Absinthe

At the end of March, two major events happened in No. [-] Middle School.

These two incidents seem to have nothing to do with Hao Ai, but they seem to have something to do with him.

The first thing was that the stray cat that made the school paper gave birth to a litter of cubs in vain.

Hao Ai and a few classmates rebuilt a big new nest for Bai Bai in the corridor of the dormitory. He took pictures of Bai Bai and her cubs from time to time and submitted them to the school newspaper. He did not expect those photos to be published in the In the latest issue of the school newspaper, batch after batch of students came to watch cats downstairs in their dormitory, including many day students.

Hao Ai was worried that the kitten would be frightened, so he specially printed a notice and pasted it at the gate of the dormitory building: The kitten can be seen but not touched, it is everyone's responsibility to love and protect the kittens.

There is also a cute cat expression pack below.

The second thing is that Zhong Xiu was admitted early by a prestigious American school.This news scrolled for a week on the long electronic screen at the school gate.

Hao Ai has to go in and out of the school gate every day, but he doesn't pay attention to what is scrolling on the electronic screen above the gate.

That day Hao Ai got up late and was about to be late for morning reading. With yogurt and bread in his hand, he ran to the school in a panic, and stopped for a while when he reached the school gate.

As soon as he stepped into the school gate, he heard someone behind him exclaim exaggeratedly, "Wow! Look up there!" It was a girl's voice.

"Congratulations to Zhong Xiu, Class [-], Senior [-], who was admitted to Stanford University early." He heard the girl say this.

"Amazing!" said another.

"Yes! Zhong Xiu is my male god!" The girl's tone was full of complacency.

Another person teased her: "You are the god who studies well. Did you praise Wei Jiyang two days ago?"

"Wei Jiyang has his father's halo bonus, and I heard that others are like that. It's not that I step on one, but Zhong Xiu is different. He is perfection itself, and he is the only one!"

Hao Ai was stunned, and continued to walk forward without stopping. The voices of the two girls chatting and laughing gradually faded away.

The campus of No. [-] Middle School is not very big. Hao Aiben thought that he and Zhong Xiu would run into each other somewhere in the school, such as restaurants or supermarkets, look at each other awkwardly, and then hurriedly avoid.But from the beginning of school to the present, more than a month has passed, but they haven't seen each other once.Is it really impossible to meet, or is it deliberately hiding?He doesn't know either.

At the beginning of this semester, the physical education class that was originally held twice a week was canceled by the physical education teacher, and he asked the students to study by themselves in the class.In fact, even if it is not canceled, there are not many people who will go downstairs to play at this time. Everyone is more willing to write a few more questions in class. The college entrance examination is just around the corner, and time has become even tighter.

In the physical education class in the afternoon, Lao Zhang walked into the class and saw that the students were all busy writing questions, so he started to push people away: "Look at you, you don't go out in class all day long, if you continue to study like this, you will lose your mind." Stupid? Go out and do some activities."

If it wasn't for the fact that everyone else was studying and feared that they would be overtaken if they lagged behind, most people wouldn't want to be bored in class every day, and who wouldn't want to go out to play.Under Lao Zhang's coercion, most of the class left to go to the playground for activities, and only a very small number of people stayed in the class to continue their studies.

Hao Ai actually didn't really want to go out, he wanted to do more questions, but was forcibly dragged to the playground by Lu Fayan.

He didn't tell Lu Fayan that he and Zhong Xiu had broken up, but Lu Fayan also noticed Hao Ai's recent state. He had already noticed it, but he thoughtfully didn't ask further.

"Playing football?" Lu Fayan and a few boys went to the equipment room to get footballs.

"No." Hao Ai shook his head, and casually sat down on the grass in the middle of the playground.

"Eh? Isn't that Zhong Xiu?" A boy who was kicking a ball past him asked strangely.

Hao Ai looked across, and there were several people standing on the rostrum, with cameras and tripods beside them, as if they were taking pictures.

The school has to take promotional photos of outstanding graduates in advance. These bigwigs often recruit themselves and get the admission notice in advance. After April, they will basically not stay in the school.

Hao Ai saw Zhong Xiu at a glance through a group of people dressed in uniform black and white.

Like the others, he was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, looking clean and eye-catching.He had just finished taking a group photo, and had to wait in line to take a separate photo later.

Zhong Xiu stood at the end of the line with his arms hanging down. The boy in front of him turned his head and talked to him. His expression was calm and he didn't look very focused, but he still chatted casually with the person in front of him.

Hao Ai thinks this is not a good analogy, but standing in the crowd, Zhong Xiu can always give people a feeling of standing out from the crowd.

Suddenly, Zhong Xiu seemed to feel his gaze, or just looked casually, and he looked in Hao Ai's direction.When he saw Hao Ai, he only stopped for a second or two, and then passed him lightly, as if looking at a stranger who had nothing to do with him.

Hao Ai's heart is full of ups and downs, and he is also learning to deal with his emotions, so his face is calm, but only he knows what kind of tsunami is going on in his heart.

*

Graduation ceremony is still the highlight of senior high school students. Many parents and students came to attend this day, most of them dressed up in suits and ties, gowns and high heels.

There are young reporters from the school reporter station standing at the entrance of the playground, carrying cameras and notebooks to make road visits. They search for materials, and occasionally stop senior high school students in costumes.

Hao Ai didn't bother to dress up, he found a T-shirt from the closet and put it on, changed into a pair of black trousers and came.He wanted to go around the two little reporters, but he was spotted.

"Senior, happy graduation! Can we interview you?" Two young reporters, one male and one female, surrounded him from left to right.

Do I still need to ask?Your radio microphone is almost hitting my face.Hao Ai was helpless.

He had no choice but to look at the camera, but he still couldn't change his nervousness when facing the camera. He felt that his facial expression was still a little stiff.

"Do you have anything to say to your classmates?" the girl asked.

"Happy graduation," he said.

"..." The girl asked again: "Then, do you have anything to say to your juniors?"

"Study hard and cherish the time." Hao Ai still had a stiff face, looking a little fierce.

The two young reporters looked at each other. They squatted here for a long time, and finally found a handsome senior. In the end, he was not very cooperative, and he spoke in a rigid manner, which was very boring.

"...Okay, thank you senior." They had no choice but to look for the next target.

That boy was holding a camera, and Hao Ai watched him walking around, thinking of himself last year.He knows that what the camera captures is fleeting youth.

After the graduation ceremony, all the floors of the third year of high school were empty, and a few days later, the college entrance examination would come.This was supposed to be an important node in Hao Ai's life, but it passed away quietly.It is also from this moment that crying and laughing are no longer important, what is important is ideals, freedom, and life.

The day before the college entrance examination, my uncle said that he would come to accompany the exam, but Hao Ai politely refused.In the past six months, grandma sometimes still needs to be hospitalized for injections, but my uncle will not let Hao Ai go to the hospital to take care of grandma no matter what, he knows that this six months is especially critical for Hao Ai.

Hao Ai walked into the examination room calmly by himself and finished the examination calmly.

Until he left the examination room, his mood was still calm. This time he performed at a normal level in the examination, without any abnormalities or mistakes.

The break-up meal was scheduled for the third day after the college entrance examination. People in the class fought fiercely over which hotel to eat at, but in the end they didn't all come. Some students went out for a trip as soon as they finished the exam, for example Lu Fayan.

People who used to be very active in the class were scrambled to drink alcohol. Hao Ai naturally couldn't escape, and drank a lot of alcohol for the first time.

After drinking for three rounds, a group of people got drunk.

When Hao Ai walked out of the hotel box, he heard someone calling him behind him.

"Hao Ai."

It was Ning Yue, his face was a little red, and he had the impression that someone had drunk him too.

"What's wrong?" Hao Ai asked suspiciously.He didn't know Ning Yue very well, although Ning Yue was friendly to everyone, but he didn't seem to have any particularly close friends in the class.However, Zhong Xiu has a good relationship with him.

"There's something for you, at the front desk." Ning Yue walked past him as he said.

I saw him walk to the front desk, negotiate with the sister on duty, and then the sister on duty took out a transparent breeding box from under the counter, the kind that could be carried by hand, and there was a tortoise inside.

"American tortoise," Ning Yue said, "Zhong Xiu asked me to order it abroad last year, and it was supposed to be given to you on your birthday."

"He told me that there is no rush, as long as I can receive it before June this year, but he didn't tell me when your birthday is."

"I only received it two days ago, it shouldn't be too late for a birthday present, right?"

"It should have been given to you by him himself..." Ning Yue paused, and then said: "I know you two broke up a long time ago, so it's a bit embarrassing to give you this now."

"But it's not my thing, and it's not a solution to keep it here." He still handed the turtle box to Hao Ai: "Here, you can decide how to deal with it."

"If you don't want it, you can throw it away, it's up to you."

After Ning Yue finished speaking, he walked straight to the black car parked outside the hotel, opened the passenger door and got in.That car looked strange, it wasn't the one that often picked Ning Yue up at the school gate.Got a new car?Hao Ai thought endlessly.

The car drove away, and Hao Ai looked down at the motionless tortoise in the box again. He shook the breeding box slightly, and the tortoise slid sideways with the shaking of the box, but it did not move naturally signs.Are you sure you're still alive?Hao Ai was speechless, what's the use of this thing, throw it in the trash can.

He rubbed his temples and felt a little headache, probably because he drank too much wine just now.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, the street is still full of traffic and bustling, and the urban nightlife has just begun, but now he just wants to go home and have a good sleep.

The author says:

The boyhood ends here, and the timeline of the next chapter will move forward rapidly, so the reunion is not far away, I say it will not be abused, listen to me.