river bank, river bank

The voice of the stranger's conversation seemed to come from a distance, low and inaudible, and it was a kind of calm and soothing to Bai San, whose thoughts were messy at the moment.

In his self-proclaimed darkness, the deep and long snorting that was blocked by the palm of his hand folded towards his cheek with the faint oxygen, and after a few back and forth, heat rose on his forehead.

"What's wrong with you, food allergies?" Lin Guangyin bit off the pasta, "No, I didn't see what you ate."

Bai San squeezed out a sound from his nasal cavity, recited a few texts silently, calmed down, and put on an empty expression before letting go.

There was only a table of untouched dishes on the steps, the faint sandalwood fragrance that flashed in the air disappeared in the air, and the water was still warm.

He picked up the glass and took a sip, looked at the damp water vapor, and suddenly asked, "Have you ordered any wine?"

"Just now people asked, I didn't order it, and we don't know how to drink, there is no need at all... Or do you want to drink?"

Bai San's eyes were full of confusion, he was stunned for a while, then nodded quickly.

There are dozens of imported wines on the wine list, like a heavenly book.

He didn't order the recommended non-alcoholic champagne. After reading the unfamiliar and awkward wine names, his eyes stopped at the end.Afraid of admitting mistakes, he read the wine list five times from beginning to end, and finally confirmed that when he spoke, his voice was as low as a needle drop.

The red tea wine is slightly thicker, deeper than the gentle dusk, but it is not as vast and abrupt as the night.

When Bai San first saw it, he thought it should be so.

The wine bottle has been soaked in cold ice in advance, and it is cool, showing two extremes with warm water and hot medicine.The entrance is bitter, with a strong taste of herbal roots and stems.

——It's the kind of bad drinking that he shouldn't experience at his age.

Baisan poured down a large glass of peach juice to save his taste, he slammed his head on the green beans a few times, his eyes drifted involuntarily to the empty tables on the steps, sometimes blocked by the passing waiters, he tilted his head to change the angle.

He took it back after one glance, picked up the wine glass again, dared not drink, only touched his lips, and licked it with the tip of his tongue.

In a daze, he remembered that when he was five years old, he had a serious illness that year and had to drink three bowls of traditional Chinese medicine in the morning and evening. He only remembered that it was very bitter.Once, when no one was paying attention, he secretly fed the medicine to the old tree. At that time, he felt a hidden joy, which was very similar to now, but the opposite.

It's not about avoiding suffering and joy.

After the meal, Bai San held the specially provided wine bag and asked, "Are you going to play a few rounds tonight?"

Lin Guangyin carried an oversized packing bag in one hand, and refused without hesitation, "I don't want to see how drunk you are, just wait until tomorrow."

"Oh."

Bai San felt that he was not drunk, but he knew that drunks would say that he was not drunk. Lin Guangyin would definitely refute this, so he obediently shut up.

People are more valuable in having self-knowledge.

"By the way, have you seen your teeth?" Lin Guangyin is very good at finding topics, "Strawberry tarts have a shelf life of three days, after which they have to be thrown away."

When he mentioned Baisan, his teeth hurt. He walked a few steps quickly, and the fluffy snow creaked under his feet, leaving Lin Guangyin with an indifferent back.

"I didn't see it, you have to hurry up." Lin Guangyin said slowly, followed up in two or three steps, raised his arm to block Bai San's body, not far away, a car passed by with bright lights, at the crossroads disappear.

Baisan realized later, was quiet for a few seconds, blinked, and shook off the glittering snow particles that fell on the eyelashes, "Would you like to stay with me overnight at this late hour, and it will be close to get up early tomorrow to go to school."

Lin Guangyin didn't speak.

The breath exhaled in the winter night is thick and white, stretches continuously, spreads out, and dissipates when encountering a little wind.

After a long while, he knelt down on the side of the street and wiped his face, "You know the situation at home. My grandma's health is getting worse day by day, and she has to be served by people who eat and drink. My sister is only in the first grade this year, at the age of playing, I can't stand it. My dad hasn't come back for two years, just to get an extra double salary at the end of the year."

Bai San squatted in a row with him silently, took out the wine in the bag, pulled out the cork vigorously, and handed it to him.

The inside of the cork is moist.

Lin Guangyin gulped down two sips, and after a while, his voice became hoarse, "The family has been relying on my mother all these years, but she can't support it, she is deaf, dumb, and has headaches every now and then, but I can't find out what it is sick."

Everything will be okay.

Thinking of this sentence to lie to the child, Bai San took the wine bottle he handed over, took a sip and passed it back, took out his pocket, and took out a pack of facial tissues to send it.

"Actually, I should have dropped out of school a long time ago, and that's enough for now," Lin Guangyin wiped her face indiscriminately, her lower lip twitching with a tissue, "I called home this morning, and I heard my sister miss me... Wait I can go home after recruiting someone in the store in two days."

Most of the bottle of wine was still left behind, so Bai San drank it all in one gulp, turned around and looked around, picked a small platform that exposed the concrete floor and was easy to clean, and handed the glass bottle to Lin Guangyin to smash it hard.

"This trick is especially decompressive. It is suitable for men, women and children. You smash it first, and I will go to the small supermarket next door to buy some glass cups and ceramic bowls."

Bai San dropped those words, trotted into the supermarket with his hands in his pockets.

The part-time tutor is one class at a time, and there will be classes tomorrow night. His 3000 credit card became 300 in one night without any panic, and he bought a broom and dustpan set at half price when he left.

The next morning, Bai San woke up and sat up on the single bed wrapped in a small cotton quilt. Lin Guangyin had already left, and a squarely folded quilt was placed on the corner of the soft cushion on the wooden floor.

There is a note on the desktop.

-I went to the store and called if I needed something.

ps. Remember to go to the dentist!

It was hard to forget that Bai San’s teeth ached subconsciously. Occasionally, when eating cold food, it would feel like a needle prick, but now he didn’t feel much. He licked the small hole on the tooth with the tip of his tongue, but it seemed to be a little enlarged up...

At eight o'clock in the morning, Bai San lay in front of the window and looked towards the community hospital on the north side. Facing the sunlight, the white railing of the driveway divided a line of light and darkness. The tall buildings in the shadows were dark and silent, which fit all his fantasies about horror. .

Going to the dentist is out of the question.

- please eat strawberry tart...

In the chat box, Bai San typed this sentence to Lin Guangyin with his head down, and was stunned when he was about to send it.He dragged the cotton mop and hugged the cub who was the same height, and walked around the room.

Drawers, fridge, wardrobe, behind the TV, under the bed... only two empty snack wrappers left in the trash.

Bai San frowned, realizing that his stock was exhausted, and when he turned around, he saw the edge of a cookie protruding from the porcelain plate in the kitchen window.

His eyes lit up, and he raised his arms high above his head. After jumping a few times, he couldn't reach it. Angrily, he moved the stool and kicked it on.

The cookies are intact, they were placed yesterday, and no birds passed by.

Bai San's mood brightened instantly, and he put the porcelain plate on the table, and he lay on the table and watched helplessly, with his left leg stepping on the step stool, and his right leg swaying slightly.

want to eat.

But there was only one last piece left.

Still want to eat.

But he has to hold back.

—Must go to the dentist, even if it's for the sake of munching on cookies.

The words in the chat box were cleared one by one, Bai San wrapped the cookies in a beautiful glass candy wrapper, carefully put them in his pocket, and after finishing his teeth, he could eat them when he left the consultation room. At that time, there would be not only cookies, but also A delicious strawberry tart.

His thirst for sweets overcame his fears.

"White?"

At the entrance of the hospital, Bai San met the neighbor across the door, but before seeing the face and hearing the nickname, he first noticed the oral instrument box in the opponent's hand.

He took off his mask and hood, and heard himself asking dryly, "Grandma, are you going to the dentist?"

"Isn't that so?" Grandma leaned on crutches, "When you get old, your teeth are useless."

Bai San listened intently, took a step forward, and opened the heavy glass door.

"He's a good boy," the grandma sighed, "It's a pity that my wife left early, and the two sons were too busy to go home. Now my old lady comes to the hospital alone for treatment."

The old man walked slowly, Bai San stood aside holding the door lever and waited, opened his mouth, just about to say something.I heard the introduction from my grandmother to the cleaner who wiped the glass, saying that he is good, his grades are high, and the certificates he has won can fill two rooms...

Bai San is not very good at communicating, especially in this kind of occasion, he has no experience and doesn't know what to say at all.After the grandma happily finished speaking, he followed him up to the second floor.

It was still the nurse I met yesterday, chatted with grandma, then turned to say hello to him.

"It's time to see the dentist."

The air is filled with the smell of Lysol containing metal objects, alienated and cold.

Baisan's breathing gradually weakened, and he couldn't stop trembling in his heart. He took a peek at the fake cat, sat on the sofa next to Grandma, and said calmly, "I'm here to accompany Grandma."

"Then let me take a look at the condition of the teeth first," the nurse added with a smile, "I don't need to go into the treatment room, I'll just see if it's serious."

Bai San opened his mouth obediently, his body was stiff, his eyes were staring at the ceiling blankly.

One cookie, two cookies, three cookies, four...

"It's pretty deep, it's leaked to the nerves, you control it yourself, like candy, cakes, bread, biscuits, etc., don't eat any more, if you don't want to make it worse."

Bai San was choked for breath, he couldn't quite understand the first sentence, but the latter sentence was heartbreaking, killing without blood.With a pale complexion, he slumped into the sofa seat and fell into the three questions of life.

Grandma took off her thick down jacket and entered the treatment room wearing a red sweater. The sound of the instrument came out, so soft that it could not even beat the movement of the second hand.

It sounded in Baisan's ear, but it was like smashing dense pins, crushing them back and forth.He was motionless, with thin sweat on his back, neither hot nor cold, no pain, no sensation, just calmly panicking.

The admission notice posted on the door was changed, and the time remained the same. There were two doctors, one was in charge of Thursday to Tuesday, and the other was Dr. Jiang, who received temporary consultations, only on Wednesday.

In a daze, Bai San took out his mobile phone to check the date. Today, Thursday, is another doctor's consultation.

That's right, Dr. Jiang was there yesterday.Facing the new doctor, for some reason, he was even more timid.

Suddenly a call popped up, it was from his part-time tutor.

Bai San walked out of the waiting room, connected to the phone, cleared his throat, his voice was still a little dry, "Excuse me, it's a temporary matter, do you want to postpone the class time?"

The phone was quiet for a few seconds, and a crisp female voice came, "No, my child has troubled you during this period. I told him at the beginning of the month that the tutoring class can be stopped. He didn't listen. It's because I'm busy recently. Flying back from Nanzhou..."

Bai San didn't ask the reason. After hanging up the phone, he slid on the waiting chair beside the wall, looking at the blank wall, thinking of his parents, school, the small room he rented, and the only 300 yuan he had left in his card. , and the many days and nights to live for the rest of my life.

The white wall is nothing to look at, he retracted his eyes, slowly took out the cookies from his pocket, unwrapped the cellophane reflecting the brilliant streamer, and he still had sweets.

The door opened and closed, and there was a sound of leather shoes kicking from far and near.

Bai San didn't try to remember it, and it didn't jump to his mind when he was alone, but he could always recognize it easily when it appeared.

Very strange.

Jiang An walked out of the director's office, wearing a suit and leather shoes, with a dark tie under his ironed collar.His hand holding the briefcase is very good-looking, with a wide palm and slightly thick knuckles, but at the same time it is clean, slender, and every inch of bone is just right, full of masculine strength.

Bai San noticed it last night, but it was only a flustered glance, and now it is a little different from the pampered and pampered person he saw at the time at a glance, this person seems to be a new chapter in every move.

"...Dr. Jiang, thank you last night." Bai San pursed his lips and whispered.

Regret after saying that.

He wanted to wait for Jiang An to come over, at least to his side before speaking, even if there was still a department away, so that it wouldn't look like it is now.

Too urgent.

His voice was so small that he wondered if it was breath, but Jiang An heard it, nodded, stopped three steps away, and opened his lips: "Don't your teeth hurt?"

Bai San responded softly, biting his lower lip, thinking whether it might be too brief, a little perfunctory, so what else should he say.

The tip of his tongue inadvertently licked the cavity again. He didn't know if it would be better if it didn't hurt, but the nurse said that the leak was deep, and told him to quit sweets——

Suddenly Bai San's eyes widened, his hands trembled as soon as he reacted, the cookie shook slightly, and the cellophane that was spread out was overflowing with high-profile light following his movements, with a strong sense of presence.

In silence, he shrank back into the padded jacket, slowly divided the cookie into two, tentatively handed it to Jiang An, and asked aggrievedly, "Would you like a small cookie?"

作者有话要说：感谢在2020-05-0121:05:54~2020-05-0314:34:06期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angel who threw the mines: 2 blue chestnuts;

Thanks to the little angel of irrigation nutrient solution: 1 bottle without rot;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!