Chapter 24 Meteor

Zhan Lintian looked towards Jiang Xia, who was leaning against Wu Zhou.

Wu Zhou's black top made Jiang Xia's skin appear even whiter, and the porcelain white color flowed down her neck and into her clothes.

Zhan Lintian's eyes flickered slightly. Jiang Xia had been working indoors for a long time, so it was normal for him to be pale.

Tall but thin, his fainting spells suggest that Jiang Xia had been eating irregularly for at least a long time...

He just discovered that he only had three kinds of seasonings at home while cooking: soy sauce, salt, and pepper.

He rarely cooks at home.

Yet, despite being surrounded by locals in the foggy country, he fearlessly rushed into the crowd and pulled himself away.

Zhan Lintian lowered his voice: "Let him sleep."

Wu Zhou carried Jiang Xia into the room.

As soon as he entered the bedroom, Zhan Lintian followed and stood at the door.

Using the light from the living room, Wu Zhou carefully placed the person on the bed and covered them with a blanket.

During the movement, his palm accidentally brushed against Jiang Xia's cheek.

His body temperature was slightly elevated, while Jiang Xia's face felt cold. He turned over and instinctively sought out a source of warmth, gently rubbing against it, his long eyelashes brushing against his palm.

Jiang Xia should be somewhat sober, but not enough.

Zhan Lintian walked to the door and asked in a low voice, "Should we arrange for someone to take care of him?"

Wu Zhou withdrew his hand, waited to observe, and said, "He'll wake up soon."

The sound of two people talking startled Jiang Xia awake.

He opened his eyes groggily, his eyelashes fluttering, trying to make out the scene before him.

After seeing it clearly, he was about to get out of bed and land.

Wu Zhou pressed down on his shoulder.

Zhan Lintian verbally stopped him, saying, "It's getting late, we should go now."

Jiang Xia blinked hard, trying to fight off his drowsiness.

Wu Zhou stood up and said, "Get some rest."

As they left the bedroom, Jiang Xia quickly stood up: "I'll see President Wu and President Zhan downstairs."

When Wu Zhou left, Jiang Xia made a point of checking to make sure he hadn't forgotten his coat, lest he forget it again.

This winter is colder than usual.

He wrapped himself in a coat and went downstairs. The wind howled, and Jiang Xia instantly became alert.

Zhan Lintian put the child in the car and walked over to Wu Zhou.

Zhan Lintian teased, "This is your first time having a private dinner together, isn't it?"

“When I was studying in the UK, we invited you out for a meal, but you never came. You live in the neighboring country, just a few hours away, and you never come.”

Wu Zhou frowned: "I was too busy with my studies, and then I was busy with the studio."

Zhan Lintian raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it.

Jiang Xia stood by and listened to their conversation, and he sensed the unspoken meaning in Zhan Lintian's words. He was reminding himself that Wu Zhou had never liked to associate with others.

Busy with his studies, he neglected social interactions and devoted himself entirely to his studio.

He would never casually have dinner with others in private.

But today Wu Zhou took the initiative to come over and stay.

Jiang Xia lowered his eyes to look at the ground. In fact, this was the second time that President Wu had dined with him.

Unaware that it was getting late, Zhan Lintian waved his hand and said, "I'm leaving. I'll take Wenwen home to sleep first."

"Let's get together again sometime."

Jiang Xia nodded: "Okay, thank you for your hard work tonight, President Zhan."

Zhan Lintian got into the car, made a gesture to him, and drove away.

Jiang Xia looked at Wu Zhou, who hadn't moved beside him.

"Mr. Wu?"

Wu Zhou glanced at his watch: "It's still early, not even ten o'clock yet. Are you still sleepy?"

Jiang Xia shook his head. He wasn't sleepy to begin with, and shook his head again: "I feel a little better. I'll feel better once I get over it."

His eyes were still slightly red, but his condition had improved.

Wu Zhou stared intently at him, approaching him and shielding him from the wind, his voice hoarse: "Jiang Xia, you..."

"...Want to see a meteor shower?"

Jiang Xia smiled instinctively: "Mr. Wu is joking."

But Wu Zhou's gaze revealed no hint of mockery.

Jiang Xia tried to dissuade Mr. Wu from his suggestion, saying, "Where should we go? It's too late, you'll be tired, right? Or..."

Wu Zhou added, "There is a private observatory on Guanjing Mountain in the suburbs. The scenery is very beautiful. The light pollution index there is level four tonight, but it is a bit far away. It takes about an hour and a half by the ring road."

Although it's far, there's a ring road that can get you to the vicinity, avoiding congested sections.

Mr. Wu said it would take an hour and a half, and he also took time allowance into account.

In the past, Jiangxia would never have agreed.

He was afraid that Wu Ming would "check up" on him and find something was wrong, and that Wu Ming would interrogate him about who he had met and what he had done.

But life always has to move forward.

Jiang Xia pondered for a moment, looked at him, and tilted her head: "Okay."

The two looked at each other, and Jiang Xia chuckled softly, "Well... thank you for your hard work, Mr. Wu?"

Wu Zhou drove an SUV today, which is suitable for climbing hills, and did not have a driver.

His purpose in coming to see Jiang Xia today was to ask him if he wanted to see the meteor shower.

This was the first time Jiang Xia had ridden in his car.

The G-Class has a high chassis, providing better visibility while driving. Jiang Xia sat in the passenger seat.

The car interior was clean and tidy, without even the usual car decorations.

Jiang Xia sat in the passenger seat, wondering whether he should talk to the other person, but for a moment he didn't know what to talk about.

"Forehead……"

I don't know how to start a conversation.

When quiet, the river gorge seems somewhat lost.

Her feelings for Wu Ming grew stronger day by day and year by year, developing through their interactions in countless small ways.

These emotional boundaries are difficult to define.

He had suffered too much in the past, so he treated Wu Ming as a friend and family member, and finally tried to win her back by using their romantic relationship.

Apart from that, he has never been interested in anyone else.

In college, some people would date. Jiang Xia had imagined what it would be like to find a girlfriend and date, but he wasn't very eager for it and there wasn't a girl he was attracted to.

At the time, he seemed to want to go with the flow, follow the life trajectory of an ordinary person, and not let the hard-won happy life go awry.

After graduation, I stayed in Montreal, while my classmates gradually left to work in other places.

Only a handful of people remained in this place, but he didn't interact with them much.

Over the years, he had never considered whether he should find another boyfriend if he couldn't be with Wu Ming.

Not even once.

He seemed to have no physical attraction to men.

He values ​​spiritual resonance more.

The reason I agreed to Wu Zhou's request was because Wu Zhou accurately recited the original words from a work I had translated a few years ago.

He asked himself: Why was he unhappy back then?

He's seen it, he understands it.

For a fleeting moment, Jiang Xia felt as if he had been shot in the chest.

The optimistic and cheerful Wu Ming couldn't understand, but the taciturn Wu Zhou comprehended those words.

Jiang Xia leaned his head against the window, adjusted the angle, and silently watched Mr. Wu's profile until they reached the top of the viewing mountain.

This area is not yet fully developed; the roads are covered with gravel, and the vehicle swayed as we arrived at a private viewing platform at the top of the mountain.

It was colder up in the mountains, so the two of them quickly went inside and then climbed the spiral staircase to the telescope.

Jiang Xia bent down, bringing his face close to the astronomical telescope. Not knowing how to use it, he asked, "Do you want to use this to look?"

Wu Zhou nodded: "The light pollution index in Mengcheng is too high. Using this will be more effective."

Jiang Xia frankly admitted, "I can't. You..."

Jiang Xia paused, then pointed to the binoculars: "Could you teach me?"

Wu Zhou softly hummed in agreement.

During the conversation, Jiang Xia's phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at it and saw that it was a message from Wu Ming, expressing his apology for breaking the appointment.

Jiangxia replied: It's alright.

Wu Ming, who was far away at home, breathed a sigh of relief. He was waiting to eat noodles at home.

He originally wanted to take Xie Xingzhang to see the meteor shower, but Xie Xingzhang ultimately refused.

"I've seen too many of those, they're all the same. Honey, I'm going to get a spa treatment now to prepare for our engagement party."

Xie Xingzhang acted coquettishly, and then left with his friends.

Meteor showers are nothing special.

When Wu Ming was a child, he participated in an astronomy exchange club and spent an entire summer observing stars.

This time, he remembered his promise to Jiangxia and felt a desire to make amends.

Unexpectedly, my older brother stopped me.

"Young Master, the ramen is here."

A steaming bowl of handmade noodles was placed in front of him, glistening with oil, the broth rich and flavorful, topped with a layer of bright green scallions.

Wu Ming took a bite, and then he wanted to eat the noodles that Jiangxia cooked.

He didn't like noodles much before, but after eating too many delicacies outside, he naturally looked down on them.

However, the fried eggs at Jiangxia were quite good; they were very tender and didn't have much of an oily smell.

"Does Auntie have any noodles?"

"Second Young Master, we don't have any noodles at home... If you want some, I'll call and have someone order some."

Wu Ming had no choice but to give up.

He put down his chopsticks and realized that Jiang Xia still hadn't replied. He then thought of the person who had started this whole thing.

If it weren't for my older brother forcing me to develop a relationship with Xingzhang, I wouldn't be stuck here. I would have gone to watch the meteor shower with Jiangxia long ago.

Wu Ming poked at the food with his chopsticks a few times and asked, "What are you having for dinner, big brother?"

The aunt replied, "The eldest young master didn't come back today."

"So busy?"

"I've been quite busy lately and haven't been home for meals much."

"Oh." Wu Ming didn't ask any further questions.

He tried calling Jiang Xia via WeChat, but she didn't answer; she was probably asleep.

Wu Ming found a live stream of the meteor shower online and shared it with Jiang Xia: "Jiang Xia, look, it'll be over soon."

At this moment, at the Guanjingshan Observatory, Jiang Xia watched the meteor shower through the lens, and it was just as spectacular as he had imagined.

Memories of high school flooded my mind.

—Make a wish upon a shooting star, and your wish will come true!

—Jiangxia, what wish would you make?

—I don't know, I need to think about it.

Even though he didn't believe it at the time, he still thought about it carefully.

His impoverished life could not withstand any unexpected events.

Jiang Xia closed his eyes and thought to himself: Then I hope that I can meet someone who will make me happy in the future.

With a brief wish, he opened his eyes, and Wu Zhou's face was reflected in them.

at the same time.

Zhan Lintian returned home, sat on the sofa, and reflected on the events of the evening.

He stood by the window, lit a cigarette, checked his phone, and sent a message to Jiang Xia, asking if he had gone upstairs to sleep.

Jiang Xia replied, "Mr. Wu and I are watching the meteor shower outside."

Zhan Lintian smiled and sent a question mark with a puzzled look.

Is progressing so fast? But judging from Jiangxia's reply, he probably just wanted to go see the meteor shower; only Wu Zhou had ulterior motives.

He didn't know the significance of the meteor shower to Jiangxia, but he intuitively felt that it was important.

Just as he was about to type, several friends asked him if he wanted to go out and have some fun. Yinghua even called: "You've been quite busy these past few days. Do you want to play golf tomorrow?"

"Forget it, I'm not interested."

Upon hearing the background noise on the other end of the phone, Zhan Lintian knew that a few people were hanging out together and had suddenly invited him out.

Ying Hua complained, "So what do you want to do? You can arrange anything. Your project with Wu Zhou isn't finished yet? That shouldn't be the case. His project is doing really well. I haven't even had a chance to invest."

Zhan Lintian did not reply.

“Wu Zhou…”

He looked outside and thought of the scene of Jiang Xia in Wu Zhou's arms just now.

Jiang Xia's face was pressed against Wu Zhou's black shirt, her breathing shallow, she looked beautiful...

Zhan Lintian took a deep drag on his cigarette, flicked off the ash, and squinted. "President Wu has already arranged to meet Jiang Xia..."

Will Wu Zhou force a kiss on him tonight?

Zhan Lintian's Adam's apple bobbed as he unconsciously imagined Jiang Xia's lips being kissed.

Without a doubt, given Jiang Xia's personality, she definitely still has her first kiss.

A note from the author:

The temperature suddenly dropped, and with the work week, I didn't have time to add layers. I felt groggy after work and just collapsed into bed. I'm so sorry. (orz)

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