Beyond The Outline

That night, it rained silently in City C, with faint thunder.

There was a very faint smell on Shao Zhan's bed, like lingering mint. Xu Sheng sent Shao Zhan a message before going to bed, and then he was embraced by this smell, and had a dream that night.

He dreamed of the rainstorm a year ago.

Xu Sheng and Xu Yaping have only quarreled over the matter of painting for so many years. Even if they quarreled, Xu Sheng would use his own way to coax her afterwards. His appearance was so gentle, he secretly hid the thorns all over his body, finally sighed, and succumbed to Xu Yaping's "expectation" and "control".

Xu Yaping actually didn't dare to cry in front of Xu Sheng, she was getting used to it, but the moment the bouquet of flowers appeared in front of her, all the pressure overcame her reason: "Thank you, it's very beautiful, mom likes it very much."

No one is born to be a parent or a child, ideas will inevitably collide, and not everything can find a quick and reasonable solution.

After Xu Sheng went to high school, she filled out the dormitory application. Xu Yaping was busy with work, and Linjiang No. [-] Middle School had a closed education system, so she didn’t think it was wrong. She would not pamper her children: “It’s fine for you to live independently at your age. Now, you have to learn to arrange and plan your own time.”

Xu Sheng joked: "I'm not at home, you take good care of yourself."

Xu Yaping smiled: "What did you say, am I your mother or are you my mother?"

The reduction in contact between the two is actually to reduce friction.

So Xu Yaping has always felt that her relationship with Xu Sheng is not bad, except for some problems with Sheng's grades, there are also... problems with painting.

Xu Sheng's dream was very illogical. The timeline started from the bouquet of flowers and reversed, and finally stopped at the pouring rain outside the window, and a thunder that fell from the distant sky.

Thunder and lightning flickered, and a ray of light broke out from the night into the day, as if to split the sky in half.

That day he locked all the things related to painting into the warehouse. He was reluctant to throw away the key. He hung it on a black rope and hid it in his chest. He lay on the bed, and a thought crossed his mind before going to bed: If he had a choice, he would Can I not be Xu Sheng?

Shao Zhan also had a dream.

It may be because he hasn't called "Mom" for too long, he dreamed of the day his mother left.

Then I dreamed about the police car, and dreamed about the pattering rain.

Immediately afterwards, he seemed to hear a sentence, that sentence was indistinct, and the only thing he could distinguish—it was his own voice.

If he had a choice, could he not be Shao Zhan?

This was just a fleeting thought, and that thought quickly turned into another question: If he doesn't become Shao Zhan, who can he become?What do you want to become?

Just like almost everyone will imagine a meaningless thought: Is there another me in the world, and if so, what kind of life is he living now?

When Xu Sheng woke up the next day, he realized that it had rained last night. He scratched his hair. He couldn't remember the content of the dream clearly. Looking back carefully, he seemed to have indeed heard thunder.Through the window, he saw the wet street scene outside the window.

- Are you awake?

-It rained last night.

After Xu Sheng sent the message to Shao Zhan, he took an umbrella and went downstairs to buy breakfast. The nearest breakfast shop was simply furnished, and the atmosphere of the market was overwhelming.This point is the peak time for dining, even if there are a few more tables and chairs outside, you still need to wait for a seat.

Xu Sheng didn't feel bored waiting by the side, just like he needs to observe when drawing a sketch. He is used to capturing the scene with his eyes. The owner of the breakfast shop is a couple, about fifty years old, with a simple appearance.

Xu Sheng sat down and ordered after the people at the table who were sitting outside had checked out and left, "Two steamed buns, one tofu nao, thank you."

"Eight dollars."

After Xu Sheng paid the money, Shao Zhan happened to reply.

S: Get up.

Xu Sheng asked: Where is my mother?

S: He said he was working overtime on weekends, so he went out early in the morning and left a note.

Xu Yaping often works overtime, which is a good thing now. The fear is that she will stay at home and face Shao Zhan face to face, and it will be easy to reveal her secrets.

Xu Sheng: That's good. You can go out if you want. There are two exhibition halls nearby that are not bad.

S came back with a screenshot, which was a screenshot of the chat interface between him and "self".

Xu Sheng:?

S: You ran too fast yesterday and didn't have time to ask.

S: Remarks on when to change.

The three-word remark was changed by Xu Sheng himself. Of course he remembered that the previous remark was for him to see, but now that his identity was changed, the person who made the remark was inevitably a little ashamed of the remark.

Xu Sheng overcame his shame and replied: Boyfriend, is there a problem?

S: No.

S: Xu is very self-conscious and deserves praise.

Shao Zhan would occasionally make a serious joke.

How could there be a problem? The only problem for the two of them now may be that they want to use their identities to contact each other. Xu Sheng looked at the time and found that the holiday has only passed half a day, and he doesn't know when it will be until the next thunderstorm.

Xu Sheng put down his phone to have breakfast in the middle of the chat, and didn't think there was anything wrong until a customer ordered the same meal as him, and that person was obviously a regular customer: "Ten yuan, I'll calculate it for you, lady boss, the whole thing , don’t bother you to find it.”

Xu Sheng looked down at his own, eight yuan, and an extra cup of soy milk.

Xu Sheng: Auntie at the breakfast shop downstairs in your house treats you very well.

After Xu Sheng finished typing, he saw the proprietress bending over to wipe the table, so he smiled at her while pinching the spoon in her hand. The proprietress knew that "Shao Zhan" was usually reticent, so she felt sorry for the child's experience and tried her best to help. Seeing the child take the initiative to say hello, he wiped his hands helplessly: "Is it okay to eat? Do you want to add something?"

Xu Sheng: "No need, I'm full, the buns are delicious, and your cooking is much better than the breakfast shop outside the school."

With just a few words, the proprietress can't wait to send him a few more things.

Shao Zhan didn't know where he came to the conclusion.

S: What?

Xu Sheng: Don't you know the discount and free soy milk?

Shao Zhan was sitting at the desk writing a test paper. After reading the news for a while, he remembered what the proprietress of the breakfast shop looked like. He did go to that breakfast shop often, but he hardly said a few words, let alone anything. impression.

There are differences in the way of looking at things between people, and Shao Zhan is a pure rationalist.

Eating breakfast is really a trivial matter, but through Xu Sheng's eyes, what he saw was another side.

After eating, Xu Sheng planned to go back to do his homework. He was not familiar with this place, and there was no place for him to pass the time if he wanted to play. Why not go back to do his homework and make video calls with Shao Zhan.

Xu Sheng casually propped his phone on the side, no matter from which angle he could only see half of the pen holder.

"Which paper are you writing?" Shao Zhan asked.

Xu Sheng had an earphone plugged into one ear, and the long earphone cable went around his hand: "Mathematics."

"Why don't you like other subjects?" Shao Zhan asked suddenly.

Xu Sheng was stunned for a while, and there was no reason why he wanted to say.

Shao Zhan didn't miss any opportunity, and he was persuasive: "Sometimes you are more repulsed by subjects, have you ever thought about them, but you just haven't found the right method for you."

Xu Sheng: "..." Why did it come again.

Shao Zhan: "The interest in learning can be cultivated."

Xu Sheng: "Boyfriend, that's right. My internet is not very good."

Shao Zhan: "..."

Xu Sheng: "It's much better now, change the subject and continue."

Xu Sheng was so confused that Shao Zhan couldn't laugh or cry. He finally sighed, thinking of mathematics, let's do mathematics, at least one class has started.

Xu Sheng was halfway through the problem, and when Shao Zhan was flipping through the book to explain to him the knowledge points of the second semester of the second year of high school in advance, the doorbell rang twice——

"Isn't there no one in your house?" Xu Sheng put down his pen, "Who is it?"

Shao Zhan didn't know either: "It might be a courier."

Xu Sheng also felt that express delivery was more likely, so without thinking too much, he took off his earphones and got up to open the door. As soon as the door opened, he happened to stare at the child standing outside the door.

The boy standing outside the door was almost as tall as his shoulders, with short shaved hair and big eyes.

Xu Sheng: "You..." A courier?

It doesn't look like this either.

Xu Sheng wanted to ask who you are, but in the next second he swallowed those words carefully, turning into a vague question: "What do you want from me?"

The boy was obviously afraid of him, he hesitated for a few seconds before timidly calling him: "Cousin."

"Ah," Xu Sheng reacted quickly, and responded kindly, "Cousin."

It turned out to be my cousin. I didn't hear Shao Zhan mention it, so I don't think we have much contact with each other.

He can still scare a mere brat, it's not a big problem.

Xu Sheng thought about it, looked at the bedroom door with half-closed eyes calmly, and took the time to scold himself: Why didn't you take out your phone.

This cousin simply thinks that Shao Zhan is difficult to get close to. He always looks cold in his memory. He looks scarier than the teacher. He has heard of many school bully legends before, and later his grades are good. He has also had close contact with Shao Zhan. However, no matter how it develops, there is a sense of distance: "My mother asked me to ask you, did you come to our house for lunch today? She specially stewed chicken and chicken soup."

This is still a stutter...

Xu Sheng didn't want to agree at first, one thing more is worse than one thing less, but after the boy finished his last sentence, he couldn't bear to refuse the elder's kindness: "Wait a while."

"What about me?" Xu Sheng had an idea to find an excuse to go back to the bedroom, "...I just remembered that I have something to give you."

Cousin: "?"

Xu Sheng went back to the bedroom, the video call was not over yet, he raised his hand to pull the camera in and asked, "Your cousin came to you and said that your aunt specially made chicken soup for you, and your cousin still stutters, these are not important , can I go?"

Shao Zhan obviously didn't expect this from his cousin.

The relationship between him and his cousin's family can't be said to be very close, but it's definitely not bad. There are occasional contacts, and the relationship is still relatively harmonious. During the vacation when his cousin just entered junior high school, he even helped him make up for a period of time.

Besides, when people come to your door, it is always not good to refuse: "Yes, as long as you don't talk too much, they probably won't ask too much."

Xu Sheng: "I think so too."

Xu Sheng simply wrote down the knowledge points: "What's your cousin's name?"

Shao Zhan: "Zhang Pengyu."

Zhang Pengyu waited in the living room for a few minutes. He really didn't expect his cousin, who never paid much attention to people, to prepare a gift for him.

Xu Sheng looked around the entire bedroom, but there was nothing that could be called a "gift". He was worrying about how it would end when he saw a familiar set of "Question Bank Encyclopedia" in Shao Zhan's schoolbag, which he bought for him when he was chasing after Shao Zhan. Later, Shao Zhan tried to let him do this set of questions.

So a few minutes later, Zhang Pengyu saw his cousin coming out of the bedroom, and sincerely stuffed a thick stack of "Examination Bank Encyclopedia" into his hand, held his hand and greeted: "Pengyu, we haven't seen each other for a while." We met."

Zhang Pengyu shook his hand.

Xu Sheng: "Actually, my cousin has always remembered you in my heart. Let's see if you like this set of questions."

Zhang Pengyu: "But this..."

The little cousin's eyes fell on a line of small characters under "Examination Bank Encyclopedia": High School Edition.

This is a high school question!

Xu Sheng paused for a second and said, "Don't look at it as a high school question, what is important to learn is to cultivate the awareness of self-learning. It is very helpful for you to preview the content of high school in advance. help."

Cousin is a god of learning.

What my cousin said must be right.

Although this "gift" was a bit unexpected and directly crossed the grade, Zhang Pengyu was deeply moved, and even felt that the distance between him and his cousin... was getting closer.

Speaking of which, today my cousin really feels very kind. Compared with before, I always feel that something is different.

Xu Sheng originally had the mentality of going to have a meal and coming back after eating, so he didn't take going to his cousin's house for dinner seriously.

The heart said that this task is very easy.

In fact, it was really easy. When Xu Sheng passed by at noon, a woman opened the door. Her curly hair was tied into a bunch at the back of her head. She looked plain and looked up to the sky: "Xiao Zhan is here."

Xu Sheng shouted: "Auntie."

Aunt Shao Zhan loves this child in her heart, after all, she has watched him grow up since she was a child, but in the past few years Shao Zhan has closed her door too tightly.

He quickly grew up in his own way. He started to work part-time when he was not in class. He also heard from the teacher that he didn't study hard at first and fought all day long...

She can only take advantage of the holidays to invite him to come to the house for a meal and take care of him: "It's just right, I just made this soup..."

Aunt Shao Zhan is a good cook, and Xu Sheng drank two bowls of that pot of chicken soup.

In the middle of drinking the second bowl, Xu Sheng was drafting his stomach, thinking about how to get away later, but Aunt Shao Zhan, who was across the table, clenched the tissue in her hand, opened her mouth and said, "Actually, this time, Auntie There is one more merciless request."

Xu Sheng: "?"

Aunt Shao Zhan: "Pengyu didn't do very well in the final exam. Didn't you give him extra lessons when he entered junior high school? He was the third grader in the exam that semester. Now he's learning more and more things, and his grades have slipped to No. .30 Eight... aunt is also illiterate, can you help him make up lessons?"

Xu Sheng wondered if he heard it wrong.

What to make up for.

Make-up lessons?

This aunt will give him propositions for the whole course no matter how he starts.