sunk into the earth

On July 16th, Zhang Chen really showed up downstairs at Cheng Sheng's grandma's house on time.

Cheng Sheng only came down with a black suitcase. He likes to wear white clothes. The more easily dirty, the more he likes them. Today he wore the most common shorts and white T-shirt, the soft fabric common in the 90s. Shaped, loosely resting on the frame.

Cheng Sheng couldn't eat in the summer, and felt nauseous after eating only one meal a day. Recently, his weight dropped sharply, and his height dropped to 1.8 kg at 57 meters.

He saw Zhang Chen who was waiting for him downstairs, and greeted him, but with a thorn in his mouth: "I thought you weren't coming."

Zhang Chen didn't care about his tone, and replied: "What you say means what you say. If you promise to come and see you off, you have to."

Cheng Sheng forced a smile, he was about to leave, he dared to ask for anything, even handed his suitcase to Zhang Chen, and asked him, "Can you help me with my luggage?"

Zhang Shen didn't have any objections, and he put on his luggage, and walked next to Cheng Sheng, and walked towards the train station with him.

They walked for nearly an hour, chatting one after another, Cheng Sheng seemed to have adapted to the atmosphere of this small town, and it was rare that he didn't say a word about his things that he was proud of but made others feel obscure. Chatted with Zhang Chen about next year's college entrance examination, and introduced him to a large circle of colleges and universities in Beijing.

But Zhang Chen seemed absent-minded. While chatting, he took out a cigarette from his pocket to light it, and smoked while holding Cheng Sheng's luggage.

Cheng Sheng glanced at him several times along the way, and Zhang Chen's actions made him feel reluctant to part with it. Cheng Sheng felt that what Zhang Chen was doing now seemed to be reluctant to part with something, but Cheng Sheng didn't dare to act so boldly. Guessing about himself, just talking about it with him as usual.

In [-], the train station was still able to drop off. Zhang Chen followed Cheng Sheng into the station and arrived at the platform. A trace of curiosity.

The train back to Beijing was a green leather car, several compartments were pulled together by hooks, and as soon as the whistle blew, it pulled a car of foreigners to the capital.

There were very few people in Cheng Sheng's compartment, and his seat happened to be by the window. He struggled to pick up the suitcase and threw it into the luggage rack by himself. There was a young couple next to him who wanted to sit next to each other. When the luggage was ready, he pointed to the middle of the other side and asked if he would like to change the seat.Cheng Sheng looked up at the young couple, hesitant.

Outside the platform was Zhang Chen. He looked at Cheng Sheng seriously through the dirty glass window. He knew that this was the last time they would see each other, so he rarely waved at him.

This scene was on the side of Cheng Sheng's head. Although Zhang Chen still had no expression, waving his hand and saying goodbye was enough to comfort Cheng Sheng. He glanced at the man next to him, then at Zhang Chen on the platform, and declined apologetically. Complied with the young couple's request.

The inside of the train was extremely noisy, the sounds of people coming and going, the crying of children, and the voices of conductors talking, but these sounds seemed to disappear suddenly in Cheng Sheng's ears. He looked out the window at Zhang Chen who was left on the platform, Alone, there was an inexplicable dull pain in my heart.

Zhang Chen stood beside the platform where he was coming and going, a bit abrupt, he was tall, he was not standing like Cheng Sheng, who didn't stand or sit or sit like a fool, Zhang Chen seemed sincere in everything he did, even if it was like now, he just stood outside the window Waving his hand at him, Cheng Sheng also had the illusion that Zhang Chen was really reluctant to part with him.

The sharp sound of the whistle pulled Cheng Sheng out of his expectation, and the train started slowly. Cheng Sheng watched the people outside slowly retreating, and only then did he have the illusion that he really wanted to leave.

He put his upper body on the glass window and tried to wave goodbye to the people outside. When people parted, they became very tolerant, and the people outside also became ignorant of past suspicions. Zhang Chen seemed to have forgotten all those things Cheng Sheng did, and there was no barrier. smiled at him.

This smile made Cheng Sheng very sad. He looked at the scene outside and had a premonition that he was going to lose something. get off.

The conductor was startled by him, looked at the handsome young man in front of him and said, "The train is already open, it is impossible for you to get off." Cheng Sheng was so anxious that he wanted to go to the conductor, but the conductor in front of him He stopped him in time, and persuaded him a few words, "This train will only take seven hours, you really don't want to leave, just buy another ticket from Beijing to come back here tomorrow."

That is to say, but the distance between Beijing and Yuncheng is only seven hours. Can he come back when he arrives in Beijing?

So Cheng Sheng just went back to his seat, and when he looked out of the glass window, he couldn't see anyone anymore, all he could see was a dark green mountain.

Soon their train entered the tunnel. This section of the tunnel was not short. It took several minutes to drive from the beginning to the end. Cheng Sheng fell asleep in the long darkness. The train has already arrived in Beijing.

Cheng Sheng got out of the car with the crowd. He smelled the air of his hometown in the capital for a long time. It was much fresher than Yuncheng, and the people here were also more enthusiastic than Yuncheng. Tell him to excuse me.

The ones who came to pick him up were Qin Xiao and Chang Xin, each of whom gave him a big hug and rushed to carry his luggage.

Qin Xiao had sharp eyes, saw that he only had a black suitcase, and asked, "You really didn't bring the drum back?"

"Don't you have a set at home? It's so troublesome to move such a big thing around."

Qin Xiao glanced at him again, and smiled: "Are you still planning to go back to your grandma's house?"

Cheng Sheng didn't speak, but Chang Xin interjected next to him: "No way, what if we sign the contract? You have to be here."

Cheng Sheng was not very interested in this journey, he looked like he was not awake, his brain couldn't process the information, he just said: "I'm not sure yet, go to the interview first, and read it after the interview."

*****

It was raining lightly when he came out of the train station, Zhang Shen didn't take his umbrella, and just walked slowly in the rain alone.From the train station to his home is neither too close nor too far, it takes more than half an hour to walk, and he didn't think about anything during this half hour, just walked slowly, slowly.

He ran into Li Xiaoyun at the door of the house. At that time, she was squatting at the entrance of the dark corridor, and almost tripped Zhang Chen who was about to enter the door.

Zhang Chen helped his mother up with a flashlight, and when he stood up straight, he found that Li Xiaoyun's face was blue and red.

"What have you been doing?"

Li Xiaoyun looked a little sluggish. After being helped by her son, she didn't recover for a long time, and finally said: "I fell on the road."

Of course Zhang Chen didn't believe it, and asked again: "Can you fall like this after a fall?"

Now Li Xiaoyun didn't speak at all, just like Zhang Shen usually when he was angry, with his mouth tightly shut, he walked crookedly towards the bathroom.

Zhang Chen has nothing to do with her. He knows very well that his virtues are probably inherited from Li Xiaoyun. The mother and son not only look alike, but also have [-]% similar personalities. Their mouths are harder than the spark-sprayed steel in a steel factory. I can't persuade or hold back.

The drawer in the living room has prepared urgent medicine all the year round. Zhang Chen rummaged through it, and picked a few and put them in Li Xiaoyun's bedroom. When he came out, he heard Li Xiaoyun crying in the bathroom. It's as if you can't come and go, and you can't cry even if you cry.

Every time Zhang Chen encounters this kind of scene, he will become at a loss. He is not good at dealing with any human emotions, no matter good or bad.At this time, he walked back to his bedroom in silence, leaned on the window sill, looked out as he did when he was a child, and tried not to listen to the sounds outside.

Looking from this window, facing him is the huge chimney of the steel factory. For more than ten years, Zhang Chen has admired this huge chimney and the endless black smoke from it.But today Zhang Chen only looked at them for a while, 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes, Zhang Chen turned his head to the other direction, where he could see the stop sign with the three characters of the railway station printed on it, Zhang Chen looked at them for a long time, and suddenly started stomachache.

He bent over and slowly moved to the bedside table to get some stomach medicine. After swallowing two pills slowly, he realized that he forgot to drink water, so he had to face the environment outside his bedroom again, and walked to the living room almost frightened. to fetch water.

Fortunately, Li Xiaoyun had already returned to the bedroom, and the wooden door was closed tightly. Zhang Chen could neither see his mother nor get her usual eager inquiries, which made him feel relieved and sad at the same time.He took a big sip of water, and when he swallowed slowly, his throat felt a little sore. After he finished drinking, he ran to his window sill and looked out for a long time. By the time he realized that his arms were numb, the sky outside was completely dark. , Zhang Chen actually lay on the window sill doing nothing and looked out for several hours, not even eating lunch or dinner.

The three big characters of the original fiery train station have long been submerged in the night, not even a faint shadow was left for Zhang Chen.

This unbelievable situation lasted for three full days. Except for reviewing, doing odd jobs, and eating as usual, Zhang Chen spent the rest of the time on the one-meter-long gray window sill.

Cheng Sheng is gone and will probably never come back.

Zhang Chen couldn't be more clear about this matter. He understood that the two boys had known each other for a few days because of some inexplicable things, their personalities were much worse, and they didn't seem to get along well. Sometimes there is always an atmosphere that makes people feel uncomfortable. Who would be nostalgic for this kind of getting along?Besides, who would want to stay in this small town forever?Sooner or later you have to go.

But he couldn't help but look in the direction of the train station.

After Cheng Sheng left, Zhang Chen lost all interest in the big chimney in the steel factory. He was obsessed with the train station. His eyes jumped over the train station to the platform. Every day, many trains departed from there, sometimes carrying people. green trains and sometimes black wagons loaded with coal.

A few days ago, Qian Chengsheng took a green leather train to the capital there.

The capital, Cheng Sheng's hometown, Zhang Chen stared at a slow-moving black leather freight train on the distant railway tracks in confusion, thinking, what good things did he do in his previous life to be able to be born in the capital in this life? What about Mendi's house?But this question obviously has no answer.

Thunder suddenly sounded outside, and Zhang Chen knew that it was going to rain, so he was forced to close the window, draw the curtains tightly, and return to his little bed by himself, and lay down slowly on it.

There is no one at home today, Li Xiaoyun has gone somewhere, and Zhang Licheng is not at home. Recently, he was dragged into an organization by his colleagues. He cursed and shouted at the leaders of the steel factory every day. Today, he was incited again. Together with that group of people, I went to the house of the concubine of the leader of the dog to ask for salary.

After a while, there was the sound of dripping rain outside, which soon turned into a torrential rain, occasionally mixed with a few thunderclaps like explosions.Zhang Chen was not afraid of thunder, and lay motionless on the bed like a puppet, quietly looking at the ceiling above his head that had been with him for 17 years.

At this moment, suddenly there was a rush of knocking on the door. It was like a stimulant, and it was getting stronger and stronger. He saw that the posture was about to knock down the broken iron door of his house before he stopped.

Zhang Chen thought that it was Zhang Licheng who finally finished today's salary asking activity and forgot to bring the key to knock on the door like this, but when he reluctantly got up to open the door, he was stunned.

A drenched man stood at the door, holding a stack of textbooks and notebooks in his arms. The books in his arms were well protected by him, only a little wet.

Seeing that Zhang Chen was stunned, the man said dissatisfiedly: "Take it, all my high school notes are here. I didn't expect to pack up so many. I took the train for seven hours with these things, but Shen died. me."

As he spoke, he moved these books into Zhang Chen's arms, muttering: "The number one scholar's note, take a good look at the number one scholar in your small place next year, you will definitely be the number one scholar here, cherish it."

Zhang Chen was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses, took the book in his arms, and said, "Our place is not the same as Beijing."

The man on the opposite side changed his face greatly, and after a "fuck", he began to comfort himself, "There is always something that can be used, right? I moved all over here, and I am exhausted."

This time Zhang Shen didn't pick up the quarrel, and honestly moved the stack of textbooks and notebooks back to his bedroom.

The man followed behind him, turned into the bathroom with ease, and tore off Zhang Chen's towel to wipe his hair.He was completely wet from head to toe, and after wiping his hair, he shouted to Zhang Chen outside: "Bring me a dry suit, my clothes are completely soaked!"

Zhang Chen picked out a big T-shirt from his closet and threw it to the person in the bathroom before returning to his bedroom, sitting by the bed alone in a daze.

The bedroom was pitch black, and the lights were not turned on, and it became even more gloomy when it rained.

After a while, Zhang Chen noticed a wet living thing moved beside him, and the living thing sat down next to him, and scolded himself first, "I'm so cheap!"

Zhang Chen said: "Not cheap, not cheap at all."

The man said again: "Why aren't you cheap? The words you swear to say sound like farting. You said you would never come back, but in a few days, you ran back, no matter what, I still think about you here." Is there something missing, people don’t want to talk to me, and I’m rushing to repost, isn’t that cheap?”

Zhang Chen didn't know what to say, and after a while he figured out what he should ask, so he asked him, "Why are you back all of a sudden?"

The wet creature said: "It was rejected, the record company said that our band's songs are too superficial, only slogans without serious truth, we want us to learn more from good bands, don't spark I want to blow it straight into the sky."

After speaking, he scolded again: "But I want Chang Xin to leave. Chang Xin is a child of me. The record company said that female lead singers are so scarce, and they can play bass guitar, so they decided to leave immediately."

He said no more after saying this.The room was pitch black, and after the two of them were silent, all they could hear was the rumbling rain outside.

This kind of atmosphere is very strange, as if the pouring rain outside poured into the house, the floor windowsill ceiling, even the two of them were soaked.

After a while, a loud thunder suddenly sounded outside, and Cheng Sheng shrank into Zhang Chen's arms, cursing as he shrank, "I'm scared to death."

But Zhang Chen seemed to be the one who was really frightened. He was at a loss as to what to do when he hugged the big living person in his arms.

Although Cheng Sheng had changed into dry clothes, he still smelled of rain. Zhang Chen was very sensitive to these smells, and soon noticed that the smell that had hovered over his chest was slowly wafting up.

Cheng Sheng was leaning against his arms, except for his arms around his neck. This movement was very ambiguous, and Cheng Sheng knew it himself. It happened that he was going to climb up the pole to do something ambiguous, so he slowly Putting his own forehead on Zhang Shen's forehead, this action made the tips of their noses touch together, and their lips were a little bit closer.

The air between the two began to thicken, and the two breaths became more and more rapid. Zhang Shen looked so calm, he became a little dizzy in just a few seconds, and he didn't want to stop him at all.

Then he felt a faint smell of rain from his lips, so faint that no one else could smell it at all.Cheng Sheng tentatively pressed his lips together, at first only lightly, he was afraid that the person opposite would overreact and beat him up, but after a long time of sticking, he realized that the person opposite had closed his eyes, and even the slightest sign of resistance was gone. No.

At this moment, the sound of keys being locked suddenly came from the iron door outside, and a female voice rang out at the door: "Zhang Chen? Are you at home, Chen Chen?"

It's Li Xiaoyun.Zhang Chen looked at Cheng Sheng who was lying on his body, moved one step faster than his mind, opened the wardrobe door, and hid in with him in his arms.

There was a rustling sound of tidying up things outside, and soon Li Xiaoyun pushed open the door of her son's bedroom, looked around for a week and then sighed, "Where did you go again? None of this is worrying."

The space in the closet is very narrow, and the two of them had to stick together, hearing the sound of each other’s and their own fierce panting. Such a small space is the perfect soil for any emotion to take root. If the world is only as small as a closet, then they do Anything is fine.

After a while, the two of them were not satisfied with their simple lips touching their lips. They didn't know who took the first step, and the sound of water slowly appeared between them. Just barely keep the balance.Zhang Chen was a little better than him, but only a little bit. He hugged Cheng Sheng's waist, with one hand behind his back to help him breathe.

It was still raining outside, and it was getting worse and worse. Li Xiaoyun put on her pajamas and went to work in the kitchen, wiping the chopping board, washing tomatoes, and planning to make a cucumber salad later.

The two of them kissed in the closet, Cheng Sheng felt that Zhang Chen was too depressed, he was not as calm and restrained as Cheng Sheng thought, only at the first moment he seemed at a loss, but after the two of them hid in the closet, he was Completely changed, biting his lip and actively pestering him.

Zhang Chen seemed to have found his lost paradise. The trivial life filled with black mist, the edge of the small town whose heart was hollowed out, and the future with no way to see seemed to melt away in this kiss.

Cheng Sheng's rain-wet hair rubbed against Zhang Chen's face, and it was very itchy. He hugged the back of the boy's head opposite him. He didn't know how to get closer, so he could only stick his whole body against his.

They kissed for a long time, several times the two of them wanted to stop, thinking about how to get out for a while, but they couldn't seem to stop, just separated for a second or two, just looked at each other, and kissed again impatiently.