Chinese New Year's Eve.

In the rumbling explosion outside the window, He Qingying tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, and heard a muffled cry, like a trilling sound from the ground. She got up and put on her clothes, walked to her son's plank bed, and found him crying under the covers.

She lifted Si Wang's quilt, her body was still slender like a water snake, slippery and slippery into the quilt, warm as a hot water bottle, hugged his cold back and said, "Wang'er, no one can find Teacher Ouyang now, if you want to blame your mother." When I was your age, I used to shed tears in the bed in the middle of the night, crying even more sadly than you do now. ”

The eighteen-year-old son turned around, and the whole pillow was wet: "Mom, are you still thinking about Dad?" ”

"Occasionally."

Si Wang didn't continue to ask, eleven years ago, probably at this time, Si Mingyuan evaporated from this home.

Over the years, many men have courted her, and there are also many people who have houses and cars, good looks, divorced or widowed, but she has turned them all away, including Officer Huanghai.

Since Huang Hai's death, the operation of the bookstore in the deserted village has become more and more difficult, and now the children don't like to read books. Si Wang couldn't bear to see his mother's hard work, so he took the time to help her look after the store, and also proposed to go out to work to help the family share the financial pressure. But his mother firmly objected, saying that he still had some savings, enough for him to graduate from high school.

Almost every weekend, early in the morning or midnight, there is a mysterious call from the house. He Qingying picked it up before his son, but the voice was interrupted. Si Wang asked Officer Ye Xiao to check the source of the phone, and it was a mobile phone number that had not been registered with his real name, and his place of residence was in another province. He said not to worry too much, it was just an ordinary harassing phone call, and it was also a common tactic used by the demolition team to urge the demolition compensation agreement to be signed as soon as possible.

For nearly a year, many of the surrounding houses have been demolished, and every day when I go home feels like I have passed through bombed ruins. Some of the residents were evicted, and some were simply demolished, and I don't know how many times they have made trouble. She was also approached by neighbors who wanted to fight together to defend their rights. He Qingying gave up resistance, and only negotiated with the developer twice, and then agreed to the demolition compensation plan - only a few hundred thousand, and the old house was buried.

"Mom, why did you say yes to those brutes?"

How much Si Wang misses Officer Huanghai, if he is still alive, how can he let the demolition team come to the door?

"Wang'er, other people's families are overwhelming, but we orphans and widows don't want to toss anymore."

"Orphans and widows?" He frowned and looked out the window, "Is Dad really dead?" ”

I can't find my father's photo at home, and the memory of Si Mingyuan is becoming more and more blurred.

"I'm sorry." She touched her son's cheek, a beautiful woman in her forties, crow's feet were already covering the corners of her eyes, "You don't know what terrible means they will use!" I don't want you to get hurt in any way. ”

"Afraid of what?" Si Wang took a few steps back, landed two straight punches and uppercuts, and then a Muay Thai kick, "If those bastards dare to come to the door again, I'll kick their dogs' legs!" ”

"Shut up!" The mother grabbed his hand tightly and felt her son's muscles tighten, "Wang'er, don't practice anymore!" I don't want you to become a little rascal who fights, that's not the way you go, mom as long as your wife lives peacefully. ”

"If people don't offend me, I won't offend anyone!"

"You are more mature than all children, how can you not understand the heart of a mother? I've long had enough of this old house – it leaks in the winter, it's so hot in the summer, the air conditioner trips after it doesn't take long to turn it on, and you never bring your classmates to play at home. Since the day you were born, your mother has not let you have a good life, nor has she taken you to travel to other places. ”

In the summer of last year, Nanming High School organized teachers and students to travel to the island, and she squeezed out a thousand yuan as her son's own expense, and also to let him interact more with his classmates and not become weird by boxing every day.

"It's okay, I've been to many places a long time ago!"

"It's Mom, I'm sorry for you! And with my current income, I can't afford to buy a house for the rest of my life. I will rent an apartment near the small bookstore so that you can live in a beautiful, clean and comfortable home, which has been my mother's wish for many years. And that demolition compensation is the cost of your college education in the future. ”

The price is that you will have to spend the rest of your life as a living as a tenant.

Si Wang lowered his head and snuggled quietly to his mother, listening to the voice in her veins. Soon after the beginning of spring, He Qingying got the compensation for the demolition. The house is about to be demolished and turned into the same ruins as the surrounding area, and in two years it will become a high-end development. Si Wang is reluctant to give up the old house, as well as the cherry blossom path he painted on the wall, the classical poems engraved on the windowsill, will the big locust tree outside the window be cut down? In this cramped room, there was his father who remembered it before he was seven years old.

On the day of the move, there were not many things, and a lot of garbage had already been thrown away by He Qingying - among them were many of her husband's relics. Si Wang helped the porter carry the furniture together, and after he was busy with his labor, the neighbors said that he was more and more like Si Mingyuan back then.

In the evening, He Qingying's mother and son finally moved into their new home, a two-bedroom apartment rented near the bookstore in a deserted village, which was fully decorated and furnished, and the bathroom and kitchen were also good, which was exactly the home they dreamed of. Si Wang had his own bedroom for the first time, and his mother bought him a new single bed.

A few days later, He Qingying walked into his son's room and cleaned up his clothes for the season, Si Wang suddenly lifted the quilt and said, "Mom, I'll comb your hair, right?" ”

"What do you do at night?"

"Let me comb it for you, I've never combed a girl's hair."

Dizzy, when did my son become so talkative?

He Qingying happily sat in front of the mirror, and Si Wang got up naked, picking up a horn comb. He clumsily slid a few times, and she screamed in pain, turned back and touched her son's chest and said, "Wang'er, aren't you cold?" ”

"It's not cold."

Presumably because he is used to boxing shirtless, not to mention that it has warmed up these days.

"Is Mommy getting old?"

"No, you're still young, and your hair is thick and black like a young girl, so let me comb you with two pigtails."

"That's too hard for you, let me think about it...... I haven't had pigtails in thirty years. ”

"Thirteen?"

"Oh......"

He Qingying wanted to speak and stopped, but shook her head and was silent, that year was a forbidden area for her.

"Why don't you ever tell me about your past?"

"Don't comb it, mom is going back to sleep."

But as soon as she was about to stand up, she was pressed down by Si Wang, continued to comb her long hair, and leaned over to her ear: "Don't you dare to say it?" ”

"Wang'er, don't you know? Your grandparents, who died before you were born, and I have been working in the post office, this is my past. ”

"Further on? Which secondary school did you attend? Where did you live as a child? What's been interesting? What friends do you have back then? ”

"You peeked at my stuff on the day of the move?"

"I'm sorry."

"Since you've seen it all, there shouldn't be any doubts, right?"

Although He Qingying's mouth was unhurried, his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

The son pulled out the album from under the bed and put it in a dust-proof bag. The red cover of the album smells of must, and the first page is a faded color photograph of a young girl in a dress standing in front of a sign at the postal school.

Of course He Qingying recognized it—this was his seventeen or eighteen-year-old self.

Although the clothes and hairstyle are so earthy, she can still be seen to be a peerless beauty, and her slender arms press the hem of her skirt to avoid being blown by the wind. Her eyes looked sadly into the distance, wondering where the focus was. It's really like Momoe Yamaguchi back then.

Most of the last few pages are family photos, and from the layout of the house and the scene outside the window, it can be judged that it is an old house that has just moved out. There is often a pair of middle-aged men and women who take photos with her, naturally they are Si Wang's grandparents, but they don't look very similar to He Qingying. However, there are not many photos of her, less than twenty in total, and no group photos of people other than relatives, such as classmates, have been found. There is no photo of Si Mingyuan, it should be a photo album before marriage.

Si Wang took out a tin biscuit box from under the bed again, and He Qingying couldn't help but tremble: "You also found out about this?" ”

"It's all thanks to this move!"

The four sides of the tin biscuit box in front of me are also the color strokes of "Dream of Red Mansions", but they are Lin Daiyu, Jia Yuanchun, Shi Xiangyun, Qin Keqing, and the "Twelve Hairpins of Jinling".

Si Wang vigorously broke the lid of the box, and a stale smell gushed out, but what came out was a tape.

Teresa Teng's "Water Man", there are six songs on side A and side B-

01. Water Man 02. Lover's Smile 03. If you can make a wish 04. Unforgettable eyes

05. Maple Leaves 06. Just like your tenderness 07. It doesn't matter who you are 08. As long as you have me in your heart

09. There's a Girl Waiting for You 10. Mom's Song 11. Smiling face and fragrant flowers 12. Woman's courage

The old cassette twenty years ago, of course He Qingying will not forget, it was in her girlhood, secretly listening to it in the tape recorder every day.

"Wang'er, this is all the garbage I want to throw away, why did you pick it up again?"

"I also saw a photo of you at the age of thirteen, Officer Ye Xiao helped me find it, although he didn't know that the person in the photo was you."

He Qingying's face changed: "A thirteen-year-old photo? Where is it? ”

"Nanhu Middle School, Class 1 (2), at the intersection of Nanhu Road and Anxi Road."

"Are you mistaken?"

"Lu Mingyue - do you remember this name?"

She got goosebumps on the back of her neck and shook her head stiffly, "You're too cranky." ”

"Don't lie to yourself!" The horn comb in his son's hand continued to comb his mother's hair, "You know I've discovered your secret. I also found out the date of birth, you and Lu Mingyue were both born on the same day, and your personal files have been missing since 1983 - this is what I found out from the archives myself. ”

"Shut up!"

"It is also a coincidence that Lu Mingyue's personal file has been interrupted since 1983, when a tragic incident occurred in her family, in which her father was killed in his home, and she was the only witness and the first to report the crime."

"What the hell are you trying to say?" He Qingying quickly broke free of her son and was about to walk out the door, "Hurry up and sleep, good night." ”

Her arm was firmly grasped by Si Wang, as if arresting a prisoner: "Mom, you almost never interact with your mother's family. I found my cousin's phone number today, called him posing as a police officer, and he told me that you were not born to my grandparents. ”

"Wang'er, listen to me......"

"Lu Mingyue!" The son shouted the name, "This is your real name!" ”

A stalk of white hair slipped from between the teeth of the horn comb, but she had no intention of struggling anymore.

"No, Lu Mingyue, it's my former name—and the name I was born with is about to be forgotten."

"Because, you weren't born to Lu Jingnan, were you?"

For the first time, Si Wang named the deceased in the 1983 Sabbath Road murder.

"Wang'er, do you have to force your mother to death?"

"I'm here to save you."

As he lowered his head and kissed his mother's neck, He Qingying gave up resistance.

"You've been to the murderous mansion at 19 Sabbath Road a long time ago, right? I was born in that house – my father, and your real grandfather, was a famous translator who hanged himself when I was four years old, the first thing I remember in my life. Soon after, my mother, who was also your grandmother, also died. Our house was occupied by an official named Lu Jingnan, whose wife could not bear children, but a kind woman, who saw that I was lonely and unaccompanied, adopted me as an adopted daughter. I had a lucky childhood, growing up at the age of twelve in a big house on Sabbath Road. The turning point was that year, when the adoptive mother found out that her husband was having an affair and committed suicide by throwing herself into the river in a fit of rage. From then on, no one could protect me. ”

"Mom, do you mean that bastard Lu Jingnan—"

"He's a bit of a bastard!"

"You killed him?"

"Wang'er, don't ask any more!"

She almost pleaded with her son, but to no avail, Si Wang continued to whisper in her ear: "Tonight, I went to Anxilu again, and combined with some information kept by the Huanghai police officer, I found that Lu Jingnan's murder in 1983 is unlikely to be an outsider who broke into the crime. Although there were signs of people climbing over the wall at the time, and there were bricks that broke the window panes, I found that most of the broken glass was outside the windows, that is, someone broke it from inside the house - this is also an issue that has been debated by the police for a long time, making it difficult to conclude the case. However, absolutely no one thought that the daughter of the deceased, the only witness at the scene, and the first person to report the crime would be a murderer! ”

"It's just your inference, there's no evidence, who would believe a high school student who fights all day long?"

"Mom, I'm not going to say it to anyone! Thirty years have passed since the murder - not to mention that the deceased was already full of evil, and you were a little girl back then. ”

Finally, she said word by word: "I confess, I have killed people." ”

Si Wang put down the comb, wiped away his tears for his mother, and whispered: "The victim is your adoptive father Lu Jingnan." ”

"Because, he's a brute! Wang'er, you have grown up, you should understand what your mother said. ”

"Don't say the reason, just talk about the process."

"No one knew what he did to me, and no one ever doubted me. That night, he was drunk, and in the living room on the ground floor, I resisted desperately, and in the midst of the violent scuffle, the window near the yard was broken, and I picked up a piece of glass and cut his neck—blood was splattered everywhere, and it was all over my face, and I smashed the glass to the ground and shattered it, so that the murder weapon was gone. I opened the door and sat on the steps crying, someone walked by and asked me what was wrong, and soon the police came......"

"Isn't there a third person on the scene?"

He Qingying shook his head blankly: "If anyone saw it, I would have been arrested a long time ago-Wang'er, please, don't ask again, you are cruel enough to your mother." ”