The first snow in Yanjing came with great force and seemed to never end.
It started snowing last night and continued until this afternoon. It stopped for about an hour when it got light in the early morning, and then God started working tirelessly again.
As the snow fell more heavily, fewer people appeared on the street. The untrodden snowflakes covered the dark concrete floor like a gorgeous velvet carpet.
Crunch-----
A black car stopped at the intersection of the old street, and its wheels kicked up the ice on the ground, making a crackling sound.
Bang----
The car door opened and Fang Yan, wearing a light-colored suit, walked out of the car.
Ye Fengsheng turned his head from the front cab and said, "Brother-in-law, can I go in with you?"
"No thanks." Fang Yan refused. "You can't park here. Stay in your car. If you see the police coming to ticket you, drive away quickly-----"
"Okay." Ye Fengsheng agreed reluctantly and said, "Brother-in-law, be careful."
Fang Yan smiled and said, "Have you forgotten? I am now in Shui Yijing. But you should keep a low profile on this kind of thing, and don't show off to others------"
puff----
The ice dragon got off the car and spit at Fang Yan, then immediately ran into the crystal world of ice and snow with its tail wagging happily.
Ice dragons like snow. Although the snow in Yanjing is not as heavy as in the extremely cold places, and the weather is not as cold, it is still much better than not seeing any snow at all.
Since the old man gave Fang Yan the responsibility of taking care of Bing Long, Fang Yan has hardly ever been separated from the dog. When Bing Long was about to go out today, Bing Long had already gotten into the car. Fang Yan wanted to chase it off, but old man Fang Huwei yelled at him: It wants to go out for some fresh air, so take it out for a walk. This poor child wants to see the snow, can't you fulfill its wish
Ye Fengsheng liked the Ice Dragon very much. When he saw the Ice Dragon spitting at Fang Yan, he couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "I just find it strange. Why does it always pick on you? Is this the legendary saying that one family cannot tolerate two dogs?"
"Do you believe that I can cut off pieces of fat from your body and make twice-cooked pork?" Fang Yan glanced at Ye Fengsheng coldly and said.
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I originally wanted to say that there can't be two tigers in one mountain---"
Fang Yan brushed off the snowflakes on his shoulders and said, "I'll be back soon."
After saying that, Fang Yan walked towards the familiar noodle shop on his old feet.
Before I got close, I heard a girl's cheerful voice coming from inside.
"Brother, please stop saying that I'm fat. Girls nowadays don't like to be fat. Besides, I'm not fat at all. I've been exercising to lose weight recently-----"
"Brother, where have you been all these years? We couldn't contact you. I know you must have gone to do something very important. I asked grandpa, and he said the same thing.
"Brother, are you in a relationship? I thought you would bring me a sister-in-law the next time we met. Brother, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"
-----
Fang Yan could tell that it was the voice of the young girl Bai Jie.
She must be very happy that her long-lost relatives suddenly appeared in front of her? The words in her heart that she had hidden for years must have flowed out like water from a floodgate.
After all these years of longing, doubts and grievances, I finally found someone I can talk to without any worries.
However, such a life is very short after all.
"Brother, you won't leave again after you come back, right?" Bai Jie asked suddenly.
Fang Yan thought about it, and at this time he walked into the noodle shop.
There were no customers in the noodle shop, only a man in a woolen suit and a girl in a white sweater sitting opposite each other at a table.
Because the noodle shop was well heated, the girl did not wear a coat. Her tight sweater wrapped her slender figure, with the healthy vigor that only young girls can have.
The girl was staring at her brother's face, wanting to know an answer.
When she heard the glass door open, she looked up and immediately jumped up in surprise. She ran over and grabbed Fang Yan's arm and shouted, "Brother Fang Yan, why are you here?"
"Why can't I come?" Fang Yan asked with a smile, looking at the girl's blushing face.
"Of course you can come. It would be better if you come every day. I just find it strange that it's snowing so heavily outside-----" Bai Jie's eyes were filled with smiles, and it can be seen that she liked Fang Yan from the bottom of her heart.
"I will come to see you often." Fang Yan said with a smile.
Fang Yan's gaze passed Bai Jie and met the eyes of the man sitting at the table.
The man stood up, rubbed his hands, looked at Fang Yan and said, "What would you like to eat?"
"Have a bowl of sour noodle soup," Fang Yan said.
"But my grandfather is not at home." The girl said awkwardly: "How about I make it for you?"
"It is my blessing to be able to eat Miss Bai's noodles."
"My cooking is not as good as grandpa's, please don't laugh at me." The girl blushed and said embarrassedly. She walked quickly to the kitchen and said, "Brother, I will make you a bowl of noodles too."
"Thank you." The man smiled gently, and his eyes were full of doting and pity when he looked at Bai Jie.
After Bai Jie left, the man looked at Fang Yan, made an inviting gesture, and said, "Sit down."
Fang Yan sat down, and the man sat down opposite Fang Yan, just like Bai Jie and him sat just now.
"If I had known that your family ran a noodle shop and that your noodles were so delicious, our relationship would not have become like this." Fang Yan said.
"If I had known earlier, I would have stayed at home to help grandpa run this noodle shop." The man whispered.
Fang Yan looked at the man in surprise and said, "That's fine. Open a noodle shop by yourself. When a customer comes, you can get up and make him a bowl of noodles. When there are no customers, you can make yourself a plate of peanuts to drink with wine. It's freezing outside, but the house is warm as summer. This kind of life is indeed comfortable and easy."
"It's a pity that people can't go back on their ways." The man said with great regret. "Once you miss it, it's gone. No matter how high your kung fu skills are or how deep your cultivation is, you can't make up for it."
Fang Yan nodded and said, "I never thought you would want to see me at this time."
"It's hard to believe even I can think of it, because I realize that the only person I can trust in this world is you------"
"I believe it." Fang Yan said. "You have experienced too much killing and betrayal, and you keep betraying others. It is really not easy to find someone you can trust around you."
"I have two people to choose from, one is the eldest daughter of the Qin family, and the other is you. The eldest daughter of the Qin family is my trading partner, and the one I should ask for compensation from. However, compared to her, I am more willing to trust you - she is a businessman. The world of businessmen is too shrewd, and I don't have much confidence in them."
"Why?"
"You are different from them." The man looked at Fang Yan seriously and said, "You are a true Yanziwu person. Yanziwu has stood for thousands of years, so there must be a reason for its existence. If you think about it carefully, it is the same reason. Apart from me, an outsider who has always found it difficult to integrate, who else has done anything to owe Yanziwu? The friends around you are all your true friends. They were in the past and they will be in the future. I can see this, and I envy you very much."
"Sometimes I often think, if I had a friend by my side, a friend with whom I could drink and talk, perhaps my life would be very different from what it is now-----"
The man didn't continue, and Fang Yan didn't continue either.
At that time, Fang Yan had many friends, but at that time he was alone.
Eat alone, read alone, take a walk alone, do everything alone.
However, his friends, led by Fang Yan, subconsciously rejected him, always feeling that he was not from Yanziwu and was not in the same group as them.
However, no one had ever thought that what was originally just a group of children playing around would eventually lead to such a terrible outcome.
After a long pause, Fang Yan asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to take care of my family." The man said, "Especially my sister Bai Jie. She is too young and too beautiful. Beautiful girls always cause all kinds of trouble. Originally, I should have done this myself. As her brother, it is my nature to do such things. Unfortunately, I don't have the chance anymore."
Fang Yan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why choose me?"
"Because I believe in you," the man said, "and you have been doing that all along."
"Did you see everything?" Fang Yan asked.
"One time, the person I assigned here told me, and the other time, I saw it with my own eyes-------"
"Aren't you afraid that I was deliberately putting on a show to lure you out?"
"If it was someone else, I would naturally think so." The man had a confident expression on his face. "But if that person is you, I won't have such doubts - you are not pretending, you really care about her and take care of her. I saw your expression when you were angry for her, and I saw the way you looked at her. You treated her as your own sister - maybe it's because you think she is really pitiful."
"So-------" The man's voice became hoarse, as if mixed with an unclear nasal sound. "I beg you---"
"Brother, what are you two talking about?" Bai Jie brought out two bowls of sour noodle soup on a tray. "Eat it quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold."
The man quickly stood up and took the tray from Bai Jie, saying in a reproachful tone, "Don't you know how to serve them one bowl at a time? What if they get burned?"
"Brother, I often help grandpa with work, how could I get burned? You are so stupid." Bai Jie said with a roll of her eyes.
The man placed a bowl of noodles in front of Fang Yan, and then placed another bowl of noodles in front of himself.
He added a large amount of chili oil to the noodles and poured almost half the bottle of chili oil into his bowl.
Then he buried his head and started eating with a slurp.
His forehead was covered with sweat and his face was red from the spiciness.
His eyes were moist, and then big tears dripped into the bowl of sour noodle soup. (To be continued)