Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 45
Strawberry or Peach
The cold winter in Lingang was like a knife with the fierce wind.
Gu Jiahe was glad he brought a thick coat. Since he arrived, he shuttled between the venue and the office area every day, wrapping himself up like a zongzi.
This time, the company booked the same five-star hotel as last time. This time, Gu Jiahe finally got a single room covered by the company.
After two busy days, Gu Jiahe felt like his bones were falling apart. He returned to his room, took a hot shower, blow-dried his hair, and sat on the bed.
He unlocked his phone and opened the chat window with Li Zhao. Except for the morning when he told Li Zhao he was awake, they hadn’t really talked much during the busy day.
Gu Jiahe decided to give him a call.
After three rings—
Li Zhao picked up, “Hello?”
Gu Jiahe heard Li Zhao’s voice was not loud and asked, “Are you busy?”
“Not really, I’m at home.”
“Oh, alone at home?”
“Yes, who would I be with?” Li Zhao retorted.
“Uh-huh,” Gu Jiahe realized he asked a silly question, “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.”
Li Zhao didn’t respond, instead asking, “Is it cold over there?”
“So cold. The wind by the seaside is like a knife, making my face ache,” Gu Jiahe softened his tone unintentionally, his lips curving.
The next second, Gu Jiahe heard Li Zhao seem to chuckle softly on the other end, followed by two clearings of his throat.
Li Zhao asked him, “Can’t you come back earlier?”
“Of course not. I have to wait until the party ends, or they won’t let me leave.”
“Oh.”
Hearing Li Zhao’s indifferent tone, Gu Jiahe didn’t say much either, just chatted casually for a bit before ending the call.
Finally, on the afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, the company’s year-end conference started on time.
Gu Jiahe had been bored sitting in the audience. However, his luck was unexpectedly good as he won a third prize in the lucky draw—a brand-new air fryer.
He went up to receive his prize with excitement. As he came down, he remembered seeing Li Zhao’s shining kitchen during his last visit to Li Zhao’s house, and this gadget should fit right in. Although this trip before the New Year was a bit hard, it wasn’t in vain.
By the time the event ended, it was almost dark. Gu Jiahe carried the brand-new air fryer box and said goodbye to his colleagues. He walked alone against the cold wind towards the hotel.
However, as soon as he reached the hotel entrance and casually glanced ahead, he saw a familiar car in the front row of the parking lot.
Could it be? Gu Jiahe squinted his eyes for another look, unable to make out the license plate for a moment.
Gray cars were common, and the same model wasn’t rare either. Gu Jiahe didn’t dwell on it and continued walking with the box in his arms.
Just as he reached the revolving door of the hotel, the car door suddenly opened.
A person got out of the car and walked straight towards the entrance.
Gu Jiahe rubbed his eyes, sure he wasn’t mistaken.
Li Zhao actually came to Lingang.
“Why did you come here?” Gu Jiahe was somewhat surprised and asked as Li Zhao approached.
“There happened to be a client over here,” Li Zhao reached Gu Jiahe’s side, taking the box from his hands.
“Huh? Didn’t you say there wasn’t much going on with clients before the New Year?” Gu Jiahe couldn’t believe it.
“Cough, there was a sudden situation, I couldn’t predict it either,” Li Zhao turned his head, not meeting his eyes.
Gu Jiahe paused for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed and put his arm around Li Zhao’s, “Could it be someone misses me?”
Li Zhao tensed up for a moment at Gu Jiahe’s sudden embrace, then responded after two seconds, “I said it was a coincidence.”
“Alright, alright, a coincidence,” Gu Jiahe quickly let go of his arm.
He stifled a laugh and hooked his arm back around Li Zhao’s.
“What’s this?” Li Zhao finally remembered to ask after holding the box for a while.
“I won it in the raffle at the event, an air fryer. Out of hundreds of people, I was the only one who won!” Gu Jiahe couldn’t help boasting about his luck, “It just happens to fit in your kitchen.”
When Li Zhao heard the words “your kitchen,” he paused, turned to Gu Jiahe, and asked, “Are you planning to move in?”
“Huh? No, I just said it casually.” Gu Jiahe quickly shook his head, “Your kitchen is too empty…”
The two took the elevator and reached the corridor. Gu Jiahe only then noticed that Li Zhao was wearing a suit coat.
“Aren’t you afraid of the cold? The wind here can blow your bones apart,” Gu Jiahe asked.
“It’s fine, isn’t it similar to the cold in the northern city?” Li Zhao shrugged it off.
Gu Jiahe took out the room card, swiped it, and opened the door. The room’s heating was comfortable, and he took off his down jacket and hung it in the closet.
“Yours, give it to me,” Gu Jiahe stretched out his hand to him, indicating Li Zhao to hand over his coat.
Li Zhao took off his suit jacket, revealing the shirt underneath. It was indeed resistant to the cold; in temperatures seven or eight degrees below zero, he was only wearing two layers of clothing.
Gu Jiahe took Li Zhao’s coat and felt something unusual when holding it. He opened the jacket’s lapel to take a look.
“Wow, so you’re wearing a down vest inside!” Gu Jiahe finally understood why Li Zhao wasn’t afraid of the cold. “Ge, I didn’t expect you to be secretly wearing a down inner layer!”
Li Zhao chuckled, “Why not? I’m not stupid. You didn’t know how cold it was when we had to wear our lawyer robes in the middle of winter before.”
The two sat in the room for a while, and Li Zhao put away his belongings. Gu Jiahe suddenly remembered they hadn’t had dinner yet. “Do you want to eat? “
“At the hotel or outside?” Li Zhao got up.
“Let’s go out. The hotel buffet is expensive and not tasty,” Gu Jiahe replied. The buffets in Lingang mostly served seafood, and Gu Jiahe was allergic to seafood. He remembered being forced to go with colleagues once before and couldn’t eat anything, feeling like it was a waste.
Li Zhao nodded, put on his coat, and followed Gu Jiahe out.
After leaving the hotel, Li Zhao drove for two blocks before finding a decent restaurant.
Gu Jiahe had been here before with colleagues and thought highly of it.
After they were seated, Gu Jiahe took charge of ordering.
“Their soup is delicious,” Gu Jiahe nodded repeatedly while pointing at the menu, then added, “I bought the same seasoning online, and I can make it for you when we go back.”
Sitting opposite him, Li Zhao seemed to be smiling, “You better keep your promise.”
“When have I ever not?” Gu Jiahe lightly scolded him.
After dinner, Li Zhao didn’t seem eager to go back to the hotel directly. Instead, he drove around the city.
Gu Jiahe leaned against the car window, looked up, and suddenly saw the familiar purple Ferris wheel across the street.
Seeing him looking out the window without saying anything, Li Zhao, who seemed focused, asked, “What are you looking at?”
While waiting at a red light, he also glanced at the intersection on Gu Jiahe’s side, “The Lingang Eye. Ferris wheel, do you want to ride it?”
“So this thing is called the Lingang Eye.” Gu Jiahe sighed.
“Wanna go?” Li Zhao said, turning on the turn signal.
“Forget it, it’s just a metal box spinning around, not that interesting…” Gu Jiahe shook his head.
But before he could refuse, Li Zhao turned the corner and drove straight there.
When the car stopped, Gu Jiahe realized that the Ferris wheel was much larger than he had seen from a distance. It was estimated to be about a hundred meters high.
It was already late at night, but the Lingang Eye Park was still open.
Gu Jiahe followed Li Zhao out of the car and quickly saw the scrolling screen at the entrance of the park.
Ferris wheel tickets: 160 yuan each.
Gu Jiahe clicked his tongue, “The eyes are the window to the soul. Lingang’s soul is worth one hundred and sixty.”
“Let’s go,” Li Zhao smiled, didn’t reply, just patted his back, and then went to buy two tickets.
Unexpectedly, there were still many people in line at this late hour. Gu Jiahe guessed that this place had become a popular spot due to the hype.
They were lucky enough to catch the last empty carriage of this ride.
Creak—
With the sound of mechanical operation, the ferris wheel began to move. There were two rows of seats inside, and the two of them squeezed into one row facing a window.
As the ferris wheel gradually ascended, Gu Jiahe finally understood why this place was named the Lingang Eye.
The wonder of Lingang lay in its combination of heavy industry and pristine natural scenery.
As the ferris wheel reached the top of the circle, a hundred meters above the ground, the left side was the vast industrial area of the new city, while the right side was the deep blue sea.
There were no cruise ships moored on the sea that day, offering an unobstructed view. The sea seemed to extend to the end of the universe. The blue was not a single massive color block but became increasingly profound from near to far.
There was a huge red lighthouse on the coast, and the light beam seemed to sprinkle the sea with silver shards.
Gu Jiahe leaned on the window in front of him, feeling a bit stunned.
Li Zhao watched the side of his face and asked, “Is it worth the 160 yuan?”
“Definitely,” Gu Jiahe nodded, then turned to Li Zhao, pinching his index finger and thumb together, “But it’s still a bit too expensive.”
It took about half an hour for the Lingang Eye to make a full circle. Gu Jiahe took out his phone and took pictures of the scenery outside the window, then handed the phone to Li Zhao, “Look, isn’t it beautiful?!”
Li Zhao nodded, but his eyes lingered on Gu Jiahe’s profile, “Yeah, beautiful.”
After they got off the Ferris wheel, it was already late at night.
Li Zhao went to the parking lot to retrieve the car and drove towards the hotel with Gu Jiahe sitting in the passenger seat, still admiring the photos he had just taken, with a smile on his lips all the way.
In no time, Li Zhao stopped the car by the roadside. Gu Jiahe was a little confused, “What’s wrong?”
“Convenience store, to buy some things,” Li Zhao pointed to the sign of a store on the roadside.
Gu Jiahe thought about it and wanted to buy some snacks to take back, so he nodded and followed Li Zhao out of the car.
But as soon as the two walked to the entrance of the convenience store, they met the HR manager who was also buying things.
Gu Jiahe was surprised and wanted to pretend not to see her, but she recognized him immediately.
“Hey? Manager Gu, are you also here to buy something?” She waved enthusiastically.
“Ah, yes. Just browsing around,” Gu Jiahe could only respond.
Li Zhao stood behind Gu Jiahe. Obviously, the HR manager also noticed him. “Ah, Lawyer Li, you’re here in Lingang too?”
“Yeah. Visiting a client,” Li Zhao nodded and gestured to her.
“What a coincidence! If I had known earlier, we could have had a meal together,” the HR manager smiled, then went to the checkout counter with the items she wanted to buy.
After a while, when she finished paying, she said goodbye to them.
Gu Jiahe watched her retreating figure and then relaxed, walking inside.
The storefront of this convenience store was not large, but there were quite a few items inside.
Gu Jiahe took a small shopping basket and picked up many things while walking around.
Meanwhile, Li Zhao stood in front of the shelves opposite him, not knowing what to choose.
Suddenly, Li Zhao looked up and asked calmly, “Do you like strawberries or peaches?”
“Huh?” Gu Jiahe thought there were no fresh fruits in the convenience store when he entered.
But Li Zhao still looked at him, waiting for an answer, so Gu Jiahe could only reply casually, “Peaches, I guess.”
After Gu Jiahe finished browsing and put the items in his basket, he calculated the total price in his mind and then confidently went to the checkout counter to prepare for payment.
As he placed the basket on the counter, the cashier picked up the scanner and scanned each item.
It was then that Gu Jiahe noticed, placed next to his pile of snacks, was —
A box of peach-flavored condoms.