Four O’Clock Flower

Chapter 75

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I went to Zheng Siyi's house to pick up Zheng Yu. The rain passed through the border, washing out the uneven shades on the trees, and the new green with no pattern was growing.

Zheng Siyi's stewed chicken soup was filled with dodder seeds, making a small pot full. Zheng Siyi heard someone ring the bell, wiped his hands with a rag, leaned on the door frame and shouted at Zheng Yu, "Your dad is here, go, open the door for him!"

"Hey!" Zheng Yu jumped off the sofa, arched his feet into his slippers, and jumped with a bang.

Zheng Siqi carried a bag of ten kilograms of pearl rice in each of his left and right hands. He didn't prevent Zheng Yu from opening the door and slammed into it, and he was almost knocked out two meters away.

"Ouch." Zheng Siqi frowned and smiled.

"Dad!" Zheng Yu grabbed the hem of Zheng Siqi's shirt, wishing he could immediately lift his foot and wrap his tie up a tree.

Zheng Siqi handed the rice forward and joked, "Hey, go get it to auntie."

Zheng Siyi hurriedly got out of the kitchen, "Bullshit, you dislocated your arm at a young age, I see you won't be in a hurry." As she said that, she walked over to look at the bow and the rice bag, followed by staring, "Huh Who told you to buy this?"

"You told me to bring pearl rice in your own text message." Zheng Siqi was wronged.

"I mean the kind of loose pearl rice that is not so hard when boiled. My dear, you can buy me two bags of organic ones for more than 20 yuan a pound!" Zheng Siyi frowned, as if he had made a big mistake. " Your precious heart is thrown!"

Zheng Siqi changed his shoes, and reluctantly led Zheng Yu to the kitchen, "You can take it for nothing, and I don't want your money."

"You know shit, you're used to eating this good rice, can you still eat that bad one?" Zheng Siqi carried the rice and followed him into the kitchen, "You should hurry up and find someone who can live a good life and teach you how to handle it. I don't care, I don't know what it is for being so big. Tsk, go back and send this to Dad..."

"Come on, let me run errands again." Zheng Siqi turned back.

Zheng Siqi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Then why don't you buy a car?"

Zheng Siqi knew that Zheng Siyi was urging him to buy a car and get a driver's license every day at that time, purely because he wanted more free drivers and hard labor for instructing.

Zheng Siqi took a small bowl and a soup spoon from the cupboard, lifted the lid of the soup pot that was smouldering with the residual heat on the stove, used the spoon to skim off a layer of slick oil on the noodles, and scooped out half a bowl of clear soup. bowl.

Zheng Siqi just took a few breaths from his mouth, and a layer of milky white water vapor covered the lens. When it slowly subsided, he saw Zheng Yu staring at him with a burning gaze beside his legs. Zheng Siqi couldn't hold back his laughter, so he blew two more breaths, bowed his waist and put the mouth of the bowl against Zheng Yu's mouth, raised his hand and tilted slightly.

"Open your mouth, be careful it's hot."

Zheng Yu immediately lowered his eyes and took Zheng Siqi's hand happily.

"Hey." Zheng Siyi picked a snow pea, turned around and instructed, "Give her less."

Zheng Siqi released one hand and pushed the glasses, "Huh?"

Zheng Siyi lowered his throat, made a "hmm", raised his hand to cover his mouth, and said quietly and quickly, "Cusicum tonifies the kidneys and strengthens the yang."

"… "

Zheng Siqi quickly took back the bowl beside Zheng Yu's mouth.

He came to Zheng Siyi's house first to pick up Zheng Yu, but to help Qiao Fengtian ask about the rental house. Zheng Siyi and Doudou now live in a second-hand house in Guangshi Garden. The house price was considered low a few years ago. Zheng Siyi bought a small room in the school district of No. 1 Middle School in advance for Doudou to go to high school. At that time, it was 3,000 square meters, and now the house price has soared, more than tripled.

So Zheng Siqi's former unit was vacant, and he has been renting it out to others. The dormitory building of the Linan Municipal Party Committee Hospital can be regarded as an old city building in the old city. It is not too far from the small school attached to Lida University.

"When are you going to rent your house?"

At the dinner table, Zheng Siyi put a piece of octopus in each of Zheng Yu and Zheng Siqi's bowls, "Then at least the contract has to expire. It's agreed in August. Why, who wants to rent a house?"

"How much do you charge for your rent?" Zheng Siqi took the bowl to pick up Zheng Yu, bowing his head and focusing on the sliced green onion and ginger that he had pulled for him.

"Two thousand two." Zheng Siyi swallowed, "I didn't tell you before?"

"You rent an old house with a total of 70 square meters for two thousand two?"

"Hey, why do you turn your elbows while you are talking inside and out? Oh, why are you still not happy with my rent?" Zheng Siyi rolled her eyes and said with a "squeak", "You Don't think about how complete things are in my house! Air conditioners, electric water heaters, large color TVs, broadband, and refrigerators are all reserved for renters. It shouldn't be expensive. "

"Can you push down?"

"Lower the price? Who are you pressing for?" Zheng Siyi stopped his chopsticks and asked him.

Zheng Siqi lowered his head to pick up the vegetables, "I just asked for a friend."

Zheng Siyi didn't speak for a long time, watching Zheng Siqi put the snow beans into the bowl one by one, and then she was amused for a long time, "How did I find out that you have been jumping up and down so much recently, last time I asked Lao Li to keep a single ward, too. Asking me about renting a house is the same, hey, don't you always care about everything and don't bother to interfere in other people's affairs? Who is so old and powerful that your old man has changed his temper at such an old age? "

What Zheng Siyi said is not false at all. He communicates with people, you come to me, and you go back and forth. He rarely takes the initiative to do things beyond his duty. If some things are done too much, the so-called goodwill becomes a disguised form of flattery, and the relationship between them will be biased and not equal enough, and the relationship will not be simple and clear. It doesn't matter if he is selfish, the world is like that.

Zheng Siqi has always been calm and restrained in this regard, only Qiao Fengtian is the only exception.

"I... I am entrusted by others, can you stop thinking about it all day long?"

"Male and female?"

"You see, when you mention this thing, your eyes are like searchlights." Zheng Siqi laughed, "Men, real men, stop?"

"Yes." He pouted and scooped up a chicken's paw, "It doesn't matter if your friend lives, you can wait until the contract expires, anyway, I'm not far behind the thousand or two thousand flowers, you have to be sincere. It doesn't matter if the rent is given or not, let him live in peace."

"Let's talk about the rent, as long as you agree."

If I don't charge the rent, Qiao Fengtian will definitely not be able to live in peace of mind. He is a person who will give back a hundredfold for your kindness. It is better for the other party to compare and not admit defeat on a good basis. Many times, encountering such people and things in life is a kind of fun with a unique sense of happiness and satisfaction. While trying to think for others for free, it is also a small and short-term reflection of one's own value.

Qiao Fengtian went to the office the next day to find the attending doctor, and asked in detail the pros and cons between "returning and not returning".

From the doctor's point of view, going home and staying in bed does have many hidden problems and risks, but looking at the different life backgrounds of different patients, sometimes it is not necessarily a merit-based option - Qiao Liang has no medical insurance and social insurance in Linan. , Long-term hospitalization is indeed a bottomless pit.

"I'm most worried about his traction."

The medical device penetrates into the bone and flesh to promote the reduction and healing of the fractured end. Because it cannot be moved for a long time, the cleaning of the wound surface and the massage activities to prevent muscle atrophy must be carefully taken care of.

"Judging from the films taken a few days ago, the fracture can still be healed. You think, it's not as convenient as coming from the hospital at home, but always pay attention and give feedback in time." The doctor poked the desk with a pen, "It should be Say it's not a problem."

Qiao Fengtian smiled and said as much as possible in a roundabout way, "I'm always, always afraid of that."

The doctor smiled very knowingly. He stood up and patted Qiao Fengtian's left shoulder, "Everything is in case, and there is still a case in the hospital. I, as a doctor, shouldn't tell you so much, but let's be honest. Yes, in case, in case, people will linger, right?"

Qiao Fengtian put his hands on the table and clasped them tightly, rubbing the dark old wound on the end of his index finger with the pulp of his thumb. In the end, he relaxed, nodded and smiled at the doctor, then nodded.

"Thank you."

When he returned to the ward at dusk, Qiao Liang was half-recumbent on a huge pillow, staring out the window. Outside the window is a locust tree, a tall tree that has always grown. The rain is blowing dust, and the green is even greener now, and under the swaying and swaying, it can almost leave a green mark on the glass.

The pillow was made of new cotton that Lin Shuangyu went to the market to claim, but she had severe presbyopia in recent years, her eyesight was not as good as before, and she couldn't do needlework, so Qiao Fengtian did all the sewing tasks.

Qiao Fengtian walked over, bowed his waist, and lifted Qiao Liang's loose shirt to his shoulders. Qiao Liang was not fat and tall, so he was naturally stronger than Qiao Fengtian. Now she's so thin that she can't wear some clothes.

Now there is basically no problem in recognizing people, but it is not as natural and subconscious as before. Often, you have to stare at the person coming for a while before you can fully reflect who the other party is. Qiao Fengtian touched the clump of stubble protruding from his chin.

"Tired? Do you want to lie down? Do you want to drink water?"

Qiao Liang stared at the center of his eyebrows, and shook his head with a smile after watching for a while.

"Speak, whether you are tired or not." Qiao Fengtian only shook his head in dissatisfaction and reminded him softly.

It's exercise, not forcing. Qiao Fengtian always hopes that he can say as much as possible, whether it's ugly or not so smooth and fluent, he can't just stop and do nothing, every word is progress. Qiao Fengtian felt content and good after hearing one more sentence.

Qiao Liang swallowed and opened his mouth, "...not tired." It was hoarse, like velvet choked in his throat.

Qiao Fengtian smiled and gave him a thumbs up, then asked after a while, "Will I shave your beard and cut your hair?"

Qiao Liang continued to open his mouth, raised his left hand awkwardly, and pressed his stiff five fingers to his chin, as if he wanted to feel the denseness of the growth of the stubble, "...Okay."

Qiao Fengtian brought a set of hair clippers rolled in a bag and a small black electric clipper a few days earlier, and put them in the drawer of the bed cabinet. He went to the boiling water room to draw a small pot of hot water, continued to shake the bed higher, and twisted a clean, soaked towel and put it on Qiao Liang's chin. Qiao Liang had thick and hard roots. Qiao Fengtian had bought him two or three electric shavers, but they were all too unclean. Qiao Fengtian always laughed at him before - poor life.

"Is it hot?" Qiao Fengtian folded his cuffs and covered Qiao Liang with a nylon wrap.

Qiao Liang covered his mouth with the towel inconveniently, so he shook his head first, then seemed to remember Qiao Fengtian's instructions, opened his mouth under the towel, and said in a muffled voice, "It's not hot."

When Qiao Fengtian listened to Xiangle, he held the electric clipper to the back of Qiao Liang's head, his thick black hair growing.

"When I was a child, my father was so stingy that I asked you to cut my bangs. It's in the yard, do you remember?"

The electric pusher moved up and created a neat pattern, like a harvester slowly driving through the wheat field, leaving the remains of a bumper harvest behind. It's a pity that there are fewer people farming in Langxi now. In the late autumn, the eyes are full of yellow, and the less and less can be seen year by year.

Qiao Liang didn't say a word, obviously asking him to think back at this moment, he couldn't remember.

"It doesn't matter if you are stupid, you are still hurriedly waiting to go out and find your little buddy to go to the ditch under the deer's ear to touch the loach and dig snails." Qiao Fengtian told himself to Qiao Liang and blew it. The broken hair that fell from his neck, "You old man clicked the scissors down, and the cut is uglier than the toilet seat. It annoys me."

When Qiao Fengtian was a child, he was born like a girl. At that time, Lin Shuangyu, for some reason, happily raised him as a girl. The hair on the temples is kept in two strands of light color like a girl, and the hair on the forehead is also long, often covering the eyebrows and eyes. The style of clothes is also unrestricted by men and women. Qiao Liang wears the old ones, and he can also wear new ones from the girl next door that has been eliminated from time to time.

At that time, Langxi people did not often go to the town to shave their heads, and they found it troublesome. Some businessmen who specialized in shaving their heads carried the burden of going through the village once a month to serve people who wanted to shave their hair and face one by one. One end of the burden is filled with scalding hot water, and in response to the common saying, the other end is hot.

But Lin Shuangyu was reluctant to pay the dollar or two for shaving his head, nor did he despise the business of walking through the streets and shouting. She let Qiao Fengtian's hair grow into a clump of seaweed, and then threw it to Qiao Liang to cut it. At that time, Qiao Liang was a prankster, and he liked his little brother sincerely, but also always had some bad intentions. Often it is either too short, too oblique, or simply half-pulled.

Qiao Fengtian always remembered that he was holding the few locks of hair that fell from his forehead in his hand, and was pushed down in front of Lin Shuangyu's eyes by Qiao Liang. In her memory, she sharply stabbed a bunch of green Malan heads into a firewood pot with a sharp "stab" sound, and carefully wiped her hands on the apron. She lowered her eyes in amazement, and then couldn't help but smiled softly, "We Fengtian. This release style is new."

The things in the mind can remain unchanged for many years, but the reality is completely different; it is often between a look up and a bow, things are right and wrong.

As long as it can be like hair, it will be shaved off if it is shaved, and it will not leave a mark. Even if a scar is accidentally left, it will heal over time. With a blow in the wind and a swipe of it, the hair will always continue aimlessly, simply and forcefully and wantonly, compromising and reconciling, not entangled with the past at the smallest details.

Hair is only a part of a person, and a person is naturally the one who is tired.

"At that time, I was in vocational high school for makeup and hair, and when you secretly visited me without my grandmother, you asked me to cut one for you, do you remember?" Qiao Fengtian carefully used the corner of the electric clipper to sweep Qiao Liang's hair. Sideburns, "I'm not good at craftsmanship, so I pushed an inverted triangle of my own design on the back of your head. It's ugly, let's not say it, and it's even recessed. When you get home, you will find it for your grandma, do you remember?"

Qiao Liang still didn't speak, he paused for a while and nodded, expressing his impression.

"Grandma said at the time that I was inferior, but you didn't like it. She said that I was a craftsman who can break ground on other people's heads. Do you remember? You also told me that in the future, we won't have to spend money on haircuts, you will remember. Is it?"

The dark hair stubble was covered with nylon cloth, and some were unwilling to be so scattered, and it stuck on Qiao Liang's eyelids and the bridge of his nose.

Qiao Fengtian trembled unconsciously, felt sad, and pursed his lips.

"Brother, I'm so sorry, I can't go back to Langxi to take care of you, I'm so irresponsible to hand you over to grandma to take care of you, really, I'm so sorry..." Qiao Fengtian picked up the stubble on the bridge of his nose one by one. , "But I really don't want home, I don't want you and my mom and dad, really."

"I can't help it, I can't get past this hurdle."

"I couldn't be comfortable there all day, and I couldn't live happily for a moment."

"...you can't blame me, okay?"

When the tears fell on the back of his hand, Qiao Fengtian couldn't believe it. He couldn't tell how much he complained, how much was hypocritical, and how much was the stress at the moment. The only thing is that the unidentified thing came back violently, and it was a drop when it was wiped, and another drop when it was wiped. Like the prelude to the falling rain, each drop and a string have abundant foreshadowing.

Qiao Liang saw Qiao Fengtian's red eyes, and hurriedly used his movable right hand to pull the towel on his mouth. He held the slender wrist at Qiao Fengtian's cuff, both wanting to rub and hug. His words were one step ahead of his actions, deep and intermittent.

"... Fengtian, don't cry."

In the car that took Zheng Yu home, Zheng Siqi simply wanted to tell Qiao Fengtian about renting a house, and simply wanted him to calm down and not have to worry about where to live. But after listening to the waiting sound for a long time, it was the thick nasal sound that the other party tried to restrain. The place to stay is also quiet and empty, like a bathroom, and there are slight echoes around.

"Well, Mr. Zheng."

Zheng Siqi frowned almost subconsciously, his heartstrings tightened, and his concerns were overflowing almost for a moment.

"What's wrong, Fengtian?"

"It's nothing." Qiao Fengtian snorted lowly, with a little smile in his words, indicating that he was all right, "It's nothing, nothing."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not here—"

"I mean you just now." Zheng Siqi interrupted him and turned around at the dotted line at the intersection, "At the hospital, I'll find you."

Sunset is the encounter of light and color, reflected in the crowded city; and because the color is too wonderful, gorgeous enough to become the reason for too many impulses. Like what kind of actions and decisions, all deserve to be understood and forgiven at this moment.