desolate

Before the rain, no one would have thought that there would be a cold, let alone that the disease would last for so long.

After Zhou Ze got the injection, he slept in the hotel for two days. He slept so darkly that he didn't know what year it was. It wasn't until a reminder popped up in his phone's memo pad that he vaguely remembered that he was going to pick up someone from the detention center today.

But what really woke him up was a phone call.

Zhou Ze stared at the strange number, not looking good: "Who are you?"

"Is it Zhou Selection?"

The tone on the other end of the phone was a little tentative and uncertain.

"Don't say hang up."

"Don't hang up, don't hang up, it's me! Curly!"

It took Zhou Ze several seconds to connect the nickname Curly Hair with Xu Duozhi, and then his tone softened a little: "Oh, it's you, what's the matter?"

"Yes, yes—are you going to pick up Aunt Su? I'll go with you."

"……How did you know?"

"Ah...Ju Haonan told me that we agreed to go together, but yesterday he suddenly refused to go and asked me to come to you."

Zhou Ze let out an oh, and then told him the address and room number of the hotel, and asked him to come here first.

But just 2 minutes after the phone was hung up, someone knocked on the door of the room. Zhou Ze thought it was Xu Duozhi, biting his toothbrush and went to open the door, only to find someone else at the door.

"Are you cured?" Zhou Xuan was surprised to see him while carrying his breakfast.

"Almost." Zhou Ze was vague.

"Pull the curtains." Zhou Xuan walked to the window and put the breakfast on the tea table, "I thought you didn't get up, and you didn't buy much, so let's eat something later, I have an appointment with a girl later, let's go together Have lunch."

Zhou Ze drank some soy milk: "I have something to do today, so go by yourself."

"What's the matter with you?"

"...It's useless to tell you."

"You talk to your brother now, the more indifferent you are!" Zhou Xuan bit the fried dough stick resentfully, "By the way, is it your little girl's business that you said something happened?"

Zhou Ze was a little absent-minded: "What little girl, where is there a little girl?"

"Tsk, you don't admit it?"

Adhering to the principle of "catch the thief and seize the stolen goods", Zhou Xuan got up and opened the bedside table, and turned out the crime tools inside.

...Ice feeling, ultra-thin.

Fortunately, suddenly someone knocked on the door.

Zhou Ze immediately made an excuse to open the door and escaped from the interrogation scene smoothly.

Outside the door, Xu Duozhi had just had his hair cut, and the self-winding roll was pasted on his not-so-broad forehead, revealing two rows of big white teeth when he smiled.

Just as he was about to raise his hand to say hello, Zhou Ze turned around and went into the house.

"Have you eaten, or..."

Xu Duozhi walked in with him, and before he could finish his greetings, he saw another person by the French window and a box of condoms on the table.

Zhou Ze sat back to his original seat and continued eating buns: "Sit whatever you want, what did you just say?"

A messy bed, a small coffee table full of food, slippers by the bed, half-opened curtains, an ashtray on the bedside table, and an unpacked box of condoms.

Xu Duozhi's whole body seemed to be struck by lightning, neither sitting nor standing, after reacting for a few seconds, he decided where to go back and forth.

"I, I, I, I came here by accident, you guys, you eat first, I'd better wait for you at the door!"

"No, I'm done eating, you sit down for a while, I'll change clothes."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Ze wiped his hands, then pushed Xu Duozhi, who was fidgeting, on the chair next to Zhou Xuan, and walked into the bathroom with his clothes and pants.

The wooden door slammed shut.

Xu Duozhi looked at the person next to him biting the deep-fried dough sticks one bite at a time, occasionally meeting his eyes and smiling amicably.

He looked at Zhou Xuan silently, thinking: This man's shoes seem to be quite expensive. If you look closely, the clothes are also brands, and his face... looks good, but compared to Brother Pei, he is a little less masculine. ...

But what if Zhou chooses to like gentle ones?

No!

No no no!

Xu Duozhi boldly asked: "Well, brother, what is your relationship with Zhou Ze...?"

Zhou Xuan thought this question was very strange, raised his eyebrows and asked back: "He and I? What could be the relationship?"

But Xu Duozhi, who was playing a lot in his mind, couldn't help but glance at the box: "I, how do I know what's the relationship between you..."

Have breakfast in one room early in the morning?

Irregular relationship!

"What's the matter?" Zhou Ze just came out of the bathroom, and he listened to Xu Duozhi's words in general, "It's too late if you lose your curly hair."

"Huh? Oh, let's go."

Xu Duozhi jumped up from his chair as if he was running away, and urged the door twice, and when he saw Zhou Ze finally came out, he followed.

While the two were waiting for the elevator, Zhou Ze remembered the question in the room: "What did you just say to him?"

Xu Duozhi stared at the down button of the elevator: "Ah? No, it's nothing."

Zhou Ze let out a groan, and didn't continue to ask questions, but Xu Duozhi couldn't hold it any longer as soon as he got into the elevator.

As Pei Ye's friend, he had to ask clearly!

He thought about his words, and said to Zhou Ze in a serious manner: "Zhou Ze, I don't think you can do this, this..."

Zhou Ze glanced at him briefly: "...Huh?"

"You can't take advantage of brother Pei's absence and just be half-hearted and careless! When he comes back, if he finds you like this, he will be so sad, helpless, and sad!"

"……what?"

Xu Duozhi closed his eyes and bit the bullet to reprimand the other party, but he didn't get a response after finishing the matter, so he opened his eyes to look, and found that the other party's expression was very ugly.

It's over, isn't it?Are you right?

Xu Duozhi was about to mourn his love for Pei Ye when Zhou Ze finally spoke.

"How do you know about me and Pei Ye?"

The topic jumped too fast, and Xu Duozhi was taken away: "...I... I was in KTV last time, and I saw you two at the toilet door... I didn't believe it at first, but then I asked Brother Pei, and he didn't deny it .”

"So you just misunderstood me and...?"

"What misunderstanding, you must have found someone behind Brother Pei's back, there are all kinds of tricks..."

Zhou Ze was speechless: "That's my brother."

Xu Duozhi was still condemning: "Even your brother can't do it...your brother?"

"Yes, a brother of the same father and mother."

The elevator door opened, and Zhou Ze walked out.

Xu Duozhi reacted on the spot for two seconds, and then quickly followed: "Really? Darling? Then you didn't cheat?"

Zhou Ze laughed angrily at him: "What's wrong with you?"

The two stopped a taxi together on the side of the road.

The car had already left the street, and Xu Duozhi was still feeling emotional: "Brother is good, brother is good, brother Pei's love has been saved."

Zhou Ze thought his reaction was funny, and then glanced at the driver out of the corner of his eye: "Don't you think it's... strange for me to be with him?"

He wanted to say disgusting, but he really didn't want to use this word to describe his relationship with Pei Ye.

"What's so strange?" Xu Duozhi raised his head stupidly, and it took him a while to realize, "Oh, this...it's actually not bad."

He scratched his hair, a little embarrassed: "I really couldn't accept it before, I thought it was a bit of a thing, but Brother Pei told me a lot that day, and I have such a strong relationship with him, so I don't think it's a big deal. , I respect his choice."

Zhou Ze smiled and said, "Your relationship is really good."

Xu Duozhi kept nodding: "Yes, Brother Pei is very loyal. I was bullied before, and it was Brother Pei who protected me. Later, Wen Jialang did the same. Although he said it was because of money, Brother Pei After taking the money, he will definitely treat us to dinner, he just looks fierce, but he really has nothing to say to his friends..."

Zhou Ze quietly listened to his compliments on how good Pei Ye was, and it was conceivable that these other people seemed to be a group of "rabble" and "hunters", but they really regarded him as a friend.

Pei is also very good, he is not the only one who knows.

"I know why you are worried..." Xu Duozhi suddenly fell silent, "...Is it because of Li Pingan—— Later, someone posted another post on the post bar, saying that the person who spread rumors about Li Pingan was Sun Tianwang, and posted What ip address, the purpose is to prevent him from participating in the English competition, not long after that, the school let Sun Tianwang drop out, although you have transferred to another school at that time, but I think the person who posted this post should be you?"

Zhou Ze asked curiously, "Why me?"

Xu Duozhi stated his speculation in a serious manner: "The school will definitely not investigate this matter after such a long time. Li Pingan doesn't have any friends. I think you are the one who has a better relationship with him."

Zhou Ze rarely looked at him differently: "You have become smarter."

Xu Duozhi smiled, and touched the tip of his nose again: "If you have contact with Li Pingan, please apologize to him for me, he deleted everyone in our class."

Zhou Ze said yes softly.

I just don't know if the other party will need the belated apology.

The car slowly stopped at the gate of the detention center, and the black iron gate was tightly closed.

The two got out of the car, and they didn't know whether they should go in to pick up the person or wait outside, so after hesitating for a while, Xu Duozhi took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, intending to be bold first.

Zhou Ze took one out of it smoothly.

"you……"

Xu Duozhi hadn't walked out of his good student character set, and after a minute of getting used to it, he squatted down in the corner with Zhou Ze.

He said sullenly: "I think brother Pei has led you to the wrong."

"no."

"Yes! How disappointed Master Wu would be if he saw you like this."

"Hehe, I don't care if he is disappointed or not."

Zhou Ze stared at an emerald green plant emerging from the cracks in the floor tiles from a distance, and suddenly remembered that he had done too many things he didn't like in the past in order not to disappoint people, but now that he thought about it, it was unnecessary.

Just as the two were squatting in a daze, the door behind them opened.

Xu Dazhi was the first to react.

He threw away the remaining half of the cigarette butt and stood up.

"Aunt Su."

He greeted the haggard woman.

Zhou Ze stood up and looked at him secretly.

The Su Ya in his impression is that middle-aged woman who smells of alcohol and dresses up beautifully at night, or the mahjong parlor proprietress who works quickly and is a bit aggressive, but it will never be the haggard face and dull expression in front of him. junkie.

Drugs killed her soul.

Su Ya rolled her eyes slowly, seemed to recognize Xu Dazhi, and nodded slightly at him.

"This is Brother Pei's... classmate, Zhou Ze, Brother Pei asked us to take you back."

"Oh... Where's Pei Ye?"

Su Ya looked around twice.

Xu Duozhi comforted her: "He has something to do in the past two days, he has gone out of town, and he will be back tomorrow."

"come back tomorrow?"

"Yes, come back tomorrow."

Su Ya seemed to realize that the only person she could rely on was Pei Ye. She had to hold on to him like a life-saving straw. After hearing that he had gone out of town, she repeatedly confirmed whether he would come back.

"Then I'll call him..."

"He may not be able to answer the phone now, let's call back, and call again when we go back."

"It's okay, I'll just ask him when he will come back..."

Su Ya took out her mobile phone from her pocket, found Pei Ye's number and dialed it.

Of course no one answered.

But Su Ya persistently called over and over again, and no surprises came to nothing. In the end, the car called by Zhou Ze arrived, which made her temporarily stop her meaningless behavior.

A certain suburb of Luyang.

"...Drink?"

A hand stretched out in front of him, holding a bottle of canned Red Bull that was freezing.

"Thanks."

Pei also took it, opened the can, and drank half of it.

Jin Yang sat down next to him, and looked back at the closed door, the sound of people cheering faintly came from the crack of the door.

"It's so late, I guess no one will come."

"Then what time shall we go back tomorrow?"

"You can go back whenever you want."

Pei also put the can on the plastic stool beside him: "Seven o'clock, I want to go earlier."

"Okay, I'll tell Brother Dong later." Jin Yang played with two chips in his hand, and glanced behind him with his eyes, "Why don't you play two chips? Maybe you can make some money."

Pei Ye looked cold: "I don't play."

Jin Yang shrunk his neck, the chandelier above his head was so bright that people couldn't open his eyes. The unreachable height was as big as the gap between people. Some people were born with nothing, while others were born standing reached the finish line.He occasionally feels unfair, and fantasizes about a chance to ascend to the sky.

He resentfully put away his chips: "I'm just kidding, I don't play either, it was given by Brother Dong."

Pei Ye looked away, twirling the petals of the fake flower next to him boredly, looking at the clock face on the wall, wondering if the time could go faster.

Jin Yang suddenly bumped him with his elbow: "I saw your mobile phone screen before, it seems a bit familiar."

"What do you want to say?"

"...Are you guys dating?"

Pei didn't say a word, he didn't know whether he didn't want to answer or acquiesced.

"I know you don't like women, but I didn't expect..."

"Didn't think of anything?"

Doesn't liking women mean liking men?

Pei didn't want to deny it, and he didn't mind others knowing, but he would find it a little troublesome, and he was more worried that Zhou Ze would not want others to know their relationship.

Although he didn't say it, he could tell that Zhou Ze cared a lot about what others thought of him, especially those close to him. The better the relationship, the more he cared, but he awkwardly hoped that others would accept the real him.

So contradictory.

Jin Yang commented: "You two are not suitable."

Pei said unceremoniously, "You and Meng Chuyu are not suitable either."

Jin Yang didn't object: "I know, she and I, just like you and Zhou Ze, are not from the same world, but Meng Chuyu and I are just for fun, what about you?"

He didn't let go of any change in Pei Ye's expression.

So Jin Yang continued to add fuel to the fire: "I heard that he studies well, and I guess his family is quite rich, so even if such a person likes men, he shouldn't like you—he has no money, and there is still a oil bottle at home."

Pei also lowered his head, casting a shadow on the marble countertop: "You're right."

He touched the black rope on his wrist, and raised his head again: "I'm just playing with him, he can talk if he wants, share if he wants, anyway, I won't suffer."

Jin Yang's gaze lingered on his face, trying to find any flaws, but unfortunately, there was nothing.

The calm appearance seems to be a true heartfelt statement.

Soon, Jin Yang smiled brilliantly, the dimples on the corners of his mouth made him look a little boyish: "Yeah, who made our lives bad."

Pei didn't pull away the arm that was on his shoulder, and repeated in an echoing way: "Well, my life is bad, I can't blame others."

I stayed in the casino all night, luckily nothing went wrong, until the end of the game in the early morning, Brother Dong returned the phone to them.

Pei also called a ride on the Internet and went straight back to Pingjiang. Jin Yang was with him, and the two fell asleep on the road.

It took about an hour from Luyang to Pingjiang, and the driver drove very fast. They set off at seven o'clock, and Pei woke up before eight o'clock, and the car just passed the toll booth.

The mobile phone was charged for a while in the car, and countless messages and missed call notifications popped up as soon as it was turned on.

The recent missed calls and messages are all from Su Ya, and there are also some messages from other people.

Until he turned to the bottom, Zhou Ze's two missed calls lay quietly on the phone screen.

He dialed back in a strange way.

After connecting for two seconds, the other party picked up.

"...Pei Ye?"

The voice on the other side was a bit rusty, probably just waking up.

The words rolled down his throat twice, and Pei Ye hummed lightly: "It's me."

"You're back?"

This time the voice was clearer, and it seemed that he was completely awake.

"Well, I just got off the expressway and I'll be there in 10 minutes. What do you want to eat?"

Zhou Ze thought for a long time, and remembered the duck blood vermicelli that they always loved to eat some time ago: "...It's the same as before."

Pei also smiled helplessly: "...that's in the west of the city."

"is it far?"

"It's okay, it's been 10 minutes."

"Forget it." Zhou Ze immediately changed his words, "Just eat the steamed buns downstairs."

He paused for a moment, then told him again solemnly: "If you don't eat duck blood vermicelli, you'll want the steamed buns downstairs. Come back quickly, I'm very hungry."

Tired nerves seemed to be awakened at last.

Pei also smiled and said, "...OK."

The author says:

Romance is caught in the theater.

My family wants to divide it into two chapters, but I don’t know where to cut it off, so I might as well post it into one chapter.