Dou Xun hates school.

Whether it was the lecture schedule in class that made him feel like he was wasting his time, or the idiot peers around him who were difficult to communicate with, they all made him have no nostalgia or expectations for campus life.

From childhood to adulthood, he has looked down on others, and others don't like to play with him. A kinder environment will isolate and neglect him, and a more chaotic place will cause conflicts every few days.

Dou Xun always wanted to get out of the new environment as soon as he arrived, as if the next one would be better. It was not until the end of his high school career that he finally had a taste of what it was like to be a student.

It was just a "taste", although Xu Xilin took him everywhere, but he could not join in the discussion of games and girls - he didn't like to play games, and girls... except for the few who occasionally hung out with him, he basically didn't know them. Others seemed to know that he didn't understand, and never took the initiative to talk to him.

But even such superficial feelings are coming to an end.

Dou Xun felt lost and had no one to talk to. He developed an inexplicable dependence on Xu Xilin and wished he could take him away with him after the exams. However, that guy not only had a congenital brain maldevelopment, but was also lazy all day long. Most of his mind was not on studying and he had no intention of making progress at all.

The more Dou Xun thought about it, the more frustrated he became, so he picked a fight with Xu Xilin that day.

After the quarrel, he quietly returned to the room and opened a whole bag of pork jerky, eating while thinking about life. He accidentally finished it. Dou Xun also thought about the result. He thought: "I want to go to high school for another year."

Xu Xilin's temper often made Dou Xun angry and leave. But no matter how much he quarreled, when he calmed down, he would not argue with Dou Xun, because Dou Xun was an unknown species of mammals and primates, a handsome humanoid pet with a unique brain circuit that could not be measured by human reason.

In the following days, the experienced Xu Xilin and others took turns to harass Cai Jing three times a day, forcing Cai Jing to agree to take their place.

After returning from the May Day holiday, Xu Xilin took his classmate Dou Xun, whom he couldn't get rid of, to attend his first "job" in his life.

Cai Jing works at McDonald's on Tuesdays and Saturdays and cannot be replaced casually, but it doesn't matter at other times. He works as a waiter in a very small private fast food restaurant. The management of small fast food restaurants is lax, so just say hello to the boss - anyway, the boss only pays one salary and doesn't care whether one person collects it or not.

It was still a new beginning at work and Xu Xilin was enjoying his work.

That evening, a middle-aged man dressed in a striking manner walked into the small fast food restaurant. His clothes were crisp, well-groomed, and elegant. He did not have the "plump" appearance of ordinary middle-aged men and women, and his hair even had some signs of being well-groomed. Compared with the migrant workers and poor students in the store, he looked very out of place.

The man walked in, looked around inconspicuously, then picked a table in the corner, wiped the bench and the dining table with a napkin first, then sat down with his trouser legs slightly lifted.

The sitting posture was very elegant, as if this person was not here to drink gutter oil but to taste Lafite.

Dou Xun walked over with an expressionless face, then remembered Xu Xilin's instructions to smile to guests, so he forced a fake smile and asked stiffly, "What do you want to eat?"

Xu Xilin covered his face behind the counter.

The visitor glanced at Xu Xilin from a distance and ordered a few dishes.

This customer might be a troublemaker. There were two dishes in total, but he didn't want coriander in one and chopped green onions in the other. He also asked for less soy sauce and a small dish of vinegar. Dou Xun put one hand in his pocket, without even a pen, and stood there listening to the customer's detailed instructions. He nodded slightly, turned around and left.

The man called him: "Classmate, do you remember it?"

Dou Xun: "How about I repeat it to you?"

The man had a good temper. He smiled and didn't argue with him.

Dou Xun felt something was very wrong, because the workers in this kind of small shop were basically of high school age, and the two of them did not look out of place among them. The stranger just called him "classmate", so how did he know he was a student?

Dou Xun went behind the counter, reported the menu to the kitchen, turned around and asked Xu Xilin: "Do you know that person?"

"Um... um, OK, got it, thank you, I'll deliver it right away." Xu Xilin had just registered a takeaway call and gave Dou Xun a puzzled look, "Who?"

Dou Xun signaled the strange male customer in the corner with his eyes.

Xu Xilin looked up following his gaze and saw that the strange guest had his elbows on the table, revealing a restrained business watch on his wrist. He was looking at him. He did not seem embarrassed to be caught, but smiled at him cordially.

Xu Xilin politely nodded to the other party, then turned to Dou Xun and said, "I don't know him. The people I know are all honest people who don't pretend to be shady."

Although the strange guest ordered the dishes, he didn't eat much. He just dipped his chopsticks and left.

After the night shift was over, Xu Xilin and Dou Xun handed over the work in the store, and signed in for Cai Jing before going home together. Xu Xilin had been standing all night, and his back was stiff. He had a preliminary understanding of the necessity of "studying hard". Just as he was about to communicate with Dou Xun, he suddenly saw the strange middle-aged man who had just come to the store standing next to a car at the intersection.

The man saw Xu Xilin and the others, bent down and said something to the people in the car, then strode over and said to Xu Xilin: "Can I talk to you for a few words?"

His attitude was too earnest, and it sounded like he was either a traitor or a thief. Xu Xilin subconsciously leaned aside to block Dou Xun, who was very wary of strangers: "Do you know me?"

The man smiled and didn't answer directly. He just asked, "You are so busy with your studies. Isn't the pocket money your mother gives you enough? Why do you have to do this?"

This familiar tone made Xu Xilin frown.

At his age, it is impossible for him to be abducted as a child. Usually, if two teenagers walk on the street, no matter if they are trying to cheat people or rob people, they will stay away from them. I have never encountered someone like this who would try to strike up a conversation in the street.

A vague guess emerged in Xu Xilin's mind.

He said impatiently, "It doesn't bother you, does it?"

The man was a little nervous because, according to his observation, Xu Xilin was a very outgoing and easy to get along with. He would chat with any customer in the store that he liked. He didn't expect that he didn't seem to be to his liking.

The man looked at Xu Xilin in an almost flattering manner and asked, "Do you still remember me?"

"I don't remember," Xu Xilin pulled Dou Xun over expressionlessly, "Let's go."

The man was stunned and hurriedly called Xu Xilin: "Wait, Xiaolin, you still remember your father, right?"

Xu Xilin was shocked. He didn't expect that his vague guess would come true.

The man stepped forward and said anxiously, "You were so small when I left, and now you've grown so tall. Although Dad has been abroad for so many years, it's not that I don't care about you. I've always been thinking about you, and I've sent you many gifts before... but you may not have received them. Your mother... doesn't want you to have any contact with me."

Xu Xilin didn't have much impression of his father, nor could he say he loved or hated him. Xu Jin was not like some divorced women who, in order to get their children to "stand on their side", instilled in them messages of hatred for the other parent all day long - she hardly mentioned her ex-husband at all.

At the beginning, Xu Xilin didn't care at all. If this man could prove that he was really his father, then it would be okay to chat with him. After all, he was his biological father.

But after hearing what happened next, he felt something was wrong.

This gentleman and Xu Xilin "may be related, but not old friends". As the saying goes, distant relatives cannot separate the close ones. Even Ms. Xu, who was a lawyer, had never said anything bad about her ex-husband. But he, on the other hand, had just met Xu Jin and even before proving his identity, he had already implicitly filed a complaint against Xu Jin.

He looked again and saw that the man was dressed respectably and said he had been abroad. But couldn't he afford a plane ticket to go back home after all these years?

Xu Xilin hung his schoolbag over his shoulder and asked, "What's your name?"

"Your last name is Zheng. When you were a child, you were also..."

"Mr. Zheng," Xu Xilin thought for a moment and decided to reply in an adult manner. "As a shareholder, you have sold all the shares you hold in related companies for more than ten years. You still want to retain the right to dividends and audit accounts. This doesn't make sense, right?"

The man was stunned.

Then Xu Xilin quickly showed his true colors and returned to teenage mode, waving his hand at him and saying, "Also, if I hear you say bad things about my mom next time, I'll beat you to death. If you don't believe me, try it."

After saying that, Xu Xilin walked away.

Dou Xun turned around and glared at this "Mr. Zheng" for him, then quickly chased after him.

It was already feeling a bit like early summer, with white tips appearing on the locust flowers and a faint fragrance floating in the dry night breeze.

Dou Xun followed Xu Xilin silently for a while, recalling how Lao Cheng and the others communicated with Xu Xilin when they encountered similar situations - it seemed that they just walked over, touched him lightly with the shoulder, gave him a look, or put their arm around his shoulder and patted him, which was considered comfort.

So Dou Xun came forward clumsily, imitating the movements of the old men, and "gently" bumped Xu Xilin with his shoulder... However, he didn't learn it well, and the bump was too strong, causing Xu Xilin to stagger to the side half a step, and he was also startled.

Xu Xilin asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"

Dou Xun: “…”

Dou Xun was extremely frustrated, so he had to pretend nothing had happened and walked forward on his own.

Xu Xilin took three seconds to react, and finally understood that Dou Xun seemed to want to comfort him. He was so amused by this funny guy that he forgot about "Mr. Zheng" and "Mr. Wei".

He trotted a few steps, pounced on Dou Xun's back, and pulled him back with his elbow around his neck: "Why are you so funny, Douxianer?"

Dou Xun's face turned red from being strangled by him, and he struggled to break free, and then the two of them poked and pushed each other, chasing and playing all the way home.

When they reached the door of his house, Xu Xilin stopped a little out of breath and told Dou Xun, "Don't tell anyone about what happened today, especially my mom and grandma."

Dou Xun nodded earnestly. Xu Xilin glanced at him and somehow, he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. He held onto the door frame and couldn't stop laughing.

"What a joke," Dou Xun said viciously, pushing him through the door with red ears and a sullen face, "idiot."