The Chinese language test this morning made Xingcheng sweat profusely.
Xing Cheng just stared at the test paper. When he felt sleepy, he wanted to kiss it.
There was a "dong" sound when the knock came. All the candidates in the examination room turned around. When they saw it was Xing Cheng, they dared not laugh or say anything. They could only turn their heads away sullenly. The invigilator on the podium hit him with a ruler, and all the candidates straightened their backs a little.
Xing Cheng wiped his neck and finished the Chinese test paper carefully. He conservatively estimated that he could pass this time. The composition was written so carefully and logically. He had never written so many words in one breath since he was a child.
As soon as Xing Cheng finished his exam, he ran to the school gate to pack his lunch, left behind his brothers who were begging to eat together, and headed towards the senior year.
The afternoon exam had just ended. As Xing Cheng walked out the door, he saw Ning Xi hurriedly walking towards the second grade. The grade corridor was also quite lively with people chattering, but no one knew who they were talking about.
Ning Xi dragged Xing Cheng's hand and walked upstairs. When they arrived outside the senior class office, Xing Cheng could see clearly that Ying Yuchen and several friends from their grade and school team were standing in the office. There was also Ying Yujiang standing next to them, with frowns on their faces, listening to the teacher patiently.
Ning Xi pulled him away a little and explained the situation clearly. It was probably that Ying Yuchen's game at Southwest Jiaotong University was played earlier than scheduled, so he went to play basketball early in the morning and got into an argument with someone.
The school has suppressed a lot of fights recently, including the time when Cheng Xiyu and her friends encountered some thugs in Yulin and forced Xing Cheng to take action. If it weren't for the Cheng family's connections, Xing Cheng probably wouldn't be able to find a school to study in now.
The two men saw Ying Yuchen again on the afternoon of the next day. The man came back with a bag to collect things. He brought a big box with all the stationery stuffed into it. The books were tied up with ropes. Two men in black clothes followed him with serious expressions. They were probably the assistants assigned to him by Ying Yujiang.
When Ying Yuchen came to say goodbye, he had a wound on his forehead, and many of his buddies from the school team came to see him off.
We are no longer alumni after this departure, and we may even be enemies when we meet again in the district competition.
The bruise on Ying Yuchen's forehead was particularly obvious, which made Ning Xi frown.
Seeing that Ning Xi cared about him so much, Ying Yuchen felt a little happy. After all, for such an ice-cold buddy, the fact that he melted a little bit really showed how much he meant to him.
Ying Yuchen patted his shoulder, looked at Xing Cheng next to him, blinked, and said to Ning Xi, "See you in Beijing."
Hearing this, Xing Cheng was startled and immediately reached out his hand to wrap around Ning Xi's waist and bring him closer to him. This action made Ying Yuchen laugh and he shouted cheerfully, "Junior brother!"
He clenched his fist, gestured, gently touched Xingcheng's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Some other day, bring your brother to play street ball with me..."
That day, Ying Yuchen was standing downstairs of the teaching building carrying a basketball bag and a schoolbag. He whispered in Xingcheng's ear and reminded him seriously not to play with the black ball.
Xing Cheng raised his eyes and asked him in a low voice: "Then can you still accept your brother's partner?"
Ying Yuchen thought for a long time, nodded, and seemed a little conflicted. He then said, "He Qing has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He is a very nice person... I'll take you to meet him when I have time. I think you will have something in common."
Both of them are the kind of people who can't feel comfortable without making trouble. They are very talkative, fierce and arrogant.
This time it was Ning Xi who came to comfort his brother, saying that Ying and Chen just transferred to another school and they could still play together after graduation.
I guess only he knows how miserable he feels.
Xing Cheng was very upset. He thought that with his crappy grades, there was no way he could go to Beijing. That wasn't called studying in college; that was called drifting in Beijing.
On the second night after Ying Yuchen left, the three of them went out for a midnight snack.
Xing Cheng got a little drunk at the end, so Ning Xi sent him back to Xing Cheng's home. Xing Cheng's mother hurriedly opened the door to greet her son and thanked him.
After the door was closed, Ning Xi stood outside, looking at the dark corridor, and suddenly remembered the time when he was in elementary school.
It was the weekend and his mother hadn't been home for several days. When she came back from outside early in the morning and saw Ning Xi sleeping in bed, she picked up a broom and started beating him, scolding him for not going to school.
Little Ningxi also had a bad temper and was very stubborn. After being beaten, he felt that his mother had not beaten him enough and forced his mother to continue beating him. After being beaten so hard, his mother hid in Xingcheng's house and said that she would not beat him anymore and would beat him to death if he continued.
Ning Xi was probably only seven years old at the time. He stood in the corridor with red eyes and a straight back. His face was pale as he was dragged downstairs by his mother...
As he stumbled down the stairs, he looked back and saw Xing Cheng's mother holding four-year-old Xing Cheng at the door. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and she looked gentle and virtuous. Her eyes were tender and full of genuine concern.
It’s impossible to say I’m not envious.
In the next few days, approaching the end of December, the incident of Ying Yuchen's fight and transfer to another school subsided for a while, and the boys who followed in the trouble were also punished. They were forced to sweep the floor and weed in the playground every day, whether they had nothing to do or not. Xing Cheng got angry just by watching them.
Not only did he not cause any trouble, but once he did, all the blame was put on Ying Yuchen. He himself was not fired and was just weeding here.
As soon as the second-year high school monthly exam was over, Xing Cheng lost half of his brain cells. He rested at home for a while, and then dragged Ning Xi to a one-on-one match in the community stadium, attracting a lot of kids in the yard to cheer for him. The two sides were almost like their fan clubs were spraying each other.
Xing Cheng still hadn't saved the 2,200 yuan in his account, so he withdrew 1,000 yuan and took Ning Xi to buy clothes. Unexpectedly, Ning Xi also brought some money, saying that she wanted to buy a sweater.
Xing Cheng went shopping for clothes with Ning Xi. Seeing Ning Xi picking and choosing, he sat down and watched, following Ning Xi's back with his eyes, watching him moving back and forth among the shelves with a look of joy in his eyes.
Ning Xi picked out a silver-gray sweater, glanced at the label, turned to look at Xing Cheng who was sitting motionless on the lounge chair, and said, "Come and watch it together, what are you doing sitting there?"
As soon as they entered the locker room, Xing Cheng wanted to follow Ning Xi into the same room, but Ning Xi was quick to pull the curtain, revealing half of his handsome face and yelling at him: "Get out of the way."
Xing Cheng touched his nose, very shamelessly, blinked his eyes, and whispered: "I'll go next door to you..."
Ning Xi closed the curtain tightly with a "swish" sound. While changing his clothes, he looked up at the ceiling of the compartment from time to time. According to Xing Cheng's personality, he felt that his brother would do such a thing as standing on a stool and looking at him from above.
Ning Xi tried on three pieces of clothing. All of them were picked by Xing Cheng, who had a very good eye for them.
Ning Xi looks particularly cool in the minimalist style. When the pullover is pulled onto his body, Ning Xi's figure looks like a golden clothes rack.
Xing Cheng watched Ning Xi try on all three pieces, counted the money in his pocket, hung his two pieces on the hanger, and whistled: "All three pieces look good on you, buy them all."
Ning Xi said as she folded the clothes: "Didn't you take two pieces in as well?"
"It doesn't look good on me, it's a bit tight, and the shoulder design is not good..."
Xing Cheng sighed and stared at his brother with shining eyes: "If you were a little thinner, you would look better in anything."
Ning Xi was praised to the point of going to the sky, his face tense: "Exaggerated."
Xing Cheng pinched Ning Xi's face, and Ning Xi hit him with his left leg, telling him to stop making trouble.
When paying, Xing Cheng took out cash with quick and steady movements. He simply folded the banknotes and handed them over. The amount was exactly the right integer, without even a change. Ning Xi was a step late in his mobile payment, so he grabbed the paper bag from the clothing store and glared at him.
This winter is a dry one. It hasn't rained for a long time. People feel dry after a long time. Xing Cheng stood in the mall and took the opportunity when Ning Xi went to the toilet to buy a bottle of moisturizing spray and stuffed it into the bottom of his clothes pocket.
According to his living habits, Xingcheng is a straight man in his prime, and he doesn't know anything about skin care...
As soon as they left the mall, Xing Cheng saw balloons for sale at the door. They were solid-colored round balloons with cartoon characters on them that they had watched together when they were young. There were two little mice flying airplanes, which were very interesting...
The two of them looked back every three steps. Ning Xi couldn't help but take another glance. Xing Cheng pulled him to buy it without saying a word.
I asked the price and he said 20 yuan each. OK, Xing Cheng was not vague at all and bought it.
This Saturday afternoon, Ning Xi was still wearing his school uniform. His blue figure was particularly handsome, with a little white on his wrist. He was holding a balloon in his hand, hiding it behind his back, and walking forward with a stern face.
Xing Cheng laughed at the side: "If you like it so much, just take it and keep it. Why hide it? No one will laugh at you."
Ning Xi was a little embarrassed: "I know."
The two of them walked to Chunxi Road subway station, one joking and the other scolding. When they were about to check their tickets, Xingcheng finally realized that he could not take the subway with such a balloon.
Xing Cheng waved his hand and said, "Let's go and take a taxi."
Ning Xi frowned: "Too expensive."
It's 6 or 7 o'clock now, it's rush hour, and a taxi back home will cost more than 20 yuan. It's better to throw the balloon away...
Xing Cheng, who was tall and slender, carried a schoolbag on one shoulder. He held Ning Xi's hand tightly and dragged her toward the subway exit, saying seriously, "Money is all paper."
Xing Cheng stepped onto the elevator, one step higher than Ning Xi, and said with a smile: "For what you earn, you have to spend it on you."
Ning Xi got up early on Sunday morning and did some homework. The two of them made an appointment. Ning Xi said that the new building of the museum would be open until nine o'clock in the evening, so they should go and take a look.
Xing Cheng was very alert and didn't even eat a few bites of lunch. He used his mobile phone to search the old objects in the museum on the Internet, trying to write down a few of them and look up their origins, so as not to look so stupid when standing next to his brother later.
As a result, when the two of them went there in the evening, Ning Xi was very interested in watching the movie, while Xing Cheng was confused. He just followed his brother and nodded all the time. He thought it was beautiful, okay, and great.
Ning Xi was amused to see him being serious yet absent-minded: "What do you think?"
Xing Cheng nodded: "Very good."
This national treasure, how can it be bad?
Xing Cheng followed Ning Xi for a while, and took Ning Xi to the top floor to overlook Tianfu Square. Ning Xi leaned over the railing and squinted his eyes. The cold wind made him shiver all over. He whispered, "The whole layout here is a Bagua diagram, Tai Chi Shu characters, heavenly books and earthly paintings. Look, there's a flying dragon next to the pillar..."
Xing Cheng felt a little hungry after watching this. The color scheme of the Tianfu Square was like a big copper pot, and the shape of the dragon made it look like two eels floating out of a hot pot.
It’s still a double-boiled pot.
On the way back home in the evening, Xing Cheng grabbed Ning Xi's hand and wrote on his palm.
He stared at the small seal script in the museum for a long time, and only remembered the two characters "I" and "you".
Not far out of the museum, Xing Cheng looked back at the new museum next to Tianfu Square. It was brightly lit all night long, and he didn't know what stories would happen inside after nine o'clock.
Tianfu Square, which is located in the heart of the city center, is well connected. Next to it are museums, science and technology museums, art galleries, libraries and so on. But if you count the items in the museum, you will find that many of them were dug out from the underground of Ximen and even Qingyang District.
A sign hanging inside the museum says that Qingyang District is full of treasures.
As soon as Xing Cheng got home, he stared at his floor and thought for a while. His treasure was right there.
They spent Christmas Eve at school. Xing Cheng bought apples for the entire Class 3-4 and brought up a large box of Red Fuji apples to distribute. Ning Xi was stunned by the sight. What was he going to do?
Xing Cheng said, "My dad collected too much and couldn't finish it. It all went bad. We might as well bring it to school. Don't worry, our classmates have some too."
Ning Xi didn't ask any more questions.
The results of the second year of high school have not come out yet, but the whole city has notified that the diagnostic test will be moved forward. The third year of high school will have a half-day holiday on New Year's Day, and the diagnostic test will be conducted on January 2nd. After the test, there will be a half-month of tutoring, and the winter vacation will be on the 28th of the New Year.
Ning Xi didn't think it was a big deal. As a senior in high school, what was the point of talking about vacation? He was so nervous at every step. To be honest, if he didn't want to spend some time with Xing Cheng, he would rather stay in school every day.
The house was cold and deserted, and he felt uncomfortable there.
On New Year's Eve, Xing Cheng originally planned to buy a bunch of ingredients to cook hot pot at Ning Xi's house, and then go for a walk on the street after eating. Thousands of people were shouting countdown under the IFS panda, it was lively!
As a result, his father called and said that his grandfather was not feeling well in the hospital. A Hummer H2 drove over, stopped at the gate of the community, and took Xingcheng away.
Ning Xi, wearing a down jacket, sent him downstairs. The two talked for a long time beside the shoe cabinet at home. Xing Cheng was depressed and uncomfortable. He was not with his brother here, and his grandfather was in a bad mood over there. When he got angry, Ning Xi had to rub his head to coax him.
As soon as Xingcheng got in the car, Xingcheng's father became anxious. He greeted Ning Xi and hurried to start the car. The car started before he could even close the door.
Ning Xi was wearing a down jacket and holding the keys in his hand. It was windy outside, but he still ran half the street.
It's New Year's Eve tonight, and most people are either at home or hanging out in crowded places. This small alley in the downtown area, with lush trees and dim street lights, seems quiet and lonely.
Ning Xi stood alone on the road, exhaled, and patted his cold face.
There's hotpot base cooking in the pot. I'll just blanch some vegetarian dishes when I get home later. Otherwise, I haven't eaten much in the past few days and might get stomach problems. I really can't afford the medicine.
Ning Xi finished washing up and lay on the bed. There were still more than two hours before New Year's Eve, so he couldn't help but send a text message to Xing Cheng, asking him if he would be back.
Xing Cheng did not reply.
Ning Xi turned over, buried his head in the quilt, turned off the lights in the bedroom, opened the curtains, and leaned against the window to watch how lively it was outside.
I hope 2018 will be better for both him and Xingcheng.
On New Year's Day, Ning Xi waited for a whole day, but Xing Cheng didn't come back.
There was no reply to the message, so Ning Xi ran downstairs to listen to the noise and confirmed that no one was at Xingcheng's home and the Hummer had not returned either. He guessed that something had happened to his grandfather.
Ning Xi had lunch when her mother called.
Ning Xi struggled internally for a while before slowly answering the phone. He had been alone for almost a whole day, and his voice was a little hoarse when he spoke: "Mom."
Ning Xi's mother also felt that it was a bit inappropriate for her to call her eldest son at this moment. She probably thought that the child had spent the night alone, so she softened her tone and said, "Let's go out for dinner tonight and celebrate the festival."
Ning Xi wanted to refuse, but still felt a little reluctant: "Where is it?"
Ning Xi's mother reported the place name and time, said a few words, and then hung up the phone.
The dinner was supposed to be at 7pm, but Ning Xi was already starting to get nervous.
He is always like this when facing his real "family".
At five o'clock, Ning Xi changed his clothes and took some change to catch the bus. There were many people on the bus. He held on to the railing and swayed, staring at the drizzle outside the window, and felt a little sleepy.
Every time it rained, he would think of the time when Xing Cheng carried him on his back, the pair of sneakers that never got wet, and even the umbrella that was tilted towards him one year.
When they were young, he was the one who held the umbrella for Xingcheng. Xingcheng always felt that it was tiring for his brother to hold the umbrella, so he wanted to do it himself. When he grew older and the height difference became more apparent, Xingcheng naturally became the one holding the umbrella.
Later on, Ning Xi stopped holding an umbrella with Xing Cheng. The two of them became more distant and went their separate ways.
Later on, it became like this now, carrying it directly on one's back.
Ning Xi held the umbrella in his hand, and the water splashed and spun, creating a rain curtain, reflecting the sunlight after the rain...
He may encounter tens of millions of rains in his life, but he only wants to hold an umbrella for that one person.
The dinner was not pleasant. Ning Xi's mother was busy taking care of her crying brother, and she also had to prepare milk and coax her baby to sleep in the restaurant. Her stepfather didn't care much, and Ning Xi was also in a hurry to pass things around. The whole family did not enjoy the meal.
After his little brother fell asleep in his mother's arms, Ning Xi had time to drink a few sips of soup. Unfortunately, it was tasteless. All the dishes on the table seemed to be poisoned and he couldn't swallow it at all.
Every time his mother called him out, it was like cutting a big wound on his body. Even if she poured honey into it, it would still make him feel unbearable pain.
But even if it was just to absorb a little bit of sugar, Ning Xi still wanted to come.
Ning Xi's mother asked a few irrelevant questions about life, and then gave Ning Xi 500 yuan in person, telling him to come to her for more if he ran out of money.
As long as he wasn't starving to death, Ning Xi would never ask for money.
After dinner, Ning Xi’s stepfather drove a second-hand BMW with his wife and children, and stared at Ning Xi in the parking lot.
Ning Xi felt a little embarrassed. He just came here to talk to his mother and leave after that. If he stood here, people might misunderstand him as wanting to hitchhike.
Ning Xi's mother felt uncomfortable when she saw her eldest son's cold look, so she asked him to get in the car and send him home.
Ning Xi couldn't refuse.
He thought for a while and got into the car slowly.
Halfway through the journey, Ning Xi's mother and his stepfather were arguing, and the car was driving very fast. They stopped directly at an intersection in Qingyang District. Ning Xi took a breath and said calmly, "I'll get off first."
His stepfather couldn't help but say, "He's an understanding person."
"How dare you talk about my son! Who are you? A few days ago, you..."
Ning Xi's mother started cursing, but Ning Xi didn't hear clearly what she was cursing. He took the little brother from his mother's arms, coaxed him softly, patted his back to comfort him, and stood on the side of the road watching people coming and going.
The city is prosperous, with singing and dancing. How come there is no place for him to stay in such a big city?
Ning Xi touched the raindrops on his brother's forehead. The two adults were still arguing fiercely in the car. The faint curses in Sichuan dialect made Ning Xi a little dazed.
What he didn't quite understand was that wasn't the decision to get married and have children all based on love? Why would two people in love quarrel like this?
He looked up at the sky and it was raining.
After his younger brother fell asleep again, the small BMW parked on the side of the road turned off the emergency lights, and Ning Xi's stepfather frowned and asked him to get in the car.
Ning Xi rubbed his eyes and said, "Don't bother me. I'll go back by myself."
The stepfather didn't say anything else. Ning Xi carefully handed the little brother to his mother and whispered to be careful.
As soon as the BMW left, Ning Xi brushed the rain off his shoulders and took out his cell phone to find the way home.
Ning Xi stared at the route for a long time and saw more and more water droplets accumulating on the screen.
He stood where he was, unable to move an inch. Rain water flowed into his neck, head, and ears, covering the entire sky and drowning him.
A message popped up on the screen: "My grandpa is gone."
Ning Xi replied: "Where are you?"
Xing Cheng replied: "Hospital."
Ning Xi suddenly put the phone into his pocket, thought for a long time, and vaguely remembered which hospital he was in.
He was so anxious that he jumped to the side of the road to hail a taxi, but it was raining heavily and Chengdu had been experiencing a dry winter for a long time. No one brought an umbrella and everyone started scrambling for a taxi, so he couldn't get one at all.
Ning Xi was having difficulty breathing due to the rain. He gasped for breath and looked around for the heavy rain. Even his eyelashes were covered with water.
Ning Xi replied calmly: "Wait for me."
Ning Xi, who is always so calm, did something uncalm.
That night, he ran five kilometers in the pouring rain in the cold winter of Chengdu.
It took nearly an hour to get there, with stops and starts, and taking side roads and alleys. Ning Xi's phone was almost out of battery, and he barely made it to the entrance of the military hospital after asking for directions.
He was soaked to the skin and felt a biting cold from head to toe. When the night wind blew over him, he shivered all over and almost lost all the strength to do so.
Ning Xi took a deep breath and ran to the entrance of the inpatient department, panting. There were indeed several cars parked there, but after looking around for a long time, he didn't see any familiar relatives of the family. He took out his cell phone and was about to call Xing Cheng.
As soon as Ning Xi took out his phone, he saw an uncle of Xing Cheng standing at the entrance of the inpatient department talking to two doctors in white coats. After the conversation was over, Xing Cheng's uncle turned around to open the car door. Ning Xi ran over and asked, "Uncle, hello, I'm Xing Cheng's friend."
The middle-aged man looked at his young and handsome face, which was clean and pure. After thinking about it, he felt that he looked familiar, so he took out a towel from the trunk and wiped his head.
Uncle looked like he had just cried, his eyes were red, and he said, "Looking for Xiao Cheng? I'll take you there."
"Well, please, uncle."
Ning Xi sniffed. The rain from running all the way here made his eyes blurry. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and his breathing became a little difficult.
Uncle asked Ning Xi to get in the car and said that Grandpa Xing had been sent to the East Suburb Funeral Home.
After the death of a relative, Ning Xi's uncle, who was walking along the way, didn't talk much to him. He sighed repeatedly, opened a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him, saying that the child was very good and asked him to drink some water.
Ning Xi held the bottle of mineral water, nodded and thanked him.
The experts he had met seemed to be like this, especially caring and kind-hearted...
Ning Xi tried to recall his relatives, but he really couldn't remember any. After all, even going back home to visit relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year was a memory from his childhood.
My father has been gone for many years, and my grandmother is the only one left among my grandparents. She also suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and my aunt is the only one left at home who is still taking care of the elderly.
When he was older, the Ning family lost contact with his mother and even with him. It is estimated that few relatives remember Ning Xi now.
He doesn't have a deep relationship with anyone in his family, and few people have loved him since he was a child. It's ironic that, in the past 20 years, apart from his father, the person who loves him the most is his neighbor's younger brother who is three years younger than him.
The car stopped at the side of the street. The parking lot of the funeral home was crowded with cars. Ning Xi didn't know what position Xing Cheng's grandfather held. All he knew now was to rush into the rain to look for Xing Cheng.
After saying goodbye to his uncle, Ning Xi ran into the funeral home, but suddenly stopped and stood there in a daze, staring at the wood grain inlaid next to the glass door. The more he looked at it, the more familiar it looked...
Dongjiao Funeral Home in Sansheng Township...
Xing Cheng's grandfather had just passed away, so not many people were rushing over. This reminded Ning Xi of his father who was hastily buried that year.
That was a scar in his heart.
When Xing Cheng came out of the mourning hall with a tired look on his face, he saw Ning Xi standing at the gate with a blank look in his eyes.
Ning Xi was wearing a black cotton coat, and was covered in dust. He was also thoroughly soaked by the water, and his hair looked like it had just been soaked, and even his chin was covered with raindrops.
Ning Xi's trouser legs were rolled up and splashed with mud due to running. His lips had turned so pale that they were almost invisible. He stumbled towards this side.
He staggered a few steps and stood firm in front of Xing Cheng.
Ning Xi was about to reach out to hug Xing Cheng, but his brother's legs softened and he knelt down beside his legs. Xing Cheng hugged Ning Xi's calves tightly and refused to let go, with a whimper from his throat that sounded like a baby animal.
Great sorrow and grief.
Ning Xi was so distressed that he almost stopped breathing.
It was raining heavily outside, the wind was blowing hard, and suddenly there was a burst of thunder, which struck Ning Xi from behind. He felt that the floor of the funeral home shook three times.
At the moment of thunder and lightning, Ning Xi bent over and subconsciously hugged Xing Cheng's head in his arms, and his whole body shook violently with the thunder.
There was a biting dampness on his body, and Xing Cheng felt so uncomfortable that his whole head was hot. He became more and more addicted to this wet and soft feeling, and tried his best to hug Ning Xi's legs.
Not long after his elder passed away, Ning Xi always felt like there was a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark, and he felt very uncomfortable. He gently pushed Xing Cheng away, but Xing Cheng just knelt down and refused to let go, his eyes red.
Just like now...
Only in this way, only by being with Ning Xi, can he stay away from this bad news.
From Ning Xi's perspective, he could see a piece of white linen mourning cloth wrapped around Xing Cheng's waist, tied into a knot behind him, and a long strip of it hanging on the ground.
It’s blindingly white.
It was still raining outside the funeral home. It was almost ten o'clock now, and a thunderclap struck again from the sky...
The thunder was loud and the wind was strong, and the fire burned the body.
Running in the rain for so long and with all the mental problems piling up together, Ning Xi started to have a low fever after being sent home by Xing Cheng.
Ning Xi had a low fever from the time he returned home until five in the morning, and his whole body felt weak. Xing Cheng boiled three buckets of water in the kitchen and used towels to apply hot compresses to him, but there was no effect.
Xing Cheng was really distressed. While handing him water, he said to him, "Are you stupid? You ran here from so far in the rain. You have an exam tomorrow..."
Xing Cheng wanted to say something harsh when he was anxious, but he held it back. Looking at his brother's indifferent expression, he couldn't utter another word.
Ning Xi was lying there, his wet clothes had been changed long ago. The soft cotton pajamas made him feel particularly comfortable. He couldn't help but crawl into the quilt and whispered, "It's only when you're smart that you do this."
Xing Cheng was speechless, feeling touched and annoyed.
He knew that he would have to go to the funeral home to help, but he still couldn't help but send Ning Xi to school half an hour early, forced him to eat breakfast, and then went back to the funeral home to keep watch.
The Chinese test starts at nine o'clock sharp.
Ning Xi hardly slept that night and felt dizzy, but he gritted his teeth and persevered through the first game.
In recent years, the atmosphere of some competitions in the city has been bad. Many people with good family backgrounds and backdoors are using competition prizes to prepare for admission, not to mention liberal arts admission. Judging from the performance of the entire grade each year, Ning Xi is the undisputed winner.
There are far fewer competitions in the humanities than in the sciences. After the scores of the zero-diagnosis test came out, Ning Xi has been far ahead. This diagnosis result is a reassurance for admission.
It is no problem for Ning Xi to get into Beijing through the college entrance examination, but the school he was recommended to is also very good. If he can use the remaining time to do things he likes, recommendation is a good choice.
Even the time that should have been used for practicing questions and sprinting... can be used to seriously do what you want to do.
Ning Xi also wanted this opportunity, but he lost it.
Ning Xi had a low-grade fever until 4:30 in the afternoon. He did not even finish the comprehensive liberal arts exam and called the invigilator over.
The diagnostic test was relatively strict, and the invigilators were mostly teachers from nearby schools, few of whom knew him. Seeing the child with his head hung and his face flushed, they immediately went to call the school doctor.
The exam was interrupted and Ning Xi gave up his qualification.
Ning Xi was taken to the school clinic and lay there for the entire afternoon. Everyone was busy taking exams and not many people knew he was sick. The school teachers took it very seriously. The doctor walked around him for several rounds and said that the persistent low-grade fever was caused by long-term stress, emotional instability, and possibly catching a cold. He should just rest more and there was no point in taking the exam.
Ning Xi bit her lip and said nothing.
I took my temperature again and again, but it neither went down nor up. I had a terrible headache.
He just stayed in the school clinic, paid a fee of twenty yuan, and spent the first day of the diagnostic exam lying down without going anywhere.
He did not take the liberal arts exam, and there was no point in taking the English and math exams the next day. Ning Xi's body also needed rest, so the grade group specially approved a leave note for him to go back and rest.
Ever since there was a funeral in Xing Cheng's family, Xing Cheng has not returned home in the past few days, let alone been with Ning Xi. He is really not used to this period of time, and Ning Xi also understands him.