Early in the morning of that day, Ethan Ning went out twenty minutes earlier.
The weather is changing rapidly, and the tail of summer is almost gone in September. The morning air is dewy and the wind still brings some coolness.
Ethan Ning was wearing a school uniform jacket, with his trouser legs draped over his white sneakers. His sleeves were rolled up a little, and there was a watch on his wrist, which showed exactly seven o'clock.
There weren't many books in his schoolbag, so it was light and he walked faster. As soon as he turned the corner and walked out of the community gate, he saw Carter Xing sitting next to the noodle shop at the community gate.
Carter Xing was holding a bowl of noodles in his hand, and there was another bowl in front of him, steaming and untouched.
Probably because he played basketball vigorously in the summer, his skin color became a little tanned, his eyebrows and eyes were still dark and had the youthful vigor, but when he frowned, he looked very intimidating.
Carter Xing took off his school uniform early in the morning and sat next to the table in a short-sleeved shirt, with a towel he used for playing basketball embroidered with the pattern of the NBA Thunder team draped over one of his legs.
Ethan Ning remembered that Carter Xing had told him that this team was awesome, but they just could never win the championship. The more they faced setbacks, the more courageous they became. Ethan Ning liked the team and became a fan of it.
At that time, Ethan Ning thought that Carter Xing was probably this kind of person, who would go wherever it was difficult to go.
Ethan Ning saw Carter Xing sitting there, slowed down his pace, nodded as a greeting, and prepared to continue walking without saying anything.
Carter Xing pulled out two chopsticks and turned them over and slammed them on the table, making a loud noise: "Brother!"
Ethan Ning's steps froze. It was rare for him to be ordered so forcefully. Before he could come to his senses, he turned around and saw Carter Xing put his chopsticks on the untouched bowl of noodles and said, "Eat quickly."
Seeing Ethan Ning standing still, Carter Xing urged him: "If you don't eat now, we will stick together."
He has been doing morning exercises around here for two or three days. He has never seen Ethan Ning eat breakfast every morning. And this morning he went to study on an empty stomach so early. Is he really throwing away his stomach for the college entrance examination?
Ethan Ning stared at him without saying a word, then sat down on the stool.
He picked up the chopsticks and poked them into the soup bowl to stir it. It turned out to be beef noodles that had just been served not long ago. It was bright red and looked particularly appetizing.
As Carter Xing stood up, Ethan Ning picked up chopsticks to mix the noodles and counted them. There were twelve pieces of beef.
He glanced at the bowl of the diners at the next table, and there wasn't much either. However, Ethan Ning didn't think too much about it. At that time, he didn't know that all of it was picked by Carter Xing from his own bowl and given to him. He just lowered his head and started eating noodles.
Carter Xing brought some soy milk from the store and placed it in front of him: "From now on, eat noodles here every morning before we go together."
Ethan Ning raised his head and wiped his mouth with a tissue: "I can eat at home."
Carter Xing was a little irritated: "What do you eat at home? Do you eat bread every day?"
As soon as he got home last night, he heard his mother ask if the kid from the Ning family downstairs had moved away, and why the family took away the refrigerator? The child hasn't grown up yet... She also said that she saw Ethan Ning's stepfather and the workers coming again during their class time.
Ethan Ning felt like vomiting when he heard the word bread. He quickly took a breath and said slowly, "Don't bother me."
"I'm informing you of this, not asking if you can do it."
Ethan Ning was angry: "Mind your own business..."
"I order two bowls here every morning. If you don't eat them, I'll throw them away."
Ethan Ning put down his chopsticks and said, "Go!"
Carter Xing ignored him and went to pay the bill with the money.
After paying the bill and returning to his seat, Carter Xing saw that he had almost finished eating, so he rolled up the towel and stuffed it into his schoolbag, put on his basketball bag, and tied his shoelaces again.
After leaving the noodle shop, the two walked side by side on the sidewalk. Along the way, they passed a beverage shop. Carter Xing insisted on pulling Ethan Ning to order a cup of fresh taro milk. It was hot and felt very comfortable in his hands.
When ordering, Carter Xing asked him: "Brother, do you want to add more ingredients?"
Ethan Ning glanced at the list of extra ingredients and felt that there was nothing delicious. He was stunned for a moment before he reacted: "You buy it for me?"
Carter Xing nodded: "Yes."
The waiter prepared the drink, put a straw in it and handed it to Carter Xing, who smiled and said, "Thank you."
He handed the fresh taro milk to Ethan Ning's mouth. Ethan Ning looked at him and said calmly: "You drink first."
Carter Xing was stunned for a moment before he understood what he meant. His brother was willing to drink from the straw he had drunk from? But he was a little worried that Ethan Ning didn't want to drink, so he asked with his neck stiff: "Then will you still drink?"
Ethan Ning lowered his eyes to look at the watch. His narrow double eyelids revealed a good section of his fair neck. In Carter Xing's eyes, he looked very obedient and hummed softly.
After this idea came to mind, Carter Xing felt like he was about to fly. He held the milk in his hands and took a deep sip.
Damn, how come it’s more potent than alcohol!
Next, Ethan Ning was walking on the sidewalk holding her milk. Next to her was Carter Xing, who was holding a basketball bag in his hand. He was in a very good mood. When he passed under a tree, he jumped up to touch the leaves on the branches.
Ethan Ning scolded him beside him: "You just had breakfast, be careful of gastroptosis."
Carter Xing couldn't take all that in, but he stopped jumping around and walked next to his brother, with the summer breeze blowing on his face.
"Brother, how many points did you get in this simulation?"
"Six hundred and two."
"I've already tested you halfway!"
...
The school gate is just across the road from the next intersection. There were a lot of people riding bicycles and electric bikes in the morning. One of them came speeding in the non-motorized vehicle lane and failed to brake firmly. Carter Xing, relying on his tall stature and ability to see far, saw a bicycle coming over there and reached out to grab Ethan Ning.
Two boys in school uniforms hugged each other on the street, but not many people noticed them. Besides, everyone was in a hurry to go to work or school, so no one paid any attention to them.
Ethan Ning was very nervous and turned his head away uncomfortably, especially afraid that Carter Xing would see that his ears were terribly burning.
But Carter Xing's eyes never left him, so of course he saw it, so he became a little bolder. When the green light came on, everyone started to cross the street. Carter Xing looked at the crowds and dense crowds...
He rubbed his hand next to Ethan Ning's hand, pulled his school uniform sleeve, and pulled him across the street. Carter Xing also moved himself to the side closer to the car and turned sideways to protect Ethan Ning, fearing that he would be squeezed by the crowd.
He grasped Ethan Ning's sleeve a little tighter and held it in his palm.
When they were about to cross the road, Carter Xing saw his brother lowering his head and not saying anything. He was afraid that he had gone too far, so he tried to find a topic to talk about, and said sullenly: "Brother, the history notebook you gave me last time..."
Ethan Ning adjusted the straps of his schoolbag and nodded: "See where it is."
This question was so difficult for him that he thought about it seriously and said as he walked: "What Aristotle, what is going to school for..."
Ethan Ning wanted to laugh, but held it back. "Metaphysics."
Carter Xing said "Oh" and almost dropped the basketball bag in his hand. He asked him, "Is it not possible to not go to school?"
Ethan Ning couldn't laugh anymore, and snorted coldly: "Then go back."
As his brother was too lazy to roll his eyes, he walked towards the school gate carrying his schoolbag and drinking taro milk. Carter Xing followed behind him without saying a word. All the way, Carter Xing kept chasing Ethan Ning.
As soon as he arrived at the classroom, Carter Xing put down his schoolbag, turned sideways, bit the hem of his short-sleeved shirt, and took out a box of plaster from his schoolbag.
He took off the book covering Grace Ren's face and handed the plaster to Grace Ren who was dozing off beside him: "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Grace Ren was still sleeping with a book on her head. She quickly sat up straight and almost flipped the stool over: "Ah?"
Carter Xing bit open the plaster, screwed the lid off, and took out a cotton swab and gave it to Grace Ren: "Hurry up, Lao Zhang will be here soon..."
The small bruise on his side had been hurting for many days. It was caused by a collision on the black golf course last weekend. Fortunately, he didn't hit Hunter Ying this time, otherwise he would have been scolded again.
Grace Ren saw that he had a back injury and immediately got angry: "Didn't you swear that you wouldn't go? If you go again, you'll be struck by lightning, didn't you say that?"
Carter Xing was even more adamant: "It's already autumn, even if thunder comes, it won't hit me."
He and Grace Ren and a group of boys had been in high school for two years. They had seen all kinds of troubles. This little injury was nothing to him. In the past, Grace Ren and her group had gone to the next district to have a group fight. They were bare-handed while the other side was holding steel pipes. The group from the school team relied on their height and took out their anger.
Looking at Carter Xing's wound, Grace Ren was so angry that she wanted to take off the plaster and smear it all over Carter Xing's face to apply it on him: "I think you went there secretly to keep a little secret. If you go there again, I will tell your brother!"
The body is the capital of revolution. I see you have injured your waist and you have nowhere to cry.
Carter Xing ignored the latter sentence, his mind was full of his little secret. Why didn't he feel any pain in his waist when he was with his brother just now, but it hurt so much when he separated from his brother and went into the classroom?
Grace Ren dipped her fingertips in the medicine and smeared some on him. Carter Xing gasped, which made Grace Ren angry again. She threw the medicine box on the table and said, "Go ask your brother to wipe it off!"
Carter Xing estimated that he didn't even have the courage to let his brother see his injured back.
He made about two hundred dollars playing basketball on the weekend, plus the hundred and fifty dollars he made before, and if he takes on some corporate work this weekend, he should be able to go to IKEA to pick out a small table for his brother next month.
Carter Xing thought for a while and felt that it was more important to take his brother out to eat and drink first, but the table still had to be bought.
Ethan Ning's home cannot be complete without even a single part.
The team had training this afternoon, and Carter Xing ran there with injuries all over his body. He felt that if he didn't participate in formal training, he would probably be expelled from the school team. In order to study well, the training time was changed to once every two days. Ethan Ning was under a lot of pressure in his senior year of high school, so he would occasionally go to the court to throw a few balls.
They are not in the same grade or class, so whether Carter Xing can meet Ethan Ning outside of school hours depends entirely on luck. As luck would have it, Ethan Ning really came today and said that there will be a competition in the city next month, and if he has time, he can go and be a substitute.
Carter Xing was just dribbling with the ball, in full swing, dribbling smoothly behind his back, when someone on the sidelines shouted, "Brother Xi is here!"
As he was distracted, the ball was intercepted.
Hunter Ying was also fighting with someone, and finally got rid of the close defense and ran out to catch the ball. He watched Carter Xing's ball being intercepted, and couldn't help but cursed: "Fcuk! Carter Xing, what the hell are you doing!"
As the oldest in the grade and with a playful personality, Hunter Ying became the temporary captain of the school team, running and commanding: "Damn, pause, pause!"
Carter Xing knew he had made a mistake, so he didn't say anything and trotted off the court. Just as he was about to say a few words to his brother, he saw Hunter Ying striding over and greeting him: "Xi!"
The more Carter Xing liked her, the less he dared to speak. He just stood far away and watched, with sparks in his eyes. He was angry, his face fell, and he grabbed his coat and walked towards the store.
He bought a few bottles of water and distributed them to the school team members. There were two bottles of mineral water and one bottle of pomegranate soda left, which was very sweet.
He gave a bottle of mineral water to Hunter Ying, opened a bottle for himself, and stuffed the pomegranate soda directly into Ethan Ning's arms.
Carter Xing used a bottle of mineral water to cool his hot face, trying to calm down and act cool: "Take it and drink it."
Ethan Ning raised an eyebrow and put it away.
A boy from the school team came to join in the fun. Seeing the unopened pomegranate soda in Ethan Ning's hand, he said in surprise: "Oh, damn, Carter Xing, how come Brother Xi's is juice!"
Carter Xing scolded coldly: "My brother has low blood sugar, you stay away."
Ethan Ning also cursed in his heart, bullSh!t.
He didn't open the bottle of pomegranate soda on the spot, but took off the worn wrist guard on his hand and threw it away, took the tissue handed to him by Hunter Ying, wiped his sweat, and raised his chin to Carter Xing: "I'm going up."
Carter Xing glanced at the teaching building and nodded: "Okay!"
Ethan Ning thought for a moment and said, "Don't wait for me, go back early."
This time, Carter Xing agreed quickly and said, "Yes, sir!"
Ethan Ning nodded, and glanced at everyone on the field as if he was a leader inspecting. His eyes were very intimidating. He turned around and walked upstairs, holding the orange juice.
When Carter Xing couldn't see him, Ethan Ning would smile as he walked, because he was really happy when he thought of his younger brother.
Later, he couldn't forget the taste and went to several supermarkets before buying a bottle. He found it very sweet.
It’s sweeter than any soda I’ve ever drunk.
Hunter Ying was shocked. Damn, Carter Xing is even more of a sycophant to his brother than I am!
During evening self-study, the monthly exam results for the second year of high school came out. Carter Xing held the report card and looked at it for a long time, then bent down to untie his shoelaces.
Grace Ren held him down with a sad face: "Fcuk, Carter Xing, don't get angry, don't be impulsive, these basketball shoes cost one or two thousand, if you throw them away, what else can you use to conquer the world?"
After calming down for a while, Carter Xing reached out and pinched him: "I just tied my shoelaces tighter because I was afraid my dad would beat me when I got home. I fell down while running."
Damn, this score is exactly half of Ethan Ning's, just over 330 points, 120 in math, and he couldn't bear to look at the rest of the points.
Grace Ren's grades were hopeless to begin with, so it didn't matter whether she chose arts or science. Science is good for her, but she bravely chose arts for love, but ended up getting this score. However, history has made a lot of progress, so there is hope for the future.
The geography paper was also handed out. Carter Xing looked at the one centimeter on the geography map and felt that he was actually a thousand kilometers away from Ethan Ning.
After school, he didn't wait for Ethan Ning. He ran to several places and returned home with the things in his bag. His schoolbag was full of things. Carter Xing put the things on the table, found the rope, and started to tie things randomly.
I have used this rope for many years. I will buy a new one when I have time.
Since returning home, Carter Xing has been listening upstairs with his ears craned, and finally saw the window below his own room light up as he wished.
He didn't send a message to Ethan Ning. He just hung something on the rope and slowly lowered it.
Ethan Ning had just finished writing his math homework when he looked up and saw a familiar rope by the window. There was a pocket hanging on it, and he didn't know what was inside.
He had no habit of pulling the curtains while doing homework, and Carter Xing knew it, so he took advantage of this and often swung the rope down without saying hello.
When he was little, Xiao Carter Xing would tease him and want to bully someone he liked, so he hung up his mother's small makeup mirror. When little Ethan Ning looked up, he saw the mirror and was frightened and started crying.
He just wanted his brother to appreciate how good-looking he is, why is he crying?
The children in the yard were running and laughing, Carter Xing, are you hanging a magic mirror?
Xiao Carter Xing cursed in a hoarse voice upstairs, "My brother looks like a fairy when he looks in the mirror!"
When Ethan Ning looked up and saw the pocket, he sighed and was speechless as to how Carter Xing could be so childish at such an age. He reached out and prepared to stand up and untie the rope.
Before he could reach it, and I don't know if it was because there were too many things in it or what, the small rope tying the bag broke, and the whole bag fell to the corner of the wall of the apartment building.
Carter Xing cursed from upstairs: "Damn it!"
Ethan Ning couldn't help laughing: "Idiot."
He said this, but the next second, he quickly stood up, put on his sneakers, opened the door and ran to pick it up.
Unexpectedly, Carter Xing followed downstairs wearing slacks.
Two half-grown teenagers were looking at each other downstairs. In the darkness, the street lights in the community were blocked by the shadows of the trees and their faces could not be clearly illuminated.
Carter Xing's gaze was strong and carried the straightforward possessiveness of a young man. He stared at Ethan Ning's silhouette disappearing in the night, feeling a sense of restlessness in his heart.
His brother was wearing a white shirt with his sleeves half rolled up. His hair was short on his forehead, and the top two buttons of his collar were unbuttoned, revealing his particularly striking collarbone.
Carter Xing never expected Ethan Ning to follow him down. He was so nervous that he wanted to breathe and said, "I don't want to leave anymore."
"Then you stand here." Ethan Ning still had the bag of things in his hand. He didn't even look at it. He just stuffed it into Carter Xing's arms: "If you don't leave, I will."
Carter Xing chased after him, "Brother, stretch out your hand."
Ethan Ning didn't know what he was going to do, but his feet stopped uncontrollably.
At the side of the apartment building, he finally compromised, and using the light, he lifted his sleeves a little and stretched out his hand.
He just watched Carter Xing take out a new box of wristbands from his pocket, unpack them, and stretch the wristbands to make them bigger.
This wristband is a famous brand, costing about one or two hundred yuan each. He bought it at the mall after school today.
Carter Xing held Ethan Ning's hand with his left hand, and put the wristband on Ethan Ning's wrist with his right hand.
The courtyard was quiet and they stood facing each other in silence.
After Carter Xing put it on him, he stared at Ethan Ning's handsome eyes and eyebrows immersed in the night, with his back against the lights of thousands of homes, and his heart was burning.
Many years later, Carter Xing recalled this scene and felt that at that time, he was just like putting a wedding ring on Ethan Ning...
Solemn and pious.
Trying to hold your hand.
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