Bait
June 4, Thursday, sunny.
When the first ray of sunlight shone into the cabin through the window, she knew it was going to be a sunny day.
Jiang Qing turned off the alarm clock, got up quickly, washed up, and went into the kitchen to heat up the breakfast that her parents had left at the store early.
She took a bite of the bread, stuffed two mouthfuls of side dishes, her cheeks puffed up, picked up her schoolbag, put on her slippers, and went out.
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the corridor. When I reached the second floor, before I knocked, the door was already opened, revealing a familiar face with slightly dark circles under the eyes.
Jiang Qing kept walking, "Let's go."
Lin Nanyan followed the girl.
At the same time, in different corners of Jiangyuan City, different people walked out of their homes...
If a camera were to take a bird's-eye view of the city, it would be surprising to find that several people were converging in one direction.
Half an hour later, a small cafe welcomed a wave of young customers.
Jiang Qing looked out the window and asked, "Is this it?"
Lin Nanyan nodded.
Song Shuang: "Why are we in the cafe? Shouldn't we just go up there?"
Ye Meiyan was silent for a moment and said, "Maybe there is a better way."
The other three people turned their heads and looked at her.
"What's the meaning?"
——
Today is a rare day off, but Li Liang still doesn't want to rest. He bends down and concentrates on doing exercises.
"Bang—"
The sound of breaking glass came from outside the door. Li Liang put on his headphones with an expressionless face, blocking out all the sounds from the outside world.
The hostess's screams mixed with the host's thrashing sounds filled the entire room with rage, chaos, and hysteria.
The thin, worn mahogany door was not soundproof, but it was still there, like the last line of defense of a security barrier, shaky yet indestructible.
The boy in the room had obviously gotten used to the noise outside, and he wrote with a little more emphasis but still didn't stop.
This was an unremarkable day in Li Liang's life.
Until the buzzing of his cell phone interrupted his coherent thoughts.
He threw his pen down impatiently and took a deep breath.
I opened the paper again and wrote a few words, then stayed silent for two seconds, then finally opened my phone and took a look.
With just one glance, all the emotions in Li Liang's eyes completely froze.
He took off his headphones and threw them on the table, changed out of his old shirt, put on a clean and tidy coat, and opened the door.
Two people outside the door were wrestling with each other, their faces red and swollen with nail marks, their mouths full of greetings to each other's ancestors, their pants and shoes flying everywhere.
Hearing the noise, the two of them took the time to look over here.
The man opened his mouth to say something, but the woman took the opportunity to pull the man's head hard, pulling out a lot of hair. The man was caught off guard and his face turned hideous in pain. He turned around and punched the woman. The woman curled up in pain, but she exerted more force in her hands.
The two people were like the most primitive animals in the animal world, fighting each other irrationally in close combat.
When they looked at each other, they hated each other so much that if possible, each of them would like to eat the other alive.
Li Liang passed by them, stopped, lowered his eyes, and kicked away the broken glass on the edge of his shoe.
The moment he opened the door and went downstairs, it was as if a breath of life was injected out of nowhere, and the boy's numb face instantly became lively.
"Xiaoliang, where are you going?" someone greeted him.
"Hello, Grandma Wang. It happens that the school is closed today, so I plan to go shopping. Is the bag heavy? I can help you carry it down."
"Oh, no need. These are just some plums. My daughter just gave them to me a couple of days ago. I'm also giving some to Lao Hua, the cleaner in our neighborhood, to try. Do you like them? They're a little sour."
Li Liang smiled and hung the basket on his wrist, supporting the old woman. "You know I don't like sour food. Grandma Wang, your legs are not in good condition, and the medicine you took at the hospital last time is almost finished. When you finish it, tell me and I will help you get it from the hospital."
Grandma Wang walked very slowly, paused with each step, but spoke very clearly.
"How can I bother you every time?" Grandma Wang waved her hand. "You're going to be a senior in high school soon. That's a big deal. Studying is a serious matter. I can go get the medicine myself."
Li Liang was not in a hurry and patiently followed the old man's steps down.
"It's okay. The hospital isn't far from the school. I'll just bring it back when I go home during the holidays. Why should I make you make another trip?"
Grandma Wang's smile deepened. "You just have a good heart. There are many things that come easy in this world, but I haven't seen anyone do it for two years like you have."
"Next time, I'll ask my daughter to bring some fresh walnuts. I heard they're good for the brain," she patted Li Liang's hand. "Eat them and study hard. You can get into a good university and find a good job in the future."
"I know, Grandma Wang," Li Liang observed the steps on the ground, "be careful where you step."
After watching Grandma Wang safely enter a house downstairs, he turned around and left the community.
Outside the residential complex, Song Shuang was comparing photos. Seeing someone who looked similar, she excitedly patted Jiang Qing's shoulder and said, "Here she comes. Is that the one?"
Jiang Qing was almost injured internally by her slap. She narrowed her eyes and looked the boy up and down, and quickly confirmed.
"It's him."
Watching people walking towards the bus stop, Jiang Qing was silent for a moment. Her guess was preliminarily confirmed, but she didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.
Ye Meiyan picked up her bag and motioned for everyone to follow.
Lin Nanyan stood up and tidied the things on the table. Jiang Qing pulled Song Shuang and they all got into a car parked near the coffee shop.
"Catch the bus in front." Ye Meiyan ordered from the passenger seat.
The driver stepped on the accelerator and the vehicle started slowly.
Song Shuang, sitting in the back seat, touched the seat under his butt with curiosity and asked Jiang Qing in a low voice, "Do you think this is real leather?"
Jiang Qing also touched it and said, "I don't know, but it's very comfortable to sit on."
She leaned closer to the front seat and sniffed, "It doesn't smell anything."
Song Shuang also went up to smell it, "Who said that? Why do I smell a fruity fragrance?"
Jiang Qing: "...What kind of animal skin smells like fruit?"
"It's Nappa leather," Lin Nanyan said, immediately earning two confused looks. He paused and continued, "It's actually made from tanned cowhide. As for the fruity scent you smell—"
He pointed to the cockpit, where a small blue candle was placed. "It should smell like incense."
Song Shuang's attention was focused on the first half of the boy's words. She complained, "It's just bullshit, why call it Nappa leather? It's like you're afraid others will understand."
Jiang Qing agreed wholeheartedly, "I just like to come up with some messy names that no one can understand."
The driver in front couldn't help but twitch his mouth when he heard the following conversation.
This is elegance, you know? It's standard for luxury cars.
I really don’t know why Mr. Ye agreed to let his daughter go to public school. Look at the kind of friends she has made now.
He glanced at the passenger seat casually and saw Ye Meiyan looking down at her phone.
The driver withdrew his gaze and drove with his eyes on his nose and his nose on his mind.
[Zheng Yuan: Sent. Is there anything else I can do?]
Ye Meiyan recalled the conversation she had with the boy yesterday.
"Who do you say you know?"
"Li Liang," Zheng Yuan said, "I know Li Liang."
Zheng Yuan had actually been in contact with Li Liang, but Ye Meiyan had never associated the two of them together before.
She moved her fingers slightly and typed three words.
【knew. 】
Looking up and forward, I saw the green bus driving very slowly, stopping for a while after driving for a while.
While waiting for the red light, Zheng Yuan sent another message.
【Did I do something wrong before? 】
It can be seen that the boy is very hesitant and hesitant.
Ye Meiyan lowered her eyes to look at the phone screen and typed: [Maybe...]
She paused, deleted it, and retyped: [No]
"Mei Yan, what are you looking at? You ignore me when I talk to you."
"Hmm?" Ye Meiyan put away her phone. "What?"
"I say," Jiang Qing stretched out her tone, "are all the props ready?"
Ye Meiyan nodded, "Don't worry."
"I knew you were the most reliable!" Jiang Qing gave a thumbs up.
Song Shuang fell on Jiang Qing, "Am I unreliable?"
"Reliable, very reliable," Jiang Qing patted Song Shuang's shoulder loudly, "I feel at ease with your help."
Song Shuang bent his waist to avoid the iron sand palm, "Go away! Go and shoot yourself."
Jiang Qing glanced at her and said, "Look, you're not happy even though I'm praising you."
Song Shuang's eyes were almost rolling to the sky. Is this a compliment?
Ye Meiyan couldn't help but smile as she listened to the two people's antics.
The car finally stopped at a main road. The driver was eager to try, but he said modestly: "Although the road ahead is a bit narrow, my driving skills are not bad, I can drive in."
Ye Meiyan glanced at him when he heard that, and the driver immediately shut up tactfully.
Jiang Qing didn't notice anything unusual between the two. She comforted the driver, "Your driving skills are indeed amazing, but there are only a few cars in this area. Driving in would be too conspicuous."
The driver immediately smiled and said, "I see. Then you guys go in. I'll wait here."
He thought that making these friends was not a bad thing, as it would be beneficial to cultivating one's sentiments and improving one's physical and mental health.
The boss is still more far-sighted, and he deserves to be the boss.
"No need," Ye Meiyan observed the surrounding environment and said to the driver behind her, "You go back first."
The driver immediately stopped smiling.
Jiang Qing translated: "Parking here is quite conspicuous, and we don't know when we'll be over at our friend's house. It's hot out now, so you should go back and rest. I won't bother you anymore."
Ye Meiyan glanced at the girl and did not refute.
The driver got on the bus with a smile. Although he didn't know why he had to follow the bus to visit his friend, he was only responsible for reporting what he saw to his superiors and didn't care about anything else.
He waved to a few people happily and left.
Song Shuang put down his hand, turned around and looked at the narrow cement road in front of him, and asked, "Do you want to follow?"
Jiang Qing looked into the distance. As far as the eye could see, there were layers of buildings lined up one after another, but not very neatly arranged.
This is an urban village. Although there are buses running here and there, there are few people and the buildings are cluttered. Electric wires are tangled and crisscrossed in the sky, and colorful clothes hanging out to dry are fluttering in the wind.
This is where Li Qingyun lives, she thought with mixed feelings.
Jiang Qing suppressed the various fluctuations in her heart and said, "According to our plan."
"Okay," Song Shuang nodded, "I'll be leaving then."
Jiang Qing: "Yeah."
Song Shuang was holding a huge bag and looking at his little friend reluctantly.
Jiang Qing waved her hand: "It's okay, we'll meet soon."
Song Shuang walked away, looking back every few steps.
Ye Meiyan: "Then I'll leave too."
Jiang Qing hesitated, "How about I go instead?"
Without waiting for anyone else to respond, she rejected it herself, "Forget it, I'll stay for now."
Ye Meiyan didn't say anything, she just glanced at Lin Nanyan inconspicuously.
Lin Nanyan nodded slightly, and Ye Meiyan was relieved. She turned around and strode away.
Only Jiang Qing and Lin Nanyan were left there. Jiang Qing looked up and said, "Let's go. We have to face what we have to face."
Lin Nanyan nodded, and the two of them walked together in the direction Li Liang left.
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