under the filth

Three years, whether it is long or not, is not short.When the four of them got together for afternoon tea again, it was already the last semester after the spring break of junior year.

Holding a delicate little silver fork, Lily cut open the chocolate cake on the plate, and stuffed the small sharp corner into her mouth: "How are your graduation thesis preparations going?"

"It's almost there." Lu Sheng put down his teacup, propped his chin and looked at Tang Cen who was still reading.

Tang Cen closed the French book in his hand and put it on the table: "I handed it over to the professor in advance, I don't know what to do." After handing in the thesis in advance, Tang Cen had a lot of leisure time, which gave him time to continue do something else.

Andy, who was sitting next to Lily, suddenly bent down and wrapped his arms around Lily's waist, and wailed, "That's great, I still have a headache on how to write."

"He's a scholarship holder!" Lily picked up the magazine at hand, rolled it into a tube, and hit Andy on the head.

When the magazine fell, Andy closed his eyes in fright. The hollow place squeezed the air and made a loud noise, but it didn’t hurt to fall on him, but he still pretended to be hurt and hugged Lily. His waist screamed.

Lily rubbed Andy's head vigorously, smiled and said to the two sitting in front of her, "I'm still short of the end, but I feel like I'll be sent back and asked to rewrite."

Lu Sheng looked at Andy lying on Lily's lap, hesitated for two seconds and chose to ignore him: "We are going camping the day after tomorrow, are you going?"

Hearing the sound, Andy quickly let go of Lily's waist, supported her knees and straightened up: "Camping? I want to go!" Then he remembered his thesis again, and lowered his head, "But the thesis is not finished yet. !"

"I'm almost done, but if Andy can't go, I won't go either." Lily patted Andy, who was blocking her view, back on the chair, and then took a sip from her teacup, "You two have fun Well, it doesn’t make sense for me to be a light bulb by myself.”

Lu Sheng raised his eyebrows and didn't speak, but Tang Cen quickly took over when Lily mentioned the word "light bulb": "You also know that a person is going to be a light bulb, and I used to pull it every now and then." I'll have afternoon tea together."

Andy rubbed the spot that Lily had photographed, and looked at her wrongedly before turning his head to Tang Cen, and said exaggeratedly: "Oh oh oh! Tang, you only remembered to sue us now, isn't it a bit late? ?”

"Later, I was the light bulb with you." Lu Sheng stretched out his hand to grab Tang Cen's shoulder, and with a light hook, he brought him into his arms.Tang Cen was pulled down unpreparedly, and fell into his arms for a long time without reacting.

"Are you acting as a light bulb?" Lily propped her chin, and played with the tea spoon with her fingers. The delicate tea spoon shone silver under the light, "It's obvious that we are acting as light bulbs for the two of you!"

"Stop!" Tang Cen struggled to sit up from Lu Sheng's arms, and asked again, "Aren't you going?"

"No, let's enjoy the time together." Lily threw the tea spoon away, and the tea spoon fell into the teacup, splashing a few stars and dripping on the saucer.

If only the two of them went, it would indeed be a two-person world.Lu Sheng touched his chin, his eyes flickered, and he seemed to be planning something again.

Seeing that Lily refused, Tang Cen gestured to Andy with his eyes.Andy shook his head slightly before Tang Cen spread his hands towards Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng held Tang Cen's hand instead: "Okay then." His tone was compromising, but his face was full of joy.

If it wasn't for the sudden overseas phone call afterwards, Tang Cen might still be immersed in the world of study and love, as if he didn't know the passage of time outside.

When he received the call, Tang Cen was still pushing a cart in the supermarket and buying things for camping with Lu Sheng.After a year of dating, the daily life of the two of them is just like that of ordinary young couples. They go to and from get out of class together, go to dinner together, wait for each other to finish class at the door of the classroom, and watch movies together in bed on Friday night...

Lu Sheng was still squatting in front of the shelf struggling to choose what flavor of snacks to choose, while Tang Cen was leaning on the cart and watching him.While looking at Lu Sheng, he was thinking about dinner tonight, so when he heard the phone ring, he pressed the answer button without even looking at it.

"How's the graduation thesis going?" Tang Songyuan's voice rang from the other end of the phone, and before Tang Cen could say "hello", he was forced into his throat.

Tang Cen glanced at Lu Sheng who was still squatting on the ground, and turned slightly to cover the hand holding the phone: "It's already handed over to the professor."

Tang Songyuan on the other end said a few more words, and the other party hung up the phone after Tang Cen answered.

That phone call was very short, only a short fifty seconds.He is not like the parents of other Chinese friends asking about his health, and he never asks about Tang Cen's thoughts and daily life, but simply informs about the future arrangements.

"After graduating, you will work for a company in London for two years, and then you will apply for a graduate student at the London Business School. All arrangements have been made for you." Those words almost dragged Tang Cen out of his cozy little world, like It was someone pouring a basin of cold water down from the top of his head. Tang Cen didn't know how to describe it, he just felt cold all over his body.

All along, Tang Songyuan commanded from above, and Tang Cen carried out step by step.The relationship between the two is alienated and polite, more like superiors and subordinates than biological father and son.

"What's the matter? Who's calling?" Tang Cen hurriedly turned around when he heard Lu Sheng's voice. He had already chosen snacks at some point, and stood beside the cart with a bunch of them in his arms.

Tang Cen watched him put the snacks into the shopping cart one by one, and pursed his lips: "It's my father."

Lu Sheng gave the hand where the snacks were placed, and with a "pop", the snacks fell into the shopping cart.Lu Sheng raised his eyebrows and pretended to ask casually, "Really? What did he say?"

"It's nothing, I asked about the thesis." Tang Cen pulled the other two packs of snacks from Lu Sheng's arms, and put them into the shopping cart, "Why did you buy so many?"

"Store up if you can't finish eating, they're here anyway." Lu Sheng spread his hands indifferently.

Knowing that Lu Sheng likes to hoard snacks, Tang Cen just sighed when he looked at the large and small bags in the cart, and stopped arguing to pick up a few bags.But he didn't notice that the moment he lowered his head, Lu Sheng threw a silver-gray box into the snack pile.

When Lu Sheng asked Tang Cen to wait for him outside, Tang Cen was absent-minded and didn't pay attention to what Lu Sheng said, but just stood outside obediently according to his words, waiting for Lu Sheng to finish paying and come out.

"Let's go." Lu Sheng came out of the supermarket with big bags and small bags. Tang Cen took the things in his left hand, and the two of them walked back to the apartment side by side.

When they reached the door, Lu Sheng was still feeling for the key. Tang Cen reached out and found the key from his pocket, took it out and inserted it into the keyhole: "When are we going to leave tomorrow?"

Lu Sheng followed him into the apartment, and closed the door behind him.

He said, "Night."

On the evening of the next day, when the sky was still bright, Tang Cen and Lu Sheng went to the chosen camping mountain with their bags on their backs.

Until night fell, Lu Sheng was still packing his luggage in the tent, while Tang Cen was sitting on the grass with his knees hugged, the cool night wind blowing his hair.When Lu Sheng came out of the tent, he happened to see the dim light falling on Tang Cen's body in the distance, making his back look a bit bleak.

The urban area at the foot of the mountain was already brightly lit, and Tang Cen was fascinated by the bustling night scene.Suddenly there was a "click" in his ears, and he raised his head. At some time, Lu Sheng had come out of the tent, stood beside him, and opened the beer in his hand.

Tang Cen stretched out his hand habitually, and Lu Sheng gave him a strange look: "Why don't you open it yourself?" He still stuffed the beer in Tang Cen's hand, and squatted down to get it out of the plastic bag at his feet. Pull out a bottle.

After opening the beer, Lu Sheng leaned back and sat next to Tang Cen: "What are your plans after graduation?"

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" Tang Cen recalled the phone call last night, tilted his head back and took a big gulp of beer, fine air was jumping in his mouth.

He half-closed his eyes and turned off the lights in his eyes: "I probably want to go to London to find a job first. My father wants me to go to London Business School to continue my studies."

"Really." Lu Sheng had already guessed the content of yesterday's phone call, and now he was not too surprised to hear Tang Cen's words.

Tang Cen shook the can: "What about you? I haven't heard you mention it before."

"I haven't made up my mind yet, but since you want to continue your studies, then I'll go with you too." Lu Sheng shrugged indifferently, and he didn't have any special thoughts about his future, "It's always a place to go."

I don't know when, Lu Sheng's decision began to influence Tang Cen's thoughts. When faced with a choice again, Tang Cen could no longer obey his father's arrangement like before.

It seemed that in just a flash, three years had passed, and the stable days had passed for a long time, and the previous period of torment was forgotten in the corner of their memory.

Tang Cen had something on his mind, and so did Lu Sheng, and the two of them fell silent at the same time.

After a while, seeing Tang Cen remained silent, Lu Sheng raised his eyes and looked at him.Facing the silent lover, Lu Sheng thought for a long time before asking: "Does your father know about our relationship?"

The cold wind made his legs almost numb, and Tang Cen subconsciously hugged his knees tightly.

Lu Sheng didn't have this trouble, but for Tang Cen, it was very difficult to confess his relationship to his father, not to mention that they still had such a deviant relationship.

He stammered, "I... didn't tell him about it."

Lu Sheng thought of his cheap father, and also saw Tang Cen's expression change instantly when he answered the phone: "It's okay."

When Tang Cen fell into silence again, Lu Sheng finally realized that he had been repeatedly bringing up heavy topics, which washed away the original sweet atmosphere.He suddenly turned his head and glanced at the bag behind him, and casually approached Tang Cen: "Would you like to try it here?"

Unexpectedly, Lu Sheng would come up with such an idea. Tang Cen opened his eyes wide and asked in surprise, "Here?"

Lu Sheng nodded, took his hand silently, and gently swept the back of his hand with his fingertips.

Facing the expectation in Lu Sheng's eyes, Tang Cen agreed without thinking, "Okay."