The girl's voice is soft and pleasant, touching my heart and lungs.
The words "Brother Tu" made Jiang Tu's heart stop beating and then start beating wildly like a spasm.
Zhu Xingyao didn't realize this. Jiang Tu's birthday seemed to be in January, so he was indeed older than them. Sometimes Li Xixi would jokingly call him Brother Tu, so it was okay for her to call him that, right
Jiang Tu looked away in embarrassment, his throat tightened, and he squeezed out a few words: "Don't call me that."
Zhu Xingyao pointed at Ding Xiang and Li Xixi, puffed up his cheeks, and said angrily: "Why? They both call me that."
Because you are different from others.
Everything you do and say is special to me.
—Jiang Tu said in his heart.
He raised his head again, silently looking at the girl who had no idea but was wantonly squandering his reason. Her dark and clear eyes looked at him innocently. After a while, he said helplessly, "At least let me listen, then I can choose."
Zhu Xingyao immediately smiled, turned to face the back desk, and placed a headset on his textbook. "These are all recorded from my concerts." She paused, a little curious, "You probably haven't heard me play the violin, have you?"
Jiang Tu was silent for a second: "I've heard of it."
"The one uploaded on the campus forum?" She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "I thought you didn't visit campus forums."
Jiang Tu remained silent and did not answer.
He really didn't watch campus forums. He said he had heard of it, but he hadn't heard of the video uploaded on the forum. He suddenly looked up at her and asked calmly, "You asked me to choose. Do you want me to give you an opinion, or do you want me to perform whatever I choose that night?"
Zhu Xingyao: “…”
This question was too sharp. She had just asked it casually in order to ease the atmosphere and make him happy, and she had not necessarily asked him to confirm a song.
Li Xixi and Ding Xiang also looked at her.
Zhu Xingyao blinked and whispered, "Would you like to listen first?"
"Um."
He put on his headphones.
There was not much time between classes, and he only listened to a cheerful song before the bell for class rang. Zhu Xingyao handed him the Walkman and smiled slyly: "Put the earphones out of your collar, zip up your school uniform to the top, and then put the earphones on. Cover one ear when you write, and the teacher won't see." She covered her right ear like a little fox, teaching him how to be absent-minded in class. After saying that, she felt a little embarrassed and said, "You can listen after class."
She often eavesdropped like this when she was taking liberal arts courses, how could Jiang Tu not know
He looked at her calmly, passed the earphones from the hem of his school uniform through his collar, put them on his right ear, and zipped them up to the top, covering the Band-Aid and the earphones. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't be able to see them. "Okay."
Zhu Xingyao was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes again: "Brother Tu is awesome."
Jiang Tu: “…”
This class was a history class. The history teacher hypnotized most of the boys in the class. Jiang Tu lay on the table with his back slightly arched and his head buried downwards. Even Ding Xiang thought he was hypnotized by the old history teacher and the cello music.
Jiang Tu put earphones in both ears and repeated Bach's First in G Major three times.
The first time he saw Zhu Xingyao playing the cello was during the summer vacation of his third year in junior high school. Jiang Jinhui liked gambling. He didn't spend a penny of his salary from the old factory at home. He gambled it all. He owed a little to the east and a little to the west, but the amount was not big. At least he could pay it back after gritting his teeth and working hard for a year or two. Because of the long-term gambling, his relationship with Shu Xian had been bad in the early years. When he drank too much or lost money in gambling, he would not only talk but also fight. Shu Xian was weak in character and could tolerate Jiang Jinhui taking away her money.
She always held on to the hope that her home would be fine after Hexi Lane was demolished.
What about reality? At any time, the mentality of gamblers cannot be trusted. At the end of August, Chen Yi took a group of people and loan sharks to Hexi Lane to collect debts.
That night, Jiang Tu felt clearly for the first time what it meant to have hope extinguished.
He had a fight with Chen Yi.
Had a fight with Jiang Jinhui.
He ran out of Hexi Lane in a panic and decadent manner, running aimlessly all the way, not even knowing where he was going. It was not until he was stopped by the guards in the villa area as a suspicious person that he realized he had run to the villa area two streets away from Hexi Lane.
After explaining everything to the guard, he walked forward along the villa road for a while. The gentle and lingering sound of cello playing reached his ears. He walked forward following the sound. The garden surrounded by white wooden fences was brightly lit with neon lights. It was warm and lively, and there were many people, as if there was a party.
Sitting on the steps was a girl in a white dress playing the cello. She had a slender and fair face and was very devoted to the performance. She looked lively and elegant.
That night the sky was bright, the stars were shining, and the colorful lights in the garden were twinkling. She felt as if she was isolated in a distant world of white light.
Jiang Tu stood outside the world, watching and listening.
The cello melody is low and gentle, but it seems to embrace everything in the world.
At that moment, all the grief, resentment, and disgust in his heart were wiped away.
The piano music stopped.
Someone called her, "Xingxing, sing another song!"
The girl smiled: "Okay."
Jiang Tu stood outside the world and watched for ten minutes, then turned and left.
Later, she walked into the coffee shop with her cello bag on her back to buy a lemonade.
Later, she stood on the podium of Grade 1 (7) and introduced herself with a smile: "My name is Zhu Xingyao."
"Jiang Tu, have you finished listening?"
"… "
“…Brother Tu, have you finished listening?”
Jiang Tu suddenly looked up. His skin was cold and pale, his forehead was red, his eyes were slightly double-lidded, and the corners of his eyes were slightly upturned. The thin double eyelids spread out from the corners of his eyes. When he was not wearing glasses and not smiling, he looked cold and cool, and he looked straight at Zhu Xingyao.
Li Xixi laughed twice: "Look, look, Brother Tu has to be called by the stars to wake him up."
Ding Xiang also laughed: "Brother Tu, you are drifting."
Jiang Tu lowered his head and pursed his dry lips, his voice hoarse: "I didn't notice that the get out of class was over."
Zhu Xingyao remembered that he had been buried in his desk for the entire class, and said silently: "You didn't fall asleep while listening, did you?"
Jiang Tu was a little amused, with a smile in his eyes: "No."
Zhu Xingyao didn't quite believe it: "Which song do you like?"
Jiang Tu set the Walkman to a single song loop. He unzipped his school uniform, took off his headphones, and handed them over. "Now this."
Zhu Xingyao put the earphones into her ears and looked at him in surprise: "You like this? Why?"
He hummed, lowered his eyes and said indifferently: "You will feel better after listening to this."
so
Zhu Xingyao stared at the band-aid on his neck, then looked at his expression, which seemed to make him feel a little better. She held her chin with her hand and looked at Li Xixi: "Then choose this one."
Li Xixi thought any song would be fine, because she thought they all sounded good: "Okay."
Ding Xiang sighed and said with a sad heart: "I feel that I have been treated unfairly and I am not allowed to express my opinions."
Li Xixi smiled: "Who made you rank last in grades, not look cool enough, and unable to beat Zhang Sheng?"
Ding Xiang: “…”
Zhang Sheng often came to provoke Jiang Tu some time ago, but Jiang Tu said that he would not fight in school, so he would not fight, and he never failed once.
In the afternoon, Zhu Xingyao submitted the repertoire.
After school, Zhu Xingyao saw the wound on Jiang Tu's neck again. While Li Xixi was throwing away the trash and Ding Xiang was not around, she asked in a low voice, "Were you... beaten? I mean, those people..."
Jiang Tu knew she was talking about Chen Yi and the others. He rubbed his fingers on his neck and said calmly, "It's okay. It's a common occurrence."
Anyway, Chen Yi would go to his house at the beginning of every month to collect debts. If he was at home, they would be more restrained, but if he was not there, the furniture and other things would be damaged. It was useless to call the police for such things because they could not do anything about it.
After he finished speaking, he turned and left without even looking at Zhu Xingyao's conflicted and sympathetic expression.
On Christmas Day, Jiang Tu leaned against the wall with the back of his head against it, his peripheral vision flicking towards Zhu Xingyao. She and Li Xixi were sorting out the apples, chocolates, greeting cards and other things that were cluttered on the table like garbage. She was actually very annoyed by these things, and every time she sorted them out, she would feel a little... a little irritable.
Sometimes, if he came early, he could see a few love letters scattered in her desk.
There are always some young people who overestimate their own abilities and feel good about themselves and want to reach for the stars.
He held the half pencil in his left hand and lowered his eyes thoughtfully.
Zhu Xingyao was worried about the pile of chocolates and apples. She turned to look at him and said eagerly, "Want some apples?"
Jiang Tu turned to look at her and said coldly: "I don't want to eat."
Zhu Xingyao: "Chocolate?"
He turned to face forward, frowned and said, "If you really don't know what to do with it, I'll help you throw it in the trash can."