N City Prison is located at the junction of the main city and the district and county. There used to be a cotton mill nearby, but after the system reform, its performance deteriorated and it closed down a few years ago. As a result, the prison has become the main source of income for local residents, and nearby restaurants and small hotels are all dependent on prison guards and family members who come to visit the prisoners.
Li Xuan arrived a little late today, and there were already quite a few people standing sparsely at the prison gate.
A young man just stepped out of the prison gate, and after taking only two steps, he fell to his knees. The gray-haired old woman opposite him, who should be his mother, stumbled over and tried to hit him hard on the back with her walking stick. But before she could really hit him, she let go, and the mother and daughter hugged each other and cried bitterly.
The prison guard was probably used to such scenes and closed the iron door again indifferently.
Li Xuan stopped the car and wanted to go to the guard room to ask. When he looked up, he saw a person squatting at the foot of the wall, with his head buried and looking at the ground. There was a light between his fingers, which was half a cigarette butt.
Li Xuan opened the car door and got out, frowning and calling out, "Zhao Jizhe."
As if frightened, the man shuddered all over, raised his head suddenly, and looked around blankly, finally landing on Li Xuan. He stood up hesitantly for a while. Because his legs were numb from squatting for too long, he staggered for a while before walking towards Li Xuan.
At first he walked slowly and hesitantly, but halfway he hurriedly ran a few steps. When he was almost there, he unconsciously slowed down again.
"nineteen."
Zhao Jizhe stopped two steps ahead of Li Xuan, rubbed his hands on the seam of his pants several times before he dared to look at him, and smiled awkwardly: "... ... You, have you grown taller... ... You didn't come to visit me last month... ... I thought you weren't coming anymore."
He said the last sentence in a low voice, glanced at Li Xuan quickly, and then quickly lowered his head.
Although they had met through the glass in prison, Li Xuan actually felt very strange when he saw him face to face again after almost seven years.
Zhao Jizhe's hair was shaved very short, with a thin layer of green skin. He said Li Xuan had grown taller, but in fact he was the one who did. He was two years older than Li Xuan, but he had always been thin and small in his childhood. When he first arrived in N City, others thought they were brothers, but always regarded Li Xuan as the older one. Now that he has been in prison for so many years, his physique has been strengthened. Although he is still thin, his height has grown to Li Xuan's brow bone.
Noticing Li Xuan's gaze, he seemed to become even more uncomfortable. His whole body became a little stiff. It took him a long time to move, but he pulled his sleeve down to cover the faintly visible winding scar on his left arm.
"There's a bit of traffic jam when leaving the city this morning." Li Xuan quickly retracted his gaze.
"It's okay, it's okay." Zhao Jizhe said quickly, opened his mouth, and seemed to want to say something else but didn't know how to start.
After standing in silence for a while, Li Xuan took the slightly pale bag from his hand and threw it to the back seat, "Get in the car first."
"Is this car yours?" Zhao Jizhe asked him in a low voice.
"Fasten your seat belts." Li Xuan turned on the navigation and turned onto the rural road next to him. He looked back and saw that he was still holding the cigarette butt. Only a short piece was left, almost burning his hand. "The company's... cigarette is lost. Can you still smoke it inside?"
"The prison guard gave it to me." Cigarettes were a rare commodity in prison, and Zhao Jizhe was reluctant to throw them away. He fumbled with his seat belt, still hesitant.
"Lost." Li Xuan repeated it again, and casually took out a box of treasurer from the armrest box and threw it to him.
"This is very expensive..." Zhao Jizhe held the golden cigarette box, not understanding any of the English letters on it. "Are you working? What kind of job is it? I don't know, and I haven't heard you talk about it... Aren't you still studying? How do the family who adopted you treat you..." He asked a long series of questions carefully, and finally asked him, "Nineteen, how have you been these years?"
He had also asked these questions when Li Xuan visited him in prison, and Li Xuan always answered briefly. Just like now, he just replied ambiguously, "It's OK," and then asked, "Do you want to eat now?"
"I'm not hungry... ...anything is fine, it's up to you." His answer was vague, and Zhao Jizhe's tone was inevitably a little disappointed.
"Then let's go back first." Li Xuan didn't care. He stepped on the accelerator and increased the speed.
After all, it's a journey of dozens of kilometers. Today is a weekday, and there is some traffic in the city. It was almost noon when I arrived at the alley. It happened to be the end of classes at the nearby universities, so it was crowded with students.
"Is your home here?" Perhaps because he had been in prison for too long, Zhao Jizhe felt a little nervous when there were so many people around, and he instinctively leaned behind Li Xuan.
When Zhao Jizhe mentioned home, somehow, the first thing that came to Li Xuan's mind was Sheng Min sitting in the living room reading a script. They hadn't seen each other for nine days since he left that day. He looked at his watch, nine days and seven hours. He thought with a bit of self-mockery.
"Nineteen." Zhao Jizhe didn't hear his answer, and called him in a low voice a little nervously.
Li Xuan then realized that he was too close to him, so he distanced himself from him without making a sound: "I bought a store for you over here."
"Took over a store?" When Zhao Jizhe arrived at the door of the Internet cafe, he seemed to have not yet digested the meaning of Li Xuan's words.
"Brother Xuan!" Li Xuan had said in advance that Zhu Zhouyi had been waiting there for a long time. When he saw them coming, he hurried out to greet them.
"Your boss, Zhao Jizhe." Li Xuan pointed with his backhand.
"Hello, boss." Zhu Zhou greeted with a smile.
"Hello, hello." Zhao Jizhe looked at the sign above his head, then at Zhu Zhou, feeling a little at a loss.
Zhu Zhou noticed his reservedness, so he asked Li Xuan, "Brother Xuan, have you guys eaten yet? Can I order you food?"
"Order him one." Li Xuan opened the door curtain. Most of the seats in the store were occupied. The air was filled with the smell of various instant noodles. The exhaust fan was always on, so it wasn't too bad. He took a napkin from the front desk and wiped the sweat off his neck. "Don't worry about me. I'm leaving soon."
"Where are you going?" Zhao Jizhe grabbed his sleeve when he heard it.
Li Xuan frowned, pulled his arm out, and said to Zhu Zhou, "Order food." Then he looked at Zhao Jizhe, "Come upstairs with me first."
"I've rented this storefront for ten years, and there are still eight years left. I've already paid the rent in full, so you don't have to worry about it." Li Xuan turned on the air conditioner. "Now Zhu Zhou is basically in charge, and there's another person who takes over his shift. You'll know when you meet him. I've explained the basic situation of the store, and Zhu Zhou will hand it over to you."
As he spoke, he took out a bank card from his pocket. "I have 20,000 yuan now, and the password is six ones. In the afternoon, you can ask Zhu Zhou to take you to familiarize yourself with the surrounding environment and buy some daily necessities. Starting this month, the profits from the Internet cafe will also be transferred to this card, which should be enough for your living."
Zhao Jizhe looked at him blankly, and did not take the card. His expression was definitely not surprised. Li Xuan put the card on the table: "You can live here directly. Zhu Zhou's family is nearby, and they don't usually stay here. If you feel it's a bit noisy and inconvenient, you can also rent a house nearby. It shouldn't be too expensive. If you don't have enough money, tell me."
"Are you living with your adoptive parents?" After a long while, Zhao Jizhe stammered, "... If you live by yourself, can I live with you..."
"You want to live with me?" Li Xuan was surprised and frowned.
"Is it not possible? Or are you in a relationship and it's inconvenient?" Zhao Jizhe looked a little flustered, "Nineteen, do you have a girlfriend?"
It would have been better if he didn't mention it. Once he did, it would inevitably remind him of Sheng Min. His face darkened, which frightened Zhao Jizhe.
"I live in the company." Li Xuan was silent for a moment, then walked to the side and got a glass of water.
"Oh." Zhao Jizhe was a little embarrassed. He picked up the card, hesitated for a while and put it down again, "What do you mean by giving me this Internet cafe? I don't want it..."
Li Xuan turned his head and said, "What's the point? You have to make a living. You don't want it? Are you going back to Qingshui Lane to continue hanging around?"
His words were so rude that Zhao Jizhe turned pale.
Li Xuan calmed himself down and pressed his temples. "If you don't like Internet cafes, you can open other shops. But there are many students around here, and the Internet cafe business has been good. You can try to run it for a while. Zhu Zhou used to work in a repair shop and knows a little bit about technology. If you are willing, you can learn from him... If you are interested, you can sign up for a class. Anyway, this shop is given to you, and it is yours. Now that you are out, you can't just stay the same as before."
He thought he was very patient, but Zhao Jizhe's expression became even uglier. It took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence: "You gave me this store, so you won't care about me anymore in the future?"
Li Xuan was stunned by these words and was completely confused: "How can I control you?"
Zhao Jizhe was a little anxious when he heard this: "But we used to be together... You are my brother, and we are each other's only relatives."
"I am an orphan, I have no relatives, and neither do you." Li Xuan interrupted him and said calmly, "Besides, that happened seven years ago, not seven days. Even if we are brothers, we have to separate when we grow up."
Zhao Jizhe bit his lip and said nothing.
This attitude made Li Xuan feel a little annoyed, but he was helpless: "I understand, you just came out and you are not used to it. This store is to give you a buffer. If you really don't like it, you can sell it in the future and the money will belong to you. We are friends, but we all have to have our own lives. I have my things to do, and you will have yours. No matter what you do in the future, make new friends or even get married and have children one day, you can't expect me to make decisions for you in everything?"
"You really don't care about me anymore... Aren't you afraid that I might... "
"Say it again!" Li Xuan narrowed his eyes and pointed at him.
Zhao Jizhe lowered his head and stopped talking.
"You are an adult. You have your own judgment on what is right and what is wrong. Don't talk about whether I control you or not. You have a strong mind. I didn't control you before, and it's even more impossible now." Li Xuan took out a lighter, lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. "But I warn you, if you go to jail for the second time, no matter if it's the death penalty or life imprisonment, I will never save you again. You can keep this store if you want, but don't get out! I don't owe you anything, so stop threatening me!"
"Nineteen. I... I said something wrong, don't be angry. That's not what I meant."
Li Xuan didn't say anything and continued smoking one puff after another.
"I just feel like I don't understand you at all now. I don't know what you are doing, what job you do, where the money for your shop comes from... When we were kids, we clearly..."
"You also know that it was when you were a child." Li Xuan put out his cigarette, "Today is only your first day out, we can talk about this later. Besides, you don't have to know everything about me, just like you don't have to tell me everything about yourself."
"But... .."
"No buts." Li Xuan stood up. "I have something to do this afternoon, so I'll leave first. If you want to find me, you can call me. Zhu Zhou has my number."