River City Story

Chapter 78

Lin Yan got out of the car early near the community, holding a few pieces of change from the driver in his hand, looking up at the roasted sweet potato sign on the street in a daze.

I have to admit, thanks to the inexplicable fight with He Zhengxi (if counted), he rarely felt hungry.

He looked at the sign, and the people under the sign looked at him.

Because he squatted against the tree trunk at the entrance of the hospital before, a lot of dirt fell on the black down jacket outside, white and gray, with rubbed lines.Matched with Lin Yan's sleepy eyes, eyes full of desire for food, and a face that looks like it hasn't been exposed to the sun for a long time.Generally speaking, this image, no matter who it falls into, can gain some love and affection.

He spread out the change in his hand, picked out the ten-yuan banknote with the largest denomination, and said to the shop owner, "Two sweet potatoes, wrap them separately in paper, thank you."

"Okay! Young man, wait a moment!" The boss smiled at him honestly, with a puff of white air coming out of his mouth, and picked out two pieces of the largest and softest ones on the stove for him, carefully packed them, and handed them over.

Lin Yan weighed it in his hand and said, "It's too big."

The boss still smiled and regarded him as a unique person who just got up from under the bridge, "Hurry up and eat, it's so cold!"

Lin Yan sighed silently, took out the money he put in his pocket just now, found a five-yuan bill, put it in a paper box next to the oven, turned around and walked away silently, full of "Don't chase after me, Don't even give it to me".

"This kid is quite stubborn." The boss shook his head and sat back.

Lin Yan walked towards the side of the road with warm sweet potatoes in his arms, stopped in front of a black private car, knocked on the window and said:

"I've seen it all, Uncle He, we're following along, aren't you busy?"

He Yi rolled down the car window, smiled and said to him: "Get in the car, where can I listen to you."

Lin Yan shook his head and handed over a portion of roasted sweet potatoes.

He Yi received it in his hand and said, "Get in the car, even if you eat stinky tofu, I won't dislike it."

Lin Yan grinned. He glanced at the side of the road, and after confirming that there was no car, he went around the front of the car and opened the passenger door, got in the car, and fastened his seat belt.

"Can you eat?" He Yi asked.

Lin Yan tore open the skin of the sweet potato, took a bite of the soft and sweet flesh, and after savoring it carefully for a few seconds, he replied solemnly: "I don't know, it's just that the taste is too fragrant. Now I eat it, and it feels normal. I like white sweet potatoes. Damn, it's yellow meat, I didn't notice it just now."

He Yi laughed a few times, broke open the sweet potato and put it in his mouth.He enjoyed eating quite a bit, which gave Lin Yan the illusion that his piece was not tasty.

After finishing the whole piece of sweet potato, He Yi said again: "You have been eating well for a while, so don't eat roasted sweet potato too much for now."

Lin Yan folded the mouth of the paper bag with a bang, then opened the storage box, pulled two wet wipes and handed them to He Yi familiarly.

"Zhengxi never helps with this kind of thing." He Yi said with emotion.He wiped the corners of his mouth and hands with a wet towel, took out the thermos and poured a big mouthful of water, and performed a few chest expansion movements in satisfaction.

Lin Yan stared at He Yi for a while, then his eyes drifted out of the window, and said, "He's really good at seeing things."

He Yi started the car: "Hey, he's just a fart kid, and he can play hard when he sees the sky pretending to be."

As expected of father and son, they understand, Lin Yan thought silently.However, he cleared his throat and said embarrassedly: "I was the one who started the fight today."

He Yi responded wholeheartedly, turned on the car stereo, and the soothing natural sound entered Lin Yan's ears.The two of them listened quietly to the sound of birds chirping in the forest for 10 minutes. When Lin Yan was almost falling asleep, the car stopped outside a restaurant.

"I'm not hungry." Lin Yan said.Moreover, he felt a little motion sickness, and with the effect of antidepressants, Lin Yan's stomach was not feeling well all the time, and he didn't drink water in the hospital just now, and his mind was groggy at the moment.

He Yi unbuckled his seat belt for him: "What? Do you still need me, a man in my 40s, to open the door for you personally?"

Both father and son are straightforward and straightforward, which makes it hard to refuse.

"No, I'll do it myself." Lin Yan got out of the car blushing immediately.

Although it was beginning of spring, the warmth of spring did not exist in the air at all. A gust of cold wind blew over, and Lin Yan squinted his eyes.

It's really cold without eating, and he's only wearing pajamas...

Lin Yan hated himself so much that his teeth were itchy. He just pretended to be chic in the hospital.

After entering the restaurant, He Yi took him straight to the box, opened the door, and there were already two people sitting inside, no, there were three people.

Lin Yan was stunned at the door: "...Why are you here?"

Cai Xusheng raised his hand to greet him: "This is the first time I set foot on this land, remember to hold a welcome party for me."

Lin Yan nodded excitedly. He went over to give Cai Xusheng a hug, and Zhao Sheng as well, and finally sat on the empty seat near Lu Chi.

"This time it can be regarded as seeing a smiling face." He Yi said with a smile, "You child, you really want to embarrass us so much that you can't help it."

"I'm sorry, I'm actually getting better soon." Lin Yan scratched the back of his head.

Zhao Sheng picked up the teacup and asked him bluntly: "How do you read the books recently? Where are you going to take the exam?"

Lin Yan originally wanted to work hard to protect the research, but recently he didn't want to stay in Yancheng anymore, so he said to Zhao Sheng: "I haven't made up my mind yet, but I actually plan to go back to Xicheng."

These words made He Yi raise his eyebrows. His son probably didn't know about it. Even if he knew, he probably had nothing else to do but sulk.

Zhao Sheng thought about it for a moment, and said, "There should be only one university that has the qualifications for doctoral training. You can try it."

Lin Yan quickly replied: "I don't plan to take the Ph.D."

Zhao Sheng put down his teacup in dissatisfaction: "I don't understand your young minds, but you can just think about it well. After all, you can take the exam again later, it's just very hard."

Lin Yan shook his head: "I'm not afraid of hard work, but I really don't plan to take the exam again." Not only did I lose this plan, but I also regretted coming to Yancheng to go to school. If I were closer to Xu Jialin, I wouldn't be able to...

"Old Zhao, can we stop talking about studies?" Cai Xusheng interrupted them in a timely manner, "It's not enough to be a teacher every day at school!"

"Brat, you haven't changed at all! You're still so rebellious!"

"That's it, I'm very happy." Cai Xusheng put his hands on his cheeks, and snickered, "Actually, Boss Lin hasn't changed, with a handsome and charming appearance, and a heart that smells of copper!"

Several people laughed in unison, and Lin Yan also lowered his head and smiled along with him. Instead of paying attention to him, he turned his face to Lu Chi: "Didn't Xiaodouzi come?"

Lu Chi said: "I went on a trip with the two older members of my family. Now I am the only one in the family, and I can't even eat hot meals."

Lin Yan smiled and said, "This is your own choice."

Lu Chi nodded: "That's right, I must be happy with my choice!"

He Yi asked with interest: "I heard that you and Fang Jue don't plan to get married anymore?"

Lu Chi: "Yes, there is no such plan."

He Yi sighed and leaned back on the chair: "I realize that I really can't keep up with your thoughts." He glanced at Lin Yan from the corner of his eye, "It's fine if you think it's good. In life, you have to find the best way to make yourself happy." Comfortable location without asking too much.”

Lin Yan complained, if I were the director of a large hospital, I could say the same thing, but He Yi's words are quite reasonable, and he can't find anything to refute for the time being.It's just that how to find this comfortable position, with his current experience, he still has no way to figure it out.

Cai Xusheng lay down on the table, chatting casually: "I won't take the initiative to look for it, can I just let nature take its course?"

"Why not?" He Yi replied, "There's no need to force this thing in the first place. It's up to you to do what you're supposed to do. For the rest, just let it go."

Lin Yan felt that these words might be specifically for him. In fact, no one would understand these principles, but it is too difficult to put them into practice.It's the same as the so-called "finding a position" just now, at least for now, he can't do it at all, but if he wants to use it to enlighten others, Lin Yan himself will choose to say so.

Fortunately, He Yi is not a person who likes to preach. He is older than everyone present and has richer experience, so he is always very tolerant when talking about some life and work topics. Out of interest.Cai Xusheng has always been very casual in his speech and actions, and he has an indifferent attitude towards the rules of seniority and inferiority.He can chat with anyone and has a style that is entirely his own.Compared with Lin Yan's social habits, this is a completely different routine.Lin Yan adopts different communication modes when facing different people, which is the kind of ordinary people who do better.

When he was thinking wildly, there was a cup of soup in the round plate in front of him.

"I'm sure I haven't eaten well recently." Lu Chi whispered, poking his underarm, causing Lin Yan to shrink back, "I don't ask for anything else, drink some soup, eat some vegetables, should I be willing? "

Lin Yan obediently picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup to drink, then his eyes widened in surprise: "It's delicious!"

"Xiaohe specially picked it, saying that you can drink fish soup." Lu Chi said.

Lin Yan paused when he put the soup into his mouth, but quickly took another sip without hesitation.

While he was eating the soup, Lu Chi raised his phone and took a few photos. Lin Yan turned his face and smiled triumphantly, and said, "How is it? Am I too handsome?"

Lu Chi patted him on the head: "Send it to Aunt Xin, she misses you very much."

Lin Yan giggled a few times after listening, and whispered contentedly: "...Thank you, I'm almost 21, and I have to be taken care of by others, which is pretty ugly."

"You know it's not good, so you should eat and drink. Look at you now, when those little girls who had a crush on you saw you, they would probably abandon you on the spot!" Zhao Sheng taught loudly.

"Hey! Old Zhao! Save face for the students!" Lin Yan shouted with a smile.

He Zhengxi spent a lot of effort to gather these three people to Yancheng, which seemed to be a bit of a mobilization.He originally wanted to make a smile in front of Lin Yan, but who would have thought that the two of them would have such a sudden fight.He Zhengxi stayed alone in the hospital depressed, and Lin Yan also felt unhappy after drinking the soup with his head buried.Although now, the happiness brought by chatting with acquaintances completely occupies his emotional upper hand.However, he was still more guilty, but it was really hard work for these people to put aside their personal affairs and rush here, so Lin Yan naturally knew that he should laugh more than feel guilty.

He Yi had a brief meal with them and left in a hurry because of the hospital affairs. Lin Yan was relieved to send him out of the restaurant, feeling like he was back at home.He slowly walked back to the box and sat on the chair, took a sip of hot water, and blinked tiredly at the chandelier on the ceiling.Cai Xusheng beside him was chatting happily with Zhao Sheng, while Lu Chi poured himself a cup of tea.

This kind of state of ignoring anyone is what Lin Yan likes the most, and no one is even holding his mobile phone and looking at it non-stop.Infected by the atmosphere, he also involuntarily relaxed, a little drowsy.

They spent nearly two hours in the private room, and finally a phone call from Zhao Sheng's wife ended the casual gathering.Zhao Sheng got married last autumn, and this time he came to Yancheng, Zhao Sheng brought his wife with him, and planned to go shopping after meeting Lin Yan.Both of them are high school teachers. Although they are married, they have never had time to travel. In this regard, they are very similar to Cheng Qi's family.

Lu Chi doesn't have a wife to take care of, but he has old classmates here, and a like-minded Fang Jue, so he won't be alone at all.But because of his professional relationship, he can only stay for two days before going back.

There is only one Cai Xusheng left, as a senior who does not take the postgraduate entrance examination and can earn money independently to support himself, there are basically only two things in his life, harassing Li Si and taking pictures, so he plans to stay in Yancheng until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before returning home Anyway, Li Si's homestay is very busy now, so busy that he has no time to entertain him.Cai Xusheng's mobile phone number was often hacked by Li Si, he couldn't even get through the phone, and Li Si rarely used other social methods.

Everyone went to meet Zhao Sheng's wife together, Lin Yan and Cai Xusheng politely called "Master's wife", and they exchanged two red envelopes for this "Master's mother".Lin Yan wanted to decline, but Cai Xusheng took it for him quickly, and even pulled him to bow to Zhao Sheng and his wife with a smile, making everyone around laugh and cry.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Sheng, Lin Yan's drowsiness immediately became violent. After several consecutive yawns, he received a text message from He Zhengxi.There are a lot of words, and there are two main meanings: first, I apologize to you; second, I won’t be going back to live recently.Lin Yan calmly put away his mobile phone, shrugged his neck and asked the remaining two people: "Is it cold? Where do you live? If not, go to my place first?"

Cai Xusheng said excitedly: "Of course, we have already refunded the hotel that your brother helped book!"

Lu Chi helplessly spread his hands towards Lin Yan: "Your old classmate is really too enthusiastic, I can't help it."

Lin Yan nodded: "Okay, but there should be nothing at home, I will pass by the supermarket later to buy some food, and cook hot pot at night."

Although he said so, he was still asleep in the car on the return journey.Maybe it was because Cai Xusheng and Lu Chi were not outsiders with him, so he was very relaxed.He slept soundly all the way home, and went straight to the bedroom after entering the door. Cai Xusheng was finally in charge of grocery shopping. Cai Xusheng would occasionally help Li Si go shopping in Xicheng. He was no stranger to the vegetable market, and he could even simply negotiate the price. .

When Lin Yan woke up, Lu Chi and Cai Xusheng had already cooked the hot pot face to face.Lin Yan felt that he was missing in this scene, so he went to wash his face, and sat down at the table unsteadily.

Since Lu Chi started taking Xiaodouzi, he has exuded a very weird temperament.He rinsed the beef with his hands, dipped it in a bowl of sesame juice, held up the chopsticks and handed them to Lin Yan, and said softly, "Come on, Xiaobao, take a bite."

Lin Yan pushed the meat away and frowned, "What the hell, you treat me like a little bean?"

Lu Chi clicked his tongue and put the bowl on the table, "Then eat well, if you can't eat meat, cook some vegetables, and you will be sick and sick, Xiaodouzi is better than you!"

Lin Yan muttered dissatisfiedly: "It's not that I want to do this, besides, I'll be fine in a few days..." He can be a child in front of Lu Chi without any worries. If He Zhengxi is around, he will be shocked .

Cai Xusheng shook his chopsticks and said to Lu Chi, "Brother, he dislikes you, come and feed me! Come here!"

Lu Chi laughed and scolded: "We three old men play this? You seem to have something wrong with your mind!"

Cai Xusheng chuckled thoughtfully: "If a certain person sees this scene, he will be so angry that he will bite off his back molars."

Lin Yan quickly kicked him under the table, signaling Cai Xusheng not to talk nonsense.In fact, Lu Chi didn't know much about He Zhengxi's sexual orientation, let alone about Lin Yan and He Zhengxi's affairs, and Lin Yan didn't want more acquaintances to know about the relationship between the two brothers.He can't bear other people's probing eyes, which is the same as depression. In the eyes of most ordinary people, it has to be counted in the category of neuropathy and freaks.Even with Lu Chi's character and upbringing, he definitely wouldn't think so.

Because of Lu Chi's lesson, Lin Yan ate more for dinner.No one wants to get better as soon as possible more than himself, but this is a gradual process, not to mention that he is still receiving treatment for depression.

After eating, the three of them sat around on the sofa and chatted. After talking a few words, Lin Yan felt a little nauseated and rushed into the bathroom, vomiting out all the food he had eaten.Although the choking cough was unbearable, he was used to it. Lu Chi and Cai Xusheng were quite frightened by this posture, and wanted to go downstairs to stop the car to take him to the hospital.

"No, it's all right." Lin Yan said.

"You're like this, how can I go back tomorrow?" Lu Chi looked at him, "Did you take medicine?"

Lin Yan poured a glass of warm water and drank it, nodded and said, "It's been much better recently, maybe I haven't eaten much food during this time, the two meals today are rich in oil and water, and my stomach feels a little uncomfortable." He patted Lu Chi on the shoulder pretending to be old-fashioned , said easily: "Hey, I scared you, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, my brother is on his way to recovery, don't tell Uncle Lu and Aunt Xin."

Cai Xusheng interjected: "Don't make yourself such a selfless and fearless image, it's so weird..."

Lin Yan sighed: "I'm actually quite selfish. Just before we met, I had just finished a fight with He Zhengxi."

Cai Xusheng groaned twice, he wanted to say, "You two are fighting, it must be called fun", but when he met Lin Yan's smiling eyes, he could only swallow the words back.

"Just understand it yourself." He spread his hands and said, "How could you have thought that you would encounter these things in high school? It's not good to think about it."

Lin Yan thought, don't talk about you, I didn't think of it myself.At any rate, everyone is innocent, loves to play and make troubles, and now they take medicine three times a day, and they are always treated as weak, Lin Yan is driven crazy.

Talking about this kind of topic, the atmosphere in the room became dull. Lin Yan was most afraid of this. He said to the two of them: "It's better for you to treat me as a normal person. In fact, nothing will happen to me. Frankly speaking , My mental state was indeed very decadent in my freshman year. I had to start taking medication in October last year. It has been 10 months now. The matter of Uncle Xu... I am very uncomfortable, but there is nothing I can do, people The dead cannot be brought back to life, that's the law of nature." Lin Yan shrugged his shoulders and continued: "Although there have been some conditions recently, I can feel it and it won't last long. At least for now, my body and mind are quite relaxed. He Zhengxi I'm very sorry for calling you over here. Everyone has their own business to do, so there's really no need to circle around me..."

"That's not it, I'm coming here, and it's worth two big nights to go back." Lu Chi stretched out his hand to straighten Lin Yan's collar, and said, "Okay, it's not a big deal. Live for yourself in the future and try your best to pursue it." Eat, drink, and have fun. Study, it’s almost enough; work, you have to know how to be lazy; feelings... I don’t know much about this, but don’t toss yourself too tired.”

Lin Yan didn't have time to reply, Cai Xusheng applauded from the side first, he grabbed Lu Chi's hand and shook it solemnly, shouting repeatedly: "My own, my own."

Lin Yan teased: "You seem to be quite tired from tossing around."

Cai Xusheng choked back: "I take pleasure in tormenting! You don't understand!"

While they were talking nonsense, He Zhengxi was staring at the photos on the phone in a daze, with a fountain pen in his right hand, and a small stack of letter papers in front of him.He Yi said that it was more formal, so he had to follow the rules.He Zhengxi was extremely melancholy, he had more than 3000 words in his heart, but it would be a bit embarrassing for him to write like this.If possible, he would prefer to talk to Lin Yan directly.He Zhengxi couldn't help but think of the so-called "[-]-character declaration" that he yelled out a long time ago with great pride, but now it seems that it is really not easy.

"With your temper, would you communicate well with him?" He Yi said.

He Zhengxi felt that it made sense. Back then Fang Ximin told him not to speak harshly to those close to him. Numerous facts repeatedly proved that this must be a difficult task.

He scratched his scalp irritably, frustrated.

In He Zhengxi's heart, Lin Yan always had the attitude of a strong man. Even though he was a few centimeters shorter than him, and his left ear was deaf, and he had troubles one after another in the past two years, but no matter what, Lin Yan still kept running forward with his chest up and his head up.This alone is already very outstanding.

He Zhengxi not only wanted to maintain Lin Yan's "strength", he also hoped that Lin Yan could be stronger and more self-sufficient, but he gradually realized that he was actually constantly trying and making mistakes.He was working on projects with his seniors, holding a book in his bedroom in the middle of the night and gnawing on difficult problems. He just wanted to accomplish something earlier and free Lin Yan from the burden of stress.He tried every means to be nice to Lin Yan, but in the end, there was a problem with character management, and he even resorted to verbal and behavioral violence against Lin Yan time and time again.

what is this?He Zhengxi was distressed, confused, and regretful.

He sent a message of apology to Lin Yan, more than 100 words eloquent, but Lin Yan only replied to him with two short sentences: "I see, I made mistakes too, I'm sorry. It's evened out, don't take it to heart."

This tolerance from Lin Yan made him most anxious.

Accept it so casually?Are you taking me completely lightly?so do you care about me?Does what you said count?

He Zhengxi closed the pen cap and sighed depressingly.