River City Story

8 o'clock at night.He Zhengxi was sitting in the skewer restaurant, with his legs spread out, firmly occupying most of the square table, and Zheng Qifeng and Cai Hengyuan were sitting on the opposite sides.The eyes of the three people intertwined from time to time, and they kept silent.The atmosphere in the store, which was originally very deserted due to the weather, can almost turn into ice at this moment.

With a ding, He Zhengxi's cell phone rang, and Lin Yan sent a text message.

"We'll be there in 10 minutes, so you help your two elder brothers order food first, don't get angry with them."

He Zhengxi frowned, these two were no longer his opponents, why are you getting angry with them?Not qualified at all.He typed a string of words in the past, clicked the send button, stood up happily, and asked with a smile: "Both brothers, my brother said that he will come over later, let's eat first." After speaking, he greeted the boss and started a la carte.

Lin Yan was entangled by a drunken female customer, he tried his best to remove the hand that was hanging on his body, and with difficulty hooked his neck to press the text message returned by He Zhengxi.

"Having a temper? Look down on me. Both of them are defeated. But you can come half an hour later. It's best if the two of them can retreat consciously. Let's eat the skewers. There is no need for a third, fourth, fifth, or sixth person."

"Sure enough, I'm still a child." Lin Yan heyed and smiled helplessly.

The female customer lying on top of him opened her eyes at this moment, and just happened to see Lin Yan's smile, and she immediately jumped up and was about to suck Lin Yan's face.

"No, no, no!" Lin Yan backed away in fright, "Sister, lady, auntie! I'm not your partner, so I'm going to sue you for sexual harassment like this!"

There was a half circle around the shop assistant who was about to get off work, and Cheng Qi wanted to help, but the girl didn't want it.

Lin Yan had two marks of lipstick rubbed on his face, and looked embarrassed.The female customer made a fuss for a few minutes, and she was probably tired, so she began to doze off while leaning on his shoulder.Crying while sleeping, saying that her husband had been admitted to a company in another city, and the two of them were going to have a long-distance relationship.

"Oh, come to drink just because of this? It's far from a problem. As long as you two like it, distance doesn't matter. Just don't get divorced." Lin Yan comforted symbolically.He waved his hand and signaled the onlookers to leave quickly.

Cheng Qi sent everyone away, and found a corner by the door to sit in the running water.

The female customer also said that her boyfriend's parents were not enthusiastic about her and looked down on her. She felt that she made more money than her son, which made her unhappy.Lin Yan was amused after listening, "Oh, these days, there are still people who think their daughter-in-law makes a lot of money? Are you insane? It seems that the love for money is not enough."

"That's right!" The female customer cheered up, she simply sat up straight, lifted her messy long hair, and tied it in a bun casually.She opened her eyes, grabbed Lin Yan's hand, and began to confide.

"Handsome boss, tell me, if your wife earns a lot of money, do you still need to stay so late in this shop in the middle of the night?! Go home early, wash and sleep!"

Lin Yan felt that there was something wrong with this, so he retorted: "Don't use keywords like 'engagement' and 'midnight'...you will make people misunderstand my profession, although there are not many people here. "

"Don't change the subject!" The customer straightened Lin Yan's head, "Tell me, if your wife makes a lot of money, would you be happy?"

Lin Yan scratched his hair and said troubledly, "But I don't have a wife..."

Customer: "Girlfriend?"

Lin Yan continued to scratch his head: "I don't have a girlfriend...but if someone in my family is willing to earn money to support me, then I will definitely go out to eat, drink and have fun every day!"

The customer didn't respond to his words, she was stunned for a while, and said slowly: "You look good, my sister will find you a boyfriend." As she spoke, she began to take out her handbag, rummaged through it for a while, and finally freed up her mobile phone , "Tell me, what type do you like? My sister can find it!"

"This is really unnecessary, you are too polite." Lin Yan glanced at the clock on the wall, "Your boyfriend should be here in 5 minutes."

"What kind of boyfriend, I don't need that kind of thing." The female customer lowered her head and swiped her phone, "Come on, rich, domineering, good-looking, or engaged in scientific research, doctor, researcher?" She thought for a long time , raised the phone to show Lin Yan the photo, "How about athletes? I have a physical education teacher here, which is not bad. They have good physical fitness, and they will definitely satisfy you..."

Lin Yan immediately pressed down her hand and stopped him, "You can stop and stop."

"Okay, I'll leave my cell phone number for you, if you want to find me." As he spoke, he pulled a tissue from the table and was about to write. After writing for a long time, he found that he had no pen in his hand, so he collapsed on the back of the chair. , "Hey! Forget it!"

Lin Yan got up gratefully and walked towards the door. Unexpectedly, the female customer said again: "I will bring someone back in the future! You choose!"

Lin Yan staggered when he heard this, and Cheng Qi at the door was so happy that he couldn't straighten up.

"Laugh and burp sooner or later!" Lin Yan said bitterly.

"Come on, what do you like? Do you want it, big brother?" Cheng Qi winked.

"Are you disgusting?" Lin Yan spat and pushed the door out.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, the night in Yancheng is beautifully decorated with lights, but Lin Yan is not beautiful in his heart.He took out his mobile phone and quickly dialed a number. As soon as the call was connected, he immediately said: "If you don't come, your partner will arrange a blind date for you to find a boyfriend!"

The other end was panting: "I'm here, I'm sorry, I'm here..."

Lin Yan put down his phone, turned his head to look at the tall man in suit running over from a distance, and waved his hands a few times.

"I'm really sorry." The man in the suit came to him and reached for his wallet, "Let me buy the bill first."

"She paid for it herself." Lin Yan said, "Remember not to leave anything behind."

The man in the suit said gratefully, "I'm so sorry, we'll come over and apologize formally when she wakes up another day."

Lin Yan was so frightened that he quickly refused: "Don't bother, go back and communicate with her properly, she is quite a sister."

The man in the suit blushed and said, "It's the New Year's Eve, it will delay you from getting off work."

Cheng Qi got impatient listening on the chair at the door. He came over and made a gesture of congratulations: "For Chinese New Year's Eve, be careful on the road."

"Okay, thank you!"

The man in the suit walked in, carried his wife on his back, bowed down and apologized all the way away.

Lin Yan pressed his temple and asked Cheng Qi, "Do you have to wait a while?"

Cheng Qi pointed to the clock: "In 10 minutes, I will set off to pick her up from get off work."

Lin Yan sighed: "The work of a photographer is really not done by humans."

Cheng Qi: "What do you mean that work is done by humans? It's not easy to be a rich second generation these days."

Lin Yan agreed: "It's not easy, I'm going to the opposite side, why don't you go together?"

Cheng Qi squinted: "I keep in shape."

Lin Yan picked up his schoolbag, blinked and said, "Come on, I'm going to eat skewers."

Cheng Qi: "!!!"

The kebab shop across the road was still deserted, Lin Yan pushed open the door with a sigh of relief, took off his gloves and scarf and walked over, "Hey, why didn't you drink two bottles?"

"Eat more, don't drink, your brother also ordered a shabu-shabu, and I have to tell the boss to wait for you to come before serving." Cai Hengyuan said.

Lin Yan sat down with a smile, and pinched He Zhengxi's face: "My brother is more conscientious."

"Is it cold?" He Zhengxi handed over a cup of hot water, "It's too late, I asked for hot water for nothing, and there was no tea."

"It's okay." Lin Yan held the cup to warm his hands, his face was a little red, he didn't know whether it was from running or freezing.He Zhengxi stared at it for a long time, and wanted to reach out to touch it, but because there were people on the opposite side, he was not too embarrassed.

Lin Yan warmed up, and began to chat with Cai Hengyuan about studying abroad, and occasionally asked Zheng Qifeng how the fitness trainer was doing recently.He Zhengxi has no interest in these topics. He just wants to be admitted to university in a safe and sound way. It doesn't matter to him whether he becomes an international student or owns his own gym in the future.In other words, even if there were a few successful people in front of him, He Zhengxi would not bother to envy them.He himself is not bad, and his parents and relatives are also excellent, let alone Lin Yan.

Hey, Xiaohe is not bad, a calm winner.He silently praised himself in his heart.

In the same situation two years ago, he must have been unbalanced, and he might have to quarrel with Lin Yan when he went back, but now it is absolutely impossible.

The cultivation base soared! !He Zhengxi gave himself a thumbs up again.

"Eat more." Lin Yan leaned over, put a small bowl full of meat in front of He Zhengxi, looked him up and down, "Why do you think you've lost weight?"

"Is there?" He Zhengxi came back to his senses and squeezed his upper arm, "The muscles are still there."

Lin Yan pointed to his cheek: "There's not much flesh on his face recently, so he didn't get enough sleep. Few candidates can sleep for 8 hours."

"It's okay, there is an afternoon nap at school." He Zhengxi picked up the bowl in front of Lin Yan.Lin Yan is not used to mutton, beef is okay, pork belly and chicken knuckle are his favorites.

"I don't eat too much meat," Lin Yan said, "but the eggplant in the shabu-shabu is good."

He Zhengxi turned his head and looked at his elder brother who was concentrating on picking eggplants from the pot.The sweater Lin Yan was wearing belonged to He Zhengxi. It was double-layered, high-necked, gray, and looked extremely soft.He Zhengxi didn't like the high collar design. He thought it strangled his neck and was too thick, so wearing it would weigh his back. After trying it once, he gave it to Lin Yan.

"I feel that grandma bought this sweater on purpose for you to wear." He Zhengxi said suddenly, holding his face.

"What do you mean?" Lin Yan stopped his hands, wiped his fingertips, and tugged at the collar of the sweater, "But it's quite warm. I want to give her back a small gift."

He Zhengxi said: "It's not necessary. I didn't take a picture of you a few days ago. I sent it to her. I couldn't be happier. The big golden teeth smiled brightly."

"What a big gold tooth, show some respect to your elders." Lin Yan said with a smile.

He Zhengxi picked up two pieces of meat, stuffed them into his mouth and chewed, muttering: "That's true. Although my grandma has half a mouthful of gold teeth, she can eat and wear better than us, and has a very good eye."

"Your parents and your mother are very good." Lin Yan held up the water glass to touch He Zhengxi's, "Treasure it well."

"Treasure, cherish." He Zhengxi took a sip of boiled water and smacked his lips.He also wants to say something else, for example, the person he wants to cherish the most is right in front of him, like you, but there is not only one person in front of him, but also the two opposite.

Really unpleasant.

During the conversation, He Zhengxi picked up the teapot and enthusiastically poured water for Cai Hengyuan and Zheng Qifeng.

The two watched the intimate conversation between the two brothers. At this moment, they were extremely delicate, and they were not sure what to do, a precocious and thoughtful boy like He Zhengxi, so they could only warmly thank him.

"Your brother has really grown up." Cai Hengyuan sat down and said to Lin Yan, "He was only that small before, but now he is taller than us." He raised his hand and gestured in the air.

"It's not so short." He Zhengxi laughed twice, "The height you compare is about the same as a dog."

"Pfft!" Zheng Qifeng, who sat quietly beside them and listened to their chat, spouted a mouthful of tea.

"Really?" Cai Hengyuan withdrew his hand in embarrassment.

Lin Yan suppressed a smile and stomped on He Zhengxi, apologizing to Cai Hengyuan: "That's how he is, don't mind too much."

Cai Hengyuan chuckled: "No, I don't need to be as knowledgeable as a child."

Zheng Qifeng opened his mouth, and chose to remain silent at the right time. He felt that Cai Hengyuan and He Zhengxi were probably on the same page.As an ordinary person with ordinary IQ and EQ, he thinks it is wisest to eat skewers and watch.

He Zhengxi was most annoyed by being called a "child". His other personalities were hard to figure out, but only this one, as long as he had a little contact with him, he would be able to understand it.

"An 'adult' who still only obeys his mother until his sophomore year, calls others children." He Zhengxi sneered and said, "I don't know who is more like a child, oh no." He shook his chopsticks, "I I admit that I am still young, I am young, confident, smart, and most importantly, I still have a little courage to chase after my love." He pointed at Cai Hengyuan and shook his head helplessly: "You? No, no."

Cai Hengyuan smiled very comfortably this time. He crossed his hands and pressed his chin and said, "Why do you need to bring my mother to talk about the matter? My mother was the best teacher for Lin Yan in elementary school. Lin Yan now pays him back every few months My mother sent gifts, I love my mother very much, Lin Yan also respects my mother, I don’t understand why I can’t just follow my mother? Does attacking family members give you pleasure?” He refilled his teacup with water, and suddenly realized Ban said: "However, since you were young... leaving home, you probably really don't have any feelings for your parents, so you can attack other people's mothers anytime and anywhere."

"Although I haven't gone to college and haven't taken logic courses, I'm not stupid." He Zhengxi said slowly, "I never said a single bad word to my brother's teacher. You are the legendary Clearly changing the concept? Yes, I was trafficked when I was a child, and in the final analysis, it was caused by me running away from home. It is not a glorious thing in itself. But as a so-called adult who is three years older than me , or a high-achieving student who has studied abroad, sprinkle salt on other people's wounds..." He groped for the rim of the cup, raised his face, and his face was full of enthusiasm, "In exchange for your logic, may I ask, does this give you pleasure?"

Cai Hengyuan's face obviously darkened. He pondered for a while, and was about to speak again. Lin Yan, who was opposite him, knocked on the table and said, "Let's not have pleasure and pleasure in one bite at a time, okay? You two adults, smart people, good people , since they are all following the wise route, please don’t carry the lines of the late-night dog blood movie and TV series here, okay?”

Zheng Qifeng wiped off the sweat from his forehead, nodded and said, "That's right, everyone is usually busy with their own affairs, so we finally got together."

He Zhengxi groaned and stuffed two mouthfuls of mutton desperately, got up and said, "I'm full, let's go for a walk."

Cai Hengyuan also put down his chopsticks: "Actually, I'm full too, and I have to catch an early flight tomorrow."

"I... can't eat any more..." Zheng Qifeng was a little at a loss.

Lin Yan said to them apologetically, "I'm sorry, I was the one who made the appointment, but it turned out like this." He took out his wallet and motioned the two of them to sit still, "I invite you."

Lin Yan went to the counter to pay, and the two people at the table looked at each other awkwardly.

"Is this okay?" Zheng Qifeng asked, "Actually, it's better for us to be AA."

Cai Hengyuan glanced at him, sighed and said, "It is absolutely impossible for Lin Yan to let us AA, he just has that personality, so just accept it with peace of mind, this is also a form of respect."

Zheng Qifeng: "You know him quite well."

Cai Hengyuan laughed at himself: "It's useless, everyone will go to the end, except for the one who is together, everyone else will become strangers."

"I have always felt that Lin Yan is my favorite type since the first year of high school. I give him gifts anonymously every year. He rejected me more than a year ago, but until now, I still like him." Zheng Qifeng said, "Probably in a few years , I will continue to like him."

"When you have other goals, you will quickly forget about him."

"I don't think it's possible for now."

"Then you are a complete scumbag!"

"Scumbag? Who?" Lin Yan walked over with a lunch box paper bag.

"It's nothing, I wish Zheng Qifeng will find a new target as soon as possible." Cai Hengyuan took a lunch box and helped put the leftover dishes into it.

Hearing this, Lin Yan paused, looked at Zheng Qifeng a little uncomfortably, and said, "I also wish you a speedy..."

"Ah! Don't repeat the words of rejection." Zheng Qifeng covered his eyes, "Be nice to me."

Lin Yan was full of embarrassment and was stunned for a moment.

He has always wanted to return the things that Zheng Qifeng gave him for three years in high school, so after the incident last year, Lin Yan transferred a sum of money to Zheng Qifeng's online account, and then he sent two long text messages, but Zheng Qifeng at the time Only two words were answered: "Okay."

The more Lin Yan thought about it later, the more he felt that this move might hurt Zheng Qifeng's self-esteem, but he didn't want to contact him anymore.

There are too many fruitless feelings in this world, he is not the savior, he can't even save himself, he has no energy to care about Zheng Qifeng.

"Still leaving?" He Zhengxi stuck his head in through the door, "It's almost 10 o'clock."

"Let's go, let's go now, I'll pack a bag." Lin Yan shouted at him after returning to his senses.

After seeing off Cai Hengyuan and Zheng Qifeng, the two brothers watched the night scene on the street for a while before going back. It was exactly 11 o'clock when they got home.

"It's too late, I can't hang around outside in the future, it's terribly cold." Lin Yan rubbed his hands and went into the bathroom to get the water heater.

He Zhengxi thought to himself, it's not the two people you invited out for dinner, otherwise they would have come back to read and listen to English early.

He leaned against the bathroom door, looking through the frosted glass at the blurred figure of Lin Yan stretching his arms to adjust the buttons.Not clear, but still slender and seductive.

Lin Yan grabbed his hair and opened the sliding door, intending to sit outside for a while before washing, but he almost tripped over He Zhengxi's outstretched foot.

"What's your intention? I don't want to spend the New Year on crutches!"

"Hey, I didn't pay attention, don't blame me." He Zhengxi said, "Is the newly installed water heater working?"

Lin Yan said: "You have done a good deed, but it is a bit expensive and painful."

"Hi!" He Zhengxi stretched out his hand to hook Lin Yan's sweater-covered arm, and the two walked towards the living room together, "It will cost you sooner or later, besides, it didn't cost you."

Lin Yan sat on the sofa, looked up at the ceiling lamp in a daze, and then suddenly said: "When Uncle Xu comes out, make him a big bathtub, it will be very comfortable to take a bath." He thought for a while, and then said: "How about At that time, I will look at my savings and borrow some money to open a big bathhouse in Xicheng. I don’t know if this thing can make money back. But I have nothing to mortgage. I don’t have a house and I don’t have much money, so I’m sorry Borrowing from someone, when can I repay it is still a question..."

Lin Yan talked to himself for a while, but instead of thinking more and more broadly, his mind became more irritable.

He reached out and pulled a pillow, covered his face, and pressed down hard with both hands.Half a minute later, the feeling of suffocation spread throughout the respiratory tract and spread to the whole body.He Zhengxi had been looking at him with a smile since just now, and at this moment he finally realized that something seemed wrong.

"Brother! What are you playing? This is!" He put down the milk and pulled out the pillow with shaking hands.

A gust of warm fresh air poured into Lin Yan's nostrils instantly. He coughed twice suddenly, grinned at him and said, "I smell the sun, don't be afraid."

He Zhengxi blinked, his eyes were flushed, he pulled Lin Yan into his arms, and said in a crying voice: "Don't scare me, you can't do this in the future, absolutely not."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I will never play like this in the future." Lin Yanfu pressed He Zhengxi's back, "Why do I keep saying I'm sorry today? It's so strange."

He Zhengxi buried his head in Lin Yan's arms, pressed his forehead against the soft sweater, and said in a muffled voice, "I also have to say sorry, I don't need to quarrel with Cai Hengyuan today."

Lin Yan grabbed He Zhengxi's collar and dragged him out, "It's rare, your awareness is getting higher and higher."

He Zhengxi got excited: "Is there a reward?"

Lin Yan thought for a while and said, "Yes."

He Zhengxi was happy, "What is the award?! I got the first place in the final exam this time, and you haven't given me a little red flower yet!"

Lin Yan scolded with a smile: "Send a shit, little red flower, you think you are still 7 years old!" He pointed to the take-out skewers on the coffee table and said, "The pound of lamb skewers inside is all yours, this reward Is it ok."

"Ha..." He Zhengxi was instantly discouraged.He slumped on the sofa, pretending to wipe away his tears, "You haven't worn me a little red flower for many years, I also need encouragement to continue to improve." He said while looking at Lin Yan from the corner of his eye.

Lin Yan didn't intend to pay attention to him, and walked around the sofa to the bedroom and said, "You take a bath first?"

He Zhengxi yelled: "Little Red Flower first!"

Lin Yan came back and kicked his calf, "Hurry up, take action, go to the morning market tomorrow, don't forget."

"You won't come with me." He Zhengxi grabbed Lin Yan's trouser legs and refused to let him go. "You can take a leave of absence tomorrow."

Lin Yan broke He Zhengxi's hand and said: "If you ask for leave, you won't be able to attend full time. The restaurant will have to prepare a branch after the year, and a meeting will be held before the year."

"When you open a new store, how busy will you be? Do you still have time to study?" He Zhengxi sat up.

"Why not?" Lin Yan leaned on the edge of the sofa and said, "I can work part-time in high school, and I must have enough time in college, but there will be more experimental projects in the next semester, so I hope it won't take up too much time."

He Zhengxi said: "Wait another semester, and I can also work part-time."

Lin Yan said with emotion: "It's terrible, you are going to take the college entrance examination, the time is so fast." He rubbed He Zhengxi's head, and began to pinch his face after rubbing his hair, "Go back the day after tomorrow, do you want to follow me?" What did your parents tell you about going to college?"

He Zhengxi shook his head and refused: "Not yet, if they don't agree, they can definitely remove me from the list."

Lin Yan said with a smile: "Tell me before the exam? Then I'm afraid I have to be jointly and severally liable. Your application process allows this? They are your parents."

"You don't need to worry about it." He Zhengxi reached out and pulled the fluff on Lin Yan's sweater, "They have no right to make you responsible, they will only be grateful to you for teaching me so well."