Tiandi Baiju

At night, it began to rain outside the window, and the sound of the rain hit the iron roof of the balcony of the rental house.

The 16-year-old brother Le Yao was still watching TV in the living room. When Zhou Luoyang opened the door and came in, he subconsciously looked back at the wall clock.

"Come back so early?" Le Yao asked hopefully, "How did the talk go?"

"It's okay." Zhou Luoyang didn't tell his younger brother about the blind date dinner. He simply explained in the afternoon that he would go out to discuss business cooperation. If everything goes well, the antique shop will be able to reopen soon.

He stepped forward, picked up his younger brother Le Yao from the wheelchair, and explained: "It went well, the other party said, think about it when you go back."

Le Yao motioned him to look at the sheets of paper on the coffee table, and replied, "I didn't bring any materials for you."

"I remember it all in my mind." Zhou Luoyang smiled, hugged his brother across his arms, and entered the bathroom.

The bathroom of the rented house was small, but fortunately there was at least a dilapidated bathtub. Zhou Luoyang drew the shower curtain and spread disposable plastic paper in the bathtub.

"Do you wash it yourself?"

"Ah."

Zhou Luoyang then moved a chair, and stood outside the shower curtain, distracted, waiting for his brother to take a bath.

"Someone called home today." Le Yao said from behind the shower curtain.

"What?" Zhou Luoyang suddenly became alert, wondering if he was being urged to pay back the money?Find a home so soon?

Le Yao replied: "There is no sound after I pick it up."

Zhou Luoyang hummed, and said, "Next time I'll just hang up, it's probably a sale."

Le Yao said: "The school sent me an email asking if I needed anything else."

Zhou Luoyang replied, "I'll reply tonight."

Le Yao coughed a few times and accidentally choked on some water, Zhou Luoyang opened the shower curtain and washed his hair for him.His frail shoulders and arms appeared on the water, as well as the reflection of Zhou Luoyang's slightly furrowed brows and worried facial features.

Le Yao is already 16 years old. Because of his disability, he is thinner than his peers. He stays at home all day and looks fairer. He is 1.7 meters tall and weighs only 93 catties.

It is not as convenient for patients with hemiplegia to live in China as in foreign countries.Sometimes Zhou Luoyang even worried whether it was the right decision for him to return to China to study.

At the beginning, I thought that, compared to the convenience of life, perhaps having family to accompany me was the most urgent thing for my younger brother. After all, they were each other’s only family now—and more importantly, the economic situation did not allow it.The inheritance left by his father could not afford the tuition fees for his younger brother to study abroad, and Zhou Luoyang was having trouble supporting himself right now.

"Is it not going well?" Le Yao said suddenly.

"What?" After Zhou Luoyang reunited with Du Jing, his mind was always a little distracted. The moment he looked at his younger brother, he realized that his thoughts were written on his face, so he smiled and explained, "No."

Le Yao said: "Dad used to say that partnering with others is like getting married. If you don't feel suitable, don't force it. There should be other opportunities, right?"

Zhou Luoyang understood what Le Yao was thinking, and explained: "It's not because of the partnership, but I'm afraid it's inconvenient for you to go to school. I'm used to having you by my side, so I always feel empty when I go to school suddenly."

Le Yao hummed and said, "The teachers are very enthusiastic. I can take care of myself. Besides, I have to learn to live independently."

Zhou Luoyang didn't answer this sentence, took off his shirt, picked up his drenched younger brother, put him on a chair to wipe his body, put on his pajamas, and said, "Don't worry about the things in the store, you have a clue, tomorrow I'm fine, I'll take you out to play, after I come back, I haven't been shopping in the city yet."

Le Yao nodded, supported the side of the bed, and struggled to move from the wheelchair to the bed, while Zhou Luoyang went into the bathroom to tidy up and take a shower.

Hot water dripped down the top of his head, gathered on the inconspicuous muscle lines of his shoulders and back, and flowed down the deep lines of his waist. The floor-to-ceiling mirror in the bathroom was covered with a layer of white mist.

Zhou Luoyang wiped the mirror a few times, staring at himself in the mirror, with wet hair in front of his brows, as if he hadn't changed from five years ago.Thinking of Du Jing who was caught off guard again.

"My name is Du Jing, the 'Du Jing' of 'Huiu hurts life and Du Jing dies startled'."

Zhou Luoyang said to himself.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, just like the first day he met Du Jing.

It was raining heavily that day, and the typhoon almost knocked down the dormitory building. When Zhou Luoyang came to report to this strange city alone, not a single part of his body was dry.

He slammed into the bedroom with a burst of water vapor, and a tall figure inside immediately stepped forward and closed the door for him. The windows and doors slammed crazily under the storm, and as the man closed the door, the world finally quieted down.

"The window won't close," said the man, "the draft will blow open."

Zhou Luoyang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This year's typhoon is too severe."

"It's the first time I've encountered a typhoon," the man casually said, "It's been blowing all day."

Zhou Luoyang leaned in front of the writing desk, in a state of distress, dripping water all over his body. Looking at the man, he caught a glimpse of the deep scar across the bridge of his nose.

He looks handsome, if not for this scar.Zhou Luoyang thought to himself.

Then they looked into his eyes and nodded slightly.

The next few years of life will be spent with this person.

"Zhou Luoyang," Zhou Luoyang introduced himself, "the Luoyang of 'Luoyang's relatives and friends are like asking each other a piece of ice in a jade pot'."

"Du Jing," the man also introduced himself, "Du Jing who was 'suspiciously wounded, Du Jing was shocked by death'."

Zhou Luoyang was very surprised when he heard this, he turned his head to look at Du Jing again, and smiled.Du Jing was not too enthusiastic. He pulled out the chair and sat at the desk as before, putting on the earphones, just pretending that he didn't exist.

Sure enough, he is a quiet person... Zhou Luoyang simply packed his things, turned his back to Du Jing, took off his T-shirt, and couldn't help but look back at Du Jing, only to see Du Jing was reading a book with his head down, his expression was indifferent, In this indifference, the scar under the eyebrows is particularly conspicuous.

An old friend of Grandpa Zhou Luoyang is a professor of our school. Zhou Luoyang called him before he came to register. The professor's postgraduate student asked him if he had any special requirements for the dormitory and roommates. Zhou Luoyang's answer was: good tempered, quiet , without interfering with each other.

So the department assigned him to 603, Tingpu Building.It was only later that Zhou Luoyang learned that there were not many student dormitories in Tingpu Building, and most of them were the children of faculty members, or people who had special requirements and greetings.

In other words, when Du Jing assigned the dormitory, he also found his family relationship.

The environment in Tingpu Building is nice and quiet, but it’s a bit too quiet. The dormitory is dead silent, and there is only the sound of wind and rain outside the window. It seems that the roommate is a relatively withdrawn person.

After Zhou Luoyang took a shower and wiped his hair, he saw that his younger brother was already asleep in bed, so he covered him with a quilt and turned off the light.

Thinking of the day when he first met Du Jing, Zhou Luoyang was most impressed by the scars on his face, followed by the silence of this roommate.

It's a pity, Zhou Luoyang felt that if Du Jing didn't have this scar, his figure and appearance would be enough to be on the cover of fashion magazines.Then it was, and of course it is now.

When he suddenly saw Du Jing again in the private room, Zhou Luoyang almost thought that he had completely disappeared from his life.

But why did he appear at this time?What has he experienced in these years?

Zhou Luoyang took a box of yogurt from the refrigerator, sighed, inserted the straw, drank it, went back to the room, and lay down on the bed.

Meeting in a hurry and leaving in a hurry, Du Jing didn't even leave him a contact information.Zhou Luoyang knew that Du Jing must still be angry with him, and also with himself. This anger had lasted for three full years.

Time can solve all problems for others, but not for Du Jing.

Is his illness getting worse?

Zhou Luoyang tossed and turned on the bed in the dark, his mind was full of what Du Jing looked like today. He seemed to have grown taller and thinner than three years ago.

When they first met, they were like two polite strangers. Zhou Luoyang didn't even have time to get acquainted with him in the future. A few days later, the military training began.

Du Jing thought about automation, Zhou Luoyang thought about machinery, the two were not in the same company, but Zhou Luoyang would occasionally see him across the playground—he was the tallest in military uniform, the one standing in the last row.During the break, Zhou Luoyang waved to him and whistled. Sometimes Du Jing looked at him, but he didn't respond, and only looked at him from a distance.

Zhou Luoyang noticed that Du Jing hardly spoke to the people in his class, and even sat aside in a daze alone indifferently during breaks.

"Would you like a Coke?" Zhou Luoyang walked over and handed it to him.

Du Jing then nodded indifferently, took it, glanced at the Coke in his hand, suddenly took out a box of cigarettes, and handed it to Zhou Luoyang.

"How do you know I smoke?" Zhou Luoyang was very surprised.

"You smell like smoke," Du Jing said.

At first, Zhou Luoyang thought that Du Jing didn't want to make friends with him, so he never spoke. However, through military training later, he found that Du Jing was more silent and indifferent to others than to himself, so he guessed that his nature was like this, and instead he was with him. Zhou Luoyang had a lot to say, so he didn't take it to heart.

Zhou Luoyang himself has a lot of friends, because he is sunny and easy-going, and he quickly became familiar with his classmates.

But he still cares about this roommate, after all, they will spend a long time together.

One day during the military training, after Zhou Luoyang's class disbanded, he saw that the third class of automation was still basking in the sun on the playground, but Du Jing was not there, so it was a little strange.

So he went to the cafeteria to get summer tea, went to the dormitory of Du Jing's company, and asked the instructor.

"Are you his friend?" the instructor asked.

"Roommate." Zhou Luoyang guessed that Du Jing might have suffered from heatstroke, and said, "I'll come and see him."

"Zhou Luoyang," the instructor said, "I know you who live in 603."

Zhou Luoyang: "?"

Zhou Luoyang was a little strange, how could the instructor in Du Jing's class know about him?Because I saw the dormitory list?Maybe the instructor noticed him when he arranged for them to live together?

But he didn't ask any more questions. The instructor told him the dormitory number, and Zhou Luoyang knocked on the door. Du Jing didn't speak, so Zhou Luoyang pushed the door open and went in.

It was a double room. Du Jing was sitting on a bunk in the back, his body and face were hidden in the shadows, and he was taking medicine with his head down.

"Are you okay?" Zhou Luoyang asked.

Du Jing was obviously taken aback, with uneasiness in his eyes, Zhou Luoyang asked, "Have you got heatstroke? I see you didn't go to training, so I brought you herbal tea."

"Thank you." Du Jing immediately recovered his usual composure, and put the medicine box into his pocket.

Zhou Luoyang was a little puzzled, just now he accidentally saw that Du Jing's medicine box contained white pills. The medicine box had many compartments, which were obviously taken on a daily basis.

He is sick?

Zhou Luoyang looked around, sat on another bed, changed the subject, and said with a smile: "Your dormitory is better than ours, we live in one room for twelve people, and there are double rooms for military training?"

"The instructor's bunk." Du Jing replied.

"Is the heat too hot?" Zhou Luoyang asked casually, "Uncomfortable? Have you had lunch yet?"

Du Jingting nodded, Zhou Luoyang unscrewed the thermos and poured him some herbal tea.

"It's too bitter." Du Jing frowned, but Zhou Luoyang laughed.

The instructor also came in and said, "Aren't you going out for a walk? Go ahead and take your friend for a walk."

Du Jing picked up his camouflage hat, signaled Zhou Luoyang to follow him, and left the dormitory to hang out behind the canteen. Behind this camp was the girls' camp, and Zhou Luoyang had never been here before.The two stood in front of each other without speaking, and when they reached the alley, Du Jing suddenly said, "Go to the next class?"

Zhou Luoyang was startled, and said, "What?"

"Several girls are talking about you," Du Jing asked, "Bring you over and let them have a look."

"Don't make trouble!" Zhou Luoyang laughed out loud and said, "How do you know?"

"I overheard it." Du Jing said.

"Are you still eavesdropping on other people's conversations?" Zhou Luoyang said, "I didn't expect you to be a gossip."

Du Jing replied: "I only know you, and I paid attention when I heard your name. Are you done smoking? Let's buy you another pack."

Zhou Luoyang took out the cigarettes Du Jing bought for him, and said, "It hasn't been opened yet, here you are."

Du Jing waved his hand, Zhou Luoyang was a little surprised: "Why do you buy cigarettes if you don't smoke?"

"The cigarette package looks good," Du Jing replied, looking to one side, "I bought it as soon as I saw it."

It was the first time Zhou Luoyang heard such a reason.

Zhou Luoyang was smoking in the alley in front of the canteen. Occasionally, some classmates came over and whistled at them. Zhou Luoyang greeted them with a smile. People came and went, everyone looked at Du Jing strangely, and Du Jing looked at Elsewhere, never facing people.

"Hey, someone secretly took pictures of you." The boys in Zhou Luoyang's class quickly moved him, and Zhou Luoyang turned his head with a smile.

His hair was disheveled, and he hid the cigarette aside so as not to affect his image. Unexpectedly, Du Jing looked sideways, but immediately turned his head away, not wanting to be photographed of his face.

At the end of the alley, only people's voices were heard laughing. When Zhou Luoyang wanted to take a serious look, the person who secretly photographed him had already left, and he didn't even see his face.

"Male and female?"

"I didn't see it clearly, did it take pictures of Zhou Luoyang?"

"Shooting you." Zhou Luoyang, who was already familiar with the boys in the class, said solemnly.

"Shoot yours."

"Shoot yours!"

Everyone started grabbing Zhou Luoyang's Coke, and Zhou Luoyang handed it over. A bottle of Coke was passed around, and when he came back, there was an empty bottle left.

Du Jing left in silence. Zhou Luoyang threw the bottle away and followed Du Jing.

"You go back." Du Jing turned his head and said, squinting his eyes to look at Zhou Luoyang in the sunlight.

Zhou Luoyang said: "I'm free when I go back, so I'll accompany you?"

Du Jing said, "I don't need to accompany you."

Zhou Luoyang found out that no matter what he was talking about, Du Jing could kill the sky very quickly. Maybe it was because of this that Du Jing didn't make friends.

"I haven't added your contact information yet." Zhou Luoyang suddenly remembered something, took out his phone, and thought that maybe adding a WeChat and chatting on WeChat would make the situation better?After all, some people don't like to talk in reality, but they will be much better on communication software.

"My phone fell." Du Jing also took out his phone and showed it to Zhou Luoyang. The screen was completely broken, and the body was distorted as if it had been smashed.

Zhou Luoyang was shocked, and said, "How did you fall? Can you fall like this?"

"I didn't notice that I slid down the stairs," Du Jing said, "I was stepped on again when we assembled."

Zhou Luoyang tried a few times, but the phone couldn't be turned on, so he said, "After the military training, go back and buy a new one with you."

Du Jingting nodded, and when the assembly whistle blew, Zhou Luoyang waved to him and ran back to the company.

Afterwards, Zhou Luoyang couldn't help asking his master to inquire about the automation, and the answer he got was the same as he thought.

Du Jing is quite out of gregarious and never takes the initiative to talk to others, so everyone does not take the initiative to say hello to him.

"Is it because of low self-esteem?" The person who helped to inquire said to Zhou Luoyang, "The disfigurement is a bit serious, and I always feel that there is something wrong with his eyes."

"What's wrong," Zhou Luoyang said seriously, "I don't think there's anything wrong."

"I heard that he has the highest score in the college entrance examination in this class," said the person who helped inquire, "he got a perfect score in the math test."

Zhou Luoyang: "..."

On the day the military training ended, all the departments had dinner and drinks in the cafeteria. Many tables were divided. Zhou Luoyang's table was happily talking and joking, but suddenly everything fell silent. Everyone looked behind Zhou Luoyang together.

Zhou Luoyang realized later, turned his head, and saw Du Jing standing with his water bottle in his hand.

"My roommate." Zhou Luoyang introduced to everyone, "Du Jing, let's have dinner together? Sit here?"

Zhou Luoyang saw that Du Jing didn't fit in well in the automation class earlier, and thought that maybe the machinery side was more funny, so he could have a few words with him.

"Return your water bottle." Du Jing handed the water bottle to Zhou Luoyang, then lowered the brim of his hat, turned and left.

"Do you want to change the dormitory?" The good friend whispered to Zhou Luoyang at this time, "This guy feels too gloomy, and he will live for four years. Who can guarantee that if you quarrel over some trivial matter, you can Don't make a fuss..."

Zhou Luoyang immediately put an end to those rumors and gossips of "thank your roommate for not killing me".

And he never felt that Du Jing's eyes were gloomy, and he couldn't tell the reason, as if it came from some kind of innate intuition.It was not a look of hatred, but loneliness.

It was a deep loneliness—a loneliness that expressed surrender to the whole world.

In high school, Zhou Luoyang worked as a summer job in the zoo for a period of time because he liked to study animals. Du Jing's eyes always reminded him of animals locked in cages for people to watch.

Later, he gradually realized that Du Jing just didn't want to hurt others unintentionally.

Five years later, Zhou Luoyang tossed and turned in the dark, and finally stopped moving.

As long as you are in a city, if you look for it, you will definitely find someone.Zhou Luoyang thought so, and then fell asleep in this silent night.