Chapter 19 "Pity Me?"
There were two cars following Jiang Jie and his group, one SUV and one compact car. The former had a family of three in it, namely the man who went to look for Jiang Jie and his wife and children.
There were two people in the latter car, both young men in their twenties. They were colleagues working in the same company and also happened to be roommates.
The people in the two cars didn't know each other, and they didn't even live in the same area. They just used their brains and took the opportunity to follow the capable-looking people to leave the city that was gradually falling.
But now, the two sides are like grasshoppers tied to the same rope. In order to survive, they have to stand on the same front temporarily.
He Dong got into trouble at Jiang'e's place. When he came back, he saw that the person in the car behind him had also gotten out. He was a young man with a crew cut, who was standing by playing with a lighter. When he saw him, he came over.
"Brother, what do they say over there?"
A square-faced young man also stuck his head out of the car window next to him.
He Dong looked at them for a few times, pushed his glasses, and said, "They have to stop for lunch, so they probably won't be able to leave for a while."
The young man with a crew cut frowned when he heard this. There was no village or shop nearby, so why was he stopping here to eat? He wasn't afraid of any danger.
"Ah? You're still in the mood to eat now. It will be difficult to walk if it starts to rain later." The square-faced young man was obviously confused.
He Dong shrugged. The man's attitude was cold and indifferent. It was obvious that he was very selfish and stubborn. He didn't dare to say much to him.
He tugged at his collar and turned back to the car. The weather was already extremely hot, and now it was showing signs of rain, making it even more stuffy and hot. It was impossible to stay outside, and he was already sweating in a short while.
He got in the car. The young man with a crew cut looked at his companion, then turned to look at the RV in front, and had to go back to the car.
Jiang Jie, who was leaning against the car wall waiting for Lin Mian to cook noodles, didn't care what the people in the two cars were talking about. As long as they didn't hang around him again, he could ignore these followers.
Rice noodles take a long time to cook, so Lin Mian stirred them a few times and turned down the heat to prevent them from sticking to the pan. He also opened the small window in front to let in air and dissipate the smell.
Turning around, I saw the man standing next to me. Thinking he was hungry, I asked, "Brother, do you want to eat something else first?"
Jiang Yan didn't say anything. He tilted his head slightly and looked out the window.
Lin Mian blinked in confusion and opened his mouth to ask him again, but he saw the other party suddenly put his finger to his lips, signaling him to be silent.
Lin Mian immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking, just watching him with his eyes, paying attention to the movements outside.
Jiang Yan looked away and saw his well-behaved appearance. He reached out and pinched his cheek and said, "I'm going out for a while. Please lock the car door and don't open it for anyone."
Hearing him say this, Lin Mian guessed that there was probably some situation that needed to be resolved, so he nodded obediently, "Okay, be careful, brother."
Jiang Jie rubbed his hair again, turned around and got out of the car. The sultry weather outside made him frown.
He supported himself on the roadside guardrail with one hand and climbed over nimbly. Before leaving, he glanced at the two cars behind him.
I hope some people don’t rush to seek death.
The SUV was closer to the RV, and He Dong, who was sitting on it, saw the person leaving at a glance. He frowned slightly, not understanding why the man would go out alone at this time. Wasn't he afraid of death?
Besides, is there only one person left in that RV...
He remembered that he was a young boy who looked quite young, and he didn't even know if he was an adult. Compared to the tough man, he was much more harmless.
"Husband?" The woman in the back seat who was handing him a compressed biscuit looked at him motionless and called him in confusion.
He Dong came to his senses, reached out to take it, looked at his four-year-old son who was leaning on his mother's arms and eating sausage in the back seat, and temporarily suppressed his thoughts.
The rice noodles in the pot have been cooked soft. Lin Mian changed the water and put the seasoning packet in.
There were not many pieces of meat in the beef noodle soup, so he opened a bag of vacuum-packed braised beef and poured it into the pot, stirred it a few times, and let it cook for a while to absorb the flavor.
I looked out the car window, but I still couldn't see Jiang Jie. I wondered if he could come back in time for the beef noodles to be at their best.
The aroma of beef drifted out through his open window and all the way to the car behind.
"Mom, it smells so good, I want to eat some meat~" The child's sense of smell seemed to be particularly sensitive, and he immediately caught the smell coming in through the gap in the car window.
Knowing that they didn't have much supplies left, the woman touched his head and sighed, "Good boy, there's no meat here. I'll make it for you later."
"No, I want to eat!" The days of scarcity left the child with little food in his stomach. Even though his parents had left him things like ham and sausage, he naturally became very greedy when he suddenly smelled the aroma of meat.
He Dong looked at the crying child in the back seat, thought for a moment, and said to his wife, "Give me two bags of food."
The pot of fragrant beef noodles was ready to eat. Lin Mian turned off the fire and half-covered the lid.
Fortunately, it is not flour, so the powder is not easy to clump together. It can be left for a while. The weather is hot, so it can be dried in the air.
When he looked up, he saw the gentleman who had been outside the car window approaching again, and he reached out to close the small window.
"I have no ill intentions, I just want to exchange something." He Dong spoke first, and stopped two steps away without moving forward.
Lin Mian's hand was still on the window latch, and his eyes fell on him with a slight vigilance.
He Dong held out the instant noodles and compressed biscuits in his hand to him and said, "I want to exchange them for some beef."
He watched the young man in the car look at his hands and quickly added, "I know I don't have much, I just want a few pieces for my son. He's only four years old and really wants to eat some meat."
Lin Mian's gaze paused. There was a child...
*
After burning the mutant corpse in front of him, Jiang Jie bent down to pick up the crystal from the ashes, rinsed it with water, and put it in his pocket.
Because he had delayed his meal, he gave the alien creature a good beating, and there was not much skin left when it died.
I shook my slightly sweaty hair and threw a water ball directly on my head, and then I felt much cooler.
He turned around and left. Weather like this where the rain wasn't coming down was even more depressing than bright sunshine.
When approaching the roadside parking space, Jiang Jie's excellent eyesight allowed him to see from afar that the man wearing glasses was leaving the RV, and he seemed to be holding something in his hand.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and quickened his pace as he walked back.
Lin Mian was still standing by the window. He saw him immediately and opened the door for him with narrowed eyes. "Brother Jie!"
Jiang Jie stepped onto the steps and entered the car. The cool air surrounded him, and his whole body felt comfortable. He raised his hand to push aside his wet hair, revealing his forehead, and asked, "What is that person doing here?"
Lin Mianzheng turned around and brought him a towel. Hearing this, he said, "You want to exchange beef with me for the child."
Jiang Jie took the towel and wiped his hair a few times, "Did you give it to me?"
"No," Linmian shook his head. "Although the child is quite pitiful, I can't exchange Brother Jie's things."
Jiang Yan was very satisfied with his answer and threw the towel in his hand to him, "Wipe it for me."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and sat down on the sofa.
Lin Mian followed him, stood beside him, and wiped his hair without complaint.
Jiang Yan leaned leisurely on the sofa and said in a good mood: "If you really feel sorry for that child, you can give him some change."
Anyway, they don't lack those two bites of meat.
Lin Mian paused as he wiped his hair, but still shook his head, "Forget it. Showing kindness can easily lead to trouble."
Being soft-hearted is most likely to lead to greed, especially now, he understands this truth.
If you don't have the ability to save something, the best thing to do is not to meddle in other people's affairs. Otherwise, if something really goes wrong, you may have to ask a man to clean up the mess for you.
Jiang Yan looked up at him when he heard that. Every time he thought this little rabbit would be soft-hearted, he was actually quite sober.
However, it is precisely because of this that he brings people with him. After all, he doesn't need any brainless good guys.
"It's up to you." Jiang Jie raised his eyebrows.
Lin Mian was fiddling with his hair, wiping the roots. As he did this, his eyes fell on the scar on his left brow. He had been curious about it for a long time, and this time he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Jian, how did you get this scar?"
Following his question, Jiang Yan raised his eyebrows again, and then said casually, "My dad hit it with a cup."
Lin Mian paused and said nothing more.
Instead, Jiang Jie looked up at him and asked, "Why don't you ask me why he hit me?"
Lin Mian, who already regretted asking about his scar, didn't dare to ask, fearing that it would touch upon his sad memories. He pursed his lips and said nothing.
Jiang Yan, however, didn't care. He put his hand on the back of the sofa and said lightly, "Because he's a gambler. When he loses money, he drinks, and when he drinks, he beats people. He beat my mother when she was alive. After my mother was forced to jump off the building and commit suicide by debt collectors, he started beating me."
Lin Mian unconsciously tightened his grip on the towel and accidentally pulled the other person's hair. Seeing the person frown, he quickly let go of his hand and rubbed the roots of the hair there, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Because it hurt him, because it brought up sad things.
"It's okay," Jiang Yan, the person involved, was much calmer than him. "I'm not someone you can bully. I called the police and had him arrested a few times. Although he couldn't stay in jail for many days, it always gave me some peace and quiet."
Even if he is beaten up every time that man comes out, he will still dare to do it next time.
Jiang Yan raised his lips, his eyes half-hidden by the towel, deep and unfathomable. "When I was in the third year of junior high school, he was beaten to death in an alley because he offended someone over gambling. That's when I was completely free."
There was no sadness on his face that showed no sign of being hurt. Lin Mian wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to start. If he said the wrong thing, it might backfire.
He felt a little complicated because he was an orphan, so he always envied those children who had parents. But now he found that having parents does not necessarily mean happiness.
Even for someone like him who grew up in an orphanage and lived a poor life, the greatest harm he had ever suffered was just being looked down upon, excluded, and having some minor fights among other children.
But people like this man who have families have suffered more than him, and it cannot be described in two or three sentences.
Before, he only thought that Jiang Jie was powerful and fearless, as if he didn't care about anything. Now that he thinks about it, all this may not have been easy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jiang Yan looked directly into his eyes, seeing the pity in them, and raised his lips, "Pity me?"
Lin Mian quickly turned his gaze away, wanting to say no, but then he remembered that the other party had said that he didn't like to lie. After two seconds, he whispered, "A little bit..."
In fact, to be more precise, I felt a little sorry for Jiang Jie at that time, but I was still a little hesitant to say such words out loud.
He was quite honest. Jiang Yan's smile deepened and he raised his hand to hold his wrist. "Then you have to be even nicer to me."
Perhaps the heat from coming back from outside had not yet dissipated, Lin Mian felt that the palm holding his was very hot. He moved uncomfortably, but was held tighter. He stopped moving and nodded slightly in the other person's smiling gaze.
After getting the response he wanted, Jiang Jie let go of his hand. He glanced sideways and saw the light red mark on his fair wrist that he had burned. He rubbed it with his fingertips with satisfaction.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, Lin Mian withdrew his hand and folded the wet towel neatly out of habit. "My hair is almost dry. Let's eat first. The beef noodles won't taste good if you put them here."
He turned his head to put the towel away. Jiang Yan raised his hand to occasionally fiddle with his messy hair, his eyes always fixed on a busy rabbit.
After looking at it for a while, he licked his back teeth with the tip of his tongue, not knowing what was going on.
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