Sui Yi's pupils opened slightly, and what Ning Lan said had been projected to the brain through nerves, but he subconsciously resisted to interpret it.
The mouth, nose, and eyes of the person in front of him, including the mole under the eye that he had kissed countless times, were all exactly as he remembered, but the words he said didn't feel half familiar. .
Sui Yi asked hesitantly, "You... don't remember me?"
This tentative question is obviously nonsense. If he didn't remember, Ning Lan wouldn't have reacted like this, even his eyes were erratic, and he didn't dare to face him.
Sui Yi strode around in strides, grabbing Ning Lan's wrist involuntarily. The earrings on Ning Lan's left ear were removed, leaving only two light pink ear holes, and the bracelet was gone. Only the scar on the back of her hand remained in place.
That was scalded by hot oil while cooking for him. At that time, he was still thinking of buying the best burn cream and applying it three times a day, so that these beautiful hands would not leave any traces.
This is Ning Lan, yes, his Lan Lan is back.
The more urgent the situation, the more afraid of making mistakes. After confirming it, Sui Yi held Ning Lan's hand a little tighter. When he felt the cold sweat on his palm, he said anxiously, "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable?"
Seeing Ning Lan's strange reaction, Lu Hao on the side was obviously very nervous, so he decided that even if Sui Yi knew him, he was definitely not a good person. So he stepped forward to separate Ning Lan, protected him behind him, and said to Sui Yi, "He said he didn't know you, so please leave now."
Sui Yi only saw Ning Lan in his eyes, but Lu Hao suddenly pushed him away, and reached out to pull Ning Lan in dissatisfaction: "Follow me back."
This time Ning Lan hid, he turned sideways and shook his head slightly. He didn't look at Sui Yi from beginning to end, he turned around and walked into the inner room.
Sui Yi was blocked by Lu Hao and couldn't get in. With a tense expression on his face, he said solemnly a second before he was about to explode, "Get out of the way."
Lu Hao was only a little shorter than him, and he didn't show any signs of timidity at all. He still said, "Please come back."
In Sui Yi's heart, he still retains the recklessness of a young man. If it had been three years ago, he would have pushed this man to the ground and beat him.
Lu Hao could feel the irritability and ruthlessness exuding from this young man, and facing his dark eyes, he calmly said, "If you want to see his condition worsen, just rush in."
In the end, reason prevailed.
Sui Yi retreated outside the canteen, took a few deep breaths and forced himself to remain calm.
Now that the man has been found, the next thing to do is to take him home. Although it doesn't seem that easy, no matter what, it's better than blindly blindly blindly going around when you can't find someone, and then suffering repeated disappointments.
Feeling a little calmer, Sui Yi leaned against the wall in a slump, as if just a few short minutes had consumed all his strength.
Ning Lan's timid and fearful actions were still in front of him, and the throbbing pain that had been delayed for a long time came slowly. He closed his eyes, afraid of recalling it, but couldn't help replaying the scenes just now in his mind.
This was the first time in more than a thousand days and nights that he saw a brand-new, living Ning Lan.
Sui Yi raised his hand and rubbed his sour eyes a few times where no one saw him.
The sun was about to set, and the sunlight was replaced by the street lamps on both sides of the street. After waiting outside for a while, the door of the canteen was opened from the inside.
Lu Hao came out first. He was carrying a bun in his hand and turned around to talk to the person standing inside. Sui Yi thought it was Ning Lan, so he couldn't help looking forward. Roll up your sleeves and look for weapons everywhere.
As soon as Sui Yi called out, "Mother-in-law", a basin of cold water poured down her face.
"How dare you come here? Get out of here, I don't want to see you, and Ning Ning doesn't want to see you either, get out!"
The mother-in-law was panting out of scolding, her face flushed red, and she was comforted by Lu Hao before entering the room.
The canteen didn't seem to be planning to open again today, the iron gate slammed shut, and Lu Hao went west along the road, leaving only Sui Yi standing at the door.
The mother-in-law, who used to be kind and kind to him, suddenly changed her face, but the embarrassment of being splashed with water in public was far less than the dull pain that struck her heart again when she discovered the meaning behind this move.
The bystanders are still like this, so how painful should Ning Lan be.
He also imagined that Ning Lan could forget the pain and only remember the happy part. But Ning Lan did everything possible to avoid him and didn't want to see him, just because she couldn't forget it.
The most painful thing is memories, and most of all the cruel memories of pain were engraved on Ning Lan by him, stroke by stroke.
No one can blame him, only himself.
"Hey, boy, look this way! Hey-"
Sui Yi was dazed and frustrated when he suddenly heard someone calling him.
He straightened his stiff neck and looked up. To the right of the canteen was a bathhouse that often appeared on the fringes of urban and rural areas in the north. Bathhouses are usually closed in summer, so the signboard in the light box was not illuminated.
It was a middle-aged woman standing there who called him.
A few minutes later, Sui Yi was sitting in the shop of the middle-aged woman who claimed to be Jiang. A girl who was supposed to be her daughter blushed and brought him a bottle of mineral water, then sat across the table holding a book and quietly. Look, look up at him every now and then.
Aunt Jiang took a towel for him from the counter to wipe his face, and said, "I saw you standing at the door in the afternoon. After playing mahjong, you are still there, sorry to see you."
Sui Yi thanked him, took the new towel, and silently wiped the water off his neck and face.
Aunt Jiang sat on the stool next to him, her eyes rolled, and she asked gossip: "Who are you from the Zhang family's mother-in-law?" Then she looked Sui Yi up and down and guessed, "Is it her adopted son? Son? Tsk, the last time I saw you, you were still held in your arms, but now you are so big!"
Sui Yi said no, and asked about the "adopted son" by the way. Aunt Jiang had probably been bored at home alone for a long time, and finally caught someone who could talk, and immediately opened the chat box and began to tell stories endlessly.
It turns out that Granny Zhang is not a lonely old lady. When she was in her twenties, she worked in a textile factory in the town. One time, on the way back from night shift, she picked up a crying baby boy. At that time, communication was not developed. After several trips, the family of the baby boy could not be found. Grandma Zhang raised him for a few days, and gradually gave birth to the baby, so she adopted the baby. In those years, in order to take care of the children, she worked so hard that she didn't even get married. Luckily, she was a promising child, and her grades in school were always among the best. Later, she was admitted to a well-known institution of higher learning with a scholarship. Thousands of firecrackers were sent by car. , it rang all day on Quanxi Street.
"At that time, Quanxi was still a remote rural town, and it was a big happy event that the whole town followed with high eyebrows!" Speaking of which, the smile on Aunt Jiang's face gradually disappeared, which means that the story has ushered in a turning point. " Everyone thought that Granny Zhang’s hard days were over, but they knew that the biological parents of the Zhang family suddenly came to the door and asked the child to recognize his ancestors. He didn't live to be twenty years old, and the Sun family threw the child away before they became prosperous. After more than twenty years, they became rich and prosperous. I thought of such a child again, and went to Quanxi Street to inquire about the child, knowing that the child was not only healthy Alive, and uniquely promising, of course, rushing to come back immediately.
"That kid also has no conscience. Seeing that his parents' family is rich and powerful, he left his adoptive mother, changed his name, returned to Sun's house, and got married soon after. After marriage, he came to see Granny Zhang with the child. One time, more than ten or twenty years ago, I can't remember, but Granny Zhang didn't give in, and a basin of water was blasted out."
After Aunt Jiang finished speaking, she sighed deeply: "Some people have a heart, I don't know how they can be so ruthless."
Sui Yi fell into deep thought, thinking that it's no wonder that Granny Zhang was so hostile to him, she probably regarded him as the bad guy who robbed her precious son.
On second thought, it was not wrong. He was indeed the bad guy who left Ning Lan when he needed him the most. Seeing that he was alive and well, he wanted to bring him back.
The next morning, the grocery store was open for business as usual.
Granny Zhang got up early, moved a stool, and sat at the door like a god. Her eyes are not good, and there is no distinction between people and animals from three meters away. Whenever there are footsteps approaching, she will stare at others with her neck stuck, like an old hen spreading her wings to protect her chicks.
The little chick Ning Lan couldn't stand it anymore, and repeatedly persuaded her to go back to her room to rest. The sun was shining during the day, so sitting down like this would have to suffer from heat stroke. After a while, Lu Binghua swayed over from the west end of the road to eat breakfast. After eating, he patted his chest and promised to be optimistic about Brother Ning Ning, so Granny Zhang asked Ning Lan to go back to the room to take a nap.
Lu Binghua moved the small stool at the door to the back of the counter, and asked in a low voice, "Listen to my brother, someone came to see you?"
Ning Lan loaded coffee beans into the coffee machine and ignored him.
"Is it your relative? Dad? Mom? Or brother and sister? Why didn't you come earlier? Did the mother-in-law beat him? Oh, tell me!"
Lu Hao obviously did not disclose the specific situation to Lu Binghua. Ning Lan felt that it was not easy to keep his mouth shut under the machine gun bombardment of the younger brother of the Lu family.
So in the morning, when Lu Hao sent a message to remind him that he could take medicine after eating, Ning Lan typed "um" and added "you eat well too".
The barber shop had little business in the morning, so Lu Binghua couldn't get a word out of Ning Lan's mouth.
Ning Lan just took the time to go out, the small trolley was full of goods, and the hand was tied to the bicycle, which became a delivery truck.
Quanxi Street is not big, and it takes more than an hour to walk, stop and go back and forth. Ning Lan received a call from Lu Binghua on the way, saying that there was someone coming from the barber shop, and he had to go back first. Ning Lan didn't take the key out and told him to close the iron door of the canteen.
The neighbors around are friendly and harmonious, and there are few outsiders. On weekdays, even if the house is wide open, it is for the convenience of visiting. People come and go on the street, and no thieves dare to patronize. So Ning Lan was very relieved to get off the car and bought a few tomatoes, cut a piece of winter melon, weighed a piece of pork belly, and picked out a plump crucian carp.
Yesterday, my mother-in-law was so angry that she had to make a good meal to make up for it.
He was thinking about the three dishes and one soup at noon in his head. When he opened the iron door with a big bag and a small bag, he suddenly faced a tall figure, so scared that he almost lost his breath.
Sui Yi was also very frightened. He went back to the city last night, got up early in the morning and went to the jewelry store to pick up the repaired pendant, then bought some things and rushed over. I thought Ning Lan had run away, and a coolness quickly rushed from the soles of his feet to his forehead, almost losing his ability to think.
When I saw Ning Lan at this moment, my hanging heart fell to the ground.
Ning Lan's heart was beating very fast, most likely because she was frightened. He bypassed Sui Yi, went into the back room, marinated the fish in a bowl, cut the vegetables and placed them on the chopping board, his heartbeat gradually stabilized.
When he was plucking the green onions in the yard, he glanced at the half-hanging door curtain and saw that Sui Yi was still standing there and didn't move.
After thinking about it, he went out and asked in a businesslike manner, "What do you want to buy?"
Before Sui Yi was ready, he took two pieces of chocolate from the shelf and put them on the counter.
Ning Lan lowered her eyes and said, "Twenty in total."
Sui Yi was in a hurry to go out today, and he couldn't find a banknote all over his body, so he had to ask, "Can I pay electronically?"
"No." Ning Lan decisively picked up the chocolate and put it back on the shelf, then turned to enter the room again.
From beginning to end, he never looked at him.
Sui Yi had a lot to say, and wanted to ask him what happened yesterday and how he had been all these years. He also wanted to apologize to him and asked him if he would go back with him. However, a pair of Ning Lan's indifferent faces were as if stuck in his throat, unable to say anything.
The opportunity to be alone was not easy to come by. He didn't want to let Ning Lan in again. He walked over in three steps to block Ning Lan, and took out a card the size of a business card from his pocket: "I want coffee."