Taking the younger boy who was wandering on the streets and preparing to sleep under a bridge back home suddenly became incredibly smooth.
It was like having a good bowl of rice sitting there, but the spoiled brats at home refused to eat it, circling around the bowl with growls and complaints, until the neighbor’s dog came by and sniffed at the bowl…
Then it was no longer acceptable.
The dog devoured everything in a few bites, almost swallowing the bowl itself.
The next day, when Jiang Ran drove to help Beijiao pack his things, she couldn’t help but glance sideways at the person sitting in the passenger seat while driving—he was leaning his elbow on the car door, supporting his chin with one hand, and watching the passing street view outside the window with a look of utter despair.
When he wasn’t barking like a dog, he looked quite docile.
…Though it never lasted more than a few seconds.
When they arrived, Beijiao wouldn’t let Jiang Ran get out of the car, asking her to wait inside.
“Why can’t I get out?” Jiang Ran didn’t hold back, laughing at the absurdity, “Am I ugly? Can’t be seen in public?”
Beijiao’s gaze swept over her face several times, as if seriously considering the question she had angrily posed… This seriousness only made Jiang Ran even angrier for the second time, unable to even fake a smile, thinking: Where’s my knife?
“What are you staring at?” She clapped her hands in front of his nose, “Eyes you don’t want can be donated to those in need.”
Beijiao dodged back slightly.
Then he turned his head again to look outside—the school gate was crowded with people.
Not only were there students, but also many parents picking up their children who had stayed late. Most of the parents were carrying heavy bags… Outside the car, about five meters away, a middle-aged woman who looked like a mother was gently brushing the bangs off a girl’s forehead. The girl was holding a cup of milk tea and showing slight annoyance as she leaned back.
He immediately withdrew his gaze, as if allergic, and said to Jiang Ran in a tone that allowed no argument: “You wait in the car. I’ll be quick.”
He looked like he was saying, “No matter what nonsense you spout, I refuse to cooperate.”
Jiang Ran had already seen the scene outside through his line of sight earlier. Seeing his expression of resistance now… she suddenly smiled again, placing one hand on the storage compartment between the driver’s seat and passenger seat, leaning slightly closer to the boy sitting there.
Feeling her breath approaching, he instinctively backed away again, this time his back pressing against the door handle.
Jiang Ran tilted her head: “You’re not embarrassed, are you?”
“…” Beijiao stared at her slightly upturned lips, his black eyes sparkling with suspicion, asking cautiously, “Why would I be embarrassed?”
“How should I know?”
“My stuff isn’t much, I can just grab it and go. You coming along would only slow me down.” Beijiao unfastened his seatbelt and opened the door, pausing to emphasize as he looked up, “Don’t follow me.”
With that, he jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut without looking back.
Inside the car, the breath of another person seemed not yet fully dissipated, and the passenger seat still bore traces of where he had sat.
Jiang Ran hesitated, still frozen in the posture of leaning forward with her hand on the dashboard. Lifting her head to look outside, she saw the bright sunshine. In the sweltering heat, Beijiao ran like a nimble animal toward the school gate, soon disappearing into the crowd.
…
The dormitory building was in chaos.
Everyone was moving out, parents and students coming and going. Occasionally, laughter came from some dormitory, or a parent yelling, “Oh wow, you let your apples rot without even noticing!”
The dorm supervisor was wiping around the security booth with a rag, but upon seeing the boy rushing in from the sun, he dropped the rag and poked his head out.
“Puppy, you’re completely cleared out today, right? Found a place to stay?”
The boy coming through the security booth braked suddenly, turning his head to see a familiar face—
Among the thousands of people in the dormitory building, everyone was busy with part-time jobs. Occasionally, those who came back late due to overtime and had to beg the security guard to open the door were few and far between. Over time, the guard got to know him.
Sometimes, when Beijiao got paid from his part-time job, he would bring the guard a pack of cigarettes, usually Liqun, costing about ten or so yuan per pack.
As a return favor, the guard changed his address for him from “this student” to “puppy,” knowing that this kid was essentially an orphan with no parents.
Hearing the guard’s question, Beijiao nodded.
The guard showed a relieved expression, didn’t bother to chat further, and pulled his head back inside.
Beijiao rushed up the stairs in three steps, quickly returning to his dormitory.
Everyone was there. Zhang Liang’s bedding was still not packed. A group of contemporary youths who had become helpless the moment their parents arrived were standing in the dormitory with their hands on their hips, while several parents standing beside them were getting increasingly angry—
“Oh my! Zhang Liang, how did you put your socks on the mosquito net!”
“I was too lazy to wash them. They dried in the wind, and the sweat hardened so I could take them out and wear them again… Smart, right!”
“Smart, my foot! I’m going to be disgusted to death! Can’t you see they’re all crusty! Being your roommate must be the worst luck in eight lifetimes—throw them away! Throw them away! How old are you? I’m even embarrassed for you!”
“Don’t shout so loud, others will hear,” Zhang Liang lazily said to his father, “What’s the big deal? It’s not like you wash your socks at home either!”
Beijiao stood outside the door, hesitated for three seconds, then pushed the half-open dormitory door further open. The noise stopped abruptly, and everyone turned their heads. Recognizing the boy outside, they greeted him.
Inside the dormitory, no one asked him where he was going next because yesterday, when Beijiao was haggling with Jiang Ran, Zhang Liang was squatting beside them—
What Zhang Liang knew, the entire dormitory knew.
Beijiao’s stuff was indeed not much. After receiving the notice a few days ago, he had already started packing bit by bit, gradually moving out. Originally, he planned to move the last bit of stuff to the bar storage room to survive the summer vacation…
Like now, there was even a bucket he used to fetch water for bathing in the bar storage room.
He bent down and pulled out a blue canvas travel bag from the lower cabinet—
He had bought it at a power market next to the vegetable market in his hometown before coming to school. After some haggling, it cost him only 35 yuan.
His clothes were all washed and stored in the wardrobe, and now he was taking them out and stuffing them into the bag.
This even earned praise from the parents. A mother from another dormitory, seeing Beijiao packing alone, poked her son’s back: “Look at your roommate! He does his own things by himself. What about you? You’re helpless without your mom!”
Zhang Liang’s father was rolling up a bamboo mat on Zhang Liang’s bed. Hearing this, he poked his head out from the upper bunk: “Kid, are you from out of town? You’re packing by yourself?”
“…”
Beijiao’s fast packing paused slightly.
For a moment, he didn’t know how to respond.
Actually, he didn’t feel much, nor did he look lost or heartbroken—his heart rate didn’t even change—
At most, it was just a bit awkward.
How should he answer? His mother had never taken care of him since he was little. He started boarding in middle school, and every winter and summer vacation, he packed his own stuff, carrying big bags onto the bus to go home…
He was used to it.
He was used to eating by himself, studying by himself, going home on weekends to wash clothes, buying groceries, cooking, cleaning… even pasting New Year pictures and preparing for the Spring Festival.
He was used to doing everything by himself.
There was even no emotional fluctuation on his face. The handsome but slightly cold teenager stood in the middle of the dormitory, appearing somewhat dull. He realized out of politeness that he should answer the question, so he slowly said “Ah”—
As soon as he spoke, his roommates snapped out of their daze.
Once they woke up, they reacted quickly. Those being scolded by their parents exchanged glances and made impatient sounds like “Oh well” and “Oh well.”
One of them blocked his parent’s curious gaze with his body and grabbed a piece of clutter on the table, shouting noisily, “Mom! Look at this! Can I still use it!”
The parent’s attention, which had been watching Beijiao with concern, was quickly drawn away. While throwing the item into the trash bin, the parent scolded, “You ask me what your own stuff is! How should I know what it is! You’re just a junk collector! Look how clean your roommate’s bed is!”
Amid the chaos.
Zhang Liang asked his father to pack the bedding while he idly walked over to Beijiao’s side, watching him silently pack for a while before finally breaking the silence, asking, “So you’re going directly to her house?”
Beijiao paused, lifting his head.
Zhang Liang changed his stance, shifting his weight from his left foot to his right foot, “Then it’s inconvenient for you to take the bag on the subway. Where does she live? Why don’t you ask? I can have my dad drop you off on the way—”
This time, Zhang Liang’s father somewhat understood the situation.
Hearing his son’s restrained and cautious tone, he realized he might have just asked an inappropriate question. After years of navigating the adult world, he mentally sighed in regret.
He put down the rolled-up bamboo mat, “Ah, right, kid, where are you going? Let Zhang Liang give you a ride—”
Beijiao was about to answer.
At that moment, his phone vibrated in his pants pocket.
Not many people would message him on WeChat during the day, and the continuous vibrations indicated someone was clearly impatient.
His previously dull black pupils flickered slightly, and suddenly his entire aura changed from icy to slightly softened. The boy bent down, zipped up the old travel bag, stood up, and said, “No, thank you.”
His voice was slightly hoarse.
Polite, awkward, yet not jarring.
…
Beijiao walked out of the dormitory carrying the old travel bag but was called back again.
“Hey, kid.”
He paused, holding the bag, and looked at the person expressionlessly, as if asking what they needed.
“There’s a girl downstairs saying she’s waiting for you.”
It was the dorm supervisor again, holding a mop this time, apparently cleaning the mess left by the students who had moved out in the corridor…
Under the boy’s cold stare, the old man’s face wrinkled into a grin.
“Hehe, look at you, even a stray dog has someone to take him home now?”
Beijiao walked over, squatted down, and lifted the pile of scrap paper boxes the supervisor had stacked in the corner, roughly estimating their value… then added the flattened mineral water boxes he had in his hand, retying the bundle of waste.
After finishing all this, he remained completely expressionless, not feeling offended at all.
Carrying the bag downstairs, standing on the first-floor steps, he only had to lower his head slightly to see a woman not far away, arms crossed, holding something, waiting impatiently at the dormitory entrance.
Compared to the middle-aged parents in various outfits, her presence was somewhat abrupt… wearing denim shorts and a white tank top, and probably to avoid getting sunburned, a thin long-sleeved shirt in the same color as her jeans as a sun-protective outer layer. A small bag, too tiny to even fit a phone, was slung across her hip.
Under the sunlight, her pretty face was perfectly made up, and even her dark hair strands were distinct in the bright light, as if each curl had been carefully considered and drawn by an invisible brush.
Expecting someone like her to help pack bedding was probably a fantasy; she was only suitable to be pampered.
Beijiao wasn’t surprised, knowing Jiang Ran wouldn’t really wait obediently in the car for him.
At this moment, as if sensing his gaze, Jiang Ran lifted her head, meeting the tall teenager’s gaze in the distance. He was holding an old travel bag, silently staring at her.
She wiped away the impatience brought by the heat on her face, stood straight, and raised her hand to wave at him.
He obediently walked over, stepping into her space, not speaking, but instinctively sniffing the air, catching the sweet scent mixed with something else…
He bent down expressionlessly, leaning closer to her and asked, “What is it?”
Jiang Ran showed him the box in her hand; inside was a slice of white cream cake with a bright red strawberry on top.
Jiang Ran took the travel bag from him without asking and handed the cake to him.
“Eat it quickly,” she said, “it’ll melt in this heat.”
Today was the last day for students not participating in the sports meet to move out of the dormitory. Around them were parents and students dragging suitcases, coming and going…
Anyone passing by couldn’t help but glance at the woman walking ahead with a travel bag in hand, holding her head high.
Behind her, at about a one-step distance, followed a boy taller than her, holding a very effeminate cake in one hand and a plastic fork in his mouth.
He didn’t seem to feel any shame, walking with complete confidence.
Yeah.
Even a stray dog has someone to take him home now.
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