Eighteen

At the end of the summer, Lin Jian stayed at home with "Pi Dan", the name Lin Jian gave to his puppy.

At the beginning of his senior year, Lin Jian officially entered the most intense and critical year of high school.

He was so preoccupied with his overall preparation for the exams that he was no longer involved in He Zhou's case.

Senior year, even the class of the most tricky bone in the classroom on time into the classroom point, even if the final still can not support drowsy, that must sleep on the desk in the sea of questions, the beautiful name is, the heart is solid.

The evening study time was extended by forty minutes, and it was already after ten o'clock when he arrived home every day. However, unlike before, even if Shen Ke was not at home, he was no longer greeted by the large but empty villa, but by the puppy that would pounce on him every day when he opened the door, circling around his trouser leg and holding his slippers.

If Shen Ke is at home, they will put a leash on Pi Dan and take him out for a walk, both to walk the dog and to let Lin Jian relax his nerves.

Sometimes they were in the yard, sometimes they would walk a few laps along the perimeter of the cottage, and occasionally, if the weather was nice and early, they would take him up the hill.

It must be said that the Border Collie's IQ is really high, plus PiDan is so well tamed that sometimes Lin Jian thinks that this dog is practically a genie, no different from a normal child.

The first time he expressed this opinion, Shen Ke was squatting on the ground tying a leash on Pee Wee, when he said, "Hmmm," and lifted his eyes with a sporadic smile, "Just as smart as you were when you were a kid."

Lin Jian first froze, but then he stood still, glaring coldly, Shen Ke stood up, holding Pi Dan with one hand, the other hand on his back, laughing: "It's almost winter, don't let the cold air in - go, come back and you can still go to bed early. "

He led the way with the dog, Lin Jian pursing her lips as she followed, and when they weren't chatting, the two of them stayed no more than two steps apart from each other.

Many times, Lin Jian walks behind him, letting his obsessive thoughts break free for a very short period of time, tracing the back of the person in front of him with his sight in a reckless manner.

Every now and then he would think, that's enough, no need to walk alongside him, no need to go further, even if he was only given such a short distance to travel, to be able to follow him quietly, it would be good.

He doesn't need Shen Ke to look back, or even for him to purposely slow down and glance back, from now until he leaves after the high school entrance exam, a stretch of road, a few months, he can walk on it a few times in its entirety, and it's considered an obsession that's been fulfilled.

However, life is always full of this or that kind of accident, seemingly unperturbed surface, but in fact, it is often a mountain of rain.

The winter vacation of senior high school is only a short week, that is, two days before the vacation, Lin Jian inadvertently learned that He Zhou for repeated extortion of minors, and the amount of money is particularly large, and accompanied by violence and injury, was sentenced to ten years.

He said he learned of it by accident, but in fact it was because He Xi had found the school, blocked him in the doorway of the evening study hall, and cried and begged Lin Jian to issue a civil letter of understanding, so as to get a reduced sentence for He Zhou.

Once the cheeks of the young girl has been coarse life polished into the appearance of a middle-aged woman, she grasped Lin Jian's arm, tearful bitter pleading: "Xiao Jian, your brother is a bastard, he is damned, shot him are not wrong ...... But, at least we have a blood relationship! ...... After all, you called him a brother when you were a child, counting sister ...... counting me begging you, begging you okay?"

Lin Jian couldn't understand such an almost stupid and blind view of affection, and as far as he knew, He Xi was also tormented by her uneducated brother all these years, and her own life and family were already in a mess, so how could she come to the end of the day to cry and plead for him instead.

Perhaps because she was born with an indifferent relationship, Lin Jian couldn't empathize with her or be moved by her, so she calmly refused her request.

He Xi did not pester, just a pair of red eyes staring at him, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Lin Jian, you deserve to be the fate of the Heavenly Fate, deserve to have your closest family members separated from each other, your whole life, and that's it!"

Is that so? Lin Jian laughed in his heart, but so what?

This year's Spring Festival was still spent in the Shen family mansion, but unlike previous years, Lin Jian already knew that the day before the Spring Festival was Shen Ke's birthday, so no matter how much pressure there was from schoolwork and reviewing, he was sure to give this birthday gift.

However, the birthday person half of the birthday girl's self-consciousness is not, Lunar New Year 29 this day, Shen Ke early in the morning was picked up by the driver, hurriedly even said "Happy Birthday" time did not leave Lin Jian.

Luckily, Lin Jian had already gotten used to his carefree demeanor, and after washing up in the morning, he took the bus to the city center by himself, ready to go to the mall to pick out a birthday gift for Shen Ke.

Over the years, Shen Ke has given him countless things, each of which seems to have calculated his intentions in general, just right, right in the heart, and now that his status has been switched, and it is he who chooses the gifts for Shen Ke, he is a bit at a loss.

What does Shen Ke like? Nothing that he particularly resists or dislikes, but nothing that he particularly loves either. It seems that for so many years, he seems to like and dislike whatever he wants, but in reality, all of his personal desires and favoritism are covered up by the word "casual", so that no one can see a trace of clues.

So, what does Shen Ke lack? Obviously, the answer to that is even more obvious - a man like him lacks even less of anything.

Lin Jian walks aimlessly from one counter to another, clueless but still stubbornly trying to make a choice, like stubbornly wanting to leave Shen Ke with something of his own.

The overhead lights in the luxury section of the mall were glaringly bright, and Lin Jian was passing by a counter when she glanced over her shoulder and was suddenly struck by a flash of cold light.

He slowed his pace and walked over, leaning down to see a pair of men's cufflinks.

Very simple styling design, the body of the cufflinks is a cut into eight hearts and eight arrows of aquamarine, surrounded by a circle of crushed diamonds, under the lights, luxurious and understated, introverted and dazzling.

Lin Jian pursed her lips to try to imagine what Shen Ke would look like when she wore it, and by the time she came back to her senses, she was already walking out of the mall with a gift bag from that store.

It wasn't until the cold wind blew that Lin Jian came to his senses - a five-figure pair of cufflinks, tsk, it's true that color makes you stupid.

It was almost lunchtime, but Shen Ke had left a note that he wouldn't be back until the evening, so he still had most of the day free and was in no hurry to turn back.

On the day before the New Year, the streets and alleys were decorated with red lights, and Lin Jian seemed to feel a little bit of joy when she walked into the hustle and bustle.

The street is full of pedestrians, red men and women, young and old, but all are a smiling face, Lin Jian stared at, suddenly understood a little bit of the meaning of the so-called holiday, the corners of the mouth unconsciously drew a little arc.

This lightheartedness lasted until Shen Ke returned in the evening.

At 8pm, Shen Ke enters the room, wrapped in the cold air, and is immediately greeted by the warmth of the room.

He hung up his coat, bent down and copied the skinny egg that had come running at the sound of his voice, followed the light to the kitchen door, and wondered, "What are you doing?"

Lin Jian heard the footsteps early, did not turn back and said, "Cooking dinner, you -" still did not hold back to look back at Shen Ke a glance, quickly retracted his gaze, commanded, "Put the dog down, are how big a is a big one, still always hold, go and wash your hands."

Shen Ke couldn't help himself, "Why are you lecturing me in the same tone as you lectured Pee Wee? It's a real paradox."

That said, he did as he was told and put down the furry child in his arms and went to wash his hands.

By the time Shen Ke came out from the first floor restroom, Lin Jian had already brought the dishes from the kitchen to the table one after another. Shen Ke took a seat at the table, looking at the dishes on the table, which could be described as a jade plate of delicacies, it was hard not to praise him: "Little Chinese pawnbroker, huh?"

"Have some common sense, that's Japanese anime." Lin Jian sat down across from him and put a bowl of lotus root and big bone soup into Shen Ke's hand, "Warm up your stomach before you eat."

Shen Ke sighed silently in the bottom of his heart: it s ...... really sweet.

However, on second thought, like Lin Jian, such a clean and upright and excellent character, character ...... well, although the character is a bit frozen, but now the young people do not eat the cool schoolboy this persona, he is so well raised green young man, all outstanding, actually there will be people who do not like it?

I don't know what kind of person Lin Jian is looking at, what kind of person has higher eyes than the sky.

"Thinking about what?" Lin Jian asked out loud when he saw Shen Ke pondering with his soup bowl.

"Oh." Shen Ke returns to his senses and smiles a little, "Was wondering why you were suddenly cooking yourself today, well ...... it's been a long time since I've tasted Master Xiao Lin's handiwork."

Lin Jian looked at him flatly and steadily for a few seconds, her lips moving with a somewhat speechless expression, but in the end she didn't say anything, just got up and went to the kitchen, bringing the tray out of the oven and returning it to the table.

Shen Ke froze at the sudden appearance of the "minimalist" cake on the table.

In the middle of the day, the surprise in his eyes dissipated, and a soft smile was reflected again as he said in realization, "Oh, so it's for my birthday."

Lin Jian cut a small piece of cake and pushed it in front of him, saying in a faint voice, "I beat the cream and cake embryo myself, it shouldn't be as good as the one you made before."

The corners of his mouth were a little tense, along with his expression, but Shen Ke could see through it with a single glance that it was a habit from his early childhood, that whenever he was embarrassed or embarrassed, he would not hide away like other little children, but would instead say with a cold, expressionless little face, words of hidden anticipation.

Even though so many years had passed and the once milky doughnut had grown into a lone, self-possessed teenager, the habit hadn't changed a bit.

Shen Ke sighed softly, a little saddened by the shortness of time, he scooped a small piece of cake into his mouth and swallowed it down for a few seconds before saying, "Nonsense, it's much better than what I make."

Hearing him say this, Lin Jian's tense shoulders and back finally slowly relaxed their strength, and the corner of his mouth curled into a not-so-obvious smile.

"And this." Lin Jian took that small gift box out, opened it and turned the inside towards Shen Ke, paused for a moment, and said in a low voice, "I can't think of anything new, and it's not worth mentioning compared to the gifts you gave me before, but ...... still, I want to wish you a happy birthday. "

Shen Ke took the exquisite velvet gift box from him, and his fingertips inadvertently brushed against Lin Jian's knuckles, which were actually cold when they touched.

The heat in the house is on full blast, and you don't feel cold in a short-sleeved home t-shirt, so the coolness on Lin Jian's hands means only one thing - he's nervous.

Shen Ke looked at the magnificent crystalline pair of huabao in front of him, his heart moved slightly, and he whispered, "It's beautiful, thank you, I like it very much."

Lin Jian half-convinced, frowned and asked, "Really?"

Shen Ke leveled his gaze from the cufflinks to Lin Jian's face and smiled, "Why don't I go change my shirt now and bring it right away?"

"...... No need." Lin Jian resumed his seat, a bit of obvious laughter finally in his voice, "Twenty-nine years old, be a bit more stable ...... Eat first."

It was Lin Jian's first birthday celebration for Shen Ke, which was plain and cozy, so simple that it seemed to be just a silhouette of their daily life.

The teenager at that time secretly mused that there would be many more yesterdays and days between them, and that all he asked for was the most unusual companionship.

However, time knows no bounds, but those who are carried forward by the torrent of time are always an afterthought.

*

At the beginning of June, Lin Jian entered the college entrance examination room to face the college entrance examination together with thousands of students.

Three consecutive days of exams, the end of the moment out of the examination room, it is simply a sluggish autumn wind today and again, changed the world.

After the college entrance examination, the time is all of a sudden more up, Lin Jian at first still a little uncomfortable, the whole person used to the clockwork tense state, suddenly returned to the life of ease and leisure, a time actually some some confusion.

Cell phone, a few people pulled the small group has long been exploded, from the day after the exam vacation, every day unread messages are 99 +, Lin Jian began to have nothing to do, will also look at Qin Le Xu Yang, several of them every day in the group gags, see the chat content is more and more nutritious, and finally simply set up a do not disturb.

About a week after the exam, Shen Ke asked him once inadvertently if he wanted to go out and have a graduation trip now that he had more time.

Lin Jian thought about it, but said no.

He'd be able to check his grades at the end of June, and if the acceptance letter came in the mail without any problems, he'd be left with only about two months, and in the time he had left, he didn't want to go anywhere but to settle in, to stay in the few companionships he had.

Shen Ke didn't say anything, but only mentioned one thing at the end, "Didn't you say you wanted to go skydiving before? I'll take you there when the acceptance letter arrives, how about it?"

Lin Jian thought for a moment and said, "Go after your birthday, as a gift from you."

Shen Ke smiled and just said let him be.

At the beginning of August, Lin Jian received a letter of acceptance from Tsinghua University's School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture Department, majoring in Landscape Architecture.

When Shen Ke was filling out the application form, he knew that he wanted to apply to Tsinghua University, but he thought Lin Jian would choose the direction of the Department of Mathematics, but he didn't think that the teenager would not say a word, and threw himself directly into the philosophical beauty of the landscape, flowers and trees.

At that time, Shen Ke nestled in the villa sun room recliner, surrounded by fuzzy, fragrant sea, he slightly frowned, slightly puzzled, asked Lin Jian: "Landscape Architecture ...... are you sure you like this profession?"

Lin Jian was squatting next to a pink doughnut hydrangea to move the pot and change the soil, sniffing quietly for two seconds, and replied in a low voice, "Love it, especially love it."

Shen Ke couldn't help but "tsk", "How come I don't know you ......?"

"There are many things you don't know." Lin Jian picked up the flower pot, with wet soil still clinging to his fingers, and walked to the flower stand and touched the edge of Shen Ke's shoe with his toe, "Make way, it's in the way."

"......" Shen Ke silently lowered the leg resting on the recliner's stirrups and made way for the future Master Lin.

All right, like it.

Mid-August, Lin Jian's 18th birthday.

Because he skipped a grade early in life, he was a year younger than those who graduated at the same age. While others usually come of age during their sophomore year, Lin Jian's bar mitzvah waited until the summer he graduated from high school.

For the Shen family, this summer Lin Jian celebrated both his high school graduation and his 18th birthday, which can be considered as the same joy and celebration, and Shen Zhangqian personally instructed to make sure that it must be grand and luxurious, and to give Lin Jian a most unforgettable and precious coming-of-age ceremony.

Lin Jian was actually indifferent to such a birthday banquet, but Master Shen's hospitality made it difficult for him to refuse.

He originally thought that this bar mitzvah was nothing more than a social dinner where high society chips and lights were intertwined, just a legitimate occasion for the many business celebrities to climb the friendship ladder with Shen, but when Shen Ke placed the invitation in front of him, he realized that it wasn't like that at all.

Only Lin Jian familiar with a few Shen family members on the invitation, most of them are his peers, the rest is Cheng Youjun a few of the "general" who watched him grow up, Shen Ke pointed to the blank part and said: "The rest of the list of people to be invited you make the decision, play well with the classmates, favorite teachers in the past few years can be invited. The rest of the invitation list is up to you, the classmates who play well together and the teachers who have been your favorites in the past few years can all be invited."

Lin Jian looked at the familiar names and was slightly surprised, "Are ...... only these people?"

Shen Ke smiled and said, "Otherwise, for your birthday party, the main character should be you."

Lin Jian pressed her palm against the foiled invitation and said softly, "I don't have similar experience, will I screw up?"

"What kind of experience do I need for my birthday?" Shen Ke warmly pacified, "Invite your good classmates together, you young people should play and eat, the hotel rooms prepared in advance, crazy too late to stay directly, tomorrow send a car to send them back."

The venue for the birthday dinner was at the Rinku Mansion, the tallest building in the city.

That night, the river water like a mirror, reflecting the light of the stars in the night sky, seems to be broken on the surface of the river a layer of shiny ice floes. The night wind, the starlight swaying with the waves, slowly swinging towards the towering building body, not yet close to the river will be messed up as Lan, scattered a pool of bright star rain.

Banquet hall lighting, piano music soothing ethereal, marble banquet table up to four dozen meters long, occupying the most central position of the crystal hall, the hall on both sides of all flowers decorated, at first glance as if mistakenly into the depths of the hundred gardens.

Lin Jian dressed in simple black pants and white clothes, stood at the entrance of the banquet hall to welcome people, the young man's posture is lean and straight, and stood there carelessly, it is the home of the jade tree spring from the rhyme of the temperament.

"With a ding, the elevator door opened, and Cheng Youjun and a few of Shen Ke's close friends stepped out one after another, and when he saw Lin Jian there, Cheng Youjun opened his mouth and let out an "ouch": Cheng Youjun let out an "ouch" when he saw Lin Jian there, "Big nephew!"

Lin Jian generally does not ice people when he is in a good mood, especially when he is in a very good mood like today, so with a little smile, he opened his mouth and said, "Good day, Mr. Cheng, didn't my sister come along?"

"......" Cheng Youjun next bantering words rolled back into his stomach with a grunt, and replied with a dry smile, "She's traveling today, but people can't get there, but the heart must get it. " After saying this, he handed over the gift box in his hand, and the staff next to him accepted it for Lin Jian, who thanked him, and Cheng Youjun's group went into the hall of the conference hall.

When the elevator doors opened again, it was time for Lin Jian's classmates to arrive.

Originally not a proper form of the teenagers actually changed into a proper dress, the girls are also wearing exquisite and beautiful little dress, see Lin Jian, Xu Yang Qin Le, a few of them first leaped out, and suddenly a burst of astonished exclamation of heaven and earth.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Qin Le was thrilled, "I only knew that God Lin was a schoolmaster, but I never thought that you actually have such a rich background! I should have known that I would have recognized a relative before I graduated! It's too late for me to embrace you now!"

"Not too late." Lin Jian says, "So you prefer that generation?"

Xu Yang walked up and put his long arm around Lin Jian's shoulders, jokingly saying, "Give him a grandson's generation, so that the brothers can also follow and get some glory."

At this remark, the surrounding students burst into laughter, scrambling to have a discussion with Qin Le about the seniority of Skyfall.

Inside the banquet hall, a few steps away from the door, Shen Ke slightly stopped his steps.

He saw a group of young boys and girls gathered together, Lin Jian was among them, his expression was rarely relaxed, and the very pretty-looking boy beside him was resting his arm on Lin Jian's shoulder, slightly inclining his head to say something to him.

It's a pose that looks almost intimate now.

This boy, Shen Ke, had met him once before, at the beginning of the first year of high school, Lin Jian and he were very close, even for a long time to share the lunch break.

Shen Ke's eyes lingered on them for a few seconds, raising an eyebrow very lightly.

--Is this the guy?

Perhaps his gaze was too fixed, a moment later, Lin Jian seemed to have sensed something and suddenly looked up, and when he saw Shen Ke, the smile on his lips paused a little, and then he brought his classmates over with him.

Shen Ke long lived in the upper position, the aura is natural, although the eyes and color is always gentle, but the surrounding atmosphere makes, this group of young boys and girls greeted all convergence of a lot.

Shen Ke nodded and smiled, telling the group, "No need to be formal, just play around and have fun like it's your class potluck."

Shen Ke did not stay longer, said hello and left, Qin Le looked at his back, could not help but sigh: "I rely on God Lin, this is what you ah, this temperament, this beauty, tsk tsk tsk ......"

Xu Yang is the only one who knows the past relationship between Lin Jian and the Shen family, and without waiting for Lin Jian to answer, he responded, "I can do this question, let me do some math--according to seniority, you probably have to call him "Great Grandpa."

"Xu Yang, my ass!" Qin Le was furious, "You're never going to stop taking advantage of me, are you?"

The banquet hall was a scene of glitter and glamor. At eight o'clock, Shen Zhangqian, pushed by Cong Wan, personally held Lin Jian's hand to cut the five-tier cake, while Lin Jian put the first piece of cake on a tray and placed it in Shen Zhangqian's hand.

This is the moment when a former teenager officially steps into the midst of the adult world.

After the cutting of the cake, it was time for free dining and guest entertainment, with various lounges set up next to the venue, including but not limited to a karaoke room, a pool room and a fully-equipped gaming room.

Qin Le and Gao Chongfan a few boys in the sight of the dozen or so top of the line computers have been fist pumping, and when a group of people eat almost, immediately swarmed, the girls are wearing a beautiful little dress, relatively warm and elegant, ran to the karaoke room to sing a little fresh.

Seeing Lin Jian's apparent lack of interest in these entertainment programs, Xu Yang casually brought two glasses of wine over from the glazed table, handed one to Lin Jian, and then gestured at the large starry sky terrace outside the banquet hall, "Go over and have a chat?"

Lin Jian didn't comment, lifting his foot to join him on the terrace.

A long row of sofas was placed on the side of the terrace near the railing, and an exquisite island table was set up in front of the sofas. As soon as the two of them sat down, Lin Jian's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took out his cell phone to check the message, it was a text message from Wen Ning, only a short sentence.

"Happy birthday, Jane."

Lin Jian's eyes showed little emotion, and after a moment, he pressed the screen off.

As the night wind gusts and the stars shine brightly, Xu Yang raises the glass in his hand and says with a smile, "Adult brother, have a drink?"

Lin Jian's lips rose slightly as he lifted his wine glass and gently touched it with him, "What kind of strange sense of ceremony are you all about."

"Weird, alright." Xu Yang took a sip of her red wine and gently shook her glass, "Isn't that a privilege of adulthood? Drinking, staying out all night, falling in love, everything you once wanted to do but couldn't, now you have a valid reason."

"That's what you want to do, right?" Lin Jian had a little laugh in his voice, "Adult or not, I don't have that in mind."

"That's right, my buddy is a self-disciplined person." Xu Yang started with a wave of commercial bragging, and then suddenly, with the ends of his eyes arched, he lowered his voice and asked, "Even if the free-range indulgence thing is a bit pedestrian to you, what about other than that, there's really nothing you'd like to try?"

Lin Jian narrowed his eyes slightly, "Such as?"

Xu Yang smiled mysteriously, and suddenly pulled out a small plastic-wrapped box from his pocket, gently tossing it into his arms, "Take it, birthday present."

"...... Didn't you just deliver it already, why are you still--" Lin Jian suspiciously took that small box in his hand, and after seeing what it was, he abruptly closed his voice.

Xu Yang looked at Lin Jian's face that changed in an instant, and violently broke out into a burst of laughter: "The one just now is planA, and this one is planB! It's grown up, brother! Be bold, use it!"

Lin Jian was speechless to the extreme, holding the box of "ultra-thin" between his fingers and just wanted to say something, the glass door of the terrace was suddenly pushed open, Lin Jian was caught off guard and looked up.

"What in the--"

Shen Ke stood a meter away in black, the cuffs of his black shirt pulled up, holding a beautifully wrapped gift box in his hand, and stopped in his tracks in a flash when he saw the object in Lin Jian's hand and the person beside him.

For a moment, Lin Jian's brain went blank, and when he reacted, he only felt that his ears had become hot.

But luckily he was calm enough to pocket the small box with seeming aplomb, stand up and ask, "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Shen Ke looked at him with a complicated expression for a moment and said, "You guys talk, we'll talk later at home."

"...... good."

"Crap, trough ......" After Shen Ke left, Lin Jian sat down again, Xu Yang pressed his heart and muttered, "Scared me to death, so scared that I did not dare to utter a word! ...... Hey, did I get you into trouble?"

"Not so much." Lin Jian sighed heartily, "He ...... doesn't really restrict me much or anything."

Even though he said that, he kept his eyes on the spot where Shen Ke had just left.

The group went crazy until midnight, most of the boys were drunk and were led by the staff to the guest rooms downstairs to rest, while the girls were inconvenienced to stay overnight and were sent home one by one by Shen Ke's order of a special car.

On the first floor of Linjiang Mansion, Lin Jian said goodbye to his classmates and watched as the cars drove away, Shen Ke came up behind him and asked, "Are you staying with your classmates at the hotel upstairs today, or are you going home?"

The gentle tones of Shen Ke are wrapped in the gentleness of the night breeze, and the low volume of Shen Ke's voice, on such a moonlit night, almost gives the illusion of gentleness, but to Lin Jian's ears, it sounds like it has a point to make.

Lin Jian turned around and replied calmly and blandly, "Going home, of course."

"Good." Shen Ke probably didn't expect him to answer so naturally, and paused slightly before saying, "I'll go drive, wait for me."

On the way back, both of them tacitly didn't speak, and an old song Lin Jian hadn't heard before was playing in the car, with a light and catchy melody.

The neon lights are on again, and the night is getting crazy.

I'm the one who ran away for love and got drunk in a foreign land.

Could it be that God does not allow people to be crazy, and that happiness flows around them?

My heart is in turmoil. Who locks up the dreams?

Some people are so hurt by their love that they inevitably lose their claim

Gradually feel, a little vicissitude

It's impossible to imagine who is the hope of this life.

Some people are busy with love. Things are unpredictable after all.

How much more suffering do I have to go through?

If I didn't want to come back to you.

Surrendered to fate a long time ago.

......

Two times through the chorus, Lin Jian suddenly voices, "What's the name of this song?"

Shen Ke seemed a bit distracted and didn't hear him for a moment, "...... What?"

"The song." Lin Jian looked at the side of his face and repeated, "What's the title of the song?"

"Oh, this." Shen Ke took the CD case out of the armrest and handed it to him, replying, "An old song."

Don't make love difficult.

After a moment, Lin Jian lowered her eyes and gave a soft "hmm".

The two had started this conversation, and it seemed like the next exchange was a natural one; Shen Ke held the steering wheel with one hand and propped the other on his forehead as he asked, "Did you have a good day?"

"Of course." Lin Jian replied dryly.

Shen Ke seemed to smile a little and asked again, "When do you want to go skydiving?"

He asked casually, but Lin Jian knew that he would nod yes no matter what time he said, so he thought about it and asked, "Is the day after tomorrow convenient for you?"

Shen Ke sure enough said, "Convenient, then I'll make an appointment in advance."

Lin Jian said yes.

Car driving in the moonlight, moonlight and street lamps light strung together into a stream of light through the window, may be such a night is too gentle, Lin Jian has always been as solid as a rock of the nature of the heart actually inadvertently revealed a small gap, those who have always been suppressed deep hidden thoughts actually also have a hint of loosening the signs.

He heard a voice in the back of his mind saying to himself, "You're eighteen already.

And before certain whirling thoughts could take shape, they were abruptly shattered by Shen Ke's next words, "That boy you've been with today ......, isn't it ...... "

Lin Jian snapped out of it and inclined his head to ask, "What is it?"

Shen Ke turned the car around, words pausing for a long time until the car pulled into the next intersection before continuing, "Just asking, I mean ...... you guys look like you're on good terms, and if he's the guy you were talking about before, it doesn't look like... . it's not like he doesn't have it in for you-"

"No." Today's situation of being unintentionally bumped into by Shen Ke crossed his mind, Lin Jian had long been prepared to be misunderstood by him, at this moment when he heard him ask this question, he denied and answered almost at the first moment, "His name is Xu Yang, he's a very good friend of mine, but he's just a friend." After a pause, frowning, he added, "Don't think too much."

"It's this ...... " Shen Ke whispered to himself thoughtfully.

It was well past midnight when they got home, and both of them had gotten the scent of the party on them, so they went into the house and went to their separate rooms to shower and wash up.

Lin Jian took her bathrobe and hung it on the bathroom hanger, immersing herself in the porcelain-white bathtub.

At the dinner party, he first drank two glasses of wine with Xu Yang in a dragonfly-like manner, and then he was warmed up by Qin Le Gao Chongfan, and even Zhang Huan and the girls had the courage to toast to him, which Lin Jian could not refuse, and he could not help but be poured into a lot of wine again.

He rarely drank like this, and while Shen Ke had never restricted him from anything, he didn't like the idea of being paralyzed by alcohol and not thinking clearly, so today was really an exception.

Most of what they drank was dry red wine, and they didn't have much of a reaction at the time, but red wine always had a strong aftertaste. Right now, the wine that they drank more than an hour ago was steaming, and the wine was so strong that Lin Jian, who was leaning back in the bathtub, was slightly dizzy.

Not quite intoxicated, but at least more than slightly drunk.

Such a state, if placed in normal times, could be exchanged for a sound sleep and slumber, but at this time, it could also make the heart feel charming.

The bathtub is big enough, the water temperature is hot enough, Lin Jian's limbs are completely relaxed and stretched out, the reflection of the bathroom light is again under the teenager's eyes, clear and bright. In the morning, Lin Jian's original pair of cold eyes slightly closed, the water in the bathtub with the slight movement of the hands rippled with very shallow ripples.

On the other side, Shen Ke, after a brief shower, with his hair half-dried, walked down the second floor stairs in a dark-colored bathrobe.

Holding a dark velvet gift box in his hand, he walked very softly to the door of Lin Jian's room.

Although he said he took Lin Jian skydiving as a birthday present, it was a bar mitzvah after all, and there was no way he wouldn't leave him with a souvenir.

Walking up to the door, Shen Ke realizes that the light in his room is still on.

The door was left ajar, and Shen Ke knocked twice, but there was no answer.

He flexed his fingers in front of the door for a few seconds, and with a single reach, he pushed it open.

Standing in the doorway and looking in, the room lit only by a floor lamp but empty, Shen Ke turned his eyes to the equally hidden bathroom door.

Should still be in the shower.

Shen Ke took two steps closer, wanting to place the gift on his desk and knock on the door to remind Lin Jian, but before his knuckles touched the door, he abruptly stopped.

*

After a long time, Lin Jian returned to his senses in the blank void, pressed the waterproof button, and the water in the tub swirled and was drained.

He turned on the shower, rinsed off the thin sweat and those delusional mundane desires that soaked into every inch of his skin, and moments later turned off the warm water and became the cool, aloof teenager again.

After the indulgence, fatigue surged.

Lin Jian shuffled his slippers and pushed open the bathroom door, but just walked out two steps, his eyesight glanced at it inadvertently, and then violently stopped and froze.

A dark velvet gift box sat on the flower table by the bathroom door.

It was the same one Shen Ke had held in his hand when he appeared on the ballroom terrace a few hours earlier.

The heart stopped suddenly.

At that moment, Lin Jian's brain was completely blank, and he felt that his breath had disappeared.

--He was here, just now.