Xiaoman

Xia Liang frowned when she saw Aunt Mei reach out her hand, she grabbed Liu Xiaoman's sleeve, Xia Liang directly held her wrist, stared at her and said, "Don't pull him."

Aunt Mei tugged at her empty sleeve and was stunned for a moment. She looked at Xia Liang, then quickly at Liu Xiaoman, with a dazed expression on her face.

Only then did Xia Liang let go of his hand, and pulled Liu Xiaoman's sleeve out of Aunt Mei's hand, his expression softened a bit: "It's inconvenient for him."

"Ah." Aunt Mei grinned awkwardly, "I forgot."

Liu Xiaoman didn't speak, and picked up his crooked neckline with drooping eyelids.

Aunt Mei was much more tidy than when she first appeared in the morning. She changed into clean clothes, washed her face and combed her hair, but the unspeakable feeling in her bones still couldn't be erased.Cancan was still crying into the sky with his mouth open, surrounded by old neighbors who had lived nearby for many years, he could hear someone whispering.

"Isn't this the grandson of the old Liu family? Liu Yong is back?"

"Who is the little one?"

"After so many years, I must find another one."

……

Liu Yong is Liu Xiaoman's father.

If there was anything Liu Xiaoman wanted to avoid more than being stared at his arm, it would be being stared at his arm and talked about.

No matter what the content of the discussion is.

"You go back first." He whispered to Aunt Mei, and glanced at Cancan next to him.

"I..." Aunt Mei swept around, and was annoyed by Cancan's non-stop crying, so she pushed him with her knee, "Don't cry!"

Cancan's crying stopped abruptly, she rolled her eyelids up to look at her mother, and rubbed her nose.

"Go down the intersection, and you will be there when you see Uncle Song's supermarket." Liu Xiaoman said.

"Aren't you going home now?" Aunt Mei was still asking.

Liu Xiaoman didn't want to talk anymore, he didn't want to say a word, he pursed his mouth forcefully, and shook his head to answer her: "I'll go back later."

Xia Liang walked behind Liu Xiaoman, not too far away, just like the distance Liu Xiaoman used to be behind him.

After Aunt Mei took Cancan and turned her head three times and left, Liu Xiaoman quickly turned around and walked towards the alley. Xia Liang knew that he didn't want to talk, so he didn't ask him what happened right away, but he could probably guess the reason in his heart.

Stupid dad, and get a small one back.

Passing by the door of grandpa's house, Xia Liang took a look, and continued to follow Liu Xiaoman without stopping.

Turning up and into the alley, Liu Xiaoman's footsteps began to slow down.When he got to the middle of the alley, the sounds from front and back were far away, and he stopped as if his shoulders had collapsed, as if he had lost all strength.

Xia Liang sighed inwardly, took two steps forward, and wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"Finally found a place to cry?" He hugged Liu Xiaoman with one arm, gently covered his eyes with the other hand, and lowered his voice, "Cry. I'll continue."

Liu Xiaoman's eyes suddenly became steamy.

Xia Liang could feel it in his palm.

But soon, he blinked hard twice, forcing all the tears back.

"No need." He pulled Xia Liang's hand down and squeezed it, "You can charge me again."

Xia Liang laughed, turned Liu Xiaoman around, and pressed the back of his head into his arms: "Your name has fullness in it, so it must be full."

Liu Xiaoman didn't know if he was full or not. If he could, he would just lean against Xia Liang's shoulder socket without opening his eyes, without raising his head, and become an ostrich. He didn't care about anything, and he didn't have to go home. Everything would be very easy. .

But no.

Not only is it impossible not to face it, but it is also impossible to always show your frustrating and vulnerable side in front of Xia Liang.

No one likes to look at another person who is always in negative energy, who has a lot of troubles, and he doesn't want to be anyone's trouble.

"They said they want to celebrate the New Year at your house?" Xia Liang asked him after listening to Liu Xiaoman's whole story.

"Yeah." Liu Xiaoman walked slowly against the wall, "Grandpa said so."

"What about after the Chinese New Year?" Xia Liang asked again.

"I don't know." Liu Xiaoman sighed, "I've gone out to buy groceries..."

On the first day at home, he went out to buy vegetables like a master, and he was so naturally pulling him to "go home".

"Your dad is still cooking and waiting for you at home." Liu Xiaoman felt suffocated when he thought about this sentence.

This incomparably natural intrusion, combined with their unrestrained appearance when they entered the door, did not look like they would leave after a new year.

Xia Liang understood what he meant, thinking about three more people being squeezed into that small house, he felt a headache for Liu Xiaoman: "Then what should you do?"

"Where to sleep?" he added.

"Sleep with grandpa." Liu Xiaoman said.

After all, I brought a child with me. Listening to his father talking in the morning, the child still has a fever. Even if the adults can spread the quilt to sleep on the sofa, the child cannot.

Even if she doesn't have children, she still has Aunt Mei. She is a woman, so she must have her own space, otherwise it would be difficult for a roomful of old men to change clothes.

It was impossible not to give them a bed.

Thinking of this, he was suddenly worried about the things in his room.

Xia Liang's cell phone, his book, and the big octopus by the bed.

Now, even procrastinating outside can no longer procrastinate, Liu Xiaoman stopped to look at Xia Liang, and said, "Don't send it off, you should go home first."

According to Xia Liang's ideas, he would have wanted Liu Xiaoman to live with him for a few days, and let this cheap little brother stay at home.

After all, it's not as good as going to school as usual now. When I open my eyes and go to school in the morning, I can't see or worry all day.Even if we go back at night, we can't get along for a few hours, and we just turn off the lights and close our eyes, and we can just make do with falling asleep.

The key is that it's a holiday, or Chinese New Year, Liu Xiaoman is not a person who goes out for nothing, so he can only be bored at home and be forced to face it.

And there is no way to tell.

No matter how the relationship is, family affairs are still family affairs, which is the other world in the bottom of my heart.From the very beginning when Liu Xiaoman didn't want to tell him these things, he could understand that from the bottom of his heart, Liu Xiaoman didn't want him to feel that his family was troublesome.

too sensitive.

Xia Liang was very upset and felt a little distressed.

"Liu Xiaoman," he took another step forward, standing still in front of Liu Xiaoman, "Can you remember my phone number?"

Liu Xiaoman's mind went blank, and he shook his head honestly.

"Go back and memorize." Xia Liang poked his forehead, "Memorize it well, engrave it in your mind, no matter what happens, the first person you think of is me, and the first person you contact is my mobile phone number."

"I will definitely be here." He said to Liu Xiaoman.

"No matter where you are or what you are doing, if you want to find me, you can find me right away. Don't think about anything, I will definitely go to pick you up." After a pause, he raised his eyebrows, "Don't look for your brother Yangyang, he It's just rubbish."

Liu Xiaoman was already moved when he heard the previous words, but when he reached the last sentence, he laughed unpreparedly.

"Why do you still belittle others?" He really didn't want to be separated from Xia Liang more and more.

Xia Liang is really kind.

Xia Liang raised one hand, held his head and shook it: "This is called tactical boasting."

Before returning home and opening the door, Liu Xiaoman closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Through the door, he could already hear Cancan shouting "hungry" at the top of his voice.

As soon as the key was inserted into the lock and turned, the door opened directly from the inside.Aunt Mei wore an apron around her waist and slippers on her feet. They were all newly bought, but she had the same attitude as the hostess who was already here. She smiled as soon as she came up and said enthusiastically, "You're back?"

"Yeah." Liu Xiaoman nodded, but he was inexplicably restrained, smiled reluctantly, and pulled out the key.

"Man, come and eat." Grandpa called him at the dining table.

Liu Xiaoman agreed, and looked around the house while changing his shoes.The whole room was full of smoke and fire, and the food was already on the table. Grandpa and his father were sitting on the table, and Cancan was also there, climbing up and down with a stool in his arms, fiddling with his hands...

He took a hard look.

His big octopus.

Aunt Mei followed his gaze, wiped her hands on the apron immediately, and pointed at Cancan: "Brother is back, put it back for brother!"

He quickly explained to Liu Xiaoman: "Let Cancan sleep on your bed in the morning, and he insisted on playing when he saw it... I didn't let him move anything else! You didn't bring your phone, it's under the pillow, I'm afraid He fumbled around and put it in the bedside table for you."

Liu Xiaoman was feeling uncomfortable from the inside out, when he heard the "phone" suddenly mentioned in his heart, he went to see his grandpa, but grandpa didn't respond, as if he didn't hear it, he picked up a piece of vegetable.

On the contrary, Cancan turned to look at Liu Xiaoman's face, a typical probing look, seeing that Liu Xiaoman hadn't spoken, he hugged the big octopus into his arms: "I don't!"

"You kid!" Aunt Mei stepped up and snatched the big octopus with her hands. "I told you to put it back when brother comes back! You're disobedient!"

Cancan curled his mouth, raised his neck and began to cry again.

Liu Xiaoman jumped twice in his head, feeling really bored.

The other party is a child, so young, he can't argue with him.Even if he is not a child, but a person of about the same age, his character may not be able to really pull his face down.

This is his precious big octopus, but in the eyes of others, it is just a doll made of cloth, an insignificant thing for children to play with.Now that the child is still crying, he can't even express the slightest unhappiness in his heart, because he doesn't want to appear to be angry with the child and is uneducated.

Grandpa is still here.

Liu Xiaoman opened his mouth to suppress the depression in his heart, just about to say that it's okay, let him play for a while.His father, who had been silent all this time, was probably annoyed by crying. He frowned and gave a "tsk", and said to Aunt Mei, "What's wrong with giving him a doll to play with? Crying, crying, crying so annoyingly. "

As soon as he opened his mouth, Liu Xiaoman felt his brain "buzz", and he couldn't say anything.

Aunt Mei stood there holding the big octopus, feeling a little lost, and looked at Liu Xiaoman again.

Grandpa slapped the chopsticks on the table with a "snap".

"Put it back for Xiaoman." He didn't look back at Aunt Mei, his voice was very deep, with a breath like a long cough.

Like a switch, Cancan immediately shut up and stopped crying, picking her own face.

"Ah, let it go." Aunt Mei immediately said, "Just let it go."

For a long time, Liu Xiaoman didn't know how he got here.

The dining table for five people made him very uncomfortable. The chopsticks met another pair of chopsticks in the same dish, making him uncomfortable, so he could only move away quickly; it was always his job to tidy up the dishes after meals, but now Aunt Mei snatched them away I just did it, let him leave it alone, and go to study; locked the door of the room and spread out the homework, just felt a breath, did not finish two pages, the door was pushed open, Aunt Mei hugged Cancan who was asleep in embarrassment, Ask him in a low voice if he can let Cancan sleep on the bed for a while.

Liu Xiaoman collected his things and moved to his grandfather's room.

Grandpa was also taking a nap. He sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for a while, then went to the living room to move a stool back.

When the stool was moved, his father was still sitting in the living room, and he couldn't say he was sitting. He was half sitting and half leaning on the sofa, smoking a cigarette and playing with his mobile phone.I don't know what I'm watching, there are a series of laughter, and a series of laughter, it is very short, and the protagonists are not the same, and the plot is not coherent.

Seeing Liu Xiaoman coming out, he subconsciously wanted to sit down.His legs were put down, and he probably felt that he was still an elder after all, and he didn't need to be so polite when facing his son who hadn't seen a stranger for more than ten years, so he didn't move any more, maintaining this awkward posture on the sofa.

The cigarette ash fell on the sofa, he wiped it casually, looked at Liu Xiaoman and opened his mouth to say hello: "Are you full for lunch?"

This question was asked in a nondescript manner, and it was extremely boring.

Liu Xiaoman could understand him, after all he had nothing to say.

"Yeah." He could only nod awkwardly, and didn't want to meet his father, dragging the stool back.

Originally, he wanted to go to the bathroom by the way, seeing Cancan sleeping alone in his room, and there was no sign of Aunt Mei in the living room, so he didn't have the nerve to knock on the door.

Grandpa never mentioned about his cell phone, Liu Xiaoman didn't know if he knew about it a long time ago, or if he was saving face at home.He didn't dare to look at it, and secretly recited Xia Liang's cell phone number, and put it in the cabinet with his clothes after he recited it.

What I also didn’t mention to him was his father’s family of three, why did he come back, how long did he stay, what to do if he still left after that, and what to do if he didn’t leave... There are many questions that Grandpa didn’t mention, and he couldn’t open them in his heart—— There are two rooms and one living room, and the next door can be stunned if you say anything casually.

But no matter how long he stayed, Liu Xiaoman had a very miserable life on the first night.

Grandpa is getting old, and his breathing and lungs are not good. No mention of snoring at night, the key is coughing, and there are not enough quilts at home.

Usually it’s just him and his grandfather. In summer, it’s not a problem to cover them with quilts and quilts;

Now a family of three came here. Grandpa dug the bottom of the box for a long time before dragging out a thick quilt. I don’t know how many years. It smells like dust, and there are insect eyes inside and out.

Cancan thinks it smells bad and doesn't cover it.Aunt Mei dusted and dusted, but she didn't express anything, she just smiled and said that she would go to the mall to buy a bed tomorrow, and put clothes in the middle tonight to make do with it.

"I won't cover it!" Cancan burrowed into Liu Xiaoman's bed and couldn't get out.

He had a fever at first, and Liu Xiaoman couldn't take away the thick quilt, so he had to take the top quilt, take it to his grandfather's bedroom and pick up his grandpa's quilt for the night.

At first, Liu Xiaoman tucked her left and right, trying to cover up the quilt a little bit.Later, I found that as long as he moved, grandpa would get out of bed and go out to cough.

He didn't dare to move anymore, he didn't dare to move his arms and legs, and he didn't dare to let grandpa get out of bed to drink the wind again.

Just like this, grandpa's snoring and coughing, the air-leaky quilt, the non-stop waking up next door, the toilet pumping, Cancan's crying to go home, etc. After a night of continuous movements, I opened my eyes the next day , Liu Xiaoman felt a stuffy nose and a buzzing pain in his head.

It's still dark outside, and grandpa has already woken up, so he's going to prepare breakfast.

He was wrapped around the quilt in a daze on the bed, unable to figure out how everything turned out like this for a long time.

When my grandpa and I were busy carrying pots and pans downstairs to set up a stall, his dad was still sleeping in the house without stretching his head.

Aunt Mei followed suit, tidying herself up very quickly, and went downstairs to learn to work without saying a word.

Liu Xiaoman's job was taken away again, and Aunt Mei told him to go back to catch up on sleep. Liu Xiaoman looked at his grandfather, who didn't show courtesy to Aunt Mei, and waved his hand to let Liu Xiaoman go up.

Liu Xiaoman was worried, so he stood by and watched for a while, making sure that Aunt Mei really wanted to help and could help, so she turned her head and went upstairs.

Standing in the living room and sneezing twice, he went to pour himself a cup of hot water, wondering whether to do his homework directly or go back to sleep.

In the end, he was defeated by the swollen brain, and he shook off the bed again and got in.

This is the first time he has slept in the cage for so many years.

Curled up under the blanket and kicking his legs, Liu Xiaoman sighed contentedly.

so comfortable.

It's a pity that I didn't sleep well this time, and I didn't feel comfortable for long.

I don't know if it was a dream or reality, but Cancan kept calling, and the TV was turned on, the sound was very loud and noisy, and there were two impatient bluffs from his father in between, asking Cancan to be quiet.

In the end he was awakened by a steady, long, rhythmic knock on the door.

Top-heavy got out of bed and opened the door, Cancan squatted at the door, and ran away covering his face when he saw him coming out.

Liu Xiaoman stood holding the doorknob for a while, then closed the door again.

Looking at the time, he only slept for four or ten minutes.

The door was knocked again, this time there were only two beeps, and after knocking on the door came the sound of Cancan's footsteps running away.

Liu Xiaoman closed his eyes, squatted on the ground exhausted, and buried his face in his knees.