old age

The quarrel outside the room lasted for almost an hour, without any tendency to stop, but intensified.

In the exercise set in Yi Chen's hand, he didn't even complete a single page in this hour.

It was too loud, he thought.

Yi Chen stood up from the desk, stretched, took a step back, and fell heavily on the bed, with the quilt pulled over his head, and the volume of the earphones turned up to the maximum.Finally lost.

He let out a long breath, and before he was about to be suffocated to death, he let himself out, yawned, and took out the manga he hadn't finished reading last night from under the pillow, intending to read it again.The manga, which has always been passionate, seems boring now.

"This level has dropped too fast." Yi Chen muttered, flipped through a few more pages, and fell asleep in a daze.

"Chenchen." Yi Bochuan pushed him.

"Are you finished arguing?" Yi Chen rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"How do you talk? In the afternoon, I don't do my homework, so I just sleep here."

Yi Chen curled his lips and thought, you two are so noisy, how can I do my homework, can I go out to fight you two if I don't sleep?

Yi Bochuan looked at him dissatisfied, "Heartless, just like your mother."

"That's what she said last time." Yi Chen jumped off the bed, "It's better for you to negotiate, lest I look like a man for a while, and a woman for a while. Did you give birth to a monster?"

"Yi Chen!"

"Here, I can hear you." Yi Chen opened the door, and the living room was in a mess. "Where's my mother?"

"Let's go." Mentioning Chu Jing, Yi Bochuan's voice was a little tired, and he passed Yi Chen and walked out, "I have a dinner party, so I'm leaving right away. There is money on the table, you go out to eat by yourself."

Yi Chen put the money in his pocket, "What time are you coming back at night?"

"I'm not sure, is there something wrong?"

"If you don't come back, I'll live at Ji Kaiyang's house."

Yi Bochuan didn't stop walking, "You go, I'll call your Auntie Zhang later."

"No, I myself..."

Before Yi Chen finished speaking, the anti-theft door slammed, and Yi Bochuan had already left.

Yi Chen sighed, put all the pens and homework into the schoolbag, and when he walked to the living room, he thought about it and stuffed the bumblebee on the shelf into it.Then he went to the kitchen and packed the two remaining mango boxes in the refrigerator. Ji Kaiyang lived in the same community as him, and the mango boxes would not break if he took them there.

This community is called Ruijing Garden. It is not big, with about ten houses. Yi Chen has lived here for nine years.The same is true for Ji Kaiyang, they moved here together when they first entered elementary school.

The relationship between Yi Chen and Ji Kaiyang started from the friendship of the previous generation.Yi Chen's mother, Chu Jing, and Ji Kaiyang's mother, Zhang Yun, were high school classmates. Later, they were admitted to the same normal college, lived in the same dormitory, and taught in the same elementary school after graduation.The difference is that Chu Jing resigned from her teaching position more than three years ago and started a clothing business, while Zhang Yun continued to be a teacher peacefully.

They are not natives of N City, and being in a different place made their friendship stronger, and even held their wedding together.After marriage, Zhang Yun became pregnant before Chu Jing, but it happened that Chu Jing gave birth prematurely, so the birth time of the last two children was only a few hours apart.

Of course, because of the family relationship, Yi Chen and Ji Kaiyang have been inseparable since childhood. From kindergarten to elementary school graduation, they are not only in the same class, but also at the request of their parents, the teacher will arrange them to sit at the same table.When they arrived in junior high school, they were ranked according to their grades, and they could no longer sit at the same table, but this was no problem. They were still in the same classroom, and they could see each other as soon as they looked up.

"Chenchen is here?" Zhang Yun greeted him enthusiastically, "Have you eaten yet?"

Seeing her appearance, Yi Bochuan obviously forgot about the phone call.

"I didn't eat." Yi Chen shook his head, "Aunt Zhang, I will sleep at your house at night."

Zhang Yun rubbed his head with a smile, "Okay, Kai Yang is in the bedroom, you can go and play with him, I'll call you when the meal is ready."

Ji Kaiyang was sitting on the bay window reading a book. Hearing footsteps, he didn't raise his head: "Do you want to stay here at night?"

"Yeah, how do you know it's me every time?"

"Because my mother can't jump when she walks." Ji Kaiyang glanced at him, and then continued to bury his head in the book.

"Oh." Yi Chen dragged his voice, took out the mango box, and handed it to him, "Do you want to eat it?"

"Dinner is coming soon, no snacks, it's still cold."

"Cut." Yi Chen didn't take it seriously, put the mango box aside, and patted his knee, "Where did you put your iron sheet?"

"The top shelf...how did you bring it?"

Yi Chen stepped on a stool and placed the bumblebee next to the iron sheet.

It was a gift for elementary school graduation, and they went to buy it together.They both actually wanted Bumblebee, but there was only one left in the shop that day.So Ji Kaiyang took the initiative to give in to him, after all Ji Kaiyang always gave in to him, since he was a child.

"My parents quarreled again. The vases and teacups in the living room were all broken. I'm afraid they will smash this next time. It's better to put it here."

Ji Kaiyang's finger flipping through the book paused, "Be careful, don't fall."

Uncle Yi and Aunt Chu have been having conflicts for some time, and it seems that it started not long after Aunt Chu resigned to start a business.Yi Chen was scared at first, and came to his house crying in the middle of the night.Later, he got used to it, and he became bouncing around and smiling again, and the quarrel between his parents seemed to have nothing to do with him.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat it?" Yi Chen jumped off the stool, opened the mango box, and brought a spoonful to his mouth.

Ji Kaiyang bit his lower lip, "Go and lock the door first."

"Let me just say, I know you will eat it." Yi Chen ate the last spoonful, "Have your teeth grown?"

"It came out a little bit." Ji Kaiyang was a late tooth changer, and the last tooth fell out at the age of fourteen.Zhang Yun was very nervous and resolutely forbade him to eat sweets.Ji Kaiyang said just now that he was going to have dinner, which was completely an excuse.

The two of them ate, and they didn't dare to throw any box in the trash can. They pressed it, put it in a bag, put the bag under the bed, and took it out when they went to school tomorrow.

The most direct disadvantage of eating the mango box is that you can't eat dinner at all.

Yi Chen looked at the mountain of vegetables in his bowl, "Aunt Zhang, don't pick it up for me."

"Mom, leave him alone." Ji Kaiyang frowned as he dealt with the vegetables in the bowl, while helping him out, "He eats two out of three meals a day at our house, you are afraid that he will be hungry."

"Yes, yes, auntie, you really don't care about me, I'm not an outsider." Yi Chen hurriedly replied, "I ate a little too much at noon, and I'm not hungry yet."

"One meal at a time, you're not hungry at night after lunch?" Zhang Yun stopped her chopsticks suspiciously, then looked at Ji Yangkai again, "Why don't you eat?"

"I'm stuffed."

"How much did you eat?"

"You've been looking at Yi Chen, I've eaten a lot." Ji Yangkai wiped his mouth calmly.

"You children, don't eat well when you are growing up." Zhang Yun smiled helplessly, "If you don't eat, go play by yourself."

Ji Kaiyang didn't move, "I'll sit down for a while."

Zhang Yun looked at her son lovingly, then lowered her head and continued to drink the soup.

Zhang Yun has a stomach problem and always eats slowly.Since his father, who was a sailor, disappeared at sea four years ago, Ji Kaiyang has finished eating by himself. As long as he is not in a hurry to go to class, he will always accompany his mother and wait for her to finish eating before going to the table.He didn't know the meaning of such persistence, but his father would do this when he was at home on vacation. Unlike his father, he couldn't support the family.But where he can, he wants to give his mother a little comfort.

"Hey, have you finished your homework?" Returning to Ji Kaiyang's bedroom after dinner, Yi Chen finally remembered that he still had homework to do.

Ji Kaiyang looked at Yi Chen warily, this was not a question at all, his homework would never be delayed until Sunday night. "How many subjects do you have left?"

Yi Chen made a comparison of four, and seeing Ji Kaiyang's expression, changed it to three again.

"There are four homework assignments this week." Ji Kaiyang took a deep breath, "Which subject have you finished?"

"Physics is half written."

"That means I haven't finished a subject." Ji Kaiyang corrected, "Hurry up and write it yourself, if you don't, I'll tell you."

"I can't finish writing." Yi Chen said with a bitter face, "It's almost eight o'clock, and I definitely can't finish writing."

"Then why did you go there two days ago? I don't care, don't try to copy mine."

"Then I'll tell Aunt Zhang, you steal sweets."

Ji Kaiyang glared at him, turned around and went to open the door, "You don't need to tell me, I'll go by myself."

"No, no, no, I'm just kidding." Yi Chen hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Lend me to finish copying first, and hand in the homework tomorrow. I'll write it myself later, okay?"

Ji Kai raised his head and turned to one side, as if there was no room for negotiation.

"You sure can't bear to see me being punished to stand tomorrow." Yi Chen shook his arm, "Ji Kaiyang, brother Kaiyang..."

"You don't come here, why did you go earlier." Ji Kaiyang said, Yi Chen called him Brother Kaiyang when he was a child, but when he was older, he called him by his first name.But once it comes to begging him, this title is used again.

"I wanted to write this afternoon, but my parents kept arguing, so I didn't finish it."

I only thought about writing it on Sunday, and you can’t finish writing in a quiet environment.Ji Kaiyang wanted to scold him, but he didn't say it.

Yi Chen continued to feel wronged, "I also heard they said they wanted a divorce."

Ji Kaiyang took out his hand, walked aside and handed him the schoolbag, "One last time."

"Got it." Yi Chen quickly took the schoolbag.

"Hurry up, if you don't go to bed at ten o'clock, my mother will remind you."

"That's right." Yi Chen thought of his family's work and rest time, and his heart that had just soared fell a little bit, and he roughly flipped through Ji Kaiyang's homework, "There are so many, I didn't write any composition, what do you think? Can I finish copying it?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Brother Kaiyang..."

Ji Kaiyang looked at him, there was indeed a lot of homework this week.

"Sit over." He hesitated for a moment, and put the chair next to Yi Chen, "I wrote it for you first, and you will write another one this week."

"Brother Kaiyang is the best." Yi Chen spread his composition in front of him with a smile, and handed over the pen in a doggy manner.

"Stop talking, write." Ji Kaiyang took a pen and emphasized again, "It's really the last time, and I will never bother you next time."

"I swear." Yi Chen swore, although they all knew that this was impossible.

It is not the first time Ji Kaiyang helps Yi Chen write essays.He sometimes doubts that he probably wrote more compositions for Yi Chen than Yi Chen himself.I wrote so many times, but my teacher didn't find out. The main reason is that the two of them were sent to the same teacher to practice cursive calligraphy when they were young. When they practiced together, they unconsciously imitated each other. Now their handwriting is almost exactly the same.Sometimes a little more attention, not to mention the teacher, after a long time, I can't tell the difference.

"It's finished."

Ji Kaiyang closed the homework book, and Yi Chen applauded cheerfully beside him.He finished writing 10 minutes earlier than Ji Kaiyang, and sat with his head tilted all the time, watching Ji Kaiyang write.

Ji Kaiyang glanced at the time, it was a quarter past nine.If he had been asked to write by himself just now, he would probably be able to finish it.Ji Kaiyang sighed silently in his heart, he shouldn't be soft-hearted.

"Go wash up." He got up and walked to the bathroom, and Yi Chen followed behind him.

"Why did you brush your teeth for so long just now?" Lying on the bed, Yi Chen clung to Ji Kaiyang's ear and talked to him.

Ji Kaiyang swiped for at least 10 minutes at night, and Yi Chen obviously felt that he felt a little nauseous at the end, so he stopped.

"You have your own pillow, why are you so close to me?" Ji Kaiyang gently pushed him.

Yi Chen persisted, "You haven't answered me yet."

"Why do you have so many questions? If you can't sleep, go do your homework again now."

Yi Chen pursed his mouth and stopped talking.

Ji Kaiyang snapped off the light, "Sleep."

After a long time, neither of them fell asleep, and they could feel it from each other's breathing.

Ji Kaiyang knew that he spoke in a harsh tone, he was a little angry with himself, but took it out on Yi Chen.

But how would he tell Yi Chen?Said I regretted eating sweets at night and felt disrespectful.Fearing that the teeth will not grow well, you can only brush for a while to relieve the guilt?So silly.

"Yi Chen." Ji Kaiyang poked his hand from under the quilt to touch Yi Chen's hand, "Are you asleep?"

Yi Chen ignored him.

"Good night."

Ji Kaiyang had no choice but to retract his hand slowly, but when he was about to return to his quilt, he was gently pinched.