"I don't want to go." Xia Xiqing bluntly rejected Xia Xiu Ze who was threatening on the phone.
Xia Xiu Ze had been bombarding him with WeChat messages crazily since he was still in Shanghai. Every message had similar content, begging him to come back and spend his birthday with him.
"Who else is attending this meal besides you?"
Xia Xiu Ze's hesitant voice came from the headset. Xia Xiqing walked into the elevator, "You knew they were going to go, but you still insisted on making me go. Aren't you trying to make yourself unhappy?"
As the elevator moved upward, Xia Xiu Ze's voice also became higher, and he acted both coquettishly and naughtily, causing Xia Xiqing to frown.
"Isn't it just a birthday? Why don't we just celebrate it alone?" The golden elevator door slowly opened, "Just the two of us, or you can invite your classmates to come along, I'll pay for as many people as you want..."
Before he could finish his words, Xia Xiqing, who was about to leave the elevator, was pushed back into it.
“Shit…” When he came to his senses, he realized that the person pressing him against the wall of the elevator was Zhou Ziheng.
Xia Xiu Ze was screaming on the other end like a frightened chicken.
[Brother, what’s wrong with you! Brother! Brother!]
It's too noisy. Xia Xiqing took off one of his headphones, reached out, rubbed Zhou Ziheng's chin with his index finger, and silently lip-synced.
[what?]
The reason why Xia Xiqing asked this was entirely because of Zhou Ziheng's travel style. He wore black-framed glasses, a dark gray casual sportswear, a hood that covered his face tightly, and a black mask. It was unclear whether he was going to class or work. Anyway, his private clothes were all student-style, and most of the boys on the university campus wore this way.
The completion of fashion depends on the face.
He leaned close to Xia Xiqing's ear, which was not wearing earphones, and deliberately lowered his voice. The youthful scent of perfume immediately penetrated Xia Xiqing's nostrils.
"Can I kiss you?"
If he had said, I want to kiss you, or I want to kiss you, Xia Xiqing would have pounced on him and kissed him without hesitation, but this guy actually used a request question, and his tone was like a kid asking for gifts near Christmas, which made it impossible to refuse.
Xia Xiu Ze was still asking anxiously on the other end, causing Xia Xiqing's heartbeat to become disordered.
The children who didn't wait for permission decided to grab the gifts themselves. Zhou Ziheng reached out and brushed Xia Xiqing's hair, and kissed him on the mouth through the mask. The only pair of eyes that were exposed curved into two crescents, full of joy after success.
Such an innocent way of playing has become the weakness of an experienced person like Xia Xiqing.
Zhou Ziheng picked up the headphones that Xia Xiqing had taken off, put the small wired microphone close to his mouth, and spoke with a smile in his tone.
"Happy birthday, Ozawa."
The voice in the microphone immediately became quiet and stuttered. Xia Xiqing took the headphones from Zhou Ziheng, "Who else could it be? Your brother Ziheng."
It was clearly a teasing tone, but as soon as these four words came out, Zhou Ziheng couldn't stop being happy, and the corners of his mouth under the mask rose wildly. When he was happy, he wanted to make others happy too.
Xia Xiqing was dealing with his brother on the phone, and patted Zhou Ziheng's arm, "You go down, I'm going home."
"Wait a minute." Zhou Ziheng put his hands into his coat pockets, making a rustling sound. Xia Xiqing was still confused, but Zhou Ziheng took out a bunch of candies and stuffed them into Xia Xiqing's hands.
"what?"
"I'm giving you some candy." Zhou Ziheng's tone was rising, even though it was muffled by the mask.
He always carries some candy with him when he is working, so that he can replenish his energy when he doesn't have time to eat. But he feels that he has enough energy today and doesn't need candy.
"Childish." Xia Xiqing looked at his eyes that were bent with smiles, sneered, stuffed the candy into his pocket, pretended to be cold and heartless, turned around and walked away. When he was almost at the door, he took out a candy, hastily tore open the candy wrapper and stuffed it into his mouth.
Orange-flavored toffee, sweet. It's exactly like Zhou Ziheng himself.
Xia Xiu Ze still didn't hang up the phone. He kept trying to persuade her, and his voice became more and more pitiful, almost crying. Xia Xiqing walked to the end of the living room and opened all the curtains at once. The sunlight penetrated through the French windows and embraced him, just like sweet syrup embracing the orange segments in a can.
The weather was getting hotter, and it was the season Xia Xiqing hated the most. But inexplicably, he became abnormal.
For a moment, I really wanted to try the feeling of spending the summer with Zhou Ziheng.
"Okay. Let's just have a meal." Xia Xiqing was abnormally soft-hearted. Sweets really affect people's emotions. "Don't cry. I'm warning you."
Xia Xiqing had long wanted to hold his own art exhibition in China, but something was wrong with his recent paintings. Those crazy and gloomy colors became soft and sticky, and his brushstrokes lost their unique sharpness, which made people think of melted glass fragments. This made him feel uneasy. No matter when, changes always make people uneasy.
He remembered the magazine he had taken photos of with Zhou Ziheng last time. It seemed to have been released. He thought about ordering one. He checked Weibo and found that the official Weibo of the magazine had already issued a pre-sale record-breaking congratulatory post. One hundred thousand copies were sold in one second, and one hundred and fifty thousand copies were sold out in six seconds.
It's really scary... Xia Xiqing clicked on the comments and saw that they were all about the girls studying hard.
Recently, a very sad thing happened. In a middle school in a small southern city, a boy was bullied because of his gender identity disorder and finally chose to commit suicide. The heat of this incident cannot be calmed down. Some people are discussing the equal rights of minorities, while others are condemning the perpetrators of school violence.
Somehow, the video of Zhou Ziheng questioning the scope of "normality" during the magazine interview was once again dug up by marketing bloggers and became the focus of a new round of heated discussions among netizens, especially the LGBT community.
[everything21: I am not a fan of Zhou Ziheng, but I was shocked by his words. I feel that there are very few stars with such ideas nowadays. Many of them can't even recognize all the characters and are timid when they open their mouths. Zhou Ziheng is indeed a top student at P University. I suddenly want to become his fan.]
[I don’t eat melons, I eat you: Zhou Ziheng’s questions are so good that I can’t even think of the answers all of a sudden. What is normal and what is abnormal? No one is qualified to define it, let alone punish others under the banner of “you are abnormal”.]
[Hengheng is 2.5 meters tall: Zhou Ziheng is a rare star who is willing to think about social and humanistic issues. Although he is young, he lives more deeply than many people. He can obviously rely on this face to act in idol dramas, but he regards conveying beliefs as his mission as an actor. This kind of boy is really precious. ]
[Who says I'm stupid: When I heard about the color blindness paradox, I knew there was a king sitting here.]
[Hehehe: To be honest, many celebrities don’t even know the definition of a paradox…]
[wennie嘻: The last sentence is so touching. We are born to be ourselves.]
[3443122: There are so many stereotypes in this world. Boys are scolded for dressing up a little bit, and they have to look at other people's eyes when they have long hair. Although I am not a fan of those young and handsome guys, some people always scold them too harshly. Their style is required by the work. Why should we define a person by appearance? With this comparison, I really admire Zhou Ziheng. ]
[Ziheng is getting married today: Ziheng has always had very positive values. I heard from a friend of P University that he took philosophy as an elective in his freshman year, and the theme of the final pre-semester was what is a good moral system. I remember that there is a video of the classmate who was there on B station. I strongly recommend it to everyone. He was really charming when he was doing the pre.]
What is a good moral system
Xia Xiqing suddenly became interested and wanted to see what Zhou Ziheng was like at that time. He turned on his computer, searched for keywords, and finally found this video from two years ago. The person who filmed it was probably a student sitting in the first or second row. The angle of view from below made Zhou Ziheng's legs look too long, and the screen was full of comments about his amazingly long legs.
Zhou Ziheng's pre-speech lasted only 40 minutes, all in English, with a very concise PPT, completely following the Occam's razor principle of science and engineering men. He wore a formal white shirt, with his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and his hair was a little shorter than it is now. He stood under the huge projection, occasionally pacing with his long legs. When he asked questions to the audience, he habitually tilted his head slightly to the left, with a subtle smile on his face, and his handsomeness could not be hidden even with the loss of image quality.
He understood what the netizen said, which was really charming. But who would have thought that this person who was discussing [universal moral rationality and moral autonomy] on the stage had just childishly stuffed his candy into his hand.
Zhou Ziheng's charm is a mixture of two completely opposite temperaments: boyishness and mature masculinity. The only thing in common is gentleness.
Childish tenderness, or calm tenderness.
I couldn't help but draw another picture for him. In the upper right corner was a glowing projection screen. In the center of the picture, he was holding up the podium with one hand and showing a faint smile. After a simple application of watercolor, Xia Xiqing uploaded the picture to Weibo. His Weibo quickly exploded and was surrounded by a large group of fans.
[My idol is the younger man in the entertainment industry: Damn, the fairy lady is drawing online!]
[I want to eat candy: Zhou Ziheng invites you to go to Zhihu and answer the question "What is it like to fall in love with a painter?".]
[Hengheng’s most a: Is this the scene where I was doing the pre-production? I was just watching it! The madam’s drawing is so beautiful 5555]
[I have to study today: Why are you calling me Madam? This is Madam Zhou.]
[Study girl go for it: Hahahahahahahahaha Mrs. Zhou.]
[Maybe you are doing self-study: Haha ...! ]
The tone of the comments became more and more biased, and Xia Xiqing became extremely angry.
These little girls are so naive, they decide who is the top and who is the bottom based on height and appearance. The sun gradually sets, and Xia Xiu Ze's messages keep coming. Xia Xiqing knows he can't avoid it, so he changes into a dark blue shirt, puts the latest model of ar game console from Xia Zhixu's company that he bought for him a long time ago into the trunk, and drives to the place he shared on WeChat.
This restaurant is a private restaurant specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. It is a little remote, but the environment is first-class in the capital where every inch of land is valuable. There is a courtyard as soon as you enter, with flowing wine and winding water, and an ancient atmosphere. They also came here once before when Xu Qichen celebrated his birthday.
Before getting off the car, Xia Xiqing smoked a cigarette in the car. After all, it was his brother's birthday, and he didn't want to make it too embarrassing.
Who knew that as soon as he parked the car and took two steps towards the door, he saw Xia Xiu Ze, with his school uniform tied around his waist, waving his hands and shouting "brother" from a distance. Seeing his excitement, Xia Xiqing let go of some of the grudges in his heart, walked over and threw the gift in his hand into his arms.
"Here, the latest model."
Xia Xiu Ze was extremely happy, "I asked Xia Zhixu for it before, but he refused to give it to me."
"You can't call me brother, Xia Zhixu or Xia Zhixu." Xia Xiqing put out the cigarette with a smile, "Who will give it to you if you call me like that?"
"But that's how you always call him. You even call him nephew." Xia Xiu Ze's voice weakened, and as expected, he was slapped on the head by his brother.
"I am me and you are you, how can we be the same?"
Xia Xiu Ze soon came up to him shamelessly again, hugged Xia Xiqing's arm, and told him all the funny things that had happened to him recently. This habit had never changed since he was a child, as if Xia Xiqing was his joke recycling factory.
The private room they booked was the most expensive "Shuiyun Room" in the entire hotel. There was a small bamboo forest between it and the other private rooms in the hall. Shuiyun Room had only two wings, east and west, and the Xia family booked the east wing.
Pushing open the door of the box, Xia Xiqing saw Xia Yunkai sitting in the seat of honor. He didn't seem to have changed much, just a little older and thinner. The last time they saw each other was when he returned to China on Christmas two years ago. They also met by chance in a high-end hotel and didn't say a word.
"Come on, sit down." Xia Yunkai was still smiling when he spoke, and those who didn't know him would think he was a serious and loving father. However, the older he got, the more Xia Xiqing found that he became less and less aggressive, like an old dog defeated by time, waiting for the day when he could only linger on. Xia Xiqing thought it was funny, not sad.
After returning to China, he gave one quarter of the company's shares to Xia Xiqing without any discussion. He somehow became one of the major shareholders. No idea what this old man was thinking. Could it be that he was counting on him to take care of him in his old age
Xia Xiqing sat down expressionlessly, facing Yu Fangyue. She had dressed up with jewels and precious stones, but no matter how many jewels she wore or how delicate her makeup was, it couldn't cover up her vulgarity. Yu Fangyue was very proud, so even if she hated Xia Xiqing, she had to put on a show. "Oh, I haven't seen Xiqing for a long time. You didn't even come home to have a meal when you returned to China. Your dad missed you."
Hearing these words of hypocrisy, Xia Xiqing slowly unbuttoned his sleeves, raised his eyes and gave her a meaningful smile, raising his eyebrow, "It's been a long time since we last met. I remember you weren't this old the last time I saw you." He sighed, picked up the cup of tea on the table with his fingers, and blew on it, "I have a friend who does plastic surgery, can I ask him to give you a facelift?"
What Yu Fangyue feared most was aging. Xia Xiqing's words were like a stab to her heart. She was angry and upset, but she couldn't find any words to refute.
Xia Xiqing had a lot of things to say to displease her, but he was too lazy to say them in front of Xia Xiu Ze. Xia Xiu Ze was the only one who kept talking at the dinner table, as if he was afraid that if he didn't say anything, others would take the opportunity to start a quarrel.
"Xi Qing, when you are free, you still have to come to the company." Xia Yunkai picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in the bowl for him.
Xia Xiqing looked at the food in the bowl and lost his appetite. He hated it most when someone acted pretentiously towards him.
"Go to the company? Why, do you think you won't live long enough to see your youngest son inherit the family business?"
This was an extremely harsh remark. Yu Fangyue was about to speak when Xia Yunkai stopped her. He did not seem angry, but said calmly, "With such a large family and wealth, we cannot rely solely on your brother to support us in the future." He paused, "I know that your mother has given you all her art museums and galleries, so you won't have to worry about the rest of your life..."
"Why did you mention her?" Yu Fangyue finally couldn't help it and said angrily with resentment.
"Is it your turn as an outsider to speak at this time?" Xia Xiqing tapped the edge of the colored porcelain bowl with his fingers, looking at Yu Fangyue, but he was instructing Xia Xiu Ze, "Xiao Ze, I ordered a cake for you, go outside and ask."
Xia Xiu Ze said "oh" and stood up obediently, then he heard his mother's sharp voice stopping him, "Stop! Just go out when he told you to?" He stood there in a daze until Xia Xiqing, who was sitting next to him, reached out and patted his leg gently, then he walked out of the room without hesitation.
"You! Come back here!"
Xia Xiqing pretended to show sympathy, "What a pity, your son only listens to me. This family property is mine, and even the son you gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy is mine."
This sentence was Yu Fangyue's biggest worry. She was so angry that she was shaking. She pointed at Xia Xiqing and cursed, "You are just like your mother, a lunatic..."
Before he could finish the last curse, Xia Xiqing splashed hot tea on his face. His wet hair stuck to his face, looking extremely embarrassed.
"I've wanted to offer you this cup of tea for a long time. It's always inconvenient for Xia Xiu Ze to be here." Xia Xiqing played with the teacup in his hand, speaking in a gentle and slow tone, "I give him face, but it doesn't mean I treat you as a human being."
"Forget it, Xiqing." Xia Yunkai tried to dissuade Xia Xiqing in a peacemaking manner, but it made him laugh.
Xia Xiqing looked up at him, his lips curled up, "Why are you acting like a good father here? When you beat me into the hospital, why didn't you just let it go and spare my life?"
"It was my father's fault in the past. He was young and hot-tempered, and always..."
"Stop making excuses." Xia Xiqing looked down at his fingers, which were stained with red paint, like a blood spot, which was very eye-catching. "A scumbag is a scumbag. He will still be a scumbag when he gets old."
After saying that, he raised his head and smiled again, "I'm just talking about myself, don't take it seriously."
Xia Xiu Ze came back, holding a cake in his hand. Seeing Xia Xiqing still in the private room, he smiled cutely and said, "Brother, you didn't leave."
"I'm not leaving. I'm waiting for you." After Xia Xiu Ze sat down, Xia Xiqing reached out and patted his shoulder. "You're another year older. Stop acting like a child."
"Then I am just a child compared to you." Xia Xiu Ze was happily inserting candles, and he didn't even notice that his mother's face was covered with water stains that couldn't be wiped clean. Seeing Xia Xiu Ze so happy, Xia Xiqing suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. In this sick family, Xia Xiu Ze was the only one who was pure and kind, which was ironic in itself.
"I'm going out for a smoke."
"elder brother… "
"I'll be back in a while. Leave a piece of cake for me." Xia Xiqing opened the door and when he walked out, someone else seemed to come out of another box. They met. The man was wearing a brand name suit and looked okay, but his temperament was too greasy. His walking posture was like that of a young master.
The other party stared at him for a while. If it were in the past, Xia Xiqing would still feel confused, but now that the show has been broadcast, he is often stared at when he walks on the street, and he has long been used to it.
Walking to the other end of the bamboo forest, Xia Xiqing took a cigarette, but the night wind blew outside and it took him a long time to light it, which made him even more irritated.
The leaves of the bamboo forest were swaying in the wind. Through the gaps, Xia Xiqing seemed to see a familiar figure standing in the Zhuge Corridor. That temperament was particularly like Xu Qichen.
He couldn't help but turn his head to look, and it was indeed Xu Qichen, standing by the railing on the corridor.
"Qi Chen."
Xu Qichen turned around and smiled the moment he saw Xia Xiqing, "Hey, why are you here? What a coincidence."
It was always a happy thing to see Xu Qichen. Xia Xiqing walked over and stood outside the corridor, leaning his elbow on the vermilion railing. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, it's just a social event. It just ended."
"Waiting for someone?" Xia Xiqing looked up at Xu Qichen, "Xia Zhixu didn't come to pick you up."
Xu Qichen was a little embarrassed. "I told him not to come, but he insisted on coming. He should be here soon."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Xia Xiqing poked Xu Qichen's waist, "So sticky."
Xu Qichen was ticklish, so he grabbed his hand and hid for a while, laughing like a child. The more he did this, the more Xia Xiqing wanted to tease him, "Don't hide."
"What are you doing?"
Xia Xiqing's hands trembled. Wasn't that Zhou Ziheng's voice? He turned his head and saw Zhou Ziheng walking towards him with his hands in his pockets. Xia Xiqing was also puzzled. Why did Zhou Ziheng always bump into him when he was playing with others
The hood covered most of Zhou Ziheng's face, so his expression couldn't be seen. Xia Xiqing was about to explain, but Xu Qichen got the better of her, "You two are so familiar with each other, there's no need for me to introduce you."
"Who knows him well?" Xia Xiqing leaned against the railing like a gangster. He soon guessed something else from Xu Qichen's words. "No, you introduced him? Did you have dinner with him just now?"
"Yes." Xu Qichen smiled, "Let's talk about the script."
"You want him to act out the novel you wrote again?" Xia Xiqing noticed that there was a thread on the corner of Xu Qichen's clothes, so he reached out and pulled it, ready to break it with a lighter.
“No, this time it’s an original script.”
Zhou Ziheng coughed, and Xu Qichen smiled tactfully, "Well, there are people waiting for me. I have to go. You guys chat first."
"Hey..." Before Xia Xiqing could pull him back, Xu Qichen left without even turning his head. He frowned and turned his head to look at Zhou Ziheng, "Tell me if you're ruining the fun or not, I just chatted for a few minutes."
Zhou Ziheng also leaned against the railing and reached out to take the limited edition lighter from Xia Xiqing's hand. "I didn't realize you were so thoughtful."
Xia Xiqing knew he was talking about the time when he helped Xu Qichen get rid of the thread just now. He thought it was funny, "If the thread is pulled out, I will burn it."
"Flirt a little?" Zhou Ziheng raised his eyebrows.
Xia Xiqing pinched Zhou Ziheng's chin and said, "They say fans follow their idols, but why do I feel like your mouth is taking after me more and more?"
Zhou Ziheng grabbed his wrist seriously and said, "It's contagious through kissing."
"Get out." It was just words. You couldn't just kiss casually in public. Xia Xiqing found it boring, so he released the hand that was pinching his chin, held onto the railing and flipped over.
Afraid that he would fall, Zhou Ziheng reached out to support his waist, but before he touched him, Xia Xiqing nimbly grabbed his wrist with a smile on his face, "Don't touch me." Zhou Ziheng then remembered that he had a scar on his waist, and he didn't know that his wound had been exposed for a long time.
"Where are we going later?" Xia Xiqing asked.
"go home."
Xia Xiqing hooked his ankle with her foot and said, "Take me with you, handsome guy."
Zhou Ziheng reached out and tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear, "Are you not going back to continue celebrating your brother's birthday?"
Xia Xiqing stepped lightly on Zhou Ziheng's sneakers, eyes downcast, "I've wanted to escape for a long time, it's so disgusting."
Zhou Ziheng grabbed his wrist, and Xia Xiqing looked up at him. The cold moonlight slid across the edge of his hat and projected into his deep and intense eyes, like the shadow of the moon falling into the center of a lake, and he was dragged forward like this.
"where to?"
"elopement."
The author has something to say: Brother: I want to save the cake for my brother.
Chu Chu: Your brother ran away with your brother Ziheng.
Brother: You go.jpg
Chuchu: Jiangnan Leather Factory closed down, Zhou Ziheng took your brother away! Run away quickly
Brother: crying loudly.jpg
The way these two play together is even sweeter than when they are in love, it's really scary.
Merry Christmas!