The car started again and drove for a while before Lin Sitao pretended to wake up naturally. He Xian seemed to be completely calm.
When he was about to get off the car, Lin Sitao said, "Director He, I will go back to high school and take the college entrance examination."
People are really strange. His grandmother had advised him, his head teacher had talked to him, and he had thought about it over and over again in the past few months, but it was not as good as the smile he wanted to see He Xian at this moment.
He Xian smiled when he heard this. He looked at Lin Sitao and smiled: "That's great. The college entrance examination is not that scary."
Lin Sitao pursed his lips and nodded. He was a little annoyed. When he first went out with He Xian, he was too nervous to speak actively. Now that he felt he could speak freely, it was time to leave.
"Before I leave, can I come to you and say goodbye?" he asked He Xian.
He Xian said, "Okay!" He took a note and wrote a number to Lin Sitao: "Call me at this number."
Lin Sitao held the number and had memorized the 11 digits by heart when he walked back to the dormitory. He tried his best to stop himself from thinking about He Xian answering the phone in the car. He shouldn't have heard those words - that was He Xian's privacy.
But, what if, sentences like these kept rolling through his mind and he couldn't stop.
This day seemed destined to be Lin Sitao's lucky day. The heavy rain continued until the evening. The card game in the dormitory was still going on. No one had time to pay attention to Lin Tao's movements.
He went out and called Xu Dan again. This time Xu Dan finally answered the phone.
"Are you really not angry with me at all?" Xu Dan asked him.
Only then did Lin Sitao realize that he had never considered Xu Dan as his girlfriend.
He asked Xu Dan: "Do you like curly hair?"
Xu Dan snorted, which was considered as an admission.
Lin Sitao said: "If I like someone else, will you be angry?"
Xu Dan immediately said: "Why should I be angry?"
She spoke so fast that even she could hear that she was uncomfortable.
The two were silent for a moment before Lin Sitao said briskly, "By the way! I brought you a complete set of Yu Weiyan's novels."
Xu Dan was happy then: "Really?"
They didn't bring up the awkward topic of who they liked or who they had sex with. Lin Sitao told her, "Just do it for a full month, in mid-July, and I'll be back."
Xu Dan seemed relieved. "It's really hard to work on a construction site, isn't it? But it's good that you're back. You have good grades, and didn't Lao Zhang say that if you work hard, you'll have a good chance of getting into a second-tier university? How did you suddenly figure it out?"
Lin Sitao's original problem was not his grades, but his family's financial situation. Now the problem is still not solved, but he suddenly received a mysterious revelation and power that made him afraid of nothing.
"I've figured it out," he said, "going up is striving, going down is just escaping."
In mid-July, Lin Sitao received a month's salary and bought a train ticket home. Old Chen did not directly persuade him to stay, but only said: "Your grandparents are old, and it is quite difficult for them to support you to finish high school."
Lin Sitao had already packed his luggage - an old travel bag filled with a few simple changes of clothes and daily necessities. The most important thing was the bag of information that He Xian had given him, which he had neatly packed away and buried deep in his luggage.
"I want to finish my senior year of high school and at least get a high school diploma. I'll talk about the future after I graduate from high school." He was very grateful to Lao Chen. After all, if Lao Chen hadn't taken him out on this trip, he would have stayed at home and hesitated repeatedly. Without a comparison, it would have been useless.
The night before leaving, he called He Xian's cell phone.
"Can I come over now?" he asked.
He Xian paused for a moment and said, "Okay, I'm here."
Lin Sitao heard his pause, and his heart ached: "If it's inconvenient..."
He Xian said in a gentle tone: "Come here, I have something to give you. If you don't come, I will have to go find you again."
Lin Sitao carried his travel bag and a bag of apples. He ran to He Xian's temporary apartment at around seven in the afternoon. In the summer, the sky was still bright, and the indigo, pink and purple covered the whole day. Lin Sitao's heart was filled with tenderness and ambition.
When he arrived, He Xian seemed to be busy with something. He was wearing a pair of black-framed glasses and had an open laptop next to the sofa.
"What time is the train tomorrow?" he asked Lin Sitao.
"Eight o'clock in the morning." Lin Sitao said.
He Xian asked him to put the things down.
"Then you can sleep here tonight. Let Master Zheng take you to the train station tomorrow morning."
Master Zheng was He Xian's driver. As soon as He Xian made the decision, he called Master Zheng immediately, leaving Lin Sitao no time to hesitate and refuse.
He Xian turned off the computer, sat on the sofa and chatted with Lin Sitao.
"I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time. What's the Yu Lake area like now?" he asked Lin Sitao.
Lin Sitao said: "We built a new square and a 15-meter-high artificial fountain by the lake. There will be a light show in the summer evenings, and many people go to watch it."
He Xian was lost in memories. He remembered that when he was a child, there was no decoration besides the steps that led into the lake. There were many people fishing, and his uncle would sometimes fish by the lake.
After both of them had dinner, He Xian cut some fruit and gave ice cream to Lin Sitao.
He Xian took another book from the drawer and handed it to Lin Sitao.
It is a teaching aid by a famous teacher.
"This is Ms. Liu, a former English teacher at No. 1 Middle School. She has extensive experience in college entrance exams. She is now retired and runs her own tutoring class. I asked for her contact information, greeted her, and she paid your tuition. If you are free during weekends or holidays, you can go to her class to audit it."
Lin Sitao opened the book and saw Teacher Liu’s classroom address and phone number written on the first page.
Lin Sitao's brain was no longer clear.
It was as if there was something very important that he urgently wanted to tell He Xian, but he couldn't open his mouth, and he shouldn't open his mouth.
"You should take a shower. Go to bed early today so that you can get up early tomorrow and be energetic." He Xian looked at the time and urged Lin Sitao. It was already 9:30 in the evening.
"Ah." Lin Sitao opened his mouth and only made this sound. He walked into the bathroom and washed quickly. He shook his hair in the mist. This time he wore his own clothes - a pair of boxer briefs and an old T-shirt that was washed almost transparent as pajamas.
He took a few deep breaths and walked out of the bathroom.
He Xian was busy on the computer again. When he heard Lin Sitao's voice, he said without even raising his head, "You can sleep in my room. I have to go out at ten o'clock and won't sleep here tonight. Master Zheng will take you to the train station tomorrow morning."
Lin Sitao stood still and asked, "Am I alone?"
He Xian said, "I have something to do." He looked up and was stunned - Lin Sitao had bare legs, his T-shirt covering his underwear, and at first glance it seemed as if he was not wearing anything underneath.
—The boy was not tall, but his legs were long and straight. The only thing was that he was a little thin and still looked like a child, not as muscular and strong as an adult.
He Xian only glanced at it and said, "It's okay, it's safe here. Just close the door before you leave."
He continued to stare at the computer screen.
Lin Sitao stood there, he felt that if he took a step back, everything would be over, but it should have been over. Didn't he come here today just to say goodbye
"Director He..." He stammered, "I want to say..."
He Xian looked at him again: "What's wrong?"
Lin Sitao's face turned red.
"I want to say, thank you for helping me so much!" He was about to cry.
He Xian smiled: "You are really a child. If we talk about helping, you are the one who helps me the most."
Lin Sitao was confused.
He Xian said: "I was drunk on the bridge that day. If I had really climbed up the railing, I would have been killed or injured if I fell down." He joked: "You can be considered my lifesaver."
Lin Sitao just felt the blood flowing away.
Everything made sense now. He Xian treated him like a student from the beginning to the end, calling him a child, taking him out to eat, buying books, visiting the university town, and persuading him to continue his studies.
He just prayed that He Xian didn't see anything, otherwise at this moment, the four huge words "self-conceited" would be written on his forehead.
At this moment when Lin Sitao was so embarrassed that he couldn't breathe, two knocks on the door suddenly sounded, like the sound of nature that rescued him.
Lin Sitao and He Xian looked towards the door at the same time.
There were two gentle knocks on the door, followed by a sudden thump.
"He Xian!" a voice shouted weakly with tears in its voice.
He Xian stood up and said to Lin Sitao, "Go to the room and sleep."
He went to open the door.
Before Lin Sitao entered the room, he heard He Xian groan. The man outside the door bumped into He Xian's arms. He Xian couldn't hold him and almost fell to the ground. He staggered two steps before he could hold him steady.
Lin Sitao was startled and immediately went over to help He Xian carry the uninvited guest to the sofa.
The visitor lay on the sofa with his eyes tightly closed, his face covered with tears. Even so, Lin Sitao was still shocked - he had never seen such a handsome man.
He Xian was handsome, and this person was beautiful. The lines of his eyebrows and nose looked like those of a classical oil painter, and coupled with his fair skin, Lin Sitao couldn't imagine what he would look like with his eyes open.
He Xian never looked up at Lin Sitao again. He half-knelt beside the sofa, just staring at his beautiful friend lying on the sofa; Lin Sitao couldn't help but hold his breath.
The room was eerily quiet for a moment.
He Xian raised his hand and stroked the visitor's hair, his fingers brushing against his ever-flowing tears.
"Song You..." He called his name in a low voice.
Song You's long eyelashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes, washed by tears, were dark and bright. He grabbed He Xian's hand, suddenly stood up, climbed onto He Xian's shoulders, and kissed He Xian's lips.
It was a long, passionate kiss. Lin Sitao quietly retreated into the room and gently closed the door. No one saw him.