It was already the next morning, and Jiang Xu promised Xie Huai that he would continue telling him the story today, except for the ending.
His arms, which were holding Xie Huai, felt sore and numb, but he seemed not to feel anything.
"Baby, it's the second day. I'll continue telling you that story, okay?" Jiang Xu's voice was the same as usual, without much ups and downs.
The person in his arms seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. No matter how Jiang Xu called his name, he could not hear Xie Huai answer him.
"Xie Huai, didn't you ask me to continue telling you the story?" Jiang Xu finally couldn't help choking up, "Xie Huai, why... ignore me?"
Jiang Xu lowered his eyes, he leaned against Xie Huai, his throat tightened: "You yourself, you told me... but you lied to me again..."
Jiang Xu hoped that this was a joke played by Xie Huai on him. Xie Huai would not want him to feel bad, so he would definitely open his eyes immediately and say to him with a smile, "Jiang Xu, I'm just joking with you. Don't cry, or I'll feel bad."
But no.
All Jiang Xu got was a death certificate.
After all, Xie Huai did not survive the last day of Ji Xia.
-
Xie Huai's funeral was simple and not many people attended.
Jiang Xu didn't cry, and there was no expression on his face. He was so calm that even Jiang's mother and father were scared.
After the burial, many people had left, and only Xie Huai's parents, Jiang Xu, and Jiang Xu's parents were standing in front of Xie Huai's tombstone.
Zhao Li and Xie's father both had red eyes from crying. In order to prevent Zhao Li from continuing to be stimulated, Xie's father took Zhao Li away first.
Jiang Xu's mother came over and held her son's hand, wanting to comfort him, but she didn't know how to start: "Xu Xu..."
Jiang Xu's voice was suppressed and hoarse: "Mom, you and Dad should go first. I want to be alone with him for a while."
Jiang Xu's father patted him on the shoulder and left with his wife.
After a while, Jiang Xu was the only one left in the entire cemetery.
Jiang Xu stared at the black and white photo of Xie Huai smiling brightly and sunny on the tombstone for a long time, and finally slowly sat down next to the tombstone.
Then he took out the storybook from his bag and turned to the last story.
There was an ending that he didn't finish reading to Xie Huai.
Jiang Xu promised Xie Huai that he would finish telling him everything.
Jiang Xu began to read slowly.
"In the end, the Labrador named Doqi survived, but its owner died in the avalanche while trying to save it. It was left without a home. Doqi stayed by its owner's tombstone day and night because its owner once said to it, 'Wherever I am, there will be a home for you.'"
"Day after day, year after year, Duoqi would always bring some food to put in front of its owner's tombstone. It remembered that its owner would always give it food first, so it would also give food to its owner first. But it didn't understand why its owner didn't eat the food. It watched the food rot and then went to get some more. This went on for three years." "One day in the fourth year, Duoqi suddenly saw its owner waving at it. Duoqi hadn't seen its owner for a long time, so it rushed over excitedly, wagging its tail, and then left the cemetery with its owner."
"Duoqi died beside his master's tombstone."
This is probably a story about a loyal dog.
After Jiang Xu finished reading, he put the storybook aside and leaned his head on Xie Huai's tombstone.
"Baby, I've finished reading. Did you hear me?" Jiang Xu said with tears in his eyes. "In the next life, you can't break your promise again, okay?"
Finally, Jiang Xu couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.
I don’t know how long I stayed in the cemetery. When Jiang Xu returned home, it was already the next morning.
Jiang Xu didn't feel tired even though he didn't sleep all night. All he could think about was Xie Huai. He looked very decadent, like a soulless walking corpse.
He opened the door and walked in, and saw little Huaihuai running towards him, wagging his tail. Little Huaihuai had grown very big and was no longer the tiny kid he was a year ago.
Little Huaihuai walked around in front of Jiang Xu for a few times, then sat at the entrance and looked outside the door.
Seems like he's waiting for someone.
After waiting for a long time, Xiao Huaihuai didn't see anyone else coming in.
It turned around, bit Jiang Xu's trouser leg, pulled him to the door, stuck out its tongue, raised its head and looked at Jiang Xu, then looked outside the door.
Over the past year, little Huaihuai has been basically raised by Jiang Xu's parents, but it remembers that the person who picked it up was not them, but Xie Huai.
It also remembered that its father Xie Huai often went home with father Jiang Xu every time, but it did not see its father Xie Huai today.
Xiao Huaihuai didn't know how to express himself, so the man and the dog just stood at the entrance.
At this moment, Jiang Xu's phone vibrated and the screen lit up. The lock screen showed a photo of Xie Huai smiling and making a "V" sign at the camera.
When Xiao Huaihuai saw it, he immediately tried to grab Jiang Xu's phone, but Jiang Xu didn't hold it firmly and the phone fell to the ground.
Xiao Huaihuai tapped the screen of his mobile phone with his foot, and then motioned Jiang Xu to look at it.
The look in his eyes seemed to be asking Jiang Xu, where is its other father? Why didn't he come back with you
Jiang Xu squatted down and hugged little Huaihuai.
"Your father doesn't want me anymore," Jiang Xu put his forehead against Xiao Huaihuai's and couldn't help choking up, "Your father doesn't want us anymore."
Jiang Xu closed his eyes, tears fell, and his heart ached as if it was about to burst: "Xie Huai doesn't want me anymore..."
I don’t know if Xiao Huaihuai understood or not, but he didn’t eat a single grain of dog food for three consecutive days, and didn’t even drink a sip of water.
Jiang Xu took it to Xie Huai's cemetery. Little Huaihuai looked at the photo of its father Xie Huai on the tombstone. After a few minutes, little Huaihuai lay quietly in front of the tombstone.
Later, Xiao Huaihuai started to eat.
But every week it would run to Xie Huai's grave by itself and lie there quietly for a while. It would rub its head against the tombstone, but its father Xie Huai never reached out to hug it like he used to.
-
The school started as a senior, and the seat next to Jiang Xu was always empty. Lu Yi found that their class monitor became more and more silent and less talkative, but he would always stare at the desk next to him in a daze.
Lu Yi thought Jiang Xu missed Xie Huai who was far away in a foreign country, so he comforted him, "Xie Huai will come back in the future."
Jiang Xu was silent for a long time. When Lu Yi thought Jiang Xu would not speak, he heard Jiang Xu say "hmm" in a very low voice.
It was a math class. After Jiang Xu finished taking notes, he subconsciously turned his head to see if Xie Huai was wearing his school uniform jacket when he slept, but he only saw an empty seat.
Jiang Xu clenched the pen in his hand and continued to listen to the class with an expressionless face.
Once after the physical education class, Lu Yi stuffed a lemon candy into Jiang Xu's hand.
Jiang Xu stared at the lemon candy for a long time.
He tore open the wrapper and put it in his mouth.
So sour, why is it so sour? Not sweet at all.
Not as sweet as Xie Huai’s lemon candy.
Jiang Xu had never eaten such sour lemon candy before, it was so sour that it made him cry.
Lu was stunned when he saw it, thinking that the candy was not sour, so why was his brother Xu crying
Every time after school, Jiang Xu would walk along the alley with the yellow poplar trees. When he reached the entrance of the alley, he would always stop and look inside.
There was no familiar noise coming from inside, and he never saw anyone familiar again.
When Jiang Xu returned home that day, he found that his mother had come back and had prepared a table full of dishes for him.
"Mom, let me help you." Jiang Xu walked over, brought out the dishes and put them on the table.
He felt a little dry in the mouth as he hadn't touched any water the whole day. He walked to the water dispenser and was about to get a cup to drink some water when he saw the half-lemon pattern on the cup.
It was the couple cup that Xie Huai bought with him. The other half was also placed next to it. Although it was very clean, it looked like no one had used it for a long time.
Jiang Xu stood there holding the cup for a long time until Jiang's mother came over.
"Xu Xu, what's wrong with you?" Jiang Ma asked worriedly.
Jiang Xu turned his head, his eyes were red and the bloodshot in his eyes could be clearly seen.
"Mom..." Jiang Xu suddenly called her.
Mother Jiang quickly went over and hugged her son, patting his back gently.
"Mom, I miss Xie Huai," Jiang Xu lowered his hands, his fingertips trembling, and his shoulders shaking slightly, "I really miss him."
Jiang's mother had never seen her son cry like this before. When she heard Jiang Xu mention Xie Huai, she felt uncomfortable too.
Jiang Ma said with red eyes: "It will be fine, Xuxu, everything will be fine."
Living up to everyone's expectations, Jiang Xu took first place in the city in the final college entrance examination.
-
Ten years later.
Jiang Xu had just got off work and walked out of the company building in a suit and tie. He got into a Rolls-Royce amid a group of company employees' laughter and conversation.
Jiang Xu was used to going to and from get off work alone, so his car didn't have a driver and he always drove home by himself.
Today was a special day. Jiang Xu did not drive the car directly home. Instead, he drove to the vicinity of the Jialing River, found a parking space and parked the car there.
After getting off the car, he walked towards the river.
There was a stop sign by the river, and Jiang Xu walked there as usual.
The boss who reported the suspension of business was a grandfather in his sixties. Jiang Xu came here every year and he already knew him.
"Child, are you here to buy that candy again?" the old man asked him with a smile.
Jiang Xu nodded: "Yeah."
The old man shook his head and said regretfully, "That kind of candy is no longer available. The last store of the sugar factory closed in October last year, and we can't get any more."
Jiang Xu paused for a few seconds and suddenly felt lost. Even the candy that Xie Huai liked the most was gone
Seeing Jiang Xu's expression, the old man quickly took out another bag of candy and handed it to him: "Child, lemon candy is also very sweet, but this one is hard, not as soft as that one, so I'll give it to you."
Jiang Xu took it, whispered thank you, and quietly left five hundred yuan there when he left.
He slowly walked to a place with a lounge chair and sat down, putting the lemon candy in his hand aside.
The night wind blew, bringing with it a damp smell of river water, sending chills down people's spines.
Jiang Xu covered his eyes for a long time, and as if he could no longer hold back anything, a sob came out from between his lips.
"Brother, are you crying?"
The person who spoke was a little girl.
Jiang Xu slowly put down his hand, but did not look at her, for fear that he would scare the girl.
"Brother, this candy is for you. Mom said that if you eat the candy, you won't feel sad anymore."
As the girl spoke, she handed the candy in her hand to Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu raised his eyes and found that it was the Dolphin Gummy Candy. His eyes suddenly started to feel sore again.
He took it with his hand and said in a trembling voice, "Thank you."
The girl left. Jiang Xu didn't know how long he sat there. Only when his legs started to feel numb did he stand up and walk towards the parking lot.
Jiang Xu drove the car to the cemetery. The cemetery was very quiet at night, but not eerie. Jiang Xu got out of the car and walked inside.
There were already a lot of flowers placed in front of Xie Huai's tomb, and Jiang Xu walked over.
Then he gently placed the dolphin gummy in his hand in front of Xie Huai's tombstone.
"Happy birthday, baby."
—End of Text—
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(End of this chapter)