chapter 03.

Xue Tianliang arrived in the afternoon, and the house was already full of people. The old house had been renovated in the past two years, and the old wooden tables were paired with European-style sofas. The white-washed walls were hung with Kongming fans, air conditioners and shaking heads.

There are old electric fans next to each other, and the style of this house is neither fish nor fowl.

Xue Youka was forced to read helplessly in the small living room.

It was the junior high school textbook and exercise book that He Xiaoyou borrowed from his cousin Fang Liqing.

He Xiaoyou also assigned him homework, asking Xue Youka to preview the first unit of Chinese and mathematics in the afternoon, so that he couldn't find any time to go out.

The textbook was full of notes that showed how serious Fang Liqing was in class, but Xue Youka felt irritated, especially when he heard the sound of cartoons in the next room - it was his cousin Gao Gao who was eating snacks and watching cartoons. Xue Youka

He could no longer see in. Suddenly, he heard someone outside exchanging greetings: "It's dawn! It's finally here, and it's too late!"

"I can't help it, work, work. I came back by car early in the morning. The road was jammed. I just arrived now."

Xue Youka immediately put down his textbook and looked through the window.

Dad was toasting cigarettes to a group of elders and relatives and fumbled for a lighter in his trouser pocket.

A few crumpled ten-and-five-yuan pieces of change fell on the ground. A relative knelt down and picked them up: "Tianliang, you dropped your money...yo, you still bought lottery tickets!"

Xue Tianliang took the lottery ticket back awkwardly: "I bought it casually on the road."

Relatives laughed: "Did you win the lottery?"

"It's said that I bought it casually."

Another relative did not take it seriously and said to everyone: "Lottery tickets are addictive, don't you think so? I have been buying them in the past few years, but as a result, I have no luck like Hai Ming. I only won a thousand yuan at most!"

"Hai Ming, tell us about your experience. How did you win 700,000?"

Through the blue window, Xue Youka saw his uncle Fang Haiming fighting with the landlord, holding a handful of playing cards in his hand, and the table was filled with big and small coins.

He remembered that his uncle won the lottery when he was very young. Later, adults would always mention it, and his uncle would just smile and say: "It means he was lucky at that time."

"You are not lucky! How many people can be like you? Not only did they not spend all their money, but they relied on the 700,000 yuan to open a leather bag factory! How much is your net worth now? I heard that Qingqing will be sent to Beijing to study.

Isn’t that right? The house has been bought..."

"Little handsome boy, are you studying?" Xue Tianliang stood in the bright light at the door, dressed in a dusty look, grinning, and his time-stained eyebrows were deep and handsome.

He is a tour guide who spends most of his time working in Beihai. He can only go home once or twice a month and must leave after a short time.

"Dad..." Xue Youka originally wanted to ask him why he bought lottery tickets again, but he didn't agree not to buy lottery tickets, but the words came to his lips but he couldn't ask.

Xue Tianliang's obsession with lottery tickets is not just about buying lottery tickets casually. He buys them every day without hesitation, buying ten or twenty bets. If he doesn't win, he throws it into a black bag. He can accumulate a full bag in less than a month.

I don’t know how many fights I had with He Xiaoyou because of this.

Xue Tianliang sat next to him and looked through the textbook: "Is this Qingqing's textbook?"

"Um…"

"Your mother borrowed it for you?"

"Yes..." He said listlessly.

Xue Tianliang looked at the notes written on it and saw his son's wilting appearance, and his heart twitched: "I had an operation a few days ago, does it still hurt now?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

His well-behaved look made Xue Tianliang feel heartache, and he spoke more softly: "I'm sorry, Mimi, it's my father's fault that you didn't come back on your birthday."

Xue Youka celebrated her 11th birthday last week, when Xue Tianliang was taking tourists in Beihai.

"It's okay." Xue Youka looked up at him and said, "I know you are busy with work, but my uncle bought me a cake and took me to the amusement park."

Xue Tianliang's mouth felt bitter and he called softly: "Mimi."

"Um."

"Dad will go to Weizhou Island in two days. Will you go with me? I will take you to the beach and take a boat."

"I... won't go, thank you dad, but I have to go to the hospital to remove the stitches in a few days. When mom goes on vacation, let's go to the beach together, okay?"

"Okay, Dad promises you." Xue Tianliang touched his hair: "My hair is a bit long, do you want to cut it?"

Xue Youka shook his head, hesitated, and said, "Dad, can you give me a dollar?"

Xue Tianliang paused, found some change and came out: "I'll give you one hundred, spend it slowly."

"I don't want that much, so you can keep the flowers... Just give me a dollar, um, a dollar and a half in change." He also wanted to go to the canteen to buy a pack of sour candies.

Looking down into his son's clear eyes, Xue Tianliang's heart ached and bled.

Mimi is so sensible.

It was only after dinner that Xue Youka found the opportunity to go out. As a result, he was wearing pants. He couldn't stand it after walking very far, and was caught by his grandfather who went to pick tomatoes in the field: "Little guy! You are still injured, okay?

What door and where to go?"

"I...I'm going to play with the tiger skin."

Hupi is the neighbor's pet.

"Hupi is not at home. Come back, why are you running around after being circumcised?" Grandpa took him back, and Xue Youka never found a suitable opportunity to go out and pay back the money.

In the evening, the adults continued to play cards. After the game ended, they left Xue Youka, who was already asleep on the small bed.

The next morning, Xue Youka swallowed the tea eggs and was about to go out to pay back the money. However, Xue Tianliang drove over and brought daily necessities for his son and packed two schoolbags: "Your mother packed them for you. Here.

It's your toothbrush, toothpaste, face towel, and clothes..." Xue Tianliang was stunned for a few seconds when he took out the clothes.

Xue Youka also saw it and wailed: "Why did my mother pack a bunch of skirts for me!"

"Uh... these are your cousin's, right? The quality is pretty good. You've only had the surgery a few days ago and it's not convenient for you to move around. Can you just wear them? Or maybe daddy will make another trip and get you other clothes."

"No, Dad, don't leave. Anyway... there's no one else here anyway." Xue Youka looked at the pile of skirts with a frown, and then opened another bulging schoolbag. He thought it would be snacks, but when he opened it,

There are overwhelming seventh-grade textbooks, including textbooks on ideology and morals, and even CDs for learning phonetic symbols.

"Your mother didn't know that you wanted to stay at grandma's house for a few days, so she brought them all. She said she would check your homework for a while and you can't slack off, you know? But, dad thinks it doesn't need to be so tight. You can study and play at the same time.

, you have to balance work and rest, you can’t study all the time, and you can’t play all the time, do you understand?”

"Yeah!" He nodded heavily, and Xue Tianliang asked him if he needed anything else. Xue Youka shook his head, and Xue Tianliang said, "Dad will play with you here in the afternoon and leave in the evening."

"Are you going to Beihai again?"

"Leave at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

When Xue Tianliang left, Xue Youka chased him out and hugged him. He almost couldn't help crying again. In fact, he doesn't like to cry, but since the operation, he has become particularly sentimental in the past two days. Xue Youka has realized this,

I thought that since I had the cut and wore a skirt, I became a girl, and I felt even more sad about it.

After Xue Tianliang left, it was already seven o'clock in the afternoon. My grandparents were soaking their feet and watching TV. They didn't notice that their grandson had changed his clothes and sneaked out.

He used to share a little tiger skin with his neighbor, and he liked to ride his bicycle around when he had nothing to do. Xue Youka knew the way from all over the country, not to mention that the family he owed money to lived on the bank of the river. That house was said to be

It was built on land bought by rich people. There are many rumors in the local area, but no one has ever lived there. Xue Youka has gone there several times to play outside.

It was difficult for him to move, even when he was wearing a skirt. He walked slowly for forty minutes, from dusk to almost darkness, and finally found the house.

Standing in front of the door, he gently knocked on the door with the knocker: "Is anyone home?"

No response.

"Is there anyone?" Xue Youka stood outside and shouted several times, but still didn't hear a response.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a voice coming from inside: "Sneeze!"

Huh? Isn’t this someone?

Why don't you open the door...

Xue Youka knocked on the door again, and heard sneezing sounds from time to time, but no one opened the door. He sat down on the doorstep in confusion, watching the sun completely set and the moon rising, and was about to get up and leave.

In the distance, two dazzling lights appeared in front of Xue Youka's eyes. He raised his arms to block the glare, and heard the sound of cars running over the cement road.

As the bright light faded, Xue Youka heard the distinctive "bang" sound of the car door closing. The sound was very loud, and it sounded like the person closing the car door was very angry.

Then there was the sound of the car starting again, and the car drove away again.

Xue Youka was a little confused. He was about to stand up, but found that his legs were a little weak.

Cheng Yu gave the money to the taxi driver and entered the outer courtyard. Under the light of the floor lamp, he suddenly saw someone sitting on the steps at the door.

It's a child.

Girls.

Cheng Yu walked over.

"Why are you here?" he asked condescendingly.

"Give you back the money." Xue Youka was wearing a skirt with pockets. He took out the coins he asked his father for yesterday and raised his head. The young man's whole face was in shadow. The deep outline looked so special.

Xue Youka didn't even dare to speak too loudly, and muttered, "Yesterday afternoon, you said you wanted me to pay back the money. I said I would pay back the money, and I am trustworthy. Thank you for lending me the money to take the car."

"

Cheng Yu was in a terrible mood. Hearing this, he held the coins in his hands and took the key to open the lock. He said in a cold voice: "The debt is cleared, you can leave."

"oh……"

Cheng Yu opened the door and found that he was still sitting still. He lowered his head and looked at him coldly: "Are you still not leaving?"

"I can't get up, it's a little painful. Don't rush me, I know how to leave." Xue Youka stood up slowly, holding on to the stone lantern in front of the door, his expression a little aggrieved, "I didn't eat your food."

Rice.”

Cheng Yu frowned slightly, remembering the day he first met this little girl, she was crying on the bridge, looking like she was about to jump into the river, as if she was injured somewhere.

"Where does it hurt?"
Chapter completed!