Chapter 46
In the second half of the birthday party, a huge multi-layered cake was pushed in by the waiter. The private room, which had been noisy for two hours, finally became much quieter. Seventeen candles were lit on the exquisite cake, and Jin Jing closed her eyes and made a wish as everyone sang "Happy Birthday".
When she blew out the candles, a boy asked, "Beautiful lady, what's your wish?"
"I guess it's a wish to be with the person you like?" A girl followed suit, and many people immediately understood and exchanged glances and laughed, as if they all knew who Jin Jing liked.
Jin Jing glanced at those people and scolded, "Don't make trouble! This is not the wish. It won't work if you say it out loud."
Tao Xi, like everyone else, gathered around the big cake and watched Jin Jing cut the cake piece by piece and distribute it to everyone. He took the cake that Jin Jing handed over and said thank you.
When it was handed to Yang Duole, Jin Jing smiled and said to him:
"Yakult, your birthday is next, right? Will you hold a Christmas birthday party at home like last year and invite us to come?"
Li Xiaoyuan followed up and said, "Yes, I wanted to ask that too. I remember that it was held at Lin Qinhe's house last year, and Aunt Luo even prepared a Christmas gift for each of us."
As soon as they heard the three words "Lin Qinhe", everyone started to tease Jin Jing again, saying that it was no wonder that she asked Yang Duole this question. Jin Jing blushed and cursed a few more times.
Tao Xi looked at Yang Duole and saw that the man who had the same birthday as him looked a little unnatural for a moment. He took the cake from Jin Jing and said with a smile, "Of course I will do it."
After Yang Duole finished speaking, he subconsciously glanced at Tao Xi. Tao Xi was holding a piece of cake in her hand and smiled at him. Yang Duole quickly retracted his gaze, pursed his lips, walked to the sofa and sat down, picked up his mobile phone and seemed to be sending a message.
Tao Xi picked up the small fork and ate the cake in his hand. The cake tasted very sweet and delicate. He had only eaten birthday cakes occasionally on his classmates' birthdays before, but the cakes sold in the best cake shops in the county were also very rough.
"The next one should be Tao Xi, right? I remember it was on December 26th, very close to Yakult." Li Xiaoyuan walked up to Tao Xi and asked. As the class monitor, he wrote down the birthdays of every classmate in the class.
"Yes, I was very close to him. We almost got married on the same day." Tao Xi took a bite of the cake and answered while looking at Yang Duole.
Yang Duole lowered his head and paused his finger on the phone screen.
Perhaps it was because Guo Ping felt guilty, Tao Xi's birthday on the household registration book was December 26, while Tao Le's birthday was December 28. Over the years, Tao Xi had always eaten a bowl of longevity noodles with Tao Le on the 28th as if it were his birthday.
It wasn't until last year that he found out the day his mother gave birth to him.
The birthday party was about to end, and a group of drunk people were still howling. Tao Xi's phone vibrated. He took it out and saw that Guan Fanyun had sent him a WeChat message, as if she had calculated the time:
"I have a friend who just came over. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts and studied oil painting like you. He is quite famous now. I heard that you want to apply to a school in the United States. How about introducing you to this great guy? He is a very nice guy. You can ask him any questions you have."
Tao Xi lowered his eyes and stared at the message, the light from the screen gathered in his dark pupils. He slowly raised his head, half of his face was bright and half in darkness.
Yang Duole was discussing his birthday party with a few people and didn't notice his gaze.
Tao Xi lowered her head and slowly typed on the screen: "Okay, thank you."
Guan Fanyun quickly replied: "You're welcome. Which private room are you in? I'll take you there."
Tao Xi replied with the room number, held the phone in his hand, and went to talk to Jin Jing. Jin Jing thought that Tao Xi had to go back to the dormitory and had a curfew, so she didn't try to keep him and asked him to be careful on the road.
During this time, Yang Duole kept looking at this side out of the corner of his eye.
Tao Xi didn't look back. After saying goodbye to other classmates, he opened the door of the private room and walked out, closing the door and keeping all the noise behind him.
Guan Fanyun was walking towards them in the corridor in high heels. Tao Xi could smell the alcohol on this woman from a distance, mixed with the strong smell of cigarettes. He lowered his eyelashes slightly to hide the disgust in his eyes.
Guan Fanyun walked up to Tao Xi with a cigarette in her hand and looked at the fair-faced boy in front of her. He had the temperament of a good student that was too obvious and seemed a bit out of place with this place.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled, and said in a friendly tone: "Have you said goodbye to your classmates?"
Tao Xi glanced at the door he had just closed and nodded.
"Let's go. My friend has been here for a while." Guan Fanyun said. She didn't want to stay here for long.
Tao Xi did not move. He looked up at Guan Fanyun and said, "President Guan, I suddenly remembered that I have a classmate who should be able to go to your party with me."
Guan Fanyun's smile froze for a moment. She looked into Tao Xi's eyes and felt a little weird, but she quickly realized, "She's probably not a member of our association, so she can't join."
Tao Xi sighed with regret and said, "But you should know him. I saw you and Uncle Yang at an art exhibition last time. Uncle Yang's son, Yang Duole, don't you know him?"
The dim spotlight from the ceiling of the corridor shone down obliquely, casting elongated and interlaced shadows under his dense eyelashes, which swayed gently in the blink of an eye.
Guan Fanyun finally understood where the strange feeling in her heart came from. Tao Xi's eyes were somewhat similar to her own, or rather, more like the person she was trying hard to emulate.
Although he was smiling, his expression was so cold that she felt a chill in her palms.
She subconsciously avoided Tao Xi's gaze, with a look of surprise on her face: "Of course I know him, is Lele here today too?"
Tao Xi nodded and said, "Yes, he is still in there. I will go and call him out so that you can meet him."
Guan Fanyun saw Tao Xi was about to go back and open the door, so she quickly grabbed his arm, forced a smile and said, "No need, he actually doesn't want to see me very much, we hardly meet, it was just a coincidence today."
Tao Xi quietly pulled away Guan Fanyun's hand that was painted with dark green nail polish and said, "Really?"
After a pause, he smiled at Guan Fanyun and said as if talking to himself, "I thought you changed the party address to here just in case you wanted to invite Yang Duole to your party."
Guan Fanyun's heart suddenly trembled, and she looked at Tao Xi in doubt. Those eyes were staring at her, and there was no emotion in those dark pupils, only the shadow of the eyelashes on the lower eyelids fluttering slightly.
She almost felt that Tao Xi saw through her intention.
"President Guan, can we go meet your friends now?" Tao Xi asked.
Guan Fanyun didn't dare to look back at Tao Xi's eyes. She held the cigarette tightly in her hand. Her heart was in a mess. She hesitated for a moment whether to continue with the original plan. After a few seconds, she finally made a decision:
"Let's go, my friend has been here for a while."
Tao Xi put the phone in his pocket and a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He was about to follow Guan Fanyun, but suddenly he saw a figure at the corner at the end of the corridor and his footsteps paused for a moment.
Lin Qinhe first looked at Tao Xi and frowned slightly. When he saw the woman next to Tao Xi, his brows frowned even deeper.
"Why did you come here so quickly?" Tao Xi walked quickly to Lin Qinhe and asked him.
Lin Qinhe lowered his eyes and stared into Tao Xi's eyes, trying to find the gloomy look he had just seen in those eyes, but that seemed to be just an illusion. There was clearly only dependence and happiness in Tao Xi's eyes when he looked at him.
Lin Qinhe didn't answer. He held Tao Xi's wrist and pulled him behind him. Then he looked at Guan Fanyun, who was looking a little evasive, and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Guan Fanyun clearly sensed Lin Qinhe's hostility towards her, and she forced a somewhat stiff smile: "Tao Xi is a member of our Qinghua Association, and I was planning to introduce him to a friend."
Her tone was natural, but she was actually panic-stricken in her heart. There was no way she didn't know about this young master of the Lin family who grew up with Yang Duole. She knew that he had a strong background and should not be offended. Like his mother Luo Zhengyin, he hated Yang Zhengming to the extreme, not to mention herself.
Lin Qinhe didn't believe it completely. He turned to look at Tao Xi and asked, "Really?"
Tao Xi nodded without saying anything, looking down at her toes.
Lin Qinhe looked at Guan Fanyun, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, his voice emotionless: "What friend? Can I get to know him too?"
Guan Fanyun had already thought of a solution. She raised her hand and pretended to check her phone, showing an apologetic look, and said to the two of them:
"Unfortunately, my friend suddenly sent me a WeChat message saying that he had something urgent to do and had to leave soon. I'm so sorry. I'll find another opportunity to meet you next time. I'm going back now."
Lin Qinhe calmly looked at Guan Fanyun's anxiety and guilt, and said, "Okay, please give my regards to Uncle Yang for me."
Guan Fanyun's eyelids twitched, and she forced a smile and said, "No problem, Zhengming has always wanted to visit you and your mother."
Lin Qinhe watched Guan Fanyun walk away, then turned around and looked at Tao Xi, who had been silent, and asked in a serious tone, "What's going on?"
It was impossible for him not to notice Guan Fanyun's strange attitude, and it was even more impossible for him not to notice Tao Xi's abnormality. He had always been able to keenly perceive all the emotions of the person in front of him.
Tao Xi felt really guilty. He couldn't tell Lin Qinhe what happened here tonight and what he was planning just now. But Lin Qinhe was staring at him inquiringly, and his eyes made it impossible for him to make up a reasonable lie.
He glanced at the empty private room with the door half-open beside the corridor, suddenly grabbed Lin Qinhe's wrist, pulled Lin Qinhe into the room, and then slammed the door.
There was no light on in the room, only the faint flickering light of the song selection screen. Tao Xi stretched out her arms and hugged Lin Qinhe's neck, burying herself in Lin Qinhe's arms, putting her lips on the skin on the side of Lin Qinhe's neck, taking a deep breath, and whispered:
"I kind of missed you."
Lin Qinhe was obviously stunned for a moment, then slowly raised his hands and hugged the person in his arms back, with a hint of laughter in his voice: "Hasn't it been less than a day since we separated?"
Tao Xi rubbed Lin Qinhe's neck with his lips, and felt the hands on his waist tightening. He said:
"You've been training and competing every day these past few weeks. I often don't see you at noon or in the afternoon. I see you even less at night when you go home."
Lin Qinhe raised his hand and rubbed the back of Tao Xi's head, and whispered, "Wait for me for a while, it will be quick."
Tao Xi thought Lin Qinhe meant to wait until he finished the competition. He rested his chin on Lin Qinhe's shoulder with his eyelashes drooping. No one could see the emotions surging in his eyes. He seemed to be hesitating about something.
After about five seconds, Tao Xi made a decision and said to Lin Qinhe:
"After you finish the competition, I want to tell you a secret."
His biggest secret.
He knew that now was not the best time to speak out, as this matter would surely shock several families. Lin Qinhe was still preparing intensively for the competition, which would definitely affect him.
Lin Qinhe was silent for two seconds and asked, "Is it related to Yang Duole?"
Tao Xi's body stiffened for a moment. He looked into Lin Qinhe's eyes in the dim light, and was unsure whether Lin Qinhe knew about this.
In fact, he was not as confident as he thought. After hearing the conversation between Guan Fanyun and Yang Duole, he felt uncontrollably angry and sarcastic. What qualifications did Yang Duole have to "teach him a lesson"?
But what followed was panic. Why did Yang Duole "teach" him a lesson? He had enjoyed the favor that should have belonged to him for sixteen years, but would all this favor suddenly disappear with the revelation of his background?
Impossible. He knew that if one kept a pet for sixteen years, one would develop feelings for it, let alone a human being?
He didn't even dare to tell Lin Qinhe the truth about what happened tonight, because he had no way of being sure whether Lin Qinhe would believe him. On one side of the scale were friends who had been as close as brothers for sixteen years, and on the other side were lovers who had been together for less than two months.
He couldn't be confident about what was more important.
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe and did not answer his question. Instead, he asked a somewhat confusing question:
"What if what I want to do makes it very difficult for you?"
After tonight, it was no longer possible for him to tolerate himself and Yang Duole living in peace under the same roof as if nothing had happened.
But how will Lin Qinhe view this matter at that time? Will you protect Yang Duole?
Lin Qinhe lowered his eyes slightly and looked into Tao Xi's eyes. These eyes were filled with a kind of uneasiness that he didn't know yet. During the few seconds of his silence, the uneasiness seemed to be even stronger.
"Why should I be embarrassed?" Lin Qinhe asked back. He had never encountered anything too embarrassing.
Tao Xi became even more uneasy when Lin Qinhe looked at him. He looked away, thought for a moment and said, "For example, you may need to make some choice or something like that."
"Choose between you and someone else?" Lin Qinhe asked.
Tao Xi was stunned by Lin Qinhe's sharpness and nodded hesitantly.
But the next second, a hand fell on his head and rubbed it gently. Lin Qinhe's always cold and indifferent voice rang in his ears:
"If this is the choice, don't worry about me being embarrassed. I will unconditionally favor you."
Tao Xi suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at Lin Qinhe blankly. At that moment, he didn't know how to react.
He knew that Lin Qinhe was not a person who liked to express himself, but whenever he was confused, Lin Qinhe always seemed to be able to reassure him with the simplest words.
He blinked rapidly and said jokingly, "What if I commit a crime?"
Lin Qinhe smiled slightly, raised his chin slightly, and said, "What crime can you commit?"
Tao Xi thought for a moment, squinted his eyes and said, "Kidnap you?"
Tie Lin Qinhe up in a deserted place, and you won't have to worry about so many unnecessary things.
Lin Qinhe raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "You can try."
The author has something to say:
The second half of the text has been overhauled
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