Rust II

The light in the corridor is not too bright, and the brightly lit welcome hall in the distance is slightly set off, adding a bit of seductiveness and candor.

The water from the washbasin rushes to the slot, and the hot air from the sink rushes to the mirror.Lin An stared at the increasingly blurred figure in the mirror in a trance, and the heat brought on by the alcohol began to gradually fade from the inside to the outside, bit by bit.

I don't know how long it took, people came in and out, people came and went, until a hand patted him on the shoulder kindly, and said to him: "Dude, are you drunk? Do you want to call someone over?"

Lin An came back to his senses, stretched out his hand to turn off the faucet, smiled, and shook his head slightly.

The bathroom, where even the sound of running water disappeared, suddenly became unbearably quiet.

Lin An took out his mobile phone from his pocket, stared blankly at the lit screen for a while, and typed a line on the keyboard: Director Chen, I... I feel unwell, so I will leave first.

When it was about to be sent, it was returned.

Also please give me to... for me to...

But he hesitated again and again, but seemed to have no strength to even mention the person's name. He touched it a few times, and withdrew his hand like an electric shock a few times.

After a long time, Fang tremblingly finished his sentence: Say sorry to Mr. Xu for me.

The road from the bathroom to the hotel exit is long and dark, the wall lamps on both sides outline the beautiful scene in the picture frame, and the noise under the feet is completely swallowed up by the carpet.Lin An walked quickly with his head down in panic, paying no attention to everything around him, as if the road in front of him would be the only one in his life.

Finally, the light became bright and lively the moment it stepped into the hall.

The waiter standing on the side of the lobby quickly spotted him, and said softly with a smile on his face, "Sir, do you need anything?"

Lin An shook his head.

The other party saw that he was in a hurry, heading straight for the door with a clear goal, and said again: "Sir, please wait a moment."

Lin An paused, and the other party gave him a friendly smile, and explained, "It's raining outside, do you have an umbrella?"

Lin An was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously looked at the French windows next to the sound, only to see the waves and ripples in the pond surrounded by the corridor outside the window.Sure enough, it rained.

The waiter smiled slightly when he saw this, and asked again: "Did you come by car, sir?"

Lin An shook his head.

"If you don't mind, you can wait here for a while, and I will guide you to a taxi. What do you think?"

Lin An glanced out of the window again, smiled gratefully, "...Thank you."

The other party went immediately.Lin An walked a few more steps toward the door, stood there anxiously for a while, and the phone in his trouser pocket vibrated suddenly without warning.

Lin An took it out and took a look. It was Chen Jianliang's call.He hesitated, and pressed the call button.

"Mr. Lin, are you okay? I just found out about your text message when I was talking with Mr. Ding."

"No...it's fine."

"That's good. If you feel uncomfortable, go home and have a good rest. Your body is important. If you still can't recover tomorrow, you don't have to rush to school. At that time, I can arrange for Lao Peng to go to your class for a top."

"...Thank you, Director."

Chen Jianliang laughed twice, and said again: "Oh, Mr. Xu also went out just now, and he hasn't come back yet. By the way, I just followed you. I thought you two would run into each other."

Lin An was taken aback.

"Okay, you should already be on the way, so let's not talk about it for now, we will talk about it when we get back to school. Be careful yourself."

"……it is good."

Chen Jianliang responded, explained a few more words, and hung up the phone.

Lin An held the phone with hot palms, stood still for a moment, then suddenly turned around and looked behind him.

In the bright hall, well-trained staff are scattered everywhere, smiling and greeting the scattered guests in a gentle and polite manner. everything.

Lin An watched, the nervousness and panic in his eyes gradually changed, the dodge was replaced by anticipation for no reason, and the fear was also covered up by the inexplicable urgency.It wasn't until the end that he had no choice but to return to disappointment and gloom again, and fell back to the ground silently.

The violent heartbeat slowly subsided, Lin An stared blankly at the delicate and complicated brick patterns under his feet, and suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly.

The bright lights suddenly became extremely dazzling, leaving no place for shame to hide, and no place for shame to hide.

Lin An didn't dare to stay for a moment, and couldn't wait for the car any longer. He turned around and walked through the revolving door in two or three steps, and fled in the heavy rain.

The night was ripe, and the dazzling lights of the hotel were projected on the slippery ground, illuminating the panicky figure of the man even more.

Xu Xin sat in the car, silently watching the taxi that was stopped in a hurry and then quickly moved away, and took out a cigarette from the coat pocket beside him.

Ding Hua's call came in at just the right time.Xu Xin lowered half of the closed car window, lowered his head to light the ignition, and listened to the triumphant call for credit from the other end.

"Hey brother, brother, my performance today is not bad, right?"

Xu Xin took a puff of cigarette, let it out after a long time, and snorted.

"good."

"Hey, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, brother, you also have a day when you feel embarrassed and ask for help. It's really a turn of wind and water, God open your eyes."

Xu Xin flicked the ashes out of the window and started the car, "Is it itchy?"

"Isn't it? I've been pretending to be gentle for a long time, and my fists are rusted from his grandma's." He sighed suddenly, "Well, speaking of it, Lin Zi really hasn't changed at all. When I saw his father doing it more than ten years ago All of a sudden, the bastard remembered it! In comparison, I am a lot older."

Xu Xin drove the car out of Jinling East Road and onto the overpass, but did not respond.

Ding Hua still sighed to himself, this meeting seemed to have touched him a lot, and after talking about it for a while, he finally remembered the topic again.

"Hey, my brain is getting weaker and weaker. It's useless to talk about it. Brother, have you talked about the matter with Ren Xiaolin?"

Xu Xin parked the car at the traffic light, looked at the crowds on the sidewalk, and replied in a rambling voice, "No."

"Fuck!" Ding Hua's voice rose sharply, perhaps forced by the environment, and then lowered in the next second, "No, boss, then why are you chasing after me all of a sudden? Director Chen just told me that Xiao Lin had to leave beforehand." Damn, I thought the two of you were the same as before, sneaking away to 'elope'... but it turned out that this was a mess, and nothing was resolved after a long time? Hey, this is not like your style," said Coughed, and said softly: "Brother, I have used all my strengths tonight. It's a sensational memory and an atmosphere. We can't waste such a good opportunity! In my opinion With Xiao Lin's temperament, so many years have passed, he can't get through any big things? Besides, when I saw him on the table just now, he didn't look like he didn't miss the old love at all..."

Xu Xin didn't say a word.

Ding Hua got excited, and he didn't know where he avoided it. The surrounding became more and more quiet, which made his loud voice more obvious and urgent.

"Hey, boss, don't be silent, or do you mean you can't lose face? Let me tell you, this kind of thing can't be delayed, it has to be fast, do you understand? Lin Zi is a sensible person. Let me show you my difficulties, talk about the truth, and the other party will definitely change his mind! Otherwise, if you are really embarrassed, I will speak for you!"

"He doesn't want to see me." Unexpectedly, Xu Xin, who had been silent all this time, said suddenly.

Ding Hua, who was still immersed in the anger, was taken aback for a moment, opened his mouth and said, "Huh?"

When the green light changed, Xu Xin drove forward for a while, then turned right and drove towards the east of the city.

"Don't worry about this matter, I know it well."

Ding Hua was speechless, and just about to say a few more words, he heard Xu Xin chuckle on the other end, and continued: "Don't worry, when the medical equipment import case with the Ma family is over next month, I will find another opportunity to talk to him again." See you next time."

But who is Ding Hua?He has always regarded eating, drinking, and having fun as his top priority in life. Looking at the entire city of C, Ding Huaruo claims to be second in terms of joining in the fun, and no one dares to dominate the number one.In the past, when he had no money in his pocket, he couldn't control his legs and feet. Now he eats and drinks with his brother Xu all day long. If he can hold his temper and live a stable life, that would be incredible.

Therefore, as soon as Xu Xin's front foot was explained, Ding Hua's back foot was in close contact with Lin An. Of course, in the first week, the so-called "frequent and close" connection was always Ding Hua's shaved head. , He got Lin An's phone number from Chen Jianliang, and asked for the landline of Lin An's office. He pretended to cooperate with Brother Xu and X Central to strictly control Xu Yuan, maintain a correct attitude, be more vigilant, and assist the school in all aspects of education. The little girl changed her mind and started a new life. In fact, all her fighting spirit and passion were devoted to Lin An.

Finally, after dozens of meaningless SMS greetings and phone bombardment, Ding Hua couldn't pretend anymore, took advantage of Xu Yuan's time after school one day to send him back to the villa, and then quietly turned around and drove towards the West District where X was located .

Not long after Lin An arrived in City C, for the convenience of commuting to and from get off work, he rented a suite in a residential area near the school.Ding Hua parked the car at the green belt at the gate of the community, lowered the window and smoked for a while, the sky had already darkened.He had already called Chen Jianliang before he arrived, and he knew that the other party had just finished the meeting and should be able to finish the work in a short time. Sure enough, within half an hour, a familiar thin figure appeared at the gate of the community across the road outside.

Ding Hua watched for a while in the car with a smile, and found that his previous judgment was somewhat wrong—there were indeed things about the other party that had not changed for more than ten years, such as his appearance, but there were also things that were completely different from what he had imagined. place, such as temperament.To say that this thing is really mysterious, just seeing the other party take a few steps, stroked his sleeves casually, and said a few words to the security guard at the door, Ding Hua just thought that Lin An would only follow behind everyone like the former one. The "two chairs" he ran were different, but he couldn't tell what was the difference. It seemed that he was much more generous and calm.

Ding Hua was amused, very satisfied with this new discovery, and felt that this change might make his next job much easier.Seeing that the man was about to enter after exchanging greetings with the guard, Ding Hua immediately got out of the car and shouted to the front.

"Xiao Lin!"

Lin An turned his head and looked in the direction of the green belt. Ding Hua locked the car and happily went up to him. After a few steps, he stood still in front of the opponent, looked at him from top to bottom, and then wrapped his arms around the opponent's shoulders. Said: "Hey, it's time to wait." Lin An obviously didn't expect Ding Hua to appear suddenly, and was momentarily stunned.

Ding Hua asked again: "Have you eaten? If you haven't eaten, go have a meal with brother?"

Lin An looked at Ding Hua with a hippie smile. Before he could react to what the other party said, his heart began to jump wildly. He subconsciously looked behind the other party. After confirming that there was no one else, his chaotic thoughts Fang slowed down a little.The stiff shoulders were surrounded by Ding Hua, and he led him to the car parked under the streetlight without hesitation. Lin An stabilized his mind and struggled slightly, not wanting to be held by Ding Hua even more forcefully as soon as his shoulder moved.

"Ding, Mr. Ding..."

Ding Hua turned his head and stared at him, Lin An smiled weakly, and had no choice but to change his words: "Brother Ding, I...I don't have much appetite recently, so I won't go..."

Ding Hua's bull eyes widened even wider, and he said with a tiger face: "Hey, I just thought that you have improved in the past few years, but I didn't expect you to be so cowardly. It's a waste of praise." He opened the door and pushed him into the car, closed the door and started the car, saying: "I'm a scourge? Can I still eat you? I haven't seen you for so many years. I want to have a meal and chat. You kid still put on a show? Let me tell you, don't refuse, later brother, I will let you eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, I want to see if I can poison you to death or something."

Lin quietly sat in the back seat without speaking.

Ding Hua glanced at him from the rearview mirror, remembering what Xu Xin explained before arranging the dinner last time, he paused, and his tone softened again.He hummed a few little tunes, coughed and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Lin An was quiet for a while, then pulled the corner of his mouth with difficulty, "Brother Ding just decides."

Ding Hua saw that he was sluggish, and couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He was a lobbyist for Xu Xin to resolve the grudges, so he couldn't be self-defeating on impulse, and don't make Xiaolin treat his brother Xu old in the end. Not to mention that hatred is hard to get rid of, if you accidentally add new hatred, it will not be worth the loss.So he thought about it, and calmed down the atmosphere: "Hey, I heard from the boss that the neighborhood you just lived in is pretty good. When it was built a few years ago, many cadres in the city bought houses there, and it's worthy of the name." Guanzhai'ah, you're fine, kid, you have a good eye."

Lin An smiled.

Ding Hua also laughed, "The rent is not cheap, is it?"

Lin An hummed lightly, Ding Hua saw the opportunity coming, he immediately smiled at the rearview mirror, and said: "If you like it, Brother Ding will find a way for you." He patted the steering wheel, pretending to be surprised and said: "Oh, why did I forget? Speaking of this, the boss happens to have a friend named Zhang, whom he knows very well. He's working on building a bureau. Why don't you turn around..."

Before he finished speaking, Lin An suddenly said, "No need!"

The sound is not too small.

Ding Hua was startled, and couldn't help taking the time to glance back at him.

Lin An's palms broke out in cold sweat, and his heart jumped up uncontrollably the moment he heard Ding Hua mention Xu Xin, so that he lost his composure to the point that he couldn't control his voice.

The air was a little stagnant for a while, Lin An lowered his gaze, and lowered his voice, "No...don't bother me, I...I may not stay here for a long time, thank you, Brother Ding." A catastrophe.

Ding Hua didn't expect the other party's reaction to be so big, but he seemed to be vulgar and Meng Lang. He thought that the other party had just joined X, and it was really not easy to have too many close contacts with the students' families, so he didn't say anything more, just followed: "Okay, I'll just mention it, don't worry about it, let's eat first."

After a while, the car finally arrived. Ding Hua excitedly greeted Lin An to get out of the car, and brought him into the shop familiarly. When he sat in the box, the boss had already heard the news, and the two drove away happily. After a few jokes, knowing that Ding Hua came here specially to bring friends to taste his craft, he immediately called a waiter to stand with him at the door of the private room, and he was there whenever he was called.

After the boss left, Ding Hua sat down and poured a cup of tea for Lin An who was sitting silently, raised his eyebrows and smiled at him and asked, "Hey, did you recognize who the boss was?"

Lin An frowned, thought for a while, and shook his head.

Ding Hua smiled, "I can't remember, Lao Wang! The old Wang of our former machinery factory, the one with four cars, lived under you and the old building."

A trace of surprise flashed in Lin An's eyes.

Ding Hua laughed and said: "This guy used to be thin, and he ate as many chickens as Director Qian's and didn't grow any meat. Now he married a wife and opened a restaurant. The business is really good, but he has a fat head and big ears. Don't worry." Speaking of you, when I first saw him here, I didn't fucking recognize him."

Seeing that Lin An should not answer, he took a sip from the cup and said, "Hey, don't you even remember Director Qian?"

Lin An smiled, "I remember."

Ding Hua put down his cup and smashed his mouth, and muttered: "What kind of tea do you drink, it doesn't smell like fart..." He raised his voice and shouted to the young brother waiting outside the door: "Xiao Zhang, open a bottle of Moutai!"

"Okay! Brother Ding, wait a moment!" The door responded immediately.

Ding Hua turned his face back and smiled at Lin An: "Now this guy is out, anyway, he treats guests, please don't be polite, let's kill him hard."

Lin An looked at him, saw that the other party was still the same as before, that he could eat everywhere and was good friends with everyone, so he couldn't help letting go of his nervousness, and smiled at him.

Ding Hua has been secretly paying attention to Lin An's reaction, seeing that he has finally relaxed, he drank a few more sips of tea, sighed exaggeratedly, and pretended to be sad: "Oh, these years have changed a lot, if you don't pay attention, It’s a different place, you just returned to City C, you probably don’t even recognize the area. Do you know where the land we’re sitting on is.”

Lin An shook his head.

"I really don't recognize it. Yongning Road, I still have an impression. In 93 and 94, our machinery factory and the textile factory opposite were here. Now the textile factory has moved to the countryside, and our small broken factory is even more unsatisfactory. It went out of business in 2000."

Lin An was silent.

The food and wine came in at the right time, Ding Hua changed the cup and poured it on a sip, then said: "Look, now the building is taller, the road is wider, and the car is faster." He shook the cup in his hand again, "He Grandma's drinking cups are even higher-end, but my mother feels that life is not as interesting as before."

Lin An glanced at the cup that he slammed on the table, and couldn't help but smile.

Ding Hua waved his hand, "Hey Xiao Lin, don't laugh, I'm telling the truth, you cultured people, you may not be able to hear such vulgar words, but how many of the words you can hear now are true? Do you think this is the truth? Reason? People’s hearts can change, it’s so easy.”

Lin An didn't know what he thought of, and lowered his eyes to look at the teacup in his hand.

Ding Hua poured himself another glass, and the aroma of the wine filled the room for a while, which made people feel absurd as if they had passed away.

"Xiao Lin, to tell you the truth, Brother Ding has actually missed you a lot these years. Do you still remember that when you first came to the factory, the brothers often laughed at you behind your back and said what are you? A sissy? The second chair? Sigh, I was ignorant at that time, I always thought that a man is only a man who can dance a stick, know fists and feet, and dare to fight bloody red plums, and reading is a fart."

Lin An tightened the cup in his hand.

Ding Hua drank a few glasses of wine, and talked about everything, true and false, and could not help being moved, "Haha, Brother Ding didn't speak well at that time, do you complain?"

Lin An hastily smiled and shook his head.

Ding Hua took a bite of the food and said, "Hey, don't pretend, it's not a big deal to complain, if someone dares to treat me like that, grandpa, I will definitely remember his mother for the rest of my life!" After saying that, he filled up the wine for himself, raised his glass to Lin An, He laughed and said, "Come on, I respect you with this cup, and I will make amends for that year. If you can't drink it, replace the wine with tea, whatever you want." Then he raised his head and finished.But what he didn't expect was that after Lin An stared at the glass in his hand silently for a while, he reached out and took the wine bottle that Ding Hua put aside, and poured himself a glass slowly, then frowned and struggled drank it down.

Ding Hua was stunned, then slapped his thigh and laughed loudly, he was so happy that he stood up quickly and poured another glass for the other party, and said in his mouth: "Awesome, oh Xiao Lin, no wonder the boss liked you so much at the beginning , It’s not unreasonable, it seems Wen Zou Zou is weak and weak, and we are just as unambiguous when it’s time to be a man.”

Lin An's eyes trembled when he heard Xu Xin mentioned again, perhaps because of the alcohol in his blood, the expected panic did not come.Lin An shook his head lightly, feeling unbelievable at the eerie calm.Maybe it's because I'm too used to carefully covering up the bottomless feelings that have been hidden in my heart for a long time, or I'm too used to the fear of palpitations that often wake up in dreams.

He knew that Ding Hua's toast to him for this glass of wine was for the once youthful and frivolous, and also for the unrestrained days that never looked back.

But what is the purpose of this drink that I don't understand but can't help but pay back?

Lin An looked at Ding Hua who was grinning foolishly in front of him, suddenly he didn't want to think about it, and didn't dare to think about it anymore.But he knew very well in his heart that he had actually thought of the answer to this question better than anyone else in the past ten years, and it was precisely because of this that he was unwilling, unable, and afraid to meet that person.

Ding Hua was still babbling, talking for a while, drinking a few sips, Lin An listened without saying a word, listening for a while, drinking along with it.

Ding Hua has a good capacity for alcohol, and his thinking is still clear and articulate after most of the bottle is filled. He sipped his wine and ate his dishes, and said endlessly: "Oh, man, it's better to be simple, happy, happy! Don't talk about others, just talk about it." You Xiaolin, do you remember the fight between us and the yellow dog back then, just you, Lin Zi, just you, you can't lift your shoulders with one hand, I really didn't expect that you would dare to fight yourself He bumped his head straight into the bricks, ouch, it scared me and the boss more than I was stimulated by eating a knife. Tell me, what were you doing for that time? We are a bunch of bastards, just you A head is the most valuable, if you don’t cherish it, why would you want to bump your head on it?" He patted the table, making the bowls and chopsticks rattle, "Isn't it just for the word 'love'!"

Lin An was startled.

Ding Hua looked at him, "Do you admit it?"

Lin Anding looked at him.

Ding Hua waved his hand, "What is the most rare thing in this world? Love, true love! Look at you, Mr. Ding, and I have had countless drinks with others over the years, and countless lies have been told at the wine table, but they are all fucking nonsense , Whoever makes us earn money, we will say all our hearts to whoever is good. But it's boring."

Ding Hua waved his hand at Lin An again, "It's really fucking boring."

"So Xiaolin, we are different from others, and you are even more different from the boss. When Shi Erlang was in charge, whenever you got sick, brother didn't say anything about it, and he sent me to buy medicine in private, and it was another The one who served the tea and water himself, when you were hurt, he was so angry that he almost cut me, and he was not willing to hand you over to another servant, he had to see it with his own eyes. It was the same sentence I said in front of everyone two weeks ago , this is simply more caring than my daughter-in-law, I can't have this kind of love anymore, I can't have it anymore..."

Lin An didn't know when he had put down his cup, lowered his head and fell silent.

"So Xiao Lin, brother, he didn't want to help you back then, and he couldn't do anything about it. Of course, this is a conflict between the two of you. I shouldn't have said anything. The boss has never mentioned it to anyone over the years. Knowing that you have transferred to City C, I asked about your situation, and he only said that he was sorry for you. Even if he wanted to meet you, talk to you, it was mother-in-law who thought about it," Ding Hua said At this point, I can't help but think of the night before I decided to use the excuse of reconciling with the Zhou family to reconcile and organize the bureau with Lin An, when Xu Xin chatted with himself about Lin An.In Ding Hua's impression, that seemed to be the only time that Xu Xin took the initiative to talk about the past related to that person in these years.

Before that, they either raised their eyebrows or raised their eyes, or remained silent.

Lin An was already in a state of confusion, and Ding Hua's words came to his ears intermittently, causing the blood in his body to flow faster and faster, his nerves beating wildly, his heart pounding, he couldn't hear all the words clearly, and all his thoughts were chaotic and stagnant. The word "Xin" is extremely clear, lingering in the bottom of my heart.

What did Ding Hua say again, he didn't even know how to respond, should he cry or laugh, shake his head or nod.

After Ding Hua finished what he wanted to say, he knew that the other party was overwhelmed with alcohol, and he was already not sober.So he tentatively called a few more times, but there was no response, so he took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket, stared at Xu Xin's name in the address book for a while, called it out, edited a text message and sent it .

——Brother, Bashan Buyi Hotel, No. 181, Feining Road, Yongning Road.come quickly.

After thinking about it, I typed a few more words and sent them together: Xiao Lin is drunk.