Tao Huainan was locked in the room for two whole nights, drank some water and milk, did not eat a bite, and went to the bathroom twice in between.
Let him go at first, give him time and space to sort out his emotions. But he has always been like that, which is obviously abnormal, no matter how spoiled my brother is, it is impossible to indulge him again.
On the morning of the third day, Tang Suoyan unlocked Tao Huainan's door, and saw that he had already changed his clothes and was about to come out.
Tang Suoyan patted him on the back, hugged him with one arm, and said in a gentle tone as usual: "Is it better?"
Tao Huainan also hugged him back, but without making a sound, he lightly grabbed Tang Suoyan's back shirt with his fingers.
"Hey, grab it lightly. I have to wear it for work later. If you scratch it for me, it will affect my image." Tang Suoyan said with a smile.
Tao Huainan also pursed his lips, his lips were chapped and peeled, and he looked a little tired.
"Are you hungry?" Tao Xiaodong raised his voice and asked.
Tao Huainan wanted to speak, but couldn't make a sound, so he closed his mouth again and cleared his throat gently.
Chi Cheng was making breakfast in the kitchen, and Tao Xiaodong was shaving in the bathroom. Originally, Tang Ge said that he would take Tao Huainan to the hospital today and find a friend to chat with him. Now that Tao Huainan had come out, Tao Xiaodong met Tang Suoyan's eyes and shook his head lightly.
Tao Huainan couldn't see their eyes, in fact he wasn't curious and kept bowing his head.
Chi Cheng didn't talk to him, his expression remained cold, and Tao Huainan didn't take the initiative to touch him.
After dinner, the two elder brothers sat with Tao Huainan for a while, Tao Huainan said that he was fine and asked them to go to work.
He is not too emotional, not very talkative. The two brothers looked at each other in silence, and then Tang Suoyan stood up and said, "It's time to go to work."
Tao Xiaodong also stood up: "Let's go."
The two of them glanced at Chi Cheng, Chi Cheng signaled that it was okay and let them go.
As soon as they left, Tao Huainan sat on the sofa for a while, then went back to the room without saying a word.
After packing up, Chi Cheng followed them in. Now there are only the two of them left in the house, and the house is so quiet that you can almost hear the clock ticking.
"Talk?" Tao Huainan said as he sat on the edge of the bed, and Chi Cheng sat directly on the floor in front of him.
Tao Huainan still remained silent.
"Tao Huainan." Chi Cheng stared at him, "If I don't get angry now, I'll hold back, don't provoke me."
He was silent for a long time after speaking, Tao Huainan was even more silent than him.
From Tao Huainan's childhood to adulthood, all the abnormal time added up is not as much as the recent period. The pressure of the college entrance examination is high, and he always thinks too much, and he is always worried about his brother, so it's okay for him to be a little abnormal.
But Tao Huainan has been in a closed state since the end of the exam, which made Chi Cheng a little bit unbearable.
No matter how Chi Cheng talked to him, Tao Huainan remained silent, Chi Cheng lightly kicked his leg with his toe: "Tao Huainan, make a sound."
Tao Huainan was kicked so that his legs shrank, and later he put his legs away, sat up on the bed, put his chin on his knees, and curled himself up into a ball.
Chi Cheng maintained his original posture and kept looking at him.
No one knows what Tao Huainan should be like than Chi Cheng, he is too abnormal.
When Chi Cheng suddenly stood up from the ground and grabbed him, Tao Huainan shrank.
Chi Cheng didn't make a sound anymore, he just dragged Tao Huainan silently. He was so strong that Tao Huainan was pulled to his knees on the bed.
"What are you doing..." Tao Huainan's voice was weak, leaning on the bed with one hand to stabilize himself from being dragged down by Chi Cheng.
Tao Huainan was carried around by Chi Cheng these days, and Chi Cheng made him look like he was just playing with him. Chi Cheng broke his shrinking posture and said, "Go to the hospital."
Tao Huainan has always disliked hospitals, and when he heard these two words, he reacted greatly. He shrank back again, and even slapped Chi Cheng's hand: "I won't go! What are you going to the hospital for? No!"
Chi Cheng was still holding onto his wrist, Tao Huainan was not as strong as him, when being dragged by Chi Cheng, Tao Huainan growled, "I'm not going! Don't touch me!"
When he roared, his voice was hoarse, and even broke his voice. He struggled with Chi Cheng, desperately dragging himself backwards.
"You are not in a normal state now, do you know Tao Huainan?" Chi Cheng held Tao Huainan's arms with both hands to prevent him from moving, "You have to let me know what's wrong with you."
There was suppressed emotion in Chi Cheng's voice, if Tao Huainan had heard his voice in the past, he would have been terrified.
However, now Tao Huainan is only earning back with a blank face, but it is impossible for him to earn past Chi Cheng.
Tao Huainan couldn't break free from Chi Cheng's hand, Chi Cheng let go of him for a short time, but as soon as he let go, he would crawl into the bed, looking like that was shocking. Chi Cheng stopped dragging him later, leaned over to hug him, and imagined hugging him out like every time.
Tao Huainan suddenly yelled in a low voice, stepped on the bed and stood up, stepped over and landed on Chi Cheng.
Chi Cheng was hit in the face by Tao Huainan, his nose hurt so badly, Tao Huainan hugged him, and suddenly started to cry loudly.
Instead of sobbing silently and crying silently, but crying, the whole body was trembling and roaring and crying vigorously.
Tao Huainan was obedient and timid since he was a child, and never made trouble. The only time he cried sharply was the day when Grandpa Ten left when he was a child, and he has never cried out loud since then.
Now he is hugging Chi Cheng, crying so much that his whole body is shaking.
Chi Cheng frowned, and patted him with his hands. Tao Huainan hugged him so tightly that Chi Cheng couldn't lift his face.
Tao Huainan cried so hard that he coughed and retched, his voice cracked with so much force.
Chi Cheng called "Nan Nan" in his ear and patted his back.
Tao Huainan hugged him, pressed Chi Cheng's head on his body to keep him from moving, and cried, "Brother, I'm scared".
"What's wrong with you?" Chi Cheng reached into his clothes, no longer patting him through the clothes, but directly touching his skin and stroking. Tao Huainan likes Chi Cheng touching him like this, and the little blind man especially likes the intimacy that comes from the sense of touch.
Tao Huainan only cried, but didn't say anything except the sound of fear.
He cried for a long time, until he lost all strength in the end, only trembling after excitement.
Chi Cheng lifted his clothes, kissed his stomach, and continued to rub his back.
"Stop crying." Chi Cheng looked up at him, raised his hand to wipe Tao Huainan's face, his nose and eyes were red, and his eyelids were already swollen.
Tao Huainan still twitched from time to time, Chicheng hugged him, wiped his face clean, and asked softly, "What's the matter? What are you afraid of? Don't cry or make trouble, just tell me."
Tao Huainan just lowered his head, put his face on Chi Cheng's shoulder, his eyes were fixed in one place, and he didn't move for a long time.
Chi Cheng turned his head and kissed his forehead, and called "baby".
Tao Huainan's tears fell silently again, sticking to Chi Cheng's skin.
In a short time, the space between Chi Cheng's shoulder and Tao Huainan's face became slippery and sticky, making it uncomfortable to stick to.
"Brother..." Tao Huainan finally opened his mouth, and he murmured "Brother" again.
"En." Chi Cheng responded to him, while still stroking his back.
"Let's go." Tao Huainan opened his eyes, but his gaze was still fixed on the spot just now. Anyway, he is a blind man, so it doesn't matter to him where he is.
Chi Cheng paused for a moment. Putting his hand on a spot on Tao Huainan's back, he asked, "Where am I going?"
"Go to school," Tao Huainan stopped crying, he said calmly in a hoarse voice, "go where you should go."
"Where should I go?" Chi Cheng let go of him and took a step back.
Tao Huainan had nothing to rely on, and he didn't have the strength to stand up straight again, so he knelt down again.
"I'm very scared. I've been scared for three years." Tao Huainan sat there with his shoulders slumped, limp, and he spoke slowly, each sentence was so laborious, "I'm too scared to grow up, I'm afraid you will leave , afraid of dragging you."
Chi Cheng stood a step away from him and looked at him coldly.
"I've had enough of this kind of life... so tired." Tao Huainan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He continued, "Every day I live with you... I always think of you living for me , I will always fall for you, I hate this kind of life... and myself."
"I can live on my own now, I've grown up."
"I don't..." Tao Huainan's voice paused for a few seconds, he bit the tip of his tongue hard in his mouth until it bled, the pain was so painful that he needed to inhale continuously, and even his back arched slightly before he continued what he just said —
"I don't need your care anymore."
The space became quiet again, and the air seemed to have stagnated.
Tao Huainan's watch chimed the hour twice softly, and the open window of the kitchen made the plastic bag of fruit rattle.
Chi Cheng never said a word, Tao Huainan couldn't see his face, nor could he think of his expression.
Of course, he couldn't see Chi Cheng's red eyes full of hostility.
"Tao Huainan," Chi Cheng gritted his teeth, his voice was terrifyingly deep, "Don't go crazy with me."
Chi Cheng really made Tao Huainan mad, and Tao Huainan couldn't resist the anger he really got angry.
Chi Cheng slammed the door and went out. Tao Huainan shivered at the loud sound of the bedroom door being slammed down. After that, he still sat blankly as before, without changing his posture.
The body temperature during the hug has long since dissipated, and now the clothes and side face wet with tears only feel cold.
Tao Xiaodong called Chicheng during the day and asked how Tao Huainan was.
Chi Cheng said in a deep voice, "Crazy".
"Ah?" Tao Xiaodong realized something was wrong on the phone, "What's wrong with you two?"
"It's okay," Chi Cheng said while pinching the phone, eyes closed, "Don't worry, brother."
When Tao Xiaodong and Tang Suoyan came back in the evening, Chi Cheng leaned on the sofa in the living room with his head up and his eyes closed. There was another person curled up on the bed in the room. The atmosphere in the room was a bit tense.
Tao Xiaodong sat next to Chi Cheng, and tentatively asked, "What's wrong, Brother Ku?"
Tang Suoyan opened Tao Huainan's door and walked over to look at him.
When the children grow up, they don't make a little awkwardness like they did when they were young, and the adults just watch it as a joke. Tao Xiaodong still remembers that the two children didn't talk to anyone at first, and they didn't talk at home for a long time after they went to school.
They were close at school, but they pretended not to know each other when they returned home.
At that time, Tao Xiaodong was only in his twenties, and he was a half-grown boy with a rough heart. He only thought it was fun to see the two children quarreling.
At that time, there was an adult, two children, and a dog in the family.
Tao Huainan often stepped on Grandpa Ten's back with his chubby toes to pinch Grandpa Ten's long golden hair. Chi Cheng always ignored him when he walked past him, and Tao Huainan curled his lips secretly.
Thinking of that time now, it seems like a beautiful dream full of innocence.
At that time, the winter was colder than now, but the watermelon in summer was sweeter than now.