frenzied

"Master Lin, add another assorted fried noodles."

"Okay, come right away!" Lin Xi responded heartily, and put the cooked noodles on a white porcelain plate, crystal clear shrimps, tender green vegetables with crushed egg flowers, thin shredded ham and shiitake mushrooms rolled up, The hot air is wrapped in fragrance and drills straight into people's noses.

This small noodle shop is located at the intersection of crossroads, usually the flow of people is not bad, and at noon, the business is even more prosperous.The geographical location is superior, eye-catching also means trouble, the old city is full of fish and dragons, and the security situation is not good. People often come to the door in the name of collecting protection money, ranging from spending money to avoid disasters, to smashing shops and hurting people, and the previous chef can't bear it. , and finally had to pack up and leave.

Lin Xi had been working for a month, and there were several waves of troublemakers. Fortunately, the noodle shop's business was not affected.

"Boss, your noodles here are getting better and better." The middle-aged man in a denim jacket can be regarded as a regular customer in the shop, and he chatted with Xiao Qing as usual between paying the bill, "You are a good new chef. ah!"

"Since it's delicious, I'll patronize more in the future." Xiao Qing responded with a smile while finding some change from his satchel.

Since Lin Xi came to the store, the business has grown to a higher level than before. The products Lin Xi makes taste good and have many styles, and the customers are full of praise.After sending the middle-aged man out, Xiao Qing returned to the kitchen and said to Lin Xi who was still busy: "Master Lin, it's getting late, we should close up after finishing this work."

"Okay." As soon as the words fell, another plate of hot fried noodles came out of the oven, and Lin Xi picked it up, "I'll give this away, you pack it up quickly, or Xiao Ran will be in a hurry again."

Thinking of the children at home, Xiao Qing was not too polite, nodded and turned out of the kitchen.

"Miss, your assorted fried noodles." There was only one table left, so there was no need to ask.

After delivering the noodles, Lin Xi and Xiao Qing cleaned up the dishes together. Although the store is small, the two of them had a lot of work to do.For a while, there was only the sound of dishes colliding in the store, and it was very quiet.

"Bang Dang!" There was a loud noise, the wooden door bounced against the wall, and was kicked open by the person who came, the movement was frighteningly loud.

"Who are you?" As soon as he heard it, he knew that the visitor was not friendly, so Xiao Qing took the lead, already holding a kitchen knife in his hand.

The first time they met, Lin Xi saw Xiao Qing crouching in the corner crying, so he took it for granted that Xiao Qing was a weak woman.But after getting along with him, he found that apart from Xiao Ran's problems, Xiao Qing never showed any weakness, he never complained that he was tired after hard work, and he was not allowed to do more extraneous things, even when outsiders came to make trouble, he behaved more fiercely than men.

"Hey, this is going to kill people!" The leader was a young man with yellow hair, followed by two or three people, they came in swaggeringly, empty-handed, moving slowly, not like making trouble, but like taking a walk after dinner, with a look A laid-back attitude.The young man with yellow hair glanced at the guarded Xiao Qing, pulled up a stool and sat down, "Put down the knife, we are civilized people, let's sit down and talk."

After hearing what he said, Xiao Qing did not relax but became more vigilant, "There is nothing to talk about, leave my shop immediately."

Going to the Temple of Three Treasures for nothing and reasoning with hooligans is a joke from the Arabian Nights.In the past few years, Xiao Qing has seen all the fierce hooligans. The soft ones are afraid of the hard ones, the hard ones are afraid of the violent ones, and the violent ones are afraid of death. Although she is not so desperate, she also understands the deterrent effect of sharp weapons .She still trembled when she took a knife to someone for the first time, but now she can cut people calmly.

Natural selection, survival of the fittest, no matter where it is, this is the saying.

"You don't eat the toast, you don't eat fine wine, and you don't smash your shop, don't you feel comfortable?" The yellow-haired young man raised his legs and waved his right hand back with an air of domineering.With his swing, the three people behind immediately swung up the bench and wanted to smash it.

"Ah!" The next second, the four of the arrogant yellow-haired youth were crying and howling, jumping up and down, and Lin Xi, who came back from the kitchen, poured cold water on them. In the near-zero night, this can be called a real "" It's cool."

"If you feel that the cold water is not tasty enough, there is still a bucket full of freshly boiled water in the kitchen."

This month, Lin Xi has encountered more hooligans than he has encountered in bars in the past few years. With more experience, he understands that it is useless to reason with these people, and the stubborn students may have the possibility of saving To deal with them, violence can only be controlled with violence.

Besides, even a woman like Xiao Qing can take the lead, so how can he fall behind.

"Damn it, I've never seen such idiots like you!" A bucket of cold water seemed to have extinguished the arrogance of many yellow-haired youths. He pushed back his wet bangs and took out a piece of paper from his pocket cursingly. , "I don't even know how to accept money when it's delivered to my door."

Xiao Qing wanted to tear it up as soon as she took it. Seeing that the group of people didn't seem to be lying, Lin Xi stopped her from taking a look. The square words on it were particularly eye-catching - "Demolition Agreement".

"What are you going to do?" The group of people dropped the piece of paper and walked away without even explaining the reason clearly. When they chased them out, they found that a big word "Demolition" had been written on the door of the store. , The fresh red paint is particularly shocking.

After silently clearing away the bowls and chopsticks, Xiao Qing didn't say a word. When it was time to close the shop, Lin Xi couldn't help asking.

"What should I do? Salad! With such a small amount of money, my shop will be demolished. It's a dream!" Xiao Qing said angrily, but his bottom line was relentless. To stop such a large-scale demolition with one's own strength is like a mantis holding a cart.

"I'll be staying here tonight, Xiao Ran, can I trouble you to take care of me for a night?" Thinking of some houses being demolished overnight, Xiao Qing's heart ached. This shop was almost her life. .

"No, it's too unsafe to stay here." Lin Xi shook his head, "When the house was demolished, those people didn't care if there was anyone inside. If something happened to you, what would Xiao Ran do?"

Xiao Qing was silent for a long time, staring blankly at the small shop she built bit by bit, every penny here was soaked in her sweat, just like a stream, accumulating over time, finally converging into a river , But now, everything will be wiped out.

"Let's go back first, and think about the solution slowly." Lin Xi squeezed the agreement in his hand. It was just a thin piece of paper, but it made them feel as if they were roasting on the fire, and they were almost burnt out. Suddenly, Lin Xi was like He patted himself on the head as if remembering something, "By the way, I remembered that a friend also works in this city, he is a lawyer, maybe he can give us some advice.

"I'm sorry to trouble you again this time."

"This is not your problem alone. If you let it go, if they demolish the shop today, they can demolish our house tomorrow." Lin Xi was trying to comfort Xiao Qing, but he was telling the truth.

After these words, both of them sighed.

After returning home, Lin Xi rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, and finally found the dilapidated mobile phone five years ago.He successfully escaped from Ye Zhong's research institute. He took away this mobile phone that belonged to him, but he never dared to use it, fearing that Ye Zhong would find him through it.

After such a long time, the phone has been covered with dust and even cracked.Lin Xi tried to charge it, but after several attempts, there was no response. It was as lifeless as the dull shell.

Things are like people, if you forget it in a corner, it will no longer be able to respond to your needs.

Leaving from the original city, Lin Xi cut off contact with all his friends, including his best friend - An Mo.The last thing he knew about Anmo's information was that he lived in this big city and became a lawyer.Before the phone was taken away by Ye Zhong, he wrote down all the important numbers in it, and the memory is so deep that it is far from forgotten.

Since the mobile phone could not be used, Lin Xi had no choice but to put on his coat again and go to the public phone booth outside.

It has been too long since he has called on the phone, and his fingers are not flexible enough to press the keys. After a lot of effort, Lin Xi finally entered the string of phone numbers in full.In fact, the reason for the stiff fingers is only part of the reason. The bigger factor is hesitation and fear. The hesitation is disturbing An Mo in the middle of the night. The fear is that he dare not face it. If the other end of the phone is no longer connected...

Lin Xi always felt that he was a cowardly person who dared not face reality.If nothing happened to the noodle shop this time, he might not have the courage to contact his former friends again for the rest of his life. At this moment, his heart was beating like a drum, as if waiting for a death sentence.

Shrinking his head was a knife, extending his head was also a knife, and finally, the mechanical "beep beep" began to echo in his ears...

"Beep beep..." Lin Xi's heart beat faster with each sound.

"Hello?" Finally, when he was almost desperate, a long-lost familiar voice came from the receiver.

"..." Holding her breath, countless words rushed to come out, but in the end, thousands of words were blocked in her throat, and she couldn't even utter a single sound.

"Who? Hang up without saying a word!" An Mo was obviously woken up, and there was a bit of dissatisfaction in his words.

"..."

"I'm hanging up!"

"Wait a minute!" Lin Xi was taken aback by the sound, thinking that An Mo had really hung up the phone, he reflexively said, "An Mo, it's me, don't hang up, it's me, Lin Xi!"

"Lin Xi! You bastard finally remembered to call me!" An Mo suddenly raised his voice, and his drowsiness disappeared.

"..." Lin Xi didn't know how to answer for a while.

"Tell me, what happened to your kid, I will support you even if the sky falls."

A true friend will not ask why you thought of him when you were in trouble, but will ask what you need.Lin Xi briefly recounted the whole incident, including some clauses in the agreement.

"I can't explain this matter in a few words. You have to come out and meet with me tomorrow, so that we can talk about fees. I'm a well-known lawyer now, so I can't drop my price."

Lin Xi knew that An Mo cared about him and wanted to know his recent situation, so he chose this method to not make him feel embarrassed, as if he had returned to the days when the two of them were joking around a few years ago, so he continued with a smile: "Yes, yes, Lawyer An."

They didn't mention anything about that year until they finally hung up the phone.

Back home, Lin Xi wrote down the address in his palm onto a white paper. Tomorrow is a working day, so they agreed to meet at the office.Looking at the long list of addresses on the paper, Lin Xi suddenly felt sentimental. He was in the third year of high school that year. He once asked that person what major he wanted to apply for. A lawyer."

In the dead of night, it is difficult to fall asleep in the end.