In the evening, when RenDong returned to the hotel, Lian Qiao was washing clothes.
Naturally, hotels in those days did not provide laundry services, so Lian Qiao had to do it himself. Fortunately, at his own home, he did all this housework by himself anyway and now he is very skillful in doing it.
There was a large water basin in the backyard of the hotel and several pieces of clothing that were floating in layers of foam. Lian Qiao took a small bench and sat in front of the sink, rubbing his clothes with great enjoyment.
RenDong approached from behind with light steps. Lian Qiao didn't notice him until RenDong leaned over and hugged him from behind.
"…?" Lian Qiao was a little surprised at first but, after feeling the familiar embrace, he turned around with a smile and kissed the corner of his eyes, "You're back."
"Let me wash." RenDong said and rolled up his sleeves.
Lian Qiao quickly stopped him and said, "No need. Aren't you going to take the college entrance examination tomorrow? Go and study."
RenDong smiled: "It's okay. I already know the answers."
Lian Qiao was taken aback. RenDong reached into the water basin and scrubbed the two people's clothes.
The setting sun slanted in from the top of the wall cast on the brows of RenDong's hair, and reflected his face warmly and softly. It was clearly the face of an eighteen-year-old boy but his eyes were as calm as water, an expression Lian Qiao was extremely familiar with.
Lian Qiao looked at him quietly and suddenly a thought came to his mind:
As long as you are with him, anywhere is home.
Not long after, the Monk and Little Apple came back from outside after finishing their day's work. The four of them sat together for dinner and, during the dinner, Little Apple seemed to have something on her mind, sneaking glances at RenDong and Lian Qiao from time to time.
RenDong couldn't help asking: "What are you looking at?"
Little Apple froze. Lian Qiao quickly helped to smooth things over and said, "We… We didn't come home last night. Little Apple was worried all night and, when she saw me coming back today, she scolded me thoroughly. Just like an old mother…"
As he spoke, he secretly winked at Little Apple, signaling her not to tell about his illness.
Little Apple's eyes dimmed but she quickly continued: "What old mother? You're so big already, aren't you embarrassed to say something like this? It's fine if you get lost but you ran away with the key player! How can the Monk and I just sit around?"
The doubt in RenDong's eyes disappeared, replaced by a slightly flushed blushing shyness. After all, he and Lian Qiao did 'that' all night yesterday so he couldn't explain it to Little Apple at this time. He had no choice but to follow what Little Apple said and apologized to them.
"It's okay." The Monk waved his hand very devoutly. "It's good that everyone is OK. Did you find any clues?"
RenDong shook his head. The Monk sighed, "This is the eighteenth day…"
Lian Qiao interrupted: "Tomorrow he will take the college entrance exam. After the exam, he should be able to change the scene again. Let's see then."
It had to be like this. The Monk nodded, picked up his rice bowl and started eating sullenly.
After eating, Lian Qiao returned to the room early with RenDong on the grounds that "he needs to study". RenDong opened a book and spread it on the table. His eyes were fixed on the book but his mind was not on it at all.
"What did you do during the day?" RenDong asked.
Lian Qiao was packing up his things. It's best to take it with him when changing scenes tomorrow, so as not to be in the situation of having no clothes to wear.
In fact, he has been sleeping all afternoon. After the headache, he felt powerless as if he had a fever. He didn't want RenDong to worry, so he made up an excuse and lied to him with a smile.
RenDong didn't doubt it and just let out an "oh".
However, he was not actually in the mood to study. After reading for a while, he said he was sleepy so he dragged Lian Qiao to lie on the bed to rest.
Lian Qiao turned off the lights. The two hugged each other and chatted about things in the dark. Finally, the drowsiness came and RenDong's breathing became more and more stable. His warm breath fell on Lian Qiao's ear and he fell into a deep sleep.
Lian Qiao put his arms around him, staring at the ceiling with bright eyes. He was like a nocturnal beast that didn't get tired at night.
When RenDong fell asleep soundly, Lian Qiao carefully pulled his arm out of his embrace. RenDong's arms were empty and, probably because he felt cold, he curled up gently under the quilt.
Seeing him like this, Lian Qiao felt infinite pity in his heart. Sitting on the edge of the bed and watching him quietly for a while, he finally sighed, got up and got out of bed.
He tiptoed to the edge of the desk and reached for RenDong's school uniform hanging on the back of the chair.
The school uniform jacket has no pockets, was thin and soft and cannot hide things.
The sports pants are made of cheap chemical fiber but they felt oily and slippery. Lian Qiao put his hands into his trouser pockets and the fabric rubbed against each other to make a slight rustling sound, which made him a little nervous.
He glanced back at the bed uneasily. Fortunately, RenDong was in a deep sleep and this noise did not disturb him.
Lian Qiao touched RenDong's schoolbag again. There were not many things in the schoolbag, only books and stationery. Lian Qiao carefully touched the books one by one and there was nothing hidden in the books. The stationery box was also nearly empty, with only two fountain pens.
The brass key was not there.
Think about it, if RenDong really stole his key, why would he carry it with him and let him find it so easily.
Little by little, he re-zipped the schoolbag, retracted his hand and suddenly heard a creak from the bed behind him.
Lian Qiao was startled, his back straightened suddenly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
He didn't dare to look backwards.
Fortunately, RenDong just turned over and then fell into a deep sleep again.
Lian Qiao stood alone in the darkness, suddenly feeling terribly sad.
When did we become like this? Am I actually going to dig through his things behind his back?
The air in his chest was stagnant and Lian Qiao felt extremely uncomfortable. He suddenly wanted to smoke a cigarette.
He didn't know how to smoke originally but now he felt that it would be nice if he had a cigarette.
He stood silently in the dark for a long while but in the end he didn't go out to look for a cigarette but instead crawled back to the bed and hugged RenDong into his arms again.
Returning to the familiar and warm embrace, RenDong almost instinctively stretched out his arms towards him, wrapping his arms around him loosely.
Lian Qiao couldn't help kissing his forehead, feeling sore in the heart and wanting to cry.
The next day was RenDong's college entrance examination. The matter was so important that the three of them were not in the mood to go to work but instead stood outside the examination room and waited.
A large group of equally anxious parents gathered outside the examination room. Although they are NPCs, the tension and anxiety on their faces is real. Even Lian Qiao's group of three was infected by this atmosphere by just standing in the crowd. They couldn't help feeling anxious.
"What school do you think he will be admitted to?" Little Apple flipped through the brochure sent by the cram school organization, which had the scores for the college entrance examination over the years.
Lian Qiao casually mentioned the name of the school and then added: "It's his alma mater."
"What the heck? He's actually a student from such a prestigious school?" Little Apple opened her mouth wide in surprise. She quickly turned the brochure to the page of RenDong's alma mater and her eyes widened even wider, "Sure enough…"
The Monk leaned over curiously: "What?"
"The entrance score of this school is super high!" Little Apple pointed to the brochure, "Can he really pass the exam? Wait, how many options did he fill out? What if he doesn't pass the exam…"
"I only chose the one option." Lian Qiao smiled, "Don't worry, he can get in." He looked around cautiously and said to the two in a low voice, "He has already gotten the answers."
The Monk heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. But Little Apple yelled "Huh?!"
"Are you serious?! When did he get it?" She looked suspicious.
Lian Qiao said, "Yesterday."
"But…" Little Apple frowned, "He was only a sophomore in high school yesterday. Could it be that the college entrance examination papers were released a year in advance?"
Lian Qiao's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.
Little Apple was still muttering uneasily: "If he really has the answer, it's not a proble, but hopefully it's not a fake…"
Lian Qiao didn't speak any more, but turned to look at the examination room with a solemn expression.
In the afternoon, the results came out. RenDong was successfully admitted to his alma mater with a score close to being number one. The Monk and Little Apple finally breathed a sigh of relief—they already knew that RenDong would encounter an elevator at the age of 28 so, as long as he followed the real trajectory of his life, there was a high probability that he would find the elevator.
Although they don't know where the button is yet, they can't rush it now. After all, the scene has not been fully unlocked yet.
Thinking that the scene would change when they opened their eyes tomorrow morning, the Monk and Little Apple started packing early. Lian Qiao got ready yesterday and now he is free. So he held RenDong's hand and went for a walk outside.
The neighborhood wasn't that big. The two walked along the road from the street to the end of the street and then from the end of the street to the next street. It was getting dark but there were a lot of people on the road. It turned out that the neighbors came out for a stroll after dinner.
For these neighbors, Lian Qiao and the others have been living here for three years. Everyone also knew that RenDong was admitted to his alma mater and came to congratulate him one after another.
Lian Qiao was too lazy to deal with them, so he dragged RenDong away. Before they knew it, the two came to the unfinished building on the corner of the street.
When they first came here six days ago, this building stood upright like a beast with its stomach ripped open. Now that it has been so long, no one cared about the unfinished building and what it looked like six days ago is what it still looks like now.
The location here is remote, the light is not good and there are often strange people loitering around. The neighborhood is full of complaints about this.
Lian Qiao led RenDong to a street lamp. The street lamp was in disrepair for a long time and it would dim from time to time. There was a whistling sound from the old lamp tube.
RenDong glanced at the dark unfinished building and frowned slightly, as if remembering something bad.
"What are you doing here?" RenDong's tone was faintly displeased.
Lian Qiao looked around and confirmed that there was no one around, then whispered: "What's the deal with your college entrance examination results?"
"I cheated. Didn't I tell you that I already had the answers?"
"For real?"
RenDong showed a helpless expression and took out a ball of paper from his pocket: "You don't believe me?"
Lian Qiao took the ball of paper, opened it, and found that it was densely covered with small characters. It turned out to be the answers to the college entrance examination.
He froze for a moment, then asked again, "How did you get it?"
RenDong said: "I did a hidden mission at the school."
Lian Qiao wanted to ask what the mission was but RenDong frowned and asked, "Are you doubting me?"
The word "doubt" pierced Lian Qiao's heart like a steel needle. He subconsciously wanted to deny it and wanted to say forget it and let's go back. But thinking about all the things these days, he finally calmed down, bit his lip and said, "You've been acting wrong lately."
RenDong asked: "What do you mean- wrong?"
"I don't know, I can't say exactly…" Lian Qiao felt his heart rolling on the mountain of knives and there were bloodstains all the way. He stretched out his hand to RenDong uneasily. RenDong immediately understood and reached out to hug him.
Their chests were pressed tightly together. Feeling that familiar heartbeat didn't make Lian Qiao feel much better.
"I'm very worried about you." Lian Qiao buried his head into RenDong's neck, like a little animal shivering in the cold rain without its nest, "I don't know what's wrong with you and I don't know what's wrong with me…"
RenDong caressed his hair and asked softly: "Then how can you feel at ease?"
Lian Qiao was silent for a moment: "…I hope that no matter what decision you make, you will discuss it with me and don't bear everything by yourself…"
Before Lian Qiao finished speaking, RenDong suddenly pushed him away. Lian Qiao was taken aback and stared blankly at the instant burst of anger on RenDong's face.
"You asked me to discuss everything with you but what about you?!" RenDong has always been calm and gentle and has never been so angry before. He was like a deer driven to the edge of a cliff. There was no way to retreat so instead he angrily raised his horns and rushed forward, "You knew the use of the key but didn't tell me! If it wasn't for Little Apple who told me, I'm afraid I would be still in the dark! Do you want to hide it from me for the rest of your life? Do you want to use the key secretly by yourself?"
Lian Qiao's heart sank. Little Apple really told him.
Seeing that he was silent, RenDong became even more angry so he couldn't help but raise his hand and pushed him hard: "Say it! Do you want to die alone behind my back!"
Lian Qiao was caught off guard and staggered by his push. Hearing this, he raised his head suddenly and hurriedly explained: "No! I might not die! Using the key is just…"
"Just what?" RenDong asked sharply and his scorching eyes forced him to answer, leaving no room for him to think about lies.
Lian Qiao opened his mouth and was speechless for a while.
"You don't even know what will happen after you use it." RenDong sneered, but there was a deep pain in his eyes. "I really spoiled you so much. You think I can help you no matter what happens, to clean up your mess? You really think…"
When he said this, he was suddenly overcome with the feeling of suffocation. He grabbed his chest with a painful look on his face.
Lian Qiao was shocked: "RenDong!" He hurried forward to hug RenDong. He reached out to fumble for the medicine bottle in RenDong's pocket, "Does your heart hurt? Don't get excited! Calm down! It's my fault! Don't be angry!"
RenDong bit his lip, trembling all over, unable to speak.
Lian Qiao managed to reach the medicine bottle, unscrewed the cap in twos and poured it into the palm of his hand but no pills fell out.
Lian Qiao's throat tightened instantly and, when he looked at the medicine bottle, it was indeed empty.
The medicine was gone.
When did it disappear?