madness

July and August here are as hot as in the city. The sun is shining and no one is working in the fields. Everyone always avoids that period of time to take a nap.

Grandma Su Zhiyun is weak and doesn't like to move. When the air conditioner is turned on, she will suffer from bone pain at night, and she will inevitably suffer from cramps.

The air conditioner at home is more often like a decoration, just quietly staying in the corner, no one patronizes.

Su Zhiyun stayed in the living room, imagining himself as a piece of pancake, sticking it on the pan, frying the front side and the other side, until the sweat sizzled and gave off a charming meaty aroma.

The only thought left in his mind was heat, and he didn't have the energy to think about anything else.

The landline at home rang, and Tang Hong asked Su Zhiyun on the other end of the phone if he wanted to come to his house as a guest.

Su Zhiyun was silent and didn't speak for a long time.

Tang Hong seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and brought out the two artifacts of dessert and air conditioner.

The weather was scorching hot and summer, Su Zhiyun glanced at his sweaty palms, hesitated for a while and agreed.

Tang Hong seemed very happy, and a smile came through the receiver, which made the eardrums tingle and numb: "I have prepared strawberry daifuku and mousse cake for you, you must come here."

Su Zhiyun was a little uncomfortable being laughed at.

Tang Hong is always very strange. When facing him, he doesn't pretend to be naive like other adults treat children, but instead treats him as kindly and equally as his peers.

Tang Hong's house was not far from Li's house. Su Zhiyun put on his shoes at the porch after saying hello to his grandma and grandpa.

The grandfather who came out waving a cattail fan reminded him to remember to wear a sun hat, the sun is bright.

Su Zhiyun nodded.

"I know."

Noon is when the sun is at its most venomous. Walking a few steps will make you sweat profusely. Even the wind that blows is a heat wave. The cement road scalds the soles of your feet.

There are wild flowers blooming on the side of the road, and I don’t know their names. They have long and thin green branches, small flowers as big as fingernails, white petals, and yellow stamens. They smell fragrant and fragrant.

Su Zhiyun looked at the flower for a while, then walked over.

Hearing the sound, Tang Hong got up and went to open the door. The first thing he saw was a round straw hat. After a while, a bunch of small daisy wildflowers appeared from the side of the hat, tied with grass stems and tied with a bow.

"Give it to me?"

Tang Hong asked.

The 11-year-old Su Zhiyun is not very tall, and he raised his hands a little clumsily. Half of a small flower was stained next to his wet eyelashes, and he nodded silently.

Tang Hong smiled slightly, and reached out to pick off the half of the small flower on Su Zhiyun's cheek.

"Thank you, I like it very much."

The air conditioner was turned on in the room, and after sitting for a while, the sweat on the skin was rolled away, and it was cool and refreshing.

"Let's take a break first, and then go to class later."

Tang Hong brought Dafu and chocolate mousse from the kitchen, Su Zhiyun reached for it, but Tang Hong avoided it.

"Don't eat too much, you won't be able to eat dinner then."

Su Zhiyun pursed his lips, looking a little unhappy.

Tang Hong was very persistent, and at this time he was no different from other adults.

"If you always eat what you like, you won't grow taller. You don't want to be shorter than your teacher all your life, do you?"

A few days ago, my grandfather saw the popsicles Tang Hong sent in the refrigerator, and like everyone else in the village, he had the idea of ​​letting Su Zhiyun go to Tang Hong's house for tutoring.

Su Zhiyun didn't refute, so the chances of this happening are not high.After all, Tang Hong had never agreed to other people's requests before.

After a while, my grandfather came back happily and told Su Zhiyun that he would go to Tang Hong's house for class tomorrow.

"Let's learn Chinese first today."

Tang Hong said.

Su Zhiyun is really not a very good student. He will listen quietly but never ask questions. He shows a lack of interest in everything in the course. It's still wrong, and the grades don't mean any improvement.

He seemed very docile on the surface, but Tang Hong's words never entered his mind, passing by without a trace like a gust of wind.

Su Zhiyun held the pen in his hand and looked at the pure white butterfly specimen on the wall. The two butterfly wings would reflect a dazzling blue under different angles and light.

Tang Hong's house is double-storey and made of wood, very similar to Li's house, with a slight smell of decayed wood.There are many such lifelike stuffed animals in his house, which are placed around as decorations.

The air conditioner is still whistling, and there will be a slight noise when it is operating. The mosquito net in the bedroom was torn apart by Xiaohua a few days ago. After looking at the specimen for a while, I gradually felt sleepy.

"You do the multiple-choice questions and the fill-in-the-blank questions first, and I'll show you when you're done."

There was no longer a drop of water in the glass. Tang Hong went to the living room to pour water. When he came back, he saw that Su Zhiyun had fallen asleep soundlessly on the table, with a pen still in his hand, and an unfinished sheet under his face. test paper.

The handwriting on the test paper was fairly clear at the beginning, but at the end it was no longer possible to see what was being written, and it looked very scribbled.

He sleeps very well, neither snoring nor grinding his teeth, nor opening his mouth to drool, only his chest rises and falls slightly, his eyelashes are fine, his cheeks are fair, and he seems to be dead at first glance.

Tang Hong put his hand on his cheek, and it felt soft to the touch. The hot sweat made the air conditioner dry, and it was as cold as a corpse.

The young man who has not yet grown up looks too fragile, and there is a kind of innocence that is ignorant of the world.

Tang Hong's fingers rested on Su Zhiyun's neck, and after a while, they slipped away again, wiping off a little matcha powder from the corner of his mouth.

It was almost dusk when Su Zhiyun woke up again, the cicadas were singing loudly, and his mind was still dizzy. After a nap, he always became more drowsy, and his nerves ached.

"woke up?"

Tang Hong turned a page of the book in his hand, speaking calmly.

The little daisies on the window sill have been exposed to the sun all afternoon, and they are already a little faded.

Su Zhiyun didn't expect that he would fall asleep at Tang Hong's house without hindrance.

It's just that Tang Hong looked very calm, and when he saw Su Zhiyun woke up, he put down the book in his hand.

"Get up when you wake up, pack up, and I'll take you home."

The two of them were still on the road as usual, and Tang Hong didn't mention anything about Su Zhiyun's falling asleep, and only picked out some interesting things about his childhood to tell the other party.

Su Zhiyun's expression also relaxed.

As the sky gradually got darker, more people came out. From afar, I saw a group of children gathered on the concrete floor.

Among them was a little girl who was very eye-catching, squatting on the ground in a pink cake skirt that didn't fit in with the people around her, her knees and elbows were dirty.

She appeared to be the youngest of the group, and the most elaborately dressed.

An older boy picked one of the grapes in his hand and threw it to her.

"The dog will follow."

The little girl took it with her mouth, and then imitated a puppy, shaking her head and barking.

The other older children laughed one after another, leaning forward and back together.

Tang Hong tilted his head and noticed that Su Zhiyun's cheeks were gradually tense, and his lips and teeth were drawn into a line. Not long after, Su Zhiyun rushed over and punched the little boy holding the grapes.

The boy's elder brother was cooking at home, and ran out immediately when he heard a sudden noise outside.

The little boy fell on the rock, and his mouth was bloody. The boy's brother was furious all of a sudden, and no matter how old Su Zhiyun was younger than him, he rushed over to fight.

Su Zhiyun's expression was sullen, and he was still clutching the little boy's collar, like a little lunatic in a frenzy, with a frightening brutality and ruthlessness. When he saw the boy's brother, he didn't speak, but turned his head and stared at him.

The boy brother looked at those eyes, couldn't help but took a step back, half of his momentum was broken, and he suddenly became sluggish.

There were already a lot of people around, and the boy's parents also rushed out of the room. No matter what happened, they grabbed Su Zhiyun and went to see the parents.

Su Zhiyun didn't speak, but refused to move.

"Children are just playing around. Why do you need to mobilize people so much?"

Tang Hong gathered the two children behind him.

"All the theatergoers are gone, it's not that big of a deal."

The boy's parents were still relentless: "What did that little bastard beat up our Jialele? There was a lot of blood! All the folks in the village came to judge, and there are still people in the world who want to leave after beating up." The truth? Although we Lele are countrymen, we are not worth the riches and wealth of children in the city, but we are also born by our parents! How can we beat people like this!"

"It's just a broken lip, it will be fine after a while." Tang Hong's tone was still unhurried: "It was your child who provoked him first, because the little girl is young and ignorant, so she asked her to bark like a dog. This is still a girl, isn't it justifiable for my brother to be angry?"

"Bah! Do you have evidence? When did our family let her bark like a dog? He's not the kind of kid you mentioned. He's very honest! Teacher Tang, you can't favor one over the other, can you?"

The woman spat hard.

"Anyway, everyone is also from the village. How much money did they give you when you help them and outsiders like this? Or did this little bastard promise you something? I really can't tell, Mr. Tang, you are so gentle on the surface, but behind your back Li is actually this kind of person, a beast in clothes."

The saliva spat on Tang Hong's glasses, blurring his vision.Tang Hong took off his glasses and slowly wiped the lenses with the corner of his clothes.

"Then tell me, Aunt Li, what do you want?"

"I want him to pay in blood! Today's matter is not so easy!"

There were also many people around who came forward to persuade the fight, but the woman seemed determined after eating the weight, and she refused to give up easily.

Su Zhiyun picked up a stone on the ground.

Xiao Hua's eyes were covered by the other party, and she silently grabbed Su Zhiyun's clothes, faintly realizing that all this was related to her, and became uneasy.

The back of Tang Hong's hands felt cold, and there were a little red marks, and he stopped wiping his glasses.

There was silence all around.

It took a while for the blood to slide down slowly, dripping down the chin and onto the snow-white skirt.

"Clap."

"Clap."

"Is it enough?"

Su Zhiyun asked.

……

"You should be thankful that the wound is not deep."

Tang Hong tightened the cap of the medicine bottle and put it in the medicine box.

"Otherwise you should be lying in the hospital right now, scaring others with self-harm. Fortunately, you can figure it out."

Su Zhiyun sat quietly in the corner, with a snow-white bandage tied on his forehead, and blood on his T-shirt. He looked more and more lonely and pitiful. He silently buried his chin in his knee.

Xiao Hua had already fallen asleep next to Su Zhiyun, holding a corner of his clothes in her hand.

A bamboo forest can be seen outside the window, the shadows of the trees whirling.

After a while, Tang Hong laughed out loud in the night.

"But it's funny how that bitch looks dumbfounded."

Now the wind is blowing, and the magnolias are rustling.

Su Zhiyun turned around slowly, as if he had just realized what Tang Hong had just said.

"I said she was a bitch."

Tang Hong looked directly at Su Zhiyun, his pupils behind the glasses were still bent, like a slender moon, casting out sparkling shadows.

"Did I said wrong thing?"

The author says:

Please appreciate the meaning of Tang Hong's "teacher" identity.