Panguan

And Xia Qiao again begged with a heavy nasal voice: "Grandpa, can you turn around and look at me again."

The black smoke that was scattered around became lightly curled, and floated quietly in the air. The old man put down the towel, sighed softly, and finally turned his head.

The moment he turned his head, he finally had facial features, old and gentle, with deep lines on the ends of his eyes and the corners of his lips, which only people who often laugh would have.

It is indeed Shenqiao.

"Grandpa..." Xia Qiao's eyes instantly turned red as he grabbed Shen Qiao's shoulder.

"Little Qiao." Shen Qiao called him softly, and after that he gave a deep laugh, his voice still vague and old: "My last term also called me Xiaoqiao."

"Look, I have a relationship with you."

Xia Qiao couldn't speak at all, just blinked desperately.

When he was afraid, he always exaggerated, saying that he was crying, but in fact there were not many tears. And when he burst into tears, he couldn't make a sound at all.

Shen Qiao just looked at him, and then patted Xia Qiao's hand.

The scene in the cage is changing rapidly. The chests of drawers, window panes, desks and rooms in the 1990s are all fading away, and the smell of fragrant ash in the room has become faint.

It was as if a not-so-long dream had come to an end, and everything had dissipated, leaving only them standing in the vast fog.

When Shen Qiao looked at Wen, he called out with a wry smile, "Brother Wen."

He nodded when he smelled it, he couldn't say what it was like, and he didn't know what to order.

After a while, he said, "I didn't expect this to be your cage."

"I didn't expect it either." Shen Qiao said, "I thought I could walk on the road cleanly."

He lowered his gaze, the folds of his eyelids drooping, pressing heavily against the old eyes.

After a long time, he said with a smile, "It's too difficult to want to be truly free, I still can't bear it, I can't let it go."

"Can't let go of what?" Wen Shi asked.

Shen Qiao looked at Xia Qiao's bowed head and said, "I often wonder if I should let him know who I really am. I used to think that I should hide it for the rest of my life. It's good to be an ordinary person, to live and die."

"Later, I started to worry. I was worried that if I didn't tell him, when I was gone, he would find out by accident. What should I do? It was so tangled and repeated. After thinking about it for so many years, I couldn't have a happy result."

"It's still my fault." Shen Qiao said, "I taught him too few things. This kid seems to have learned to be timid and cry. He is stupid and doesn't understand other emotions. Pass."

Hearing this, Wen Shi realized that since he entered Shen's house and learned that Shen Qiao was dead, he had never seen Xia Qiao cry because of his mourning, nor did he feel how sad Xia Qiao was. He jokes, chats with all kinds of people, and rents a house. He doesn't seem to understand life and death, nor parting.

Until now, until this second...

He looked at Xia Qiao's red eyes and said to Shen Qiao, "He should understand now."

The things that cannot be taught in life are taught in this way, I don't know whether to cry or laugh. Shen Qiao pondered for a long time, only to feel distressed.

"Human, it's still greed." He said slowly: "At this time, I realized that there are too many things I can't put down."

He smelled like a patient listener and asked, "What else?"

"I used to want to see this child grow up, it doesn't need to be old, it's 18 years old. But when I'm 18, I want to watch it for a few more years, until he becomes more mature and more powerful, and someone takes care of or can take care of others. , have a home."

"I still think...the days have changed a lot in the past few years. It's very different from the nine or a few years ago. I don't know how long it will take you to get used to it, whether you will encounter trouble, or whether you will have a bad time. it is good."

"I'm still worried about whether Xiao Qiao's character will please you. What if there is a conflict, there is no one to mediate." Shen Qiao said, still kind and gentle.

"Thinking of this, I think it would be nice if I were here. Brother Wen, you are suffocating when you are angry. Xiao Qiao is too stupid. You may not see it. It's not good to be angry when you look back."

He talked and laughed again, as if those who were reluctant to let go were not so sad anymore.

"Also..." Shen Qiao said, "I haven't seen you for more than 20 years. I haven't had time to have a cup of tea with you, Brother Wen. You agreed last time."

Unexpectedly, the residence will be indefinite.

He glanced at Xia Qiao and Wen Shi carefully again, slowly as if trying to remember them, then sighed, "Forget it."

After all, it's all little things.

In his life, he has taken over and sent many people, and he can be regarded as a hundred years old and full of merit.

So he said to Wen Shi, "I can't rely on today, but I can't rely on tomorrow. In the end, I will trouble Brother Wen to give me a ride."

"The cup of tea that is missing... I'll drink it later when I have a chance." Shen Qiao said.

Wen Shi was silent for a long time, then nodded: "Okay."

He reached out and touched the old man's forehead with the back of his finger.

At that moment, all the scattered black smoke suddenly spun around, and it was clearly invisible. When the edge swept the back of Xia Qiao's hand, there was still a small wound, which went down the nerve and hurt into the heart.

It was these things that were pulled out of Shen Qiao, gathered around Wen Shi's place, and tightly wrapped around him.