Envy

On the second day, Meng Tou brought Yan Zhaohan to Erbai Tavern.The door of the tavern was closed, and Uncle Yu Qing had been waiting at the door for a long time.He changed back into men's clothes and leaned against the doorpost in a plain white robe, which gave him a somewhat fairy-like appearance.

A scarlet formation was drawn on the street.Senior brother Yu Qing walked to the side of the array, and asked Yan Zhaohan to go over with a serious expression.Yan Zhaohan was a little timid, snuggled up to Meng Tou's side, clutching Meng Tou's clothes with his small hands, not daring to walk over.

Meng Tou patted his head, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. You just stand in that formation, close your eyes, and we can leave here. I am here with you."

Xiaoyan Zhaohan has always been obedient, walked towards the formation, looked back at Meng Tuo a few times, and finally stood obediently in the center of the formation.

Uncle Yu Qing sprinkled another layer of cinnabar on the outermost circle, and then threw the jar of cinnabar aside. When he squeezed the long knife, the surrounding wind blew, and in an instant, the array showed a dazzling blood-colored light.

Yan Zhaohan seemed to be restrained by an invisible force, shaking like thin paper in the formation, he hugged his head and screamed in pain.He cried and called "Brother", he wanted Meng Tou to save him out.Those few screams were heart-piercing, and Meng Tou panicked when he heard them.

Uncle Yu Qing said that the technique of stripping the soul may fail, but he never said that the technique would cause such pain.Meng Tou ran to Uncle Yu Qing and asked him what was going on.

Uncle Yu Qing, who was still exerting zhenqi, slowly lowered his arms and made a gesture of "retracting", a wisp of pure white zhenqi wafted from his fingertips.Yan Zhaohan was freed from the shackles of the array.The light of the formation diagram dissipated, and Meng Tou rushed forward, holding the tear-stained child in his arms.

"No. He can't stand this spell yet." Uncle Yu Qing shook his head and frowned, "A person who has been stripped of his soul wouldn't be in such pain. His unbearableness could only be because he was repelling him and didn't want to let his soul Pull away from the body. In my opinion, you should wait a little longer, and when he is willing to leave here from the depths of his soul, you can come and find me again."

Yan Zhaohan was unwilling to return to the real world, preferring to stay in the dream and be a child who has not yet grown up.He didn't want to leave yet, Meng Tou couldn't recall his memory, and couldn't force him to leave.

Master Uncle Yu Qing was powerless and went back to Erbai Tavern.Meng Tou wiped away the tears on his face, took his hand and walked back.Meng Tou frowned in thought, and led him from the end of the long street to the end of the long street.

Yan Zhaohan called him "brother".Meng Tou bent down to pick up the child, and asked with a smile, "What's the matter, huh?"

"Should we... still stay here?"

"Do you want to stay here?"

The kid shook his head and said he didn't want to stay in this place.

Meng Tou lifted the child up so that the child could wrap his arms around his neck."Then we're leaving," he said.

The child's voice was soft and waxy: "Where are we going after that?"

Meng Tou looked at the child's barking eyes, thought for a while, touched his forehead lightly on the child's forehead, and said, "Let's go home. Go back to your home."

……

Meng Tou occasionally has crazy ideas, for example, he decides to stay in Yan Zhaohan's dream, live with him, and die with him.He took Yan Zhaohan back to Fulian Town where they used to live together.

He met Zhu's mother-in-law more than ten years ago on the street corner and drank a few cups of tea at the tea stand.Zhu's mother-in-law's hair was still black more than ten years ago, and Zhu's old man's body is still very strong.Their idle son is still alive, reluctantly greeting visitors at the tea stall that day.

Granny Zhu took advantage of her free time to walk up to them, looked at Yan Zhaohan and said, "Isn't this Zheng'er, why didn't you see your mother? Where did your mother go?"

Zhu's mother-in-law looked around, but did not see his mother.

Meng Tou once heard that the second wife was called "Zheng'er".This seems to be Yan Zhaohan's nickname.He silently recited the name twice in his heart, inexplicably fond of it.

He doesn't have a baby name. When he was a child, his grandfather gave him a baby name "Jia Bao".Later, his grandfather felt that this name might not be related to him, so he gave this nickname to his younger brother.Meng Xi escaped a catastrophe.

Meng Tou said to Granny Zhu: "I am an old acquaintance of his father. His mother died of illness, and entrusted Zheng'er to me before she died. We will live here from now on."

Granny Zhu's eyes were full of pity, she stroked Yan Zhaohan's hair and said, "I'm sorry."

After Yan Zhaohan heard this, his eyes turned red, he lowered his head, and his fingers twitched restlessly.

Meng Tou couldn't bear to see him sad, so he paid the tea money and took him home.

More than ten years ago, the walls of the Yan family’s yard were still intact, and the wall next to the street was planted with creepers.The yard is full of various flowers, and there is a wicker chair under the tall tree.Compared with more than ten years later, it is much more lively and agile.

He was a little thankful that he came to Fulian to learn cooking, otherwise he would not know how to take care of a child.In fact, the young Yan Zhaohan was not picky about his food, and he ate wild vegetables as well as pork ribs.At that time, the family was poor, and the weak mother who subsidized the family by embroidery and doing laundry for other families could barely afford food for herself and her children.

Seeing that he had sliced ​​carrots in his pocket, Meng Tou asked him if the food was to his liking.

He blinked his eyes, hooked his head quietly, and grabbed the chopsticks with his small hands to pick up the food.

Meng Tou felt sore, he thought that the reason why he learned cooking was to make Yan Zhaohan full, he wanted to make Yan Zhaohan's mouth tricky.Yan Zhaohan was so thin that he had only a handful of bones left when he was a child, and he was still so thin that he only had a handful of bones left when he was an adult.

In the town of Fulian, Meng Tou managed to bring him up a little round, and he sneaked out without looking at him, and when he saw him again, he was so thin that he could be blown away by the wind.Meng Tou almost passed out from the anger.

Meng Tou would rather raise the young Yan Zhaohan into a little ball, a little fatter and a little fleshier, but it doesn't hurt.He felt that it would be better if the grown-up Yan Zhaohan was rounder, it would be more comfortable in his arms.It's a pity that Yan Zhaohan is really... so skinny.

There was only one bed in the room, and he and the adult Yan Zhaohan could make do with it, and naturally they could sleep with the young Yan Zhaohan as well.

When Meng Tou was about to fall asleep, Yan Zhaohan approached him and softly called "Brother".The child was lying on the bed, propping his elbows on the soft pillow, and propped himself up.Meng Tou felt the coolness, and reached out to fish the child into the bed, tucking the corners of the quilt to prevent the cold air from entering.

It really is a child, the body is warm, not afraid of the cold, there is a pleasant smell of milk.

Meng Tou was confused: "Huh?"

"Brother," Yan Zhaohan leaned on Meng Tou's shoulder, looking at his profile in the night, "Will you always be by my side?"

Meng Tou opened his eyes, kissed his forehead, and said, "Yes."

"Go to sleep."