A Thousand Thoughts

The barbecue restaurant is located directly across from the school’s west gate.
It is conveniently located, has good quality, and is reasonably priced.
It is a popular location for class gatherings and community dinners.

 

Lu Hong ordered four bottles of beer with Tang Xu’s permission, one for each of the three boys plus Tang Xu.
Tang Xu was young and handsome, and he didn’t have any of the pretensions of a teacher, so the snack time afterward was very relaxed.
Several classmates spoke to him without restraint and dared to ask him anything.

 

“Teacher Tang, how old are you?” A girl asked.

 

“I’m twenty-nine, soon to be thirty, and there will be three generation gaps with you.”

 

The two girls exaggeratedly said, “I can’t tell at all! You look like our senior.”

 

Tang Xu was impressed, and he took a sip of wine from his cup and laughed heartily.

 

“Does Teacher Tang have a girlfriend?”

 

Tang Xu shook his head, “I have been single for many years.”

 

“Huh? This is illogical.
People like you should be the ones being chased by a bunch of girls.
It must be because your standards are too high.”

 

Tang Xu smiled and said, “I’m not very popular with women, and girls don’t like me.”

 

Tang Xu was lying about this, and Tang Cuo knew it.

 

…

 

The barbecue shop was lively, and the waiters came over with greetings from all sides and served them a plate of chicken wings at the table.

 

Tang Xu noticed this while talking with Lu Hong and the others and immediately stopped the waiter who was about to leave, “Why are they all spicy? We also ordered two skewers of honey sauce.”

 

The waiter turned around to check and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, there are too many people at the moment; I guess there was some confusion.
I will change two skewers for you.”

 

Tang Xu waved his hand and said, “No, just add two more skewers.” He glanced at Tang Cuo, who had been eating grilled corn, “Hurry up.”

 

After the interlude, several people began to pull Tang Xu back into the conversation.
Tang Xu noticed that these people were only talking and not eating.
So he reluctantly handed them the chicken wings one by one.
When it was Tang Cuo’s turn, after a little hesitation, he picked up a skewer of chicken wings and scraped off the peppers on them with chopsticks.

 

“The two skewers are expected to have to wait a while.
So try them; they shouldn’t be too spicy.”

 

Tang Cuo was surprised for a moment and took it slowly.

 

Tang Cuo couldn’t eat spicy food since he was a child.

 

At first, it was because there was no such thing as spicy or not spicy in his house.
It would be good to have something that could be stuffed into his stomach.
Tang Xu and Han Zhiwei wanted to eat meat and thought about it.
They also wanted to improve the food for the children.
So they travelled across mountains and rivers to get two large pieces of meat and some condiments.
Han Zhiwei cooked a large pot of boiled pork slices.
However, in the end, Tang Xu and Han Zhiwei only had one bite each.

 

Han Zhiwei’s cooking skills cannot be described as superb.
But on that particular day, the children all stared wide-eyed, gobbling up the meat and rice in their bowls while staring at what was left in the pot.
Tang Xu realised for the first time that “eating what is in the bowl while looking at what is in the pot”1was not a derogatory remark but rather a description of a situation that makes people feel helpless and distressed.

 

Tang Cuo was an exception among the children who buried their heads and ate ferociously.
He only took a bite before covering his mouth with his hands and crying.

 

Tang Xu had already paid special attention to him at that time.
When he noticed this, he squatted beside him and asked him what was wrong.

 

Tang Cuo said it hurts.

 

Tang Xu examined his mouth, which was filled with festering wounds that appeared to be man-made as well as ulcers caused by a lack of vitamins.

 

How can this not hurt?

 

Tang Xu reached for his bowl at the time and said, “Don’t eat it; you can’t eat spicy food now.”

 

But when Tang Cuo saw him grab his bowl, he clung to it and refused to let go.
He didn’t even care about using his chopsticks.
He grabbed the largest piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth, stubbornly chewing with tears in his eyes.

 

Tang Xu was terrified by this and quickly held his hand and said, “Tang Cuo, be obedient; we will make you non-spicy meat another day, okay?”

 

Han Zhiwei also came over upon hearing the sound.
After understanding the situation, the two persuaded him for a long time before breaking the bowl from his grip.

 

Later, after Tang Cuo had lived with Tang Xu, he still couldn’t get used to spicy food, perhaps because he wasn’t used to it or because eating boiled pork slices hurt so much at the time.
Tang Cuo still had lingering fears.

 

Tang Cuo only took one bite of the skewer of chicken wings before covering his mouth and coughing to the side.
Tang Xu hurriedly got up, handed him a glass of warm water, and took back the skewer of chicken wings, saying, “Hurry up and drink some water.”

 

After he calmed down, Tang Xu frowned and asked, “You still can’t eat any spicy food?”

 

Other people’s ears naturally tasted a little bit of other information after hearing this.

 

He Zhong uttered a puzzled voice: “Teacher Tang, did you know Cuo Cuo before?”

 

“Hmm,” Tang Xu said as he bit into the chicken wing that Tang Cuo had bitten.

 

“Wow, I just found out that they are both very attractive and that their surname is Tang.
Teacher Tang, you’re not related to our professional flower, are you?” A girl exclaimed.

 

Tang Xu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Professional flower? That’s an interesting name.” After that, he glanced at Tang Cuo, who was sitting farthest away from him, and said, “It can be said to be a relative.”

 

Tang Cuo’s fingers tightened around the water cup, and his gaze was reflected on the plate, which still had a large area of smoothness.
The wave in his eyes was plain, with only a slight hint of confusion.
However, it appeared that thousands of emotions were surging in the depths of his eyes.

 

The group returned around ten o’clock.
The calm evening breeze was very pleasant at the time.
The wind blew against the body, and it felt like being gently caressed by someone.
Tang Cuo liked it very much.

 

A bottle of beer wasn’t much, but it was enough to relax Tang Cuo’s spirit.

 

After sending the girls to the dormitory building and watching them enter the gate, Tang Xu said to He Zhong and the two of them, “You go back first, I have something to say to Tang Cuo.”

 

Tang Cuo was surprised and looked at him slowly.
However, the other two guys reacted quickly.
After saying goodbye to Teacher Tang, They hooked their shoulders and returned to the dormitory, howling two out-of-tune songs.

 

When they were gone, Tang Xu turned to Tang Cuo, whose hair was messed up by the wind, and said, “Let’s go and talk somewhere else.”

 

There are many young couples chatting with each other, just like the night scene downstairs in the girls’ dormitory in the past.

 

Tang Cuo lowered his head and silently followed him.
After a while, he found that Tang Xu had led him back to the gate.
He looked at his watch and couldn’t help but take a step forward and ask, “Do you still want to go out? Our dormitory closes at eleven o’clock”

 

Tang Xu paused and asked, “Are you willing to talk to me?”

 

Tang Cuo was at a loss for words.
He didn’t deliberately avoid him.

 

He was still thinking about it, and Tang Xu said again, “Can I smoke a cigarette?”

 

Tang Cuo nodded.

 

The two walked aside.
A cigarette was lit, and the flickering spark made Tang Cuo lose himself in his thoughts for a while.

 

The two smoke rings dissipated in the night wind.
Tang Xu squinted his eyes, seemingly casually, but his gaze was fixed on Tang Cuo’s face.

 

“You said you don’t blame me, but you do.”

 

Without any hesitation, Tang Cuo shook his head and said, “I really don’t.”

 

Tang Xu pursed his lips, nodded casually, and took another puff of his cigarette.
“OK, let’s go.”

 

He then lifted his foot and walked away.

 

“Where are we going?” Tang Cuo didn’t move, and asked as he stood where he was.

 

“Go to my house, I want to chat with you for a while.”

 

Tang Cuo’s pupils dilated slightly, and he reacted for two seconds before saying, “I’m not going.”

 

Tang Xu smiled, one hand holding a cigarette and the other in his trouser pocket.
He was especially attractive with this lazy smile.

 

“Didn’t you say you didn’t blame me? After all, you lived with me for more than a year, and now I can’t even talk to you for a while? Besides, don’t you want to see the place where you used to live again?”

 

Where I used to live…

 

Tang Cuo was taken aback by the amount of information in these words.

 

Tang Xu added, “I didn’t move.”

 

1

Eating what is in the bowl while looking at what is in the pot (idiom) means being greedy.