Christmas Eve.

Shin Min was already asleep in her bed, with many stars hanging from the walls of her bedroom, and turning off the lights at night was like being under the stars. There was a lamp at the head of the bed, and she covered a thick quilt as she flipped through the Christmas cards of her classmates.

There was a boy who only wrote a few words: Xiaomin, I like you, can I be friends with you?

In the fifth grade of elementary school, she smiled and threw the greeting card under the bed.

The cold rain hit the window, and she looked at the time anxiously, wondering why hasn't Dad come back yet? Do you have to interrogate the prisoner outside tonight?

She heard the key open the door, and a man walked in, looking less like a father and more like a grandfather or uncle, with hair half-white and a cold dampness. As soon as he saw Shen Min, he changed from serious to joyful, and touched her hair: "Xiaomin, go to bed early, don't be late for school tomorrow." ”

"Dad, where have you been?"

"Go see an old friend." The dad turned off the lights and said, "Good night." ”

The next day, Shen Min picked up her schoolbag and went to school, took a two-stop bus, and walked into Changshou Road No. 1 Primary School. Her classroom is in a hidden courtyard, in that small blue and white building, fifth grade (3) class.

She has almond-like eyes, long black hair, and a thick white cotton dress lined with a shiny, healthy complexion.

After school, at sunset, she returned to her neighborhood and played Sanmaoqiu with a few girls next door. She struck a ball into the bushes, and in the depths of the dense holly, it was difficult for the children to get into, and just as they were in a hurry, a boy came out of the bushes.

He is about the same age as Shin Min and seems to be seen a lot at school.

Yes, he is also from Changshou Road No. 1 Primary School, but in a different class. The face is impressive, and the eyes always sparkle with a melancholy light. There was a time when stories about him circulated in the school, and everyone said that he was a child prodigy. But soon he was back to his old self, and no teacher mentioned him anymore, and he was still alone, without any friends.

What's his name? Shen Min couldn't think of it for a while, and now she was most concerned about Sanmaoqiu.

The boy wiped the leaves and dirt off his body, held her three-haired ball in his hand, and handed it to the girl's cold and soft palm.

"Thank you!" This was the first thing Shin Min said to him, "You're from the second class, right?" What is your name? ”

"My name is Si Wang, the commander's Si Wang, the Wangwang Wang, what about you?"

"Shin Min, Shin who applied, Min who was agile."

"Shin Min?"

The boy seemed startled by the name.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, our last names are rare, aren't they? I bet there can't be a second person in the class with the surname Shin. ”

Shen Min nodded innocently: "Well, Si Wang, do you also live here?" ”

"No, I happened to be passing by today."

"Let's play together."

The boy, named Si Wang, picked up the racket tremblingly, only to find that there was a deep cut in the back of his hand, presumably when he was picking up the ball in the holly bush, he was accidentally cut by a sharp branch.

"Oops! I'm sorry I hurt you. ”

"It's fine."

Si Wang covered the wound with her hand, she just wanted to say, "Go to my house and wipe the potion", but then she thought that if her father saw it, maybe she would be scolded.

"Wait, don't run!"

The girl ran up the stairs as fast as she could. In less than two minutes, not only the red potion was brought in, but also band-aids and alcohol cotton. She grabbed the back of Si Wang's hand, carefully cleaned the wound, and finally stuck it with a Bondi Band-Aid.

The girls were snickering, and the boy turned around and ran out of the neighborhood.

In the second year, on the playground of Changshou Road No. 1 Primary School, Si Wang had his own playmates. He would play three hairballs with the girls, play hide and seek, jump rubber bands, and not care if he would be laughed at by the other boys.

In the fifth grade, in the second half of the semester, the students were preparing for exams, but Shen Min's favorite thing was music class. In May, when the weather was getting hotter, she wore only a thin undershirt, revealing her slender neck and arms, and sang to the teacher's piano: "Let us swing the oars, the boat pushes the waves, the sea reflects the beautiful white tower, surrounded by green trees and red walls." The boat was gentle, drifting in the water, and a cool wind was blowing in front of it. The red scarf greeted the sun, the sun shone on the sea, and the fish in the water looked at us and quietly listened to us sing happily......"

There was a girl in the second class whose family was very wealthy, and every day after school, there was an Audi waiting at the school gate, and she often lured Si Wang to take her family's car and go home. One evening, Shin Min hid behind a tree at the school gate and found the girl tugging at the corner of his coat and said, "Si Wang, I have two tickets for Harry Potter, will you accompany me to see them?" ”

Si Wang turned his head in embarrassment and ran, just in front of Shin Min, and both of them laughed and took a walk in the school garden.

"You know what? Why do some people say I'm a child prodigy? The boy whispered mysteriously, "Because I have superpowers." ”

"Huh?" Her eyes widened, "Superpowers? I don't believe it! ”

"For example, can I guess your father's name, is it Shen Yuanchao?"

"Yes, but that's easy to find."

"You also have an older brother, not a cousin, I'm talking about my own brother."

"Huh? How did I not know this? ”

"You go back and ask your dad and you'll understand."

"Is it ......?"

Shin Min remembered that in the living room of the house, in addition to the portrait of his mother, there was also a black and white photo of a young man, but his father never said who that person was?

"Don't talk about that, is your mother okay?"

"She's dead."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"When my mother had me in her belly, she was in her forties, and the doctor said that giving birth would be dangerous, but she insisted on giving birth to me. As a result, on the night I was born, she bled a lot and died. As she spoke, she burst into tears, and sat on the stone bench in the flower bed trembling, "I killed my mother!" ”

"What's your birthday?"

"December 20, 1995."

Si Wang pinched his fingers thoughtfully: "It turns out that there was already that day." ”

"What do you say? What day? ”

"Then you have to call me brother, because I was born on December 19th, a day before you."

"That's why I don't call you!"

"Well, do you know when your brother died?"

"Tell me?"

Shin Min had wiped away her tears and looked at his face suspiciously.

"June 19, 1995."

Saying this date, Si Wang also lowered his head, and something slowly slipped on his cheeks.

"Why are you crying?"

"Oh, a gust of wind blew just now, and sand got into my eyes."

"Don't move! Keep your eyes open! ”

The girl licked the whites of his eyes with the tip of her tongue.

"Dad told me that girls can cry, but boys can't."

She spoke with a proud expression, and Si Wang nodded and said, "Your father is right!" ”

"Are you still crying?"

"No, I promise."

Si Wang wiped away his tears and turned around ruthlessly: "I'm going home, goodbye!" ”

Half a month later, they graduated from Changshou Road No. 1 Primary School. They all go from elementary school to grade 5 and go directly to the preparatory class for junior high school. Shin Min and Si Wang entered different junior high schools, and the two never met again.

Sometimes, she also fantasizes about going out with Si Wang and rowing on the Silver Hoe Lake in Changfeng Park. The melancholy boy sat opposite, paddled across the water, hiding in the shadows cast by the Iron Arm Mountain, leaning his head to watch the sun sink in the west......