withered lover

Wen Qiong sent Shen Guiwan downstairs to the apartment and left.

"I won't go up, Zhinian doesn't like me going there." She said to Shen Guiwan like this.

Shen Guiwan stood at the gate of the apartment building and watched Wen Qiong leave. He didn't go upstairs with his shopping bags until the black car disappeared into the continuous traffic.

He pushed open the door of Du Zhinian's apartment and turned on the kitchen light. The warm light illuminated the dim kitchen, and light light flowed on the white countertop.

This is the scene that Shen Guiwan can see every day, overlapping with the past.

He put the contents of the shopping bag on the table one by one, took out the remaining half pack of dried chili peppers and seasonings from the hanging cabinet, and started making glutinous rice balls according to the recipe.

The beef is minced by the butcher in the supermarket, and the seasonings added are ready-made minced chili and pepper noodles, just follow the steps and stir them together.

Shen Guiwan stirred the minced meat and seasonings with chopsticks. When the minced meat was stirred, it made a sticky sound mixed with the sound of water, which echoed in the quiet kitchen and then disappeared quickly.

After Shen Guiwan made the filling, he poured out the glutinous rice flour and started to make the glutinous rice ball skin.

Although he told Wen Qiong that he could make it, in fact he had never made glutinous rice balls, he just watched his mother make it, and now he can't remember the details, so he can only follow the recipe and operate it a little bit.

Shen Guiwan heated the water into the glutinous rice flour, and when the boiling hot water was added to the glutinous rice flour, a burst of hot and humid mist was created, and a few sporadic splashes of water fell on the back of Shen Guiwan's hands.

The scorching pain made him withdraw his hand quickly, but accidentally knocked down the mobile phone that was on the side.

Amidst the sound of porcelain colliding, the mobile phone "bang" fell into the pool.

Shen Guiwan wiped off the water on the back of his hand, and picked up the phone that fell into the pool.

There is only a little residual water in the pool, and the screen of the mobile phone is a little wet, which does not affect the use.

He wiped off the mist on the screen, but the phone vibrated, and a text message popped up on the lit screen.

The mobile phone did not display the specific content and sender of the text message, but it was definitely not Du Zhinian, he never sent Shen Guiwan a text message, and most of the time he called.

Shen Guiwan subconsciously decided that this was another advertising text message, and raised her hand to delete it, but the wet screen was not very sensitive, so she clicked on the text message directly.

The content of the text message was displayed unobstructed, it wasn't the advertising text message that Shen Guiwan thought it was, but it was from Lu Yi who had been out of contact for nearly a month.

The two exchanged mobile phone numbers when they met years ago, and Lu Yi never contacted Shen Guiwan after that, and this was the first time he heard from her after the year.

Lu Yi: The friend I mentioned to you last time will come over next month. Is it convenient to meet and talk about Shen Lu?

Shen Guiwan looked at the contents of the text message, but did not move his fingers on the screen.

The mixture of water and glutinous rice flour in the bowl is still slightly hot, and there are tiny particles hanging between the viscous dough. The recipe says to stir it while it is hot, but Shen Guiwan is not in the mood to care about it.

He was always insensitive to emotions other than hatred. He didn't feel sad when he heard the news that Du Zhinian was leaving at first, but now when he saw the text message from Lu Yi, that feeling of emptiness suddenly surged up.

Du Zhinian once ambiguously mentioned the reason for his cooperation with Yu Minggu, but he didn't tell himself that maybe he didn't know how to speak. Although Shen Guiwan had a premonition, he still felt sad.

He couldn't explain the source of this sadness, he just felt stuffy in his chest, and something was stuck there.

In fact, he could leave here soon. If Du Zhinian wanted to leave, he could follow Du Zhinian.

But does Du Zhinian want to follow him?

Shen Guiwan didn't know, and didn't dare to ask.

He was afraid that he would hear Du Zhinian's resolute rejection and become a person again.

Three years have passed, and I still have no progress as before, only escaping.

The phone placed by the pool turned off the screen, Shen Guiwan looked at his own reflection on the pitch-black screen, wiped the water off his face, and lightly turned on the screen.

Lu Yi's text message was still lying in the dialog box, he didn't reply, and Lu Yi didn't urge her either.

She was probably running around about her sister's affairs, but she just took the time to inform him.

But she acted unintentionally, as if she had made an appointment with Wen Qiong, and the two people told Shen Guiwan on the same day: You are leaving Shen Lu soon.

After being sad, Shen Guiwan felt confused again. He didn't know what else he could do after leaving Shen Lu and returning to freedom. He has been living under Shen Lu's control for so many years, living a life full of violence and pain. After his death, he was completely out of touch with society.

Shen Guiwan has never seen what a normal person's life should be like, nor does he know.

If Shen Lu would really go in, he had to find a way out for himself, but apart from Du Zhinian, Shen Guiwan had no place to stay in this city.

He is like a lonely ghost wandering outside the society, no one cares about him and no one cares about him, he will disappear quietly into the silent cold night at any time.

Shen Guiwan could no longer remember how he used to work and study in college to support himself. Du Zhinian created an overly warm and comfortable environment for him. Just two months made him forget the past 23 years of hard work.

He was not like this in the first place, he could survive no matter how harsh his life was, he would not dream about things that did not belong to him, nor would he dream of impossible daydreams.

Squeezed into a low-rent apartment and working a nine-to-five shift, nodding to annoying client bosses every day but only receiving wages on the line of food and clothing, this seems to be the life he should live after leaving Shen Lu.

Shen Guiwan told himself over and over again, but every time he thought about his future life without Du Zhinian, his heart began to throb again and again, and there was a buzzing sound in his head, just like when he just lost his mother. Can't breathe.

He seemed to drown in the bitter emotions like sea water at any time.

The hot water in the bowl had completely cooled down, and the fine particles in the dough were stuck together, unable to dissolve or knead evenly.

I don't know which step went wrong, Shen Guiwan tried several times but failed to remedy it.

He threw away the bad dough and made another dumpling skin.

There wasn't much glutinous rice flour left, and the glutinous rice balls were only enough to wrap one person's glutinous rice balls, but Shen Guiwan didn't plan to make too many glutinous rice balls.

Glutinous rice balls are not easy to digest, Shen Guiwan didn't eat these things after graduating from university, because he couldn't sleep well at night.

After wrapping Du Zhinian's glutinous rice balls, he took out the dumpling wrappers and wrapped the remaining meat filling into spicy beef dumplings, and then threw them into the freezer for storage.

After finishing everything, Shen Guiwan cleaned up the kitchen, washed off the oil stains from making dumplings, and returned to the bedroom with his mobile phone.

He sat on the carpet and stared blankly at the pitch-black phone screen.

Du Zhinian had a temporary operation in the afternoon, and it was almost eight o'clock when he left the operating room.

He drove home and sent Shen Guiwan a message on the way, asking if he had eaten.

Shen Guiwan didn't return, and Du Zhinian's heart was inexplicably raised.

He speeded up the car and rushed back, but when he got home and opened the door, a familiar smell wafted out from the kitchen. Shen Guiwan, who didn't reply to the message on time, was busy in the kitchen, holding a ceramic spoon in his hand. What's in the pot.

Du Zhinian stood by the door and shook his head, the draft wind whistling past in the corridor blew on his back, the only man who was distracted by the cold came back to his senses, and closed the wide open door.

The noise of him closing the door was not small, Shen Guiwan who was in the kitchen heard it, turned around and said: "You are back."

Du Zhinian responded, and watched Shen Guiwan, who was wearing heat-resistant gloves, put the small bowl in his hand on the dining table.

The small bowl contains the red oil soup cooked with hot pot base ingredients. Five white glutinous glutinous rice balls float on the red oil with spicy aroma, and the color of meat filling is revealed between the soft skin.

"The glutinous rice balls are just cooked." Shen Guiwan said while taking off his gloves.

His face was flushed by the heat, and the moist tip of his nose was shining in the light. Du Zhinian scraped his nose with his fingers, and asked, "Just make a bowl, won't you eat it?"

Shen Guiwan touched the place where the tip of his nose was rubbed, and shook his head lightly, "It's not easy to digest, it will be uncomfortable at night."

His stomach has always been bad, he can't eat spicy and cold food, and he rarely touches food that is difficult to digest. Du Zhinian knew that, so he didn't pull him to sit down and eat together.

Du Zhinian scooped up a soft glutinous rice ball. The freshly cooked glutinous rice balls were steaming. He blew on them several times before he took a small bite.

He thought he would eat greasy meat stuffing made in a factory, but as soon as he ate the glutinous rice balls, his tongue tasted numbing and spicy, just like the dinner Shen Guiwan made for him the day before New Year's Eve.

Du Zhinian was stunned, and stuffed the remaining half of the glutinous rice balls into his mouth, chewed it twice, and finally tasted the spicy beef.

"Did you do it yourself?" He raised his head and asked Shen Guiwan.

"Yeah." Shen Guiwan pulled away the chair opposite Du Zhinian and sat down, "Spicy beef stuffing, is it delicious?"

Tasty?

Shen Guiwan asked in a flat tone, but Du Zhinian's hand holding the spoon trembled.

He just mentioned something casually yesterday, but it was just to join in the excitement of the festival, and he didn't really expect what kind of glutinous rice balls he would eat.

Because it doesn't matter if this bowl of glutinous rice balls is made with spicy beef filling, or even the sweet filling that he dislikes the most, as long as it is made by Shen Guiwan, Du Zhinian will eat it.

But Shen Guiwan still made him the glutinous rice balls he wanted.

During those years in the Du family, Du Zhinian's feelings were never taken seriously. His tastes and preferences were far from those of Du Hengyu, who was the head of the family. Everyone followed Du Hengyu's request.

No one ever asked him what he wanted, they just stuffed everything to him, and then told him to be grateful. His wish had always been ignored, but now Shen Guiwan took it into his heart with a casual joke. He even fulfilled his ridiculous wish with his own hands.

"good to eat……"

Du Zhinian raised his head, his trembling lips parted slightly.

He wanted to tell Shen Guiwan about the matter that he hesitated for a long time and could not make up his mind, and wanted him to make the decision for himself, no matter which choice it was, he would definitely follow Shen Guiwan's decision.

But Shen Guiwan stood up suddenly, the movement was so large that the chair made a screeching sound as it was dragged on the ground.

"I'm a little sleepy." He rubbed his eyes, "Go to sleep first."

After Shen Guiwan finished speaking, he yawned and walked towards the bedroom, not giving Du Zhinian any chance to react.

Du Zhinian watched his back disappear behind the bedroom door, and he let out a long sigh after a long time.

Du Zhinian stayed in the study for a while after eating the glutinous rice balls. His heart was in a mess and he couldn't calm down no matter what.

The wish that Shen Guiwan had been longing for before he moved into the house was about to come true, but he became hesitant and hesitant to make up his mind.

Du Zhinian stayed until late at night before returning to the bedroom. He thought Shen Guiwan had fallen asleep early, but just as he lay down, Shen Guiwan slipped into his arms.

Shen Guiwan clung to Du Zhinian's body and kept trembling. Du Zhinian touched his back and asked worriedly, "Is it cold? Or is there something wrong?"

Shen Guiwan, who was leaning in his arms, shook his head, and whispered his name: "Du Zhinian."

"What's wrong?" Du Zhinian's hand on Shen Guiwan's back felt wet and cold.

He got up to turn on the bedside lamp, when Shen Guiwan in his arms suddenly pulled his pajamas and asked him in a very soft voice: "Can you hug me?"

Shen Guiwan never made this kind of request, before when it was cold at night, he would just get into his arms directly, without discussing with him at all.

Du Zhinian suppressed the worries in his heart, took off Shen Guiwan's pajamas that were soaked in cold sweat, lay down again and held Shen Guiwan in his arms.

"Tell me if you feel uncomfortable, I'm a doctor anyway." He lightly patted Shen Guiwan's back, his fingertips touching the scarred skin.

"Yeah." Shen Guiwan lied on his chest and replied sullenly, "I'm not feeling sick."

Du Zhinian pressed the quilt on Shen Guiwan's back, rubbed the back of his furry head, and coaxed softly: "Then go to sleep, I'll hold you."

Shen Guiwan nodded in his arms, her soft hair rubbed against her chest, a little itchy, but Du Zhinian didn't move.

He kept holding Shen Guiwan in his arms until the person in his arms fell asleep peacefully and did not let go.