Zhou Yan's hometown is a small county town surrounded by mountains and rivers. The county town is surrounded by mountains and a large river flows slowly in front of it.
As soon as you got off the expressway, you could see several high-rise buildings along the way, and the car gradually drove towards the depths of the county town, and most of the old buildings with a height of six or seven storeys could be seen.
They haven't had lunch yet.
Ning Junyan asked Chen Yuncheng, "What would you like to eat?"
Chen Yuncheng didn't answer. He felt that he could eat anything, even if he had a bowl of noodles in a small noodle restaurant by the roadside, it didn't matter, but he felt that he was too casual and aggrieved Ning Junyan.
"I'll eat whatever you want," Chen Yuncheng finally said to Ning Junyan.
Ning Junyan nodded, he slowed down and drove forward on the streets of the county town, until he saw a well-decorated Chinese restaurant on the side of the road, he found a place to park the car, and got off for dinner with Chen Yuncheng .
It was already past lunch time, and there were obviously no customers in the restaurant. Ning Junyan still asked for a private room and sat at a small round table with Chen Yuncheng to eat.
"There are no small private rooms," Ning Junyan said.
Chen Yuncheng rinsed the dishes with tea and said, "This kind of Chinese restaurant generally doesn't have a private room for two."
When he put the washed tableware and chopsticks on the table, Chen Yuncheng originally wanted to tell Ning Junyan that he was working hard and that he would accompany him on this trip. give up.
The dishes for lunch were ordered by Ning Junyan alone, with three dishes and one soup.
When the waiter brought the soup up, Chen Yuncheng picked up the soup bowl in front of Ning Junyan and helped him fill it. Ning Junyan kept his eyes on him and said softly, "Thank you."
Chen Yuncheng had to say, "You're welcome."
After eating, Chen Yuncheng asked the waiter to settle the bill, but the waiter told him that Ning Junyan had already settled the bill after ordering.
Chen Yuncheng suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness that had nowhere to go. When they came out of the restaurant, Chen Yuncheng stood on the side of the road and asked Ning Junyan, "Do you think I'm poor, so you don't treat me as a brother?"
Ning Junyan had the car key in his hand and wanted to pick up the car. Hearing his question, he turned to look at him and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Chen Yuncheng felt that he was a little hypocritical. He would not mind these things before, and he would not have to say it regardless of the embarrassment of the atmosphere, but he has been in a mess for the past two days, half for Zhou Yan, and the other half for Ning Junyan, He couldn't help but said, "You came so far with me to find Zhou Yan, and you didn't even let me invite me for a meal? Do you think I can't bear even this little money?"
Ning Junyan's expression was calm, and he replied, "I don't think so much. If you want to invite me to dinner, you can invite me at night."
Chen Yuncheng was a little stunned by what he said, and then said, "I'm sorry."
Ning Junyan said, "Is this important?"
It really doesn't matter, and Chen Yuncheng didn't know what was going on in his head. He laughed at himself and said, "It doesn't matter, don't pay attention to me. I'm a little confused."
Ning Junyan asked him, "Is it for Zhou Yan?"
Chen Yuncheng glanced at him and nodded, without saying that it was also for him.
Ning Junyan suddenly said, "You didn't even think of looking for me when I left."
Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment. At first he didn't realize when Ning Junyan said he left. Later, he thought that maybe it was the year they separated. Chen Yuncheng was standing beside him, watching Ning Junyan's parents take him. go.
Ning Junyan didn't seem to need his answer, turned around and walked towards the parking place before he spoke, "I'm going to drive."
Inexplicably, Chen Yuncheng lost his temper at Ning Junyan, and he always felt bad about it. After getting into the car again, his voice became milder when talking to the other party.
He found the address on Zhou Yan's ID card and showed it to Ning Junyan: "Can you navigate here?"
Ning Junyan said, "Try it."
They were all coming to this county for the first time, and they completely relied on mobile phone navigation to find their way.
Zhou Yan's household registration address is in an old residential yard on an old street in the county town. The car can't drive in, so he can only park the car on the nearby street and walk over.
There is no access control in the community, only a lazy old man sitting in the guard room watching TV.
The address on Zhou Yan's ID card was detailed to the unit and house number. Chen Yuncheng went directly to the uncle of the guard, showed him Zhou Yan's ID card, and asked him if he recognized this person.
The old man touched the bridge of his nose on the frame of a pair of reading glasses on the table, carefully looked at the ID card photo, shook his head and said, "I don't have an impression, but this address is indeed in it."
Chen Yuncheng asked him, "Then do you recognize this family?"
The old man looked at it carefully for a while, without answering directly, but raised his head to look at Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan, and asked, "Who are you?"
Chen Yuncheng said to him, "This Zhou Yan is our friend. He went back to his hometown some time ago and couldn't be contacted, and his son was sick again. We came to find him."
The old man said "oh", without any further meaning, and said, "I don't know if this family is the same as him, but there are two couples living in this address, the male's surname is Qi, the female's surname is Li, and there is no surnamed Zhou. "
Ning Junyan asked, "How old are they?"
The old man said, "It's almost fifty."
Chen Yuncheng thanked the old man, walked into the community with Ning Junyan, and planned to go to this family's house to ask.
"Have you met Zhou Yan's parents?" Ning Junyan asked.
Chen Yuncheng shook his head, "He was sent back to his hometown by the police, and I haven't seen his family." And so many years have passed. Even if he saw him when he was young, Chen Yuncheng probably doesn't remember what he looked like.
"He has a bad relationship with his family," Chen Yuncheng said slowly, "he never talked to me about his parents."
Ning Junyan was silent and did not speak.
The community is not big, there are four old buildings in it, Chen Yuncheng found the unit building where Zhou Yan's household registration address was, went up to the third floor with Ning Junyan, and knocked on the door lightly after seeing the house number.
He wanted his appearance not to be too abrupt, at least not to scare Zhou Yan's family.
The building is really old, the white walls and ceilings in the corridor have turned into gray with dirt deposits, and broken cobwebs can be seen in the corners.
Ning Junyan stood behind Chen Yuncheng, neither of them were short. In the narrow and cramped stairwell, in addition to feeling dim, they were depressed.
Chen Yuncheng didn't hear any movement in the room, so he knocked on the door twice, with a little more force.
While waiting for a response, he turned his head to look at Ning Junyan, "Are you going to work? If you're less than fifty years old, you probably haven't retired yet, right?"
"This Saturday," Ning Junyan told him.
Chen Yuncheng was not sure, "What about overtime?"
Ning Junyan leaned over him and approached the door, raised his hand and knocked on the door, "Maybe I just didn't hear it."
There was still no response from the room, but the resident next door heard the sound, opened the door a crack, and looked out vigilantly.
"Hello," Chen Yuncheng asked before the eldest sister next door closed, "Is this family at home?"
The eldest sister looked at him first, and then Ning Junyan, perhaps because she thought they were not like bad people, so she replied, "Sister Li went back to her parents' house last week. I don't know if Brother Qi is here."
Chen Yuncheng asked again, "Did you know that they have a son?"
The eldest sister frowned when she was asked, and after a while, she suddenly said, "You mean Zhou Yan?"
Chen Yuncheng and Ning Junyan looked at each other.
The eldest sister said, "Zhou Yan went out to work for many years and never came back."
"Have you not seen him recently?" Chen Yuncheng asked.
The eldest sister shook her head, "I haven't seen each other since I left. It's been many years."
Chen Yuncheng thought about it and asked her, "Then do you know when Zhou Yan's mother will be back? Or when is his father estimated to be home?"
The eldest sister still shook her head, "I don't know." After she finished speaking, she was about to close the door.
Chen Yuncheng didn't give up, and asked quickly, "Then do you have the contact information of their family? Can you help me ask?"
The elder sister didn't seem very happy.
Chen Yuncheng said, "Please, sister."
The eldest sister looked at him carefully and asked, "Who are you?"
Chen Yuncheng repeated what he said at the doorman.
After listening to the eldest sister, she said, "Is the child sick?" She seemed hesitant, "Then wait." She took out her mobile phone and sent a WeChat message. After waiting for a reply after a few seconds, she raised her head and said to Chen Yuncheng, "Li Sister said she will be back tomorrow morning, why don't you come over tomorrow morning?"
Chen Yuncheng immediately smiled and said, "Thank you."