plum city

Chapter 31 Cold

Fang Yan dreamed of Xu Ailian. Xu Ailian was in the water, her face was pale and her hair was wet. She looked up at Fang Yan and kept saying:
"Dialect, cold, mom is very cold."

Xu Ailian's voice was trembling, much like when Fang Yan was a child, hiding in her arms and saying to her: "Mom, I'm afraid."

Fang Yan stretched out his hand towards Xu Ailian and said to her, "Mom, don't be afraid. Come on, I'll pull you up."

Fang Yan stretched out his hand as hard as he could. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed that his arm would be stretched so long that it would almost leave his body and fly out. But his fingertips were always an inch away from Xu Ailian's. Why? It's also out of reach.

Xu Ailian kept saying: "Dialect, cold, cold, mother is cold."

Fang Yan became anxious and started crying: "Mom, I can't reach you, Mom, Mom!"

Fang Yan woke up, it was dark all around and he couldn't see anything. He touched his face with his hand and realized that in his dream, he had already burst into tears.

Fang Yan stared at the darkness above his head with wide eyes. Xu Ailian's face still appeared in front of him, looking at him miserably. Fang Yan called softly: "Mom, mom, where are you?"

After being in a daze for a while, Fang Yan finally figured out that he was in Meicheng, on the bed of Xiaoyu and his family's B&B.

This small town, no matter how lively and noisy it is during the day, becomes quiet in the middle of the night. It is really quiet, which is different from the city.No matter how hard Fang Yan listened, he could not hear the churning of the canopy boat in Daxi (Tuqi), the fire alarm of the police station, or the bell of Meicheng Hospital.I couldn't even hear the people from Ye School running out one by one.

If you listen carefully, in addition to the buzzing sound of the air conditioner, there are also the occasional barking of dogs from the darkness.

Fang Yan looked up and saw that there was no light from the air conditioner at all, and the room was a bit hot. After looking for a while, he realized clearly that when he came back, the air conditioner was not turned on at all. The buzzing sound was the air conditioner next door.

Fang Yan opened his eyes wide and looked at the top of his head. After getting used to the darkness, his eyes could gradually see the ceiling and overhead lights above his head, as well as the blurred shadows of various objects in the room.

Fang Yan stretched out his hand, touched the remote control of the air conditioner on the bedside table, and pressed it. The air conditioner first made a "chirp" sound, and then continued to beep. The green indicator light made the room brighter.

Fang Yan thought about the dream he had just had. He was sober now and knew that Xu Ailian was not in the water, but on the mountain, in the cement pit with US dollars underneath.Fang Yan felt her heart tighten. She knew that Xu Ailian entrusted her dream to him, not that she was really cold, but that her heart was cold.She felt lonely. The only son who was connected to him was now alone in the world of Yin and Yang.

Fang Yan can almost conclude that even after reaching the mountain and the twin tombs, Fang Guofei is still homeless. His name is on the tombstone, engraved with Xu Ailian, but he must have disappeared.Others said that they seemed to be incompatible with each other, but in Fang Yan's impression, Fang Guofei and Xu Ailian never even seemed to be in harmony with each other. At least, he hadn't seen them much since Fang Yan became sensible.

Fang Yan sat up in the darkness. He had some doubts about whether he had done something wrong by taking Xu Ailian up the mountain and burying her with Fang Guofei. In the dream, Xu Ailian had been cold-hearted to him. Did he hope that he could take her home? .

Fang Yan sighed. He felt suffocated. He stood up and put on his clothes. He opened the door and walked out without turning on the light.

Fang Yan stood on the porch for a while, and he saw darkness in Yaoyao's window opposite.There was a thin moon in the sky, which cast a thin light. He saw that in the courtyard below, even if there was no one there, the banana tree and the osmanthus tree were still shaking their shadows.Two empty deck chairs were in the shadow of the trees, flickering in and out as the shadows of the trees swayed, as if they were still waiting for someone to talk.

Fang Yan left the door behind him ajar, walked downstairs, and walked to the front hall.There was no one in the hall, and the overhead lights had been turned off, leaving only a lamp on the small table, bringing a little light to the space.

All the guests staying at the hotel have returned and have fallen asleep. The wooden door leading from the hall to the outside is closed and bolted.

Fang Yan walked over and saw this ancient door. Its bolts were double, like a "well". The upper sliding latch could only be opened from right to left, and the lower latch could only be opened from right to left. Pull left to right.

In the old wooden door latches, the horizontal wooden latch was called "guan", also called the limit wood, and the vertical part with the jack was called "旗", because later there were also iron door latches, and "旗" was also called "key". ", the two words "key" actually refer to the set of latches in front of dialects.

There is a small mechanism on the head of the limit wood above the door latch. A small piece of wood here is divided into two parts horizontally, and the cut part is at a 45-degree angle, making an oblique cut. This small piece of wood is called tripping wood.

When the stumbling block falls, the door latch is completely locked. If you want to open the door, you must first stand up the stumbling block on the upper limit wood. The plug on the side will have room, and then move the limit block from right to left. pull.

Open the upper limit wood, and then pull the lower limit wood in the opposite direction. At this time, the door latch is opened, the "close" and "key" are separated, and the door can be opened.

Fang Yan lowered his head and stared at the door bolt for a while, then figured out the structure of the door bolt and opened the door.

The door was very heavy. When Fang Yan opened the door, the door hinge made a "creak" sound. In the silent night sky, the sound was very harsh.If there is a dog in the patio at this time, the dog will start barking and rush towards you.

In this silent night, the heavy door and the harsh creaking created an atmosphere that made Fang Yan feel as if he was doing something sneaky. His heart couldn't help but lift up and his hands and feet became lighter.After the door opened, he stepped over the threshold with one foot and stood there motionless, listening to make sure he heard nothing, and then walked out.

The man stood on the steps outside the door, turned around and stretched out his hands, grabbed the lion's head-shaped copper door cymbals on the door, and a pair of copper door knockers held in the lion's mouth, and gently pulled the door closed, but the door still creaked. The sound of "creak" made Fang Yan's heart beat.

After walking down the steps and onto the street below, Fang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but grin.

Fang Yan walked to Qingcheng Gate, walked out through the city gate, walked to the river, and sat down again where he had sat in the evening.

It was a bit gloomy in the evening, but I don't know when it turned cloudy and sunny again, maybe when they were drunk and drunk.There is a moon in the sky. Although it is only half a moon, Fang Yan can now see the scene of "Jiang Qingyue approaching people".

Fang Yan sat there blankly, the river in front of him murmuring, as if someone was whispering in his ear.Fang Yan seemed to hear Xu Ailian's voice again:
"Dialect, cold, mom is very cold."

Fang Yan looked around blankly, as if he was trying to find something, but at this time, he was the only one outside the entire Qingming Gate and on the entire riverside.Even the few lamps that were still on seemed to have lowered their eyelids and closed their eyes, making the light much dimmer.

Fang Yan sighed and murmured: "Mom, I heard it, Mom."

Tears welled up in Fang Yan's eyes, and the huge grief invaded him like a gust of wind. At this time, Fang Yan, sitting in front of the clear water of the river, felt even sadder than that day when he sat in front of the graves of Xu Ailian and Fang Guofei. , sad like never before, so sad that I can’t help myself.

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(End of this chapter)