Tentative

After he looked into Shen Yizhuo's eyes and said that sentence, the other party's expression changed.With a lazy smile on his lips, he said softly, "Good boy."

Qu Zhe trembled because of such a light word, as if his whole body had been electrified.

"Go back and tell your parents that you will stay at my house on weekends," he said in a low voice, but each word was very clear, "find me over there at seven o'clock."

Qu Zhe nodded, indicating that he knew.

"Reply."

"Ok."

Shen Yizhuo would be satisfied only if Qu Zhe explained every word clearly.After explaining, the red light on the opposite road turned back to green within a few seconds, and Shen Yizhuo walked away.This time Qu Zhe didn't keep up. He stood on the spot and took a deep breath. After his trembling legs calmed down, he followed Shen Yizhuo's instructions and returned to his home.

Qu Xiaoyu arrived home earlier than him, and when she heard Qu Zhe open the door and enter the room, she suddenly stood up while sitting on the sofa watching TV, and went straight into her room.He didn't even have time to say hello, the door had already slammed shut, the old house was shaken by the movement, fine dust fell from the ceiling.

Probably because he saw the matter between Qu Xiaoyu and that girl.

"Are you back?" Lin Xiuyan poked her head out from the kitchen, "When you get back, put away the table for dinner."

"understood."

Qu Zhe threw his heavy schoolbag on the sofa, smoothed his sleeves a little, and started to clear the dining table.It's only six o'clock now, and I should be able to arrive on time when I go out at [-]:[-].In fact, the process is the same every Friday - he goes home, Qu Xiaoyu is watching TV, and then clears the table, and Qu Yihao will come back in a few minutes, and then have a meaningless dinner.

He absently wiped the table, Lin Xiuyan walked out of the kitchen with freshly cooked dishes, and said casually, "Where's Xiaoyu?"

"Into the house."

"What are you doing in the house... come out to eat!" She hurriedly patted Qu Xiaoyu's door, and went into the kitchen again.

Qu Xiaoyu came out and sat down when the four dishes and one soup were ready on the table and Qu Zhe went into the kitchen to refill the meal.

Then Qu Yihao came back, with the same order and development as every Friday before, very boring.

"Old Qu is back, hurry up and wash your hands and eat!" Lin Xiuyan held a pair of chopsticks, divided them into pairs, and shouted towards the entrance.

A large bunch of keys were thrown on the shoe cabinet, making an unpleasant sound, Qu Yihao didn't respond, and walked into the room wearing slippers, his footsteps were frighteningly loud.He dragged the chair out, and the harsh sound of scratching on the tile floor made the Qu brothers and sisters frown in unison.Qu Xiaoyu complained, "Dad, what are you doing!"

"That's right, the floor is going to be scratched!" Lin Xiuyan complained.

Qu Yihao didn't answer, turned around and took the white wine and a small cup from the cupboard, poured himself a cup, and drank it all in one gulp.Following his hand, the cup was placed on the table fiercely, and then he said in a deep voice, "We've been laid off!"

Lin Xiuyan shook her hand: "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"It's really cut this time, it's out of the list..." Qu Yihao didn't even take his chopsticks, and poured himself another glass, "...it's me."

For the fifteen or sixteen-year-old Qu family brothers and sisters, the meaning of these words is not so clear.Laid-off In their consciousness, "laid-off" is nothing more than losing this job and finding another one.They don't know all the aspects involved and how difficult it is to find a job.

Qu Xiaoyu was still holding the vegetables, and said while eating: "If you cut it, cut it, just find another one."

Lin Xiuyan slapped her chopsticks and cursed angrily: "What do you know! Did your lord want you to cut in? You said it lightly! Did you save some money? It costs 50 yuan to buy a bottle of hand cream, and now I have no money. I see what you use!"

"Don't take your anger out on me..." Qu Xiaoyu knew he was wrong, so he pursed his lips and mumbled back.

"How much money will the factory lose?" Lin Xiuyan was not in the mood to tell her so much, and hurriedly asked Qu Yihao, "What does this mean? How can you say that layoffs are just layoffs..."

"How do I know! Stop asking! Stop nagging all day long! Are you annoying!"

A family dinner suddenly turned into a scolding battle, Lin Xiuyan and Qu Yihao didn't care about the child's presence at all, and they went back and forth to criticize each other.Qu Zhe suddenly thought of a saying that poor couples mourn everything, which should refer to the situation in front of them.From Qu Zhe's point of view, it's nothing more than a temporary lack of money, but to them, it's like a catastrophe. Lin Xiuyan babbled and wiped her tears. He was laid off and said things like venting his anger on her.

Qu Zhe was in a trance when he heard it, and buried his head in his meal, when the fire over there suddenly burned him.Lin Xiuyan whimpered and counted: "What about Ah Zhe when he goes to university, what about Xiaoyu when he gets into high school..."

"Mom—let's eat, let's talk after eating." Qu Zhe said.

"Eat, eat, eat, you know how to eat, don't worry, don't worry if your grades are so poor! You are not the last few when there is a parent-teacher meeting..."

Qu Yihao didn't bother to argue with her anymore, only the sound of chopsticks clinking bowls and Lin Xiuyan's cursing were left on the dinner table.Just as this family cannot be illuminated by sunshine all year round, their getting along is also full of depression.Occasionally, Qu Zhe wanted to escape from this house, but he couldn't do it. He could only endure it and force himself to get used to it.

Because of the important news brought back by Qu Yihao, this meal lasted for an hour. Seeing Lin Xiuyan's frowning face, the brothers and sisters of the Qu family did not dare to leave the table after eating.Qu Zhe was depressed, he kept looking at the wall clock on the wall, checking the time over and over again - more than ten minutes had passed since the time he and Shen Yizhuo agreed on.

Qu Yihao drank a cup of wine and was so annoyed by Lin Xiuyan that he suddenly said: "What are you two supposed to do, don't sit here."

"Oh..." Qu Xiaoyu couldn't bear this heavy atmosphere for a long time, and hurriedly got up and went back to the room, "I'm going back to the room to read."

Qu Zhe whispered: "Mom, I'm staying at a classmate's house on weekends..."

"I still live at my classmate's house. Does your family have no place to live? Is it because your family can't accommodate you?" Whenever Lin Xiuyan was in a bad mood, she would be very aggressive. No matter what others said, she would overreact.

"No..." Qu Zhe had no choice but to explain patiently, "The final exam is coming soon, and the teacher arranged for students with good grades to study for me, so I went to study on weekends..." "You go, you go, ignore your mother." Qu Yi Hao waved his hands impatiently, "Hurry up."

"Then I'm going out..."

He picked up his bag as if he was fleeing from a refugee, and he was already out the door before he put on his shoes.

On Fridays, the downtown area will be much more lively than usual, and many students are walking on the road in small groups.Qu Zhe walked fast, his forehead was covered with sweat in the cold winter, his mouth was slightly opened, and he gasped for breath following his steps.

It was almost eight o'clock, and he was almost an hour late.He wasn't even sure if Shen Yizhuo was still there after he passed by, or if he was waiting for him.Thinking of this, Qu Zhe quickened his pace a little, and soon he could see the billiard room.

——Shen Yizhuo stood there smoking a cigarette, holding a club in his hand, watching the battle on the table.Qu Zhe ran over in a hurry, stood beside him, panted slightly with his waist bent, "yes, I'm sorry... I... I'm late..."

The movement of him coming over immediately attracted several people nearby. The person who had a drink last time recognized Qu Zhe at a glance, and said with a smile, "Hey, are you still bringing a caddy with you today?"

Shen Yizhuo was smoking a cigarette, seeing the white ball being knocked out and colliding with other balls, before the ball stopped completely, he had already put out the cigarette in his hand in the ashtray, and was already holding the club and ready to play.

Qu Zhe thought his voice was too low, and Shen Yizhuo didn't hear it. After he calmed down, he raised his voice slightly: "Sorry, I'm late..."

Shen Yizhuo ignored him and devoted himself to playing.On the contrary, the little bastard who struck up a conversation walked forward enthusiastically, grabbed Qu Zhe's shoulder and said, "I've been here twice, do you know each other? You still carry your schoolbag when you come out to play, hahaha..."

Qu Zhe took two steps back timidly, not knowing how to reply.

The other party didn't care at all, took him to sit on the sofa beside him and said, "Come, come, sit, everyone calls me Brother Sheng, you should call me that too... What's your name?"

"My name is..." "Qi Sheng, do you want to fight?" Shen Yizhuo received all his shots, and his opponent smiled wryly and shook his head.

When Brother Sheng heard his words, he immediately turned his attention away from Qu Zhe.He let go of his hands and stood up, walked towards Shen Yizhuo, and said with a smile, "Aren't you going to fight me today?"

"It's a two-stroke bet."

"It's done."

The two came as soon as they talked, the waiter set up the ball, and Shen Yizhuo stood up on the pole, took the chocolate powder from the table and wiped his skin, signaling Brother Sheng to tee off first.They quickly entered the state, and Qu Zhe was left alone, sitting like a transparent person.

He was in this state most of the time at school, and no one cared about him.If you are used to it, you must have been used to it for a long time, but the current situation is completely different from that at school - if the other party gets angry because he is late, Qu Zhe will still feel normal, but he does not have any discomfort on his face. When he came over, he didn't even frown slightly.

It was as if he hadn't seen him.

Shen Yizhuo's neglect caused Qu Zhe, who was sitting beside him, to suffer a lot.

He had already understood what the so-called "one shot" meant, and saw that Shen Yizhuo and Brother Sheng had already finished two shots, but they still didn't mean to stop.

An hour, two hours...

Except for Brother Sheng talking to him at the beginning, no one present was interested in this idiot-like Qu Zhe with his schoolbag on his back.

Finally, Shen Yizhuo put down his club, took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped the sweat on his forehead, walked to Qu Zhe and sat down.His eyes were still fixed on the table. After he and Brother Sheng got off the court, other people went up to continue playing.

Qu Zhe couldn't hold back and said softly: "...I'm sorry, I'm late...I'm sorry..."

Without squinting, Shen Yizhuo picked up the cigarette on the small table next to him, took out one and put it into his mouth.Brother Sheng was lighting a cigarette, and came over with a lighter: "Yo, wait for me to light your cigarette."

He moved the burning fire closer, and Shen Yizhuo suddenly turned his head with a cigarette in his mouth, as if he didn't want to point.

Brother Sheng looked at him with a playful smile, then at the well-behaved Qu Zhe beside him, and suddenly understood what it meant.He shook his head meaningfully, straightened his waist, looked at the person on the table and raised his voice, "Do you want to drink?"

"sure……"

"Then I'll go buy it." Brother Sheng turned around and said, "You drink the mountain city, right?"

Shen Yizhuo nodded, took out the phone from his pocket, and played with it with his head down.Qu Zhe looked at him uneasily from the side. This kind of weird neglect made him feel like he was in a sea of ​​swords and flames, and every second was hard to bear.After Brother Sheng left, it took a while before Shen Yizhuo raised his head and put the phone in his pocket.He leaned on the sofa relaxedly, his chin was slightly raised, and the smoke was between his lips, shaking slightly with his movements.

That night, Shen Yizhuo was lying on the bed, smoking a cigarette with the same expression.

As if suddenly enlightened, Qu Zhe grabbed the lighter on the small table and handed it to him.

"clatter."

The flames burst out, and he tremblingly said, "I'll order it for you..."

The other party's eyes finally changed.He lowered his eyes to look at him, without refusing.The flame was entwined with white cigarettes, and with Shen Yizhuo's breathing, orange light spots quickly ignited.

He took a deep breath, raised his hand to take down the cigarette, and then slowly exhaled the thick smoke, writing lightly: "Next time you miss the appointment, don't use it."

Yes, two hours of neglect, two hours of suffering, are punishments.

Qu Zhe put the lighter back, lowered his head and said, "Okay."