After Sheng Min finished speaking, he didn't even look at Li Mingge's reaction. He just opened the door and walked out. This time no one stopped him.
The sun was scorching hot at noon, and there were few people on the wide tree-lined avenue in the community, only cicadas were chirping tirelessly. The scorching heat seemed to spread from the air to his body, and he was in a daze. He held his breath and walked out of the community gate, then walked forward two blocks aimlessly, and finally couldn't hold it anymore and vomited beside the trash can on the side of the road.
nausea.
He thought of the Li family's gloomy and dark villa, Li Mingge's condescending look, and the housewife's cautious attitude, and he felt nauseous for no reason.
However, he had no appetite when he got up early because he had to take medicine. He barely drank half a cup of milk and didn't eat anything at noon. At this time, his internal organs were in pain and he couldn't vomit anything. He could only drink a little water, and he was left with dry heaving, which took a long time to stop.
Sheng Min slowly stood up by supporting himself with the tree trunk, wiped the cold sweat from his cheek, and after feeling a little better in his stomach, he went to the nearby convenience store to buy a bottle of water.
"Are you okay?" The clerk asked with concern when he saw his pale face. "Did you have a heat stroke? Do you need any medicine?"
Sheng Min shook his head: "It's okay, thank you."
This street is near the foot of the mountain and is also designated as part of the scenic spot. The transplanted trees are tall and dense, and every ten meters or so, there is a white bench for pedestrians to rest.
Sheng Min rinsed his mouth with water and sat down on the chair tiredly. The cold bottle was pressed against his forehead, and his thoughts slowly came back to him under the cool air. After thinking for a while, he took out his phone and sent a message to Li Xuan. He edited the screen for a long time, and finally just briefly mentioned that he went to Li's house, which seemed to be unclear in other text messages.
The message soon showed that it was sent successfully. Sheng Min pressed his forehead, his temples ached a little, and he leaned back in his chair and sighed. The sunlight fell through the gaps between the leaves, and he unconsciously raised his hand to touch the light spot in front of him.
No matter what, Sheng Min thought, she was determined not to let Li Xuan return to the Li family.
"Where are you?"
The moment he saw the content of the message clearly, Li Xuan woke up from his half-asleep state and called back immediately without thinking.
The process of waiting for the call to be connected was not long, but in those few short seconds, countless emotions rushed through his heart. He was angry, but he couldn't tell who he was directed at, and the tone of his voice was not good.
"I'm..." Sheng Min glanced at the street signs around him, "97 Ningde Road... Turn left at the gate of the community and there's a convenience store."
Even through the receiver, Li Xuan could clearly sense that something was wrong with Sheng Min's voice, and he forgot what he was going to say: "What's wrong with you?"
"What?" Sheng Min seemed not to notice.
Li Xuan couldn't help but frowned: "Are you okay now?"
"without… "
Not a ghost. Li Xuan couldn't help cursing under his breath when he heard his obviously weak voice. He stood up while speaking and said, "Just wait for me right here. I'll be right there."
"Don't come over." When the call was connected, Sheng Min was still secretly calculating how much assets he had, and Li Xuan asked him questions again. He had a headache and his thoughts were still a little confused. Only then did he come to his senses, "I'm fine. Let's meet at the gate of N University. My car is still parked at the gymnasium."
There are always a row of taxis parked in front of the Software Park waiting to pick up passengers, but now it is close to noon and most of them are eating or waiting for their shifts, so the cars are empty. Li Xuan found a car with people in it and got in. The driver just put down his lunch box and was stunned for a moment: "Young man, I'm not leaving now."
"N University's new campus, South Gate." Li Xuan had already fastened his seatbelt and adjusted his mask. "Can I pay double the price? I have something urgent to do. Sorry for the trouble."
The software park is in the city center, the university town is close to the outer ring road, and the city is always congested. No matter how fast you drive, it will take nearly an hour to arrive.
The villa area is closer to N University, so Sheng Min should have arrived first. However, when Li Xuan got out of the car and found Sheng Min's black Audi at the entrance of the gymnasium, there was no sign of Sheng Min in the car.
"Hey, I'm here, you..."
The background sound on the other end of the phone was very similar to that on his side. Li Xuan turned around and saw Sheng Min walking out of a printing shop opposite with a black plastic bag in his hand.
"I'm here too."
Sheng Min obviously saw him, and after he finished speaking, he hung up the phone, crossed the road when the light was green, and stopped about ten meters in front of Li Xuan.
I haven't seen you for a few days. This is the first time we've been apart for such a long time since we met. The last time we parted, it was a bit unpleasant. It's a bit uncomfortable to see you again.
But no matter what, seeing Sheng Min standing safely in front of him at this moment, Li Xuan finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in the air since he saw the text message.
The phone was still in his hand, and the beeping sound kept ringing in his ears, as if resonating with his heartbeat. They stared at each other quietly, and their palms felt a little hot. Li Xuan finally remembered to put away the phone.
"Come here." He said, but he walked over first and took the bag from Sheng Min's hand without saying anything. There was a thick stack of papers in it, and he didn't know what was in it.
"No, I'll take it."
Shengmin tried to take it back, but Li Xuan ignored him and walked to the front of the car: "Keys."
There are few cars and wide roads in the university town. Even a few hundred meters away from the gymnasium, there were no other cars on the road. The two of them seemed to be isolated from the world in a small world.
Li Xuan drove with a stern face and ignored him, his lips pursed into a thin slit. Sheng Min sat in the passenger seat and looked at him secretly.
"What are you looking at?" Li Xuan asked suddenly.
"No." Sheng Min said softly.
"Didn't you look at me?"
Sheng Min stopped talking. Li Xuan looked at Sheng Min's still pale face and felt that his tone was a bit harsh, so he coughed.
"Why do you look so bad?"
"How have you been these days?"
They spoke almost at the same time, and then fell silent together.
"What can I have?" Li Xuan said.
Sheng Min said softly: "Your eyes are so bloodshot."
"I just didn't sleep well." Li Xuan said casually, "Don't change the subject. Now it's your turn. Don't say you're fine. Your face is as pale as a ghost."
"It's not that exaggerated." Sheng Min smiled. Not wanting to tell him that he had vomited after leaving Li's house, he evaded the question by saying, "Maybe I had a little heat stroke."
Li Xuan glanced at him without saying anything. He drove a short distance and suddenly turned right and stopped the car on the side of the road. He unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to touch Sheng Min's forehead.
"Wait for me a moment." He quickly withdrew his hand, opened the car door, got out of the car, and quickly disappeared behind the roadside trees.
It was only two or three minutes, and when Li Xuan came back, he was still feeling the heat from outside the car.
"It shouldn't be serious since you don't have a fever. Take the medicine first." As he spoke, he skillfully unscrewed the bottle of glucose and opened a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi water and handed it over.
"Thank you." Sheng Min hesitated for a moment and drank it obediently. The taste of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water was really bad. After drinking it, he looked up and saw a piece of soft candy in Li Xuan's palm.
Sheng Min curved her eyebrows and her fingertips brushed across his palm, feeling a little cold.
"I see you not only have heat stroke, but also hypoglycemia." Li Xuan watched him slowly eat candy and restarted the car. "My health is not that bad... Did you miss lunch?" He paused after asking, then smiled self-deprecatingly, "Yeah, you definitely won't be able to eat if you go there."
"It's not that serious." Sheng Min said softly.
Li Xuan did not comment: "Let's find a place to eat first. What do you want to eat?"
"I don't have much appetite right now... Really, but if you're hungry, we can go eat now... Haven't you eaten yet?"
"Let's talk about it later." Li Xuan didn't answer him and turned left into the road next to him.
He didn't use the navigation, but after driving past the toll booth, he would reach the outer ring interchange, which was obviously not the way back to the apartment.
"Are you going to get something?" Sheng Min speculated, pausing for a moment, "Where are you staying these days?"
This topic always involves the quarrel that happened not long ago. It was not a pleasant topic. Sheng Min's voice became much softer: "I asked the hotel and they said you didn't go..."
"Bridge tunnel." Li Xuan obviously also remembered what happened that day, but didn't want to mention it, so he interrupted him casually.
He just said it casually, but Sheng Min immediately fell silent and quickly turned his head to the side. Li Xuan thought he was angry at first, but when he stopped the car at a red light, he realized that his expression was not right.
"What's wrong with you? That expression... I can't believe this. I was lying to you."
"I know, there is no letter." Sheng Min said, still with his eyes downcast, "Really... the light is green, and the people behind are urging us."
He tried his best to sound relaxed, but his depressed mood was still obvious. Li Xuan soon figured out the trick and asked after he got back on his feet, "What did they say to you?"
Sheng Min didn't answer for a moment, and Li Xuan didn't urge her.
"Were you scared today?" He said with a hint of helplessness in his tone, "You are not usually so stupid. Why did you go just because I asked you to? He wouldn't tie you up and not give you a chance to call me secretly."
"If I told you, you would definitely not let me go."
"You're eager to go?"
"I don't want you to go. I don't want you to handle everything on your own."
He blurted out, and after he finished speaking, he felt that something was wrong with his words: "I mean, given our current situation, it's impossible for us to separate everything. I said it before, you..."
"You get angry when I meddle in your affairs, but you're happy to meddle in my business." Li Xuan interrupted him.
“... ... different.” Sheng Min was stunned.
"What's the difference?"
"I'm not angry anyway." Sheng Min avoided the question, "It's obviously you who are angry."
"Of course I'm angry. Shouldn't I be angry? Not everyone can be like you and be a bodhisattva." Li Xuan glanced at him and saw that Sheng Min seemed to be about to apologize. He didn't want to hear this. "Okay, let's not talk about it for now."
He waved his hands irritably, and then softened his tone: "But today's incident is indeed my fault. I didn't tell you in advance, and I didn't expect him to come to the school so soon. I thought it would take at least next week... ... He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"What will they do to you?" Sheng Min raised his head alertly, thinking of the scars on Li Xuan's body, "... Did they hit you?"
"That's not true." Li Xuan shook his head soothingly. "What I mean is that Shu Xin couldn't control herself when she was ill... She really never hit me. They are all high-level intellectuals, they wouldn't hit anyone casually. And when I arrived at their house, they were no longer a child, so it was even more impossible for them to hit me."
"So they are indeed your adoptive parents?"
"Forget it."
This was actually an obvious question, but after getting a positive answer, Sheng Min couldn't help but frown.
"Don't frown." Li Xuan couldn't bear to see him like this, "I told you it's okay."
Sheng Min lowered his head and took a sip of water: "I know... I didn't have much to do today, and I didn't stay for long... But I think I offended him..."
He briefly recounted the conversation in the study, trying to hide the remarks that made him feel uncomfortable. However, Li Mingge's attitude was consistent. Even if Sheng Min didn't say it, Li Xuan could guess it. His expression was always calm.
"Is it over?"
"Um."
Li Xuan nodded and pursed his lips, but asked him: "Did you know Zhao Jizhe before?"
"Last time when I went to get you a book, a letter fell out. But I didn't open it."
"It's okay to open it." Li Xuan didn't care.
"When exactly will he be released from prison? If we haven't been replaced by then, should I go pick him up?"
"We'll talk about it when the time comes."
Sheng Min hummed. This was not what he was originally concerned about, so he didn't continue asking.
"Don't worry about anything else. It's okay." Li Xuan saw through his thoughts. "If Li Mingge was so easily offended, I would have pissed him off eight hundred times before he could make you suffer... So even if he really wants to suppress me, it has nothing to do with what you did today. You don't have to care at all."
"Will he really?"
"Maybe."
"You're not worried at all?"
Sheng Min pursed his lips, but the worry in his eyes did not fade away. Li Xuan looked at him twice, thought for a while and suddenly said: "After my parents passed away, I went to an orphanage because there were no relatives to adopt me. It was not the one in N City." He gave a place name, a city in a neighboring province, where Sheng Min had been once when he was filming a movie when he was a child.
"Later, something happened and I ran away from there. I was about eleven years old. The management of child labor was not so strict at that time. I just did odd jobs and wandered all the way to N City. Then I met Li Mingge, and they adopted me... I didn't expect that I would stay in their family for so long. I thought it would only be one or two years... They originally had a son, but he is gone. You should know about this since you went there today?" Li Xuan suddenly asked.
"I guessed it." Sheng Min asked carefully, "Were you adopted after he died?"
"No." Li Xuan shook his head. "When he died, I had been staying at their house for more than a year. He was not in good health. He came to talk to me the night before he died, asking if I could accompany his mother on his behalf if he passed away. I ignored him at the time, but he really died the next day... Li Mingge thought that I was willing to stay at their house all these years because I was waiting for his family business, or because I was afraid of him. He can think whatever he wants, I just don't think it's necessary to break my promise to a dead person."
Already seeing the software park, Li Xuan slowed down the car and turned into the gate: "I originally planned to wait for Zhao Jizhe to come out and confront Li Mingge. This is the time we agreed on. Now that he is gone, I might as well do as he wishes. But since his father is so anxious, there is nothing I can do. Anyway, I have a clear conscience. Even if I run into him one day, I don't owe him anything. As for Li Mingge..." He smiled gently, "You asked me but I'm not worried. To be honest, it would be a bit troublesome. But I knew early on that he wouldn't let me go so easily. Since we are going to have a falling out, the sooner the better. I'm looking forward to it... Are you feeling better now?"
Sheng Min's expression clearly showed no. Li Xuan smiled and sighed, "Forget it, just ask whatever you want to ask... ..Don't frown, and don't look at me like that."
Of course there are still many questions, and Li Xuan's story omitted so many... Why did he run away, why did Li Mingge adopt him, when did Shu Xin go crazy, how could she just mistake him for her son, what is the relationship between Zhao Jizhe and the whole thing... And the scar on Li Xuan's waist...
All the mysteries are still lingering, and Sheng Min knows that this may be the moment when he is closest to the answer. But exposing one's own scars is always too painful, even if Li Xuan seems to be indifferent and arrogant, Sheng Min can't bear to see him feel any pain.
"I don't have anything to ask." He said lightly but seriously, "I just hope you are well."
"Don't be so sentimental. I don't buy it..." Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Li Xuan." Sheng Min gently interrupted him, "If he really causes trouble for you, if, I mean if, you can't solve it, don't resist. Since you said you have a clear conscience, then don't go back to the Li family."
Li Xuan found a parking space downstairs and parked. He still said jokingly, "Why are you so afraid of me going back? It seems that the psychological trauma I left on you today is too big, right? And you still said that everything was fine."
Because you are so good, no one should look down on you. Sheng Min thought secretly, but did not say it, just said: "But you must tell me."
"Why?"
"I'll help you." Sheng Min said softly, "I know nothing about computers, but if you need money or anything else, I've been in the industry for so many years, so I have some..."
"No need." Li Xuan tapped the steering wheel idly and asked him, "Why do you want to help me so much?"
"Didn't you say I was a clay Buddha?"
Li Xuan was stunned, shook his head and laughed softly.
"Okay." Sheng Min didn't smile, but just looked at him with a pair of eyes. The light in her eyes was like a pool of snow water in early spring, dissolving Li Xuan's careless smile. "Promise me."
Li Xuan didn't answer in the end, neither good nor bad.
"Don't worry about me." He said to Sheng Min, and opened the car door, "Get out first."
The author has something to say:
There have been a lot of things happening in the third dimension recently, so this article will be updated slowly. So I won't become a V for the time being, and I will wait until I can update normally. Don't worry, everyone.