Out of place

Xiang Xi said that he has no friends. In Cheng Boyan's opinion, there is no need to doubt the truth. He has known Xiang Xi for so long, and he has met his friends when he was in touch with porcelain, or strictly speaking, he is his accomplice. , and have been alone ever since.

Although those so-called friends in the past would be gone without them, Cheng Boyan still felt that he would be lonely.

His friend probably wasn't interested in Xiang Xi either, but he felt that Xiang Xi wasn't in a high mood these days, and he thought it might be better for him to eat and drink together when a group of people got together.

Although there are too many powerless things in this world, he will still reach out if he can reach out. Xiang Xi does not agree with his former identity as a gangster, and has always been eager to change. He will only give a hand if he can feel this.

Of course... There are other reasons, he hasn't planned to think about it yet.

But he only said there was a party, and didn't tell Xiang Xi that it was his birthday party, he was afraid that Xiang Xi would worry about gifts or something.

"Ah?" Xiang Xi was stunned, and after a while of silence, he said, "It's not appropriate for you to have dinner with your friends, and I'll go, right? No one knows me, and the gap is... too big. , I can’t even talk about it.”

"What gap?" Cheng Boyan asked.

"The gap is the gap." Xiang Xi clicked his tongue, "It's like the gap between me and you, a serious doctor from a tertiary hospital and a bastard... a boy from Sha County."

"Oh, the gap, it's quite big when you put it that way." Cheng Boyan smiled.

"That's right, so..." Cheng Boyan interrupted Xiang Xi before finishing his sentence.

"So haven't we been chatting all the time?" Cheng Boyan said with a smile, "It's been summer since we talked in winter."

"...It's different," Xiang Xi laughed, "If it wasn't for the fact that we had bumped into each other a few times before, plus I asked you to save me so shamelessly, and just saw me for nothing, it would be considered a day if you could look at me Too much free time."

"Come here when you're free. What's the point of having a meal? It's just to relieve boredom." Cheng Boyan didn't expect Xiang Xi to care so much about this.

"I... think about it," Xiang Xi said hesitantly, "I'm so busy, it depends on the schedule."

"Then you have arranged to call me." Cheng Boyan said.

Xiang Xi didn't wake up until Cheng Boyan called from yesterday's sleep until today's noon call. He sat on the bed with his mobile phone for a long time and still hasn't recovered.

Cheng Boyan is really a good person, unexpectedly, friends want to ask him to go to a party.

Xiang Xi sighed, he really wanted to go, meet Cheng Boyan's friends, experience how these people who are completely different from himself live, what they can talk about, what they can play...

But he didn't dare to go, not only because the gap was too big, but also because he was afraid of embarrassing Cheng Boyan.

After playing with the mobile phone by the bed for a long time, he still didn't know whether he should go or not, so he finally threw the mobile phone aside and washed his face first.

When he was about to open the door and go out, he heard disorderly footsteps outside the door, his heart tightened immediately, and he stood behind the door without moving.

There was a knock on the door, and it was quite loud, which made Xiang Xi's heart skip a beat.

"Is anyone there?" The people outside knocked again, "Police."

police?Xiang Xi leaned against the wall and fucked you up!

The door was knocked a few more times, and Xiang Xi was suddenly a little uncertain. If it was Uncle Ping's person, he would not use his identity as a policeman to trick him into opening the door. How many people who came out of Zhaojiayao heard that they were policemen? Dare to open the door...

"Aren't you at home?" said the person who spoke just now.

"Maybe I didn't notice when I went out." Someone replied.

Xiang Xi recognized the voice, it was the landlord's voice, yesterday Xiang Xi had just talked to him when the toilet light was off.

What a cop.

Xiang Xi was really stunned for a moment.

Whether to open the door or not, suddenly became a more difficult dilemma than whether to go to Cheng Boyan's dinner.

Why did the police come to him?

Is it because of the casserole restaurant?

Based on Xiang Xi's experience, it is theoretically impossible. This kind of gangsters come to the door to make trouble. The police may encounter it many times a day, and they have not hurt anyone. no.

That's why, something happened to the steamed bun?

Li Hui?

It's also impossible, both of them have something to do with Uncle Ping and the others, if it's really reached the point where the police can find him here, Uncle Ping would not have the guts to ask someone to look for him at Sha Guofan.

……

What the hell is it for!

"Who lives here?" the policeman asked outside the door.

"A child, who is not very old, should be a student." The landlord replied.

Hearing these words, Xiang Xi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

The police didn't come looking for him specifically.

He reached out and opened the door, rubbing his eyes against the door, there were indeed policemen outside the door, and there were three of them, he took a look, and changed the sleepy expression on his face into surprise: "What's the matter?"

"I want to know something from you." The policeman showed him his ID.

Xiang Xi let the policeman into the house, the policeman went into the house to have a look, and then opened the window to look up and down.

"What's wrong?" Xiang Xi asked the landlord in a low voice.

The landlord frowned, and it took him a long time to say: "Someone died downstairs."

"Ah?" Xiang Xi's surprise this time was not feigned, she was genuinely surprised.

After looking around the room, the police asked Xiang Xi several questions, whether he knew the young man downstairs, whether he had met him, whether he had spoken to him, and whether he had noticed anything unusual about him.

Xiang Xi kept shaking his head, he didn't even know who lived downstairs, he didn't even recognize the people living next door.

The policeman left after asking questions, and the landlord also went downstairs with a frowning expression.

Xiang Xi went out and stood on the stairs with a few people on this floor and looked downstairs. The door of the room directly below his room was painted with colored strips, and he could see blood that had solidified on the ground. Standing outside the door Several policemen were watching, and someone inside was moving something out of a bag.

"Ouch..." The girl next door who always cooked noodles for her boyfriend couldn't take it anymore, turned around and ran back to the house.

The girls on this floor all left, Xiang Xi watched with the other boys, and after the people downstairs had dispersed, they chatted for a while in the corridor.

Xiang Xi got a general idea from them.

The person who died downstairs was a young man in his twenties. He had lived here for almost a year. He seemed to be in poor health and walked alone. No one had ever seen him with friends or relatives.

This person didn't have a formal job before, and he has been doing various odd jobs, distributing leaflets, selling drinks and other daily billing tasks, and his life is very hard.

Early this morning, someone found the door of his room open. When they went over, they found that he was already stiff, blood was flowing all over the floor, and he still had a knife in his hand.

Whether it was suicide or homicide is uncertain.

Several boys were still discussing with gusto, their voices full of excitement.

Xiang Xi returned to his room after smoking a cigarette, and sat on the bed as soon as the door was closed, without moving for a long time.

A stranger died, a man who was miserable alone, lived a miserable life, and ended up dying inexplicably.

The discussion outside the door was still going on, no one cared what happened to this person, it was just because there was something to talk about for a while in the peaceful life.

Xiang Xi suddenly felt cold.

It's really like myself.

Alone, struggling to live.

One day I got sick, injured, chased and beaten, half dead... who would know, who would care?

Fang Yin's camera may be facing him all the time. In the end, people look at his photo, sigh with emotion, and then turn the page.

No.

There are people.

There should still be someone.

Cheng Boyan.

Xiang Xi jumped up, walked around the room twice, took the mobile phone thrown on the table and dialed Cheng Boyan's number.

"Huh?" Cheng Boyan answered the phone, hearing the voice as walking.

"Saturday night?" Xiang Xi asked.

"Yes," Cheng Boyan said, "it doesn't matter if you come later."

"I can go." Xiang Xi said.

"Then I'll pick you up, Sha County?" Cheng Boyan smiled.

"No, no," Xiang Xi said quickly, "Don't pick me up, I'll go by myself."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to find a place," Cheng Boyan said, "Then I'll pick you up where you live?"

"Then... okay," Xiang Xi hesitated, "I'll wait for you at the intersection."

After hanging up the phone, Xiang Xi went into the bathroom, looked at himself in the broken mirror on the wall, and changed his expression several times, smiling, not smiling, serious, well-behaved, amiable...

The face is okay, that's all it is anyway.

The clothes on his body were a little dissatisfied. Now that the weather has started to get warmer, the thick clothes that Cheng Boyan bought for him before could not be worn anymore. He just bought random clothes at the night market in this area, and he picked the cheapest ones. Kind of, a whole body does not add up to 100 yuan.

It's okay to do a job or something by yourself, but if you want to eat with Cheng Boyan's friends, this body is a bit ugly, mainly because you can spot the cheap ones at a glance.

The roll of money in the bag is still there, because I have been controlling my expenses all the time, and Fang Yin paid the rent, so the money has not decreased much, and there is an extra month's salary.

He thought about it, took out five hundred, counted it two or three times on his hand, took out two more cards, counted it twice, and it was almost done. He just bought a pair of pants and a T-shirt, and at most he would add more. A light coat.

And shoes... He used to wear furry ones before, but later he changed into a pair of old cloth shoes, which are light and comfortable, but they don't look good.

He calculated in his heart, and in the end he was not willing to take out any more money, it was enough.

"Fuck," he looked at the money in his hand, "it's bleeding."

When Fang Yin came uninvited, he saw the colored strips hanging downstairs, and immediately ran up. When he entered the door, he was so excited that he almost fell down.

"You're so excited, why don't you come to my place for the next two days?" Xiang Xi sat cross-legged on the bed, "You're so fucking dedicated to your work, you should be a hit with me."

"I didn't come here specially, I was really passing by, so I came up to see if you are doing well... What happened downstairs?" Fang Yin held up his camera, "I think there is still blood."

"It's unlucky to die," Xiang Xi said, "The police came and then left."

"How did you die?" Fang Yin asked.

"Who knows," Xiang Xi sighed, "who cares, you life photographers are interested, if you take a picture, someone will want to see it, if you don't take a picture, no one will know, keep quiet I'll just hang around, suffer quietly, and die quietly."

Fang Yin didn't speak, sat down beside him, and looked at him after a while: "Do you want to go out?"

"Well, don't follow me, I'll go out and buy some clothes." Xiang Xi said.

"I'll take you downstairs," Fang Yin took out his wallet, "I'll give you today's money first, do you have to find a job these days?"

"After a while, I don't have much energy." Xiang Xi lowered his head.

"Everything will pass," Fang Yin patted him on the shoulder, "Everything will pass."

"Didn't the one downstairs just go there?" Xiang Xi glanced at him.

Fang Yin opened his mouth but did not speak, and finally sighed.

Xiang Xi feels that it is impossible to buy a suit that is close to what Cheng Boyan usually wears for 700 yuan, but it is almost enough to wear what the college students next to him wear, and maybe it can be upgraded to a higher level.

He didn't go to any fancy shopping malls. There are many college students renting houses in this area, and there are two universities within a short walk.

The first thing Xiang Xi chose were shoes, they were big heads, he had to buy them first, so as to control the cost.

After going in and out of several running shoe stores seven or eight times, Xiang Xi finally picked out a pair of discounted ones in an Anta store.

"Do you want to change it?" The little sales girl asked after looking at the old man's cloth shoes he had placed next to him after trying on the shoes.

"No, put it on for me." Xiang Xi took off the new shoes and replaced them with cloth shoes.

Next is clothes and pants. The clothes are easy to talk about. Just buy a short-sleeved T-shirt and add a coat. You don’t need to buy it after a while when it’s hot.

Xiang Xi is actually very picky about clothes. In the past, except for saving some money secretly, he used the rest of the money to choose the best possible range. He never cared too much about hairdos or buying clothes.

It's different now, the money is not easy to come by.

The short-sleeved T-shirts still had the new labels on the summer clothes, and they were not cheap. With this little money in his hand, he tried one by one, and the boss's face turned into a mule, so he finally chose for himself Ready to dress.

In the end, I wanted to ask the boss to give him a pair of socks, but the boss didn't even look at him and said directly: "You think beautifully!"

Pants Xiangxi decided to buy jeans, which are durable and can be worn all year round.

But when he asked the price, he was taken aback: "One hundred and seventeen?"

"We are all foreign trade cowboys, and the ones worth tens of dollars can't compare," the boss looked at him. "If you buy ten cheap ones, it's not as good-looking as this one."

Xiang Xi didn't speak, turned around and walked out of the store, and walked around a few stores nearby, but there were cheap ones, including 35 pieces. Xiang Xi tried it on, and felt that he could go to work in the factory immediately after wearing it. .

I went back to that shop and tried it on again. It was really good-looking, with long legs. Before the boss could speak again, he took it off and went out again.

Tried around and finally turned back to this store.

"Ouch," the boss was an older lady, and when she saw him coming again, she sighed, "Have you finished the comparison? Should I stop talking, one hundred and fifty is too expensive for you?"

"One hundred and fifty taels, I can still think about it." Xiang Xi looked down at his pants.

"Let me tell you, little friend, if I hadn't opened the business today, would I be able to type you your letter now?" The elder sister looked at him.

"Less less, sister." Xiang Xi said.

"It's useless to call me sister, one hundred and four, if you continue to rubbish with me, just turn around and walk away." The elder sister frowned.

"Auntie, one hundred and three." Xiang Xi gritted his teeth.

"Let's go!" the eldest sister shouted.

"130 five," Xiang Xi looked at her, "Leave me five yuan for dinner, sister, big fortune and good luck, congratulations on getting rich every year..."

"Oh my God!" The elder sister yelled again, stared at him for a long time, then waved her hand, "Take it away, take it away, I'm so annoying."

Xiang Xi paid the money, and when he was walking out with the bag, he saw several rows of belts hanging at the door, and he pulled out a rough canvas one: "Sister, give me another belt."

"No! Fifteen and one, you want ten yuan to take it." The eldest sister said.

"Five yuan, my meal money is gone," Xiang Xi whispered, taking out the five yuan in his pocket, "I have to walk back later, the car money is gone."

"My God!" the eldest sister shouted.

Holding several bags, Xiang Xi walked all the way back to the place where he lived.

He still had money, and he didn't spend all the seven hundred, but he really didn't want to spend any more money on the bus, so he decided to carry out what he told his elder sister to the end, and he didn't eat or take the bus.

Back in the room, he took a shower, changed his clothes, pants and shoes, stood in the toilet and looked in the mirror, and felt that he was much more refreshed.

However, the mirror was too small, and only the upper body could be seen. He raised one leg and kicked against the wall, and the leg could be seen in the mirror, but this posture really had no effect.

After thinking about it, he walked out of the house and walked twice outside the door of the young couple's house next door. They were not closed when they were making lunch. There was a full-length mirror facing the door in his house.

Xiang Xi looked at it, and felt that his body was not bad, but his hair was not cool enough. After Moxigan was shaved, he didn't grow his hair seriously. When it grew, he spent ten yuan to have it shaved in a small barber shop. Into a round inch.

The way it is now looks similar to those college students in the building, and he is quite satisfied.

It's just that after returning to the house and changing all the clothes, I feel a little bit distressed about the hundreds of dollars.

Fang Yin didn't come back for the next two days, Xiang Xi felt quite at ease, he didn't even go out the door, just hid in the hut, listening to the discussion about the dead man coming from outside the door from time to time.

In fact, Fang Yin takes pictures with him every day, as long as he doesn’t ask him questions endlessly like an interview, it won’t affect him. He just feels that his life like a trapped animal is recorded like this little by little, and then being hunted by others. It hurts self-esteem to explore deeply.

But Fang Yin didn't come, and he was very distressed that he was fifty that day, and three days was enough for a pair of trousers.

Cheng Boyan called him at noon on Saturday and made an appointment to meet in the afternoon. Xiang Xiting wanted to chat with him a few more words, but Cheng Boyan seemed to be at home, so he had no choice but to hang up the phone.

I don’t even bother to eat, so save my stomach to fill up at night. Anyway, if I can’t talk to Cheng Boyan’s friends, I can only eat.

He lay on the bed, half-asleep and half-awake until the afternoon, got up when it was almost time, took a shower and changed into the newly bought outfits, tidied in the room for a long time, and then walked out of the room .

The room downstairs has been cleaned up. The people in the two rooms next door seem to have moved out, and the doors are all closed. I can't see the blood of someone who died just a few days ago. It is estimated that there will be someone else in two days. people live in.

Xiang Xi stopped on this floor for a few seconds, then bounced downstairs in small steps.

Cheng Boyan arrived ten minutes earlier than the agreed time, so he parked the car on the side of the road and waited.

Within a few minutes, he saw Xiang Xi walking out along the path. He hadn't seen him for a few days. Xiang Xi's face seemed to be sharp, but the newly bought clothes on his body seemed to make him look quite energetic.

Xiang Xi is quite handsome, not particularly outstanding, but he will still be seen in the crowd at a glance. Apart from his much more mature temperament compared with his peers, he is also a little sensitive, cautious with a little inferiority complex , and what makes Cheng Boyan feel soft-hearted occasionally is the loneliness he feels after seeing through many things when he is alone.

Just like when he walks over now, there are messy self-built small buildings behind him, a few free-range chickens at his feet, and children chasing children with schoolbags, racing cars to chase the wind The three-wheeled truck that rushed into the small road like a teenager.

He dodges chickens, children, and pickup trucks, all of which he doesn't seem to see.

Cheng Boyan honked the horn, opened the door and got out of the car. Xiang Xi looked up and saw him, smiled and jumped, and ran over.

Cheng Boyan watched the expression on his face change, and then smiled.

"I thought I came out early," Xiang Xi rubbed his nose with a smile, "How long have you been waiting?"

"Just arrived," Cheng Boyan got into the car, "Come on, it's been almost an hour."

"Why do you think about the party today?" Xiang Xi got into the car, sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt, "Do you always have parties?"

"I don't get together very often, I'm always busy," Cheng Boyan started the car, turned around and drove out, "Today is...my birthday."

"Oh, what did I say..." Xiang Xi stopped suddenly in the middle of speaking, turned his head suddenly, and shouted, "What?"

"My birthday." Cheng Boyan said.

"Fuck me?" Xiang Xi was stunned, then slapped the car window and shouted again, "Stop, stop! Stop!"