The Pentium Era - South to North

Zhang Chen understood why Xiaoshu cried all night after painting this painting. If it were him, he would too. This process was really depressing for too long. Just like Dongshan Kaiyi, Xiaoshu came here on a bicycle. Here, every day, he painted stroke by stroke in a precise manner. He suppressed his longing and sadness for Xiao Zhao and his inexplicable fear of death in his painting brush.

Just like this, I drew calmly day after day. When I was hungry, I would eat something. When I was sleepy, I would take a nap. When I woke up, I would continue to draw like a robot. There was no passion or emotion, just like a woman knitting. He was wearing a sweater, stitch by stitch, one stroke at a time, his posture was calm, and his face was calm.

Zhang Chen even understood why Xiao Shu came to Yao Fen to paint. He could imagine that late at night, while painting, even in summer, he would feel colder and colder, feeling that there was an abyss around him. , he was being surrounded and swallowed by them. When it was really unbearable, Zhang Chen could even imagine——

Xiaoshu must have gone upstairs, looked at Yao Fen in her sleep, lay down, buried his head in her warm arms, sobbing in his heart, curled up like a child, Yao Fen would caress him with her hands, Patting him gently, the warm sister-like breath on her body made Xiaoshu fall asleep quickly.

There is skin-to-skin kissing and hugging, but there will be no sex, and there is no need for sex. He just needs a good sleep and a very safe and down-to-earth warmth to lift himself out of the abyss little by little. Wash it out and let him see himself again.

He then continued to paint stroke by stroke with a calm expression, the clock was ticking, the light became brighter and then darkened, one day passed, and another came. When he finished the last stroke, the huge , The grief that had been suppressed for a long time came overwhelmingly. He could no longer control it and had to cry.

"Where will he go?" Yao Fen asked.

Zhang Chen said it was okay. He should be somewhere, somewhere he didn't even know. He needed his soul to leave his body, and he needed to feel the roughness and warmth of this real society bit by bit again. Don't worry, nothing will happen.

Yao Fen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It'll be fine. I'm so anxious."

"The title of this painting should be called "Sister". Did Xiaoshu tell you about it?" Zhang Chen asked.

"How do you know?" Yao Fenqi asked, "It's really called "Sister"."

Zhang Chen smiled and said: "Many times, the simplest and most direct things are the most powerful. Just like this painting, it is impossible to call it any other name. With such a brother, Xiao Zhao can She’s content, but it’s a pity she can’t see the painting.”

"It's impossible to see it. I think this painting was completed by Xiao Zhao and Xiao Shu together." Liu Ligan said, "Otherwise, Xiao Shu would only draw a sweet sister."

Zhang Chen said yes, what you said makes sense, Zangzi. Let’s go and find Xiaoshu, he needs a good drink.

The three people stood up, went out, and went downstairs. Yao Fen asked, but where will he go?

"I know." Zhang Chen said.

"You know?" Yao Fen was surprised.

Zhang Chen said yes, he should be with his sister now.

Liu Ligan and Yao Fen suddenly realized that the three of them got in the car and rushed to the "Splendid Home". They hurriedly arrived at Zhang Chen's house, opened the door and went in. They determined that at this time, Xiaoshu must be sitting on Zhang Chen's bed, looking at Holding Xiao Zhao’s urn.

The room was dark, Zhang Chen turned on the light, and Yao Fen called "Little tree, little tree" and ran towards Zhang Chen's bedroom. She ran to the open door and stopped. With the light of the living room outside, she saw that there was no room inside. The small tree only contains the urn and behind it, in the oil painting painted by Zhang Chen, Xiao Zhao is smiling at her.

They searched every room, but still couldn't find the little tree.

At this point, even Zhang Chen was surprised. If Xiaoshu was not here, where would he have gone?

The three of them sat down on the sofa. Zhang Chen picked up the phone and called Xiaofang. Xiaofang had just gotten up. She asked Zhang Chen what was wrong?

"Xiaofang, has Xiaoshu called you?" Zhang Chen asked.

"I called him. In the middle of the night last night, when the phone was connected, he called me sister and the phone was disconnected. I called, but the phone couldn't be connected. I thought the battery was out. I was thinking of calling him again later. He's fighting, brother-in-law, is Xiaoshu okay?" Xiaofang asked.

"It's okay. I just finished a large work and it just needs some adjustments. Don't worry." Zhang Chen said.

Xiaofang said okay, I understand, brother-in-law.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chen told Liu Ligan and Yao Fen that when he called Xiaofang, he didn't hang up the phone because there was no battery, but because he had finished talking. He made this call just to call her sister.

"Will he go to the cemetery and visit Xiao Zhao's grave?" Liu Ligan asked.

Zhang Chen smiled and said: "There is a hole there, and Xiao Zhao is not there, so why would he go there?"

But after saying that, Zhang Chen himself was not sure anymore. Although the tomb was empty, to Xiaoshu, it was also a symbol, a symbol that could represent his sister.

The three people got up immediately, went downstairs, and went to the cemetery.

They parked the car in the parking lot of the cemetery and got out of the car with a flashlight. Zhang Chen asked Yao Fen, are you afraid? I'm afraid you'll be waiting for us in the car.

Yao Fen said: "Then I will be even more scared."

Three people went up the mountain in a line. Zhang Chen walked in the front, Yao Fen in the middle, and Liu Ligan walked at the end. Yao Fen seemed to know that Liu Ligan would do pranks, so he explained in advance, Mr. Liu, don't scare me. Will cry.

Liu Ligan smiled and said, "Okay, as soon as you cry, everyone inside will come out, thinking that their relatives are here."

"I'm going to die!" Yao Fen cursed.

The wind in the valley was rustling, and the grass and trees were swaying wildly, as if someone was whispering in the dark. Yao Fen pulled the hem of Zhang Chen's shirt in front of her with her hand, and then she felt a little more at ease.

Their memories are a bit fuzzy, and every crossroad here is so similar that at night, it will be even harder to tell them apart.

They searched for almost an hour before they found Xiao Zhao's tomb. There was still nothing in front of the tomb. Zhang Chen looked curiously and saw that the cement cover on the top of the tomb had been resealed. His and Xiao Zhao's tombs , no different from other tombs nearby.

The three of them stood there, shining their flashlights around, but they still didn't see Xiaoshu. Zhang Chen used the flashlight to wave his and Xiao Zhao's names on the tombstone, and said to Liu Ligan, "Gangzi, what kind of real estate do you do?" What you have built are actually transitional housing, and this is people’s final home.

"Shit, there is only twenty years of property rights here, which is worse than our house. If you put Xiao Zhao in Jinxiu Home, you can still keep him in peace for another fifty years. If you put him here, you won't come back in nineteen years. If you renew, this place will no longer be yours, it will be your final home.”

Liu Ligan cursed, and Zhang Chen was speechless by his scolding. It seems that people are destined to be just passers-by in this world, and there is no final home at all. Zhang Xiangbei will remember him and Xiao Zhao. When Zhang Xiangbei arrives, Even Xiao Zhao doesn't know about the child. It's just a portrait in the photo. When it comes to Zhang Xiangbei's child, even he doesn't remember it.

Do you still remember who your great-grandfather is? Zhang Chen asked himself, the answer is no.

"Let's go. Don't feel nostalgic about the past here. The scenery here is not good and the air is not fresh." Liu Ligan said.

The three people walked down, and when they were almost at the foot of the mountain, they saw five or six people running in this direction. Before they understood what was going on, five or six beams of light were swaying roughly in their faces, and someone scolded them. : "What do you do?"

Zhang Chen said angrily: "I'm here to see my future home. What, do you want to visit my home?"

"What's the meaning?!"

The man continued to scold, and Liu Ligan quickly said, "It's okay, it's just that someone at home is missing. Let's come over and see if they are here."

The swaying beam of light looked at the three of them, and they didn't look like bad people. They moved away from them. Someone asked: "Is that car in the parking lot yours?"

Liu Ligan said that he was right. He took out the cigarettes in his pocket and handed one to each of them. The other person took it and the atmosphere relaxed. The leader said to Liu Ligan that we are also here for work and to be responsible for the deceased and his family. Nowadays, there are too many tomb robbers.

"Is there anyone else doing this? What are they trying to steal, the urn?" Liu Ligan asked.

The other party laughed and said, "Why not? Last month we caught two of them. They came specifically to rob new tombs. Many family members also put rings, necklaces and other things in the tombs. They came here for this."

Liu Ligan and the others understood, and Zhang Chen also heaved a sigh of relief. It turned out that the other party was really responsible for the deceased and his family. At the same time, he was also a little scared. If Xiao Zhao was buried here that day, would someone open the grave at night? Pry open the cement cover above and use their dirty hands to search around inside?

Zhang Chen said apologetically: "Thank you for your hard work."

He took out his cigarettes and passed them around again, and the other party thanked him. Then, everyone walked outside together, and parted ways in the parking lot. The leader thought about it and asked, do you want to leave a phone number, if there is the person you mentioned? Come on, let's call you?

Liu Ligan quickly said thank you and left his phone number with them.

The other party asked, what kind of person is he?

"A young man." Liu Ligan said.

"Lost in love?"

"almost."

"Okay, that's all. If we see him, we'll call you."

Everyone said goodbye in the parking lot, Liu Ligan drove, and they left the cemetery.

As the car sped towards the city, Zhang Chen looked at the dark mountain shadows and fields outside the car window, thinking to himself, there is none here, so where will the little tree go? By the West Lake? Or a bar?

Zhang Chen shook his head. He imagined that he was Xiaoshu. He felt that after he woke up, looked at the paintings in front of him, and called Xiaofang, he would not go to these places.

Driving back to the city, the surrounding streets and houses became brighter. Yao Fen sighed and said, where else would she go? Will you go to Sister Xiao Zhao’s office?

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up and he said to Liu Ligan, "Gangzi, go to the No. 1 City Hospital."

Liu Ligan understood immediately and shouted: "Yes, Xiaoshu will definitely be there."

They were in the corridor outside the glass of the isolation ward, looking at Xiao Zhao and just leaving them so far away. If Xiao Shu missed his sister, he would definitely go to that corridor and replay the scene of that day over and over in his mind.

They arrived at City No. 1 Hospital, got off the car and ran inside. The isolation ward during the SARS period had been removed and was now the ICU ward of City No. 1 Hospital. They arrived at the corridor. The rows of chairs in the corridor were empty and there was no one. The ICU ward The lights are on, and there is no one on the hospital bed today, but there is a nurse on duty inside.

Liu Ligan knocked on the door, and the nurse came over and opened the door. Liu Ligan asked her if she had seen a young man.

The nurse pointed to the corridor outside and told him that there was such a person who had been sitting on the chair in the corridor all day, staring in. There were no patients in there, and we were all annoyed by him.

"This man is very strange. He just sat there and didn't do anything. He just stared inside." The nurse said, "We called the security guard. The security guard came and asked him. He didn't say anything and asked him to leave. He also If he refuses to leave, we all suspect that he is deaf-mute."

"Where is he now?" Liu Ligan asked.

"He was taken away by the Lakeside Police Station," the nurse said.

"He didn't do anything bad. Why did the police station take him there?" Yao Fen asked.

"We have no choice. We can't bully disabled people, right? We can only call the police."

"You are the disabled person!" Yao Fen cursed angrily.

They rushed to the Lakeside Police Station and walked into the duty room. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. They saw Xiaoshu lying on the wooden sofa in the duty room, already asleep and covered with a police uniform.

The policeman on duty looked at them, then at Xiaoshu, and asked, "Are you his family members?"

Zhang Chen said yes, I am his brother-in-law.

The policeman nodded and said, "We brought the police report from the No. 1 Hospital in the city. We asked him anything, but he didn't say anything. Even when we asked him to write, he refused to write. There was nothing we could do."

Zhang Chen quickly said thank you, thank you, he is a student of the China Academy of Art.

"Not a deaf-mute?" the policeman asked.

"No, no, I just finished creating and my emotions haven't come out yet." Zhang Chen said.

The policeman understood a little bit and said, "Oh, it's about art? No wonder it's so weird. Okay, wake him up and take him home. Give me your ID card and sign here."

Zhang Chen handed his ID card to the police and signed in the place designated by him.

Yao Fen shook the little tree, and the little tree opened its eyes and saw Yao Fen, Zhang Chen, and Liu Ligan. The little tree was surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for you to drink. We didn't even eat dinner, so you didn't eat either, right?" Liu Ligan said.

Thank you for the reward for being third from top to bottom, and having two fishes one above the other at three o'clock in the middle of the night! Thank you for your monthly votes from Ling Zhongzhong, Zhou Xuehua, Seeing the original intention without seeing the future, and lulu6717p11! Thanks for all the votes and reading! Have a good evening everyone!