lark in

"Aye, get up quickly."

Ming Ye sat up on the hard wooden bed, the sound insulation in the small attic was not very good, Aunt Zhang's voice could easily be heard through the door.

It was dim outside the window, and it should be only after six o'clock. He got out of bed and opened the door. Aunt Zhang was wearing a mask, and the corners of her eyes were full of exhaustion. She put the toolbox in his hand and said, "Today is Luoluo's birthday. Children may come up to play, you clean the third floor, especially the railings of the stairs must be wiped clean."

Ming Ye nodded silently, and Aunt Zhang turned around and went downstairs. She would be busy with the birthday party all day, and it would be nice to have one more helper.

Ming Ye wiped the railing of the stairs from top to bottom according to Aunt Zhang's instructions. He is ten years old, and Aunt Zhang usually only asks him to help with work in the morning and late at night, so as to avoid the owner of the villa.

When we reached the second floor, the door of a room opened, and a middle-aged man in luxurious pajamas came out. He was the host of this villa, named Zhou Shengnan, and he rarely appeared on weekdays.

Zhou Shengnan stared at Ming Ye's clothes for a while, and did not come over, but frowned and said, "After you're done, rest in your room, you don't need to come down to help."

Ming Ye glanced at his torn sleeve, said hello, quickly cleaned the stairs and ran back to his attic.

That was the place where he lived for five years. It was on the top floor of the entire villa. It was hot in summer and cold in winter. There were always larks chirping on the roof, which disturbed his little sleep.

But the view there is very good. Through the window, you can see the garden behind the villa and the rose swing in the garden.

He leaned on the window and looked down. The garden was specially designed and arranged by someone yesterday. Colorful flowers and balloons surrounded a small carousel that was moved a few days ago. He could imagine how lively it would be later.

Not long after, Aunt Zhang came in again. Seeing him open the window, she quickly pulled him down, closed the window firmly, and said sharply, "Don't go down today, and don't open the window. My wife will be upset if she sees it." .”

When Aunt Zhang said these words to him, he felt that her eyes were like looking at a mouse.

He hated this look, so he pursed his lips and kept his face gloomy. This was the only way he could express his anger.

Aunt Zhang's complexion became even worse, and she frowned and said, "On such a festive day, who can show this face! I will give you the rest of the cake tonight."

This is his annual "benefit" today, Zhou Jialuo's leftover birthday cake.

Aunt Zhang didn't have much time, and left in a hurry.Ming Ye didn't open the window again, but took out an old notebook from under the bed, took out a half-length pencil, and drew the garden downstairs on the notebook.

He likes the swing in the garden. He used to sneak past it when no one was around, and swing on it by himself, but once he met Zhou Jialuo, the little owner of the villa who was five years younger than him and cried at every turn, which made him never again. Don't dare to play on the swing.

At that time, Zhou Jialuo asked him to accompany him on the swing, but he didn't refuse for some reason, and carried Zhou Jialuo onto the swing, pushing the swing slightly, for fear that he would fall off.

Zhou Jialuo yelled, kicked his short legs, and opened his hands excitedly. Just as Ming Ye was about to stop and grab him, Zhou Jialuo fell to the ground, and a bloody gash appeared on his forehead, making people cry tremblingly. The sound suddenly startled the birds on the shelf.

Ming Ye stood there with cold hands and feet, not daring to run, and not daring to hug Zhou Jialuo.He was like a criminal waiting to be killed, waiting for the mistress of the villa, who was also his mother, to come and punish him.

Aunt Zhang rushed out first, and hurriedly hugged the crying Zhou Jialuo into her arms. Ming Yan rushed after her, and without saying a word, she slapped Ming Ye, almost making his ears ring.

"Who told you to come down?!"

Aunt Zhang hurriedly said: "Let's call the doctor first, Luo Luo seems to have quite a wound."

Ming Yan anxiously followed Aunt Zhang to bring the crying Zhou Jialuo into the villa, Ming Ye touched her cheek with the palm of her hand, feeling pain.

This was not the first time Mingyan hit him. When he first saw her, because he called "Mom", Mingyan slapped her hard.

He is Mingyan's child born in Mingjia Village, which is a remote and isolated mountain village. Many families cannot marry wives, so they will buy girls from outside. Mingyan is one of them.

But she is obviously different from other submissive women. She is not reconciled to her fate. She was arrested after fleeing many times and was forced to give birth to a son.But fortunately, her husband was a short-lived ghost, and died of illness not long after the child was born. In the end, she finally found a chance to escape.

Ming Ye was brought up by his grandmother, but his grandmother died when he was four years old, and he was fostered at the home of his aunt Minghui. His uncle and aunt had a bad relationship, and his uncle would beat him when he was drunk, and his aunt would just turn a blind eye. one eye.

More and more people in the village went out to seek a living. Soon the aunt's family also left Mingjia Village to work in Zenan City. By chance, they discovered that Mingyan had joined the wealthy Zhou family. The couple were ecstatic as if they had won the lottery. Ye didn't know that in their eyes, he had changed from a mouse in the way to a gold mine.

At that time, Mingyan was only Zhou Shengnan's adopted lover, and Zhou Shengnan was still divorcing his ex-wife. Her position was not stable, and she would feel anxious at the slightest disturbance.

Before Ming Ye was taken to see Mingyan by his aunt, her aunt told him many times: "I will see your mother tomorrow, if she doesn't want you, you will cry like hell and call her mother loudly, no one should Mom won't be softhearted."

He nodded, quietly hid in a corner, and practiced "Mom" many times. This word was too unfamiliar to him. He had never called it since he was a child. He was afraid that if he couldn't say it well tomorrow, his mother would not want him.

The next day, my aunt dressed him in a rare new dress and took him to Mingyan's apartment.The luxurious buildings made my aunt's eyes red, and she sighed all the way, but Ming Ye didn't care to watch, he was so nervous that he could hardly breathe.

Mingyan was pregnant, and there was only one nanny, Aunt Zhang, who was her only friend in Mingjia Village. After she became well-off, Aunt Zhang came to take care of her full-time. This taciturn rural widow made her feel at ease in a strange city.

Aunt Zhang brought the two of them into the room, and Mingyan didn't even look at Mingye, she said to Minghui impatiently: "Let me make it clear first, your Ming family has nothing to do with me, don't try to ask me for it." What good!"

Minghui glanced at her five-month-old belly, and said with a sneer, "If you are pregnant with the expensive kind, you will forget about the cheap kind? Our family kindly adopted you, and let you give birth to my brother's child. My brother is dead, isn't it? Shouldn't you take care of your own son?!"

Only then did Ming Yan look at Ming Ye. She probably thought it was Ming Hui's child before, but now her face was full of shock, anger and disgust.

Mingye was pushed in front of Mingyan by her aunt, and her aunt urged: "This is your mother, why don't you call someone?"

He looked up at Mingyan, clenched his fists, his tense throat seemed to be choked, and called out in a very small voice: "Mom."

This was the first time he called his mother, and it was also the last time. His aunt asked him to cry and hold Mingyan's leg, but anxiety and anticipation occupied his head, his whole face was hot, and he couldn't shed tears at all.

But Ming Yan directly raised her hand and slapped him, and said sharply: "Don't call me that!" She looked around nervously, as if she was afraid of being heard.

He staggered from the beating, his face was burning with pain, but he never cried, he just lowered his head and walked to his aunt to hold her hand, but the aunt pushed him away and said kindly to Mingyan:

"I know that you are in a critical period. After all, if the surname Zhou knew that you had given birth to someone else's son before, how could he marry you? It's just that we are also in difficulties now. We have children to raise, and we don't have the money to raise another one. "

Ming Yan rubbed her stomach with her hands, gasped for breath, and said angrily, "Isn't it just money? If I give you money, why don't you keep him?" Her tone was contemptuous, as if she was using money to solve some trouble.

Minghui, who has always been hot-tempered, immediately scolded: "Who cares about the money you get from selling meat! If you don't raise it, I'll tell that guy surnamed Zhou about the good things you did before, and see if he will marry you." loose woman!"

"What a good thing I did? If it wasn't for your brother who raped me and your mother who forced me to give birth, how could there be such a bastard?!"

The two quarreled hoarsely in the living room. Ming Ye stood aside and touched his face with his hand. It didn't hurt so much anymore, it was just wet.

He couldn't fully understand their noise, he only knew that no one wanted him in this world.

Later, Aunt Zhang, who had been silent all the time, persuaded Mingyan: "Don't keep this child by your side and watch it. Maybe it will be a disaster in the future. I will bite you at any time. Just tell Mr. Zhou that this is my son, and I will help you." Take it easy, Mr. Zhou is kind and will not refuse."

Perhaps because she was worried that his aunt's family would raise him into a vampire like them, Mingyan finally compromised and gave Minghui a sum of child support, the 50 was a hush money.

From then on, Ming Ye lived as Aunt Zhang's son, and Zhou Shengnan really didn't make things difficult for him, and even showed kindness to him for his tuition.

Aunt Zhang did exactly what she said, keeping a close eye on him, not allowing him to talk to Ming Yan, and not allowing him to appear on the first floor of the villa during the day, like a prisoner being locked up.Aunt Zhang also forced him to call his mother in front of other people, but Ming Ye stubbornly never called him once.

At first, he thought, life is much better than before, at least he has a place to sleep and can go to school.

But his uncle was lazy in Zenan City, and came to ask Mingyan for money every now and then, threatening him over and over again with his identity. Mingyan hated and was afraid, and after sending his uncle away with money, she took it out on him.

Thinking of this, Ming Ye couldn't help shivering. Ming Yan has many ways to punish him. Starving for a day or two is commonplace, and he can get over it if he bears it. But what he fears most is actually Ming Yan's high heels.

This woman is almost obsessed with high heels, which seem to symbolize the elegance of upper-class women, so she often wears them at home, and the heels hit the floor crisply and loudly.

But when those beautiful, hard leather toes kick against you, it's excruciatingly painful.

Sharp, bone-piercing, and trembling.

And he can't cry, otherwise it will get worse.

The sound of the piano sounded outside the window, and there seemed to be Zhou Jialuo's singing.Zhou Jialuo likes to sing very much, and Ming Ye has to admit that he really sings very well.

He opened the window quietly, revealing a crack, and looked down with one eye.

There were many people in the garden, and in the center was a big twelve-story cake. Zhou Jialuo was dressed like a little prince in a fairy tale, and was singing while standing on the flower bed.

The other children also sang, and the crisp and clear singing passed through the rose trellis, passed through the sun and the breeze, passed through the merry-go-round, rose slowly over the garden, and fell into his envious eyes.

The guests held up their wine glasses and complimented Ming Yan who was dressed in expensive dresses. Zhou Shengnan, who was always serious, also smiled warmly.

After Zhou Jialuo finished singing, Ming Yan picked her up and blew out the colorful candles on the cake.

Cheers and applause came one after another, the servants came up to cut the cake, and the children rushed up and got their own piece, playing carefree and crazy.

Ming Ye swallowed, he hadn't eaten all morning, usually Aunt Zhang would bring him the leftover food from the kitchen, but today Aunt Zhang herself was exhausted.

At this moment, he suddenly saw Zhou Jialuo in the center of the crowd holding a cake and waving his arms at him. Other children beside him were also looking curiously at the attic.

Ming Ye slammed the window shut tightly.

It seemed that he was afraid that his envy and jealousy would be exposed in front of others, but he was indeed jealous of Zhou Jialuo.

Mingye's birthday is on June [-]st, no one here knows or cares, Mingyan may remember, but to her, it means shame, and how to give her son a good Children's Day is the most important thing on that day matter.

He remembered that on Children's Day last year, all kinds of gifts were piled up on the villa sofa. Zhou Shengnan even bought a pony for his son to play with. Zhou Jialuo liked that horse very much, so he rode it in the garden that day.

And he also likes it very much, but he can only quietly hide in the bushes in the garden, watching Zhou Jialuo ride on the pony through the slender branches, laughing and laughing.

Maybe it was because his gaze was too explicit, Zhou Jialuo quickly spotted him, waved his little hand, and smiled at him:

"Brother, let's play together!"

Aunt Zhang at the side gave him a wink to tell him to leave, but at that time he walked over in a daze.

Zhou Jialuo got off the horse and asked him to ride the horse, but Aunt Zhang was by his side, so he didn't dare.

He never pays attention to the weather, because it makes no difference to him whether it is cloudy, sunny, rainy or snowy, but he always remembers that day when the sky was very blue, the wind was blowing in the trees, and the larks were singing. Silence, a laugh.

He even forgot the warning to himself, the warning to stay away from Zhou Jialuo.

Zhou Jialuo gave him a toy before going back, it was a Pikachu, which he had glimpsed in the animation that Zhou Jialuo watched.

"Lolo's Children's Day present, for brother!" Zhou Jialuo held the toy in both hands and gave it to him, his big eyes full of anticipation.

"I don't want it." Ming Ye glanced at the toy and refused with a cold face.

Zhou Jialuo looked up at him, her long eyelashes fluttering, and said, "Mom said to learn to share, so Luo Luo and brother should share together?"

Ming Ye's face turned gloomy, and Zhou Jialuo was still pointing his fingers at what his mother had taught him.

"Share together?" Ming Ye suddenly asked, his voice without warmth.

Zhou Jialuo nodded sharply, bent his eyes and said, "Share with brother Luoluo!"

"Can you share everything you have?" Ming Ye squatted down, looked at Zhou Jialuo and asked.

Zhou Jialuo looked at him in a daze, unable to understand what he said, but still nodded seriously, and repeated: "Share with brother Luoluo!"

Ming Ye laughed suddenly, he was laughing at his wishful thinking, but Zhou Jialuo thought he was having fun, and moved towards him with a toy, smiling and showing two dimples.

Everyone in this villa can laugh, but no one has ever smiled at him, so that when he saw Zhou Jialuo's smile, he even felt a little dazzling, as if suddenly seeing a beam of light in the dark, he couldn't help but cover his eyes.

He lowered his gaze to look at the toy in front of him, knowing that it was just one of Zhou Jialuo's many Children's Day gifts, and he also knew that he should refuse, but he finally accepted it when he saw the anticipation shining in Zhou Jialuo's eyes.

Think of it as a birthday present for himself, he told himself.

It was also the first gift he received in his life.

But soon Aunt Zhang found this gift in his attic, thinking that he stole Zhou Jialuo's toys, she severely reprimanded him, and told Mingyan, it happened that uncle asked Mingyan to extort money again , he failed to escape Mingyan's "lesson".

Even though he was crouching and convulsing on the ground in pain, he still gritted his teeth and denied it, never admitting that he stole it from the beginning to the end.

He just regretted, regretted being close to Zhou Jialuo.

No one would care about a small toy, and Mingyan was just out to vent her anger. In the end, no one remembered to return the gift to the original owner, and he turned his head and threw the toy into the trash can, as if he was protecting his poor dignity.

But in the middle of the night, he got up quietly again and turned it out of the trash can.

He told himself that it was because the toy had a button that would light up when he pressed it, and it was still dark when he got up in winter, so he needed something that would light up.

Yes, it will shine, and his dark heart needs light, even if only a little bit.

But everyone can't escape greed. If you have a little, you will want more.He couldn't help himself from chasing Zhou Jialuo's eyes, seeing him laughing, making trouble, and running carefree in the garden.

He would secretly fold a paper airplane and fly it down from the attic window, watching Zhou Jialuo chasing after it with flapping arms, like a bird flying in the clouds.

He would quietly hide in the garden, waiting for Zhou Jialuo to find him, and then reluctantly play with him, watching him look up at him with big eyes full of happiness, watching him show a childish smile to himself, watching him treat himself "" Share" an inconspicuous little gift, no matter how reluctantly I accept it.

Later, he got a wooden box, which was given to him by his uncle who came to the villa to repair the garden. It contained all the small gifts that Zhou Jialuo gave him, pencils, yo-yos, cars...

There is also a can of candy, Aunt Zhang said it is imported, Zhou Jialuo only likes to eat this brand of candy, it is packed in a red tin can, it is exquisite and beautiful.

He treasured that jar of candy very much, and would only eat one once in a while.

Those insignificant little things gradually filled the dilapidated wooden box, like luminous stars, twinkling in the dark night sky.

And he is his only star in this world.

Small and shining, I can only look at it from a distance, jealous and longing.

"Bang bang bang-"

"Brother! Eat cake!"

Zhou Jialuo's voice came from outside the door, and there seemed to be noises from other children.

Ming Ye covered his ears, he didn't want to cause trouble, he sat on the bed and didn't open the door, he wanted to wait for Zhou Jialuo to go back by himself.

But Zhou Jialuo patted on the door persistently, and there seemed to be other children laughing outside: "Luoluo, you lied to us, is there anyone here?"

Zhou Jialuo said: "My brother is really inside, I just saw it."

He still patted on the door, singing inarticulately: "Brother Ye, be good, open the door..."

Ming Ye couldn't bear it anymore, he was afraid that the noise would be too loud and Ming Yan would find him, so he had no choice but to open the door.

Zhou Jialuo rushed in holding the cake with both hands, and said with a smile, "Brother! Here's the cake!"

Ming Ye looked down at the sweet and soft cake, and said coldly at the beginning: "I don't want it." He always had to refuse before accepting Zhou Jialuo's gift.

Zhou Jialuo was still not discouraged, dimpled from his laugh, tiptoed to lift the cake higher, and said loudly: "It's really delicious, the biggest piece is for brother!"

The other children were attracted by the attic as soon as they came in. They had just heard Zhou Jialuo boasting that there was a secret base on the top of the third floor, where a very powerful brother lived, so they abandoned the garden and ran up, but only saw Ming Ye, A guy who doesn't look too good at all.

So they shifted their target and started rummaging through boxes and cabinets, screaming for things, like they were on a treasure hunt.

Ming Ye clenched his fists and could only endure, he couldn't afford to provoke any of these children.Until he saw his Pikachu being taken away by someone, he couldn't help shouting: "Don't touch my things!"

The kid was quite tall and seemed to be eight or nine years old. He was very displeased at being ignored, kicked the stool by his feet, and hummed: "Your thing? I saw this toy from Luo Luo, you stole it, right?" !"

He was obviously a king of kids, and the other kids on the side called him Brother Xiaoyu, and they also said "steal, steal" at this time.

Ming Ye stared at Xiaoyu who was full of complacency, without saying a word, with a gloomy expression.

Xiaoyu was a little frightened by Ming Ye's face, but he was always stubborn. He threw away the toy in his hand dismissively, and asked the confused Zhou Jialuo: "Luo Luo, this thing used to be yours, right?"

Zhou Jialuo looked at it for a while and said, "I gave this to my brother."

Xiaoyu didn't believe it, and said: "He must have stolen your things, I'll look for it!" He threw Pikachu aside, and found another wooden box.

The moment Ming Ye saw the wooden box, his eyes turned red instantly, as if his most precious treasure had been dug up by someone, he rushed to grab the wooden box, but was dodged.

"I didn't expect you to steal so much! Luo Luo, didn't you find out that your things were stolen?" Xiaoyu emptied the wooden box and scattered it all over the floor.

"No! I gave this to my brother!" Zhou Jialuo yelled, the cake in his hand fell off and stuck to the floor sticky.

Ming Ye silently squatted down and picked up the things on the ground one by one.

Zhou Jialuo helped pick up a can of candy, walked up to Ming Ye, and handed it to him obediently, but Ming Ye didn't even look at him, and kept picking up other things.

"Brother, here you are." Zhou Jialuo followed Ming Ye with the jar of sugar that had expired but still had a lot of sugar left, and whispered, "From now on, I will give all my things to my brother, okay?"

"You still call him brother, how can a thief be your brother?" a child asked Zhou Jialuo.

"The teacher said that if something is stolen, you should call the police and arrest the thief."

"Lolo, let's call the police for you."

A group of children surrounded Zhou Jialuo chattering about how to call the police, how to catch the bad guys, and some said they should tell Uncle Zhou and Aunt Ming.

Zhou Jialuo couldn't speak amidst the uproar, and could only shout over and over again, "My brother is not a thief!"

Ming Ye was still picking up things, he picked them up and put them in the wooden box, keeping his head down all the time, no one could see the look on his face, like a trapped animal in the Colosseum for people to watch and play.

Xiaoyu suddenly kicked the wooden box over with his feet, and the things rolled out again. He laughed and said, "Oh, I didn't pay attention, you should pick it up again."

Ming Ye raised his head and stared at him, with cold hatred in his eyes, Xiaoyu was frightened, and became angry again, his neck was red, and cursed: "Why, do you want to fight?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ming Ye punched him in the face, and he screamed out.

The other children screamed, Xiao Yu lost face, raised his fist and hit Ming Ye, the two fought together, Xiao Yu was not Ming Ye's opponent at all, and was hugged by Zhou Jialuo's leg.

"Don't bully my brother!" Zhou Jialuo punched him with his fist.

Xiaoyu was punched by Ming Ye again, his eyebrows were crooked in anger, and he shouted: "He hit me first!"

Zhou Jialuo couldn't stop the two of them, so he burst into tears, his voice was so loud that everyone was silenced immediately, and they gathered around to persuade him not to cry.

Not long after, several parents came up to look for their children, including Mingyan and Aunt Zhang who led the way.

Aunt Zhang saw Zhou Jialuo who was out of breath from crying, she called out "be good", and hurriedly hugged her downstairs.Mingyan glanced at Mingye, and asked the oldest Xiaoyu what happened.

"This man stole Luo Luo's things and beat me!" Xiao Yu pointed at Ming Ye arrogantly.

Xiaoyu's mother hurriedly hugged her son into her arms, touched the bruise on her son's face distressedly, and complained to Mingyan: "How can there be such a child in Mrs. Zhou's family, who steals things and beats others? No education at all."

The other wife may have disliked Mingyan a long time ago, so she said with a sly smile: "The child's upbringing environment is the most important thing, most people from the countryside have some bad habits, but don't spoil Luoluo, Mrs. Zhou still thinks carefully. Some are better."

Ming Yan's face turned red, she gave Ming Ye a vicious look, and said with a forced smile, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Wu, this is just a nanny's son. Seeing how pitiful he is staying at home, who would ever want to be so troublesome. Wait a minute Ask the doctor to come and show Xiaoyu."

Ming Ye kept his head down and remained silent, holding the wooden box tightly in his arms.

In the end, the parents and children went out, Mingyan stayed at the end, the high heels slammed on the floor, every sound made his heart constrict.

Mingyan didn't have much time to fix him, so she casually picked up the hot water bottle on the table, he saw that he backed away in horror, but the hot water was still splashed on his legs.

The extreme pain made his eyes turn red instantly, but he still didn't say a word, gritted his teeth and didn't shed a tear, just stared stubbornly at the crushed piece of cake on the ground.

People always run from darkness to seek light.

But they don't know that things that emit light can also burn people.