Shu Nian couldn't believe it, nervous and flustered, almost hung up the phone. She took a steady breath and picked up the phone.
The next second, a man's low and cool voice came from the other end.
"Which one?"
Shu Nian's breath paused, fingers unconsciously picking at the quilt. She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.
And the person on the other end was very patient, neither urging nor hanging up.
After a long time, Shu Nian said in a dull voice, "Hello, is this Xie Ruhe?"
There was no speaking for a long time, so quiet that even the sound of breathing could not be heard.
It's like putting the phone far away and forgetting to cut off the sudden call. I don't care, and I don't know what kind of mood the person opposite made the call.
It was still raining outside the window, the sound of pouring rain, crashing, accompanied by strong winds. It overlaps and overlaps with the sound of rain in the memory.
I do not know how long it has been.
The man opened his mouth, his voice was low and hoarse, cold and emotionless, like ice cola suddenly stuck to his face, numb from the cold.
"You got the wrong person."
…
The first time Shu Nian saw Xie Ruhe was also in a rainy night like now. It's all cool, and every breath is filled with a cold and damp smell.
It was in her second year of junior high school, in the small place of Shiyan Town.
It takes about twenty minutes to walk home from school.
Winter is coming and it gets dark fast. The lights on the side of the road are not bright, and there are small flying ants flapping their wings inside. The sound of the rain was loud, and the puddles accumulated on the ground were shining and reflecting light.
After school, Shunian didn't want to go home too early, so he finished his homework in the classroom before leaving the school. She held an umbrella and carefully avoided puddles on the ground for fear of getting her shoes dirty.
She walked slowly, and it was almost seven o'clock before she reached the position where she could see the water bridge near her home.
After crossing this bridge, I arrived at the residential area where I lived.
Just as Shu Nian was about to walk over, he heard cussing from the other end. She blinked, thought for a while, and after a few seconds, this voice overlapped with a voice in her mind.
It was Uncle Li Hong who lived next door to her house.
"Do you think you can do things, kid?! If it wasn't because Yu Peng introduced you, I would have driven you away!" Li Hong was wearing a raincoat, pinched his waist, and spit, "You said , now the goods are all wet, how can I explain?"
Hearing this, Shu Nian stood on tiptoe and looked sideways.
I saw a tall and thin young man standing in front of Li Hong, with his head bowed. The loose blue and white school uniform jacket was unzipped, revealing the short sleeves of the school uniform inside. The trousers looked a bit short on him, and water dripped down the trousers.
His face was obscured by rain and fog, and only a vague outline could be seen.
Shu Nian didn't quite understand what happened, and walked over there slowly.
The closer you get, the clearer you can see the situation over there.
Behind the two of them was a small tricycle with several cardboard boxes on it. There was a roof on the tricycle, but it had holes through which raindrops leaked, and the outer skin of the box was wrinkled.
Shu Nian recognized that car, it belonged to Li Hong. The roof was originally broken.
Li Hong was still cursing, and even pushed Xie Ruhe's shoulder with his hands, with a domineering expression.
"Anyway, today's loss will be covered by your salary!"
Xie Ruhe was pushed back a step, but still didn't say a word, his head was lowered, from this angle he could only see his exposed nose bridge and lips, the curve of his jaw was stiff, and his masseter muscle was tightened. The whole body was drenched.
In this weather, it seems to be frozen into ice.
The ugly scolding continued.
During this time, Shu Nian walked up to the two of them and gave half of the umbrella to Xie Ruhe.
She is very small, with a small face, fair and smooth skin, delicate and delicate features, she looks like a porcelain doll.
Shu Nian looked up at the domineering Li Hong in front of him, and called softly, "Uncle Li."
Seeing Shu Nian, Li Hong's expression became even uglier.
"You little brat, hurry home."
Shu Nian corrected immediately: "I'm not a brat."
Li Hong sneered.
Shu Nian pointed to the location of the tricycle, and said earnestly: "I remember, the roof of your car has a hole in it. Isn't it a problem with the tools you provided him? You can't just not pay him because of this. "
Li Hong was very upset when she punctured his mind, and argued, "I handed over the goods to him. Of course, if there is a problem with the goods, I will look for him. Could it be that I have suffered from being dumb?"
Shu Nian froze for a moment, but he didn't go around him, and wanted to continue reasoning with him.
"But the car—"
"That's enough, don't talk about it, I'm so annoying." Li Hong picked out his ears and sat on the tricycle, "What kind of thing came to teach me, what a fucking brain problem."
Shu Nian pursed her lips and said, "Don't curse."
"What's wrong with scolding you? If there is a problem with the goods, you should find the delivery person. This is the same principle with me. What nonsense are you talking to me?" Li Hong turned his head and shouted loudly, "What a fucking bad luck!"
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Shunian to speak again, he stepped on the pedal and left quickly.
There were only the two of them left on the water bridge, silent and silent.
Shu Nian scratched his head, but there was no solution, so he turned his head to look at Xie Ruhe next to him, and asked, "Does your family live here?"
He didn't speak, didn't look at her, turned his head and walked in the opposite direction of the residential area.
Shu Nian was stunned, and hurriedly followed.
His steps are bigger than hers, Shunian has to trot to keep up with him.
Shoes splashed in puddles, shoes stained, and all the care and attention along the way was wiped out. Shu Nian was in a hurry, he couldn't help but grabbed the corner of his clothes, a little angry: "Hey!"
Hearing the sound, Xie Ruhe paused and stopped.
This action immediately dissipated Shu Nian's mild anger.
Thinking of his impolite roar just now, Shu Nian wrinkled his face in annoyance. Pointing to the handle of the umbrella, she asked in a low voice, "Can you hold this for me?"
Shu Nian raised his eyes, just in time to meet his gaze.
His bangs are a little long, half covering his eyes. Therefore, the eyes are not very real.
But she seemed confused by her behaviour.
But this time Xie Ruhe responded to her words. After a moment of silence, he obediently took the umbrella in her hand.
Shu Nian thanked him softly, and watched him secretly while unzipping the small compartment of the schoolbag.
The boy's hair was wet, with water drops falling down the ends of his hair, and his face was very pale. The eyelashes are dense and long, like two small fans. The eyes are like lacquer, clear and distinct. The bridge of the nose is straight and straight, and the lips below are purplish from the cold.
Shu Nian doesn't have a rich vocabulary, so he can't think of how to describe his appearance.
The first word that popped up in my mind was "beautiful".
Although gloomy, he is an extremely beautiful boy.
She didn't really have anything to do, she just wanted to give him the umbrella.
Shu Nian thought for a while, then took out a mango jelly candy from his school bag, and put it in front of him like comfort.
"Please have a candy."
Xie Ruhe didn't answer.
Shu Nian looked at him with round eyes, and after a moment of stalemate with him, he tightened his grip on Tang. She sighed like a little adult, and put the candy in his pocket.
"It's raining...well, don't get caught in the rain when it's raining. My house is here, and I'll run back quickly."
He still ignored her.
Shu Nian also lost his temper, and added: "Take your umbrella back, go home early."
After she finished speaking, she stopped waiting for his response and lowered her head to carry her schoolbag in front of her.
Just when she was about to run forward in one go, Xie Ruhe suddenly raised the umbrella in front of her. The umbrella covered her completely, while his body was once again exposed to the heavy rain.
Shu Nian paused, then turned to look at him.
The heavy rain drenched his whole body, the hair on his forehead was glued into bunches, and the short sleeves stuck to his body, outlining his slightly thin figure, and he was in a mess.
Shu Nian didn't answer, his eyes were stained with a layer of water vapor in this rainy day, like two black beads soaked in water.
"Aren't you cold? Why don't you hold an umbrella."
Xie Ruhe lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze.
Shu Nian didn't know what to say, but after spending so much time on this matter, there was no reason to stop here. She lowered her eyebrows and said softly: "Then goodbye."
She just took a step forward.
The person next to him also took a step forward.
Shu Nian looked at him sideways, a little puzzled: "Or, your family also lives here?"
He didn't even move his head, and there was no tendency to nod at all, so Shu Nian could only mumble, "Then you also get into the umbrella, let's go."
All the way silent.
After crossing the bridge, go straight ahead and see a house with an old locust tree in the yard, turn right, walk to the fourth streetlight, and you will arrive at Shunian's house.
She stopped: "I'm here, goodbye."
Shu Nian fumbled for the key in his pocket, and heard Xie Ruhe's leaving footsteps behind him.
She opened the door.
When she turned her head again, Xie Ruhe had already walked under the second streetlight on this road, her umbrella was still in her hand, and her figure was blurred by the rain curtain.
That location happened to be in front of Li Hong's house.
The tricycle and an old black bicycle stood in the small yard. He stopped suddenly and looked at the bicycle quietly.
Light and shadow intertwine on the pale face, and the expression is vague.
Entered the house.
Hearing the movement, Deng Qingyu came out of the kitchen. Noticing Shu Read's dirty shoes and empty hands, his expression became unsightly: "Why is it so late. Where's the umbrella? Did you give it to someone else?"
Shu Nian took off his shoes and socks, nodded, "I saw a boy cheated by Uncle Li Hong, and he didn't bring an umbrella, so I gave him the umbrella."
"I've told you hundreds of times!" Deng Qingyu immediately became fierce, "How many miserable people are there in the world? You can handle everyone? Take care of yourself first! Don't keep listening to your dad's nonsense !"
"I don't have to care about everyone in the world." Shu Nian lifted his shoes and walked into the bathroom, "But I saw it, so I can't ignore it. An umbrella doesn't cost much."
Shunian listens to her in everything, but in this respect she is as stubborn as her father. Deng Qingyu didn't want to hear her talk so much, so she looked at her: "Are you wet? Hurry up and take a bath for me, put the shoes first."
Standing in front of the sink, Shu Nian obediently found a basin with blistered shoes.
"No, that person sent me back before he left."
Silence for a second.
Deng Qingyu took a deep breath and pulled Shunian out of the bathroom. This time her voice was no longer high-pitched, and she was serious, trying to reason with her: "Shu Nian, let me tell you one last time. There are many bad people in this world, you can't always be like this, and you don't have any precautions at all." .”
"But everyone around me knows each other..." Shu Nian was startled by her sudden action, and spoke in a hurry, "That boy should be about my age, and he's still wearing a junior high school uniform."
"Bad guys don't know age. And now the rain is so loud that it can completely cover your voice." Deng Qingyu closed her eyes, looking tired, "Can you listen to my mother? I can't control other people, but you are my mother." children."
"..."
"Go home after school, you know? Don't stay outside."
"..."
Shu Nian lowered his eyes, looking at the floor.
After a long time, she whispered: "Okay."
Because of this incident, Shunian couldn't lift his spirits all day long. She felt that she had done nothing wrong, but her mother gave her a lesson, saying that she was as disobedient as a bad child.
The next day after school, Shu Nian no longer lingered in school, and walked towards home with his schoolbag on his back.
It was still light, the rain had stopped, and the ground was drying.
On the way home, Shunian met many neighbors he knew. She grabbed the strap of her schoolbag and walked forward with a heavy heart. Passing by the house with the old locust tree, she suddenly heard the woman chatting inside mention Li Hong's name.
Shu Nian stopped inexplicably, leaning against the wall outside to listen to their chat.
After listening for a long time, it should be summed up.
Li Hong went out today, and when he was riding his small broken bicycle, the brakes failed, and he hit a tree by the side of the road, half of his leg was broken, and he is still lying in the hospital.
Shu Nian's expression froze, inexplicably recalling the last scene yesterday.
The boy stood there, as if he was alone in the world. His eyes were on Li Hong's yard, his expression was dark and full of hostility.
Probably not.
Thinking of what his mother said yesterday, Shu Nian subconsciously clenched his fists, and continued walking in confusion.
Almost at the door.
As soon as he raised his eyes, Shu Nian's footsteps stopped again.
The boy she remembered just now was standing in front of her yard.
He was born thin, but tall, and he stood upright, without the embarrassment of yesterday. Wearing a junior high school uniform, her appearance is immature, but without any emotion. Bright black peach eyes, a knife-cut nose bridge, and rouge-like lips.
Holding the umbrella she gave him yesterday.
Shu Nian silently gave him the title of "the most beautiful junior high school student".
She walked over.
Noticing her figure, Xie Ruhe looked sideways at her. He walked over, his movements were not gentle, he directly stuffed the umbrella into Shu Nian's arms and left.
Did not stay for a second.
But Xie Ruhe didn't take a few steps.
The next moment, Shu Nian suddenly ran in front of him and pulled him aside with great effort. Her expression was very serious, her soft voice was lowered, and she was extraordinarily delicate: "Do you know that Uncle Li Hong has entered the hospital?"
Xie Ruhe looked at her expressionlessly, without saying a word.
With his appearance like this, Shu Nian didn't know what he was thinking, he was a little anxious: "It can't be really you, can it?"