Years are warm

The small town is full of fireworks, and there are frequent travelers returning to their hometowns at the age of age, and cars with foreign license plates are slowly moving forward in the narrow alleys.

It got warmer before the Spring Festival this year. There was a sleet just the day before, and now it has completely melted away. There is a large wet area on the bluestone road.At the entrance of the community in the old-fashioned compound, elderly people ate melon seeds and watched people play chess, and from time to time they felt sorry for the wrong moves of the two chess players.

The car turned off by the alley next to the compound, Xu Huaian helped Yu Xiuyun carry a bag of New Year's goods, took the backpack and got out of the car.

Uncle and aunt came back earlier than them, and when they knew they were coming back, they went outside early to help with the luggage, followed by a few younger generations of the family, and it was very lively for a while.

Xu Huai'an said hello, found an excuse to go into the house and put down the luggage, and turned around to see grandma standing at the door with a smile on her face.

Seeing her turning her head, the old man walked in and looked at her carefully for a while, then said with a smile in dialect: "You are taller and more beautiful."

She pursed her lips and smiled embarrassingly, and responded in a different dialect.

Huaichuan's dialect is quite special, a man speaks with this accent as if he is arguing with others, but a woman pronounces it with a soft tone.Her voice was cold and cold. When she went back and talked about it in front of Xie Zhiyao for the first time earlier, the other party was stunned for a long time before realizing that she was talking. When she came back to her senses, she couldn't help laughing and said that she seemed to have changed her dialect. personal.

It is said that it is Chinese New Year, but in fact it means that the families get together, the adults are chatting, and the children are bored to eat snacks. It seems that a few of her age are driven away to accompany the elderly.

Grandma was busy frying crispy meat and lotus root balls in the kitchen, so she had no time to pay attention to these children, so the only place they could go was grandpa's study.

The old man was playing with a game of chess, and when he saw them coming over, he beckoned to join them.

It's just that the only junior in the family who can get along with the old man back and forth is Xu Huai'an.The cousin couldn't sit still and felt bored, so he found an excuse and slipped back to his room to play games. The cousin of the aunt's house couldn't sit still, and ran out early.After retiring, the old man calmed down, he lost the strictness of the past, and he was very tolerant towards the juniors, without any rules.

There was a lot of noise outside, and the sound of crackling firecrackers could be heard before night, so Xu Huaian hid himself and played chess with his grandfather in the house.

Her chess was taught by the old man, and she lost after a short period of time at the beginning. The children of the same age in the family were not happy if they lost too much, and they were unwilling to come back after learning half of it. one.Grandma sometimes came in to take a look and said that the child's patience should have followed his mother. She also said that if her father was a child, he would definitely be the first to run out.

She thought about her father's stern face all the time, but she really couldn't imagine how the other party followed his uncle to the house when he was young.

The old man has never asked her about her studies, saying that she is the most worry-free for the whole family. Most of them talk to her while playing chess. The elderly are like an old child. It is dumbfounding to say that this move is not considered a fresh start.

Xu Huai'an was rarely relaxed, looking at the chess game and thinking about whether to make a move.

"Don't give way!" The old man seemed to have guessed her thoughts, pretending to be serious and warned, "Come on, look at Grandpa's step!"

Playing chess is full of confidence, but unfortunately this step is still wrong.

She couldn't help laughing, she put her mind back and said, "General."

"Ah!" Grandpa clapped his hands together and said angrily, "Ghost girl, why didn't I expect you to have such a hand!"

"Grandpa, you have no regrets." Xu Huai'an narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Don't regret this time."

"Forget it, it's really old." The master shot her on the forehead, half sighing, "You were only a little old when I taught you how to play chess, and your two older brothers and sisters didn't want to accompany you. Old man me, just you girl, hey, calm down."

"Is it different from your father, that brat, alas, I don't even have to say him."

Xu Huai'an put away the chessboard, pursed his lower lip slightly and then curled the corners of his mouth when he heard this, but did not express his opinion.

Seeing that she didn't respond, the old man didn't say anything further, and patted her head with a smile, as if he put the matter down gently.

On the night of New Year's Eve, Xu Huai'an didn't go downstairs to set off the fireworks. He found an excuse that he didn't finish his homework and hid in the room on the second floor.She has nothing to say to these relatives who don't see her twice a year, because if she doesn't talk much, she can't hang out with her peers. When the relatives who don't know their names see her when they eat, they will all praise her. It must be promising, and she felt embarrassed when she heard it.A few people also mentioned that it was a girl's house, but they were stopped by two old people. There was a bit of sarcasm in their words that your family is a kid, should they be incompetent or incompetent.

Those who celebrate the new year will have to watch the year later, and they are the older generation. No one dares to choke, and those relatives can only give up in resentment.

Coincidentally, as soon as she entered the door, Xie Zhiyao called her back.

This time instead of voice, she turned on the video.

"Happy New Year, Huai Xiao'an." Xie Zhiyao raised his arm and took the phone away a little while looking at the image on the screen and laughed, "Isn't it strange that I haven't played the video before?"

"No." Xu Huaian closed the door, took off his shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed, "Happy New Year."

"Are you in the room and didn't follow you out?" Xie Zhiyao asked after observing her background.

"No, it's too noisy." The bed in the room was close to the window. She adjusted the camera on her phone, took a picture outside the window, and asked her, "Can you see clearly?"

"It's too dark, I can't see anything." Xie Zhiyao shook his head, "What do you want to shoot?"

"It hasn't snowed in Huaichuan this year, and they are setting off fireworks downstairs, wondering if they can take pictures." Xu Huaian cut the camera back.

The compound is an old-fashioned building, the sound insulation is not good, and it is very noisy outside.The two chatted one after another, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers downstairs and the sound of the TV in the living room.

"By the way." Xie Zhiyao went to get a can of coconut juice and came back, and opened the pull ring and said, "Do you want to stay next semester?"

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Xu Huai'an was stunned for a moment, unable to react for a while.The two of them lived not far away, not close at all, No. [-] Middle School did not force them to live in accommodation, and this semester was only because they were not used to being with other people.

"Because my parents said that next semester they will travel frequently for academic seminars." Xie Zhiyao sat on the bay window with his knees hugged, and the lights of the city were still flickering outside the window. Get more sleep."

She snapped her fingers and said, "The two of us, plus Siyuan and Axin, just fit into a dormitory."

No. [-] Middle School has a very special rule. After the first semester of senior high school, the dormitory can be chosen by oneself. If you are not satisfied with your roommates, you can form a dormitory by yourself. Randomly assigned.

"Yes." The firecrackers were being lit downstairs, Xu Huai'an got out of bed and walked over to close the window, "Did you tell the two of them?"

"I mentioned it, they have no objection."

This matter is settled.

Later, Xie Yuanhong knocked on the door and told her to go out, and the two said goodbye.

Just before hanging up, Xie Zhiyao suddenly called her: "Huai'an."

"Ok?"

"It's okay." She seemed to exhale, squinted and smiled, and waved, "Bye."

After returning to Shenning after the eighth day, Li Siyuan pulled the two of them and Zhang Xin out on the way, saying that it was the dormitory team building in advance, took a few people to have a hot pot, and copied the math homework that hadn't been done for half a month It's over.

In this regard, people said that hot pot can be a treat, but homework must be copied.

In such a hurry, it is almost time to see the placement results. The placement results of No. [-] Middle School will be posted two days before the start of school. Senior ones need to go back to school to recognize the new class and teacher. , By the way, I handed in my winter homework.

It's just that Xie Zhiyao suddenly said that it would be inconvenient to go with her the night before going to see the class placement results.Xu Huai'an didn't ask any further questions, and he didn't think there was anything wrong.

Until the next day when I entered the school gate, I met Lin Xue.

"You didn't come with your friend? It's rare." Lin Xue greeted her, still holding the black notebook in her hand, "Is it because one of you chose the article and the other chose the theory?"

Xu Huai'an paused and said in astonishment, "What did you say?"

"...Don't you know?" Lin Xue was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said, "Xie Zhiyao chose the text."

This sound exploded in her ears like thunder, her body froze for a moment, and she looked at her several times in disbelief.

Lin Xue frowned, her expression didn't look like she was joking.

Xu Huaian took a deep breath, said goodbye to her hastily, and ran towards the bulletin board.

It turns out she wasn't joking.

In black and white, Class 11, Senior One, Xie Zhiyao.

It was a liberal arts experimental class.

Xu Huai'an turned his head abruptly, and squeezed out of the crowd while saying excuses.

There were a lot of people who came to look at the list, including many parents who were sending their students off. The noise in her ears made her mind buzz. She frowned, reached out for her mobile phone and dialed a number.

"Where are you?"

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, and said in a low voice, "The stairway on the fifth floor of Zhiyuan Building."

Xu Huaian hung up the phone and quickly walked through the crowd.

Her heart seemed to be blocked by a fire and there was no way to relieve it. She ran up the stairs in three steps at a time. The cold air was poured into her lungs, and there was a trace of rust in her throat.

The cold wind rustled, blowing the loose hair of the person at the stairway.

Xu Huaian looked up at her with his knees propped up, frowning and panting heavily.

"you……"

Xie Zhiyao stood on the steps and looked at her, the expression in her eyes was very complicated, as if she wanted to say a thousand words, but in the end they were all speechless.

She rarely showed such an expression, and there was a reasonable explanation for everything that seemed wrong before.Xu Huaian's face was cold, but he suddenly felt discouraged as if he had punched cotton.

In this silence, although there are only a few steps between them, they are far away for a moment.

Xu Huai'an really wanted to ask, is it because your father forced you to write science at the beginning, and then you figured out why you changed it and didn't tell me, what are you thinking?

But she found that she couldn't ask a word.

Angry, but helpless.

She has never said a single word to Xie Zhiyao, not before, and now...nor.

"Huai'an..." After an unknown amount of time, Xie Zhiyao murmured, and her figure moved, as if mustering up the courage to take a step towards the audience.

Xu Huai'an raised his eyes and glanced at her. Before she could finish speaking, she raised her hand and pulled the strap of her schoolbag to her shoulder, then turned and went downstairs without looking back.