Chapter 11 ten or one hundred years later

The same beautiful window, the rich and the poor see different pictures.At least Chen Jianxia thought so.What others may see are the gorgeous clothes in the window, but what Chen Jianxia sees is the lights. At the end of summer, when the lights are on, many old Russian-style houses left over from this once-colonized city are now rented by shops.The old phantoms left over from the reliefs on the cornice capitals are lost in the gorgeous and gaudy taste of money a hundred years later, but it has a special beauty. Nobody knew her, and she didn't know anyone. Zhenhua, Yu Sisi, her hometown, her patriarchal mother, and all the unhappiness that could be barely related to Chen Jianxia were all cut off by this kind of lights and buildings.Even the faces of pedestrians are so blurred.She stepped on the old floor tiles laid a hundred years ago fascinatedly, and her eyes lingered in every store, but she was never caught by any beautiful product.

Chen Jianxia didn't fall in love with any bag, or any skirt, but a desire swelled in his chest, as if he had once again confirmed the meaning of coming here alone.The kind of ambition triggered by money, but actually not related to money, let her escape from her pitiful complaints, as if she was back at the desk when she was smashing mathematical symbols and chemical equations. Every stroke and painting has a more magnificent meaning. Jian Xia stopped on the street, and slowly turned around in a very dramatic manner.The neon signs formed a charming circle before her eyes. She suddenly felt like crying.

"You think this is Broadway! Why do you stand on the street and start acting!" Seeing Xia's face collapse. How is it him. The red-haired Li Ran was standing under the neon signboard of a western restaurant not far away, looking at Chen Jianxia with his arms folded like he was looking at an idiot. "Did you get admitted to Zhenhua because you were mentally ill, so there was a preferential policy of adding 5 points?" Li Ran approached with a smile. "If there is such a policy, your condition will be able to win the first prize." Chen Jianxia muttered in a low voice.

As soon as she finished speaking, she was amused by herself again. Li Ran walked up to her and looked down at her condescendingly. "Do you really think I didn't hear?" As Li Ran was speaking, he suddenly grabbed Chen Jianxia's mobile phone hanging around his neck and pulled it towards him. Chen Jianxia's neck stiffened and he was almost taken aback. "Why do you hang your phone directly around your neck? Are you a dog? Are you soiled?" Li Ran had a funny expression on his face. "My father said it's safe!" Seeing Xia pulling back on the lanyard, Li Ran didn't let go. She was forced to bow her head, and she felt like a dog.

"Yes, safe, then why did I catch you? If you run into a strong thief, not only will you steal your mobile phone, but you will also be dragged into a high paraplegic by the way." As Li Ran spoke, he took the phone around and took the rope off Jianxia's neck. "Take it off quickly, it's ugly and dangerous." "Ugly or not, what's the matter with you!" Li Ran untied the mobile phone strap and threw it directly into the trash can on the side of the road. He continued his efforts, unlocked the phone, and entered his phone number. "You don't even have a contact person, isn't that too ridiculous? Just connect my mobile phone number to you just to show off."

Chen Jianxia felt that her eyeballs were about to pop out. Li Ran looked like "the world is finally quiet", changed the subject, and said loudly with a playful and exaggerated expression: "How about it, is my big provincial city fun?" Big provincial capital.Jian Xia closed his eyes and rolled his eyes again. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Li Ran's index finger and middle finger poking towards her eyes, she fell back in fright, barely dodging. "Don't you dare to roll your eyes again!" See summer qi knot. However, seeing Li Ran shaking her head, as if something had been melted by his red hair, she couldn't explain it herself.

Chen Jianxia is such a reserved person, he is always cold when he speaks, his sense of humor is always out of sync with others, even if he tries to pretend to be lively and enthusiastic, he can only put on a stiff smirk, even his cousin gave birth to a child, stuffed into it Let her hug her in her arms, she feels that her arms are heavy, and even the child doesn't like her. However, this person in front of her, she had only seen him a few times, he didn't feel that he was dumb and cold, and she never felt uncomfortable. If only he wasn't a man, he would have a friend, right?Although after making friends, she may be very mother-in-law and mother-in-law to persuade people to dye their hair back to black and study hard, but she also wants a friend.

Chen Jianxia was immersed in her own thoughts, staring at Li Ran in a daze, looking at Li Ran with horror. "What are you doing?" Li Ran protected his chest. "I got the fourth place in the class in the preliminary test." Chen Jianxia said looking straight into his eyes. "What are you talking about?" Li Ran whispered as he stepped back. "The sixteenth place in the whole school, although it is tied with others." Chen Jianxia pressed on every step of the way as if he was sick. "I even failed the basic test, but I'm still better than you." Li Ran mumbled, scratching his neck.

"You are all students from the provincial capital, but I'm from another place!" Jian Xia was a little anxious. "It's none of my business that you came from an alien planet." Chen Jianxia's steps faltered, and his face slowly collapsed. Are you bewildered?What does it matter if you pass the exam?How shameless she is to talk about her ranking to a stranger on the street! Jian Xia woke up, crouched on the ground in embarrassment, buried her face in her knees, tears were spinning. She just wanted to find someone to boast about herself. shameful. Chen Jianxia squatted on the street like no one else around, like a stray dog. The neon lights and old buildings that warmly welcomed her just now clearly wrote the word "outsider" on her face.

An out-of-towner with no friends or family to care about. Chen Jianxia whimpered until he felt a stiff paw fall from the top of his head. Li Ran's particularly blunt voice rang in her ears. "Okay, that's amazing, the sixteenth in the school, really, really awesome." Chen Jianxia cried even harder. "Let me treat you to western food and celebrate, okay, okay?" Li Ran's voice was also full of tears. Chen Jianxia didn't raise his head, and said in a low voice, "Okay". After ordering, Li Ran still looked at Chen Jianxia cautiously. "Why do you have to come here?"

"Because I have heard of this restaurant since I was very young. It has a history of a hundred years and is very famous. So," Jian Xia thought of the high price on the menu, felt a little guilty, and lowered his voice, "So I always wanted to come Try it. But—” She hurriedly raised her voice, "You don't need to treat me, I'm just joking, I, I, I..." The phrase "I treat you well today" can't be said. She has the heart, but not the money. Li Ran didn't care, "It happened that I didn't have dinner either, although this one is terrible, but forget it, if you like it, we'll settle for it." "This one is terrible?" Jian Xia understood after a little thought.Difficulty under the prestigious name is actually nothing new. "It's just to earn a name and kill tourists." Seeing Xia smiling, she is indeed a tourist, and it's not normal to be slaughtered. "However," Li Ran looked at the dark red wooden floor and said to himself, "The century-old history you mentioned is actually a misinformation." "misinformation?" "Well, this place was originally a dim sum shop. I forgot what it was called. If we really talk about a hundred years ago, it should be a bungalow. Later, in 1926, a Jew opened a tea shop here." "Tea food shop? Does it mean tea restaurant?" "I don't know, anyway, in those days, the city was full of foreigners, and this old street was full of tea and food shops. I heard from my grandpa that tea and food shops were smaller than real western restaurants, and they were not suitable For very formal occasions, the operation is very flexible. I thought about it, it should be very similar to a fast food restaurant." When Li Ran is serious, his whole person unconsciously exudes a special brilliance.His voice was clear and clear, blending into the background without any sense of incongruity. Seeing Xia Ta making a sound on the wooden floor, he had the illusion of accidentally stepping into a historical documentary. "Later, the tea and food shop got better and better. The Jew rented out the surrounding shops and the store diagonally opposite, and started to do business for Russians. It was completely upgraded to a Western restaurant. The waiters included Russians and Jews. There are even Chinese and Japanese." "and after?" "I don't know about that. Some people say that the Jew changed hands of the restaurant after the Japanese called, and some people said that he stayed here until after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and then handed it over to a Chinese. In 1949, the restaurant It went bankrupt. Of course, you know, in those days, the private economy retreated again and again, and this company was no exception." Li Ran leaned comfortably on the chair. "Then this one is..." "Actually, another old restaurant from the 1950s moved here—this is not accurate. It should be said that the old restaurant from the 1950s moved here. After the reform and opening up in the 1980s, it was very popular, so a new three-story restaurant was built. One-story western-style building, and then embedded a bronze medal in 1926, which just grafted two irrelevant things together, and said to the outside world, this is a century-old store. Businessman.” After Li Ran finished talking on his own, he noticed that Jian Xia on the opposite side looked a little melancholy. "What's the matter? Did you remember the time when you got the 16th place in the school?" Seeing Xia close her eyes and roll her eyes, Li Ran stood up to poke her again. Fortunately, the waiter brought the pre-dinner bread at this time, interrupting a new round of quarrel. "I just feel very sorry. It turns out that even this building is not the original building." When Li Ran was spreading jam on the bread, Xia Youyou said. The boy didn't laugh at her, and his face was covered with a layer of regret, but soon he smiled and comforted: "However, there is nothing to be sad about. The Jew's tea shop was established a hundred years ago. Think about it, a hundred and fifty years ago, it might have been some kind of royal mansion, and there were very beautiful people living here. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are sad, the most sad ones should be the people in the palace, and your home has become a western restaurant. History is like this, the new replaces the old, there is nothing to be sad. You think you are a tradition, but he still thinks he is an ancestor Woolen cloth." Jian Xia was fascinated by it, as if every brick and tile, every table and chair, every plant and tree around her was home to hundreds of old souls—but they had nothing to do with themselves.Because I live in the present. "Why do you know this? Or do the locals know it?" "The locals don't bother to care about this. The locals know shit." "Then who did you hear it from?" "I am very familiar with this city. My grandpa is a postman. There is no place he doesn't know. I used to follow him everywhere when I was young." Seeing Xia staring at him ecstatically, but uncontrollably thinking of his slightly reddish hair paired with a green courier uniform, "red and green match shit", she burst out laughing. "But," she asked with a smile, "Aren't you short of money in the five elements? Why is your grandfather a postman?" After the questioning, even Xia felt that he was very bad. What's the matter with the postman, why is she always running around money. "That's not what I meant, the postman is very nice, I just said that casually..." Li Ran looked at her quietly. Jian Xia bowed her head in frustration, "Li Ran, I really don't mean anything else. I'm a person who really can't speak, don't, don't be angry." Li Ran handed her the bread with jam in his hand, "I think you are really honest." The Russian-style western food is indeed not very tasty. The canned beef and sheep seem to be undercooked, the bread is dry, and the borscht is also tasteless. "Welcome to the 1970s. This is the service and quality of state-run restaurants. You can't experience it in a time machine." Li Ranchao Jianxia grinned, "If you don't listen to the old man, you will suffer in front of you." Jian Xia blurted out: "You are so strange." "I, strange?" Li Ran subconsciously touched his mohawk. "I didn't mean that." Jian Xia shook his head. He is just a little ruffian, with no respect for his elders, and daring to act recklessly; but when he talks about these weird histories and economies, he is surprisingly calm and sure, and he has all the knowledge that his peers think is useless. The respect and understanding of old people and time are not commensurate with his appearance, but they are surprisingly harmonious. Apart from being curious and shocked at that moment, Chen Jianxia was more ashamed of his behavior of forcing others to praise him with his grades in the street. She once saw Li Ran as a little ruffian who relied on his family's money to be ignorant, but Li Ran saw her as a sad and vain nerd. The little urge to "be friends" in my mind was washed away.She was ashamed. Li Ran paid for the bill, while Chen Jianxia lowered her head to play with her phone—just locked, unlocked, locked, and unlocked over and over again... Her father's phone didn't even have a snake game. Chen Jianxia suddenly felt that everything was terrible. She decided to go to the bookstore to buy some books on history and philosophy to recharge her batteries in two days - although Chen Jianxia once firmly believed that this knowledge could be supplemented slowly in the future, and the top priority is to learn all the subjects of the college entrance examination well - but now she no longer Think so. After all, Jian Xia knew in her heart that for her, whether it was the high school entrance examination or the college entrance examination, it was a means of escape, not an end.After all, she still hopes to use this to become a truly outstanding person. No longer subject to the environment, no longer let yourself be wronged. Chen Jianxia followed Li Ran out of the house in a daze, feeling very complicated.She felt that she should go back to the dormitory, go to bed early, return to her own world early, and deal with the Zhenhua Class 1 who cannot escape.But looking at the radiant lights all over the street, she was really reluctant to part with it. Her eyes were glued to the streetlights. Li Ran couldn't figure it out.The school is not far from this old street, and it takes only fifteen minutes to walk. Who is this girl saying goodbye to?Is it stupid to learn? "There's still class tomorrow, I'll take you back to the dormitory." Jian Xia first nodded in agreement, then quickly shook his head: "You don't need to see me off, just take a few steps, I will go back by myself. Today, thank you so much today, I will definitely treat you to dinner another day." Li Ran smiled indifferently. He saw that Chen Jianxia was still staring at the old western restaurant, his a little crazy look made him feel soft. "If you like to visit this street, you can take a walk here anytime on weekends, and it's not far away." Jian Xia nodded silently, "I know." Li Ran took two steps in the direction of the school, thinking that Jian Xia would follow her, but when she turned around, she was still in the same place, not knowing what she was thinking. "Chen Jianxia, ​​what's wrong with you?" Jian Xia shook his head and trotted a few steps to catch up with him. "You are reluctant? You have to stay here for three years, there is plenty of time." "But," Jian Xia lowered her head and whispered earnestly, "I don't understand anything, and I've ruined the scenery just by looking at it." Li Ran couldn't help laughing, "You take the college entrance examination as seriously as you go shopping? Are you tired?" Jian Xia didn't explain. She never expected that Li Ran would understand her little thoughts.No one has ever understood.Behind the layer upon layer of incoherent conversation is Chen Jianxia's sense of inferiority and powerlessness. "Then next time, I'll accompany you." Seeing Xia raised her head in surprise, the lampposts on the side of the road were lit up in her eyes. The two orange lights made Li Ran suddenly feel a little unable to look directly at them. He just said it casually. Of course not so casual.He is usually not so kind and leisurely. "real?" "real." "Tell me the history of those streets and buildings?" "Let me remind you first, the college entrance examination does not take these tests, are you sure you want to listen?" "Speak or not!" "Talk about it!" Li Ran turned his face to the side, and the girl beside him looked down at the road, only showing a happy side face, and the light dimples at the corners of his mouth were filled with the lights on the street. His eyes fell on her neck.Although he had thrown away the mobile phone lanyard long ago, it still left a thin mark on her neck, which was slightly red.The girl's long hair was casually tied behind her head, and a few strands of hair were accidentally left on her shoulders, and he suddenly wanted to reach out and pull it. When we parted, Jian Xia insisted not to let Li Ran go to the door of the dormitory. Li Ran knew that she didn't want to be seen by the teacher in the mail room. "Thank you for today." "Is it bothering you? I can't stop thanking you. If you have nothing to say, don't say anything. Let's go." Jian Xia nodded in embarrassment, turned around and trotted for two steps, stopped again, and turned around. "Why are you alone on the street tonight?" she asked. "Because I don't want to go home." Li Ran replied frankly. Seeing Chen Jianxia's mouth shape, he almost blurted out the word "why", but he was held back and turned into a hasty smile. "Why?" he asked. "Uh?" "Since you want to ask why, why don't you ask?" The boy's eyes were dimmed. Chen Jianxia was silent for a long time, but still smiled. "Maybe it's what you don't want, so don't do it to others." They say goodbye again. "Oh, by the way, you did really well on the exam. I didn't praise you on purpose just now, because I don't like reading. But you did very well on the exam, really." Li Ran dropped these words and left.Chen Jianxia stood there for a long time. Embarrassed and a little bit happy. The evening wind in late summer gently tousled Chen Jianxia's hair.She put her hands in her pockets, reached for her old phone, pulled it out and unlocked it. There was only one contact on the orange screen. Li Ran. Chen Jianxia suddenly felt her heart beating too fast for no reason.