Under the scorching sun, a direct bus to the western suburbs finally stopped after traveling in the heat for more than an hour.

I got out of the car with the box in one hand and the old king's head in the other, and walked away. It didn't take long for me to frown, and the air in this area seemed to smell sour.

Lao Wang raised his arm and pointed: "It's here!" ”

I looked in the direction he had instructed—two large closed iron doors, barely recognizable only by the word "recycling" on the signboards.

The old king's head broke away from my support, and walked staggering, his arms stretched forward, and the two large iron doors opened a gap.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I hurriedly stepped forward, leaned my whole body against the door, and pushed it in with all my might. The old king walked in tremblingly, pulling the messy broken copper and iron under his feet from time to time.

The waste furniture in the recycling bin was thrown into a small mountain, with the smell of decay, and I followed the path that the old king had specially cleaned up. Suddenly, there was a "creak", and a wooden door opened on its own, and I was slightly stunned: this wind ...... It's so cool!

The old king walked towards the hut, and when he entered the door, he glanced back at me, and I hastened to follow.

The inside of the house was unexpectedly clean, not as dirty and messy as I imagined, but very tidy. Although there are a lot of frames filled with waste products at the entrance, they are also stacked in a regular manner, and the daily objects are even more obvious - a rusty steel wire bed, on which is covered with some broken "mahjong mats". At the head of the bed stood a life-tall cabinet, and next to the bed was a small low table with a small three-legged bench. On the low table, in addition to a pair of dishes and chopsticks, half a bottle of old white dry, there is also a lighter and a circle of burned mosquito coil ashes.

Lao Wang took out a folding chair with a backrest from under the bed, and with a strong hand with clear blood, the chair was suddenly propped open.

I originally planned to leave when I sent it home, but when I saw that he specially pulled out a chair for me, out of politeness, I still put down the box, took it, and said to him: "Old man, where is your family?" ”

Old Wang turned his back and said without any emotion: "I'm the only one." ”

I nodded apologetically, and as soon as I sat down next to each other, I saw the old man take out an iron teacup from the cabinet and walk towards me.

"Don't be busy, see you're okay, I can go back with confidence!" I hurriedly got up and excused myself.

When the old king heard me say this, he turned around and put the iron teacup back, and asked, "Look at you holding the box, did you misunderstand your business?" ”

"It's okay, it's okay!" I smiled: "I just want to change jobs, and I will resign from the company today!" ”

"Oh......" The old king replied, he was a person who didn't talk much, and he didn't usually take the initiative to talk to people.

"Then you can rest, I'll go first! It's hot, so be careful......"

When I said this, I chuckled in my heart - according to this environment, such a small and airtight room must be extremely hot, how can it feel cooler than an air-conditioned room.

I glanced at the humble room again, and apart from the mahjong mat, there were no fans or other cooling tools in the room.

It's weird!

Although I wondered in my heart, after all, I didn't want to ask too much, so I picked up the box and left. The old king didn't say anything to stay, and when he saw that I was leaving, he came over to see him off.

"Don't send it away, you can go into the house and rest!" Walking to the door of the hut, I turned sideways to him and said to him.

"Ding~Jingling~Jingling~"

Suddenly, a crisp sound drifted in the wind, into my ears, and into my mind. I was inexplicably frightened, and looked down at the bottles and cans scattered at my feet, suspecting that it was the sound of these things colliding.

When the old king saw me stop, he asked, "What's wrong?" ”

I wanted to say, "It's okay," but the voice came to my ears again, so clear, so familiar...... In a trance, I remembered a dream, probably a childhood dream, I don't remember what kind of dream it was, but this bell made me feel like I had such a dream.

"Where are you...... Are there any wind chimes? I asked unconsciously, in the void, I seemed to see a string of wind chimes swinging in the wind.

"Wind chimes?" There was an inexplicable emotion in the eyes of the old king.

I realized that I was asking a little abruptly, and smiled awkwardly: "Nothing...... I'll go first! ”

The old king did not go any further, but when he saw me walk out of the big iron gate, he lowered his head and turned back to the house. As soon as he entered the door, the waste cans in the bamboo basket attracted the attention of the old king, and he remembered that there seemed to be one thing to do—what was it? The old king didn't know the bottom of his heart, but he just bent down on his instinct and rummaged in the bamboo basket.

I suspected that I was having auditory hallucinations, and I lingered at the big iron gate for a while, shaking my head vigorously: Don't I have heat stroke too!

"Ahh

The moment I turned around, I saw the old man standing behind me, and I don't know when he came out.

"Is this the thing?" The old king's head was short, and he was hunched up, so he had to look up at me, holding a black thing in his hand.

I unconsciously took a step back, and looked at the old king's hand in disbelief, it was a worn-out ...... Bell?

"What is this?"

The old king remembered that he really had such a wind chime here. When he first moved here a few years ago, he picked up such a broken bell, and he looked at it for some years and suspected that it was an old antique or something, and finally threw it away. I don't remember who mentioned it to me a few days ago, but he picked it up in the scrap metal, so he left some impressions.

The old king's head and arm were raised a little higher: "That's it, that's it!" ”

I took it with one free hand, looked at him inexplicably, saw him turn around and leave, and hurriedly shouted: "Old man......"

"Let's go, let's go......" The old king waved his hand, his tone was a little impatient, he was not a withdrawn old man who was willing to make contact with people.

I looked at the waste product I was holding in my hand, I didn't throw it away, and I felt awkward to leave it, so I finally put it in my carry-on bag and walked away, thinking: Just ...... Commemorate it!

In the recycling bin, the old king did not return to the hut to rest. He walked to the door of the house and suddenly stopped, stood motionless, and looked at the empty room in a daze.

Stacks of bundled corrugated cardboard and a few snakeskin bags were stacked above the hut, giving it a somewhat oppressive feel. The strong sunlight slowly moved down from above, swept over the sweaty back of the old king, and sprinkled into the room, dispelling the shade of the room a little bit. After being silent for a long time, the old king said to himself: "Xiu, are you back?" ”