After receiving Aunt Li's message, Mingyou was a little happy, and his mother finally took the initiative to find him back.

So on this day, Mingyou cleaned the house again, made simple decorations, and waited for his mother to move in.

He drove all the way to the town of Helong.

The town of Helong is more desolate than ever, with almost no people and an abandoned town.

When he came to the house, Aunt Li was waiting for him, and the door of his mother's room was finally not closed and was open.

"Mingyou, you're here." Aunt Li said hello.

"Yes, Aunt Li."

Hearing Mingyou's voice, the mother finally walked out of the room, and the thin figure with the wrinkles on her face had become a stranger. Only her facial features, breath and the way she opened her mouth were the same as when she talked to him more than ten years ago.

"Let's go to Cheongdam Lake." Mom finally spoke.

Mingyou was a little surprised, but for his mother's first request in so many years, he quickly agreed.

Aunt Li happily arched Mingyou's hand and asked him to take his mother out for a walk quickly. So he took his mother, who hadn't been out for a long time, got into a car and drove to Qingtan Lake.

Along the way, the weather was gloomy, and the mountains in the distance were no longer visible, hidden in the thick humidity. Passing through the path between the trees, they stopped their car and walked through a wooden corridor to see Cheongdam Lake surrounded by mountains.

On cloudy days, the lake takes on a deep blue with a hint of green. The sparkling surface of the lake, listen closely, you can hear its breathing.

There are also several small wooden boats docked on the shore, which have been soaked in the lake for a long time, so that its hull is already covered with moss. The dark planks have a sticky feel and fluctuate with the waves.

"Can the boat still be rowed?" Mother asked.

"I'll take a look." Mingyou walked to the side of the boat and checked it carefully, there was some standing water in the boat, it should have been left after the rain, these boats are quite sturdy, there should be no problem.

"I guess so." Mingyou replied, and when he turned around, his mother had already come to him, ready to step into the boat.

"Do you want to sit?" Mingyou asked in surprise.

"Yes." The mother had already stepped into a foot expressionlessly, the boat shook, Mingyou hurriedly helped her, the mother's body was already very thin, and before she felt the strength of her palm, she had already gotten into the boat and sat down steadily.

"Can you help me row?" She demanded.

"Okay, okay." Mingyou loosened the rope tied to the side of the boat, also came to the boat, and then made it. The oars tied to both sides of the boat had not been rowed for a long time, and there was a creaking sound, and they slowly swam together towards the middle of the lake.

Their boat was in the middle of the lake, undulating quietly with the waves, feeling the somewhat cold air and the fresh smell of the mountains and forests.

"It's going to rain." Mother glanced up at the gray sky.

"Well, it seems like yes." Mingyou replied.

"How long has it been since you've been here?" Mother asked, but her eyes returned to the lake.

"Hmm...... I came to see you once when I came back to see you half a year ago. Mingyou replied.

"And before that?"

"Uh...... I can't remember. Mingyou thought about it carefully.

"In the past, you liked to come here to play." Mother said silently, mentioning Mingyou and his two best friends, "Swim here, be presumptuous here." ”

Mingyou listened to his mother's words, and his memory returned to those carefree lives little by little, and it seemed that laughter and laughter echoed in the quiet valley at this moment.

It's just that it's been too long, everyone's face has become blurred, and now that I think about it, it looks like someone else's youth.

"Later, why didn't you come?" At last his mother looked at him, her tired, old eyes looking straight at him, as if questioning him.

Mingyou's heart was beating violently, and he kept asking himself: Why didn't you come?

But the memory seemed to have been abruptly erased, blurred into nothingness.

"I flipped through a picture of you when you graduated that day." Mother said slowly, as if reminiscing, "Why did your good friends at the time, Lin Yan and He Qing, suddenly disappear from you?" ”

Mingyou was silent, and he also wanted to ask himself if he had alienated them, or if they had left him. His gaze was fixed on the floating water, and their faces suddenly became unfamiliar.

"Are you familiar with this lake?" Mother asked.

"Hmm......" Mingyou nodded, "I used to come a lot. ”

"Do you know that He Qing drowned in this lake?"

"Huh?" Mingyou was stunned, and the whole person was in a trance.

"I don't know, did she jump off by herself, or was she pushed down?" His mother's kind eyes pierced his heart like a cold sharp knife at this moment.

His heart suddenly stopped beating, and the moment was still beating just like his sudden action ten years ago, standing up, stretching out his hand, pushing down—

"I'm sorry, what I like is Lin Yan, not you."

"Bang-"

The sound of falling water echoed through the quiet valley, and the splash of water stopped after five seconds of countdown.

And his heartbeat had quieted down all around him, and then suddenly it had come back suddenly.

"He Qing?" He searched the lake, but only his pale face and blank expression appeared on the surface of the lake, and there was no response.

He sat in the boat, looking at the emptiness on the other side, and his heart was like ashes.

"Mingyou."

With a soft call, he finally woke up from a dream, looking at his mother opposite, who was looking at him, and he hurriedly dodged away.

"Do you remember anything?"

“…… He Qing ......" he muttered, feeling the cold rain begin to fall on his face.

"How did you live after all these years?" The mother spoke, the voice was stern and regretful, "You don't have the slightest feeling, have you done something?" ”

Mingyou lowered his head, and countless circles had begun to bloom on the surface of the lake, like droplets of memory, dripping, opening and disappearing.

"That picture, still doesn't it remind you of anything?"

"Nope." Mingyou raised his head and looked at his mother, how embarrassed it was to smile instead of smiling, "Mom, He Qing is still alive, she just went to the city." ”

The mother frowned, her eyes full of sorrow about to overflow with tears.

"I've seen her, she's a nurse in a hospital, she said when she was a kid that she was going to be a nurse, she didn't want someone else to take care of her, she wanted to take care of someone else." Mingyou said, and couldn't help but smile.

But that smile only made my mother feel colder.

The rain finally fell, getting heavier and heavier, and erected a wall in front of them. Just as after that day, it rained continuously for more than a month in the entire town of Helong.

"Mom, it's raining heavily, I'll take you back."

Mingyou rocked the boat and leaned towards the shore: "You forgot to take the medicine at noon, don't forget to make up for it later." ”

His voice is still gentle, like the warm feeling he has always given people, strong, confident, and hopeful. But the mother has lost her last hope.

"Mingyou, those medicines are yours...... Not mine. ”

"No, Mom, don't say it, let's go back." Myeongwoo swung the oars quickly, but the boat still didn't hurry, and seemed to be spinning in place.

"Mingyou!" Tears were already shining in his mother's eyes, but Myeongwoo had been ignoring them.

"Mingyou, I was not good in the past, I hid too much for you, and you finally had the opportunity to go to the city, so I chose to help you cover up He Qing's corpse......" The mother couldn't cry, and Mingyou slowly put down the oars in his hand, "Do you really want to take me away?" The body is still in the house, and as soon as the house is demolished, it will be found. ”

"Mom, don't talk about it." Mingyou couldn't help but clench his fists, "He Qing and Lin Yan eloped, they have already left here......"

"Mingyou, that's just your imagination, He Qing is dead."

"No ......"

"She's dead."

"Nope!"

Mingyou suddenly stood up from the bow of the boat and retreated his emaciated mother into the lake, that scene, that moment was so familiar, as if the past had repeated itself again, but that person was replaced by his mother......

Mingyou still didn't slow down that moment, he was still angry a few times, and He Qing's smiling face kept appearing in his mind, she smiled and said this to him, the laughter lingered in his ears, echoing in this valley, and when he was really sober, it was Lin Yan who grabbed his hand and kept asking:

"What about He Qing? Where did He Qing go? ”

Mingyou was silent forever until Lin Yan turned around in disappointment, and that lonely back was the last time they saw each other......

At this moment, he couldn't tell where he was, what he did, and what he was going to do. He hurriedly rocked the boat to the shore, he wanted to go back, go back to find He Qing, even if it was a corpse.

He returned home like crazy and frightened Aunt Li: "Mingyou, where is your mother?" ”

Without saying a word, Mingyou rushed straight into his mother's room, rummaging through the boxes and cabinets, and even turning the bed board upside down, but found nothing.

Aunt Li was dumbfounded, this was not the gentle Mingyou she remembered, it was completely like a stranger, her trembling voice asked carefully: "Mingyou, what's wrong with you?" Your mom? ”

Mingyou still didn't say a word, kept rummaging through every corner of the house, it was already a mess, but there was nothing.

He sat down, a pompous smile suddenly appeared on his indifferent face, smiled coldly, and began to spit out contemptuous words from his mouth: "I knew it...... Hahaha, I knew it...... Are you lying to me...... You're all lying to me...... He Qing must have eloped with Lin Yan...... eloped ......"

Aunt Li really didn't know what kind of state Mingyou was in now, but she was sure that he was no longer normal, and as for his mother, she went to Qingtan Lake with him, but she didn't come back, it was too dangerous.

Aunt Li silently turned her back and ran to the balcony to report to the police, to find Mingyou's mother, it was likely that she was still staying in Qingtan Lake, but as soon as she hung up the phone, she found that Mingyou downstairs had already started the car and drove in the other direction......

"Mingyou ......" Aunt Li's worries, will she finally have to face it one day?