Chapter 093 Sweet and Salty-2
My father was an alcoholic who would beat people while drinking, and my mother was a prostitute who often brought different men home.
Their child is a snail without a shell. Every day after school, he walks along the tail of the setting sun, sliding like mud in the busy streets. Occasionally, he accidentally falls into the sewer, getting covered in stains.
I finally got home, opened the rusty door, and shut out the last bit of light.
Unbearable shouting, broken wine bottles, blood flowing down the thin forehead, hitting the feet, blocking the child's landing.
"Where's your mother?"
The father sitting in the corner grabbed an empty bottle of wine he had just finished drinking and tried to stand up. Perhaps because he was drunk, he lost his balance and fell down again.
He was so angry that he dragged his deformed body and smashed the bottle again.
With a loud bang, it hit the door behind the child, and the fragments fell to the ground like a few broken flowers.
The room was filled with the smell of alcohol, and the child said nothing. Suddenly, a closed door connected to the outer hall opened.
A beautiful woman with a sexy figure walked out of the door. Her face was covered with lipstick marks, and even her neck and chest were red. But she didn't care at all and wrapped herself in her coat leisurely. Then, she looked at the two figures, one tall and one short, in the room with a comfortable expression.
"Xiaoyan, your blood is on the floor." The woman curled her lips, with a smile and blush on her face, but no emotion could be heard in her voice.
The child nodded, as if a string of code had been input and was running mechanically, "I will clean it up."
The woman showed a satisfied expression for a second, then without looking at him or saying another word, she turned back to the room and closed the door.
The moment the door was completely closed, the child saw through the gap that was about to close that there was a man lying on the single bed in the room, a sleeping, strange, ugly man.
The child turned around again and found that his father had also fallen asleep in the corner, holding an empty wine bottle in his arms, tightly grasping it with his ten fingers, as if it were a treasure.
After sweeping the floor, the child opened the window and let in fresh air, covering the unpleasant smell of alcohol. The man in the corner sneezed unconsciously, and the child couldn't drag him away, so he could only take out a quilt from the room and cover him.
In fact, today is the child’s twelfth birthday.
The wind rustled through the window, and the child who had returned to the utility room was lost in thought. He grabbed a handful of hair, took out a very short colored pencil from his schoolbag, and then drew a smiley face on the gray wall behind him.
There are already five smiley faces on it.
These were his birthday presents to himself.
【Wish me happiness. 】
At least until the moment the smiley face is drawn on it.
…
…
"…That kid…is that me?"
I know the answer, but I still ask again.
…
…
The scene changed, and the older children were trapped in the back corner of the school.
The crowd came like a torrential rain, pushing, laughing, and feeling pain. The moment the rain stopped, the knife-like light and shadow reflected his blood-stained body.
There seems to be something else flowing out with the blood, the shadow of the family, the bullying in the school, the loneliness and hopelessness that accompanies a lifetime... right?
He seemed about to break.
When the colored pencils were about to run out, the smiles and happiness of birthdays... could no longer be supplied.
…
…
My head hurts, especially that night when I was fourteen.
The colored pencils were really gone, and the child had a sad face and was going crazy in the small storage room, yelling hysterically, but no one cared about him anyway.
Tired of going crazy, the child sat down in a corner. Before he fell asleep, something suddenly knocked on the window and the world outside became extremely noisy.
The child was disturbed from his dream, scratched his ears and cheeks, and rushed out of the house in anger.
Oh, it turns out it was just raining.
On a rainy day, water splashed on my face, mixing with the salty tears and becoming an even more unpalatable seasoning.
But the child did not go home, because when he turned around, he saw his mother. His mother was standing behind the window in the house, smoking, and the mother and son looked at each other in silence.
He saw his mother open her mouth to him, and although he couldn't hear any sound, he still guessed what she said.
The mother said, "Come back when you've had enough fun."
Sadness suddenly flooded into his mind, drowning all the nerves used for thinking. The child wiped the rain or tears from his face, turned around and ran away.
He ran wildly in the streets amid the pouring rain, passing by the astonished and puzzled pedestrians, passing by the tall buildings that were as silent as wild beasts, passing by the relentless sadness, rushing forward until there was no longer a road.
The child accidentally came to the harbor. The strong wind not only raised the tide, but also stirred up the night. The sound of "crackling" exploded in his ears, and the sea water rushing onto the shore almost overturned him.
At this moment, he was the only thin shadow in the harbor. Looking around, he could not see any human figures, not even the shadow of any wild animals. It was as if all life in the world had evaporated.
That's right, coming to the port during heavy rain is tantamount to seeking death.
Once dragged into the sea tide, I am afraid that the beasts in the sea will eat it until not even a bone is left.
But the child was numb and he couldn't walk anymore.
He faced the sea, slightly raised his head, and felt the impact of the rain and the roar of the wind.
Suddenly, the impact of wind and rain became smaller, but the sound in my ears was still deafening.
The child was confused and opened his eyes, only to find someone standing next to him with an umbrella.
The man was about the same age as him, wearing a blue and white school uniform with a bright badge on his chest, which was crystal clear and dazzling in the misty moonlight.
The children also know that this school uniform is tailor-made for the most famous No. 1 Middle School in Jiangcheng, and the unique badge is the school badge.
In sharp contrast to his disheveled appearance, the man was wearing a proper school uniform, and even though they were both in the center of a rainstorm, there was not a single wrinkle on his collar.
"Are you crying?"
The child turned his head away and said with a nasal tone, "What's it got to do with you?"
"Open your mouth."
The child frowned and said unhappily: "What the hell?"
Before he could finish his words, the other person stuffed something into his mouth.
The opponent was too fast and he had no time to dodge.
The child wanted to spit out the food in his mouth immediately, but he accidentally licked it with his tongue, and the sweetness instantly filled his mouth.
"What is this?" the child asked hesitantly.
"It's sugar."
The child was confused and asked, "Why are you giving me candy?"
"My mom said that if I feel sad, I can eat some candy and I'll feel better." The other person said, but his face was full of confusion like a child, "Although I don't know why, it's obviously tasteless." The next second, he smiled brightly again, "But since my mom said so, it must be right."
The other person's smile deeply hurt the child because his mother was not kind to him.
"My name is Mengtang, which means pond." The school uniform boy named Mengtang introduced himself with his canine teeth showing. After that, he smiled and asked the child's name, "What's your name?"
The child said reluctantly: "Ginger salt, salt salt."
"It sounds like a salty name." Meng Tang blinked and said mischievously, "Then you should eat more sugar, so it will be sweet."
"Hey, kids over there, it's raining so hard, why are you standing in such a dangerous place? Come here quickly."
Suddenly, a deep voice pierced through the heavy rain. The two looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was the port patrol, with a pale yellow figure walking towards them.
"What's wrong with you two? Running to such a dangerous place?"
Under the vast moonlight, an adult carried two small radishes back from the beach to the land.
"Go home quickly and don't run around when it rains. Do you hear me?"
"Okay, uncle."
Meng Tang, who was beside Jiang Yan, responded obediently, then suddenly took Jiang Yan's hand and ran in a certain direction. The wet footprints were illuminated by the sunlight.
"Where are you taking me?"
Mengtang hummed a little tune happily, "Go home."
Jiang Yan curled his lips and said, "I don't have a home."
"So I'll take you back to my house."
Ten minutes later.
"Mom, I'm back and I brought new friends with me."
Jiang Yan was taken to a big house by Meng Tang. To his surprise, there were other children here, quite a few of them. If these children were not healthy and well-dressed, Jiang Yan would have almost thought that this was some large-scale trafficking scene.
The only adult in the room at this time was a young woman called "Mom" by Meng Tang, who was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.
When the woman saw Jiang Yan, she was stunned for a moment, then she raised a gentle smile: "Hello, I can be considered their mother for the time being, my name is Xu Lin."
"For now?" Jiang Yan felt a little dizzy.
Xu Lin smiled helplessly, "It's a long story. Your clothes are wet, go inside and dry them first."
A few minutes later, Jiang Yan was drinking hot water in Meng Tang's room, with a cartoon-shaped towel resting on his head.
"Are you going to sleep here tonight?" Meng Tang said as he took out the snacks he had collected for a long time from the cabinet. There were small biscuits, milk candies, chocolate bars... He gave Jiang Yan one of each kind.
Jiang Yan lowered his head and looked at the snacks stuffed in his arms. He was stunned for a moment, "I..."
"It's raining so hard outside, you can rest here for a night." Xu Lin walked into the room from the door, holding a plug-in disk like computer hardware in her hand, and put it on the snack cabinet after entering. But strangely, there was no computer in Meng Tang's room. But Xu Lin asked another question, "What's your home phone number? Can you call them?"
Seeing Jiang Yan's hesitation, Xu Lin thought he still didn't trust this place, so she took out a license with the national seal, which read: Canaan Adoption Center Special District. General Manager Xu Qian. Address XXXXX. Contact number XXXX.
Adoption home?
So Mengtang is... an orphan?
Jiang Yan was suspicious, then shook his head and said, "No need to call, they don't care about me."
Xu Lin was slightly startled.
Jiang Yan showed an expression that showed he didn't want to continue this topic, so Xu Lin could only sigh secretly, said a few more words, and then left.
It rained heavily at night.
Jiang Yan and Meng Tang slept in the same bed, both lying flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling with their glass-like eyes.
"Which high school do you want to apply to?" Meng Tang suddenly asked.
Jiang Yan then remembered that he was about to take the high school entrance exam, but with his grades...
"I don't know. Maybe I won't be able to pass the exam at all."
"There are still four months left."
Jiang Yan closed his eyes. He felt a little sleepy and said vaguely, "I missed a lot of classes."
I heard a snoring sound in my ears, I guess he fell asleep.
After hearing the steady breathing of the person beside him, Meng Tang suddenly sat up, got out of bed, and walked towards the counter where the hard drive was placed...
Since meeting Meng Tang, Jiang Yan suddenly felt a little joy in life again.
He thought that top students were all aloof and always talked about academics, but he didn't expect that Meng Tang, who studied in a key junior high school, sometimes had a silly mind.
For example, one day when they were playing badminton, the ball got stuck in a tree by accident. When Jiang Yan went out to look for the railing, he found Meng Tang had climbed up the tree.
"How did you get up there?"
"Pick up the ball."
The sun pierced through the branches and hit Mengtang. He half-knelt on the thick tree trunk, looking at Jiang Yan under the tree with a smile on his face. He held the badminton high above his head and then made a tossing motion, "Catch it."
The ball drew a beautiful arc and landed squarely in Jiang Yan's palm. The feather gently scraped across his palm, feeling somewhat soft.
The ball was indeed picked up, but——
"How did you get down here?"
It is easy to go up, but it is much more dangerous to come down.
Meng Tang also noticed this embarrassing situation and scratched his head: "Yeah, there is no place to stay. If I had known, I would have waited for you to come back."
Jiang Yan felt helpless and said, "I'll go see if there's a ladder."
Finally, Meng Tang came down the ladder.
"Luckily there's an unused ladder nearby, otherwise you'd just be waiting to jump down."
As the evening sun set, the sky was dyed red. Jiang Yan and Meng Tang sat side by side on the hillside, watching the sunset disappear into the horizon.
Meng Tang laughed and suddenly tilted his body as if he couldn't sit still. He leaned close to Jiang Yan and said affectionately, "Anyway, if I jump down, you have to catch me."
"I can't catch you."
Meng Tang thought about it and said, "Then let me catch you."
"It's not like I'm up there." Jiang Yan was a little confused about Meng Tang's train of thought, "How on earth did you get into that junior high school?"
Meng Tang did not answer the question, but opened a candy and coaxed Jiang Yan, "Come on, open your mouth."
Jiang Yan was forced to eat a candy, "Why do you like feeding me candy so much?"
Meng Tang put his hand on his chin and said, "Because you look like a hamster. I used to like feeding hamsters, but then the hamster disappeared."
"Where did you go?"
"Dead."
“……”You shouldn’t ask this question.
Meng Tang suddenly asked again: "What if I can't die?"
"Ah?" Jiang Yan thought he had heard it wrong.
Meng Tang continued to mutter: "What will happen if I can't die?"
"..." Jiang Yan was puzzled by this question. He was stunned for a moment, then he said casually, "If you can't die, you will become a monster. Everyone will die, except monsters."
"Monster? What is that?"
Jiang Yan thought for a moment, "There are two types of monsters, one that looks weird on the outside, and one that has a weird mind. The former usually live a very long time, while the latter...may die one day."
"So do you like monsters?" Meng Tang suddenly asked, with some anticipation in his voice, yet also some fear of the answer.
"Like? How is that possible?" Jiang Yan curled his lips and said with some self-mockery, "How can anyone like a monster?"
But it was strange that he and Meng Tang had only known each other for a short time, but the other party was getting more and more enthusiastic every day. It was really strange that such an excellent and good-looking person would be willing to contact him.
There are so many people in this street city, but no matter from which angle you look at him, he is so out of place, a monster that can be easily recognized even if thrown into the crowd, a lonely little monster.
Jiang Yan looked at the afterglow of the setting sun, watching it disappear from his sight little by little.
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