Meeting an old friend in a foreign land
Hu Hanyu pressed Zheng Cheng into the triangle formed by the wall, screen, and menu.
"You're so careless when you talk sometimes." Hanyu let go of him, holding his forehead against his chest and panting. "It's easy to cause misunderstandings, and it's very dangerous."
"Who's in danger?" Zheng Cheng smoothed his hair and tucked it behind his ears. "You should be careful tonight."
Another face-to-face consultation will be scheduled in a few days. Zheng Cheng plans to let Dr. Yin hypnotize him. He is just one step away from the truth, and he doesn't want to miss this opportunity even if it means risking another attack.
"Is this really necessary?" Hanyu held his hand, but he was even more nervous than him. "You won't lose your memory after waking up, will you?"
"You don't watch skits when you have nothing to do, do you?" Zheng Cheng laughed at him. "It's not the kind of hypnosis where you wave a watch around. It's just following the guidance to recall."
Sometimes when Zheng Cheng was drowsy in the middle of the night, he could feel Hanyu touching his face. When he worked alone for a long time, Hu Hanyu would appear beside him intentionally or unintentionally and hang around him.
He knew that Hu Hanyu was worried that he would hide alone again when he had an attack. It was only last time in the clinic that he saw Hanyu's distressed expression, which made his heart tighten.
Hanyu never expresses his feelings too much, but Zheng Cheng knows that he is worried, so he wants to get better soon.
"It'll be okay." Zheng Cheng kissed him on the cheek. "If you're worried, just stay with me in the clinic. Doctor Yin will agree."
The dishes in the izakaya were served very quickly, all at once. Zheng Cheng didn't know where to start when he picked up the chopsticks.
It must be sashimi.
The silver-skinned fish saury is very easy to oxidize and has a fishy smell. Even in Japan, the most common way to cook it is salt-grilled.
However, as long as it is handled properly and the ingredients are fresh enough, the sweetness of saury sashimi is unmatched even by Arctic scallops.
The saury sashimi at "Xin" is quite good. The freshness and processing of the sashimi are not inferior to high-end Japanese food. The fish meat is delicate and sweet, without any fishy smell, and has the unique aroma of marine fish.
"It's clear the boss has legitimate sources of supply, and his cooking is pretty good," Zheng Cheng said, taking notes as he ate. "The price-performance ratio is so high, I'm worth a try."
Hanyu had already sat back down opposite him. Looking at his serious expression, he took two sips of draft beer.
"What? Drinking with my face?" Zheng Cheng was still typing on his phone. He caught a glimpse of Hu Hanyu's actions and a smile appeared on his face.
"I know why you always come over to make things more complicated when the time is busiest," Hanyu said. "A serious man is the most handsome."
"How am I causing any trouble?" Zheng Cheng protested. "I was filming it for Zheng Sisi. She's going crazy over it in Australia."
After Zheng Sisi heard that the two of them were together, she didn't have any other reaction. She just begged Zheng Cheng to take a video of Hu Hanyu cooking for her, saying that she wanted to let Gu Zichen replicate it in the Australian Village.
"What's going on between her and Gu Zichen?" Hu Hanyu ate edamame boiled in salt water and did not forget to squeeze a few into Zheng Cheng's bowl.
"What else could it be? They're fine." Zheng Cheng picked up some edamame and put it in his mouth. "They're like that. Every time they argue, Sisi blocks him and Zichen cries, and then they're fine again."
"You won't do this to me again, will you?" Hanyu squeezed a few more for him. "I can't cry."
"Try to be my edamame shooter again! Am I some kind of useless person who can't eat myself?" Zheng Cheng pointed at his nose. "I didn't eat anything else, I only ate your edamame!"
"It's quite fun. You just eat it as soon as it comes out, like a chick pecking at rice." Hu Hanyu smiled triumphantly.
"Um...I'm sorry."
The two were laughing and joking when they were suddenly interrupted by someone.
The man had dark skin, a slightly plump figure, a mustache, a waist bag slung across his shoulder, and a towel tied around his neck. Judging from his attire, he was obviously not a local.
"Are you Koujiang?" he asked in broken Chinese.
What is Koujiang? Zheng Cheng looked at Hu Hanyu, who showed an expression of disbelief.
"Taku?" He stood up and hugged the other person happily.
Hug? Zheng Cheng frowned.
"It's really you! When I saw this person just now, I thought he looked like my beauty." The man called Taku held Hu Hanyu's face and kept talking in Japanese, "I miss you so much."
Zheng Cheng's good character made him hold back and not break the chopsticks in his hand.
Hanyu's face showed a rare excitement, but when he saw Zheng Cheng's expression, he calmed down a bit and explained to him in Chinese, "This is my senior brother Tuo from Cheng Cuisine. We used to live together, so we know each other very well."
It’s so nice to live together every day.
After obtaining Zheng Cheng's consent, the two sat in Tuo and his family's seats. Seeing Tuo's wife and son, Zheng Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and listened to Koujiang and Tuo chatting about family matters.
After leaving Cheng Cuisine, Tuo started his own business in his hometown. This time he brought his wife and children to Shanghai for fun.
"I didn't expect that. At that time, you were the only one with a cell phone in Japan, and I thought I would never see you again in this life." Tuo invited them both to his seat, ordered two pots of sake, and clinked glasses with Hu Hanyu.
Zheng Cheng sat next to the child with his eyes downcast, watching him carefully flipping through a small picture book in his hands, which told a story about eating well.
"I've added you this time. Let's keep in touch in the future." Hanyu patted his shoulder. "Where's Wulang? Have you guys contacted each other recently?"
"That guy." Taku looked up and smiled, as if he had thought of something interesting. "Still the same..."
Zheng Cheng felt that Hu Hanyu in front of him was very different.
Listening to them laughing and talking about their former fellow students and the embarrassing things they did together in the past, Hanyu's face would show a very lively expression.
It was an expression that he had to try very hard to see; it was fleeting, and only the unbridled and flamboyant young Hanyu could have.
He suddenly felt very jealous of Taku.
Tuo witnessed how Hanyu became what he is today and participated in his youth.
But Zheng Cheng didn't, he only knew the taciturn and calm Hu Hanyu.
"Among all of Dad's apprentices, Koujiang is the most suitable to inherit Cheng's cooking skills." After clinking glasses several times, Tuo sighed, "What a pity..."
"My dad caught me back." Hu Hanyu drank the wine in his glass and looked at it. "I couldn't see him off for the last time."
Takuya drank silently and poured himself another glass: "If it weren't for that incident, he wouldn't have ended up like this."
"That thing?" Zheng Cheng, who had been sitting in silence, suddenly spoke.
Hanyu and Tuo looked up at him at the same time.
"Stop talking." Hanyu said to Tuo.
"This concerns Dad's reputation," Taku said, taking a sip of his wine. "I think we should tell more people."
"Please tell me." Seeing Hanyu's embarrassed look, Zheng Cheng asked in Japanese.
"Our master committed suicide." Taku drank the wine in his hand again, "because of an incident many years ago."
"Is it a kidnapping case?" Zheng Cheng pinched the hem of his clothes.
"Well, you do know that he's very famous in China, right? He's the son of a wealthy family." Tuo rubbed his face. "The hostage was left in the kitchen of our shop. Because of this, everyone in town thinks we're a scam."
"That's not the hostage's fault." Hanyu added in a low voice as he looked at Zheng Cheng's gradually pale face.
"So, is Dad wrong?" Taku's voice suddenly got a little louder. "For us, he went door to door, humbly explaining himself. He managed to keep the store open and trained us all, but he..."
Tuo slammed the table hard and covered his eyes. "The kidnappers got what they deserved, the hostages were fine and even received compensation, but Dad did nothing and yet he lost everything. Why?"
Hanyu sighed sadly. He didn't dare to look at Zheng Cheng's expression and closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry." Zheng Cheng said softly.
"Ah, we should be the ones apologizing." Tuo's wife took the teapot and added water to Zheng Cheng. "I'm so sorry. My husband gets emotional easily when he talks about the past."
"Yeah, I'm sorry for being so rude." Tuoshuang wiped his eyes with a towel. "Our master is a good man. It's because he's so good that he always feels sorry for others."
"At least, we will all remember him forever." Hanyu said, raising his glass.
"Yeah, I'll always remember him." Taku clinked glasses with him and drank another. "Ah, I wish I hadn't let him watch the news back then."
"Did he commit suicide because of the news that the kidnapping case was closed..." Zheng Cheng looked at Hanyu, "So you knew about this all along?"
"Chengcheng..." Hanyu seemed to want to explain something, but didn't know how to start.
"He's sick, depressed," Taku explained. "He was almost recovered, but the news of the case closing brought back memories of his past where he was scorned."
"The case is over, but some people are trapped in it and can never leave." Zheng Cheng's lips trembled a little. "I understand this feeling."
The child patted Zheng Cheng, picked up the picture book in his hand and pointed it to him.
"Xiaocheng, don't be rude." Taku's wife quickly stopped him.
Zheng Cheng blinked, smiled, and shook his head to indicate that it was okay.
"Is this little boy eating sushi?" Zheng Cheng smiled and leaned over to take a look. "Is the grandfather smiling in the back the owner of the sushi restaurant?"
"Grandpa Cheng." The child nodded and said with a smile, "Xiaocheng likes Grandpa Cheng."
"Grandpa Cheng is really nice, isn't he?" Zheng Cheng touched Xiao Cheng's head and said to Taku, "I will remember that Mr. Takada is a good person, just like this child."
"Thank you, Zheng Sang." Tuo smiled with relief, while Hu Hanyu on the side seemed to have mixed feelings.
Zheng Cheng behaved normally until he said goodbye to the Tuo family. But all the way after they separated, he remained silent and sullen, not saying a word.
"Hanyu," he stopped at the Nanjiang intersection, "I have something to ask you."
Hanyu also stopped and looked at him cautiously.
"You know, right? Your master's death is related to me." Zheng Cheng went straight to the point.
"It's not about you, it's about the case." Hanyu denied it, but expressed affirmation.
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Zheng Cheng asked, "How hard has your master worked these past eight years? How difficult it has been for you all? Why didn't you tell me a single word?"
"These things won't help your illness." Hanyu took a step forward and wanted to grab his hand, "Chengcheng, I really didn't mean to hide this from you..."
Zheng Cheng stepped back:
"You won't tell me anything that doesn't help me? I'm your patient? Am I not qualified to know about you, your past friends, your pain, and your past?"
Zheng Cheng paused his questions, his eyes darkening. All the frustration pent up in his chest seemed to have found an outlet.
"No..." Hanyu didn't know how to answer except to shake his head.
"You lied to me." Zheng Cheng's voice trembled. "You, you all, are lying to me."
The future he had been thinking about recently became blurry at this moment.
"No, listen to me," Hanyu took two steps forward and grabbed his arm, "I just don't want to see you blaming yourself for Dad again. You obviously don't do anything..."
"Don't want to watch? Just don't look at it." Zheng Cheng interrupted him.
His tone was like an icy knife, cutting off all chances of Hu Hanyu's recovery.
Zheng Cheng broke free from his hand and walked forward.
"Chengcheng?" Hanyu chased for a few steps, but when he felt the curious gazes of the people around him, he stopped.
"Let me be quiet for a while." Zheng Cheng didn't even turn his head, trying hard to suppress the trembling of his voice, "For the time being, for the time being, I don't want to see you."
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