just take it slow.

Take your time, Lin Yiyang.

Lin Yiyang took three deep breaths, puffed out the smoke, and directly took out his mobile phone and called Wu Wei upstairs: “Take a piece of clothes and come down, I don’t need you, let Anmei come down.”

Chen An’an is the least talkative, and he only thinks about billiards, let him come down and clean.

Sure enough, Chen Anan ran down after a while, shoved the clothes into his arms, and didn’t say a word.

“I’m bored, you’re more bored than me,” Lin Yiyang teased him, “I haven’t seen you for more than ten years, don’t you want to talk to me?”

Chen Anan smiled restrainedly, and took a cigarette from Lin Yiyang’s hand: “Isn’t it because you didn’t want to hear them make fun of you?”

If you don’t speak, it doesn’t mean your heart is not clear.

Lin Yiyang was amused and rubbed Chen An’an’s hair: “It’s still so short and not long.”

Chen Anan tilted her head and avoided it.

“Brother, I’ll light it for you.” Lin Yiyang took the initiative to surround Chen An’an with his hands.

Chen An’an is a person who doesn’t like to talk, and is rich and sensitive. He always feels that this action is like going back to the past, his eyes are red, and he has not had time to light a cigarette, and has already hugged Lin Yiyang tightly. He is short, only to the bridge of Lin Yiyang’s nose, and then to Lin Yiyang’s shoulder to bury his head, like a big girl.

Lin Yiyang was afraid that he would cry, so he took a cigarette and patted him on the back: “Hold it loosely, you are so misunderstood. How can I find a daughter-in-law?”

“Fuck you.” Chen Anan cursed in a nasal voice.

Lin Yiyang was amused and pulled Chen Anan away. The two brothers were outside the apartment door, a few degrees below zero, shivering and chatting about the past that had never intersected. Chen An’an’s eyes blushed from time to time, and she wanted to get into Lin Yiyang’s arms. Lin Yiyang smiled and humiliated him. There were so many students upstairs, and it was embarrassing to be so disrespectful as a teacher.

***

Yin Guo finished washing the clothes, dried them, and returned to the apartment with a stack of clothes.

The guests were all gone, Wu Wei sent his brothers to go, and Lin Yiyang was cleaning up the room.

In the living room, only a simple floor lamp was on.

When Yin Guo closed the apartment door with his backhand, Lin Yiyang was throwing the glass into the sink, picking up the rag, and wiping the bar. Yin Guo glanced at him across the bar.

Lin Yiyang thought she wouldn’t talk to him, but she didn’t expect her to ask first, “Are you going back tomorrow?”

He nodded: “Yes.”

“Morning? Or afternoon? If it’s in the afternoon, is there time to go to Brooklyn?” Before Lin Yiyang could answer, she said, “I’m just asking casually, you can be busy next week.”

Just as Lin Yiyang was about to agree, Yin Guo didn’t give him the chance and walked into the bedroom in three steps.

Looking at the closed door, he put the white rag on the bar, and put his hands on the edge of the bar. What is this broken table, so ugly? Get a new one another day.

In the room, Yin Guo was still standing by the door, his hand on the doorknob, distracted.

What are you worried about, I didn’t finish asking. So does he want to go? Do you still need WeChat?

She now opens the WeChat window, but she doesn’t dare to speak.

Those three sentences are the end of it.

Suddenly, the door was knocked.

She suddenly let go of the door handle, her heart was beating violently, and she heard Lin Yiyang say outside through a door: “Don’t open the door, make an appointment.”

Her heart was pounding and she was silent.

“Leaving at ten o’clock, what do you think?”

Yin Guo said “um”.

The people outside probably didn’t hear it, so they stopped for two seconds and said, “It’s okay at half past ten.”

“Ten o’clock,” she said at last, her throat tense. “Ten o’clock.”

…

Outside the door, Lin Yiyang put his hand on the door frame, lowered his head, and whispered to the door, “See you tomorrow.”

The girl’s voice was answering him, see you tomorrow.

Lin Yiyang stood by the door for a while, and when Wu Wei came back, seeing this scene, he thought he was dazzled. What is this for? Just finished the private meeting? kiss? What about aftertaste at the door? This process is a bit fast, isn’t it just a date in the laundry room for a while?

Lin Yiyang turned his head and picked up the rag on the table. He was too distracted, and Xuan Xuan used the rag as a towel to wipe his face.

Fortunately, Wu Wei finally threw the rag into the pool under the thief’s eyes of Wu Wei.

Wu Wei looked suspiciously at Lin Yiyang who had turned around, stared at him, and saw that he was tidying up the house in an immaculate manner, annoyed that he didn’t take the place of Anmei to deliver clothes just now. An Mei, who can’t get a fart with three sticks, didn’t say anything after asking for a long time, wasting the only place to peek at Lin Yiyang’s date.

In the early morning, Yin Guo still hadn’t slept.

She was afraid that Wu Wei or Lin Yiyang would still be using the computer in the living room, hugging the quilt, and sitting by the window to make a voice call quietly. At first, he was squeamish. Gu left and right, he talked about washing clothes for a long time, and complained that drying is not as good as sun drying. Zheng Yi thought she was sharing her life experiences and was still complaining to her. When she first came to study here, she didn’t know that she was not allowed to hang her clothes outside the dormitory window. She was warned by her classmates that it was illegal. …

Zheng Yi, Barbara, talked for a long time.

Yin Guo finally asked her hesitantly: “Someone confessed to you in the past, what did you say?”

“Why? Someone is chasing you?”

Yin Guo defended: “It’s a girl from my club who is consulting me. I don’t know how to suggest it.”

“What did you say? How did you express it? You have to tell me to have any advice.”

She recited it word for word: “‘I see, do I want to chase you?’”

Zheng Yi smashed it and savored this sentence: “It doesn’t sound too serious.”

Have it?

Yin Guo felt that he was very serious: “Assuming it is serious, how do you respond?”

“It depends on the situation. If I like him, I’ll say, ‘I don’t see it clearly? Why don’t you show it more clearly?’ If I don’t like it… Then I won’t go back. When he finds the steps by himself, it will be over. , when it didn’t happen.”

Yin Guo pondered, it seems that people have very different ways of dealing with things. Thousands of people.

The reason why he didn’t dare to reply was because he didn’t know how to say it or how to deal with it – he was afraid that if he said “I didn’t see it”, people would mistakenly think that he was rejecting it, and he was also afraid that if he said “I see it”, he would mistakenly think that he agreed.

She didn’t quite understand it herself.

Didn’t you come to the game? So what are you doing now? Consider the possibility?

Yin Guo complained and covered her head with the quilt, and decided to give up: I don’t want to.

It’s March, the junior and youth divisions are about to start, and the official open is next month. She returned to China immediately after the game. He was here and had no chance to meet.

She woke up at six o’clock.

On weekdays, Wu Wei and her cousin both wake up early. When she wakes up, both of them usually go out, one to play and the other to earn money part-time, so she has always been free in the apartment. Today I opened the door and went out, I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I found the light was on inside.

Yin Guo was wearing a white sportswear with flannel inside to keep warm, so it wasn’t too cold to wander around in the living room.

She was sitting on the sofa waiting for someone from the bathroom to come out. He didn’t wake up too much, his head was down, the slippers on his feet kicked up and down, and fell to the ground, and fell to the ground again. Lin Yiyang came out of the bathroom and saw this scene. She lowered her head, her long hair covered most of her face, and she was still dozing off in a daze.

“Waiting for the bathroom?” he asked.

As soon as Yin Guo raised his head, he met his line of sight: “Ah? Yes, have you run out?”

Lin Yiyang let the bathroom door open, and Yin Guo bypassed him.

The two passed by, and she sensitively smelled the fragrance on his body, the smell just after taking a shower. Didn’t you wash it last night? Do you have to wash twice a day?

She closed the door, locked it, and saw several men’s toiletries that she had never seen before by the sink in front of the mirror. Not from Wu Wei, nor from his cousin. Yin Guo guessed it was his and found a razor.

He actually used a blade, not an electric one, it’s amazing, won’t it scratch?

Outside the door, Lin Yiyang touched his chin. In fact, after taking a shower and shaving his beard, he found that the towel was too old, so he wanted to get a new one, but he hadn’t had time to clean up the bathroom. But when I saw Yin Guo, I couldn’t say anything more, so let her in first.

It’s just six o’clock, I didn’t expect her to get up so early. I was so tired this week that I was afraid that I would sleep all morning, so I got up early and went for a run, came back to take a shower, and went to Brooklyn with her sober.

After Yin Guo finished washing, she looked at her face in the mirror. She hadn’t slept well, and a pimple appeared on her chin.

But when it really happened, she gestured with her index finger, annoyed by her habit of not wearing makeup, otherwise, having a concealer should be able to relieve her urgent needs. The bangs on her forehead were a little wet from washing her face, so she pressed it with a tissue to absorb the water, and pushed it away with her fingers, which became a little more natural.

Back in the living room, Lin Yiyang was frying eggs: “Wu Wei has gone to Boston.”

“Leave at five,” he said, pointing to two white plates with fried chips. “Breakfast together?”

Yin Guo agreed and added “Thank you”.

A peaceful breakfast.

A peaceful lobster pasta appointment.

Lin Yiyang went to dinner with her carrying a big sports bag, which contained a computer and sundries. It seemed that there was not enough time, and he had to go directly to the train station from Brooklyn. The two said goodbye in the subway. There were many people. Lin Yiyang was catching the train again. He didn’t care to say a few more words. At the transfer station, they waved to each other and turned around and went their separate ways.

Yin Guo had a lot of passengers on the line, so when she got to the platform, there were a lot of people waiting for the bus. After all, this was the first time she sat by herself, praying for the best car, with an announcement station and an electronic screen.

Two minutes later, a light appeared at the end of the track, and the subway rumbled into the line she was waiting for.

Yin Guo followed a few people into the carriage and glanced left and right.

“Go to the right.” The person behind her directed her.

Sounds familiar-

She turned her head and looked at him with wide eyes. It was Lin Yiyang who had already turned around to go to another subway line and was about to catch a train.

Lin Yiyang had also just entered the carriage, and there was still someone behind him. If he had no more words, he pushed her to the right and let her sit in front of him, the only vacant seat.

Yin Guo’s mind didn’t keep up with the pace and movements, so he sat down and passively leaned on the back of the chair.

And because there were so many people in the carriage, Lin Yiyang stood very close to her, with her legs next to her knees, even crossing her legs…

“Aren’t you going to catch the train?” Yin Guo asked in a low voice in Chinese.

Lin Yiyang lowered his head and said, “I’m afraid you are sitting on the wrong side.”

The first time he took the subway, Yin Guo complained about the New York subway, and he still remembered it. After walking for a while, he still chased after him. He saw Yin Guo on the platform in the distance in time, but fortunately he caught up.

Yin Guo pointed to the electronic display: “With this, I can find a place.” Thinking of his train time, she worried for him, and said softly, “You get off at the next station, and you still have time to catch the train.”

Lin Yiyang looked down at her and said “um”.

As soon as the subway started, everyone in the carriage was in their own little world, chatting or staring at one place in a daze. Yin Guo felt that his legs and Lin Yiyang’s legs had been swaying and rubbing with the driving. Gradually, his face became hot, his palms were sweating, he became more and more uncomfortable, and his eyes didn’t know where to look.

This station is so long, why haven’t we arrived yet. Yin Guo thought.

“Yesterday—” He said two words, then stopped.

Yin Guo held his backpack and looked up at him.

Lin Yiyang actually wanted to say that he was hot-headed yesterday and asked directly, but Yin Guo didn’t need to take it to heart. He didn’t want her to misunderstand that he was the kind of man who had only known each other for a few days and hadn’t said a word. While Yin Guo was in a foreign country, he wanted to date her, and when she returned home, he would break up with her.

But looking at Yin Guo’s eyes, he dismissed the idea.

There are some things that don’t need to be said, it’s not bad to get along slowly like today.

The station announcement sounded, and the car had already started to enter the station.

The car stopped slowly. Yin Guo was thinking again, this stop is too short, and it hasn’t finished yet.

“Tell me at the apartment.” He knew she was safe.

Lin Yiyang adjusted the shoulder straps of the sports backpack, moved his steps, and was grabbed by the shoulder straps of the backpack by Yin Guo. He was stunned for a moment, stopped in the stream of people getting off the car, and was bumped on the shoulder by the person next to him.

Yin Guo immediately released his hand, his cheeks were hot, and he lowered his voice and said, “Tell me when you arrive at DC.”

Passengers in front, back, left and right, only they can understand each other’s words, which belongs to their native language.

Lin Yiyang paused for half a second, bowed his head and smiled, really wanting to pat her on the back of the head, but in fact, I have been wanting to do it today and dismissed it many times. In the end, he put it away and adjusted the shoulder straps of his sports bag again: “Okay.”

He took two quick steps and jumped from the carriage to the platform. The door closed behind him.

Yin Guo looked back, the glass was not very clean, and there were several passengers who had just gotten off the bus blocking him. After the car started again, she saw him clearly. It’s a pity that there are only three or four seconds of effort, and when the light is gone, he is also gone.

The roaring subway took her into the dark track again.

The carriage was quite empty, but Lin Yiyang seemed to be still standing in front of her, with their legs and knees still touching… Yin Guo felt numb in her heart and rubbed her knees uncontrollably. Think no more.