Yang Xuan put the cigarette in his pocket, walked down from the stairwell, lit one and smoked. Feng Bo and Wang Xingchun were waiting at the gate of the community, leaning against the wall, chatting casually. Seeing Yang Xuan coming over, Feng Bo straightened up and asked him for cigarettes: "Brother Xuan, here is one."
Yang Xuan took both the cigarette case and the lighter into his hands, and when he lowered his head to light his cigarette, he said, "I just realized I forgot to bring my cigarettes when I walked downstairs."
"Go upstairs to get it again?" Feng Bo lit his cigarette, took a puff and said, "No wonder it came out slower than before."
Yang Xuan took the cigarette case returned by Feng Bo, put it back in his pocket, and twirled the lighter twice with his fingertips, smiled and said: "When I went back, the good student was just trying to learn how to smoke."
"Who?" Wang Xingchun immediately realized, "Tang Junhe?"
"Him?" Feng Bo regained his energy, "Then he opened the window with a tone last time? I froze to death."
Yang Xuan said casually: "The rebellious period has come."
Feng Bo commented strangely: "Hey, it's really early." After speaking, he happily suggested, "Brother Aixuan, next time you just spray a puff of smoke on his face and see how he reacts."
"What's the reaction?" Yang Xuan rarely responded to his proposal, "Fight to the death with me?"
"Don't say it, I think it's really possible." Feng Bo was angry when he remembered Tang Junhe's face off in public, "Look at his face that he can't take a joke. He shouldn't come to school, I Think he should go to a bullfight, he must fight a bull."
Wang Xingchun laughed at the side: "Where do you come from so many strange ideas?"
Feng Bo leaned over to touch Yang Xuan's shoulder again: "Brother Xuan, why don't we find someone to beat him up? Anyway, let's vent our anger first. You don't need to come forward. I know a few people outside the school..."
Yang Xuan interrupted him noncommittally: "If I can vent my anger by beating him, I still have to wait until now?"
"Then...how about beating him and his mother?" Feng Bo continued to give him bad ideas unwilling to give up.
"Well, what then?" Yang Xuan was obviously not interested.
"Then... Then I vented my anger." Feng Bo shrugged and said.
"Why are you so smart and stupid at the same time," Wang Xingchun interjected, "What's the use of relieving your anger for a while."
"Hey—you didn't contribute at all and still laughed at me?" Feng Bo stretched out his hand and pushed his back hard.
Pushed by him, Wang Xingchun staggered a step forward, stood firm and said, "If you want me to say, brother Xuan, if he wants to learn to smoke, you can teach him; if he wants to learn to fight, you can take him to fight. He doesn't want to. When it comes to homework, we not only borrow it for him, but also hand it over to him to copy... He can rebel as much as he wants, and when the time comes, let him fight against his mother, the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman wins, this word seems to be inappropriate That's right, but in that sense, you just—"
Before he finished speaking, Feng Bo put his arm around his neck and said, "I didn't expect it, Chun'er, it looks so pure, so it turns out that it is so scheming."
"Fuck, let me go..." Wang Xingchun grabbed his arm and coughed twice, "I'm going to be strangled by you."
Yang Xuan didn't speak all the time, but now he turned his head and glanced at him.
***
For most students, Friday is the most anticipated day of the week, because this day means the end of confinement and the beginning of freedom, although only temporarily.
However, for Tang Junhe, Friday is the day he least wants to face in a week. Because this day not only had to face Zhou Lin's obsessive gaze at him and stalking him like a mangy dog, but also Tang Xiaonian's airtight bombardment-like concern in the next two days.
Every Friday after school, Zhou Lin would wait at the gate of Runcheng No. 1 Middle School, among a group of eagerly looking parents, until Tang Junhe came out, then stare at him, and follow him to the bus stop not far away .
In the first few times, he just watched Tang Junhe get on the bus with reluctance, and later, he had the courage to get on the bus with Tang Junhe.
After school on Friday is the most crowded time in the bus, and all the students who live in the dormitory on weekdays squeeze in, filling the bus to the brim.
Tang Junhe stood near the back door, holding the handrail with his right hand, turning his head to hide from Zhou Lin's naked eyes outside the car window. Unexpectedly, when the car was about to close, Zhou Lin hurriedly squeezed in as if he had just woken up from a dream, then pushed aside the people standing by the door, and squeezed to the side of Tang Junhe.
The door slammed shut, the driver stepped on the accelerator, the bus suddenly started, and the people in the compartment fell backwards. Taking advantage of this gap, Zhou Lin moved closer to Tang Junhe again, trying to make physical contact with him.
Tang Junhe turned his head and gave him a cold look, and said clearly: "I said, stay away from me."
His voice was neither high nor low, but because of his cool tone, he suddenly appeared in the noisy carriage, making the people around him hear him clearly, and they all turned their heads to look this way.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Being exposed to everyone's eyes made Chao Zhoulin feel a little uncomfortable, and his back became even more rickety.
Tang Junhe said to the people in front with a cold face: "Excuse me, I want to go to the front."
His appearance is so eye-catching, people in the car turned sideways to make way for him, while looking back at Zhou Lin frequently, guessing what happened between the two.
The crowd temporarily blocked Zhou Lin's sight, and Tang Junhe's mood became better. He pulled the pull ring above his head, and looked at the scenery passing by the window nonchalantly, turning a blind eye to the gazes cast by other people.
The bus stopped at the stop, and most of the people on the bus had already got off, leaving an aisle for easy passage. Tang Junhe walked to the back door and got off the car. When Zhou Lin passed by, Zhou Lin, who was sitting in his seat, turned to look at him, as if hesitating whether to get off with him.
Tang Junhe got off the bus two stops earlier in the downtown area, jumped out of the car and ran towards home. He couldn't let Zhou Lin know the exact location of his home—not because he was afraid that Zhou Lin would follow him, but because he was afraid that he would try to hurt Tang Xiaonian because of his grudge.
There is a huge contrast between this person before and after drinking, and no one can tell what extraordinary things he will do one day.
There were so many people in the downtown area, Zhou Lin didn't dare to rush after him, but Tang Junhe ran forward with all his strength, ran two bus stops, and ran to a slightly secluded residential area.
The residential area that Yang Chengchuan moved to later can be regarded as a quiet place amidst the hustle and bustle. The thick shade of trees completely isolates the noise not far away. When you turn around the green belt, you feel as if you have turned into a place that is not far away. A paradise isolated from the world.
But because this place does not belong to the boundary of public transportation, there are not many pedestrians passing by. At night, there is no one in the area of several hundred meters, except for idle patrolling police and occasional high-end cars passing by occasionally.
Tang Junhe ran all the way into the corridor, and the elevator happened to land on the first floor. He pressed the door open button, went in and clicked on the floor, and then leaned against the side wall of the elevator to pant. He felt a little out of breath just now because he ran too fast.
When the elevator door was about to close, someone pushed it open again, and then a figure half a head taller flashed in.
***
Yang Xuan came back by bicycle. As soon as he turned into the secluded path leading to the gate of the community, he saw Tang Junhe running wildly in front of him, and ran all the way into the community, as if someone was chasing him behind him. .
Yang Xuan couldn't help but looked back on the bike - not even a scumbag.
He felt that his half-brother had become a bit strange. When he saw him a few times, he looked like a rabbit who was easily startled. When I was in class, I could often feel the gaze cast from his direction. Although I always pretended to be unintentional, that kind of gaze was really impossible to ignore.
Yang Xuan parked the car in the corridor, scratched his hair that was a little messy from the wind, and locked the car while thinking, what are you looking at? He is curious about me
A few steps away, the elevator door began to close slowly. Yang Xuan ran two steps forward quickly, poked the door open button quickly, and walked in.
He saw Tang Junhe leaning against the wall panting heavily, his lips parted slightly, looking a little dry.
Seeing him coming in, Tang Junhe shut his mouth tightly as if overreacting, straightened up from the elevator wall, and looked away from him uncomfortably. But because he ran too fast just now, even if he deliberately suppressed it, the sound of rapid breathing can be clearly heard in the quiet elevator room.
It took a long time to wait for the elevator door to close. Yang Xuan looked at Tang Junhe boredly, and then said: "Someone is looking for you at the gate of the community."
Tang Junhe's downcast gaze instantly lifted up, and when it fell on his face, he reacted in shock again: "Who?"
Yang Xuan didn't answer directly, but just stared at him with special meaning: "It seems that I should ask you this question."
Tang Junhe realized what he meant, but didn't make a sound, his eyes seemed a little erratic, as if he didn't know where to fall.
The elevator doors closed, and no one came in this time. Yang Xuan bent his fingers and tapped on the metal elevator wall behind him: "I heard that he is you..." He paused deliberately, waiting for Tang Junhe's reaction.
As expected, that gaze fell back on his face, and Yang Xuan slowly said those three words in satisfaction: "Boyfriend."
He saw that fist clenched again—he was so easily startled and easily irritated, Yang Xuan thought, maybe Feng Bo’s suggestion was also good, if he sprayed the smoke on his face, what would his reaction be? Quite curious.
It was not only sprayed on the face, but also on the eyes. When the eyes were wide open, it always reminded him of those black onyx eyes when he was a child. He didn't like the association.
Maybe it would be better to squint, Yang Xuan looked at him and thought.
"You're kidding." Yang Xuan laughed again, this time the corners of his mouth pulled up a bit more. The clenched fist still didn't let go, as if he was short of breath, and even the clearly audible gasp just now disappeared.
It seems that he is not a boyfriend, Yang Xuan thought, and he probably won't be.
The elevator went up quickly, and the door opened again, Yang Xuan walked out first. Tang Junhe followed behind him and let go of his fist quietly.
He smelled Yang Xuan's body, and recognized that he didn't smoke today—it turned out that the good smell had nothing to do with the brand of cigarettes, Tang Junhe thought so, and silently gave up his plan to buy the same kind of cigarettes.
Walking behind Yang Xuan, he dared to raise his eyes calmly, looking at Yang Xuan's back.
Not daring to look directly is not because of fear, but because of guilty conscience. Since that nocturnal emission, he has dreamed of Yang Xuan more than once, every Friday Zhou Lin came to follow him, and that night he would dream of Yang Xuan without exception. He dreamed that Yang Xuan pushed him to the base of the wall, trapped him, something hard pressed against his lower body, and his warm breath with the smell of tobacco sprayed on his face. He dreamed that Yang Xuan was facing his face, spraying white smoke into his eyes, and he squinted his eyes in the dream.
From panic at the beginning to getting used to it later, in the dream he also experienced from trying to break free to giving up resistance.
His adolescence was violent, and he was completely unable to restrain the appearance of such dreams, and the occurrence of nocturnal emissions time and time again.
Maybe I'm really the same person as Zhou Lin... Every time Tang Junhe wakes up from his nocturnal emission, he will stare at the darkness in front of him and think so.
***
In the evening of a working day in early May, Yang Chengchuan suddenly announced an important news at the dinner table: "The last time I mentioned that Zhou Lin, I sent someone to their school to check, but found something. Zhou, the school will let him go."
"What did you find?" Tang Xiaonian stopped his chopsticks and asked him.
"Complaints from some parents." Yang Chengchuan was concerned about his youngest son being at the dinner table, fearing that the news would bring him a shadow in his heart, so he spoke in a somewhat cryptic manner.
Unexpectedly, Tang Junhe suddenly took the initiative to raise his head and talk to him: "Did it be found out that he violated other little boys?"
Yang Chengchuan didn't expect him to speak so bluntly, he was a little stunned for a moment, and after two seconds he collected himself and said: "It's not that serious, I guess, this person is a villain, once a parent complains , He was afraid of losing his job, so he quickly stopped. At the school, because he has a relative in the Education Bureau, he always wants to settle things down, after all, there is no direct evidence... "
"Maybe he succeeded," Tang Junhe rarely took the initiative to talk to Yang Chengchuan, "As long as those boys dare not tell their parents, he will be confident, first to test, and then to invade."
Yang Chengchuan didn't expect his youngest son to speak in such a non-surprising and endless manner, and he said after a few seconds: "That's not easy to say, but it's not easy to find out things without evidence. Moreover, it has been so many years, the two complaints happened before you, after your mother went to the school, and no parents have complained to the school since then."
"It's been so many years, are those complaints still useful?" Tang Xiaonian was more concerned about whether Zhou Lin could lose his job.
"That's not a problem," Yang Chengchuan was confident, "As long as he finds a clue, he can be dismissed by the school. I also sent someone from the police station to contact him, but there was no result. There is little hope of conviction. After he is dismissed, his teaching qualification will be revoked, so that he will not be able to be a teacher in the future, so it should be regarded as a lesson for him."
"Well," Tang Xiaonian echoed, "What kind of teacher is this scumbag?"
Tang Junhe lowered his eyes and said, "Thank you."
Yang Chengchuan was used to his alienation, looked at him and said, "Since he transferred to another school, he should have nothing to do in the future, and he won't know that being dismissed has something to do with you. If there are any problems in the future, you Just tell me at any time, don't hide it, and don't be so alien to me."
After a pause, Yang Chengchuan added: "I am Yang Xuan's father, and I am also your father. I treat both of you brothers the same, and I have no preference. As for you, whether you want to admit it or not, you were born by me." He is also my son legally, this relationship exists genetically and cannot be denied legally, right?"
Tang Junhe's eyes flickered, and he pursed his lips.
Yang Chengchuan simply talked about this matter: "It's the same with Yang Xuan, no matter what your relationship is now, he is your brother and you are his brother. This relationship cannot be changed. There is no other relationship than this blood relationship. It's closer. He is not sensible, I will continue to do his work, you are more sensible than him, don't learn from him."
Yang Chengchuan's words can be said to be heart-pounding, but only in exchange for Tang Junhe's understatement "um".