There is no evening rush hour on weekends, and there is no traffic jam during the rush hour, but there are many people out for entertainment, and I had to drive around for a while before I found a parking space.
Zhao Jizhe and the real estate agent had already arrived. The several houses they were considering were all in the neighborhood near the Internet cafe. The university town had only been built for a dozen years, so the neighborhoods were all very new, with good overall greenery and facilities. The real estate agent was also very enthusiastic in his introduction. However, the sales pitch was similar, and Li Xuan was not interested. Zhao Jizhe also seemed not very enthusiastic. Along the way, he asked about Li Xuan's recent situation in a roundabout way.
"What do you two think?"
After looking at four or five houses in a row without any response, the agent got a little anxious: "Actually, this one is quite suitable. It's a two-bedroom apartment. It's spacious enough whether you live alone or with friends. The seventh floor is a good height and faces the inner courtyard, so it won't be noisy at all... The one we just looked at is also good. Although it's a bit high, it doesn't matter because it has an elevator. It's well decorated and has great lighting... In short, each of these houses has its own advantages. It depends on what you like... What do you think?"
Zhao Jizhe looked around with a look of anticipation: "Nineteen, which one do you think is good..."
Li Xuan was a little sleepy and pinched the bridge of his nose: "You live by yourself, make your own decisions, you don't need me to think about it."
"I was thinking, if you're not busy at work, you can come and live here... Is your company far from here? Would it be inconvenient for you to live in the company all the time..."
"No need." Li Xuan said directly.
Zhao Jizhe looked at his expression and lowered his voice, unable to conceal his disappointment: "Then let's wait and see."
So he looked at two or three more houses in a hurry. Zhao Jizhe always said, "Okay, let's take a look." The agent's tone was a little urgent: "It's graduation season now, and some houses are on the market. When school starts in September, there will be no houses left. You have to make a decision quickly. Which one do you like? I can also discuss the price with the landlord."
"Well..." Zhao Jizhe looked at Li Xuan for a few more times. Seeing that Li Xuan had no intention of responding, he hesitated and said, "Actually, it's okay not to rent it. How about another day..."
He spoke to the agent, but his eyes never left Li Xuan.
"No, no." The agent got anxious when he heard this. "What's the meaning? I'm about to get off work in the afternoon, but you're in a hurry to see a house, and you have to do it today. We've finally found so many houses, but you don't want them anymore? If there's something wrong, you can explain it. This... What's going on?"
"I said I wanted to see it a long time ago, why today..." Zhao Jizhe looked a little flustered when he heard this.
"Of course not." The agent looked through his phone, "The call records are there..."
"That's enough." Seeing that they were about to argue, Li Xuan pressed the table and asked, "What are you arguing about?"
The two of them were silent for a moment, and Li Xuan stood up: "Let's do this for now, forget about it... ... Don't worry." He took out two hundred yuan from his pocket, stepped forward and handed it to the agent, "I won't look at the house today for now, I'll go back and think about it. It's tiring to make a trip after get off work in such a hot day, buy some water."
"No, this is not about money. You are looking down on me." The agent said unhappily, still looking dissatisfied.
"Then what else do you want to say? You don't want money, but you can talk slowly if you want to reason? That's fine." Li Xuan raised his eyebrows coldly and stepped aside, "Please go ahead."
The agent said nothing and put the money in his pocket.
"Okay." Li Xuan turned around and said coldly to Zhao Jizhe, "Let's go."
After leaving the house, he saw the information in the company group chat popping up non-stop. Zhao Jizhe followed him: "Nineteen."
"I'll take care of things in a moment."
Zhao Jizhe shut up, walked out of the community, saw him put down his phone, and asked him in a low voice: "Are you angry? ... ... Why did you give him money? In the first place, no one stipulates that you have to rent the house after seeing it."
"That's right." Li Xuan nodded and smiled briefly, "Why don't you go back and argue?"
Zhao Jizhe moved his lips, but stood there without saying anything. Li Xuan glanced at him, put one hand in his pocket, turned around and walked away quickly without any warning. Zhao Jizhe came to his senses and jogged to catch up with him: "Where are you going?"
"Go back to the company."
"No, you..." There were children chasing and playing at the gate of the community, completely ignoring the passers-by, so Li Xuan had no choice but to slow down. Zhao Jizhe quickly grabbed his sleeve and said, "Have a meal before leaving..."
"Let go." Li Xuan had no expression on his face. Zhao Jizhe's face turned red with anxiety. Li Xuan lowered his eyes and looked at his sleeves. "There's no need for me to say it a second time, right?"
Zhao Jizhe finally let go: "It's already this late, why don't we just find a store nearby? Besides, didn't you ask me to manage this Internet cafe? I still don't understand a lot of things. Yes, I wanted to ask you..."
Li Xuan looked cold and turned his head to the side. The traffic lights on the other side of the road changed several times. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Let's go back to the restaurant to eat."
I called in advance and when I returned to the Internet cafe, Zhu Zhou had just arranged the dishes for delivery.
"Brother Xuan, Boss, I'll go downstairs to look after the store first?"
"Have you got a meal yet?"
"I ate early."
"Go ahead." Li Xuan nodded.
Zhu Zhou ordered dishes from a nearby seafood restaurant. Li Xuan drank half a bowl of fish soup but didn't have much appetite.
"You don't want to eat anymore?" Zhao Jizhe immediately put down his chopsticks.
"I'm not hungry. Eat by yourself and don't worry about me." He stood up and walked to the window sill and lit a cigarette. The window faced the street, which was dusty and the leaves of the evergreen in the flowerpot had turned gray.
"Whether to rent a house or not, whether to move or not, it's all up to you. I've been with you to see it today, and it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not." Li Xuan's fingertips moved, cigarette ash fell, and his tone was flat, "It's not just about renting a house, it's the same for everything. You don't have to discuss everything with me. You don't have to ask me about the Internet cafe. If you really want to learn, Zhu Zhou knows better than me."
Zhao Jizhe raised his head abruptly when he heard this: "What do you mean?"
Li Xuan exhaled the smoke from his mouth without saying anything.
"You..." He seemed very hurt, "Do you believe what the agent said, and not me..."
"No need to escalate to this level." Li Xuan laughed without any emotion, "If I were not a fool, if you did not think I was a fool, you would not ask this question."
"I, am not..."
Li Xuan put out his cigarette: "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
"Nineteen!" Zhao Jizhe stood up suddenly, and the bowls and plates clinked against each other.
"Sit down and eat your meal." Li Xuan turned his head when he heard the voice. "Zhao Jizhe." He paused. "Until now, I still treat you as a friend. Don't keep wearing out my patience."
Zhu Zhou at the front desk was opening a card for a customer. When he heard Li Xuan's footsteps, he looked up and called out to Brother Xuan: "Do you want some water? What do you want to drink? I'll get it for you."
"No, go do your own thing." Li Xuan walked down the stairs, reached around the table, took out the account book from the drawer, and flipped through it casually while leaning against the bar.
"Brother Xuan, you finished eating so quickly? Did I not order the dishes?" Zhu Zhou saw that he probably had something to say, so he quickly finished the work at hand and looked behind him. He did not see Zhao Jizhe coming down. "Or, do you have something to talk to me about?"
"It's okay." Li Xuan raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Why are you so nervous?"
"No." Zhu Zhou scratched the back of his head.
"I've been busy lately and haven't been here much. Is the store okay?"
"It's pretty good, except that the schools around here are basically on summer vacation, except for the Teachers College, which will be next week. Most of the students have gone home, so the customer flow is definitely not as good as last month. But it's like this every holiday, and things will get better when school starts... I went to a few Internet cafes around us a few days ago and took a look around, and the situation was pretty much the same. We still have the most people."
"It's okay, it's all normal." Li Xuan nodded and asked, "Have you gotten used to it recently?"
"Ah?" Zhu Zhou was stunned.
Li Xuan continued to flip through the account book, and said casually: "I say, how do you feel about having a new boss?"
"It's fine, there's not much difference." Zhu Zhou didn't have any defenses. "Brother Zhao doesn't restrict me much. We just chat occasionally. We get along well."
"What are you talking about?" Li Xuan asked casually.
"It's just..." Zhu Zhou just said two words, and suddenly stopped talking as if waking up from a dream. He met Li Xuan's eyes and smiled awkwardly, "It's nothing. I don't know many of the things Brother Zhao asked."
Li Xuan hummed nonchalantly, "The electricity bill hasn't dropped recently, has it?"
"No." He suddenly changed the subject, and Zhu Zhou was a little overwhelmed.
"Last month's electricity bill was recorded incorrectly," Li Xuan pushed the account book in front of him, "If one machine is not turned on, the air conditioner and lights will cost more than this amount in a month."
Zhu Zhou quickly took a look and flipped through the invoice to check. It turned out that he had made a mistake. The accounting information entered into the computer was also wrong. He was a little embarrassed: "Brother Xuan, I thought you were just flipping through it for fun."
"I can find mistakes just by flipping through them... I should be more careful in keeping accounts. If they don't match at the end of the month, I will have to settle them again to save myself trouble."
Zhu Zhou nodded repeatedly: "Hey."
"Has your boss looked at the accounts?"
"It's only the middle of the month."
"I haven't asked you to learn anything about computer maintenance?"
Zhu Zhou obviously didn't know about this: "I don't think he has time... Maybe he sees that I'm busy too. I'll ask Brother Zhao tomorrow?"
"No need." Li Xuan shook his head. "If he doesn't mention it, you don't have to ask."
"Oh, sure."
"There's nothing else to say." Li Xuan thought for a moment, "Starting this month, give your salary an extra 500. You haven't had a salary increase in half a year. If he asks, just say it was me who said it."
"No thanks." Zhu Zhou declined with some hesitation, "My salary is higher than other network administrators."
“You also do more than others.”
"Thank you, Brother Xuan."
"Don't thank me. If you make the same mistake again next time, I'll deduct your salary."
Zhu Zhou chuckled twice: "No, I will definitely not make the same mistake again."
"Keep busy. I'm leaving first." Li Xuan handed him the account book.
"I send you."
Zhu Zhou followed him to the door. Li Xuan raised his hand to open the air-conditioning curtain and stopped again: "Oh, there is one more thing."
"Brother Xuan, you go ahead."
Li Xuan paused for a moment before speaking: "I remember you are a local? Is your home in the city center?"
"Yes, my grandmother still lives there. I went to elementary and middle school nearby. But it wasn't the center before. When I was a child, Binjiang Road was not well built, so there were floods every summer. Many people moved away if they could. Later, the floods were solved, and the city government moved here, and that area became valuable."
"Are you familiar with the surroundings?" Li Xuan asked, "Some old shops or something like that."
"Store?" Zhu Zhou wrinkled his nose in confusion. "I'm familiar with that area anyway. Even if I don't know, my grandma should know. Brother Xuan, are you looking for something?"
Li Xuan nodded: "There is something I need you to find out for me."
When he was two blocks away from the Software Park, Li Xuan was sure that he was being followed.
The taxi appeared in his rearview mirror shortly after he got off the overpass. At first, there were many cars, so Li Xuan didn't pay much attention and changed to a smaller road. With less cover, it immediately became more obvious. He squinted his eyes slightly and saw the familiar last digit on the license plate. It was indeed the one he had seen at the beginning. He sneered, stepped on the accelerator, and turned into the alley next to him.
"It's gone, what happened?" The driver slowed down and muttered.
Zhao Jizhe sat up straight and looked out of the car from the gap in the front seat: "Wasn't it just in front of us?"
"Yeah, it disappeared after turning a corner." The driver felt a little guilty and lowered his voice.
“Is there any business around here?”
"Here... there isn't any."
"Forget it, stop the car first."
Zhao Jizhe hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car. The driver turned around and said, "Hey, let's talk about this. If you don't catch up, you have to pay the fare for driving such a long distance."
Zhao Jizhe didn't bother to answer, and walked forward, looking around. He was so anxious and focused that he didn't even notice when there was a person behind him, until Li Xuan's cold voice sounded: "What are you looking for?"
The wind seemed to blow at the entrance of the alley out of nowhere. Zhao Jizhe froze unconsciously for a moment. When he came to his senses, his first reaction was to get back in the car. Li Xuan held the car door with one hand and pulled him down by the arm.
"What are you doing?" Li Xuan pushed Zhao Jizhe hard, and he crashed into the wall next to him with a muffled sound. Li Xuan looked at him, veins popped up on the side of his neck, and his chest rose and fell twice. He raised his voice suddenly, "I asked you what's wrong with you?!"
Zhao Jizhe stood there like a wooden log, and the taxi driver was shocked. He didn't dare to get out of the car. After watching the stalemate for a long time, he finally lowered the window and stuck his head out: "What are you doing, young man? If you have something to say, please talk to me nicely..."
"It's none of your business!"
"No." The driver choked, "This guy hasn't paid yet."
Li Xuan took a deep breath, and with a cold face, he went over to take out his phone and paid the fare. The driver took the money and drove away quickly. The dust rolled up the fallen leaves at the end of the alley, swirling in the air and falling down again.
"Nineteen." Zhao Jizhe walked over slowly with his arm hurt from the collision, and called him in a trembling voice.
"Can you tell me what you think?" Li Xuan felt his nerves throbbing when he heard his voice. "I'm asking you? Hmm? I said all those things in vain, right? You can't listen or don't want to listen? Why are you following me?"
He recalled the moment he saw Zhao Jizhe getting off the car to look for him, and suddenly remembered Shu Xin back then, that perverted desire for control. It was as if a cold worm was crawling across his spine, making him feel indescribably sick.
"I don't mean anything else..."
"You don't need to have any other meaning." Li Xuan's Adam's apple moved, "Your current behavior is beyond my understanding."
Zhao Jizhe seemed to be out of breath: "I just feel that we are getting further and further apart... My parents gave birth to me and abandoned me at the door of an orphanage. The children born with me were adopted one after another. I only have you as my relative and friend. Now, if you abandon me too..."
"Stop talking, that's enough." Li Xuan interrupted abruptly, not wanting to give him a chance to explain, frowning, "So what if I don't have parents? Do I have any? From the moment you fell out of your mother's belly, you no longer needed the umbilical cord to provide nutrition! Who can't you live without? ... ... I abandoned you, I don't care about you? Which of the following did I not arrange for you, work, money, and accommodation? I don't owe you anything, Zhao Jizhe! How else can I care about you?"
"Do you think I'm a burden now?" Zhao Jizhe looked at him in despair as if he had been punched in the face. "Yes, you said it last time, but I didn't hear it... But Nineteen." He gritted his teeth, and the skin on his thin face was shaking. "You were the one who asked me if I wanted to go with you."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Li Xuan looked at him as if he had seen a ghost: "What did you say?" He shrugged his shoulders and laughed softly. For a very short moment, he said: "Zhao Jizhe, I rarely regret anything, including letting you leave the orphanage with me. Now it seems that I might have been wrong."
Zhao Jizhe realized that he had said the wrong thing, and was at a loss and panic: "Nineteen, I, I'm sorry... I just want to know how you are doing now, that's all. I treat you as my own brother, I care about you, and I don't want us to be estranged..."
It was hot, and the cicadas chirped in the summer night, and Zhao Jizhe's endless defense was mixed in, which seemed equally noisy. The tall trees on both sides of the road cast shadows of varying depths over the fence. Li Xuan stood in the dark with his lips pursed, without saying a word. Not far away, the street lamps were in disrepair and were about to fall down. It was hard to tell at which second that the dim light would go out.
"Okay." After a while, he spoke. His tone returned to normal. "That's all, right? Okay."
It was not far from the software park, and the gate was in sight in a quarter of an hour. Li Xuan did not speak on the way, but his mood did not seem to be affected too much. He parked the car and even packed a bowl of sashimi porridge at the door.
"Brother Xuan." The administrator happened to have packed up his things and was about to leave. When he saw him bringing people in, he immediately put down his bag and prepared to make tea.
"No need." Li Xuan saw her intention, "You can go home now."
"Oh, okay, then I'll leave first." The administrator nodded politely to Zhao Jize and walked around them and left the company.
There were still two or three employees working overtime in the hall. They looked up when they heard the noise and then continued to work on their own things. Zhao Jizhe looked at the company's decoration curiously and cautiously. He wanted to ask Li Xuan, but he didn't dare to speak rashly.
"Don't you want to know about my current life? Just walk around." After saying this, Li Xuan went straight back to the office.
I had a short online meeting with the platform staff regarding the server issues. Just as I was pulling up the progress summary sheets for each group today, the office door rang.
"Have you finished reading?" Li Xuan raised his head.
Zhao Jizhe walked lightly, standing half a meter in front of his desk. He hummed like a mosquito, paused for a moment, and asked hesitantly, "Nineteen, did you open this company?"
"right."
Zhao Jizhe looked hesitant, and it was clear that he still had many questions to ask. But facing Li Xuan's gaze, which was as deep and inscrutable as a deep pool, he finally gave up asking any more questions.
"I, then I'll go back." Zhao Jizhe licked his lips.
Li Xuan said nothing. Zhao Jizhe stood there for a while, turned around and was about to leave when Li Xuan called him.
"Do you remember Aunt Xu from the orphanage? The one who loved to scold people." Li Xuan had a blank expression.
Zhao Jizhe didn't understand what Li Xuan meant by this, but when he heard Li Xuan mention the days in the orphanage, he thought that he was no longer angry, and a hint of joy appeared on his face: "Nineteen, why are you talking about her? I remember her, how could I not remember her? In the past, we..."
"She particularly likes to say one thing." Li Xuan said slowly.
Zhao Jizhe was stunned: "... What?"
Li Xuan slid his chair back a little, stood up, walked over to him, lowered his eyes slightly and looked at him for a long time, then smiled: "Every time a new aunt comes in, she will tell the newcomer in front of all the children, especially loudly, not to be too nice to the children in the orphanage... ... A little kindness will bring resentment."
In just a moment, the smile on Zhao Jizhe's face froze, and after a long while, he finally looked into Li Xuan's eyes. However, there was no anger in his eyes, and it seemed more like tolerance.
"I don't believe this." Li Xuan said calmly.
Zhao Jizhe looked at him for a moment, then looked away at the ground without any reaction. After a long silence, he left.
The author has something to say:
See you in the next chapter