Sludge to the Mountain Ghost

I went to the next town, and I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow. We can only meet again on New Year’s Eve. "

"It's okay, I'll wait for you at home, you go back and be careful."

The smell of food at home was overflowing, and as soon as Lin Pai entered the door, he saw that the dining table was full, and it had never been so lively before.

The ribs and taro soup had just come out of the pot and was steaming. Grandma Lin Pai brought it out from the kitchen and put it in the middle of the dining table.

Lin Kangrong was crossing his legs at the dining table. He stirred the bowl with chopsticks, picked out a piece of stewed meat, put it into his mouth, and urged, "Mom! I want to eat dumplings, so cook the dumplings first! "

"It's already in the pot! Lin Pai is back too, you can eat!"

"It's finally edible!" Lin Kangrong's eyes lit up, and he began to pick meat from a plate of fish.

Lin Pai looked back to the kitchen, "Grandma, come over to eat too, do you need help over there?"

"No, no, I'll come over when the dumplings are ready!"

"Hurry up and eat!" Lin Kangrong gave Lin Pai a pair of chopsticks and asked, "Why did you go this afternoon?"

"There was a boring lecture that the school forced us to attend."

"Our dilapidated school here is still the same after so many years, and we like to do these things..."

Not long after, Grandma Lin Pai came over with dumplings and filled a large bowl for each of them. She glanced at Lin Kangrong and said, "What important speech are you making again? Take care of yourself when you have time!"

"Where did I not take care of myself? Our wages were all down two days ago." Lin Kangrong said proudly.

"It's enough to make money. When will you bring Xiaojing back together? It's not easy for her to be out of town by herself during the Chinese New Year."

"Cough, cough..." Lin Pai was drinking a drink, and when he heard grandma's words, he thought of the tall and thin man he met in Shi'an City before, and almost spit out.

The old man followed his back and said, "Why are you in such a rush to eat? I'm not usually hungry." It's okay, it's okay..." Lin Pai chose to remain silent at the right time.

"She is busy working there, and she doesn't take a few days off throughout the year. Sometimes she gets busy and lives in the factory at night." Lin Kangrong explained.

"Then you haven't improved a bit! You live with her, there is no reason to make her work so hard!"

"Got it, got it..." Lin Kangrong perfunctorily ate a whole bowl of dumplings.

At night, Lin Pai was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. Several street lights were newly installed on both sides of the street outside the house, and the room was brighter than usual. A small moth dangled in front of his eyes and landed on the window pane along the street. superior.

He got up and drew the curtains tightly, and the light in the room dimmed. He thought of what Lin Hejing said before: "This is the way I have been in my life... since I married him, the debts he owed, the money he was cheated of , I accompanied him to make up for it one stroke at a time, he was going to come so far away, so I followed him..."

"What's the end result? You've seen it too. It took me ten years to see my son, and it was my son who came looking for me..." Lin Hejing looked up at the dilapidated room The house, added, "in such a place."

"This is between me and your dad, and I won't blame you if you're going to tell him, but you know..." She repeated, "This is between me and your dad .”

Lin Pai turned over and touched the phone from the pillow.The moth came out of the curtain again and flew across the bright phone screen.He found out Lin He Jingliu's number before, and sent her a text message:

Lin Kangrong will take the train back at [-] o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

happy New Year.

The next day, Lin Pai received a message from Lin Hejing. Apart from wishing him a happy New Year, he also asked him not to study too hard, but to do his best.

He put away his mobile phone and accompanied his grandmother to send Lin Kangrong to the station, not talking much along the way.

"Say goodbye to your dad!" The old man pushed him.

Lin Pai sighed softly, and finally said, "Be careful on the road."

That afternoon, Lin Pai accompanied the old man to visit relatives in the next town, and the first thing he did when he came back the next day was to call Xu Rui.

As soon as the bell rang, the other person answered the phone, "Is your side okay?"

"Well, well, are you home? I want to see you."

"What are you going to do after we meet?"

"Kiss me."

48. Chapter 48

Xu Rui sat on the sofa on the first floor, the TV was not turned on, the ticking sound of the clock on the wall seemed to match the frequency of his heartbeat, and he waited anxiously.

There were two knocks on the door, Xu Rui got up quickly, strode to the door and turned the handle.

Lin Pai stood at the door, panting slightly, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, his raised hand had not been put down yet, as if he was planning to knock a third time.

Lin Pai was the first to laugh. Xu Rui pulled him into his arms and closed the door with his backhand. He straightened Lin Pai's hair and asked, "What did you just say on the phone?"

Lin Pai smiled but didn't answer. He held Xu Rui's hand next to his ear, and tapped the back of his hand with his fingertips. Just when Xu Rui was about to come over, he suddenly turned his head and only let him kiss him. to the cheeks.

Xu Rui didn't give up, and changed the direction, but he avoided him. He hugged Lin Pai and bumped around the room. Finally, Lin Pai tripped over the sofa, and the two of them fell into the sofa together.

"You have learned to whet my appetite now..." Xu Rui pinched his chin with one hand, not giving him a chance to turn his head.

Just as he was about to move over, the phone on the coffee table rang.

"Who is it at this time..." Xu Rui stretched his arm to touch the phone, and hung up without looking at it.

The bell rang one after another, Xu Rui had no choice but to get up from Lin Pai, he glanced at the caller ID, and winked at Lin Pai.

Lin Pai also sat up and saw that the caller ID was Fu Yanye, Xu Rui answered the call, "Hello?"

"Do you have time right now?"

"I……"

"I'm at your door."

"wait for me a while."

Lin Pai straightened his clothes and stood up, slapped Xu Rui on the shoulder hard, and said in a low voice, "I'll wait for you upstairs..."

Xu Rui took a deep breath and opened the door, Fu Yanye's eyes flickered a little, as if he had made a great determination before this trip, but at this moment he felt awkward again.

Today he was wearing a long off-white down jacket with a neat white fur collar hanging on the back. The sneakers were also the latest style. This kind of decency is rare in Heshan Town.

When he stood at the door, his hands were in his pockets, almost blocking all the light outside the door.

"I have something to tell you, go to the balcony."

Xu Rui nodded at him, Fu Yanye went into the room and went upstairs, Xu Rui closed the door, the last ray of light was blocked out, and the sound of the hands of the clock on the wall wandering once again occupied the living room.

As in the past, when Fu Yanye reached the second floor, he turned towards Xu Rui's room.

Xu Rui raised his hand to block the door of the room, "Go to the third floor, there is an empty balcony up there."

Fu Yanye was stunned for a moment, then turned and followed Xu Rui.

There are two rooms on each floor of the house. Xu Rui's room faces south on the second floor, and He Hui's room on the third floor faces south.

Xu Rui pushed the door and walked into the north-facing storage room on the third floor, raised his hand and waved the dust floating in the room, "I'm sorry, no one has been here for a long time."

"It's okay." Fu Yanye followed him through the storage room to the north-facing balcony.

"Is the injury on your face okay?" Fu Yanye stood by the balcony door, his voice was very soft. If the wind was stronger, it might not be able to reach Xu Rui's ears.

"It's been a long time ago, it's been alright." Xu Rui leaned on the balcony railing and looked down at the road downstairs. He remembered that there were often a few stray cats basking in the sun at the door, but they couldn't see them from the back door. He was a little disappointed.

"Yang Tong and I have already broken up... I have thought a lot in the past few months. What happened at that time was impulsive. I apologize to you."

"Hmm..." Xu Rui still lowered his head. He saw a cat running downstairs from the old man's house next door, and it disappeared immediately. He sighed softly and said, "Forget it."

"What's more..." Fu Yanye walked to the railing a few steps away from him, and looked at the road with him, "I didn't tell anyone else about what happened that day, and I also greeted everyone present. You don't...don't have to stress."

Xu Rui withdrew his gaze, turned his head to look at Fu Yanye, raised the corner of his mouth at him, and smiled, "Thank you."

This was a smile that Fu Yanye had never seen on Xu Rui's face before. It was polite and alienated, but without malice or malice.

He had drafted for a long time before he came, but when he saw this smile, he suddenly felt that the rest of the words were no longer meaningful.

"I didn't play ball with you yesterday. Is there a friendly match in the afternoon? It's at school..."

Fu Yanye smiled lightly, "I also asked Zhou Ning, but he said he wouldn't go if you didn't."

"Today's New Year's Eve, he will definitely have to deal with relatives with his mother. You can only believe what he said casually."

"how about you?"

"I'm going to spend the afternoon with a cat downstairs."

Fu Yanye nodded silently, said goodbye to Xu Rui, and said to him at the door, "Xu Rui, Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Fu Yanye."

Xu Rui came back with a sullen face, and saw that Lin Pai had spread the carpet in the room to the balcony, and was basking in the sun leisurely. The length of the blanket was only long enough for half a person to lie on, so he bent his legs and curled up on the concrete platform under the balcony railing. superior.

Lin Pai closed his eyes, unable to tell if he was asleep or not.Xu Rui knelt beside him, put his hands on his hair, and smoothed it back and forth. With this movement, Lin Pai's long eyelashes trembled in the sun, but he still closed his eyes and refused to open them.

He stretched his arms across Lin Pai's chest.