Zhao Guogang hadn't come back yet, Yuan Yuan was already trying to use some excuse to get this guy away, or to find out first if he would stay here for a few days, if he would mess with his things... and so on. Yuan Yuan guessed that he mostly came to look for a job. After finishing junior high school, he would have no money to go to school. This is normal in his hometown. He came to this immigrant city in the southern country to work and make a living.
I hope things don't develop in the worst way. Yuan Yuan can almost imagine that this guy named Tan Ruikang is doing nothing at home, and he has been living for nothing for several months.
He was going to take a peek first.
The distant home was beautifully decorated with teak floors that were not common in S City at that time. Tan Ruikang was a little overwhelmed when he came in. He took off his shoes and tore two holes in the socks on his toes. Sitting on the sofa, he said, "Isn't my uncle home yet?"
"My dad has something to do in the morning, so he'll be back later." Yuan Yuan learned Zhao Guogang's usual style, connected the pot of boiling water, washed the cup, pulled out the tea leaves, brewed the tea, and passed a round of boiling water in turn.
"You..." Tan Ruikang pointed to his head: "Go wipe it first, don't catch a cold."
"It's all right." Yuan Yuan's half-wet hair was on his forehead. He served the guest with all his heart, but he couldn't say anything. He thought about it and said, "How is my hometown all these years?"
Tan Ruikang rubbed his hands, pondered for a moment, and said, "Grandpa died, you didn't go back that year, and he called your name before he passed away."
Yuan Yuan remembered his grandfather, many things were hazy when he was a child, only the photo of his grandfather's military uniform and the smell of the old man on him were still very clear for some reason.
Yuan Yuan and Tan Ruikang have been directly related for three generations. They say that they are not close, and they are not estranged. Yuan Yuan's grandfather has three siblings.
Tan Ruikang's grandfather died in the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, leaving behind a single uncle, the uncle. The grandfather raised the uncle as his own son. Uncle Tang also served as a soldier when he was young, and his wife ran away with others, leaving Tan Ruikang like this. an only child.
Few people, three generations of single pass.
Yuan Yuan said, "Where's your dad? Are you okay?"
In the past few years, I learned only a few words from the phone calls of my father and mother. Tan Ruikang's father was working on the construction site, and his life was also very bad.
He always suspected that his father took a lot of money to help the countryside. Zhao Guogang's money was equal to his own money. It was wrong to use it to help relatives. He tried to mention it a few times, but he was scolded by his father. ... So he took out his anger at his relatives, adding a lot of hatred out of thin air.
"Go." Tan Ruikang said, "I left last month."
Yuan Yuan nodded, but couldn't come back to his senses for a while, and said, "Where did you go?"
Tan Ruikang said: "Death."
Distant: "… "
Tan Ruikang said: "Lungs ... long-term inhalation of dust is not good."
Yuan Yuan said: "Why don't you treat the disease?"
Tan Ruikang said: "When I found out, I was already coughing up blood and there was no cure."
Yuan Yuan said: "No... Why don't you send me here to see a doctor?"
Tan Ruikang smiled and said nothing, his deep eyes flashed with a warm light.
Yuan Yuan sighed and said, "My mother was also at that time, but I was too young at the time, and it took a long time to understand this."
Tan Ruikang's eyes were red and he said, "It's all over, people have to look forward."
"Yeah." Yuan Yuan didn't care much. After so many years, the scars have almost healed. He doesn't hate Tan Ruikang as much as he did at the beginning. After all, he has become unwanted... Yuan Yuan looked at him and wanted to say something. , I suddenly felt that Tan Ruikang was sitting on the sofa at his house and looked awkward - like a sticky, dirty piece of chewing gum, still chewed.
The doorbell rang, and the distant father returned.
"Uncle."
Tan Ruikang hurriedly stood up to say hello, Zhao Guogang had a briefcase under his arm, and he nodded slightly to say hello.
"What time did you arrive?" Zhao Guogang glanced at Yuanyuan and saw that his hair was still wet, so he said, "Xiaoyuan is going to take a bath and change clothes, be careful of catching a cold."
Yuan Yuan was so happy that he didn't need to accompany the guests. When he went to take a bath, he vaguely heard Tan Ruikang and his father talking in the living room. Tan Ruikang didn't talk much. When Zhao Guogang asked him a question, he answered it. Yuan Yuan came out of the shower and asked, "Are you going to buy toothbrush underwear?"
"I brought it." Tan Ruikang said.
Yuan Yuan nodded, knowing that Tan Ruikang would be staying at home at least tonight, so he took the initiative to clean up the guest room—until this time, Yuan Yuan didn't realize any problems, and just regarded Tan Ruikang as a guest looking for a job.
Zhao Guogang also doesn't like guests coming to his house. Usually, when the guests come to the house to chat for a while, he will arrange for the guests to stay in the hotel that the company pays for, until Tan Ruikang puts away his things and goes to take a bath. When Zhao Guogang comes to tell his son something, Yuan Yuan is immediately dumbfounded. .
"What?!!" Yuan Yuan faced Zhao Guogang as if listening to a joke.
Zhao Guogang repeated it again.
Yuan Yuan said: "When will he live?! Wait! You tell me clearly."
Zhao Guogang said: "Live until you can be independent and leave home to go to university."
Yuan Yuan: "How can this work! Why didn't you discuss this with me in advance! No way!"
Zhao Guogang: "It was decided yesterday. Dad thought you would be very happy."
Yuan Yuan suddenly froze, and he shouted at Zhao Guogang: "Happy! There is no place for him at home! Why did he come to our house, why let him live in our house?"
Zhao Guogang said: "Far away! His father is your cousin! Now he has passed away! Your mother was like his father and siblings before his death. He did well in school. After finishing junior high school, because of his father's illness, he dropped out of school and took care of him at home. More than a year. Your grandmother asked him to come to study, Ruikang is a good boy, he will stay at our house for at least three years, and you should get along together. "
"Uncle." Tan Ruikang said outside.
Fortunately, the sound insulation effect of this house is good, Yuan Yuan is still a little jealous, not feeling for the other party and maintaining his own image, but he still has a strong difficulty accepting the fact that there is one more member in the family for a while.
Why? Eat his dad's and use his dad's, and live here for three years? ! Three years is not long, but it is definitely not short.
Zhao Guogang went out to teach Tan Ruikang to use the water heater, and then came in and closed the door. He was still furious in the distance. He asked Zhao Guogang, "Why don't you discuss such a big decision with me first?!"
Zhao Guogang said: "You were at your grandfather's house when you were a child, and Ruikang accompanied you for a summer. When your uncle took you into the car, you cried and asked your cousin to accompany you, and all the way back, you forgot. already?"
Yuan Yuan said angrily, "Who remembers that trivial thing!"
Zhao Guogang sighed and patted Yuan Yuan's shoulder, his eyes were a little red, Yuan Yuan knew that he thought of his mother.
"Wait! This matter can't be left alone!" Yuan Yuan said.
"What do you want?" Zhao Guogang asked rhetorically.
Zhao Guogang's face was gloomy, there was no negotiation on this matter, Yuan Yuan also had a dark face, the expressions of the two father and son were the same, and there was a sound outside, Zhao Guogang got up and went out, saying: "Rui Kang, you will live in this room from now on. Clothes and underwear first. Wearing Xiaoyuan, I will take you to buy it tomorrow, just in time for the start of school."
Tan Ruikang was taken into the guest room. Yuan Yuan wanted to say something but didn't have the courage. It felt like a dream. There was just such a stranger at home.
Zhao Guogang said something about getting along well with the two of them. Naturally, most of them were to Yuan Yuan. Yuan Yuan was very aware of this father's temper - he can make trouble in private, and he must never be embarrassed in front of outsiders. I had to nod and go back to my room to play games.
So Tan Ruikang stayed like this. Zhao Guogang called outside and contacted a friend who worked in the district education bureau, and asked him to open a note. He planned to take Tan Ruikang to the principal's house tomorrow. Yuan Yuan played the game absent-mindedly, pricked up his ears to listen to the movement outside, and at the same time figured out what school he would go to.
One middle school and three middle schools are impossible, foreign language experimental middle school... It's just a dream. The education level of rural junior high schools in this immigrant city is at most a general high level. The rate of admission to key undergraduates in ordinary high schools is only 3% to 5%, while distant schools are key middle schools, with top-notch classes from junior high school to senior high school. There are more than 300 students in a grade, and nearly 95% of them are admitted to the first three batches.
At the beginning of Xiaosheng, Yuan Yuan put in a lot of hard work. He not only asked a tutor to make up lessons, but also asked the Education Bureau for approval. In the end, he spent 30,000 school selection fees to squeeze into the top class.
Luckily, Yuan Yuan was so proud of himself. He was very vain since he was a child, and he was also a little smart. Not only did he not get rid of it in the two years of junior high school, but he caught up to the top ten of the grade. More hard work.
The distant game GAME OVER has been played several times, so I turned off the computer, took out the book I bought in the afternoon, lay on the bed and flipped through the picture album a few meters away, listening to the outside all the time. Hearing that Zhao Guogang asked Tan Ruikang to study at home these days, and to go to the exam... Zhao Guogang said that the phone rang halfway.
The door was pushed open, and Yuan Yuan said impatiently, "Can you knock on the door!"
Zhao Guo sat beside the bed and asked, "Baby, what are you looking at?"
Yuan Yuan's face turned red, Zhao Guogang had not called him by his nickname for a long time, and his mother's memories had been blurred a lot. Zhao Guogang's "baby" was called just right, and his stomach was full of fire.
"Can you respect other people's privacy? Dad!" Yuan Yuan looks like a hedgehog.
"What is the privacy of others?" Zhao Guogang said: "Others? Even if you are eighty years old, you are still my son, how many books?"
Yuan Yuan casually closed the book. It was a copy of "The Moon Forgotten". It was just a few meters away, and it was full of his picture albums. Zhao Guogang flipped through the pages, not knowing what to see, Yuan Yuan said, "What school does that guy go to?"
Zhao Guogang's face sank, and he said, "Call him brother, how can you talk like that?"
With an indifferent expression on Yuan Yuan's face, Zhao Guogang said, "It also depends on his test scores. Dad is going out tonight. You take Brother Ruikang out for dinner, and stop by the supermarket to buy something. Let the clothes hang out."
"Oh—" Yuan Yuan said, "Drink less wine."
Zhao Guogang touched his son's head, got up and left.
Yuan Yuan flipped through the album for a while, and went out to see Tan Ruikang packing his things in the room. It was originally a servant's room, and it was cramped with only one bed and one desk. Yuan Yuan's family has hired a nanny several times. When she was a child, the nanny was not responsible, and when she came here, she ate and ate it secretly. Needless to say, she deducted Yuan Yuan's snacks and took them home for her son to eat. In exchange, the nanny came and went like a revolving lantern. Some were too lazy, some were too stupid. When he was in the second year of junior high school, he thought that there were too many people in the family who didn't know him, so Zhao Guogang stopped inviting him. The two fathers and sons take turns to do the housework, hire an hourly worker during the general cleaning, and just tidy up.
"My dad is out." Yuan Yuan walked across the corridor to the bathroom to turn on the washing machine, which was already done.
Tan Ruikang said something in the room, but Yuan Yuan couldn't hear it clearly, so he stopped talking. He took out his clothes and found shredded paper and shredded tobacco sticking to it. Someone came today and forgot to hide the cigarettes, and was almost discovered by Zhao Guogang.
If you smoke secretly, you will be beaten to death. Yuan Yuan hurriedly shook off the shredded paper. Tan Ruikang's voice suddenly sounded behind him, saying, "Xiao Yuan."
Yuan Yuan was startled and his expression was a little stiff. The name of "Xiao Yuan" was only Zhao Guogang who would call him that. He said, "Call me Yuan Yuan, I'm not a child anymore."
Tan Ruikang nodded and said, "I'll come."
Yuan Yuan immediately said: "Go back, don't rob!"
Tan Ruikang was also a little embarrassed. Both of them insisted on drying the clothes and robbed them. Yuan Yuan was a little angry, thinking that this person is really troublesome, but Tan Ruikang found the shredded paper and said, "You also smoke? Does my uncle know?"
The word "also" revealed a lot of information. Yuan Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn't trust him very much, and said, "I... my dad's."
Immediately, he felt that something was wrong. There were only two people's clothes in the washing machine, and it was none of Zhao Guogang's business.
Yuan Yuan said, "My, don't tell my dad."
Tan Ruikang immediately said, "I also smoke, so if I don't say it, I definitely won't say it."
Yuan Yuan shook the shredded tobacco and shredded paper into the bathtub and washed it with water. He went to the balcony to dry his clothes. Tan Ruikang followed him. Yuan Yuan was a little crazy, why are you always following me? !
Tan Ruikang's face was a little red and he said, "I... come on, you go to rest."
Yuan Yuan ignored him, hung up his clothes, and found that Tan Ruikang's underwear had a hole in his butt, still the loose green sports underwear from decades ago, and couldn't help laughing.
Tan Ruikang's expression was very embarrassing. Yuan Yuan hung up all his clothes and went back to his room to read as if he was nothing. After thinking of something, he told Tan Ruikang, "My dad went out to socialize at night, are you hungry? I'll take you out for dinner."
Tan Ruikang was busy and was not hungry, so he went back to his room to read the picture book and wait for dinner. He was still a little absent-minded, thinking about Tan Ruikang who was two years older than him and dropped out of school for more than a year, which school would he go to to study - most of it was a technical school, my father often It is said that learning a craft will not starve to death.
Yuan Yuan felt very sympathetic to this dignified cousin from the countryside, and turned around and said, "Tan Ruikang."
"What?" Tan Ruikang asked in the opposite room.
Leaning on the back of his chair, Yuan Yuan looked across and saw that he was sorting out the tattered textbooks he brought from the countryside.
"Can you lend me your reference book, Xiaoyuan." Tan Ruikang asked.
"Call me Yuan Yuan." Yuan Yuan was a little too lazy to correct his question, and pointed to the bed, Tan Ruikang came over to read his reference book. Yuan Yuan got up again and took the textbook to show him.
In the far-off book, the pencil case is very delicately designed, the school bag is also a famous brand, and the stationery used by boys is very delicate. I thought Tan Ruikang would praise his taste, but he didn't notice this at all, just said: "English books are different ."
"Well, it's the coastal edition." Yuan Yuan said, "You should read the PEP edition."
Tan Ruikang watched it for a while and said, "Are you taking the listening test?"
Yuan Yuan said: "Of course, the high school entrance examination uses machine-readable answer sheets."
He turned out the test paper and answer sheet to Tan Ruikang, and now Tan Ruikang was moved.
"Your English is so good!" Tan Ruikang said, "Twenty-three points in composition?"
Yuan Yuan smiled humbly and asked, "Which room does my dad let you study?"
Tan Ruikang said: "I didn't say it, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the progress here and may have to repeat the class."
Yuan Yuan nodded sympathetically and said, "It doesn't matter. When I first came, I also struggled to learn. Our school is full of lunatics."
At six o'clock at night, Yuan Yuan got up and said, "I'll take you to play, you..."
He noticed Tan Ruikang's clothes, and it was a little bit like taking it out. He found his jeans and white shirt and asked Tan Ruikang to put them on.
This move seems a bit... but Yuan Yuan is purely out of good intentions, and has no malicious intentions at all, just to make him adapt to the city faster. After all, if it is too earthy to walk on the road, there is a feeling of being rejected by the environment. Yuan Yuan used to be very concerned about this, and he still had a bit of an inferiority complex in his bones.
He looked at Tan Ruikang who came out after changing his clothes, and suddenly found that his figure was not bad. Don't look at the messy hairstyle of migrant workers. If he had a trendy short haircut, he would put studs on his ears and wear a ring. Might as well look like it.
"Let's go." Yuan Yuan took Tan Ruikang downstairs, the rain had stopped, and Tan Ruikang was still wearing his dirty shoes, which was quite out of place.