trapped beast

-B

"I don't celebrate Christmas." Fang Yuanchuan corrected after finishing speaking, "I don't celebrate Christmas at all."

"Is it just a birthday?" Zhou Chengxiu asked.

"The dress you sent is the first birthday present I received." Fang Yuanchuan nodded, "So, yes, it's not my birthday."

Zhou Chengxiu took the cigarette between his fingers, "Well, we're pretty much the same."

Fang Yuanchuan snatched the cigarette over again, and took a puff as if swearing his sovereignty: "Who is similar to you. The little bastard who hasn't even grown his hair yet."

Zhou Chengxiu didn't argue with him, but shook his head and replied: "Yes yes yes..."

On Christmas day, Fang Yuanchuan and Zhou Chengxiu were originally in the factory.Zhou Chengxiu didn't like to join in the fun, Fang Yuanchuan also enjoyed leisure.The two ate a meal in a hurry, and then went to do their own things.

After a while of silence, with the sound of the car engine suddenly extinguishing, a beam of white light penetrated from outside the iron gate of the factory.Zhou Chengxiu stretched his neck, sat in the same place and looked around, while Fang Yuanchuan got up to look.

After a while, Fang Yuanchuan walked in with a few people talking and laughing.

Someone called him like Zhou Chengxiu: Chuan.

Zhou Chengxiu was not very happy, but Fang Yuanchuan seemed to be the opposite.He took out the good wine that he had been reluctant to drink from the cabinet, took a few more plastic cups, and filled them up one by one.He didn't forget to hand Zhou Chengxiu a cup, but the latter didn't take it.

"This is...?" Bao Xuan easily noticed that Zhou Chengxiu was looking at him seriously, so he asked Fang Yuanchuan.

"My brother." Fang Yuanchuan pointed to Zhou Chengxiu and introduced, "I recognized him some time ago."

Bao Xuan and Fang Yuanchuan have known each other for many years.In the past, the two lived close to each other and went to a primary school (of course, there is only one primary school here).After finishing junior high school, Bao Xuan went to other places, earned a lot of money, took his mother to H City, and rarely came back.Among the group of people, Bao Xuan is obviously the most familiar with Fang Yuanchuan, their cups touched each other, the two hooked their shoulders, talked and laughed, they were familiar and affectionate.

"Isn't it just to come back to see you!" As soon as Jiu Jin came, Bao Xuan talked more and more: "City H is good, the prices are not as high as City A, but the quality of life is very good."

"You look like a dog, and the quality of life is not bad." Fang Yuanchuan scolded with a smile.

"Chuan, do you want to come? Come and be a partner with me. You can earn a lot of money." Bao Xuan said.

Before Fang Yuanchuan could answer, Zhou Chengxiu who was beside him coughed exaggeratedly.

"Is your throat uncomfortable?" Bao Xuan asked innocently.

"He caught a cold recently. By the way, Wang Yu, you said you were getting married earlier, when did it happen?" Fang Yuanchuan patted the back of Zhou Chengxiu's hand under the table, with a sense of comfort, but his face remained calm Bao Xuan's question was circumvented.

"Middle of next year." Wang Yu replied simply.Bao Xuan then said: "Working with me, I will never treat you badly."

Fang Yuanchuan looked very embarrassed, he is not a person who can handle such problems well.Seeing that he was silent, Bao Xuan thought he was tempted, so he struck while the iron was hot, and explained a lot of related news.Bao Xuan's business is logistics. With the development of e-commerce that is blooming everywhere, he can indeed see a very good prospect.He also has a good relationship with Fang Yuanchuan, it is only human nature to ask him to do things.

"I'm going out to smoke a cigarette." Zhou Chengxiu stood up abruptly, left the factory without taking any cigarettes.

Bao Xuan looked at it inexplicably, then turned his head and asked, "Your brother is a bit weird."

Fang Yuanchuan smiled helplessly, and filled the glass for him: "Drink."

Several people talked to each other about their recent encounters, but except for Bao Xuan who was a little confused, most of them were still struggling in the quagmire, and Fang Yuanchuan was no exception.

"I heard that Yi Shangjie is going to make some achievements here, and he is going to go up. There may be big moves recently. This time I come back, in fact, I want to find him." Bao Xuan said: "I and His son has a little friendship and played with him in City H. But his son is a prodigal son, rich second generation, not of much use."

Fang Yuanchuan was familiar with this name, as if he had done a few things for him: "Is it Yi Shangjie?"

Bao Xuan nodded, and began to talk about his small business incessantly.

It was already late at night after a group of people were full of wine and food, and they were all drunk.Fang Yuanchuan rummaged through the old storage room for a long time, pulled a blanket and put it on them. After they settled down, he went out to find Zhou Chengxiu in the cold of the night.

The moon hangs high above the dark sky, and after nightfall, the small town falls into silence, with a gust of cold wind blowing from time to time, and the sound of the wind whizzes past my ears.Fang Yuanchuan didn't hesitate, and went directly to their old place, the sunflower field.

Every time Fang Yuanchuan came here, Zhou Chengxiu led the way. He walked around a few times according to his memory, and found that he still didn't know the way.He sighed, looked around and shouted, "Zhou Chengxiu?"

No one answered.Fang Yuanchuan raised his tone again: "Stop making trouble, I really can't find you."

As soon as the words fell, he heard footsteps behind him, walking towards him.

As soon as Zhou Chengxiu's face appeared from behind the branches, Fang Yuanchuan slapped him on the back of the head: "Run out if you wear this little, and you have to pass it on to me when you catch a cold. I still have things to do next week."

Zhou Chengxiu didn't confront him like before. Instead, he looked at him with wet eyes like small animals, "Will you go to City H? With Bao Xuan?"

Fang Yuanchuan was dumb, and said after a while: "Didn't we all agree?"

"Then it won't happen." Zhou Chengxiu was overjoyed.

"—But have you ever thought about what I can do when I go to City A?" Fang Yuanchuan was silent for a long time before he said: "You will be a college student, but I am not."

Zhou Chengxiu was stunned, and said anxiously: "What does this have to do with it!"

Fang Yuanchuan was not as optimistic as Zhou Chengxiu.

"If you are going to City H, then I will go too." Zhou Chengxiu bet all his chips.To say it is a bargaining chip is a bit exaggerated, he just weighed his own weight in Fang Yuanchuan's heart, trying to gamble.

As for Fang Yuanchuan - after Zhou Chengxiu revealed his goals and ambitions to him, his previous mentality of carpe diem gradually lost its effect.He began to be confused about their position, their future, and even questioned his usual cognition.After having an in-depth talk with Bao Xuan and his group, Fang Yuanchuan finally understood what the sense of loss that haunted him like a ghost for the past few days was: he and Zhou Chengxiu, in the final analysis, were not the same kind of people.

If he wants to find the same kind, he should go to City H with Bao Xuan.They haven't read much and have no interest in the outside world.All they want is to earn some money and have enough to eat, and the most vain thing is to drive a car back like Bao Xuan and "return home".But Zhou Chengxiu, who solves the questions he doesn't understand every day and reads the books he finds boring, yearns for freedom and spiritual abundance, clearly wants something different.

But how could Fang Yuanchuan say these words?

Admitting one's short-sightedness is like admitting that the frog at the bottom of the well admits that the sky outside is vaster than the world above the well.

It hurt his self-esteem too much.

"Go back." Fang Yuanchuan finally said, "It's too cold outside."

-A

"Going to your house for Christmas?" Zhou Chengxiu asked incredulously, "Me?"

Qi Yu burst out laughing: "Ah, why didn't I know that I knew other Zhou Chengxiu?"

Zhou Chengxiu was a little hesitant: "It's not very good."

"What's wrong, my parents want to see you. Of course, it's mainly my sister. She always said that seeing is better than hearing a hundred times, and told me to take you home this time."

It's not that Zhou Chengxiu didn't want to go, but he was worried that he would be overly nervous and leave a bad impression on Qi Yu's family.Seeing that he was silent, Qi Yu hurriedly said: "Don't be under psychological pressure, my parents are very talkative! And I have brought people home before, so don't be too nervous."

Hearing Qi Yu say this, Zhou Chengxiu did feel a little more relaxed, but thinking about how Qi Yu had brought someone back home, his heart was sour, and he didn't know whether it was relief or loss.

On Christmas Day, Zhou Chengxiu and Qi Yu finished class at six o'clock.Qi Yu's driver's license was left in the dormitory, and Zhou Chengxiu was driving the car.Qi Yu's parents live near the city park in the north. The scenery of the community is comparable to that of the park. The forest is green and quiet, the roads twist and turn, and they are covered by densely planted low bushes and big bare tree branches. The security is tight, and there is only one family after driving about a few hundred meters.

"Turn right," Qi Yu said, "Turn left again, right here! We're here."

Different from the European-style buildings that Zhou Chengxiu saw along the way, this building is very futuristic, with a lot of glass and steel elements, and some bright and light colors are carefully filled in the places that are too tough, which is beautiful and unique.Qi Yu jumped out of the car happily, and casually pointed to an open space in the front yard: "Park here, I saw the car of my sister and brother-in-law, they have already arrived."

Before meeting Qi Yu's family, Zhou Chengxiu's nervousness could not be relieved by taking deep breaths.It is no exaggeration to say that Howe was more nervous than before any of his life-related exams.

"Dad, Mom, Sister!" Qi Yu called out one by one, but what answered him was the empty echo in the huge room.

"No one?" Qi Yu was also a little confused: "But the cars are all at the door." He took out his mobile phone to call someone and asked Zhou Chengxiu to look around the house.

Without Qi Yu leading the way, it would be impolite for Zhou Chengxiu to walk around in the living room, so he went around to the back garden.It is a lush green that greets the eye.It can be seen that the gardener has taken good care of this garden.Not to mention the vibrant flowers and plants in winter, even the lawn is neatly manicured.The gravel path winds through the lawn and extends to a small wooden door.

back door?As Zhou Chengxiu thought about it, he saw someone push open the door, and then a pair of young people and a pair of middle-aged people came out.

"This fish is big, let Chen's mother cook it in brown sauce tonight." Qi Zhiguo was wearing a plain army green cotton vest, and his gray sneakers were stained with fresh dirt.He is holding an old red plastic bucket in his left hand and a fishing rod on his shoulder, and he is discussing with his wife Chen Fang.

"Braised in soy sauce is not good, but mandarin fish with pine nuts is not bad." Qi Jin held the hand of her boyfriend Song Fei, looked down at the pitiful little yellow croakers in his bucket, and said, "These little ones of yours are the best. Just fry it and eat it."

"It's all right," Chen Fang said, "Why hasn't Yuyu come back yet? We've come back after fishing. Jinjin, give your brother a call."

Song Fei was about to call Qi Yu, when he looked up, he saw a slender young man standing in the backyard of his home, "You are?" Qi Jin also looked in the direction of Song Fei's eyes, and quickly compared this man with The people his younger brother talked about every day were connected, and she took a few steps forward enthusiastically, "Is it Xiao Zhou?"

Zhou Chengxiu nodded and smiled, and was about to answer when Qi Yu also appeared from behind him and said, "I asked Mother Chen, and she said they went fishing... Hey, you're back!"

Chen Fang said: "Your sister and brother-in-law came early, so we went to catch some fish in the back." Then, she kindly said to Zhou Chengxiu: "Xiao Zhou, right? Your Uncle Qi caught a big fish. Mama Chen will cook it for you."

Zhou Chengxiu said, "Thank you, Auntie."

"Don't stand outside," Song Fei said, "Let's talk inside."

Mama Chen moved swiftly, and the big meal was served soon after entering the room.The family had dinner, around eight o'clock.

There is a large smokeless fireplace in the living room, burning a blazing warm flame.On the floor was a handmade carpet with intricate designs, and Qi Yu sat cross-legged on the floor to deal the cards.Song Fei and Qi Zhiguo were also sitting on the carpet, with a few yuan and cents of change and coins spread out on their hands.When Zhou Chengxiu came out of the bathroom, he saw this scene.The orange fire light reflected on Qi Yu's side face, his cheeks looked flushed.Chen Fang was knitting a sweater on the sofa beside her, and Qi Jin was beside her, talking to her while looking at her mobile phone. While waiting for Qi Yu to reshuffle, Qi Zhiguo and Song Fei talked about the recent stock market and securities industry .

Such scenes sometimes appear in Zhou Chengxiu's dreams.He has no mother and has a father he would rather not have.Therefore, since he can remember, the longing for a complete family has been deeply planted in his heart.Zhou Chengxiu stood there in a daze.

Song Fei got up to drink the juice, saw Zhou Chengxiu standing there, and reminded him in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay." Zhou Chengxiu said, "I'll go with you."

"You can come here often in the future." Sein Fei took out a few cups from the cupboard and said, "When I first fell in love with Jin, I used to come here often. My parents treat me just like my own parents."

"Qi Yu and I..." Zhou Chengxiu said, "We haven't confirmed our relationship yet."

Song Fei asked in surprise: "No? This is the first time Qi Yu brought someone home."

Zhou Chengxiu was taken aback for a moment, then fell silent.

"You like him a lot, don't you?" Seinfeld said, "You should also like this family very much."

Zhou Chengxiu didn't hide it, and nodded honestly.

"If you like it, hurry up." Sein Fei didn't say anything more, and left the kitchen with Zhou Chengxiu, carrying a few glasses of juice.