Xia Chang

No one cooked dinner for the past two days, so Liu Xiaobai brought a lean meat porridge downstairs. His home has three bedrooms and one living room. The half-life of Liu Yi and Wang Yanwen.

The leftover plums from yesterday had turned from crisp to soft. Liu Xiaobai cooked half a handful of seasonal water spinach in the refrigerator. He stood on the balcony full of sundries, watching the bright orange traffic on the road in the distance.

Surprisingly, Wang Yanwen returned home before eight o'clock. She was still wearing the old T-shirt, carrying a bag containing half a watermelon. Half a glass of water; Liu Xiaobai bit half a tomato in his mouth, and hurriedly poured her another glass.

Wang Yanwen's aging face was dripping with sweat. She was busy making a living, so naturally she didn't have much energy and money to take care of her. She was only in her early forties, eight years younger than Xia Honglin.

"Don't look at me, go cut watermelon and eat it, you're going back to school tomorrow, you're too busy to eat fruit."

Liu Xiaobai stayed where he was, looking at those chaotic but bright eyes similar to his own, he suddenly took a deep breath, not knowing what to say, he nodded and said, "Oh."

"Xiaobai, during the recent special period, your grandma needs a lot of money for surgery, so we can save as much as we can," Wang Yanwen turned around and turned on the light in the bathroom. She paused, then turned on the faucet, and the water was dripping She said, "You know the conditions of our family. Although you can play with Zhang Nian, don't compare yourself with others."

Liu Xiaobai was in the kitchen and pulled out a melon-cutting knife from the shelf. He retorted, "I can't compare."

The bright red melon exuded a fresh smell, and penetrated into Liu Xiaobai's nasal cavity. He frowned, and cut the melon apart with a knife; the melon rind was dark green, a bit difficult to cut.

Wang Yanwen is still saying: "Think about it, one of Zhang Nian's parents is the boss, the other is the director of the kindergarten, and her sister is also a drama actress; your parents are a noodle maker and the other is a noodle maker, and there is an old man who is suddenly ill at home... ...We can solve food and clothing, and the family can be together, we must be content—"

"I know."

"Your dad and I are also trying to help you get into a good school. You have excellent grades, you can enter the ninth middle school, and you can also enter the accelerated class. It is the result of your own hard work. Study hard and get a university. A good life is your own step by step. It’s more difficult for us now, but it’s impossible for us to be so difficult forever.”

The sound of running water stopped abruptly with Wang Yanwen's words, and Liu Xiaobai started to cut the watermelon for the second time. His eyeballs and heart were swollen and painful, and it took a lot of effort to hold back the tears.

"I know our family is poor, I know, it's fine, don't talk about it." Liu Xiaobai put the knife on the kitchen counter, he turned and walked out, went back to his room, and closed the door.

Wang Yanwen's voice came through the door, and she said, "What do you want to buy again? Just tell me what you want, can I give you the money? Why are you holding back?"

"I won't buy it." Liu Xiaobai gritted his teeth.

The light from the outdoor lamp came in, dyeing everything in front of him like a bleak evening, Liu Xiaobai's tears fell down a big one, and then another big one.

He only has two pairs of running shoes that can be worn in the rain. When summer comes, he feels his feet are covered, so he wants to buy a pair of thin ones for sunny days. He wants to be durable but not too shabby, so the money for the shoes that Liu Xiaobai wants cannot be deducted from his living expenses. come out.

"Come out and cut watermelon, eat early and go to bed."

"I have a toothache, I don't want to eat, you can eat."

Liu Xiaobai sat silently on the bed. Suddenly, he gave up his plan to buy new shoes. Life is like a pool of stagnant water, and there is no room for freshness at this moment; Desperation like resignation to fate.

He spends money as if he is sucking the blood of Wang Yanwen and Liu Yi, which contains so much cruelty, he never expects to compare with Zhang Nian in terms of money.

And the assumption itself is a joke.

Zhang Nian took Xia Honglin's car to the school on the way. He was wearing a white and blue-collar school uniform with half-sleeved sleeves and well-pressed school trousers. He met Tengxi as soon as he entered the school gate.

The girl is slender, with a blue collar setting off her slender and fair neck, and her black and smooth hair is tied high behind her head; her eyebrows are not trimmed, and they are naturally heroic and thick, with a pair of dark and upward eyes underneath.

A smile appeared on Teng Xi's small face, and he said, "Zhang Nian, good morning."

"Good morning."

Zhang Nian was not in a hurry, he was in the slight anxiety of waking up on Monday morning, with a wireless earphone plugged into one ear, he was gnawing two pieces of bread with peanut butter in his hands.

In the eyes of his classmates, Zhang Nian is so seldom talkative, and he is also stingy to give a smile to people he doesn't know well; the dormitory is half dyed by the sun in the early morning, and when he enters the door, he sees Liu Xiaobai's back sweeping the floor, thin and broad shoulders, a pair of Slightly convex shoulder blades.

"Good morning." Zhang Nian threw the schoolbag on the bed.

"Good morning."

Liu Xiaobai was too meticulous, he swept away all the crumbs under the table under the bed, put the broom away, came forward suddenly, hugged Zhang Nian's shoulders tightly, and screamed: "Ah, good morning, again! It's a new week."

Zhang Nian knew that Liu Xiaobai was always like this.

Habits grow and flourish over time, this is their original way of getting along, Liu Xiaobai likes to touch hands, is enthusiastic and likes to talk and laugh, and can mingle with anyone.

"Why are you crazy, let me go." Zhang Nian couldn't break free from him for half a minute, so he could only pretend to scold him in a calm voice, but Liu Xiaobai knew that he was not angry, so he intensified.

Like an annoying octopus, Liu Xiaobai suddenly clung to Zhang Nian with his limbs, and he happily asked him, "Is it heavy? Am I much stronger now?"

Zhang Nian was almost leaning against the cabinet under the empty bed by the door, his forehead was sweating, and the smell of peanut butter remained in his mouth, Zhang Nian was a little thirsty.

Liu Xiaobai's breathing was exchanged on Zhang Nian's neck and behind his ears, like a warm wind blowing from the beach.

"You're very light." Zhang Nian suddenly said three words, and then said nothing; Liu Xiaobai let him go and returned to the ground, his chin raised in vain.

Said: "You are also light."

He pushed Zhang Nian's introverted and firm chest, turned around and left.

Then, Liu Ningning, who was in the same dormitory, arrived. He was tall, thin, and had small eyes. He dragged the chair out and made a "clang" noise. He sat down and responded to Liu Xiaobai's greetings, panting, "Good morning."

There are only three people living in this four-person room, and the vacant bed is just lined with the suitcases of three people; the good news is that the three people are clean and not dirty, so that in the past two years, the civilized dormitory certificate stickers covered the wall.

Liu Xiaobai was collecting the garbage in the bin, and Liu Ningning took the whole volume of garbage bags from the bookshelf. He has excellent grades in mathematics, loves logical reasoning, and reads suspense novels.

He noticed Liu Xiaobai's red eyelids, and felt that they were somewhat unusual, but he couldn't come to a conclusion in time as to what was unusual.

Liu Xiaobai left with the trash, Zhang Nian followed, Liu Ningning reached out to take the books on the shelf, and locked the bedroom door.

It was bright and warm in early summer, Zhang Nian ran to the front row as soon as he entered the classroom, holding the book "Love in the Time of Cholera" with Teng Xi's name in his hand.

Liu Xiaobai took out the booklet for morning reading, he saw Zhang Nian turned around with the same expressionless face, walked down, and sat down on the seat behind him.

"What are you looking at me for?" Zhang Nian asked with a light smile, then looked for a book from the drawer, raised his eyes again, and looked at Liu Xiaobai's face that was turning around.

With fair skin and a sun that is as bright as paint, everything is just right.

"You and Teng Xi are very close recently?"

"I returned the book, what's the matter?"

Liu Xiaobai shook his head. Suddenly, he turned to face Zhang Nian, smiled and showed a row of neat teeth, and asked him, "Is it... a special relationship?"

"go away."

Zhang Nian seemed to really reject this kind of joke, his expression suddenly darkened, he looked at Liu Xiaobai like most people, and then rolled his eyes at him.

Liu Xiaobai laughed and thought he was naive.

The class leader He Letian came in from the door, so Zhang Nian immediately poked Liu Xiaobai's forehead, his finger was a little hot, and when it touched the skin, it suddenly felt like fluffy dried wormwood and sparks.

It made Liu Xiaobai's small piece of skin itchy due to ischemia.

The balconies on the first floor were completely sealed, and the balconies on the second to eighth floors were filled with clothes of various colors waiting to dry. It was the end of dinner.

"Zhang Nian, Zhang Nian," Liu Xiaobai was lying on the railing of a dormitory on the second floor. He raised the corners of his mouth, smiled mysteriously and far-fetchedly, waved to Zhang Nian who was carrying a weekly ribbon in the yard, and said two more words. Word, "Come up."

Zhang Nian held the ribbon in the palm of his hand, and the lapel of the school uniform was neatly arranged. He took a step, passed through the center of the courtyard, entered the dormitory building, and climbed briskly to the second floor against the crowds coming downstairs. On the right side of the stairs, 204..

There was a harsh sound between the opening and closing of the iron door. Zhang Nian threw the ribbon onto the unused bed by the door. He turned his head, held his breath suddenly, frowned and looked at the brand new bedding on the bed behind the door, and was standing reading a book. people.

"Zhang Nian, this is Yang Kong, our new roommate." Liu Xiaobai leaned on the ladder to go to bed, and stood on his side. When he said this, he didn't forget to eat half a bag of potato chips on the table.

Zhang Nian was standing in front of his new roommate, less than one meter away. He stared at the book cover in Yang Kong's hand, and could clearly see the four words - Sun Tzu's Art of War

"Yang Kong Yang Kong, this is Zhang Nian, number one in the whole grade." Liu Xiaobai walked over a few steps and put his hand on Zhang Nian's shoulder. With Nian's side face, he secretly bumped his knee into his leg.

Zhang Nian nodded with a "huh" and turned around in an instant. He picked up a stack of books on the table, raised his chin at Liu Xiaobai, and said, "Go, go to self-study tonight."

The wind traps people, and the whole body is hot. The teaching building is like a huge nest, and the lights gradually turn on, forming many shining white stars in the night.Liu Xiaobai said that Yang idling came to the accelerated class and became the fourth member of the trio.

Zhang Nian was very puzzled, he always judged people by feeling; Zhang Nian subjectively thought that Yang Kong was not easy to get along with, because he studied the art of war as soon as he entered the door.

"The accelerated class has always had to take a test, and he didn't take the test?" Zhang Nian's face was very gloomy when he said this.

After Liu Xiaobai heard this, his heart suddenly burned without any grudges. He nodded and said, "And I haven't read his report card yet."

Stepping on the steps in front of the building, the emotion in Zhang Nian's eyes became more gloomy, he frowned, turned to look into Liu Xiaobai's eyes, took a breath, and said, "Go and ask why he came in. "