More than a month later, Chen Xing ushered in a period of confusion at the age of sixteen.
Mary wants to break up with him—his girlfriend he has been talking about for 67 days, Chinese name Ma Li, 21 years old, a work-study Chinese restaurant waitress.
She and Chen Xing met by the fountain in the middle of the street. There were strange graffiti on the square, and teenagers playing skateboards were playing music and dancing on the side of the square, causing passers-by and tourists to stop and watch.
The two sat on the side of the road with hot dogs bought in the dining car.
Mary wanted to speak but stopped for a while, bit her lip and asked him, "Do you not like me?"
"I like it." Chen Xing said.
"But," Mary hinted, "if you like me, why can't you give me a warm hug in the lonely night."
Chen Xing understood, but there was really nothing he could do, he could only pretend to be stupid: "What hug? I have access control at night, and my father won't let me go out."
Mary stared at Chen Xing's face for a while, and said sadly, "Xiao Xing, let's break up. You are too young for us."
Chen Xing was silent.
After saying goodbye to Mary, Chen Xing wandered the streets bored, and his first love ended without a problem. He met Mary at the fountain in the middle of the street, and fell in love at the fountain in the middle of the street. Thinking of him as an invincible beautiful boy, he was defeated by the barrier of development.
Lin Xiucheng's phone call came, and he asked Chen Xing, "Where are you?"
Chen Xing told the location, and Lin Xiucheng told him to wait, and he was here to pick him up.
He arrived 20 minutes later, and told Chen Xing in a good mood: "I'll take you to a big event today, so you can cheer me up."
He took Chen Xing to Bond Street to buy a set of ready-made clothes, and went to a routine family gathering. It was not a big occasion, but Lin Xiucheng thought it was interesting. He wanted to make Chen Xing look bright and beautiful to scare them.
This is a tradition left by his grandfather. Every two or three months, the whole family will get together for an afternoon. For the grandfather, this gathering is for raising some stupid sons, for the uncles and uncles, it is for investigating the enemy's situation, and for the current Lin Xiucheng, it is for adjusting life.
Gu Qing's work in Europe is over, and he is going back to the United States. Lin Xiucheng looked at his watch, and it has been nearly two months since the last gathering. He didn't bring Chen Xing to the last gathering. Several old guys scratched their heads and ears He kept talking to him about his adopted son and kept them interested until now, and it was almost time for Chen Xing to see the guests.
As usual, the party was held in the old house in Oxford.
Lin Xiucheng and Chen Xing picked up Gu Qing and drove to Oxford.
Along the way, Chen Xing was in a daze sullenly, even Gu Qing teased him and didn't want to talk.
The car drove into the iron gate, and several cousins were BBQing in the yard. When they saw Lin Xiucheng enter the car, they all waved to him enthusiastically. The whole family waited for Lin Xiucheng to show up with his son, they got out of the car, and the surroundings became silent.
After two or three seconds, several elders came over courteously: "This is Chen Xing! Welcome to our big family."
Chen Xing nodded to them politely, leaned closer to Lin Xiucheng, and put his arms close to his.
After saying hello, my uncle took Lin Xiucheng to talk. Chen Xing and Gu Qing helped barbecue in the garden. He whispered to Gu Qing, "Lin Xiucheng really lives in dire straits."
"You're finally willing to talk to me," Gu Qing lowered his head and bit his ear, "Vincent is playing cat and mouse. His hobby is very perverted. You have to be careful."
Chen Xing curled his lips and skewered his barbecue.
Lin Xiucheng had a dozen or so cousins, except for Gu Qing, who traveled far and wide, none of them were in good shape. They all looked at Chen Xing with the bad impression of chewing the root of their tongue countless times at home, and felt that this was Lin Xiucheng's shield. Come duckling.
But Gu Qing was by his side, so they didn't dare to say anything, they just greeted him, chatted with him with an ugly face, and introduced themselves.
Chen Xing is a smart person, he sees through without telling the truth, and stays with Gu Qing inseparable.
In the afternoon, I had a full barbecue, and a few children who were still in school couldn't eat dinner, so they clamored to go to the basketball court in the backyard to play. Lin Xiucheng's 18-year-old cousin, Lin Xiuyan, is the son of his second uncle. Today, his second sister-in-law didn't come, but Lin Xiuyan still came to the party. His father just died, and his face was gloomy after all.
He said, "Chen Xing, come with us."
Chen Xing turned to look at Lin Xiucheng. Lin Xiucheng couldn't see his expression, and Chen Xing couldn't tell whether he wanted to go or not. The two of them faced each other silently for a few seconds. Lin Xiucheng waved his hand gently: "Go if you want."
Chen Xing lowered his head and smiled, and said to Lin Xiuyan: "Okay, let's go!"
When they left, Gu Qing asked Lin Xiucheng: "Such a baby with delicate skin and tender flesh, you are not afraid of being swallowed by those little brothers."
Lin Xiucheng laughed: "Gu Qing, you still don't know how to judge people."
The cruelty in Chen Xing's eyes can't be cultivated in a day or two, it should be his little cousins who are thin-skinned and tender-fleshed.
Gu Qing shook his head: "Stop talking, I will never understand you people."
Gu Qing and Lin Xiucheng went to school together, but they lived outside with his aunt and uncle all the time, and never got in touch with the affairs of the Lin family. Their living environment was very simple.
He also didn't understand many of Lin Xiucheng's actions, but he respected him.
Those who didn't eat barbecue in the afternoon had dinner together. Lin Xiucheng's uncles talked a lot of nonsense. He was very impatient to hear it. Just as he was about to talk, the assistant's call came. I need to ask him for urgent matters. He came just in time and walked out. door to listen.
The assistant said that the urgent matter was that Derrick, an Englishman who cooperated with his second uncle and wanted to eat him, escaped from them. Lin Xiucheng asked about the situation, and walked a few steps to the back of the house, and heard the thumping of young people's basketballs hitting the ground behind him. With a bang, he stopped moving forward, standing in the small cedar forest planted by his grandfather and watching the lights of the basketball court.
Chen Xing is not high, he plays basketball well, and his style of play is very bad. Just five minutes after Lin Xiu took over the phone, Lin Xiuyan, who took the lead in targeting him, suffered a lot.
Lin Xiucheng explained some things to his assistant, hung up the phone and was about to leave when they found a dispute on the court. Lin Xiuyan and his third uncle's youngest son Lin Xiuyu pushed Chen Xing to this side. The other teenagers watched from the basketball court, not daring to join in their quarrel.
Before Lin Xiucheng thought about whether to stand up or turn around, the three of them stopped. It was dark in the woods, and Lin Xiucheng was silent. No one noticed where he was, so they started arguing.
"Aren't you the one who fucks my brother's asshole?" Lin Xiuyu said loudly, "What do you really think you are?"
Lin Xiucheng didn't expect that one day he would stand in the dark and listen to other people's corners, but he had no sense of shame. Hearing what Lin Xiuyu said, he was curious about how Chen Xing would refute, so he folded his arms and continued to listen with great interest.
Chen Xing laughed softly, with a hint of charm in his voice, which made people feel itchy, he said: "It must be because I am good in bed, Master Xiu is willing to raise me as a son, just like you, give me He won't fuck with a hundred million."
Lin Xiuyu stretched out his hand angrily to beat him, but Chen Xing grabbed his wrist with his backhand, arched his back and threw him to the ground, his feet firmly stepped on Lin Xiuyu's shoulder. Lin Xiuyu cried out in pain, as if his bones had been crushed, he shrank back and trembled.
Lin Xiuyan also made a move. He had practiced self-defense skills and was stronger than Lin Xiuyu. With his right hand, he made a knife and slashed at the back of Chen Xing's neck. Chen Xing, the two rolled to the ground and wrestled. Chen Xing was sixteen years old, and his strength and height were not comparable to that of eighteen-year-old Lin Xiuyan, but he had rich experience in fighting, and he wanted to go crazy when he started. Lin Xiuyan was quickly defeated and was beaten by Chen Xing. .
After being beaten a few times, Chen Xing suddenly gave a fuck, jumped off Lin Xiuyan, kicked Lin Xiuyan's lower body severely, and cursed a series of obscenities from his mouth.
A few people on the basketball court saw that they were almost playing well, so they all came over to persuade them to fight.
Seeing that the good show was almost over, Lin Xiucheng also turned around and walked back to the main house.
Half an hour later, several people came back with bruised noses and swollen faces, but Chen Xing was nowhere to be seen.
Lin Xiucheng's uncles pointed at Sang and scolded Huai, and asked him what happened to his adopted son, who had no education at all.
Lin Xiu called Chen Xing in front of them, and it took a few rings before he got through.
"Father, are you looking for me?" Chen Xing said over there.
Lin Xiucheng tried not to laugh, he asked, "Why did you beat up your brothers?"
"Didn't you hear everything?" Chen Xing asked back.
Lin Xiucheng's smile faded a bit: "Come back and apologize."
Chen Xing directly hung up the phone.
Lin Xiucheng showed everyone the phone he was hung up on, and sighed: "My son is getting older, I can't control it anymore."
A group of family members, old and young, stared dumbfounded as the two sang together.
After Lin Xiucheng finished speaking, he said he had something to leave, and Gu Qing also followed him.
"Vincent, I'll stay at your house tonight." Gu Qing said.
"You can't even afford a hotel?"
Gu Qing said seriously: "I want to take a set of photos for Chen Xing, you don't know, when I see him, I feel that the muse has favored me, and I want to catch her."
Lin Xiucheng smiled and shook his head. He didn't understand these photographers, but he also respected Gu Qing: "You tell him yourself."
"These injuries were really caused by Chen Xing?" Gu Qing asked, "... It hurts me just looking at it."
Lin Xiuyan limped in while clutching his crotch, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, even a man could feel the same feeling when he saw it.
"Probably." Lin Xiucheng said conservatively.
Gu Qing shivered.
Lin Xiucheng took Gu Qing back to his apartment. Chen Xing was watching TV in the living room, and when he saw the two of them coming in, he nodded.
Gu Qing dragged his camera case and asked Chen Xing: "Xiao Xing, how about I take a set of photos for you?"
Chen Xing watched Bruce Lee on TV, and said after a while: "What photo, do you have money for it?"
"The money I gave you is not enough for you to spend?" Lin Xiucheng interrupted, and he gave Chen Xing a credit card with a limit of 200,000 pounds, "I have a lot of appetite."
"I like the money I make." Chen Xing turned his head and rubbed his thumbs and index fingers together, "Cash."
"How much do you want?" Gu Qing asked him.
Chen Xing said: "I don't know the market, so you can give it to me."
Gu Qing agreed, opened the metal protective box, took out a camera and lens and put it in.
"The filming started now?" Chen Xing asked in surprise. He hadn't taken a shower yet, so he took off his suit jacket when he got home, and unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt, exposing a small piece of skin on his chest. "It's late at night."
Gu Qing took a picture directly at Chen Xing: "Just watch your movie."
Chen Xing leaned over to see the photo, but Gu Qing refused: "I paid for it, you go and sit down."
Hearing what he said, Chen Xing sat back resentfully.
The next day was Sunday, Chen Xing still had no class, and spent the day hanging out with Gu Qing, hearing the sound of the shutter making his ears callused.
Gu Qing asked him to feed the fat squirrels with a smirk on the lawn of Hyde Park, and then asked him to go to the British Library to read books. After running around many places in a day, his face became stiff, so he let him go.
As soon as the photos were taken, Gu Qing rushed back to the United States overnight, and told Chen Xing to wait for him to release the film, but Chen Xing just talked about it casually and forgot about it.
Only two weeks later, Lin Xiucheng received an email with a large attachment in his private mailbox.
Gu Qing called from across the ocean: "This is Chen Xing's photo, please give it to him for me, the production rate is too high, almost no color correction is required, it's so perfect!"
Lin Xiucheng downloaded it and watched it for a long time.
The Chen Xing recorded in Gu Qing's camera looks incredible.
He was lazily staying in Lin Xiucheng's house in a shirt and trousers, drinking water and watching TV, cooking in an apron, sitting on the stairs in a daze, reading with glasses on the shelf, rolling on the grass, laughing Stand by the Thames and chat with passers-by.
The smile on Chen Xing's beautiful face has nothing to do with the dark and malicious hints. His brows are stretched, either relaxed and lively, or calm and pleasant. He has turned back into a real sixteen-year-old boy.
He called Gu Qing again: "What are you going to use this set of photos for?"
"If you don't do anything, just put it on the website and let others see my superb photography skills." Gu Qing said honestly, "By the way, you can help me get some cash for him, I asked about it—"
"Did you put it up?" Lin Xiucheng interrupted him.
"not yet."
"I bought it from you, how much?" Lin Xiu admitted to asking him.
Gu Qing was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"Even if you don't keep the negatives, how do you sell them in your circle?"
"What the hell?" Gu Qing was confused by Lin Xiucheng, "You are buying pornographic photos, right?"
"Whatever way you buy it, in short, don't put it anywhere."
Gu Qing groaned, and finally understood Lin Xiucheng's meaning a little bit, he said: "I know, I don't need money, I just wanted to shoot Chen Xing, you don't want me to post it, I just don't post it, just return it to me." So many twists and turns."
After a while, Gu Qing suddenly sent him a screenshot, which was on his social software. He edited the photo very late last night, and posted a profile of Chen Xing. The photo received tens of thousands of likes, Many people commented excitedly below asking which model this is.
"Can this one not be deleted?" Gu Qing asked him in a message, with a pitiful expression attached.
Lin Xiucheng replied reluctantly: "Okay."
Lin Xiucheng had a dinner at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the evening. Before going to the banquet, he asked his assistant to withdraw a sum of money, cash. The assistant looked at the number on his check and thought he had read it wrong.
After drinking for three rounds, the scene ended, and no one dared to persuade Lin Xiu to accept the wine. He went downstairs soberly, and the driver and assistant were waiting for him at the hotel entrance. Sitting in the car, the assistant gave him a lockbox: "The cash you want."
It was after ten o'clock when we got home. For some reason, Chen Xing went to bed very early that day. He didn't like to close the door when he slept, and the door was ajar.
Lin Xiucheng pushed open the door and went in with the lockbox. First, he stood by his bed and looked at it for a while. When he opened the lockbox, there was a "click" sound. Chen Xing, who was sleeping, frowned, babbled, and changed his name. more comfortable posture.
Lin Xiucheng put stacks of cash on Chen Xing's bedside table, dimmed the bedside lamp for him before going out, and thoughtfully closed the door.
As soon as he went out, Chen Xing's eyes opened. His peach blossom eyes were still full of sleepiness. He was woken up by the sound of opening the safe.
He stretched out a hand, touched the stack of cash from top to bottom, and slid his slender fingers across the banknotes, picked up two or three knives and carried them into his arms, and continued to dream of his sweet dreams.