Summer day, sunny day.
In the courtyard of the old house, the carefully manicured vegetation is lush and full of vitality, and the koi in the fountain pool flicks its tail slightly, raising a small splash of water.
In the bedroom on the second floor, Huo Shu was trying to move himself from the bed to the wheelchair.
It was just such a simple action, but it took him nearly half an hour. Sweat dripped from the forehead and the tip of the nose. He knocked his body against the armrests and pedals of the wheelchair more than once, and his pale skin was bruised and purple. Fortunately, he basically didn't feel the position below the waist, so he didn't feel pain.
Finally, he got into a wheelchair with perseverance and breathed a sigh of relief.
The door of his room was pushed open by the nanny, and when she saw him sitting in a wheelchair, the nanny almost exclaimed, anxious and worried: "Master, why didn't you call us when you woke up? Are you tired?"
The nanny came forward to wipe the sweat from his temples with a veil, Huo Shu showed a somewhat embarrassed smile, his cheeks turned a little flushed because of this action: "It's okay, I just want to try."
"And I won't be in a wheelchair forever. The doctor said that as long as I recover properly, I'm likely to stand up in the future." Huo Shu showed a smile full of expectation, "What if I can do it tomorrow?" How about getting out of bed and walking? You must try the feeling of sitting in a wheelchair."
His eyes were very bright. It was the optimism and imagination of a seventeen-year-old boy about the future, so that the nanny was dumbfounded for a moment, and lowered her head unbearably.
"Master," the nanny said softly, "what would you like to have for breakfast today? I'll bring it to your room. Do you still want to read? I'll also bring you the book yesterday..."
Looking at the excellent weather outside the window, Huo Shu casually said, "I won't read books today, the sun is so bright, I want to go out for a walk."
A trace of tension flashed across the nanny's face: "Master, the doctor said that your body needs to be taken care of, in case you go out and get windy..."
Huo Shu had no choice but to sigh: "Okay, okay, don't worry, I will stay in the room well. Auntie, I want to eat fried ham today."
The nanny breathed a sigh of relief, and went to get Huo Shu the book he had read halfway through yesterday, before walking outside the door: "Then wait a while, I'll make breakfast right now."
When the sound of the nanny's footsteps gradually disappeared outside, Huo Shu blinked and put down the book in his hand that hadn't read a few lines.
Steering the wheelchair himself, he slowly came to the door and opened it. Because his waist does not need strength, it took a lot of effort to adjust the angle of the door.
But when he walked to the corridor and felt the air that seemed different from the room, the tiredness of his movements just now was swept away, and replaced by a small, accomplished smile.
He walked along the corridor on the second floor, steering the wheelchair all the way to the stairs. Although he can't go down the stairs, there is a newly built elevator next to the stairs, which was specially rebuilt by his grandfather to make it easier for him to go up and down.
He came all the way to the elevator. Just as he was about to press the down button, he heard his grandfather's voice from downstairs: "Are the two children here?"
Huo Shu was slightly taken aback.
child? Has any relative's child come to visit
However, his grandfather has always loved him, and he was once worried because he had no friends and a reserved personality, and he wanted to find someone to be friends with him.
This time, it must be because grandpa was afraid that he would be too lonely, so he asked someone to come over again.
Huo Shu stretched out his hand immediately, and he wanted to sneak away before the two kids he didn't know came to have an awkward chat with him.
The elevator case was on, and he happily looked at the numbers on the LCD screen, but suddenly heard a somewhat sharp voice from downstairs:
"Dad! Xiaoshu's legs haven't come to a conclusion yet, you're going to take that bastard back..."
Immediately afterwards, Huo Shu heard the sound of his grandfather tapping his cane heavily: "That's not a wild species."
"That's my first grandson, the eldest grandson of the Huo family living outside." Mr. Huo's voice was full of calm and prestige from someone who had been in power for a long time, and people couldn't help trembling after hearing it. Huo family's blood, what's your opinion?"
Downstairs was suddenly silent, and after a while, Zhuang Xinrou's trembling voice sounded: "But, but, you will hurt Xiaoshu's heart like this, you watched him grow up..."
"I've heard what the doctor said."
Mr. Huo's slow words plunged the atmosphere of the living room into deathly silence.
The elevator reached the second floor, made a slight "ding" sound, and slowly opened, revealing a spacious car.
But Huo Shu, who had already set his position in front of the elevator door, remained motionless, as if he was frozen.
"Xiaoshu's leg... the nerves are completely necrotic and cannot be repaired. He will have to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He is weak. I will not be able to hand over the Huo family to him in the future. The Huo family must have an excellent heir. I have observed Si Ye for a long time, he is a very stable child... "
Huo Shu could no longer hear the voice behind him.
He looked at the elevator doors closing automatically and slowly in front of him, with a dazed expression. This old house was bought by my grandfather when he was young. Since his grandmother passed away, even the decorations have not been touched. Once a nanny changed the position of two decorations while cleaning, and my grandfather was furious. Just let the nanny get out of Huo's house.
But grandpa would be willing to destroy the original appearance of the old house for him and build an elevator specially for him. This is a favor that even his father has never had. He always thought that grandpa was partial to him, and the Huo family would definitely stay. give him.
Yet they are discussing now that his legs can no longer stand up.
As for his most trusted grandfather, he has long begun to pay attention to another "child". In the obedient sense, it is impossible for the future Huo family to have anything to do with him, a waste who will sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Huo Shu didn't know how he came to the yard, he just felt a little numb, he felt like a rusty robot, and even his head became a little sluggish.
Since he was a child, he felt that he was a person with very few relatives. His father didn't love his mother. He heard that his father had a lover back then, but he had to separate from that girlfriend because he wanted to marry his mother. And his mother was not very enthusiastic about this marriage, and always hated and spurned his cowardly and incompetent father. All along, he rarely even saw his parents appearing at the same dinner table.
And during his seventeen years of loneliness and helplessness, only grandpa would tolerate everything about him without any grievances. That majestic old man would make his baby cry and urinate on the old man when he was a child, and when he got good grades in school, he would touch his head with a wide palm with a smile.
But it turned out that those family ties that he thought were extremely precious were no match for a "heir" of the Huo family.
Grandpa has other grandchildren, and Grandpa doesn't need him anymore.
No, maybe he thought wrong from the beginning... Grandpa loved him and spoiled him only because he still had a healthy body at that time, he could run and jump, and he could perfectly become the heir that grandpa wanted.
Now that he is crippled, of course grandpa won't like him anymore.
Huo Shu steered the wheelchair in a trance, and walked endlessly among the trees in the yard until he saw the koi pond not far away.
He leaned against the rockery, the sun was shining brightly, but he was bound by the shadow of the rockery.
Just like his legs, they will be imprisoned by this wheelchair forever.
It turned out that when the nanny took care of him, the occasional look of pity and regret from time to time was not his illusion.
Everyone knows that he is disabled, and he can't stand up anymore, only himself, still foolishly believing the words of the doctor who was bribed by his mother a long time ago, holding on to the hope that has long been extinguished, like a man who has been beaten by everyone. A fool who plays around.
He is not a fool.
A fool who lost his legs, lost his loved ones, lost all the light he had for the rest of his life, and was abandoned by the whole world.
Huo Shu gently touched his face, and at some point, it was already full of tears.
"Brother! There are fish!"
A bright and crisp child's voice came from not far away. Huo Shu's body froze, and he subconsciously curled up in the shadows again, then carefully looked in the direction of the sound through the gap in the rockery.
A tall and straight figure appeared in the line of sight.
Sword-browed and star-eyed, with a handsome face, amber eyes are like the highest-grade gemstones, revealing a faint warm golden color in the sunlight.
Beside him was a child who seemed to be in his early ten years old. He was white and thin, and looked very cute. He was blinking his curious eyes and poking his head to look at the koi in the pond.
"Okay, let's go after watching it for a while," the young man rubbed the child's curly hair, then turned his head and smiled apologetically at the housekeeper, "Sorry, my brother likes these things very much. The fish can’t move anymore.”
The housekeeper hesitated to speak, this was the first time to meet the old Patriarch of the Huo family, how could this young man let the dignified Patriarch of the Huo family wait for him? Just because of such a trivial matter.
However, thinking of the Patriarch's order, the housekeeper could only comply.
Xiao Chaonian got the permission, and immediately ran happily to the side of the koi pond, and squatted down on the edge of the pond: "How are you!"
And Xiao Si also stood beside him, accompanying his younger brother with some helplessness and connivance, always taking care not to let him accidentally fall into the pool.
This kind of natural brotherhood that others can't get in at all, made Huo Shu feel as if his heart was tightly clenched.
He used to fantasize about such a relationship. He grew up alone. Few of his relatives' children were the same age as him, and he didn't like those flattering eyes full of calculations since he was a child. alone.
But Zhuang Xinrou and Huo Jianxing were at odds with each other, so it was impossible for him to have new siblings, and it was impossible for him to have such pure brotherhood.
But what he doesn't have, others have.
What he regards as a treasure, the love from his grandfather, has always been a bamboo basket fetching water, a dream.
His life may be trapped in this small square meter, unable to struggle or escape.
Huo Shu's eyes gradually turned gray, and he turned his head, wanting to steer the wheelchair back, unwilling to look at the two brothers again.
"Brother, these fish have never seen the sea, will they be lonely?"
Xiao Chaonian's voice was full of innocence, "Look, they have been trapped in this small pool all this time, and they are not free at all."
Xiao Si also knelt down beside him, looked at him, and asked, "Then do you want to put them back into the sea?"
Xiao Chaonian nodded immediately: "I also want to see what the sea looks like, brother, you haven't taken me there yet."
And Xiao Si just smiled: "But you know, these koi will die once they reach the sea."
Xiao Chaonian immediately opened his eyes wide.
"Some fish are born to be kept in the pond, and only here can they survive." Xiao Si also patiently explained to him, and Huo Shu also heard his words clearly, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips. laugh.
Isn't he just a fish raised in a pond, with no freedom, no future, just like a rice bug, raised to death like this.
"But this does not mean that only the sea is the direction that all fish should chase," Xiao Si continued, "Even if they live in this small pond all their lives, they can see courtyards and rockeries that are not available by the sea. , you can see the flowers in March and the rain in April in the capital, even if you encounter a rainstorm, you will not be swept to the shore by the waves."
"They can have a life that is completely different from the fish in the sea. They can eat and drink without worrying about life. This kind of stability is something that the fish in the sea can't pursue in a lifetime. You can say that such a life must be a blessing for koi. Is it bad?"
Xiao Chaonian subconsciously shook his head: "Then I think it would be better to live in the pool... You will be eaten by sharks if you live in the sea."
Xiao Si also laughed: "Yes, so not every fish's goal is the sea. Being able to bask in the sun and swim around in this small pond can also be called freedom for koi."
Not every fish targets the sea.
Even though he had gone the wrong way, at this moment, Huo Shu's eyes were uncontrollably attracted to the figure in the distance.
He was like a little mouse in the gutter, when he was extremely hungry and messed up, he suddenly saw a hand and handed him a handful of warm and dry rice.
That person's body was bathed in golden sunlight, which was so warm that it seemed unreal in the world.
Huo Shu suddenly realized that perhaps what he wanted was not the status of the "heir" of the Huo family.
He just yearns for a piece of warmth that can belong to him.
For example, a... brother who belongs only to him.
"elder brother."
Huo Shu put the tie clip under his neckline, and he also smiled happily at Xiao Si, like the innocent seventeen-year-old child many years ago.
"The doctor said that my body can only last for a few months," he tilted his head, "but I think it's good to end now?"
As he spoke, he pressed the button on the armrest of the wheelchair.
Explosions sounded from the rear of the cruise ship, and screams, exclamations, and footsteps sounded chaotically on the deck. In the chaos, Huo Shu seemed to enjoy it very much. He looked at Xiao Siye without blinking, and said with a soft smile:
"Stay with me, brother."
The author has something to say:
Huo Shu is not in love with Xiao Si;
but not affection;
Probably just, "I want all his feelings to belong to me and only smile at me" some kind of abnormal possessive desire _(:з"∠)_;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!