At six o'clock the next morning, Tang Zhi carried his packed luggage and got into the car waiting downstairs on time, because Xu Keyu made a wish to his brother: he wanted to see Tang Zhi when he woke up.
The car drove smoothly onto the highway. Tang Zhi sat in the back seat, looking at the gray sky outside the car window, passively escaping, unwilling to think about what would happen when he arrived at Xu Sheng's house in another two hours.
After all, Tang Zhi didn't want to see Xu Keyu at all.
The last time he saw Xu Keyu was a month ago.
At that time, in order to avoid her, he applied to the company to change a branch, changed his residence and mobile phone number, thinking that he could live a stable life for a while, but he did not expect that within a week, she came to find him.
On her way home from the evening shift, she blocked Tang Zhi's path and said softly to him: "Finally I found you."
Xu Keyu was wearing a tweed skirt and held Tang Zhi's sleeves with his pampered hands.
"We can go home," she said, "and no one will be against us anymore."
The irritability and powerlessness overwhelmed Tang Zhi. He looked down at Xu Keyu and said helplessly: "If you are fucking sick, go to the hospital to treat your brain. Can you let me go?"
But Xu Keyu turned a deaf ear and still tugged at the corner of his clothes, thinking to himself: "You know, my brother agreed and he will help us."
While holding Tang Zhi, she looked across the street.
Tang Zhi followed her gaze and saw a black limousine parked at the corner, with two bodyguards standing beside the car.
Tang Zhi's heart sank, and he took his hand out of hers and said, "What's the use of your brother's consent? Have you ever asked me if I agree?"
Xu Keyu looked at him for a few seconds and suddenly gestured to the bodyguards across the street, as if asking them to help.
Tang Zhi immediately took two steps back cautiously, then turned around and ran away.
He ran very fast, turned around and went into an alley, climbed over a low iron door, and hid in a convenience store. He stayed in the convenience store for a while, making sure that no one was following him outside, then walked out and walked back to his newly rented house through the path.
It was also that night, standing under the flickering voice-activated light, Tang Zhi took out the key and opened the door, and suddenly made up his mind to leave Bingang.
- Of course, resistance was in vain. After a few weeks of leaving, Tang Zhi came back willingly.
Because Xu Keyu came from a wealthy family and had an elder brother with great powers, even his tears were more expensive than Tang Zhi's.
But it doesn't matter, as long as it has value, Tang Zhi can accept it as a human or a dog. If he could really get his mother out of prison, Xu Sheng asked him to kneel down and marry Xu Keyu. Tang Zhi immediately fell to his knees.
The sky is getting brighter, and a little halo of the sun shines through the light iron-grey clouds. Tang Zhi withdrew his gaze and stared at the black leather seat back of the passenger seat in a daze.
"Mr. Tang." The driver suddenly said, and Tang Zhi was suddenly startled.
"Jiangzhu, please look at your phone," the driver said.
Tang Zhi was stunned for a moment, then said "Oh" and picked up the silent cell phone. He saw three missed calls from Jiang Yan and an unread text message on the screen.
He opened the text message first, and Jiang Yan sent it to him: The lady is awake and losing her temper. She wants to talk to you on the phone. Please call back as soon as you see the text message.
Tang Zhi stared at the screen of his phone, but before he pressed the callback button, another call came in, from an unknown number.
"Mr. Tang, please answer the phone." The driver said from the front.
Tang Zhi glanced at him and quietly pressed answer.
Xu Keyu's thin and gentle voice came from the receiver: "Hello?"
"Tang Zhi?" She sounded extremely happy and asked gently on the other end, "Is that you?"
Tang Zhi didn't know how to communicate with Xu Keyu, so he said "hmm" and fell silent again.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu Keyu said, "Why do you sound unhappy? We are getting married!"
Listening to her excited voice, Tang Zhi held the phone tightly and said, "No, I'm very happy."
"Mr. Tang?" The driver looked ahead and drove, but his right hand was stretched out behind his back, holding a Bluetooth headset between his two fingers. "Please put it on and answer the phone."
Tang Zhi took it and put it on without saying a word, and Jiang Yan's voice came from the earphones.
"Mr. Tang, can you coax her?" Jiang Yan sounded helpless, "Just say some sweet words."
Tang Zhi had no experience in love and didn't like women. He didn't know what coaxing was. He thought about it again and again before saying to Xu Keyu: "Baby, I'm almost at Bingang and I'm about to get off the highway."
"Really?" Xu Keyu cheered happily, "I'll change my clothes right away. What color do you want me to wear?"
Tang Zhi paused and hesitated: "What color..."
"Is pink okay?" Jiang Yan seemed to be asking for someone's opinion. After getting the other person's approval, he told Tang Zhi, "Okay, let's go pink."
Tang Zhi immediately relayed: "Then pink."
"Okay... I miss you so much," Xu Keyu expressed his love to Tang Zhi warmly, "What about you?"
Tang Zhi was silent again.
His reason knew that he should say "I miss you too" immediately, but his emotions didn't want to say it.
And Xu Keyu waited quietly for Tang Zhi to speak. The sound of gentle breathing reached Tang Zhi's ears through radio waves. Just breathing seemed to carry the breath of happiness.
Just when Tang Zhi's lips parted and he was about to answer, someone suddenly spoke to him in the earphones.
"Tang Zhi," it was Xu Sheng, "say you miss her too. If possible, show some emotion."
Xu Sheng's voice was actually very cold and low-pitched, and there was a gentle arrogance in his use of imperative sentences, which made it difficult for Tang Zhi, a newly appointed special employee.
Tang Zhi didn't speak immediately, he was brewing emotions in his heart.
Because he actually didn't want anyone, he mentally imagined the person on the other end of the phone to be his mother. He hasn't seen his mother in weeks.
He thought: Mom, I miss you very much.
Then he said to Xu Keyu: "I miss you too."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Sheng said to Tang Zhi, "Not bad."
"Thank you for keeping her quiet." Xu Sheng's tone did not rise and fall, which made Tang Zhi feel that his thanks were not very sincere.
"Yes, Mr. Xu," Tang Zhi replied politely, reminding him by the way, "This is my responsibility. After all, Mr. Xu has to help me so much."
Xu Sheng didn't reply, and Jiang Yan was on the other end of the phone.
Jiang Yan told Tang Zhi some things he should pay special attention to after moving to Xu's house, and Tang Zhi recorded them one by one.
Jiang Yan then told Tang Zhi that there might be loopholes in his mother's case ruling that could be exploited. For more specific matters, a lawyer would contact him after he moved into Xu Sheng's home.
Before hanging up, Tang Zhi told Jiang Yan, "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for me."
Jiang Yan relayed the story, and Tang Zhi heard a very soft and distant "No need" coming from the receiver.
The car got off the highway, slowed down at the toll gate and passed the gate. They were getting closer and closer to Xu Keyu.
Tang Zhi was bored and became more and more nervous. He suddenly recalled Xu Sheng's overly indifferent tone when he mentioned Xu Keyu, and Xu Sheng's handsome and proud face.
After Xu Sheng left last night, Tang Zhi checked a lot of unsourced secrets about the Xu family online, and almost couldn't find Xu Sheng's name.
There were only one or two pieces of news that stated that a certain project was launched in a certain country, and Xu Sheng, the vice president of Xu Real Estate, was present to sign the contract.
Xu Keyu was weird, Xu Sheng was even weirder, Tang Zhi thought, they were like the most dissimilar pair of siblings on earth.
Xu Keyu lives in his own world and only repeats "my brother will help us" again and again, while Xu Sheng is a shrewd Party A who requires Tang Zhi to speak with emotion.
In comparison, Xu Sheng's standards are really very high.