Regarding the confession scene, Xu Tangcheng imagined countless.
When is the right time, what kind of language is easier for the family to accept, which things can be conceded and which things can't be conceded... But now, things are revealed too suddenly, and he has been "confessed" without any preparation. It was only at this moment that he realized that the reality he had to face was the only and worst case among those countless assumptions.
"what happened?"
Xu Yueliang and Xu Tangxi had heard the voice and ran out, and they looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. Seeing that his wife's eyes were red, Xu Yueliang hurried to her and tried to appease him, even though he didn't know why. But before he could reach Zhou Hui, Zhou Hui suddenly raised her hand and threw the thin coat at Xu Tangcheng's feet.
Then, she finally burst into tears.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
Xu Tangxi, who was walking forward, was frightened and stopped beside Xu Tangcheng. You must know that although Zhou Hui likes to nag, she is actually a very good-natured person. She and Xu Tang have grown up so much that Zhou Hui has never said a single heavy word to them, let alone smashing things.
Xu Tangxi came back to his senses, and he didn't know why, seeing Zhou Hui's painful appearance, his eyes reddened unconsciously.
"Mom..." She was so distressed that she called out in a low voice and ran to Zhou Hui's place.
"Tang Xi," Xu Tangcheng stretched out his hand to hold Xu Tangxi, looked at her slightly pale face, and said softly, "Go into the room."
"elder brother… "
Xu Tangxi looked at him and at the parents over there, but didn't move.
"What the hell is going on? Ah? Talk?"
Xu Yueliang asked a few questions in a row, but Zhou Hui and Xu Tangcheng seemed to have discussed it, and no one answered. Noticing the pieces of paper scattered on the ground, Xu Yueliang bent down and was about to pick it up when Xu Tangxi already helped him pick one up.
After seeing the picture clearly, Xu Tangxi's movement towards Xu Yueliang froze immediately. Even for her, the content of this photo was too shocking. She was at a loss for a while, and looked back at Xu Tangcheng in a panic.
Xu Tangxi subconsciously felt that Xu Yueliang and the others should not see this photo, but before she could take it back, Xu Yueliang had already taken the photo.
Taking a look, Xu Yueliang's eyes widened. He raised his head abruptly and cast his gaze to Xu Tangcheng, but never took it back.
He has lived for more than fifty years, and this is the first time he has encountered such a thing, not to mention, one of the parties involved is his son.
Xu Yueliang usually doesn't say anything to educate his children. The only thing he has seriously taught Xu Tangcheng is to make him pay attention to safety. At this time, Xu Yueliang didn't say anything immediately. He frowned and looked at Xu Tangcheng. After a while, he pressed the photo in his hand onto the coffee table.
The air in the living room was fragmented, and it was almost impossible to breathe.
Xu Yueliang and Zhou Hui stood beside the sofa, while Xu Tangcheng hadn't moved since just now, standing quietly not far away, looking at the floor.
The three of them are clearly in a state of confrontation. Xu Tangxi was the only one who wanted to take care of both sides, but the little girl raised in Huaguduo was also a little flustered and really didn't know what to do. She didn't dare to speak rashly, and after deliberation, she silently picked up all the photos on the ground, held them in her hands, and stepped aside.
For a long time, only Zhou Hui's suppressed crying could be heard in the room. The surroundings were quiet, so every sound was clearly heard in Xu Tangcheng's ears, making him unable to even lift his head up.
"Why are you suddenly confused?"
Without a heavy rebuke, Xu Yueliang can be regarded as the beginning of this conversation.
Xu Tangcheng's thousands of words are not suitable to say at this time, he raised his head and met Xu Yueliang's eyes: "Dad, Mom..."
"Don't call me!" Zhou Hui was not as calm as Xu Yueliang. She grabbed Xu Yueliang's arm tightly with both hands, and her whole body was trembling, as if she was holding it all over her body in one breath, holding on to it. Don't let yourself fall.
Xu Tangcheng saw Zhou Hui's appearance in his eyes, and only felt a pain in his chest. He had long anticipated that there would be a showdown, and from the beginning to the end, Zhou Hui was the one that worried him the most.
If it is said that the person who pays the most to this family must be Zhou Hui, she is a good mother in almost every standard sense, and others can't pick out half of her.
Xu Yueliang had bad legs. Xu Tangcheng remembered that when he was a child, Zhou Hui rode a bicycle to take him to and from school. The temperature is not always suitable in all seasons of the year. There are times when the sun and snow are falling, but in Xu Tangcheng's field of vision, his mother's back has not changed.
"Tang Xi," Xu Tangcheng said in a low voice, his throat choked with pain, "help Mom sit down first."
Xu Tangxi nodded and tried to help Zhou Hui, but Zhou Hui stubbornly refused to sit. She looked at Xu Tangcheng with red eyes, her mouth moved, and she only said one sentence.
"Break up with him."
Like a command, like a request.
Perhaps this sentence made Zhou Hui have to recall what she had just seen. She covered her eyes with one hand and cried and asked Xu Tangcheng, "Do you know what you are doing?"
Xu Tangcheng wanted to say "I know", wanted to say that he was not confused, and wanted to say that he was only in love and did nothing bad. He can speak a large set of truths, and can provide a whole set of logical chains for homosexuality to be right, but he can't say these words now, and he doesn't dare to say them.
In this matter, even if he is right, he has no right to accuse his parents of not understanding. If there is any benefit to his previous scruples and considerations, it is probably that he has foreseen the proportion and timing of his defense.
"You are two men... What are you, what are you doing?"
Zhou Hui's voice gradually fell, and she repeated those words over and over again. Xu Tangcheng didn't answer, so she asked again and again.
"Where's the photo?" Zhou Hui suddenly called Xu Tangxi, "Tang Xi, give him the photo."
Xu Tangxi didn't dare to stimulate Zhou Hui again, although she didn't know why she suddenly said that, she still hesitated and handed the photo to Xu Tangcheng.
"You tore it up."
The sight that was originally on the ground suddenly lifted and landed on Zhou Hui. Xu Tangcheng didn't expect Zhou Hui to make such a request, Zhou Hui took a deep breath and continued in an unstable voice: "Everyone goes the wrong way, Mom doesn't tell you, you tear up the photo and break up with that child. If it's clean, nothing will happen."
Everyone looked at Xu Tangcheng, and Xu Tangcheng glanced at the photos again, but he didn't move.
In any stalemate scenario, the strategy of slowing down can almost work. He clearly knew that Zhou Hui at the moment was the most excited and the most impossible to explain. He clearly knew that he should follow Zhou Hui first and let her calm down temporarily, but Xu Tangcheng still held the photo and remained silent.
It's just a few photos, and now they're torn up. He believes that Yizhe will understand and it won't affect the relationship between him and Yizhe.
But he was reluctant.
When YiZhe kissed his face intimately, he pursed his lips and smiled, and when he stuffed the photo into his pocket, he kept saying in his ear that he couldn't lose it and keep it.
Xu Tangcheng is not a superstitious person, but even if he doesn't want to, he has to admit that he is uneasy and afraid of their future. He is afraid that he will not be able to solve the family's affairs, and that there will be any accidents. And driven by that unease and fear, perhaps because he was eager to find something that would make him calm down, he suddenly became superstitious at this moment, afraid that he would tear up the photo, and the future would really fulfill an endless separation.
"Did you hear me?" Seeing that he didn't move, Zhou Hui asked again.
Xu Tangcheng looked at Zhou Hui silently, he didn't directly refuse, but with the understanding between mother and son, Zhou Hui already understood what he meant. She couldn't believe it, and she didn't understand why the child she had never worried about since she was a child suddenly became like this.
"Then you chose him?"
This time, Xu Tangcheng finally said: "Mom, there is no question of choosing or not, I just..."
"You have to choose! I tell you, I can't accept it, not only I can't accept it, but the family can't accept it."
"I know you can't accept it." Xu Tangcheng said, "I know. I never told you, just because I know very well how unacceptable you will be, and I can understand you, really. But Mom, you at least Give me a moment and let me explain, okay?"
"How long?" Zhou Hui asked suddenly.
Xu Tangcheng was stunned for a moment, and then he understood what Zhou Hui was asking.
"More than three years."
"More than three years," Zhou Hui murmured, "you lied to us for more than three years? Huh?"
Someone was knocking on the door, twice lightly.
Others don't know who it is, but Xu Tangcheng knows that it is Yizhe.
According to the plan just now, he should open the door now, and then Yi Zhe said that he would bring them moon cakes. Zhou Hui and Xu Yueliang would come out to greet them, and Xu Tangxi would also trot out.
But within ten minutes, the whole world seemed to have changed.
Xu Yueliang and Zhou Hui didn't move, Xu Tangxi wanted to open the door, but he didn't know whether she could open the door under such circumstances. She called Xu Yueliang softly and said, "Someone is here."
Xu Tangcheng coughed lightly: "I'll open the door."
Without waiting for a response, he strode towards the door, and after standing still, he stuffed the photos into his trouser pocket.
He didn't know before that he was so reliant on YiZhe. Or, it can not be said to be dependence, it should be said to be spiritual support.
Holding the doorknob, he felt a sense of urgency he had never felt before—he wanted to see YiZhe, couldn't wait to see him, he didn't need him to say or do anything, just stand in front of him and let him take a look. Just like the few photos that he stubbornly saved just now, YiZhe is his Dinghaishenzhen.
The person standing at the door carried a small bag, and when he saw that it was Xu Tangcheng who came to open the door, he quickly smiled at him, wondering if the smile was planned or a temporary reaction.
"I'll deliver..."
Before he could say the pre-set lines, Xu Tangcheng had already stepped forward, put his hand on his arm, and made a stop motion.
The door just blocked the two of them, Xu Tangcheng looked into YiZhe's eyes, his mouth moved slightly: "You go back first."
YiZhe was stunned. He couldn't see the situation in the room, so he could only ask in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Xu Tangcheng didn't speak, and Xu Tangxi, who had just followed him, also stood at the door. She stood behind Xu Tangcheng and saw YiZhe look over. She bit her lower lip and raised her finger to point in the direction of the living room.
YiZhe still didn't understand what was going on.
"It was discovered, my parents are not in a good mood now." Xu Tangcheng even smiled reluctantly, "You are not suitable to go in now, go back first and wait for me for a while?"
Zhou Hui seemed to have heard who was coming, she suddenly put aside Xu Yueliang's arm and walked over quickly. Xu Tangcheng turned around quickly after realizing it, without any consideration, he had already stood in front of YiZhe out of instinct.
Seeing this, Zhou Hui suddenly stopped and stared at him blankly.
Xu Tangcheng's heart sank under such eyes.
"Uncle, auntie."
After weighing it, YiZhe still called out.
Zhou Hui clenched her fists, her nails digging deeply into the flesh of her palm.
"Well," she nodded, "what's the matter?"
"I..." YiZhe said carefully, "I'm here to deliver moon cakes."
"No, Tang Cheng has bought a lot."
Zhou Hui spoke very lightly, even now, she didn't say anything bad to Yizhe. Xu Tangcheng couldn't listen any longer, he turned around, pushed YiZhe and told him to leave first. Naturally, Yi Zhe refused to leave. He had never dealt with elders, but he intuitively knew that Xu Tangcheng's situation would be very difficult, and he couldn't leave at this time. Xu Tangcheng was inconvenient to explain, and it was not good for him to keep talking to Yizhe at this time, so he could only look at Yizhe, motioned to him with his eyes, and told him to listen to him.
He pushed YiZhe back again and closed the door.
"Did you choose him?"
Long after the sound of the door closing dissipated, Zhou Hui asked again.
It's still the same topic.
Xu Tangcheng turned around, lowered his voice, and said, "Mom, there is no choice. You know, no matter what happens, I will not leave you."
He avoided the part that Zhou Hui was unwilling to listen to, but Zhou Hui pressed hard and did not give him any chance to escape.
"If you don't leave us, break up with him. If you don't leave him, you go with him."
Finally got to this point.
Xu Tangcheng looked at Xu Yueliang, waited for two seconds, and heard him say, "Tang Cheng, since you were young, we have respected your decision, but this will not work."
When the enemy confronts, who is more cruel and who is more ruthless, but when two people who love each other confront each other, it is nothing more than to see who will soften first.
Xu Tangcheng is soft-hearted, especially for his family, there is nothing he can't agree to, can't make concessions, but not today.
Everything today caught him off guard. It was a surprise attack that didn't give him any time to prepare. But there is an idea that Xu Tangcheng has prepared for a long time. That is his last line of defense. When he is in a desperate situation and is at the end of the road, even if he loses 800, 8000, or even 80 million, he must defend it - he will not Give up Yi Zhe, even if it is a plan to delay the army, even if it is a temporary separation, he will not.
So he shook his head and told Zhou Hui, "I won't leave you, nor will I leave him."
Xu Tangcheng has never had a rebellious period. This is the first time that he has made a decision and then watched his parents suffer.
There is a small supermarket in their community. Xu Tangcheng came out of the house and wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes in the supermarket, but found that he was not wearing a coat and had no money with him. Fortunately, I used to come often, and it was considered to be acquainted with the boss. Xu Tangcheng asked: "Can you give it to me first? I'm in a hurry to get down, I forgot to take the money, and someone will give it to you later."
"Success." The boss was playing the mobile game, and asked without looking away, "What do you want?"
Originally, he wanted to report the one that he smoked often, but when his eyes swept away, Xu Tangcheng remembered something and changed the name of the cigarette: "Soft China."
He walked around the supermarket with a cigarette, and finally chose a small corner that no one saw. It was at the end of a path, with walls on both sides, low bushes on the other, and a world of red bricks and green grass.
As expected, Yi Zhe came down very quickly. Xu Tangcheng didn't know how he found him. Seeing that he was gasping for breath, his eyebrows were out of breath, he beckoned to him.
YiZhe squatted in front of him and asked, "Uncles and aunts, they can't accept it, can they?"
Xu Tangcheng nodded: "The reaction was quite intense."
Both were squatting, but Xu Tangcheng was squatting on the edge of the brick, which was actually a little higher than Yizhe. But the two people have different statures, and they go back and forth, just so that their eyes are on a horizontal line.
YiZhe didn't say anything for a long time, then he took Xu Tangcheng's hand and shook it.
Dinghaishenzhen or something, not just casually said. Xu Tangcheng held YiZhe back and stared at the hands they were shaking for a while.
After most of the cigarette burned, Xu Tangcheng turned his head to the side and blew the smoke out of his mouth, then turned back and asked YiZhe, "Did you bring any money?"
YiZhe didn't know what he was doing, but he answered honestly, "Bring it."
"I just bought cigarettes and didn't bring any money. You can settle it with the boss."
"Yeah." YiZhe got up immediately, and before leaving, handed him the mooncake bag in his hand.
After waiting for him to come back, Xu Tangcheng opened it and took a look. There are three moon cakes in the bag, which are indeed not the kind they usually eat.
Xu Tangcheng turned over and then suddenly stopped, a sour feeling poured into his eyes uncontrollably, forcing him to lit another cigarette quickly and took a hard puff.
Still not able to stop the sour feeling, he put aside the hand holding the cigarette and buried his face in his arm for a while,
Originally, I thought I bought a lot of moon cakes, but now it seems that this Mid-Autumn Festival, they only have these three pieces.
Yi Zhe trotted back and saw Xu Tangcheng fiddling with a piece of moon cake in one hand, so he told him to open it and have a taste. He wanted to say something to distract Xu Tangcheng, so he tore open the package and rambled: "Zhao Weifan said that a box was originally six yuan, but You Fang stole two and left four. Originally wanted to bring it to you, but she said it was unlucky to send four moon cakes, so she had to tear one piece apart and eat it with me."
"The co-author gave you a total of three yuan, and you brought them all to me," Xu Tangcheng held his head, and the cigarette burned beside his ear. He smiled and said, "Didn't you say it's delicious? You can save a piece for yourself to eat at night."
"Different flavors," YiZhe took out the other two pieces from the bag quite seriously, and pointed out the flavors on the package to Xu Tangcheng, "Look, each piece is different, the one I ate It's not like these."
The wrapping paper reflected the light of the setting sun, so golden that it shook Xu Tangcheng stunned.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Yi Che thought that he was still too much, so he put the small piece of moon cake that had been taken apart to his mouth, and said, "Then eat it first, and give it to me if it doesn't taste good."
Xu Tangcheng left the house ruthlessly on this day, leaving behind the cries and calls of his parents. With guilt, but still to go.
At that time, all his reasons were love, but if he wanted to tell him how deep his love was, and why two big men couldn't even make a temporary compromise, he didn't really understand. He could only answer in a very abstract way, he couldn't let YiZhe go, and YiZhe couldn't live without him either.
But now Xu Tangcheng understood, very specific and profound.
He lowered his head and took a bite, the moon cake fell into a gap, and the gap was sweet.
"Is it delicious?" YiZhe asked.