back edge

"Xie Jingnian is amazing!"

Zhuang Jie yelled and posted it, and hugged Xie Jingnian tightly amidst the cheers of the crowd, so excited that he could only repeat this sentence.

Jia Feichen was even worse than Zhuang Jie. He took off his jersey and ran around the basketball court with his sweaty body naked.

The scoreboard on the side of the court stayed at 32 to [-], showing that Class [-] and [-] of Senior High had won the summer basketball game.

It doesn't matter what the prize is, the important thing is winning.

Xie Jingnian wiped his sweat with the hem of his jersey, exchanged glances with the other two boys in the same class, and smiled with the corners of his mouth curled up.

Wang Kun came over and gave Xie Jingnian a high-five, and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so good at basketball. No wonder you didn't train with us before, and I said you're not good at it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Xie Jingnian took a sip of the water handed over by the girls onlookers, held it up and shook it to express his thanks, "I have a competition in a few days, I'm a little busy with my review, I didn't deliberately skip training. I forgot to say hello to you guys." Yes, sorry."

"I feel that you have changed a lot after coming back from winter vacation." Wang Kun touched the tip of his nose, "It's better as it is now. I didn't dare to talk to you before."

After hearing this, Xie Jingnian smiled at him again, and lightly touched Wang Kun's shoulder with fists, greeting him: "I'm going first."

Jia Feichen and Zhuang Jie wandered around the arena, and when they had had enough trouble, they sat directly on the flower bed outside the gymnasium.The sun was shining brightly above his head, and he had to drag Xie Jingnian with him to prevent him from leaving.

"Why are you going, Lao Xie, I finally have no class in the afternoon." Jia Feichen pretended to reach out and caressed the scattered branches and leaves on the flower bed, "Come, sit for a while."

Xie Jingnian only sat down for a while before bouncing up, startling the two people next to him: "What are you doing?"

"Hot ass—" Xie Jingnian didn't finish his sentence, feeling someone was patting him on the back, and when he turned around, he saw some girls.

"Hello, do you have a girlfriend?"

The girl who spoke looked pure and sweet, with long hair hanging loose, as if she had specially sprayed on perfume.

The two were so close that the faint scent of roses lingered on the tip of Xie Jingnian's nose, which only made it more difficult to breathe in the already sweltering weather.

For no reason, he began to miss the mint fragrance and the smell of tobacco on Chen Xi's body.

"He didn't, he didn't." Zhuang Jie and Jia Feichen said in unison, eager to sell Xie Jingnian.

The girl didn't know whether it was caused by the two or because the weather was too hot, she blushed and said, "Then can you give me your WeChat?"

"Do those two handsome guys next to him have a date?" The companion behind the girl also interjected, "Let's add it together."

"Hey! Don't look at me, don't look at me." Jia Feichen immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I look like I have a partner, okay?"

"Sorry, I didn't bring my phone."

Xie Jingnian thought this was a very obvious refusal, who would have thought that the girl would continue, "What about the WeChat account? The mobile phone number is also fine."

Of course Xie Jingnian didn't give it, he casually said that there is someone he likes and ran away, afraid that Jia Feichen and Zhuang Jie would catch him and go back and ask him to the end.

Since that incident happened on the New Year's Day a few months ago, Chen Xi's attitude towards Xie Jingnian has not changed, but it is indeed not as close as usual.

The most obvious change is that Chen Xi doesn't go home much.In the past, it was because I was too busy and didn't have time, but now I probably don't want to go back.

At the parent meeting a few days ago, he repeatedly shied away, and it was Zhou Yantong who came last.So Xie Jingnian had another brother who came back from abroad, causing Ji Heyi to exclaim why the whole family had such a scum like Xie Laosan.

If Chen Xi doesn't go home, he's not interested in himself. He always goes to Zhou Yantong's pottery studio to spend time, and occasionally makes clay to cultivate his sentiments.

The dark clay covered Xie Jingnian's fingertips, and the half-dry paste on the calluses made it itchy.

He bent his knuckles and tapped on the table, suddenly wanting to play the piano.

The "debts" owed by Anti-Blade before have all been paid off, and the Weibo was posted by Chen Xi, saying that a year of rest is a year.Until the end of this year, Xie Jingnian probably won't have the chance to perform on stage again.

Therefore, he simply wanted to play the piano very much.

The air conditioner was not turned on in the room, and it was stuffy and sticky with sweat.

Zhou Yantong led the students next door, and left him alone in the room in a daze.

Not long ago, he got word from Zhou Yantong that he knew the location of Chen Xi's studio, but he never dared to go.

Xie Jingnian stopped the humming turntable of the machine, and the cup that had just taken shape stood there alone, but the person who made it had no interest in continuing to polish it.

The street entrance is full of tall green trees, which cast a mottled shade under the sunlight.

Xie Jingnian was standing under the tree, and he only needed to go one more intersection to reach Chen Xi's tattoo parlor.He lingered here for a long time, so long that the shadows of the trees could no longer hide the scorching heat for him.

He still had his jersey on.Sweat soaked his entire back, leaving large dark water marks on the white fabric.

Xie Jingnian took off his wristband, took it to wipe the fine sweat dripping from his neck, and stood there looking at it for a while.

Brother Yu probably doesn't want to see him now.

On a hot afternoon, Xie Jingnian stood there dryly for nearly an hour, shaking dizzily when he moved.

Yu Ning's school also held a ball game on the same day, and it ended later.The WeChat messages were bombarded indiscriminately, and Xie Jingnian's phone kept buzzing and vibrating, making his palms numb.

"Come out and play, brother."

Yu Ning and Yuan Fangheng were not originally members of the band, because they were temporary, and they never came to the practice room after the last performance.

Xie Jingnian and Yuan Fangheng almost lost contact, but Yu Ning always asked him to hang out every now and then.

Most of the so-called going out to play is to go to some bars that are open to use the stage, and they occasionally play a few shows with other small bands.

Xie Jingnian put the wristband into his pocket, grabbed a handful on the shorts, and waited until the sweat on his fingertips disappeared before typing and replying.

"Okay. Still go to the house by the river?"

"If you don't go to the riverside, don't go to the riverside, my friend's brother opened it newly, let's go and support it."

"Can you play casually?"

"That's for sure, you can play whatever you want."

"What time? I'll go back and get the violin."

The bar Yu Ning mentioned opens at [-]:[-] p.m.The two came half an hour earlier, looking at the unopened sign hanging at the door and looking at each other in blank dismay.

Xie Jingnian squatted on the steps with the piano on his back, a cigarette between his fingertips, and a cloud of smoke swirled in front of him.Yu Ning couldn't smell the smell of smoke, and every time he shied away and pinched his nose, as if it was some kind of poisonous gas.

"Did your class win?" Yu Ning suddenly asked in a muffled voice.

Xie Jingnian dusted off the cigarette ash, nodded, "I won."

"Oh." Yu Ning said excitedly, "We also won—"

Before he finished speaking, the glass door was suddenly pushed open from the inside, causing Yu Ning to jump forward and almost fell to the ground.

Xie Jingnian stood up with quick hands and eyes, and helped him up.

"Fuck, I was scared to death." Yu Ning tightened the strap of the piano bag, leaving a red mark on the palm of his hand, terrified and afraid, "I just bought this bass for a month, and it hasn't warmed up yet."

The man who came out of the room was still in the posture of pushing the door, and he should have seen Yu Ning almost fall down.He strode over, looked him up and down, and apologized repeatedly.

After the man left, Xie Jingnian leaned over the door and took a look. There was only darkness inside.

"Isn't it open..." Yu Ning said as he pulled the door and walked in.

The indoor lighting is dim, and the air conditioner is turned on to cool it down.As soon as you enter, the bar is on the left, and the stage on the right is equipped with a large LED screen. The place is not too big.

The overall decoration color is mainly black gold, and the corner lines are inlaid with white light strips.Xie Jingnian looked along the bar and happened to meet the man who was wiping the glasses.

Yu Ning saw the person clearly and went up to say hello, and introduced to Xie Jingnian that this person was his friend and his brother.

The owner of the store is Lin Yuanfeng. He looks like he is in his early thirties and has a very good personality. There is nothing he can't answer.

Lin Yuanfeng served two glasses of ice-cola for the two of them, and said, "You should adjust the equipment first. I just found someone, and I don't know where he went. You came here before I had time to adjust it."

Yu Ning waved his hand: "It's okay, it's okay, don't worry about us, brother Lin, you go first."

Xie Jingnian never thought that it would be like this when he saw Chen Xi again.

The woman sticking to Chen Xi's body in the corridor was particularly obtrusive, and under the light, half of her porcelain-white arms were hidden by the hem of Chen Xi's T-shirt.

Chen Kui was leaning against the wall, with a cigarette in his mouth, and a flower arm wrapped around the woman's uncontrollable waist.They pose ambiguously, the woman raised her head and kissed Chen Shi's chin.

Xie Jingnian could clearly see that the bulge on Chen Jiu's lower abdomen was still moving downward.He has seen Chen Jiu's body more than once, of course he knows what kind of powerful undulating muscles are hidden under the clothes.He had touched it with his own hands countless times in his dreams—Xie Jingnian bit his lip, and the hem of his clothes was wrinkled into a ball by him.

There was no expression on Chen Xi's face, and the clear line of his jaw was tense.He squinted his eyes and stared directly at the light above his head, and the remaining ash from the burned tobacco fell down and hung on the black fabric.

Chen Xi took down the cigarette and let out a puff of smoke, moved his hand around the woman's waist, and held down her movements, his voice was low and hoarse: "Okay."

The woman froze for a moment, and acted like a baby to kiss Chen Xi's neck, but was pushed away.

"What's the matter?" The woman leaned over resolutely, "How about we go out and open a room?"

"Forget it." Chen Kui pinched his cigarette, stroked the corner of the woman's lips with his thumb, "Don't contact me again in the future."

While walking, Chen Kui lowered his head and buckled the belt that was untied by the woman, and bumped into Xie Jingnian head-on.

Xie Jingnian probably didn't know his expression now, but Chen Xi could see it clearly.

Tsk, why do you love to cry so much?

"Why is the mouth broken?" He reached out to touch Xie Jingnian's bleeding lips, but he didn't expect to be avoided by someone, so he missed it.

The strong smell of tobacco poured into the nostrils, it was the smell unique to Chen Xie that Xie Jingnian had thought about for countless days and nights.But when they flowed into the lobes, he only felt a sting.

Even though it was midsummer, he only felt that he was submerged in the ice and snow of a harsh winter, and the slightest bit of warmth had faded away.