Chapter 8
The few of them finally booked a table at a well-reputed barbecue restaurant. When they arrived there, there happened to be only one empty table left in the restaurant.
"Have a drink for a while?" Zhou Bin looked very excited.
"Aren't you afraid that we'll tell your partner?" Zhang Ting teased him with a smile, "Let your partner take care of you."
Zhou Bin reached out for the menu: "I'm not afraid. I just reported it to her."
A few people ordered a set meal, Zhang Ting got a drink, and the boys ordered a few more beers. Zhou Bin wanted to order more, but he didn't let him. After a few drinks, the conversation gradually became more frequent, and everyone chatted about the past, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious. Zhang Xiaotian didn't participate in the others' conversation, only answering the occasional question. When he was not talking, he focused on the food that Lu Bai put on his plate. Before he could take a few bites, Lu Bai almost filled his plate.
"Don't eat any more yet." Seeing Lu Bai reaching for his chopsticks again, Zhang Xiaotian quickly stopped him. "I can't eat anymore."
"It's like eating cat food." Lu Bai snorted.
"Help me eat some meat, it's too much." Zhang Xiaotian put his plate towards him. Lu Bai seemed very happy to hear this and took a chopstick of meat from his plate.
The conversation seemed to shift from college to high school. The squad leader asked Zhang Xiaotian, "I saw this when I was helping Ban Ren log in. Xiaotian, I see you and Lu Bai didn't go to the same high school. I remember Lu Bai saying you two were classmates in high school."
"Lu Bai said that Xiaotian transferred away later." Zhou Bin said quickly.
"Yes." Feeling the gaze falling on him, Zhang Xiaotian nodded.
"Now we're classmates and roommates, what a fate!" Zhang Ting said. "I'm so envious! I really want to be with my good friends from high school."
"Tian'er and I are destined to be together." Lu Bai's face turned a little red, and he picked up another piece of food for Zhang Xiaotian with chopsticks, but Zhang Xiaotian confiscated the chopsticks.
"You don't have to be too envious. You can meet up with your friends when you go home during the holidays." The monitor poured more wine into his glass. "Besides, you can make new friends in college."
Zhou Bin looked like he had a normal alcohol tolerance, but after one bottle of beer he got a little excited: "When it comes to high school, apart from a few close friends, I can't even remember the names of some people."
"You are really forgetful." The squad leader laughed at him.
"I'm not kidding," Zhou Bin said. "I still remember things from high school, but there are some people I really can't remember. Besides, no matter how good my memory is, it's impossible for me to remember everyone and everything from high school, so it's normal that I can't remember them all."
At this point, he turned around and asked Zhang Xiaotian: "Xiaotian, tell me, are you like this too?"
Zhang Xiaotian thought about it and nodded. He had little recollection of the students from the school he later attended. Besides Lu Bai, there weren't many people from No. 4 Middle School he could name.
"You don't remember?" Lu Bai raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhang Xiaotian, then took a sip of wine. "I still remember a lot, things from high school."
"You are you. You have a good memory, but not everyone is like you." Zhou Bin said, "Xiaotian first changed classes, and then changed schools. Isn't it normal that he can't remember clearly?"
Lu Bai didn't say anything and just drank in silence.
Zhang Xiaotian thought about it, his three years of high school were really restless, no wonder he didn't leave any impression. Now all he could remember was the year when he was sitting at the same table with Lu Bai. Although the high school memories were a bit thin, at least he kept the most important ones, which made him very happy. He picked up the wine glass at hand and secretly glanced at Lu Bai while drinking. The light was dazzling, and from Zhang Xiaotian's angle he could not see Lu Bai's face clearly. He could only see his Adam's apple sliding up and down as he drank, slowly, as if every drop was knocking on Zhang Xiaotian's heart. Zhang Xiaotian was almost stunned, until Zhou Bin burst into laughter again, he came back to his senses and hurriedly swallowed a few sips of wine.
Lu Bai said that he still remembered a lot of things from high school, but how much of a role did he play in them?
Zhang Xiaotian hoped that he could remember everything, but also wanted him to forget some of it. But it didn’t matter, as he remembered a lot anyway.
Before he could finish swallowing the wine in his mouth, a hand took away his glass. Zhang Xiaotian looked over and saw that Lu Bailian was not facing him, but was extending his hand to him.
"Give me back my chopsticks."
"Stop picking food for me. I really can't finish it." Zhang Xiaotian put the chopsticks in his hand.
"Who will pick it up for you?" Lu Bai took the chopsticks and put them aside without using them. "I'll pick it up for myself."
Zhang Xiaotian smiled and said nothing more. He just turned around to eat his own food. After a while, Lu Bai picked up another piece of vegetables with chopsticks and put it on his plate.
"Lu Bai." Zhang Xiaotian sighed. "I don't want to eat."
"Who said I was giving it to you?" Lu Bai lied with his neck stiffened. "I can't put it here anymore, so I'll put it with you first."
You're lying with your eyes open! The amount of oil on his plate is so small that you can count them on the palm of your hand!
Zhang Xiaotian had no choice but to let him put food on his plate, take a few bites occasionally, and listen to Zhou Bin and the others reminiscing about the glorious past while they were drunk.
"Then that idiot couldn't handle it anymore and admitted defeat!" The monitor obviously couldn't hold his liquor. After Zhou Bin persuaded him to drink a few glasses, he started to brag with a red face and thick neck. "If you ask me, he just can't do it. It has to be us. I don't know what the teacher saw in him that made him let him go." After saying this, he seemed to be emotional and picked up the wine glass to take another sip. The others also took advantage of the alcohol to complain and chat. The scene was very lively. Zhang Xiaotian was enjoying their nonsense while eating when he suddenly felt a heaviness on his shoulder. He turned his head to look and saw Lu Bai leaning on his shoulder with his eyes closed.
"Don't look at me." Lu Bai met his gaze and raised his hand to straighten his face. "Let me lean against him for a moment."
"Drunk?" Zhang Xiaotian's neck was itchy from Lu Bai's hair, and he couldn't help but dodge.
"Don't move." Lu Bai half-buried his face in the crook of his neck. "I didn't drink much, but this fake wine gave me a headache."
Fake wine... Zhang Xiaotian let him lean on him and said nothing more.
After a while, Lu Bai suddenly said, "How much do you remember?"
"What?" Zhang Xiaotian didn't react.
Lu Bai's voice was a little muffled through his clothes, and his heat warmed Zhang Xiaotian's shoulders as he spoke: "I'm asking, how much do you remember about high school?"
"Just, eat together, go to class together, etc."
"What else?"
"What else?" Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment, "I can't remember anything now that you're asking me this all of a sudden."
Lu Bai stopped talking again.
"Do you want to go back to the dormitory?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him, lowering his head. "Does your headache hurt badly?"
"I won't reply. It's boring to be alone in the dormitory."
"I'm full. I'll go back with you." Zhang Xiaotian helped Lu Bai up. Zhou Bin and the others said they wanted to drink for a while longer. Zhang Ting also said that she had contacted her roommate and would come to pick her up soon. Only then did they feel at ease to take Lu Bai away.
After walking out of the store and being blown by the evening breeze, Lu Bai's head became clearer. He no longer leaned on Zhang Xiaotian, but his hand was still tightly holding Zhang Xiaotian's wrist, letting Zhang Xiaotian lead him in front.
"Apart from eating and attending classes, you really don't remember anything else?" Lu Bai asked him again.
"Not really, I just can't put it into words at the moment." Zhang Xiaotian turned around and glanced at him, "Why can't you get over this?"
"I definitely remember more than you." Lu Bai's voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for Zhang Xiaotian to hear clearly.
More than I remember? That's not necessarily true. Zhang Xiaotian turned around to help him cover his coat tightly and asked him, "Then tell me, what do you remember?"
Lu Bai didn't expect Zhang Xiaotian to ask him in return, and was stunned for a moment.
"Look, you can't really explain it." Zhang Xiaotian pulled him away again. "Besides, you're already in college, why are you still dwelling on the past? You should quickly settle into your new life and make new friends. You can get together with your old friends when you go home for the holidays."
"New friends..." Lu Bai chewed on these words carefully, "Do you also want to make new friends?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. Let's first sort out the relationships in the dormitory."
I hope you can make more new friends soon, Zhang Xiaotian thought.
"In the dormitory?" Lu Bai seemed to be getting excited. "Zhou Bin and Xu Yan?"
"Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment and said, "Zhou Bin is so interesting. It's always lively wherever he goes. Xu Yan is also very enthusiastic and a good person. Just now, while eating, I found that the squad leader is also quite interesting."
"You were..." Lu Bai seemed to be a little cold from the wind, and his face looked a little unhappy. "You rarely talked to others in class before..."
Zhang Xiaotian nodded. "I know. It was because I had trouble fitting in when I first arrived. Then, after I finally got a feel for the place,…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Now that I think about it, I do feel a bit regretful. My life has become so boring. Now that I'm in college, I definitely won't be transferring around. It's good to have some memories."
After all, you will have your new life sooner or later, and it would be too pitiful for me to be left alone where I am.
Lu Bai followed Zhang Xiaotian silently, and the night wind made the leaves rustle.
"What memories do you want to leave behind?" Lu Bai asked again.
"How do you expect me to answer that?" Zhang Xiaotian laughed. "It's just that it's more lively and interesting."
"good."
"What are you talking about? How much did you drink? You're talking nonsense." Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help but want to nag him again, "Don't talk about me first, look at you, you didn't seem to care much after joining the hospital basketball team. You said you had so many friends in high school, but why did you become so quiet in college and only follow me? Don't waste your four years, you should participate in more activities."
"I don't have many friends." Lu Bai said.
"If you say that, Yin Li and Han Chengcheng will be sad."
"Do you remember them?"
"Of course. Besides you, they're the only two I'm familiar with."
Lu Bai seemed to be a little happier. He hummed and took a few quick steps to walk side by side with Zhang Xiaotian.
"I still remember the sports meet and many other things. I also remember that you had many friends, not just the three of us, Yin Li, Han Chengcheng, and me. You had a very happy high school life. You might be having a hard time adjusting to your new environment right now, but I hope you can get back to being like you were in high school," Zhang Xiaotian continued. "So you shouldn't just be around me... What are you doing? You're hurting me!"
Lu Bai put his arm around Zhang Xiaotian and pinched his outer waist. Zhang Xiaotian was about to dodge, but he was held by his shoulders again and couldn't move.
"Stop worrying about those trivial things." Lu Bai had a faint smile on his face. "Every day is not enough for you to worry about."
The cell phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and saw that it was a message from the captain of the hospital team.
Lu Bai, what do you think about the competition?
He looked up at Zhang Xiaotian who was walking beside him, and then typed a reply to him.
He replied: Captain, I'll go.
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