Jing Book

Four years ago, City C

As the night darkened, two figures flashed in an alley not far from the farmer's market. Upon closer inspection, they were two men in their twenties, one tall and one short, discussing something in a low voice while walking quickly.

"You're so lucky, how long did it take to win three thousand? Why don't you play a few more rounds? It's too early to check the bed!"

"Just take it when you see it. Don't forget what we are here for." The tall boy said in a low voice: "You take the money and call home first, and then we can think of other ways. This is not a good place. Don't come here again."

"No...Old Zhang, wait!"

The short boy pulled the other party into the corner, and said with a wry smile: "I know exactly what this place is from the first day I came in, but you also know the situation of my family. Besides me, the only labor force is my dad. Now he That disease, if I don’t want to be burdened, it’s easy, pull out the tube, and it’s over once, my mother tried to do this for me and my sister several times, and my sister stopped it.”

Speaking of this, the short boy choked back his sobs, and it took him a while to suppress his emotions and continue: "Don't talk about my sister, I can't fucking stand this! My dad has worked so hard for half his life to support our brothers and sisters. Seeing me He is about to survive, and this happened to him again! He didn't enjoy a day of blessing! How can you say I have the heart to let him die like this? Even if the hope is slim, I still want him to live for a few more years, even if he is paralyzed! "

"To be honest, Lao Zhang, I'm a man, and I've grown up like this. No one wants me to go out and sell it cheaply. It's not that I haven't tried working to earn money, but I can't earn my dad a week with that. medical expenses." The short boy wiped his face, the tall boy couldn't see his expression clearly in the darkness, but he could hear the tiredness in his voice.

"There are four brothers in the dormitory, and you are the only one who found out about my difficulty. I am grateful for that. Before, you persuaded me to report the situation to the school and wanted to help me organize donations...Old Zhang, this method can be used once or twice, three times Four times? Five times and six times? Not to mention that a drop in the bucket can’t solve my family’s problems, even I myself can’t open the mouth of everyone asking for money again and again. My family is now a bottomless pit. Can't help me either."

"It doesn't matter if you think it's crooked, or you think I'm not doing my job properly. I'm desperate. I can only win some dirty money with my brain." After saying this, the short boy patted the tall boy on the shoulder and said in a low voice : "I'm not going back tonight, you can help me carry around when I check the bed."

"and many more!"

The tall boy grabbed him, took out his phone, glanced at it, and said in a low voice, "It's less than eight o'clock, let's go back and play a few more rounds together. Regardless of whether we win or lose, we must come out at 09:30. The end of the term is less than a month away. You can't skip bed and class anymore."

"Old Zhang, you don't need to..."

"Don't talk about it," the tall boy sighed, and said, "You have stayed up for several nights in a row, and now I am not sure about the card counting. Even if you win, you can't win much. Why don't I go with you."

The short boy didn't speak anymore, but just punched the tall boy's shoulder with his fist. The two figures walked back along the path just now, and disappeared in the alley after a while.

The summer in the south is notoriously exhausting. Zhang Jingshu, as an authentic northerner, has not fully gotten used to it after five years of adaptation here. Every year at this time of year, he relies on swimming to soothe his physical and mental fatigue. It's just that there are not a few students who think the same as him, so the swimming pool in Zhongcai School has been full almost every day since the beginning of summer. Even when the end of the term is approaching, many students will not leave until the last moment of closing.

After seven o'clock in the evening, the people in the swimming pool were still eating dumplings. Several male students in Zhang Jingshu's class were not having fun swimming, so they gathered in a corner of the swimming pool to chat. The main target of the attack was Lu Tao, who had just lost two games in a row.

"Brother Tao, you've been a little vain lately, can't you just swim a few times?"

"Yeah, why is our General Changsheng panting like this? Brother Tao, tell me honestly, have you betrayed the organization? There have been a lot of nights out lately. Which beauty is so charming? It's holding you back." ?”

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's more than tied, I think it's almost empty."

"stop!"

Lu Tao rubbed his face, took off his swimming cap, sat down by the pool, and said, "Can we talk too much? There is Lao Zhang standing in our courtyard. He hasn't left the team of single dogs. He can take his turn." Me? Besides, didn’t I just escape a few times? Can you think of something positive?”

After finishing speaking, he waved to the person who was still swimming in the next lane, and shouted: "Old Zhang, come here! It's terrible! The four auditing heroes are fighting among themselves!"

As soon as this shameful title came out, Zhang Jingshu over there immediately stopped.

"Hey, did you see that once Lao Zhang took off his swimming cap, there is basically nothing to do with us, and he is still a beauty? Hurry up and go back to wash and sleep!"

These big boys were stunned by these words, their attention was immediately diverted by Lu Tao, and they started to denounce with another object.

"Old Zhang, classmate Zhang! Today you give us an accurate statement, can you solve your personal problems before the third year of research?"

"You are now a stone in the way of our bed, don't you know? With you here, the majority of female compatriots in Zhongcai will not be able to discover our inner beauty at all."

"That's right! Why don't you give them a chance to be discerning? Is it okay to be self-conscious about being a little stumbling block?"

Seeing that Zhang Jingshu was bullied as soon as he came here, Lu Tao followed suit: "Old Zhang, if you don't hurry up, the tip of your youth's tail will slip away."

Every spring season, Zhang Jingshu would be pulled out by several roommates to criticize him. After hearing similar words for five years, he was already immune.

"You won't pick me if I get out of the order?" Zhang Jingshu raised her eyebrows and asked with her arms raised: "Boss, that girl in the sports academy was interested in you before, and you could leave the organization with just a nod. What did you do then? Pretending to be deaf You have been in hiding for half a month, right?"

The boy who was named shrank his neck, and said to himself that he really didn't call the aunt who practiced shot put. What he liked was Jiaohua, not Bawanghua!

"Fourth, if I'm not mistaken, that little fellow of yours has secretly promised you a long time ago? Every time before the holiday, I take the initiative to ask you to go back to my hometown together."

Seeing Zhang Jingshu turn his head to look at him again, Lu Tao quickly made a gesture of surrender and said, "I've never been in a hurry in this regard, as you know, please don't wrong good people!"

Zhang Jingshu thought for a while, gave up attacking Lu Tao, glanced around and said calmly, "Do you still need me to continue?"

Several people shook their heads in unison, changed the topic at the same time, and proposed to swim a few more laps, Zhang Jingshu naturally had no objection, put on the swimming cap again and went into the water, and the few people did not leave until the library was closed.

On the way back to bed, Lu Tao and Zhang Jingshu were a few steps behind, walking last.

"how are things?"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about next month's money."

"Going out soon?"

"Well, after the bed check." Lu Tao moved closer to Zhang Jingshu, and said in a low voice, "I slept during the day, and it's okay to stay up all night today. I won't go next week and concentrate on preparing for the exam."

Seeing Lu Tao's well-measured appearance, Zhang Jingshu felt a little relieved, and Lu Tao did what he said. After a week, he spent every day reviewing in the library and never went out again.

The summer vacation came in the blink of an eye. Zhang Jingshu only went back to his hometown every year during the winter vacation when he was a freshman. He basically spent the summer vacation in part-time jobs. Over the past few years, he has also accumulated some contacts as a tutor. Before the holiday this year, some parents of students contacted him and communicated with him in advance. He discussed the class time for the holiday, so Zhang Jingshu became busy within a few days after the official school holiday.

Half a month later, Zhang Jingshu suddenly received a call from Lu Tao to make a dinner appointment.

It was already past nine o'clock in the evening to say goodbye from the student's house. Afraid that Lu Tao would wait for a long time, Zhang Jingshu took a taxi directly to the hot pot restaurant he had made an appointment with. When he entered the private room, he saw Lu Tao who had been waiting for a long time.

"It's finally here," Lu Tao said while pressing the service bell, "Are you busier than usual at school?"

Zhang Jingshu nodded, and said, "From nine to nine every day, I run from student to house."

The whole class knew about Zhang Jingshu's situation, and Lu Tao felt somewhat sympathetic to each other, so he couldn't help feeling: "It's not easy for you."

At this time, the waiter knocked on the door and entered, and the two had to temporarily put aside the topic and order food. After they were all together, they ate and chatted. After a few glasses of beer, Lu Tao finally couldn't help sharing his recent situation with Zhang Jingshu.

"Old Zhang, you are so kind, you have helped me several times, so I will only tell you some things." Lu Tao swallowed the whole glass of wine, and Lu Tao couldn't hide his complacency, "Guess I won this half a month." How much? 10,000+!"

Zhang Jingshu was startled when he heard the number at first, and asked with a frown, "Have you changed to the big one?"

"Well, it's not that you don't know that there are no masters in that small field. At most, they are veterans with a little luck. According to my brain, unless the luck is particularly bad, it will be difficult to lose. It's a waste of time to go small and small. , it’s better to play big.”

Seeing Zhang Jingshu's expression of disapproval, Lu Tao smiled and said, "Old Zhang, to be honest, the accident at home has been happening for so long, and I have been under a lot of pressure. During that time, I couldn't sleep all night, so I wondered what to do. To earn money, think about it carefully, what’s the use of working so hard to get into a prestigious school? If you encounter a difficult situation, it doesn’t matter if you are a hero or a bear, don’t you have to bow down for these few buckets of rice?”

"Before I had dinner with you today, I just transferred [-] yuan to my family. As soon as my mother found out the money, she was in a hurry. She called me and asked me how the money came from. I told her don't worry, your son didn't steal anything. Rob, the money is earned by your own ability, just use it with peace of mind, Lao Zhang, I know that money won by gambling is disgraceful, and I also know that you will understand me, neither of us grew up in a honeypot My child, I have already tasted the warmth and coldness of human feelings, what else can I not think about?"

Zhang Jingshu's silence made Lu Tao uncomfortable, but he couldn't stop what he really wanted to say.

"Actually, I noticed it when you accompanied me for the first time. You memorized and counted cards faster than I did. The next few times you went there, did you deliberately control it? Otherwise, you would win more. You have been busy for a summer vacation, How much can I earn? Is it [-] yuan? Lao Zhang, as long as you are willing, we will join forces. It doesn’t take much. There is only half a month left. It is not a problem to win hundreds of thousands without anyone knowing it. There is still a year We've just graduated, no matter what we do in the future, we must have some capital in our hands, and then we plan to get married, buy a house, which one doesn't cost money?"

Zhang Jingshu didn't know how to respond to the eloquent Lu Tao. It was only at this time that he realized that his once simple roommate had changed.

Being stared at by Lu Tao's scarlet but excited eyes, Zhang Jingshu couldn't say anything to persuade him. Even he himself couldn't promise to remain indifferent to money, let alone Lu Tao who had already tasted the sweetness?

"Brother Tao, I've been fully booked for the entire vacation, and I really don't have the energy to do extra things." Zhang Jingshu paused, and then said: "You should also pay attention to your body, don't waste too much time there."

Lu Tao heard the implication of Zhang Jingshu's words, and didn't take it seriously. The society has always supported the bold and starved the timid. He understands Zhang Jingshu's concerns. Before changing it, he valued his studies more than anything else. He didn't dare to do such a thing, after all, it was forced by life.

The meal didn't end until after ten o'clock, and the two of them had a tacit understanding in the second half, so they didn't continue to discuss this topic. Zhang Jingshu couldn't hold back when saying goodbye at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant, and whispered, "Brother Tao, It’s almost time to stop, after all... it’s not the right way.”

Lu Tao didn't say anything, just smiled and patted Zhang Jingshu's shoulder.

The author has something to say:

After thinking about it, I don’t want to open another pit, so let’s continue with this pit and write the next part.