under fern mountain

There was no light in the dark bedroom, and after the night was screened by the thin window screens, only a layer of gray moonlight shone through.

Shi Ran and Pei Haojie slept on two ends of the bed, lying back to back on each end of the bed, leaving a distance of nearly one meter in between, the thin quilt separated each other, and the air-conditioning was continuously flowing in from here.

Sober, none of them took the initiative to approach each other.After falling asleep, they naturally rolled towards each other, hugging each other instinctively looking for a source of heat.

Shi Ran woke up for no reason at around five o'clock in the morning.

He was so wide awake that it was as if he had an alarm clock buried in his head.He opened his eyes as if greedy for warmth, lay in Pei Haojie's arms for more than ten minutes, and then carefully and slowly got out of it.Shi Ran shivered when his warm skin was suddenly exposed to the cold air.

He quietly came to the living room, dragged out the suitcase, and began to throw in all the New Year's goods hoarded in the locker, and tore off the clean clothes and underwear from the drying rack, and threw them in as well.

He packed his luggage in less than 10 minutes.

At 08:30, Pei Haojie suddenly felt weightless, as if falling off a cliff, and he woke up suddenly.

The right half of the bed was cold, and the quilt was lifted from a corner, and the mobile phone and charging cable on Shi Ran's bedside table disappeared.He turned around and turned around, narrowing his eyes and gradually waking up as the second hand of the watch ticked.

He got out of bed, turned on the water, washed up, walked around the room with his hips crossed, then the living room, the game room, and finally came to the entrance.

Shi Ran's shoes are not at the entrance.

There are still three days until the new year.

Shi Ran left.

For Shi Ran's unexpected and early return this year, the two elders were both surprised and happy, and started preparing meals when they received the call.After making the last phone call, the woman put on her padded jacket and waited for her son by the side of the road with her sleeves rolled up.

The car turned around an intersection, Shi Ran saw her figure waiting on the side of the road suddenly, and felt emotions welling up in his throat, and was quickly swallowed back by him.

"Mom." Shi Ran got out of the car and hugged the old woman first, "Why are you waiting here?"

"The meal is ready, I'll come out to get some fresh air, and I'll wait for you!" The woman hugged him back tightly, "Why are you wearing such a little...you're still skinny!"

There are very few things in Shi Ran's luggage, except for a few changes and laundry, the rest are all New Year's goods for them.He quickly dragged the luggage into the house, spread it out on the floor of the bedroom, and handed it to them one by one as if by magic.

Shi's father and Shi's mother disliked him for spending money, but the smile on his face couldn't be stopped.

"Hey, it looks like Xiao Pei picked this one! I bought this for the Chinese New Year two years ago, and your dad likes it very much. After that, he will buy this for every Chinese New Year...By the way, what about others?"

Shi Ran emptied his luggage and was hanging his clothes in the cabinet without looking up: "He is busy with work."

"That's right. In previous years, you all came here at night." Shi Mu nodded, "You should have waited for him to come with you."

Shi Ran finally sorted out his emotions, raised his head and smiled: "It's hard to go on vacation early this year, why aren't I allowed to come back early!"

The town in my hometown is still the same, with some changes and updates every year.The small shop across the street has been replaced with LED light signs.The tangle of wires was sheathed in new rubber sleeves for insulators.The asphalt roads are more evenly spaced than before.There are more and more cars and small bungalows.A small shopping mall was newly built on the east side.The video game street has been cleaned up, and clean pale pink tiles are spread at the entrance.

A lot of the changes here are refreshing without being overwhelming.It changes slowly, unlike the ever-changing cities that are replaced every day.

Will feelings be the same?Shi Ran was sitting on the doorstep smoking a cigarette, staring at the flock of crows standing on the rubber wire tube in a daze.

Cell phone signal is still poor, but much better than the previous two years.The place where he sat at the door had the best signal, completely full, but the screen was empty, without any missed calls or WeChat notifications.

It's three o'clock in the afternoon.

Shi Ran thought, what is he doing at three in the afternoon?I probably have eaten and have a lunch break.If the house is cold, he will turn on the air conditioner until it is hot.He always likes to make the house warm and drink cold beer in short sleeves.He used to laugh at him for having prince disease, he said that the cold air would reduce the sensitivity of his fingers playing games... Maybe he is also playing games now?Just like the previous two days.

"Messiah" does not need to type on the keyboard, does not need the fingers to be too sensitive, will he still turn the air conditioner to [-] degrees?

Shi Ran forced herself not to think about those unpleasant things.

On the first day home, he forced himself to divert his attention, and his state ranged from numbness to forced laughter.

The next day, his parents steamed some steamed buns and woke him up with the aroma at eight o'clock.He followed his parents from house to house, saying hello to neighbors and wandering the streets of the ever-changing town.When playing arcade games in the video game arcade, he thought of Pei Haojie again, and thought of the GoPro he won for himself, which hadn't really come in handy yet.When he got home in the afternoon, he chatted with his parents about work and life, squatted on the balcony to pick vegetables together, and actively prepared for the spring cleaning... It seemed that his mental state gradually improved.

On the third day, Shi Ran no longer subconsciously and frequently checked the empty mobile phone screen. He threw the mobile phone under the quilt, and the battery was not fully charged. He accompanied his parents to the vegetable market and bought clothes.Because he didn't bring any new clothes when he came back this time, Shi's mother went to the newly opened small shopping mall to pick out new clothes for him, saying that the New Year's attention should not be left behind.People put on new clothes to get rid of old energy, and they become more energetic unconsciously.

On New Year's Eve, Shi Ran got up early in the morning, and the withdrawal reaction in the city had completely disappeared. He didn't even touch his phone, and went straight to the kitchen to help after washing up.It was noon after this busy work. When I wanted to take a picture and send it to Moments, I went to find my mobile phone, only to find that there were two missed calls, from Pei Haojie.

He stood there clutching the phone for a while, then dialed back immediately, but the receiver was empty, there was no answer or dial tone.Called twice, same situation.

Either there was no signal or he blocked himself.Shi Ran calmly thought that the latter was more likely.This time the two had a cold war for three days, Pei Haojie might have struggled before calling him, but he missed it.According to his personality, it is not surprising that he would be angry.

The mood of taking pictures and sending them to Moments is gone.Shi Ran charged the phone and stared at the photo of the two on the screen saver in a daze.

The New Year's Eve dinner starts at noon.Shi Ran has been helping in the kitchen, his mobile phone is in his pocket, like a cold stone, he takes it out from time to time to have a look.

Too bad the call never came again.

The Chinese New Year in towns still retains the most simple and complete sense of ritual.What Shi Ran's parents expected was a New Year's Eve dinner for four people, with a total of fifteen dishes, including chicken, duck, fish, beef, sheep and pigs.It wasn't until the food was served that the elder felt something was wrong.

"Why hasn't Xiao Pei arrived yet?" Shi's mother looked sideways at Shi Ran, "Is it because the snowy road is difficult to walk, and the road is blocked? You can call and ask, nothing happened!"

He shouldn't be coming—the thought really came to him now.

He responded indiscriminately, walked out the door, and hung up on Pei Haojie at the place with the best signal.This time the line was connected, and I could hear the beep on the other side, but no one answered.He repeatedly dialed and pressed 'redial' almost mechanically, but no matter how many times he heard from the mobile phone, "the number you dialed is temporarily unanswered".

In the end, Shi Ran almost became paranoid, and he didn't stop this mechanical repetitive movement until Father Shi pulled him back to the room.

It was almost seven o'clock, under the light, Shi Ran's parents also saw that there was something wrong with his face, and they made faces at each other.

"You and Xiao Pei... Are you having a conflict?" Shi's mother asked hesitantly.

"No, he's just busy with work." Shi Ran put his chopsticks on the table with a smile, "Let's eat first?"

"Can't get through on his cell phone? How about... Let me give you a call?" Shi Mu asked again.

This time, Shi Ran didn't say a word, took the initiative to pick up two chopsticks fish for the elders, and then held up the teacup: "Dad, Mom, happy new year! You should also be healthy this year!"

The sky slowly sank, and the moon at night seemed to be smashed into the sky.There were sparse sounds of falling cannons in the town, and most of them were children who couldn't help chasing after them.

The New Year's Eve dinner on the table was already a bit cold, and the two elders were not in a hurry to collect it.The TV was on, and the three of them were sitting on the sofa eating melon seeds and apples, each thinking about it in their own way.

As soon as it got dark, the sound of firecrackers outside the window gradually became more complicated.Flowers, tube cannons, small firecrackers, sky monkeys, two kicks - Shi Ran listened attentively, and could distinguish each of them.His eyes were fixed on the Spring Festival Gala, his ears were listening to the cannons, and he was thinking about other things in his mind. No matter how he looked, he could see that he was absent-minded.

Seeing that he was still not in good condition, the second elder simply pulled out two large boxes of firecrackers from the backyard: "Go out and release the small ones, and join in the fun! We are older and don't care about this, and we didn't buy too much!"

Shi Ran knew that so many fireworks were actually bought for him and Pei Haojie to set off together.Every year.Especially Pei Haojie, who was as excited as a child when setting off the fireworks.

He didn't refuse, picked and picked in the box, and finally chose a few long-stemmed cannons.This kind of cannon is half a meter long, and the length is one and a half meters. The longer and thicker the pole, the greater the recoil, and the farther the bullets are fired.Shi Ran lit a cigarette, lit the cannon with the cigarette, held it to his chest like a gun, and aimed the cannon at the moon.

Flower bombs were sprayed forward one by one, and the red, yellow, blue, and green flames flashed in the air in a parabola and then went out, and the base just fell down on his chest and his heart.

Almost suffocated.

After one shot, thick white smoke remained in the air.Looking up, the outline of the moon is already very blurred.

Shi Ran took two puffs on his cigarette and lit another.This time he was no longer aiming at the moon, and there seemed to be an imaginary enemy in the dark and blurred shadows in the distance.He stood there, fiercely, aiming at the void in the air one after another, spraying flower bombs.

The second one is gone.There was only half of Shi Ran's cigarette left, so he lit the third one without hesitation.

The smoke a few meters away was already unbelievably thick, and the firework shot out like a flash bomb, illuminating a figure in the cloud of smoke by surprise.

Shi Ran was stunned for a moment, and the cannon in his hand made another sudden sound.

Someone came out of the smoke package. He was wearing a black down jacket, carrying a few boxes with nylon straps, and he was also smoking a cigarette, with a tired look on his face.

Shi Ran unconsciously clenched the cannon tightly.

A flower bomb was almost shot past the man's face.

"Of course." He didn't even hide, he stood a few meters away and looked at Shi Ran, "I'm back."