Cheng Feichi stepped back, avoiding the man's hand.
He looked over the man's shoulder and asked Cheng Xin behind him, "Mom, who is he?"
The man's expression froze for a moment. After all, he was someone who had been in a high position for a long time. He quickly adjusted to normal, and said gently, "Just call me uncle."
Cheng Feichi didn't call out, and walked past the man into the back room. Cheng Xin stepped forward to pick up the things in his hand: "Why have you been here for so long, the dumplings are almost cold."
The middle-aged man followed him into the house. Cheng Feichi didn't reply to his mother's words, but suddenly turned his head when he heard footsteps: "This is my house, what are you doing here?"
Cheng Xin probably didn't expect his son's reaction to be so strong, so he smoothed things over and said, "Uncle is our guest."
Cheng Feichi put down his things and turned around to open the door.
Cheng Xin grabbed him: "What are you going to do?"
"Go out and get some air," Cheng Feichi said.
Cheng Xin said: "It's very cold outside, what are you doing out there, I'm getting ready for dinner."
The man probably also wanted to get close to him, so he looked at him from top to bottom, and praised: "I bought this dress according to the size your mother gave, and it looks just right."
Cheng Feichi was startled suddenly, and looked down at the down jacket on his body. The clothes were given to him by Cheng Xin a few days ago. The reason is that it has been many years since he bought new clothes for him, and the discount at the end of the year in the shopping mall is very good. Naturally, Cheng Feichi would not disappoint his mother's wishes, so he put it away carefully, and only took it out to wear on the first day of the new year.
I didn't expect this man to buy it.
"I don't know what color you like, so I bought the gray that can't go wrong. If you don't like it, I will take you to buy a new set after dinner."
Men are obviously not good at lowering their posture to please others, and asking for advice is slow and high-spirited, which sounds like charity to Cheng Feichi's ears.
When Cheng Feichi raised his hand and began to pull the zipper on his clothes, Cheng Xin said again: "Don't take off your clothes in a hurry, the heater has just been turned on, and it hasn't warmed up yet..."
Cheng Feichi still took off the down jacket that he had worn for less than two hours, and seeing the man's gradually gloomy face, he threw the clothes on the drawer in the entrance with his hands: "If he doesn't leave, I will."
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, almost all the shops on the street were closed. When Cheng Feichi walked into the fast food restaurant in a single shirt, the female colleague who just took over from him the day before yesterday was clearing the table, and she exclaimed when she saw him, "Big handsome man, don't you?" Cold?"
Cheng Feichi said "Happy New Year" in response to the question, and headed towards the staff lounge.
The female colleague caught up with him with a plate: "Why are you here, looking for the store manager? He's not here."
Cheng Feichi stopped in his tracks: "Then when will he come to the store?"
"I don't know, maybe I won't come here tomorrow."
Cheng Feichi thought for a while, and then asked, "Is the class full for these two days?"
When the female colleague heard him say this, her eyes lit up: "You want to change shifts? Didn't you say that you are free before the third year of junior high?"
Cheng Feichi pursed his lips: "Suddenly I'm free again."
"You wait, I'll call the store manager!" The female colleague put down her things and ran to the lounge, returned within three minutes, and said with a bitter face, "The store manager asked you to call him, he thought I forced you to switch shifts..."
Cheng Feichi took out the phone from his pocket, and pressed it a few times before remembering that it ran out of battery last night. The female colleague brought out the charger for him to use. After charging for less than five minutes, the old-fashioned bar machine could be turned on. He called the store manager and said that he was free for two days and wanted to change shifts with Wu Rui.
Wu Rui is a female colleague who often works part-time here just like him.
"Didn't you say you want to stay at home with your mother? Are you in such a hurry to get back to work?" the store manager asked on the phone.
"Someone is at home." Cheng Feichi said, "I have nothing to do, so I came here."
After the shift was transferred, Wu Rui changed out of her overalls, quickly put on light makeup, went outside and blew a kiss to Cheng Feichi through the glass door: "Thank you, handsome guy, you can come to me anytime you want to change shifts in the future!"
There are many part-timers in the fast food restaurant. Cheng Feichi has just arrived here, and everyone calls him handsome. He is not used to hearing it, but it is better than Xueba.
The phone was half charged, and a text message came in late, from a string of unknown numbers in an unknown area, just four words: [Happy New Year]
After a while, another one came: [Broken phone and didn't receive it?]
Cheng Feichi opened the corner of his mouth and smiled, his expression that had been dull for a long time finally had some color. He also replied "Happy New Year", then changed into work clothes and went to work.
There were a lot of customers dining in the restaurant on the first day of the new year, especially since noon, when there were so many people that the seats were tight, and many customers had no choice but to choose take-out. Cheng Feichi transferred from the post of cleaning the table to the post of catering and packing, helping colleagues who ordered meals to share pressure.
When the flow of people in the store became smaller, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon.
He was looking at his phone while eating, and an unfamiliar number sent a text message four hours ago: [Have you eaten yet?]
Cheng Feichi replied: [Eating]
The reply from the other end was quick: [It's so late, I've already had lunch]
Before Cheng Feichi could reply, another message came from the other end: [Wait, you still don't know who I am, do you?]
Cheng Feichi typed a few words with one hand, then deleted them before sending them, and changed them into three words: [Don't know]
"Depend on!"
Ye Qin, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, dropped his mobile phone, ran to the balcony to pick it up after a while, slumped on the hanging chair, and sent text messages while shaking with his feet on the ground: [I am Ye Qin, this is a temporary visit abroad. Number]
Cheng Feichi: [hmm]
As cold as ever.
Ye Qin curled his lips, suddenly thought of something, a sly look flashed in his eyes, he held his mobile phone and typed quickly: [Do you know how much an international text message costs?]
Cheng Feichi: [Don't know]
Ye Qin slapped his legs and laughed loudly: [Ten yuan hahahahaha]
After I sent this message, I waited for about ten minutes, but there was no reply from the other end. Ye Qin felt a little regretful, thinking that Cheng Feichi was reluctant to part with the money, so he sent a few more, saying that he actually didn't know how much it cost, ten yuan was nonsense, it must not be that much, at most it was only one yuan.
Cheng Feichi still didn't reply, Ye Qin depressedly put down his phone and looked up at the beach below. Someone was holding a barbecue party over there, and many balloons were tied into a giant arch, on which the words "Happy Birthday" were spelled out with balloons of different colors.
It reminded him of the balloon kitten he had left at home. Before leaving the country, the cat had leaked out of air and turned into a limp, shriveled cat. Ye Qin took a photo of it and wanted to send it to Cheng Feichi, only to realize that his broken mobile phone couldn't receive the photo.
He didn't know why he sent it to Cheng Feichi. His emotions came and went like the wind, and he was rarely stable. He was probably not very happy at the time, because of Ye Jinxiang's attitude, and the unwillingness buried in his heart came out to make trouble again.
However, he also found a reason for himself to continue chasing Cheng Feichi. How can he be reconciled to giving up now that he has put in so much effort? Luo Qiuling has a soft temper and can swallow his anger to whitewash the peace, but he can't. As long as there is no conclusion on this matter, he will never admit defeat.
After Ye Qin finished his ideological work, he refueled by the way, picked up his mobile phone, and typed amidst the laughter and laughter that the sea breeze sent to his ears: [When is your birthday?]
Cheng Feichi had shifts in the afternoon and evening, and it was his turn to rest again, and it was already the early morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year.
There was a call from Cheng Xin and a text message on his phone, asking him if he would be home at night.
Normally, Cheng Xin would only ask him when he would be home, but today's question meant that there might be someone staying at home.
Simply/The night was almost over, Cheng Feichi changed his work clothes, found a place in the corner of the store and slept on his stomach for a while, and called Cheng Xin back after dawn, saying that he was at a classmate's house, and he fell asleep yesterday and didn't hear The phone rings.
Cheng Xin's voice was faint, unable to detect any emotion: "Come back, what does it feel like to stay at someone else's house during the Chinese New Year?"
Cheng Feichi asked bluntly, "Did that person leave?"
After a moment of silence on the phone, Cheng Xin said, "He wants to celebrate your birthday."
Cheng Feichi was stunned.
As long as he can remember, he has never had a so-called birthday. Auntie Feng, who watched him grow up, once told him that the year Cheng Xin gave birth to him was extremely cold, and it was still snowing after the Spring Festival. It snowed all night, and she was in pain all night. There was no heating in the clinic. , only set up a charcoal basin, and she was holding on to the iron railing at the head of the bed, and the sheets were drenched with sweat. If it hadn't been for the newborn Cheng Feichi crying, the doctor would not have noticed her postpartum hemorrhage. Unconscious in bed.
The person was rescued, but severe sequelae were left behind, so much so that Cheng Xin had been bedridden with illness all these years, and could hardly live like a normal person. So Cheng Feichi thought that his birthday was not only the day of his mother's death, but also the beginning of a disaster. No one mentioned it but made him feel relieved.
He doesn't want to celebrate his birthday, he just wants to grow up quickly.
He wanted to be a person who had the ability to reverse his fate, but he didn't bother to take the so-called shortcuts, so the appearance of that man made him extremely disgusted. He couldn't understand his mother's compromise, and felt that he had no right to interfere. In order to express his resistance, he had no choice but to change from his usual calmness and even become a little aggressive.
"No, it's not my birthday." Cheng Feichi said, "I'll go back after he leaves."
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Feichi breathed a sigh of relief, the phone vibrated suddenly, and a dozen text messages poured in, scrolling up a long row on the screen.
This situation has also happened before, and the SMS delay caused by the signal problem. One of them was from Zhang Peiyao, asking him how his new year was and if he could meet tomorrow, but Cheng Feichi refused.
The rest of the unread text messages were all from Ye Qin. From the first one asking when his birthday was, to the furious anger when he didn't get a reply later, it only took three text messages.
The penultimate item, Cheng Feichi could think of Ye Qin's flushed face through the screen: [Did you jump out of the rock?]
Immediately after that, the last one faltered again: [Okay, okay, I jumped out of a crack in the rock, okay... If you don't want to say it, forget it, I'll ask your class teacher when school starts!]
Like a primary school student who is sloppy and shameless, crying and looking for the teacher.
Cheng Feichi couldn't help laughing, looked up at the clock, reckoning that he should wake up at this point, and replied: [The day after tomorrow]
For the next two days, Cheng Feichi didn't come home.
The feeling of being homeless is not too bad. There are people taking care of each other everywhere in the part-time job. In the afternoon of the third day of junior high school, the store manager came to the store after the holiday. Hearing the tragic story of Cheng Feichi being homeless for the past two days from his colleagues, he took the initiative to take his usual The cubicle that came to rest opened up for him to sleep in. The room is next to the back kitchen, it's noisy, but it's better than sleeping outside.
Waking up in the morning on the fourth day of the lunar new year, Cheng Feichi checked the time on his phone first, and checked his inbox by the way, but there were no new text messages.
Before Ye Qin left, he said that he would come back before school started, and he left school for nearly a week, so he probably had a good time abroad and didn't have time to send text messages for fun.
Cheng Xin called in the morning and asked him again if he would go home for his birthday. After getting a negative answer, he said a few words of persuasion: "He's leaving tomorrow, don't worry about me, come back for dinner."
Cheng Feichi thought it was a little funny, she was his only mother, and he didn't care who she cared about? What's more, even if he could really ignore his mother heartlessly, he still couldn't get over the test in his heart.
It was a solid stone wall accumulated in his heart for more than ten years, and it could not be easily destroyed by a few clothes, a watch, or a few words of concern.
Today the store was busier than the first day of the new year. During the break, Cheng Feichi had a meal in a hurry. He casually checked his phone, saw a text message from Ye Qin, and asked him where he was. Cheng Feichi replied "at home" copiously, put down his phone and continued working.
In the evening, Wu Rui, who just came back from work, ran to Cheng Feichi who was packing and said, "Your phone keeps ringing, and there are a lot of text messages on the screen. I didn't mean to peek at it. If you want to blame, you can blame your antique phone for being too wordy." Great, I saw it at a glance."
Cheng Feichi asked her what the text message was, and she compared the length exaggeratedly: "It's just 'I'm freezing to death', there is no signature, and the number is not local, it seems to be a scam."
Cheng Feichi laughed, Ye Qin's foreign number is indeed quite similar to the scam calls that are often broadcast on the social news recently.
But isn't he on vacation in the southern hemisphere? How could it be cold
Once the fast food restaurant gets busy, the system of dividing shifts and rest is just a thing of the past, and all the staff are too busy to have dinner, and there is no time for gossip.
When I could really stop and breathe a sigh of relief, it was already dark outside.
Ignoring the pile of "I'm freezing to death" text messages and sliding all the way up, Cheng Feichi spotted a different one on the top: [I'm downstairs at your house, come and pick me up]
When I returned to Yulin Community on my bicycle, the security booths at the gate were all turned off. Riding on the narrow concrete road with potholes in the old community, only the sound of the wind whistling in his ears, Cheng Feichi suddenly felt a little silly, Ye Qin was clearly playing with him when he was idle and bored, how could he really be waiting for him downstairs
The self-deprecating smile stayed on his face for no more than three seconds before subsiding.
The closer to building No. 3, the clearer the figure curled up in the building hole.
With the sound of "creaking" brakes, the black shadow trembled and moved, then stood up, first looked around, and after confirming that it was Cheng Feichi who was parked there, rushed out and cursed: "You liar, how dare you lie to me?" I said you were at home!"
The voices were all hoarse and lacked momentum. There was a lamp by the side of the road, Cheng Feichi saw Ye Qin's frozen red face, pale lips, and the flip-flops on his feet through the lamp.
Ye Qin followed his line of sight and said awkwardly: "I was too anxious when I got on the plane, I didn't have time to change..." Thinking that he was comfortable on the sunny beach, he was shocked by the word "the day after tomorrow" sent by Cheng Feichi, he I got angry from the heart, "Why didn't you say it earlier on your birthday, there is no direct plane on that broken island, I took a boat to their capital, and I couldn't buy a ticket there, so I had no choice but to stay another night I bought a ticket for the next day, but the plane was still late, so I almost couldn’t make it back today.”
As soon as he opened his mouth, he chattered endlessly, and as he talked, the volume gradually became weaker, as if he had no confidence, he pulled the hem of his clothes down, covering his lower body with beach pants that didn't match at all, and sniffed his nose with a bitter face Bian complained: "I was still cheated by you. If it wasn't for your birthday, I would be really angry."
Not a word about waiting for hours in the cold wind.
Cheng Feichi stood against the light, and Ye Qin couldn't see his expression clearly. Seeing that he didn't speak, his momentum, which was already so weak that there was only a little flame left, suppressed a little bit, and muttered, "Why did you go? It's Chinese New Year's Eve Still going out to work, how short of money is it... "
Before the words were finished, a piece of clothing fell down. Cheng Feichi wrapped the work clothes stuffed in the car basket around Ye Qin's body, threw the bicycle into the building hole, took his arm and walked away.
The work clothes were not very thick and had a greasy smell. Ye Qin frowned in disgust, twisted his arms indiscriminately, and rubbed Cheng Feichi's exposed half of his forearm with the back of his hand.
Cheng Feichi grabbed his fidgeting hand with his backhand, was shocked by the ice, turned his head and asked him: "Don't you know how to call me?"
Ye Qin came into contact with the heat source, followed Cheng Feichi's footsteps, leaned forward contentedly, and said confidently and aggrievedly: "Our foreign card cannot make domestic calls..."