I'm still doing fine

Tang Xiaozheng was the last to walk out of the school gate, accompanied only by the security guards who were pulling the cordon and chatting. The door closed behind him.

He blinked, feeling that what was left behind seemed to be not just the empty campus, but something else.

Anything else... what?

After thinking to no avail, he rubbed his neck, turned his gaze back to the front, and unexpectedly saw Chen Chen who had long since disappeared.

"What are you doing?" The little monk-like shadow waved at him, jumping up and down towards him, spouting nonsense all the way, like a radio with channels strung together, "Are you Chinese, the teacher taught you for nothing, what are you doing?" Hurry up, don't lose at the starting line. They have worn through the finish line, and you have not made it to the track, can you do it? I-"

"Shut up!" Tang Xiaozheng stretched out his hand, and pinched the chattering mouth with two fingers, "Aren't uncles and aunts here to pick you up, where are you?"

Chen Chen faltered a few times, slapped the back of his hand, his cheeks were bulging, like a balloon with a clenched mouth, he was finally let go, and he took a breath with a look of embarrassment, "I was tricked into going home! After the college entrance examination How can I go home obediently, I have to play, I have to surf, I have to go shopping!"

"Why do your friends disappear at such a time?" Tang Xiaozheng finally complained, and finally pressed the humming ear, and patted the back of his neck, "Hurry up, it's so hot. "

Tang Xiaozheng has always been good at refusing, because in the end, he doesn't care about other people's feelings, so as soon as he speaks harsh and indifferent words, he can drive away [-]% of pleadings and [-]% of strike-ups.

But he has always pampered his own people. Chen Chen belongs to this category, so he has surrendered without a fight many times, almost responding to every request.

That day was sunny, but breezy and very comfortable, as if he knew that such a meaningful day should not be a disappointment.

The two walked side by side under the flickering shade of trees, going in and out of different small shops, the sky was bright before going in, and it was dark after coming out.Tang Xiaozheng sometimes waited by the side of the road, watching Chen Chen squeeze in to buy some snacks, and then threw bits and pieces of examination room stationery and admission documents into the trash can along the way, as if throwing away some memories and years at the same time.

Chen Chen talked a lot of nonsense. Not only did the ice cream cones fail to shut his mouth, but even the beef pancakes, milk tea with stockings, and grilled tenderloin didn't have any effect.

This is quite abnormal.

After tolerating it again and again, Tang Xiaozheng got a headache from the reading, so he pulled him to sit down on a bench along the road, opened a bottle of mineral water and handed it over, jokingly, "Drink some water. Why are you talking so much today? The third year of high school is holding back." with you?"

"Isn't it..." Chen Chen drank water from the bottle without stretching out his hand, left after a while, lay back and leaned against the back of the chair, the laughter on his face gradually dissipated like a cloud of mist, after a long silence, he suddenly spoke , he said, "Xiaozheng, do you know?"

"What?" Tang Xiaozheng turned his head and saw Chen Chen's undisguised handsomeness reflected in the colorful neon lights, showing thousands of changing expressions.

"I always feel..." Chen Chen looked at him, frowned slightly as if he had been wronged, and said, "You are leaving me."

At that time, the riverside ferry was about to set sail, the whistle sounded majestic and heavy, and the boatman stood on the bow and yelled, Tang Xiaozheng's heart sank suddenly, his little finger trembled like a convulsion as if being pulled by a string.

Grown-ups know so little, even if they don't think so.

For example, Shang Qing always thought that Tang Xiaozheng was stronger and took care of Chen Chen at school.

It's not wrong to think so, Chen Chen developed slowly, and was much shorter than Tang Xiaozheng at that time, but the truth is, her guess was only half right.

In Tang Xiaozheng's impression, there were not many times when he could help Chen Chen. For example, once when Chen Chen was in elementary school, he was blocked in an alley by students from the junior high school across the street to "borrow money". At that time, he was indeed the one who came out, but it was embarrassing to say, he just walked over obediently, blocked in front of Chen Chen, without saying a word, and handed over his pocket money in vain.

Tang Xiaozheng did help Chen Chen, but most of the time, it was Chen Chen by his side that made his life less painful.

Tang Xiaozheng admired Chen Chen since he was a child.

Because Chen Chen has parents who don't care about grades, grandparents who regard him as a jewel in his palm, and more than a dozen cousins ​​who care and take care of him... Even when he pronounces his name, there is a kind of kindness that calls his baby name.

At that time, he didn't know much, and he only vaguely felt that he and Chen Chen were different. Later, he realized that Chen Chen could live for himself, and he lived for Zhang Jishu.

One year during the Spring Festival, Zhang Jishu left Tang Xiaozheng at Chen Chen's home because he was not favored by his grandparents for the New Year. Chen Chen ate his belly round, lay down on the sofa, and asked Tang Xiaozheng by the hem of his clothes , "How much did I eat, why do I feel like throwing up?" Tang Xiaozheng said all the things he stuffed into his mouth, as if the two shared the same stomach.

When the relatives of the Chen family heard the words, they began to sigh with emotion. While saying that Tang Xiaozheng was obedient and easy-going, smart and studious, able to take care of his mother and do housework, he often had a feeling of "having a child like this", while blaming his own little fool for being lazy, lazy and greedy. Eating, without even a brain, seems to have no advantages at all.

They chattered so loudly that Tang Xiaozheng suddenly felt like he was sitting on pins and needles on the sofa.

At such a difficult time, only Chen Chen didn't mess around with him, as if he wasn't embarrassed by the comparison at all, he pulled Tang Xiaozheng into his room and closed the door, patted him on the shoulder and pointed to his game consoles and The toy is like a little master. He said, "My home is your home, and my things are yours. If you don't want to listen to what they say, don't listen. Don't be afraid, there is me!"

Perhaps it was from then on that Chen Chen made Tang Xiaozheng feel at ease. For many years after that, when Tang Xiaozheng stood on the ground of many exaggerations that Chen Chen could not cover, Chen Chen's sworn statement The face can still effectively calm him down.

Before that year, Tang Xiaozheng hated the Spring Festival very much, because during the past New Years, a large group of people in the Chen family were busy preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner, and the children were laughing and playing downstairs with firecrackers, and Tang Xiaozheng’s house was quiet. It seems that there is no one to live in. In order to avoid the creditors who come to collect debts, even the singing of blessings on the TV is as small as a thief. The world is full of joy, making him even more lonely.

But that year's New Year's Eve night, the singing of the living room gala echoed through the crack of the door. Amidst the laughter and the sound of mahjong, Chen Chen and he played games with the small handle, watching the little lion flexibly on the screen. Jumping over the fire circle, thousands of houses outside the window are brightly lit, and the lights everywhere illuminate half of the night.

He felt that he was also a part of this excitement, as if he had been completely accepted by the world.

So from then on, there always seemed to be a faint smell on Chen Chen, the sweetness of candied melon, the ash from fireworks, the warmth of the bed... Chen Chen has the smell of home.

The origin of his inexplicable liking for Chen Chen...was that time?Tang Xiaozheng thought about it, and felt that maybe it wasn't there. They were too young at that time, less than 12 years old, and they might not be able to tell what they liked.

He thought, maybe it was the beginning of the third year of junior high school.

After the final exam was over, Chen Chen took him to an Internet cafe for a night out. He forgot to set the alarm clock that day, and when he opened the door to enter the room, he bumped into Zhang Jishu coming out of the toilet rubbing his hair.

A middle-aged woman with an unfortunate family is like a middle-aged man whose work is not going well. She has lived a very hard life. The unpaid foreign debts and never-satisfying relationships made Zhang Jishu a little crazy, "Where did you go last night?" ?”

"..." Tang Xiaozheng looked around as far as he could see, and after confirming that there was no sharp weapon, he said, "Internet cafe."

The woman's eyes, which hadn't been wiped clean, turned red, and she slapped Tang Xiaozheng, who was nearly 1.8 meters tall, to the ground with a sudden slap. What caused him more headaches than the scars on his face was the woman's sharp scolding, "Your mother died drunk No one cares about you outside, and you still go to Internet cafes? Who did you learn this virtue from, look at your face, it looks more and more like your undead father, I feel disgusted when I look at it!"

Tang Xiaozheng knelt on the ground without making a sound. He was waiting for the woman's anger to pass. He easily ignored her request that she only allowed the state officials to set fires and not allow the common people to light lamps. But he didn't expect that today would be so difficult.

Tang Xiaozheng was still a little dazed when a ball of sticky liquid with a foul smell fell on his face, and immediately understood from the obscenity that caught his ear, it turned out that the word "spit" is really "spit" and "swear". Well, he knew this woman's ability to abuse people, but he didn't expect to have this trick, so he was caught off guard.

How long she scolded, Tang Xiaozheng can't remember, but when she finally got into the bedroom, stood up and walked to the bathroom, her wrists trembled uncontrollably, and he washed his face with running water again and again, but he always felt that something was leaking Where there was no cleaning, I simply took a pool full of cold water, plunged my head into it, and felt that my ears were clean like never before.

Tang Xiaozheng probably cried, but the tears didn't fall on his face, so he was in a daze.

For a moment, he felt that it would be better to keep quiet, never listen to those sharp complaints and pleadings, never look at that face full of guilt and apology, and never clean up the mess for this crazy woman.

Then in the next moment, he heard the indistinct Xisuo in the distance, and then there was a strong elbow, pulling him out of the water.

My eyes were blurry, and I just remembered falling into an extremely warm embrace, and the dripping water was sucked clean by that T-shirt.

"I didn't come to eavesdrop on purpose. I just walked downstairs and found that I almost put your coat back on. I thought that I have the key to your house anyway, so why don't I send it to you so that my mother doesn't have to wash it... I didn't expect to hear Read these. But since I heard it, I can’t pretend I didn’t hear it. My mother taught me since I was a child that you can’t tell lies, so I’ll just say a few words, and you listen carefully.”

Tang Xiaozheng has never been so grateful for Chen Chen's nonsense, covering up his sobs word by word.

"Tang Xiaozheng, what your mother said is wrong, don't listen to her. We grew up together, I know best..." Chen Chen's voice was different from Zhang Jishu's, as gentle as a veil, and he said, "You are one in a hundred."

Tang Xiaozheng's throat was choked up, as if a piece of cotton was blocked, and the corners of his mouth could not stop curling down. He buried his head in Chen Chen's arms and squeezed some more. The hot liquid rushed out from the eye sockets, ran across the cheeks and neck, and merged into a lump. A silent cry.