Comparable species

Qi Yan hates the camera.

At the age of 13, the news that Qi Zhiqiang rushed into the fire and rescued seven people by himself and died in the flames became a sensation. The deputy mayor and the principal sat in his home with fruits, holding Lin Yiling's hand, closed their eyes, and sobbed loudly.

Qi Yan stood aside wearing a brand new school uniform, watching the telephoto lens pointing at the old lady's face, and pressed the shutter many times.

The small living room was full of people with cameras. They pushed each other, hoping to squeeze into the front row and take pictures of the old lady's glaring white hair and the wet tears at the end of her red eyes.Because the movement was too big, the man carrying the tripod raised his elbow and accidentally touched the shelf beside him, and the red pennant hanging on it fell to the ground.

The deputy mayor was about to speak, but the man didn't bother to pick up things on the ground. He held up the tripod and squeezed forward again.

Step on the flag with your heels, and step on the golden word "Rong" on the flag on the soles of your feet.

Qi Yan looked at it for a while, he wanted to reach out to pick it up, but just as he bent down, he was pulled up by the man beside him.

"Come on, take another picture." The man straightened his body, took a picture and lowered his head to check the screen, as if a little dissatisfied, he frowned and raised his head to ask Qi Yan: "Do you have bright lights in your house?" , the light is too dim."

Qi Yan shook his head. He squatted on the bed, looked at the dirty banner, and patted the man's trousers.

The man seemed to be taken aback, he turned his head suddenly, and saw Qi Yan squatting at his feet, and the silk banner stepped on by him.The man cleared his throat in embarrassment, but without saying anything, he raised his foot to let Qi Yan take the flag away.

Before leaving, the deputy mayor left behind a bulging envelope. He stuffed it into Lin Yiling's wrinkled palm, patted her hand with a smile, and said to her, "Don't worry, we won't ignore you. .”

At the end of the interview, the camera made Qi Yan stand among the crowd holding the pennant, the deputy mayor stood beside him, reaching out to block his shoulders, and the principal in a stiff suit stood behind Lin Yiling, with a sad expression on his face.The sound of the camera fell, the hand on his shoulder was put down, and the crowd hurriedly dispersed until the cameraman raised his head and pointed to the half footprint on the flag.

Fortunately, he found out. The principal licked his lips nervously. He looked around for something to wipe, and finally picked up a white cloth that was placed on the small coffee table.

It was originally intended to be draped over Qi Zhiqiang's portrait, but Lin Yiling didn't speak. She watched the man hold the corner of the cloth strip, wiped it vigorously on the flag twice, and then threw it aside.

Everyone gathered around Qi Yan again, and the deputy mayor once again put his arms around his shoulders and leaned towards him.

At that time, Qi Yan suddenly thought of the animal world he saw on TV a few days ago, a group of hyenas surrounded a carrion corpse, without howling or crying, they happily bit his flesh and blood, and gnawed at his heart .

Hope it dies more thoroughly.

Qi Yan opened his eyes, and it was darker than he imagined.

He sat up from the sofa bed, the dilapidated bed frame rang twice, the snoring of the old lady in the bedroom stopped for a while, and then continued to snore.Qi Yan's head was pushed back against the wall, and the pipe hidden in the wall made the sound of flowing water, as if someone was crying.

Qi Yan's fingers grabbed a corner of the curtain, the fabric was thick and heavy.

He opened the phone screen, and the blank desktop glowed with light. Qi Yan turned off the screen, charged the phone and lay down again.

There is nothing he can do, nothing he can do for Xia Shishen, he can only try not to show up as much as possible, don't give others a chance, don't give others a chance to hurt Xia Shishen.

And Xia Shishen said that he would call him, Qi Yan turned over and grabbed the phone in his hand.

It should be tomorrow... I will call him tomorrow.

The next day Qi Yan received a call from an unfamiliar number.

He picked it up, and a woman's coquettish voice came from the opposite side, like candy that was drawn from silk, sticky and indistinct.

"Hi Qi Yan." The voice on the other side paused, "Can we talk?"

Qi Yan put on his coat, closed the iron door gently, and asked while going down the stairs: "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Kang Ruwen." The sound of the car's engine came from the microphone, Qi Yan walked to the corner of the stairs, and heard the woman say to him: "Xia Shishen's manager."

Qi Yan didn't speak, he walked down the last step and said: "I'm going to work now, we can make an appointment..."

"No need." The woman interrupted him, Qi Yan walked out of the building, and there was a woman standing under a street lamp not far away, wearing a light beige windbreaker, holding a very thin cigarette in her hand.

The woman glanced at him, hung up the phone, and walked towards him.

"It won't delay you for too long." Kang Ruwen looked him up and down, the cigarette between her fingers was about to burn to the end, she took another puff, and frowned slightly.

"Xia Shishen never leaves such a difficult thing to smoke." Kang Ruwen looked at him with a smile, "Is he like this when he is with you?"

Today's fog was so thick that everyone Qi Yan saw thought it was Xia Shishen.

"No." Qi Yan followed Kang Ruwen into the car. He sat in the back seat and glanced at the steaming coffee that was set aside.

"Smoking less."

"Really." Sitting on the other side, Kang Ruwen sighed with a smile in her voice, as if feeling emotional, "Then he still listens to you more."

The car stopped at the cafe at the intersection, Qi Yan followed Kang Ruwen out of the car, opened the glass door and walked in.

"A glass of American style, double milk without sugar." Kang Ruwen didn't look at the wine list. After she finished speaking, she looked at Qi Yan and asked him with a smile what he wanted to drink.

"I can just drink water." Qi Yan said.

Kang Ruwen returned the drink list to the waiter, raised her head and said to the waiter, "Two glasses of American style."

The coffee came quickly, caramel-colored liquid in a snow-white ceramic cup, a small cube of sugar on a paper towel next to it, and a small golden spoon.

Kang Ruwen picked it up and took a sip, but it probably didn't suit her taste, so she frowned and quickly put down the cup.

"Don't you want to try it?" Kang Ruwen looked at the cup in front of him, as if she wanted him to take a sip.

Qi Yan looked at her for a few seconds, then pushed the porcelain plate with the coffee cup aside, "I don't like American style."

"Then what do you like?" Kang Ruwen propped her hands on the table, resting her chin on the back of her hands.

"I like going to the studio with Xia Shishen, staying at the door of Xia Shishen's house, or going to the playground together."

"It boils down to it." Kang Ruwen moved closer, the corners of her mouth stiffened.

"Do you like to drag others and soak in the mud with you?"

Kang Ruwen said to Qi Yan.