"I'm at the airport."
Jiang Zhixia's voice came from the phone, her tone more gentle than ever before.
Xia Zhi moved the phone away and pinched his slightly itchy ear. His mood had not yet completely calmed down, and his language system was still a little confused. After a long while, he replied dryly: "Yeah."
Jiang Zhixia laughed nonchalantly from the other end of the line. "Xiao Chi will be there later and bring you food. He has an access card, so just stay home and wait."
Xia Zhi wanted to force the sound through his nose again, but felt that it seemed a little impolite, so he opened his mouth to speak.
"knew."
"I'm going to go through security now. I'll call you when I get there."
"good."
"wait me back."
"Um… "
Xia Zhi hung up the phone. The heat from the tip of his ear had spread to his cheek, and his heartbeat was extremely fast. He gently patted his hot cheeks twice, trying to cool his face in this way. Just because Jiang Zhixia hugged him before he went out, his heartbeat never dropped below 120. As time passed, his heartbeat had slowly calmed down, but at this moment he received a call from Jiang Zhixia.
Jiang Zhixia did not hide her love through a mobile phone. Her voice was extremely gentle, and Xia Zhi felt his ears tingling, as if someone was scratching his ears with a feather. The last sentence, "Wait for me to come back", directly raised his heart rate back to 120, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
Xia Zhi sat on the sofa holding his phone, staring at the chandelier above his head in a trance. After an unknown amount of time, he came to his senses, picked up his phone and called Sang Luo.
After waiting for a minute, the call was still not connected. Xia Zhi was not too surprised by this result. He hung up the phone calmly and leaned back on the sofa, continuing to be in a daze.
About five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Xia Zhi got up and opened the door.
The person knocking on the door was a slightly plump young man with a round face and curly hair, and he didn't look very old.
When the young man saw Xia Zhi, he introduced himself with a smile: "Hello, Teacher Xia, I am Brother Zhi Xia's assistant, Jiang Chi."
Xia Zhi was a little surprised: "Your last name is Jiang too?"
"Yes, Brother Zhixia and I are relatives. Strictly speaking, I should call him my uncle. My great-grandfather and his great-grandfather are half-brothers." The young man pursed his lips, smiling a little shyly, "But Brother Zhixia said that our age difference is not big, and there is no need to be so particular in public, so he asked me to just call him brother."
Xia Zhi blinked. He couldn't figure out the relationship in such a short time. He didn't want to bother to figure it out, so he let him go into the house first.
Jiang Chi entered the house, found his usual indoor slippers and put them on as if he was familiar with the place. He first handed dinner to Xia Zhi, and then carried another large bag into the kitchen.
Xia Zhi sat at the dining table and ate, turning around from time to time to glance at Jiang Chi who was busy in the kitchen.
In addition to buying dinner for Xia Zhi, Jiang Chi also purchased some fruits and vegetables, and the originally empty refrigerator suddenly became much fuller.
Xia Zhi was a little puzzled. When Jiang Chi came out of the kitchen, she couldn't help asking, "Didn't Jiang Zhixia join the crew to film? Why did she buy so many vegetables?"
Jiang Chi seemed puzzled as well, tilting his head and looking at him several times: "Isn't Teacher Xia going to live here?"
"Prepared for me?"
"Yes." Jiang Chi explained, "Brother Zhixia said that you will be staying here for a while, so he asked me to buy some vegetables and fruits to put in the refrigerator."
"It's okay if you don't prepare anything. I'll just stay for a few days." Xia Zhi said a little embarrassedly, "Besides, I'm not very good at cooking."
"I know. Brother Zhixia told me everything." Jiang Chi said with a smile, "So he asked me to come over to cook for you every day at noon starting tomorrow. It's not healthy to eat takeout all the time."
"Come and cook for me?" Xia Zhi refused repeatedly, "No need to be so troublesome, I can go out to eat, there's really no need for you to come and cook for me, it's too much trouble."
"It's not a problem." Jiang Chi smiled and waved his hand. "I live nearby. It only takes five minutes to walk here. Besides, this is my job. I'm used to it. It's not a problem at all."
Xia Zhi asked with some concern: "Do you often help him cook?"
"When we're on the set," Jiang Chi took out a freshly bought watermelon from the refrigerator and cut it on the chopping board. "Sometimes when I'm tired from filming, I'll make him some healthy soup. But when he's not filming and at home, Zhixia cooks for himself and I help buy groceries."
"Is that so?" Xia Zhi asked again, "By the way, why didn't you go with him when he joined the crew to film?"
"We were supposed to go together. But my dad hasn't been feeling well these days, so Brother Zhixia asked me to stay home and take care of him for a few days. I'll go there when my dad is feeling better." Jiang Chi handed him a slice of the cut watermelon and said with a smile, "By the way, let me be at your service."
Xia Zhi took the watermelon and thanked him: "Just take care of your dad. There's nothing to take care of here. I'll just stay for a few days and then I'll leave."
Seeing his firm attitude, Jiang Chi did not say anything, but insisted on coming to cook for him every day, saying that this was something Jiang Zhixia had told him many times and he had to follow it. Xia Zhixia could not argue with him and could only nod and agree.
After Xia Zhi finished dinner, Jiang Chi started cleaning the house again. Jiang Zhixia hadn't been home for half a month, and when she came back the day before yesterday, she had planned to stay for only two nights before leaving again, so she hadn't cleaned the house much. But now Xia Zhi would have to stay here for a while, and it wouldn't be suitable if the house was too dirty, so she prepared to clean it carefully.
"Teacher Xia, there's a lot of dust in the living room. Please go sit in the bedroom for a while. It will be done soon."
"It's okay, let's clean together." When Xia Zhi was still in the entertainment industry, she didn't have an assistant because the group was too obscure, so she had to do everything by herself. Later, when she retired and went abroad to study, she had to rely on herself for everything. She really couldn't just sit there with her hands folded and wait to enjoy the fruits of other people's labor, so she said she would help no matter what.
Jiang Chi tried to persuade both sides but found that he could not persuade them and gave up. He wrung out a wet rag for Xia Zhi and asked him to help clean the coffee table and cabinet. Xia Zhi did not mind and took the rag and started to work.
Jiang Chi couldn't help but sigh: "Teacher Xia, you are really different from those celebrities in the circle."
Xia Zhi laughed: "I have retired from the entertainment industry. I am just an ordinary person."
"Eh?" Jiang Chi was quite surprised. "Now that Victoria is popular again, doesn't Teacher Xia want to come back? All my friends have become your fans after watching the show."
Xia Zhidan smiled and said, "My life is pretty good now, I don't want to struggle anymore."
"That's right," Jiang Chishen said in agreement, "You're now a university teacher, it's a stable job, and it also has a high social status, so it's good not to return to the entertainment industry. Although this circle looks glamorous, but privately... ah, it's a mess."
"Have you seen it?" Xia Zhi continued with a smile.
"Yes, but not too much." Jiang Chi was a chatterbox who could chat with anyone, especially gossiping. Seeing Xia Zhi was interested, he immediately opened up. "I've been following Brother Zhixia for less than three months, but I can't finish talking about everything I've seen in three days. Many of them were really destructive. Since then, I no longer believe in the personalities of celebrities."
Xia Zhi slowed down the speed of wiping the table and asked him jokingly: "Even your brother doesn't believe it?"
"He doesn't count! He is a rare talent in the entertainment industry! He is usually either filming on the set or resting at home. If it is not a very important event, he will postpone it if possible." Jiang Chi paused for a second or two here. He knew that Jiang Zhixia was not here, but he subconsciously lowered his voice. "In fact, Zhixia is a very boring person in private. He is bored and stays at home. He doesn't like to party with friends or go out to travel. So, Teacher Xia must be a very good friend of my Zhixia."
Xia Zhi was stunned, and for a moment he didn't understand how he came to this final conclusion based on the previous words.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you are the first friend to stay overnight at his house. And he is willing to lend you his house even when Brother Zhixia is not at home, so he must trust you very much." Jiang Chi took a sip of water and continued, "Besides, if you two don't have a good relationship, he would not have gone to Y City to see you."
Xia Zhi was stunned: "He has been to Y City? When?"
"It was in June. The show hadn't been finalized yet. Chuanxing came to ask Zhixia for a date, but Zhixia didn't agree immediately. He said he would think about it first and sent him back. Then one day he suddenly drove to Y City without saying hello. When I called him, he had already arrived. At that time, I was wondering what he was doing in Y City. Later, when the show was broadcast and I heard that Teacher Xia was from Y City, I realized it."
Seeing Xia Zhi's increasingly confused expression, Jiang Chi's tone gradually became uncertain, "How come Teacher Xia, you don't know about this? Didn't Brother Zhi Xia go to see you?"
Xia Zhi shook his head blankly: "I don't know, I haven't seen him either."
"Ah..." Jiang Chi scratched his head and pondered for a long time, "Maybe you changed your mind after you got there. I remember that day didn't seem to be a weekend. Maybe Brother Zhixia didn't want to disturb you from work."
Xia Zhi didn't express any opinion either.
Jiang Chi left after cleaning the house and agreed to come back tomorrow at noon. He originally planned to come in the morning, but Xia Zhi thought it was too much trouble, so he asked him to come at noon.
Before Jiang Zhixia boarded the plane, he told Xia Zhi that he would call him when he arrived at his destination. At 9:55 pm, Xia Zhi really received his call.
"I'm in City C." Jiang Zhixia seemed to have just got off the plane. Besides his voice, there was also the sound of luggage wheels rolling on the phone.
"Oh." At this time, Xia Zhi was already lying on the bed reading a book, but after receiving Jiang Zhixia's call, he sat up again, his back straight, and his face still looked a little uncomfortable and awkward.
Jiang Zhixia was calm as usual, and reported her next schedule: "I just left the airport, and now I'm going to the hotel. I'll meet with the director later. The filming will start tomorrow."
"So anxious?"
"Well, the schedule has been set, and we can't delay it any longer." Jiang Zhixia's tone softened, "We'll be busy in the next few days after the filming starts, and I may not be able to call you every day."
"Ahem," Xia Zhi rubbed his ears and said calmly, "It's okay. Work is important. Let's put other things aside."
There was a sudden silence on the phone, but Xia Zhi didn't rush and just waited patiently.
Jiang Zhixia spoke again after a long while, her voice a little soft. "It will take about half a year to finish filming this drama."
"Um."
After waiting for more than ten seconds, Jiang Zhixia asked on the phone in a negotiating manner: "Half a year is a bit long, can the time limit be shortened a bit?"
Xia Zhi unconsciously revealed a subtle smile: "How much do you want to shorten it?"
"Two months is okay?" The tone of negotiation in his words was stronger. Perhaps because he was afraid that Xia Zhi would refuse, he explained in a very soft voice, "Three months is a bit long. I don't think you will agree to one month."
Xia Zhi tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise, and replied with a single word.
"oh."
Xia Zhi reminded calmly: "I only promised you to shorten the time limit to two months." As for the rest, he did not agree.
But even with this, Jiang Zhixia was already very happy, and an obvious chuckle came from the phone.
"It's okay, I'll wait for you." He spoke again in a gentle tone.
"oh."
"The crew's car is here to pick me up. I'm going to hang up now. I'll call you next time."
"Yeah." Xia Zhi pursed her lips, and finally said this hesitantly a second before Jiang Zhixia was about to hang up the phone, "Pay attention to rest, don't be too tired."
"Okay, I will. You too."
Although he couldn't see it through the phone, but from the rising tone, Xia Zhi could imagine that the man on the other end of the phone was probably grinning to his temples. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but raise his mouth.
Not long after ending the call with Jiang Zhixia, Sang Luo called back.
Xia Zhi was a little surprised, thinking that Sang Luo would have to wait until tomorrow morning to see the call, so after answering the call, he couldn't help but joked, "Are you not busy tonight or are you on halftime?"
"…" Sang Luo was choked for a moment, and suspected that this guy was avenging him for saying that he and Jiang Zhixia were not good enough. "Why do you make me sound like I do that all day long?"
"Isn't it?" Xia Zhi continued to provoke him, "Didn't you say that you left your man alone for half a month and made him feel suffocated? Why are you taking a break now? Is it you or your man who is not good enough?"
"..." Sang Luo was sure that this guy was just seeking revenge for what happened during the day, so he tried to keep his composure and not fall for his tricks. "You're still in the mood to tease me. It seems like you're in a good mood. You're not so happy just because Chiang Kai-shek is gone, are you?"
Xia Zhi didn't take the bait and changed the subject: "What's the matter with you calling?"
"Didn't you call me first?"
Xia Zhi hesitated and said, "It's okay now."
"You just want to play a trick on me, right?" Sang Luo was almost laughing out of anger. "What's the matter? Is it related to the veteran again?"
Xia Zhi scratched his face innocently and squeezed out a very light "hmm" from his nose.
"What's going on?" Sang Luo became interested. "What did Lao Jiang do again?"
"On the way back, he asked me to get back together." After the initial awkwardness passed, Xia Zhi no longer hid things, because there were some things he really needed to talk to others, and Sang Luo was the only person he could talk to.
"Did you agree?" Sang Luo asked.
"Not yet," Xia Zhi said with his shoulders drooped. "He told me to think about it and give him an answer in two months."
"What are you still considering?" Sang Luo said bluntly, "Just agree to it and it's all over."
"I… "
"Don't tell me you still want to refuse," Sang Luo interrupted him, "If you really don't want to, there's no way you'll agree to let him think about it for two months. You'll have to agree sooner or later anyway, so why do you have to wait for two months?"
"He said he would give me time to think about it, so why should I make a decision right away?" Xia Zhi lay on the bed, picked up a pillow and stuffed it into his arms, mumbling to the person on the other end of the phone, "Besides, I've been single for so long, I need some time to adapt."
"From what you said, you have decided now?" Sang Luo chuckled, "Are you planning to be together in two months?"
Xia Zhi put the pillow behind his head, looked up at the light above his head, and did not deny it out loud.
Sang Luo just smiled and said nothing more.
After that, the two started chatting about other topics for half an hour, and ended the call when Xia Zhi's bedtime came.
After chatting with Sang Luo for a while, Xia Zhi felt a lot more relaxed. He rolled back and forth on the bed with his pillow in his arms twice before closing his eyes contentedly.
Unlike last night when she couldn't sleep, this night, Xia Zhi lay on the bed filled with Jiang Zhixia's scent and fell asleep quickly. In her sleep, the corners of her mouth silently raised a faint arc.
The next day at noon, Jiang Chi came to cook for Xia Zhi as promised. Although Jiang Chi repeatedly emphasized that this was his job, Xia Zhi still felt bad and always felt that he should do something.
The day after Jiang Chi came to cook, Xia Zhi invited him to sit down and eat together. At the table, Xia Zhi chatted with him.
"I heard that you are preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination?"
Jiang Chi was stunned for a moment before nodding blankly and said, "Yes, I have this plan. I took the exam in the second half of my senior year last year, but I didn't pass. I felt a little unwilling and wanted to try again."
"Where do you want to apply to?" Xia Zhi calmly picked up a piece of vegetable with chopsticks and ate it with rice.
"G."
"What's the direction?"
"Comparative literature and world literature." Jiang Chi smiled a little embarrassedly, "I'm not good at math, physics and chemistry, but I'm more interested in literature."
"Very good." Xia Zhi commented calmly. After finishing the last bite of the meal, he put down his chopsticks, took a piece of paper and wiped his mouth elegantly, raised his head and said to Jiang Chi: "Everything should be done in a polite and courteous manner. How about this, you cook for me and I will help you with your tutoring."
Jiang Chi opened his mouth and didn't come back to his senses for a long time: "You, you help me with the tutoring?!"
"Yeah." Xia Zhi calmly held his glasses and said, "Although my major is not this, there is some overlap in our research areas. I am also quite interested in this area and have dabbled in this subject. I think tutoring you should be enough."
Jiang Chi opened his mouth in shock.
That afternoon, the two began one-on-one tutoring for the postgraduate entrance examination.
From that day on, Jiang Chi spent significantly more time at Jiang Zhixia's house, and his arrival time was also advanced to 8:30 in the morning. After Xia Zhixia finished eating the breakfast he bought, the morning tutoring officially started at 9 o'clock. There was a two-hour lunch break at noon, and the afternoon tutoring started again at 1:30 in the afternoon. The tutoring officially ended at 6 o'clock in the evening, and Jiang Chi went home after dinner.
Originally, Xia Zhi was worried about having nothing to do in City A, but now that she has found a proper job by tutoring Jiang Chi every day, she feels at ease staying at Jiang Zhixia's house.
Jiang Zhixia had to shoot dozens of scenes every day. He had to rush to work as soon as he opened his eyes in the morning and finished work late at night. He was busy like a top and had no time to rest. He had originally agreed to call Xia Zhixia when he had time, but they only talked once a week, and they were forced to stop talking after less than five minutes.
Xia Zhi didn't say anything. When Jiang Zhixia called him, he would answer. When she didn't call him, he would just do his own thing. There were a few times when he wanted to call her, but when he thought about how Jiang Zhixia went out early and came back late and had to squeeze in time for meals, he gave up. He couldn't bear to disturb his precious rest time.
As the days passed, Xia Zhi would go to the hospital to visit Uncle Hua every few days, and usually stay at home to tutor Jiang Chi. Before she knew it, she had been living in Jiang Zhixia's house for half a month, and the day for Uncle Hua's surgery was approaching.
On the twelfth day, her younger sister Sheng Yingying called from home. They had returned from visiting relatives two days ago, and she thought her brother had returned from recording the show a long time ago. But when she went to the house, she found that there was no one there, and there was a layer of dust on the table. It looked like no one had lived there for a long time, so she called to ask what was going on.
Xia Zhi told her sister about Uncle Hua and Aunt Hua.
"So you have to wait until Uncle Hua finishes the surgery before you can go home?" Sheng Yingying asked.
"Well," Xia Zhi told her sister, "At least wait until Uncle Hua's condition stabilizes."
"So where do you live now?" Sheng Yingying asked excitedly, "Are you living in the mansion of your big boss teammate again?"
"No, I didn't stay at his house this time."
"Is that the home of the stupid beauty teammate?" Sheng Yingying knew that if his brother went to City A, he would usually stay at the homes of these two teammates. Cheng Yunan had a wife and daughter at home, so he usually wouldn't disturb them.
"Neither." Xia Zhi answered hesitantly this time, because after eliminating the two answers that seemed most like the correct answer, his curious sister would definitely get to the bottom of it.
As expected, Sheng Yingying then curiously asked, "Which teammate's house are you staying at this time? It's impossible that you don't stay at Cheng Yunan's house. You never stay there."
"Well, I didn't live in his house either."
"You are not one of the three teammates, so where else can you live..." Sheng Yingying's voice stopped abruptly, and after a long while she asked sharply, "Are you living in my boyfriend's house?"
Xia Zhi reached out and touched the tip of his nose without denying it.
“Hiss—” Sheng Yingying took an exceptionally long breath. After a brief moment of shock, she fell into ecstasy again. “Turn on the video! Turn on the video! I want to see my idol! Look at my husband!”
"He's not at home. He's on set filming," Xia Zhi explained, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I'm just staying at his house temporarily."
Sheng Yingying asked in a low voice, "Then can you let me see what my idol's parents look like?"
"It's very ordinary, nothing to see." Xia Zhi looked at the room with disdain, "Just a few big white walls, and some regular furniture, that's it." Finally, he commented, "Your taste in men is average, not as good as mine."
"Bullshit!" Sheng Yingying retorted excitedly, "My male god has excellent taste and a great sense of clothes!"
Seeing how much his sister admired Jiang Zhixia, Xia Zhi wanted to slander him a little more, but suddenly thought of something and changed his words: "Some of his tastes are good." For example, in finding a partner.
"Really?" Sheng Yingying had no idea of her brother's little thoughts. She thought he was agreeing with her and was quite proud of it. "Don't you even look at who that is? That's my destined husband!"
Xia Zhi remained calm, her eyebrows moved slightly, and she sincerely suggested: "I advise you to change your husband as soon as possible."
Sheng Yingying was puzzled: "Why?"
Xia Zhi said something shocking: "Because his house is about to collapse."
"Oh!" Sheng Yingying took a breath and asked in a trembling voice, "Did he evade taxes or sleep with someone?"
(End of this chapter)