Taste

In the summer of 2005, a town in H city.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to our baby Runyun, happy birthday to you!"

"Our baby is nine years old! Make a wish and make a wish soon." Xu's mother urged on the seat, a small but very delicate fruit cake was placed on the table, surrounded by exactly nine candles, "It's not good if the candle burns for a long time..."

Father Xu's business this year has finally improved compared to before, and this is the first time he bought a small cake for his precious daughter's birthday.

Run Yun, who had grown a little taller, didn't need to stand on the small bench to blow out candles anymore, her white and tender cheeks were pink with joy, and the yellow candlelight reflected a trace of tension and impatience in her eyes.

"Come on, let's eat a piece first." After blowing out the candles, Father Xu picked up a disposable plate, cut a large piece, and deliberately left all the fruit pieces on the cake.

Little Runyun carefully scooped up a sip of cream with a fork, took a sip with her light pink tongue, closed her eyes and relished the first taste of the milky aroma, shaking her little head.Xu's father laughed, and touched his little head twice with his big hand, "Daddy will buy a cake for Runyun every year in the future, okay?" Little head paused, then lifted up abruptly, eyes gleaming, I forgot about the cake in front of me.

"Mom, it's my birthday today, can I go to work overtime with you at night? I asked my dad, and he always said that you went to work overtime. The children in the class don't know where the overtime is. I want to go and have a look. It's interesting there." ?"

"Working overtime is a continuous action, just like you just ate the cake, do you want to keep eating it? So overtime is like eating cake for mom, it's easy and fun, but it's a pity that you can't play this game until you grow up .”

"I'm in the distance, can't I take a look at the overtime work from a far away place? Mom, take me with you."

Xu's mother was so entangled that she had no choice but to agree, "It's agreed, I'll take a look at it tonight and follow Dad back."

The rusty iron railings can barely surround a giant beast. The stone pillars in front of the gray concrete wall should not have been renovated for a long time in the twilight. The hard red paint looks like a giant beast's bloody mouth from a distance.The characters on the plaque at the main entrance are missing three or four, a little missing here, and a horizontal line over there has disappeared.The most frightening thing was that the monster's tail rushed up into the sky, and it was swallowing clouds and fog. The white clouds were swallowed in, and the black clouds were spit out.

Xiao Runyun held her parents' hands tightly, not daring to look directly at the "overtime work" she was looking forward to.

"Does Runyun know about mother's overtime work now?"

"I'm a little scared. It looks scary here. It's not interesting at all. Mom, don't go in..." Runyun completely forgot his promise at home, and held on to his mother's sleeve tightly.

"When Runyun grows up and is capable, choose a good job and go to a big place, so that overtime work and free cakes will not be so dark, it is the kind of resplendent! Mom works overtime here for Let our family live a better life, so it feels very interesting," Xu's mother comforted.

"Why would you choose such a horrible place for a family? Isn't it fun for a family to be together all the time?"

"Because I love our family. After Runyun understands love, I will know a special kind of fun: no matter how scary a place is, as long as it is for the love in my heart, it is worth breaking through." Mother Xu said no more He said, touched his confused little head again, and then watched Runyun go away.

At the same time, a certain town in S city.

On the floor of the living room, broken porcelain, books, and overturned trash cans all showed that a lot of conflict broke out here just now.However, the chaos and dead silence after the conflict are in stark contrast to the little girl's room.

Sitting at the desk, Yanhan didn't elongate her height for a year, but seemed to be even thinner.The whimpering sound of the little beast wafted in the air in the room. Looking carefully at the straight waist, it trembled slightly.There are a few ink stains on the copybook that was drawn stroke by stroke with a pen.She gritted her teeth tightly, anger was baking the line of "reason" in her mind, holding a pen in one hand, and unconsciously scratching the table with the other hand, but the tears still flowed down uncontrollably .

Half an hour later, the little girl calmed down, and what happened two hours ago came back to her mind.

"How many times have I said that her grades this time can be listed in key junior high schools. Why don't you find your old classmate? My daughter skipped a grade. Why can't she do it?"

"She is your daughter, and mine. Of course you can enter the key points of the list of grades, but you let her stay at such a young age. You think you are well-raised, and your height can't catch up with the average level. You look so pale. Para-dystrophic look."

"No, you can raise it. You are on business 20 days a month. You are sorry. I don't care. Now I have to transfer to the No. [-] Middle School of the city. If I stay in this shitty town, will I become an idiot like them? ?”

"Okay, you can find a relationship by yourself, and let her transfer you if you find it."

……

Yanhan was lying on the bed with the doll in her arms, the tingling pain on her fingers made her feel a lot better, but she was still annoyed that she was worthless, how many times this kind of plot had happened, and she could only hide in the room and cry.

The late autumn of 2005 was supposed to be a bleak season, but two major events made Xiao Yanhan see the "spring" of recovery for the first time.

The first thing is that the notorious Xie family couple in the community finally divorced.

The second thing is that when the only daughter of the Xie family chose who to marry, she regretted choosing the man at the last moment, and the woman chose to go abroad after a few days of swearing and no effect.

The most luxurious restaurant in the town, just entering the door has an arty atmosphere. Several pots of fake plants are placed irregularly, as if surrounding a man-made fish pond. The water is not deep but still can't see the lively fish inside.

In one box, a man, a woman and a child sat in a triangle, silent to each other.

Near the end, a man's voice sounded: "Yanhan, this is Aunt Zhong, let me formally say hello."

Yanhan wiped his mouth with a paper, stood up politely, and greeted him formally.

The woman in her early thirties was quite shocked at first, but she quickly regained her senses and returned the salute to Yanhan, who was not like a little girl.

Yanhan evaluated silently, behaved well, paid attention to manners, and did not despise children, not bad, even better than imagined.

Yanhan didn't tell her father that her temporary repentance was not because of his half-true and half-false promise: he would try his best to let her live the life she wanted.But one day I accidentally saw his date with Aunt Zhong.Of course, it wasn't just because she saw an adult date that she changed her mind, but she secretly followed the older sister to the bathroom, and saw her staggered by a kid, but she didn't get angry at all, instead squatting Come down and slowly comfort the child who was hurt and crying.

Perhaps the problem that has been entangled for a long time only needs an opportunity to clear the clouds and see which side the inner balance is leaning towards.Although Yanhan, who is only in the first grade of junior high school, doesn't know how to self-interest and how to avoid family disputes, but the instinctive liking made her decide to take a gamble and take the initiative to attack, whether there is darkness or light behind the darkness.

"Can I call you Hanhan? If you don't like it, I'll call you another."

The little girl nodded with a smile.

"Hanhan, tomorrow weekend, let auntie take you to the amusement park, okay? We won't take dad with us." Aunt Zhong got an unexpected cute smile, thought about it and sent out the invitation.

On the way home at night, Yanhan leaned his head against the car window, staring at the electric poles passing by the side of the road, his thoughts drifted, "I am looking forward to tomorrow", this is the first time since I can remember that I feel anticipation and joy, And it can't be too obvious, so that the little face is full of powder.