Tentative

At first they didn't see each other because they couldn't bear it—when Shen Yizhuo looked at him, there was violence and dictatorship hidden in those bottomless eyes, and Qu Zhe couldn't resist.But now that they had to see each other, the other party kept a good distance and stopped interfering with him, as if there was nothing to bear.

So I once imagined that the embarrassing and embarrassing goodbye has become nothing special.It's just an acquaintance who shows up from time to time and maintains infrequent contact.The original restless heart was also smoothed by the sense of alienation. Gradually, when I think of the past, the memory is covered with a layer of veil, and I can no longer see it clearly.He used to be jealous of everyone Shen Yizhuo knew - without exception, they could get Shen Yizhuo's gentle treatment, but he couldn't get it.Now Shen Yizhuo treats him like he treats an ordinary acquaintance, he finally gets that kind of gentle and casual conversation.

But even his heartbeat was as steady as before, as if they were supposed to get along like this.

Qu Zhe didn't ask what Shen Yizhuo was doing, he obediently kept to what he was supposed to do, talking with Qu Xiaoyu from time to time, or going to the hospital for an examination.Yuemo felt that it was too awkward for the three of them to be together, Shen Yizhuo appeared less and less frequently, and often came to pick him up from his work place, and would say "there is still work" and leave.

However, the text messages kept a neither salty nor bland greeting, and they were sent every day.Qu Zhe would read it, but never replied. Shen Yizhuo seemed to be very patient about it, and would still send it, but didn't ask him why he didn't reply.

The boss of the convenience store likes Qu Zhe very much. Compared with other migrant workers, Qu Zhe is very quiet, careful in doing things, and rarely makes mistakes.He has never been lazy, and will arrive a little earlier every time he goes to work. Over time, the boss will see how he likes him, and occasionally treat him to dinner out of his own pocket.

Time passed slowly, and Qu Zhe's two sets of summer clothes soon passed the season.But fortunately, the convenience store has uniform work clothes, and the cost is deducted from the salary.Two short-sleeves and two long-sleeves, for Chu Qiu, just solved Qu Zhe's problem of changing clothes.Anyway, he doesn't care what he looks like, as long as he can wear it.As for turning himself upside down to look like a human being, that's not something he should consider.

At around ten o'clock that night, Qu Zhe was packing up his things at the convenience store and getting ready to leave work.The heavy door was pushed open, he glanced at it from the corner of his eye, and immediately put down the things in his hand, before he raised his head, he said habitually: "Welcome."

"...Are you off work yet?"

When Qu Zhe raised his head, it was Shen Yizhuo standing in front of the cash register.His slender fingers pointed to the cigarette rack behind Qu Zhe, and without opening his mouth, Qu Zhe would take down a pack of cigarettes he usually smokes, and said softly, "17 yuan."

Shen Yizhuo's question was deliberately ignored, but he was not angry. He took out money from his wallet, handed it over in a gentle manner, and asked again: "... get off work soon."

"Twenty for you, three yuan for you." Qu Zhe skillfully operated the cash register and handed out the three yuan.

While putting away the change, Shen Yizhuo continued: "I took my car for maintenance, and I worked overtime a little late today. I just need to go to the apartment to pick up some things, let's go there together."

Just drop in together, there is nothing to refuse at all.

Qu Zhe nodded: "Okay, I still need about ten minutes."

"I'll wait for you outside." Shen Yizhuo's voice was low and sweet, without a trace of impatience.

After finishing speaking, Shen Yizhuo went out. Qu Zhe looked up at his back, walked out of the convenience store, and then stood beside the standing ashtray to smoke.There is a polished glass window, which Qu Zhe can see clearly.He was clearly wearing a high-end suit, with one hand in his pocket and a cigarette in the other. His usually well-groomed hair was a little messy, but it didn't affect his pleasing look.

But Qu Zhe still feels like an ordinary office worker who misses the subway, not a boss who sits in his office and instructs his subordinates to do things.Speaking of which, this is also his speculation - he has never seen how Shen Yizhuo works.Maybe Shen Yizhuo's words are true, he did work overtime very late today, that's why he was in such a state of embarrassment that no one else could detect.

The overnight shift worker washed his apron and came out of the lounge at the back. Qu Zhe put away his scrutiny and carefully checked the accounts with him, then took off his apron and stuffed it in his locker, and went out.

Shen Yizhuo didn't know how many cigarettes he smoked during this period. When he went out, he could still see the unburned half of the cigarette between his fingers.Hearing the movement beside him, Shen Yizhuo immediately extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, turned his head and smiled at Qu Zhe, "Let's go."

"Yeah." The lights in the store reflected Shen Yizhuo's eyes, which also seemed to be shining slightly.Qu Zhe made up his mind, and took the lead in taking steps towards the apartment.They seemed to have switched roles, and finally it was Shen Yizhuo's turn to walk behind him.

He thought that Shen Yizhuo would find a topic to talk to him about - Qu Zhe didn't believe that something happened to him.But after walking for a while, Shen Yizhuo didn't intend to speak, so he naturally kept his mouth shut, and the two of them kept silent in tacit understanding, walking on the secluded street.

At this time, there were not many pedestrians, only the sound of vehicles speeding past.

They walked quietly like this, bit by bit overlapping with the previous stroll along the river, Qu Zhe lost his mind and thought about the past on his own.

What did Shen Yizhuo say at that time?

Those sentences that I thought I would never forget even if I died, finally disappeared in the long river of memory.

"Ahhh!"

A sudden exclamation came from behind, interrupting Qu Zhe's thoughts.Before he could turn his head back, there was a strong force on his waist and legs, which made him stagger, unable to stabilize, and then fell to the ground.Also fell down was a strange child, fifteen or sixteen years old, rubbing his buttocks while helping the bicycle: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you okay!"

Shen Yizhuo was standing on the other side, so he avoided it.The fall was not heavy, but it felt like something scratched my waist and legs, and there was a faint pain.Shen Yizhuo was a little displeased and said, "What are you doing so fast at night?"

He reprimanded him mildly with slight anger, and the child immediately stretched out his hand to help Qu Zhe embarrassedly, apologizing non-stop.Shen Yizhuo didn't let him help him, and forcefully pushed away the young man's hand, spread out his bony hand, and placed it in front of Qu Zhe.

Qu Zhe was startled, and put his hand on it.At this moment, he suddenly remembered that Shen Yizhuo hated other people touching his things. He had always had a strange possessive desire.

When I was young, I thought it was because of my nature, but now I suddenly think about it, I seem to have just understood the deep meaning.Shen Yizhuo has no obsession with cleanliness, he doesn't like being touched by others, just because he doesn't like it.So why not?If you continue to delve deeper, you will find that he is very afraid of losing, as if someone else has touched it, it may not be his own, so just don't touch it.

If you are really touched, you can only throw it away. I would rather not, and I would not become a passive party.

Whether it is a collection of poems, or a person.

Qu Zhe still remembered that the book that Jiang Yuzhao touched and wanted to throw away was called "Four Quartets".But he couldn't remember a single word of the content, and he looked like he hadn't read it.

That's right, he doesn't like poetry, and it's useless to force it.

Qu Zhe stood up with strength, smiled at the young man, and said gently: "I'm fine, it doesn't matter if you want...it's dark, it's not good to ride too fast, you'd better pay attention to safety."

His tone was kind, and the child nodded blankly, apologizing as he pushed the bicycle away, as if he didn't dare to ride any more.When passing by Qu Zhe, he was blinded by a flash of light.There are many decorations on the faucet of the teenager's bicycle, probably rivets and the like.

When the child was gone, Qu Zhe abruptly withdrew his hand and patted the ashes on his body unnaturally.

Shen Yizhuo's hand froze in the air for a second, then put it down again, and said softly, "Are you all right, did you hurt yourself?"

Qu Zhe smiled: "It's okay, it's just that the back is a little..." He just wanted to say that it hurts, but he turned around to look, only to find that the jacket was cut down to the trousers, and a long strip was scratched.No wonder it hurts so much, he thought, reaching out his hand to touch the sore spot on his lower back, and saw blood.

Shen Yizhuo quickly turned to look.Although it was night and the street lights were not too bright, you could still see Qu Zhe's thin thighs, and further up, you could see his intimate underwear.If it was daytime, it would be really shameful.Qu Zhe also realized this, and said again: "...it's okay, it's night anyway, let's go back quickly."

He awkwardly reached behind him, tugged at the opening of his trousers, closed them a bit, and limped forward in a funny way, for fear that his bare legs would be exposed if he moved too much.

In the past, just encountering such an embarrassing incident by chance would have made him feel so ashamed that he could cry.Thinking of this, Qu Zhe really felt that he had nothing to ask for, so he was fearless, and he didn't look at Shen Yizhuo's expression anymore—in fact, it had nothing to do with him, and he was not ashamed...

"Wait a minute." Shen Yizhuo suddenly stopped him.

Qu Zhe turned his head, and was about to ask a little puzzled, when he saw Shen Yizhuo take off his suit jacket neatly, then stepped forward, and tied it around Qu Zhe's waist without hesitation.The suit completely covered the back where he could see the light, and Qu Zhe gradually let go of his hand, wanting to refuse, but he couldn't deny that it would be much better than doing it himself.

"Thank you..." He lowered his head, watching Shen Yizhuo's hands dexterously knotting his sleeves.

It stands to reason that this kind of high-end goods can't be done like this...

Shen Yizhuo fastened it, looked up at him, expressionless: "Okay, let's go."

If it's a sweatshirt, it's actually quite natural; but with a suit, it's just too weird.Qu Zhe felt awkward, but he answered and continued walking.

Shen Yizhuo walked further back, almost completely following behind him.

As soon as he got home, Qu Zhe quickly took off his suit and said, "...I'll take it to the dry cleaner and deal with it before returning it to you."

"No need." Shen Yizhuo said.

He went straight into his bedroom, and Qu Zhe remembered that he had come to fetch something.He didn't make a sound, hung his suit on the coat rack, went to the balcony to fetch a pair of trousers and changed into it.But God failed as people wished, the pants were washed yesterday, and today they are not dry enough to wear.

Just when he was worried, Shen Yizhuo came out of the bedroom, holding a pair of dark blue silk pajamas in his hand: "Change to these, are there any scratches on your legs?"

"No……"

The other party stuffed the pants into his hand very naturally, turned around and went to search for the medicine box.

Qu Zhe couldn't tell what it felt like - before Shen Yizhuo would treat him like this, he would probably cry with joy.But now, Shen Yizhuo seemed to be keeping a safe distance from him, but he was doing things that seemed to infiltrate his life.

In fact, they are inseparable.

He lives in Shen Yizhuo's apartment, and is Mrs. Shen's brother... When he came back to his senses, many years ago, Shen Yizhuo had completely infiltrated his life, everywhere.

"I'll give you medicine..." Qu Zhe quickly changed his pants, and Shen Yizhuo walked up to him with the medicine box, and said softly.

Qu Zhe didn't speak, and Shen Yizhuo said again: "I'll leave after applying the medicine, you won't be able to deal with the injury on your back."

I don't know if it was his illusion, but he seemed to hear a little embarrassment from these words.

"Ah."

After thinking for a while, Qu Zhe still agreed. He turned his back to Shen Yizhuo and lifted the hem of his clothes, letting him clean the wound little by little with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.

Shen Yizhuo acted seriously and gently, except for the inevitable pain caused by alcohol stimulation, there was only itching.

"thanks……"

"You're welcome."

Both are polite and good boys, Qu Zhe thought to himself.