After lunch, Ning Lan planned to take a nap, but was afraid that she would not be able to sleep at night, so she took out the cardboard and prepared to draw a few more coffee cards.
Just after writing two words, Lu Binghua called: "Boss, two old popsicles, takeaway to Bingbing Hair Salon."
"If the delivery price is not reached, it will not be delivered." Ning Lan said.
"Then add a pack of cigarettes."
Ning Lan put down her pen: "Your brother is back?"
Walking into the Bingbing hair salon, Lu Hao was being held by his younger brother on the barber chair to cut his hair.
Lu Binghua's haircut style is a combination of threats and intimidation: "Don't move, otherwise don't blame me if you go bald with one knife."
Ten minutes later, Lu Hao got off the barber chair. A fine layer of sweat oozes from his forehead. He met Ning Lan's curved eyes and touched his hair awkwardly: "Is it ugly?"
Ning Lan held back her laughter and said with a thumbs up, "Extremely handsome!"
Lu Hao smoked a cigarette outside, rinsed his mouth, and returned to the inner room. Lu Binghua didn't know where to go to play, and only Ning Lan sat alone in the swivel chair, turning around with one foot, bowing her head and scratching the scar on her hand.
His shoulders are thin, and his fluffy hair covers his eyes. Anyone who looks at him looks like a teenager as big as Lu Binghua, not a "28-year-old man" as he himself said.
Lu Hao stepped forward and said, "Take off your shoes, show me your feet."
Ning Lan stopped turning, and retracted his leg: "No need, it doesn't hurt much these days."
Lu Hao didn't give an inch, and squatted down directly: "Want me to help you take off your shoes?"
Ning Lan jumped down from the transfer in a panic, took off her shoes obediently, and rolled up her trousers.
Lu Hao looked at his ankle, it was neither red nor swollen, and it was recovering pretty well.
"Next week, I'll go to the hospital to take an X-ray." Lu Hao helped him with his trouser legs and stood up.
Ning Lan immediately grimaced: "Can I not shoot, I can run and jump now, and it's no problem to go up to the ground." As he said that, he jumped on the spot a few times, and raised his left leg to give a roundabout kick, "Look , very good!"
Lu Hao was unmoved: "The inside of the bones cannot be seen from the outside. If the X-rays look good, then there is no need for follow-up visits for the next six months."
Ning Lan sat down and began to think about whether it would be worthwhile to replace half a year of tranquility with a follow-up visit.
Lu Hao is a surgeon in a tertiary hospital in the city. The grandparents, grandparents, uncles and aunts in Quanxi Street call him "the child of someone else's family". When most people saw him and Lu Binghua standing together, they would never have imagined that the two of them were brothers. First, there was a big age gap, and second, they couldn't find any similarities in their bodies except for their surnames Lu.
Ning Lan stomped on his feet and slid the chair to the desk. He held his chin and watched Lu Hao meticulously write in the medical record book. The angular lines on his face made his expression more solemn and serious, which reminded Ning Lan. The first time he saw him, he looked at himself with scrutiny, and then said to Granny Zhang, "Report the case, the police will handle it."
Even though his attitude towards himself gradually eased during the years of getting along, Ning Lan still held him in awe.
Lu Hao noticed Ning Lan's gaze, and wrote while writing, "Is there a regular post on Weibo recently?"
"Yes, I posted a video of steaming buns yesterday... Oops!" Ning Lan patted her head, "I originally wanted to bring some for you to try, but I forgot when I went out."
Lu Hao curled his lips and smiled: "It doesn't matter, I can watch the video and I'll just eat it."
After being quiet for a moment, Ning Lan bit her lip and asked tentatively, "Brother Lu, that medicine... is the medicine that calms the nerves and helps sleep. Could you give me a little more?"
Lu Hao raised his head, the gentleness on his face also faded: "Are you still insomnia?"
"No, just occasionally, sometimes I can't sleep..." Ning Lan hesitated and dared not say it clearly.
Lu Hao put down his pen and looked straight at him: "Those videos, did you read the comments below after you posted them?"
Ning Lan's eyes dodged: "Yes... Yes, of course there is."
"Then do you know how many fans you have now?"
"... Twenty thousand? Or thirty thousand? Can't remember."
"It's two hundred thousand."
Ning Lan's eyes widened: "So many? Where did you come from?" After Yubi realized that he had slipped his tongue, he curled his shoulders and shrank back, not daring to make a sound.
Lu Hao said: "I know you are afraid to face these, but if you regard sending videos as a task that you have to complete, and only output information without receiving feedback, then what is the meaning of this treatment plan?"
More than two years ago, Lu Hao began to help Ning Lan with treatment. Ning Lan is a person without identity information, and he can't even make an appointment at the hospital, so Lu Hao helped him with diagnosis and treatment in private. Find a way to help him get medicine.
It can be said that Ning Lan is now able to jump around like a monkey on Quanxi Street. This is also the reason why Ning Lan respects him. Being able to help him heal without asking him where he came from or why he is like this, his kindness is comparable to the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva.
So Ning Lan felt ashamed, buried her head in her chest, and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry..."
After a long while, Lu Hao sighed softly and said, "The body is yours, if you don't even think about it, the efforts of others will be in vain. I'll have a psychological evaluation with me next week, the medicine is a mental medicine. I can't take more than one prescription drug at a time."
Ning Lan gave an inaudible "um", then put her hand into her trouser pocket and took out a wad of money circled from it: "And this, I sold the ticket, I'm sorry, I don't know. Bingbing will..." Speaking of which, he was a little hard to say, "Bingbing is still a child, if you think about it, it will come out, don't take his words seriously."
The atmosphere was suddenly slightly awkward, and the speed of the surrounding air flow slowed down.
Ning Lan was even more upset. But any normal person doesn't want to be related to a semi-crippled person with unknown origin and mental illness like himself, right
He is precarious every day, unable to predict what will happen in the next second. It's enough to live alone, he doesn't want to involve innocent people at all.
The clock ticked forward, just when Ning Lan was on pins and needles, racking his brains to change the subject, Lu Hao said slowly, "Then if I say it, do I take it seriously?"
The sun was blazing outside the window. On the main street of Quanxi, which was more than 200 meters away from the hair salon, a black SUV was coming from the west. It braked a little too fast, and the tires made a harsh sound as they rubbed against the ground.
Sui Yi got out of the car and walked hurriedly across the road. About two or three meters away from the canteen, he stood still and took a deep breath, then strode in.
No one was in the store. For the first time, Sui Yi took a close look at this small shop. The small commodities on the shelves were neatly arranged, and the cold drinks in the freezer were not cluttered, such as mineral water, sports drinks, and colored drinks. , Popsicles are all divided into exclusive areas, and there is a corner where there are frozen meat and other ingredients wrapped in plastic bags, which may be prepared for the next video recording. Turning his gaze, on the rocking chair behind the counter was a strawberry throw pillow that had been washed white.
He's been here twice, and he didn't notice these details. Just now, I confirmed that the address where the video was sent is here, and now I have matched what I saw with the one in my impression, and finally I have the sense of reality that Ning Lan is here.
"Who is it?" The mother-in-law opened the curtain and came out when she heard the movement. She smiled brightly when she saw Sui Yi, "You guys want to buy coffee?"
Sui Yi's mind was full of Ning Lan, so he didn't care much and asked directly, "Mother-in-law, is there a person named Ning Lan here?"
The mother-in-law was stunned for a moment, the smile on her face quickly disappeared, and she said decisively: "No, I have never heard of this name."
Sui Yi was furious: "Then are there any other guys in your store?"
"No, just me."
The mother-in-law was eager to deny it, and was easily caught by Sui Yi: "The coffee maker you said last time..."
Before he could finish speaking, the mother-in-law became angry and slammed him out with a fan: "No, if you say no, then there is no, buy something or not? Go out if you don't!"
The mother-in-law's footsteps were trembling. Sui Yi was afraid of hurting her, so she was forced to retreat by the pungent old man, still begging: "You let me see him once, just once, I have something to say. tell him."
"See you!" The mother-in-law screamed, "Where did you go? He was thin to the bone, and when he was homeless, where were you? Now that he is doing well, you can't help but recognize him? ,Stop dreaming!"
"Bang", the iron door was slammed shut in front of him, Sui Yi took two steps back, and his eardrums were buzzing.
On the other side, Ning Lan was also bewildered by the unexpected situation, and stammered: "Don't, stop joking."
Lu Hao closed the medical record book and clasped his hands on the table: "I'm not kidding."
Ning Lan was stared at by his undisguised eyes, and he hesitated for a moment before saying, "No, no, your conditions are so good, what are you looking for..."
"Then why can't I find you?"
Ning Lan said as a matter of course: "I am 28 years old. I have inconvenient legs and feet, mental illness, and a man. The most important thing is that I am a black family. To put it bluntly, my identity is unknown."
Hearing what he said, Lu Hao relaxed and said, "I'm 7 years older than you, I'm a real old man, and all illnesses can be cured. Our country recognizes the legality of same-sex partnerships. The most important thing is that I don't mind your identity. unknown."
Rebuted point by point, justified. Ning Lan's back started to sweat, and he still couldn't figure it out, a good doctor, what kind of tendon is suddenly wrong today
The Lu family's parents died early. Lu Binghua was brought up by Lu Hao while studying. Lu Hao was in his thirties and had yet to get married. Most of his time was occupied by work and taking care of his younger brother. The brothers have lived with each other for more than ten years, and their personalities seem to be completely different, but they are actually very affectionate.
Thinking of this, Ning Lan grabbed an important clue: "Bingbing is talking nonsense all day long, don't take it to heart, he told me privately, in fact, he is happy with anyone you find, as long as you like it."
Lu Hao clasped and interspersed his fingers all of a sudden and squeezed together. He tapped his thumb on the back of his hand irregularly a few times, and said after a moment of deliberation, "I like you."
Ning Lan opened her mouth and looked at him blankly.
After Lu Hao finished speaking, he was a little embarrassed, and he used a smile to hide his nervousness: "I'm a four-year-old, I really don't feel comfortable saying this. But I hope you know that I didn't choose you because of Binghua, but because of my personal experience. After careful consideration, I sincerely want to spend the rest of my life with you."
On the way back, Ning Lan was still unable to recover from the shock and helplessness of being confessed.
Lu Binghua seemed to have pinpointed the time, came back before he left, took out an electric baking pan, and begged him to make octopus balls for him to eat.
The electric baking pan comes with several cast-iron pans of different sizes, and it was very difficult to carry. Lu Hao offered to send him back with the pans.
Ning Lan wanted to refuse, but Lu Binghua was too fast, shoved the electric baking pan into his brother's arms, and waved him and told him to go back early.
At this time, the sun was just about to set, and the two of them were walking on the road, gossiping a few times, and no one mentioned anything about the house just now.
After all, Lu Hao was not a young man. He said that he didn't care about such illusory things as marriage and status. He just thought he liked it and felt comfortable together, so he said it and asked Ning Lan to go back and consider it carefully, so he didn't have to rush to answer him.
Ning Lan prefers to be soft and not hard. He wanted to refuse on the spot, but he was so humbled by his respect for himself that he couldn't say it for a while. Now calm down and think about it carefully, the answer is the same as before, still no.
Lu Hao's thoughts are detached and not rigid in the mundane world, but Ning Lan is a downright mundane person. Aside from his emotions, he doesn't have the confidence to start a relationship without a contract with anyone. He looks handsome, but he actually cares more about the so-called "status" than anyone else, otherwise he wouldn't have done so many absurd and silly things three years ago in order to pay back the money and maintain equality with that person.
However, the reason for not being able to form a contract is him, so this is an unsolved problem in itself.
The hair salon and the canteen were less than 300 meters apart, and Ning Lan could see the door of the store closed from a distance. He took out the key to open the door and called his mother-in-law a few times, only to find that her mother-in-law was already asleep on the bed when he got to the back room.
He closed the door lightly, went back to the outhouse, unboxed the electric baking pan, took out the pot and rinsed it, then plugged it in to heat it up.
Lu Hao didn't plan to leave yet, and stared at the pot intently: "Is it possible to bake a cake by putting the flour down?"
Ning Lan couldn't help laughing: "Well, then wait for the pot to stick." After that, he went to the freezer outside to get a little dough left over from making buns yesterday, and was going to try to make an egg pancake first.
He turned the dough out from under the frozen meat, and closed the freezer with the dough in one hand and the other. At the same time, a low voice sounded in his ears without warning: "Lan Lan."
Probably because the dough was too icy, Ning Lan was shivering from the freezing, and the dough fell off the freezer cover. As soon as it came into contact with the hot air, it began to send out strands of cold air.
His current name is Zhang Ning, and Rao, the closest mother-in-law, will only call him "Ning Ning".
He hadn't heard the name "Lan Lan" for more than three years, so his first reaction was that he was dreaming.
However, the faces of the people in the dream are blurred, and the people in front of them are tall and tall, with clear outlines. Above the bridge of the high nose, a pair of deep eyes are staring at him. Ning Lan could even see his undulating chest wrapped under his thin clothes, and the long shadow on the ground pulled by the setting sun.
Sui Yi's heartbeat was so fast that it seemed to pop out of his chest. He didn't even dare to blink, for fear that if he moved a little, Ning Lan would disappear from him again.
He is most fortunate now that before going out today, with the thought that he might see Ning Lan at any time, he carefully selected his clothes. Although he was sweating, he should not look embarrassed, and Ning Lan should not dislike it.
"Lan Lan." Sui Yi stepped forward and called again.
Ning Lan's reaction was to lean back, with her toes pointed out, obviously wanting to turn around and leave, but for some reason she stopped and stood there without moving.
This is much better than the countless reunion scenes Sui Yi had imagined. At least Ning Lan didn't turn around and left, which means that he didn't reject him so much.
Sui Yi was encouraged, and stepped to the counter in two steps. Just as he was about to say something, a man came out of the back room separated by a curtain: "Why does it take so long to get a dough?"
At this moment, Ning Lan's face was pale, and the fingers hanging by his side were trembling and curled up.
When Lu Hao saw the person standing in front of him, he felt familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. In addition, Ning Lan's mental state was up and down, and he couldn't stand the excitement, so he thought that this person was here to ask for trouble. The customer pulled Ning Lan's arm, pulled him behind him, and asked, "Who are you?"
The intimate conversations and actions of the two people in front of him fell into Sui Yi's eyes. His eyes became deep, and his mind turned a thousand times, and countless terrifying assumptions flashed through in an instant.
But he had been looking for Ning Lan for more than three years, and he couldn't let go no matter what.
Sui Yi almost greedily looked at the living Ning Lan standing in front of him, all the cells in his body seemed to be resurrected, and the breath between his nose was scorching hot.
He said slowly, word by word, "I'm his boyfriend."
Lu Hao was obviously surprised, but Sui Yi's expression was so serious that it was almost cold, it didn't look like he was lying, so he turned to look at Ning Lan: "He is yours..."
"No, he's not." Ning Lan, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up. He lowered his eyes and didn't know where he was looking. He completely ignored Sui Yi's fiery gaze on him, and said lightly, "I don't know him."