Over the years, Xing Cheng could see the love and care his parents had for Ning Xi.
However, he knew his father well. He was cold on the outside but kind on the inside, and had some similarities with Ning Xi in character. When Ning's father was alive, the two neighbors often got together to take each other's newspapers and exchange them. They also played basketball occasionally. His father said that there were some very good basketball players in their army at that time, which often reminded him of those days, those youthful vigor that were gone forever.
His father's current attitude made him feel a little uneasy. He hasn't said a word to him since he came home. His mother came over with two bowls of fried egg noodles, put down her chopsticks, and called him to come and eat.
Xing Cheng poured a glass of milk, drank it all and walked over. He then cracked a boiled egg and put it in the noodles, stirring it little by little with chopsticks. He did not dare to disobey his mother's wishes. He remembered that he was forced to eat eggs and drink milk like this when he was a child, which is why he grew so tall. It was all thanks to his mother's strict supervision, otherwise he would have grown into a crooked tree.
Xingcheng's father walked back and forth in the living room several times without sitting down to eat. Xingcheng ate his noodles quickly, fearing that his father was looking for something to hit him, so he looked at his mother for mercy, but the latter didn't even want to look at him.
The mother couldn't help herself, she was furious, but she had no choice but to look at her son with gritted teeth: "You!"
"Study hard," Xingcheng's mother wanted to hit her son on the forehead, "Don't be lazy!"
Xing Cheng was caught off guard when his mother twisted his ear. He didn't dare to utter a word of pain: "Yes, yes, yes!"
"Do you really want to go to Beijing?" Xingcheng's mother continued to ask.
Xing Cheng didn't dare to eat the noodles nor hide, he sat on the bench holding the bowl of noodles and said seriously: "Yes."
Xingcheng's mother hit him on the back of his head with a rolled up magazine, causing him to shrink his neck. He turned around and saw that it was a copy of "Red Show". Was she trying to kill him by hitting him with such a thick book?
Xing Cheng grinned, the noodles in front of him almost cooled down: "Why did you hit me? Mom..."
"Do you look like you're studying seriously? What's wrong with your generation of kids? You all want to cram at the last minute! Do you have any rules or sense of responsibility?!"
Xing Cheng was confused by his mother's scolding, and after thinking about it, he felt that this seemed to be the truth.
"Go."
My father, who had been sitting in the living room smoking and not saying anything, put out his cigarette and looked over here.
Xing Cheng pushed the chair away and stood up, very bravely: "Dad."
Dad took another pack from his pocket, picked up the filter and put it in his mouth, and said slowly: "You are an adult now, I can't control you anymore."
Then, Xingcheng's father continued, "Hand in your phone when you go to school, and use it on weekends. You won't be able to pass the Beijing entrance exam this way."
Xing Cheng was stunned. Put away the phone? Isn't it life-threatening to not use the phone?
However, his father seemed to be negotiating some conditions with him, and he did not hear the second half of the sentence "I can't control it anymore".
Xing Cheng stood up straight and spoke with great confidence: "Dad, what if I get admitted to Beijing..."
"That's your thing,"
Xingcheng's father's face was hidden in the smoke: "Do whatever you want to do in college. You are still young. Who can predict the future?"
It's not like he hasn't been young before, and he hasn't hit a wall with his head full of passion. He knows that this kid has his own temperament. Besides, he is facing his third year of high school, so he has to go along with him in everything.
"Xing Cheng," he said again, "Only if you are out of my sight can you do what you want to do."
Xing Cheng responded, thinking that was the end of it, but he didn't expect his father to ask him questions like a machine gun: "Have you thought about the future?"
“I have thought about it.”
Xing Cheng said.
Beijing.
It was a little after ten in the morning when Ning Xi arrived. It was only after landing that he felt the heat of Beijing. He took off his hoodie and held it in his hand, walked out of the conveyor belt on the air bridge, and went to pick up his checked luggage.
He stood at the arrival gate of the Capital Airport, looking at the blue sky outside. Suddenly he remembered Xingcheng wearing his school uniform, and took out his cell phone to call him back.
But when dialing the number, Ning Xi hesitated again. He was in so much pain just now that he hasn't recovered yet. Should he call or not? Otherwise the two of them would start to sulk over the phone again. He almost felt like buying a plane ticket and going back.
The senior class of Shizhong will start tomorrow, and tonight might be a noisy night. Don't get too excited and forget about time... Ning Xi would never do this under normal circumstances, but he is away from home now and feels alone. The only people he can think of are the people in his hometown. Every minute and every second, every stillness and movement are all about him.
After Xing Cheng arrived at school at noon, he called back and told Ning Xi what happened in the morning. The two were silent on the phone for a while, and Ning Xi could hardly believe his ears.
"Uncle," Ning Xi coughed, "only took your cell phone?"
Xing Cheng grasped the key point that belonged to him, and nagging his brother fiercely: "You have a cold? Did you take off the clothes you put on when you left? Is it cold in Beijing? Or is the air conditioning on the plane too low? Don't you want a blanket?"
Ning Xi was overwhelmed: "No...you told me first, uncle only took your phone?"
Xing Cheng replied: “Yes.”
Ning Xi knew their family well: "Didn't I beat you?"
Xing Cheng answered obediently: "No, my mother even said I was irresponsible and twisted my ear."
"Junior, we have to turn a corner ahead, don't just talk on the phone without looking at the road."
A male voice suddenly came out from Ning Xi's side. Xing Cheng was stunned and asked him directly: "Who?"
"The senior from school came to pick up the new students," Ning Xi said, "He took me to the dormitory building."
The overwhelming irritability suddenly came like a tide.
Xing Cheng felt a sense of disparity in his heart. It was obviously him who accompanied Ning Xi when walking and carrying things at this time in the past, but now that he was in college, he had new acquaintances to accompany him, and even their laughter and scolding were all seen by others. He could only watch through the phone and couldn't even see the person.
Xing Cheng was silent. Ning Xi called out "Hello" several times, but he didn't understand what was wrong with his brother. The senior student who was helping him asked curiously, "Did you call your family?"
Ning Xi nodded and confirmed that the phone was still on: "It's my brother."
The note on the phone was written in large letters, and Ning Xi did not cover it up at all. The senior squinted his eyes and indeed saw the word "brother", but he still said confidently: "From the expression on your face when you called just now, you don't look like your real brother."
Ning Xi was a little caught off guard, but he didn't deny it, just smiled indifferently.
"Beijing is very big, especially Haidian. There are many universities and things to do. There are all kinds of people and the social circles are chaotic." The senior took Ning Xi to the men's dormitory, stopped, and continued the previous topic, "If you have nothing to do when you go out to play at night, you have to be careful. There are so many people. If anything happens, you can call me! Give me your phone and I'll enter the number. It's not a hassle."
The senior student had helped so much and also hosted him, so Ning Xi couldn't refuse, so he brought up the dial-up interface on his phone and handed the phone to him.
The senior student got Ning Xi's phone, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, he "accidentally" pressed the communication contact interface, clicked it repeatedly, and found that all the numbers saved in the address book and call records were deleted, leaving only one person, that is, "brother".
He smiled at Ning Xi as if he understood, and entered his name: Xing Feiye.
Ning Xi returned to the dormitory with his cell phone in his pocket, said hello to his other roommates, sat down on the edge of the bed, and called Xing Cheng. If he didn't call, school would start tomorrow and they wouldn't be able to contact each other every day.
Ning Xi felt uncomfortable all over when he thought of this, but he had no choice but to remind himself to be strong and hold on until September next year. The two of them would be in Beijing, and if he could save more money from working this year, they could even rent a house together outside.
When Ning Xi went to the cafeteria to eat in the evening, he met Xing Fei again. He was a little surprised that someone came to say hello to him despite his expression that said "stay away from strangers".
Xing Fei just smiled, bought two cans of Red Bull, took Ning Xi around the campus, and had a serious chat with him.
Xing Fei is also from Beijing and is a frequent visitor to Haidian District. When he heard that Ning Xi wanted to find a job, he thought about it and only remembered that there was a bar that was hiring waiters. However, he stroked his chin and looked at Ning Xi for a while, then shook his head: "No way."
Ning Xi was a little confused: "Why?"
Xing Fei also sighed and said with a smile: "With your looks, you will only cause trouble if you go there."
Ning Xi had nothing to say, so he just nodded and said, "I'll go shopping when the weekend comes."
Last night, Xing Cheng waited until Ning Xi returned to the dormitory before going to bed. The two of them talked on the phone for four or five hours without hanging up. Ning Xi couldn't talk and disturb his roommate, so he could only listen to Xing Cheng talking. He was typing, and when he wanted to laugh, he couldn't hold it back and coughed a few times, but Xing Cheng on the other end of the phone still wanted to laugh at him.
"Don't you remember when you were in Jinchuan..."
Ning Xi quickly typed: "Get lost!"
Xing Cheng continued, "Are you cold now? It's still windy in Beijing at night, right? If you are cold, just lean under the quilt and warm your feet."
Ning Xi continued to fight back quickly: "Lean into the bed?"
Ning Xi's hands trembled, and he put his hand into the microphone of the phone and called. Xing Cheng asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
Ning Xi's face darkened and he replied, "Pa, slap your face."
Walking and galloping, I was speechless and choked with emotion.
It’s so tragic. So tragic.
September is the month where both partings and first encounters unfold.
Ever since Ning Xi left, Xing Cheng has become much more restrained. He is obviously much more stable and less restless than before. When he has free time, he doesn't go downstairs to find a place to play basketball. Instead, he lies on the table to do geography questions, marking the mountains one by one and memorizing their names. When he sees the north-south dividing line of the Qinling Mountains, he is distracted for a while, then circles the "Yanshan Mountains" with a red pen. Remember, this is the area of ​​Beijing and Hebei.
Xing Cheng stared at the four words. He was so hot that he took off his school uniform and put it on his shoulders. He fell asleep again in a daze...
It was the third day of school for Xing Cheng. Ying Yuchen had not yet reported to school and had returned to Chengdu, staying at home every day. I don't know if he was just idle or just out of kindness, but he drove to Shizhong and brought Xing Cheng a few boxes of six walnuts.
“Thoughtful!”
Xing Cheng casually opened a can, tilted his head back and took a sip, letting the sweat flow down his chin into his vest: "Enough for me to drink for a month."
Ying Yuchen leaned against his sports car and smiled, twirling a lighter in his hand: "Replenish your brain. Call me if you have anything. I promised your brother that I would take good care of you."
"You started smoking again?"
When Xing Cheng heard about his brother, he was delighted. He punched Ying Yuchen lightly on the shoulder and said, "You still take care of me? You are in trouble yourself."
Ying Yuchen frowned, made a face, and said with a smile: "I'm already in college! My sister-in-law likes to smoke, how can my brother have time to take care of me?"
"You're using your sister-in-law to take the blame again..." Xing Cheng muttered.
Ying Yuchen's Little Red Riding Hood sports car was particularly ostentatious. When he stepped on the accelerator at the entrance of Shizhong, the whole street could hear the instantly exciting sound.
Xing Cheng was standing at the school gate guarding the boxes of drinks. He wanted to take out his cell phone to call Ren Mei and ask him to ask his brothers to come down and get the cans, but when he felt his pocket, he remembered that he didn't have his cell phone.
He accepted it, and moved the boxes one by one to the security office. He then carried two boxes up himself and called Ren Mei and the others to come down to help.
It has only been a few days since the start of the school year, and Ren Mei, who was the first person to supervise Xing Cheng to prevent him from dozing off in class, fell sleepy faster and slept longer than Xing Cheng. Xing Cheng was too lazy to say anything to him and still had to rely on himself.
Ren Mei covered her eyes when she slept, and slept on her stomach. She felt uncomfortable in any position, half-closed her eyes and leaned against Xing Cheng, but Xing Cheng pinched her face to wake her up: "What are you doing?"
"Don't blame me," Xing Cheng opened a can of walnut juice and handed it to Ren Mei, "Refresh yourself."
Ren Mei drank half of it in one breath and took out the sealed white gift box from the drawer. It was tied with a pink bow ribbon and said, "Look at this?"
Xing Cheng didn't think too much about it and reached out to take it. Ren Mei said "Ouch" and pressed the lid of the box, with a proud look on her face: "The female monitor of the next class gave it to me."
"What a promising future! You're so happy." Xing Cheng looked at him coldly as he smiled foolishly.
Ren Mei was not convinced and wanted to complain about how he had received Ning Xi's gifts in the past, but because they were thousands of miles apart, it was difficult to poke at his sore spot, so she shut up in dismay. However, she still couldn't help but boast, "This is the second button on her shirt. It's popular in the island country. It's said that giving a second button on a school uniform can wish the recipient a lifetime of happiness."
Xing Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "We don't have school uniforms."
Ren Mei was unhappy that he had to find fault with her, and muttered, "It's fine if the meaning is conveyed!"
After school, Xingcheng went into his room for half an hour and didn't come out. His mother knocked on the door for a long time with milk in her hand, but Xingcheng refused to open it. She was so anxious that her son went in with a pair of scissors. Didn't she stop him from taking the Beijing entrance exam? !
Xing Cheng was still afraid that his mother would be anxious, so he cut half of his hair and came out with the school uniform, looking gloomy: "Mom."
"Ouch! You little bastard!"
She almost poured the milk on her son's forehead. She grabbed the school uniform in Xingcheng's hand and scolded him, "This uniform is in good condition. Why did you cut it ?"
"I didn't cut the clothes," Xing Cheng reached out to take the clothes back and held them in his arms, "I cut off the zipper."
After saying that, he took the milk, drank it in one gulp, and closed the bedroom door.
Xing Cheng lay on the desk, holding the zipper in his hand and pulling it again and again. He sighed deeply and after thinking about it, he still felt a little angry. Most of the reason was that he hadn't contacted Ning Xi for almost two days.
He has no idea what his brother's real situation is like over there. He is probably too busy with his university studies. Although he is an adult, whenever he thinks of his brother, he is always afraid that no one will take care of him. At the same time, he is also afraid that others will take care of him.
Xing Cheng gave Ning Xi Ren Mei's phone number, saying that if there was anything or anything he wanted to say every day, he could send it to Ren Mei and he could check it at any time. However, he held the phone for two or three days but didn't get any news. Ning Xi only sent four words on the first day: "Don't worry about me."
Xing Cheng held his breath, he had so many things to tell Ning Xi, but he didn't know that Ning Xi was on the other end of the phone. He had typed a lot of words, but after thinking again and again, he took a deep breath, slowly deleted all the words, and replaced them with a sentence "Don't worry about me."
Xing Cheng began to rummage through the wardrobe and bookcase, and pulled out two hundred yuan from the Xinhua Dictionary, added some small change he had saved from the previous summer vacation, put the keys in his pocket, put on a vest, and went to the shoe closet to change shoes before going out.
"It's past nine o'clock, where are you going?" Mom was still mixing noodles in a bowl. The aroma of chicken soup in the kitchen made Xingcheng's stomach growl.
Xingcheng was an adult, and his family rarely supervised him when he went out. He took out twenty yuan from the cash box on the shoe cabinet for the bus fare, tied his shoelaces tightly, and said to his mother with a forced smile: "I'll be back in a moment, just half an hour."
Fortunately, his father is not at home tonight, otherwise he would probably be scolded if he went out.
Xing Cheng ran all the way out of the community. The late summer night wind made him dizzy. He walked along the street for about a hundred meters and finally saw an empty taxi at the intersection.
After Xing Cheng told the driver the destination, he leaned back in the back seat and turned his face toward the window next to him. He found that every place they passed was filled with memories of him and Ning Xi, as if those things had happened yesterday.
Ning Xi, who was deep in Xingcheng's memory, stood in the evening breeze after dinner, with a faint gaze and a gentle smile. Occasionally, he would frown with a face that was obviously childish, and tell him to hurry up.
When they arrived at the destination, Xing Cheng paid and got off the car. Without any hesitation, he found a nearby stall and bought a mobile phone for the elderly for about a hundred yuan.
The oldest model can make calls and send text messages, but texting and typing are a bit difficult.
He found a business hall that was about to close, and without caring whether it was a fake or real one, he paid for a real-name card, put it in the back slot of his phone, and dialed the number that he had memorized by heart.
There was only twenty or so yuan in prepaid phone bills, and Xing Cheng had no idea how long it would last.
It was past nine o'clock, and he didn't know whether Ning Xi was in class or back in the dormitory. He knew nothing.
It was 9:55 when Ning Xi found out someone was calling him, just over half an hour after he started work. His cell phone was on silent mode but kept vibrating in his pocket. He was pouring wine for a guest and couldn't be distracted to answer the call.
He has asked about the renting prices in Beijing. If he works part-time on weekends every month, he should be able to rent an apartment for ten days or half a month when Xingcheng comes next year. He can only do this for now and think about other ways when the time comes.
This is a Jianghu pub in Haidian District, a kind of quiet bar. A lot of people come here to drink wine. It is decorated in ancient style. The DJ on the stage holds a pipa and plays Chinese-style electronic music. The waiters also have to wear Hanfu, which makes it a bit inconvenient to move around.
Ning Xi waited for two days for such an opportunity. Xing Fei also found him and said that this newly opened pub was quite good. It was much better than going to those slow-rock bars and serving those drunk and dancing guests.
It was a little after ten o'clock and business was at its peak. Ning Xi kept feeling a vibration in his pocket and felt a sense of panic for no reason. He thought it was Xing Cheng. He found a chance to go to the toilet and could still hear a drunk customer vomiting inside.
"Walking?"
Ning Xi answered the phone, and when no one answered, he asked, "Is that you?"
"It's me, brother." Xing Cheng panted. He had been standing on the street for half an hour.
Hearing the sound of whistles and wind over there, Ning Xi blocked his other ear and listened calmly: "You are still outside so late?"
There was too much noise on Xingcheng's phone, and there was probably something wrong with the phone card, so the signal was bad. He could only hear the last few words clearly and quickly responded. Ningxi's end was too noisy, so he still couldn't hear clearly, so he asked anxiously, "Where are you?"
"I'm near home," Xing Cheng said, "the signal is not good."
He held up his phone and walked forward, watching the signal bars change from three to four: "Brother, wait for me!"
Xing Cheng waited for two whole streets before the signal was finally full. He could hear something was wrong over there and asked where Ning Xi was. However, Ning Xi had been in the bathroom for too long, and customers kept coming in. He had no choice but to say "hang up first" to Xing Cheng and put the phone back in his pocket.
He hasn't figured out how to explain to Xing Cheng about his part-time job in the pub. Xing Cheng will definitely not let him do it.
But he still can't forget that his younger brother went to play black ball in the city for some reasons.
The manager outside was urging him, and Ning Xi quickly sent a message: "Go home early."
Ning Xi worked until 11:30 at night, and still had more than two hours before he could get off work. By then, most of the guests had arrived and were drinking at their seats, and the waiters were gradually becoming idle. Ning Xi then checked the messages on his phone, which were all missed calls from Xing Cheng. The most recent one was a text message with just one word: "Brother."
Ning Xi's throat seemed to be blocked by something and he couldn't speak. He went to the fire escape to light a cigarette.
When the tobacco was ignited by the flame, Ning Xi took a deep puff and suddenly felt a sense of liberation. He began to feel that he had done something wrong.
No matter what he does in Beijing, it should not be based on the five words "Xingcheng will worry". Besides, Xingcheng's cell phone was clearly confiscated, and he was still making a call outside so late just now, most likely he borrowed it from someone else.
He took out his cell phone and called Xing Cheng back. The moment the call was connected, Ning Xi squatted down.
Xing Cheng is still outside.
The cigarette ash in his hand kept bouncing to the corner of the corridor, and the sparks scratched the white wall and fell down, accumulating into ash at his feet. He kicked it lightly with his toes, and it seemed that there was still some warmth left.
The signal over there seemed to be good. Xing Cheng was walking on the street, wearing a vest. He told Ning Xi that Ying Yuchen came to bring him "walnuts". He said that he only ate protein powder, beef and chicken breast for lunch, ran two kilometers, and did squats and push-ups. Ning Xi asked him if he was tired. He thought for a long time before he said seriously, "I'm very tired."
Xing Cheng felt a little cold, so he looked up at the street lights and told Ning Xi about Ren Mei receiving buttons from a female classmate, and also about the school uniform jacket from which he had violently removed the zipper.
Ning Xi shook off the cigarette ash, feeling the pain on her fingertips from the burns, and asked him with a smile: "Then what are you wearing?"
"Wear it open, it's cool," Xing Cheng said, "Where's the one I left at your house? Or you can give me yours to wear."
Ning Xi was stunned for a moment, then answered readily: "I brought yours to Beijing."
Xing Cheng came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Did you fall under the pillow? Did you dream about me?"
"No." Ning Xi said stubbornly, "Don't mess with your school uniform anymore. You are so childish at this age."
Xing Cheng said, "It's already been cut. I'll put the zipper in a small package, tie a bow around it, and send it to you."
He walked and started to find the way. He felt that the street lights here were brighter than when he came here during the summer vacation. He heard Ning Xi say on the other end of the phone: "No need."
"Why?"
"Because," Ning Xi threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it, then he let out a long breath and smiled, "If you are happy, then I am happy."
When Xing Cheng heard this, he was looking at the street lights and suddenly remembered the memo that Ning Xi wrote on his mobile phone at that time. There was one sentence that left a particularly deep impression on him.
"We went home together. We met many street lights on the way, and they were all looking at us."