Chapter 47: Baby Bai Ling doesn't expect anyone to pick her up...
Yu Chen didn't rub his head.
Instead, she lifted up her hair that looked like dry grass and kissed him lightly at the corner of his eye.
In an instant, like ripples on a calm lake, wrinkles appeared at the corner of the eye. The Wooden Bird raised its hand and touched its eyes, uttering a very short "ah" sound, as if sighing and feeling happy at the same time.
"...Thank you." The wooden bird lowered its head and thanked sincerely.
He was very polite and handed a tissue to Yu Chen so that Yu Chen could wipe the lips he had kissed.
Yu Chen told him: "I will go to the station to wait for someone tomorrow."
The woodpile bird started coughing violently again.
He hunched his shoulders, like a robot that had been abandoned for years, with rusted joints, and all the bones in his body were stiff and crackling in the tremor.
The stake bird retreated very far, but the room was too small, and the farthest place he could retreat to was by the window.
He opened the window, letting the damp air flow into the moldy house, and explained in a low voice:
"This disease is not contagious, don't be afraid. I just, just..."
The wooden bird said "but" many times, but did not tell the cause of the disease. Finally, he breathed hard and tried his best to smile:
"I'll definitely be better tomorrow."
Yu Chen did not expose the wooden bird, nor did he continue to ask questions.
At that time, he didn't understand a truth.
For people who have been lonely for a long time, any warmth is poison.
If you can't make up your mind to pick it up and take care of it, don't give it any hope.
The wooden bird sent Yu Chen out the door.
Along the way, they said nothing, walking one after the other, like two awkward strangers.
When they were almost at the alley, Muzhuniao said that he had something else to do and couldn't continue delivering the car. So they crossed the alley and there was a wide street outside.
After the wooden bird left, Yu Chen took out his terminal, turned around, and recorded a short video in the direction he came from. In this way, even if Yu Chen can't see, the AI can still infer his location through the picture.
The AI read the video, studied it for a while, and asked, "Uh, did you have a fight?"
Yu Chen didn't understand, but the next second AI found the location through the map.
The next day, Yu Chen went to the station to wait again. Unexpectedly, the netizen still did not show up.
Yu Chen directly asked the AI to drive the aircraft and take him to the door.
I knocked on the door, but no one answered.
This continued for the next few days.
Yu Chen felt that the wooden bird might have gone on a long journey, or maybe this was a game strategy, so it wouldn't hurt to wait for a while. After all, they have been friends online for twenty years, so these two days won't make a difference.
So, Yu Chen stopped taking the medicine, and with his good eyes that had recovered their sight, he walked slowly and strolled over.
The shops along the street in the slums were very welcoming. Someone poked his head out of the pawnshop and looked at his hair color curiously.
There were also children tugging at his sleeves, repeatedly asking, “Aren’t you buying flowers today?”
Yu Chen walked to the door and found that the tightly closed door was actually open.
It turned out that the landlord came to collect the house.
The landlord complained a lot, saying that he had received a death notice of his tenant, which was extremely unlucky. If the tenant wanted to commit suicide, why didn't he turn off the power before leaving, causing him to pay several extra days' electricity bills.
The landlord asked Yu Chen to pay for the electricity bill: "Aren't you his friend? You should pay for him."
Yu Chen wanted to explain that he was not the other party’s friend, but just an online friend. He was not familiar with them, but more of a stranger.
The words came to his lips, but he couldn't say them. He felt as if his brain had sunk into a rusty lake and it was difficult for him to react for a moment.
Perhaps he should express sadness about the word suicide, but his long life experience made him strangely numb. After all, during the Great Depression, people were psychologically fragile, especially veterans who were under long-term stress, and similar incidents were no longer news.
Yu Chen gave the money out of goodwill and watched the landlord walking around cursing. Only then did he realize that before Muzhuanniao left, he carefully unplugged all electrical sockets, leaving only a refrigerator.
Yu Chen felt a kind of electric shock and stared at the short, old-fashioned refrigerator.
He thought there would be something unexpected inside.
Such as flesh, blood, heart, and even the lost leg of the wooden bird.
But when the landlord pulled it open, the warm orange light poured down, illuminating only a tightly wrapped plastic wrap.
The plastic wrap was wrapped into thin strips and tied tightly to a piece of old wood with a chipped corner using a brown rubber band.
Yu Chen took it from the landlord.
He first went to look at the old wooden board with mottled checkered patterns on it, which turned out to be an old-fashioned chessboard.
It was in such tatters that no one wanted it even at the recycling station, but there was a small label on the upper right corner, indicating that it had been pawned at a pawn shop for five interstellar coins.
Then he removed the plastic wrap and the petals fell into his palm.
This is a flower, not a rare variety, just the most common one, so common that Yu Chen can't even name it.
Even after three days, due to careful preservation, it is still as bright as ever, forming a strange and sharp contrast with the gray and damaged old chessboard.
Yu Chen couldn't figure out the relationship between them for the time being.
He just told the landlord that he would deal with the remaining things, which made the landlord stop his incessant abuse.
On the way back, AI controlled the aircraft to pick him up.
The robot scanned the flowers in his arms, turned the rearview mirror, and asked cheerfully, "Have you made up after the quarrel?"
Yu Chen felt strange and wondered what had given the other party the illusion that they were quarreling.
The AI naturally said, "It's the video that the master showed me."
For the first time in his life, his depressed heart trembled.
He clicked on the video with trembling fingers. It was very short, only fifteen seconds, and the picture quality was not clear enough because the weather was bad. It looked gray and covered with a layer of moldy gloom.
After careful identification, it can be seen clearly that at the moment the camera turned to that road, a man's shoulders trembled and he froze in the middle of the road. Facing the camera held by the blind man, he suddenly lowered his head in shame.
Boom, boom, boom! The prosthetic limbs hit the shattered concrete floor in a panic.
The man desperately raised his arms to cover his face and quickly hid in the alley next to him.
The video screen freezes at the moment when he is about to dodge or not.
At that moment, the wooden bird was holding two gifts in its arms, the flowers and the chessboard that it received in exchange for the 20 yuan fee.
Use 5 yuan to redeem the chessboard and 15 yuan to buy a flower.
He struggled all the way, and after parting, he secretly followed you, wanting to give you something.
Even if it's just a little bit, I want this simple peacemaking to end with a little romance.
He said, I don’t like flowers.
But when he saw you brought flowers, he felt guilty and couldn't help but want to return the favor.
He bought flowers to comfort himself.
When we met for the first time, we prepared flowers for each other.
However, when you raised the camera, he thought he was discovered and was mocked by you in this way. So he left silently with regret and unwillingness.
Boom, boom, boom…
I looked back every step I took, the broken wood knocked at me painfully. I was reluctant to go, but I had to go.
Yu Chen turned off the screen and watched the scenery passing by outside the window numbly.
He picked up the folded chessboard and a note fell out of it. The handwriting was in neat print and it was an advertisement clipping.
The title is: Things in life go against one's wishes because there are other arrangements. Thank you for the chance to meet me.
In addition, there are four small handwritten words next to it, saying:
See you next time.
·
Sculpture Square.
The icy rain flowed slowly along the stone carvings. With his forehead against the wall, water vapor continuously seeped into the cracks between his bones. The familiar feeling of dampness soon woke him up.
Bai Ling subconsciously wanted to touch the bed sheet, but what he touched was the slippery and cold stairs.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and a dazzling light flashed by. He was forced to turn his face away, blinking into the darkness for a while to adapt, then looked back at the surrounding environment.
He seemed to... climb onto the sculpture's shoulders?
Bai Ling rubbed his temples with a headache and kicked over two empty beer cans when he stretched his legs.
Damn it, he couldn't even remember how he got here...
However, Bai Ling was able to adapt to this situation.
After all, not everyone can have the experience of opening their eyes and finding themselves 19 years old again.
What's more, he suffered frequent mental disorders in the year before his death and often woke up in unfamiliar places. I would touch my belongings, find a public toilet to wash my face, and then walk back slowly without saying a word. This has become a habit engraved in my DNA.
Bai Ling doesn't expect anyone to pick him up.
At that time, his organs were failing all over his body and even his blood vessels were stuck. The doctor would not think of saving him when he saw the examination results. He would just wonder why he was still standing there alive.
Even though he repeatedly fell on the street, black market dealers were too lazy to pick him up and dismember him to sell his organs.
They would say, "Your rags of flesh are not even enough to pay for two hours of dissection if you sell them. Go away, take the two dollars and take the bus."
However, times are different now.
Bai Ling pinched his cheek expressionlessly.
The skin is still tender, and just looking at the face, it should be worth a lot of money.
He gathered up the rubbish, wrapped it up in a bag and took it down with him. There were many vending machines around the square, and he got some more wine and continued drinking while leaning against the eaves.
In the early hours of the morning, gangsters who were drinking would pass by from time to time.
When they saw the person leaning against the sculpture, they were all startled, then they started to smile lewdly, and in groups of three or five they exchanged glances tacitly and surrounded the little white-haired boy.
Bai Ling was very obedient and followed them to the alley, and then...
They beat them up severely, took their wallets, scattered the money viciously in the square, and stuffed the large bills into the donation box unreasonably.
The terminal beeped, indicating that only 10% of the battery remained.
Bai Ling took it out and looked at it out of habit.
Communication 99+, information 99+.
The most recent one was half an hour ago, when the mermaid brought up the chess bet and asked him to give him a chance to explain.
What is there to explain?
Bai Ling bent over and laughed out loud.
Since the other party expected him to abide by the bet, he certainly would not let the other party down.
Bai Ling called directly, and after only one ring, the other party picked up the call. He didn't even give Yu Chen a chance to speak, instead of getting angry he laughed:
"I heard that you have someone in your heart. That's good, it's human nature, I can understand it. Who doesn't have a past? You've lived for more than a hundred years, and you don't have an ex. I think there's something wrong with you."
There was silence for a long while. Yu Chen knew he was speaking sarcastically, so he carefully considered his words before slowly saying:
"I don't have a deceased wife. My spouse registration history is blank. The document has been sent to you. That person is just an old friend. I only met him once and we barely exchanged a few words."
"I don't believe it." Bai Ling said firmly.
This century-old poisonous snake fooled him time and time again, and he simply couldn't get the truth out of him. He didn't need to guess too much, this statement was definitely half true and half false, and there was a lot of water in it.
The old serpent sighed and admitted in a soothing tone, "You are the only one I have."
"Me what? Speak louder." Bai Ling was drunk and shouted into the transmitter incoherently.
"My little darling." The voice was gentle, as magnetic and mellow as ever.
“…Ha.” Do you still think he is as easy to deal with as before?
Bai Ling sneered: "Wrong answer, goodbye."
When he heard the word "goodbye", Yu Chen's heart reflexively trembled and his blood seemed to freeze.
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