"I have always liked to watch the animal world, not because Zhao Zhongxiang's voice is good, but because in the cognition of animals, sunrise is just sunrise does not mean dawn, sunset is just sunset, and it does not mean that darkness is coming. Their actions are governed only by the primitive desires of hunger, cold, and reproduction, and they are simple and pure.

One of my favorite episodes is the story of twenty-four African ostriches. They are more than two meters long, plump, long and strong legs, and thick hind limbs that are good at running, which can kill lions and leopards.

It is such a strong man on the African grassland, when he encounters the attack of fierce beasts, he forgets his hard beak and his thick legs, chooses to hang down his long neck, and plunges his head into the sand, as if he does not listen or look, and the bloody wind and rain will not come to him.

I was so angry that I wanted to be the twenty-fifth ostrich, rush into the TV and kick them awake one by one, let them follow me, shake off the sand from my head, and raise my legs to get ready to strike the other man deadly. ”

I was doing my last wandering between waking and sleeping, but Qi Li's voice sounded in my ears, and I said an inexplicable sentence without beginning or end.

"I thought you were asleep. I turned to her sideways, "What are you talking about?"

"Although you never asked, I also know that you have always wanted to ask, why didn't I ask anything. She was hunched over, still with her back to me.

"I didn't ask, I wanted to ask, you didn't ask? What do you say, what about talking about cross talk in the middle of the night? You don't know how to throw it, I can't give you it......"

"Lin Suhao, and that girl. In the darkness, in the sparse moonlight that leaked through the curtains, I saw her shoulders twitch with these words. "I'm not the twenty-fifth ostrich after all, I still made the twenty-fourth. ”

"So, now you're ready to tell me why you didn't go and ask him, right, little ostrich?" I looked up and leaned in gently to her.

"Hmm. ”

（1）

"Have you ever seen the night? not the one in front of you. The nightclub ends a second before dawn tomorrow. And in my childhood, even when the sun was dazzling in front of me, the world was not visible. Every day of my life is to usher in one night after another, and they have no end, saying hello to me and saying good night to me day after day.

The night is boundless, but there is a source, and the source is my father.

Speaking of my father, in fact, before I was in junior high school, I only saw a handful of his faces, and my mother said that he actually came back often, but it was late at night when I was already asleep, and he left before me the next morning. I begged my mom to wake me up no matter how late it was when my dad came home, and I wanted to show him the red tick in his homework book. My mom said yes, but she always forgot to wake me up.

Then one day when I came home from school, I saw my dad sitting on my sofa, flipping through my homework book, and when he saw me coming back, he waved at me and smiled all over his face. After that day, he stayed at home for a long time, and I could say good morning to him every day, and good night to him, daddy, every word was sweeter than toffee.

But one day, I said goodnight to him, and when I tried to say good morning to him, my mother was the only one left in their room.

After that, he never came back, I asked my mom and dad, did he go to work again, did he come back at night, if he came back, he still had to wake me up, this semester we started to learn English, I learned to memorize the alphabet, I can also know a few words, I want to memorize to him.

My mom doesn't speak. When I asked again, she still didn't answer. I asked for many days, and she was silent for many days.

One day, she suddenly began to rummage through boxes and cabinets to find several passbooks, took a calculator, and knelt on the side of the bed to add, subtract, and subtract the numbers on the passbook. I came home from school and asked as usual, Mom, did Dad come back last night, she was stunned, and suddenly she cried.

Her tears convinced me that my dad hadn't come back for so many days, and I had a vague feeling that he wouldn't come back for a long time.

So she cried in the room, and I secretly hid outside the door to wipe my tears.

On that day, Lin Suhao's family moved into our building and lived in the house that had been empty for many years on the upper floor of my house. At the corner of the stairs, I saw him, who was following his dad, tiptoeing over the mattress that was on his dad's shoulder. He turned his head to see me sitting by the door, snot on my lips and tears on my chin.

He giggled, and with a shake of his hand he left the mattress, and with no support behind him, the mattress immediately became a little unbalanced, and after a few swings on his father's shoulder, he fell.

I was amused and laughed with snot bubbles, but he was scolded and cried by his father.

（2）

After my dad disappeared, my days became darker and darker, and the days became shorter and shorter, until they were so short that I could not separate two nights, and my life finally changed from long nights and short days to long dark nights with only good night and no good night.

And Lin Suhao's family is the only ray of light in my long dark night.

That day, Lin Suhao and I helped his father move the mattress upstairs, and picked up some pots and pans and other things that we could handle. After they settled in, it was already dark, and the ice pot was cold, and his father proposed to take me out to the restaurant.

I cried for so long, and tossed up and down for so long, that I forgot that I was still hungry. Lin Suhao's mother cleaned up the clutter in the kitchen and shouted at Lin Suhao, Xiaobai, take Xiaoli to the bathroom to wash your hands, and get ready to eat!

In front of the sink, I stared at Lin Suhao, who was rubbing his hands with his head bowed in the mirror, and teased him with interest, Xiaobai? Isn't this the name of Xiaoxin's dog?

He turned around and shook his hand and threw me a face of water, my big name is Lin Suhao, my mother's surname is Bai, and Lin Bai is my nickname!

I laughed, no matter what, it's still like a dog name anyway!

Like, go wash your hands! He shoved me.

I rubbed the dust from my palms, secretly raised my eyes, and saw in the mirror that he was leaning against the washing machine, holding his arms and looking at me.

I preemptively struck to hide the embarrassment of peeking at the bag that was caught.

I'm wondering why you were crying so sadly when you were smiling so much just now. He said.

I was stunned and pressed the valve of the faucet hard, and the flow of water stopped instantly. I turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Dad Lin took us downstairs to the Sichuan restaurant, asked me a bunch of questions, and finally ordered all the dishes according to my preferences. Lin Suhao wanted to talk to me several times in the middle, but I didn't answer.

Later, when Lin's father and Lin mother went to the disinfection cabinet to get the dishes and chopsticks, Lin Suhao came to me, pouted and said, Hey, I'm sorry, I'm just curious. If you don't want to say it, don't say it, don't be angry.

After saying that, he sat back, thought for a few seconds and added, but if you can't hold back and want to say it one day, you can still say it to me, I promise not to say it!

The dinner that day was the most delicious I had since I was a child. It's not so much how delicious the food tastes, it's because of the people you eat with. Every piece of fish that was sandwiched into my bowl was picked by Daddy Lin one by one, and as soon as my cup was empty, Mother Lin would immediately fill it with water.

And Lin Suhao, who was on the side, could only spit out fish bones and pour water by himself.

I think of my mom, she probably wasn't in the mood to cook when she cried like that. After only a few bites, I put down my chopsticks and left a bowl full of rice and fish.

Why don't you eat it?, Daddy Lin asked me.

My mom is still at home, she seems to be in a bad mood today, and I'm afraid she hasn't eaten either...... Want to keep some ...... Bring her back. I was embarrassed.

Look at how sensible Xiao Li is! It's like you, a little wolf cub. Mother Lin blamed Lin Suhao, and comforted me and said that it didn't matter, let me eat with confidence, and then order food again for my mother to pack back.

When we came back to my house with a hot meal, my mom was no longer home, and I couldn't reach her because I was in the third grade and I didn't have a key.

Dad Lin took me upstairs and asked me to stop at his house tonight, and then found a blank piece of paper to write a message and stuffed it into the crack of my door to prevent my mother from coming home and not finding me. That's when I was at ease.

That night was in a hurry, and they only cleaned up Lin Suhao's room and came out. Lin Suhao has a big bed, and after we each lie down on one side, we can still accommodate the vast galaxy in the middle. After Mother Lin tucked my quilt, she got into Lin Suhao's quilt and lay down between me and him.

In the living room outside the room, Uncle Lin, who was nested in the small sofa, was already snoring like thunder.

I listened greedily, and the snoring was very similar to my father's, like the whining of a boat, and sometimes like the hiccups of my grandmother's old pig, and for a moment I couldn't bear to sleep.

Why haven't you fallen asleep yet? Probably hearing my movements, Lin Suhao asked me in a whisper in the dark.

I was startled, didn't answer, and paid attention to Mother Lin's movements beside me.

Don't worry, my mom is already asleep, and she sleeps so hard that she can't hear me crying when I fall out of bed when I am a child. Lin Suhao seems to have a pair of luminous see-through eyes, and through the darkness, Mother Lin can know what I am doing and what I am thinking.

I can't sleep. I replied in a whisper.

Do you have something on your mind?" he asked.

I looked into the darkness and nodded. Although I know that he can't see.

Do you still want to hear it now?, I asked.

What the?

Why am I crying.

You say it, I'm listening. There was a rustling sound in the darkness, and his breathing seemed to be a little closer, and he must have turned towards me.

I swallowed, sighed softly, and spent more than ten minutes talking to him about my dad who always came home late at night, my dad who looked at my homework book with a smile on his face, my dad who said good night and good morning to me every day a while ago, and my dad who might not come back for a long time in the future.

Where did you say he went, did he go to work? Then why did the other classmates' fathers also work, but they were able to go home? I asked him.

In the middle of the night, there was no other sound in the darkness except for three breaths one after another.

It must have been my long and boring story, which hypnotized him after all. I think.

In which direction is your room?, his voice suddenly rang out, and he asked me thoughtlessly.

I don't get it.

Where is your room, south, south, west, and north?" he continued.

Right down in your room, what's wrong?

After that, I would shoot the basketball three times every night before going to bed, and three times every morning after I got up, so that I could hear it from your room. He said excitedly.

What are you doing with basketball? I asked.

That's me saying good night and good morning to you!"