Hunter and Hussar

Chapter 39 The Hut Where the Mango Disappeared

If Lao Ban hadn't said that he had confirmed with Taotao again and again, I would never have dared to walk through that long and dark corridor at night—even if I followed my lord.The wet and salty concrete corridor smelled like urine, worse than the boys' dormitory.Maybe it's too narrow - Lao Ban's figure alone can completely block the road ahead and the light from the flashlight of the mobile phone, so the smell is hard to dissipate here.

"Here we are, turn a corner and watch the road." He told me without looking back.As soon as the words fell, a dog barked frantically, as if it had discovered an intruder and wanted to inform the whole building.I couldn't see where it was, I could only hear the rattling chains swaying violently, making the sound of metal clashing.

"Taotao, are you there?" Old Ban knocked on the door nonchalantly.The door answered immediately, as if it had been prepared for a long time.It opened with a creak, and although the long-lost light was slightly dim, it was extremely precious to me who had been walking in the dark and cold corridor for a long time, and it was calling me with the imaginary temperature.Carrying the fruit basket, I almost slipped in.

"Hello, Teacher Liu. Ah, Keke, hello. Mom, this is my class teacher, Teacher Liu. And my classmate and roommate, Ke Peiwei." Taotao greeted us while fetching slippers for us, and returned Don't forget to introduce us to his mother.He was in his school uniform, and her mother sat at the dining table, with a calm smile that clearly told us that she was better, although there was still a trace of tiredness on her face.

Tao Tao pronounced my name correctly.

"Taotao, auntie, this is for you, get well soon." I carried the fruit basket to the table not far away.As expected, they refused to accept.The old class told them that this was the wish of the whole class.

Taking advantage of the time when they were entangled in the fruit basket, I looked around Taotao's home.It doesn't seem to be much bigger than Mi Le's, maybe the only lamp in the living room is full of too many black flying insects, and the dim light shrinks the room.The one facing the door should be the bathroom with a glass door.On the left is an old sofa, which is clean and has no backpacks or coats littered on it.Half of the red skin of the sofa has peeled off at the armrest, and so is the wall behind it, with a few fuzzy water stains climbing and expanding on it.The only round table is just in front of the sofa, it is foldable, and the metal bracket underneath is slightly rusted, making it even colder in winter.There is no TV cabinet opposite the sofa, and naturally there is no TV.In its place was a working white freezer, I could hear it vibrate, as dull as all summer commissary freezers full of popsicles, maybe it was just the noise of the machine.There are some vegetables and miscellaneous plastic bags piled up on the freezer, but it is not messy.Going further to the left is a balcony, the range hood is still whining, obviously they have just finished dinner, and there is still a smell of the food after the food has cooled in the room.

There is only one door on the right, which seems to be a room and a living room.I don't know how long they will stay in this hut, and how many times they will have to go through the long and endless black corridor before they can get to the resettlement room that belongs to them.Would his little sister be scared walking there alone?

Hello teacher.Hello brother.I heard someone approaching us, walking as thin as a cat.This is the little girl who is about to go to primary school. She wears a gray sweater that doesn't match her figure, and has two small braids on her head. She follows shortly to the table and pokes her head out from behind her brother. .Taotao patted her on the head, that gesture can almost be described by the word "love".

hello.Is it Taotao's younger sister?What is your name?Lao Ban smiled and wanted to pat her too.She dodges.

It's called Beibei.Auntie grabbed her and brought her to her.She looked at me curiously, which made me feel a lot more embarrassed, and turned my eyes to Taotao for help.

"Pewei, go chat with Taotao. I haven't seen you for a few days. I'll chat with Taotao's mother." The old class relieved me, and the two adults sat down in the living room.Taotao opened the door and light of the room on the right, and I walked in. There was only a big bed covered with cartoon-style sheets, which felt like an outdated and inferior domestic cartoon.The quilt was as old as the scribbled drawing.Without a chair, I stood in front of the bed blankly.Taotao came in with a small box and closed the door behind him.I asked him if he could sit on the bed and he said sure and put the locket directly on the sheet.

There are some candies and melon seeds, and two small cakes.I suspect that he bought the small cakes on purpose today.If this is the case, my presence will actually add to their burden.I don't eat cake, and those who know me know that I only have one kind of snack.But Taotao may think that people like me would like this kind of exquisite snacks with Japanese words written on the packaging, snow mountains and cherry blossoms printed on them, fluffy and soft, and sweet to the teeth at first glance.Maybe.What if there is seaweed in the snack box?Maybe I will be more guilty, because I will know that it was specially prepared for me by him.In the past time, I didn't think of him as such an important friend.And the luxury of this little Japanese cake has made me feel ashamed.

He actually took out the cake and delivered it to me.I couldn't help it, and I don't remember saying thank you a few times.He was surprised.Maybe I'm too excited.

Did not eat right away.Like holding a hot water bottle or a thermos cup, I hold the cake in the palm of my hand.I asked him, have you read Yue Yin's report and photos?He shook his head and asked where I was looking.I said the team's WeChat official account, Yue Yin posted it in the WeChat group before.He said he was busy on weekends and didn't have time to look at his phone.I said, I don't have your mobile phone number yet, why don't you tell me, I'll call you and leave each other.He said yes.I called the number he reported to me, and his cell phone rang with a crisp bird call.So I saw him pull a touch-tone phone out of his pocket.It turns out that apart from old people in their 80s and [-]s, there are really people in the world who still use push-button phones.Maybe he used his mother's mobile phone to read WeChat.I opened the official account and let him read the post.By the way, he opened the bag on his back and took out two envelopes, one large and one small.

Is it okay to write?I asked.

What happened to Miller?he answered.

Miller... Miller is good.A little sick, but already cured.How is your mother?
fine.Thanks Mingming.Sorry, and thank you all very much.Can I log in to WeChat with your mobile phone?I want to say thank you to everyone in the group.

no problem.While he was operating, I read to him the little notes that my classmates wrote to him.The cold wind outside the window made noises from time to time, but my voice was not loud. Fortunately, the wind was blocked on the glass and did not blow away my words.

"It's better to go to school," he said.This sounded strange, as if he was no longer a student.But he was clearly wearing a school uniform, exactly the same as mine.

"So hurry up and come back. By the way, we are going to play in the experimental middle school this weekend. The coach will definitely give us a chance for our first-year junior high school students. Xue Xue said that after the game, we will sing birthday songs for you and the captain together."

By then, almost half a month had passed since his birthday.We've sung to him before.But anyway, I want to sing it again.

"Okay. As long as there are no accidents, I will definitely come." He nodded to me and made a promise.Then he looked at the photo carefully and said that he would show it to his mother later.

"By the way, Keke, I want to ask you." His eyes still stayed on the photo, but he seemed to have been thinking for a long time before opening his mouth.

You ask.I said.

"Why are your grades so good?"

What are you kidding?I almost said that.This sense of astonishment made me a little dazed, probably because no one had ever said such a thing to me.In terms of grades, I generally get "good" or "very good, could be better".Mi Le often told me that if you think about it, the senior high school entrance examination is a comparison with classmates from the whole city.Although you rank more than 200 among us, No. [-] Middle School is the best school in the city after all, and your grades are definitely among the best in other schools.Ye Ruiyang also encouraged me in this way.He also cited the example of football, saying that although some Barcelona or Real Madrid players are substitutes in wealthy clubs, when they return to the national team, they are all the core of their duty, and they should take a long-term and broad view.I told Ye Ruiyang, you look quite broad.

I really don’t seem to care that much about grades, at least not like Mi Le. I spend half a day studying the scores and rankings of each subject, not only studying my own, but also studying mine, as if I can really find out some mystery.It's not that I don't study hard, I'm pretty serious about taking lectures and doing homework.Although it is also a monk who beats the clock for a day, which is similar to everyone, but at least it will not be missed or bumped randomly, and it is better to hit it conscientiously.In terms of hard work, I didn't go to the point where I forgot to sleep and eat, and hang my ass on the beam.We study with Mi Le on weekends. We will do some extracurricular exercises, and then discuss the answers. Basically, he talks and I listen.Occasionally, I could have a flash of inspiration and solve a problem that he couldn't solve for a long time. At this time, he would pretend to bang his head on the table, with a careless expression.With a small partner, learning will not be too boring, and its challenges sometimes make me look forward to it.I'm lucky.

But to say that I am very interested, it is not to this extent.Therefore, I can't get up or down in the whole school.The classmates in front of me were not only smarter than me, but also worked harder than me, so I didn't think I could really catch up with them.Mi Le always had a look of "a prince and a general, I would rather be kind", and wanted to compete with the students in the experimental class.

But why does Taotao think that my grades are good?Still "so good".I still think that the self in my eyes is the image in the mirror, which is blurred and does not reflect my true face.However, I'm also not completely real to others, at least from my perspective.But how can I judge whether it is true or not?What kind of person am I?

In any case, for Taotao, my grades are good.I should think in his shoes, not my own judgment.No one likes the kind of person who obviously has good grades but insists that he didn't pass the exam.I don't want to be that kind of person.Although they may really think they failed the test.

"In fact, every student in No. [-] Middle School is excellent. As long as you work hard, study hard, listen carefully in class, do your homework well, and be careful in exams, your grades will naturally be good."

I'm not stupid enough to say this sentence that adults are most used to saying to children.What is "as long as you work hard"?Doesn't Taotao work hard and study hard?He sat upright in class, staring at the blackboard intently—I saw it occasionally when I looked around.Even if I asked for leave to go home and couldn't study by myself at night, I never saw his name written on the list of homework not handed in on the small blackboard.I don't know how Taotao's grades are, at least without me.But Taotao's usual attitude and dedication are no worse than mine. Why has he studied so hard for so long, but his grades are not as good as those of me who are almost "studying casually"?It's not fair.

The adults all made a promise when we were the youngest: knowledge changes destiny.As long as you work hard in everything, there will be rewards.Is Taotao really not working hard enough?To what extent do people have to work hard to achieve "ordinary" in the eyes of others?

"I think it's because I know how to take exams, right? It's because I understand the rules and routines of answering questions better. In fact, I haven't learned very well, and I can't solve some questions, but I can write some ideas and steps, and I can more or less mix it up." Scores. It’s inevitable that you won’t do well in the exam, just think of it as a basketball game, not every goal can be scored, as long as you can score as much as possible..."

"Then can you tell me how to do it? By the way, I also want to ask you, where have you been in class recently?"

He brought a math paper from last week in front of me, and I naturally saw his score.I also took such a test two years ago, and it was a mid-term exam.Earlier, when I saw this kind of score, my father would scold me after signing the paper.Earlier that time, in order to help me, Xianxian changed the name on my test paper to his.This can't fool people at all, my handwriting is completely different from that of Xian Xian, and the scribbled and crooked characters can be seen through at a glance.He thought I had secretly changed my younger brother's paper, tore it up in a fit of anger, and beat me.I ran into the room crying and stuffed myself under the pillow, but I could still hear Xian Xian explaining to Dad.He didn't beat him, or even scold him, but told him, what will your brother do after his grades?Going to sweep the street.Can you help him change his name, and help him take the college entrance examination?Can you help him get into college?I was just a little bit wronged before, but when I heard this, I was so angry that I was dying.After the stringy slippers patta patta stepped into the door, I suddenly got up and picked up the pillow and hit him, and kept hitting him, like a madman, cursing while hitting, as if to let him know that Dad just hit me hard How painful.He didn't fight back.If he wants to fight back, I will definitely be beaten again.He just locked the door, before my dad heard the restlessness and rushed to knock on the door.He scolded me through the door, and asked me to release my brother immediately, and threatened to drive me out of the house, as long as I could just keep one at home.The more he talked, the angrier I became, and I cried and cried. I was tired, threw away the pillow, collapsed on the ground, gasped, and sniffled.You killed me, I glared at him.He knelt down and hugged me from behind.I saw that his eyes were also red, and he said to me, what's wrong with sweeping the streets, if you want to sweep, we will sweep together.

But in the mid-term exam two years ago, when I asked my father to sign the paper, he didn't hit me, didn't scold me, and didn't get angry.I just patted my head with a big hand and said that I will take the exam next time.

I talked to Taotao about the norms and techniques, but felt that this kind of help was quite limited.Obviously, he got this score more because he didn't master some important knowledge points, so I found it difficult to explain the next few big questions.When Mi Le talked to me about the topic, I could always get it right, as if I had a tacit understanding.In fact, we know some formulas and theorems well.Just like communicating with each other on the court, a sentence of "inverted triangle" or "cross" can let the companions understand the intention.However, people who don't understand the game must sound confused.Taotao doesn't have a good grasp of those knowledge points, let alone how to use them.

"Didn't your elementary school teachers explain this theorem?" I asked.He tilted his head and thought about it carefully, it seems that there is no such thing.

trouble.The old class just acquiesced that the students understood it, so they didn't talk about it in class. After all, "the students in No. 45 Middle School are all excellent."He always said that a class is only [-] minutes, and he always feels that there is not enough time. He must not allocate precious class time to the content "taught in elementary school".

What is more troublesome is to help him read the English test paper.Tao Tao does not know phonetic symbols.He said that primary school English teachers only focus on dictation and lectures, and hardly teach them oral English.That's too bad, though not surprising.Mi Le told me that his English name can be read in four ways by four teachers.Some teachers can't praise their oral English skills, and besides the classroom, many students can't find an environment to practice oral English, and their parents may only know 26 letters, so they can't help them.I don't know phonetic symbols, and there seems to be no other learning method other than rote memorization-I can't even read the words, let alone the text.I read an option of the multiple-choice question, congratulation, and Taotao suddenly interrupted me and said you should read it again.I was nervous, as if I had become a teacher, reading the most pure and standard English in the world.After reading it with great reluctance, he noted on the test paper "Conguet was born by lightning."I was very sad, and I was thinking about what to do while helping him to draw the key points that the teacher said in the textbook.According to Mi Le, there is a boy in their class who is good at math and Chinese, but his English is poor.He is also from another province. They only learn English in the fifth grade, so their foundation is relatively weak, and they will only pass the English entrance examination.But the mid-term exam has already scored 80 points, the reason is that he hired a one-on-one tutor on weekends, specializing in English tutoring, and he always pestered the teacher to ask questions during recess.With such an attitude, it is not surprising that progress can be made.

But not everyone can ask for a tutor, and not everyone's personality can make them cling to the teacher.Everyone is running hard, but everyone's starting line is not completely drawn together.How to do it?Taotao can at least chat with me, but what about those classmates who are similar to him, or even inferior to him?Yizhong is small, but the world is big.The old class always said that 5 people in Jiangyuan take the high school entrance examination every year, and one point counts as many people.Fifty thousand is not a number, it is fifty thousand junior high school students like me, behind them are fifty thousand families.Where am I?Where is Tao Tao?Where are the people in front of us and behind us?Did they all get fate-changing knowledge from school?have no idea.There is a poet who has lived for 40 years and doesn't know what he is doing in the world?

"It's roughly like this. Are you going back to school tomorrow? If you have anything you don't know, just ask me or Ye Ruiyang directly. Boss Ye wants to come today, but Lao Liu's car can't fit. If we don't understand , I went back to the dormitory and asked Mi Le together." After highlighting the key points, I closed the textbook and handed it back to him.

"Thank you." He thanked me again, "but..."

"uh-huh?"

"I'm a little afraid of Mi Le."

"What?" That was the most unbelievable thing I heard tonight.

"That's right, Mi Le's grades are too good. I don't dare to ask him questions, I always feel that it will waste his time, and my questions are too simple. The main reason is that I am too stupid to study..."

"No way!" I suddenly raised my voice, and the adults outside the door might be startled when they heard it.Taotao looked at me with puzzled eyes like a small animal, and I shook my head and waved my hands again and again to express my embarrassment.

"You're not stupid. It's just that the test is average this time. I have scored such a score before."

"But, I didn't do it once or twice..."

"What does that mean? It's all in the past, and it's time to turn the page. You should pay attention to the next exam."

Not to mention, I am really good at imitating adults' words.Although I didn't take it very seriously when I listened to it, and I didn't even like it very much, but I actually wrote it all down.Miller is right, both of us are familiar with and master the adults' set of words.

Like any child who has listened to an adult's lecture, he nodded as if he understood something, and he didn't know if he accepted my words.I still haven't really touched his heart, I can only tell him how to use the Pythagorean Theorem, the word characteristic can be remembered from character first...

"You don't have to be afraid of Mi Le... I know him well, he is very helpful. We are all classmates, so don't be so unfamiliar. Don't worry." I don't know if my words are useful.It seems that students with good grades will inevitably appear a little difficult to get close to. If I were not in the same room as Mi Le, maybe I would treat him as a primary school bully and "keep him at a respectful distance".Am I too inferior?Or is this just a normal human reaction.In the team, I can't deal with Mu Zheng too well, I don't know how to greet him.Although he is very humble and polite, the top teammates of the same age seem to have a little aura that prevents me from approaching him.

No, it might just be me being too timid.The captain and Yan Xi are also excellent, but they didn't give me this sense of awe.I also didn't approach them.There is always a distance between people, and perhaps only by getting close enough can the gap be eliminated.But it takes a lot of effort to get close to each other.There has never been a natural fate, and more people just stay for a short time before leaving each other's lives.It's hard to keep someone in your memory, but it's even harder to keep him by your side.

Three years later, will Taotao still be in the same class, same team, and same school as me?Would he want me to be someone who is always there?
"Thank you very much. Ke Ke, I'm very happy to be your friend." It seems that my words moved him, and inadvertently made him build a kind of trust in me, and this trust is also related to Mi Le and Ye Ruiyang are related.Maybe last week, when we got together and sang Happy Birthday to him.Tao Tao considered me his friend, which made me very excited and nervous at the same time.I have always been afraid of others getting too close to me, although I also love or long for kindness from others.

"Actually, when Mi Le taught me how to write the examination, I liked him very much. But I was embarrassed, after all, our grades were too far apart, and he is a good student..."

"Don't you think so. We're not friends because of test scores. You're awesome. By the way, maybe writing exams is the beginning of our great friendship? We're on the same page."

We laughed.I still remember the Brazilian teams that Miller searched out, such as Fluminense, Gremio, Vasco da Gama, and Chapecoense, it was a bit awkward to read.I always remember this kind of mess and insignificance.I don't know what kind of expression the instructor has on his face after seeing these checks. It's because he has a good temper for not punishing us to run another ten laps.

The door was pushed open gently.Beibei leaned out half of her body from there, and asked her brother if he had finished chatting and studying.I don't know how long she hid behind the door.After seeing us nodding, she briskly ran to the bed and stared at me curiously again, as if she had never seen a boy other than her brother.

Subconsciously, I handed her the small cake I had been holding in my hand.She took it and tore open the package.

"Hey, this is for entertaining guests." Taotao patted her little head.

"It's okay, I'm quite full at night. Little sister can eat whatever she wants." I said to Taotao.

"Thank you brother." She smiled at me, really polite, who doesn't like such a child?
"Ah, that's right, I have a big mango here. Let's share it between the three of us!"

After taking it out, there was a mango aroma lingering in my bag.Taotao brought a plate and a fruit knife. He peeled a piece, and I poked a piece with a toothpick and handed it to my little sister.She swallowed the flesh, which was bigger than rubber, with yellow juice hanging from the corner of her mouth.But not long after, she said, don't patronize me alone, you two can eat too.It's okay, the mango is big.I said, and Taotao looked at each other with a tacit understanding and smiled.In the end, the two of us split the mango core in half, and each of us held the half and gnawed it. Our hands were sticky, and we didn't gnaw much.

The big, plump mangoes are gone, leaving only the golden skin hanging down, and the fruity smell that envelops the small room.It is bright.I hope this hut will also be bright for a long time.

(End of this chapter)