Wait till the sun rises

There was the clicking sound of a key unlocking the door outside the door, and Xu Jiming opened his eyes for a moment. It was Xia Yang who just entered the door and turned on the light in the room.

Xu Jiming raised his hand to cover his eyes as if being stabbed by the dazzling light. He didn't know what day and night it was for a moment, but after a while, he got up and said, "You're back."

Because he just woke up, his voice was a little lazy. Xia Yang was holding the purchased ingredients in his hand, and he was almost inaudibly relieved to see Xu Jiming on the sofa.

He put things on the ground and bent over to change his shoes.

Xu Jiming grabbed his hair, walked over, squatted down, looked down in the plastic bag, and said, "Potatoes, green peppers, pork ribs, enoki mushrooms, fish... I bought so many delicious things."

He was wearing dark blue cotton slippers on his feet, squatting on the ground and flipping through the bags, as if he had returned to many years ago.He was still that vigorous young man, standing in the yard covered with wisteria trellises, rolling up his sleeves and yelling to make delicious food for him and grandpa.

As if the separation for so many years had never existed, Xia Yang's eyes turned red, and he turned his head slightly and took a deep breath.

After reading the contents of the bag, Xu Jiming stood up and said, "Today, I will show you my skills." With a smile on his face, he carried his things and walked into the house habitually, but he didn't see the long forecourt.

Xu Jiming stood still, dazed for a moment. He turned his head and found a huge French window on the left wall, with floral curtains hanging on both sides, motionless.

It was pitch black outside, and only a few houses on the opposite side could be seen with their lights on.This is not the old Xia family house he is familiar with.

Xia Yang gently took the food bag from him, led him to the sofa, poured him a glass of water, turned on the TV, and said, "You can watch TV, I'm going to cook, the remote control is on here."

Only then did Xu Jiming come back to his senses, he stretched out his hand and grabbed Xia Yang's hand like a conditioned reflex, Xia Yang's fingers trembled, then squeezed him hard, and smiled softly: "What's the matter?"

Xu Jiming hurriedly let go of his hand, as if he was frightened, he rubbed his cheeks fiercely, and said: "It's okay, I, I may be drowsy."

Xu Jiming didn't notice what was playing on the TV, all his attention was focused on behind the small door in the kitchen.

The sound of the kitchen knife being cut on the cutting board came from inside from time to time. Xu Jiming always sat on the sofa, pressing his forehead with one hand.

Before Xia Yang came back, he seemed to have a dream.It's just that he couldn't remember what he dreamed about.

The aroma of food began to emerge from behind that door, but after a while, a burnt smell wafted out of the kitchen. Xu Jiming jumped up from the sofa and pushed open the kitchen door.

Xia Yang was standing by the smelly pot, wondering what he was thinking.The sound of Xu Jiming pushing the door open seemed to have frightened him, and he came back to his senses.

Xu Jiming walked over and pulled Xia Yang away, and he was relieved after turning off the gas.

"How can you be absent-minded when cooking? It's dangerous, you know." Xu Jiming pulled Xia Yang and asked with concern, "Are you hurt? Let me say, what are you thinking about?"

Xia Yang stood where he was, like a child who has changed something wrong, at a loss.

It took a while before he explained under Xu Jiming's stare: "I'm sorry, I was thinking about work, and I accidentally lost my mind."

"You." Xu Jiming wanted to say something more, but when he saw Xia Yang's eye sockets were red from the oily smoke just now, he couldn't help but soften his heart.

He pushed Xia Yang out the door, took off Xia Yang's apron and put it on himself, and returned to the kitchen.

Xu Jiming cooked a few simple stir-fried dishes, and cooked fish head soup, white porridge with wolfberry and white fungus, which was sticky and soft.

"When will Grandpa come back?" Xu Jiming said as he picked up a chopstick of shredded potatoes and put them on the small plate in front of Xia Yang.

Xia Yang looked down, and the expression on his face became softer. He picked it up and ate it, and then said: "The chess friends I met when I was playing chess in the square, chatting and discovering the classmates when I was young, grandpa moved They lived at home for a few days. I just went there for two days."

"Oh."

"What about you? Come to City B..."

"Let me see you. How have you been these few years?" Xu Jiming said, "Did Bailey play with grandpa? Or did he stay in his hometown?"

Xia Yang gave Xu Jiming a look with his hands holding the vegetables.

that look...

Xu Jiming's heart trembled, and Xia Yang said in a low voice, "Bailey's gone, he's getting old."

Xu Jiming opened his mouth, but Xia Yang shook his head, as if he didn't want to continue this topic, he said: "Come back this time, will you leave after the new year?"

"No, I'm going to develop in China, and I'll go to work in a few days." Xu Jiming said, "It's in Dragon City."

Xia Yang's voice was very soft, he stared at Xu Jiming and said, "That's great, uncle and aunt must be very happy."

·

After tidying up the dishes, Xia Yang wiped the water on his hands and said, "You can sleep in Grandpa's room, the quilt and sheets have just been changed."

Xu Jiming: "Okay."

"Good night then."

"Good night."

Xia Yang retreated into his room, laying on the bed with his clothes on, with one hand resting on his forehead. The owner of this room seemed to like glass windows very much, even the place where the bedroom connected to the balcony was installed with a transparent sliding door.

However, Xia Yang liked this kind of house very much. At this time, the curtain beside the door had been drawn, and no light could penetrate into the room.

Extreme darkness.

Sure enough, do you still mind?Xia Yang recalled the moment when Xu Jiming shook off his hand in shock, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

When they met this time, there seemed to be an invisible membrane between the two, separating them.We can clearly see each other, but we can't get close,

On that summer night seven years ago, he kissed him, but Xu Jiming pushed him away in disbelief, and the two have never seen each other since then.

Xu Jiming was avoiding him.Han Rui's words sounded in his mind, Xia Yang curled himself up into a ball and hugged his knees tightly, shivering for a moment.

·

Xu Jiming took out a photo album from under Grandpa Xia's pillow. The photo album was very old, and the cardboard cover was rotten. It seemed that it would fall apart in an instant.

Xu Jiming's fingers brushed over the cover of the photo album full of traces of time, which he was familiar with.In the past, Grandpa Xia always sat at the head of the bed at night and looked at old photos one by one by the warm yellow desk lamp.

Sometimes Xia Yang and Xu Jiming would sit around him, holding in their arms the grandson who came to visit from the grandfather's house next door, watching and laughing.

Xu Jiming sometimes thinks, it's amazing, it's just a few photos, but they can evoke the deepest memories in people's hearts.And with just a few words, all the pictures at that time can be stitched together. It's not like a photo, but more like a magic box that stores people's memories.

As soon as it was opened, all the things deposited in the depths of memory rushed out.

Xu Jiming reached out and picked up a photo sandwiched between them. It was a group photo of them with Grandpa Xia when they were young. It was Xu Jiming's first summer vacation at Xia Yang's house.

Grandpa Xia was sitting on a chair with Xia Yang in his arms, and Xu Jiming stood beside him with a smile on his face, holding Xia Yang's little hand with one hand, and holding it tightly.

Xia Yang's smiling face was full of seriousness, without even a hint of a smile.

At that time, the photographer seemed to have teased him for a long time, but Xia Yang just didn't laugh. The photographer tried his best, and finally gave up in despair.

Xu Jiming reached out and touched Xia Yang's face in the photo, thinking in his heart, since when did Xia Yang always have a smile on his face?It seems that it was the first time I learned to swim with my grandfather and choked on water, or it seemed that it was the first time I stepped on a bench to learn to cook, and finally fell down because I couldn't stand firmly.

Xu Jiming clipped the photo back and continued to look back.Their passport photos, photos taken on birthdays, and the time they were engaged in radish heads continued until they grew up.

Xu Jiming picked up a photo, which was taken by him and Xia Yang at the seaside. Behind him was the endless sea, the sun was just right, and the bright smiles on the faces of the two teenagers seemed to be able to burn people's eyes.

Xu Jiming didn't stop fingering, and quickly flipped through the old photo album, and finally heaved a sigh of relief. He felt that he was simply torturing himself.Xu Jiming put the photo album back to its original place, and listened to the movement next door with his ears sideways.

He thought, is Xia Yang asleep?

Just as he was thinking, the sound of the door opening came from the next door, Xu Jiming turned over, thinking that he might be going to the toilet.

knock knock knock.

Xu Jiming sat up all of a sudden, and turned on the desk lamp.

Xia Yang was neatly dressed, holding a mobile phone in his hand, and said anxiously: "I, my friend has an accident, I have to go out. Let me tell you, you..."

Seeing his anxious and ugly face, Xu Jiming got out of bed and said, "I'll go with you."