Pavlov and the White Moonlight

Chapter 31

I raised my head and said, "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival Tang Shuhe, the moon is really full tonight."

Tang Shuhe took a deep breath behind my back and said, "Yes..."

I said: "Sprinkle the river and the sky with the rain in the evening, and wash away the autumn."

He froze for a moment, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "What?"

I took the diced carrot he had cut in half and continued cutting, saying, "Don't say those three words."

He said, "Okay."

He hugged me and didn't move, I went to turn off the mutton fire, he followed me as if I had a big human-shaped tail attached to my back, and didn't speak, I laughed and said, "It's alright."

He paused, rubbing his forehead against my back.I glanced up at the range hood and felt the air was filled with the smell of being finished.

That mid-autumn night was indeed like Chinese New Year.Tang Shuhe and I moved the big round table in the dining room to the living room, and ate while watching the CCTV Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. At [-]:[-] o'clock, there were even fireworks outside the window, and we looked out the window to see the residents on the roof. , Distant fireworks tip.

He leaned his arms on the table and looked at it for a while, and when I looked away, he raised his glass.

I touched him and said, "Happy Chinese New Year."

He smiled: "Yeah."

At ten o'clock, he took the initiative to leave. I sent him to the stairs. He folded his arms, buried his face in the collar of his coat, and said to me in a low voice, "Go back, it's still cold outside."

I nodded and watched him turn around and go down. He had already reached the second floor. He raised his head and said, "Go back."

I said, "You go your way."

He didn't move, raised his head, narrowly exposed his face at the corner of the stairs on the second and third floors, his eyes were bright, and said, "Can we walk the dog together tomorrow morning?"

I was a little hesitant, and he said, "Lu Bowen wants to go out and play."

I laughed: "Did it tell you?"

He said, "Go."

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I quickly waved my hands: "Okay, okay."

Tang Shuhe buried his face behind his collar, couldn't see his expression clearly, hummed, and slid down, I stood there for a while, watching him go down and come out of the unit door, with his hands in his pockets, silent, watching It looked cool, but when I walked up to the street lamp, I reached out and gave the street lamp a high five.

I laughed out loud, and turned back.There was a lingering smell of food in the house, and I fell on the sofa. The Mid-Autumn Festival Gala began to perform songs and dances. I swiped aimlessly with my mobile phone, hesitated, and clicked on Tang Shuhe's circle of friends.

...Damn, it's exactly as I expected, it's just an emotionless push and forward machine.

About two months ago, he reposted a push from X University’s official account: "Talent Introduction Plan-Assistant Professor Tang Shuhe". He pursed his lips and smiled in a suit and leather shoes. The light on the day of the photo was too strong, which made his already slender eyes slightly squinted, so cute.Below is a list of his educational experience, academic achievements, research direction and so on. I looked over one by one, the name of the shining school, the long list of papers, and suddenly realized that he has become a person who is better than leaving me. There are always better people.Looking further down, there is a photo of several students from the department chatting around him. He is sitting there with a gentle smile on his face, and when we meet again, I always feel that he is the same as when he was seventeen or eighteen Big, with a young and handsome face, but when sitting with real seventeen or eighteen-year-old children, it suddenly shows age.

What the hell, the past is like a sea.

A Mid-Autumn Festival greeting message from Liu Hongbo popped up on my mobile phone: "Lu Er, happy holidays!"

I haven't been in touch with Liu Hongbo for a long time.Others say a few words when they are overseas, that is, during Chinese New Year and festivals.I replied: "Happy holiday [flowers/][flowers/], is the Mid-Autumn Festival lively over there?"

Liu Hongbo said, "It's okay. Chinatown is busy."

After a while, he said, "I heard that Xiao Tang came back some time ago?"

I said: "Yeah."

Liu Hongbo said, "It's pretty good."

I hesitated for a while and said, "Did you meet him when you were studying?"

He said, "No, he's in Wisconsin and I'm in New York, not close. What's wrong."

I said, "It's okay... I always feel that something is wrong with him."

"Hey wait a minute," he posted, "I remembered that one year his mentor came to our school and he and some students followed him. I met him once when I was listening to the report."

He asked, "What happened to him?"

I said, "He said something went wrong when he was too stressed when he was in college. I always feel that's not the case."

"I don't feel it, it's quite normal..." he said, "He has a mental problem?"

Liu Hongbo continued: "Let's talk about something wrong. That day in the lecture hall, everyone required formal attire, and he also wore a formal attire. He wore a bracelet, which was... quite strange."

wristband.

I was struck by lightning: "Is it a black sports bracelet?"

"It's black. What is a sports bracelet?" Liu Hongbo said.

"..." I said, "He said it was given by his little niece."

"It shouldn't be," Liu Hongbo said, "How old was his niece eight years ago, was it born?"

I sat up straight with a jerk.

"Lu Er," Liu Hongbo said, "why do you ask so carefully? The two of you are going to rekindle your old relationship?"

I didn't answer.

Liu Hongbo said: "Actually, if he is sincere enough, he can give it a try. Anyway, you can't let it go."

He went on to say: "Let me just say this. Don't make overseas calls. It's very expensive. Do you remember the vacation when you graduated? Once the sea dragged him to sing in KTV. At that time, apart from you and Li Rui, We're all there."

I typed a single word with stiff fingers: "En."

He continued: "At that time we all thought you were coming, but in the end we didn't come. That day Xiao Tang was really... I don't know what happened. He was visibly irritable. He wanted to leave whatever he said, but the sea stopped him desperately, and then he took it. A phone call, and the expression changes immediately. We knew it was you."

I did.That tragic breakup call.

"He hid in the bathroom and went to answer the phone. After answering the phone, he sat down without saying a word and started drinking. No one could persuade him. He drank almost all the wine in the private room by himself. After drinking, he got up and left. You also know the amount of alcohol, you will faint when the wind blows when you go out, we said that we should call 120, he squatted there and vomited, talking about what happened today, first of all, don’t tell Lu Huai, and second, don’t tell my parents.”

"……and then?"

"Then he went home. He didn't let us accompany him, and Dahai couldn't even pat him on the back." He said.

Not even a back pat.

I sat there chilling all over.

"He is also very sad." Liu Hongbo said.

"I know." I said.

Seeing that something was wrong with me, Liu Hongbo exchanged a few pleasantries and then didn't say any more. He excused himself to go busy and went offline.I sat on the sofa for a long time and found the paradox of the matter. At least there was something wrong with the bracelet. He had worn that bracelet for at least seven or eight years. Why did he say it was given by his little niece? Who sent it?If no one gave it to him, what was he doing wearing that bracelet?

My pupils shrank suddenly.

What if, what if that bracelet was used to cover up... something?

No...he is a person who can transfer to the liberal arts class in the [-]th grade of high school. In order to resist his parents, he can go through the window to take the exam. He is a person who has successfully completed his undergraduate, master, and Ph. The person for the core journal papers, he is...he was the one who was beaten to the point of bleeding by his biological father, and who could comfort me not to cry.

How could he do such a thing that hurt himself because of the language barrier and the pressure of studying?

My thoughts were running all the way to the scariest place - what if something more terrible than "stress" happened?

I shook my head vigorously.

Or maybe it’s not that complicated, it’s just a more commemorative bracelet, given by a special person, and I wear it... Fuck, what a special person, didn’t he tell me that he was always alone? His things are not so precious.

I didn't sleep well that night. I didn't have any nightmares. I just kept waking up and sleeping in pieces. It was finally dawn the next day. I realized that I was probably looking forward to meeting him more than him this time. I eagerly Wondering if there's real...covering something under his wristband.As long as he didn't hurt himself, as long as it wasn't like that, the rest is up to you.

I put on my clothes and went out as if I was sleepwalking, wishing I didn't even bring the dog, and went directly to ask him what happened to the bracelet.Tang Shuhe was waiting for me at the artificial lake in our community. He was wearing casual clothes. Looking younger, he waved at me with a spring breeze. When I approached him, he froze for a moment, and said softly, "What's wrong, morning Are you in a bad mood?"

"No, I'm a little sleepy." I said, sprinkled the fish food into the artificial lake, and said bluntly, "The weather is fine today."

Lu Bowen went to see the fish, and he ignored Tang Shuhe's Corgi. The two dogs were playing with each other. I took a look and said, "Hold your little Ji, he has short legs and can easily fall into the water."

He responded, tightened the leash, and explained, "It's called Xiao Ke."

I said, "Oh. Your bracelet looks pretty."

Tang Shuhe: "..."

Fuck, I didn't expect me to get excited about "Corgi's short legs are easy to fall into the water", but I would go straight to the topic of "Bracelets look good". Tang Shuhe's face was as stiff as my skill of raising the topic , he touched his left wrist subconsciously, and said, "Why bring this up all of a sudden."

Can I not mention it? I've been thinking about it all night.I said: "...I just saw it, ask. Can you let me see it, I will give it to my little nephew."

He nodded with an unclear expression, stretched out his left wrist in front of me, and I said, "I'll take it off and see if it's okay."

He said, "Wait a minute."

He took off the ring and handed it to me, then lowered his left hand. At that time, I noticed that he made a movement of hiding his wrist, his head buzzed, and his throat tightened: "What is on your wrist?"

He said, "No."

I said, "Let me take a look!"

He said, "Don't look at it."

I stretched out my hand to grab his wrist, and his face turned pale immediately, trying to fight me: "Don't... what's the matter with you, what's the matter with you today."

I couldn't chat with him in front of so many people by the artificial lake, so I supported his shoulder and said, "Let me take a look at your wrist."

He looked aside and said, "Don't laugh at me when you look at it."

I was almost sweating: "Why the hell am I laughing at you?"

He hesitated and raised the inside of his wrist to show me.

At that time, I was so nervous that my eyes were blurred. At first glance, I could only see a blue and black line. When I looked carefully, I found that it was two lines of cursive English. The words were black and dense, and the ink was vertical and horizontal. sonnets.

You are so strongly in my purposebred, That all the world besides mehinks are dead.

You are so ingrained in my heart that all the world is dead but you.

I squeezed his wrist, stunned for a long time, and said, "Well, why are you covering it up?"

He rubbed his nose a little embarrassedly, and said, "The head of the department said young teachers are not allowed to have tattoos."

I:"……"

He smiled and said, "Why are you so nervous."

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