three years old

After Ning Xi finished speaking, Xing Cheng fell silent.

But it hurt him to death.

He lowered his head, put his chin on his brother's shoulder, and gently ran his hands along his brother's back: "It's okay, I'll find someone to fix it tomorrow."

Ning Xi muffled her throat and shook her head, unable to speak.

No one could see anyone in the dark, the lights in the corridor were not on yet, the door was open, and the two of them were just stuck by the shoe cabinet.

The only light source is each other's eyes, and the flickering street lights in the community.

Dim light came in from the window of the living room and flowed into the house, illuminating this small world.

Xing Cheng stood stiffly on the spot, holding his brother in his arms, feeling like he was about to stop breathing.

Looking around the empty living room, he could vaguely see a few cigarette butts piled up on the ground, seven or eight of them together, so that the eyes of Xing Cheng would burst into flames...

Ning Xi has been a good student and boy since she was a child, with excellent grades, invincible on the basketball court, even in junior high school, she never lost in a gang fight.

It's not that smoking is bad, it's just that people like Ning Xi, how come they like squatting at home alone at night and smoking stuffy cigarettes?

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at a pack of cigarettes on the shoe cabinet, and while going to close the door, he grabbed the pack of cigarettes, shook it, and there were only two cigarettes left inside.

Xing Cheng sighed, stood up straight, and reached for Ning Xi's hand.

Ning Xi didn't hide, and couldn't see Xing Cheng's expression clearly, so he just let him hold her.

His younger brother's hand was very hot, as if a child's heart was hidden inside, beating crazily, even warming Ning Xi's own cold palm.

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, five steps, six steps...

Xing Cheng dragged him through the living room, the hallway, and walked to the door of Ning Xi's room.

Putting his hand on the doorknob, Ning Xi heard Xing Cheng ask him in a low voice: "Can I come in?"

Ning Xi let out a "huh".

The room was very clean, with a single bed, a wooden table and cabinet, the walls were painted milky white, and there were a few posters on it, all of which were from the NBA, and there was also a jersey that I wore when I was a child, nailed like that on the wall.

The curtains by the window were still not closed, the wind blew in, rolled up the corners, and let in a little moonlight.

This night, when Ning Xi went to take a shower, Xing Cheng ran to the balcony outside the bathroom and stood there, holding a cigarette in his hand, and lit it up like his teammates usually smoke, took a big puff, and almost choked to death .

Ning Xi took a shower and came out wrapped in a towel and coat, and called him, but Xing Cheng didn't dare to look back.

At the young age of 17, he didn't even dare to look at Ning Xi's arm.

Ning Xi changed into pajamas and went into the bathroom with a hair dryer. Xing Cheng couldn't hold back, grabbed the hair dryer and put it on the socket. After the power was turned on, he held it and said to his brother, "I'll blow it for you."

Unexpectedly, Ning Xi hid for a while, not daring to look into Xing Cheng's eyes: "No."

Xingcheng ignored him, turned on the first gear, turned it to warm air, and let him blow it while rubbing his hair.

In fact, Ning Xi used to dry her hair naturally after washing, no matter in season, summer, autumn or winter, she was too lazy to blow it, and sat by the window with a book for about ten minutes, and her hair was dry, purely relying on her youth and ruining her body.

I took out the hair dryer today, just to watch Xingcheng standing on the balcony...

I want to get closer and stay a little longer.

That night, Xing Cheng watched Ning Xi fall asleep before going upstairs.

Ning Xi spread out the test paper and wrote it on the table by the window, and then closed the curtains. It would be useless to open the curtains while walking around today.

Xingcheng didn't notice this detail, lying on his brother's bed with his upper body, squinting his eyes, watching the back of his brother writing the paper.

The night wind blew over again, passing over the top of Ning Xi's head, behind the ears, the back of the neck, and even the hair, there was a charming breath...

When Ning Xi went to bed, she lifted half of the quilt, and the inside was warmed by Xing Cheng.

Xing Cheng watched Ning Xi cover the quilt, squatted down, lay down on the edge of the bed, and said hoarsely, "Brother, you have to quit smoking."

Ning Xi didn't say anything, half of her face was covered by the quilt, revealing a pair of beautiful and clear eyes, staring at Xing Cheng.

His younger brother was lying on the bedside talking to him like a big dog, but his eyes were too fierce, either a wolfhound or a Tibetan mastiff, but it had to be a domesticated one...

Seeing that he didn't respond, Xing Cheng put on a straight face: "Did you hear what I said?"

Ning Xi stretched out his hand from under the quilt, squeezed his cheek hard, then turned around, turned his back to Xing Cheng, and snorted coldly: "No."

Seeing him occasionally being such a child, Xing Cheng's heart was already pounding so hard that it was about to explode. He resisted the urge to jump up and hug him, and carefully tucked the corner of his brother's quilt. Still very strong: "You don't need to quit, I will smoke with you, buy one, and hold a smoking competition to see whether you can smoke or I can smoke."

Resisting the urge to turn around and punch him, Ning Xi wrapped the quilt tightly: "Your skin is itchy."

Ning Xi said so stubbornly, but secretly thought in his heart.

Ning Xi, you have to quit smoking.

Without even thinking about it, Xing Cheng took it casually: "It's just itchy, do you want to scratch it?"

My fucking heart is still itchy, brother, can you scratch me?

Ning Xi turned her back to him and said nothing, she almost covered her head in the quilt, Xing Cheng stretched out her hand and pulled it off for him: "Aren't you bored?"

After turning off the light and waiting for a while, Xing Cheng heard Ning Xi's even breathing and the sound of his own heart beating, which was so loud that it almost shattered his ears...

The person he likes just lays on the bed in front of him with his back to him, and falls asleep peacefully.

For a moment, Xing Cheng wanted to get into Ning Xi's dream.

Look at the dream, it is a moonlight, a three-step layup, a warm home.

Still him.

……

After leaving Ning Xi's house, Xing Cheng grabbed the pack of cigarettes on the shoe cabinet, and there was only one left, so he carried it by himself and lit it in the corridor.

This time, I didn't get choked, but I felt uncomfortable. The white smoke and sparks almost set my heart and lungs on fire.

Early the next morning, Xing Cheng was still waiting for Ning Xi to eat noodles at the small noodle shop at seven o'clock on time. Today, he also ordered beef noodles, but considering that Ning Xi quit smoking recently, he ordered a light taste, which is good for his stomach.

He thinks that people in Sichuan have a bad habit of eating spicy noodles in the morning, although eating it with a bowl of soy milk is really refreshing.

Ning Xi was stopped again in the morning, and while stirring the noodles, she said, "You really don't have to wait for me."

After saying this, Ning Xi picked out a few pieces of beef from the bowl and gave him: "I don't like beef."

Looking at the extra pieces in his bowl, Xing Cheng felt his nose a little sour. When he picked out a bowl of beef for his brother last time, he clearly saw his brother eat all the beef.

Ning Xi lowered her head to drink the soy milk, and wiped the soup stains on the corners of her lips with a tissue. After telling a lie, she felt a little flustered.

Even if Ning Xi didn't know that Xing Cheng had done the same thing.

……

This time, he was afraid that his brother would be angry, so he stood far away, and dawdled behind his brother, finally sent his brother to school, and finally heaved a sigh of relief.

I'll go back later and do paper backing and endorsement, and there's still a game to catch in the afternoon.

Xing Cheng can be regarded as the little bully on the street courts in the city. He has a good family background and is handsome. He is also well-known in school. Many high school students in the entire district know that there is a Xing Cheng in Shizhong. He is very good at playing basketball and fighting. .

The fights he had in junior high school now seemed to be a one-time crime, but with his personality, he would never regret the punches he made.

The boys at that time usually ate, slept and fought in groups, and loved to listen to Chen Xiaochun's songs. What kind of superstars in troubled times counted as your friendship years, and they shouted and sang with a microphone as soon as they entered the ktv.

Only Xing Cheng and their private room, because Xing Cheng's love first started, everyone sang Chen Xiaochun's love song, and followed Xing Cheng to memorize the lyrics of that exclusive memory.

When Xing Cheng finished his high and went home, when he saw the light in his brother's window downstairs, his mind was full of words: No one can, take you from my body.

It's you, give me half of my love.

It's just that Xing Cheng didn't know at all at that time, this half will grow slowly in the future, and gradually become complete...

Young and energetic, active in everything, running faster than anyone else, the motivation to practice every day is nothing but Ning Xi's vigorous posture on the court and his teammates waving towels frantically off the court.

He also thought that one day, his brother could wave the towel for him and tell people that the one who played the best and the most handsome on the field was my younger brother.

In the afternoon, Ren Mei called and said that there was a group of people missing from the street court this afternoon. I guess the group of people who came to the school to play the game last time were not there. Your brother is going to class tonight, do you want to bring someone to follow?

Xing Cheng thought for a while, during the National Day holiday, most of the buddies are going out for travel, and even if there is a meeting of the school's half-baked school team idiots, there are not many people, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

He spoke back to Ren Mei: "Let's talk about it at night."

Ren's eyebrows became angry: "Are you fucking going to be a grass protector again?"

Xing Cheng also became popular: "No matter what my brother is like, it's just adding flowers to the grass. Think about it, what kind of grass can bloom?"

Ren Mei choked up, cursed a fool, and replied calmly, "Tie Shu."

This answer made Xing Cheng depressed to death, how long will it last.

"If you can chase your brother, Xingcheng, it's really a flowering iron tree."

Xing Cheng didn't go to the stadium all afternoon, and the time for the company's game just happened to be pushed to the weekend by the boss there. As soon as the time was free, Xing Cheng went to the school gate to wait for his brother to leave school.

There was a lot of pressure in the third year of high school, and the school was getting later and later. Some parents who were worried that the girl would go home by themselves came to pick them up.

He was wearing a jersey with a hoodie inside, and he felt a little chilly when the wind blew in. He thought for a while, and felt that his brother was wearing a lot today, and it shouldn't be too cold at night.

Standing among the parents, he felt very proud, as if he was a parent himself.

The repeat class of the third year of high school was delayed for 10 minutes before leaving school. It was almost ten o'clock when Ning Xi came down with his bag on his back. The security guard at the school gate urged the students to leave school as soon as possible, so he couldn't help but quicken his pace.

As soon as he left the school gate, he saw Xing Cheng standing under the streetlight at the school gate, looking at him firmly.

Ning Xi nodded, walked over quickly, raised her eyes and scolded him: "What are you doing here, let's go."

With a basketball bag on his shoulders, Xing Cheng followed his brother in silence.

If it rains now, it must be very romantic.

Xing Cheng suddenly felt that it was great that he was taller than Ning Xi, and he could do the tiring work of holding an umbrella by himself.

Before he had gone far, Xing Cheng felt that someone was following behind him, he quickened his pace, reached out and hugged Ning Xi closer, looking very intimate.

When the group of grandchildren saw him walking around, they probably didn't have the guts to pick two at once.

Indeed, as he expected, that group of people might have come in four or five, followed by a street, and stopped at the gate of the community.

Ning Xi felt that it was weird to drive along the road, she kept hugging herself and kept talking, blah blah, blah blah, usually she doesn’t talk so much.

In a hurry, Xing Cheng pushed his brother halfway into the community: "Go back soon."

Ning Xi clutched her schoolbag, turned around and asked him, "Aren't you going home?"

"Ah, I won't go back yet."

Xingcheng made up a lie casually, and was still a little nervous: "Ren Mei opened a private room, I have to call."

Ning Xi was a little suspicious, stared at him for a while, felt that there was nothing wrong, nodded, and said, "Come back early."

After he finished speaking, he walked into the community with a sullen head.

Standing outside the community, Xing Cheng was a little dazed.

I feel that the phrase "come back early" is like the kind of wife at home who said to the husband, it is very gentle, and it fell into his ears when he was on guard, and it killed him.

Ning Xi is such a person, very cold, but he is cold-faced and warm-hearted. A word is light, seemingly casual, but the weight in it, from Xing Cheng's point of view, is a thousand catties.

Within a few minutes, Xing Cheng saw that the light in Ning Xi's window was on, but the curtains were still closed.

He saw late-sleep children playing and rushing up to his apartment building in the courtyard, and the sound of adults cooking supper at the window of their kitchen could be heard next to his ears...

The bright and dark windows of every household hide a hundred flavors of life in the world.

Xing Cheng thinks back to his childhood, when only exams were his troubles.

Fearless and fearless growing up, the secret love is smeared with just the right amount of sweetness.