The streets gradually became less crowded. The faint smoke from the cigarettes of three or four poor working-class men lingered in the quiet space, making the light from the high-pressure lamps even dimmer.
This was not the first time Isa had suddenly encountered the image of miserable people, saving every penny and unable to return home to reunite with their families in the first days of the new year.
“You're going back to work on the seventh, right?” Venn glanced at the lovely face through the rearview mirror and asked softly.
“Yes.” Isa replied indifferently.
On her thin shoulder, Henry was closing his eyes and sleeping soundly. Today, he drank a bit too much, and as soon as he got in the car, he passed out, not knowing what was going on anymore.
Venn understood that normally, those bottles of wine wouldn't have made his young master drunk, because he was sad, so he got drunk so quickly.
When the car reached the entrance of the alley, Venn stopped the car, quickly opened the door, went to the back, and helped Isa help Henry lie down on the bench.
“Drive slowly.” She looked at Henry then turned to Venn and said.
“Don't worry. But... you drank a lot today. Can you walk by yourself?” His voice showed obvious worry.
“I'm fine. Please take him home. Goodbye.”
After Isa finished speaking, she quickly turned away. Venn sadly watched until that beautiful figure disappeared into the darkness, then he climbed back into the driver's seat and pressed the accelerator.
The night was quiet, only the sound of a girl's clogs clicking on the street. In her life of wandering, she had planned to wander here and there, where could she call home?
However, since meeting Henry, she wanted to stay here forever. Even though she knew that his roof wouldn't have enough space to shelter her from the sun and rain, she didn't ask for much, she only wished to see him occasionally and drink wine with him.
Isa raised her hand to press the light switch, smiling tiredly when she saw the belongings that she had brought from the countryside were still lying haphazardly. When she left, she was in such a hurry that she threw them away without having time to arrange them neatly.
Seeing that the box Venn gave her was also mixed in among the clutter, she quickly took it, opened it, broke the dumpling in half, and brought it to her nose to smell it. Because it was left in a sealed plastic box for too long, the dumpling filling went stale and was inedible.
After a sigh, she poured all the dumplings into the trash bag and took them outside, placing them on the kumquat tree. Every feeling makes people think about it, whether they like it or not, it always lingers in their hearts.
“Henry, do you know that every time night falls, I miss you more and more?”
The sorrowful sigh like a deep musical note melted into the darkness. The wind accidentally blew past, messing up her loose hair.
Tears of regret for the moment with him fell down her rosy cheeks. It wasn't until now that Isa knew what unrequited love felt like. It was truly so painful and so tormenting.
The villa that was originally very quiet at night suddenly echoed with loud scolding. Erina, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by Hubert's voice.
Hurriedly jumping out of bed, she opened the door and rushed out to listen to the conversation.
“Do you know what time it is now? If you go out, you should come back a little early. Don't think that you have money so you can torture others. Venn and the maids, they have to stay up late to wait for you.”
Looking at the chairman's fierce face, Erina could only stand still and look down. The surroundings were deserted, and the doors were locked. It seemed that Venn had left, and the servants and Lucia had all fled.
Hubert and Henry, one was standing upstairs, the other was hanging below. Henry held on to the railing, not answering. Hubert took advantage of the situation and continued to shake his head to teach.
“When I go abroad on business, you probably often leave early and come back late, right? Huh? Look at your appearance. No wonder Erina denies this marriage.”
After saying that, he immediately turned his back, ignoring his son who was nodding like a sick chicken standing there.
When Henry heard the sound of the door slamming shut, he raised his face. Seeing the girl in the light blue dress staring at him, he quickly lifted his foot but quickly put it down.
Erina wanted to leave and go back to her room, but in the end, she couldn't help but pity him, so she quickly approached him and spoke softly.
“Are you tired? I'll cut some watermelon for you to eat to sober up.”
“Please.” Henry nodded slightly.
Erina smiled slightly and very naturally, she reached out to support him, helped him into the dining room, helped him sit down on a chair, and opened the refrigerator to search.
“Oh, there's exactly one watermelon left.”
She exclaimed happily and quickly pulled the watermelon out of the refrigerator, washed it, and cut it in half with a knife. She didn't know if it was because she was still sleepy or something, but she cut her hand.
Hearing Erina cry out in pain, Henry rushed to her side. Seeing her finger bleeding, he panicked and grabbed it, bringing it to his mouth. The sudden action scared her, she quickly pushed him away, her voice becoming stuttering.
“You...you use a spoon to scoop it up and eat it.”
As she spoke, she pulled out a huge spoon and stuck it in the middle of half the watermelon, then hurriedly ran upstairs and into her room. She didn't expect her body to suddenly overreact like that.
A moment later, after she had bandaged the wound and calmed down, she suddenly remembered the doctors' advice not to eat watermelon at night because the high water content in it would cause the eater to go to the bathroom frequently, affecting sleep and making them very tired the next day.
Thinking of that, she opened the door and rushed downstairs. Seeing Henry scooping a large piece of watermelon, she rushed over, snatched the spoon from his hand, and put half of the watermelon aside.
“I haven't finished eating yet. What are you doing?” Henry was confused.
“You shouldn't eat watermelon at night.” Erina replied quickly.
“Why?” He squinted because he didn't understand.
“Because… because watermelon contains a lot of water… a lot of sugar. If you eat it at night, it will make you hyperactive. So, please drink tomato juice.”
After saying that, Erina turned to the refrigerator and took out some ripe tomatoes. Her hands quickly sliced ​​them thinly and put them in the blender. Not long after, a glass of bright red juice was placed in front of him.
Henry looked at the glass of juice and then at Erina. The theory that eating watermelon causes hyperactivity probably didn't come from her future doctor friend named Fayre, right? If that was true, he felt really worried for the patients who would come to see Dr. Fayre in the future.
“You go to bed first. I'm sorry for waking you up.” He said softly.
She nodded slightly and turned away. Waiting until her figure disappeared, Henry collapsed onto the table. He felt so pathetic.
He was angry because she lied to him and went out with Clement. However, just one gentle question, one timely act of concern from her made his heart and mind completely melt, he could no longer question her.
Lying on the bed, tossing and turning for a long time, still unable to sleep, Erina took out her phone, intending to text Clement, but after thinking about it, she realized it was late, so she had to give up. She just softly called his name and covered herself with the blanket, trying to close her eyes.
Right at this moment, at the bar at Ryder's house, Clement suddenly sneezed several times, causing his friend sitting next to him to laugh and tease him.
“Your lover is silently calling your name.”
“She's probably asleep at this hour, maybe it's because I got caught in the night dew.”
Clement smiled and replied, then picked up the half-empty bottle of wine and poured more into two glasses.
Today, Clement planned to stay here and drink with Ryder until morning because his mother, stepfather, and half-brothers had all returned to their hometown, leaving him alone to celebrate the New Year.
“Where do you plan to work after graduation?” Clement turned to Ryder, winking, and asked.
“Not yet, maybe I'll open my law firm or apply for a job at a company. Hey, why don't you open your own company and I'll be your consultant?” Ryder punched Clement and laughed happily.
“Who can hire you? Besides, I don't think I'll open a company.”
A very soft sigh sounded after the words. Clement's dream was simply to live a peaceful life with Erina after finding out the truth, forcing the culprit to bow his head and confess before the graves of the deceased, and accepting the punishment of the law. However, at this point, everything was becoming more and more vague, if not hopeless. The clues that he had placed his hope on kept disappearing.
“Ryder, why don't you have a girlfriend?” Clement looked up at the cups of all shapes and sizes hanging upside down above his head and spoke dreamily.
“Well, seeing that you and Erina were so miserable in love, I decided to stay single.”
After he finished speaking, both of them burst out laughing at the same time.
Because Ryder's thinking was short-sighted, Clement did not bother to explain to him that even though the love between him and Erina was painful, it was still blue, beautiful, and extremely precious.
If that girl did not appear, his life would be extremely sad. She was the sunshine that helped him step by step find his way in the future.