South of Chutian

The old woman glanced at Tang Heng a few times, as if she felt that the boy was deliberately looking for trouble, and left quickly.It was almost noon, and there were few voices in the temple.Tang Heng bowed and got into Baotong Pagoda.

This Baotong Pagoda looks elegant from the outside, but it looks old inside.The narrow corridor can only allow one person to climb up, the stairs are extremely steep, and the surrounding walls are all dusty white walls.The tower is dark and there are no lights, only small Buddha statues and candles are enshrined in the walls of each floor, which are only illuminated by skylight and candlelight.Tang Heng sat down after climbing two floors, sweating profusely.

Sitting on the cold steps, he took out his phone, only to remember that he had turned it off.

Seven missed calls, three from An Yun, three from Jiang Ya, and one from Aunt Wang, 5 minutes ago—probably asking if he needed to prepare lunch.There was no signal in the tower, so Tang Heng put his phone back in his pocket and continued to climb up.Every floor of the Baotong Tower has a raised stand, which is also small. Sitting on the stand, Tang Heng couldn't even straighten his legs.

There was a slight breeze from the stands on the third floor, blowing on the face, it seemed to bring some smell of burning incense in the temple.Tang Heng seriously thought about where to go next, maybe he could go to the rehearsal room, at least that place had nothing to do with Li Yuechi.

Thinking about it, the trouser pocket vibrated.Tang Heng took out his mobile phone, and before he could take a closer look at the screen, the smooth Nokia slipped from his hand in an instant—this was a three-story grandstand!

With a muffled "snap", the Nokia landed on the edge of the stand, and if it was half a centimeter more, it would definitely fall.

There are no notes on the numbers on the screen.

Tang Heng was stunned for two or three seconds before carefully picking up the phone and pressing the answer button: "Hello?"

"Tang Heng," Li Yuechi's voice was hoarse, "What time is your flight?"

"Ah?" Tang Heng was still stunned, "What are you talking about—"

"An Yun has already told me," Li Yuechi said loudly, "You are going to Tokyo today."

Tang Heng: "..."

"Didn't you just go in early October?"

"Well, what's the difference," Tang Heng said, "Anyway, sooner or later."

"Ah."

"Is there anything else?" Tang Heng felt his hand holding the phone tremble, "I'm about to board the plane."

"How long?"

"There is... a while."

"You are waiting for me."

"what are you doing?"

"I'm on the subway, I want to see you."

"Don't come!" Tang Heng jumped up and said nervously, "I...I don't want to see you."

"What happened last night—"

"I forgot!"

"impossible."

"I really don't remember. I'm a person who breaks up when I drink alcohol. Hey, did I torment you, or did I mess up again?"

Li Yuechi fell silent, just when Tang Heng thought he was going to hang up, he whispered, "You said 'free'."

"What's free?" Tang Heng smiled forcefully, "Really, don't be nervous, the story between the two of us has already been turned over, you can study hard with my uncle, I won't retaliate against you because of that."

"...you wait for me."

"It's really unnecessary," Tang Heng closed his eyes, "There is still a quarter of an hour to board the plane, and you can't make it."

"I'm going to take a taxi, you wait for me," Li Yuechi's tone was almost flustered, "I'm getting off the subway, I'm going to take a taxi."

"Let's talk on the phone, I'll go to Tokyo to change my number. Take advantage of now."

He took a deep breath and said, "I remember it all."

"what?"

"all."

Tang Heng couldn't help but smiled wryly: "Okay, do you want to apologize?" I forgive you.

"Do not."

"... That's right." Who made us two accomplices.

"I don't apologize, what I said last night is true." Li Yuechi paused, and amidst the noise, "Tang Heng, I like you, the first time we met."

...Is he trying to comfort him?Because he is going to Tokyo?Tang Heng sat on the ground again, with his back against the wall, feeling limp, and suddenly had no strength to expose him.In fact, he has thousands of words to refute, such as, aren’t you straight, don’t you have a girlfriend, I’ve seen the two of you cuddling together, since you like me, why the hell did you go—but At this moment, Tang Heng thought, let them tell a big lie together, it might not be considered a kind of completion.

"Well, I believe." That's enough of the lie.

"I'll wait for you, okay?"

"What about my girlfriend?" Why bother?

"I lied to you, she is my teacher."

"……what?"

"When I graduated from the third year of junior high school, she went to our village to support teaching. Because of her, I went to high school and took the university entrance exam."

"..."

"She is kind to me, that's all." Li Yuechi's breathing became more and more rapid, and his voice was completely hoarse, as if a big, big wind and sand were pouring into his chest, "I said last night, I have no money, no meaning, Nothing...but I have time."

Tang Heng was completely confused, and muttered: "Time?"

"I have time to wait for your return."

Is this an illusion——

Tang Heng twisted his arm hard, hoping to calm himself down, but the pain made his breath tremble even more: "You... are you telling the truth?"

"It's all true."

"Don't wait."

"I--"

"Come to Baotong Temple, I'm in Baotong Pagoda - Baotong Pagoda."

Later, when Tang Heng thought of this sentence, he always found it funny. "I'm in Baotong Pagoda"——Is he a Buddha statue or a snake demon?It's really just a word in my head.But at that moment there was really nothing else to think about.He could only stare at the screen of his mobile phone from 11:44 to 11:59, one minute before noon, when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.Li Yuechi shouted hoarsely: "Tang Heng!" His gaze was like a closed umbrella, changing from a net to a point, focusing on the dark corner.

He will always remember the moment when Li Yuechi appeared in front of him, "11:59" on the screen changed to "12:00", at that moment the sunlight was perpendicular to the ground without deviation, the seven-level pagoda turned into quicksand, and the sky was full of gods and Buddhas. It is a foil.It seemed that Li Yuechi hadn't climbed the tower, nor was he in the tower at all.They were on the golden plain, stepping on all the sunshine and wheat fields, he rushed to Li Yuechi, and with a "bang!", he hit Li Yuechi against the wall.

Their bodies pressed against each other, Tang Heng looked at Li Yuechi for a few seconds before saying, "How did you get here?"

Li Yuechi's chest heaved violently, and he slowly uttered a word: "Run."

"From where?"

"Zhongnan Road."

"Then—" Tang Heng glanced at the Buddha holding flowers behind him, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Isn't it too insulting to say such words in front of the Buddha, "Then should we kiss first, or you can wait a while Son?"

Li Yuechi didn't answer, just leaned against the wall and looked at Tang Heng quietly.

Tang Heng couldn't bear it anymore, and kissed her hard.