The group of people who were smoking nearby were shocked. The man with tattoos was holding a cigarette with its butt burning. He was so shocked that he cursed: "Fuck you."
"A prodigal son turns over a new leaf? I'm convinced." Someone responded.
Ban Sheng never cared about what others were talking about. He looked down at Lin Weixia and asked:
"Satisfied, huh?"
Lin Weixia put his cigarette and lighter in her pocket, and threw the cigarette butt that was almost burned out and still had sporadic flames into the trash can. She looked up at Ban Sheng and said stubbornly:
"Then come home with me now."
If she did this to someone else, it would be considered as taking advantage of Ban Sheng. Ban Sheng smiled angrily and looked at her without saying anything. At this moment, the group of people in the box were tired of playing and went downstairs to the convenience store to buy cigarettes. Naturally, they saw the two people together not far away.
One of them held a paper cup with a bunch of oden in it and asked loudly, "Master Ban, do you want to drink more?"
Ban Sheng lowered his eyes and looked at the girl standing in front of him. She was wearing a black coat and a beret. Her soft hair was pressed against her chest. She had black eyebrows and cherry red lips. She looked clean and beautiful.
She looked at him, and the meaning in her eyes was very clear: she would follow him to hell.
Ban Sheng sighed, and without even looking at the group of people, he slowly said to her, "I don't want to drink anymore."
When everyone had left and it was still raining outside, Lin Weixia's eyes relaxed a little and her tone was not so serious anymore:
"Do you want to come to my house and see the dog?"
Ban Sheng was so angry that he laughed. He was very powerful just now, but now he knows how to speak in a gentle tone. He directly grabbed the girl's neck and sighed:
"Let's go."
His palm was large and cold. The moment it touched the back of her neck, Lin Weixia froze with cold. At this moment, Ban Sheng seemed to be deliberately playing a trick on her. He rubbed her neck with rough calluses on his palm, with obvious teasing meaning.
Lin Weixia trembled uncontrollably and slapped his hand away: "You stinky rascal."
As soon as she said this, Ban Sheng raised his eyebrows in great surprise, and moved his hands unruly from the back of her neck to Lin Wei's cheek, pinching it and snorting:
"Who taught you these words? You use them to insult people."
Lin Weixia blushed a little at what he said, and she didn't dare to respond at this moment, for she was afraid that Ban Sheng would be even more unruly. Ban Sheng's car was parked in the basement, and he couldn't drive after drinking, so the two of them took a taxi back together.
Lin Weixia's rented house was on Luotan Middle Road, near the school. The car drove for half an hour and arrived downstairs of Lin Weixia's house, and the two got out of the car one after the other.
Lin Weixia closed the door of the taxi. She was about to enter the community when she suddenly heard a horn honk from behind her. She turned around and saw a black Bentley parked there with its hazard lights on, as if calling her.
Lin Weixia squinted at the license plate and felt that it looked familiar, so she walked over and Ban Sheng followed.
When they walked to the black Bentley, the door was suddenly pushed open and Song Yihang jumped down from the passenger seat. He was wearing a tuxedo today, looking like a little adult, energetic and cute. He held two books in his arms and handed them to Lin Weixia.
Lin Weixia was stunned for a second before she realized that it was the book she left behind at Song Yihang's house yesterday. She took it with a smile and raised her hand to touch the child's head, but he turned his head away with a stern face.
Lin Weixia looked at the man in the driver's seat. He was wearing a smoky gray coat. He was in his thirties, with a cold temperament and deep facial features, which reminded people of the bright moon in the sky.
This was also the first time Lin Weixia met Song Yihang’s parents. She didn’t expect them to be so young.
"He insisted on coming to see you, and thanks you for taking care of Song Yihang." The man spoke with a sincere tone.
"Oh, it's okay, thank you for your help in delivering it." Lin Weixia thanked him warmly.
The other party nodded and called Song Yihang in a softer voice, not so unkind: "Get in the car and say goodbye to the teacher."
Song Yihang jumped into the car and waved to Lin Weixia with a wooden face. The latter also waved back at him with a smile.
Ban Sheng had a stern face and didn't show any intention of greeting her politely. He reached out for a cigarette, raised his eyebrows, stood behind her, leaned over lazily, put his whole body around her from behind, his cheek gently resting on her fair neck, and reached into her pocket for a cigarette with his face tilted to the side.
Although they didn't do anything overly intimate, their unknown relationship was revealed.
Ban Sheng was holding a pack of Marlboro in his hand. The moment he raised his eyelids, his eyes collided with the man's in mid-air. Neither of them looked away first. It went without saying, but the emotion in Ban Sheng's eyes was more meaningful.
After saying goodbye, Lin Weixia took Ban Sheng away. He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then looked back at the man in the car, turned his head, met a pair of clear eyes, chuckled, and compromisingly took down the cigarette and threw it into the green trash can beside him.
"Let's go." Bansheng said.
The house that Lin Weixia rented was in a residential area near Peking University where retired teachers lived. Although the house was a bit old, the price was relatively cheap, the community had good greenery and was quiet.
As soon as the door was opened, Shengxia rushed over as if she was on a skateboard. She first bit Bansheng's trouser leg and sniffed around. After smelling the familiar scent, she kept wagging her tail and jumped on him excitedly.
Ban Sheng squatted down and rubbed its round head, chuckling: "Your mother made you quite fat."
The puppy opened its round black eyes and seemed to understand, whimpering and nudging his arm. Lin Weixia poured him a glass of water and said:
"I haven't eaten yet. I was just about to cook some noodles. Have you eaten yet?"
"without."
Lin Weixia found a pearly white hairpin from the bathroom. She casually pulled her hair up behind her, revealing a clean face, and her temperament looked gentle under the warm light.
Cooking noodles doesn’t take time. After boiling the water, put the noodles into the pot, crack two eggs, and finally pour the seasoning into the bowl.
Ban Sheng basically doesn't talk while eating, and is very well behaved. He doesn't make any other noises. Only occasionally their eyes will meet, and they will look at each other for a long time before separating.
He finally finished the noodles in his bowl, and Lin Weixia filled his cup with water. Lin Weixia sat opposite him and asked him:
"How many cigarettes do you usually smoke in a day?"
Ban Sheng glanced at her and gave her a vague number:
"Two or three packs."
Lin Weixia nodded. Although she was surprised, she did not show it too much. She began to speak in her usual slow tone, but with determination.
"You can only smoke two or three a day from now on."
Ban Sheng didn't say anything. He looked at her for a long time and just smiled:
"Lin Weixia, don't you think you are making things difficult for me? I am addicted to cigarettes and alcohol."
Lin Weixia's eyelashes fluttered, and she suddenly stood up and left the sofa. Ban Sheng sat lazily on the sofa, leaning back and looking around Lin Weixia's home.
The curtains are a retro red color with cat patterns printed on them. There are a few pots of green plants in the sun, and the whole environment is clean and tidy.
Ban Sheng was lost in thought when he suddenly felt a sweet peach scent approaching. Before he could react, slender white fingers touched his lips, and then a hard candy was stuffed into his mouth.
The moment the tip of my tongue touched the sugar coating, my cheeks felt so sour, my masseter muscles felt weak, and I couldn't help but frown. The sourness only lasted for thirty seconds, and the sugar coating quickly melted, the sourness turned into sweetness, and overflowed between my lips and teeth.
Lin Weixia was wearing a crescent-white sweater, revealing her thin collarbones. She knelt on the sofa with one leg, her beautiful eyes slyly revealing her expression. She said:
"Delicious, right? This is your smoking cessation candy."
Ban Sheng looked at her straight, the heat in his eyes was getting stronger and stronger. Lin Weixia was a little confused by his eyes, and the heat on her face was getting stronger and stronger. When she was about to be unable to bear it, the boy raised his hand and took the blue candy wrapper in her hand.
He smoothed the blue transparent candy wrapper with his fingernails, his dark eyelashes drooped, and he asked thoughtfully:
"Do you remember—"
"What?"
Ban Sheng put the candy wrapper into his palm, the complicated emotions on his face disappeared, and he returned to his leisurely look:
"No, I also eat this brand of plum candy."
Been eating for a long time.
Ban Sheng stayed with Lin Weixia for a while and played with the puppy for more than ten minutes. When he was about to leave, Lin Weixia took out a full glass jar of plum candy from the room.
Lin Weixia stuffed a can of candy into his arms, and said in a somewhat stiff tone:
"If you like it, I'll give it all to you."
"Don't smoke so much next time."
Ban Sheng lowered his eyes and looked at the can of glass candy that was forced into his hands. His Adam's apple rolled, and his tone seemed to be suppressing something. Finally, he agreed:
"good."
On Monday, the sky was clear and the snow finally stopped after a week of continuous snowfall. The sun began to shine in the north of Beijing, and the snow around it melted quickly. Because of the long-awaited good weather, the number of people participating in activities on the Beijing University campus increased visibly.
Lin Weixia and Ban Sheng happened to have a class in the morning, so they agreed to eat together in the cafeteria. There were many people on the first floor of the cafeteria, so Ban Sheng took her directly to the restaurant on the second floor.
They were eating Singaporean cuisine. Lin Weixia ordered a seafood fried rice and bak kut teh. Ban Sheng glanced at the recommended signs on the menu and ordered a few dishes at random.
During the meal, the two chatted occasionally. Lin Weixia wanted to share an experiment from their psychology class. She was talking seriously when she noticed that Ban Sheng was listening absent-mindedly, swiping something on the screen of his mobile phone with his thumb, obviously replying to someone's message.
Lin Weixia's smile froze and she asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Someone asked me to go mountain biking the day after tomorrow." Ban Sheng replied without even raising his head.
Lin Weixia did not reply immediately. Her dark eyelashes drooped, sweeping like a row of crow feathers. She poked the distinct grains of rice in the porcelain plate with her chopsticks, not knowing what she was thinking. She spoke:
"When you were playing racing, were there any girls there?"
Ban Sheng raised his eyebrows, looked up from the phone, and replied in a fearless tone:
“Yes.”
"Then you have to take me there." Lin Weixia looked back at him.
The atmosphere was tense for three seconds. Ban Sheng saw that the girl had put down her chopsticks and didn't even plan to eat. He picked up the chopsticks and stuffed them into her hands, defeated, and said with a tone of doting that he himself hadn't noticed:
"Bring it, ancestor."
Lin Weixia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, what she cared about was not the presence of other girls during the racing, but she wanted to see what Ban Sheng was playing.
She was worried about him and wanted to go over to see for herself.
But because their relationship was still in an ambiguous entanglement, Lin Weixia didn't know what identity she had in order to interfere with him again and again, and she didn't know where Ban Sheng's boundaries were.
At seven o'clock on Wednesday evening, Ban Sheng drove his black GTR with Lin Weixia from Tanjiang Middle Road and sped all the way. The night view outside the window changed ever-changing, with stars dotted on the river. The car drove out of the national highway, then wound up the mountain, and finally arrived at a brightly lit villa at the foot of the mountain.
With a "click", Ban Sheng unbuckled his black seat belt. Lin Weixia was still sitting there. She took out her mobile phone and clicked on the map software. A circular icon was rotating on the Beijing North map. She clicked it with her thumb and saw that they were in Jiujia Mountain.
Jiujia Mountain has steep terrain and many winding narrow roads. Many mountain bike racing events have been held here. Over time, many players and enthusiasts often compete here.
Lin Weixia stared at the terrain height displayed on her phone and took a breath. Suddenly, someone knocked on the car window. She came to her senses, unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car.
Ban Sheng led Lin Weixia into the villa. As soon as Lin Weixia stepped through the door, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were scanning her. Someone whistled when he saw Ban bringing a girl in.
Ban Sheng raised his eyelids and glanced at the man, who then kept quiet. Then they took the initiative to greet him and even made room for him.
Ban Sheng didn't appreciate their kindness and pulled Lin Weixia to find a chair for her to sit down.
Lin Weixia took a look at the people inside. They were all strangers, except Qiu Minghua. Judging from their attire and manners, they were obviously the sons of wealthy families.
Several beauties with heavy makeup and long legs were smiling apologetically.
These people have one thing in common: they are exhausted during the day, like vampires, and they are nervous at night, like animals that travel in the dark.
Soon, Lin Weixia noticed a boy sitting on the sofa. He had dyed red hair and smiled wildly. He looked like a second-generation rich kid. He was shaking champagne and opening the bottle for a girl next to him.
With a "bang", all the white foam was sprinkled on the girl's body. The red-haired boy shouted and signaled the people around him to applaud. The girl was not angry at all. Instead, she smiled sweetly and asked the boy to wipe it for her.
They stayed in the villa for a while, and soon someone called them out. A group of people set out in a mighty manner and came to a red rest stop.
Walking forward, Lin Weixia discovered that the competition venue had been set up, with yellow rulers drawn out, indicating a race line. There were many young people standing nearby, watching. At night, the temperature dropped rapidly, and everyone would exhale a cloud of white mist when they spoke.
After the contestants had chosen their cars, a girl with long curly hair came over and took the initiative to talk to Ban Sheng in a flattering tone:
"Ban Sheng, do you want me to help you get your things?"
Lin Weixia's eyelashes twitched, but she didn't say anything.
Ban Sheng was listening to someone talking nonchalantly. He turned his head and kept his gaze on her face for less than a second. He raised his chin towards Lin Weixia beside him:
"Someone took it."
Because of Ban Sheng's words, the originally noisy place suddenly became quiet, and everyone turned around and noticed a very quiet girl standing next to him. She was holding Ban Sheng's cigarettes, lighter, and wallet.
He gave all his things to her for safekeeping.
Everyone agreed that the girl was very pretty, clean, with a kind of classical beauty, and her eyes and eyebrows revealed a cold arrogance.
Red Hair also noticed Lin Weixia and asked, "Master Ban, is this your wife?"
"no."
His low, faint denial rang in her ears, and her heart tightened. Lin Weixia lowered her eyes and couldn't help but tighten the lighter in her hand. She clenched it so roughly that it caused a slight pain.
The next second, she heard Ban Sheng laugh very lightly, and in front of everyone, he said slowly:
"My leader."