Rust II

Lin An had a sweet dream.

In the dream, he passed through many nights, and finally stopped chasing night after night.

Xu Xin turned his head in the boundless field, Lin An stared blankly at the front, surprised and surprised, but dared not move.

As the distance progressed from far to near, he stretched out his hand, and the other party's eyes showed tenderness, and the indifference in previous dreams was no longer there.

Lin An stared straight, his pale face gradually turned red like his wet eyes, uncontrollably.

Brother Xu.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the dream was suddenly broken, and Lin An woke up from his deep sleep.

The mobile phone rang by the bedside, and the pain of hangover hit suddenly. Lin An stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, and Shang Zi stayed in his dream, refusing to come back to his senses, until the vague memory slowly came back, and then sat up in shock from the bed. rise.

A light gray suit jacket that did not belong to him slipped from the air conditioner that was brought up.

He took advantage of the situation and looked down, slightly stunned.

Because the phone that had not been answered for a long time hung up and then rang again, Lin An's dull eyes moved a little, and he fumbled slowly on the bedside table for a while. The word "Teacher Feng" jumped into his dry eyes.

Lin An was taken aback for a moment, then remembered that today was still Thursday, and according to the time display on the screen, he had been absent from work for a full four hours.

The moment the phone was connected, Feng Ping's concerned voice came from inside, "Ms. Lin, I am Xiao Feng, are you okay?"

Lin An raised his hand and pressed his painful forehead, and replied hoarsely: "I'm fine, today..."

However, before she finished speaking, Feng Ping on the other end continued to whisper: "That's good, I was scared to death, you don't know, this morning when our office was wondering why you didn't come, Director Chen looked serious." I came over from the ground, with that ugly face, I thought something happened."

Lin An tried his best to pull himself together, coughed twice and asked, "What's wrong with Director Chen?"

"I just don't know... Later, he wandered around the office, told Mr. Peng that you were unwell, and asked her to take your shift for a day, and then left with a serious face."

Lin An frowned slightly, lowered his eyes and glanced at the strange coat again, presumably Ding Hua sent him back last night, but how did Director Chen know that he was "unwell"?Could it be the other party he notified?

Thinking of this, Lin An gave a soft "hmm" to Feng Ping on the other end of the phone.

Feng Ping was tired from hearing his voice, so she couldn't help coughing twice, and said hastily: "Hey, Teacher Lin, you'd better have a good rest. I just called to ask about it because I was a little worried. It's nothing else."

Lin An smiled, "Thank you."

Feng Ping was a little embarrassed, "You're welcome,... Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, Mr. Lin, if you come to school tomorrow, remember to bring the creative plans for each class's school celebration that you said to be handed in at last week's meeting." Said He also deliberately lowered his voice a little bit, "It's better to revise, revise and perfect it. Today, all the students who handed in our grades were half-criticized by Ge Jing. There are no rumors that she has been deeply involved in the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law recently. Well, I've been acting weird all day long, and I can't be provoked, even Director Chen was scolded by the side."

In fact, Feng Ping only said half of what Feng Ping said. As the former vice principal of No. 24 Middle School, Ge Jing was transferred to X Middle School in the past two years. But it is very different. No. 20 Middle School is well-known throughout the country for its assiduity and rigor. Some students once joked that the moment they walked into the school gate every morning, the scene they were most afraid of seeing was a truck parked at the door; The scene is - there is a row of trucks parked at the door.This means that in the next [-] hours, they have to contribute at least [-] people, with blood and tears, to commemorate their never-ending sleep.But X Middle School is different. Not to mention rarely engaging in sea battles, even the evening self-study is just passing by. Unless you have to, you will never spend the night with foreign students. The former X Middle School Principal even made such a joke with the students at the conference: I'm getting old, and I'm afraid I can't afford everyone's deep love. Whether you are old or young, single or married, in the end, don't forget the most important thing in life, and that is "returning to the family".

Such a very different teaching style made Ge Jing very uncomfortable when she first arrived at X Middle School. She felt that X Middle School, as a prestigious school, had a too loose and inappropriate school spirit, and it was not conducive to the long-term development of the school. If you advance, you will retreat. How can you be so negligent?So she discussed with other leaders in X, and started a drastic and ruthless teaching reform. A large number of papers had to be done, and the class hours had to be improved by a large margin. Keeping abreast is not something to be proud of. To be the number one is the most commendable "ambition" .

In less than two years, the students of X middle school fell from heaven to hell. Ge Jing was very satisfied when he watched last year's college entrance examination X pass rate in one book suddenly increased from 80.00% to 85.

In the eyes of teachers and students, Ge Jing, who is so iron and bloody, is terrible. She is unsmiling, ruthless, unreasonable, and has no tolerance for sand in her eyes. Grades are the only thing that can convince her.Therefore, Feng Ping did not dare to tell Lin An that when the "iron and selfless" Principal Ge learned that Teacher Lin of Class [-] and [-] of Senior High had not handed in the report assignment she personally assigned on time, she laughed ambiguously on the spot.

"Our school is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The mountains behind are getting taller than the other. Director Chen, when can we discuss whether X can hold a mountain meeting after the centennial celebration? What do you think?"

Director Chen laughed.

The fact that Lin An was named spread to all class groups within a few hours. Feng Ping sat in the office after class in the morning, watching the Q/Q messages sent to her by her friend Bai Jing. The teacher looks fresh and clean, and she treats people a little more gently than a girl like her. It is impossible to imagine that the other party is a "little boy" with a backer and a backer. In her perception, such a person should It's not domineering, or it's a dog's eye that sees people as inferior.

Bai Jing laughed at her stupidity, and said you just watch it, after all, Ge Jing is a gangster in the upper circle, so what he said could be groundless?Let's see the various evaluation lists in the future, won't it be clear at a glance?Who is on and who is not, the easiest way to tell.

Feng Ping didn't want to believe it, she had a good impression of Lin An, and retorted: Couldn't it be because of her strength that she is a teacher?You can see that so many students like him, and their grades in the quiz last time were not bad, even if they are so patient with Xu Yuan, how many teachers in X can do it?

Bai Jing was so happy that she died: "Strength? Then tell me, if any teacher in X Middle School has more than five years of teaching experience, which one has no strength? Let alone them, you, Feng Ping, are all talented students from F University, okay? Feng Big girl, in this world, strength doesn’t come in handy. Do you really think you’re living in a communist society? If the pay and the income are not directly proportional to suffering, then this person is not blessed by God, born with shit luck, There is a ghost behind it."

Feng Ping very much disagrees with Bai Jing's extreme conspiracy theory, and feels sad for Lin Anping to be criticized in vain. She once read a saying that to cause harm to one person, it often requires the cooperation of two people. - Sender and Communicator.She didn't want to be the executioner who stabbed someone, not to mention, she always remembered Lin An's appearance of worrying about Xu Yuan's homework and test papers in the office from time to time.

So she chose silence.

Lin An didn't know anything about the school's dark and turbulent waves. He thanked Feng Ping softly for his kindness, and after hanging up the phone, he stared at the thin quilt half-covered on his body again in a daze.

His temples were still throbbing wildly from time to time, sure enough, everything in the world is fair, such as alcohol, after bringing him complete emotional indulgence last night, it demanded the price of lethargy and nausea from him at dawn.

And the huge contrast between the ecstasy in the dream and the coldness and desolation in reality makes people more depressed than before falling into a drunken dream.

Lin An sat on the bed and stayed there for a while, then suddenly laughed at himself, laughing that he didn't know what he was expecting, and even laughed that he was deeply trapped in this expectation and refused to extricate himself.

The sunlight outside the window suddenly became extremely bright, and the green vines painted on the curtain became more and more green.

Lin An squinted his eyes, quietly looked at the Tengman, who appeared to be full of vitality, but was in fact no different from a dead thing for a while, then lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

The mobile phone that had just disconnected from the call 5 minutes ago suddenly uttered a long vibrating beep at this moment.

Lin An paused and looked back, only to see a string of unfamiliar numbers flashing above the lit screen. He hesitated for a moment, picked it up and looked at it.

The moment I clicked on the notification, a message suddenly appeared in front of me.

——There is ginger tea in the thermos cup in the kitchen, remember to drink it.

Lin An was taken aback for a moment, and two seconds later, his hand shook, and another text message came from the same number.

——I am Xu Xin.

Lin An was stunned. He stared at the message for a long time, and his hands trembled unconsciously.

I'm Xu Xin...

These four words, like a spell, completely surrounded him without warning.As a teacher of the people, Lin An ridiculously found that he was completely unable to interpret this sentence quickly and accurately.

Almost subconsciously, he exited the text message reading interface in a hurry, and found a person's number in the address book in a daze.

When Ding Hua received the call, he happened to be eating in the staff cafeteria downstairs of the company. He picked up this "rare" call while walking outside. Before the other party could speak, his hearty laughter had already passed over .

"Haha, Xiao Lin, the sun is coming out from the west, and he even took the initiative to call you Brother Ding?"

With the other hand, Lin An unconsciously grasped the coat he picked up just now, and said in a hoarse voice, "...Brother Ding."

"Ok?"

"Yesterday, last night..."

But for some reason, as soon as he started a sentence, he couldn't continue.

Fortunately, Ding Hua is a fast talker, so he immediately took Lin An's words, "Oh... You said last night, so what, you Ding and I drank a little too much yesterday, and the boss was really strong. I'll go first."

Ding Hua talked nonsense with a blank face, and finally said: "Hey, Xiao Lin, you are not angry, are you? No, hehe, is it because you are not satisfied with the 'replacement driver' master Ding Ge found for you?"

Lin An's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and an ominous premonition suddenly struck him, so that he opened his mouth, but forgot to speak out for a moment.

Ding Hua sensed that something was wrong, stopped wandering in the garden of the pharmaceutical factory, picked his teeth and lowered his voice to test: "I just wanted to ask, hey, didn't you talk to the boss again last night? ?”

The idea in Lin An's mind was confirmed, and his hands and feet became cold for a while.

Scenes in the dream flashed clearly and quickly in front of his eyes, the other party's stern face, and his own swaying and scattered steps.

It turned out that I really saw him, and I really walked towards him... Even after I reached out and grabbed him, I couldn't restrain myself from kissing him.

He had hoped countless times that these were not just dreams but fantasies, but when things came to an end, he found that compared to the panic of shattered dreams, it was the unpredictability of reality that made people more ashamed to face the unstoppable.

Ding Hua was still talking on the other end: "It really collapsed? No way, but it was fine when I called the boss last night." He clicked his tongue annoyedly, and continued: "Hey I'm so short-tempered, let me tell you what the hell is going on with you two, why are you so entangled in such a mess, a young couple, a man and a woman, know that the bedside is arguing at the end of the bed, you two old men, it's hypocritical up."

Lin An had long lost hearing.

Ding Hua spitting and talking alone for a long time, but there was no response from the other end of the phone, which made him almost think that the phone was disconnected. , talk, is it dumb?"

Lin An came back to his senses, opened his mouth into the microphone, and after a long while, asked out of breath, "...he...where is he now?"

"Who?"

Lin An was silent, Ding Hua waited for a while, seeing that the other party didn't mean to answer, Hulu curled his hair and curled his lips, and ended the boring question knowingly, "Where is City B, on a business trip."

Lin An held the phone that was slightly hot, and answered in a low voice.

Ding Hua seemed to be very dissatisfied with Xu Xin's recent frequent disappearances, and complained to Lin An, "Fuck, you don't know, the boss has been so busy these past few months that he has been insane and doesn't recognize his relatives, what a shit Throw it all to me, his grandma, she really thinks of me as a fairy with three heads and six arms, you have seen Xu Yuan's ability, tell me, being entangled by such an ancestor, I can still live a fucking comfortable life Well!"

Lin An listened restlessly, and there was another wail from his head: "Xiao Lin, you said that Brother Ding is also very old, it's not that he doesn't want to start a family, it's that his grandma really doesn't have time! Come on, sir Said that it will take another week to spend on that girl, and the girl I dated at night is also ruined, and an emergency business trip is not so urgent, don’t you think so? Making money is important, but it can’t be at the expense of brother’s happiness.”

Surrounded by Ding Hua's exaggerated yelling, Lin An seemed to be calm and focused, but in fact, among the endless chatter of the other party, only a few fragmented words managed to reach his ears.

Ru Lei's heartbeat couldn't be calmed down, he sat on the edge of the bed distraught, and the news that Xu Xin had left City C was like a sedative with little effect, allowing him to get away from the panic and anxiety a little bit.

Ding Hua said something on the other end, and seemed to be joking. Lin An listened silently and rarely responded.Ding Hua's one-man show sang for more than ten minutes. No matter how nervous he was, he also noticed that the other party was becoming more and more absent-minded, so he swallowed the words that he wanted to make an appointment to have a meal and chat another day. Wire.

The surroundings immediately became quiet again, and Lin An sat still for a while, then suddenly got up and opened the door, and walked towards the kitchen.

The moment the thermos cup appeared in sight, all the confusion and anxiety became concrete. He stared blankly at the light-colored cup standing on the table, his eyes lingering on it uncontrollably. After a few seconds, But as if he couldn't bear it, he suddenly turned his gaze away and looked at the cabinet on the other side with disordered breathing.

In the end, it still failed the kindness of the "opponent".

Lin An didn't even have the courage to open the lid of the cup, so he turned and ran away.He got into the bathroom, trying to wash away the smell of wine that had been fermented overnight, but unexpectedly, in the small space filled with heat, the things he had tried to forget became more clearly visible. After washing in a hurry, he returned to the bedroom, trying to clear the scattered bed After being tidied up, he couldn't figure out what to do with the suit that was deliberately placed in the corner.

Xu Xin's appearance and voice suddenly floated to the ground from the scroll of memory, from being out of reach to being like a shadow.

And it's only been a few days.

Lin An had never felt that the rented room he was in was as cramped and cramped as it is today, and even his breathing became awkward. After hesitating in the living room for a moment, he put on his coat and took his bag in a hurry as if fleeing. out the door.

He didn't reply to the text message.

I dare not return, and I don't know how to return.Although he knew in his heart that, out of emotion and reason, he should at least thank the other party for sending him drunk back to his residence, as well as for the cup of warm ginger tea.

But are these the only things they need to thank?

Lin An's chaotic footsteps resounded in the stairwell where no one cared in the afternoon, like thousands of invisible tortures.

Are these only?

Lin An couldn't be more clear about the answer.

More than that, in the old machinery factory full of rust, in the dark and empty abandoned garden, in the corridor of the dormitory where the heart beats countless times out of control.

Innumerable, inexhaustible.

Lin An suddenly didn't want to think about it anymore, he went downstairs in two or three steps, and walked towards the gate of the community.

When I arrived at the school office, it was already 3:[-] in the afternoon. Feng Ping, who was buried in the desk reading the homework book, was surprised when she saw the pale Lin An.

She turned her head to look at the wall clock on the wall, put down her pen, stood up and walked a few steps towards Lin An, "Ms. Lin? Why are you here... Didn't you say you were sick and asked for leave? I just talked to you at noon ..."

Lin An didn't wait for her to finish, forced a smile, and said softly, "It's okay, I... remembered that a courseware was left here, so I stopped by to have a look..."

"Oh..." Feng Ping did not doubt that he was there, stared at his slightly sluggish face, and still said worriedly: "If you feel uncomfortable, don't hold back, remember to call me if you have anything to do, and I promise to be there anytime! "

Lin An smiled at her gratefully, and sat down on the seat in silence.

The messy thoughts and tense emotions finally settled down in the preparation of the complicated lesson plans. The other teachers in the office had their lessons, so in this room where only "patients" and "idle people" were left, it was suddenly quiet. There was another rustling sound of paper and pen rubbing against each other.Lin An frowned slightly, concentrating on writing something on the A4 paper, sometimes pausing, sometimes writing vigorously, the Chinese textbook for the second year of senior high school was spread out on the table, and "Moonlight in the Lotus Pond" from Zhu Ziqing's famous article was set up in Gaolei. Lying in front of the exercise book, Lin An carefully read, wrote, and scratched, from subsection to structure, from rhetoric to analysis, step by step, dismantling layer by layer.Students are often the most impatient with this kind of lyrical prose that focuses on the scene. In their eyes, this is undoubtedly the third most troublesome style after Lu Xun and classical Chinese. If it is good, it can improve aesthetics and cultivate sentiment. It's just that the mourners fell asleep all over the place.

Time passed slowly. After two classes, the office building heard the sound of teachers returning to the nest one after another. There were faint jokes and discussions in the originally quiet corridors and corridors. Some people complained to each other about the naughty students in their classes. Someone was discussing the scope of the upcoming quiz next month.

Feng Ping is still an intern, and X Middle School has a non-compulsory evening self-study system except for the third year of high school, so if there is nothing special, she can usually leave work after the last class in the afternoon, and Lin An, as the class teacher of the second year of high school, except During the exam week, after finishing the day's work, no one would stop her if she wanted to leave.

But tonight, when Feng Ping lingered and tidied up all the desks and was about to go home, she found that Lin An was still concentrating on sitting at the desk, showing no sign of moving, and the light shone on his tired face. In the morning, there was a hint of warmth in the coldness, Feng Ping secretly glanced at him, and called him in a low voice.

"teacher LIN."

Lin An looked up.

"It's time to get off work, won't you go?"

Lin An raised his mouth, shook his head and said, "You go first, I will go around the class later, to see if Zhang Chao, the boarding students and other children who stayed behind for self-study have any questions to ask .”

Feng Ping let out a disappointment, then said a few words of concern with concern, went to the next door and called her friend Bai Jing to leave.

Lin An watched the door close before his eyes, raised his hand and rubbed his swollen temples.

Several hours of continuous work finally calmed down the panic during the day. Lin An looked at the teaching materials on the table in front of him, and after concentrating, he breathed a sigh of relief.The excessive tension during the day and the over-involvement in work just now made him feel even more tired after he relaxed. Lin An put the pen cap back on, used it as a bookmark and put it in the language book, and lay silently on the desk.

In my deliberately empty mind, I keep receiving subtle movements from all directions, such as the wind gradually rising outside the window, the young and wanton chasing and laughing shouts from the teaching building not far away, and the noisy but vague bus noise outside the school gate. flute.They come from different worlds, and then go back to their respective directions. Sometimes they hug each other and dance, and sometimes they go their own way.

Lin An closed his eyes and listened, the fatigue that he had suppressed for a long time suddenly hit, so that he almost missed the call from the mobile phone that was abandoned in the bag.

Fortunately, the other party was a person who never gave up lightly. If he didn't answer the call, he would call again, and so on, until it caught Lin An's already distracted attention.

He sat up, reached out and took out the vibrating mobile phone from the bag on the other side of the table, but the moment his eyes touched the string of numbers on the screen, his face turned pale.

Although these eleven numbers have only met him once, they are like its master, making people unforgettable.

Lin An stared straight at this string of numbers, not daring to hang up, let alone answer. He didn't expect that Xu Xin would call for the second time so quickly, within a few hours.

While thinking and hesitating, the call was automatically hung up, and Lin An's beating heart dropped, but in the next second, a message came over without any waves, only two words.

"Lin An."

Then it shook again without warning.

Lin An was stunned, and an inexplicable emotion suddenly surged in his heart, which made his pale face suddenly stained with blood. He gritted his teeth and stared at the lit screen without moving. Before hanging up once, he pressed the call button.

With a beep, Lin An looked at the prompt that was converted to "calling", and slowly moved the receiver to his ear.

There was silence at both ends.

Xu Xin didn't speak, only the slight sound of breathing came from the other side.

Lin An firmly held the phone board and listened quietly. After a while, he opened his mouth and greeted the other party in a hoarse voice: "Hello, Xu...Mr. Xu..."

Xu Xin didn't respond, and the silence that reappeared made Lin An's hands tremble slightly.

After a long time, a faint laugh sounded from the other end. Lin An almost suspected that he heard it wrong, but before he could react, the other party suddenly spoke.

"What did you call me?"

Lin An was stunned.

After a while, the deep voice on the phone rang again, "It's only one night, and the difference in treatment has become so big? Huh? Teacher Lin?"