The next evening, Capital Hotel.

In the garden-style banquet hall on the top floor, a European-style glass dome hangs high in the sky, and a tower-shaped fountain in the middle flows continuously. The surrounding area is brightly lit, and there are elegantly dressed people. The soothing music of a string orchestra floats from the corner.

The wrap-up banquet is much more grand than the opening banquet, as can be seen from the location and scale alone. But whether grand or simple, the content is basically the same: it simply provides a place for investors, film producers, actors, and companies to socialize.

It was unlikely that Jiang Que would attend such an occasion. Even Zhuang Yan and Song Yecheng said that he didn't have to come if he didn't want to. But what they didn't expect was that Jiang Que chose to attend the banquet without much hesitation this time.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man, but Jiang Que is a typical example of "clothes make the man" - in order to attend the meeting in formal attire, he dug out the suit he wore when he defended his thesis at graduation. The style was obviously unremarkable and even a bit outdated, but when he wore it, it was as if he had added some high-end buff, and he would instantly attract everyone's attention wherever he went.

Needless to say, Song Yecheng was also amazed, but the moment of his amazement was not at the banquet, but before leaving home——

In the evening, in the corridor of his home, when Jiang Que opened the door and walked out, Song Yecheng suddenly stopped and stared at him for a long time.

After staring for a while, Jiang Que couldn't help but start to doubt himself: "...Am I dressed inappropriately?"

Song Yecheng came back to his senses, his Adam's apple sliding slightly: "No... he's just a little too handsome."

Jiang Que laughed in silence, thinking helplessly in his heart: I don’t know how this person can say such a thing. The person standing in front of me is the one who is so dazzling that people can’t take their eyes off her without even having to do makeup or hair.

At this time in the banquet hall.

After the opening, everyone dispersed, holding their glasses of wine and striking up a conversation with their targets.

In this social scene, Song Yecheng and Jiang Que were obviously the focus of everyone's attention. People around them, whether they knew them or not, lined up to toast and chat with them like they were at a market.

After finally dealing with wave after wave of people, Jiang Que just felt relieved when he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him -

"elder brother!"

Jiang Que and Song Yecheng turned around in surprise at the same time, and saw that the person coming was Jiang Bei, and behind him was He Jingsheng with one hand in his pocket and holding a champagne glass.

"Didn't you say you couldn't come?" Jiang Que asked.

Although Jiang Bei didn't have many scenes, he was still one of the actors, so he naturally had an invitation to the wrap-up party. But when Jiang Que asked him about it on WeChat a few days ago, he clearly said that he rarely had a summer vacation and was too lazy to travel so far north, so he simply didn't come.

Jiang Bei laughed and adjusted the hearing aid on his ear: "Didn't I want to give you a surprise?"

Jiang Que didn't comment on this surprise, but only asked, "Then how did you get here?"

"How else could he have gotten here?" He Jingsheng next to him interrupted, "Of course I drove to the airport to pick him up myself."

Jiang Bei didn't know whether he didn't hear clearly or didn't intend to continue the topic at all. He simply ignored He Jingsheng and changed the subject: "Brother, my summer vacation is only one week away, and I have to go back to make up for the lessons on the 8th. Can I stay here and play for the next few days?"

In fact, he had no need to ask Jiang Que for advice on this kind of issue, because legally speaking, Jiang Que was only his sponsor and not his guardian. However, he seemed to have been accustomed to it and liked to ask Jiang Que's opinion on everything.

"Of course," Jiang Que answered straightforwardly, "Then I'll help you book a hotel."

"Why do you want to book a hotel?" Jiang Bei wondered, "Can't we just stay at your place?"

Hearing this, He Jingsheng beside him suddenly sneered and teased, "Your brother's house has been abandoned for a long time. He's living under someone else's roof now. If you want to live here, you can only live with me."

Hearing this, Song Yecheng felt a little unhappy. He thought to himself, how can that be called "living under someone else's roof"? That's clearly...

In the end, after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn't find a suitable title. He simply stopped dwelling on this issue and thought about the fact that Jiang Bei and Jiang Que were still "brothers" after all. He suddenly felt a sense of responsibility as an older brother: "No need, you can also live at my place."

Jiang Bei was about to ask what "living under someone's roof" meant, but when he heard the word "also", he suddenly realized what was happening. He stared in surprise and said, "My brother is now... living in your house?!"

Song Yecheng said as a matter of course: "Hmm, so if you want to live with him, just go back with us later."

Before Jiang Bei could say anything, He Jingsheng, as if suddenly aroused by some desire to win, hurriedly said, "It's better to stay at my house. When you went there before, didn't you say that the room there is warm in winter and cool in summer, and it's quite comfortable to live in?"

Unexpectedly, Song Yecheng seemed to be infected by his desire to win. "What's so strange about being warm in winter and cool in summer? If you turn on the air conditioner, it will be warm in winter and cool in summer. Besides, what's the point of staying in the same place every time? It's fresh because you haven't lived there before, right?"

Jiang Bei's suspicious eyes swept back and forth between their faces, and he simply couldn't understand why he suddenly became so popular.

However, before he could come up with a plan, He Jingsheng suddenly used his trump card: "Hehe, I just bought the latest Nintendo Switch."

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Bei's eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned his head and asked, "Shall we leave now?"

Song Yecheng: "..."

He Jingsheng smiled triumphantly and put his hand on Jiang Bei's shoulder: "Come, say goodbye to your brother, let's go home and play."

Jiang Bei readily agreed: "Brother, I'll leave first. I'll find you in two days."

After saying that, he dragged He Jingsheng towards the exit as if he wished he could grow wings.

Watching the two figures quickly disappear into the distance, Song Yecheng choked in disbelief for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at Jiang Que: "I actually lost?"

Jiang Que was already baffled by the fact that he and He Jingsheng could argue over such a trivial matter like elementary school students, but now, hearing these words, he couldn't help but laugh, his eyes narrowing with laughter: "You didn't, he won unfairly."

Song Yecheng was originally teasing himself, but now looking at his crescent-shaped smiling eyes under his thick and long eyelashes, he suddenly felt satisfied and couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips.

"Wow, it's so windy?"

Halfway through the banquet, Song Yecheng suggested going out for some fresh air. He and Jiang Que walked out the side door and arrived at the open-air terrace outside the hall, which seemed particularly quiet because no one was around.

When he said "blow the wind" he meant just to get some fresh air, but when they walked to the edge of the platform, they found that the wind here was really strong.

Jiang Que placed his hands on the plaster guardrail, faced the wind, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "It's going to rain soon."

"You smelled it?" Song Yecheng asked with a smile as he watched his actions.

"Yeah," Jiang Que turned around and said, "There's moisture in the wind."

Hearing this, Song Yecheng also followed his example and closed his eyes to feel the wind. He didn't feel much moisture, but he felt that the coolness of the evening breeze made him relax and comfortable.

After a moment, as if expressing emotion, he whispered, "That's great."

Jiang Que didn't understand what he meant.

Song Yecheng turned to look at him, a smile in his eyes: "Although it's two years late, I didn't miss it after all."

Jiang Que couldn't help but be stunned.

He had not explained to Song Yecheng why he came to the banquet, but Song Yecheng's words seemed to have made clear his original intention.

Yes, the reason why he came today was because he had missed the wrap-up party of "Twins" two years ago, and today was like a repeat of the past in a sense, giving him a chance to make up for the regret two years ago.

At this moment, a timid whisper suddenly came from behind: "Teacher Song..."

The two looked back and found that the person coming was Xu Yi.

The wrap-up party was a major event related to the movie, so as one of the leading actors, Xu Yi certainly couldn't not come. But when she was in the hall earlier, she had obviously been deliberately avoiding contact with Zhuang Yan and Song Yecheng.

Needless to say, everyone knew why she avoided him, so even though Song Yecheng discovered it, he didn't pay much attention to it. He just didn't expect that she would take the initiative to follow him out at this moment.

Xu Yi still had a half-full glass of champagne in his hand. He pinched the bottom of the glass with both hands and lowered his eyes, as if he couldn't speak. "I, I came here to tell you... I'm sorry, and... thank you for not sending the surveillance video."

Jiang Que was not very good at dealing with this kind of situation, and Xu Yi's words were not directed at him, so as soon as Xu Yi opened his mouth, he turned his head and looked at the distant horizon like an outsider.

Song Yecheng leaned against the guardrail with his back. He didn't show much expression when he heard this. He just said, "I'm not the one you should feel sorry for, and I'm not the one you should thank."

Xu Yi didn't understand what he meant and raised his eyes in confusion.

"Those who pay attention to you and comfort you because of your own self-directed and self-acted performance are the ones you should feel guilty and grateful for."

Song Yecheng said calmly, "You've used their kindness to reach a height that wasn't originally yours, so you're destined to pay more to fill the void beneath your feet. Otherwise, once the effect of their sympathy wears off and you don't have enough strength to maintain their attention and expectations, the support will disappear, and you'll experience what it means to climb high and fall hard, or to experience a fleeting dream."

His words were not actually harsh, but Xu Yi seemed to have only just realized how absurd his actions were, and he couldn't help but tear up.

This expression on the face of a pretty girl was enough to describe her as pitiful and delicate, but Song Yecheng seemed to have a heart of stone and was not moved at all. He just looked away silently.

After a moment, he offered a final piece of advice, as if concluding his speech: "In short, in this circle, the more you try to take shortcuts, the less likely you are to get far. So be careful."

A flash of lightning cut through the night sky, followed by rumbling thunder. The strong wind swept through the treetops and passed by the ears, announcing that a rainstorm was coming and also putting an end to all the silent stories.

When the heavy rain was crackling down, Douzi had already driven them to the basement of Song Yecheng's house.

"I'm leaving!" Douzi said from the driver's seat.

"Drive slowly on the road." Song Yecheng said.

Douzi waved at them, rolled up the car window, backed out of the garage, and gradually disappeared in the rain.

Song Yecheng turned around and went up the stairs with Jiang Que. When they reached the security door on the first floor, he suddenly paused. Instead of reaching out to unlock it, he turned around and asked, "Do you remember the password?"

Jiang Que didn't say much, he just raised his hand and pressed a number:

3-0-1-0-8-6

drop--

Click.

The door lock popped open instantly.

Song Yecheng couldn't help but think that it was a bad idea. He had wanted to take this opportunity to prove that the password was easy to forget, but he didn't expect Jiang Que to remember it so clearly.

Unable to do so, he simply played the direct ball: "Why don't you just record your fingerprint? It's too troublesome to enter the password every time."

Jiang Que was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyes as if avoiding the question: "...No need for that."

Mastering the password and entering the fingerprint may seem like just a way to open the door, but their meanings are worlds apart. Jiang Que didn't know whether Song Yecheng was aware of this, but he knew it very well in his heart.

However, Song Yecheng's next words undoubtedly showed that he was also well aware of the difference between the two -

His tone was like a punctured balloon: "You also think that living here is just 'living under someone else's roof', right?"

Jiang Que didn't expect that he was still thinking about He Jingsheng's words, and hurriedly explained: "No."

"Then why don't you want to be fingerprinted?"

“…”

Jiang Que stared at him speechlessly, as if he was staring at a frost-bitten eggplant. After a long while, he finally gave in helplessly and amusedly: "...Record, record, record."

As he spoke, he reached out and cooperated with Song Yecheng's skillful operation to record his fingerprint into the electronic lock.

"Meow~"

As soon as the two entered the house, Baimao greeted them politely.

Not only did the new residence not cause it any discomfort, but it also made it feel like a fish in water. It seemed that it was quite satisfied with the fact that its territory had become bigger, and even its temper was better than before.

Jiang Que went over and gave it some food and water, while Song Yecheng rubbed its head and grunted twice as it lowered its head to eat, until it squinted its eyes and bared its teeth threateningly. Then he stood up on his knees as if to call off the battle and went upstairs with Jiang Que.

"You don't seem to have drunk anything tonight?" Song Yecheng asked casually as he walked up the stairs.

At the wrap-up party in the evening, Jiang Que was holding a champagne glass like everyone else, but Song Yecheng never saw him bring the glass to his lips from beginning to end.

Jiang Que nodded: "Yeah."

"You don't drink alcohol at all?" Song Yecheng asked.

In fact, he had never seen Jiang Que drink alcohol on the crew, but that was mainly because eating on the crew was just eating, and no one would think of having a couple of drinks, so Song Yecheng was not sure whether he never drank or what.

Jiang Que glanced at him and said, "I'm afraid you've drunk too much."

Hearing this, Song Yecheng couldn't help laughing: "What are you going to do if I get drunk? Carry me back?"

This was clearly a joke, but Jiang Que actually seemed to be considering the possibility of this operation. He turned around and carefully weighed the difference in height and size between the two of them: "I can give it a try."

At this moment, they had already reached the second floor. Hearing this, Song Yecheng paused slightly, then raised his eyebrows, took a step sideways, raised his arms, and hung himself behind him, resting his chin on his shoulder and said, "Try it, I have more."

At this moment, the two of them were pressed chest to back. The warm air brought by Song Yecheng's words swept across Jiang Que's neck, causing him to shrink his neck and tilt his head to smile, "Stop it."

Song Yecheng refused to give in and just held him tightly: "Didn't you say you wanted to try it, huh?"

Although Song Yecheng didn't press him too hard, the height difference and the restraint of his arms still made it impossible for Jiang Que to walk normally. It was as if he was dragging a large teddy bear behind him. He could only move forward slowly while tilting his head, feeling both amused and helpless: "You don't really have much? Hiss... itchy."

"Where does it itch? Here?"

Song Yecheng maliciously rubbed his chin against the side of his neck, and then tickled his ear with the tip of his nose: "Or here?"

Two waves of numbness hit Jiang Que in quick succession, and he felt his legs suddenly go limp. Seeing the master bedroom right in front of him, he quickly squatted down and slipped out from between his elbows. He turned around and pushed Song Yecheng towards the door: "Hurry up and take a shower and go to bed."

Song Yecheng was pushed into the room in a rogue posture, slightly leaning back. All the way to his bedside, he did not continue to pester, but instead said "Oh" obediently.

Jiang Que had just breathed a sigh of relief when Song Yecheng suddenly stopped and turned around. As if inspired by his words, he said with a half-smile, "Then I'll go take a shower."

As he spoke, he casually took off his suit jacket and threw it on the bed, pinched his tie with one hand and loosened it a little, then began to unbutton his shirt.

One, two, three...

Jiang Que stared at his hand as it moved downwards, as if he hadn't recovered his consciousness. It wasn't until he had unfastened the last piece and his slender fingers were on the belt buckle that he suddenly reacted. He quickly averted his gaze, stepped back a few steps, and hurriedly closed the door: "Good night!"

The door slammed shut.

Song Yecheng stopped and stared at the closed door, licking his lips with amusement and a sense of unsatisfied feeling.

God have mercy on him, his series of outrageous actions are simply hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting himself by ten thousand. He doesn't know whether Jiang Que is distracted or not, but he feels like a Samadhi fire is ignited in his heart, and his mouth is dry from being roasted.

Song Yecheng's Adam's apple rolled slightly, he looked down, then raised his hand to support his forehead, feeling both amused and helpless.

Yes, a complete defeat.

He shook his head and sighed in self-mockery, quickly tore off his shirt and tie, and walked towards the bathroom resignedly.

There were lightning, thunder, wind and rain outside the window.

Jiang Que returned to the guest bedroom and leaned against the door. He blinked blankly, then raised his hand to touch his slightly hot cheeks and red ears.

How could I not be distracted?

As early as the moment Song Yecheng rested his chin on his shoulder and his warm breath brushed against his neck, his blood was already confused.

After leaning quietly by the door for a while, he didn't know what he was thinking. He sighed slightly, walked to the bed, picked up his home clothes, turned around and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

When he came out again, the blush on his face had faded, replaced by lingering water stains on his porcelain-white skin.

He wiped his hair with a towel, and when he looked up inadvertently, he saw a flash of lightning passing through the sky outside the window.

After a moment of stunned silence, he put down the towel in his hand, walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window, and stood there quietly.

The heavy rain was slamming against the entire floor-to-ceiling window. The dense bamboo forest outside the window was shaking violently. Lightning split the night sky in the distance, making deafening thunder.

This situation might be shocking to others, but in Jiang Que's eyes it was extremely romantic.

——It’s not the kind of romance of peach blossoms in March, but the soul-stirring and bone-deep tremor when the strong wind ravages the earth and the lightning tears through the sky.

This breathtaking beauty makes people feel dangerous, yet also soberly fascinated by it.

Somehow, at this moment, Jiang Que's mind once again reappeared with the scene in the corridor. Those subtle touches were like tiny electric currents extending from the lightning outside the window, wandering around the nerve endings, paralyzing all remaining rationality.

In fact, there is no rationality at all.

Jiang Que thought with self-mockery.

From the moment he decided to continue living under the same roof with Song Yecheng, he seemed to have allowed himself to indulge in a pool of poison, every inch of his skin was in a state of drunkenness, and every pore was drinking poison to quench his thirst.

He is a writer, but he is destined to be unable to write his own ending. Even when the plot is about to diverge, he has difficulty controlling the direction of the subsequent story.

The film has been completed, and the deadline for his promise to confess has also arrived.

He couldn't predict Song Yecheng's reaction, attitude, and all possible changes, as if he was waiting for a desperate gamble.

The wind and rain were still beating outside the window, accompanying his distant and chaotic thoughts.

I don’t know how long it took, but just as another thunder exploded, the headlights in the room suddenly went out.

The bedroom suddenly fell into darkness.

Jiang Que suddenly came back to his senses and looked up subconsciously. However, before he could figure out what was going on, he heard a faint "crash!" sound coming from the direction of the master bedroom, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground and shattered.

Jiang Que was startled and quickly turned to the bed to find his cell phone. He turned on the flashlight as he walked and hurried to the other side.

When he arrived at the door of the master bedroom, he pushed it open without even knocking. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, he saw that the room was empty when the flashlight swept through it.

At the same time, faint sounds of water came from the direction of the bathroom.

Still taking a shower?

Jiang Que wondered, then quickly walked to the bathroom door. This time, he finally raised his hand and knocked on it: "Are you not done washing yet? What was that sound just now?"

"Oh, it's okay." Song Yecheng's voice sounded a little hurried. "I just broke something."

In the bathroom just across the door, Song Yecheng was complaining in his heart.

He couldn't explain to Jiang Que why he took so long to take a bath, and he couldn't understand why the power suddenly went out in the middle of the bath.

I just solved another problem, why are you targeting me like this?!

The crisp sound just now was caused by him accidentally breaking the porcelain bottle of shower gel next to him after the lights went out. Now, the messy debris and sticky shower gel formed a mess on the ground, crawling at his feet, like a silent mockery.

"Well," Song Yecheng ignored the details for the time being and said the key point, "Can you help me get my pajamas? They're in the closet against the wall."

Jiang Que outside the door responded "OK" and then turned and walked towards the wardrobe.

In fact, if Song Yecheng hadn't seen the light in Jiang Que's hand through the frosted glass door, he would never have asked him to help get his clothes. After all, it was dark now, and if Jiang Que was bumped into again, he might as well go out naked.

Song Yecheng's house has a special cloakroom, so the bedroom closet only contains some underwear, home clothes, sportswear, etc. After Jiang Que opened the closet, he quickly saw several sets of folded pajamas.

He picked out a thin summer suit, put it on and was about to leave, but when he took it out, he accidentally knocked over other things around him, and several pieces fell to the ground.

Jiang Que lowered his head and scanned with the flashlight. Seeing that there were only some scattered clothes, he did not rush to pay attention to it. Instead, he took the pajamas to the bathroom first.

Song Yecheng opened the door and held out his hand. Jiang Que handed him his pajamas: "Be careful not to step on the debris on the ground."

Song Yecheng responded, and Jiang Que turned around and walked back to the closet, ready to pick up the scattered clothes.

In the bathroom, Song Yecheng didn't bother to close the door, leaving it ajar. He stood in front of the sink and hastily put on his pajamas. As he did so, he shouted, "Stay here and don't move—I'll go out and check the switch."

When the power went out, his first reaction was that he had forgotten to pay the electricity bill after not coming home for a few months. But then he remembered that the electricity bill at home was automatically deducted every month, so he shouldn't be in arrears. So he guessed what might have caused the circuit breaker to trip. The circuit breaker was in the basement, so he planned to go down and check the situation later.

After putting on his clothes, Song Yecheng grabbed a towel and rubbed his dripping hair while opening the door and walking out.

Apart from the occasional lightning flashing outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the only light source in the room was Jiang Que's cell phone flashlight.

At this time, the light source was located between the bed and the wardrobe, vaguely illuminating Jiang Que's figure kneeling on the ground with his back to this side.

"What are you doing?"

Song Yecheng casually rubbed his hair and walked over there curiously. However, before he took two steps, a strange feeling suddenly flashed through his mind.

Somehow, he inexplicably felt that Jiang Que's back looked a little stiff at this moment.

This is actually ridiculous.

Not to mention that it was pitch black all around and I could only vaguely see an outline, making it impossible to see clearly or carefully. Even when the lights were on, it was not easy to tell a person's condition just by looking at their back.

However, Song Yecheng seemed to sense some kind of breath from a distance, and instinctively felt that the atmosphere was not right.

Perhaps it was because of the continuous lightning and thunder outside the floor-to-ceiling window, or perhaps it was because of Jiang Que's silence, Song Yecheng subconsciously slowed down his pace and slowly walked behind Jiang Que.

The light from the mobile phone's flashlight illuminated a small corner. On that small area of ​​soft carpet, scattered were a few unimportant clothes that had fallen out of the closet.

And on top of those clothes, a piece of wrinkled thin paper was spread out flat.

That was the handwritten letter from Lingling that Song Yecheng had kept in his closet for many years and received when he was twelve years old.