The key to the small brass lock was always hanging on Lin Yanqing's key chain. It was given to Jiang Chi by hand on his eighteenth birthday, saying, "You can enter the place where I live from now on at any time."
Later, they squeezed into a 20-square-meter rental house, and the key opened the door for three years. There have been countless passionate kisses inside the door. When Jiang Chi stayed up late drawing design drawings, Lin Yanqing warmed the porridge in the pot. The two of them looked at a faded map and imagined the future countless times.
But later Jiang Chi became a popular designer in the industry, socializing more and more, and the scent of his perfume changed again and again. Lin Yanqing held the key and waited for countless early mornings, from the warm porridge to the cold bottom of the bowl, from the bright entrance light to the morning light climbing onto the window sill.
During the last argument, Jiang Chi slammed the door and left, saying, "Can you stop being like a dodder?" Lin Yanqing did not chase, but silently put away the untouched bowl of noodles on the table.
Half a year later, Lin Yanqing moved.
In a drunken night, Jiang Chi used muscle memory to find his way back to the old place. He inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it half a turn, and got stuck. He was stunned for a long time before he realized that the door had a new lock. The shiny silver color reflected the redness in his eyes.
A neighbor passed by and said, "The gentleman who lives here left last month. He didn't bring much with him when he moved, but he took away a pot of pothos that was almost dead."
Jiang Chi pinched the useless brass key, his fingertips hurting. He finally remembered that when he first moved here, Lin Yanqing held the flower pot and said with a smile, "Our home will have to be a little angry in the future" when he first moved here.
Now that the key is still there, the person inside the door and the anger are gone.
Intention: Self-reliance and self-reliance