【Summer Five】Iron City Wall

"Let's go?" Xia You asked.

Wujo moved his hand away, his eyes were filled with the mist of waking up from a big dream.He looked at Xia You, blinked very slowly, and the mist suddenly cleared away.

"Let's go!" He agreed with a smile.

They got up with difficulty, cleaned up the scattered books, and left the school without looking back.Xia You took Wutiao to board the tram as usual, but they didn't stop at East Seventh Street.

The dusk is warm, and the crowded buildings in the fifth district are all soaked in a yellow halo, like an old photo that is getting older.The boys sat side by side in the westbound tram, their bodies covered with the setting sun, as if they were walking through an ancient and long river.

The street scene quickly swept back, Xia You was leaning against the wall, and the wind blew her black hair loose on her shoulders.

"I didn't expect you to fight." He teased, "You really can't be judged by appearances."

Wutiao covered the bridge of his bleeding nose, and said in a muffled voice, "You all think I'm a vicious stowaway, you must have some skill."

Xia You smiled: "That's a big mistake. Stowaways are divided into three, six, and nine grades. Where can I find out whether you are from District [-] or District [-]? If it is District [-]—they are no better than here How much—if you’re in a certain mountain corner, I’m afraid I’ve seen more people than there are cattle and sheep at home.”

Wutiao subconsciously stretched out his hand to cover the back of his neck, and said angrily: "Oh, you're engaging in value confrontation, right? Execute on the spot!"

Xia You made a fuss, leaning on the edge of the car and laughing sullenly.Wutiao raised one eyebrow high and looked at him with half annoyance and half joy, the color in his eyes was very warm, as if a layer of honey had been sprinkled by the sun.

The tram drove slowly out of the city, and there was faint moisture in the wind.

Wujo raised his head with a feeling, and his vision suddenly opened up.Under the dusky sky, the endless river spreads slowly into the distance. Several freighters are moored on the shore, and seagulls are pecking at the ears of wheat on the deck.

"Let's go." Xia You said to him, "Go to the pier to get some air."

The two turned into the pier familiarly and walked straight in.The old man at the gate was no longer surprised, he directly waved to Xia You and let him play by himself.

Xia You sat down on the abandoned container, facing the canal across the four regions.In the distance, the silhouettes of freighters can be vaguely seen, scattered in twos and threes on the iron-gray river surface, like a few parts on a production line.

They brought tons of rice, fruits and vegetables, and daily necessities to the fifth district, and then carried away the same weight of reinforced concrete.Scientists in the second district used these materials to study the development direction of the drive armor, and the rest was distributed to the army, construction institutes, and manufacturers, and they consumed the hard work of the workers in the fifth district day and night.

And the resources exchanged for those sweats will flow into the major merchants as soon as they land on the shore, and become part of the hoarding inventory; the merchants rack their brains to balance the interests, and then put them on the shelves at expensive or low prices. Residents sold out.As for the underground—most of the residents in the fifth district do not regard them as "our own people", and only the designated transport team will bring the workers a fixed amount of supplies during the monthly "breathing period".

As long as you are in the fifth district for a day, the cold and damp smell in the streets and alleys will wrap around your skin like a gangrene, and you can't get rid of it for a lifetime.

Xia You looked at the slowly flowing Grand Canal, feeling a dull pain from the contusion caused by the driven armor on his wrist.The troubles that had been lingering for a long time jumped into my heart again,

He suddenly had the urge to talk.

If the object is five...

We teamed up and won a fight - for the 13-year-old Xia You, it was almost synonymous with "building a friendship".

So, he hesitated for a moment, and asked lightly:

"Is there anything you must do?"

Wujo sat down beside him, leaving half a body distance.He hugged his knees and curled up on the container, only showing his head leaning towards Xia You, like a touch of bright color on the top of a snow peak.

"No." Wujo said, "at least not now—maybe a strange idea will pop up in my mind someday, but not now."

Xia You stared at a kayak, hesitated and said, "I have it."

"One day, I will let Hiroki and Minako return to the third district."

This sentence is plain, but it seems to have been brewing for countless days and nights.

Wutiao opened his eyes wide: "I just said why you go to school every day. In order to get a score that exceeds the basic university score in the three districts in the unified examination of the district? After all, this is one of the only two formal ways for low-value citizens to be promoted to high-end districts .”

Xia You nodded: "Yes. The other way is to stay in the army for seven years and get at least one second-class meritorious service—it's not suitable for me, and I don't want to waste my time and talent on the military department and phantom seeds."

He took it for granted, and there was no objection to the five items.What surprised him was something else: "Why did you suddenly mention this to me?"

Xia You was puzzled: "I thought that this kind of topic would be discussed among friends—dreams, hobbies, etc."

"Friends?" Wutiao raised his head in a "chuckle" and asked in surprise, "Us? Friends?"

As the evening wind blew, Xia You began to panic.He hurriedly checked his wording and was sure that there was nothing wrong with it: "We obviously fought together, so this is not considered a friend?"

Wutiao was even more confused: "You mean everyone who was beaten with you is considered a friend?"

Xia You thought about it and didn't think there was anything wrong with it: "That's right!"

Five were silent.He rested his chin and didn't speak. After a long while, he suddenly realized: "You're right!"

"What?" Xia You was a little numb from the shock of this man.

Wu Tiao clenched his right fist and hammered the palm of his left hand, with a shiny expression, as if he had discovered some treasure: "Jie, you are right, we are indeed friends!"

After finishing speaking, he kept chanting in disbelief, repeating the word "friend" over and over again, as if he had heard the usage of this word for the first time.

Monk Xia Youzhang couldn't figure it out, so he could only subconsciously say: "Oh, good."

Unexpectedly, Wutiao jumped up and grabbed his hand, and still said brightly: "Then you talk more! Isn't it true that friends chat like this, I love to listen, I love to listen."

Summer oil is even more fascinating.But he didn't quite understand the specific meaning of "friend", so he really started to sort out his thoughts, brought up a topic that he hadn't talked about a week ago, and said solemnly: "Then I'll say it."

Gojo returned to the posture of tucking his knees, tilting his head sideways with an expression of "I'm ready".

The setting sun sinks towards the horizon, and the afterglow sprinkles on the undulating yards of the pier. A speedboat rubs against the river bank in a regular rhythm.

"I've never seen the Grand Canal so close." Xia You spoke softly, her voice melting in the wind. "—until being driven to District Five."

"No one in our family is worth less than 60. Dad used to be able to teach at a public university in the third district. He researched drive armor automation, and he has hundreds of students, all of whom respectfully call him 'professor'."

"At that time we lived in the old town of the third district, far away from the river, and I only saw it once from a distance. I remember that the pier was well organized, with tall guardrails surrounding the entrance, and hundreds of staff members in blue uniforms running around. ;The crane unloaded the huge ship, and the river was shining in the sun. I asked my dad 'when can I go to the fourth district on a cruise ship', and he smiled and promised me to go on vacation."

Speaking of this, Xia You opened his eyes, his expression a little stiff: "But we couldn't wait until the summer vacation."

"The principal of that university... was reported to be secretly assisting the rebel army. The military came to arrest people and dragged out all the faculty and staff in the school for investigation, and Hongshu was no exception. Everyone was sentenced. Not involved in the incident escaped jail, but our family also had to move out of the third district."

Wutiaoyu interjected with sarcasm: "Joint and several responsibility—exile, right? It's really their style."

Xia You nodded heavily: "This happened a year ago. Now Dad is working in management and Minako has found an easy clerical job. We have a better life than most people. But I don't care anyway. Willingness: No matter how glamorous they look on the surface, their actual workload is much greater than when they were in the third district. Hongshu was bossed around all day long, and he never paid a penny for extra overtime every week; Minako was often ridiculed as a 'The burden of a great professor', the pain I suffer in secret is definitely not much more."

"It's not fair." Xia You repeated word for word, "They deserve a better life, it's not fair."

Wujo looked at him quietly, waves seemed to ripple in his eyes.

"So you have to go to District [-] anyway." He used declarative sentences, "In order to give parents everything they should have."

Xia You clenched her ten fingers, facing the setting sun and replied, "Yes."

He was so eager for an opportunity, a chance to get his parents out of District Five.He hated the crowded and cramped streets and houses, the freezing cold winter, and the heinous underground world. Even if he stayed here for a second longer, the pervasive filth would corrode the body and mind, causing their brains to stop, their hands to freeze, and their ideals to wither. To be cinders in the soles of gentlemen's shoes.

"Okay." Wutiao said, "I agree."

"what?"

"Anyway, I don't have much to do." Wutiao laughed, his eyes glowed like gold flakes, like dawn in the sky. "You are very interesting, and this road is also very interesting-I want to take a walk with you."

He is very much like a god who pronounces a sentence, but he is immature and soft, full of lively vitality.Xia You was stunned, and suddenly didn't know how to describe the feeling in his heart.He really wanted to say "thank you", but felt that it was too unfamiliar for a friend; so he simply said nothing, and smiled.

Gojo was obviously taken aback, looked away, and jumped off the container uncomfortably.

"Go back." He bowed his head and said, "I still don't know what my aunt will say."

Facts have proved that Minako really scolded the two children.Xia You didn't argue a word in a sensible way, while Wu Tiao listened with a smile all the way, looking like he was enjoying it.

"Okay, although it's wrong to fight," Hiroki said slowly, interrupting Minako's distressed and helpless lecture. "But for what it is, you did a good job of teaching the bullies a lesson."

Wutiao pulled Xia You and clapped her hands.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Minako said angrily, "Look at what they have become!"

Hong Shu nodded: "Yes, so lessons are still necessary."

He turned to Wutiao and Xiayou, who were instantly wilted, and said seriously, "Next time, take less pain."

Minako picked up the cushion and pretended to hit someone, Xia You pulled the five sticks to dodge left and right, and Hong Shu sipped tea leisurely.

The small bungalow is lit with warm lights, and the moonlight melts into colorful icing in the honey pot, dripping down from the window sills, and the floor is full of warmth.