N City Prison is located at the junction of the main city and districts and counties.There used to be a cotton yarn factory nearby, but after the reform of the system, its efficiency went from bad to worse, and it failed to support it and closed down a few years ago.As a result, the prison has instead become the main source of income for local residents, and nearby restaurants and small hotels are all dependent on prison guards and family members who come to visit the prison.

Li Xuan arrived a little late today, and there were already quite a few people standing at the gate of the prison.

A young man stepped out of the prison gate just now, and before taking two steps, he knelt down with a plop.The gray-haired old man on the opposite side should be his mother, who stumbled up and smashed him on the back with a walking stick.It's just that they didn't really touch it and threw it away. The two mothers cried together.

The prison guard was probably not surprised by such a scene, and closed the iron gate again indifferently.

Li Xuan stopped the car and wanted to go to the guard room to ask.As soon as looked up, saw a man squatting at the bottom of the wall, looking at the ground with his head buried. There was a little light between his fingers, which was half a cigarette butt.

Li Xuan pulled the door and got out of the car, frowned and shouted: "Zhao Jizhe."

As if frightened, the man trembled all over, raised his head suddenly, looked around in a daze, and finally landed on Li Xuan, standing up hesitantly for a while.Because legs were numb from squatting for too long, staggered a bit before walking towards Li Xuan.

At first he walked very procrastinatingly, hesitatingly, but he ran a few steps in a hurry halfway, and seeing that he was approaching, he unconsciously slowed down again.

"nineteen."

Zhao Jizhe stopped two steps ahead of Li Xuan, rubbed his hands on the seam of his trousers several times before he dared to look at him, and smiled embarrassedly: "...you, have you grown taller......you didn't come to visit the prison last month...I thought you weren't coming."

He said the last sentence very quietly, and after he finished speaking, he quickly glanced at Li Xuan, and then quickly lowered his head.

Although saw it through the glass in the prison.But after almost seven years, seeing him face to face again, Li Xuan actually felt very strange.

Zhao Jizhe's hair was shaved very short, with a thin layer of green skin.It is said that Li Xuan has grown taller, but he is actually himself.He was two years older than Li Xuan, but he had always been thin and small in childhood. When he first arrived in N City, others thought they were brothers, but they always regarded Li Xuan as the older one.Now that he has been in prison for so many years, he has exercised his physique. Although he is still thin, his height has grown to Li Xuan's brow bone.

Sensing Li Xuan's gaze, he seemed to become more uncomfortable, his whole body was a little stiff, and it took him a long time to move, but he pulled his sleeve down to block the faintly visible winding scar on his left arm.

"It's a bit congested to go out of the city in the morning." Li Xuan quickly withdrew his gaze.

"It's all right." Zhao Jizhe said quickly, and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it.

After standing silently for a while, Li Xuan took the whitish bag in his hand and threw it into the back row, "Get in the car first."

"Is this car yours?" Zhao Jizhe asked him in a low voice.

"Fasten your seat belt." Li Xuan typed the navigation, turned onto the next country road, looked back and saw that he was still holding the cigarette butt just now, and there was only a short piece left, which was almost burned, "The company's ....the cigarette is lost. Can you still smoke in it?"

"Given by the discipline." Cigarettes are a rare thing in prison, and Zhao Jizhe was a little reluctant to throw them away. He fumbled to put on his seat belt, but still hesitated.

"I lost it." Li Xuan repeated it again, casually grabbed a box of treasurer from the armrest box and threw it to him.

"This is very expensive..." Zhao Jizhe was holding the golden cigarette case, and he couldn't understand any English letters on it, "Are you working? What kind of job is it? I don't know, and I didn't listen to you."I said... you should still be studying? How did the family who adopted you treat you..." He asked a long series of questions carefully, and finally asked him, "Nineteen, youHow have you been for a few years?"

He also asked Li Xuan these questions when he visited the prison, and Li Xuan kept it brief every time.Just like now, he just answered ambiguously and said, "Do you want to eat now?"

"I'm not hungry... It's fine, it's up to you." He answered vaguely, and Zhao Jizhe's tone was somewhat disappointed.

"Then go back and talk about it first." Li Xuan didn't care, stepped on the accelerator and accelerated.

After all, the distance is tens of kilometers. Today is a working day, and the city is a bit congested. It is already noon when we drive to the alley, and it happens to catch up with the end of get out of class at the surrounding universities. There are densely packed students.

"Is your family here?" Maybe it was because he had been in prison for a long time, and when there were too many people, Zhao Jizhe became a little nervous, and instinctively leaned behind Li Xuan.

When Zhao Jizhe mentioned home, for some reason, the first thing that came to Li Xuan's mind was the figure of Sheng Min sitting in the living room reading the script.Since leaving that day, they haven't seen each other for nine days.He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch, nine days and seven hours.he thought a little self-deprecatingly.

"Nineteen." Zhao Jizhe didn't hear his answer, so he called him nervously in a low voice.

Only then did Li Xuan realize that he was too close to him, and distanced himself quietly: "I've set up a store here for you."

"Buy a store?" Walking to the entrance of the Internet cafe, Zhao Jizhe seemed to have not been able to digest the meaning of Li Xuan's words.

"Brother Xuan!" Li Xuan had said in advance that Zhu Yiyi had been waiting for a long time, and when he saw them coming, he rushed out to greet them.

"Your boss, Zhao Jizhe." Li Xuan pointed back.

"Hello boss." Zhu Zhou greeted with a smile.

"Hi, hello." Zhao Jizhe looked at the sign above his head and then at Zhu Zhou, feeling a little at a loss.

Zhu Zhou noticed his restraint, so he still asked Li Xuan: "Brother Xuan, have you eaten yet? Shall I order dinner?"

"Call him one." Li Xuan lifted the curtain, most of the seats in the store were filled with people, the smell of various instant noodles mixed together in the air, and the exhaust fan was always on, so it wasn't too difficultsmell.He took a napkin from the front desk and wiped the sweat on his neck, "Don't worry about me, I'm leaving soon."

"Where are you going?" Zhao Jizhe grabbed his sleeve upon hearing this.

Li Xuan frowned, pulled his arm out, and still said to Zhu Zhou: "Call for dinner." Then he looked at Zhao Jizhe: "You go upstairs with me first."

"This facade has been rented for ten years, and now there are still eight years left. I have already paid the rent in one lump sum, so you don't need to worry about it." Li Xuan turned on the air conditioner, "Basically, Zhu Zhou is in charge now, and there is another person with himYou will know when you see the shift shift. I have explained the basic situation in the store, and Zhu Zhou will explain it to you."

As he said, he took out a bank card from his pocket, "There are 20,000 now, and the password is six and one. In the afternoon, Zhu Zhou can take you to familiarize yourself with the surrounding environment and buy some daily necessities. Starting this month, the profit of Internet cafes will also increase."You will come here, your life should be enough."

Zhao Jizhe looked at him in a daze, and did not accept this card, and his expression was definitely not surprised.Li Xuan put the card on the table: "You can live here directly, Zhu Zhou's house is nearby, and you don't usually rest here. If you think it's a bit noisy and inconvenient, you can also rent a house next to it. It shouldn't be too muchExpensive, if you don’t have enough money, tell me.”

"Are you living at your adoptive parents' house?" After a while, Zhao Jizhe murmured, "...If you live alone, can I live with you..."

"You want to live with me?" Li Xuan was surprised, frowning.

"Is it not possible? Or is it inconvenient for you to be in a relationship?" Zhao Jizhe looked a little flustered, "Nineteen, have you got a girlfriend?"

It's okay if you don't mention it, but if you mention it, it will remind him of Sheng Min again.His complexion also sank, which startled Zhao Jizhe.

"I live in the company." Li Xuan was silent for a moment, then went to the side to get a glass of water.

"Oh." Zhao Jizhe was a little embarrassed.Picking up the card, he hesitated for a while and then put it down, "What do you mean by giving me this Internet cafe, I don't want..."

Li Xuan turned his head: "What's the point? You have to make a living. You don't want it? Why don't you go back to Qingshui Lane and continue messing around?"

He said this so bluntly that Zhao Jizhe turned pale.

Li Xuan calmed down and pressed his temple: "If you don't like Internet cafes, you can open other shops. But there are many students nearby, and the business of Internet cafes has been very good. You can try to run it for a while. Zhu Zhou used to work in a repair shop.I have done it before and know a little bit about technology. If you want to, you can learn from him... If you are interested, you can register for a class. In short, this shop is for you, and it is yours. Now that you have come out, you can’tStill the same as before."

He thought he was already very patient, but Zhao Jizhe's expression was even more ugly, and it took him a long time to force out a sentence: "You gave me this store, and you will leave me alone in the future?"

Li Xuan couldn't help but be taken aback by these words, and he couldn't understand it: "What else should I do with you?"

Zhao Jizhe was a little anxious when he heard the words: "But we used to stay together,...you are my younger brother, and we are each other's only relatives."

"I am an orphan and have no relatives, and so do you." Li Xuan cut him off and said calmly, "What's more, it was seven years ago, not seven days. Even brothers, when they grow up, they will have a family.".”

Zhao Jizhe bit his lip tightly and said nothing.

This attitude made Li Xuan feel a little annoyed and helpless: "I understand, you just came out and you are not used to it. This store is to give you a buffer. If you really don't like it, if you sell it later, the money will belong to you. We are friends., but you have to have your own life. I have my things to do, and you will have yours. No matter what you do in the future, whether you make new friends or even get married and have children one day, it is impossible to ask me for everythingYou decide?"

"You really don't care about me...you are not afraid that if I..."

"Say it again!" Li Xuanwen narrowed his eyes and pointed at him.

Zhao Jizhe lowered his head and stopped talking.

"You're an adult, you have your own judgment on what should and shouldn't be. Don't let it go, you have big ideas. I haven't controlled you before, and now it's even more impossible." Li Xuan took out the lighterPata lit a cigarette and took a deep puff, "But I warn you, if you go in for the second time, no matter whether it is the death penalty or life sentence this time, I will never catch you again. You want this store if you like it, don'tGet out! I don't owe you anything, stop fucking threatening me!"

"Nineteen. I... I said the wrong thing, don't be angry. That's not what I meant."

Li Xuan didn't say a word, and continued smoking one mouthful after another.

"I just feel that I don't know you at all now. I don't know what you do, what you do, where you get the money to open your store... When we were young, we clearly..."

"You know it was when you were young." Li Xuan pinched his cigarette, "It's only your first day out today, so I'll talk about it later. Besides, you don't need to know everything about me, just like yours, you don't have to tell me all about it.I will confess."

"But....."

"No, but." Li Xuan stood up, "I have something to do in the afternoon, so I'm leaving first. If you want me, you can call me, Zhu Zhou has my number."