Xu Xilin's sharpness cannot be measured by Dou Xun's long reflex arc - even if he made fourteen mistakes in the cloze test.

Dou Xun is reading a book about male prostitutes and homosexuals in prison. There is nothing wrong with that. Literary works write about all kinds of things, and this book is not considered to be too bizarre.

The problem is that Dou Xun was watching secretly and covertly.

That means he didn't treat this as an ordinary leisure book.

Xu Xilin had always felt that there was something wrong with Dou Xun during this period, and when he discovered this, his nerves involuntarily tensed up. He found that every time Dou Xun came home, he would bring a book like "Vocabulary for Entrustment xx" and "IELTS Writing Examples xx". When he opened them, he would find that they were either gay novels or various studies on homosexuality. The breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his reading left Xu Xilin no room to deceive himself.

At first, Xu Xilin felt like he had accidentally found a "terminal illness diagnosis report" of a relative or friend. The huge worry made his heart numb. But after the shock wore off, he began to come to his senses - Dou Xun's unusual clinginess, the look on his face when he looked at him, his suppressed temper, and the "accidents" that were easily caused when they played around...

A somewhat unrealistic conclusion seems to be about to emerge.

Xu Xilin didn't have time to panic or get angry. He seemed to have discovered a Pandora's box. His first reaction was to hastily cover it with wooden boards to prevent any gaps from appearing.

Because this is ridiculous.

To take a step back, even if Dou Xun was a girl, Xu Xilin would have to think carefully, because Dou Xun was not an ordinary classmate who met by chance. After breaking up, they would go their separate ways, and they could still have a meal together when they met again even if they were far apart.

The two of them happened to live under the same roof, from being isolated from each other to hanging out together all day, and even relying on each other when their families encountered major changes. The feelings between them were different.

He treated Dou Xun as his own family member, and even rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows.

What's more, Dou Xun is a man.

To Xu Xilin, the word "homosexuality" was like hearing that there were people taking ecstasy in "The Crescent Moon". They were both distant urban legends, and he had never thought that they would have anything to do with himself.

Xu Xilin hadn't slept well for several days, thinking about how to deal with this matter. As long as he didn't act like a jerk, he could still handle the situation. He knew that the "window paper" in the middle must not be broken. As long as it was not broken, he would have room to turn around.

Xu Xilin fearfully avoided Dou Xun's occasional ambiguity for more than a month, and then found that Dou Xun was completely unaware of it and his attitude remained the same, so he was convinced.

So, taking advantage of the "College Entrance Examination Volunteer Training" specially organized by No. 6 Middle School for parents, he indirectly gave Dou Xun a strong dose of medicine.

"Maybe it's time to apply for college soon." Xu Xilin pretended to mention it casually. Their class would apply for college first and then take the exam, and their scores would have to be measured according to historical data.

Dou Xun's eyes lit up immediately, and he almost put a promotional slogan "Come to our school" on his head.

"I haven't decided whether to stay here or go to another place," Xu Xilin said to himself without looking at him, "Schools in other places are more cost-effective, so I can apply for a slightly better one. I may have to lower my requirements for local schools, but I still have to take care of my grandma, so of course the closer the better..."

Dou Xun was stunned because he didn't expect that he had no ambition at all.

Xu Xilin then looked at him and smiled: "You are not still trying to convince me to apply to your school? That's unrealistic."

Dou Xun: "Why is it unrealistic?"

When the last semester of senior year started, Xu Xilin made remarkable achievements after a vacation. He regained the top ten in the class in the initial test. In the next mock exam, he got a full score in mathematics. Although his English lagged behind, he still got the best result since he entered high school, ranking third in the class.

"Based on your test scores, if you can get 10 more points in English, you'll have a chance." Dou Xun said quickly, "Isn't it easy for you to improve your English? I'm not asking you to improve from 140 to 150. As long as you are willing to work hard and memorize, you can get a three-digit score. There are still several months before the college entrance examination."

Xu Xilin: "That's just a 'possible' chance. Maybe I just got lucky in the first mock exam and won't get this high score in the future? Seven... Teacher Zhang won't agree. Besides, do you want me to take the risk of failing the exam and prepare for senior year?"

Dou Xun: “…”

"If you really say so, then I will retaliate. I will accept whether I live or die from now on," Xu Xilin said to force him, "Just say something."

Dou Xun opened his mouth and became speechless.

"Bean filling," Xu Xilin said slowly and meaningfully, pouring out the words he had considered for a long time, "Many times wishes are beautiful, but reality is cruel. Do you understand what I mean? A momentary thought, a momentary desire, will pass, and then how will it end? Do you want me to end smoothly this summer, or are you going to collect my body?"

Dou Xun was speechless.

This was the first time Xu Xilin had to deal with such a difficult matter. He didn't know if he understood what Xu Xilin said. He was so upset that his back was sweating. He let go and added the last medicine: "By the way, Yu Yiran brought a few leaf vein bookmarks that day. They were pretty. I asked her for an extra one and put it in your book."

Dou Xun was very disappointed. He lost the mood to chat and turned away.

He vaguely sensed that Xu Xilin seemed to have hidden meaning in his words, but he didn't react.

It was not until the middle of the night that day that he suddenly got up from his bed, turned on the light and opened the "History of Longyang" on the table.

I saw an exquisite leaf vein bookmark fall out of the title page.

Dou Xun's heart suddenly turned cold, and he sat there in silence for a long time, as if he was a wooden chicken. He felt that the dew outside the window had turned into evil spirits, seeping in through the cracks in the window lattice and door, and condensed into thick frost on his body.

What he thought were covert probing and unobtrusive approaching were actually seen by others.

He and the world have always been hostile to each other and have never coexisted peacefully. A bit of softness that was connected to his heart and blood had just emerged, but before it had a chance to stretch, a bowl of ice was poured on his head.

Dou Xun sat there woodenly for half the night, and at dawn, he secretly tore up his ridiculous schedule.

Since that day, Xu Xilin found that Dou Xun seemed to have listened to his words. He no longer crossed the line and reduced the number of times he went home to visit him once a week. He finally couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The two of them lived in peace and security for a while, and Xu Xilin thought that the matter was over.

Unexpectedly, another accident happened.

That day happened to be Saturday, and Dou Xun received a call from Aunt Du early in the morning, informing him that she would be accompanying Grandma Xu to the hospital for a physical examination and would not be at home that night.

He felt his pocket and found that he didn't bring his key, so he had to go to No. 6 Middle School and find Xu Xilin to go home after school together.

Xu Xilin's books were all spread out on the table, and no one knew where he had gone.

Lao Cheng was used to seeing Dou Xun at school, and he said, "You two are really conjoined. Hey, Dou Xian'er, you always go back to your alma mater, I always feel like you haven't graduated yet, are you looking for our group leader?"

Dou Xun nodded.

Lao Cheng: "He was taken away by Qilixiang. Go upstairs and take a look."

The countdown for the college entrance examination on the back blackboard was written in red on a white background, like a time bomb. Generally speaking, teachers would not disturb students at this time for no reason.

Dou Xun didn't know what trouble he had gotten into again, and walked to the office upstairs with a little worry.

The school stipulates that when a teacher talks to a student, if there are no other colleagues in the office, the door must be open, and female teachers must also comply with this.

It was almost the weekend, and no one in Qilixiang's office was there. The door was half open. Dou Xun stood at the door and just happened to hear Qilixiang say, "I hope you can think carefully about this matter. I'll also think about it and see how to distribute it more fairly. You haven't applied for your university yet, so this extra point may not be significant, but it will allow you to apply for a higher-level school with confidence."

Dou Xun paused - Oh, he forgot that Class 1 should have a quota for an outstanding class leader.

In the early years, there were many reasons for extra points in the college entrance examination, such as ethnic minorities, children of martyrs, competitions, athletes, etc., and even city-level three-good students, outstanding student leaders, etc. Most of them were found by parents, and a small number were recommended by the school. For example, if a key class like Class 1 could not get a place in the recommended admission quota that year, at least it could get a place with extra points.

Since he is an "outstanding student leader", it is usually given to either the class monitor or the league secretary.

Dou Xun's heart began to beat wildly - this meant that Xu Xilin might have a chance to apply to their school!

At this time, he heard Xu Xilin ask: "Why does our class only have one quota this year?"

Qilixiang sighed, "It is said that some parents have written to us to report that it would be great if we could get one this year. Your final grades last semester were too bad and you missed the recommendation for independent enrollment, which is a pity. This is also an opportunity."

Xu Xilin nodded.

The reason he asked this unnecessary question was not because his collective consciousness was overflowing, but because he was thinking of Luo Bing.

In the past three years, Xu Xilin knew exactly how much work Luo Bing had done and what he had accomplished, without anyone telling him. In short, their squad leader worked silently, while he, as the league secretary, led everyone to be naughty and playful.

Xu Xilin could see that the teacher was a little hesitant, but that had nothing to do with how many gifts Xu Jin had given to Qilixiang when he was alive. Although their teacher Zhang spent most of his time in cahoots with the secular world, he was able to maintain at least fairness - if it weren't for the incident in his family and the teacher feeling sorry for him, the spot would definitely have gone to Luo Bing and Qilixiang wouldn't even ask him.

Xu Xilin hesitated for a moment and asked, "Have you told Luo Bing about this?"

Qilixiang didn't hide anything and said frankly: "I talked about it. I said the same thing to both of you. Go back and think about it carefully. Let's see if we can have a class vote or something."

Xu Xilin didn't even have to think about the result of the class vote - would everyone favor the teacher's spokesperson or their own friends?

"No need, teacher," Xu Xilin said, "give it to the monitor. I don't deserve it."

Dou Xun at the door paused.

Qilixiang: "Don't you need to discuss this with your family?"

"Who can I discuss this with?" Xu Xilin smiled bitterly, "I can make the decision on this matter myself."

Dou Xun's face turned pale. He tried to hold back for a moment, but he finally couldn't bear it anymore and turned away.

So I didn't hear what Xu Xilin said next.

Xu Xilin said to Qilixiang, "Teacher, I know who you are targeting. My mom... when my mom was alive, she arranged everything for me. You see, she made me look like this. Now she is gone. If I still use her influence to get points, it would be too shameless. Besides, it would not be fair to other students."

Dou Xun didn't wait for Xu Xilin, and went home in silence. He was angry at first, and the anger swept through his chest like a prairie fire. Dou Xun focused on another horn and thought, "You can even give up the extra points, so you don't want to be with me?"

When he got home and found that he couldn't get into the house, Dou Xun remembered that he went to school to ask Xu Xilin for the key.

He paced around the door twice like a trapped beast. It was clearly warm yet cold, and the air going in and out of his trachea made his heart and lungs burn.

Dou Xun kicked a small stone in anger, and then he remembered something else - the way Luo Bing hesitated when talking to Xu Xilin, and the time when they were teased in the KTV during their coming-of-age ceremony...

That’s right—the first time they fought was because of Luo Bing!

Dou Xun thought: "Why haven't I seen him be so noble to others?"

As soon as this thought came to his mind, his internal organs exploded. After the war, the ground was covered with ashes.

Dou Xun felt extremely disappointed and tasted sharp jealousy.

It was half an hour later when Xu Xilin came back leisurely. He knew Dou Xun was coming back, so he went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of dried meat snacks for feeding. When he looked up, he saw that guy squatting alone at the door, like an unclaimed little animal, so pitiful.

"You're stupid, aren't you? Why don't you come to school to find me if you don't have your keys?" Xu Xilin complained, stuffed the supermarket plastic bag into Dou Xun's hand, and fished for the key in his messy  schoolbag

He paid no attention to Dou Xun's increasingly suspicious look behind him.

Xu Xilin pushed the door open and entered the room, half-kneeling on the ground to change his shoes. His thoughts had shifted from the issue of dinner to "who should walk the dog at night". It took him a long time to notice that Dou Xun did not respond.

Xu Xilin looked back at him in surprise: "Why..."

Dou Xun grabbed his collar fiercely and pushed him towards the shoe cabinet with brute force.