Lovely Allergen - Chap 33
The news about Xu Qichen had also spread to Peiya. Compared to Jingjian, who was at the center of the storm, Peiya’s students were not much calmer. They gossiped regardless of the audience. The rumors were exaggerated, and there were all kinds of bizarre versions, each more bizarre than the last.
The rumors unscrupulously changed Xu Qichen’s personality and behavior. As the people spreading the rumors, they had never seen him in person, but they seemed to know him the best. “Heard,” “Said,” “I saw his face,” “It’s all over the place …” In these illogical and illusory words, the person involved was already unrecognizable.
The second day after the training ended, Song Yu returned to school. In the cafeteria, the boys sitting at the same table talked about this topic.
“Hey, Jingjian, did you guys hear? A boy is having an affair with a male teacher.” Relying on the fact that he had the same sexual orientation as most people, he spoke with a sense of superiority. “That’s disgusting. A guy actually likes guys. Luckily he’s not in our school, or I wouldn’t dare to come to school.” The rest of the people heard this and laughed.
Qin Yan picked up some food with his chopsticks and threw it back onto the plate. He said carelessly, “Come on. There are girls everywhere who like guys. It’s not like they like every guy they see, right? It’s the same for guys who like the same sex. ”
The other party was stung by his words and felt embarrassed. “What’s wrong with that? You don’t like people talking about you liking guys? Don’t tell me you like guys too? ”
Qin Yan put down his chopsticks. “To be honest, I like long, straight, and pretty girls. But if I really become gay one day, I won’t like people from the Qing Dynasty.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Yu, who had been in a bad mood, stood up with his plate of food and left with a sullen face. Qin Yan saw this and followed him out with his plate.
Four days after returning from the training, he finally received a reply from Xia Zhixu on WeChat.
[Xia Zhixu: I’m fine.]
Song Yu did not think so. The people around them were very noisy, so his deskmate took the opportunity to catch up on sleep. He typed a message.
[Song Yu: If you want to play basketball with me, you can find me on the weekends.]
He rarely cared about others, but when it came to Xia Zhixu, Song Yu couldn’t just stand by and watch. Perhaps it was because he happened to be a witness, or perhaps it was because he really saw Xia Zhixu as his mirror.
The mirror was broken, and so was his reflection in it.
The sky was overcast and it was raining. It was a drizzle that was rarely seen in this city. It sprinkled down like needles. Song Yu looked out of the window in a daze. That day when he came back from training, the scene at the gate of Peiya University appeared in his mind again.
It was hard for him to describe the feeling of being hugged by Le Zhishi after witnessing a bloody failure.
If one had to describe it, it would probably be drinking poison to quench one’s thirst.
That day, Le Zhishi did not ask anything. He only consoled her and said, “Let’s go home and watch a documentary together, okay?”
It was as if he was a child, while Le Zhishi was actually a very mature adult.
It was their first time walking home from school. The road was very long. Le Zhishi stuck close to him all the way, telling him many happy things in school. He also said that Aunt Rong’s friend’s border herder had a baby. He went to see it and it was very cute.
Le Zhishi was never tired of trying to convey warmth to Song Yu.
But Song Yu did not give much of a response.
When he first saw the post, Song Yu thought of retreating. He thought, “Forget it. It’s too dangerous. Even God is trying to warn me.” But when he really faced Le Zhishi, he could not make such a decisive retreat.
He was indeed not mature at all.
In the end, Song Yu did not give the handmade picture album to Le Zhishi. He kept it in his bag. Sometimes when he took the teaching assistant, he would see it, but he pretended not to see it. Later, he stuffed it into a drawer, under many books.
After class, he leaned on the table and closed his eyes to rest. His phone vibrated.
[Xia Zhixu: I can’t delay your revision. Call after the exam.]
Before he could reply, a new message appeared in the dialog box.
[Xia Zhixu: I finally saw him just now, but he doesn’t seem to want to see me. He said he’s not gay and doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore.]
[Xia Zhixu: You asked me to give it a try. It seems like I don’t have the chance.]
The night of the blackout, the lame pigeon analogy, and Xia Zhixu’s conservative imagination. All of this seemed to have been foreshadowed. Song Yu thought that before this incident, if Xia Zhixu backed down again, he could push him by the shoulder and tell him, “I don’t think so.”
But now, he could not say that sentence.
A more likely successful example had ended in a bloody way in front of Song Yu. He thought he was mature enough to give a shot of confidence to another person who was similar to him. He wanted to catalyze the desired outcome. Was he so noble that he wanted to fulfill someone else’s love? Of course not.
Song Yu knew that he was just looking for a successful example that was close at hand to inspire himself.
In the end, he was still too young.
He could never guess what would happen tomorrow.
Le Zhishi would occasionally think of Song Yu’s appearance on the day he returned to school.
His fatigue did not seem to last long. After returning home, Song Yu did not want to watch the documentary with him. Instead, he locked himself in his room. When he came out again, he became the calm Song Yu from before.
Although his words and actions were not much different from before he went to the training, Le Zhishi felt that Song Yu had changed a little. He spoke fewer words than before, and he refused to express himself.
When he went to school after the monthly break, Le Zhishi also heard the rumors about Xu Qichen. Every person who tried to maliciously criticize Xu Qichen in front of him was directly opposed by Le Zhishi.
He firmly believed that Xu Qichen was not the kind of person they said he was, but these things left a shadow in Le Zhishi’s heart.
So there were boys who liked boys.
From childhood, they were taught that opposites attracted, and there were few other possibilities. From the beginning, they had the same presupposition. The germination and awakening of consciousness could only begin with suspicion.
Le Zhishi could not help but think back to the rainy day when he first met them. He thought about the subtle connection between Xu Qichen and Xia Zhixu. He felt like he had discovered something, but it was not clear enough.
He was about to fall asleep, but he turned over and turned on his phone to search for the answer on the search engine.
In the morning, Le Zhishi almost overslept. He only woke up with a start when he heard Lin Rong knocking on the door. His phone was already out of battery. He quickly washed up and saw Song Yu standing in the living room. He was taking off his school shirt. The lean muscles on his back covered his bones and moved with the movement.
Le Zhishi suddenly had a strange feeling and stopped in place.
Lin Rong fetched another school shirt. “This should be dry. I took the wrong one. No wonder it’s a little wet. Here.” She handed the shirt to Song Yu and looked up to see Le Zhishi frozen in place. She urged, “Le, why are you still in a daze? Hurry up and eat something to go to class. I can drive you guys today.”
Song Yu put on the new shirt and turned around. Le Zhishi’s eyes met briefly.
Le Zhishi’s fingers felt like they had been electrocuted. He lowered his eyes and hurried downstairs to pack.
Lin Rong drove a small A-grade car. Le Zhishi followed Song Yu into the car and sat close to the car window. There was quite a distance between the two of them.
Lin Rong glanced at him from the rearview mirror and teased, “Le, you’ve grown up.”
Le Zhishi did not understand. “Huh?”
“You used to want to stick to your brother.” She smiled beautifully. The pearl earrings on her earlobes jiggled. “Like a little pendant.”
Upon hearing this, Song Yu and Le Zhishi both turned to look at the distance between them. Two seconds later, Song Yu turned to look at the scenery while Le Zhishi stared at the bag on his lap.
“It’s a little hot sticking to me,” Le Zhishi explained without much confidence.
Two weeks before the college entrance exam, Le Zhishi had been sick. His stomach was not feeling well and he even had a fever once.
He was afraid that his family would be worried, so he secretly went to a nearby clinic. The old doctor sitting inside only glanced at him and said that many students had come to see a doctor recently. They were in a similar situation as him. They were all suffering from stress before the exam.
“Don’t be nervous. The more nervous you are, the more uncomfortable you will feel.” The doctor did a general examination. After sitting down, he took out a medical record from the drawer and glanced at the calendar. “Oh, it’s the second today. The college entrance exam is indeed in a few days.”
He wrote quickly without looking up. “What’s your name? How old are you?”
Le Zhishi said his name. “15.” He sat on the chair opposite him and said honestly, “I’m not taking the college entrance exam.”
“15?” The doctor pushed his presbyopia up the bridge of his nose. “Ah? I say, you look quite young. You don’t look like you’re taking the college entrance exam. Are you nervous because of the exam? ”
“I don’t think so,” Le Zhishi said. “But I’m a little nervous. I can’t sleep well at night.” He added, “My brother is taking the college entrance exam.”
“You’re worried about him.” The doctor seemed to find it funny. “You should be worried about yourself, silly child.”
Le Zhishi took a pile of medicine home. After taking it for two days, his symptoms were much better.
The school informed the junior high department that it would be vacated for the college entrance exam in a few days. Everyone began to move their books home bit by bit and waited for the exam room to be set up. From the exam room to the end of the college entrance exam, the junior high students were on holiday at home. Le Zhishi could only revise at home.
He was hungry from reading, so he went downstairs to find something to eat. Lin Rong happened to be video-chatting with her friend. Lin Rong called him over to greet her. Le Zhishi took the pudding and sat down. He politely greeted her.
“Good boy. You’ve become more handsome. Hey, Lin Rong, your sons are going to take the exam, right? ”
“Yes.” Lin Rong’s face changed in a second. She put her hand on her heart. “I hope they’re healthy. After the exam, we’ll go on a trip.”
“You’re really something. Their parents are worried about their grades. You only know how to play. Hey, do you know Chen Xiaomei? She’s a doctor. The day before yesterday, she went to Guiyuan Temple to burn incense for her daughter. ”
Lin Rong laughed. “Did it work?”
“She heard about it from others. Someone said that she was a thief. It made me want to burn incense.”
“I’m too lazy to go. It’s too troublesome. My boss won’t appreciate it. ”
Le Zhishi listened. After eating the pudding, he went upstairs. He turned on the computer and searched for Guiyuan Temple. He didn’t expect that it was full of good reviews. Le Zhishi had been educated about atheism since he was a child. However, he saw a comment that made sense. It said that if you believe in it, it will happen.
What’s more, he felt unhappy when he thought that in the same exam room, someone had burned incense, prayed for God, and had an amulet. However, Song Yu didn’t have anything.
What others had, his brother had to have.
Le Zhishi was a man of action. The next morning, he took the money he needed and ran out with the excuse of going to KFC to review with his classmates. Guiyuan Temple was far from home. He took the subway, bus, and shared a bicycle for a long time before he arrived at the destination.
As the exam was approaching, the temple was crowded. Le Zhishi went in and found that there was no guide. He could only follow other pilgrims. Guiyuan Temple was bigger than he had imagined. Most of the buildings were similar. He walked around in a daze, asking for directions along the way. There were also many Bodhisattva and Buddha statues. Just the 500 arhats made Le Zhishi dizzy. He spent the whole morning praying for what he wanted.
When he was burning incense, he carefully observed the other people. When it was his turn, he bowed and prayed very seriously.
Please, you must bless Big Brother and ensure that everything goes smoothly. He prayed sincerely to the Bodhisattva.
Before he left, Le Zhishi drew a lot. Another pilgrim teased him, “You’re here to burn incense at such a young age. Can you understand it?”
The words on the lot were similar to ancient poems. Le Zhishi honestly said that he didn’t understand and asked him to help explain.
“Did you draw it for yourself? What are you asking for? ”
“No, I’m asking for my brother.” Le Zhishi was afraid that he would forget to interpret the lot, so he took out his phone and said that he wanted to record it.
The other person pushed up his glasses, “I see.” After the other person finished speaking, he handed the lot to him, “Aren’t you going to ask for a lot for yourself? It’s not easy to come all the way here. ”
What he said made sense. So Le Zhishi drew another lot and asked this expert to help him interpret it and bring it home.
Sitting on the bus, Le Zhishi was so tired that he fell asleep. In the end, he accidentally missed the stop and got off at an unfamiliar stop. He reversed the bus in the opposite direction. He squeezed into the subway with an empty stomach. He was mentally exhausted. It was as if he had experienced a journey to the west.
In the subway, he took out the two lots and looked at the words corresponding to the interpretation of the lot. At first, for Song Yu, it was the number 169 Venerable Guan Shen among the 500 Arhats. Later, for himself, it was the number 015 Venerable Buddha Mita. In comparison, he felt that the lot he got for himself had a better meaning.
In the evening, Song Yu came back from school. It was the last day before the exam, so school ended early.
After the end of the training, it was the sprinting period. Song Yu did not go to school with Le Zhishi anymore. Even when he was home, Song Yu would revise in his room and not come out.
Le Zhishi was also in the critical period of preparing for the exam. Because of some unexplainable feelings, he did not take the initiative to look for Song Yu recently.
Although they were under the same roof, the two of them were subtly separated.
It started to rain again. Every year, it would rain here for the college entrance exam. Le Zhishi could not help but worry about it. He always felt that rain was not a good thing. Hearing movement from downstairs, he opened the door. After confirming that Song Yu had returned, he stood at the door of his bedroom and waited.
Song Yu went up to the last step of the stairs. He turned his head and looked. His eyes brightened a little, but his lowered eyelashes suppressed the light.
“What’s the matter?” He walked over.
Le Zhishi had his hands behind his back. The soft light from the corridor contrasted with his innocent eyes. It reminded Song Yu of the text message he had sent. It seemed that he did have a misunderstanding. Le Zhishi would not be angry because of such words.
“Brother, I have something to give you.” Le Zhishi walked closer.
However, Song Yu did not seem to have any intention of opening the door. He just stood there. “What?”
Le Zhishi did not want Lin Rong to know. He felt that it was embarrassing for him to go to the temple, so he tried again. “Can I go in? It will only take a while. ”
“Just here.” Song Yu stood still and said the answer he had guessed. “If you made any handicrafts or something else, just give it to me.”
Downstairs, Lin Rong happened to look up. “Why are you two standing in the corridor? Le, do you want some juice? ”
Le Zhishi quickly shook his head. “I don’t want to drink.” He turned his face again and showed a pitiful expression to Song Yu. However, he had no intention of giving up. This time, however, he did not reach out to hold his wrist. His large, transparent, light-colored eyes were full of innocence and conveyed a feeling of pity.
Song Yu sometimes suspected that Le Zhishi actually knew that he could not refuse him. That was because he always had a sense of propriety. When he raised his foot, it was just a little higher than the threshold he set.
He turned around and opened the door. He walked in and turned on the lights. Then, he dismissed his conjecture.
Actually, that was not right.
In fact, he did not have any threshold for Le Zhishi.
It was already summer. The white wool carpet in the bedroom was removed, and it was back to the cold and impersonal space. Le Zhishi closed the door and went straight to the point. He handed the amulet in his hand to Song Yu.
“This is the amulet I went to the Guiyuan Temple to ask for. They said it’s very effective.” Le Zhishi was afraid that he would not accept it. Like an insurance salesman, he quickly introduced it. “Do you know? There are a lot of people who go there to burn incense. Many of them ask for this amulet. It’s said that it has been blessed. It’s so big and messy. I walked around all morning before I found it. Also, when people burn incense, they kowtow three times and kowtow three times. I kowtow one more time than others. The Bodhisattva must be able to see my sincerity. ”
Song Yu lowered his head and looked at the so-called consecrated talisman in his hand. Listening to his endless words, he could already see the image of this fool running around the temple.
If he said he would kowtow one more time, he would definitely kowtow more than once.
“Thank you.” Song Yu put the amulet on the table and did not say anything else.
The tacit understanding between them told Le Zhishi that his brother meant that he could leave. He began to feel sad. He felt that his brother was just like Aunt Rong. He did not believe in such things.
“You’re welcome.” Le Zhishi sniffed. His next sentence became very jumpy. “Tonight’s rain will last until tomorrow morning.”
Song Yu saw that he was standing there and did not want to leave. He was a little shaken. They faced each other and were silent for about five seconds. Just as Le Zhishi chose to give up and turn to leave, Song Yu spoke.
“Which Bodhisattva are you praying to?” He picked up the amulet on the table and asked a strange question.
Obviously, Le Zhishi was stumped by the question. He looked up at Song Yu in a daze, thinking about the answer in his mind.
When he entered the Guiyuan Temple, he only wanted to find the amulet. After walking around for a long time, he finally found one. There were many people, so he followed behind and waited in line to pray. Which Bodhisattva exactly …
He could not remember. Le Zhishi frowned and pretended to blame him. “Bodhisattvas are immortals. How can you pick a Bodhisattva?”
Song Yu sighed silently.
He now suspected that Le Zhishi was really Lin Rong’s biological son, and that he was the one who was adopted.
Not long after, Le Zhishi spoke again. “Oh, I remember now. I prayed to the double-faced Guanyin.” His eyes lit up after he said that. His expression seemed to say, “Isn’t that amazing? Guanyin, and double-faced.”
Song Yu nodded. In front of him, he put the lot into the exam bag that he was going to take with him tomorrow, together with his stationery and ID.
While his brother lowered his head to zip up, Le Zhishi hurriedly took out the two lots that he had asked for before he left the temple. He handed the one with Buddha Mita on it to Song Yu and solemnly told him that it was for him.
“Mine?” Song Yu looked down at the words on the lot.
[There is a happy Buddha in the West who promotes laughter in the world. His future is free to do whatever he wants. Everything can be accomplished without worries.]
No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem to be his.
Le Zhishi nodded. “Yes, when I was drawing the lot, there was an expert next to me who was very knowledgeable about this. He told me that this was the best lot, and that it was especially auspicious. He also said that the meaning of this lot was that the person who drew this lot was merciful and kind. He would always be carefree, have a bright future, and everything would go smoothly. No matter what he wanted, he would get what he wanted. ”
Get what he wanted.
With this explanation, it was even more unlikely.
Song Yu glanced at him and saw that he was holding another lot in his hand. Before he could say anything, Le Zhishi immediately grasped it sensitively and explained, “This is mine.”
Song Yu reached out his hand. “Let me see.”
He took the other lot from his hand. In fact, it was a little better than Song Yu had imagined. It was Venerable Guanyin. He thought that it was some terrible bad lot.
[Observing the fish in the abyss is inauspicious. Wisdom hidden will bring disaster. Put aside your worries and let nature take its course.]
“This isn’t the best lot, but it’s not that bad either.” Le Zhishi wanted to take it back, but Song Yu didn’t intend to give it to him and wanted him to explain. Le Zhishi could only say simply, “It’s just letting nature take its course.”
In order to prove that these things were really effective, he added, “It’s so accurate. I seem to have reached a bottleneck in my revision recently. I’m very nervous. It seems that this Bodhisattva is telling me not to worry about this and to resign myself to fate.”
After his explanation, Song Yu’s lips curled up as if he was smiling. He returned the lot in his hand to Le Zhishi and let him resign himself to fate and go back to sleep.
Le Zhishi didn’t force him to stay this time. He knew that he couldn’t disturb him anymore and was afraid that he would expose himself, so he went back quickly.
After the door was closed, Song Yu sat back at the table alone. He glanced at the red amulet in the transparent exam bag and then looked at the lot in his hand. The words on it seemed to be some kind of reminder, hinting and foretelling something.
To be able to see the fish in the abyss was an inauspicious thing. To be able to spy on other people’s private affairs would bring disaster. The smarter one was, the easier it was to fall into the mire. Only by temporarily letting go of himself, letting go of these unnecessary worries and letting nature take its course would he be able to last.
Song Yu suddenly realized that the person who went to the ancient temple was Le Zhishi, the person who believed in these mysterious teachings was himself, the person who drew the lot was Le Zhishi, and the person who understood the scriptures was himself.
Because Le Zhishi was not confused or troubled. He was not a believer who was trapped in the sea of bitterness and urgently needed to be enlightened. He only cared about whether he could draw the best lot that could be given to Song Yu.
Even if there was only one lot, Le Zhishi would happily give him the best one.
Seeing this, Song Yu felt that he was even more hopeless.
