Xia Xiqing vaguely felt that Zhou Ziheng knew something.
How did he know this? Did Xu Qichen tell him? But they didn't look that familiar.
His mind was in a mess, with thoughts popping up one after another. He didn't want to think about these insignificant details anymore. Zhou Ziheng's embrace had a miraculous healing power that could quickly heal the cracks in his emotions, and even Xia Xiqing himself didn't know why.
He moved his hands hanging at his sides, and slowly hugged Zhou Ziheng back, pressing his cold palms against his broad back and slightly raised shoulder blades, drawing warmth from them.
Zhou Ziheng didn't expect Xia Xiqing to hug him back at this moment, and his heart sank a little, as if a little person had quietly sat on him. He could feel Xia Xiqing's fingers gently grasping the edge of his shoulder blade, and he pressed his forehead against his shoulder as if admitting defeat.
Is this a kind of trust
I couldn't help but use my hands to slowly stroke the back of his neck along the line of his spine.
"Are you smoothing the cat's fur?" Xia Xiqing's voice was muffled, coming from his shoulder.
Zhou Ziheng laughed, "You mean, you are my cat?"
Xia Xiqing was stifled by his words, and the anger that had just subsided rose again. He loosened his hands and raised his head, but just as his palms were placed on Zhou Ziheng's chest, they were caught by him, and he held them tightly with his ten fingers interlocked.
"You've pushed me away too many times." Zhou Ziheng looked into his eyes, "I have to be prepared to be pushed away by you anytime and anywhere."
But I know you don't really need me, so even the action of stopping you from pushing me away has become a conditioned reflex.
Hearing what he said, Xia Xiqing's ears felt hot. He lowered his eyes and didn't look at him, nor did he try to break free from his hand. Suddenly, he felt a warm touch on his forehead, which was unnaturally soft.
When she reacted, she looked up at him, and her eyes were gently kissed again. The moment her lips touched her eyelashes, Xia Xiqing subconsciously closed her eyes out of discomfort. She felt Zhou Ziheng's hands holding her face, his fingertips touching the soft depression behind her ears, and his kiss fell on the tip of her nose.
Xia Xiqing felt anxious and sad.
He suddenly felt that he was actually very miserable. He had never been treated gently since he was a child, so he firmly believed that these things were not what he should have.
So much so that when I gain a little bit, I feel so panicked.
His nose was sore, and it was too embarrassing to cry now. Xia Xiqing tried hard to restrain himself, frowned and opened his eyes. Zhou Ziheng's forehead was against his, and his nose was rubbing against his nose. His gentle voice seemed to be covered with a layer of sea mist.
"I know you think that you and I are not the same kind of people, idealistic and well-intentioned." He whispered, his fingers gently rubbing Xia Xiqing's jawbone, "But I want to make it clear that I don't have that much desire to protect."
"Really... You didn't?" Somehow, Xia Xiqing's question sounded weak.
"Yeah... sometimes. For example, when I see a stray cat curled up on the side of the road, I want to pick it up and take it home."
Xia Xiqing snorted coldly, "I told you to pick it up, so I let you pick it up? I scratched your hands until they were covered in blood."
"It doesn't matter. This is a necessary price." Zhou Ziheng raised a gentle arc at the corner of his lips, gently tapped Xia Xiqing's forehead with his forehead, and continued what he said before, "For example, if I see a beautiful rose trapped in a thorn bush, I will also have the desire to protect it and want to rescue it."
"Is it a good thing for the rose to leave the thorns?" Xia Xiqing looked up at him, his eyes misty with tears that had not yet been digested.
"I went to save him because he wanted to leave."
"how do you know?"
"Of course I know." Zhou Ziheng's eyes were curved when he smiled, which was his most childish expression.
Zhou Ziheng's logic is always strange, but always convincing. Xia Xiqing was so annoyed by him that she asked, "What's another example?"
"No need to make an analogy. As a science guy, my poor ability of metaphor can only go so far." Zhou Ziheng tilted his head and pecked the small mole on the tip of Xia Xiqing's nose again.
His eyes were bright, and he seemed to think that his smile was too childish, so he deliberately restrained himself and appeared more solemn and sincere.
"Xia Xiqing is the only person who makes me want to protect her."
Such a light sentence, so light that Xia Xiqing couldn't catch it. But it suddenly became so heavy, hitting hard into his heart, and he couldn't get it out, and it was deeply trapped inside.
Stray cats are afraid of humans, and roses are afraid of the approaching hand.
Xia Xiqing is afraid of gentleness.
Because gentleness is the only invincible weapon in the world.
"Can I kiss you, now?"
Asked so sincerely again, Xia Xiqing felt defeated again. He even smiled bitterly unconsciously, "So you still want to kiss?"
"Yeah." Zhou Ziheng shook his head quickly again, "No, it's not what you think. I want to..."
Suddenly there was a sound coming from the bathroom door. Before Zhou Ziheng could stop his explanation, Xia Xiqing sealed his panicked heart with a kiss.
“The public restrooms in this hotel are in good condition.”
The voice of a stranger.
"Why do you care so much about the hotel bathroom?" Men's bad taste in the bathroom is to make dirty jokes. "Why, do you like such exciting things?"
Xia Xiqing held the interlocked hand even tighter, chest to chest, a tug of war of strength. But his eyes were soft, full of bright tenderness.
It was this pair of eyes with strong hints that made Zhou Ziheng unable to help but think that Xia Xiqing was really full of love, just like those deceived people in the past. Even though he knew it was not true.
"The restroom in a hotel is nothing. The restroom in a nightclub is more exciting. Last time, I was drunk and went to the restroom. The noise from the bathroom next door was so loud. It was like a live broadcast. The noise was so loud."
Perhaps because he heard their conversation, Xia Xiqing's other hand began to move restlessly, from the hem of Zhou Ziheng's black shirt to the texture of his skin. The kiss that was supposed to be light and casual became sticky, the lips left and then stuck together, boldly testing the critical point of making a kissing sound.
"Hahaha, exciting, I want to try it next time."
Zhou Ziheng's furrowed brows showed that he was obviously aroused. Xia Xiqing reluctantly let go of his lips, stared into his eyes, and silently imitated his lip movements when he raised his eyebrows.
[Try it?]
"Try? Who are you trying with?"
Being teased like this was completely different from Zhou Ziheng's original intention. He hugged Xia Xiqing tightly in anger, his arms around his waist, the shirt rolled up to his forearms rubbing against the waistband of his overalls. This kiss came too hard and too fast, Xia Xiqing managed to stabilize his legs, but his upper body was pressed too hard by him, and he bent backwards and was about to lose his balance.
"Well, just pick one up and bring it in. Girls are easy to catch nowadays..."
As they were halfway through their conversation, a loud bang was heard from the bathroom cubicle. The two of them turned around in fright, and the sound disappeared.
Xia Xiqing also broke out in a cold sweat. His hand, which had just tried to hold onto the partition but had not been able to control its strength well, was still stuck there.
"Fuck, I'm scared to death."
"Something must have fallen. You are so brave and you still want to pick up girls, let the girls pick you up..."
After the verbal battle, Zhou Ziheng, who was still unsatisfied, bit Xia Xiqing's lower lip, pulled it for a while and then let go, and also imitated his lip syncing.
[Let me soak you.]
There was another bang. The two men said nothing more, just pulled up their trousers and ran away without even zipping them up.
"What the hell, what the hell."
Hearing the sound getting farther and farther away, Xia Xiqing, who had just finished hammering the partition, was overjoyed. He leaned over to Zhou Ziheng's ear and laughed, and his laughter became louder and louder.
"You scared them so much that they will never dare to have sex in the bathroom again." Zhou Ziheng lowered his voice.
Xia Xiqing, who was lying on Zhou Ziheng's shoulder, turned his head and blew a breath of hot air into Zhou Ziheng's ear, "You say it as if you dare, big star."
"What good is it for you to provoke me?"
"Yes." Xia Xiqing reached out and carefully straightened Zhou Ziheng's messed-up shirt, tucked the hem into his pants, and then pulled his belt buckle, "I'll take you when you can't help it."
Zhou Ziheng laughed helplessly, "Why not wait until I can't help it and then have sex with you?"
Xia Xiqing curled his lips. What he said was not wrong. "No, I'll go after you."
"When will you give up this idea?" Zhou Ziheng found his persistence both cute and funny.
"Everyone must have dreams." Xia Xiqing said seriously, "My dream this year is to complete the important mission of helping you open a successful business."
"Then don't cry when you are disillusioned."
“I’ll cry for joy when I achieve it.”
"You'd better." Zhou Ziheng lowered his head and kissed his cheek. Xia Xiqing deliberately put on a disgusted expression and raised his hand to wipe his face. When he lowered his head, he remembered the injury on Zhou Ziheng's arm. He grabbed his wrist and found that the red mark on his arm had not faded yet. It would probably be bruised the next day.
"It doesn't hurt." Zhou Ziheng spoke first.
Xia Xiqing gave him a blank look and said, "Who cares if it hurts you or not." Then he let go of his wrist and said, "You deserve it. You rushed forward on your own."
"Yes, you deserve it."
"You should learn less from me."
"I didn't learn from you. I really think I deserve it." Zhou Ziheng hugged Xia Xiqing like a large dog, then let go, grabbed his shoulders and stood away, smiling, "You look very good today."
Xia Xiqing has received almost all kinds of compliments on his appearance since he was a child, but there are not many people who say it as honestly and sincerely as Zhou Ziheng.
He suddenly began to compare, even though it made him seem a little petty.
"Who's prettier, me or that Zixi?" Xia Xiqing raised his face and rubbed Zhou Ziheng's ear with his hand.
Zhou Ziheng immediately frowned in confusion, "Why do you want to compare yourself with him?" He simply didn't understand, but Xia Xiqing misunderstood him and pulled his ear hard, "Wait... I mean, he can't even be considered good-looking, right? Aren't there a lot of people in this circle who look like him?"
Xia Xiqing wanted to act cool, but the corners of his mouth had his own thoughts.
"Oh? Then there aren't many of my kind?"
Zhou Ziheng frowned in deep thought, raised his hand and pinched Xia Xiqing's chin, tilted his face to the left, then to the right, then straightened it and uttered that cold yet pleasant remark once again.
"There is only one."
His heart trembled. Xia Xiqing lowered his head and licked his dry lips, and uttered three words in an awkward tone, "Science man."
"It's a pity that my hands, which can only draw force diagrams, can't draw, otherwise I would like to draw you every day."
Xia Xiqing's heart was about to jump out if he continued talking. He raised his hand to cover Zhou Ziheng's mouth, "Shut up, get out, you're suffocating me."
He was so bored that he was distracted.
Zhou Ziheng smiled and kissed the palm of his hand.
This person... Xia Xiqing took his hand back. He recalled the descriptions of Zhou Ziheng given by fans in the fan circle, such as the arsonist of hearts and the sniper of hearts, which were cliché descriptions that he once despised.
It’s actually quite suitable
Bah. He has no romantic interest.
To avoid suspicion, the two came out of the bathroom one after the other. Kun Cheng and the producer were still discussing in the room. Zhou Ziheng walked in first. The assistant director shouted, "Brother Kun, Ziheng is back."
"Where have you been? It took so long." Kun Cheng asked casually. Zhou Ziheng sat down next to him and said, "I got a phone call."
"Is your hand okay?" Kuncheng glanced at his arm. Zhou Ziheng touched it uncomfortably. "It's okay. It will be fine in two days."
Kuncheng laughed, "What were you thinking at that time? Can't you tell that people are acting?" Zhou Ziheng knew he was teasing him, so he touched his hair and said nothing.
“But the way you blocked it just now was very similar to Gao Kun.” Kun Cheng shook his head, “It was Gao Kun.”
"Xu Zixi's acting is also good, with great skills and spirit," Kun Cheng sighed, "but compared with Xia Xiqing, the traces of his acting are immediately exposed." After saying that, he glanced at Zhou Ziheng, "You also want to be with Xia Xiqing, right?"
Zhou Ziheng felt that he had seen through something, and said nonsense, "That must be because he wants to compete with someone who performs well."
"Come on." Kun Cheng patted his shoulder, "You go back first, we'll discuss it and decide on it in the next two days. By the way, have you seen Xia Xiqing?"
"I just saw him at the bathroom door." Zhou Ziheng lied calmly. Just then Xia Xiqing walked in. "He's coming."
There were reporters downstairs. Originally, Zhou Ziheng wanted to go with him, but then he thought it would not be good to be photographed together, so he asked Xiao Luo to drive him back first. Zhou Ziheng turned down many activities for this drama, but the filming here was still pending and could not start, so he suddenly had a lot of free time in the past two days.
"Ziheng, you are on the hot search again today."
Zhou Ziheng got in the car and took off his mask and sunglasses. "Did the company buy it?"
“No.” Xiao Luo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “The trailer for the third episode of A Way Out came out and it immediately became a hot topic.”
Hearing him say that, Zhou Ziheng remembered that the program director had asked him to help promote it on Weibo, but he forgot about it when he was busy. He went to Weibo and refreshed the homepage, and sure enough, he saw the preview. It was posted at 5 pm, and now it has been forwarded more than 40,000 times. He clicked on the video and watched it.
The trailer begins with a close-up of a radio. After a period of noise, a human voice suddenly appears.
It was Xia Xiqing's voice, with a slow rhythm and soft timbre.
[The moment I met you was the beginning of the Big Bang. Every particle left me and rushed towards you. After that smallest moment, the universe was truly born.]
Suddenly, an image of a nebula exploding appeared on the screen, splitting into several identical nebulae, which then merged into one in the vibration, gradually shrinking and turning into an illustration in a book. It was a seamless montage technique.
Soon, the voices of several people appeared one after another.
First, Shang Sirui asked, "If both of us are 'girlfriends', shouldn't it be the same chain of events?"
Xia Xiqing's voice emerged amid the noise, "What if you are girlfriends from different time periods?"
Before the voice completely disappeared, Zhou Ziheng's question appeared again, "Why is there a record of the heroine's death in your diary? Since you traveled back in time, the heroine should be able to be saved, right?"
Shang Sirui's voice appeared again, emotional, [In my plot line, I am the one who wants to save people. It is the heroine who wants to save the hero who locked himself in his house and turned on the gas to commit suicide. Do you understand?]
The only female voice interrupted, affirmatively and firmly, "Xia Xiqing is the initiator of the tragedy. Without him, there would be no follow-up."
Finally, Xia Xiqing said this with a smile.
[Believe it or not, I will kill you right now to silence you?]
The screen suddenly turned completely black, and the music, which was originally getting faster and faster, turned into a cacophony of noise.
The editing of the program was amazing. Zhou Ziheng couldn't help but laugh. Such a preview immediately drew everyone's attention to Xia Xiqing.
My own voice came from the headphones.
[She thinks you are a killer.]
Why should I believe you
In the darkness, a butterfly emitting blue light appeared, flapping its tiny wings. The tiny blue lights gradually illuminated the surrounding scenery. The back of a boy in dark blue clothes began to appear in the picture. The special effects butterfly continued to flap its wings until it merged with the butterfly bookmark in his hand.
[Xi Qing?]
Xia Xiqing turned around.
The screen was suddenly split into two, with him and Xia Xiqing occupying the left and right sides of the screen respectively. They were clearly not in the same room, but the scenes were edited so that they seemed to be able to look each other in the eye.
[If you are willing to bet your life on my sincerity, I don’t mind.]
The screen was split again, with four vertical frames appearing. The faces of the four people flashed one after another, and finally returned to complete blackness. An uneasy breathing sound came from the darkness, and Zhou Ziheng's heart twitched. This was Xia Xiqing's panting.
The door of the room suddenly opened and a beam of light appeared in the picture.
A person walked out slowly.
Ruan Xiao's voice appeared.
[Has the male protagonist ever gone out?]
A figure gradually emerged from the darkness. It was Xia Xiqing's pale face.
Here is the voice of Shang Sirui, [If I leave the room, the door will close and I will never be able to enter again.]
A smile appeared on Xia Xiqing's face.
[I'm getting ready to go out.]
Just like turning off a TV, the picture shrank into an electronic line and finally became completely black. Along with the sound effects, the four big words "Escape Plan" appeared, and a butterfly flew by, leaving behind a blue subtitle - The Butterfly Effect.
I originally thought that the trailer ended there, but I didn’t expect there would be an easter egg.
In the four vertical frames, Shang Sirui appeared first. He squatted in front of the radio and turned the knobs one by one, from left to right, from right to left. Suddenly, Ruan Xiao's voice appeared on the radio, "Hello?" Shang Sirui was so scared that he sat down on the ground. The black vertical frame next to him showed the situation in Ruan Xiao's room. She looked a little puzzled. Then the two vertical frames turned black at the same time, and the remaining two frames lit up. Xia Xiqing stood in front of the door and stretched out his finger. Zhou Ziheng in the picture frame next to him also stretched out a hand.
Apart from the white dividing line, the two people almost look like they are facing each other and touching each other with their fingers.
[Don't you think you're too biased?]
[I am biased.]
The video ends.
Zhou Ziheng was really impressed that the production team could actually edit the trailer of a brain-burning suspense program to be like a romance movie. It had all the highlights and topics, but it didn't reveal any of the serious plot.
"You've finished reading it?" Xiao Luo, who was waiting for the green light, laughed, "Do you know what your hot search terms are?"
"What?"
“See for yourself, haha.”
Puzzled, Zhou Ziheng clicked on the trending search list and saw that the first two words were related to himself.
[Love Talk Boy Zhou Ziheng]
[Gentle alpha Zhou Ziheng]
puff.
He took a screenshot and sent it out on WeChat.
[Moral Model: If you were given a choice, which one would you choose?]
Coming out of the elevator with Xu Qichen, Xia Xiqing's cell phone vibrated. While continuing Xu Qichen's words, Xia Xiqing looked down at his phone and couldn't help laughing.
He didn't know why, but he could now imagine Zhou Ziheng's smug expression.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing." Xia Xiqing typed a few words quickly and clicked send.
It was not until he got off the car that Zhou Ziheng, who was expecting an answer, received a reply from Xia Xiqing.
[Terrorist: Kids make choices, adults make love.]
The author has something to say: Xia Xiqing: They are all mine, why should I choose? I just want to be...
Zhou Ziheng: No, you don’t want to.