【Mi Ying】that side

Arthur Kirkland awoke with a jolt and a throbbing head ache.

The Cuban uncle with pigtails on the back of his head driving the bus is as flamboyant and elegant as his driving style.Without warning, the British bounced off the seat in his sleep, and his forehead hit the front seat with a muffled sound.

Uncle Cuba heard the movement, looked in the rear-view mirror at the passenger who was tearing from the corner of his eye because of the pain, and seemed to slow down the speed of the car kindly: "Brother, you almost fell off the seat and hit your head!"

The Englishman wiped away the embarrassing tears from the corners of his eyes, and frowned his conspicuous eyebrows again: "I said uncle...it wasn't almost. I really hit my head." He reached out and rubbed his sore forehead.

He fell into a drowsy sleep all the way, and didn't even take a close look at the surrounding scenery.If it wasn't for this sudden jolt, he might have continued to fall asleep.

To make matters worse, in addition to reaping the pain on his forehead, he found that the mobile phone he had been holding tightly in his hand had disappeared at this moment.

"Oops!" The British immediately jumped up from his seat and quickly groped his body.He has always been very vigilant, and he has never encountered such a thing as a mobile phone being stolen before.

Disappointment was written on his face after some searching.The only lucky thing at this moment is his slightly thin wallet, which was safe and sound because it was carefully put into the inner pocket of his jacket before boarding the bus.

Anyway, his phone was gone.Contact numbers, destination details are all stored on the phone, no other internet-connected devices are on the person, and there is no known person in this place.This situation made him angry and helpless: "Driver, I have to get off at the next stop."

The Cuban driver laughed: "You have to get off if you don't want to, the next stop is the terminal!"

When Arthur got off the bus with his backpack, the redness on his forehead still didn't go away.The hot weather and the accident of losing his mobile phone made him feel tired.

The Cuban driver was generous, helped him unload the luggage stored in the bus compartment, nodded to him, stepped on the gas pedal and walked away.He was so bold that he didn't even have time for Arthur to ask for help.

Under the scorching sun, there were no other vehicles or people on the road, only a few wild cats suddenly jumped out of the grass on the side of the road, and then quickly burrowed into another grass.

The thin figure of the British youth stood alone beside the stop sign of the terminal.

The station was so shabby that it didn't even have a shed for shade.On the stop sign, there is a map that is hard to read due to the sun and rain. The direction of the town is briefly marked on it, and the location of the university and the town hospital are marked with asterisks sporadically, but the stains on the map make it impossible to confirm the scale .

Carrying a bag on his body, pushing the heavy luggage with both hands, he barely walked in the direction indicated by the map in his memory for 10 minutes before he came to a more conspicuous fork.

The hot, humid weather and heavy luggage had soaked his mint green half-sleeved top with sweat, and made the hood he wore to block some of the sun even heavier.

He felt that all of this was terrible, and he was so embarrassed and embarrassed that he even lost the strength to curse people.

After carefully looking at the road signs on the fork, they only used arrows to briefly point out the direction of the town.Arthur estimated that there might be a few kilometers to go to the destination.

Although he had contacted the landlord in advance before coming, he arrived half a day earlier than the scheduled time, and it was impossible for his landlord to show up.Besides, during the walk, he had already discovered that the outskirts of this town were terribly desolate, and he didn't expect anyone to fall from the sky at this time and extend a helping hand to him.

His scalp was numb due to the heat. He washed the handkerchief with the only remaining bottle of mineral water, wiped off the sweat on his face, squinted his eyes uncomfortably, and squatted down next to the street sign wearily.

"Hey! Are you in any trouble?"

The British raised his head in surprise, and a blue figure suddenly broke into his vision.He was always alert, but he didn't notice the approaching footsteps at all.

A blond young man in a blue T-shirt was looking down at him.He is tall and strong, with a bunch of front hair curled up against gravity where the bangs divide, and his blue eyes are still shining brightly under the shade of glasses.

The light in those eyes was the color of the sky—strangely, with something familiar.

Arthur froze for a moment, speechless.

"Wow, what an exaggerated eyebrow!" The smile in the eyes of the blond young man deepened, and he pointed to the huge suitcase beside Arthur before he wanted to argue, "It seems that you really need help."

Arthur Kirkland followed behind the blue figure anxiously.

They chatted briefly, and the other party told him straightforwardly that he lived near his destination and could help deliver the luggage there.

From the man's loud voice and accent, he judged that the man was an American, a nearby resident, very young, probably about the same age as himself.Information other than this is currently unknown.

His huge and heavy luggage was carried by the young man like this, which made Arthur somewhat worried. If the young man who was as strong as a cow ran away with his luggage like this, he might not be able to catch up.It would be tragic if that kind of thing happened, he had already begun to imagine the miserable appearance of himself sleeping on the street.

He was distracted, and the young man walking in front adjusted his movement of carrying the suitcase, then turned sideways and glanced at Arthur: "Your expression is really interesting."

"Huh?" Arthur was taken aback.

The other party continued: "Don't worry, I'm not a thief, I will deliver your luggage safely."

The malicious speculation was seen through by the other party, which made Arthur feel embarrassed, his face slowly flushed red, and it took a few seconds before he choked out a sentence: "I...yes, I'm sorry."

The young man replied casually: "Oh, don't worry about it. You're just here, so it's not bad to be more vigilant." It sounded completely carefree, and Arthur was relieved by his open-mindedness.

This man is not bad.It seems that my luck is not too bad.

One after the other they walked up the wide boulevard.The scene of the town finally began to appear in front of his eyes, and Arthur finally felt relieved.

The sun shines through the leaves and casts mottled shadows on the road. It shines brightly on the American's thick blond hair, draping his strong arms and back. The sight is quite beautiful.

Arthur calmed down his exhausted breathing, and couldn't help feeling angry when he saw the American still walking like flying with his luggage on his back.

What a world this is, it's so unfair.

"Turn from here to the right, the first neighborhood you see is your destination." The American didn't seem to pay attention to his gaze, but slowed down, turned his head and smiled at him: "We'll be there soon." In that smile Arthur's reassurance cheered him up a bit,

The British immediately stepped forward and quickly walked side by side with the Americans, who smiled friendlyly.Then they saw a fork and turned right, leaving the boulevard.

There is a bright light in the line of sight.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked at the not-so-large, but neat and clean community in front of him.Strictly speaking, it's not a community, it's a small apartment with a wall.

The new home he envisioned is obviously not a high-end apartment, but the light yellow building exterior walls and light green gates in front of him are quite cute.Thinking that he would stay here permanently in the future, his mood instantly became much lighter.

The American watched the change in his expression and smiled: "Isn't it nice here?" His eyes stayed on the British's face.

Arthur is not used to being looked at and asked directly like this, he lowered his head awkwardly: "Yes... very good."

"The landlord here is quite interesting, but a bit old-fashioned." The American familiarly pushed open the unlocked door and walked inside with luggage that didn't belong to him. "So, which floor do you live on?"

"Sorry, I haven't got the key to the apartment yet... I need to contact the landlord first." Arthur replied with a guilty conscience. "Well, then you should call him first. I guess you still need me to help you out?" Although it was an interrogative sentence, the young man used an affirmative tone.

This made Arthur even more embarrassed. He whispered, "I, I lost my mobile phone...and I don't remember the landlord's phone number." He was anxious along the way, and he hardly communicated with the other party about this information.

"That's really miserable," the young man said without any displeasure. He finally put the tens of kilograms of luggage on his shoulders on the ground, reached out to wipe off the sweat stains on his T-shirt, took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket, and communicated. After rummaging through the recording, he handed it to Arthur: "Use my mobile phone to call. Um... your name?" He continued to look at the British with great interest.

"Kirkland, Arthur Kirkland." For the first meeting, Arthur reservedly introduced his surname first.

Unlike Arthur's restraint, the American is very open-minded. He smiled and announced his name: "I am Alfred F. Jones." Then he added, "Just call me Alfred! Everyone yelled like that."

It was that strange, slightly familiar tone again.

Arthur nodded hesitantly.

The phone rang twice, and a steady male voice came from the opposite side: "Excuse me, what can I do for you, Mr. Alfred?"

The oriental accent, etiquette and questioning made Arthur a little flustered: "No, uh...Mr. Landlord, I am Arthur Kirkland, the tenant who is scheduled to arrive today."

"Ah, it seems that you have arrived successfully," the other party responded calmly without asking for details, "I will go downstairs to meet you now."

Their brief conversation ended.Arthur looked at Alfred in puzzlement, but the other party just shrugged his shoulders with an expression of "the landlord is this kind of person".

Not long after, a short black-haired oriental man appeared at the door of the apartment and walked towards them.The other party was wearing a dark blue kimono, holding a bunch of conspicuous keys in his hand, with a calm and gentle expression on his face.

The Easterner nodded to Alfred first, then turned to Arthur, and bowed: "I have kept you waiting, Mr. Kirkland. I am the manager of this apartment, Honda Ju. As you can see, I am Japanese Man, I hope you get used to it."

Arthur was not used to the excessive politeness of the Japanese, and he quickly waved his hand: "I should apologize. Because I accidentally lost my phone, I had to use his... Alfred's phone to call you, Mr. Landlord." The American who was named raised his hand and pointed at himself triumphantly. Arthur couldn't help but rolled his eyes at him, and the other party obviously didn't mind.

Looking at the expressions of the two people in front, Honda laughed softly.He untied one from the large bunch of keys and handed it to Arthur: "Then, this is your key. The room number is 203. It's on the second floor. You can take the elevator or walk up the fire stairs next to it." His voice was still steady and deep, "By the way, let you know that Mr. Alfred F. Jones is a resident of Room 109."

Arthur's emerald green eyes widened in surprise, Alfred seemed to have anticipated Arthur's reaction, he finally laughed out loud: "Haha, your expressions and reactions are so funny!"

"It doesn't make you laugh like this." Honda shook his head helplessly at Arthur.

The sharp contrast between the two people in front of him made Arthur dumbfounded, and a little ashamed, he blushed unnaturally.

Honda is very good at observing words and expressions. He carefully changed the subject: "It's a coincidence that you happened to meet the hottest days of this season. It must have been very hard to find all the way."

Arthur nodded helplessly: "Well... a bit." He was quite grateful for Alfred's help in his heart. If the other party hadn't been smiling smugly now, he would probably express his gratitude more frankly.

The Japanese continued to introduce: "The climate of this small town has always been very good. Because it is close to the sea, it is not too cold even in winter."

Arthur was a little surprised: "I didn't see the sea when I came..."

Alfred came over and interjected: "Isn't it? It's quite a wide beach, and the general bus route will pass by."

Arthur turned his head and muttered, "I accidentally fell asleep in the car."

"That's why I lost my mobile phone." Alfred bluntly exposed the British's shortcomings, but his tone was not malicious.He moved closer to the Englishman, his upper arm was almost at the distance of his shoulder: "That sea is beautiful, you should go see it."

His tone softened, and his blue eyes rested quietly on Arthur's face through the lenses.

It was that familiar, nostalgic tone again.

Arthur finally couldn't bear to ask: "We... really just met?"

"Of course not," the American replied quickly.

Arthur was taken aback. He wanted to say that I felt as if I had seen you somewhere before, but Alfred raised the corner of his mouth slyly: "Don't look at Honda's grandfather-like rhythm, his intuition is very Keen. He was the one who told me that the new residents might get lost, and told me to go out early to find you when I was on vacation. By the way, he even gave me your photo.” Alfred took the wallet Come out, turn out a passport photo about 1 inches from the inside.

Looking at his standard passport photo with a dull expression, the British finally raised his voice in embarrassment: "This is simply digging other people's privacy at will!"

"Strictly speaking, it doesn't count. After all, Mr. Alfred also works part-time as the security guard of this apartment. He has the right to know the information of the residents." Honda explained in time, intending to extinguish Arthur's anger.

Arthur reluctantly accepted Honda's rhetoric, turned his head to the Americans, and said in a sour tone, "So you actually knew who I was from the beginning."

"Your eyebrows are so recognizable." The other party shrugged.

"..." Arthur was speechless.

Alfred smiled brightly, he touched his chin: "Don't worry so much, we will be neighbors from now on, wouldn't it be good to get to know each other's personalities earlier?"

"He's right. As a manager, I hope everyone will get along with each other in harmony." The Japanese also raised his hand to his chin and nodded.

What the hell is going on with these people!Is this a new way to bully the new residents!It was inconvenient for Arthur to explode in person, so he could only shout in his heart.

Alfred's loudness and informality, as well as Honda's seemingly polite and steady attitude, but in fact he was laissez-faire and irrelevant, made Arthur feel almost absurd.

The only thing he can judge now is that these people are not bad.Comparing the helplessness at this moment with the tragic experience I had an hour ago, I can be regarded as having escaped from the sea of ​​suffering.

Holding his forehead, he only felt a dull pain in his temple.

After Alfred helped him carry his luggage to the room, he also seemed to see that he was tired, so he stopped teasing him and said goodbye directly.Soon after, Honda brought him some milk and bread from downstairs, told him how to use water and electricity, and left.

Finally able to be alone in complete peace.

Arthur closed the door of Room 203, and temporarily placed the suitcase in the living room where only simple large furniture was placed.He rummaged through the toiletries and quickly took a shower in the bathroom.

His stomach was so empty that he looked at the food on the table without any appetite.He went into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. After drinking half a glass of water, he shuffled into the bedroom.

Opening the cabinet, spreading pillows and sheets randomly on the bed, he threw himself directly onto the bed.Despite his slender stature, the bed frame made a "creaking" sound.

Arthur just felt tired and sleepy, and he couldn't care less about whether the noise disturbed others.

The eyelids were as heavy as if filled with lead, and in front of his eyes was a rich, almost viscous dark blue, like the ocean under the night sky.

The air flowed silently, and the silence around him almost drowned him like a tide.It was cold and sad.

He curled up on the bed, wrapping himself tightly in the sheets.