The lights went out in the ward. Curtains were drawn between the beds, and the sound of calm breathing and snoring came and went. I walked to Mu Zheng's bed, and the small lamp at the head of the bed was still on. Dressed in a hospital gown, he was there looking at the Chinese textbook, obviously waiting for me.

"You're not going back tonight, are you?" He said in a voice that made sure it wouldn't wake anyone up, but that I could hear it.

"No, it's too late." I say. It's definitely past eleven o'clock.

"Come, I'll take you somewhere." He crawled down slowly, beckoning me to creep out of the room with him. After a few turns, we came to a place that resembled a drying room with a dryer. He said that you dried your coat and pants, after all, it was rained, and it must not have completely dried by now. He went out with that, and I was stunned in the drying room. In mid-October, before it was so cold, I put on a jacket and short sleeves, and only a pair of pants underneath. If I left them all in dry, all I had left was a pair of little shorts. It's not in the school dormitory (I'm embarrassed to dress like this even there), what if someone comes in? What if it's still a woman? I blush just thinking about it.

The phone rang again, and I panicked, as if someone had suddenly barged in. Li Bin hit.

"Hello? Are you home? I asked.

"On the way. Keke, I have another thing that suddenly comes to mind. Didn't Mu Zheng say in the car that he was doing a check-up in the hospital? What is the disease? I'm afraid he's asleep, so I'm here to ask you. ”

How to say that? I had words in my mouth, but I didn't know where to start. Li Bin waited on the other end of the phone, and from the occasional murmur, I seemed to hear his anxiety.

Mu Zheng appeared at the door just in time, and he brought me a new set of hospital gowns. So I naturally handed him the phone and hid in the corner to change my clothes. However, it is pure fantasy to do this with only one arm, Mu Zheng helped me take off my shirt and talk to Li Bin, and he turned on the speaker.

"I just feel like I'm having a relapse, even though the results won't come out until tomorrow. When the time comes, I'll have to do another round of treatment, I don't know if I can make it. I was very uncomfortable on the way to the hospital today, but I got better. We hadn't seen each other for three years, and it was a long time before we got in touch. I thought I'd come and see you while I could still walk, and come to see you at your house. Maybe there won't be a chance in the future. ”

"Don't think so, okay?"

"There must be a chance, I will move to a new house in the future, waiting for you to play with Xuexue. Ke Ke can come if he wants to. ”

Don't, leave me an arm for homework and exams. Of course, I didn't say that.

"Anyway, it's good to see it, and I don't have any regrets." He spoke so calmly that I shuddered as I dried my clothes.

What do you mean by that? It's scary. You are in such good health and the last treatment was successful. Aren't they all back on the pitch? To be honest, I was following the Mayor's Cup last year, and I was very happy for you to know that you won the Golden Boot, but I was too embarrassed to contact you...... Because I'm afraid that you will forget me, or know what happened in my family, you don't want to be friends with me. So when you came to me this year, I was really excited, excited and scared. ”

"We'll always be friends." Mu Zheng said, glancing at me. I pretended to be intent, rummaging through my coat.

"So, you're going to be treated. By the way, haven't you had a result yet? Maybe there's a false alarm. We're both in our second year of junior high school, and this year is the last Mayor's Cup. I dare say that without you, the championship would be in our school's pocket. ”

Last year we were top of the group with 54 and missed out on the knockout rounds. They lost to Beichuan Middle School in the quarterfinals. Kitagawa only got one draw and one loss against us. However, it is useless to say this, I didn't lose a single semester in the first middle school, but I was eliminated by the other school, and the other school lost to Beichuan in the final. Maybe anyone has the possibility of winning the championship, the technical and tactical level is between the best, and the possibility on the football field is difficult to estimate. This semester, No. 54 Middle School has recruited students from several schools in Jiangbei, so Li Bin has been given the opportunity to compete, according to Mu Zheng, he is a well-rounded attacker. Although Mu Zheng often praises others, he is extremely serious when he mentions Li Bin, and his strength may be better than Mu Zheng.

"My teammates are very strong, even without me, you wouldn't have won the championship easily." Mu Zheng smiled at me, "Of course, if we have to fight, we will get the knockout round." Maybe I'll be able to come back, but Koko will definitely be back in the team. He's not going to let you score a goal casually. By the way, we still have to learn. He's much tougher than before, don't even be able to get past the midfield line when the time comes. ”

It's amazing, they originally told their sister in the hospital bed that they wanted to win the championship together, but now they are competitors. However, the world is always unpredictable on the football field, isn't Shi Zhenhua and Pu Yun and I also "each its own master"? If Mu Zheng and I were admitted to different high schools and continued to play football, maybe he would say this to me, albeit in a joke tone among friends.

What if Millet and I become rivals? No wonder he always said he wanted to go to the same school as me. Maybe, let's just say, one day we won't be in the same school, and he might stop playing. I can't tell. Just like if Xianxian had taken me to play basketball, I might have liked basketball even more. (And won't he just leave me?) It's a wonderful life, and sometimes when you make decisions, you are ignorant and just imitate the people who are important to you. So, we inadvertently embark on a path that is completely unaware of the future and the fate buried underground on this road. Sometimes we're even pushed down the road. Tao Tao didn't give his shoes to Xiao Fei, Li Bin was not assigned to 54 Middle School, and they would not have the possibility of participating in the whole junior high school for three years.

Not everyone can function at the same time as Li Bin. Not everyone who is seriously ill can recover like Mu Zheng and stand on the court again. They must have put in an effort I can't imagine. So, if you had to do it all over again, it would be even more unimaginable. It's too hard.

I was distracted and my hands almost burned. They are still talking, and Li Bin must be encouraging Mu Zheng.

"Then let's say it, if you meet it, don't show mercy to anyone." Said on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, when you lose, I'll come and comfort you." I said a word before Mu Zheng.

"Hey, Ke Ke hasn't spoken for a long time, I almost forgot that you were next to me. Well, if you lose, I'll comfort you. ”

"I don't want it." I say. Mu Zheng helped me put on a hospital gown. I got serious and seemed to forget that my hands still had to be hung and that we were all in danger of qualifying from the group. I just want to compete with Li Bin on the pitch and not let him score a single goal.

"Do you hear that? Our captain doesn't need your comfort. He's the captain. Mu Zheng had a smug expression, even though only I could see it. Yes, I'm the captain, even if I cry three times in one night, I'm still the captain.

"I'll come back tomorrow to see you, so get some rest."

After saying goodnight, I hung up the phone and went back to the ward with Mu Zheng. It's almost twelve o'clock, he is not in good health, and I have dragged him for so long. Hurry up and go to sleep. I went to the bathroom to wash my feet and put my coat on my hospital gown, and he climbed into bed first, and I gently moved a chair to lie at the end of the bed. However, I saw him move himself to the side of the bed, leaving an open space. Won't you come up? He asked. I said it was fine to lie on my stomach. It's cold in the morning and evening, you must have a cold. Isn't it more uncomfortable to have another illness if my arm is injured? What he said worked so well that I could think of Mile helping me tie the sling for at least a month in the future. Don't trouble anyone, including myself.

Lying on the bed obediently, Mu Zheng gave me half of the quilt. He turned off the little light. In the darkness I lay on my right side, back to back with him. Not very used to it. I've always been very self-conscious, and I'm not used to sleeping in the same bed with people, even if it's an acquaintance, unless it's very close to them. I've always regarded Mu Zheng as the team's number one star, and I've never wanted to sleep in the same bed with him. Even though I was very close, I still felt a sense of distance from him, and I was inevitably nervous. After the lights went out, the smooth breathing and occasional coughing throughout the ward became more and more obvious. It was as if I had been on a swaying train, drowsy and drowsy, and my child drawing the sun wearily on the foggy window. I didn't know where I was going or where I needed to get off. Mu Zheng didn't know even more. But...... Li Bin and I have made a lot of efforts, and perhaps he has given up the idea of jumping out of the car. Tomorrow morning, I can pat my chest with my last right hand and tell him that everything is fine, as we both agreed.

Is it time to stay awake? Sleepiness is urging me, and my heart tells me to persevere. Tomorrow will be the day after tomorrow, and Teacher Zhou will definitely know the day after tomorrow. In front of close friends and loved ones, it may be difficult for people to have the urge to end their lives. His opportunities are slipping by little by little. What if Li Bin and I don't succeed in dispelling that dark thought? A minute of darkness does not blind a person, but what if, in this minute of blindness, a person chooses to be defeated?

It is impossible to ask Mu Zheng directly what he thinks now. I will wait, I will wait, once again as a hunter hiding in the grass, watching the land in my sleep until the sun rises again. Maybe this is my chance to atone for my sins, I can't bring the strings back, but I must not let Mu Zheng leave us.

"Ke Ke, can't you sleep? Isn't it too crowded? A soft voice came from behind, as if there was still a little light. I said yes without thinking in nervousness.

"I'll sing a song."

He sang, the ending song of a TV series. I haven't heard this song in a long time. When I heard it, I remembered a lot of things. I remembered the title of the film that I had forgotten for a long time, the name of the protagonist who had dimples on one side and no dimples on the other, and was seriously injured in the first episode, and remembered the smile that never changed. When I was still a happy child, I longed to have such a friend.

But I heard something terrible. Because of the lyrics. At the end of the song, the singer is saying goodbye to his mother, telling her that he will leave home tonight for a long voyage.

"What do you mean?" I didn't care if I couldn't press my left hand, and I rolled over to look at him. I couldn't see his pupils hidden in the dark, only the outline of his face in front of him.

"Where are you going? There is no such place, it is made up. We can only live on Earth. ”

"I know in my heart that I envy him. Someone could have crossed that far to save him. What a lucky kid. If only I could be like him, but unfortunately I don't have such an extraordinary name. Mu Zheng talked about the protagonist of that TV series.

"But your name is also extraordinary. It was your mother's heart, and I love it. ”

"You're right. So, I'll be brave again, as brave as he is, as brave as you are. After all, victory or defeat, I'm not alone, you can see. ”

He quietly touched my fist under the covers.

"Koko?"

"Huh?"

"When I'm well, let's go to Africa. Go hunting in the savannah, go climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I heard that the top of the mountain looks like a temple, and you may encounter frozen leopards. ”

"How can I climb up? Also, I can't hunt, and I can't kill chickens. However, I will accompany you. ”

Because, you are so brave. So brave that I want to hold you with all my strength and not let you leave anyone.

"Then let's go to Spain to see the bullfighters, and now there are bullfighters, maybe they are only a few years older than us. If we still want to go fishing, we catch grasshoppers to make bait, make our own campfires, make coffee from the river, and pitch tents in the fields. Nick, we'll have a lot of time ......."

He continued to speak softly, and I was sleepy, and I responded softly with a "uh-huh". Confused, the only thing I knew was that I wasn't sure if I wanted to dream of strings this night. Maybe I'll dream of the kid who accompanied me through the TV screen, of the brave bullfighter, of the African savannah, of the snow-capped mountains that reflect the sun, of the river that sheds bait, or whatever.