At a corner of the street, people came and went, under the dim yellow street lamps that were lit one by one. The neon lights of the signboards are colorful, the mottled circles and dots are open, and the evening breeze is hot.
The three of them sat on the open-air tables and chairs in front of a steaming shop. They each ordered a bowl of salty porridge and two baskets of crab noodles.
Qiao Fengtian couldn't help grasping the hand held by Zheng Siqi under the table. The tactile leftover is like the transparent water stains on the palms and backs of the hands after washing, which are especially vivid, but will gradually disappear and volatilize. It was completely different from the feeling of touching them by chance. The temperature, skin texture, bones, and strength of Zheng Siqi's palms, he felt extremely complete this time.
When the two hands are spread out compared to each other, it seems that the palm of the one that has been held is even more red.
He clasped his hands together and rubbed them together. Qiao Fengtian looked up and saw that Zheng Siqi had been staring at his uninterrupted little movements, half a smile but not a smile, so he was embarrassed for a while, and quickly looked away without any silver, and lowered his head to stir the porridge bowl. The porcelain spoon.
"Slightly—" Zheng Yu swallowed a mouthful of porridge and stuck out his tongue.
"What's wrong?" Zheng Siqi reached out to hold the bowl when he saw it, "Is it hot?"
"It's salty."
"Otherwise, can the fish porridge be made sweet and decent?" Zheng Siqi smiled, pinching her smooth and round chin, "If you don't like the taste, go for a bowl of sweet, sweet-scented osmanthus and brown sugar, okay?"
Zheng Yu nodded fiercely, she liked things with flowers in their names.
"Hey." Zheng Siqi took Zhang Twenty from his wallet and handed it to her, pointing to the counter inside, "Tell the sister in the yellow hat that you want to add a bowl of sweet-scented osmanthus and brown sugar porridge, and you are not allowed to bring your hamster, hurry up. Go back quickly, let's go!"
"kindness!"
Zheng Yuyu slipped out of the rattan chair like a fish, tugged at her little skirt, and ran in with the money. Qiao Fengtian was worried, put down the porcelain spoon and stood up to follow, "I'll go get it, or it's easy to burn her so small."
"Hey." Zheng Siqi reached out and grabbed him, "It's okay, let her go by herself."
This time it was the wrist that was caught, not the palm.
Qiao Fengtian didn't say any more, and turned to see that Zheng Yu had already run to the counter. He was raising his heels and saying this to the cashier who bowed his waist. Then he pulled the rattan chair that was pushed away with his back and sat down again.
"Do you have something to say?" Qiao Fengtian scooped a spoonful of porridge to his mouth and blew casually.
"Yes." Zheng Siqi nodded.
"Then let's talk now." Qiao Fengtian put down the porcelain spoon and brushed his hair.
"Your brother's side, when are you going to be back?"
Qiao Fengtian paused for a while to think, touched his earlobe, there was a small growth in the ear hole, "It's going to be the weekend at the end of this month, I will go to take some pictures in the middle, and then arrange for a specialist to see it. Grandma will go home to do some cleaning first, and then come back to go through the discharge procedures."
"I'll take you back, weekend."
"Ah?" Qiao Fengtian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a smile, "Hey, no, really, just go to the long-distance bus station and take the bus. It's very convenient. Actually, there's really nothing to help."
"I mean, I'll try to help you keep Xiao Wuzi and stay in Linan, okay?"
Zheng Yu shivered and watched the steps under his feet, focusing on the bowl of sugar porridge swaying in his hand. The porridge with red bean paste is covered with a layer of yellow dried osmanthus flowers, which are crushed like gold. The closer Zheng Yu was, the clearer the sweet fragrance of the golden osmanthus was.
Zheng Siqi didn't say anything, nor was he sure, and only said "try". How to try, who to try, what to say, what to do? Qiao Fengtian didn't ask at all. He was afraid that he would be disappointed after he had hoped, or that he would continue to stay in the city alone. But since the words came from Zheng Siqi's mouth, he felt reliable and credible for no reason.
Suddenly, I hoped that I could stay with such a person forever. From a position not too far away from him, I could see that he was like a green tree standing like a blanket, always able to shade such a small self.
The day before departure, Qiao Fengtian temporarily entrusted Qiao Liang to Du Dong and Li Li.
He was actually very uneasy, worried that Lin Shuangyu would say something nasty that shouldn't have said, embarrassing Zheng Siqi. Although he told Lin Shuangyu in advance, he was still afraid. It doesn't matter what kind of monsters or ghosts you are called, you can't make trouble for others, let alone Zheng Siqi.
Zheng Siqi is rarely a shirt. A pair of cotton T and a pair of slacks, and parked the car at the gate of the community.
Lin Shuangyu followed Qiao Fengtian. The man before the meeting was tall and straight, with a dignified appearance, and his face was surprised for a while. Qiao Fengtian noticed that Lin Shuangyu was gently tugging at his sleeve, raised his chin for a small comparison, then glanced at Zheng Siqi and said, "This is the father of Xiao Wuzi's classmate at the same table, and a friend of mine."
Zheng Siqi smiled politely at Lin Shuangyu, "Hello Auntie, my name is Zheng Siqi."
The last time I saw her from a distance, she gave Qiao Fengtian a slap in the face when she saw her resolutely. Looking at it so close now, you can really see the toughness and stubbornness in her eyebrows, and her body is stretched and straight. The facial features are similar to Qiao Fengtian, but Qiao Fengtian's is much softer than him. When he was young, he should have looked more distinct, but now he is loosening up with his skin and flesh.
Among the elders of Zheng Hanweng's generation, who were counted upwards, Zheng Siqi had seen a few with similar temperament to the person in front of him. They are all drooping old people who have survived from the war and turmoil. The suffering is wedged on their faces, and they are always covered with a bleak sky, but their eyebrows are always bright and indomitable, as if they are comparing with something intangible. Work hard. Laughing is not necessarily like joy, but often more like relief.
"Zheng Siqi." Lin Shuangyu recited it again. Compared with Zheng Siqi's standard Mandarin, the Mandarin with a deer's ear accent is much lame.
"Yes, Svendice, add a strange oddity next to the word king."
"Sven, yes, it's Sven." Lin Shuangyu raised his mouth, and the decree went deeper, "I'm going to cause you trouble, you see Fengtian didn't talk about it first, but he has to say it first, and we can't trouble you to run with us. go."
"Auntie is all right, I'll go back to Yuetan Temple and see you off."
After Qiao Fengtian listened and looked at him, Zheng Siqi gave him a small wink - deceptive.
"Yo, then, then you should wear less clothes." Lin Shuangyu looked at the slender and thin arm outside his cuff, "Langxi is in the valley, not like the city, I'm afraid you will be cold wearing this. Yes. Feng Tian?"
In Lin Shuangyu's words, there was no repulsion and hostility at all, and there was even a slight look of admiration and praise. Qiao Fengtian just made up his mind and remembered that, aside from other complicated factors, someone like Zheng Siqi looks very good, who wouldn't like it at first sight? People who stay in small places all their lives and face the loess feel that they are hard to reach and can shine brightly.
Qiao Fengtian pressed the tip of his nose and took the dusty bag in Lin Shuangyu's hand, "He's hot, don't worry about it."
"Hey, you said that." Lin Shuangyu nodded at him with his finger.
Zheng Siqi didn't mind smiling at all, "Don't worry, I'm bringing a coat, come on, get in the car."
Zheng Siqi was on the Luer Expressway and drove all the way to the south. Gradually away from the city to the suburbs, the number of high-rise buildings that can be seen is gradually decreasing, and the field of vision is also broadened, and there are many golden rapeseed flowers.
Qiao Fengtian sat in the co-pilot and didn't talk much, for fear that he accidentally said something unnecessary, which made Lin Shuangyu unhappy. Lin Shuangyu was also rarely in a hurry. For a while, he didn't know what to chat with someone like Zheng Siqi. He was afraid that people would find it insipid, and that he would miss his weak bottom. On the contrary, Zheng Siqi kept asking, asking Lin Shuangyu about the customs of Langxi, what secret folk customs the people of Langxi had, the length of the flowering period of rape flowers in the mountains and fields, or the origin of the name Luer.
You come and go, ask a question and answer some. Zheng Siqi not only allowed Lin Shuangyu to speak freely, but also had something to say. Lin Shuangyu told him everything he knew, and some places were vague, and he would stop and explain in more detail. Zheng Siqi steered the car steadily, listened carefully, and responded with a concise and clear sentence.
Qiao Fengtian leaned on the back of the chair and looked at him, at the side of his face, at the restrained smile on his mouth.
In his heart, he seemed to be slowly simmering a cup of sweet mountain spring water, a handful just pulled down from the clear stream on the deer's ears. A hazy layer of moist water vapor floated on the cup, covering the bubbles that swelled up and shattered on the surface. You have to wait for boiling, and you have to sit and wait slowly, but Qiao Fengtian didn't feel that this time was dull and full of trivial hopes and interests.
Zheng Siqi noticed his gaze, turned to look at him, and asked him softly, "What's wrong?"
Qiao Fengtian shook his head.
"Is it motion sickness, open the window, please?"
"Don't faint." Qiao Fengtian smiled, "It's okay to drive a little."
Zheng Siqi opened the windows on both sides of the car to a small gap, and drove off the high speed, the wind blew in less violently, blowing Gao Qiao Fengtian's forehead. He looked out the window and saw the first season of green rice seedlings that had just descended into the field by the roadside. In the diluted light smoke-colored sky, the undulating tracks of the three-tiered low mountains can be faintly seen. There was also the sound of cow mooing, and it was faintly heard, and it looked like a little black ink in the depths of the wilderness.
Sitting next to him like this, driving all the way, my heart is as peaceful as a mirror lake.