The days passed slowly like running water, and before you knew it, it was already late December.
The nostalgic songs of the last century sounded, the cafe opened for business, and the man was still sitting by the window, gazing at the street view outside the glass window.
When he raised his wrist to look at the time, the female shop assistants knew that this silent handsome man was leaving, so they began to look forward to tomorrow—tomorrow they could see this taciturn gentleman again.
Two great things happened in December—
Yan Ming has fulfilled his student's wish, he is with Mr. Jiang, Zhou Hao is happy for him;
A few days ago, passing by a sports lottery center, Zhou Hao bought a lottery ticket for two yuan, and won 3,000 yuan on the day of the lottery.
He took this unexpected money and went to the subway station in Minlin District. He longed to see the young man who played and sang again. If that person is still there, he will distribute all the money and ask him to play "Goodbye Erchome" again.
Zhou Hao squeezed his way into the crowd, and scanned the unfamiliar faces one by one. After searching for a long time, he couldn't find a young man with a guitar on his back. In fact, he no longer remembered the person's appearance, but his intuition told him that the person had already left here.
It should be, no one will keep standing still, this society is developing too fast, if you don't pay attention, you will be crushed to pieces by today's modern pace.
Zhou Hao felt a little frustrated, but at the same time, he silently wished that young man again from the bottom of his heart: May you have a bright future.
On the way back, Zhou Hao met an old lady who was over seventy years old under the overpass, and set up a small stall in the cold wind, selling socks and gloves. And next to her was a middle-aged couple in ragged clothes and pitiful faces, begging from passers-by.
The stark contrast attracted Zhou Hao.
"How do you sell these socks?" Zhou Hao stopped by the grandmother's stall.
"Four pairs for ten yuan." The grandmother raised four fingers.
Zhou Hao knelt down, chose fifty pairs of socks for himself, and twenty pairs of woolen gloves, and divided them into two bags to barely fit them.
"how much is the total?"
The old lady couldn't figure it out, she kept chanting numbers, adding, subtracting, and subtracting, and finally told Zhou Hao that the total was 520 yuan.
"Grandma, you made a mistake." Zhou Hao handed over 3,000 yuan to the old man, and left without looking back.
"Young man, what a lot of money, what a lot of money..." The old voice behind him didn't stop Zhou Hao at all.
Zhou Hao returned to the dormitory with two big bags of things. Qian Weicheng gnawed an apple in his mouth and asked vaguely, "Brother Hao, what did you buy?"
Zhou Hao put the things on the table, "Socks and gloves specially bought for you."
"Damn it," Qian Weicheng pretended to be surprised, "Are you doing a side job? Come on, let's set up a small stall on the side of the road tomorrow. I'll shout, and you will sell."
Zhou Hao rolled his eyes at him, "Still yelling? You think the city management can't control you, right?"
Qian Weicheng stopped playing lip service, and stood aside and sighed. Sighing heavily, it was obvious that he wanted to wait for Zhou Hao to ask him, what's wrong with you
Finally, Zhou Hao couldn't listen anymore, and asked angrily, "What are you doing!"
"Brother Hao, do you know how much our bonus is this month? It's only 3,500...Who will believe it? After all, he is a doctor in a tertiary hospital, and the bonus is getting less and less every month." Qian Weicheng said angrily .
"Let's be content. When we first entered the hospital, we didn't have any bonuses. We could only get a basic salary."
"Well, I wasn't that unbalanced at first, but do you know how much a junior doctor's bonus is in the hospital where we are studying?"
"How much?" Zhou Hao asked.
"This number." Qian Weicheng gestured a few times with his hands, "10,000 is the base."
Zhou Hao didn't react too much. He was about to take the clothes he changed last night to the bathroom to wash, "Don't compare yourself with others. It's annoying to compare with others. Didn't you say so, you have to take it lightly."
"Forget it, forget it."
There is heating in the room, and washing clothes in cold water will not feel very cold. Zhou Hao threw the thick padded jacket outside into the washing machine, and he planned to wash the rest by hand.
Rubbing the cashmere sweater in his hand, the water in the basin gradually became dirty, and Zhou Hao's rolled-up sleeves slipped down. He stood up and washed his hands, and happened to see himself in the mirror with no desires or desires.
Is he really wanting nothing? Did he really not care about Qian Weicheng's complaints
Zhou Hao left the bathroom, went to the trolley case and found the gray sweater that Xiao Sun gave him many years ago. There was also a dark blue one, but the thread was torn off.
The sweater is still new, obviously not worn a few times. The owner's reluctance has made it still glamorous today.
When Zhou Hao realized his poverty and incompetence, he put this sweater in the box and never wore it again.
Many years ago, he still had fantasies: if he earns enough money, will Wenwen come back? Now he is much more realistic and will no longer have these unrealistic thoughts.
During the difficult years of his life, he has changed countless times, from the Hao Hao who lacked love to the Zhou Hao who is just getting by. Maybe in the future, he will become another look.
However, he was not curious at all.
==============
A while ago, Jiang Yuqian's father got appendicitis and had a minor operation, and has been resting at home these days. Jiang Yuqian naturally moved back home.
"Dong dong dong—" There was a knock on the door.
"Please come in." Jiang Yuqian put down the book in his hand and looked up.
"Yuqian," under the soft light, Mother Jiang came over gracefully and put the hot milk on the bedside table, "Don't look too late, go to bed early."
Jiang Yuqian nodded.
"Mom may trouble you with something tomorrow."
Jiang Yuqian asked, "What's the matter?"
"I bought an imitation bronze ware from the Song Dynasty at an auction the day before yesterday. You can give it to your little uncle tomorrow. Doesn't he like it? By the way, you can ask if he has a girlfriend recently. Your grandpa is in a hurry."
"knew."
"Go to bed early, mom is going to bed too, good night."
"Um."
Mother Jiang's expression was a little regretful, probably because she didn't hear what she wanted to hear, and her son's excessive unfamiliarity made her feel sore in her heart.
Jiang Yuqian looked at his mother's elegant but aging back, and for a moment, he thought of another woman he had never seen before—the little lunatic's mother.
From the intermittent posts of the little lunatic, he knew that the woman he had never met before would never serve the little lunatic with milk and say good night so thoughtfully.
Jiang Yuqian's eyes were slightly dazed, and suddenly he stopped his mother. Mother Jiang turned her head in a daze.
"Mom, you go to bed early too."
Mother Jiang's eyes blinked, and tears welled up indistinctly. The gap that had been between her and her son for many years seemed to be suddenly crossed at this moment.
This night, there was an unusual wave in everyone's heart. Jiang Yuqian's attention could no longer be concentrated on the book. He reached for the phone and found the number of "Hao Hao". After hesitating again and again, he still dialed it.
The phone rang for a long time before the other end answered.
"It's me." Jiang Yuqian said hoarsely, "Are you asleep?"
After being blank for a few seconds, Zhou Hao replied, "Not yet."
Obviously this sentence encouraged Jiang Yuqian, he asked cautiously, "Haohao, what are you doing?"
I thought it would be a question that came to nothing, but unexpectedly, Zhou Hao replied to him, "I just washed the clothes."
Suddenly, Jiang Yuqian didn't know how to continue speaking, he was at a loss for words and timid.
Zhou Hao also paused at that end, as if he had nothing to say.
"Haohao, go to bed early, I'm going to hang up."
"Don't hang up, Jiang Yuqian, I feel bad." Zhou Hao seemed to have finally found someone to confide in.
"I went to Minlin Station this afternoon to find a man who used to play and sing there. I liked the songs he played very much. I asked him to play another song for me with 3,000 yuan, but I couldn't find it. He He's gone, I don't know where he went."
Jiang Yuqian was listening quietly, and he comforted, "Maybe he just changed to another place, where he will meet someone who loves his songs like you."
"It's also possible that he doesn't sing anymore. He feels that he can't earn money and wasted his youth. He may be moving bricks on the construction site now, or washing dishes in the back kitchen of the hotel."
Jiang Yuqian's heart was throbbing with pain, and every time he took a breath, he felt a thread tugging at his pain-sensing nerves.
He couldn't bear to imagine such a pessimistic and world-weary little lunatic holding a mobile phone alone, perhaps with red eye circles.
"Haohao, you can't think like this. Even if it is true that he is working at the lowest level of work as you said, he might take out his guitar and play for a while when he goes back every night. You see, he has a job to solve Why do you still feel sorry for him when you have enough food and clothing, and you can occasionally touch his dreams? You went to him with three thousand dollars today. On the surface, you wanted him to sing for you, but deep down in his heart , This is a kind of charity in disguise, you are hurting his self-esteem."
Zhou Hao was dumbfounded, he really looked at the problem too one-sidedly and negatively. Jiang Yuqian's words made his tangled heart slowly relax, and he said from the bottom of his heart, "Jiang Yuqian, I wish you a Merry Christmas in advance."
Jiang Yuqian opened the corner of his mouth and smiled, "You too."
"I'm going to hang up."
"Don't..." Jiang Yuqian stopped her, but it was difficult to speak. After a long time, he said a deep love word from the depths of his throat, "Haohao, I miss you very much."
The phone still hung up, and the little lunatic didn't respond to his miss.
In the cold night, I don't know who is lonely and who comforts whom.
What are you doing so clearly, fooling yourself in a muddleheaded way, let's go on, let's go on with this day.
Jiang Yuqian understood that the little lunatic had experienced an inner turmoil today, and he was eager to find someone to vent to. If he didn't make this phone call, he might confide in his colleague, or he would confide in Yan Ming.
Who knows, he just caught up with him.
On this late night in December, Jiang Yuqian fell into insomnia. When he closed his eyes, he couldn't help thinking about the past.
When he scolded the little lunatic for being "disgusting" and "shameless", how did such a sensitive and pessimistic person endure the pain and continue living with him...
He used to be nothing!
The next day, Jiang Yuqian took the antiques and drove to his little uncle's house - Zijin Mingjun.
When he arrived at the place, Jiang Yuqian hugged the bronze ware his mother had taken, and rang the doorbell with his free hand. After three rings, the door opened.
Jiang Yuqian was immediately stunned, because the person who opened the door was Yan Ming. Obviously, Yan Ming was completely unprepared. Yesterday, Mr. Jiang told him that his nephew would come over tomorrow. How could he have guessed that this nephew was actually Jiang Yuqian.
Jiang Yuqian didn't ask much, he handed the bronze vessel in Yan Ming's hand, "This is for uncle." He then bent over to change his shoes.
Yan Ming also recovered from his gaffe, and temporarily put the things in his hand on the coffee table in the living room.
At this time, Jiang Weiyang came down and said with a smile, "Yuqian is here."
"Yeah." Jiang Yuqian also smiled at him, "My mother went to the auction a few days ago and bought an antique, and asked me to bring it over for you."
Jiang Weiyang's eyes immediately fell on the bronze ware. It was a copy of the ear-piercing teapot from the Shang Dynasty. Because it was a copy, the bottom was not made, and the decoration was very simple. After more than a hundred years, it was seriously corroded.
"Yuqian, how much did your mother spend?" Jiang Weiyang asked.
"She didn't tell me."
Jiang Yuqian picked it up again and observed it carefully. He is a lover of ancient cultural relics, and usually likes to play with porcelain, bronze, and calligraphy and painting the most.
Yan Ming stood aside in embarrassment, Jiang Yuqian glanced at him slightly, as if he had guessed something.
Jiang Weiyang had had enough of watching, so he remembered to introduce the two of them. At the same time, he touched Yan Ming's hair undisguisedly, "I forgot to introduce you, this is my nephew, his name is Jiang Yuqian, and he also graduated from University A."
Yan Ming was not used to being like this in front of outsiders, so he looked very shy, "I know him."
"You guys know each other?" Jiang Weiyang was very surprised.
Jiang Yuqian said, "Yes."
"That's really fate."
Jiang Yuqian stayed here for lunch. After the meal, Yan Ming was about to clear the table and wash the dishes, but Jiang Weiyang stopped him, "You two children, let's play, I'll do it."
"You're not old, so you always pretend to be an elder." Yan Ming muttered.
Jiang Weiyang laughed, even the fine lines around his eyes were sexy and gentle.
So, only Yan Ming and Jiang Yuqian were left in the living room, neither of them had much to say.
"You and uncle..." Jiang Yuqian started the topic first, "Are you together?"
Yan Ming was a little embarrassed, but responded in a low voice, "Yes."
Jiang Yuqian said flatly, "Then congratulations."
Yan Ming felt more and more uncomfortable, he stood up, "I'll go to the kitchen to have a look."
"Wait a minute." Jiang Yuqian stopped him, and Yan Ming could only sit back.
"The day after tomorrow is Christmas, you invite Zhou Hao to come here to play, the four of us can spend a holiday together."
Yan Ming was stunned for a moment, but nodded in agreement.