Dark.

Endless darkness.

A pair of leather shoes stepped on the floor, and the floor and the ground seemed to fit not so well, crunching. Calm and heavy, but also a little anxious.

Like, it should be a man's footsteps.

Step by step, it is moving away.

In the darkness, a ray of light suddenly lit up.

It's very glaring.

The light gradually widened and brightened, as if someone had opened the door to let in the light from outside.

A tall figure dissolved into the light.

But the light is still there.

The picture flew into the distance.

At the dark end, a glass window illuminates a flight of stairs. On the side of the staircase is a small bar.

A woman, sitting on an old leather couch on the edge of the bar, head bowed, curled up.

Step back again, outside the gate. There are four words written on the side of the door: Aoyama Hotel.

A girl, in the midst of endless darkness, is awakened.

The girl covered her head and gasped for air.

Suddenly, the mobile phone on the side rang and lit up.

It's a phone from my hometown.

Reflected by this bright light, the girl was covered with sweat, and her hair was pasted on her face.

Phone: Xiaoling, come back soon, something happened to your family!

The voice on the other end of the phone was very urgent, the kind that was about to cry.

"Fifth aunt, what's wrong with my family?" Xiao Ling was also anxious.

"Your dad has been missing for three days, and your mom is sick today." The fifth aunt cried.

"I'll be right back!" Xiao Ling cried.

Provincial capital. The tallest office building.

Xiao Ling, with a sad and teary face, was unkempt and numbly squeezed into the elevator.

My colleague's sister excitedly called Xiaoling's name and excitedly discussed the super acting skills of idols on TV yesterday.

Xiao Ling didn't react. No smile, no answer.

Xiao Ling walked into the office like a robot.

Xiao Ling did not sit back at his desk, but walked directly to the boss's office.

The boss was holding his phone and walking out.

The boss glanced at Xiao Ling and "cut". A look of disgust.

The boss waved a hand, and several colleagues picked up their notebooks and followed them into the conference room.

Xiao Ling wiped his eyes, red circles under his eyes, and rushed into the conference room.

"Boss, I want to take a leave of absence!"

"What's wrong?" The Boss asked.

"Something happened to my family, my dad is missing."

"Your dad is missing, and there's a police uncle. What can you do when you go back? Besides, a white-collar worker in a dignified new media company, who doesn't wash his face or makeup, dares to walk in like this, I didn't even say anything about you. You actually want to take leave to go back to your hometown, how many things do you have to delay the company! ”

The boss leaned heavily back in his chair. The boss is young and promising, although his voice is a little immature, but every time he says a word, he points to the table with his fingers. One is to add some weight to talk, and the other is to exercise the body by the way.

"Then you can fire me! I'm going home to my dad! The tears that Xiao Ling had just withdrawn burst out again. The little face was flushed.

On both sides of the long conference table, various supervisors and backbones looked at the boss for a while, and Xiao Ling for a while.

"Then you go! The company won't keep you! "It's the first time that someone dares to not give face in front of so many people, and the boss can't hang up." You go now! ”

Xiao Ling snatched the door out. Rushed to his desk, put away his bag, and rushed out of the office.

It doesn't matter what his colleagues think, what his colleagues say, whether his computer is turned off, and whether his charger is not unplugged.

The colleagues who did not go to the meeting first saluted the conference room, and then followed Xiao Ling's footsteps like a precisely tracked camera, rushing out of the office door from the door of the conference room......

Xiao Ling didn't know how he got back to his hometown.

After all, from the office to the rental house, to the train station, to the city, and then to the bus...... From the provincial capital to the small town in the valley, it was quite a toss to change cars and reverse boats all the way.

In short, now, in the afternoon of the next day, Xiao Ling is standing in front of his house. Dragged a suitcase and carried a small bag.

Before anyone could enter the door, they heard a whining cry inside the door.

Xiao Ling rushed through the door.

Mom sat on the couch in the doorway, whimpering and crying.

The fifth aunt sat beside her mother, stroking her mother's back with one hand, and wiping her tears with the other hand.

"Mom!" Xiao Ling couldn't help but want to cry.

"Xiao Ling, you're back." The fifth aunt stood up.

When my mother saw Xiao Ling coming back, she stopped crying. Instead, he laughed. The smile with tears on his face is distressed to watch.

"Mom. What happened to Dad? ”

Mom is still sitting on the couch, just laughing.

"Xiao Ling, don't ask. Your mother doesn't speak anymore. ”

"Why! Auntie, what's wrong with my mom? Xiao Ling was almost sitting on the ground crying.

"Ah, kid. The other day, your dad was working in the old building behind the yard, and suddenly he screamed, and he was silent. Your mom is here to receive guests, and when she hears the scream, she runs to the backyard. I ran upstairs and downstairs, but I didn't find it. The fifth aunt helped Xiao Ling to the sofa and sat down next to her mother.

"Did you call the police?" Xiao Ling asked.

"It's been reported a long time ago. The police even brought their dogs. You have searched this little hotel up and down several times, inside and outside the town. Didn't you see the police patrolling for your dad on the way here? The fifth aunt said.

"Then why didn't my mother speak?" Xiao Ling asked.

"Auntie doesn't know. Your mother couldn't find you that day, so she came to ask me for help. Your fifth uncle and I also came to look for it, but there was still no sign when it got dark. Your mom just cried all the time. Later, your fifth uncle was worried about your mother, so he asked me to stay with your mother. Your mom just cried all the time. It took a long time to comfort me before I fell asleep. The fifth aunt wiped away her tears.

"When I got up in the morning, your mother stopped talking and kept shedding tears. Occasionally, there will be a few cries. ”

"Then why is my mom smiling at me?" Xiao Ling looked at her mother.

"Hey!" The fifth aunt shook her head. "Xiao Ling, you must be hungry. Auntie will go to the store to get some food for you two to eat. You sit with your mother. ”

With that, the fifth aunt returned to the store.

The fifth aunt's shop, next to Xiaoling's hotel, is a steamed bun shop, in fact, it is not only steamed buns, dumplings, wontons, noodles and stir-fried vegetables, you can eat anything you want.

Xiao Ling hugged her mother, buried her head and cried.

And my mother didn't stretch out her hands or bend her body, but sat up straight, smiling all over her face.

Xiao Ling's small hotel, in fact, is not small, in this town.

Xiao Ling was born in a mountain village on the edge of this town, when Xiao Ling was a child, his father sold the house in the village, rented this yard in the town, and opened a hotel.

The hotel is divided into two buildings, with a small courtyard in the middle. The front door is next to the main road in the town, and the merchants must pass through the road, which is lively; The back door is hidden in a small alley, and occasionally someone will walk by, quiet.

It's just that the conditions of the family were limited at that time, so only the front building was converted into a hotel, and a separate room was reserved for his family to live in.

Later, I saved some money and wanted to install the back building. But Mom and Dad discussed it for a long time and decided to buy these two buildings first.

At that time, there were many people in the town and business was good. According to the income at that time, within three or five years, the back building could also be renovated.

It's just that I didn't expect that within two years, the town would suddenly be deserted.

First, young people kept going out to work, then the children went out to college, and then young people bought houses in the city and picked up the elderly.

I heard that in some villages, there used to be a few hundred people, but now there are only a dozen old people.

As a result, the business of the hotel is also getting worse day by day.

Fortunately, Xiao Ling has a future. First of all, I was admitted to the best university in the provincial capital, and after graduating from college, I found a job in the highest office building in the provincial capital.

Xiao Ling's mother even felt that it wouldn't be long before Xiao Ling would be able to pick her up and her father and go to the provincial capital to enjoy happiness.

Now, this business, which is as light as clear water in itself, has disappeared with the disappearance of my father and my mother's aphasia.

The two three- and four-story hotels are shaking, and only the mother and son are left hugging and crying.

Listening to the cry breaks people's hearts.

Not long after, the fifth aunt walked in with two bowls of noodles.

The intimate fifth aunt also added two eggs to each bowl of noodles.

Xiao Ling held back her tears, moved a stool, placed it in front of her mother, and put the noodles on the stool.

Xiao Ling handed the chopsticks to her mother.

Mom took the chopsticks, looked at Xiao Ling, and smiled.

Xiao Ling put her mother's other hand on the edge of the bowl and said, "Mom, let's eat noodles." ”

Mom bowed her head and began to eat noodles with a grin.

Xiao Ling served another bowl of noodles on the bar.

Xiao Ling and Fifth Aunt looked at their mother who was eating noodles with her head bowed, and they both sighed.

The fifth aunt went back to her store to get busy. I have to take care of Xiaoling's mother these days, and my own business is supported by the fifth uncle, which is not very good.

It's bad enough in itself.

The small street in front of the store was also the main road in the town, and it was too crowded for people back then.

Now, it's almost moss.

Xiao Ling simply took a few bites of noodles and lowered his head to tidy up the front desk.

A somewhat dilapidated register with a handful of names written on it.

In the past few months, the number of guests staying in the hotel has really decreased day by day.

Xiao Ling sat weakly in his chair. Only then did I remember that the bag I was carrying had not been put down.

So, Xiao Ling put down the bag, walked to the front of her mother, and pulled the suitcase behind the front desk.

"Yo! The innkeeper has finally arrived. ”

A man's voice came from outside the door.

Two young men with cigarettes in their mouths, with straw-like hair and slippers, cut through the door and entered the hotel.

Xiao Ling stood up and looked out the door.

"Yikes! It turned out that the little proprietress was back! ”

"Brother Guang is here." This person Xiao Ling recognized. At that time, when he was in elementary school in the town, although Brother Guang had passed the grade, he was still a few grades older than Xiao Ling. At that time, I often bullied junior girls, grabbed a frog and put it in the pencil case, stuffed a fake snake into the schoolbag, and took out a lighter to burn the girl's hair, which was always played.

"Hey. Don't call me Brother Guang, don't call me so familiar. Brother Guang took a deep puff of his cigarette. It's too close to say it, and I can't say what follows. ”

Brother Guang reached out and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"I'm here today to ask for money."