Promised period

Before going to bed, Chen felt a headache that was unbearable, so he looked for painkillers while Song Ke was taking a bath.In the end, the medicine was not found, but a group photo was found in the drawer, which was a family photo of the Chen family many years ago.

Maybe it was left by my father.

At that time they were already a family of four.The stepmother Xu Dongyun hugged her younger sister, while she stood beside her father reluctantly, holding the standard rice paper bag from the calligraphy school in her hand.

Chen Jue picked up the photo and didn't put it down after a long time.

Ever since he was a child, his impression of his father Chen Zongyi was that he was strict.Not only is he strict with himself, but he has never been considerate enough to his stepmother, and he is only nicer to his younger sister Chen Nian.Because Chen Nian is most like his mother who passed away early in both appearance and behavior. His father loves the house and black, and he has indulged her infinitely since he was a child.

How old were you then?It should be in the sixth grade of elementary school.Every week, I go to my tutor’s house to practice brush calligraphy. In a teacher’s family home, a very boring place, I sit for an entire afternoon, regardless of season, whether it’s spring, summer, autumn or winter.Although his handwriting has not been very good, he has sacrificed a lot of playing time for this. In summer, he dozed off to listen to the cicadas, and in winter he propped his head to watch the falling snow, and his buttocks almost turned into two living fossils.

Once, he was so busy that he took advantage of the teacher's nap and led a few classmates to skip class. The subway was transferred to the bus, and the bus was transferred to three rounds.

I still remember that scene. Mountains and seas of corrugated bricks were piled up on the open space. The five-storey chimney was smoking slowly. There was a hand-pressed well under the chimney. There is still a sweet taste in the mouth.

Because I have never seen it before, everything is very novel.There was a long cart full of new bricks at the gate of the factory, and several of their children rushed to push it, which made the workers drive them away dumbfounded: "Go home, this is not a place to play, here is To make money is to earn a living.”

"Then how much money do you earn every day?"

Someone grinned and made a "yeah" gesture.The children all laughed, not because he acted funny, but because the gap between his front teeth was so big that it looked like a leak.

"Two hundred?"

"twenty."

The children laughed again, because they couldn't believe that there are people who only earn 20 yuan a day in this world.Money is too easy for them. A pair of shoes, a football, and even a meal cost more than two hundred yuan. What is 20 yuan enough for? Can you afford a nanny driver?

Only Chen Jue didn't smile, because seeing that man's nails were black and black, and his chest and back were covered with white sweat stains, he felt sad.

In this way, I played until the sun went down before going back. For some reason, I felt heavy in my heart.As a result, he was found by his father's driver as soon as he got near his home. He called in a hurry to say that he was found. He was not injured, but his body was covered with a lot of mud.

When I got home, I couldn't avoid a fat beating.His father asked him where he had been, but he refused to tell when he was beaten to pieces. Lying on the bed, he wanted to carve on his arm with a knife: I hate Chen Zongyi.

At night, when he heard his stepmother's footsteps, he pretended to be asleep and turned sideways without saying a word.It is very easy to distinguish the stepmother going upstairs from the father going upstairs, because the father's footsteps are always accompanied by the sound of metal crutches, beep, beep, beep, beep, dull, cold.

The stepmother walked into the room, sat on the edge of the bed and watched him quietly for a while.It is very tiring to stay still for a long time, his back is stiff, and he just wants his stepmother to go out quickly.But the stepmother never left.

She stretched out her hand to touch his forehead, "Just to be angry with the adults, how can you be hungry when you grow up? Get up and eat something. Your aunt Gu has cooked you a lot of delicious food. Be obedient."

"Forget it if you starve to death." He gritted his teeth, his back still hurting, "If he hits so hard, am I his own?"

The stepmother patted him lightly through the quilt: "Who told you to run out without saying hello? You can't find anyone everywhere. You don't know how worried your father and I are, lest you meet bad people outside. What's the matter?" Danger."

"What danger could it be?" He muttered, "My classmates and their parents don't care if they go swimming in the reservoir, but I have a driver following me wherever I go. It's so boring."

"We're also doing it for your own good. Our family's situation is special, especially since your father is only a son like you. Of course, we have to sacrifice like an ancestor."

Her tone was humorous, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Mom, stop teasing me, and return to my ancestors... My father said one thing at home, and my sister is the heart of both of you. After all, I'm the only one in the family." lowest."

"Who said that? You're also my heart, what else am I going to do upstairs. Well, get up, the dinner will be cold anytime soon."

At a young age, and because she was not her own mother, Chen Jue was very embarrassed to hear it, and it took a long time to get up slowly.Grinning his teeth in pain while putting on his coat, he gasped hissingly: "Mom, you are really... You don't know how to stop my dad from beating me. I won't practice calligraphy tomorrow."

"No." The stepmother insisted calmly, "I have to go, and I have to apologize to the teacher."

"Apologize? Why should I apologize if I didn't do anything wrong?"

"You led a few classmates to skip class today without saying a word, causing the teacher to look for you everywhere, and said that you did nothing wrong?"

He suffocated the fire and sat on the edge of the bed without saying a word.

The stepmother put her arms around his shoulders and gently persuaded him: "A man should admit when he makes a mistake. It's not scary to make a mistake. The one who dares to admit his mistakes and bear the consequences is a truly strong personality."

Thanks to his stepmother who always regarded him as a man, Chen Jue understood what it means to be strong and what it means to be a character since he was a child.Unconvinced, he clenched his fists and defended: "Dad smashed my handle last time, why can he not admit his mistake? He didn't even tell me he was sorry."

The stepmother froze for a moment.

"You only ask me, why don't you ask Dad to go? I don't believe Dad never makes mistakes, but I never heard him say sorry once."

In the quiet air, Xu Dongyun did not speak for a long time.She just sat motionless beside Chen Jue, remembering that she met her husband at an off-campus dance, her high heels were broken, and Chen Zongyi had trouble with his legs and feet, the two of them sat on the sidelines, and he lent her his suit to help her legs, she Sorry to say thank you.It was only later that I found out that he was the boss of the sponsor, and I foolishly took him as a young professor and told him many interesting things on campus.

Chen Zongyi has Chen Zongyi's advantages, such as brilliant talent, such as killing and decisiveness.But after all, he is disabled, and he is also the father of two children, so there is reason for his parents to object.It's just that she couldn't listen to it, and combined with him without hesitation.Marrying Chen Zongyi is tantamount to abandoning the background of a Qinghan family and a scholarly family, but she does not regret it because she firmly believes in her own vision.

To see whether a person is accurate or not, whether it is right or wrong to love a person, time will give the truest answer.Later Xu Dongyun vaguely knew the answer, but he was still unwilling to admit it.Facing her stepson's questioning, she was quiet for a while, and wearily comforted her: "You can't say that about him. He is your father. It is unfilial for a child to say that about his father."

After that, even the stepmother rarely commented on the father.

Putting away the photos, Chen Jue didn't look for painkillers anymore, because it didn't hurt if he didn't take them when he was with Song Ke.

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by constant vibrations.

The person on the other end of the phone was a person he hired at a high price. He was known for his extensive connections and methods. He had investigated his mother's death for him very early on.This time there was no movement for ten days and a half months, and I thought there would be no further news, but I didn't expect the news to come suddenly tonight.

"Mr. Chen, what you told me has some clues."

The other party's tone was serious and respectful, and he lowered his voice very low when he opened his mouth.

The temperature difference between day and night is large, Chen Jue only wears a casual home clothes, standing outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the balcony feels slightly cold.He lit up the cigarette, held it between his fingertips and let it burn quietly: "Have you found Song Ke's background?"

"Yes."

The paper at the other end rattled, and Chen Jue was standing there.He saw two white spots in the distant night, close together, dimly lit, flickering faintly just when you thought it would never light up again.This reminded him of Song Ke's gaze, restrained and gentle, but firmer than many others.

"This person is not simple, Mr. Chen. He lived in a small county more than 200 kilometers away from his childhood. It is said that he will never have any intersection with your family in his life, but guess what I found? He reported to the police station last year. case to report your father’s death in a traffic accident.”

Chen Jue's outline in the darkness was still tired, but his eyes were fully awake.

"It seems to be related to an old case more than ten years ago, and all the records have been sent out for the specific situation. But you can rest assured that this matter will not be resolved later. I asked, and he has no evidence at hand, only a letter written by his father back then. The report letter. The letter and transcript have been scanned and sent to your mailbox, please have a look.”

The transcript was short and scribbled, and the whole thing was explained in the report letter.The cigarette ash in Chen Jue's hand had accumulated a lot, and the white light of the mobile phone shone on his face. He stared at the screen, and when he saw the sentence "the right leg is disabled", his face was serious, and his pupils gradually tightened.

Suddenly, he remembered the driver at home, the driver who had been in prison for ten years and his father wanted to keep him very much.For a moment, I almost hated myself for being able to think things through so thoroughly that I didn't even need to question anyone, because all the causes and consequences had already been connected in series.It's just that he didn't know what price Song Ke's father had paid for this.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't dare to believe it when I first found out. How can there be such a reason why I still hold on to the matter after more than ten years? Criminal cases also have to pay attention to the prosecution period." The other end of the phone sighed , "Besides, the person involved doesn't pursue the matter. What position does he have as a witness to pretend to be a hero? I guess it's mostly because of money. And let's take a step back, your father is gone..."

Chen Jue turned a deaf ear to it: "What happened later."

"what?"

"I asked you what happened next." He pinched the cigarette butt tightly with his fingers, "Later Song Ke went to report the crime and gave up without any results?"

"I haven't asked for the specific reason, but judging from the results, he really didn't stick to it."

This is not like Song Ke's character.Knowing that the other party is dead, but still want to expose the matter, this determination and will can never be easily eliminated.But why didn't he stick to it?Is his heart soft, or has another result, another result that is tragic enough and satisfactory enough for him.

There is no more evidence, but Chen Jue already has a bad feeling in his heart.It was an intuition, just like his intuition that he loved Song Ke, and he didn't need any evidence to be sure.Thinking of her stepmother who had gone away for no apparent reason, Chen Jue suddenly had a splitting headache, her chest seemed to have been cut open in the middle, and she could only hold on to the edge of the balcony with her hands in pain.

He never knew how his stepmother died. Chen Nian said it was high blood pressure, but he didn't believe it, because she was always healthy during her lifetime.But the bones had already been turned into ashes, Chen Nian would rather keep his mouth shut than break with him, there was no one to ask him.Sometimes he was thinking, it would be great if his stepmother could dream.

He had always hoped that his stepmother could talk to him in his dream, but it was strange that there was always only the back of his stepmother in the dream.She sat by the bed, not knowing why she was angry with her son, and wept quietly, saying that he was an unfilial son.

"Mr. Chen, do you still want to check? If you are worried about pulling out the radish and bringing out the mud..."

"check."

It stunned the man for a moment.

"Find it out." His voice suddenly became slow and depressing, "Whether my mother met him before she died, and whether there was any conflict, every doubtful point must be investigated."

"Mr. Chen, this matter is difficult to do, why don't you just ask the person in charge—"

"If you ask you to check, you can check it!" His pupils shrank rapidly, and he stared fiercely, "You don't need to tell me what to do, you just need to do what you have to do."

"Got it, Mr. Chen."

The sound just faded away.After hanging up the phone, he couldn't come back to his senses for a long time, his right hand was holding the railing tightly, it was cold.

When I went back to the bedroom, it was very warm under the quilt.Song Ke was sleeping inside wearing long-sleeved trousers. The pajamas were too big, making him look extremely small. His pale cheeks were slightly flushed, and the tip of his nose was sweating a little.

Chen Jue lay down, and Song Ke's warm body leaned towards him, cuddling him unconsciously.

But he pushed Song Ke away.

What he finds may not be the truth, of course he understands this truth.It's just that when I close my eyes, I see the dying student, the father who is in prison and wearing handcuffs and anklets, and the mother who refuses to entrust her dreams to her. Except for them, there is only myself covered in blood.

It was as if someone stabbed him indiscriminately, picking out the vital parts, especially in the heart. He shouted for help and asked his parents to save him. When his mother heard it, she threw herself on him to block a few stabs, and then fell into a pool of blood inside.

It's not true, it's just because I miss my mother too much.

In the second half of the night, there was a cold wind blowing in, and he couldn't sleep well.Someone tucked up the quilt for him, and put a cold towel on his forehead, and gently brushed away the sweaty forehead hair with his fingers: "I told you not to go swimming with them, why did you say you didn't listen? It's all right now, Tossing yourself and getting sick, not being able to go to school is still a trivial matter, and the whole family is worried about you."

He was exhausted and couldn't open his eyes, so he could only reply lazily: "Just beat me up."

"Still angry with your father." Turning over the towel, the hot forehead was relieved again, "I hit you to make you remember, but your father loves you more than anyone else."

He turned over, his back was silent and stubborn.

"Okay, okay, don't talk anymore." The gentle and caring voice gradually approached, and put his hands on his shoulders, "Next time you swim, you are not allowed to cut first and then play later. Tell mom, mom spares time to accompany you, how many of you It is not safe for a child to go to the reservoir."

"Really?"

"of course it's true."

He finally turned his head, revealing a pair of stubborn eyes: "Mom, I'm not sure."

"It's a word."

"You must go with me, don't fool me."

"When did Mom ever fool you? I will definitely accompany you. Mom will accompany you wherever you want to go."

His father has been so strict since he was sensible, and only his stepmother loves him like his own.The father said that a loving mother is a loser, but the stepmother said no, we Chen Jue is a good boy.He listened dismissively, but he also secretly vowed in his heart that when he grows up, he must be filial to his stepmother and let her spend her old age peacefully.It's a pity that the weather was unpredictable, and the stepmother finally walked ahead of him and Chen Nian.