After saying goodbye to Shen Tiantian, Zhou Qichen returned to the hotel room and took out his cell phone to see that there were several missed calls. Two were from his mother Wu Miao, and the remaining one was someone he didn't recognize.
He didn't call back Wu Miao, but he called a third unknown number. He was afraid that the person who called him so late at night might have something to do with work and shift scheduling, so he called back immediately.
When the phone rang, he was still relaxed. When he answered it, he called out, "Hello?"
There was silence for a few seconds, so he had to ask again: "Are you there?"
Then finally there was a response.
“… It’s me. Long time no see.”
The call quality was not very good, but Bai Ziyu's voice had been ringing in his headset for eight years, and he probably would never forget it in his life. He just remembered that he had received an email from him a few weeks ago, and he had given him his mobile phone number in the reply. After that, there were too many things to do at work, at home, and in life, and he was worried about it for a few days but didn't receive a call from him, so he temporarily forgot about it.
This time it was his turn to be stuck. After a moment of silence, he replied: "Yeah, it took a long time. I received your email. What's the matter?"
His tone was too polite and too distant, but it didn't seem to affect Bai Ziyu. He said, "I'm going to Beijing in a few days, let's meet. You pick the time."
Bai Ziyu's speech is very special, not only in the voice, but also in the tone and intonation. He has been following his orders for so many years, and he has long been accustomed to it. In his eyes, Bai Ziyu raising his arm or stretching out his hand is an imperative sentence, not "Can we meet?", but "Let's meet right now". Three years have passed, and his first reaction is still to obey. He tried hard to overcome this inertia before he could speak: "Is there something wrong? Is it something about the army?"
Bai Ziyu said: "It's a personal matter. Let's talk about it when we meet. I have something to give you."
Zhou Qichen was silent for a while, then compromised: "Okay. What time will you arrive?"
"I'll send you the date. Oh... and I might bring Taotao along."
Zhou Qichen then remembered that Bai Ziyu had a baby a year after getting married. He didn't add his contact information, but found out through his old comrades. It was a son named Taotao. He had only seen one photo and he looked very much like him.
Zhou Qichen took a deep breath and asked, "Little boy...how old are you?"
Bai Ziyu finally looked more relaxed: "At least he is under three years old, right?"
Zhou Qichen didn't know how to respond to him, so he just said, "Congratulations."
Bai Ziyu said, "Don't be so polite to me. If you have anything to say, just talk when we meet."
When he hung up the phone, Zhou Qichen's heart was beating fast. It wasn't that he was excited, but that he was uneasy. What on earth did he have to give him that made him come to Beijing alone, and even bring his family with him. What did he know? Bai Ziyu was very tight-lipped and didn't often have deep conversations with others. They had known each other for so long in the army, and the words related to feelings were all spoken by Bai Ziyu after he drank too much. In this phone call, he gave him very little information, and there was no way to guess.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Lang Feng took a three-day break and came to Beijing to find him.