Oh, dear! Fish me again

Zhang Li was adopted. His adoptive father was an old widower and a pervert.

The original book does have a very detailed description about the abuse and torture Zhang Li suffered in his adoptive father's home when he was a teenager. I won't go into details here because Jiajia won't allow it.

This old house hides the deepest fragility in Zhang Li's heart.

In a sense, the world behind this door in front of him is the most real and fragile world in Zhang Li's heart.

At this moment, Tang Shu was personally invited in by him.

*

The lights in Zhang Li's house are very bright, so bright that they are a little dazzling.

The house was eerily empty. There was only a wooden dining table and a double-seater fabric sofa in the living room, and other than that, there was only the floor.

In addition to the kitchen and bathroom, there are two bedrooms, one on the left and one on the right, one of which is locked with a huge old-fashioned copper lock.

Zhang Li took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, saw the surprise on Tang Shu's face, and explained indifferently,

"I threw away everything in my adoptive father's house. These are what I bought later."

"Oh."

Tang Shu nodded, without any curiosity.

Zhang Li walked to the dining table, opened the lunch box, and poured everything inside into a plate.

Tang Shu sat opposite him and took a look. It turned out to be noodles with soybean paste.

"Let's eat together,"

As Zhang Li spoke, he picked up another plate and prepared to divide the noodles.

"Then I'll have a taste~" Tang Shu nodded, "I'm not hungry, but I want to taste it~"

Just take a bite, there's no need to portion it out on a plate.

Zhang Li pushed the whole plate of noodles in front of him to Tang Shu, indicating that she should eat it directly.

Tang Shu didn't hesitate to take the chopsticks, picked up the two noodles on the top and took a bite.

“It’s delicious~”

She put down her chopsticks and pushed the plate back.

Zhang Li glanced at her lips, which were stained with a little brown-red sauce.

While lowering his head, he took out a napkin with his left hand and handed it over, then took the chopsticks with his right hand and started eating.

*

An eighteen-year-old boy is at the age when he has the biggest appetite.

Tang Shu sat across the dining table and watched quietly, supporting her chin with one hand.

Zhang Li's appearance is actually quite feminine. His eyebrows and lips are too delicate for a man.

But fortunately, he is tall enough and has an upright figure, so his gestures and movements do not appear effeminate.

He lowered his head and ate noodles in big mouthfuls, which inevitably made some noises, but the noises were not too loud, and coupled with his indifferent temperament, he did not seem rude.

Perhaps because he was in his own safe area, Zhang Li's defensive attitude of keeping strangers away was weakened a lot, and with the kitchen behind him as the background, the picture had a more homely feel.

A little more real tenderness.

Perhaps unable to bear Tang Shu's scrutiny, Zhang Li stopped eating and looked up at her, a trace of unnaturalness flashing across his face.

"Still want to eat?"

Tang Shu shook her head.

This sentence is really ambiguous when used in a situation where a boy and a girl are alone.

She suddenly leaned on the table and laughed.

Zhang Li didn't ask her what she was laughing at. He lowered his head and continued eating noodles, but he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

*

The midsummer nights were as hot and humid as the days, and the decades-old neighborhood was crowded and cramped, making the heat even more unbearable.

But people were tired after a whole day, and late at night, the community gradually fell asleep quietly.

Only Zhang Li's room has air conditioning in his house, and the sofa in the living room obviously can't accommodate him.

So he let Tang Shu sleep in his bed and spread a mat on the floor beside the bed.

Tang Shu didn't hesitate and followed him into the bedroom obediently.

Zhang Li’s room was also very clean, and everything on his bed was spotlessly white.

The overly bright lights and the over-pursuit of "clean and white" colors all revealed a little bit of his inner world.

Only those who are in darkness will yearn for light, and only those who loathe themselves from the bottom of their hearts will use a clean appearance to disguise themselves.

*

"Do you want to use the bathroom?" Zhang Li asked.

Tang Shu shook her head, "I took a bath at home~"

"Ah."

Zhang Li nodded without comment, then went to the bathroom in his pajamas.

It is enough to be able to enter his house tonight. People like Zhang Li are sensitive and defensive, so it is not suitable for further testing.

Tang Shu didn't turn off the lights. She lay down on the bed obediently, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Li came out of the bathroom and saw only her peaceful sleeping face.

The thin girl, wearing a white suspender skirt, her whole body is snow-white, sleeping in a pale quilt. The picture is particularly quiet and beautiful.

He looked away and turned off the light.

He lay down on the mat on the ground in silence.

*

I don’t know how long I slept before Tang Shu was awakened by a depressing noise.

She is a light sleeper and is very sensitive to external sounds.

Tang Shu sat up and glanced out the window. The moon had not yet set, but was already hanging low in the sky.

She checked her phone. It was 3:30 in the morning.

Zhang Li lay on his side on the ground with his back to the bed, his tall body curled up, his hands unconsciously holding his arms tightly.

His body was shaking and a layer of cold sweat appeared on the back of his neck, indicating that he was experiencing great pain.

Tang Shu quietly got out of bed, squatted beside the mat, and leaned over to look at his face in the moonlight.

Zhang Li did not wake up. His eyes were tightly closed and his eyeballs were rolling randomly under his eyelids.

He is having a nightmare.

The boy bit his lips, tears slipped from the corners of his eyes into the pillow, wetting a large area. But even in his dreams, he was too stubborn to show weakness, and would not let himself make any cowardly sounds.

It is clearly written in the original book that Zhang Li's mental state is extremely unstable and he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

But when Tang Shu saw it with her own eyes, she still felt a little bit heartbroken.

It is indeed a novel about the pain of youth...

She thought about it, slowed down her movements, and lay down on the mat.

She moved closer to Zhang Li's back little by little, then reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

She rested her forehead against his tense back, her fingers gently touching his arm in soothing strokes.

*

Zhang Li was very alert. This alertness was developed through countless nights in the past when he had forced himself to remain a little awake even when he was sleeping soundly in order to prevent that disgusting man from entering his room.

So, the moment Tang Shu hugged him, he immediately opened his eyes and woke up almost instantly.

The two were very close, and Tang Shu immediately noticed the stiffness of Zhang Li's body.

But she did not loosen her hands, she just stopped moving her fingers and quietly put her arms around him from behind.

Zhang Li felt a familiar wetness on the pillow next to his cheek, and he knew that he was having a nightmare again.

Or in other words, I'm sick again.

When you wake up from a dream in the middle of the night, it is the time when you are least prepared and most vulnerable.

Zhang Li didn't move, and Tang Shu didn't move either. They just lay there quietly.

After a while, he finally adjusted his mood and hid all his vulnerabilities.

"Tang Shu,"

Zhang Li spoke in a low voice, his voice a little hoarse in the quiet bedroom.

"Go back to bed."

Tang Shu gently shook his forehead against his back.

"Brother...I'm the one who's scared, so...can you hug me?"

Zhang Li did not answer.

He opened his eyes confusedly in the darkness, and his nose suddenly felt sore.

Finally, he answered,

"it is good."

*

The broken boy turned around and held the beautiful girl in his arms.

No filth, no fantasy.

The air in the old house has never been so clean, even the sound of the air conditioner makes people feel that

Stable.