Xu promised to take Bai Zhijing for a drive down the dam, and bought him two milk-flavored popsicles. Bai Zhijing sat on the back seat of the bicycle, swaying his legs while chatting. After eating two popsicles, the bicycle just came back from a round. Passing that stall again, Bai Zhijing put one arm around Xu Xu's waist, and tugged at the hem of Xu Xu's clothes with the other hand, and said, "I'll have another one."
Xu Xu pressed the brake, put one leg on the ground, and looked back at Bai Zhijing: "Aren't you afraid of having a stomachache?"
"If you make trouble, let's make trouble," Bai Zhijing patted his round belly with a playful smile, "Let's talk about it after eating well."
Xu Xu Dingding looked at him for two seconds, Bai Zhijing thought that Xu Xu would definitely not agree, thinking about how to play tricks, but unexpectedly, Xu Xu raised his hand and touched the gauze on his forehead, with distressed eyes written all over his eyes , asked in a low voice: "Does it hurt?"
Bai Zhijing was startled, then subconsciously moved his head, rubbed his face in Xu Xu's palm, raised his eyes and said, "It hurts."
Promise smiled, and flicked the tip of his nose: "Okay, then eat until it doesn't hurt anymore."
In the past, Bai Zhijing loved to buy popsicles for him to make him happy. He also said that he would eat one when he was a little sad, two if he was very sad, and three if he was especially sad.
Xu Xu always scoffed at this childish theory, he thought it was just Bai Zhijing's excuse for Tanliang. But if this childish method can really make Bai Zhijing happy even just a little bit, then Xu Xu also wants to give it a try.
Xu Xu has always felt that Bai Zhijing is the moon hanging in the sky, he is always bright and clear, he can be reflected in various colors by the fireworks set off on the ground, but he will not be stained by a little dust.
For a long time, Xu Xu looked up at this moon, hoping that Bai Zhijing's light would light him up in his poor and struggling life. Until one day, he really embraced his moon. Promise was ecstatic, and wanted to plant the moon in his garden, and then love him, love him, love him.
He promises to protect his moon all the time, he tutors Bai Zhijing with his homework, he takes care of Bai Zhijing's daily life, when Bai Zhijing hurts, he hugs him, when Bai Zhijing cries, he wipes his face, when Bai Zhijing is sad, he coaxes ...If he can live to be 80 years old, then he will have 60 years left in his life. Xu Xu feels that until the day he closes his eyes 60 years later, he can protect Bai Zhijing like this. He wants to Let Bai Zhijing always be at ease and pure like a child.
However, Xu Xu suddenly discovered that when his Jing'er was injured and couldn't hold back the tears?
It seems that some things will always happen. Bai Zhijing's life in the first 16 years was too smooth, and bad things finally came one after another when he was 17 years old.
He thought that Bai Zhijing would shed tears, yell, be depressed, and cry in the promise's arms, but contrary to everyone's expectations, Bai Zhijing gritted his teeth by himself, and quietly put everything together. The bad ones and the worse ones were carried over.
Xu Xu was at a loss instead, his handkerchief was in his pocket, why didn't Jing Er stop crying?
If eating a few more popsicles and having a stomachache can really make Bai Zhijing feel better, then give it a try.
"What flavor do you want?" Xu Xu took out a five-yuan change note from his wallet and asked Bai Zhijing.
Bai Zhijing stared at the colorful sales card for a few seconds, snapped his fingers and said, "Mango!"
"Okay, then the mango one." Xu Xu handed over the money, turned around and asked, "Do you still want to go for a ride?"
Bai Zhijing squinted his eyes and smiled, looking heartless: "One more time!"
"Decree," Xu Xu stepped on the pedal, "Sit tight, little gang leader!"
A sprinkler truck happened to pass by on the dam. Bai Zhijing opened his arms and held a yellow popsicle in one hand. He gently closed his eyes and let the water drops from the sprinkler truck wet his face.
Xu Xu also skipped a day of class, riding a bicycle, driving Bai Zhijing aimlessly around the city.
Bai Zhijing ate a total of five popsicles, one serving of octopus balls, two servings of stinky tofu, and two bowls of bean curd—one salty and the other sweet.
Not long after arriving home, Bai Zhijing started to vomit and have diarrhea, the wound on his forehead became inflamed, and he developed a low-grade fever at night.
At two o'clock in the morning, Bai Zhijing went to the toilet and retched while pawing at the toilet. He couldn't vomit anything except stomach acid, but tears and snot were stimulated a lot.
Bai Aize carried him back to the room. Bai Zhijing was dripping with cold sweat, licked his lips and said, "Dad, turn off the air conditioner, it's freezing."
"No." Shang Chu poured him a glass of water, kicked the mattress, and said angrily, "Take medicine."
"It's not on?" Bai Zhijing drooped his eyelids and said weakly, "I said why it's so hot..."
"You kid is half dead and you still want to talk back to me, right?" Shang Chu snorted, "You're so awesome!"
Bai Zhijing twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a weak smile.
None of the three members of the family who had been tossing around that night could sleep well. Bai Zhijing swallowed two antipyretics and drank some Alpha special pheromone maintenance syrup. Don't forget to explain: "I'm sick and I won't go to school tomorrow."
"Okay." Bai Aize said, "Go to sleep."
"Not the day after tomorrow." Bai Zhijing sniffed.
"You fucking have to push your limits..."
Shang Chu made a gesture to beat him up, but Bai Aize tucked the quilt for Bai Zhijing, and said, "Yes."
Bai Zhijing smiled, raised his eyelids and said, "Then I don't want to go to school the day after tomorrow, I don't want to go to school the day after tomorrow, and I don't want to go to school in the future."
Bai Aize was not angry at all, and calmly agreed: "Yes."
Bai Zhijing blinked slowly: "Really?"
"Really," Bai Aize said, "Jing'er, you are already an adult, you have the right to make your own decisions. Just like today, you can eat indiscriminately, but the price you pay is that you are sick, and you have to bear it yourself .”
"I don't go to school." Due to the illness, Bai Zhijing reacted a little slowly, "Do I have to pay the price?"
Shang Chu sighed lightly, and said in a brisk tone as much as possible: 'Nonsense! If you don't go to school, you can go to the barber shop at the entrance of the village as an apprentice for me! '
"Then I'll go." Bai Zhijing didn't forget to play tricks at this time, "A haircut is more fun than going to school."
Shang Chu quarreled with him for a while, and finally Bai Zhijing was so sleepy that there was only a slit left in his eyes.
"One month," Bai Aize's voice was very calm, "Jing'er, I will only ask you for a one-month long vacation. After one month, you can either go back to school or drop out. You can choose one."
He led Shang Chu out of Bai Zhijing's room, and the moment the door was closed, Bai Aize heard Bai Zhijing ask: "Father, don't you have to pay for doing something wrong? Then what did I do wrong?"
Bai Zhijing always felt that he had lost something, his stomach was vomited clean, and his heart was empty, with nowhere to go.
Bai Aize paused, and gently closed the door.
When Bai Zhijing said he wouldn't go to school, he really didn't.
He had a very cool life during these days. He went to the hospital early in the morning to take care of his grandfather. Sometimes he had a backpack and sometimes he didn’t have a backpack. There were two textbooks and a copy of "Story Club" in the bag. A few pages, memorize two words; when you are in a bad mood, read the collection of jokes in "Story Club".
When Xu Xu came back from the laboratory, they pushed Grandpa downstairs for a walk in the small garden, and promised to send him home at night. They kissed in the alley outside the corner of the community. The street lights were dim, and moths circled around the light.
There were many stray cats in the hospital garden, and Bai Zhijing kept a handful of cat food in his pocket at all times, and whenever he saw a cat, he would post it. He even got his paw scratched the day before yesterday, so he registered himself to get a rabies vaccine.
Life is like this whether you go to school or not, it seems that there are some changes, and it seems that there is no change.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, Bai Zhijing lay on the bed at night, closed his eyes and saw the multiple-choice question his father told him, and then the nauseating feeling of wanting to vomit reappeared.
He hated class, hated teachers, hated classmates, hated classrooms, hated days without deskmates, hated others betting on him, hated everything related to school.
If you don't read, don't read, he will never read again.
As soon as this thought appeared in his head, Bai Zhijing suddenly felt a suffocating feeling. He didn't know what he was sad about, but he just didn't sleep well all night.
The next day, he went to the hospital with a pair of dark circles under his eyes, and promised to let Bai Zhijing go home by himself, saying that he had something to do in the laboratory tonight and it would be late.
Bai Zhijing took a taxi to the alley and waited for Xu Xu to come back. It was around ten o'clock, and he was watching a variety show when there was a noise outside the courtyard. Bai Zhijing thought it was Xu Xu who had returned, so he excitedly opened the door with a popsicle in his mouth to take a look. ——
Ying Yingzi and a man stood at the gate of the courtyard. The man held Ying Yingzi's hand with a gentle expression, and raised his hand to touch Ying Yingzi's head. Ying Yingzi reluctantly said goodbye to him.
Bai Zhijing was stunned, he always felt that this man's side face looked familiar, and he remembered that Ying Yingzi was driven back by this man on the rainy night when he promised to go out to find Ying Yingzi.
Ying Yingzi watched the man leave, then turned and walked into the yard, humming a song, walking briskly.
"Who is that man?" Bai Zhijing leaned against the banyan tree and asked.
Ying Yingzi was startled: "Why are you here? What did you see?"
"Who is that man?" Bai Zhijing frowned, "It looks like he's not young, how did you meet? What's your relationship now?"