The washing machine on the sink suddenly turned off automatically, and Xie Lan's stunned face in the mirror disappeared into the darkness.
Through the door, the sound of Dou Sheng playing games was clearer.
"What kind of talisman do you want? If you don't understand, don't give me advice."
"The best steel should be used on the blade, so keep it for now."
Xie Lan stood there in silence for a long time, sorting out his confused mood. Just as he was about to go out, the phone came on again.
A black word that he was reluctant to see was jumping on the screen: "London".
The noise made by the washing machine vibrating on the ceramic washing table was a bit loud, so he hesitated for a moment before finally picking up the phone.
Xie Jingming's voice was as kind as usual.
"Son, what are you doing?"
Xie Lan was a little dazed while talking on the phone. He had forgotten the last time he heard this man speak Chinese.
After a long while, he replied, "I'm with my classmates. What's up?"
With his left index finger curled unconsciously, he turned and walked into the darkest corner of the bathroom.
Xie Jingming said: "I was having lunch with my colleagues, and suddenly I remembered that you have been back to China for two months. It should be summer soon over there. What are the seasonal vegetables in China in April..."
Xie Jingming started chatting about family matters, and Xie Lan was confused after a while. He put the phone down in confusion, and raised it to his ear again after a moment of silence.
"I left before your birthday last time, and I didn't have time to tell you about the gift I ordered for you. It finally arrived two days ago. Guess what piano Dad chose for you? You've always dreamed about it..."
"Dad, don't beat around the bush." Xie Lan lowered his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm a little tired today. If you still let me go back, my answer will not change."
The chatter on the phone stopped abruptly. Xie Jingming was silent for a moment, then changed to a serious tone, "But it's time for you to come back. Your classmates have started applying for schools. If you have any dissatisfaction, we can talk about it. For example, Elizabeth, Dad can take a step back and be friends with her for the time being. What do you think?"
For a moment, take a step back.
Xie Lan relied on great determination to hold back from sneering, "From the day you started dating, this matter cannot be changed. Besides, the main reason I returned to China has nothing to do with you. I came here to help my mother..."
Xie Jingming interrupted him irritably, "Go to the school that Mom was admitted to. The top universities in the UK have exchange programs there. You can apply to experience it for two years. Do you really want to have no contact with Dad for the rest of your life?"
"I'm sorry." Xie Lan said calmly and distantly, "I made it very clear before I returned to China. I won't be returning to the UK for at least five years."
Xie Jingming was furious. "Why are you so unreasonable? You can speak Chinese, you can break up with Aunt Elizabeth, and we even agreed to let you go on a domestic exchange. What else do you want? Xie Lan, why do you have to stay in China?"
Xie Lan turned his head and looked at the mirror, silent.
Perhaps it was because it had been going on for too long, he had become numb to Elizabeth's existence, and her affairs with Xie Jingming had nothing to do with him. Going to his mother's university was indeed his original intention to stay in China, but now he suddenly felt a little uncertain, not sure if that was still the only reason.
Just now when Xie Jingming mentioned going back to England, the thought that flashed through his mind was that he would have to accompany Dou Sheng to win the top 100 prize.
Xie Jingming continued angrily, "I'm warning you for the last time. Be moderate when you get angry. If I really cancel your credit card and stop sending money to your Aunt Zhao, what are you going to do then?"
"I have my own way of eating." Xie Lan said quickly: "You really don't need to pretend to be ordinary friends for me and Elizabeth. You will come back sooner or later if you take a step back. Dad, everyone should live the way they want. I won't interfere with you, and please don't interfere with me."
There was silence on the phone for a long time. Xie Jingming suddenly spoke in a clear voice, "Have you met anyone in China? You are so determined to stay in China. Are you in a relationship?"
Hit the nail on the head.
Xie Lan's scalp began to tingle again, but he quickly replied calmly: "No, why did you bring this up?"
As he spoke, he didn't want Xie Jingming to lecture him again, and said quickly: "My classmates called me, I can handle the money issue myself, I'm hanging up."
After hanging up the phone, he opened the bathroom door as if escaping.
The light in the small bedroom flickered, and creepy music played on the speakers. Dou Sheng huddled in his bean bag, his whole body tense.
"How do you recite the Twelve Heavenly Stems? Oh wait, our class teacher sent a voice message."
As he spoke, he raised his hand to turn off the microphone and looked at Xie Lan.
"Are you okay? Is this your dad's phone call?"
Xie Lan hummed, sat down next to him, picked up the handle and said, "It's better to threaten me with living expenses to go back. It's more formal than before."
Dou Sheng paused after hearing this, then smiled casually, "It's no big deal, your living expenses will be deducted from my pocket money from now on, I'll just lend it to you."
Xie Lan glanced at him and said, "Thank you very much."
"Don't be so quick to thank me. My money is not that easy to borrow." Dou Sheng said with a smile, "You must pay it back with interest in the future."
Xie Lan was thinking about something, so he didn't say anything. Dou Sheng looked at his profile and said in a low voice, "By the way, I'm sorry for the fall just now. I was so scared by the game that I was just running. Do you mind?"
Xie Lan hummed, "It's okay."
The barrage has already been swiped across the board.
-You call this listening to the teacher's voice
- Can you at least take out your camera and perform
- What are you talking about? I'm curious.
-I'm going to crawl along the network cable and eavesdrop!
Dou Sheng turned on the microphone again, "Everyone, be quiet, the female ghost will come out soon. Xie Lan, follow me, I will protect you."
- I want some bean face, thank you
-I bother!
-Who is protecting whom
-Hurry up, Cat II, and hit your teammates hard!
Xie Lan didn't have the heart to read the comments. The panic she had suppressed with great difficulty was aroused by Xie Jingming's words "in love", and all her efforts were in vain.
He dragged the joystick to make the little man follow Dou Sheng and stared at the game screen in a daze.
After a while, the little man in front suddenly turned around, took out a piece of yellow paper from his bag, and pressed it on Xie Lan's little man's forehead.
Xie Lan was stunned: "What is this?"
-? ?
-You give the life-saving props to your followers
-How to beat the boss?
-wtf
-What's the trouble
Dou Sheng smiled nonchalantly and said to Xie Lan, "This is called an exorcism talisman. Stick this talisman on your forehead and you will be immune to all poisons, and will be able to ward off all evil spirits. All ghosts can be driven away."
Xie Lan was dumbfounded.
He mechanically controlled the little man to continue following Dou Sheng, his heart beating wildly.
What does that mean? Could it be that Dou Sheng could see that he had something wrong, and wanted to help him get rid of the dirty things in his mind
Just as Xie Lan was hesitating, Dou Sheng raised his hand to cover the microphone, stared at the game screen, and said in a low voice, "What are you panicking about? Big Cat will protect you."
Xie Lan was stunned.
Barrage:
-What the hell are you talking about
- I'm so anxious. I'm so anxious. I'm so anxious.
-Ah, can I just focus on the game
Dou Sheng said with a smile, "Alright, alright, focus on the game, continue."
As he continued to solve puzzles and pass the levels, Dou Sheng seemed to have deliberately suppressed his startle reaction. Occasionally, when he was almost frightened to death, he would just grit his teeth and thrash the pillow instead of hugging Xie Lan again.
Xie Lan guessed that Dou Sheng also felt the embarrassment at that moment, so he consciously moved away from him.
At the end of the level, the female ghost boss finally came out, and all the comments were telling Dou Sheng to take off the talisman given to Xie Lan, stick it on himself and then face off head-on.
Xie Lan glanced at the comments and asked, "How do I pick this talisman? Press B?"
Dou Sheng said: "It's okay, just put it on, what's given to you is yours."
He put down the handle, flexed his wrist, picked it up again and said, "Dear audience, the high-energy beans are coming."
As he spoke, he controlled the little man to walk directly to the barrier and sprinkle yellow powder, opening the "gate of the underworld". A shadowy female ghost appeared in the distance, and as the picture trembled, she flashed in front of the camera. Dou Sheng circled with her behind the stone tablet on the bridge, and was almost caught in the face by her several times, but he escaped every time.
Xie Lan stopped operating and turned his head to look at Dou Sheng. The handle made a clicking sound in Dou Sheng's hand. He was concentrating, muttering something, and staring at the female ghost on the screen.
"Go around, go around again, go around again! You'll kill me!"
The villain drew out the Soul-Breaking Sword and slashed at it but missed. The sword got stuck on the stone tablet. The female ghost rushed up instantly, and Dou Sheng controlled the villain to do a backflip to avoid it. The female ghost suddenly grew bigger, and the villain rolled under her and behind her. The knob on the handle made an extreme tearing sound. Dou Sheng frantically flipped back to the stone tablet, gathered his strength and drew out the Soul-Breaking Sword. He jumped up and slashed, cutting off the female ghost's face.
A huge clearance notification flashed, and the barrage of comments immediately started to fill up with 666. Dou Sheng threw the handle away and breathed a sigh of relief.
There was vivid pride in his eyes, and he clicked his tongue at the comments: "Look, look, I told you, talismans are life-saving things and you can get through without them."
- You're farting
-Who just said that good steel should be used on the blade
- I spent ten minutes whining about getting this spell.
-Good Steel = Xie Lan
-Thank you, I'm also kdl today
Dou Sheng said, "That's enough, stop making trouble. That's all for today, we're going to end the broadcast. Oh, yes, this is Xie Lan's live broadcast."
Xie Lan was contemplating the talisman stuck on the forehead of his character in the game when he was suddenly called out and looked back blankly.
Dou Sheng smiled and said, "Say goodnight to the audience."
"Oh." Xie Lan smiled at the camera with a hint of embarrassment, "Good night, everyone."
-Wuwuwu Good night
-Lanzai is really sweet
- Lanzai smiled and the game atmosphere was gone
-Good night! Good night! Good night!
Dou Sheng didn't hesitate any longer and turned off the streaming. He then stood up and dismantled the base of the game console, unplugging various cables.
Xie Lan hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "I'm going back to the house."
Dou Sheng's feet were tangled in a pile of threads, and he said casually, "Go to bed early, there is competition training tomorrow."
"Um."
It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening when Xie Lan came out of the shower. The hot shower made his mind a little clearer. He wiped his hair with a towel while coaxing Wutong. After a while, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening next door, and then the sound of a hair dryer.
Dou Sheng had probably just finished taking a shower, and both doors were left open, so the sound of the hairdryer could be heard blatantly.
Xie Lan sat on the bed, wiping his hair intermittently, listening to the sound of the wind, and suddenly became distracted.
As if possessed by a ghost, he kicked off his slippers, stepped on his cotton socks on the floor, and walked silently to Dou Sheng's half-open door.
First, he looked up at the clock and two paintings on the wall in the corridor.
Then, he glanced inside casually.
This angle happened to be facing the gap in the bathroom door. Dou Sheng was standing in front of the mirror blowing his hair. He was wearing light grey pajamas with wide stripes, and a vest stuck to his body. The uneven corners of his clothes were lifted from time to time as his arms stretched, revealing a smooth and tight waist.
Small crystal drops of water splashed out from the fluffy hair and disappeared in the air. Dou Sheng's hair was interspersed in the hair, and the shallow muscle outline of the boy on his arms was faintly visible.
That familiar feeling of suffocation came again, and Xie Lan felt a chill in his heart.
How do you recite "Song of Everlasting Sorrow"
Xie Lan was obsessed with beauty and wanted to conquer the country, but he failed to get her after staying with her for many days.
The Dou family has a grown-up boy, and he will not survive if he is not taken care of.
Isn't this the end
Xie Lan stood at the door with an expressionless face, reciting a poem silently. Suddenly, there was a click. Dou Sheng raised his arm and pulled down the plug, and the hair dryer became quiet instantly.
The moment Dou Sheng turned around to plug it in, Xie Lan turned around and left, his heart pounding.
"Xie Lan?"
"… "
Dou Sheng put down the hair dryer, scratched his hair and walked out, "What are you doing here? Do you want to talk to me about something?"
Xie Lan turned around awkwardly and was silent for a moment, "Ah, looking for a cat."
"Cat?" Dou Sheng subconsciously turned his head to look into his room. "Isn't it on your bed?"
"… "
Xie Lan turned his head coldly and looked at Wutong who was lying beside him.
“The cat is…” He swallowed hard, but I was almost gone.
He dug his toes hard on the floor in his socks. Dou Sheng looked at him with a frown, then suddenly smiled knowingly.
"Are there bugs again? Sorry to say it. There are more bugs because of the recent rain. I just stepped on a bug to death in the bathroom. I don't know what it was."
Xie Lan let out a long sigh of relief and nodded hurriedly, "Yeah, it's a bug, it's the same kind of money string from last time, especially long."
Dou Sheng walked towards his room after hearing this. "I'll go, is there anything else? Wutong, what are you doing for dinner?"
The cat glanced at Dou Sheng listlessly, squinted its eyes and continued to sleep.
Dou Sheng casually moved the bedside table away and asked, "Where did you find it? How long is it?"
Xie Lan was confused and gestured casually, "This long, just around the bed."
Dou Sheng was shocked. "Ten centimeters?"
"…" Xie Lan cautiously reduced the distance between his two fingers by half, "Five centimeters."
"You scared me to death." Dou Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, "It's probably under the bed, I'll look for it."
As he spoke, he propped himself up on the bed with one leg, twisted his waist, lay down on the ground, and slid under the bed.
"No." A muffled voice came from under the bed, "There are only toys hidden by Wutong. Where did you see the bug?"
Xie Lan took a deep breath and tried to act desperate, "Here!"
"Here I come!" Dou Sheng lifted his foot from under the bed and took off his slippers, then slid out along the edge of the bed. The shower he had just taken wasted, and there was a layer of dust on the back of his shoulders.
"Where?" He walked around with his slippers.
Xie Lan pointed outside the door in panic: "He ran out!"
Dou Sheng immediately chased after him with slippers in hand. As soon as he left, Xie Lan silently closed the door behind him.
Click, lock.
There was dead silence outside the door for a moment, and Dou Sheng was shocked by the extraordinary operation.
"I go?"
Xie Lan sighed and said in a low voice, "Sorry, I'm afraid it will come in again."
"Oh oh." Dou Sheng's voice softened suddenly when he heard him say that he was afraid. He raised his hand and rubbed his door twice.
"Don't be afraid, I'll look for him first, maybe he's downstairs."
Xie Lan hummed, "Thank you."
The lights were off, but Xie Lan couldn't fall asleep. He lay in the dark and listened to Dou Sheng looking for bugs outside for half an hour. He took out his cell phone, opened Dou Sheng's chat box, typed a few words and deleted them.
For a long time, he silently clicked on his personal profile and stared at the nickname "Renaissance".
Dou Sheng stood outside his door and asked quietly, "Are you asleep?"
Xie Lan wanted to tell him to go to bed quickly, but the words were stuck at his lips.
He seemed to have lost the ability to talk normally to Dou Sheng.
Without waiting for an answer, Dou Sheng yawned and walked away in his slippers.
Xie Lan heaved a long sigh of relief only after the last bit of movement from next door died down.
He tossed and turned in bed for a long time before opening his personal profile and typing in a new nickname: Sick.
After a week of preparation for the exam, both of them slept very soundly that night. The next morning, they were woken up by Xiao Ma kicking the door.
Xie Lan hurriedly washed his face and put on his bag. After getting in the car, he was still very sleepy and leaned back in the seat to continue sleeping.
Xiao Ma rolled down the front window, and the refreshing morning breeze after the rain blew on his face. After several minutes, Xie Lan slowly woke up, crossed his fingers and flexed his wrists, and tried to straighten his back in the seat.
He turned his head to the left and saw that Dou Sheng was sleeping in a folded position, with his head resting on his knees. His center of gravity was very stable, so stable that even if the brakes were applied suddenly, he would not fall out.
Xie Lan sighed and opened Bilibili with sleepy eyes.
The private message list was exploding every day. He yawned and scrolled down, and his fingertips paused as he scrolled.
: Hello, Xie Lan. I am Wu Cheng, the PR of K-brand violins. I admire your playing ability and arranging style. We have an entry-level violin that is suitable for beginners. We hope to cooperate with you to launch a promotional content. I wonder if you are interested. My contact information is:…
Xie Lan read this passage carefully several times and was somewhat surprised.
Since he made his debut on live streaming, he has received many small promotions, but this is the first time he has received a formal brand and a perfect match. He clicked on the product link and looked at the violin. The K brand originated in France and is well-known in Europe. This entry-level violin is a good choice and is priced at just over 2,000 yuan, which is quite suitable.
"What?" Dou Sheng woke up and stretched his back in the chair. "You're watching so seriously."
“There’s a promotion.”
"Eh? Let me take a look." The sleepiness in Dou Sheng's eyes faded away. He read the invitation carefully twice, then clicked on the link and looked at it for a few minutes.
"It looks pretty reliable, do you want to take it?"
Xie Lan hummed.
He was indeed a little tempted. His savings would not last long, and Xie Jingming was about to run out of money and food, so he had to make plans early.
Dou Sheng smiled, "I think you can take it. You can use their guitars to make the next music video. It's not a difficult thing. Just ask clearly and make sure they are willing to let us label it as an advertisement. The fans won't mind."
Xie Lan hummed, "I'll add him first."
"Pull me in the group chat too." Dou Sheng yawned again, "I'll review the contract. I won't talk the rest of the time."
Xie Lan nodded and added that person's WeChat first. When he passed the list, he casually swiped through it and suddenly found something wrong.
"You changed your nickname?" Xie Lan asked in surprise.
Dou Sheng rubbed his sleepy eyes, "Ah."
Dou Sheng's nickname was changed from "rjjsd" to "Doctor Douzi".
Xie Lan felt a little weird, "Why change this?"
Dou Sheng snorted and laughed, "I was just thinking of asking you. You are allowed to be sick in the middle of the night, but I am not allowed to change my career and become a doctor?"
Xie Lan was speechless. After a long while, he put away the phone and turned to look out the window.
These two characters don't actually have any sense of antithesis, but if you read them together, they sound like a set.
Just like the big cat and the second cat, he didn't have any feelings towards the big cat and the second cat before, but now he feels something is weird about them.
Xie Lan took a deep breath and shut himself off.
Xie Lan was in deep autism during the whole day of training. In the morning, Teacher Liang said that people from the Education Bureau would come to record the provincial training camp today, so a few more students would be asked to solve problems. As a result, Xie Lan was called halfway through the morning. Xie Lan went up and solved all the problems on the blackboard that could be solved without saying a word, and did not explain them, and then came down without saying a word.
Teacher Liang had a complicated expression on his face, and the small classroom fell silent.
Xie Lan passed by Guo Ruize when he came down, and Guo Ruize leaned over and asked, "Why are you so excited today, Boss?"
Xie Lan glanced at him and said, "Speak human language."
Guo Ruize: "I gave you one, and you finished all four."
Xie Lan was stunned.
He resisted the urge to look back at the blackboard and said indifferently, "Oh, I didn't notice."
"… "
Returning to his seat, Xie Lan flipped through today's exercises with some boredom.
For him, there was not as much useful information as last week. He glanced at Master Liang and opened a notebook.
In the notebook are the competition questions that Lao Ma gave him specifically. Each question is very difficult and worth pondering carefully.
But Xie Lan didn't have the heart to do these abnormal questions at the moment. He covered his face with a notebook and seemed to be calculating, but in fact he couldn't help but glance over the top of the notebook and secretly glance at Dou Sheng.
Dou Sheng seemed to be listening very seriously to the classes in the provincial training camp. Every time I looked over, he was always looking down and taking notes, without exception.
The weather is very good today, with blue sky and white clouds. Dou Sheng is sitting by the window, the breeze ruffling his hair, and his profile, with his head lowered and serious, looks very handsome.
Xie Lan had something to hide, and he spent the whole day solving one problem, but he didn't know how many times he secretly glanced at Dou Sheng.
According to his own estimation, it would probably require an extreme arithmetic formula to calculate it.
It was almost eight o'clock in the evening. Teacher Liang distributed the assignments to everyone and went out.
Everyone started chatting in a relaxed manner in their seats. Xie Lan finally got into the mood and began to quickly calculate the spatial vectors he had come up with. As he was writing furiously, Teacher Liang came back and patted the podium table.
"That's all for today. I just went out to get a USB drive from the teacher at the Education Bureau. Some of the classroom images recorded today will be displayed at the Education Bureau for about a week. I won't talk about the video. The reporter took two photos of everyone attending class from the front door, one in the morning and one in the evening. You can choose which one to use."
As Mr. Liang spoke, he inserted the USB drive into the computer and lowered the projector.
Xie Lan's back stiffened and he raised his head suddenly.
Throughout the day today, if you randomly snapped him, there was a good chance he was secretly glancing at Dou Sheng.
It is not difficult to imagine Dou Sheng's puzzled expression after seeing the photo. He might even actually draw a talisman and press it on his forehead to drive away the evil spirits.
Two big words floated through Xie Lan's numb brain: Help.
He stared absentmindedly at the folder that popped up on the projector. Master Liang clicked on the jpg file crisply, and two photos popped up on the projector one after the other.
The world seemed to return to tranquility at that moment.
Xie Lan looked at the corner of the photo with a deathly pale face. After a long while, he let out a silent and long sigh of relief and slumped back in his chair.
Thank God, those two snapshots in the morning and evening did not capture him stealing glances at Dou Sheng. Instead, Dou Sheng just happened to be looking at him casually. The safety index was max.
Xie Lan came back to life, exhausted both physically and mentally, and turned his head to meet Dou Sheng's gaze.
Dou Sheng's tone was somewhat tentative, "Is the photo okay? I feel like it makes me look a little ugly."
"Very good." Xie Lan quickly said calmly: "I think everything is fine."