C34

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He seemed drunk and his voice was muffled.

"What's wrong?" I sat up in bed, and the moonlight fell like water from the window.

"Nothing." Zhou Jin said, "I just want to hear your voice."

His voice carried into my ears with the wind.

"Alright." "Where are you?"

"Me?" Zhou Jin chuckled and did not answer. "Let's talk." He spoke as if he was tired.

"Alright." I put on my coat, took my keys, and went out the door.

"I wish I could stay with you." His voice was as soft as a raving.

I didn't answer.

I stepped onto the elevator and watched the numbers change.

Zhou Jin said no more, only his breathing could be heard from the other side of the phone.

When the elevator reached the first floor, I stepped out and looked around. There was no one in the lobby now.

"Are you asleep?" I asked Zhou Jin.

"Nope." Zhou Jin immediately answered me, and after a while he said, "Never mind, I'll hang up first."

"Are you leaving?" I asked him from the other end of the phone, standing on the steps.

"Yes." Zhou Jin acknowledged.

"Don't you look at me?" I smiled, and Zhou Jin, on the other end of the phone, seemed stunned.

I had already seen Zhou Jin lying not far away on the stairs, looking like he was staring at the stars. His entire demeanor was a little dejected. When he heard me, he turned around, holding the phone in one hand and supporting himself with the other.

I walked up to him and sat beside him. Zhou Jin very naturally put his head on my leg. I looked down at him and was surprised to see the wounds on his body.

His forehead was wrapped in a piece of gauze, and the right side of his face was swollen.

I reached up to his windbreaker and found that there were several wounds on his chest. I was about to look at them again when he suddenly grabbed my hand.

He smiled at me, and I looked at him, because his right eye was so swollen, and he had been squinting, and now he was smiling a little pitifully.

"Who did this?" I asked him.

Zhou Jin smiled and said, "It's my brother." He didn't seem to care.

"Why?" I asked him, as I remembered what Ye Qing had told me.

Zhou Jin closed his eyes, and as if he was very tired, he said: "It's nothing, just beating me up is all that matters."

I wanted to say something, but seeing Zhou Jin's appearance, I didn't know what to say.

I think Zhou Jin and his brother must be fighting about going abroad again.

"What did your brother say?" I asked Zhou Jin, "I want to know."

Zhou Jin looked at the moonlight and said, "He wants me to leave, but I don't want to. He said that since I don't want to go home, then I'll just rely on myself. From now on, the Zhou family has nothing to do with me."

"Where are your parents?" I asked him. Did his brother not care about what his parents said?

Zhou Jin smiled and shook his head, but didn't say anything.

"He told me not to use my family's money and not to live in his house." "He was the one who let me stay in his house when I left, and it was my brother who helped me convince my parents to let me continue my art studies," Zhou said. "He was very disappointed in me, I know that."

I put my hand on Zhou Jin's face, and he closed his eyes and stopped talking.

Just as Ye Qing had said, I had indeed delayed him, no matter what kind of reasonable excuse I could come up with for myself.

He will resent me in the future, because he has convinced his family that he can fulfill his dream.

The unfulfilled dream will become regret in the heart, with the passing of time more and more painful.

Perhaps it was time for me to leave and not become a shackle to him.

He was still so young, he probably didn't know how reckless his decision was right now.

I didn't want him to resent me, and I didn't want to bear the burden of his future.

I already can't believe in eternity and my promise, because of Xie Zongming.

"Let's go out for a walk tomorrow." I said, having made up my mind.

Zhou Jin opened his eyes and looked at me. His lips curled up into a very obedient smile.

"Alright." After a while he said, "I'm leaving."

Zhou Jin got up from my lap, waved to me, and left. I watched his back as he walked further and further away, then turned around and walked into the apartment building.

I lay down on the bed again, feeling much calmer now.

Zhou Jin, thank you for your beautiful dream.

I got up early the next morning and changed into a dress with gold flowers embroidered in black. My hair was rolled up over my shoulders, and I didn't want to look like a married woman today.

I looked at myself in the mirror and suddenly felt a little sad. I caressed my skin, it was still very smooth, but from today onwards, I would only be Xie Zongming's useless wife. No one would hug me tightly and tell me how much he liked me and my body.

I was a little shaken.

"Zhou Jin, are you up yet?" I stood in the doorway and put on my shoes while I called Zhou Jin.

"Hmm?" Zhou Jin's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding a little weak. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to look for you now. Where are you?" I asked Zhou Jin. I remembered what Zhou Jin had told me last night. His brother had chased him out of the villa.

"I …" Zhou Jin paused for a moment, then said, "I'll go look for you."

I heard something else in Zhou Jin's words, and I said, "Tell me, I'm going to look for you now."

Zhou Jin was silent on the other end of the phone. All I could hear was his soft breathing.

"Tell me, Zhou Jin." Zhou Jin didn't want me to see his sorry state. He had been raised like a prince ever since he was young, and even if he ran away from home he still managed to get help from his big brother. But now, he was completely alone.

I have to see him. How can I not see him?

"Zhou Jin …" My slightly hard tone softened.

Zhou Jin was silent for a while, before finally reporting a location.

"Alright, I'll be there immediately."

I stood in front of the gate of Zhou Jin's district and walked inside. Before long, I saw Zhou Jin standing by the roadside.

He had changed his shirt and was wearing dark blue trousers. He was smiling at me, but his smile was a little haggard.

I trotted over to stand in front of him, and he smiled at me, a free smile. He didn't hold my hand, he was always so gentle, he knew I didn't like to hold mine outside, so he wouldn't hold mine.

I'm beginning to miss him.

"Where do you live now?" I asked him.