Hello, How Long Has This Been Going On? - Chapter 100

The calendar on the coffee table stood quietly, and the March page was slightly blown by the wind blowing in from the balcony.

The red No. 5 grid is filled with handwriting of different colors, almost filling up the No. 12 grid below.

First, there is a vivid stick figure cake, using warm orange-yellow.

Then there was a line of small brown characters: What do you want to eat?

Next came a small pink figure with a blank face and a question mark next to his head.

So the small words in sky blue responded: ice cream cake!

At the end is a red tick, plus a smiling face with crooked eyebrows.

Spring is here, and the wind with the smell of green grass blows the colorful colors on the paper, making a clattering sound.

The bedroom door was closed, and the blackout curtains were tightly covered, and the room was dark, blocking out the warm melancholy of early spring.

When the clock on the wall reached one o’clock in the afternoon, the door was finally pushed open.

Tao Zhi rubbed his hair curled up in sleep, and walked out in a daze, his slippers lazily rubbing against the floor.

He glanced sleepily at the clock and decided it must be broken.

There was a damp spring scent floating in the air, and the room was exceptionally quiet, without the sound of another person.

There is a rice cooker on the dining table, with a post-it note on it, which contains warm porridge.

Tao Zhiyue stood at the door of the bedroom in a daze, looking around dully, thinking about where Huo Ran had gone, when the sound of the elevator door opening and closing came from outside the door.

The key fell into the lock cylinder, and the person returning home pressed the handle very lightly, opened the door and entered.

Huo Ran is holding a brand new glass vase, almost transparent blue-green in one hand, and a bouquet of colorful and elegant flowers in the other hand, sunflowers, champagne roses, eustoma, snapdragon, baby’s breath…

The eyes of the two people happened to meet.

Surprisingly, he laughed at the same time.

Huo Ran said: “I saw this vase on the way back. It was very beautiful, so I bought another bunch of flowers to complement it.”

Tao Zhi looked at the bright spring in his arms, the drowsy drowsiness suddenly disappeared, and the chirping of distant birds rushed into his ears.

On this ordinary weekend afternoon, he seemed to have fallen into eternity.

“I didn’t hear from you, I thought you were still sleeping.”

Huo Ran put down the flowers in his arms, smiled and watched him just woke up: “Hurry up and wash and eat.”

“Is it really one o’clock? I thought the clock was broken.”

Tao Zhiyue was very surprised: “I was able to sleep so late.”

“Sleeping in late is the essence of the weekend.” Huo Ran said solemnly, “And you have the right to do anything today, the birthday is the biggest.”

“Then which of us is bigger today?”

This is a good question.

Huo Ran thought for a while, and said decisively: “Tied for first place.”

In front of the sink, the water brushed over his cheeks, bringing coolness and cleanliness. Tao Zhiyue looked up at himself in the mirror, as if to confirm the traces of the passage of time.

“I went to the cake shop just now, and confirmed the taste and shape again, and I will deliver it in the evening.”

Huo Ran’s voice came from the living room. He was checking whether the porridge in the rice cooker was still hot, and then took out a bowl.

“Isn’t it settled last week?”

“But I watched it for another week and found a lot of new flavors. I always thought it might taste better. Don’t worry, I have to try it.”

“So you ran out to steal ice cream this morning.” Tao Zhiyue grasped the point, “What flavor is it now?”

“That’s just an incidental result.” Huo Ran tried to argue, “You will know at night.”

A bowl of hot porridge and a porcelain spoon are set on the dining table.

“I’ve made up my mind, eat lighter at noon, and eat hot pot at home in the evening.” Huo Ran emphasized, “I cook the mandarin duck pot with the soup base myself, and I will wash the pot.”

This is what was written on the first page of his diary.

After washing up, Tao Zhiyue sat down at the dining table and agreed, “Okay, I’ll go shopping later.”

“Then let me make a list of ingredients to buy.”

Huo Ran’s mobile phone messages are full of birthday wishes from relatives and friends, and he only picks out some replies.

After receiving his reply, Huo Sihan immediately called.

“Brother, are you really not coming back? I thought you guys would come to Yanping for your birthday.”

Every time Tao Zhiyue heard this energetic voice, he would laugh unconsciously.

Huo Ran turned on the speakerphone conveniently, so that Tao Zhiyue could join the conversation at any time, “I won’t answer, I’m too tired from flying around.”

“Then how are you going to spend today?” Huo Sihan deliberately lowered his voice, “Brother Zhizhi is not here, right? You can secretly tell me what surprises are arranged for today, I won’t say it! Celebrating birthday together will be very grand Let’s go! Is it more romantic than the fireworks last time?”

Tao Zhiyue couldn’t help laughing and said, “I’m here.”

“…Ah, brother Zhizhi, good afternoon!” Huo Sihan said shyly, “Then pretend I didn’t ask, hehe.”

Huo Ran deliberately teased her: “It’s not that I can’t tell you.”

“Speak quickly!”

Huo Ran said earnestly: “Sleep carefree first, get up for lunch, plan to eat hot pot at home in the evening, go shopping together, and then come back to prepare, after dark, watch a movie while cooking hot pot, Eat ice cream cake and exchange presents at the end.”

“There is no special arrangement, it is a very ordinary day. But being able to share my birthday with another person seems to be the biggest surprise.”

Huo Sihan on the other end of the phone was silent for a while, and then smiled with tears in his eyes: “It’s really normal, but why did I get hurt again?! And it hurt so badly…”

“Ah, anyway, Happy Birthday Brother Smelly! Happy Birthday Brother Zhizhi!”

The more Tao Zhi thought about which day he would celebrate his birthday.

It was the day when the meteor shower fell on this world.

His and Huo Ran’s fates have been wonderfully intertwined since then, and they have profoundly changed each other’s fates during the ordinary years.

This is his newborn day.

In the afternoon, after changing his clothes and going downstairs, Huo Ran needed to add an extra hat.

The central garden is green again, and there is a long-lost warm aroma from the lush bushes.

The pure white gardenia buds hide behind the green leaves, and the fragrance is sweet.

Tao Zhiyue was surprised and said, “This year the flowering is so early.”

At this moment, Huo Ran is in a good mood no matter what he looks at: “This is a birthday present from Gardenia Tree.”

“Then what are you going to give me?”

“Yes—no.” Huo Ran said alertly, “I won’t say it in advance.”

Tao Zhiyue couldn’t help but said: “The vigilance is getting higher and higher.”

“Because you didn’t tell me.” Huo Ran said, “Do you want to go to a nearby vegetable market? Or go to a big supermarket far away?”

In the scent of gardenias, Tao Zhi thought about it more: “I want to go to a supermarket in another place.”

Huo Ran looked at him, and gradually realized: “I thought about it too, this time I must be right.”

Today they didn’t drive, they took the bustling and noisy bus.

The city is filled with the vitality of spring, and they slowly shuttle through it.

The familiar scenery gradually emerged outside the window.

There are many shops on both sides of the street. On a lazy spring afternoon, there is still a while before the busy evening. Most of the employees of restaurants are dozing off on the table and playing with their mobile phones.

The bus passes a noodle shop.

Tao Zhiyue’s eyes lit up, and he pointed to Huo Ran: “That shop is still there. I had beef ramen there. The beef was delicious, so I learned how to make stewed beef later.”

“The stewed beef you cook is the best.” Huo Ran looked at the electronic screen in the car, “Is the next stop coming?”

“right.”

Tao Zhiyue glanced back at the old community that was no longer visible: “There should be a new tenant for that house.”

I don’t know if the new tenant will use the vase with the plastic fake flowers.

The park also passed by. There was a little girl who always got up early with her grandfather to walk the dog. She has grown up to two years old, but she is still a child, and she may even flutter butterflies with a smile.

When the bus arrives, the two of them get off together, and the supermarket is in front of them.

Huo Ran, who came here once, sighed, “It seems like nothing has changed.”

“Almost unchanged.” Tao Zhiyue looked around with emotion, “But the salesperson in the supermarket has changed.”

The supermarket is always crowded with people, and there are colorful vegetables, fruits and poultry in front of you.

He used to come here alone to buy groceries with a shopping bag after get off work every day.

“The soda cooler has been replaced with a new one.”

Huo Ran went to push the shopping cart: “Do you remember this too?”

“Well, because I often stand in front of the soda cooler and hesitate whether I should have a drink or not.”

“Will you buy it in the end?”

“Won’t.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Ran immediately swept a bunch of drinks into the shopping cart: “It’s okay to drink once in a while.”

Tao Zhi laughed more: “You mention it later, it’s very heavy.”

Live blue-gray shrimps were swimming in the water tank, Huo Ran picked up the shrimps with a fishing net, splashing water vigorously.

The passing middle-aged man groaned, a familiar voice, and Tao Zhiyue turned his head to look.

It turned out to be Mr. Guo, the CEO of the previous company, who likes to arrive late and leave early, and also likes to perform drunken fists when drunk.

Mr. Guo was obviously surprised. He pushed the shopping cart full of vegetables and stared at him with wide eyes, as if he didn’t expect to have a chance to meet again.

Tao Zhiyue was stunned for a while, then took the initiative to say, “Long time no see.”

It turns out that Mr. Guo’s home is nearby, no wonder the time of arriving late and leaving early every day can be precisely pinpointed.

“Hey! Long time no see!” Mr. Guo said with a smile, “You live nearby again?”

“No, I suddenly remembered it, so I came over to have a look.”

Huo Ran took the prawns that he had weighed, and quietly watched Tao Zhiyue exchange greetings with the acquaintances he met by chance.

“This is the boss of my last company, Mr. Guo.” Tao Zhiyue introduced him.

“Don’t call me that, just call me Lao Guo, hello, hello.”

Seeing Mr. Guo curiously looking at Huo Ran, who had lowered the brim of his hat beside him, Tao Zhiyue said generously, “This is my boyfriend.”

Mr. Guo seemed surprised for a moment, and soon realized: “No wonder you ignored all the girls in the office building at that time!”

Tao Zhiyue laughed: “It’s not that exaggerated.”

“Yes, there are old employees who mention you now.” Recalling the past for a while, Mr. Guo said very consciously, “Then I won’t be a light bulb anymore, you guys take your time.”

He was about to push the cart away when he remembered something and couldn’t help but said, “The company finally has a project to participate in this year’s North Shanxi Game Exhibition. You, a tree, will come too, right?”

“This is a self-developed project, and there are many problems that I have never encountered before, which made me one head and two big, thanks to the information you left at that time.”

The middle-aged CEO, who was trying to regain his original intention of entering the industry, extended his hand to him sincerely: “Thank you.”

Mr. Guo really fulfilled the wish he witnessed when he resigned.

Tao Zhi smiled and shook hands with him.

“Great, see you at the game show.”

After Mr. Guo left, Tao Zhiyue stood there in a daze for a long time.

He was surrounded by the long and tenacious breath of life, and his heart was filled with indescribable touch.

Huo Ran asked him: “What are you thinking?”

“It’s nothing.” Tao Zhi shook his head, “I just feel really good.”

It’s good to be alive.

All it takes is a little courage to change everything.

Everything is alive, time is like water, and he came back here from another direction, with a completely different mood and a completely different life situation.

The ring on the ring finger shines as ever, the most beautiful Möbius ring.

The ingredients in the shopping cart piled up more and more, Tao Zhi looked at Huo Ran who wanted to taste everything, his eyes were full of smiles.

When the cart went out to check out, the daylight that fell from the supermarket door had become dim.

Tao Zhiyue glanced at Huo Ran’s watch subconsciously.

It’s almost six o’clock.

This was the time he was most looking forward to.

Tao Zhiyue will always remember that day. Two minutes later, he packed up his things, turned off his computer and got off work, went to the supermarket to buy groceries, went home after dinner and surfed the Internet, and then met Huo Ran who posted a post with a string of default usernames.

Time flies so fast and so slowly, obviously two years have passed, but it seems that only two minutes have passed.

Now he is going home with Huo Ran, cooking hot pot in the dark, maybe he will eat while thinking about the ice cream cake in the refrigerator.

The setting sun reflects the new green leaves on the branches, and today’s sunset is a dreamy pink-purple.

The light fell on the side of Huo Ran’s face, drawing a beautiful outline.

He carried a heavy drink bag, looked at the brilliant sunlight in the sky, and said firmly: “Tomorrow must be a good weather.”

Tao Zhiyue also looked over in a daze: “It must be.”

In this long and short two minutes, they seemed to be blown into the wind together and turned into fragmented clouds.

The birds passed by lightly, and they followed the tail feathers of the birds, wandering in the boundless sky.

The countless fragments of life flicker with firefly light, illuminating the breath that is close at hand.

Till everything sinks into the ever-gentle twilight.

The never-ending second quietly passed the origin.

It’s six o’clock, it’s time to go home.

—End of text—

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