Li Qianhui's happiest thing this year is not that her son is back, but the girl he brought back who can speak Hubei dialect with bright eyes and quick hands and feet. She has fantasized countless times about what her future daughter-in-law will look like, but she is not as likable as this one. has good looks, good slivers, looking at her walking posture and posture, she is also a strong and healthy good woman, and it will not be difficult to have children in the future.

Chu Li's family has a house with a top floor, with an attic, that is when he was just admitted to the police academy, Chu Tianqi bought it with his life savings, and later the family moved here and sold the original two-bedroom house. Chu Li also saved more than 100,000 yuan in Guangdong, and planned to give 50,000 yuan to his mother and 50,000 yuan for himself. The mother refused.

"You also have a daughter-in-law, it's time to save money and make some plans."

Chu Li couldn't cry or laugh, "This is not a word......

"What are you talking nonsense? You don't know a word yet, don't learn from today's young people, you are also a person who has seen things. Keep your feet on the ground and don't let others down. This girl, I think no matter how much you choose, you can't pick a better one. If you don't grasp it well, people can't afford to delay. ”

Chu Li naturally understood the meaning of "seeing things" in his mother's mouth, but he was not in a hurry to get married at the moment, he just nodded, "I will go to her house every few days to meet her aunt and her father." ”

The mother's face was solemn, and Chu Li naturally knew that she was worried about her history, and she didn't tell it.

"Mom will give you some more money, or will you pay the bride price?"

"Mom, what are you talking about? This is not a matter for us. You are relieved and take good care of yourself. Don't worry about me. “

"You're twenty-seven years old this year, and you're about to be thirty, and you still don't care about me?" Li Shi looked up at his son, "Mom has 300,000 yuan here, you take it to see the house, and now I heard that the price has risen, you pay a down payment, and I still have a monthly pension to help you provide for it." “

"Mom, you've saved this for many years, don't think about it, I don't know where it will float in the future, buy it myself in the future."

"You have read so many books, why is it not as good as an old woman like me, the price of this house has risen one day a day, if you don't buy it now, where can you afford it in the future?"

"Mom, first, you're not an old woman, and second, I'll be able to afford it in the future."

"Xiao Chen will come out of the shower immediately, let's not talk about it yet. Have you ever thought about buying something to go to Yichang? “

"What else to buy?"

"You can't go empty-handed, can you?"

"......"

"I'll help you prepare, you don't care, go and accompany Xiao Chen. Fast! “

On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, the unprecedented three people had a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner together. Li Qianhui prepared a lot of specialty dishes, pork ribs and lotus root soup, Wuchang fish, shredded beef beans, seaweed heart, and a cage of glutinous rice balls that Chen Si had never eaten, and later Chu Li told her that this was the most famous cloth balls in Wuhan, and the method was quite complicated. To wash rice, you also have to choose purple and white glutinous rice mixture, and then chop the filling. Meat, fish, water chestnuts, and shiitake mushrooms are made into balls, and finally wrapped in glutinous rice and steamed for an hour. Seeing Chu Li's mother busy, Chen Si suddenly had a sour nose. Chu Li asked what was wrong, but she just didn't speak. Later, she said that she remembered when she was a child, and her mother was busy with Chinese New Year's Eve. Li didn't know that Chen Si's mother was no longer there, and said that the child should be homesick, and urged Chu Li to take her back to Yichang on the second day of the Lunar New Year. The three of them worked until ten o'clock, and then they got together to watch TV. Later, Chen Si called Chen Jing, and it seemed to be even more noisy, saying that he was watching the scenery on the Bund.

At twelve o'clock in the evening, Chen Si was woken up by the sound of firecrackers, and Chu was nowhere to be seen, a little worried, and glanced at the snow outside the window. The balconies of many people's homes are pale white, and the snowflakes on the branches of an ancient ginkgo tree with lost leaves in the distance are shaken by the loud sound of firecrackers, and they get up and put on their clothes, turn on the lights, and open the door. found that the door on the balcony was not closed, and against the backdrop of 10,000 fireworks, the mother and son were dressed very thinly, with snowflakes on the balcony, squatting on the snow, and tearing a bundle of firecrackers together. New snowflakes covered them again, and their heads were already a little white, and the hot breath coming out of their mouths was like the rhythm of life, constantly stretching, disappearing, stretching, disappearing. The ancient ritual of keeping the year has been passed down and brought new hope to every family, a year is like a page, and the year is the action of turning the page, it is sacred, unrepeatable, without dragging mud and water, taking away the fatigue of the past and welcoming new hope. Chen Si didn't feel cold, but quietly watched the two of them busy, until Chu Li used the flame of the lighter to light the firecracker, and the fuse burned enthusiastically, causing a deafening explosion. The two ran in and saw Chen Si in pajamas, Li Qianhui said that the child should go in quickly, don't catch a cold. Reached out and touched her hand, warm as a baby, smiled and helped her into the room. Then go down and rest. Chu Li lit the firecracker and closed the door, came back and picked up Chen Si, she took her feet into the air, hugged his neck, and laughed.

The two squeezed into the small bed, Chu Li stripped off Chen Si's clothes and hugged her into the crook of her arm, she liked his stormy rain, full of wild strength, and always tender like water, taking care of every corner.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they didn't sleep lazy, and both of them got up early, helped Li make breakfast, and then went out. As he walked through the alley, Chen Si actually saw the ancient ginkgo tree that he saw in the distance last night, and the snow had climbed up the branches again, and yesterday's one had turned into ice.

"Is it pretty?"

Chen Si nodded.

"It's been more than five hundred years."

"That should be the Ming Dynasty, right?"

"Yes, this tree is called Hanyang Tree, there is a poem you should have heard, Qingchuan calendar Hanyang Tree ......"

"Grass and Parrot Island."

"Some people also say that Cui Hao's Hanyang tree is a tree that refers to Hanyang in general, not this one."

"There's definitely a lot of story to this tree. It's a tree with a story. Chen Si looked up her face, and the fine sunlight shone on her face, and she suddenly shone brightly.

"There are a lot of stories that my mother couldn't tell when she was a child."

"What about you?"

"Let's talk as we go." Chu Li picked up Chen Si's hand.

"Once upon a time, ......"

Chen Si laughed, Chu Li immediately stopped and looked at her, Chen Si said, "Why are all the stories from the past?" ”

"Sad stories are all in the past, happy stories, that must be now!"

"I'm sorry I won't interrupt you, let's talk about it."

"In the past, everyone had to know the same craftsmanship to get married, and there was such a clever Hanyang girl who was the best at embroidery, embroidering flowers all over the world. The people of Hanyang say that we have a Hanyang tree that blooms ginkgo biloba, and if you can embroider it, it will be amazing. The girl went under the tree and met an old man in the area, who said that she had not seen the ginkgo trees in the trees for decades, but only the petals that had fallen from the ground. The girl was not discouraged, and built a hut beside her, and looked at the trees at dawn, and did not sleep at night. She kept it for seven days and forty-nine days, but the flowers did not bloom, and people persuaded her to go back, but she still insisted on waiting until the apricot blossoms bloomed. After a few days, suddenly one day the girl smelled a faint fragrance of flowers, and quickly came out of the cabin to see, the flowers really bloomed, and she hurriedly began to embroider, but unfortunately she began to draw, and the flowers were gone, and the girl cried sadly. From then on, she stopped talking to others, and stayed under the tree for a while and muttered to herself, and then wept and wept, going in and out of the cabin. Others say she's crazy. Ninety-nine eighty-one days later, the girl died melancholy in her hut, leaving a perfect ginkgo embroidery beside her. The kind villagers buried her under a ginkgo tree. In the following year after the girl's death, the ginkgo tree bloomed with thousands of flowers, and the flowers were very beautiful, and they did not wither for a long time. Locals say that it was the girl who touched the ginkgo fairy, and some people say that the girl became a flower fairy after her death, and the spirit ......"

Chu Li looked at Chen Si, Chen Si shook his head and said, "The girl is really single-minded. ”

"Persistence."

"Are the people of Hanyang so persistent?"

"Actually, it's the same for people all over the world. I am very attached to the things, things, and people I like. ”

"Now there are no leaves, I can't feel that kind of beauty, when will it bloom?"

"I don't know when it will bloom, but in autumn, it's going to be golden."

"Then I'll have to check it out next time." Chen Si curled his mouth and pecked Chu Li's cheek.

The muddy water of the Han River gives people a strong momentum, and the river beach is not empty even in winter. The withered reeds are blown by the wind like dancing girls with soft waists, swaying in the wind, giving people a gentle beauty. There are constantly a few strong birds rising and falling on the river beach, and they don't know whether they have forgotten to fly south, or they have been saved by this reed.

From the other side of the Han River under the ginkgo tree, the two laughed and scolded for almost an hour, and the more they walked, the hotter and hotter, and came to the shore. Looking at the stretching reeds, Chu Li took a camera out of his pocket, it was Canon's kind of digital card machine.

"Shall we take a picture?"

"How do you shoot it?" Chen Sidong looked around, "There's an uncle over there, let him help us shoot." “

Chu Li trotted in front of the uncle, and after a while, he saw the uncle walking over happily.

"Come, you two stand here." The uncle is not old, and he obviously knows how to take pictures. "Come closer, what a shyness. Two people, right? …… What's good...... One more ...... Hey, you say your big man is smiling so ugly? Laughing is like crying! “

Chen Si couldn't hold back, laughed suddenly, and the old man cleverly pressed the shutter.

The two thanked the old man and went to Li Huangpi Road.

Li Huangpi Road is a former concession, and the exotic buildings on both sides of the street make people feel like they have crossed over. But anyone who knows a little bit of history knows that these are the products of shame under the unequal treaties of more than 100 years ago, but they are the best proof of the expulsion of the great powers from China after the nation became strong. Nowadays, ordinary people are irresistible to the beauty of architecture. Although it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, there was an endless stream of tourists, Chu Li gently told Chen Si about the Linjiang Hotel, Xintai Building, Song Qingling's former residence, SF Foreign Company, Russian Patrol House, Xinyi Building, and the United States Navy Youth Association. Each building has its own story, once a place full of flowers, but now there are many birds at the door and sparse pommel horses. Under the shade of the trees, I have accepted the gifts of the years, and I am also waiting for the wind, frost, rain and snow of the coming year.

"Do you want coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee, my tongue is too clumsy to appreciate the beauty of coffee." Chu Li felt that only by telling the truth could he be calm.

"Then I'll take you to taste it."

"If you can't sleep at night, you're in trouble."

"Can't sleep? You've been sleeping like a pig these days. Chen Si grinned, rolled his eyes, leaned his face over and asked, "Are you too tired?" “

Chu Li looked at her and found that after she finished speaking, her face was red to the root of her ears. I can't help but be a little embarrassed, and my heart says that you sleep soundly, I stare at your face for an hour at night, and you don't know.

"That's it, right?" Chen Si pointed to a café called "Once Upon a Time in Hankow."

Chu Li smelled a strong fragrance, and Chen Si went to find the bathroom after entering the store. The shop was unusually quiet, and Chu had no one left, and he dared to go to the void for a while.

The waitress was a woman in her thirties, Chu Li didn't understand the difference between each coffee, and was hesitating, she was used to seeing novices, so she asked, do you like sweeter or bitterer? Chu Li replied: "Give me more bitterness, give her sweeter." Caramel Macchiato bar. ”

I ordered another waffle, a pie, and a few cookies.

Chen Si drank it with relish, obviously not for the first time. It is sweet to the depths, she said with a smile: "Coffee adds love, it is originally bitter, it will become sweet, and adding milk is to let go of missing, which is originally sour and astringent, and it will become rich." ”

Chu Li took a sip of the bitter coarse ore in the cup, but he felt that there was no love in it, and he didn't miss it at all. Laughing, your analogy doesn't seem appropriate. Seeing that Chen Si finished drinking, he drove her out. Chen Si asked, "Why don't you sit more?" “

"I can't smell your scent, I'm a little panicked." Chu Li hinted that the coffee smell of the coffee shop masked Chen Si's fragrance.

When he went out, Chu Li's mobile phone rang, and it was Dong Rui. After glancing at Chen Si, he answered the phone, Dong Rui said that the political commissar had retired, and there was a farewell party, and he planned to go to Chu Li on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Chu Li said that he was going to Yichang in the third year of junior high school, so it was better to go to see the political commissar today. Dong Rui thought about it and thought it would be okay. Give the address, just let him go.

"I'll take you to see our commissar."

"Commissar?" Chen Si didn't react for a while.

"I used to be the political commissar of the police academy."

"Okay, are you going to go to the Public Security Bureau?" Chen Si's eyes deliberately blinked a few times, deliberately pretending to be afraid.

"No, it won't." Chu Li squeezed her hand as an encouragement.

"Then today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and we have to buy some things before we can come to the door."

Chu Li didn't think about the thick lines so much.

"That was your former classmate just now?"

"You picked me up at the train station last year, do you remember?"

"Hmm" Chen Si nodded, smiling and showing his ivory-white teeth, "Jing Jing also said that you were taken away, and asked me what to do." “

The political commissar lives in Happiness Lane, which is far away, and after looking at the time, it will take more than an hour to get there. Took Chen Si on the bus, and after a while, Chen Si fell asleep on Chu Li's shoulder, Chu Li looked out the window, the street became more and more familiar, and when he passed by Jiangxia Commercial Plaza, Chu Li saw at a glance the corner of the wall where the aluminum alloy frame shone dazzlingly in the sun. There is no wave in my heart, I just hug the people around me and close my eyes.

When knocking on the door, Dong Rui opened the door, and Chu Li saw the figure of the political commissar when he entered the door, the man looked like he was in his early fifties, with a straight waist, thin, wearing a Mao suit, Chu Li's eyes were moist, and he shouted the political commissar. The political commissar came over to greet the two warmly, and the lady also took Chen Si's hand, smiling and looking left and right. Chen Si's mouth is sweet, and he knows that uncles and aunts, we will come to you to pay tribute to your early years.

The political commissar looked at Chu Li and said, "You have turned black." Is life in the company adapted? “

It was like something was stuffed in my throat, and it was hard to speak. Chu Li had no choice but to nod and keep taking deep breaths. Dong Rui came over to play haha, "My girlfriend has been found, when will I get married?" “

Dong Rui has gained a lot of weight in the past year, and the baby face with this pair of chin is especially immature, unlike Sun Lei, who is always arresting and fighting, he mainly does evidence collection, and some like a civilian. Maybe it's not that hard.

"Don't just talk about me, what about you?"

Dong Rui smiled, "I'm not as cool as you, I don't even have a girlfriend." Don't you know? “

His gag swept away the sourness just now, Chu Li also regained his composure, stood up, and held the hot tea handed over by the political commissar with both hands, "Political commissar, why did you retire?" ”

"Silly boy, can't I just enjoy life?"

"You do what you say!" The master suddenly interjected through gritted teeth, glared at the political commissar, and then took Chen Si to the inner room.

"The commissar retired from the police academy, but he will be hired back soon." Dong Rui blew the hot tea soup in the cup.

"Idle, idle. But today's children are not the same as you were then. ”

"Today's children are smarter, and their physical strength may not be as good as ours."

"There are few who have a sense of responsibility and a sense of justice." The political commissar looked at Chu Li, "There are even fewer people who have that kind of natural chivalrous heart." Although we all enforce the law impartially and act according to the rules, if we do not have a strong sense of justice and mission, it is really difficult to pull the team up. ”

Chu Li saw that the corners of the political commissar's eyes were covered with fine wrinkles, his eyebrows were mixed with a few white thick and long, his face was too thin and his eyes were deeply sunken, and the light of those eyes seemed to shoot out from the cracks in the rocks, distant and divine.

"Political commissar, are you going back to school after you are rehired?"

"Probably not."

"The commissar may join the criminal police corps." Dong Rui took over the conversation.

"That's hard work."

"Idle jobs won't come to me."

"How good is it for you to pay attention to your body, enjoy yourself early, and take your wife out on a trip?"

"Idle, idle. Haha-"

The political commissar's surname is Cheng, and his single name is positive. My father is also a member of the public security system, so I have been exposed to it since I was a child, and it is almost impossible for my father to take other paths under his influence. He had been engaged in criminal investigation for many years before entering the police academy. It is said that the political commissar once went to check the suspect's household registration, and when he passed by, he saw a woman who looked very similar to his suspect. How daring! His wife fell in love with him at first sight. It's a pity that the two have no children under their knees, and they don't know why. With this huge regret, the two have also bumped into each other until now. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that the political commissar and the wife were very good to Chu Li back then, as if they were their own son. It wasn't until something happened later that Chu Li took the initiative to avoid them, on the one hand, because he felt guilty, and more because he didn't know how to face it.

A few people were chatting heartily, when there was a knock on the door, and the master ran out of the kitchen and said to the three of them, "You sit down, I'll come." The master opened the door, and a tall, thin long-haired girl was wearing this cream-white coat, with a slender and well-proportioned figure, carrying a green handbag in her hand, a pair of knee-high yellow boots on her feet, a sweet smile on her face, and a sparkle in her eyes. He smiled and looked in, and said in his mouth, "Hello." ”