On Christmas Eve, Qian Weicheng invited some male colleagues to play mahjong in the dormitory. Zhou Hao thought it was making a fuss, so he put on his down jacket and went around the commercial street.
There are huge crowds of people, and neon lights are shining. If you walk a few meters, you will always meet young men and women selling peace fruits.
It's been a long time since I observed people in big cities. Zhou Hao felt very strange about their clothes, their hairstyles, and even their walking postures. Standing in the center of the square, he was no longer surrounded by the small streets and alleys of Suchuan, nor the mulberry forest on the hillside behind his hometown.
He felt sad—alone at being strange, and sad at being alone.
Finally, Zhou Hao left the commercial street amidst the laughter of men and women eating and drinking.
When they returned to the dormitory, the group of people were still playing cards, making a lot of noise, Zhou Hao went to the balcony. He hasn't smoked for a long time, but he still took out one tonight. When the cigarette was lit, and just took a puff, a WeChat notification sound came from the phone.
He clicked on it, and it was the photo of Da Mao and Er Mao sent by Xiao Dong. Those two fat guys were wearing Christmas hats and they were also celebrating Christmas.
Zhou Hao stared at the photo for a long time, with an involuntary smile on his face.
Because of the severe cold, the windows of the balcony were frozen and could not be closed tightly, and the northern wind came in through these small cracks. Drill secretly.
When Zhou Hao found them, his upper body was already feeling chilly. He sneezed hard and hurried back to the house.
Not long after, Yan Ming came over with a bag of apples. Qian Weicheng glanced at him, his mind was still on the mahjong table, but he couldn't control his mouth again, "Xiao Ming, he gave you apples on Christmas Eve, It’s a good idea to give it away, why are you still giving it away by the catty?”
Yan Ming smiled back at him, "Didn't I know that you gathered a crowd here to gamble. There are a lot of people."
"Hey, I want those six." Qian Weicheng had no time to tease Yan Ming.
All the sitting places in the dormitory were taken up by them playing mahjong, so Yan Ming had to sit by Zhou Hao's bed.
"Tomorrow night, let's go to Teacher Jiang's house to have a festival together." Yan Ming said.
"The world of the two of you, why should I mess with it?"
"It's not my idea. It was invited by our teacher Jiang. He said that there are so many people, so you can call Qian Weicheng over too."
Zhou Hao agreed, and happened to see the open plastic bag on the table, and he took out a few pairs of socks from it, "Here, Christmas socks for you."
Qian Weicheng's ears were sharper than anyone else's, and he yelled, "Brother Hao specially went to wholesale a few days ago."
Before going to bed, Zhou Hao received a message from a digital number, "Hao Hao, happy Christmas Eve!" He didn't bother to respond, and went to sleep sullenly.
The next day, Zhou Hao was in a drowsy state all day long, and when others said what he should do, he turned around and forgot. It was okay in the morning, but it got worse in the afternoon.
Qian Weicheng noticed his abnormality, and seeing his flushed cheeks, he knew that this person had a cold and a fever.
"Brother Hao, you should go back to the dormitory first. Anyway, you will get off work soon. I will ask you for a leave."
Zhou Hao shook his head, "It's okay, I have to go to Yan Ming's after get off work later, so I'll talk to him."
After finally getting off work, Zhou Hao went to a fruit shop near the hospital to buy some fruit, so he couldn't just go eat and drink empty-handed.
The two hired a taxi and went directly to Zijin Mingjun.
At this time, it was exactly eighteen o'clock in the evening.
When they arrived at the place, the two got out of the car, and Qian Weicheng thoughtfully took the initiative to pick up the fruit he bought.
After entering the luxury villa, Qian Weicheng was still a little shocked. He wanted to mutter something, but when he thought that Zhou Hao was not feeling well, he finally controlled his mouth.
When you press the doorbell, the person who opens the door is Yan Ming.
"You guys are here, come in quickly." Yan Ming took the fruit handed over by Qian Weicheng and greeted the guests with a smile.
The two entered the villa, first changed into a pair of slippers, and then had time to carefully look at the layout of the house.
There was actually a Christmas tree in the living room, covered with bells, snowflakes, and small gift boxes... Yan Ming is really a young man at heart.
Teacher Jiang came out with the dishes from the kitchen, "Here we are, there are still a few dishes left, so we can start."
Immediately afterwards, Zhou Hao saw Jiang Yuqian who was also holding a soup bowl. That person must have just come back from get off work, and he was still wearing a professional elite shirt with rolled up sleeves and an apron outside.
"Today's dishes are almost all made by Yuqian." Jiang Weiyang greeted everyone to serve.
Jiang Yuqian secretly glanced at Zhou Hao, pursed his lips, and did not speak.
Not long after, all the dishes were served.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was a bit awkward, and the five of them didn't speak much. Qian Weicheng didn't raise his eyes as if he hadn't had enough food, he just kept his head down and swallowed. Zhou Hao didn't have much appetite. After a few mouthfuls, he couldn't eat any more. His mind was groggy and he wanted to sleep.
"Brother Hao, are you okay?"
Qian Weicheng's words interrupted the invisible embarrassment. Jiang Yuqian glanced at the little lunatic sitting across from him, and also felt something strange. He followed Qian Weicheng's words and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"Brother Hao has a fever today." Qian Weicheng answered truthfully.
Jiang Weiyang thought of a tablet of paracetamol in his home medical kit, "Go upstairs and rest for a while, there are some antipyretics at home, I'll get them."
Zhou Hao didn't like being the target of everyone's attention, so he insisted that he was fine, just drink some water.
Jiang Weiyang had already stood up at this time, "Yuqian, you take him to the guest room first, and I'll go find antipyretics."
Only now did Jiang Yuqian have a reason to approach the little lunatic, and he also stood up, looking at Zhou Hao with deep eyes. Zhou Hao raised his eyelids and followed him to the guest room upstairs.
The light in the guest room was turned on, and the eyes of the two met inadvertently, and then separated again.
"I want to sleep for a while." Zhou Hao said first.
Jiang Yuqian heard the meaning of the little lunatic, he wanted to let himself out.
"Lie down first, and I'll get you medicine."
Jiang Yuqian closed the door and went out.
Zhou Hao looked at this overly neat and clean bedroom, full of unfamiliar nobility everywhere, even the carpet around the bed formed a barrier between poor people like him.
Lying on the bed, Zhou Hao opened his eyes and looked at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
At this moment, he remembered that he should change into a new down jacket for those men dressed in foreign style that he saw on the street yesterday. The one he was wearing was worn out a long time ago.
Jiang Yuqian knocked on the door and came in, only to see the little lunatic staring at the ceiling in a daze. He walked over, "Get up, take the medicine first."
Zhou Hao sat up and leaned against the back of the bed. He took the glass of water and swallowed the medicine.
"Jiang Yuqian, is your room this big?" the little lunatic asked inexplicably.
For some reason, Jiang Yuqian always feels distressed when he hears any strange words from the little lunatic. Because of the heavy burden, a person misses out a lot of sophistication in the process of growing up, as white as a piece of paper, and he wants to accompany him to live his life again.
"Well, about the same size."
Zhou Hao stopped talking, he got under the quilt and closed his eyes.
===========
in the living room.
Jiang Weiyang roughly guessed something, and asked Yan Ming for confirmation. When Yan Ming saw the serious Teacher Jiang, he couldn't hide anything serious, and told everything.
At this time, Jiang Weiyang smiled.
Yan Ming asked him curiously, "What are you laughing at?"
Jiang Weiyang said, "Yuqian has been old since he was a child, like my elder brother. Once I heard his mother say that when he was a child in kindergarten, he was pushed from behind by other children when he was playing on a slide, and his palm was scratched." Skin. The kid didn’t say anything when he got home. I found out when my sister-in-law was giving him a bath. I called the teacher and asked to find out what happened. I can’t see that that boring gourd can still like people.”
…
When Jiang Yuqian came out, he saw the three of them talking, and he didn't want to join in, so he simply went back to the guest room.
Zhou Hao didn't fall asleep. When he heard the door open, he raised his head slightly, "Go out, I want to sleep."
Jiang Yuqian walked in without heeding the news, took off his shoes and lay down on the bed.
It was this kind of unreasonable behavior that stunned Zhou Hao, unable to ask a word.
There was only one quilt on the bed, so Jiang Yuqian lifted the quilt and lay down.
"They were playing downstairs, and I wanted to sleep too." Jiang Yuqian explained.
Zhou Hao's head was a mess, and he didn't want to play tricks with him, so he just moved to the side. Jiang Yuqian also squeezed past.
The body under the quilt rubbed tightly together through the clothes, and Zhou Hao gradually fell asleep in the rare peace.
In the dark night, Jiang Yuqian gently hugged the little lunatic, his body stiffened, not daring to move.
Time was ticking, and the person who had been stiff for a long time suddenly came to the little lunatic's cheek and kissed him secretly.
Tasting the sweetness like a forbidden fruit, Jiang Yuqian really felt it at this moment.
In the second half of the night, the little lunatic's body temperature was getting higher and higher, he was feverish, and he was still talking nonsense. Jiang Yuqian felt light and woke up immediately. He touched the little lunatic's forehead, which was very hot.
"Hao Hao." He called out.
The little lunatic snorted weakly, "Hmm..."
"Shall we go to the hospital?"
"Thirsty, want to drink water..."
Jiang Yuqian got up and got out of bed, went to the kitchen to pour him a glass of water, and brought it up quickly. Zhou Hao gulped it all down, and the burning sensation in his throat was slightly relieved.
"I'll take you to the hospital."
Zhou Hao said blankly, "I won't go."
Jiang Yuqian had no choice but to ask, "Do you still drink water?"
"Don't drink."
The two lay back on the bed again. Zhou Hao originally had his back to Jiang Yuqian, but he couldn't sleep and turned over, only to find that Jiang Yuqian was staring at him with a gloomy expression.
"Jiang Yuqian." Zhou Hao's voice was very low.
"Um?"
"Merry Christmas." Then he turned away again.