was his cat

The afternoon sun is warmer, not as hot as noon. The trees on the roadside cast a cloud of shade on the ground, and the breeze blows through, bringing bursts of grass and trees fragrance.

Bai Chu walked beside Chen Chi, seeing the route that was getting more and more deviated from the city, lowered his eyes and didn't ask any more questions, but Chen Chi was a little strange to see Bai Chu so quiet.

"You don't even ask me where I'm taking you? Are you afraid that I'll sell you?" Chen Chi raised his eyebrows and teased.

"You won't." Bai Chu pursed his lips and replied without thinking.

"So confident in me?" Chen Chi was a little amused, "I'm not a good person, don't sell you and count the money for me."

"No." Bai Chu stared at Chen Chi with moist eyes, the trust and dependence in them made Chen Chi's heart tremble.

"Why?" Chen Chi raised his hand and pressed his chest casually, the phrase "why" blurted out, he was quite curious how Bai Chu would answer this question.

"Because..." Bai Chu paused when he said this, and turned his gaze from looking at Chen Chi to the muddy path in front of the two of them. When he spoke again, his voice was a little soft, "You just can't bear it."

"Huh?" Chen Chi was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at Bai Chu's face pretending to be calm, the child's ears turned slightly red, as if he was a little embarrassed.

Chen Chi carefully recollected the meaning of what Bai Chu said just now, and after realizing it, he was a little dumb, and remained silent for a long time, until Chen Chi could see the tombstone standing not far away, he said with a low smile, "Yes, I I can't bear it."

There was silence all around, except for the sound of the wind, only Chen Chi's low, slightly magnetic voice of a young man, Bai Chu's lips curled up slightly, and he didn't turn his head, as if he didn't hear this sentence.

"Here we are." Chen Chi stopped in front of a tombstone, half-squatting, with the plastic bag on the ground, and he reached out to take out the contents one by one.

Bai Chu looked at the tombstone, and the black and white photo on it seemed to be a middle-aged man in his 40s. The reason why he said it seemed to be because the face of the person in the photo was full of wrinkles, with a sense of vicissitudes rushing towards his face, for no reason. Added many years.

But even so, Bai Chu could see the shadow of that person from Chen Chi's eyebrows, and it was not difficult to see the relationship between the two.

"This is my dad." Chen Chi took out the lighter from his trouser pocket, reached out and took a few pieces of yellow paper to light, and put it in the burning paper basin made of cement in front.

"Yeah." Bai Chu nodded, Chen Chi didn't kneel, he just squatted on the ground like Chen Chi, he turned his head to see the expression on Chen Chi's face, very calm, not sad, and of course not happy.

"I and his surname," Chen Chi looked up at the photo on the tombstone in a daze. This was one of the few things that Chen Yaowen left him besides life.

"He..." Chen Chi wanted to tell Bai Chu about Chen Yaowen, but he didn't know how to proceed.

The image of a man in my impression seems not suitable for introducing to children now.

However, even though he suddenly recalled the images of Chen Yaowen beating and scolding him and educating him, there were still some other images occupying another corner of his mind.

He remembered that every time he came home with his grades, the man would tell him very seriously that the grades were not the best, and there was nothing to be happy about, but when he turned his head, he could see Chen Yaowen walking out the door and telling his neighbors proudly.

"Hey, it's that kid, the second one thinks he did very poorly in the exam... No, I said the same thing, but he just loves to read books..."

"That kid is a piece of material for studying, he doesn't look like me at all... Then, he can have great promise..."

……

For Chen Yaowen's proud appearance and the phrase "promising", he has been working hard for a long time, and he has been working hard all the time, so that Chen Yaowen can seriously say to him in front of him that day, "I am proud of you".

But what he finally received was the news that Chen Yaowen died of a sudden heart attack. Later, he lost what he could be proud of as a man, and he was also left behind by the shining golden road, and then turned around and walked on to another road full of joy. A narrow path of thorns, and he didn't wait for the sentence he wanted from the beginning to the end.

Since then, it is impossible to have the opportunity to hear it again.

"He... thinks highly of me." Chen Chi's voice was very soft, but the words he said were heavy. In fact, he knew that Chen Yaowen just didn't know how to educate children in the right way.

After all, being a father for the first time, Chen Chi thought, he should understand.

It's just that he didn't have a mother to protect and block him, so his childhood only had his father's strict side, and Chen Yaowen may not even be aware of his partiality.

"Important?" Bai Chu tilted his head, stretched out his hand to take some papers from Chen Chi's hand, followed Chen Chi's movements and put them into the basin one by one, and watched them slowly being swallowed by the fire, turning them into black ashes .

"Well, you have high expectations for me. I hope I will study hard and get into a good school." Chen Chi frowned slightly, and then sneered, "Unfortunately, I didn't follow his wishes."

Going to get a racing car is something that Chen Yaowen thinks is "not good at learning". I don't know what he thinks if he really sees it in the sky, and he probably won't be very happy.

I hope I won't suffer a long-lost beating, although Chen Chi thought so, the corners of his mouth slowly flattened.

"Well," Bai Chu looked at Chen Chi's appearance with a flash of distress in his eyes, he pretended to smile relaxedly, very proud, "then he must have never thought that you are so good now, not only can you take good care of yourself , and can also raise her boyfriend to become fat for nothing."

"..." Chen Chi took a rare choke. Although he knew that Bai Chu was trying to coax him, he still felt that Bai Chu's words were very problematic.

Chen Chi looked at Bai Chu inexplicably, squeezed the tip of Bai Chu's small nose with one hand, and sighed, "Now I can say anything."

Thinking back to the little white rabbit who had to lower his head and blushed and close his eyes to pretend to be dead when he said a word, Chen Chi felt that the current Bai Chu might have evolved, at least he had turned from a little white rabbit into a big white rabbit.

"I'm not wrong..." Bai Chu blinked and retorted softly.

"Well, you're right." Chen Chi chuckled, feeling that the melancholy that was hidden in his heart just now disappeared instantly.

Seeing that it was getting late, Bai Chu continued to put paper money in the basin, Chen Chi turned sideways and picked up a handful of incense sticks on the side, tore off the plastic bag, and lit it on the fire.

"Today I just want you to meet the person I will take with me for the rest of my life." Chen Chi's tone was very light, as if he was talking about such a simple matter as eating.

Bai Chu raised his eyes suddenly, and looked at Chen Chi's face facing him. What was different from his casual movements was the seriousness hidden in his dark eyes.

"I like him very much, let me tell you."

I like him very much, you don't need to like him, I tell you, you don't need to agree.

You have always been a familiar elder, but you are not an elder who must be blessed by you when you fall in love and get married. I will respect you. This is the courtesy you taught me.

But having respect does not mean that there will be family affection.

Chen Chi inserted the incense sticks, lit the pair of candles and placed them on both sides of the tombstone. When he got up, Bai Chu just finished burning the paper money and stood up.

The flames devoured the last corner of the paper money, and the cool breeze in the afternoon rolled up black ashes and danced in the air. The smell of incense blew to the tip of his nose along the direction of the wind. Chen Chi was now quietly staring at the black and white picture in front of Chen Yaowen's photo. A slightly aged face.

After a while, he took Bai Chu's hand naturally, then turned and left.

From now on, Bai Chu will be his only family member.