Welcome to Forge Town

Allen is writing a report.He felt particularly unlucky these days.

Three months ago, with great difficulty, he moved to this remote town with a desperate heart.Who knows, it's only been three months. First, a student committed suicide. On the same day, because he drank too much, he inexplicably beat up another student.

Teachers are violent to students. This kind of violence cannot be easily resolved no matter which country it is placed in.So the next day, even Miranda, who has never seen the end of the dragon, rarely asked him for an appointment efficiently.

Fortunately, I have a good conduct, and the other party happened to be stationed at the school and didn't intend to make a big deal—it is said that when Jelson came home, he only told his parents that he was beaten by an unknown person while walking on the side of the road.In short, Allen does not have to be laid off for the time being.But while he was writing the review report, false rumors about hooligans also began to spread outside.

Although such a big thing happened, for some reason Alan really didn't have an impression of what happened in the second half of the night that night.His impression was only that Simon went to the bar with him, and then included the bar decoration and the owner's bartending gestures and so on.As for what happened after he drank that glass of wine, he was completely ignorant.

He also thought about asking Simon, after all, he was one of the few people who was with him at the time.But Simon has that unreliable look, just smiling and making up some wild and unconstrained reasons.For example, they were jealous for the sake of Simon himself, and then fought, so they easily exposed the matter and didn't want to talk about it any more.

However, during this meeting, Allen could vaguely feel that Simon's attitude towards him seemed to be different from the past.He couldn't tell the difference for the time being, he just felt that Simon was no longer pressing him—however, this might be a good thing for Allen, who was afraid of socializing.After all, there are so many bad things going on now, so Allen will leave him alone for the time being.

The day went on as usual.

Things have been nearly a week apart since Joanna's death.Human beings have always been forgetful creatures. As the turmoil subsides day by day, the relationship between people is no longer tense.Come this Saturday, everyone is no different from usual.Nicole, who had been struggling with work some time ago, finally finished her medical thesis and was released from the shackles of the laboratory.

"Ah, I can't believe I've lived through another calamity!" Nicole said weakly, raising her head.

At this time, she was slumped on a velvet sofa covered with checkered soft cloth.Its flame-red hair, which resembled her personality, was sparsely scattered on her forehead.And sitting opposite her was a young man with slender hands and feet, with curly brown hair and a gentle and handsome appearance—it was Alan Walton.

Now, the two of them are in the same bakery.According to Nicole, this is the best dessert shop in the town, bar none, because the owner, Petit, has the world's top cake craftsmanship.So every time, as long as she is lucky enough to "escape from birth", she will come here to order a sand shelf and Ceylon black tea, let the sweet chocolate soothe her taste buds, and the elegant tea fragrance comfort her tired heart.

But Ellen hopes that Nicole is not always so busy, otherwise, if she has a piece of cake a day, her fat will definitely pile up to the top of Ben Nevis.For a woman who loves beauty, this is not a good talk worthy of praise.In addition, he also recommends that all the public who like to witness miracles should first look at Nicole's obsession with the amount of sugar in black tea before admiring the wonders of various places.

"Maybe you can stir them first," Alan said, frowning.He was referring to the sugar cubes in Nicole's black tea. They were piled up like a hill at this time, and their total volume was definitely much larger than the teacup. They were maintaining a dangerous balance that was precarious, and could trigger an extremely tragic landslide at any time.

As a future witness, Allen certainly hopes that everything will stop at hypothetical.

Nicole gave him a quick look. "Oh, of course," she said, and without stopping, threw a few more sugar cubes in. "I heard that you slept with Simon last night. Is it you or is he in bed this time?" She asked with an innocent expression, as if she was just asking Alan what plans he had later.

Alan nearly spilled his tea. "Where did you hear that?" He subconsciously asked, and then added: "Also, we are just ordinary colleagues." He said, and added an accent to the word ordinary.My God, he's not used to Nicole's leaping mind.

"Hmm, it sounds really believable." Nicole snorted, after a siege, the sugar bowl on the table was finally empty, so she had to stir the black tea reluctantly. "Dear Ellen, you have to know that suppressing desire is not a virtue—of course, if you think it's too private to talk about same-sex sex with beautiful friends, you can hold it back. As a friend, there should be a tacit understanding to understand you. She smiled cheerfully, showing two rows of white and neat teeth, and stuffed another bite of cake into her mouth.

Allen didn't want to argue anymore.Coincidentally, one person took over the conversation for him.

"Hey, baby Nicole, how are you today? It seems that your thesis has been settled." Behind Allen, a female voice with a gentle voice said.It walked around Allen and walked to their table, and then Allen saw what she looked like.

It was a woman in her fifties, with brown curly hair and a few strands of silver.He has a slightly blessed figure, but with a cheerful and generous smile on his face, he looks very kind.Even if Ellen was a yard away from her, she could still smell the faint scent of bread on her body.

So Alan can probably guess her identity.

Sure enough, upon seeing her, Nicole immediately greeted her with a smile. "Oh, Petty, I just saw that you were busy, so I didn't bother you—yes, the paper will be published in the next issue! I really miss you this half month, and of course, your wonderful craftsmanship!" She As he spoke, he opened his hands to give each other a warm hug.

"Hey, I miss you too, Nicole baby." Petty smiled back and hugged.She patted Nicole on the back, her eyes filled with love as an elder.

Then she looked at Alan: "Oh, this is a new face - handsome child, you should be the new teacher in our town?" She said with a kind smile, and gave the young child a hug.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Allen politely kissed Patty on both cheeks. "Alan Walton, you can call me Alan."

"Okay, Alan, welcome to the town of Fogg. You can also call me Patty, I am the owner of this small shop." Petty said with a smile: "Okay, you two don't restrain me, Sit down, nothing is more precious than tea time, please enjoy this good time!" She said, and soon after leaving, she sent another plate of freshly baked biscuits.

Nicole ate a piece and immediately showed a satisfied expression. "My God, Petty is an absolute angel."

"Yeah, a nice guy." Allen agreed, nibbling on the biscuit too.Although it is a bit hasty and cheap to conclude that human nature is good or bad just for a plate of free cookies.But there is a much lower bar for being a good person than being an angel.

"By the way, Ellen, do you know Jill?" Nicole said mysteriously while stirring the black tea.

Allen looked up at her. "Jill Phelps? What, is she Patty's kid?" he asked.At the same time, what Simon said last night came to mind: as long as anyone in this small town has children, they are all their students.

"No, but the meaning is about the same." Nicole chuckled.Like Simon, she was always eager to introduce the intricate kinship of this small town to outsiders. "Petty is Jill's aunt. Jill originally had an older brother, and Patty has been their only relative since their parents died in a car accident. You know, it's not easy for a woman to support two children. Especially Last year, after that tyrannical fire that took Michael - oh, Lord, that nearly knocked her down!"

At this point, Nicole suddenly fell silent.She bowed her head and apologized, probably regretting bringing it up.

Ellen drank his tea and cast his eyes on Patty who was busy clearing the table not far away - at this time, the warm sunlight shone on her through the light fog, as if shrouding her in a dazzled halo.

■

In the evening, the faint light of street lamps shone on the white snow.

Allen waved goodbye to Nicole and walked back to the dormitory.Just when he was almost approaching his home, Allen saw a figure sitting far away in front of the steps of his single-family house.He recognized that it was Jill Phelps just mentioned.

Jill seemed to be waiting for him, and during this time, she used the door lamp to flip through the book in her hand-reading has always been a great way to pass the time in this small town where the mobile phone has lost signal.

This week without Joanna's interference, Jill's condition is obviously much better. Although she is also depressed, at least her clothes are no longer in a mess.Black hair covered half of her face, and Alan thought of the previous meeting—he knew that she should be humbled by her face tattooed by fire.And he also knows now that the fire not only took away half of her face, but also took away her brother and the better life she could have had.

He stopped her. "Hey Jill, how are you doing today?"

Jill was startled by the sudden sound, and the book fell to the ground. "Waugh, Mr. Walton," she stammered, her voice still weak.

Allen picked up the book for her. "'Xiaocao, although your steps are small, you own the whole land under your feet. (#Note)'" He smiled and returned the book to her, "How did you read it, can it bring inspiration to your creation?" He asked Asked in a gentle tone, and gestured to the red book in her hand with his eyes.It was a collection of Drifting Birds.The little gift he gave her two days ago.

A while ago, Allen accidentally learned that Jill likes to write novels, especially those with suspenseful themes.So he would give Jier a classic every half a month in exchange for new progress in the novel.He liked Jill's eyes when she talked about the novel, full of life.He hoped that she would be able to find an outlet for life through this, so he was really pleased for her.

"Yes, yes." She whispered, and hurriedly turned around and took out a stack of papers from her bag. "Here's the progress of the week."

"Great, I really want to read it right away." Allen took it with a smile, and turned over the stack of manuscript paper. "Last time, it was the plot where Qiang En was almost arrested. That was really tantalizing. On one side is a carefully laid out police network, and on the other side is a [-]-meter-deep cliff..." He said, and then gradually Read the word down.

But looking at these densely packed words, Allen suddenly felt a little withdrawn.

His vision began to distort, like an old photo that was overexposed, so it was slightly pale and blurry.He blinked hard, trying to stop the violent dizziness, but it was like a huge wave in the dark night, almost drowning him.

After a while, he took his eyes off the paper.

——For some reason, he was no longer at the door of his house, and even Jill, the person he talked to just now, was nowhere to be found.

At this time, he was standing on a top floor.From the messy sports equipment on the first floor, he can tell that this should be a sports equipment hall far away in the woods with few people, and he is on the roof of its third floor.

How did he get here?

All of a sudden, Allen heard a voice behind him saying: "'Don't put love on the edge of the cliff, because the heights are too cold (#Note)'." He turned around suddenly, only to see a male figure standing by the guardrail.

It was Jelsen Torhet who had just met yesterday.

On Jersen's face, there were still traces of broken skin and bruises from yesterday, and he looked very embarrassed.He squinted his eyes half-closed, as if his consciousness was not clear.But the corners of his mouth were wide open, with a strong smile, like an abstract oil painting with sharp brushstrokes.

Then, right in front of Allen, he staggered up the guardrail, seemingly crazy, and jumped down with a smile on his face...

#Note 1: Tinygrass, your steps are small, but you possess the earth under yourtread.-- "Wandering Bird Collection", written by Tagore.

#Note 2: Donotseatyourloveuponaprecipicebecauseitishigh.--"Wandering Bird Collection", written by Tagore.

The author has something to say:

I divided the segments randomly this time, but it should be better than the original dense ones, right?