Shen Shu

Shao Zixun grabbed Zhou Tong's wrist and carefully lifted him up with strength.But in the end, he used too much force, causing Zhou Tong to be dragged forward and slam into Shao Zixun.The two fell by the well together, in a panic.Zhou Tong was holding the oiled paper bag with one hand, and Shao Zixun was still holding the other hand. The fall just now gave him the illusion that his shoulder was dislocated.As for Shao Zixun, who had been a cushion, it was even worse, his back was heavily pressed against the stone slab, and the air in his chest was almost squeezed out by Zhou Tong.One remained lying on the opponent's body and could not move, and the other was coughing heavily as if suffering from a serious illness.

"You - if you can get up, get up quickly, I think my ribs are going to be broken -" Shao Zixun coughed for a long time before recovering, and he said this to Zhou Tong through gritted teeth.

Zhou Tong moved his limbs, and after confirming that there was no fracture or dislocation, he stood up while supporting Jingyuan with trembling legs.What made Shao Zixun feel inexplicably moved was that after Zhou Tong stood still, he still knew how to reach out and pull the half-paralyzed himself up from the ground—although the action was simpler and rougher.

"Ah, it's raining." When the two were sitting side by side under the eaves of the old house to rest, Zhou Tong said suddenly.

Shao Zixun was weighing the weight of the oiled paper bag. Hearing what Zhou Tong said, he subconsciously raised his head to look up at the sky, but his face was covered with leaves covered by a gust of wind, followed by fine and powerful raindrops. "It seems that a typhoon is coming, should we go back?" Shao Zixun turned his head to look at Zhou Tong, who was about to stand up.He didn't need to explain, he also knew that this meant saying goodbye to his family.

Zhou Tong walked into their old house, while Shao Zixun stayed outside.He looked at the cumulonimbus clouds that gradually deposited dark tones, and the lengthy conversations in the room and dialects he didn't understand drifted into his ears from time to time, like a dream.He felt that he was going to sleep under the eaves of his apprentice's hometown in this typhoon.

When his eyelids were almost closed, Shao Zixun heard Zhou Tong's footsteps from the patio to the door.Then he woke up immediately.

"Let's go, senior. Sorry for the delay."

——Is there any difference between the tone of this apology and ordinary declarative sentences... Even saying "I'm sorry" is so natural, can't you just smile at me more.

Shao Zixun slandered, but his movements did not stop.He stood up, feeling that his bones were still aching, but there was a smile on his face. "Then let's go. If you don't go, you will be afraid of traffic jams on the way back to the city. You know that there is a section of the road where there is a lot of traffic and water is always serious—"

He was talking eloquently, while secretly turning his head to look at the expression of Zhou Tong who was walking in front from diagonally behind.Even he himself felt strange that he was expecting Zhou Tong to interrupt his boring words, as if this could prove that the communication between them was normal.But Zhou Tong didn't do this, which made him a little inexplicably disappointed.

——It’s so boring.Then shut up.

"Senior—" Shao Zixun just put away his words, but Zhou Tong took the initiative to speak. "You can just drive the car back to your home later, and I'll find a way to go back. It's raining too much, and I'm afraid it's inconvenient to drive."

"Then stay at my house." Shao Zixun responded immediately, and felt that his tone and expression were very handsome.

But when Zhou Tong turned his head to face him in surprise, Shao Zixun looked away in embarrassment, counting the numbers silently in his heart, begging Zhou Tong not to look at him, and to see the way.

"...That's fine."

"!" After receiving Zhou Tong's affirmative answer, Shao Zixun himself was a little surprised, and didn't know what to say for a while.The two fell into an awkward silence again.When they got into the car, one driver and one co-driver fastened their seat belts, started the car and looked at Zhou's relatives standing at the door farewell from the rearview mirror, they couldn't find a suitable topic to continue the conversation.

—Wait, if we're just friends, why are we embarrassed?

After 5 minutes of silence, Shao Zixun discovered the problem.He suddenly felt that Lin Luo was right: he was just pretending to be calm.

The two met by chance on the street not long ago, and Lin Luo invited him to have a meal at a street stall.When three-quarters of the meal was eaten, Lin Luo suddenly asked, "When will you confess?"

Shao Zixun almost sprayed out the big mouthful of rice rolls he had just stuffed into his mouth.Seeing him like this, Lin Luo didn't say anything, just smiled, and the next topics were all around the project——Zhou Tong——deadline——Zhou Tong——new project——Zhou Tong.Before she took a step forward to catch up with the subject, she did not forget to transfer the materials borrowed from Zhou Tong back through Shao Zixun, making Shao Zixun look like Zhou Tong's manager.

Saying "Is this necessary", Shao Zixun felt that he was still happy.

And at this time, he finally found a suitable topic: "Are you planning to further associate with me?"

When he finished saying this, he felt as childish as a primary school student who hadn't even watched a romantic drama.There was no answer from the side, which made Shao Zixun feel extremely nervous. He only felt that his heart, throat, and brain were all hot. He didn't even have the confidence to look in the mirror, and his breathing rhythm was disrupted by his own words that seemed to kill him.

After waiting for a few seconds, Shao Zixun still did not hear an answer.This reassured him inexplicably.He held his breath, leaving the car silent only for the echoing sound of rain coming from outside the car.

The person in the passenger seat kept his head facing the window and didn't even move.

"...Zhou Tong?" Shao Zixun cautiously and softly called him during the interval on the highway.no respond.

—It seems that he fell asleep.

Shao Zixun felt [-]% disappointed and [-]% thankful that he didn't hear the words that he finally uttered that made him feel rare embarrassment again.The heart rate finally returned to normal.He let out a long breath, and his slightly stiff movements became flexible again.

The frozen air seemed to start flowing again.Shao Zixun pressed the stereo on the car, and the loud advertisement sound from the radio immediately came out. He was so frightened that he immediately turned down the volume and quickly switched to the music channel, lest the exaggerated cries of the male and female hostesses would wake Zhou Tong up.

Although they haven't lived together yet, he and Zhou Tong still see each other very frequently.Shao Zixun has the confidence to grasp the opponent's movements every hour, even though the opponent is not always in his sight.

A slightly distorted and gentle piano accompaniment came from the stereo.A low-pitched female voice sang an unknown tune in an incomprehensible language.Shao Zixun had never heard this song before, but he still ignored the original melody and hummed softly casually.Two melodies and even two styles of music are intermingled, gradually filling the narrow space walking in the rain and fog.

While humming, Shao Zixun focused on driving the car through the rain, while carefully assigning part of his brain to the things he just brought back.They haven't even had time to unpack the oiled paper package, and just rely on the feel to infer that the thing inside is a bound book.

——But what has appeared now can already prove a lot.

Once the song was played, Shao Zixun also stopped humming, his eyes sank slightly.

He thought he had probably seen something similar.Three or four layers of oiled paper that tightly wraps the contents inside.

I and Zhou Tong don't know much about this kind of thing, and I can't tell whether it's the most traditional or a custom-made product.Although the reaction was a bit slow, I finally noticed one thing - after the outermost layer of the oiled paper package was eaten away with tung oil, there remained faint patterns that were hard to see with the naked eye.

The lines of those blurred colors gradually piece together back to their original appearance in my mind.

"I've seen this thing before." Shao Zixun skillfully steered the car through the rain and fog, and he could already see the exit of the expressway from a distance.During the gap in line, he turned his head to look at the person in the passenger seat.Zhou Tong has already woken up, but there is still a strong sense of sleepiness in his eyes.

"Are you awake?" Shao Zixun asked in a relaxed tone.

"Go ahead, brother, it's time for us to pass."

"..."