Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five Midnight Echo

Heather directly ignored Derek's questioning and changed the subject, "By the way, will you be attending the Grammy Awards?"

Renly could see Heather's eyes full of anticipation, so he ignored Derek, who was hesitant to speak, and smiled and nodded in affirmation, "As a visitor."

Immediately, Heather's eyes showed an envious brilliance, and there was a faint hope. A flash of light flashed in Renly's mind, and he said, "How about it, do you want to attend together? I can bring my companions to attend."

On the red carpet, each guest is allowed to bring relatives, partners or friends to attend, which is an official practice. But Renly remembered that Heather missed the "American Idol" audition, and maybe she would be happy to see it at the Grammys. It was just a passing thought, and Renly blurted it out without thinking about it.

"Really?" Heather couldn't help but get excited, her voice was distorted, and she even sat up straight. This lets Renly know that he made the right choice, "And Annie and Alex! Before you came, these two little guys were still talking about, can we be together? Really? No? Will it affect you? Won't the Grammys get mad? Won't the media blame you?"

Renly laughed dumbly, "No, of course not." Nodding again in affirmation, and then he caught Derek's threatening eyes out of the corner of his eye, and immediately realized: It's like inviting a girl to a graduation ceremony. Once the consent of the parties is obtained, the approval of the parents of the parties is also required that night.

So, Renly looked at Derek with a smile, "As long as your parents are fine."

Derek crossed his hands on his chest and hummed, not planning to respond.

Renly couldn't help but smile and nodded to show his understanding, "It's getting late. Tonight, you can rest well. There are still two days before the awards ceremony. We can discuss it slowly. Wait, one achieved today, and that's enough."

"Yeah!" Heather nodded heavily in affirmation.

Renly didn't linger any longer, nodded politely, "Derek! Ellie!" Then turned to leave. Leaving the ward, before the door was closed, Derek could vaguely hear anxiously asking, "What happened just now? What essay? Which song? Why is there a secret code between you, but I don't know..."

The words behind, with the closing of the door, were completely cut off and stayed behind. From a father's care for his daughter, always. The smile at the corner of Renly's mouth rose slightly.

At this time, it was almost midnight, and when I left the Mount Sinai Hospital, the raging cold wave seemed to have calmed down a little.

The empty and spacious streets made the high-rise buildings on both sides seem to be getting taller and farther away, and the sky cut like a chessboard became extremely vast, as if the entire universe was presented in front of them.

In the cold wind, Nathan Price and Roy Lockley still did not leave, waiting in the lobby on the first floor. After seeing Renly, they drove and escorted Renly back to the apartment in person, and the two of them became friends. leave.

When I got home, I took a hot bath. The cold and tiredness all over my body gradually dissipated. The whole person relaxed a little, but sitting on the sofa in the hall, I didn't feel sleepy at all. For Renly, this was not a frequent occurrence, and sleeping was always one of his favorite pastimes; but not tonight.

Originally, Renly was thinking of going upstairs to find Matthew Dunlop. The two of them would play a game of chess, which is a recommended pastime on a cold and snowy night. In London, when Renly was in Berlin, the two were still talking on the phone.

So, Renly tidied himself up briefly, took two books from the bookshelf, and left the apartment again with earplugs and music. In the surging night wind, I walked along the street, but two streets away, my feet were gradually freezing, and the temperature dropped really badly, even worse than the winter in London.

One of the great things about living in New York is that you can always find 24/7 venues around the block, including supermarkets.

The supermarket at midnight always looks very quiet, but it is not completely quiet. In the line of sight, you can still see the sparse customers coming and going, pushing carts, walking alone and dejected, unsure whether they really have something to buy, or are they looking for it in a huge city. A place to hang out at midnight.

Just like the zombies in "The Walking Dead".

Renly didn't know why he liked to stay in the corner of the supermarket. In his last life, he was keen on this matter. Compared with coffee houses and libraries, he always liked the atmosphere of supermarket life more, even if It is the occasional inadvertent interruption of the train of thought that everything seems so real.

After entering the supermarket, Renly didn't rush to find a corner and sat down. Instead, he pushed the cart and started shopping slowly, but in fact, he never knew what he needed or what was missing in the refrigerator. Just wandering aimlessly.

Occasionally, stop, pick up a product, read the instructions, and enjoy it; occasionally, pass by the fresh food area and watch the staff cleaning the counter-these fresh food must be collected that day and cannot be placed outside; occasionally, Watching a housewife, carrying two brands of detergent, comparing prices and ingredients, although Renly didn't know why she chose to go out shopping at midnight.

Such a fragment of life can always calm Renly's irritability. Whether it was as a reporter in the last life or as an actor in this life, observing life is always a particularly interesting thing. It can temporarily stop Renly's footsteps and capture fragments of other people's lives.

The same move, if done in a coffee shop, is full of imagination and petty bourgeoisie, but when executed in a supermarket, the whole feeling is a bit weird. But, everyone has some quirks, and maybe it's Renly's own quirks, unexplained quirks.

After wandering around in two large circles, the cart was still empty, but Renly found his own corner in the cleaning supplies counter, sat down cross-legged in front of a large pile of Tide laundry detergent, and then removed from his backpack. He took out the two books he had brought with him, flipped through the covers, and laughed dumbly.

These two books are drawn at random, one is "The Endless World of England"; the other is "Stoner", written by the late American writer John-Williams in 1965.

I really don't know how to describe such a combination. The former is a pseudo-classical, combining real characters and fictional characters in history to construct a virtual thriller; the latter is a philosophical life, published for nearly half a century, still not recognized by the world, but the fact On the contrary, it is a wonderful and poetic popular literature.

After Matthew's arrangement, the bookshelves were arranged in strict alphabetical order, so that Renly lost his judgment on the location of the books, and the two books he picked out were oddly assembled. However, this is also the meaning of Renly's "hands-on".

He temporarily put "Endless World" in his hand, and started to read "Stoneer". He read this book hastily once, and kept thinking about reading it a second time, but he was never able to start.

Before college, reading was an important part of life, and I had to set aside a few hours to read almost every day; but after I came to New York, my busy life squeezed the time for reading.

On the bookshelf, Matthew regularly replenishes books for him, but he reads too little. Europeans always say that Americans read too little, have no foundation, and have not sublimated. Now Renly finally had an intuitive experience.

Reading is a very magical thing. As long as you are willing to really calm down and enter the world of words, you can open another window and spy on a different world. In fact, this is true of every art, film, music, painting, opera, dance, etc., literature is no exception.

Unknowingly, Renly entered the world constructed by John Williams, until the cart next to him moved slightly and hit his knee. Reflexively, he looked up and saw a figure. The petite girl wears a peaked cap. Because of the backlight, she can't see her facial features, but she can vaguely see the wrinkled cheeks. She is careful, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." The girl lowered her voice and panicked. said.

Renly was wearing earplugs and couldn't hear at all, but the vague mouth shape could still make a judgment, "It's okay." He also responded in a low voice, and then reached out and moved the cart a little, as much as possible to the whole passage. All are emptied out to ensure smooth flow.

The girl nodded politely, "Thank you." Then she pushed her full cart and walked forward slowly, but she was not in a hurry. Instead, she stood in front of the shelf and began to look slowly. Looks like it's getting ready to buy cleaning supplies.

Realizing that he might be blocking the shelf, Renly stood up, took off his earplugs, and prepared to get out of the way and go across. This action made the girl even more apologetic, "It's okay, I just need a bucket of laundry detergent. It will be fine soon."

Renly didn't speak, just pursed his lips and smiled, then sat down on the opposite side, cross-legged, and moved the entire laundry detergent shelf away, then put on his earplugs again, opened the book, and resumed reading.

Inadvertently, with a slight glance from the corner of his eye, Ren Li saw a figure diagonally ahead: She also sat down cross-legged, with several different brands of laundry detergent placed in front of her, looking at it quietly, as if Looking at the Russian nesting dolls and trying to figure out the mystery - they are all the same except for the size (brand).

The smile at the corner of Renly's mouth could not help but lift slightly, then he pursed his lips and took off his earplugs, "Do you need a little help?"

"Oh, that's the best." The woman in front of her nodded as a matter of course, took off her earplugs, and raised her head. The next second, the woman couldn't help but froze, and there was a hint of surprise in her eyes; similarly, Renly also He raised his eyebrows, not hiding his surprise. 8)