South of Chutian

Four days later, Tang Heng met Tian Xiaoqin's younger brother.

He has the same round eyes as his sister, and the same easy-to-remember name.When Jiang Ya picked him up from Hunan, he was even wearing his school uniform.

"Xiaoqin's parents can't come..." Taking advantage of Tian Xiaohui's meal break, Jiang Ya told them softly, "Her father is working outside, and her mother...is not willing."

Tang Heng was dumb: "Why?"

Jiang Ya sighed, and said: "They feel that Xiaoqin's death is disgraceful and embarrassing for them. I was about to give up at first, but Xiaohui suddenly said that he would come to Wuhan with me."

"He's only in junior high school?"

"It's high school, and the kid is short."

Tian Xiaohui ate very quickly, then he cleaned up the garbage and thanked Tang Heng and Li Yuechi very cautiously.

"You're welcome... did you go to high school? How high?"

"Second year in high school..." Tian Xiaohui sat on the chair, "The next semester will be the third year in high school."

His figure is indeed very thin, about 1.6 meters [-] in height, Tang Heng thought to himself, how does this look like a boy in the second year of high school?

Li Yuechi asked calmly: "Do you know why you came to Wuhan this time?"

Tian Xiaohui was silent for a few seconds, then whispered, "I know a little..."

"Come with me and I'll tell you."

Li Yuechi got up and walked out, Tang Heng wanted to follow, but he stopped him with his eyes.

He took Tian Xiaohui to the balcony at the end of the corridor, and Tang Heng watched their backs from afar.

"Heng..." Jiang Ya said cautiously, "How is your mother?"

"She agreed..." Tang Heng said in a low voice.

"Promise to help us?"

"Um……"

"That's... pretty good."

"Have you brought the house keys?"

"What?" Jiang Ya was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized, "You mean Huquan's house?"

"right……"

"I brought it..."

"If I'm free these two days, I'd like to go."

"Hey..." Jiang Ya's expression was a little embarrassed, "Are you sure? I'm afraid you read those things..."

Tang Heng said softly, "I'm fine..."

So far, what is there to say?They have no way out.Last night, An Yun sent the cremation certificate issued by the funeral home six years ago.The certificate stated the specific time when Tian Xiaoqin was cremated—that is, the afternoon she jumped off the building, before her parents rushed to Wuhan.This certificate was originally kept by the School of Social Sciences. Tang Heng didn't know how An Yun got it. She saw that her cheeks were slightly swollen, and she must have been beaten.

"This is useful..." She put the certificate in an envelope and quickly handed it to Tang Heng, as if she didn't dare to look directly at it.

"thanks……"

An Yun shook her head, but said nothing.

"When I came back this time, Wuhan has changed so much..." Jiang Ya sighed softly, "There are more subways and high-rise buildings, but Luoyu Road is still so bad..."

"Jiang Ya..." Thinking of what Qian Anyun said in the tea house, Tang Heng couldn't help asking, "Do you think I'm hateful?"

"What are you talking about!"

"If Li Yuechi wasn't for me at the beginning... maybe at that time, he could..." Maybe Tang Guomu could be punished at that time, maybe Li Yuechi wouldn't have to go to jail, maybe An Yun wouldn't have to bear the pain and secrets these years.

"Don't think about it!" Jiang Ya suddenly became nervous, and grabbed Tang Heng's shoulder, "That's not what you think about it, okay? If Li Yuechi hadn't kept it from you at that time, you might have collapsed a long time ago, can you? I have put a question mark in my life!"

Tang Heng smiled bleakly: "Am I so fragile in your eyes?"

"What do you think? Look at how you have lived these six years... You really can't think like this, Tang Heng. If nothing else, just talk about Li Yuechi. Back then, he wanted to protect you, but he didn't want to be ashamed of Xiaoqin, so Just... he wants to protect you, you understand?"

"I understand your idea."

"I don't blame you, really..." Jiang Ya murmured, "We were all too young at that time, too young... Young people are always easily driven to a dead end."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuechi and Tian Xiaohui walked out of the balcony.When they entered the room, Tang Heng saw Tian Xiaohui's eyes were red.

Tang Heng thought to himself: He knows everything.

Tian Xiaohui blew his nose, sat in front of the table, and opened the zipper of his schoolbag.

He even brought a stack of papers.

The three adults were stunned for a moment, Jiang Ya stepped forward and patted Tian Xiaohui on the shoulder: "Xiaohui, so you are a top student?"

"I don't count..." Tian Xiaohui resumed his reserved look, "The teacher left too much homework."

A day later, Li Yuechi met with Wang Lili and got a statement of circumstances signed and fingerprinted by her.

Three days later, Fu Liling came to the hotel and handed Tang Heng a USB flash drive.

She's visibly thinner, with dark circles under her eyes that she can't even cover up.At that time, Li Yuechi happened to go out with Jiang Ya to run errands, but the T-shirt and jeans he changed were scattered beside the bed, while Tang Heng's watch was placed on the other side of the big bed.

Tang Heng didn't intend to avoid anything.

Fu Liling's voice was almost pleading: "Are you really thinking about it? Don't be impulsive, Tang Heng, really—the resistance you will encounter is much greater than you imagined."

Tang Heng said: "Think it over..."

Fu Liling said in a trembling voice: "This matter is not just Tang Guomu's problem. The leaders of the social college all have to be responsible for it. In other words, you are against the entire Hanyang University... and the handling of this matter back then. The police will also be implicated in this matter...Have you ever thought about it, the girl's parents reached a settlement with the school back then, and now you only found a minor child...How sure are you?"

Tang Heng was silent for a while, then suddenly said another thing: "Mom, do you know that during the two or three years when I was most difficult, I often felt that I could die at any time. It wasn't because I was desperate or in pain, that feeling was similar to So... this world has nothing to do with me, it doesn’t matter if I live or die. A teacher suggested that I drop out of school, saying that my worldview is no longer suitable for sociological research.”

"You never told me—"

"He makes sense. If a person has nothing to do with this world, how can he study the operation of this world?" Tang Heng stared at the titanium silver USB flash drive in his hand, shaking his head, "Until now, I have finally returned to this world. The world is out, and it actually feels bad. I know that we might be doing nothing, that we might not be changing anything, that we might still be doing stupid things...just like back then."

"But it's not just to avenge Tian Xiaoqin, nor is it just to avenge Li Yuechi, I have to continue for myself, because—"

"Tang Heng!" Fu Liling interrupted him, as if she knew that he had made up her mind, but she couldn't bear to listen any longer, and after a few seconds, she whispered, "I'm leaving, if you need help...call me. "

"Um……"

Fu Liling walked to the door, then turned her head and glanced at the big snow-white bed behind Tang Heng.

Fu Liling asked, "Is he treating you well?"

Tang Heng replied: "Very good..."

Fu Liling quickly left the hotel.

That night, Tang Heng, Li Yuechi, Jiang Ya, An Yun, the four adults took Tian Xiaohui back to Jiang Ya's old residence.

Probably due to the excellent location, there are still many residents in the community. The once narrow sidewalks have been widened, and electronic locks have been installed on the corridors.Jiang Ya first went to the property to make up for six years of property and water and electricity bills, in exchange for a small access control card.

Swipe your card and go upstairs.Jiang Ya walked in the front, and his voice trembled when he took out the key: "Damn... I almost forgot which floor my house is on."

Insert the key into the lock, turn it twice slightly, and the door opens.

The air smelled of dust.

When five people entered the room, Tang Heng saw huge cardboard boxes piled up on the balcony at a glance.He walked forward slowly, and saw that the cartons were sealed tightly with tape, and the top box had "Electrical Appliances" written on it.

Is it the pot they used to cook the noodles, the water boils quickly, or is it the air conditioner that Li Yuechi is always reluctant to turn on?

Li Yuechi's voice came from behind: "Tang Heng..."

Tang Heng turned around, trying to calm himself down: "These are our things, right?"

Li Yuechi nodded, and put his arms around his shoulders: "When you have time, take it apart slowly."

They roughly cleaned up the living room, then Tang Heng took out his laptop, and Jiang Ya went to turn on the projector.The projector's battery has run out of power after not being used for too long.

Li Yuechi went out to buy batteries.

Tian Xiaohui sat on the sofa, clasped his knees with his hands, but looked around with strong curiosity in his eyes.Jiang Ya smiled and said to him: "I haven't been back for six years, the room is quite dirty... Do you want to go around?"

Tian Xiaohui shook his head quickly, a little embarrassed: "Your house is really like a house in a TV series."

"Waiting is also waiting..." Jiang Ya said, "Let's take a stroll."

He took Tian Xiaohui upstairs, only Tang Heng and An Yun were left in the empty living room.The two sat on a sofa each, and neither of them spoke first.

Jiang Ya's voice came faintly from upstairs.

Tang Heng got up and pushed open the window.The temperature has increased sharply in the past two days, and the night wind has been warm.A few pear trees were planted downstairs in Jiang Ya's house. At this time, the pear blossoms were blooming, and even in the night, one could still see a shadowy whiteness.

This is a short spring in Wuhan, so beautiful that it feels unreal, and it makes people willing to live in dreams and die.

Suddenly a muffled sound was heard.Tang Heng realized in an instant that it was the sound of drums.

He and An Yun looked at each other, and found that An Yun's expression had also changed.

Upstairs there is a room dedicated to musical instruments.

About half a minute later, Jiang Ya returned to the living room with Tian Xiaohui carrying a guitar.

"Do you remember?" Jiang Ya said softly, "At that time, I bought it from Lao Bu's friend for 5000 yuan. Later, I found out that it cost [-] yuan and was cheated by his friend. Lao Bu kept apologizing to me. .”

Tian Xiaohui asked curiously, "Who is Old Bu?"

"One of our acquaintances, who runs a bar..." Jiang Ya said with a smile, "I don't know where he is now."

He carefully unzipped his guitar bag and took out a bright red acoustic guitar.Tang Heng stared blankly at him as he plucked the strings, then tuned the strings and tested the sound.

After a while, Jiang Ya said: "You can play..."

He stared at the guitar when he said this, but Tang Heng knew he was speaking to him.Back then, An Yun played the bass and Jiang Ya played the drums, and Tang Heng was also the lead singer and guitarist.

But——I can't answer.Can't say it.

I may not be able to play anymore.

Like not being able to sing anymore.

But what should he tell them?In front of Tian Xiaohui, he didn't want to appear too weak.Although he admits that at this moment in front of this guitar, he is weak.

"I'll try..." An Yun said suddenly.

"The sword is not old?" Jiang Ya handed her the guitar, turned to Tian Xiaohui and said, "This sister is amazing, she can play bass guitar and drums."

An Yun hugged the guitar and seemed to be in a daze for a few seconds, then she lowered her head, pressed the chords with her left hand, and strummed the strings with her right hand.

The familiar tune overwhelmed Tang Heng.

She played "South".

Jiang Ya hummed along: "Where did I fall in love for the first time? I don't know how she is now. Who is still lingering by the lake in front of my house at this time... Time flies so fast, these memories have new problems every day. I don't know. When will I remember again..."

Tang Heng opened his eyes wide and locked on the guitar.He watched An Yun's fingers move up and down, the movements were a little jerky, maybe it was because he hadn't played for six years.What surprised him was that even after all this time, he could still clearly remember each chord and the order in which they were rotated... Muscle memory lasts longer than the brain, is that so?

After the song was over, the living room suddenly became quiet.No one spoke.

Tang Heng turned his head and saw Li Yuechi standing quietly at the door holding two AA batteries.It turned out that he had already returned.

The light in the foyer was off, and it was a little dark.And Li Yuechi's eyes flashed with two strange lights.

Just like six years ago, he stood in the audience and watched Huster perform.

Slush claws, time flies by, and there are still some things left behind.