No.70 days

Shao Wu leaned on Yang Shuyi's shoulder and gradually fell asleep.He didn't know how long the off-road vehicle had been driving, but he half-opened his eyes during a violent bump, and heard Ding Li's voice in a trance: "You buddy is strong enough, I came all the way to find you."

Before Yang Shuyi could answer, he fell asleep again.

When he woke up again, he and Yang Shuyi were left in the car.

The window of the driver's seat was half opened, and the sound of rushing water came in. Shao Wu looked out and found that their car was parked on the embankment of a small river.On both sides of the bank are gradually rising terraced fields, and then a green hillside, with several bungalows gathered at the foot of the hill.

Apparently they had reached the village where the survey team was stationed, but Ding Li was nowhere to be seen.

No, where Ding Li went is not the point, the point is that at this moment, in the almost airtight compartment, only he and Yang Shuyi are left.

Shao Wu glanced at Yang Shuyi's shoulder, worried that he would drool after falling asleep.

However, he was wearing a dark brown sweater, and it was impossible to see whether there was any water stain on it.

Shao Wu asked without words: "What time is it?"

Yang Shuyi said, "I don't have a mobile phone."

Shao Wu had no choice but to take his mobile phone and put it in his pocket before realizing that he was still wearing Yang Shuyi's jacket.

"..."

Shao Wu unzipped the zipper and took out the phone.

"It's 45:[-]." Shao Wu said.

"Are you hungry? Take you to eat."

"Not hungry... eat more in the morning."

Actually a little hungry.

But Shao Wu felt that Yang Shuyi wanted to say something to him, so he didn't wake him up after parking the car.

Sure enough, Yang Shuyi asked in the next second, "Have you seen your mother-in-law?"

Shao Wu nodded.

He waited for Yang Shuyi to continue, but Yang Shuyi remained silent, turned his head and looked out the window through the glass covered with mud spots.After a while, he asked Shao Wu, "Do you have any cigarettes?"

Shao Wu said, "Yes."

Is this God's will?In fact, he no longer carries cigarettes with him, but he bought a pack of Yellow Crane Tower while waiting for the bus at Chengdu East Station, thinking that smoking would refresh him.

As a result, the cigarette case was not opened.

Shao Wu took out the cigarette from his backpack and handed it to Yang Shuyi.

Yang Shuyi rolled down the window of the back seat a little, lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth.He didn't seem to really want to smoke, but just held it in his mouth.The familiar smell poured into his nostrils, Shao Wu took a deep breath, and suddenly felt that maybe his plan to quit smoking was about to fail.

Yang Shuyi said: "You know, she's sick."

Alzheimer's disease.

But Shao Wu couldn't say these four words.

He whispered: "Alzheimer?" Although the name was a bit of a mouthful.

"Yes," Yang Shuyi said calmly while holding a cigarette, "In March last year, one morning, I suddenly received a call from her—the only function she would use on her phone was to call me—she Said, she was lost. I was shocked at the time, I thought she had gone to a far away place... I asked her, do you know where she is? She said it was in Yongchuan. I asked her if there were any buildings around her And Malu? She said yes. At that time, I thought, she might have walked to the development zone? Because she had never been there."

Yang Shuyi's lips trembled slightly.

"We were very lucky that day. It was Saturday, and the students didn't have classes. A junior high school student passed by her. Hearing what she said to me, the girl asked her if she needed help. I told her to give the girl her mobile phone. I asked her, where are you? The girl said, at the Yonglin Farmer’s Market.”

Yonglin Farmer's Market.Shao Wu knew that this place was at most 500 meters away from the house that Yang Shuyi rented to his mother-in-law.

"I went home that afternoon, took her to Chengdu, and took her to Huaxi Hospital for treatment the next day. She was diagnosed soon, Alzheimer... The doctor said that if the situation is optimistic, there are still eight or nine years left. I asked him if he was not optimistic? He said that if he is not optimistic, it will be the past two or three years, and he must be prepared at any time. He also comforted me by saying that old people will get sick when they get older, and Alzheimer’s disease is not Rare, don't stress too much."

Yang Shuyi took two deep puffs of cigarettes, closed his eyes, and continued: "I understand what he means, everyone must die... But I don't understand why my mother-in-law got this disease, you know, she is a very capable person. As a result, all of a sudden, she started to forget things, forgot how old I am, where I work... I asked her to stay with me in Chengdu, but she was unwilling, she said she would go back to Yongchuan to cook for Shuyi , Shuyi is about to take the college entrance examination. I asked her who am I? She couldn't tell," Yang Shuyi's eyes finally turned red, but his voice was still calm, "I had to send her back to Yongchuan and talk to my aunt. She lives with my mother-in-law. Sometimes she is very sober, and she will call me and ask how I am getting along with Zou Xin and when we will get married. I don’t know if she is aware of her illness? She starts talking to me over and over again. She said that she was most worried about me. She was afraid that no one would miss me or take care of me after she left. She urged me to marry Zou Xin as soon as possible. Then, in May, I found out that Zou Xin and Teacher Zhang were married. thing."

Shao Wu grabbed Yang Shuyi's hand hard, his hand was very cold.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shao Wu asked him.

"Because I really wanted to marry Zou Xin before that," Yang Shuyi smiled bitterly, "And what should I tell you? Because this is my mother-in-law's last wish, so even if it's just acting, I have to do enough, I want my mother-in-law to watch me marry Zou Xin...and then? Do I want to tell you that it's all fake, it's all for my mother-in-law so I want to marry her, don't blame me, Shao Wu, wait for me—— Am I going to tell you these things?"

Shao Wu stared at him blankly.

He thought of that night.That night, Yang Shuyi was very drunk, and his eyes were like frozen river water with glints of despair. Under his persecution, Yang Shuyi uttered a word: "Love."

At that time, and later, he always thought that only one word "love" belonged to him.

But at this moment, he suddenly realized that the despair before "love" also belonged to him.

Yang Shuyi blinked, his eyes were red, but he didn't shed tears, "I can't be that shameless, so I didn't tell you... I don't want to lie to my mother-in-law, I don't want to say it, because she is old and confused, so it is more convenient I lied to her. I don't want to."

Shao Wu said, "I understand."

he understands.There are always things in this world that are more important than personal pain and happiness.Can Yang Shuyi lie to her mother-in-law?Of course.The mother-in-law is uneducated, has never seen the world that their young people saw, and now she has Alzheimer-it is too easy to deceive such an old man.Shao Wu can help Yang Shuyi make up a few reasons for not getting married. For example, Zou Xin has to wait for her for a few years after studying abroad. For example, the unit advocates diligence and thrift and prohibits weddings. For example, getting married now will affect future career development... maybe Every reason can convince the mother-in-law.

But even if she believed it, she still missed it and couldn't let it go.In her increasingly blurred and fading memory, she always remembered that her grandson was alone, and after she left, no one would love him anymore.

So how could Yang Shuyi have the heart to lie to her?Maybe this is a joke made by fate. The easier the mother-in-law is to deceive, the less he can be deceived.Even if he was scolded as an "ant" by Zou Xin, he had to bite the bullet and act in the "marriage" scene. He had to last the entire scene by himself, with no way out.

Yang Shuyi stomped out the cigarette butt and said in a low voice, "I thought you would never come to see me."

He hangs his head, his skin is tanned, and his feet are sprained, like a little monkey in a group of monkeys who can't grab an apple, a little helpless and aggrieved.

Fate refused to throw him an apple.

However, Shao Wu thought, if you need it, of course I am your apple.

This time it was Shao Wu's turn to raise his hand and put his head on his shoulder.Yang Shuyi gently wrapped his arms around Shao Wu's waist, and the two embraced motionlessly, the sound of the river flowing outside the car window was very light.

"Aren't I here?" Shao Wu said.Although he still doesn't know what to do with them in the future.

Yang Shuyi leaned on his shoulder and let out a "hmm".