MTL - Paper Plane-Chapter 24

On the side of the road where cars were coming and going, Yang Xuan was riding a bike, and Tang Junhe sat silently behind him—with his head down, holding a basketball, his fingers unconsciously pawing at the surface of the basketball.

Yang Xuan felt relieved when there was no light humming in the morning behind him.

The green path leading to the entrance of the community was deserted—Zhou Lin didn't come, or maybe he hid. Tang Junhe felt an inexplicable sense of loss for some reason, obviously what he was most worried about before was turning in and seeing Zhou Lin's greedy gaze.

The evening sky was too dark a few days ago, and he was in a state of extreme nervousness at that time. The scene of Yang Xuan beating Zhou Lin was like being trapped in a misty fog in his mind, hazy and unreal, So much so that he couldn't tell which scenes were real and which ones he imagined.

He wanted to watch it again, to confirm that Yang Xuan that evening was real.

Tang Junhe was shrouded in double disappointment, hugging the basketball with low interest, and followed Yang Xuan back home.

Seeing Yang Xuan, Tang Xiaonian's eyes flashed a trace of surprise, but his attention was quickly attracted by the basketball in Tang Junhe's arms: "Why did you come back with a basketball in your arms?"

"I picked it up." Tang Junhe said as he put the basketball on the shoe cabinet and changed into slippers.

"Oh, it's so dirty, you still put it on the shoe cabinet." Tang Xiaonian picked up the basketball, turned his head and looked around the house, as if thinking about where to put this thing, "What are you doing with a basketball? Do you want to play basketball? Where did you pick it up?"

Tang Junhe took the basketball from Tang Xiaonian, carrying the schoolbag in one hand and the basketball in the other, and walked towards his room.

"Don't leave your room," Tang Xiaonian chased after him, "It's so dirty."

"It's not dirty at all," Tang Junhe was annoyed by Tang Xiaonian's nagging, so he couldn't help but reply, "Not only do I want to put it in the room, but I also want to sleep with it in my arms." After he finished speaking, he put the basketball down to bed.

"It's so dirty!" Tang Xiaonian bent down and wanted to slap the basketball on the ground. Unexpectedly, Tang Junhe turned around and lay down on the basketball, protecting the basketball with his body, burying his face in the quilt, and said in a muffled voice, "Mom, Leave me alone."

"What kind of nerves do you have!" Tang Xiaonian was anxious, slapped his hand, raised it in the air and was discouraged, glared at Tang Junhe for a long time, then hung down helplessly, turned his head and walked out of the room , slamming the door.

Tang Junhe hugged the basketball on the bed for a long time before sitting up, looking down at it, it was not new, but not dirty at all, he squeezed the hand sanitizer and washed it carefully. But Yang Xuan didn't want it, maybe he thought it was dirty.

He stood up holding the basketball, walked to the desk, and put it next to the two Transformers that Yang Xuan gave him when he was a child—he kept it all the time, and then looked at them.

They were all faded, along with the faint scar on his forehead.

Time is impossible to let go of anything.

Before going to bed, Tang Junhe walked back to his room after washing, and found that his sheets and quilt had been replaced with new ones—Tang Xiaonian changed them while he was washing, and returned to his room after changing, without saying a word to him talk.

Tang Junhe felt a little guilty. He felt that his behavior of putting the basketball on the bed was indeed too much. But he didn't want to be surrounded by Tang Xiaonian's impenetrable care all the time, he was almost out of breath.

For three consecutive days, Zhou Lin did not show up.

Tang Junhe was a little uneasy—Yang Xuan didn't think he was lying to him, did he? But a while ago, he did show up every day, either at the school gate, or on the small road at the gate of the community.

Did he hide when he saw Yang Xuan? Then if Yang Xuan gets impatient and goes to and from school with him one day, will Zhou Lin suddenly appear again?

Tang Junhe wasn't sure how long Yang Xuan's patience would last—he always seemed to be impatient with himself, which made him start to be a little cautious, for fear of touching Yang Xuan's scales, he completely declared that he would no longer care about him.

He began to wonder if he was really annoying. Perhaps the cold violence on campus that he had experienced before was not only due to Zhou Lin, but also because of himself?

He began to review whether his advances in the past few days were a bit abrupt. After all, as Tang Xiaonian's son, he was indeed a part of the breakdown of Yang Xuan's family. The source of this is an inescapable responsibility.

"Shall I help you take your schoolbag to the classroom?" Tang Junhe jumped out of the back seat of the car when he reached the school gate, and said next to Yang Xuan.

"No need." Yang Xuan refused indifferently, then took his schoolbag and went to the basketball court without looking back. It was as if he had completed the task by taking Tang Junhe to school, and there was no need to have any interaction with him.

Tang Junhe stood there for a moment, then exhaled, returned to his usual indifferent appearance, raised his legs and walked towards the teaching building.

Similar scenes have happened too many times in the past few days, and he simply can't get better from frustration.

— "Do you need yesterday's math test paper? I wrote the steps."

—"A good student still needs to write steps?" Yang Xuan said sarcastically.

— "How about I take you by bike?" After going uphill, Tang Junhe kindly suggested.

—"You?" There was disdain in every single word.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Tang Junhe always felt that Yang Xuan's attitude towards him began to change sharply and became more and more indifferent since he won the basketball that he showed favor with, as if he was conveying three words with his own body—" Don't hire me."

Tang Junhe felt that he needed to work harder, this time not by showing favor, but by going straight to the showdown—he planned to ask Yang Xuan if he really hated him.

Although the answer is likely to be a frustrating "you know and ask"-Tang Junhe can almost make up the casual and cruel tone when he said this sentence in his mind, but he still decided to give it a try.

Perhaps a silence answered him? That means there is room for more effort.

But these words were never asked that day. A sudden news disrupted Tang Junhe's plan.

The second class that afternoon was math class, and the last 20 minutes were used for in-class quizzes. Less than ten minutes after the test papers were handed out, the homeroom teacher suddenly opened the door and walked in. He didn't even bother to say hello to the math teacher, and went straight to the classroom. Shouted from behind: "Yang Xuan and Tang Junhe come out!"

His own name and Yang Xuan's name appeared together, Tang Junhe held the pen in his hand, looked up at the door in surprise, and then looked back at Yang Xuan.

Yang Xuan was sleeping on the table, when he was called up by someone next to him, he looked towards the door for no reason.

"Come out, don't write yet." The head teacher looked a little flustered, and quickly waved at them.

Her hurried tone attracted the attention of most people in the class. Many people looked up at the head teacher, and then looked back at Yang Xuan and Tang Junhe.

Tang Junhe put down his pen, got up and walked towards the door.

Yang Xuan also got up from his seat and followed him out.

"What's the matter?" the math teacher walked to the door and asked.

"Something happened," the head teacher smiled apologetically, "It's okay, you can continue with the exam."

The two went out, only to see a tall, thin young man standing by the window.

"This is Police Officer Yu, I came to ask you to understand the situation," the class teacher introduced in a low voice, and then raised his head and said to the man, "This is Yang Xuan, and this is Tang Junhe."

The police officer in plain clothes smiled at them and asked straight to the point: "Do you know Zhou Lin?"

-"do not know."

-"know."

The two voices collided.

Tang Junhe felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face.

But Yang Xuan frowned, he really didn't know which onion Zhou Lin was, he didn't connect this name with the person who always followed Tang Junhe at all.

"Huh?" The policeman raised his eyebrows and looked at them with some surprise.

Tang Junhe swallowed his throat, and tried his best to calmly say: "I know him, but he doesn't."

"Okay," the policeman didn't press further, "but you both have to come with me and make a statement."

"Who is Zhou Lin?" Yang Xuan looked at the policeman and asked, he was taller than the policeman.

The policeman looked at Tang Junhe, he thought that the boy who said "know" would explain for him, but Tang Junhe didn't say anything - he thought carefully about Zhou Lin's recent disappearance.

"A teacher," the policeman said to Tang Junhe, "is your former teacher?"

Tang Junhe said, "Yes."

Yang Xuan realized that it was the perverted teacher who had been following Tang Junhe, the one he beat up a few days ago.

"He died." The policeman said calmly, "He was hit by a car."

A flash of shock flashed in Tang Junhe's eyes, while Yang Xuan frowned almost invisibly.

"The deceased has signs of being beaten," the policeman observed their expressions, and continued, "So, I have a few questions for you. "