Tender trapping

The evening wind was very cold, Ran Xu wrapped his cotton clothes tightly and walked out of the school.

He didn't want to go back to the dormitory today, the thought of facing Sun Cheng there made him feel sick to his stomach.

However, Ran Xu didn't plan to spend money to stay in a hotel outside - although there were indeed many cheap shops around the school, he didn't want to waste money on such places.

He is short of money.

Xue Xiaoxia called him again today to ask for money, saying that his brother had to go to the town to go to elementary school, and the expenses were high, and the money she earned from working alone was not enough to pay the rent in the town.

"Take your paints, paper, save it... What paints can't be painted, if you can paint, it's over. Oh, it's hard for me to go to work every day by myself."

"It's better if you don't go out to play cards." Ran Xu has said this many times, and he would quarrel with Xue Xiaoxia at the beginning, but now he is numb.

Anyway, no matter how many times he said it, Xue Xiaoxia would not change it.

Ran Xu listened to his biological mother muttering in her native dialect on the phone for a long time, what to say, the times are different now, and the news said that socializing is also accumulating resources for life.

He didn't speak, but just thought about what kind of social life a group of old rural women gathered around to play cards.

But he didn't want to discuss this with Xue Xiaoxia today. If he really wanted to talk about it, she could still find [-] excuses for gambling money.

The student scholarship is not enough, and he has to send money home.

So Ran Xu went to work in a nightclub called Minority. Although this kind of place is not very clean, the salary is high, and the working hours basically do not delay the class.

The manager of that store was nice, because of Ran Xu's inconvenient legs, he threw him to help in the back kitchen, so that he didn't have to contact the customers in the store and saved a lot of trouble.

After a few months, he gradually adapted to his working life.

Although he wasn't on duty tonight, after much deliberation, Ran Xu decided to go there to make do for the night, at least to avoid sleeping on the street in the cold wind.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the school to Minority. As Ran Xu walked, he looked at the small card in his hand through the street light.

Black hot stamping, with Zhuo Wenlang's name simply printed on it, and a string of phone numbers underneath. Turning it over, there is only a letter "Z" on the back. There are no extra positions, companies, etc. It looks like a rather personal business card.

Ran Xu rubbed the card repeatedly with his fingertips, the paper was very good, it felt like it was made of pure cotton pulp, just like the feeling Zhuo Wenlang himself gave him... Warm.

It seems that such a vocabulary appears to a stranger who just met, it seems a bit contrary, but Ran Xu really couldn't think of any other adjectives from his mind - he was annoyed by his poor vocabulary, I also regret not being able to perform well in front of Zhuo Wenlang.

Before leaving, the man waved to him with a smile and said, "If I have time, I invite you out to dinner, and I have the right to apologize."

Ran Xu was dazzled by his sudden invitation, and was speechless for a while, watching Zhuo Wenlang's tall figure disappear at the corner of the street.

It was only later that I realized that those words were mostly polite, and I was so stupid that I took it seriously, and didn't even say goodbye to others.

·

Ran Xu carefully put the small card in his hand into the inner pocket of the padded jacket, and continued to walk against the cold wind.

There is a wide road between the school and Minority, and most people walk directly on the road, but Ran Xu's legs are always inconvenient for him to catch the traffic lights, so he still has a few minutes to go around and take the underground passage.

The underground passage was built in the early years, but now it has been gradually eliminated under the urban traffic planning. It has been in disrepair for a long time, and no one manages it. It has become the "home" of many homeless people.

When Ran Xu walked down the stairs step by step, there were already five or six people lying there in a mess. They were far apart and each was doing different things.

The sound of Ran Xu's footsteps echoed in the empty underground passage, causing several homeless men to look up at him. One of them grabbed Ran Xu's trouser leg and shook the small stainless steel bowl at his feet to him , the meaning is obvious, I want him to donate some money.

"Students." The tramp couldn't speak clearly, and started laughing after saying this sentence, his spirit seemed to be abnormal, "Students, students, hurry home... Come home..."

"I don't have a home." Ran Xu responded, fumbling for the change on his body under the dim light.

Thirteen yuan and fifty cents.

He pinched the three banknotes in his hand, and was hesitating whether to give them, when he looked up and saw the dilapidated walls of the underground passage full of graffiti.

Someone was doing graffiti here before, but it was not painted all over the wall like it is now. The exaggerated red paint spread from the mossy wall at the bottom to the height of a person, with black and dark blue mixed in the middle, like It's about tearing down the whole wall.

This is obviously not a professional painting, but in such a dilapidated and gloomy place, the collision of high-saturation colors actually gave birth to a bit of vigorous vitality. Ran Xu seemed to see a series of fires burning up the forest. Break through the soil to usher in the next day's light.

"I, I!" The homeless man patted the wall with his hands, and the wall dust fell down, sticking to his palm.

Ran Xu threw the money into the bowl in front of him.

"I have to go." After saying that, he pulled out his trousers and continued to walk forward.

His hair was blown dry by the cold wind, and it was already past nine o'clock at night when he walked to Minority. The city, which had been busy all day, suddenly woke up, the neon lights in the business district were lit up, and people's voices were noisy.

The business hours of bars and nightclubs have just begun.

This place is located on the east side of the city's CBD. The land is expensive, there are many entertainment venues, and the decorations are in various styles. In order to make people who work hard every day and night willing to leave their money here, the capitalists have obviously tried their best.

However, there seems to be something different about this street today.

Ran Xu looked around, and later realized that a shop that had been under construction had its wooden boards removed today, revealing its "true appearance".

Bright warm light spills from the store window. The storefront is decorated with a lot of dark brown wood, engraved with European retro patterns. Above the gate, there is a sign saying "1980", which should be the name of the store.

Maybe it's because the cursive characters are so beautiful, or maybe it's because the lights look too warm, Ran Xu came to the window of this shop by accident.

The moment he walked to the window, Ran Xu suddenly opened his eyes wide.

On the other side of the glass, there are spinning music boxes, nutcrackers playing drums, whales hanging from the ceiling...the most are dolls, all kinds of dolls, they are standing in the toy store in beautiful dresses every corner of the

Their clothes are cut better than real ones, made of wood, clay, white porcelain... There are even a few eyeballs that shine brightly under the light like real gems.

The closest place to the glass stands a half-person tall white porcelain doll bride, with skin like snow, eyes closed, holding a bunch of fresh baby's breath, Ran Xu can clearly see her delicate veil, A real pearl.

He scratched the glass and looked dumbfounded.

It seems to be another world inside the glass, filled with all the fairy tales and romances in the world, so incompatible with the cold street outside.

"Why don't you go in and sit down?"

Ran Xu woke up from the trance, turned around and subconsciously took a few steps back, hitting the glass behind him.

Zhuo Wenlang was opposite him, looking at him with a smile on his face: "We met for the second time tonight, it seems that you and I are destined." He said to himself, opened the door of the store, and stretched out his hand to say, "Please." "Actions.

The warm wind gushed out from the shop, mixed with the smell of woody incense, Ran Xu twitched his nose greedily, swallowed, and asked cautiously: "Is it okay?"

This sentence successfully made Zhuo Wenlang laugh. The man took a step forward and grabbed Ran Xu's wrist, leading him into the shop: "Come in, it's too cold outside."

It is indeed cold.

When he was standing outside, he didn't actually feel the cold, but the moment he came in, he suddenly realized that he had been standing in the cold wind for so long.

The temperature difference between indoor and outdoor made his nose and cheeks turn red within a few minutes, and his fingers and toes gradually felt numb with slight pain, especially his right leg. The numb and painful feeling in the bones is really uncomfortable.

Come in and stay for a while, let's go later.

Ran Xu relaxed his requirements in his heart.

When I came in, I found that a gramophone was playing records in the corner of the shop, and the soothing and playful French chanson seemed to return to the last century in a trance.

Ran Xu looked around curiously.

The display cabinet is as high as one person and reaches the floor, and it is full of various dolls. Unlike the rough doll toys, these dolls will not make people feel scary, because their workmanship is too delicate, unlike It's a toy, but more like a delicate work of art.

He became the most rustic one in the room, but Ran Xu couldn't help feeling happy.

Zhuo Wenlang took off his coat, leaving only a high-neck cashmere sweater, and he himself was making tea at the bar counter in the back of the shop. The heat filled his glasses. Zhuo Wenlang frowned and put them on the table casually.

"You can sit whatever you want first, the room is well heated, just take off your coat and put it on the sofa."

Ran Xu responded, and his eyes reluctantly moved away from all kinds of toys.

It wasn't until now that he had a chance to see the furnishings in the shop clearly.

The whole store is very large, divided into two halves with a display cabinet in the middle, the inner part is covered with soft plush blankets, and there are pillows with tassels scattered on the floor, both square and cylindrical, and the middle one is the same as the decoration The solid wood table in tones is also a beautiful vintage piece.

He folded the padded clothes, put them on the sofa beside him, took off his shoes, and dared to step on the blanket.

"Is this your shop?" He asked Zhuo Wenlang's back.

"Well, I originally planned to open tomorrow, but I didn't expect to welcome its first customer tonight." Zhuo Wenlang walked over with a tea tray, took off his glasses, his facial features appeared deeper than before, but because of his body The temperament is not sharp.

"Although I don't know what kind of tea you like to drink, it's better to drink some to help you sleep at night. Is Pu'er okay?" He handed the teacup to Ran Xu's hand.

Below the rim of the cup with a gold rim, gorgeous flowers bloom.

Ran Xu couldn't help looking at the painting on the teacup a few more times, realizing that everything here is full of romantic and artistic atmosphere, and every detail of the design fascinates him.

He sipped his tea and secretly looked at Zhuo Wenlang.

The man sat across the table, drinking tea as elegantly and dignifiedly as in the oil painting.

Ran Xu's gaze was caught by him, but Zhuo Wenlang didn't seem to avoid it at all. He stared at Ran Xu's flushed face with a smile on his face: "You can sit here as you like, the things in the shop are still there. They need to be counted, and I'll go and label them one by one." He put down his teacup.

Ran Xu quickly put down his teacup, "Mr. Zhuo, shall I help you?"

"Huh?" Zhuo Wenlang came back to his senses, and the smile on his face deepened, "I may be busy until late. Aren't you going back to school today, kid?"

"I..." Ran Xu's face flushed even redder, "It's okay, I won't go back tonight, besides, my name is Ran Xu." The last sentence he said was very weak, and he didn't know if he was correcting Zhuo Wenlang About the name "children".

He heard Zhuo Wenlang chuckle again, wondering if he planned to change his address or not.

"Come here, and I'll tell you what to do."