10859

After the weekend reception, Xiao Mocun was exhausted, but he didn't want to go anywhere.

At night, he drove around to the neighborhood near Los Angeles University, crossed two small roads at a slow speed, and finally came to the outside of the small restaurant.

Instead of getting out of the car directly, he lowered the window and turned his head to look at the restaurant entrance.

Three foldable square tables, each with four plastic low stools, would be uncomfortable for a man of his size to sit on, but he has come here for so many years to save space.Open flames and open stoves are open on the side of the road. It was okay in previous years. I have been fined several times in recent years, but the shop is really only as big as a fly. Once the person in charge leaves, my father will take out the stall again and work alone until the early hours of the morning. Call it a day.

There are no menus in restaurants because they are not needed.The only few choices are written on the side of the stove facing the road, in Xiao Mocun's handwriting, written on A4 paper, taken to a printing shop to be plastic-wrapped, and then pasted on the stainless steel plate with adhesive tape.

Fried rice noodles, fried rice, and hot rice noodles have been like a day for decades.Most of the visitors are regular customers, some are nearby students, and some are social people with complex backgrounds.

Such a restaurant is neither big nor small, and one person is often too busy to touch the ground.When Xiao Daihua was young, he would ask him to help and beat him up, but when he grew up, he would not let him, especially after he entered middle school, he was not allowed to touch him.When he asked why, Xiao Daihua refused to tell him at first, and only said after asking too many questions, for fear that his classmates would laugh at him.

Is it a shame to clean up the dishes, wipe the table, and sweep the napkins?

Xiao Mocun didn't understand when he was a child, and felt that his father made too much fuss.Later he understood that inferiority complex is innate.

Starting from an inexperienced age, poverty will plant an inconspicuous seed in the human body, and it will slowly break through as you grow up.When you were a child visiting wealthy relatives, you might beg to play with other people’s children’s high-end toys, but when you grow up, you start to automatically classify yourself and those teenagers with advanced electronic products into two types of people.Before they can look down on you, you alienate them so that you don't look like an ignorant pauper while playing with the handheld.

It is precisely because his father has been poor for too long, and his inferiority complex is engraved in his bone marrow, that's why he lives cautiously in all aspects, and only wants to shrink into the poor man's shell to ensure the safety of the father and son.

The night wind poured into the car, blowing away the smell of smoke on Xiao Mocun's body, and it should be gone after a while.His father couldn't stand the smell of cigarettes, so he used to let the smell go first every time he came home.

It's not that Xiao Daihua hates the act of smoking itself, but that he coughs easily when he smells the smoke, and he still can't stop it for more than ten minutes.

Xiao Mocun once took him to a big hospital for an examination, and checked his whole body. The doctor couldn't tell the reason, but said that it was related to his lack of glands.At that time, his father laughed after hearing the doctor's words, saying that it had been more than [-] years since the glands were removed, and he thought he would have a short life, but he didn't expect that he just couldn't smell the smoke, and the price was much lower than he thought.

"Boss, settle the score!"

Xiao Daihua was busy behind the stove, and the ham and fried rice hadn't come out of the pot yet, so he shouted "Come right away!", but couldn't leave for a while.Just as I wanted the customer to wait for another minute, a sentence suddenly came: "1."

He looked up, "Mo Cun? You're back!"

Xiao Mocun was standing by the table in a suit, looking out of place here.After taking a few banknotes, he walked back to the stove and threw them into the cardboard box, smiling at his father.

"The pot is almost burnt."

Xiao Daihua smiled and went to Gu Guoli, "Sit down for a while, Dad will finish his work soon."

There are regular customers among the two tables present, and at this time they say: "Hey, the boss's son is back!"

"Yeah, I ran back to see me, an empty nester." His father seemed very happy, and it was rare for him to make a few jokes with the guests.

Xiao Mocun nodded to them, sat down silently with his legs bent, and rolled up his sleeves.When someone wants to pay, he gets up to collect the money, and when no one greets him, he just looks at the pedestrians who come and go without saying a word.

In this weather, it is naturally very hot after staying by the gas stove for a long time. Xiao Daihua, who was cooking, was sweating unceasingly, and took a towel beside him to wipe it off from time to time.But because there are no glands, no one will smell even a little bit of pheromone even if they approach him, so when he was young, he worked every day until the early morning, without worrying about being harassed by Alpha.

After a long time, the shop was temporarily empty, so Xiao Daihua brought a bottle of water to his son.

"Drink some water."

"Thank you, Dad." Xiao Mocun took the plastic bottle and saw that it was cold boiled water made by his father himself, with lemon slices and cucumber peels in it, the same as before.

Xiao Daihua, who was wearing an apron, sat down beside her son.He was nearly fifty years old, and although his figure was still slender, he had a few crow's feet around his eyes, which made him look somewhat old.

He has no other skills since he never went to college, and he has always relied on his cooking skills to make a living.But he especially likes to read, and his desire for knowledge is almost to the point of hunger and thirst.The shop only sells dinner and supper. After Xiao Mocun went to elementary school, what father and son love most is to read pictures during the day.After so many years of nurturing, although he is a restaurant owner, he looks like a gentle and honest person, and he loves to be clean.

When the family was the poorest, they just moved here. In the two years since the store was closed, the father and son had no money to buy new clothes.If he couldn't do anything else, Xiao Daihua could only try his best to make their clothes and pants clean.

The smell of washing powder is the smell of his father, this is Xiao Mocun's cognition since he was a child.

"Why did you come here suddenly today?" Xiao Daihua asked gently.

"I just finished my work, so I stopped by to see you."

"Working overtime on weekends again." His father looked at him slightly reproachfully, "Is Xiao Nian okay with being so disregarding the family even after getting married?"

Xiao Mocun held the bottle expressionlessly, and looked at the passing vehicles in front of him: "I haven't told him yet, so I guess he doesn't care."

It doesn't matter whether you tell him or not, they are used to walking together as strangers.Thinking of Yu Nian, Xiao Mocun felt his temples throbbing.He rubbed his thumbs, counting the time in his mind.At this moment Yu Nian should have returned to their home, Xiao Mocun was going to wait for him to fall asleep before going back.

Xiao Daihua sighed lightly and shook his head, "You, what you say is really unpleasant."

The young couple has been at odds since they got married, and as a father, he knows it well.In fact, Xiao Mocun was surprised when he suddenly decided to get married.Studying for further education has always been his son's ambition. He interrupted his studies and returned to China, and chose to register for marriage with a Beta he had never heard of. No matter how he thought about it, these things did not seem like what Xiao Mocun, who was seeking stability in everything, would do.

But he knew a little bit about the reason, so in the end he chose to leave it to his son to decide.

I thought that the estrangement would gradually disappear over time, but unexpectedly the situation got worse and worse.Xiao Mo was unhappy in this marriage, as if he was struggling to maintain it all.In the past few years, he often drove back here, sometimes without saying a word, and sometimes went to sleep when he was too tired to go to the attic.

"Dad, I don't want to talk about him." Xiao Mocun's voice sounded tired, "Tell me about you, how is your business doing recently?"

Xiao Daihua waved his hands helplessly: "It's getting worse and worse. Now it's said that small vendors will be banned, and students also like to order takeaways, and they don't want to go out for supper."

"If it doesn't work, just accept it." Xiao Mocun said.

He had persuaded his father early in the morning that this kind of hard money is hard to earn, and now he just needs to stay at home for the elderly.But Xiao Daihua disagreed. He kept all the money his son gave him privately, and he was not willing to spend any of it.

"It's not time to close yet." Xiao Daihua objected warmly, "Although there aren't many regular customers in the store, there are still a few at least. Most of them are not used to it when I close the store. Besides, they stay at home every day and do nothing. People are rusty, and this brain may soon become dementia.” He smiled and pointed to his head, “It’s better to have something to do than to have nothing to do. When I can’t do it someday, I’ll rely on you Give me old age."

The water in the glass was cool to quench his thirst, Xiao Mocun raised his head and took a big gulp.

"Dad." The plastic water bottle in his hand was dented by him. "In the future, if you don't want to do it, I'll buy you a suite and leave this place to me. Don't change hands."

Xiao Daihua was taken aback, "Why do you want such an old house?"

"I like it here." Xiao Mocun turned his head, "I grew up here, this is my home, nowhere is as comfortable as here."

"Nonsense." Xiao Daihua felt that his son was trying to make him happy, and said with a smile, "You and Xiao Nian's house is your home, 150 square meters, so well decorated, isn't it a hundred times better than the broken attic behind you? "

Looking back at the surroundings, the smell of oily smoke has not dissipated, and everything in the market seems so cramped and stretched.

But Xiao Mocun felt that he belonged here from the bottom of his heart.A relationship with Yu Nian is based on pheromones and needs, which is not considered a family; a relationship with the Qi family is based on blood relationship and crime, let alone a family.Only here, the ten-square-meter narrow hall behind the rolling shutter door is where he does his homework, eats, and sleeps. Here he is not some A10859, he is a person, his surname is Xiao but not Qi.Although he was a picked wild child, relatives who were not related by blood were better than relatives, feeding and drinking for him, giving him everything to go abroad.

The father and son have lived together for more than 20 years, and they are each other's only relatives.When I was in elementary school, the word "wild species" was written with chalk dust on the desk. My father, who was always mediocre and timid, would go to school to talk to the parents of the other party; His head was bleeding and he was sent to the juvenile detention center. His father cried and begged for him again, just to prevent his file from showing traces of crime.

These are the real family relationships, the family relationships that cannot be covered by pheromones and cannot be washed away by blood, and become stronger after years of polishing.

So he shook his head firmly, "No, only here is my home, I have no other home."

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Daihua's face darkened instantly: "Have you told Xiao Nian about this?"

Xiao Mocun was taken aback for a moment, then nodded slowly.

Xiao Daihua slapped the table with his right hand, "You are getting worse and worse!"

"dad……"

It's been a long time since he heard his father speak to him in such a stern tone, Xiao Mocun looked up at him unexpectedly.

"Do you know what it means to be a family?" Xiao Daihua taught him, "The word "become a family" means that once you marry him, you are a family. What does it mean 'only this is your home'?"

"Dad, you don't understand. He and I are not as simple as you think."

Xiao Mo put away the water bottle, only feeling upset.He couldn't explain what happened to Yu Nian in one or two sentences. His father had never been married in his life, so maybe he didn't understand his feelings at all.

"Don't do this with me, Xiao Mocun." Xiao Daihua looked at him seriously, "No matter what the reason is for you agreeing to marry him, since it's already done, you have to fulfill your obligations as an Alpha. Your partner is responsible, run the family well with him, otherwise what is the difference between you and those who use pheromones to play with your feelings?"

For Xiao Daihua, who had his glands removed in order to get rid of pheromone harassment, what he said just now was tantamount to the most severe accusation.

Xiao Mocun hurriedly said: "Dad, of course I am responsible, if not for the sake of responsibility, I—"

If it wasn't for fulfilling the obligations of an Alpha, he would continue his studies no matter what.It was Yu Yuan who tied him back, but it was Yu Nian who left him behind.While he was by no means willing, he couldn't deny his inner compromise.

"It's not enough." Xiao Daihua looked at her son with disappointment in her eyes, "I didn't expect you to think so. When I said you are an Alpha, I didn't mean that you should use pheromones to be responsible for your own choices, but that you Be responsible with your heart and behavior. You married him back home and put him in the house as a piece of furniture, is this called responsibility?"

This sentence hit Xiao Mocun's heart, and made him unable to refute it for a long time.

"How to be responsible with your heart and behavior, do you still need me to teach you? I have given you books for so many years, not to make you a bastard who ignores your spouse."

"No, Dad, he didn't stay with me because he loves me at all, he's just because of my pheromones, how can I be responsible with my heart and behavior?"

The premise of treating your partner with sincerity is that the other party is also sincere, otherwise it will be unequal, Xiao Mo is not convinced.

"Okay, let's take a step back, even if he is really for your pheromone, what about you, are you also for his pheromone?"

"Of course not!" Xiao Mocun retorted immediately, "You know what I hate the most are people who are dominated by pheromones, how could I let myself be such a person."

Xiao Daihua smiled, "It's not for the pheromone, what is it for, can you tell the answer in your heart?"

"I..." Xiao Mocun crossed his fingers and was at a loss for words.

Looking at his duplicity son, Xiao Daihua sighed, with a pity expression on his face.

"I know you're biased against pheromones because of me, but you have to try to think outside of these three words. Don't treat your Alpha pheromones as treasures, maybe it's nothing in Yu Nian's heart Fantastic."

Xiao Mocun turned his head: "Impossible, if it wasn't for the pheromones, how could he have ignored me and begged me to come back?"

This is a long-standing pimple in his heart. The poor life of more than 20 years has made his self-esteem as brittle as a piece of thin glass, which may be broken with a fingernail.

"Then have you tried asking him?"

Xiao Mocun paused for a moment, then shook his head dejectedly.

"You—" Xiao Daihua became anxious, "You sentenced him to death without asking, are you a dictator?"

"dad……"

The words of excuse swirled in his throat, but he couldn't get out.

Xiao Daihua didn't know that Xiao Mocun once gave Yu Nian a chance, just before he left the university.He waited for a long time at the agreed place, not waiting for Yu Nian to come, but only waiting for the school's notification of canceling his postgraduate qualification.

"Okay, go home quickly." Xiao Daihua waved his hand at him, signaling him to leave quickly, "Remember, you are not just a family, and I am not the only family."