I was the first to catch up

Three months ago, Boston, Logan International Airport.

Fang Ranran tightened her windbreaker, and sent the last email with one hand, and she crossed out one of the crowded schedules on her schedule—almost all of this week's schedule was crossed out by her, leaving only the countless horizontal lines One item: pick up.

That's what she's doing right now.

She exhaled lightly, fumbled in her pocket, and found a mint candy.She took it out, peeled it off and ate it. The phone vibrated at this moment, and Fang Ranran's heart skipped a beat. She took it out and saw that it was a classmate she had cooperated with in the professional class last semester.

It was the holiday, and he asked Fang Ranran if he wanted to go to a party tonight, how many people he could bring, and the drinks were free.

Although he said so, the deeper purpose of going to school in this kind of place is to meet people.Fang Ranran had already experienced this point.

Maybe last week she would say yes, but not now.Fang Ranran typed out a line quickly, and flatly refused, without any tact.

The moment it was sent out, passengers with luggage began to come out of the exit in front of them one after another.Fang Ranran stood there, feeling the coolness on the tip of his tongue, and now he felt that he was wearing too little clothes, so he was shivering.

But she knew that the coldness did not come from the air, but from the mood.

When Fang Jiayuan came out dragging his luggage - he overlapped with countless figures in Fang Ranran's memory, almost unchanged.He was looking at his phone with one hand and came out dragging his luggage with the other.

Fang Jiayuan wore a black overcoat, with a pair of extremely indifferent eyes on his thin face.I don't know who mentioned this, but Fang Ranran's eyes are exactly the same as Fang Jiayuan's.

"dad."

The words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat, so Fang Ranran had no choice but to squeeze out the word forcefully.Fortunately, Fang Jiayuan never cared about these things. He nodded and walked past Fang Ranran without stopping, leaving only a back view.

Fang Ranran sighed, and she followed. Fang Jiayuan just glanced at her, then looked away, hiding his eyes behind the thick lenses.

"Did you throw away the stock I asked you to buy last time?"

"Throw it away."

Fang Jiayuan walked fast, and Fang Ranran followed closely.

The wheels of the suitcase slid across the ground.

"The idea in your class is very interesting. I have already found people in China. The team can be assembled this month, and then you will be here to remotely command them."

"......understood."

Fang Jiayuan stopped suddenly, the wheels screeched, and he looked down at Fang Ranran, the mirror was reflecting light.

"Fang Ranran."

Fang Ranran looked away.

"If you don't want to do it, I'll find someone else to do it."

No matter when and where, Fang Jiayuan always speaks in such a light tone.When not speaking, there is only the sound of keyboard tapping, and it is so monotonous when speaking.Maybe Fang Jiayuan is so indifferent that all he has left is work, Fang Ranran always thinks so now.

"...I'll do it."

She put her hands in her pockets and returned lightly.

Fang Jiayuan looked dissatisfied, he didn't take a step, but looked at the phone in his hand, and said softly:

"If you do it, you must do it perfectly for me."

done perfectly.

This is what Fang Jiayuan often said.

Fang Ranran's eyes were in a daze for a moment, and he didn't know what he was thinking.She heard Fang Jiayuan's voice on the phone, and she stood aside and waited.A very familiar scene, almost every time I stay with him, it will eventually develop into this.

The voice drifted further and further away, Fang Ranran looked at the gray sky outside the airport, thinking that it might rain soon.Then the thunder and lightning passed by, and the rain suddenly fell without warning.

The sound of the rain was so loud that it almost overwhelmed what Fang Jiayuan said to her beside him:

"I will stay here for a day and a half. Then you and I will go back together. The funeral will be in two days."

"funeral?"

Fang Ranran read these two words lightly, as if she didn't know what the word meant.Or maybe she was just asking knowingly, and she knew that Fang Jiayuan would answer, because he didn't care about it.

"Your mother's, funeral."

Fang Jiayuan's answer paused for a second, Fang Ranran didn't know what that meant?Maybe this robot has a little affection, but if it is true, why is it necessary to rush back to Boston to handle the work during this period?

Two days later, the funeral.

Fang Ranran heard himself chuckle.

Time is tight enough.

On the return flight, Fang Jiayuan booked a first-class seat, one in front of the other, because he didn't want Fang Ranran to be sitting next to him.Her father was like this, any stranger sitting beside him could not be his daughter.

Even when he was sleeping with the blindfold on, Fang Ranran could still hear the faint sound of typing on the keyboard coming from ahead.Fang Jiayuan is a machine that never stops.

Fang Ranran closed her eyes, the sound of keyboard tapping might not be real, but came from her own memory.She was still wearing few clothes, and she was huddled up in the cold even on the plane.In the darkness and coldness, she heard the phone ringing, and Fang Jiayuan's voice was faint, as if he was just explaining a fact that had nothing to do with him:

"Your mother died."

your mother.your mother.

Fang Jiayuan would always address her in this alienated tone.

"sudden death."

That sums up the end of her mother's life in one word.

Then three beeps sounded, and the phone was hung up. Fang Ranran leaned there, but seemed to be able to hear the beeps, mixed with the sound of the keyboard.

She never thought that the reason why she returned to Huanjiang after nearly three years was actually because of this.

Mother believed in Buddhism at home, so Fang Ranran stood in the smog, listening to the abbot reciting scriptures without any ups and downs.There were many people at the funeral, and there were many faces of relatives that I had never seen at my mother's natal home, but no one mentioned her mother.Fang Ranran even felt that they didn't know her mother as well as she did.

They only knew that their mother was a painter and an artist.Then such an early death seems to be understandable.Because "artists, who knows what's going on in their heads?".Fang Ranran had heard such words a lot while growing up.

So she didn't speak, didn't say a word.She didn't expect Fang Jiayuan to be so silent.He still had the same suit on, and he hadn't changed it since he returned from Boston.

This afternoon, her mother's body was going to be cremated. The traditional ceremony was followed here. Fang Ranran and a few young people of the same generation put on sackcloth, bowed down, and followed them all the way to the funeral home.

There was so much noise along the way, Fang Ranran always felt that this world was not real.Just a moment ago, she was still in a foreign country, and her busy schedule almost left her with no time to think about other things.But now, she has returned to Huanjiang—her hometown, everything she should be familiar with.

But the surroundings are strange.Strange people, strange scenes.And this strange feeling.

When she stood with Fang Jiayuan and took a last look at her mother's face, she couldn't help but whisper softly:

"Dad. She seems to be like this all the time."

Fang Ranran actually didn't know what she was talking about, but she heard Fang Jiayuan say "um", as if to express her agreement.

That's right, her mother—people who have lived with her must understand that she always has such a flat expression whether she is alive or dead.That's why Fang Ranran felt more - she looked as if she fell asleep instead of leaving forever.

On the way back, she learned that her mother's death was due to an overdose of sleeping pills through other people's chats.The amount of sleeping pills is not lethal, so it was an accident.

As Fang Ranran walked and listened, she found that other people's eyes kept falling on her during the conversation, but her heart was not fluctuating, and she was so calm that she couldn't even shed a tear.

She looked up at Fang Jiayuan next to her.He was the same, but with a serious face, rarely holding a mobile phone in his hand, just hanging silently by his side.

Fang Ranran seemed to hear familiar words again: Look, his daughter has inherited the same heartlessness as her father.

That's true, Fang Ranran didn't refute it.

On occasions where tears should be shed, no matter how sad Fang Ranran's mood was, Fang Ranran couldn't shed even a single tear.

The more such voices there were, the harder it was for her to cry.

Maybe there is something wrong with me.

Fang Ran thought.

As soon as Fang Ranran got home, she began to reorganize her schedule. School was about to start, and a sudden accident disrupted her plan - yes, her mother's funeral was just an "accident".

She smiled ironically, and picked up the cup from the table—at this moment, she heard the sound of typing on the keyboard again from the guest room on the second floor.

The water in the glass suddenly trembled, and the water splashed onto her hands. Fang Ranran rubbed her eyes, and her eyes suddenly turned black.Only then did she realize that she hadn't slept for three whole days.When she couldn't fall asleep, she would get up and do what she had done most in the past three years - that was to follow Fang Jiayuan and do what he had done before.

He made investments, so he did it himself.He plays stocks, so he plays too.He kept typing on the keyboard to cross out everything on the itinerary, so did Fangran - she crossed out those colorful itineraries bit by bit, and took a puff of the e-cigarette on the way.When she did that, it was not as easy as Fang Jiayuan.

But Fang Ranran knew that he was smarter than Fang Jiayuan.So what is the problem?Now why did she drop the cup on the ground and spill water all over the ground, but she stood there blankly, not knowing what to do.

Only then did Fang Ranran realize that he had never known why he did these things.

She has no motivation.

The thought came along with a drowsiness that knocked her down on the sofa.She has rarely dreamed in the past three years, but today she has had enough.She dreamed of her mother's remains, cold but familiar.She dreamed of Fang Jiayuan - she couldn't see his eyes, only the reflection of the mirror.Then he twisted and turned into a giant machine.What is his motivation?Fang Ranran took it apart and found that the energy source that replaced the heart was just the word "work".

It turns out that for him and his mother, they can live only by working and painting.

But can she do it?

A gray, cloudy sky covering everything.Fang Ranran raised his heavy eyelids, but he didn't know if he had woken up.When she opened her eyes, she saw a vague figure from behind, not Fang Jiayuan, nor her mother.It was a warm figure from the back, and I wanted to let people put their foreheads there and hug them tightly.

That was the only source of heat. Touching Fang Ranran, who had been eroded by the cold, woke her up suddenly, only to find that the room was completely dark.

Like an animal thirsting for fire, she stood up - some memories that she thought would be completely forgotten and buried surged, Fang Ranran took a breath, and walked out little by little.

Sometimes, Fang Ranran has an intuition.This kind of intuition is very common when doing questions. She knows the approximate answer almost without thinking about it, which is very useful for multiple-choice questions.But in life, this kind of intuition is often better at Guan Buyu.But now, at this moment, Fang Ranran seemed to be able to use this intuition.

She looked at the time, it was 04:30 in the morning, she dragged herself, called a car, and arrived near No. [-] Middle School.

The sky was about to light up, and Fang Ranran looked around, looking a little dazed.Huanjiang, who hasn't seen him for three years, has undergone many changes, but these changes are very small, and only people who are familiar with the place can discover them.

That intuition was fleeting, and Fang Ranran seemed lost in an unfamiliar street.She lingered, lingering until after five o'clock, the sky was bright, and Fang Ranran was panting, looking a little painful.

At this time, she heard a loudspeaker from far away, "Nuomizi is early, yell hot milk. Nuomizi is early, yip hot milk".The sound of the horn echoed in the somewhat empty and quiet street, and as the sky gradually brightened, Fang Ranran suddenly felt at ease.

She walked over and stopped quickly.The early stalls appeared at the end of the street. There are many small shops over there, and they have gradually become lively.

Standing there, Fang Ranran saw Yu Xiaomin straighten her waist, neatly tied up her ponytail, and smiled at the other woman beside her. The two exchanged a few words and started to work.

At this distance, Fang Ranran couldn't see Yu Xiaomin's face clearly.But she knew it was Yu Xiaomin.She swallowed her saliva, but she didn't dare to go forward. She took a few steps back, stood in the shadow of the corner, and put on the hood of her coat to cover her face.

As the sun came out, there were more and more people.Everything that was unfamiliar became familiar, and Yu Xiaomin was there, using some kind of power to infect the surroundings.

A child ran past, Fang Ranran hesitated for a moment, walked a few steps to stop him, took out a fifty and said:

"Help me over there to buy some breakfast, thank you. You don't have to give me the rest of the change."

The child flinched when he saw Fang Ranran's suspicious look, but his eyes lit up when he heard that he didn't need to change the change. He took the money and ran to buy breakfast. Fang Ranran then retreated and hid in the shadows inside.

When the child came back, he brought not only glutinous rice, but also a bottle of hot milk.He handed them to Fang Ranran with a smile and said:

"The aunt said, seeing you standing there for so long, she gave you a bottle of milk and told you to go home early, so don't worry your parents."

Fang Ranran was taken aback for a moment, she raised her eyes and saw Yu Xiaomin standing there who could hardly see her face clearly. There were many people queuing up, and she was very busy.She took a few steps back, then turned abruptly away from here.A few tears dripped on the plastic bag wrapped with glutinous rice, Fang Ranran lowered her head, but found that she couldn't stop her tears.

She finally walked to a place where no one was around, and then opened the plastic bag and took a big bite. It was delicious and very hot. The glutinous rice sandwiched meat floss and egg yolk, salty, and the feeling of falling into the stomach was instantly accompanied by a sense of satisfaction.Then she took a big gulp of hot milk—it was sweet, very refreshingly sweet.

In an instant, my heart felt like a hole was broken, and the confinement disappeared, but the tears that flowed out were so turbulent that they couldn't stop.

Fang Ranran cried while eating.She always felt that she was not eating breakfast, but a piece of sunshine.It was a lost and regained warmth that made Fang Ranran, who had resolutely buried everything, say:

Ahh, so it is.

Going around, it turned out that she just wanted to find a warm place and sleep peacefully.