Chiku really left.
On the day before New Year's Eve, the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.
It was too cold in my hometown. That year, Tao Huainan followed his elder brother to help his parents lay the soil. It was so cold that his bones ached. Chiku was stripped naked by his father and thrown outside on such a cold day in the twelfth lunar month, and took a glass of milk from Tao Huainan and poured it into his mouth.
The milk splashed out of the cup stained Tao Huainan's body. After wearing the clothes for many days, his breath always smelled of mutton.
Tao Huainan was taken by his elder brother to Brother Tian Yi's house to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian were all there, and they gave Tao Huainan a red envelope.
Although Tao Huainan tried his best to cooperate with everyone and make himself look happy, he knew that his performance was not good.
He lay down in Brother Tian Yi's room for a while in the afternoon, pretending to be asleep. In fact, he has been lying quietly with his eyes open.
It was the first time he was separated from Chi Ku, and he couldn't adapt, feeling that everything was wrong. Normally, he and Chiku didn't stick together in the familiar environment, most of the time they stayed apart, but Chiku was no longer here, Tao Huainan felt that there was no place to sit or stand in the same space. Nowhere to stand.
The phone was always in his pocket, Tao Huainan turned on the ringer and vibration, but it never rang.
Before the evening meal, brother Tian Yi walked into the room and knocked on the door.
Tao Huainan sat up, cleared his throat and said with a smile, "I'm awake."
"It's time to eat, baby." Brother Tian Yi called him, "Your Aunt Tian gave you some steamed milk snacks, come and have a taste."
"Come on," Tao Huainan climbed down from the bed, stood by the bed and felt for the blanket he had just covered, "Come on."
Tian Yi turned his head and met Tao Xiaodong's eyes silently, mouthed and said, "I'm on fire."
Tao Xiaodong nodded, that's when he came out. He didn't say a word at home and closed himself off.
This state lasted for many days, and Tao Huainan's voice became completely hoarse. Later, maybe because he was worried about his brother, he began to become a lot more normal. He talked a lot, but the hoarse voice made people feel distressed.
Chi Ku never called him once, so Tao Huainan asked his brother in a low voice on the way to the store one day, "Will Chi Ku be beaten?"
"No." Tao Xiaodong told him, "I called him yesterday."
"Ah?" Tao Huainan turned to look at his brother in surprise, "When? I didn't hear it."
"When you are resting from work, you are lying down." Tao Xiaodong said, "He was not beaten, and his father can't catch him."
"He runs fast." Tao Huainan asked after a while, "Did he pick it up as soon as you hit him?"
"Got it," Tao Xiaodong said with a smile, "If you really miss him, just call him, and just touch your phone every day, what's so awkward here?"
Tao Huainan subconsciously touched his trouser pocket again, and touched the mobile phone inside through the fabric, but he never thought about this mobile phone.
"I won't hit..." Tao Huainan shook his head lightly, "I'm not finished getting angry yet."
"Don't be angry with him, he's also useless." Tao Xiaodong coaxed his brother, and reasoned with him, "He's not you, you can care about many things, he thinks a lot."
Tao Huainan understands all these, and the older he grows, the more he understands. But knowing it doesn't mean you won't be sad. When you grow up, many emotions become difficult to distinguish.
A little sad, angry and sad, and a little more worried.
Tao Huainan was quiet for a long time, but he still couldn't help asking: "What if he doesn't run away sometime? His father might beat him to death."
"No way." Tao Xiaodong patted his brother's head while the car was parked, "It's too late."
Tao Huainan said "Yes" and nodded: "He is super powerful."
The holidays were originally very short, but every day was comfortable and happy, and it was gone after just a few swipes. But this year's winter vacation is extraordinarily long, and it feels like many, many days have passed, and it is less than ten days after counting.
Every day is very slow from morning to night, and the day and night are not as fast as before.
Tao Huainan took the test book and fumbled to do the questions. After finishing, he didn't know who to show. Tao Huainan put his hand into his trouser pocket again, and pressed any key at will, listening to the sound to see if the phone was turned off.
It’s okay, my brother said in the morning that there is still half of the battery left, so I just do nothing on standby every day, and it will be enough for another three days.
Tao Huainan took out the phone and put it on the table next to his notebook. In fact, his mobile phone can do a lot of things, but Tao Huainan has no habit of playing with mobile phones, and the blind mode of the mobile phone is not so easy to use. He can just tell Chi Ku what he wants to do, and Chi Ku can give him whatever he wants to check. he read.
When Tao Huainan couldn't finish the questions, he wore earphones and fumbled with his phone for a while. It wasn't much fun. He was blind, and he couldn't play the game well.
After another two days, Tao Huainan finally answered a belated phone call.
He said he was angry and didn't forgive him, but when the phone rang, he jumped off the bed to reach the charged mobile phone. Tao Xiaodong thought he had fallen when he heard it outside.
"Hello?" Tao Huainan held his breath and answered.
Chiku's voice came through the phone, and Tao Huainan's ears came in, and he felt comfortable everywhere.
"I."
Tao Huainan pursed his lips: "I know it's you."
"Has a hoarse voice?" Chi Ku sounded like he was walking, panting a bit.
Tao Huainan asked him, "What are you doing?"
"Walking." Chi Ku said with a smile, "Hiding Chi Zhide."
"You're still laughing..." Tao Huainan was displeased when he heard him laughing, "Have you been beaten?"
Chi said "no".
I got on the phone, heard the voice, and forgot everything. At the beginning, he was holding his airs awkwardly, but after a few words, Tao Huainan still changed his tune, and he couldn't help but softened.
"When will you come back?"
"I don't know yet." Chi Ku said, "Chi Zhide has no intention of leaving yet."
Tao Huainan bit the inside of his lip, and said in a muffled voice, "I feel uncomfortable every day, and nothing feels right about me."
Chi Ku paused for two seconds, and then said to him: "Small things are fine."
"Who is like you?" Tao Huainan picked at the back of the phone and muttered, "You're nothing to worry about. You'd better just leave as soon as you say it. I think you're very happy."
Chi Ku laughed again, and said with a smile in his voice, "I knew you'd have to do this when you called."
"Then don't fight." Tao Huainan said.
"Then I'll hang up." Chi Ku said.
Tao Huainan immediately frowned and stopped him: "Don't."
Chi Ku probably just ran, and when he laughed, he could hear that he was panting badly. He is quite good at laughing on the phone, unlike the usual cold face at home.
"Is it cold over there?" Tao Huainan sat by the bed, slumped upright, talking to Chi Ku.
"good."
"You're wearing a hat." Tao Huainan told him, "If you don't want your ears to freeze."
Chi Ku said to him a little impatiently: "Don't ramble."
Tao Huainan closed his eyes with some force, made a staring motion, and also felt that the delay was annoying, and he clutched the phone curiously, reluctant to hang it up.
After a sticky phone call for more than half an hour, Tao Xiaodong laughed outside. He didn't usually see them talking so much, and they were talking on the phone.
Before hanging up the phone, he said bitterly, "Okay, I'll go back."
"Don't go back, you go live in my old house..." Tao Huainan had changed from sitting to lying down, "It was there when we were young."
"I was there yesterday, and your uncle used it as a warehouse, and it was full of mice." Chi Ku remembered something again, and said to him, "There are ice skates on the window frames."
Tao Huainan whispered "Wow", and then said: "You are not afraid of mice, so don't go home."
"Don't worry about it." Chi Ku stopped chatting with him, "I'm dead."
Tao Huainan gave a low "Oh".
"Okay, what should I do, don't be hypocritical." Chi Ku told Tao Huainan before hanging up the phone, he didn't know whether he was panting or freezing, but his tone sounded soft, "You don't have to worry about me. "
"Yeah," Chi Ku said so nicely, Tao Huainan was also very obedient, and agreed honestly, "Okay."
The phone call took a long time, and after hanging up, the ear that had been pressed against the phone was burning hot. Tao Huainan plugged the phone back in to continue charging, put on his slippers and went to the living room.
On the coffee table, Tao Huainan ate the fruit sliced by his elder brother by sticking a pineapple with a fruit stick.
Tao Xiaodong came out of the toilet and saw that his brother was eating well with a plate, and said "Yo", "Are you in a good mood today?"
"No way." Tao Huainan ate another piece of pineapple and said with lowered eyes, "That's it."
Tao Xiaodong laughed for a long time, children are really interesting. Sometimes when I think about it, it is because his younger brother has been blind since he was a child, and he sees less ugly and dark things, so he is extra naive.
From this day on, the two brothers will talk on the phone from time to time, once every two or three days.
In this way, I changed from looking forward to the start of school to looking forward to the phone call, and the time seemed to be much faster. Tao Huainan even slept with his mobile phone clutched, and occasionally he forgot to put it down when he fell asleep, and when he woke up in the morning, he would get deep marks on his body, which was very painful.
Tao Huainan's voice was hoarse all the time, at first he thought he was getting angry, but it didn't get better after that, Tao Xiaodong suddenly remembered one day that the boy was about to change his voice.
Because Tao Huainan was talking on the phone occasionally, although he kept talking about being angry, he was much happier. I'm a little embarrassed to talk about the voice change, and I remembered the things taught in the health class.
Sooner or later, the voice has changed, and now that the change is over, the voice is nice.
Not knowing what he would look like after the change, Tao Huainan followed the sound change and thought of something else, those wonderful changes in adolescence.
When the two of them called on the phone that night, Tao Huainan said to Chi Ku with a suppressed voice, "I'm going to change my voice."
"Ah," Chi Ku said indifferently, "Change."
"I haven't had a dream yet..." Tao Huainan scratched his face with one finger, he was a little shy when he said it, but he couldn't help his adolescent curiosity, and asked Chi Ku in a low voice, "Have you ever done it?"
"I did." Chi Ku replied calmly.
Tao Huainan was a little surprised: "Really?"
Chi said "ah".
"Then what did you dream about?" Tao Huainan asked as he curled up inside the blanket.
"I don't remember, it's a mess." Chi Ku said.
After all, it was still an uncomfortable topic, and it was over after a few words. Tao Huainan was too embarrassed to talk to his brother, so he chatted with Chi Ku over the phone like a secret, secretly.
I didn't go home that night, so I sat in the old house of Tao's family, found an old box to sit in, and chatted with Tao Huainan until I fell asleep. The hand holding the phone was so cold that I couldn't break it if I kept holding it. Come.
It may be that I have thought about these things too much recently, or it may be that I just talked before going to bed.
Tao Huainan actually had a dream that night.
In the dream, Chi Ku hid Chi Zhide with his back on his back, and ran around the lake, Chi Zhide chased after him like a dog, Tao Huainan put his arms around Chi Ku's neck, his heart pounding with fright.
Running and running, Chi Kui jumped down the slope when he was almost overtaken by Chi Zhide, the two of them tied together and rolled many times.
A tiring and frightening dream, Tao Huainan let out a long breath when he woke up in the morning.
Halfway through exhaling, I felt something was wrong. Reaching out to touch it, the whole person froze.