don't try to lie to me

The empty hall of the neighborhood committee is full of air-conditioning.

Huo Ge sat on the connecting chair in front of the vertical air conditioner, feeling the cold wind blowing on his back, staring in a daze at the eight characters on the wall that read carefully and sincerely.

Han Dongmin walked out of the office with Aunt Shao, the head of the residents' group of the neighborhood committee.

The two chatted as they walked, with polite smiles on their faces.

The group leader is a middle-aged woman with short, chestnut-colored hair.When I met Huo Ge's mother in the community, I used to stop and chat for a few words. She has been taking care of Huo Ge in the past few months.

"Huo Ge, come, come here, Auntie has a few words with you." She stood at the door of the hall and waved to Huo Ge.

Huo Ge straightened up, carried the schoolbag on his back, and walked over with the suitcase.

The young man was tall and had long legs. When he stood up, his profile was raised. Only the arms under the short sleeves revealed his thin figure.

Seeing him approaching, Aunt Shao immediately pinched his arm and said distressedly: "In the future, you must study hard and eat more food. Look at you, you have lost weight recently."

Huo Ge nodded obediently.

Seeing his well-behaved and sensible appearance, Aunt Shao felt sad again: "It's just that my family has two children, otherwise—"

She hesitated.

The matter has come to this point, and she also knows that saying these words will only add to the sadness.So he hurriedly stopped the conversation, looked at Huo Ge and said dryly: "You can call Auntie if you have anything, you know?"

"Yeah." Huo Ge didn't speak for a long time, and his voice was a little hoarse when he spoke, "Got it, Aunt Shao."

Aunt Shao looked at him lovingly for several times, her eye circles gradually turned red, and seeing that she was about to cry again, Han Dongmin interrupted her in time.

"Then I'll take the kid away first, and we'll keep in touch at any time." Han Dongmin said politely.

"Okay, okay." Aunt Shao wiped the end of her eyes and nodded politely at Han Dongmin, "Contact me if you have anything to do, and this kid will trouble you."

After saying goodbye, Huo Ge followed Han Dongmin and left the neighborhood committee.

There is a small tree-lined road opposite the neighborhood committee, which is the only way to the south gate.Every evening, many residents come here for a walk to digest food.

Huo Ge's mother was one of them.

If his father came back early, the whole family would be taken out for a walk by his mother.In her words, this is parent-child time after meals, which helps children grow up healthily.

After walking along the boulevard, it is the exit of Namdaemun.

Huo Ge knew that the chance of him coming back after this trip was slim.Every plant and tree here is imprinted with the memories of parents, and if you look at it more, the dull pain in your heart will deepen by an inch.He's almost out of load.

So after many months of fruitless persuasion by the neighborhood committee, he finally compromised and accepted the guardian they arranged for him.

When he walked out of the south gate, the noisy cicadas and his memory were deeply buried in the thick summer shade behind him.

The road ahead was blurred, and tears were all over his face.

It was at this moment that he truly realized that his parents had left and would never come back.

On the way back, Han Dongmin took Huo Ge and reversed two buses.

Along the way, Han Dongmin didn't say a word to him except for passing water.

Even when he knew that he was crying beside him, Han Dongmin didn't look sideways as if he didn't see him.

In the evening, the bus slowly stopped at the platform of Shilihoujie.

There were not many people at this stop, and Huo Ge followed Han Dongmin.

The two walked through the bustling roadside square and turned into a side street.The houses on both sides of the street are all white walls and black tiles, and the roads paved in the middle are also uneven bluestone roads in water towns.

The sky is gradually sinking, and the impetuousness of the day is less in the air.Huo Ge walked in front of the stalls on Shili Street, feeling the warm wind blowing in front of him.

The air here seems to be mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees. When a gust of wind blows through, you can smell the spring grass emerging after the rain, which is very refreshing.

Strangely, Huo Ge, who had been restless for several months, was relieved for a while.

Han Dongmin quietly looked at Huo Ge's expression, and seeing that his face had softened, he pointed to the fried skewers on the roadside stall and said, "Don't think it's dirty, the taste is still good, you can eat it occasionally."

Huo Ge followed his gaze and nodded.

Next, Han Dongmin introduced him along the way which fried skewers are delicious, which barbecue is delicious and which fruit is sweet, saying what he saw, as if he was afraid that he would suffer a disadvantage.

The two walked slowly, and they were all acquaintances along the way, so they couldn't help but say hello and nod. It took about ten minutes to stop and go.

Just as he was about to get home, a woman with short curly hair came across the street.

It was probably because the woman had a look of looking for trouble. Even if they looked at each other across the street, Huo Ge knew that the other party was coming for him.

Sure enough, when the distance got closer, the woman watched Huo Ge smacking her lips inexplicably, and yelled as she walked, "What's the matter with you, you really adopted this child? I just heard that..."

Han Dongmin's expression dropped.He glanced at Huo Ge apprehensively, and quickly interrupted the woman's broken mouth, trying to get her over with vague words.

The woman, as if she couldn't see his perfunctory attitude, glanced at Huo Ge rather taboo, and pointed at Han Dongmin: "You said that you are really, you have a son yourself, and now you still—— What should I do if I touch the mold?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Han Dongmin scolded, and dragged Huo Ge away regardless of the face of the neighbors.

The rapport they had cultivated with great difficulty disappeared in an instant, and they kept silent tacitly.

When he was almost at the door of the house, Han Dongmin cleared his throat and held it back for a whole day, and practiced the words in his head for several rounds: "Huo Ge, you are already sixteen years old, and I have a son myself, so I have a son under the law. It is not allowed to adopt you. Therefore, I am acting as your guardian under the supervision and entrustment of the neighborhood committee. You must not feel pressured."

Huo Ge nodded.

Seeing that he had a good attitude towards acceptance, Han Dongmin continued: "Although your family's liquid assets are with me, I don't know how to use them. I will return them to you when you are eighteen. Your remaining two years of high school I will help you with all the expenses. You can finish high school with your uncle without any burden. If you like, you can accept me as a godfather. In fact, I am also your godfather. Your grandma is my godmother , I grew up with your dad, but after he left the town, there were fewer opportunities to communicate."

"Then let me talk about the situation in our family. I have a son who is as old as you, and he—" Han Dongmin hesitated, and pointedly said, "He is not very smart, don't worry about him, don't bother He will do."

When Huo Ge looked up, he saw the brief sorrow on Han Dongmin's face. He was stunned for a moment, and soon lowered his head to stare at the lines on the bluestone board in a daze.

The other party started to say the next paragraph.

"I, I now..." Han Dongmin raised his head hesitantly, as if he was a little embarrassed to speak. He looked at Huo Ge's profile, which was warmed yellow by the street lights, and gritted his teeth with an old face, "I have something now. A girlfriend, getting along well, maybe she will get married in the future. But she probably won’t be in the past two years, and she rarely comes to the house, so you don’t have to worry.”

After these words were over, the two finally dawdled to the door of the house.

The Han family's house is located in the depths of Shili Street, and there is a residential area across the street full of life.The houses in the residential area are of different heights, just like the blue-brick and white-tiled houses in the water towns.

Han Dongmin carried the luggage and led the man into his small courtyard.

The courtyard is a small single-storey building with a roof on the top, but the roof is completely open without any protection measures.There were some things drying on it, the sky was too dark, Huo Ge could only catch an outline.But at least it proved possible.

He was a little interested in this rooftop, but he looked around the courtyard, but couldn't find any tools to go upstairs.

Because he knew early in the morning that he would bring Huo Ge back today, Han Dongmin got up early and went to the market to pick out the freshest fruits and vegetables.

After seven o'clock in the evening, dinner was officially opened.

Han Dongmin moved the folding table to the yard, scolded Han Ye and asked Huo Ge to eat food first without waiting for him when he didn't come home every day.

Seeing Han Dongmin serving the dishes, Huo Ge took the initiative to go to the cupboard to get two bowls and put rice on them.

At night in Rongzhen in early September, the temperature was still as impetuous as during the day.Huo Ge was very comfortable sitting in the courtyard of the Han family eating, the warm breeze mixed with a faint fragrance of flowers blowing on his body, making him feel light and light.

"Come on, Xiao Ge, let's have a toast, which counts as a formal welcome." Han Dongmin held up his glass and took a sip, "Drink juice, you are too young to drink at this age."

Huo Ge picked up the iced fruit orange and took a big sip, a burst of icy coolness spread across his chest.

After drinking for three rounds, Han Dongmin's slightly drunken state came out.He has a characteristic, he talks a lot when he drinks too much, but he always drinks too much.

He yelled at Huo Ge to replace the wine with a drink, and the two fought for several more rounds.

Huo Ge finally couldn't help but said, "Uncle Han, you drank too much."

Han Dongmin waved his hand: "It's okay, uncle is happy to celebrate your coming today. Uncle told you that no one has been drinking with uncle for a long time. My bastard son, the two of us haven't had a good meal for a long time."

Through the drunkenness, Han Dongmin told the love story between himself and his wife.From the acquaintance of the two people, it tells how the two parties overcome many obstacles and finally achieve a positive result.

Huo Ge listened quietly, suddenly feeling a little dazed.The moonlight in the sky is bright, dotted with stars, and the stories in my ears are sweet, and there are lovers telling them.

At this moment, there were more unexplained emotions in his heart.There is a little swelling, a little comfort, and a little grievance.Counting the bad things that happened in the past few months, he felt for the first time that there was still a glimmer of hope in his life.

At this moment, intermittent voices suddenly came from outside the door.

Among them, words such as games and World of Warcraft are mentioned.

Huo Ge guessed that Uncle Han's rebellious son had returned.

Sure enough, within a few seconds, the door of the yard was pushed open by the front wheel of another bicycle after a jingle of bicycle bells went away.