looking back inadvertently

On the first morning of the holiday, Liang He slept in the air-conditioned room until after nine o'clock, and was woken up by a phone call from Wen Hao.

Qin Ying wasn't there, the phone rang several times, Liang He got up slowly, and dragged his slippers to the hall. He could recognize the caller ID at a glance, and lazily picked up the phone: "What are you doing?"

"Are you sorry?"

"Why do you get up so early on vacation?"

"I want to ask you something." Wen Hao was silent for a moment, "What gift are you going to buy for Ye Minjuan?"

"What did you say..." Liang He was startled, and quickly lowered his head to glance at the date displayed on the landline—fortunately, there are three days left before Ye Minjuan's birthday party.It's not how important this party is to him, but I promised before that if I miss the appointment, I might argue with him because of that girl's fiery temper.

"You won't forget?"

"No," Liang He said, "I'll buy it these two days."

"What are you going to buy?" Wen Hao asked coyly, "What does she like?"

"Why are you asking this? You want to go there too?" Liang He was very surprised.

"That's right, I met her a few days ago, and I asked her a bit, so... anyway, if you're here, I'll go too?"

"You won't—" Liang He is not surprised when other people attend girls' birthday parties, but Wen Hao never likes to get involved in such activities, except for those who have a crush on him, "Could it be that you—"

"Damn, stop your divergence," Wen Hao stopped immediately, "I'm not interested in her."

"It's okay if it's interesting," Liang He said, "I'm done with her long ago."

Ye Minjuan transferred to their class in the third year of junior high school.The first time Liang He saw her was outside the classroom door—a girl with a crew cut, at first glance she thought it was a boy.

The school rules of their junior high school are very strict, they have to wear school uniforms every day, and they are not allowed to wear jewelry. There are also a series of rules for the length of hair of boys and girls.She just happened to be bumped into by the dean in this state, and she was given some serious criticism and education.

"Teacher," she raised her face in a completely meaningless gesture, "the school does not allow long hair. My hair grows too fast. I might as well cut more at a time, so as not to waste time studying at the barber shop."

The dean was speechless, and since she had just arrived, she told her to "be careful next time" and let it go.

Later, the teacher asked Ye Minjuan to sit at the same table with Liang He.

"Hey, buddy," she said bluntly as soon as she sat down, "I didn't bring my physics textbook, please lend it to me."

Ye Minjuan called him "buddy" most often, including when she later proposed a relationship.

"Dude, are you interested—are you in a relationship?"

At that time, the two of them could only be regarded as good friends, without much youthful excitement.Half of falling in love is curiosity, and half is to pass the boredom of the third year of junior high school.

Liang He didn't hate her, and even liked to get along with her, not tired.But as a relationship of lovers, he didn't think it could last too long.Sure enough, I waited for a different high school, and after I had less contact, dating felt like performing a mission.Ye Minjuan once said to him: "I think we two are too much like buddies."

Liang He asked: "You don't want to continue?"

"forget about it."

Liang He was also very straightforward: "Then let's be buddies."

They were not embarrassed at all after they broke up. Liang He felt that if Wen Hao had any thoughts about Ye Minjuan, there was no need to be jealous. Of course, whether Ye Minjuan could accept it was another matter.

"What are you thinking?" Wen Hao immediately denied, "It's not her."

"Not her?"

"Well... just, I just found out that she is my current class flower girl, so the class flower will also go."

"Are you going to chase after class flowers?"

"What are you chasing after?" Wen Hao said despondently, "She has a boyfriend, I just think it will be harder to see her in the future after being divided into arts and science classes, and it will be fine if I can see her again."

"Oh." Wen Hao has never been in a relationship, but the person he likes changes every two months on average. Liang He didn't bother to comfort him, "I'll see you then."

"See what?" Liang He was about to hang up the phone, but Wen Hao stopped him again, "What exactly do you want to buy?"

Liang He thought for a while: "I'll buy Jay Chou's disc."

"Don't you dislike Jay Chou?"

"The question is, she likes it." Liang He yawned, "Isn't it better to buy gifts for people and choose what they like?"

"Which one do you buy? I'll pick one that's different from yours."

"I'll give you a dish, so you should too?" Liang He frowned, "Can't you have your own ideas?"

"Then what else does she like?" Wen Hao has a big head, he doesn't understand Ye Minjuan's taste at all, and he dresses up like a tomboy all day long, and he has never seen her wear any jewelry that can be imagined. Who knows where to start.

"You can do whatever you want," Liang He said, "You didn't go after her, and she won't mind the inappropriate gifts from ordinary classmates."

"That's right," he suddenly understood, "I'm not chasing her, guess what she likes to do?"

Liang He stopped talking to him, hung up the phone, and went into the kitchen to pour water.After turning on the air conditioner all night, his throat was dry and smoky. He drank two glasses of plain water in one go.The steamer was placed on the stove, and the lid was lifted. The two buns and a bowl of soy milk were still half-warm.

Liang He went to the video store by bike in the afternoon.The heat wave was roiling outside, and there was a needle-like burning sensation on his skin. He regretted that he had accepted the invitation to the birthday party casually. Just going out to buy things was annoying enough.After entering the store, I blew on the air-conditioning for a while, and the dryness on my body finally went down.

Liang He first selected the discs he was going to buy for Ye Minjuan, then went back and forth a few times, picked out some discs and cassettes he liked, and brought them to the cashier for payment.

The person in front of the queue was wearing a bright red checked shirt, Liang He glanced at it, and the person just turned his head.Liang He was taken aback: Isn't this the familiar boy I saw at the canteen a few days ago?Thin-framed black-rimmed glasses are still on the bridge of the nose, and the tips of the bangs still fall on the frame.The other party seemed to have an impression of him, and nodded as a greeting.

"Is that all?" the waiter asked the boy.

"Yes." He handed over a hundred-yuan note.

The cover on the disc box is Zhang Yusheng from Taiwan, a male singer who was popular a few years ago.Liang He didn't listen to Hong Kong and Taiwan songs very much. He knew about this person because the last time he rode in Liang Zheng's car, his disc was in it, and his voice was higher than that of ordinary men.

The boy who bought the CD picked up the bag, said "goodbye" very naturally, and walked towards the exit.

Liang He wondered where he had met him, but forgot to respond, and when he finished paying and walked out of the shop, the man had long since disappeared.

Ye Minjuan's birthday party is at home.Her family has a dog named Dou. When Liang He saw it for the first time, it looked dirty, but in fact it was just a mixed-colored, long and untidy fur.Ye Minjuan hugged Doudou, who was barking at the door and jumped forward, and Liang He was able to pass through the hallway and enter the living room.

The interior is decorated in a gaudy way, several bottles of opened juices are scattered on the coffee table in an orderly manner, and a few girls are chatting as if no one else is there, stopping only when they see new customers, and simply say hello.

"You do this every year?" Last summer, Liang He and her were still in a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, but at that time he didn't even know when the other party's birthday was, and Ye Minjuan didn't tell him.

"Of course not, or I'd be exhausted," she said, "Swallow wants to pass this year for me."

"swallow?"

"We used to live in the same courtyard, and then I moved, and we haven't seen each other for a long time."

The "swallow" she mentioned should be Wen Hao's favorite class flower. Liang He didn't ask who she was, but he could roughly guess it.

"What drink?"

"casual."

He didn't know any of the girls, and they weren't classmates in the junior high school class.Anyway, Ye Minjuan's range of friends has always made Liang He feel strange, and seems to be more inclined to develop outward.She didn't tell everyone that Liang He was her ex-boyfriend, she only called him a "buddy". The things Liang He gave made her very happy.Wen Hao arrived a little later, with his randomly picked gift - a teddy bear half the height of a man.

The corner of Ye Minjuan's mouth twitched, Liang He didn't have the nerve to laugh, watching her take the things with an awkward smile.

"Hey," Wen Hao sat down next to Liang He, "Is it not suitable for me?"

"No," Liang He perfunctory, "What's wrong?"

"Then why isn't she happy?"

"You can still see that you are not happy, not bad."

Wen Hao elbowed him, but Liang He was unmoved, and only cast his gaze not far away: "Is that the class flower you said?" The object of his gaze was a girl diagonally across from the coffee table.

Wen Hao's eyes lit up: "Yes, you can see that she is the most beautiful, right?"

"It's because I understand your aesthetics." Liang He said without changing his face.

That girl's appearance didn't attract him, she belonged to the type that attracted more attention at first glance, but Liang He preferred gentle and delicate, more attractive, although he still didn't think he really liked anyone.

Ye Minjuan complained about being bored in high school, Liang He asked her: "Do you miss our junior high school?"

"Forget it," she quickly denied, "it's like a monastery."

Now Ye Minjuan only wears ordinary short hair, but Liang He still remembers the scene where she stuck her neck and confronted the dean, it was quite funny, and it was also quite silly.

There were so many young people, and the noise was endless. They came to her house in the morning and didn't leave until it was almost dinner. If it weren't for several girls' families who wouldn't let them go back too late, she would still like to invite everyone to have dinner.

Liang He was quite patient, and dragged Wen Hao to help clean up the venue before leaving.

Banhua's boyfriend came to pick her up. He was a tall, thin boy who was also in the same grade as Liang He's school. He heard that he fought a lot and had a big temper.

Wen Hao stared sourly at the backs of the two of them, his eyeballs wishing they could hang on them.

"Okay," Liang He patted him, "Everyone is gone."

"I'm broken in love, can't I feel sad?"

"You've never been in love."

Wen Hao's nose was about to crooked: "Is it amazing to have been in love?"

"No," Liang He said indifferently, "Let you recognize the facts."

Wen Hao let down his breath and kept walking with his head down. When he got out of the community, he suddenly asked Liang He, "Why did you and Ye Minjuan break up?"

Liang He was slightly startled: "Why?"

"You two have such a good relationship, what's the deal... You are the only one who can bear her quick temper." Liang He didn't speak, and Wen Hao chattered vigorously, "Don't you also say that she has a straight temper and is in a bad situation? Are you tired? What's going on?"

"Heh," Liang He smiled, "Such a curiosity is worthy of being a 'little question mark'."

Wen Hao is most annoyed when people call him this homophonic nickname: "Don't divert your attention!"

Liang He put the key ring on his index finger, swayed it as he walked, and said lightly: "If we have a good relationship, we will be together, then we both should get a certificate." After he finished speaking, he took a big stride and threw Wen Hao away.

Wen Hao stood there in a daze for two seconds, and after realizing it, he shouted loudly: "Fuck! Liang He, wait for me!"