When Zhou Ziheng woke up, his first reaction was to stretch his arms. The bed was empty, and Xia Xiqing was no longer in the room. The jet lag was uncomfortable, but it was also a common occurrence for a star like him. Zhou Ziheng sat up, and the sunlight was so abundant that he couldn't help squinting his eyes. The painting opposite was still hanging, and it looked really poorly painted.
I should have signed up for a painting class when I signed up for interest classes as a child, Zhou Ziheng thought.
He remembered the self-portrait he had taken down last night, so he got off the bed, lifted the mattress on his side, and found that the painting was still there, so he breathed a sigh of relief. Zhou Ziheng turned around and saw his suitcase leaning against the wall.
He wanted to take this painting back and hide it secretly. With this thought in mind, Zhou Ziheng put away the canvas and placed it at the bottom of his box.
When he came out after washing up, he saw a cup of coffee and a roll wrapped in light brown kraft paper on the small coffee table in the living room. Zhou Ziheng took a sip of coffee and prepared to open the door with the roll. As soon as he opened the blue iron door, he heard Xia Xiqing's voice. It turned out that he was downstairs, chatting with the landlady he mentioned.
Zhou Ziheng walked to the railing, took a bite of the roll, and quietly looked at Xia Xiqing downstairs. He always enjoyed watching Xia Xiqing like this, especially when he looked so high-spirited.
The old lady was just as he described, wearing a dark green dress with yellow prints, with gray hair and a kind smile. When Xia Xiqing talked to her, his long legs were spread wide apart, his hands resting on his thighs, his head tilted to look at the grandmother with his beautiful eyes. With the light blue striped short-sleeved shirt and dark blue knee-length shorts he wore, he looked like a cute high school student.
After a while, a little girl in a pink dress suddenly ran out, like a fluttering little skylark, and immediately hugged Xia Xiqing's legs. Xia Xiqing smiled happily, squatted down, hugged the little girl, and pressed his face against hers.
Xia Xiqing is really good-looking, no matter how many times he sees her, he still thinks so. Thinking of this, Zhou Ziheng decided not to embarrass him. He remembered that his hair had curled up a little from sleeping, so he put the bread roll in his mouth and bit it, freed his hand to press his hair, and then adjusted his light green T-shirt and lowered his head to brush off the crumbs on it.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the little girl in Xia Xiqing's arms suddenly raised her head, pointed to the sky and shouted something that Zhou Ziheng couldn't understand. This time, all three of them looked up. The old lady's surprised expression was very interesting. She put her hand to her mouth and uttered a cute interjection, then lowered her head and spoke to Xia Xiqing, and her tone sounded like a question.
Wrong decision, wrong decision. Zhou Ziheng hurriedly took the bread from his mouth, smiled awkwardly at the people below, and pressed his hair down anxiously.
Xia Xiqing smiled, and the little girl asked again, imitating her grandmother's words. He pinched the little girl's cheek and answered in English.
“my boy.”
His voice was so gentle and very soft, but it was still carried to Zhou Ziheng's ears by the warm June breeze.
For some reason, he even felt that my boy was more attractive than my boyfriend.
Xia Xiqing raised his head and shouted to the stunned Zhou Ziheng, "Come down."
"Oh." Zhou Ziheng walked down the stairs and ate all the bread. He heard the little girl pestering Xia Xiqing in not very fluent English, "Then... am I your girl?"
Xia Xiqing pursed her lips after hearing this, "Well... let's put it this way, you are my little girl until you find your boy." The little girl was very happy after hearing this, and ran to the small potted plant at the door of her house, plucked a red mini rose, and ran over to give it to Xia Xiqing. Xia Xiqing didn't want it, but she insisted on giving it to him, and even tiptoed to put the flower into Xia Xiqing's ear.
"Now you are a boy." The little girl said in a serious tone, which made the landlady standing nearby amused.
Zhou Ziheng came over and squatted beside Xia Xiqing, also speaking to her in English, "Although this guy accepted your flowers, he is still mine, not yours. Remember that?"
Xia Xiqing nudged Zhou Ziheng with his shoulder and said in Chinese, "Why are you still arguing with a child?"
Zhou Ziheng ignored her and said to the little girl seriously, "Get it?"
The little girl pouted, thought for a while, then ran to pick a daisy, and tiptoed to pin the flower next to Zhou Ziheng's ear.
"And you are boy!"
Xia Xiqing and Zhou Ziheng looked at each other and couldn't help laughing. The landlord's grandmother was also very happy and said to her little granddaughter, "You can't say such things to a pretty boy when you see him."
The two chatted with the landlord's grandmother at the door for a while. Xia Xiqing glanced at his watch and saw that the time he had agreed to meet with the professor was almost up, so he said goodbye to the landlord's family and took Zhou Ziheng to the Academy of Fine Arts. Zhou Ziheng took the daisy off his ear, twisted the thin flower stem in his hand, and took Xia Xiqing's hand with his other hand, pulling him towards him.
Xia Xiqing glanced at him, half-smiled, and shook Zhou Ziheng's hand. He couldn't suppress the happiness in his heart, just like a bottle of soda that had been shaken violently, with the cap popped open, and sweet bubbles gushing out crazily, with no way to remedy it. Xia Xiqing felt that he was now infected by Zhou Ziheng, like a teenager. When he saw him smiling at him, he felt warm all over and wanted to hug him and kiss him.
He even thought that he would be very happy if he could live in that small rental house with Zhou Ziheng for the rest of his life.
On the way, they met a little boy selling handmade cookies. Zhou Ziheng bought a big box and stuffed them into Xia Xiqing's mouth one by one. Xia Xiqing shook his head and said he didn't want to eat them anymore, so he stuffed them into his own mouth.
This small house was not far from the Academy of Fine Arts. It didn't take long to get there. As soon as Xia Xiqing walked in, she received a call from her tutor. The tutor's office was on the second floor, and there was a small garden downstairs. Zhou Ziheng sat alone on a bench waiting for Xia Xiqing.
It was actually his tutor's suggestion that Xia Xiqing left school and returned to China. On the one hand, he wanted to take away some of the works that were deposited with the professor, and on the other hand, he wanted to say goodbye to him formally.
Professor Bianchi stood up when he saw him, walked around the desk and gave him a hug, "Long time no see, Qing." He was a middle-aged man of forty-five years old, who was very particular about his appearance and wore a different color scarf every day.
"Long time no see. How are you doing lately?"
Professor Bianchi smiled and shrugged, "Of course. But I'd probably be better off if you were around to help me."
Italian men, young and old, are very good at talking. Xia Xiqing is used to it. He smiled and said, "God bless you. I hope a trouble maker like me won't cause you any trouble."
The two chatted for a while, and Xia Xiqing asked him to take back some of his works from that year. The professor readily agreed. He held a pen in his hand and poked on a blank notebook, but his eyes were fixed on Xia Xiqing's face. Xia Xiqing knew what he wanted to say. Sure enough, within a minute, the professor asked, "Although I have always known that you are very popular, I still can't help but ask, are you in love?"
Xia Xiqing rubbed the tip of his nose with his hand. He was hesitant at first, but soon he put his hands on the table and shrugged, "That's right."
"Oh my god." The professor couldn't believe it. "You've never admitted it before." He smiled and shook his head. "You've been here for five years, and I've never seen you like this... not once."
Xia Xiqing stared down at a document on his desk. The handwriting on it was very beautiful. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Yeah, I never thought that there would be such a day."
"That person must be an angel." The professor laughed, "Otherwise, how could he have charmed you."
You really got it right. Xia Xiqing's ears started to feel hot.
"I have to say, your state is very different from before. You were too depressed before, and you had to smile deliberately even though you were full of negative emotions. I was always worried about you." The professor sighed, "But now it's better. I can see that you are very happy. The smile on your face is sincere. I am really happy for you."
Xia Xiqing was somewhat moved. At first he had just locked up his dark side inside himself. Although he looked sociable and popular on the outside, his paintings could not deceive people.
"I am... very happy now." Xia Xiqing had a faint smile on his face, like a breeze blowing away ripples, "He changed me."
saved me.
"No, you deserve it." The professor's eyes were firm, which surprised Xia Xiqing.
"You weren't saved by anyone, it was your tenacity that allowed you to wait for him."
Xia Xiqing's nose felt sore. He couldn't stand his increasingly volatile emotions and fragile and sensitive heart, but he had to admit that such words were touching.
He suddenly wanted to introduce Zhou Ziheng to the professor, even though he thought that doing so was a bit childish and seemed like showing off. But he hoped that the professor could take a look and see what a wonderful person Zhou Ziheng was.
After some hesitation, Xia Xiqing stood up and said, "He's down there, do you want to see him?"
"Of course."
The two walked to the office window together. Looking down at the lush little garden from above, Xia Xiqing couldn't help but be stunned. Zhou Ziheng, who was sitting on the bench, spread his hands, and three or five white pigeons flew to his hands, pecking at his palms. Two stupid little pigeons flew to his shoulders, and their little claws tightly grasped his mint-colored shirt.
Zhou Ziheng's face was full of patience and gentle smile. After the little pigeon finished eating, he took out another piece from the box, crushed it and put it in his palm. The light made his hair, which was not dark to begin with, soft and shiny.
"He really is an angel." The professor had an expression that said, "I knew it." But soon, a relieved smile appeared on his face. "Qing, I'm very happy to see you like this."
Xia Xiqing turned her head, her eyes clear, "Thank you."
When he went downstairs, most of the pigeons had already left, leaving only one small one standing on the bench, pacing back and forth, looking very busy. Zhou Ziheng stared at the little pigeon, and it was funny no matter how he looked at it. He turned his head when he heard the footsteps, and stood up immediately when he saw Xia Xiqing, "Is it done?"
Xia Xiqing nodded and walked to his side. Seeing Zhou Ziheng pick up the empty cookie box, he teased him, "Where are the cookies?"
"Ah? You've finished eating." Zhou Ziheng put his arm around his shoulders, "I thought you didn't like it."
"I don't like it, just give it to the pigeons."
Zhou Ziheng was a little surprised when he exposed what happened just now, "Did you see it?"
Xia Xiqing pointed upwards, and Zhou Ziheng looked up in the direction of his finger. A middle-aged man was standing at the window on the second floor, smiling at them.
Feeling like meeting the parents, Zhou Ziheng scratched the back of his head awkwardly and tilted his head to smile at his mentor.
"If you had said you wanted to meet someone, I should have done some styling."
Xia Xiqing glanced at him and said, "You really have a lot of idol baggage." But he quickly added, "How handsome do you want to be?"
This sentence was quite useful. Zhou Ziheng directly held his head with his hands around his shoulders and kissed Xia Xiqing on the side of his face.
Xia Xiqing wiped his face in disgust and pushed Zhou Ziheng away, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face. A tall young Italian boy came towards him, but Xia Xiqing didn't pay much attention to him. Who knew that the next second the other party actually called out his name.
"Hey, tsing!"
Xia Xiqing paused and looked in the direction of the voice. Before he could say anything, a young brown-haired man walked up to him quickly, hugged him warmly, and said, "Long time no see," with a face full of surprise.
"Long time..." Before he could finish his words, his hand was grabbed by a force. He turned to look at his side and his expression suddenly changed. He was no longer as sweet and well-behaved as before. He was full of aggression and hostility on his face, as if he was afraid that the other party couldn't see it.
The wolf transformation really came without any warning.
“This is…” The young man looked at Zhou Ziheng. The atmosphere was a bit awkward, but he was still smiling.
"Lucas, he's my boyfriend." Xia Xiqing spoke decisively, then turned to Zhou Ziheng and introduced him in Chinese, "This is my classmate during my master's degree, Lucas."
Zhou Ziheng greeted Lucas in English. Even though Xia Xiqing said so, he was still worried and his eyes were full of wariness when he looked at him.
"He's so handsome." Lucas completely ignored Zhou Ziheng's childish possessiveness and focused on his face that combined Eastern and Western beauty and his extraordinary good figure. "His proportions are also very good, very suitable for drawing the human body. Is he mixed-race, or the same as you?"
Even though he had a pretty good relationship with Lucas before, Xia Xiqing still couldn't stand Lucas looking Zhou Ziheng up and down with such an explicit look, especially since they were both studying fine arts, he knew very well that they both had the ability to see through the human body. The thought of this made him feel uncomfortable, as if someone had touched something very precious to him.
He never thought that he would have such a strong desire for exclusivity.
So Xia Xiqing immediately changed the subject, "Are you back from outside?"
"Yes, I just went to church and took two new guys to sketch."
Speaking of this, Xia Xiqing looked down at his watch and said, "I have something to do, so I have to leave first." He held Zhou Ziheng's hand and prepared to leave.
"Would you like to have dinner together tonight? There's a nice little bar that just opened recently."
"I have an appointment, let's meet next time." Xia Xiqing stretched out his hand and waved twice at Lucas behind him.
"Hey! Can I give your boyfriend your number?"
"Don't even think about it." Xia Xiqing didn't even turn around and held Zhou Ziheng's hand tightly. Zhou Ziheng didn't understand what the two were talking about, but he always felt something was strange, so he asked tentatively, "Is he scolding me?"
Xia Xiqing burst out laughing, "Yes, he said you are ugly."
"How am I ugly?" Zhou Ziheng usually doesn't care about other people's opinions, especially the evaluation of his appearance, but today he cares about it very much. Thinking about it, he pressed down the ahoge on his head with his hand and said, "I think I am better looking than most people here."
How can it be so cute? Xia Xiqing laughed non-stop and reached out to touch his chin, "Not most people, but everyone."
After saying that, he added briskly, "Our Hengheng is the most handsome."
Xia Xiqing kept looking at the watch when she took him out, as if she was in a hurry. The sun gradually moved up to the middle of the sky, illuminating the entire Florence, the dark gray ground, the winding alleys, and the brick-red roofs all over the city. Not far away stood a tall building, majestic and solemn. Walking here, Zhou Ziheng suddenly felt a reckless sense of romance like Roman Holiday.
Looking at Xia Xiqing's back, he suddenly felt that Xia Xiqing was meant to live in such a place. He had had this feeling once when he was in Wuhan. Whether in the bustling night market full of fireworks or in the streets of Florence filled with artistic atmosphere, Xia Xiqing's presence was always so appropriate and natural.
"I originally wanted to take you to see the David at the Academy of Fine Arts. That's the original work." Xia Xiqing dragged his wrist and slowed down his pace. When they were almost there, the brick-red dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was already in front of them.
"Then why didn't you look at it?" Zhou Ziheng followed him. This nearly 100-meter-high Gothic church had almost attracted all of his attention. The outer layer of fishbone-shaped marble decoration had a gorgeous sense of stacking, milky white marble, dark green glaze, and classical sculptures everywhere. It was so exquisite that it didn't look like a church at all, but some kind of extremely precious work of art.
"The original is stunning, but I want you to see this even more. No, I want you to hear this."
Xia Xiqing suddenly stopped in front of a very tall building. He looked down at his watch.
"Where is this?" Zhou Ziheng also looked up at the tall building. He had done some research on tourism before and tried to match what he saw online with reality. "Is it... Giotto's Bell Tower?"
Hearing Zhou Ziheng say this, Xia Xiqing couldn't help but laugh, "You are really good, classmate Zhou."
"That is."
Zhou Ziheng wanted to say something, but suddenly, a long bell sounded, and the roar of metal collision was dragged and stretched, piercing through the clouds and splitting the rocks, and hitting his heart directly. He felt that his body was no longer independent, and was solidified by the solemn and shocking ancient bell sound. His whole body seemed to be penetrated by electric current, and even his soul was trembling with the vibrating sound waves.
Just when he was stunned, Xia Xiqing kissed him. It was a soft and gentle kiss, like a cloud peeled off by the sound of a bell, floating leisurely on his lips.
Xia Xiqing looked into his eyes. The sunlight generously sprinkled on his fair face, making him look like a white angel carefully carved in a church.
"In fact, I fell in love with your voice not long after we met." His eyes were full of tenderness, like the cool mountain stream after the spring snow melted. "Many times I wanted to tell you that when I hear you speak, I always think of the bells of the Duomo de Fiore."
The reason he didn't tell him was because it was too mysterious, and it was indeed a sincere association and sigh. Unlike other words said during teasing, this was unconscious. If he told him, it would be like holding my heart in my hands for him to see.
So dangerous, so real.
When Xia Xiqing said this, Zhou Ziheng inadvertently thought of the analogy he had made to himself at the beginning - Rodin's kiss. Whether it was deliberate teasing or true feelings, Xia Xiqing always used these precious works of art to describe himself, which made him feel so worthy.
Zhou Ziheng lowered his head and stroked the back of Xia Xiqing's neck. His deep, magnetic voice and the bells echoing in the ancient city created a harmonious and beautiful resonance. "How is it similar?"
When the last bell of the hour left a lingering tail, Xia Xiqing told him in the most gentle voice.
"Both... make my heart beat."
The author has something to say: The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is so beautiful. I posted some photos on Weibo. I wonder if you noticed the scene where Xi Qing thought of the church bells when she heard Heng Heng talking.
Hengheng and Xiqing are both my boys~