Rust II

These words were like a powerful hallucinogen, coupled with the rich fragrance of flowers and the gentle evening breeze, Lin An was still ignorant until the return journey.

Xu Xin didn't say anything else, as if the unbearable past 12 years ago and the drunk out of control a few days ago no longer existed, all the words and expressions revealed to himself were only endless memories and affection, and Without the slightest mockery and anger.

And the fault that I have been tossing and turning for a long time and I am ashamed to speak out, is just like this.

Lin An was sitting in the car, looking at the night scene of the city that flashed before his eyes, his chaotic thoughts followed his frantic heartbeat, ups and downs in the quiet car.

The wrist, palm and forehead seemed to still have the scorching heat from that person. Lin An tilted his face, inadvertently caught a glimpse of the burnt face reflected on the glass, and turned his eyes away like an electric shock.This faint joy mixed with unease, and the faint restlessness revealed from the joy, actually made him more nervous and embarrassed than before.He stared intently at the outside of the car, as if he was in a daze for a moment, and he didn't dare to move.

Twenty or ten minutes later, the field of vision gradually changed from wide to deep, and the speed of the car slowly slowed down, and finally stopped at the downstairs of a certain building.

Lin An still sat blankly on the passenger seat, without any move to get out of the car.

It wasn't until the other end who had been silent all the way suddenly made a sound, which caused a slight fluctuation in the seemingly frozen air.

"arrive."

Lin An's throat twitched, and after a long time, Fang Ji responded slightly, "Yes."

Xu Xin turned his head and looked at him.

Lin An noticed this silent movement from the car window, and the heat that had just receded from his face spread throughout his body like a prairie fire.

"From next week, I'll be free at this time every night."

Lin An withdrew his gaze from the car window, and his eyes fell on the two hands placed on the thighs in a regular manner.

"……Um."

Xu Xin looked at him, and after a moment of silence, a laugh suddenly rolled out of his throat, so the nervousness and shyness he tried to hide was hard to hide, and in this ambiguous ambiguity, someone's neck was completely red.

Xu Xin looked at him for a while, and then asked: "Is there a National Day holiday?"

Lin An nodded.

"How many days?"

"... plus the weekend, five days..."

Xu Xin raised his eyebrows, and after a moment of silence, he continued: "What are the arrangements?"

Lin An suddenly fell silent, and after a long time, he replied in a low voice: "I'm going to go home."

Xu Xin nodded after hearing this, and suddenly sighed a few seconds later, as if disappointed and regretful.

Lin An clenched his hands, wanting to say something, but the overly tense emotions made the already chaotic brain even more blank.

Just when he was extremely upset and depressed, the other party's voice full of jokes suddenly sounded from the side again.

"It's okay, we will have a long time in Japan."

Lin An was stunned.

After Xu Xin finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the dark sky outside the window, and after a short pause, he continued to say softly: "It's getting late, go upstairs and rest early."

Lin An didn't say a word, and after sitting in the seat for a while, he finally nodded lightly as if he could react.He frantically unbuttoned the safety buckle, looked up timidly at the person who was looking at him with a smile, and reached out to touch the handle beside him with a blushing face.

The moment the car door was opened, the chilly wind hit the hot skin head-on, making the chaotic thoughts finally capture a glimmer of clarity.

Lin An bent over and lowered his head as if fleeing, as if he couldn't wait to leave this suffocating place, but the moment he was about to get out of the carriage, he was firmly stopped by the deep voice from behind.

"Ms. Lin." Xu Xin called him from behind.

Lin An paused, and turned around in embarrassment.

Xu Xin looked at him, smiled after a while, and pointedly said: "Keep in touch."

The thin figure under the light was startled for a moment, then nodded and responded softly with a blushing face, and quickly disappeared into the night.

Xu Xin sat in the car, lowered the window, and his eyes fell on the entrance of the corridor that the other party walked into quickly, and the smile on his mouth gradually cooled down.

He took out the mobile phone that had been deliberately set to silent mode from the storage compartment, and placed it on the bracket. After sitting quietly for a while, he started the car and drove towards the gate of the community.

Nearly late at night, the road is no longer crowded and busy during the day, and there are few people on the wide road, only the street lights on both sides of the forest lined up and stretching forward tirelessly.

The phone suddenly lit up in the silence, Xu Xin glanced at the caller's name jumping on the screen, raised his hand and pressed the call button.

A slightly sullen voice immediately rang in his ears.

"Xu Xin, what the hell are you doing!"

Xu Xin looked at the road ahead, frowned slightly, and said nothing.

The other end continued to say coldly: "I don't answer the phone and don't show up. Do you know when Jiaqi will wait for you at Longshan Hotel? From 7:10 to [-]:[-], a full three hours! Why the fuck don't you want to go to the appointment? Don't refuse? You really don't want to treat our Ma family as a dish, do you?"

The car stopped at the intersection, Xu Xin listened to the angry questioning on the phone, tapped his fingers on the steering wheel a few times, smiled and replied casually: "Sorry."

The other party was obviously stimulated by this insincere apology, and blurted out: "You!" But for some reason, he suppressed his anger in the next second, and asked after a moment of silence, "Where are you now?"

When the green light changed, Xu Xin turned the steering wheel and turned left, "Go back to Zhuyuan Road."

Hearing the words, the other side sneered, and Yulu mocked, "Back to the bamboo garden? Xu Xin, don't tell me you just got off the plane, do you want to hold a video conference later?"

Xu Xin also laughed, but didn't mean to answer.

The other party waited for a while, then suddenly sighed, changed his previous impatience, and continued with some earnestness: "Xu San, I didn't mean to push you and Ma Jiaqi, it's just that after so many years, my cousin is determined to rush When it comes to you, you have to show some face. She is the only granddaughter of my grandfather. She was spoiled and spoiled by the whole family since she was a child. She has never encountered any dissatisfaction. It can be said that no one has ever let her touch her except you. Besides, when the medical system was reformed in 88, her father also helped your second brother a lot, didn't he?"

Xu Xin smiled faintly, but remained silent.

There was a silence on the phone, and then suddenly changed the subject, "I heard that your cooperation case in City B has been won?"

Xu Xin glanced at the passing vehicles, and said casually, "En."

"Oh... Congratulations. According to the usual practice, is it time for Dean Sun and Mr. Cai from the Health Bureau to come to City C for an 'inspection'?"

Xu Xin's eyes moved, and he drove forward for another twenty meters along the path, and then parked the car at the door of a villa.

Xiao Wang, who was rushing up to him, waved his hand to signal the other party not to approach, then took out a cigarette and lit it, put one hand on the open window and smoked slowly.

"Why, Young Master Ma wants a share of the pie?"

Ma Yifu laughed when he heard the words, as if he had changed in an instant, he said with a smile: "Don't dare, before we changed our name and surname in City C, who would dare to break ground in front of your Xu residence?"

Talking casually, he said: "Just gossip, don't be nervous. Mr. Ma is more interested in what kind of good things Xu Sanshao is doing tonight, and he ignored our beautiful and beautiful Miss Ma?"

Xu Xin flicked the cigarette ash, "It's nothing, I just went to visit an old friend."

There was a brief silence on the phone, and Ma Yifu's voice reappeared in the call after a few seconds.

"Oh? It's just an old friend?" The other party said, and suddenly smiled inexplicably: "It seems that Ma's ideological awareness still needs to be improved. I thought he could enjoy the dignified Third Young Master Xu and rushed to meet him as soon as he landed. If you see how you are treated, you have to be an old lover no matter what." After a short pause, he continued: "Or... a confidant?"

Xu Xin paused for a moment, then smiled, "Young Master Ma is very well informed." No emotion could be heard in the voice.

"It seems that the people under him must learn from you someday."

"Hey, where is it, it's just a 'small trick'."

Xu Xin curled his lips and remained silent.

"But as a buddy, I still have to remind Brother Xu." After a moment of silence, that party sent another sentence in a rather serious tone.

Xu Xin stared out of the window with deep eyes, puffed on the cigarette, "All ears."

"The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change. This is an eternal truth. Brother Xu, the random flowers are gradually becoming charming. Don't be careless and fall into the same pit again."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for a response from this end, they hung up the call in the silence of each other.

Xu Xin looked at the time displayed on the screen for a while, and it was exactly 11 o'clock.

In the dimly lit carriage, these two figures are particularly eye-catching, standing side by side at a distance, as if heralding a silent game that has already kicked off.Xu Xin smiled inexplicably, finished his cigarette patiently, took the coat that was put aside, opened the car door and walked out.

Xiao Wang came over to take the clothes and keys in his hand, and followed respectfully.

"Where's Xu Yuan?" Xu Xin glanced at him and asked.

"I went back to my room early in the morning, I should be sleeping now."

Xu Xin stopped on his feet, raised his eyebrows slightly, and seemed to be a little suspicious.

Xiao Wang saw that he seemed to be in a good mood, so he smiled and said a few more words: "Miss Xu seems to have changed her temper recently for some reason. , but I went to your study very frequently, and secretly asked Mr. Ding about the library in our city, hehe, it really looks like I'm about to go to university."

Talking about taking a step forward, she leaned slightly towards Xu Xin's direction, and said in a low voice with a smile, "Aunt Yuan told others in private that her headaches have improved a lot in the past two days."

Xu Xin thought of the test paper that he had seen flamboyantly placed on his desk when he first arrived home in the evening, and probably guessed the key point in his heart, but he didn't say much, just shook his head helplessly, changed his shoes at the entrance, and walked in. The silent living room.

As expected, the family was unbelievably peaceful. Thanks to Xu Yuan's blessing, it was rare for the whole villa to have a sliver of peace in advance.

"Okay, there's nothing to do tonight, you go and park the car, and go back to sleep early." Xu Xin sat down on the sofa, drank a saliva, and raised his head to order.

Xiao Wang went out in response, and Xu Xin closed his eyes in the living room to rest his mind, rubbed his temples, got up and went upstairs.

Xu Yuan's room was the first one on the second floor. When Xu Xin passed by, he habitually turned his head to take a look, but saw that the door was ajar and had not been closed properly.

He paused and took a few steps back, only to see a ray of light leaking through the slightly open door, indicating that the owner had not yet slept soundly, but the uncharacteristically quiet inside seemed to be contrary to this inference.

Did you forget to turn off the lights?

Xu Xin frowned slightly, then looked at the door panel standing in front of him, and then thought about Xiao Wang's "report" downstairs just now, and he couldn't help feeling a little doubtful.He hesitated for a while, and was about to open the door and go in to have a look, but he didn't expect that the moment his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he unexpectedly heard Xu Yuan's inconceivably surprised inquiry from inside.

"Hello, is this Teacher Lin?"

Xu Xin stopped.

Xu Yuan's tone was rarely coy, as if she had received a response from the other end of the phone, she said softly in the next second: "It's so late, you haven't slept yet, I was worried about sending you a message so late, you Can I still see..."

Standing outside the door, Xu Xin slightly raised his eyebrows. In his impression, Xu Yuan was rarely so "well-behaved and polite".

He withdrew his hand that was holding onto the doorknob, but his footsteps were still fixed outside the door without moving.

Xu Yuan's voice continued to come from inside. Xu Xin stood for a while, and when he heard words related to "competition" and "registration", he couldn't help but smile, and then he reached out and gently closed the door , turned around and walked back to the study slowly.

The moment the darkness was dispersed by the light, the answer sheets that Xu Yuan left on the desk appeared in sight again.

Xu Xin walked to the table, leaned against the corner, took out a cigarette and lit it.

It was extremely dark outside the window, but the room was extremely quiet. Xu Xin stared at the blurry figure on the glass window in front of him, and suddenly turned his head after a while, and took the feather-like test paper again. hand.

Two completely different handwritings appeared on the paper, and he looked at the descriptions and comments written on it without saying a word, as if he was looking at a strange and absurd life that had nothing to do with him.

Until the two familiar comments at the end.

"The world is not black or white. My heart is bright. What is the fear of 'black'? My heart is dirty. What is the luck of 'white'?"

"Xu Yuan, I wish your dreams come true and you will not change your mind."

His eyes lingered on it for a long time, and he could hear the needle falling, standing still, as if obsessed, as if admiring, but the smile that could not be concealed from the corner of his mouth seemed to be an obvious irony, in doubt, in to mock.

The mobile phone on the desk desk vibrated suddenly, and the screen lit up. Xu Xin withdrew from his stagnant thoughts, and turned his eyes to the desktop: it was a new short message,

He put down the paper and picked up the phone. He was taken aback when he saw the sender's name, then raised his eyebrows and clicked on the message.

Only two words: "Thank you."

He stared at these two words for a while, and then he was about to press the screen and put it back on the table, but changed his mind the moment he was about to touch the table, and brought the phone back to his eyes again.

After searching and hesitating for a while in the address book, the other party's number was dialed.

"……Hey?"

A slightly flustered voice soon came from the receiver.

Xu Xin smiled, paused for two seconds and asked knowingly, "Thank me for what?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side, before replying after a while: "Yes, it's about the composition competition...Xu Yuan agreed..."

Xu Xin put out the cigarette in his hand, not surprised, and said "En" in a low voice.

"She said it was you..." The other party paused for a while, then continued to speak softly, but for some unknown reason, he stopped speaking halfway through.

Xu Xin noticed the nervousness revealed by the other party unintentionally, and took up the conversation with a slight smile.

"So the way Teacher Lin expresses his gratitude is to send a 'sincere' text message?"

Now even the rapid breathing on the other end disappeared, leaving only a bewildered silence.

After a long while, the other end seemed to have found its own voice again, and hastily denied, "No...not...I..."

However, as soon as he opened his mouth to say a few words, he was stopped again by Xu Xin's smiling voice.

He raised his eyes to look at the bottomless night outside the window, and bluntly asked for his thanks.

"How about... Teacher Lin treats me to dinner some other day?"

After a short pause, without waiting for Lin An's response, he added another item: "I'll set the time, huh?"