At 09:30 in the evening, Luo Binhan finally packed up and went out.It was a good time for him to set off for Luo Jiayang's residence, because the apartment was far away from his residence, almost drawing a long diagonal line in the city, all the way to the industrial park close to the suburbs.In the early years, it was a chaotic area filled with hidden entertainment venues.Later, the level of governance improved, but some human connections had not disappeared, so Luo Jiayang was able to get along there. "You can get away with it" is Luo Jiayang's own statement, and Luo Binhan has reservations about this.His private opinion was that no one liked to play with a mad dog, especially when it was known that the mad dog had a terrible owner.

Halfway through the drive, the so-called deep sewage river once appeared in his sight.It lies far away in the darkness, with both sides of the river desolate and deserted. Only a few scattered lights of residential buildings are on, helping people identify the meandering parts of the river.It was a hairy moon that night, forming a slowly creeping sheen on the river.As a result, the sewage river has an ominous vitality, like a giant python lying quietly on the barren hills.Outside the river, factory buildings are lined up in rows, forming a cluster under the night sky, shaped like rugged stone cliffs.In a trance, Luo Binhan seemed to have returned to the dream he had at Antique Pierre's house. He saw the green mist lingering in the garden and the shadow of the rugged mountains vaguely revealed behind the mist.

There were very few vehicles on this stretch of road, only the shadows of street lights one after another.When the light shines on the asphalt road, it has a strange neutralizing effect, causing the surrounding environment to ooze a thin yellow-green color.The toxic color evokes smoke from factory chimneys and mold growing in garbage dumps in back alleys.There was a choking smell in the air, so Luo Binhan could only close the car window.He felt unhappy every time he came here, but he usually only came here at night and never went inside the industrial park.If we could see the factory in operation and the people coming and going in broad daylight, the illusion of entering a foreign land might disappear.Or perhaps, this is not a problem of the environment at all, but because he always associates this place with Luo Jiayang and a past event.

Time froze in the torment, unable to move forward. The yellow-green asphalt road seemed to have no end, and he could drive all the way to the end of the universe.Before he suspected that this road would lead directly to the underworld, there were finally buildings on both sides of the road.At first, there were some boxy, dark blue temporary buildings with wavy textures on the surface, also known as corrugated houses. Then there were decent residential buildings, low brick houses with tile roofs, most of which had long and narrow vegetable plots or courtyards. ; Finally, the wasteland was completely covered by walls, shops and tube buildings on both sides.The sound of people gradually faded away, and there was a row of bicycles scattered on the sidewalk. The vendors setting up stalls around them would casually hang their bags on the handles or throw garbage into the baskets of their bicycles.

Luo Binhan reduced the speed of the car.He had the impression that people living nearby did not obey traffic rules very much; they also had to be careful about the trucks that were responsible for transporting goods to the factory. During his student days, there were at least four or five serious car accidents every year related to container trucks in the area.There used to be more dangers here: mafia organizations were entrenched here, there were armed conflicts between workers and gangsters, and scarred corpses that were actually drowned in the sewage river; those closely adjacent tube buildings were once full of people. Most of them are workers working in nearby factories, but there are also brokers, traders, people working in bars or dance halls, and even fugitives from other places - all these stories, the history of this land in the past 60 years and Luo Binhan could only tell the secret about the tip of its tail, which he heard about from adults when he was seven or eight years old.He was still too young at that time, so any discussion that was divorced from his living environment made him feel distant and mysterious, and the strangeness and horror was no less than that of something hundreds of millions of light years away.

However, things have changed now.The road has been repaired and widened twice, and it is said that the car accident rate has finally dropped; people who originally belonged to illegal organizations either managed to escape before the disaster or ended up in jail; there are newer and more mature worker dormitories in the industrial park , the Tongzi Building outside was on the verge of being abandoned, and only people who worked part-time or stayed temporarily were still renting rooms there.Now, even if Luo Binhan tells Luo Jiaotian exactly what he knows, the latter will not believe that his birthplace has such a history.When Luo Jiaotian was born, it was already a time when the dust had settled, and people who lived a stable life seemed more willing to believe that their era was the golden age of history, the most stable and reasonable normal state of human society.As for people like Nan Mingguang, he will miss those chaotic and thrilling days to some extent.He even revealed to Luo Binhan that after he retires, he may write a book specifically about what happened in this industrial area in the past.Luo Binhan honestly said that he didn't know who would want to see the history of such a small place.

You can't imagine what happened in that place, Nan Mingguang replied with a wonderful smile, there are many interesting things, a hundred times more exciting than those random monster movies.He said the last words because Luo Binhan was reading a research report on film and television investment, and Luo Binhan could only give him a dry smile. At the moment when they were talking about the history of the industrial zone, Jing Huang was still nesting in his apartment. Watching TV.

In this treasure land with extremely rich story materials, there are many tall and low tube buildings. One of them lives in Luo Binhan's famous cousin with a unique personality.Luo Jiayang was not "exiled" here, but took the initiative to live here. Otherwise, his parents would prefer to place him in a "more civilized" area, near the city library, University Road or Lake Center Park. Instead of surrounding the underground dance hall and card room.This must be very frustrating for them because they run their own factories here.After struggling in this place for most of their lives, they finally found a way to move to a better area and send their children to schools farther away, only to find that Luo Jiayang plunged back here again.

Downstairs in the apartment, Luo Binhan met a group of young men who were dissolute.Their attire is far less flashy and outrageous than that of the Guns N' Roses shopkeeper, but when they walk, their limbs flail around, as if their shoulders are dislocated, showing off their typical carelessness.Luo Binhan parked the car at the only monitored location on the roadside, and looked at each other quietly with the group for a while, then they whistled and walked away with their arms swinging.

He walked through the corridor entrance and found Luo Jiayang's room at the deepest part of the corridor on the first floor.There were several bags of fly-infested garbage piled at the door.He pressed the bell twice, but nothing happened, so he put his hand through the gap in the screen of the security door, fumbled to open the unlocked bolt, and walked in without any cover.

The room was cold and dark, and there was a pungent smell.All the overhead lights were turned off, except for a table lamp that shimmered dimly, sometimes blue, sometimes purple, making the room feel like a ghost land without any human atmosphere.Luo Binhan didn't rush to say anything. Instead, he groped the damp and seeping wall and found the light switch in the living room.He flicked on the overhead light, and the figure sitting on the sofa in the living room was instantly exposed.The man was still awake, his eyelids were swollen, his feet were resting on the coffee table, and a few cigarette butts were next to his peeling and cracked heels.

Luo Jiayang must have heard the noise before he entered, so he was not surprised at all.There was only an uncomfortable Yin Qi on that numb face, which gradually turned into a hypocritical smile.

"The prince is here." He said in a weird voice.

Luo Binhan looked at him calmly, breathing softly and slowly.Luo Jiayang's parents may think that their son is useless, but Luo Binhan knows that this view is wrong.Luo Jiayang is good at at least one thing, and that's really stabbing and pissing people off.To do this is not just dirty talk, it's really a talent, a great sensitivity.This sensitivity helps Luo Jiayang touch the wounds in other people's souls and smell the vulnerable places that are most prone to bleeding and pain.Then, as soon as you block his way, he will stab you there without hesitation.

The silence intensified the heat and humidity in the room.Luo Jiayang squirmed on the sofa and continued: "What's wrong? It's a bit unfair for you to come to a place like this, right?"

Luo Binhan still didn't respond.Now his mentality has been adjusted to a mode suitable for fighting.He took off his coat with ease and threw it on the shelf in the entrance hall.Then he looked around the room to himself, looking at the water-stained plaster walls and the faint traces of moss peeking out from between the cracks in the floor.He let out a long sigh and asked Luo Jiayang softly: "Don't this place make people sick?"

Luo Jiayang tilted his head back a little, and his provocative expression froze due to nervousness.Luo Binhan ignored him, but slowly walked to the vertical air conditioner and wiped the dusty socket. "It's broken." He tapped the antique plastic casing with some joy. "It's been at least ten years, right? Doesn't it have a dehumidification function?"

He looked back cheerfully.The moment he met Luo Jiayang's eyes, a trace of panic flashed in those gloomy eyes.Luo Binhan saw it, and softened the expression on his face, walking towards the coffee table step by step. "It was you who called me a few nights ago," he said softly, with a smile like Nan Mingguang's on his face. "How did they explain that you took the initiative to make this greeting call?"

Now, it was Luo Jiayang's turn to be silent.Luo Binhan lowered his head and looked at the surface of the sofa. There were as many scorched holes burned by cigarette butts as rabbit holes on the grassland.The smell of smoke and stinking beer emanated from the old cloth at the same time.He found a relatively clean takeout bag in the corner and placed it on the sofa, then sat down and looked across.Luo Jiayang hesitated to speak, so he continued: "This house is really old. Moreover, the ground floor is very humid, and it is easy for people to touch in through the window. Except for people with bad legs and feet, there is no benefit to choosing the bottom floor. No. Is there something wrong with the water pipe?"

Luo Jiayang shook his head stiffly.

"Then go buy a dehumidifier tomorrow." Luo Binhan said without much emotion. "Rheumatism and skin rash are enough to treat. If water still leaks from the wall, then you have to find a maintenance person to take a look."

The reply returned to him was still silence.This silence, in front of his uncle and aunt, would have been seen as a huge improvement.If there is no insults, no hitting of things, and no weird sarcastic sounds, they will feel that their son has become sensible.Luo Binhan didn't think so. This was just a grudge he felt when the situation failed, and he would fight back whenever there was an opportunity.But he didn't really care. "No problem?" he asked with a smile, "Then the next thing. I heard you threw people into the river."

He waited for a few seconds and then continued: "He fell and hurt someone."

The muscles on Luo Jiayang's face twitched.The causal connection between these two sentences only made him laugh, and Luo Binhan didn't expect any other reaction from him. "That's it." He said bluntly to Luo Jiayang, "If they still want money, then call me and I will find legal counsel to resolve the matter. If they try other methods, you can leave here. Go to the city and find a house to live in.”

He saw shock flash across Luo Jiayang's face. "No," he said clearly, "I don't care what you and your friends have discussed before. From now on, you have not planned anything. You have never planned to do anything. Do you understand what I mean? ?”

The two scimitar-blade eyebrows suddenly stood up, and the sharp corners pushed out the wrinkles on his forehead.Suddenly, a completely deformed face appeared before Luo Binhan's eyes, an evil spirit struggling to escape from the skin of a young man.He also felt a force on the other side of the coffee table, which was about to hit his knees with the sharp edge covered with a thick glass plate.He immediately stood up, pressed one hand heavily on the table, bent down, and stared at Luo Jiayang.

"Hands off," he said.Luo Jiayang slowly withdrew his hands from pushing the coffee table. "Very well, let's continue."

He sat back down and casually picked up his fingers. "According to your parents' wishes," he put his hands on the back of the sofa, "they think you are old enough and shouldn't be at home all day-" He kicked the table, and several empty beer cans fell down. , "——Eat, drink and have fun. So, they want me to persuade you and find you a serious job."

"What does this have to do with you?" "What does this have to do with me?" Luo Binhan also asked himself, and then he answered affectionately, "Because, Jiayang, we are a family. Do you understand what this means?"

Luo Jiayang lowered his head and avoided his sight.Luo Binhan saw his arms trembling slightly.

"The meaning here is," he continued to answer in the tone of his eldest brother, "your parents' factory supplies my father's company, and his company is your parents' largest customer. I think it accounts for more than 30% of the transaction volume. . Moreover, the profit is [-]% higher than other sales channels. This is because more than [-] years ago, when a group of people knocked on your dad’s door with iron rods and asked him about his eldest brother’s whereabouts, he didn’t say a word. There is no mention of the people hiding in the backyard. So, they are tied together from now on. So, we are tied together from now on. You, me, we all have to live on the people we hate, and we still have to live. To continue to resent the person you were tied to, this is the family life you chose when you were reincarnated, the closest relatives you were destined to have. So, for the sake of us being a family, can you save each other some fucking trouble? ?"

He waited ten seconds. "Any more questions?" he asked gently, and waited another ten seconds. "It seems there are no more questions."

Luo Jiayang's mobile phone was placed on the table.Luo Binhan reached out and took it over with a cheerful expression, and saw on the wallpaper a clown with a dagger in his teeth and blood all over his body. "Fancy." He said, unlocked the screen with Luo Jiayang's birthday, opened the calendar program, and set ten alarm clock reminders with address information for next Wednesday.

"I'll give you two choices." He threw the phone between the owner's legs, "Or you can live alone in a villa in the future - I mean those houses by the lake in the western suburbs, where there are enough nights. It’s so clean that you can still see the stars when you raise your head! However, if you don’t have a car, it might take you half an hour to go to the supermarket to buy a pack of salt. Your neighbors are all retired old men and women. You don’t have to worry about whether you will survive. Go down and I will hire a few helpers to take care of you. Of course, I will find men. I think this job requires strength, and male caregivers who have taken care of the elderly are usually very strong. What do you think? "

"No." Luo Jiayang said.

This answer was completely unexpected.Luo Binhan knew what this person needed. He couldn't live the decent but slightly hypocritical life in the office, nor could he live alone with his thoughts.What Luo Jiayang needs is conflict, endless strife and struggle with others. He will never learn to interact with others as equals in his life, or at least pretend to talk to others as equals. If others don't suppress him, he will step on them instead. On other people's heads.

Luo Binhan did not study how such an intolerable personality emerged in a family with abundant resources.He was inclined to think it was nature.But when his uncle and aunt tearfully talked about raising a white-eyed wolf, Luo Jiayang sometimes showed an almost crazy hatred that went beyond coldness, yelling and cursing that his parents never cared about him.Care is also a fairly broad term.At some moments, Luo Binhan had the urge to ask Luo Jiayang: What kind of care do you want?Could it be from the soul?Because this possibility does exist and there is no hope of solving it, he tolerates Luo Jiayang to this day.

"The second option," he said quickly, "I'll find you a job. But I won't hand you over to anyone else, otherwise I'll be making enemies. I'll let you be my driver. , right under my nose. I have already talked to Nan Mingguang about this, but the process still has to go. So, next Wednesday, when your last alarm rings, that is to say before [-] noon , I want to see you appear in the personnel department with your ID card and bank card. Am I clear?"

Luo Jiayang's head was still lowered, but his eyes squinted up to stare at him.Luo Binhan asked patiently three times until he finally nodded reluctantly.This matter seemed to be finally over. He was about to get up and leave this place, but Luo Jiayang suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with hatred.

"What if I don't go?" he said, "Why the hell should I listen to you?"

Luo Binhan felt slightly bored.He sat back down and said calmly: "Because, the result is the same as when you asked me this last time. If you throw people into the river again and let people who are short of money kneel down to you, I will I will beat you to death. I know how to beat you to death, but when I went to the hospital, it could only be diagnosed as a minor injury. Last time you cut my arm with a fruit knife; but this time, I promise, you are the only one who is injured. , you can spend the first week of your suburban house in bed.”

For a moment, Luo Jiayang's eyes fell on the coffee table, wandering between the lighter and the glass beer bottle.Luo Binhan waited expressionlessly until Luo Jiayang looked back at him. "I can tell others," he said with a sneer, "What if my parents know that you beat me?"

"They won't believe you."

"I can show them the wounds."

"You did it yourself." Luo Binhan said with a smile, "You just wanted to dirty my hands."

"I can film it. Camera. Record it."

"Forged." Luo Binhan replied easily, "Find someone with a similar voice and body shape to mine."

Luo Jiayang started a new round of brewing.But Luo Binhan was really fed up. He looked at the opposite side almost pitifully. "You really can't see the key?" he asked, "Do you think that as long as you show evidence, they will accuse me of hurting you? I hope you understand early, as long as you are still alive and act like you My good son, even if I give you a beating in front of them, they will not see it because they are asleep. They will say, 'My cousin is caring about you.' So, we each do our part. Divide, okay?"

He got up and walked out.Just as he picked up the coat on the shelf in the entrance hall, Luo Jiayang in the living room said, "You're a fucking lunatic."

"Be realistic." Luo Binhan said as he put on his coat. "You are the one who may be sent to a mental hospital. If you hurt someone again next time, I will consider getting a certificate."

"How are you better than me?" Luo Jiayang said, fear and disgust in his voice, "What kind of good thing are you?"

"That's a good question - but who would believe it?"

Luo Binhan turned to look at him, surprised that he was still seeking justice like a child. "Between you and me, whose words will others believe?" He asked with a smile, "Even if you tell others that I am as cold-blooded, violent, manic and hate society as you are, as long as I say 'You are just crazy' '...Who do you think they're going to believe? Is it you?"

He counted silently for another ten seconds.There was silence. "I don't think so." He concluded, then opened the door and went out.


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