On the first night back in Xicheng, Tang Zhi had a weird and terrible nightmare.
In the dream, Tang Zhi became the spirit in charge of lust in the hotel, living in the fountain in the center of the lobby and aware of all the filth in the hotel.
One night, he was wandering the hotel corridors.
He heard long and short moans outside the doors of some rooms on the twelfth and thirteenth floors; the rooms on the eighth floor were denser and the moans were louder.
Going down to the fifth floor, traces of violence suddenly appeared. Tang Zhi walked through the door curiously and saw a violent incident.
There were two people in the room. A naked, thin and pale man was pinned down by a tall man. He was struggling, sobbing and shouting.
The sound of sobbing made Tang Zhi feel inexplicably familiar, so Tang Zhi walked to the bed, stuck his head out, and opened his eyes to see who it was, but suddenly found that the tall man was Xu Sheng, and the person on the bed was strangled by the neck, The man with the distorted face who screamed had a face exactly like his.
Tang Zhi woke up from his dream, with cold sweat covering his back.
He opened his eyes and sat up. When the fear subsided a little, he stayed still for a moment and came to his senses. He thought that the reason why he had such a nightmare must be the wrong decision to sleep with Xu Sheng and the pervasive case news. collective effect.
He got out of bed, walked to the window, looked at the dark and wide river downstairs, and suddenly thought of Xu Sheng again.
Tang Zhi had no other experience, so he didn't refuse because he didn't hate Xu Sheng's appearance and body.
Xu Sheng is very handsome, and his appearance is probably the type that everyone likes. Although he doesn't seem to have any skills, he is very hot and has great strength. Except for the last time, which was so long that Tang Zhi couldn't stand it, he didn't count it once. Very poor memories.
However, Xu Sheng seemed to regret it more than Tang Zhi. The whole day after going to bed, he acted strangely, as if he was worried that Tang Zhi would hold on to him if he slept with him.
For a few seconds, Tang Zhi thought it was funny that Xu Sheng was afraid of being caught. For a few seconds, he thought that he might really be as cheap as Xu Sheng said.
Tang Zhi's self-esteem faded in and out, and he lived casually most of the time. He didn't want to explain anything to Xu Sheng, nor did he think too much about the future.
If anything, Tang Zhi’s dream is to live with his mother, have a job where he leaves early and returns late, has breakfast before going out every morning, and has a light at the door when he comes home at night.
It wasn't the light that the housekeeper used to wait for Xu Sheng to open the door. It was the kind of light that his mother turned on in the living room of the small house while watching TV and knitting.
Judging from Xi Manxiang's enthusiasm in urging him to fall in love, maybe the two of them will have a fight after Tang Zhi comes out.
Then every time he came home late, his mother would torture him for a long time about who he was going out with.
Tang Zhi then argued with her for another half hour, insisting that he was really not in love yet.
Tang Zhi wanted to live this kind of life.
After thinking for a while, Tang Zhi lay down to sleep again, and it was dawn.
In the afternoon of the next day, the group’s lawyers arrived in Xicheng.
Because Xu Sheng decided to complete a round of negotiations and finalize the first version of the agreement before returning to Bingang, the pace became fast throughout the week after returning to Xicheng.
Xu Sheng's energy was so high that Tang Zhi was surprised. From when he opened his eyes in the morning to when he returned to his room at night, he almost didn't rest at all. Tang Zhi also knew for the first time that people like Xu Sheng, who was born with a golden spoon, also worked very hard.
The day before returning to Binang, the negotiations finally ended.
At night, Xu Sheng hosted a dinner for the lawyer and the negotiator who had been working with them for two weeks. Tang Zhi went downstairs early and waited for them at the hotel entrance with the driver.
The driver came down and opened the door. Tang Zhi also stood by the door, waiting quietly, looking very obedient.
Tang Zhi seemed to be a little thinner than before he came to Xicheng. His suit hung on his body, which looked a little empty, and his eyes looked particularly big.
Perhaps it was because everyone in Xicheng was tense this week, but Tang Zhi's performance was quite sensible, and he could barely be called a qualified assistant.
On the first night back in Xicheng, before going to bed, Xu Sheng thought about whether he would refuse if Tang Zhi knocked on the door of his room and wanted to sleep in the same bed with him.
However, the consideration time was too short and no conclusion was reached.
But Tang Zhi didn't knock on the door.
He quickly returned to the room, much quieter than before, and made no more noise. Xu Sheng guessed that it might be his attitude towards Tang Zhi on the plane that made Tang Zhi know whether to advance or retreat.
In the next few days, Tang Zhi's eyes became sweeter when he looked at Xu Sheng. He wore more clothes in the room than before. He finally learned to avoid unnecessary physical contact in time and never stayed in the living room for too long.
As if to hint to Xu Sheng, he knew and would only do it once.
In fact, Xu Sheng felt that Tang Zhi didn't need to be so deliberate. He was so deliberate that Xu Sheng occasionally suspected that Tang Zhi's debauched appearance in bed that day was just an inappropriate dream.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with that.
The restaurant for the evening was chosen by Xu Sheng after Tang Zhi picked out a few. It was about a ten-minute drive from the hotel and was famous for its wide variety of wines and relaxed atmosphere.
Everyone who came to Xicheng this time had worked with Xu Sheng day and night for more than a week. It was rare to have a free night, and Xu Sheng didn't want to be too formal.
During dinner, a negotiator and a lawyer sat on the left and right of Xu Sheng. Tang Zhi sat diagonally opposite him, with Luo Qian next to him.
After eating for a while, Tang Zhi drank half a glass of red wine, his cheeks looked a little red, and he got together with Luo Qian and talked quietly.
Xu Sheng looked at Tang Zhi twice, but Tang Zhi didn't pay attention.
By nine o'clock, a black-and-white silent movie started playing on the restaurant's projection screen, and the music turned eerie.
The two lawyers at the table suddenly began to discuss a certain case. The sound was not very loud, but everyone present could hear it clearly.
There were new changes in yesterday's court hearing, and there was still no verdict. The lawyers drank wine and talked about the details of the case.
Luo Qian also joined them, while Tang Zhi probably had no one to speak. He huddled aside, holding the wine glass and sipping it one sip after another.
After a while, Tang Zhi said he was going to the bathroom, but he still didn't come back after five minutes. Xu Sheng looked at his watch, got up and walked over.
The bathroom is in the corner of the restaurant, passing through a dark and narrow corridor. The walls look a little greasy, and abstract oil paintings are hung high and low.
Entering the bathroom, Tang Zhi stood by a white wash basin, holding a slender lady's cigarette he got from nowhere between his fingers, leaning his shoulders against the pillar, hanging his head and puffing away smoke.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he immediately raised his head and was stunned when he saw Xu Sheng.
"Mr. Xu." He said, but did not put out the cigarette.
Xu Sheng did not approach him, looked at him for a while, and asked him: "Where did the smoke come from?"
Tang Zhi smiled at him and said, "I asked for it from a sister."
In the unclean bathroom, Tang Zhi's skin looked whiter, his lips were as red as if he had been kissed, and his eyes were moistened by alcohol.
Xu Sheng had already noticed that Tang Zhi's attitude toward the case that had recently occupied the front page of the newspaper was strange, but he didn't ask.
"Come back as soon as you finish." Xu Sheng said to him.
Tang Zhi took another puff, and some gray smoke floated out from between his lips. Then he said "hmm" and said lazily: "I haven't finished smoking yet."
Xu Sheng looked at Tang Zhi, and his phone suddenly vibrated.
He took it out and saw that it was Jiang Yan who had beaten him.
Tang Zhi lowered his head again, with only a short section of cigarette left, and the light from the cigarette butt was not far from his finger. Xu Sheng had the idea of taking the cigarette out of his hand immediately, but he just answered the phone.
"Mr. Xu," Jiang Yan said on the other end, "Is Tang Zhi with you?"
Xu Sheng stared at Tang Zhi's face and said "Hmm". Jiang Yan told him on the other end: "Her mother had a fight with someone in prison and was stabbed with a sharpened toothbrush handle. She is now in the hospital for emergency treatment. "
After the cigarette burned out, Tang Zhi took one last puff, sighed pitifully, glanced at Xu Sheng again, as if he hadn't smoked enough, and then reached out to open the faucet on the basin and put out the cigarette.
The water wet his fingers, but he didn't wipe them. He threw the cigarette butt into the trash can, shook his hand, and said to Xu Sheng with a smile, "I'm done smoking."