the gravity of the rainbow

Chapter 4 We Should Be Together Often

01
He Caihong never knew that the Central Hospital had such a luxurious ward.Refrigerators, color TVs, leather sofas, fully equipped bathrooms; carpets, flower arrangements, exquisite oil paintings; in addition to the master bedroom, study and living room, there are restrooms for attendants and family members.The nurse said that it would cost 600 yuan to live here for one day.

At [-] o'clock in the morning, Rainbow came to the ward on time and accompanied Su Donglin to go for a walk in the garden downstairs. If it was sunny, he would take him for a walk on the street.If she has more free time, Rainbow will correct homework, prepare lessons, read books, and write lesson plans on the table next to the hospital bed.Su Donglin was lying on the bed alone to write programs on the computer, and the two of them did not disturb each other.

The best ward, the best care, the best nutrition, and he recovered very quickly.In the first few days, there was some inflammation in the lungs, and I had two fevers, and I was given a drip for a few days.After a week, he was able to move around even though he was still wearing a belt.

People came to see him in an endless stream, but his own parents were stuck by a business overseas and couldn't get out, so he had to entrust his boss Dongyu and Lili to take care of him.Dongyu is also busy, but Lily is always idle. Recently, she is keen on baking. She participated in a cake class and will give a fresh dessert every day.

Dong Lin loves sweets, and the room exudes a sweet and greasy fragrance of milk.

Rainbow couldn't help thinking proudly, no matter how delicious the cake is, how can it compare with the soup made by her mother?After finishing the nth bowl of soup from Rainbow, Su Donglin stretched out contentedly on the bed, savoring the aroma of sea bass and tofu, and praised sincerely: "Rainbow, the soup you made is really delicious."

He has always taken for granted that these soups are the embodiment of rainbow hearts.

Rainbow had to make a correction: "My mother made the soup."

Su Donglin said "oh", and the second half of "oh" became a falling tone: "This at least shows that your mother likes me very much."

"I think," Rainbow blinked, "it's your money that she likes."

A brief silence.

Su Donglin turned around and looked at her quietly: "What about you? Do you think I have many attractive qualities besides money? For example, smart, funny, cheerful, easy-going—"

"Is this attractive?" Rainbow interrupted him, "I was in the third grade of elementary school, and the teacher gave such a comment."

He stared at her face, pretending to listen affectionately: "If you don't go around in circles with you, do you like me at all?"

"You're my friend, of course I like you."

"I don't mean ordinary friends."

"You and I are just ordinary friends."

He sat up straight, his smile froze: "Ordinary friends?"

"You once liked Guo Lili, but you gave up for your brother's sake."

"Do you mind that too?"

"It means you're giving up the girl you like for something else."

"You can't have both. We always have to give up something for something else, what's wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. I just hate those men who exchange women as objects. Xiao Li Feidao gave up his lover for the sake of his brother, and still thinks he's very noble. In my opinion, he deserves to die a thousand times."

I don't know why I have to mention "Little Li Feidao" again. "Xiao Li Fei Dao" was the first serious dispute between them after they met.Caihong was still a junior at that time, just because Su Donglin said that "007" and "Xiao Li Feidao" were his favorite movie characters, he was immediately criticized from head to toe by Caihong.The two came out of the video room and quarreled from the door to the street.

From then on, Su Donglin never mentioned Xiao Li Feidao again. When he mentioned it, the rainbow would definitely jump three feet high.

Su Donglin's eyes were filled with anger: "It's Xiao Li Feidao again! What does Xiao Li Feidao have to do with me? I gave up Lily because I don't like her, but my brother likes her. There is nothing to stop me. Exchange or not. Lily is also a smart person, do you think she is willing to exchange for me as an item?"

"Ha! Su Donglin, you said you don't like Guo Lili? How did you chase her back then? Do you want to check how many love letters I wrote for you?"

Speaking of this, Rainbow became even more angry.

Donglin's love letters—except for the one in "The Boys Here"—were all written by Rainbow.As a well-known talented woman in the Chinese Department, writing love letters was He Caihong's biggest spare time income during college.The fee is expensive, the success rate is high, and it is kept secret for life.She once helped two parties who were in love to write love letters. This writing and the other writing were all written by her alone.Up to now, the young couple is not only living a happy life, but they still don't forget to invite her to have a glass of wine during the holidays.Caihong’s biggest customer is Su Donglin: order more, pay quickly, and tip when you’re happy.Caihong’s service is also excellent, and it will play by ear according to its needs: if the girl you are chasing is from the English department, she will write a Shakespeare sonnet; The love letter was turned into a survey report; in the music department, she wrote beautiful lyrics on other people's little music.Coupled with Su Donglin's wit, humor, and suave style, he is naturally a hit.

It's a pity that Second Young Master Su's interest in girls never lasts long, and he will place new orders in a few months.Rainbow despises this very much, not because he has any moral criticism against him, but because he feels that Donglin is using money to make fun of her.The biggest evil result of this is that the success rate of love letters has dropped sharply, and customers have complained a lot.During the period, two girls hired Rainbow to write a love letter to Donglin. No matter how extravagant she was, she disappeared like a mud cow into the sea when she arrived at Donglin's side.The two girls also refused to pay wages on the grounds that they had not received a reply.Rainbow had no choice but to come to this conclusion: Su Donglin is from the Department of Computer Science, and the cuteness is not in the text.Love letters don't work for him, but he knows that love letters work for girls.

Rainbow thoughts surged, and Su Donglin's bad deeds in college replayed in his mind like a movie.

Seeing the resentment on her face, Su Donglin smiled: "She is good-looking, I have been tempted. Why do you bother me because of her?"

"Entangled?" Rainbow pointed to his face, "When have I ever entangled you?"

"You brought a bowl of delicious soup every day. I drank it with gratitude and happiness for seven days in a row. Now you tell me that you didn't make this soup and we are just ordinary friends. He Caihong, how cruel you are ?”

She was choked by these words, and seeing Su Donglin's resentful expression, her throat choked up, and she muttered: "We are friends, and friends must tell the truth. Do you want me to lie to you?"

"Lies that calm things down are better than truths that sow discord. In fact, as long as it is your soup, I will like to drink it."

His demeanor was quite sincere, but the more Rainbow listened, the more he twisted: "I really don't know how to make soup. I've never made soup. I only know how to drink soup just like you."

"In a bad mood?" He looked around, "What did I offend you?"

"Yes, master," Rainbow put his head in front of him, and said word by word, "Can you please stop sending me those disgusting emails? Love letters are not postcards, so you can't send them indiscriminately like this. See you next time." When I see such a letter, I will just click X to filter out your account as spam. Do you think it is fun to play like this? Do you think people will like your pranks? Open your eyes, Master Su, I I don’t have money, and I don’t love money, so stop repeating these silly tricks on me.”

"Hehehe..." Su Donglin looked terrified, "He Caihong, don't be so aggressive, my heart is already broken."

His expression was a bit exaggerated, his tone was still joking, and he was full of rainbow anger.

"Your heart is not broken," she packed her schoolbag. "You just broke two ribs. I have class today, and I have to go to school."

He stood up and wanted to go, but was grabbed by him: "Uh--I forgot that these two ribs were hit by someone. Who did it? Huh? Can't remember. I must have been knocked stupid right?"

"..." Rainbow opened his mouth and closed it again.

"Come and help me, I drank too much soup to please you, so I have to go to the bathroom."

She had no choice but to help Su Donglin up from the bed, and he put his arms around her in a gesture, leaning on her body with most of his body.

"Hey, I didn't take you to take advantage of it... Hey, what's the matter with you? Su Donglin! Don't scare me! Nurse! Nurse!"

On the way back to school, Caihong received a call from Lili, and as soon as he turned on the phone, he heard a loud laugh: "He Caihong, I heard that you made Su Donglin mad? You are not simple! At home, he is always mad at his father. I'm so mad at you. Next time, please just piss him off and let my son monopolize the property of the Su family, hahahaha..."

Rainbow was in a cold sweat hearing this, is this the Guo Lili she knew?Laughing so arrogantly, so hysterically, like a crazy woman in someone's attic.Lily didn't smile like this before, she always pursed her lips silently, she was definitely not as smug as she is now, and her words were the subtitle of the weekend edition of "Legal Daily".

She arrived at the department on time at ten o'clock, took a group of freshmen to visit the library, corrected the papers of a class, and registered a batch of new books for the reference room. The day passed quickly.After tidying up the papers in Ji Huang's office, Rainbow was about to get off work when he heard a knock on the door.

It was Zhao Tiecheng, the deputy secretary of the department.

"Xiao He, do you have Teacher Ji's contact number?" He asked.

"No."

"Last time he said he would buy a mobile phone and told me the number after he bought it. I forgot to ask when I was busy. There will be an urgent meeting at the school at [-] o'clock tomorrow morning. It is about discipline construction. I want him to attend it. The place is at The third conference room on the second floor of Shaw Court. Can you inform me? He should live near here."

Rainbow quickly said: "No problem, do you have his address?"

Zhao Tiecheng handed her a note: Room 1789, East Gate, Building 76, No. 301 Huinan Road.

Huinan Road Oh.Rainbow sat in the car thinking.Huinan Road is only three stops away from Caihong's home. The most famous buildings nearby are Huinan District Children's Palace and Qianhe Gymnasium.Rainbow once studied piano in the Children's Palace for a whole year.Seeing her rapid progress, Li Mingzhu gritted her teeth and hired a music teacher from a university to teach her alone.The couple quarreled for three days over this extravagant decision, and Li Mingzhu had to decide to take another part-time job after work to pay for the expensive piano tuition.

The problem is, Rainbow has no interest in the piano, or the initial interest was killed by her mother's crazy expectations.The history of piano has become a history of blood and tears growing up, and she has been beaten many times in order to play Chopin and Schubert's etudes well.Later, Li Mingzhu promised that she would not use violence after passing the tenth level of the piano. Six months after saying this, Rainbow jumped directly from the eighth level to the tenth level at an unexpected speed, and successfully obtained the certificate. Because of the reason that she stopped practicing the piano for two hours a day, she was relieved to escape the sea of ​​suffering in her life.

Because of hating the piano, hating the house and the crow, Caihong even hated the Children's Palace, and no matter what attractive activities there are in the future, he will find a reason to avoid it.

No. 1789 is on the west side of the Children's Palace, a residential area as old as Rainbow's house.Because its existence negatively smears the appearance of City F, it has been included in the scope of urban rectification.All the low houses facing the street were demolished, and a row of ethnic-style commercial and residential buildings were built, just to block the mess inside.After getting out of the car and searching for a full 10 minutes, Rainbow finally found 76 buildings among the buildings with different heights.The building is gray, and at first glance you can't tell the old from the new, but the exhaust fan in the kitchen says it all.Many people still use the old-fashioned exhaust fan instead of the advanced range hood.So there is a layer of black grease under every window sill.Rainbow has developed a kind of intimacy with these grease stains, because the same is true in her own home.The stairs are very narrow, the handrails are still clean, and small advertisements such as "moving with integrity" and "high-speed Internet access" are messily pasted on the walls.

She went up to the third floor, rang the doorbell, the door opened, and a young man with whiskers appeared in front of her.

So far, except for his grandfather, Rainbow has never seen a man with a beard among his peers, especially in a southern city like F City, where very few people have beards.At first glance, she thought he was from Xinjiang, so she couldn't help but look at him more, then looked down at the note in her hand, the address must be correct, so she said, "I'm looking for Ji Huang, does he live here?"

The man nodded and opened the door a corner: "Please come in."

The structure of the old-fashioned apartment is similar, the living room is small and clean, with a purple sofa and a glass coffee table on the terrazzo floor.

The man said: "Ji Huang is not at home, but he should be back soon. Is there anything urgent for him?"

"Yes, there is something." Caihong stretched out his hand, "I am He Caihong, Ji Huang's colleague."

The man nodded and shook hands with her: "Shen Fei, I'm in the English Department. I'm Ji Huang's roommate, and we share this apartment."

"Ah," Rainbow raised his eyebrows, "Are you a teacher in the English department?"

Shen Fei is tall, with a long face and slightly curly hair. He has the same sharp eyes as Ji Huang, and he looks a bit like Saddam to Rainbow's first impression.

"I was just assigned this year."

"So, it's Dr. Shen Fei?"

"Yes, Ji Huang and I are friends and we have known each other before."

Shen Fei spoke mandarin that couldn't be more standard, which surprised Rainbow: "Are you from the north?"

"I'm from City S."

"Oh, that's a big city!"

"Hehe, I don't feel it after staying for a long time."

"Then did you get used to moving here?"

"I'm not used to it. I didn't have to move here. Since Ji Huang likes it here, I followed."

Very strange.Rainbow's heart skipped a beat, listening to his tone, it's easy to get into F University, just like going to a movie theater, buying a ticket and getting in.Student Shen Fei, do you think that F University is a vegetable garden, where you can get in and get out when you want?How many people have sharpened their heads and drilled in but still can't get in.

"You are... um... very good friends?"

"Yes." He pointed to a room and said, "I'm sorry, I'm writing a thesis, so I can't chat with you. Why don't you wait for him in his room? He should be back soon."

"Ok."

"What would you like to drink? Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee, thanks."

02
Ji Huang's room is small, but it doesn't look too small, because there is almost nothing in it, green curtains, a single bed, a table, a chair, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe.

The beds and tables are very dated and about as provided by the owner.The bed was clean, white sheets, blue quilt, neatly folded.Ji Huang is a clean person, which Rainbow has observed in school.In the few short encounters with him, there will be shots of wiping the table, so that the cleaner deliberately misses his office when cleaning.The so-called bookshelf was actually built temporarily with bricks and wood. Several bricks supported a wooden plank, and several bricks supported another wooden plank, so it went up four floors.The wooden boards are painted green, giving it a back-to-basics feel.A family portrait hangs on a blank white wall, a pale woman hugging three little boys.There are four members of the family, and none of them has a smile on their faces.The woman's eyes were warm and calm.She should be a beautiful and strong-willed woman, looking strangely thin, as if chronically malnourished, with high protruding cheekbones and sunken eye sockets, and clothes hanging on her body like an empty shelf .Compared with those well-educated old professors in the Chinese Department, Ji Huang's books are not too many, there are hundreds of them, half of which are original English works.Rainbow glanced at them, and found that they were all professional books that could not be bought in the market, and he did not know where he got them.

Rainbow sat there for 5 minutes, drank half a cup of coffee, Shen Fei came in suddenly and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot that he should be working in the gymnasium tonight, and he probably won't be back until after work."

"Go to work?" She couldn't help standing up.

"Ji Huang is an amateur instructor. He teaches yoga in the gymnasium two nights a week, one for beginners and one for intermediate."

Yoga! Yoga!

Rainbow's eyes couldn't be wider: "Really?"

Shen Fei looked at his watch: "Now the first class has just started, would you rather wait here, or go to the gymnasium to find him?"

There were guards outside the yoga studio. Rainbow begged for a long time, but the gatekeeper said: "You wait outside the door, and you can find him after class."

The door is glass and highly soundproof, and inside is a ballet practice hall surrounded by mirrors.

Sitting on the cushion in front of him, Ji Huang led more than thirty students to practice breath adjustment.

He was wearing a tight white T-shirt and a pair of black yoga shorts underneath. Standing barefoot on the mat in front of him, he started a few simple Pilates movements, stretching his arms and legs, slowly and steadily like an acrobat Bend your body into various shapes.His expression was unusually focused, he didn't smile, and he didn't show any expression.Rainbow unconsciously held his breath, as if he was also a member of the students, and began to breathe abdominally according to his instructions.And her eyes stayed dishonestly on his strong chest muscles tightly wrapped by T-shirts, wanting to see those tight back muscles sliding between the bones, and the slender limbs stretching and flexing like sea anemones, she even heard the tendons pulling , The sound of joints cracking.

She was blushing and fascinated by the sight, when suddenly someone patted her on the back, Rainbow took a half step back like lightning, and when she looked back, she was a young woman in a hurry, wearing a purple yoga suit with a knot on her head. A red headband.

She wasn't very beautiful, but she looked alive and well.

"Do you want to sign up for this class?" the man asked enthusiastically.

She stammered a "hmm".

"No show, all the papers for this year are full. The next one is full." The man said mysteriously, "Do you know why?"

Rainbow looked at her in bewilderment: "Why?"

"This teacher is too hot."

"Hot?"

"If you close your eyes, just listening to his voice will make you drunk, not to mention that you have such a good figure." She whispered, "I work in the media industry, and I see a lot of beautiful men, but my butt and legs are as beautiful as his. ,not even one."

Rainbow's face flushed red.

"This yoga studio is a place for women to lust together." She made a grimace, "Didn't you notice that the students are all women and the teachers are all men? I often make mistakes on purpose and let him correct me by hand. Just In this way... he will say: 'Raise your hands a little higher, keep your waist straight, and breathe slowly...'"

Rainbow laughed: "Are you guys fantasizing about him, or is he fantasizing about you?"

"Collective lust, mutual lust."

The man swaggered in.Rainbow, however, was too frightened by her words to look any further, and silently went to the canteen outside the door to buy a pack of peanuts and ate them slowly.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the first class ended.Standing outside the door, she found that many students were unwilling to leave, and they all pestered Ji Huang to talk.When she continued to observe with her head probed, the second class began.She had to wait for another hour before arriving at the sweaty Ji Huang.

"Teacher He?" He was slightly taken aback.

"In the department... Secretary Zhao asked me to bring you a message. There is an important school meeting at [-] o'clock tomorrow morning and you need to attend. The venue is Shaw Court... Shaw Court... Oh my god, I forgot which floor it is." She said He patted himself on the head, "Probably the second floor."

He said lightly: "How do you know to find me here?"

"The secretary gave me your address, and your roommate said you were here."

"You came to me for this?"

"Yep."

"Can you just tell Shen Fei?"

"Oh... yes, why didn't I think of it? How stupid."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"About...almost two hours."

"Didn't you have a recess just now? Why didn't you come in?"

"Oh... I... I'm hungry, I went shopping for something to eat."

He looked at the ground, then raised his face, looked at her with a half-smile, and stopped reasoning: "Since you have been waiting for so long, why don't you wait for me for a few more minutes, I'll take a shower, change clothes, and then send you home."

"That...hey...no need..."

People have gone to the locker room.

Rainbow bit her lips dejectedly, and kept calling herself stupid.She whispered to herself that she should slip away before she became completely stupid.But when he closed his eyes, his mind was full of those Pilates movements, and each movement became a beautiful freeze frame. Before he knew it, his body also did a slow-motion mental gymnastics with him.

When his mind cleared up, Ji Huang had already changed his clothes and came out with a huge sports bag on his back.

His body was enveloped in a cloud of dampness, blown by the cold wind outside the door, smelling of lemons and oranges.

Is it shampoo, or fruit soap, or the smell of dish soap?She couldn't think of an answer, sucking intently.

"Did you come here by bicycle?" she asked.

"No, I came here on foot. Your home is on Jixiang Road, right?"

"Yes, not far, three stops from here." She reached into her bag to get a monthly pass.

He stopped suddenly and asked, "Are you tired? Teacher He."

"Not tired." In fact, her legs were already sore.

"Shall we walk back together?" He said, gazing into her face, "Walking is good exercise."

No money to play ah?Didn't you just exercise for two hours?Rainbow was embarrassed and had to agree.

He took her backpack and carried it on his back.

"Hey, not this way," she whispered.

"Follow me, there will be no mistakes." He is very confident.

They turned into an alley.

Having lived in this city for more than 20 years, Rainbow has never found an alley here.Halfway through the alley, it was blocked by a low wall and there was no way.

"Look, did you go wrong?"

"Yes."

"There's a wall here."

"Let's crawl over."

She was taken aback, thinking he was joking, and asked, "Climb over? We're not thieves!"

"How long has it been since you climbed a wall?"

Rainbow thought for a while: "Ten years!"

"Climb then, and I'll see if you can do it." He folded his arms and looked at her.

Rainbow petrified.She wanted to say, Teacher Ji, I am a mature young female teacher, a model of morality, and a role model for students, which means that I am not a Laoshan Taoist priest, and I don’t know how to play such urban hippie things.

Looking around, she found no one else, so she changed her mind: "I will. Teacher Ji, you squat down and let me step on you."

He really squatted down, she really hugged his head, and took off her sneakers, her feet stepped on his shoulders mercilessly.

She climbed over the wall with agility, and she found that Ji Huang quickly turned over too, looking very chic, like a hurdler, with his fingers propped up on the top of the wall, he jumped over.

After dusting off her body, she found that there was another wall in front of her, a very high wall, and if she wanted to pass it, she could only climb a nearby tree.This time Rainbow didn't even ask. He climbed up the bare tree trunk, climbed over the wall, and jumped down by grabbing the hanging branches.

Seeing Ji Huang following closely, this situation reminded her of Spider-Man.

She was happy, giggled, and suddenly said: "You know? This city is overwhelming. Structures, structures, structures everywhere! Our brains have become cement, and have been structured by commercial housing."

Ji Huang spread his hands together: "So we have to climb over the wall and climb the tree."

Rainbow nodded: "This is a process of deconstruction. The city constructs life, constructs space, constructs our desires and imaginations, but cannot construct our actions."

Ji Huang blinked in the dark: "Yes."

"The city can't dictate anything to us." Rainbow pointed to the overpass in the distance, impassioned, "Does this road have to be walked this way? Does it have to be a shopping mall? Does it have to have an overpass? It must be before nine o'clock in the morning Is breakfast only served? Do we need to be so rationally arranged by the city? I miss the days when I was a child sleeping on the main road and watching open-air movies in summer!"

"Teacher He, you seem a little excited..."

Outside the wall is a street.They sprinted forward with their heads buried, across parks, across lawns, across mansions, and scribbled on city maps.

This caused Rainbow to have a "Wanderer in the Wilderness" illusion: a city that does not follow the map is desolate and lonely, like a forgotten old woman.Dilapidated gates, claustrophobic paths, messy garbage, idle hawkers... Unknowingly, they entered a middle school playground and stood on the circular track.

The first quarter moon hangs in the sky, the shadows of mountains in the distance, the fluctuating neon colors, the night gradually gets lost.

Rainbow has not seen the starlight overhead for a long time.She suddenly remembered that sentence: What is the meaning of life?If a student also came to ask her, how would she answer?She thought about it quietly for a long time, but there was no answer.However, she quickly forgave herself.

This is too unrealistic a question, and it is an illusory question.Living in such a city, hectic and busy, no one has time to think about this, does they?
If Ostrovsky hadn't been paralyzed all over his body, and Russia didn't have a long and cold winter, if he lived in the bustling city of F, worrying about traffic and land prices every day, would he still be able to write that deafening sentence?

In the dark, she looked at Ji Huang's face.Ji Huang asked: "Teacher He, are you tired?"

"Not tired," she said, "my house is just behind the playground."

After a pause, she said again: "Don't call me Teacher He, call me Rainbow."

He walked her all the way to the door, and at the end, staring at her face, he suddenly said, "Rainbow, we should always be together."

After speaking, he paused to observe her reaction.Rainbow's brain buzzed, and he said in his heart, Teacher Ji, how can I answer you? —“No, we shouldn’t be together very often.” —Isn’t that an impolite answer for a person who has graciously shared an office with you when you first met him?

As a talented girl in the Chinese Department, Caihong was confused about language for the first time, and was elusive about the true meaning of a sentence for the first time.

Watching his back, Rainbow quietly thought, "We should always be together" - what does this mean?
If he said, "Do you have a phone number?" Rainbow thought she could understand what he meant.If he said: "Are you free to watch a movie this weekend?" Rainbow felt that the meaning was very clear. What does "we should always be together" mean?
Standing outside the porch, Rainbow took a deep breath, recalling the two hours with Ji Huang just now.She felt that Ji Huang's shoulders were very comfortable to step on. His head was wet, his hair was soft and slippery, and she couldn't grasp it, but she could feel the shape of the skull: as perfect as an egg, as hard as a rock.He made no extra movements, grabbed the ground with all fours like a starting runner, and pushed her up with his back.She stepped on his shoulder with one foot and his waist with the other. The flexible spine fell down and then went up with full elasticity. She even felt the protrusion of the vertebrae.Even so, the rainbow did not reach a height that could be climbed over, and he had to say to him: "It's almost there, raise your head!" He obediently raised his head, letting her feet step on the top of his head and turn over.

Although her hands hadn't touched him yet, Rainbow's feet had trampled over most of the man's body.So Rainbow's first feeling for Ji Huang is not from the eyes, not from the mouth, but from the feet.This is subversive.A person's eyes can lie to himself, and his words can be wrong, but his feet will not step on unsteady places.

Full of emotions, Rainbow went upstairs, but unexpectedly ran into Xia Feng, the husband of his good friend Han Qing, in front of his house.

Rainbow likes Xia Feng very much, and Han Qing and Xia Feng are a perfect match.

Xia Feng is not a handsome man, but he looks handsome and bookish. When he is with girls, he always calls himself "Xiaosheng", and when he writes a love letter, he is also "Xia Sheng", just like "Zhang Sheng" in "The Story of Yingying". .Both he and Han Qing were classmates at Rainbow University, from the countryside of Henan. They were the propaganda ministers of the Chinese Department Student Union back then. They could write good handwriting and compose ancient poetry.Xia Feng, who just came to university, still spoke with a strong Henan accent. After half a year, he was able to speak Mandarin as pure as an announcer.After graduation, she was assigned to the advertising department of the provincial party committee newspaper. After working for half a year, she married Han Qing, Rainbow's best friend and Xia Feng's die-hard fan.

In the eyes of the people in the dormitory, Xia Feng is an ideal husband.During the two years of dating in college, he carried Han Qing's water twice a day, even in the wind and snow, and he could not be shaken.In addition, he went to the cafeteria to buy food for Han Qing, helped her wash the dishes, and took care of all the heavy work in the dormitory.Every time he cleans up, he volunteers to help the girls in the dormitory mop the floor, move books, and remove the hornet's nest outside the window.Han Qing's parents are teachers in key middle schools in Nanning City. One teaches high school and the other teaches junior high school.Not long after freshman registration, Rainbow ran into Qiuhuo, which was rare in a century in F city. The whole city seemed to be evaporated, and many students suffered from heatstroke.Han Qing was spared by blowing the air conditioner every night because he temporarily lived in Rainbow's house.At that time, she and Caihong were both freshmen. Although they were in the same dormitory, they were not very familiar with each other. Because Caihong generously invited her to escape the summer heat, Han Qing's affection for Caihong immediately increased tenfold.In addition, during the summer vacation, she caught a bad cold, drank the chicken soup stewed by Li Mingzhu every day, and became attached to Rainbow's mother.Afterwards, every winter vacation back to school, Li Mingzhu had to bring ten homemade rice dumplings. Han Qing's mother even called to thank Mingzhu for her care.The two have been in contact with each other in this way.

After getting married, Xia Feng and Han Qing rented an apartment in a high-rise building not far from the newspaper office. Two years later, they pooled their money and bought a small one-bedroom apartment.They soon had a boy named Xia Du and nicknamed "Duo Duo".After graduation, Han Qingben had the opportunity to work as an editor for a popular TV program in Guangxi TV. It was her dream job. She almost signed the contract, but she gave up because Xia Feng found a job in a newspaper first.Next, her luck became worse and worse, and Xia Feng asked her to work within a radius of five kilometers from the newspaper office as the center of the circle.Han Qing searched and searched and couldn't find it, and finally entered the "reference room of the Republic of China" in the library of F University aggrieved.It was a job with a low salary, but somehow she kept her household registration in F city.Even so, Rainbow never heard Han Qing say anything about Xia Feng.When her classmates asked her why she was willing to give in, she always smiled and said, "Family is the most important thing. Xia Feng is also busy with work. He leaves early and returns late, so he can't eat a bowl of hot rice. I'll let him take the lead."

Among the female classmates Caihong knows, many are married, and whenever there is a party, it becomes a "husband criticism meeting".Everyone says that the person they marry is not a person. If it wasn't for this family, the "promising", "inconsiderate", "sexless", "drinking, smoking, gambling", "stock speculation and losing business" would have been ruined. My husband gave up.Only Han Qing didn't speak, drinking tea silently.Finally, she quietly said to Rainbow: "Isn't scolding your husband the same as scolding yourself? Isn't it your choice that your husband is not good enough?" The words awakened the dreamer, and Rainbow had to look at her with admiration.So in the eyes of everyone, Han Qing and Xia Feng have always been a model of a happy marriage.

"Xia Feng?" Rainbow froze for a moment, "Is there anything you need to ask me? Why don't you come in?"

"Well—" Xia Feng said with a straight face, "Han Qing is inside."

Rainbow looked at him suspiciously: "Han Qing is inside? What about Duoduo?"

"Duoduo is inside too."

Sure enough, there was the cry of a child during the conversation.

Rainbow quickly asked: "What happened? Did you quarrel?"

"For a little thing, she got angry and ran to your house."

Rainbow gasped.Because Han Qing has a gentle and considerate temperament, and is famous for his good temper. He has always wronged himself to help others in everything he does. It is not easy to make people like her angry.

She took out the key and opened the door: "Come in and talk."

As soon as the door opened, there was a gust of wind. Li Mingzhu was sitting on the sofa, wearing a turtleneck sweater and holding a bamboo knitted sweater.

Rainbow hurriedly said, "Mom, I'm back."

"Well, have you eaten yet? There is hot food on the stove." Li Mingzhu rolled up a roll of wool and threw it into the bamboo basket by his feet. Her face was tense, and she glanced at Xia Feng without saying hello. not talking.

"Mom, Xia Feng is here. Where's Han Qing?"

Picking up a cup of tea from the coffee table, Li Mingzhu took a sip, and spit out a piece of tea leaves in her mouth to the ground with a "pooh" sound: "Girl, you go to eat, Mr. Xia will entertain me."

Those words were neither hot nor cold, neither hard nor soft, but the words were straight and full of invisible pressure.Those who come are not good, and those who keep are not good.Rainbow's heart skipped a beat, smelling the smoke of war.

"Mr. Xia, please sit down." Li Mingzhu pointed to a chair opposite, "This kid Han Qing has been friends with Rainbow in our family for six or seven years. The older generation knows each other. I like this kid from the first sight. Treat her as my daughter."

"Aunt Li..."

"My daughter was beaten today, with a slap mark on her face, and a kick on her leg, with a large bruise." Li Mingzhu stared at her with a cold look, "Duo Duo has reached the point where she is sensible. At this age, are you beating his mother in front of him to demonstrate how he should treat women in the future?"

Xia Feng's face was very stiff, but he tried to remain polite: "Aunt Li, this is my family matter, please let me handle it?"

"Solve it? Didn't you use violence to solve it?" Li Mingzhu sneered, "Xia Feng, you go out and visit the street, grab a random woman and ask, if she is willing to marry you, my Han Qing and his son Jing You don’t have to worry about not being able to find a good man to be your son’s new father. Dare to beat your wife, I’m sorry! You think you live in the old society and have three wives and four concubines!”

"Auntie, this matter - she also has problems, and I can't blame it all." Xia Feng's face was faintly red, and the veins on his head were throbbing.

"Of course I can't blame you entirely. You are a big man who refuses to shoulder the burden. Please, we can't blame you! Do you think it's easy to be weird? You should be blamed, can you stand the blame? Yes It is your blessing that your wife is willing to blame you. Now you think she earns less money. If she had gone to the TV station, she would be a character now, right? Is it worthy of you? This woman serves you three meals a day, non-stop Sweeping the floor, doing laundry, shopping for vegetables, and cooking, isn’t that labor? If you don’t let her do it, you need to hire a part-time worker for 1000 yuan a month, right? She earns a lot of money, but half of it is free. A shameless capitalist, enjoying your wife's surplus value alive. And the money you earn-oh my god-is used for big purposes: supporting a family, making a living, and doing business! You are the pioneer of the times, The hero of the battle is only held back by his wife. It is also a sacrifice. What you get is honor, and what she gets is complaints. I figured it out. It turns out that your wife was born to supplement you, and you can fill in what is missing. If you want to stay in a big city, put her in the reference room; if you think the childcare fee is expensive, let her take a year off to take care of the baby; if you don’t have enough money to buy a house, let her work two jobs a day. Get up at five in the morning and make your breakfast, exhausting When you came back from work, you found that you had already arrived home, reading the newspaper with your legs crossed, the tea in the kitchen was cold and the stove was cold, and your son was dirty and smelly, waiting for someone to help him take a bath. Xia Feng, let me ask you, your grandfather has been paralyzed for six years, and finally Unfortunate death, do you know how powerful heredity is?"

"..."

"Do you think that you can treat your wife like this now that you are young and strong without relying on anyone? Feng Shui changes every year, and you will come to your house next year. When you are old and paralyzed, lying in bed, you need someone to serve you Will they throw you directly into the stinky ditch when you're here?"

"Aunt Li, please stop talking!"

"Oh, you're afraid to hear it? Do you know what Aunt Li hates the most? Why did you show your true form, you bull demon king? You rural people do all kinds of humble things to please others in order to marry a girl from the city. I got it! Rainbow kept praising you, praising you for being considerate, honest, and gentle. I, Li Mingzhu, knew that you were just servile at first sight. Don’t expect your wife to go home with you today, I let Han Qing live here. You go back and reflect on yourself, and don’t show yourself. This is a factory area, and there are many young people who can fight. Look I won't find someone to beat your legs off!"

Xia Feng slammed the door angrily and left. There was a loud bang from the door, which made the walls tremble.

Rainbow carefully took a mouthful of rice, went into the back room, looked at Han Qing who was sobbing while hugging the quilt with a bruised face, and said softly, "Are you hungry? Eat something."

She wiped her tears, looked at her sleeping son on her lap, and said, "I'm not hungry, I'll be back in a while."

"Go back?" Rainbow was startled, "At this time?"

“夏丰从小妈死得早，爸爸好酒赌博，天天揍他，后妈对他也刻薄，他……他挺可怜的。你不知道，我跟他恋爱那会儿，他身上穿着一条薄薄His woolen pants were hand-knitted by his mother seven years ago. The wool was almost stripped and he was reluctant to change it. I accompanied him to see his mother’s grave. I cried when he didn’t cry. He has always been kind to me all these years , It's the first time I've seen him so angry."

Rainbow looked up at the sky: "Hey, did you make a mistake? He hit you, and you still say good things for him?"

"I just told him that I don't want to stay in the reference room anymore. I sort out old newspapers and fill in cards every day. Those days were really exhausting. I was a living person and I was tortured to death. I want to take the postgraduate entrance examination and find a better job. He heard I quit, saying that I only care about myself and my family. Now that the mortgage is so heavy, if you don’t earn money and spend money on studying, it’s better to work a few more jobs. I said that I won’t let him pay the money, and I will ask my own father Mom. When he heard it, he became even more angry, saying that I was a bully, disliked the poor and loved the rich, and even yelled at my parents."

"Swearing? How did your parents offend him?"

"Our down payment for this house is 18. Xia Feng hopes that my parents can support me, take out the money they have saved for many years, and call them to find out. In fact, most of the money was borrowed from me, and my cousin paid nearly half of it for me. He didn't appreciate it, and said that the dowry given by my family was too small when I got married, so he didn't treat him as a son-in-law. It's up."

Rainbow felt chills when he heard it: "Don't you take him seriously? Didn't his family pay a penny when we got married? Did you use your own savings and the money from your parents? All the living people are married to him, so it’s not a big deal?”

"His job was not satisfactory. He wanted to be an editor, but he was sent to do advertising. This line of work is paid for performance, requires contacts, and the competition is fierce. He got along smoothly in the university, but was looked down upon by his colleagues when he arrived at the unit. , When I got home, I drank and sulked. After Duoduo gave birth, he couldn’t sleep well at night, and he kept making noises in the middle of the night, so he yelled at his son who was a few months old. Sigh..."

Caihong looked at Han Qing's black eyes and asked, "Look at your eyes are bloodshot from the beating, shall I take you to the hospital?"

"No need, I have to go back." Han Qing gritted his teeth and stood up holding the child, his legs were still limping, "Duoduo always cries at night, which affects your rest too much. I will go back and have a good talk with him. Said, isn't it just that the postgraduate entrance examination is not allowed? I just don't take the exam, for this family, it's nothing. I have sacrificed for so long, and I don't care about sacrificing a little more."

Rainbow pulled her back: "No, you should stay here for one night at least. Just now, my mother scolded him thoughtlessly. He must be even angrier. Let him reflect on it all night to calm down. You can go back tomorrow morning. My dad works night shift, and my mom and I both slept soundly, it's fine."

After all, Han Qing took Duoduo away.Rainbow took her downstairs, called her a taxi, and told her to call here if she had something to do.In fact, she and Han Qing rarely saw each other in the past one or two years, because she had a child and there was no old man to help, so she almost stayed at home at home.Seeing her today, not only did she look depressed, but there were many dark spots on both sides of her eyes.Mingming is a few months younger than Rainbow, but she looks ten years older, with a thick waist, fat body, slow movements, and a full mother look.

Back home with a heavy heart, Caihong saw her mother was still knitting on the sofa. Thinking of what she said just now, she couldn't help but want to blame: "Mom, what you said just now was too harsh. After all, Xia Feng is Han Qing's husband. At least you have to save him some face."

"Is this kind of man still trying to give him face? If he was my son-in-law, I would shave his ears." Li Mingzhu spat, "How about it, your wife, I have sharp eyes, right? How did I persuade you to come here? A phoenix man can’t get married, he doesn’t belong to the right family, and has different habits and values. Fortunately, his mother died early, otherwise there will be problems with mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, which will be enough for her in the future. How many times have I said, have you listened?”

Rainbow fell silent.

Li Mingzhu was right again.At that time, Han Qing was in love with Xia Feng, and Caihong also enthusiastically became a light bulb countless times. When he returned home, he praised Xia Feng, and only praised him for not being a god.When Xia Feng came to Caihong’s house for the first time, he honestly told Li Mingzhu about his miserable family background: his mother died young, his father was violent, and his stepmother was mean. The child will pretend to be pitiful to win the sympathy of the woman.Li Mingzhu hates men pretending to be pitiful the most. The so-called heroes don't talk about their origins, and the robbers don't ask where they came from.This Xia Feng is too thoughtful, too good at impressing women, Han Qing is not his opponent.She expressed her opinion to Han Qing's parents on the phone, and she was very pessimistic about this marriage.Han Qing's parents naturally didn't want to hear this, but they couldn't help it. Later, Xia Feng went to Nanning to meet them. Seeing that Han Qing was deeply in love with him, and he looked like he would rather die than marry him, they let go.

Rainbow silently went to the kitchen to add a bowl of red bean soup for herself, and Li Mingzhu suddenly asked, "Where did you go tonight?"

"A new teacher came to the department. There is no contact number. There is an important meeting. The secretary asked me to find him and send a message."

"Hurry up and get ready, Su Donglin will pick you up later on something."

Rainbow was startled: "What? Su Donglin?"

"He called your mobile phone, but you didn't answer it. The call came home."

"Oh, I have class today, I want to see the students, the phone is muted."

"He asked if you would be back by 09:30, and I said yes."

Rainbow hurriedly looked at his watch, and at 25:[-], he complained: "What's the matter, didn't I see you in the morning and see you again in the evening, this man is sick! I'll call him back and we can talk about it tomorrow."

Li Mingzhu couldn't help shouting: "Hurry up and tidy up! Remember to change your bra! Put on that long purple sweater, it will look extravagant under the night light. It's easy to find a thousand gold treasures, but it's rare to have a lover!" You have a lot of money and love, hurry up, okay?"

Before Rainbow went downstairs, Mingzhu caught her again: "Come back, your hair...you need to get it done!"

After finishing speaking, he rushed to the bathroom and took a bottle of mousse, chugged a few times, sprayed her head into a cream cake, and grabbed it with his hands.

Rainbow screamed in pain: "Mom, stop scratching, can you do it? Hair doesn't matter!"

"It doesn't matter?" Mingzhu twisted her head, put it in front of her eyes, and said seriously, "The most important part of a woman's body is her hair!"

"Hahahaha..." Rainbow almost laughed out loud.

Mingzhu was livid with the smile, and pointed to a piece of "The Birth of Venus" hanging in Rainbow's bedroom: "You don't believe what I say, don't you think your mother has no eyesight? Have you seen that painting? I Let me ask you, what is on Venus?"

"What?" Rainbow said, "Nothing."

"Wrong! Venus is naked, but has a head of gold. You know? In the eyes of artists, a woman can have no arms, no clothes, but no hair. That is absolutely impossible!"

(End of this chapter)