Under the dim streetlights, the thin boy walked alone in the deep alley.
The surrounding walls are mottled and silent.
The figure projected by the street lamp on the dilapidated concrete floor was elongated, shortened to a point, and then elongated with his hasty pace.
Suddenly, the figure stopped, and the boy's footsteps stopped. He seemed to hear something, and looked back slightly.
A gust of wind blew up the short, shattered hair between his forehead, exposing the young man's vigilant gaze at the end of his eyes and his taut and sharp side face.
There was no one behind him, only the sound of the wind blowing a dense jujube tree, echoing in the silent alley.
Wen Yu tightened his shoulder bag straps with both hands, and continued to speed up the pace of going home.
He has always been very courageous, never afraid of anything.
It's just that since he got up early today, he has been flustered, his nerves are highly tense, and he feels that an unknown danger is approaching.
Even the wind ringing in his ears seemed to be sending a signal, reminding him that something was about to happen.
Soon, the silence in the alley was broken, and the sound of squeaking bicycles came from a distance.
Gradually getting closer and becoming clearer.
The boy still walked without looking back, but his hands on the straps on his shoulders were clenched even tighter, and his back was straightened more vigilantly.
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu!"
A thick man shouted, accompanied by the sound of bicycles, sounded behind him.
The young man's thin shoulders relaxed imperceptibly, and he turned his head to look back: "Uncle Liu, why are you here so late?"
The middle-aged man who came over on a bicycle was named Liu Yiming, and he was a policeman from the police station in this old town.
He stopped and raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, and said with a frown, "I just came home? Are you leaving school so late recently?"
Wen Yu nodded: "The college entrance examination is coming soon, and the teacher has extended the evening self-study time."
Liu Yiming: "Haven't you already been admitted to the School of Fine Arts, University of S? Are you still studying so hard? If you want me to tell you, don't go to the evening self-study in the future."
The young man smiled and said, "It's okay, there are not many days left anyway. What's the matter with Uncle Liu at such a late hour?"
Leng Jun's face finally showed the immaturity and vigor that this age should have.
The end of the originally vigilant and sharp eyes also curved into two beautiful arcs, and the clear pupils glowed softly under the cold moonlight.
It is cool and clean that makes people want to get close to it.
Liu Yiming took out two big paper bags from the car frame and stuffed them into his hands: "This is your favorite eight-treasure duck made by your aunt. This is a set of oil paints I asked someone to buy."
"Although it is simple, it can be regarded as a gift from the two of us for your eighteenth birthday."
Wen Yu was slightly taken aback, and then realized what day it was today, and he thanked softly: "Thank you, Uncle Liu."
Liu Yiming patted the young man's thin shoulder and said, "We finally watched you grow up. It's not easy these years."
"Okay, go home and eat while it's hot. I'll come to see you often these days. If you encounter anything, you must contact me."
Liu Yiming sent Wen Yu to the door of his house, and watched him open the yard door before turning and leaving.
The smiling and friendly expression gradually turned into worry.
He took out his mobile phone and looked at a message sent to him by his colleague:
[Li Haowu was released from prison today, this kid is very vicious, be careful that he takes revenge on that kid Wen Yu.]
----
Wen Yu's home is located in an old residential area on the edge of the city. It is a small courtyard with a single gate. The century-old osmanthus tree in the courtyard is the age of this courtyard.
The mottled walls made of blue bricks, the old and faded mahogany doors, and the incomplete carvings of ancient goalkeepers and generals under the eaves all silently tell about the years of this home.
The room was dimly lit and simply furnished.
A perpetual calendar on the wall shows today's date: May 18th.
He himself forgot that today is his eighteenth birthday.
It means he is an adult.
It also means that he has to move out of this house.
The phone rang suddenly.
The caller was displayed on the screen: Guan Haitao.
"So fast."
Wen Yu laughed at himself and answered the phone: "Second Uncle."
The tone is flat and clear.
Guan Haitao: "Hey, Xiaoyu, are you asleep?"
Wen Yu: "Not yet."
Guan Haitao coughed on the other end of the phone, laughed and said, "That's right. Your aunt and the others discussed with me today about the small courtyard your grandfather left behind before his death."
"When your grandfather passed away, I told you to live in my house. You didn't want to live in that crappy house. We saw that you were stubborn and agreed to let you live until you were an adult."
"You are also eighteen today, and that yard should also be sold."
Wen Yu: "Yes."
Guan Haitao continued to laugh and said, "Oh, taking advantage of the current market conditions, it is estimated that the land can sell for five million. Our whole family is divided according to the head, and even a child of yours can get hundreds of thousands."
Wen Yu: "Yes."
Guan Haitao: "Then let's make a deal. In the future, will you move to my house first, or do you want to find a house outside?"
Wen Yu: "Second Uncle, can I sell the house after I go to college?"
"Go to college?"
Guan Haitao's voice rose, and his speech speed became more urgent: "I'm not talking about you, you are just stubborn."
"You are working in that design studio now, and you can still get paid 1,500 yuan a month. If you go directly to become a regular employee, you can get at least 5,000 yuan. What kind of university do you think you are going to?"
"Besides, the Academy of Fine Arts of S University was the one that got into the exam just as you said?"
Wen Yu's tone remained the same, calm and indifferent: "I have already received the admission notice from S City Academy of Fine Arts."
"you"
Guan Haitao paused for a moment, then snorted: "Okay, you're promising. Well, you can stay for a few more months. But I have to go to the real estate agency to register the house sale information."
"There will be buyers coming to see the house during this period. If you are not at home, I will open the door and go in."
After hanging up the phone, Wen Yu looked around the room under the dim light, his light-colored lips were tightly pressed, and his eyes were dark and uncertain.
After a long time, he stepped on the dark wooden stairs to the second floor step by step.
There was a crisp sound when the switch was pressed in the corridor, and the incandescent tubes lit up immediately, illuminating the small living room on the second floor like daylight.
In the center of the living room stood a wooden easel with a stretched canvas on which was an unfinished landscape.
On the canvas, there is a clear blue sky, a lush and lush forest, and wildflowers dotted
But it always feels monotonous and lacks something important.
Wen Yu opened the paint box and took out the paintbrush. After some preparations, he stood in front of the easel with a palette in his hand.
Pick up a pen but don't know how to fill in this unfinished landscape.
He felt that a big house with an old building should be painted in the lush forest. It's like a hall or temple, a place for some kind of god.
But he couldn't form a concept in his brain about what the hall should look like.
It seems that the inspiration is exhausted, and it seems that he has seen it somewhere, but he can't remember it anyway.
Thinking into a poor way, blank, boring.
The cool wind in the middle of the night blows into the room through the window screen, but it can't blow away the impatience of the young man who is thinking hard and can't understand.
Sweat flowed from the forehead along the arc of the tense cheeks, down to the chin, and dripped on the old floor.
The time passed minute by minute, until the hands of the old clock on the wall reached two o'clock in the morning.
Wen Yu focused on the painting in front of him, and gradually he was in the forest in the painting.
Surrounded by lush distant mountains, lush trees, and wild flowers in full bloom.
The sound of the brook flowing beside him, the butterflies flying briskly beside him, the refreshing freshness spread in the air.
It's like being in a fairyland.
He looked at the surrounding scenery in amazement, and started to walk around as if he was looking for something.
Suddenly, day turned into night.
A full moon hung in the night, but the cold white light could not penetrate the trees of the lush forest anyway.
The surroundings were gloomy and dark, and there was no sound.
Wen Yu began to fear, he wanted to escape. As soon as the body moved, there was a tingling sensation of being tightened and bound in the hands and feet.
He was surprised to find that he had been bound hands and feet at some point, and was lying in the middle of a huge stone altar with thin clothes.
A gust of night wind blew, blowing the dense branches and leaves of the big trees and rattling. In the dark night, they waved their claws and claws like a huge beast, and it was possible to pounce on him at any time.
He looked around in horror, trying to break free with all his strength.
But when he moved a little, there seemed to be countless small needles on the rough hemp rope that bound his hands and feet, pricking the nerves on his thin skin, causing him to tremble all over from the pain.
Suddenly, he saw a group of blurred figures approaching him step by step.
who
Wen Yu wanted to shout, but couldn't even make a vibrato because of extreme fear.
The black shadow approached, like a tall man. He couldn't see his face clearly, but he had a biting cold aura all over his body.
The man's figure slowly stretched out his hand towards Wen Yu, and the palm landed on his Adam's apple around his neck, strangling his lifeline.
It's just that this hand is like an ice sculpture, and the place it touches is icy cold.
Definitely not the temperature that normal people should have.
Wen Yu was terrified. He didn't care about the piercing pain in his wrists and ankles, he twisted and struggled desperately, trying to escape as soon as possible.
But to no avail.
The man's palm left his Adam's apple, but his fingertips pressed against the skin of his neck and slid down, passing between the collarbone and gradually reaching his chest
The thin clothes were effortlessly pulled away, and the naked skin touched the condensed coldness in the air, trembling under the man's fingertips.
Do not!
Wen Yu shouted, but couldn't make any sound.
An unprecedented sense of fear filled every cell in his body.
He opened his eyes wide in horror, watching the man's figure leaning towards him a little bit, as if burying his head in his neck and ears.
The strong wind blows, the luxuriant branches and leaves sway like struggling, the rustling sound surrounds my ears, and a heavy sigh is vaguely mixed in the wind:
"Got you."