At the beginning of December, all the senior high school students entered the state of preparation and will soon take the first test in early January.
Ning Xi would study hard at home after school every day. Xing Cheng became nervous and experienced the experience of passing by his brother's house three times without entering. He didn't dare to provoke Ning Xi at all.
All senior high school students in the city will take three city-wide diagnostic tests before the college entrance examination, which will directly determine the city's ranking, including surrounding satellite cities, etc., so that they can see how their scores compare to the level of the entire city.
Shizhong's liberal arts department is the best in the city, and Ning Xi's grades are ranked high in the grade. The ranking of this exam has a profound impact on him, so its importance is naturally self-evident.
Ying Yuchen is a kid from Beijing. He didn't understand the situation during the first visit this year. He thought this was a physical examination and was nervous for a while: "Xi, why do you have so many checkpoints for the physical examination here? Are you recruiting pilots?"
At noon after school, Ning Xi did not leave the classroom for lunch, and Xing Cheng brought him a portion of wonton dumplings.
Ning Xi drank the soup with some chili peppers and almost choked. His eyes were red from the spiciness and tears welled up in his eyes. He dodged Xing Cheng's fingertips and cursed fiercely, "You deserve to be abused."
Xing Cheng was quite pleased with himself, and smiled: "Aren't I just waiting for you to abuse me?"
While Ning Xi was busy these days, Xing Cheng completely forgot that he also had his final exams in early January. He rode his bike out for fun as soon as he finished his evening self-study class.
A group of boys in the second year of high school have just figured out the school's routines. They don't have the tension of the third year of high school, but they are more familiar with this area than the freshmen. This is the time when they are the most unrestrained and uncontrollable.
Qingyang District is very large and is the central urban area. Going back a few generations, Xingcheng and Ningxi were both born and raised here. Their ID cards both start with "510105". At that time, Xingcheng's family was still considered a well-off family.
At that time, the city headquarters were all located within the jurisdiction, and Xingcheng's family's house and work were almost all in this area.
Three-fifths of the ancient Shu city is in Qingyang District. Jiangjun Street and Dongchenggen Street are where Xingcheng and Ning Xi rode their bikes for a stroll. There is a particularly famous roasted nuts shop under the overpass next to Kuanzhai Alley. Every year during the Spring Festival, all the children in the area come with bags to fill them with nuts.
Xing Cheng led a group of boys on bicycles past the Funan River. The lights were dim at night and there were not many people on the road. After turning a corner, Xing Cheng saw the residential area next to him which had been particularly mysterious to him since he was a child.
This place was called something like "Mountain Villa" before, but now it has a new name that sounds better.
Xingcheng particularly likes the house in Huanhua, a single-family villa located deep in the city, quiet and elegant, with beige and apricot exterior walls. It is square, grand and simple, which must be in line with his brother's aesthetic taste.
I heard from my junior high school classmates that there is an independent library and a private garden inside, with fresh air and greenery, and the public security is also very good. The wall must be one meter thick...
Xingcheng has passed by there several times by bike. It has Qintai Road on its back and faces Funan River. There is Baihuatan Park next to it, so you can still take a walk there when you are old!
Thinking too far ahead.
There will definitely be no new real estate projects in the future, and this is a problem.
Xing Cheng went to the sales office to check out the prices. His heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself, let me set a goal first.
He had to work hard to build such a thick wall.
When they arrived at the square for a midnight snack, Xing Cheng sent a message to Ning Xi as soon as he stopped the car. He couldn't control the thoughts in his mind at all, and asked his brother, "Will you buy a second-hand house in the future?"
Ning Xi was originally thinking, is this kid planning to sell second-hand houses instead of studying hard? After thinking about it, he probably meant in the future. He was touched and replied, "It's fine if there is one."
While eating skewers, Xing Cheng has almost figured out what material to use for the sofa at home...
Xing Cheng packed up the barbecue and replied, "As for the villa, a second-hand house is also okay."
Ning Xi replied slowly: "That's not what I meant."
Ning Xi turned the exercise book over. The night wind lifted a corner of the curtain and quietly blew away the eraser crumbs on Ning Xi's math book. Then it blew away the eraser crumbs on the book. It then revealed an old-fashioned desk with a glass plate on the wooden table top.
Under the glass plate was a photo of Xing Cheng’s ID card, the same one as the one on Xing Cheng’s school card.
Ning Xi took the photo secretly and took it to a printing shop to print it out. He cut it into six one-inch pieces. The first five were thrown away, leaving only this one, which was still lying quietly under the glass.
Ning Xi lowered his head and breathed gently towards the glass, causing some white mist to appear on the table.
Ning Xi tapped a few times with his fingertips, and Xing Cheng's face gradually became clear, and he sighed.
He picked up the phone and typed slowly again.
Xing Cheng did not ask Ning Xi about the fact that Dongzhi came up empty-handed that day.
Sometimes he felt that he and his brother would never be able to empathize with each other in terms of family.
All Xing Cheng can do is accompany, protect, and use his own strength to make Ning Xi's life a better one.
Apart from the occasional necessary hooliganism and the cold shoulder from his brother, Xing Cheng led a pretty comfortable life.
Now no matter what he says to Ning Xi, he will get a response.
The feelings are reciprocated and life becomes more harmonious.
Xing Cheng felt like there was a sail growing above his head, and everything was going smoothly for him.
There are still no classes for the second year of high school this Saturday, and the lunch break for the third year of high school is a little longer. Xing Cheng went to Ning Xi's house for lunch after coming down from the court.
Xing Cheng went to the school gate to get two servings of beef rice noodles, then turned into the supermarket and got two bottles of pomegranate soda. He shook them around, and when he got back to Ning Xi's house, he unscrewed the bottle caps and sprayed the whole thing on himself.
Ning Xi was too lazy to even laugh at him. He wiped the floor with a rag and threw the dishes into the sink to wash.
As for the smell on Xingcheng's body, let him go away and think of a way to go to the bathroom to wash it off!
Xing Cheng wanted to wash off the drink on his body, so he had to take off the wrist guard on his hand. He just took it and put it on the cabinet next to him.
Ning Xi was sitting at the small table adding vinegar to the rice noodles. With his sharp eyes, he immediately noticed that the inner circle of the wristband was somewhat unnaturally red. He picked it up and saw that there were some light bloodstains on the layer next to the skin.
Deep red and sticky, he would never make a mistake.
When Xing Cheng came out of the bathroom, Ning Xi put the wristband back to its original place.
Although he is introverted, he is also straightforward. He raised his eyes and asked Xing Cheng: "Why is there blood inside the wristband?"
Xing Cheng was stunned by the question, but reacted quickly.
I won some money playing street ball last night, but I got hurt because I played too hard. I was so busy trying to stop the bleeding when I got home that I didn’t even notice if my wrist guard got stained with blood…
Xing Cheng unpacked the disposable chopsticks and added chili peppers while answering seriously: "I got hurt playing basketball yesterday."
Ning Xi was somewhat suspicious whether it was a fight or some other reason, but after taking a look at Xing Cheng, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with him, so he forced Xing Cheng to lift up his clothes before giving up.
But Ning Xi still couldn't change his habit of protecting his child. His face was gloomy. After eating a few bites, he couldn't help asking him: "Who did you fight with to be so cruel?"
Xing Cheng was secretly complaining. If he just mentioned a few people, and his brother met them next time, wouldn't he be beaten up on the field?
"As for the other guys on the school team like Qi Ming, they probably haven't played streetball in the district before, so they don't have much experience."
Xing Cheng couldn't continue his story. It was extremely painful for him to lie in front of Ning Xi.
He looked at Ning Xi's face and decided to change the subject: "Brother, where did you get the money to buy me a wristband for four or five hundred yuan?"
Ning Xi glanced at Xing Cheng and said, "I saved it."
This time, Huan Xingcheng didn't believe it: "Really?"
I don’t get much every month, how can I save it?
He hesitated for a moment and continued to ask: "Why do you want to buy a wristband? Because I gave you one before?"
Ning Xi finished his rice noodles, took a tissue to wipe his mouth, too lazy to talk, and flicked his head.
The little fool is still a big fool when he grows up.
Ning Xi said to him: "Childish."
Upon hearing these two words, Xing Cheng was quite sensitive. He cared a lot about his brother's attitude towards these things. He straightened his back, measured his height of about 1.8 meters, and secretly decided that one day he would show his brother what a real man is.
Xingcheng is still very satisfied with the issue of height.
There is a wall in Ning Xi's house that measures his height, and records how tall he is every year. When he gets taller, he draws a horizontal bar with a pencil, and then writes a row of small pencil words next to it, such as "20 04.8.12"...
At a certain year, the handwriting became gentler and less powerful. Xing Cheng finally saw the year clearly and guessed that it should be the year after Uncle Ning passed away. The person who came to help Ning Xi record his height became Ning Xi's mother.
The pencil marks continued every year until Ning Xi's mother remarried. The pencil marks stopped, and it seemed as if little Ning Xi had really stayed in that year.
But it happened to be in that year that he truly grew up.
Xing Cheng gestured a few times, laughed at Ning Xi's shortness, asked for a pencil, and used it to fill in his own lines. Then he filled in the forgotten years bit by bit according to his memory.
The two people could clearly see that at a certain intersection in a certain year, Xing Cheng's height gradually surpassed Ning Xi's and was always above him.
Xing Cheng reached out and touched the dark grey pencil mark and said, "When I grow up, I will always be five centimeters taller than you."
——Always protect you.
After Xing Cheng finished speaking, he kicked the basketball next to the shoe cabinet. The basketball rolled to Xing Cheng's feet. Ning Xi leaned against the wall, held Xing Cheng's shoulders, and stepped on it.
——I will always cover you and protect you.
After studying in Shizhong for two years, Xingcheng's family gave him a lot of pocket money and he was generous in his daily spending, so naturally he had a lot of foreign debts.
He was tightening his belt every day for his brother. He went home and rummaged around to find the IOU hidden in his textbook. There were also some WeChat transfer records. All in all, the amount must have been about one or two thousand yuan.
When Ying Yuchen heard Xing Cheng say this, he couldn't help laughing. Is it still popular among you kids to owe money and not pay it back?
Xing Cheng closed his eyes and invited them to dinner.
Ying Yuchen rolled his eyes: "With your status in the martial arts world, who dares not to pay you back?"
One or two thousand yuan were just four Arabic numerals to Ying Yuchen, and he had no idea about it. He didn't know much about Ning Xi's affairs, and didn't know how important this money was to these two people who were trying to make a living.
Just talking about Ning Xi's temperament and figure, with his white short sleeves pulled to the side, and occasionally glancing at his waist, Ying Yuchen felt that it was made of mutton-fat jade...
Xingcheng is very good at playing cards. He has been gambling for fun these days, playing big games at the table with money in his pocket, and has won nearly three or four hundred yuan. Ren Mei and her group of people are urging Xingcheng to open a training class. The Spring Festival will be coming soon after the New Year, so won’t he have to learn some skills to make money from his relatives?
After Xing Cheng decided to treat everyone to a meal, he thought to himself that he had to find a place with an ATM to eat.
As soon as school was over on Wednesday afternoon, Xing Cheng invited those guys and his brothers to have a meal at a small restaurant outside the school gate. After they paid their bills one by one, Xing Cheng counted the bills and it was about eighteen or nineteen thousand yuan in total.
Xing Cheng was not yet an adult and did not have a bank account, so he asked Ying Yuchen for a number and deposited all the money into the account. Together with miscellaneous money, the total was exactly two thousand two hundred yuan.
Xingcheng would not touch this money unless it was absolutely necessary, and planned to save a few hundred dollars a week for Ningxi's backup.
After dinner, Xingcheng rode his bike to the Funan River again. He stood by the river, staring at the lights of the covered bridge and the neon signs on the other side of the river. His eyes were filled with the sharp contrast between the quiet river and the bustling city. He felt a little dazed for a moment.
The wheel of time rolled over one mountain after another, bringing Xing Cheng into the confused period of youth, catching him off guard.
His grades came out again, with a total score of just 400, which was 70 or 80 points short of Sichuan Province's liberal arts undergraduate line last year, let alone catching up with Ning Xi and getting into a good university in the north.
As for studying, Xing Cheng knew that he was never cut out for it. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision that he had to switch to liberal arts for Ning Xi. Science was just so-so.
I remember when he was a child, Xingcheng had just learned to speak and the only thing he knew about was excavators. He only wanted excavators when buying toys. There were more than a dozen models placed horizontally and vertically at home. His father even laughed and said that he might become the largest real estate developer in Sichuan in the future.
When he grew up, the adults were always delighted when talking about this. Xingcheng thought coolly that this was too much of a nouveau riche and he wanted to do something more impressive.
Later, when Xing Cheng understood how important money was and what it could bring to the people important to him, he truly felt the exhaustion that life had given him.
Xing Cheng was determined to build this road. No matter how difficult or hard it was, he would use an excavator to open the road and dig it out bit by bit until he found a way.
At school, students in Class 3 and 4 of Senior High School saw Xing Cheng more often and would bring him snacks whenever they wanted. Ning Xi was not polite and would eat as soon as the get out of class was over. He ate until his belly was full and he gained a few pounds in a week or two.
Every time Xing Cheng stood at the door of Class 3-4, his mind was filled with the image of Ning Xi smoking and doing math problems with a gloomy expression, staring at the half-grown man in front of him.
Ying Yuchen had run into Xing Cheng in the corridor several times. One day, he couldn't help it, so after class, he walked out of the classroom and secretly stood far away, looking at the back door of Class 3-4.
He saw Xing Cheng, who was much taller than Ning Xi, holding a can of drink and placing it on Ning Xi's head. The latter grabbed it, and Xing Cheng snatched it, opened the can with one hand, picked up the iron ring of the can with his fingertips, and put it on his little finger.
"childish."
Ning Xi's face was still cold, but the slight curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.
Xing Cheng couldn't stop laughing. Under the shining winter sun outside the window, his tall figure swayed beside Ning Xi, upright and firm.
Chengdu has entered a cold winter. There are fewer basketball games held by various companies and fewer people playing street ball on the streets. Xingcheng is too idle every weekend. There is an activity to play basketball at Southwest Jiaotong University next week, but Ning Xi said that she needs to give him extra lessons, so he can't go yet.
Forget it, he can play less ball, but the opportunity for Ning Xi to give him a lecture is very precious and cannot be missed.
Xing Cheng once hung up Ning Xi with his report card, which made Ning Xi frown and turn around to look for a lighter.
Why skip a grade? Jump off the building?
Ning Xi was looking for it while sending a message to Xing Cheng: "You scored like this? I might as well burn it for you."
Ning Xi even prepared a large English notebook for Xing Cheng, but after half a month of memorizing it, he couldn't even figure out the verb "be"?
Xing Cheng saw a hand reaching out from downstairs with a lighter to burn his report card. He was so scared that he quickly pulled back the rope, changed his clothes, and climbed out the window.
As soon as he entered Ning Xi's room, Xing Cheng was pushed next to the desk by Ning Xi and a draft book was pulled over to him.
"Come on, write down all the uses of the verb be."
Xing Cheng choked up and said, "Brother, I didn't have dinner."
Ning Xi turned his head and blew into Xing Cheng's pointed ear: "Alright."
"Be verb! I know! Perfect tense, present and future tense, after eating hot pot, when I meet my brother by chance..."
Xing Cheng was a little excited. He opened his mouth and couldn't take back what he said. Ning Xi slapped him and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Xing Cheng stared at the paper filled with beautiful English writing for a while, but he couldn't bear it any longer. It was easy for him to fall asleep when he stared at something he couldn't understand. If he fell asleep while looking at Ning Xi's notes, he would be in trouble.
Xing Cheng said gloomily, "The monthly exam is tomorrow, and I really don't have the talent to cram at the last minute."
Ning Xi felt a little soft-hearted. He didn't want to force Xing Cheng to learn something he didn't like, but he was anxious when he saw the results. He said, "Did you memorize the Chinese lesson I taught you before?"
Upon hearing this, Xing Cheng sat up straight quickly, his eyes shining: "I can recite it by heart!"
Ning Xi sat cross-legged on the bed with a textbook in his hand, tapped the edge of the bed, nodded, and said, "Remember the night tour of Chengtian Temple, recite it."
Ning Xi picked up a ruler and hit him on the head twice. He was startled and looked away, coughing twice: "Aren't you talking about a poem? It should be an ancient poem."
Ning Xi frowned: "Back."
Xing Cheng's mind was filled with only one word: "Undress and want to sleep...sleep, sleep..."
Ning Xi reminded him: "Remembering the night tour of Chengtian Temple is about Huaimin..."
Xing Cheng slapped his thigh and said, "Two men who don't sleep at night and come out to chat, aren't they you and me?"
Ning Xi's throat choked up, and he was a little angry, so he changed his answer directly: "Among the Three Gorges in Badong, Wu Gorge is the longest."
Xing Cheng continued smoothly: "The rain and clouds in Wushan are in vain and heartbreaking!"
Forget it, it seems he just remembers the love poems.
"The last one is "Notes on the Small Rock Pool."
Ning Xi hit the edge of the bed with a small ruler in his hand, and said as he turned the pages, "There are more than a hundred fish in the pond..."
Xing Cheng's voice became even bolder: "A Tan Yutou restaurant has opened at Jiuyan Bridge. I'll take you there next week."
"Well……"
Ning Xi closed the book with a snap and said calmly, "Okay, go to bed."
Halfway through the night, Ning Xi's phone rang.
Xing Cheng had been keeping the same posture, sleeping in a daze. He was too hot, and Ning Xi's back was a little wet with sweat. His short hair was stuck to his temples, and it was soft and limp, and it rubbed against his nose, filling it with the scent of shampoo.
The vibration of his cell phone made Ning Xi a little irritated. He struggled to turn around and unconsciously said, "It's so hot."
Xing Cheng rolled over and got out of bed and ran to grab some toilet paper. Ning Xi woke up anyway, looked at the sky outside the window, and asked with half-opened eyes, "What time is it?"
Xing Cheng took out his vibrating phone and took a look. Who is this? Ying Yuchen?
He answered Ning Xi's question first: "It's twelve o'clock."
Ning Xi buried his face in the quilt and collapsed for a while, rubbed his face, and sighed: "Give me the phone."
Xing Cheng was a little angry: "Why would Ying Yuchen call you so late at night?"
Ning Xi looked at Xing Cheng's angry expression and softened his tone: "It's not too late, we just went to bed early."
He knew that Xing Cheng was prone to suspicion, so he didn't blame him. He turned on the speaker and threw the phone onto the pillow. When he picked up the phone, the voice on the other end was quite quiet. Ying Yuchen opened the conversation with one sentence: "I... I'm in a bad mood, and I want to talk to you."
Ning Xi's voice was heavily nasal when he spoke: "Um...what's wrong?"
Ying Yuchen was depressed when he heard this: "Is your voice so hoarse?"
Xing Cheng's face fell, Ning Xi subconsciously covered the phone, and the next second he was pushed by Xing Cheng. Ning Xi was startled, and Ying Yuchen was so scared that he asked over there, "What's wrong?"
Ning Xi tried to comfort Xing Cheng and said softly to Yu Chen: "If you are unhappy, just tell me."
These words were spoken not only to Ying Yuchen, but also to Xing Cheng, who was twisting the quilt and saying nothing at the moment.
A sigh came from Ying Yuchen: "I always feel that my brother, my brother and...ah."
Ning Xi held the phone and asked quietly, "What happened to your brother?"
Ying Yuchen said: "My brother and the car business boss who had a conflict with me before seem to be getting together? Or they are already together, I don't know..."
Xing Cheng knew that Ying and Jiang would not express their views on this matter. Ning Xi was still a little confused and asked him, "Didn't we have a conflict before?"
Ying Yuchen sighed again: "It's not that I think this is not a good idea, but I feel like my brother has fallen into trouble this time. I feel a little disappointed. My brother doesn't really focus on me anymore."
Ning Xi bit her lip and said, "I hope your brother's partner will treat you well."
Ying Yuchen was really stimulated. Once the child felt lost, it was like the sky was falling.
He was probably rolling around in bed feeling lonely, and the sound of bedding rubbing could be heard from the receiver from time to time: "I think that young boss is very kind... but he may not be on good terms with me. I don't know."
"Just respect his choice." Ning Xi replied.
Before falling asleep, Xing Cheng counted the money in his pocket and found that he could actually have enough money to eat fish head hotpot on the weekend.
I can also add two more servings of beef to my bowl tomorrow morning.
Forget it, just give one more portion to his brother.