Xie Lan slept very soundly until Zhao Wenying's low voice was heard outside the door.
He had a strange sleep, as if his whole body was bound, and it was difficult to move or open his eyes. He tried to open his eyes for a long time before he finally opened them a crack, allowing the scene in the room to come into view.
In his sight, a pair of round eyes like brown glass beads were close at hand, staring at him sharply and reservedly.
Xie Lan opened his eyes as wide as possible in an instant.
The big cat lay on his chest, with his little hands tucked into his chest, and put his face close to his nose, and sniffed.
Xie Lan: “!”
He was sure that the cat's whiskers were now resting on his cheek.
"How long have you been lying on me and staring at me?" Xie Lan was so shocked that she asked the cat.
The eldest cat remained reserved. If it spoke, the answer would probably be "all night."
Xie Lan: “…”
This cat might be Dou Sheng in disguise, and it has been secretly observing him all night.
He raised his arm with an effort to push the cat away and climbed down from the bed.
Zhao Wenying's voice sounded outside the door again, very cold.
"No, why keep a cat? I hate things that shed fur the most. If you want to keep one, then move out."
Dou Sheng said in the same low voice he used to coax Hu Xiujie, "Mom, just raise a very small one, like the three I just sent away."
Zhao Wenying sneered, "Do you think I don't know how big the orange cat will get?"
Keep a cat
Xie Lan suddenly remembered that Dou Sheng seemed to have said that the pet transportation company would come to pick up the four kittens early in the morning, and it sounded like the other kittens had all left safely.
He looked back at the person in the room: "He doesn't want to keep you here, does he?"
The cat boss was silent.
Dou Sheng sighed softly outside, "Mom, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Zhao Wenying, this cat is useful."
"What's the use? I don't care about you playing with stray cats with your friends every day, but you still want to keep a cat at home?" Zhao Wenying said firmly, "Besides, you will be away from home five days out of seven after living in the school. What should I do with the cat?"
Dou Sheng said, "The cleaning lady who comes to our house every day can feed it."
Zhao Wenying sneered, "You're just looking for something new for a while."
Xie Lan hesitated for a moment and carefully opened the door.
Dou Sheng's voice then became clear—"It's not me who wants to do this, it's Xie Lan who wants to keep a cat."
Xie Lan appeared at the door: "?"
"Hey, Lanlan." Zhao Wenying turned around and saw Xie Lan, and immediately hurried over. "I'm sorry, Auntie hasn't shown up since you were sick for so many days, so I sent the client away."
There was a large suitcase standing in the corridor outside the door. Zhao Wenying was wearing a long woolen windbreaker and a scarf, as if she had just returned early in the morning.
She walked up to Xie Lan and gave him an unexpected hug. She held Xie Lan's face in her hands and rubbed it between her palms.
Xie Lan's eyes widened: "Aunt Zhao, what are you doing?"
"Your face doesn't feel hot to the touch." Her slender, soft hand covered his forehead. "Your head isn't hot either. It should be healed soon."
Xie Lan: "...Aunt Zhao, let me go."
Xie Lan looked at his face in the reflection of the watch cover next to him to make sure that his face was not deformed. "I'm almost healed. It's okay."
"Auntie didn't take good care of you." Zhao Wenying sighed, "Oh, by the way, Douzi said you wanted to get a cat?"
Dou Sheng winked at Xie Lan from behind.
"Oh..." Xie Lan hesitated, "Yes... because..."
"Because he needs an emotional support." Dou Sheng immediately said, "China is his hometown and also a foreign land. Being alone in a foreign land, living under someone else's roof, it would be very uncomfortable if he got sick. This cat not only accompanied him to sleep and recuperate, but also helped him catch a bug last night."
Xie Lan's expression fell when he heard this.
He knew that the cat was transformed from Dou Sheng.
"Is that so?" Zhao Wenying paused, "But what about Lanlan going to college?"
Dou Sheng had already succeeded and made a "yeah" gesture behind Zhao Wenying. Zhao Wenying nodded and he became serious again. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe you will love it by then. If you don't, I will give it to fans again."
Zhao Wenying turned back with a cold face, "I think you still want to raise him."
"Even if I asked for it, I have to give it to Xie Lan." Dou Sheng sighed, "Mom, please."
As soon as he finished speaking, an orange shadow passed by in Xie Lan's peripheral vision. The cat boss held his tail high and walked gracefully between the three two-legged beasts. He walked to the stairs, sniffed the steps, paused, and quietly went back to Xie Lan's room.
Zhao Wenying compromised temporarily and urged the two younger ones to eat quickly and go to make up lessons.
Zhao Wenying bought breakfast downstairs when she came. Xie Lan tried a bite of tofu pudding which she had never eaten before and found it tasted wonderful.
Dou Sheng peeled an egg and said, "I won't go to math class today. I'll ask Lao Ma for the test paper and do it myself."
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, "Why?"
"I have a commercial manuscript for Weibo, about chocolate. I have to call the client in the morning to review the script and also open the package."
Xie Lan said "oh" and nodded.
It turns out that Party A is from the chocolate company.
It was a little late for class, so Xie Lan ate a few mouthfuls of food in a hurry, grabbed his schoolbag and walked out. As soon as he opened the inner security door of his house, he slammed on the brakes.
There was a small single-board cart in the elevator room, which was piled with express boxes. Xie Lan started counting from the bottom up, and only when he looked up did he finally count them all - 32 unopened express boxes.
Next to it was a pile of various unpacked cardboard boxes and express bags, with the unpacked items mixed in between.
"… "
I don’t know if it’s because I woke up too fast this morning that I had hallucinations.
Xie Lan seemed to have found several magical clothes in a pile of things that was comparable to a garbage dump.
Including but not limited to: shirts covered with chains, sweaters covered with tassels, and ripped jeans with a big skull on the back of the butt.
Two pairs of shoes were also thrown in there, one was a pair of high-top Martin boots, the rivets were denser than the sesame seeds on the sesame seed buns I had just eaten, and the other was a pair of old "white" sneakers, but the color of the old shoes was very special, not a dirty gray, but a bit like the bloodstains left at the crime scene.
Xie Lan was too late and rushed into the elevator without looking carefully.
On the way, he wanted to send a message to Dou Sheng to ask what was going on, but when he opened WeChat, he found that there were countless unread messages in the group.
In the early morning, in Class 4, he was tagged at least a dozen times.
Xie Lan's heart started to feel worse, and he thought that another group of teachers from various subjects had come to talk to him.
But he turned two pages before realizing something was wrong.
- vincent: Xie Lan's violin is really cool... omg
- Cherry: I'm stunned. A violinist is right next to me
- Croissant (Liu Yixuan): I started to think, is the violin suitable for home dance
- Dong Shuijing: After watching the fans’ recording, I can’t say anything except 666
- Mao Lengxue: So this is the world of the boss of Class 4? I... Forget it, I'll just follow 666.
Another string of emojis flashed below, with the demonic owl shaking its neck in unison, and a “666” on its head swaying along with it.
Xie Lan's eyes hurt from the emoticons. He quickly scrolled through the compliments interspersed in between, but didn't find the notice that the teacher invited him to have tea. Just when he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw another remarkable expression.
- In one word, Xie Lan Da Cao.
There were people following in formation below, and the entire screen was filled with “Xie Lan Da Cao”.
Xie Lan hesitated for a moment and poked open Dou Sheng’s small window: What is grass
Dou Sheng was probably busy, so he waited until Xie Lan entered the school before asking: Which grass are you talking about
Xie Lan was confused for a moment: Xie Lan, the grass.
Dou Sheng:
After a while, Dou Sheng seemed to have seen the class group and sent a voice message.
Xie Lan had already left the classroom. Too lazy to take out his earphones, he just put the phone to his ear and walked to his seat.
The cram school classroom is in the experimental building. Most of the students are already there and the teacher is preparing materials at the desk.
Dou Sheng's voice sounded in his ears, low and trying to be serious but seeming to be smiling.
"This grass has many meanings. Here it means that you are very powerful, just like the grass in spring that grows wildly."
Xie Lan nodded and asked again: Are you kidding me
rjjsd: If you don’t believe me, look it up in the Xinhua Dictionary. Grass is grass. This is just a metaphor.
Xie Lan felt relieved, found a seat and sat down, then opened the class group.
He thought for a moment and replied: Thank you everyone, and I'm glad to see you all.
The math competition training class was right next door. Just as Xie Lan sent the message, she saw Che Ming rushing past the door while swiping his phone. He tripped and slammed into the door of the Chinese classroom, falling flat on his face.
He didn't cry out in pain. He just sat there holding his phone and laughing for a long time, until tears came out and he pounded the floor with his fists.
All the teachers and students in the room were shocked.
A boy wearing thick glasses in front of Xie Lan lowered his head and asked in a low voice: "He is your math A, right?"
Xie Lan looked at Che Ming, who patted the dust off his butt and walked away with a grin on his face as if nothing had happened. He hesitated for a long time before he said "hmm".
"Math A is so lively." Glasses said with emotion: "It's great, you can study well and have fun at the same time."
Xie Lan: “… Yeah.”
In fact, he didn't know what happened to Che Ziming.
But he had a bad feeling, because at the moment when Che Ming fell, a burst of uniform and wild laughter suddenly rang out from next door.
The Chinese teacher sighed, "The students in the math competition next door are really noisy, students in the front row, please close the door."
The door closed and the world finally became quiet.
The teacher passed a stack of printed paper to the front row and said, "Just take a look at this activity. Today we will continue to talk about the organizational structure of arguments and evidence. We will spend a lot of time on this part because it is not only related to composition, but also to argumentative reading and even the social science reading. This is a basic class for Chinese language exams, not a basic class for literary literacy. The purpose is to thoroughly understand the Chinese language for the college entrance examination and try to get more points on the college entrance examination paper..."
The information was handed to Xie Lan, which was a list of extracurricular activities for the English-Chinese language course in the spring semester of 20xx.
There are roughly seven or eight items listed below, including radio recitation, reading corner, new concept composition training, campus debate competition, Qingmiao Poetry Society...
Xie Lan looked back, and his glasses fell down again. He asked in a low voice, "Dude, are you the one in Class 4 who got 16 points in Chinese?"
Xie Lan: “…”
He looked up from the information expressionlessly, "What's the matter?"
"No offense, I've observed you in the last class. I just want to tell you that I'm actually pretty good at Chinese. This is my homeroom teacher on the stage, and I'm her class representative. If you have trouble keeping up, you can ask me. Our basic remedial class is also working hard to eliminate failing grades in the midterm exam."
Xie Lan said gratefully: "Then I can only quit this class, which can be considered a contribution."
"Ahaha." He laughed a few times. "Boss, you are quite humorous. There is an old saying that goes, 'Before you know shame, you will be braver.' Take a good look at this list. I am optimistic about you."
Xie Lan wasn't being funny, he was speaking very seriously.
I guess these people all thought that he got 16 points because he didn't study hard enough. Only he knew how much effort he put in.
Xie Lan sighed, glanced at the activity list, and his eyes were suddenly attracted by a generous and powerful text.
There is only a simple win-lose, no complicated score determination, but we are not aiming to win, what is important is to experience the joy of trying your best in the process! Yinghua Debate Competition is open to all students, regardless of your grades or class, we only need people who try their best! Try your best! As long as you are willing to try your best, a debate competition will definitely bring you a leap in thinking and writing literacy!
That was really well said, it really touched Xie Lan’s heart.
Dou Sheng was immersed in the ocean of express deliveries when his cell phone suddenly vibrated again.
His hands were covered with dust from the express box and tape scraps. He wanted to put the message aside for now, but after thinking it over, he clicked on it.
Renaissance: Do you know that knowing shame leads to courage
Dou Sheng wiped his hands and replied: Feeling ashamed is close to being brave. What's wrong
Renaissance: I made a decision.
rjjsd: I would like to hear more details.
Renaissance: I want to sign up for the UK-China Debate Competition.
rjjsd:
**
Today's Chinese class was relatively easy. At noon, Xie Lan simply ate a rice ball, found the biology classroom for the afternoon class, took a seat for a nap, and filled out the registration form for the debate competition.
This form is easy to fill out. Apart from name and class, there is only one column: debate goal.
Xie Lan thought for a while and listed two points.
1. I hope to improve my Chinese score by 74 points to 90 to pass.
2. If you can’t do it, just try your best.
Dou Sheng replied the same thing this morning: As long as you are happy.
Xie Lan put the pen cap on and breathed a sigh of relief.
There were two girls sitting at the table in front, playing with their cell phones. Xie Lan unconsciously glanced at the cell phone interface and saw that it was Bilibili.
After a while, one of the two girls turned her head and "inadvertently" glanced at him and smiled at him.
Xie Lan was stunned.
Before he could recover from his shock, Zhi Er also looked up, glanced at him, and took out a piece of individually wrapped chocolate from his pocket, "Violinist! I'll treat you to some candy."
violinist
Xie Lan reacted all at once and felt choked.
He couldn't refuse, so he could only put the candy in the desk, whispered thank you, and then lay on the table pretending to sleep.
I was a little drunk yesterday and shouldn't have shown my face to play the violin.
He couldn't help but open Bilibili and click on the homepage of the most handsome Dou in the world.
Number of fans: 112.4w, an increase of 20,000 overnight.
The fan growth cycle for this kind of event is only about ten hours, and it is estimated that it has come to an end. Compared with before, it has increased by about 100,000 fans, which is a considerable achievement.
Xie Lan felt better when he thought about it, and casually clicked on a game review that Dou Sheng posted last month, hoping to give him some extra coins.
Your coin balance is insufficient!
"… "
Last night, following the story of "The Thousand Tricks of the Big Cat Kidnapping the Second Cat", he came across several personal videos that fans had made for Dou Sheng. He basically put a coin in each video he watched, and before he knew it, he had used up his already meager coin savings.
Xie Lan sighed and was about to put away his phone. Suddenly, the small group chat where he ate, slept and played Doudou started to vibrate.
- Latte: Where is Cherry? Didn't you say you would come out to play games in the afternoon
- Herring: He left in a hurry when the math class was about to end, saying that something happened at home.
- Latte: Huh?
- rjjsd: What's going on? Cherry
Xie Lan also sent a question mark.
Che Ziming didn't show up until the afternoon biology class was almost over, when he finally showed up.
- Cherry: Oh, my dad is in the hospital and I just came back from the hospital. No one is taking care of my grandma yet, so I'm going home now.
Xie Lan didn't quite understand what was said, so he opened the small window with Dou Sheng and asked silently.
Dou Sheng quickly replied: His mother is working outside, and there are only his father and grandmother at home. His grandmother has Alzheimer's disease.
It turned out to be an ad.
Xie Lan felt a little uncomfortable for a moment, but before she could react, Dou Sheng spoke again in the group.
- rjjsd: How is your father
- Cherry: Broken bone, need minor surgery, probably have to stay in the hospital for a week. He fell while picking up the goods, the goods hit his arm, oh well.
- rjjsd: Then do you take care of your grandma
- Cherry: Well, I’m at her house now. She hasn’t seen my dad all day and she’s a little anxious and confused.
- Herring: Let's go over there.
- Latte: Yes, and I can help with the cooking.
- Cherry: No thanks, I can just order takeout.
- Herring: Your grandma will really have to eat takeout for a week when she goes to school. Wait for us.
The decision was quickly made in the group, and Dou Sheng’s small window lit up again.
- rjjsd: I'm near the school, waiting for you after class? Should I go with you
Xie Lan nodded and asked, "Why are you near the school?"
- rjjsd: Record some material. Che Ziming's home is not far from the school. Go through the narrow alley and there is a community next to it. It is the alley on the south side.
- Renaissance: Good.
- rjjsd: Oh yeah, I did some styling today and got ready.
- Renaissance: ?
Xie Lan suddenly thought of the clothes that should never have appeared in the stairwell of Dou Sheng's house this morning, and suddenly had a bad premonition.
Biology get out of class was over and my bad premonition came true.
As soon as he walked out of the school gate, Xie Lan saw a familiar figure standing in the distance.
—This "familiarity" is the familiarity with the height and proportions. He doesn't know that person, absolutely not.
The ripped jeans were torn from the middle of the thighs to below the knees, the white T-shirt was wrinkled, there were patches of dirt on the front and back of his chest, a GoPro was tied to his forearm, and his feet were wearing riveted leather boots.
Dou Sheng's fluffy black hair was streaked with beige highlights. He was holding a fourth-generation iPhone in a "Bishen" case and looking over at Xie Lan.
"The get out of class is over."
Xie Lan looked at the reflection on the tip of his ear and felt suffocated.
Passersby looked at him sideways, and he stopped five meters away from Dou Sheng. After hesitating for a long time without opening his mouth, he lowered his head and sent a WeChat message to Dou Sheng.
- Renaissance: Are you sick
- rjjsd: Call me the versatile bean in the world.
- Renaissance: ...what is this all about
- rjjsd: Making videos. The theme of the new round of submissions at Bilibili is character setting. I have completed my plans.
Xie Lan paused, and suddenly remembered the topic he had seen in Dou Sheng's Dabai notebook - "The Complete Opposite of Me"
“…” There is no need for such diametrically opposed approaches.
- Renaissance: Don't tell me you're going to wear this all day.
- rjjsd: It’s a week.
- Renaissance:
It's just outrageous.
Dou Sheng put the "Bishen" lock screen in his pocket and walked towards Xie Lan. "Is it interesting to send WeChat messages from five meters away?"
Xie Lan almost told you not to come over!
But he endured it, firstly because shouting loudly would only attract more passers-by to regard them as the same kind of people, and secondly because, when you get closer, it’s actually not as scary as it looks from a distance.
Dou Sheng has a well-proportioned height and good looks, and his good looks dilute the dumbing-down vibe of this outfit, especially the earring on his ear that seems to be glued on, which actually looks pretty good when you look at it up close.
Dou Sheng walked up to him, raised his hand, hooked it around Xie Lan's shoulder, and put his arm around him.
Xie Lan was a little stiff, "What are you doing?"
Dou Sheng was like a big cat, with his whole arm slumped on his shoulder. "From today on, I will make some changes to the settings."
Xie Lan secretly glanced at the eyes of passers-by around him, "What are the details?"
"Specifically, they include: decadent, misguided juniors. Poor students. The vagrant campus hooligans."
Xie Lan paused, "I roughly understand what Liuli Liu means, but what does it mean to lose one's footing in the past?"
As he asked, his eyes unconsciously glanced down.
"A misbehaving teenager is a bad boy who has usually committed crimes. But I want to make it clear that the character I'm going to play has not committed any crimes. I think he's a misbehaving teenager." Dou Sheng said, looking down along his line of sight, and said with a smile, "Don't look at my feet. A misbehaving teenager can't be interpreted literally!"
Xie Lan withdrew his gaze and said "oh" with a hint of regret.
On the way to Che Ziming's house, Dou·The Delinquent Boy·Sheng attracted everyone's attention, and all the good people walked around him. Xie Lan followed behind him, his face extremely cold, as if the emoji system failed to load when the character was initialized.
It would be fine if the good people avoided him, but what made Xie Lan speechless was that when he was walking through the narrow alleys, some students and gangsters who passed by came up to him to claim to be his relatives.
There is a No. 17 Middle School near Yingzhong, which is said to be very chaotic, with at least two out of ten students being gangsters. Che Ziming said last time that the gangsters he frequently encountered in the narrow lanes were basically from No. 17 Middle School. If he played a game of fighting, he could clear all the gangsters in No. 17 Middle School.
The red-haired boy in bloomers looked Dou Sheng up and down and said, "You're going to No. 4 Middle School to take the exam, did you know that?"
Xie Lan was stunned.
Attack what
Dou Sheng was silent for a moment, "I think I know."
"Then hurry up, I'm waiting for you." Red Hair took out his phone and trotted in the other direction, "I'll go code a few more people."
Dou Sheng hummed, "Okay, I'll be there soon."
The red-haired man turned his head and pointed at Xie Lan, "Don't bring him. It's obvious that he's useless."
Xie Lan: “?”
Who are you saying is useless
Dou Sheng laughed out loud at the side, but Xie Lan glared at him. He laughed even more happily and coughed twice.
"What on earth are you thinking?" Xie Lan sighed, "Can you shoot a video like this?"
"Of course, it's fun to shoot the opposite character." Dou Sheng took off the GoPro and made adjustments, "Let everyone experience with me what kind of feedback I get from a good citizen like me who dresses badly, has bad test scores, and has a bad temper in daily life."
Xie Lan had a blank expression on his face. "I might get beaten up by my friends."
Dou Sheng smiled, "That's also a kind of feedback."
As he spoke, he continued walking forward. Perhaps because he was afraid that Xie Lan would feel embarrassed, he deliberately walked one or two meters ahead of Xie Lan and kept a distance.
Xie Lan was watching him from behind. In fact, Dou Sheng was so handsome that it was hard for him to be identified with those messy guys in appearance. What made him fit in with the role of "The Lost Young Man" was his temperament.
Dou Sheng seemed to have some talent as an actor. From the moment we met today, he had an indescribable sense of depression.
He didn't have a gloomy face, nor did he appear irritable or gloomy, he was even smiling, but there was a sense of indifference, as if he didn't care about anything. He just walked by with a perfunctory smile.
Che Ziming's home was in another old alley in the south. The alley was deep and long, winding and winding. Walking in, one would inevitably pass by the doors of countless people. The road was very narrow. If someone was washing his hair at the door, Xie Lan could help him by just stretching out his hand.
"This area is full of old bungalows, and it's actually the same as outside Wangjiang Lane." Dou Sheng explained in a low voice: "It looks a bit poor, but it will probably be demolished in two years. After the demolition, they will move into high-rise buildings. Look how happy they are."
It is true that although it is poor, it is not difficult, and the alleys are bustling with people coming and going.
When I walked into the bungalow, I could hear the sound of cars from afar.
"Hey grandma, please come over, don't wait at the door, my dad won't come tonight..."
An old lady with gray hair and wearing a navy blue floral jacket stood at the door of her house, looking in the direction where Xie Lan and Dou Sheng came from.
She kept muttering, "He has to come, he has to come. I let Che Jun go to the university near my home so that he can come and eat."
Che Ziming was helpless, "My dad already has me, and I'm about to go to college..."
"Who are you?" The old lady looked towards the door, her tone suddenly cold, "Do I know you?"
Che Ziming said desperately: "I am Che Jun's son."
As he spoke, he poked his head out, holding an enamel basin in his hand, in which he was mixing the dumpling stuffing.
Hearing the footsteps, Che Ziming turned his head and saw the two of them. He looked past Dou Sheng and raised his hand to greet Xie Lan, "Lan, you're here. Where's Douzi?"
Dou Sheng paused.
Xie Lan couldn't help laughing and pointed to the side silently.
Che Ziming's expression froze. He slowly, slowly moved his eyes to Dou Sheng's face, stunned.
"Oh my! My Jun is here!" Grandma Che Ziming took out a handkerchief from somewhere and slapped it on her legs. "My Jun! You must have worked hard at school. Did you get any work assigned to you today?"
As she spoke, she walked over and hugged Dou Sheng's arm.
Xie Lan was stunned, and Dou Sheng was apparently also frozen for a moment before he let out a cry.
"Yes... there is an assignment. That... I will go to No. 4 Middle School to be the captain of the attack team."
Xie Lan: “???”
Che Ziming: “???”
"Captain, you're so nice! The organization needs people like you! You really make mother proud!" The old lady slapped her thigh again, suddenly turned around and saw Che Ziming, she grabbed his arm and pulled him over.
Che Ziming resisted instinctively: "I don't... don't..."
"Don't give a damn!" The old lady pointed at Che Ziming and said to Dou Sheng, "He said he was your son. Wow, your son is already this big!"