On this night, it rained in Nanjing, where I lived, and until I got up, the sky was still gloomy, but the flowers and plants I had raised looked particularly delicate in the absence of light, and the rain slowly dripped from their petals and branches, so that I unconsciously immersed myself in this subtle rhythm, as if time was wasted, and some time must be wasted, such as this moment.

I stood alone under the dripping eaves for six or seven minutes before I took the basin out of the bathroom and brushed my teeth and washed my face in the sound of "ticking" rain.

When I wiped the water stains from my face and looked up, Xiao Ai stood at the gate of the courtyard and dropped the white umbrella in her hand, she walked up to me and handed me a white convenience bag containing corn and a box of steaming pastries.

I said "thank you" and took it from her hand, and she said to me: "These two days, you can arrange all the students' classes for me, and the day after tomorrow I will go to Moscow with the troupe to perform, about five or six days!" ”

"To Moscow?"

"Well, the head of the regiment only gave me the task temporarily, he said that I had been idle for too long during this time, and he hadn't seen me go to work in the group, so he had an opinion!"

I smiled and replied, "Your head is really fond of you!" Obviously you have an opinion, shouldn't you have ruined your performance opportunity? On the contrary, it also gives you the opportunity to perform abroad! ”

Xiao Ai replied very frankly: "No way, who made me a relation, my mother's friendship with him has not been for a year or two." ”

"I just like the way you look fearless."

Xiao Ai smiled arrogantly, and then suddenly remembered something, and told me: "In the past few days when I am away, you work hard, and if you have time at night, send Xiaofang to Yu Xin, and let Yu Xin continue to teach her ......"

"Won't Yu Xin go to Moscow with you to perform this time?"

"She doesn't go, but there are a few performances in the province, and she can basically come back that night."

"Isn't it too inhumane to ask her to teach Xiaofang the piano that night, she is not iron-beaten, and she is very tired after a day of traveling!"

"The Xinghai Cup is about to start, there is less and less time left for Xiaofang, and there is no way to be tired, it's a big deal to wait for me to come back, bring a few more classes, and let her have a good rest."

"Then you're not just tired, you're just desperate!"

Dark clouds shrouded the sky, it seemed that the light of the lamp was also needed during the day, every qiē in the line of sight was heavy, the wind was like a soldier charging through the siege, and the whole world was depressed and hopeful at the same time. Xiao Ai stood opposite me, she pinned her sideburns behind her ears, smiled and said to me: "Since fate has made us destined to be strangers in this life, then when you are desperate, I don't want to cherish myself too much...... Maybe many years later, it will be the best and simplest time in my life. ”

I was thinking about what she said, and it seemed that there was a little bit of a problem with logic.

She thought that my temporary silence had an ulterior motive, and asked me again, "Isn't it a bit hypocritical?" ”

"No ......"

"Then I'll go to the piano shop."

"Oh, good."

She walked a few steps, then turned to look at me and asked, "Are you going to the piano shop today?" ”

"Well, I'll be over later."

……

On this day of light rain, I still carried the resources I currently had at my disposal to run around this huge city. When you are tired, you sit under the eaves of the house that can't rain and drink some boiled water; When you're hungry, buy a bowl of instant noodles at a convenience store to make do. But until dusk, there was no special gain, but I didn't dare to squander the only 20 seconds of advertising time left in my hand, so I sat on the bus back to Tulip Road, and once again fell into the confusion of having rice and no cooking.

Perhaps, Zhao Mu is right...... Without money, it is difficult to talk about life, and it is even more difficult to talk about an ideal life. If at this time, I have a deposit of 100,000 yuan, I don't have to worry so much about the supply of musical instrument stores!

Back on Tulip Road, it's already 7 o'clock, and it's just a time when the sun has just set in the summer, but because of the day's rain, the whole street has fallen into all kinds of neon early.

Holding my umbrella, I looked up at the second floor of the piano shop, where the faint light reflected on the damp ground through the small wooden windows, and the sound of the piano could be heard from inside. In the interval, I faintly heard Xiao Ai's voice, she seemed to be correcting some mistakes in Xiao Fang's fingering, and the stern tone was not at all like she would compete with the flowers and plants on the side of the road when she was bored, she really put 100% energy into this matter, maybe her heart wants to do a good piano shop more than me.

Yes, this piano shop is like our children, allowing us to feel the malice and beauty of this world with a new understanding, and it has also made us grow a lot, at least Xiao Ai has grown up...... I have gradually forgotten the woman who used to spend money and drive millions of Mercedes-Benz cars.

I didn't bother them, I just went to the back kitchen of the "Wutong Restaurant", supervised the chef to slaughter a grass chicken, and then spent nearly an hour and a half stewing a pot of chicken and mushroom soup, and then sent it to Xiao Ai and Xiaofang. When we met them, it was already more than nine o'clock in the night, and then the three of them sat on the floor covered with newspapers and shared the pot of soup, but the cold rain outside was still dripping, but it did not affect us to think that it was a wonderful night.

Halfway through, Xiao Ai said to Xiao Fang, who was autistic: "Xiao Fang, don't you have something to say to Brother Jiangqiao, hurry up and tell him, don't look back and forget." ”

Xiaofang looked at me...... Xiao Ai and I looked at her with encouraging eyes, hoping that she would talk more, and not be affected by the gloomy weather all day like us.

After a long time, Xiaofang lowered her head and finally said to me in a very small voice: "Brother Jiangqiao, I have a classmate's father who is very sick, can you help him?" …… The teacher said that without money for medical treatment, his father would die. ”

I looked at Xiao Ai......

Xiao Ai nodded and said, "Well, there is this matter, Feng Yuan also told me today, the surrounding schools are calling for donations to this child's father." It's really not easy for migrant workers, and they don't have a medical insurance, so they don't even pay agricultural insurance to save a few dollars...... Alas! If it weren't for Feng Yuan's father to find a hospital, I'm afraid that there is no bed for medical treatment now, and I can only watch the condition deteriorate! ”

I've been listening to Xiao Ai very patiently, and since she was with me, she seems to understand the hard work of the people at the bottom better, and I haven't been too stingy, even responding: "In addition to two membership cards of 3,000 yuan in the opening advertisement last time, there is also 8,000 yuan in cash, let's take out this money to help others." ”

"Well, when the time comes, you can just hand it over to Feng Yuan."

I nodded, and Xiao Ai said to Xiao Fang beside me with a tired smile: "Brother Jiangqiao has already agreed to help with this, do you want to thank him?" ”

Xiao Fang finally looked up at me, and said "thank you" in a very soft voice, I touched her head, and then looked at Xiao Ai and smiled, it seems that this rainy night has lost its weight in our smiles, and living in the sound of ticking rain, there are still cracks and hopes.

……

A day later, Xiao Ai left Nanjing and followed their group to Moscow, and I took on the responsibility of sending Xiao Fang to Yu Xin for training in the evening. Yu Xin told me that in Xiao Ai's high-intensity training in the past few days, Xiao Fang's piano skills have improved by leaps and bounds, so she is also very much looking forward to Xiao Fang's performance in the "Xinghai Cup" children's piano competition a month later.

On the way back, I received a call from Zhao Mu, who was very impulsive and asked me: "Today, the local media exposed that the old alley was going to be demolished, and the approval of our project was temporarily suspended by the Land Management Bureau...... Did you do this behind your back? So far, I haven't said a word about this project to anyone outside the group at all, except for you. ”

I was stunned, I didn't expect that what Chen Yi did behind the scenes would work so quickly, and it would expose this matter through the media. I believe that before this, the media has verified with the Land Management Bureau whether the project really exists, otherwise it would not have been exposed casually without factual basis.

I subconsciously didn't want Zhao Muqian to be angry with Chen Yi, so I replied: "I did it, I asked relevant experts to evaluate the value of the old alley, and they agreed that such an alley, which is one of the few remaining alleys in Nanjing, needs to be protected." ”

On the phone, Zhao Mu smiled very coldly, and he asked, "Can you represent public opinion?" …… I advise you not to play with fire**, and don't push your brother to a dead end. The group has invested a lot of money in this project, and once it is stopped, I will be held accountable...... Moreover, my motive for telling you in advance is to let you get more compensation for the demolition, and now you are responding to me in this way, are you really not afraid of my coldness? …… Why should I pay for your bullshit? ”

Zhao Mu ...... Listen to me...... Demolition ......"

"I'm not in the mood to hear you say a word right now...... I just want to tell you that I must continue to do this project, and I advise you not to use your mantis arm as a car, and if you still regard me as a brother, please don't do anything that is detrimental to this project. ”

Before I could respond, Zhao Mu hung up the phone, and I really felt the anger he suppressed, this anger was like a poisonous flame, burning our past of sharing weal and woe, making me feel powerless to even repair it!

At this moment, I really hate such a choice, but I don't regret that I protected Chen Yi in this matter, because I don't want to push her to the forefront