Continuously

The road was winding and uneven, resounding with Yao An's anxious footsteps. He should be grateful for the swimming training for more than half a year, ensuring that he can use his strong lung capacity to inhale the cold air and run non-stop.

He was indeed running wildly, unambiguously, the wind was blowing on the front door like a blade, trying to compete with him.

Groups of children and adults came out from under the lantern, but there was no one he was looking for, and they bumped into someone he knew: "Isn't this Yao An, where are you rushing to?"

Yao An didn't have the time to explain to them one by one, and the small talk was avoided, so he just said behind his back: "Look for Yao Jianqi."

Yao Jianqi never made him feel at ease.

Yao An felt that Yao Jianqi made up for all the insight he lacked in his life.

"Should I give you a ride?" Someone rolled down the window of the car. In Anding Village, everyone looked up and down were acquaintances.

Yao An hesitated, waved his hands and said, "No, you guys go."

He was afraid that if Yao Jian Qi Wan turned back, he would not be able to catch anyone in the pitch black.

After passing the temple in a hurry, Yao An's throat was filled with smoke, and a large amount of cold air settled in his lungs, causing him to cough several times.

Turning another corner is the T-shaped intersection at the head of the village, where there is an old banyan tree that is not big enough for two people to hug, there is a kiosk selling ice cream, and... a lunatic.

Yao An was selfish, once.

He didn't dare to go there alone, he couldn't forget what actually happened, and the fear of the distorted face in the nightmare.

But you have to face it.

It's like sleeping alone on the bed when I was a child, but I was afraid that evil spirits would appear on the other side, so I leaned my back against the wall and turned to the empty side with my eyes closed.

He didn't tell Yao Jianqi that he took him to the canteen for the first time to deceive his ears.

He thought that with someone to accompany him, he would not be so afraid.

It was only now that Yao An realized that with someone to protect, he would no longer be afraid.

The ficus and leaves of the banyan tree gradually took shape in front of my eyes, and there was a bit of chatter of wine glasses leaking from the crack in the door of the canteen, but Yao Jianqi was nowhere to be seen.

impossible.

Yao An stood at the T-shaped intersection and looked around. He obviously found it along the way, and there was nothing he missed, unless...

My ears buzzed.

Yao An tried his best to get rid of the premonition that suddenly entangled him, the bad premonition, silently repeated three words, no, definitely not.

In a state of confusion, he unconsciously walked towards the place where the incident happened.

Yao An ran to the side of the road, stepped on the dirt slope without seeing clearly, the mud was loose, he staggered and braced himself on a bush to avoid falling.

"Yao Jianqi!" Yao An didn't care about the mud on his hands, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted, so many times, he scattered in the wilderness without an echo.

Yao An stepped over clumps of overgrown wild ferns, ran to the center, and shouted again: "Yao Jianqi! You are..."

A series of bells rang.

The phone vibrated in his pocket, Yao An was taken aback, and dully realized that he was so anxious that he forgot to make a call.

He hurriedly took out his mobile phone, and there were two familiar overlapping characters jumping on the screen.

Yao An took a deep breath, quickly picked it up and put it to his ear, and shouted uncontrollably, "Where the hell are you, Yao Jianqi?!"

The other end of the phone was quiet for a while, like a deliberate pause, and then a calm voice said, "Behind you."

Yao An turned his head abruptly.

On the edge of the field ridge, the fungus emits snow-like phosphorescent light, spreading all the way to Yao Jianqi's feet, his expression is blurred by the night, only his thin lips can be seen clearly.

Yao An's movements were earlier than he realized, and before he put down his phone, he ran over, trampled on the stubble all the way, but stopped abruptly in front of Yao Jianqi.

He looked at Yao Jianqi up and down, and it was clear that he was neater than him, and the stone in his heart was finally removed.

"you……"

Yao Jianqi interrupted him and asked, "This is right here, right?"

A sentence without beginning or end, when it came to Yao An, he understood it without turning a corner.

Yao An suddenly couldn't believe it: "You, why... when?"

Yao Jianqi stared at him, the expression on his face was so similar to the first summer when they fell together.

Yao An didn't ask any more questions.

It turned out to be that early.

"Actually, nothing happened..." Yao An said confusedly, "It's just that I was too young at that time and was scared..."

"Brother." Yao Jianqi called him softly, and put his palm close to his face, but didn't touch it, for fear of chilling him, "You don't need to say anything."

Yao An didn't expect him to be like this, and for a while, he didn't know what to say, and the words to evade, explain, and confide were all piled up by his mouth.

"I just don't want you to keep hiding." Yao Jianqi put his hand on Yao An's plaid scarf and stroked it, "If you don't come tonight, I will be... I really don't know what to do manage."

His tone was low, like a floating fishing line, transparent and slender.

But deadly.

"I can tell." Yao An suddenly took his hand that fell from his scarf, "I'll tell you everything."

Yao Jianqi didn't move, his eyes were on his shoulder.

"I'm listening," he said.

Yao An took a deep breath, looked at the empty fields, and after a long time, said: "How long ago..."

When narrating, Yao An was calmer than he imagined. The past that once weighed him down was caused by an accident, a correction, or the most primitive and ugly motive—even though it failed.

Its substantial damage at least seemed so small, so small that he didn't dare to approach the nightmare and the periphery alone.

However, on this night, they were easily dismembered in unscripted words and sentences, and thrown to the farthest fields and mountains.

because

"It's all in the past." Yao An finally said, and suddenly realized that Yao Jianqi had said the same thing before. That time, he accidentally knew that Yao Jianqi was isolated by his classmates, so Yao Jianqi said this to appease his equally incomprehensible and anger.

"...Are you listening?" Suddenly, he found that the person in front of him was silent from the beginning to the end, and his eyes seemed to be closed.

"It turns out that no matter what the person says, it's fine." Yao Jianqi's voice was damp and heavy in his collar, "People who listen to it will still want to go crazy."

"Huh??" Yao An thought he heard it wrong, looked down at Yao Jianqi's face, and smiled, "What did you say?"

Yao Jianqi didn't make trouble with him, and looked straight at him, as if finding even a trace of disobedience on his face: "Brother, are you really indifferent?"

"Of course I have something to say!" Yao An scolded aggressively as if a switch had been turned, "I suddenly realized that all these years of patience were really useless, why should I hide from him? His two ears were pressed to the ground and he was beaten violently, and I will fucking crawl on him!"

He said all this in one breath, and he felt really happy, but he didn't care about Yao Jianqi, who looked at him as if he had been baffled.

"Well, see you..." He hurriedly changed his tone, but saw the boy in front of him with his arms outstretched, catching the wind.

"Hug." Yao Jianqi said.

Yao An couldn't hold back his smile anymore, he really wanted to tease him a few words, like teasing a little animal that has delayed its hibernation.

But in fact, he just stepped forward and accepted the hug.

Yao Jianqi gave him a hug.

"You brought me here in the middle of the night just to hear me say this?" Yao An just brushed Yao Jianqi's ear with his lips, feeling cold, "I almost worried to death for you."

"It's not just this." Yao Jianqi said, wrapping his arms around him.

"What else?" Yao An wanted to open his coat and wrap him tightly, but this posture was not suitable.

"It's too late to send it off now, so let me describe it to you." Yao Jianqi said.

"Huh?" Yao An was confused.

"Your gift." Yao Jianqi hugged him tightly and whispered, "The walls are khaki, paved with large shading pens, with sickles, hammers, and bamboo hats hanging on them, the ground is properly left blank, and there are swings. It's blue, blue and ultramarine, with a small flat pen.

"It was dusk at that time, and the setting sun slanted above it, medium yellow, orange, rose red.

"There are two pairs of footprints on the ground, one big and one small, facing each other.

"That's us."

There are always two people in and out of the painting.