Childhood
The next day.
Guanzi lifted his heavy eyelids. Because he didn't sleep the night before, he slept very soundly last night.
A sizzling sound, the kind only heard when cooking, suddenly hit his ears. He jumped out of bed and ran to the living room to look at the clock on the plaster wall.
It was half past eleven. This was the first time he got up so late.
Wang Dajuan was adding water to the pot at this moment. When she saw Guanzi coming out, she paused, smiled, and said, "You were very happy yesterday, weren't you? You slept so soundly. Go brush your teeth and wash your face. We'll be eating soon."
When Guanzi heard the word "brush teeth", he thought to himself that something was wrong. Yesterday he promised Luoyu that he would use cantaloupe-flavored toothpaste with him, but it was already noon. If Luoyu didn't wait for him, would she think that he broke the promise and didn't like him anymore?
Thinking of this, Guanzi felt very upset.
Wang Dajuan saw that he was about to cry and asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Guanzi lowered his head, wiped his nose, and said uncomfortably: "No, last night I promised Xiaoyu that I would use cantaloupe-flavored toothpaste with him today, but I got up late and broke my promise."
Hearing this, Wang Dajuan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, and the steam from the pot went straight into the wide-open door of her mouth.
She said, "Xiao Yu and his mother came over this morning. I was wondering if you were still sleeping."
Guanzi was stunned and pouted: "Ah, then why didn't you call me, grandma?"
Wang Dajuan said: "Xiao Yu knew you were sleeping, so he told me not to wake you. He said he would come over to play with you after you woke up. He also told grandma that you two were going to pick up bottles today."
Guanzi's eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, I'm going to take Xiaoyu to pick up bottles today." Then he became confused again, "Did he say that I didn't use cantaloupe-flavored toothpaste with him?"
The fish in the pot was boiling. Wang Dajuan took a big bamboo fan to extinguish the firewood and said, "No, don't worry, kid. If we didn't brush our teeth together today, we will brush them together tomorrow. Come, help grandma scoop the fish into the plate."
Guanzi said "Huh" and asked, "Grandma, did you find any money? Fish are so expensive."
The firewood extinguished, and Li Dajuan put down the bamboo fan and said, "This is what your Aunt Xu brought over. I guess Aunt Xu likes me very much, so you have to take good care of Xiaoyu in the future, okay?"
Guanzi nodded: "I know."
He thought that he had hidden two dollars in his pillow and would take it out later to go to the store to buy spicy strips for Luo Yu.
After finishing his meal and washing the dishes, Guanzi took two plastic bags from the living room and put them in his pocket. He then took out the two dollars from the pillow and put them in his pocket as well. Finally, he went out to Aunt Xu's house.
As a result, when he walked out of the alley, he bumped into Luo Yu who was looking for him.
The two children without front teeth smiled at each other for a while, without saying a word, but they were very happy.
Guanzi asked: "Xiao Yu, do you like spicy noodles?"
Luo Yu nodded, his eyes shining. "Yeah, I really like to eat it, but my mom doesn't want me to eat it. She says it's junk food. I suspect she's lying. Other kids eat it and it's fine."
Guanzi took his chubby little white hand and said as they walked: "Then I'll take you to eat, but we can't eat too much. It seems that eating too much will give you diarrhea."
Luo Yu jumped up and down: "Great, great, I can finally eat spicy noodles. Hey, don't we have to pick up bottles?"
Guanzi said, "We can pick up the food while we eat."
Luo Yu bit his little nail, thought for a while, and said, "If we find a beautiful bottle, can we make it into a drifting bottle?"
Guanzi had never heard of the name "drift bottle". He asked, "What is a drift bottle?"
Luo Yu said: "It is a beautiful bottle. We write what we want to say into the letter, put it in the bottle, throw it into the sea, and wait for the person on the other side of the sea to write us a letter."
Guanzi suddenly realized that this was a message in a bottle. It was really amazing. Guanzi said, "Okay, then let's go find a beautiful bottle and write a letter to the person across the sea."
Luo and Hmm made two sounds, and smiled particularly sweetly.
Guanzi suddenly thought of a question at this time: "But how do we get to the beach? I don't know the way."
Luo Yu said, "Don't worry, let my mother take us there. They will definitely know the way."
Guanzi said, "Okay."
They walked out of the West Lane and headed towards the primary school. They picked up a lot of beverage bottles on the way, but they didn't find any good-looking ones. Basically, the bottles they picked up were either flattened or cracked.
Luo Yu was a little disappointed. He said, "Why aren't there any beautiful bottles? Boy, can we still write letters to the people across the sea?"
Guanzi didn't know either. He also wanted to pick up a beautiful bottle as soon as possible. Seeing that Luo Yu was a little worried, he also began to worry.
He said, "There's a basketball court in the elementary school up ahead. There are a lot of older brothers playing basketball there. They drink a lot of water while playing. I think there's water there. Let's go check it out."
When Luo Yu heard there was a chance of finding a beautiful bottle, his previous disappointment immediately turned into motivation. He said, "Then let's walk faster so that others won't pick it up later."
Seeing his excitement, Guanzi also became excited: "Well, let's run over there. Hold on to me tighter so you don't fall later."
Luo Yu held on tighter, and Guanzi led him to jog. On the way, the two children were as curious as if they were setting out for the magic castle.
When we arrived at the primary school gate, there were indeed many older brothers playing basketball. They were all shirtless and sweat was constantly flowing down their temples.
Guanzi took Luoyu and wandered around a sports building in the primary school. There were quite a lot of bottles, and they picked them up one by one, but they didn't find any beautiful ones.
At this moment, Luo Yu suddenly stopped and stared straight ahead.
Guanzi looked over and saw two older brothers about ten meters away from them. One was smoking and the other was sitting on a motorcycle drinking water. The bottle of water he was drinking was very beautiful, flat and small, light green with letters printed on it, just enough to hold a letter.
Guan Ziluo and he looked at each other and nodded. They both liked the bottle.
The two men squatted down and began to whisper to each other.
Guanzi said, "Let's squat here and wait for him to finish drinking. He will definitely throw it away after he finishes drinking, and then we will pick it up."
Luo Yu was very happy: "Yeah, then we'll just wait here." He glanced at the older brother and said, "It seems like there's not much water left in there. We should probably throw it away soon. Let's get ready."
Guanzi also took a few sneaky glances and saw that there really wasn't much left. He estimated that two bites would be enough. He said, "Well, let's get ready to get up."
As a result, the older brother didn't know if he noticed their strangeness, but suddenly stopped drinking the bottle of water in his hand and just kept holding it and playing with it.
Guan Ziluo and the others looked at each other in confusion.
"Where are you two, kids, squatting like Voldemort? There are no monsters here for you to catch."
A deep and rich voice was heard. Guan Ziluo was startled and everyone looked in the direction of the voice.
It was the big brother holding the message in the bottle who was speaking. He got off the motorcycle and walked towards them with a smile on his face, and the man behind him, who was a little more sturdy, also followed.
When Guanzi saw the older brother smiling, he was no longer afraid.
He bravely said, "Big brother, we want the bottle in your hand. Can you give it to us after you finish drinking it?"
The older brother was startled and stopped. He looked at them, then at the bottle in his hand. He smiled and said, "This is white wine. I can't just drink it all. What if I get drunk? Can you two help me get home? Hmm?"
Guanzi scratched his head. He seemed to have heard from his grandmother that white wine was very difficult to drink. How could it be so...? He said, "Then I'll help you finish it."
The older brother burst out laughing, and after a long while he stopped laughing, he said, "Are your parents here?"
Guanzi shook his head. Just as he was about to say that he didn't have any parents, the tough older brother spoke up, "Brother A, just stop it. Just say that to that pretty boy next door. You're really becoming more and more shameless. You even tease children."
The older brother retorted: "You know shit, I'm teaching them not to drink from strangers casually."
The tough older brother said, "Why do you just climb people's windows so casually?"
Big Brother: "Which side are you from?"
Tough older brother: "That's not the case either. I'm not against any gays."
Guanzi couldn't understand the conversation between the two older brothers. He just wanted to get the bottle, so he said again: "Big brother, what should I do to get your bottle?"
The older brother stopped bickering and said, "I can give you the bottle, but you have to tell me what you want to do with it."
As soon as these words were spoken, it was clear that they were going to receive the gift. Without waiting for Guanzi to reply, Luo Yu spoke first: "We want to make a message in a bottle and write a letter to the people across the sea!"
The older brother smiled. He squatted down and looked at the two of them. He pinched their cheeks, one on each side, and said, "Who will take you to the sea?"
Luo Yu said, "My mother."
The older brother nodded, drank the wine in the bottle in one gulp, handed it to Guanzi, and said, "Remember to wash it when you take it back, otherwise the smell of wine will be too strong. If people on the other side of the sea find your message in the bottle, they will scold you for being unhygienic."
After getting the message in the bottle, the two nodded frantically and shouted thank you several times. Luo Yu didn't know where he learned this, but he made his big brother's eyebrows twitch.
Luo Yu said: "I wish big brother to find a wife soon, have twelve children, collect the twelve zodiac signs, six boys and six girls, and be happy, safe, healthy, and everything goes well."
"Hahahaha..." The tough older brother laughed and said, "Little friend, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. This older brother can't have children. His wife is a boy!"
The older brother tutted his mouth and said, "Shut up! What do children know? If they are led astray by your words, you..."
"Can the wife be a boy?" Guanzi asked curiously.
The two older brothers: "..."
Luo Yuye joined the curious group and asked with blinking eyes: "Can every boy be this?"
“…………”
The older brother gritted his teeth and said to the tough older brother, "Zhuang Bi, will you die if you don't put too many firecrackers in your mouth?"
The sturdy older brother cleared his throat and said to the two curious kids, "Yes, but you can't have such thoughts now. When you turn eighteen, you will understand what is going on."
Luo Yu bit his nails, looking thoughtful.
Guanzi was thinking, it turns out that his wife can be a boy.
The older brother pulled the tough older brother away and said, "I see your bags are full of bottles. Are you out here to pick up bottles?"
Guanzi nodded.
The older brother said, "Then hurry home." He pointed at Guanzi and said, "Don't eat strangers' things from now on. Got it?"
Guanzi took Luoyu's hand again, nodded, and said, "I see. Then we'll go home. Goodbye, big brothers."
Luo Yu waved to them: "Goodbye, big brothers."
The older brother smiled and nodded at them.
After leaving the elementary school, Guanzi took a detour home. Guanzi said, "Xiaoyu, I'm taking you to buy spicy noodles now. I forgot about it just now."
After he said that, Luo Yuye remembered that they had agreed to eat spicy strips while picking up the food. He felt even happier. The bottle was full and the message in the bottle was found. Now he was going to buy some spicy strips and eat them while walking home.
Luo Yu said, "You are so nice, boy."
Guanzi didn't say anything. It was the first time he was praised by a kid of the same age, and he was very nervous for a moment.
At this time, they had already walked into Shangba Road. There was a small temple on Shangba Road, but there were no monks. It was a temple with only Buddha statues but no one to take care of it. Only people who came to worship in the temple on the first and fifteenth days of each month would take simple care of it.
Once when Guanzi was picking up bottles, he passed by a small shop near the temple. The owner was a very nice person. He knew that Guanzi's family made a living by picking up garbage, so every time Guanzi went to buy a bag of spicy strips for 20 cents or two candies for 10 cents, the owner would give Guanzi a cardboard box from his shop.
When passing by the small temple, Luo Yu suddenly let out a strange "Huh".
Guanzi asked, "What's wrong?"
Luo Yu pulled Guan Zi behind a large tree, stared at the entrance of the small temple, and said, "Don't you think they are a little strange? Why did that uncle put his hand into the little girl's pants?"
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