Rust II

It was nearly nine o'clock in the evening when Xu Xin came out of Ma Zhai and rushed to Yongning Road.Ding Hua was sweating profusely from drinking, and was sitting under the air conditioner with a cigarette in his mouth. On the other side of the table was Lin An, who was already unconscious and lying quietly on his stomach.

"How is it? Do you have two brushes? Brother, are you convinced?"

Xu Xin glanced at the crumbling cups, plates and chopsticks on the table, frowned and asked him, "How much did you drink?"

Ding Hua rolled his eyes, stretched out his hand and compared, "Don't worry, you just--you won't die at this point, it's not like you don't know that Lin Zi can't drink well..." He said and patted his stomach, "See No, it’s all here, what’s the hurry.”

After speaking, he stood up, hehe leaned towards Xu Xin, and said with a mysterious expression: "Boss, brother, I have already helped this, if I can't make it, then it will be too shameful."

He lowered his voice and said, "As the saying goes, you tell the truth after drinking. Lin Zi has a thin skin. He can't fart with three sticks at ordinary times, but it's not necessarily the case now. Communication between people is necessary. It's about communication... You said that you two didn't speak a few words last time, so it's no wonder that the problem can be solved, no matter how small the problem is, you have to know the crux of it, so that you can prescribe the right medicine, right?"

Xu Xin didn't respond, but stared at Lin An's head resting on the edge of the table in an unusually silent manner.

Ding Hua smirked twice, and asked again: "Hey brother, did Xiao Wang send you here?"

Xu Xin hummed.

Ding Hua took one coat and put it on, tidied up and started to walk out the door, "Come on, brother, I'll go first, you two talk slowly!"

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and turned around, smiling and said: "By the way, I just asked him if he thought about Brother Xu all these years, but guess what he said?"

Xu Xin raised his eyebrows to look at him.

Ding Hua chuckled, blinked and said, "I want to! I want to dream too!"

After speaking, he waved his hand back and walked away happily.

In the corridor, Ding Hua's whistle could be faintly heard as he gradually went away, occasionally mixed with a few warm greetings from the waiter.

——Boss Ding, are you leaving?

——Why, I can’t bear it, why don’t you go and ask your Boss Wang to see if you are welcome, brother Ding?

——Hehe, Boss Ding is really good at joking, come back next time.

——Okay, come to see your old Wang for a few drinks when you have time some other day, and fool him into giving you more wages, hey, don't miss it later and let the boss know.

The waiter was amused and giggled.

Xu was told by Ding Hua that people coming and going outside the house were very lively, but they didn't come in unwisely to disturb.

Xu Xin turned his head, looked silently at Lin An who was lying motionless on the table for a moment, reached out and took the black coat that was draped over the back of the chair, but paused involuntarily the moment he put it on.

Ding Hua is right about one thing, time flies, but the person in front of him seems to have not changed from ten years ago, so that just a quick photo can make the old things uninvited Come automatically.

Xu Xin's eyes fell on the other party's clean and tidy hair, and he couldn't help being slightly lost in thought.

In the past, Ding Hua and Chen Jialou always seemed to be dissatisfied with various aspects of this person. It was wrong to be thin and soft, and it was wrong to be unable to speak dirty. To tremble when you meet someone who is more tyrannical is to make your mistake even worse.In the end, even the hair was a minute and a half longer than the other brothers in the factory, which was an intolerable mistake.

So forcibly remodeling and repairing and ridiculing and teasing afterwards became the most subtle oppression against this person at first.

Xu Xin can't stand it anymore, teach him to fight, it won't work, teach him to pick up girls, it won't work, teach him to smoke and drink, it won't work at all, even if it's a few bad words, or a hooligan whistle to a passing beauty As if killing him, it made his face flush and the pain was unbearable.

In the end, I had no choice but to choose one night, and took the other party to a barber shop at the corner of the alley, and asked the barber to shovel the student's head and cut it neatly. Unexpectedly, he was taken back to the dormitory after the incident , Ding Hua shook his head at the man's newly cut hairstyle, yelling again and again Finish talking, don't talk about a cropped head, a bald head can't save this kid, he's not a mix of us at all, he's too damn motherly Angry, he asked him exaggeratedly, "Brother, look at his brows, nose and eyes, oh my, fuck, is it what the fucking elders should grow?" Xu Xin didn't respond at that time, but wait... Back in the house, I saw the man doing laundry and boiling water carefully in silence, but couldn't help but look at the more and more clear outline of the other person time and time again pretending to be meaningless.

Wrong, indeed wrong, every step is wrong.It is wrong to act bravely in righteousness, it is wrong to feel pity in the heart, it is wrong to take the other party into your eyes, and even in the end, it is even more wrong to be complacent and complacent because of the other party's dependence and follow.

Xu Xin stared blankly at the face that was close at hand, and after a long time, he straightened up and walked to the window sill in front of the private room.

Before Ding Hua left, perhaps in order to dispel the smell of smoke, he left a small slit on the side of the window.

Xu Xin leaned lazily on the window sill, with a few rays of light shining through the spotlessly clean glass. He looked at the blurred and mottled tree shadows outside the window, took out the cigarette case from his pocket and knocked out a cigarette.

After a few hesitation, Fang shook his ashes and straightened up, ready to take the sleeping man downstairs.

Don't want to just turn around, to see that the other party has woken up at some point, sitting in the same position with a pale face, staring at him in a daze.

Xu Xin put out the cigarette, smiled slightly at the front, and said, "Mr. Lin, are you awake?"

Lin An looked at him for a moment, moved his mouth, but didn't make a sound.

Seeing this, Xu Xin smiled, and after a short pause, continued to walk towards him.But I didn't expect that just after taking two steps, the other party's eyes turned red suddenly, and he called him hoarsely, "Brother Xu."

Xu Xin stopped.

The air conditioner suddenly stopped operating, and the sound of the fan blades turning disappeared, and the dazzling lights above fell from the sky, enveloping the suddenly quiet private room.

Lin An stared blankly at the front, and after a few seconds, his mouth moved, and he called again in a low voice: "...Brother Xu, is, is it you?"

Xu Xin looked at him without responding.

Silence spread between the two as expected, and after a long time, Fang was broken again by one of them.

Lin An smiled bitterly, and murmured: "I... I caught up..."

Xu Xin frowned slightly, and stepped forward involuntarily, "What?"

Lin An didn't answer, but just looked at the direction of the other person, but he didn't seem to know what he was looking at, until a layer of mist gradually appeared in his confused eyes.

After a while, he supported the slightly cool corner of the table and stood up unsteadily.

Xu Xin looked at him for a moment, and a strange irritability suddenly surged in his heart.

The man's face was pale and his eyes were red, as if he was about to shed tears in the next moment.This kind of situation is too familiar, he used to toss and turn because of this look in countless restless nights.

Xu Xin habitually put his hands in his pockets, smiled mockingly, and tried to say something to break the anxious silence.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his head, the other party suddenly made another move.

Lin An's footsteps were a bit vain, but his goal was very clear. He walked forward step by step, his eyes were eager and determined, as if he was desperately chasing something, urgent and anxious, but at the same time he carried a trace of usual timidity, After hesitating, he finally breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stood in front of Xu Xin.

He focused on the handsome face that had appeared in his dreams countless times, and the tears that had accumulated in his eyes for a long time slid down.

"...Brother Xu." Then the voice became even more hoarse and unpleasant.

Xu Xin stood where he was, without moving.

"Brother Xu...Brother Xu..."

Lin An yelled over and over again, the remaining sobriety and rationality almost collapsed under the washing of tears, his lips began to tremble slightly uncontrollably, and then spread to the shoulders, then to the back, to the waist and abdomen, to the legs and feet, and finally Together with the slowly raised palm, they trembled slightly unavoidably.

But after all, he was too drunk, with ups and downs of sorrow and joy, and his mind became more and more dizzy. Lin An swayed from side to side, and Xu Xin stretched out his hand to support him.

He silently stared at the sobbing man in front of him who smelled of alcohol, and asked aloud, "What do you want to say?"

Lin An shook his head.

Xu Xin looked at the other party drunk but still did not forget to hold his hand tightly on the fabric of his coat. He guessed that it must be what Ding Hua said earlier, otherwise, with the temper of the person in front of him, let alone "meeting enemies" At present, even in the past when they had a lot of friendship, it is absolutely impossible to be so emotionally leaked and so gaffe.

Thinking of this, Xu Xin's expression couldn't help changing. He looked at the head resting on his shoulder, lowered his head slightly, and whispered softly in that person's ear: "Lin An."

As expected, the other party moved, and Xu Xin smiled inexplicably. After a pause, he continued: "What do you want to tell me?"

Lin An loosened his grip on the clothes under his hand, and slowly turned his face, his eyes were so red, he stared at Xu Xin's face that was close at hand, for a long while, he said in a trembling voice: "...I'm sorry..."

Xu Xin raised his eyebrows and looked at him calmly, "What else?"

Lin An blinked, and the scenes of parting from the other party that flashed countless times in the dream reappeared one by one. The man sat on the bank of the sparkling river, looked back at him, gentle and calm, and asked him: Lin An, what are you doing? Need this opportunity?

For a moment, his heart ached and his headache was about to split, but he still opened his mouth tremblingly, and whispered back: I don't need... I, I don't need...

Xu Xin didn't hear clearly, so he couldn't help lowering his face a little bit.

Lin An's vision was blurred again, and Xu Xin was getting closer and closer in his dream, holding a box of red cigarettes in his hand, shining brightly under the moonlight.He stared as hard as he could, tears welling up in his eyes.

So two seconds later, Xu Xin's tightly closed lips waiting for the answer were unexpectedly covered by another person's warmth.

Lin An's eyes were slightly closed, and the corners of the eyes soaked with tears seemed to flicker against the light.

The sniffs staggered unexpectedly, and during the pause, they became hotter than the overlapping lips.

Xu Xin lowered his eyes, and after the initial surprise, there was an imperceptible indifference in his eyes.

Since Lin Anshang was close to him, he was obviously very dazed, he never tossed and turned, and didn't know what it means to have wet lips and tongue, and after a while, he retreated again with a scalding temperature.

Xu Xin waited, looked at the other person's cheek against his shoulder again for a moment, then bent down without saying a word, picked him up and took him downstairs.

When I stepped out of the hotel gate, it was nearly quarter to nine, and a group of casual guests began to gather gradually on the street. Amidst the neon lights, some chatted and greeted each other, and some hugged and said goodbye.

Xu Xin put Lin An into the car, closed the door, and returned to the front seat.

Xiao Wang was borrowed by Ding Hua more than 20 minutes ago. At this time, it is estimated that he has been safely delivered to the residence. As soon as the car started, the mobile phone on the passenger seat vibrated.

Xu Xin picked it up, and the usual question came from his ear, "Sir, are you still on Yongning Road? Do you want me to come pick you up now?"

Xu Xin backed the car out of the parking space and said in a low voice, "No need, I have something else to do."

The other end agreed, and Xu Xin glanced at Lin An who was lying quietly and sleeping in the back seat through the rearview mirror, paused, and then explained: "Call Xu Yuan's school early tomorrow morning and tell her that she is in class. Teacher Lin, who was on the train, was not feeling well and needed to take a day off."

"...Okay." Xiao Wang was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly replied.

Xu Xin turned off the line, glanced ahead again, and drove out of Feining Road.

Perhaps the National Day is approaching, and the shops along the street are all decorated with lights and festoons, and even the green belts on both sides of the road seem to be filled with joy, and the dusty and sparsely populated ruins of the past have disappeared.Xu Xin drove forward for a while, stopped the car at the traffic light at the intersection, and lowered the window halfway while waiting for the indicator light to change.

He was so familiar with this road that he couldn't be more familiar with it. Going back a hundred meters, it was the former Guolian No. [-] Factory, and diagonally opposite, it has experienced several ups and downs over the years, but now it has been built into an open park for citizens. abandoned garden.

When Ding Hua passes through this area, he always likes to joke in private, saying that in today's city C, everything is good, but there is no place where people can drink to the bright moon and piss against the wind. Look, even At the beginning, this gangster's lair where hooligans gathered and scattered has suddenly transformed into a holy place for young people to talk about love. The government is really fucking awesome.At the end, I have to tease Xu Xin again: No, even Brother Xu, who has always regarded power and money as dung, chose to abandon the dark and turn to the bright. This awareness, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is earth-shattering, it is enough to be recorded in the annals of history!

Xu Xin leaned on the back of the chair, staring silently at the signal light that finally entered the final long count. The screen of the mobile phone suddenly lit up. Someone really couldn't help it, and two text messages poured in one after another.

Brother, how are you talking?

Haha, the effect is not bad, right?

Xu Xin smiled, remembering the kiss that wasn't a kiss 10 minutes ago, and quickly replied with two words, "Not bad."

The envelope-shaped graphic flew for two seconds, and then showed the status of the message being sent successfully.Xu Xin could imagine Ding Hua's sly smile on the other end almost immediately, and sure enough, within two seconds, the phone vibrated and flew up.

The indicator light turned from red to green, and Xu Xin pressed the phone down, causing Ding Hua to yell at the other end——

Brother, why don't you accept it?

Alas, as expected, Lin Zi forgot Hua...

Hey, this is not kind, crossing rivers and demolishing bridges, is that something we gentlemen should do?

Xu Xin drove the car back to Fudong Road in Xzhong, Western District, ignoring the violent bombing at the other end.

The other party is still immersed in his fabricated rhetoric of brotherly love and cannot extricate himself. Perhaps he has been in this vicious circle where hypocrisy becomes the norm and absurdity sits firmly in a high position for a long time, so even if he captures a little bit of so-called purity, it can make people feel happy. It emits an unusually dazzling brilliance.

What's more, in his "confession", it was him, Xu Xin, who stood idly by the suffering of his former friends, and it was him, Xu Xin, who was indifferent to the help of his former brothers, and it was also the beginning of his disagreement and final break with Lin An.

Ding Hua was convinced of this, and even searched his brains to find a lot of amusing evidence from the relevant memories, and finally came to the conclusion: No wonder, no wonder, no wonder his Brother Xu and Xiao Lin were always at odds during those days Suddenly far and near, sometimes intimate and sticky as hell, and sometimes indifferent and like a stranger.

More than 20 minutes later, the car stopped in a residential area near X Zhong.

Lin An no longer had the intense emotions he had in "Bashan Commoner" not long ago, and fell into a deep sleep while lying sideways on the back seat.

Xu Xin stood outside the car and smoked for a while, then looked up at a certain residential building a few steps away.

This community is called Cuifangyuan, which was once jokingly called "Guanyuan" by the surrounding residents. When it was first built in 2000, because of its superior geographical location, many cadres at that time were attracted to settle down. He was not transferred from City C, but he also bought a four-bedroom house in it. He didn't want to be transferred to City B together with Li Ping after living in it for less than half a year.

Later, when Xu Yuan entered X Middle School, Xu Guang deliberately asked someone to come to arrange it, saying that it was for the little girl to live there, and it would also be convenient for her to go to and from school. Who knew that the little girl was not happy, and she wanted to stay there with her uncle Xu Xinlai desperately. In Zhuyuan, a new district that is "desert and uninhabited", people "wake up early and stay late every day" and travel all the way to study.

As for why Xu Yuan prefers to rely on Xu Xin, Xu Xin was also very puzzled at first. In fact, although he was extremely unpopular in the eyes of most people when he was young, he always held a relatively strict attitude towards Xu Yuan's education. Attitude, unless she is too busy with business, Xu Yuan will basically not have the opportunity and courage to make small moves under his nose.

Until one time Ding Hua slipped his tongue in front of him, saying that the little girl had not been bewitched by something since she was a child, and she hadn't inherited her father Xu Zhong's diligence and quick-wittedness at all, and she loved to secretly hold some random books all day He studies blindly, and is not interested in the decent heroes in the book. On the contrary, when he sees the "scheming" "treacherous villain" or the "rogue villain" who does all kinds of evil, his eyes light up with excitement Called, later on, I felt that reading all kinds of miscellaneous books was not enough, and I began to look for all kinds of opportunities to practice it myself, but I suffered from the fact that Xu Zhong controlled her a lot when he was alive, let alone go out to "travel in the rivers and lakes". , Even if you usually hang out with the troublemakers in the class, you will be reprimanded/admonished when you go back.Therefore, when she inadvertently learned that her uncle Xu Xin was the number one person in command of the "Heroes of Yongning Avenue" one day, one can imagine the excitement and admiration.

Xiao Ding is often pestered by her to talk about some "splendid" deeds in the past, such as what is invincible in the world, what beauty is sad for a hooligan, he is most boastful.Xu Yuan was so happy that she often danced and danced excitedly. When exaggerating, she even desperately wanted to worship Ding Hua's teacher, saying that she wanted to learn some leg skills.Naturally, Ding Hua would not accept her. In fact, these past events, now he is just talking about coaxing the child to get his mouth full. In today's society with increasingly clear demands, why bother to use fists for things that can be solved with money and power?

Of course, he would never tell a child about these thoughts and cognitions, but he occasionally chatted with Xu Xin, but he also felt quite self-deprecating.He also quietly asked Xu Yuan in private, why he is always full of yearning and thirst for knowledge about these negative behaviors of "not being on the stage", and why he has to join the group of gangsters and compete with a group of bastards , Could it be that he was really rebellious by nature, but the little girl rolled her eyes at him, and said disdainfully: Brother Ding, you are so uneducated, I call it obedience to nature and destiny!Rather be a villain than a hypocrite!

Ding Hua was speechless, obviously not believing it, but the little girl then smiled embarrassedly, and explained in a shy way: I'm just kidding, it's actually because you guys are kind to me, especially Uncle Ding, you are much more interesting than my uncle and the others, I just want to hang out with you, nothing else.

Ding Hua was both funny and moved. When he relayed the story to Xu Xin, he couldn't help sighing: Which bastard said that your niece is not like your second brother at all?This shrewd person can speak with his mouth.

Xu Xin puffed out a puff of smoke towards a second-floor window obliquely in front of him, and his thoughts wandered in the ups and downs of memories.

Xu Yuan's jokes are so familiar, it seems that in a certain suffocating night, someone also confided their feelings to herself like this.

The phone vibrated at an untimely moment, Xu Xin looked down, and the word "Wen Wei" was displayed on the glaring screen.

Xu Xin frowned, removed the cigarette, and pressed the call button.

The other party's flattering voice immediately came through the receiver: "Xu Xin, where are you?"

Xu Xin's voice was extremely low, "What's the matter?"

The other end chuckled, "It's okay, it's okay, it's just that you suddenly withdrew halfway through the game, and everyone lost interest... No, the game just ended, and the Ma family said that it's too early to rest, and they want to ask a few people to play the king together." Lele in Kona's shop..."

He paused for a moment, then cautiously asked tentatively, "San'er, are you...going?"

Xu Xin didn't say a word, Wen Wei was quiet for two seconds, then suddenly coughed again, and said in a low voice: "Cough, what, cousin Ma Yifu seems to be returning to China next month, but she hasn't said when she will arrive in City C." , I want to see you by name, and said that I have admired your name for a long time, so I must treat you to a light meal, Saner, after all, I am a girl, so it is not easy for us to go back to the capital..."

Xu Shi noticed Xu Xin's unusual silence, and Wen Wei stopped embarrassingly at this point.

Miss Ma's secret love for Xu Sanshao is no secret in the circle. Earlier, the other party was still secretive and reluctant to speak. After staying abroad for many years, she became infatuated when she came back. flagrant.Xu Xin politely declined the other party's invitation several times on the grounds of his busy work, except for the unavoidable meeting between Xu and Ma when they were in business, he never accepted the invitation in private.

Ma Jiaqi hit a wall a few times, but she became more and more courageous. No, this time before she returned to her country, she asked someone to bring a message from Qianli Voice Transmission.

Xu Xin put out the cigarette in his hand, turned around and glanced at the half-opened car window. The person sleeping in the back seat seemed to feel a little suffocated. He frowned and raised his hand to caress the neckline, then turned his body slightly Pass.So in the unclear vision, Xu Xin seemed to see something slipping from the man's coat pocket.

He squinted his eyes, stretched out his hand to open the car door, and saw an old rusty key lying peacefully on the carpet in the dim light.

"Hello? San'er? Are you still listening?"

Xu Xin's searching gaze suddenly froze, and he stared at the key quietly. After a while, Fang straightened up again.

Wen Wei was still racking his brains and fumbling, "San'er, if you don't like it, just pretend I didn't say anything, anyway..."

"Yes." The light in Xu Xin's eyes was dim, he played with the things in his hand carefully, and suddenly responded aloud.

Wen Wei obviously couldn't react to the sudden promise, and said "Huh?" in disbelief.

Xu Xin changed hands and put the key in his pocket, ignored the other party's surprise interrogation, hung up the phone and leaned over into the car.