The engines of good motorcycles and bad motorcycles roar equally, but the sound of the latter is more like a tractor.
Fan Xiao has a meeting at five o'clock, and he has to deliver an order of goods before that, so time is a bit tight.
Near the municipal kindergarten, cars were moving slowly, but it did not affect the motorcycle. Turning the handlebars, Fan Xiao's broken motorcycle rushed out along the curb.
The cold wind of early winter cut on his face like a knife, and Fan Xiao thought that he should get a scarf to wear.
The weeping willows that were as wavy as waves in spring are now bare and shabby, lacking any of their former charm.
The rows of willow trees quickly retreated, and Fan Xiao sped up a little.
Suddenly, a tall figure came into his sight and passed by in an instant. He turned his head quickly to see that person being embraced by a generous embrace.
His hand shook, the direction shifted, and the motorcycle left curved tire marks on the thin snow.
Bang! The car flipped over!
The surroundings seemed to be quiet for a moment, and then low exclamations and discussions were heard. Fan Xiao supported himself on his elbows, recovered from the initial dizziness, slowly stood up and pulled his right leg out from under the motorcycle. He ignored the medicine boxes scattered on the ground, and limped and sat on the motorcycle that had fallen to the ground.
Taking off the helmet and holding it in his arms, Fan Xiao took out a piece of rouge from his pocket, shook it twice before taking out a piece, and put it in his mouth and bit it.
He just bit it but didn't click. With his arms on his knees, he slowly raised his head and framed the man in his eyes.
It's You Shulang.
His complexion had improved a lot. Although he was still thin, he looked less decadent than before. He was still dressed in the style of an old cadre, and the blue-gray scarf around his neck added a touch of elegance to him.
Fan Xiao's eyes moved to You Shulang's shoulder, where a hand was supporting him. It was broad and strong, the type You Shulang liked. Fan Xiao lowered his head and glanced at his own hand. It was dark and rough from being exposed to the wind and sun, and now it was showing signs of cracking in the harsh wind.
It really is not worthy of anything.
He searched for matches in a hurry, feeling in every pocket, but found nothing.
"Do you need help?" A voice suddenly came from above my head.
Fan Xiao faced the voice and saw that the man who had just hugged You Shulang was trying to lend him a hand.
Behind the man, You Shulang was still standing not far away, the dead branches of the willow tree sweeping back and forth in front of him, constantly cutting off his overly calm gaze.
When their eyes met, the gaze turned indifferent again, hidden in a lonely expression, even more distant than the onlookers.
"No need." Fan Xiao finally looked away, forced a smile in his scarlet eyes, and said politely to the man in front of him, "I'm fine."
He stood up with one leg, picked up the motorcycle, put the medicine boxes scattered on the road into the flattened box, then pushed the motorcycle and continued to limp along the road.
"Know him?" Lu Bowen asked You Shulang.
You Shulang looked at the limping figure without saying a word.
Lu Bowen raised his eyebrows: "Is it him?"
Brushing away the willow branches in front of him, You Shulang retracted his gaze and said calmly: "Let's go, it's time to go home from school."
After turning around the main street and finally entering the alley, Fan Xiao could no longer hold on to the heavy body of the motorcycle. It slowly slid along the wall and Fan Xiao fell to the ground.
The sea water rose up from under his feet, wanting to soak him, wrap him, and bury him coldly! Fan Xiao kept retreating, and retreating again, until his back was against the wall, with no room for retreat!
"It's all fake, it's fake, You Shulang said these are all illusions!" Fan Xiao buried his face in his palms, "I don't need to be afraid, I don't need to hurt myself!"
He repeated the words in his mouth over and over again, suppressing the urge to bang his head against the wall: "Don't be crazy, Fan Xiao, you can't be crazy. You Shulang doesn't like crazy people."
An unknown amount of time had passed before the fingers and face had frozen stiff. The sea water under Fan Xiao's feet slowly receded. He leaned weakly against the corner of the wall, looking at the narrow patch of sky over the alley.
Gathering some strength, Fan Xiao lifted up the motorcycle, and then he felt the pain in his right leg. He did a preliminary self-examination and thought it should be nothing serious, so he endured the pain, got on the motorcycle, and drove out of the alley.
The wheels pressed against a few fresh cigarette butts on the corner wall and whizzed past...
Fan Xiao hasn't appeared for a long, long time.
The red brick road he paved was already damaged, and was particularly slippery in the winter when snow fell, so it was removed by the residents of the community; the honeysuckle drink project also became history, and no one mentioned it again except in the quarterly financial reports; the tractor-like sound of a motorcycle was never heard again, nor was the frown of a man in work clothes seen again. You Shulang would sometimes drink a cup of tea on the balcony at night, looking at the street lights under the window, and see that the area around the light and shadow was clean, with nothing but emptiness.
All the traces that could prove Fan Xiao's existence disappeared bit by bit in You Shulang's life...
"Uncle, come and play with me, please?"
Tiantian's voice came, pulling You Shulang back from his trance. He turned to look at the child and saw that the short arms were holding a big toy.
Tiantian has acquired a lot of new toys recently, some bought for him by You Shulang, some given by Lu Bowen, but most of them were forced upon him by Qin Zhiyang.
You Shulang felt a headache whenever he thought of Qin Zhiyang. Repeated rejections had failed to make him give up, and he was even getting more aggressive.
Forget it, don't think about it anymore. You Shulang walked up to Tiantian and said with a smile: "Megatron is on the way, is Optimus Prime ready to fight?"
In Qin Zhiyang's office, Fan Xiao was drinking coffee.
This was already the second cup, and he signaled to Qin Zhiyang's secretary to add another one.
"Such good coffee can only be found at Mr. Qin's place now."
Qin Zhiyang sat behind the boss's desk, flipping through documents. His young face looked mature. The papers rustled softly as he turned a page. He stated nonchalantly, "With the assets under your name, you don't need to come to me and pretend to be poor."
"Have you checked me?" Fan Xiao asked with a smile.
"You want to play the victim to win back Brother You?" Qin Zhiyang raised his eyebrows and finally looked at Fan Xiao, "You didn't expect that he wouldn't fall for it, did you?"
Fan Xiao didn't want to waste time talking to him, so he nodded and accepted it. He put down the cup and crossed his legs casually: "I have given up, so don't be obsessed with it. You Shulang is a stubborn person. No means no."
Qin Zhiyang put his eyes back on the file again: "I'm not like someone who gave up so easily."
Fan Xiao tightened his fingers, and after a moment's silence, he managed to squeeze out a sentence with difficulty: "You Shulang already has..., if you keep pressing like this, you're disturbing his life."
"So what if he has a boyfriend?" Qin Zhiyang smiled nonchalantly, "Weren't you his boyfriend before? Didn't you break up in the end? How long do you think Lu Bowen will stay with Brother You? I guess not longer than you."
Fan Xiao sat there, with a slender figure, a hint of warmth in his eyes, and a slight smile on the corners of his lips, but it made people feel scared: "Did you check him?"
"You are treated the same." Qin Zhiyang pulled his glasses out of the document and corrected the mistake seriously, "Not really. He is your real boyfriend now, so I naturally have to pay more attention to him."
"What did you find out?"
"This guy is stronger than you, but he is not without weaknesses." Qin Zhiyang closed the file and invited, "Boss Fan, do you want to join forces with me to force him away from Brother You?"
Fan Xiao's smile widened. He picked up the cup with his slender fingers, took a sip, and uttered two words with his thin lips: "Okay."
"What happens next?" he asked again, "After Lu leaves, who will take over?"
"Then we'll just have to rely on our own abilities."
The coffee cup suddenly fell to the ground, and the fine porcelain shattered into pieces. Fan Xiao dodged the splashing coffee juice and pretended to flick the corner of his clothes, saying in disgust: "It's so damn unpalatable."
The young man behind the boss's desk had a gloomy expression on his face and crossed his hands on the table: "Fan Xiao, what do you mean?"
Fan Xiao raised his eyelids and revealed a sharp look: "What I mean is, little lunatic, stay away from You Shulang! Stay away from the people around him!"
After these words were spoken, the room was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly there was a laugh.
Qin Zhiyang raised the corner of his lips and said sarcastically, "Fan Xiao, do you regard Brother You as your private property? Do you have to arrange his life? Who can get close to him and who can't, all have to listen to your arrangements? Does Brother You know about this?"
"You little bastard, your ability to confuse right and wrong is not good enough." Fan Xiao smiled again, "Anyway, I will keep an eye on you. Oh, by the way, doesn't your father want you to go to Africa to open up a trade route there? I don't mind giving him a push."
Qin Zhiyang's expression gradually became stern, and his voice changed from calm to angry: "Fan Xiao, don't think of yourself as a defender of justice. Have you forgotten what you have done?"
"It is precisely because I have never forgotten that I forbid you to hurt You Shulang in the same way again." Fan Xiao stood up and walked to Qin Zhiyang, with his hands open and resting on the table. "Xianglian, I will tell you another wise saying. Some toads will never be able to jump onto the lotus platform of the Bodhisattva, such as you and me."