Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Throbbing.

There is a plot of land in the old city of City A. It has been developed in an orderly manner in the past, and due to some historical relics, it has not been demolished until now.

Therefore, most of the houses here are old, short, dilapidated and depressed.

All the indigenous people who had the means had moved out of this place early on and settled in new homes, leaving behind only some lonely elderly people and left-behind children.

Su Tu's parents divorced when he was six years old.

He was sent here just after the two sides had a battle of passing the buck.

At that time, she thought that everything was just temporary.

One day, I will return to my original home.

Even though her grandmother treated her very well and even though they each started new families later, this wish that was never fulfilled remained deeply ingrained in her heart as time went by.

Until the place in front of me where I have lived for 19 years and which holds almost all my memories.

Sold one day.

She went to Su Housheng and Xu Zhiyun crying, and for the first time she really asked them for something since she begged them not to abandon her when she was six years old.

I thought they would respond to my requests at least once, just like they did to my younger siblings, but I got the excuse that they were all in trouble. Then I finally realized how ridiculous my obsession over the years was.

And when she finally realized that the home she had been pursuing for so many years was not actually her home.

I have also lost my real home.

Her face was cold and gloomy, as if she was in a trance. She sat on a stone in the narrow alley, looking at the high courtyard wall and the square gray iron gate in front of her.

I can still vaguely hear the rustling of the key turning, the creaking of the metal sheet opening and closing, and my own journey from immaturity to maturity, the calls of home one after another:

Grandma, I'm back.

The orange light of the sunset falls like a soft gauze, and from time to time I hear the call of "It's time to go home for dinner" in the distance, each call brings back my drifting thoughts.

Sit quietly for a while.

Finally, she lowered her eyes, stood up and prepared to leave. Suddenly, a similar vibration of an iron door was heard beside her, causing her to turn her head to look.

"Tu Tu?"

Wang Xiufen had finished dinner and was about to go out to take out the trash when she saw a familiar figure in front of her. She subconsciously glanced at the door next door, as if to confirm whether she was finally coming back to buy a house. "Why are you back?"

The house changed hands years ago. Some people took the money and others became homeless.

Everyone in the entire area knows about this.

Su Tu pulled the corner of his lip, as if responding to her compliment: "Come back and have a look."

One year.

She doesn't have that much ability yet.

"How about..."

Wang Xiufen hesitated and said, "Come to grandma's house and sit down first?"

Su Tu shook his head: "No need."

"Ready to go."

Wang Xiufen remembered something and didn't stay any longer: "That's fine."

"It's better to go back early, otherwise it will be unsafe."

Hearing this, Su Tu couldn't help but look around and asked, "Is it still very chaotic here?"

This area has always been chaotic. In recent years, because it cannot be demolished and locals are unwilling to live there, most of the houses have been rented out to outsiders at low prices, so it is a particularly mixed crowd.

It is not very friendly to the elderly and children who originally lived here.

Wang Xiufen sighed and said helplessly, "That's right. There are always some troubles from time to time. But it's much better than before, when any incident would involve human lives."

Then he casually started talking out of habit: "When you were in school, wasn't there a young man who was stabbed several times in the waist in the middle of the night? Later, the police car and ambulance came together. That scene was so awful..."

When Su Tu heard this, his expression froze. Two concrete and hideous scars flashed before his eyes, along with a memory that was so long ago that it was somewhat dusty. His pupils gradually dilated, and he unconsciously repeated the words: "Waist..."

"How many times were you stabbed?"

"yes!"

Wang Xiufen said with regret, "The blood was still flowing and it wasn't cleaned up until the next morning."

Su Tu looked stunned, as if he had finally found a clue to a long-standing mystery. He asked anxiously, "Then do you know what that person's name was? What happened to him later?"

Wang Xiufen was stunned by the question, and then she smiled awkwardly and said, "Well... how can I know? Grandma didn't see it with her own eyes. I just heard it from Old Liu."

Su Tu didn't know whether he heard it or not.

After a long while, he nodded in a daze and asked her to do as she pleased. Then he stood there in a daze, lost in a distant memory.

…

From a very early age, Su Tu was very clear about his life creed.

Ordinary and stable.

Therefore.

I don’t like things that are too outstanding or people who are too dazzling.

But when she was about fourteen or fifteen years old, her childish features gradually grew, and her baby-like roundness faded and her outline became more and more distinct. Even when she was wearing a loose and uniform school uniform, she stayed quietly in the campus of thousands of people.

I still often receive some unnecessary attention.

There was a period of time in high school when there was a boy in the school who pursued her madly.

Her only friend at the time, Guo Jiawei, who was admitted to the same high school as her through shot put, became the boy's long-term target.

Because of an opportunity, she, who had always been gentle and weak, wanted to protect Guo Jiawei, so under pressure, she made the boy lose face in public. Unexpectedly, she received cheers from a group of sports students.

Therefore, the result of the matter is undoubtedly to offend the other party even more thoroughly.

But neither of these was actually her intention.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was naturally very scared.

When I got home from evening study that day, I was trembling with fear, looking back every few steps, afraid that he would say, "Just wait for me!"

But after two days, there was no revenge from the other party.

But she waited for the group of sports students who came and took turns to walk her home.

Sometimes one, sometimes two.

Some followed behind, while others walked across the street.

Like a schedule.

He did not communicate with her during the process, nor did he disturb her rhythm. He would only grin at her when their eyes met by chance.

He gestured for her to go back without worry.

That was the only highlight in her life, feeling the full and pure friendship of a group of people and being protected by them sincerely.

So until now, she still remembers what each of them looks like.

But in fact, there are a few days every month when it is not known whether it is due to "scheduling errors" or someone is "slacking off".

No matter how many times she looked back, she couldn't find those increasingly familiar figures.

And every time those days come.

Her mood is always a little complicated.

On the one hand, in fact, when she goes home from school, she is used to teasing cats and dogs on the way home, and doing some things that seem surprising to outsiders.

Only after squandering his daily share of mischief would he be willing to pack up and step into the house.

But because she was sent away like this every day, she had no choice but to suppress her nature. Only when they were not around could she occasionally release herself.

On the other hand, she had become accustomed to their presence. It was rare for her to have someone accompany her home every day for such a long period of time.

Even though they seldom spoke, she still felt like she had many friends.

She likes their company and really needs the sense of security they give her. She worries that if they don't come today, it means they won't come in the future.

So whenever she walked alone, she would first take a quick look at the busy streets, and then when she entered a quiet alley, she would nervously hold on to the straps of her schoolbag, alert to every passerby.

This situation lasted for some time.

Everything has been peaceful.

Until one day, she was passing by a bustling area alone as usual. When she quickened her pace to walk back, at an intersection only a few hundred meters away from her home, she saw a figure suddenly jump out from the green belt.

He was skinny and small, wearing a long windbreaker.

Under the old, dim street light, he chuckled at her twice, then suddenly opened his shirt, revealing his even thinner and naked body underneath.

Su Tu paused.

He held the straps of his schoolbag tightly with both hands and stood there like a fool.

The cold and lonely autumn wind swept the fallen leaves, making a whirring sound in my eardrums. My heartbeat suddenly accelerated as if it was about to jump out, and my body shook constantly.

Her eyes were wide open, without any mental preparation.

A coat suddenly fell from behind him.

Cleanly and directly, it covered her entire head.

Block the view.

A cold male voice followed: "There are still four minutes until home. Can you go back by yourself?"

The lining of the jacket is warm, but the air is fresh.

She was stunned in there, her mind still wandering. After a long while, she nodded slowly.

The person behind him then let go.

As he motioned her to move forward, his last words were: "Don't look back."

Su Tu's heart was beating like a drum, his eyes were fixed, staring at the concrete floor beneath his feet through the gap in his wide coat. Without any thought, he followed the instructions and walked forward quickly.

It was not until he opened the courtyard door with trembling hands, went in and closed it, and heard the "clacking" sound of iron sheets that he suddenly let out a breath and breathed deeply into his coat.

After a while, I took off my coat in a daze, and then I realized that someone was taking me home tonight.

And she just left him there alone.

She subconsciously turned around, opened the door, and walked outside, but she didn't have the courage to go back to where she was.

In the end, he just poked his head out and looked down from the slope.

But it was pitch dark and the distance was three or four hundred meters.

I can't see anything at all.

He just stood there and watched for a while, and before deciding whether to call the police, he looked down at the black jacket in his hand.

Very wide and big.

Just like the location where the voice just came from, she could feel that it was a very tall person. The moment he covered her head, the magnetic field instantly enveloped her, which was also very powerful.

It can be imagined that he should be a tall and not thin person.

In comparison, the exhibitionist opposite looked very thin.

And he only dared to hide. He must not be very brave to suddenly attack a woman passing by alone in the middle of the night. Maybe she would be scared away before she even turned back.

While hesitating, Yang Shupei heard the door open twice in the house, but no one came in. She leaned out and saw that she was still standing outside the door. She thought she was going to catch the next door's rhubarb again, so she immediately grabbed her ear and dragged her into the house.

Seeing the men's jacket in her hand, he asked again, "Where did you get it?"

Although Su Tu could talk to her about anything, he would choose to avoid things that would make him feel delicate or worried. After thinking about it, he didn't mention what had just happened.

She just said it was cold and the sports students who took her home lent it to her.

Hearing this, Yang Shupei reached out to take it: "Then I'll wash it and return it to the owner someday."

“…”

Su Tu, however, was acting out of character. He suddenly put his coat behind him and said with a quickened heartbeat, "It's not dirty again."

"Let me ask him tomorrow if he wants to wash it."

Then, without waiting for her to reply, he rushed back to the room, with a strange look on his face, staring blankly at the coat.

I began to wonder who that person was and what he looked like.

The sound is quite nice.

She should be good-looking too, right?

Her heart beat with her thoughts, slowly and secretly, accumulating into the girl's first throbbing.

…

After that day, she realized that on those nights when she thought no one was sending her off, there was actually someone "on duty".

It’s just that the person is relatively low-key and his tracking technology is really good.

At the same time, she was also very embarrassed, recalling those nights eagerly and shamefully. What did she do on the road? Did he see everything?

What are you thinking?

If we meet formally, wouldn’t it be a bit awkward…

But despite this.

She was still very curious about him and still wanted to see him in person.

So every night, she would secretly look at the people who accompanied her home, comparing their body shapes and temperaments to see which one would best suit the coat.

After the comparison failed, the long wait began again. When one day there was no one around, it meant that he was behind me.

But no.

After that night, someone took her home every day, and no one ever skipped work again.

…

High school studies are heavy.

Su Tu goes out at 6 o'clock every morning and gets home at 10 o'clock in the evening, so he is not well-informed.

It was probably almost half a month later that I overheard some old people gathered on the roadside talking about it.

It is said that something happened at night some time ago. A young man was stabbed and taken away by ambulance. No one knows whether he is still alive.

Considering the recent shift schedule, she was shocked and suspected that he might be the one in trouble, which was why he hadn't shown up for so long.

But the old people couldn’t tell exactly when the incident happened.

She had no choice but to find out for herself.

Because if the person in trouble is a student, the news usually spreads very quickly in the school, and you can find clues as long as you pay a little attention.

She also asked Guo Jiawei to ask if any athletes had been injured and hospitalized recently.

The answers were all negative.

After calming down, she thought about what happened that night and the huge difference in their body sizes, and the answer she gave in her heart was no.

Since the exhibitionist didn't stop her from leaving, there should be no reason for him to keep holding on to a boy and even use his great strength to perform miracles and seriously injure a boy who is much stronger than himself, right?

While she breathed a sigh of relief, she also felt an indescribable sense of loss in her heart.

Because it also means.

He really won't come again.

Due to professional reasons, the movements of sports students often change. Some will transfer to professional sports schools, some will go out for training and competition, and some will be selected into provincial teams or even national teams.

People coming and going is very normal.

In short, at the end of this incident, all that was left was the unclaimed black coat and the words she had silently said to him in her heart:

-Congratulations.

-A bright future.

She no longer associated the owner of the coat with the person who was unfortunately injured at that time.

It was not until Wang Xiufen's accidental words reminded her of this memory that she suddenly remembered the two scars she had seen with her own eyes a few days ago.

Su Tu came back to his senses, his heart pounding, and driven by some impulse, he raised his hand to look at his watch.

18:24.

Then he walked towards the intersection at a normal pace, and raised his watch again when he arrived.

18:28.

No more, no less.

Exactly four minutes.

Who is so sensitive about time?

How can you accurately make the judgment that "I will be home in four minutes" when most people are accustomed to using numbers like 2, 3, and 5 when making estimates?

With misty eyes, she looked up from a grand memory.

I looked around blankly at the desolate street scenes in my memory, the sparse green belts, the old street lights, and the dilapidated concrete ground, as if I wanted to go back to that night, turn around, and look into that person's eyes.

Suddenly, a black off-road vehicle came speeding from the end of the road and quickly stopped by the roadside. The door opened, and a tall figure that seemed familiar came into view.

Facing the evening breeze, as if confirming something, he continued the throbbing of that night, step by step in the rhythm of his heartbeat, and came towards her.

She was stunned by his appearance: "Why are you here?"

He ran straight into her injured eyes: "What's wrong with you."