The Laws of Love

  It was very easy to hold Suo Yang’s hand, but he shouldn’t hold it for too long.

       This was similar to the slogan: ‘Although a strong wine is good, don’t be greedy.’

       Shen Huiming didn’t want to bear the consequences of drinking greedily now.

       He just shook it, and when the sunlight came through the clouds, he let go of the other’s hand.

       But that feeling lasted for a long time, and it gradually became sweeter from the bottom of Shen Huiming’s heart.

       How many years had it been since he had felt this way? Since he started working, people had lived indifferently, it was difficult to feel touched, and it was difficult to have the sweetness that hits the bottom of his heart.

       This reminded him of the sweets his parents had bought in advance during the Chinese New Year’s Eve when he was a child. He was explicitly forbidden to steal the sweets and had to wait until New Year’s Eve, but he wouldn’t behave and steal one when his parents weren’t looking to double the sweet portion.

       Suo Yang was the candy he ate in advance.

       Suo Yang kept pretending to be asleep. He couldn’t even think during the time Shen Huiming was holding his hand; all his attention was on the warmth and force coming from the other side until the alarm clock on his phone woke him up.

       When he opened his eyes, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, as if he was afraid of being seen through, he quickly took out his mobile phone and said, “I have to go back.”

       The bad weather had passed and the sun was out.

       After a night of fierce wind and rain, autumn was in full swing.

       Shen Huiming stood up with him and walked towards the door.

       Suo Yang said, “Someone will call you later, see you at the airport.”

       Shen Huiming smiled at him, “See you at the airport.”

       Suo Yang looked at him, and felt a little guilty.

       Logically speaking, Shen Huiming should be the one who felt guilty, but Suo Yang averted his gaze first.

       The two said goodbye, Suo Yang turned and prepared to leave.

       “Suo Yang.” Shen Huiming suddenly stopped him.

       When Suo Yang turned around, Shen Huiming said to him, “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, live a more relaxed life.”

       These words were obviously nothing out of the ordinary, but they suddenly seemed to be more soothing than the sunlight outside the window.

       Suo Yang smiled at him, nodded and said “Okay”, then walked downstairs quickly.

       He didn’t even wait for the elevator, because he didn’t dare to linger for a moment too long.

       When Suo Yang returned to the room, his colleague had already changed his clothes and was waiting to leave. When he saw Suo Yang coming back, he jokingly said, “Staying out all night, huh!”

       Suo Yang was a little embarrassed, and casually replied, “I met an acquaintance, and we chatted for a while.”

       He glanced at the time and saw that it was too late to take a shower, so he could only run to the bathroom to wash up quickly and put on his uniform.

       On the way from the hotel to the airport, Suo Yang took out his mobile phone and found the song that Shen Huiming had played for him last night. As he listened to the song, he felt as if he had gone back to a few hours ago and was watching a man named Suo Yang chatting and drinking with a man named Shen Huiming as an outsider; time seemed to be slowed down, every movement and every look of them slowed down. Suo Yang could see clearly when the two looked at each other, there was a smile in their eyes.

       It was impossible to deny it.

       Suo Yang sighed and found himself being drawn to Shen Huiming.

       The weather turned fine and the flight conditions were good.

       The passengers boarded the plane again, and Shen Huiming sat in the cabin again.

       Almost three hours passed quickly, and they arrived at Berlin Schönefeld Airport from Moscow without incident.

       It was still morning here when they arrived in Berlin. When he got off the plane, Shen Huiming couldn’t help but sigh, after such a trip, the jet lag was making him completely messed up.

       He found a place to sit after getting off the plane and connected to the WiFi to send a message to Suo Yang.

       After all the passengers had left, Suo Yang and the others had a lot to do, and it would be a long time before they were all done.

       They had six hours of free time and would be ready to return by late afternoon.

       Suo Yang remembered to turn on the phone after finishing his work, and the first message he received was from Shen Huiming.

       Shen Huiming said: I’m waiting for you by the elevator leading to the exit, there is a coffee shop.

       After looking at the time the message was sent, Suo Yang found that the other party had been waiting for a long time, so he quickly replied: I just finished my work, where are you?

       Shen Huiming had drunk half a cup of coffee and was reading a document at the moment. After receiving Suo Yang’s message, he raised his hand and took a picture of the coffee shop.

       Suo Yang sent: Wait for me a moment, I’ll come over to you.

       He declined his colleague’s invitation, and before he even had time to change his uniform, he walked quickly towards the coffee shop.

       The feeling that someone was waiting for him was very subtle, which makes Suo Yang feel both ashamed and at ease.

       He had always disliked being waited on, even if it was a meeting with Zhou Mo or a colleague, he would always be the one to arrive early.

       It was the first time someone was waiting for him, and it made him feel like he was in a foreign country but with a home waiting for him, so he was so eager to return.

       Suo Yang followed the exit and soon found the coffee shop. The coffee shop was open on all sides, and there were very few customers inside. Shen Huiming was sitting on the sofa at the far end.

       The other party was looking at the notebook very intently and did not notice him coming from behind.

       Suo Yang stepped lightly, steadied his heavy breathing, and then slowly approached.

       In front of Shen Huiming was the laptop, and in his hand was the half-drunk coffee and the book ‘On Love’ by his side.

       Suo Yang stood behind and looked at him secretly for a while as if admiring a painting hanging in an art gallery, while others were looking at the painting, he was looking at the people in the painting.

       When he had seen enough and his breathing had calmed down, Suo Yang walked over to Shen Huiming and said, “Mr. Shen, I’ve kept you waiting.”

       Shen Huiming was too focused on the documents, when someone suddenly spoke next to him, which startled him, and accidentally knocked over the coffee with a wave of his hand.

       Half a cup of coffee, half spilt on the table, half spilt on the ‘On Love’.

       For convenience, Shen Huiming had already removed the outer cover of the book and put it at home. At this time, one-third of the white hard inner cover was smudged into a brown colour.

       Suo Yang didn’t expect such an accident, he quickly took out a tissue and apologized while helping to deal with the aftermath.

       Shen Huiming moved his notebook aside, picked up the book and said, “Not bad, the book smells like coffee.”

       After Suo Yang wiped the table, he frowned and said apologetic words. Shen Huiming laughed at him, “That’s enough, apologizing too much makes me feel like an unreasonable bully.”

       Suo Yang looked at the soiled book in his hand and smiled wryly, “Fortunately it didn’t spill on you…”

       But then, before he finished speaking, he found that Shen Huiming’s pants were also stained with coffee stains.

       A few drops of coffee splashed on his thigh, and Suo Yang couldn’t conveniently wipe it, so he could only pass a tissue over and let Shen Huiming do it himself.

       But coffee stains were so stubborn that they couldn’t even be washed off, let alone wiped.

       This time Suo Yang really felt sorry.

       “It’s okay,” Shen Huiming said, “it’s just a pair of trousers.”

       Suo Yang knew that Shen Huiming’s pair of trousers was not cheap.

       However, the most important question now was not how much the trousers were worth, but that he couldn’t just wander around in a pair of dirty trousers.

       “Did you bring a change of clothes?” Suo Yang asked.

       Shen Huiming shrugged, “That’s all I brought with me on this trip.”

       Suo Yang sighed slightly, and said, “Then… I’ll go change my clothes first and then buy you a pair of trousers.”

       “Ah?” Shen Huiming was a little surprised.

       “After all, it’s because I got it dirty,” Suo Yang said, “I’ll pay you a pair.”

       Shen Huiming smiled, “I’m a bit torn.”

       “How?”

       “You have luggage, right? Do you have spare trousers? Actually, we are about the same height, so you can lend me a pair temporarily.” Shen Huiming said, “However, if this is too personal, so I’m sorry.”

       Suo Yang didn’t speak.

       “On the other hand, the fact that you bought me trousers,” Shen Huiming looked at him with a smile, “I’m quite happy that you bought them for me, it’s a gift.”

       He let out a deliberate “tsk” and rubbed the centre of his eyebrows, “It’s a hard choice.”

       Suo Yang was amused by him, “Don’t worry about it, I only brought a pair of trousers, and I’ll have to change myself to it later.”

       He put the empty coffee cup on the tray and prepared to return it to the bar, “Clean it up and wait for me for a few minutes. There is a bathroom across the street. I’ll go change my clothes.”

       Shen Huiming obediently obeyed and sat down peacefully to wait for Suo Yang.

       He watched Suo Yang in uniform walking towards the bar, his tall and straight back was really pleasing to the eye.

       The other party walked out of the coffee shop, took the suitcase and went into the bathroom.

       A few minutes later, Suo Yang, who had changed into casual clothes, came over, still wearing the same shirt and jeans, so refreshing that Shen Huiming couldn’t take his eyes off it.

       “I just checked, there is a men’s clothing store right after you go out,” Suo Yang said, “Let’s go buy you trousers first.”

       Shen Huiming got up, packed his things and walked out of the coffee shop with Suo Yang.

       The two walked out side by side, and Suo Yang told him that he had six hours of free time.

       “Six hours…” Shen Huiming tentatively said, “Then can I apply to take up your six hours?”

       Suo Yang smiled, “The bet?”

       “No, no, no, that doesn’t count,” Shen Huiming said, “A proper date takes a whole day, twenty-four hours, and wouldn’t I be at a loss if I was only given six hours?”

       “Twenty-four hours?”

       “That’s right.” Shen Huiming smiled, “The person in front of you is just so greedy, he wants to hog your twenty-four hours.”

       Suo Yang looked at him, not knowing what to say.

       “It’s a bit bad, isn’t it?” Shen Huiming said, “It’s kind of bad, anyway, you have to be willing to admit defeat. When the time comes, free up your time and listen to my arrangements.”