Strange father and strange mother(85)

It's snowing heavily in Beijing and the chill is shrouding it. But in Shenzhen City in the South, the autumn mood has just begun.

At the entrance of the station on the outskirts of Shenzhen City, a young man got off a black car from somewhere. He was thin, wearing a large sweatshirt of an unknown color in the night, jeans and sneakers, and a baseball cap on his head.

, wearing a hat with a low brim and carrying a backpack. Like most young people, there was nothing eye-catching about him. Just looking at his body shape, it was really hard to distinguish between male and female. He got off the bus before he could wait for the bus to arrive.

No one would take a second look at such a young man. Cars are different from trains. When taking a car, especially a long-distance bus, there are many people getting on and off at a fork in the road. There is nothing worth paying attention to. He is just like that

After walking down, I went to the other side of the road in a familiar way and talked about the price with some taxi drivers who were touting business here. Taxis don't use meters when soliciting customers in remote places. They say the price is what they charge. Sometimes I just drop in along the way.

It’s not just one customer, but for the convenience of traveling, most people are still willing to pay more. This young man, like most people who go out, fights with the taxi driver over three to five yuan.

After a few words, everyone finally gave in. The young man got in the car, and the taxi turned around and headed towards the city.

The night makes the city even more beautiful.

The young man looked at the gorgeous night scene outside through the car window. This city had not been back for many years.

The taxi driver was an enthusiastic person. When he saw the guest looking at the city with unfamiliar eyes, he smiled and said: "It's not as good as it used to be. This city looks different every day. If you don't take a road every half a month, two people will pop up."

Here comes a building that I don’t recognize. Young man, let me tell you, if you weren’t talking about the Public Security Family Home, you might not even be able to find it if you weren’t an experienced driver like me. That area is about to be demolished... and the people in the Family Home are also going to be demolished.

I don’t know if it has been relocated.”

Already moved?

He suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. This was the only place he could call home in his heart. His only concern was here.

Close! Close!

The small shop outside the community is still there. At this moment, a little bit of peripheral light shines through the shop, seeming to light up the way home. After so many years, I just don’t know if the old lady who opened the shop is still there. She now sells

I don't know if the popsicles cost 50 cents each. The car stopped in front of the small shop. The young man paid the car and watched the car drive away under the dim street lights. Then he turned and looked at the little boy behind him.

The shop. The front of the shop is very small, and there is a freezer at the door. When I was a child, I donated all my pocket money to it. Inexplicably, a faint smile appeared at the corner of my mouth.

"What do you want?" The door curtain opened, and the stooped old woman walked out of the door curtain without raising her head.

The young man seemed to be startled, "No... don't..." After saying this, seeing the old lady turning around to go back with a little disappointment, he said in an inexplicable way: "Then I want an old popsicle."

The old woman waved her hand and said, "There are no popsicles anymore. There is ice cream in a small cup. Do you want to eat it?" She sounded a little pity.

"Eat!" The young man was a little disappointed. Some things, like age, disappeared with the years.

The old lady handed over a paper cup. Inside the cup was steaming ice cream, with a flat wooden stick on top for scooping out the ice cream. "Here, who are you looking for? You are not like this."

Let's live together. Whether you want to rent a house or find someone to live with, you can ask me. I know this area well." The old man was as enthusiastic as ever.

Don't you recognize yourself anymore? In the past, I was a frequent visitor here. As long as the old lady heard the footsteps, she would know that it was him. He smiled bitterly. With the ghostly appearance he has now, I am afraid that he is not good even if he is his own father and mother.

Got it.

He responded casually twice and handed over fifty yuan with the ice cream. The old lady took it and seemed to think that the money was a bit big and it would be troublesome to find it. She mumbled twice and pulled out a shoe box from under the counter and rummaged around in it.

While looking for the change, I kept mumbling: "You need to look for someone in the yard first. If you can find it, look for it. If you can't find it, you can come back and ask me. This place is about to be demolished. Many people have moved. This old house is rented to some people."

Those who work earn rent..."

The young man was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and involuntarily accelerated his steps towards the family courtyard.

The old woman counted the money, but when she turned around, the young man disappeared, "I don't want any more money, now this young man..." She complained twice, and then she suddenly slapped her thigh as if she remembered something, "Ouch...

Look at my brain, I don’t know if he is the son of Lao Lei’s family... Oops! This is really... a big delay..." As he said this, he chased forward regardless of the fact that the store door was still open.

Lei Hong heard the footsteps that had already disappeared into the darkness. He hid and watched the old woman searching like a headless fly. He could still vaguely hear her voice muttering to herself: "...

...What a sin he has done...Lao Lei soaked in wine cans all day long...I have pity on his wife...he used to be such a decent person..."

He gradually lost his hearing, but Lei Hong's heart felt as painful as a needle pricking him.

The person whom a lonely widower sympathizes with should be his mother.

Suddenly, the steps home became heavy. A man stood in the shadow for a long time, smoking one cigarette after another, until the bag was completely smoked and could no longer be taken out.

He threw the cigarette case on the ground and looked towards the family building where his home was located.

Most of the windows in the five-story buildings in the family courtyard were darkened. He walked out of the shadows and stood in front of the innermost unit building. He looked up at the windows on the third floor. From here, he could see the living room of his home.

window and the window of his own room. At this moment, the lights in the living room have been turned off, and only the lights in his own room are still on.

He was not at home, so the room was probably unoccupied. Why was the light on? Did his parents move away and the tenants live here? He couldn't tell whether he felt disappointed or relieved at this moment. He tried to take it easy

He walked up the stairs step by step. The light in the corridor on the second floor was still not very good, and it would not turn on unless he stepped harder. He just stamped his feet a few times, and the light came on immediately.

, he raised the corners of his mouth, and found the familiar feeling of going home again. But then there was a click of the door opening in his ears, causing his smile to freeze at the corners of his lips. This sound was so familiar that his whole body

They were all stiff for a moment, and then they woke up when they heard footsteps coming downstairs again, turned around and ran downstairs.

"Hong Hong..." A familiar voice stopped him in his steps, and he tried to escape even faster.

There were urgent footsteps behind him mixed with a groan of "Ouch". He stopped and turned around involuntarily. A familiar figure came into view, and tears fell from his eyes without any warning.

Come down.

"Mom..." I called this name thousands of times in my dream, but now it feels as heavy as a thousand pieces of gold.

Is this thin, thin woman who seems to have difficulty walking with ease the mother who was once as graceful as a white swan?

"Son!" the woman shouted again tentatively.

Lei Hong was so ashamed that he almost wanted to run away. Was he still her 'son'?

Not any more!

The only one who feels guilty is this woman.

He wanted to turn around and help her, but his feet seemed to be stuck to the ground and he couldn't lift them up. The woman came over with difficulty, grabbed his sleeve, and called out: "Son, is it you?"

"

"No..." He just wished he could find a crack in the ground to slip in and show her how big of a blow this would be. "No!" He shook his head firmly, "No! No! You admitted your mistake. I

Not your son..."

"Nonsense!" The child's voice changed a bit, but it felt right. "I can recognize anyone's footsteps, but not yours. The lights on the second floor are like that, and you always hear them when you go home.

Stomp three times, two short and one long. Every time you get out of school, as long as I hear the sound of stomping, I will open the door for you..."

The box of memory was suddenly opened, and tears burst down the bank.

"Son, turn around and ask mom to take a look." The woman dragged him, "Let's go home and mom will prepare something delicious for you."

But what dignity do I have to go home?

He struggled to pull back the pulled arm, and the woman seemed to moan in pain again. He turned around and asked, "Did he hit you again?"

Under the dim street light, the woman finally saw the child she had longed for, and then her expression changed. This face... Lei Hong quickly lowered the brim of his hat, withdrew the hand holding the woman to leave. The woman

He grabbed him and said, "Son...child...go home with mom!"

The woman's mobility was inconvenient, and it was very difficult to go up the stairs. The house was still the same, and every piece of furniture was exactly the same as when she left. Including the slippers placed at the door, they were all worn by her when she was at home.

Sitting on the old sofa, he didn't dare to take off his hat. He raised his head and saw the family photo hanging on the TV background wall. He calmed down the expression on his face and asked in a deep voice: "Where is he?"

The woman pointed towards the wall on the other side, "There it is!"

He turned to look in the direction of the woman's finger. There was a photo hanging on the wall. There were tributes on the altar table under the photo, "My dad..."

"Died in the line of duty." The woman's voice was very indifferent. Died in the line of duty is a nice way of saying it. In fact, it means that a drunk driver drove his car into a ditch while on duty. After working for a lifetime, he ended up being killed in the line of duty.

, which is an explanation. At least, the widow can have a part of the pension every year to ensure her living, and she will also have her own share when the house is divided. "What happened last month..."

Lei Hong stood up. He once thought that he hated him, and hated him so much that he wished he would die a good death. But now the living person in his memory was hung on the wall, and suddenly there seemed to be a missing piece in his heart.

It hurt suddenly.

I came back late.

He knelt down in front of the photo and at the feet of the woman, "I came back late! Mom... Mom... Mom... I came back late..."

The woman who kept crying "Mom" burst into tears. She stepped forward to hug her child and wanted to touch his head like he did when he was a child. But as soon as the hat was opened, a head of brown curly hair fell down.

The woman's hands began to tremble, and then her whole body began to tremble, but then everything calmed down again, "So beautiful..." she praised, "When I gave birth to you, I was looking forward to being a girl. If a girl should be

How beautiful. This... is so good..."

No matter how calmly he spoke, he could not hide the trembling in his voice.

She was in pain and distressed. How many knives had to be used to make her become like this?

He said 11,000 words of apology, and he could hardly breathe due to the weight of regret, "Mom... I was wrong..." It was so wrong, so wrong.

No matter how many wrong things he does, this is his own child. No matter what he becomes, this will not change.

I don't know when it started raining outside the window, and it was pattering, covering the whispers of mother and son inside the house.

When the rain stopped and the sky cleared up, and the birds started chirping, Lei Hongcai was startled, with a troubled look on his face, "Mom..." His tone couldn't help but hesitate. She had injuries on her body, old injuries from learning and practicing dance in the early years.

, there are also old injuries caused by her drunken father over the years. He should have taken her to the hospital for a good check-up, and then to a nursing home to recuperate. This is all his own responsibility. But now? It is really time for him to leave.

Once you leave, you may never come back.

"You still want to leave?" The woman's face showed reluctance, even a little panicked and at a loss, but then she seemed to understand something, only hesitated for a moment, and finally returned to her determination. The child's look was everywhere.
To be continued...