Waiting for You in the City (一座城，在等你) by Jiu Yue Xi 玖月晞 ~ Chapter 39

The streetlamp is in pale yellow, the snowflakes are dancing lightly.

Xu Qin looks at Song Yan and asks in a low voice: “Do you want to go up to have a seat?” She seems to be afraid that he would refuse so she adds: “You haven’t eaten anything, let’s have a meal and you could leave.”

Song Yan suddenly find this to be funny. “You could cook?”

Xu Qin: “…..”

Song Yan asks again: “Do you have any ingredients at home?…… except the rice from the hospital.”

This time Xu Qin responds quickly, she turns her body and points to the corner of the street: “There is a supermarket there, it’s quite big. It has everything.”

Song Yan: “…….”

“Let’s buy it now.” Xu Qin suggests.

Song Yan says: “Let’s go.”

It would be Christmas soon so in front of of the supermarket there’s a big Christmas tree with colored lights. It stands lonely.

Song Yan goes to the inside of the supermarket and takes a shopping cart. He looks up at the ceiling to check the safety. Then he judges the nearest emergency exit.

Xu Qin notices it and says: “You have a quite serious occupational disease.”

Song Yan asks: “What about you?”

“Ah?”

“Your occupational disease.”

“I’m a bit obsessed with cleanliness.”

“Because of your obsession so in your apartment, you simply put no stuffs so you could see it to be clean?”

“…….”

Xu Qin says: “I just like to wash m hands, just like that, sometimes I would feel…….” She looks at the meat and fresh seafood shelf. “These butchers’ skill is not very good.”

Song Yan glances at the row of meats: “They should use machine to cut these.”

Xu Qin is surprised: “Really?”

Song Yan asks her: “What do you want to eat? Streaky pork?”

Xu Qin considers for a while and nods: “Em.”

Song Yan doesn’t take a pak of streaky pork, he just looks at her again. “So what do you want to eat?”

“…….. Beef.”

“Xue Hua (Snowflake)?”

“Em.”

Song Yan takes two packs of beef and puts it inside the shopping cart, he says: “Your taste has changed a lot.”

Ten years ago, she loves streaky pork a lot. He always took her to a restaurant and she would finish a plate of streaky pork with green pepper. She wasn’t tired of it.

Xu Qin walks beside him. “Abroad beside beef, other meat doesn’t taste very good. After a while, I use to it.” She remembers last time when they were in the cinema, he gave her chocolate. She explains too. “The chocolate too. There lots of varieties abroad, I am sick of eating it.”

Song Yan just laughs and doesn’t express his opinion: “If you eat too much, you would sick of it. If you have less, you would forget it. You,girl, is not easy too served.”

Xu Qin hears his words and feels like she is beat by someone, she feels there’s a different meaning from his words, he seems to say explicitly about her attitude toward love.

But he just lets it pass and says: “Then today is very good. Take a look what you like and what you don’t like. You should know it clearly.

Xu Qin follows him closely.

Her flavor indeed has changed a lot, she couldn’t eat spicy food, she feels that this is a degeneration. She asks him: “What about you, do you have any change of habit?”

He says: “I could eat spicy now.”

“Oh.” Xu Qin doesn’t ask anymore. They stroll around the supermarket and see a figure, she asks again: “Do you still like to play game?”

“No.” Song Yan says: “Majorly because I have no time… You still remember that I play game?”

“I remember, I even remember the name of the game.”

“Oh?”

“Mo Shou (Magic Animal), also Chuan Yue Huo Xian (Pass through battle line).”

He smiles for a while and looks at the shopping cart, he asks her gain: “Do you have oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at home?”

“……. No.”

When they are done and pay at the cashier, Xu Qin at first wanted to pay by herself. But she sees that Song Yan has put out his wallet. She just stops.

Xu Qin just leans closer and says with a low voice: “These seasonings would be at my home. The day you want to come over and cook, you could come again. Anyway you are that buy it, these are yours.”

Song Yan is taking out his money. Hearing this, he glances at her. She straightens her lips and be so calm. This moment he suddenly feels that her behavior of scheming has no change.

The cashier is scanning all of the barcodes, Xu Qin just looks at the nearby sweet shelf in front of the cashier. She looks at the a long thing. She doesn’t know what it is. She fixes her gaze on it

In a next second, Song Yan just takes that long stripe and asks the cashier: “What si this?”

“Candy, it’s not the same candy as the normal one, This one is sour and sweet, the taste is very fresh.”

Song Yan asks Xu Qin: “Do you want this?”

Xu Qin nods: “I never taste it.”

SongYan is about to pass the candy to the cashier to scan the barcode, he notices it has a flavor. On the shelf he notices there’re different flavors and colors: “Orange, Grape and Apple flavor. The one on his hold is strawberry.

Song Yan asks: “Do you like strawberry?”

Xu Qin: “Yes.”

Song Yan; “Do you want this? What about other flavors?”

Xu Qin looks at it but the time she is thinking, Song Yan just takes one for each flavor and passes it to the cashier.

All of the things are packed into three big plastics. He carries two plastics and she just holds one plastic. She follows behind him. She is smiling.

They walk back to her apartment.

The time they arrive at her apartment, Xu Qin takes off her coat and Song Yan looks at her dress and he also takes off his coat.

He places the plastic bags on the table. He takes out the veggies and meats. Then he takes out a basin and fills it with water. While waiting, he opens all the seals of the condiments and places it on the kitchen counter. This time when the water in the basin is full, he rolls his sleeve and starts to wash the veggies.

Xu Qin looks at everything, she finds the scene is pleasing to her eyes and minds, she says: “You also have changed, you aren’t this clean and tidy in the past.”

“It’s all because of the military training.” Song Yan says, he washes the veggies. Xu Qin notices that one of his sleeve is slipping down. She just comes closer to him and helps him to refold it.

He pauses for a second and waits till she is done then he continues to wash the veggies.

He speaks up: “Two dishes and a soup?”

“Okay.”

Song Yan lowers his head and starts to slice the meat. “Ping Pang Ping Pang”. The time he takes a green pepper, he looks at Xu Qin, who is standing and eating the long stripe candy: “Is it good?”

“It’s good.” Xu Qin says and wants to pass it to him: “Do you want to try?”

He shakes his head and continues to slice everything.

Suddenly she remembers in the past no matter what was in her hand, the time she asked him whether he wants it or not, he would just lower his head and bite it.

Once he was playing game, she was hugged by him. She was so bored and had an evil plan. She extended her finger and asked: “Is it delicious?’

His eyes were fixed on the screen, he lowered his head and bit it lightly. At last he sucked her finger.

She just laughed out loud.

He threw away his phone and didn’t play the game again. He started to take off her clothes. “Come, let’s eat another thing.”

She turns around to avoid him. “Go and play your game!”

“No I don’t want to play game anymore, I’ll play you.”

Xu Qin bites her candy and just realizes the young her was much cuter than the current her. Or perhaps she was with Song Yan, she was much cuter than now.

The current her is dull, depressed, like a person who lives in a case. The current her is covered by an invisible cover. It’s covering like a clingy plastic wrapper. It used to be able to be melted when she was with Song Yan. But these years there’re a lot of layers again. It wraps her so tight that she couldn’t be that no one could be penetrated.

She eats her candy slowly, when she finishes one, Song Yan has already cooked everything. He places all the food on the table.

Green pepper with beef, stir-fry broccoli, mushrooms soup. They are all suitable for her current preference.

Xu Qin tastes it and it tastes so good for her: “You frequently cook your meal?”

“Sometimes Jiu Jiu would go away, I cook for Di Miao.”

“I thought you had cooked for your girlfriend.” Xu Qin eats her food and tries to probe him with a low voice.

Song Yan looks at her.

Xu Qin simply asks: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I have no time, I’m too busy.” He answers in simple and short way, he doesn’t ask him back.

Xu Qin eats for a while and says: “Actually you are not really changing.”

“Why?”

“I feel…” She tries to form her words and finds suitable words to describe it. But at last she couldn’t find the words, she just shakes her head.

And then she says nothing else.

Perhaps there’s nothing to be said or she has worries, perhaps it’s because both of it. After years of no interaction, there’s no topic to talk about it. This time to ask question, it’s complicated. She is afraid if she gets into a sensitive topic. It might worsen their relationship

They finish the dinner. Song Yan goes to wash all the dishes and arranges it well on the cupboard.

Xu Qin’s subconscious mind wants to urge something to stay. She takes out her kettle, pot, cups, and tea leaves out. “Let’s drink tea.”

She seems to want the night to be endless.

She opens the tap water and fills the pot till it’s full. Her phone suddenly rings, it’s the call from the security guard of the apartment. He asks Xu Qin is blocking another car, she is asked to move it.

This call seems to purposely want to stop the night.

If today passes and the relationship between her and Song Yan is not cleared up. This time she needs to shift her car and lets him to stay inside the house. It might show the the broken and vague relationship between them. It would makes the days after frankly hard to be faced.

According to his temper, he wouldn’t stay.

She also has a premonition, Song Yan seems to have a decision and it’s hard for her to fathom it. Perhaps she also has no right to even know about it.

Xu Qin holds her phone before she speaks up, Song Yan stands up and takes his own coat. He says; “Let me go down with you.”

“Em.” Xu Qin takes her car key, she is a bit disappointed. She knows that it’ll be hard to let him go up again when he is downstair.

When she is downstair, she notices it’s snowing heavier than before. The land is covered with thin snow.

The temperature is even lower.

Actually she doesn’t need Song Yan’s companion to move her car. Xu Qin says to him: “Wait for me here a while, I’ll move my car and come back.”

“Okay.”

“Wait for me.” She says once more.

“Em.”

Xu Qin runs over toward her car, while Song Yan is standing there under the light. He is smoking with his cigarette.

She moves the car quickly, she is worried if he would just leave. She runs back.

He is still there.

She stops in front of her. Now she feels troubled, she doesn’t know what to say. Go up and have a tea?

“It’s done.”

“Em.”

He throws the cigarette away and looks at her eyes. Then he doesn’t look away.

Xu Qin looks at him, Song Yan’s eyes are dark. It’s looking at her.

He is looking at her quietly, she also doesn’t look away. She feels that something important would happen. That whole night she has a feeling —— he is deciding on something but for her, she doesn’t know whether it would be a disaster and happiness.

She trembles lightly.

“Xu Qin.” His tone is serious, his eyes show that he is making a major decision.

“Em?” She releases her breath.

“Do you still like me?” He asks frankly.

Xu Qin is startled and suddenly her heart is getting out of control; he looks at her calmly and coldly. He is waiting for her answer.

She nods: “I like you.”

Perhaps he expects that answer so his face doesn’t change.

He looks at her for a long time, his gaze is deep. He says: “I back out from my words. Xu Qin.”

Her breath stops: “Em?”

“Let’s be together.”

Song Yan says.

“I don’t need you to do anything for me, I don’t need you to promise me that in the future you would stand by my side. If one day you want to break up, then let’s just break up. But now, let’s be together.”

The snow pours down quietly.

“If tomorrow you are tired and regretting it, you feel wronged and want to put up with it. Then let’s break up. Yet today, let’s be together. No matter tomorrow it would be windy or raining, let it be. But today let’s be together.”

Xu Qin stands still on the ground. She doesn’t dare to believe what she hears. She never expects that she would break the space between them like this. Everything feels like it happens based on her expectation. Without her knowing, her eyes turns wet slightly: “It doesn’t sound like you.”

“Yes it’s not.”

She is trembling lightly in the cold night, her voice is shivering: “You… you like me that much ah?”

“Yes, I still like you, I like you too much.” Song Yan says, he is calm.

“Even if it’s already ten years and you have changed. You temper, hobby, flavor… Perhaps when we are be together, we just need a week. But now, if you still want to love, I would accompany you.”

I’ll accompany you to love.

She is looking at him startlingly.

He pauses for a second and doesn’t wait anymore.

“When you are done considering about it, I’ll look for you.” He turns his body and leaves.

He starts to move. The streetlamp beams toward her.

She suddenly becomes aware, she chases after him. She hugs his back tightly.

His footsteps suddenly stop.

“Okay ah, let’s be together ah.”

That night under the streetlamp, it’s still snowing heavily.

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