Chapter 24
Li Ying'an had no intention of avoiding her. Since Li Lan asked, he said, "Didn't I tell you before that I lived with an old man in a scrap yard for a while? Tomorrow is his birthday, and I plan to go there with Li Feng. The old man has two daughters, but the youngest daughter is missing. We reported the case before, but we haven't heard any news so far. I think tomorrow is his birthday, he will definitely mention her to us..."
Listening to Li Ying'an's words, Li Lan's face gradually froze into a serious expression: "Could he have been kidnapped too?"
Even if it's something I don't want to accept, but there has been no news for so many years, apart from death, this is the most likely possibility.
"Actually, I didn't give up on my case. I went back a few days ago, but..." Thinking of what happened afterwards, Li Ying'an couldn't help but laugh, "I think the people there are a little annoyed with me. They always say they're following up, but I don't understand, so I can only listen to them obediently. I also told them about the old man's daughter, and the result was not ideal."
Not found.
It has not been found for so many years and is now as difficult as climbing to the sky.
"But what can you do without them?"
Li Ying'an forced a smile on his lips. The smile was dull and barely had some curve. Even under the shadow, it seemed as if there was a layer of hazy dejection hanging on it.
"Forget it," he shook his head, and the faint sound also dissipated in the air. Only the dim and weak smile was still obediently hanging on his face. "I just need to do my best. For the rest, I'll leave it to fate..."
This kind of dejection that is close to failure is naturally distressing. Li Lan felt it silently, and finally turned his unwillingness and helplessness into a breath and sighed softly.
"But you, why are you still here so late?"
Li Ying'an's question reminded Li Lan, and she finally realized why she had come downstairs. She looked around the gray surroundings again and again, but when she couldn't find her target, she explained, "Waiting for the child."
A while ago, a girl transferred to the special education school where Li Lan worked. The ten-year-old, adopted from an orphanage, was quiet and suspected of having autism. Shortly after her adoptive parents took her in from the orphanage, she was sent to continue attending school.
The school has student dormitories, and students who do not stay overnight can choose to go to school as a day student.
When the girl first arrived, she filled out an accommodation form. Perhaps she was not used to the new environment, as she had nightmares every night. She went to and from get out of class with two black eyes. Being laughed at by classmates was a small matter, but she was listless like a wilted flower in class, and occasionally fell in the aisle, bumping into things, which was the worst thing.
For this reason, the school discussed with the parents and decided to change the boarding status to day study. However, a few days later, the parents called the school and said that the child was still in the same situation as in school, and the situation was even worse.
Because it is a school for special education, we attach great importance to the physical and mental health of children. After all, students who are not as active as others physically and do not have special circumstances must not fall behind in terms of mental level.
During this period, the school contacted psychiatric and psychological experts to provide her with mental health consultation, but the taciturn little girl was unwilling to communicate with the doctor from beginning to end, especially when it came to matters such as the welfare home. She kept silent and only said a few dry words when talking about her eating habits.
The little girl is a vegetarian and she said she doesn't eat meat.
But this result shocked her adoptive parents because before the adoption, the director of the welfare home had clearly stated that this girl was the easiest to raise in terms of diet. She could eat meat, eggs, fish and milk and was never picky about food.
Her adoptive parents also said they adopted the girl because she was lively and cheerful, seemingly drawn to them. However, upon returning home, her personality underwent a complete transformation. While she occasionally spoke, it was no more than ten sentences a day, which worried the couple, fearing they might develop autism.
As for school, the couple didn't have too many expectations for her. They thought that since she didn't have the energy to go to school, she might as well take a break from school for a while to at least refresh herself before going back. But the little girl refused. She made it clear that she had to go to school and she also gave an answer as to why.
The answer is Li Lan.
The little girl likes her teacher Li Lan very much.
Li Lan didn't know why the little girl liked him. In the little girl's own words, it was intuition.
The first impression one makes on others is extremely important. Li Lan's appearance already makes her a bit of a standout, not to mention her uniquely gentle way of treating children. Unlike her usual carefree demeanor, she acts like a gentle, intellectual older sister to the children at school, attracting every child, especially the girls.
Li Lan disagreed, but modestly told us that she was indeed the most popular teacher at school. She taught not only moral education but also dance. Most of the children who liked her were girls. While there were boys, she felt that the number was negligible.
She always attributed it to dancing.
The school arranges a daily lunch break, and the girl would take this time to sleep with Li Lan. Although it was only an hour, it was more comfortable than a few hours of sleep at night.
Seeing this, the child's adoptive parents found Li Lan, hoping that Li Lan could spend more time with the child, which was also what the little girl wanted.
After thinking it over again and again, several people signed a guarantee letter under the witness of the principal and the surveillance camera, and the little girl could spend the night with Li Lan.
"I think I saw her parents." Li Lan's eyes suddenly widened as she stared into the distance. She looked very anxious and had no time to chat with us anymore. "Then I'll leave first."
The noisy scene quieted down again. Li Ying'an withdrew his gaze from watching Li Lan leave and paid attention to me next to him.
"Then let's go back and rest early," he looked back one last time, "and forget about Li Youzhi for now."
The moment he turned his gaze, a flash of light passed through his dusky gray eyes, like an elusive wisp of smoke, obscuring the rain that dared not fall, melancholy, restrained, yet warm.
I bet that if I, the guest, were not here, Li Ying'an would definitely walk around this shabby place until he found the cat.
To be honest, Li Ying'an's bed wasn't narrow; it was spacious enough for him alone. But with two adults, even though I looked much smaller, it became a bit crowded. That night, neither of us slept well.
Early in the morning, birds were singing sharply outside the window, and I opened my eyes dazedly when Li Ying'an got out of bed.
Due to insufficient funds, the bed became extremely fragile when it could support two people. It would squeak as long as someone shook it, so Li Ying'an kept observing me while I was sleeping when he got out of bed.
Unfortunately, our eyes met unexpectedly.
Li Ying'an was too polite: "Sorry, this bed is not very firm. It makes strange noises every time I move too much."
The bright sunlight hurt my eyes, so I closed them again out of laziness. When I opened them again, I was still sleepy.
Li Ying'an saw me like this and said to me with a smile, "Li Youzhi would be like this if I disturbed her..."
His words suddenly reminded me that I was exposed!
I quickly widened my eyes and suddenly raised my body. The bed shook violently three times under my butt. If Li Ying'an hadn't been standing on the stairs applying pressure, the bed would have fallen apart.
What else could I say to make amends to Li Ying'an? I could only continue to lie to him: I am a bit grumpy when I wake up.
Li Ying'an's expression visibly showed that he understood me.
A bowl of fresh noodles with an egg dispelled the chill in the morning air. Without a means of transportation, Li Ying'an could only walk. After buying gifts, he and I walked side by side toward the scrapyard.
The red sun in the east had just peeked out, and the morning light, mixed with the cold air, was a little dim, reflecting a sense of emptiness on the open iron gate.
It seemed like a century had passed since Li Ying'an came here again. He had been looking around since he entered the door until he saw the old man.
An old man in what looked like a black apron stood in the middle of a pile of garbage, his calloused hands expertly picking up countless pieces of trash. He was hunched over, occasionally straightening up and leaning back in exhaustion, not caring if he was dirty or not, and not removing his gloves, pounding his back as if he could no longer bear the pain.
The appearance of Li Ying'an made him stop this action.
He took off his gloves, threw them on the bench, and walked towards Li Ying'an with a look of disbelief. He glanced at the things in Li Ying'an's hands and understood his purpose. "You came here, why did you bring so many things? And how did you know it was my birthday today? If my eldest daughter hadn't said she would accompany the children to celebrate it with me today, I wouldn't have remembered it."
“The thought must be there, and the gift must also be there for the person.”
Li Ying'an delivered the things in his hands to the old man's house with ease. I followed closely behind him, and before I could turn around, the 70-year-old man was already blocking the door.
"No one can enter your previous room anymore, so I'll make room for you," he said, invitingly. "Please come and sit down."
Li Ying'an and I sat side by side on a long bench, and we were greeted by the old man's caring greetings.
After all, Li Ying'an had lived with him for a period of time, and he was most familiar with Li Ying'an. The two of them talked about nothing more than residence, work and life. Then they couldn't help but care about the children and gossip about whether Li Ying'an had found a suitable girlfriend.
When talking about this issue, Li Ying'an became speechless. He was so shy that it seemed as if what the old man said was really right. He smiled and shook his head, and kept denying it.
Seeing this, the old man nodded meaningfully and perfunctorily, then turned his gaze to me.
Even though I had only met the old man once, and it hadn't been long, he recognized me the moment he saw me. He still remembered me as the one who had buried the kitten with Li Ying'an that day, so the first thing he asked was whether I had met any more cute kitten friends.
I was almost stunned by his greeting, nodded and then shook my head.
I nodded because I thought of Li Ying'an, who was a good friend of mine, but I was afraid of causing trouble, so I flatly denied it.
Let me talk about finding friends after I find Xiaoju!
Li Ying'an has a strong sense of time. He arrived at the scrap yard before eight o'clock. There was not much to talk about now. By nine o'clock, everyone was already thirsty from talking and had drunk several glasses of water.
Li Ying'an's original intention was to come earlier to help the old man share some of the work. After living with the old man for several months, he was already familiar with the old man's daily routine and remembered the old man's daily work routine. When he saw that there was nothing more to talk about, he would get up and go out to work.
How could the old man let a customer like him sort the garbage? He quickly reached out to stop him and forcefully stopped Li Ying'an's behavior.
At the same time, there was a sound of a car shutting down outside the door.
"Dad," someone called, "are you home?"
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