blowing clouds

This city is always like this. Every November, the sky will be painted with a layer of lead color. In the past, Chen Xiyang always thought that the scene in his eyes and the feelings in his heart were related, but now it seems that this is not the case, maybe it is just produced by the smelter. peak season.

It was a peaceful weekend. Two other men in the family pushed their battle-tested three-wheeled chariot out the door. There were slow sweeping sounds and out-of-tune singing to the north of the city from the other side of the wall. Add Coffee".Chen Xiyang sat alone on the small table in front of the window. There were a few lines of ink marks on the manuscript paper in front of him, but the pen was put aside.

It wasn't that he didn't have something to write, and it wasn't that he was disturbed by his mother's tone, but he didn't know why he was too lazy to start writing. He looked out of the window quietly, and sparrows occasionally flew past his eyes.

Just as he was opening the drawer, looking at the pack of bright red Ximei cigarettes inside and considering whether to have a cigarette, there was a sudden conversation outside the bedroom, he pushed the drawer calmly, and then the door opened.

"Come out for a moment, let's talk about something." Chen Li probably ran back in one breath. It was obviously not too hot today, but he still kept wiping the sweat that flowed down his cheeks.

Chen Xiyang had always wanted to tell Chen Li about entering the house and knocking on the door, but he gave up after thinking about it. He stood up without a word, and followed his father out of the bedroom.

"You said you were quite mysterious, so why did you come back in a hurry to discuss?" Lu Yan sat on the stool at the door with a confused expression, asking as she drove away the flies that were about to become endangered animals, "Just stay Does Lin Ji look like a child?"

Chen Li signaled Chen Xiyang to sit down: "I just said this while he was away, otherwise I was afraid that you two would feel uncomfortable."

Lu Yan sneered: "Aren't we uncomfortable? Are we outsiders?"

"Don't talk about it," Chen Li smiled and waved his hands, sitting next to his son, "It's like this, because Aji dropped out of school before, and I haven't thought much about it since I came to our house, but now I After realizing it, he can’t always let him push the cart to set up a stall.”

Lu Yan almost understood what he wanted to say, but she just blinked and didn't comment.

Chen Li continued: "Our family's conditions are not too bad, at least it is not a problem to support another student, and to put it bluntly, I raised A Ji as my own child, so I should let him study for another two years."

If Lin Ji had just arrived, Chen Li would have said these words to quarrel, but now Lu Yan also accepted the fact that they became a family of four, so she did not lose her temper, but seriously thought about it.

My wife didn't speak, but Chen Li's father's eyes fell on his son.

Chen Xiyang's expression was none of his own, but he expressed his opinion anyway: "A diploma is better than nothing. I don't object. It mainly depends on what you and Mom think, but you also have to ask Lin Ji what he thinks. After dropping out of school for so many years, first, he may not be able to adapt to school life, and second, what if he doesn't want to go to school at all?"

Chen Li nodded, looking at his son with satisfaction: "College students speak methodically and logically! I'm not stupid. It's because I see that Aji wants to learn knowledge, so I have the idea of ​​letting him go back to school. But It’s not a whim.”

"You can still read other people's thoughts with your brain?" Lu Yan's tone was suspicious when she opened her mouth.

Chen Li looked at Lu Yan with a rather smug expression: "When I set up the stall that night, when I came back from the bathroom, I found Aji standing in front of the bookstall and stopped for a long time. Didn't he want to learn something?"

"Book?" Chen Xiyang frowned slightly, and subconsciously asked.

"Well," Chen Li glanced back at him, "Aji used to drop out of school to take care of his father, but now he definitely wants to be a carefree student."

Chen Xiyang didn't speak again, but looked serious, as if he had fallen into his own world.

"I didn't want him to be exposed to the wind and sun with you all day long. Go to school, and you will be successful after studying." Lu Yan picked up the broom and got up, "You can count it once."

The plan went well, Chen Li smiled and got up: "Why don't we be a family, I should go, otherwise Ah Ji will be in a hurry, we will talk about it when we come back tonight."

"Slow down, why run away with an old bone!"

Watching Chen Li go out, Lu Yan continued to hum an out-of-tune tune while cleaning, turned her head to see Chen Xiyang who was still sitting there, and asked doubtfully, "You don't read anymore?"

Chen Xiyang raised his eyes, and then stood up with his whole body: "Look."

Back in the bedroom, he closed the door behind his back, went to the desk without any hesitation, opened the drawer, and lit a cigarette.

The smog was thick in front of him, and the sky seemed even more incomprehensible.

When the whole family had dinner together in the evening, Chen Li suddenly put down the bowl and chopsticks and asked Lin Ji about going to school. After looking at Lu Yan, who was pretending to bury her head in her meal, her eyes finally fell on Chen Xiyang, who looked like an outsider.

Chen Li coughed dryly twice, and Chen Xiyang had no choice but to meet Lin Ji's gaze: "Do you want to go to school?"

Instead, Lin Ji lowered his head: "I, I want to set up a business with my uncle..."

"What kind of business is that? It's just playing around to pass the time. You, a young man, can't waste time with me," Chen Li said with a serious expression. It's okay to make money with me, but I don't have any problems, so I think it's better for you to go to school."

Lin Ji lowered his head, and said in a low voice, "I haven't studied for several years, and I can't keep up with school... Uncle, please don't let me go, I want to follow you."

"This..." Chen Li didn't expect Lin Ji to have such an attitude, and he wondered if his eyes were dazzled that night, so would the person standing in front of the bookstall want to go to school?

Lu Yan took a look and didn't speak.She thought that Lin Ji didn't want them to pay the tuition fees, but it didn't look like she was being polite, but she really hated studying, so she couldn't say anything more.

Helpless, Chen Li could only look helplessly at his last ally.

Chen Xiyang slowly put down his chopsticks, his voice was the same as usual, flat or indifferent.

"The day when the tricycle is scrapped, you can't stay at the stall that is worse than nothing forever. If you really want to study something, it's better to go to an atmosphere environment and learn from experienced people if you think about it yourself."

Chen Li glanced at the silent Lin Ji, and quickly smoothed things over: "You are really destined to be a leader, do you criticize your younger brother like that? Ah Ji, don't care about your brother's tone, he is the kind of knife-mouthed and tofu-hearted people."

Lin Ji shook his head. He didn't know whether it was because he didn't care or he didn't want to go to school. He looked at Chen Xiyang who was buried in the soup, and made a choice: "...Do I start from high school?"

Chen Li had a big smile on his face: "That's right! I'll go to the Education Bureau tomorrow to see how you arrange things in this situation."

"Eat and eat, as long as there is a unified opinion." Lu Yan said in a timely manner, and at the same time very naturally put a chopstick meat into Lin Ji's bowl.

Lin Ji looked at the extra slices of meat in the bowl, and couldn't bear to eat them for a long time. He couldn't help but look around, just in time to catch a glimpse of Chen Xiyang moving his head away from him.

That night, the brothers who shared the same bed should theoretically have wanted to say something, but neither of them said anything. Perhaps this is not surprising to them, after all, most of the nights between them are silent.In the daytime of the next day, Chen Li woke up and went out, but he didn't have a pushcart. It seemed that he went to the Education Bureau. After Lin Ji got up, he helped Lu Yan continue to clean up the house, and Chen Xiyang stayed alone in the bedroom and wrote quickly.

Those manuscripts were lost or discarded one after another in the next few years. As for the impression in his mind... he forgot what he just wrote after he wrote the pen, and only remembered that the sound of sweeping the floor seemed more gentle than yesterday.

Chen Li hadn't come back when he was having dinner, and he heard from neighbors that he seemed to be holding his notebook and calling the school from the store at the entrance of the alley.After eating, Chen Xiyang packed his schoolbag and went to school, pretending not to see Lin Ji who was standing aside watching him leave. When he passed by the entrance of the alley, he saw Chen Li sitting on the rocking chair, holding the phone receiver with one hand, with an expression of Serious, listening and writing in a notebook, with a pair of borrowed reading glasses on his nose, at first glance he really looks like an old intellectual.

Chen Xiyang left quietly without disturbing his father.He didn't know that Chen Li had spent a few days finding a new high school for Lin Ji. Anyway, when he went home on another weekend, the familiar tricycle was parked in the yard, and Chen Li was the only man at home.

After saying hello, Chen Xiyang walked towards the bedroom with a dull head. When he was about to enter, Chen Li suddenly said, "Ah Ji's background is poor, and he didn't catch up with the new semester, so the teacher arranged for him to make up lessons at school on weekends, and he had to stop laughing. He couldn't come back at night." Come."

Chen Xiyang opened his mouth, and wanted to say that he didn't ask, but when he said it, it became: "Got it."

Chen Xiyang read and wrote alone for a while, then went out to wash his feet, went back to the bedroom and lay down in the darkness.There is a noisy and messy eight-person dormitory in the school. In the past, there was Lin Ji at home. Thinking about it, Chen Xiyang has not enjoyed a quiet and comfortable sleeping environment for a long time, but I have to say that there is cheapness in his bones. In the quiet and peaceful night, Chen Xiyang tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The seemingly non-existent tinnitus kept driving away his drowsiness, and the moonlight also seemed to hook his itchy flesh. Just when he was hesitating whether to turn on the light and continue reading, there was a sudden creeping sound outside the house.

Chen Xiyang immediately shut his voice and stopped his movements. His first reaction was that a thief had come to the house.Before he could react, the bedroom door was gently opened, and the moonlight shone in from the window. Chen Xiyang saw those dark and bright eyes at a glance.

Lin Ji might not have imagined that his brother would be sitting on the bed like a fake corpse in the middle of the night, and couldn't help but let out an exclamation and stepped back, accidentally knocking over the enamel basin on the chair. A few more people were added.

Amidst the shouts from the landlord downstairs, Chen Li rubbed his eyes and walked out of the bedroom with Lu Yan. After seeing Lin Ji, their sleepiness dissipated in surprise, and Chen Xiyang also walked out of the bedroom. Like a thief, she huddled in the arms of the chair with low eyebrows.

"You... A Ji, didn't the teacher let you live in the school, why did you come back in the middle of the night?" Chen Li asked with a frown.

Lin Ji didn't say a word, Lu Yan pulled Chen Li back: "Ah Ji hasn't come back for a long time, he must be homesick, don't be impatient."

Chen Li just frowned subconsciously, and didn't intend to lose his temper. He laughed twice and said, "Come back as soon as you come back, and you're still sneaky. It seems that you slipped away from school privately, right? You look honest, boy You still have plenty of energy! Alright, go to sleep when you get back, I will accompany you to school tomorrow morning to plead guilty...Hey, have you eaten, are you hungry?"

Lin Ji raised his head, looked like a puppy, shook his head silently, and then lowered his head again.

"Go to bed if you're not hungry," Chen Li yawned, "This kid will definitely take care of the family in the future..."

After the parents left, only Chen Xiyang was left in front of Lin Ji, but he didn't dare to look up as if he had done something wrong, and could only glance at the other party's toes from the corner of his eye.

Chen Xiyang also didn't say a word, and it didn't take long for the toes in front of Lin Ji to leave silently. He grabbed the corner of his brand new school uniform and suddenly felt that he had done something stupid.But when he raised his head depressed and remorseful, he found that Chen Xiyang hadn't closed the bedroom door.

The old wooden door opened its mouth soundlessly, and the light inside seemed to be much softer than that in the living room.