I helped Yang Qu put the duffel bag into the trunk, and then drove to Jin Qiu's house, planning to stay at Lao Jin's place for dinner in the evening. On the way, we inevitably saw the giant billboard standing on the expressway, Yang Qu pointed to Xiao Ai in the advertisement and said to me: "This advertising slogan is really exaggerated, it even says that she is the most versatile singing artist in Nanjing, which is suspected of violating the advertising law." ”

"It's not as serious as you think, the advertising law is more product-specific, and the publicity about concerts is not so strict."

Yang Quting smiled disdainfully and replied, "Is there any difference between those stars and products?" Aren't they packaged? ”

I was a little speechless, and only after a while did I say: "You went to drama school, and you will follow this path in the future, don't be in such a hurry to belittle yourself." ”

Yang Qu's face became very serious, as if my unintentional words touched her bottom line, and she replied: "Brother, I have to correct your statement, whether it is a performer or a musician, they are fundamentally different from those stars, and what I want to do is the former...... But she seems to be the latter, she dares to call herself the most versatile singing artist in Nanjing, just to earn some topic effect and eyeballs...... This is all the usual trick of those who want to be popular, right? ”

I don't know why, after Yang Qu finished saying these words, I remembered a long time ago, when she sat on a bench in front of the convenience store, holding hot milk tea in her hand, and said that she wanted to be an artist...... That night, it snowed heavily in Nanjing, but her dream was whiter than the snow on the ground.

Thinking about this, the car had already left the giant billboard far behind, but Yang Qu was unwilling to end the topic, she patted my leg and asked, "Am I right?" ”

I was silent for a while before I replied, "It may not be her own willing ...... to embark on the current path."

"You think you know her well?"

In the face of Yang Qu's ridicule, I just whispered back: "I don't know her now, but I know her in the past." ”

"Oh, so you only love her in the past, not now?"

I turned my head to look at Yang Qu, and then fell into silence and stopped talking, and the reason why I didn't deny or affirm it was just because it was meaningless to talk about the word love between us.

……

It took nearly an hour for me to bring Yang Qu to Lao Jin's door, and when I was about to knock on the door, she grabbed me and said with a psychological shadow: "Why did you bring me here again?" I don't want to be yelled at by Lao Jin anymore, it's really embarrassing! ”

I knocked on the door and replied, "Trust me, not this time." ”

"I don't want to believe you when you look ill-willed...... You haven't cheated me in the past two years! ”

I didn't bother to explain to her, and when Russell opened the door, I pushed her in, and Lao Jin had already returned from fishing in the reservoir, and he was squatting in the kitchen to kill fish.

Lao Jin's method of killing fish was cruel, and he chopped a good fish into two pieces with a knife, so frightened that Yang Qu shrank into the corner of the wall and screamed out, and this movement also made Lao Jin find out of our arrival, and he walked out of the kitchen with a kitchen knife dripping blood...... Now, not to mention Yang Qu's cowardice, even I'm a little hairy.

Yang Qu was even more unbearable, she clinged to the wall, then closed her eyes and raised her hands, looking like she was waiting for death, but she was not willing to die as light as a feather, so she said to Lao Jin, who was approaching step by step: "Uncle Jin, Uncle Jin...... Don't come here, I'm about to vomit when I smell this bloody smell, if you have anything, go to my brother, the worst is him, I'm a girl, even if you want me to marry Sister Jin Qiu, I'm powerless! ”

Lao Jin laughed at her like this, he put the kitchen knife on the table at hand, and then sighed: "You little girl, our cats are bolder than you!" Yang Qu, who turned to make a fuss, put aside the fuss and asked me: "Listen to your Aunt Luo, you came at noon, and you haven't had time to hide from me in the past two years, and it is the first time that you take the initiative to send it to the door...... Say, what kind of heart is pressed? ”

I replied: "Uncle Jin, my EQ is actually quite low!" Sometimes, I want to do good things but can't say good things, so this time, I just want to have a few glasses of wine with you, and then expose all the unpleasant things over the years. ”

"Tell me, what's unpleasant between us?"

After a moment of silence, I replied: "Uncle Jin, I really figured out some things, before I went back to Nanjing this time, I met Jin Qiu in Lianyungang, we talked a lot, and also talked about the topic of marriage, and then we made a very rational decision to get engaged...... Therefore, I came to talk to you about this matter today, because while I am telling you, I also want to ask for your and Aunt Luo's opinion on whether you agree to Jin Qiu being with me. ”

Lao Jin froze in place, and Luo Sumei also looked at me with an expression of disbelief. Over the years, the marriage between me and Jin Qiu has almost become a piece of their hearts, and now that we have finally decided on the engagement, how can their feelings at this moment not be complicated.

After a long time, it was Yang Qu who spoke first, and she widened her eyes and confirmed to me: "Brother, can you repeat what you just said again, I can't believe my ears!" ”

I said word by word: "You heard it right, Jin Qiu and I have already made the decision to get engaged, and we are waiting for the opinions of the elders." ”

Lao Jin and Luo Sumei glanced at each other, and then nodded heavily, but they were speechless, and asked us why we made this decision. Perhaps, in his heart, Jin Qiu and I can become husband and wife, and his life will be complete; So, his mood at this moment may be like I once expected Xiao Ai to come back and tell me that everything I heard was fake. Because for me, it's also a kind of fulfillment.

The difference is that Lao Jin's harvest is really complete, and I have become numb after being disappointed again and again, and finally I no longer have a trace of expectation. But in addition to despair, I also gained, because my life has another kind of fulfillment, and I will not live those wandering lives.

……

On this night, Lao Jin and I had a happy drink, but he didn't drink as much as me, so before I left, he was already drunk in his room, and I was choked enough to need Yang Qu's support to leave.

Luo Sumei sent us to the door, she told Yang Qu to take care of me, took out a bank card from her pocket, and then said to me with a smile: "Jiang Qiao, after all these years, Lao Jin has been holding on to you and Jin Qiu to live a good life, and today this wish has finally come true, he is really happy...... We don't say that we do things according to the rules. You take this card first, there is 300,000 yuan we have saved, you take it to decorate your house, and you and Jin Qiu will have a place to live in Nanjing in the future. ”

"Aunt Luo......"

Luo Sumei held my hand and didn't let me return the card to her, and then said: "I know that you and Jin Qiu are not short of money, but this money is the heart of our older generation, you must accept it." ”

I finally nodded, didn't give in, and then said "Thank you, Auntie", and at this time, a burst of warmth welled up in my heart, because I, Jiangqiao, like most young people in this society, had elders to help me before I got married.

I think that's what Russell Mei meant by giving me the money for the renovation, she didn't want me to be too lonely in the matter of getting married. And it's this loneliness that I care about the most.

At this moment, I really have a sense of steadiness to return to the mainstream society, because my marriage is like most people, some people work, some people make decisions, and some people bless......

……

After leaving Lao Jin's residence, Yang Qu drove me to the "Tulip" hotel. I sobered up quickly, just took a hot shower, and I was already sober. I was thinking in my heart whether I should immediately use the renovation money given by Luo Sumei to decorate the demolition compensation house that I had already gotten.

In fact, when I started to think about this problem, my life had returned to the routine of life of firewood, rice, oil and salt, but I was not disgusted, because I was almost 30 years old, and I could not live in the so-called emotional fantasy for the rest of my life.

After thinking about it for a while, for some reason, I suddenly remembered Chen Yi and the message she sent me a few days ago. At this moment, my life has undergone a metamorphosis, I have new choices, and I feel the need to talk to her.

I finally picked up my phone from the cabinet and sent her a message: "Since the last time you talked to me, I've thought hard about what you said to me...... In the past few days, some big things have happened to me that I don't know if they are good or bad, but the knots that have always made me feel difficult have been untied...... I forgave Yang Jin and understood her distress; In addition, what I want to talk about is the matter between me and Jin Qiu. I think that although you didn't say it explicitly last time, the person you were referring to must be Jin Qiu. Because in the past two years, she has been by my side, carefully changing my life and herself...... This should be the run-in that people often talk about. Now, our run-in has come to fruition, and we are ready to pick a suitable date to get engaged first...... I wonder if you will feel sudden and surprised to hear this news? But in this calm decision, I seem to see you more than a year ago, calmly choosing marriage and choosing your current life...... Let's hope we all be happy! ”

After sending this message, I put my phone back on the cabinet, and then lit a cigarette, I didn't deliberately wait for Chen Yi's reply, just reminisced about everything that had happened in the past year or so...... When I thought about everything, I realized that marriage is not an untouchable thing, and this time, I really have to face it!

...