The cold wind howled, and the temperature of the sun could not dispel the cold of winter, and the drop in temperature made the antique shop look even more depressed.

The boy turned back into a "mute", an obedient, hard-working "mute" employee, who did not leave anything behind as long as the businessman needed him to do.

The merchant was working at his desk as usual, and the boy was sorting through the latest batch of antiques, when Hank pushed open the door and entered with the cold wind, he patted the snow on his shoulder and said, "It's already snowing, and it's coming very early this year." ”

The two people in the antique shop were busy with each other, and neither of them paid attention to the outsider.

Hank still didn't give up, and started talking about it boring to himself, but the result was still the same, and no one paid attention to it.

Hank: "Okay, so I think I'm going to get down to business, old friend I'd like to borrow something from you." ”

The merchant finally reacted, and he asked, "What?"

Hank: "You know I like to roll around, but traveling alone is always a little boring and lonely, so I wondered if you could lend me Blackwind." ”

The merchant looked up, "What are you going to do?"

Hank: "Old friend, you're wrong, what can I do? Isn't the reason very clear, I want to find a companion." ”

Merchant: "When?"

Hank thought for a moment and said, "Next spring, I should also leave Devonburg, and I don't know if there are any new changes happening outside in the next year." ”

The businessman buried himself in his work, neither agreeing nor refusing.

Hank shifted his target: "Hey little one, would you like to see Black Wind? This is one of the few good horses, as handsome as I am...... No, I'm more handsome than that...... Hey, I'm comparing myself to a horse?"

The boy did not change his gaze, shaking his head in refusal as he worked.

Everything is normal, the picture is harmonious, but this is the most discordant situation.

After that time, the boy was like nothing had happened, the sword drawn that day, the crying of that day seemed to have never existed, and he had changed back to what he was before, when he began to train himself at work under the arrangement of the merchant, and sometimes went out to buy things.

Also reverting to his original appearance was the merchant, who would only direct the boy as necessary, and neither seemed to have a tacit understanding, neither mentioning the slave trader or the aftermath of the incident.

That's what Hank fears the most.

When a certain emotion accumulates to a certain extent, it often only takes a slight touch to explode, and the destructive power of this touch is huge.

Hank had tried a few tricks, but the boy's defense was perfect, and something that didn't exist could not be mentioned.

Every day in the antique store is spotless, not a little progressive, not a little changed.

That night, while alone with the merchant, Hank couldn't help but say, "Are you going to go on like this forever?"

Merchant: "What do you mean?"

Hank: "What do I mean? I thought it was something you wanted to know, and you kept avoiding it. ”

Merchant: "Didn't you get angry last time because I induced him?"

Hank stared at the merchant and said, "Now, I can be completely sure that you are indeed running away, for hundreds of years, you have been pursuing the word 'human', human existence, human emotions, human behavior, and now you stopped when you pushed the door open. ”

Merchant: "I have my own plans, and I always act according to them. ”

Hank: "Yes, but it's not planned, it's a plan, and I want you to know if you're stopping, or moving forward. ”

The man got up to leave, and as he pushed the door open, he looked back at the merchant.

"Don't even go backwards. ”

Inside the antique shop, the merchant continued to bury his head in his work, but soon he found himself in a rare inability to concentrate, and the merchant opened the door of the shop, and the drizzle of snow fell in the dark alley.

......

...

A cool breeze blows across your face. The boy wakes up in the snow, this is not the usual alley, let alone the shops in the alley.

"We are not in Devonburg. ”

The boy looked over and saw Hank sitting on a rock exposed in the snow.

"My old friend needs to come here for something, I'll accompany him, and it's not good to leave you alone in the store, so I brought it with me, I hope you don't mind, just treat it as a holiday." ”

The boy got up and patted the snow marks on his body, the snow was full of eyes, and the dry branches were gilded with silver frost. Coincidentally, this is the junction of the two places, and it is a coincidence that the boy knows here, and it is a coincidence that there is a familiar village through this snowy field.

Hank: "That guy's business is going to be busy for a long time, why don't you walk around and pass the time?"

......

...

The boy walked on the snow, crunching, and the sound of walking on the snow was his only companion, one foot deep and one foot shallow, one step big and one small.

scold

A breath of hot air exhaled, blurring the vision, and in the distance were small houses bent over by the snow. Here is a field, there is a path, there is a bamboo forest in front, and a small lake is hidden behind, and under the snow, the boy knows everything here.

Pushing open a wooden house, there were some simple furniture in the dust, the boy rolled up his sleeves and began to clean, and in the winter he was sweating profusely, and the beads of sweat on his face mixed with tears gathered on his chin and fell to the ground.

It had taken a considerable amount of time for the cabin to be cleaned at last, and feeling a little hungry, the boy went out of the house and searched with his reddened eyes for a rod suitable for fishing.

Every winter, his father would take him to the small frozen lake to fish, dig a hole with a shovel, and add a little bait, the fish in the winter are hungrier than usual, don't worry about the quality of the bait, just be patient, you can always catch a fish.

In the deserted village, there were many leftover items, and it didn't take long for the boy to find all the tools he needed, and he took a small chair, a fishing pot, a shovel on his back, and a fishing rod, and went to the lake alone.

This year, the ice on the lake was thicker than usual, and the lake seemed to recognize the old man's return, and gave him some help, and the boy miraculously chiseled a hole without much effort, and dropped the bait into the lake, and the boy sat on the chair he had brought and waited.

Winter is quiet all year round, and it's even more so today.

On the lonely lake, even the wind disdains to visit, and while waiting for the fish to be baited, the boy can only count the old trees in new clothes on the other side to pass the time.

After waiting patiently for a while, the fishing line was pulled, and the first fish landed smoothly, or because of the loss of popularity in recent years, even the fish in the lake have grown smaller. After a good start, they came one after another, and the fish caught were almost full of pots soaked in the water, and the boy left only three big fish, and put the rest back in the lake, and said hello to them in advance, and came back to them tomorrow.

Set up a fire, simple handling, three fish hanging on the fire, simple cooking was enough, and the boy had the impression that the fish in the lake were always delicious.

Hank has a sharp nose, and the grilled fish comes to the boy, unceremoniously takes two, and leaves.

Hank...... Uncle, do you have a snowball fight?"

Hank turned his head in surprise, so shocked that he couldn't chew the fish in his mouth, the corners of his mouth bent, and he took a big bite of the fish, and said, "Of course, I will beat you all over the ground looking for teeth, and the little one, call brother." ”

Hank, who had disappeared for a while, came back with his teeth picked, his eyebrows raised, and he started a war with the boy in a defiant gaze.

In the distance, in the snowy forest, a man sits on the ground, accompanied only by a grilled fish.

......

...

In the tranquility of a snowy day, you can unexpectedly find a lot of things to do.

The boy will go to chase and play with the small animals that are active in the winter, such as the frost cat and the snow antelope, which are all new companions for the boy.

Sometimes building snowmen, sometimes fishing, sometimes having snowball fights. When night falls, the boy returns to the hut, lights the firewood, and sleeps peacefully by the light of the fire, which is the most restful and comfortable sleep in several years.

Such a simple and happy day lasted for a long time, and the boy was a little carried away, as if this winter would never pass.

On a new day, when the snow and ice are melting and the earth is re-revealed, the boy is still roasting fish outside the hut, the ice of the lake has melted, and fishing no longer needs to spend so much time digging holes and changing positions, and you can throw a rod into the lake at will.

It's still three fish, it's still a fire, but it's not the same person who comes to take it.

"The snowmen are melting. It's the first time a businessman has set foot in this place all winter, "It's easier than I thought." ”

Without the snow decoration, when the yellow earth is exposed, the village lacks a lot of beauty.

The boy focused on grilling the fish, biting his lip as if he were making up his mind.

Boy: "Shop...... Manager, can I call you that?"

The merchant's gaze fell on the other party, and saw the same thing as that time, brave and cowardly, he was silent, and said, "Well, you can call me that." ”

Boy: "Mike...... You can call me that, you like. ”

Merchant: "Okay. ”

Mike: "Store manager...... Do you eat fish?"

The merchant nodded and sat down silently beside Mike.

This time, after the fish was baked, Hank was nowhere to be seen.

The manager of the antique shop and the boy each held a fish in their hands, ate it quietly, and when they had eaten the grilled fish in their hands, and swallowed the last bite of meat, the boy glanced at the wooden house, sat down and said, "The store manager's business should be done, right?"

Merchant: "Do you think it's done?"

Mike: "yes, that's it. ”

The merchant looked at it for a while before nodding and saying, "Well, it seems to be done." ”

The early spring sun fell on the shoulders, the long-lost warmth covered the body, and the sun that had been hiding for a winter hung lazily in the sky, as if it had not fully woken up from hibernation.

Mike let out a sigh of relief and said, "Manager, it seems that this year's winter will be particularly warm. ”

The merchant looked up at the sky and replied, "Well, maybe." ”

PS: Today there are workers from the power grid who come to get the wires, only my house has a power outage, and I cracked, so the update is a little late