In winter, the days are short and the nights are long, especially in the north. After nine o'clock, the night grew darker, and the sea breeze from the north whined the windows. Qiao Jianjun sent off the last wave of guests and called Lao Dong next door.

For two men who are approaching old age, stir-frying a stack of peanuts, mixing a pig's ear with cucumber, and a bottle of Lao Baigan is the best relaxation after a tiring day.

The two of them took two sips of wine, and the smell of wine rushed to their heads in an instant. The news channel was broadcasting news about the "new type of rural cooperative medical care", and the two watched intently. When this news passed, Lao Dong said: "As soon as this policy comes out, it will be much more convenient for your brother-in-law to see a doctor." ”

Qiao Jianjun chewed peanuts and said with a wry smile: "But what he has is not an ordinary disease, I don't know if the country can report it." ”

"It's still the same sentence, don't get sick, as soon as you get sick, the whole family will be dragged down. ”

"But no, isn't my family just delayed until now, and it hasn't slowed down?"

Lao Dong smiled: "Seeing that you are tired like a cow all day long in order to repay your debts, I want to lend you some money, but you don't want to." In your eyes, decency is so important?"

"Of course, who makes money easily? I can still move, I don't borrow if I can, I don't borrow money all the time, and it doesn't have a good impact on the children. Besides, when you really need money, I don't stick with you. ”

The two of them touched their glasses and drank a small glass of wine. Listening to the whistling wind outside, Lao Dong said: "The north wind is tight, and it's almost the New Year." When will your eldest and second eldest come back?"

"Lulu can't come back, the state has regulations, and there are restrictions on public students returning to China in the first year. We can also understand that the country spends so much money to send people out, where can we run home every day? Then can't we learn anything?" Qiao Jianjun ate peanuts and continued: "The second child doesn't know, the bastard boy never tells us, usually he will get home tomorrow and call tonight." ”

"Your children are all promising, you, just wait to enjoy the blessings!" Lao Dong looked complicated and took a sip of wine.

"What's the point? The most worrying thing is the third child, who is the worst at studying, but people don't worry at all, and she is used to being called a ...... That's called an innocent man. I'm also old, and I can't worry so much anymore, so I can be admitted to wherever I can. ”

"I don't think so, haven't I learned face reading before? I see, your family is blessed at first glance, maybe people can go further. ”

"Uncle Dong, borrow your auspicious words, I will strive to go further in the future!" Qiao Lin coldly pushed the door in, startling the two big men. She put her schoolbag still on the table, grabbed a handful of peanuts with a smile, and said, "When I was walking on the road, I felt my ears were hot, so it turned out that you two were talking about me!"

Lao Dong smiled: "What's the hot discussion? It's too cold, it's freezing, right? Old Qiao, it's not early, I'll go back first, let's talk another day--there is rain in the forecast, you must pay attention to your stove!"

"It's not like I haven't used it before, don't worry!"

The father and daughter of the Qiao family sent Lao Dong away, and Qiao Jianjun said with a tiger face: "Grab something to eat with your hands again, that's how the family taught you?"

Qiao Lin stuck out her tongue embarrassedly: "I'm hungry! Besides, I didn't treat Uncle Dong as an outsider." ”

"That's not good, your hands are so dirty, you don't wash them, and when you eat a bad stomach, your mother has to talk about you again." ”

Jolene scratched her head like a little monkey and puffed out her cheeks and said, "I won't do it in the future." ”

"You, what a clever little ghost!" Qiao Jianjun poked his daughter's forehead lightly, turned around and went to the kitchen to clean up.

There has been a bowl of wontons in the cauldron, which is still hot, which Qiao Jianjun specially left for his daughter. Jolene looked a little unhappy as she ate ravioli and watched the sports news – although AC Milan were in the league for a long time, Kaka was getting married in December.

His fiancée was a high school student, a well-known family, beautiful and gentle, noble and elegant, and a devout believer, who was a perfect match for Kaka.

Jolene looked at herself, wearing a black down jacket, as strong as a bear, and when she took off her down jacket, there was an equally bloated school uniform, black in color, and a trouser leg could fit into two legs. Of course, Mom wouldn't waste such a fat outfit and let Jolene stuff it with autumn clothes and pants, as well as sweaters and pants.

Looking at the TV again, I saw Kaka's fiancée, even in winter, people are dressed elegantly, the clothes seem to be tailor-made, and with a sunny smile, no wonder Kaka likes her so much.

Jolene was very frustrated: "It's the same high school student, why is there such a big difference?"

Worried, she couldn't even eat the ravioli.

It wasn't until she smelled a burnt smell that she jumped up.

"My eldest miss, your down jacket is burning!" Qiao Jianjun hurriedly came and picked up the clothes, and there was a hole in the sleeve, and the hairs inside were burned.

"You said you, why are you so careless!" Qiao Jianjun was very distressed, and he kept blowing his clothes.

Qiao Lin originally felt very distressed, but when she thought about it, she had been wearing this dress for two years, and she bought it at a very cheap price when it was on sale in the mall, and she was suddenly a little dissatisfied with her father's reaction: "These clothes are all old, and my classmates laugh at me, how can I wear such rustic clothes." ”

"You can wear clothes if they are not broken, three years of new and old three years, and another three years of sewing and mending, have you forgotten these words?"

Qiao Lin was very unhappy: "It's not the old society now, why should you be so economical?"

Qiao Jianjun heard the anger in his daughter's words, and he was also a little unhappy. But after thinking about it, the younger daughter basically wears the leftover clothes of the eldest daughter, occasionally buys a new dress, and picks the cheapest one in the mall, and suddenly feels a little guilty.

But thinking about the debt he had owed for many years, he was so anxious that he couldn't make up his mind to buy new clothes for his daughter. He said in a soothing tone, "You wear it first, and after a while, I'll buy you a new one." Think about your brother and sister, who never asked for new clothes. ”

Jolene glanced sadly at the TV, a well-fitting and warm coat was out of reach. She didn't answer her father's words, and packed up her things sullenly. She thought about it, she had burned her clothes, and when she got home, her mother would definitely nag again. So she discussed with her father, can she let her father go home and sleep in the back room by herself?

Qiao Jianjun rejected her very dryly: "It's cool in winter and warm in summer, where is it comfortable at home?"

"That brother used to live here!"

Qiao Jianjun was speechless for a while, and finally said: "Your brother is a boy, so he should suffer a little." You're a girl, you can't bump into it. Let's go, I'm dying of exhaustion, I need to go to bed early. ”

Although Qiao Lin was still very unconvinced, she didn't refute it, so she had to walk towards the house, sulking at her father, thinking about how to deal with her mother's soul torture.

Qiao Jianjun knew that as long as he bought Qiao Lin a new dress, it would be enough for her to be happy for a long time, but who could know how tight his money was?

After the youngest daughter left, Qiao Jianjun sealed the stove and lay on the bed in the back room, looking at the single bed opposite, his mind was a little trance-the kid who slept on that bed had been away from home for two and a half years in a blink of an eye.

At that time, the youngest daughter went back to school in the city, and there was not so much space at home, he slept with his wife and his two daughters in one room, Qiao Nan had to sleep on the sofa in the living room, his small body shrunk into a ball on the sofa, and he never complained;

Later, Qiao Jianjun took over the shop from his comrades-in-arms and converted the back room into a dormitory, where he and his son each slept in a single bed. In fact, Qiao Nan can continue to sleep at home. But the kid was very stubborn, and moved all the covers over, and Qiao Jianjun couldn't drive him away, so he went with him.

Although most of the time, the father and son do their own things, and they don't say more than ten sentences a day, Qiao Jianjun has to admit that with this kid as his companion, no matter what he does, he is a lot more down-to-earth.

Why did his son sleep in this little dilapidated house? He must have said it, but Qiao Jianjun forgot. Anyway, so many years have passed, and this reason doesn't seem to matter anymore.

In my impression, my son doesn't seem to have been talkative since he was a child, otherwise there wouldn't be so many children as his followers. How did the father and son become so estranged? Was it because they beat him a few times, or because they confiscated his toys? Time had passed so far that Qiao Jianjun couldn't remember it for a while.

I want to send a text message to my son, but I don't know what to send, and I want to care about him, but it seems too blunt. After all, even when the freshmen registered, he didn't accompany his son!

Thinking of the parting at the station, Li Lanzhi was busy with school affairs and couldn't leave, Qiao Jianjun had to work hard to pay off his debts, so he only sent Qiao Nan to the train station.

Before getting on the train, Qiao Jianjun asked, "I really don't have to send you?"

Qiao Nan shook his head and said simply, "No need." ”

At that time, he and his wife both lamented their son's sensibility, but now that they think about it, is it possible for their son to blame himself?

That train is loaded with so many new students to register, for others, this is a good opportunity for the whole family to travel, and this is the first step for the child to leave home and become independent, what parent does not want to do as much as possible for the child?

At that time, Qiao Nan was just a teenager who had just turned eighteen, he had never even been to the provincial capital, and he went to a place 1,500 kilometers away from home alone.

In the impression of Qiao's family, Qiao Nan has always been a mature child, so they focused on "maturity", but ignored that he was still a "child".

Qiao Jianjun's heart ached faintly - he had neglected it for too long, even if he started to make up for it now, he probably wouldn't be able to fill the gap for so many years.

At some point, the wind weakened a lot, and it began to rain lightly in the sky. Jolene was reciting chemistry problems, listening to the raindrops falling on the window, feeling the warmth of the radiator, and she felt a warm sense of security. The hour hand was about to point to 1, and Jolene rubbed her eyes and fell asleep on the table.

In her sleep, she was still reciting chemistry questions, "Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless inorganic compound gas, slightly lighter than air, usually prepared by the principle of carbon dioxide reacting with carbon at high temperatures, and the chemical formula is C+CO2→2CO... Carbon monoxide can make the blood bright red, and the blood becomes 'cherry-colored' is a symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning......"

Jolene was half-asleep, carrying it here, and suddenly woke up scared!

The chemistry teacher said that in this rainy and poorly ventilated weather, gas poisoning is most likely to occur.

Jolene was in a dream just now, dreaming of "cherry blood", is this a sign?

It was almost half past one, and Jolene didn't dare to go out alone, but when she thought of the smoking stove in the store, she didn't care so much. She hurriedly put on her freshly burned black down jacket, didn't hold a flashlight or an umbrella, and ran all the way through the dark alley.

Qiao Lin banged on the door of the store desperately, but her father didn't wake up, but woke up Lao Dong next door. Jolene cried urgently: "My dad won't really be poisoned, right?"

Lao Dong was also scared for a while, and the two of them slapped together, and Qiao Lin tried her best to feed, but the sliding door didn't move. Lao Dong pulled her away, picked up a stone, smashed the glass open, and pulled out the bolt from the inside.

The moment they broke in, Qiao Jianjun also woke up from his slumber. He wanted to stand up, but he was top-heavy. He had no choice but to turn on the light first and sit on the bed to breathe a sigh.

"Dad!" Jolene saw that her father was okay, and immediately threw herself into his arms and cried.

"Old Qiao, are you okay?" Lao Dong smelled the smell of gas and asked worriedly.

Qiao Jianjun shook his head and said forcefully: "It's just a little dizzy and nauseous, why are you here?"

Qiao Lin was speechless, and Lao Dong said: "I'm afraid that Linlin was worried about your gas poisoning and ran over with a breath." ”

Qiao Jianjun suddenly realized: "No wonder I dreamed just now, and I did something strange, and I kept hearing Linlin calling me." It wasn't a dream, she came to save me!"

Lao Dong sighed with emotion: "How much virtue did you accumulate in your last life, and you only cultivated such a good girl in this life?"

Jolene hung tears and said to her father: "I don't want new clothes, you can change to a new air conditioner, don't reuse the stove, or I won't be able to sleep well!"

Lao Dong also echoed: "We are old, and we often don't know if we are poisoned, the child's worries are not unreasonable, I advise you, or change the air conditioner, so that everyone can worry." ”

Qiao Jianjun had palpitations and nodded without hesitation. He looked at the dilapidated air conditioner, and the stove with repeated white smoke, and then at his daughter who was crying on top of him, and he suddenly remembered that his son had told his wife why he insisted on moving in with him—

"If someone comes to the store and steals, I can help my dad get rid of them, and in the winter, my dad sleeps more than me when he makes a stove, and as long as he is around, he won't be gassed!"