Chapter 2728: Time So Tranquil It Reaches Perfection

He didn’t know if it was poor appetite; he could only eat half of the noodles before he couldn’t eat anymore. He walked to the chair on the balcony, sat down, and opened a bottle of beer.

Drinking beer early in the morning didn’t feel good; he just simply thought that this weather was more suitable for drinking beer.

Sylvan Cheney sometimes looked outside, and sometimes he would casually flip through a few books on the balcony. For some unknown reason, he, who rarely watched movies, suddenly felt like watching one.

He placed his laptop on the table in front of him and started a movie, drinking beer as he watched.

The sky gradually brightened, and the dark clouds slowly dispersed. The colors between heaven and earth gradually cleared. In the distance, the street was filled with fiery red maple leaves, like flames burning and dancing.

On days without work, rare leisure, Sylvan sat on the chair like this, as if unaware of worldly affairs, or like an outsider.

The phone was on, with continuous work calls coming through, not a single one he wanted to take.

On the computer played a French art film. Sylvan couldn’t remember when he last watched a movie—seemed like... a long time ago.

No noise in his ears, he could focus intently on the movie, but as he watched, he would become distracted.

He didn’t know what he was thinking about.

Halfway through the movie, he grew tired and fell asleep, leaning back on the chair.

In this quiet apartment, no one would disturb him, and, of course, no one would cover him with a blanket.

The air was flavored with loneliness, a heart like an iceberg, silent and still.

He slept for one or two hours.

He woke again, opening his sleepy eyes, to find it was already noon.

Never before had he spent a day like today, free-spirited, just eating, sleeping, watching movies, reading newspapers... the whole world seemed unrelated to him.

Noon.

Too lazy to go out for lunch, he made himself another bowl of noodles.

The weather hadn’t changed; the sun hadn’t come out, everything was in a dim hue. Frost flowers on the trees had melted, and the mist on the balcony glass had dispersed.

Halfway through eating the noodles, he found them tasteless.

He reached for the desk phone, pressed the speakerphone button, and dialed a familiar number.

His laptop was still on, with a movie playing on the screen.

"Hello." A woman’s gentle voice came, accompanied by a child’s babbling noise.

He said nothing.

"Hello?"

"Did I dial the wrong number?" she murmured to herself on the other end.

Just as she was about to hang up, a child picked up the phone, and in a milky voice said, "Hello..."

"Alright, Little Clementine, give the phone to mommy."

"No." The little one replied boldly.

Sylvan closed his eyes for a moment, a faint, elusive smile touching his lips.

But after just a few seconds, the call ended, leaving only the "Dodo" sound.

In the apartment, Sylvan was still alone.

The scent of noodles lingered in the air.

He finished the remaining half bowl of noodles and occasionally lifted his head to look at the sky outside.

The sky was cloudless, and this neighborhood was quiet to the extreme, especially on the upper floors, where almost no outside noise could be heard, the soundproofing was excellent.

The laptop still played movies, one after another, on repeat, and the music from the movies became the background tune of the entire apartment.

Time like this drifted by quietly to the extreme.

Sometimes, he would stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, standing for an hour, as if tireless.