secret galaxy

Liang Qian chose a restaurant full of street atmosphere. To be honest, it's not really a restaurant, but just a small window in the gourmet city near the office building.

Duan Xinghe just came to Xingbang to work, and he was not familiar with the nearby buildings. After following Liang Qian into the food city, he saw Liang Qian's "ulterior motives" and said gently and solemnly: "You don't have to worry about me. save money."

Obviously using an old-fashioned mobile phone, wearing a white shirt that was hardened with starch, but speaking so calmly, Liang Qian smiled, walked to the window of the dry pot bullfrog familiarly, and replied provocatively: "I didn't save you money, I'm fine with this."

He went to the window to greet the boss, Duan Xinghe picked up the greasy and slippery menu, ordered a medium portion of dry pot bullfrog, two bowls of rice, and added some vegetarian dishes.

After ordering, the two found a quiet place and sat down facing each other.

Liang Qian turned sideways slightly, with his right shoulder against the back of the sofa and his left hand on his thigh, staring intently at Duan Xinghe, showing a deep and thoughtful look.He was still shocked by the news of Duan Xinghe's dropout, wondering how to use his words, but Duan Xinghe took the initiative to speak, his tone was not sure, with a little tentativeness, he said: "You haven't changed much."

Liang Qian raised his eyebrows and smiled brightly: "You have changed."

Duan Xinghe was puzzled, Liang Qian raised his chin and said, "In high school, you were so hard to talk about."

The conversation came to a stalemate, and the atmosphere became subtle and dull. Fortunately, the steaming hot pot bullfrog was on the table in time, and the two exchanged their chopsticks in a friendly manner.

Liang Qian was absent-minded, he didn't know how to eat, and Duan Xinghe probably did the same, but no one showed it, and only exchanged a few innocuous comments about the food.Liang Qian often came to this food city to eat when he was a child. At that time, the surrounding area of ​​Xingbang Law Firm was far less prosperous than it is today. At that time, this couple was the one who made the dry pot. More than ten years later, the neighbors around changed one crop after another. Stick to the same place and witness the changes of the times.

Duan Xinghe echoed and said that the taste is quite good.

When he picked up the dishes, the cuffs of his shirt were drawn back, revealing a thin wrist with a whitish scar on it.Liang Qian noticed that the bottom of his sleeves was severely frayed, and the buttons fell off, but the threads were still entangled in the clothes, like a flaw in a perfect performance.

I don't know if Duan Xinghe noticed Liang Qian's gaze, but later he rolled up his sleeves twice, and the thread ends disappeared.

After eating quietly for a while, Duan Xinghe suddenly asked: "Did you become a lawyer because of family reasons?"

Liang Qian was noncommittal: "Why do you think so?"

"Your father is a lawyer and your mother is a judge, so it's natural..." Duan Xinghe paused after speaking a few words, as if he lacked confidence.

Liang Qian was surprised: "How do you know that my father is a lawyer and my mother is a judge."

"Before...everyone knew about it."

Liang Qian's family background is indeed not a secret, and many high school students know it well, but he did not expect that Duan Xinghe, who does not eat fireworks in the world, would also remember these trivial gossips.

It was getting dark, and this weird and silent dinner was coming to an end, Liang Qian drank the sour plum soup in the cup, decided not to beat around the bush, and directly asked Duan Xinghe why he dropped out of school.Although in terms of their friendship, prying into privacy seems a bit too far, but Liang Qian has an intuition that as long as he asks, Duan Xinghe will definitely answer.

"That..." Liang Qian just raised his head, but suddenly changed the topic, "Are you in a hurry?"

From 10 minutes ago, Duan Xinghe started looking at his watch, and the frequency of looking at it became more and more frequent.

"Well," Duan Xinghe was pointed out by him, and he simply admitted honestly, "I have something to do at home, I have to go back before it gets dark."

The time point of "it's so dark" is vague, Liang Qian glanced out the window, not wanting to delay Duan Xinghe's business, so he suggested doing this for today, anyway, we will be colleagues from now on, and we will see each other without looking up or down.

Duan Xinghe said yes softly, and said goodbye to him at the gate of the food city.As a result, Liang Qian came out of the underground garage and saw him standing by the side of the road, looking anxious and tired.

Liang Qian parked the car in front of him: "Have you left yet?"

Duan Xinghe was stunned, and after a while he said: "The electric car was sent for maintenance, I took Didi, but the driver hasn't come yet."

Liang Qian tapped on the steering wheel, "Get in the car."

"It's okay, no need, I won't bother you." Duan Xinghe shrugged off a little awkwardly.

Perhaps because he lost the aura of being the first in the grade, his refusal now has no weight in front of Liang Qian. Liang Qian got out of the car directly, opened the passenger door, looked at him with a playful and affectionate look, and said, "You must Shall I come down to invite Mr. Duan?"

Duan Xinghe couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to sit in the car, the tips of his ears were slightly red, maybe it was because he felt humiliated.

"Where do you live?"

"Red Maple Road."

Liang Qian had a vague impression that it should belong to the old city. Twenty years ago, it was densely populated and the public security was worrying. I don't know what it is like now.He drove forward according to the map navigation, and after two traffic lights, he asked Duan Xinghe if he minds if I play music.

Duan Xinghe shook his head, so Liang Qian pressed the play button.

As soon as the guitar prelude sounded, Duan Xinghe smiled and said, "Refrigerant Band."

"You know?" Since reuniting with Duan Xinghe this afternoon, Liang Qian has been shocked one after another. He looked at the people next to him excitedly and surprised, and his scorching eyes almost set Duan Xinghe on fire.

Duan Xinghe didn't dare to take it too seriously, and cautiously said that he had heard it once or twice.

"They are very small. There are relatively few noisepops in China, and even rarer ones that do well. Refrigerant's first album is the most classic and best-sounding. It is called "The Valley of Desire". At that time, only [-] records were released. Now It's out of print," Liang Qian came to Tan Xing, his whole face was radiant, Duan Xinghe was infected by him, and looked over intently, with a faint smile on his mouth.

"When I was a sophomore in high school, I don't know who gave me a copy of "The Valley of Desire", and I still keep it. Do you want it? I can lend it to you."

"No need," Duan Xinghe paused, and whispered thank you.

The road ahead is getting narrower and narrower, and the road surface is still full of potholes. It has already entered the old city of Yuzhou.The noisy and dirty living environment made Liang Qian frown frequently, especially when Duan Xinghe asked him to stop, saying that the concrete road in front of him was full of stalls and hawkers all the year round, and the car could not drive in, he finally couldn't help complaining: "Why? It’s been like this for many years, didn’t you say you want to develop it a long time ago?”

Duan Xinghe said: "The original developer went bankrupt, so it has been delayed for many years. I heard that this time is true, and it will be demolished soon."

Liang Qian saw that the road ahead was blocked, and he really couldn't go any further, so he had to pull over and stop.

"Where do you live?"

Duan Xinghe pointed to a five-story building in the distance, and explained with a little shame: "It's older."

Not only is it old, it is simply dilapidated.The building was obviously built decades ago, with mottled walls, many cracks, moss growing on the damp bottom, soot-like stains everywhere, and "severe vicissitudes" written on every detail.

The two didn't get along very well in high school. Liang Qian didn't know that Duan Xinghe lived in this kind of place. No, the whole class should be kept in the dark, because Duan Xinghe was always alone, withdrawn and rarely talked. Participate in socializing among classmates.

"Then I'm leaving," Duan Xinghe greeted him, saying thank you, Liang Qian.

His voice is very clear, as sweet as running water, and it seems that it has not changed in the past ten years. In Liang Qian's impression, this is the rare time when Duan Xinghe calls him by his name seriously.

He smiled: "Okay, see you tomorrow."

Duan Xinghe passed through the tricycles and street stalls selling socks, cockroach medicine, and snacks, and passed through a group of middle-aged men with their upper body bare, talking passionately and vulgarly, and disappeared at the end of the street.Liang Qian kept staring at his back, the white shirt stood out very brightly in his field of vision, which was incompatible with the noisy environment around him.

Half an hour later, Liang Qian returned to Tianze Garden.Although this community has a history of more than ten years, but the location is very green, and there are many detached or townhouses inside, so the house price has been rising steadily, which is far from the comparison of the old building where Duan Xinghe lives.

He threw down the car keys, turned on the air conditioner, took a can of Coke from the refrigerator, downed half of the bottle in one go, and lay down on the sofa to rest.It was almost a matter of time before and after, Yao Nandong also came back.

"Yo, our glorious people's judge is overtime." He lazily raised his shoulders and greeted with a playful smile.

"Smelly poor." Yao Nandong took off his leather shoes and walked towards him moving his sore shoulders.

"I'll squeeze it for you." Liang Qian patted the sofa cushion next to him, motioning for his mother to sit down.

While giving Yao Nandong a massage, he chatted some gossip. Seeing that Liang Yanjie was still gone at 09:30, he couldn't help but ask, "Where's my dad?"

"Dinning with Director Zhou of the Justice Bureau."

"What delicacies from mountains and seas can be eaten so late?" Liang Qian teased with a strange tone, "Is it because I went to find the lady?"

Yao Nandong laughed, nodded seriously, and said, "Don't be afraid, I'll call your godmother later, take them all and get all the stolen goods, and let your father go to the detention center for a few days."

Liang Qian laughed loudly, and massaged Yao Nandong's temples with his hands unhurriedly, "What are you doing, abusing your power."

"Or hire an actor to seduce your father." Yao Nandong made a gesture of "end" by the conductor of the orchestra, "Come and catch the turtle."

"That's fishing enforcement, too."

The mother and son were talking and laughing when there was a roar of a car motor outside the villa, followed by the greetings of the two parties. After a few minutes, the sound of the car faded away. Liang Yanjie unlocked it with his fingerprints and walked into the lobby of the villa.

"Are you all here?" Liang Yanjie changed his shoes with a smile, and there was a smell of wine on his body. Although he is 52 years old this year, his appearance, posture and spirit are all in good condition, like a young man in his early thirties .

"Who can pour me a glass of water." Liang Yanjie walked to the side of the mother and son, and sat down on the sofa.

"I'm tired," Yao Nandong said quietly.

Liang Qian imitated, "I'm tired too."

"Little bastard," Liang Yanjie scolded with a smile, "When I was young, I sat in court for eight hours a day, and when I was done, I didn't feel tired driving the train all night to investigate and collect evidence."

"That's you, I'm still dying, otherwise what are you going back to Yuzhou for?" Liang Qian went to the kitchen to make a cup of honey water for his father, and seeing Liang Yanjie take a few sips, his expression eased, and he asked tentatively, "So There is a new cleaner here, you know."

Liang Yanjie nodded, "A handsome young man with a good temperament and quick work, but he doesn't like to laugh. By the way, he has a similar name to the No.1 classmate in your high school."

Yao Nandong interrupted: "Which one, Sun... Duan... Duan Xinghe?"

When Liang Qian was studying, Liang Yanjie and Yao Nandong were busy with work and rarely went to school. The parents' meeting was held by Liang Qian's aunt and second aunt, so they never met Duan Xinghe.However, Duan Xinghe's unshakable and impressive record of being the first in every exam still left a deep impression on the couple on this name.

Liang Qian said angrily: "What do you mean by resemblance, that is my classmate."

"Really?" Liang Yanjie stared in surprise, and took a breath in disbelief, "Impossible? Didn't he go to B University? I heard from Xiao Zhong that this cleaner only has a high school degree."

"He dropped out of school in his junior year, and I don't know the specific reason."

The whole family was silent for a moment, Yao Nandong let out a long sigh, and said embarrassingly, what a pity.

"No wonder," Liang Yanjie patted his thigh loudly, "I remembered, Xiao Zhong mentioned it to me yesterday, saying that the little boy's family is very difficult, and his mother seems to be mentally ill."

A wave of hotness gushed out from his heart, Liang Qian frowned deeply, unbuttoned two shirt buttons, took a breath, and asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know the details. It should be that Xiao Zhong asked curiously during the interview, but Duan Xinghe didn't explain in detail." Liang Yanjie smacked his tongue and asked Liang Qian repeatedly, no way, is it really Duan Xinghe?

"Are you annoying?" Liang Qian felt more and more depressed, and went straight upstairs, saying that he was going to sleep.After going up a few steps, he suddenly changed his mind and turned to ask his father, "Is Zhuang Mei going to resign?"

Zhuang Mei is the front desk of Xingbang Law Firm. She is beautiful, generous, smart, lively and cheerful. She is the face of Xingbang Law Firm. She is usually responsible for receiving customers who come to consult, answering public calls, and occasionally helping the administrative staff.This beautiful woman is a graduate of the School of Political Science and Law. She originally planned to enter the legal profession. However, she was almost unlucky in the examination and failed the judicial examination for three consecutive years. Unknowingly, she worked in a "transitional" front desk position for a long time.

Liang Yanjie said: "She wants to resign and concentrate on preparing for this year's exam. How do you know?"

How could she know that this was Liang Qian's idea to her. Seeing that she is getting older and her memory is gradually deteriorating, if she doesn't work hard, the probability of passing will be even lower in the future.

"She will resign next month." Liang Qian leaned on the railing, looked down at his father, thought for a while, and said, "Don't recruit new people, let Duan Xinghe go on top. Cleaning is easy to find, the front desk Not necessarily."

Liang Yanjie pondered, drank a few sips of honey water unhurriedly, and then said: "Duan Xinghe has a good appearance and temperament, but his personality...is a bit cold, he doesn't like to talk or laugh... "

Liang Qian interrupted him politely: "Isn't it just serving tea and water? Why are you so enthusiastic? Are you running a law firm or a brothel?"

Yao Nandong couldn't help but slapped her husband's arm as if complaining.Liang Yanjie didn't care about his son's disobedience at all. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and grabbed his wife's hand, clasping his ten fingers together intimately, saying, "Yes, please, I understand."

Yao Nandong exchanged complicated glances with her husband, and asked with a half-smile, "Liang Xiaoqian, don't you like him?"

Liang Qian was silent for a while, and replied in a wrong way: "I feel very uncomfortable seeing him like this."