Rust II

Lin An was stunned for a moment, and the next second, the ear that was attached to the receiver became hot and red as if it had been scorched by a raging fire.

He was fixed in place like a wooden stake, his whole body was stiff and unable to move, but the blood was flowing faster and faster, but it uncontrollably set off a wave of heat in his body, in a trance, even the sound of pulse beating It also became deafening.

Lin An opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

All the anxieties, embarrassments, worries and fears were secretly expressed by that person, and he couldn't even tell whether the sudden crazily surging in his chest was the unstoppable shame or the pain that had not had time to cool down.

The brief silence was broken by Xu Xin. He put away his previous teasing and teasing, and his voice became deeper and gentler. With the content of what he said, it was like a gentle whisper that could not be concealed in the sympathetic world.

Unsurprisingly, this triggered Lin An's next round of longer silence.

He whispered to him: "I suddenly received a notice from the partner in city B in the morning, and I didn't have time to tell you. I have been busy until just now."

After a pause, seeing that Lin An didn't respond, he asked again: "Have you eaten yet?"

Lin An shook his head, but two seconds later, he let out a hoarse "hmm".

Xu Xin noticed the strangeness of the other party, but didn't say much. After a short pause, he asked again: "Where's the ginger soup? Have you had any?"

Lin An didn't answer.The other end suddenly sighed softly, revealing imperceptible fatigue.

Lin Anxin trembled, and almost blurted out words of concern, but stopped the car temporarily.

A few words could not stop rolling in the throat, lingering between the teeth, almost ready to come out.

Lin An was eager to say something, but it seemed that an invisible hand was strangling his throat desperately, making him unable to open his mouth no matter what.

He struggled in this powerlessness for a long time, before he lowered his head as if giving up, and lowered his gaze.

Xu Xin's voice sounded again at this moment, and he called him in a low voice.

"Lin An."

Lin An raised his head, and pressed the phone tightly in his palm, as if responding silently.

Xu Xin smiled at the other end, and after a short pause, he continued meaningfully: "Take care of yourself."

The lights in the office suddenly became extremely dazzling, Lin An's breath moved slightly, and the sudden sourness enveloped him unexpectedly.

As a result, another sentence followed by the other party seemed to be uncharacteristically shining with an irresistible alluring luster.

Lin An listened to the other party then said softly to himself: "When we come back next Friday night, let's have a good talk."

There were chatter and jokes with several teachers in the office in the corridor, and Lin An didn't realize it until Peng Chunlin pushed the door in and called out to him in surprise, "Mr. Lin? Why are you here?" Then he woke up like a dream. , hastily put down the phone, turned around and smiled in the direction of the door.

Peng Chunlin looked at him suspiciously, closed the door and asked, "Are you alright?"

Guiltyly, Lin An turned his gaze away, and responded vaguely.

Hearing that his voice was a little hoarse, Peng Chunlin walked to his desk with the exercise book he had just received from his class and said, "That's good, you young people just don't know how to take good care of yourself. Let yourself be fooled, now is the time when the weather is changing, and if you are not careful, you will catch a cold easily, look, have you been tricked?" He said, putting a thick stack of brochures on the desk, and then said: "Here, This is what Teacher Fang did for the students in your class today. She doesn't know the teaching progress of your class, and she can't make up her mind to pick a text at random, so she arranged for them to make a set of practice papers for two classes in the afternoon. Self-study, I just made up about 150 minutes to come out. I happened to pass by the class next door, so I asked me to bring it over. It was just out of the oven, and it was still fresh and hot. Either you have time to take a look someday? Or just give them a review Whatever the answer, it's up to you,"

Lin An thanked him, and looked down at the mobile phone that was still in his hand. The call had been hung up by the other party at some point, and he looked away in a slight loss of consciousness. While he was relieved, his eyes became a little dim.

Peng Chunlin never paid attention to his secretive move, and her face was filled with rare joy. She knocked on the exercise book on the top and said, "It's rare, that girl Xu Yuan is honest and honest. Our teacher Fang was so frightened that he thought he was in the wrong class, Mr. Lin, it seems that I have not received your education in vain during this time, it is not bad."

Lin An was taken aback, and felt a little surprised in her heart. You must know that according to Xu Yuan's usual style, this kind of formal quiz has never been deterrent to her at all. She can stay in peace and sleep for a while. It was already enough face, let alone handing in the paper respectfully, Lin An's surprised eyes lingered for a moment on the exercise book that Peng Chunlin pressed under his palm, and smiled shyly.

Peng Chunlin talked to him a little more, went back to his seat to tidy up, said goodbye and left.

The office was quiet again, and Lin An sat alone at the desk, staring at the exercise rolls on the corner of the desk for a while, then reached out and took down the first volume on the table, the red and white cover fell into the bottom. With a drooping gaze, it was so flat that there was not even a single extra fold. Lin An stared at the words "Provincial X Chinese Simulation Paper Class A" for a moment, and thought of something, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, but Immediately retract it again.

There is nothing on the opened title page except the preface to the general outline, and combined with its "clean" temperament that is very different from any other exercise book, Lin An can easily judge this without even the simplest elimination. The set of simulation papers must belong to Xu Yuan.

He took out a red pen from the pen holder, and turned the volume to the page of the sixth set of test questions that Peng Chunlin said. A large blank space flooded into his sight. The student's booklet came out and compared, and after confirming that he had found the right place, he couldn't help showing a wry smile.It seems that Peng Chunlin and Mr. Fang still overestimated each other. Although he has never been strict with the students, in his eyes, handing in blank papers is not much better than missing the exam.

Lin An shook his head slightly, and was a little disappointed to skip this book and go to review the next one instead, but the moment he closed it, he caught a glimpse of the beautiful handwriting faintly emerging from the page that was brought up, and he was stunned. , and quickly reopened the question booklet, only to see that behind all the blank silent writing, optional reading and other questions, there was a densely written propositional composition.

Titled "Choice".

"I often think, if I could go back ten years, or 20 years ago, and live as chic and reckless as my uncle, how great it would be."

Lin An cast his eyes on the white paper that was particularly dazzling under the light, and saw that the writer wrote this at the beginning of the chapter.

Xu Yuan's writing style is actually very good, which is very different from her usual frivolous, unlearned and incompetent. It can even be said that Lin An's quick thinking and humor are rarely seen in Lin An's long teaching career. Lin An had the honor to read Ms. Xu's masterpiece for the first time since she took over Class 7.

The central character of the article has been pointed out at the beginning, Lin An stayed on the opening sentence for a moment, put aside the timidity and hesitation that quietly rose in his heart, and began to move his eyes slowly down uncontrollably.

Xu Yuan is obviously very proficient in a series of creative techniques such as "adding oil and vinegar" and "making up random things". The length of about a thousand words covers a staggering amount of content. The rhetorical description with a smile is like a "collection manual for indiscipline". Lin An doesn't know where she heard about Xu Xin's past. Looking at it, the inexplicable nervousness is in those fake or fake ones. The half-truth and half-truth description relaxed, and the expression gradually became extraordinarily soft.

Holding a red pen, he shuttled through these random but lively words and sentences, circled and sketched from time to time, frowned from time to time, and unconsciously began to try to guide and correct errors very seriously. After more than 20 minutes, the blank column on the side was filled with I wrote several comments, some praised his precise words, some expressed his personal opinions in a few words, and even some couldn't help showing that he had the same love and admiration for the protagonist he wrote.

The "little uncle" described by Xu Yuan gave up the supreme "freedom and happiness" in her eyes after many years, and chose a seemingly stable, healthy and happy life. She seems to be very dissatisfied with this kind of development and life trajectory. The previous paragraph is still He boasted about the other party's legendary deeds in the past 20 years, and even turned a page backwards because he wrote too much and greatly exceeded the limited number of words, and continued to express his feelings unscrupulously in the rest of the blank space. He became extremely indignant and perfunctory, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was furious and unscrupulous.

Lin An modified it here, and the joyful and brisk mood a few minutes ago suddenly fell silent.He fixedly watched Xu Yuan's heartbroken questioning at the end, and the arc of his mouth calmed down again.

Autumn winds pass by outside the half-opened window from time to time. In the silence, Lin An seems to be pushed into a vortex called "the past" by an invisible force. Compared with his original ordinary life, those years are ridiculous and absurd. , became vivid in the memory again, the picture is no longer limited to the painful parting with Xu Xin over the years, but also the forthright enthusiasm from Ding Hua, the help and care from Director Qian, and the humor from other colleagues in the machinery factory back then Jokes, even together with the turbid air in the stuffy warehouse, the hot sweat flowing next to the high-temperature equipment, and the parties and fun under the bright starry sky, along with Xu Yuan's inexhaustible words, memories emerged bit by bit the long river.

Lin An sat in the office, immersed in work without stopping from evening to late night.Two or three times during the period, teachers or security guards from the graduating class passed by, and they all told him to stop work early. He responded gently, but continued to sit silently in his seat after the other party left.He tirelessly corrected the remaining sets of test questions one after another, as if only in this way could he get rid of the chaotic thoughts that could easily control him.

However, as one question after another passed under the pen, and one answer after another, right or wrong, flashed in front of my eyes, the question Xu Yuan raised at the end was still lingering and flickering in my heart——

"At this point in writing, I just want to ask one more question, uncle, have you ever regretted giving up the unruly and free life you once had and returning to the life of shackles and tastelessness?"

Lin An sat silently, his eyes blurred due to fatigue. For more than ten years, as a teacher, he has answered countless questions from countless people. When faced with this problem, he couldn't help feeling flustered, short of breath and at a loss.

Xu Xin didn't do anything else after that call.Lin An restlessly stayed in the office until after eleven o'clock before getting up and leaving the school.

The residential buildings in the community were sporadically lit with a few lights. The doorman saw this figure who rarely returned late, and greeted him through the open glass window, "Mr. Lin, have you been busy so far?"

Lin An raised his head and smiled.

"Hey, it's been hard work. You have a lot of pressure and responsibility as teachers. It's not easy. Hurry up and go home and pack up and rest. You have to get up early tomorrow."

Lin An agreed, and after talking to the other party briefly, he went back to the downstairs of his apartment building under the dim light along the street, but the moment he took out the anti-theft door key from his bag, he suddenly froze stiffly all over his body. in place.

He stared blankly at the silver key lying in his hand for a while, as if he suddenly remembered something, he put his hand into the bag again.During the frantic groping, the cold pen collided with the thick notepad, and the expression on Lin An's face gradually became anxious. While he continued to rummage through the briefcase and pockets all over his body, he turned around and paced back and forth. For a moment, He hurried upstairs again, and continued to search in the kitchen, living room, toilet, bedroom, and even every corner of the house, but he still couldn't see the copper-green key that had accompanied him for countless days and nights. It belongs to the key of 3, Building 2051, Guolian No. [-] Factory.

The exhaustion all over his body was washed away by this sudden change. Half an hour later, Lin An sat on the sofa with nothing, and the violent ups and downs of his mood changed from the initial panic to indelible disappointment.

Perhaps there really is no never-ending banquet in the world, and this is the case with people, people and things, and in the end, they can't escape by luck.

Lin An lowered his head, buried his face in his palms for a moment, stood up and walked into the bathroom.