The elevator fell to the bottom. Song Xijiao and Xu Yanzhou held Doudou in their arms and used their bodies to withstand the huge inertia.
"Bang!" The elevator landed with a loud noise, and the lights in the elevator flickered.
"Mom, Doudou is scared." Doudou sobbed softly.
No one answered her. A faint breath, warm as it was, sprayed behind her ears, one after another, as if it would disappear at any moment.
"Mother?"
Still no one answered her.
Doudou reached out to push, but her body, wrapped in her mother's coat, was shaking like dead leaves hanging on the treetops in autumn, ready to fall at any time.
Doudou cried loudly, "Mom, is Doudou going to become an orphan?"
The firefighters immediately used tools to pry open the elevator door and rescued the child from the deformed elevator.
"Doudou."
"dad."
When Doudou heard the familiar voice, she immediately turned around and saw Pei Zhiting stumbling towards her with one bare foot. She pouted and cried even louder.
"Dad, Mom and Uncle Chen are all motionless. Uncle Chen is bleeding a lot. Please save them quickly."
Pei Zhiting looked at the blood-stained hem of Song Xijiao's skirt and the blood oozing out from the back of Xu Yanzhou's head. His breathing stopped instantly and his heart seemed to be strangled by someone. The pain made his face pale.
“Jiaojiaojiao…”
“Jiaojiao…”
Song Hua stumbled towards Song Xijiao, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground. He used trembling hands to check Song Xijiao's breath. Her breathing was weak and his voice was shaking.
"He's still breathing, he's still breathing, call an ambulance."
Song Xijiao's soul was being torn apart. She heard many people calling her name, over and over again. She tried her best to break free from the tearing force, but her soul couldn't help but float upwards.
Pei Zhiting called her over and over again, just like she had called him over and over again in the past.
"Song Xijiao, did you hear that?"
"You are not allowed to die."
"I won't let you die, do you hear me?"
"Song Xijiao, if you dare to die, I will jump off the building with Doudou the next moment. I mean what I say."
“…”
Their voices were sometimes far away, sometimes near, sometimes high, sometimes low. She walked through the palace of memory, opening one door after another, and finally stopped at the door of twelve years old.
Inside the door.
Xiao Song Xijiao has a secret. She has a friend whom she cannot talk about. She named him Qiangqiang.
Every day after school she would go to the abandoned warehouse to talk to Qiangqiang.
"Qiangqiang, are you there?"
"Qiangqiang, come out quickly. I secretly brought some cola chicken wings that mom made. If you don't eat them now, they'll get cold."
Xiao Song Xijiao put the cola chicken wings on the windowsill, turned around and ran out of the warehouse.
"I'll call you dozens of times. If you don't come out, I'll ignore you."
"Ten, nine, eight... three, two..."
When Xiao Song Xijiao counted to two, a hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"Don't ignore me."
Xiao Song Xijiao turned around in surprise and saw Qiangqiang, who was covered in dirt, standing under the broken window. His hair was long and disheveled, and his face was dirty. Only his dark eyes were surprisingly bright.
"Here, I brought you some cola chicken wings."
"I don't eat it, you eat it."
"I've eaten, you should eat quickly, my mom's cola chicken wings are the best in the world."
Qiangqiang took the fragrant chicken wings in his hand and took a big bite. The fragrance filled his mouth. He gobbled them up and soon finished both chicken wings.
Xiao Song Xijiao took out sausages, milk, braised eggs, and biscuits from the pockets of her clothes and piled them in front of Qiangqiang.
"Here, all is for you, but you have to eat slowly. If you eat too fast, your stomach will feel uncomfortable."
Qiangqiang looked at his hands full of snacks, his eyes gradually became moist. He looked up at Xiao Song Xijiao and sobbed softly.
"No one has ever given me so many delicious foods, and no one has ever been so kind to me. You are the best person to me."
Little Song Xijiao patted her chest righteously and said, "From now on, I will always treat you well."
…
In July 2002, the rainy season arrived. The abandoned warehouse where Qiangqiang lived had fallen into disrepair, the tiles on the roof were loose, and rainwater kept dripping.
Zhao Hairong and Song Hua were not at home. Song Xijiao was afraid that Qiangqiang would catch a cold. She thought about it, turned on the TV, turned it up to the maximum volume, and took Qiangqiang home.
"Qiangqiang, when my parents come back, I'll ask them to repair the warehouse so you don't have to get wet in the rain."
Qiangqiang sat on the sofa stiffly, nodding and shaking his head.
"No need to fix it, I don't live there anymore."
"Where do you live then?"
"Are you going back under the overpass?"
Xiao Song Xijiao turned to look at Qiangqiang, only to find that Qiangqiang had been covering his stomach.
"Qiangqiang, do you have a stomachache? Wait, I'll get you some medicine."
Qiangqiang watched Xiao Song Xijiao's back as she ran towards the kitchen, then turned to look at the magazine on the coffee table, under which was a family photo.
That night, Zhao Hairong and Song Hua did not go home. Little Song Xijiao took Qiangqiang to take a bath. She stood outside the bathroom with her hands behind her back and a playful look on her face.
"Qiangqiang, I'm not tall enough to reach the water heater. My dad has set the water temperature to 42 degrees. If you feel it's too hot or too cold, you can adjust it yourself."
Qiangqiang stood under the shower, looking up at the shower shrouded in heat. He reached out to turn on the switch, and the hot water poured over his head. He stood under the water, letting the hot water flow down from the top of his head, flowing through his dirty cheeks, neck, arms... and into his dark heart.
Little Song Xijiao soaked all his dirty clothes in the basin. She rubbed his clothes vigorously with her little hands and hummed a song.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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