"It's Yu Ran. If you don't come to class on the first day of school, how much homework is left unfinished?"
After two classes in the morning, Yu Ran's seat was still empty, Fang Zhao turned around and helped him wipe the dust off the tables and chairs with a wet towel, and put the newly issued books into the bookcase for him.
Chu Mian twirled the pen with her finger, and asked Fang Zhao, "Did Yu Ran tell you that he does his homework at home?"
"Well, I just sent a text message." After Fang Zhao responded, he looked at Chu Mian gloatingly, "Is your winter vacation homework still held by that idiot?"
Chu Mian nodded and smiled wryly, showing a complaining expression. When he lowered his head to look at the phone, all the emotions on his face faded away, only his brows were still slightly frowning.
He sent several text messages to Yu Ran, but the other party never replied, as if turning a blind eye. Chu Mian changed the mute to vibrate so that she could contact Yu Ran in time.
However, after a whole day, Yu Ran didn't reply to the news, so Chu Mian could only pretend that he was doing his homework seriously and had no time to pay attention to himself.
After returning home at night, Chu Mian called Xu Si again in the room alone, politely called him "fourth brother", and asked him about Wen Junying's situation. Similar to the information I learned last time, Wen Junying owes usury loans and cannot repay them. Now the interest rate has reached several million, and it is enough to spend 50,000 to 60,000 yuan a month. She often flees to other places to avoid violent reminders from Xu Si and others. debt.
When Chu Mian asked "Why did he borrow money", Xu Si just yawned indifferently, and said: "He used to have a partner, and he was asked to be a guarantor when borrowing money, but how can this man and the man be relied on?" Spectrum? In the end, he couldn’t pay back the money and disappeared, leaving him with the mess.”
Chu Mian thought for a while, and then asked, "What about Mr. Wen's job?"
"I used to do decoration design. After the deposit was paid off, the money came in quickly enough, so I changed careers."
The so-called career change probably means that he has devoted himself to the pet black market. For the rest of the situation, Chu Mian could guess one or two, and she still had to do her homework, so she didn't have time to ask any more questions.
Ever since she slowly accepted the fact that Marie Jia died very early, the stones stuck in Chu Mian's memory can finally be turned into powder and dissipated in the wind. Knowing its result is better than always thinking that its whereabouts are unknown.
Chu Mian didn't know if he felt relieved, but now he thought of Yu Ran's attitude when he mentioned Wen Junying before, and he felt a little relieved. At least it can prove that Yu Ran doesn't know many things about Wen Junying, and he has successfully learned to draw, and received red envelopes during the Chinese New Year, so he shouldn't have been treated maliciously by that man.
The ringing of the mobile phone broke the silence in the room. Seeing Yu Ran's caller ID, Chu Mian quickly chose to answer it and asked him, "Did you finish your homework?"
"not yet."
Chu Mian could hear his voice was depressed, and there was road noise over the phone.
Yu Ran cleared his throat and said, "I was listening to the song you sang last time, and I remembered that I haven't heard your voice today, so I'll call you quickly, and I'll hang up after listening."
After finishing speaking, he laughed twice slowly.
Chu Mian waited quietly first, then raised the corners of her lips and asked, "Are you still hanging up?"
"Well... right away." Yu Ran actually wanted to listen to a few more words, but today he knew how to accept it as soon as he saw it, and hurriedly told Chu Mian: "I will go to class tomorrow, just wait."
Chu Mian felt relieved and didn't ask any further questions, just said, "The school has issued a new mascot keychain, and I left one for you."
"Okay!" Yu Ran held the phone, hesitated for a while, and then pressed to hang up.
He put away his phone and breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at the graffiti wall in front of him.
The walls are painted with brightly colored universes and planets, and a cartoon spaceship is placed in the center of the sun and the moon. These are master's masterpieces; and the inconspicuous square robot in the lower left corner is from the burning hand. This is already a graffiti two years ago, but Yu Ran still remembers many details, for example, he drew the stars in the wrong position, so that Master had to redraw the flame; after that, he accidentally sat in a bucket of paint and was beaten by his mother when he returned home. He scolded and dropped his pants.
It is a pity that this work was not completed in the end. When there was only half a wall left, the master left for business and did not come back that day.
Yu Ran recalled carefully, and found that Master often disappeared for two or three months, and then quietly reappeared one day. Yu Ran has long been used to his elusive style, and never asks men about their itineraries, so as not to destroy the sense of mystery.
At night, Lanwan Square is lit up with colorful lights. Many residents come for a walk and dance after dinner. The cold weather does not prevent the square from being lively.
Yu Ran heard a motorcycle coming from behind, and when he turned around, the sound of the engine stopped abruptly.
Wen Junying hung the helmet on the handle, got out of the car while taking off her gloves, and took out a paper bag from the trunk.
Yu Ran watched him walking towards him, when the two faced each other, the boy called out "Master" in a low voice.
Wen Junying patted him on the shoulder with a smile, stuffed the bag in her hand, Yu Ran looked down and saw that there was a box of gouache paint and a few brand new brushes.
"I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't have time to take you to dinner, so I can only pick something for you to use in the future." Wen Junying sighed regretfully, and lifted the zipper of Yu Ran's down jacket to the top, "What are you doing?" When does school start?"
"Nowadays."
"Today?" Wen Junying poked Yu Ran's forehead with her fingers, "What's the matter, skipped class again?"
Yu Ran avoided answering and asked instead: "When will you come back next time?"
"I don't know, let's talk about it later."
The nearby square dance music just stopped, and Yu Ran's voice seemed abrupt: "Are you not planning to come back?"
Wen Junying was taken aback.
However, he quickly calmed down and naturally avoided Yu Ran's sight.
Yu Ran stared at his resolute and thin side face, the outline gradually overlapped with the man in his memory—
When he was just in junior high school, Yu Ran still yearned to be the bad boy who makes everyone stand out in the movie, and he actively and enthusiastically made appointments with his peers. Once he was playing outside and knocked over a motorcycle parked on the side of the road.
At that time, Wen Junying was scribbling on the wall. Turning around, she saw a group of little boys crushing her car. Worried that their bodies would be hit by the machine, she hurried over to check the situation. As soon as he came, everyone was in awe of the tattoos on his arms and neck, and they didn't dare to breathe, for fear of being eaten alive by the big brother in front of them.
As a result, Wen Junying didn't mean to blame them, she helped the car up, and waved them away to play elsewhere.
But Yu Ran was attracted by the colorful wall behind him. Not only did he stay by the side for a long time, he also had the nerve to approach him and ask Wen Junying to teach him how to paint.
"I'll give you money!" Junior high school student Yu Ran was very generous, and gave Wen Junying five yuan on the spot, "Five million!"
Wen Junying took it over and took a look. After the number on the banknote, there were several "0"s added by the boy himself with a pencil.
He sneered twice, then pretended to be serious and told Yu Ran: "Do you know that it is illegal to scribble on RMB?"
Yu Ran's face turned pale in an instant, but he still said loudly as if trying to be brave: "Do you know that it is against the law to scribble and graffiti on the wall?"
Seeing the boy's bluff, Wen Junying laughed loudly, and the sharpness in her eyes faded.
After that day, Yu Ran often followed Wen Junying to graffiti on the street. He had always liked to read comics, and finally he became interested in painting. He also learned some copying skills, and soon determined to become a painter. Whenever Wen Junying is free, she takes him to a fast food restaurant and patiently teaches him the basic skills of sketching.
They don't remember when the name "Master" started. Maybe it was a joke at first, but they got used to it later. Yu Ran made no secret of her admiration in her heart, and Wen Junying never hesitated to teach him.
"Yu Ran, don't always think about fighting when you are young. This kind of mentality is very unhealthy. Violence will change a person's nature. Of course, if someone bullies you or your friends, you must fight back."
Wen Junying sometimes taught him other things, "Also, not everyone who wants to learn art really likes it as much as you do. There are many people who just don't want to learn. If you meet such a person in the future, don't Be serious with them, understand?"
Every time the master speaks to himself, he sounds like a teacher, always followed by "Do you know?" But he remembered what Master said well, stopped fighting over boring things, and studied hard to prepare for the high school entrance examination.
In the past six months, Yu Ran has had fewer and fewer opportunities to meet him. I don't know when they will be able to graffiti together as before and stay by the wall for an afternoon.
Sometimes Yu Ran can vaguely feel that there is no such chance anymore.
A gust of cool wind blew over Lanwan Square, and the boy's question rang out again: "Aren't you going back to Ronggang again?"
Wen Junying kept silent, and just glanced at Yu Ran calmly.
Yu Ran pointed to the graffiti wall next to him and asked, "Why did you leave before we finished painting this wall?"
Seeing that Wen Junying remained silent, Yu Ran said slowly, "I saw the chat records on your account."
The man's face finally became a little emotional, he opened his mouth in surprise, and closed it several times.
Probably because he didn't want to deceive the person in front of him, he finally murmured: "I thought I deleted everything."
Yu Ran's breathing froze for a few seconds, and suddenly he strode forward, grabbing Wen Junying's collar.
His throat was dry, and he said hoarsely in disbelief: "I saw it on my friend's mobile phone... You bullied him."
Wen Junying frowned in confusion, but didn't deny anything.
"Yu Ran, draw well." He raised his hand to strangle Yu Ran's wrist, and forcefully broke off his collar, "Pay attention to your body, drink plenty of water, don't catch a cold..."
"Go and apologize to him."
Wen Junying continued: "Cultural lessons must also be studied seriously, and cannot be taken lightly, otherwise it will be difficult for the third year of high school to keep up..."
"You fucking—" Yu Ran grabbed the man's strong arm, his voice trembling, "Did you ask you to apologize to my friend? You don't want to talk about other things, but you can't... You can't bully him."
Once Chu Mian's face appeared in his mind, Yu Ran's eyes couldn't help but get hot, "I said I would protect him."
"Yu Ran," Wen Junying took a deep breath, and looked at him calmly, "I don't feel guilty towards strangers. If I really want to apologize, I just feel sorry for you. I may not have time to teach you how to draw in the future."
Wen Junying held Yu Ran's hand, clenched his five fingers into a fist, and pressed it against her cheek, "Before you leave, you can vent your anger on me as you like."
Yu Ran was stunned in place.
After a while, he shook off Wen Junying's hand and slammed his fist on the graffiti wall. The knuckles immediately rubbed some skin and flesh, and blood oozes.
No pain, just a little itching around the wound. Yu Ran lowered his head and said slowly: "Don't bully others anymore... Master."
He put the paper bag containing the brushes and watercolors on the ground, took out the red envelope from his jacket pocket, and threw it in.
Then he turned around, forgetting to look at the man again, with a blank mind, and walked towards the subway station step by step.
Wen Junying looked deeply at the boy's back, and found that he was much taller and taller than he remembered.
The early spring in Ronggang is still cold and windy, and the sun is late for half a morning every day.
Chu Mian looked at the empty seat in front of her, and tapped the table impatiently with her slender fingertips. Last night Yu Ran clearly said that he would come to class today, but there was still no one at noon. If he didn't come again, his winter vacation homework would be considered unfinished.
"Hello? Hello, I'm here, outside the main entrance." Yu Ran said on the phone, "Come out."
"The security won't let you in?"
"Hey, just come out, don't ask."
Chu Mian walked out of the classroom, went to the main entrance of the school alone, and saw that tall figure standing outside the railing.
Yu Ran only wore a set of black adidas sportswear today, with his trouser legs rolled up, and white high-top sneakers under his feet. He didn't have a schoolbag on his back, and put his hands in his pockets to keep warm. He stood there casually, looking clean and free.
He smiled when he saw Chu Mian, trotted two steps closer to the railing, and handed over two tickets, "The ice has melted, let's go."
The departure time is two o'clock in the afternoon, Chu Mian looked at Yu Ran strangely, "I have to go to class."
"You can learn any class, even if you don't listen to it." Yu Ran stretched out a hand through the gap between the railings and grabbed Chu Mian's school uniform sleeve, "You promised me."
Chu Mian thought for a while and made a decision: "Then you wait."
He asked the class teacher to ask for a leave of absence, and then went back to class to pack his schoolbag. Fang Zhao saw that he was leaving suddenly without saying the reason, so he joked, "Why, are you going on a date?"
The people next to him also booed, Chu Mian was a little ashamed, and said goodbye to them with an embarrassed smile. He didn't tell everyone that Yu Ran was outside, so he took this information for himself.
Seeing that Chu Mian went out with a schoolbag on his back, Yu Ran was annoyed and helpless for a moment, "Hey, what's the matter with you, what kind of leave slip are you asking for, can't we skip class together? How exciting!"
"If you skip class again, you should be punished. Also, return your winter vacation homework tomorrow." Chu Mian glanced at him and noticed that there were two band-aids on his hands, "How did you do it?"
Yu Ran touched it nonchalantly, "Oh, it's too hard to do homework."
He put his hand in front of Chu Mian, "Why don't you brag to me?"
"Get lost." Chu Mian chuckled and pushed his head.
The two took a taxi to the pier, boarded the ship early, and stood on the deck to enjoy the breeze.
This is also the first time for Chu Mian to take a cruise ship on the Lanjiang River. After all, he lives in the Hanning Mansion in the city center. He can have a panoramic view of the Lanjiang River every day when he goes to the balcony, and he has never been interested in it. Unexpectedly, when I came to the surface of the river in person, the scenery I saw was still different from what I imagined.
Yu Ran turned up the collar of his sportswear to cover his neck, and then asked Chu Mian, "Is it cold?"
Chu Mian shook her head, turned around and saw Yu Ran's hair was messed up by the wind, and couldn't help laughing.
Looking at the river, Yu Ran said, "Chu Mian, I remember the first time I went to 'Tongque Terrace' with you, you told me that if the snake hadn't been lost, you wouldn't be so sad, and maybe you wouldn't get it. Sleeping sickness. If this is the case, you should have passed the entrance examination of the city's third institute now, with better grades, right?"
Hearing Yu Ran suddenly mention something that happened so long ago, Chu Mian looked at him hesitantly, and then replied in a deep voice, "No."
"No." Chu Mian repeated, sighing, "The pathogenesis of sleeping sickness is not directly related to emotional stimulation, I don't remember how I told you that time, maybe I didn't want to admit to you that I was just unlucky just got sick."
The wind made them squint their eyes unconsciously. Chu Mian continued: "But now I feel that I am lucky. The environment is the biggest factor for me to alleviate the disease. Cheng Jun's teachers and classmates are better than me outside Hong Kong. She is warm and considerate and treats me very well, especially... "
-especially you.
Chu Mian kept this point in his mouth and did not say it. He lowered his eyes and changed his words: "Didn't I tell you that time, I believe in the conservation of luck. If I was unlucky before, I will definitely be luckier in the future. I think... living now I am very happy in Chengjun."
After he finished speaking, he didn't hear Yu Ran's response for a long time. Looking up, I just saw a teardrop rolling down from Yu Ran's lower eyelid, dripping on the black collar, leaving a trace.
Seeing that Chu Mian was looking at him, Yu Ran immediately raised his hand to wipe his eyes, sighed and took the initiative to explain the reason: "I miss my uncle Yu Le so much! He died three times on this boat at least."
These words made Chu Mian laugh out loud, and lightly kicked Yu Ran's heel, "Why don't you think about your brother, you have grabbed his hair twice."
Yu Ran also laughed, but the tears kept slipping out one after another, so he had to raise his arms to cover his eyes, pretending to block the sun.
He breathed heavily, and suddenly felt someone pressing his back, and the next second, the wind in front of him was blocked.
Chu Mian didn't know how he was pulled into Yu Ran's arms every time he fell asleep, he could only hug Yu Ran's shoulders with his intuition, and whispered, "You miss him too much, don't you?"
Yu Ran didn't say a word, and directly drilled his head into his warm chest, avoiding the wind completely.
The two boys embraced in such a posture, Chu Mian couldn't convince himself that the situation in front of him was normal, but he still chose to let go of the atmosphere, and only asked Yu Ran to confirm a question: "Do you have that kind of... sudden panic in your heart?" when?"
Yu Ran shook his head, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay." Chu Mian's Adam's apple rolled up and down, "That may be my problem."
— There must be some kind of deviation in my brain, so I always have a stress response when I have physical contact with Yu Ran.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Yu Ran raised her head in concern, and pressed her palm on Chu Mian's heart, "Okay, it seems like I haven't danced anymore!"
"Nonsense, after so many clothes."
"What kind of feeling are you talking about? Is it serious? Does it hurt?"
"Fortunately, it's probably the feeling that my heart missed a few beats."
"Ah?!" Yu Ran turned pale with shock, straightened up and supported Chu Mian, "Where is the leak? Is the leak too big? Why didn't you fucking say it earlier!"
He eagerly took out his mobile phone and wanted to call 120, but Chu Mian held down his hand with a smile.
"No need to call an ambulance." Chu Mian faintly felt that she had said this before.
"Really all right?"
"It's okay. I'll just adjust it myself."
Chu Mian patted Yu Ran on the back twice, as if to comfort herself.
He didn't know where to start the so-called "adjustment", he only knew that if he didn't control it...
The rhythm of the heartbeat will be disrupted by the person in his arms.