London, it's another rainy day.

The round-arched window in the study, as well as the white screen, together constitute Xiaobian Jichen's memory of the city of London.

Looking out of that old window, I always saw gloomy London. The sky always looked low, the clouds were thick, and the dark clouds that had soaked up the rain floated above the roofs of people's houses, and the rain was always going to fall.

On such a cloudy day, only the green dew-stained lawn under the bungalow looked a little vibrant.

The hostess of this bungalow returned in a car.

She has the blood of the British royal family, it is said that she is the daughter of a princess, the traditional old money, she has all the faults of the nobility of the last century, looks down on the emerging bourgeoisie, is rigid, harsh, arrogant, is the old label on her.

has been arrogant for most of his life, and he has not found a suitable husband for him.

Later, the mistress of the bungalow moved in alone and lived the life of a single woman living alone.

The gray hair, the folds left by the years on her face, which mean aging and death on ordinary people, have become synonymous with elegance on her body.

After stretching out his hand to hold a little bit of rainwater, Xiaobian Jichen left the window, returned to the desk, and continued to look at the books on the table.

The door was pushed open.

The hostess of the bungalow, dressed in a dark green velvet dress, walked in.

"I've got you a gift."

She is in her fifties, with loose skin on her hands and an emerald and gemstone ring on her old finger.

The green light was shining, like a fairy tale dream, and the color of the gemstone reminded him of the quiet green and peaceful forest outside the window.

It had always stood there, and the forest was tall and forested, blocking the beautiful lake behind it, and the childlike innocence of his child.

Xiaobian Ji Chen's eyes are very beautiful, but there is no fluctuation of vitality in them, he learned to be introverted and silent at a very young age.

When he heard that there was a gift, his face did not have the joy that a normal child should have.

He sat up straight, his eyes not moving.

This woman, who has been elegant for most of her life, handed him the box in her hand, and she smiled, "Duke David's hand-picked fountain pen, I think you will like it." ”

Xiaobian Jichen opened the box in front of her, glanced at it, pulled his stiff lips, and said politely: "Thank you." ”

The woman nodded, her gaze as normal as usual, thinking that he liked the gift very much.

But she didn't think about anything wrong with buying a fountain pen as a gift for a seven-year-old child......

Jiang Chacha's soul watched this scene as a bystander, and he was almost depressed.

Can't you see that he has no expression on his face!!

Does this look like a happy one!!

What kind of Transformers sports car toy is a gift for other kids, you buy him a pen!

His personality has already begun to become silent, you still treat him like this, if you continue like this, how can he laugh in the future!!

No wonder his personality will be so cold in the future!!

Xiaobian Ji Chen showed a smile stiffly, he wanted to laugh very much, but he was often expressionless, and now as long as he smiled, he felt that his cheeks were a little stiff and sour.

He's a little unused to smiling.

He picked up the pen and looked at it, and put it down, with a serious expression, and he put the lid back on it quite seriously, but his face was not very happy, just as calm as usual.

"Have you finished reading all the books I've asked you to read?"

The hostess spoke in a British accent that reminded people of a romantic and lonely rainy night in London.

After she finished speaking, she picked up her antique glasses and put them on her face, holding them with one hand. Because of his old age, his glasses were glazed, so he had to squint slightly and look at the handwriting on his book.

She is stereotyped and prejudiced, and she always speaks with an impersonal indifference.

Xiaobian Jichen looked at her calmly, "I can't finish a book in three days." ”

"I think you can do it." The gray-haired middle-aged woman lifted her glasses with her fingers, and glanced at him sternly and gracefully, her tone always tinged with command, a habit that she had carved into her bones after more than fifty years of being a nobleman, and the arrogance that came out of her posture without knowing it.

She has deep facial features, a typical European face, but not so stunning, but she has an unforgettable temperament.

"Here's the list for tomorrow's dinner, here's the invited nobles and their pictures, you're going to give me all to remember by tomorrow night." With that, she handed over something like an envelope.

Xiaobian Jichen looked at the complicated English names and faces on them, he was silent for a moment, and said, "I can't remember them all." ”

She interrupted him again in an aggressive tone.

"You can do it." She said.

Xiaobian Jichen frowned, he kept picking up the photos on the table with his two hands, and kept looking at them.

The people in the photograph are dressed in gorgeous clothes in jewel-like bright colors, but they also seem to have become dim under the indelible overcast gray of London.

When Jiang Cha Cha was fascinated, he felt that his soul was dragged by the hand behind him, and the clock and the hands and hours on the retro floral yellow wall changed.

As soon as her soul stood firm in the corridor, she saw Xiao Bian Jichen, who had changed his clothes.

He was so young that he already looked like a little gentleman.

Jiang Chacha found that this bungalow was shrouded in a pale shade from then on.

There seems to be no daylight above the roof all the year round, and the light in the house is always dim, the dim lace tablecloth, the dim white screens, everything seems to have fallen layers of gray after being old, beautiful and barren.

The antiques in the bungalows are intricate and exquisite, and they obviously look very gorgeous, but I don't know why, they stay quietly and wordlessly in the corners of the bungalows, and they will only make people's chests stuffy and depressing.

I can't escape the depression.

And in the corridor, stands the same depressed itself. The short hair color of this noble hostess is between black and gray, the old-fashioned face, and a long classical dress that has long been forgotten by the times has been wrapped from the neck to the feet.

This woman, who thinks of the past but is abandoned by the past, who despises the new era but is isolated by the times, has many quirks that are not suitable for the times, and she also faithfully abides by all kinds of harsh and rigid etiquette rules.

The hostess accepted Xiaobian Jichen as her adopted son, she was unmarried for life, and he was the only legal heir to her property.

So, she forced the young boy to learn the manners of the royal family, demanded harshness from him, deprived him of his childhood, and turned his character into a rainy day in London.

She was standing in the corridor at this time, holding a ring ruler in her hand, and her face looked extremely gloomy because it was too old-fashioned and harsh, like the already lifeless western-style building itself.

"If you can't learn these etiquette, how can I take you to the queen and the prime minister?"

She spoke, with majesty to the point of fear.

Xiaobian Jichen's face was pale, he did not resist, did not refute, but quietly and obediently stretched out his hand, as if he also decided in his heart that he was not good enough.

The ruler slammed into the palm of his hand again and again. The child's immature and smooth skin was soon marked with red marks and swollen like words.

The woman had enough of fighting and left alone in an eerie silence.

Suddenly lightning flashed outside the window, and after a day of dark clouds hanging over the roof, it finally rained.

Xiaobian Jichen glanced at the ring ruler that was thrown on the ground by the woman, thought about it, and then used the hands of the child who had just been beaten, and wanted to pick it up.

But as soon as he picked it up, his fingers trembled with pain, and the ring ruler fell to the ground. He couldn't help frowning and clasped his hands together.

The palm that was beaten by the woman was hot at this time, like a cracked wound sprinkled with a little chili oil, and it hurt finely and densely.

He endured it as hard as he could, sweating from his forehead, and didn't make a sound. He rubbed his red fingertips, then bent down to pick it up in pain, then stood on tiptoe and tried to reach the shelf to put it back in place.

He went looking for the ointment, endured the pain, applied it to his palm, and rubbed it away with a blank face.

He understands everything, understands everything, so he doesn't resent or mourn himself.

When he had finished applying the ointment, he put the medicine box away, and then walked up the long, oppressive staircase alone, listening to the sound of the rain, and in the dim light, he returned to the study.

During his ignorant and silent childhood, he gradually fell in love with the rainy days of London.

He likes to leave the windows ajar open, letting the cool breeze blow into the study and let the wind blow the pages between his fingers.

Xiao Bian Jichen sat on the floor, leaning against the window behind him. The wind kept pouring in from outside, making his neck cold, but his hot fingers didn't feel a little cold, and his hands were red, still sore and painful.

He just lowered his eyes and watched quietly.

[At this time, you dragged your suitcase, and finally came to the address on the piece of paper, and arrived at the small bungalow where Bian Jichen lived in his childhood. 】

[Because you are separated from Bian Jichen by a heavy iron gate, you can't enter the courtyard. 】

[But it doesn't matter, under this airtight wall, there is just enough dog hole for you to get into!] 】

“……”

Jiang Chacha was so angry that her shoulders were trembling. Damn, you even told her to drill a dog hole?? Crazy!!

However, there is really no other way......

Jiang Chacha is too small now, she looked up, the huge and heavy iron door occupied all her sight, she was lying on the iron door again, her eyes were round, and she couldn't see the exquisite bungalow in the distance.

Dark clouds still float above, and the sky is cut into white and gray, and there is no clear boundary between the two colors.

Jiang Chacha lowered her head, and finally she found helplessly that she could really only drill that dog hole.

I was still thinking about what to do with the pink suitcase in her hand.

Eventually, she thought it was a dream, so she threw it on the road.

She didn't care if her skirt would get dirty, she stiffened her head and burrowed her head into that dog hole.

The drizzle was still falling, and the rain was falling to the ground one after another, washing away the dust, so that the forest in front of the bungalow was greener, and the lawn below looked even more verdant.

Xiaobian Jichen turned another page with his hot fingers.

He was reading a story from a book that described a fairy with bright green wings and black eyes, not the blue ones he usually saw.

The book says that this fairy has brown eyes.

Her eyes were as smart as her green wings.

The sound of flipping books and the sound of the wind whistling in the empty study made the atmosphere even more lonely and cold.

In this tranquility.

"Bian Jichen!"

Sensitive ears suddenly caught an unfamiliar sound from the howling wind.

In this vast land, many people call him by his English name, Ryan.

And now, he heard the language of his distant homeland.

He heard his Chinese name for a long time.

The wind blew the white screen behind him, and the pages of his book as well.

Xiao Bian Ji Chen's eyes moved slightly.

Is it a hallucination?

After his mother dragged his suitcase and asked the moving company to empty the house, no one ever called his Chinese name in his native language.

And he had just read about an elven godmother in a book, and perhaps it was because of this that he hallucinated.

Xiaobian Jichen didn't react, and continued to bury his head in the silent reading of the story.

In the sound of the rain, the sound once again pierced through the rain curtain.

"Bian Jichen!"

This time he heard clearly.

The language from the distant mother country, the trembling of the soul, with a tender and soft tone, crisp as the chirping of a chick.

Xiaobian Jichen was stunned, he slowly put the book on the ground, and then stood up, he was too short, so he had to stand on tiptoe and try to reach the windowsill with his two arms.

The windows are ajar.

The cold wind poured into his neckline and ruffled the hair on his forehead.

His eyes were lovely round but with a calmness that didn't match his age, and he looked calmly out the window.

There was a gravel path in the middle of that pale green lawn.

The lawn was stained with dew, damp dirt, and the pale gray clouds were so low that they were about to fall down. The dark green forest in front of me was foggy at this time, and the bungalows surrounded by the fog forest were calm and calm, and there was a kind of loneliness independent of the world spread out in the mist.

In this gloomy and oppressive atmosphere, a small figure ran out of the forest, the red figure was the most vivid color on a rainy day, and instantly lit up his world.

She looked younger than him, and her eyes were as clean as a newborn bird.

She was holding a black umbrella, and her cute face with baby fat was raising her chin in front of the bungalow.

The girl had an oriental face, wearing a small red dress, small leather shoes with a round toe, delicate curly hair, and those eyes stared at him with an unusually smart eye, like an oriental doll coming out of the glass window of a shopping mall.

She seemed to see him silent in the window of the bungalow.

She jumped awkwardly on the ground, beckoning to him, as if trying to attract his attention, her smile bright and dazzling, like the enthusiastic red dress, and she shouted again in her childish and serious baby voice.

"Bian Jichen!"

On that ordinary cloudy day in London, in the gentle sound of rain, he heard thunder roaring in the distance.

- Author's message

When I wrote this chapter, I happened to be listening to the pure music of Lullaby, so you can listen to it to help you better understand the atmosphere at that time.