Rust II

This night is destined to be an unforgettable night.

So much so that the stitches of time have already stepped into a brand new day, but some people's thoughts are still stuck in the emotions that make people happy and sad, sad and sad, unable to return to their senses.

Lin An spent the whole weekend in a state of restless mind. It is no exaggeration to say that he was muddled. Another week will be the national day that people will miss. After looking at the bus ticket, after cleaning and tidying up a few rooms in the afternoon, I went downstairs to the supermarket near the community and wandered aimlessly for a few laps.

At two o'clock, Lin's mother called and asked about returning to County X during the National Day holiday. Lin An listened to her mother's concerned inquiries on the phone. For some reason, Xu Xin's question about ten Looking at his face with a smile during the holiday arrangements, his voice became inexplicably dry.

He softly replied to Lin's mother's question, and after saying a few simple homework, he hung up the call.Supermarkets on weekends are always more lively than usual.He stood in front of a certain shelf in a daze, and looked at it for a long time without moving a step forward.

All kinds of words and expressions of Xu Xin last night suddenly became bright and clear at this moment. Lin An stood blankly in the aisle where people came and went, recalling each other's every move over and over unconsciously, even wandering around there. People don't want to let go of the look in their eyes.All those things that I dare not face or think about when I am alone in the dead of night seem to have found an outlet through the dazzling sun and the noisy crowd during the day.

Until the deep voice appeared in my ears for the second time—it doesn't matter, we have a long life ahead.

Lin An's white neck suddenly turned red.

Seeing him standing still in this area for a long time, the nearby staff tentatively approached him to say hello.

"Sir, do you want to buy tableware? Most of this piece is made of porcelain. It's on sale recently. If you're interested, you can take a look. Or there's a row in front of it that's made of wood, which is quite popular recently."

As soon as Lin An heard the clear and pleasant voice from around him, he suddenly withdrew his wandering mind for a long time, only then realized that he had reached the daily necessities area at some point.

His heart was still beating wildly, and even the forehead was slightly sweating. He stabilized his mind, and after a few seconds of slowing down, he turned his head, smiled gently at the enthusiastic waitress, and said softly: "Thank you... Take a look." As he spoke, he walked forward quickly as if he was guilty of guilt.

However, just as he was about to pass the end of the container, a small and round object suddenly broke into his sight.Lin An paused, and Ben's fast-moving steps slowed down, so that after passing by, he still couldn't help but look back several times.

For more than ten minutes thereafter, that generous and elegant ceramic object was lingering in my mind.Lin An wandered around in various goods areas on the second floor, but finally couldn't resist the unreasonable emotions in his heart and turned back the same way.

He searched along the location in his memory, and after a few minutes, he finally stood in front of that shelf again.

He pursed his mouth slightly, and stared at the porcelain product without blinking for a long time, his eyes flickered and lingered at the item name on the price tag, until more than ten seconds later, his hands were the first to shake off the rationality. Slowly lifted the shackles and touched the warm and smooth surface of the opponent.

"Sir, do I need to wrap it up for you?"

Lin An withdrew his hand and looked back. It was the same little girl from before. He smiled shyly at the other party, and was about to answer: "No, I don't smoke." But for some reason, the words he was about to say were suddenly swallowed When he went back, he hesitated for a while, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at the shelf, then nodded with a blushing face, and said, "Okay, sorry for the trouble."

From simple packaging to checkout at the counter, it took only 2 minutes. When Lin An walked out of the supermarket with the shopping voucher, he still couldn't get rid of the inexplicable sense of shame.

He stood by the side of the road, looking down at the cold and hard font on the receipt: "Ceramic hand-painted Hechi ashtray, price 129", and the heat wave that had just subsided couldn't help but start to spread around the ears and neck again.

After returning to the residence and going in and out of the living room and bedroom several times, Lin An suddenly realized that in the nearly seventy-square-meter house, there was no place to hold the ashtray. It was like an uninvited guest. It looks particularly eye-catching and abrupt, more like a delusional thought that has been carefully packaged, and it makes people feel ashamed and ashamed wherever it appears.

He knows that he has no preference for smoking, and he also knows that there is absolutely no possibility of getting contaminated in the future, but he still can't control his eyes to see, his hands to touch, let alone a flower that should have been like a pool of stagnant water long ago. The heart is full of waves, and even hope is rekindled.

What is the reason behind this? Lin Anding looked at the porcelain white object placed on the coffee table in front of him, and he was very clear about the obvious answer in his heart. He stared blankly at the ashtray for a while, as if countless times Looking at each other with a certain pair of silent but gentle eyes at night, obviously confused and wavering, but still keep awake and try to calm down.

Suddenly, as if he could no longer bear this introspection-like torture, Lin An suddenly stood up, and locked the ashtray that he had bought less than 20 minutes ago into the cabinet in the bedroom, as if he had locked the ashtray overnight. The crazy thoughts about that person in my heart are like thoughts.

Then he found out the courseware, and sat at the desk in front of the bed with a pen in his hand, hoping to relieve his suffocation and panic by preparing lessons, but he didn't want to open the pages of the book, and what fell into his sight was the book prepared just two weeks ago. Moonlight in the Lotus Pond", so the surprise and joy, sorrow and sorrow that day, together with the warm ginger tea in the kitchen and the coat that was deliberately ignored in the bedroom, all flew out of the cage of memory like a freed prisoner bird. Pounce out.

Lin An stared blankly at the densely packed handwriting in front of him for a while, and finally put down the pen in his hand dejectedly, and closed the textbook as if giving up resistance.

After sitting quietly for a while, he took out the printed copy of the school celebration plan that he was going to report to Ge Jing next week, but he paused again when his eyes touched the column of featured project proposals.

He silently looked at the line of words that he had typed in himself: "A parent open day can be arranged, and parents of students are invited to visit the school and participate in teaching activities", and he couldn't help but began to doubt his real purpose when he typed these words that day.

As soon as this idea popped up, it was immediately snuffed out in the chaotic thoughts.Lin An stared stiffly at the plan in his hand. He didn't know what state of mind he was in, but he was even more unwilling and afraid to delve into it than before talking with Xu Xin last night.

So the good time of the whole weekend passed in this inexplicable anxiety of restlessness.

Even when night fell on Sunday, an indescribable joy rose in Lin An's heart.Of course, he also didn't have the courage to investigate in detail the ultimate owner of this joy.

It's just that he habitually looked at the phone screen a few times before falling into the dream, but he couldn't easily hide it.

What also cannot be concealed is the loss that quietly arises in the bottom of my heart when my eyes touch the still dark screen.

Just like a week ago, after Xu Xin left a plausible invitation, there was no other news.

As usual on Monday, Xu Yuan came to the classroom on time with her unique enthusiasm and "goodwill" towards Lin An. After spending the whole morning at school peacefully, she "visited" Lin An's office during the lunch break.

At that time, Lin An was in Ge Jing's office in Luohan Garden, and the other two teachers had their own shifts, so in the office of the second language group, only the rookie Feng Ping was sitting idle, bored with her friend Bai Jing was chatting on q/q for a while, when she suddenly heard a knock on the door, she thought it was the representative of some class who had handed in her noon homework again, so she buried her head in front of the computer and raised her voice, "Please Come in!", I didn't want the other party to come in and asked her aloud within two seconds: "Is Teacher Lin not there?"

It was only then that Feng Ping noticed that the person who came was Xu Yuan, who was notorious in X.She still remembered that the last time she saw her in this office was more than a month ago. At that time, this ancestor's hair was dyed messy, his clothes were shining, and the expression on his face was always arrogant, just like the one in front of him with black hair. The beautiful girl with her hair neatly tied back and her school uniform was completely different.If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Feng Ping would almost have suspected that the devil king who stood here "witting words" and uttering wild words to the people's teacher a month ago was just an illusion of her own.

To be honest, facing Miss Xu who has changed her appearance, Feng Ping, as a new intern, still feels a little thumping in her heart. According to her imagination, if a "black sheep" like the other party suddenly doesn't invite her Come on, probably nothing good will happen.

Feng Ping thought about it, forced a smile to the other side, and asked: "What's the matter? Mr. Lin has something to go away, if you have any questions, you can tell me, and I will tell him later."

Xu Yuan just smiled when she heard the words, and after looking at Lin An's desk for a few times, she pulled his chair away, and then sat down with Feng Ping's gaze following her closely.

"Where's the registration form?" She took out a pen from Lin An's pen container, and twirled it around her fingers quickly.

Feng Ping stared at her in bewilderment,

Xu Yuanwu muttered to herself for a while, her eyes circled around the desk full of courseware and books, and then fixed on a stack of blank forms next to the exercise book.

"X Province Nursing Cup Composition Contest." She looked at the title on the top of the form, curled her lips, reached out and took a sheet in front of her, whistled out of tune, and filled it out. A few minutes later, she put down the pen again and raised her eyebrows. Yang Ping, who still glanced at her from time to time, said, "I've filled out the competition form. Teacher Lin, please ask him to take a look when you come back. Thank you."

After speaking, he walked away.

Yang Ping froze on her seat, and didn't wake up from the shock for a long time. If she read it correctly, the form that Xu Yuan held in her hand just now was the entry form for the Nursing Cup that the language team paid special attention to recently?

What's happening here?

On q/q, Bai Jing saw that she hadn't responded to messages for a while, and sent another jitter, asking: What's wrong?Why didn't you talk anymore, went to take a nap?Well, I was just about to break some big news for you, but it seems that I have no chance... It's about the handsome guy Lin you've been thinking about so much.

Feng Ping came back to her senses, blushed and said: What nonsense?Someone just came to the office.

Yixing Egret: Hey, you still refuse to admit it. You can see for yourself. When I chatted with you earlier, you were completely indifferent and weak. When you mentioned Teacher Lin, you immediately became energetic!

Yixing Egret: Go back and look through the records yourself, how long did it take you to reply to me earlier, and how long did it take to reply to me just now?Is there a second?

In the next second, the topic changed again: Who did you just say was here?

Feng Ping breathed a sigh of relief, and replied: Xu Yuan.

A row of exclamation points suddenly appeared on the screen.

A group of egrets: What is she doing here?Got into a fight with Mr. Lin again?No, isn't it rumored that the girl has been subdued by Handsome Lin now? Handsome Lin pointed out that the girl will never fight west?

Meeting by chance: she came to fill out the form.

A line of egrets: fill in the form?what watch?Violations and Disciplines?

Feng Ping rolled her eyes speechlessly: the registration form for the Seedling Cup.

Bai Jing: I'll go! !Can you say that again?what watch? ?

Feng Ping: ...

Bai Jing: Be good, it's amazing, it seems that handsome Lin's rumors are true, hey Ping'er, I just wanted to tell you about this!

Feng Ping frowned, and suddenly had an ominous premonition: What?

Bai Jing: Do you still remember the last time when Lin An asked for sick leave and released Ge Jing's female devil pigeon? No, Ge Jing told Director Chen on the spot that there would be a mountain meeting after the school celebration. Look at this teacher Lin Which mountain is behind it.

Of course Feng Ping remembered that she had been fighting for Lin An for a while.

Bai Jing waited for a while and saw that Feng Ping remained silent, and then continued to write in the dialog box: I just came to school this morning, and I heard Xiao Yang from our office talk about this Teacher Lin. Have a boyfriend?After work last Friday, they went to the People's Park in the East District after watching a movie and having dinner. It was near Yongning Avenue. Guess who she ran into?

Looking at the large paragraph of text that appeared on the dialog box, Feng Ping already had an answer in her heart, but she still asked: Who?

Bai Jing: Lin An!

Feng Ping shook her hand for no reason, and returned after a few seconds: So what's the matter... Who stipulated that Mr. Lin can't go to the park...

Bai Jing: But he didn't go shopping alone. There was someone next to him, who behaved unusually intimately. Guess who it was?

Feng Ping: ...

Bai Jing: It's Xu Yuan's uncle, Xu Xin, remember?As I told you before, he is the youngest son of the Xu family, the most famous local snake in X City.

Feng Ping: Maybe I read it wrong... Besides, how did Xiao Yang know Xu Xin?

Bai Jing: Stupid you, you don't know Xiao Yang, you can't know Xiao Yang's boyfriend?Her boyfriend's family also seems to be in business, and he had some contact with the Xu family before, so he recognized him at a glance.

Bai Jing: Hey, I'm talking about Ping'er. You didn't believe me when I said that there were rumors that this handsome Lin had a background, but now our colleagues have seen it with their own eyes. Have you realized the reality?Don't tell us that the two big men met in the park in the middle of the night to talk about the construction of the motherland or the future of X. Only you will believe this nonsense, but I don't believe it.

Bai Jing: Or...do you think the Xu family's backing is not too strong?

Feng Ping stared blankly at the screen: Maybe... just acquainted by chance... There is no rule that Mr. Lin can't just meet the parents of the students...

Bai Jing: ...you won.

1 minute later.

Bai Jing: Feng Ping, are you really stupid?Do you know how Lin An was transferred here?Although the No. [-] Middle School in X County that he stayed in before was not bad, was it comparable to X Middle School?It's not on the same level at all, okay... But you can't think about it because you just tuned in as soon as you come in?

Feng Ping: Don't say that he is a representative of outstanding young teachers, he was poached...

Bai Jing: There are excellent teachers every year. Besides, there are fewer teachers in city C than in county X?Do you have to go to the trouble to dig there?

Feng Ping fell silent.

Bai Jing continued to talk about the first-hand gossip news that she just learned this morning: the fact is that this teacher Lin was transferred to City C by name in person, and he had already paved the way. Uncle came to the stage and thanked his alma mater, and it was settled. At the beginning of this year, my uncle suddenly came to donate a new laboratory building with great kindness, and it was built next to the statue of his old man. Good people and good deeds have done this. In fact, if a person wants to cultivate a talent and mobilize a small teacher, who would refuse?

Feng Ping: Where did you hear all this?

Bai Jing didn't respond, just said: "It's all over the grade group in the morning. You're a silly girl who doesn't know anything. Little Yang Gang is still joking with me, saying it's no wonder Teacher Lin has such a face and can't find a girl." My friend, it turns out that I have a hobby of meeting rich sons late at night.

Feng Ping: What... what do you mean?

Bai Jing sent a silent "shh" emoji, saying: Gay?Sissy?Two chairs?In short, it's... uh, the hobby of this type of people...

Feng Ping: Homosexuality? !

She was almost dumbfounded. The meaning and the world behind this word that rarely appeared in her life was something she had never really understood and set foot in. However, she also clearly knew that most of the people around her were asking When she came to these two words, the expressions on her face were mostly contempt and disgust, and the quiet and gentle teacher Lin was so responsible, upright and kind in her eyes, she couldn't put such a person in any and all respects no matter what. In a beautiful opposite position.

Bai Jing said a few more words, just to clear her eyes and brain, not to be confused by sex, Feng Ping couldn't listen to anything, until Lin An came back from the principal's office half an hour later, she was still surrounded by The so-called explosive news brought by Bai Jing was so shocking that even the way she looked at Lin An became slightly strange.

Seeing her looking straight at him, Lin An couldn't help but smile and asked: Teacher Feng, what's wrong?

Feng Ping came back to her senses suddenly, pretended to be busy with her hands and fumbled on the table a few times, then stammered: "Oh, oh, it's nothing...By the way, Teacher Lin, just now Xu Yuan came to the office to fill out an application form. It's on your table, you...you can take a look when you have time."

Lin An looked down at the desk, smiled and nodded to the other side, and replied, "Okay, thank you."

During the lunch break of more than half an hour afterwards, Feng Ping could no longer divert her thoughts from the thin figure in front of her. She thought about Lin An's "extraordinary" care for Xu Yuan since the beginning of school, and thought of Xu Yuan's "extraordinary" care for Xu Yuan. Yuan Yuan couldn't help but feel inexplicably sad about Lin An's sudden "differentness".

Lin An sat at the table, oblivious to the gaze behind him, quietly looked at the registration form Xu Yuan left on the table for a while, turned on the computer and logged into the system, carefully entered and saved the other party's personal information, I also took advantage of the remaining time to correct the dictation test papers that the students in the morning reading had done. After that, I prepared lessons, looked up materials, and found materials. Except for an occasional drink or two, or going to the bathroom, I was almost immersed in it all the time. Work.

Ge Jing didn't seem to be as strict as Feng Ping warned on the phone before, and he didn't show any dissatisfaction with his absence last time, even after hearing his own ideas about the special activities of the school celebration , expressed support and agreement with pleasure, and asked him about his recent status and situation with concern, and emphasized his excellent performance in education by taking Xu Yuan as an example, and even proposed details about the activities of the Parents Open Day on the school celebration at that time. Plan, but also invite him to participate.

"I think the meaning of this event is very good. It not only emphasizes the family environment and influence of our X middle school, but also shows our achievements and efforts to parents. The stability and enhancement of family ties are often the guarantee for learning and forging ahead. He Moli, Mr. Lin, I hope you can cooperate actively in the future. We may consider inviting the parents of some very representative students to come over and participate in more meaningful activities on that day, such as... Xu in your class Student Yuan? She has made great progress recently, and we can all see it."

Lin An recalled what Ge Jing said in Luohan Garden, and was distracted by accident. He turned his eyes and looked at the registration form filled by Xu Yuan who was lying aside, and subconsciously moved the mobile phone next to the pen holder. Picking it up, the keyboard and the screen lighted up at the same time, but the things he secretly expected did not appear. The call records, SMS inbox, etc. were all empty, without any traces.

He looked at it silently for a while, deliberately ignoring the growing disappointment in his heart with the passage of time, and put the phone back where it was.

He didn't have his class in the afternoon, so he wandered around the door of Class 7 of the teaching building from time to time, went to organize things after school at the end of the evening self-study, and then returned to the office again.

Uncharacteristically, Feng Ping didn't invite him to get off work with him again, and when the time came, she packed up her things and said goodbye to him.Lin An stayed alone in the office, continuing to approve homework, prepare lessons, and repeat.I don't know what I was avoiding, and I didn't return to the community until nearly ten o'clock.

For the entire week since then, Lin An has spent this inexplicably tense mood. Only non-stop work can temporarily return all "distracting thoughts" to dust.

In the past five days, Mother Lin made two phone calls; the parents of the students also sent several text messages, and even Ding Hua would forward him two funny text messages or MMS messages that were widely circulated from time to time.

Only Xu Xin, only that person, has no further news.

——How about Mr. Lin treat me to dinner another day?

- I will set the time.

Lin An didn't dare to admit that this was the reply he had been waiting for day and night with repeated emotions.

Finally, another weekend is approaching, and the students' emotions are extremely high this Friday. Even the most intense and serious math class in normal times can't make them control their incomparably excited and impatient hearts.

The National Day holiday is finally here.

Lin An was also jumping for joy on this day, and even looked forward to it, not for the holiday, but for the inferences and fantasies that were so vague that they were slightly ridiculous.

After all, the first time that person texted and called him was on Friday, and the first time he asked him to have a meeting was also on Friday...

The thoughts that have been suppressed for many days seem to have finally swelled and exploded on this day. The closer the night is, the more unable to persuade the fading rationality. Come to that person for a sliver of information.

Instead, Lin's mother called again at six o'clock to reconfirm his return time tonight.

Lin Anqiang cheered up and answered one by one, and then hung up the phone after exhorting each other a few words.

The ticket he booked was at 07:30 in the evening. The station was not far from X Central, and he could arrive there in 15 minutes by taxi.Lin An left the school and returned to the community. After going upstairs to tidy up, he prepared to pack the suitcases he had packed in advance and headed out to the station.But for some reason, he suddenly turned back when he reached the door, opened the cabinet and took out the ashtray that he bought on impulse a week ago. He looked at the ashtray for a moment, hesitated for a while, and put it in the suitcase. Then he left the rental house completely.

The sensor lights in the corridor lighted up one after another.When Lin An walked out of the corridor door with the suitcase, the mobile phone in his trouser pocket vibrated suddenly. He was stunned for a moment when he noticed it, and then he put down the suitcase immediately under a faint induction, and took out the mobile phone , When he saw the signature and number flashing on the screen, a touch of joy and a smile that he hadn't had time to detect and stop, was directly conveyed from the bottom of his heart to every expression on his face.

"……Hey."

"Where is it?" A deep voice came from the other end of the receiver.

Lin An tightened his grip on the lever, and softly replied, "Cui, Cuifangyuan."

There was a pause at the other end, Lin An seemed to have heard the faint sound of the whistle on the other side, and after two or three seconds, Xu Xin's voice sounded again: "I remember last time you said that you were going home for the National Day?"

Lin An responded softly: "En."

"What time does the car arrive?"

Lin An was taken aback, "07:30..."

Hearing the words, the other end agreed, and then smiled: "That's still too late."

Lin An was stunned, and then heard the other party continue to say in the next second:

"Stay where you are and wait for me for 2 minutes."