Chapter 131 - (In Midsummer That Year) (1/2)

Chapter 131 (In Midsummer That Year) Lin Wenxi Missed Zhao Yuan’s Former Home and Ran into Zheng Zihuan While Revisting There

On the road, the three of them refueled Yun Che’s motorcycle. Then they had to wave goodbye to each other at the crossroads of Lin Wenxi’s home.

“Have a nice winter,” Lin Wenxi said with a smile.

Zhao Yuan touched Lin Wenxi’s head and then Gu Xi’s head. Taking a large bag of clothes and other personal things, he pulled away with a chug of the motorcycle.

Lin Wenxi, who returned at such a snowy night, truly surprised Huang Xiya. When she heard Gu Xi exclaim that Lin Wenxi drove home by motorcycle, she could not help looking at him with new eyes because Lin Ziwei and Hong Xuan still stuck outside and could not come back.

The atmosphere of the Spring Festival became thicker. After Lin Wenxi helped Huang Xiya finish the housework, he took Gu Xi to Zhao Yuan’s former home. Because the courtyards had so many branch roads, so he did not have enough confidence to find the way. But it was very strange that Lin Wenxi could remember the way to Zhao Yuan’s home. When he came closer to Zhao Yuan’s home, Lin Wenxi could remember each lane, each turn, and each path clearly as if he had got the help from God. Like a wanderer returned to his hometown, Lin Wenxi was very familiar with every horizontal road and every vertical road there.

Looking at the red lantern hanging up there, Lin Wenxi felt a little lost. Perhaps, the birds flying south had skimmed over the eaves, so their sharp claws pierced the red cloth of the lantern.

The red cloth hung down from the broken hole of the lantern. It looked like a peeled rotten orange, which had been left there for a very long time because there was no one to eat it. Dust and spider webs could be found all over the lintel of the door. Lin Wenxi had never expected that he hadn’t been here for only half a year, but the time actually made this place a deserted field.

Lin Wenxi found some rags in the nearby shop and wiped the porch with the snow water mixture in the corner. Suddenly, he heard someone whisper a sigh in surprise. While rubbing his forehead, Lin Wenxi looked there and saw that Zheng Zihuan, who was staring at him in amazement, walked through the door.

“Wenxi?” asked Zheng Zihuan.

“Zheng… Uncle Zheng.” Lin Wenxi felt a little nervous. But thinking at full speed, he had already tried to find the reason for cleaning this place.

“Why are you here, Wenxi? Someone has brought this house, but the buyer has not moved in,” Zheng Zihuan said. Lin Wenxi surprisedly found that though this uncle was in his forties, he looked thin and pretty. He looked so delicate that Lin Wenxi cannot see any wrinkles on his skin, which made Lin Wenxi feel ashamed of his ungainly look. Zheng Zihuan faintly flushed. He had a slightly shy appearance, and he didn’t look like a person who had experienced many vicissitudes of life at all. Thinking of this, Lin Wenxi answered him with great confidence.

“Even if it is sold, it should also give the buyer a good impression,” Lin Wenxi said with a smile.

“Oh, oh. Yes, yes.” Zheng Zihuan muttered a vague answer. His eyes fell on the rag in Lin Wenxi’s hands and the jade-carved person beside him. At the point when he was about to inquire in detail, Lin Wenxi asked, “Uncle, what are you doing here?”

“This place is my hometown. I come here to pay New Year calls, and visit my brother’s former home by the way.” Zheng Zihuan nodded slightly, with a face full of tiredness.

“Is Zheng Kai back?” Lin Wenxi asked.

“This year, I am alone,” replied Zheng Zihuan.

“Uncle, I’m sorry…” All of a sudden, Lin Wenxi look sad.

“You have tried your best. It is life.” Zheng Zihuan asked, “Old Zhao’s funeral, does A Yuan start to prepare it for him?”

“I heart that A Yuan will take his father’s body home after the New Year and cremate him then.”

“Oh, yeah, after the New Year, I forgot.”

Lin Wenxi paused a little. He waved the rag in his hand and continued to do his unfinished business. In the beginning, Zheng Zihuan could talk with Lin Wenxi by answering his questions. But now, when Lin Wenxi stopped asking him, he suddenly stood at the spot and felt utterly at a loss. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know how to start. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around and went to borrow a rag from the nearby store, too. The store owner stretched out his hand and got closer to the stove. “Using rags in such a cold day, why don’t they choose a sunny day to do the cleaning?”

Together, the three of them wiped the house down. Then they smiled at each other and went to the restaurant.

Zheng Zihuan openly talked about all the specific things that had happened between Zhao Mingjiang and him to them.

In that year, there was no South City High School. And there was only Yangzi Middle School in the county. In that year, various domestic and international events filled students’ heads, and a catastrophe was spreading in China. In that year, the dam in Zhumadian City, Henan Province, collapsed. In that year, the first experimental communications satellite successfully launched. In that year, and Jiang Jieshi passed away.

In the era of all chaos, the restless smell of turmoil dispersed everywhere in the school. And the extreme unabashed youngsters would have many latent crazy impulses. At that time, fights and brawls in the streets cropped up here and there. No matter it was good students or hooligans, they would all encounter something like injuries or financial losses on their way to and from school.