Guan Ze washed his face and wiped it slowly with a tissue. Qi Jian was looking at him puzzledly, as if trying to confirm whether there was anything wrong with him.
"Aren't you here to use the restroom?" Guan Ze glanced at him.
"No," Qi Jian shook his head, "I just came to ask for the phone number."
"I didn't get the answer. Go to the bathroom," Guan Ze threw the paper into the trash can, "Don't follow me into the box."
"… good."
Guan Ze walked slowly back to the box, and as soon as he entered, he saw Lin Yao standing on a small platform fiddling with the microphone.
"Hurry up and sit down," Lin Yao smiled when he saw him come in, "I'm going to sing a classic song."
Guan Ze saw the two girls sitting at the song ordering control desk laughing so hard that they couldn't stand up. He didn't know what song Lin Yao had ordered. This kid was so noisy even without drinking. He sat back on the sofa and took a cup of tea and drank it slowly.
As soon as the music started, Guan Ze sprayed the tea he had just drunk all over his pants, and everyone in the box laughed and started applauding.
"Yaoyao, good job!" Lian Jun knocked the empty cup on the coffee table a few times and shouted loudly.
"Thank you." Lin Yao bowed slightly and solemnly, cleared his throat, and began to sing along with the music.
Guan Ze really likes to watch Lin Yao standing on the stage, even if it is a small stage in a box like this. Once he stands on it, he will look completely different, very stylish, completely different from his usual silly appearance.
But this song... He put the cup back on the coffee table, and if he picked it up again he would laugh so hard that the tea would spill all over himself.
"Everyone says I'm fat, with a big belly and big ears, and I look blessed," Lin Yao held the microphone pole with a serious face, "I'm very happy today, carrying my new wife on my back, singing as I walk, singing..."
A group of people in the room clapped and laughed, and whistles were heard. Guan Ze looked at Lin Yao with a smile. He admired Lin Yao very much for being able to sing the lyrics without changing his expression and with the pose of a big-name children's singer.
"After leaving Gao Laozhuang, the scenery along the way is so beautiful. Call me wife and listen to what I have to say," Lin Yao suddenly pointed at Guan Ze, then picked up the microphone stand and shouted at the top of his voice, "Everyone says that I am fat and plump, but you are heavier than me, like a mountain pressing on me, pressing on me..."
"Coward!" Lian Jun cursed with a smile.
Lin Yao emphasized the three words "pressure" particularly, revealing a fierce look of gnashing his teeth, and kept staring at Guan Ze. Guan Ze had to smile and raise his hand to block the arrows of Lin Yao's eyes that were whizzing towards his face.
Lin Yao did not jump down to sing to Guan Ze like he did last time. He insisted on staying on the stage and sang the whole song to the applause and laughter of the crowd. Then he put down the microphone, bowed again, and then jumped off the stage amid everyone's screams and nestled into the sofa next to Guan Ze.
"How is it!" Lin Yao slapped Guan Ze on the leg.
"Great," Guan Ze's legs were numbed by the pats. He rubbed his legs with his hands and asked with a smile, "Is this the song I heard when I was a kid on TV? It tastes different now that you sing it."
"It's the original lyrics of Journey to the West," Lin Yao sniffed proudly, his eyes narrowed, "Brother Pig carries his wife on his back."
"Brother Pig..." Guan Ze looked at him with a smile.
"It's okay, Second Brother Pig is Second Brother Pig," Lin Yao waved his hand nonchalantly, and whispered in Guan Ze's ear, "As long as you are my wife, I have no problem with Third Brother Pig or Fourth Brother Pig."
Guan Ze also leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Husband, you seem to be very dissatisfied with me suppressing you?"
"That's right," Lin Yao squinted at him, "but now is the early stage of the revolution. You can be proud of it, but sooner or later I will kill you."
"Hurry up and kill me, I can't wait any longer." Guan Ze laughed so hard.
"Get lost!" Lin Yao cursed in a low voice, took a sip of tea from someone on the table, turned his head and looked at him, "Guan Ze, I know you treat me like a child, but just wait, one day I will make you willing to do it.
Guan Ze still smiled, but his heart suddenly tightened. He didn't say anything, but hugged Lin Yao to him and kissed him.
Lin Yao felt as if all the hairs on his body were exploding with sparks. He pushed Guan Ze away twice but failed.
This room is full of his friends. Although only Lian Jun knows something about him as he grew up with him, the others have been playing together for a few years after all. Even though everyone knows that he sang for Guan Ze twice, Lin Yao would still blush if they saw this scene.
Guan Ze grabbed his hand, pushed open his teeth somewhat domineeringly, reached into his mouth, and explored fiercely without any scruples.
Lin Yao felt dizzy as the familiar aura of Guan Ze surrounded him. He then lost his strength and could only squinted his eyes to glance into the room. The group of people were urging Qi Jian to sing, and no one noticed this side, only Lian Jun saw it.
After making eye contact with him for a few seconds, Lian Jun turned his head away, then half of his body turned sideways and joined the group of people making a fuss.
This exciting kiss did not last long. After Guan Ze let go of him, he looked at the screen in front of him calmly. The expression on his face looked as if he had been staring at the screen all the time.
"What are you doing?" Lin Yao wiped his mouth and asked in a low voice.
"It was a sudden thought," Guan Ze smiled at him and squeezed his hand, "Did it scare you?"
"No." Lin Yao rubbed his nose and glanced at the person next to him.
"You scared me," Lian Jun heard them talking, and turned around to say, "You didn't even give me time to turn around."
"If you're not convinced, just scare me this time. Don't give me time to turn around." Lin Yao clicked his tongue.
After coming out of the KTV, a group of people were still discussing where to go for a midnight snack. Lin Yao didn't want to join them. He wanted to sleep. He hadn't slept well in the past few days. The unsuccessful conversation with Lin Zong and Guan Ze's illness made him sleep uneasy.
Guan Ze's illness today was not a big deal, which made him feel relieved. As for his family, he had thought about it and planned to have another good talk with Lin Zong after the New Year. Even if Lin Zong did not stand on his side, he was not willing to give up easily. He did not dare to talk to his mother now, so he could only make a breakthrough with Lin Zong first.
"Should I take you home directly or take you to the hospital to pick up the car?" Guan Ze asked him while sitting in the car.
"Ah!" Lin Yao tapped the car window, "My car is still in the hospital?"
"Well, do you want to get it now or tomorrow?"
"Now that you've got it, I have to drive back by myself, right?" Lin Yao thought for a moment and chuckled at Guan Ze.
"Then pick it up tomorrow." Guan Ze smiled and started the car.
Lin Yao didn't let Guan Ze drive the car into the community, even though he felt that Lin Zong might be able to guess who he went out with, but when the storm was at its peak, it was better for him to be honest and not commit crimes against the wind, leaving some buffer for both himself and Lin Zong.
"I'm going to my grandma's house tomorrow," Lin Yao looked around, "I'll probably stay there for a day. I'll call you in the evening, okay?"
"Well," Guan Ze nodded, "I'll sleep all day tomorrow."
"Good night, my wife." Lin Yao jumped out of the car and said while leaning against the car window.
"Good night, Brother Pig." Guan Ze blew him a kiss.
"Scream well!"
"Goodnight, husband."
"good."
Guan Ze returned home, took a quick shower and fell on the bed. He felt very tired, his head was swollen and aching, and it felt heavy as if it could press a dent in the mattress through the pillow. He was prone to headaches at night. He didn't know if it was because of something in his brain, but it made him very upset. The most uncomfortable thing was a headache and poor sleep.
He lay there with his eyes closed for a while, then sat up and took two painkillers, fearing that the pain would come back and he wouldn't be able to suppress it if he took more.
The cell phone beeped softly. He dug his phone out from the pile of clothes and took a look. There was a missed call from Uncle Ning. He checked the time and called.
"Uncle Ning," Guan Ze lay back on the bed, "Did you call me?"
"Well, nothing much, I just wanted to talk to someone at home," Uncle Ning smiled, "Why are you still awake so late?"
"I just came back and went out with friends." Guan Ze was quite willing to chat with Uncle Ning, especially in the past, when he chatted with Uncle Ning, he occasionally felt like he was chatting with his father. He liked this rare warmth. "Didn't you go out for a walk?"
"I just went out for a walk, but nothing has improved. You guys haven't been around, and I've been lazy over the years," Uncle Ning said with some emotion in his voice. After a short pause, he spoke again, "Juan'er talked about you."
"Is that so?"
"She feels bad, but," Uncle Ning paused, "When it comes to relationships, it's better not to settle for anything less. Just be with whoever you want to be with, and don't feel any burden."
"Yeah." Guan Ze nodded.
"I have been trying to persuade her, but Juan'er is a bit stubborn. It's not easy to pull her out once she gets into trouble," Uncle Ning sighed, "You have to bear with it."
"Don't worry," Guan Ze pressed his forehead, "I know what's going on."
"You should get some rest early. I can hear you sound a little tired. You haven't been like this for a whole day when you went hiking before," Uncle Ning said with some worry in his voice, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"Uncle..." Guan Ze seldom showed weakness to others. No matter what happened, he would rather handle it on his own. But this time it was a bit difficult. Facing Uncle Ning, he suddenly felt that he was actually quite vulnerable.
The time of hesitation was very short, and in that moment, he still chose not to tell Uncle Ning. There was no point in telling him this, except to make Uncle Ning anxious.
"I'm very tired. The new job is very stressful," said Guan Ze.
"Is that so?" Uncle Ning sighed softly, "You... take a rest."
In order to prevent himself from suffering from insomnia due to overthinking, Guan Ze took two sleeping pills before going to bed.
Perhaps he was tired, he even felt that the sleeping pills had not taken effect yet and he fell asleep. But this sleep was not as sound as he expected, one chaotic dream after another made him exhausted, and the memories of the past and present in the dreams kept replaying in front of his eyes, interspersed with one or two scary nightmares.
He dreamed that he was running forward in the dark. There was no one around him, he couldn't touch anything, and he couldn't hear any sound. A strong feeling of helplessness spread in his heart. He was trapped in despair. Finally, he stopped and could not run anymore.
Before he could figure out how to leave the endless darkness, a figure suddenly rushed out, swinging a big wooden stick at him fiercely. He wanted to dodge, but his body was weak, his hands and feet were heavy as if they were tied up by something, and he could only watch the wooden stick hit his temple.
The pain was felt little by little, becoming increasingly intense and unbearable.
Guan Ze struggled to open his eyes, and the pain in his head as if it was about to burst became clear, making him frown and gasp.
His body was covered in cold sweat. He endured the pain and sat up. He glanced at the time and it took him a long time to realize that he had slept until almost noon the next day. The sleeping pills were quite effective. He was woken up by the pain and his whole body was covered in cold sweat.
“Shit…” Guan Ze threw back the quilt and prepared to get out of bed, but as soon as he put his legs down the edge of the bed, he suddenly felt dizzy and fell back onto the bed, not daring to open his eyes because the nausea caused by the severe dizziness made him feel very uncomfortable.
He reached for his cell phone and dialed Zhang Xing's number.
"Angel Zhang," Guan Ze's voice was hoarse, and it was unclear whether it was because he had just woken up or because he was feeling uncomfortable. "Are the test results out? I feel terrible."
"I was just about to get it," Zhang Xing said anxiously, "What's wrong with you?"
"It's just a headache, and I feel dizzy," Guan Ze took a breath and exhaled slowly, "Angel, can we move up the surgery time? I feel like I won't be able to make it past the New Year like this."
"Bullshit," Zhang Xing cursed, "Let me check the test results first. It's okay to go early, but you have to cut in line... The hospital I contacted for your surgery is my old man's hospital."
"Let's use the old man's connections again," Guan Ze sighed, "I'll get back on the team. I really can't stand this anymore."
"If you come to the hospital, take a taxi instead of driving yourself."
"good."
My mother is in a good mood today. She is wearing my grandmother's performance costume and learning the fan dance with her.
"Can't you two dance in the living room?" Dad said helplessly, "The yard is spacious, why don't you dance outside..."
"Only a psychopath would jump around in the yard in such a cold weather," my mother rolled her eyes and continued to follow my grandmother in waving her fan. "Don't you think so, Mom?"
"Mom jumps in the yard every day." Dad added.
"My dad is asking for trouble," Lin Zong laughed at this, "My grandma is from my mom's side."
"Ignore him," Grandma said, not even looking at Dad, holding up a fan in her hand, "Look, you have to raise your elbow for this move..."
Lin Yao sat on the radiator by the bay window. It was snowing outside. He stared out the window in a daze. Lin Zong came over and pushed him to the side and sat opposite him. Only then did he come to his senses and said, "It's snowing."
"You finally figured it out the next morning. You have a good eye." Lin Zong gave him a thumbs up.
"If my mother hadn't given you a younger brother to play with, how lonely you would have been growing up." Lin Yao clicked his tongue.
"Yes, thanks to you," Lin Zong smiled, threw him a small orange, and lowered his voice, "What have you been thinking about sitting here all morning?"
"Nothing." Lin Yao smiled and lowered his head to peel the orange.
"I couldn't stand you like this since I was a child." Lin Zong sighed, reached out and took the peeled orange, and threw another one with the skin over.
"What?" Lin Yao took the orange and continued peeling it.
"You are like this now," Lin Zong pointed at him, "You are so pitiful. When I was a kid, I was defeated by you when you behaved like this."
"Then you lose once now," Lin Yao put the orange into his mouth, but couldn't taste anything. He didn't dare to look up at Lin Zong, but whispered to his hand, "Okay, brother?"
"Don't cry here," Lin Zong quickly sat down next to him and pushed him out, fearing that his family would find out that there was a crybaby crying here at the age of 24. "If you cry, I'll beat you up."
"I'm not crying." Lin Yao turned around and grinned at Lin Zong.
Lin Zong stared at him for a while before he smiled. He glanced at his mother and turned back: "I don't intend to express any opinion on this matter itself. I don't care whether it's a sister-in-law or something else, and I don't care whether there are nephews and nieces. Do you understand? From the time I knew about you until now, I have not cared about these things."
"Then..." Lin Yao didn't even bother to ask Lin Zong how he found out. He just wanted to find out Lin Zong's true attitude.
"But you can't expect our mother to be like me," Lin Zong hugged him and pushed him towards the window again, lowering his voice to the lowest level, "She definitely doesn't want her son to choose a path that most people can't understand. You're with a man, you're together today because you're attracted to him, and you separate tomorrow because you don't feel the same way anymore. It's like having a love affair forever without any guarantees or constraints. You've been like a fool since you were a child..."
"I'm not an idiot!" Lin Yao glanced at him.
"Listen to me," Lin Zong glared at him, "You've been like a fool since you were little. You may be able to guarantee it for your whole life, but what about that person you're dating? Can you guarantee it?"
"Then if I find a girl, will I have the same problems?" Lin Yao said gloomily.
"Yes, you can't even let people trust you to date a girl, so who can trust you to date a man?"
"But if I really don't tell my family and just keep it to myself, I'll really be alone for the rest of my life. If you ask me to marry a girl, I guess..." Lin Yao gritted his teeth and didn't care about his face anymore, "I guess I won't even be able to get hard."
"Wait a minute," Lin Zong was stunned by these words and jumped down from the bay window. "Go buy a pack of cigarettes with me."
"Oh." Lin Yao jumped down.
After they left the house, they jumped and walked in the cold wind for a long time before Lin Zong asked, "How close are you and that guy?"
"Ah?" Lin Yao didn't expect him to ask this out of the blue. He was so scared that he stepped on the ice and did a horse stance three times before he could stand firm. "Why are you asking this out of the blue..."
"You suddenly asked about whether it was hard or not, so I just asked." Lin Zong stopped, covered his ears which were red from the wind and looked at him.
"I..." Lin Yao swallowed hard, then stared at the ice under his feet and said in a voice that he could hardly hear, "I did it."
Lin Zong stood there without moving for a long time before turning around and walking slowly forward, sighing deeply: "Fuck..."
"Brother." Lin Yao followed behind him, but did not dare to get too close. He was afraid that Lin Zong would suddenly lose his temper and turn around to beat him. When he was a child, if he accidentally angered Lin Zong, sometimes Lin Zong would take half an hour to come and beat him.
"Don't tell mom," Lin Zong put his hands in his pockets, lowered his head and walked almost a block forward before saying the second half of the sentence, "I'll go tell her."
"Really?" Lin Yao shouted loudly. He really couldn't control his voice.
He couldn't believe his ears. Lin Zong, who had said before that he would not stand on his side, suddenly decided to go and talk to his mother. He rushed forward two steps, grabbed Lin Zong's arm, and shook it hard twice.
The roadside was covered with ice, and Lin Zong was caught off guard. He slipped and staggered for several times. He struggled to hold on to the tree next to him, but he was unable to withstand the inertia and fell to the ground.
"Really?" Lin Yao rushed over, half-knelt beside him and yelled again.
Lin Zong frowned and supported himself on the ground with one hand, looking at Lin Yao's face full of excitement and anticipation and the tears in his eyes. He raised his hand and pushed Lin Yao's forehead back: "Really... I've always thought that I'd try to pick up a girl without having sex with a real gun or a real knife, maybe there would be a chance..."
"No chance, I've done it before!" Lin Yao threw all his embarrassment and shyness aside and said, "I've done it many times!"
"Okay, what are you yelling about?" Lin Zong stood up from the ground with a frown, patted his pants, and sighed, "How can someone like you still be liked? How blind must you be?"
"Brother," Lin Yao didn't mind Lin Zong's bullying at all. He didn't know what was surging in his heart. "Really, you should go and tell them first? I can tell them myself. I've been thinking a lot these past two days..."
"No need for you, just save what you have thought of first," Lin Zong leaned against the tree, looked around to see if there was anyone around, and rubbed his butt, "I don't know how Mom will react, if you say it directly it will be too stimulating for her, I'll say it first to give her some buffer."
"Lin Zong." Lin Yao suddenly stopped smiling.
"Hmm?" Lin Zong looked at him.
"Thank you, brother."
"How hypocritical."
When walking back with Lin Zong after buying cigarettes, Lin Yao felt that he was as light as a snowflake and wanted to float away with it. His hand was in his pocket the whole time, touching his cell phone.
He really wanted to call Guan Ze right now to tell him that the revolution had taken a crucial step, but after thinking it over for a long time, he decided not to say it yet.
He had to buy a gift before going to work tomorrow, even if it was just a few buns. For such an important event, there had to be a gift to witness it. After telling the good news, the two of them ate the buns together as a commemoration.
What a creative idea! Lin Yao looked down at the tip of his shoe and laughed for a long time.