murmuring

As the sun sets, the big red round wheel has been covered by the mountains, leaving an orange-red fan-shaped tail hanging in the sky. The red-orange light halos the surrounding clouds, against the clear blue sky, like The burning flames generally spread wantonly, which is magnificent and dazzling from a distance, attracting pedestrians to stop and watch, and occasionally take out their mobile phones to take pictures as souvenirs.

In Xincheng, on both sides of the road, there are row upon row of uneven buildings. Among the lush green plants, the breeze blows a little bit of coolness, dissipating the scorching heat of the day.At both ends of the sidewalk, the indicator lights turned from red to green, flashing and urging non-stop. The passing vehicles stopped early and formed a long queue.

The white jersey on Zhou Mingchen's upper body was already drenched with sweat, beads of sweat were constantly dripping from his forehead, and his hair was almost dripping. Finally, he waited for the green light.He let out a long breath, held the basketball in one hand, clasped the water glass with five fingers in the other hand, followed a few strangers across the zebra crossing, turned right and walked into the gate of Mingyuan Community.

The security uncle was wearing a blue uniform, sitting in the pavilion dutifully, looking up whenever someone came in or out.Entering the community, there are walls and high-rise buildings to block you, and the cool air blows in your face, with the unique fresh smell of vegetation in your nose, which is completely different from the dirty hot air mixed with exhaust gas and dust on the road.Zhou Mingchen raised his brows comfortably, the cool breeze was blowing on his body, and the temperature of his body after exercising in the hot weather also dropped.

Mingyuan Community is backed by mountains, and there are many green plants. There are gazebo tables and chairs for rest and simple entertainment and fitness facilities downstairs.At this time, the downstairs of the community was very lively. Near the end of the summer vacation, the old people who had been bored in the house all day came out to play with their babies.

No matter how big or small the children are, they are very lively and active.The older ones were playing on slides, playing with toy cars, and skipping rope by themselves, laughing and laughing non-stop; some of the younger ones were held in the arms of the old man, listening to the old man's chatter; , walking steadily step by step, exploring the still unfamiliar world with wide eyes open.

Some old people looked strangely at Zhou Mingchen and cast kind and curious eyes. Zhou Mingchen noticed it and smiled back in embarrassment.This scene was both familiar and unfamiliar, Zhou Mingchen frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly remembered the scene of accompanying his grandfather back to his hometown last year.

Grandpa was born in a remote village near Xincheng, and the village didn't even have a decent middle school.Grandpa took them to visit old friends whom he hadn't seen for a long time. The trails in the village were exceptionally quiet, and as far as the eye could see were the rolling hills, quietly flowing streams, and vast fields that were hard to see in the city.It's just mostly deserted and overgrown with tall weeds.

It is difficult to meet people on the road. The doors of the houses are open, the old people sit on the benches at the door to enjoy the shade, and the children play outside the door.

There seemed to be very few guests, and the villagers expressed their joy at seeing them.The old people took the grandfather to chat with their parents, and the conversation was full of big and small things for their children and grandchildren. The children didn't recognize their birth, and enthusiastically pulled him to play games.

It was already dusk on the return journey, and my grandfather was extremely reluctant to let go, and his mood was always very low. My mother kept holding my grandfather's arm until my grandfather called Zhou Mingchen to go over.When he reached the corner, Zhou Mingchen turned his head by chance. His parents were unusually peaceful, walking side by side on the weed-covered path on both sides. Zhou's father held Zhou's mother's hand silently.

Walking down the tenth building, the familiar house number brought back Zhou Mingchen's thoughts. The sweaty T-shirt on his upper body was blown by the wind, and it stuck to the skin/flesh of his body without any gaps, making it sticky to the touch. , Zhou Mingchen tugged at the hem of his clothes, raised his hand and sniffed the sleeves, and smelled a strong smell of body/warm sweat, and immediately frowned in disgust.

Go upstairs and take a good shower. Zhou Mingchen stuffed the water cup into his bag, took out the key card and opened the door.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

The sudden barking of the dog startled Zhou Mingchen, his neck and shoulders shrank back a bit, and he looked ahead belatedly, and saw a dog running down the stairs in front of him!

Zhou Mingchen took a step back unconsciously, and his body also leaned back, as if he could run backward at any time.

This is a rare earth dog in the city. Its earth-colored hair looks shiny and smooth, and its size is less than his knees, but its bark is much more fierce than ordinary pet dogs, and its momentum is terrifying.Zhou Mingchen's brain hadn't reacted yet, but his hands had already moved, and he threw the basketball over.

The earth dog jumped up on its forelegs and swiftly dodged to the side. The flying basketball fell into the air and hit the ground with a "bang". After bouncing a few times, it rolled to the side.

What's worse, this time the dog barked even more fiercely, showing threatening fangs, and its round eyes gleamed fiercely, staring at Zhou Mingchen so hard that the hairs on his body stood on end.

When his consciousness returned, Zhou Mingchen froze his hands and froze, not daring to make any more movements.It is said that a native dog will bark when it sees a stranger, but it may not necessarily attack. Now the dog seems to be irritated by him, with an angry warning grunt in its throat, and its paws are moving restlessly, looking like it is about to pounce on it at any time.

Zhou Mingchen tried his best to keep calm, but he clenched his hands unconsciously. The bitten place on his left calf seemed to be throbbing with pain.He looked at the dog carefully, a few drops of sweat ran down his hair and slid across his dry cheeks.

How to do?

Zhou Mingchen tried his best to recall the feasible countermeasures, only to find that there was a blank in his mind, and he couldn't think of emergency countermeasures at critical moments.

"Jump."

In the confrontation between a person and a dog, a clear voice and human footsteps came from the stairs.As soon as the dog heard the sound, it immediately turned its head and ran towards the source of the sound. It was very dexterous and excited.

Zhou Mingchen was overjoyed and a little annoyed at the same time. He let go of the breath he was holding on to, and leaned back against the door with weak legs to take a breath.

"Don't run so fast next time."

Zhou Mingchen bent down to pick up the ball, and heard this sentence again.

The sound of footsteps became clearer and clearer. First the dog ran out from the corner of the stairs, and then a boy came out.The dog that barked fiercely at him just now turned its head and rubbed against the boy's legs, it was extremely docile and obedient.The boy touched its head tenderly, and the dirt dog licked its master's hand as if it had been rewarded, and happily jumped up its forelegs twice.

This scene of harmony/harmony/love makes Zhou Mingchen almost spit out a mouthful of old blood, staring at the dog owner in a daze, with an overly fair complexion and facial features that are like a brush. The sunset glow in the sky was even more eye-catching, Zhou Mingchen couldn't help being taken aback.

The boy obviously didn't mean to say hello, and he was about to pass him by with the dog.When the dog approached, Zhou Mingchen subconsciously walked away and gave way to the side. With the owner beside him, the dog didn't bark anymore.

The boy didn't notice his cautious and probing eyes at all, as if he didn't know anything about the dog's evil deeds just now.The corner of Zhou Mingchen's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help calling out to him: "Wait a minute!"

The boy turned his head and looked at him coldly, with some doubts in his eyes.

Zhou Mingchen pointed to the dog circling around the boy: "Is this your dog?"

The boy looked down at his dog, not knowing what he meant, and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Zhou Mingchen slowed down and tried to soften his tone: "It is recommended that you take your dog out with a leash or leash, which is safer, especially because your dog is quite aggressive. It almost bit me just now."

"Impossible!" The young man began to have a calm face, and when he heard the last sentence, he became emotional, and he didn't even want to refute it decisively. Never bit anyone."

His words made the polite smile on Zhou Mingchen's lips disappear, and he said coldly, "It didn't exist before, but it doesn't mean it won't exist in the future. Didn't you hear it screaming just now?"

The boy looked down at his dog hesitantly, but said nothing.

Zhou Mingchen could see it clearly, the flame in his heart became smaller.

"You can't be too careful. If you really bite someone, it will be a big deal. We all live in the same building. If you bring your dog out in the future, at least put it on a leash. It's good for everyone."

The dog seemed to be very human, and keenly sensed that the situation was wrong, and the owner was in a weak position, so he barked at Zhou Mingchen twice defensively.

The boy hurriedly squatted down, grabbed the dog's ears with both hands, and criticized harshly: "Tiaotiao, don't be so vicious."

The dirt dog barked twice in aggrieved manner, shook its furry body, squatted down, and fell silent.

"Good boy." The boy gently touched its head, stood up suddenly and bowed to him: "Sorry, I scared you just now, I will pay attention to it in the future."

Zhou Mingchen was not frightened by the dog, but was startled by the dog's owner. He tilted his body to avoid it, looked at the back of the boy's jet-black head, and was shocked by his great etiquette. He stammered for no reason. , the voice was soft: "It's a lot, it's a big deal... Just take care of the dog in the future."