On an early summer afternoon, the scorching sunlight leaked through the dense elm leaves and sprinkled on the old man who was rocking a fan on a wicker chair, and a black dog curled up on the edge of the pool, greedy for a little coolness. From the secluded courtyard came the voice of a young woman talking on the phone, "Well, I have already agreed with my family, and they respect my choice." "Okay, I'll have a seminar the day after tomorrow, and I'll take you back with me when it's over." What are you going to do alone, do you want to stay at my house for a while" "It's all arranged, you don't have to worry about me!" "Alright, call me for something." "Thank you, brother, then hang up first." "Goodbye."

It was the time when the phoenix flowers were at their most brilliant, and the fiery red flowers gently patted the glass on the second floor in the wind. Xia Lei put down the phone, opened the window and reached out to feel the soft branches and leaves, "In the town, Ziwei should be open...... "Alas, Miss, open the window, don't open the screen window too, there are insects outside!" A middle-aged woman came upstairs with a glass of milk, and when she saw the door, she said, "You just came back, your body hasn't recovered yet, and you're going to have a headache after seeing the wind!" ”

Listening to the nagging, Xia Lei tilted her neck and smiled, she likes to see the cooking aunt very much, to be exact, she has been trapped outside for so long, and now she likes to see all the Asian looks like herself. Aunt Cooking casually sorted out the backlit velvet on the sofa, looked up and saw two large dark green suitcases, got up and picked up the milk, sent it to Xia Lei and asked, "I've only been at home for more than ten days, and I'm leaving?" ”

Xia Lei moved the running laptop to the table, then leaned half of her butt on the edge of the table, hugged the cool shirt material on her arm, and nodded: "Grandpa's house must be watched by someone, grandpa must be accompanied by someone." The aunt pouted, "You still want to go to the north?" I came back after suffering such a great crime, and if you want me to say, the old man has passed away, and your parents are here, why should you go alone? Grandpa didn't feel at ease when he found out. Xia Lei lowered her head and took a sip of milk, and gently patted her aunt's shoulder, "It's not the north, it's the south of the Yangtze River, it's my hometown." ”

After the aunt took the empty cup downstairs, Xia Lei sat down in front of the computer again, first looked at the structural sketch of a chair, then opened the chat software, and looked at the hundreds of messages that she had read countless times: Jiaojiao was scolded by the leader today; Fei Fei raised new plants; Chen Pengpeng can already speak...... For the past two or three years, they have left messages every day, although they have never replied...... The more I watched, the more I missed, and the more I watched, the more I felt that I couldn't wait, "It's time, I'm going to return to the team!" ”

As if someone had come to another space, this familiar voice was both real and false, making people unbelievable. Shi Jiaojiao stopped at the busy intersection of City B, and the red light on the opposite side danced silently for seconds, and she asked again, "Who are you?" Xia Lei was silent for a long time, she knew that Shi Jiaojiao was angry with herself, so she had to call out "Jiaojiao" weakly, the world in Shi Jiaojiao's eyes blurred, and she said hatefully: "I don't know you, I made a mistake!" ”

The tall magnolia has passed its flowering period, and the wide waxy green leaves are also beautiful when clustered together. Shi Jiaojiao hurried to the station after work, and recognized Xia Lei standing under the tree at a glance. She had her long hair back, it had grown to her shoulders, and there was still a little weakness on her face. "You're not going to get sick too, are you?" Shi Jiaojiao rushed forward and blurted out a question without a head or a tail. Xia Lei pulled a small black oval box, blinked, and said, "Sort of, you have to make up for me." ”

"I don't have enough time today, so I can only eat casually." Shi Jiaojiao snatched Xia Lei's suitcase, turned around and left. Xia Lei hurriedly followed and said, "Then we can go grocery shopping tomorrow." Shi Jiaojiao agreed sullenly, and only said when she got to the taxi: "You don't have to look forward to it too much, I don't have my mother's skills." "Ahh Xia Lei looked at the street scene outside the car, "I really want to be a godmother!" Shi Jiaojiao looked at the street scene on the other side, "You want a fart!" My mom doesn't remember you anymore, do you believe it or not? "Jiaojiao......"

Shi Jiaojiao asked Xia Lei what she wanted to eat, Xia Lei said she wanted to eat pumpkin flower noodles, Shi Jiaojiao pouted and took her to a noodle restaurant and ordered two pork chop noodles. "Let's eat it first, now it's time for the pumpkin to bloom, go back and let my mother make it." Shi Jiaojiao handed over the chopsticks and said, "Welcome home." Xia Lei was still feeling guilty for her disappearance, but she didn't expect Shi Jiaojiao's understanding to come so quickly, and the moment she took the chopsticks, her eyes turned red, "I miss you very much." ”

In the second half of the night, there was a beautiful moonlight, and everyone who saw it couldn't sleep.

The close friend who hadn't been seen for a long time had been talking for five or six hours, and Ren had no intention of stopping. Shi Jiaojiao's expression became more and more solemn, and finally she couldn't help but beat her pillow and said angrily: "They actually want to imprison you, this is a kidnapping, right?" She sat up straight and spread her palms, "Tell you to call home, make it clear that you are asking for money, not kidnapping?" After the experience, Xia Lei talked about the past again, she was much calmer, she leaned on the head of the bed, bowed her head and smiled: "You know better than me, I didn't believe that my mother kidnapped me until I boarded the plane back to China." ”

As soon as Shi Jiaojiao saw her tired and miserable smile, she immediately realized that she had overreacted, and hurriedly wanted to come back, "You are her own child, she must have been deceived by that man." Xia Lei understood Shi Jiaojiao's kindness, patted the back of her hand, and said, "It's okay, now I understand everything, blood is not necessarily reliable." People are first and foremost human beings, and they are other roles, such as mothers. Shi Jiaojiao actually wanted to ask, but she didn't know how to speak.

"I believed her and wanted to go to Germany with her, not just because she was my real mother." Xia Lei lay down and put her hands under her head. Shi Jiaojiao also lay down and asked, "Is there any other reason?" Xia Lei looked at the black spot left by the death of a bug in the lampshade, and calmly said the whole thing from beginning to end.

Since high school, her biological mother, who had only appeared occasionally, began to have frequent contact with Xia Lei, and later brought her boyfriend, the humorous German man, with her. It was also at that time, under the constant instigation of her biological mother, Xia Lei moved the idea of studying in Germany and living with her. Xia Lei longs for her biological mother, but she is also nostalgic for her relatives and friends in China, and the idea of staying in China still prevails, and after the college entrance examination results came down, she was almost determined to finish college first.

"I guess I think that after college, I will be more difficult to control." Xia Lei recalled this, "She wanted to take me away as soon as possible. "Two or three weeks after the start of college, Xia Lei's biological mother visited her at school and brought a medical report by the way. It was Xia Lei's stepmother's physical examination report, which clearly stated that she was born infertile. "Lei Lei, I appreciate that she has been kind to you for so many years, but that doesn't mean she can lie to you." When the biological mother said this, her eyes were full of empathetic heartache.

When I was a child, I called my stepmother my mother and decided to accept her because she protected herself in elementary school and announced to others in front of herself: she will be her only child! Holding a few thin pages, Xia Lei's hands were trembling, and her trust in her stepmother, which had already begun to be discounted, collapsed instantly: the so-called treating her as her own turned out to be not her sacrifice, but just a favor.

"I got into the horns, forgot about more than ten years of getting along, and just thought she was so despicable." Xia Lei bit her lip. At this point, Xia Lei did not hesitate to give up the excellent university in China and followed her biological mother and her boyfriend to Germany. At the beginning, the satisfaction of getting what she wanted and the freshness of being abroad for the first time made Xia Lei feel very happy.

Her tuition and living expenses are paid by Xia's father, and her biological mother is responsible for her daily life. At that time, the biological mother and her German boyfriend announced their engagement, and according to the biological mother, the stepfather had a well-run knife company in a small county in northern Germany, although it was not very rich, but it was very rich. Probably because of Aiwu and Wu, the quasi-stepfather is also dedicated to Xia Lei's study abroad and has provided a lot of help, and he even said that he will find a way to help Xia Lei stay in Germany and be with her mother all the time!

Who said the Germans were old-fashioned?! Every Wednesday, the stepfather-to-be would order a bouquet of flowers for his fiancée. They seem to have a good relationship, and as soon as they meet, they kiss each other without hesitation, telling each other about each other's strengths,...... Xia Lei enjoys this atmosphere of love, because she has never experienced it in her own restrained Chinese family.

Winters in Germany are long, and the extended tentacles encroach on most of spring and autumn. However, it is worth rejoicing that the school holidays are longer than those in winter, and Lin Lin can be said to study for half a year and play for half a year. Accompanied by her mother and her fiancé, Xia Lei has traveled to almost every corner of Europe in two or three years. "Cannes is a slimy town where the wind blows," said Charleigh, raising her eyebrows, "and the English like to go there to recuperate when they have tuberculosis." ”

It was two and a half years before Xia Lei had fully adapted to her new life and the novelty faded, when she was fluent in the language and could cope with the university classes, and she could go to Berlin alone to participate in events even if there was no one to help her. It was then that she felt that life was not as simple as it seemed. The mother often has a sad face, and when she is sure that her daughter has found out, she will force a smile very contrivedly. The first few times Xia Lei chose to respect her mother and didn't talk much, only to realize that the other party actually wanted to take the initiative to ask.

"Mom, are you having any difficulties? I see you're always unhappy. One weekend afternoon, in the small lawn yard of her German uncle, Xia Lei avoided the man who was repairing the lawn mower and asked. The woman shook her head, glanced at her fiancé in the distance, and said, "It's nothing, it will pass." Then he bared his teeth and asked with a bright smile: "Is the spring break time decided, we plan to take you to Northern Europe for a tour." Xia Lei blinked, "Great, thank you mom and uncle!" ”

Riding Deutschwings from Iceland, Charley crossed the bridge with the same tired excitement as she did when she returned from every trip, not knowing that the Icelandic specialty, which included puffin sashimi, would be the last warm meal for herself and the middle-aged lovers.

"Northern Europe is beautiful, like a tall snow queen. It is the home of all European fairy tales. Xia Lei's eyes seemed to see the winding and undulating snow line of Sweden, and the sky was blue and low, close enough to be touched. She turned her head to look at the silly Shi Jiaojiao, smiled and said, "It's just a little mermaid by the harbor, it looks pitiful." ”