desolate

The game time was ten o'clock in the morning, and the school bus stopped at the school gate at 08:30 on time.

Zhou Ze started from the dormitory, which was close, so he arrived early, and with him were two other boarding students from other classes.

Although he does not know.

The three got on the bus together, but sat far away. The driver of the bus was eating noodles in the driver's seat. The whole car smelled like food. This made Zhou Ze, who had just finished eating, very uncomfortable, so he had to open the window Let the cool air in.

Just as he was opening the window, a familiar figure happened to walk into his sight.

"Is that Li Pingan?"

The two people behind were just chatting.

"It seems to be him."

"Isn't he included in the original entry list?"

"Director Yan asked him to withdraw from the competition yesterday, probably because he felt that the influence was not good."

The person under the tree seemed to hear something in the wind, turned his head from a distance, glanced vaguely at the shell of the bus, paused for a moment, and then moved away quickly.

Because of the distance, Zhou Ze couldn't see his expression very clearly, but he could guess that it shouldn't be very good.

Li Pingan never returned to the classroom after being called away by Director Yan yesterday, and returned to the dormitory very late at night. At that time, Zhou Ze had just fallen asleep, but he had to pretend to be in a deep sleep for a long time.

"Is anyone here?" A voice drew Zhou Ze's attention back.

Turning around, Qin Yan was looking at him with a smile.

"You sit."

Zhou Ze took the schoolbag from the chair.

Qin Yan was still holding a hot breakfast in her hand, and the smell wafted out as soon as she sat down.

The discomfort came again.

Zhou Ze had no choice but to face the window to reduce his breathing rate.

Not long after, the participating students began to get on the train one after another, and the carriage became much more lively.

In fact, these people are not familiar with each other, but because they met in the English class, there are quite a few people who greet each other.

Meng Chuyu was one of them.

Zhou Ze didn't have a good impression of this star-studded school belle, so he stopped talking after sloppy coping.On the other hand, Qin Yan, who was next to him, looked very familiar with the other party, chatting across the seat as if he was a real best friend.

The car drove out slowly, Zhou Ze kept his eyes closed the whole time, as if everything outside was isolated by him.

Only when fragments of sunlight unobstructed by buildings occasionally slipped past his eyelids would he twitch his eyelashes unresponsively.

The competition area is set in the No. [-] Middle School campus.The students who participated in the competition were selected by each high school in Pingjiang City, including schools in the counties under its jurisdiction.When it was time for the exam, the students went through the review process strictly before entering the exam room one after another.

The written test was in the morning, and the oral test was in the afternoon. For the written test, all participating students were arranged in three large classrooms, and the seats were sparsely spaced, making it easy for the four invigilators to walk back and forth.

The papers in hand were much more difficult than those in the sixth middle school exam, and Zhou Ze even found it a bit difficult to do it.After the exam, he once thought that he had no energy for the oral exam in the afternoon.

It's a pity that the English teacher who led the team didn't give him a chance to give up the exam.

During lunch time, the English teacher found a nearby restaurant for this group of students, aiming to cheer them up. Zhou Ze, who had no interest at all, was pulled over by Qin Yansheng.

But by coincidence, at the entrance of the hotel, they ran into a participating student from No. [-] Middle School.

The two teachers sat down with their students after a few polite remarks.

However, as nominal opponents, the attitude of the two seems too polite.

When Zhou Ze came, he was motion sick due to the smell of steamed buns, and he has no appetite until now, so he made an excuse to escape after sitting for 10 minutes, and ran to a convenience store outside the hotel to stay.

The store was full of students, and Zhou Ze was lucky to get the last seat.

The campus of No. [-] Middle School is newly built, surrounded by a hospital, a police station, and a large area of ​​wasteland. Apart from the restaurant where they ate, this convenience store is the most suitable place for lunch.

Not long after Zhou Ze sat down, Zhou Haiyang called him.

Since their last meal with Ma Wenjing was not very beautiful, Zhou Haiyang would call every few days to care about Zhou Ze's current situation. The content of the communication was to study and Ma Wenjing, as if completing a task. Communication was annoying to him.

At this time Zhou Haiyang seemed to be in the factory, with the noise of cutting stones in the background.

"Xiao Ze, are you at school? Do you want to have lunch together? I'll pick you up."

Zhou Ze politely refused and told him that he was taking an exam.

In fact, the other party didn't care whether to eat the meal or not, and then turned to other topics.

"Your mother gave me the living expenses two days ago. I just transferred it to you. Call her back when you have time."

"Well, I see, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"It's not easy for your mother. She brought you up so much by herself, so if you have anything to do, just let it go..."

Zhou Haiyang seemed to want to say something more, but someone kept urging him, and finally he had to repeat a few words of embarrassment, and let it go.

It's strange to say that Zhou Haiyang himself is not very obedient. For his own hobbies, he still can't achieve anything in his [-]s and [-]s, but when it's Zhou Ze's turn, he always tells him some old-fashioned rhetoric: Parents are always So good for himself, as if he actually agrees with these things in his heart.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ze endured the discomfort in his heart and sent a few messages to Ma Wenjing.

The conversation between the two on WeChat was still half a year ago. At that time, Ma Wenjing not only refuted his desire to enter the liberal arts class, but also listed a series of university majors suitable for him and promising for him to "choose freely". It's the title of "for his own good".

And he chose to compromise at that time.

……

"Excuse me... are you Zhou Ze?"

The girl sitting across from him has been looking at him since he sat down, and it was only when he was about to leave that he suddenly came up to talk to him.

Zhou Ze had to sit back again.

"you know me?"

The girl's face was nothing special, and there was no trace of it in his memory.

But she obviously had a deep impression on Zhou Ze: "I am Chen Shirui's cousin, Chen Xujia. We met once in April!"

Hearing the familiar name, Zhou Ze's expression froze, and he soon remembered what the bob-haired girl in front of him had said.

Chen Xujia said: "I thought I made a mistake, but I didn't expect it to be you..."

Zhou Ze tapped his fingers on the table, and answered a few sentences in a fast and chaotic rhythm.

"By the way, I heard some time ago that my cousin rolled down the stairs. You two broke up?"

Chen Xujia looked at him, and asked with that face that was somewhat similar to Chen Shirui.

Zhou Ze looked at her briefly for a second, then asked, "He told you that I was with him?"

Chen Xujia was caught off guard by the question: "Aren't you..."

Zhou Ze's hands on the table tightened slightly, and a polite smile suddenly appeared on his plain face: "...I'm sorry, we'll have to wait until next time to catch up on the old days. I have to go to gather now, and work harder for the oral exam in the afternoon."

His tone was as polite as possible. In order not to let the other party notice his emotions, Zhou Ze walked slowly.

It's just that when Chen Xujia said "There is a problem" to himself, the expression on his face changed a little.

The oral exam starts at 01:30 pm.

While waiting for the questions to be drawn, Zhou Ze ran into Chen Xujia again.

Fortunately, this time they met in the examination room, and Chen Xujia's number was in front of him, and they were waiting in the same batch, Chen Xujia was the first and he was the last, so they didn't have a chance to chat.

Not long after, Chen Xujia's voice came from the classroom. With fluent spoken language, occasional trembling endings and unnatural pauses, Zhou Ze could hear that she should be a little nervous at the moment.

If Chen Shirui was the opportunity for Zhou Ze to come to Pingjiang, then the appearance of Chen Xujia seemed to make everything go wrong.

Not long after, Chen Xujia came out.

When passing by the waiting line, she also noticed Zhou Ze, but this time she just took a quick look.

A not-so-friendly look.

During the whole interview process, it kept appearing in Zhou Ze's mind, just like Chen Shirui who was lying on the hospital bed at that time, staring at him silently.

Until the third time he made a mistake, he saw the examiner below shook his head.

After the oral test, the students can take the bus back with the leading teacher, or they can choose other means of transportation by themselves.

Zhou Ze stayed away from the large troops, sat on the steps next to the flag-raising platform, and watched the bus of No. [-] Middle School drive away slowly.

Feeling inexplicably annoyed.

He touched his wrist habitually, and the empty touch made him pause for a moment.

—Oh, I almost forgot.

He intentionally left the bracelet at Pei Ye's house.

I don't know if the other party has found it...

Thinking of this, Zhou Ze found Pei Ye's phone and dialed it. It took more than ten seconds for him to pick up. I think so.

The other party's voice was slightly low, and he might not have checked the caller ID when he picked it up, so he revealed a sense of impatience.

"Who?"

Zhou Ze was silent: "Me."

Pei also heard his voice, a little surprised: "What's the matter?"

Zhou Ze said: "...Did you find the thing?"

"Not yet, I'll go back and look for it tonight."

"Are not you at home?"

"Well...in the shop."

Zhou Ze didn't know whether this shop referred to a car repair shop or a mahjong parlor, but before he could speak, the other party answered: "I'll be right back."

Zhou Ze replied quickly: "Then I'll go find you?"

There was the sound of rushing water from the other end of the phone, and Pei Ye's voice seemed to get closer and louder.

"Ah."

……

"gone?"

Brother Hu was carrying the lunch box, and as soon as he came in, he saw Pei Ye cleaning his things while wiping his hands.

"Hmm."

Pei Ye moved very quickly, and cleaned up in just a few strokes.

Brother Hu glanced at the parts piled up in the corner and the half-dismantled electric car next to him, and asked puzzledly, "Are you finished?"

Pei Ye didn't raise his head: "Well, I'll install the rest tomorrow."

He went out with his bag in his hand, but within two steps, he returned.

The key was not taken.

Brother Hu took out the fast food boxes one by one, stared at the two bowls of rice in his hand, and belatedly shouted at the door: "You don't want to eat anymore?"

He was answered by the roar of the motorcycle engine.

"Boy, what are you doing..."

……

The sky at seven o'clock in the evening was a rich, indelible ultramarine canvas, with a light golden crescent hanging low above it, where Pei Ye could see it by raising his head a little.

As if it could fall into his arms in a second.

Pei Ye looked away, and the car turned a corner following the traffic.

When he came out of the store, he was in a hurry and forgot to take his gloves. By the time he realized it, he had already driven to the street near his home.

The knuckles on the back of the hand were a little red from the wind.

He didn't care about this, parked the car, grabbed the key and strode back.

The street was a little empty, so empty that Pei Ye couldn't help but slow down, so empty that he couldn't help but rethink a problem that had been deliberately forgotten.

Are you looking forward to it?

Looking forward to meeting you?

Maybe it's been too long since I had such emotions, and Pei also felt very strange.

Unable to think of an answer, he put the question aside for a while and picked up his pace again.

Walking into the old-fashioned residential area, the gates of the community gates are open in vain, and the lonely street lights are not very practical, so you can barely see the road.

A lot of bicycles and battery cars were parked downstairs in the unit. The person sitting on the steps was lying on his knees, his arms were stretched out, his fingertips were drooping, and a rogue cat was tentatively approaching.

Pei also felt that the moon seemed to be lower again.

When he approached, the kitten fled in fright.

Those eyes with dark blue sky and light golden crescent moon looked at him.

Pei also stepped on the steps, looked down at him, paused, and raised his hand to pluck half a leaf from his hair.

The author says:

Unlock new characters!

Also, take your time!Cubs are about to fall in love!