After two years, the mottled walls of the old house saw old friends who had left one after another.
That New Year's Eve two years ago was the last time they got together. Since that day, it has been witnessing parting.
Zhou Siming has not paid off the money owed to Han Xiaogong, but he looks different from before. The hostility and resentment between his eyebrows and eyes were not so serious. Although he was still unlovable, he did look much more peaceful. Qin Fang saw him once at school last year. They met face to face at that time, neither of them spoke. Zhou Siming nodded to Qin Fang as a greeting.
Han Xiaogong's hair has grown a lot compared to last winter, it hasn't grown back to the original length, but it's finally not half-length nor short. He will always be like that, you can't see from his face what he's been through and what's on his mind.
Xing Yan—
Xing Yan became the most.
The first time Qin Fang saw Xing Yan was at the funeral home. In order to wait for them, Si Tu stayed in the ice coffin of the funeral home for a day. It was cold in that room, bitterly cold. Xing Yan was the last one to come back, and he was the furthest away. Qin Fang was sitting on the chair with his head bowed, his elbows resting on his legs. He had barely slept the night before, his head hurt, and he felt dizzy for a while.
He heard someone come in and stop in front of the ice coffin. There are incense and portraits.
He didn't look up, he had heard this voice too many times. Everyone will stand there for a while when they go out and come in again, standing there for a long time, people who stand there are empty, and their thoughts are drained. In the photo, Si Tu is still smiling, with thin streaks at the corners of his eyes, he has smiled too much, and his skin has memories.
Qin Fang buried his head between his hands and supported his heavy head with his hands. His brain seemed to be hammered twice from time to time, and his nerves were tense and occasionally throbbed with pain.
The sound of footsteps stopped in front of him in a trance, Qin Fang didn't look up, he was not very conscious at that time. It wasn't until there were clothes on him that Qin Fang slowly raised his head and took a look—
They looked at each other through the air, one with blurred vision and squinting his head up, the other with downcast eyes and deep eyes.
Later, Xing Yan squatted down and asked him softly, "What's wrong with you?"
Qin Fang didn't fully wake up until this time, and his half-awake mind just now was still confused. He immediately sat up straight, his clothes slipped off, Qin Fang picked them up with his hands, cleared his throat and said, "You're back?"
"Hmm." Xing Yan still squatted in front of him, looked at Qin Fang's face, and asked, "Uncomfortable?"
"It's okay." Qin Fang licked his dry lips, patted the seat next to him, "Sit."
Xing Yan took off his coat just now and was only wearing a thin T-shirt. Qin Fang gave him the clothes and said, "Wear it, I'm not cold."
"Put it on." Xing Yan said in a low voice, "You have a bad complexion."
They hadn't seen each other for almost two years, but this wasn't the right time to chat.
Xing Yan's hair was shaved and turned into a cut-cut again. Still thin, with deep eyebrows. But his demeanor has changed, he is no longer the cold and cold boy who once looked at him from a distance.
He looks more mature - he's grown up.
Qin Fang didn't know if he had changed compared to two years ago, and how much he had changed. People can't always see themselves clearly.
They were encoffined in the early morning of the next day, and they didn't leave at night.
I went out to have a quick meal, and then came back to sit. Xing Yan wanted Qin Fang to go back to rest, but Qin Fang refused. They didn't say a few words, it was not a suitable occasion for chatting, and they were not in the mood. Xing Yan went out to buy medicine. He didn't know what happened to Qin Fang, so he bought cold medicine, antipyretic medicine and anti-inflammatory medicine. When he came back, he handed it to Qin Fang along with the water, and asked him to eat it according to the symptoms.
Qin Fang took it and ate it. He was still wearing Xingyan's coat. Although they didn't talk much, they didn't alienate too much. No need for politeness and fake politeness, no need.
This was the last night they could stay with Si Tu, Si Tu didn't want to say goodbye, and hated being sad. So no one cried, Zhou Siming's eyes were red, and he sat silently staring at the portrait.
Each of them is silent, they haven't seen each other for a long time, but the tacit understanding and familiarity between them are engraved in the bones and blood, no greetings, no small talk, they seem to have never been separated.
Si Tu had already prepared a cemetery for himself, and placed him properly. This was the last journey they sent him off.
"Are you comfortable now? You don't need to cough anymore." Han Xiaogong stood in front of his stele, looked at the photos on the stele, and talked to him, "You are really making people laugh. My brother didn't catch a cold. When the person left, I couldn’t even say it, it’s too good.”
Han Xiaogong was a little tired after standing all morning, so he just sat on the ground, and Qin Fang followed suit. Later, Xing Yan and Zhou Siming also sat down. Several people sat in a narrow space, even Gong Qi sat down.
"We have been together longer than them, and I was the last one to leave." Han Xiaogong smiled lightly, "If I knew in advance that you are so good, I would have left two years later, but I guess that's exactly what you want .We'll never see each other again, so don't say goodbye, buddy?"
Zhou Siming cursed in a low voice from behind.
Si Tu guessed right, they all hated him, at least Zhou Siming's hatred was written all over his face. He hated Si Tu for leaving, and hated him for not saying anything earlier. Si Tu is too free and easy, he wants everyone left behind to be free and easy.
Saying goodbye is too ceremonial. After saying goodbye, you can watch death coming. This scene allows the living to remember it for a lifetime. So Si Tu didn't give everyone a chance to say goodbye, except Gong Qi, he had tried his best to protect a girl's feelings.
They are not lovers who are parting from life and death. They have just been a dull companionship for the past few years. At most, he is also an ex-boyfriend. He fulfilled Gong Qi's desire to be with him, and Gong Qi also fulfilled his reluctance.
"He gave me all the money. With me, I plan to go out to see the children every year and do some charity for him." Gong Qi's voice is hoarse these days, and now she is speaking softly, not crying, "he said None of you want it, some don’t need it, and some have high self-esteem.”
"He said that the house will be left to you. As long as it is not demolished, it will always be there. If it is demolished in the future, you will share it. If you want to keep it, you can keep it. If you don't want to keep it, you can donate it."
"Nothing else. He doesn't like sentimentality."
He really doesn't like to be sad, and he doesn't like to see people cry.
They sat with him in front of the stele for an entire afternoon. Si Tu asked everything to be simple before, and then don't do anything else after the custom. Don't be so ceremonial, just treat him as a long trip.
When I returned to the old house from the cemetery, nothing had changed here. The flowers in the courtyard are blooming very well, and the ivy is climbing lushly on the courtyard wall beside the flower garden, full of vitality everywhere.
Zhou Siming stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at this and that, then suddenly turned around with his head down and went out, and came back after a while.
Gong Qi didn't come, there were only four of them left here.
Qin Fang didn't even change his clothes, and he fell asleep right away when he came back, remembering to take a medicine for himself before going to bed. He fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as he fell on the bed, he was still wrapped in Xingyan's coat, and his breathing was rough and heavy.
This sleep was so deep that I didn't even have a dream.
When I woke up again, I was blinded for a while, it was already dark, I looked at the room in front of me with the light coming in from the window, I couldn't tell whether it was reality or a dream. It took a long time to wake up with my eyes open, remembering the dream-like things that happened in the past few days.
He just lost a friend. He came to this small building again.
And... Xing Yan is back.
Qin Fang took out his phone and checked the time, it was half past three. He sat up and coughed twice.
Someone came in from the door, he was a little surprised when he came in and saw him sitting, he paused, and then asked him: "Are you awake?"
Qin Fang said "hmm" and asked him, "Where did you go so late?"
"I'll wash my face." Xing Yan said.
Qin Fang looked at the other bed, the cloth covering the bed hadn't been lifted yet.
"Is it still burning?" Xing Yan asked him.
Qin Fang touched his forehead and said, "No more burning."
He asked Xing Yan: "How do you know I'm burned?"
"I can tell." Xing Yan lifted the cloth on his bed, sat on the bed, and asked Qin Fang, "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?"
Qin Fang shook his head, cleared his throat and said, "I'm not hungry."
They shared a room in the dark, and darkness could relieve stiffness and embarrassment, but this room was not so dark that they couldn't see clearly. The moonlight is very bright.
The two sat on each other's beds, looking at each other and at the wall.
After Qin put down the bed to go to the bathroom, Xing Yan said, "Don't take a bath...you sweat a lot."
Qin Fang was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "I'll just... go to the toilet."
Xing Yan cleared his throat and said, "Yes."
There was a new towel and toothbrush that had not been unpacked on the sink, which should have been put by Xing Yan. Qin Fang took it apart and used it. The facial cleanser was made with Si Tu. After washing, he felt much more comfortable and his mind was much more refreshed.
In fact, he really wanted to take a bath. If it wasn't for the conversation with Xing Yan just now, he would probably have taken a bath now.
The clothes on my body have not been changed for the past few days, and I have sweated a lot. I didn't feel it just now, but now I start to feel uncomfortable. Qin Fang hesitated for a while, and finally boiled the water to test the water temperature.
Someone knocked on the bathroom door, Qin Fang turned off the water, opened the door, and there was Xing Yan at the door.
"I... stink soon." Qin Fang said, "I'd better wash one."
Xing Yan silently turned on the light for him, the old house has no heating or Yuba. Xing Yan put the clothes in his hands on the shelf, and said in a low voice: "The clothes are here, you can change them after washing. The water temperature... turn up a bit."
After he finished speaking, he went out and closed the door behind his back.
The pile of clothes was all new, with a new pair of underwear sandwiched between them.
The water was pouring down from the top of the head, the steam was dense, and the dim light in the bathroom made people feel like they were soaked in hot water. Warm up, but also a little stinging.
Qin Fang leaned his back against the wall, and the tiles felt greasy against his body. He tilted his head slightly, the back of his head against the wall.
When Xing Yan turned around in silence just now, Qin Fang noticed that he seemed to have grown taller again. His pursed lips and tight chin looked familiar and strange when viewed from the side.
When returning to the room after taking a shower, Xing Yan was still sitting on the bed, in the same posture as before.
Qin Fang asked him, "Why didn't you sleep?"
"Not sleepy." Xing Yan told him, "Go to sleep."
"Yeah." Qin put it back on the bed, and then lay down. He had changed both the sheets and the quilt. If it wasn't for the different texture, Qin Fang might not have noticed it at all. He didn't pay attention to what the sheets looked like before going to bed.
In fact, Qin Fang was still tired and sleepy, but he couldn't fall back asleep. He lay down quietly, and Xing Yan also lay down with his clothes on.
For a long time there was no sound in the room, not even the sound of breathing.
Only Qin Fang turned over from time to time. Once he turned over and couldn't help coughing twice, his voice was very low, and he closed his mouth and suppressed the coughing sound in his throat.
- "Can't sleep?"
Xing Yan asked.
Qin Fang said "Yes".
Xing Yan sat up: "Uncomfortable?"
Qin Fang blinked in the dark and said, "No."
Xing Yan put on his shoes on the ground, walked outside, and said softly: "You sleep."