The small square brocade box carries the most sincere sincerity of a boy.
But when Xiang Guai stared at the brocade box, what he saw was not just a sweet candy, but a promise that he could not give under the sugar coating.
Everyone around was applauding and booing, and they shouted, "Promise him, promise him!"
Xiang Gu was surrounded by smiling faces. On the wall behind them, there was a red banner that read "Friendship first, competition second! Seniors from the provincial team are welcome to come to our school for guidance".
There are only a few of them in the entire stadium, but the enthusiasm that spreads will fill the place.
Xiang Guess was also scorched by this enthusiasm.
He stared at the silver key, and there was a voice in his heart that kept saying - accept it, accept him, are you willing to make Cen Manchuan embarrassed in front of so many people? He chose to make a promise to you at such a memorable moment, don't you understand how much he values you? It's not that he doesn't love you, he just used the wrong method, he is still young, you can spend your whole life growing up with him...
Xiang Gu seemed to be bewitched by that voice.
He stretched out his hand, his fingertips got closer and closer to the silver-white key, and the light in Cen Manchuan's eyes became brighter and brighter.
- The next second, Xiang Gu's fingers crossed the brocade box and directly grabbed the basketball boy's wrist.
Don't look at Guess very thin, in fact, he is very strong and can easily lift a female dance partner.
Cen Manchuan was caught off guard, staggered by his pull, and stood up subconsciously.
"Follow me." Xiang Guai said softly, and then tightly grabbed his lover's wrist and led him to the direction of the lounge.
Cen Manchuan was led away by him in a daze. He felt that Xiang Gu's face was a little wrong, but when he looked down at the hands they were clasping, he felt that he was thinking too much.
In the arena, the young people watching this scene were stunned. They were still holding mobile phones in their hands, looking left and right, blank faces.
Several basketball players whispered and asked each other, "Is it agreed or not?"
"Definitely agreed. He is shy, the captain and the couple are supposed to 'communicate' in private."
"Damn it, you are so disgusting, I have a picture!"
A few boys were talking and laughing, and they opened up the nasty jokes that boys of this age love to tell.
Instead, the girlfriends standing on the sidelines exchanged a worried look that only girls could understand.
…
This is Xiang Guai's first time walking into the basketball team's lounge.
The body is the home court, and naturally it is also the home court lounge. Rows of lockers stand against the wall, next to two rows of chairs for rest, and a mobile blackboard for coaches to write and draw. Because it was the graduation season, many decorations were made on the walls, such as balloons, banners, colorful flowers... The group photo of the basketball team was hung in the center of the wall. In the photo, Cen Manchuan was standing in the front row. People crowded around.
Guess stops here.
He turned to look at Cen Manchuan, the boy was still holding the small box stubbornly, with a round key ring around each of the two keys, like a ring.
Cen Manchuan leaned over, pressed him on the photo poster that had been magnified countless times, lowered his head, and wanted to kiss him.
The big boy grunted from his throat and mumbled, "Guess, I..."
But without waiting for their lips to overlap, Xiang Guai suddenly pressed his shoulders, and then slowly but firmly pushed him away.
"Manchuan," Xiang Guai looked up at his lover who would never grow up, and said softly, "I'm sorry."
"...?" Cen Manchuan was stunned.
Xiang Guai repeated: "I'm sorry, I can't live with you."
"..." Cen Manchuan's Adam's apple rolled, like a lost puppy, innocent and pitiful. "Why?" he asked suspiciously, "Have you found other people to share with you?"
Xiang Gu shook his head.
His eyes were full of apology. The words were choked in his throat, and he knew that he was holding a sharp blade in his hand, and he only needed a slight movement, and the sharp blade would hurt both of them.
In the end, he still chose to harden his heart and be a bad person. He said, "Manchuan, you are a very good person, but I..."
The rest came to an abrupt end.
Xiang Guess didn't have time to finish the remaining words, the basketball boy seemed to have a premonition, and his eyes turned red.
After being in love for three months, Xiang Gu has seen Cen Manchuan's various expressions. But now this expression of loss and pain is mixed, but this is the first time Xiang Guess has seen it. In an instant, the sunshine on his body was sucked away.
"You don't need to say it anymore." The smile on Cen Manchuan's face was stiff: "'You are fine, but... ' I have heard this kind of sentence many times."
Every breakup is such an opening statement. After Cen Manchuan knew the turning point, what was waiting for him.
Xiang Guess: "… "
Cen Manchuan looked at him, as if he was looking at a high-level math problem that puzzled him - no, at least the math problems that appeared in the textbook had answers, but Xiang Guai didn't have any steps to refer to.
"Why?" Cen Manchuan looked at the small brocade box in his hand. His hands are big enough to hold an entire basketball, but not so small a box. "Guess what did I do wrong?"
He racked his brains, recalling the past three months: "Is it because I fall asleep watching musicals? Is it because you don't like how many girlfriends I used to have? Or because of the time I spent with my brothers. For too long, ignoring you?"
He said many reasons, but there was no reason that Xiang Guai really cared about.
He fell in love with Xiang Gu at first sight, and after he was shot by Cupid's arrow of love, he didn't even consider the so-called gender issue at all. He had never pursued a person so seriously. He tried his best to guess right, but everything he took out was not what Xiang guess needed.
"Manchuan, the things you said are not important." Xiang Guai looked at him and said, "What I want is something else."
"What else?" Cen Manchuan was even more confused, "I introduced you to my brother, to my teammates, and even rented a house! I did so much to be with you, and it wasn't enough. ?"
Xiang Chai shook his head: "What I care about is never how the people around you view our relationship, but how you view our relationship."
Seeing that Cen Manchuan still didn't understand, Xiang Gu could only tell him all the words in his heart.
Xiang Gu mentioned "perversion", "the boat goes straight to the bridge", Cen Manchuan's unplanned expenses, the sold motorcycle, and... This stadium show of love that shocked him more than surprised him.
"Manchuan, I cut ties with my family and have few friends... You are the second person who broke into my world in my lonely life."
Xiang Chai called his name again: "Manchuan, you are different from me. I was sure in high school that I liked men, and you used to date girls. You don't know how difficult the road to homosexuality is. , This is because it is difficult, so you need to plan carefully." Xiang Guai said slowly, "But I am in you, and I can't see any plans for the future."
"Future?" The word made Cen Manchuan's brows furrowed together. He looked at the key in his hand. He thought that the "future" he paid for a few months' rent was the "future". But now he discovered that the "future" Xiang Gua needed was far beyond his imagination.
"But..." the aggrieved basketball boy argued, "We are only in our twenties, and we can live at least 60 years in our lives. Why should we think about things that happened 60 years ago and later?"
"You're right, you still have more than 60 years in your life, you don't need to think about things that long ago." Xiang Guai looked up at him, reached out to support his chin, and gently stroked his profile, "But My life ended on the day I had a car accident. Every day I spend now is an extra gift from fate, and because it is so precious, I want to walk myself even more. Every step I take, I think clearly.”
"… "
"I don't know how much longer my life will be, but I know where it ends. I hope that every day I spend, I'm one step closer to my goal."
He and Cen Manchuan were like two rays that briefly intersected. They are drawn to each other's diametrically opposite qualities, but eventually drift away.
If possible, Xiang Gu really hopes that Cen Manchuan can always maintain this optimistic and innocent heart. At the same time, he also hopes that Cen Manchuan can find another person who appreciates, tolerates, and loves his innocence.
As for himself...
Xiang Guai laughed at himself, and found that someone who was "overthinking" like himself might not be suitable for dating.
He is always worried about this and that, and it is difficult to "crazy love" like his peers. And this problem first appeared five years ago.
Xiang Gu opened his backpack and put the letter he wrote into Cen Manchuan's palm.
"Manchuan, this letter is my last gift to you." Xiang Gu said, "I like you as much as you like me. But a relationship is not enough to just like it."
The second thing Xiang Gu took out was a neatly folded basketball vest that was washed and starched.
Xiang Gu hadn't worn it yet, but the vest was soaked in his favorite laundry detergent, and it still had Xiang Gu's fragrance on it.
Cen Manchuan received the letter, but not the jersey.
He let the jersey slip between them, lightly, to the ground.
That jersey is exactly the same as what Cen Manchuan is wearing now. With his name on it, with his number on it, just much older.
His tears fell drop by drop. This basketball boy, who had never had a red eye even after losing a point on the court, had never been so uncomfortable looking at the returned jersey.
With tears in his eyes, he looked at Xiang Chai and lowered his head, with the same red eyes as him, and passed him by.
"Xiang Gu." he shouted.
Stop to guess.
This was the first and last time Xiang Guai heard him read his full name in that tone from Cen Manchuan's mouth.
Xiang Gu didn't turn around, only a "Huh?" came out of his throat.
"...I told you," the proud and sunny boy said, "every ex-girlfriends who broke up with me, I would ask them if they could continue to be friends after the breakup."
"… "
"But this sentence, I don't want to ask you."
"… "
Because we really loved each other, we couldn't be friends after we separated.
※
This breakup, for Xiang Guess, was like returning from the sun to the shadows.
After all, he really liked Cen Manchuan. He drew sunlight from that boy and was burned by the sunlight on him.
But as a musical actor, he doesn't have that much time to immerse himself in pain. When he is on the stage, he can only be the person in the play, he wants to laugh, he wants to fall in love, he wants to dance and sing happily.
He visibly lost weight, Chen Ziran took time to watch his rehearsal, and was taken aback by his thin cheeks.
"...Didn't you mention breaking up?" Chen Ziran said, "You look like the one who was dumped instead!"
Xiang Gu shook his head: "You haven't been in love, you don't understand."
"Yes, yes, I don't understand. I see you like this, I don't want to fall in love in my life!"
Xiang Guai followed with a smile: "I don't want to talk anymore."
"… what???"
"I'm serious." Xiang Gu said, "I find that it's too difficult to enter a relationship or leave a relationship. I just want to work hard now, and I don't want to think about things other than work."
Chen Ziran was terrified, for fear that the old classmate couldn't figure it out because of the emotional problem, so he forced him to take him to eat and drink to relax.
Xiang Guai directly refused: "No, I'm still in the rehearsal period for this drama. I don't have any salary. I only need 30 yuan a day to make up for the meal. I really don't have the money to go out to a restaurant with you."
Although Chen Ziran is a big star, every time the two of them go out to eat, Xiang Guai insists on AA and refuses to take advantage of the old classmates. At first, Chen Ziran blamed him for his birth, but Xiang Guai had such a disposition. He always invited others and would never let others invite him.
Chen Ziran asked, "How come you don't have any money? Don't you call yourself a money-saving expert? Where's the small treasury?"
Xiang Gu shrugged: "The small vault is empty."
"…?"
"My ex-boyfriend sold the car that his parents gave him to rent a house in order to live with me. After we broke up, the house hasn't been lived in for a day, but the black agent refused to refund his money..." Xiang Chai said guiltily, "I owe it. He had too many, so I just bought his motorcycle back."
Chen Ziran jumped: "You are really a club!!"
After breaking up, Xiang Guizuan contacted Lao Gao and Mao Tau, and despite their ridicule, asked the buyer's contact information. After all his good words, he added 2,000 yuan before buying the motorcycle and sending it back to Cen Manchuan.
It was only at that moment that the burden in Xiang Guai's heart was truly let go.
However, in this way, the small vault in Xiang Guai's hands has almost bottomed out.
Before the musical is officially on stage and he can get paid for the performance, he has to plan carefully to get by.
When Chen Ziran heard this, he hurriedly asked him, "Then what if you rent a house? Aren't you going to move out of the school dormitory at the end of August?"
"There is still money for renting." Xiang Gu said, "I have prepared three months' rent, but the land in Huacheng is expensive, and the house near the rehearsal hall is too expensive. I can't even afford to rent a second bedroom. "
"If you're short of money, just speak up!" Chen Ziran patted his chest, "Master, I don't have much else, just more money!"
"That's not necessary." Xiang Gu smiled, "I'll look for it slowly. Even if I can't find a nearby house, I can still find it if I look further away."
The two of them were talking when Xiang Gu's phone rang.
The four big characters "Intermediary Xiao Wu" were enthusiastically dancing on the screen.
Xiang Gu hurriedly answered the phone.
"Hello? Mr. Xiang, I have good news for you!" Xiao Wu's cheerful voice came, "I have found a house that meets your needs!"
The sound of chairs moving and walking came from the other end of the phone. It sounded like Xiao Wu had avoided other salesmen and secretly sent him news.
"Just now, a gentleman came to us to find a shared house. He looks like a cultural person, and he has a good temperament! He is the landlord and wants to rent out the second bedroom. The house was just renovated last year, and the price is reasonable. But the contract is required to be signed for more than one year!"
Xiang Guai's eyes lit up, betting one for one? This could not be more appropriate for the nature of his work.
It's just that Xiang Guess has seen a lot of houses recently, and has deeply realized that "there is no cheap lunch in the world". If the rent of a house is cheap, there must be a reason for it to be cheap. Inconvenient transportation, outdated decoration, and too many co-tenants... Xiang Guess couldn't believe that such a house that was hyped up by the intermediary could not have any shortcomings.
Sure enough, the intermediary soon got to the point.
"Because I live with the landlord, the landlord has a request—" Xiao Wu said with a smile, "—he requires that the co-tenant must be clean and make little noise. He occasionally brings the company's guard pet home for a bath, hoping to rent the house. Customers can accept it.”
"What kind of guard pet?" Xiang Chai asked cautiously, "Could it be a large dog? Tibetan mastiff or something?"
"No no no, he said his pet was gentle, but a little ugly."
"... Come on, I'm mentally prepared."
"I wonder if Mr. Xiang is afraid of lizards?"
"..." Xiang guessed about the shrinking small treasury, and replied, "If the rent can be reduced by another three hundred, I'm not afraid."
The author has something to say: Goodbye, Manchuan. Hello, new landlord.