Manhattanhenge

After visiting the secret base, the two separated and returned to their respective places where they should exist, like a dream that ended suddenly, without a clear ending.

But Ning Yixiao got a gift, which was of great significance.It was a palm-sized toy, the smallest and most inconspicuous piece of art in that factory, but it caught Ning Yixiao's sight the moment he left.

Su Hui told him that this was a plush kitten he had when he was a child. Because the suture thread on the chest was open and the cotton stuffing inside was exposed, it was discarded.

But Su Hui picked it up and reshaped it.

The broken kitten was entangled with many wires, and the wires were wrapped with chaotic black threads, which continued to extend outwards. Among them, a red thread loomed and went inward, connecting the broken chest of the doll, inside which was placed A very small light bulb, malfunctioning, flickering and stopping.

The doll's hands and feet were bound, and its chest was cut open, but it kept a smile on its face, and its big eyes carried the innocence of Su Hui since childhood.

Ning Yixiao almost never asked for anything, no matter who he was facing.

This awkward flaw stems from many years ago, and also from his high self-esteem. It is more difficult for him to express himself unreservedly than to solve other people's difficulties.

But the moment he found the kitten, he felt a strange longing.

Su Hui seems to be able to read his heart, and there are always coincidences and tacit understanding between them, which is very strange.

"Do you like this?" Su Hui picked it up, "Give it to you, if you like it, I made this when I was very young, and it has been here for a long time."

Even though Su Hui didn't say anything, Ning Yixiao knew it was precious.If the cocoon is the refuge he can't lose, then this kitten is Su Hui himself.

Su Hui smiled and stuffed it into his arms with a cute expression.

"You have to keep it safe."

Until this moment, Ning Yixiao was lying in front of the table, staring at the kitten doll, still thinking of Su Hui sitting alone at the bus stop.

Every time I saw Su Hui, his body seemed to be surrounded by milky white morning mist, hazy, as if he didn't belong here, and might disappear without a trace in the next moment.

Ning Yixiao poked the kitten's cheek with his finger, moved it down a little bit, and touched the heart of the small light bulb with his fingertips.

It's hot, it seems to be really alive, not so easy to live.

He even had an unreachable delusion, imagining that when the broken kitten was discarded, he would appear, pick him up, sew up the wound on his chest, and then keep it safe.

But this thought was only fleeting, and was interrupted by the sound of a message reminder.

The first one was from Su Hui, because he had been told to tell himself when he was about to get home.

[Kitten: I'm almost there, I'm a little sleepy. ]

[Little Cat: It’s so cold in the car, the air conditioner is turned on so low. ]

The corner of Ning Yixiao's mouth curled up unconsciously, and was about to reply when a new message popped up on the top of the screen.

It's a debt collection text message.

Almost instantly, Ning Yixiao stopped communicating with Su Hui and returned to reality.

He stared at the text message, those threatening words made him feel familiar, he was silent for a moment, still lowered his head, and calculated the recent income and expenditure.

This is his life.

·

It seems that Su Hui really gave herself to Ning Yixiao.

He even went home in a daze, took a taxi by himself, couldn't help sending a message to Ning Yixiao in the car, but didn't get a response, almost forgot to pay when he got off the bus, and completely forgot that he would pay Ning Yixiao because he was in the car privately. Penalized for leaving the birthday party.

The punishment was natural, but he didn't expect it to be so serious this time.

It was afternoon when I arrived home. Su Hui didn't expect that it wasn't Mama Chen who opened the door, but a strange middle-aged woman who smiled enthusiastically and said, Young Master, you are back.

Su Hui was a little puzzled, so she asked Chen Ma where she was, but she hesitated and asked if she wanted some tea.

Feeling that something was wrong, Su Hui walked straight in and bumped into Grandpa head-on. He frowned and sat on the sofa in the living room, folded his hands, and held the dragon head carved on the top of the pear blossom wood walking stick. When he saw him coming in, his face became more and more tense. serious.

Su Hui could see that he was very angry, and did not excuse herself, walked over and apologized to Ji Tailu.

Ji Tailu almost sneered, "No need, your wings are hardened now, no one in this family can control you anymore, even I don't care."

Su Hui was a little at a loss, many words stuck in her throat, so she could only say sorry.

"I'm sorry?" Ji Tailu suppressed his anger, "Where do you think yesterday's birthday party was, and who were the people who came, Su Hui, you walked away in front of everyone, my old face is gone. Where to put it? Huh?"

"I..." Su Hui tried to explain, "I overdosed on the medicine yesterday, and the adverse reaction was very serious. If I stay there, I will only embarrass everyone. I can only..."

"Okay, have you gone to the hospital?" Ji Tailu looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Yesterday Xu Zhi said that he contacted the psychiatric departments of almost all hospitals in Beijing, but they couldn't find you, and even sent three drivers to go to the hospital. Looking for you, where have you been? What embarrassing things did you do again, do you remember? Are you sober now!"

Su Hui opened his mouth, but before he could open his mouth, Ji Tailu stopped him, and every sentence of accusation was thrown like a sharp knife, scratching his face.

"You don't need to say anything, I don't want to hear a word." Ji Tailu said angrily, "From today on, you are not allowed to go anywhere, just stay at home and think about your mistakes. I'll treat you until your mind is back to normal!"

"I won't stop studying!" Su Hui's eyes were red, "I'm not abnormal..."

"Aren't you abnormal? Look at what you look like now! It's just that you've been used to being like this, you can get what you want when you were born, and you're so used to being delirious, going crazy all day long, and never having a single day of peace!" Ji Tailu stood up, Very angry, "I don't talk about making achievements in my life, but I have devoted myself to it. How can I have a grandson like you? It is simply the biggest stain in my life!"

He suddenly raised his crutches, and Su Hui dodged subconsciously, but in the end, Ji Tailu threw the crutches high above his head to another place, smashing a clay vase, which was made by 17-year-old Su Hui himself. Good for him.

It is now shattered.

"It's all the inferior lunatic genes of Su's family, which gave birth to a lunatic like you."

Ji Tailu left this cruel sentence and stayed where he was with Su Hui.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun was shining brightly, the herbs in the garden were lush, and the lilacs were fragrant. He could even hear the sound of birds flapping their wings outside the window.

The new aunt came over and invited Su Hui to the new confinement room.The place is worse than before, not even a futon, only the choking incense, masking the smell of decaying damp.

Before the door closed, Su Hui only asked the new aunt, "Auntie, where is Mama Chen?"

The other party was stunned for a moment, with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Young master... I'm a new nanny, I don't know much about the previous things..."

The corners of Su Hui's mouth were straight, without saying a word, he walked into the confinement room by himself.

There are no windows, just a dim overhead light and a camera with the eyes of a poisonous snake.Su Hui knelt on the floor as required, with her back straight.

Grandpa's last words echoed repeatedly in his mind, and Su Hui really wanted to know if he actually spurned him every day when he saw her.

Everyone in this family looked up to him, did they also regard themselves as an indelible stain like him?

He still remembers the appearance of his father, who is very gentle and patient. He will buy him many picture books he likes and encourage him to do what he wants to do.My father also has a younger brother, that is, his uncle, who is a well-known curator, so when he was very young, Su Hui could follow him to participate in some exhibitions.

They stood in front of the artwork that Su Hui couldn't understand and had an overly innocent discussion, and then they covered their mouths and laughed together.Uncle would imitate him on purpose, imitating him with exaggerated expressions and a childish accent, saying, "Wow, so beautiful."

It's just that the uncle fell ill later, they said he was schizophrenic.

At that time, Su Hui didn't understand how a person's spirit could be cracked, and it wasn't biscuits and porcelain.Later, he received a call from his uncle, who said that there was a big snake in his stomach, and that snake would talk to him. He couldn't sleep at night, and he always heard the sound of the snake crawling.

But at that time, Su Hui was still a six-year-old child, so she didn't understand, and only found it novel, as if she was listening to a story.

Later, his uncle was sent to the hospital, and Ji Tailu forcibly took Su Hui away, and told him cruelly that he would never be allowed to see his uncle again.

Everyone in Ji's family belittled and vilified his uncle's illness infinitely, portraying him as a vicious snake, and did not allow Su Hui to get any closer.

The world is impermanent, since the summer when Su Hui was diagnosed, he has also become the lingering snake shadow in the hearts of the Ji family.

If he could, he really wanted to be the snake in his uncle's stomach, at least safe and warm.

Kneeling on the ground, Su Hui felt familiar.

It has been like this since he was a child. He can't get any chance to make mistakes when he does something wrong. He is often locked in, but at that time there will still be a soft futon and a small bed. He just can't go to the garden to play, and he can't read in the bright study room. Calligraphy and painting, but now he has nothing, and is required to recite meditation Buddhist scriptures silently.

Su Hui didn't want to recite any Buddhist scriptures at all, and his broken brain couldn't receive any baptism of faith.Su Hui knelt up straight like this, with her eyes closed, thinking of Ning Yixiao who was willing to hide in the cocoon with him.

He was grateful that he had given him the doll, so that it seemed that only the body was punished here.But the real him actually stayed in that safe rental house and never left.

·

Su Hui disappeared for a whole week, and he didn't show up until the day before the summer vacation.

Ning Yixiao felt uneasy, sent a lot of messages and made phone calls, but couldn't be reached. In the end, he could only insinuate and ask Professor Wang during the meeting, but the answer he got was that he was sick and recuperating at home.

This kind of excuse to prevaricate outsiders could not dispel Ning Yixiao's suspicion. He tried to ask the students of the finance department through the relationship in the ministry, but it was still fruitless.

The student even said with a smile, "Su Hui, he is like this often. He doesn't come to class every now and then like he's on a break from school. If it's short, he'll come in a week, if it's long, it's a few months. It's normal. Maybe it will show up tomorrow. Do you have anything to do with him?"

Only then did he discover that the connection between Su Hui and this school was so weak that he didn't even have a friend who could explain the reason for his disappearance, not a single one.

"It's nothing particularly important." Ning Yixiao smiled, "He... used my card to borrow a book before, and it's time to return it."

The classmate laughed even louder, "Then you are miserable, he may not come back."

Ning Yixiao felt uncomfortable and lost, as if she was the one who was sick.

The nights I spent with Su Hui seemed to have never existed, because he disappeared so easily without a trace, except for the kitten doll, without any proof.

The holidays are approaching, and he is called by the teachers in the department to help maintain the server. Ning is willing to do these things overnight, as long as he can leave a good impression on the teachers, so since the freshman year, he has been the most suitable in the hearts of the teachers. "Helper", a nice workforce.

Just knocked a few lines of code, the office door was knocked twice.

There was no one else in the room, and Ning Yixiao continued typing on the keyboard without looking up, "The door is open, please come in."

The door was pushed open, and he heard a somewhat familiar voice calling him senior.

As soon as Ning Yixiao looked up, the person who came was Xia Zhixu, whom Li Cong said had been pursued by many people as soon as he reported it, a junior from the same department, and also a gifted student in the eyes of the teachers.

Because of the teacher's favor, Ning Yixiao worked as a teaching assistant in the experimental class of the first grade, and happened to lead this class.Xia Zhixu's homework is excellent every time, his programming ability is extremely high, the code he writes is concise and elegant, and even the comments are impeccable, but he is taciturn, and the only few conversations are about course reports.

The expression on Ning Yixiao's face became more relaxed, and he smiled, "You were also sent to work by the teacher?"

Xia Zhixu nodded, "Well, Teacher Yang asked me to help record the grades."

As required, he sat at the desk next to Ning Yixiao, and shook the mouse to unlock the screen.Just after recording the messages of the two, he suddenly thought of something, turned his head and said to Ning Yixiao, "By the way, senior, when I was waiting for Teacher Yang just now, I heard him and another teacher mention the matter of going to the United States for an exchange. You seem to be the candidate here, and I heard that there is another seminar, which will be held soon, and students who have the opportunity to exchange will go."

Ning Yixiao paused for a moment, then smiled nonchalantly, "Really? You're better informed than I am. I haven't heard of it at all."

"Really?" Xia Zhixu smiled, "Then I have the first-hand information. It's also a coincidence, maybe they forgot that I was by the side during the discussion."

Ning Yixiao looked at him, and found that this was the first time he saw Xia Zhixu smiling, and it turned out that he still had a pair of canine teeth when he smiled, "Zhixu, you are in a good mood today."

Xia Zhixu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled a little embarrassedly, "Really?"

"You always seem to have a lot of things on your mind, don't put too much pressure on yourself, just go with the flow." Ning Yixiao, with a brotherly attitude, was relieved and then joked, "If spying on the military situation can make you happier, I don't mind if you Help me find out, there is good news that the senior invites you to dinner."

Ning Yixiao is famous for his high EQ and good popularity. Xia Zhixu knew it a long time ago, "Then thank you senior, maybe I will be on the list during the summer vacation, and I will be able to eat this meal next month."

"Next month? Aren't you going home?" Ning Yixiao stared at the screen instead of him, "I remember your home is in Jiangcheng."

Xia Zhixu's expression obviously dimmed, and he nodded, "Well, I don't want to go back, I can still do some projects in school, learn more and practice my hands."

Ning Yixiao said with a smile: "Jiangcheng is a good place. I've always wanted to visit it. I heard that the sunset from the Yangtze River Bridge is very beautiful."

Xia Zhixu lowered his eyes and twitched the corners of his mouth, "Maybe."

He looked away and looked at the clear lake wallpaper on the monitor, "I've been there before, but I didn't pay attention to the scenery, I almost forgot."

Looking at his expression, Ning Yixiao noticed something, turned his head and smiled, "It doesn't matter, home is there, as long as you want, you will always go back, and you will definitely see each other again."

Xia Zhixu raised his eyes and said thank you.

"Senior, where is your home?"

In the eyes of their group of juniors, Ning Yixiao is like a perfect existence, with excellent grades, extraordinary talent, and outstanding academic achievements. What is rare is that he is also very friendly and has never had any conflicts with anyone. Overcoming conflicts, it seems that you can't make mistakes by nature.

But Xia Zhixu understands how tiring it is to be a friendly and enthusiastic person, and occasionally wonders if a person like Ning Yixiao will feel tired.

"My family..." Ning Yixiao smiled, "I grew up in a small fishing village, you might not know it, but generally speaking, it's Beibin Province."

Xia Zhixu knew how to measure, so he didn't ask too much, "Living by the sea should be very happy, especially when the sun is shining..."

Ning Yixiao's smile gradually faded.

"The sea also has a dark side."

Hearing this sentence, Xia Zhixu turned to look at him, and saw that his usual smiling face looked cold, but it was only for a second, because Ning Yixiao quickly smiled again.

"The sea at night is like an oil swamp, with strong winds and waves, and it looks a little scary, but it's also very special. You can go to the beach at night and try it next time."

His tone was very natural, as if the momentary indifference was just an illusion.

Xia Zhixu nodded, "Okay."

The two of them didn't continue any further topics, and each worked on the work at hand. Xia Zhixu was relatively relaxed, and it was over soon, so he greeted him and left before leaving.

Ning Yixiao was the only one left in the room again.

He tapped on the keyboard, and the symbols flickered like seagulls flying in the night sky.

Very inopportune, Ning Yixiao really wanted to go back to the house he rented and do nothing but stare at the kitten doll.

Or, hiding in that blue cocoon with Su Hui.