five years later

After dinner, everyone sat around and started playing cards.An Yuan, Liu Yumin, and Chen Jia were the first to play, and the remaining one, Lu Siqi, couldn't fight, so he nestled next to Chen Jia and watched carefully, still eating sunflower seeds in his mouth.

"Let's talk about it first, ten yuan a pack, cash only." An Yuan opened the new poker, looking arrogant.

"Pa—" Liu Yumin and Chen Jia happily pulled out Grandpa Zhang Mao and threw it onto the coffee table.

"21 rounds, whoever loses three times in a row will end." Chen Jia held a piece of fruit in his hand, boasting that he was a gangster in Shanghai.

Liu Yumin let out a soft "hum", and became angry at being annoyed by him, and took out two more sheets of Grandpa Mao from his bag. "How about one by one?"

"Don't, don't, don't," An Yuan quickly waved his hand, "I can't afford to play such an expensive card. Our family just bought a house, and now we are poor, and we need the chef's approval for a bag of ten yuan."

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone's attention was indeed attracted by the word "buying a house".

"Hey, hello," Liu Yumin took the lead in feigning curses, "You dare to buy a house behind my back without saying a word, and pay ten yuan a piece, can you show some face?"

Chen Jia followed her footsteps and joked: "Marriage is indeed a shortcut to maximize profits. It seems that I have to find a partner, and we may buy a house together in my lifetime."

An Yuan smiled, and said to Chen Jia, "Don't worry, not all people who maximize their profits can buy a house. Let me say that the most successful and surefire way is to be like me, with a big money. Not only did I buy a house, but I also lived comfortably for the rest of my life.”

"Your method is a good one, but I don't know who can take a fancy to him. Don't you have to be like me if you want to take care of him?" Liu Yumin said, shaking his hair and throwing a provocative look.

"It's a pity, we have land in our hometown, so we don't need to buy a house." After she finished speaking, she leaned on Yang Cheng's shoulder, like a snake without bones, but with a smile in her eyes.

Chen Jia was choked up by what she said.But after catching a glimpse of the peaceful appearance of the two people on the opposite side, the unhappiness before was gone.He was surprised by the sudden change, and he didn't know who opened up Ren Du's second channel.

"Fantastic, powerful, they are all rich people." Chen Jiagan bowed down, he looked around and found that only Lu Siqi next to him looked like a rich man in the future, so he shamelessly entangled him.

"Xiao Lu, although you are still young, my brother has high expectations for you. Do you want to consider taking care of you when you grow up?"

Before Lu Siqi could speak, he was cut off by Liu Yumin.She pointed at Chen Jia with an exaggerated and artificial expression on her face. "You shameless bastard, he already called me Auntie, yet you dare to ask Xiao Lu to call you brother?"

Chen Jia was so amused.He leaned back on the sofa, feeling that the way he used to get along with Liu Yumin had returned.It's just that he has a thick skin, such harmless words can't hurt him a bit.

"Huh? Brother, have you thought about it? A 40-year-old man is also a flower, and there is still room for appreciation. I think it's pretty good that I am like this."

This was originally a joke, although it shouldn't be made fun of a child, but Lu Siqi looked mature and knew a little about them, so everyone forgot his actual age, turned their eyes and waited for his answer.

Lu Siqi was still holding a handful of melon seeds, and when Chen Jia leaned over, he could see the creases at the end of the other's eyes when he laughed.It stands to reason that he shouldn't be nervous. Lu Siqi, who grew up under the eyes of everyone looking up to him, doesn't know what nervousness is at all.But so many eyes looked at him at the same time, piercing his body, as if a broken body was blown by the wind, and it was crumbling.

"If you want a house," he stretched out his hand to pinch Chen Jia's chin, teasingly said, "There's no need to wait, I can give it to you now."

This kind of joke is not something that can be made at this age, the movements are very stiff, and the words spoken are frivolous, but not natural enough.

Lu Siqi is actually a good boy, he has no hooliganism, and his arrogance will subside when he grows up.Facing the world of grown-ups, he is stern and ruthless, for fear of being compared to others.But he was wrong, it was just a joke, once it was stopped, everyone would abide by the rules.

The worlds of children and adults are two lines that will intersect sooner or later.But adolescence is a wonderful catalyst, it makes Lu Siqi's emotions swell, and he can't wait.

So Chen Jia who was molested was stunned, and the people around were also stunned.They were keenly aware that this joke had crossed the line and shouldn't be so unscrupulous in front of a child, so they tacitly withdrew their gaze.

"Oh," Chen Jia held his hand with a troubled expression.He eased the embarrassment calmly, and said: "Wang Baochuan has been guarding the cold kiln for eighteen years, and I will definitely wait for you to grow up. But don't be too slow, or I will grow old."

Everyone was amused by his words, soft and kind, as if the episode just now had never happened.

Lu Siqi didn't know what was going on behind him, he just laughed and cursed "crazy", pulled back his hand and continued to eat melon seeds.

Chen Jia glanced at him, there was no haze on his face, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, the young man was as clear as a flower shining in the morning light.

"Come, come, let's play cards," An Yuan showed the majesty of the host and the birthday star, and made a final decision, "Just play ten yuan, I can't afford to lose if there is more."

Liu Yumin put away the two sheets of Grandpa Mao, and silently complained that An Yuan was too stingy.

A group of people played until ten o'clock, and after a few rounds, the silent An Mi and the novice Lu Siqi won the most.

The old fritters all angrily slammed their cards and slapped the table, feeling extremely inconceivable about their broken halberd.But playing cards is like this, no amount of skill can stand up to the opponent's stupid cards.

After the show ended, Liu Youxia gave each of them a small bag of meatballs before leaving.Fried things tend to get greasy after overnight, so he was also happy to do this favor, packing up everything they wanted to take away and sending it over.

Liu Yumin moved to Yang Cheng's place, and when Lu Siqi came in the morning, they made a detour to bring it, but Chen Jia cut him off when he wanted to send it back in the evening.

"Okay, I'll take him back, you two go back first."

Liu Yumin is a sentimental person, who usually looks like a fool, but the mentality of a girl is correct.Originally, the relationship with Chen Jia could not be regarded as a debt to anyone, but after all, it was a debt to others.This time the other party laid the steps first and stretched out his hand, which made her nose sore.

"I'm sorry." Liu Yumin bowed his head obediently and apologized, "I'm not mature enough for many things, I'm sorry."

Chen Jia was speechless for a moment.

A long time ago, he really liked Liu Yumin, the kind who wanted to marry him and go home and live a good life.But that period of time has really passed for a long time, so long that his heart is full of sadness at this moment.Liu Yumin didn't hide Yang Cheng's matter from him, and the resentment and resentment all along might just be his self-esteem that he couldn't let go of.

He was old, so old that he began to haggle over everything.

Chen Jia felt that he had a lot of sorrows and sorrows in Beifeng, and the atmosphere was out of season.Hidden in the darkness with a self-deprecating smile, he said, "There's nothing I'm sorry for, I'm the one who was stingy, let's live a good life in the future."

After speaking, he took Lu Siqi's shoulders and carried him into his car.After turning on the air conditioner and fastening the seat belt, the car was not started immediately.

"What's the matter? Why didn't you leave?" Lu Siqi was puzzled.His gradually sharpened face was blurred, and the dim light outside the window shone on his face in varying shades.

"You're still very young," Chen Jia turned to look at him, and said with a slight smile, "you should cherish such things as being young."

Lu Siqi didn't know why he was talking like this, but the panic in the other party's eyes made him lose his mind for a moment.The aging time will be hidden in the eyes, and the people who watch it will be frightened.

An Mi didn't go back. He won money today, and he was lying on the sofa cheerfully counting the money.Not many, but a small gamble is fun, and the mood is very happy by these few tickets.

"What are you doing lying here? Go take a shower, pack up and go to bed." An Yuan's hair was still dripping, and when it slipped down his neck, he shivered.

An Mi happily stuck the money in the book, and when he got up, he wished he could jump on his brother. "I know, I know, I'll take a shower right away."

"By the way, brother, have you bought the tickets to go home this year?"

"It's still early, and besides, I'm not sure whether Liu Youxia will go to our house to celebrate the New Year this year." An Yuan shrank his neck into the sofa, frowned and said: "His parents know he's back, maybe—"

His words were still stuck in his throat, and his voice was shattered by the sudden ringing of the bell.

"Who is calling?" An Mi looked over curiously, but An Yuan slapped him away.

"You go to take a shower, what are you doing with so many nosy things?" No name was displayed on the screen, but An Yuan remembered clearly when the call came last time.

But he took it anyway.

Not knowing what the other party said, An Yuan's complexion became worse and worse, and the hand that was holding the phone became ferocious.He hung up the phone, with a serious expression on his face, he told An Mi, "Liu Youxia and I are going to go out later, so be careful when you are alone at home. Don't stay up late, and go to bed obediently after taking a shower."

An Mi just nodded, although she was curious, she sensiblely didn't ask why.So An Yuan patted him on the shoulder, threw the towel and ran to the bedroom in a panic.

Liu Youxia was already lying down on the bed.He was so tired today that his eyelids couldn't stop falling down. An Yuan pushed him to take a bath early, and threw him into the quilt after he was done.

At this moment, he was still trapped in a cloudy dream.A fire trapped him in his dream, surrounded by swaying flames, burning smoke enveloped him, Liu Youxia couldn't resist the scorching temperature.

"...Wake up," An Yuan leaned into his ear and called out, "Liu Youxia, wake up."

In the dream, Liu Youxia was rescued from the sudden flood, and when he woke up, his eyes were full of An Yuan.He thought it was still a dream, so he reached out and touched it.

"Get up quickly." An Yuan brushed Liu Youxia's hand away, and hurriedly helped him up.

"What's the matter, what's the matter?" Liu Youxia was really not in the mood, but seeing An Yuan's anxious look, he thought something serious happened, and kept putting clothes on himself.

"Your mother," An Yuan hesitated, but said it after a few whispers. "She's in the hospital right now. Your dad just called me and wanted you to come and see."

The hand that was still putting on the clothes stopped suddenly.Liu Youxia was stunned for a while, then suddenly took off the clothes he had put on expressionlessly.

He wrapped himself in the quilt and refused to say a word.

An Yuan wanted to persuade him, but Liu Youxia was no longer a child.Some hurts don't go away, and some people don't deserve forgiveness.

The only thing he could do was to lie down, hold Liu Youxia tightly from behind, and say, "I've been here all this time."