Armando held the phone but did not speak for a long time. Janessa sounded angry and anxious, "You came out for more than a month! We are all concerned about you! Why didn't you inform us?"
"I'll tell them later." Armando sounded faint in the wind. His voice also sounded cool on such a cold night.
Janessa did not know what to say, "You..."
Why were you out?
When were you going back?
Were you here to find me?
She had too many questions, but she couldn't ask anything. She only heard the sound of the wind over there, accompanied by faint voices, and a woman's voice, calling "They are roasting lamb legs! Come quickly!"
Armando responded, then said to Janessa, "Go to bed early. I'll hang up."
Janessa felt sad.
Armando would never hang up before she said goodbye. It had always been her who hung up on him out of bad temper. It had always been her who was impatient to pick up his calls. This was the first time she lost contact with him. She had been calling this number for a week! And they didn't speak for more than thirty seconds. He himself hung up the phone.
Irritated, Janessa had no choice but to endure it.
She had to endure Armando refusing her calls. She had to endure Armando hanging up her phones and ... the woman's voice. It kept lingering in her mind.
It seemed that woman was familiar with Armando. So, he hung up because of her?
Did he have a girlfriend?
That was good. It saved her the trouble of being followed by him every day.
With this thought in mind, Janessa turned off her phone and buried her face in the quilt.
Not long after, she got up angrily. She turned on her phone and sent a text message to Armando: [Come home immediately!]
Ten minutes later, there was still no reply. She was so angry that she wanted to smash her phone. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom. When she came back, there was still no reply. Now Janessa really got irritated. She called again.
"Hello?" A girl answered.
There was only one thought in Janessa's mind at that time. Was the girl going to say that 'He was bathing'?
"Where is he?" Janessa was stiff.
Someone said something. It was probably Armando. Then, the girl's voice came. The voice didn't sound young, at least about the same age as Janessa, "He was changing his clothes. He accidentally spilled wine while drinking just now. You are...?"
Armando's mobile phone had been soaked in water before. He hadn't been able to fix it for several days. The signal here on the mountain was poor, so he just let it be. But his phone was still out of use after he went down the mountain with great difficulty. Then Armando bought a new phone. The card had just been put on, and he probably forgot to synchronize it. Or maybe he had never named that number before.
"Hello, you are...?" The woman said, "When he comes out, I'll let him phone back."
Janessa wanted to refuse, but she suddenly said, "Okay, thank you."
But she didn't get a call from Armando that night.
After Armando came out, the photographer, Sissy, said to him, "You just had a phone call. I picked it up for you. It's a woman. You can look at the call records."
"Okay." Armando picked it up to take a look, then stuffed it back into his bag.
"Aren't you going to call back?" Sissy asked.
"Later," Armando said and then walked out.
Sissy followed him out. She said while walking, "I took those photos. Can I post them online?"
"Why are you asking me?" Armando asked.
Sissy smiled, "Then I will post it. If I mention you on Weibo, you will become famous."
Armando didn't take it seriously. He thought Sissy was joking.
They returned to the bonfire and sat down. There were men and women dancing around the bonfire, mixed with the crackling sound of the burning wood. The atmosphere was warm in the shade of the night.
Armando met Sissy on a mountain road. He was busy saving a group of little lambs trapped by the river. Suddenly, he saw a black thing facing him. He raised his hand and was about to hit it. But Sissy quickly dodged. She looked at him in shock and then showed him what was in her hand.
It turned out to be a single-lens reflex camera, which was a bit similar to the one of Janessa.
Armando's eyes were dull. He turned around again, helping those little lambs cross the river one by one. It was getting colder. Other than him and the young man who was chasing the lamb, no one else crossed the river.
No one kept shooting him like Sissy did.
After getting ashore, Armando wrung his clothes dry and then found his mobile phone which was soaked in water was out of use. After taking it out, he threw the water hard. Sissy was still taking photos.
He really didn't know what the fun was.
He frowned and looked at her. Sissy was probably about the same age as Janessa, but she looked more cheerful. She smiled and shook hands with Armando, "Sorry, I took your photos without getting your consent. I didn't want to waste the moment... Hello, my name is Sissy."
Armando didn't reach out to shake back. He was all wet. He didn't want to affect her.
He didn't think traveling was skipping from one place to another. He wanted to feel the place, totally and completely. He wanted to immerse himself in the environment. To feel it, to touch it. He saw the lamb, saw the wolf pack, saw another civilized world blocked by the river.
"Where are you from? Alone?"
Sissy had a lot of questions. She kept asking questions, but she answered herself most of the time. Armando was silent, like a mule. He was tanned and his hair was longer. Sometimes there was a hint of loneliness in his eyes. When he lowered his head low, wandering his mind, Sissy would ask, "Are you lovelorn?"
Armando wanted to answer but finally did not.
It was not a breakup.. It was more painful than that.