Tropical Highway

Almost smashing his whole face into the layer of lemon, Zhai Lan quickly supported himself with his forearm to avoid direct contact.He has no temper, he just thinks You Zhen is so cute and cute, he can't stop laughing.

The more he laughed, the redder You Zhen's ears spread, and under Zhai Lan's upright gaze, his whole face was covered with a strange crimson color. In the end, the charismatic guitarist of the band, "Holiday" "The handsome guy in the back kitchen and the coffee counter buried his face between his arms so that Zhai Lan couldn't see it.

There's no way he likes me too.

This idea almost came true, so beautiful that Zhai Lan was almost dizzy.

"What are you thinking about?" Zhai Lan pretended to be calm and took a bite of lemon mille-feuille without sugar, endured the sourness, and said without changing his face, "I don't want to fall in love with senior sister, let alone ignore you."

"It has nothing to do with me." You Zhen still buried himself.

Zhai Lan decided not to talk about it, staring at You Zhen and brushing the hair roots on the back of his neck, and touched it by accident.

I had just cut it for two or three days, bleached and dyed, my hair felt dry and fragile, a little stiff, a strange itchiness touched the nerve endings when I pricked my fingertips, and I trembled when I felt numb all the way to my heart.

The meaning was still unfinished, but Zhai Lan really raised his head before touching the lower reaches, the crimson faded and returned to normal.

"Why did you change your hair color?" He asked, his fingertips seemed to be dyed blue by the action just now.

You Zhen flicked his uneven sideburns uncomfortably: "The roots of the hair have grown up, which is not good-looking. Yang Jin said he looked like a kappa."

"Kappa?"

"The kind in Japanese animation."

Zhai Lan: "...Pfft."

You Zhen pretended to push him again: "No association!"

"To be honest, you don't even know how good that senior sister is just now." Zhai Lan remembered winning the "big business", and her eyebrows began to dance when she spoke, "I've known her for only a few days... No, it should be just now On the first day I joined my friend, she recommended me a very good tutor, 500 per class!"

"Tutor?"

Zhai Lan nodded earnestly: "And it's nearby, and it only takes 10 minutes to walk. I can finish her lessons and come over to study with Tenzin immediately. If it's arranged on the same day, I don't need to make a second trip—what? So, is it okay?"

The young man was immersed in the joy of earning self-sufficiency as a summer job, but he didn't realize that You Zhen was not as happy for him as he expected, but worried on his brows.

"You are several tutors at the same time now?" You Zhen asked.

Zhai Lan still couldn't detect the abnormal emotions in his words: "Three, but one of them is a junior high school student who will take tutoring in August. Hey... the only inconvenient thing is that these three students are at different stages and their progress is also poor. It’s too far away. I may still lack some experience, take it slowly, it’s best if I can almost earn enough tuition fees for the school year in one summer vacation—”

"Zhai Lan..." You Zhen weighed his words, as if he couldn't bear to break Zhai Lan's fantasy with reality, but he still said, "Why do you make yourself so tired?"

"Because no one pays the tuition for me."

Zhai Lan spoke very plainly, he had long accepted the reality, and walked out of the haze step by step.

But You Zhen couldn't stop feeling sad.

The wind and sunshine in summer are so beautiful, so in the early spring, in front of the steep mountain wall, Zhai Lan who cried loudly against him became a distant symbol.Now when You Zhen recalls him at that time, it seems that he suddenly overlaps with Zhai Lan in front of him again, sadness is hidden between the lines, and overflows from every casual word.

Indescribably lonely and painful, Zhai Lan learned not to let others worry about him.

There was an aunt in the past, at least the superficial skills can be done well, and Zhai Lan won't really worry about money.But there is no other way, and the seemingly unbelievable "worrying about finishing school" has become a dilemma.

You Zhen suddenly began to blame himself.

He knew everything, but was deluded by the overly bright and long summer, thinking that Zhai Lan was already carefree.

"Actually..." You Zhen looked at him, and what they said in the couple seat was like whispering, "Even if you have to pay the tuition yourself, it doesn't have to be so tiring, you can find me—"

"Looking for you?" Zhai Lan seemed to have guessed that he would say so, "But I don't want to owe favors anymore."

You Zhen: "This is not called being indebted..."

Zhai Lan asked back: "What is that called? What is our relationship?"

Here it comes again, he erected the thorns all over his body, mercilessly bursting the romantic and false bubble not long ago.

"I just want to help you." You Zhen said earnestly, "I know you don't like to owe favors, but sometimes... I don't have any other intentions, just feel...you obviously don't like being a teacher."

They know each other so well, of course You Zhen knows.

No matter how active he is in front of Tenzin, Zhai Lan's patience mostly comes from his infinite tolerance for Tenzin himself.If it were someone else, it might be revealed immediately.

Zhai Lan is a hedgehog and a cat, his freewheeling personality and sense of responsibility cannot support him for too long.

In the end, it will only be physically and mentally exhausting, but it will be a kind of torture to myself.

You Zhen said: "Don't do it if you don't like it."

"I like it." Zhai Lan said forcefully, "Don't make decisions for me."

Sure enough, You Zhen stood up helplessly, ready to leave: "No one will make decisions for you, but I hope you will be happy and sure of yourself by doing what you really like."

"What do you know?" Zhai Lan looked at him, "You and I are totally different."

The step forward was stopped, You Zhen rarely heard Zhai Lan's mocking tone, and there was even surprise in his eyes when he turned his head.

The voice changed: "Different?"

The angle of raising the head and looking up will make Zhai Lan's eyes turn white, and the corners of the mouth are drawn down, with an uncontrollably aggrieved and stubborn expression.He already realized that those words hurt You Zhen, but at the critical stage of repeated games, Zhai Lan didn't allow himself to admit defeat, trying to save face: "You told me not to worry, but you can't understand how panicked I am right now."

You Zhen looked at him, and after the shock passed, he raised his eyebrows slightly: "I can't understand you?"

But didn't they feel that each other was the best match at first?

They've both shared enough private pains to reassure each other that there's always a star to be had.

How could Zhai Lan say such a thing.

"Maybe you see that I'm doing well now, but when I calm down, I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to do in the future. You're happier than me, without worries. So don't always feel as if I can be like you, Yes, some..." Zhai Lan's thoughts were a little confused, he almost didn't know what he said, "I don't want to cling to anyone, and I don't want to be underestimated."

"I never underestimated you." You Zhen murmured, "I just want to help you."

How should I help Zhai Lan?

Lend him tuition fees, lend him living expenses, and spend a few more years waiting for him to finish his studies, find a job, and pay it off bit by bit?

You really don't care.

But Zhai Lan can't, he likes You Zhen, which makes him even more unable to accept You Zhen's kindness to his "friend" with peace of mind.Even if one day his dream comes true and he is with You Zhen, he doesn't want to owe anyone materially.

"It's really easy for you." The boy said stubbornly, "What about me?"

There is a clock on the wall, and every turn of the second hand is a clear reminder of the passage of time.

"You can't treat me unconditionally, there is no such obligation." Zhai Lan said, lowering his head decadently, "I'm not that miserable, I still have a lot of capital left to waste for a while, and I'm already superior compared to many people .But my back is empty, I dare not think about it, it will collapse at any time.”

You Zhen You Zhen stood there without moving, like a beautiful sculpture that has lost its emotion.His hands and feet are weak, and he rarely seems to do anything wrong like now.

"Why can't I treat you unconditionally?"

"I'll catch you."

You Zhen couldn't say it.

Why should he catch Zhai Lan?

Because he didn't think about a way out, he planned to take on one's future?

The two looked at each other, You Zhen finally sighed, and turned away for the first time pretending to be speechless.

The ice in the glass melted, leaving an embarrassing pool of water on the surface of the wooden coffee table.

It was oppressively hot in early summer, Zhai Lan and You Zhen broke up that day.

When he got home, the back of his tongue was still filled with the bitterness of the unsweetened lemon millefeuille. Brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth could not completely eliminate it.Zhai Lan fell asleep, and woke up the next day to find that she hadn't received You Zhen's "good night".

The tacit understanding that lasted for dozens of days suddenly broke, he thought, You Zhen must feel that he is looking for trouble.

Unclear, the two thoughts of "I expect You Zhen to do something" and "I don't want to be regarded as a responsibility by him" occupy Zhai Lan at the same time, pulling him to tear him in completely opposite directions.The naive side wants to rely on You Zhen, but the excessive rationality always warns him and says "you can't".

But Zhai Lan knew that he made You Zhen sad.

He spent a sleepless night, You Zhen said so many things in his heart, probably it will not be better than him.

Get up early the next day, take the earliest subway back to school in time for class.Entering the review week, no one cares about Zhai Lan's attendance rate, and he is not in the roster at all. He goes persistently, just to find something to do.

Then he found that it was useless to divert his attention, and he still had to face it, so he took the subway for another 40 minutes from the campus to Fangcao Road after school.There is no need to transfer, and there is a direct line on Line 8. Zhai Lan pinched herself to the door of "Holiday", took a few deep breaths before entering, and prepared a draft for apologizing to You Zhen.

"You shouldn't have said those things yesterday."

"But you can really, really rest assured that I will take care of myself."

Does it sound much better?

After thinking about everything, Zhai Lan pushed the door open and entered, but he didn't expect that the shop was empty and You Zhen was not there.

"Looking for the boss?" Xiao Yu didn't know that they had a bad quarrel yesterday, and put the newly made mousse cake into the freezer, with a relaxed and cheerful tone, "He went to Sister Yangjin's shop—"

No. 12, South Section of Fangcao Road.

The name is Lonestar. It is said to be a buyer's shop for second-hand items, and it also does consignment and display.

To use You Zhen's previous words to describe, "It doesn't look like it's very profitable."

It takes less than 10 minutes to walk there.Summer began to heat up, there was no wind, and the sultry air was close to the skin, and Zhai Lan felt as if countless hands were pulling him.

Yangjin's store has a small front, with a window next to it, and the main colors of red and black are slightly distorted at a temperature of 33 degrees.He pushed open the door, and at the same time, he smelled a long-lost sandalwood smell, which brought his memory back to a few months ago. Tibetan incense.

After a brief silence, Zhai Lan took a deep breath, dispelling most of the dampness from his body.

The light in the store was a bit dim, Zhai Lan couldn't see it clearly for a moment when he just walked in from the outside, and before he was allowed to carefully look at the layout of the store, he heard an extremely familiar yet very strange voice:

"Little Blue?"

The author says:

There will be more tomorrow