C2

Three years later, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on a hot July day.

Edinburgh had ancient castles, elaborate churches, old streets and narrow alleys left behind by history. Countless literary lovers were gathered here, and it seemed as if they could travel through history at any time of the year.

At the end of an inconspicuous alley is a sweet shop called valentine. This alley was probably paved with bluestone, and on both sides of it were old buildings that had been here for many years. The exterior decoration of this bright dessert shop was actually visible at a glance.

The shop was quite well-known among the young men and women surrounding it. It was also a good place for some people to find a partner to have a night's fun.

She stood in front of the counter and heard the sound of wind chimes coming from the entrance. She quickly looked up and saw a tall, graceful, and handsome man walk into the shop.

It was unknown if it was because the sunlight shone in from outside the door that dazzled her. For a moment, she seemed to be in a daze, and only when she walked in front of him did she come back to her senses. The other party had already spoken before her. "I'll find a random seat to sit down first." After saying so, he sat down by a French window.

He thought he must have been dazzled by the rare sight of a familiar face from Asia, but the man's words surprised her even more, because he was speaking an ancient language, Gaelic, that few local people spoke now. She had to be glad she had learned Gaelic in the first six months of her stay in Edinburgh, or she wouldn't understand it now.

Lu Kewei took the menu and walked in front of the man. He also said in Gaelic, "Please have a look at the menu."

The man took the menu, but didn't have any intention of looking through it. Instead, he said, "I want a latte."

"Please wait a moment. I'll be there shortly."

The man suddenly called out to her, "I'm a bit hungry. Do you have any dessert recommendations?"

"If you're hungry, a bit of tea or cake would be a good choice."

The man shook his head. "I just want to know what you like."

"I prefer strawberry pudding," he replied honestly.

The man's lips curled up, but he quickly disappeared. Lu Kewei thought he was seeing things, but he soon heard him say, "I'll have a latte and a strawberry pudding." As soon as he finished, he asked again, "Do you know how to do this?"

With some difficulty, Lu Kewei said, "I can make it, but I'm sure my cooking skills can't compare to the dessert chef in the restaurant." Nearly every day, he would stay here and watch them for a while.

The man didn't seem to care at all. "I hope you did it yourself."

Lu Kewei's heart started beating even faster. Even his cheeks felt a little hot. After nodding his head, he said, "One moment, please," and entered the kitchen.

She'd put a lot of strawberry jam in the pudding, and she'd done it with great care on the latte, and she thought she must have done it only because she'd met him in his hometown.

When Lu Kewei came back with the tray, the sunlight had completely enveloped the man under the warm sun. It was so beautiful that it was outrageous.

He put the coffee and pudding on the table and said, "Please take your time." He immediately wanted to turn around and leave.

This time the man stopped her again. "Is this the people of Z?" This question was still asked in Gaelic. His voice was already low and pleasant to hear, but speaking such an ancient language also had a different flavor.

It was hard to describe the pleasant surprise on Lu Ke Wei's face, "You're also from Z?" He had already asked this question in Chinese.

The man nodded, lowered his head, and took a sip of coffee. He then extended a hand towards her. "My name is Song Zixiu, nice to meet you."

For some inexplicable reason, the scene before him was somewhat funny. However, it was as if he was not tired of it. He stretched out his hand and a smile blossomed on his face. "My name is Lu Kewei." Suddenly, she felt that his name was very familiar, and very soon, she felt a little annoyed at herself for thinking so much.

Song Zixiu's expression was very gentle. After letting go of her hand, he asked, "Are you still going to work tomorrow at this time?" Seeing the bewildered look on the face of the man in front of him, he realized that he was being rude and hurriedly explained, "I asked because I saw a man who was able to speak his mother tongue and loved this place a lot. I wanted to sit here for a long time."

She herself had paid too much attention to him from the very beginning for this reason. Thus, she replied without any resentment, "I have an evening shift tomorrow and only work in the afternoon."

Song Zixiu nodded, "Ok, I understand."

"Please enjoy." This time, he turned around and left.

Song Zixiu looked at her back greedily, wishing that his eyes were glued on her. He had never thought that one day, he would be able to see her standing in front of him, smiling and talking, and feel great happiness.

However, on the following day, Lu Kewei couldn't help but look at Song Zixiu's position from time to time. He felt that the shop was different from before because of his appearance. She shook her head with all her might to drive away the wild thoughts running through her head. The moment the wind chime rang, she forced herself to rein herself in and concentrate on welcoming the new arrival.

The next day, Edinburgh was still strangely balanced against the tide of history, and the valentine at the end of the alley was still loved by some young men and women. Many things had not changed, but some things had changed again.

It was afternoon when Lu Kewei arrived at the store. When she entered, she unconsciously looked around, but did not see Song Zixiu at all. She could not help but feel a strange sense of loss. Afterwards, she didn't have much energy left to work. Except for the sound of the wind chime outside the door, she would immediately look outside, but all she got was a faint sense of disappointment.

When the hard day was finally coming to an end, it suddenly began to rain heavily. The summer rain came and went quickly, but it was always fierce and unexpected, turning into a wet chicken by accident.

Lu Ke Wei looked at the rain that hadn't shrunk in the slightest. Just as he was about to close the door with the umbrella, someone suddenly patted her left shoulder from behind. She subconsciously looked to the left, but there was no one there. Then he smiled knowingly, keeping his back facing the others and called out with certainty, "Little Mei."

Little Plum grabbed her shoulders from behind and said unhappily, "You little girl, I bet you forgot about going to the movies with me after work tonight. In order to pick you up, I've already wet my clothes from such a heavy rain."

As he turned around, he was surprised to see his good friend with heavy makeup. He was wearing a skintight vest with pencil pants. The back of his vest was a bit wet, and the legs of his pants were completely wet.

They had met soon after he had arrived in Edinburgh, where he had learned his language, and Little Mei had been a student there, and they had become inseparable almost as soon as they had met. Little Mei had nothing to say to her friends, but in terms of relationships between men and women, she was extremely casual. However, this didn't affect their relationship in the slightest.

Tonight, there happened to be a local male actress who was very fond of Little Plum. She had long since agreed to go to the movies with Lu Kewei. In the past, Lu Kewei had never forgotten about this sort of thing. However, today, he was disturbed by a man who had never appeared before, causing her to feel helpless.

"When did I forget what you told me?" Let's go now. " Lu Kewei smiled ingratiatingly.

Little Mei pinched her nose face to face, looking extremely ferocious, "Don't think that I don't know what you're thinking. Forget it this time, there definitely can't be a next time. Otherwise, we won't even have friends."

But the person in front of her did not reply, his eyes staring in a certain direction. She turned around and saw Song Zixiu walking quickly out of the rain. Although his body was almost completely drenched, he did not look like he was in a bad situation at all. He still had an elegant posture.

Song Zixiu quickly walked in front of Lu Kewei, wiped the rain off his face and explained to her, "I ran into a heavy rain all around here, but couldn't get a taxi. I wanted to try my luck and see if it was still open, so I could ask you to borrow an umbrella."

The rainwater from his hair flowed down the side of his face and slid down his chin into his short-sleeved T-shirt. The T-shirt was tightly stuck to his body. His body was excellent. He was a typical lean type so there was no doubt about it.

Before Lu Kewei could reply, Little Mei spoke up, "Handsome, we have two umbrellas here. I'll lend you mine. "Also, the two of us are going to the movies. If you have time, why don't you come with us?" The corner of Little Mei's mouth curled up in a determined smile, her eyes shining with the light of her usual prey.

How could Lu Kewei not know that his good friend beside him had gotten sick? He had never felt so uncomfortable before.

Song Zixiu replied calmly, "It's too late, and the rain is so heavy. I think we should do it next time."

Little Mei unexpectedly shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "Since the handsome brother has spoken, then let's just forget about it today." He looked him up and down a few times and then handed his umbrella to him. However, the other party did not give him any face and directly took the umbrella from him. He even opened the umbrella and left.

It was the first time that Lu Kewei saw a man not buying on Little Mei's account, so he couldn't hold back his laughter. In exchange, Little Mei glared fiercely at him.

The two of them quickly followed Song Zixiu into the rain.

The three of them were lucky. Even though it was raining heavily, they were able to get a taxi very quickly. However, when the driver asked for the address, Song Zixiu looked at Lu Kewei hesitantly.

While they were blocking the way, Little Mei interrupted, "But the Wei family is closer to here." And so, according to the principle of proximity, they drove first to the house.

Little Mei who was sitting in the car didn't seem to stop for a moment, then she quickly said, "Handsome, today's rainy weather is the perfect time to keep people. Wait until we send Kevlar home first, then you can come sit at my house." This sentence was full of implied meaning. Only a fool would be able to understand it.

For some unknown reason, Lu Ke Wei's heart rose up. He was waiting to see Song Zi Xiu's reaction, but he did not have any reaction. She was slightly relieved, but she was still a little worried.

The taxi soon stopped at the side of the road. After bidding farewell to Song Zixiu and Xiaomei, Lu Kewei got off the taxi. He still couldn't help but feel a little worried.

She had just taken two steps when Song Zixiu followed her out of the car. He opened her umbrella to cover her head and help her block the falling rain. "Take the umbrella, or else it'll get wet."

However, Lu Kewei worriedly said, "It's better if you take it. Otherwise, you won't have an umbrella anymore later."

Song Zixiu insisted on handing the umbrella over to her. "It's okay, I won't get sick even if I had to take two more showers of rain."

He took the umbrella, waved goodbye, and walked away. It was the most common two-story building here. It looked like an old building that had been built many years ago. Under the hazy light of the rain, it seemed to have returned to the past.

After walking up a few steps, he looked back mysteriously. He didn't expect Song Zixiu to still be standing at the same spot. Seeing her turn around, he quickly waved at her, "Hurry up and go back."

Only then did Lu Kewei turn back and continue walking. An unprecedented emotion was fermenting in his heart.