The delivery of the two mounted scrolls was delayed again and again. Ye Tong asked about it several times. Ye Kai finally realized that he could not avoid it, and reluctantly took the initiative to call Chen Youhan to make an appointment.
Chen Youhan was awakened by the phone call from a long, day-and-night hangover. The doctor had long ago warned him not to drink excessively, but he was not obsessed with drunkenness and dreams, but the reality was dull.
The sun was blinding, and Qiao Chu forgot to close the curtains after picking up the corpse for the umpteenth time. Chen Youhan groaned in pain twice, groping on the messy bed to find the sound, and finally picked up the phone before the other party ran out of patience and hung up.
"Hello."
His voice was incredibly low and hoarse, and his tone was filled with deep fatigue and unconsciousness.
"It's me."
Chen Youhan frowned, turned over, raised his arms to cover his eyes, and asked impatiently, "Who?"
Ye Kai summoned his patience, then realized that the other party might have just woken up from a night of indulgence. His eyes turned cold, and he said without emotion: "Ye Kai."
Chen Youhan slowly opened his eyes, and in the two silent breaths he confirmed the authenticity of the call from the rustling sound of the receiver. He sat up abruptly: "Is it you? No, sorry, I just woke up..." He wiped his face fiercely and softened his tone: "Do you have something to talk to me about?"
"Whenever it's convenient for you at home, I'll send the letter to you."
Chen Youhan finally remembered this, and said dizzily while covering his eyes: "I'm at home, right now." He inserted his fingers into his hair: "Come over now? Okay, that's convenient..." Before he could even say "be careful on the road", the other party simply hung up the phone.
Chen Youhan sat with his head down for a while holding the phone, and slowly cursed "Fuck".
The house was a horrible mess, and he himself was not much better. It would take 40 minutes to get here from Siyuan Road if the traffic conditions were good, so he took a shower as quickly as possible. His palm slid across the steamy mirror, reflecting a tired face with a hangover, red bloodshot, dark circles under the eyes, and stubble. Chen Youhan let out a sigh of relief, curled his lips in self-mockery, and lowered his head to squeeze out the foam shaving cream in his palm.
Given their current relationship, Ye Kai would not want to set foot in his bedroom, so all kinds of messy things were stuffed into the master bedroom, and the living room finally cleaned up. ...How long is left? It's 10:30 in the morning, maybe he can stay for lunch. Chen Youhan threw Dyson away, washed his hands, and looked for ingredients in the refrigerator. ...He was stupid, how long has he not cooked at home? The phone placed an order at the nearest imported fresh supermarket in the business district. Oyster mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, wagyu beef, lemon, basil, thyme, butter, fresh cream...Everything he could think of was added to the shopping cart, and he almost forgot the Perrier.
The vacuum cleaner was not willing to leave even a corner or gap untouched, and the sofa blanket was neatly folded. The water lily in the vase had long since withered, and there were a few rotten oranges scattered on the coffee table, all of which were swept into the trash can. What else? Chen Youhan scanned every corner from the entrance, the living room, the dining bar to the open center island, and his drowsy brain was forced to struggle and work, thinking about things that might have been missed.
The doorbell rang, and Chen Youhan almost jumped with nervousness, then realized that it must be the supermarket deliveryman. He calmed down, and with the possibility of a one in ten million chance just in case, he pretended to be calm and pushed the door open, then quickly relaxed. The young man in the blue uniform greeted him in a well-trained manner and placed two large bags of fresh food at the entrance.
I bought too much. The fridge barely fits. The steak needs to be marinated in advance, and the elderberry soda sparkling drink he likes can be prepared first. Chen Youhan tried hard to recall for a while before he remembered how to prepare the drink that he made on a whim, and he forgot to buy sea salt and dragon fruit.
...Why hasn’t Ye Kai come yet?
Is it a traffic jam? Today is the weekend, and this time is indeed the peak time to enter the city center. Just after opening the map app and before entering the route to check, the doorbell rang again. Chen Youhan hastily put down his phone, paused in the reflection when passing by the glass decorative wall, and then slowed down. When he grasped the door handle, he felt a tingling tension and expectation from his wrist. He calmed himself down, gathered just the right amount of calmness, and opened the door.
Ye Kai held two slender painting tubes in his arms, and glanced at Chen Youhan's face with a distant and polite look: "Two pieces of calligraphy, they have been framed. Grandpa said that if you like it, you can write it next time."
Chen Youhan didn't answer and moved aside to make way for the wide passage: "Thank you for your hard work, would you like a glass of water?"
Ye Kai was slightly stunned: "No," he smiled, "Lucas is waiting for me downstairs."
Chen Youhan's body stiffened: "You just came to send a calligraphy."
"I'm just here to deliver the calligraphy." Ye Kai repeated affirmatively, then he noticed that the atmosphere was a little subtle, and interrupted, "I haven't been here for so long, I didn't expect the security guard downstairs still remembered me. I thought I needed you to come downstairs."
The hand holding the door handle behind the door suddenly tightened. Chen Youhan didn't know where a feeling of impotence rose up from. He said impatiently, "If that's the case, I can go by myself next time. You don't need to send me all the way here."
Ye Kai curled his lips coldly: "You are too kind, it's just a side trip."
Chen Youhan stared at him calmly and dangerously, and said word by word: "Trouble."
Ye Kai ran out of patience and handed the painting tube out again: "Do you want it or not?"
The word was finally caught by the other party. Ye Kai let go and turned around, but was suddenly grabbed by a strong force - the door slammed shut, and his back was hit against the wall. Ye Kai gasped in pain, and Chen Youhan pressed on him urgently while the world was spinning. The sharp blade had already emerged from his claws, and he imprisoned his prey, saying in panic and domineering: "Don't go."
Ye Kai looked at him coldly with unfamiliar eyes, and then sneered sarcastically: "What's the matter this time? Do you think it's more exciting to rekindle the old feelings, or do you find that I am not bad after having enough fun?"
Chen Youhan pressed his chest tightly with his forearm, his usual nonchalant tone tinged with helpless anxiety: "Don't say that."
"What is that?" Ye Kai looked at him calmly, and scanned Chen Youhan's face carefully with a vaguely amused look as if he was executing him. "We ended a long time ago, Brother Youhan. Whether you acted on a whim or regretted it, I'm really not interested."
A thick mist appeared in Chen Youhan's deep eyes, and his throat moved: "...You are really willing to let go."
Ye Kai's nose felt sore, but his eyes didn't change. He said coldly and calmly, "I was reluctant at first, but you forced me to let go. You were tired and bored, and you couldn't love only one person, what did you want me to do? I was crying and begging you outside the door like a dog. We have been friends for more than ten years, have you ever softened your heart?"
Chen Youhan's eyes were filled with pain. His heart, which had been tortured repeatedly for two years, was like being tied up by a sharp fishing net. The net became tighter and tighter. He was suffocated by the pain and asked in a hoarse voice, "So you accepted your Chinese friend?"
Ye Kai's stiff gaze relaxed: "What?"
"I saw it." Chen Youhan stared at his lips, rubbing them roughly with her fingertips. He was crazy, possessiveness and jealousy tortured him, making his eyes red. "I saw you kissing him... Baby, when you were making out with someone else, did you ever think of me for even a second?"
Ye Kai's heart was almost pierced by this question, and he gritted his teeth and replied: "No, one——"
His lips and tongue were sealed by the heat, he opened his eyes wide, and struggled violently in panic, but Chen Youhan pressed him tightly, using all his strength. The tip of his tongue pushed in domineeringly, licking his sensitive palate wall, and teasing and sucking on his tongue tip. Ye Kai couldn't resist, his lips half open, almost being taken advantage of. He closed his eyes obediently, and woke up in a heart-wrenching palpitation, and finally made up his mind to bite off the tip of his tongue.
The smell of blood filled his mouth, Chen Youhan's muscles tensed from being bitten by him, and cold sweat broke out on his back - but he still didn't let him go, and stubbornly sucked Ye Kai's lips with his lips, over and over again.
Ye Kai closed his eyes in despair. His hands, arms, shoulders, and entire upper body, which were against the wall, were shaking violently.
His body was filled with the scent of his ex-lover, and his lips were finally sucked until they were red and swollen.
The room was dead silent, with only the sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows that filled everything without a care.
Chen Youhan held his face with both hands, foreheads pressed against each other, and smiled in self-abandonment: "...I'm sorry, I messed up again."
This time Ye Kai pushed him away easily, his lips were rubbed hard by the back of his hand, and his eyes were red.
He clearly didn't want this to happen. He had clearly promised in his heart that as long as Ye Kai lived well, he would not ask, disturb or take chances, and would be a complete stranger. He thought he could do it, and could watch him walk happily with someone else. ... In the end, he just wove a huge and beautiful lie for himself. Just watching him kiss someone else was like this, Chen Youhan, how are you going to calmly watch him walk into the church?
The black pupils suddenly shrank in pain, and Chen Youhan's lips moved: "Have you accepted him? Tell me, tell me seriously."
Ye Kai closed his eyes: "We have been together for a long time. Can't you see? He gave me my snowboard. My grandma likes him very much, and everyone likes him very much. He is different from you... We have too many common topics. Unlike you, I have to rack my brains every day to think about what to talk about with you. Apart from work, it's all work. I have been bored for a long time... You know, Lucas and I can still ski straight together. If we encounter an avalanche, we will die together-"
“Shut up!” Chen Youhan growled, his heart palpitating and fear almost changing his tone. He took a deep breath before calming down: “Don’t curse yourself like that.”
Ye Kai pursed his lips and said calmly, "What else do you want to know? I can tell you everything."
Chen Youhan could barely stand. His tired eyes looked at Ye Kai pleadingly, begging him to deny it: "So you took him home?"
Ye Kai was stunned, then he curled his lips and said, "Yes, I'll take him home." He smiled bleakly, "I can be very brave, but you don't need to be."
He didn't remember how he got downstairs, nor how he was embraced by Lucas. The swollen lips couldn't deceive anyone, and Lucas knew it in his heart: "It turns out it's really him." Ye Kai's eyes moved.
"I felt something was wrong when I saw you two meet that day. Leslie, it turns out that he's the one you're obsessed with. I totally understand. But you're in so much pain. There's no need to prove it wrong again if it's already been wrong once, understand?"
Ye Kai repeated this sentence twice in his mind and nodded gently: "I am not in pain, I have let it go."
The lights flashed and the car was unlocked. Lucas hugged him and smiled, "Okay, you're not in pain, but you're not fit to drive anymore. I'll do it."
The two exchanged seats, and Lucas leaned over to help him buckle his seat belt, whispering, "Can I call you Xiao Kai from now on?"
Ye Kai's eyes, which were almost dazed by the burning heartbeat, were finally touched, and he looked at him in confusion.
"You don't know how much I regretted calling you Leslie last time." Lucas smiled and raised his hand to gently touch Ye Kai's lips. "Next time I kiss you, I won't wake you up again... Like now."
Ye Kai could feel his presence close to him, the woody, cool perfume smell, which was completely different from Chen Youhan's. At the last second, he turned his head away, "Sorry, I'm not ready yet."
Lucas didn't feel embarrassed and smiled: "Xiao Kai, I don't mind, you can use me as a substitute. One day, all the traces of habits in your life will become mine."
Ye Kai didn't want to argue with him. He could sense that Lucas's patience was running out. After more than a year of hard pursuit, he only got a kiss in the end. This really didn't fit in with the time management concept of Wall Street people.
Lucas patted the back of his cool hand and said, "Actually, I also have a Chinese name. It was given by my grandpa. He is from Fujian."
Ye Kai actually had no interest, so he asked out of politeness: "What's your name?"
Lucas looked at him and uttered two words: "Ruan Tang."
"Gummy... candy?"
Lucas laughed and started the car. "It's not what you think. Ruan from Ruanqin and Tang from Haitang."
Ye Kai finally laughed too: "Then you shouldn't be called Lucas, you should be called candy."
Lucas flirted just right: "If you like, you can call me sweet heart." Before Ye Kai could respond, he changed the subject and said, "Just to make you smile."
He will officially report for work the day after tomorrow. As the youngest CEO in SA's history, countless eyes are watching him from the headquarters to the Greater China region. Once he takes office, he is doomed to be overwhelmed. He was anxious, especially when he knew that his competitor was Chen Youhan. If he didn't take down Ye Kai as soon as possible, he was afraid that the night would be long and he would have more trouble.
Ye Kai also had his own things to do during the summer vacation. After seeing Lucas off, he immediately bought a plane ticket to Yunnan a week later. A senior student was assigned there as a college student village official after graduating last year. Qu Jia wanted to set up a mountain village charity education fund in the name of Ningtong, so Ye Kai wanted to use the relationship of the senior student to conduct an in-depth investigation on the spot, and then personally design the relevant public welfare project.
The villages hidden in the plateaus and mountains are almost isolated from the outside world. Ye Kai first landed in Lijiang, then took a six-hour bus on the winding mountain road, followed by a three-hour Wuling Hongguang, and finally took a half-hour illegally carrying passengers on a three-wheeled motorcycle to reach his destination. This is a multi-ethnic mountain village with more than 200 households. His senior Jiang Yan was waiting for him at the entrance of the village. Ye Kai only carried a mountaineering bag. It had just rained in the morning, and the mountain road was muddy and not dry. Every step was covered with mud. Jiang Yan's first question was: "Did you bring a jacket and down liner?"
Ye Kai patted his backpack and said breathlessly, "It's inside."
Jiang Yan was relieved: "Fortunately, otherwise you would be frozen after sunset."
He walked slowly side by side with Ye Kai. Although he had been used to it for more than a year, he couldn't help but breathe heavily when he spoke: "The altitude here is 3,500 meters, and there are more than 200 households distributed in the valleys and mountainsides at an altitude of 3,500 to 3,000 meters. I really can't understand why you came here. For things like education funds, a young master like you can control the macro-top design. Why bother coming here to suffer?"
Ye Kai laughed twice and then began to pant: "Comrade Xiao Jiang, why did you leave your job in Central Hong Kong with an annual salary of 3 million and come to work as a village official to help the poor?
Jiang Yan coughed and couldn't help laughing.
Looking back, the mountains in the distance were hazy in the drizzle, and the lingering mist was floating in the sky above the valleys and rivers. The alpine meadows crawling along the mountain were full of yellow flowers, and some yaks and black horses were lying among them. There was moist water vapor in the air, and a subtle smell of animal feces that lingered all day long.
Jiang Yan led him along the narrow mountain path that only one person could pass through. The village committee house was not far from the entrance to the village.
Ye Kai noticed that there were a lot of cement and red bricks piled up at the entrance of the village, and said with a smile: "Okay, Xiao Jiang, lead the villagers to live in Western-style houses."
Jiang Yan took a look and said, "No, it was a wealthy man who donated the primary school."
Ye Kai walked past the stopped concrete mixer and heard Jiang Yan continue, "Others donated one city at a time, but he took the list of poor counties and pushed forward province by province."
It sounded like a super upstart who was bold and simple. Fortunately, the village where Jiang Yan lived had basically escaped poverty. Ye Kai curved his lips upward and asked, "What should I do if there is no way?"
"There is really no way to get the car in if there is no road, but behind it is our country's plan to connect every village to every road, and there are fewer and fewer places without roads."
Ye Kai smiled and said, "Has our village primary school been completed?"
Jiang Yan stopped, patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You are so good at adapting to local customs!" Then he pointed to a half-finished red brick building in the distance: "It will take another three months there. The workers are all herdsmen and farmers in the village."
The evening mist soaked Ye Kai's shirt. Jiang Yan was right. The temperature dropped rapidly as soon as the sun set. He couldn't stand it wearing only one layer of clothing. Jiang Yan had a dormitory, and he arranged for Ye Kai to stay in the best Tibetan home in the village. The Tibetan stone house was warm in winter and cool in summer. The only bad thing was that the first floor was an animal dormitory. Ye Kai had to fall asleep at night accompanied by the strong animal body odor and the frequent snorting.
The square bedroom was dimly lit, and the bed sheets were newly changed, smelling of detergent. The rough wooden bed and table were waxed and painted, and cleaned to a new look. Ye Kai put down his backpack, put on a thin down jacket first, and then slowly began to pack his luggage.
The owner of the house was a dull Tibetan man with a reddish-black complexion, a narrow face, and a pair of bright black eyes. He came upstairs carrying a tray containing a silver kettle with engraved patterns and two ceramic bowls, one of which was filled with salt-baked mountain potatoes.
"Sweet tea, drink it to warm you up." He smiled shyly.
Ye Kai nodded in thanks: "Zaxi Delek."
"Zhaxi Delek." The owner of the house rubbed his hands. When he smiled, he had a row of white teeth and big dimples. He introduced himself in stiff Chinese with an accent, "My name is Zhaxi."
Ye Kai also smiled: "Ye Kai."
Sweet tea is a bit like milk tea, hot and delicious. He finished a bowl in one breath. Seeing that Tashi was still standing, he thought he was waiting for the tray to be taken away, so he immediately put down the bowl and said, "I'm done."
Zhaxi waved his hand: "No, no, you drink, you drink, it's all prepared for you."
But he obviously had something to say, so Ye Kai waited quietly, his eyes gentle, not putting any pressure on him.
"It's like this, the room next door is empty," pointing to a dark room, "another distinguished guest will move in in a few days." After saying that, Zhaxi looked at Ye Kai a little nervously, waiting for his reply.
Ye Kai nodded: "Okay, no problem."
"He is also a young man." Zhaxi gestured: "This tall, very young, only a little older than you."
Ye Kaixin thought, maybe they were college students teaching in the summer, or some cadres from above who came to investigate poverty alleviation. He didn't care. Tashi said goodbye and went downstairs. The stairs made directly from tree trunks were indestructible. Although narrow, there was no creaking sound. They lived on the fourth floor, Tashi lived on the third floor, the second floor was the living room and the living room, and the first floor was home to four yaks and a dozen horses.
Ye Kai and Jiang Yan had a simple hot pot dinner that night, but they were not very full. This bowl of salt-baked potatoes was a lifesaver. Qu Jia called him later and found out that he was eating potatoes so deliciously that tears were about to fall. Ye Kai was so scared that he almost choked. He slapped his chest and swore, "This place is really not that poor!" Electric lights, televisions, flush toilets, everything is available, and Zhaxi even has a cool motorcycle!
After taking Qu Jia on a tour through the video, Qu Jia felt more at ease with the modern home appliances on the screen. Ye Kai opened the window and breathed in the cold air: "Mom, look, the snow-capped mountains are reflecting the moonlight."
The photo taken by the phone was all black, and Ye Kai gave up helplessly. Qu Jia felt a tear in his eye for some reason: "Baby, you are fine."
Ye Kai held his chin and said, "I'm fine."
Everything was silent, with only the sound of unknown insects lying in the grass, chirping long and short sounds one after another.
The next day, Jiang Yan took him around the village. At the construction site of a half-built primary school, several workers were squatting on the wall laying bricks.
"It seems like the rich man is coming over in the next two days."
Ye Kai raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Not really?"
Jiang Yan laughed: "I don't think you would do that."
It seems that he is not only a kind-hearted tycoon, but also a dedicated and hardworking tycoon.
Ye Kai plucked off a leaf and said, "I just wanted to ask him some questions."
He was exhausted on the first day, and felt the glory of Jiang Yan who wore out a pair of Asics shoes in a month and was on the cover of WeChat Moments every day. After sunset, his steps exceeded 30,000, and he successfully reached the top, which was praised by everyone. Qu Jia sent more than a dozen WeChat messages, sometimes asking if his feet were blistered, sometimes asking if his shoes were tight, and sometimes suddenly arranging an aunt for him. After dinner, he simply called Qu Jia back. The yak mooed, and Qu Jia said: "Do you live with animals?"
Ye Kai smiled and had to explain that this was the custom of the Tibetans.
After turning a flight of stairs, the whole house was silent. Under the dim light, an oil painting of a Zhuoma girl in Tibetan costume hung on the wall painted bright yellow.
Qu Jia: "Will it be dangerous for you to live alone?"
"No, the neighbors are coming over in the next two days."
"Neighbor?"
"College students who are teaching in rural areas." Ye Kai was too lazy to explain and just made up a statement that would put Qu Jia at ease.
"Are you used to eating Tibetan food? I heard that they all eat tsampa? Baby, why don't you come back soon--"
"We're having yak hotpot tonight."
Qu Jia shut up.
Ye Kai turned up another narrow staircase and faintly heard the voices of Tashi and his wife talking in low Tibetan.
Finally, Qu Jia couldn't find anything else to remind him, so he made a long-winded conclusion: "In short, you have to take good care of yourself, keep a regular schedule, wear warm clothes, and remember to replenish glucose and rhodiola rosea at any time. Pulmonary edema is no joke..."
Ye Kai hummed perfunctorily again and again, his hands sweating slightly in the pockets of his down jacket.
One light was on in a room on the fourth floor.
He thought he had forgotten to turn off the lights when he went out - or rather, Zhaxi thought he was afraid of the dark and carefully turned on the lights for him in advance.
However, he soon realized that he was wrong. The light was on in another bedroom. He was refreshed and walked down the last three steps amid Qu Jia's chattering, and hung up the phone smoothly. He was considering whether to greet her directly or wait, when the wooden door creaked and a tall figure bathed in light came out. He was wearing a black turtleneck and slim-fitting sweater, with broad shoulders and narrow waist, revealing a faint chest muscle. He was holding a hanger in his hand, and seemed to be sorting out clothes.
With a thud, the phone fell to the ground.
Ye Kai couldn't catch his breath, his heart was beating wildly, he stared at Chen Youhan for a long while before asking: "...Why is it you?"
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