salt by salt

Andre sat in the living room flipping through picture books, holding a yogurt spoon in the other hand, eating all over his face.

The weather has been getting hotter recently, he is only wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts, his slender legs are crossed on the sofa, and his slightly longer blond hair is tied in a small knot behind his head.

After several months of raising him, he was finally not as thin as he was when he first came here, and returned to his previous beautiful appearance.I took a wet wipe to wipe his mouth, and Andre didn't look at me, but just raised his face in my direction.

I felt pity and love in my heart, and when I saw the bottom of his bowl, I took the empty bowl away and told Xiao Wang: "Don't give him the yogurt as soon as you take it out of the refrigerator, it's not good for your stomach to eat something too cold."

"As far as I remember, it's usually kept at room temperature." Xiao Wang asked, "Mr. Xu, do you want to eat at home tonight?"

I nodded, reached out to turn on the TV, and said to Andre: "Shall we watch cartoons?"

He didn't respond, still looking down at the stack of albums at hand.His current mentality is like that of a young child. Although he doesn't understand much, he instinctively prefers brightly colored and colorful patterns. There are not only picture books but also many fashion magazines that he can't put it down.

I just tuned to the children's program, and I heard Andre next to me groan in pain, rolled from the sofa to the carpet, and curled up.

"What's wrong? Where did you hit?! Let brother see—"

I was so frightened that I anxiously opened his fingers hidden in his arms, and sure enough, I found a breach, and blood beads slid down the white fingers.

The newly arrived magazine had sharp edges, and Andre was bound to get cut as he flipped through the pages quickly.

The wound was not deep, and I felt at ease. I called Xiao Wang repeatedly to get some medicine for disinfection, and patted Andre's back lightly: "Is it very painful? It will be fine in a while, don't be afraid."

He leaned into my arms and suddenly said something.He hadn't spoken for a long time since his illness, and his voice was so muffled that I couldn't make out the words, but it didn't sound like words like mom and dad.

"Andre?" The huge surprise almost overwhelmed my head, "What did you just say? Can you tell my brother again?"

He stared fixedly at the bleeding finger, and repeated it after a few seconds. The pronunciation was similar to "Ellen", like a name.

Does this have any special meaning?For a moment, I couldn't believe what I just heard, so I turned my head to Xiao Wang to confirm: "Did you hear what Andre said?"

He knelt down to treat Andre's wound: "I was far away, and I only heard him ouch."

When I got such an answer, I couldn't help but doubt my memory. After all, an involuntary cry of pain is more credible than an inexplicable name.

"Mr. Xu, you heard wrong." Xiao Wang said, "Andre hasn't recovered to the point where he can speak."

"possible……"

I was talking to myself, and my eyes accidentally fell on the fashion magazines scattered all over the floor.

There is a picture of a foreign woman on one side, which does not take up much space.It seemed to be just an ordinary special interview, but I couldn't help but posses myself and looked at her face carefully.

I clearly saw the shadow of my mother in her.

After a cursory glance at the introduction below, the woman in the photo is a sculptor whose work is signed by Hélène, and the pronunciation of this name in French is similar to the words spoken by Andre.

Why did Andre react to her photo?He knew her before?Why does she look like mom?

Countless questions flooded into my mind. I picked up the magazine, and I kept my mind and read the whole article carefully.There is almost zero information about this person from the outside world, only that she looks beautiful, but her creative style is absurd and sharp, and her works are full of painful tearing.With such a strong contrast, her works have attracted much attention once they were launched.

Perhaps because heaven was jealous of talents, this woman committed suicide by taking medicine at the age of 25. The report in the magazine was to commemorate the [-]th anniversary of her death.

As I ran my fingers over the photo, she was undoubtedly a beauty, but she didn't have a common appearance of a white person, but had a soft outline like an oriental person.The woman is thin and thin, with half of her face blended into the shadows, her eyes staring at the camera are empty, and there is an indescribable sadness in her charm.

Mom's facial features are more three-dimensional than ordinary people, so from a certain angle, they are indeed very similar to her.

I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn't realize it until Xiao Wang called several times in my ear: "Mr. Xu? Mr. Xu?"

He pointed to the picture album all over the floor: "I'm going to put these things away in case I hurt Andre again."

"Ah, good. Next time you see this type of book, especially the hard paper, don't let him touch it." I closed the magazine, "Fortunately, it's just a finger this time, what if I hurt my eyes? "

Xiao Wang quickly folded the picture album and put it away, looking at the magazine I was holding: "This one...?"

"I'm a little interested, let's look it up."

Xiao Wang's eyes stayed on the cover of the magazine in my hand for a moment, and I noticed the probing meaning in his eyes, which was so faint that it was hard to find if I didn't pay attention.

For some reason, I felt a little discomfort in my heart.

When I looked up again, Xiao Wang was still the patient and careful young man.He got up holding the box full of picture albums, and said to me: "I'll put it in the corner of the study, and Mr. Xu will just put it there later."

I hummed, and Andre put a Band-Aid on his fingers, and sat obediently at the side staring at the TV.Because of her ignorant expression, that beautiful face was even more innocent and charming.

He is only two years younger than me.

The mystery that had been hidden in my heart surfaced: after my mother gave birth to me, she went abroad to remarry immediately, and soon became pregnant with Andre.Then, why did Andre's father, a mature businessman who satisfied the whole Xu family with a successful career and extraordinary handsomeness, quickly fall in love with his mother who had just given birth and was a student?

Hélène, I say the name silently in my heart.I have a hunch that this woman who has been dead for 30 years will be the key to unraveling the fog of the past.

I asked Yin Wenjun to keep an eye on Andre's father's family for me.He has had contact with his mother and understands our family's situation, so he is more comfortable using it than others.

This kind of thing can't be rushed, Hélène lives in a secluded place, and there is very little information exposed, so I just entrust him to try it out.

Before returning to S City, Lu Jingfan met with me and told me that the preliminary preparations were almost done.Although he and Yang Chen once had conflicts because of me, there are priorities, and at the moment of unanimity, Yang Chen will not be in trouble with interests.In addition, it is not the first time that the two of them have cooperated, so naturally I don't need to worry about it.

He looked weaker than before, his eyes were blue with fatigue, and he coughed after a few words.I offered hot water, but he refused with a wave of his hand. For a while, there was only dull coughing in the reception room.

Lu Jingfan does things with the ruthlessness of breaking the boat, which can be regarded as a sharp knife. I really can't be more satisfied.But now like this, I am very worried that the lawsuit with Lu Changbai has not been completed, and he has advanced to the intensive care unit.

Perhaps because he was aware of my worried gaze, Lu Jingfan calmed down for a while, and said, "I can't die for the time being, don't look at me with that look."

I said, "How many hours did you sleep last day? The dark circles under your eyes are terribly heavy. I'm afraid you will die suddenly at work."

He frowned, and his tone was as mean as ever: "People don't need too much sleep, I know that. Xu Junyan, you think everyone is like you, born to be a young master, and someone will run errands when you talk. If I don't do it myself, can someone do it for you?" I?"

"I just care about you." He has a withdrawn and eccentric temper, which I take for granted. "Why bother to make a lot of sarcasm? If you don't like it, I won't say it in the future."

Lu Jingfan glanced at me, took out a cigarette with his thin and long fingers and lit it.I reached out to snatch the cigarette and put it out in the ashtray: "If you have bad lungs and still smoke, do you think your life will be long?"

Seeing his uneasy expression, he added: "It doesn't matter what you do outside, but in front of me, please don't poison the air, and make me suffer from second-hand smoke."

Without saying a word, he clicked another one.This kind of behavior is so naive, I thought it was funny, so I simply took the lighter away: "Lu Jingfan, did you listen to me?"

He took a drag on his cigarette, grabbed my neck and pulled me closer.He probably wanted to transfer all the smoke to me, but this kiss got deeper and deeper, and the gray smoke filled the intertwined lips and tongue.

Mint flavor.

We separated slightly, and I licked my lips: "Do you want to go further?"

The longing in Lu Jingfan's eyes was still there, but it was quickly replaced by disgust, and he returned to his original indifferent look: "No need."

"Why, do you want to be chaste? Or do you think I've been fucked many times and I'm not good enough for you?"

I don't want to have sex with him at all, this guy looks like he could die easily in bed.

But it was obviously a deal where everyone got what they wanted and hit it off, but Lu Jingfan became a bitch and wanted to set up a memorial archway.Every time he is the one who takes the initiative and the one who hates it, even if I don't care, I can't help but sneer: "Or are you afraid that sleeping with me will tarnish your perfect Mr. Lu?"

I raised his face, and suddenly my heart became playful: "If you want to do the one below, I can do it too?"

Seeing Lu Jingfan's sullen expression, I immediately withdrew my hand, put on a good attitude, and said sincerely, "Just kidding, let's continue to maintain our partnership, don't be angry."

He didn't reach out to hit the smiling person, and with his high self-esteem, he probably didn't bother to scold me.Lu Jingfan was silent for a long time, then suddenly asked: "Have you ever fucked someone else?"

I blinked my eyes and didn't react for a long time: "Uh...no..."

"I'm a clean freak. Of course it's best if I haven't been used by anyone." He said, "Is there enough time for the plane in two and a half hours?"

I didn't expect this kind of development. I was stunned for a while, and it took me a long time to find my language: "This is your first time, you may need more time to prepare. It doesn't matter if you are not afraid of missing your flight."

"This is the beginning of serious planning. Do you really want to do it with me?"

Lu Jingfan's tone was calm, I couldn't hear the attitude in the words, so he smiled: "After all, you are working hard outside, and I just talk about it. I'm curious, and I'm not a child. Kissing is such a good thing." It doesn't even count as interest, can it satisfy an adult?"

He looked at me, because his skin was pale, and he had a pair of black eyes clustered with thick black eyelashes, like the ink from a good inkstone dripping on the snow-white paper, which had a special charm.

"Sometimes, you are completely different from the teacher." Lu Jingfan said slowly, as if he had chewed every word for a long time before uttering, "Xu Junyan, I really don't know why you didn't inherit any benefits, you are so frivolous, vulgar, shameful."

I raised my eyebrows: "I've said it many times, let's change to something new."

He pressed my head and kissed me again.Cold and soft lips pressed against mine, Lu Jingfan's body temperature was low, and even his tongue was like a slippery cold-blooded animal, tightly entwined.

After the kiss was over, he said, "If the teacher had recognized you earlier, and I would have grown up with you instead, I would definitely..."

Lu Jingfan's voice became lower and lower, to the point where he could barely hear it when he pressed it against his ear.After listening to it with a smile, I stroked his hair and said word by word:

"Honored."