desolate

In Pingjiang in December, after several consecutive rains, the temperature dropped to two or three degrees overnight.

Waking up early and going to self-study has become a very painful errand.

During the period of cooling down, Zhou Ze could not stand the cold or sleepiness, so he quickly quit the part-time job at the Internet cafe, but turned around, he found another job as a tutor, and this time it was Tuo Pei Ye's blessing - On the third day after quitting his job as a network administrator, Zhou Ze saw a circle of friends forwarded by Pei Ye, which was about recruiting tutors who could help elementary school students with their homework.

With the mentality of giving it a try, Zhou Ze went and gave a trial lecture. Unexpectedly, the parents were quite satisfied, so he stayed.Although the salary is about the same as that of a network administrator in a month, the working hours and tasks are much easier.

Since the rivalry with Ma Wenjing, although Zhou Haiyang still contributes to his card for living expenses every month, Zhou Ze has never used it once. Food and drink rely on part-time wages and a little money saved before, which is basically enough, and even sometimes There is surplus.

The hot air from his mouth turned into a cloud of mist in the air.

Zhou Ze blinked, tightened his coat, and went into an old residential building.

"Sister Xia, I'm here."

He knocked on a green anti-theft door, and the sound of people walking quickly came from inside. After a while, the lock rang, and the door was pushed open from the inside.

Ye Xia opened the door with one hand and took the shoes in the other, her movements were a little hasty: "Huanhuan is waiting for you in his room, you can just go in - by the way, you haven't eaten dinner, have you?"

"I didn't eat."

"It's just right, stay and have a meal before leaving. A friend will come over later, and I will cook a table!"

Before Zhou Ze could refuse, he was pushed into Huanhuan's bedroom.The activity of cooking outside was in full swing, Zhou Ze felt that it was inappropriate to go out again.

"Brother Zhou Ze!"

At this time, the little girl came over with the book and entangled him again.

Forget it, just eat it.

……

"Let's look at this question, assuming the distance from home to school..."

Zhou Ze sat in front of the small square desk and patiently explained the topic to the little girl.

"It's so difficult..."

The little girl wrinkled her face and bit the cap of her pen, she couldn't listen much anymore.

Zhou Ze glanced at the time, and it was almost time to let her go to intermission for a while.

"...Then go out for a walk, drink some water, and we'll talk in 10 minutes, okay?"

"it is good!"

The little girl was overjoyed, and ran out happily. Just as she went out, she saw someone, and suddenly called out to her brother.

"Yo, fat."

Pei also lifted the little girl who had thrown into his arms high, and weighed it twice.

Huanhuan jumped down unconvinced: "That's because I'm growing!"

"That's enough, Huanhuan, don't torment Little Brother Pei, I'm exhausted after driving all day, so I can't hug you." Ye Xia came out of the kitchen with vegetables to stop Huanhuan's bratty behavior.

Pei also put his hands behind his back: "It's okay, sister Xia."

"Don't spoil her, she always tosses her tutor, she has a class, drinks water and goes to the toilet." Ye Xia put all the dishes on the table, and grabbed Huanhuan who was about to run away, "Don't I'm idle here - go, call Teacher Xiao Zhou over for dinner."

However, before Huanhuan came in to call, Zhou Ze walked out by himself.

"Well, I'll be last..." As soon as he came out, he saw Pei Ye standing in the middle of the living room. The two looked at each other. He paused abruptly for a second before finishing the last two words, " ……bathroom."

Pei was also much calmer than him, and pointed him in another direction intimately: "The toilet is over there."

Zhou Ze nodded stiffly: "Thank you."

Ye Xia had sharp eyes and secretly asked Pei Ye: "Did you tell him when you came back?"

"Ah... yes, I forgot."

"It's your friend anyway, come back and say it, it's polite!"

After Ye Xia finished chatting, she went back to the kitchen to get the bowls and chopsticks.

In the toilet, Zhou Ze's face was reflected in the mirror, from which he could clearly see the blankness in his eyes.

...Obviously the moment I saw Pei Ye, I was more happy than surprised.Now my mind is full of thoughts, why did he come back?

There were two knocks on the door next to it.

"Someone...!"

"I know." It was Pei Ye's voice, "I told you to come out for dinner."

Zhou Ze opened the door with a "squeak", and there was no shelter between the two of them, and their eyes met smoothly.

Pei also took a look at him and breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought you were crying again, as long as you're fine."

When mentioning the past, Zhou Ze was a little embarrassed, and squeezed past him with his head down, pretending nothing happened.

The dinner table was harmonious, and he didn't mention the reason why Pei Ye came back. He only chatted a little about family affairs. Zhou Ze thought that Pei Ye would leave after dinner, but he didn't expect that after he finished tutoring Huanhuan's homework, the other party would still be leisurely. Sitting on the sofa.

When Zhou Ze and Ye Xia said hello and were about to leave, Pei Ye stood up with his pockets in his pockets and said that he was leaving too.

"Let's go back together."

Pei also went to the entrance to change his shoes, and stopped Zhou Ze who was about to open the door.

The cold wind was blowing on the face, and there were few pedestrians on the road at night. The two walked on the side of the road, and cars passed by from time to time, and the light of the car lights flickered on their faces.

I don't know if it's because they haven't seen each other for a while, but they seem to be more interested in observing each other than talking aloud.

Pei Ye didn't change much, at most he lost weight, and the line of his jaw became firmer.There are also a few Band-Aids on his hand, some new and some old, and it seems that they are often injured.

After a few more glances, Zhou Ze suddenly became addicted to cigarettes, and his throat was itchy.

Fortunately, Pei Ye handed the cigarette in time.

The lighter was probably running out of gas, and a faint flame sprang up. Zhou Ze took the lead and said, "Why are you back all of a sudden?"

Pei also lit his own cigarette with the same fire. The two were very close, but he couldn't even see Zhou Ze's face clearly through the rising smoke.

"There's something wrong."

"...Can't you tell me?"

Pei Ye was about to open his mouth, but he swallowed the words to the edge of his mouth, and made a smile to fool the other party: "It's not impossible to say... It's not a big deal, it's troublesome to say it, forget it."

Anyway, he knew that Zhou Ze would not ask questions.

——If he didn't see the solemn expression on the other party's face.

"...You seem to be a little fatter." Pei also looked at his face, "It's pretty good, you can pinch some flesh."

Zhou Ze rubbed the place where he had pinched with the back of his hand, smiling a bit reluctantly - he gained weight because he was taking the medicine prescribed by Professor Lu recently.During this period of time, I always suffered from insomnia, so I remembered these medicines prescribed a long time ago, saying they could help sleep, so I took them.Later, I was able to fall asleep, but I didn't expect it to have the effect of gaining weight.

"By the way, wait a minute."

Pei Ye suddenly grabbed Zhou Ze and prevented him from going forward.

He opened the gift bag that was carried all the way in his hand, found out the blue scarf inside, and hung it around Zhou Ze's neck.I don't know how to surround it to look good, so I just circled around twice randomly, and finally managed to cover half of his face.

Pei also said, "Birthday gift."

Zhou Ze lowered his head and said, "...my birthday has passed." Just as Pei Ye left.

"I know, it's for you." Pei Ye stretched out his hand, revealing the black rope on his wrist, "...it's not righteous if you don't give it away."

Zhou Ze pursed his lips tightly, and suddenly stepped forward to hug him.

The bells of the clock tower struck the hour, and the lonely streets were deserted.At this moment, Pei Ye was greeted with a not-so-warm hug, but Pei Ye seemed to be suddenly discouraged.

He buried his head on Zhou Ze's shoulder.

"... Su Ya committed suicide."

"She was tricked into taking drugs by men."

"I went to see her today and almost didn't recognize her..."

"The doctor said she was only me, and asked me to take good care of her, but what should I do?"

Before, Su Ya was his guardian; now, he is Su Ya's guardian.

The two seemed to be tortured to death.

Zhou Ze used his palms to comfort his back over and over again, and said, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."

He couldn't see the end of the road, so he could only keep repeating these futile words, as if as long as he said enough, he would really be fine.

That night, Pei also lived in Zhou Ze's dormitory. Because there was no extra mattress, the two could only sleep on a narrow bed, unable to stretch their arms and legs, and could only lie back to back.

Probably because of the long and tiring ride, Pei Ye fell asleep shortly after laying down, with a tired look on his face.

Hearing the sound of even breathing around him, Zhou Ze gradually gave up the idea of ​​taking medicine - if it wasn't for insomnia that affected his daily life, he wouldn't take these medicines.

But now that there are more people around, it is obviously better than medicine.

The author says:

Hugging together is equal to kissing; lying on the same bed, equal to sleeping!Families, it's complete!