Xu Tangcheng wanted to complete all the doctoral courses in the first year, so this semester has a lot of elective courses. He usually goes home at least once every other week, but after returning this time, he had to stay at school honestly for more than a month. It was not until Xu Tangxi's birthday that he skipped a class and went home. He bought the cake, and went to the cake shop next to No. 1 Middle School to buy the candle that Xu Tangxi liked.
Walking along the path beside the flowers to the cake shop, Xu Tangcheng suddenly saw a boy in a school uniform jumping off the high wall. The boy bent his knees to the ground, took a moment, stood up, lowered his head and brushed off the dust on his sleeves.
Unprepared, the boy raised his head and looked at Xu Tangcheng.
The school uniform of the third year of high school, a familiar face.
Xu Tangcheng took out the cigarette he had just put in his mouth, looked at him with a half-smile, and glanced at the wall again.
"I..." YiZhe said vaguely, seeing Xu Tangcheng's expression, he took an annoyed breath, "My stomach hurts, go buy some medicine."
As soon as he finished speaking, a schoolbag flew out and smashed it on YiZhe's shoulder without any respect.
"Depend on… "
Xu Tangcheng laughed out loud, his hand holding the cigarette trembling slightly.
YiZhe bit his lip and lowered his head. In Xu Tangcheng's eyes, he felt that he was really stupid to the extreme. All he wanted was to leave here quickly.
"I'm leaving first, Brother Tang Cheng."
Leaving such a sentence, he quickly picked up his schoolbag, stepped over the protective belt, strode to the side of the road, stopped a taxi, and fled.
Xu Tangcheng looked at his hurried back, silently shook his head and chuckled.
run what? He didn't say anything.
He took a few more steps forward, and looked up at the place where YiZhe had just jumped off—it was really not low, at least as far as he was concerned, he would be afraid of breaking his leg.
No. 1 Middle School has evening self-study. Xu Tangcheng sent a message to Xu Tangxi, asking her and the teacher to ask for leave and pick her up before the evening self-study. Xu Tangxi happily came out with a small schoolbag on his back, and when he got home, he saw the big cake and a table of dishes, and he was even more happy.
The family chatted until ten o'clock in the evening. Xu Tangxi said that high school life was very interesting, the class was not difficult, and he met many new friends. Before going to sleep, Xu Tangxi sneaked up to Xu Tangcheng and stretched out a finger to ask him if she could eat another small piece.
Xu Tangcheng personally cut a very small piece and gave it to Xu Tangxi. Xu Tangxi reluctantly took over the cake, and he did not forget to complain about Xu Tangcheng's fine knife skills.
While eating, he saw Xu Tangcheng cut off another large piece.
"What time is the evening self-study in the third year of high school?"
Xu Tangxi tilted his head and thought for a while: "It's 9:50. Day students in the first and second year of high school can leave at 9:20, and the boarding students and the third year in high school have to take another small self-study until 9:50."
Xu Tangcheng nodded, carefully put the big cake into a new paper plate, and put a fork in the blank.
"Go and deliver it to Yi Zhe," he handed the cake to Xu Tangxi, looked at his watch and said to himself, "Should come back now."
Xu Tangxi took small steps and knocked on the opposite door with the cake, but there was no movement for a long time. She put her ear to the door, it was quiet inside, there was no sound at all. As I was about to go back, I just heard the sound of the iron door in the corridor being opened. She took two steps and waited there quietly for a while, and sure enough, she saw Yi Zhe.
But she was taken aback by him.
As YiZhe walked up, he pulled the bandage on his arm, thinking that Zhao Weifan was a really unreliable woman, so she wrapped her arm into a big white elbow, or an elbow tied with a bow.
"Brother Yizhe." Xu Tangxi rolled his eyes and whispered, "Are you alright?"
YiZhe looked up, and the first thing he saw was the strawberry cake that was gently illuminated by the dim yellow light.
This is the first time he has eaten cake with such a small fork. Usually when a person celebrates a birthday, he either doesn't eat it or just takes a symbolic bite. This time he looked at the cake solemnly for a long time, then held the small fork in his uninjured left hand, and ate it clumsily bit by bit, scraped off the cream on the bottom of the plate, and carefully identified where it was. Raised words.
Hollyland.
The next day, YiZhe dragged his "bow-knot elbow" and rode his bike around the town for a full circle, but he walked all over the streets and alleys, but he didn't see the cake shop called "Hollywood". He later learned that Xu Tangcheng had bought it from Beijing and brought it back.
He had always felt that there was no difference where he was and what he did, but this small piece of cake made him suddenly think that it was still a little different.
In 2008, Yi Zhe went to university in Beijing. His first expense was to buy a small corner of strawberry cake at the "Hollywood" that Xu Tangcheng had been to.
Xu Tangcheng heard Xu Tangxi talk about Yi Zhe's injury, and sighed in his heart, thinking that when he met him today, he should be taken away, at least to save him a fight. He always knew that YiZhe was not a good student, but he had never fought, and he couldn't imagine YiZhe fighting. It wasn't until he saw with his own eyes that YiZhe smashed his fist at someone's face with his bloody hand, and then he suddenly felt that he couldn't let this boy go on like this.
One of Xu Tangcheng's friends came back from Yunnan that day. It just so happened that several classmates who had been mixed together happened to be at home on the weekend, so they made an appointment to get together. After dinner, several people ran to a nearby billiard hall.
On the weekend night, the billiards hall was extremely hot. The boss took them to the table that had been reserved in advance. Xu Tangcheng's eyes turned around and suddenly saw YiZhe.
There were a few students over there who looked like they were underage, with exaggerated hair color and bold clothes, and a few of them were smoking cigarettes. YiZhe didn't mix in, but sat quietly in the corner, leaning against the back of the chair and playing PSP.
It's just... Xu Tangcheng squinted and looked over, this kid actually smokes too.
YiZhe had both hands occupied, and only squeezed a cloud of smoke from the gap between his lips. A girl in black hot pants walked over and stretched out her hand with a smile, but was avoided just as she was about to touch YiZhe's cigarette. YiZhe raised his head, glanced at her lightly, took the cigarette from his mouth, and flicked the ash.
Pretty cool.
Xu Tangcheng, who watched this scene, didn't know what to think. Should he be pleased that he had a strong aura towards the children of his family, or should he be sad that he was so young and full of rage.
With his hands in his pockets, he strolled around leisurely.
"Dude, borrow a fire."
There was a lot of noise in the billiards hall, and Yi Zhe could only hear the content of this sentence, but could not identify who the owner of the sentence was. He had no problem with this sentence, but was very dissatisfied with the hand on his shoulder.
He freed one hand, took out the lighter from his trouser pocket impatiently, and handed it behind him without looking back. Unexpectedly, the person behind him would not pick it up, and that hand had no intention of putting it down.
GAME OVER.
One hand could not play the game, and the villain on the screen died tragically.
YiZhe's impatience caused by the hand resting on him immediately exploded. He stood up in a hurry, but when he saw the people behind him, he instantly died down and put out the fire.
Yi Zhe was dumbfounded for a moment before calling out, "Brother Tang Cheng."
The cigarette was still in his mouth, and when he said these three words, the half of the cigarette "clattered to the ground, which was described as tragic.
Xu Tangcheng tilted his head lazily and smiled at him under the shaking chandelier: "You want to hit me?"
YiZhe frowned, a little disappointed.
"No."
He bent down to pick up the cigarette on the ground and smothered it on the table next to the small coffee table. His long fingers held the cigarette hesitantly for a long time, and even squeezed out the shredded tobacco that had not been burned.
The shredded tobacco was scattered in a mess, which was annoying.
"Let's borrow a cigarette first, I'll see what you smoke."
Yi Zhe didn't move immediately, he looked at Xu Tangcheng who was still smiling, and couldn't figure out what attitude he was now, whether he was unhappy.
A boy who came with raised his eyebrows and leaned over, glanced at Xu Tangcheng, and asked Yi Zhe, who had a bad face, vigilantly, "What's wrong?"
"It's none of your business." YiZhe gave him a push, telling him what to do. Only when I turned around did I realize that the few people who were having a good time just now stopped playing, and were all staring coldly here, as if they were ready to fight at any time.
YiZhe felt even more frustrated. He took a step forward and handed out a pack of cigarettes.
Soft China.
Xu Tangcheng glanced at it, quite particular.
He rudely held the cigarette case in his hand, smoked one from it, and then hooked his hand towards YiZhe, saying simply and comprehensively, "Fire."
This time, Yi Zhe didn't listen to him—he didn't give Xu Tangcheng the lighter, but leaned over and lit him a cigarette.
When Xu Tangcheng lowered his eyes to join the fire, YiZhe kept staring at his face. It was the first time that YiZhe could even see his eyelashes so clearly.
It's long and nice to look at, especially when blinking.
Yi Zhe never realized how low his eyebrows were, until Xu Tangcheng waved his hand at him and took the package of soft China, Yi Zhe realized from the astonished eyes of others that he was probably too unlike his big brother just now. .
Xu Tangcheng fiddled with the bag of Zhonghua between his fingers all night, glancing at YiZhe from time to time. YiZhe was playing games most of the time, and occasionally he would get a burst of cheers when he hit the stage with two shots.
Xu Tangcheng looked sideways, thinking to himself why did he feel that YiZhe didn't exist
At eleven o'clock, the people in the billiard hall did not increase but decrease. When the door was knocked open, Xu Tangcheng was bending over, aiming at the last black ball on the table.
"Bang", the black ball is pocketed. Before he could applaud for himself, he heard a burst of exclamations. When he turned around again, he was almost stunned.
YiZhe's shoulders were full of broken glass, and the two groups of people rushed together quickly yelling and cursing.
No one knows how the chaos started. Everyone only knows that when they came to their senses, the seats had been smashed several times, and there were broken beer bottles and people with red eyes everywhere.
Xu Tangcheng watched helplessly as YiZhe knocked over someone with his bloody hands, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him in the face.
This kind of change is unfamiliar to Xu Tangcheng. Violent, ruthless, merciless, no matter what kind, it is far from the image in Xu Tangcheng's impression.
Xu Tangcheng immediately stepped forward, but was stopped by a friend on the side. He patted his friend on the shoulder and said, "There are children from my neighbor's house."
And the neighbor's child has red eyes.
He had been watching Xu Tangcheng who was playing billiards just now, and he didn't even hear the sound of the door being knocked open, nor did he hear his companion's reminder. Unprepared, he was stabbed in the shoulder by a beer bottle.
Xu Tangcheng used to hold YiZhe's waist and tried to drag him away, but the person in his arms kept trying to break free, until YiZhe's elbow hit Xu Tangcheng's eyes, Xu Tangcheng snorted in pain, and YiZhe finally understood, Who is holding you.
"What's wrong?" He turned around in panic, and saw that Xu Tangcheng's right eye was shedding tears, and it quickly turned red.
"I..." He was incoherent, but he didn't dare to touch Xu Tangcheng's eyes, "Let me see."
At this moment, the person the boss was looking for arrived, and several big men who looked fierce scolded a group of sluts in the room who were jumping up and down, smashing tables and chairs, and one of them knocked hard with an iron rod and shouted: "Fuck! Stop for me! Who the hell will move me again!"
Holding an ice pack, Xu Tangcheng dealt with the issue of compensation with the boss. Ignoring the wishes of his friends to take them to the hospital, he pulled Yi Zhe into his car. Sitting in the car, Xu Tangcheng threw the ice pack aside, turned on the lights, and turned the key.
"My house, your house, or the hospital, choose one." Xu Tangcheng looked ahead and added calmly, "But I don't think I or you can handle a shoulder full of glass ballast."
Ever since he got in the car, Yi Zhe didn't dare to come out, and kept glancing at Xu Tangcheng's tensed jaw from the corner of his eye. Anyone who is not stupid can see that Xu Tangcheng is angry now, no matter how much, at least a little. This was the first time he saw Xu Tangcheng showing such an angry look.
"Hospital." YiZhe answered quickly.
In the hospital, Xu Tangcheng kept frowning as he watched the doctor clean up Yi Zhe's wound, but Yi Zhe kept peeking at Xu Tangcheng. Occasionally, his eyes met, and YiZhe quickly lowered his head in a guilty conscience. Every time he lowered his head, he wondered, how could he be so unlucky, obviously he hadn't fought much for a while, but Xu Tangcheng met him once in a fight, and once he was caught, he was sure, and this time there was such an exciting one. This nurse is also very talkative. While cleaning him up, he kept saying, "Young people don't be so impulsive", "If there is an accident, it's a big deal", "A few days ago, I sent a man who was stabbed in a fight. , he almost didn't save him, his mother was going to cry to death."
She didn't say a word, Xu Tangcheng's eyebrows were even more raised. YiZhe looked at the nurse's closed mouth, and his heart was ashes.
After coming out of the hospital, Xu Tangcheng sat in the car and lowered the window. He took out a bag of Soft Zhonghua and asked Yi Zhe, "Do you want it?"
YiZhe was thinking about how to explain today's events to Xu Tangcheng. Hearing this, he reached out his hand subconsciously.
Xu Tangcheng hummed.
YiZhe quickly retracted his hand and shook his head, "No."
Xu Tangcheng got out of the car, stood beside the car and drew one before he got up again.
"Your eyes... you remember to apply it as the doctor said."
YiZhe clumsily searched for vocabulary and grabbed a nonsense sentence in his blank brain.
"Um."
Xu Tangcheng complied, and didn't mean to leave at all. YiZhe secretly clenched his fists and waited quietly for him to speak.
Xu Tangcheng did try to say something, but frankly, he had no such experience. Whether it was him or Xu Tangxi, they were well-behaved and sensible since childhood, never causing trouble, and none of his friends were used to solving problems with fists, so he never persuaded others not to fight all the time. And Yi Zhe is a neighbor, a younger brother whom he has seen often since he was a child. He is six years older than him, not his elder, nor his relative, or even a friend. He didn't feel that he was qualified to discipline him, but he didn't want to see this kind of change again.
"Easy."
"Yeah." YiZhe replied softly.
"Does it hurt?" Xu Tangcheng asked.
YiZhe shook his head: "It doesn't hurt."
Xu Tangcheng put his hand on the steering wheel and turned to look at the person beside him. It took a long time to speak again.
"You're in the third year of high school, don't you need to study?"
YiZhe didn't know what to say. In fact, his grades are not bad? Or is it that he doesn't like being at school
Xu Tangcheng didn't wait for an answer, and asked again, "Have you thought about going to college?"
YiZhe was stunned.
University, this is the word most often used by senior high school teachers. Even when they were in their senior year, the teacher asked each of them to write a wish on a sticky note in the shape of a leaf and stick it on the wall on the side of the classroom. There is a big tree attached to it, bearing the aspirations of the whole class.
Yi Zhe didn't write or post, so he was called by the head teacher to have a good training. But YiZhe was admiring the stupid bird outside the office window the whole time.
"If you don't like this place or your home, you can take the exam farther. Don't you miss your father and brother? Then you can go to Shanghai. If you want to know about various universities and majors, I can talk about it. listen to you."
Xu Tangcheng finally let go of his tense expression. He looked at YiZhe, who was silent and dazed. He stretched out his hand, patted his thigh twice, and asked him in a negotiating tone, "In less than a year, choose one of your own. If you want to major, go to the university you like, and live the life you like in the future, isn't it?"
like life.
In fact, when Yi Zhe was resting on his desk, he heard his classmates talk about college and all kinds of majors—I wanted to study medicine, but my parents said it was too tiring and hard; I wanted to study finance because I earned money I have a lot of money; my parents want me to study engineering, because I have skills that no one else can take away...
The lively discussions of others sometimes give YiZhe the illusion that everyone is expected.