Rebellion

Tong Xiaolai started school on the seventh day of the first lunar month. As a senior high school student, two or three months into the school year, Tong Xiaolai has been sleeping later and later, and it is normal for him to go to bed until three in the morning.

He saw it all and was anxious, thinking that he had to find a house as soon as possible. However, when it came to making money, unless it came naturally, one could only save every penny.

But right now there is something more urgent and more troublesome for him.

After the Chinese New Year, Sister Chen negotiated the installation of a shopping mall observation elevator and handed it over to the master and him to install it.

The ladder arrived last night. This morning I came to the office to take inventory of the materials that came with the ladder and hand it over to the clerk.

As Shao Linyin clicked the button, he became dazed. His master looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

He came back to his senses and looked at his master and laughed: "Master, I've run into a headache and I don't have any ideas."

"Tell me about it?"

Li Tingting, who was checking off items on her list, looked up quickly when she heard this. "What's wrong? Xiao Shao, who has always been content with nothing, could have any headaches?"

Shao Liyin simply sat down and spoke directly. Perhaps with more people around, an idea would come to him: "I have a younger brother whose birthday is in a week. This is my first time celebrating his birthday, and I don't know what gift to get him."

"How old is your brother? The gift should be appropriate for his age." Li Tingting asked.

"Fifteen." After a moment's thought, he added, "This time it's my sixteenth birthday."

"Sixteen years old?" Master and Li Tingting both sighed in unison, their faces full of indescribable emotion.

Shao Liyin looked confused: "What's wrong with being sixteen?"

Li Tingting shook her head: "My cousin is also sixteen years old, and my aunt has a headache every day at home.

"You don't dare to control teenagers during their rebellious period. They get depressed at the drop of a hat. Haven't you seen the news? How many high school students have jumped off buildings?"

Hearing about jumping off a building, Shao Linyin was shocked: "Is it really that exaggerated? It can't be that serious, right?"

Li Tingting glanced at him and said, "They say that today's teenagers have very poor mental qualities. Back then, we were really tough and thick-skinned. We were all beaten up."

"Who dares to hit a child these days? If you dare to pick up a stick, he'll cling to the windowsill. If you take one more step, he'll really jump down!"

Li Tingting had just finished speaking when her teacher seemed to recall something: "My son was about sixteen or seventeen years old. The teacher would come to our house every few days. We didn't dare to tell the child about it, for fear that the news would come to our door one day."

"It's scary to think about it. I'm determined not to have a child." Li Tingting shook off the goose bumps on her body.

"Will Xiao Qi upstairs agree?"

"If you don't agree, then break up. We've already agreed to be a DINK couple."

The master and Li Tingting started chatting among themselves, while Shao Linyin was thinking about his own smile.

He is very well-behaved and obedient. Except for the occasional quarrel with him, I will also coax him after that.

"No, that's not that exaggerated..."

After chatting for a while, we still couldn't come up with what birthday gift to give, but instead we talked about a lot of our worries.

He recalled everything Tong Xiaolai had said and done in the past two months, and was sure that it was not as exaggerated as they said, but he was worried that he might not have paid enough attention to it.

So I opened my phone and looked up what to do during the rebellious period of adolescence...

Shao Linyin feels that what is more important than making money is Xiaolai’s mental health.

So, these days, the time spent delivering food has been reduced, and he returns home half an hour before Tong Xiao arrives home.

I prepared the hot water, milk, and fruit for him first. When I heard the door open, I stood at the door to greet him: "Xiaolai, you're back. How was school today? Was it hard? Have some milk first."

Then she reached out and took the schoolbag from his shoulder: "Ouch, it's heavy. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to study. Your health is more important."

When Tong Xiaolai opened the test paper and started to do the questions, he went to the public balcony outside, stood against the wall, and looked up at the dark night sky.

From time to time, I also think about discussing with the landlord to add a safety net to the balcony. After all, there are many children in this building.

Only after Tong Xiaolai finished the questions and put away the test paper did he go back into the room, massage his shoulders and back, and make some hot water.

After two days of this, Tong Xiaolai couldn't stand it anymore.

"Shao Liyin, what are you planning to do again?"

Shao Linyin's abnormal behavior, once when he was worried about going to school, and once when he discovered the secret of the gloves, never once made him worry-free.

Shao Liyin looked at him, but her heart was in turmoil: It's over, the rebellious period has really come...

Thinking this way, he still smiled: "Come on, it's okay. If you have any ideas, you must speak them out. Don't hold them in.

If you don’t have anyone suitable to talk to, just treat me as a close friend, a silent tree hole, I will only listen and never interfere…”

Tong Xiaolai raised his eyebrows, and seeing Shao Linyin still chattering, he reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards him: "Tree hole? Close friend?"

Shao Liyin looked up at him, wondering which of his words had touched the sensitive soul of this rebellious adolescent...

"Shao Linyin, do you still remember who you are to me?" Tong Xiaolai leaned close to his ear and asked in a low voice.

Shao Linyin looked at him without saying a word, his mind rapidly going through the strategies and techniques he found on his phone, searching for the one that best suited the current situation.

"It's okay if you can't remember. I'll help you."

While the words "equal communication", "independent space" and "building trust" were still flashing in Shao Linyin's mind, his lips were already covered.

Then, the words disappeared, leaving only a blank space. A buzzing sound echoed in my ears, and a sentence popped into my mind.

"You are mine."

"You are my love, a love without lies and never betrayed. Shao Liyin, this is the betrothal gift you asked for. I give it to you now, and it will last a lifetime."

After dawdling for two hours, Shao Linyin was afraid that if he continued, Tong Xiaolai would have no time to sleep, so he reluctantly told him what had happened in the past two days.

After hearing this, Tong Xiaolai was speechless at first, but then he felt that his brother Li was really cute.

"Brother Li, what about your rebellious teenage years? Did you ever think about jumping off a building?"

Shao Liyin lay on the bed and thought seriously for a while: "Probably not. I followed my master when I was sixteen and was on the construction site every day. I shouldn't have time to think about this."

After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "Actually, there's no need to think about jumping off the building. The elevator shafts are installed from the top floor of the building to the bottom floor. Every day you're hovering on the edge of the pit. If you're not careful, you might fall down, and there's no time to think."

Tong Xiaolai put his arm around Shao Liyin's waist and held him in his arms, as if he would really fall off the next moment. His voice was filled with pity: "Brother Li, I won't have it either."

Shao Liyin smiled: "I know you are smart and capable. But I looked it up online, and people said that this is a natural stage of growth and development, and it is not something that children can control. Sometimes it happens unconsciously."

"Brother Li, all my thoughts are on you. As long as you are well, I am well. The only thing that can make me rebel is if you are not well." Tong Xiao said firmly.

Shao Liyin laughed, moved some of his hair, and kissed him on the forehead: "Go to sleep."