camouflage

Shu Xia's life is very stable, the school, the hospital, and the home are three points one line. His mother's condition has stabilized in the past few days, and the doctor said that he can be discharged from the hospital on Friday.

His mother's illness is useless in the hospital. She can only be given a tranquilizer when she loses control. Shu Xia will also take this injection, but he has to go to class. If he gets sick during class, he doesn't know at all. It's like spending money to hire a doctor and nurse for an injection.

On Friday afternoon, Shu Xia asked for leave and did not go to evening self-study. Under Shen Shi's daily inquiry, she used familiar words to say that her stomach was uncomfortable and she wanted to go to the hospital.

Shen Shi is a tolerant teacher, as long as there is a reason, he will agree.

Last time I talked about my mother's illness, I can't use this again this time.

Fortunately, Shu Xia had many reasons. After the first year of high school, he had a headache, stomachache, hypoglycemia, his mother was sick, he was sick... as long as it was a reason to ask for leave, he said it all.

He has good grades, and the teacher doesn't make things difficult for him. No. [-] Middle School finally got a seedling, and he can't wait to confess. How can he be wronged?

As long as his grades don't drop, he has quite a lot of "privileges". Sure enough, his classmates are right, he just relies on his grades, without grades, he is nothing.

When he arrived at the hospital, his mother had already packed up the things and folded the quilt neatly.

"It's great that your son is here." The middle-aged woman hadn't been discharged from the hospital yet, when she saw Shu Xia coming in, her tone was sour and envious. Shu Xia defined it like this for the time being.

He pursed his lips and smiled: "Hello, Auntie."

She didn't know what disease she had, and she stayed in the hospital for several weeks and was not discharged.Old man Li left. He left at noon that day. The old man had no wife and no children all his life. It was his nephew who went through the formalities. The bed is still vacant.

Shu Xia didn't feel any surprise, but felt that old man Li was very pitiful.

Only his mother and the middle-aged woman were left in the ward.

Now only middle-aged women are left.

Shu Xia asked her rarely: "Auntie, when will you be discharged from the hospital?"

The middle-aged woman waved her hand: "I, stay here for a while."

Shu Xia nodded: "Oh, when Auntie is alone, take care of herself."

After finishing speaking, he and his mother packed up things, big and small, and prepared to go out.

Mei Ting is the one who doesn't talk much, leaving only one sentence: "Sister, then I'll go first."

The middle-aged woman waved at them: "Go, go, don't come back!"

Shu Xia waved goodbye to her and took Mei Ting back.

The bus at [-]:[-] p.m. was very crowded. Workers off work, students after school, and the elderly who had nothing to do and took the bus with their old age cards to play. The bus was full of people. Shu Xia tried her best to keep Mei Ting Keep in the corner, use a bag to separate the distance, leave some space, and turn a deaf ear to other people's words of "Hey, move over, you see that you still have so much space".

The smell in the car is very strong, very heavy, workers' sweat, students eat spicy strips, old people's smell of not washing for a long time, gasoline smell, foot smell... Shu Xia can't stand it, let alone take medicine and eat it badly. Mei Ting of stomach.

He was very motion sick, and he was even more dizzy in this environment. Even if Shu Xia tried to create a small space for her, it didn't help. The outside wind couldn't blow in this crowded car.

"Ouch..." Mei Ting couldn't hold back and vomited in the carriage.

Shu Xia didn't even have time to turn the bag out, he was stunned for a moment, sighed slightly, and then patted Mei Ting on the back.

Immediately there was a lot of cursing around: "My God, who is it!"

"It stinks, really bad."

"Tsk, I have no quality, and I don't even know how to find a bag to follow."

"Oh my god, I'm going to throw up."

"Move it a little, and the smell will come out."

"..."

The voices of men and women around me flooded into my mind, Shu Xia silently patted Mei Ting's back with one hand, let her lean in her arms, took out a homework book from her bag with the other hand, tore it open one by one, and laid it on the bed. on the vomitus on the ground.

He opened the thermos again and poured boiling water for Mei Ting, without saying a word.

The people around covered their noses, with contemptuous eyes and disgusting words, Shu Xia didn't want to quarrel, apologize, or argue, and the people around moved away as much as possible, for fear of seeing and breathing the smell of vomit.

Shu Xia has long legs, supported Mei Ting with one hand, grabbed the handrail above her head with the other, and hooked the trash can at the door with her feet.

They stood on the side facing the back door, behind which was a higher-level seat, and the people in the seat also turned their heads and covered their noses with scented paper.

The trash can was hooked over, and those people tried their best to move their feet away. Shu Xia put the bucket at Mei Ting's feet, and helped her to sit on the quilt, which was used when he accompanied the bed, a thin quilt and a blanket.

"Mom, sit down, are you feeling better?" Shu Xia knelt down and patted her on the back.

Mei Ting took a sip of water and spat it out again: "It's okay, but my stomach is churning badly." She spat out again, and the smell was very unpleasant.

Shu Xia took out a tissue to wipe her, and poured water to rinse her mouth.

The bus stopped and went very slowly, and Shu Xia was restless in her heart, wishing to get off immediately.

But what can he do?Apart from the bus, he couldn't afford other cars, nor could he take a taxi.

Taxis rarely go to Dawanzi, and they may only get one ticket for a round trip. It is too far away and not worthwhile, and many drivers are unwilling to go.

Seeing that Mei Ting was getting better, he wiped off the vomit on the ground. He didn't pay attention when he tore it up, and tore up his self-criticism book. He rubbed it with his feet a few times to cover up the handwriting.

Mei Ting's eyes were sharp, and she saw a few words. Although she hadn't read much, she still knew a few words: reviewer, Shu Xia.

She grabbed Shu Xia's feet to prevent him from moving, raised her eyes and frowned at him: "Xiao Xia, what kind of self-criticism did you write?"

Shu Xia sighed, knowing that if he didn't make an excuse, his mother could move his foot away, and then rummaged through the pile of dirt to find out what was written. He patiently comforted her: "It's nothing, it's just about the last exam. .”

There were many people in the car, and there were many noises. Mei Ting couldn't hear Shu Xia's voice in a low voice. Seeing that Shu Xia's mouth was moving intermittently, she said again: "Don't lie to me, did you start a fight?"

The volume was raised unprecedentedly, and the people around were quiet for a while, watching them quietly, and continued their respective chats after a few seconds.

Shu Xia was very irritable, she lowered her head, took a deep breath, and said, "Mom, I didn't fight, I'm fine anyway, don't worry about it."

He stopped talking, cleaned the ground silently, and then looked outside quietly, wanting to get angry and smash things, but he couldn't.

Pulling his hair a little annoyed, he took off his glasses and rubbed the sore brows, time passed like a snail.

Disturbingly slow.

There are words of disgust from others in my ears, and occasionally a kind person will be sprayed into silence.

He remained silent, quietly standing next to Mei Ting, staring out the window in a daze.

Finally arrived at the stop, he helped Mei Ting get off the car, the big and small bags in his hands took up a lot of space, everyone had a tacit understanding to give up their seats, Shu Xia didn't want to think about it, and didn't want to listen to other people's gossip.

The bus started with a snort and left.

After Mei Ting got off the car, she sat on a nearby stone pile and continued to vomit. She hadn't eaten anything these days, and only had porridge, lean meat porridge for lunch.

Shu Xia bought it with his money, only the fucking one.

At this moment, my stomach was already empty, so I couldn't spit out anything, I just spit out nauseatingly.

Shu Xia was carrying a few bags and waiting for her to vomit. An old lady who lived in another place and counted as a resident passed by. She was in her sixties. Shu Xia had to call her sister because he was older.

The eldest sister was also surnamed Shu, called Shu Meilan, she was the daughter of his father's grandfather's cousin's grandson, married in the same village, not far away, and had a good relationship with his mother.

When I saw them, I greeted them with a smile: "Auntie, you've been discharged from the hospital, and Brother Xia is back."

Shu Xia nodded to her: "You're back from selling vegetables?"

"Yeah, I'm lucky today, I met a restaurant, and I have to leave." Shu Meilan's family sells vegetables, and farmers in the suburbs almost rely on this to make a living, as does Shu Xia's family.

When his mother is normal, she sells vegetables, otherwise the family will not survive at all.

"Meilan, how much food do you have left?" Mei Ting got off the car much more comfortably, let go of herself in a familiar place, with a gentle face.

Shu Meilan: "Maybe it can be sold another seven or eight times. The newly planted ones haven't grown yet. Auntie, I think your greens are good and can be sold."

Mei Ting: "Really? Then I will go with you tomorrow."

Shu Meilan: "Okay, auntie, I'll wait for you tomorrow." She waved to Shu Xia and the others and said, "I still have something to do at home, so I'll leave first."

Mei Ting: "Okay."

Shu Xia stood aside and listened to their chatter. The older sister had one mouthful and one aunt. Mei Ting was only 42 years old, and the eldest sister was already 63. He didn't know how his mother responded, and he didn't know how Shu Meilan called "exit" .

It's amazing!

After Mei Ting had rested enough, they continued walking.

Shu Xia didn't try to persuade Mei Ting to take a good rest just after she was discharged from the hospital. Such words don't belong to them. One day off means no money for one day. If Mei Ting falls ill again, his little money is not enough to spend.

In high school, self-study is required on Saturdays, but there is no requirement in No. 100 Middle School. Shu Xia usually does not go there. His study time is only from Monday to Friday. The rest of the time he helps the family to sell vegetables, and goes to the Internet cafe at night to watch the night. It costs [-] yuan a night.

He usually only stays on Friday and Saturday nights, from ten o'clock to seven o'clock the next day.

The boss is nice, he is his former friend, he knows his difficulty, he doesn't care about it, and even helps him.

Shu Xia is good at playing LOL games, all of them are practiced in Internet cafes, and then they do booster training to help those elementary school students get stars, points, and ranks. A star costs ten yuan, and a rank of twenty.

Eating chicken is popular recently, and he doesn't have much time to study this game, and he is not very proficient in playing it.

When I got home, there was no one in the house. It was the same mess as before, and nothing had changed. The chickens in the chicken pen were still skinny and hadn’t starved to death.

Shu Daqing didn't know where to drink and play cards again.

"Xiao Xia, are you going back to self-study tonight?" Mei Ting sat on a chair to rest, looking at Shu Xia who was cleaning up the house.

Shu Xia put the shoes into the shoe cabinet, went to clear the table, which was full of cigarette butts and instant noodle boxes, and took the time to reply: "No, I've already asked for leave."

You don't need to ask to know how Shu Daqing spends the past few days, it's all instant noodles.

"Mom, don't buy instant noodles next time." Shu Xia said in a low voice, her voice slipped over so softly that Mei Ting almost didn't hear his words clearly.

"If you don't buy what your dad eats, he doesn't know how to cook." The natural tone made Shu Xia feel exhausted.

He didn't understand why his mother just couldn't remember. After being beaten and scolded for so many years, she still couldn't bear to let Shu Daqing suffer a little bit, and indulged him in his frequent spiel.

He stopped what he was doing: "Mom, why... why don't you be tougher?"

Mei Ting was silent for a moment: "He is my husband and your father."

Shu Xia threw the rag on the ground and shouted, "He's not my father!"

Mei Ting was startled for a moment, trembling: "But he is your father!"

He turned and entered the house, slamming the door behind him.

Mei Ting took over Shu Xia's work and cleaned up.Every time she came back from the hospital, the house was a mess. She silently cleaned up the table, the kitchen, the room, the bathroom, the yard...

She didn't dare to clean Shu Xia's room.

After junior high school, Shu Xia didn't get close to her family very much. She didn't let anyone enter her room and cleaned it by herself. When she had time, Mei Ting took advantage of him to go to class and helped tidy it up. Shu Xia would get angry when she came back. As time passed, Mei Ting Ting doesn't care about him.

While Shu Xia was rewriting the self-criticism, she was listening to the movement outside.

His fucking temperament is both cowardly and strong, he is very cowardly towards Shu Daqing, and he is very strong when he sells vegetables, he counts every penny clearly.

Shu Xia didn't know how a person could be so complicated, why he could be so tough towards outsiders, and why he was so self-deprecating towards Shu Daqing, and he didn't turn back when he was beaten or scolded.

He wrote on the white paper vigorously with his fingers: Dear teacher leader, dear students...

At noon today, Qi Xin asked him to help write a brilliant review, but he rejected it. I didn't expect him to rewrite it. Is this considered retribution?

Outside the room is a loquat tree with lush leaves now, and several camellias are planted beside it.

He looked out the window, a little lost.

Some of the self-criticisms couldn't be written, he even forgot how to write them, and couldn't remember things clearly.

Hearing that Mei Ting was going out, she must have gone to the vegetable garden.Their family has been relying on the vegetable garden all these years, Shu Daqing doesn't think about making progress, his mother is in poor health, can't do heavy work, and doesn't go outside to work, so he can only follow the people in the village to grow vegetables.

He put down his pen irritably, and came out as if resigned to his fate, ready to make dinner.

There is still a little food bought at noon, and he plans to cook porridge, which is the most eaten porridge in the past few years, and his skills have been practiced.

I have to go to the Internet cafe to watch the night tonight. On Fridays and Saturdays, the next day is off, and the Internet cafes are very crowded.

Many parents in the suburbs of the city went out to work outside, leaving their children to live with their grandparents. They couldn't manage it at all, and went to Internet cafes on weekends.

Shu Xia's substitutes are all elementary school students and junior high school students, each of whom is worth [-] to [-] yuan, full of swear words, some of them still have a cigarette in their mouth, pretending to be a boss, every time he sees such a scene, he has a strong determination to leave Some.

He was most afraid that he would be trapped in this place, that he would not be able to get out for the rest of his life. Like Shu Daqing, he would spend the rest of his life intoxicated and doing nothing.

Before anyone came back, he ate a few bites and packed up his things to go to work.

As soon as he went out, he saw Mei Ting came back, and he patiently explained to her, "When Shu Daqing comes back, you can hide in your room and don't come out to provoke him. I left him a meal, don't be stupid Go help him, I should go."

Mei Ting didn't know that Shu Xia was keeping vigil at the Internet cafe, so she thought she was going to take tutoring, and nodded: "Mom knows, you should also pay attention to safety, your student is also, you have to choose a time for making up lessons."

"Mom, he is an employer. I have no reason to refuse. Don't worry, remember to stay away."

"Got it, pick me up early tomorrow."

"Oh, I see."

The Internet cafe where Shu Xia works is in the back alley of the school, which is quite hidden. There is a school next to their school that integrates primary and junior high schools, and most of them hang out in the Internet cafe at the moment.

The boss Liu Qiang used to have a bad temper, but he was very loyal. When he saw Shu Xia coming, he yelled, "Xiao Xia is here, it's a little early today! Have you eaten yet?"

Shu Xia smiled and said, "Brother Qiang is good, I've eaten."

Liu Qiang: "Okay, then you stay on guard, I'll go back and pick up my daughter first, otherwise your sister-in-law will have to accuse me again."

"That woman has a worse temper than me. It's my turn to pick up my daughter today. Fortunately, you came early, Xiao Xia. I will give you a salary increase this month."

"If you're sleepy, just play games. It's pretty good to eat chicken, and you can make some extra money. Then just watch, I'll go first."

He rambled on, Shu Xia nodded one by one.

Liu Qiang used to be a ruffian in this area, but later he met his fate, so he stopped and stayed at home to raise the children. His wife worked in the police station, the cat and the mouse caught Liu Qiang, and he was ideologically educated. People make things happen.

Although he babbled, but from the proud, smiling face, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that he loved his wife very much.

Shu Xia was very happy for him, but also quite helpless.

They knew each other when they were young, Liu Qiang was eight or nine years old, watched him drop out of school, be an asshole for a few years, then settle down and stay here for the rest of his life.

A bastard like him has never been out of the province, at most the city, Shu Xia can't help thinking how far he can go?

He shook off his pessimistic mood, sat behind the table, and kept vigil, making money is the serious business.

The Internet cafe was noisy, and Liu Qiang played music before he left. It was very loud, and the refreshing effect was obvious. The table was cleaned up, which should be done by Liu Qiang. meticulous.

The machines are almost full, and if one is gone, the next one will come to make up for it.Shu Xia clicked on the computer next to the switchboard. It was Liu Qiang's personal, and he usually used it for entertainment. When he was around, he played games, practiced his hands, and helped Liu Qiang upgrade his games.

Liu Qiang used to be irritable, and his playing games were completely highlighted. He was fierce and tough. He was described in writing as being brave and foolhardy, and he died quickly every time. Shu Xia practiced his account and upgraded to a star.

On the computer desktop is their family of three, the funny police catch gangsters, the mother and daughter are wearing police uniforms, Liu Qiang dragged [-] to kneel on the ground, handcuffed his left hand and his sister-in-law’s right hand, smiling happily.

Shu Xia always wants to laugh every time she sees it, how could there be such an interesting family.

"Boss, Bao Ye."

Shu Xia's thoughts were interrupted, she looked up and smiled: "Thirty nights." After receiving the money, she turned on a machine: "No. 23 inside."

He planned to play games later. There is a lot of people coming and going at the moment. It will be fine in the second half of the night. At that time, they are basically people who stay overnight, and they will leave and never come back.

He checked the time, it was only nine o'clock.

Still early!

Turn down the music volume, take out the mobile phone and listen to English listening, daily tasks are essential, the noise of Internet cafes, low-volume music mixed with American accents, intermittently, he tried to calm down, the voice gradually became clear, the sound outside very far away.

He gradually got better and better, and his mouth followed.

……