approximately parallel

Chapter 11

In Higashino Shizuru's memory, it seems that his birthday is rarely spent with his parents, and it is even more impossible for this to happen after their divorce.My father was busy with work all day long, whether it was performances or lectures, as well as those endless activities and meetings, and he was away from home for almost half of the year.And his mother is like Santa Claus in his memory.Because since the divorce, she almost only sent a valuable Christmas gift from abroad at Christmas time.Birthdays were no different to him now than any other day of the year, and he was used to it.But having said that, when he received a call from his father, he couldn't help but feel excited.

"I've been too busy recently, so I didn't bother to call you. Are you okay over there?" Masahiko Higashino's voice on the other end of the phone was still serious as usual.

"It's okay." Higashino Shizuru suddenly felt a strong desire, full of anticipation that his father could say something, but when the words came to his lips, only the simplest two words remained.

"Is the money enough?"

"enough."

Masahiko Higashino stopped suddenly, and continued after a while, "How are you thinking about going to Germany? I just talked to Professor Bolton on the phone a few days ago. He appreciates you very much. If you have his recommendation …”

"Dad, I've thought about it. I... don't want to go to Germany." Higashino Shizuru hesitated for a while, and finally summoned up the courage to interrupt his father.

There was no sound on the other end of the phone, followed by a suffocating silence.

"Let's not talk about this matter for now. Let's talk about it when you return to Japan. You are not young anymore, so you should be more sensible and don't always play childish temper."

"Dad, I..."

"Okay, I still have something to do here, let's do this first."

The moment his father hung up the phone, Higashino Shizuru's emotions fell to the bottom in an instant.He couldn't tell what kind of mood he was in at the moment, he just felt that all the previous expectations and hopes were shattered in the series of meaningless beeps.

What is the purpose of human life?Is it simply just to live?So what is the meaning of life?Is it just breathing and heartbeat?If this is the case, then congratulations Shizuru Higashino, because you are still alive.Just to be alive.

Shen Sa was sitting in a drink shop near the movie theater with a sullen expression on her face. Sitting opposite her were Fang Jianyue and his girlfriend Du Shasha.The sunlight slanted in from the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, and it happened to shine on Du Shasha's body.

"I told you not to sit here, look, you're dying of the sun!" Du Shasha stretched out her palm in a futile attempt to cover the sunlight outside the window.

"More exposure to the sun is good for your body, and the winter sun won't tan you, so what are you afraid of?" Fang Jianyue comforted his girlfriend with a smile.

"Who says you can't get a tan? Do you want me to turn into an African?" Du Shasha glared at him and whispered.

"Then I'll change places with you?" Fang Jianyue quickly got up and said.

Du Shasha shook her head, "Forget it, my feet hurt and I'm too lazy to move."

"Then I hug you?"

"Screw you!"

Seeing the two of them flirting and cursing as if no one else was around, Shen Sa couldn't help but secretly made a movement of vomiting.

"What do you want to drink?" Wang Siyuan asked the crowd.

"I want Coke." Liu Hao was the first to say.He loves Coke as much as curry.

Fang Jianyue immediately turned to Du Shasha, "What do you want to drink?"

"Anything." The girl parted her lips lightly, and spit out a sentence gracefully.

"Is Coke OK?"

“Coke is for flushing toilets.”

As soon as these words came out, Shen Sa couldn't help but burst out laughing, while Liu Hao had the expression of being shot while lying down.

As soon as Fang Jianyue saw it, he immediately asked again, "How about... Sprite?"

"Isn't that the same?"

“Soda, soda is healthy.”

"I don't like the smell."

"How about a milkshake?"

"I'm losing weight."

"The juice?"

"How can the juice sold here be drinkable? It's full of coloring and saccharin."

Seeing the moon down here is completely out of control, and he can't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Then what do you want to drink?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you casually?" The girl was a little impatient.

"Why don't you try honey grapefruit tea? It's a new winter product they just launched. It's beautifying and beautifying. It's the most suitable drink for girls." Wang Siyuan gave a good suggestion.

Du Shasha thought for a while and finally nodded, Fang Jianyue was secretly relieved.

"Student Dongye," while Wang Siyuan and Luo Ling were going to buy drinks, Du Shasha and Dongye Jingxian struck up a conversation.

"Oh, just call me Higashino."

"I've been hearing people talking about you before, but today I finally saw the deity." The girl said with a smile on her face, "By the way, can I take a photo with you?"

Shizuru Higashino politely agreed.

"Why do people in your school know about Dongye?" Liu Hao asked strangely.

"Of course!" Du Shasha ignored Liu Hao and only spoke to Higashino, "They said that you look like Suouhan when you play the piano, Ryota Kise when you play ball, and Orihara Rinya when you don't smile. When she woke up, she looked like Natsume Takashi again. Hey, who do you think you resemble the most?" Du Shasha popped out a series of strange names in one breath, and Higashino Shizuru was completely dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, what you said..... I don't quite understand?"

"These are characters from anime! Why don't you know?" Du Shasha's eyes widened in disbelief.

Higashino Shizuru shook his head.

"Aren't you Japanese? These are all popular anime!" Du Shasha couldn't believe that a person who grew up in Japan didn't know this.

"Sorry, I rarely watch these." Higashino Shizuru said apologetically.

"Strange, people in your school have never seen Dongye, how do you know so clearly?" Shen Sa interrupted.

Du Shasha turned her head arrogantly, as if she didn't want to answer this question.

"By the way, I heard that you and Luo Ling have known each other since childhood, is it true?"

Higashino Shizuru nodded.Unexpectedly, even people from other schools knew about this matter.

"No wonder everyone calls you Dong Ye, but he calls you Xiao Xian." The girl blinked meaningfully.

Higashino Shizuru didn't know how to answer her words, so he had to respond with a dry laugh.

"I also heard that you and him..." Du Shasha seemed to have more to say, but she was interrupted by Fang Jianyue as soon as she started.

"Uh...why aren't they here, Boss? The movie is about to start."

"Let me go and have a look." Higashino Shizuru got up and left the seat after finishing speaking.

Du Shasha's face darkened, she seemed very dissatisfied, but she couldn't get angry, so she changed the subject and said, "What movie are you going to watch today?"

""No Man's Land"." Seeing that his method worked, Fang Jianyue replied immediately.

"Does it look good?"

"I don't know. But the ratings on the Internet are quite high."

"Why don't you watch "Four Famous Arrests"?"

"That's a super bad movie." Shen Sa blurted out.

"But everyone in our dormitory said it was pretty." Du Shasha was even more unhappy, retorting unconvinced.

"If you really want to watch it, then I'll accompany you to watch "Four Famous Catchers". I'll go tell the boss right away." Fang Jianyue said immediately.

"Don't hold back if you don't want to watch it." Shen Sa mumbled a series of strange sounds from his mouth.

Fang Jianyue ignored him.

"Forget it, don't bother. I haven't seen this movie anyway. Who played it?"

"Xu Zheng, Huang Bo."

"Who is Xu Zheng?"

"It's the one who played Zhu Bajie in "Bright Spring"."

Seeing Fang Jianyue trying hard to make his girlfriend happy, Shen Sa turned her face out of the window disapprovingly.

"Hey, you're really good. You brought her with you when you came out to play with us." Taking advantage of Du Shasha's time to go to the bathroom, Liu Hao finally couldn't help complaining to Fang Jianyue.

"Then what do you want me to do? As soon as I told her yesterday that the orchestra had an event today, she insisted that I was lying to her. If I don't let her come, she really thinks that I have something to hide from her." Fang Jianyue felt wronged say.

"You don't even have this kind of credibility in her mind?" Shen Sa glanced at Du Shasha's HELLOKITTY bag in his hand, speaking with disdain.

"Okay, don't make it difficult for him, you can't let him leave his girlfriend behind, right?" Wang Siyuan has always been the most understanding.

"The boss still understands the truth." Fang Jianyue deliberately said to Shen Sa.

"See you!" Several people were talking, and Du Shasha had already come out of the bathroom.

"Here!" Fang Jianyue beckoned, and immediately trotted over.

"Oh, I think his life is over." Liu Hao shook his head, feeling regretful.

"When you have a girlfriend, you might not be as good as him." Wang Siyuan laughed.

"This girl doesn't seem very easy to serve." Luo Ling held her hands in her arms, still looking like she had nothing to do with her.

"Just wait and see, there must be a good show to watch later!" Shen Sa said.

Unexpectedly, it was really hit by him.Not long after the movie started, Du Shasha and Fang Jianyue had an awkward dispute.

"What is this show? After playing it for a long time, I didn't understand what it was talking about!" Du Shasha complained, her voice was not small.

"Don't worry, you'll understand when you look down." Fang Jianyue glanced around and whispered quickly.

"I don't want to watch it. You said it was played by Zhu Bajie and I thought it was a comedy. Who knows it's not funny at all. If I had known it, I might as well have watched "Four Famous Catchers"!"

"I said just now that I wanted to accompany you to see "The Four Famous Arresters", but you said no."

"You mean to blame me?"

"That's not what I meant. Why don't we watch this one today, and I'll accompany you to watch "Four Famous Catchers" next time, okay?"

"Next time, next time, you will say next time! I don't know when the next time will be!"

"Then what should I do? If you don't watch it now, isn't the ticket a waste?"

"After doing this for a long time, you just feel sorry for the little money. So I'm not worth a movie ticket in your mind!"

"That was not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean? I see, you never wanted me to come from the beginning!" After Du Shasha finished speaking, she stood up from her seat and walked out angrily.

"Sasha!" Fang Jianyue quickly chased after her.

"What's the matter?" Dong Ye Jingxian was trying to understand the dialect with a strong northwest accent spoken by Huang Bo in the movie. It wasn't until Fang Jianyue got up to chase out that something seemed to be wrong.

"Du Shasha got angry and ran away." Liu Hao said.

"why?"

Liu Hao shook his head and shrugged helplessly.

"I guess they won't come back before the movie is over." Luo Ling lazily leaned on the back of the chair.

The sky had gradually darkened, and there were lights lit up in Fat Brother's food stall.When the evening wind blows, the colorful lanterns hanging on the trees sway gently with the wind, creating a carefree time.The boys were discussing the plot in the movie with great interest, but as soon as Fang saw Yue came, everyone immediately turned the topic to him.

"Ah, you can still come back alive? This is too unscientific! Turn around and let me see, there are no missing parts on your body, right?" Shen Sa cried out in a fuss when she saw him.

However, Fang Jianyue didn't argue with him this time, and just sat down at the table with a dejected expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" Wang Siyuan asked.

Fang Jianyue didn't speak, just shook his head.

"How many streets have you chased after her? Did you come back only now?" Shen Sa laughed.

"Is there any wine?" Fang Jianyue asked softly.

"Oh, yes." Seeing that his expression was not good, Liu Hao quickly poured him a glass.

"What's the matter? Did Medusa break up with you again?" It seemed that Shen Sa knew the matter between Fang Jianyue and Du Shasha very well.

Fang Jianyue didn't answer, but just picked up the cup and drank it dry in one go.

"She really wants to break up with you? It's a good thing!" Shen Sa slapped her hands happily, and then was dragged aside by Wang Siyuan unceremoniously, while comforting Fang Jianyue and said:

"Usually when a girl says she wants to break up, she doesn't really want to break up with you, she just wants you to care about her."

"Why don't I care about her anymore? As long as I can do what I can, what exactly does she want from me?" Maybe it was because of drinking, Fang Jianyue gradually became emotional.

Seeing him like this, Shen Sa didn't dare to joke anymore, and persuaded: "Don't worry, it's okay. Girls are like this, just coax them. How about I teach you a few tricks?"

"Come on, what else do you want besides stalking and stalking?" Luo Ling teased.

"So what if I've coaxed it well this time? I don't know when I'll be angry again next time. Alas, being alive is so fucking tiring." Fang Jianyue sighed depressingly, then raised her neck and drank half a cup vigorously.

Hearing these words, Higashino Shizuru couldn't help being startled, and the emotions that had been suppressed for a day suddenly surged up. He picked up the cup and said to Jianyue, "Come, I'll drink with you!"

Fang Jianyue picked up the cup to touch him, drank it all in one gulp, and poured himself a second cup impatiently.In this way, the two of you drank each other, and I drank each other. After a while, the beer bottles on the table were more than half empty.

"Xiaoxian, are you okay?" Luo Ling had never seen Dongye Jingxian like this before, so he couldn't help feeling a little strange.

"It's okay." Higashino Shizuru finished speaking and drank the wine in the glass in one breath.

"You're going to get drunk like this."

Higashino Shizuru gave him a disdainful look, and said with a snort, "I've never been drunk before."

Higashino Shizuru was drunk, but he didn't admit it, he just kept spitting Japanese out of his mouth.

"Higano, you, your day...how do you say this... so slippery in Japanese?" Fang Jianyue was also drunk, and his tongue seemed to be short when he spoke.

"Luo Ling, can you do it alone?" Wang Siyuan glanced at Dongye Jingxian and asked.

"You don't have to worry about me, let's find a way to get rid of these two guys first!" Luo Ling said, taking a look at Liu Hao who was throwing up and Fang Jianyue who was staggering not far away.

"Haozi is on the same road with me, I will just send him back. Shen Sa, I will leave it to you when I see the moon."

"But if his mother sees him like this, why don't you kill me?" Shen Sa raised Fang Jianyue and said.

"No, you can take him back to your home." Wang Siyuan said.

"I... don't care about you," Fang Jianyue pushed Shen Sa away with a wave of his hand, "I, I... can, can go back by myself."

"Okay, okay, okay, go back by yourself, go back by yourself." Shen Sa gestured "OK" to Wang Siyuan, and at the same time coaxed Fang Jianyue away like a child.

"Hey, they...why...all, all left?" Seeing everyone dispersed, Higashino Shizuru couldn't help shouting

"It's getting late, we should go back." Seeing that he was staggering when walking, Luo Ling hurried forward to support him.

"Here, what are you doing back so early? Isn't the sky... still on?"

"That's the lamp."

"Light? That... that's obviously, it's the sun!" Dongye Jingxuan looked up at the sky, slurring drunken words in his mouth.

"Brother, that's the moon." Luo Ling shook his head helplessly, "I told you not to drink so much, and you said that you have never been drunk? I think you have never drunk from a bar?"

"Wine? Where is the...wine?"

"Haven't you drunk enough? Look at your smell of alcohol, you can smell it no matter how far away, if the teacher sees you, you will be finished!"

"What... eggs? Is it delicious?"

"Pull it down, and you said you didn't drink too much!" Luo Ling stopped talking nonsense with him, took his arm and left.

Although Fat Brother's food stall is not too far from the school, but because there is still one person to be dragged along, it still took a lot of trouble for Luo Ling to go all the way.But Higashino Shizuru didn't know anything, and kept muttering some words that only he himself could understand.

"Hey, where's your key? Where did you put it?" Luo Ling stood panting at the door of the dormitory on the second floor, struggling to free one hand to fumble for the key in Dong Ye Jingxian's pocket, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find it. did not find.

"I... want to... sleep... sleep." Higashino Jingxian murmured, her body getting heavier and heavier.

"Hey, don't sleep yet! I, I can't hold on anymore!" Luo Ling couldn't support his weight with one hand, so he had no choice but to drag this humanoid heavy object and continue upstairs.

After finally returning to the dormitory, Luo Ling was already exhausted.However, before he could catch his breath, Higashino Shizuru was already sound asleep on the bed.He slept deeply, his cheeks were flushed from the effect of alcohol, and from time to time a sentence or two of nonsense came out of his mouth, whether it was in Chinese or Japanese.Seeing him sleeping peacefully, Luo Ling couldn't help but wryly smiled.Everyone says that ignorance is a blessing, and it seems to be true.

In the middle of the night, it began to rain heavily, and the raindrops hit the glass windows with a crackling sound.Higashino Jingxian was awakened by the sound of rain, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Luo Ling sleeping on the next bed.At this moment, he suddenly had the illusion of going back in time, as if he had returned to his childhood, to that carefree childhood.Maybe it was really because he drank too much wine. After waking up, he only felt dry mouth and tongue. He got up and wanted to get a glass of water, but just as he picked up the glass, he disturbed the people on the bed.

"Sorry for waking you up." Higashino Shizuru said apologetically.

"It's okay. What about you? Are you feeling better?" Luo Ling rubbed his eyes, "I thought you wouldn't wake up until after Christmas when I saw you just now."

Higashino Shizuru smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry to trouble you."

"Come on, you still say such things to me?" Luo Ling waved his hand and cursed with a smile.

"Oh, how is Jianyue? He seems to have drunk a lot too?"

"You still said, it wasn't your fault? I don't know what happened to you two tonight, it's like the League of Broken Lovers."

"Is he alright?" Higashino Shizuru felt a little apologetic.

"Don't worry, he's fine. But I don't think he dared to drink again for at least half a year this time."

Higashino Shizuru couldn't help but smiled, looked around before asking: "Why did I come to your dormitory?"

"I couldn't find the key to your room, so I had to bring you here."

"The key is in my pocket," Higashino Shizuru said, reaching for his pants pocket, "Huh? Where's my key?"

"Don't look for it, I must have lost it at Fat Brother's place. It's okay, go get it tomorrow morning, it shouldn't be lost." After Luo Ling finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly think of something, "Oh, what time is it?"

"[-]:[-], what's the matter?" Higashino Shizuru sat back on the bed, glanced at his watch and said.

"Oh, fortunately, there is still time," Luo Ling said, taking off a necklace with a cross hanging from his neck, and handing it to Shizuru Higashino, "Here you are, happy birthday."

Higashino Shizuru looked at him in surprise, and was speechless for a moment.

"What's the matter? Are you still drunk?" Seeing him sitting still and not talking, Luo Ling couldn't help shaking the necklace in front of his eyes.

"How do you... know it's my birthday?"

"You said it yourself. You read it all the way back just now. But I'm sorry, I don't have time to prepare a gift, so I have to give you a ready-made one."

Looking at the necklace in front of him, the memories in the depths of Shizuru Higashino's mind boiled like a pot of boiling water.

I remember that when I was in elementary school, the school did not allow students to wear any jewelry, but Luo Ling refused to take off this chain no matter what.For this reason, the school teacher also asked him to invite parents to come to the school to talk.It wasn't until Father Luo appeared in the principal's office that everyone knew that Luo Ling was an orphan.Later, it seemed that it was legal for the priest to adopt Luo Ling?Should he be sent to an orphanage?And whether his biological parents are involved in the crime of abandonment?Will he be a child abducted and a series of troublesome things.At that time, various people came and went in and out of the Catholic Church almost every day, and Luo Ling did not come to school for several days.Of course, these obscure questions were really difficult for Shizuru Higashino to understand at the time, but this strange atmosphere made him feel a little scared. He was afraid that one day Luo Ling would be taken away by those people. I will never see him again.However, none of these bad things really happened.After Father Luo tried his best to win, Luo Ling finally stayed in the Catholic Church.And the school gave him the green light out of respect for religious figures.In the end, he logically became the only person in the school who could wear a necklace, which also attracted the attention of many girls.It is precisely because this necklace has caused such a big disturbance that Shizuru Higashino has such a deep impression on it.Unexpectedly, Luo Ling would actually give it to him today.

"Hey, why are you in a daze? Take it quickly! My hands are sore." Luo Ling urged, interrupting his thoughts.

"No, this... I can't have it."

"Why? You don't think it's too old, do you?"

The silver cross was dangling in mid-air, exuding a long and warm luster.

"Didn't Father Luo give you this necklace? You have been wearing it since you were a child and never took it off. How could such an important thing be given to me?"

"I said, why are you so wordy?" Luo Ling simply walked up to Dongye Jingxuan, and put the necklace around his neck, "I told you it's yours!"

"But..." Higashino Shizuru still wanted to take off the necklace.

"Hey, don't take it off! You can't take it off after you put it on, or God will be angry."

"Then why are you not afraid of his anger?"

"I've done too many bad things, the old man has already gotten used to it." Luo Ling pointed to the sky and said cynically.

Higashino Shizuru couldn't help being amused by his words, but there was an indescribable feeling in his heart, in short, it was definitely not something that could be described as just being happy.

"Why didn't you say that today is your birthday? Let's celebrate it for you." Luo Ling sat down and said.

"Isn't there enough celebration tonight?" Thinking of his gaffe tonight, Higashino Shizuru couldn't help laughing at himself.

"At least there should be a cake, right?"

"It doesn't matter, just be happy."

"This must be the worst birthday you've ever had, right?"

Shizuku Higashino suddenly showed a wry smile, "Actually, I almost don't remember the last time I celebrated my birthday."

"What? Haven't you celebrated your birthday for a long time?" As if hearing the emotion in his words, Luo Ling hesitated, but still couldn't help asking.

"My dad works almost 360 days a year, and my mom...I seldom see her since she went abroad."

"Then you have no friends?"

Higashino Shizuru shook his head, "We have moved frequently since we were in elementary school, and we separated when we had friends we could play with. Besides, I spend all my spare time playing the piano, so I don't have a chance to make friends." He said the words calmly, but in that seemingly relaxed smile there was a kind of loneliness that was not commensurate with his age, which made people feel distressed.

At this moment Luo Ling really wanted to comfort him, but he didn't know where to start, so he fell silent for a while.

"Okay, don't just talk about me, let's talk about you too." Seeing that the atmosphere gradually became a little heavy, Higashino Shizuru quickly changed the subject.

"Me? I'm nothing special. Since you left, I haven't gone to Brace Boy's house to steal mangoes again. I was admitted to the music high school when I graduated from elementary school. That's when Father Luo was in poor health. I went back to China. I remember that day when he left, I didn’t dare to see him off. I just hid in the room and cried secretly. Haha, isn’t it embarrassing?” Thinking of himself at that time, Luo Ling smiled self-deprecatingly .

"Are you really going to cry?" Higashino Jingxian couldn't help imagining how Luo Ling was crying, and the more he thought about it, the more he found it funny.

"Laugh as much as you want, I don't mind." Luo Ling shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent look on his face.

"Did you cry when I left?"

"I don't remember." Luo Ling was taken aback, and replied noncommittally.

"Is it because I don't remember or I'm embarrassed to say? Just admit it, I promise I won't laugh at you."

"You still have the nerve to talk about me? Didn't you often cry before?"

"When did that happen? Besides, I don't dare to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!"

"When did I dare not go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?"

"Then why do you have to sing outside every time before you dare to go?"

"Hey, don't let those guys know about this."

"What? Are you afraid? I thought you were really fearless!"

In this way, the two laughed and laughed while complaining about their respective embarrassments, and talked until late before going to bed.The rain was still falling, and gradually, the room finally returned to its previous quietness, and the sound of rainwater hitting the window became more and more clear.Luo Ling glanced at Dongye Jingxuan who was already asleep, and then looked at the window that was wet by the rain.The orange halo emitted by the street lamp was just reflected on the glass window, messing up an unreal scene.The night was still long, but he couldn't fall asleep anyway.