Lin Yaodu had already moved close to Guan Ze's mouth. He shivered at the sound that resounded through the night sky like an artillery exercise, and was so scared that he almost bit him.
After the earthquake, while the roaring sound in his ears was still whistling and roaring, the night sky suddenly lit up.
Lin Yao turned his head and looked up into the sky. A huge silver flower blossomed in the dark night sky, leaving behind a series of silver tracks.
What surprised him was not how long the silver firework lasted, nor how big it was, and of course not the fact that such a cannon could fire such a firework and then die out...
But after the fireworks lit up the night sky, he saw a long silver-shining banner dancing in the wind and slowly drifting down the mountain. On it were six large fluorescent characters.
Happy birthday Lin Yao.
Lin Yao stared at all this for a long time without moving or speaking. He couldn't describe how he felt at that moment.
He never thought that one day, someone he loved would say happy birthday to him in this way.
At that moment on the top of the mountain, this huge silver flower and these six words shining with silver light seemed to be engraved in his heart. Not to mention for a lifetime, he would probably never forget them even if he was reincarnated and traveled through several lifetimes.
"Don't cry," Guan Ze hugged him and whispered in his ear, "If you cry, I will throw you down."
“I didn’t cry…” Lin Yao felt that he forgot to turn on his tear glands because he was too shocked. He raised his hand and touched his face, and he actually didn’t cry.
Although I didn't cry, my thoughts were still off track, and I didn't know where I was going, following the flashing banner.
After a long time, the banner had fallen to a place he could not see, and the night sky returned to its previous calm. Lin Yao finally came to his senses at this time, raised his head to the moon and shouted with all his strength: "Ah-"
His voice traveled far away in the wind, but unfortunately there was flat land all around and there was no valley echo effect.
After shouting, he still felt unsatisfied, so he continued to look up at the moon: "Aoao—Woo—"
"Are you done yelling?" Guan Ze had been standing by and watching him patiently.
"Wife, I've discovered something." Lin Yao leaned against Guan Ze with his back to him, and hooked his arm around his neck. "You and my mother must have something in common..."
"Why?" Guan Ze pulled his shoulders and turned him to face him, gently rubbing his lips.
"You did this," Lin Yao closed his eyes and licked Guan Ze's lips with the tip of his tongue, "How many years of idol dramas must you have watched to develop such a romantic skill."
"It's OK. I originally wanted to just set off a couple of fireworks and be done with it, but then a friend of mine told me that he could customize sandwich fireworks, so I did it." Guan Ze smiled, tightened his arms, and lowered his head to press Lin Yao's lips.
Before Guan Ze could do so, Lin Yao inserted the tip of his tongue between his teeth and eagerly entangled it in Guan Ze's mouth. Guan Ze obediently did not take the initiative to attack, but just held the tip of Lin Yao's tongue and sucked it lightly.
Just as he was teasing Lin Yao gently and rubbing his hands on Lin Yao's back through his clothes, Lin Yao suddenly pushed him away, bent over and sneezed into the snow.
"It really ruins the mood." Guan Ze smiled helplessly.
"Hey, it won't snow..." Lin Yao said halfway and sneezed at the ground again, "Boom? Oh my god..."
After sneezing four times in a row, Lin Yao's tears came out. He stood in a horse stance with his hands on his knees facing the ground, waiting for the fifth sneeze to come.
"You think too highly of yourself. There was no avalanche after just one blast, and you want to cause an avalanche just by sneezing a few times?" Guan Ze took a pack of tissues from his bag and handed it to him, "Let's go down the mountain. It's windy now. Don't catch a cold."
"You're the one who sneezed." Lin Yao covered his mouth with a tissue and glanced at Guan Ze in dissatisfaction. "I haven't had a cold for many years. This is because I'm excited."
"You sneeze when you're excited?" Guan Ze picked up the things on the ground and put them back into his bag. "Then don't get too excited when we're doing it. Sneezing while we're doing it will definitely make me weak."
"Get lost," Lin Yao cursed hoarsely, zipping up his jacket tightly. "You made me very happy today, so I won't bother with you."
"Go slowly when you go down the mountain. There's no rush." Guan Ze patted his butt with his bag on his back and walked in front of him.
"What do you mean?" Lin Yao was stunned.
"When we were climbing the mountain, he fell from behind. I heard it all," Guan Ze turned around and smiled. "He was in a hurry to get up, so I didn't care."
"Then just keep going, I just slid, my shoes didn't fit," Lin Yao was a little embarrassed, thinking that the people who were kneeling and throwing themselves at him knew everything, "I've never climbed a snowy mountain, I'm lucky I slid back down the mountain without falling."
Going down the mountain is more difficult than going up, but Lin Yao didn't fall again. Firstly, he had adapted to it, and secondly, Guan Ze's speed had slowed down a lot. Most importantly, if he slipped again when going down the mountain, he might kick Guan Ze down the mountain directly, and he didn't want to create such a situation.
Halfway down, Lin Yao remembered something very important. He poked Guan Ze on the back and said, "Say, should we go over there and pick up the Happy Birthday banner?"
"What? Do you want to collect it?" Guan Ze asked.
"I won't collect it. I mean, my name is written on it. Is it just floating down there for people to pick up?"
"Who knows who Lin Yao is? You're really worried."
"That's not good either. It turns out that your name isn't written on it. You said you want someone to pick it up. They'll use the cloth with my name on it to wipe the table or stove, or put it at the door to rub their shoes against the mud or something. How depressing."
"Don't worry, the cloth is very thin, perfect for curtains," Guan Ze smiled and turned around, "Cut it into two strips, Lin Yaosheng on the left and Happy Birthday on the right."
"Okay, just wait. On your birthday, I will definitely cut two pieces for you and send them to your house." Lin Yao filed his teeth.
Then again, Guan Ze’s birthday was really hard. Now that Guan Ze had done this to my birthday, how could I surpass him
When we drove back to the hotel, it was almost three o'clock in the morning, and the girl at the front desk was sleeping soundly on the table.
Guan Ze tapped his fingers on the table twice. The little girl looked up and stood up quickly when she saw it was him: "There's your stuff."
The little girl took out a very thick manila envelope from the safe and handed it to Guan Ze. Guan Ze took it without even looking at it and turned around and went upstairs.
After entering the house, he handed the envelope to Lin Yao: "Here, to calm you down."
"Ah?" Lin Yao took it, opened it and took a look. He was stunned. There were two thick stacks of banknotes inside. "Damn, he really gave it to me!"
"Of course I will. I will definitely do what I promised. I still have some temper." Guan Ze took off his coat, lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. "Quickly pack up and go to bed. Tomorrow I will take you around town to see my growth footprints."
Lin Yao wanted to say he didn't want the money, but after thinking it over, he felt that it would be useless to refuse. Guan Ze would never take the money back. Besides, it would be too hypocritical to refuse now. So he just considered it as the money for Guan Ze's birthday next year. He stuffed the money into his bag.
"I figured out one thing." Lin Yao came out of the bathroom after washing up, crawled into Guan Ze's quilt and hugged him.
"What is it?"
"This bald guy is afraid of you not because you are cruel," Lin Yao touched Guan Ze's belly again and again, "but because you are not afraid of death. Good men are afraid of bad men, and bad men are afraid of dead men..."
"Well, I'm a dead man," Guan Ze laughed after he finished speaking. He laughed for a long time before stopping and sighing, "I really wasn't afraid of death before. Living or dying didn't matter to me. But later I became afraid. Now I'm particularly afraid of death."
"Come on, you rushed in so fiercely today that I almost thought you were swinging a big axe to chop off the bald guy's head with one blow." Lin Yao clicked his tongue.
"Speaking of which..." Guan Ze pushed Lin Yao to lie flat on his back, turned over and hugged him, with one leg on his stomach, "When you threw the bricks today, I really thought you were going to hit me. I was even thinking about whether I should hide. Otherwise, I would be hit by my own people before they even started to attack me. Where can I go to seek justice?"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Lin Yao pinched his leg. "I've been using stones to smash glass with my brother since I was a kid, so I'm pretty good at it."
"Your brother has never done a good thing with you..." Guan Ze touched Lin Yao's chest. He really enjoyed lying and chatting with Lin Yao like this. Lin Yao was not good-looking, a very clean and refreshing handsome guy, but the way he closed his eyes and smiled while talking always made Guan Ze want to laugh along.
"Really? He took me to school to break windows and told me that if I broke them, I wouldn't have to clean the windows during the week's cleaning. I broke them like a fool and ran away. But on the day of the cleaning, all the windows were replaced and my job was to sweep the floor. What kind of thing is that..."
Guan Ze couldn't stop laughing and hugged Lin Yao: "Stop talking, or I won't be able to sleep."
Lin Yao took three days off, which was almost enough to cover the New Year's Day holiday, but he was a newcomer in the company and did not dare to ask for leave so arrogantly. Besides, he had to go home for New Year's Day. Whenever there was a holiday in his family, the whole family had to get together, even May Day was no exception.
So Lin Yao and Guan Ze only spent one day wandering around the town. Despite this, he felt more comfortable than ever before. This was Guan Ze's hometown. Although there were many unpleasant memories of Guan Ze here, it was the place where he truly lived.
Guan Ze took him to take a look at the old house, which was located in a dilapidated alley. No one lived there anymore. It was estimated that no one had taken care of it for so many years and it was in a very dilapidated state. There were weeds growing inside and outside the house, and the house looked so fragile that it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
"I hardly ever stay here. If my mom is at home, she'll ask me to go out and won't let me stay where she can see me," Guan Ze pointed to the end of the alley. "My grandfather's house is inside. I usually go to his house first to see if I can get a hot meal, then go out and wander around the streets. If it's not too cold at night, I won't come back to stay overnight. I'll just find a place to sleep."
Lin Yao vaguely saw that someone was living at his grandfather's place now, but Guan Ze did not take him there. He just took him along the route he used to go, to snack bars, other people's backyards, alleys, empty houses...
As they walked, Guan Ze told him about the past, how he stole food, how he went to the store to beg for food, how he was chased, or how he beat others. His tone was always calm, but Lin Yao felt very uncomfortable listening to him. He didn't know what to say, so he could only remain silent.
"Here," Guan Ze stopped and pointed to a small fruit shop on the roadside. "It used to be Uncle Ning's shop, selling electrical appliances."
Lin Yao looked at the small shop that had been renovated and no trace of its past could be seen. This was the turning point in Guan Ze's life.
"Uncle Ning and Ning Juan were preparing food in the store that day," Guan Ze recalled. "It was very cold that day. I hadn't decided where to spend the night, so I squatted on the roadside in front of the store. Uncle Ning came out and asked me if I had eaten and if I was cold."
Guan Ze squatted on the side of the road: "I went in with him. I didn't think much at the time. I just thought it was too cold and his house was warm. Later he asked me if I was willing to work in his shop. He would provide food and accommodation, and pay me."
"He's such a nice guy." Lin Yao squatted down beside him.
"Ning Juan has an older brother who was taken away by my mother when Uncle Ning divorced. I haven't seen him since he went abroad," Guan Ze smiled, "so he treats me like his own son."
"Ah..." Lin Yao turned around and glanced at the shop.
"You know everything that happened afterwards," Guan Ze squatted for a while and stood up to stretch his arms, "These are things I haven't told anyone. Every time I recall them, it's like peeling my skin off."
"Well, I won't skin you anymore," Lin Yao didn't care that there were people around in broad daylight, he stood up and hugged Guan Ze tightly, "Hubby will treat you well in the future."
“… Thank you, husband.” Guan Ze held back his laughter and hugged him.
"So good."
After this vacation, Lin Yao felt that he had a new understanding of Guan Ze. This seemingly mature and calm director had another unknown side.
He used to be a black monkey who had no food to eat, no warm clothes to wear, and no place to live. After growing up with untold hardships, he met himself. What an exciting thing it was!
Let me bring you joy and happiness! Lin Yao grinned at the Santa Claus mirror hanging in the company's bathroom for a while, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
"Are you checking your teeth? I can see there are no chopped green onions," Jiang Yifei walked in from outside and saw him grinning at the mirror. "Are you stupid? You didn't even think of asking for two more days off. It would be so comfortable to have New Year's Day, but you're stupid enough to come back and work for two days."
"Come on, I haven't even worked for a full year, and I'm asking for a leave that's almost like annual leave. Mr. Chen will definitely beat me up," Lin Yao put away his smile and happily walked out of the bathroom, "Take your time to pee."
"Thank you, you're welcome." Jiang Yifei responded while standing in front of the urinal.
Lin Yao looked up some information during his lunch break. Guan Ze often had temporary blindness, so he wanted to find out what disease could cause this. The results made him frown.
He picked up the intercom and dialed Guan Ze's office number, leaning over the table and lowering his voice: "I say, can we go to the hospital during the holidays?"
"Okay." Guan Ze replied straightforwardly.
"I think you're in good health, there shouldn't be any major problems. It would be better to check it out." Lin Yao was afraid that others would hear him, so he leaned over the table and almost bit the tabletop with his teeth. "Don't be like a child."
"Well, I'll go during the holidays."
"Okay then, I'm hanging up now. I have to go shopping for discounted items with my mom tonight. I'll call you after ten o'clock."
"Get me a thermos, mine is broken."
"OK."
Guan Ze hung up the phone, sat in the chair for a while, then took out the express from the drawer and looked at the contents.
He planned to get a detailed check-up after the New Year. It would have been fine to go before the New Year, but he was really afraid of death now, and he was also afraid of some inexplicable disease. No matter what disease he had, he wanted to spend the New Year peacefully first, and he also promised Lin Yao to go to the temple fair.
As I was thinking about the express delivery, the phone in the office rang again. I picked it up and heard the voice of the girl at the front desk: "Mr. Guan, there is a Mr. Lin looking for you. Do you have time now?"
"Mr. Lin?" Guan Ze was stunned for a moment, and quickly searched the customer's name in his mind, "Please ask him to come in."
"OK."
Two minutes later, he saw through the gap in the blinds that the secretary from the marketing department was leading a man towards his office.