Chapter 20 Chapter 20 “It’s our home.”
A few days after Jiang Mian left Huaicheng, Qiao Yu had his winter vacation.
Almost no one in their research group left the school. They all stayed in the laboratory and were busy until they were dizzy.
Qiao Yu also took advantage of this period of time when there were few people around to apply for equipment to advance the progress of his experiment.
In the evening, the research group that stayed in the school had a barbecue together. Qiao Yu was in the laboratory and was forcibly pulled to the table by Zhou Shuhe and forced to drink half a glass of wine.
Perhaps it is because the group cooperation system is conducive to the cohesion of small groups, or perhaps it is because there is an extra layer of intimacy between teachers and students. Compared with Qiao Yu's busy and tiring four years of undergraduate study, he is now more willing to open up a little and get in touch with the people and things around him.
But when you drink too much, you talk too much.
Zhou Shuhe drunkenly leaned against Qiao Yu and asked him how his first love was going.
Although Qiao Yu was a little dizzy, she was still conscious. She raised her hand, took a piece of watermelon and stuffed it into Zhou Shuhe's mouth, trying to violently end the topic.
But Zhou Shuhe chewed the watermelon in his mouth and continued to say vaguely: "Actually, I would say that you two can't separate them at all."
Qiao Yu wanted to cover his mouth, but Zhou Shuhe twisted his body to avoid it: "You are the ones who are involved, but I am the one who is watching clearly."
His voice was a little louder, which alarmed the students around him, and they leaned over to listen, ready to listen at any time.
Qiao Yu felt a little embarrassed and pulled Zhou Shuhe to go to the bathroom together.
Zhou Shuhe hung his entire body on Qiao Yu and whispered in his ear, "But being two men together is a bit stressful, right? If you don't want to go back to your ex, I'll introduce you to someone."
Qiao Yu pushed Zhou Shuhe's face away: "What are you talking about?"
"The girl sitting next to you," Zhou Shuhe said, "She has been interested in you since the beginning of the school year, but she never dared to say it—"
Qiao Yu frowned: "You know I like boys, but you still introduce girls to me?"
"You really like me?" Zhou Shuhe was a little disappointed. "Is it because I like men that I can't be friends with them?"
Qiao Yu thought for a moment and said "hmm" softly.
In fact, it is not as absolute as Zhou Shuhe said. It’s not that he can’t be friends with men, but that he can’t be friends with anyone.
Jiang Mian’s departure had a huge impact on him. He once thought that the people closest to him would leave without looking back for their own interests, so how unbreakable could the relationship between ordinary friends he met by chance be?
Instead of wasting time with them, you might as well go out and find another job to earn more money.
This is what Qiao Yu thought.
But Zhou Shuhe heard these words with a different meaning. He smiled and shook his head, sighing: "You are not sober because of your love affair."
Qiao Yu felt that he had some of the same feelings.
Back at the dinner table, he pondered Zhou Shuhe's words in his mind, and gradually felt that his psychological defenses were too fragile.
He is just Jiang Mian, who has made himself lose confidence in the whole world. He has spent his entire college life in a daze. Now looking back on the past four years, he is like a walking corpse, with nothing but studying and making money.
Anyway, he doesn't look like a living person.
He still couldn't get over Jiang Mian's departure.
Even though Jiang Mian is back now, he is still trapped in the shadow he left behind, going around in circles.
But what about Jiang Mian?
During the years when Qiao Yu was stagnant, Jiang Mian almost completely transformed into another person - a very outstanding Jiang Mian that he didn't know.
The facial features were clearly similar, but Jiang Mian looked so unfamiliar to Qiao Yu.
He and Jiang Mian separated and then reunited.
But everything is different now.
Jiang Mian has walked a long way forward, but Qiao Yu is still stuck in the summer of eighteen.
There was time between them, an unbridgeable, extremely painful five years.
Qiao Yu rested his elbows on the table, supporting his extremely heavy head.
Close your eyes, and your eardrums will filter out the noisy noise around you in the next second, and you will seem to be trapped in another world.
With a thump, Qiao Yu hit his head on the table. Zhou Shuhe laughed and helped him up.
"You are drunk." Zhou Shuhe said.
Qiao Yu brushed his hand away: "No."
Denial of intoxication is generally a hallmark of intoxication.
"Why did you get so drunk that you got angry?" Zhou Shuhe snatched the wine glass from Qiao Yu's hand, "Don't drink anymore."
"Give it to me." Qiao Yu reached out to grab it, but accidentally knocked over the wine glass.
There was a soft "clang" sound, and before he could react, someone next to him pressed a tissue on his sleeve.
Qiao Yu tilted his head and saw the girl sitting next to him.
"Thank you, I can do it myself." He remembered what Zhou Shuhe had just said and immediately withdrew his hand.
The girl paused, then very tactfully returned to the original distance, with her hands clenched tightly and placed on her knees under the table.
Qiao Yu made an excuse to go to the bathroom.
He was really a little drunk, and he had to walk slowly with his hands on the wall.
Sometimes I feel so dizzy that I have to find a place to rest before I can move forward.
"Are you, are you okay?"
A clear voice, slightly low in volume, with a little timidity.
She didn't even dare to help him up. Qiao Yu didn't even raise his head, but just waved his hand.
Over the years, he has met many people who have expressed their affection for him, some openly and enthusiastically, some cautiously and implicitly, both boys and girls.
Qiao Yu is better at dealing with the former, and he would simply refuse and make his position clear.
As for the latter, although it is a bit troublesome, as long as you stick to the cold treatment, no one can persist for too long.
"I, I, Qiao Yu——"
Qiao Yu didn't stop.
The girl had no choice but to chase him: "I heard that you have someone you like."
Qiao Yu said "hmm" casually.
Not an admission, but a denial.
Even if he doesn't have anyone he likes now, he won't leave any hope for the other person.
"Is that person from our school?" the girl asked again, "Or, or do you just don't want to--"
"It's me."
A deep voice not only stunned the girl, but also scared Qiao Yu.
He stopped suddenly, looked up in surprise, and when he met Jiang Mian's gaze, his waist was hugged.
Qiao Yu staggered and fell into Jiang Mian's arms.
He held the other person's arm around his waist and opened his eyes wide.
"Sorry," Jiang Mian smiled politely at the girl, "I'll take the person and leave first."
After saying that, he bent down and picked up Qiao Yu horizontally.
The world was spinning, and Qiao Yu almost vomited.
After a short distance, he was placed on a soft seat. Jiang Mian pushed aside the hair on Qiao Yu's forehead and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
Only then did Qiao Yu forcefully open his eyes and found himself in the back seat of a car.
The overhead light emits a yellowish light that is not very glaring.
He was leaning in Jiang Mian's arms and could feel the other's breathing and strong heartbeat.
Jiang Mian is back.
By the way, I helped him come out of the closet.
Qiao Yu struggled to prop up her body, moved away from Jiang Mian, and leaned her head against the car window: "Stay away from me."
Jiang Mian brought some warm milk and handed it to Qiao Yu: "Would you like some?"
Qiao Yu raised his eyes and looked at him coldly: "Who asked you to appear in front of my classmates?"
Jiang Mian lowered the glass of milk he was holding, and without arguing, he compromised and said, "I won't show up next time."
Qiao Yu pushed it aside casually: "It has already happened this time, will it still matter next time?!"
He was angry and his mind was not clear. After he calmed down for two seconds, he found that the milk was splashed all over Jiang Mian. Then he realized that he seemed to have gone a little too far.
But Jiang Mian just paused for a moment, then wiped the milk clean with paper: "Of course it's important, your friends must be important."
Qiao Yu turned his face towards the car window: "I don't have any friends."
"Really?" Jiang Mian dragged out the last line of his voice and threw away the tissue in his hand. His voice seemed to be a little deeper, with a hint of uncertainty, "That's even better."
These words were like a needle, piercing straight into Qiao Yu's brain.
He shrank back in pain, and Jiang Mian quickly covered him from behind, enveloping him like a mist.
"Will you get carsick?" Jiang Mian asked.
Qiao Yu is feeling very dizzy now.
"Let's go home first." Jiang Mian opened the car door that Qiao Yu was leaning against, and then carried him out from the back.
The cold night wind seemed to slap Qiao Yu in the face. He became a little more sober than before and struggled to get out of Jiang Mian's arms.
Jiang Mian temporarily adjusted his position: "Can you carry me instead of holding me?"
Qiao Yu couldn't even stand steadily and lay on Jiang Mian's back like a noodle.
Jiang Mian put his hands on his buttocks, bent over and lifted him onto his back.
Qiao Yu just pressed Jiang Mian's shoulders at first, but soon she put her arms around his neck.
Jiang Mian walked along the road, mumbling something that Qiao Yu couldn't hear clearly.
He just squinted his eyes, tilted his head and rested it on Jiang Mian's shoulder, watching the shadows on the ground being stretched and shortened by the street lights, over and over again.
"squeak--"
There was a sound of a mechanical lock being unlocked.
Qiao Yu woke up from his sleep and when he opened his eyes he saw a door opening in front of him.
There were two pairs of slippers placed in the beige entrance. Jiang Mian carried him on his back, kicked off his leather shoes and changed into cotton slippers.
Is this... Jiang Mian's home?
Qiao Yu stared blankly, his eyes fixed on the front, and could only change his field of vision as Jiang Mian moved.
Sofa, coffee table, balcony.
Wardrobe, bed, chandelier.
Qiao Yu was placed on the bed. He lay on his back, staring at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling in a daze.
When did Jiang Mian have his own home?
Whose pair of slippers are those? Whose room is this?
As an uninvited guest, he lay down on someone else's bed without even taking off his coat. Isn't that very rude?
Qiao Yu supported himself on the bed and was about to get up.
Jiang Mian was sitting on the edge of the bed, taking off his coat just as he was doing so.
"Let go," Qiao Yu grabbed her clothes, "I want to go home."
"Where are you going back to?" Jiang Mian grabbed Qiao Yu's hands with one hand. He sat closer, pressed the back of Qiao Yu's neck, and pressed his forehead against his, "This is your home."
Qiao Yu subconsciously retorted: "No——"
Jiang Mian interrupted him: "It's our home."
Qiao Yu recalled some past events.
Seventeen-year-old Jiang Mian expressed his feelings when passing by the newly built high-rise buildings in Huaicheng.
"When can we buy a big house?"
Qiao Yu was sitting on the back of a bicycle, memorizing words, holding a shorthand manual in one hand and holding Jiang Mian's waist with the other.
Hearing the other person imagining the future, he casually said, "At least wait until I graduate from college."
"Is it not possible for me?" Jiang Mian was unconvinced. "I will work for four years and take you in as soon as you graduate."
"Working for four years?" Qiao Yu patted his waist and abdomen, "Don't even think about it. Grandma asked you to apply to a technical school. Have you chosen a school?"
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