Dou Sheng looked at He Xiu, who was in Xie Lan's friend list, and fell into numbness.
After a long pause, he tried to comfort Xie Lan, "Just pushing this business card doesn't really mean anything..."
Xie Lan said coldly: "He repeatedly urged me to talk to He Xiu, using that... anyway, it's Lao Ma's eyes, understand?"
"… understood."
Dou Sheng was full of doubts about his life. "It's strange. We are so low-key, how did they know about it?"
Xie Lan stared at him, "Brother, are you sure we should keep a low profile?"
"Well... But Lao Ma's attitude probably doesn't mean he wants to cause trouble for us. I guess he is knowledgeable and should thank the seniors for paving the way..." Dou Sheng continued to walk out while talking, and suddenly asked in a low voice, "Then tell me, why didn't my mother react?"
Xie Lan paused, a little confused. "Aunt Zhao... Aunt Zhao doesn't come home often, right? Those videos seem like a deliberate joke."
"That's right." Dou Sheng sighed, "It's better this way."
I randomly found a restaurant for dinner. Just as I entered the house after dinner, Zhao Wenying called me.
"Lanlan, you are amazing! I heard from Teacher Ma that you got first place in the province in the first test! First place in the province! I never dared to dream of it. Douzi is like a poor student compared to you." Zhao Wenying said in a hurry: "I am so busy here, but when I heard the news, I felt refreshed. The customers seemed much more friendly! I bought you a nice gift. Oh, I heard your dad said he is coming over?"
Xie Lan hummed, "Come and see me. Arrive tomorrow at noon and leave tomorrow evening."
"He said he's going to take a train at 11 o'clock tomorrow night." Zhao Wenying said immediately, "I definitely have to meet him. We haven't seen each other for so many years. Oh, I'll fly back tomorrow afternoon. Let's have dinner together tonight. I've already booked your restaurant for lunch tomorrow. I'll let Douzi use my card and send you the information right away."
Dou Sheng came in with a bunch of parcels. Hearing this, he put the parcel boxes on the back of the sofa, took the phone and said, "Your son is second in the province. Did you know that?"
Zhao Wenying's excitement came to a sudden halt. "Where did you come from?"
"No phone can handle your voice." Dou Sheng curled his lips, "Where are you going to make up for my birthday present? My birthday has been over for half a month, are you going to come back?"
"I'll be back tomorrow." Zhao Wenying sighed, her tone softening, "This order is a bit difficult, but fortunately it's been negotiated. Think carefully about what gift you want. Mom promised you that I won't go on business trips for two months this time when I go home."
Dou Sheng sneered when he heard this, "I don't have such a request."
After the call ended, Xie Lan hesitated and said, "Aunt Zhao said she wanted to have dinner with my dad."
"Let's eat." Dou Sheng unpacked the packages one by one, and found the uniforms for recording the video. "It's best if she comes. She'll take care of the chatting. We don't have to worry about anything."
Xie Lan was stunned when he heard this, "Is that what you think?"
Dou Sheng raised his eyes and asked, "What else?"
Too.
In fact, Xie Lan couldn't explain it clearly, but he just felt an inexplicable sense of tension weighing on his head.
He carefully checked the train and hotel information for tomorrow's trip, and didn't finally lie down until almost midnight.
As soon as I turned off the light, the door slid open again.
"mum-"
Wutong walked in through the crack of the door with a hum and jumped onto the bed with a plop.
The door was not opened by it. The person who opened the door stood at the door and asked with a smile: "Are you going to sleep?"
Xie Lan uttered a dry "ah".
It was pitch dark, and he struggled to make out Dou Sheng's outline, and then he discovered that he had a pillow tucked under his arm.
Dou Sheng whispered, "Excuse me, can I send myself here?"
Before Xie Lan could react, Dou Sheng lifted his quilt and lay down confidently.
The bed creaked. Xie Lan had no choice but to move in.
Dou Sheng whispered, "Thank you, boyfriend."
"… "
Dou Sheng occupied the pillow position of Wutong, so Wutong had to walk from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed, carefully stepped over their feet, hesitated for a long time, and finally lay down between their calves.
Dou Sheng suddenly moved his legs and kicked it accidentally through the quilt. Wutong stood up again, moved upwards, and then lay down again.
After a while, Xie Lan held the quilt with his hands and carefully turned over under the quilt.
"Meow—" Wutong stood up dissatisfiedly, stepped on Xie Lan's legs to the corner of the bed, jumped—jumped onto the desk and lay down to sleep.
"This evil child." Dou Sheng whispered behind Xie Lan's back, "Let it guard the night, it has quite a temper."
Xie Lan paused, and couldn't help but remind him: "I used to think of it as your cat form."
"…" Dou Sheng hissed, "Are you arguing?"
Xie Lan said nothing, but smiled secretly with his eyes closed.
The quilt and pajamas around her body rubbed against each other and made a rustling sound. Dou Sheng's breath came closer. He stretched out his hands to hug Xie Lan from behind and rubbed his chin on Xie Lan's shoulder.
"It's hard for me to fall asleep if you're like this." Xie Lan said sincerely.
Dou Sheng put his hand on his hip and poked him maliciously, "What do you want to do if you don't want to sleep?"
"… "
Under the quilt, although there was no contact, Xie Lan felt that the outline of his boyfriend's body was too clear. So clear that he didn't need to look back to know that Dou Sheng was pressed against his back, with his knees bent and pressed against the ground in the crook of his knees.
He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, wanting to sleep.
Not long after, Dou Sheng's legs became restless again, and he raised his knees, hitting his butt.
Xie Lan was immediately infuriated. She turned over and lifted her long legs to hold Dou Sheng's legs tightly, and asked fiercely, "What on earth are you going to do?"
"What did I do?" Dou Sheng asked in astonishment, "Are you still sleeping?"
"Just keep pretending." Xie Lan rolled his eyes in the dark, "Or else go back to your room and sleep."
"Hiss—" Dou Sheng pulled his legs out from under Xie Lan's legs. "Xie Lan, you have a bad temper."
As he said this, he turned over and pressed forward. Xie Lan immediately raised his other leg to intercept him from the air, but Dou Sheng stood up without saying anything and stepped over Xie Lan, pulling Xie Lan's wrist to his back. His strength was gentle, but very skillful. Xie Lan was caught off guard and dove headfirst into the soft pillow. He barely raised his head, but Dou Sheng had already grabbed his hands to his back, locking his wrists so that he could not move.
Dou Sheng knelt with one leg pressed on the base of Xie Lan's thigh, "Can't cure you?"
"… I'm going to get out of here." Xie Lan pressed his face against the pillow, his hair messy, "Want to fight?"
"Bullshit." Dou Sheng snorted softly, loosened his hand, leaned over to his ear and gently kissed his cheek.
There was a "slurping" sound, clearly audible in the quiet room.
Xie Lan was stunned for a moment, then his hand was released. Dou Sheng held his cheek with one hand and gently lifted him up to kiss him.
The sound of kissing continued in the quiet bedroom.
Xie Lan seamlessly switched from anger to confusion. His boyfriend half-knelt and half-rested one leg between his legs. With the occasional unintentional touch, he could clearly feel their bodies reacting, but he held on and refused to say a word.
After a long while, Dou Sheng finally got up and went back to his own place to lie down, sighing softly, "It's a bit hard to bear."
The room was quiet and Wutong was snoring beside him.
Xie Lan turned over and took two breaths while looking at the empty, dark ceiling.
After a long while, he reached his hand under the quilt and asked quietly, "Help you?"
…
The next day, Xie Lan opened his eyes at 10:11.
The train arrived at the station at eleven o'clock, and the alarm was set for nine o'clock, but no one heard it.
The quilt was all on his side of the bed. Dou Sheng tucked the quilt into a corner pitifully, tucked his head under the pillow and fell asleep in a very chaotic state.
Wutong squatted on the bedside table, staring at the two of them seriously and dignifiedly.
It took Xie Lan a few seconds to regain consciousness, then he sat up suddenly and pushed Dou Sheng awake, "It's too late!"
Xie Lan took a taxi from the east to the north station, ran all the way to the pick-up point, and slammed on the brakes.
Dou Sheng was caught off guard and flew away from him, and had to turn back.
"What's wrong?" Dou Sheng asked, "Your father's car just arrived at the station, right? What's the number?"
Xie Lan tugged at his sleeve and raised his chin towards the man not far away.
"My dad," he whispered.
Xie Jingming was standing by the gatepost of the exit, pulling a size 2 suitcase. He was wearing a light grey short-sleeved shirt, standing straight, and wearing a leather watch on his wrist, looking like a sophisticated scholar.
When he looked up and saw Xie Lan, a smile appeared in his eyes and he pulled the box over here.
Dou Sheng sighed, "Your dad is not what I imagined."
Xie Lan asked, "What's the difference?"
"Not as rigid as I imagined..." Dou Sheng paused, "But he doesn't look much like you."
Xie Lan hurriedly replied: "I look like my mother."
The two men met, Xie Lan called out "Dad" and reached out to take Xie Jingming's box.
Before he touched it, Xie Jingming naturally changed his hand and said, "No need, you are too young to carry this luggage. Have you taken the taxi?"
Xie Lan hummed a little unnaturally, "We called a car. Uncle Ma... Uncle Ma, Aunt Zhao's driver, had something to do at home today, so we called a car ourselves."
Xie Jingming nodded casually, turned his head to look at Dou Sheng, and smiled, "You are Douzi, right?"
"Hello, uncle." Dou Sheng pointed to the side, "Take the bus this way. Why do you carry so many things?"
Xie Jingming said, "I'm bringing the things that Xie Lan didn't have time to take before, as well as gifts for you two. Should we go to the restaurant or deliver the things to your house?"
"The restaurant is very close to the hotel you booked." Dou Sheng smiled, "Let's talk about it after dinner."
Xie Jingming nodded when he heard this, "Okay."
The sun was scorching, and the three of them didn't say much along the way until they got in the car.
Dou Sheng sat in the passenger seat and directed the way with the driver, while Xie Lan and Xie Jingming sat in the back row. He lowered his eyes and said nothing, but glanced at Xie Jingming's figure from the corner of his eye.
I haven't seen Xie Jingming for half a year. He is a little thinner than before. He is not the kind of thin that makes you collapse, but the leanness that comes from moderate exercise. He looks a lot younger.
This outfit is different from his previous style. I guess it was bought by Elizabeth. His cell phone has also been changed.
"Xie Lan." Xie Jingming called him softly.
Xie Lan raised his eyes, "Hmm?"
"Did you tell your father after seeing him?" Xie Jingming said in a serious tone and sighed, "How are you? Your Aunt Zhao called me last night and said that you did quite well in the first test."
Xie Lan hummed, "I did quite well in the exam. I'm going to prepare for the second exam now."
"Are you confident of a second try?" Xie Jingming asked.
"Not too different from the first try." Xie Lan paused as he spoke. He didn't know if Xie Jingming himself felt that he was speaking Chinese awkwardly. Before, when they talked on the phone, his Chinese wasn't too exposed. But now that they were talking in person, it was easier to expose his awkwardness.
Xie Jingming was still looking at him, so Xie Lan could only perfunctorily say, "The domestic high school mathematics competition is on par with AMC, so..."
Xie Jingming nodded when he heard this, "Then I understand. Those with the highest percentage will go to train together, and then the country will select the Chinese team in the training? Then when will you be recommended?"
Before Xie Lan could reply, Dou Sheng interrupted with a smile, "After you passed the second test, you will take the entrance exam. People from the t-zone have come to watch Xie Lan. Hey, Uncle Xie, please look at the menu. Do you think this dish is worth eating?"
As he spoke, he handed over the phone. Xie Jingming had no choice but to put the question aside and look at the phone.
"I can eat whatever I want. I'll listen to you." Xie Jingming said as he swiped down the dish, "Nothing spicy, right?"
Dou Sheng hummed calmly, "Xie Lan doesn't eat spicy food, this one prefers sweet food."
Xie Jingming nodded, "It's a good restaurant, you two kids go find a place."
This is the only two-star Michelin restaurant in H City, and it serves Chinese food, with an average cost of over a thousand yuan per person.
Xie Jingming has been living in London for so many years, and his material conditions are good, but he is frugal and doesn't like to spend money lavishly. Xie Lan explained to him, "This is also the first time we have eaten here. Aunt Zhao booked the restaurant yesterday."
Xie Jingming patted his leg, and Dou Sheng smiled and said, "Wenying is doing quite well in China."
"It's pretty good." Dou Sheng took back his phone and casually opened Weibo, replying to a few comments, "But I'm always running outside, it's tiring."
Xie Jingming sighed with some emotion after hearing this, "Indeed, it's not easy."
The taxi sped onto the highway and after more than ten minutes we were on the cross-river bridge.
Xie Jingming looked out the window and sighed, "The last time I was here was fourteen or fifteen years ago. Xie Lan, do you still remember what this place looked like before?"
Xie Lan got angry when he heard this nonsense, "I left when I was three years old, what impression can I have of you?"
Xie Jingming shook his head helplessly, "I have nothing to ask you. Just a little bit of this matter, a little bit of it. Oh, a little bit of it is a metaphor, it's about your temper..."
"I know what it means." Xie Lan turned his head away depressedly, "I have been back to China for half a year, and I speak Chinese better than you."
Xie Jingming smiled, "Dad just hasn't said it for a while, there's nothing to be proud of."
Of course I am proud.
Xie Lan thought expressionlessly, I am proud of my level 10 Chinese proficiency. I can also recite Chinese tongue twisters, recite the five elements of hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine and neon, and can recite "The oars of laurel and orchid paddle the clear sky, following the flowing light". Can you do it
Xie Jingming was so annoyed by his stare that he lowered the car window halfway.
The wind suddenly blew in, and with it the fresh scent of women's perfume, faint but with a strong presence in the small compartment.
Xie Jingming seemed to realize something and raised the car window again.
"Where is she?" Xie Lan couldn't help but ask.
Xie Jingming glanced at him calmly and said, "In City S, you have to go to the museum by yourself."
Hearing this, Xie Lan subconsciously wanted to ask more questions, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.
In fact, he wanted to know what Xie Jingming's plan was. They had been living together for so long, were they going to get married soon? In the future... were they ready to have children
But he felt confused and couldn't speak. First, it was inappropriate to talk in a taxi, and second, he couldn't figure out his own thoughts.
"Second cat." Dou Sheng suddenly turned around and stretched out his hand to scratch his leg. "Look at Weibo, Ms. Doudou made a very funny emoticon package."
Xie Lan came back to his senses all of a sudden, exclaimed, and took out his cell phone.
He always peeks at Ms. Dadoudou's homepage. Dadoudou has a very high status in his eyes. When he refreshes the homepage, the first thing he sees is her new post.
This is a screenshot of him coming in to find a water cup while Dou Sheng was live streaming a game last week, and standing behind Dou Sheng to drink water.
It was a very natural behavior at the time, but I don't know how the screenshot was taken, Dou Sheng's back was straight and his eyes were serious, as if the person standing behind him was Hu Xiujie, not Xie Lan.
Caption on the emoticon package: Be dignified, your wife is here!
Xie Lan couldn't help but twist his mouth, but then he suddenly realized that Xie Jingming was next to him, so he quickly turned off his phone.
Xie Jingming asked with a smile: "What are you looking at? You seem to be in a good mood?"
"Weibo." Xie Lan paused, "A website similar to Twitter."
Xie Jingming nodded immediately, "I know Weibo. By the way, which website did your Aunt Zhao say you are working as a YouTuber on now?"
"Bilibili." Xie Lan restrained his expression, "Here we call it up, not youtuber."
Just as Xie Jingming was about to ask, Xie Lan stopped looking at him and leaned forward on the passenger seat. "Do you want to record a video?"
"Let's record a few short videos with our phone." Dou Sheng said, "He has some internet-famous dishes with funny shapes. I'll just post a few to boost his activity."
Xie Jingming asked: "Is Douzi also on that station?"
Dou Sheng hummed, "Bilibili."
"That's the name." Xie Jingming smiled, "Is there a station A?"
"No." Xie Lan frowned and said speechlessly: "Can you not sneer?"
As soon as the voice fell, Dou Sheng said, "There is a station A."
"Oh?" Xie Jingming sat up straight, his tone cheerful, "There really is a station A, right?"
Xie Lan: “…”
Xie Lan stared coldly at Dou Sheng's profile from behind.
Which side are you from
Dou Sheng seemed to sense some kind of threat and clicked his tongue again, "But it seems to have gone bankrupt, right? Almost nothing."
"Well, that's not the case." Xie Lan said immediately.
Dou Sheng turned around and smiled at him when he heard that. Seeing that he looked serious, he blinked in a flattering manner.
Xie Lan snorted in his heart and withdrew his gaze, but suddenly saw Xie Jingming looking at him seriously.
"..." He realized that he seemed to have a smile on his face, so he could only swallow silently and lower his head to continue playing with his phone.
Xie Jingming suddenly asked, "How are you two getting along? You suddenly went to Douzi's house, and it caused a lot of trouble for them, right?"
"No trouble." Dou Sheng said casually, "I'm quite bored myself, so it's just right that Xie Lan is here. Right, Xie Lan?"
Xie Lan glanced at him and exclaimed.
The restaurant has a good environment. The interior is designed as a classic Su family garden, with a stream crossing and a platform around it. The sound of water gurgles inside, and moist mist emanates from the rockery, creating a unique atmosphere.
Xie Jingming followed the waiter who led the way and walked in front, while Dou Sheng and Xie Lan were at the back. Dou Sheng recorded a short video with his mobile phone and explained in front of the camera: "Ermao's father is here, and we took him to a restaurant that we usually don't want to eat at."
Xie Jingming turned around when he heard this, "Ermao is Xie Lan's name?"
"Ah." Xie Lan suddenly felt guilty, "It's the Chinese name our Chinese teacher gave me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he wanted to bite off his tongue, and felt Dou Sheng's hand tremble, and he almost dropped the phone into the rockery pond.
Xie Jingming frowned in confusion. "You already have your own Chinese name, why do you need a Chinese name? Ermao doesn't sound very elegant either."
Xie Lan smiled awkwardly, put her hand behind Dou Sheng's back, and poked her boyfriend's waist hard.
Dou Sheng immediately laughed and said, "It's the same with teachers in China. Chinese students have English names given to them by their English teachers, and when they come back... count them as half English students, and their Chinese teachers give them Chinese names. Well, it's just a joke."
Xie Jingming said "oh" and asked politely: "Did your English teacher give you an English name?"
"Yes." Dou Sheng said immediately, "My name is lovely bean, 'Love Bean'."
"… "
Xie Jingming's smile froze on his face, and after a long while he finally laughed dryly twice, "That's... pretty cute."
"Isn't it?" Dou Sheng smiled nonchalantly. "Look, you have reached a consensus with my English teacher now."
Xie Jingming: “…”
Xie Lan: “…”
Xie Jingming looked a little confused and continued to walk inside with the waiter.
They booked a pavilion-like private room on a small suspension bridge. Xie Jingming sat down, Xie Lan sat in front of him, and Dou Sheng naturally followed Xie Lan and squeezed in to one side.
Xie Jingming glanced at them and said nothing. He just took the hot towel handed to him by the waiter and wiped his hands.
Dou Sheng was still taking photos of the fog outside with his phone. Xie Lan said casually, "Leave two for me to post. I also want to be more active."
"Yes, sir." Dou Sheng said.
Xie Jingming sighed, "I feel like you've put your mind on this. The competition isn't over yet, and you're only thinking about posting the video."
Xie Lan was disappointed when he heard this. "My update frequency on Bilibili is much lower than that on YouTube before. I only post one or two videos every month."
Xie Jingming lowered his head and looked at the menu. "But there is no point in you being a YouTuber. Forget it, let's not argue about this. There will be no result."
Xie Lan was speechless, looking down at his phone, but suddenly heard Dou Sheng sigh, "How can this be meaningless? I just found my life and ideals again by watching silentwaves videos."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Lan suddenly raised his head and stared at him with horror: Are you crazy
Dou Sheng smiled at him nonchalantly: I’m not crazy.
Xie Jingming was surprised and asked, "Have you seen Xie Lan's previous video? When?"
"I watched it during the two years when my dad got into trouble. Xie Lan is my idol. I picked him up at the airport in February and brought him back home." Dou Sheng smiled kindly. "Uncle, now that I'm here, do you want to learn about my crazy past when I joined silentwaves on the Internet?"
Xie Lan: “?”
Xie Jingming was stunned for a long time, then put down the menu and said, "Okay, tell me."
Xie Lan: “…”