detour

The anxious man kept paced back and forth by the fountain in the square, stretching his neck to look around from time to time.In the severe winter and the twelfth lunar month, the sky was covered with overcast clouds, and the fine snow particles had already fallen silently, but he wiped the sweat from his forehead from time to time.

Not long after, an ordinary commercial vehicle parked near the square, the door opened, and two teenagers in down jackets got out of the car one after the other, and ran towards the anxious man.The man was stunned for a moment, then walked up to him in three steps and two steps, and hugged the two teenagers tightly into his arms.

"It's so fucking touching."

Zhuang Shaodong handed the cigarette butt out of the half-open car window and flicked the ash, his slightly mocking eyes remained on the three of them.He also couldn't explain why he insisted on watching such a scene of reunion, but it was undeniable that the subtle intimacy between father and son seemed to have an attraction that he couldn't understand.

He saw Zhuang Shiwen pinching the two children, as if checking them for injuries.The two children smiled and cooperated with his movements, and the young boy even leaned his face towards his chest and rubbed it coquettishly.Zhuang Shiwen rubbed the top of his hair with his big hands, and the anxious expression on his face was replaced by a warm smile. He took the hands of the two children and walked towards the other side of the square.Seen from behind, their posture looks like a person carrying a pole.Zhuang Shaodong knew that it was Zhuang Shiwen's responsibility as a father.

It turned out that he could also be a qualified father, as stable as a mountain, but completely doting on the subtleties without hiding it.

Zhuang Shaodong took a breath of smoke lightly.The snow began to fall heavily, and the backs of the father and son passed through the paths around the square and got into a car parked on the side of the road.

In Zhuang Shaodong's mind, he was still replaying the tender scene in the square just now: Zhuang Shiwen rubbed the top of the child's hair, and the young child rubbed back and forth on his chest...

Father and son, that's the way it should be.

Unfortunately, it was completely unfamiliar to him.He had never felt what it was like before, and he would never have the chance to feel it again.Zhuang Shaodong felt like a lonely poor boy, salivating greedily while looking at the exquisite food in the glass window, knowing that this was something he could never afford.

Xu You kept teasing him that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.But only he himself knows that he is so poor when faced with something that is easily available to others.

He didn't even know what it was like to be carried on his shoulders by his father.That was a question he couldn't even dream of answering.

And, he'll never know.

Zhuang Shaodong sat in the car for a long time, until the square was empty and the originally smooth ground was covered with a thin layer of white snow particles, then he snuffed out the cigarette butt in his hand, and drove out of the street slowly .

The square that once staged a scene of warmth was left behind by him, just like those young days that he couldn't bear to look back on.

He heard his young self wailing in the depths of his memory.Because the boy who was bullied by the seniors with him was taken by his father to find a teacher to argue, and only the old housekeeper and the driver drove over in his family.He even remembered the surprised and somewhat sympathetic expression on the boy's father's face when he saw their strange combination.

He still remembers the boy holding his hand and saying, "Don't cry, I can lend you my dad. My dad is amazing. But you can only use it for one day and you have to pay it back to me..."

Zhuang Shaodong shook off his hand, and ran away crying.

He hid under the bushes in the backyard of the school and cried until he fell asleep.It was the first time that he knew that it was such a tragic thing not to have a father.

Zhuang Shaodong parked the car in the hospital's parking lot, leaned over the steering wheel and took a deep breath.He knew that he had already passed the age where he would cry because of something.He thought he'd accepted it since he'd recognized the fact that he wouldn't have a father.Don't the old people say that people have to accept their fate?

But until today, he found that in the depths of his soul, that fragile child still resides there, crying lonely because of his unfulfilled wish.

But it is doomed not to be appeased.

No one can change their past. Those things that have really happened have been marked with eternal labels by the hand of fate, and they will stay in the wheel of time forever and ever.

Zhuang Shaodong said to himself: The only thing I can change is tomorrow.

And tomorrow starts from now.

Zhuang Shaodong bought a bouquet of lilies in the flower shop at the entrance of the hospital. When he walked towards the ward with the huge bouquet, many people stopped and looked at him.The handsome and tall young man, holding the flowers in his arms, is a beautiful picture no matter what angle you look at it from.

Only Zhuang Shaodong knew how much he longed to see that person.It was only a few hours apart, and the longing in my heart was already lingering to the point of pain.It was as if only when he reached the place where the man stayed, the roaring beast in his heart would calm down, and the cold feeling of helplessness would really calm down.

The door of the ward was ajar, and Xu You was half asleep on the pillow.The drip needle was still stuck on the back of his hand, his head was tilted against the bed frame, his neck was stuck, but his body curled up unnaturally to one side.It's an uncomfortable position just by looking at it.Perhaps because of the needles in his hands, his range of movements can't be too large, and he can only twist and turn on the limited bed with great difficulty.

Zhuang Shaodong stood at the door and watched him until the person on the bed turned over and opened his eyes to see him.Because he had just woken up, Xu You's eyes were still not very clear-headed, misty and watery, but the moment his eyes met, something lit up in his eyes, and then he was a little impatient. Frowning at him, "You're such a waste! The flowers I bought yesterday haven't bloomed yet. Next time you buy flowers, remember to wait at least three days..."

Zhuang Shaodong walked over, put the bouquet on his quilt, bent down and kissed his mouth.Maybe what Zhuang Liyunxin said is right, he is really crazy, so his aesthetic ability has also become weird, otherwise, why would you think this person is so cute with a frown and disgust?

Xu You passively accepted the kiss, swallowing all the nostalgia and unspeakable melancholy and anxiety in her mouth.He never asked what Zhuang Shaodong was busy with these days, but one thing is certain, he must have tried his best to eliminate factors that might threaten him.

When Zhuang Shaodong let go of him, his expression had already calmed down.He added a pillow behind Xu You, and carefully placed his hand with the needle on the cushion beside him.Xu You sat on the side with a smile and remotely controlled him, "Put it up a bit, um, fold it like this..."

Someone laughed at the door.Xu You knew it was Zhuang Yupei without looking up.These days, when Zhuang Shaodong didn't show up, he was the one who accompanied him, and the whole annual leave was wasted in the hospital, which made Xu You feel very sorry.However, Zhuang Yupei said that his wife took the children to his hometown in other provinces, and it was estimated that he would have to stay there for a few months. He had a job, so it was impossible for him to go with him.Having said that, everyone knows that taking a vacation is not the same thing as being assigned to a hospital to take care of patients.Xu You could only ask Zhuang Shaodong to give Zhuang Yupei a vacation after his wife and children came back, and let him go back to spend time with his family.

Zhuang Yupei put all the big and small bags in his hand on the low table, and took the bouquet on the bed and put it into a vase.These days, he is also used to solving the problem of eating in the hospital, unlike the first few days when he was always stimulated by the disinfectant and the tense atmosphere in the intensive care unit and lost his appetite.

"Xugong's beef noodles, our rice and vegetables," Zhuang Yupei took out the thermos buckets from the bag and placed them one by one, "When I went to the sky garden to pick up the rice, the old Hu in the kitchen was still there. Ask, do you want some chicken soup or something, won't you get tired of eating beef every day?"

Xu You couldn't help laughing, "I'm not tired of it yet. And the beef stewed by Master Hu is really delicious. You guys will try it later."

Zhuang Yupei smiled and shook his head, "Boss Zhuang and I have curry chicken nuggets, garlic broccoli and fried three shredded rice, so we don't need to grab your sick meal."

Zhuang Shaodong pulled the bed table over for him, the needle stuck in his left hand, but it didn't affect him to eat by himself.

Zhuang Yupei filled rice for Zhuang Shaodong, and said with a smile as if remembering something: "When I sent those two children back today, the older one asked me for your phone number."

Zhuang Shaodong knew that he was talking about Zhuang Shiwen and the woman's eldest son, a pain that seemed to be a pain but not pain flashed across his heart, like being pricked by a thin needle.He asked Zhuang Yupei without raising his head, "Yes?"

"How can that be." Zhuang Yupei shook his head, "I asked him why he asked this, and guess what he said?" He looked at Zhuang Shaodong's reaction like a trick, and said with a smile: "He asked me outrightly: ready-made Who doesn't want an older brother?"

Zhuang Shaodong's hand paused, and he looked at Zhuang Yupei in disbelief, "He knows?"

"It seems that I know." Zhuang Yupei's expression became a little subtle, "He also said that if you want to pick him up in the future, just call him directly, and he will come by himself. Don't pick him up at the school gate. in trouble."

Zhuang Shaodong was stunned for a while, shook his head, and ate his own food.Xu You vaguely understood, "Whose child did you arrest? Your father's?"

Zhuang Shaodong didn't make a sound.When Zhuang Yupei said that sentence just now, it was not that he didn't realize that there was an unknowing Xu You present, but he gradually got used to it and no longer carried Xu You behind his back.So at the moment, he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, but fortunately, Zhuang Shaodong didn't look angry at himself.He quietly gestured towards Xu You to ask more questions, lowered his head and started to eat his lunch honestly.

Xu You understood the gesture, but she still felt a little uncomfortable.After a moment of silence, he softly told Zhuang Shaodong, "Don't do this kind of thing in the future."

Zhuang Shaodong hummed, lowered his head and continued to eat.

Zhuang Yupei breathed a sigh of relief quietly.

【Volume [-] Dust Settled】