The two female classmates accompanied Xia Duo by the bridge for a while, comforting and cursing the group of hooligans shamelessly. After resting for about ten minutes, and seeing that she was gradually calming down, they said goodbye to each other and went home.

After Xia Duo and his classmates separated, they walked home alone. I don't know when, Jiang You has followed her not far away.

She glanced back at him, and he didn't try to dodge, just followed her calmly and calmly at a distance of 10 paces.

Xia Duo pouted and continued to move forward, originally a little worried that the little hooligans would turn back and find trouble for themselves, but now that Jiang You was following behind, it reassured her. But the thought of his sudden retreat at the critical moment still made her a little angry.

On the narrow and narrow dilapidated alleyway, a little girl and a man kept their distance and walked silently......

After a while, Xia Duo came to the grocery store where she was sheltered from the rain yesterday, and the old lady of the shopkeeper was moving a box of soda to the back room. She hurriedly trotted forward and helped take the box of soda from the old lady's hand.

"I'll help you!" Xia Duo smiled sweetly and moved the soda into the house. The old lady let her take over the heavy work in her hands, and did not speak, but straightened up and hammered her back.

When Xia Duo went into the commissary and stacked the soda, the old lady was already sitting down and ready to watch TV. She threw away 20 yuan, took a can of Coke, and with her other hand, taking advantage of the old lady's lack of attention, quickly took a pack of cigarettes from the counter. Lifted the curtain that led to the back room and got inside.

The old lady raised her head, glanced at the 20 yuan on the counter, and a look of doubt appeared on her wrinkled face, and she continued to watch the program on the black-and-white TV. To her, it seemed that nothing else mattered except the repetitive content that was broadcast all day long on the black-and-white television.

Jiang You, who was outside the grocery store, had very sharp eyes. Xia Duo's inconspicuous little movements were all seen by him. He glanced at the alley next to the grocery store, thought about it, and walked in. After all, the group of hooligans just now didn't look good, and he was still a little worried about the safety of this little neighbor after all.

By this time, the sun had already set. The back door of the grocery store leads to a back alley. The back alley is not wide, full of all kinds of sundries, there are no street lights, except for the light from the small windows of each house, it is dim. So almost no one passes through here.

Xia Duo lit a seven-star brand cigarette, took a puff as if he was in shape, and was immediately choked and coughed.

Smoking is not allowed at her age, she doesn't know how to smoke, and she is not used to the smell of smoke. But she was in the rebellious period of her youth, and since her parents divorced, she couldn't say anything for herself, so she began to secretly do some rebellious things. It seems that only by doing this can she vent her boredom that she doesn't know where she is.

She usually buys cheap cigarettes from the old lady, and she doesn't smoke much anyway, and she can use a pack of cigarettes for two or three months. Today, she deliberately took a pack of cigarettes that Jiang You bought yesterday.

The silence of the back alley and the faint smoke finally calmed Xia Duo's frightened emotions. She closed her eyes and leaned her back against the wall. The cigarette she had just lit was just caught in her fingertips in an unfamiliar way, burning slowly.

The footsteps of leather shoes came, and she glanced at Jiang You, who appeared in the side alley, and did not feel strange, nor did she hide her cigarette in a panic like when someone passed by before. She trusted this uncle for no reason, and felt that he would not denounce her like a familiar neighbor. But she didn't want to talk to him yet, just kept silent.

Because he didn't want to scare Xia Duo, Jiang You didn't cover up or even deliberately aggravated his footsteps so that the other party could hear them. He glanced down the side alley, then leaned against the wall behind the grocery store, five paces away from her, equally silent.

He hadn't had much contact with children, and he didn't know how to deal with them.

In the dimly lit back alleys, a faint curling smoke lingered and dissipated into the surrounding air. Not far away, the sound of TV programs, the quarrel of husband and wife, the crying of children, and the sound of spatulas hitting the noodles of the pot during stir-frying. And at the end of the back alley, a middle-aged man and a little girl are leaning against the wall and not speaking. It seems to be incompatible with the fireworks in the world around it, and it seems to be integrated into it.

"Do you want to?" I don't know how long it took, Xia Duo broke the silence and reached out to hand over a cigarette. Her movements are jerky and comical, and she has apparently never shared a cigarette with anyone.

Jiang You also thought it was ridiculous, this little guy who looked like he was only fourteen or fifteen years old was not old enough to smoke at all. But he didn't make much of an expression, just shook his head slightly.

"Uncle, are you afraid of the police? What do you do? Xia Duo opened his eyes wide and looked at Jiang You seriously. She Bingxue was smart, and she had already figured out why he didn't come to the rescue just now.

"Don't be afraid." Jiang You's tone was flat, but he didn't continue to answer the question behind her, and the two fell silent again......

In the past two years, in search of the truth, he has wandered the edge of the city. In order to bring unnecessary trouble to himself, he habitually avoided the police after "acting bravely...... Seeing Tong Lie and the others coming just now, Goodbye Li Dai's followers had already opened their mouths to remind their boss, so he chose to avoid it.

At this time, Xia Duo also felt ridiculous, obviously he hated those hooligans, but now he acted like a bad boy. She withdrew her hand slightly embarrassed and fell silent again.

After a cigarette burned between her fingers, she opened the Coke, took a sip, tilted her head and rinsed it, then spit it out. After repeating this two or three times, there is not much left of the coke. It's her little trick – rinsing your mouth with a cola after smoking, and it works better than mouthwash. If you do this, your mother won't find out.

She took the rest of the Coke she drank and got up to go home, but Jiang You still leaned against the wall and didn't move. She stopped abruptly as she passed him, raised her little hand to her chest and pointed at him and warned, "Don't tell my mother!" ”

Jiang You was stared at by her for a long time, and if he didn't agree to this posture, she wouldn't give up. But he was a little entangled, because in his opinion, it was definitely not good for children to smoke. It's just that he is really not good at dealing with children, let alone educating her. After weighing it carefully, he said softly: "Smoking is not good!" ”

"Hehe, I know, uncle!" Xia Duoquan acquiesced to Jiang You, smiled and left.

She had thought about countless times when her mother or other elders found out and taught her not to smoke. Her original retort should have been - don't worry about it! Even she didn't understand why she had no qualms about this neighbor uncle and believed it completely.

Jiang You walked back to the grocery store and bought some beer and a pack of Seven Stars. When she was about to leave, the old lady didn't take her eyes off the TV, but suddenly muttered to herself: "Children have a rebellious period, and it will be fine after a while!" ”

He could only raise his eyebrows, noncommittal......

As soon as he stepped out of the store, his cell phone rang, and he took out his old-fashioned flip phone and answered the call.

"Hey! Brother Jiang? "There was some noise on the other end of the phone, accompanied by the sound of deep music. The other person appeared to be calling from a music bar.

"What's the matter?" Jiang You obviously knew who the caller was.

"Brother Jiang, I have made a major discovery here, are you interested?" The tone on the other end of the phone was a little oily.

"What discovery?" Jiang You hurriedly asked.

"It's hard to say on the phone, see when you're free? How about a face-to-face transaction? "There's still a pass on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, I'll come to you later!" Jiang You has no objection to the words "face-to-face transaction".

"Nacheng, I'll be waiting for you at the bar! Hurry up! The other end of the line seemed very proud, and hung up after saying that.

A major discovery? Jiang You frowned, hung up the phone, and left the alley quickly.