Loving Strangers

[I am very happy tonight, thank you for the song. 】

——Little Orange.

【Me too, go to bed early, good night. 】

Today ended early, as if I bought a singing gift package, I sang from seven o'clock to ten o'clock, and my throat was a little sore.

Carrying a guitar bag, she slowly went up one step at a time.

until--

Ear-shattering screams, unbearable curses, and some pointing conversations.

Baizhi's heart suddenly panicked.

She grabbed the straps on her shoulders, stepped up a few steps, and rushed to the fifth floor.

The door that belonged to her house was surrounded by many people.

Familiar scenes, from childhood to now, are so common.

"You want to run away before you pay off the money you owe?"

"Who said I wanted to run away? Joke..."

"My daughter is back! Tell her what you have to do!" The familiar middle-aged female voice focused everyone's attention on Baizhi. The middle-aged woman seemed to be grabbing some life-saving straw, trying to squeeze out the crowd around her. crowd.

That person is Baizhi's mother.

Baizhi looked indifferent, like a bystander, who came to watch this farce that would not end easily.

"Oh, He Baizhi, it's just in time for you to come back."

Seeing this, the group of people who had surrounded Baizhi's mother immediately stepped forward and surrounded her, speaking with the attitude of acquaintances.

"What about the money your mother owes us?"

"Yes, yes, there are quite a few this time..."

"Baizhi's mother is really a sinner."

"Who said it wasn't."

There was a rush of tongues, and everyone's saliva almost drowned Baizhi.

Baizhi didn't answer the crowd, but stared straight at her mother's guilty eyes. The mother and daughter looked at each other. She swallowed a breath and said calmly, "How much do you owe this time?"

The surroundings seem to be quiet.

"...No... not much." Baizhi's mother cast her eyes randomly, and couldn't help avoiding the gaze from her daughter.

"It's not much, just 10,000+."

"Heh..." With a very light cold snort, Bai Zhi seemed to let go of all his strength at the moment, "I have no money."

"Then how can it be done? It's only natural for a father to pay his debts. What's more, she is your mother, so of course you have to pay it back."

"That's right. Anyway, you are paying off the previous debts. We can accommodate how long it will take this time."

"exactly."

"Just like before, just sign an IOU, draw a mortgage or something..."

There are not many people who come to collect debts, just a few, and everyone who does not agree with those who speak, just for their own debts.

Enough is enough.

Go fuck it's just and right, go fuck the father's debt and pay the son.

"boom--"

The guitar snapped in two.

How much effort is needed to smash the guitar with its protective bag in half.

It was completely quiet at last.

Baizhi broke through the human wall surrounded by the crowd, rushed into the house, rummaged through the boxes, and took out a file bag.She threw it into the crowd, and said calmly: "My house's real estate certificate, if there is more, let her continue to gamble. If it is not enough, it has nothing to do with me."

Everyone was dumbfounded.

It was Baizhi's mother's swearing that brought everyone back to their senses.

"He Baizhi, you bastard, my mother has raised you so big for nothing, and my mother is your mother! You broke your legs and cut off your hands, and your blood is still connected! You dare to use the real estate certificate to pay off the debt, I don't want to kill you!..."

The mother whose legs are broken and hands are connected with blood——

Ah.

The vulgar scolding sound entered Baizhi's ears and mind sentence by sentence, which was profound and unforgettable.

It seems to be used to it.The mother who was addicted to gambling did not change after repeated admonitions. She went too far one after another. She was really tired.

Too tired, too tired.

Baizhi's eyes were so red, she tried to hold back her breath to keep the tears from falling, everything from last night until now was like a joke, she was laughing and she still expected this person to change.

Still wishing and looking forward to tomorrow—

Whether today is good or bad, tomorrow will still come.The remaining problems are still there.

This kind of life, this kind of life, where is there any tomorrow.Bai Zhi wiped his eyes fiercely with the back of his hand, calmly and indifferently: "From now on, you can do whatever you like, don't come to me again."

She turned around and wanted to leave, but her mother strode forward——

"You son of a bitch!"

"Snapped--"

The scolding came together with the slap, Baizhi seemed to automatically block the pain and let her mother beat and scold.

And the people around, because of Baizhi's mother's fierceness and the reason of not daring to intervene in other people's housework, choose to stand by and watch.

It's not uncommon to see such farces, and every time the fight is over, people still have to live, right?

"Hurry up and get back the real estate certificate for me."

"Have you heard! Even if you go to work part-time or even be a chicken, where will I live without the real estate certificate? Who will give you the money to pay off the debt! Can't you go to work if you have hands and feet!"

"He Baizhi, you are too much, I want to sever the mother-daughter relationship with you!"

The mother cursed and cursed, then knelt down and hugged Baizhi and cried loudly: "My daughter, you can't ignore mom like this, mom promises you, this is the last time..."

Sometimes, the blood relationship is really a constant shackle in this life, and it seems difficult to break it.

Baizhi didn't understand how she played the role of mother, and what proportion of her life it was.Why did her family break up after she became addicted to gambling?

What exactly is home?

Is it the home that she keeps changing addresses after she became sensible, or is it the home that says "debts and repayments, it's only right" on the door of the house?

……

……

——“My God!”

Baizhi pushed her mother away and went straight to the sixth floor.

Dilapidated residential buildings with no security measures at all.The half-person-high wall is used as a window at the stairway.

Turning it out is a breeze——

"Call the police!!" "Call an ambulance..." "Don't let her run away." "Go down and see if she's dead..."

In the stairwell in front of the house, there are guitars and guitar bags that are rotten in half, and the half-folded A4 paper inside is constantly stepped on.A gust of wind blew the paper away.

It was 24-year-old Momoe, drawing a sketch of tying a ponytail.

☆, end

Xiaoju opened the door of the house, saw two figures sitting on the sofa, and was stunned for a few seconds.

Still choose to ignore and want to go back to the room.

"Little Orange."

It's been a long time since she heard such a peaceful and calm address for her mother.

Xiaoju stopped, ready to accept her mother's lecture.

And the next second—

"Your father and I are getting a divorce."

"Xiaoju, your mother and I are sorry for you."

"We have signed a divorce agreement, and when things are settled, Mom will take you to emigrate."

Xiaoju returned to the room in a daze, not knowing how to express her current mood.

Is this a relief?

Does that count?

She suddenly thought of something, found out her mobile phone and made a call, but no one answered.

She only called twice, but no one answered.

In the end, I settled for the next best thing and sent a message.

——【Baizhi, I'm leaving. 】

[My father and my mother are getting divorced. I'm sorry to let you know about these bad things. My mother asked me to immigrate with her, but I don't want to leave. 】

[Baizhi, I don't want to leave. 】

Can you, give me the courage to stay?

[Baizhi, are you asleep? 】

Those things that were once unspeakable disappeared in the middle of the night.

It's like a dream, but it's really just a dream.

A few years later.

Xiaoju returned to China and held an art exhibition, an art exhibition called "He Baizhi".

"Miss Jiang Ju, is the woman in the painting called He Baizhi?" The folk short video wanted to interview Xiao Ju, and she accepted.

Unexpectedly, the first question was this, she nodded and answered yes.

"Is she a good friend of yours?"

"No."

The reporter was obviously dumbfounded, "Then..."

"She's my muse."

Taozi browsed the videos, all of them looked like Baizhi, with a sleeping face. In the bar where she used to work, the spotlight was only on her appearance.

There is another one, the important part is covered by a white cloth, and Baizhi is sitting sideways on the sofa, without any expression.Behind her is an oil painting that is also covered by a white gauze, and her face is invisible, embracing Baizhi from behind.

Taozi burst into tears.

Today is the third year since Baizhi passed away.

Blue sky and white clouds.

Holding a bouquet of flowers, Xiaoju reported the address to the taxi.

Put on your headphones and listen to music.

It’s been a long time since she’s heard “Love With a Stranger,” another song she’s playing on loop on her single.

This song was the last one she sang on Baizhi's birthday, and she said it was a song for Xiaoju.

The phone screen lit up without warning, and "WonderfulU-AGA" was sliding.

/Ineverknew

i never noticed

/When the clock stopped and I'm looking at you

When I stare at you so engrossed, it's as if time has stopped passing

/Ineverthought I'll miss someone like you

i never knew i would miss you so much

/SomeoneIthoughtthatIknew

miss you who i thought i knew

——End of full text——

The author has something to say:

The short story is over.

If you click it, thank you for your face, if you don't like it, thank fate for letting you see this.