After falling into the shadow's trap

"I sent Party A's specific requirements to your email, remember to check."

Waking up early in the morning, Xi Heng received an email from Liang Ming. With a toothbrush full of foam in her mouth, she clicked ? to go in to see what tortured demands Party A had made this time.

Although the theme of a single work is enough to upset her.

"...the work will be mainly used to compile children's picture books, so it needs to show positive, warm and optimistic pictures... The third section, with the theme of family affection, draws the happy, warm and harmonious relationship between family members Details, strive to be sincere and touching..."

Warm and harmonious, sincere and touching.

Xi Heng recited these few words without emotion, smiled, and quickly glanced at ten lines.

In the past, she might be able to draw such a picture with her eyes closed, but now, she can only desperately pull out the memories that are about to accumulate dust and fade from the corner, and barely piece together a little emotion.

After rinsing her mouth a few times, she straightened the broken hair on her forehead, picked up water and splashed it on her face.

Inevitably, the hair got a little wet? and stuck to the forehead.Looking at the haggard face in the mirror, she raised her hand to cover the corner of her mouth, showing a smile.

After tidying himself up, Xi Heng made a bowl of oatmeal and sat in front of the drawing board, trying to outline the draft while eating.

However, half an hour later, the canvas was still empty, not even a single line.

She really didn't know how to write, her mind went blank.

Pushing away the drawing board irritably, Xi Heng had nothing to do, so he habitually opened Moments.

The first post was sent by a college classmate of hers after cleaning up the house: When I was sorting out things, I realized that I had left so many messy little things before, and each one was full. memories.

The accompanying picture is a big cardboard box stuffed full of toys, dolls, notes, and some handicrafts. It looks like a tourist souvenir.

Seeing this movement, Xi Heng paused.

She remembered that she also had a box like this, which was left under the desk and left in that house, and it might have been covered with several layers of dust.

In the box are the certificates she won when she was in school, the photo album of graduation photos and childhood photos, her favorite toy building blocks... and a colorful bear with fine stitches.

That was? When Xi Heng was in elementary school, her parents had to leave for a period of time due to work reasons, so they had to put her at grandma's house.Little Xiheng was unwilling to leave her parents, crying all day long, her eyes were almost red and swollen.

In order to coax her well, Xi Heng's parents had no choice but to make a bear doll.What is the fabric used? Old clothes from her childhood, filled with a lot of cotton, which made the little bear's stomach round.

They told little Xiheng that the love of her parents was hidden in this doll, and when she missed them, as long as she hugged the little bear, it would be like? So? Parents were with her.

If you have any wishes in your heart, you can tell Little Bear, as long as little Xiheng is obedient, and when they come back from work, they will all come true for her.

"fraud."

Xi Heng sniffed, opened the drawer next to the desk, and found a bunch of keys under a pile of documents.

The key was dull, as if it hadn't been used for a long time, and even the iron buckle attached to the pendant had a little mottled rust.A yellowed label was pasted on the surface, the handwriting was slightly blurred, and the two letters "xh" could be vaguely recognized.

The pendant on the keychain originally consisted of two parts, but now there are only a few tassels left, and the tail is still a little off.

After pinching the key in his hand and rubbing it a few times, Xi Heng slowly clenched his fist.

"Thank you."

Thanking the driver politely, Xi Heng got out of the taxi and looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar neighborhood.

She deliberately asked the driver to stop at the intersection and did not drive in, so that she could walk in slowly and accept those unpleasant memories step by step.

Strange to say, this place is not very far from the house she rented, and even most of the central business district overlaps, but she has never met them.

It doesn't matter if you haven't met them before, but if you quarrel in front of passers-by on the street or in a shopping mall, it would be too embarrassing.

Xi Heng walked along the sidewalk, passing many small shops along the way.

There are many shops facing the street here, breakfast shops, delis and convenience stores, all of which are still the same as in her past memories.

When she had a big fight with her parents and resolutely left with her suitcase in hand, she left an extremely bad impression of this place.

It had just rained that day, and the road was uneven. Her footsteps were heavy, and when she stepped into the puddles, she would splash the muddy water on her heels and stain her trouser legs.

She felt depressed, mixed with emotions of anger, dissatisfaction and grievance. She saw nothing pleasing to the eye, and even the big tree passing by the gate of the community wanted to rush up and kick her feet to vent.

But now, there is only peace after the storm in Xi Heng's heart.

The tree at the gate of the community that was almost angered by her has been pruned off most of its dense branches and leaves, and the branches have been cut off in several places.

She stood below, looked up at its thick and straight branches, stretched out her hand to touch it, and there was a rough texture in her palm.

The tree is very old.

Then go forward and pass the park in the community.

On a weekday afternoon, there was no one in the park.Xi Heng went in to choose a piece of equipment, stood up and moved.

In the past, it was after dinner? It was time for the family to take a walk.After the parents washed the dishes and cleaned up the housework, they took turns going out with her.Sometimes I play with equipment in the park, and sometimes I walk on the street.

If you? Yes? Go out with your mother, you will chat about all kinds of trivial things in life, ranging from what class you took today to what work you will do in the future.Her mother always hoped that she could have a stable, decent, and respected career, such as a teacher, such as a doctor.

If? Yes? Go out with Dad, it will be much happier.The two of them would secretly buy junk food outside, eat a few pieces of ice cream secretly, and hide it from their mother when they got home.But his father was stubborn and traditional, and would only agree with her to mess around in these trivial matters.

The summer sun scorched the air like it was in a stove, and Xi Heng broke out in sweat after a few minutes without moving.Get off the equipment, stepping on the shadow of leaves all over the ground and continue walking inside.

After walking a few steps, she arrived at her destination.The way home has been walked thousands of times, and you can find it even if you close your eyes.

He raised his hand to cover his forehead, squinted his eyes, and counted up layer by layer until he saw the familiar window.

Xi Heng put down his hands, inexplicably feeling a sense of homelessness.

It's just that others are? worried about disasters in their hometown, but she?

She lingered at the door without going in.

Neither is Xi Heng? He had such big opinions on his parents from the very beginning.

After the collapse of the talk, although she moved out of the house and vowed not to go home until she got good grades, she would still take advantage of the opportunity to say hello to her parents and send a red envelope during the holidays.

But they never accept it, they just take every opportunity to make a long speech to her. The central idea is: Stop messing around outside, come back to be a teacher, get married and have children, get along with your husband and raise your children.

Therefore, every phone call, or every chat record, almost always begins with Xi Heng's greeting and ends with a quarrel between the two parties.

Slowly, Xi Heng resisted contacting them again.

Although she hasn't made a name for herself yet, she can only make an exception to come back for work.

She glanced at the time, at this point? There should be no one in the house.

Taking a deep breath, Xi Heng walked into the stairwell.