Enduring the Winter

Chapter 9

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Sun Yuhe: "Same year, same month, same day?"

Xu Hui nodded.

"Wow." Sun Yuhe was carrying a beer, "Who is it?"

Xu Hui: "You don't know each other, I just happened to meet you."

Sun Yuhe narrowed his eyes to look at Xu Hui, and asked curiously, "Is it a girl?"

Xu Hui laughed, "Yes, sister, I left my contact information."

"I knew it." Sun Yuhe clicked his tongue twice and sighed, "You are a woman..." The beer was a little cold, put it on the kitchen counter, and said, "What kind of girl?"

Xu Hui: "Ordinary people."

"looks good?"

Xu Hui curled his lips, "General."

Sun Yuhe sighed, "Can you stop looking too high?"

Xu Hui was very sincere, "This is true."

"Usually, do you still leave your contact information?"

Xu Hui: "I met it several times, so I stayed."

Sun Yuhe: "Your phone will be blown off the hook."

Xu Hui shrugged.

Sun Yuhe was very interested in this girl who appeared out of nowhere, "You mean she is generally not good-looking?"

When Xu Hui recalled, what came to mind was not Bai Lu's face, but Bai Lu's small back standing in front of him when they came out of the hospital that day on the bus.

Her curly hair was lightly golden in the sunlight.

"It's... not ugly." Xu Hui said, "It's just an ordinary person."

"Compared to Xiaoye?"

Xu Hui shook his head, "Not as good-looking as Xiaoye."

"How did you know each other?"

"When we chatted outside our house last week, it was raining. She came to shelter from the rain."

Sun Yuhe recalled that day, "Ah..." he smiled, "Isn't it intentional, why is it so easy to pick a handsome guy's house to shelter from the rain. Why has no girl ever come to my place to shelter from the rain."

Xu Hui looked at him with disdain.

"Your house is on the eleventh floor. Going to your place to shelter from the rain is intentional." His voice became softer, and he whispered again, "But I do have a predestined relationship with her, and many things have collided."

"It's rare for you to say which woman you are destined for." He looked at Xu Hui, "If you are destined, go to it."

Xu Hui squinted, "What?"

Sun Yuhe's tone was quite sour: "Anyway, you are always at a disadvantage in this kind of thing."

Xu Hui shook his head, feeling a little helpless.

"You haven't seen it, it's really ordinary."

"Damn it... it's cheap and good-looking." Sun Yuhe couldn't help cursing, and Liu Yuhai's roar came from outside: "Wine?! The fucking beer was stolen by the two of you, right?"

Sun Yuhe shouted outside: "Here we come!"

He took the wine bottle and went outside, leaving Xu Hui to stretch on the spot. The karaoke machine outside was deafening, Xu Hui yawned and wanted to go back, but he glanced at the refrigerator from the corner of his eye, and stopped again.

He turned a corner and went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, squeezed two more lemons and put them in his mouth before returning to the living room.

*****

The so-called idea determines success or failure, this sentence is especially useful for college entrance examination candidates.

Bai Lu, who had worked so hard for a weekend, overcame the illness forcefully with her strong beliefs. She was much better when she went to school on Monday, and by Wednesday everything was basically back to normal.

No. 6 Middle School does not allow students to bring mobile phones, but most students have them, put them on silent, and carry them quietly.

Bai Lu's mobile phone is always in the back of her schoolbag.

Since returning to the dormitory on Sunday, she has never taken out her mobile phone.

She treats problems with very clear boundaries.

Xueba's jokes at the same table are decreasing day by day, because in a few days, he will be going to participate in the chemistry competition.

Wu Hanwen doesn't live on campus, his family rented a house for him nearby. In the third year of high school, his mother quit her job to take care of him at home and help him prepare for the exam.

Because he lives close by, Wu Hanwen arrives at school very early every day, which is comparable to that of Bai Lu, a resident student.

On Thursday morning, Bai Lu was the first to arrive in class again, and Wu Hanwen also arrived shortly after she sat down.

"Do you wear makeup in school recently?" Bai Lu said looking at Wu Hanwen's dark circles.

Wu Hanwen sat down, "Don't be so hurtful, accumulate some virtue."

Bai Lu lowered her head to do the question again.

Today's class is relatively loose. There are three self-study sessions plus one physical education class in the afternoon, which is equivalent to an afternoon of free time.

Xueba went to the library for self-study as usual to find his feelings, and he learned to be in a state of trance, and he didn't recover until the bell rang after the last get out of class.

Looking at his watch, he packed up his things in a panic, and ran all the way back to the classroom.

The people in the classroom have almost left, and most of the students have gone to eat.

Panting heavily, he stepped onto the podium.

When I looked up, I was surprised to find that the blackboard had been wiped. From the perspective of cleanliness, it should be wiped with a blackboard eraser first, and then wiped with a damp cloth. The blackboard slots are clean and tidy, and the chalk tips that are too short are thrown away and replaced with new ones.

Turning around, the ground has been cleaned, and the garbage in the corner has been dumped.

Wu Hanwen opened his mouth and looked at his seat.

Bai Lu isn't here, so it's time to go eat.

Wu Hanwen returned to his seat and put the books on the table.

Today is his cleaning—but to be more precise, they are the students on duty at this table.

When assigning work in advance, Wu Hanwen, adhering to the great spirit of a man who shoulders his moral responsibility with iron shoulders, took over the three tasks of taking out the trash on the blackboard window sill, leaving Bai Lu to sweep the floor.

"Hey… "

After dinner, the students came back one after another for evening self-study.

Bai Lu came back neither too early nor too late.

She sat down quietly, quietly picked up the book, quietly took out the pen, and then quietly turned her head to look at Wu Hanwen.

"Our first meeting?" she said.

Wu Hanwen clicked his tongue: "Look, you're unfamiliar with this, aren't you?"

Bai Lu: "Then why are you looking at me like that?"

Wu Hanwen: "You don't know."

Bai Lu turned her head to solve the problem, Wu Hanwen tilted her head and looked at her from bottom to top.

"I'm sorry." This sentence is quite sincere.

"fine."

"I really didn't pay attention. I didn't come back until the school bell rang."

Bai Lu turned her head, "Are you apologizing or boasting?"

Wu Hanwen smiled, "Tomorrow I'll be the host, a day trip to the cafeteria."

Bai Lu looked at him quietly, Wu Hanwen changed his words: "I'm just treating you to a meal, I'm really embarrassed."

"Row."

After the evening self-study get out of class, Bai Lu was walking towards the dormitory building. When passing by the school grove, she vaguely saw the backs of two people walking towards the school gate, holding hands together when others were not paying attention.

In just a few seconds, they separated again.

Life in the third year of high school is like a copying machine, engraving day after day, step by step.

But under this well-ordered and solid soil, occasionally there will be one or two unbearable weeds, quietly growing along the cracks.

When did Xu Hui think of Bai Lu

The first time is when the lemons are finished.

He likes to eat sour, lime and honey are perfect in summer. Xu Hui didn't live on campus, so he ate a few slices when he was bored when he got home at night, and finished a can in three or four days.

At that time, he thought of Bai Lu once.

The second time was Friday night.

When the vocational high school is over on Friday, we have dinner and go out to play as usual. The boys frantically went to the Internet cafe, booked a large private room, ate, drank and played around. Xu Hui doesn't like playing games very much, so he turned on a machine to watch movies.

I picked a few movies and felt bored. When I was about to sleep for a while, Sun Yuhe next to me came over.

Xu Hui and Sun Yuhe were in the same class, sitting so close together that they could hardly see the bottom of their heads. But this time, for some reason, the moment Xu Hui saw him, Xu Hui thought of that little girl.

It was also a coincidence that Sun Yuhe also asked casually: "Where is your destined girl?"

Xu Hui didn't speak.

Sun Yuhe: "Did I call you?"

Xu Hui sat quietly, and Sun Yuhe blinked.

"It's not that I ignored you."

"roll."

"Haha..." Sun Yuhe nodded, "I'll go, I'll go, haha..."

He thought of Bai Lu, for the second time this week.

Xu Hui took out his mobile phone. Various social software on his mobile phone were busy all year round. When he found the two columns of calls and messages, Xu Hui simply scanned them, but Bai Lu hadn't contacted him.

Xu Hui stood up and went outside the Internet cafe.

"Where are you going?" someone asked from behind.

"smokes."

Xiaoye muttered, "It's not like you can't smoke in Internet cafes."

Beside the sea said: "You women, don't ask about men's affairs."

In a blink of an eye, it was torn up again.

Xu Hui pushed open the door of the Internet cafe, and the air outside was ten thousand times stronger than inside.

The summer night was refreshing, and the wind made Xu Hui's eyes half-closed.

He took out a cigarette, lit it, and pressed the call button.

The Sixth Middle School studied by itself last night.

The bag on the back was caught off guard by the earthquake.

Bai Lu is doing an English listening test.

In order to allow the senior three students to practice their listening comprehension, Sixth Middle School specially distributed a small tape recorder to each student, which could only play the English listening comprehension questions matched with the test paper.

With her earphones plugged in, she was reading standard American English and was reading a multiple-choice question.

She raised her eyes, and Teacher Bao was correcting the test paper with a serious face.

Her eyes froze.

A slap on the back is not only a vibration, but also a reminder, a signal, and a proof.

Bai Lu turned her eyes lightly, and concentrated on completing the following questions.

The phone rang once and then stopped ringing.

After school in the evening, Bai Lu returned to the dormitory and called Xu Hui.

The Internet cafe was in full swing, Xu Hui took out his phone and pinched it off.

After a few seconds, the bell rang again and was pinched off again.

The third time it sounded, Xu Hui slowly stood up and walked out.

Back to the place where he was smoking just now, Xu Hui connected the phone.

"Hey?"

"Xu Hui?"

"if not."

Bai Lu whispered, "You called me just now..."

"if not."

"I leave my mobile phone at home, so I didn't bring it with me today." Bai Lu said, "I'm sorry...do you have anything to do with me?"

Xu Hui said flatly: "If you have nothing to do, you can't make a phone call."

Bai Lu quickly said, "That's not what it means."

Bai Lu's voice was small, light and thin. Xu Hui listened, inexplicably thinking of her white clothes that day, and her soft curly hair, which would turn golden in the sun.

And the way she holds her lemon jar with her head down.

Xu Hui held the phone in one hand and put the other in his trouser pocket, looking at the cars on the road.

"Are you busy with school?"

Bai Lu: "It's okay, I'm not too busy."

"Didn't call me."

Bai Lu explained: "I want to call, but I don't know when you will have time, so just..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Hui stretched his neck and whispered, "Are you free this weekend?"

Bai Lu pursed her lips, "What are you going to do?"

Xu Hui: "Come out and play."

"Where are you going?"

Xu Hui frowned and remained silent for a while.

Bai Lu thought to herself that he was not good at dating people. Maybe it's because he's always the one to get asked.

After a while, Xu Hui said: "Forget it... don't come, I'll hang up first."

Before turning off the phone, Bai Lu hurriedly asked, "Have you finished your food?"

"Ah." Xu Hui just remembered, "It's over."

Bai Lu: "Do you still want to?"

Xu Hui didn't speak.

Bai Lu: "I'll go to your place on Saturday night to get the jar and make it for you."

Still quiet.

Bai Lu waited for a while, then said slowly: "Or...don't do it yet?"

After another dozen seconds passed, Bai Lu heard Xu Hui's faint voice.

"What time is it."

☆、Chapter 10

They ended up meeting at six o'clock on a Saturday night.

"So late?" Xu Hui was slightly dissatisfied. "It's fine on Saturday, why not earlier."

"I'm going to help the house during the day on Saturday..." the girl said in a discussing tone, "until night."

"… Ok."

Even if there is no evening self-study on Saturday, school will be over after five o'clock.

While lying on the bed, Bai Lu remembered that she really had to go home on Sunday.

Although Bai Lu's family is local, but because it is too far away from the school, she finally chose to live on campus. Bai Lu's parents are ordinary working class, because Bai Lu is more self-reliant since she was a child, so they don't discipline her very much.

Generally speaking, Bai Lu goes home every two weeks to get together with her parents and talk about the school situation, and her parents will give her some pocket money.

Self-study as usual during the day on Saturday.

Xu Hui made two phone calls in total, one after ten o'clock in the morning and one after two o'clock in the afternoon.

Bai Lu didn't answer both times.

At half past five in the evening, Bai Lu started packing her schoolbag.

"Huh? I won't be able to go to self-study next night?" Wu Hanwen said.

"Well, let's go back first."

Wu Hanwen: "Go home?"

Bai Lu shook her head, "Go back to the dormitory and go home tomorrow."

"I don't have a learning atmosphere when I go back to the dormitory, I'm teaching—"

Bai Lu picked up her schoolbag and went out.

"Hey... I said no... Why don't you listen to the end of the sentence." Wu Hanwen stared at Bai Lu's back, dumbfounded.

Li Siyi in the back seat raised his head faintly again.

"Student committee, it's not easy for you."

Wu Hanwen turned his head and stared at him, "What?"

Li Siyi stared at him closely with small eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Look into my eyes..." He stretched out two fingers to Wu Hanwen's eyes, then turned to meet his own eyes, and said in a spirited voice:

"Don't try to hide it, I have already seen the truth."

Wu Hanwen looked at him quietly, nodded for a while, and said softly: "Okay." Turning his head, "In the future, you can solve problems you don't know by yourself."

"Damn it?" Li Siyi's small eyes widened, "School Committee!" He hugged Wu Hanwen's shoulder from behind, "School Committee, I was wrong, School Committee!"

There are a lot of people in the supermarket on weekends, which is beyond Bai Lu's expectation.

It was already past 5:50 when we queued up to check out.

Xu Hui called again.

Bai Lu changed the plastic bag into another hand and connected the phone.

There was a cold snort when he came up.

"Did you use your mobile phone for display?"

Bai Lu: "..."

Xu Hui: "I called you and you never answered."

Bai Lu whispered, "Didn't I pick it up?"

Xu Hui just pretended not to hear.

"If you don't receive a call, you don't know how to call me back."

Bai Lu: "I'm sorry..."

Xu Hui stopped talking.

Bai Lu could feel his displeasure through the phone.

"I'm queuing at the supermarket, and I'll go get the jar right away, and you'll—"

In the middle of speaking, a busy tone came from the phone, Bai Lu was taken aback, took it down to check, only to find that Xu Hui had cut off the phone.

"..."

Finally, it was her turn in the line. After Bai Lu paid the bill, she found a KFC next door when she came out of the supermarket. After thinking for a few seconds, Bai Lu turned around and walked towards it.

When we arrived at Xu Hui's house, it was already past 6:20.

Bai Lu knocked on the door, but no one answered.

She knew that he could not be at home, so she knocked on the door and said, "Xu Hui, this is Bai Lu, open the door for me."

Still no answer.

Bai Lu paused for a moment, and her instant intuition told her that Xu Hui was leaning against the door with his arms folded, silently expressing his dissatisfaction.

Bai Lu said, "I'm sorry, I didn't answer your call on purpose." She knocked on the door again, "Is it okay if you open the door and I'll explain it to you, or pass me the jar through the window, and I'll have to pay you back later." Went home once and didn't do anything—"

Before he finished speaking, the door opened, and Xu Hui was still wearing a simple black T-shirt, with the trousers underneath rolled up, revealing his thin ankles.

"Whatever you do, you can't finish it in a day." He looked down at her.

Bai Lu: "Help with the housework."

Xu Hui sneered, and Bai Lu said, "I'm sorry today..."

"Forget it." Xu Hui turned his head and entered the room. After walking two steps, he found that the people behind him hadn't followed and were still standing at the door.

Bai Lu said softly, "Are you really angry?"

Xu Hui didn't speak.

Bai Lu: "If you're going to get angry, just give me the jar. I'll leave now and bring it to you tomorrow."

Xu Hui's eyes were dark, he looked at it quietly for a while, then turned his head and walked into the house.

"Come in."

Bai Lu took off her shoes and entered the house.

"The jar is in the kitchen refrigerator."

Bai Lu walked into the house, Xu Hui took a cigarette, followed her, and leaned against the kitchen door.

"Since you brought something, you can finish it here." Xu Hui said.

Bai Lu looked at him: "Is it convenient?"

Xu Hui snorted, "What's the inconvenience?"

"Alright then..." Bai Lu rolled up her sleeves and began to prepare.

Open the refrigerator, there are a lot of food in it, fruits and vegetables, seafood snacks, and all kinds of beer and drinks, most of them are new, and I haven't touched them.

He gets a lot of love.

Because it is too easy to get, it will not be cherished when it is broken.

Xu Hui was smoking at the door and watching her, Bai Lu took out the lemon, soaked the jar in water, and made it skillfully.

"Do you often do housework at home?" Xu Hui asked.

Bai Lu nodded, "Well, I made it myself when I was very young."

"Oh."

Bai Lu turned to look at Xu Hui, "What about you, you live alone, can you cook?"

Xu Hui shook his head.

"Then how to eat?"

Xu Hui said: "There are meals at school, and takeaways are not available at school. If there is no takeaway, someone will deliver it to me."

Bai Lu stopped what she was doing, washed her hands, "I'll give you one too."

"what?"

Bai Lu took out another bag from the side bag and handed it to Xu Hui.

Xu Hui took a look inside the bag, and then glanced over with dark eyes.

"Children's meal?"

Bai Lu went back to cut the lemons.

Xu Hui took out a hamburger from the bag and took a bite as if nothing had happened.

The phone rang, and it seemed that Xu Hui had a lot of calls every day.

"Hello?" Xu Hui had something wrapped in his mouth, his cheeks puffed up, and he chewed up and down.

"Oh, Xiaoye."

Bai Lu was taking out the trash, she paused for a moment, raised her head to look at him, and then silently went back to the kitchen counter to put the lemon slices in a row. The kitchen of Xu Hui's house is very new, and the lines on the cutting board are clear, which is a proof that it has basically never been used.

"Not going tonight, you can play with them."

Bai Lu put honey into the jar, and Xu Hui took another bite of the burger.

"At home, I don't want to move."

"Tomorrow is fine."

Xu Hui ate a hamburger in a few bites, clamped the phone between his ears and shoulders, and went to look for French fries in a plastic bag.

"For a while?... It's not impossible." Xu Hui took down the phone, "Come if you want, I'll be alone at night."

Putting down the phone, Bai Lu's lemons were placed on the top shelf. After pouring the honey, Bai Lu closed the lid and put the glass jar in the refrigerator.

"It's fine." Bai Lu washed her hands, "It's ready to eat after it's cold."

"Oh."

Bai Lu wiped her hands, but Xu Hui was still standing by the kitchen door.

Bai Lu felt that he was not shy, but he was often quiet.

"Thank you." He said thank you carelessly, insincerely, but not perfunctory.

Bai Lu said, "Then I'll go first."

Xu Hui looked at her.

Because of the large difference in height, he always lowered his eyes when looking at Bai Lu, looking a little tired, like a child who has not woken up.

When Bai Lu walked to the door of the kitchen, Xu Hui still didn't get out of the way.

As soon as he leaned against the door, he stretched out his long legs casually, and the door was blocked.

Clean ankle meridians are distinct.

"What's wrong?"

Bai Lu looked up, and found that he seemed to be taller, with a pair of eyes looking at her recklessly.

No matter what complex purpose Bai Lu is standing here for, from an objective point of view, at this moment, Xu Hui is the one who has the initiative.

Little Bai Lu could only honestly stay within the area circled by him.

This kind of casual teasing, Xu Huixin made it up.

"Why did you buy me a children's meal?" Xu Hui said.

Bai Lu: "You don't like to eat?"

Xu Hui: "You like it?"

Bai Lu pursed her lips, "I like it."

Xu Hui put a piece of French fries in his mouth, chewed and said, "Mock me."

Bai Lu: "How could..."

Xu Hui snorted lightly.

It was inaudible, but Bai Lu still heard it, and her body felt numb for a moment.

It's an instinctive touch that has nothing to do with all psychology.

"I'm really leaving. I'm in a hurry at home." Bai Lu took out her phone to check the time, "It's getting late, it's almost nine—"

The phone was taken away.

"Huh?" Bai Lu raised her hand to take it.

Xu Hui hooked the children's meal plastic bag with one finger, and held up the mobile phone with the other.

"Is it because you are so busy that you don't contact anyone?" Xu Hui said slowly, tapping his phone unhurriedly.

"What kind of broken phone are you..." Xu Hui frowned.

Bai Lu's face was slightly red, and she raised her hand to reach it, "Give it back to me."

Xu Hui was tall, and Bai Lu could barely reach his shoulders when standing in front of him. Even if he hunched over and stretched out his arms, Bai Lu still couldn't reach it.

"Let me take a look at your call records today." Xu Hui leaned his head back against the door frame, "Are you just not answering my calls?"

"Really not..." Bai Lu was anxious, and pulled Xu Hui's clothes down.

Xu Hui's t-shirt was loose, revealing his lean chest.

Xu Hui didn't move his hands or feet, his eyes were down.

"What do you want to do?"

Bai Lu lowered her head and took half a step back.

"nothing… "

Xu Hui's face remained unchanged, "So shy?"

Bai Lu whispered, "No..."

"never seen it?"

Bai Lu's forehead felt a little hot.

"So dumb." He whispered.

At that moment, Bai Lu thought of Jiang Ru.

She also laughed and said she stayed.

Bai Lu closed her eyes, feeling a little messed up in her head.

Xu Hui acted as if nothing had happened, then slowly tapped his phone.

Bai Lu wanted to find something to distract her attention, so she could get back to normal quickly, and after much deliberation, she began to recite the periodic table of elements silently in her heart.

When reciting iron cobalt nickel copper zinc, Xu Hui's voice gently drilled into his ears.

"Lonicera?"

All the elements instantly disintegrated, and Bai Lu's fingertips felt cold.

How could she forget such a basic thing? What is she here for

Before she could think of anything, Bai Lu suddenly felt her eyes darken.

She looked up and found Xu Hui bent down with his hands on his trouser pockets, his face was right in front of her.

It was the first time he was so close to her.

Xu Hui is very fair, with a small face and good skin. Compared with other boys, his facial features are much more delicate.

No wonder so many girls like him.

"Why do you call me Honeysuckle?"

There was still no expression on his face.

The four eyes are facing each other.

Dispensable inquiry, seemingly ignorant questions.

Naive illusion.