Dense Fog

Zhao Li stepped forward in disbelief and stretched out his hand towards the bed.

The silver-gray wolf looked at him quietly, his eyes were clear and beautiful, like a mountain stream after the snow melted in early spring.

Zhao Li's hand touched his back.

The tundra wolf lay down docilely, but its tail couldn't hide its playfulness, and it swung it over to brush his hand.

"What's going on?" Zhao Li asked unconsciously, and the moment he blurted out, he didn't know whether he couldn't believe it or didn't want to believe it.

Tundra wolves can't speak, they can only make a low "owwow".

"Do you still know me?" Zhao Li wasn't sure if Tao Qiran still had a "human" consciousness, "Can you understand me?"

The tundra wolf let out a short "owwow", as if dissatisfied, and turned around and grabbed Zhao Li's hand in the next second, grinding his teeth.

In the slight pain, Zhao Lixuan's heart suddenly let go.

Or Tao Qiran, that's fine.

It had been five hours since the tundra wolf transformed back into Tao Qiran.

This is Tao Qiran's second beast transformation. The first time was yesterday, on Changbai Mountain. Later, it took him a whole night to transform back into a human form. In the early morning, he immediately went down the mountain and went straight to the train station. He immediately ran back to tell Zhao inside.

He's still new to switching between animal and human forms.

But it didn't hinder the five hours, the tundra wolf nestled on his bed, and slept soundly next to Zhao Li.

By the time Tao Qiran put on his clothes again, it was already dark.

In winter in the north, night always comes early.

"I don't know what happened," Tao Qiran said in confusion, "It happened suddenly yesterday."

Zhao Li: "Before the transformation, nothing special happened?"

"I don't know if this counts," Tao Qiran looked at Zhao Li, "I just don't want to draw anymore."

Zhao Li was stunned: "Don't want to draw?"

"Yes," Tao Qiran nodded earnestly, "I've been in Changbai Mountain for the past few days, you know, but when I was halfway through the painting yesterday, I saw a hare jumping into the forest, and all of a sudden, I didn't want to draw anymore painted……"

With the memory, his eyes showed joyful yearning.

"I have awakened to the wildness, the gene of the tundra wolf is active in my body, why should I use a paintbrush to describe the mountains and forests, I can completely explore, blend in, and embrace wholeheartedly like that hare Those beautiful..."

Zhao Li looked at him quietly: "You entered the forest?"

Tao Qiran withdrew his distant gaze, but couldn't take back his excitement and yearning: "It's really beautiful there."

Zhao Li: "What happened next?"

"I don't know," Tao Qiran said, "When I came to my senses, I had already turned into a wolf."

Zhao Li: "Still in the forest?"

Tao Qiran: "Well, it's always been in the forest."

"Is there something wrong with your body?" Zhao Li asked.

"Bone hurts." Tao Qiran wrinkled his face, "It hurts very much."

"It still hurts now?"

"It hurts when you transform, but it will be fine after a while."

"Are you scared?"

Tao Qiran was stunned, and blinked blankly: "Huh?"

"Are you afraid that your body has become like this?" Zhao Li slowed down and asked again.

This time Tao Qiran thought for a long time, and finally shook his head, with a little bit of excitement in his eyes, which melted into gentleness like water, like a breeze, like clouds: "At first I was a little surprised, and then I was happy. My own canvas, but the next second I knew it was a real forest, because the scenery on the canvas was not even one hundred thousandth of the beauty of nature..."

Tao Qiran was talking, as if he had returned to yesterday's scene, his whole body was filled with joy and happiness.

"Zhao Li," he suddenly thought of something, and his eyes lit up brighter, "Do you think it is possible that I am just the beginning, just like the awakening of the wild has its first and its later, maybe in the near future, everyone will change. Like me."

Zhao Li imagined such a scene: "Animal world?"

"Maybe." Tao Qiran was as happy as a child who stole candy first.

"Maybe you are the only one in the whole world." Zhao Li mercilessly popped his fantasy bubble.

Tao Qiran shook his head resolutely: "I'm nothing special, why me?"

Because only you, the first thing you feel when you encounter this kind of thing is not fear, but happiness.

Zhao Li thought helplessly.

He couldn't tell how he was feeling right now.Seeing Tao Qiran happy, he was also happy, but when he thought that this physical change might be potentially dangerous, he began to worry again.

"What do you plan to do in the future?" Zhao Li asked, "Can you still go back to school and teach?"

"I can go back. I haven't lost control since I changed back yesterday. I should be able to control the changes in my body."

"That's good." Zhao Li nodded, "After the holidays are over, you should be more..."

"But I don't want to go back now," Tao Qiran interrupted him softly, "Zhao Li, I don't want to go back to school."

where do you want to go

The words were on his lips, but Zhao Li didn't ask them in the end.

Because there is no need to ask, the answer is too obvious.

He and Tao Qiran have known each other for so many years. As early as the moment he saw the other party's transformation, Zhao Li had a vague premonition.

"I want to live in the mountains, not like a human, but like a real wolf." Tao Qiran spread his longing unreservedly in front of Zhao Li, like a one-sided confession, but looking at Zhao Li's The look in his eyes carried anxiety and concern that he himself didn't realize.

If Zhao Li denies it, Tao Qiran thought about it more than once on the way here, can he still insist on such a choice?

The answer is less optimistic.

He really didn't have confidence that wasn't shaken.

But Zhao Li didn't say anything. After a long silence, he only asked, "Have you thought it through?"

Tao Qiran watched him quietly for a long time, as if he wanted to engrave him in his eyes, and finally nodded solemnly.

After that, Tao Qiran returned to school and submitted a resignation application.

It was winter vacation, and although the pace of the process was slower than usual, but also because the teaching work had not yet started, the work handover was much more convenient. Finally, the resignation was successfully completed after repeated attempts by the school leaders to no avail.

On the day after completing the final procedures, Tao Qiran received a message from Zhao Li as soon as he walked out of the campus of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Zhao Li: I will go too.

There is no preface or afterword, just three words in a daze.

But Tao Qiran understood in an instant.

It was a sunny winter day, the traffic and the bustling crowd seemed to be silenced for an instant, the world was suddenly quiet, Tao Qiran only had his own heartbeat like a drum in his ears.

Tao Qiran: Where are you going?Where are you going, a normal person!

Zhao Li: [Beautiful Changbai Mountain.jpg]

Tao Qiran: I thought we had an agreement.

Zhao Li: Did you agree to go together?

Tao Qiran: If you agree that I will go by myself, you will live a good life in your coffee shop as before!

Zhao Li: Oh, the coffee shop is sold.

Tao Qiran:? ?

Zhao Li: The house is also sold.

Zhao Li: I've earned enough money. Let's meet up and go up the mountain together.

The cold wind at the school gate made Tao Qiran's fingers stiff, and he always pressed the wrong keyboard to reply to the message, but standing in the severe winter, he didn't realize it.

Tao Qiran: Zhao Li, do you know what you are doing?

Zhao Li: Do you know what you are doing?

Tao Qiran: Of course I know, I had already thought it through before I resigned.

Zhao Li: I can only think more clearly than you.

Tao Qiran stared blankly at Zhao Li's words, took a long time, and took a deep breath, letting the biting cold air fill his chest and dispelling the sore and swollen heat in his eyes.

Tao Qiran: Just stay in the shop and leave a studio for me like you did five years ago, okay?

Zhao Li: No way.

Tao Qiran: Why?

Zhao Li: You who were five years ago will come back.

Tao Qiran was stunned under the winter sky, the sun was very bright, but it was very cold.

Zhao Liyuan knew Tao Qiran better than Tao Qiran.

……

Time travels back to the present.

In the wooden house shrouded in darkness, Tao Qiran was far away from Zhao Li, like a brat who was caught making trouble and was afraid of being educated by the other party.

"Is there nothing you want to tell me?" Zhao Li finally spoke.

Tao Qiran really wanted to play tricks, but he didn't have much momentum: "Didn't you hear everything..."

"Do you think I can leave if you don't come back?" Zhao Li's tone rose slightly.

Tao Qiran blinked his eyes in doubt in the dark night: "Are you not angry?"

It's definitely not happy, but it sounds like Zhao Li's mood is not as bad as he imagined.

"I'm overwhelmed." Zhao Li said.

Tao Qiran: "...and then?"

Zhao Li walked over: "I'm going to reason with you."

Tao Qiran stepped back subconsciously, but just as he retreated, his back was pressed against the wall, but Zhao Li had already come in front of him, but he wanted to go one step further.

"Hello..." Tao Qiran hurriedly said.

Zhao Li finally stopped, lowered his head slightly, and was close at hand.

Tao Qiran swallowed nervously: "Is it necessary to be so close to be reasonable?"

Zhao Li: "It's too far away, I'm afraid you won't understand."

Tao Qiran: "Does this have anything to do with distance?"

Zhao Li: "It's obvious that you haven't understood what I told you five years ago through the phone."

Tao Qiran: "..."

five years ago?

Tao Qiran's full attention was on Zhao Li, who was too close, and he really couldn't tell his brain from recalling the past memories.

Fortunately, Zhao Li didn't need him to go back.

"I told you five years ago that you are in charge of your choice, and I am in charge of mine. It's very simple. If you still don't understand, then I will make it clearer today. I will not interfere with you, and you don't have to do it for me. worry."

Tao Qiran hated him for this, if he could explain everything clearly and do it clearly, there would be no worries in the world: "How can I not worry about you?"

Zhao Li: "So you just sneaked back to see me while pretending not to come back?"

Tao Qiran: "I am, I want to see if you leave or not."

Zhao Li: "Are you really happy that I'm gone?"

Tao Qiran was at a loss for words, and after a long while, he finally said sincerely: "I may feel a little disappointed at first, but after a long time, I will still be happy for you."

Zhao Li: "Worry for me, be happy for me, why do you always think of doing it for me? I never thought of doing it for you."

Tao Qiran: "You don't think for me, why are you selling your house and shop to accompany me up the mountain?"

"I don't want to let go," Zhao Li lowered his head, his voice was as soft as a whisper, but his eyes were fixed on him for a moment, "because once I let go, I can't hold you anymore."

An eagle soaring at a height of one thousand meters can also see its prey clearly on the ground, and once locked on, it will swoop down like a sharp arrow.

Clouds covered the moon, and there was no light in the house.

In the darkness, Tao Qiran could no longer see Zhao Li, only his very close, warm breath remained.

"You can go get someone else," he said.

Zhao Li seemed to think about it, and then said: "Forget it, I'm afraid you will be sad."

A kite flies in the sky, no matter how high it flies, even into the white clouds, there is always a thread pulling it.

If one of the lines is broken.

People can only see the kite floating freely, but they can't see it. It will eventually land where the wind stops, fall into the weeds, fall into the mud, and there is no thread to lead it home.

……

The next morning.

Because he was worried about his uncle and Zhao Li, Lin Wu tossed and turned all night, while Wang Ye next to him was sound asleep. He didn't have the dignity of a nocturnal big cat. When it was almost dawn, he didn't know what he dreamed of, so he kicked his feet , almost kicked Lin Wu off the kang again.

Finally at dawn, Lin Wu was the first to get up, stretched out his hand to pull up the quilt on Wang Ye's body, and covered his head even in revenge. Then he was proud, went down the kang, walked around the brothers sleeping on the ground, and left. Room.

Unexpectedly, Tao Qiran was already in the yard, sweeping the courtyard with a broom that he got from somewhere.

Lin Wu's eyes widened as if seeing the New World.My brother-in-law has always been a person who runs away immediately after making a mess of the studio without any psychological burden, and the daily labor is even more difficult to talk about. When did he become so diligent?

Could it be that……

He was educated by Zhao Lige last night and punished for compulsory labor?

"Wake up?" Looking up and seeing Lin Wu, Tao Qiran immediately dropped the broom and walked over quickly.

Lin Wu: "..." Dare to pass the time.

But judging by Tao Qiran's energetic appearance, yesterday's communication with Zhao Li...should have gone smoothly, right?

"Where's Brother Zhao Li?"

"Cooking in the kitchen," Tao Qiran glanced at the guest room, "otherwise, how could you feed so many mouths."

Lin Wu: "It's as if we are waiting to be fed."

Tao Qiran: "You run up the mountain as soon as your head gets hot, you think you are so mature."

Lin Wu: "Then your head got hot and you went back to the mountains and forests."

Tao Qiran: "I am deliberate."

Lin Wu: "Oh."

Tao Qiran: "You are too perfunctory..."

Lin Wu originally wanted to say that if you were really thoughtful, you wouldn't have to deal with Brother Zhao Li now.But then I thought about what Wang Ye said, this is a matter between my brother-in-law and Brother Zhao Li, they don't need to get involved, and they don't understand.

Forget it, as long as uncle and Brother Zhao Li are fine, that's fine.

Thinking of this, Lin Wu swallowed those useless words, and wanted to tell Tao Qiran directly about his animal transformation, but before he could open his mouth, Tao Qiran pulled him out of the yard first.

After waiting under the cedar trees outside the courtyard, there was no one in the distance, not to mention the surroundings, Tao Qiran asked seriously, "Are you also awakened as a beast?"

It seems that Brother Zhao Li has already said everything.

Lin Wu nodded: "When I was looking for Wang Ye, I suddenly fell down the hillside, and I was so scared that I suddenly changed."

Tao Qiran: "Have you met Zhou Man and Xu Shuo?"

Lin Wu: "Well, the information has been recorded, but they still can't explain the reason for the awakening."

The morning breeze passed by, blowing off a few pine needles.

One fell to the tip of Tao Qiran's nose, and he simply took it off and put it in his mouth, like a bird holding a leaf: "I am like this, and you are like this. It must be related to blood."

Lin Wu: "But Zhou Man said that there are also many awakened people who have no blood relationship at all."

"I hope." Tao Qiran muttered.

The voice was very small, but Lin Wu could hear it clearly, but he didn't quite understand it.

What is "hope"?I hope it has nothing to do with blood relationship?Or, it has nothing to do with it, Brother Zhao Li had the chance to wake up too...

"What are you going to do in the future?" Tao Qiran asked, pulling back Lin Wu's thoughts.

"In the future?" Lin Wu was stunned for a moment before he understood Tao Qiran's meaning, scratched his head and said, "Let's go back to school first, I haven't thought about going back to the mountains and forests yet."

"Fool," Tao Qiran lovingly patted his head, "You awakened when you were in crisis, and you didn't really yearn for nature. Who said you must go back to the mountains and forests."

Lin Wu: "But that guy Wang Ye wants to go up the mountain."

Tao Qiran was stunned for two seconds, then laughed: "His thoughts are so important to you."

"It's not..." Lin Wu instinctively denied it, feeling as if he would be taken into some kind of deep pit if he didn't, but after denying it, he couldn't make up any supporting arguments.

Because he really cares about Wang Ye.

Otherwise, who would rush all the way to catch him when he heard that a classmate had run away and skipped class.

Tao Qiran didn't speak, just looked at him with a smile.

Lin Wu always felt that his powerless denial had been seen through, but Tao Qiran didn't really break it until the noise of his brothers getting up came from the yard, and he just said softly: "You are still young, and you have time to think things through, don't you?" urgent."

After the brothers got up, Zhao Li’s breakfast was ready, and a group of people huh-la-la finished their meal, and hurriedly packed their bags for going down the mountain. My brother-in-law communicated about animalization.

It wasn't until Jiang Tan and Zhao Li went to find the two cars parked nearby, Lin Wu and the brothers from the two dormitories were waiting outside the courtyard with their schoolbags on their backs, and they turned their heads inadvertently, only to find that Wang Ye was still standing under the tree in the courtyard, leaning against the tree trunk and not knowing where he was. what to think.

While all his partners were not paying attention, Lin Wu quietly returned to the courtyard.

Seeing him turning back again, Wang Ye raised his head and asked with eyes.

Lin Wu came under the tree, looked at him seriously for a while, and finally asked the worry that had been hanging in his heart: "Do you not want to go back to school at all?"

They came here wishful thinking, they searched for it wishful thinking, and when they found it wishful thinking, they took him back as a matter of course, but in fact, Wang Ye never said that he wanted to go back.

Lin Wu knew it all along, but he delayed asking until now.

As if he had understood his thoughts, Wang Ye raised an eyebrow in dissatisfaction: "The car is already outside, why are you asking now?"

Lin Wu became angry from embarrassment: "Would you like it or not, please tell me."

Wang Ye: "Go back."

"Would you like to..." Lin Wu suddenly stopped, looking at Wang Ye in disbelief, "What did you just say?"

Wang Ye's upper body leaned forward slightly, and approached Lin Wu: "I'll tell you," word by word, "From now on, where are you going, where am I going."

Lin Wu inexplicably felt tremendous pressure: "That's not necessary..."

Wang Ye: "Follow you to learn the awakening of animal transformation."

Lin Wu: "...can you stop panting when you speak in the future?"

"Lin Wu, Wang Ye, what are you two doing—" Ge Liang called loudly from outside the courtyard.

"Here we come—" Lin Wu responded, and trotted out quickly.

After receiving Wang Ye's clean and affirmative answer, Lin Xiaolang's steps became brisk.

Wang Ye followed behind, walking very slowly, so slow that he could take out the mobile phone that had just been charged and turned on this morning, and read those late messages again.

Lin Wu: You said you were going to cheer for me at the sports meeting...

……

Lin Wu: You said you have something to do at home, and you will be back in a few days...

……

Lin Wu: Count it yourself, how many times have you released me?

……

Lin Wu: I know about the apartment.

Lin Wu: Are you stupid? ?

……

Lin Wu: You are stupid. There is no one more stupid than you. Now I know why you are so handsome. You traded your brains.

……

Lin Wu: You said you wanted me to go up the mountain with you, but do you know that I also want you to accompany me to graduate.

……

Lin Wu: [333&509 Joint Tiger Catch Squad.jpg]

Lin Wu: Don't let us catch you if you are capable, otherwise...

Wang Ye raised the corner of his mouth, he was so capable that he dared to send him a threatening letter.

But for the matter of going up the mountain, he thought, he was indeed impulsive.

A few days ago, he chose to leave without hesitation, but the moment he saw Lin Wu in the forest, Wang Ye knew that if time went back, he might never be able to make that determination again.

After exiting the chat box, Wang Ye clicked on the profile picture of the original Esprit, and then clicked on the roommate's circle of friends, and the emotional quotations of Yishui slid down until the sentence:

Original Esprit (7 days ago): The difference between friendship and love is this: friendship means two people and the world, while love means two people are the world. —— Tagore

Lin Wu got into Zhao Li's car, only to realize that Wang Ye hadn't followed.

"Don't worry about it," Ge Liang stopped Lin Wu, who got into the car safely, and pushed the door down to find someone, "What's going on..."

Walking into the yard, he found Wang Ye was slowly stuffing his cell phone into his pocket.

"Brother Ye, I'll just wait for you!" Ge Liang was really anxious, fearing that Wang Ye would regret not going back with them if he dragged on for a while.

Unexpectedly, Wang Ye suddenly looked at him seriously: "Liangzi, I seem to be in love."

There was a thunderstorm on the ground, and it hit the husky without any waste: "...what, what is it?"

Wang Ye had a rare patience: "Love, love."

"No," Ge Liang shook his head frantically, as if shaking his hair, and finally became a little sober, "Brother Ye, calm down first, let me smooth it out for you, this is called love when two people are in love, you have to just find out that you like someone , haven't caught up, that's called unrequited love."