Alley

Xiang Yu woke up 10 minutes earlier than usual the next day.

Yesterday he was forced into a cup of milk tea by the girl sitting next to him, and as a result he felt tachycardia all day, didn't sleep well all night but woke up the next morning.

Passing by the alley, he saw the boy in the alley for the third time.

The boy was the same as the previous two times he saw him. On a winter morning, he was only wearing an autumn school uniform jacket that was obviously out of season, the same style of school uniform pants on his lower body, and a pair of army green rubber shoes.The upper body of the school uniform jacket is white, and the lower body should be blue, but it seems that it has not been washed for a long time, so it is very greasy, and then the white is dyed light yellow, and the youth color is infiltrated into dark blue. There are also dark stains on the rubber shoes.

The boy's skin was very fair, his whole thin body was huddled in an ill-fitting school uniform jacket, and the tip of his nose was frozen red.

Xiang Yu originally thought that the residents of the demolished houses in this article had already moved out, but this was the third time he met the boy. The child was only about 15 years old, and it should be because the family situation was not very good.

The previous two times he hurried past without paying much attention to the teenagers passing by, but this day he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

I don't know if it's because of the spare 10 minutes in the morning, or because of the boy's struggling expression.

The teenager was trying to move a cylindrical utensil, which was covered with old dirt and blackened. He noticed that the child's white and slender fingers were covered with rough chilblains.

Xiang Yu didn't know why he stretched out his hand, he moved the object to a corner for him under the boy's surprised eyes.

The reason why he guessed it was that corner was because he saw a circular mark on the ground over there, which seemed to be able to match this strange cylindrical utensil.

"is it here?"

The child stared at him with obvious timidity and defensiveness on his face.

Xiang Yu smiled at the child, he hadn't smiled for a long time, even the corners of his mouth were a little stiff, "Is there anything else I can help with?"

While thinking angrily in his heart, what is he doing, the time is almost up, he should take the subway.

The child's eyes became less defensive, he pursed his lips, and said thank you softly.

The voice is very crisp, Xiang Yu thinks it is a bit like the wild thrush in the woods in his hometown, and it sings very nicely.

The young man limped into the house. There seemed to be back doors of Shikumen buildings on both sides of the alley. From the outside to the door, he could only see a curtain of rose-red floral flowers. It was dark inside and he couldn’t see anything. clear.He came out half a minute later with his hands full.

Xiang Yu still stood motionless, he looked at the boy's left foot, and remembered that he could still walk normally when he saw him two days ago.

The young man was holding a jig with a long front end in his right hand, and two black round objects in his right hand. When he approached Xiang Yu, he could see clearly that the two black round objects seemed to be briquettes deep in his childhood memory.

The briquette is a large block of coal. In the center of the coal mine are round holes that run through the front and back. The jig is obviously a tool for placing the briquette. The cylinder in front must be the coal stove.

The young man skillfully opened the vent of the coal stove, lit the fire, put in the briquettes, stacked the second piece of briquettes, then put an aluminum kettle on the coal stove, took a small wooden stool and sat quietly by the coal stove, waiting for the coal stove to burn. Get up, let out the heat, the boy is no longer shivering with cold.

Realizing that Xiang Yu was still nearby, the boy raised his head, "Sir?"

Xiang Yu noticed a cinnabar-colored tear mole under the corner of the boy's right eye, and a thought flashed in his mind. He remembered where he had seen it before, saying that people with tear moles were destined to be trapped in love all their lives.

He nodded and hurried away.He was already 10 minutes later than usual, almost too late to clock in.

The teenager is like a hard little stone, thrown in the gears of his rigorous and delicate life, abruptly pulling his life out of track.

When filling out the form, what he thought about in his mind was the teenager's left foot, hands covered with frostbite, dirty and greasy school uniform jacket, and nose that was red from the cold.

He didn't know that there were such impoverished families in this day and age.

He had only seen coal stoves in his childhood home, where incomplete combustion often led to carbon monoxide poisoning among residents.In the next few years, gas and natural gas became popular in households, and every household gradually abandoned coal stoves. Xiang Yu didn't even know where there was a supply of briquettes in this city.

In fact, there may be tens of thousands of families that are poorer than the young man, but the young man appeared in front of his eyes as a living example, which made him feel sour.

Perhaps sensing that Xiang Yu's work speed had slowed down, the girl next to him stared at him thoughtfully.

"what happened?"

"Xiang Yu, when I went to get milk tea just now, I seemed to see your friend at the door."

Xiang Yu stopped what he was doing, turned around curiously and asked, "Who?"

"I don't know, I should read it right, I was looking for you yesterday."

"I didn't see anyone looking for me yesterday. What does that person look like?"

The colleague took a sip of milk tea, chewed the pearls in his mouth, and paused for a while, "I don't remember that, but he didn't seem to say he was looking for you today. Wearing a white shirt and wearing glasses, he looks very refined and pretty." Yes, you're probably in your thirties, and I wanted to ask who you are yesterday. You seem to have a good temperament."

Xiang Yu was also at a loss, "I don't know who it is, I didn't see it yesterday."

"Is it a promotion? It doesn't look like it."

The colleague continued to fiddle with the mobile phone on the table. Xiang Yu felt a little uneasy. He put down his work and walked around the door, but he didn't see anyone similar to the description.