The curtains were closed, but the room was still dark.
Tang Zhi lay drowsily among the quilts. Xu Sheng is no longer with him. The sound of light and fast keyboard tapping came from nowhere.
Tang Zhi didn't open his eyes. He lay there for a while and heard Xu Sheng's voice.
Xu Sheng lowered his voice and said "ok" and "ok".
Tang Zhi sat up slowly and saw Xu Sheng sitting on the sofa not far away.
Maybe he noticed from the corner of his eye that Tang Zhi was awake. Xu Sheng stopped typing on the keyboard. He looked in the direction of Tang Zhi, then closed the computer, put it aside, and told the person on the other end of the phone to "talk to him later." Then he took off his headphones, stood up, and walked towards Tang Zhi.
Xu Sheng seemed to be fully dressed, but Tang Zhi's nightgown was too wide and slipped off his shoulders and piled up on his arms.
Tang Zhi folded it up feebly.
"Are you awake?" Xu Sheng walked to the bed and asked Tang Zhi.
Tang Zhi couldn't see Xu Sheng's face clearly, and his eyes had no focus, so he said "hmm".
He felt uncomfortable all over, but he didn't want to miss his date with Xu Sheng, because Tang Zhi had never been on a date.
"Where are you going today," Tang Zhi asked Xu Sheng, "Is there anywhere you want to go?"
He thought about it before going to bed last night and felt that Xu Sheng might be willing to go to the Municipal Astronomy Center, but he might not like it.
Because Xu Sheng has almost no life outside of work, and the only thing he likes may be the models in the locker room.
Before Tang Zhi could ask, Xu Sheng suddenly told him, "I asked Jiang Yan to book a restaurant."
"The one under the sea." Xu Sheng added.
Tang Zhi was stunned for a while before he remembered and asked Xu Sheng, "Where did you go on a date last time?"
Xu Sheng seemed to choke, and after a moment, he said, "Well, I said I would take you there."
Tang Zhi was stunned for a few seconds, and then asked Xu Sheng with a complicated mood: "Is there any?"
It's not that he doesn't remember, but he doesn't really want to go.
Xu Sheng said "yes" and Tang Zhi stopped talking.
Probably feeling Tang Zhi's reluctance, after a few seconds, Xu Sheng asked Tang Zhi: "Do you want to change?"
After a pause, he added, "I thought you wanted to go."
"..." Tang Zhi sat in the darkness, not knowing what to say.
If Xu Sheng hadn't mentioned it, Tang Zhi would never have thought of it.
Because Tang Zhi had almost no good memories of the whole day Xu Sheng and Zhao Shao dated, and he was not even interested in this restaurant.
Finally, Tang Zhi asked Xu Sheng for advice in a matter-of-fact manner: "Why do you think I want to go?"
During the conversation, Xu Sheng reached out and opened part of the electric curtain, and the dim sky penetrated into the room from the other end of the gauze curtain.
Tang Zhi saw Xu Sheng clearly, and Xu Sheng probably also saw Tang Zhi clearly.
Xu Sheng was wearing a white shirt and no tie. He lowered his eyes slightly, stretched out his hand, touched Tang Zhi's cheek, looked at Tang Zhi for a while, and said, "Don't you like watching those animal videos?"
"You can see a lot of tropical fish in that restaurant," he told Tang Zhi simply, "when Zhao Shao didn't come that day, I -"
Xu Sheng suddenly paused for a moment and said in a low voice: "I've been thinking about it while I'm sitting here, and I think you will like it very much."
Tang Zhi looked at Xu Sheng, and suddenly his cheeks felt hot and his heart beat faster because of Xu Sheng's words.
Xu Sheng seemed embarrassed and looked away, pretending to be rational.
"If you don't want to go, just find another one." He said looking out the window.
"I don't think so," Tang Zhi blurted out without even thinking, "I really like tropical fish."
Tang Zhi raised his face and looked at Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng didn't have much expression on his face, as if he was passively waiting for Tang Zhi to coax him again.
"Xu Sheng." Tang Zhi called him, and he glanced at Tang Zhi.
Xu Sheng definitely didn't have a good personality, but Tang Zhi thought he was cute, so he sat up a little more and asked Xu Sheng, "Take me there."
Xu Sheng finally looked at Tang Zhi.
Tang Zhi knelt down, hugged Xu Sheng's waist, lay half on Xu Sheng's body, and pressed his cheek against him: "Take me there."
Xu Sheng pressed Tang Zhi's back and finally said "ok".
Xu Sheng still drove by himself, and they went all the way down the asphalt road.
The sun is behind the clouds, creating a gray-blue sky, providing Marina with just the right amount of daylight.
When passing by the main house where two trucks were parked, Xu Sheng said to Tang Zhi: "I'll turn off the alarm clock for you this morning. I saw my aunt sent you a message."
Tang Zhi opened it and saw Xi Manxiang asking him if he would go home for dinner.
He hesitated a little, then swiped smoothly to reach the main text message interface. When he saw the only two windows he had left, he suddenly felt frightened and panicked.
Tang Zhi looked at Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng's expression was normal. He grabbed the phone, hesitated, and asked Xu Sheng, "Have you read it?"
Xu Sheng looked forward. After a few seconds, he told Tang Zhi: "Look."
Tang Zhi fell silent.
"Are you going home?" Xu Sheng asked him naturally, "Tonight."
Tang Zhi said: "I don't know."
Xu Sheng glanced at Tang Zhi, who was holding a mobile phone in both hands and looking very distressed. Xu Sheng originally wanted to tell Tang Zhi that he was going to Dun City to stay for six days tomorrow, but Tang Zhi suddenly said: "My mother may not even know what homosexuality is."
Xu Sheng was stunned for a moment and almost missed the turn.
But Tang Zhi didn't say any more, he lowered his head and replied with an unknown message.
In order to ease the ups and downs in his heart, Xu Sheng turned on the car radio and amplified the sound.
In Tang Zhi's memory, Xu Sheng had never listened to the car radio.
Xu Sheng's car only plays boring violin ensemble music that neither makes people enjoy nor disturbs their mind.
That day they listened to nostalgic radio music.
An old song that Manxiang has been playing at home recently was played.
Tang Zhi was swaying to the music in boredom when he heard Xu Sheng say, "My parents danced to this song."
Tang Zhi looked at Xu Sheng, who then said, "Many years ago, at home in the capital."
Xu Sheng spoke very casually, as if he was just chatting with Tang Zhi casually, and suddenly he really looked like a big boy who could hide aerospace models behind his family's back, with emotions, anger, sorrow, joy, and personal hobbies.
When they arrived at the submarine restaurant, Xu Sheng parked the car and the two of them walked in. There were glass blocking the sea water in all directions, and Tang Zhi saw the tropical fish Xu Sheng mentioned.
Schools of fat, colorful fish swim through the coral reefs in pairs.
Tang Zhi looked at it for a while and said to Xu Sheng, "very cute".
Xu Sheng thought that it was indeed the case, and felt a little complacent in his heart.
Surrounded by blue water, they ate a set of two-hour meals. When Tang Zhi came out of the restaurant at three o'clock in the afternoon, he was very full and wanted to eat up.
Xu Sheng temporarily proposed to go to the aquarium again.
The special Antarctic exhibition at the aquarium has ended and has been replaced by a special exhibition on the Arctic.
The advertisement states that all polar bear, arctic hare, reindeer and Greenland shark dolls and accessories are 20% off.
There were not many people at the aquarium on a weekday afternoon, and there was no queue. Tang Zhi went to buy a ticket and took Xu Sheng to the door.
The staff scanned one ticket, and Tang Zhi crossed to the next ticket and told the staff: "Two."
The other party looked up at Xu Sheng, who was standing behind Tang Zhi, and scanned the next picture.
After entering, they passed through the shallow sea area, deep sea area, jellyfish area, and theme exhibition area.
It was still a bit cold in the Arctic region. Xu Sheng saw Tang Zhi cross his arms, take off his coat, put it on Tang Zhi's shoulders, and walked back and forth with Tang Zhi in the exhibition area.
Xu Sheng felt that Tang Zhi fell in love with the Arctic Rabbit. He passed by the Arctic Rabbit's window several times, and each time he stayed to look at it for a while. He also muttered words such as "What a big rabbit" and "The Arctic Rabbit's legs are really long."
A very fond look.
Xu Sheng thought Tang Zhi was very cute walking around and wanted to stay with him in the exhibition hall for a while. He sent a message to Jiang Yan asking if there was any way to raise Arctic rabbits.
At four o'clock, Tang Zhi decided to leave the Arctic exhibition area. They took the elevator upstairs and entered a small shellfish exhibition area with no other people near the exit.
By the time you finally see the exhibition area, the date may be over.
Tang Zhi stopped in front of some kind of beautiful shell. When Xu Sheng walked beside him, Tang Zhi took off his coat and gave it back to Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng took it and held it between his elbows. Tang Zhi reached over and took Xu Sheng's hand.
Tang Zhi's hands are soft and his eyes are big.
The exhibition area is about ten square meters and is a dark hexagonal area.
The carpet is dark purple and the wall is dark blue. The seawater in the fish tank on the wall imprints its ripples on the carpet and Tang Zhi's white shirt.
"Xu Sheng." Tang Zhi glanced at the entrance of the exhibition area, then came over and kissed Xu Sheng.
Tang Zhi has an extremely sweet and innocent atmosphere, and Xu Sheng will definitely make many people addicted.
But he didn't kiss anyone else, only Xu Sheng, then stepped back a little, looking a little blushing.
"Xu Sheng," Tang Zhi said to Xu Sheng, "I have never been in love."
"Nothing," he said, "but refusal says a lot."
"I know you didn't like me at all before, and you rarely met people who didn't like me so much, so I didn't feel confident in front of you, and I never thought about being together."
He looked at Xu Sheng with his beautiful eyes, which were shy and serious.
"But after getting to know you," Tang Zhi said, "I know what it feels like to like you."
Tang Zhi said to Xu Sheng, "If you call me or send me a message, I will be very happy" and said, "I want to be with you."
He kissed Xu Sheng again, and Xu Sheng kissed him too.
In the small, dark exhibition area, Tang Zhi was held in Xu Sheng's arms and asked Xu Sheng in a low voice, "Would you like to go home with me for dinner tonight?"
Xu Sheng said yes.
On the way from the aquarium to the community where Tang Zhi lived temporarily, Xu Sheng received a call from Jiang Yan. He forgot that he had asked about the purchase of Arctic rabbits and asked Tang Zhi to listen to him.
Tang Zhi pressed the speakerphone, and Jiang Yan's voice sounded in the small carriage.
He said: "Mr. Xu, I consulted professionals. Arctic rabbits are not very suitable for raising. If you must raise them, you must first build a cold storage. A wine cellar of this size like the one in your house in the resort can be used." Come and transform.”
Tang Zhi was stunned when he heard this, and turned to look at Xu Sheng, feeling that Xu Sheng's expression became a little embarrassed. Xu Sheng said "I understand" to Jiang Yan, took the mobile phone from Tang Zhi's hand and hung up.
"Mr. Xu," Tang Zhi asked him, "do you want to raise rabbits?"
Xu Sheng said nothing and opened the window a little.
The bad air from Bingang entered the car.
As the Christmas season is approaching, red and green lights and decorations are hung on the streets. They pass by different shops and hear different Christmas music.
Tang Zhi looked out the window. After a while, when he heard Xu Sheng calling his name, he turned to look.
Xu Sheng looked forward and asked him: "Do you want it?"
"If you want, just change the cellar." Xu Sheng said.
The wind in the streets of Bingang City has the smell of the old days when Tang Zhi and Xu Sheng lived together.
Heaviness, regret, unbearable memories, pain and loss are all soaked in it.
But the old world will fall and a new world will come.
Tang Zhi looked at Xu Sheng and felt that he had thought a lot, but in fact he did not let Xu Sheng wait for long, and told Xu Sheng his wish when he was a teenager: "I want to raise a Dutch dwarf rabbit."
Around the time when he was defrauded by a scammer, Tang Zhi really wanted a white Dutch dwarf rabbit.
I have been to the pet store no less than five times to see rabbits, but I have no money and no place to raise them.
Xu Sheng glanced at him, and Tang Zhi thought Xu Sheng was going to ask him why the rabbit he wanted to raise had such a strange name.
But Xu Sheng said "yes" without asking.
no strings attached.
____End
The author has something to say:
Although I don’t like the ending, I still decided to end the text at this point! Thank you all for your love and companionship. There will be an extra episode later! But I have no idea what to write! Let’s talk about it!