gentle fairy tale

Autumn is a beautiful but short chapter, and in a blink of an eye, the winter solstice has arrived.

Yu Mian was wearing a scarf in front of the mirror, which Aunt Pei bought for her a few days ago.She likes it very much. There are white balls falling under the long tassels. The design is very cute.

Her hair has grown again. Autumn and winter are the seasons for growing hair. After one autumn, it can be tied up now.

Auntie Pei said that she looks good with short hair, but she still likes long hair. Sometimes when she leans against Pei Songxi, Yu Mian will tie her own hair with hers and tie a small slipknot, as if adding a kind of invisible connect.

so fast...

In the blink of an eye, half of junior high school is over.

Yu Mian sometimes thinks... During the summer vacation in elementary school, she heard the news that Aunt Pei was going to get engaged. At that time, she was dreaming every day. In the dream, the house number said "Pei Songxi and Mianmian's home", and suddenly it became "Pei Songxi's home".She was expelled, abandoned.

When she first entered junior high school, she almost thought that Aunt Pei would let her live on campus or rent a house, and she was nervous for a long time, but luckily she didn't.It has been so long now, and there is no news.Maybe... maybe she was just worrying for nothing.

Yu Mian looked at herself in the mirror in a daze, and suddenly said to herself: "You need to grow up a bit."

After she finished speaking, she smiled, and she didn't know why she blurted out this sentence.

She changed her clothes, put on a goose yellow cashmere coat, fresh and lively, then smiled at herself in the mirror, and then went out.

Pei Songxi has been on a business trip for the past few days, and she is the only one at home.

When I was in the car, I received a call from Pei Songxi: "Mianmian, are you up yet?"

Yu Mian looked at the rapidly receding scenery outside the window and smiled: "Of course I'm up, class starts in half an hour. I'm in the car, don't worry."

Why do you always treat her like a child? It's still the same as before. As long as she's not around, you have to call to make sure she's up and not late.

"You're quite early, so good. Well, I'll hang up first. I'll come back tomorrow early. You should be well at home alone, you know?"

"Are you coming back? I'll wait for you to come home!"

Yu Mian's mood became so happy, she was giggling all day at school, between classes, poking the eraser with the tip of a pen in a daze, thinking it was funny... It seems that she didn't think of her that much when Aunt Pei left , Now it grows bigger and bigger, but it goes back more and more.

She didn't understand either, but the feeling of longing was always getting stronger day by day.

The windows in winter were covered with fog. When she was looking out of the window in a daze, her fingers were also walking gently on the window. When she came back to her senses, she found that she had written the word 'Pei'. She was a little flustered for no reason, and looked to the side. Looking around, no one noticed her small movements.

So she quietly guessed the word and drew a moon with her fingertips.

her moon.

These days, because Pei Songxi is not around, the road is snowy and slippery, Yu Mian didn't go home at noon, she just ate at school, Xu Xiaoyan was very loyal to accompany her, but the little glutton made a lot of demands and dragged her out of school every day Buy food at the food street outside.Fried sausages, potato cakes, sizzling chicken tenders... She is keen on snacks, and every time she wants to buy a lot of them, Yu Mian can only wait for her outside the shop.

Xu Xiaoyan was waiting in the long line to buy boba milk tea, while Yu Mian was a little bored standing on the steps and waiting, with her hands in her pockets, looking at the white plane line in the sky in the distance.

But she looked at it... and suddenly frowned.

She saw a familiar figure from the back, in the alley opposite the food street, that person was wearing the blue school uniform of the attached middle school...there was blood on his back.

There were more than a dozen people in front of Xu Xiaoyan, Yu Mian walked over and said to her, "I'll go out for a while, and I'll be right back."

As she walked that way, the alleys twisted and turned, and she met many people head-on, and she followed...as if she lost them.

Until suddenly someone grabbed the corner of her clothes and lowered her voice: "Help me."

Yu Mian was startled, and subconsciously called his name: "Tao..."

"Shh! Be quiet!"

Tao Rang took off his coat and handed it to her. The black sweater inside couldn't see the color of blood: "Help me take it back later... Take a look for me, are there two grown men looking over here?"

Yu Mian took his blood-stained coat, looked around, and whispered: "In front, with your back to you... What's wrong with you?"

Tao Rang hummed lightly: "I'm leaving, I'll hide for a while. Thank you."

He just went away.

Yu Mian hugged his blood-stained coat, a bit unable to react, but he was no longer seen in the crowd, and she should be more or less meddling in this business.

But... She always felt a little nervous.

Bleeding... and being chased, will he die?

All the way to the classroom, she was a little dazed, and even when Liang Zhixing asked her math problems during class, she was a little lost in thought.

"Mianmian, what's the matter with you?"

Xu Xiaoyan looked at her and thought: "She has been like this since she came back at noon, and I don't know what's wrong."

Jing Zhiyi raised his eyebrows: "Who has bullied you?"

Yu Mian shook her head and said hesitantly, "No... just that I saw a classmate... him, his clothes were covered in blood."

Xu Xiaoyan opened her eyes wide in shock: "Tao Rang?!"

Yu Mian tugged at her sleeve: "Slow down!"

Both Jing Zhiyi and Liang Zhixing surrounded her, "Xiaoyan, how do you know?"

Xu Xiaoyan was rarely serious: "That physical education class...it was the pull-up time, Mianmian and I saw it, he seemed to be red at the corner of his clothes..."

After Yu Mian finished talking about the ins and outs of this incident, several people were silent... When encountering this kind of thing, go to the teacher, Tao Rang doesn't seem to want the teacher and classmates to know; call the police, there seems to be no suitable reason .

But Tao Rang did not come to class today, which means he really has something to do.

Liang Zhixing thought about it, and felt that as a little man, he had to be responsible: "Well, I'll go over there alone after school at night."

Jing Zhiyi disliked him: "You're such a coward, forget it, I'll be with you."

Yu Mian and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged glances: "We'll go too."

Jing Zhiyi reluctantly agreed: "Okay, if there is a real fight, just run away, and don't get meddled from the beginning to the end."

As a result, the last class became a bit long and difficult. When the get out of class was over, Yu Mian quickly packed up her schoolbag and called the driver to ask him not to pick it up.

A group of four walked to the alley that Yu Mian had mentioned before, there were many people in the food street, freshly baked steamed buns were steaming, there were heads everywhere, Tao Rang was nowhere to be seen.

Yu Mian frowned and analyzed: "If I were him, I would definitely hide."

"Is there a place to hide around here?"

"Yes! I remembered. There is a bicycle repair shed. The boss left a few days ago. It is locked, but the key is hidden under the flowerpot. Many boys in our class know this. Some people wanted to use it during their lunch break before. Go in and play cards."

"God, playing cards! Liang Zhixing, what are you boys thinking?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Follow me over there!"

Liang Zhixing took them to the hood of the small car, checked again and again that there was no one around, and then touched the key from under the flower pot, but it was empty.

He stood at the door and looked inside. He didn't see anyone, but he could vaguely smell the bloody smell in the air: "I guess he should be here. Shall we go in and take a look?"

"Come on, let's go in."

Jing Zhiyi looked at the iron door. The door is now locked with a bolt from the inside, but the gap between the iron wires is actually quite large. She put her palm in, fiddled with it briefly, and the door opened.

She boldly stepped in, Liang Zhixing hurried to pull her, telling her to walk slowly, Yu Mian dragged Xu Xiaoyan to the end... It was pitch black inside, and she didn't know where the lights were.Until a light flashed in the darkness, Yu Mian blurted out: "Tao Rang! Don't do anything!"

"Cough cough..."

There was a cough in the darkness, and Jing Zhi took a step back in fear, only then did he realize that the bright light just now might be some sharp metal...

Liang Zhixing remembered that he had brought his mobile phone and turned on the flashlight, and then a young man covered in blood and with a pale face came into their eyes.

Tao Rang sneered: "Come and see my joke?"

Liang Zhixing was a little annoyed: "Look at your joke! Are we in a hurry? Didn't Yu Mian say that you were injured, so we came to you when we had nothing to do."

Tao Rang was stunned: "You... let's go. It has nothing to do with you."

Yu Mian shook her head, walked forward, bent down to look at him, the girl's cheeks were blurred and beautiful in the light of the flashlight: "But you are hurt, Tao Rang, you are our classmate, we care about you, don't be so resistant, okay?" ?”

The boy pursed his lips and said nothing.

He didn't want to see them... He knew that the four of them were very close and nice people.Sometimes he would quietly observe them, often wondering why some people were born standing in the light, but every time he wanted to take a step up, he would be dragged down by the cold and cruel reality.He hated himself for being so complaining, and he hated seeing them because of it.

Jing Zhiyi stepped forward and pulled Yu Mian away: "You just have a good temper, so stand back."

She stepped forward and kicked Tao Rang's foot, her tone was not beating and arrogant: "I tell you, we are here, don't talk nonsense. Liang Zhixing, is your driver still waiting at the school gate? Call your uncle Come and move people."

Tao Rang was annoyed: "Jing Zhiyi?"

Jing Zhiyi hehe: "Are you stupid? You are dead now, your parents raised you for nothing!"

Tao Rang was silent for too long, until Xu Xiaoyan asked in a low voice: "Is he not breathing?"

Liang Zhixing panicked, and hurried forward to touch it, his breath was still warm: "I just fainted, but I'm still alive! You scared me to death!"

The driver arrived soon, and the car was parked outside the food street. He and Liang Zhixing carried the unconscious Tao Ranghe into the car and sent him to the hospital.

The smell of disinfectant is everywhere in the hospital, which is a bit pungent.

They waited for a long time before the doctor came out and said that the patient had woken up from excessive blood loss, the trauma was not serious and had been bandaged.

Jing Zhiyi's face was stinky, she walked into the ward first, and looked at Tao Rang with disgust: "How are you?"

Tao Rang froze: "I'm fine, I'm going home."

Liang Zhixing's temper came up again: "Are you stupid? You go home now! You are lying in the hospital now, call home and ask your family to take care of you."

Tao Rang looked at him coldly: "My mother died of illness, and my father was gambling outside. Those two people were in debt just now. Who do you ask to take care of me?"

Now they were all stunned, they were all teenagers, and they didn't know what to do in the face of this situation.

Even Liang Zhixing... Although his father used to fight with his mother, he was still good to him, and he was no less than him in terms of money.That's why his feelings for his father were so complicated, and even though he hated him, he couldn't deny that his father was very kind to him.

But Tao Rang...Tao Rang is different from him.

Yu Mian listened beside her, and Xiuzhi's brows slowly frowned, unable to think of a way out.

Seeing that they were silent, Tao Rang slowly lifted the quilt and got out of bed with a cold face, as if he was still holding a chain tightly in his hand.

It was already dark outside the window, and they were still teenagers. If they stayed outside for a long time, they would feel worried at home.

Now it seems that there is no other way, they send Tao Rang home.The car stopped at the intersection of the street, and he limped out of the car, his back was desolate and lonely.

"Hey."

In the cold wind, someone sighed silently.

The world in the ivory tower is simple and beautiful, and the children who live happily and carefree face the cruelty of the world for the first time.

The next day, Tao Rang continued to come to school, still wearing a school uniform and jacket, and went to the blackboard to solve problems when he was called by the teacher. Apart from his pale face, he was still the outstanding and dazzling boy.

Before yesterday, they would be like others, thinking that he was a smart and handsome young man with a happy family... But only now did they realize that every step he took was carrying a burden.

The last class in the afternoon was PE class. Under the big banyan tree, Yu Mian and Xu Xiaoyan were sitting on the flower bed, and saw Liang Zhixing and Jing Zhiyi dragging someone over from a distance: "Here we come!"

The boy said with a cold face, "Excuse me, what's the matter with you?"

Yu Mian smiled at him, didn't care about his impoliteness, opened the zipper of her schoolbag, and took out four coin jars with Xu Xiaoyan: "Here you are."

Tao Rang was startled, and asked back in disbelief, "What are you doing for me?"

Liang Zhixing sighed, and put his arms around his shoulders: "Hey, big brother, don't you want to be so strong that you can die? We are all classmates, not looking down on you, but really wishing you well."

Xu Xiaoyan jumped down from the flower bed, took out a handful of toffee and stuffed it into his pocket: "Yes, Tao Rang, can you stop stabbing people all the time? Life is so hard, wouldn't it be good to eat some candy?"

Yu Mian shook the change jar: "My New Year's money is all in the bank, here is some change, I will add chicken legs to your lunch, patients should eat more nutritious things!"

Jing Zhiyi also nodded uncomfortably: "My family is poor, and I have very little money, so don't dislike me."

Tao Rang didn't know what to say, the person he envied at the first sight, the person who stood in the sun and joked loudly, the person he thought he would never meet...Suddenly stretched out his hand to him who was standing in the dark .

He was silent, turned and left.

"Huh? Why did he run away without saying a word?"

"Hush... I think his eyes are red."

Tao Rang didn't ask for their money in the end.

Going home at night, Yu Mian was pleasantly surprised to find that the light in the living room was on, and someone was taking off her coat with her back turned to her. She cheered, rushed over, and hugged Pei Songxi: "Ah, ah, auntie Pei! You're back! "

Pei Songxi was hooked by her neck, and bent down helplessly: "I'm back, Mian..."

... Mianmian grew up a lot taller, only half a head shorter than her. They were too close, and she suddenly felt the slight bulge of the girl's chest, which was no longer a flat feeling... It made her feel very Not used to it, she can't hug like this anymore.

Yu Mian had already let go of her hand, walked around her twice, and seriously commented: "Half a month's business trip, I seem to have lost a little weight, did I not eat well?"

Pei Songxi touched the top of her hair: "No, I ate seriously, didn't I take a picture of you?"

"Who knows if you've finished eating, you can be disobedient sometimes!"

Pei Songxi smiled, and looked at her braided hair: "The hair has grown longer again."

Yu Mian smiled: "Yes, long hair still looks good! Yes, are you tired? Sit down quickly, and I will give you a shoulder massage!"

She said no, but was still pushed to sit on the sofa.Yu Mian kicked off her shoes, stood behind her, pressed her hands on her shoulders, and began to press them in a dignified manner: "This is a video I watched with Xiaoyan. Aunt Zhao had a bad shoulder and neck before, and she said she just watched it." This, massage is very useful, very suitable for middle-aged and elderly people."

Pei Songxi laughed: "Mianmian, am I already a middle-aged and elderly person in your heart?"

Yu Mian paused: "No! I didn't mean that! Aunt Pei, you are so beautiful, how could you be old, I, I..."

"Why are you so nervous? I'm kidding you."

"Okay..." Yu Mian lowered her head and continued to massage her, "I'm not nervous."

She just thinks the word 'middle-aged and elderly' is unpleasant, and she doesn't like it at all. Aunt Pei has nothing to do with these words... Over the years, Aunt Pei doesn't seem to have changed at all... No, there are still changes.She seemed to be getting better and better... But she couldn't find the words to describe that feeling.

She looked at her quietly under the silhouette of the light.

Time is kind to her.

Pei Songxi felt that her movements stopped, and patted the back of her hand with a smile: "Mianmian? Stop pressing when you're tired."

Yu Mian shook her head: "I'm not tired, I'm not tired... I just lost my mind for a while."

"Is it because of something at school?"

"Hey...not just now...but I did encounter something in school."

Pei Songxi tugged at her wrist: "Sit down and talk."

Yu Mian told her about meeting Tao Rang yesterday, and at the end she was a little lost in thought: "I didn't know that people as old as us have to bear so much. Aunt Pei..."

What if she hadn't met her.

If she knocked on her door, she didn't open it for her.

What if Aunt Pei stopped going to that family to see her?

There are so many what-ifs that she can't even imagine.

Yu Mian couldn't help but reached out and hugged her, and gently rubbed her cheek on her shoulder: "Aunt Pei...I just wish I could stay by your side for the rest of my life."

Pei Songxi was stunned for a moment, this was what Mian Mian used to say when she was a child, she didn't know why she suddenly said that again, she couldn't help but smiled: "Speaking like a child again. Everyone has to grow up, be independent, and enter the society. After you would... have a family of their own."

She paused before speaking the second half of the sentence.

Over the years, she has been looking for Yu Mian's family, but it is like finding a needle in a haystack.The child was too young at that time, so she couldn't remember anything after the car accident, but her family didn't seem to have released any news about missing persons, like... her father didn't lie to her, and Mian Mian's relatives had passed away.

She didn't get any news until not long ago.Wei Yi found a gardener, saw Yu Mian's childhood photos, and said that he had seen her before.But the old gardener is more than seventy years old, and has helped many people for decades, so he can't remember which family she is from.

Pei Songxi flew directly to another city after a business trip, and went to ask in person, but it was still a hopeless experience.

How many times you leave with hope, and how many times you return with disappointment.

She is a person with a tough heart, and she will be somewhat lost.She was only glad that she never told Mianmian about it, so as not to make her feel sad.

Pei Songxi has been thinking these days, if she really can't find her family... Maybe it's okay, Mian Mian has grown up, and she will be an adult in a few years, she can start a new family, have a lover to accompany her for the rest of her life, Be with her forever.

She won't leave her alone.

But when Yu Mian heard this, she frowned dissatisfiedly, raised her head and asked her: "It's still so early...you just talk about my own family. I don't want it, and I won't marry someone else."

Unlike you... you will marry someone else.

Pei Songxi laughed at her childishness, but stopped arguing with her: "Okay, it's really too early to say this now."

In fact, she didn't want to think about it, but she grew up day by day.The last time she brought her friends home, several young children sat under the grape arbor watching the moon and discussing Maugham's book loudly.

Pei Songxi heard it, and stood by the window for a long time, watching them and Yu Mian quietly.

She looks at the moon downstairs, and she looks at her upstairs.

She thought of Yu Mian, who used to be a small one. Every year on her birthday, the two of them would eat cake together. Every time Yu Mian would make a loud wish, the wish was always the same, old-fashioned and cute: "I want Aunt Pei to live a long life." age!"

But now, when Mianmian has grown up, she can secretly make her little wish.

Her friends are all very nice, with warm and sincere eyes.Pei Songxi felt very relieved, when she was not by her side, Mianmian should also be living in the sunshine.

She will walk side by side with her friends, across the river of time, through the plains and forests, step by step to the heights.

In the past two years, Pei Songxi intentionally left more space for Yu Mian, because she knew that all she had to do was watch Mian Mian from a distance, watching her walk away step by step.

but……

She lowered her head and met the girl's clear and clean eyes. Thinking of this, she always felt her heart was gently pinched.

That sense of loss, loss, and unspeakable emotions crept up again, quietly drowning her.