sunk in yesterday

After getting into the taxi, Guan Yuzhou reported a location to the driver in the driver's seat.

The driver also seemed to be in his thirties. After pondering for a while, he touched his phone with some embarrassment, "I'm sorry, young man, I've never been to your place, I have to check the navigation."

"It's okay." Guan Yuzhou nodded, and put the big and small bags he was carrying at his feet.

It was cloudy and rainy a while ago, but now the sky above the city has finally cleared up, and it is the weekend, the streets and alleys are crowded with people, most of whom are young people in fashionable clothes.

The mechanical female voice broke the embarrassment in the car. The driver heaved a sigh of relief and turned the car according to the instructions, "This is the old block of the ancient building. Few people go there. Everyone is trying to move to the center of the city." .”

Guan Yuzhou looked at the receding tall buildings outside the window, and said, "Each has its own advantages."

"That's what I said, but who doesn't want to go to a place where life is more convenient." The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror and smiled honestly, "You have brought a lot of things. Are you going to visit the elderly?"

"Ah."

"If I'm free, I still have to go home and see more. My hometown is not here, but my business is open all year round, and I don't have time to go back. A while ago, my mother called to talk about it." , Isn’t this doing more and making more money, and it will look better during the Chinese New Year.”

Guan Yuzhou didn't talk much, just nodded occasionally to show that he was listening.The driver also saw his indifferent personality, and quickly stopped the topic automatically, and tuned a random radio station.

The ancient building area is not far away. It was actually the most prosperous area at first, but due to the government's planning in recent years, it has become relatively economically backward, but it has also retained its most charming appearance.

It's like he stayed abroad for three years, and after he came back, the neighborhood of the university city has changed, but everything here is still familiar.

He is not sure whether the people from that year are still there.

After paying the money, Guan Yuzhou stood on the side of the road with the prepared door ceremony.Compared with the noisy business district, this place is obviously much quieter. The sun shines on the moss-covered stone steps, which at first glance gives people a sense of tranquility.

After walking through a few alleys, the small building in memory appeared in the field of vision.The old mailbox has been ignored for a long time, and the traces of rust are mottled.The fig tree in the courtyard has grown a few centimeters taller, and the fruits on it are still green, and the smaller ones have not yet matured.

He stood still under the tree, as if he was constantly looking for something on the trunk.Time cannot repair the remaining scratches on the rough skin, it can only push them to a higher place.

He quickly found the marks that he had touched over and over again, and a slight smile appeared on his face. Before he had time to cover his fingerprints again, he heard the sound of the iron door shaking behind him, and a slightly hoarse voice asked hesitantly : "Who are you looking for...?"

Guan Yuzhou turned his head, the light left dense shadows on his straight suit through the leaves and branches, the smile on that face did not fade, and he bowed politely to the person who appeared suddenly, "Uncle Si. "

"...Xiaoguan? Why are you here?" Uncle Si couldn't believe it, and after being stunned, he hurriedly invited people into the room, "Come in, come in first."

Seeing him nervously looking into the alley, he quickly closed the door when he saw nothing unusual. Guan Yuzhou put the things in his hands next to the cabinet and explained: "No one is with me now, don't worry."

"That's right, that's right." Uncle Si's movements were still a little stiff, "Sit down, and I'll boil some water."

Guan Yuzhou knew that he still needed some time to slow down, so he nodded, "Excuse me."

The furnishings in the house are still the same, but it is much messier than when I came here before, and many places are also covered with dust. Although there is a breath of life, it can be seen at a glance that it has not been cleaned seriously for a long time.He looked around the living room casually, and finally his eyes stopped on the wall covered with awards.

The tape stuck to the corners is brand new, and the paper shows no signs of dust. The feather duster on the side seems to be often used. This is probably the most diligently cleaned area in the house.

It wasn't until the electric kettle was finished that Uncle Si returned to the living room with a cup of warm water. When he saw Guan Yuzhou, his face showed an awkward smile, and he kept rubbing his thumb against the rough fabric. He didn't know what to say for a while after sitting down. .

Guan Yuzhou moved his lips and was about to speak when a series of messy footsteps came from the wooden stairs leading to the second floor.He stood up with a feeling in his heart, and greeted the half-white-haired old woman very naturally: "Aunt Fang, I'm here."

Aunt Fang's face was sallow, and she staggered a few steps closer.She held Guan Yuzhou's hands tightly, looked behind him, and gradually there was light in her cloudy eyes, "It's Xiaoguan, did Miaomiao come back with you?"

Uncle Si's complexion changed, he rubbed his wrinkled face with his palms, touched the cigarette on the coffee table silently, avoided them and went to the yard to smoke.

Guan Yuzhou laughed heartily when he heard the words, "Miaomiao has class today and is still in school. He said he missed you, so I will come to see you for him. Look, there are all the supplements he bought for you over there. , thinking about your poor health."

"Don't blame him, young people naturally have things to do for young people." Aunt Fang pulled him back to sit on the sofa again, pointed at the open door, and said displeasedly: "Don't talk to your uncle, He is feudal thinking. I think you and Miaomiao are very good, you have to treat him well."

Guan Yuzhou has heard these words countless times, but he still answered patiently and seriously: "Yes, I will."

"He still has a childish temper. If he gets angry with you in any way, please take care of him." Aunt Fang turned a little red when talking about her child, and she became a little better. It’s not as good as before, I don’t know how many more years I can be with him. From now on, he will leave it to you, Xiao Guan.”

Hearing the last sentence, Guan Yuzhou's mood also fluctuated slightly, and there was a pang in his throat.But he quickly adjusted his mentality, and gently held Aunt Fang's hand, "Don't say that, Miaomiao is very smart and can tell fortunes. He secretly told you before that you can live a long life , don’t disappoint him by saying those words again.”

"Oh, this kid." Aunt Fang was obviously pleased, she giggled as if she was ten years younger in an instant, it was too ridiculous, and she couldn't stop coughing.

When Uncle Si, who was outside, heard the movement, he hurried back into the house, still smelling of cigarettes.

He carried medicine with him at all times, and the glass of water that was originally poured for Guan Yuzhou also came in handy at this time, and was directly fed into Aunt Fang's mouth.

Aunt Fang swallowed the pills, leaned back on the sofa for a while, and saw Guan Yuzhou frowning looking over, smiled in relief, "It's an old problem, you don't have to worry." After a few seconds, she nervously Add a sentence, "Don't tell Miaomiao when you go back, I really have nothing wrong with my health."

"Okay, go back and rest quickly." Uncle Si helped her to go upstairs, but Aunt Fang was still resisting: "The child finally came here, I haven't finished talking to him yet..."

Uncle Si insisted: "I told him, you go and rest."

"Don't scare him, don't worry about him and Miaomiao!"

"I don't care, I'll chat with him casually."

"Oh, oh, I'll go by myself, you smell like cigarettes again, why do you smoke a lot lately... I'm so old, I don't know how to take good care of my body..."

The nagging voice disappeared from above, and Aunt Fang was finally settled, and it took about a quarter of an hour for Uncle Si to go downstairs.

Guan Yuzhou was standing in front of those awards, and nodded after seeing him, "Auntie is asleep?"

"Sleeping." Uncle Si knew that he smoked, so he didn't shy away from it. He took out the half-smoked relight from his pocket and put it in his mouth.He handed out a new one, and after Guan Yuzhou took it, he breathed out a puff of white smoke, "Uncle was sorry for you, now I'm here to say sorry."

Guan Yuzhou flipped on the lighter, and smiled softly amidst the little sparks, "You are not embarrassed, it is just a normal reaction of a father."

Uncle Si knew his subtext, the dimples at the end of his eyes deepened a bit, and his smile was fleeting, "Grandpa Xia died a while ago, so it can be regarded as an explanation for Miaomiao."

"Xia Hong deserves to die."

"Your aunt Fang..."

"I know." Guan Yuzhou didn't finish his sentence.

Three years ago, Aunt Fang received the news that her son had committed suicide by falling from a building. After arriving at the scene, Aunt Fang only saw a pool of blood.

After Miaomiao was taken away by the Xia family, Mr. Xia greatly reduced his contact with the Si family, the adoptive family.Aunt Fang was sick with missing her, and every time Miaomiao sneaked back to see her, it was the moment she was most frightened and happiest.

Unexpectedly, when I saw him again, there was no life left, only bad news.

Aunt Fang woke up from a coma, her memory was completely messed up, and she went back to a few years ago, and she never stopped moving forward, and the boy she raised in her heart remained in college forever.

Uncle Si didn't speak again, he stared blankly at the award certificate with the same name written all over it, and came back to his senses when the smoke burned his fingers, and hurriedly put it out in the water glass, "Go to Miaomiao's room to see see?"

Guan Yuzhou said without hesitation, "Okay."

The two went upstairs back and forth, and stopped in front of a door with a "Do Not Disturb While Studying" sign.

This was left by Miaomiao in high school. Guan Yuzhou did not accompany him through those years, but only saw these traces that made his heart extremely soft after he was brought into his home in college.

Everything remains the same as it was back then, the narrow and soft single bed, the wardrobe with anime posters, and the calendar with the 0-day countdown to the college entrance examination...

Time stops here.

"These are Miaomiao's...things. If you want to take them away, take them away. It won't be good if your Aunt Fang sees them someday if you stay here." Uncle Si couldn't say the word "relic" and bent over to hide Without expression, he dragged a large box out from under the bed.

The relics were taken from Xia's house, they were all inconspicuous gadgets, and only he and Aunt Fang snatched them as treasures in the end.

Guan Yuzhou was kicked out of the country three years ago, so naturally he has never seen anything he left in the world.

He knelt on the floor and opened the lid of the box, and what he saw was a bunch of childish toys, carefully sewn rag dolls, including the little yellow duck used for bathing, all deflated and crooked inside.He found the transcript of the university final exam with the name "Xia Zhuo" written on it, and also found many familiar certificates, which the other party used to show off in front of him as capital to show off, and then begged him for rewards with a playful smile, again and again Haggle hard at a time.

The memory gradually came back, and he thought of the beaming young man when he first met in the library, and the countless days and nights when this young man kissed him softly and said "like" tirelessly.

He watched the boy become a young man step by step, blending with him without any gap, but he also experienced the final cutting of flesh and bones, and was unilaterally announced that he would never see him again.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Uncle Si thoughtfully closed the door and went out, leaving him here alone.

Guan Yuzhou lowered his head, and the low air pressure around his body seemed to force back the sunlight outside the window, leaving only a layer of light white on the sheets that had lost all breath.

He gently removed the toys and arranged them on the floor until he found a neat notebook at the bottom of the case.He had seen this notebook before, it was what Xia Zhuo carried when he struck up a conversation with him.

Open the cover, and sure enough, on the first page, his name is written in flying dragons and phoenixes, which is his own handwriting.

He still remembers what Xia Zhuo said to him back then - I am your fan, sign me up!

It was the first time for Guan Yuzhou to meet someone who struck up a conversation like this. Looking at the smiling face, for some reason, his hands moved faster than his brain, and he left his name after he realized it.In the end, the little boy struggled to distinguish the words, and suddenly realized: So your name is Guan Yuzhou, and I am Simiao...ah, no, my name is Xia Zhuo now!

He was so inexplicably entangled, and then fell in love without any suspense.

The smiling face in my memory had a scorching temperature, and every time I thought about it, it seemed that I could burn him, and even my heart continued to tingle.

Guan Yuzhou breathed heavily, and lifted the paper with his fingertips that still smelled of tobacco, and saw excerpts of articles and journals written on it.

Every article is inseparable from the three words "Guan Yuzhou", and the lingering love is attached to the neat strokes, which can be clearly revealed just through the lines.

He suddenly became jealous of himself back then.

But he soon felt relieved.

Xia Zhuo is still his, and the person he was back then couldn't have the Xia Zhuo he is now.

He flipped through the words and felt a little strange.It was clearly a normal sentence anyway, but he could imagine the expression on the other side's every stroke.No one understands Xia Zhuo's emotions better than him.

But the journal stopped halfway through the book, and the handwriting became more and more scribbled, as if carrying more and more panic and anger.

……

[I'm going crazy. ]

[They are here again today. ]

[I hid a knife under my pillow. ]

……

The next few pages were just scrawled with balls of thread, and the text ended there.

Guan Yuzhou rubbed the center of his brows, the turbid air in his chest had nowhere to go, making his face terribly gloomy.

He didn't know much about what happened to Xia Zhuo in the Xia family that year. After the collapse of the Xia family, all the insiders were scattered all over the place, and the contents he inquired about were varied, just like what was published in the newspapers at that time. Not much credible degree.But because of this, he must find someone who can help before Xia Zhuo enters the final interpretation dream, so as to deal with more situations that he cannot predict.

The slight sound of footsteps dispelled the depression in his heart a little. He raised his eyelids when he heard the sound, and Aunt Fang, who was supposed to be sleeping peacefully on the bed, came over barefoot again. The ground came to pull him, "The man has gold under his knees, how can he kneel casually?"

She dragged him to the bed and sat down, she still wanted to say something, her face turned pale when she saw the things on the ground, trembling, she covered her head and was about to fall down.

Guan Yuzhou quickly supported her, hid the notebook in his clothes, and led her out of the room.

Aunt Fang leaned against the wall, frowning her face. After a while, she forgot what happened just now.

She saw the man in front of her clearly, her expression was blank for a moment, and the smile on her face rose again in the next second, "Ah, Xiao Guan, why are you here?"

Guan Yuzhou replied without changing his expression, "Miaomiao asked me to come and see you."

Aunt Fang was even more delighted when she heard Miaomiao's name, "Is he busy at school again? You tell him to rest more. Although he is young, he must eat well."

"Okay, I will tell him and take good care of him." Seeing Uncle Si standing under the stairs looking worried, Guan Yuzhou said with a faint smile, "Since I see that everything is fine with you, then I won't stay any longer." Now, next time Miaomiao is on vacation, bring him back to see you together."

"Are you going to leave just now?" Aunt Fang glanced at the sky outside the house, "Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"

"No need, take care of your body too, Miaomiao sure doesn't want to see you sick."

"Hey, okay." Aunt Fang took the shoes from Uncle Si and followed him, "Then I'll see you off."

Guan Yuzhou didn't refuse, and slowed down her pace, waiting for her to slowly walk down the stairs step by step.

After leaving the house and courtyard, the sun just set on the horizon, and the afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the fig tree, dyeing those blue fruits with a hazy orange.

"Just send it here, it's cold at night."

Aunt Fang waved her hand, as if agreeing.But when Guan Yuzhou turned her back to the past again, she called him again with a trembling voice: "... Xiaoguan."

"what happened?"

"I had a nightmare a while ago..."

Aunt Fang's expression was ugly, and she didn't say what happened in the nightmare, but confirmed to him hesitantly, "Is nothing wrong with Miaomiao?"

Guan Yuzhou clenched his fist for a while, then released it immediately, "He's with me, he's fine."

"It's because I think too much, after all, I haven't seen him for a long time." She repeated the same words again: "He is a good boy, you have to treat him well."

"Yes." Guan Yuzhou couldn't even smirk this time, and still replied softly to the answer that would never change no matter how many times, "I will."

The author says:

Guan Yuzhou: I really envy myself for being able to have Xia Zhuo :)