back edge

Autumn in the Northeast is as short as a flash in the pan, and the first snow falls at night before the leaves on the roadside turn yellow.

It's not that bad, it's just very cold.

Xie Jingnian was standing in the alley behind the hotpot restaurant smoking a cigarette, a layer of snowflakes floating on his body, mottled with traces of wetness.

He has been working here for almost a month.

It was the restaurant where Chen Xi and Zhou Yantong brought him to eat hot pot last time.The owner of this store is probably an acquaintance of Chen Xi, he still remembers that Chen Xi brought Xie Jingnian here, and he stayed without asking.

Recently, Chen Xi didn't know what he was busy with. He disappeared in the morning and often came home late at night. The two of them couldn't talk at all.If it wasn't for the cold breakfast on the table, he almost thought that Chen Shi would not come back every day.The same is true for Zhou Yantong, who loses contact frequently.

When he is free, he goes to the practice room to play guitar and is often alone.

Going to school, working part-time, and going home every day is so boring that it seems to have returned to the old days.Just with the company of the guitar, he doesn't actually feel alone.

The smoke mixed with the breath floated gently above his head, and when he looked up, snowflakes fell into his eyes.

Xie Jingnian was so fascinated that he blinked suddenly, and when he came back to his senses, he seemed to be hallucinating—not only the roar of the motorcycle, but also the familiar, strong, and distinct smell of tobacco, and the fact that he had been thinking about it all the time. people.

"Didn't I tell you not to smoke?"

Chen Xi stepped out one footprint after another on the snow-covered ground until the footprints spread to Xie Jingnian's body.

"I only smoke once in a while." Xie Jingnian threw away the remaining half of a cigarette, and the sole of his shoe mercilessly rolled it up, asking him why he came here.

Chen Kui took off his gloves, used them to dust off the snowflakes on Xie Jingnian's body, and said in a low voice, "I'm here to pick you up."

The heating in the building had started a few days ago, and the hot air rushed out from the crack of the door and rushed all over the face.

The two of them didn't eat at night, Chen Xi took off his coat as soon as he entered the door, and went straight to the kitchen.

"Brother Rotten, I'll help you." Xie Jingnian put down his schoolbag and ran over before he could take off his coat.

Chen Xi said he didn't need him, and dragged him to the sofa by his collar with one hand, telling him to do his homework quickly.

Xie Jingnian smelled the aroma of vegetables, his heart felt like a lump of sugar melted, he was so tired that he couldn't breathe.

He wanted to ask several times what they had been doing this month, but he couldn't open his mouth, and Chen Xi didn't seem to have any intention of explaining to him.

Taking a bath absent-mindedly, the skin on the waist with the fingertips touched the skin of the waist when he was absent-minded.

In the misty mirror, the young man's body was thin and fair, except for a pool of bruises on the lower right side of his ribs, which was particularly eye-catching.

The door of the bathroom was pushed open unexpectedly, and Chen Xi stepped in barefoot, causing the stagnant water on the tiled floor to explode and land on Xie Jingnian's ankles.

"Brother Rotten—"

Xie Jingnian clung to the wall in panic, his back was instantly icy cold.He pulled the towel on the rack to cover his waist, and the high-pitched voice broke with a squeak at the end, echoing in the bathroom.

Chen Kui closed the door casually, looked at him with raised brows: "What's wrong?"

What's wrong?Xie Jingnian leaned there and wanted to ask him what's wrong——

"Have you fought with someone?" Chen Xi's eyes fell on the place where his towel didn't cover it and a small wound was exposed, "Let me take a look."

Xie Jingnian desperately clutched the towel, shaking his head again and again: "No, I'm fine, bro."

Chen Kui stared at him, stopped talking with him nicely, and let him come over like an order.

"I'm really fine." Xie Jingnian walked over obediently, not forgetting to cover it with a towel, only showing a little bit for him to see, "It will be fine in a few days."

Chen Kui's palm was huge, holding half of Xie Jingnian's waist.Rubbing his thumb against that spot, he asked, "Does it hurt?"

"pain."

"It's okay if it hurts." Chen Xi let go of his hand, and picked up the dropped mobile phone from the window sill over him, bringing a gust of cool wind when he went out.

Xie Jingnian was already done washing, so he directly dried it with a towel when he saw it. When he got dressed and went out, Chen Kui was sitting on the sofa.

Holding a brown medicine bottle in his hand, he followed the reputation and called Xie Jingnian to come and lie on the sofa.

Xie Jingnian's pajamas were lifted up by Chen Yu, the hem was draped over his chest, and a layer of fine bumps formed on his body due to exposure to the cool air.

Chen Kui smeared the medicine on the palm of his hand, covering his bruised and swollen place gently.Xie Jingnian couldn't help crying out in pain, but after meeting Chen Xi's eyes, he held back: "Brother Xiu..."

Xie Jingnian shrank back subconsciously, and was pulled back by someone.

"Endure it." Chen Kui had no expression on his face, and his hands did not relax.

Xie Jingnian held back, but still let out some faint breath sounds from his throat.

Almost a week has passed, and the injury still hasn't healed, which is enough to show how hard that kick was.

A while ago, Chen Hanlin and Xie Jingnian said that he had caught the whistleblower and dealt with it.

Xie Jingnian disagreed.Unexpectedly, after two days, he was found.

The first time he saw the whistleblower was in the Office of Academic Affairs.The boy was not tall, with short, natural curly hair coiled greasy on his head, and wearing glasses.

The middle-aged man standing behind him was probably his father, he kicked him as soon as he came up, and gave Xie Jingnian a blow.

This matter was quite a big deal, and the vice-principal came to talk about it in person.I don't know what was said behind Xie Jingnian's back, but the boy and his father patted their buttocks and left without saying a word.

Xie Jingnian was kicked in vain, and Ji Heyi was so anxious that he insisted on asking him for an explanation, but in the end, as expected, nothing came of it, and he did not receive a response for a long time.

Chen Xi didn't ask him why he was injured, he seemed to believe in his heart that it was because he fought with others that he became like this, and he didn't have a good face from the beginning to the end.

After applying the medicine, Xie Jingnian's legs felt weak, and the entire right side of his waist and abdomen was hot and numb, and he was about to be unable to straighten his waist.

Chen Kui washed his hands, and when he came out, he saw Xie Jingnian still sitting on the sofa, and asked him, "Aren't you sleeping yet?"

"I, I'll slow down for a while." Xie Jingnian tightly grasped the sofa cushion with both hands, and curled up with his toes buried in the downy carpet. Seeing that Chen Xi hadn't moved for a long time, he said again: "Brother Jiu, go to sleep first."

Xie Jingnian felt that he must be crazy.He didn't even dare to look up at Chen Xi's face now.

He could feel Chen Xi's scrutinizing eyes sweeping over his whole body, from head to toe, as if every single detail had not been missed, and he felt hot all over his body, as if his skin was burning hot.

He sat there not daring to move, with his legs tightly together, but he couldn't suppress the rapid beating of his heart.

move.

Xie Jingnian was thinking, hoping in his heart that Chen Xi would not find out anything.