deep in time

Chapter 11 (2)
Could this be the orphanage where Baili stayed before he was adopted?

Cheng Lichen was suddenly enlightened, he glanced at Baili in surprise, the latter had already opened the door and walked in.

The woven bag that has always made Cheng Lichen curious is full of brand new stationery and books such as "One Hundred Thousand Whys" and "Legend of the Stars" - no wonder it is so heavy.After seeing the skinny Dean Xu, whose temples were tinged with hoarfrost, and the fatter Mr. Liu, who was about 50 years old, Baili happily went to the children's dormitory area.

Cheng Lichen chose the latter without hesitation between "drinking hot tea or sitting with Dean Xu" and "going for a walk with Baili".

Since it was Sunday, the kids were in the dormitory.

In a dormitory similar to a hall, there are more than 20 bunk beds densely packed.

The sun shines in, making the room very crowded.

"Sister Baili." A sharp-eyed child saw Baili first, and cried out in surprise.

The next moment, dozens of children chattering "Sister Baili, I miss you so much", "I haven't seen you for a long time", "Is my sister going to study in City X now?" surrounded Baili. , Cheng Lichen was pushed aside.

More than 40 people squeezed into the room with simple double-layer iron beds.There is no air conditioning in the room, only two fans hanging from the ceiling.Cheng Lichen had only stood for a while before he felt steaming hot.

Baili didn't seem to be affected by the environment at all. She smiled and tugged at this child's hand, and then touched another child's head.There seems to be an angel's light.

"Where's Xiaoliu?" Baili chatted with the children for a while, and suddenly his heart skipped a beat.

The oldest girl among the children was about thirteen or fourteen years old. As soon as she heard this, she squeezed out of the crowd, ran to her bed, took an A4-sized painting from under her pillow, and handed it to Baili : "Xiao Liu gave this to my sister."

Cheng Lichen went over to take a look, and the painting was a scene of a mother leading a little boy with disheveled hair walking under the blue sky, but the mother's demeanor and hairstyle were exactly like Baili.

Baili = mother.

The boy burst out laughing.

It was only then that the children discovered Cheng Lichen who had been standing at the door. The younger children had doubts about "who is it?", but the older children glared angrily. There was a seven or eight-year-old boy whose eyes were red, He clenched his small fist, as if ready to pounce at any moment.

Baili took the boy's hand and said softly, "Xiao Wu, brother Cheng doesn't know, don't be angry."

The little boy called Xiao Wu raised his head, his dark eyes were full of tears: "Sister Baili, Xiao Liu gave me his favorite gloves."

Even in the hot summer, the little boy called Xiaowu still wore a pair of fluffy gloves with five fingers exposed, but no one thought it was strange.Only then did the boy realize that many of the older children were in tears.

Baili patted the child on the head and walked out.

Cheng Lichen immediately followed out with interest.

Deep corridors, pale walls.

Baili raised her head, her eyes gradually turned red, and she said softly: "Cheng Lichen, you are not from our world, you can't understand our emotions. Xiao Liu was abandoned when he was two years old. There is not even a piece of paper with the date of birth written on it, only a pair of wool gloves with exposed fingers. Even in the hot weather, he still wears those gloves, because he is afraid that his parents will not recognize him when they find him. Little Six was abandoned because of a congenital heart defect, the doctor said he would not live to be ten years old, he...is only six years old this year..."

What the girl didn't say was - "He is dead."

If you recall the feeling of this moment many years later, you will definitely be overwhelmed by the river of sorrow.

Cheng Lichen looked at Baili waving at him, and said something, the boy's hearing was overwhelmed by the humming roar at this moment, the laughter he made when he saw the painting just now seemed to be infinitely magnified by a thousand times, exploded in his cochlea.

I don't have the face to go back to the children's dormitory.The boy smiled bitterly, and walked slowly back to the dean's office.

[three]
In the summer afternoon, the sun is as thick as a curtain covering the body.

On the way, I ran into Dean Xu who was going to the bathroom. He nodded in greeting and continued walking towards the dean's office.

A slender woman was sitting on a chair in front of the dean's desk, looking over from the boy's line of sight, she could only see a pair of tightly twisted hands behind her.The boy stood silently by the door like this, and then gave a soft and cold "hum".

The woman who seemed to be frightened suddenly stood up and turned around. When she saw Cheng Lichen who suddenly appeared at the door, she couldn't help taking a step back as if she saw a fierce spirit.By the time she realized it, Cheng Lichen had already walked to the desk with long legs, and bent over to look at the things on the desk.

Spread out on the desk are two documents.Information about two little girls named "Dang Guoguo" and "Dang Yuanyuan".

Cheng Lichen raised his head, showing a cold mocking smile, and said, "Aunt Song, what a coincidence, I didn't expect to meet you here, what are you looking for?"

[Four]
what are you looking for

—Looking for a cicada that was lost on a certain day in a certain year?

——Looking for the taste of the soup made by my mother in my memory?
——Looking for the feeling that you failed the exam because you were afraid to hide in the stairwell and dare not go home?
——Can you find the lost joy, sorrow, happiness, and pain?
What is Song Lanlan looking for?

She didn't expect that she would meet Cheng Lichen in such a remote orphanage.

Looking at her stepson and saying coldly, "Didn't you say that you are an innocent girl with yellow flowers?" Song Lanlan's heart throbbed, and Cheng Lichen continued to flip through the documents in his hand, and said in surprise: "In 1995 A newborn child, did you give birth to a daughter at the age of 17, Aunt Song?" Song Lanlan was overwhelmed by a powerful shame, and when Cheng Lichen said the last sentence, Song Lanlan's defensive mask was torn off and she fled in embarrassment. out of the office.

The last sentence Cheng Lichen said was——

"Aunt Song, you abandoned it when you were 17, can you get it back now?"

[Fives]
The first day after the National Day holiday.

The whole school has a relaxed atmosphere that just after the holidays.

For the upcoming physical examination, a wooden vault was set up on the playground. Most of the girls would run to the wooden frame, stop suddenly, yell, "Teacher, I'm afraid", and then turn around and run away. , while the boys faced the wooden vault ten centimeters higher than the girls, but they showed great enthusiasm, and they had a great time playing.

Ji Nan has jumped the horse several times, and his movements are neat and beautiful.

Watching the beautiful boy exercising in the sun is indeed a pleasing thing.

The boy who understood Ji Nan very well came up with the idea of ​​"peacock boy" and "never forget to show off his handsomeness", the gloomy expression on his face loosened a little, took off his school uniform jacket, and joined In the ranks of being handsome.

"Are you still asleep?" "Have you cleared the game yet?" "Where did you go to be happy with your girlfriend?" There are such jokes everywhere, and some don't want to end the holiday conversation.

Ji Nan patted his friend on the shoulder, and in exchange for a stronger punch.

"Wow, you hit so hard." Ji Nan complained, "You are so absent-minded. I have told you many times and ignored him. My heart is hurt."

"You just love to act." Facing Ji Nan's deliberately wrinkled "I'm sorry" face, Cheng Lichen couldn't help turning his face away, his eyes flicked through the light, and he saw girls lining up among the girls who were about to vault Baili, the boy looked away, but saw Ji Nan looking at him, and asked with a complicated face: "Where did you and Baili go on Saturday? You live together?"

"Hello!" The boy covered Ji Nan's mouth at once, "Baili is the sponsor of my dad's company, that... my dad seems to like her a lot, he just let her live in my house, not the one you imagined. relationship."

"Haha, that's right." Ji Nan grinned, "I thought... it was the kind of adultery."

"I accompanied her home on Saturday." Cheng Lichen immediately stopped Ji Nan's flirting.

The first time I saw Baili ostentatiously using the schoolbag given by his mother, the anger in my heart rose all of a sudden, teasing her, calling her "dirty", deliberately not giving her the key card, ignoring her in front of the security guards... Then we went to Yanlang Island and the Sun Welfare Institute together, and before I knew it, my impression of Baili had changed from "I hate her inexplicably" to "I seem to admire her a little bit".

Although he didn't feel like a "friend" or "partner", he unknowingly recognized that this girl appeared in his world.

Ji Nan looked at Cheng Lichen, who had a smile on his lips, and then his eyes followed Cheng Lichen's gaze, and fell on the girl with deer eyes.

Compared with the joy of the boys, the girls' side is relatively quiet.

Even if the physical education teacher threatened to say "fail the vault and fail the final general evaluation", the behemoth standing in the empty gymnasium hall is obviously more irresistible.If you can't jump over, maybe it doesn't matter if you fell and bumped. It's more important to fall on a big horse under the eyes of the public. It's a high school girl who puts her image above everything else.

The physical education teacher glanced over, and the girls immediately lowered their heads, so as not to be regarded as "the first warriors to eat crabs".

Baili standing alone didn't notice this, her eyes were a little empty, and Xiao Liu's painting about "home" made her heart feel empty.

The physical education teacher noticed Baili, and to his delight, the girl didn't flinch like other girls, so he stretched out his hand and pointed at Baili: "Student, come and try."

Baili didn't respond.She is immersed in her own world.

Liu Yujing smiled slightly, walked gently to Baili's side, tilted her head and said, "Baili, the teacher is calling you."

The trapezoidal red vault is 30 meters away, looking like a monster's mouth from afar.

The physical education teacher gave a demonstration and explained the main points, then looked at Baili with encouragement.

Baili rubbed her hands and started to run. Her speed was very fast. Under the complicated eyes of everyone, she put her hands on the leather pad at the highest point of the red vault, straddled her feet, jumped over the obstacle neatly, and landed on the green vault. on the upholstery.

The boys applauded.

Ji Nan with a bright smile shouted loudly: "Good job."

Baili ran back to the spot a little unnaturally, but the physical education teacher had already raised his thumbs up excitedly: "Although the posture is not up to standard, it is still very beautiful." Then he turned to the girls, "It's nothing difficult, Baili has already done it With a demonstration, everyone can do it.”

"Chi", a chuckle came from nowhere.

Obviously with indifference and disdain.

Liu Yujing's eyes widened: "Baili, you are really amazing, can you teach me?"

There are always more people in the girls toilet after physical education class.

In a remote corner, several girls were chatting enthusiastically.

(End of this chapter)