The phone screen went dark, and Li Xuan frowned a little tiredly.
I didn't notice it when I was talking, but when I calmed down, I realized that the rain had gotten heavier. The fine raindrops formed a silver line under the street light. Li Xuan looked at the raindrops for a while, then turned back to the living room.
"Have you finished your call?" Sheng Min heard the balcony door open and raised his head from the dining table. "Come and eat. The soup is a little cold. I'll go heat it up."
Li Xuan looked at him and couldn't help but think of his conversation with Qi Boyuan, and he was hesitant to speak.
"What's wrong?" Sheng Min asked.
Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, but in the end he didn't speak. He glanced at the dishes on the table and asked, "Why didn't you eat?"
Sheng Min was stunned for a moment, then put the soup into the microwave: "I'll wait for you."
"What's there to wait for?" Li Xuan said. After he said it, he realized that his tone sounded a bit aggressive. "What I mean is, there's no need to wait, just eat your food. I'm not used to others waiting for me."
"Oh." Sheng Min smiled, "I'm not hungry either."
"No need next time." Li Xuan said nothing more, pulled out a chair and sat down.
Li Xuan was worried about something, so his appetite was not very good, but he still finished his meal. He cleaned up the dishes and went to Sheng Min's study, where he found the backed-up source code from the USB drive, and while running the program, he made a few changes.
I don’t know if it’s because I changed my computer or my body, but I always felt that my efficiency was a lot lower than usual. It was only after midnight that I slowly started to feel it.
He kept writing until two in the morning, stretched his fingers that were a little numb from typing, sent the message to Qi Boyuan, turned off the phone and went to the bedroom.
Sheng Min didn't come to disturb him. When Li Xuan opened the door, he found that he was asleep.
There was a night light on in the room, and the long pillow had been replaced with two single pillows. Sheng Min slept in a slightly curled-up position, curling himself up into a ball, occupying only about one-third of the bed. There was an open book on the carpet beside the bed. Li Xuan took a glance at it and saw that it was a script of a famous drama.
He walked over, picked up the book and put it on the bedside, turned off the light and got into bed.
After modifying the code for half the night, I was actually very tired. I just lay in bed, but I couldn't fall asleep.
The moonlight coming in from the window fell on the wallpaper, leaving a coin-sized white spot. Li Xuan stared at it in a daze. The light spot slowly moved from the center of the wall to the wooden floor, but he still had no desire to sleep.
After lying in one position for too long, his back felt a little stiff. Li Xuan was about to turn over when he suddenly heard Sheng Min's rapid breathing. He turned his head and saw that the other person's brows were tightly furrowed, as if he was having a nightmare.
Li Xuan didn't want to care about him at first, and after hesitating for a while, he impatiently reached out his hand, trying to wake him up. However, before his hand touched him, Sheng Min suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
"You are pretending to be dead." Li Xuan didn't have time to retract his hand and almost hit him in the face.
Sheng Min didn't say anything, his heart still beating fast. He looked around the room and then turned to look at Li Xuan.
"What?" he asked Sheng Min.
Sheng Min lowered his eyes and was silent for a long time before saying, "I had a nightmare."
"What did you dream about?"
Sheng Min opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing and just shook his head.
Li Xuan just asked casually and didn't pursue the matter. He thought it was a bit ridiculous for two men to discuss whether they had nightmares in the middle of the night. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed.
"where you go?"
"Drink some water." Li Xuan closed the door.
He drank half a glass of ice water and did not return to the bedroom immediately. He glanced at the cigarette box on the coffee table and took out a cigarette. When he tried to light the cigarette, the lighter did not light after several presses. It was probably because it was broken after being caught in the rain in the afternoon.
Li Xuan didn't expect to find a lighter in Sheng Min's house. After thinking for a while, he went into the kitchen and turned on the gas stove.
The kitchen light was warm, but when it shone on the pale blue tiles, it gave off a strange cold feeling. Li Xuan took a puff of cigarette and exhaled, with a little smoke blowing across his cheek.
He leaned against the kitchen counter and raised his hand to touch his cheek. From his eyes to his nose and lips, not a single part of his face was his own... Li Xuan couldn't help but frowned and took out his cell phone to take a look at the call record with Qi Boyuan.
As for the company, it can now barely keep going. Although many things will be inconvenient without him showing up, with Qi Boyuan around, they can definitely hold out for half a year.
As for the school... Li Xuan pursed his lips. The professor of statistical mechanics was an old scholar who had just retired and was very strict about the academic style. He would call the roll in class and if you missed classes twice, you would fail the course. There were still several classes left in the semester, and there would be an exam at the end of the semester...
Li Xuan really didn't care about his GPA, credits, or whether he got a diploma or not, but it was hard to explain to Li Mingge. Li Xuan wasn't afraid of him causing trouble, but he had promised to finish his studies well, and he didn't want to break his promise... Thinking of this, he opened the calendar app and added a reminder for a day in July.
There are only two more months left, Li Xuan thought, there is no need to make things complicated at this point. However, in this situation... His fingertips tapped on the kitchen counter until someone behind him coughed deliberately.
"How long have you been standing there?" Li Xuan turned around and saw Sheng Min standing by the door, with the light pouring down from behind him. "Are you born in the year of the cat? There is no sound when you walk."
"I'm afraid that if I don't say anything, your fingers will get swollen." Sheng Min said softly, seeing that his fingertips were already red.
Li Xuan hummed and stopped. Sheng Min stood by the door, but did not leave for a long time.
"Is there something wrong?" Li Xuan finally asked.
"Is there something wrong with you?" Sheng Min said softly, "I felt something was wrong after you answered the phone. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Li Xuan glanced at him and said nothing.
Sheng Min didn't rush him. He went to the refrigerator to get a box of milk, poured it into the milk pot and heated it up before saying, "Are you sure you don't want to tell me? I'm afraid you'll keep it to yourself and toss and turn in the middle of the night and can't sleep."
"You woke up from a nightmare, not me waking you up. Don't blame me." Li Xuan said in a flat tone.
Sheng Min smiled and turned to look at him. Li Xuan pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment: "I still have classes to go to school, so I need to go back to class."
Sheng Min was stunned when he heard this: "Are you still studying?"
"What else?" Li Xuan didn't expect that his first focus would be this. "I said yesterday that you and I have the same birthday. What's so strange about being in college at the age of 21?"
Sheng Min touched his nose and said, "I think you don't look like him."
"So what do you think I do?"
"I don't know." Sheng Min smiled and didn't answer, but just said, "Then I'll go to class for you, you don't have to be so troubled."
Li Xuan glanced at him and turned away.
In fact, it's not about one class. Li Xuan looked at the figure on the glass window. Although he didn't want to admit it, he did feel a little tired.
From waking up after swapping bodies with Sheng Min to going to settle accounts with Zhao Yi, he had actually been like being in a fog, being pushed forward by an invisible force, without thinking too much.
However, this course was like a prelude, tearing a hole in the fog around him with an extremely abrupt attitude, forcing him to calm down and face the reality that swapping bodies with Sheng Min would cause many things that had been planned to go off track.
The most important thing is that he doesn’t know when they can change back. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year... But what if it’s a lifetime
Li Xuan couldn't help but frowned.
Sheng Min looked at his expression and said softly, "Don't be afraid."
"What am I afraid of?" Li Xuan came back to his senses and said with disdain, he was just a little annoyed.
Sheng Min hummed: "When is your class?"
Li Xuan paused for a moment, waited for Sheng Min to turn his head, glanced at his face lightly, thought for a moment and said, "Thursday."
"The day after tomorrow, right? I..."
"Thursday morning." Li Xuan said slowly, "Don't you have a notice? What should I do?"
Sheng Min remembered that the filming of the commercial was on Thursday. As the milk pot was bubbling, he reached out to turn down the fire and said without hesitation, "Let Zhang Zhihua coordinate when the day breaks to see if the filming can be postponed."
"I don't want to talk to your agent."
"I'll make the contact."
"Isn't that too much trouble?"
"Two different things." Sheng Min said good-temperedly, "You can't change your class time. I'll go to class for you first, and then we'll go shoot the commercial..."
"Is that a condition? I shoot commercials for you and you teach for me. What if I don't shoot after you finish teaching?" Li Xuan reminded him calmly, "I didn't answer you at breakfast."
"Do you really not want to go?" Sheng Min was stunned and frowned slightly. "Then I will go to take your class first. As for advertising, I will try my best to ask Zhang Zhihua to postpone the time. You can think about it again."
Li Xuan glanced at him and said calmly: "I won't consider it."
"You haven't even thought about it yet." Sheng Min said helplessly, and after a pause, he said, "If you really don't want to go, I will go to class. I've said before that I won't delay your work until we change back."
"I didn't promise you."
"Yes, I promised you."
Li Xuan stared at him for a few seconds. There was a hint of distress in Sheng Min's eyes, but his expression was genuine.
Sheng Min saw that he was staring at her: "What are you thinking about?"
"I wonder if you're fake or stupid."
Shengmin sighed.
"Li Xuan." He called his name. "I've already told you the reason why I want you to go. This commercial is not just my business. If I don't shoot it, many staff members' early preparations will be scrapped, and they will have to work overtime in the later stages. If you don't like it, I will try my best to turn it down if there are no scheduled announcements later, but this time is too tight. I hope you can go for me. Of course, if you really don't want to go, I can't force you. As for your business, if I need to come forward, I will do it. Before we switch back, I will try my best not to disrupt your life. This is not an exchange, nor a condition. There is no connection between the two things. I just want to make myself feel at ease."
He paused. "After all, if I hadn't committed suicide, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now. You wouldn't have to go through so much trouble."
After he finished speaking, he fell silent, turned off the fire, took two cups and poured out the milk.
Li Xuan was really not expecting his last sentence, and for a moment he did not say anything else, but watched his actions without any emotion. After a long while, he said, "You really like to take on tasks for yourself. Did you often write self-criticisms when you were a child?"
Sheng Min turned his head, looking a little confused.
Li Xuan remembered what he had just said, trying his best not to disrupt his life.
How to try hard, how to not disrupt? Li Xuan thought without emotion, but his words were in a set. But for some reason, the fatigue and emptiness in his heart seemed to have dissipated, but it also seemed to have disappeared.
"I have class on Friday." Li Xuan looked at him and said.
"Hmm?" Sheng Min blinked.
Li Xuan also felt a little uncomfortable: "I just lied to you, how come you have never been lied to before?"
"Boring." Sheng Min reacted and muttered quietly, "Then are you going to shoot?"
"No."
Sheng Min laughed.
"I'll write you a schedule tomorrow. When you receive announcements, avoid these times. Also, don't exceed half of your monthly announcements. I still have a lot of things to do." Li Xuan spoke quickly, "You shouldn't be filming recently, right?"
"Not answering right now." Sheng Min said, "I'll turn it down first."
"Okay." Li Xuan nodded, turned around and prepared to go to the bedroom. After thinking for a while, he said, "If you hadn't committed suicide, I would probably be in an urn in the funeral home now... Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to thank you, but soul swapping is not your problem, and you don't have to recognize it."
Sheng Min was stunned for a moment, and only remembered to call him when Li Xuan walked to the door.
Li Xuan stopped and turned around.
Sheng Min handed him one of the glasses of milk: "Drink it and you will sleep better."
"I don't have nightmares." Li Xuan said.
When he mentioned this, Sheng Min remembered the vivid dream again.
"Will you?" he said.
"What will happen?" Li Xuan was puzzled.
Sheng Min's Adam's apple moved up and down, and he said slowly: "If I hadn't stopped you today, would you really have chopped off one of his hands?"
Li Xuan knew what he dreamed about. He smiled and walked back to Sheng Min: "If you are so scared, why do you show off during the day?"
Sheng Min ignored him and insisted on asking again: "Can you?"
"What do you think?" Li Xuan still spoke in a nonchalant tone.
Sheng Min looked at him for a few seconds, and Li Xuan did not dodge or avoid, just let him look at him.
"You won't." Sheng Min said affirmatively.
Li Xuan snorted and wanted to retort, "You know this?" But he noticed the gaze of the person opposite him, which was surprisingly bright in the not-so-bright room. Li Xuan never knew that his eyes could be so bright.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that Sheng Min seemed to really know. Those thoughts that even he himself could not be sure of, Sheng Min had already seen through them all.
This thought made Li Xuan feel unsafe, although he couldn't explain why.
"You drink it yourself, I don't need it." He didn't bother with the question anymore and turned and left.
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