That night, Jiao Bai left Qi Yilao's place and didn't care about where his cell phone was left. He returned to his room, rubbed his hands and fell asleep.
What greeted him was a dream within a dream.
He first dreamed that his chest felt heavy. When he touched it, it felt furry. When he rubbed it, it felt fluffy.
Then he woke up.
When he woke up, he found himself lying on Qi Yiliao's bed, with a white cat with golden eyes squatting on him, one of its fleshy front paws resting on his face.
Jiaobai was shocked. How did his friend's avatar appear? He called Qi Yiliao desperately, but no sound came out.
The cat has stood up and stretched out its two paws.
Can also speak.
It said: "You little people, why don't you change my clothes?"
The wild rice stem is not dry.
The cat growled and bit his neck. As he was having difficulty breathing, he sat up suddenly and saw a picture frame with a half-ripe vineyard in his sight.
This is his room, he is not with Qi Yiliao, and there is no cat on him.
And his hands were holding... Qi Yilao's Buddha amulet, which made it hard for him to breathe.
Jiao Bai was in a bad mood for several days because of that dream. Until the admission letter came, Qi Yilao asked people to hold a small party for him to celebrate his admission to university.
There was no interest involved in the banquet, and none of the Qi family's business partners were invited.
Those who came included Uncle Zhao who had helped Jiaobai on the cargo ship, Zhou Lanlan, a representative of Jiaobai’s classmates from No. 1 Middle School, as well as Jiaobai’s female deskmate and her best friend Zhao Lan whom he met at No. 3 Middle School last year, and the mixed-race uncle from the clinic.
Yu Xiang didn't come, but transferred several sums of money to Jiao Bai, asking him to buy delicious food.
Shen Eran did not contact Jiaobai.
Jiaobai didn't take the initiative to look for him. It will appear naturally when the time comes.
The banquet was held at Jiahe Villa in the west city, where there was a large lotus pond covered with emerald green and red, and a bamboo garden with dragonflies flying around, the environment was very good. Jiaobai sat on the observation deck and looked at the gift Jiang Yan had given him.
It is a song, the lyrics and music of which are all written by Jiang Yan, and performed passionately by him and his band.
The title of the song is, "Please Dance Seriously in the Hands of Fate."
The words are grand, full of innocence and wildness. They are the passion and sincerity of people who fight for their dreams and lives.
Jiang Yan said that the inspiration came from the scene when he saw茭白 leaving the old community on the balcony that night.
--Stride into the darkness, knowing that day will eventually come.
For artists, everything they see, hear and experience leads to secondary creation.
Jiaobai listened to the song carefully, then continued listening without noticing that one of his earphones had fallen off.
"Bai Bai, who is singing this? It sounds so nice." My female classmate Lin Xibei held the earphone and put it lightly against her ear.
Jiaobai said: "A friend."
"Is he a singer? Which group is he from? What's his name?" Lin Xibei returned the headphones to him and groaned, "My wall has collapsed. I'm looking for the next one to feed. It's annoying."
Jiaobai twitched his lips slightly: "He plays in a band at the bar."
"Wow, what a cool band!" Lin Xibei looked excited as if she had discovered a treasure. "With such a great voice, if she enters the music industry, she will definitely make a splash, if not become a huge star."
She asked a realistic question: "What does it look like?"
Jiaobai thought for a moment and said, "He's handsome, beautiful, and very capable."
Lin Xibei wiped the non-existent drool from the corner of her mouth and shouted, "Then what are you waiting for? Let him participate in the talent show and make his debut!!!"
There were only her and Jiaobai on the observation deck, no third person, otherwise he would definitely be scared.
Jiaobai was speechless: "Calm down, sister."
Lin Xibei glared at him sadly, complaining about how the previous owner was seeking his own death.
Jiaobai rolled up the earphone cord and put it in his pocket. He didn't think Jiang Yan would be able to rise to fame just by entering the entertainment industry.
The entertainment industry is a place where many talented people have disappeared.
Besides, Jiang Yan is a band, not a single person. He cares about his teammates, otherwise he wouldn't keep the band going.
Even if Jiang Yan debuted with a band and became famous, negative information about him would still be flying everywhere. His love life, his parents, his brother, any one of them could make him suffer from online violence.
So Jiaobai felt that Jiang Yan had chosen the best path for him, even if it was still rough.
Someone came up, and the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs was very cheerful. It was Zhao Lan. She had a big lotus leaf on her head and was wearing a floral dress. There was a little mud on the hem of her dress and her white shoes. Her face was red from the sun and her eyes were sparkling.
Lin Xibei came over and said, "Lianlian, how did you pick this lotus leaf?"
"Uncle Zhao helped pick them. He was touching the lotus roots." Zhao Lan took off the lotus leaf on his head and took a photo of Lin Xibei.
The two of them opened a window of the observation deck and looked toward the lotus pond, chattering and biting their ears.
The girl's youthful and lively laughter flew out, flew towards the scorching sun and blue sky, and also spread inside the observation deck and fell into Jiaobai's ears. He was infected and temporarily put aside the calculations and fatigue of being a tool, and became a recent graduate who only had the joy of being admitted to university at this stage of his life.
Jiaobai sat in a rocking chair with his legs crossed. This banquet was quite down-to-earth and did not have any air of luxury at all.
He glanced towards the window of Lin Xibei and Zhao Lan, and a view of the sky caught his eye. He smacked his lips, and there was still the air of a wealthy family.
I wonder how much money it would cost to rent this villa.
"Baibai, is your dermatitis better? Do you want to go down with us to dig lotus roots?" Lin Xibei was very excited.
"I won't go, you guys go." Jiaobai looked up from under the fisherman's hat, "Be careful, don't go into deep water."
Lin Xibei: "You are so considerate and cute, why don't you have a partner?"
Zhao Lian and Jiaobai were not very familiar with each other, so it was not appropriate for them to joke around, so she just covered her mouth and smiled.
Jiaobai's finger on the phone moved, he secretly took a photo of Zhao Lan and sent it to Shen Er'an.
There was no movement in the chat box. Jiaobai would not send any more messages.
Before Zhao Lian went down, he was stopped by Jiao Bai, who asked about Li Jue's grades.
"The top 20 in our class have been announced, and the teacher sent congratulatory messages to everyone in the group, but he was not among them," Zhao Lian said
Jiaobai's face looked a little strange.
In "Broken Wings", Li Jue and Shen Er'an went to the same university, a famous university in China. This part of the plot has also changed.
"It's normal that Li Jue didn't do well in the exam." Lin Xibei said, "He was in such a bad state before the college entrance examination. It was useless for Lianlian to give him extra lessons."
"I couldn't contact him after the college entrance examination." Zhao Lian felt a little regretful. She rushed up from the bottom of the class and ran all the way forward. Everyone agreed to go to the same university, but someone stopped halfway and didn't catch up.
Jiaobai saw through the girl's thoughts and couldn't help but sigh at the wonder of this bloody world.
——You treat others as your friends, and he wants to sleep with the person you like.
“Then the second-tier university should be okay.” Jiaobai said, “I remember his grades were pretty good before he came to No. 3 Middle School.” Li Jue in the original owner’s memory was perfect.
"It's hard to say." Zhao Lian gathered the hair on both sides of his face and said, "I'll ask again after I get in touch with him."
"Don't ask." Lin Xibei snorted, "All good things must come to an end. Some people are meant to disperse as time goes by, making room for the people behind them, otherwise it will be too crowded."
After she finished speaking, she noticed that her bestie and friends were looking at her, wondering, "What are you doing?"
Jiaobai gave her a thumbs up: "Ms. Lin, you are a contemporary master of famous sayings."
He pointed to a spot he had chosen long ago and said with a smile, "Come, stand still and take a picture."
Lin Xibei made a scissors hand gesture brilliantly.
"Zhao Lan, you come too." Jiaobai shouted to Zhao Lan, who wanted to join but was a little embarrassed to speak up.
Zhao Lan immediately ran over and stood there.
Jiao Bai sent those photos to Lin Xibei. There were a lot of friendships in the melodramatic comics, but they were all ruined by the melodrama. I hope those two students can hold on.
Zhao Lian added茭白, but didn't ask him about Shen Er'an, it seemed that he just wanted to expand the list.
Jiaobai fell asleep on the observation deck, and the mixed-race uncle from the clinic came up to look for him.
He has shaved his beard and looks many years younger. He has high brow bones, deep eye sockets, bright eyelashes, three-dimensional facial features, a tall and slender figure, and a mature sexiness, like a superstar who has won the Grand Slam Award.
Jiaobai can't even call him uncle.
The person in question very consciously introduced herself: "Karen."
Jiaobai followed suit: "Well, Mr. Cullen, what are you doing here?"
"Just to remind you to keep your promise." Karen crossed her arms and bit a light green popsicle.
The wild rice didn't move.
"Don't play dumb, little brother." Karen squatted down to look at him, with the popsicle stuck between his white teeth, and there was a bit of childishness that the Big Bad Wolf pretended to have. "You can offend anyone, but you can't offend the doctor, especially the doctor in a small clinic."
“…” Jiaobai called Qi Yiliao.
Karen was quite surprised by his action: "Why don't you tell the man from Lan Mo Mansion in private, in front of me, an outsider? If he rejects you, your self-esteem will be hurt. Your happiness of getting into college will also decrease."
"I'm OK, shut up." Jiaobai said in a stern voice.
Karen made a "go ahead" gesture.
Jiaobai sat in the rocking chair and waited for Qi Yilao to answer the phone. Qi Yilao did not come to the villa because he was very busy, and Zhang Zhen did not come either, so Qi Er and his group were responsible for defense.
The call was connected a few seconds later, and Jiao Bai spoke first: "Third brother, in June, Shen Eran had an accident, and I sent him to the clinic you told me about for emergency treatment. Do you remember this?"
Qi Yilao was in the company. He had just finished listening to his subordinates’ work reports. His mind was still on work, but he took the time to search for relevant memories: “Yeah, I remember.”
When Jiao Bai heard Qi Yiliao say that he remembered, he went straight to the point: "Karen wants a few bottles of wine from your wine cellar. This was the condition when he agreed to save Shen Er'an."
Karen held up four fingers.
"Four bottles." Jiaobai added, "Are you asking about the name and year of the wine?"
Karen quickly typed on her phone and showed it to Jiaobai.
The茭白 recited it out loud.
He suspected that the four bottles of wine were more expensive than he thought, a price that he, a middle-class citizen who once had a net worth of 20 million and now had a net worth of more than 6 million, could not imagine.
Karen smiled but said nothing.
Jiaobai was about to hang up while trying to figure out how to deal with Karen, but then he heard Qi Yiliao say, "Okay, let him get it himself."
"Then you go ahead and get busy." Jiaobai said without hanging up.
There's none over there either.
Jiaobai scratched his face. The windows of the observation deck were closed and the air conditioner was on, but why was it still so hot? "Do you want to come over?"
"Later." Qi Yiliao said, "Your friends are here to see you. Are you happy?"
Jiaobai cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, Third Brother."
There was a laugh from the other end.
"good."
The call ended. Jiaobai put the phone on the small table next to him, reached for a bottle of soda, opened it, and gulped down a few mouthfuls. His stomach was bubbling.
Karen took the popsicle off her lips at some point and looked at him with sparkling eyes: "Great."
Before Jiaobai could catch up with his thoughts, he heard his next sentence: "Four bottles of wine, the lowest price is four villas in Haiting."
"… "Grass.
One bottle must cost several hundred million, right
"Wait, uncle, let's talk about it. Can we get a bottle?" Jiaobai grabbed Karen's V-neck black T-shirt. "Wine, isn't it? You just drink it to get rid of loneliness."
Karen pulled his fingers away one by one: "It's not your money."
The wild rice stood up.
"Your friend's life is worth four bottles of wine. Isn't that worth it?" Karen stuffed the popsicle back between her teeth.
Jiaobai's face turned dark. This wasn't the way he was supposed to calculate it.
"For wine lovers, money doesn't matter, and villas are even less important. Those four bottles of wine are priceless." Karen patted the young man's beautiful shoulders and said something meaningful, "See you next time. Maybe I'll come with a medicine box."
"Get up early and go to bed early, develop a good lifestyle, exercise more and do regular sports. If you have a good body, everything will be good." Karen added before leaving.
When Jiaobai heard the English song he hummed, his temples twitched. Damn, his flesh ached.
The front yard was smashed in June, and this time the four bottles of wine were lost, Qi Yilao suffered a huge loss.
Uncle Zhao is still honest.
As Jiaobai's savior, Qi Yiliao gave him a check and asked him to fill in any amount he wanted. He only filled in five million, and his hands were shaking the whole time.
After filling it out, I slapped myself, tears streaming down my face, and felt like I was dreaming.
Jiao Bai kept a record in his little notebook. All the money Qi Yiliao lost was because of him. He definitely couldn't pay it back. It was impossible for him to pay it back. He would never be able to pay it back in his lifetime. Just remember it for now and come back later.
Jiaobai sat back in the rocking chair and rocked. In every gay comic, there is a doctor who is positioned as the best friend of the top and mends the bottom who has been tortured by him for three years.
Karen should go to Shen Ji's place.
Qi Yiliao is not an old-fashioned promiscuous, violent, and scumbag. He is just an old pervert. That's all...
Zhou Lanlan did very poorly in the exam, so she had to go abroad.
When Jiaobai heard her say this, he was eating chopped pepper fish head at the villa and looking at the moonlight over the lotus pond. He choked on the spot.
"Aunt, why are you reacting so strongly? I'm not pretending." Zhou Lanlan gnawed on a chicken claw. "There are many second-rate schools abroad. I'm just going to participate in the chicken-pecking competition."
She grinned, the white nail on her lower lip shining brightly: "Try to get into the top three."
"You're yelling again, huh?" Jiaobai drank the vegetable soup slowly and pretended to send a voice message to Qi Yilao.
Zhou Lanlan was so panicked last time, but she is not afraid this time. I don’t know where her confidence comes from.
It's not right to send out the茭白, and it's not right not to send out the茭白, it's a fucking dilemma.
Zhou Lanlan sighed in a condescending manner, stretched her foot in bright yellow shorts towards him, and twisted her toes back and forth, as if she was writing something.
Jiaobai could only see that the tattoo on her toe was nice.
Zhou Lanlan sighed again, "It's so difficult to assist, uncle, you do it yourself."
So she said something else: "Dean Qi has been so busy these past few months that he has forgotten who I am."
"What are you busy with?" Jiaobai asked knowingly.
"Research." Zhou Lanlan spit the chicken feet bone in her mouth into the plate.
Jiaobai picked up a large fish bone with chopsticks, put it in his mouth, sucked it and spit it out. That elf was closely related to Qi Yiliao's life span, and it was still unknown how this line would unfold, or whether it would unfold.
"Dean Qi never comes out of the laboratory. Even in middle age, she has more hair than me. Do you think I'm miserable? I didn't inherit her genes, but all from my father. I'm bald at a young age." Zhou Lanlan flicked her hair and felt a chill at her hairline.
Jiaobai glanced at Zhou Lanlan. It was rare to have an heir in the Qi family.
Dean Qi's lack of concern for Zhou Lanlan's growth is a disguised form of protection. He hopes that she can be an ordinary person.
Zhou Lanlan takes her father's surname. She has a cheerful and energetic personality, and a free and easygoing nature that is not found in the Qi family. Her style of painting is different.
"Does your mother care about who you date?" Jiaobai asked.
"Of course not." After saying that, Zhou Lanlan went to Lin Xibei and Zhao Lan, and the three sisters became sworn sisters.
Jiaobai got up and went to eat the egg yolk pastry not far away. Dean Qi didn't care, which meant she had confirmed that Zhou Lanlan didn't inherit the Qi family's genetic disease.
Dean Qi only had one child, and she did so at an advanced age.
Before that, there must have been a long period of hesitation and even data analysis.
Maybe she even used herself as an experiment, and through various attempts and luck, she came into being a healthy Zhou Lanlan.
The scene at the cemetery appeared in Jiaobai's mind, and he had no right to comment. He left the table with half an egg yolk pastry, went to the wooden bridge alone, and sat casually on the railing.
Except for Qi Yiliao, the remaining five friends have all entered the level 50 stage.
The activity level of each friend is a reflection of their interest, and it will also generate certain things that are different for each friend.
Shen Ji fosters desire, monopoly, control, and conquest.
Qi Zizhi first admired him, then hated him and felt regretful.
Li Jue was envious and resentful.
Shen Eran means acceptance, self-blame, possession, and expectation.
Yu Ling has a good impression and a desire to protect him.
Zhang Zhen represents responsibility and care.
Cen Jingmo has not produced anything so far, just interest.
As for Qi Yiliao,
Judging from Bai Mao's performance over the past year, Qi Yilao has developed not only interest, but also recognition, a desire to survive, and...
Jiaobai frowned when he thought of this.
He felt like he was sitting in the biggest exam of his life, all the questions were done and the answers were written out.
But he wanted to add something to the answer he had already written.
Jiaobai looked at the answer for a long time, so long that the egg yolk pastry was cold, but in the end he did not add it.
Maybe waiting for something.
When the fireworks were being set off, Qi Yilao came. There was a dinner party that night. He sat for a while and then left. There was no smell of alcohol on his shirt.
As soon as Qi Yiliao showed up, the relaxed and playful atmosphere was much lessened.
Lin Xibei held Zhao Lan's hand and opened her mouth silently, "Ah, so handsome, so handsome, so handsome!"
Zhao Lan dragged her away.
"Uncle! Here! We are here!" Zhou Lanlan waved her hands vigorously, spoke loudly, and glanced to the side.
Next to him was Jiaobai. He was posting on his Moments and took the time to look at Qi Yilao and Zhang Zhen before continuing to edit his text.
There was a smell of cigarette smoke in his nose, and Jiaobai turned his head. The top button of the old pervert's shirt was unbuttoned.
The first time I saw this phenomenon was in a small noodle shop selling cold noodles in the north city, and after that I saw it a little more frequently.
--The mysterious and ascetic priest took off his heavy robe. He was walking down the altar step by step, into the secular world, towards the world of desire.
"What are you looking at?" Qi Yilao opened his lips slightly, and a wisp of smoke escaped.
Jiaobai reached out to him.
Qi Yiliao pointed to his trouser pocket.
Jiaobai's eyes twitched: "Which way?"
"Look for it yourself, okay?" Qi Yiliao raised the hand holding the cigarette and rubbed his hair.
Jiaobai rolled his eyes and stood opposite Qi Yiliao. He reached into his pockets and took out a cigarette case and a lighter.
Zhang Zhen on the other side saw this, he didn't bother to talk to his brothers, and immediately strode over and asked: "Bai Bai, you know how to smoke?"
The parents are so angry that they are about to explode.
Jiaobai answered with a skilled cigarette-lighting motion.
Zhang Zhen was a man who didn't swear easily, but at this moment he blurted out the word "fuck". He couldn't bear to attack his brother directly, so he took a detour and said, "Third brother, Baibai is still young, it's not good for him to smoke."
Qi Yiliao didn't take it seriously: "Azhen, relax. You're an adult now, it's okay."
Zhang Zhen was about to spit out blood.
"Baibai, when did you learn to smoke?" he asked his brother who was already puffing away.
Jiaobai squinted his eyes and took a puff of cigarette: "It's so early." It was a thing of the last life.
Zhang Zhen mistakenly thought that he was a minor and had a headache immediately: "You are not addicted, right? How many cigarettes a day? What brands do you smoke?"
Parents are afraid that their adolescent children’s self-esteem will be hurt, so when asking questions, they try to keep their tone gentle.
Jiaobai chuckled, leaned on Zhang Zhen's shoulder, and laughed, "Brother Zhen, beautiful Zhen, why are you so funny?"
Zhang Zhen: “…” He has lost all his authority as an older brother.
Seeing that Zhang's father wanted to talk, Jiaobai took out a piece of rainbow candy from his pocket, peeled it open, and fed it into his mouth: "Calm down, I'm not addicted to smoking, I just took a few puffs to taste it."
"Right, Third Brother." Jiaobai dragged Qi Yilao into the water. He had only smoked two cigarettes since he came to this world, both of which were given to him by this person.
Qi Yilao lowered his head. Jiaobai just happened to raise his head.
At that moment, the burning parts of the two cigarette butts touched each other.
Qi Yilao swallowed in his throat, and the cigarette butt on his lips moved up and down. The young man's cigarette was scratched, and his soft and harmless eyes glared.
Not hiding, but
Not wanting to be outdone, he rubbed forward.
The young man's black head tilted back, his overly white neck formed a fragile curve, and the collar of his white short-sleeved shirt was slightly gray and black.
The thin rope went down his collarbone and landed on his heart.
Qi Yilao did not move away and allowed him to "retaliate".
The two clusters of fireworks produced some sparks and ashes, which fell to the ground with a flutter, and the air made a "sizzling" sound wherever they passed, as if it was burning.
Lingering and hot.
Qi Yiliao bent down slightly and stared at the young man with a dark gaze: "Is it fun?"
Jiaobai raised his chin and said, "It's fun."
"Ha." Qi Yiliao laughed vaguely. He stood up and said to Zhang Zhen, who was blind, "Fireworks are nice. Let's set them off during the New Year this year."
Zhang Zhen didn't respond, he was still looking up at the sky.
I shouldn't be here.