looking back inadvertently

The sadness in my heart didn't fade away, but was well hidden by Liang He.He diverted his attention by brushing up questions and reading books, and his quiz scores were even better than last semester.

The dormitory life unfolded in an orderly manner, and he gradually adapted to it.Zhao Zhuoyang didn't deliberately look for thorns anymore, and occasionally brought some snacks back and shared them with him. "Curly hair" and "middle parted" are gentler and not tiring to get along with.

According to the school arrangement, on the eve of the November holiday, there will be a parent meeting for senior high school students.

In the past, Qin Ying came to the school instead of Liang He's parents at the parent meeting, but now she is hospitalized and unable to attend.As Liang Zheng was on a business trip for the past few days, he had a phone call with Luo Mingyu in advance, apologized for his absence, and exchanged with him about Liang He's recent study and mental state.

The day of the parent meeting is NO.30, after two classes in the afternoon.Except for Liang He, the parents of the other students were all present, and the students were dismissed early.Most of the students near their home went home by themselves, and some boarding students waited for their parents to go with them, such as Shen Zhe.

The sun hadn't set yet, but was covered by clouds, and the dim sky had the hue of an old movie.

On the basketball court below the classroom, some junior students are playing.Liang He's parents didn't come over, but he didn't leave early. He borrowed a ball from his junior student who was taking a break, and practiced shooting to pass the time.Shen Zhe leaned against a tree not far away.

It's been a long time since I touched the ball. Liang He was a bit unfamiliar with his hands and missed several times.He ran around with the ball twice on the court, came to the basket again, jumped lightly, and watched the ball roll around the edge of the basket, as if it had completed its mission, and fell into the net safely.

"Not bad." Shen Zhe walked out from under the tree.

"Do you want to try?" With a questioning tone, Liang He moved ahead of time and threw the ball directly in front of Shen Zhe.

Shen Zhe reacted quickly and stretched out his arms, just in time to catch it.

"I haven't played much." His interest in sports is very average, at most he plays badminton with Shen Sihong occasionally.

"It's okay." Liang He was sweating, and he waved his right hand to fan the wind. "It's boring to be idle."

Shen Zhe didn't get too close to the basket, and just shot upwards near the free throw line, but he didn't expect to hit it the first time.He moved his arm and picked up the ball again: "Hey, I'm quite talented."

Liang He smiled: "Continue to vote."

After ten shots, at least half of them went into the basket. Shen Zhe felt good about himself.

"Do you want to fight me?" Liang He asked.

But before Shen Zhe could answer, the junior who had lent the ball to them said he was leaving, so Liang He had no choice but to return the ball.

The sky was getting darker, and the parent meeting didn't end so quickly, Shen Zhe waited for Shen Sihong, Liang He didn't say to leave, and the two slowly walked to the outer edge of the court.

Quietly lingered between the two, Fangfo automatically blocked the noise of the basketball hitting the ground.

"Have you been to the hospital recently?" After being speechless for a long time, Shen Zhe still spoke.He only said to go to the hospital, but in fact they all understood that going to the hospital meant visiting Qin Ying.

"Last week."

Liang He's eyes were dull, and he seemed to know that the old man's situation was not optimistic, so Shen Zhe didn't pursue this topic any further.

"Then where are you going for a while?"

"Let's eat outside first, and then..." Liang He lowered his head, "I still want to go to the hospital."

"Today?" Shen Zhe looked at his watch, it was going to be dark, "Is it too late?"

"It's okay, you can live in 'Tianyuan'."

After the junior students left, there were still a few people playing on the basketball court, with fragmented footsteps and no urgency.Liang He was very quiet, and intentionally let his eyes follow the jumping ball until the sky became darker, and the outlines of the students were so blurred that they almost became silhouettes.

He looked up at the teaching building beside him, the lights pouring out of every window blended in the dimness, as if the building itself would be bright.A figure began to move by the window.

"It's almost over," Liang He said towards the direction of their classroom, "you can go find uncle."

"how about you?"

"I'll leave later," Liang He said without moving, "I want to stay for a while."

Shen Zhe stared at the lit street lamp beside him, because they were too close to the light source, the shadows of the two people under the lamp looked short and almost overlapped.

"Go to 'Tianyuan' and call me." He said.

"Ah."

Shen Zhe quickly returned to the third floor and found Shen Sihong who had just walked out of the classroom.

"I won't go home to eat tonight," Shen Sihong told him, "Your mother called just now, she went out to the hospital because of something."

Shen Sihong doesn't like cooking very much, when he takes Shen Zhe alone, the two of them often go out to eat.

"Going to a restaurant?" Shen Zhe immediately responded.

"Well, there is a Cantonese restaurant at the intersection ahead," Shen Sihong continued, "Let's stop driving, let's walk over there?"

"I don't care," before reaching the stairs, Shen Zhe suddenly stopped, and said to Shen Sihong, "Dad, I'm a classmate, and there's no one at home, can we let him eat there with us?"

Since Liang He also planned to eat outside, Shen Zhe thought, why not call him over.

"Sure." Shen Sihong didn't care, "Where is your classmate?"

"It's just downstairs at the basketball court," Shen Zhe raised his voice, "Dad, wait for me at the school gate, I'll call him."

"Row."

Shen Zhe ran downstairs at a gallop, surpassing one student at a normal pace after another.Shen Sihong shouted "slow down" from behind, but I don't know if he heard it.

But when Shen Zhe went to the basketball court again, Liang He couldn't be seen at all, only a few students who were playing just now were packing their schoolbags, and seemed to be planning to leave.

"Classmates," Shen Zhe stepped forward and said to one of them, "I'm sorry to ask, did you see the boy in school uniform standing here just now leaving?"

"Ah? Is there such a person?" Several people looked at each other, very confused.

Indeed, even if you stand by your side for an entire afternoon, you won't be able to leave any impression on someone you don't know.Shen Zhe also felt that his problem was too difficult for others.

"It seems to be there..." Finally, a boy replied hesitantly, "But he left."

Shen Zhe raised his eyes and asked half to himself, "Has he... been out of school?"

"Then I don't know," the man continued, "I can't see the school gate, but I remember walking towards the gate, and it's been a while."

"Then... thank you." Shen Zhe said mechanically, then turned and left.

Liang Hyuk has probably already left school.Shen Zhe didn't know where he was going to eat, or went directly to the hospital; in the end, he returned to the school gate disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Shen Sihong asked, "Where's your classmate?"

"He's gone." Shen Zhe felt unspeakably uncomfortable and a little lonely.

Shen Sihong thought that he regretted not being able to have dinner with his friends, and comforted him: "There is still a chance in the future, let's go."

Liang Hyuk did go straight to the hospital, he didn't tell the whole truth.

His own affairs had caused the other party to worry repeatedly, he did not doubt that Shen Zhe would ask Shen Sihong to take him with him when he went upstairs, so he left first.

In the evening, the inpatient building was brightly lit.But Qin Ying went to bed early, and only one night light was lit in the room.The nurse didn't expect Liang He to come over at this time, and asked him if he wanted to talk to grandma.

"No, I'll just sit for a while." Liang He sat on the chair in front of the hospital bed. Qin Ying was very weak now, and he probably wouldn't be able to wake up after falling asleep for a while, and he didn't intend to disturb her.

He didn't stay there for too long, and then walked out of the ward, looking at the end of the corridor, feeling at a loss.go home?I don't know which one is home.So he continued to sit against the wall.In order to avoid the piercing white overhead light, he kept his head down.

A nurse-like woman walked past him, then backed away, seeming to be sizing him up.Being stared at by strangers, Liang He was uncomfortable, and it was hard to pretend that he didn't know anything, so he raised his head and looked back.

"Are you—" the man asked him, "Liang He?"

"Yes," Liang He stood up in surprise, he had no impression of this middle-aged woman at all, "You are—"

"Are you Shen Zhe's classmate? I've seen your group photo," she said, "I'm his mother."

Liang He immediately remembered that Shen Zhe's mother worked in the No. [-] Hospital.

"Hello Auntie."

"Hello."

Another young nurse called her, "Sister Bai, why are you here?"

"Let me take a look," the little nurse just said hello and left, Bai Yanru continued to say to Liang He, "I'm in another department, but Shen Zhe mentioned to me about your grandma, has grandma rested?"

"Well," Liang He realized after she replied, "Are you—— to visit my grandma?"

"I'm done for now," she said while nodding, "Shen Zhe also misses your grandma very much."

"Ah... I know." In fact, Liang He didn't know very well.During these days, Shen Zhe did care about him more than before, but he didn't often ask Qin Ying directly.

"Is anyone at home tonight?" Bai Yanru asked again.

Liang He changed his mind before saying "No", and lied to Bai Yanru: "My father is here."

"That's good," Bai Yanru didn't doubt, "I originally thought that if you have no one at home, you can come to my house during the holidays, and Shen Zhe should be very happy."

"There will be a chance in the future." Liang He suddenly felt at a loss.Shen Zhe and his parents were very enthusiastic, but there was no shelter for him, "Auntie, thank you, I'm leaving first."

"Be careful on the road."

"Ah."

Liang He didn't stay in "Tianyuan" that night, but returned to his old house in No. [-] Middle School.

The small shop officially closed more than half a month ago.The family is in a mess, and no one has the energy to take care of it, so naturally there is no need to renew the lease.There was a "sublease" notice posted on Yinleng's shutter.

Ah Hua completely disappeared, perhaps no longer alive.Liang He took away the food bowl in the corridor, only the shoe rack was still there.It's so old, it's useless to take it home.

Unlike "Tianyuan", there are cleaning staff hired by Liang Zheng to clean it regularly.He hadn't been in the house for a while, and there was a thick layer of dust inside, but Liang He was not afraid of trouble, tidying up by himself made him feel at ease after a long absence.After scrubbing the living room floor, the phone rang.

It was a bit of a surprise.Qin Ying was hospitalized, and he also lived on campus. Recently, there were only a few numbers on the caller ID at home that looked like advertisements.So this time, will it be another meaningless outsider?

After picking it up, there was a faint sound of breathing, and Liang He instantly had a premonition of who was calling.He looked down at the caller ID.

"Shen Zhe?"

"Why did you go back to No. [-] Middle School?" Shen Zhe's voice was a little hurried, "Is it fun to lie to me?"

Hearing his complaint, Liang He suddenly wanted to laugh, but he still apologized sincerely: "I'm sorry."

"If you want to go back, go back," Shen Zhe's tone softened, "Did you meet my mother?"

"Well, Auntie is really nice."

"That's for sure," he asked with some regret after a moment of silence, "she invited you to my house, why don't you come?"

"I..." Liang He held the microphone, unable to think of a more appropriate way to organize his words, "I want to be alone now... I'm sorry." Liang He wasn't sure if Shen Zhe would be unhappy if he said this, but he I don't want to find excuses to perfunctory each other.

"That's nothing to apologize for." The other party immediately recovered his bright voice, "I thought you didn't want to be alone..."

"Thank you." Liang He murmured.Slight suffocation in the chest, this time it was not because of grandma, but because of Shen Zhe's words.

"If you change your mind, you can come to me again. I'm at home these few days." They have a four-day holiday on National Day. "Or you can call and chat."

"Okay." Liang He agreed on the phone.

Although until the end of the holiday, Shen Zhe did not wait for his call back.