Xu Keyu's morning jogging plan was cancelled, but his exercise plan remained as usual, and his fitness coach visited on time three times a week.
Tang Zhi practiced with her once, but she felt that she looked unsightly when she was sweating profusely, so she didn't want Tang Zhi to accompany her, so Tang Zhi got some free time in vain.
In mid-March, two weeks before the wedding, one afternoon, Jiang Yan suddenly informed Tang Zhi that it would be Xu Sheng’s cousin’s eighteenth birthday the night after tomorrow, and that Tang Zhi, Xu Sheng, and Xu Keyu would attend their uncle’s family banquet together. He also sent a large document to Tang Zhi, asking him to read it by heart.
Tang Zhi opened it and took a look. The first half of the text was filled with a lot of red tape. Most of the latter contained the identities and photos of the host and guests who would appear at the banquet in the evening. Finally, Tang Zhi's resume, which Tang Zhi had never seen before, was attached.
A graduate of the Law Department of Binhai University, he once interned in a large law firm.
Tang Zhi called Jiang Yan back. Jiang Yan picked up the phone and Tang Zhi said to him, "Assistant Jiang, I really didn't graduate from college."
"Mr. Tang, it doesn't matter," Jiang Yan said softly to Tang Zhi as if something was wrong, "Don't worry, just follow the instructions above." He then told Tang Zhi: "The size of your wedding suit has been determined and I will bring it to you. I bought a set of ready-made clothes and brought them to you to try on in the evening."
He also told Tang Zhi once again to memorize the information of the host and guest to avoid making mistakes.
Tang Zhi had never participated in such an occasion. Thinking of Xu Keyu's relatives he had met on the day of his morning jog, he looked through the photos again.
The photos taken by Xu Mingwu are better looking than the photos taken by him, and more like Xu Sheng. Perhaps they were refined by the photo studio.
And the eighteen-year-old girl who was about to celebrate her birthday once shouted to Xu Keyu with unknowing bitterness, "Teach me how to control my husband."
Tang Zhi has a good memory. After reading it once, he almost remembered it. Xu Keyu also woke up from a nap and asked Tang Zhi to watch a movie with her.
Xu Sheng came back earlier than usual that day. Xu Keyu was still in class upstairs. Jiang Yan followed her, holding a suit in his hand.
He handed the suit to Tang Zhi and asked Tang Zhi to try it on first. If the size was not suitable, he would change it again.
I don't know if it's because the suit is too small, or because Tang Zhi has been too comfortable at Xu Keyu's house recently and has gained some weight. The shirt and suit both fit well, but the waist of the pants is not very comfortable.
He walked downstairs and saw Xu Sheng sitting on the sofa and Jiang Yan standing aside. The two of them were probably talking about official matters that Tang Zhi couldn't hear, because Jiang Yan immediately fell silent when he saw Tang Zhi come down.
Tang Zhi didn't care and just told Jiang Yan, "The pants are a bit too small."
Jiang Yan stared at him, paused for a while, and then said, "Is he young?"
"Small," Tang Zhi took off his suit, held it between his elbows, and said uncomfortably, "It's very tight, can you enlarge it."
"Is there any?" Jiang Yan looked at him, paused again, and then asked.
"Well," Tang Zhi lowered his head, pressed his trousers against his hips, and greeted Jiang Yan, "Look here—"
Jiang Yan walked up to Tang Zhi hesitantly and asked him in a low voice: "Where?"
In fact, the pants are so small that it is not obvious. Only by taking off the suit and getting closer can you see the protrusion of Tang Zhi's hip bones.
"It's a little uncomfortable to wear." Perhaps because Jiang Yan's voice became softer, Tang Zhi subconsciously lowered his voice and asked Jiang Yan in a nice voice, "Can you take me to have a change?"
"Oh..." Jiang Yan's voice became a little softer, "Let someone take it to you tomorrow—"
"-No need to change, there are still two days," Xu Sheng suddenly said, "You can eat a few less bites."
"..." Tang Zhi turned to look at Xu Sheng inexplicably.
Xu Sheng lowered his head and was reading the documents. He didn't look at him at all. He probably didn't know whether what he was wearing was suitable for him. What he said was quite reasonable.
But Tang Zhi didn't dare to go against him. Just when he wanted to say a few nice words to make him accommodating, Xu Keyu and the coach came down from upstairs.
When she saw Tang Zhi, she was stunned for a moment, and then slowly leaned towards Tang Zhi.
Xu Keyu's eyes made Tang Zhi feel uncomfortable. He couldn't help but take a step back and said to Xu Keyu: "I'll go upstairs and change clothes first."
"Don't change." Xu Keyu said softly.
She leaned close to Tang Zhi and called him softly: "Husband."
Tang Zhi was nervous all over and took two more steps back to the fireplace. He could no longer retreat.
He could push her away with just one push, but he didn't dare to push. He could only look at Xu Sheng who was sitting on the sofa from a distance, showing an expression of asking for help.
But Xu Keyu's brother did not speak to stop him. His eyes were calm, as if to express that it was right for Tang Zhi to be pushed to the wall by Xu Keyu.
Since he had to work after getting benefits, Tang Zhi should use words or body to please Xu Keyu in all scenes, and resistance was never allowed.
Xu Keyu hugged Tang Zhi and said, "You seem to be proposing to me."
The girl's body was very soft, but the strength holding Tang Zhi was surprisingly strong, almost suffocating Tang Zhi.
Only the ring light was turned on in the living room, and the sky was getting dark quickly. Tang Zhi's back was pressed against the cold marble wall, and his eyes moved away from Xu Sheng's face, looking at the gray sky outside the gauze curtains.
Xu Sheng didn't speak, and no one dared to turn on the lights in the room. Xu Keyu's warm breath sprayed on his neck, which reminded Tang Zhi of the most painful day in his childhood.
Tang Zhi thought of something he thought he would never think about again.
He felt Xu Keyu hugging him tighter, which made his chest hurt, as if there was a very young and frightened Tang Zhi who was persistently and desperately calling for help.
But I don’t know why, maybe because Tang Zhi has grown up, because Tang Zhi is an adult, and it is useless to call for help. It is his turn to save his mother, so his reason crawls out of the quagmire and instructs Tang Zhi to mechanically Putting his hand on Xu Keyu's shoulder, he whispered to Xu Keyu: "Really?"
"Then are you willing?" He lowered his head again and asked Xu Keyu.
After speaking, he raised his eyes in a daze and looked in the direction where Jiang Yan was standing. Jiang Yan seemed to be avoiding him and quickly lowered his head. Tang Zhicai looked at Xu Sheng again.
Xu Sheng seemed to frown slightly, and Tang Zhi couldn't be sure because they were a little far away.
"Of course I do." Xu Keyu answered him.
She finally let go of Tang Zhi, and Xu Sheng also spoke.
He said, "Jiang Yan, give her the necklace and bracelet."
Jiang Yan was startled, then walked quickly to the entrance and brought two bags over.
"Go and try." Xu Sheng said to Xu Keyu.
Xu Keyu took it shyly, said thank you to Xu Sheng, smiled at Tang Zhi, and said, "Hubby, wait for me." Then he turned and walked to the dressing room at the bottom of the corridor on the first floor.
When Tang Zhi saw her walking into the room, his senses suddenly returned. Blood poured into his limbs, and his brain and limbs were so numb that he almost lost consciousness.
He hadn't felt this way for a long time, and he couldn't think complexly. He leaned over and picked up the suit that had fallen to the ground at some point, and whispered: "I'll go upstairs first."
When no one responded, he headed for the stairs. When passing by the sofa where Xu Sheng was sitting, Tang Zhi tripped on the carpet and grabbed the wood on the back of the sofa to keep from falling.
He stood firm and was about to continue walking when Xu Sheng stopped him: "Tang Zhi."
Tang Zhi turned around and looked at Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng's face was on the boundary between light and dark. Tang Zhi couldn't see his expression clearly. He could only see the outline of Xu Sheng's eyebrow arch and the bridge of his nose.
"What Jiang Yan gave you," Xu Sheng said, "you must memorize it."
Tang Zhi said "Okay" and walked upstairs.
Half an hour later, the maid came and invited Tang Zhi downstairs for dinner.
Tang Zhi went downstairs. Thinking of the discomfort when wearing pants that were too narrow, and Xu Sheng's words to "eat a few bites less", he really didn't dare to eat more.
Xu Keyu noticed that Tang Zhi didn't eat much, and asked Tang Zhi: "Why do you eat so little?"
"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" she added. "You didn't even wait for me to try on the necklace just now."
Xu Sheng raised his head, and Tang Zhi immediately denied it: "I ate too many snacks when you were in class in the afternoon."
She nodded and didn't ask again.
After the meal, Xu Keyu's psychiatrist arrived and went to the third floor with her. Tang Zhi returned to his room.
When Tang Zhi is not with Xu Keyu, the most common thing he does is to turn on the TV in the room and sit on the recliner in a daze without thinking about anything.
But this night, he didn't stay idle for long when the housekeeper suddenly knocked on his door.
The housekeeper sent a message for Xu Sheng: "Mr. Tang, the young master wants to ask you how you are doing with the things he asked you to carry."
Tang Zhi replied politely: "I've memorized everything."
The housekeeper paused and said, "Look, if I can smoke a few, you can recite them to me."
Perhaps because he was not full after dinner, Tang Zhi was a little irritable, but he still agreed.
The housekeeper lowered his head and held his cell phone, choosing a photo to show Tang Zhi.
Tang Zhi answered a few questions, his mouth went dry, and he thought that was enough. Seeing that the housekeeper didn't mean to stop, he interrupted him: "I still want to smoke, didn't I say a few more?"
The butler nodded and said, "The young master said it's best to memorize it all."
"..." Tang Zhi no longer wanted to stand at the door of the room like a fool, reciting the Xu family tree, and evaded, "Why don't you go the day after tomorrow? I have forgotten the rest. Let's do it tomorrow night. I want to take a shower first." "
The housekeeper was a little embarrassed and said yes.
Unexpectedly, when Tang Zhi came out of the shower, the housekeeper knocked on the door again.
"Master, please go there." He said.
Tang Zhi had no choice but to follow him through the corridor, bypassing the landscape glass, and arrived at Xu Sheng's study, which he had never been before.
Xu Sheng's study room is more spacious than the guest room where Tang Zhi lives.
He sat behind a huge wooden desk and read documents. Jiang Yan sat behind another small desk not far from him. As soon as Tang Zhi entered, the housekeeper closed the door behind him.
Tang Zhi walked over and found cut fruits on Xu Sheng's desk. He wanted to take a piece to eat. As soon as he stretched out his hand, Xu Sheng looked up at him and said, "Sit down."
"Mr. Xu," Tang Zhi sat down and couldn't help but pointed at the fruit and asked, "Can I eat it?"
Xu Sheng frowned, looked at him for a few seconds, and refused: "No."
Tang Zhi was very hungry and helpless, so he had to ask: "What do you want from me?"
"Please memorize the information," Jiang Yan said, "There are many important people attending this birthday party, so remember all the information correctly."
Tang Zhi was both distressed and bored: "Can I not go?"
"No." Jiang Yan said.
Tang Zhi wanted to go back to the room, but he had no choice but to confess to Jiang Yan: "Assistant Jiang, I have memorized it by heart."
Jiang Yan asked him to recite it from the beginning, so he had to memorize it. He memorized one or two pages. Seeing that Jiang Yan seemed a little surprised, he took the opportunity to ask, "Do you want to continue?"
"Continue." Xu Sheng withdrew his gaze from the document and turned to Tang Zhi.
"...But I'm a little thirsty," Tang Zhi was extremely helpless. He turned to Jiang Yan and asked, "Assistant Jiang, do you have anything to drink?"
Jiang Yan stood up and poured him a glass of water. Tang Zhi took two sips before continuing to memorize it slowly.
Xu Sheng barely looked at him, as if no one was talking in the room. He was immersed in reading the report. Only when Tang Zhi couldn't remember the content clearly and his speech slowed down, he would look up at Tang Zhi.
Tang Zhi felt like he was back in a middle school Chinese class, carrying boring texts and falling asleep from hunger.
When he was about to carry Xu Mingwu on his back, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the room.
The soundproofing in the study was very good. I could only vaguely hear the voices of Xu Keyu and the housekeeper mixed together, but I couldn't hear what was specifically said.
Tang Zhi stopped. He was so hungry that he had low blood sugar and his vision was dark. He couldn't care less. While Xu Sheng and Jiang Yan were also paying attention to the movement outside the door, he quickly approached the fruit plate and forked a piece of orange into his mouth.
He clearly felt that Xu Sheng had noticed and was turning to stare at him, but because he was too hungry, he shamelessly lowered his head and pretended not to notice Xu Sheng's color, and ate another piece.
After a few seconds, the intercom phone in the study room rang. Jiang Yan picked it up, and Xu Sheng said, "Hands-free."
Jiang Yan pressed the hands-free button and placed the wireless phone in front of Xu Sheng.
The housekeeper said on the other end: "Assistant Jiang, the lady just knocked on Mr. Tang's door, but Mr. Tang didn't open it. She wanted to ask if Mr. Tang was at the young master's place."
Jiang Yan said nothing, waiting for Xu Sheng to decide.
Tang Zhi's mouth was stuffed, and he raised his head nervously and stared at Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng looked at Tang Zhi with a straight face for a few seconds and told the housekeeper: "Not here."