Twilight

On the sixth day after Huang Wenxuan left, Yan Duo came back from the company in the evening. When he walked to the river, he remembered that he and Huang Wenxuan had sat here for a long time on the first day he came to Los Angeles. He stopped the car and walked slowly along the river embankment to Walking forward, the twilight is still charming, the only difference is that the person is not around, it is afternoon over there, what is he doing?

Yan Duo took a photo of the sunset and sent it to Huang Wenxuan on WeChat.He took out a cigarette and lit it, and sat down on the steps. When he was halfway through the cigarette, the phone rang suddenly, indicating that there was a message coming in.

Yan Duo clicked on WeChat, and Huang Wenxuan replied with a smiley face.Yan Duo typed a line: Tomorrow is the seventh day.

The other party was typing first, and then stopped typing, but no text or pictures were sent.Yan Duo got impatient and dialed the phone.

The phone rang for a long time before being connected. It was a woman who spoke. Yan Duo couldn't understand what she said, so he asked again in English where Huang Wenxuan was. It was convenient to answer the phone, and asked him to call back in two days, and hung up again.Yan Duo couldn't sit still for a while, he called again, but no one answered, he called a third time, and the phone was turned off.He wanted to fly there immediately, but he immediately thought that he only knew Huang Wenxuan's city, not his home address, so it would be useless to go there.

Yan Duo stood by the water, smoking one cigarette after another, when the phone rang suddenly, he poked the cigarette butt directly on his leg in agitation, but luckily the fabric was thicker, only his pants were burned, no one was burned.

It was Xiao Zhun who called, and Xiao Zhun said like a cannonball: "Old Tang said he signed a tour group for Tangtang to relax in Los Angeles, Lin Chen, the current son of Tangtang's mother..."

"I know." Yan Duo interrupted him impatiently, "Get to the point."

"Lin Chen probably saw it in Moments, and chased after him. Now that the two children are over there, Old Tang is not at ease. He wants you to take them to your home first. He will book a plane ticket there as soon as possible."

"Has he agreed with Tangtang?"

"Okay, Tangtang is willing to go to your house."

"Then send me the address of the hotel." Yan Duo said while pinching his brows.

Xiao Zhun heard something strange in his voice, "You don't seem to be in a good mood."

"It's okay." Yan Duo said coldly, he felt that his mental state was not good enough to drive, so he took a taxi to Tangtang's hotel.

It was more than nine o'clock after picking up the two children from the hotel, and Yan Duo remembered that he hadn't had dinner yet because his stomach felt a little uncomfortable.

"Have you eaten tonight?" Yan Duo asked.

Tangtang and Lin Chen both nodded.

"Then I'll cook quick-frozen dumplings." By himself, Yan Duo didn't bother to order takeaway.

Lin Chen got up and said, "Mr. Yan, you have been busy all night, let me cook it. Do you want to put green onion, dried shrimp and seaweed?"

Yan Duo: "You can cook."

Lin Chen nodded, "Well, my mother often works overtime, and I cook for myself when she is working overtime."

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, his height is about the same as an adult, but thin, with no muscles on his body, a clean white T-shirt is loosely worn on his body, and there is still baby fat on his face, which makes him look very small .

Yan Duo said: "You said that there might not be any of those, anyway, the ingredients are all in the refrigerator, you can look for them yourself."

Lin Chen nodded, turned and went to the kitchen.

Tangtang hasn't spoken since she came out of the hotel. Even though Yan Duo was very tired, he pulled himself together and poured her a glass of water, "The guest rooms are all on the third floor. Are you going to rest now?"

Tangtang took the water and took a sip, "Please excuse me, Teacher Yan."

Yan Duo said: "If you are polite, let's not talk about it, let's go."

Yan Duo led Tangtang to a tenant on the third floor near the corridor, pointed out the bathroom to her, and took out the towels, bath towels, slippers and other toiletries prepared for the guests from the storage box and handed them to her, then turned around went downstairs.

Yan Duo has been at the company for the past few days, so Gao Duoduo tactfully went home to live there. His room on the first floor was vacant. Yan Duo went in to check it out. Gao Duoduo was pretty reliable. But the cleanliness of the room is pretty good, which can be regarded as clean.Yan Duo took a new set of bedding from the cabinet and put it on, carried the changed ones into the washing machine, put away the laundry detergent and came out, Lin Chen had already cooked the wontons, this kid is very good at using local materials, and even used the refrigerator Put two preserved eggs in the only handful of green vegetables left in the pot and fry a plate of delicious fried vegetables with preserved eggs.

Yan Duo gave Lin Chen half a bowl of dumplings, but Lin Chen refused. Yan Duo said, "I have a bad stomach. I don't dare to eat too much at this late hour, otherwise it will be uncomfortable to lie down. When I was your age, every day There will be extra meals at night, let's eat."

Only then did Lin Chen take the bowl and chopsticks.

Yan Duo said while eating, "I've already cleaned up the room for you, wash up and go to bed early after eating."

Lin Chen nodded, bowed his head and picked up a few dumplings, and finally couldn't help but said, "Ms. Yan, Tangtang and I..."

Yan Duo said: "I know a little bit about your affairs. In fact, you are not young, and you understand many truths. It is useless for our parents and teachers to say more. We still have to rely on you."

Lin Chen said nothing more.

Yan Duo thought for a while, and decided to give him some advice. Is there any need to talk about it? At least do what needs to be done to have a clear conscience, "I don't know if Tangtang has told you about my affairs." He saw Lin Chen lightly Nodding his head lightly, he continued: "Just me, I'm 30 years old, and it's still so difficult to fall in love. A few days ago, when there was a lot of noise on the Internet, I thought, if I hurt him and affect his I can't forgive myself in my career. If leaving him can protect him, I will leave him. Instead of accompanying him with guilt, I would rather leave with love.

He ate the last dumpling, picked up the bowl and took a sip of soup, "Now, the matter has calmed down, but I don't know what's wrong with his house. It's been a few days since I went back, and no one can be contacted. Just now I was very annoying before picking you up, but what can I do? I can only wait. In fact, in addition to man-made disasters, there are also natural disasters, and the world is unpredictable. Only we are strong enough, Only then can we have a stronger ability to resist risks when an accident strikes, so that we won’t feel powerless and useless when looking at the one we love.”

Lin Chen seemed lost in thought after listening, Yan Duo reached out to take the empty bowl in front of him, Lin Chen recovered, "I'll go wash it."

Yan Duo smiled, "International practice, cooks don't wash dishes, well, go wash and sleep quickly."

Lin Chen responded, watched Yan Duo enter the kitchen, then walked to the door, saluted and walked into the next bedroom.

After Yan Duo washed the dishes, he remembered that the weather forecast said there would be thunderstorms at night, and checked whether the doors and windows on the first floor were closed, and then went upstairs to take a shower, and when he packed himself up and lay down, it was almost twelve o'clock.

He couldn't help but took out his phone again, but Huang Wenxuan still didn't get any news.

Early the next morning, Yan Duo received a call from Old Tang. Old Tang said on the phone that there was no flight booked for the day, and there had been thunderstorms in Los Angeles recently, and the flight had been delayed extensively. He didn't know if he could make it in a day or two. In the past, I asked Yan Duo to take Tangtang in for a few more days, but Yan Duo said it was okay, and he said thank you several times before ending the call.

It was raining heavily on this day, and the driver bumped into other vehicles on the way to pick up Yan Duo, which delayed a little time. This is already the seventh day since Huang Wenxuan left. In fact, Yan Duo's mentality has already collapsed. Washing, rinsing on the glass, even the trees in the yard were blurred. After waiting for more than ten minutes, the driver still didn't come over. He suddenly didn't want to go to work, so he called and said that he had other arrangements and asked him to deal with the accident and go straight to work. Go back to the company, no need to come here.

It was raining all the time, Yan Duo turned around and went back to the living room, and saw Tangtang was watching the local morning news, which was broadcasting the news of a landslide in a certain landslide due to the heavy rain last night, but fortunately, the people at the place where the incident happened moved early, and only the property Losses, no casualties.

Yan Duo looked around but didn't see Lin Chen, so he asked Tangtang, "Where's Lin Chen?"

"Going to buy breakfast."

As soon as the words were finished, footsteps were heard at the door. Lin Chen went out early in the morning to buy breakfast very diligently, and even found a nearby vegetable market in the rain, and bought two bulging bags of ingredients when he came back.

Although Lin Chen brought an umbrella when he went out, he bought a lot of things and couldn't hold the umbrella when he got off the taxi. His clothes were all wet and stuck to his body. He put the rice noodles he bought on the dining table, "I've already eaten. This is for you. I heard Tangtang said that you have a bad stomach, so I didn't put chili for you." He took the dishes to the kitchen before going back to the room to change clothes.

When Yan Duo finished eating and cleaned up the trash, he saw Lin Chen had already set up a casserole in the kitchen, "What are you doing?"

Lin Chen turned his head and smiled and said, "I see that there are dried bamboo shoots at home, I bought an old duck, and let's make some soup for lunch." He pointed to the fruit plate next to him, "There are grapes here, they have been washed."

This child is a bit too diligent, Yan Duo really wants to catch Gao Duoduo to observe and learn, but with Gao Duoduo's consciousness, I am afraid that he does not know what the word shame is.He went over to the living room with a fruit plate, Tangtang was playing a mobile game, Yan Duo handed the fruit plate to Tangtang, switched the TV to the sports channel, and was broadcasting the video of the World Women's Volleyball League. I took a look at my phone, there were a lot of messages, but none of them were sent by Huang Wenxuan.

Tangtang suddenly whispered beside him: "Sometimes no news is the best news."

Yan Duo forced a smile: "I hope so."

Tangtang ate a few grapes, and suddenly said, "Mr. Yan, you haven't shown me your house yet."

She probably saw that she was restless and wanted to distract him, so Yan Duo got up and said, "Then let's go."

The study, living room, kitchen, nanny's room and grandpa's room are all on the first floor. In addition to the room where Yan Duo and his parents used to live, there is also a small living room and a storage room on the second floor.The third floor is full of guest rooms, Tangtang stood at the end of the corridor, pointed to the opposite side and asked, "What is that room for?"

That's the training room.

"Wait a minute." Yan Duo turned around and went downstairs to get the key. Since it hadn't been opened for many years, the key was inserted into the lock, and it took a long time to open the door.

Yan Duo pushed open the door, and then slowed down, "This is the place where I used to practice archery, come in and have a look."

The training room was empty, and as the door opened, a rotten smell rushed over.

The skylight shines on the wooden floor through the window glass, and there are fine dust floating in the air with the naked eye.Different from other rooms, there is a thick layer of dust on the floor, and the simple tables and chairs are also heavy, with targets and arrows placed on one side.

Tangtang stood at the door for a while before walking in, "It looks like no one has been here for a long time." She reached out her hand to touch the hole in the target, and her fingertips were stained with thick dust.

"Yeah, I haven't practiced for many years." Yan Duo's voice was very soft, and his expression was a little dazed. He walked over to touch the movable targets, and finally picked up the bow that he used to use when he was a child, and pulled it lightly. It just stopped, it seems really too long.

He sealed his dream here for 18 years. For 18 years, he could barely live like a normal person, with no one to talk to or share with.In the beginning, the nightmares all night and all night dragged him into a darker abyss little by little, and he could only fight alone to prevent himself from sinking completely.

It's a bit ridiculous to talk about dreams when you grow up, so he doesn't like to show this place to others.

Tangtang sensed something sensitively, "Teacher Yan, didn't you bring him here to have a look?"

When mentioning it to children, Yan Duo felt calmer, "No." On one side is love and on the other hand is dreams, both of which are his most cherished things, but dreams are covered in dust, so they cannot be shown to the people he loves the most.

Tangtang stood quietly for a while, then suddenly said: "Teacher Yan, let me tell you, if you had to choose between love and dreams, which one would you choose?"

Yan Duo turned to look at her, probably she is wandering at this intersection now, Yan Duo didn't want to say anything that would affect her judgment, and smiled lightly, "They say you can't have your cake and eat it too, I don't know either. It's over, let's go."

Tangtang: "Okay."

At noon, the rain stopped and the sun came out, but the three of them didn't go out and had lunch at home.Lin Chen's cooking skills are very good, the soup is well cooked, and the rice and vegetables are also delicious. Yan Duo was a little full, washed the dishes after lunch, and played around in the living room for a while before going upstairs to take a nap.

When Tangtang woke up, the sun was already setting in the west, she hugged the quilt for a while, and went to the bathroom to tie her hair into a ponytail, washed her face, and then went downstairs.

Due to the excellent sound insulation effect of the room, Tangtang heard the soft piano sound filling the whole house only after leaving the bedroom.

Lin Chen was sitting in front of the piano in the living room playing Autumn Whispers.

He was wearing a white T-shirt and beige slacks. In the empty hall, against the bare jacaranda and poinciana outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back looked a little sparse.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell into the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a yellowish halo on his face, hair, and neck, while the hair on his cheek and neck on the other side were hidden in the shadows.His slender fingers skillfully landed on the black and white keys, his eyes drooped slightly, and his face was slightly sad.

At this moment, as if time stood still, the picture was frozen at this moment.

Tangtang stood at the top of the stairs, and it took her a long time to regain her senses. She tried to stay calm and saw that Lin Chen was alone in the living room. She was about to turn around and go upstairs, but the music stopped abruptly. Lin Chen turned and faced her direction Looking over, "Tangtang." The voice was as soft as the sound of a piano.

Even though his face was blurred from a long distance, Tangtang could still feel the deep affection and deep sadness in his eyes.

"Where's Teacher Yan?" Tangtang couldn't hide, the knuckles of the hands holding the stairs were already turning white.

"You're still taking a nap." Lin Chen walked over slowly.

Tangtang nodded, hesitantly planning to leave again, Lin Chen had already walked to the side of the stairs quickly, "Tangtang, can we talk?"

Tangtang couldn't move away. Lin Chen in front of her was so sad. Ever since she knew about their relationship, she had seen an angry Lin Chen, an irritable Lin Chen, an unwilling Lin Chen, and even a negative and depraved one. It was the first time I saw him so sad, it seemed that the whole world collapsed in front of him, it seemed that the whole world had abandoned him.

Tangtang didn't dare to look directly at him, and looked towards the direction of the piano in the distance. After a long time, she said softly, "Is there anything else we can talk about?"

Lin Chen stood in front of her, stared at her, said with hope, but not so confidently, "Yes, we shouldn't end like this."

Tangtang turned her face and looked at Lin Chen suspiciously, "Then how do we end?"

Lin Chen, "Can you give me another chance? Even if you promise me a future? Without you, I have no hope and no meaning." It is a plain narrative and a sad pleading.

"What is the meaning of life? When he looks back on the past, he will not regret that he wasted his life, nor will he be ashamed of his inaction; so that when he is dying, he will be able to say: "My whole life And all my energies have been dedicated to the most magnificent cause in the world-struggling for the liberation of mankind. ①Obviously, this is only the meaning of a few people.Many people's lives are meaningless, but they still have to live. " Tangtang said sarcastically.

"Yes, there are a lot of people who are eating and waiting to die. One more than me is not too many, and one less than me is quite a lot. However, I have clearly obtained real happiness, and I am not willing to give up like this."

Tangtang tightly gripped the handrail of the stairs, holding back the tears in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "People have to rely on themselves, so what can you do if you are not willing? Besides, it is your life, your own business, Nothing to do with me."

Lin Chen's eyes were covered with mist, and he said with a half-smile, "You're right, I understand." He took a deep breath, and suddenly smiled at Tangtang, "Then I wish you happiness."

Tangtang's nails had dug into her palm, and she forced a smile and said, "You too."

Lin Chen turned around and walked towards the living room, while Tangtang turned around and went back to the upstairs room.

Tangtang had a habit of wiping the floor when she was walking, but Yan Duo had already heard her when she went downstairs, and he was about to open the door to come out, but when he heard the conversation behind him, he stopped again.He thought to himself, it's good to be young, to discuss meaning and hope, and to look forward to the future.Even if you say so many secondary school words when you break up, it will not appear hypocritical or embarrassing.

In the evening, Old Tang called and said that he had bought the air ticket for the next day. In fact, Yan Duo didn't know why Tangtang was so decisive. As a teacher, he felt that he had no position to ask. The air pressure was even lower, and Yan Duo also wanted Old Tang to hurry up and pick up the child, so he would feel more relaxed.

Lao Tang's flight would not arrive until noon, but something happened in the morning. Lin Chen disappeared, and he didn't answer his phone or reply to his message. Tangtang and Yan Duo called the police in a hurry. When the police came to find out the situation, they didn't It was discovered that Lin Chen was kidnapped, because they found that the window glass in the room where Lin Chen lived was broken from the outside, and there was a note pressed on the window sill, with a line written on it: Officer Yan, I am back again .

Yan Duo only felt dizzy for a while, he supported the window sill to stabilize his figure, and said to Zhao Jianfei: "It's him, he probably thinks Lin Chen is much taller."

Zhao Jianfei and his colleagues looked at each other, and immediately said: "Please immediately set up surveillance at all intersections out of the city and adjust the monitoring."

At the same time, Yan Duo's phone rang, and he took out his cell phone tremblingly. It was actually Huang Wenxuan calling, "Is there something wrong at home?"

Yan Duo asked subconsciously, "How do you know?"

Huang Wenxuan said: "I'm already at the airport, I'll be home soon, wait for me."

The author has something to say:

When he looks back on the past, he will not regret that he wasted his life, nor will he be ashamed of being inactive; so that, when he is dying, he can say: "My whole life and all my energy have been given to you." To the most magnificent cause in the world - to fight for the liberation of mankind. ① - "How Steel Was Tempered"