Jigsaw puzzle

Li Ran took the milk tea from Xiao Yu at the front desk, sat on the sofa at the far end of the classroom and sucked it, trying to pretend that he didn't see the little girl who was watching him secretly.

Less than 5 minutes after class ended, all the children who came to him to learn dance were picked up by their parents.Although the country has liberalized the two-child policy, there are still a small number of young couples who really have the courage to have another child. After all, raising a child is different now. Parents wish they could use their children as their ancestors.

The only remaining poor girl was named Qi Xin, and she hadn't been in class with Li Ran for long, but Li Ran still had a deep impression on her.Thin, tall, long legs, small eyes, not very talkative.

What's more special is that, at the age when this girl's hair is the most precious, Qi Xin has short, stupefied hair.

The temperament is a bit like a child model in a Japanese magazine who takes the individual route, but the clothes are always wearing the kind of straight male aesthetic small flowers, which looks kind of indescribably weird.

The families of children who learn hip-hop with Li Ran are generally more open, and the children are also very naughty, but no matter boys or girls in the class, they dare not provoke Qi Xin.

Li Ran paid special attention to Qi Xin during class. She didn't seem to be interested in making friends, so she just stood in the last row and practiced by herself, and her dance moves were quite standard.

Seeing Qi Xin sitting alone in front of the mirror in a daze, Li Ran took the initiative to go over and sit beside her.To Li Ran's surprise, Qi Xin showed no expression of fear, and quietly moved a place for Li Ran.

"Do you want to drink?" Li Ran shook the milk tea in his hand to seduce the little girl, "If you want to drink, I will ask Xiao Xiao to buy you a copy?"

Qi Xin looked up at Li Ran, thought for a while, and then said: "I don't drink." After thinking about it, she added: "I'm afraid of getting fat."

"Children are not afraid of gaining weight when they grow up!", Li Ran felt a little cute when he saw her serious appearance.

"My uncle said that thin people would persuade others to eat."

Hearing a child say that, Li Ran almost spit out the milk tea in his mouth, he quickly drank the remaining few sips, and moved his eyes to the ceiling with a smile.

What kind of stupid parent is telling the truth to their children.

Li Ran sighed and squinted his eyes to recall, and suddenly remembered that he seemed to have seen the "uncle" in Qi Xin's mouth.

"It was your uncle who came to pick you up?" Li Ran asked her.

"Yeah." Qi Xin nodded.

Ah, that's right, Li Ran sighed silently, it really was that person.

A few weeks ago when the class started, once Li Ran came home from get out of class and was waiting for the elevator, when he saw a man wearing a mask come to pick up Qi Xin.After the elevator door opened, Li Ran was squeezed into the innermost part of the elevator by the crowd. In the gap, he heard the man ask Qi Xin: "What do you think of this class?".

Qi Xin replied coolly like an adult: "Didn't you see us dancing? What do you think?"

Then the man said: "I just watched the beginning, it looked like a chicken pecking at rice."

At that time, Li Ran was angry and wanted to laugh, his eyes almost rolled to the sky, he held his breath and watched the strange couple go out.

Thinking back to this point, the smile on Li Ran's face froze a bit, he patted Qi Xin on the shoulder and pretended to say earnestly: "Don't listen to your uncle, what does he know?"

Qi Xin showed a rare age-appropriate smile: "Teacher Aran, my uncle also said that you look good at dancing!"

Li Ran suddenly blushed a little for his small belly.

Forget it, Li Ran thought, parents, as you get older, many street dance moves are trendy, so it's normal not to appreciate them.

Qi Xin couldn't see Li Ran's mental activities at the moment, so she continued to speak on her own, with a touch of cautious probing in her tone: "Mr. Aran, my uncle will come later, don't blame him for being late. Is it okay if it's class?"

Before Li Ran realized what Qi Xin meant, the door was pushed open, and the people outside saw Qi Xin and Li Ran sitting and chatting together, and hesitated for a while, as if they had done some psychological training before they said: "Teacher Hello, I am Qi Xin's parent, here to pick her up and go home."

Han Yicheng didn't wear a mask today, this time Li Ran saw his face clearly.

Typical single eyelid, narrow and long three white eyes, high nose bridge, and tall person.There is no special expression on the facial muscles, but it makes people feel very fierce and not to be messed with. It is a bit like the male number two with anti-social personality in Japanese manga to destroy the world.

If it weren't for Han Yicheng's polite tone, Li Ran almost thought that he was going to turn against him.

This person is...the so-called uncle?

Until Qi Xin bouncing over to grab Han Yicheng's hand, and said goodbye to Li Ran.Li Ran came back to his senses, waved his hand and said, "Be careful on the road, it seems to be snowing outside."

Han Yicheng didn't answer any more, but nodded coldly, and led Qi Xin to press the elevator.

The wall of the dance classroom is made of glass, Li Ran looked at the backs of Han Yicheng and Qi Xin, and began to make up a small script in his mind.

Han Yicheng was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, a very plain men's basic style of science and engineering. He looked like a college student who was about to graduate.Li Ran reckoned that Qi Xin was in the fourth or fifth grade of elementary school. Based on this calculation, this "uncle" is too young, right?

Li Ran thought for a while, and felt that he had no clue, so he didn't think about it any further, and took out his mobile phone to call Duan Chenyi.The receiver rang several times before it was picked up over there. There was a chaotic sound in the background.

"Are you coming today? I wanted to talk to you about—"

"Mom, didn't I tell you that I won't go back to eat today? You and my dad should go to bed early, don't wait for me," Duan Chenyi said seriously.

Before Li Ran could open his mouth again, he cut off the phone.Li Ran stared at the words "Duan Chenyi" on the phone screen, wanting to laugh angrily.

Here it is again, he is too familiar with this kind of plot, from cousin to assistant, Li Ran is always playing role-playing beside Duan Chenyi, but this time he has finally been promoted to become a mother.

He was even so skilled that he felt that he wasn't particularly pitiful, that's what happened anyway, he was stupid.

Li Ran forcibly pulled himself together, stood up and walked to the door. Seeing Yu Yu at the front desk smiling at the TV series on his phone, his face was all red, and he sat behind Yu Yu and asked her in a strange voice, "Isn't it so beautiful?"

"Of course it looks good!" Yu Yu is a girl who just turned [-]. She works as a receptionist in a dance studio, and besides going to work, she chases stars every day. Hearing Li Ran's question, she covered her mouth and smiled shyly on the sofa, "Everything my brother plays looks good! "

Li Ran gave a cold snort of disdain, and saw on the screen that Duan Chenyi was hugging the female lead and crying loudly, his acting was so embarrassing that it made people curl their toes.Obviously Duan Chenyi is an actor, but Li Ran feels that his acting skills are even more skilled than him.

"Beautiful trash," Li Ran scolded, "I have no acting skills and no money, so I just lie to brainless little girls like you!"

Hearing that his "idol" was being scolded, Xiao Yu of course quit, threw down his phone, and pushed Li Ran away angrily.

Every time Li Ran regretted recruiting a fat girl at that time, he couldn't beat her in a fight, and he was pushed under the sofa by Xiao without dignity.

"Damn!" Li Ran sat on the ground and scolded Yu Yu with a smile, "Do you want to do it? Is there anyone who treats the boss like you?"

"Don't watch it if you don't like it!" Xiao Xiao was also happy, "It's Christmas, if it weren't for the sake of you being the boss, who would stay here!"

"It's none of your business, I'll just watch it!" Li Ran squeezed back onto the sofa and snatched Yu Yu's phone.

At this time, Duan Chenyi on the screen was wiping his neck for love, and the inferior fake blood was sprayed all over his body. Li Ran looked uncomfortable, and threw the phone back to Yu Yu.

"Your brother is too fragile, why would he die if he was hurt a little bit?"

The next morning, it was almost noon when Li Ran got up from the sofa. His memory of last night was a little fuzzy. After Yu left, he drank some wine and fell asleep for some reason.

Monday is the public holiday of the dance studio, so Li Ran casually ordered a takeaway, and continued to slump back to the sofa in a daze.

He always felt that his stomach had been trained by him to be invulnerable, and he was on the verge of collapse every night, and nothing happened the next day.

Li Ran was very upset when he heard the ticking of the clock in the dance room.

Li Ran didn't want to stay in Duan Chenyi's apartment for a long time, because there always made him feel like a resentful woman who kept the vacant house alone.He also didn't want to drag this picture of the walking dead back home, his mother was always worried about his condition, and every time he thought of Zhang Lingyu's worried eyes, Li Ran felt like he was getting older.

Li Ran's parents are very kind to him, but everyone in this family seems to feel that they owe others, and life is quite tangled.

When Li Ran was in high school, regardless of his parents' objections, he insisted on choosing the dance academy. As a result, Zhang Lingyu, who had never expected much from Li Ran, was furious and cut off all sources of Li Ran's living expenses.And warned Li Weiguo that if he dared to secretly support Li Ran, he would divorce him immediately.

Li Weiguo understood his wife's thoughts. Zhang Yuling was a well-known beauty when she was young. There were too many people who pursued her, so Zhang Lingyu didn't spend too much time on reading and learning.

Zhang Lingyu was in her twenties, and married herself to enjoy the blessings at home.Li Weiguo worked as a technical worker in a state-owned enterprise factory, and his salary was considered stable and high at that time, and it was more than enough for one person to support the two of them.

Later, Zhang Lingyu was just pregnant with Li Ran, and the situation took a turn for the worse. The factory where Li Weiguo worked closed down, and the skilled workers were forced to lay off one after another. The lives of the two suddenly became difficult.Zhang Lingyu went out to look for a job with a big belly, but because she was a semi-literate graduate from elementary school, she didn't want her anywhere, so she could only learn manicure and start serving others.

Zhang Lingyu, who stole the limelight when she was young, is not what she used to be.When Li Ran was in junior high school, Zhang Lingyu met her former friend in the nail shop. She used to be such an inconspicuous nerd, but now she was wearing a suit jacket and said to Zhang Lingyu with a sigh: "Oh, forget it, sister, I tell you that you don't understand either." .”

Zhang Lingyu's heart trembled, sister?Now it's the turn of the bumpkin to call me sister?

So Zhang Lingyu didn't ask Li Ran to be rich, but asked him to study hard, go to a good university, and find a more solid job. She felt that Li Ran would be able to move up a class and no longer be looked down upon by others.

Everything is inferior, only reading is high.

When Li Ran told her that he was going to be admitted to the dance academy, all Zhang Lingyu thought about was the grievances she had suffered over the years.

But Zhang Lingyu didn't expect that Li Ran, who seemed to be talkative and cheerful, could be so stubborn. In the first two years of college, he really didn't care about any money. He worked part-time at night and went to class during the day.

Once Zhang Lingyu secretly went to Li Ran's school to visit him, and saw Li Ran helping his classmates to get food from the school gate. Several classmates surrounded him and made jokes. Although it was harmless, some irony was still harsh.Zhang Lingyu had a sore nose, sat by herself all night, went to Li Ran the next day, hugged him and complained to herself, saying that she shouldn't force him with her own ideas.

Li Ran was not very sensible at the time, so he pushed her away without saying anything.

Later, in order to compensate Li Ran, Zhang Lingyu used all the family's small savings on Li Ran.

After Li Ran graduated, a performing arts company offered to sign him as a trainee, so Zhang Lingyu took out a loan to sign Li Ran's contract.

Li Ran is fair and attractive, and the outline of his face looks like a high-end ink painting with smudged dye, but in the entertainment industry, it is just plain water that cannot be boiled, and it cannot arouse other people's interest.

Li Ran has never encountered such a situation since he was a child, and he always felt that hard work must be rewarded.His mentality plummeted, and he was fooling around all day long.It's almost an endless cycle of hitting a wall to drink, hitting a wall and drinking again.

After two years of being in such a state of confusion, Li Ran found out that his family was heavily in debt. One night he heard Zhang Lingyu crying to Li Weiguo in the kitchen: "We are sorry for Ranran, or I am not capable of being a mother."

A dizzy fly with no direction can see more clearly than a moth fluttering towards a flame.

Sometimes growth is an instant thing. Li Ran went to the brokerage company alone to terminate the contract that night. The company didn't hold him back at all for "losing money". Instead, Duan Chenyi held him back under the dim light and hugged him tightly. in arms.

Duan Chenyi is Xiao Li Ran's junior for two years. He signed with the same company as him. He has thick eyebrows, big eyes and handsome standards. Almost immediately after his debut, he has a few diehard fans.

"You have fans now," Li Ranhong said with concern, "Our relationship is your stain, and it will hurt you sooner or later."

Until now, Li Ran still clearly remembers that under the warm yellow light of that night, Duan Chenyi held his face in his hands and said softly in his ear: "Brother Ran, but people have to run after the light."

At that time, Li Ran really thought that he would always be with Duan Chenyi. He thought that he could endure the dark underground love affair, just like the idiot who sacrificed his life for love in the movie.

But he overestimated Duan Chenyi, and even more overestimated himself.

Duan Chenyi is not considered an actor, an idol supported by his face and personality, had to tell all kinds of lies to conceal the relationship between the two.

Once Li Ran took him to his home for dinner, before Li Weiguo could ask, Duan Chenyi pulled Li Ran and said that he was a friend, a very good friend.

He also forgot when Duan Chenyi stopped talking about the future with him.

The thing that kills patience the most is waiting aimlessly.

At night, Li Ran was alone in the dance room, staring at the snow-covered night road outside.

He has been a talkative person since he was a child, and he felt very uncomfortable after being alone for a long time. He took out the wine bottle and wanted to pour wine, but he couldn't find the glass after searching for a long time.

Li Ran threw the bottle aside irritably, and sent a WeChat message to Duan Chenyi.

-Let's break up, I'm not joking with you, I'm serious this time.

The essence of love is the same as dreams, it is a consumable like bait.When it hangs above the head along the suspender, it doesn't feel hard to chase it to the point of bleeding.But when I looked back, the other end of the pole was glued to my back.

Once it is discovered that the former goal is to deceive oneself and others, even if the bait is reached, it will be in vain.

When Li Ran was walking home, Duan Chenyi started calling him. Li Ran wanted to answer, but he was afraid that the two would chatter endlessly, so he hung up after thinking for a long time.

It was dry and cold in the north in December, and the raging cold wind crazily sucked every drop of moisture from the human skin. Li Ran didn't want to worry Zhang Lingyu again, so she tightened her clothes and quickened her pace.

When he was about to walk to the subway station, he saw a few gangsters wearing the uniforms of a nearby junior high school on the side of the road, pulling a thin boy and pushing him to the ground.Li Ran didn't want to care about it at first, so he took a second glance and saw the little floral shirt on that "boy".

"Fucking bastard, who are you squinting with those little eyes?" One of them pushed Qi Xin to the ground.

Li Ran is very clear that the younger the bullying, the more reckless the consequences, and it is more like a pure emotional vent.

Among several junior high school students, Qi Xin was as thin as a pony.She seemed to be used to this situation, more troublesome than afraid.She fumbled in her pocket for a long time, and took out two crumpled red RMB.

"That's all," she said, "I'll ask for it later."

Li Ran was a little surprised. He watched the older children go to pick up the money from Qi Xin. Before he could think of how to stop him, he saw Qi Xin quickly grab a handful of dirt from the ground while the others were not paying attention. With a slap in the face of those people, he put the money back in his pocket and was about to run.

She was indeed quite ruthless, but after all, she was still too young, and the distance she could throw out the sand and soil was limited. Before she could run a few steps, she was dragged back by the collar by the chasing gangster.

Seeing that something was wrong, Li Ran quickly picked up a beer bottle from the side, went to the crowd, and tapped the concrete floor with the bottle.

"It's almost done, which school is it? Aren't the guys ashamed to bully other girls?"

Although Li Ran's voice was not loud, he was an adult about 1.7 meters tall after all, and these boys who were still in the period of changing their voices were still a little afraid of him.

The scene froze. Li Ran had never done such a thing before, and his hands were sweating nervously.Qi Xin looked up at him, thought for a while, and suddenly called out: "Brother, why are you here?"

The yellow-haired junior high school student in the lead was obviously a little timid, and he barely held his face and asked Li Ran: "Are you her brother?"

Li Ran suddenly relaxed, imitating those second-year cartoons, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit it, took a puff and replied: "If you see it, get out."

At this time, Li Ran had already prepared a two-handed plan in his heart. If the other party dared to do something, he would immediately hold Qi Xin and run to a crowded place.

But at least he has semi-professional acting skills, and he has caught these little kids.The leader, Xiao Huangmao, thought he had seen a serious underworld, so he actually followed Li Ran's bloody plot.

"Someone told me earlier." Xiao Huang Mao waved at his crooked brothers, signaling them to come back, and said to Li Ran in a serious manner: "Brother, say hello next time, don't touch your people."

Li Ran suppressed the urge to laugh out loud, waved them away with a stinky face.Seeing that the trouble was solved, Qi Xin patted the dirt on her body, and looked at Li Ran with a playful expression.

Li Ran was very uncomfortable being looked at by her, and the pleasure of pretending just now disappeared. He felt that the little girl was really going to become a genius, so he cleared his throat and squatted down to ask her: "Where do you live? I'll take you back." .”

After hearing it sent back, Qi Xin seemed to have been touched by some minefield, shook her head, twisted her fingers together, whispered a thank you and was about to leave.Li Ran hurriedly chased her two steps and grabbed her, threw the cigarette he just lit by the side of the road and stomped it out.

"It's not safe for you to go shopping here. If you don't want me to deliver it, can you call your parents?"

Hearing what Li Ran said, Qi Xin watched him think for a while, then took out a new mobile phone from her schoolbag, and dialed a number.

"Hello, Han Yicheng?" Qi Xin spoke a little cautiously, she glanced at Li Ran hesitantly, as if she had made up her mind, she continued, "I'm with my dad, he's fine, um, see you tomorrow .”

"Who... is your father?"

Li Ran was at a loss when he heard it, and he didn't know what was going on with him recently, either being someone else's fake mother or being someone else's fake father.

"Who did you call just now? Where is your father?" Seeing that Qi Xin didn't answer, Li Ran asked again helplessly.

"I don't want to go back to my dad's place, they are all drinking people." Qi Xin lowered her head to avoid Li Ran's gaze, and was more nervous than when she was surrounded to ask for money just now.

"Then who is Han Yicheng?" Li Ran asked her.

"My uncle..." Qi Xin whispered, "He is very busy, I can't trouble him all the time."

Han Yicheng's fierce face suddenly appeared in Li Ran's mind. He swallowed and continued to ask: "Is your father not in a hurry if you don't go back so late? Where's your mother?"

"My dad doesn't care about me." Qi Xin stared at the ground and said, "My mother is dead."

Seeing Qi Xin's nervous look, Li Ran felt a little nervous. He sighed, took Qi Xin's hand and asked her, "Then, do you want to go home with the teacher for dinner today?"