When Zhou Qizhen was 22 years old, he had a big quarrel with his father over the issue of start-up capital. During the quarrel, the incident of his aunt's miscarriage many years ago was brought up, and the quarrel between father and son became even more fierce.
Everyone blamed him, but no one cared about his feelings. The aunt he trusted and relied on the most suddenly took his mother's place one day. He couldn't let go and even became nihilistic. Insomnia was a common problem.
One time I drove to the riverside and parked my car on the side of the road. A man was sitting there drinking. A group of children were playing football on the open space next to me. Everyone had a smile on their face because they were happy. The smile of one little girl was the most dazzling.
The ball was kicked accidentally next to him, and he suddenly thought of teasing the other children. The other children didn't dare to come over, only the little girl came over and said, "Big brother, this is our ball."
Big brother? Zhou Qizheng raised his eyebrows and corrected him, "You should call me uncle."
The little girl said without fear, "I think you'd be happier if I called you brother."
"How do you know I'm unhappy?"
"You've been drinking alone. My dad also drinks alone when he's unhappy." The little girl hesitated and pointed at the car parked on the side of the road and continued, "Is that your car? You can't drive after drinking. It's very dangerous."
Zhou Qizhen felt a little uncomfortable being suddenly cared for by a stranger, who was a child.
"If this was my brother, my mom would break his legs."
Zhou Qizheng: “…”
"Thank you for your concern, little friend, but I don't have a mother anymore, so no one can break my legs just because they care about me."
"I'm sorry! I didn't know you had no mother, but your mother is watching you in heaven. If you don't obey her, she will come into your dreams and punish you."
Zhou Qizheng: “…”
"I wish she could come to my dream!"
I thought the child's words were quite interesting, so I asked, "How old are you, kid?"
"I'm twelve now, how about you, big brother?"
"I am ten years older than you."
"Oh, then why are you unhappy? Look, you drive a Panamera."
Zhou Qizheng was a little surprised: "You also know cars?"
The little girl said embarrassedly, "Hehe! I only know this one." She saw it on TV a few days ago when she came to her aunt's house. At that time, her cousin said that he wanted to drive this car when he grew up.
"I said I would be able to work when I turn 22, and it would be great if I could afford a Panamera for my birthday. But my mom said if I don't study hard, I won't be able to afford a Panamera, and I'll just be able to eat and poop."
When Zhou Qizhen heard such remarks for the first time, he couldn't stop laughing, and finally, even his shoulders were shaking.
He had forgotten that he could laugh like that.
"Look, brother, you are happy, right? You must smile more in the future, so that you will have good luck."
Zhou Qizheng looked at her with a smile: "But among the people I know, no one can make me happy as much as you do. What should I do if I can't laugh?"
The little girl thought for a moment, then took off a purple bracelet from her hand and handed it to him: "This is for you. I like purple the most. I am happy when I see purple. This is my lucky color. Whenever I encounter difficulties, I use this to make a wish and it comes true!"
Zhou Qizheng took the bracelet and felt his pockets. There was nothing in them except cigarettes and the wine on the ground. "Brother has nothing to give you. Wait for me to look for it in the car."
"No, my mom said I can't just ask for other people's things."
"But you also gave your brother a bracelet."
"I gave it to you because you said you were unhappy."
"Okay! Thank you."
"You're welcome." He picked up the football and took one last look at Zhou Qizheng, then asked with some concern, "Then after I leave, you have to promise not to drink and drive."
Zhou Qizheng nodded in agreement, then shouted to the little girl who had already walked away, "What's your name?"
The girl said without even turning her head: "Lu Xiaoqiao!"
…
As he recalled, the red wine on the table was almost empty. The empty bottle was just like his hollowed-out heart, all given to the woman named Lu Xiaoqiao.
Even Zhou Qizhen himself didn't know when he started to have such thoughts about her.
Maybe it was when I saw her grow into a graceful young lady, or maybe it was when she always called me “Mr. Zhou” every time I saw her.
No matter when it started, he always believed that this was the destined fate for the two of them. She used self-deprecating ways to try to make him laugh during the darkest times. The purple bracelet she gave him added color to the depths of his darkness every time.
And her personality, like that of a little sun, trapped him tightly, making it impossible for him to get out or escape.
…
The next day.
Lu Xiaoqiao had just finished lunch when the company receptionist told her that someone was looking for her outside and asked Lin Lin to go back first. She went downstairs alone.
When she got downstairs, she saw a slightly plump young man wearing a sports suit and carrying a sports cross-body backpack, talking on the phone with his back to her.
When the man sensed someone behind him, he quickly hung up the phone: "Excuse me, are you Lu Xiaoqiao?"
"Yes, who are you?"
"I'm Jin Ling's boyfriend, my name is Liu Peng."
When the two went to the temple to climb the mountain, Lu Xiaoqiao heard Jin Ling say that she did have a boyfriend who also worked nearby: "Oh, what do you want?"
"It's like this. Jin Ling accidentally fell when she was walking back from the bar last night and broke her arm!"
Lu Xiaoqiao's originally relaxed expression froze in an instant. She was shocked that she was fine yesterday, but broke her arm after falling down.
"Ah? Is it serious? Is he okay?"
Liu Peng seemed a little embarrassed to speak, but still said embarrassedly: "It's not a big problem, but the arm is still in a cast! The surgery costs a lot of money, and you should also understand Jin Ling's family situation. Every month, my salary has to supplement the family's expenses. The two of us combined don't have enough money."
Lu Xiaoqiao was stunned for a moment. What did this mean? Did he want to borrow money from her? Or was she overthinking? The depth of their relationship didn't seem to be enough to lend money to her!
But then I thought that this person was asking for money because he was sick and needed it urgently. It was not to help the poor, but to help the emergency. I had to borrow the money: "How much does it cost?"
Liu Peng replied: "Eight thousand."
"Eight thousand?"
Lu Xiaoqiao was surprised. Is the surgery so expensive? It must be very serious. But she had just lent the money to Momo, and this month's salary just came. It seems that she can only advance the money!
"Don't worry, I'll ask my aunt to pay my salary for next month."
"That really troubles you!"
"It's okay, it's important to see a doctor."
When Lu Xiaoqiao returned to the company, she found her aunt and said that she wanted to advance next month's salary. Originally, Zheng Wen was in charge of this, and she just needed to talk to her, but she just didn't want to find Zheng Wen.
After receiving the money, I transferred it to Jin Ling via WeChat, and comforted her to take good care of herself and said I would visit her in a few days when I had a holiday.
…
Two more days passed.
Seeing that Lin Lin seemed to be worried, Lu Xiaoqiao asked during lunch: "Lin Lin, are you worried? You haven't been very happy all day."
Lin Lin sighed: "Don't mention it. My uncle had another argument with my grandfather yesterday and smashed all the teacups in the study."
Lu Xiaoqiao was surprised and asked, "Did your uncle smash it?"
Lin Lin shook her head: "No, it was my grandpa who hit me. It hit my uncle's hand. He didn't even dodge. When I left, I saw the back of his hand was red. I don't know what happened to him. He would say several words back to my grandpa. My grandma couldn't get in from the study either. She was so anxious that she kept crying."
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