Perfect match.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the "Pet Castle" on Huaiyang Road opened its doors.

In the cage, the cat yawned, the bird sang, and the dogs who had been hungry all night stood in a row holding on to the railing, flicking their tails wildly with excitement.The shop manager hung up the "Opening" sign, picked up a bag of dog food and started serving food. Before feeding a few dogs, the doorbell rang, and someone came in.

Guests at this hour?

"Castle for Pets" has a small facade and a poor location. It is a small business of bathing, hair blowing, and temporary boarding. Even most of the cats and dogs for sale are picked. It is not a high-end pet store. The traffic has always been constant. It's pitifully rare, not to mention that people come to the door as soon as it opens on weekdays.

The store manager was wondering which regular customer had come, and when he turned around, he saw a strange Alpha standing at the door.In the scarf and coat, a layer of crushed snow fell on the shoulders. He was tall and straight, with a solemn expression, and he had an indescribably majestic aura as soon as he stood there. No matter how he looked at it, he was incompatible with his small shop.

Glancing at the car parked at the door again, come on, the three-pointed star emblem is standard for business people.

The shop manager put down the bag of dog food in his hand, stepped forward, and asked, "Sir, what do you want to buy?"

Alpha said: "I want to ask you about someone."

Inquire about someone?

The store manager was born with a warm heart, and nodded with a smile: "Say what you say."

Alpha turned his head and looked around, noticed the photo frame decoration wall in the store, and strode over.There are five rows of wooden clips hanging on the wall, and dozens of photos, large and small, colorful, warm and lovely, all of which are fond memories since the opening of "Castle for Pets".

His Omega is impressively in it.

In the photo, Omega is bathing an adult Border Collie.Bian Mu was naughty, and turned on the water shaking mode before the washing was finished, shaking the whole room with water droplets splashing in all directions. While dodging, Omega raised his hand to cover his face, smiling brightly.

——Mr. He, let me ask a question, where did you get high school?

——In the nearby pet store, the one around the corner is called "Pet Castle".

At the coffee shop that day, He An answered him like this.

"He..." Zheng Feiluan took a deep breath, pointed to the photo and asked the store manager, "What's his name?"

The store manager replied frankly: "His name is He An. It's not the river at Three Points of Water, it's next to herringbone. He used to work here, but he resigned later. He has been gone for a while."

"He An..."

Zheng Feiluan read these two words, his eyes became gloomy and sad.

He used to be 100% convinced that He An and Little Nightingale could not be the same person, but when he searched for He An's face in his memory to prove this point, he was surprised to find that he didn't remember He An's appearance.

That unremarkable Omega seemed to have never existed.

A crack was opened in his composure, and the crack became wider and deeper, and the craziness devoured his obsession until the composure was gone.

Zheng Feiluan opened the wallet and took out a stack of large denomination banknotes: "I want to buy this photo."

The store manager estimated the amount, and panicked: "It's too much, you can't do it! If you really like it, I'll give it to you."

"It's okay, it's worth the price."

Zheng Feiluan stopped talking and placed the banknotes neatly on the counter, and then took the photo from the wooden clip with his own hands.He looked at the frozen smile of Omega in the photo, and asked with some difficulty: "Do you still remember what kind of person He An is?"

"He... is diligent, kind-hearted, and good-looking. Not only the customers in the store, but even the cats and dogs like him. If you change the gender, it's not Omega..."

The shop manager opened up the chatter box immediately: "To be honest, I didn't want to accept him when he came to apply for the job. Omega, with weak constitution and estrus period, I can't stand the toss as a small business, and I'm afraid of recruiting him. It will delay things. But the kid is too short of money, he looks so pitiful, I softened my heart, so I stayed. I didn't expect him to be so worry-free, he has a good attitude towards customers, and he does things in an orderly manner. One pile after another is impeccable, and one person can do more than two people..."

"Is he short of money?"

"It's missing, why not? It is said that the family owed a large amount of debt, and they were eager to pay it off. They went out to work before finishing their studies. It was a pity that they would be able to graduate a year later." The store manager shook his head and sighed. "This kid is smart. He was admitted to Yuanjiang University from another place, and he studied the most famous business department. The family suffered a disaster, and it was a waste of work in [-]. The only thing left is a high school degree that no one looks down on. Know what to do for a living for the rest of your life.”

Yuanda Business?

Zheng Feiluan heard about this for the first time, and his mood can only be described as "shocked": Yuanda's business scores are extremely high, and he prefers Alpha. The admission rate of Omega is less than one-tenth of that of Alpha, how good is He An to be admitted?

He even laughed at He An's education.

If there were no family accidents, He An should have successfully graduated and got a decent job, perhaps working in Jiusheng's office building.Between them, there will be a completely different start.

A hungry beagle barked and begged for food, and the uncle of the shop owner grabbed a handful of dog food and clattered to fill his bowl.

"He An is a kid who works so hard to earn money. Sometimes when there are no customers in the shop during typhoons or rainstorms, he will go to the flower shop next door to deliver flowers. The next door also thinks the weather is bad. If he wants to be lazy, he will pay Three yuan and five yuan for running errands, and give it to him to deliver."

"Then I didn't know what happened, and I became pregnant out of nowhere. I didn't ask for leave when I was pregnant, and I still worked in the store with a big belly, and there was no Alpha to take care of him. When I asked him what was going on, he refused to tell. I was I really want to quit him and force him to go home to rest, but the poor kid has no savings, and loses his job, what will he do to support the baby? I have no choice but to let him go."

Zheng Feiluan couldn't bear to listen anymore, but had to force himself to ask: "What happened next?"

"Later?" The shopkeeper waved his hand and sighed heavily, "Later, misfortunes never come singly. I heard that someone from Yuanjiang was offended, someone powerful and powerful. He was not allowed to live here, so he moved away overnight... He didn't come back after he left, and he called me at first, once or twice, and then gradually fell silent, and I don't know if his child was born or not..."

While the two were talking, a door on the inside suddenly opened.

The proprietress poked her head out, glanced at Zheng Feiluan warily, stretched out her hand, and called the shop manager inside.

Immediately, a heated argument broke out in the room.

The proprietress had a bright voice with strong penetrating power, and she uttered through the door: "Are you crazy, haven't you smelled the smell of that Alpha? Did He An smell exactly the same before? Complain to people that He An's Alpha doesn't take care of him, let's make up for it by stewing some pig brains, the one outside is the scum who made He An pregnant! His own Omega, who is pregnant, ignores it, and loses it and runs here Come to inquire about the news, you know what he has in mind, so you dare to speak out? If he turns around and finds He An and kills him, do you think you will commit crimes?!"

There was a dead silence inside the house, and it was so quiet outside that a needle could be heard falling.A sound of scolding slapped Zheng Feiluan's face like a slap in the face, making him feel so embarrassed that he couldn't bear it.

He was nailed to the spot, his lips were slightly parted, but he couldn't say a word of rebuttal.

Not long after, the store manager opened the door and came out, with a different attitude, the enthusiasm before was gone, and he politely said to Zheng Feiluan: "I'm sorry, we don't know much about that child He An. , you can ask someone else."

After speaking, he picked up the stack of banknotes on the table, and returned them to Zheng Feiluan intact: "I can't accept the money, and the photos...please return them too."

"Sorry for disturbing you."

Zheng Feiluan took the money, returned He An's photo, smiled reluctantly at the store manager, turned around and walked out of the pet shop.

Instead of driving away, he crossed the road and went to the residential complex across the street against the wind and snow.

The community was built 40 years ago. It has experienced too many winds and frosts. It has become so dilapidated that it affects the appearance of the city. It is messy and congested. It cannot be rented at a decent price.Except for the old men and women who have lived here for most of their lives, most of the remaining tenants are low-level migrant workers who are forced to make ends meet.

The entrance of the corridor was covered with a layer of briquette residue, the walls were blackened, the pungent burnt smell lingered, and it looked like a ruined wall.

Zheng Feiluan circled up the escalator step by step. Most of the light bulbs in the corridor were dead or injured, and a few stars flickered.The garbage bins along the way emit a stench, and the dirty water has accumulated for a long time, corroding disgusting yellow and green traces.

The forgotten rose flowers are only a pile of skeletons with teeth and claws, and the dead bodies are inserted in broken pottery pots, and the bottom is cracked dry soil.

There are a total of four families on the fifth floor, with four rusty red iron doors, like quadruplets standing side by side.It was the first time Zheng Feiluan visited here in a sober state, but after just one glance, he knew which door he should knock on.

It was a Beta girl who came to answer the door, wearing a thick sweater, velvet slippers, colorful scarves and blouses all over her body, and carrying a hot water bottle. At first glance, she looked like she was performing polar performance art.

She didn't recognize Zheng Feiluan, she stood tremblingly at the door and stomped her feet, opened her mouth and exhaled a cloud of white air: "Who are you looking for?"

Zheng Feiluan asked: "The air conditioner is broken again?"

"Ah?" The girl was obviously taken aback, and said, "The air conditioner has always been broken. It has been broken since I moved in... You, are you from the property? There is a property in this community?"

Zheng Feiluan was amused by her: "No."

"Then you are..."

"My Omega and I lived here for a while before. At that time, the air conditioner was always out of heat. It was very difficult in winter. We had to hug each other to sleep in order to keep warm. Then he left me, and I missed him very much, so ...will you let me go in and see the house we used to live in?"

Probably because Zheng Feiluan's image is too positive, far from the local hooligans, the girl didn't get suspicious, she stepped aside to make a way for him: "Just look, I haven't cleaned it up for several days, don't be too messy Just do it."

Zheng Feiluan thanked her and walked in.

The layout of the rental house is still the same, not changed at all: the small kitchen is set up in the corridor, and the sundries in the corner are piled up like a mountain.With an area of ​​tens of square meters, no secrets can be hidden, and you can see everything at a glance when you stand at the door.

This room is too small, comparable to Huarong Road in a deadlock. Every cabinet and chair has its fixed position and cannot be moved.They have solidified into a static memory, the only difference is He An.

Only He An is not here.

Zheng Feiluan stood at the junction of the corridor and the bedroom, touching the cold gas stove.In those days when the weather was freezing and the air conditioner was in disrepair, He An once stood here and cooked him a bowl of sweet white fungus soup.

He turned around again and looked at the old cabinet next to him.

There was a piece of paint peeling off from the corner of the cabinet, which he knocked over when he was violent in the aisle that day.

and also……

An orange rag hung from a plastic hook by the sink, dirty and wrinkled and covered with sticky putty.When Zheng Feiluan saw it, his expression changed, he took it off with a raised hand, and held it tightly in his palm.

This is He An's blanket.

Whenever he leaves He An and loses his sense of security, this small blanket will bring him temporary comfort.

Now, the fluff on the top has long been mottled and stripped, and it is no longer as soft and warm as before.And because of scrubbing too many times, He An's smell was soaked in the lemon fragrance of the poor detergent, and he could never come back.

"This, this is what I found under the bed. I thought no one wanted it, so I used it as a rag..." The girl was a little nervous when she saw that he valued the rug, "Is it his thing? I can buy one to compensate you." no?"

"No need." Zheng Feiluan said in a low voice, "I'll just take this."

Many things in this world have no substitutes.They are one-of-a-kind treasures that are better soiled and torn than missing.

The snow was bleak, and large flakes flew over the front window.Zheng Feiluan sat in the car, stroking the rough and pungent-smelling blanket, gradually swallowed by despair.

Where else could he go?

In this metropolis with a population of 2000 million, who is not small and silent like dust?Apart from an old photo and a small blanket, where else could he find traces of He An?

Wait!

In the blink of an eye, he suddenly remembered a place - the apartment in the western suburbs of Yuanjiang.

He An lived there for three months. After the building was vacant, the small apartment was bought by "he" who couldn't find a mate. It didn't change owners in the middle, and it didn't rent it out. .

It's just that Zheng Feiluan didn't dare to touch everything that happened there.

Like a dangerous taboo.

He has already retrieved all the memories of his mate-seeking period, which are as vivid as a movie, and the scenes are played in front of his eyes, except that the cold winter night is different - there are no pictures, only words, and the cause and effect are stylized line by line. , doing the most boring and dull things.Because just a little bit of embellishment, he will not be able to bear it.

A lot happened that night.

He missed the annual Jiusheng Annual Meeting and drove to the western suburbs alone.He An was nine months pregnant at the time, more or less ten days away from the day of giving birth.

But that night, their daughter was born prematurely.

On December 25, he slept all night in his small apartment in the western suburbs.In the dream, the sky is full of snow, the neon is bright and bright, and the endless pure white is set against a touch of bright red, just like the white walls of the hospital lined with a bloody lamp in the operating room.

Zheng Feiluan squeezed the blanket tightly, his finger bones creaked, and every joint trembled.

How dare he go?

The place where the traces of He An's life were sealed also sealed a nightmare that he was afraid to face.

But he had no choice.

Two hours later, Yuanjiang Xijiao apartment.

As the head of the household, Zheng Feiluan got the key from the property, stepped up half of the stairs, and walked towards the closed door.Insert the key into the lock, take a deep breath, and turn it to the left.

click.

Then came a lonely sound: Squeak——

The moment the door was opened, the suffocating air that lacked oxygen rushed towards his face, and the dust that had been sleeping peacefully for a year was disturbed and flew into the air, choking him to cough up tears.

In this unpleasant smell, there is a trace of bloody lily of the valley.