2016 Time and Space (Part 1)
Bian Senlin knew that was his 22-year-old self, but looking at his red eyes, Bian Senlin had the illusion that he was facing the subconscious of 28.
However, apart from the body shape, the difference can still be seen in the eyes if you look closely.
28's red eyes were filled with resentment and dissatisfaction, but 22's eyes were filled with more grievance.
"Uh, I'm 20 years old, Bian Senlin..."
Fortunately, Bian Senlin was already very skilled in introducing himself to his future self, and he explained his origins in a few words.
22's expression is much easier to understand than 28's. From questioning and wariness at the beginning to surprise, he finally returned to silence.
It was obvious that 22 wanted to say something, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to do so. He nodded to Bian Senlin, walked around him and prepared to leave.
Bian Senlin was a little distressed. Why would his future self just walk away when he was in a bad mood?
"etc……"
Bian Senlin didn't know what he was thinking, and suddenly blurted out "Stop 22".
When 22 looked over, Bian Senlin could only bite the bullet and say, "Um, can you take me in for a while? I have to wait for my teammates to pick me up..."
22 was stunned, as if he didn't expect him to say that.
Bian Senlin saw that something was going to happen, so he quickly acted pitiful: "I don't know anyone here, and I have nowhere to go. I won't bother you for too long, please."
22 didn't think long before agreeing: "Then you wait a moment."
After saying that, he turned around and went upstairs into an office. He waited for a while at Bian Senlin. Just when he thought he had been fooled by 22, 22 came out with a backpack.
"Let's go."
Bian Senlin immediately felt ashamed of his little thoughts for a second.
However, he was a little unsure when he saw 22 preparing to leave work:
"Um...shouldn't you be at work at this hour? I can wait for you to get off work. You don't have to ask for leave. It's not good to delay."
22 paused when he heard him say that. "No, I just happened to resign today and you happened to run into me."
"Ah? Oh..."
Bian Senlin was a little dumbfounded. He thought to himself: Could it be that 22 looks so sad because things are not going well at work? But from the few words he just heard, it doesn't seem like that.
Before Bian Senlin could figure out what was going on, they had already arrived at 22's current residence.
22 continued 21's habit when renting a house. This place is very close to where he works, but the conditions are much worse.
It was still daytime, but when I opened the door it was pitch black, without a trace of natural light, and the air was uncomfortably stuffy.
Only after 22 turned on the air conditioner and started ventilating did Bian Senlin feel that he could breathe more smoothly.
"My place is small and there's no extra space, but you can use the air mattress that Bian Yan used to sleep on the floor last time he came here."
22While talking to Bian Senlin, he packed up the things he brought out from the company.
Bian Senlin looked at the narrow space where the two people had to turn sideways to pass, and then he felt the reality of the difficulties 29 had mentioned when he first came to Donghai.
"Why did you choose to live here? There's no ventilation or light, and ventilation depends entirely on air conditioning. Living here for a long time is bad for your health."
"Cheap"
The reason 22 gave was very compelling: "This place is not like Nanchuan. A slightly better house costs thousands of yuan. I don't have that much money. Here I can get it for 800 yuan."
Bian Senlin was silent for a moment. "But it's already October. Even in the East China Sea, it'll get cold in a month. What should we do then? We can't keep the air conditioner on in winter, right?"
22 didn't care: "I rented here because I had a job here. Now that I'm done with my job, I don't think I'll be able to stay here for long."
Bian Senlin didn't know how to comfort 22, and 22 was in a bad mood and didn't say anything. The atmosphere was filled with awkward silence.
Bian Senlin couldn't stand this awkward atmosphere, so he spoke up:
"If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. Let me tell you, I've been to the future. The place you lived in back then was much better than here, and the salary was also very high..."
However, 22 didn't listen to him and just stared at a white wall somewhere in the room, his eyes empty and sad.
Bian Senlin was really helpless and sighed, "What's wrong with you? It's just a job. If it doesn't work out, just look for another one..."
22 Hearing this, she turned around and looked at him blankly, as if trying to decide whether to talk to him or not.
After a while, 22 said in a hoarse voice: "Do you know? Our home is gone..."
Bian Senlin thought he had misheard, and his heart suddenly tightened. He said reluctantly, "The family is gone, what does that mean?"
22 said it with great difficulty: "My parents divorced half a year ago..."
Bian Senlin's heart first relaxed, then tightened again.
He looked up at 22 and saw that he didn't seem to be joking at all. He suddenly didn't know what to feel.
Do your parents have a good relationship?
Good and bad.
Bian Senlin had heard their past stories countless times. They got together because of love. When his parents wanted to be together, their families did not agree. They ignored their family's opposition and ran away to live on their own just to be together.
It was not until the border forest was built that both families were forced to acknowledge this fact.
This sounds like a story of love triumphing over power, and it sounds very romantic.
In Bian Senlin's memory, they had a lot of quarrels since childhood, and sometimes even fought.
But sometimes they would get tired of each other, and he and Bian Yan seemed like unnecessary objects that blocked their world of two.
As they grew older, both of them became more emotionally stable and had fewer quarrels, but complaints and cold wars over daily necessities were still commonplace.
The various trivial conflicts between his parents became a part of life. He and Bian Yan were used to seeing them happen two or three times a month.
Perhaps because he was too used to it, Bian Senlin never thought that they would get divorced one day...
After all, they have been living like this for 20 years.
"Kid, think about it, it's just a divorce. Your parents are still your parents."
The deep voice coming from the headset made Bian Senlin stop recalling.
22, with his head lowered, tugging at a pen he had picked up, seemed to be trying to endure something:
"When they were getting divorced, there were less than two months left before Bian Yan took the college entrance exam."
Bian Senlin suddenly looked up and looked at 22 with disbelief in his eyes.
22 looked at him and smiled. "It's incredible, isn't it? I can't understand it either. They've been through this for over 20 years, but they couldn't even wait for the last two months."
When I received the news and rushed back from Yunwu overnight, they had already separated. I originally wanted to hide it from Bian Yan, but in the end I failed to do so...
I'm just thankful that Bian Yan's school requires all seniors to live on campus and only come back once a week at most. This is much better than staying at home in the depressing and silent atmosphere."
22 continued to look at the pen in his hand: "I was running back and forth between my parents. At first I was still hoping that they could get back together.
But I later realized that it was all in vain...
Because they were more concerned about how to fight for the little property they had, rather than their twenty years of love."
At this point, 22 smiled, almost as if mocking him: "Can I say they are worthy of being a couple for more than 20 years? They are surprisingly consistent on this point.
Before this, I always thought that emotions were more important than material things, but they taught me that in the face of interests and money, these are nothing.”
22 opened his fist, which was tightly clenched with a pen. His palm, which had been stained with red ink, was trembling slightly.
"You know what's even more outrageous? They actually asked me to write their divorce agreement?!
Haha...haha, but what do I know?
I don’t study law, so I don’t know what kind of mood I was in when I signed that agreement for them…”
22 said with gritted teeth, "I don't even know what I wrote!
I originally thought that they needed me to write for them because they didn't know how to type on a computer.
But if I could do it again, I would tear up the agreement right in front of them and tell them to go find a lawyer and stop bothering me!
Bian Senlin felt the words coming out of his throat were a little dry: "Why don't they find a lawyer?"
22's body was shaking slightly. Bian Senlin looked at him and took several deep breaths before calming down.
"It wasn't until I arrived in Donghai that I realized my mom had suffered a loss in that agreement, but since we brothers all agreed to it, she signed it anyway...
But we really didn’t understand anything at the time.”
22 closed his eyes and said, "Later, they went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to handle the paperwork and asked me to accompany them.
I felt like I was a puppet following them through the entire divorce process.
I often wonder why I have to be involved? If they want to divorce, then they can divorce. Why do they have to let me be caught in the middle and suffer this emotional torture?!
22 wiped his face, his expression numb: "I thought it ended here, and they each started a new life.
As long as I can wait until Bian Yan finishes the college entrance examination, I can go far away and out of sight and out of mind.
But I was too naive. This mess was far from over.
After dealing with the financial matters, they seemed to remember the feelings they had for more than 20 years, but this feeling turned into boundless hatred.
Bian Yan was preparing for the college entrance examination at school. They didn't dare to disturb him, nor could they disturb him, but they could find me.
They just got divorced and couldn't adapt to each other's lives. When they couldn't adapt, they started to feel bad, and when they felt bad, they started to insult each other. They felt good about venting, but what about me? "
Bian Senlin suddenly remembered the angry roar of 22 when he was on the phone in the office just now.
"I defended Mom with Dad and Dad with Mom, and got caught up in their endless verbal abuse and arguments.
I endured until Bian Yan finally finished the college entrance examination. Bian Yan and I went bungee jumping to vent our feelings, and then I decided to come to Donghai.
When I came over, Bian Yan still had two months left before school started. Bian Yan was different from me. He was impatient to listen to them quarreling, and when he got angry, he would not see anyone.
They had no outlet for their emotions, so they called me, and it seemed like I had become a trash can for their emotions.”
22's phone happened to ring at this moment. He took a look and smiled at Bian Senlin: "When we met just now, the phone was from Dad, and now it's from Mom."
He answered the call and pressed the speakerphone.
The mother was in a bad mood on the phone. She started crying as she spoke, and then she started scolding his father. She then listed how much she had suffered for them, and then started scolding him again. Even a small matter that happened more than ten years ago could be picked out and criticized as a heinous crime.
22 listened expressionlessly until the call ended, then he looked towards Bian Senlin:
"That's right. It's a similar process on Dad's side, but Mom's scolding is more emotional, while Dad's is all anger. Both sides sometimes use pretty nasty insults."
A different style of cursing?
22 seemed to be telling a joke with an expressionless face, but Bian Senlin couldn't laugh.
He felt his heart pumping cold air throughout his body, making him shiver and suffocate.
Only then did he understand what 22 meant when he said his home was gone.
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