The photo album Zhang Tan and Xiaobai opened was given to Zhang Tan by Teacher Jiang before leaving. The photos in it were all about Xiaobai.
The photo album is not thick, only 10 pages, plus the back cover and front cover.
There are not many photos, they were all taken casually with a mobile phone, and some of the photos are blurry, and there is no emphasis on aspect ratio, color saturation, etc.
Thanks to the popularity of mobile phones nowadays, if it were more than ten years ago, many people would not have a single photo of their childhood. At that time, it would not be easy to go to a photo studio to take a photo.
The two of them opened the cover, and the first thing they saw was a little one wrapped in swaddling clothes. She looked like a little mouse, with a wrinkled face and hair stuck to her forehead, with messy locks. She closed her eyes
The eyes seem to want to open, but they are not strong enough, showing a struggling and weak look, and the whole thing is like a piece of white paper that has been crumpled into a ball.
This little person - or it would be more appropriate to call it a little life, is grinning and crying, exposing its tender gums.
"Which pot of baby is this?" Xiaobai asked in surprise. Her questioning eyes revealed that she was not ignorant, but she couldn't believe it.
“This is you, when you were just born.” Zhang Tan said.
Xiao Bai held the photo album hard, stared at the already yellowed photo with wide eyes, and moved closer, trying to see any trace of himself.
“It’s not too cute at all.” Xiaobai said after repeated research that she disliked the wrinkled doll.
Zhang Tan smiled and said: "Children are always like this when they are born. They are already very cute."
The little white head in the photo is long, flat, and collapsed.
Xiaobai studied it in surprise for a long time, and finally had to accept that this was her fact, and was amazed. She especially minded the little baby's head, which was flat and slumped, not as cute as the watermelon head she is now.
“Let’s look at the next page.” Zhang Tan turned to the next page.
On the first page, there is only a photo of Xiaobai just after he was born. On the second page, there are three photos. One of them is wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying on the bed, with big eyes staring at the camera. The other one shows Xiaobai already able to stand.
She is holding the legs of the table, but she can't walk yet. The third picture shows her leaning slightly, lowering her head and taking steps.
“This is me!” Xiaobai pointed at the three photos and told Zhang Tan. She had grown a little longer in the photos, but her eyebrows were still hers, so Xiaobai recognized them quickly.
“This is when you were very young,” Zhang Tan said.
"Why am I so small?" Xiaobai was surprised that she was so small back then. She lowered her head and looked at herself. She was very big, especially her belly, which was bulging from eating too much. She quickly sucked it in and
Suck it in with your bulging belly, otherwise Boss Zhang will laugh when he sees it. You can't turn it into a pomegranate.
The two of them looked through the photos, and there were two of them where Xiaobai was fighting.
One picture shows Xiao Bai and a little boy pulling each other and fighting. The other picture shows Xiao Bai's hair messy, his nose bleeding, his clothes unzipped, dirty and dusty, and he looks miserable after the fight.
Come on.
Zhang Tan asked curiously: "Did you win or lose?"
Xiaobai pretended to be engrossed in looking at the photo album and didn't hear Zhang Tan's question. He just rolled his eyes and glanced at him with his peripheral vision. He didn't say anything and chose to pretend to be deaf and mute. Who took the photo?
Well! Taking pictures of such an embarrassing thing, oh, she was so annoyed.
Judging from the photo, this probably happened when Xiaobai was four or five years old, so it can be inferred that it was taken by Malanhua. If it was Teacher Jiang, she would definitely pay attention to whether Xiaobai was injured first, but only Malanhua would
Take a photo first, keep it as a souvenir, and get the handle so that you can laugh at Xiaobai in the future.
I have finished looking at the photos. There are not many, less than 20, but they record Xiaobai’s complete journey from birth to now.
The igloo fell into silence. Xiaobai glanced at Zhang Tan and happened to catch his eye. He couldn't help but laugh.
Zhang Tan said: "In a blink of an eye, you will be 6 years old."
Xiaobai was lying on the big bed, rolled over, and after hearing this, he turned over and sat up: "You are still in your 20s! You are such an uncle."
Zhang Tan: “Haha, do you know how I got your photo?”
“I don’t know, what do you think?”
“Your grandma gave it to me.”
“Grandma, why don’t you give it to me?”
“Haven’t you seen it?”
“There is no thiophene.”
“Is this the first time?”
“No, I don’t even know how to cry.”
“Are you sleepy?”
“I’m very energetic.”
Zhang Tan saw Xiaobai lying down, and he also lay down, looking up at the boundless starry sky, and couldn't help but sigh: "We are like frogs at the bottom of a well."
“Qimaoer? What the hell is Qimaoer?”
“Haven’t you heard the story of the frog in the well?”
“Cheng Chengmo never told me.”
The biggest source of her story is Cheng Cheng.
Before she left her hometown, her grandma often told her stories. She couldn’t remember those years clearly, but the stories she told and every night she spent telling them were still clearly imprinted in her heart, making them unforgettable.
Grandma told her "Snow Child", "Duck Bridge", "Little Deer Elf", "Tadpole Looking for Mom"... she told her many, many stories, and she remembered all these stories. She gave Xi
She told her son, told it to Cheng Cheng... and told herself that when she was lonely and sad, when she was locked up at home alone, she would tell herself stories. Those stories that her grandma had told her, she told them over and over again.
Listen to yourself.
After living with my aunt, my aunt never told stories, even if she begged, it was no use.
Over time, she understood that it wasn’t that her aunt didn’t want to tell, but that she didn’t know how to tell. There was too little ink in her stomach to hold a few stories.
Sometimes she wouldn't sleep at night and would make a lot of noise, so her aunt would tell a strange story from her growling stomach. They were all ghost stories, specially designed to scare children, so that she could lie down in bed, stay still, and go to sleep quickly.
.
After she entered the Little Red Pony, she tried her best to read picture books and find stories, but she didn't know a few words. It took a long time to read one or two books. The one she read over and over again the most was "The Hungry Instigator"
》. That greedy little snake is so funny. Every time she holds that picture book, she opens a page at random, looks at a clip or an illustration, it makes her laugh for a long time.
Little Red Horse has so many picture books. She doesn’t know the words, but she can read the illustrations and even make guesses. She can read them with gusto every night.
“I’ll tell you about “The Frog at the Bottom of the Well.”
Suddenly there was a croaking sound in the igloo, Xiaobai puffed up his cheeks, imitated the croaking of a frog, and laughed.
“You can still croak a frog,” Zhang Tan said.
“I can still bray as a donkey, do you want to listen?”
“Then listen.”
Xiaobai laughed loudly and imitated two donkey brays.
“Like?”
“I thought there was a little donkey in our igloo.”
“Hahaha~~This is my strength, Boss Zhang. Let me tell you, I can also bark like a tiger, a big bad wolf, oooo, oooo~”
“Do tigers and wolves both howl?”
“It’s true, it’s true, it’s all howling.”
“What else would you call me?”
“Crow the cock.”
“Dudududu, is that so? I can do it too.”
“Hahaha~~I can also crow a big rooster.”
“Then call and listen.”
“Everyone is big, everyone is big~~”
“That’s awesome.”
“Xiaobai can also sing.”
“A song to put children to sleep?”
“I’ve coaxed Liliu.”
“Do you still need to coax Liuliu to sleep?”
“Hahahaha~~~Boss Zhang, don’t you like Liliu? Liliu is very cute, she’s just a little naughty, she’s still a baby.”
“She is really cute, I like her very much.”
“Hey, who else do you like?”
“Xi’er also likes you, Cheng Cheng, Dudu, and Xiaomi...”
“Everyone likes you!”
“But I like you the most.”
“I love you so much, don’t you?”
“Hahaha, yes, you are so cute.”
Xiao Baile is kicking his feet.
Zhang Tan added: "Speaking of singing, do you want to sing one?"
“Hey, what do you want to hear?”
"casual."
“Then I’ll sing my strengths to you.”
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
"Tang Monk is riding a horse, and behind him is Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong, running fast, is followed by a pig monster. Pig monster, with a long nose, is followed by Monk Sha. Monk Sha, holding a gong, is followed by an old witch.
The old witch is really bad, she deceived Monk Tang and the eight monsters. Monk Tang and the eight monsters were so confused that they couldn't tell whether they were humans or monsters. They couldn't tell the difference, so they were fooled. Thanks to Wukong's bright eyes. His eyes were bright, glowing golden, and he held them high.
Raise the golden cudgel. The golden cudgel has the power to sweep away all demons and ghosts."
Zhang Tan could not help but applaud. Xiaobai actually memorized so many words and could sing every word without missing a beat.
“Does it sound good?” Xiaobai asked softly.
“It sounds very, very good. You are so amazing. I can remember it for so long.”
“I’m so awesome.”
“It’s really awesome.”
“Hahahaha, Boss Zhang, what kind of songs do you know?”
“I know a lot, do you want to hear it?”
“I’m free to do whatever I want~”
“Look at the many stars above our heads and this scene, I will sing a song "Stars Light Up" for you."
“Give it to me?”
“Give it to you.”
“If you want it, you must get it~Sing it quickly.”
“The stars light up the lamps and illuminate my door
Let the lost children find their way back
The stars light up the lamp and illuminate my future
Use a little light to warm the child's heart."
Xiaobai applauded and cheered very much.
“Is it okay?”
“This is your strength.”
“That’s true.”
“Boss Zhang, what else can you do?”
“I can tell stories.”
“I want to hear Sidda and Balu.”
“Castle in the Sky, right? You’ve listened to it seven or eight times, and you still want to listen to it. Where do you start?”
“Theda’s spaceship is going to fall.”
“Okay, let’s start from here. Their spaceship encountered a huge tornado...”
Happiness comes from listening to stories, and Xiaobai’s eyes become brighter and brighter.
After finishing the story of "Castle in the Sky", Zhang Tan asked Xiaobai if she still wanted to hear it. Xiaobai said she still wanted to hear it, so he told her "Frozen" again. She lived in an igloo and listened to this story, especially
The occasion.
The more Xiaobai listened, the more energetic he became, without any trace of drowsiness.
Very few people would tell her bedtime stories. Grandma was one of them. After thinking about it, the other one was Boss Zhang in front of her.
Auntie is a black person.
Uncle is a fool.
After finishing "Frozen" and answering Xiaobai's "One Hundred Thousand Whys", Zhang Tan sat up and poured himself a glass of hot water. His mouth was a little dry.
“Xiaobai, do you want to drink?”
“What should I do if I wet the bed?”
“It’s okay, it will freeze.”
“Hahahaha~~”
Zhang sighed and moistened his throat, lay back on the bed, leaned against the bedside, and raised his head slightly to look at the boundless starry sky.
“Xiaobai, do you still want to hear stories?”
“Boss Zhang, do you have any stories?”
“I am the king of stories. I have any story you want to hear.”
“Boss Zhang~”
"Um?"
“Why are you so nice to me?”
“I’m your old man.” After Zhang Tan finished speaking, he was worried that Xiaobai would think he was joking like last time, so he immediately added, “I’m not joking, I’m serious.”
The igloo suddenly fell into silence. The wall lamp had been turned off, leaving only the small night light near the floor. The starry sky above the head looked particularly bright. The starlight was scattered on the glass dome, and then penetrated through the dome.
Go to the igloo and spread it to every corner, like a hazy veil covering the two people in the igloo.
Xiaobai suddenly sat up, raised his body, looked at Zhang Tan in shock, and met Zhang Tan's eyes. Just when Zhang Tan thought she was going to cry and call the old man, she made a face, stuck out her tongue at him, and slightly
After a while, he hid himself under the quilt again, even covering his head.
Zhang Tan: “…”
“Don’t you believe what I said?” Zhang Tan asked.
Xiaobai stopped talking, and there was a rustling sound coming from the quilt, as if he was grinding his teeth, or as if he was eating pomegranates. Immediately, a small head emerged from the quilt, and in the night under the starlight, those bright eyes
His big eyes flickered, staring blankly at the glass dome, like a little astronomer.
But Zhang Tan noticed that the corner of Xiaobai's eyes glanced towards him. Even now, when he was looking at her, she was still peeking at him with her corner of the eye, but except for her eyes, no other parts of her body were visible.
Moving, pretending.
“Why didn’t you speak? Are you scared?” Zhang Tan asked.
Xiaobai still lay motionless.
Since she didn't speak, Zhang Tan talked to himself. He had already started talking, so he finished it all at once. The showdown was tonight, which was planned.
“I want to tell you about your mother and I.” He said, his eyes rolled and he peeked more, but his body remained motionless, pretending to be possessed.
“Your mother used to work on West Chang’an Street, and I lived near Xiaohongma, so I got to know her. She is a very gentle girl…”
Zhang Tan told the story briefly, leaving out the complicated matters between adults.
The stars in the igloo are dotted, and the silence outside the igloo makes them seem to be primitive and integrated into nature.
After finishing speaking, the igloo was quiet for a while, and Xiaobai finally spoke.
“Then why don’t you want me?”
She is very upset about the fact that she has no parents since she was a child.
“I didn’t know you existed. I only found out about you last year. You turned out to be my doll.”
"……oh."
“Do you have anything to ask?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Boss Zhang.”
Zhang Tan couldn't laugh or cry: "I'm not kidding, I'm serious. Several people said that we look alike."
“Dudu and Liliu are also very similar.”
“That’s different, they are just fat. Your grandma and your uncle and aunt all know that I am your old man.”
“Huh, that’s a lie.”
“Would you like to call and ask?”
Xiaobai was silent for a moment, and suddenly said loudly: "I want to sleep with you! I won't talk to you -"
Her tone was filled with anger, and she burrowed her head into the quilt again.
No matter what Zhang Tan said to her, she ignored him and seemed to be sleeping.
“Okay, let’s not talk anymore.”
There was a popping sound in the quilt, and Xiaobai farted, quickly rubbed his head out of the quilt, and took several deep breaths silently.
She turned over and lay on her side, with her back to Zhang Tan, not knowing what she was thinking.
Zhang Tan didn't feel sleepy at all. He didn't know how much time had passed in the dark night. Suddenly he heard a little movement from Xiaobai next to him. There was a rustling sound in the quilt. It soon became silent. But after a while, he heard a sound.
Slight suppressed sobs and hiccups could be heard from time to time.
Zhang Tan raised his upper body and leaned in front of Xiao Bai. Through the dim light of the light blue stars, he saw this little man raising his hands to wipe his tears, his mouth pursed, and his whole little face was wrinkled, so similar.
The photo of her when she was just born showed a wronged look.
Her eyes, which always shone with perseverance, were now surrounded by countless teardrops and shrouded in other complex emotions. Zhang Tan could not explain it, and only felt uncomfortable in her heart.
Some people say that tears will overflow into the eye sockets only when they cannot be held in the heart. Only when the eye sockets cannot hold the tears will they flow to the eyes, nose, and mouth, and then flow into the hearts of others.
At this moment, the tears in Xiaobai's eyes were broken, and large ones were pouring out. He couldn't wipe them away no matter how hard he wiped them off. His little face was already wet. He had been crying for a long time, and he was already choked with tears.
She just cried silently in the night. If Zhang Tan hadn't been awake and focused most of his attention on her, he might not have noticed it. She might have cried silently all night.
Zhang Tan couldn't help but think sadly, in the six years she had gone through, there had been many nights of silent crying like tonight. At that time, who was by her side, who would hold her in his arms and tenderly
To comfort her? Or, she would just cry like this all night and rely on herself to heal.
Xiaobai didn't even look at Zhang Tan. He put his hands on his face and kept wiping the disobedient tears, but he couldn't wipe them all.
“Are you feeling aggrieved?”
Zhang Tan stretched out his hand to hold her in his arms, but Xiaobai clenched his fist and opened her away. When he stretched out his hand again, he was punched a few more times, hugged, and beaten again...
“I hate you!”
Xiaobai roared angrily and hid sideways at the other end of the bed. His little body huddled in the corner, shivering.
