Chapter 51 2. Depressed Requiem

Piano music, the melancholy piano music reverberates at home. The one who plays the piano is the mother.Her nimble fingers dangled over the keys, her slender fingers moved so swiftly that they sometimes gave people the illusion that they were the tentacles of insects.She has never seen the sun all day long, her skin is very white, frighteningly white. The boy stood in front of his mother obsessively. He admired his mother's piano skills very much. You know, she is blind! The father's call sounded in the back hall, and the boy ran to the back court. His father was packing the two leather shoes and told him, "Send them to the old Xu's house on Zhinong Road."

My father is a well-known shoemaker in the city, but he never goes out. Both he and his mother are albinos.The boy was originally an orphan, but they brought him back from the orphanage.Although it is not his own, he treats him more dearly than his own. The boy went out with the shoebox in his hand, trotting all the way to Zhinong Road, there were two children on the road, throwing stones at him from a distance, shouting: "Little monster, little monster, the children of monsters are little monsters. " The boy wanted to protest, but in the end he lowered his head silently. He ran to Old Xu's house as fast as he could. Old Xu smiled and asked him to put down the box and handed him a banknote: "Thanks for your hard work, little guy!" .”

A little girl with big eyes looked at him from the window. Not long after the boy took the money, he heard Lao Xu's scolding voice: "Don't touch that box, disinfect it first! His family members are sick, and I don't know if it's contagious or not!" So the boy's head drooped even lower. The next day, at school he met the girl with the big eyes. The girl came over to say hello to him: "Hello, my name is Xu Jingjing." "Hello." The boy was a little flustered. No one had ever greeted him before, so he was at a loss. When he was in class, he encountered an unexpected problem, and a lot of words were written on the table: little monster, little monster, little monster...

He erased those words with an eraser, but the scratches of the pen tip still remained on the original flat table, just like the soul, some things seem to be temporarily erased, but in fact it will leave eternal trauma. Classmates looked at his desk and whispered, and he tried not to think about the topics they were discussing.But those whispers pierced his eardrum like an awl. The teacher asked him to answer the question, but he couldn't answer the question. The teacher scolded him for not listening carefully in class. He couldn't help but said: "Teacher, I just can't think of it for the time being. There are so many people who talk in class and you don't say it. Why blame me?" ?”

"Dare to contradict the teacher?!" The teacher yelled furiously, "Stand by the wall! Write the inspection after school!" He walked helplessly towards the corner.Someone stretched out his leg on purpose, and the boy didn't pay attention and was tripped to the ground.Nosebleeds flowed out, and he looked at his own blood in horror.The people in the class laughed.He looked at the teacher for help, and the teacher looked at him expressionlessly. When passing by the office, two female teachers crossed their legs, spitting out melon seeds and discussing something—— "Do you know that kid in class three, it is said that his parents are both albino... Hey, how disgusting!"

"Albinism? Could it be that even the eyebrows are white?" "It's said that he even has nose hairs. Everyone in class three calls him a little monster!" "Boom!" The boy punched the wall heavily, the voice in the room became a little lower, and soon it rang out again unscrupulously.The boy gritted his teeth and ran away quickly.He didn't want to hear it, really didn't want to. Parents cannot attend parent-teacher meetings.Other children can go to the playground with their parents, but he cannot. On the way home from school, he still has to buy vegetables and rice.Parents can't go out during the day, they can't stand the harsh sunlight.

The vegetable seller looked at him strangely. Because I'm a little monster, everyone looks at me like that.The doodles on the table came back to the boy's mind, and he wanted to cry, but couldn't.He had to run all the way home.Several children pointed at him from behind and shouted: "Little monster, little monster..." Parents don't know these things, they don't go out all day.They only know how to love this child in their own way.Boys understand the love of their parents. Although they are aliens in the crowd, they are the kindest parents in the world. While doing his homework at night, he found a note stuffed in his schoolbag:

Little monster, you are not allowed to come to class tomorrow, or your end will be miserable. The handwriting on the note was crooked, as if it was deliberately not for him to recognize, but in fact it was unnecessary, he never had a chance to see other students' handwriting.No one ever lent him books or notes. He went to class anyway, but he wasn't trying to show his bravery.Missing classes without reason will be dismissed by the teacher. Thinking of the eyes of his parents and their hard work for his tuition, the boy's heart twitched. He was thinking about how the person who wrote the note would treat him, when suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder: "Good morning!"

He was startled, and when he looked up, it turned out to be Xu Jingjing. "What a coincidence, let's go together." Xu Jingjing said with a smile. The boy stopped: "It's better not to." Xu Jingjing asked curiously, "Why?" "I received a note." The boy told Xu Jingjing about the note, and Xu Jingjing opened her mouth wide in surprise. "You got it too? I thought I was the only one who got it!" she said with a smile. "What's going on?" the boy asked. Xu Jingjing took out a note, which said: "Ugly girl, don't come to school, or you will bear the consequences."

"It's just a hoax," she said. "People get stuff like that every day. Anyone who writes something like that is a coward. They don't dare to stand up." The boy suddenly felt bolder. Xu Jingjing patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go, if we encounter any danger, shall we face it together? Two people are better than one." "Yeah!" The boy nodded vigorously. They appeared in the school together, and everyone who saw this scene was surprised.There is someone who is willing to walk with the little monster, and he is a little beauty with big eyes!

The boy felt as if thousands of steel needles were shot at him, and everyone's eyes made him uneasy. Xu Jingjing remained calm, as if this was just an ordinary walk. The day was passed safely at school and no one came for trouble. The two still walked together when school was over. The boy had no scruples in his heart. He and Xu Jingjing chatted happily, talking about his mother's piano skills and his father's leather shoe making skills. The girl listened with a smile. The wind in early autumn is very warm and soft, with the fragrance of the farmer in the air, and the maple leaves follow the track of the autumn wind, leaving behind a piece of golden-red rain. The boy feels that time passes so fast.He only hoped that the road home would be as long as possible... He will never forget that day. "Oh, I forgot my Chinese textbook at school!" Xu Jingjing suddenly patted her head, "Tonight's homework is to copy the text, what should I do!" The boy said, "That's too bad. I'll go back with you to get it?" Xu Jingjing thought for a while and said, "No need. The school must be closed at this time. Have you brought your language documents back?" The boy nodded and said, "Take it, our class also left the same homework." Xu Jingjing said in a pleading tone: "Please, can I go to your house and copy it? I will leave after copying, and I will never disturb you." "this……" The boy hesitated. No outsider had ever been to their house. His parents had no friends, and neither did he. Those who ordered shoes only slipped their orders through the door during the day, and then left in a hurry, respecting their house as if they were ghosts and gods. Now this lovely girl is actually going to their house as a guest, he just finds it inconceivable. "You don't want to?" Xu Jingjing asked him, blinking her big eyes. "No, no, no!" The boy hurriedly waved his hands, "I'm just afraid that you think our house is shabby..." Xu Jingjing smiled: "How could it be? I heard that your family lives in a high-rise building, and your father even set up a leather shoe workshop all by himself. Our house is just a bungalow. My father is just a laid-off worker." "Okay." The boy's worries were broken. They were doing homework at the boy's house. After finishing, Xu Jingjing watched the boy's father making leather shoes with great interest and listened to the boy's mother playing the piano.My mother was very happy that day, and the piano played no longer a dull tune but a cheerful rhythm. Mom and Dad invited Xu Jingjing to stay for dinner together, Xu Jingjing said no, I'm afraid she would be blamed by her parents if she went back too late. "By the way, I brought my camera, can I take a photo with you?" Xu Jingjing said. "There's nothing wrong with that," the boy's parents said. "We haven't had a photo in all these years. Not with anyone else." Xu Jingjing adjusted the focus, put the camera on the table, surrounded by the boy's family, and the four of them smiled at the camera together. That moment was forever remembered. The next day, as soon as it was dawn, the boy got up early, ate breakfast in a hurry, and ran to Zhinong Road in one breath. He wanted to go to school with Xu Jingjing. He felt at ease and happy with her.His mother told him that everyone regarded us as monsters, only Xu Jingjing didn't, she must be very pure in her heart.Mom is glad you can make friends with someone like that... The boy waited anxiously not far from Old Xu's house.Time passed minute by minute, and it was almost time for class, and Xu Jingjing hadn't come out yet. "Did she get up earlier than me?" The boy suddenly thought of this, and he hurried to the school. People in the school are talking about something. A student said: "Have you heard that Xu Jingjing went to the little monster's house!" Another student was surprised: "She came back alive?" The first student said: "Of course, it is said that a photo was taken!" "This girl is really courageous." "Oh, I lost the bet to her again this time." bet?The boy hadn't figured out what that meant. He originally wanted to inquire what was going on, but when everyone saw that he was coming, they all fell silent.Everyone dispersed, and went back to their places to read books. The boy came to the next class and saw Xu Jingjing sitting on the table proudly showing something to people.A large group of students is watching. One of them said: "This is their house...it's so eerie...oh, no wonder his parents dare not come out, it's really scary white!" A girl said sharply, "Let me see, even the fur is white." "Shut up, that's vulgar, that's hair." The girl pouted and said, "A monster's hair is just hair." A boy asked: "Xu Jingjing, how did you get in?" Xu Jingjing said triumphantly: "I'll coax the kid first, and I'll go in naturally when I make him happy. His house is so gloomy, and I was really scared when I went in. The appearance of his parents scared me even more. I was so nervous. I almost cried, but fortunately we made it through. Well, there are photos to prove it, you should believe it. Hurry up and pay, I still have to buy snacks!" Bet, it's just a gamble.As long as Xu Jingjing dared to go to the boy's house, the other students would give her money.Xu Jingjing has no sympathy for the boy, and there is no friendship between them. It's all just a scam. The boy only felt that his heart was slowly becoming cold and hard, sinking into the bottomless abyss like a lead block. There was a sudden silence in the classroom, and people stopped talking. The boy walked into the classroom slowly, and all the students automatically moved out of the way in front of him to make way for him. The whisper sounded again: "This is the little monster." "He didn't come to eat Xu Jingjing's, did he?" Xu Jingjing sat on the table, her legs were trembling, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.She told herself to run faster, but for some reason her feet wouldn't work. The boy's expressionless face made her feel cold. Xu Jingjing boldly said: "Don't come here, I will call the teacher." The boy continued to move forward, but he suddenly realized that others didn't hate him, but were afraid of him. This made his long-standing sense of inferiority suddenly disappear, and a black undercurrent quietly formed, rushing to his limbs and bones. He walked over slowly and stared at Xu Jingjing, Xu Jingjing didn't even dare to move, the boy took the photo from the girl's hand, then turned and left the classroom. A classmate shouted from behind: "Oh, Xu Jingjing, you seem to have peed your pants!" When the boy came home, his parents asked him, "Did you meet that girl at school today? Didn't she take a photo at our house, and there was our whole family on it. We haven't taken a family photo yet, so let's use that one instead." Can you ask her to come over?" The boy replied: "The photo is coming, her camera is broken, so I couldn't take it." "Oh." The parents sighed and left. The boy went back to his room and took out the photo from his pocket.There are four smiling faces in the photo.Xu Jingjing smiled happily.At that time, she probably thought that if she won the bet, she would get everyone's money the next day, so she would be happy. The boy took the pen on the table and scratched on the photo with the tip of the pen.The sharp pen tip left deep marks on the photo, one stroke, another stroke... Xu Jingjing's face became more and more ugly, distorted, deformed, and finally turned into a black hole on that photo. The boy looked at the black hole with tears in his eyes but a grin on the corner of his mouth.He smiled silently.