When Xie Lan got home, her eyes were still a little red, and she felt much more relaxed. While changing her shoes, she was discussing the next video plan with Dou Sheng.
The house was brightly lit, and the steam from the hot pot spread the aroma of tomatoes throughout the house.
Zhao Wenying tied up her long hair and changed into home clothes made of the same material as Dou Sheng.
She put all the meat she had just eaten into Xie Lan's bowl, "Lan Lan, eat more."
Dou Sheng's chopsticks hit nothing, and after searching for a long time, he finally pulled out a piece of radish.
Dull.
Zhao Wenying frowned and said, "Put it back in your mother's place! If it's not cooked soft, you'll have to eat it in advance."
Dou Sheng sighed, "Then what would you like to eat?"
"Eat whatever you like!"
Xie Lan felt a little embarrassed to be taking care of him, so he stood up to help, but before he could stand up straight, he pressed the button down.
"Eat your food. I heard you study very hard. Go home and take a good rest."
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, "I heard?"
Zhao Wenying explained: "Auntie didn't mean to monitor you. I just returned to China and was worried that you wouldn't adapt. I was too embarrassed to tell you, so I made a few phone calls to your class teacher."
"I don't feel like I'm being monitored." Xie Lan immediately shook his head, "I just didn't expect you to contact the teacher when you were on a business trip."
"It's not a big deal to make a phone call." Zhao Wenying smiled. "All the teachers in various subjects like you very much. The math and physics teachers all say you are smart. The Chinese teacher especially praises you for being serious and cute. He even takes the quizzes very seriously and writes down the questions that are not on the test."
Dou Sheng was standing beside him, holding the bowl and grinning like an idiot.
Xie Lan's face was a little hot from the steam.
Xiao Langjing had been gone for two years, and he was no longer used to sitting and listening to adults praising him.
He still hummed vaguely and buried his head in eating meat.
Zhao Wenying smiled, "Lanlan is so cute. Why can't I give birth to a son like you?"
"Tsk." Dou Sheng put down his chopsticks. "This is boring. Why are you still praising one and criticizing the other?"
Zhao Wenying's expression changed instantly. "Shut up, I didn't mean to say anything to you. You took Lanlan to skip evening self-study and played with your phone! Teacher Hu told me that Lanlan will definitely become a successful child, but the prerequisite is that she stays away from you!"
Dou Sheng sighed, "Okay, you guys chat and have some fun."
Zhao Wenying opened a bottle of wine and mixed it with a bottle of peach juice. Then he asked Xie Lan, "Would you like to try it?"
Xie Lan was stunned, "Minor..."
The bottle was tipped over and half a cup was poured out.
"Drinking a little wine will make you feel relaxed." Zhao Wenying also poured herself a glass and glanced at Dou Sheng, "Do you want to drink?"
Dou Sheng shook his head indifferently, "I can't drink more than you, drunkard."
The wine tastes quite strong, but it's not hard to swallow. Even stronger than the wine is the peach flavor, which bursts in your mouth and is very refreshing.
"It's delicious." Xie Lan drank a few sips in a row.
Dou Sheng was standing by and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Zhao Wenying reached over with the bottle and drank up the two glasses that Xie Lan had just drunk.
"Drink. It's the weekend, relax and have a good sleep."
As soon as the wine bottle was put down, another piece of meat came out with chopsticks.
Xie Lan couldn't eat enough and could only eat quickly while making noisy noises.
Inexplicably, he thought of Wutong who was squatting in front of the food bowl and munching on cat food frantically.
The peach-flavored wine was sweet and cool, and the more you drank it, the more addictive it became. After drinking one glass, Xie Lan really began to relax.
The sadness lingering in my heart was gradually peeled away, and my brain became light and fluttery. I took a deep breath, and my nostrils were filled with the sweetness of peaches.
Zhao Wenying was talking to herself. Xie Lan was feeling dizzy and was pulled by Dou Sheng.
"Are you okay?"
Xie Lan was stunned, "What's wrong?"
"She's afraid you'll drink too much." Dou Sheng whispered, "Drinking makes you strong. Don't listen to her teasing. She can drink a lot without getting drunk. She's practiced it at the drinking table."
Xie Lan looked at Dou Sheng strangely.
He didn't feel drunk, he just felt very relaxed.
"Don't talk about your mother behind her back." He frowned.
Dou Sheng: “…Okay.”
After finishing his meal and picking up the bowls, Xie Lan returned to his room and lay on the bed, feeling a little dizzy.
The mattress shook and Wutong jumped up from underneath, meowing at him.
"Shh—" Xie Lan tapped its nose, "Dou Sheng, shut up."
The kitten was quiet.
Xie Lan lay back on the bed. He felt his chest beginning to feel a little hot, and the heat rushed to his forehead.
He stared at the ceiling and pondered for a while before asking, "At what time do you and Dou Sheng usually exchange identities at night?"
Wutong jumped next to the pillow and stared at him coldly.
"You've started to stare at people too. You're worthy of being in Class 4." Xie Lan sighed, turned over and poked the kitten's belly, then raised his voice to scare him, "Dou Sheng!"
The door suddenly opened and Dou Sheng poked his head in. "What do you mean?"
Xie Lan was startled.
He looked innocent and blank, "No."
"I'll listen to you... Never mind." Dou Sheng hesitated and said, "Are you really okay? I really think you're a little drunk."
Xie Lan's cheeks were red, her hair was a little messy on the bed, and she stared at Dou Sheng without saying a word.
He just felt that his mind was a little light and chaotic, a very complicated experience.
After a long while, he suddenly asked, "How's the video?"
"What video?" Dou Sheng was startled, and instinctively took out his phone and poked it, "700,000 views. Oh, yes, you already have 180,000 followers. I estimate that in two days you will have at least..."
Xie Lan frowned, "Don't count those numbers, it's too much. I just want to say that as long as the video is well made, the fans will be happy and you will be happy too. Like this character setting submission and the dialect barbecue before, they are all good proofs."
Dou Sheng nodded in agreement, then hesitated and whispered, "It's a medley of dialects."
"Alas, stop teaching me these metaphors." Xie Lan's face was hot. He fell on the bed, rubbed his cheeks, and sighed, "I really don't understand."
After getting drunk, the world becomes very quiet. The lines on the roof, furniture, and floor have their own ideas and dance happily in the field of vision.
Xie Lan heard Dou Sheng's low laugh, very light and low, like tickling him.
He sat up again, "I just remembered that you tagged your videos randomly, which put you at a disadvantage."
"Hmm?" Dou Sheng sat down next to him, "Then please give me some advice, senior."
The two of them were very close, and Xie Lan focused on his face for a long time, "Senior... not really, but there is one, there is one..."
Dou Sheng whispered for him, "A friend with three million fans on the Internet."
Xie Lan nodded, "Yes, it's him."
Dou Sheng curled his lips, "He posted a video? What did he say?"
Xie Lan glanced at a point in the air, thinking hard, and after a long while he said, "He thinks your video is very good, full of ideas, and the camera language is also good. He hopes you can be open in making videos and not care too much."
There was a subtle silence in the room for a while.
After Xie Lan finished speaking, she didn't hear any response. She turned her head and looked at Dou Sheng in confusion, "Do you have any questions?"
Intoxicated, he felt that the pair of black eyes opposite him were very deep and somewhat gentle.
Xie Lan stared at Dou Sheng for a long while before he withdrew his gaze from him and whispered, "There is no doubt that what the senior said is right."
Xie Lan smiled, put his arm around Dou Sheng's shoulders, and buried his head in them.
Dou Sheng's shoulders stiffened. Xie Lan's forehead was against his collarbone. He could feel the rise and fall of his breathing. Under his thin skin, the boy's young life was thriving.
Xie Lan felt inexplicably agitated.
"I feel a little dizzy." He whispered, "What's the alcohol content of Aunt Zhao's wine?"
Dou Sheng hummed, "She mixed it with homemade fruit wine, it's hard to tell the alcohol content."
"What is home brew?" Xie Lan asked in a low voice: "niang? How do you write it?"
Dou Sheng didn't explain any more, he just raised his hand and gathered his hair, "Go to sleep if you're tired."
"Okay." Xie Lan asked calmly: "Can you take me back to my room? I can give you two coins."
Dou Sheng: “…”
Xie Lan felt groggy and felt someone holding the back of his head, laying him flat on the pillow.
Wutong stepped on the pillow and walked over the head, from one side of the bed to the other, and lay down with his little hands folded.
Xie Lan was dazed when she heard a low voice saying, "I'll leave him to you."
The voice seemed to be directed at him, but also at the cat lying next to him.
Xie Lan closed his eyes and patted the cat's head, "Big cat, stop making noise."
After a moment, the light coming through the door slowly disappeared, the room returned to silence and darkness, and the sound of footsteps faded away.
Xie Lan dreamed of Xiao Langjing.
The first time was not in front of the hospital bed, but when he was very young and hit his forehead, Xiao Langjing forced him to put a hairpin on it and took him to the park.
He was very unhappy. When he was standing under the pine tree and asked to smile, he stared at the camera with an unhappy look on his face.
He hates hairpins, and he hates people passing by smiling and calling him "lovely" even more.
Xiao Langjing took the photo and couldn't let it go. She said to him in Chinese, "It's so cute. I'm going to send it to my friend. She also gave birth to a son, and he's said to be very cute."
When Xie Lan was little, he didn't even understand Taobao, and just continued to sulk. He walked ahead noisily, and Xiao Langjing followed behind holding an ice cream.
When he woke up from the dream, Xie Lan sat up and was stunned for a long time.
When Xiao Langjing left, she also took away his ability to dream. In the past two years, he had only dreamed of the hospital bed when they parted. Since returning to China, he had strange dreams every now and then. This time, it was the first time in two years that he dreamed of his mother when she was not sick.
The effect of the alcohol wore off and my head felt a little heavy, but I was conscious.
Xie Lan was stunned for a while, then picked up his phone and scrolled through it unconsciously.
02:18.
He glanced through Bilibili and casually opened Twitter.
qzfxr's chat box is always at the top, with a red number 2 on it, and the time is two hours ago.
Xie Lan clicked it.
qzfxr: Actually, I can imagine that there is a reason why you left for two years. Thank you for your hard work.
qzfxr: Also, if you don't want to come back, that's fine. As a person, just move forward and be happy.
Xie Lan stared at the phone for a while, feeling an indescribable feeling in his heart.
He slowly typed the word "Maybe I will go back", paused, and then deleted it word by word.
He really didn't want to go back.
Return to China, change platforms, change video types, and try new and unprecedented content.
Only something could pull him out of that drowsy and dead state, and at the very least, he wanted to accompany Dou Sheng to continue making the video and help Dou Sheng win the top 100.
Xie Lan sighed, opened his eyes and went downstairs to find some water to drink.
He opened the door and found that Dou Sheng's door was ajar. Only the light of the computer screen could be seen in the darkness. The moment he pushed open the door, Dou Sheng closed the webpage.
The red and white page looks a bit like YouTube.
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, "You watch YouTube too? By the way, why are you staying up late all of a sudden?"
Dou Sheng took off his headphones and asked, "Are you sober?"
"Hmm..." Xie Lan choked, "You didn't do anything weird, did you?"
Dou Sheng smiled when he heard this, "No, I just told you about your friend with 3 million followers, saying that he always tags people in his videos."
Xie Lan was relieved for a moment, "Okay. Let me get you some water, you can do your thing."
As he said this, he turned and left, closing Dou Sheng's door naturally.
When I was closing the door, I realized that Dou Sheng seemed to have turned the sign the wrong way round. It was already midnight, and it still said "Open, insert coins before knocking".
He casually helped Dou Sheng turn the page until closing time, then suddenly remembered something and pushed the door open again.
Dou Sheng just turned off his computer. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Xie Lan lowered his eyes and looked at the liquid in the glass. "I just suddenly remembered what you said this afternoon."
Dou Sheng paused, stood up and looked at him.
“Thank you.” Xie Lan said softly, “I can’t say I’ve let it go, but I suddenly feel like I can really move forward.”
"Besides, I never dreamed about her."