deep in time

Chapter 23 (3)
There was a sharp and hoarse voice from the bottom of my heart saying that Ji Nan was to blame, who let him stand in front?But immediately, another voice roared from the chest even more sharply and hoarsely - you are a bastard!Ji Nan just doesn't want you to get hurt by fighting with others, he did nothing wrong!
- You're looking for an excuse to vent!You see the ambiguous photos of Baili and Jinan, and you can't stand the people gathered around Baili and Jinan saying "good match" in a teasing tone.You can't control your jealousy!You are a pure villain!You are a person who has to be hated!You are someone who even you hate yourself!

What about Baili?Where is Baili?
Cheng Lichen lowered his eyes and saw that Baili was squatting on the ground, holding Ji Nan's head with his hands, appearing in his sight in an intimate posture.

A sour, numb, prickling feeling hovered over the boy's head, and suddenly turned into a sharp sword, cutting him in half.

Ji Nan's head was blocked by Baili, he couldn't help but want to take two steps closer to take a look at Ji Nan.

However, looking at him, Baili vigilantly stretched out her thorns like a hedgehog, strange anger burning in her usually calm eyes, and inexplicable tiredness in her voice, she said: "Cheng Lichen, you are crazy enough!" No?"

——Outside the window, the autumn wind rolled up the torn-off homework paper, leaves, and plastic bags and flew into the sky together.

——However, those paper leaves and plastic bags have no wings, no feathers, just wandering alone with the wind. If one day the wind gets tired, will they be ruthlessly thrown in a corner where no one can reach?
[seven]
The chaotic crowd gathered and dispersed, dispersed and gathered again.

The homeroom teacher who rushed over looked at the perpetrator seriously, and directly gave the order: "Wait for me in the office!"

The head teacher had already heard from the students that Cheng Lichen hung his classmate's schoolbag on the tree, painted his classmate's homework with ugly words, and intentionally bullied his new deskmate... Although he also talked to Cheng Lichen a few times, but because of these There is no evidence for everything, and in the end, it can only be left alone.He has been teaching for 21 years and is recognized by the school as a backbone head teacher with an excellent reputation.At that time, Cheng Lichen's score was not enough for the key score line. It was because his father subsidized a large number of facilities in the school's electronic classroom that he went through the back door. The school leader assigned Cheng Lichen to his class.After observing Cheng Lichen for a period of time, he disliked this student more and more. In his work notes, he used "arrogance", "can't fit into the class circle", "no respect for elders", "brother son", "don't like studying" Such an adjective to describe the student.But today, Cheng Lichen had a fight, and it was Ji Nan, the son of the vice principal of the school!
When the homeroom teacher thought of this, he was about to explode with anger. He suppressed his anger, knowing that the first priority now was to prevent the situation from getting worse. He called a few strong boys to help Ji Nan go to the school infirmary.

When the head teacher came back from the school infirmary, there was no one in the office, and Cheng Lichen was not there!

The homeroom teacher's unsmiling face pulled down even more. He quickly dug out the parents' address book and found Cheng Huihuang's mobile phone number.

[Eight]
Cheng Huihuang was in a meeting, and his cell phone had rang several times, interrupting his speech.

An unfamiliar landline number of City X, when it rang for the third time, he finally signaled the subordinates sitting around the conference table to wait a moment, and connected the phone.

"Hello, are Cheng Lichen's parents? I'm his head teacher."

"Hello." When Cheng Huihuang heard that it was the class teacher's call, he immediately knew that his son was causing trouble again, "I am Ah Chen's father. Ah Chen is not sensible, so I will trouble you, teacher."

The other party apologized first, and the head teacher's tone was softer: "Mr. Cheng, I think you are also a person who knows how to be polite. I don't know why Cheng Lichen is not like you. He beat his classmate at school this morning and knocked out one of his front teeth. .”

The company staff sitting around the conference table noticed that Cheng Huihuang's face changed suddenly.

"Achen, he...fighted with his classmates?"

"It's Cheng Lichen who is domineering. The students were joking, and he beat people, and the beating was to persuade them. Do you think this child is too arrogant, and he hits so hard. Now the student who was beaten is still in the school infirmary. You're in a coma!" said the homeroom teacher, whose anger had obviously risen again, "You should go to school at noon."

"Teacher, I'm sorry...I'm in City H now, can I go tomorrow?"

"Mr. Cheng, whether it's more important to make money or to be a son, you can decide for yourself." The head teacher finished the sentence calmly, and then hung up the phone.

Cheng Huihuang closed the line, and the conference room on the 26th floor was full of sunlight, shining on his face wrinkled by the years, with the aura of a successful man who had a chance to win.

He waved his hand, and the assistant next to him hesitated and said, "Mr. Cheng, this..."

"One hour rest,"

Dozens of subordinates filed out of the conference room. Cheng Huihuang took off his last bit of disguise as the door closed. He sat down on the chair, pressing his hands on his aching temples, and felt a sense of powerlessness.

He looked at his hands, which were different from ten years ago. These hands became plump, because they were well maintained, and they were brightly colored, but the only difference was that his hands were always full of strength.He is in control of the business field, and those social interactions, contract negotiations, and market trends are all under his control.

He is a successful man, he accepts the gazes of his subordinates, and he has the pride to trample the world under his feet.

but--

For his only son, he has a strong sense of failure and powerlessness.

Waking up from a dream in the middle of the night, he thought of his son's indifferent eyes when he looked at him as if he was staring at a stranger, his heart would feel like a sledgehammer was hit, and he couldn't breathe suddenly.

As a father, all he hoped for could not be realized.

——Travel with your son, talk about your dreams with your son, pass on your life experience to your son, play ball, run, swim, play chess with your son like friends...

All this he could only imagine.

He has tried countless times. When his son watched the football game, he sat in the living room and cheered for the goal together, but his son just looked at him indifferently, then got up coldly, and walked back to the bedroom. Hearing the sound of a particularly loud TV coming from the bedroom, he could only watch the dull TV program in embarrassment.He drove to school to pick up his son. Because he didn't know when the get out of class was over, he waited for 10 minutes on the street under heavy rain. However, his son would rather be caught in the rain than get in his car.

It wasn't like this before.

When he lived in Ping An Hu, as long as he called to say that he was going home, no matter how late, his son would open the door with sleepy eyes and wait for him.When he was doing business outside, he would receive calls from his son every two or three days, and the chats were nothing more than "Dad, I got [-] points in the test today", "I'm going to play ball with Baozi and Brother Qiang this afternoon", "Mom boiled your favorite five-finger hair peach soup. You didn't come back. I ate your portion and I was so full." At that time, I thought it was a very normal scene, but it was so warm that I wanted to cry when I recalled it many years later.

——Is it important to make money or the son?

——The answer is of course without any suspense. There is enough money, but there is only one son.

[Nine]
The mobile phone rang for a long time, and Cheng Huihuang listened for a while before he heard a childish voice shouting "There are perverts, big perverts—"

Cheng Huihuang thinks it's incredible that young people like this kind of CRBT would actually like it.

The man's grip on the phone couldn't help but tighten a bit, and after the ringtone rang again, the call was finally connected.The other end of the microphone was quiet, and after waiting for a while, Cheng Huihuang rubbed the center of his brows, and a thought came out uncontrollably, "Even if you call daddy coquettishly and angrily, it's better than being silent like this" .

Cheng Huihuang spoke first: "Your class teacher called me, what's going on?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before a cold answer came: "It's exactly what he said."

"Why did you fight?" He tried his best to be gentle, but it still inevitably tinged with a questioning tone.

A longer silence.

"No reason." It was still a cold answer.

Cheng Huihuang felt that there was a turbid air in his chest, which made him suffocate, and his volume increased a little: "You don't have anything to explain?"

Silence, only the sound of rustling radio waves on the phone.

"Are you listening?"

——Mr. Cheng, I see that you are also a person who understands etiquette. I don't know why Cheng Lichen is not like you.

The class teacher's allusive words rang in his ears again, like a carefully planted landmine, Cheng Huihuang almost threw the phone in his hand.

——You let go of your father's dignity and carefully please your son. You are afraid of his son's ignoring eyes, but how can a father's self-esteem be trampled on for a long time, just like you dug out a warm heart and handed it over, But it was thrown into the sour and rotten garbage dump like nothing, you clearly heard that heart screaming unwillingly, you can't stand it anymore.

"Are you listening?" Cheng Lichen's heart throbbed again. He wanted to say too much, and he couldn't wait for a moment. "Are you my son? How can there be a son like you in the world?" Such disobedience? You have bad grades and don’t like studying. I won’t interfere with you. You are surly and rude, like a child who can’t grow up. I can bear it. What you want to buy or do, as long as you I acquiesced to let you buy and let you do it. As a father, I think this is tolerant and broad enough, but why are you still not satisfied? Tell me, what exactly do you want to change? People say raising children to prevent old age, I can't imagine what will happen if I have to rely on you to raise me one day in the future? When I was your age, I would ride a tricycle to the suburbs to buy vegetables and sell them in the market before dawn, and my hands grew cold. It's full of chilblains, it bleeds when you touch it, and another one grows next to it without scabs. You are no longer a child, be sensible, and stop making trouble, please? I beg you! You know it yourself, your mother What happened to me is not my fault, nor is it your Aunt Song's fault. It doesn't matter if you vent your anger and hatred on me and Aunt Song, but you can't hold on to this knot for the rest of your life, and live in this inextricable knot for the rest of your life. Let's stop talking about the past, son, and start over, okay?"

Cheng Huihuang felt a chill from the soles of his feet and climbed up like a vine. His fingers holding the phone protruded abruptly. His guess was right. He called his son by name and surname: "Cheng Lichen, Cheng Lichen, Cheng Lichen—”

No response.

The camera zooms out thousands of kilometers away.

As early as the sentence "People say raising children to guard against old age, I can't imagine, what will happen if one day I have to rely on you to raise them" was transmitted to the boy's ears through the mobile phone, the mobile phone was thrown To the distant grass.

In a quiet corner of the campus, there was no one there. A mobile phone was lying in the weeds, and a man's hasty and somewhat hoarse calling came from inside.

Mom said—

Just act as if you never had a mother like me, and I don't have a son like you.

Dad said—

Are you my son?
Ji Nan said——

Don't get excited, Chen...

Baili says --

Cheng Lichen, are you crazy enough?

All the sounds emit a faint light in the darkness, like a monster with countless tentacles, wrapping your world into a cocoon layer by layer.

A thick, fetid cocoon.

You can no longer see the light.

You can no longer hear the sound.

You never smell the flowers again.

(End of this chapter)