In the month of October, the hot summer still leaves a small tail, it was reluctant to leave.
However, the autumn wind can’t wait, squeezing through the gap to drill in. Sooner or later, the weather will slowly cool down.
Xingqi kindergarten still has half an hour to go before school is finished.
The children in the yard chattered, danced, and laughed like little birds.
Probably this was the most carefree stage in life.
Not long after, a young man appeared at the gate of the kindergarten, with heroic eyebrows and eyes, a strong outline, and a gray windbreaker, which made him tall and straight.
He glanced across the garden, looking for someone.
On the colorful slide in the southeast corner, a little girl fell down. Her center of gravity was unstable. She fell directly on the ground. She didn’t cry. She patted her butt and stood up. When she looked forward, she shrunk to herself and wanted to slip away when she saw someone she didn’t want to see.
But it was too late, the person has already called her, “Xiaomi.”
Xiaomi tremble. She walked a few steps slowly and reluctantly towards him, “Uncle.”
Xiaomi was born with big eyes, black and bright, like a doll, “Where’s my mommy?”
“Your mother has something to do. She asked me to pick you up. Do you want to go to my place or your grandfather’s place today?”
Xiaomi blurted out, “Grandpa!”
It was obvious who she liked more, but she was still a little guilty and explained hurriedly, “I miss grandpa too much.”
He Youting squatted down and saw through her eyes. With his fingers he flicked her forehead. “You have to paint when you go to Grandpa’s house.”
Xiaomi pouted: “I don’t like painting.”
“Tell that to your mother.”
There was a stranger in the yard. A young woman, who came out of the building, went towards them, “Sir, who are you?”
Looking down, she saw Xiaomi on his side and suddenly realized, “Are you Tang Zixin’s father? Her mother has been the one picking her up before and we have never seen you.”
Xiaomi’s real name is Tang Zixin, a common name.
He Youting explained, “I’m her uncle.”
Xiaomi called the lady, “Miss Qin Yue.”
Qin Yue bent down with a smile and fixed Xiaomi’s curly hair: “Go and play.”
Xiaomi didn’t dare to move. She looked up at He Youting first.
When He Youting nodded, she ran away like a free cat.
Qin Yue said, “You’re a little early. The school isn’t finished yet, however, you could wait in the guardian’s area.”
He Youting nodded, “It’s all right. I’ll wait.”
Qin Yue invited him into the building and took him to the guardian area of the hall. He Youting thanked her.
Qin Yue had already walked to the entrance of the stairs and looked back. Somehow, she always thought he looked familiar. She might have seen him somewhere.
While waiting, he processed several work emails with his mobile phone. After sometimes, the noise in the hall gradually lowered down. The children were called over by the teacher, probably she assigned some tasks.
When his surroundings became quiet, other sounds became clearer.
Not far away, he could hear someone playing the piano. It was the theme song of a film, “I’m going to be with you”. The light and playful piano sound sounded comfortable.
He Youting leaned against the colorful plastic chair and closed his eyes. After listening for a while, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped. After more than ten seconds, the song changed to a famous piano song “Wedding in a dream”.
It’s probably a song that everyone has heard, but most laymen in piano can’t name it.
He Youting is also a layman, but he knows this song.
There was a girl in his memory who really liked to play this song.
He Youting got up, looked for the place where the piano came from and walked towards the end of the corridor.
The door of the piano room was half closed.
Illuminated by the sunset, a girl with a grid skirt sat on one side of the bench with her back to the door. As the sun hit her, she was plated with a layer of soft gold.
Her fingers jumped lightly, and the notes flowed out and danced along the sunset. Occasionally, she turned her face sideways. The tip of her upturned nose and ruddy lips formed a beautiful curve, and the hairy broken hair on the neck added tenderness.
He Youting stared at the girl until she felt someone behind her and the sound of the piano disappeared.
She turned around and saw He Youting at the door.
At that second, He Youting’s heart jumped slightly and subconsciously tightened his fist.
The girl in front of him had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, fair skin, and familiar and strange contours, as if she had pulled him into those dusty memories hidden at the bottom of his heart for a long time.
Many years ago, there was a fierce little girl who yelled at him every day, but waved her small fist in front of him when others bullied him.
She forced him to call her: Boss.
She accidentally hurt his hand and wanted to buy medicine to make him wait for her.
He waited.
But, she never came back.
“Hello,” Yu Xinghe came over, “What can I do for you?”
His mind was pulled back to reality. The same girl was in front of him. He stared at her for a while to confirm his assumption. He was afraid of admitting his mistake. He hesitated, but he still introduced himself: “I’m He Youting.”
He looked into her eyes, trying to catch some unknown emotions.
Yu Xinghe was stunned. Her face was full of doubts. She obviously didn’t understand why the man in front of her suddenly introduced himself.
Someone called her outside and she answered immediately to get away from the awkward atmosphere between them.
She hurriedly went back to get the score, took the key of the piano room, and walked back to the door. She was a little sorry: “Sorry. This is the piano room, you can’t enter here casually.”
He Youting’s eyes moved on her face.
A few seconds later, he went aside and watched her lock the door, turn around, walk calmly and go out of his sight.
Xiaomi ran over to him with her schoolbag on her back, “Uncle, we now can go.”
On the way back to He’s house, He Youting drove. Behind him, the child wore safety seatbelt, Xiaomi twisted and lay on the seat.
He Youting looked at her through the rearview mirror, “Xiaomi.”
Xiaomi immediately went still, “Ah?”
“Did you mention before that you have a new piano teacher?”
Xiaomi breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
Xiaomi said, “Ms. Xinghe.”
He Youting squeezed the steering wheel: “What?”
“Xing is from the star full of small stars, and He comes from the grass of green seedlings.” Xiaomi learned Yu Xinghe’s words to introduce herself.
Dinner was ready. He Youting asked his aunt, “Where’s grandpa?”
Aunt Zhou said, “Upstairs, he said we can eat first.”
Xiaomi listened and washed her hands
After that, she jumped onto the table and mixed rice for herself.
He Youting was absent-minded. He ate the bowl of rice quickly and went back immediately.
He glances towards Xiaomi.
Xiaomi was busy picking out onions with her chopsticks.
“Xiaomi, don’t be picky about food.”
Xiaomi wrinkled her nose and dared not to listen to him, “I don’t like onions.”
He Youting looked at Xiaomi and suddenly said, “I’ll send you to school tomorrow.”
“…”
Xiaomi opened his mouth.
She just didn’t eat onions. Did she need such severe punishment?
He Youting’s sister, He Siling, really dotes on her daughter, while her husband was stationed in the Shenzhen Branch all year round, so his strict uncle has become the only object for Xiaomi fears.
The kind that suffocates her in five minutes alone.
Aunt Zhou ran down from upstairs and went straight to He Youting. “The old gentleman asked you to go to the study,” she lowered her voice, “Be careful. It seems like something is wrong. His tone is not good.”
He Youting seemed to have already expected it. Before going upstairs, he told aunt Zhou: “after Xiaomi’s meal, let her paint first.”
Aunt Zhou promised, looking at his back and while being worried for him.
He Youting went upstairs for less than half a minute. There was a “Pa” sound in the study. He didn’t know what fell to the ground. The old man roared full of anger. His voice clearly spread till downstairs, “What did you do?!”
Xiaomi trembled with fear. She hadn’t seen her grandpa get angry after a long time. Aunt Zhou quickly covered her ears: “Eat quickly. Let’s go back to your room after eating.”
In the Master study, several thick hardcover books were scattered on the ground. He Youting’s side face had two scratches, which had turned red and a faint bloodstain seeped out. It was obviously smashed out by something on the ground.
He Jichang was very angry looking at his dissatisfied appearance. He covered his chest with one hand and pointed to him with the other, “I expected you to carry the burden of the He family in the future, but what have you done?!”
“Beating up others? I gave you the Company to learn to do business, not to be a hooligan!”
He Youting put his hands behind his back, his eyes did not change from the moment he entered the room, “He hit my product manager.”
He Jichang was often stunned. Obviously, he didn’t expect this. He stared at him for a while, and his tone eased a little. “Then you fought back? This is business. Did you think the He family came to this day by fighting like hooligans? Don’t bring those bad habits to the company from when you were studying.”
“I didn’t hit him, I just warned him not to touch me.”
“Don’t talk back to me.”
He Youting didn’t speak again.
In front of outsiders, he is a generous little president He. He is not afraid of anything. Only old master He can restrain him a little.
The old man took a few steps back and forth and walked around the back of the antique table that had been in the study for decades. He gently tapped twice on the table and raised his eyebrows, “Wou apologize.”
“I won’t go.” he refused right away.
He Jichang could do nothing with the stubborn eldest son of the He family. He Youting didn’t wait for him to open his mouth. He bent down to pick up the books on the ground, wiped off the dust with his hand and put them neatly in the corner of the table.
“Father, if you gave me the company, you should trust me completely. I don’t need such a partner. I can pay the compensation, withdraw the agreement. I will try to make up for the loss, but I won’t apologize.”
His father was so angry that he didn’t say anything.
The antique wall clock on the east wall of the study continued to tick. Neither the father and son looked at each other.
He Youting looked at the time, “I have to go. Remember to eat.”
When he got home, it was 9:00 p.m.
He Youting took off his coat as soon as he entered the door. He threw the car key above the cabinet and went directly to the bathroom.
After a while, the sound of water came from inside.
The bathroom door was not closed tightly, and warm steam poured out from a narrow gap.
He Youting squeezed some men’s facial cleanser and rubbed it on his face. His side face was faintly hurting because of the scar on his face.
He was a little helpless. The old man really had hit him hard
The shower took ten minutes. He put a bath towel around his waist. His body was steaming, and the water droplets slid all the way down from his strong, wide chest.
He opened the refrigerator, took out a can of beer, and gulped down more than half of it at one go. Turning around, he saw that the light in the study was still on. He probably forgot to turn it off yesterday.
He walked over. He put his hands on the table with his head down and his eyes closed.
His mind was full of Yu Xinghe’s stranger eyes today.
The drops of water from his hair fell on the table.
He opened the drawer and found an old notebook. From the notebook, he took out a photo.
In the photo, a pretty girl with a ponytail was attacking a thin boy with a water gun. The boy’s eyes seem to be full of tears because of the water while it was tightly closed. His two small hands subconsciously block the water being splashed on his face. He wasn’t dissatisfied, his overall expression was actually happy.
Very happy to be “Bullied”.
He Youting touched the little girl’s face in the photo with his hand.
“No conscience.”
He looked around and saw the scar on his left back.
Within twelve years, she had changed from an arrogant and flexible girl to a gentle and indifferent woman.
But, I can still recognize you at a glance.
Long time no see, Yu Xinghe.
***
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