Chapter 14
"——You went clubbing?"
Colorful lights were spinning in the venue, and every deafening thump was accompanied by a tremor in the ground.
Ji Ruan pushed through the squirming crowd and moved to the safe passage with difficulty. He covered his phone and listened carefully: "What did you say?!"
There was silence over there for two seconds. Ji Ruan took down his phone and took a look. It was fine. The call was still ongoing. He pressed it close to his ear again: "Wait——?!"
This time, I finally got a response: "Did you go to the nightclub to dance?"
Gu Xiuyi sounded quite stable as he calmly stated his opinion that Ji Ruan was fooling around in a nightclub, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.
Ji Ruan: “…”
Ji Ruan was a little speechless: "No, what night... dance... This is a party! Do you know what party is? Party - do you understand English? Party -!"
“…”
Gu Xiuyi seemed to say something again, but the music was so loud that Ji Ruan almost put the phone into his ears and could only vaguely hear a few tones.
A new round of drinking games started in the venue. The music and voices suddenly became louder, which made Ji Ruan's scalp hurt.
He hung up the phone with a click, switched to the chat interface with Gu Xiuyi, and typed with a frown:
[I don’t understand a word you said, can you send me a WeChat message? It’s too noisy here!]
The other party is typing at the moment, and the next second: [Get out.]
Ji Ruan opened his eyes wide, rubbed his eyelids and looked again. Yes, it was indeed the three big words "Get out".
This was the first time he felt Gu Xiuyi's emotions so directly.
Gu Xiuyi was a very stable person most of the time. Even when they were arguing, he was always sarcastic. But he suddenly became so blunt and intense that Ji Ruan was stunned, not knowing how to respond.
The phone vibrates again: [Send me the address and I’ll pick you up.]
Ji Ruan came back to his senses. He could no longer sense Gu Xiuyi's attitude through the text. He clicked the location button, put the phone in his pocket, and went to get his bag.
He swallowed guiltily: "Why are you so fierce..."
Han Xiaolin was looking at his bag. The man was sitting in a booth in the corner with two strange young men. They had their heads down on the table and no one knew what they were playing.
Ji Ruan walked over and patted Han Xiaolin on the shoulder: "What are you doing?"
Han Xiaolin said excitedly when he saw him: "I saw them doing physics problems!"
"Physics?" Ji Ruan suspected that his newly replaced external machine had problems again.
"Yes," Han Xiaolin explained to him in a serious tone, "These two - are brothers who were admitted to Tsinghua University next door! They are doing questions in a competition! The loser drinks, the one who is slow drinks beer, and if the answer is wrong, drink mixed drinks!"
Ji Ruan was shocked: "This bar is full of talented people..."
"Of course not!" Han Xiaolin shouted proudly, "This is a free party, you can do whatever you want! If you don't want to do the exercises, you can dance - see that guy on the ground over there, spinning like a top, he was the champion of last year's street dance competition!"
The big brother who was doing the test papers at the table looked up at Ji Ruan and invited him warmly: "Brother, are you coming too? I have another set of papers here."
Ji Ruan felt like vomiting when he saw the densely packed formulas, and took two steps back in fear: "No, no, I'm majoring in liberal arts!"
But obviously his fragile voice could not reach the big brother's ears amid the exciting music. The big brother just held the pen in his hand for a moment, and then looked at Han Xiaolin blankly.
Han Xiaolin's voice was piercing: "He said he wouldn't come - we are all liberal arts students - we can't do it -!"
The eldest brother nodded in understanding and immersed himself in the sea of questions again.
Ji Ruan pulled Han Xiaolin over and whispered in his ear: "I want to go back!"
Han Xiaolin yelled: "Ah? You're only here for a few minutes and you're leaving?!"
"Gu Xiuyi is here to pick me up!"
"Hey!" Han Xiaolin became serious for a second, picked up Ji Ruan's bag and took him out: "Then hurry up!"
The two were squeezed and stumbled on the shaking dance floor, and it took them a lot of effort to find the exit.
Ji Ruan was pulled by Han Xiaolin, feeling dizzy and dazed: "Tell me, how can someone do the test in a place like this?!"
Han Xiaolin pushed open the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. The noise behind him was finally isolated inside the door, but he couldn't hold back his high-pitched voice for a moment: "He said he wanted to train his concentration and resistance to interference in an extreme environment--!"
There were still a few shops on the street that were still open, and some people were leaning out to look around.
Ji Ruan patted Han Xiaolin's shoulder awkwardly: "Okay, okay, be quiet, and speak normally..."
Han Xiaolin's excitement lasted silently for a few seconds, and then he wiped his face and took a long breath, and then his tone lowered: "Oh, it's too noisy, it makes my heart pound..."
Ji Ruan staggered, and suddenly heaved while holding onto the bus stop sign. Han Xiaolin jumped up in shock and helped him up: "What's wrong with you?!"
Ji Ruan shook his head, pressed his stomach with his hand, closed his eyes with a grim expression, and took off the external machine directly.
The overly noisy environment was definitely not suitable for him. After only staying in the bar for a few minutes, he felt nauseous as if he were carsick.
Even in the middle of the night in the summer, the air is still hot. Ji Ruan's T-shirt is sticking to his back with sweat, but he feels inexplicably cool.
After a while, he stood up and put the external device back on his ear, and took a breath: "It's okay."
"Are you really okay?" Han Xiaolin was still a little panicked, "If you're okay, why did you suddenly fall asleep?"
Ji Ruan pointed to his ears: "It's still not working. I feel sick when it makes a fuss... It's much better now."
Han Xiaolin felt relieved: "Don't even mention you, my legs are weak..."
The two of them supported each other and sat down on the steps on the street. Han Xiaolin rubbed his arms and said, "Eat some ice cream to calm your nerves?"
Ji Ruan turned his head to look at him. His bangs were a bit eye-catching. He raised his hand to brush them away: "Eat."
"Okay," Han Xiaolin stood up: "Old Popsicle or Little Pudding, choose one."
“…”
"Don't look at me like that," Han Xiaolin coughed, "Brother, I can only afford these two things."
"..." Ji Ruan waved his hand and dismissed him: "Little Pudding."
In fact, Ji Ruan still hasn't recovered.
The music at the party was so rhythmic and powerful, and he drank some beer. Now he was sitting on the quiet street, and the blood in his body seemed to be beating rhythmically. He was in a strange state of excitement and fatigue.
Han Xiaolin came back after buying the ice cream and handed it to Ji Ruan. Ji Ruan opened it and ate it quietly with a distracted look in his eyes.
Han Xiaolin looked at him for a while, and suddenly said something out of nowhere: "What if Mr. Gu really falls in love with you in the future?"
Ji Ruan was confused and frowned: "Have you drunk too much?"
In fact, Ji Ruan's appearance is stunning in any crowd. His skin is white, a delicate and cold white. On summer nights, after a little sweat and a little wind, the area around his eyes becomes red, and even squinting to look at people gives him a unique sense of tiredness.
Stunning but not aggressive, as soft as water.
Based on Han Xiaolin's limited experience in love, a big shot like Gu Xiuyi should like a little beauty like Ji Ruan the most.
"I'm serious," Han Xiaolin looked at Ji Ruan and praised him generously, "You know, you're just like making a movie, an art film produced by a big director."
Ji Ruan was amused. He bit the ice cream and thought for a while, then said softly, "Let's talk about it later..."
"What?" Han Xiaolin's old popsicle was about to melt, and he was busy catching it with his mouth.
"Let's wait until Gu Xiuyi really likes me," he handed a piece of paper to Han Xiaolin, "Why think about something that hasn't happened yet?"
Han Xiaolin took it and wiped his mouth. "There is a phrase called 'prepare for a rainy day'."
Ji Ruan pulled the corner of his mouth lazily: "What a trouble."
He glanced at the time and skipped the topic: "What did you say? Going home? I'll give you a ride later?"
Han Xiaolin waved his hand: "I won't leave, we are still moving..."
"Still turning?!" Ji Ruan was surprised: "It's almost one o'clock... You guys are really amazing..."
Han Xiaolin said calmly: "The nightlife has just started. We will go to play script-killing games with our team later. Do you want to join us?"
"There's still a script-killing show at this time?" Ji Ruan asked, folding his arms.
"Of course there are. All the shops on Zhanghua Road are open 24 hours a day. It's actually the most fun to go there at this time. It's scary in the middle of the night! How interesting!" Han Xiaolin raised his eyebrows: "Really not coming?"
"I'm not going," Ji Ruan chuckled, "Gu Xiuyi is here to arrest me..."
As he was speaking, a black luxury car drove out from the corner of the street and stopped in front of the two of them. It was the Mercedes-Benz that Han Xiaolin had seen before, a very low-key model.
The back door of the car opened, and Han Xiaolin was sitting on the steps. What caught his eye was a pair of extremely long legs. Although he was dressed casually, his legs were still slender, straight and powerful.
Boss Gu, who only appeared in the news, appeared in front of Han Xiaolin with a shining golden light.
And his good friend Ji Ruan threw away the stick of Little Pudding and walked to Mr. Gu naturally. Even though he was not even as tall as Mr. Gu's nose, he dared to get close to him and smiled sweetly: "You are here, I have been waiting for a long time."
Mr. Gu is aloof and doesn't like to smile. The picture looks like a kitten playing with a tiger's tail.
The big tiger can swallow the kitten with its mouth open!
Mr. Gu glanced at his phone and said helplessly, "Twenty minutes."
Ji Ruan pouted: "But I have finished eating one of the little puddings."
"..." Mr. Gu stopped arguing with Xiaomao and looked at Han Xiaolin: "You are Ji Ruan's classmate, right?"
"Yes, my good friend." Ji Ruan said.
Han Xiaolin came to his senses and stood up, patting the dust off his pants: "Hello, Mr. Gu!"
Mr. Gu smiled casually: "Hello, thank you for taking care of Ji Ruan today."
"What's the point of taking care of each other..." Han Xiaolin said awkwardly: "Take care of each other."
Gu Xiuyi pursed his lips again and said politely: "It's getting late, do you want to go home? Should we take you there?"
"No, no," Han Xiaolin waved his hands repeatedly: "I'll leave later, you can take Ji Ruan back quickly."
After hearing this, Gu Xiuyi no longer forced himself, tapped Ji Ruan on the back, and whispered, "See you, classmates."
Ji Ruan smiled with dimples and waved his hand towards Han Xiaolin: "Let's go."
"Okay, okay." Han Xiaolin watched them get in the car and leaned against the window: "Drive slowly, be careful!"
Only after the Mercedes-Benz sped away and disappeared around the corner did Han Xiaolin withdraw his hand awkwardly, feeling inexplicably strange.
"See you classmates?"
Han Xiaolin pondered for a while.
Why does it sound so similar to what his father said when he came to pick him up from kindergarten on the first day?
·
In the car, Song Ling was called up overnight to act as the driver, and he drove conscientiously.
Gu Xiuyi sat next to Ji Ruan, with his fingers clasped on his legs. His posture was casual and natural, and it was impossible to tell whether he was in a good mood or not.
"I had a lot of fun this time," he said casually, "Didn't I tell Aunt Zhao that we were going to the arcade when we left?"
"It's an arcade," Ji Ruan leaned against the window and looked at the street lights outside, "but we went to many games. There are ways to play during the day and at night."
He stretched out a hand and counted, "First, we went to the arcade, then we had dinner, then we went to KTV in the evening, and then we went to a food stall to eat barbecue, and then there was the party just now. Did you know that Han Xiaolin and the others were going to go around later? They said they wanted to play a script-killing game and asked me to join them, but I said I couldn't go."
Gu Xiuyi nodded, his lips drooping: "It's quite rich..."
"What?" Ji Ruan turned to look at him.
The street lights outside the window flashed in bursts, and every time they flashed, Ji Ruan's eyes were illuminated, as if stars or fireworks were reflected in them, beautiful and colorful.
Gu Xiuyi looked at him for a while and said softly, "I'm talking about script killing, why don't you go?"
"Aren't you here to pick me up?"
Ji Ruan laughed. His eyes curved as if they could no longer contain the stars inside, and they overflowed and turned into fireflies that flew to Gu Xiuyi.
"Hey," Gu Xiuyi looked away, his tone softening unconsciously: "So obedient?"
"Of course."
"You are so obedient, but you still go to a nightclub in the middle of the night?" Gu Xiuyi changed the subject: "Don't you know how dangerous society is?"
Ji Ruan: “…”
Ji Ruan was so speechless that he burst out laughing.
He sat up straight and looked at Gu Xiuyi: "I told you it's a party! It's a large graduation party, and it's for people of our age. We need an admission ticket to get in!"
Gu Xiuyi snorted: "At your age...why wasn't I like this when I was this age? Our graduation activities were all positive and optimistic."
Ji Ruan had never seen Gu Xiuyi being so stubborn, and he laughed so hard that he fell backwards. The aftereffects of the party came alive in his blood, and he gradually felt a little high.
"You are such a weird person," Ji Ruan decided to have a good talk with Mr. Gu. "Why are we not moving forward? Our theme is also very positive and energetic, 'Dance My Dreams and Sing My Youth!' Listen, if you open it, it can be used as a university banner!"
"Right, right," he counted on his fingers, "We have some people competing in physics in here, and the losers get to drink."
"It's just a high-sounding statement." Mr. Gu looked at him disdainfully. After a pause, his expression suddenly became stern: "Have you drunk it?"
"Hmm..." Ji Ruan pursed her lips: "I don't know physics..."
Gu Xiuyi breathed a sigh of relief.
"But I drank it too." Ji Ruan smiled, and was very satisfied with Mr. Gu's wide eyes in response.
He waved his hand, not wanting to dwell on the topic of wine, and challenged Gu Xiuyi, "What about you? Let me hear how healthy and positive you were when you graduated?"
When Mr. Gu heard this, he straightened his collar and said, "Of course we are going on a picnic."
Gu Xiuyi had been stuck at home for a whole day. There was no one to attend meetings with, no projects to discuss, and no subordinates to scold. His desire to express himself was about to overflow, and he was unconsciously influenced by Ji Ruan's emotions.
He tried to suppress his emotion and said, "In Laketop Park, a group of aspiring young people were discussing the past and present, their ideals and looking forward to the future. The teachers and the dean were all there."
"Come on," Ji Ruan burst out laughing, "If someone doesn't know you, they'd think you were the leader of the May Fourth Movement..."
Gu Xiuyi was choked, but he still tried to hold himself together and put pressure on her: "Ji Ruan."
Ji Ruan was completely excited and completely ignored Gu Xiuyi's expression: "Also the Lake Top Park..."
He took out his phone, tapped it, and handed it to Gu Xiuyi: "Look at the crowd distribution in Lake Top Park. 70% of them are over 50 years old. You are a group of 18 or 19-year-olds talking about your ideals. Can those ideals take off? How old-fashioned."
"Unfashionable... I'm unfashionable..." Gu Xiuyi pulled his collar: "Ha, this is really interesting."
He has lived to this age and has never been called old-fashioned, but he is still a little drunk who looks a little excited.
Gu Xiuyi looked at the drunkard's red face for several times and finally decided not to bother with him.
Ji Ruan still found the Laketop Park interesting, and leaned back in his chair and jokingly said, "Could it be that your dean chose this place?"
From this angle, Gu Xiuyi could look down at Ji Ruan's eyes just by tilting his head.
The little drunkard has bright eyes and very long eyelashes that flutter when he blinks.
He might have drunk a little, because not only was his face red, but his neck and exposed arms also began to turn red, like little steamed cakes.
Gu Xiuyi didn't say anything, and Ji Ruan knew that he guessed right.
"Really?" Ji Ruan pinched her face to hold back her laughter: "That's fine, it's just the preference of old men like them."
Gu Xiuyi took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from the pink little drunk.
He kicked the bottom of the front seat with the tip of his shoe expressionlessly: "Song Ling, how did you guys spend your high school graduation?"
The people in Songling were all laughing and almost reported the two people in the back seat for interfering with driving.
As far as he could remember, Gu Xiuyi's talkativeness only appeared briefly in college. After that, he packaged himself as a lifeless big boss. Tonight, his factory settings were activated unexpectedly, and Song Ling was almost delighted to death.
He had originally been a little disgusted with Gu Xiuyi for grabbing him in the middle of the night to be his driver, but now he felt lucky to have come here so that he could see the rare footage of Gu Xiuyi arguing with others.
"We are also on a picnic." Song Ling tried his best to hold back his laughter.
Gu Xiuyi straightened his back immediately, as if he had received great recognition, and raised his hand towards Ji Ruan: "Look."
Song Ling continued: "But the science and technology museum we went to at that time, not to mention those weird and strange things, was quite interesting."
Gu Xiuyi: “…”
Ji Ruan smiled with eyes curved, imitating Gu Xiuyi's posture and raising his hands higher: "Look! There are so many people and it's so fashionable!"
Gu Xiuyi couldn't hold it in any longer, and after a long while, he uttered, "Ji Ruan, how much did you drink?"
Ji Ruan raised his eyelids: "What's wrong with half a cup of ice beer?"
"Not really," Gu Xiuyi crossed his arms, "I hope you can remember what I said tomorrow."
"Of course I won't forget it since I'm not drunk."
"You stink of what you ate."
"Barbecue beer pudding," Ji Ruan picked up his collar and sniffed it. "I've almost finished my walk outside. Do you have any objections?"
"No." Gu Xiuyi glanced at Ji Ruan sideways, and the air suddenly became quiet.
Ji Ruan's eyes were hazy and vague, like a butterfly that didn't know where to land. It flew for a long time and finally landed on Gu Xiuyi's shoulder.
Gu Xiuyi raised his hand, gently touched Ji Ruan's small Adam's apple with his fingertips, and said casually:
"It's just that your throat will be sore again tomorrow, so don't cry then."
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