The rain in Runcheng finally subsided, and the mudslide disaster that killed dozens of people immediately attracted the attention of the whole country. The last interview that Yang Chengchuan accepted before his death was broadcast on TV in turn, and the reports were overwhelming. His untimely death.
"Untimely death! Deputy Mayor Yang Chengchuan died at the age of 40 due to ineffective medical treatment"
"Going to the front line alone to organize mudslide rescue and rescue, deputy mayor Yang Chengchuan died unfortunately"
"The deputy mayor of Runcheng was killed in a mudslide and was still concerned about the aftermath of the disaster"
…
There is not much time left for Yang Xuan to be fragile. Maybe because he realized that he has no one to rely on in this world, he quickly cheered up and dealt with the media who came to interview, the visitors who came to offer condolences, and all kinds of treats. cumbersome procedures. To the media, he said "no interview, sorry" dozens of times, and to the guests, he said "thank you" no less than a hundred times.
Like a mature adult, he and Tang Xiaonian drew a clear line between each other's responsibilities, and discussed various funeral affairs in a strange and polite way. Ever since Tang Xiaonian moved into this house, they had never talked so much in such a calm manner.
His shoulders, which always looked a little dangling because of his idleness, suddenly became straight and straight as if they could bear all the joys and sorrows in the world.
Yang Chengchuan was pushed out of the ward by the medical staff, but Tang Xiaonian did not follow him. She sat down on a chair outside the ward, her head buried in her folded arms.
Tang Junhe squatted next to her and called her "Mom". He thought she was crying.
"You don't need to worry about things here, you go and ask Chen Xing to send you back first." Tang Xiaonian raised her head, she looked haggard, but there was no cry on her face, she turned to look for the phone in her bag, "I'll call him, you go downstairs and wait." Before Tang Junhe could speak, she urged in a high voice, "Hurry up, I've missed classes for so many days, do you still want to take the college entrance examination?" gone?"
Tang Junhe could only get up and walk downstairs. When he went down to the second floor, a reporter suddenly came to interview with a camera, which caught him off guard.
"May I ask what Vice Mayor Yang was doing at home before going out that night?"
"Does Vice Mayor Yang care about your study and life?"
Tang Junhe stared blankly at the dark camera, then turned and walked to one side, trying to avoid media interviews. But the reporter quickly ran up to follow: "Please cooperate with the interview, this is also a kind of mourning for Deputy Mayor Yang." Seeing that Tang Junhe was just walking forward with his head down, she tried to run forward and pull his arm.
Tang Junhe wanted to find a bathroom to hide in, but when he walked to the middle of the corridor, he bumped into Yang Xuan who was going through the formalities on the second floor. Yang Xuan glanced at the reporter carrying the machine, grabbed Tang Junhe's arm and walked towards the stairs, with frost on his face: "I'm not accepting interviews, sorry."
"He is a good mayor, so he should also be a good father?" The reporter insisted, "We will make a special report, which will become a very precious video material in the future."
"No need." Yang Xuan spit out these three words from his lips indifferently, looking like a thousand miles away from others, and then took Tang Junhe's wrist and walked down the stairs quickly.
I don't know if it was because of the obvious hostility in his brows, or because the indifference in his tone aggravated the resistance, the female reporter followed him to the hospital gate and didn't follow.
After getting rid of the reporter, Yang Xuan let go of his indifferent guard for a short while, and his whole body was filled with depression and depression. He let go of Tang Junhe's wrist, put his hand in his pocket and groped around, but couldn't find the cigarette, only then remembered that the cigarette had all been left in a hotel thousands of miles away.
They stood under the eaves protruding from the entrance of the hospital. It was still raining outside, and the air was filled with damp moisture.
"Brother, do you want to smoke?" Tang Junhe said, turning his head and looking for the nearby supermarket, "I'll help you buy..."
"Go back," Yang Xuan's voice was still hoarse, "It's too messy here."
Chen Xing also came down from upstairs at this time, he walked to the door and said to Yang Xuan: "I'll take Xiaohe home first, let's go." He patted Tang Junhe on the back, "There are other things here." Things need to be dealt with, let's go back first."
Everyone asked Tang Junhe to leave here, so he could only act like an outsider who stayed out of the matter, watching them mourning Yang Chengchuan's death and busying themselves.
Tang Junhe sat in the car, watching the raindrops slapping on the car window and the tree trunks passing by the street. Compared with when they left last week, the spring spirit in Runcheng didn't seem to be any stronger. Before he had time to wake up from that dream full of the smell of salty sea water, he was caught off guard and fell into another dream that was even more unreal.
***
After all the procedures in the hospital were completed, Yang Xuan took a taxi to go home by himself.
It was still raining heavily outside the car window, and the real-time traffic station had already started broadcasting the news of Yang Chengchuan's death due to ineffective medical treatment. I don't know since when, Yang Xuan has been wanting to escape from Runcheng, which is full of Yang Chengchuan's shadow, but now he suddenly realizes that when the torrential rain stops completely, there will be no more Yang Chengchuan in Runcheng from now on. Cheng Chuan.
Looking at the heavy rain outside the car window, Yang Xuan kept flashing pictures related to Yang Chengchuan in his mind. When his mother left three years ago, he skipped the senior high school entrance examination and left home for half a month. When he came back, Yang Chengchuan didn't lose his temper. He just entrusted him with the status of a sports student and let him enter Runcheng. Best high school.
During that period of time, he was always fighting, fighting with gangsters outside the school, fighting with drunks on the street, and got involved in several rounds. Afterwards, Yang Chengchuan asked someone to clear his case.
Now that Yang Chengchuan is gone, Yang Xuan suddenly realizes that he no longer has the capital to be willful. He used to do whatever he wanted because of Yang Chengchuan's connivance and protection. Yang Chengchuan was by no means a good husband, and he might not be considered a good mayor either, but as a father, he never let himself down.
Then he thought of the Yang Chengchuan before he was 7 years old. The three of them got along very well. Yang Chengchuan didn't lose his temper very often, and he always let his mother back when he encountered disputes. It was very interesting to watch the two of them bicker. At that time, Yang Xuan was watching the excitement, and he was not at all worried that they would quarrel upside down.
Later, the family was ruined by that incident. For ten years, Yang Xuan always thought that he hated Yang Chengchuan, especially after his mother left, this hatred reached its peak, so that he always resisted crying out. He said "Dad", but at a moment, Yang Xuan suddenly felt that his feelings for Yang Chengchuan were not as simple as "hate".
But when he wanted to understand this, the dead Yang Chengchuan didn't even say a word to him.
When Yang Xuan went home and opened the door, he saw Tang Junhe sitting on the sofa in the living room, thinking about something. Hearing the knock on the door, he turned to look at himself.
Yang Xuan didn't speak, didn't change his shoes, turned around and went to his room, he took out his mobile phone from the drawer - before leaving, he thought he would never use this mobile phone again. He pressed the power button, and just as the screen displayed the power-on screen, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Yang Xuan got up and walked out with his mobile phone, Tang Junhe had already opened the door, and it was Chen Xing who came to deliver the luggage.
"I just drove to the office. I packed up some things your dad left there." Chen Xing handed the suitcase and paper bag to Yang Xuan. You can still use it in the future, so keep it.”
Yang Xuan took it over and said "Yes".
Facing Yang Xuan who was a head taller than himself, Chen Xing sighed, reached out and patted his shoulder: "Did you tell the old mayor?"
"Not yet." While Yang Xuan was speaking, the phone in his hand vibrated a few times. It should be the sound of a text message, but he didn't look down immediately.
"Take some time to make a phone call. After the things here are done, you can go abroad. Your father has been thinking about you going abroad to study. If you study well in a good school, you will have a great future in the future, so let it be." his wish."
"His wish has never been with me." Yang Xuan lowered his eyes and said calmly.
"Don't say that, he has always hoped that you will be successful. If there is anything else, please call me at any time, and tell me if you are going abroad. I will send you off. I watched you grow up. Don't see me outside."
"Thank you, Uncle Chen."
Chen Xing nodded, sighed again, and said before leaving: "Xiaoxuan, take care of yourself in the future."
"Yes." Yang Xuan said.
"Jun He too," Chen Xing looked at Tang Junhe who was standing by the door, "I'm going to college soon, and I'm going to be a young man soon." After he finished speaking, he pressed the door handle and pushed the door into the room Pushed, "I have to go to the hospital to pick up your mother, let's go first."
After seeing off Chen Xing, Yang Xuan picked up the phone and looked down, several text message reminders popped up on the screen, all of which were sent by Yang Chengchuan before the accident. There was a sudden "buzz" in Yang Xuan's head, and his forehead began to throb. He closed the door casually, regardless of whether it was closed tightly, took two steps into the room, took a deep breath, and clicked on the earliest text message.
"Where did you take your brother? Come back quickly, don't miss the plane at three o'clock in the afternoon."
"Turn it on and call me back!"
"Hurry up and get back! Your Aunt Tang is going crazy. Your brother has an exam the day after tomorrow. You know something, so hurry up and call me back."
"I know everything about you and Jun He, you come back first, don't be impulsive, let's talk about it face to face."
"Brother..." Tang Junhe, who was standing aside, observed his expression and called him cautiously. Yang Xuan frowned tightly, with a serious expression on his face, he didn't bother to look up at him, and opened the following text messages from Yang Chengchuan with trembling fingertips—
"I've been thinking about you two for the past few days. Yang Xuan, you're such a fool. You didn't take the high school entrance examination, you fought repeatedly, and you deliberately failed the exam. I can tolerate you, because I can tolerate the consequences of these things. Help you bear it, I can let you go to No. 1 middle school, help you clear your criminal record, and send you abroad, but what you are doing now is too absurd, and even I can't bear the consequences."
"Don't think that you are very mature and you can apply for a visa to leave the country at will. Your property is left to you by your mother, and your power in Runcheng is given to you by me. You can go abroad because your grandparents are capable. You Everything now is given to you by others, if you think about it carefully, what is your own?"
"I don't know what your current situation is and what stage you have developed. Let me guess that you still want to challenge me as before, or you want to use this to take revenge on your Aunt Tang? No matter what you think, Yang Xuan, use It's too naive to punish yourself for other people's mistakes, you are almost an adult, you should mature."
"Have you ever seen the way your younger brother looked at you? He didn't look at me like that, and he didn't look at you like that, Aunt Tang. It was a look of complete trust and dependence on you. You used this trust to achieve your goal of revenge." , have you ever thought about how disappointed he will be when he knows what you really think?"
"Jun He is still young, and his mind is very immature, but you are an older brother, you will ruin him if you do this! He could have gone to the best university in the country, but he skipped the re-examination because of you. Could it be that he won't even take the college entrance examination in the future? ?Are you going to make him an immature trash forever? You can say that you don’t care about your little brother, but if you ruin someone’s bright future, you will live under guilt for the rest of your life. I hope you don’t do that Do it, because it will lead you to destroy yourself in the end."
"Aunt Tang, I haven't made it clear yet. She has always been prejudiced against you. I know this in my heart. Things are solved slowly. Don't use the wrong way. This will never solve the problem. Take it with you quickly. When your brother comes back, I'll wait for you to come back and talk about it."
These long text messages carried strong emotions, just like Yang Chengchuan yelling directly into his ears. The roar was louder than ever before, so deafening that it almost pierced his eardrums.
Yang Xuan only felt a buzzing in his ears, and it took him a while to recover his hearing. He heard Tang Junhe calling him "brother" in his ear. He turned his head to look at him, those eyes were very close to him, what was in the eyes was not the so-called innocence and temptation, but the "trust" and "dependence" that Yang Chengchuan said, and they were probably mixed at the moment. Emotions called concern and distress.
The few words that Yang Chengchuan yelled in the text message were revolving in his mind with great stamina: You use this trust to achieve your revenge... You are a brother, and you will destroy him by doing so! It's ridiculous...you'll live with guilt all your life!
"Brother," Tang Junhe saw that his expression was different, and stretched out his arms to hug him with some fear, "Are you alright?"
"We..." Yang Xuan's Adam's apple moved, his throat was so hoarse that he couldn't make a sound, he cleared his throat, he wanted to say that he wanted to calm down for a while, but Tang Junhe immediately interrupted him in panic, "Brother... Are you going to ignore me again?"
"Yang Chengchuan sent a text message to my mobile phone before the accident." Yang Xuan's voice was very low and deep, all the emotions were suppressed in his throat, "...do you want to take a look?"
Tang Junhe shook his head violently for a while, he was terrified, Yang Chengchuan knew, he would let them separate, but he didn't want to separate from Yang Xuan. "Brother, do you want to listen to him?" His eyes were full of fear, he tightened his arms around Yang Xuan, for fear that his brother would push him away suddenly, he looked at him almost pleadingly and said, " Don't ignore me, okay?"
Yang Xuan closed his eyes, raised his arms to wrap around him, his palms fell on his shoulders, his chin rested on the top of Tang Junhe's head, and he sighed long. With this tone, he sighed the last absurdity and self-willedness of his youth, "Go to school well, take the college entrance examination well," Yang Xuan said in a low tone and slowly, "I am your brother, what will happen in the future... "
"Then I would rather you were not my brother," Tang Junhe said, as if he was eager to confirm something, he raised his face and leaned towards him to kiss him, his lips were pressed against Yang Xuan, he thought that as long as Yang Xuan didn't reject him, Then they can still be together, "We'll just be the same as before—"
Before he finished speaking, Tang Xiaonian pushed the door open and came in, accusing him, "The door is not closed tightly, waiting for thieves to enter the house—"
Tang Xiaonian never expected that one day she would encounter the scene of Tang Junhe raising her head and kissing Yang Xuan. At that moment, her mind went blank. The words Yang Chengchuan yelled angrily on the night of the accident were like a ticking time bomb that could be triggered at any time. At this moment, it exploded in her mind—"Your precious son is gay!"