muddy boy

"Why?" Seeing that Chen Linhu was silent, Zhang Xun could only ask himself, "Is it overhauling?"

"The phone ran out of battery when I called you." Chen Linhu didn't expect the timing of his visit to be so subtle. He lowered his eyes and explained in a low voice the reason why he knocked on the door. "My water heater is broken. I want to ask I can't take a shower here."

Zhang Xun patted his hair: "Okay, have you brought a change of clothes?"

Originally, he came up first to ask about the situation. Of course, Chen Linhu didn't bring anything. He was reminded by Zhang Xun before he remembered it, and hurried back to get it.

Seeing him jumping down the stairs again, Zhang Xun frightened the old lady on the third floor who was going up and screamed "Aiyo aiyo", and had to say loudly: "Just take the clothes, don't use shampoo or anything like that." Take it. Take a good walk."

Zhang Xun yelled to turn on the lights in the three units. Chen Linhu shook his head slightly disapprovingly, but he still walked to the bottom of the last few steps in a normal way.

After Chen Linhu returned to the second floor with the clothes he wanted to change, Zhang Xun opened the door for him again and let him in.

"I'm only halfway through the wash, and my hair hasn't even lathered yet," Zhang Xun said as he walked to the toilet. "Just wait a while, and it's your turn after I finish washing."

Chen Linhu had no objection to this arrangement, and waited for him in the bedroom according to Zhang Xun's instructions—the sofa in the living room really made Zhang Xun's cat spit on it this time, and the cushion had been removed for cleaning.

The bedroom is the same as when I came back last time. Zhang Xun’s laptop is still full of work documents, but there are a few books on the table for looking up information.

Chen Linhu stood by the bookshelf for a while, his gaze moved downstream from the top floor.

Unlike the habit of arranging toiletries, Zhang Xun’s way of arranging books is very casual. Humanities and social sciences can be stuffed into popular novels. There are several tattered comics in the row of philosophy and psychology. It's a bowl of chaotic stewed dishes.

Most of the rows below were full of comics. Chen Linhu bent down to read them for a while, and then sat on the floor and took out two to read.

Zhang Xun's reading taste is very mixed, and it's similar when he reads comics. Apart from the few teenage comics that Chen Linhu often reads, there are also a few niche comics that he doesn't know where to buy.

Chen Linhu flipped through two pages with great interest, and found that the content was quite interesting. It was a life-oriented comic with plain content but resonated with readers.

The author's painting skills are not very high-level, and the advantage is that the rhythm of the storyboard is comfortable. When Chen Linhu saw the author's painting of a cat that looks like a cat with a parted head in the middle stealing the sausage that the protagonist hangs in the yard, Chen Linhu seemed to be caught on his back. What rubbed a bit.

The fleshy but warm touch swept across Chen Linhu's back. Chen Linhu was shocked, put down the book and looked back.

The fat cat raised by Zhang Xun twisted its eyes from behind him with disdain. It looked down on Chen Linhu's startled behavior very much, and the tip of its tail patted Chen Linhu's arm propped on the ground.

"Tiger..." Chen Linhu had such close contact with a cat for the first time, subconsciously wanted to call its name, but felt that he couldn't say it, so he changed his words temporarily, "Cat, hey, cat."

It turns out that calling "cat" to a cat has the same effect as calling "person" to a person. Not only is it useless, but it is also easy to be regarded as a neuropathy.

Without looking back, the orange cat walked around Chen Linhu and went straight to the bottom of the bed, thumping under it, and pushed out a small bamboo basket.

Chen Linhu recognized at a glance that it was the bamboo basket that had been hung from the window of his house the day he first arrived.

The orange cat seemed to like the bamboo basket very much. He gnawed and scratched it while hugging it, and rubbed his head against the edge of the bamboo basket against the face of a bully. Precisely and quickly slapped Chen Linhu's paw away.

"Tsk," Chen Linhu withdrew his hand quickly enough to miss, "It's a monster."

The broken mouth of the loser is not worthy of sympathy, and the orange cat ignored it and continued to grind its claws with a bamboo basket.The burrs around the bamboo basket were probably scratched out by it.

From the toilet came the voice of the owner of the "bad thing": "Chen Linhu?"

Chen Linhu and the cat raised their necks at the same time to look in the direction of the sound, and Chen Linhu replied, "Huh?"

"Are you allergic to silicone oil?" Zhang Xun's voice was a little vague through the door, "I just remembered that my shampoo contains silicone oil."

At this age, Chen Linhu has always used whichever shampoo he buys. The first time he heard that there are silicone oils and non-silicon oils, he thought that he had met a particular person, so he hesitated: "I'm not allergic."

Zhang Xun in the toilet didn't hear his slightly smaller answer. He remembered that he still had a bottle of newly bought shampoo in the cabinet under the sink, so he turned off the shower head to look for it. He was about to bend over, and his feet slipped " Bang" fell to the ground.

Zhang Xun's first thought before he fell was that he should spend more money to buy a pair of non-slip slippers.

The movement in the toilet was as if the sky was falling. Chen Linhu jumped up and walked towards the toilet while asking, "What's wrong? What's the movement?"

The back of Zhang Xun's head hit the wall, and he was dizzy for a moment. He subconsciously said "I fell", and he recovered when he heard that Chen Linhu had already walked to the door. Before he had time to stand up, he said, "Don't open the door." It happened at the same time as Chen Linhu pulling the door.

The door had already been opened, and Chen Linhu heard Zhang Xun's stop, but it was obviously too late.

The room was filled with water and steam, the mirror was covered with steam, and the frosty white lights were hazy in the mist. Even the outline of Zhang Xun who was sitting on the ground with a dazed face seemed to be steamed away by the mist. Melt away.

With only a cursory glance, Chen Linhu vaguely saw a few fine old scars on Zhang Xun's shoulders in a blur.

He didn't expect such a situation in the door, he said in a daze, "Are you all right?"

"It's okay." Zhang Xun replied dumbfounded.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Zhang Xun yelled, "Damn it!" He quickly picked up the rag on the sink and put it around his waist: "Get out, get out!"

As soon as he moved, the water droplets on his body slid down. Chen Linhu didn't feel anything at first, but Zhang Xun's bluff made him flustered.

Wanting to go up to help, Zhang Xun immediately slipped back on the ground and retreated, as if he saw a raging beast.He wanted to close the door, but felt that Zhang Xun fell a bit badly, so he had to ask about the situation.

Chen Linhu was stuck in the middle of the road, he didn't know where to put his eyes, so he could only pretend to be calm: "Do you want me to help you?"

"I'll stand up quickly if you don't help me!" Zhang Xun scolded, "Fuck, I'll kill this broken slipper tomorrow!"

"Then I..."

"Close the door!" Zhang Xun yelled, "It's not that you are forced to be honest with each other. You are not in a hurry, are you? Why are you standing there, turn around and walk together!"

Chen Linhu was kicked out of the door, and walked to the toilet door with hands and feet, and heard Zhang Xun get up from the door, accompanied by low curses to ease the embarrassment.

This person usually does everything in a calm manner, and he even speaks slowly, but this time it was as if he was bitten by a dog.

Chen Linhu realized that Zhang Xun probably felt very embarrassed.

After closing the door, Chen Linhu calmed down by glancing somewhere, and his brain began to function. After careful consideration, he felt that the matter seemed to be nothing.They are all men, and no one was shirtless when they were staying.

"It's okay," Chen Linhu explained to Zhang Xun the reason he had just realized through the door panel, "They are all old men, and the parts are all the same."

Zhang Xun didn't know whether it was the heat from the toilet, or something else. After the embarrassment and panic, he felt hot all over.Chen Linhu's voice came from outside the door, like pouring a ladle of water on a hot stone, raising the heat several more levels.

"Shut up!" Zhang Xun said hoarsely under the shower head, "The factory configuration of the mobile phone is also the same, you didn't see anyone bought it, so you dismantled it to find out the truth?!"

Chen Linhu suddenly realized outside the door.

It seems to be such a truth!

Zhang Xun himself thinks that he has lived a life of luxury in this life. No matter what he looks like on the inside, he looks like an upright gentleman to outsiders. The most important thing is that he does all serious things and rarely says anything out of line.

So when he thought of his "factory configuration" metaphor, Zhang Xun had the illusion that the skin he had put on for 26 years would suddenly fall off. Fortunately, none of the students he had taught knew about this unscrupulous metaphor, and Zhang Xun felt a little guilty. .

I don't know if it's a guilty conscience that breeds other emotions, or some other reason, Zhang Xun still feels dizzy until now, and he always wants to find a crack in the wall to buckle his fingers to relieve his discomfort.

By the time Chen Linhu came out of the shower, Zhang Xun's cat was almost bald by the owner.

"I've already washed the towels I used," Chen Linhu coughed lightly, drawing Zhang Xun's attention, "and the rag you used to cover the parts just now..."

"Can you not mention this?" Zhang Xun couldn't hold the cigarette in his mouth, and turned his head and said, "Don't mention the parts, don't mention the rag—did I just take a rag? Forget it, listen Worse."

The orange cat's head was tightened by his sudden tightening of his hands, and the corners of his eyes were also lifted, making a meowing sound of "Did you tie my hair too tightly?"

Chen Linhu was surprised to find that he seemed to hear a bit of embarrassment from Zhang Xun's raised tone, and when he looked at the fat cat who was being strangled and waving its paws, Zhang Xun's expression seemed to be pretending to be calm.

"You're ashamed, can you stop that cat?" Chen Linhu was a little amused, "Tian Ling Gai is almost toppled by you."

Only then did Zhang Xun realize the suffering that the beloved cat had endured, and quickly let go of it, and mumbled again with a cigarette in his mouth: "What nonsense, I'm such an adult, I'm so ashamed."

This cover-up attitude subtly pleased Chen Linhu. He didn't expose Zhang Xun's lie, but just raised his eyebrows clearly, and his expression of seeing through but not revealing made Zhang Xun bite his cigarette butt in anger.

The orange cat finally freed its scalp from Zhang Xun's hands, and rushed out in a panic, stepped on the bamboo basket set aside, and bumped into the alcohol spray next to it.

The alcohol spray bottle rolled to Chen Linhu's feet, and he bent down to pick it up and handed it to Zhang Xun: "This is a basket for feeding cats outside, must it be sterilized?"

"Yes, how do you know?" Zhang Xun was a little surprised, but the topic no longer revolved around parts and factory configuration, he was relieved, "Brother Hu likes to hug and chew, so I will sterilize it before putting it at home after I use it up. When it gets dirty, it needs to be washed in the corner."

"The place where you put the hanging basket is under my window sill." Chen Linhu said, "But I haven't seen it again recently, so I thought you fed it regularly."

Zhang Xun sprayed disinfectant spray on the bamboo basket and said: "Scheduled and regular feeding may attract a bunch of stray animals, not to mention rats and weasels, and then there will be a group of wild cats squatting here in the third building all day. The meowing is enough for people to bear. I first confirmed the cat I want to catch, and then put food once or twice to make a relationship, so it’s easier to start.”

Chen Linhu has no common sense other than knowing that cats can meow, so he believes whatever Zhang Xun says: "Are you still catching cats?"

"Otherwise, where do you think Brother Hu came from?" Zhang Xun said with a smile, raised his hand and pawed the head of the orange cat that was next to his legs, "this is a heavyweight player, the bully of this family courtyard, I It took several abductions before he took the bait."

In the second half, Chen Linhu didn't hear clearly, his eyes fell on Zhang Xun's back.

For comfort at home, Zhang Xun always wears short sleeves with a wide neckline. Chen Linhu was standing behind him and bent over to look at the bamboo basket in his hand. The skin on the right shoulder near the spine, and the scar left by a cigarette burn on it.

It was originally a relatively hidden location, but because Chen Linhu was standing and looking down, he still saw it through the seam of his clothes.

It's like burning a hole in the paper, even if it's not big, it's very eye-catching.

Chen Linhu reached out his hand out of nowhere, and touched the scar through the cotton fabric: "You have an injury here."

It was very light, but Zhang Xun seemed to be pressed to the nerves, and he covered his shoulder with his hand back as a conditioned reflex, and turned his head to look at Chen Linhu.

Chen Linhu realized that his actions were a little reckless, he straightened up quickly and raised his hands, took a step back and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't get it right... Really, I'm sorry."

He apologized several times in a row, and then retreated to a distance where Zhang Xun could feel a little safe.

"...It's okay, I was just shocked." Zhang Xun withdrew his hand touching his back and scratched the frightened fat cat's chin. Seeing that Chen Linhu was still raising his hand, he looked like he was surrendering on the spot, "There is a The scar, left when I was a child, I almost forgot."

Chen Linhu said "Oh", and didn't know what to say, so he could only say, "It's quite round."

Zhang Xun stared at him for a long time before choking out a sentence: "You didn't get half of the composition in elementary school, did you?" He pointed at Chen Linhu's eyebrows, "It's quite long. Are you satisfied with how I describe you? "

Usually Chen Linhu would subconsciously cover up the scar at the end of his eyebrow when someone pointed at it, but now seeing Zhang Xun's revenge-like expression, Chen Linhu smiled for some reason.

This person is really interesting, he is obviously unhappy, but he still has to hold back, and can only comfort himself by saying some innocuous words from such sidelines.

It seems that he is used to avoiding the important and taking the light, and he has completely given up worrying about these trivial matters with others, even though these trivial matters also make him unhappy.

"One centimeter faster." Chen Linhu squatted down, hesitated for a few seconds, leaned forward and lowered his head slightly, "You can touch it."

Zhang Xun was stunned.

Chen Linhu's freshly washed hair was stuck to his forehead, and the bangs that looked like a dog gnawed like brush strokes, freely and unrestrainedly blended on his fair skin like wild grass, reflected by the warm light of the desk lamp A soft yellow like a veil.

"You touch it." Chen Linhu said, "Can it be considered even? Don't be unhappy."

For a considerable number of adults, getting older is probably a process of gradually giving up "making a fuss out of a molehill".

At the beginning, I gave up crying and crying because I couldn’t buy a teddy bear. Later, I gave up trying to find ways to attract the attention of others. Later, I ignored my feeling of depression because of a word from others.

Because these are trivial things that will appear contrived when compared.

But there is still a person here, who will try to "even" in small things.

Zhang Xun thought to himself, with this temper, not only will he stumble sooner or later, but he will also be deceived by others sooner or later.

The author has something to say:

You can't do things that trick honest people, old Zhang!