Chen Yang returned home, went straight to the balcony without changing his shoes, and sat down cross-legged.
Chao Jian closed the door, boiled some water, turned on the air conditioner, and got some clothes. She took the time to look at him and asked, "What are you doing sitting there?"
"Wait for the mission." Chen Yang had the light of a sage above his head.
Chao Jian: “…”
"Don't sit there, go take a shower." Chao Jian rubbed his forehead.
Chen Yang patted his butt and stood up: "Okay, take a shower and get clean before leaving."
Chao Jian's face twitched, and he strode to the balcony and skillfully picked up Chen Yang who was still hesitating.
"How can you run?" Chen Yang hugged Chao Jian's neck, put his fingers into his chestnut hair, and buried his head in sniffing the clean scent on his body.
Chao Jian paused for a moment: "Want me to run?" He continued to carry Chen Yang towards the room, "I don't know either."
Chen Yang pretended to be angry: "You lied to me, you haven't let it go at all."
"I'm not lying to you." Chao Jian's throat moved. Although the large wound had been removed a little earlier, it would not heal so quickly. There would always be some complications of inflammation.
"People can stay in a certain memory of the past for a while, but they cannot be trapped in it," said Chen Yang.
Chao Jian: “Yeah.”
Chen Yang held his face and said, "Then tell me, why can't we get stuck in it?"
"It will mold, rot, and be afraid of light." Chao Jian whispered.
Chen Yang looked into Chao Jian's eyes, leaned over for a while, and pressed his lips against the corner of his eye, leaving a salty and astringent taste. It was a passionate and pure emotion.
At around ten o'clock, a photo was sent to Chao Jian's mobile phone. It was sent by Ding Huichun.
The little yellow flowers in the photo are already two-thirds open.
Chen Yang shouted towards the bathroom to Chao Jian: "Ding Huichun sent a message."
"You go back." Chao Jian said.
Chen Yang then typed a few words to reply to Ding Huichun.
Chao: I received the photos, thank you.
Ding Huichun: It’s Chen Yang, right
"…" How did you find out? Chen Yang rubbed the bite mark on his finger, and he found an expression of a gray fat cat nodding and sent it over.
Ding Huichun: Do you know about your own death
Chao: Yes.
Ding Huichun: Congratulations on making it across.
Just as Chen Yang was about to type, Ding Huichun sent another message.
Ding Huichun: He talked to me about that incident. I was very surprised at the time because he knew that I was just his teammate, not your common teammate. I was not familiar with you and I was not present in your experiences. He came to me, which meant that there was no other way out.
Chen Yang was stunned.
Ding Huichun: I didn't give him any advice. If the wound is not on your own body, you don't know how painful it is. He finally told me that he would tell me before starting the review task.
Ding Huichun: It is too cruel to expose your own scars, fortunately you have gotten over it.
Chen Yang's eyes were sore and his vision was a little blurry. He pressed his eyes and typed.
Chao: It was my former partner who helped us uncover it.
Ding Huichun: Then you must have pulled your partner more than once, so now he will turn around and pull you.
Chen Yang had no memories in his mind and felt disappointed.
Ding Huichun: There will be a new person Chao Jian in the revolving lantern of your last level.
When Chen Yang saw this message, he was stunned for a while. He replied with a smile: That’s great, I will tell him, nice to meet you.
The chat box was quiet for a moment, and then an additional message appeared.
Ding Huichun: See you again if we are lucky.
Chen Yang put down his phone and stood on the bed with a determined look in his eyes. No matter what was on the slideshow, he would accept it all. Nothing could stop him from going home.
Even if the home is gone.
Chen Yang lowered his eyes: "Even if my home is gone..." He heard the noise and looked up at the person coming out of the bathroom. No, he has a home.
"It's still early, let's do it again." Chen Yang waited for Chao Jian to get close to him, then jumped onto his back.
Chao Jian just finished cleaning up the mess in the bathroom: "No more."
"?" Chen Yang turned his head.
"You can't concentrate when you're doing it, and I feel frustrated." Chao Jian had a blank expression on his face, with a wound on his lip and two strawberry marks on his neck.
Chen Yang rubbed his damp hair: "Practice more and you will get used to the feeling of failure."
Chao Jian: “…”
Chen Yang was joking. He felt tired after doing it once, and mentally exhausted.
This feeling is similar to that of taking the college entrance examination, or like rushing home for the Spring Festival holiday. I can't calm down at all the night before.
Chen Yang opened Chao Jian's phone and clicked on the photo Ding Huichun sent: "Take a look."
He glanced at Jian.
"I seem to have seen such small yellow flowers somewhere." Chen Yang muttered, holding his chin, "But the flowers all look similar, and they are quite common on the roadside."
Chen Yang hung up the phone, then he fell into the quilt with his arms outstretched, looking up at Chao Jian with smiling eyes.
"Why are you suddenly so happy?" Chao Jian lit the incense.
Chen Yang let out a breath, "I feel like I've seen the end."
"Really?" He waved the green cigarette towards Jian, "What does the end look like?"
"Your appearance." Chen Yang said.
Chao Jian was stunned for a moment, and put his hand on Chen Yang's neck: "Then watch out, don't go astray."
Chen Yang looked at Chao Jian for a few moments, then gave him a passionless kiss.
This road is long, and faith and expectation are the only driving forces. If there are no lights on the road and no one waiting at the end, you cannot go on.
—Chao Jian is his end point.
—He is willing to be the end point for his teammates.
At midnight, Chen Yang was making pancakes in his bed. More than an hour later, he was still making pancakes.
Chao Jian turned Chen Dabing upside down and held his hands and feet: "There's a little warmth in the quilt, and you let it go. Can you stop moving, brother?"
Chen Yang sighed: "I can't sleep."
After he finished speaking, a hand was placed on his back, and the old man patted it gently as if he was coaxing his grandson.
Chen Yang nestled in Chao Jian's arms: "I remember you said you lived in Sanlianqiao, what about me?" He asked curiously, "Did I tell you where I was from before the reset?"
"You are also from Sanlianqiao." Chao Jian said, "This is your home."
Chen Yang raised his head from the side of his neck: "Real home?"
Chao Jian said: "A real home."
Chen Yang was silent for a long time: "What about my parents? How did I become an orphan?"
"Your parents died when you were eleven or twelve, leaving this old house to you." Chao Jian found the words Chen Yang had said to him, without covering them with dust. Because Chao Jian would clean it frequently, he wanted every trace of Chen Yang in his life to be clean and tidy, just like before.
"We all grew up in Sanlian Bridge..." Chen Yang leaned in to look at Chao Jian, breathing in the scent of lime on him, "Then, before the mission, did you know me?"
Chao Jian said, "I know him." He stroked the scar behind Chen Yang's left ear, "But you don't know me."
"Then..." Chen Yang wanted to ask, but the sound in his mouth was blocked by the slightly cold kiss.
Chao Jian pinched the back of Chen Yang's neck and kissed him deeply and deeply.
On the verge of hypoxia, Chen Yang heard Chao Jian's whisper, vague yet clear.
"Even if I tell you now, you won't have any impression. Why not wait until you remember it yourself?" Chao Jian said this to him, with a hint of childishness between the lines.
It was almost four o'clock when Chen Yang got up to go to the toilet, drink water, and find something to eat. The rustling sounds continued. When he wiped the biscuit crumbs from the corner of his mouth and returned to the room, he found Chao Jian squatting on the bed with his head drooping. His messy hair covered his eyebrows and eyes, and the whole body had a gloomy aura.
Like a lion whose den was overturned. That person was its partner, so it couldn't attack and just sulked.
"I really tried my best." Chen Yang admitted his mistake first. He tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. What could he do
Chao Jian leaned his head and stared at him, sighing: "Then let's not sleep."
"I'll get up too." Chao Jian said.
"No, you should go to sleep." Chen Yang stopped him, "You are in a bad mood because of lack of sleep."
Chen Yang put on his slippers, got on the bed, and waved to Chao Jian.
Lie down towards Jane.
Chen Yang pulled his pajamas towards Chao Jian, stretched out two fingers and grabbed the corner of his clothes.
Soon, the sound of even breathing could be heard next to him. Chen Yang leaned against the head of the bed. He felt something burning in his heart, hissing and smoking, not letting him have a moment of peace. Even his internal organs seemed to be burning.
Also, the house is too quiet, maybe because 03 is not here.
Chen Yang reached for the phone on the bedside table. He was about to check the chat history in the group and play a game for a while, but he found that his phone was out of battery.
Chen Yang reached for Chao Jian's phone again, but found that the battery was also out.
What happened? Chen Yang carefully pulled the corner of his clothes out from Chao Jian's fingers. Just when he pulled it out a little bit, the other party woke up.
Chen Yang coaxed softly: "I'll charge my phone and I'll be back soon..."
Chen Yang chewed the word "come" until it was broken and swallowed it, which made him feel bitter.
Those were the last words Chen Yang said to Chao Jian before he died. They became Chao Jian's inner demon and also Chen Yang's instinctive habit.
Chen Yang found two data cables, quickly charged his and Chao Jian’s phones, and returned to bed.
After that, Chen Yang dozed off for a while in a daze. When he opened his eyes, it was already dawn outside the window. The fire in his heart burned even more vigorously, and his cerebral cortex seemed to smell burnt.
Chen Yang was awakened by a strong force. He lay on Chao Jian, but when he tried to get up, he was pushed back.
The two of them stayed together for a while before getting up and standing by the sink together to brush their teeth and wash their faces.
"Call me Old Chen, and I'll feel it." Chen Yang fell into the mindset of an old couple, looking at Chao Jian expectantly through the mirror.
Chao Jian covered Chen Yang's face with a dry towel and whispered two words in his ear, but they were not "Old Chen", but...
"Wife." he shouted.
The twenty-year-old young man had just woken up, his tone was hoarse and lazy, and the two words were like candied fruit wrapped in sugar, which was so tempting that it was killing him. Poor his brother, his heart could not take it so early in the morning, and he drank half a glass of boiled water to ease the urge... No.
So he was executed on the spot by his brother.
The early morning sunlight was so soft that it was intoxicating. Chen Yang made a cup of cereal. The milk powder at home was used up, so he could only add some sugar to make the cereal. He stood on the balcony with the cup in his hand, and the entire Sanlianqiao residential area was in sight.
In addition to the criss-crossing alleys, Sanlianqiao also has several main roads with many stalls selling vegetables every morning, and the flow of people is huge. Today is no exception, but Chen Yang feels that there seem to be more people on the street today than usual.
There were footsteps behind him, and Chen Yang raised the cup back: "Let's go downstairs and buy some breakfast."
Chao Jian finished the rest of the cereal: "Okay."
When Chen Yang opened the door, he glanced at the door opposite. He wondered what time Wen Qing and the others had been partying last night. He pinched his forehead and pulled Chao Jian downstairs.
The temperature was very low at this time. Chen Yang did not wear a mask, and the wind felt like a knife scratching his face, but he was willing to enjoy this feeling.
Winter mornings are like this.
Chen Yang strode through the alley with big strides, a thin layer of morning light covering the collar of his gray-black coat, and Chao Jian followed him all the way.
Whether he walked fast or leisurely, Chao Jian was always by his side.
Chen Yang went to an old shop he often visited to buy soy milk. The soy milk sold in that shop was usually two yuan a cup, and the acquaintances in the neighborhood would bring their own large teapots when they went to buy it. The shop owner still only charged that price and would fill the cup very full, which was very polite.
"Is Mr. Jiang not here today?" Chen Yang found that the proprietress was the only one in the store.
"Oh, it's Xiao Chen. Lao Jiang has gone out to deliver some goods and will be back soon." The proprietress said to Chen Yang with a smile while greeting the customer warmly.
"That's pretty busy." said the protagonist.
"Busy! It's good to be busy. I'd be so worried if I wasn't busy." The lady boss wiped her hands on her apron. "What do you want? The same old rules. A cup of soy milk and two fried dough sticks?"
"Double." Chen Yang pointed at Chao Jian beside him.
The proprietress showed a surprised expression: "Oh, the young man next to you came with you, he is really handsome."
Chen Yang turned his head towards Chao Jian and whispered, "I feel proud and proud when you are praised. Do you think I have the mentality of an old father?"
Chao Jian ignored him.
While Chen Yang was waiting in line, the street was crowded with people. He looked around and suddenly found a strange phenomenon. He didn't know any of these people, which made him very confused. When did so many outsiders come to Sanlian Bridge
"Old Jiang, you're back. Have you delivered all the orders?" The proprietress stopped flipping the fried dough sticks and shouted.
"I've finished delivering it. If I hadn't finished delivering it, I wouldn't have come back. I'm so exhausted."
"Take a break first. There are still two orders to be delivered."
"By the way, has my daughter paid her tuition?" Lao Jiang sat on a plastic stool.
"No, I'll hand it in this afternoon. Her class is not good, so I plan to ask the teacher to change her class."
"Hey, teacher, can you agree?" Lao Jiang sighed helplessly.
"I don't know. Let's go ask in the afternoon," said the proprietress.
Lao Jiang rested for a while and then got up to fry dough sticks.
Chen Yang looked at the busy couple. He clenched his hands in his pockets a little and glanced at the middle-aged man frying dough sticks.
He was very familiar with the owner of this store, and it was not the person in front of him at all.
Chen Yang took his hand out of his pocket and tugged at Chao Jian's sleeve. Chao Jian raised his half-closed eyes and the two looked at each other.
"Old Jiang, I've also heard about your daughter's problem. I think it's the school's problem." An old man's voice came from the team behind.
“Alas, there is no surveillance on this matter, so who can tell for sure…” Old Jiang looked worried.
"We've been neighbors for so many years, don't I know you? You're just too honest!" The old man's tone revealed a sense of disappointment. Another neighbor behind him also interrupted and said, "Yes, kind people are often bullied. I think you should make a fuss about this matter. If the matter gets out of hand, the school will be afraid."
Old Jiang shook his head and said nothing more.
Chen Yang turned to look at the team. These old neighbors he was familiar with were also called middle-aged people like Lao Jiang. They looked like they had known each other for decades. He walked out of the team and looked around. His eyes swept across the unfamiliar faces in the crowd. A surge of trembling emotions rushed to his head. He guessed correctly.
He and Chao Jian came in, and they started the review task.
This is the real Sanlian Bridge!