"This is where I grew up." Lu Zhi said.

Jiang Yao looked around.

Lush and lush trees, with canopies like leaves, swayed and rustled in the breeze.

The grass was green, and several children bent over and squatted on the lawn, playing unknown games.

There are benches, swings, and new community fitness equipment not far away.

Although several small three-story buildings are old in style, the exterior walls have been repainted not long ago, and they look brand new.

Jiang Yao felt the warmth on the back of his hand.He turned his head and saw that the other party was holding his hand with a slight force.

Looks a little nervous.

"A little nervous." Lu Zhi scratched his head, "I haven't been back for many years."

It's not that Lu Zhi doesn't want to come back, it's just that he doesn't have time.

The two of them, as S-level executors, run around on various tasks every day.There is not enough time to sleep and eat, let alone revisit the place where grew up when was a child?

"Let's go." Lu Zhi said.

Jiang Yao nodded.

Lu Zhi was raised by an aunt named Zheng.

"Twenty years ago, she wasn't an aunt. She was called a sister." Lu Zhi whispered in his ear.

Jiang Yao looked at the amiable and silver-haired woman in front of him, and obediently called out "sister".

"Hello." When Dean Zheng smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were slightly wrinkled, making him look more gentle.It makes people feel that she is going to call Jiang Yao little friend and give him candy in the next sentence.

However, no matter how young Jiang Yao looked, he looked over eighteen years old.

Dean Zheng didn't call him a kid, but turned his head and asked Lu Zhi with a smile, "Can you introduce me?"

"This is mine... um..."

Jiang Yao saw that expression on Lu Zhi's face for the first time.

His eyes blinked many times in a second, and he didn't look directly at the other person.

His honey-colored skin was tanned by the scorching sun, and it was slightly red.From the cheek to the back of the ear, and up to the tip of the ear.

His voice was also a little low, he faltered and didn't continue after saying "um".

Unlike his usual look.

Jiang Yao looked at him curiously.This is a look that has never been seen before.

I felt my right hand being squeezed tightly again.

"...Don't look." Lu Zhi turned his head annoyed, his voice was hoarse like a piece of fudge melting in his throat.

Jiang Yao felt more interesting, and stared at him more and more intently, looking at his cute appearance which was different from usual.

Lu Zhi's face was burned.

"...Okay, I understand." Aunt Zheng looked at Lu Zhi, then at Jiang Yao, and smiled softly again after being puzzled.

"Shall I take you around? You have been back for many years, and the place has been renovated several times, so you probably don't recognize it."

Aunt Zheng looked at the two of them with a smile, and picked up two pears on the table.

"Come on, take it and eat."

Jiang Yao and Lu Zhi each held a pear and gnawed it in their hands.

The pears are freshly picked sweet pears, big and juicy, washed with clean water, and the drops of water glisten in the sun.

Jiang Yao thinks it looks good and tastes sweet.There was a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Lu Zhi took his hand and walked beside Dean Zheng with him.

Seeing his smile, Lu Zhi also took a big bite out of the pear, and said with a smile, "Isn't it delicious? These pears are grown in the mountains behind us. Every year when the harvest season comes, we all go to pick pears together and entrust them to the vegetables.The market sells it. Many people don’t know it, and they buy pears when they visit us. Then we see, isn’t this just sold…”

"Hehe, I also have good intentions." Aunt Zheng covered her mouth and smiled.

"Yes, I was very grateful at that time. I still remember that time..." Lu Zhi's eyes were far away.

Jiang Yao held half a pear dripping with sweet juice in his hand, turned his head, and his eyes were glued to Lu Zhi.

He felt that Lu Zhi was very different today.

He couldn't tell why it was different, he only knew that if it wasn't here, he wouldn't be able to see Lu Zhi's special appearance.

He felt that Lu Zhi's expression would never be seen by others.

So he has to watch carefully and remember well.

"Ah, here we come. This tree..."

Lu Zhi stood still in front of a big tree.

"Remember? When you were a child, you used to climb up the trees and pick those young leaves on the tops of the trees."

Dean Zheng shook his head with a smile, "I really don't understand you. There are tender leaves everywhere, but you insist on picking them from the top and most dangerous place. You have been coaxed and punished, but you just don't listen.One of them jumped up like a monkey without watching you... How old were you at that time? Five or six years old!"

"Then I haven't fallen before." Lu Zhi snorted, "I'm very good at climbing trees! Later, when I was training in the army, I also..."

"Oh, you are very good at climbing trees, so why did you get caught in the branches of your pants, like a crotchless pants, and you can't get out of the tree?" Dean Zheng covered his mouth and smiled, "I really remember it, and youCrying, but refusing to admit his mistakes. Tears and snot all over his face, and he refused to be seen by others, covering his face while crying and shouting, I’m not wrong~ It’s the pants that hurt me~ I’m not wrong~”

"Ahem...you're a kid." Lu Zhi scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Jiang Yao was also smiling, so his face blushed again, and he said to Dean Zheng rather shyly, "Okay, Aunt Zheng, don't talk about my embarrassing things when I was young, I will be ashamed to face others.”

Jiang Yao felt his hand being pinched again.

Then came Lu Zhi's low-key and hasty explanation: "I was only five or six years old at that time! What do five or six years old know? Don't tell anyone when you go back! Especially Xu Wang! That kid Xu Wang......"

Jiang Yao smiled and rolled his eyes.He deeply remembered Lu Zhi's rare awkward appearance in his heart.

Seeing this, Aunt Zheng was still smiling, but there was a hint of doubt and worry in her eyes.

...

Jiang Yao went to play with the children.

A game of marbles is popular here.Lu Zhi was still worried that Jiang Yao was afraid of strangers and would not be able to blend in with them, but he didn't expect Jiang Yao's eyes to stare straight when the children escaped with marbles.

After all, marbles are transparent and shiny.

BlingBling, nice!

Jiang Yao quickly became addicted to it.Squatting on the ground and mingling with the children.

"You can't use your talent." Lu Zhi whispered his orders before leaving, "You can't win any more!"

"Yeah!" Jiang Yao was gearing up, eager to try.

Lu Zhi took two steps away, thought for a while, and then turned back.

"You borrow a few from them first. If you lose, it will be credited to the account. We will buy some and come back in two days to pay back the account."

Jiang Yao: "???"

Is this still going to be accounted for?!

Jiang Yao originally thought that playing marbles was just playing, but he didn't expect that it would involve the transfer of ownership.

"That's not right, otherwise it would be boring to fight."

Lu Zhi became a little interested, and squatted on the ground to explain the specific rules to Jiang Yao.

The other children nearby couldn't help laughing when they saw this handsome and mighty big brother squatting in front of a pile of marbles, explaining the rules with a lot of experience.

"Brother, go! We won't bully him!"

The children laughed in unison, patted their chests, and promised, "We will give these few marbles to him! Let him be the capital! But if you lose again, you will die!"

The kids are very moral.

Jiang Yao looked at the children curiously, his crow-feather eyelashes blinked slowly, as if he understood.

So he grinned too.

Lu Zhi scratched his head, feeling that he didn't need to point fingers at all.

Jiang Yao gets along very well with them!

"Tsk."

Lu Zhi felt that Jiang Yao didn't need him at the moment, so he left angrily.

Can't help but start to think, are the few big marbles that I kept privately more than 20 years ago still there?

Big marbles are easy to use, absolutely invincible in the world!

...Yeah, kind of cheating.After all, big marbles... Big marbles beat small marbles, just like adults and children...

Back on the bench by the lawn, Lu Zhi leaned on the back of the chair and sighed with some emotion.

Another pear was handed over.

"Thank you, Miss Zheng." Lu Zhi grabbed the pear and bit it down.

Juicy and sweet.

"he……"

Dean Zheng's eyes wandered far away, and fell on the not-so-young friend among the children.

"Your friend, isn't it...?" Dean Zheng showed a slightly subtle expression.

"Yeah." Lu Zhi knew what she was referring to, he gnawed on a pear and said with a smile, "Autism."

autism.

As the director of the Children's Welfare Institute, Aunt Zheng knows exactly what autism is.

She has seen too many children who are either physically disabled or mentally disabled.

So is autism.

These years are less.In the early years, many children with autism were regarded as "mentally retarded", or abandoned, or trafficked.All in all a bad experience.

"Would it be inappropriate for you to do this?" Dean Zheng tried to be as tactful as possible, but still had to firmly express his position, "Can he understand the... relationship between you?"

"He's an adult." Lu Zhi smiled with a clear expression on his face, "Sister Zheng, I know what you're worried about. I didn't force him, coax him, or induce him. After all, I came from the army.I still have some sense of morality. Sister Zheng, I never bullied him."

"..." Dean Zheng didn't know what to say for a while.

Lu Zhi's gaze also became distant.Looking at Jiang Yao tenderly.

On the flat ground over there, several children were yelling for the marbles Jiang Yao hit.I can't believe he did it so well the first time he played it.

"Look, he's very smart." Lu Zhi looked at Jiang Yao, his eyes and tone couldn't help becoming gentle even though he was so far away, "He's a quick learner and very sensible. He doesn't live independently either.The problem ... he's been getting better and he's trying to come out of that hood."

"But he..." Dean Zheng still hesitated to speak.

"I know." Lu Zhi's eyes were still focused on Jiang Yao, like a lens that automatically adjusts the focus. His eyes naturally focused on that person, and everything else around him was automatically faded.

"He has autism, but he also has feelings. Even, his feelings are purer and stronger than ordinary people."

"I have thought about this question countless times. I want to wait until his condition is better... Although it is said that this disease is not possible to be completely cured, maybe a miracle will happen to him? Or, at least it will be better... At leastLet him understand what love really is."

"But I suddenly realized that I can't actually answer this question."

"It's embarrassing to say..."

Lu Zhi touched his nose, and a gentle embarrassment appeared in his eyes again.

"I can proudly say that I am a veteran, and I am a mature man with decent financial ability. But when it comes to falling in love... how much better am I than him?"

"I'm as blank as he is on this one. We're both learning."

"What's more, we all..."

Having said that, Lu Zhi suddenly stopped.

"You all, what?" Dean Zheng asked curiously.

Lu Zhi looked at Jiang Yao from a distance, and let out a long breath for a long time.

"We don't know what will happen tomorrow." Lu Zhi smiled faintly, "Maybe there will be some unforeseen accident, maybe the end of the world? I don't want to regret it at that time, why did I run away, why did I shrink back."

"..." Dean Zheng was silent for a long time, then smiled, "You think clearly."

"That's right, I've struggled with it for a long time."

Lu Zhi was a little shy, but also a little proud—looking at Jiang Yao from afar with the kind of eyes that were obviously in love.

"We've been together for several years. It's only today that I mustered up the courage to meet my parents, hehehe."

"..."

Once again, Dean Zheng laughed at his silly appearance in love.

However, it has been "several years", and they are still in a state of love...shouldn't it be bad?

"Then where is your father?" Dean Zheng asked this naturally.

"Well, I will take him there." Lu Zhi scratched his head, "But it may take a while. Today is too late."

Today is too late, there is an hour left in their vacation.

The world needs saving, until next time.

Next time, take Jiang Yao back to meet his adoptive father.

——Lu Zhi was adopted when he was seven years old.At that time, because Lu Zhi refused to leave the orphanage, there was a big disturbance.

Later things were explained clearly.Seven-year-old Xiao Lu Zhi realized his recklessness and came to the door to apologize.

The little boy who apologized voluntarily but still had a stinky expression became a new member of this military family.

The adoptive father is a resident soldier and is away from home all year round.

The adoptive mother was in poor health and passed away a few years later.

Under the influence of his adoptive father, Lu Zhi joined the army and became a glorious special soldier.

This is all for later.

Right now, we need to hurry up and go back to duty.

Lu Zhi got up and said goodbye to Dean Zheng.

Then he walked towards Jiang Yao not far away.

...Jiang Yao lost everything in the end.

Seeing Lu Zhi approaching, the children triumphantly announced to him what a huge debt Jiang Yao owed for glass marbles here.

Lu Zhi was dumbfounded.

"You are being bullied like this by the kids!" Lu Zhi was shocked, "I just saw that you are quite good at fighting!"

"..." A blush appeared on Jiang Yao's face.

After receiving Lu Zhi's promise to "pay off the debt next time", the children cheered and dispersed.

Lu Zhi wanted to take him away, but Jiang Yao grabbed his sleeve and pointed at the big tree.

"Lu Zhi?" In a puzzled tone.

Lu Zhi: "?"

With the same puzzled eyes, he looked in the direction of his fingers.

I understood immediately.

... On the tree, at a height of about two meters, there is an inconspicuous character engraved.

"straight".

One stroke at a time, written hard and seriously.

It seems that at the first stroke, discovered that the bark of this big tree is tough, and it is not so good for lettering.But still bit the bullet and carved it.

There is a kind of innocence and persistence like a primary school student.

Lu Zhi: "..."

Seeing that he was silent, Jiang Yao thought that he didn't understand what he meant, so he tried to repeat it again:

"Lu Zhi?"

Lu Zhi understood.

What Jiang Yao meant was, did you engrave this?

"Yes, I didn't expect you to discover all of this..." Lu Zhi coughed, a little curious, "How did you know?"

Lu Zhi originally thought that Jiang Yao would say that the children who played marbles together told him, or he guessed it casually.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yao said:

"Backtracking."

Through "backtracking", Jiang Yao saw the scene where the seven-year-old Lu Zhi stood on tiptoe and carved letters on the big tree stroke by stroke.

Lu Zhi: "Didn't it be said that talents should not be used?"

Jiang Yao blushed a bit: "I want to see it."

Lu Zhi: "What do you want to see?"

Jiang Yao: "When you were young."

Lu Zhi: "..."

Jiang Yao didn't know what to think of, his crow's eyelashes blinked, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"So cute," he said.

Lu Zhi: "..."

Also blushed.

So, beside the bench at the other end of the garden, Dean Zheng, who hadn't gone far, saw the couple who had a good relationship under the big tree.

The big one hugged the little one up and asked the little one to reach for something on the big tree.

what?

Dean Zheng couldn't see clearly.Maybe it's the cicada lying on the bark?

Not long.

Dean Zheng smiled, shook his head and left.

That character was engraved at a height of more than two meters.Jiang Yao couldn't reach it.

If talent is used, there are countless ways to reach Jiang Yao.But he didn't.

Lu Zhi supported his waist and lifted him up so that he could reach the word with his hand.

Why is it "straight"?

Because the seven-year-old Xiao Lu Zhi has just learned this word.

He felt that the characters were many horizontal and many vertical, thick and long, and straight.

handsome!

He announced to the children around him: I'm going to change my name in the future, don't be that obsessive, but be straight!

And under the envious eyes of the children, stand on tiptoe, stretch out your hand, and engrave your favorite words on the tree with arrogance.

... Fortunately, forgot about it later.

I can only say, really, fortunately forgot.

After all, Lu Zhi...

Not straight at all!