In those years, we were not together

Chapter 2 Reality Encounters Dreams (1)
Study, work, live.I originally thought that I was completely at peace in the days without you, but the moment I met you, my whole heart was filled with memories. When I am alone, the most unforgettable thing is not the heart-wrenching feelings, but the fact that we can be together but separated from each other.

So, I am eager to meet our most beautiful memories in my dream.

1. Forced blind date
On a weekend in March 2011, Li Lei came to this cafe called Remember again and ordered a cup of the best Blue Mountain.

Blue Mountain is one of Li Lei's favorite varieties of coffee. In order to understand the origin of Blue Mountain, he went to Blue Mountain surrounded by the Caribbean Sea to find the bright blue color of the sun when it shines directly on the blue water and reflects on the mountain. shine.It is Li Lei's habit to elevate from one taste to one taste. For the things or foods he likes, Li Lei will always go deep into their origins, be focused and persistent-this has always been his strength.

At this time, Li Lei was basking in the sunlight obliquely coming in from the window, quietly flipping through a book about management.It has been more than two weeks since he returned to China, and Li Lei has been thinking about whether he should start a business or work as a professional manager in a group company.As the saying goes, at [-], most men at this time should have their own families and careers that suit them. However, Li Lei responded to the government's call for late marriage and childbearing. Up to now, there is no way to get married.Of course, Li's father and Li's mother are the most anxious. Seeing that the neighbors and relatives around him are already grandparents, and their son has just returned from school, the two elders are really worried from the bottom of their hearts.

So, the two elders always asked their friend Xi Tuo to arrange a blind date for Li Lei. No, his arms couldn't twist his thighs. After the two elders insisted, Li Lei finally compromised and agreed to this blind date.

The meeting place was decided by Li Lei. I don't know why. When he saw the name of this cafe for the first time, he suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling in his heart, as if the name Remember had accumulated warmth for many years. Yes, it came to my mind all of a sudden.

So during the two weeks after returning to China, Li Lei always liked to run to this cafe when he had nothing to do, so that he became familiar with every waiter in the store, and even had a good grasp of every decoration in the store. Clearly, as if this is his home.

The appointment was set for 5:[-] pm.And before two o'clock, Li Lei came to the date place, not because of the expectation of this blind date, but because of the good weather and his nostalgia for the cafe.At this time, Li Lei seemed to have forgotten the time, and was quite fascinated by the book.

"Excuse me, are you Li Lei?" Hearing a gentle female voice, Li Lei put down the book in his hand.

"Yes." Li Lei nodded slightly and said, "You are Sun Yifei, right?"

The girl nodded, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

"Sorry, I'm late." The girl said politely.

"No, it's just that I came earlier, ha ha." Li Lei looked at the watch on his wrist, it was not yet 04:30, and he suddenly felt a little shy.

"Do you want to order something?" Li Lei asked while signaling the waiter to come over.

"Have a cappuccino!" the girl said to the waiter.

"I wanted to have dinner with you, but it seems a bit early now..." Li Lei said.

"Hehe, yes, let's order food later, I'm not hungry yet!" The girl said with a smile, and she could faintly see dimples on her fair face.

"Oh..." Li Lei seemed to want to say something, but he didn't know where to start. This kind of blind date was really the first time for him, and he really didn't know what to talk about.

The girl also seemed a little cautious, fiddling with the unfolded tablecloth from time to time, and fell silent for a while.

"Do you like watching management studies?" The girl spoke first.

"Let's take a look once in a while. The management of foreign MBA studies should be considered as a review, ha ha." Li Lei smiled a little far-fetched, as if he had pulled on two nerves that had been useless for a long time, and his smile was hard to pull back like an old spring.

"What do you do?" Li Lei asked.

"A middle school teacher who teaches English."

"Oh." Li Lei seemed to have remembered something, and was silent again.

In fact, it's not that Li Lei is introverted and not good at expressing himself, or that he can't talk when he sees a girl, but that Li Lei has not considered getting married yet, and even feels that a blind date cannot happen to him, so he still doesn't like it for a while. I really don't know how to say it properly, but after all, it was arranged by my parents, so I can't make it too embarrassing!
"Let me tell you a joke!" said the girl at last.

"Okay!" Li Lei said with a smile.

"There are many companies that go to Africa to see elephants, but just looking at them is boring. So Gates said, whoever makes the elephant cry first, then laugh, and then run two steps while crying, will give [-] million US dollars! At this time, a buddy from China's PwC walked up to the elephant confidently and said, "I'm from PwC." The elephant cried, because even the elephant knows that PwC works hard. .Then he said to the elephant: "But this time I come to Africa to count elephants." The elephant was happy, because PwC's style is not simple, and it relies on audits for food. Finally, he said to the elephant: " When I came to Africa, I planned to recruit some elephants back to the company.' But the elephants were so frightened that they turned around and ran away while crying..." The girl made gestures as she spoke, amused Li Lei at once.

Seeing Li Lei was happy, the girl also giggled, and the atmosphere eased a bit.

"But I still think the jokes you tell are not as funny as the jokes you tell," Li Lei said.

"Ah?" The girl was surprised, and then giggled again. The sound hit the window and reflected back, very crisp.

"Let's order!" Li Lei suggested.

"Okay!"

So Li Lei motioned for the waiter to come over. "What do you want to eat?" Li Lei asked.

The girl didn't even take the menu, she blinked her big eyes and said, "French foie gras, plus a cream of mushroom soup."

"I'll have a steak, medium rare. For soup, I want creamy mushroom soup!" Li Lei said.

"Would you like some dessert? The cheesecake and tiramisu here are both good." Li Lei suggested.

"I'd better order some fruit, the calories are a little lower, ha ha."

"Okay, let's have a fruit platter and a tiramisu." Li Lei said.

After ordering, the waiter placed the napkins, knives and forks, and left.

"It's still girls who know how to keep healthy and don't eat these junk foods, haha." Li Lei said.

"No, actually, I really like eating those things, but I've become a little swollen these days, so I don't dare to indulge too much, haha." The girl said shyly.

For the girl in front of him, Li Lei didn't know what kind of feeling it was. He didn't have a strong heartbeat, but he felt comfortable in his heart, because the girl's character was gentle and elegant yet lively and generous.

2. The first love has become a mother
While Li Lei was having dinner with Sun Yifei, Li Lei suddenly heard someone shout: "Mei Mei, over here!" So he unconsciously glanced at the source of the sound, it was a middle-aged man, probably in his 30s look.Suddenly, he saw a young mother with short hair around the ears walking towards the man with two children, a boy and a girl. The figure was very familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was for a while.

The two children walked forward bouncing and bouncing, looking very lively.

"Meimei, look at Keke and Cici first, I'll go outside first." The middle-aged man spoke again.

"Okay." The young mother nodded, then pulled the two children to sit down.

"Ke Ke, Sissy, don't move around, we'll have dinner when Dad comes back, okay?" The young mother said softly.

"Okay!" The two children nodded obediently and said in unison.

"Meimei?" Li Lei's brain began to search for the name. Could it be that she is...

Li Lei didn't dare to think about it anymore, it couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?It should be just the same name. Although he comforted himself so much in his heart, he still doubted that this was the Han Meimei he had been looking for.

It happened that Li Lei was sitting opposite to the young mother. At this time, he unconsciously looked at this young mother with short hair combed to the ear, wearing a light red sweater and a black knee-length skirt. picture. "Han Meimei?" Li Lei blurted out casually.

I saw the young mother looking around, as if she heard someone calling her.

"Han Meimei?" Li Lei called again with more certainty, and walked towards Han Meimei while calling.

"you are?"

"I'm Li Lei!"

"Li Lei?" While Han Meimei was surprised, her face turned pale, as if panicked, and then she pretended to be calm, "Didn't you go abroad?"

"I went abroad and just came back."

"What a coincidence, we haven't seen each other for many years!" Han Meimei didn't know what to say. Indeed, she never thought that she would meet Li Lei again, and it was on this occasion.

"Yeah, it seems like five or six years!" Li Lei was obviously regretful when he said this.At this time, his mind was barren, like a TV with no signal, flickering non-stop.

"You didn't come to the class reunion last time. Jim said you went abroad." Han Meimei seemed to remember something.

"Oh, at that time I..." Before Li Lei finished speaking, he saw the middle-aged man coming back, holding two cute teddy bears in his hands, and said to the two children: "Ke Ke, Qian Qian, See what Dad bought you!"

"Teddy bear!" The two children jumped to their father's side to snatch the teddy bear.

"Han Gang, let me introduce you. This is my junior high school classmate Li Lei." Han Meimei said, then pulled the middle-aged man and said, "This is my husband, Han Gang."

"Nice to meet you!" Han Gang stretched out his hand as he said.

Seeing Han Meimei holding Han Gang's arm, Li Lei looked a little embarrassed, but he couldn't show it, so his mind went blank. "Nice to meet you!" Li Lei said.Even Li Lei himself was a little surprised when English came out inadvertently.

Han Gang shook hands with Li Lei in a friendly manner, smiled and said, "You just came back from abroad? Hehe!"

Li Lei suddenly realized that he was a little agitated just now, and even he himself found it inconceivable why he had spoken English, so he smiled slightly and nodded.

Han Meimei kept a professional smile all the time, as if it had been standardized, which suddenly made Li Lei feel a little strange.

"It's not easy to meet old classmates. Why don't Mr. Li come over and eat with us? It just so happens that today is Keke and Qianqian's birthday, so come and celebrate with us." Han Gang suggested generously.

"No, I still have friends over there." Li Lei said, "Why don't I go there first, Meimei, oh no, why don't we make an appointment another day." Li Lei blurted out "Meimei" It made him feel a little incomprehensible, and he was afraid that Han Gang would have an idea if he called too intimately.

"Well, okay," Han Meimei looked at Sun Yifei and said, "Why don't I leave you a phone number, I changed my number a while ago." Han Meimei reported her number to Li thunder.

After the two exchanged numbers, Li Lei went back and sat down beside Sun Yifei. At this time, he was obviously a little absent-minded.

"Meet an old classmate?" Sun Yifei asked.

"Well, junior high school classmate, I haven't seen you in seven or eight years."

"That's really fate, I don't know many junior high school classmates!"

"Hehe, our relationship was relatively good at that time, and we used to communicate often before, so the impression will be deeper." Li Lei didn't know why he said such a thing. Whether it was a lie or not, even he himself Can't tell.When an emotion that is engraved in my heart has been put on hold, and it is suddenly brought up in an instant, the brain loses control for a while, and the speech is naturally involuntary.

At this time, Li Lei was obviously a little careless when eating, and he didn't even taste his favorite tiramisu. Li Lei looked in Han Meimei's direction from time to time, and saw the four of them enjoying themselves happily. All of a sudden it became desolate.So after the meal, he hurriedly paid the bill, found an excuse, and broke up with Sun Yifei.

At this time, Li Lei was driving aimlessly, his mind was full of the scene just now, "Han Gang, Han Keke, Han Qianqian..." His expression gradually became serious.

Han Meimei is married—this is a fact he doesn't want to accept. He hasn't been married for so many years and he has been waiting for news. The news is where Han Meimei is, how he is doing, and whether he is married...

But now, everything is clear. She already has a happy family, a husband who loves her, and a pair of lovely children...

Li Lei remembered that when he was in middle school, he and Han Meimei had always had good grades in their studies, and they were on par with each other; they had won various awards in various competitions, and they were also very good friends.Love at that time was different from what it is now, it always seemed so hazy, and coupled with the stricter school rules of middle school itself, let alone love, I dare not show my affection too clearly, otherwise, I would be regarded as a typical... …

After entering high school, because they were not in the same class and the learning tasks were heavy, there were fewer opportunities to meet each other, and there were not many contacts. However, in the depths of Li Lei's heart, there was still a love for Han Meimei. He has only one wish, which is to be admitted to the same university as Han Meimei.

It's a pity that by mistake, when Li Lei disagreed with his parents when filling out the application form, the application was quietly revised by his parents, so he couldn't go to the same university as Han Meimei.For this matter, Li Lei did not speak to his parents for a month.

However, because the distance between the two universities is not very far, Li Lei always finds time to visit Han Meimei's school on weekends.Although there is not much time to meet each other, both of them sincerely look forward to holding each other's hand one day in the future.

However, no matter how beautiful the relationship is, it cannot stand the ravages of time. Li Lei and Han Meimei separated when they graduated from university.The way they parted was very simple, there was no farewell to each other, and there was no dialogue, just like there was no promise of eachother when they were together, they just stopped keeping in touch lightly.Maybe they were still young at that time, and they didn't know what love was at all, and they didn't know that love only needs a look, a movement, and a word to keep it.At that time, they were still very naive, so naive that they thought that if they really had each other in their hearts, they would hold hands with each other no matter what day in the future.

But what about the reality?The reality is that they were all wrong, and have been wrong forever!
So, Li Lei went to the United States with a little regret, and studied for four years, wanting to change the environment, settle down, forget everything that happened here, and start over.A person is very lonely in a distant place. It is because of loneliness that he will forget the regrets in his heart. It is precisely because of loneliness that he will think of the beauty in his heart...

But what was the result?After studying and working, and returning from abroad six years later, my life and emotions have changed.Everyone's emotions have become less pure, with a strong sense of self-interest, and their feelings will always be like a passerby who has nothing to do with themselves.Instead of going on blind dates just to find a marriage partner, and working just to make a living, happiness is deprived, and of course it is deprived!
When thinking of these, Li Lei's eye sockets were moistened unconsciously, and he suddenly felt panic and fear, so he turned a corner in a hurry and went home.

3. Memories of middle school

Back home, Li's father and Li's mother couldn't wait to question——

"Have you seen that girl? How is it? It should feel pretty good, right?"

"Why are you back so early, why don't you go to a movie together?"

……

My parents kept asking me questions, and Li Lei didn't want to spoil my parents' interest, so I could only say: "I see, the girl is very nice, it can be seen that she is well-bred."

"That's good. Have you guys agreed on a time to meet next time? You must seize the opportunity this time!" Li Ma said.

"I see, Mom. I'm a little tired, let's go back to the bedroom first!" Li Lei said as he walked towards his bedroom.

"Okay, hehe." Li's father and Li mother saw that their son agreed so quickly, and they were a little bit from ear to ear. They didn't expect their son to be so satisfied for the first time on a blind date. It seems that they should be hugged soon. Grandson!Parents who are anxious, hope that their children will not fall in love when they go to school, but they all hope that they can find someone to marry and have children as soon as they enter the society. I'm still in a hurry!

Back in the bedroom, Li Lei lay on the bed and recalled the scenes in the cafe today... Suddenly, he jumped off the bed and began to rummage through the bookcase. After a long time, he finally found his English book from junior high school.

So he carefully took it to the desk and opened it.

Han Meimei: Hello!

LiLei: Hello!

Han Meimei: My name is Han Meimei. What is your name?

Li Lei: Myname is Lilei.
What a familiar dialogue, what a familiar feeling, Li Lei has been looking for this familiar feeling for a long time, until today he found that this feeling can only be sealed in a certain moment in the past.

"Han Meimei," Li Lei kept repeating the name, "If I hadn't let go then, I wouldn't have let it go today..."

Li Lei is a little depressed. For so many years, he has been waiting for a result, but in the process of waiting for the result, he forgot to pursue it, so that now he is still alone, because he can't let go, so he won't Restart.

In an instant, all the memories rushed into his heart like blood, and Li Lei felt as if his head was swollen, and it was blank.

"If..." Li Lei began to blame himself. If he had taken the initiative a little more back then, if he hadn't been so anxious to go abroad, if he had inquired a little more, Han Meimei would not have married someone else... But, in this world But there are no ifs, only consequences and results.

At this time, Li Lei found the tape in the drawer, put it in the backgammon repeater, and listened to the English dialogue over and over again——

Hello!

My Name is Li Lei.
Hello!

MyNameisHanMeimei.
……

(End of this chapter)