hope for redemption

At the end of September, Linxian County still seemed to be in midsummer. The buildings made of reinforced concrete surrounded the entire county town layer by layer. The heat wave couldn't escape and the autumn wind couldn't get in. The whole county town was like an oven on earth.

Jiang Xi stood at the gate of the station dragging a huge silver-white suitcase with the air freight label still unremoved, layer after layer of heat waves rushing up like a tide, and dense sweat oozes from his fair skin.

Jiang Xi took out his cell phone from his jeans and checked the time.

12:43

It was 17 minutes away from the estimated arrival time I sent to my mother.

"Tsk," Jiang Xi frowned impatiently, stuffed the phone back into his trouser pocket, and looked up at the sky.

The silvery-white light from the golden sun hurt the eyes.

Jiang Xi lowered his eyes and took a while to drag his suitcase out of the station gate.

"Hey, handsome guy, where are you going? 5 yuan to Backgammon, 6 yuan to Baijia, and 8 yuan to Qiaotou." A middle-aged man ran up and asked in Linxian dialect.

Even though Jiang Xi has been in Australia for four years, hearing her hometown dialect since she was a child is like a deep-rooted memory, as long as she is reminded, she will remember everything.

Jiang Xi tried to reply in his native dialect, but felt something was wrong when he opened his mouth, and a syllable stuck in his throat.

Jiang Xi waved his hand helplessly to signal no, and the elder brother immediately ran to the next passenger who came out of the station.

"Hey, take a ride, there are still two people left!"

"Hey, five yuan taxi at the bridge to carpool!"

A group of taxi drivers surrounded the entrance of the station, scrambling to find the passengers in the car. Jiang Xi struggled to drag the suitcase while waving his hands to signal that he didn't need to take a taxi, and hurriedly escaped from the siege.

There are several stalls for fried food at the entrance of the station. There are already fried sweet potato cakes, sesame oil cakes and various drinks on the stalls.Motorcycle drivers put their motorcycles in rows on the side of the street, sitting under a tree and eating popsicles leisurely, leisurely watching those taxi drivers fight for the heads of passengers.

After a round of "Great Escape", Jiang Xi's hair in front of his forehead was drooping wet and stuck to his forehead weakly. Jiang Xi pulled the black hair rope on his wrist, grabbed his hair a few times and tied it up. A little Jiujiu pressed against Jiang Xi's head, revealing Jiang Xi's smooth forehead.

Jiang Xi's facial features are beautiful, a pair of big and bright peach blossom eyes with clear black and white, high nose bridge, full lips, even though the bruises in front of his eyes are a little serious, he doesn't look depressed.The whole face fully embodies the special beauty of being indistinguishable between male and female at this age.

To be precise, Jiang Xi can be classified as a "beauty", but the sharp light in this beauty's eyes cannot be ignored.

The aroma of fried sweet potato cakes in the air was like a small hook, hooking Jiang Xi's stomach that hadn't eaten for two days.

Jiang Xi dragged his suitcase and stood under the shade of the tree, rubbed his belly with one hand, and took out his phone to check the time with the other.

12:53

"Fuck!" Jiang Xi cursed in a low voice. According to his understanding of the temperament of his mother three years ago, his mother is definitely a very punctual person, which means that he still has to spend time in this outdoor steamer. Stay here for 7 minutes, neither a minute nor a second less.

The aroma of fried sweet potato cakes hooked his stomach again, Jiang Xi swallowed, then dragged his suitcase and walked towards the stall.

"Handsome guy, Qimode (what to eat)?" The obese old woman lowered the cake into the oil pan with an iron colander in one hand, raised her dark face covered with ravines, and asked in her native dialect.

"A sweet potato pancake."

"Okay," the old woman briskly removed the transparent plastic bag from the iron shelf beside her, then wrapped the fried sweet potato cakes and put them on the frying pan to cool, and handed them to Jiang Xi, " One dollar, handsome guy, WeChat, Alipay or cash?"

Jiang Xi took out her mobile phone with one hand, and when she was about to pick it up with the other hand, she suddenly recalled a woman's soft but compulsive voice.

"No curbside junk food, mydearling."

Jiang Xi was a little dazed, even though he had already left, he couldn't get rid of it, and couldn't forget everything that woman brought him and taught him.

Such a sense of powerlessness made Jiang Xi a little out of breath.

"Handsome guy? Handsome guy?" The gentle voice of the old lady pulled Jiang Xi out of the confusion. Jiang Xi collected himself, took a deep breath, and said to the old lady while turning on the phone: "Alipay."

The old woman turned over the QR code card hanging in front of the frying pan, revealing the QR code of Alipay. Jiang Xi opened Alipay and scanned it. After success, she showed the old woman the interface of the successful payment. After receiving the plastic bag, he squatted on the side of the road and ate.

12:58

The cooled sweet potato cakes are indeed not as delicious as the hot ones just out of the pan, but in this outdoor steamer with a body temperature of 39.8°C, who would eat sweet potato cakes that are hot to the touch.

Feeling sick, Jiang Xi thought, it was still too greasy.

For Jiang Xi, who ate raw fish porridge and rice rolls in Guangzhou since he was a child, and received seafood baptism in Australia since he was 13, the food in Linxian County is really too oily, and the oil is a bit nauseating.

When Jiang Xi frowned and looked at the last bite of sweet potato pancakes, and was considering whether to eat or not, the mobile phone in his trouser pocket rang. Jiang Xi pulled the mobile phone from his trouser belt, and the screen displayed Contacting his mother's phone, Jiang Xi turned off the screen, wiped the screen on his shirt to remove the sweat on the screen, and then turned on the screen and slid the answer button.

"Jiang Xi, where are you?" His mother's voice came through the earpiece, and the familiar yet unfamiliar voice hit Jiang Xi's ears, making Jiang Xi's scalp numb.

"The sweet potato stand outside the station," Jiang Xi blinked, and answered with a sob.

"I'm on the main road outside the station. You come out and go straight. It's a red Toyota with the license plate Xiang XXX67"

"Okay, got it."

Jiang Xi hung up the phone, threw the leftover sweet potato pancakes in the stinking garbage pile by the roadside, and dragged his suitcase towards the main road.

Jiang Xi saw the red Toyota, corrected the tail number, took a deep breath and knocked on the window.The car window was lowered, and the air-conditioning mixed with the unknown aroma inside the car rushed towards the face

Mom took off her sunglasses, revealing her delicately made-up face, her peach blossom eyes, which were the same as Jiang Xi's, turned red after seeing Jiang Xi.Looking at the face in front of her that was almost the same as four years ago, Jiang Xi panicked for a moment, as if her departure hadn't affected her much, as if she was still so unimportant.

But the red eyes of my mother let me see the long-lost maternal love.

The mother pressed the button on the car, and the trunk was lifted with a "bang". Jiang Xi walked to the back of the car without saying a word, lifted the trunk, put it in, closed the trunk tightly, and walked to the back of the car without saying a word. The co-pilot got in, closed the door, and fastened his seat belt.

The whole process was silent, eyes lowered.

Mom put on the sunglasses again and started the car.

"Have you eaten?" Mom asked while turning the steering wheel to change lanes.

"no"

"It's too late to go home and cook now, so find a place to eat first, and then take you to buy some daily necessities before going home."

"Go home?" Jiang Xi was a little dazed when he heard the word, and then he felt funny, "Home? Whose home?"

These words obviously stimulated my mother, "Jiang Xi!" Then she thought of something, took a few deep breaths, swallowed and said, "Buy some daily necessities and go back to your Uncle Xiao."

"No, take me to Swan Lake directly, I've already booked a room."

squeak--

The sudden emergency brake made Jiang Xi's body rush forward, but the seat belt pulled his body back, and his head hit the back of the seat.

"What did you say?!" Mom's questioning voice exploded in my ears, "Jiang Xi! What do you mean! Since you are so capable, don't come back! Don't come to me! You go to Jiang Tiancheng ! There is your home!"

My mother's questioning sounds hit my eardrums again and again, causing my head to feel dizzy one after another. The sequelae of not closing my eyes for two days and two nights accompanied by my mother's questioning sound hit me like an impenetrable net , Wrapped and entangled himself tightly.

Breathless, suffocating.

"Why didn't you answer the phone I called you that day? What are you doing?" Jiang Xi bent down, propped his elbows on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

When these two questions came out, it was like pressing the pause button, and my mother was speechless.

The interior of the carriage was as silent as a dead pool, and the hot breath outside could not melt the coldness at this moment.

It's too cold and the air conditioner is turned too low.Jiang Xi thought to himself.

The driver behind the car impatiently honked the horn and urged the mother's car to go faster.

Jiang Xi took some tissues and handed them to his mother, who raised her sunglasses and wiped her tears, then put the sunglasses back on and started the car.

Jiang Xi took a few deep breaths, suppressed the breath stuck in his chest, sat up straight, and looked out of the car.

"I just want to come back to study, take a university entrance exam and live the rest of my life in peace. The school asks you to help me take care of the living expenses and tuition. Jiang Tiancheng, um, my dad will pay. I will live in a hotel first, and I will pay for it before school starts. Find a good house, I will send you the address at that time, I will not cause trouble for you after I arrive at school, but if there is a parent meeting or something, I still need to trouble you to come. I will fulfill the obligations of children to their parents after work , I don't expect too much from you, and you don't expect too much from me." Jiang Xi tried his best to calmly describe what he wanted to say.

A silence.

After arriving at Swan Lake, my mother parked the car at the door, opened the car window and lit a slender Nanjing. Jiang Xi noticed that her mother's fingers leaning against the car window were still trembling.

"Jiang's family is really cool by nature." My mother's voice was a little hoarse after smoking. I will send the matter to your mobile phone. If you are free, go and see grandpa, he misses you very much, and you can't blame him for what happened back then. "

Thinking of Grandpa Jiang Xi's panic for a moment, a thin figure flashed in front of his eyes, which made his eyes hurt.

Grandpa, maybe the last one who didn't give up on himself.

"it is good."

After finishing speaking, Jiang Xi wanted to open the car door, and the heat wave outside rolled up layer by layer like a tide, driving away the chill on the surface of the skin.

"Jiaojiao, Mom misses you very much."

Before Jiang Xi closed the car door, his mother looked out of the car and said to herself.My mother didn't take off her sunglasses, but I still seemed to see my mother's red eyes.

Jiaojiao, how long has it been since I heard this name?Do you really miss me?Why did you never call me during my time?Why didn't you answer the phone I called you that day?Why did you sign that agreement with dad?Why?Why?

Jiang Xi took the suitcase and watched the red Toyota disappear around the corner.One question after another kept popping up in my mind, I really wanted to question it, but I couldn't ask it, I was afraid that the result I got would hurt me again, obviously, I was already bruised all over.

Jiang Xi dragged his suitcase to the front desk to check in. The elevator was going up, and the view of the back garden of Swan Lake was getting smaller and smaller. The sun shone through the glass, but he couldn't feel the slightest warmth.

Di-

Jiang Xi took the room card to swipe the sensor lock, removed the room card into the sensor slot, and all the lights in the room turned on at once.

Although Lin County is an unknown small county, thanks to the support of the third-tier city of Changshi and the high enrollment rate, it has also developed from a small border county to a small middle-level county in recent years.

And what I decided was the most high-end hotel in this small middle-level county.

Jiang Xi has never been a person who is willing to wrong himself.

Swan Lake is not bad overall, the decoration is more European and American Gothic, and there is a naked fountain of Cupid Cupid at the door.

Jiang Xi put the suitcase in the corridor without tidying it up. He didn't even bother to pull the curtains, so he flung himself on the bed, wrapped the quilt casually, and got ready to sleep.

Drowsiness hit, and before the consciousness dissipated, Jiang Xi was still thinking: This bed is so soft.

-----

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"Mom! Don't call me Jiaojiao anymore! I'm a boy! Not a girl!" Under the setting sun, a soft little boy was sitting on the lawn, kicking his calf with angry words.

The woman on the side was wearing a long skirt and looked at the little boy on the ground and couldn't straighten up with laughter. A man in a suit came over and gently held the little boy's feet to calm him down, then knelt down and put the little boy down. He hugged her on her lap, gently wiped away the tears on the boy's face, and said softly to the little boy: "Do you know why Mom and Dad called you Jiaojiao?"

The little boy looked up at the man in puzzlement, and the man said with a chuckle.

"The delicate one in the palm deserves to be pampered."

The author has something to say:

The early stage of the story will be relatively slow, I hope you can give a little patience to read it slowly, thank you.

Chapters 5, 6, and 30 will be covered. The author with poor writing is tearfully shaking a small handkerchief at you, asking for attention, collection and comments. Your comments on the plot are the motivation for me to write.