After the beginning of winter, the temperature in the north continued to drop, and Ronggang was foggy and dry for several days.
This time, Chu Mian ranked seventh in the district with a total score, easily breaking Cheng Jun's record for the highest score in the past six years. It's a pity that he suffers from sleeping sickness and has no time to participate in municipal competitions. The biggest chance for him to win glory for the school is the future college entrance examination. The school leaders have high hopes for him.
Since the results this time were a little higher than expected, Chu Mian decided to reward himself with a half-day rest, put on his coat and go out for a stroll, and by the way, make an appointment with Xu Si from "Tongque Terrace". Huang Feng found out.
The man had been waiting at the entrance of the club for a while, but Chu Mian arrived quickly and found him carrying a snake box in his hand.
Xu Si didn't beat around the bush with him, and directly handed over the box, "I'll send you off, don't worry about other things."
Not long ago, Xu Si received a few photos from an unknown number, which were selfies taken by a boy he knew having fun in the clubhouse. He was shocked, thinking that someone wanted to use the information that they entertained minors to threaten and demand money, but the other party But I just want to inquire about the purchasing channels of reptiles. Xu Si pondered for a long time before he remembered that he had indeed met a tough boy a few months ago.
Chu Mian didn't pick up his box, and the topic went straight to the point: "Did you buy it on the black market?"
"I don't know about that. Snakes are used by others to repay debts."
Xu Si casually took out a cigarette and handed it over. Chu Mian shook her head and refused, and then asked, "Is it the usury type?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Xu Si nodded, "That person always hides outside, and I have to look for it several days a month. He thought the snake was good last time, so he gave it to me directly."
"Where did he get it?"
"It should be his own channel in Ronggang, I haven't inquired about it... If you like to play this, I'll give you his phone number?" Xu Si took the initiative to send Chu Mian a contact name and phone number, and he puffed on his cigarette , and gave the snake box to the young man, "Brother, you can take it if I give it to you. Let's discuss something. Don't spread those photos to the outside world. Delete them as soon as you get home."
Chu Mian didn't answer, she lifted the lid of the snake box to have a look, and found that the red and white two-headed milk snake lay limp inside, and the snake on the left didn't move its head, it looked like it was dying. Judging from the length of the snake, it was only seven or eight months old, not the one I lost at all.
It's a mixed blessing.
"Forget it, keep it for yourself." Chu Mian shook her head.
He did intend to buy this rare mutant snake from Xu Si at a high price before, but he wanted it to be a substitute for Marika, so that the regret in his heart might be reduced. But the lifespan of two-headed snakes is not long, Chu Mian didn't want to experience the pain of parting again, so after thinking about it, she gave up the idea of raising them.
More importantly, he feels that the emotional state he is currently living in does not need to pin his emotions on animals. Even if the past regrets cannot be completely let go, at least they can be slowly covered up by other happiness.
Chu Mian lowered her head and saved the number and name sent by Xu Si, and turned to leave without saying anything else. Xu Si kept telling him to delete the photos from behind, but he ignored them all.
After returning home, Chu Mian found that her aunt was busy cooking the newly learned dishes in the kitchen, saying that she was preparing for his birthday dinner.
After she reminded him, Chu Mian realized that it was mid-November, two days away from his birthday on the 19th, and usually he was so focused on studying that he almost forgot his birthday.
He was in a better mood now, went into the bedroom, picked Fiona up, lay down on the bed and kissed her.
Soon, Chu Mian remembered an important thing: if he did not fill in his date of birth in his QQ profile, then the system would not remind his friends to send him a birthday card.
Chu Mian thought casually. The only one in the class who knows her birthday is Cui He, but she spends all day eating, drinking and having fun, so maybe she forgot this year. If she remembered, she should have told Yu Ran and the others, but until now, Chu Mian has not been asked about the birthday gift by anyone.
In fact, it doesn't matter, I don't need anything anyway... Chu Mian lightly stroked the smooth scales on Fiona's body, slightly dazed.
He was just a little curious about how Yu Ran would choose birthday presents for others.
Chu Mian let out a long sigh of relief, put the snake on the pillow, picked up his mobile phone and logged into QQ, the first time he saw the system message, his heart sank—
The administrator[The wolf hides the dog]has removed you from the group.
Chu Mian was puzzled, frowned and searched the group number to confirm if it had been disbanded, but found that the four of them were still in the group.
Then, he noticed that the group name was changed to "Chu Mian Birthday Surprise Plan".
"..."
Chu Mian is almost certain that this kind of behavior of kicking the client out of the group and then blatantly discussing himself around him is definitely Yu Ran's idea alone, and it is estimated that several other people are in the group right now yelling at him for being smart.
But Chu Mian didn't have time to sigh Yu Ran's stupidity at all. The first time he saw the new group name, he was caught off guard and tightly wrapped in joy, feeling a sense of satisfaction. Soon his arms were weak, and the phone slipped from his palm onto the bed.
Fiona slowly crawled up to his neck, the snake's head pressed against his side face, cool.
The atmosphere in the chat group at this moment is not warm.
[Whale Song.]: You are really a Sabi! You fucking won't pull the four of us into the discussion group? If you think Chu Mian is as stupid as you are, you won't doubt it
[Diu Ge Yi Jing Ling]: Stop scolding, Yu Ran really felt that his operation was flawless just now, what are you so concerned about with a mentally handicapped
[Misaki]: Alright (￣▽￣) / Let's think about what to give.
[Whale Song.]: Anyway, just don’t scare him, he hates accidents.
Yu Ran told them: "I bought the gift today! He must like it! But I won't tell you what it is!"
[Whale Song.]: We are not interested in knowing, ok? Forget it, I'm too lazy to choose, I just bought him a cake. Can any of you help me ask what flavor Chu Mian likes to eat? I asked for sure.
"Let me ask!" Yu Ran actively took over the task, "I'll call him now."
Cui He asked him very worriedly: "You ask insincerely, but don't just say 'Chu Mian, what kind of birthday cake do you like' or something like that?"
"Don't worry, I'll pretend to ask him about his homework first, and then we'll talk about cakes tactfully." Yu Ran was confident and dialed Chu Mian directly.
At this time, Chu Mian regained some strength in her fingers, reluctantly pressed to answer, and chose to be hands-free.
He guessed that Yu Ran's next words would definitely have something to do with his birthday, so he focused his attention, trying to infer their plan from the details in the other party's words.
As soon as Yu Ran came up, he said that he couldn't write homework, and he wanted to ask a few math questions: "I can't understand the notes, just that seductive formula..."
Chu Mian corrected: "It's an inducing formula."
"Yes, yes, the formula of seduction." Yu Ran opened the paper on the other side of the phone, pretending to read the question, "tell me about the second question."
His absent-minded tone was too obvious, but Chu Mian still had to cooperate with explaining trigonometric functions seriously. Yu Ran can only keep saying "um", pretending that he understands, and finally suddenly realizes and raises his voice: "Oh... so it is so tempting!"
Besides acting, Chu Mian did not forget to remind him: "You memorize the picture of the induction formula, and you will definitely have to take the exam at the end of the semester."
"Yeah." Yu Ran couldn't wait to get to the point. While speaking, he tapped the side of the phone with his knuckles, "Chu Mian, do you think this graph of trigonometric functions looks like a cake?"
Hearing this, Chu Mian choked a little: "...it's a little bit."
"Hey, it's still written in black ink pen. Chocolate flavor is my favorite." Yu Ran kept tapping on his phone, his knuckles turned red, "What flavor do you think is the tastiest?"
"Fruit."
Yu Ran wrote it down silently, and immediately sent a message to Cui He: "He wants the kind of birthday peach."
There was continuous noise coming from Chu Mian's ear, and he couldn't help asking Yu Ran: "Is there something wrong with your phone? There is always a sound like hitting something."
"Ah?" Yu Ran suddenly stopped.
His face was tense, for fear that Chu Mian would find out that he was actually talking sideways just now.
"That, that, I'm going to do my homework!" Yu Ran made a decisive decision and hurriedly ended the call, so as not to arouse Chu Mian's suspicion.
The room became quiet again. After a few seconds, Chu Mian suddenly laughed out loud, regretting that she didn't record just now.
It was a rare sunny Monday, and Yu Ran arrived at school early.
Holding a brand new notebook in his hand, he asked the first classmate near the door to take a few minutes to write a birthday greeting for Chu Mian. The students also actively cooperated, and some people felt that the number of students in the class was too small after writing, so they took Yu Ran to the next class to mobilize more strangers to write.
But this matter is very time-consuming, Yu Ran can only temporarily hand over the notebook to other students, let everyone pass it on privately, and come back to pick it up after school.
Back in the classroom, Yu Ran was afraid that he would slip up in front of Chu Mian, so he avoided talking to him as much as possible throughout the morning. When it's lunch time, they can deliver the surprise.
Yu Ran was in charge of taking Chu Mian to the canteen, while others took the opportunity to stuff gifts into Chu Mian's backpack and bookcase. Cui He just brought a cake from the school gate and hid it under Chu Mian's chair.
"Do you want to light candles?" Ye Xi asked, "We don't even have a lighter."
Fang Zhao shook his head, "Don't light it up, it's not safe in the classroom, it'll be fun to put the candle on later."
Several people began to discuss again: What if Chu Mian came back to read the book and didn't find the gift box
Cui He dispelled their doubts: "Impossible, he would be suspicious if the angle of the things on his table changed slightly, not to mention Yu Ran is still sneaky today, I guess Chu Mian has already seen it, and has been pretending not to know. .”
They anxiously waited for Chu Mian to come back, and finally, Yu Ran's voice came from the corridor.
"Go, go, turn right, keep going..."
Everyone looked up and was shocked to find that Yu Ran was walking backwards into the classroom, while Chu Mian put on the blindfold and walked forward slowly while being led by Yu Ran's arms.
"Okay, take two more steps, stop, and sit down." Yu Ran gave an order in a soft voice, and when Chu Mian sat still, he took off the blindfold with his own hands, "Guess what's changed here?"
Cui He couldn't bear it anymore, and slapped Yu Ran on the head with a stiff face, "What the hell are you doing?"
Yu Ran quickly winks at her, implying that she should not remind Chu Mian.
Chu Mian's ears are red from embarrassment now, he is not good at acting, and he really doesn't know how to express natural joy, so he simply stares at the table, resolutely not looking down at the bookcase and under the chair, lest he The lukewarm response spoiled everyone's interest.
Fang Zhao clearly felt Chu Mian's dilemma through the air. He couldn't bear to torture today's protagonist any longer, so he knelt down and took out a cake and put it on Chu Mian's table, and said with a hearty smile, "Happy birthday!"
Chu Mian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, what are you..." Yu Qi was in a panic, and grabbed Fang Zhao's collar, "You ruined a good birthday surprise!"
Cui He rolled his eyes and separated the two of them, "You've already blindfolded Chu Mian, how dare you criticize others?"
Yu Ran was confident: "What's wrong with wearing a blindfold? Chu Mian doesn't know there is a surprise."
"Stupid, does he still not know that his birthday is today?"
Yu Ran was stunned for a moment, like waking up from a dream: "Fuck... I don't think he's particularly happy today, I thought he forgot."
Cui He was speechless.
While they were arguing, Ye Xi had already helped Chu Mian unpack the cake box, and inserted sixteen slender colored candles.
Chu Mian didn’t like to make wishes in front of others, because he thought it was childish to close his eyes and put his hands together, but everyone put a lot of thought into it, so he put aside his psychological burden for the time being, closed his eyes and made three reverent wishes. desire.
—I hope the sleeping sickness gets better soon.
—I hope that the results will continue to improve.
— Hope the first two wishes are…
Chu Mian was thinking silently in her heart, but her thoughts gradually became loose.
Seeing his head drooping suddenly, Yu Ran supported his shoulders reflexively, called his name twice but fell asleep again without any response.
"It's okay, let's cut the cake for him first." Fang Zhao suggested.
Cui He said "I don't want cream", Ye Xi immediately said "I don't want it either", and then the two talked about the reasons why they hate cream.
"It's too tired, I'm going to throw up now just thinking about the taste..." Cui He frowned and said, feeling a tickle in her throat, she immediately retched. This voice is contagious among some people, as if seeing someone else yawning makes him want to yawn too, Ye Xi quickly covered his neck and grinned: "Ugh—"
Neither of them could hear the sound, but they thought it was funny to infect each other, so the sound of retching came and went uncontrollably.
After a few minutes, Chu Mian gradually regained consciousness. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw two young girls vomit passionately in front of him. He was so startled that he subconsciously dodged backwards, but his head hit Yu Ran's arms.
Yu Ran felt that he had shrunk his shoulders just now, so he imitated the tone of an adult, while stroking Chu Mian's hair while coaxing: "Huh, huh, huh, don't be scared..."
Chu Mian felt that the air was getting hotter.
The cake was cut into many pieces on average, and Fang Zhao helped Chu Mian distribute it to the whole class, and also sent some to the teachers in the office. Yu Ran was thinking about putting cream on Chu Mian's face, but Chu Mian soon saw through his thoughts, and kept on guard all afternoon, determined not to let Yu Ran succeed.
After school in the evening, Yu Ran asked Chu Mian to stand there and wait for a while, then he ran upstairs to pick up the notebook he borrowed in the morning.
"What?" Chu Mian took it and wanted to open it.
"I'll read it when you get home." Yu Ran pressed his hand and pushed the book towards Chu Mian's chest.
After hearing what he said, Chu Mian closed the book and held it tightly in her hand.
The two walked out of the school together. It was cold outside, and white gas came out of their mouths when they spoke.
"Cui He just told us that you celebrate your birthday today. She didn't mention such an important thing earlier, fuck! I almost didn't have time to go out and buy you a gift." Yu Ran began to tell Chu Mian about his two-day preparation process, " ... Also, why didn't you tell me when your birthday was?"
Chu Mian didn't answer, and didn't listen carefully to what Yu Ran asked, but he did notice that Yu Ran said "such an important thing" at the beginning.
An important day that only concerns yourself, but is also valued by another person. This unprecedented sense of peace subtly spread in Chu Mian's chest.
Taking advantage of Yu Ran not paying attention, Chu Mian quietly opened the book, and browsed through the warm yellow streetlight—
What caught my eye was a large number of birthday wishes in different handwriting, different colors, and different signatures. The first few pages were all classmates in the class. There were many people who had never spoken since the beginning of school, but now they wrote "Sixteen "Happy birthday" and "I wish you a better and better new year"; starting from the fifth page, the people who leave messages are all unfamiliar names, but the wishes are also very sincere, as if everyone is happy that he is one year older .
Chu Mian clearly felt her heart beating faster.
"Hey! Why the fuck did you open it in advance!" Yu Ran reprimanded loudly, and stretched out his hand to forcefully close it for him, "I told you to go home and look at it."
A smile naturally appeared on Chu Mian's face, she nodded and said slowly, "Okay."
Afraid that Yu Ran would be worried, he added: "I didn't see anything clearly just now."
"That's good." Yu Ran believed his words, "I'm afraid you'll be too happy, and you'll stumble on the road... Hey, but it's okay, even if you stumble now—"
"I'll hug you by the side too."
His understated sentence powerfully aroused Chu Mian's sensitive nerves, and no matter what Yu Ran said afterwards, Chu Mian didn't listen to it.
Her heart beat faster and faster in the cold wind, and Chu Mian unknowingly walked to the place where she should part with Yu Ran every day. After the other party said "bye" several times in a row, Chu Mian slowly raised her head: "Oh, Goodbye."
Before turning around, Yu Ran asked again: "Is our group cleaning tomorrow? What time do we have to arrive at school?"
"Five six... six five, fifty or so, or seven twenty..."
As soon as Chu Mian opened his mouth, he stuttered uncontrollably, his mind went blank.
Yu Ran didn't care, just smiled and waved his hands as usual, and crossed the road to the station.
Chu Mian took a deep breath, and walked slowly on the way home, as if stepping on soft butter. His coat had no collar, and his neck was completely exposed, but he didn't feel much chill, even ignoring that it was already winter.
He raised his head and saw the Ferris wheel on the Lanjiang River shining brightly.
The last trace of warmth before the harsh winter was firmly fixed on the day when I was sixteen years old.