Chapter 125

  After Luo Fei left, Li Jin called Li Yi Heng.

  He hadn't seen Li Yiheng for a long time, and he was busy with his daily routine, didn't even have the time to answer phone calls, it was rare that they both had free time tonight, so he made an appointment early on to go to Li Yiheng's house for an overnight stay.

  Li Jin's original plan was to have a meal with Luo Fei while chatting, after finishing the chat, send Luo Fei back and then go to Mr. Li's house. But now, he didn't feel like going anymore.

  Mr. Li heard that he wasn't coming and didn't show any displeasure at all, instead softly asking him: "Is it because of work?"

  Li Jin's heart was already filled with guilt, and when he asked her like that, all sorts of emotions surged up in an instant, making her voice a little hoarse: "No, it's just... I'm not feeling well, I don't want to go."

  Li Yi Heng responded with a "hmm" and said: "When you're not feeling well, you should rest properly. Have you eaten?"

  "No."

  "Go eat something later, don't starve yourself, it's bad for your stomach if you go too long." Li Yiheng reminded him.

  The phone call had reached this point and it was almost time to hang up, but Li Jin didn't end the call, nor did Li Yi Heng take the initiative. The two of them stood on opposite ends, holding their phones and listening to each other's breathing.

  As she listened, Li Jin's nose began to feel sour.

  He sat in the wide chair, but felt that all around him was empty and desolate, making him feel lonely. Suddenly, a strong sense of grievance surged up in his heart, making him like a helpless child, subconsciously seeking help from the person closest to him.

  "Li Yiheng, apart from Director Qin, do you have any other friends?" He bit his lip hard.

  Li Yiheng thought for a moment and said: "There are, not many, one or two."

  "Will you two have a fight?" asked Li Jin.

  "How can friends not fight? Most of the time, before we even start fighting, we're already throwing punches at each other." Li Yiheng's low voice came from the receiver, and his tone with a hint of amusement was like warm spring breeze that made Lei Jin feel cozy. "I still remember when I was studying abroad with Yige, he wanted to pursue the most beautiful foreign girl in school, but unexpectedly she fell for me instead. Yige was furious and we ended up throwing punches at each other on the lawn outside the city. We beat each other until our faces were bruised and swollen like pigs' heads. After a while, we lay down on the grass to catch our breath, then continued fighting from noon till sunset."

  "Why would that girl like you?" This is where Li Jin's concern lies.

  "I don't know, maybe it's because I'm handsome," said Li Yiheng.

  Li Jin burst out laughing.

  "What happened afterwards? Did you end up with this school beauty?"

  "No," said Li Yiheng.

  "What a pity."

  The two of them laughed for a while, then fell silent at the same time.

  After a while, Li Jinqing cleared his throat and asked: "Has your friend ever said to you that he regrets taking you as a friend?"

  Li Yiheng didn't respond for half a day.

  Lai Jin also felt that he was being unreasonable when asking such a question, so before the other party could respond, he self-deprecatingly said: "You don't have to answer me, I'm just talking nonsense."

  "This kind of talk is only casually spoken by people who are not very old." Li Yi Heng suddenly said, his tone was extremely gentle, yet every word was clear and distinct. "As people get older, the number of close friends will decrease. The people around you come and go, friends are like sand in the ocean, and in the end only a few remain by your side. Therefore, older people will cherish their friends even more and won't easily say anything to hurt them. But younger people don't consider these things. They still don't understand what it means to lose something, so they don't know how to cherish, and since they haven't paid any price yet, they also don't know how to appreciate others' efforts for them. So they will very easily say hurtful words without considering the consequences - they think that all the wrongs in the world can be made right with just one 'sorry'."

  "What should I do?" Li Jin murmured.

  This sentence is unclear and has no head or tail, but Li Yiheng unexpectedly understood what he was saying, and asked in response: "What do you want to do?"

  Li Yi Heng's voice was gentle yet powerful, and as he spoke in a stuttering tone, the familiar breathing seemed to carry some kind of magic that slowly calmed down Li Jin's originally frustrated and bewildered heart.

  He thought for a long time in Mr. Li's breath, thinking about the cause and effect of this matter, and all the details were thought through, and the small flower that was obscured by the annoyance and confusion was finally dug out by him.

  "I see," he said, "I know what to do now."

  Li Yiheng smiled again: "Since you've figured it out, don't get hung up on it anymore. What you need to do now is to put off the big things until tomorrow, and for tonight, just let yourself have a good sleep."

  Li Jin smiled and said: "Good."

  Then reached out to touch the mouse.

  "On the one hand, you're agreeing to be good, but on the other hand, you're still working overtime." Li Yiheng's voice reached the mouse before his fingers did. "Go home, take a bath, cook something for yourself to eat, and then sleep comfortably, okay?"

  Li Jin didn't answer.

  His hand was on the table, just two centimeters away from the mouse, but he didn't dare touch it.

  He felt that Li Yiheng was staring at him, his every move, more than anything else, was clearly imprinted in Li Yiheng's mind.

  So in this confrontation, he failed.

  "Alright." He said as he shut down the computer, "I'm heading home now."

  He hung up the phone, took down his coat from the clothes rack, turned off the office lights, and walked through the corridor to the elevator. The city was just beginning to light up, with cars and horses galloping by, he sat in the car, looking through the glass at the densely packed skyscrapers beside him, feeling that the rooftops stretching out of sight seemed to be piercing into the clouds.

  His heart was filled with a certain indescribable warmth. He carried this fullness of warmth into the house, turned on the TV, and in the midst of the variety show host's humorous chatter, he cooked himself some noodles. Thick, flat noodles were thrown in, two handfuls of vegetables were thrown in, an egg was cracked in, and oh yes, that long-forgotten sausage from the fridge too.

  He brought a steaming bowl of noodles into the living room, sat in front of the TV and ate while watching the most popular and hilarious variety show.

  At 10 o'clock at night, he went to bed so early for the first time in more than half a year. Lying in his quilt, on the verge of falling asleep, he suddenly reached out to grab his phone beside him. In the dark room, the screen of the mobile phone emitted a faint light, and he sent a text message to Mr. Li.

  "Good night."

  It says so in the message.

  Li Yiheng stared at the two simple words on his phone and laughed for a long time, then looked up at the apartment building across from him, where one window had been dark for some time.

  The night sky was dotted with stars, and in that window lived his loved one.

  "Good night."

  He said in a low voice.