Chapter 54 54. Stall
Finished looking at the photos.
There was silence, no one spoke, and the four people looked at each other, thinking that the other would cry, but everyone's expression was calm, even a little satisfied. The sunlight in the photo seemed to still shine on them in this winter, leaving dark red sunburn marks.
Du Jiahao was the first to break the silence: "I miss Li Xiuyu."
Zhuang Yongyuan murmured, "I miss him too."
Zhuang Yongyuan thought seeing these photos would make him sad, but it didn't. If he hadn't seen the photos, he would have almost forgotten it. It turned out that this deliberately sealed memory was so light and bright, making his years of avoidance and fear seem like a joke. It was like a huge rock dropped from his chest.
Naturally they began to drink again, toasting each other frantically and talking nonsense.
Du Jiahao suddenly put down the bottle, clapped his hands, and said, "I don't know if I saw it or dreamed it."
Xie Kang chuckled a few times and asked him, "What did you dream about?"
"When did Li Xiuyu put the SD card over?" Du Jiahao rubbed his head and said in confusion.
Zhuang Yongyuan thought for a long time and said, "When we were returning to Pingnan the next day, we passed by a gas station. While waiting in line to fill up, Li Xiuyu said he was carsick and wanted to get out of the car for a walk. He didn't come back for a long time. That gas station is near Du Jiahao's house, right?"
"Is this true? Why can't I remember it at all?" Xu Zhen asked curiously.
Du Jiahao muttered to himself, "Did I follow him?"
If he had followed, why didn't he have any recollection of it? If he hadn't followed, why did he have the image of Li Xiuyu crouching in the corner hiding the SD card?
If he had followed her, had he ever apologized to Li Xiuyu? Had Li Xiuyu forgiven him? If so, why did she abandon him?
He looked at Xie Kang, who shook his head: "I was so sleepy that morning that I slept in the car the whole time."
There will be no answers, death will leave a series of unsolved mysteries. Li Xiuyu was unwilling to leave even a single word, and they had no way of knowing his last thoughts.
Zhuang Yongyuan is not very anxious or angry. He feels that he is no longer like before, striving for an answer to people and things. Since he was born, imperfection has been the norm, and no answer is the answer. He is in his twenties and can already look at things in a more open-minded way.
Just like with Xie Kang, he could calmly face the day when they would separate again, a date that was already approaching.
The phone rang and four people fumbled in their pockets for their phones at the same time. It was Xu Zhen who answered the phone. As soon as the call was connected, she immediately put down the bottle of wine and spoke clearly and gently to the person on the other end.
After the call, she stood up and explained, "My daughter called and said she missed me and urged me to go home quickly."
She checked the time and said, "I've finished looking at the photos. I'm leaving now?"
Zhuang Yongyuan said, "I'll see you off."
Du Jiahao stood up and said, "Then I'll go back too. I have some things to do at the store. I've made several calls to urge you."
They walked down the stairs of Kaiping Street, their steps a bit unsteady from the alcohol. When they reached the last few steps, Xu Zhen said, "Let's stop here. I'll take a taxi to the hotel."
Zhuang Yongyuan nodded and said very restrainedly, "Okay, see you again sometime."
Xu Zhen had just walked down two steps when Zhuang Yongyuan suddenly called her in a panic. Xu Zhen turned around and he walked over and asked, "Shall we add each other on WeChat?"
Xu Zhen was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything. Zhuang Yongyuan quickly said, "It's okay if it's inconvenient."
Xu Zhen took out his phone, opened the code and asked Zhuang Yongyuan to scan it, saying, "That's not what I meant. I...you're so famous now, I can add you and show off to my friends."
Xie Kang asked her, "Can someone who's not famous be included?"
Xu Zhen's expression was a bit complicated at first, but now she smiled again. She also added Xie Kang as her friend. While she was taking a note, Zhuang Yongyuan said, "If Lily Heart has another performance in the future, I'll invite you and your family to come and see it."
"Okay." Xu Zhen smiled happily. Zhuang Yongyuan opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Xu Zhen patted him and said, "If you have something to say, please say it quickly. I really need to go back to the hotel."
Zhuang Yongyuan clenched his fist and unclenched it, saying, "Thank you. Without you, we wouldn't be together."
Before Xu Zhen could answer, he asked, "Shall I export the photos from the SD card and send them to you?"
Xu Zhen simply said, "Okay."
Du Jiahao, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly said, "Let's create a group. I want photos too."
Zhuang Yongyuan gave him a playful look, then smiled again. He added Du Jiahao as his friend and said, "Invite me to your resident concert and get a 50% discount."
Du Jiahao asked: "How much is it after the discount?"
Zhuang Yongyuan thought about it carefully and said, "If we calculate based on the 40-minute performance time, I'll make 300,000 yuan myself and 500,000 yuan for the band."
"How much do you and Xie Kang get?"
Zhuang Yongyuan looked at Xie Kang and fell into deep thought before coming to a conclusion: "Xie Kang is worthless. He's paying 50,000. Treating the two of us for 250,000 is enough."
Just as Xie Kang was about to ask him why, Xu Zhen interrupted them: "Okay, I really have to go."
She pointed to a white online ride-hailing car on the side of the road and said, "The driver has been waiting for a long time."
As soon as he finished speaking, another gray car drove up, stopped behind the white car, and honked its horn several times. Du Jiahao quickly opened the taxi app to check the license plate number and said, "That's the car I called."
Without saying anything more, Zhuang Yongyuan and Xie Kang watched them get into the car. The two online-hailing cars drove away one after another, one went straight, and the other turned around and went in the opposite direction.
Zhuang Yongyuan stretched himself, and Xie Kang asked him, "What are we going to do now?"
Zhuang Yongyuan said, "I'm so sleepy and hungry... Let's go back to sleep first."
They went up the stairs and returned to Xie Kang's house together. Zhuang Yongyuan didn't go upstairs directly. Instead, he looked at himself in the mirror on the first floor for a long time and said dissatisfiedly, "My dark circles are so heavy."
Xie Kang hugged him from behind, stroking the dark circles under his eyes, without saying a word. Zhuang Yongyuan shook him off, saying, "What are you doing? That's so corny."
Xie Kang remained silent and hugged Zhuang Yongyuan again, holding him tightly. The rust spots on the mirror fell on them. Zhuang Yongyuan stared at them for a while and said, "Okay, let me go. I'm fine. I can fall asleep after taking a shower."
However, Xie Kang did not let go as he usually did, but instead hugged Zhuang Yongyuan even tighter, and Zhuang Yongyuan could hardly breathe in his arms.
He said helplessly: "I have told you so many times, it was an accident before. I was too busy and forgot to take medicine. If I really wanted to die, I would have died long ago. There is no need to wait until I return to Pingnan. Don't treat me like this..."
"Okay, that's enough. You smell like alcohol, you know that? It stinks. Go take a shower."
Xie Kang buried his head in Zhuang Yongyuan's neck and turned a deaf ear to what he said.
Zhuang Yongyuan looked at his strange appearance for a while, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. He was about to deny it, but he was unwilling to let it disappear.
He touched Xie Kang's face and asked him seriously, "Xie Kang, are you scared?"
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