Chapter 57, Wall

Feng Ran gritted his teeth and said, "I should thank you, right?"

"What are you talking about," Chen Shuze said, "You must be tired. I'll give you a few days off."

Feng Ran rushed out the door.

He rushed into the house like a firecracker. He Chuan was fighting with Feng Xiaobai. Feng Xiaobai dove into the pile of clothes in the suitcase, then was thrown out by the neck. This cycle went on and on, man and cat, with no one to decide the winner. Feng Xiaobai obviously didn't think this was a fight, his tail raised high. When He Chuan turned to look at Feng Ran, he took advantage of the opportunity and turned his belly up inside the clothes.

He Chuan said, "It's so early today."

Feng Ran had been holding his breath the whole way, but the moment he heard He Chuan's voice, the rage in his stomach suddenly flared up. He threw his bag to the ground and cursed, "Chen Shuze, you fucking bastard. I don't want to do this anymore."

He Chuan said, "Then forget it."

"He dares to use me as a pawn. Doesn't he know what people say about me behind my back?"

"Take legal action? I'll help you."

He Chuan was a man of action. Feng Ran was stunned, blinking for a few seconds before calming down a bit. "Aren't you going home?"

"Wait until I get back."

"Oh... well... I'll think about it."

"Cat food and cat litter, I've got them all ready. Remember to come back every day... to take care of it."

It was a Saturday when Chen Shuze arrived at He Chuan's house.

Feng Xiaobai was already waiting at the door, still no one was opening it. Feng Ran moved to the peephole and saw a dark figure lurking there, hand raised, not knocking for a long time.

Feng Ran flung the door open.

A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Shuze's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved.

"What are you doing here?" Feng Ran asked.

"To see you."

As he spoke, Feng Xiaobai had already leaped onto the back of the sofa, eyeing Chen Shuze with a wary expression.

Feng Ran stood at the doorway, not letting him pass. He half-smiled, "Look, all you want. It's free."

Chen Shuze said, "Want to invite me in for tea?"

"This isn't my house. I'm just here to watch the door and cats. If you want to come in, you have to ask the owner's permission."

"Guess how I know this address?" Chen Shuze said softly, not buying into Feng Ran's rhetoric. "I'm just talking to you. When we're done, you can kill me or chop me up."

Feng Ran went back to his room to change his clothes. When he came out, Feng Xiaobai was already lying upright on Chen Shuze's lap.

Traitor.

He took out the Feng Xiaobai cat, and Chen Shuze took the opportunity to pet its head, saying, "It's not shy at all."

"What are you doing here? If you have something to say, just say it."

Chen Shuze said, "I owe you a favor. How do you expect me to repay it?"

Feng Ran snorted, "We're superiors and subordinates. I'm getting paid for my work, so it's not like you owe me anything."

Chen Shuze said, "You still blame me. But I have to say, I had no choice. Headquarters has transferred someone down, and your job will be much easier from now on."

"I had no choice. Even if you had done it earlier..." Feng Ran couldn't finish. Chen Shuze looked at him calmly, and he suddenly understood. They knew each other well. That wall of trust had collapsed when they were twenty-two. Now six years lay before them, and neither could go back.

What hadn't been said then didn't need to be said again, and what hadn't been untied didn't need to be untied.

Chen Shuze didn't have the courage to tell him everything, just like he did then.

He couldn't explain the feeling, but it didn't seem like loss.

His fingers tightened around the cup, scrutinizing Chen Shuze as if meeting him for the first time. Chen Shuze returned his gaze quietly.

He was speechless for a moment, then composed himself and asked, "So, what do you want? I was so young back then. You can't turn around and judge me like this... Besides, I didn't do anything wrong."

"I hope you can come on Monday," Chen Shuze said. "I know you don't want to, but I hope you'll consider it."

Feng Ran was about to say something else, but the words morphed into a whisper: "You really hold a grudge."

Chen Shuze smiled: "Yeah, it's not like you've known me for the first time."

Hasn't it? Feng Ran wanted to ask, have you always been like this? He had forgotten everything Chen Shuze said, did, or did, or what kind of person he was, during their youth.

His memory was limited to Chen Shuze standing by the dim, mossy wall of his rented apartment, shirtless, cigarette between his fingers, silent and shrouded in smoke, his thoughts unsettled. Occasionally, he'd talk on the phone, speaking in an incomprehensible dialect, sometimes smiling, sometimes stern. When he turned to look at Feng Ran, his voice switched to Mandarin: "Go, turn on the fan."

At the time, Chen Shuze had fallen out with his family and had been deprived of his living expenses, leaving him very poor. Feng Ran refused to spend a penny more for a room, so Chen Shuze used eighteen years of lucky money to rent a room for four years.

The rental house was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. During the winter, the heater was barely cooler than warm water. Several quilts couldn't keep Feng Ran warm, so Chen Shuze piled all his clothes on top of the quilts: down jackets, sweaters, scarves... like bricks piled up, and nightmares continued

in the second half of the night. Feng Ran rarely stayed there; he had a home. The dormitory had a curfew, and when Chen Shuze couldn't go back, he would insist that Feng Ran stay there with him. If Feng Ran refused, he would pester him.

He said he never dared to sleep alone. He was afraid of ghosts.

The immaturity of his face gradually faded, and the person before him smiled at him. "What are you thinking about? Come out for dinner tonight. My treat."

"No," Feng

Ran shook his head. "I have an appointment tonight." He Chuan was on the phone with the supervisor that night.

Feng Ran lifted Feng Xiaobai and presented him to the camera. "Tell your owner if I fed you today."

The cat meowed a few times at the right moment, and a fleeting smile crossed He Chuan's lips.

Feng Ran put the cat aside, pointed the camera at the room, and panned it around to show: "I've mopped the floor, washed the dishes, and taken care of the cat. Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied," He Chuan said.

"As long as I'm satisfied."

He Chuan seemed to have a clue: "Where are you going?"

"Why do I have to report to you?" Despite saying that, he explained, "I'm going to have a drink. I finally have some free time."

"Don't drink too much."

"You know how I can drink," Feng Ran said. "How's Auntie? Is she okay?"

"No, she had a minor surgery."

After hanging up the phone, Feng Ran packed up and went out for a drink.

He hadn't told Chen Shuze the truth. Work's been so busy lately, all the friends he'd added previously have lost touch. Who'd invite him over?

He found a place to sit, and soon someone approached, inviting him over. Before they could say much, he looked up and saw someone at the table staring intently at him.

It was the student he'd checked into a room with earlier.

...How the hell was this such a coincidence? Feng Ran felt a headache.

Their eyes met and then bounced away, like like poles of magnets touching.

The person next to him kept inviting him, but he quickly waved them off.

He fidgeted for a while, thinking about finishing the cup in his hand, but unexpectedly, the man came over with the cup.

Feng Ran stood up and left.

Naked resistance. The other party saw it and paused, but he didn't intend to let him go. He came over faster and pulled his sleeve.

He was wearing a pure black shirt today, and the buttons were made of various stones, each one different. Chen Shuze gave it to him as a reward after working overtime one day. It felt very smooth.

The two people pulled at the corner of the sleeve, and Feng Ran was embarrassed: "What are you doing?"

The male student let go of his hand and called out: "Brother."

Feng Ran was a little nervous: "Don't call me brother, what are you doing?"

"I'm really sorry about what happened last time. Can you pull me back? We can just chat, or something."

Feng Ran said: "...What do you want?"

"I know you just don't like me. I've asked around, and everyone who knows you said... said you're not like that. I, I was too presumptuous." The male student mustered up the courage, and every word he said was like a needle piercing Feng Ran.

"Who did you ask?" Feng Ran asked anxiously.

"First, I asked around about your hometown, then asked around among your circle," the male student said honestly. "There's a guy who plays guitar and is said to be familiar with you, so I asked him."

"Which one? The one in the band who dresses like a shamatte?"

"Yeah!" the male student's eyes lit up. "You really know him. Then he definitely wasn't lying to me. He told me not to worry, you guys have been friends since childhood, and if you had any problems, he would have known about it. He also said..."

It's over! Feng Ran's head rumbled, and he felt light and airy, his soul transforming into a stream of air and flying away from his head. He couldn't survive this fucking world anymore.

Ren He knew he couldn't get hard, and he was going to laugh him to death.

They hadn't been in touch in a while, so there was no doubt that guy was up to no good . Better

to end his life than be ridiculed to death.

Feng Ran couldn't hear a word the male student was saying. He said, "I really have to go," and seeing a gap in the crowd, he was gone.

It was not yet ten o'clock, but he did not want to go anywhere. He felt as if someone was watching him on the street, and he was uncomfortable

all over. He went home and collapsed on the sofa. He Chuan was not there, and everything was quiet. The doors and windows were closed tightly when he left, and the air was filled with the smell of laundry detergent. There was leftover tea in the cup, and there was an open book on the armrest of the sofa. The faucet in the bathroom was not tightened, and water was dripping.

This is the feeling of home. But...

for a long time, he always felt that something was wrong.

He shouldn't go out drinking today, this thought popped into his mind. Gradually, he had more acquaintances in Jiang City, and

he couldn't just do whatever he wanted. The student was kind enough not to spread his scandal. Messages came one after another on his mobile phone, which were friend requests from other numbers of the male student. He thought of Shen Zhi again. All his current situations were thanks to Shen Zhi.

Shen Zhi did not come to him again, nor did he disturb him. He breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt vaguely uneasy. It was like a bad cat that always pestered him, scratching and biting people. Sometimes it would be gentle, but it had a bad heart.

Abandoned by him many times, the cat still didn't care, lingered around him, and forced him to do this and that to please it. But this time, the cat left completely. He had indeed wanted this for a long time, but when it really left, he felt so uncomfortable.

There was a void in his heart, and the scars on his body lingered for a long time.

Wait a minute.

Speaking of cats - where is Feng Xiaobai - he finally knew what was wrong. He Chuan's cat did not greet him cheerfully or meow for food as before.

He woke up as if from a dream, his body reacted faster than his brain. He suddenly jumped up and hurriedly walked around the house, rummaging through drawers and cabinets, shouting: "Feng Xiaobai? Where is he?" He searched for it

in the places where it usually stayed and took out its favorite food, but to no avail.

Half an hour later, he stood in the center of the living room a little desperate, forced to accept a fact.

The cat is gone.