salt by salt

"Mr. Xu, look, the bead chain Andre is wearing today is so beautiful."

As soon as I entered the door, Xiao Wang held the string of glass beads in front of me as if offering treasures.I took off my coat, scanned my eyes, and found that compared with the random matching a few days ago, the beads this time are arranged in colors from light to dark, and they are radiant and beautiful under the light.

I smiled unconsciously: "It looks much better than last time."

"Today is better than yesterday." Xiao Wang said, "This kind of thing can't be rushed, it has to be recovered slowly."

Staring at what has been lost is not only useless, it only makes it more painful.I have been deeply aware of this, and I no longer think about Andre's outstanding talent in the past, but only pay attention to his little progress every day.

He walked behind Andre, without raising his head, and concentrated on sitting at the table and continuing to string beads.I think this is already very good. Although Andre didn't respond, he didn't resist me approaching him.

Seeing him putting on the colorful beads seriously, I turned around and whispered to Xiao Wang, "Thank you for your hard work."

He shook his head: "It's not hard. Andre is very smart, and he learns quickly and well. Mr. Xu, he can now draw straight lines and circles, and he even drew a sun. Maybe he can learn to draw simple animals in two days."

Xiao Wang has taken care of many patients. In addition to being patient and careful, the most rare thing is that he faces work with a vigorous attitude, showing off his achievements in training from time to time, and encouraging employers and patients to continue to persevere.

The process of accompanying and waiting for recovery is extremely boring. He cheered me up while helping Andre with his recovery training, so that I would not be driven crazy by the depressive atmosphere.

I glanced at the drawing book next to me, and it was full of sticky graffiti with no shape. After reading for a long time, I managed to find a pattern that could be linked to the sun. I couldn't help admiring Xiao Wang's association ability.

But after hearing what he said, my mood improved a lot, and I lowered my head and kissed Andre on the face: "My brother is really great!"

He raised his head to look at me, there was no other emotion in those lake-like blue eyes, and my figure was clearly reflected.I didn't leave everything to Xiao Wang, and I would take care of Andre personally whenever I was free, so even though he couldn't understand my behavior, he didn't show a repulsive attitude.

I reached out and touched Andre's head. I remembered how he used to show his teeth and claws, acting coquettishly, and my heart was sore. I couldn't help sighing, and pinched his cheek with a smile: "We Andre like abstract art. Painting style, it’s okay, let’s draw at home. Brother promised, I will hold an exhibition for you alone in the future, okay?”

Naturally, he didn't know how to answer, and looked at me blankly.

I suddenly remembered that the last sentence I said to Andre was "If you lose any weight, you will not look good".

He put my hand on my face and didn't explain anything.About his mother forcing him into therapy, about his tortured body, about his spirit on the verge of breaking down.

Even if I say it, how can my useless brother help him?

At that time, Andre must have thought I was cruel, right?My own younger brother is getting thinner day by day, but the older brother only cares about him becoming unattractive.

So he didn't say a word, just smiled sweetly at me.

no.

I'm sorry, Andrei, my brother was wrong.

The person in front of him has the same beautiful face as before, but the inner soul has long since disappeared.I have been repeatedly angered by his willful behavior and unrestrained speech, and secretly thought, if only this beautiful face can be left for me to admire.

But now, for the first time, I realize that I don't seem to care about looks that much.

If Andre cannot recover, the body left behind will be like a painting, a dead object.No more cute mean-spirited, no more calling me brother, no more hugging my waist for kisses, no more nonchalantly expressing opinions in the boardroom, and then turning my head and looking forward to the compliment.

I don't want this painting.I don't want a beautiful puppet without sentience.

Andre could have been brilliant and lead an enviable life, but all possibilities were wiped out because of my mediocre brother.If this is punishment for his past mistakes, then it should be enough.

I forgave him and gave my brother back to me.

Suppressing tears, I gently scratched the tip of Andre's nose: "I see my brother busy every day, and I don't have time to meet with those two people you hate, are you secretly having fun?"

For some reason, he suddenly let go of his fingers, and the string of beads fell apart, and the round colorful beads rolled down from the table and fell to the ground with crackles.

Xiao Wang hurried over to tidy up, trying to gather the remaining ones on the table into one place.Immediately, I lost my thoughts of hurting the spring and autumn, and poked Andre's forehead angrily and amusedly. Anyway, I didn't want to say the crazy word, but said: "Little fool."

The colorful beads bounced all over the floor, and the quiet room became more lively immediately.I bent down to pick it up, and just picked up a few in my hand, but a white and slender hand appeared in front of me.

I raised my head and looked at Andre in disbelief.He still stared at me quietly and emptily, but flattened his palm and brought it to my eyes.

A completely transparent colorless glass bead is the most special one among this batch of beads.

Clear, clean, like a dream that is about to break.

Because of Andre's sudden action, I was hit by a huge surprise. After I realized it, I asked Xiao Wang to call the doctor.

In fact, I also understand that it is impossible for Andre to regain his self-awareness in such a short period of time. I just have a small and unrealistic expectation in my heart-maybe a miracle will come to me and let him wake up in one night. back to normal.

This is the third time a doctor has been called in for an examination this week, and the result is exactly the same as the previous two: need to continue to observe.

All in all a good start.Andre did not take a nap according to his daily schedule, and he was already sleepy when he sent the doctor away. Xiao Wang took him to the bedroom to rest.

The excitement cooled down a bit, I took out my phone, and found that there were several missed calls, all of which were from Yang Chen.I just remembered that today Yang Chen and I were supposed to meet to discuss about Lu Changbai.

It is four forty in the afternoon, and the agreed time...

It's two o'clock.

In an instant, I had one head and two big ones, and hurriedly called back, but Yang Chen didn't answer the phone for a long time.I sent a few messages but didn't get a reply, and I couldn't let the driver sent by Songcheng know about this matter, so I had no choice but to go downstairs and take a taxi to the designated location.

It was already past five o'clock when I got there, and the waiter said that a Mr. Yang was still waiting inside.Being late for so long is really unreasonable, I don't know how Yang Chen will get angry again.

I rubbed between my brows, and bravely pushed open the door of the box. A young man with his legs crossed and playing with his mobile phone saw me coming in, and immediately stood up: "Oh, Brother Xu, are you here?"

"Yang Ke?" I was stunned for a moment, "Why is it you? Where's Yang Chen?"

Yang Ke is almost the same as when I saw him a few years ago, with slender eyes, a smile on his face, and an unscrupulous tone on his body.As Yang Chen's cousin, the only similarity between the two is probably their tall stature.

Yang Ke explained: "Brother Yang was waiting, but he had a very important meeting at four o'clock in the afternoon, so he had to go back to host the meeting."

"I have something to do, and I was delayed for a while." I said, "He just sends a message, so why tell you to wait."

"This is to prevent Brother Xu from being there when you come. Brother Yang said, I have to come. After all, Brother Xu, you know me. If it were someone else, Brother Xu, you might turn around and leave."

Yang Ke didn't have much talent, but he was able to stand beside Yang Chen, gaining a lot of benefits, not least knowing how to judge others.Back then when he found out that Yang Chen treated me unusually, he changed his disdain when we first met, and was very friendly to me; now he is even more polite, as soon as I sit down, I serve tea and water graciously, doing the job of a waiter.

"This is the document brought by Brother Yang. He said that this meeting may take half an hour. Let Brother Xu take a look at it first. We will talk about the specifics when he arrives."

Yang Ke handed me a sealed document bag, and looked me up and down with a pair of eyes.I took a sip of tea, and seeing that Yang Ke was almost staring, I asked aloud, "Did you see anything?"

He was not annoyed when he was punctured, and grinned: "I haven't seen you for several years. I feel that you have changed a lot, Brother Xu. I didn't dare to recognize you when you first came in."

"You haven't changed at all." Although I didn't have a good impression of him, I stretched out my hand not to hit the smiling face, so I smiled, "How can I be different?"

Yang Ke clapped his hands: "Hey, this smile feels a little familiar."

I was not prepared to see these things in front of outsiders, so I was happy to chat with him: "How do you say it?"

"Let me organize the language." He stroked his chin, nodded after looking at it for a long time, "I'll tell you the truth, Brother Xu, don't take offense."

I said helplessly, "If I hated you, I would have killed you [-] times, what's the difference?"

"That's right." Yang Ke was quite thick-skinned, and said boldly, "Brother Xu, didn't you push the door open and come in? Your expressionless, unsmiling look is really bluffing. His eyes swept towards me, and the eyes were deep and cold. Yes, the hairs on my body are standing on end. But your smile is the same as before, kind and easy to talk to."

I shook my head: "It's too ridiculous."

"Brother Xu, don't you usually look in the mirror?" Yang Ke pretended to be surprised, "A few years ago you stood with Brother Yang timidly, and it was Brother Yang who took care of you. It's different now, Brother Xu, you stand outside, No one would believe anyone who said it wasn’t a personal character.”

What he said was exaggerated, it was nothing more than the fact that people rely on clothes and horses on saddles, and that he has been giving orders in Mingde for a period of time, and his temperament has changed a little.

Yang Ke's flattery was so obvious that I really wanted to tell him that I, who you are talking about, have been working as a convenience store salesperson in City S for more than half a year.

"Others are fine, but I have to refute one point." I couldn't help laughing and said, "Yang Chen is so good-looking, no matter how you look at it, I'm the one who takes care of him."

As soon as the words fell, the door of the box was pushed open again.Yang Chen stepped in, his eyes were sharp, and his handsome face was a little worried: "What are you talking about? Nursing? Who is it?"

Yang Ke looked at me like a formidable enemy, and stared at me desperately across the table.I Shi Shiran leaned back in the chair and smiled: "Tell me to take care of you."

I don't know if it was because the cold wind outside was too cold, but when he first entered the warm room, the tips of Yang Chen's ears turned suspiciously red.He pursed his lips, pulled away the chair beside me and sat down, coughed lightly: "What nonsense?"

On the opposite side, Yang Ke's mouth-to-ear expression was very interesting, and I burst into laughter, but it was just a joke, and the matter was over.

Unexpectedly, before I could speak, Yang Chen took advantage of Yang Ke getting up to pour tea for him, and approached my ear again, and quickly added in a low voice: "Didn't I say that we should get along with each other as equals, don't think wrongly?" idea."

This time it was my turn to be dumbfounded.