soft hedgehog

The two had breakfast and rested for a while, and waited for Ji Tong to recover some strength before checking out and leaving.

Last night, I spent a lot of time in the hot spring. Now I went out and saw that there was a thick layer of snow on the ground, and the temperature dropped in the middle of the night.

Walking out of the hotel, Ji Tong wanted to stretch, but just as he raised his arms, his waist ached, and his back was still sore from the sweater, so he could only withdraw his hands in a desperate manner, and said, "Brother, it's snowing so thickly, can the car drive?" ?”

"Someone swept it on the road, so it should be fine."

Liang Yuchen wrapped his hands in his pockets as usual, and walked steadily towards the parking lot step by step. After finding the car, let him go in first, "I'll clear the snow off the roof."

Ji Tong refused to listen and insisted on helping, but he became playful again.Liang Yuchen went to the front to clear the snow from the windshield and windshield wipers. He didn't have time to pay attention to him, so he ran to the rear of the car, not knowing what he was doing.

Not long after, I heard him calling: "Brother, come here!"

He patted the snow off his sleeves and walked over. Seeing Ji Tong looking at him proudly, he pointed to the glass behind and said, "Look, I drew you."

It turns out that in the past few minutes, Ji Tong drew a... let's call it a figure on the layer of snow on the glass.

The two match figures held hands and walked on a straight road, and nothing else could be seen.

Liang Yuchen couldn't bear to hit him: "Ask me a question."

"You said."

"What characteristics allow me to quickly identify myself from these two people."

Ji Tong looked up at him, with an expression of "Why don't you understand this?": "Didn't you see that the person on the right is wearing glasses?"

If you distinguish carefully, indeed, there are two rectangles on the face of the stickman on the right.

"Blame my blind eyes." He humbly asked for advice, "What is that circle above the head, the sun?"

"The moon." Ji Tong smiled, "The place is too small to draw stars, so I drew a moon. Anyway, where there is a moon, there are stars."

The two of them saw the beautiful night scene together, and from then on, no night could catch their eyes again.

Yu hugged and admired this clumsy work in the freezing cold, but both of them liked it very much. Ji Tong couldn't help but took a picture and said, "Brother, I didn't expect our second group photo to be me in the snow The stick figure drawn is very interesting, very similar to us."

Liang Yuchen said: "We will take more pictures in the future if you like it."

Ji Tong nodded vigorously: "We'll be together for the rest of our lives, and we can take as many shots as we want."

—

After the weekend, Liang Yuchen had to go to work again, and Ji Tong recuperated at home alone.

When I arrived at the office, Professor Xu was not there, only two colleagues came.He put down his bag and just took out his laptop when he received a message.

It was Ji Tong, who sent the photo of the stick figure, with a sentence: "You are limited to set it as a lock screen within 1 minute. I passed the picture. You are very handsome."

In the next second, another emoji of a little bear whipping a whip was sent.

Liang Yuchen smiled and looked at the pair of glasses with two pink hearts on the picture.

"Why are you smiling so happily?" Steve slid the office chair under his buttocks, leaned over to his side, and raised his eyebrows at the phone in his hand, "The morning breeze is full of spring."

Liang Yuchen smiled lightly and said nothing, he still didn't treat himself as an outsider, stretched his neck and looked: "Hey, change the lock screen? Where are the kindergarten cartoon pictures..."

A bold lunatic who dares to sneer at the stickman.

"Art, you don't understand." Liang Yuchen turned his phone on the table, "If you are free, help me translate 30 minutes of spoken Indian."

When he heard it, he immediately shook his head and slid back to his seat: "Let's keep such a good thing for yourself, I have my Australian pronunciation to translate."

The senior brother who had been silently watching at this time inserted a stick and put one end of the water glass: "I will drink water, and I will pour some water after I finish drinking."

Among the few people, he was the most fluent in Australian accent, Liang Yuchen and Steve were immediately amused by him and laughed loudly.

Taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere in the office, Steve wanted to say something: "Yuchen, to be honest, did something good happen to you, I haven't seen you smiling so happily for a long time."

But it is invalid for Liang Yuchen.He put away his smile and put on his glasses, staring at the phone for a moment, then picked it up again, and responded to Steve while typing.

He said, "It's nothing, I'm glad I finally got over my Indian accent."

He typed in his hand: "Send the original picture, and I will use it as a computer desktop by the way."

Steve raised his hands angrily, turned around and went to work, "You're so boring."

After typing, he put the lock screen of the phone next to the computer, waited for it to go dark, and pressed it to light it up again, looking at it one more time.

In this way, the calm arrived in the afternoon, and everyone in the office got up to move around.

It was snowing quietly outside again, but fortunately it was not heavy, so Liang Yuchen stood on the front porch of the office building to breathe, and called Ji Tong by the way.

As soon as he took out his mobile phone, he subconsciously wanted to smoke. He put the cigarette in his mouth and withdrew it again.Forget it, when I was with Ji Tong at night, I would think about the past when I heard about it.

Snow foam fluttered in the air one after another, like fluff, entangled and chased after each other, but it fell to the ground and melted silently.

After a few rings, the phone got through. Ji Tong called his brother with a very happy tone: "What's wrong?"

"doing what."

"I'm learning to bake cookies from Wu You."

He heard Wu You shouting "Tan Tang Tang" over there, and heard Ji Tongyu sigh earnestly: "Hey, you don't know, it's a mess, Wu You can't do it at all."

Wu You said "you fart", Ji Tong said "you are the only one who fart", and the two cursed the gyrotron.

Liang Yuchen stopped: "If you want to do it, do it well, don't compete with each other."

Wu You snatched the phone and shouted, "Yuyuyuchen kicked him out, he doesn't respect the aborigines at all."

Ji Tong snatched back the phone and said, "Yes, little stammer, you still know what aborigines are."

"Okay," he stopped the smoke again, "Tongtong, what do you want to eat tonight, I'm almost done here."

"Curlicake!" Ji Tong didn't hesitate at all, "I want to eat a burrito, but I didn't eat it last time, it's a pity."

Wu You said, "Take me."

Ji Tong said, "It depends on my mood."

Liang Yuchen pushed the two of them back with one sentence: "It's snowing, I'll drive to buy it, and neither of you should go out."

The two were speechless.

—

After hanging up the phone, he remembered that he should ask the burrito shop what time it was open at night, but before dialing it, he suddenly saw two people get off the car in the distance.

The car is Professor Xu's car, so one of them should be his teacher, but the other one is unfamiliar, only a woman.

The woman came from a distance, wearing a long silver-gray down jacket, a big and thick scarf around her neck covered the lower half of her face, and a pair of maroon mid-cut snow boots on her feet, so she couldn't see her face clearly.

Since you met, you should say hello to the teacher before you go in. Liang Yuchen came out to breathe without wearing glasses, watching them approaching step by step, never thought that the more they looked, the more familiar they became.

It wasn't until the distance was less than ten meters that he finally realized that the woman was none other than his stepmother Hu Aihua.

Professor Xu laughed loudly after a few steps: "You still come out to greet Yuchen? Did you get the news from your mother? You really are a dutiful son!"

Hu Aihua also recognized him early on, and kept his eyes on him all the way.

He called Aunt Hu.

The professor was stunned for a moment when he heard it, but Hu Aihua was very steady, with a graceful smile on his face, he turned his head and thanked: "Professor Xu, thank you for leading the way today, otherwise I would not be able to give my son this surprise."

"Where?" Professor Xu has also seen a lot of the world, and after realizing it, he has a good impression of this stepmother, "Yuchen has helped me for so long at home and abroad, and I didn't go back last year. I have long been ashamed. This year he couldn't go back, and I was about to tell him, but you came over in person." He turned his face and said, "Look at Yuchen, I feel sorry for the parents in the world, your mother took such a long plane to come here to see you, really Not easy."

Hu Aihua smiled politely: "What's not easy, my son, no matter how far he runs, I still have to come to see him, right?"

After speaking, he looked at Liang Yuchen with a gentle expression.

"Then you guys chat first." Professor Xu patted the snow and walked in, "Yuchen, take your mother in and sit, it's warm inside."

Hu Aihua thanked repeatedly.

As soon as Professor Xu disappeared, there were only the two of them left in the corridor, and her smile slowly faded away.

"Aunt Hu, long time no see." Liang Yuchen took the luggage from her hand.

Hu Aihua's eyes lingered on his face for a moment, watched him take the lever, and replied "Long time no see".

"I didn't expect you to come here."

"I didn't expect it myself," she said, "I didn't expect you to give me such a big problem."

This year they haven't met, let alone said a word.Obviously, they used to be as close as mother and son, but now they meet each other, but they feel like they have nothing to say when they meet. The separation of relatives is always heartbreaking.

Liang Yuchen's heart was not made of iron: "It's cold outside, I'll take you inside."

Hu Aihua stopped him, and the crystal armor in his hand had already been removed: "I won't go in, it's rare for Mom to come, please treat Mom to a meal."

After all, it is a place to work, and it is inconvenient to talk. We are both civilized people and know how to save face.

He went in to pack his things, and drove his stepmother out to find a restaurant.

It was still early, and the two of them took a walk around the neighborhood, and it was just after five o'clock when they arrived at the western restaurant.After choosing a seat by the window and sitting face to face, Liang Yuchen raised his wrist to look at his watch, and Hu Aihua smiled: "What's the matter?"

"fine."

He was thinking that before he had time to buy burritos after dinner, should he tell Ji Tong that he should eat first without waiting for him.

Hu Aihua didn't ask much, took the menu handed over by the waiter in black vest, and looked down at it: "Where is Ji Tong, where is he hiding?"

In fact, knowingly ask.

"at my house."

"What are you doing at your house?"

"It's nothing, just stay at my house for a few days."

She can speak English, and smiled politely at the waiter: "I want this, don't put the salad dressing, thank you." Then she looked at him: "Since there is nothing to do, you should persuade him to go back early and always live in your house." What's the matter?"

Liang Yuchen asked for the same portion as her, and waited for the waiter to leave before returning: "After the exam, let him relax."

The snow was falling outside in a turmoil, and the wind scrambled to blow it onto the glass. The chaos was very random, but every word the people inside were careful and cautious.Sometimes people live less comfortably than a piece of snow.

Hu Aihua was obviously dissatisfied with this answer, put his hands on the table, and clasped his fingers together.

She wore a white sweater underneath today with a high collar.Ji Tong's jaw line was completely inherited from his mother. Seeing her, Liang Yuchen thought of the person at home who was waiting for him to go back.

After the meal is over, I don't know if Ji Tong will continue to wait for him.

"Son, I won't go around in circles with you anymore." She folded the napkin aside and started to get serious with Liang Yuchen, "You should know why I came here, even if I don't tell you."

Of course she came to bring Ji Tong back.

In front of Liang Yuchen was a glass of warm water with a slice of lime floating in it.The two sat facing each other, and he held the wall of the cup with his fingers, trying to deal with her words with all his energy.

"Actually, if you don't come, I will let him go back." He said, "I have no plan to keep him here for the New Year."

"Well, you are sensible." Hu Aihua's hands were slender, and the ring finger of his right hand was dangling a diamond ring, "But you shouldn't have allowed him to come at all. What's the point of coming?"

The focus is always on the questioning of the teacher in the second half of the sentence.

Liang Yuchen didn't speak for a long time, Hu Aihua didn't force him for the time being, asked him how he was doing this year, and asked him if his work was going well, and if there was anyone around to take care of him.

She still had a thought that maybe Liang Yuchen had forgotten about Ji Tong, and now it was Ji Tong's wishful thinking.

Two identical seafood salads were served, and he answered every question. When he reached the last question, he tightened his grip on the cup, and his tone became solemn: "Aunt Hu, I just want to take care of Ji Tong."

Hu Aihua ate the fork in his hand, put it down, and frowned at him.

"What did you say?"

Liang Yuchen also looked at her: "I want to take care of Tongtong until I grow old."

He seldom uttered such emotionally charged words.

Hearing this, Hu Aihua leaned back as if he was exhausted, and was speechless for a while, looking at him like looking at a stranger.

The already weak warmth slowly dissipated, and there was nothing left.

She said: "You young people, you always think about your own business. Do you know that I didn't dare to tell your father when I came here that he has not been in good health."

The tone is extremely disappointed.After finishing speaking, she looked up at him, as if interrogating, but also as if waiting for his response.

Liang Yuchen knew that the blame was imminent, but he cared more about his father, and slowly frowned: "Is it important for my father's health?"

"It doesn't matter if it's important," she said slowly, as if her heart had been suspended for a long time. "Blood pressure is a bit high. It's inevitable when people get older, but they just can't receive any big stimulation."

Liang Yuchen slowly withdrew his gaze: "It's hard work for Aunt Hu to take care of my dad."

Hu Aihua waved his hand at him: "What are you talking about, I am his wife, and I should take care of him."

He nodded slightly, and did not let go of the water glass in his hand.As a son, he failed to take care of his father, so he couldn't criticize his stepmother.

"Yuchen, Mom has some heartfelt words, I wonder if you would still listen to them now."

Hu Aihua reached out and held his hand, the palm was warm, just like she asked Liang Yuchen to call her mother on her birthday that year.

She said: "Tongtong is young, he thinks about it as soon as he thinks about it, and he likes to get hotheaded about everything. I guess he won't listen to what I tell him now, so I came to you directly. It is because he is young and easy to do." It's a mistake, as the person who gave birth to him and raised him, I can't let him do whatever he wants, I have to plan for his future, this is one aspect."

"On the other hand, to put it bluntly, it's the relationship between me and your father. We are husband and wife, so you are brothers. Don't say that mom is old-fashioned. It's not good to have a reputation for homosexuality, let alone two brothers? These If the gossip reaches your father's ears..."

Speaking of this, she tightened her hands, gripping Liang Yuchen's hand so painfully, her eyes were worried: "You know his temper better than me, and it's possible to be angry to death. Don't tell me you don't think about him like that?"

Since she can sit here, it means that she has made complete preparations and will not leave until she achieves her goal.Besides, she wasn't alarmist, and she didn't make up a single word. She just spread all the shameful and unsavory words on the table for people to criticize.

But her goal and the bargaining chip of the threat are cruel to Liang Yuchen.

"Of course, if you are selfish to the end and insist on being together, then you have hands and feet, and I can't stop it. It's just that..."

She paused, and folded her hands on the back of his, "I thought, it's better for me and your father to separate, otherwise I won't be able to fulfill you."

Upon hearing this, Liang Yuchen raised his head and frowned at her, a little unbelievable at her determination.

He said, "Aunt Hu, don't say that."

"You think I'm willing to say that?"

After being aggressive for a while, Hu Aihua showed his sincerity at this moment.She raised her head again, her eyes were much redder, and she said, "Mom knows you're not feeling well. I knew when I saw you today that you've lost so much weight and you're not doing well. Mom knows it well, so why not feel bad? But Mom can't help it, Mom just hopes that you can seriously consider what I just said, and wake up early, our family should still be a family, isn't that good?"

On the one hand is Ji Tong, on the other hand is his father, she uses father-son affection to force him to submit, and the bargaining chip is that Liang Yuchen can't let go of family affection.

Liang Yuchen remained silent for a long time, unable to make up his mind.

His feelings for Ji Tong cannot be moved by words, and there is no reason to give up after hearing a few words.But his concern and indebtedness to his father exist together with his conscience, as long as he still has a conscience, he can't do anything that disregards Liang Changlei's interests.

"I need time to think about it," he said.

Hu Aihua said "hey" with tears in his eyes: "Of course, of course, this is my mother's good son."

For the next time, there was no other sound except chewing.

After eating, Hu Aihua couldn't eat any more. When he looked up and saw that the plate on the opposite side was barely moving, he asked him with concern: "Is it not to your appetite?"

He said no.

"If not, let's go and take me back to the hotel."

Liang Yuchen felt uncomfortable in his stomach. His illness was neurological gastritis, and he lost his appetite when he committed it.

You must be careful when driving in snow, the road surface is slippery, and the hotel Hu Aihua chose is close to the airport and far away, so it was already dark when the car arrived at the hotel entrance.

He got out of the car to help carry the luggage. Hu Aihua waved to the receptionist to come over, and then shook his hand again to prevent him from working hard: "Go back and get something to eat, don't starve yourself. I will stay here for a night, and the air ticket There will be any time tomorrow, you go back and think about it carefully, and let Ji Tong come to me when you figure it out."