Yu Sheng’s house is on the twelfth floor.
On the top floor, the possibility of being harassed by all kinds of electric drilling sounds is avoided to the greatest extent.
Jin Linkun was still a little hesitant when he entered the door, but was pulled by Yu Sheng: “What are you doing standing by the door, to ward off evil spirits?”
“a little nervous……”
The door slammed shut behind him, Jin Linkun cleared his throat, and subconsciously straightened his clothes: “Is there no one in your house?”
Yu Sheng shook his head, and gave him a pair of slippers: “No one. Auntie didn’t come back after she left for some time, there’s a power outlet underneath the coffee table, you go to the living room to stay first.”
The point of discussion jumped too far ahead and it took Jin Linkun a while to fully understand that he had been thrown onto the sofa in the living room by Yu Sheng.
He found an outlet under the coffee table and charged his phone.
Three bedrooms and one living room, the living room is a bit empty, the decoration is very standard, it looks almost exactly the same as the standard model room.
The long row of sofas is extremely spacious, occupying at least one third of the living room, with light grey wooden handles, and there are at least a dozen pillows of different styles scattered on it.
Jin Linkun took one and pressed it twice.
It’s soft and feels good. With the same style of air-conditioning blanket on the side, it looks very suitable for sleeping on the sofa.
He hugged that pillow, and for some reason, he remembered Yu Sheng’s empty information form again.
“Why do you look so dazed?” Yu Sheng turned on the air conditioner, took out a can of Coke that he bought before from the refrigerator, and shook it twice in front of his eyes.
Jin Linkun raised his head, took the Coke, and casually asked a question: “I was wondering—how do you watch shows on your TV?”
Yu Sheng glanced back at the TV hanging on the wall, and took out two remote controls for him: “I don’t know, you take a look at it.”
“…” Jin Linkun: “Huh?”
After walking for such a long time, there is no one at home, and it has more or less accumulated some dust. Yu Sheng was about to tidy up the room first, and took out a bag of wet wipes: “It’s too complicated, I’m too lazy to do it, and there’s nothing to watch anyways.”
The TV was there when he moved in, but he didn’t want it, probably because the renovator thought there should be a TV on the wall.
Today’s TVs are getting bigger and bigger and more complicated. Some buttons on the remote control even have several functions. He tried it twice, but he couldn’t bear the hassle of the two remote controls tossing and turning, so he just threw it away and didn’t care about it anymore.
Duan Lei and the others have also come to play a few times. They are all young and energetic high school students. Every time, they go straight to the computer in the study. This is the first time someone asks him how to watch this thing.
Jin Linkun: “…”
The grown-up yet outdated high school senior who had repeated grades had no way to argue, so he got his first job, sat in the living room, and honestly began to study the relationship between set-top boxes and TVs.
Yu Sheng simply tidied up the room and went back to the living room. Jin Linkun had successfully turned on the TV.
The TV was tuned to the [Golden Years] section, and it was playing the rerun of the Spring Festival Gala of an unknown year. The bright red on the screen is too visually impactful, so that he still hasn’t successfully figured out which remote control is the tuner, and is trying hard to turn down the volume of the TV.
The lively and festive music was so loud that Yu Sheng leaned against the door, looking at the figure who was struggling with the remotes on the sofa, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
Jin Linkun is still engaged in a fight with the TV.
Suddenly, he didn’t want to look for some piano scores anymore, Yu Sheng opened the refrigerator to search again, confirmed that there was really nothing to eat, took out his phone and ordered two takeaways.
“Friend, do you usually stay at home?”
Jin Linkun finally turned down the volume smoothly. He felt as if he had done ten sets of competition questions. He leaned on the sofa exhausted: “If you don’t usually stay at home, I may only be able to study this TV this far today.”
“Yes.” Yu Sheng sat down, with a smile in his eyes, “I won’t live on campus in my third year of high school. I’m under a lot of pressure to study, and I just want to watch TV when I have nothing to do.”
“…”
After all, there is still the pressure of the college entrance examination. The school rules of the No. 3 Secondary School will suddenly become stricter in the third grade. The students who live on campus have to study until half past nine in the evening. In order to ensure a quiet learning environment for the students who live on campus, the day students are required to clean up after class at 5 o’clock.
Although Yu Sheng doesn’t like living alone, considering the full four and a half hours time gap, he is willing to contribute his own strength to the learning conditions of the students living on campus.
Under the pressure of a group of helpless in-studies friends headed by Duan Lei who are unable to go to day school, he is ready to submit the application for day school when the school starts.
As this matter concerned the wellbeing of his room mate*, Jin Linkun rubbed his eyes, put on his glasses again, and continued to study how to operate the TV.
*(how fixing this TV up can allow his room mate to watch TV as a form of relieving stress)
It was completely dark outside when the takeout was delivered, Yu Sheng ordered two servings of neither numbing nor spicy Malatang*, and unpacked the chopsticks and handed them to Jin Linkun.
*(ma – numb, la – spicy, tang – soup, basically a soup containing ingredients to numb your taste buds while at the same time being spicy, or…it is supposed to be…? idk what Yu Sheng ordered)
“Friend.” Jin Linkun carefully studied the order for a while, and made a cautious evaluation: “To be honest, you should have requested the tang* to be taken out as well.”
Yu Sheng didn’t think there was anything wrong with the meal he ordered, so he tapped on the table: “If you don’t eat it, the tang will really be gone.”
Jin Linkun thought he was right.
The pancakes were finished on the way back, and the growing boys got hungry easily. The two of them ate clear soup, boiled vegetables and fish balls facing each other, and the rerun of the New Year’s program was still playing in the background on the TV.
Jin Linkun couldn’t take a break, looked at it for a while while eating, and vaguely remembered: “This is the program from this year, I have seen it.”
Yu Sheng used his chopsticks to pick up a bunch of noodles, looked up at the two people who were hugging each other on the TV, and asked about the program: “Did his brother beat him up in the end?”
“Huh?” Jin Linkun looked carefully at the screen, “It was so noisy at the time, I thought they were father and son…”
“…”
Yu Sheng no longer had any hope for him and gave up trying to dive too deep into Jin Linkun’s logic, ate two more mouthfuls, and put down the chopsticks.
Both of them ate about the same, and the takeaway was easy to pack, and the bag could be thrown away as soon as it was closed.
Yu Sheng tidied up the table, put the bag at the door, went back to the bedroom and opened the drawer to look through it.
Jin Linkun’s plan of trying to help wash the dishes was disrupted by the time-saving convenience of the takeout. He didn’t know what to do, so he followed him aimlessly around twice, poked at the door of the bedroom, and peeked inside from time to time.
Yu Sheng felt that he could hear Jin Linkun’s psychological struggle from inside: “This is the first time you’ve come to someone else’s house?”
“…Yes.” Jin Linkun nodded sincerely, “My friend, what should I do now? Should I mop the floor?”
Yu Sheng: “…”
Jin Linkun continued to use his imagination: “Or clean the windows? Your house is quite clean, and I can help you tidy up the pillows…”
A little worried about what his home would look like after this person used his imagination to clean up his house, Yu Sheng interrupted him in time, pulled out a key and stood up: “Okay, come and help.”
Jin Linkun finally found his place, stood up happily, and followed him through the living room to the door of the room that had been locked all along.
The house is so clean that there is no trace of a second person. There is one bedroom and one study room. Jin Linkun thought the rest was a guest room, but when he opened it, he realised that it was used as a storage room.
There were a lot of things piled up on the table and on the floor, stuffed to the brim, a little messy, it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned up.
Yu Sheng stood at the door thinking for a few seconds, pushed him open to enter the door, stepped on a chair, stretched out, and pulled a huge cardboard box down from the top of the cabinet: “Take it.”
Before he opened his mouth, Jin Linkun had followed swiftly and took over the heavy paper box: “It’s so heavy, what’s in it?”
“Piano score, but there may not be many four-handed piano scores.”
Yu Sheng let go, patted the ashes on his hands, and jumped off with one hand: “How well can you play the piano?”
Jin Linkun thought for a while: “It wasn’t bad ten years ago, but now I can probably run around and hit the chords for you.”
___
In fact, Jin Linkun has not touched the piano for many years. After all, there is a difference between a pipe organ and a piano, and it takes a few days to find the feeling of sitting on the piano bench without stepping around excessively*.
*(organ has lots of pedals for the feet I believe, whereas piano has a lot fewer pedals.)
Yu Sheng was not surprised: “I haven’t practised for several years too, let’s just find a simple piece of music and deal with it.”
The room had been locked for over a year and was extremely dusty. Yu Sheng choked and sneezed a few times, and couldn’t stay any longer, so he dragged Jin Linkun and carried the box to the living room.
Bearing the high expectations of the entire Group 7, the two of them sat on the ground with pillows and sifted through the box of music scores in the cheerful background sound for a long time.
There are not only scores in the box, but also a dusty trophy certificate. A stack of yellowed photos is stuffed in the corner, and the edges have begun to curl.
Yu Sheng obviously didn’t take these things seriously, and stuffed them into the corner casually, took out the score book, simply wiped off the dust on it with a wet towel, and handed him a book for him to choose after wiping.
Jin Linkun briefly flipped through a few books, then couldn’t help but look up at Yu Sheng who was wiping the covers of each book.
At the door just now, he found that the room should be filled with things that were from the previous move of the house.
It seems that they all carry a lot of memories. There are photo frames, handmade warship models, and large hardcover books that are expensive at first glance. They are all scattered in there, with no intentions by the owner to tidy it up and store it neatly.
Yu Sheng didn’t seem to have any feelings after opening the door to the storage room, his expression was still quite calm, he leaned against the sofa and sat on the pillow, changed a wet towel and continued to wipe the dust.
He didn’t seem to be planning to chat either. Jin Linkun touched the tip of his nose, feeling that he shouldn’t just speak so hastily. He took the book and opened it, flipping through the scores on it page by page.
Yu Sheng wiped another copy and threw it into Jin Linkun’s arms.
If it weren’t for getting the piano score this time, Yu Sheng would have almost forgotten that there is such a room at home.
Usually this door is locked. The aunt who took care of the family has been working for a long time, and knows that there is nothing to clean up in there. Hence, it has been left like this since they moved here.
___
In fact, there is really no particularly sensational story, the main reason was because he was too lazy to clean up after moving.
In addition, it was quite easy to live in No.3 Secondary school, there were not many people who knew his past, there was no chance to stand out, and since these things were not needed, there was really no need to tidy them up.
People grow up very quickly, even if it was something that was once so important that it would be terribly uncomfortable to be touched, after waiting for many years and looking back, it has actually become a past that you don’t care about.
He just suddenly felt that ever since he met Jin Linkun, the barrier between himself and the past seemed to be unknowingly thinning.
Till now, he still doesn’t know why he tries so hard to study, why he stays up late to memorise the questions, and why he competes seriously for such a strange reason, even agreeing to participate in the four-handed piano playing performing cult organised by a group of seven demons*, that he even agreed to make the journey back home to retrieve the scores.
*(seven group of people, I believe it’s their group name)
In the past, he worked hard to do this because he thought that his parents would come back. He thought that if he was good enough, he could be on stage to be presented with all the awards, the whole family could have another meal together.
However, when the trophy was violently slammed on the ground, he looked down seeing everyone who looked either puzzled or sympathetic. He raised his head, looking opposite at his family, all at once, the motivation to continue persevering like this suddenly disappeared.
Since then, whether it was deliberate or instinctive, by the time he realised it, he had avoided all occasions that would attract the attention of others.
…until somehow, because of a few words at the door of the toilet, his fighting spirit was reignited over a battle over the toilet.
The whole incident and the bathroom were full of indissoluble fate, Yu Sheng twitched the corner of his mouth, suppressed the somewhat unpleasant memory, and re-wiped the performance-grade leather-covered sheet music in his hand.
The wet towel swept across, and the bronzing handwriting became bright again.
Because it has been placed in a cardboard box for the past two years without contact with the air, the colour is still bright, golden and dazzling.
Yu Sheng clutched the book in his hand, subconsciously putting his fingers away.
He still doesn’t know what motivates him now.
But he still vaguely noticed that before he knew it, he seemed to be less resistant to studying and being busy, less resistant to enriching his life, and gradually began to not care about being focused on standing on the stage again, less resistant to being in the centre of everyone’s eyes again.
Obviously from the beginning, he just wanted to help this socially handicapped roommate make a few friends.
Yu Sheng himself felt that the development of this matter was a bit inexplicable, and the corners of his lips unconsciously twitched. Before he could finish his emotion, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by a strange touch.
“…” Yu Sheng opened Jin Linkun’s hand that was groping on his leg: “What are you doing?”
Jin Linkun raised his hand to explain: “Finding the feeling.”
He just picked a piece of music, imitating the action of playing the piano keys in his mind, trying to find the feeling, but there is no place to practise.
There is no piano in the living room, and the size of the bedroom and study is probably not enough to house a piano.
Jin Linkun closed the piano score book in his hand, and quickly hid the group photo inside that was probably thrown inside casually, and covered it tightly within the pages of the book.
He raised his hand while holding the book, and moved back two centimetres faced with the murderous look of his roommate who finally snapped out of his memories, trying to find a reasonable explanation for his movements of pressing back and forth on the Yu Sheng’s leg: “I calculated it simply, the two of us have not touched the piano for more than three years, time is a little tight, I think we should practise as soon as possible…”
Yu Sheng sat on the ground and looked at him for a while, nodded, stood up, and went into the dust covered storage room.
This time he came out in a short time, holding a very delicate and unopened sky-blue children’s educational electronic organ in his hand, standing next to the garbage bag he was about to take out to throw away, and neatly unpacked it.
“…”
Jin Linkun opened his mouth, looking weakly at the sudden turn of fate, trying to save the situation, “My friend, I suddenly feel that time is not so tight…”
“No, you really do have to practise.”
Satisfied with his memory, Yu Sheng was obviously in a good mood, took out two batteries and stuffed them in, and tried to press the keyboard.
The children’s educational electronic piano with sky blue paintings and little white clouds rang out the joyful sound of ding ding dong dong.
Jin Linkun: “…”
Yu Sheng nodded, put the piano on Jin Linkun’s lap, and patted him on the shoulder: “Good boy.”
____
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Update: 2 days after~!
- After becoming enemies with the lord god
- Blog
- Completed
- Don't talk to me!
- Dropped
- Ghost Marriage
- Hunger Academy
- I opened a safe house in the Infinite Stream
- Notices
- Ongoing
- The Dragon Lord is Weak and Helpless but Has a Big Appetite [Interstellar]
- Want to ascend? Then fall in love.
- What can I do, I'm not human.
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