Early in the morning of that day, Ning Xi went out twenty minutes earlier.
The weather changes quickly, and the tail of summer is almost gone in September. The morning dew is heavy, and the wind still brings some coolness.
Ning Xi was wearing a school uniform jacket, with his trouser legs draped over his white sneakers. His sleeves were rolled up a little, and there was a watch on his wrist, which showed exactly seven o'clock.
There weren't many books in his schoolbag, and it was light, so he walked faster. As soon as he turned the corner and walked out of the community gate, he saw Xing Cheng sitting next to the noodle shop at the community gate.
Xing Cheng was holding a bowl of noodles in his hand, and there was another bowl in front of him, steaming and untouched.
Probably because he played basketball vigorously in the summer, his skin color became a little tanned, his eyebrows and eyes were still dark, with the youthful vigor, but when he frowned, he looked very intimidating.
Xingcheng took off his school uniform early in the morning and sat next to the table in a short-sleeved shirt, with a towel he used for playing basketball embroidered with the pattern of the NBA Thunder team draped over one of his legs.
Ning Xi remembered that Xing Cheng had told him that this team was great, but they just could never win the championship. The more they faced setbacks, the more courageous they became. Ning Xi liked the team and became a fan of it.
At that time, Ning Xi thought: "Isn't this just like you?"
Xing Cheng is also this kind of person, he will go wherever it is difficult to go.
Ning Xi saw Xing Cheng sitting there, slowed down his pace, nodded as a greeting, and prepared to continue walking without saying anything.
Xing Cheng pulled out two chopsticks and turned them over and placed them on the table, making a loud noise: "Brother!"
Ning Xi's steps froze. It was rare for him to be ordered so forcefully. Before he could come to his senses, he turned around and saw Xing Cheng put his chopsticks on the untouched bowl and said, "Eat quickly."
Xing Cheng saw Ning Xi standing still and urged him, "If you don't eat, we'll stick together."
He has been doing morning exercises nearby for two or three days. He has never seen Ning Xi eat breakfast every morning. And this morning he went to study on an empty stomach so early. Is he really throwing away his stomach for the college entrance examination?
Ning Xi stared at Xing Cheng without saying a word, then sat down on the stool.
He picked up the chopsticks and poked them into the soup bowl to stir it. It turned out to be beef noodles that had just been served. It was fried in red oil and looked particularly appetizing.
As Xing Cheng stood up, Ning Xi picked up chopsticks to mix the noodles and counted them. There were twelve pieces of beef.
He glanced at the bowl of the diners at the next table, and there wasn't much either. However, he didn't think too much about it. At that time, he didn't know that all of it was picked by Xing Cheng from his own bowl and given to him. He just lowered his head and started eating noodles.
Xing Cheng brought some soy milk from the store and placed it in front of him: "From now on, eat noodles here every morning before leaving together."
Ning Xi raised his head and wiped his mouth with a tissue: "I can eat at home."
Xing Cheng was a little angry: "What do you eat at home? Do you eat bread every day?"
As soon as he got home last night, he heard his mother say, "Has the kid from the Ning family downstairs moved away? Why did his family take away the refrigerator? The child hasn't grown up yet..."
He also said that he saw Ning Xi's stepfather coming with the workers again during their class time.
Ning Xi felt like vomiting when he heard the word bread, so he quickly took a breath and said slowly, "Don't bother me."
"I'm informing you of this, not asking if you can do it." Xing Cheng's tone was firm.
Ning Xi was furious: "Mind your own business..."
Xing Cheng pretended not to hear him and continued, "I order two bowls here every morning. If you don't eat them, I'll throw them away."
Ning Xi put down his chopsticks and said, "Go!"
Xing Cheng ignored him and went to pay the bill with the money.
After Xingcheng paid the money and returned to his seat, he saw that he had almost finished eating, so he rolled up the towel and stuffed it into his schoolbag, put on his basketball bag, and re-tied his shoelaces.
After leaving the noodle shop, the two walked side by side on the sidewalk. Along the way, they passed a beverage shop. Xing Cheng insisted on pulling Ning Xi to order a cup of fresh taro milk. It was hot and felt very comfortable in his hands.
When ordering, Xing Cheng asked him, "Brother, do you want to add more ingredients?"
Ning Xi glanced at the list of extra ingredients and felt that there was nothing delicious. He was stunned for a moment before reacting: "You buy it for me?"
Xing Cheng nodded: "Yes."
The waiter prepared the drink, put a straw in it and handed it to Xingcheng, who smiled and said, "Thank you."
He handed the fresh taro milk to Ning Xi's mouth. Ning Xi looked at him and said calmly, "You drink first."
Xing Cheng was stunned for a moment, then asked with his neck stiff, "Then are you still drinking?"
Ning Xi lowered his eyes to look at the watch. His narrow double eyelids revealed a good section of his fair neck. He was very well behaved and uttered "hmm" in a low voice.
Xing Cheng took a big gulp of the fresh taro milk and felt it was stronger than alcohol.
Next, Ning Xi was walking on the sidewalk holding her milk, followed by Xing Cheng. Xing Cheng was holding a basketball bag in his hand and was in a very good mood. When he passed under the tree, he jumped up to touch the leaves on the branches.
Ning Xi scolded him beside him: "You just had breakfast, be careful of gastroptosis."
Xing Cheng couldn't take in all that, but he stopped jumping around and walked next to his brother, with the summer breeze blowing on his face.
"Brother, how many points did you get in this simulation?"
"Six hundred and twenty points."
"I've already tested half of yours!"
"Well……"
When they were about to cross the road, Xing Cheng saw his brother lowering his head and not saying anything. He wanted to find a topic to talk about, so he said sullenly: "Brother, the history notebook you gave me last time..."
Ning Xi adjusted the straps of his schoolbag and nodded: "Where did you see it?"
This question was so difficult that Xing Cheng was dying. He thought about it seriously and said as he walked: "What Aristotle? What's the point of going to school..."
Ning Xi wanted to laugh, but held it back: "Metaphysics."
Xing Cheng said "Oh", and the basketball bag in his hand almost dropped. He asked him, "Then can't we not go to school?"
Ning Xi couldn't laugh anymore and snorted coldly: "Then go back."
As his brother was too lazy to roll his eyes, he walked towards the school gate carrying his schoolbag and drinking taro milk. Xing Cheng followed behind him without saying a word, and kept chasing Ning Xi all the way.
As soon as he arrived at the classroom, Xing Cheng put down his schoolbag, turned sideways, bit the hem of his short-sleeved shirt, and took out a box of plaster from his schoolbag.
He took the book off Ren Mei's face and handed the plaster to Ren Mei who was dozing off next to him: "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Ren Mei was still sleeping with a book on her side. She quickly sat up and almost flipped the stool over: "Ah?"
Xing Cheng bit open the plaster, screwed the lid shut, and handed a cotton swab to Ren Mei: "Hurry up, Lao Zhang will be here soon..."
Xing Cheng had a small bruise on his side that had been hurting for many days. He got it from a collision on the black golf course last weekend. Fortunately, he didn't run into Ying Yuchen this time, otherwise he would have been scolded again.
Ren Mei saw his back injury and immediately got angry: "Didn't you swear that you wouldn't go? If you go again, you'll be struck by lightning. Didn't you say that?"
Xing Cheng took a tougher stance: "It's already autumn, even if thunder comes it won't hit me."
Ren Mei was speechless and asked him, "Have you heard that 'when there are strange phenomena in the sky, there must be evil spirits'? You are that evil spirit..."
"Be careful with what you say and do." Xing Cheng raised his hand and covered Ren Mei's mouth suddenly, stopping him from speaking.
He and Ren Mei and a group of boys had been in high school for two years. They had seen all kinds of troubles. This injury was nothing to him. In the past, Ren Mei and her group had gone to the next district to have a fight. They were unarmed while the other side carried steel pipes. The group from the school team relied on their height and vented their anger.
Ren Mei looked at Xing Cheng's wound and was so angry that she wanted to peel off the plaster and smear it all over Xing Cheng's face: "I think you sneaked over there to keep a little secret. If you go there again, I'll tell your brother! The body is the capital of revolution. I see that you hurt your waist. Where can you go to cry?"
Xing Cheng ignored Ren Mei's words and did not take them seriously at all.
Ren Mei dipped her fingertips in some medicine and applied some to Xing Cheng. He gasped, which made Ren Mei angry again. She threw the medicine box on the table in anger and said, "Ask your brother to apply it!"
Xing Cheng estimated that he didn't even have the courage to let his brother see his back injury.
He made about 200 yuan playing basketball on the weekend, plus the 150 yuan he made before, and if he takes some corporate work this weekend, he should be able to go to IKEA to pick out a small table for his brother next month.
Xing Cheng thought for a while and felt that it was more important to take his brother out to eat and drink first, but the table still had to be bought.
Ning Xi's home cannot be complete without even a single part.
In the afternoon, the team went to training, and Xing Cheng ran there with injuries all over his body. He felt that if he didn't participate in formal training, he would probably be expelled from the school team. In order to study well, the training time was changed to once every two days. Ning Xi was under a lot of pressure in his senior year of high school, so he would occasionally go to the court to throw a few balls.
They were not in the same grade or class, so whether Xing Cheng could meet Ning Xi outside of school hours was entirely a matter of luck. As luck would have it, Ning Xi really came that day and said that there would be a competition in the city next month, and if he had time, he could go and be a substitute.
Xing Cheng was just trying to break through with the ball in his arms, in a stage of full firepower, fierce and reckless, dribbling the ball smoothly behind his back, when someone on the sidelines shouted, "Brother Xi is here!"
Xing Cheng was distracted and the ball was intercepted.
Ying Yuchen was also fighting with someone, and finally got rid of the close defense and ran out to catch the ball. He watched Xingcheng's ball being intercepted, and couldn't help but cursed: "Xingcheng, what are you staring at?!"
As the oldest in the grade and with a playful and easy-going personality, Ying Yuchen was made temporary captain of the school team, running and directing: "Pause, pause!"
Xing Cheng knew he had made a mistake, so he said nothing and trotted off the field. Just as he was about to say a few words to his brother, he saw Ying Yuchen striding over and calling out, "Xi!"
Yes, Ning Xi really came.
The more nervous Xing Cheng became, the less he dared to speak. He just stood far away and watched, with sparks in his eyes. He was angry, his face fell, and he grabbed his coat and walked towards the store.
He bought a few bottles of water and distributed them to the school team. There were two bottles of mineral water and one bottle of red pomegranate soda left, which was very sweet. He gave a bottle of mineral water to Ying Yuchen, opened a bottle for himself, and stuffed the red pomegranate soda directly into Ning Xi's arms.
Xing Cheng used a bottle of mineral water to cool his hot face, trying to calm down and act cool: "Take it and drink it."
Ning Xi raised an eyebrow and put it away.
A boy from the school team came over to join in the fun. Seeing the unopened bottle of pomegranate soda in Ning Xi's hand, he said in surprise, "Hey, Xingcheng, how come Brother Xi's is juice!"
Xing Cheng scolded coldly: "My brother has low blood sugar, you stay away."
Ning Xi cursed in his heart: "You fart."
Ning Xi did not open the bottle of pomegranate soda on the spot. Instead, he took off the worn wrist guard on his hand and threw it away. He took the tissue handed to him by Ying Yuchen, wiped his sweat, and raised his chin towards Xing Cheng: "I'm going up."
Xing Cheng glanced at the teaching building and nodded: "Okay!"
Ning Xi thought for a moment and said, "Don't wait for me, go back early."
Xing Cheng agreed quickly this time and said, "Yes, sir!"
Ning Xi nodded, and glanced at everyone on the field as if he was a leader inspecting. His eyes were very intimidating. He turned around and walked upstairs, holding the orange juice.
When Xing Cheng couldn't see her, Ning Xi would laugh as she walked.
Later, he couldn't forget the taste and went to several supermarkets before buying a bottle. He found it very sweet.
Ying Yuchen was shocked, Xing Cheng was even more servile to his brother than himself!
During evening self-study, the monthly exam results for the second year of high school came out. Xing Cheng held the report card and looked at it for a long time, then bent down to untie his shoelaces.
Ren Mei held him down with a sad face: "Xingcheng, don't get angry, don't be impulsive, these basketball shoes cost one or two thousand yuan, if you throw them away, what else can you use to conquer the world?"
After calming down for a while, Xing Cheng reached out and pinched him: "I just tied my shoelaces tighter because I was afraid my dad would beat me when I got home, so I fell while running."
This score was exactly half of Ning Xi's, just over 330 points, with 120 points in mathematics. He couldn't even bear to look at the remaining points.
Ren Mei's grades were hopeless to begin with. It didn't matter whether she chose arts or science. She was good at science, but she was brave enough to choose arts. However, she made a lot of progress in history, so she has a promising future.
The geography paper was also handed out. Xing Cheng looked at the one centimeter on the geography map and felt that he was actually a thousand kilometers away from Ning Xi.
After school, he didn't wait for Ning Xi. He ran to several places and went home with the things in his bag. His schoolbag was full of things. Xing Cheng put the things on the table, found the rope, and started to tie things randomly.
I have used this rope for many years. When I have time, I will buy a new one.
Xing Cheng had been listening upstairs since he got home, and finally saw the window below his own room light up.
He didn't send a message to Ning Xi. He just hung something on the rope and slowly lowered it.
Ning Xi had just finished writing his math homework when he looked up and saw a familiar rope by the window with a pocket hanging on it. He didn't know what was in it.
Ning Xi didn't have the habit of pulling the curtains when doing homework, and Xing Cheng knew it. Taking advantage of this, he would often swing the rope down without saying hello.
When he was little, Xiao Xingcheng would tease him and bully whoever he liked, so he would hang down his mother's small makeup mirror. When Xiao Ningxi looked up, he saw the mirror and was frightened and started crying.
Xing Cheng just wanted his brother to appreciate how good-looking he is, why is he crying?
The children in the yard ran and laughed: "Xingcheng, are you hanging a magic mirror?"
Xiao Xingcheng shouted back in a hoarse voice from upstairs: "My brother looks like a fairy in the mirror!"
When Ning Xi looked up and saw the pocket, he sighed and was speechless. How could Xing Cheng still be so childish at such an age? He reached out and prepared to stand up and untie the rope.
Before he could reach it, and I don't know if it was because there were too many things in it or what, the small rope tying the bag broke, and the whole bag fell to the corner of the wall of the apartment building.
Xing Cheng cursed from upstairs.
Ning Xi couldn't help but want to laugh: "Silly."
He said this, but the next second, he quickly stood up, put on his sneakers, opened the door and ran to pick it up.
Unexpectedly, Xing Cheng followed me downstairs wearing slippers.
Two half-grown teenagers were looking at each other downstairs. In the darkness, the street lights in the community were blocked by the shadows of the trees and their faces could not be clearly illuminated.
Ning Xi was wearing a white shirt with his sleeves half rolled up. His hair was short on his forehead, and the top two buttons of his collar were unbuttoned, revealing his particularly beautiful collarbone.
Xing Cheng never expected Ning Xi to follow him down. He was so nervous that he wanted to breathe and said, "I don't want to leave anymore."
"Then you stand here." Ning Xi still had the bag of things in his hand. He didn't even look at it. He just stuffed it into Xing Cheng's arms. "If you don't leave, I will."
Xing Cheng chased after him and said, "Brother, stretch out your hand."
Ning Xi didn't know what he was going to do, but his feet stopped uncontrollably.
At the side of the apartment building, he finally compromised. Taking advantage of the light, he lifted his sleeves a little and stretched out his hand.
He just watched Xing Cheng take out a new box of wristbands from his pocket, unpack them, and tighten them to the sides.
This wristband is a famous brand, costing about one or two hundred yuan each, and he bought it at the mall after school.
Xing Cheng held Ning Xi's hand with his left hand, and put the wristband on Ning Xi's wrist with his right hand.
The courtyard was quiet and they stood facing each other in silence.
The green trees are thick and shady, and the night rain comes heavily.
The last summer rainfall has passed, and Chengdu Shizhong has welcomed the end of early autumn heat. The ginkgo leaves have also turned from green to yellow and are falling one after another, joining the crowds of people coming and going.
After class, Ying Yuchen came to the liberal arts class with a ball to get water. He glanced at the girls in the class and was poked by Ning Xi's elbow before he came to his senses. He looked down and saw the wrist guard on Ning Xi's hand.
Ying Yuchen held the water cup and pushed him: "Xi, didn't you retire from basketball?"
Ning Xi pinched the wrist guard he was wearing: "Keep warm."
Seeing Ning Xi's calm look, Ying Yuchen couldn't help but tease him, "Which girl bought it for you?"
Ning Xi sat down on the stool and put his hands on the table: "Xing Cheng."
Ying Yuchen almost spit out a mouthful of water, patted his chest, took a breath, blinked his eyes and said, "Just pretend I didn't ask."
The following week, Ning Xi faced the first mock exam for the entire grade in the senior year. His daily routine became regular and he had less time to go to the stadium, so his running stopped for a while.
He couldn't sleep at night, so he ran to the window and lay down. After watching that the light in his brother's window was off, Xingcheng crawled into bed and slept soundly.
As autumn came, short sleeves became long sleeves, but Ning Xi occasionally lifted his sleeves, and Xing Cheng also saw the wrist guard his brother was wearing.
The wristband Xingcheng bought is very narrow and navy blue with a checkmarked LOGO on it, which looks pleasing to the eye no matter how you look at it.
Early October.
High school seniors only have two or three days off for the National Day. The class teachers feel sorry for the students, so several class teachers pooled their money to buy snacks for the students, giving each student a bag of lemon-flavored potato chips and a bottle of Chengdu yogurt.
After Ning Xi received it, he looked at it for a while and then walked out of the classroom with it in his pocket.
There was a commotion in the science class next door. It was probably that Ying Yuchen had done something again. Before Ning Xi could turn his head to take a look, he was stopped by Ying Yuchen.
Ying Yuchen grabbed a bag of yak jerky in his hand and stuffed it into Ning Xi's arms: "Please have some meat!"
Ning Xi held the bag and asked him, "Where did you get it from?"
Ying Yuchen smiled happily, holding a few bags in his hands: "I bought them, and everyone in the class has some, but I have to give you one bag too, take it and eat it."
Ning Xi nodded and thanked him. Ying Yuchen glanced at the bag of potato chips and the bottle of yogurt in his hand. Ying Yuchen pulled his arm and asked, "Who are you giving them to?"
Seeing that Ning Xi was silent, Ying Yuchen grabbed another bag and stuffed it in Ning Xi's direction. He wrinkled his nose, lowered his voice, and said, "Give one to Xing Cheng for me? You can eat this bag yourself, don't give everything to your brother..."
Ning Xi's thoughts were immediately seen through. Now he realized that Ying Yuchen was a shrewd person. He bit his lower lip and said stubbornly, "I didn't say it was for Xing Cheng."
Ying Yuchen shook his head, thinking that Ning Xi was too good to his brothers.
Ning Xi saw that Ying Yuchen stopped talking and felt that the more he explained, the worse it got. He stood in the corridor holding three bags of food.
After saying goodbye to Ying Yuchen, Ning Xi ran to the second grade classroom with his food. Early in the morning, he leaned against the back door of the second grade classroom and took a look inside. Most of the students in this ordinary class were sleeping.
Occasionally, a few people got up to get water. They were sleepy, yawning, and didn't look very awake.
Xing Cheng was tall and sat in the last row, leaning against the wall and sleeping. His deskmate Ren Mei was also sleeping.
Ning Xi held his breath and moved carefully.
He put the bag of snacks on the ground at Xingcheng's feet and stuffed the yogurt into Xingcheng's drawer.
When Xing Cheng woke up, he almost stepped on it accidentally. The teacher above was still giving a lecture, so he didn't dare to speak too loudly. He rubbed his eyes, looking tired.
He thought it was probably sent to him by another girl, so he pushed it aside and took a look. The more he looked at it, the hungrier he became. He lay down on the table, but still felt that he could not eat it.
Ren Mei also woke up, grabbed a packet and looked at it, sighing, "Which girl gave it to me again?"
His words caused the male student in the front seat who had just returned from the office to turn around and look. This sight ignited his gossipy spirit: "She's only in the third year of high school. Is she a senior?"
When Xing Cheng heard the words "senior year", he felt like he was stepping on his tail: "Ren Mei, do you think it could be my brother..."
Ren Mei was originally quite curious, but when she heard Xing Cheng say that, she thought he was either drunk or had delusional disorder. She didn't even bother to roll her eyes and sneered, "Do you think it's possible? Are you still asleep?"
Xing Cheng thought for a while, sighed, and felt as if he couldn't open his eyes. He stuffed all the things into the drawer and said, "It's not big, forget it."
When the guy in the front seat heard that Xingcheng's brother was mentioned, he quickly came over and said, "Xingcheng, let me tell you something about your brother!"
When Xing Cheng heard this, he woke up from his doze: "Hurry up and tell me!"
The teacher on the podium ignored them and handed out the test papers for them to do. The person in the front seat grabbed a book to cover it and whispered, "I heard that the team that played in the district competition last time is asking about Ning Xi..."
Xing Cheng said calmly: "Why are you asking about my brother?"
Ren Mei was speechless beside him. Xing Cheng's brain short-circuited when he heard about his brother: "They could have won last time, but your brother played for you and beat them to a pulp!"
The teacher who was sitting at the podium reading a book finally couldn't stand it anymore. He was also a newcomer. He glanced over and saw Xing Cheng, who was famous throughout the grade. He hit the table with his pointer and said, "Xing Cheng!"
Ren Mei quickly picked up a book to cover Xing Cheng's face, coughing to hide her embarrassment while muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
This matter became a temporary unsolved case.
After school at noon, it was the National Day holiday. The lights in the senior high school teaching area of ​​the teaching building were still on. Xing Cheng stood for a while at the bottom of the teaching building with his schoolbag on his back, staring at the door of Ning Xi's classroom...
He may have only been watching for two or three minutes when a figure appeared at the corridor railing of the senior high school teaching area.
From such a distance, upstairs and downstairs, Ning Xi, wearing a blue school uniform and with very fair skin, walked from one end of the corridor to the other...
Ning Xi was hidden by the railings, with only his shoulders and head exposed. Xing Cheng recognized him at the first sight.
Ning Xi was just helping the class representative to hand in a homework assignment, holding a stack of exercise books in his hands. As soon as he walked out of the classroom, he couldn't help but glance downstairs after a few steps.
It wouldn't matter if he didn't see him, because when he glanced, he saw Xing Cheng carrying a bag, wearing a basketball uniform, standing downstairs, looking up at him.
Both of them were stunned.
There were groups of students nearby, talking and laughing with each other, and they were leaving the teaching building one after another.
Ning Xi seemed unable to see them.
Ning Xi had to admit that at that moment, he had the urge to jump down. He even thought that Xing Cheng could catch him.
Ning Xi was in a daze and hadn't come to his senses yet when he saw Xing Cheng standing downstairs and waved to him.
Ning Xi also waved.
Good afternoon, Xingcheng.
The National Day holiday is here.
Xing Cheng did not go out to play with his family. He said that he would be a senior in high school next year and his grades were poor, so he had to take his books to Ning Xi for extra lessons.
While watching an anti-Japanese drama, Xing Cheng's father scolded Xing Cheng: "Can you please stop causing trouble for your brother Ning Xi?"
The next day, his father, his mother, and a group of fellow travelers drove a big Hummer to the Tibetan area, taking the Sichuan-Tibet line to Ganzi Prefecture.
Xing Cheng particularly yearns for those tourist destinations in Tibet that he has never been to, but he wants to go with Ning Xi. In the wilderness with Ning Xi, feeling the wind, running, drinking barley wine, watching cattle and sheep grazing, the sky is vast and the wilderness is boundless...
When night fell, the two of them set up a tent, sat outside by a fire and watched the stars. He gave all the hot packs to his brother and brought a book with him, telling his brother ghost stories every night.
In the next few days, Xing Cheng did not harass his brother. He got up at seven or eight o'clock every morning for morning exercises. He still supervised his brother to eat at the gate of the community. After eating, he sent his brother to the school gate, watched his brother enter the school, and then ran home to read.
Every time Xing Cheng sent Ning Xi home, he could finish five pages of exercises in one go.
What Xing Cheng didn't know was that Ning Xi would always watch him leave after he turned around, with her heart extremely agitated, like a full jar of water, yet it was still clanking.
After finishing his homework for the day, Xing Cheng ran to the court to play basketball shirtless in the afternoon. Since he had no activities during the holiday, he went to the street basketball court to practice his skills. He ran around the court until he was sweating, but after a few rounds, he was still the brightest star on the court.
In the evening, after Ning Xi finished his evening self-study, Xing Cheng would go to pick him up. Sometimes he would ride a shared bike in front of his brother and Ning Xi would give him a cold look. It was such a short distance, why did he have to ride a bike?
Along the way, Xing Cheng rode the bike while Ning Xi walked, but Xing Cheng rode slower than he walked. He went around in circles and kept circling around Ning Xi, not daring to go faster or slower.
Xing Cheng felt that he was like a knight guarding the prince, except that he lacked a shield in his hand.
Xing Cheng thought for a long time, the night wind blowing over him and blowing all over his face. He hesitated and said, "Brother, a senior sister brought me some potato chips today..."
Ning Xi said nothing, just kept walking forward with his hands in his pockets.
Xing Cheng rode his bike around Ning Xi again: "It has lemon flavor, and it's quite delicious!"
Xing Cheng pedaled forward, laughing heartily, and lowered his voice and said, "Brother, only the science class in the senior year has yak jerky, shouldn't it be with the students in my class..."
Ning Xi stopped suddenly, and Xing Cheng also braked suddenly, almost falling down.
Ning Xi didn't even bother to raise his eyelids. He was furious and glanced at him coldly: "Is the yogurt delicious?"
After saying that, he started to walk away, and his tall and thin figure left an outline in Xing Cheng's eyes.
Xing Cheng understood instantly, but he couldn't believe his own guess. He felt that he could ride around Chengdu again. He was in a good mood and pressed the bell and pedaled forward: "Brother!"
Happy New Year!
——My brother sent me potato chips!
Xing Cheng chased forward for a while, escorted Ning Xi to the destination, followed him into the residential area, and stood at the door of Ning Xi's house, wanting to go in.
He felt that he had to get to the bottom of this matter. What did his brother mean by giving him something without knowing everything?
Ning Xi closed the door tightly and said, "Hurry up and go upstairs."
Xing Cheng refused and stuck his arm in: "Ning Xi, tell me clearly today, is it you who gave it to me?"
Ning Xi had a cold face, his palms hurt from pinching his nails: "Xing Cheng, go home..."
"No one is at my house today!" Xing Cheng felt that he couldn't be soft with his brother. "Either I go in and sit down, or you come up with me."
Ning Xi saw that Xing Cheng was about to get stuck, and his eyes turned red with anxiety: "Why? I don't want to owe you."
In Xing Cheng's eyes, this action became hiding.
He really couldn't bear it any longer, so he reached out and grabbed Ning Xi's shoulders, pulling him closer to him: "Why are you panicking..."
The refreshing scent on Ning Xi's body was no longer the same as in his memory. Now in the enclosed space, the burnt smell on his collar could not escape Xing Cheng's sense of smell.
Xing Cheng grabbed Ning Xi's hand, pulled it up forcefully, clenched his fingers, and pulled it hard close to his nose.
Ning Xi was extremely unwilling to let Xing Cheng see this side of himself.
At night, I turned off all the lights and sat alone on the tile floor in the living room, watching the flames burn out. It seemed as if I could see myself in my childhood, carefree, holding fifty cents to buy potatoes to eat, and while wandering in the community, the tiny Xing Cheng asked me, "Brother, have you eaten potatoes..."
Even though he had clearly eaten, he pretended to be calm and said, "No." Even though he didn't even wipe the oil off his mouth, he still wanted to eat another portion of potatoes bought by his brother.
I can also see my deceased father, my mother before my younger brother was born, and my unfinished college entrance examination papers.
Ning Xi was still panting, Xing Cheng grabbed his hand and walked into the house, trying to turn on the light in the living room. He pressed it several times but it didn't work. Xing Cheng was anxious, smelling a stench, and his arm was clamped by Ning Xi so he couldn't move.
At this juncture, Xing Cheng's serious intimidation was still enough to scare people. The look in his eyes when he stared at his brother was fierce: "Brother, turn on the light."
Xing Cheng pressed it a few more times impatiently, but still couldn't open it. Ning Xi buried his head and grasped the corner of Xing Cheng's clothes tightly in his hand.
"Don't press it, the light is broken."
Ning Xi looked at Xing Cheng's worried and depressed eyes, and her heart felt stabbed and she couldn't breathe.
He suddenly felt that he had been bad for a long time. Really bad.