side by side

Liang Jiqing glanced at the newspaper on the ground, his expression was blurred against the light behind him, he bent down to pick up the newspaper, folded it in three and held it in his palm, "Ah Xuan, it's dark and damp in the study, you Go out with me first."

Liang Jiqing's tone was calm, he couldn't tell whether it was anger or joy, Liang Jixuan's heart beat wildly, he stared at the Xing'an September [-] newspaper in his brother's hand, wanted to get it back but didn't dare to speak.

"Brother!" Seeing that Liang Jiqing didn't let go, Liang Jixuan became anxious, "Hey brother...then... why did the obituary in the newspaper take up so much space? The deceased, What kind of person is it? I just glanced at it and didn't see it clearly."

"Huh? Hmm... I don't know very well, but the page is big, so maybe it's an important person in Shijing," Liang Jiqing paused, and he answered vaguely.

"It's just a coincidence that I also encountered a murder case by drowning on the day I changed ships. I don't know if he has found his home now..."

"Ah Xuan!" Liang Jiqing turned his head abruptly, and he stopped him sharply.Liang Jixuan was taken aback and fell silent.It was only then that Liang Jiqing realized that he had lost his composure just now, he softened his voice, and gently pulled Liang Jixuan, "Ah Xuan... this is a matter of life and death, one should be in awe and avoid it, in case You shouldn't be too curious, you know?"

Liang Jixuan saw that his brother was really angry, and seeing Liang Jiqing stuff the folded newspaper into his cuff, he fell silent and dared not speak any more.

He followed Liang Jiqing into the main house, and the charcoal basin in the corner of the room was almost burned out, covered with a thick layer of dark white ash, and sporadically glowing with orange-red flames.Liang Jiqing got up to refill the charcoal, Liang Jixuan hurriedly followed to fight, but was held down by Liang Jiqing, "Sit down, I'll be right back."

Liang Jiqing went out, Liang Jixuan was sitting by the bed bored, he looked around the whole room.There was no fire source in the room, and it became much colder all of a sudden. On the ground where the charcoal basin was originally placed, there were black marks of sparks all around, leaving a clean and clean circular mark in the middle, which was quite eye-catching.Liang Jixuan stared at the round seal in a daze, he was still thinking about the newspaper just now.

Huachang and Xing'an, the two newspapers for nearly a month only lacked a copy of Huachang September [-]st, and now the Xing'an same day copy has also been taken away by his brother.He was thinking, his eyes moved to the side erratically.There was a pile of sundries piled up on the corner of the table by the window, and he could vaguely see that the corner was sticking out, beige and yellow, like an envelope.He squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully, and there were some black marks faintly mixed in the beige.

"Ah Xuan, what are you doing sitting in a daze?" Liang Jiqing came back, he was dressed thinly, and his hands were cold, he stood on the spot clasped his hands and breathed.

"Brother!" Liang Jixuan stood up abruptly, he stepped forward first, and dragged Liang Jiqing to sit down, "You sit and rest first, I will raise the fire!"

Liang Jiqing looked puzzled.

Holding the basin of charcoal, Liang Jixuan put him back in the original position. With Liang Jiqing on his back, he moved his position carefully, trying his best to naturally block the corner of the envelope protruding from the edge.

"Ah Xuan, I always think about things from my childhood recently." Behind him, Liang Jiqing chatted with him rather emotionally.

"Ah um..." Liang Jixuan had no time to take care of it at this time, he responded, hissing his eyes to read the words on the envelope.There is only half of the envelope left, and it will be stuck behind the desk.And...he faintly saw a word "he"; above it was a half-hidden vertical hook and half-na.

Liang Jixuan shook his hand, the hook fell to the ground, and hit the charcoal basin, splashing sparks all over the place, he took a big step to the side in shock, and slammed into the pile of sundries.The group of objects clanged, and most of them fell over, making a mess.

"Ji Xuan, are you okay!" Liang Jiqing rushed over, frowning, he dragged Liang Jixuan to check.It was only after making sure that he was fine that he breathed a sigh of relief. He stroked Liang Jixuan's hair, "Be careful next time."

Liang Jixuan squatted against the table, he kept silent, only nodded his head a few times, looking as if he was still in shock.Not daring to look at Liang Jiqing, he subconsciously touched his coat, and the half of the envelope that had just been stuck behind the desk was now well hidden in his pocket.

It was only half an envelope, and the letter inside had long since disappeared.Liang Jixuan was nestled on the bed in the side room, his heart was still pounding.With trembling hands, he took out the envelope hidden in the coat.The envelope was sealed in the recipient's name Liang Jiqing, and the sender's place in the corner, as he guessed, was indeed Yonghe Town.At the bottom of Yonghe Town, small characters were added to record the time of dispatch. The specific date is on the other side of the gap, and only the month, September, can be seen.

September...September...

He left for Peiping from Yonghe Town on September [-]rd. Before that, his mother told him that he hadn't contacted his brother.According to this inference, during September, my brother and his family had at least two rounds of correspondence, or at least one telegram.

its not right......

Liang Jixuan was stunned, this time he mentioned the matter of going home with Liang Jiqing at least twice, but his brother reacted very strongly every time.Brother was hiding something from him, and this fact was like a blow to the head, which made Liang Jixuan feel depressed uncontrollably, and something strange arose in his heart.

Could it be that something happened at home?

Liang Jixuan came back to his senses suddenly, he suddenly remembered that last night, he saw a person suspected to be Uncle Fu and a big black dog at the entrance of the alley.He didn't believe it in his heart, he thought it was an illusion in a panic situation... But looking at it now... Maybe something really happened.

Liang Jixuan felt a chill in his heart.

"Ah Xuan, are you okay?" There was a knock on the door, and it was Liang Jiqing who came, "Can I come in?"

"Brother, you come in!" Liang Jixuan hurriedly stuffed the envelope under the pillow, and sat up hastily.

"I made some brown sugar ginger water with you," Liang Jiqing smiled, "I just touched it, and it feels like your hands are freezing cold. If you're afraid you'll catch a cold, you'd better drink some hot water to warm your body."

"Brother," Liang Jixuan was sitting at the table, sipping the hot brown sugar water, hesitating on his face, "During the few years I've been away, how is the family doing?"

"Judging from the letters between my mother and me, everything is fine and there is no major change." Liang Jiqing was stunned for a moment, "What's the matter, asking me such a question all of a sudden?"

"No, no, no..." Liang Jixuan shook his head violently.Liang Jiqing didn't want to tell him, there must be his reasons, and he couldn't force him to ask, he might as well check it out in private.

Liang Jiqing was still smiling, his eyes jumped from Liang Jixuan to the bed behind him, and he was stunned for a moment.Liang Jixuan looked back, his heart trembled suddenly, and he secretly thought it was not good.Just after hiding it hastily, the half of the envelope will be exposed from under the pillow.

Liang Jixuan broke out in a cold sweat now, he put down the bowl with a 'bang' and muttered, not knowing what to say.Liang Jiqing looked away as usual, and knocked on the table with a smile, not seeing anything unusual, "Hurry up, drink it up while it's hot, don't be dazed."

It wasn't until Liang Jiqing put away the bowl, closed the door and went out that Liang Jixuan's stern heart was really let go, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

Liang Jixuan was lying on the bed with his clothes together, he stared at the half of the envelope in a daze.

Time to get in touch with home, he thought.

tbc.