C84

Mu Huainan asked the shell if it had given the turtle a name.

Mu Huainan thought it was strange, "Why don't we give it a name? Could it be that we will always call it 'Little Turtle'?"

Because Mu Huainan's childhood name was A Nan.

Therefore, the tortoise was still called the tortoise. At that time, Mu Huainan was very busy with studies, and the majority of his time was spent with the little tortoise.

Sometimes, when Mu Huainan didn't go to study late at night, he would come to the grass field to look for the shell to play first. He would always see the shell's tiny figure being dragged endlessly by the dusk.

Mu Huainan always hid behind the tree and watched the turtle walking too slowly. The shell would sometimes stop and wait, and sometimes, the shell would gently pinch the turtle's shell from behind to pick it up, place it on the rock, and knock the joints on the turtle's shell. That scene was both warm and beautiful.

This kind of day continued for a long time. Mu Huainan's only hope every day was to meet the shell at dusk.

But good times are always short, finally from one day to the next, the shell never appeared again.

After that, Mu Huainan returned to his previous life. He watched the sunset all by himself and he piled up stones. He sat there like a statue.

The quieter and lonelier it was, the more he felt the importance of the shell to him.

He would occasionally remember that when he first met the shell, he rarely went out, especially when it was a waste of time to walk. After all, in these few hours, he could read more and learn more.

Hmm, he was such a boring person.

However, that day, because he had received news of his grandfather's death, he felt a little uncomfortable. He was afraid that he would cry, yet he did not want to expose his weakness in front of others. Therefore, he wanted to go out for a walk by himself, and just happened to meet the shell.

Since he was young, in his entire family, only his grandfather was sincere towards him. Mu Huainan understood, and he understood. Grandfather left, probably worried that he would be alone, so he sent the shell to accompany him.

But the shell was gone.

The sun was setting in the west, and there were a lot of sad people who had their intestines cut off.

Mu Huainan recalled that when he was very young, if he felt wronged from being bullied, he would never speak. Grandfather would make him a bowl of beef noodles.

The beef noodle soup was very fragrant. It was hot and the noodles were very strong.

Every time he ate a bowl of noodles while frowning and frowning, the scalding hot noodles would slide down his throat and his entire body would heat up. From the tip of his tongue to his bone marrow, it was as if all the cells in his body were suddenly opened up.

Thinking back to the past, Mu Huainan knew that he had too many things that he needed to part with, but he couldn't bear to part with one.

He didn't know when that would happen, but he knew that he would eventually encounter warmth again.

Although his grandfather was no longer around, Mu Huainan remembered the method of using beef noodles. In the past, when he was helping in the kitchen, he always remembered his grandfather's next steps. So he used his pocket money to go to the supermarket to buy the raw materials and decided to do the same.

He had even bought a dark blue porcelain bowl carved with flowers for the purpose of serving beef noodles.

When he was done, a man sat on a rock under the setting sun with two bowls. There are two stones, which used to sit there with the shell. Now, it was empty except for a bowl of beef noodles that he had just scooped up.

Actually, Mu Huainan had always wanted to personally make a bowl of noodles for the shell. He also wanted to see her drenched in sweat.

However...

The teenager, Mu Huainan, turned his head to look at a rock at the side.

He couldn't help it, the sun was just beginning to cry.

But it was completely silent.

He was always like this. If he liked it, he wouldn't say it. If he didn't want to say what he wanted to say, he didn't want to say what he didn't want to say.

People whose hearts were in disarray often said nothing.

He scooped up a handful of chopsticks, and in the hot fog he saw the sunset slowly and silently on the horizon.

Swallowing it in big gulps, the noodles were no longer hot, but they were somewhat bitter.

Mu Huainan didn't know why.

The story stopped here. I thought it was over and raised my head to look at Mu Huainan. He had his eyes closed and was frowning deeply.

I raised my hand and slowly smoothed out the creases between his eyebrows.

Seeing him open his eyes, an unconcealable sadness could be seen within his beautiful eyes.

I feel a little bloat in my chest

He lightly called out, "Uncle Huainan." He took my hand and held it to my heart. "Have you seen shells since?" I asked.

Mu Huainan thought for a while before he shook his head.

But when he opened his mouth, the first sentence that came out of it was …

"See you again. It will be autumn in a few months."

I lay in his arms and listened.

In the autumn, it was the last time Mu Huainan visited that field. That year, he was seventeen years old and planned to go to Paris to study at a decent university.

He was surprised to see the shell crouching by herself in the middle of the playground. She walked over and saw her counting ants.

"Shell." He called to her, but she ignored him.

Did he not hear it?

he cried again.

It was only when he squatted beside her, looking very closely at her, calling her name, that she finally raised her head.

"Nan?"

When she called him, her eyes were filled with hesitation and strangeness, causing Mu Huainan to be stunned for a long time before nodding lightly. "It's me," he said.

The shell stood up, revealing the little turtle behind it. She followed the rope and picked it up, and with both hands, she brought it in front of Mu Huainan and said, "This is your turtle, I'll return it to you now."

Mu Huainan did not pick it up.

"This is your gift."

"I don't want to raise it anymore, but if you don't want it, then I'll throw it away."

Mu Huainan's expression shook slightly.

He took the turtle, carefully untied the rope from his feet, and put it in his pocket.

Mu Huainan did not inquire about the shell's whereabouts during this period of time, nor did he blame her for suddenly disappearing.

He didn't want to say it, and he didn't want to force her.

"You can hide with me," said the shell.

Mu Huainan smiled as he replied.

When the game started, Mu Huainan covered his eyes with his hands and counted to ten. He started to look for someone, but he did not find her. She had searched the entire grassland, but no one responded to her name being called anywhere near him.

Mu Huainan thought that he probably went back home.

The next day, Mu Huainan went to the supermarket in the morning to buy ingredients.

At the moment, Mu Huainan's mood was extremely soft. He looked at the little turtle lying on the table beside him without moving and could not help but laugh.

He must have taken him for a day, because he was exhausted.

Mu Huainan busied himself in the kitchen for the entire afternoon. When the beef noodles were done, he took a sip secretly and saw that his cooking skills were becoming more and more similar to his grandfather's.

He put the beef noodle into the bowl he had specially bought and sprinkled the soup with a handful of green leaves. It was clean and simple, just like his heart to the shell.

Mu Huainan brought the beef noodles and the little turtle, who didn't know whether he had rested or not, along the way, the beef noodles smelled good. He sat on the rock and waited.

He couldn't help but let out a sigh when he saw the little turtle lying on a nearby rock.

This kind of weather was very suitable for drinking a bowl of beef soup. However, when he opened the lid of the bowl, there was not even a trace of hot air.

Mu Huainan stood up from the rock and walked in front of the little turtle. Squatting down, he used a spoon to gently scoop a spoonful of the cold beef noodle soup.

Mu Huainan's eyes were moist and his voice was trembling. He probably knew that in the future, that girl would not even appear again.

He said, "Have a taste, shell."

It sniffed and walked away.