night.
Lin Zhaoxi went downstairs after taking a shower, with a towel around her neck and an IC card in her hand, ready to go to the public phone to call the dean's mother as agreed.
The little boys playing Lego downstairs are still there, but there are far fewer people, and to Lin Zhaoxi's surprise, Pei Zhi is not playing Lego either. He is sitting on the small beige sofa, the shadow of the light makes his little face look like porcelain As white and shiny as ever.
He lowered his head, still playing Kong Mingqi, his eyes focused, as if immersed in another world.
Lin Zhaoxi walked over and asked with a smile, "Where are Hanamaki and Lu Zhihao?"
Pei Zhi looked up.
At the same time, the little boys exclaimed from the next building: "Ah!!!"
"Why!!!!"
"Smelly Ball!!!"
Looking around, the main building is brightly lit, and the living room is packed with furry heads of little boys. It is now during the World Cup, and the little boys are all huddled together to watch the game.
Just as she probed, Pei Zhi lowered his head to fiddle with the chess pieces again.
The slender fingers pinched the chess pieces, skipped one, and the skipped one still entered the chess box. He moved quickly, and the chess pieces on the chessboard fell into the chess box one after another, making a light click and click.
The living room is comfortable and quiet, perfect for thinking alone.
Lin Zhaoxi stopped disturbing him, walked to the wall-mounted public phone in the other corner of the living room, inserted the IC card, raised her hand to take off the phone, and started dialing.
The first call was to the dean's mother. Two waiting tones rang through the handset, and they were quickly picked up.
"Dean's mother!" Lin Zhaoxi called out in a low voice.
"Brother Xi, Brother Xi." But Lin Aimin's cheers came from the phone.
Lin Aimin didn't know what to do today, she was so angry, Lin Zhaoxi pulled the microphone away from her ear, leaned her mouth towards her and asked with a smile, "What's the matter, are you so happy when I'm not here?"
"Mother Shen bought me a pistol today!" Lin Aimin said.
Lin Zhaoxi took some time to reflect on who Shen's mother was? It was only then that he realized that Lin Aimin was talking about Professor Shen and his wife who planned to adopt him.
Sure enough, she didn't need to ask. Little friend Lin Aimin was already chattering into the microphone like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube, telling him about how Professor Shen and his wife took him to play in the park, and also said that they would come to see her together next weekend, so that she could get ready.
Lin Zhaoxi could only echo a few times, thinking that he should find some reason to hide next week.
After a while, probably thinking that Lin Aimin was wasting the phone bill by talking endlessly, the dean of the party finally answered the phone.
"How is today?" The woman's calm voice sounded.
Lin Zhaoxi shivered, and many scenes of exams in the morning, training at noon, and groups in the evening resurfaced in her mind.
It was only a short day, how could it be so exciting
"It's okay today!" She picked a very neutral word.
"What do you mean it's okay?"
"It's just...it's okay..." Lin Zhaoxi said with a smile, she casually glanced at Pei Zhixiao who was sitting on the sofa quietly playing Kong Mingqi, and said, "Today we had the exam and we were divided into groups. A group of classmates!"
"Study hard and don't think about playing too much," said the dean.
"Okay!"
"One must listen to the teacher."
"no problem!"
"Don't trouble your classmates."
"Absolutely not." Lin Zhaoxi smiled.
"That's it." The dean's mother said to hang up the phone.
"Dean's mother..." Lin Zhaoxi called out softly.
"What's wrong?"
"I... If I don't win the championship... I just work hard, can I stop going to Professor Shen's house?" She asked shamelessly.
"Of course... no." The dean replied very simply, but there was a smile at the end of the voice, and the phone was hung up.
Lin Zhaoxi curled her lips, thinking that you are really stingy.
Outside the window is the night of the suburbs, and the moon looks brighter than elsewhere.
The public phone was by the window. She hung up the phone, but didn't pull out the card right away. Sitting on the window sill with her hands propped up, she shook her legs, blowing the night breeze, and a string of phone numbers appeared in her mind.
The metal keys of the dial pad showed a lustrous luster under the dim light. She reached out and took off the microphone again, and dialed the familiar number.
beep...beep...beep...
The long waiting tone lasted for a long time, in fact, it only lasted tens of seconds. Lin Zhaoxi couldn't tell whether she was disappointed or what kind of emotion she was in. In another world, even her father is no longer her father, so it is normal that the phone number is different.
However, like all film and television works, when she was about to hang up the phone, there was a low voice from the receiver: "Hello, who is it?"
Unlike Lao Lin's voice, which is always drawn out by rascals, this voice is very sober. Although it is a bit hoarse, it does not have any impatient temperament. She dazed for a while, wondering if it was still Lao Lin
"Wrong number?" the other end of the phone murmured.
"Dad...Master! It's me!" Lin Zhaoxi yelled, the change of words almost caused her to bite off her tongue.
"What~ what~" Lao Lin asked, not paying attention to the first syllable she mispronounced.
Lin Zhaoxi could obviously hear the light sound of Lao Lin putting down his pen. It was strange to say that he put down his pen to talk to her even though his tone was so impatient
Lin Zhaoxi cheered up and said with a smile, "Master, I miss you. I'll call you from the oasis base!"
"Is the phone bill expensive?" Lao Lin asked.
Lin Zhaoxi was moved for a moment, and Lao Lin was still worrying about her phone bill. She hurriedly said: "It's okay, it's an IC card, thirty cents a minute?"
"It's so expensive, why don't you hang up the phone?" Lao Lin asked in surprise, "Wait for me to answer the phone and ask for money?"
Lin Zhaoxi: "..."
At that moment, the delicate thought of "fulfilling a small wish my father once had so I want to tell my father" has disappeared.
She took a deep breath, told herself not to be angry, and replied, "You don't need money to answer calls!"
The surrounding area became more and more quiet, and the children in the small building next door were probably waiting for the goal with bated breath, so that she seemed to be able to hear the sound of the wind turning the pages of the book on the other end of the phone.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Are you studying hard?"
"Student Kobayashi..."
"arrive!"
"What am I doing, why do I have to tell you?" Lao Lin said in a tone, this tone is very similar to the later Lao Lin.
"I was at the oasis base today, and I saw a very powerful Daniel, and Daniel even gave us Kongming chess!" Lin Zhaoxi glanced at the time displayed on the LCD screen, and 55 seconds had passed. This card is only 30 yuan, and I have to keep calling the dean's mother for a month, so she stopped chatting with Lao Lin and started talking to herself, "That's what our teacher said, the one named Daniu , is a very famous person in the mathematics world, so good that their students at Sanwei University can’t hear him in class!” Lin Zhaoxi paused, and asked, “Do you know Sanwei University, they say it’s a super school! "
"Oh." Lao Lin only replied one syllable.
The more she didn't care, the more she cared. Lin Zhaoxi knew that Lao Lin would be a little unconvinced, so she deliberately said, "You don't even ask who Daniel is!"
"Zeng Qingran, who else could it be?" Lao Lin said casually.
"Master, is Daniel so big that even you know it?" Lin Zhaoxi continued authentically.
On the other end of the phone, Lao Lin really choked, and Lin Zhaoxi could imagine his angry expression when he said "I know what it means".
Lao Lin said casually: "People from An Ning, all the elementary school students are playing Kongming chess, and there is no one but Zeng Qingran who is a big bull in Sanwei."
"Master, you are really amazing."
"hehe."
The night wind blew through the woods, occasionally the voices of children laughing in low voices drifted away, probably because these scenes were so peaceful, Lin Zhaoxi couldn't help thinking of the same quiet moment in the auditorium again.
She really wanted to share this with Lao Lin: "Master, Professor Zeng gave a speech today. He said that exploring the unknown is wonderful, so let us study mathematics hard." Lin Zhaoxi said, "I study hard at the summer camp and study mathematics hard. , can you also explore the unknown world in the future?"
"hehe."
Lao Lin's sneer sneered again, and Lin Zhaoxi always felt like being splashed with cold water.
"Is what he said wrong?" Lin Zhaoxi asked.
"That's what he said, why do you want to study mathematics?" Lao Lin asked.
Lin Zhaoxi was speechless for a moment, wondering why Lao Lin suddenly tortured his soul again.
Her first reaction was because last time...
Because last time, you wanted me to learn these things, but I didn't seize the opportunity.
But aside from these, she couldn't answer.
Studying Mathematical Olympiad hard, taking exams, and participating in training camps, although they are labeled as wanting to obtain a free choice of adoptive families, why do they do this? Is it just to make up for Lao Lin's regret that he didn't fulfill his wish last time
But now, there is obviously no Lao Lin by her side, she is alone, with almost no ties to her. However, even so, she was still in the process of drifting with the tide, and was naturally pushed forward step by step.
Does she really know where to go
On the other end of the phone, Lao Lin had already hung up the phone, beeping, making Lin Zhaoxi feel that she lived again, as if she was just repeating the old ways of her previous life in a familiar way, without any difference.
Outside the window is still the soft sound of children playing before going to bed, and there is the sound of chess pieces clattering into boxes in the living room.
Do it all over again, will you really be, different you