Rust II

Xu Xin glanced over like lightning.

Ding Hua, however, seemed to have completely ignored the figure on the other balcony who was just an arm away, and only turned his back to him and continued to smile to the person on the phone: "Happy New Year, hey, it's been a long time since I've contacted you." , If I hadn’t called Chen Jialou for something a while ago, I really don’t know when you went to Gannan.”

After talking for a while, he closed his eyes and made nonsense: "Hey, is it okay to live there? I heard that it is not as easy as County X in City C. You have to teach many courses and lead several classes, right? Oh, you You have to pay attention to your body, even though we are offering our love for the public good, we have to do what we can, don’t we? Don’t try to be brave.”

He paused while talking, as if he heard something from the other end, he laughed and replied: "Hey, you are welcome!"

For the rest of the time, until the New Year's Eve bell rang at midnight on the TV that was turned on in the room, Ding Hua and the person on the other end of the phone seemed to be having a good time talking.

Xu Xin stood quietly not far from the other party, listening to the other party's questions one after another. For example, one second asked how many days off for the Spring Festival, the next second asked when he would go back to Ganzhou, and after a while, he asked again. He asked incessantly how long he planned to stay in Chenjialou's hometown, when he would return to City C, how his family was, how he was getting used to basic necessities of life...

Familiar and warm gestures, as if this is really just a care and greeting after a long absence through words of New Year greetings.

Until there was a bang, the first gorgeous fireworks lit up the night sky, and the cheers of the New Year erupted from the TV in the room faintly came through the half-open door, Ding Hua finally hung up the phone with a smile on his face, Then he closed the door that he forgot to close just now because he was in a hurry to deal with the call that was picked up by Wu Ran.

Xu Xin half-hidden behind the shadow of a half-person-high potted plant, saw that the figure with his back turned to him seemed to be turning around after the other party had done this series of actions, but for some reason, he suddenly dodged out of nowhere and silently Back to the room.

The moment Xu Xin sat down on the sofa again, Xu Xin could hardly tell whether it was the deafening firecrackers and fireworks outside the house, or whether he had heard the name of that person from Ding Hua's mouth for some reason. , the heartbeat gradually became out of order.

He stared fixedly at his fisted hands in front of his knees, as if he was silently looking at something through the clasped fingers.

It took a long time to wake up, and suddenly let go of the clenched tiger's mouth, then raised his palm and quickly brushed it across his tense face.

The carnival feast released in the night outside the window is still going on, accompanied by car alarms one after another, like a unique rhythmic ensemble, resounding in the ears of every sleepless person.

Xu's family didn't have the habit of watching the new year, and Xu's mother was getting older and didn't have the energy to stay up until midnight with the juniors, so when the children went upstairs at about eleven o'clock, they also washed up. Just fell asleep.

Xu Guang's family lived on the second floor, and there was no movement after returning to the room.

So against the background of the two, the third floor where Xu Xin and Ding Hua were located seemed relatively lively and popular in this old house that was a little lonely on New Year's Eve.

Especially Ding Hua, standing on the balcony, his mobile phone buzzing non-stop. On the occasion of the New Year, he is the most festive and joyful as a lonely man. All kinds of people come from colleagues, subordinates, friends, and even in several bars and restaurants he frequents. The congratulatory messages from the bosses, waiters, managers, and bosses who I knew well in the middle of the day all poured into the inbox not long after midnight. Flying back happily.

In addition, he had just talked to Lin An, and a specially edited New Year congratulatory text message he had sent just now was responded to again, and the brows were even more joyful.

So when Ding Hua, who was immersed in this joy, turned his head inadvertently, and suddenly saw Xu Xin who was standing quietly opposite and looking at him without saying a word, he was really shocked.

"Hey, let me go! Boss, why aren't you asleep yet?" As he spoke, he glanced at the room next door where the lights seemed to have been turned off, and turned his gaze back in confusion.Just as another burst of fireworks exploded from a certain direction, illuminating a small piece of night sky in the distance, he smiled clearly again, winked outside, and asked, "Can't sleep because of the noise?"

Xu Xin also seemed unable to give a reasonable explanation for his sudden return and return, so he could only slightly avoid his gaze, and after a moment of silence, he responded with a deep voice.

Seeing this, Ding Hua smiled again, and didn't get entangled in this topic anymore, but took the initiative to get together in the opposite direction, and began to chat with Xu Xin casually about the foggy night scene in front of him.

For a while, he talked about the cold reception he received at Xu Yuan's place at dinner today, and for a while he joked about the strange family members of the Xu family who didn't usually come to the door, but when they came, they begged Xu Guang to find a way out for their children. After a while, he took out his mobile phone which was still vibrating endlessly, and read to the other party some funny Chinese New Year text messages he received, trying to bring some joy to the other party who seemed a little depressed for some reason.

Xu Xin never said a word, just cast his eyes on a certain place, listened quietly, and occasionally smiled, even if there was a response.

Time passed by with Ding Hua's chatter and laughter from time to time. The two brothers had a rare moment of free time, leaning on the two balconies less than half a meter apart, talking softly and casually. talking.

In the end, Ding Hua, who was the main force of the chat, finally couldn't help but glanced at the other party again, then lowered his voice a little bit, giggled twice as if offering a treasure, picked up his mobile phone, and quickly clicked on the keyboard. After pressing it a few times, it was handed under Xu Xin's nose.

Then Sneaky whispered in an unclear tone: "Oh, brother, I almost forgot, come, let me show you something."

Xu Xin's gaze moved downward.

Ding Hua observed the reaction on the other party's face, and saw that his eyes froze obviously after seeing the specially called out message on his screen, he couldn't help grinning again, and then, as if worried that the other party would not understand, He repeated the contents of the text message again: "Happy New Year. Hehe, it's from Lin Zi."

Xu Xin didn't speak, just stared at those four words, and after a long time, he suddenly looked away.

Over the past few days, Ding Hua has long been familiar with his brother's reactions, so seeing that he is stunned at first, and then suddenly withdraws from that extremely focused state pretending to be calm, it is no longer the same as it was at the beginning. Feeling confused and overwhelmed when encountering this situation.So after a short pause, he just smiled again and explained on his own.

"During the meal, I sent a few text messages to Xiao Chen. He said that Lin Zi had already returned to County X from Gannan for the winter vacation half a month before the Chinese New Year. He also spent the Chinese New Year at home. And then I saw you all again this evening. The children gathered together, chatting and laughing, feeling hurt for a while, you know, I have no parents since I was a child, and none of the relatives in this family are in tune, and I haven’t eaten a few serious reunion dinners, alas, I just stayed in the house to watch the party, and it was another big reunion show. I was bored watching it. No, I had to send messages to the kids in my department to have some fun. Then, I suddenly thought of Kobayashi."

Xu Xin listened silently.

Ding Hua's words were mixed with the truth, but his affection was true, and as he talked, he really became a little sad, so he paused for a while, and continued: "Chen Jialou said that this year, they wanted to give their mother and son to each other. I went to Gannan to spend the holidays with the students of the school in the village where he stayed. Anyway, since his father left, there were no relatives in his hometown, and it was deserted, and it was no better than me. But Later, considering that the journey was too far, and his mother was not in good health recently, I didn’t go. Sigh.” Ding Hua sighed again, turned around, and looked at Xu Xin who was silent, “So this is not Well, I was a little emotional for a while, so I simply called him, thinking that I could also wish him a new year. Hey, but it’s quite strange, he seemed to be quite happy staying in that miserable place, listening to the phone Li Na's voice seems to be a little bit better than when we were here before."

Xu Xin still didn't say a word, only his eyes moved slightly when he heard the words, and slowly hung down on the ground illuminated by street lights downstairs.

The noise outside gradually subsided, only occasionally a shrill chirp of fireworks rising into the sky from a distance, swaying and blooming in the depths of the blurred sky,

Xu Xin stood motionless in the night surrounded by the smell of fireworks, and after a long time, he opened his mouth softly.

"...It's getting late, let's go to bed early."

Ding Hua, who was full of anticipation, couldn't help but rolled his eyes in frustration. After seeing the other party finished saying this, he really turned around and walked into the room, and couldn't help but shouted after him: "Hey brother."

Xu Xin paused.

"Then what, Chen Jialou said...he will stay here until the winter vacation is almost over before going back to him, about the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

Xu Xin didn't answer, just stood there for a while after hearing the sound, then stepped into the room, and gently closed the balcony door at the same time.

On the last night of the old year, it was finally completely silent. However, as soon as the sky was brightened, the first ray of morning light of the new year was ushered in all over the country amidst more violent firecrackers.

The three members of Xu Guang's family got up early in the morning, and after paying New Year's greetings to the family, they took their wife and children and set off to the old man's house. So after breakfast, he left a big red envelope for Xu Yuan, who was still sleeping upstairs, and greeted the Xu family with a smile, then left the old house, and drove back to the city alone.

For a while, only Xu Xin, Xu Yuan, Xu's mother, and the nanny who took care of her daily life were left in the huge house.

Among the four, the nanny has never been very talkative, Xu Xin has always been reticent, Xu Yuan is still losing her temper, and she also loses face when she sees her uncle, not to mention Xu's mother. The granddaughter couldn't help but think of the late second son and second daughter-in-law who fell in love with Xu Xin, and it was easy to think of the marriage that fell through when the other party fell through.

None of these piles can make people happy, how can they make people not feel sad and sigh.

Fortunately, this weird atmosphere didn't last long. Xu Guang stayed at his father-in-law's house for one night, and rushed back with his son in the second day of junior high school. Xu's mother's attention was quickly diverted by this grandson who was rarely seen once. Attracted, so when facing Xu Xin, the glaring sorrow also subsided a lot.After surviving on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, after worshiping the God of Wealth and having lunch, Xu Xin was finally completely relieved. With the help of the company's work, he completely handed over the responsibility of accompanying Xu's mother to Xu Guang, and immediately set off back to the city. inside.

The road to the city has lost the hustle and bustle of the past, perhaps because the end of the Spring Festival holiday has not really arrived, and there were not many people on the road until the elevated road.

Xu Xin drove unimpeded all the way, except for the need to stop slowly when encountering traffic lights, he hardly encountered any obstacles.The most congested road sections in the past are no longer there, and the most noisy and cluttered places are no longer chaotic, but for some reason, the speed of the car that should have been speeding has become slower and slower after driving on the elevated road.

Until the end, without any warning, he made a turn at an intersection, and inexplicably drove to Qinglong Road, which was not leading to the new district where Zhuyuan was located.

On the section of the road that runs counter to the main urban area of ​​City C, the flow of people has obviously become less and less. It was not until nearly two hours later that various snacks or repair and decoration stores with the words of X County began to appear along the road, and gradually began to appear again. gained popularity.

Unlike City C, which is deserted when major holidays come, County X, which is still in the Spring Festival holiday, is extremely lively these days. People who are working hard or studying abroad have returned to their hometowns during this period. , enjoying the long-lost warmth that only home can bring them in this small world.

Xu Xin walked slowly through these streets and alleys following the route in his memory, but was forced to stop when he reached the intersection of Qinghe.

The not-so-broad road is crowded with people everywhere, perhaps bumped into the gathering held here during the Spring Festival, large and small stalls fill up the gaps between the shops along the road, some of them sell New Year's goods, some make ornaments and toys , There are also miscellaneous books and bookstalls yelling for a few yuan a book.Residents living nearby, even people from the next town, also came in groups of three or four, squeezed in the crowd, chatting and joking around the temporary booths.

Xu Xin sat in the car, looked at the familiar and unfamiliar street scene not far away through the car window silently for a while, then lowered the window to take a breath, then started the car again, and chose another road to the other side of Qinghe Road The X county No. [-] middle school drove to.

However, as soon as he turned the key, before he could fully withdraw from the market, he suddenly saw a familiar thin figure in the slight sound of the car.

Xu Xin's eyes suddenly froze.

The crowd, which was originally surging like a tide, suddenly turned into a frozen picture scroll, only a certain figure was able to move freely through it.

He looked at the direction of that person motionlessly, and after a few seconds, his heartbeat that had been beating wildly when he touched the figure of the other person suddenly and slowly calmed down strangely.

Ding Hua was right, the opponent's state did look much better than when he was still in City C more than a year ago.

The hair is shorter, and the refreshing facial features are more clear and eye-catching in the sun; the skin is slightly darker, and the vitality exuding from the whole body is even stronger than before.

He looked sideways at Xu Xin's car window a few meters away, lowered his head and smiled slightly, his gentle eyes fell on Lin's mother standing beside him, sometimes chatting with her in a low voice, and sometimes moved to the booth on the other side I was playing with something alone, and finally, I walked slowly to a certain second-hand book stall, bent down and looked through it for a while, and paid for a few books.

Xu Xin watched silently not far away the whole time. In a trance, the slumped but stubborn figure of the man standing in the rainy night more than ten months ago seemed to appear quietly in front of him again, vaguely, hazy, accompanied by The endless sounds of wind and rain gradually converged and overlapped with the smiling figure in the setting sun, until they completely disappeared.

Time ran away in this silent gaze, and when the mind returned, the slender figure had already merged into the turbulent sea of ​​people like a light and rapid spring rain.

Xu Xin stared blankly at the direction that seemed to be a hallucination. After a long time, he stretched out his hand and opened the door and got out of the car.

In the increasingly intense sunset glow, the bookstall that the man had lingered over showed a strange tenderness in the warm yellow sunset.

Xu Xin walked step by step towards the stall that seemed to be covered with a thin layer of light, fixedly staring at the slightly scattered pages, and after a while, stretched out his hand to gently stroke some of the books.

"Hey, if you like it, hurry up and buy it."

"It costs three yuan a copy. They are all old books."

"If you miss it, you won't have it. It's the last day."

The stall owner, with his back on his back, sorted the snakeskin bags under the tricycle, and at the same time, he turned his head and took a quick look at the man who was focusing on his bookstall, then turned his head and yelled.

Ten seconds later, I packed up the remaining books in the bag, turned around again,

"How do you see it, sir? Do you want it? I'm about to close the stall here. If you want it, I can give you a cheaper price. It costs two yuan a piece. You pack it all up and take it away."

Xu Xin's eyes stayed on pointing to the next biography with a wrinkled cover, and he didn't say a word.

The boss looked at him again, thought for a while, and changed his sales strategy: "You like to read biographies? Hey, then you are really in the right place. I basically have all this series, but the books are a little old. What are they like?" Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, there are expansions of famous events and characters in it, as well as anecdotes of celebrities from various dynasties, such as Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, etc., it’s all about it.”

As he said that, he flipped through the few books in front of Xu Xin, and continued: "Oh yes, just before you came, a handsome guy bought five or six books with me and left. The ones you like are A set. How about it? How about a few volumes together? It’s hard to find things that cost more than ten yuan outside my village.”

Xu Newsyan's eyes moved, and when he heard the last few words mentioned by the stall owner, his expression darkened slightly, then he straightened up, stood facing the stall for a while, and took the rest of the food as the boss wished. Take all the books away.

Night fell quickly, and the originally bustling market slowly dissipated in the increasingly chilly night wind. After a while, it was filled and replaced by snack carts with lights on one after another.

Xu Xin's eyes were stuck on the figure of the person who appeared at the crossing. He didn't know if he was waiting for something, or he just stopped here to rest for a while. After a long time, he restarted the car in the rapidly darkening night and turned around. Drive towards the direction of city C when you came.

The rotation of day and night is like the wheels that are constantly speeding on this road, going round and round without stopping for a moment.

Soon, the seven-day long vacation ended in people's reluctance. On the seventh day of the seventh day, more than 90.00% of the company's employees showed up at their posts on time.While everyone was complaining, they were also very excited to use their free time to talk about what they had seen and heard in their hometowns during the New Year, or to distribute the snacks and special products they brought from home.

As Ding Hua is one of the most popular department leaders in the company, the table is naturally full of small gifts from the people below.And because Xu Xin's image in the company was too serious and aloof, he didn't have much direct contact with the employees below, so even if he wanted to give him a copy, they all sent them to Ding Hua.

So Manager Ding took advantage of the lunch break, carrying a large bag of snacks, and knocked on the door of Xu Xin's office with good reasons.

Counting, the two of them haven't seen each other for five or six days since they left Xu's house on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. Therefore, as soon as they entered the door, Ding Hua was the first to start talking about everything and muttering Then he took the initiative to dump the contents of the bag on the wooden coffee table next to the other party's window.

"Come on boss, take a look, this is all the affection our colleagues in the company have for you. Even those who celebrate the Chinese New Year will never forget you. It shows how successful you are as a boss and how popular you are, hahaha." Ding Hua As usual, he talked glibly, but when he was talking, he turned his eyes away, and suddenly caught a few dilapidated books with blurred covers on the chair next to the coffee table, his eyes widened again, and he reached out to pick up a book in surprise. After looking at it for a while, he exaggeratedly yelled: "Hey, what is this thing? Huh? "Mr. Water Mirror of the Three Kingdoms"??" He straightened up, turned his head with a look of disbelief, "Damn, Boss, when did you become so elegant and still study these things?"

After saying that, he clattered and flipped through the yellowed pages from beginning to end.

Xu News didn't respond, he just raised his eyes and looked forward calmly.

Ding Hua put the book back to its original place, took the beef with bacon by the way, and walked to the opposite side of the desk where the other party was sitting in amazement, then dragged a leather chair and sat down, glanced a few times with great interest. The other party returned to the document, and wanted to open his mouth to tease a few more times, but just as he was about to open his mouth, Xu Xin, who had always cherished words like gold, suddenly opened his mouth.

The question was: "... when will he leave on the 12th."

Ding Hua was taken aback, and asked, "He? Who is it?"

Xu Xin raised his head and glanced at him, then lowered his eyes again. After a short pause, Fang replied in a low voice:

"Lin An."

Ding Hua was taken aback for another moment, and then quickly scanned the figure across from him with an even more disbelieving gaze than when he found the ancient book by the coffee table just now, and at the same time opened his mouth wide open unconsciously.

You know, this is the first time in the past year and a half that he heard that person's name so completely and undisguised from the other party, and it was still in such a calm and natural tone and way that he was caught off guard.

Ding Hua was immersed in this sudden surprise, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time. It was not until Xu Xin raised his eyes to look at him again because he didn't get an answer for a long time, that he suddenly woke up, and hurriedly dug out of his pocket. Unlocking his own mobile phone, he said inexplicably and sillyly: "Hey brother, wait, wait, I remember that Chen Jialou sent me the ticket information of Xiaolin two days ago, but I was talking to my boss at that time. Wang and the others were drinking, so they didn't care about it, but I planned to pick a time to tell you when I came to work these few days, but I didn't expect you to ask first."

He let out a silly laugh as he spoke: "Hehe, hehehe..." He babbled incoherently, and immediately sent the mobile phone screen with the SMS interface called up to Xu Xin, and said very courteously: "Come on, boss have a look."

Xu Xin's gaze was fixed on the screen that was handed over, and after a while, he took the phone from the other party's hand, and read the line of text messages showing the information of train seats and entrances, etc. over.

Then he lowered his eyes again.

Ding Hua looked at him expectantly, waiting wholeheartedly for him to say something else, but seeing that the other party averted his eyes as before after reading the text message in his hand, he couldn't help being disappointed.So he curled his lips and wanted to say something more, to make amends for the excitement that he had expressed prematurely just now, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by the opposite person without warning.

I saw Xu Xin lowered his eyelids slightly, and his blocked eyes fixed on the written document in front of him, making it difficult for people to see the emotions contained in it.

He was silent for a long time, his eyes stopped on the document for a moment, and then he asked a question that made people even more puzzled:

"... Which number are you calling Chen Jialou now?"

Ding Hua looked puzzled, "Huh?...Which one?"

Xu Xin raised his head and glanced at the other side without expression, and then explained: "Mobile phone number." After a pause, he continued: "Is it a work number or a private number."

"...Dang, of course it's a private number." Ding Hua was a little puzzled, not knowing why the other party would suddenly ask such a question with an obvious answer, but he still replied with some anxiety.

"Hmm." Xu Xin answered in a low voice when he got the answer.

"What about the one who contacted him on New Year's Eve, too?" After a while, he asked again.

"Ah... that's right." Ding Hua reacted to the word "he", and after two seconds, he still replied in a daze.

Xu Xin nodded and did not continue.

Ding Hua scratched his neck, sat in his original position for a while, and after being quiet, he couldn't help asking in turn: "What's the matter? Boss, why did you suddenly ask this?" He suddenly straightened his face, and asked in a serious manner: "Cough, is it possible that you are worried that Xiao Lin and I will be exposed? Or are you afraid that my public and private affairs will be leaked? Well, brother, you don't need to worry about it. I, Ding Hua, have been mixed with this circle for a long time. It has been many years, it is impossible to make such a low-level mistake, you always put 120..."

Unexpectedly, before the last sentence could be finished, the person on the opposite side who had been silent for a long time suddenly took out a packaging bag with a new SIM card embedded in it, and then looked at it for a while, and said Without saying a word, he slowly pushed it in front of him.

"...What do you mean by this?" Ding Hua was completely blindfolded, and after quickly looking down at the card in front of him, he asked suspiciously.

Xu Xin still didn't answer immediately, but after looking at each other for a while, he lowered his head calmly.

After a short pause, he lowered his voice and uttered a sentence that was so jaw-dropping that he wondered if he had an auditory hallucination:

"...From tomorrow, replace your private account with this card."