Chu Zhongtian and Mathilde stroll along the tree-lined path by the Moselle River.

Mathilde was a little dizzy, so they walked very slowly. Chu Zhongtian wanted to help him, but he thought that he had nothing to do with Mathilde. Mathilde seemed to be a very conservative girl. Will he be considered to be planning to touch her if he helped her rashly?

He had to follow carefully. If Mathilde's footsteps were unstable, he would go up and let go immediately. From time to time, pairs of couples walked by the boulevard by the river, but if he looked at his appearance, he would also regard Chu Zhongtian and Mathilde as one of them.

But they are not.

Mathilde just walked slowly without saying a word. Chu Zhongtian didn't know what to say, so he just accompanied him.

After walking for a long time, they didn't walk a few hundred meters.

The river reflects the lights of the buildings on both sides of the river. Under the rippling blue waves, the light is filled with colorful lights, which is very beautiful.

Metz made a plan to use lights to highlight the architectural heritage with the cooperation of local power plants. So whenever night falls, there are 13,000 light bulbs in Metz city that decorate the ancient buildings with brilliant lights.

In fact, if this project is put into China, it may be criticized as "unparalleled, exhausting people and losing money", but in Metz, this move is very effective. Metz has also obtained a nickname - "City of Light".

It is almost midnight now, and the banks of Metz's mother river, the Moselle River, are still brightly lit and lively.

The rain had stopped, but the wind blew. The laughter in the distance came with the wind, which was a festive atmosphere.

"Thank you..." Mathilde, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

"Ha, what do you thank?" Chu Zhongtian felt that there was nothing to thank for. He just brought Mathilde to the banquet, and it was just a matter of raising his hands.

"I still want to thank you." Mathilde stopped, leaned on the river railings a little tiredly, and then looked at Chu Zhongtian standing in front of him. "I originally planned to pass by alone tonight."

"You spend Christmas Eve alone?"

"Well..." Mathilde lowered his head and murmured, "Anyway, I've been used to it after several years alone."

Chu Zhongtian heard her low voice and suddenly thought of her first Christmas in London, which was very similar to Mathilde.

But he was going to school, his family was too far away and he couldn't go back and could not reunite with his family. Kemathilde, why are you?

"Why not go home? Where is your home? Is it far from Metz?"

"It's not very far away in Nancy. I just don't want to go back..." Mathilde is talking more and more now. Perhaps it's because Chu Zhongtian started talking, or perhaps because he drank wine.

"I actually hate drinking, Chu." She looked at Chu Zhongtian and said.

"Um?"

"My father is a drunkard. When he gets drunk, he beats my mother and me... I was still young at that time. Now that I'm out, he beats my sister. She is only ten years old this year..."

Chu Zhongtian did not expect that Mathilde would have such family conditions. He was shocked and didn't know what to say for a moment. Express sympathy or indignation? Or express comfort?

"We have three children in our family, and I am the oldest. There is also a 10-year-old sister and a 16-year-old brother. My mother is in poor health and cannot work, so the family's source of life depends on her father... But this father likes to drink alcohol... I finally got into college and moved out of that family. I worked hard to make money, and I didn't reach out to ask for money from my family just to get rid of my father's control..." Mathilde continued to tell. "After moving out of the house, I have been working hard and have no friends. So you are the first person to invite me to celebrate Christmas Eve. Thank you, Chu."

Mathilde hugged his arms and leaned against the railing. The night wind blew up, shattering her hair and clothes. She couldn't help but hug her again and shrank her body. She was not the strict and calm French teacher now, but closer to her real age - just a helpless and pitiful twenty-year-old girl.

Looking at her like this, Chu Zhongtian suddenly felt pity and a strong desire to take care of her was surging.

He stepped forward and suddenly hugged Mathilde in his arms.

Mathilde struggled for a moment, but soon calmed down, closed his eyes and leaned against the Chinese boy's wide chest, enjoying the temperature that his body came from through the fabric of his clothes.

Another gust of wind blew the reflection on the river surface and turned into pieces. Chu Zhongtian felt the girl in his arms shrink, so he used force to hold the other person in his arms.

The two of them maintained this position for a long time. There were similar men and women around them. They either hugged each other with passion, kissed each other with passionate expressions, or simply reached in and caressed them as if no one was around.

Chu Zhongtian looked at the reflection in the river and kept holding Mathilde in his arms.

After a while, Mathilde struggled gently and then he let go.

"Thank you, Chu. I feel much better." Mathilde looked up at Chu Zhongtian and smiled at him.

With the lights on the riverside, Chu Zhongtian could see tears on Mathilde's cheek.

"I can't do anything...I can only hug you." He shook his head.

"You did a great job, Chu." Mathilde returned to the teacher's appearance at this moment, praising her students, as if he had just read a word that was difficult to pronounce.

Chu Zhongtian scratched his head and took a step back, allowing the distance between the two to be restored to a "safe distance". Now, thinking about it, he was really impulsive and bold at that time. He just held a girl in his arms, you know that he had never done this before.

Have you been abroad for a long time?

He looked at Mathilde, who bowed his head and said nothing.

"I'll take you home, teacher..."

"Call me Delphine, or Madie."

"But the banquet has ended..."

"It's okay, now you are 'you', not 'you', Chu." Mathilde smiled at Chu Zhongtian.

The river surface reflects the lights on the riverside, and in the sparkling waves, her smile seems to be like a fantasy.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian stopped a taxi on the side of the road and sent Mathilde back to the apartment where she lived. When she got off the bus, Mathilde seemed to have something to say, but in the face of Chu Zhongtian's puzzled gaze, she finally just said: "Goodbye, thank you, Chu. I have a very happy stay tonight."

Chu Zhongtian smiled at her: "Just be happy. Say Happy New Year in advance! Mati."

"Happy New Year, Chu!"

Mati waved goodbye and ran upstairs. Chu Zhongtian took a taxi back to his apartment.

When he returned to the apartment, he looked at the suitcase that was quietly placed in the living room. He remembered that he would go to Paris to take a plane, to London, and back to Wimbledon tomorrow morning. Following the keyword "Wimbledon", he thought of the Wimbledon bar. I wonder what wonderful performance would happen if the friends in the bar suddenly saw themselves appear?

Boss John, Mr. Bent, Uncle Jackson, Charles Philip and Joseph Kenny, will they go to Newcastle relatives’ house for vacation to see the Premier League again? In addition, what are the things that Joe Shilin, Andy Sullivan and Bolger? And how are Wimbledon’s performance in the new league now?

Finally... the beautiful girl who has gone to America, is she okay in Hollywood?

He almost forgot her name. When he just returned to China, he often thought. Now he hasn't remembered her name again for half a year. Is it true that distance and separation meant a relationship fading? What would the girl who used to watch her shoulders blowing on the rooftop look like in that fame and fortune?

Although she once said to herself: "No matter where I am, what I am doing, what I am, it has nothing to do with the relationship between you and me. I am me, Emily Stan, you can call me Emily or Amy. You are still you, Chu-Zhong-Tian, ​​Chu."

But can this really be done?

People will become, especially when they are in an environment where they don’t understand at all, and there are so many temptations around them. Chu Zhongtian has no idea what they will become. When they meet again several years later, can she still show a kind smile and call him "Chu"?

Chu Zhongtian stood alone in the dark for a while. He successfully made his French teacher feel better, but now his mood suddenly became depressed.

He didn't know how his depression came about, because he wanted to go back to Wimbledon to see those old acquaintances, and reminded him of many past events at once?

What changes will happen to him and Emily in the unknown future?

It's like a football match. Before the game ends, no one knows what the result will be. And he himself doesn't seem to be able to control the game.

In the future with too many variables, the audience will treat it as fun, and those who participate in it will inevitably be restless.

Chu Zhongtian shook his head and told himself not to think about those uncertain things, otherwise it would affect his mood.

He walked into his bedroom, closed the door, and never came out again.

※※※The bedroom door was opened the second time, it was Christmas morning. Chu Zhongtian was naked and only wore a pair of underwear underneath, and walked towards the bathroom yawning.

After a while, the sound of water rushing inside.

After taking a shower, Chu Zhongtian was still wearing only underwear, standing naked in front of the large mirror in the bathroom, and hanging his beard very seriously. He did not use an electric shaver, although the thing was convenient, it could not be shaved. He was going back to his second hometown, and he had to be more energetic after all.

Even taking a shower and brushing teeth to repair the face, Chu Zhongtian spent nearly an hour in the bathroom before opening the door.

Then he returned to the bedroom, changed his clothes, and cleaned up the room.

After it was all over, he came to the living room and checked his air ticket passport. Seeing that nothing had been forgotten, he picked up the box, closed the door and walked out.

It was still raining today in Metz. Just like yesterday, Chu Zhongtian waited for a long time but didn't wait for the car.

Accompanied by the roar of the racing engine, Chu Zhongtian knew who was coming.

"Hey, I said man, it seems you're in some trouble. Do you need a ride?" "Broken Mouth" Belmont came up and said with a smile.

"I suspect now that you are in my circle every day when you are fine."

Belmont laughed: "Get into the car, you will know that you are going to travel far, and maybe you are in a hurry!"

Chu Zhongtian stopped talking nonsense to him, put his luggage in the opened trunk, then opened the car door and crawled in: "I'm not in a hurry, so you can drive it for me more steadily."

"No problem, man!" Belmont saluted. "Hait your seat belt, haha!"

※※※ Chu Zhongtian only went to the train station and made Belmont still not satisfied: "Or why don't I just take you to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris just to forget about it!"

Chu Zhongtian waved his hand in fear: "Forget it, thank you for your kindness!"

Belmont watched Chu Zhongtian pull the box through the Charles de Gaulle Square in front of the train station, then waved to him and shouted, "I wish you a happy holiday, man!!"

Chu Zhongtian heard his voice, waved to him, continued to walk forward, and finally disappeared from the other end of the railway station gate.

Belmont smiled and started the car again. The black taxi waved its butt in a loud roar and left.

※※ Chu Zhongtian took a high-speed train to Paris in just one and a half hours. He took a bus to Charles de Gaulle Airport after lunch. In fact, he also had the option to take the "Eurostar" train and go to London through the undersea tunnel. It only took more than an hour, no more than an hour and a half. But the plane was faster, and the flight time was only twenty minutes.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Chu Zhongtian was already in London. He was still in Metz in the morning, but now he is back to the familiar Heathrow Airport.

There are many pedestrians in the airport and it seems very busy. Most of them take this opportunity to travel. On the most important holidays every year, they don’t want to spend the rainy and rainy seasons. Spanish Horse, Italy, Portugal, Greece... These southern European countries are ideal places for them to choose to take a vacation. Of course, the rich can still go farther, go to Hawaii, Maldives, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, California, and travel around the world. There are not many people coming to the UK to travel at this time, and no one is willing to spend Christmas in a place where the rain doesn’t stop and the sun cannot be seen. The flights that Chu Zhongtian took were not full when he came, and it was sparse, which showed that the French were even more reluctant to travel to the UK. However, many British people went to France for vacation.

Following the sparse flow of people leaving the station, Chu Zhongtian walked out of the Heathrow Airport terminal with a box, and the drizzle hit his hair, skin and clothes, and he didn't mind.

He breathed in the wet air of the island country. Metz was rainy and rainy, and so was London. However, Chu Zhongtian did not hate this kind of rain, which made him smell the familiar smell.

London, I'm back!

※※※The doors and windows of Wimbledon bars are closed, and the light box sign directly above the door is dim and dull because it is not powered.
To be continued...