Charming Avalokitesvara

Chapter 12

Shao Kuancheng owns a single courtyard in the old city of T City. The courtyard is not big enough for a family to live in.According to the memories of his parents, his grandfather's grandfather lived here, so it can be estimated that the "year" of this yard should be at least "the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China".Shao's small courtyard is located in the center of the old city, deep in a century-old alley.This old alley has been included in the protection scope of the ancient city of T City. It is said that it has been reported to the United Nations. It can only be repaired and cannot be demolished.

Shao Kuancheng heard the motorcycle at the gate of the yard, and Du Huai'an jumped off the motorcycle. He searched for the location in his mind for a few seconds, and took a rough look at the periphery of the yard, and said jokingly : "You are not only a detached house, but also in the center of the old city, plus you have permanent residency, do you know how much your yard is worth if you sell it? So you are a local tyrant! Let's be friends, local tyrants." !"

Thinking of what he said not long ago being retaliated in this way, Shao Kuancheng couldn't help but twitched his lips and joked: "Shouldn't you ask for a relationship? Then I can take the initiative to say, 'Let's be friends!'"

Du Huai'an is kind and kind: "Let's date local tyrants, local tyrants!"

"Okay."

Du Huai'an didn't expect that he would be swayed by this seemingly innocent man who didn't follow the rules, and couldn't help but hit him on the back with the helmet in his hand: "When you were in school, you must have often changed the standards without authorization. Answer!"

Shao Kuancheng laughed, avoiding his sharp edge, instead of arguing with him, he said, "Go in quickly, I'm starving to death!"

Du Huai'an followed Shao Kuancheng in, and Shao Kuancheng shouted, "Dad! Mom! I'm back!"

Shao Kuancheng's parents were setting the dishes, probably because they heard the sound of the motorcycle stopping at the door in advance.

Shao Kuancheng's father worked as an editor for the journal "Gucheng Prose", and he also wrote prose, so he didn't sit on the shift.The mother retired early and took care of the housework.The habit of the parents, unless Shao Kuancheng made it clear that he would not go back at night, no matter how late he came home, they would wait for him to have dinner together.

Shao's mother said: "Hurry up and wash your hands, get ready to eat!"

"it is good!"

Shao Kuancheng took Du Huai'an to wash his hands, and when he came out again, his parents had already put the food on the table.

Du Huai'an felt embarrassed and said, "Uncle, Auntie, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"It's nothing." Father Shao said, "It's just a matter of having an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks."

It was inconvenient for Du Huai'an to exchange too many pleasantries. He felt that things must be reversed when things go too far. If there were too many pleasantries, it would be a little artificial, so he sat down at the dining table.

During the meal, Shao's mother said, "What's your name Du? Kuancheng told me your name on the phone, but I'm too old to remember."

"Auntie, my name is Du Huai'an. You can call me Xiao Du or Huai'an."

"Then I'll call you Huai'an!" Shao's mother looked at him with the loving eyes typical of a traditional family woman: "I heard that your home was stolen? Is the loss serious? It's so pitiful, you are alone at such a young age." , and encountered such a thing.”

"It's okay, auntie, I just lost some money." Du Huai'an comforted her in turn: "Just treat it as a bankruptcy."

"Yes, it's good that you're fine, anyway, you're still young, so earn money slowly."

Shao Kuancheng ate with his heart and didn't talk to him.

"Kuancheng!" Father Shao said, "Let Huai'an sleep in the room to the west at night!"

"That won't work!" Shao Kuancheng replied without thinking, "The house to the west is where Hong Yu lives!"

"Isn't that Hong Yu not here?" Shao's father seemed a little annoyed: "That house is also empty, why don't others be allowed to live there?"

Shao Kuancheng opened his mouth, but he couldn't contradict his father, he could only take a mouthful of food in a muffled voice, and said, "Anyway, it can't..."

"You child!" Shao's father couldn't help scolding him: "You said that Hong Yu has lived in our house for so many years, and your mother and I have treated her badly, right? At the beginning, she said she quit the police and was going to take the postgraduate entrance examination. Didn't stop her? But she found her biological father later, and left without saying a word, and there was no news after leaving. That is, you are stupid, don't want to think that Hong Yu's father is a prominent figure, and Can you let her hang out with you, a little policeman? Maybe she's married a long time ago! You still keep her room and expect her to come back one day?"

Shao Kuancheng said in a muffled voice, "I'm happy to wait for her."

As a result, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became uneasy.

Du Huai'an was a little overwhelmed, why did he get involved in Shao Kuancheng's housework invisibly?He felt that it was best for him to keep silent about other people's affairs, but this incident happened because of him.

Du Huai'an struggled for a long while, stretched out his foot and kicked Shao Kuancheng under the table, Shao Kuancheng looked up at him, Du Huai'an gave him a wink.

Shao Kuancheng also knew that his parents were doing it for his own good, and his tone was a little heavy, but the room Zhao Hongyu lived in seemed to give him a psychological comfort. He felt that if he kept that room, every time he saw it, he would Thinking of the days when I was with Zhao Hongyu before, I would know that I was still thinking about her, then I would always have a room full of memories in my heart that was reserved for Zhao Hongyu, and no one else could live in it.

So even though he understood what Du Huai'an meant, he still didn't speak. He didn't want to contradict his parents, and he didn't want to compromise, so he could only remain silent.

At this time, Shao's mother said: "Kuancheng, did you forget to pick up your car?"

After Shao's mother's reminder, Shao Kuancheng remembered his second-hand Santana, and he should have picked it up a week ago, but he completely forgot about it.

It's not that the repair shop didn't call to remind him, but Shao Kuancheng always forgot after answering the phone, or remembered it occasionally, but forgot after a while.

Shao Kuancheng touched his head and said, "Forget...forget..."

Shao's mother gave him a slightly reproachful look, and said, "That car was bought second-hand, not to mention that it cost a lot of money to repair it, and it's even in the repair shop every three days, so why not sell it!"

Du Huai'an hadn't seen Shao Kuancheng drive a car since he knew him, so he couldn't help being curious and asked, "What car?"

"A second-hand Santana." Shao Kuancheng said. "I originally bought it to pick up my girlfriend in the future, but unfortunately I can't drive, so the car is always sent for repair."

"Since you can't drive, why buy a car?" Du Huai'an expressed his incomprehension: "Isn't your Li Chi GW2505 very good?"

"That's not right! I also said that this kid spends money recklessly!" Shao's father quickly agreed. "But he doesn't know who he heard. It's better for girls to drive a car to pick them up, so as not to be exposed to the wind and sun. We got married when we had a bicycle back then. There are so many things!"

"Dad, what age is this?" Shao Kuancheng couldn't help but said: "Girls like to have a car and a house now. You say that your son and I have an average job and an average family. If we really fall in love, we can't even buy a new house." From now on, if you don’t have a car, you probably won’t be able to find a wife in this life.”

"Isn't this a ready-made house in our family?" Shao's father was not happy: "If the other party really cares about material things so much, you don't need this wife."

"Your father is right about this." Shao's mother also joined the discussion: "Son! Marrying a wife and seeking a virtuous person is not important. Don't find me a demon and waste money Yes, we are ordinary people and cannot afford to support such a big Buddha."

"Look where you guys are going..."

"Back then, Hongyu was going to graduate school and resigned. If I didn't know that you would definitely not pass the exam, I would have let you resign too. You said that your current job salary is not high, and it is dangerous..."

Du Huai'an watched Shao's father and mother nagging at Shao Kuancheng, but Shao Kuancheng didn't dare to contradict him and could only hold his breath, feeling a little sad for no reason.

Such family happiness, I have never experienced before.

After dinner, Shao Kuancheng went to wash the dishes, Du Huai'an wanted to help him, but in the end he could only watch him wash the dishes by the sink, the two of them chatted one after another.

At the dinner table, there was a lot of trouble about where Du Huai'an slept, so Du Huai'an wisely didn't mention it again. Anyway, he felt that since Shao Kuancheng took him in, he would definitely find a way to solve this problem, and he just went with the situation and arranged how to sleep. .

But he didn't expect Shao Kuancheng's first love to have such an important place in his heart, so he became curious about Zhao Hongyu.

After washing the dishes, the two of them had their own concerns, so neither of them felt sleepy.After saying hello to his parents, Shao Kuancheng took Du Huai'an out for a walk.

With the bell tower as the center, there are four streets in the southeast, northwest, no matter which one you follow, you will eventually see a big wall, two "holes", one going out and the other going in. This is where "entering the city" and "Out of the city" said.The extension lines of the four walls in the southeast, north and west meet, enclosing a piece of land, which is the "old city", and the land outside is called the "new city", no matter how big it is.

Walking along the city wall, there are many small shops with local characteristics, most of which are teahouses, and there are people singing operas, which are very lively.

Where there is a city wall, there is a moat. The surrounding area of ​​the moat is newly renovated. The road surface is cut into large pieces of flat yellow sandstone. Both sides of the road are paved with cobblestones. You can see an arch bridge or a rockery. Many residents around gather here to walk their dogs or exercise. Children are climbing up and down on the rockery, shouting happily.

There are some colored light bulbs hanging on the trees on both sides of the moat to act as street lights, which reflect colorfully on the river.

"It's so beautiful here." Du Huai'an said. "I can imagine that its daytime must be like evening drums and morning bells. It is peaceful and peaceful, and the years are quiet and peaceful."

When Du Huai'an said this, he was standing by the river, watching the paper boat floating on the river, which was made of colored cardboard, slowly floated on the river for a few seconds, and then sank .

But the children next to them were still squatting by the river and stacking them hard. In their minds, these paper boats would float far away just like those boats made of steel and iron plates.

The colorful colors on the water were reflected in his dark pupils, and Shao Kuancheng was in a daze for a moment. He wanted to ask if those murders had anything to do with you?If so, how could you, with blood on your hands, have such brilliant eyes like fireworks?

But Shao Kuancheng didn't say anything, he felt that whether Du Huai'an was the murderer or not, at this moment, it was not a good time to ask.

"I've never had a good look at this place before." Shao Kuancheng said standing side by side with him by the river. "I'm used to the surrounding scenery, so I ignored it. I walked here with Hong Yu before. She is a woman like the wind. She always walks in a hurry, so I also ignored the surrounding scenery."

"I can see that you miss her very much."

"Stupid isn't it?"

"No." Du Huai'an said in a complicated tone that Shao Kuancheng couldn't understand: "When you can no longer have it, the only thing you can do is to let yourself not forget it."

If even he had forgotten how Yuanyuan died tragically, who would remember?

Shao Kuancheng didn't understand what kind of mood he was in to say these words, maybe even Du Huai'an himself didn't fully understand himself, so the two of them stopped talking and just stood still, watching the crowds of people around them.

A few boys came running wildly, the cobblestone road was not smooth, one boy hit Du Huai'an heavily, Du Huai'an's body, which was leaning slightly forward, couldn't keep his balance, and he was carried into the river .

Shao Kuancheng quickly grabbed his arm, pulled him over forcefully, took two steps back, Du Huai'an crashed into his arms under his pull.

"Thank you."

Du Huai'an raised his head from the shock, while Shao Kuancheng looked down at him.

The two looked at each other, and in the brief silence, Shao Kuancheng lowered his head in a strange way.