beyond the horizon

Hazabu and Luo Yunxi came back from the lake, and the party was at its climax.

The bonfire is beating under the night sky, and the warm burnt smell of the wood is reassuring. The children have played games for several rounds, and the empty plates stacked three times askew are the evidence.

Zhao Xiaoqin had sharp eyes, and was the first to see Luo Yunxi and Hazabu on horseback, "Ms. Luo!" She waved her arms and shouted, with two blobs of red on her cheeks. When the students heard her voice, they also shouted, "Teacher, teacher!" , teacher, come and eat cake, teacher, come and dance.They flocked to Bai Sang's side, not so much to help Luo Yunxi get off the horse, but rather to join hands to drag Luo Yunxi off.The friction of the horse's back made his thigh ache, and the feeling became more obvious now, and he couldn't help hissing after walking two steps.

Hazabu wiped the sweat from his forehead, the temperature in his arms was blown away, he was a little bit reluctant.

"Ms. Luo, I've been looking for you all night, tell me how you are doing these days." Zhao Xiaoqin pulled Luo Yunxi over, let him sit beside her, picked up the stick and fiddled with the bonfire, under the scorched wood Roll out a baked sweet potato.

Zhao Xiaoqin pushed the sweet potato to Luo Yunxi's feet, Luo Yunxi reached out to grab it, but Zhao Xiaoqin tapped the back of his hand quickly, "Hot!"

In fact, the wooden stick that has been turned on the fire is also hot, but it breaks away when touched, leaving only a faint heat, "I can see that Teacher Zhao usually trains students a lot." Luo Yunxi rubbed the back of his hand and joked, his eyes looked far away It floated for a while, then came back again.Hazab spoke to others from a distance.

Zhao Xiaoqin really gestured with the small stick, "I told you on the first day of class that I have a bad temper and I would hit them if I disobeyed them. I will treat them all submissively."

Luo Yunxi smiled helplessly. Seeing that he didn't respond, Zhao Xiaoqin finally couldn't help but go straight to the point, "Mr. Luo, I heard they said that you took in two orphans. Is it true?"

"What?" Luo Yunxi asked, as if he didn't understand, a dazed look appeared on his face.

Zhao Xiaoqin also felt a little puzzled, at this time a student ran over and gave them a cup of milk tea, Zhao Xiaoqin took it, this real enthusiasm gave her confidence, she knew that she asked the right question.

"It's been spread all over the banner, saying that you adopted two orphans, and you were just released from the juvenile detention center." Her big eyes were full of worry, and she lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of alarming the third person. "They didn't do anything to you, right? If they commit another crime, you can throw them into the juvenile prison again. I heard people say that the punishment for 'second entry into the palace' is heavy. going to jail."

The stupefied look on Luo Yunxi's face turned into shock, and finally turned into anger.

He suddenly stood up, and the hot milk tea was spilled on the grass. One or two people noticed the situation here, but they didn't take it seriously.

"Ms. Zhao, you—" He took a deep breath, controlling his volume, "Where did you hear these words? I didn't adopt them, they are just my students, isn't it natural to take care of students who have difficulties? ? Besides, they are all very good children, you don’t know the whole picture, so you can’t say that.”

Zhao Xiaoqin was frightened by him, Luo Yunxi had always had a good temper, and they were the only Chinese teachers on this grassland, so she thought they were on the same front.She thought he treated her differently.

"I'm not wrong, we are here to support education, and we will go back in half a year! You don't want to stay here forever, do you?"

Zhao Xiaoqin's face turned red, she had just graduated, and she thought she was an excellent teacher, but Luo Yunxi's words just now seemed to show her timidity, and she was short of others in thinking for no reason.She was originally a straightforward person, but she felt awkward, and her words became aggressive.

"I—" Luo Yunxi was speechless for a moment.

Does he want to stay here forever?This is the second time he has faced this problem tonight.

However, before he could think about it, Zhao Xiaoqin's rhetorical question followed.

"If you stay here for the rest of your life, what will you do in Beijing? We have done everything we can to support education. There are so many poor counties, and there are illiterate children everywhere. There are no students without parents and mothers in Beijing? Where can I help?" Not help?"

"It's not the same," Luo Yunxi finally said, "It's not the same."

The two were silent for a while, Luo Yunxi sat down again, both of them looked at the bonfire, the atmosphere was completely different from the joy around them.

The sweet potato was cold, Luo Yunxi picked it up, broke open half and handed it to Zhao Xiaoqin.

"I'm sorry, I was too excited just now." Zhao Xiaoqin hugged her knees and said sullenly.

Luo Yunxi shook his head, "Me too."

"This place is really too bitter. Many of my thoughts now are different from when I first came here."

"It's not your fault, Teacher Zhao."

Zhao Xiaoqin took half of a sweet potato, "A few days ago, the city leader called and said that if the situation is good, the two of us can be transferred back this summer, and there will be a commendation after we go back. I only found out after listening to what they said about dedicating themselves to education. It's all false, in fact, I really want to go back to Beijing and see my parents—do you really want to go back?"

"The hardships I have suffered from practicing dancing since I was a child are not as much as these few months." Luo Yunxi did not answer directly, but instead said, "At the coldest time, the river water was frozen, and drinking water had to be cut into ice—who? I know that the water is not clean, will I get sick if I drink it? But you didn't see my student, carrying a bucket of ice in the early morning, his fingers were red from the cold, and went to boil water for me.

"I have another student, the kid who just rode a horse. I bought that horse with the money I saved to buy a motorcycle. He didn't say anything, but he knew it in his heart. He said wherever I was going. Drop in by yourself, and take me there on horseback. Actually, you said, it’s not about running a taxi on the main road, how can you drop in every day?

"These children are not as good as the students in the city in cultural subjects, but they are not at all stupid than the students I teach, and sometimes they are even smarter."

Zhao Xiaoqin seemed to understand but half understood, Luo Yunxi had already peeled half of the sweet potato in his hand, and naturally changed it to the one in Zhao Xiaoqin's hand.

"It's not ashamed to want to go home. I have no worries in Beijing. You don't have to compare with me. I should envy you. Teacher Zhao has such a good personality, and all the students like you. You even gave the accordion to the person you met for the first time— —Is that something you like very much? I brought it all the way from Beijing to Inner Mongolia. I just listened to the tone, and it’s in good condition. Zhao Xiaoqin, you’re really good. Even if you go back to Beijing tomorrow, you don’t have to feel sorry for anyone. "

Zhao Xiaoqin rubbed her eyes vigorously with the back of her hand, as if she wanted to say something, a burst of cheers suddenly broke out in the distance, interrupting the conversation between the two.

Luo Yunxi and Zhao Xiaoqin looked up together, a boy and a girl were surrounded by a small circle of people, and the boy was none other than Hazabu.

Among the crowd, Hazab looked particularly tall and handsome. He stood sideways, with a very delicate curvature of the bridge of his nose.Under the firelight, he didn't speak or smile, the lamb-like expression faded from his face, making him look a little strange.

Several boys walked into the circle from the outside and gathered beside Hazabu. Luo Yunxi became nervous for a moment, thinking that he was in some trouble.But the expression on each of their faces was relaxed, even kind.

The atmosphere was very lively. Hazab and several other boys got on the horse one after another. One boy raised his hand and gestured to the thing in his hand—a comb wrapped with a ribbon. The girl opposite Hazab covered her cheeks with her hands in embarrassment.

Hazabu's eyes met Luo Yunxi's, and the boy's eyes were a little dazed, and then that lamb-like expression gradually emerged from the depths of his brown pupils.He became the familiar Luo Yunxi again.

In the current situation, even if Luo Yunxi has no experience, he can deduce from common sense that this is a competitive game for boys, and the prize for the winner is the girl's favor.

Luo Yunxi smiled helplessly and sighed. Hazabu's eyes were shaken for a moment. He seemed to have something to say, and there were silent words in his eyes, which were scattered in the night wind and could not be conveyed to Luo Yunxi.

A whistle sounded, and several horses started to gallop.Some boys stood upright and fought over the comb amidst the laughter and hairdos were thrown and snatched, pushing the atmosphere of the party to its climax.Hazab seemed out of place in it. He had no intention of fighting, but retreated a little, like an innocent passerby who strayed into the racetrack.The horse's hooves rolled up the fine sand, Hazabu tightened the reins suddenly, Baisang's front hooves flew into the air, neighed, and turned around to run away from the crowd.The lottery that was supposed to be thrown at him fell to the ground, and he didn't even think about turning around to pick it up.

Luo Yunxi saw Hazabu running to her side, and jumped off the horse, looking like he was still in shock.He hates iron for being weak, but for some reason, he feels a little relieved deep in his heart-if Hazab also falls in love, will he be like Wardle, who can't find anyone every day?

The girl's eyes followed Hazab from the beginning to the end, and at the moment Hazab ran out of the crowd on horseback, it dimmed with the falling lottery head.

"Why did you abstain?" Luo Yunxi teased.He guessed that Hazab must not know that he just accidentally broke a heart.

But Hazab looked into Luo Yunxi's eyes seriously, and shook his head, "I don't like her, so I can't grab her."

It turned out that he knew all about it.

The young man's gaze was hotter than a bonfire, and that gaze would burn Luo Yunxi's soul.His heart sank suddenly, as if he had touched the outline of a fact, but he couldn't confirm what it was.

"Why hasn't Waldler come back yet?" Hazab lowered his eyes and asked, the last conversation was understated.

Wardle hasn't come back yet, and he has indeed been away for a long time.

This sentence was buried in Luo Yunxi's heart like a foreshadowing. From then on, whether they were singing in a circle around the bonfire, or he, Mr. Zhao and a few parents cleaned up the mess on the dining table after the show, he would raise his eyes from time to time to pay attention Four weeks—it's almost midnight, why hasn't Wardler come back?

The party was over, and the students from the pastoral area returned home. The students brought by Zhao Xiaoqin lived in groups of three and stayed at the herdsman's house nearby, while Zhao Xiaoqin stayed in Luo Yunxi's tent, and Hazabu built a bed for her with table boards. Far away from their beds, at the other end of the tent, another set of bedding was prepared, and a partition was thoughtfully erected—it had only served one purpose before, that is, Hazab and Wo On Dele's first day here, when he took a bath in the tub.At that time, Luo Yunxi was on this side, and the disgraced brothers were on the other side, and now they finally reached the same side of the partition.

After washing up, Zhao Xiaoqin fell asleep tiredly.The hands of the clock were approaching twelve o'clock, the candles were half burnt, and the tears of the candles piled up on the tray, like a jagged white mountain.Hazabu and Luo Yunxi were still waiting in front of the low table, Hazabu couldn't hold on anymore, and nodded his head to doze off.After nodding a few times, his elbow propped on the low table slipped, and his head slammed on the table. It didn't hurt, but it was a shocking sound.Luo Yunxi was shocked, and his drowsiness was swept away. He yawned and said to Haza: "Go to sleep, I'll just wait for Waldle."

Hazab rubbed his eyes and sat in a daze for a while, feeling his palms being wet.He looked down, and a lamb was touching his palm with its beak.

He stared wide-eyed, his brows and eyes were stained with joy at the same time of surprise, and he asked, "Teacher, why did you put it in?"

"I'm afraid it's freezing outside, it's still so small." Luo Yunxi replied.

Hazab took the lamb into his arms and rubbed its ears. The lamb swung its head to avoid it, and sprayed two breaths of dissatisfaction at Hazabu. They both lowered their voices and laughed quietly.

The white wax mountain piled up higher and higher, and the candle wick was about to burn out. Hazabu and the little lamb fell asleep in the corner with their heads next to each other. Luo Yunxi shook off a quilt and hesitated again and again. All wrapped up.He thought that there would be no one to wait for tonight, so he leaned over the low table and was about to blow out the candles.

It was at this time that Wardler came back.

He blew into the house without knowing that there was a guest sleeping in a certain corner of the house, his chest heaved and heaved, he glanced around, saw Luo Yunxi, and squeezed him tightly with his eyes.He took a step forward, grabbed Luo Yunxi's wrist, and knocked down the candle that hadn't had time to blow it out.Baishan collapsed.Wardler's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and even wolves dared not look him in the eye.

The darkness captured Luo Yunxi's senses for a moment, he only knew that he was clamped by Wardle, and his five fingers looked like fangs.His eyesight recovered bit by bit in the darkness, and Hazab woke up at some point, standing vigilantly by the table.

"Luo Yunxi—" Wardle called his name, panting like a leak in his lungs, "Come with me quickly! Sai Yin is going to die soon!"

One drop, two drops.A drop of water hit the back of Luo Yunxi's hand.It was Wardle who was crying.

He hurriedly put on his coat and followed Wardler out of the tent, and Hazab hurriedly followed the two of them—he had never seen Wardler panic like this, except the night when Dad left.Hazab felt a lot of uneasiness in his heart.

This is bound to be a sleepless night.

Hazabu led Luo Yunxi onto the horse, Zhao Xiaoqin was disturbed by the noise, opened the curtain and leaned against the door, looking at them in bewilderment.

"Teacher Luo?" She cautiously and tentatively called out.

Luo Yunxi turned his head from Hazab's arms.

"I have to trouble you to go to the neighbor's house tonight. I have a student named Arhan who lives in the first yurt on the west side. His family is very nice. You can go anyway—Mr. Zhao, I have to go first. "

While speaking, Wardler's horse had already run a long way.The black steed gallops in the night, carrying the crumbling heart of the young man.

And Zhao Xiaoqin watched them leave on the grassland, and frowned thoughtfully.

They followed Wardle all the way to Sai Yin's house.

The door of the yurt was wide open, and the room was brightly lit. The three of them stepped across the threshold, and together with the light, the room was full of chaos.

Saiyin——Luo Yunxi recognized the girl lying on the bed as her at a glance. She was no longer the lively and agile person she was when we first met. It was as if she couldn't breathe.The passing of life has become extremely concrete at this moment, and the impact brought by this kind of picture made Luo Yunxi stunned in place.Hazabu gently touched his arm beside him, Luo Yunxi hid his gaffe, and quickly followed to the bedside.

Saiyin's family members knew Wardler very well. Seeing him coming, they automatically separated the two sides and gave him the seat beside the bed.It was only then that Luo Yunxi realized that he was of no help at all—he was not a doctor, and his medical knowledge was limited to dealing with a headache.From this, he thought of the way Wardler looked at him, like a person drifting on the sea clinging to a piece of driftwood. In this chaotic night, he is definitely not the best person to ask for help, but he may be Wardler The only choice.

Luo Yunxi took a deep breath and walked forward, Saiyin turned his eyes to look at him with difficulty, his pupils were covered with a layer of gray.He stretched out his palm to cover Saiyin's forehead, the abnormally high fever made his heart cool down inch by inch.

"How could this be? Didn't it mean that she got better?" Luo Yunxi murmured.

"She was fine a few days ago, but she suddenly had a fever this morning, and it suddenly became like this, I—" Wardler couldn't continue.Luo Yunxi didn't even dare to look into his young eyes at this moment.

He seemed to hear the sound of whining wind sweeping across the wilderness, and after careful identification, he found that it was Saiyin's parents and sisters crying.Zhao Xiaoqin's voice appeared in his mind for no reason, she said she wanted to see her parents in Beijing.Excessive fatigue and sleepiness instead made him appear abnormally awake. Under his palm was Saiyin's hot, sweaty forehead. Wardler knelt on the side of the bed with his head down, and Hazab—he turned his head Go to see Hazab, his amber eyes full of pain and compassion, looking at Sai Yin on the bed.Hazab and Wardler were younger than him, but they had seen more deaths than he did. They knew far more about life than he did. They knew too well what it would look like when a soul was about to return to the Longevity Heaven appearance.

At this moment, Luo Yunxi understood that no one could keep her anymore.

This thought is like a tiny crack in the embankment, once it appears, it will cause the embankment to collapse. "Death" hit Luo Yunxi precisely at this moment, it was far more real than hunger and cold, what a young life was in front of him, and he even thought about her future, she would be as close as brother and sister to Wardle , she still has to attend classes in her own tent, she still, she still—

"It can be cured, it can be cured, but it's just a fever. I'll call Director Li and ask him to send a car to take the child to the city—" Luo Yunxi tried hard to look calm, but his mouth But he became confused uncontrollably, "It's just a minor illness, don't cry."

It seems that he is not the 32-year-old Luo Yunxi now, but 12 years old, or even younger.This month it was his turn to stay at grandma's house. He moved a small bench and sat on the balcony by himself. The tricycle collecting refrigerators and color TVs passed through the alley. Well, the pencil case was bought for him when his mother came to visit him half a year ago. His father also came to see him that day, carrying a plastic bag of melons.His mother said that the pencil case was specially brought back from Shanghai when she was on a business trip. After speaking, she glanced at the bag of melons, and there were only two of them in it. It was her concern that won.In fact, he saw that pencil case in the canteen downstairs, it was on the third row on the shelf, but he didn't open it, he wanted to make his mother happy.

Where did the pencil case go?He thought it might have been hidden by the boy in the front seat, or thrown away.He has always hated himself, and ganged up in the class to play a run on him.It's really nothing, but the pencil case is innocent, and the loss of the pencil case is much worse than being isolated.It seems that he has never established any deep connection with the people around him. The number of times his parents came to see him can be counted on the fingers. OK

"Things" are much more real than "relationships".This idea has existed since he was 12 years old, and it became more deeply rooted when he reached the age of 22.My college classmates are adults after all, so they are much easier to get along with. They always say that he is nostalgic and reluctant to throw away used things. Luo Yunxi just laughs, can I have feelings for them?

After graduating, he became a dance teacher, and for the first time, he was a class teacher leading students.How painful it was to help them open their hips, and how much they hated Teacher Luo when they graduated.A part of his missing emotion was accidentally compensated in this way, I don't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.

Until he was 32 years old, he could see many things clearly, but it was hard to let go of his old habits - he still cherished everything that belonged to him, from real objects to a relationship with others, he exhausted everything Try to take care of it.

And tonight, it was too cruel for him to watch a life with which he had intersected leave.

How could he fail to understand, the performance of Sai Yin's parents had already explained everything, it was too late.He thought of the first time he met Saiyin, the girl had long braids and her onyx earrings were playful.Later, Wardler mentioned that she was already sick at that time, and she was there to see a doctor, but she heard it and didn't care.Also on the same day, he saw a swindling witch doctor in the market, and bought bracelets to bless the two students with sympathy, and said to Hazab, if you are sick, you must come and tell me .

If he paid more attention to Wardler's words, if he could expose the witch doctor in front of everyone that day-it would be too late for anything.In the dark, everything was doomed long ago.

He suddenly felt very unworthy.It seemed like all the hard work these past few months had been in vain, when he had actually done nothing.

"Teacher Luo..."

He heard a small voice calling to him.It's not Hazab, it's not Wardle, it's Saiyin.Saiyin called him Teacher Luo, which must have been taught by Wardle. These three words broke his heart.

"Well, the teacher is here." Luo Yunxi said softly.The children on the grassland all know that he brought knowledge to this barren land, and they have a natural admiration and closeness to him.

Sai Yin just looked at him and didn't have the strength to say anything more.

Maybe she wanted to ask some weird questions outside the grassland like other children, maybe she wanted to ask him to reveal a funny story or two about Wardler's embarrassment, or maybe she just wanted to thank him for showing up in her bed this night. forward.

And what she wanted to say, Luo Yunxi would never know.