detour

Zhuang Shaodong could swear to God, he just occasionally glanced at the side of the road while stopping at a red light, just a casual glance, let him see a scene that made his blood turn: a man with an unclear face , was putting his arm on Xu You's shoulder, and staggered out of the gate of a bar.Xu Yousong was leaning on him loosely and talking, with a vague smile on his slightly raised face.

His body language showed an obviously ambiguous but very relaxed posture, as if he was curled up in that person's arms, which made Xu You feel very... at ease.

When the red light turned green, Zhuang Shaodong followed like a maniac.

The two men on the sidewalk didn't notice a pair of inexplicable eyes not far behind them. They continued to maintain a shoulder-to-shoulder posture, walked two streets talking and laughing, and finally walked into the corner of the street. A Sichuan restaurant that is about to close.

Zhuang Shaodong parked the car on the side of the road, followed the upright figure with his eyes, watched him follow the waiter to the seat by the window and sat down, watched him pass the menu to the gentle-faced man opposite.The man flipped through the menu and said something, and the two laughed together.

Zhuang Shaodong leaned on the steering wheel, feeling a little uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Naturally, he could see that the relationship between this man and Xu You must not be an ordinary friendship, or that there had been an intimate relationship that transcended boundaries.Because Xu You didn't resist the man's seemingly inadvertent touch on his body, and when the man was watching Xu You, there was still a bit of tenderness in his eyes, so obvious that even a bystander like Zhuang Shaodong also looked at Xu You. Draw out the tender feelings hidden in his heart.

Zhuang Shaodong refocused his attention on Xu You.The busyness of the previous period made him lose a lot of weight. When he lowered his head, the sharp outline of his lower jaw was very sharp, as if he could crush it with a pinch, with a faint taste of fragility.

Zhuang Shaodong suddenly felt distressed.

He watched the man sitting across from Xu You enthusiastically pick up vegetables for him, and watched the two of them exchange glances occasionally, their expressions were familiar and very natural, and the vague pain in his heart slowly burned like a flame.

Pain, and... inexplicable anxiety.

Zhuang Shaodong felt as if he was covered in a soft hood.Although this cover is invisible and intangible, it is indeed wrapped around him, flexible and elastic, and it will support the shape of a fist when it is punched.This weird feeling was like being wrapped in a cocoon, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't struggle out of it.

Zhuang Shaodong understood that there was another name for this cover.

That alias is: the past.

Now Xu You would nod his head when he saw him, and call him "Mr. Zhuang" politely and unfamiliarly.But once he took a step forward, he would touch the cover, and then the alarm system would be triggered, and those sleeping past events would be instantly activated.As a result, Xu You would recall the evil deeds in his name, and then retreated again with a look of resentment.

It's better if he doesn't do anything. Once he expresses something, the insignificant friendship with Xu You will immediately go back to the ice age.

Nothing is right.

Zhuang Shaodong was trapped by himself, helpless.

Some things, if you do it the first time, there will be a second time.

Like voyeurism.

Opposite the sidewalk is the bar called Conqueror, which is said to be more than mid-range, but not high-end.There are several similar entertainment venues on this street. The Conqueror is not very good, the operation is not special, and the drinks are very expensive.Zhuang Shaodong slowly discovered that the reason why Xu You often hang out here has a lot to do with the operator of this bar.One of the bosses, Huang Haitao, seemed to have a good relationship with Xu You. The bartender and waiters also acted as old acquaintances when they saw Xu You. Occasionally, a tall and beautiful woman came to do odd jobs, and He was still messing around with Xu You in between doing chores—just like now, he put his arms around Xu You's arm and leaned on him.

For this situation, Zhuang Shaodong felt very powerless.He even wanted to ask Xu You: You are both a man and a woman, Xu You, what exactly do you want to do?He thought of the young man with stubborn eyes in his memory, and the clear water in his eyes that disappeared without knowing when, and his heart was so stuffy that it almost ached.

These days, ghosts and ghosts are guarding the bar door. Zhuang Shaodong saw many people appearing beside Xu You: tall, short, handsome, and mediocre.Most of these people are men, and without exception they are the type with gentle eyes.Zhuang Shaodong watched them walk out of the bar shoulder to shoulder, or walk into a nearby hotel, or get into a taxi and drive into the night without disappearing, and vaguely felt that Xu You had also fallen into a somewhat morbid behavior pattern : He seems to be reliving his lost memories over and over again in this group of men with obvious similar characteristics.

It seemed that he was also trapped in a cocoon by himself, unable to struggle, so he could only sink.

Just like a person who is haunted by nightmares, no matter how much he shouts and struggles, he can't really wake up.

Zhuang Shaodong lay back in the driver's seat with his arms and legs spread out, with a splitting headache.

The car window was open, and cigarette butts were strewn all over the cement road outside.

Zhuang Shaodong felt that he was probably crazy.

Xu You pushed away the half-drunk boy who was hanging around his neck, and took out the phone from his pocket with some doubts.The phone was buzzing and vibrating, and an unfamiliar number, local, was displayed on the screen.Xu You stood up unsteadily, squeezed out of the noisy crowd, pushed open the glass door of the bar, and staggered to sit down on the edge of the flower bed.

The summer night is still hot, but the night wind and the chirping insects in the grass add a bit of tranquility to the night.

The night is drunk.

Xu You suddenly felt that this was another world: real and vivid, but also full of calculations and hurts, making people exhausted but with nowhere to hide.

Xu You buried his face in his palm tiredly and rubbed it.It wasn't until the mobile phone in his palm vibrated again that he suddenly realized that he came out to answer this call.

The phone was connected, and a cautious girl's voice came from the opposite side, "Hello? Is it Brother Yoyo?"

Xu You was startled, and suddenly woke up from the drunkenness, "Who?"

"Brother Yoyo," the girl on the opposite side got some kind of confirmation from his voice, and suddenly became cheerful, "It's me, I'm Yingzi, have you forgotten me?"

"Yingzi?" Xu You was disturbed by this sudden name.The girl who spoke was a child of his uncle's family, his only cousin.After so many years of no contact, he almost couldn't even remember what she looked like, "Yingzi, why did you call me? How did you have my phone number?"

The girl opposite laughed, "Guess."

Xu You calmed down slowly, "Are you in the island city? Traveling?"

"I knew you wouldn't be able to guess it." The girl on the phone snorted dissatisfiedly, "I'm here to register, I've already received the admission letter, Brother Yoyo, I'm an alumni with you now."

Xu You was both surprised and delighted, "Is this year's college entrance examination? How could I remember that it's next year..."

The little girl snorted, "I knew it, you must have forgotten me."

"How could that be?" Xu You said incoherently, "No way..."

Although it was said that Xu You was expelled from the clan by the Xu family and had nothing to do with his mother's clan, but since then, he has also lost contact with his mother's relatives.Unexpectedly, a few years passed in a flash, and the little girl who only knew to grab snacks from him back then had grown up.

The most important thing was that after all the relatives knew the reason why he was expelled from the clan, this little sister still had such an intimate attitude.It was as if there hadn't been a few years of separation between them, as if... that tragic scene back then had never happened.

Xu You raised his head and took a deep breath.It wasn't until this time that he realized that his shoulders had been shaking slightly.

"I came to report early, because I want you to take me to play in the island city," Huo Ying said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for several years, when we meet again, I bet you won't recognize me me."

"How could it be?" Xu You said this eagerly, and suddenly his eyes became sour.

"The reception teacher in our department is your classmate. As soon as I mentioned you, she immediately remembered and asked me for your phone number." Huo Ying laughed again, "Brother, she said that you were an island girl back then." City University’s school girl, the people chasing you have all lined up to the South Suburb Wharf, it’s really fascinating.”

Xu You smiled wryly, "Yingzi..."

Huo Ying seemed to know what he was going to ask, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, my aunt and uncle are very good. My uncle and his choir won the second prize in the provincial competition, and my uncle even gave us a photo Ser, those old grandpas are all wearing lipstick, with red cheeks, chest and belly... It makes me laugh to death."

Xu You grinned at the corner of his mouth, but didn't smile.His father, who pays attention to appearance, is only in his early fifties, has he become a grandfather in the eyes of Huo Ying's generation?

"My aunt also retired the year before last. I had a dog a few years ago, but somehow it got lost. She plans to go to a college for the elderly to learn how to play the pipa. My mother just said on the phone that she would accompany her to the musical instrument store. Huo Ying comforted him like an adult, "They have regular physical examinations, and they are all in good health, so don't worry."

Xu You nodded, but his internal organs were tightly pulled into a ball.

"Oh, I can't talk anymore, the lights are going to be turned off." Huo Ying sped up his speech, "Let's meet and talk if we have anything to say. I want to eat boiled fish, double-skin milk and Haagen-Dazs ice cream."

"Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

"I live on the No.16 floor, don't remember me wrong."

"I can't remember wrongly, you go to sleep."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Youmu sat blankly by the flower bed for a long time, so long that even he himself didn't know what was going on in his messy head.Naturally, he would not have noticed that there was a car parked on the side of the road not far away with the windows open, and the people in the car almost heard his words clearly.

Naturally, Xu You didn't notice that the person in the car had been staring at him with complex and unspeakable eyes, which seemed to be in pain and pity.

However, there is always silence.