muddy boy

Chen Linhu was afraid that Chen Tong, who was hanging on him and crawling around, would fall off, so he didn't dare to move around in the yard. He didn't heave a sigh of relief until Chen Xingye, who woke up, came to the small yard with a bowl of fried hairtail. .

"Why are you hanging on your brother again?" Chen Xingye gave his hand, took the youngest son and hugged him, "You have gained weight again, you know, you look like a little piggy."

Chen Tong laughed, and began to push Chen Xingye's stomach to climb on his father.

"He's sinking now, don't be used to hugging you anymore, you have to hug him when you go out." Chen Xingye turned his head to talk to Chen Linhu, raised his hand to wipe his neck, and touched Chen Tong's forehead. Drooling, "Chen Tong, are you ashamed to pour your brother's neck all the way?"

The child glanced at it, covered his face and nodded in embarrassment. He was not happy with Chen Xingye's light slap on his buttocks. He refused to let Chen Xingye hug him, and stretched out his hand to find his brother.

Chen Linhu wiped his neck, and wiped the drool on Chen Tong's hands: "Return to the original owner."

"Stop fooling around here." Chen Xingye wanted to laugh a little, held back, and kicked Chen Linhu's calf, "He's only so old, you care about it with him."

"Just kick him when he's young," old Chen Tou also walked to the small courtyard, and said loudly to Chen Linhu, "You don't know how to hide, look at the footprints on your trouser legs!"

Zhu Dan who was following behind him also laughed: "Take it off and wash it, your father is so annoying."

It can be said that Chen Xingye came to Baoxiang this time to bring his family with him, and Chen Tong and Zhu Dan came together.

The relationship between Chen Linhu and Zhu Dan was alright. He was already in his teens when Zhu Dan remarried with Chen Xingye. He must not be able to get close. Zhu Dan has a good personality, and he doesn't insist on what he has. He can take care of Chen Linhu as long as he can Take care, live in peace and friendship until Chen Linhu goes to college.

"No need." Chen Linhu glanced at the footprints on his gray sweatpants, trembling, "I'll just throw it in the washing machine later."

"That's right, he's tough, he's been like this since he was a child," Chen Xingye said, but he still followed to pat Chen Linhu's trouser legs, "Who did you talk to just now?"

"Neighbor." Chen Linhu looked up at the balcony on the second floor. He didn't see anyone. He was stunned, and subconsciously shouted a little too loudly, "Zhang Xun?"

Zhang Xun squatted on the ground and put out the cigarette. He could hear the lively movements of the Chen family in the small courtyard downstairs. His mind was in a mess. When he heard Chen Linhu calling him, he couldn't help but took a deep breath and rubbed his face, putting his usual expression on his face again. Come out, stand up and greet downstairs.

"Young people are renting the second floor." Zhu Dan picked up his piggy son who was jumping up and down, and waved his little hand to greet Zhang Xun, "Tongtong, the big brothers upstairs have seen you making trouble here. .”

Zhang Xun responded with a "huh" and said in a tone of voice: "Big brother sees you climbing on your brother's back, like a monkey climbing a tree, it's quite amazing."

When Chen Linhu heard the word "big brother", he looked up at him with a half-smile.

"Aren't you going home during the Chinese New Year?" Chen Xingye only came to Baoxiang to know that the house on the second floor was rented out. He was a little bit displeased at the fact that old Chen didn't greet him, but the tenant who greeted him was not very old. , the tone eased a lot, "How old are you? Where do you work?"

"Why do you care about so many other people's affairs, check the household registration," old Chen Xingye waved his hands to Zhang Xun, impatient with Chen Xingye's questioning here, "it's a bit noisy, Mr. Zhang, there are so many people these days during the Chinese New Year, You bear it."

Zhang Xun smiled and said, "It's all right."

"Do you know if it's noisy with your ears and hearing?" Chen Xingye snorted, and walked into the house with a piece of fried octopus, "We'll leave after the second day of junior high school, you and Huzi can stay here to clean up, Anyway, you don’t talk much nonsense from him.”

Chen Linhu was stunned. He thought that Chen Xingye would be able to stay with Old Chen for a few more days after this trip. After all, he hadn't returned to Baoxiang for several years. He didn't expect to have to leave in the second year of junior high school.

Although he knew that Chen Xingye had always been like this, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

Chen Linhu raised his head again, wanting to ask Zhang Xun how to celebrate the New Year, but found that the balcony on the second floor was empty. Zhang Xun had already returned to the house at some point, without even saying hello.

The small courtyard on the first floor was soon empty again. Chen Linhu stood there with his head raised. Last night the feeling of Zhang Xun pressing on him on the roof haunted him all night, but now the cold wind blows, as if It was an empty dream.

In the room, Chen Tong started yelling at him again, Chen Linhu calmed down the turmoil in his heart, and then walked back.

Because there were several more people in the family, the preparations for lunch started early, and it took at least two years for Old Chen Tou and Chen Xingye to sit down and have a meal together, and this meal at the end of the year was especially rare.

Old Mr. Chen said that he didn't care about Chen Xingye, but after all he set up a large table of food and opened a bottle of wine. Even Chen Linhu shared a small glass against Chen Xingye's pressure.

Half a bottle of wine was down, hot dishes were served, and Chen Xingye's chatter started again.

"The kid in my colleague's family is about the same age as Huzi, and he started his own business in college," Chen Xingye said while eating with lotus root slices. If you can take the postgraduate entrance examination across majors, there is no future for painting or something."

Chen Linhu frowned and didn't answer.

Turning around, he saw that Chen Tong had already gnawed off a chicken leg, and he was smacking his lips to look at him, his face was shiny from eating, which made Chen Linhu want to laugh, and regardless of Zhu Dan's persuasion, he gave Chen Tong his own chicken leg as well.

"Well, yes," the old head Chen tore another chicken wing for Chen Tong, and said to Chen Xingye in a weird way, "What kind of financial crisis can you encounter when you are doing business? You can go bankrupt when you start a company, and you can be laid off when you go to work. Oh, you Isn’t it amazing to see this?”

Chen Xingye made him choke enough: "It's not the same thing. It's okay to be a teacher or a civil servant or something. This matter needs to be planned in advance. If he is as free and loose as he is, the time will pass in a blink of an eye."

"I can plan myself." Chen Linhu said lightly.

"That's right," Old Chen said, "Time passes in a blink of an eye, and how long you can decide for yourself, you still leave it here to compete with him."

Being flanked by two sides, Chen Xingye was not happy: "What can he plan? Spend time participating in useless competitions, and the results are just the same. If you have this time, don't hurry up and study hard, what will you do in the future?"

Chen Linhu's hand holding the food paused, and the food in his mouth lost its taste.

"Don't make trouble." Old Chen was not happy, and his voice became louder, "When he was young, you and his mother were busy with work every day, and you didn't care about it. If he can grow up to be so big, you can secretly enjoy yourself! Now people Your parents have grown up, and you have worked hard and waited until you retire, and you have time to take care of him, right? It’s really cooking and burning donkey manure, and the wickedness will bring smoke to you.”

Chen Tong couldn't understand what the adults were saying, but he was not afraid of Old Chen's loud voice. After eating Old Chen's chicken wings, he was very happy and clapped his hands.

"Why didn't I care?" Chen Xingye put down his chopsticks, "Am I missing him to eat or drink less? Don't you know I was busy at the time? The work is so tight and the tasks are heavy, where do I have time?"

"When you were young, I took you by myself. Do I have time?" Old Chen hummed, "It's better to buy lunch at noon and come back to accompany you to eat."

"Yes, the rice I brought was either sauce pancakes or steamed stuffed buns," Chen Xingye was annoyed, "It made my nose bleed! If my mother was here, she wouldn't let me eat that unnutritious food every day!"

Old Chen's loud voice froze when he mentioned Grandma Chen Linhu.

The atmosphere fell into silence, and Zhu Dan interspersed with the two sides persuading the fight. Seeing that something was wrong at the moment, he didn't know what was going on. He was so embarrassed that he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He looked at Chen Linhu at a loss.

Chen Linhu put down his chopsticks, expressionless, and said in a flat voice: "Auntie, you and Chen Tong are sleeping in my room today. There is still a camp bed in my grandfather's house. My dad should be fine for a few nights. The small hotel nearby is not clean. Chen Tong has allergies again."

"Okay, okay," Zhu Dan heaved a sigh of relief, although the topic turned bluntly, it was better than having no one to talk to, and he was a little worried, "Then where do you sleep?"

"Sofa." Chen Linhu said.

"Where can I go?" Zhu Dan was anxious, "You take Tongtong to bed, I—"

"It's okay." Chen Linhu smiled and buried his head in his meal. "Anyway, you left in the second year of junior high."

Chen Xingye's expression was complicated, and he felt a little uncomfortable, so he looked at Chen Linhu twice more.

It's only been half a year since I saw him, and Chen Linhu's outline is already different from what he remembered.The feeling of being a teenager gradually faded, he grew up as if he was competing with himself, his temper that was a little bit explosive before eased up, and his whole person became more mature and stable.

"You don't need to worry about this," Chen Xingye cleared his throat, "You can go to a hotel farther away to book a room..."

Old Chen was a bit sluggish at first, but when he heard this with his pig's ears between his ears, he didn't want to eat any meat: "What's the matter, my house can't hold your big Buddha, can it?"

The atmosphere that had just cooled down rose again, and the two of them were chattering.Chen Xingye said that the old head Chen rented out the second floor without discussing it. The old head Chen said that Chen Xingye didn't come back once in a few years, and when he came back, he would hinder him from collecting rent and making money.

From nervous embarrassment to ignoring Zhu Dan, he looked at Chen Tong who was applauding, and then at Chen Linhu who was expressionless and pretended not to hear, and sighed.

When Old Chen Tou and Chen Xingye were half drunk, the noisy meal was over.

Chen Linhu didn't let Zhu Dan touch his hands, he cleaned up all the dishes and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen to wash, but he listened to the conversation between his father and his grandfather with his ears open. Seeing that there was no tendency to lead to grandma, he was a little relieved.

He reckoned that Chen Xingye really made the run on this time, otherwise he wouldn't have brought up this issue.

"I have to wash so much," Zhu Dan walked to the door of the kitchen, "Turn on the water heater, how cold it is to wash your hands in cold water in winter."

Chen Linhu said without raising his head, "It's okay, I'm used to it."

Zhu Dan walked over, and while wiping the water from Chen Linhu's washed bowls and chopsticks, he hesitated and said, "Your father actually misses you a lot. He came here because he finished his work ahead of time and asked for leave."

Chen Linhu said "Oh" and stopped talking.

Some things actually have nothing to do with whether you miss them or not. Chen Linhu never thought about whether Chen Xingye wanted to sever his father-son relationship with him or not. There must be family affection, and it exists, but when they get together, they will make each other uncomfortable. Happy, Chen Linhu didn't know why.

He thinks it may have something to do with his personality, and there are not many people who can get along with him peacefully, like Zhang Xun, who can make him relax and talk about everything, so far, Zhang Xun is the only one.

When Chen Linhu was thinking wildly, his thigh tightened.Looking down, Chen Tong is holding his thigh and having fun with him.

This kid is different from his father and brother. He loves to laugh and is quite likable.

"A few days ago he fought with other children in the kindergarten, and he lost badly. These two days, he caught everyone acting like a baby." Zhu Dan smiled and lowered his head to tease his son, "Why are you here again? What do you want? ah?"

Chen Tong grabbed Chen Linhu's leg and said inarticulately, "Shopping!"

Before Chen Linhu asked what he wanted to buy, Chen Xingye walked in and picked up his youngest son: "He wants to buy watercolor pens and crayons. Is the stationery store that I took you to when I was a child open?"

"Open," Chen Linhu lowered his eyes to wash the dishes, "The boss lives in the house above the store, and the door is probably open at the moment."

"Okay, I'll take Chen Tong and your aunt out for a walk," Chen Xingye said, "Don't just play around, do you hear me?"

Zhu Dan smiled at Chen Linhu, and went out with Chen Xingye after changing his clothes. Chen Xingye carried his youngest son on his back and let his hair be pulled into a mess.

Chen Linhu listened to the three talking and laughing and went out, lowered his head and cleaned the kitchen sink.

Doing this kind of cleaning can divert attention to a certain extent. Chen Linhu doesn't really want to care about these things during the Chinese New Year.

"Don't wash it," Old Chen walked over with a water glass in one hand and his back behind his back, "Your dad left in the second year of junior high school, it's annoying."

Seeing him like this, Chen Linhu wanted to laugh: "It's still a few days, so hurry up and scold."

"I only scolded him when he was looking for trouble. I don't bother others when I see him." Old Chen was not happy. The neighbors have made an appointment to play mahjong. If you don’t want to stay at home, go out and play, I will give you money, and go wherever you want.”

Chen Linhu knew that the old man was afraid of feeling uncomfortable, so he nodded without explaining, "Let me ask Zhang Xun, the place where he works is also on holiday, and he is on the second floor all day."

"Okay," Old Chen walked away with his hands behind his back, "You two have a pretty good relationship."

I don't know if it was because he wanted to avoid fighting with his son, so old Chen seized the time and called his neighbor to play mahjong after dinner.

At the end of the year, many shops were closed, and there was no improvement on the street. Chen Xingye led Chen Tong Zhudan back from a stroll around the Cultural Palace, just as Uncle Liao's mentality collapsed in the room, and he called Chen Xingye to come on top.

The room was very lively, the movement of Chen Tong watching the children's channel mixed with the movement of playing cards, Chen Linhu really couldn't bear it, and after thinking about it, he decided to go to the second floor.

He changed his clothes, turned back when he was about to go out, pressed down his curled hair in front of the mirror, and subconsciously scratched the abdomen that Zhang Xun pressed last night through his clothes.

Unexpectedly, just after walking a few steps, he bumped into Zhang Xun who was walking down on the platform on the second floor.

Zhang Xun looked dressed like he was about to go out, with a cigarette in his mouth, and smiled when he saw Chen Linhu.

"You want to go out?" Chen Linhu was stunned. In the past six months since he came to Baoxiang, Zhang Xun rarely went out except to go to the book cafe and find Duan Qiao.

"Well," Zhang Xun nodded, "my friend is shouting to play, I won't be with you today, you stay with your family and relax."

Chen Linhu had already planned to spend time on the second floor, but when he encountered this situation unexpectedly, he was a little confused: "Then I will find you tomorrow."

"I can't do it tomorrow either," Zhang Xun lit a cigarette, without looking at Chen Linhu, "I have something to do tomorrow."

The answer was a bit vague, and Chen Linhu subconsciously asked, "What can happen when the Chinese New Year is almost here?"

Zhang Xun smiled, but didn't answer.

"Then you," Chen Linhu felt something was wrong in his heart, and felt that it was inappropriate for him to ask Zhang Xun about his personal affairs. He paused and found something else to say, "Did you come to my house for dinner on New Year's Eve? I asked you about it last night. Pass."

Zhang Xun's lips were slightly pursed when he heard "yesterday night", and he half-closed his eyes and said with a smile: "I won't go, there are too many manuscripts. Okay, I'm in a hurry, let's talk later."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Chen Linhu to answer, he leaned his body and pulled out a distance, walked around Chen Linhu without contact, turned his head and added: "It's quite cold, wear thicker clothes."

Chen Linhu didn't say a word, he stood on the platform and watched Zhang Xun walk out of the corridor.

He stood in the corridor for a while, but instead of going home, he ran directly to the roof, took off the fake lock and walked to the rooftop.

Because the old family building is not high, you can’t see too far from the roof, but you can see Zhang Xun walking out of Building No. [-] with his hands in his pockets, smoking his cigarette at the intersection, and then slowly walking out of the family building. The gate of the courtyard.

In a hurry?Chen Linhu thought to himself, what a fart.

Chen Linhu's hair was messed up by the cold winter wind, and his eyes followed Zhang Xun's back until he could no longer see him. His heart, which was a little restless before going out, was blown cold at this moment.

He had an intuition that Zhang Xun was prevaricating him with imprecise reasons, but he didn't want to think that Zhang Xun was the same as Chen Xingye and Lin Hongyu who had always lied to him when they were young.

He intuited that Zhang Xun was walking around him in the corridor just now, but he was unwilling to take this "circling" as a sign that he didn't want to be with him.

Chen Linhu walked around on the rooftop, stepping on the wooden box that Zhang Xun had split last night.I looked up in the morning and found that Zhang Xun disappeared without saying hello, and now I think about it.

Something was wrong, he thought about it, and thought it started after Zhang Xun fell on him.

As Chen Linhu grew up, he seemed suddenly more sensitive and suspicious than he had ever been before. He didn't like himself like this, and he couldn't help but fantasize.

What happened when you fell?He is not angry, it is normal for boys to fight and fight.

What's wrong with touching it?Is touching him something worth keeping in mind?

When Chen Linhu thought of this, his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

Does Zhang Xun feel that touching him is a matter of heart?

Then how do you take it to heart?Don't you feel happy when you think about it?

Chen Linhu kicked open the broken wooden box and cursed "Damn".

Why wouldn't he be happy? He wasn't unhappy when he was touched.

Chen Linhu's tendons seemed to be tangled in a crooked place, and before he could figure out whether Zhang Xun was really having something to do or was just trying to prevaricate him, he had already started to focus on the minutiae.

He couldn't stay on the second floor anymore, and Chen Linhu didn't want to go anywhere else. The house was noisy like a frying pan, so he simply grabbed a book he had borrowed from Zhang Xun, put on his thickest coat and went to the rooftop to read.

Take a look at the book, look at the gate of the family courtyard.

But when it got dark, Zhang Xun didn't come back.

Zhang Xun didn't go home to the courtyard, but spent the night at Duan Qiao's house.

Duan Qiao's alcoholic father died when he was in college, and his grandmother also passed away in his sleep two years ago, leaving him an old dilapidated house in Baoxiang, and he settled down in Baoxiang.

Zhang Xun lived here when he first came to Baoxiang, and he was very familiar with the environment in the house. He bribed the door with a bag of donkey meat in sauce and a few bottles of Coke.

Duan Qiao didn't go very well during this time, the two brothers seemed to be in bad luck together, each had their own troubles, and at night they chatted about donkey meat with soy sauce.

"I thought about it carefully, and my conditions are really tough. Sometimes I am anxious for Ning Xiaomeng, how can I find such a partner?" Duan Qiao lit a cigarette, frowned and smiled bitterly. How happy."

Zhang Xun leaned on the sofa and watched TV: "Is her family unhappy?"

"I didn't say it so directly," Duan Qiao sighed, "I just said I didn't think it was suitable. What do you mean by 'suitable'?"

"Ask me?" Zhang Xun slumped on the sofa and said lazily, "My first condition is that my gender must match me."

After thinking about it, Duan Qiao couldn't hold back her joy: "Let's talk about this. What are you going to do in the future?"

"You should eat and drink," Zhang Xun thought he was talking about his future life plan, "let's make do with it."

"What did I say about you?" Duan Qiao paused, "Don't you want someone to go with you?"

Only then did Zhang Xun understand what he meant, and smiled: "No, it's too unreliable to have a relationship that depends entirely on responsibility and moral constraints without guarantee."

"What you said, I think it's the first time you've been in a relationship and you've been cheated miserably. It's true that you've been afraid of ropes for ten years." Duan Qiao flicked the cigarette ash, "Heterosexuals can still meet scum when they date. Maybe you will meet a good one.”

"Can it be the same?" Zhang Xun changed the channel and watched a group of fresh meat chattering on the variety show channel, "Then there are different families, social views, public opinions, and the degree of exposure to the light. Trouble."

Duan Qiao couldn't answer, and was silent for a while, smoking a cigarette.

He really didn't think about what Zhang Xun should do or what he could do in this situation.When a good brother suddenly tells you that he likes men, everyone will be taken aback.

Duan Qiao checked the information for several days after waking up that day, and finally felt upset for Zhang Xun.

"That's what you said," Duan Qiao said, "but, I think if you meet someone who puts you first, you won't think so."

Zhang Xun watched TV with his arms folded, and said casually, "Do you know what you are talking about now? Love brain. New words, learn."

Duan Qiao humbly googled it, and after checking it, she became furious and ate up Zhang Xun's donkey meat.

Zhang Xun was too lazy to talk to him, wishing to end this kind of "girlfriend" conversation that made him creepy as soon as possible, and just stared at the TV by himself.

He usually doesn't watch these variety shows, and occasionally catches up with dramas on the computer. He rarely watches TV for a while, staring at the people above him for a long time.

"What's so interesting about this, it's chattering." Duan Qiao opened another bottle of beer, and sat on the sofa to watch.

"No," Zhang Xun raised his chin, pointed to the quiet boy above and said, "Does it look like your little benefactor?"

Duan Qiao opened her slightly drunken eyes, and looked at it for a few seconds, enjoying herself: "It's quite similar. I'd say that he looks like a starlet, and he's white, and he doesn't need any makeup."

It is quite white.Zhang Xun thought to himself, it's so dark at night, I think his exposed skin is eye-catching.

"That one looks like Ning Xiaomeng." Duan Qiao pointed to a girl and said, after a while, she changed to another girl, "This one looks like this too."

"Like a fart," Zhang Xun glanced at, "If I draw you old man Ding, you will think it is a picture of Ning Xiaomeng."

"Well," after two bottles of horse urine, Duan Qiao began to talk again and again, "You said that I won't see Ning Xiaomeng this day, everyone looks like her, am I already in the late stage?"

Zhang Xun was shocked, and immediately changed the channel, replacing the starlet who looked like Chen Linhu just now.

Zhang Xun was so annoyed when he was transferred to Animal World and the Wild Tiger Nature Reserve, he decided to transfer to a TV shopping operator.

"It's late," Zhang Xun replied angrily, "You two go out to play together during the Chinese New Year holiday, and enjoy your advanced treatment process."

Duan Qiao was sad: "Don't mention it, his parents always think that Ning Xiaomeng is young and it is not safe to go out with me. They must have been cheated, saying that they will wake up when the filter is gone, so now it is easy not to let Xiaomeng out. , ready to let time eliminate the filter."

Zhang Xun paused for a few seconds, then smiled: "It's a way."

"Get out!" Duan Qiao grabbed his neck and shook, "Where are you turning your elbow? I am less than three years older than Ning Xiaomeng!"

It is probably because of the choking that Zhang Xun felt a little bit of Duan Qiao's grief and anger. He used Coke instead of wine, and spent half the night with Duan Xiaopang recalling the past, and then Duan Qiao threw up his trouser legs after being drunk.

Zhang Xun was already upset, so he just used the excuse of washing his trousers to make do with Duan Qiao's place all night.

After drinking, Duan Qiao slept carefree, snoring like a tractor coming off the ground. Zhang Xun lay on the ground with his eyes open, not daring to sleep in the dark.

He found a chance for himself to clear his mind and left the source that prevented him from relaxing. He didn't expect to remember it even after watching TV.

Zhang Xun lived to be 26 years old, and for the first time knew what caring is.

But this thought made him very uncomfortable, especially when he closed his eyes and thought of the expression on the child's face when he bypassed Chen Linhu and went downstairs.

Zhang Xun turned over, not daring to sleep anymore.

Think about something before going to bed, and it is easy to have related dreams in your dreams.Zhang Xun is really afraid of the dream, one time is enough, he never did this in adolescence.

To pass the time, he turned on his phone again. After twelve o'clock, Chen Linhu sent a message to Moments 10 minutes ago.

In the gray night sky, Zhang Xun recognized that it was taken on the rooftop.

He didn't like or reply, and turned off the phone gently like a thief.

At two or three o'clock in the morning, the balcony door opened, and Zhang Xun came out to light a cigarette, thinking to the gray night sky, that bastard must be asleep by now.

Then at this moment, it is to stagger the time to look at the place he gazed at, and look at the sky he just looked at.