After the third class in the afternoon, Song Xinghe went up to the fifth floor to find Xie Ruan.
"Did you miss your phone? I sent you a message."
"No," Xie Ruan subconsciously reached for his phone, but halfway through he remembered that he had put his phone in his schoolbag. "What's up?"
Song Xinghe showed an expression of "as expected": "I knew it."
The two of them have been friends for such a long time, and Song Xinghe's favorite thing about Xie Ruan is that he never deliberately does not reply to messages. If he does not respond to messages, there is no need to think too much, it must be that his phone is not with him.
Song Xinghe said: "I just came to tell you that I won't be having dinner with you tonight. My mom will come over and take me out to eat later."
"Okay." Xie Ruan responded, thought for a moment, and then said, "Don't send me messages during the day. I probably won't see them."
Song Xinghe was surprised: "Why, is your experimental class so strict?"
Nowadays, it is difficult to get around without a mobile phone, even for high school students. Sega is not a nationally famous key high school, so there are not too many restrictions in this regard.
During breaks, students can often be seen watching short videos or reading novels on their phones.
"No," Xie Ruan put his hand on his shoulder, smiled crookedly, and said Sun Fuan's classic saying, "Study hard and stay away from electronic products."
"Get lost!" Song Xinghe cursed with a smile and slapped his hand away. "Alright, I'll go down now."
Xie Ruan nodded, and when he turned and left, he also prepared to return to the class.
As soon as I straightened up, I saw Bo Jin walking towards me while talking on the phone.
"Brother Yong, um, what happened at school? Is there a bug in the system? Have you checked it over there? Okay, I'll do it then. I'll give you the results before six o'clock."
Xie Ruan had no intention of eavesdropping on his phone conversation, so he casually raised his chin as a greeting and continued walking forward.
The moment we passed each other, there was suddenly a hand above my head.
Pressing it once wasn't enough, so I rubbed it hard.
This bastard, Xie Ruan gritted his teeth in hatred.
There are so many people watching in the corridor, where can he save his face!
Xie Ruan turned his head away from Bo Jin's hand and made a threatening gesture of wiping his neck to him.
Bo Jin's eyes fell on his eyes that were slightly widened because of his glare, and the corners of his lips curled up involuntarily. The habit he had developed over the past few days made him report his itinerary without waiting for Xie Ruan to ask.
He pointed downstairs and silently mouthed the word "dormitory".
Thinking about what he had just overheard, Xie Ruan suddenly realized that Bo Jin should have gone back to deal with the so-called system bug. It sounded quite impressive.
So this is his part-time job? Is this also where his daily expenses come from
Xie Ruan took note of this and nodded to show that he understood.
Bo Jin then retracted his gaze and continued to walk forward. His voice drifted into Xie Ruan's ears intermittently: "Hmm? Hmm, I'm listening. What do you say..."
After entering the door, Xie Ruan found Sun Haoxiang and asked him: "Where are you going to eat tonight?"
Sun Haoxiang was eating melon seeds. Hearing this, he grabbed a handful and said, "It's the cafeteria. It's been getting colder these days and I'm too lazy to go outside. What's wrong? Do you want to join us?"
Xie Ruan said, "Song Xinghe is not here tonight."
"Okay." The next class was Sun Fuan's math class. Sun Haoxiang was afraid that he would come early, so he said while cleaning up the melon seed shells on the table, "I'll call you after school."
"O several k."
As expected, Bo Jin did not come back for the last class. Sun Fuan glanced at his seat, asked nothing, and calmly picked up the chalk and started teaching. It was obvious that he was used to this kind of thing.
During the period, Sun Fuan called on Xie Ruan to answer questions.
The last time he was called on, Xie Ruan was unable to answer, and Bo Jin gave him hints from below, but was caught by Sun Fuan. But after nearly a month, he has undergone a complete transformation.
Although I still couldn’t compare with other students in the class, at least I could keep up with the teacher’s train of thought and I gave the answer without much thought.
Sun Fuan nodded with satisfaction, his usually serious face became a little gentler, and he made a joke in class for the first time: "That's right, if our class monitor was here, we wouldn't have to worry."
The whole class burst into laughter.
Especially Sun Haoxiang and He Mingjie, the mockery in their laughter could not be hidden.
If classmates teased him, he could fight back, but when the head teacher started teasing him, what else could Xie Ruan do but to endure it.
He sat down, his ears felt a little hot. He cursed Sun Haoxiang and He Mingjie in his heart for being unkind, and as he cursed, he started laughing for some reason.
Sun Fuan was one of the few class teachers in the second grade who didn't like to keep the class after class. When he heard the school bell, he looked at the students whose butts were a few centimeters away from their chairs, threw the chalk into the chalk box and said, "That's enough for today, get out of class is over."
As soon as the words fell, a group of students rushed out like arrows from a bow.
Although Sun Haoxiang is huge, his speed is not slow. Xie Ruan thought he was fast enough, but Sun Haoxiang was able to keep up with his pace.
No wonder he could be appointed as the Sports Committee Member, he is indeed quite capable.
Xie Ruan lifted the door curtain of the cafeteria with one hand, glanced inside, and quickly and accurately chose a queue with relatively fewer people.
"Hey," He Mingjie turned around and asked Sun Haoxiang while waiting in line, "Will you or I pick up Brother Bo's meal later?"
Sun Haoxiang said, "You play, I'll let Lao Pan play, he's going to take a seat in the back."
"Okay," He Mingjie nodded, stretching his neck to look forward, "What should I give him? I need to take a good look, fried tofu or braised fish..."
"Is there any need to worry about this?" Sun Haoxiang was annoyed by his constant chatter and interrupted, "He's not picky about food anyway, just give him whatever he wants." After saying that, he found it funny, "Hey, he has so many problems, but he's not picky about food."
Before He Mingjie could say anything, Xie Ruan suddenly interrupted and asked, "Will you help him pack his things for the trip back later?"
"No, he came to the cafeteria by himself." Sun Haoxiang turned to Xie Ruan and winked obscenely, "Why, you want to send it to him? It's not impossible."
"Get lost!" Xie Ruan kicked him, "It's none of my business."
Sun Haoxiang looked at him with pity and thought to himself, this is really none of your business.
Xie Ruan was frightened by his gaze, and was just about to ask him something when it was his turn. He had no choice but to give up and go get his meal.
Bo Jin calculated the timing very accurately. He just walked in when Xie Ruan and others walked out of the team with their food trays.
Seeing Xie Ruan, he raised his eyebrows and said jokingly: "Hey, who is this?"
He Mingjie had just learned from Sun Haoxiang what happened at noon, and he couldn't hide his gossipy heart. He boldly teased: "What's wrong, Brother Bo, do you regret not letting Xiao Xie help you get lunch?"
"Why are you regretting this?" Bo Jin took the plate from his hand and snorted, "How can he carry two plates?"
He Mingjie: “???”
No, Xie Ruan can't take it, so he can take it? !
What kind of brother is this?! What kind of brother is this!
Sun Haoxiang looked at him sympathetically: “Don’t get close to the old beast, you will become unfortunate.”
He Mingjie: “…”
Pan Yu is very good at reserving seats and can always grab the best table in the cafeteria first.
Compared to those classmates who were wandering in circles in the aisle because they couldn't find a place to stay, Xie Ruan and his classmates' place was not only well ventilated, but there was also a row of eye-catching landscape trees outside the window. They were so lucky.
While eating, Xie Ruan was secretly observing Bo Jin.
He Mingjie ordered three dishes for him: roast chicken with chestnuts, basa fish stewed with tomatoes, and stir-fried choy sum.
Bo Jin first ate the chestnut roasted chicken. He didn't eat like other people, eating a little bit of every dish. Instead, he focused on eating one dish and would not move on to the next until he finished it.
Sun Haoxiang said that Bo Jin was not picky about food, but Xie Ruan discovered that Bo Jin's speed in picking up his chopsticks when eating the tomato stewed basa fish was obviously much slower than when eating the chestnut roast chicken.
So Bo Jin is used to eating his favorite dishes first
Xie Ruan looked down at the chestnut roast chicken on his plate, which he had barely touched. This was exactly the opposite of him. He liked to save his favorite foods for last.
"Brother Bo, what did you do in the last class?" Sun Haoxiang asked Bo Jin while scooping soup and mixing it with rice.
Bo Jin didn't elaborate, only vaguely saying, "I went back to the dormitory for something."
Sun Haoxiang's eyes turned red with envy: "I wish I could skip classes anytime and anywhere like you, and not get scolded by the teacher." He began to daydream, "Then I can play games when I want to, sleep when I want to, and it will be wonderful."
"Come on," Bo Jin encouraged him with a smile, "You can get first place next time, too."
Sun Haoxiang: “…”
If you want to say it’s the last one, then that’s true.
Bo Jin ignored Sun Haoxiang who was embarrassed by the rebuke and picked up a small piece of ginger from the plate and ate it. He looked at Xie Ruan, wanting to ask him why he was having dinner with Sun Haoxiang and the others. Just as he uttered two words, a male voice suddenly came from the side.
"Shen Xingyun?"
Bo Jin paused and looked up instinctively.
"Yeah, that's him."
A few boys at the next table were chatting.
"Damn, does his family spoil him that much? Just give him a sports car for his seventeenth birthday? He can't even drive it."
"Just leave it there. It won't go bad anyway. Besides, his family doesn't need the money."
"Is this the life of rich people? I envy you so much."
… … …
Indeed, how could the Shen family be short of money.
Bo Jin smiled sarcastically, looked at the full plate of food, and suddenly lost his appetite.
But the idiot He Mingjie was not satisfied with just listening, he also wanted to join in the discussion.
"Fuck," he lowered his voice and sighed, "Is Shen Xingyun's family so rich?"
"What do you think?" Sun Haoxiang swallowed the food in his mouth and gave him some scientific knowledge. "My family is considered rich, but it's not as good as his family."
He Mingjie didn't even bother to eat: "What's wrong with his family..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Bo Jin.
Bo Jin said calmly, "I saw Lin Lu walking with a boy yesterday. They were quite close."
He Mingjie was stunned for a moment, then said sadly: "It's okay, I knew it a long time ago, hey." He sighed, still wanting to gossip, he continued the previous topic, "What does his family do?"
The girl saw that she couldn't catch up with him, so instead of being sad, she decided to have some fun.
“It seems like they are doing facial recognition now.”
"oh oh… "
In my ears, He Mingjie and Sun Haoxiang were still whispering. They were so close, yet seemed so far away.
Bo Jin lowered his eyes, his face expressionless.
Those memories that used to circulate in my mind every night before going to bed came flooding back, not fading at all despite the passage of more than a decade.
Every frame and scene is so clear as if it happened yesterday.
The negative emotions in his heart kept accumulating, almost to the point of bursting him.
Bo Jin closed his eyes, unable to listen any more. He put down his spoon and was about to stand up and leave when a spoonful of roasted chestnut chicken suddenly appeared on his plate.
Bo Jin was startled and slowly raised his head.
Xie Ruan pulled his plate over and took all of his portion of roast chestnut chicken.
"I don't like this," he said. "It's a shame to throw it away. Please eat it for me."
The cafeteria was noisy, with people talking and laughing everywhere.
Xie Ruan's voice was not loud, even a little low. But strangely, Bo Jin heard every word he said.
The plate was pushed back, the originally empty dining table was filled again, and the aroma of chestnut roast chicken began to linger at the tip of the nose.
Bo Jin didn't move or say anything, just looked at him quietly.
"Eat." Xie Ruan said.
Seeing that he still didn't move, I simply grabbed the spoon and stuffed it directly into his hand.
When you are in a bad mood, eating something you like will make you feel much better.
Xie Ruan was not a careful person, and was often criticized by teachers for being careless when he was a child. But just now, his attention was always on Bo Jin, and he happened to see a series of changes in Bo Jin's expression after hearing the conversation between those boys.
Xie Ruan vaguely remembered that it was the same thing when they went to a Cantonese restaurant for dinner before.
Bo Jin's reaction when he heard Shen Xingyun's name was very unusual. He ran to the bathroom to smoke after dinner. Xie Ruan also asked him why he was in a bad mood at the time, but he fooled her.
It is obvious that Bo Jin must have some grudge with Shen Xingyun.
But now is not the time to go into details. Right now he just wants Bo Jin to finish his meal well.
Happy and cheerful.
The sunlight shone through the glass into the cafeteria and fell on Xie Ruan, making him look bright and dazzling. Bo Jin stared at him without blinking, and after a while, a slightly hoarse voice rolled out of his mouth: "You don't like it?"
"Well," Xie Ruan was not good at lying. She was afraid that he would ask questions, so she lowered her head and ate a bite of the stewed egg, pretending to be fierce, "You're talking so much nonsense, are you going to eat or not?"
The boundless darkness in my heart suddenly broke open, and the sunlight poured in, instantly dispelling the coldness that had lingered for years.
My heartbeat was getting faster and faster, as if I had been reborn.
Bo Jin held the spoon, his eyes fell on Xie Ruan's face, and suddenly smiled.
"Eat," he said.
After dinner, they left the cafeteria. Pan Yu went to the supermarket to buy correction fluid, and Sun Haoxiang and He Mingjie accompanied him to buy afternoon snacks.
In an instant, only Xie Ruan and Bo Jin were left in the lively little group.
When they reached the teaching building, Bo Jin turned to Xie Ruan and said, "Will you accompany me to the small garden to smoke a cigarette?"
"Tsk," Xie Ruan pulled his lower lip, "I'm almost becoming a person who breathes your secondhand smoke." He raised his chin and changed the subject, "Lead the way."
Bo Jin laughed and followed him into the small garden.
The outdoor lawn speakers are playing piano music, the tune is soothing and smooth, very nice to listen to.
Bo Jin took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but he didn't light it like he usually did. He just bit the cigarette holder from time to time. He put one hand in his pocket and stared into the night.
They stood there quietly for a while, and Xie Ruan broke the silence by speaking.
He gently kicked Bo Jin's shoes: "Why don't you talk? Are you autistic?"
"Well," Bo Jin took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at him with a smile, "So do you want to come and comfort me?"
Xie Ruan didn't expect him to continue what he said. He was stunned for a moment before asking, "How to comfort me?"
"It's no use talking," Bo Jin was in a better mood, and his bad mouth came back again, deliberately teasing Xie Ruan, "At least you have to hug me."
After saying that, he waited for Xie Ruan's reaction with a smile.
However, unlike every time before, Xie Ruan did not jump up and down or curse at anyone, but just stood there quietly without saying a word.
Bo Jin thought he had gone too far in joking and had made the person angry, so he smiled and said, "I don't have anything else..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard Xie Ruan muttering in a low voice: "Just this once, don't push it any further."
Before he could figure out what that meant, he was hugged the next second.
Xie Ruan stretched out his arms, trying to wrap his whole body around him. But he was half a head shorter than Bo Jin, and his frame was small, so he couldn't wrap his whole body around Bo Jin as he imagined.
Shit, Xie Ruan's ears felt a little hot. Her stubbornness came to her mind again, and she didn't want to show her weakness in front of Bo Jin, so she tiptoed quietly.
The boy's body is thin and flexible, not soft but warm enough.
Bo Jin took a deep breath, took the initiative, pulled Xie Ruanlou into his arms, and pressed him tightly against his chest.
"Hey you—" Xie Ruan wanted to protest.
It was clearly him who was comforting Bo Jin, so why was something wrong
However, he suddenly stopped talking when he heard Bo Jin's words.
Bo Jin asked him, "How do you know I like roasted chicken with chestnuts?"
Xie Ruan was exposed for lying, and felt embarrassed and ashamed. She refused to admit it: "Who knows what you like? Don't be so self-indulgent."
After saying that, she tried to break free from him.
But Bo Jin would never let him get away like that. He suppressed his little movement and asked again: "How do you know I like chestnut roast chicken?"
Xie Ruan tried his best but still couldn't escape. He was so exhausted that he was out of breath. Finally, he just gave up and said in frustration: "You eat this dish faster than the others."
Bo Jin was stunned. He didn't even notice this little habit.
The person in his arms fluttered for a while before finally calming down and leaning on him to calm his breathing. Bo Jin lowered his head, his eyes fell on his red ears, and the corners of his lips rose little by little.
Since childhood, everyone has envied his good memory. But only he knows how painful it is to remember every minute and every second.
But now—
Bo Jin lowered his eyes, looking at the person in his arms almost greedily. These unforgettable times seemed to have started to become sweet from this moment on.