Chapter 64: Survival is allowed

This is not fun, not a joke, but an intentional insult. However, the person who said the insulting words had sweat of nervousness and fear on his face, while the person being insulted accepted it happily, with an expression that was almost pious. The sound of water like spring rain and the hot breath fell down.

Halfway through, Xie Kang suddenly pushed Zhuang Yongyuan away. He put on his pants and, without a word, hurriedly fled the banquet hall, bumping into tables several times on the way, knocking down several upside-down dining chairs. He passed several emergency exit signs, which emitted a faint apple-green light in the darkness.

Zhuang Yongyuan was about to chase after him, but he ran two steps and then stopped.

When he ran away from here in high school, he didn't want Xie Kang to catch up with him. At this moment, Xie Kang didn't necessarily want to be caught up by him.

He sat down against the wall and lit a cigarette. The gray smoke dispelled the taste of Xie Kang in the air and in his mouth, and Zhuang Yongyuan's heartbeat quickened.

He was scared.

In that confusing time that seemed like a parallel world, they had become different from their daily selves. Their two hearts broke through the barriers of bones, flesh and blood, squeezing and rubbing against each other face to face.

Just like a seriously ill person who cannot do strenuous exercise, such exposure caused Zhuang Yongyuan to tremble with delay.

Zhuang Yongyuan couldn't bear such a moment; it was more agonizing than the emptiness of a sudden stop. He was thankful Xie Kang had taken the initiative to leave. He didn't dare to imagine what would have happened if the situation had continued unchecked.

He seriously regretted returning to Pingnan. His hometown did not accept him and could not give him what he wanted. It also made his hard-earned inner order shaky.

But no matter what, he could always just walk away. Thinking of this, Zhuang Yongyuan let out a long breath, his trembling hands gradually calming down. He glanced at his phone and saw that nearly two hours had passed.

He stood up and leaned against the dining table to send a message to Xie Kang. He typed the words "Are you home yet?" in the input box, deleted it, put the phone back in his pocket, and walked out of the banquet hall.

It was almost twelve o'clock, and many banquets had ended. The seafood pool in the restaurant lobby was quite empty, and people gathered in groups at the door.

Zhuang Yongyuan slowed his pace, glancing at the faces of men, women, young and old, tired or excited. The air in the box was stagnant, and everyone's face was flushed from the alcohol.

Zhuang Yongyuan touched his face, already chilled by the winter night breeze. These people—relatives, classmates, colleagues—were all products of Xie Kang's world. No matter how hard he tried to live like that, he always felt like an outsider. Accustomed to the ecstasy and excitement brought by the music and screams on stage, moments like these felt even more empty.

He walked against the wind, and shook his head and ignored the motorcycle drivers and taxi drivers on the roadside who were soliciting passengers.

Zhuang Yongyuan used to think that Pingnan was very big, and the world outside his home and school was vast. Now, he was walking steadily on the ground, and it wouldn't take long to cross half of the city in the dark. He had no reason to run late at night.

After returning home, Zhuang Yongyuan took a hot bath and snuggled under the covers, the wind rattling the windows. He pulled out his phone and saw several missed calls, one of which was a number he was familiar with.

His mother called him half an hour ago. Last time, Zhuang Yongyuan wanted to call Aying and removed her number from the blacklist, but forgot to add it back.

After calling back without hesitation, Zhuang Yongyuan remembered that it was late at night and Aying was probably asleep. Just as he was about to hang up, the other end answered.

There was silence for nearly half a minute, and then Ah Ying spoke first: "Doudou?"

It was very noisy on her end; the sounds of playing cards being thrown and mahjong tiles colliding could be heard clearly. Zhuang Yongyuan hummed and asked, "Are you playing mahjong again?"

Ah Ying said in a panic, "Getting together with some friends I met while working part-time."

Zhuang Yongyuan didn't ask any further questions and said, "What do you want from me? I don't have any money to lend you."

Ah Ying's voice immediately became shrill due to nervousness: "Doudou, Mommy isn't asking you to borrow money. Mommy has really changed now."

As soon as she finished speaking, a rough male voice beside her said, "I was sleepy this afternoon and dreamed of a dragon sucking water from the seashore. It must be God telling me to buy a dragon in this dream."

"What size dragon do you want to buy?"

Perhaps because Aying held the phone far away, the conversation about Mark Six Lottery became quieter, but Zhuang Yongyuan could still hear it clearly.

"I heard someone had the same dream as you, dreaming of a dragon sucking water, and the prize turned out to be a snake. It seems to me that the water dragon isn't a real dragon. It hasn't cultivated yet, it's just a small snake. Do you think what I said makes sense? Buy a snake!"

Ah Ying knew Zhuang Yongyuan was listening, so she said, "Don't overthink it. My friend is buying the calligraphy. I don't have the money to buy it."

"Um."

"Doudou, are you still angry with your mother?"

"No, I just remembered that my dad used to buy the Mark Six lottery, every single draw."

"Don't talk about your father. I'm different from him."

Zhuang Yongyuan sat up from the bed, turned off the speakerphone, and put the phone close to his ear.

Ah Ying asked, "Why aren't you talking?"

"I don't know what to say."

There was a moment of silence on the line. Zhuang Yongyuan could hear Ah Ying's heavy breathing, and then the rain started outside. He wanted Ah Ying to just stay like that, not say anything, not hang up.

"Are you still in Pingnan?" Aying asked.

"Um."

"Still living at the barber shop?"

"right."

"oh……"

After another silence, Ah Ying spoke up: "Doudou, Mommy wants to ask you, do you have a girlfriend?"

Zhuang Yongyuan laughed, and Ah Ying also laughed, saying, "Doudou is shy. Mommy is telling you something. You're good-looking and a celebrity, so there will definitely be a lot of girls coming up to you. Don't be silly. Be careful and don't get fooled."

"What star?" a woman next to her asked Aying.

Ah Ying said in a very proud tone: "My son is singing in Shanghai and is very famous. Take out your phone and save all my son's songs."

When Zhuang Yongyuan heard Baihexin's song, the sound became much more unfamiliar after it was transmitted from Aying to his ears through the recording equipment, mobile phone speakers and atmospheric radio waves.

Zhuang Yongyuan said to Aying, "I'm not a singer. We're a band with several people."

He paused and continued, "Not only girls, but also many boys came over."

Ah Ying seemed to have not heard this and asked Zhuang Yongyuan, "Where are you going to spend the New Year this year? Will you go to Shanghai after the New Year?"

"I'll leave after New Year's Day."

"So soon?" Ah Ying lowered her voice: "Doudou, last time we met, your friend was with us, and there was something I didn't have time to tell you. Otherwise, this year we..."

Zhuang Yongyuan interrupted her: "I have work during the Chinese New Year period. You can call me if you have anything to say."

Ah Ying laughed and said, "I couldn't get through to you before."

“It should be possible to get through later.”

"Okay, okay. By the way, have you been in touch with your friend, Teacher Xie, lately?"

Zhuang Yongyuan had an urge to tell Aying the truth. He had kissed Teacher Xie not long ago. He knelt in front of Teacher Xie and wanted to satisfy him, but was pushed away by him.

"We meet occasionally, what's wrong?"

"Please tell Teacher Xie that I'll find a way to pay him back after the New Year. Don't let people think your mother is the kind of person who won't pay back the money she owes."

Zhuang Yongyuan was stunned: "What money?"

"Didn't Teacher Xie tell you?" Ah Ying stammered, "That day when the three of us were having dinner and you left first, Teacher Xie saw that I needed money urgently and transferred 50,000 yuan to me."

"Did you accept it?" Zhuang Yongyuan's voice not only did not sound aggressive, but also sounded much slower than his usual tone.

"I-I couldn't do anything at that time."

The phone fell silent again. Zhuang Yongyuan didn't know what to say, so he simply hung up, turned off his phone, and went to sleep under the covers. Surprisingly, he fell asleep immediately and slept soundly and deeply, without a single dream.

The next day, Xie Kang did not contact him actively. Zhuang Yongyuan tried on the transfer interface of WeChat, and Xie Kang did not delete him.

Zhuang Yongyuan had a class this afternoon, during the second period. Over the past few months, the students had grown accustomed to their music teacher becoming a band's lead singer, and their initial excitement had faded. Some were doing their homework, some were chatting. Standing at the podium, Zhuang Yongyuan looked down, feeling a bit indignant. But remembering that he hadn't really paid attention in the past few classes, he felt guilty and couldn't get angry. He simply followed the students' lead, playing a few of their favorite albums and answering questions like what "Mengpao" was and whether they knew Caodong.

After class, there were still nearly two hours before the scheduled rehearsal time. Zhuang Yongyuan moved a chair and sat in the rehearsal room, and began to make phone calls and send messages non-stop.

It was the first time that Zhuang Yongyuan had made so many calls in the few months since he returned to Pingnan. When Xie Kang and Shen Xifu came, he was still on the phone. He gestured to them to wait, walked out to finish the call, and then returned to the rehearsal room.

Xie Kang and Shen Xifu were already waiting for him at their seats. Zhuang Yongyuan glanced at Xie Kang. He looked normal, as if what happened last night had never happened.

Time was running out, so Zhuang Yongyuan immediately got to work, teaching Xie Kang how to play accompaniment and synchronizing the beat with Shen Xifu.

Since he wanted to teach him, he and Xie Kang had to have contact, talk, and even touch hands, but Xie Kang did not have any abnormal reaction.

Towards the end, Xie Kang asked him, "Have you contacted anyone to help?"

"Weren't we just contacting each other?"

"How about it?"

"It's okay, I should be able to come."

Xie Kang has made considerable progress, or rather, his rehabilitation progress has been very fast. Today, he has reached two-thirds of his previous level. Zhuang Yongyuan is not so nervous today, and Shen Xifu dares to ask him boldly: "When can they come?"

Zhuang Yongyuan patiently answered her, "If you want to come, you can only wait until the day before the party."

"Will it be too late to practice well?" Shen Xifu had gotten a little better today and had some feeling for the group practice, so she asked nervously.

"Don't worry." Zhuang Yongyuan patted her shoulder.

It was dark, and they went downstairs like yesterday. Because Shen Xifu talked a lot today, Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan did not communicate directly. Zhuang Yongyuan only breathed a sigh of relief after Shen Xifu separated from them.

Xie Kang asked him calmly, "What do you want to eat tonight? Hurry up, I need to watch the study session later."

Zhuang Yongyuan looked into his eyes. Xie Kang blinked and asked him, "Have you thought it through?"

"Let's eat McDonald's."

"good."

Xie Kang ordered the teriyaki set meal, and Zhuang Yongyuan ordered the spicy chicken. The set meal came with French fries, but no one ordered ice cream.

They sat facing each other on round plastic chairs, eating and chatting, all about the performance. Xie Kang was indeed in a hurry and finished his meal in just over ten minutes. Zhuang Yongyuan ate slowly and had no intention of going back to school, so he let him go first.

Xie Kang nodded, stood up, took the plate and walked a few steps, then turned back and said to Zhuang Yongyuan, "I'll go to your house after get off work. Are you there?"

Zhuang Yongyuan was biting a French fry. He looked up and said "hello" vaguely to Xie Kang. After Xie Kang left, he ordered another ice cream cone on his mobile phone. After his number was called, he went to the front desk to bring the cone back. Before he even sat down, he pinched a French fry and dipped it in ice cream.

When the wind blew on him, Zhuang Yongyuan felt a dull pain in the ice cream cone tattoo on his back. He pressed the tattoo, walked into a convenience store, and bought a few boxes of condoms.

Xie Kang on top of him had his eyes slightly closed, his lips tightly pursed, concentrating on his work. Zhuang Yongyuan opened his mouth, making the sounds that belonged to the moment, and patted Xie Kang's waist. Xie Kang understood and sped up, lowering his head to lick and suck on his chest, and reaching out a hand to gently tickle Zhuang Yongyuan's lower back.

Zhuang Yongyuan's body spasmed with pleasure, and after a brief moment of conscious loss, Xie Kang didn't stop, but immediately started again. Zhuang Yongyuan was distracted for a moment, thinking about asking Xie Kang for money, but he didn't bother to bring it up. He didn't think Xie Kang would react unexpectedly, and the last thing they needed was money, the thing they lacked most in college.

When you're too familiar with someone, you might not be able to be too serious. Zhuang Yongyuan stopped thinking about other things and immersed himself in what was happening. At least the physical sensations were real and could not be faked or concealed.