Yankee

Bai Luo decided to quit his job at the bar.

Every night, Yin Shuanghui's provocations are endless. Instead of suffering day and night in the vanity of drinking and socializing, it is better to withdraw and keep a distance from her.

Moreover, there is no need to have any more disputes with Bo Yan, and there is no need to worry about Bo Yan seeing anything.

She found a new job at a night market stall in the university town. Amid the hustle and bustle, the salary was quite good.

There is even better news. Her good friend will take time out to visit her in Hangzhou and Hong Kong before the New Year.

The specific date was not specified, so when Bai Luo saw her, he was caught off guard by a pleasant surprise.

"Lolo, I really miss you."

A dusty figure appeared carrying Hui specialties, and the low ceiling could not suppress the fresh breath she exuded after a long journey.

Hangzhou and Hong Kong, dark night, food stalls, bustling crowds, dim lights.

Her good friends traveled thousands of miles just to meet her.

There are always people who travel thousands of miles just for this moment of reunion.

The food stall was filled with the aroma of smoky food, the sizzling sounds of oil pans, and the atmosphere was bustling with activity.

Wearing green work clothes, with an oval face that is out of tune with the shabby and worldly atmosphere, and a pair of eyes that are usually dull and indifferent, they are filled with fresh warmth because of the arrival of a good friend.

When Bai Luo came forward, there was no unnecessary greeting, only a single question, "Are you tired?"

"How could I be tired of seeing you?"

Aisha smiled and put her bulging backpack on the table, causing the oil-stained plastic stool to creak.

"The train was two hours late, and I almost missed the last ferry. I was walking around in circles in the waiting room clutching my ticket, thinking how I'd regret it if I didn't get to see you!"

She sighed jokingly, then laughed and talked again.

"But God still favors me, I don't see you now!"

The two smiled at each other, bitterness and warmth surging in their eyes at the same time.

Aisha opened her backpack, took out the local specialties she brought one by one, and placed them neatly on the table.

There are dried meats from home, handmade cheeses, and small cookies specially made by Aisha’s mother.

Bai Luo's fingertips touched the warm texture of the cheese, and warm blood flowed back.

There is no need to shed tears for reunion. Just let fatigue and joy slowly and silently simmer into a cup of lingering fireworks under the dim light.

*

Bai Luo and Aisha checked into the nearby hotel.

Aisha mentioned that she was going to meet someone tomorrow and hoped that Bai Luo would accompany her, so she agreed.

She could guess the other person's identity.

After all, in high school, the name that was often mentioned was well-known.

——Bo Xuan.

Under the century-old ginkgo tree at the gate of Nanhuai No. 1 Middle School, the boy always likes to casually drape his school uniform jacket over his shoulders, his steps stepping in the wind.

On the rostrum in the playground, he was wearing a washed-out school uniform, with his back to the huge crowd below, his back straight and his shoulders thin.

In the mottled light and shadow of the corridor, someone always catches a glimpse of the dazzling light.

He shielded the bullied person in the shadow of the porch column, his school uniform splattered with mud but he still laughed wildly.

Some people were infected by his laughter and secretly raised the corners of their mouths in the depressing classroom.

Some people imitated him by turning up the volume of their headphones to the maximum, pretending that they too could fight against the world.

The image of his fangs showing when he laughed was captured by countless cameras, but no one could imitate the frankness and fearlessness in his smile.

Even when his name is mentioned many years after graduation, some people still have a light in their eyes, as if they can see again the entire youth of him running against the light under the ginkgo tree that year, with the corner of his clothes lifted up.

*

After saying goodbye to Aisha, Bai Luo boarded the last night bus into the night.

The bus swayed as it sped along.

There were few passengers in the car, and their shadows were stretched out long and thin by the fluorescent lights above their heads.

There was someone curled up in the corner of the front row, with the headphone wire wrapped around his neck, immersed in the music.

The old man held the faded cloth bag, his eyes following the flashing billboards outside the window.

In the last row, Bai Luo's cheek was pressed against the car window. The glass was cool and his breath condensed into mist on the cold window. He used his fingers to outline a star, which was then smoothed out by the light wave of the next street lamp.

The outlines on both sides of the avenue are constantly changing, sometimes passing by tall buildings, sometimes turning into old neighborhoods.

Occasionally, there are overpasses flying in the air, with strings of lights hanging on the side of the railings.

As the bus climbed the slope, its headlights pierced the darkness, illuminating the fleeting fireflies in the weeds under the bridge.

Bai Luo stared at the eternal disappearance, and suddenly felt that he was just a fleeting star on the car window, being painted and erased again and again by the giant pen of the city.

After circling Hangzhou and Hong Kong, the bus turned at the last intersection.

Inertia pushed the lightly sleeping Bai Luo to the window, and he almost slipped off the handrail.

"We have arrived at Nanfeng Lane. Please be careful when opening the door. Please walk carefully when getting off the bus. Welcome to take bus No. 33 again."

The moment the electronic sound stopped, the bus stopped.

Bai Luo, the only passenger in the carriage, rubbed his moist eyes drowsily.

The cold wind in the middle of the night makes my eyes hot.

She dreamed of the New Year of 2008 again.

＿＿

In the dream, a man with scars on his face appeared, claiming to be her father's friend and offering to take her to find her father.

Later she really saw her father, but on a video wall, but the picture suddenly switched to another scene.

My father was hung in a dark basement, his limbs tied with thick hemp ropes and soaked in freezing water.

The drug traffickers wore black masks, revealing only their sinister eyes. They whipped his already bloody back with salt-soaked whips, each whipping causing him to tremble like a spasm.

"Tell me! Where is the goods hidden?"

The hoarse roar echoed in the humid space.

My father lowered his head, his messy hair plastered to his cheeks, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, the curve cold and hard.

He knew the price of words. Once he opened his mouth, countless innocent people would fall into a deeper sea of ​​fire.

They covered his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in pepper water, suffocating him.

He wrapped the live wire around his fingertips and gritted his teeth without screaming when the current ran through his body.

The drug dealer even threw the girl's photo in front of him. With the tip of the knife against the face on the photo paper, he closed his eyelids, letting the cold sweat slide down his forehead, and remained silent as iron.

They wouldn't let him die, forcing him to suffer for three days and three nights in a desperate situation where he had neither the ability to live nor the ability to die.

His vocal cords went from hoarse to completely voiceless, his eyeballs went from bloodshot to cloudy, but he always maintained the last bit of consciousness.

The moment the drug dealer tore up his daughter's childhood photos, the father's spirit completely collapsed.

He raised his head and roared, his voice fragmented and blood foam seeping from the corners of his lips.

The drug dealers laughed triumphantly, and the video footage was abruptly interrupted.

She huddled in the corner, her nails digging into her palms.

What followed was endless darkness, and never-ending pain and fear.

＿＿

The salty and moist liquid slowly seeps into the taste buds.

Bai Luo trembled all over and huddled in the shadow of the street lamp.

When her father was alive, he often taught her to be open, selfless and upright.

Her name "Zhao Zhao" means sunshine, and we hope that she can illuminate herself and the world like the bright sunshine.

So she chose journalism as her major in college, determined to become a war correspondent in the future.

Use the pen and lens in your hand to record the reality of the world, reveal the hidden truths to the world, and let the light penetrate the dark corners.

The pale light of the street lamp fell on the moist eyes, creating a shimmering watery glow.

The price of growing up is learning to let go, including the old self who clutched the candy wrapper tightly and cried uncontrollably.

The road of life is very long. You need to trek through thousands of mountains and swim across thousands of rivers before you can welcome the bright sunshine.

As the New Year approaches, Nanfeng Lane still looks dilapidated.

Below the residential building, several exposed electric wires hang messily, entangled with the rusty clothesline. Colorful clothes are hung on the clothesline, swaying weakly in the cold wind.

A grocery store with an iron door stands at the entrance of the alley. The wooden sign reads "Tobacco, Alcohol, Sugar and Tea", but the characters have long been eroded by soot, leaving only a blurred outline.

No more cigarettes.

Bai Luo sniffed and walked to the grocery store where old songs were played.

The lyrics seep into the hearing intermittently.

“The brightest star in the night sky”

"Can you hear clearly?"

“Those Who Look Up”

"Loneliness and sighs in my heart"

The caretaker is a male high school student who is on winter vacation. He is taking advantage of the holiday to look after this small piece of world for his parents.

In the two years since moving to the old town, Bai Luo has been a regular visitor, and the place has become a fixed figure in his memory.

I always feel that beautiful sisters should not have anything to do with cigarettes.

He clearly had a quiet and pure oval face, but he smoked the strongest cigarettes on the shelf.

"Beautiful sister."

The title came out of my mouth when I first met you.

Whenever she stepped into the store, greetings came naturally as usual.

"Come to buy cigarettes again."

The lampshades of the tungsten filament bulbs in the store were covered in dust, casting a gray hue on the figure in front of the counter.

It seems that the underlying tone of her life should be gray.

"My left hand is broken."

When she lowered her eyes, she caught a glimpse of the glaring scarlet on the boy's index finger and reminded him softly.

"Oh, it's not mine."

The boy waved his hand nonchalantly, wiped his palm with his fingertips, and the blood disappeared.

Suddenly he raised his arms, leaned forward with his elbows on the counter, and smiled mysteriously.

"Beautiful sister, do you know the silver-haired boy in our alley? The blood is his."

"Just now, a lewd boy in the alley targeted a girl. He happened to be smoking downstairs in a residential building and witnessed the whole thing. The lewd boy followed the girl further and further away, and when he reached out to grab her clothes, he rushed to save the little girl, and the two of them immediately started a fight."

"When the police arrived, I went up and kicked the nasty guy twice."

He told the story in a casual manner and smiled smugly.

Bai Luo frowned slightly, and a hint of worry flashed across his eyes.

"Is he seriously injured?"

The last syllable floated lightly into the air, startling the boy so much that his fingertips brushed against his short temples. He spoke after a pause in his throat.

"It's quite serious. The blood is all from him."

"The cigarette money has gone."

The cold white light from the phone screen flickered Bai Luo's dazed eyes.

He got into a fight.

The suitcase was empty, not even basic Band-Aids and medicine.

The cabinets in the rental house were also empty, except for a few miscellaneous items scattered in the kitchen cabinet.

Walking out of the grocery store, the alleys are filled with the smell of oil smoke and mildew. The shouts from the snack stalls can be heard clearly, but the laughter at the corner is hazy and becomes a distant echo.

The wind direction seemed to be playing tricks on passers-by, sometimes pushing the foul air a few feet away, and suddenly pouring it into the nasal cavity, leaving people nowhere to hide.

Bai Luo's sight pierced through the fragmented night of Nanfeng Alley. Suddenly, he stumbled through the mottled moonlight and ran wildly towards the river of lights that were always on in the neighboring street.

Tell her to eat well and live well.

What about him?

A down-and-out boy, a mad dog in the alley.

There is no smile, only hostility.

When he sees people, he glares.

Come closer and bite.

Whoever touches it will be unlucky.

His body was covered with scars, but a ray of warm light shone through him, illuminating her eyes.

The outline of the old clinic gradually emerged in the night, and suddenly the sky changed drastically, and heavy rain poured down.

The vision was blurred by the light of the rain. The sound of footsteps mixed with the sound of the rain, heavy and soaked with moisture.

The person who came in was covered in rain, looking as miserable as a wet butterfly. The white porcelain tiles were covered with winding wet marks.

"A bottle of iodine, a tube of antibacterial ointment, and a pack of Band-Aids."

She ran fast and panted.

The doctor behind the counter glanced sideways, his eyes passing over her wet shoulders and neck.

The girl's flamboyant ice-blue hair was wet by the rain, and strands of it stuck to her overly pure face.

A pair of cold eyes were dull and lifeless.

It was as if she lived in an eternal rainy day, with gray clouds as the norm and drizzle as the common situation.

The doctor turned around and took out iodine, antibacterial ointment and Band-Aids from the medicine cabinet and placed them one by one on the oak counter.

"Thanks."

After transferring the payment, Bai Luo gathered the medicine bag in his arms and stumbled into the heavy rain.

Every stumbling step splashed water, as if in the mud, as long as I kept running against the wind, running, turning my body into an arrow against the wind, I could escape from the dark rainstorm in my heart that would never let go.

The eleven-year-old girl relied on the only one percent of her desire to survive, and in the all-consuming storm, she always ran and sprinted forward without looking back.