At night, it rained outside the window, and the sound of the rain hit the tin roof of the balcony of the rental house.
Sixteen-year-old brother Le Yao was still watching TV in the living room. When Zhou Luoyang opened the door and came in, he subconsciously looked back at the wall clock.
"Did you come back so early?" Le Yao asked hopefully, "How's it going?"
"It's alright." Zhou Luoyang didn't tell his younger brother about the blind date dinner. He simply explained that in the afternoon, he went out to discuss business cooperation. If everything goes well, the antique shop will reopen soon.
He stepped forward, picked up his younger brother Le Yao from the wheelchair, and explained, "It went well, the other party said, go back and think about it."
Le Yao motioned him to look at the sheets of paper on the coffee table, and replied, "I didn't bring any materials that I made for you."
"I remember it all in my head." Zhou Luoyang smiled, hugging his brother and entering the bathroom.
The bathroom of the rented house is very small. Fortunately, there is at least a dilapidated bathtub. Zhou Luoyang pulled the shower curtain and laid disposable plastic paper in the bathtub.
"Do you wash it yourself?"
"Um."
Zhou Luoyang then moved a chair and went out under the shower curtain, waiting for his younger brother to take a bath.
"Someone called home today." Le Yao said from the shower curtain.
"What?" Zhou Luoyang suddenly became alert, thinking that he was urging him to pay back the money? Found home so soon
Le Yao replied, "There is no sound after picking up."
Zhou Luoyang snorted and said, "Next time I'll just hang up, it's mostly sales."
Le Yao said: "The school sent me an email and asked me what else I needed."
Zhou Luoyang replied: "I will reply at night."
Le Yao coughed a few times and accidentally choked on some water. Zhou Luoyang opened the shower curtain and washed his hair. His weak shoulders and arms appeared on the water, as well as Zhou Luoyang's slightly furrowed brows and the reflection of his worried facial features.
Le Yao is already sixteen years old. Because of her disability, she is thinner and thinner than her peers. She stays at home all day and looks fairer. She is 1.7 meters tall and only 93 pounds.
Hemiplegia patients live in China, not as convenient as abroad. Sometimes Zhou Luoyang even wondered whether it was the right decision to let him go back to study in China.
At the beginning, I thought that, compared to the convenience of life, perhaps having family to accompany it is the most urgent thing for my younger brother. After all, they are now each other's only family members - and more importantly, the economic situation does not allow it. The inheritance left by his father could not pay for his younger brother's tuition fees for studying abroad, and Zhou Luoyang now has a problem even supporting himself.
"Didn't it go well?" Le Yao suddenly said.
"What?" After Zhou Luoyang and Du Jing met again, he was always a little distracted. The moment he looked at his brother, he realized that his thoughts were written on his face, so he smiled and explained, "No."
Le Yao said, "Dad used to say that partnering with someone is like getting married. Don't force it if you think it's not suitable. There should be other opportunities, right?"
Zhou Luoyang understood what Le Yao was thinking, and explained, "It's not because of the partnership, but because I'm afraid that it would be inconvenient for you to go to school. I'm used to having you by my side, but going to school suddenly makes me feel empty."
Le Yao sighed and said, "The teachers are very enthusiastic. I can take care of myself. Besides, I always have to learn to live independently."
Zhou Luoyang didn't answer this sentence, took off his shirt, picked up his soaked brother, put him on a chair to wipe him, put on pajamas, and said, "Don't worry about things in the store, you have your eyes on you, tomorrow I'm fine, I'll take you out to play, since I came back, I haven't been in the city yet."
Le Yao nodded, propped himself against the bed, and laboriously moved from the wheelchair to the bed, while Zhou Luoyang went into the bathroom to clean up and take a shower.
The hot water sprinkled down the top of his head, gathered on the indistinct muscle lines on his shoulders and back, and flowed down the deep lines around his waist. The floor-to-ceiling mirror in the bathroom was covered with a white fog.
Zhou Luoyang wiped the mirror a few times and stared at himself in the mirror, his wet hair in front of his eyes, as if he had not changed from five years ago. Then I thought of Du Jing who was caught off guard.
"My name is Du Jing, the 'Du Jing' of 'Hugh hurt life and Du Jing's death'."
Zhou Luoyang said to himself.
The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, just like the first day he and Du Jing met.
It rained heavily that day, and the typhoon almost knocked down the dormitory building. When Zhou Luoyang came to report in this strange city alone, no part of his body was dry.
He rolled into the bedroom with a burst of water vapor, and a tall figure in it immediately stepped forward and helped him close the door. The window door rattled wildly under the storm. As the man closed the door, the world finally became quiet.
"The window won't close," the man said. "The draft will blow."
Zhou Luoyang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This year's typhoon is too strong."
"It was the first time I encountered a typhoon," the man said casually. "It's been blowing all day."
Zhou Luoyang leaned in front of the writing desk, in a state of embarrassment, dripping water all over his body, looked at the man, and caught a glimpse of the deep scar across the bridge of his nose.
Very handsome, if not for this scar. Zhou Luoyang thought to himself.
Then their eyes turned to his eyes, and they nodded slightly to each other.
The next few years of life will be spent with this person.
"Zhou Luoyang," Zhou Luoyang introduced himself, "'Luoyang relatives and friends ask each other like a piece of ice in a jade pot' in Luoyang."
"Du Jing," the man also introduced himself, "Du Jing, who was 'injured and injured by Du Jing's death'."
Zhou Luoyang was very surprised when he heard the words, he glanced sideways at Du Jing and smiled. Du Jing was not too enthusiastic, he pulled out his chair, still sat at the desk, put on his headphones, and pretended that he did not exist.
Sure enough, he is a quiet person... Zhou Luoyang simply packed his things, turned his back to Du Jing, and after taking off his T-shirt, he couldn't help but look back at Du Jing, only to see Du Jing looking down at a book with an indifferent expression. In this indifference, the scar under the eyebrows is particularly conspicuous.
An old friend of Zhou Luoyang's grandfather is a professor at our school. Before he came to report, Zhou Luoyang called him. The professor's graduate student asked him if he had any special requirements for dormitory and roommates. Zhou Luoyang's answer was: good tempered, quiet , without interfering with each other.
So the department assigned him to Tingpu Building 603. Later, Zhou Luoyang learned that there are not many student dormitories in Tingpu Building. Most of them are children of faculty members, or people who have special requirements and special greetings.
In other words, when Du Jing was allocating dormitories, he also found family connections.
The environment of the listening waterfall building is very good and quiet, but it is too quiet. The dormitory is dead silent, and there is only the sound of wind and rain outside the window. It seems that the roommate is a relatively withdrawn person.
Zhou Luoyang took a bath and wiped his hair. Seeing that his brother was already asleep on the bed, he covered him with the quilt and turned off the light.
Thinking of the day when he first met Du Jing, Zhou Luoyang was most impressed by the scars on his face, and secondly, the roommate was very silent.
It's a pity, Zhou Luoyang felt that if Du Jing didn't have this scar, his figure and appearance would be enough to be on the cover of fashion magazines. It used to be, and of course it is now.
When he saw Du Jing suddenly in the private room, Zhou Luoyang almost thought that he had disappeared from his life so completely.
But why did he appear at this time? What has he been through all these years
Zhou Luoyang took a box of yogurt from the refrigerator, sighed, inserted a straw, drank it back to the room, and lay down on the bed.
After meeting in a hurry and leaving in a hurry, Du Jing didn't even leave him a contact information. Zhou Luoyang knew that Du Jing must still be angry with him, and he was also angry with himself. This anger has lasted for three years.
Time can solve all problems for others, but not for Du Jing.
Is his illness worse
Zhou Luoyang tossed and turned on the bed in the dark, and his mind was full of Du Jing's appearance today. He seemed to have grown taller and thinner than three years ago.
When they first met, they were like two polite strangers. Zhou Luoyang didn't even have time to get acquainted with him. A few days later, the military training began.
Du Jingnian was in automation, Zhou Luoyang was in machinery, the two were not in the same company, but Zhou Luoyang would occasionally see him across the playground - he was the tallest in military uniform, standing in the last row. During the break, Zhou Luoyang waved at him and whistled, Du Jing sometimes looked at him, but did not respond, only looked at him from a distance.
Zhou Luoyang noticed that Du Jing hardly spoke to the people in their class, and sat in a daze by himself while resting.
"Drinking Coke?" Zhou Luoyang walked over and handed it to him.
Du Jing nodded indifferently, took it, glanced at the coke in his hand, and suddenly took out a pack of cigarettes and handed them to Zhou Luoyang.
"How do you know I smoke?" Zhou Luoyang was very surprised.
"You smell of smoke." Du Jing said.
At first, Zhou Luoyang thought that Du Jing didn't want to make friends with him, so he never spoke. However, after military training, he found that Du Jing was more silent and indifferent to others than himself, so he guessed that his nature was like this, but he went with him instead. Zhou Luoyang said more, so he didn't take it to heart.
Zhou Luoyang has a lot of friends, because he is sunny, cheerful, and easy-going, and he quickly became acquainted with his classmates.
But he still cares about the roommate, after all they will spend a long time together.
One day during the military training, after Zhou Luoyang’s class was disbanded, he saw that the third automation class was still basking in the sun on the playground, but Du Jing was not seen, which made it a little strange.
So he went to the cafeteria to order summer tea, went to the dormitory of Du Jing Company, and asked the instructor.
"Are you his friend?" the instructor asked.
"Roommate." Zhou Luoyang guessed that Du Jing might be suffering from heat stroke, and said, "I'll see him."
"Zhou Luoyang," the instructor said, "I know you live in 603."
Zhou Luoyang: "?"
Zhou Luoyang was a little strange, how could the instructor in Du Jing's class know about him? Because you've seen the dorm list? Maybe the instructor noticed him when they were arranged to live together
But he didn't ask more, the instructor told him the dormitory number, Zhou Luoyang knocked on the door, Du Jing didn't speak inside, Zhou Luoyang pushed the door and went in.
It was a double room, Du Jing was sitting on a bunk in the back, his body and face were hidden in the shadows, and he was taking medicine with his head down.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Luoyang asked.
Du Jing was obviously taken aback, with anxiety in his eyes, Zhou Luoyang asked, "Have you suffered from heat stroke? I think you didn't go to training and brought you herbal tea."
"Thank you." Du Jing immediately regained his usual composure and put the medicine box in his pocket.
Zhou Luoyang was a little puzzled, and just then accidentally saw that Du Jing's medicine box contained white pills.
He is sick
Zhou Luoyang looked around, sat on the other bed, changed the subject, and said with a smile, "Your dormitory is better than ours, twelve of us live in one room, and there is a double room for military training?"
"The instructor's bunk." Du Jing replied.
"Is the summer heat too heavy?" Zhou Luoyang asked casually, "Not feeling well? Have you eaten lunch yet?"
Du Jing nodded, Zhou Luoyang unscrewed the thermos cup and poured him some herbal tea.
"It's too bitter." Du Jing frowned, but Zhou Luoyang laughed.
The instructor also came in and said, "Don't you want to go out for a walk? Go, take your friend for a walk."
Du Jing picked up the camouflage hat, motioned Zhou Luoyang to follow him, left the dormitory and went to hang out behind the canteen. Behind this camp was the girls' camp, and Zhou Luoyang had never been there before. The two were in tandem without speaking. When they reached the alley, Du Jing suddenly said, "Go to the next class?"
Zhou Luoyang was startled and said, "What?"
"Several girls are talking about you," Du Jing asked. "Take you over and let them see."
"Don't make trouble!" Zhou Luoyang suddenly laughed and said, "How did you know?"
"I overheard it." Du Jing said.
"You still eavesdrop on others?" Zhou Luoyang said, "I didn't expect you to gossip."
Du Jing replied, "I only know you, and I paid attention when I heard your name. I'm done smoking? Let's buy you another pack."
Zhou Luoyang took out the cigarette that Du Jing bought for him, and said, "I haven't opened it yet, here it is for you."
Du Jing waved his hand, Zhou Luoyang was a little surprised: "Why do you buy cigarettes if you don't smoke?"
"This cigarette package is beautiful," Du Jing replied, looking to the side, "I bought it when I saw it."
It was the first time that Zhou Luoyang had heard such a reason.
Zhou Luoyang was smoking in the alley in front of the canteen. Occasionally, classmates came over and whistled at them, and Zhou Luoyang greeted them with a smile. People came and went, and everyone looked at Du Jing strangely, while Du Jing looked at him. Elsewhere, never face anyone.
"Hey, someone secretly filmed you." The boys in Zhou Luoyang's class quickly moved him, and Zhou Luoyang turned his head with a smile.
His hair was messy, so he hid the cigarette to the side so as not to affect his image. Unexpectedly, Du Jing looked sideways, but immediately turned his head away, not wanting to be photographed in front of his face.
At the end of the alley, only human voices were heard laughing. When Zhou Luoyang wanted to take a serious look, the person who secretly photographed him had already left, and he didn't even see his appearance.
"Male and female?"
"I didn't see it clearly, did you shoot Zhou Luoyang?"
"Shooting you guys." Zhou Luoyang said seriously, already familiar with the boys in the class.
"Shoot you."
"Shoot you!"
Everyone started to grab Zhou Luoyang's Coke, and Zhou Luoyang handed it over, a bottle of Coke passed around, and when he came back, there was an empty bottle left.
Du Jing left silently, and Zhou Luoyang threw the bottle away and followed behind Du Jing.
"Go back." Du Jing turned his head and said, squinting at Zhou Luoyang in the sunlight.
Zhou Luoyang said, "I'm also idle when I go back, to accompany you?"
Du Jing said, "I don't need to accompany me."
Zhou Luoyang discovered that no matter what he was talking about, Du Jing could quickly kill the sky. Maybe because of this, Du Jing didn't make friends.
"I haven't added your contact information yet." Zhou Luoyang suddenly remembered something, took out his mobile phone, and thought that maybe he could add WeChat and chat on WeChat, the situation would be better? After all, some people don't like to talk in reality, and they will be much better in communication software.
"My phone fell." Du Jing also took out his phone and showed it to Zhou Luoyang. The screen was completely shattered, and the body was twisted and deformed as if it had been smashed.
Zhou Luoyang was shocked and said, "How did you fall? Can you fall like this?"
"I didn't notice that I slipped downstairs," Du Jing said. "I was trampled again when we were gathering."
Zhou Luoyang tried a few times, but the phone wouldn't turn on. He said, "I'll buy a new one with you after the military training."
Du Jing nodded, when the assembly whistle rang, Zhou Luoyang waved at him and ran back to the company quickly.
Afterwards, Zhou Luoyang couldn't help but inquired about the automation, and the answer he got was the same as what he thought.
Du Jing was quite gregarious and never took the initiative to talk to people, so everyone didn't take the initiative to say hello to him.
"Is it because of low self-esteem?" the person who helped inquire said to Zhou Luoyang, "The broken phase is a bit serious, and I always feel that his eyes are a bit wrong."
"What's wrong," Zhou Luoyang said seriously, "I don't think there's anything wrong."
"I heard that he has the highest score in the college entrance examination this year," said the person who helped inquire, "a perfect score in mathematics."
Zhou Luoyang: "…"
On the day of the end of the military training, each department had a dinner and drink in the cafeteria, and there were many tables. Zhou Luoyang was chatting happily and jokingly, when all of a sudden it was quiet, and everyone looked behind Zhou Luoyang.
Zhou Luoyang realized it later, turned his head, and saw Du Jing standing with his water bottle in his hand.
"My roommate." Zhou Luoyang introduced to the crowd, "Du Jing, have dinner together? Sit here?"
Zhou Luoyang had previously seen that Du Jing was very unsocial in the automation class, and he thought that maybe the machine was more amused and could have a few words with him.
"Return your water bottle." Du Jing handed the water bottle to Zhou Luoyang, then lowered the brim of his hat and turned away.
"Would you like to change the dormitory?" The good friend whispered to Zhou Luoyang at this time, "This guy feels too gloomy, he will live for four years, who can guarantee that in case of quarrel over some trivial matter, but don't make a fuss..."
Zhou Luoyang immediately stopped the gossip and gossip about "thank your roommate for not killing".
And he never felt that Du Jing's eyes were gloomy, and he couldn't tell the reason, as if it came from some kind of natural intuition. It wasn't hateful eyes, it was loneliness.
It was a deep loneliness—a loneliness that showed surrender to the whole world.
In high school, Zhou Luoyang worked in a zoo for a period of summer because he liked to study animals, and Du Jing's eyes always reminded him of animals kept in cages for people to watch.
Later, he slowly realized that Du Jing just didn't want to hurt others unintentionally.
Five years later, Zhou Luoyang tossed and turned in the dark, and finally stopped.
As long as you look for it in a city, you will definitely find someone. Zhou Luoyang thought so, and then fell asleep in this silent night.