It was already getting dark, and the sun was hiding behind the gray clouds as if it were afraid of the cold. Around the station, there are many students carrying large bags and small bags who are preparing to rush to the train station or airport. Colorful suitcases and backpacks of all kinds stand out in the gray streets, and they add a little life to this bleak world. Chen Ying mingled among these people, queuing up with the luggage, waiting for the arrival of the bus she used to take.

As a few buses picked up a large number of people, the bus platform began to look deserted. The rush hour for getting off work has not yet arrived, and today's wave of students returning home has come to an end. Couples come out of school in pairs and threes to find a good food shop on the side of the road rather than planning a long trip. Chen Ying stood still and continued to wait, silently thinking back to the key points he had just seen and what Martin had gone wrong, thinking about how to prompt him to finish today's homework without disgusting him too much. She kept thinking about it over and over again until she got on the bus and didn't stop until she reached the terminal. After getting out of the car, the cold wind on the familiar community road made her almost unable to walk. She grabbed the collar with one hand, buried her head and walked step by step, and finally came to the door of the building, and a strong wind pushed her in. She stood in the shiny elevator, looking at herself reflected on the four walls, and her whole body was still trembling. She followed her memory to the writer's door and held out her left index finger to ring the doorbell.

Bang Dang –

Something slammed into the door from the inside, and then there was a sound of talking. Chen Ying was stunned, not knowing whether to continue knocking on the door. There was heating in the hallway, warming her frozen fingers and toes. She leaned closer to the door, trying to discern what was going on inside.

However, the sound stopped abruptly, and for the next few minutes, no sound was heard. Chen Ying listened patiently for a while, making sure that her presence would not cause any trouble to the family, before ringing the doorbell. It took a long time for the door to be opened, and Writer Liu was still wearing the ironed shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, but he looked tired, and his hands trembled so badly when he took the slippers for Chen Ying that the shoes fell to the floor before they could reach her.

"Let's come over here first." He didn't notice what was happening in front of him, and hurriedly dodged into the study.

"It's—" Chen Ying glanced at it cautiously. There were marks of a mop in the hallway that had just been mopped, and there were still some water marks on the floor. She followed into the study, and sat down a little apprehensively in the seat she had sat in when she first arrived.

"Well, I'm sorry. I should have told you in advance that something like this happened today. His mom thought—"

Just as the conversation was about to get to the point, the door to the study was pulled open. A tall, lanky woman was in the doorway, her long hair combed behind her. Chen Ying recognized her as Martin's mother at a glance, as they both had square chins and large eyes with upturned eyes. However, she didn't seem to notice Chen Ying's arrival, she was still immersed in the emotions just now, and shouted loudly to the male host:

"It's all you—you have to let him tutor all day long, okay now? The grades have been raised a little, and I don't want to study at all. Why do you always have trouble with him, can't you let him do what he wants to do? What is the essential difference between you and going to school? Is there anything wrong with him just not going to school? Didn't you hear that last time you were in the hospital? The doctor said that you should not stimulate him, but follow his thoughts, otherwise his illness will worsen - is it important to study or to be physical? ”

She took a breath and brushed the few strands of hair that hung down from her forehead. Chen Ying thought that this was the end of her speech, but she almost immediately shouted again:

"I'm not at home all day, so I ask you to take care of the kids - why is it so hard to do such a thing? It turns out that Martin's grades are so good, isn't it a little unaccustomed to the addition of physics in the second year of junior high school? You just need to tutor him in physics. Why is it that the more you make up for it, the worse it gets, and it is not good together with Chinese, English, and mathematics? Later, I didn't even want to go to school, so I ran away from home - if I hadn't rushed back that time, you wouldn't have known that he squatted in the subway all night! ”

By this time, Martin had already walked over and stood behind his mother, his expression very proud. When he saw Chen Ying, he grimaced at her.

"It's good now, I've pushed the child out of trouble. You're satisfied, aren't you? The hostess sniffled and continued, this time loud enough to be heard downstairs, "If you don't like to study science, let him study liberal arts, why should a boy study science?" What does it matter if mathematical, physical and chemical chemistry is bad? Does memorizing or not memorizing those reaction equations and formulas affect life? What can you do if you know, and what can you do if you don't know? You're a liberal arts student yourself, so you're not doing it well now! Again, don't force your child to do what he doesn't want to do! ”

After saying these words, she strode away. No one spoke for a while, and soon there was a heavy sound of the door closing in the hallway. Writer Liu didn't say a word the whole time, he held his mouth and stared at the door through the thick lenses of his glasses, as if something there made his whole body petrified. After a while, Martin's singing and the sound of a spoon hitting a glass could be heard in the kitchen. The tinkling sounds seemed to be some kind of accompaniment. The more he sang, the more energetic he became, and as he sang, he picked up the scarf that was placed on the dining table and put it on his head. His singing echoed throughout the house. Finally he pulled all the kitchen windows open and let the cold wind blow in. Barefoot, slippers in his hands, he swayed through the corridor to the rhythm of an allegro and poked his head into the study as he passed by.

Chen Ying sat quietly, not knowing what to say. The man went out and closed the kitchen window.

"I'm really sorry today." Writer Liu closed the door and said, "I didn't expect him to start losing his temper again." And his mother—" he sighed at this, as if she had been holding back her breathlessness, "always used to him like this, and everything was up to his temperament. I said that I was persecuting my children, but if I didn't care, what would Martin do after he couldn't even finish junior high school? Isn't it just a wasted person? Let's not talk about letting children study for master's and doctorate, what do you think can be done in today's society if you don't go to college or even go to high school? Wandering around like this all day long, not learning anything, even if you return to school in the future, you can't keep up with your classmates, and then you will be even more inferior and tired of studying. Isn't this a vicious circle? ”

"Yes." Chen Ying whispered.

"As soon as I took care of it, he messed with his mother. At first, we sat together and figured out how we could keep him going. Maybe it was also adolescence, and he became very rebellious, and he was anxious before we could say anything. One night when we finished talking about him, he opened the door and went out. We thought he was just not happy to walk around the neighborhood below, but he didn't come back in the middle of the night. No matter how we called, he didn't answer his mobile phone, and in the end we had no choice but to send 110 a missing person notice. I didn't sleep all night, and together with the police, I searched every corner he might have been, and watched the surveillance video of the community, and finally found him in the subway. ”

"Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read."

"He's going on and over now, and I'm not in the mood to write. You see, now I send some old drafts that I wrote before, and I changed them, and I handed them in if I felt that I was satisfied. Alas. He shook his head as he spoke, and began to sort through the various papers piled up on his desk. He flipped through the pages lest he miss something. Chen Ying listened attentively, and there was silence in the aisle, without a sound.

"By the way, I almost forgot about you." The writer said and took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Chen Ying, "Although I didn't finish the class today, you also came on time, and the money still has to be paid." ”

"No need. I'm also sad that this happened, don't worry, I'll come back next time when he gets better. Chen Ying put the money on the table and got up and walked towards the door, and the man followed her dejectedly, still holding the hundred yuan in his hand.

"Take it, it's rare to meet a teacher like you." When he closed the door, he hurriedly stuffed the money back into Chen Ying's hand.