Before, Yan Zizheng had only made some surface inquiries about Lin Jinglei's family from Tang Shan, without delving too deeply into it. Now, it's not difficult to guess that the mother and son who recently moved in are Lin Jinglei's aunt and younger brother.

Lin Jinglei knew about that younger brother of his, named Lin Tai. It was because of that guy that he and Lin Jinglei became acquainted without fighting. They lived in the same compound, but they have yet to meet each other face to face. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so surprised to see Lin Jinglei at the door.

It was after nine o'clock, his grandfather and Yan Ziqing had already gone to sleep. Yan Zizheng quietly entered after opening the door, leading someone inside with gentle steps.

Lin Jinglei, unaware of the steps at the door, stepped into thin air and let out a curse, forcing Yan Zizheng to turn on the hallway light.

Yan Zizheng turned back to look at the person who had steadied themselves and pointed ahead, saying, "Go this way, be careful."

Lin Jinglei placed his rolling suitcase by the door for easy removal later, and followed Yan Zizheng inside. Although the dim light near the doorway was not enough to see the surroundings clearly, he faintly sensed that the overall layout was the same as his uncle and aunt's house. These houses, built in a unified and batched manner, should be like this.

Yan Zizheng pushed open the door to the room. First, she turned on the lights and walked in, placing her cello backpack on the bed. She asked Lin Jinglei to sit anywhere.

The moment Lin Jinglei stepped into Yan Zizheng's room, he was shocked and perplexed. Everything was neat and strange, and he had a constant feeling that something was not quite right.

He looked around and assessed the situation, finally realizing where the problem lay. Everything was too orderly, all the objects arranged in an eerie manner.

He was told to sit anywhere, but the only place to sit in the entire room was on the bed. He sat down beside the bed and glanced at the cello on it, speaking with a certain tone: "I couldn't tell that you look like someone who plays the cello."

Yan Zizheng brought a chair from outside and sat down by the doorway. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, what does it take to be considered alike?"

Maizui called twice, and a head emerged from Lin Jinglei's hat. The eyes were wide open, the ears were erect, and the paws were scratching around. Lin Jinglei sensed that the cat wanted to use the restroom, and if it did so in his hat, it would be a tragedy. He quickly raised his hand and took the cat out, placing it on the ground. He thought it was necessary to inform the host of the room, saying, "It might need to use the restroom. I hope you don't mind if it dirties the floor."

Yan Zizheng's eyes followed the cat's movement, murmuring, "Mind."

Lin Jinglei was about to pick up the cat and take it outside, but that little rascal immediately crawled under the bed.

"Something's wrong with the crop," Lin Jinglei crouched down and called out, "Mai Sui, Mai Sui, come, come out."

Maisui is a one-and-a-half-year-old orange tabby cat. Somehow, Lin Jinglei has raised her to have the personality of a dog. She loves sticking to him and always responds when he calls her name. But today, perhaps due to being in an unfamiliar place, she is cowering under the bed, ignoring his calls no matter how much he tries.

Lin Jinglei turned around and said, "Do we have a mop? I'll use the mop handle to get it out."

Yan Zizheng was afraid that fetching the mop would make too much noise and wake up those two old men, so he walked over and half-crouched on the ground, peering under the bed. "No need for the mop."

After saying these words, he quickly dived his upper body under the bed, extending one arm to drag out the cat.

Lin Jinglei squatted there, waiting, able to hear the sound of wheat spikes struggling. He patted Yan Zizheng's lower back and said, "It's shy. Why don't I do it?"

Yan Zizheng slowly stepped back, gripping one of Maísui's hind legs and getting his hand smeared with cat feces. Lin Jinglei's first instinct was not to catch the cat, but to avoid Yan Zizheng's hand, thinking to himself how beautifully Maísui had done it.

Yan Zizheng threw the cat to Lin Jinglei, took a few big steps to push open the door and went to wash his hands. Soon, he came back with a mop and started cleaning the cat feces on the floor under the bed.

Lin Jinglei sat there with a cat in his arms, propping up his legs and watching with a nonchalant smile. He said, "See, I told you I can use a mop."

While Yan Zizheng was earnestly working, he shifted his attention to the neatly arranged row of dolls on the bookshelf. He walked over and carefully examined each one, noting that there was a label on top of each one.

"Do you also like this basketball player?"

Yan Zizheng dragged his head along the ground, grunting in response.

Lin Jinglei looked at the doll on the farthest side and felt a strong sense of familiarity. It was just like the one he had given to that girl. He pointed at it and asked, "This, is it a gift from your girlfriend?"

Yan Zizheng didn't even bother to look and immediately gave the answer, "No."

"You didn't even look," Lin Jinglei frowned, "how do you know which one I'm talking about."

Yan Zizheng stood there, propping himself up with a mop handle, and glanced at Lin Jinglei: "Because I don't have a girlfriend."

Lin Jinglei was quite surprised. He stared at the row of dolls, while Yan Zizheng, caught in his peripheral vision, continued to mop the floor.

A few days ago, Lin Jinglei listened to a rhythmically fantastic song in Daqi. Feeling inspired, he decided to set it as his mobile phone ringtone. When the sudden explosive music suddenly played, it startled him, and he quickly answered the call.

"Hey, bro, didn't you say you're at the doorstep? Where are you? Mom and I are back."

Lin Jinglei quickly walked outside and accidentally bumped into something, making a gasping sound in the dark. Yan Zizheng immediately followed behind and turned on the lights.

After sending the person out and locking the door, he swiftly rushed back to his room. He straightened the tissue box on the table that Lin Jinglei had accidentally knocked askew, corrected the misplaced doll, and then took a deep breath, feeling much more relieved.

Lin Jinglei didn't dare to tell his uncle and aunt the real reason for his visit. He definitely wouldn't mention anything about his uncle to upset his aunt. He simply said that he wanted to stay here and spend a few days with them.

"Brother, how did you come out from the next door?"

Lin Jinglei was pulling something out of his suitcase and said, "I was just about to ask you, why didn't you tell me that Yan Zizheng lives next door to you?"

"What?" Lin Tai widened his eyes, "He lives in this courtyard?"

He didn't give Lin Jinglei a chance to speak and launched into a second round of astonishing questions: "You actually went to his house and waited for us? Did you two get into a fight?"

Lin Jinglei pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No."

Lin Tai seemed to have a lot to digest: "What's the situation? When did you become so intimate with him?"

Lin Jinghui pulled out his favorite underwear from under his younger brother's butt and folded it, shaking his head as he muttered, "What intimacy? I just went in to sit for a while because it was too cold."

Lin Tai gave a thumbs up and said, "Bro, you're awesome."

Lin Jinglei laughed and said, "I don't have that kind of cow like my brother, it just goes in and poops right away."

When the two brothers were joking around, Tong Yuying walked in and said, "Let's squeeze in tonight, and tomorrow I'll buy a bed and have a place for Jing Lei to stay when he comes over."

For Lin Jinglei, this was destined to be a sleepless night. He had never liked sharing a bed with anyone, so in the middle of the night, he simply took his pillow and blanket and went to sleep on the sofa.

After tossing and turning all night, the sky was already bright before he could get any decent sleep. Desperate to relieve himself, but with no bathroom in the house, he didn't know where to go. In the end, he had no choice but to wake Lin Tai up.

Lin Tai, feeling groggy, said, "There's a restroom outside. Just turn right after you leave and you'll see it."

After putting on his coat, Lin Jinglei followed Lin Tai's instructions and indeed found the restroom. He went in and turned left, which led him to the men's toilets.

The layout of the public restroom was clean and tidy, but because there were few users, it was exceptionally clean. After he finished using it, he flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and came out feeling completely refreshed by the morning breeze, with no trace of sleepiness.

He felt that he could no longer bear it here. The fact that the toilet was located outside, not indoors, troubled him greatly.

Unexpectedly, even more disturbing was the fact that after breakfast, he wanted to take a hot shower. His aunt told him that he had to go to the public bathhouse outside the main gate. Lin Jinglei felt a strong urge to pack up and go home. He had never been to a public bathhouse before, and with a determined shake of his head, he made up his mind not to take a shower. It was better to endure the difficulties than to be forced to join his uncle and the third party in their happy and prosperous life. He endured it.

After moving here, the daily routine had changed. Lin Tai had to leave a little earlier for school. Twenty minutes after he left, Lin Jing Lei was also urged by his uncle's wife to go to school.

He came out pretending to be all fine, but was actually considering spending the day at the internet cafe. As he walked out of the alley, he saw Yan Zizheng waiting for the school bus at the bus stop in front of No.1 Middle School.

Lin Jinglei couldn't quite understand Yan Zizheng. He had the demeanor of a troublemaker, but he still did what a good student should do. It seemed like he didn't care about anything, yet he cared about everything. What kind of approach was this?

He casually passed by the bus stop without greeting the young man who was looking down at his phone, but was called back when he had walked two meters away.

"Why aren't you going to school?"

Lin Jinglei turned around to look at the person who asked the question, "Why do I have to go to school."

Yan Zizheng straightened his body and said, "I heard you telling your aunt and uncle that you're going to school."

Lin Jinglei frowned: "Are you here to file a complaint or something?"

Yan Zizheng chuckled lightly, saying, "I don't have the leisure for that."

"There's no need for further discussion then." Lin Jinglei turned around and left.

Yan Zizheng continued, "I wanted to remind you that the dismissal time was changed last week. It has been moved half an hour earlier than before. Don't forget to come back on time."

Lin Jinglei did not stop walking as he raised his hand and insincerely said, "Thanks."

The school bus at Yi Zhong has always been punctual. Two minutes later, Yan Zizheng boarded the bus. He saw Lin Jinglei rushing back through the rearview mirror and gestured for the driver to wait. As Lin Jinglei came on board and looked for a seat, Yan Zizheng raised his hand and pointed to the only empty seat in front of him.

Lin Jinglei plopped down on the seat and felt amazed. It was rare to find an empty seat on the bus headed to the hall and Colonel Ou's district. It was much better than the entrance to his own residential area, where it was always so crowded that it felt life-threatening.

Yan Zizheng looked at the back of Lin Jinglei's head and asked, "Didn't you say you're not going to school?"

Lin Jinglei turned his head to look out the window. "Who said I was going to school? I just want to hitch a ride and get off at the aurora. Today, there is..."

He held back his voice, why did he need to explain all this to Yan Zizheng?

Afterwards, neither of them spoke again. They simultaneously put on their headphones and listened to music while looking out the window.

More and more students crowded onto the bus along the way, to the point where it became impossible to find a seat.

The boy standing next to the seat placed his breakfast on his lap for the fourth time. Unable to tolerate it any longer, Lin Jinglei forcefully pushed the person away and said, "Move aside, don't stain my clothes."

That was a sophomore boy who was pushed by Lin Jinglei and accidentally stepped on a female classmate behind him. After being scolded and criticized, he vented his anger on Lin Jinglei, who embarrassed him in public. He opened the gap of the soy milk lid he was holding and deliberately spilled it on Lin Jinglei's pants while the car was turning.

"Damn it!" Lin Jinglei stood up and grabbed the collar of the male student. "You intentionally did that, didn't you?"