Chapter 21 Chapter 21

From mid to late October, the sky in Shanghai has always been gloomy.The drizzle always drifts across the sky inadvertently, pattering for a day, and the autumn wind blows immediately, making the girls who are reluctant to take off their summer skirts shiver in the streets.When autumn is getting stronger, the aftertaste of summer is getting farther and farther away, only the autumn night without rain is still beautiful. "The phoenix tree is even more drizzle, and at dusk, it will be dribs and drabs. This is the first time, how can there be a word of worry!" The sound of reading aloud came from the teaching building of Nanhua Junior High School. The children's voices were clear and melodious, and the melancholy in the words and sentences could not be expressed.Before the dusk described in the word, on the side of the playground where the drizzle stopped, the water droplets accumulated on the leaves of the sycamore trees kept falling.The plastic running track is speckled with water, and the yellow sand in the bunker for the long jump has turned into clumps of mud.

The long-awaited get out of class bell finally rang, and the students burst out of the classroom laughing, throwing away the sorrows of the poetess hundreds of years ago. For the first time this time, they will not be able to comprehend until they have experienced the separation of love and hate. A few boys ran out of the classroom of the first grade, threw their schoolbags over their heads like sandbags, and rushed to the side of the playground in a rowdy manner.The stagnant water in the bunker made them very disappointed. It seemed that they could not practice long jump today. All the other children left, only one boy with fair skin remained unwillingly.He hung his schoolbag on the horizontal bar, stood alone at the top of the wet runway, took a deep breath and started running!His posture is very dexterous, his speed is fast, and a series of water splashes are splashed under his feet. In the last step, he pedaled with all his strength-"Pa!"

The boy fell heavily beside the sandpit, rolled three times, and then sat down in a small pond with his teeth bared.He raised his arms to see, the sleeves were torn open, and the underside of his forearms was bruised and purple. Not only here, buttocks, thighs and shoulders were all hurting from the fall.Tears flashed in the boy's eyes. What made him sad the most was that his clothes and pants were all dirty. He really didn't know how to go home and face his mother's scolding. "Does it hurt from the fall?" What a beautiful voice!The boy raised his head and leaned over to his beautiful face, which he had never seen before: "...teacher?"

She showed him a gentle and friendly smile: "I am not a teacher here, but a graduate of Huahai Middle School in the past—your alumni." "Oh!... Hello, Auntie!" The boy forgot the pain and jumped up from the ground, dripping dirty water trickling down his trouser legs.The beautiful aunt leaned forward slightly, and pinched the corner of his clothes thoughtfully: "You can't exercise on such a wet track, you know?" He nodded desperately, his face flushed.This aunt looks about the same age as her mother, but she speaks much better than her mother.The boy became shy: "Ah, auntie, I'm going home..."

"Well, be careful." "Auntie, goodbye!" The boy took the schoolbag she handed over and ran to the school gate in a hurry.She stared at the back of the child obsessively, time stagnated on the thin but vibrant figure, repeated several times, and gradually transformed into the deepest nostalgia in her heart - that, ah, no, it was those two boys, one tall and one tall. Short, walking forward side by side, after a few steps they stopped and looked back together, showing the same youthful and bright smiles, she was dazzled by seeing, her heart was intoxicated, she couldn't help but want to stop them, etc. I!But suddenly, they turned around again and walked away in opposite directions.She was stunned, not knowing whose footsteps she should keep up with. At the moment she hesitated, a black mist rose from the end of the runway, engulfing them all.

The leaves of the sycamore tree above her head rustled, she raised her face, and a beam of sunset was projected through the gaps in the leaves, reflecting the two shiny drops of water on her cheeks, which was also the rain dripping from between the leaves of the sycamore tree Bar? "Ms. Lin, hello." Lin Nianzhen turned around in response, and Tong Minghai hurried over from the other side of the playground.In this autumn evening, the hoarfrost on the old man's temples seems to be thicker than before, but his back is still straight and his steps are as vigorous as flying. "Oh, Huahai Middle School, I have dealt with this school a lot!" When shaking hands with Lin Nianzhen, Tong Minghai looked at her carefully while shaking hands with emotion, his expression was full of kindness and concern, "Ms. Is it because of Yuan Jia that we met here? She has attended high school here for three years."

She bowed her head in silence, and after a while, raised her head and smiled tearfully at the old man: "Uncle Tong, it's me...I'm Yuan Jia." Even though it was expected, Tong Minghai was still taken aback, and then he let out a long sigh: "Oh! You child..." Another gust of wind blew up, and more drops of water fell from the canopy of the sycamore tree, like a short period of autumn rain floating in the gap of the setting sun, with no beginning, no end, and no worries. "I'm sorry I haven't told you the truth." Tong Minghai waved his hand: "Hey, what does it matter if you tell me? What matters is that you live well, and your grandfather's wish... Anyway, I am relieved to see that you are well today."

"It's a pity that 'Yiyuan' has suffered another catastrophe, which makes people feel distressed." At some point when Tong Xiao came to the two of them, he suddenly interjected such a sentence. As soon as the words came out, they passed through the air like sharp arrows, accompanied by the whistling wind. "He's crazy." Lin Nianzhen was shot hard, her face was pale, and her body couldn't stop trembling in the autumn wind, "No one can destroy 'Yiyuan', she is alive - destroy' Yiyuan' means destroying one's own soul." Tong Minghai glared at his son angrily, while Tong Xiao remained silent.Today, he is dressed in a police officer's uniform, showing a skill and rigor that is rarely seen on weekdays.

Lin Nianzhen cheered up from the vacillating state, and thanked the father and son earnestly: "I heard that thanks to the timely arrival of Police Officer Tong, 'Yi Yuan' was saved, and they were saved. Thank you, Officer Tong, Tong Uncle, thank you very much!" Tong Minghai sighed again. Tong Xiao looked at her and said, "Lin... oh, Ms. Yuan Jia, the conclusion of Zhang Naichi's forensic appraisal of mental illness has come out. The appraisal committee confirmed that the appraised person was already suffering from mental illness when he committed the harmful behavior. , no capacity for criminal responsibility... Well, I don’t know if this is good news. Cough!”

"Severe mental disorder, incapable of criminal responsibility..." She repeated to herself, this time even her lips turned pale, and a half-smile appeared on her face.Tong Minghai couldn't help becoming nervous. More than 60 years of life experience told him that only when people are in extreme pain can they have this strange expression of indifference and excitement. Obviously, deep in her heart, tit-for-tat emotions are colliding violently.The old man couldn't help but glanced at his son angrily. Young people just don't care about the seriousness, they only know how to solve the mystery, and they don't care whether this ill-fated woman can still bear it? !

"Yuan Jia, you..." the old man worriedly called her name. "Oh." She breathed a long sigh of relief as if suddenly awakened from a dream, and her face gradually brightened.The bitter fruit of fate is chewing back and forth in his mouth, and the taste will fade after all, "So, when he, he committed those... crimes, he didn't know what he was doing. I feel better like this It's..." "And you can also be exempted from corresponding criminal responsibility." Tong Xiao followed up with a thought-provoking sentence. "Tong Xiao!" Tong Minghai couldn't bear it anymore. On the contrary, Lin Nianzhen calmed down completely. She looked at her angry father and then at her son who was refreshed, and said in a low but clear voice: "He has lost his mind and his life is better than death. He has already received the most severe punishment." .” In a word, love and hatred are scattered.Tolerance or rejection, this secret will be sealed in her heart forever. "Uh... Ms. Yuan, have you checked the current situation of 'Yi Garden'?" Tong Xiao said, "In general, it's lucky. The damage was not small, but because of the timely rescue, the whole of 'Yiyuan' was not affected, and the second floor was basically intact, so it should not be difficult to repair in the future." "That's great..." She showed a very bitter smile, "It's really thanks to you. Thank you!" "Ms. Yuan is too polite. In fact, there is one person I should especially thank this time——Qiu Wenxin, the proprietress of the opposite coffee shop 'Shuangmei 1919', oh, she is the sister of the twins. Hehe, this Qiu Wenxin has a quirk, especially Ai peeped at "Yiyuan" from the bedroom on the second floor of "Shuangmei 1919". She was watching the incident with great enthusiasm. She was the first to find Zhang Naichi pouring gasoline in the hall on the ground floor, and soon smoke came out. She immediately reported 110 and 119, so the fire trucks arrived shortly after the fire started. If we waited until we subdued Zhang Naichi before starting to fight the fire, I am afraid the fire would be much more serious." "Oh, that's right." That stubborn voice seems to be ringing in her ears again——Yuan Jia, someone saw your grandfather's death through the window, she didn't tell the truth in the past, now she can clarify for me! "Yuan Jia, regarding the circumstances of your grandfather's death in 1981, this Qiu Wenxin can provide further testimony..." "No need." She interrupted Tong Minghai, "Uncle Tong, I already know that the person grandpa loves has not failed him. Grandpa's spirit in heaven can rest in peace." Tong Minghai and his son looked at each other in confusion. Lin Nianzhen nodded to them gently: "Uncle Tong, Police Officer Tong, I invite you two to come today, in fact, I want to talk about... me, Li Weilian and Zhang... Hua Bin, the past of the three of us. It would help to clarify the facts." She didn't start to narrate immediately, but took out something from her handbag and handed it to Tong Minghai: "Uncle Tong, do you still...know the people above?" This is a black and white photo with some yellowing, but the portrait is still clear.The four people hugging each other closely, one old and three young, all had the simplest clothes and the purest expressions in that barren era. Tong Xiao recognized the two boys at a glance. They were both surprisingly beautiful when they were young, and they can only be described as picturesque.Although their appearances are very different, the two pairs of sad eyes are very similar, and their serious expressions wrapped in loneliness make these two teenagers look like a pair of real brothers. Even they themselves never imagined that one day they would become life and death enemies. The little girl in the center of the photo is smiling happily, her slender eyes are bent into the shape of a crescent moon, without bangs, revealing a clear and high forehead, the corners of her eyes and brows are full of tranquility and tenderness. At this moment, she must be the happiest, because her favorite relatives are all around her. Grandma is sitting in front, her elder brother is standing on the left, and her younger brother is standing on the right. "On my mother-in-law's 60th birthday, at Wei Lian's suggestion, we went to a photo studio to take this picture together. My mother-in-law passed away the next year. I took it down from the wall of my home in Fenglinqiao and brought it with me. To 'Yiyuan'. Later, my grandfather passed away, and I left 'Yiyuan' with this photo. More than 30 years have passed, and only it has always been by my side." There was only one time when she almost lost it. On that stormy night, she fell on the streets of Shenzhen, and the blood-red rain washed away the photos she was holding tightly in her hands.It was the American who rescued her who carefully put away the photos, and it was also by relying on them that Yuan Jia's past events were slowly awakened. At that time, she had already lived in two lifetimes. Tong Minghai's voice was a little rough: "Yuan... Jia, why did your appearance change so much?" His face is no longer there, but his smile is still as beautiful as ever: "Uncle Tong, it's because women age quickly." "Oh, cough, cough." Tong Minghai's heart trembled violently.Just now, strands of white protruded from her hair blowing in the wind.Yes, the innocent and beautiful little girl in the photo, and the dignified and gentle young girl in his memory—Yuan Jia was too old to recognize. The wind picked up again, blowing the leaves above the head, and there were no children cheering and jumping on the campus after dusk. The rainwater on the empty plastic track would not dry for a while, and there was muddy water beside the sandpit where the boy fell. The footprints are connected in a long string. "Uncle Tong, Police Officer Tong, you already know that Li Weilian, Zhang Huabin and I have been good friends since we were children. Before my grandmother passed away in 1976, the three of us spent a difficult and loving childhood together in Fenglinqiao Grandma left forever in the severe winter of 1976, and we have had to separate since then. I lived in 'Yiyuan' with my grandfather; Huabin was brought back by his father Zhang Guangrong; In mid-1975, before he entered junior high school, his family moved to Hong Kong, and he was the only one left to live in Shanghai. "After we separated, our respective circumstances were very different. Wei Lian was very independent and capable since he was a child, and he lived alone in an orderly manner. And he would come to the 'Yi Garden' every Sunday to receive the teachings of his grandfather, so we I have always had the opportunity to meet him. On the contrary, Hua Bin is the most pitiful. Zhang Guangrong is not worthy of being a father at all. Bin didn't even eat a meal, let alone the care and love in other aspects. Hua Bin was still in elementary school at that time, without Wei Lian and I taking care of it, his grades quickly became a mess, and he even followed Zhang Guangrong He got into a lot of bad habits, playing truant, lying, fighting, stealing... At that time, the three of us often secretly met at Wei Lian's house, and Hua Bin would cry to us every time, complaining about his father's various evil deeds. I remember that Wei Lian was always very silent in those days, and would occasionally teach Hua Bin a few words. He had a natural majesty at a young age, and Hua Bin was always very afraid of him. "We kept a secret friendship like this. Three years later, Wei Lian successfully entered the high school of Huahai Middle School, and I also got in from another school. After the 'Cultural Revolution' ended, Zhang Guangrong became more and more depressed. With some specialties in entertainment, he managed to become a substitute teacher in Huahai Middle School, and Hua Bin was also included in Huahai Middle School because of this. Otherwise, with his grades at the time, whether he could go to middle school would be a problem. But no matter what, The three of us were reunited at Huahai Middle School, and I was probably the most excited one, but the two boys had no special joy. In the process, I discovered that boys grow up to be quite deep, and they quickly I learned to hide my true heart, and my attention gradually transcended the small circle in front of me, and turned to a bigger goal. But we women are only indulged in emotions, going around in the cage of love... "The most illustrative example is: in the autumn of 1978, the three of us had just arrived at Huahai Middle School, and Wei Lian made a rule that we could not show any signs of mutual acquaintance in the school, but we could only meet quietly at his home regularly. Although I was very confused about his rule, Hua Bin and I were already used to obeying him. The accidental death of Zhang Guangrong not long after that just proved Wei Lian's foresight. "The severe winter of 1979 was the coldest winter in my memory. At that time, Zhang Guangrong's alcoholism became more and more serious, and he often smelled of alcohol when he was in class. The principal talked to him several times. If his condition does not improve, I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep my job. Because life is extremely unsatisfactory, Zhang Guangrong vented all his depression on Hua Bin, and beat and scolded him on weekdays. Weeping and showing me the scars on his arms and chest, I was so sad that I burst into tears, but Wei Lian said coldly: "This kind of person is better off dead!" His cold expression when he said this scared me, What frightened me even more was the cold light in Hua Bin's eyes. "The accident happened to Zhang Guangrong a few days before the final exam of that year. On the evening of the incident, the three of us made an appointment to meet at Wei Lian's home. Hua Bin's homework was too poor, Wei Lian has been helping him with tutoring , and I was in charge of cooking for everyone. Every time I watched the two boys gobble up the food, it was the greatest joy in my life. "But that day, Wei Lian and I waited until after nine o'clock in the evening, when Hua Bin appeared in a panic. He told us that Zhang Guangrong was drunk and fell into the sandpit of Huahai Middle School. His life and death are unknown now. I was anxious He wanted to go out and call the neighbors to save people, but Wei Lian stopped him. He asked me and Hua Bin to stay at home, and he went to check the situation first. Wei Lian’s home is not far from Huahai Middle School, and he came back in about half an hour , He said that he climbed down the bunker to see that Zhang Guangrong was not breathing, he must be dead. Now Hua Bin and I have no idea at all, we can only listen to Wei Lian. "In order to avoid unnecessary troubles, under Wei Lian's arrangement, Hua Bin and I pretended nothing happened, and went home to sleep. At noon the next day, Zhang Guangrong's body was found, and the Public Security Bureau conducted an investigation. It was confirmed that Zhang Guangrong broke his neck directly after he slipped and fell, and died on the spot. "Zhang Guangrong was disgusting to everyone. His accidental death did not arouse any doubts or sorrows, and he was quickly forgotten. But since then, according to Wei Lian's orders, Hua Bin and I have never been to Wei Lian's house again. . "It was a blessing in disguise for Hua Bin. He got rid of his rascal father and was adopted by an Indonesian overseas Chinese family. This family returned to China with Zhang Guangrong, and the hostess was an accomplished pianist. Zhang Huabin followed The family lived comfortably for a few years and learned some piano skills." Tong Xiao was overjoyed when he heard this, and couldn't help interjecting: "Hehe, if he hadn't shown off his piano skills at the company's annual meeting last year, there wouldn't have been the weird plot where Yasukawa Kosuke tried to stab him with AIDS-poisoned glass sheets .” Lin Nianzhen smiled sadly again: "It's a pity that Hua Bin's life was not good. Three years later, the family gave birth to two sons one after another, and all the care for Hua Bin was transferred to their own children. After a while, the family The whole family moved back to Indonesia, but did not bring Huabin with them. Later, Huabin encountered some unsatisfactory things while working in Jinjiang Hotel, so he applied to go abroad in the name of visiting relatives in Indonesia. In fact, Indonesian adoptive parents were not willing to accept He, Hua Bin just found this channel to go to Hong Kong to join Weilian. After that, the two of them fought together in Hong Kong, and I... don't know the specific situation." Lin Nianzhen ended her narration.Tong Minghai and his son were speechless for a while, with mixed feelings in their hearts.