When Hu Lai's taxi passed by a street he was very familiar with, he suddenly sat up from the back seat and turned his head to look over.
There are rows of old houses with brick and stone structures. The red brick houses are indeed a bit awkward standing on this spacious street.
This is the row of old houses he passed by countless times when he was going to school. Behind this row of old houses, there is an open space full of grass, which is his secret training base.
He has never come back to see the city since he left it. He only saw the current situation of the base again through the TV program "Characters" on Anton TV.
Now this training base may not exist for more than a few days, because the old houses outside are already preparing for demolition - workers are building walls outside the old houses, and by then these neat walls will cover the inside.
of ruins.
Three years have passed since he discovered this abandoned square. Although he had long thought that this place would definitely not escape the fate of shanty town reconstruction, when that day finally came, Hu Lai still felt a little emotional.
The place that carries my own memories... is missing again.
As the car continued to drive forward, he saw the entrance to an alley. Entering from here was the home of coach Li Ziqiang and also the home of Li Qingqing.
The situation here seems to be better, perhaps because there are people living there and the wall has not been built here yet.
But it is estimated that it is not far away from being demolished.
Then Coach Li should be moving. I wonder what Li Qingqing’s expression will be like when faced with a pile of ruins when he comes back?
Oops, I suddenly have some expectations...
But Hu Lai quickly hit himself on the head - What good things were he thinking about? Didn't the father not inform him before he came home? Coach Li cares so much about his precious daughter, how could he move without even noticing?
Said? Do you think it was your father?
Thinking of this, Hu Lai shook his head.
The car quickly passed the entrance of the alley and continued towards his home.
※※※
Xie Lan was cleaning hard at home. She was standing on a chair wiping the dust off the lamps when she heard a knock on the door.
At first she thought she heard it wrong, but it wasn't until the second knock on the door that she was sure that her son was back!
Who else could knock on the door at this time besides his own son?
So she quickly jumped down from the chair and ran to open the door.
But when she opened the door hopefully, she unexpectedly saw a middle-aged woman wearing Dongchuan Gas work clothes standing at the door with the same surprised expression: "Hey, is there really someone at home?"
Xie Lan was very depressed, but he couldn't show his face in front of a staff member checking the gas meter, so he could only laugh and said: "Yes, I asked for leave today..."
"Take a reading. Should you help me read it, or should I go in and take it myself?" the other party asked with a smile.
"Go on your own, I still have to clean up..."
When the meter reader heard what she said, he joked: "I see you have posted Spring Festival couplets on your door, and now you are doing hygiene. Why are you celebrating the New Year today?"
Xie Lan turned back and smiled at her, but did not explain. What was there to say about her story to a stranger?
The other party didn't seem to be interested in this matter, and went straight to the kitchen to read the meter.
After reading the meter, I reported the reading to Xie Lan, reminded the latter to remember to pay, and then continued climbing the stairs to read the meter.
When I closed the door for this family, I saw the big red "福" on the security door.
Is this really the Chinese New Year?
But it’s only the beginning of November, what kind of year is it?
She shook her head, confused about this family's brain circuit.
Xie Lan closed the door and went back to cleaning, but she couldn't help but speculate in her mind:
Didn't you say you've already boarded the taxi? Why hasn't it taken so long?
Is it a traffic jam on the road?
Or... it couldn't have been a car accident, right?
Xie Lan couldn't help but think about the social news he had seen online and on TV...
Just when she was thinking so wildly, there was a knock on the door again.
Xie Lan still hurried to the door. She felt that it was unlikely that she would encounter someone other than her son knocking on the door twice in a row. Otherwise, she should buy lottery tickets.
Sure enough, when she opened the door, she saw Hu Lai carrying a bag and a suitcase outside!
"Mom!" Seeing his mother, Hu Lai greeted her with a smile, just like he did every time he came home from school.
Xie Lan didn't say anything. He took Hu Lai into his arms and hugged him tightly, as if he was afraid that he would run away again.
Hu Lai really didn't expect his mother to be so strong. As a professional player who has trained in strength, he didn't break free for a while. Then he stopped struggling and allowed his mother to hold him.
Then he heard his mother's sobs.
"Mom, why are you crying? It makes the neighbors upstairs and downstairs think someone died in our family..."
"Tsk! What nonsense!" Xie Lan slapped Hu Lai on the shoulder hard, but she really stopped crying, but her eyes were a little moist and red.
She let go of her son and looked at him carefully: "Well, not bad, a little taller, stronger, and darker."
"Don't you watch it on TV every week? Why does it feel like we're meeting for the first time?" Hu Lai was confused, "Mom and I haven't even entered the house yet..."
Only then did Xie Lan react, pull him in, and close the door.
"Hey Mom, I see there are Spring Festival couplets at the door and they are blessings. You haven't torn up the couplets you posted during the Spring Festival last year?"
"Have you ever seen such new Spring Festival couplets? I just posted them," Xie Lan said.
"Just posted it? It's only November, isn't it a little early to post the Spring Festival couplets?" Hu Lai was surprised.
"It's not early, won't you be able to celebrate the Spring Festival at home next year? Let's celebrate the Spring Festival in advance!"
Hu Lai opened his mouth wide: "I thought you were joking..."
At that time, my mother did say something about celebrating the New Year early on the phone, but Hu Lai didn't take it seriously - who would celebrate the New Year in November?
"From now on, our family will do this and celebrate the Spring Festival in advance!" Xie Lan announced with a big wave of his hand.
"Okay, as long as you are happy..."
Xie Lan looked at his son with a smile, and couldn't get enough of it: "I'm happy, of course I'm happy. Your dad comes back from get off work in the evening, and the three of us have a good New Year's Eve dinner."
"Okay." Hu Lai nodded and pulled the suitcase to his room.
Before he walked in, when he reached the door, he smelled the smell that he had smelled in Coach Li's home. He knew that it was the smell of that laundry detergent.
What surprised him a little was: "Mom, are you still using this laundry detergent?"
"Yeah, it smells pretty good, so I've been using it. Why, you don't like it anymore?"
Hu Lai shook his head: "No, I still like it. I'm just a little surprised... After all, I was the one who bought this laundry detergent. I thought after I left, you guys wouldn't use it anymore..."
"I'm used to it and I'm too lazy to change it."
There is another reason Xie Lan didn't mention, because this is the smell that her son likes, so she insists on using this laundry detergent to wash the clothes, curtains and bed sheets and quilt covers at home. When the home is filled with a light fragrance, it will make her feel that in fact
My son is still at home.
Hu Lai walked to his desk and reached out to rub his national competition Golden Boot and Golden Globe trophies. The trophies were as bright as new and could clearly reflect his figure.
"There's no ash..." He looked at the tips of his fingers.
"I often help you wipe it." Mom's voice sounded from behind.
Hu Lai turned around and saw his mother leaning on the door frame, looking at him with a smile.
He remembered that he ran away from home rashly to play football. He didn't dare to tell his mother through WeChat until he was sitting on the plane. At that time, it had been two hours since he got out of school. During the period when he had not returned home,
Here, how worried should mother be about him?
At the beginning, all he could think about was the lofty ambition to pursue his dream of professional football. He only had the vision for a better life in the future. He imagined what he would do after going to Lingnan and meeting Director Zhao, and what the Poseidon Youth Team would be like.
, who are the teammates, are they easy to get along with? What are the accommodation conditions like? Are you used to Lingnan's food... He has thought of all these.
The only thing I didn't expect was that my mother would be very worried about me. Would she be sad and cry because I ran away from home? Now that I think about it, she was so supportive of me playing football. If I had told her before I left,
If the truth comes out, his mother won't stop him, right? In the past, when he played football on the school team, his mother helped him cover him, so why does he think that his mother won't agree to this time when he plays professional football?
?
I was so selfish and left without saying goodbye, eager to rush to the vast world, but I ignored the eyes that were always watching me silently behind his back.
Thinking of this, Hu Lai said to Xie Lan: "Mom, I'm sorry."
But the mother smiled and shook her head: "I'm your mother, why are you sorry?"