You like men, don't you?
As soon as he got off the bus, Song Zicheng was stunned by the restaurant in front of him. Although he had seen photos and videos online, seeing it up close was still a great visual shock.
He pulled his mask up and his hat down, leaving only his eyes showing. As if he was still worried, he adjusted himself several times in front of his phone screen before slowly walking in.
"Song Zicheng".
He had barely stepped inside when someone called out to him. Turning around, he saw Lu Zhiyan sitting on the sofa in the living room, waving at him.
"How could you recognize that?" Song Zicheng thought to himself.
Lu Zhiyan stood up from the sofa and walked towards Song Zicheng. He squinted and looked the man up and down: "Why are you covered up so tightly? Do you know that you are very conspicuous dressed like this? People who don't know you might think you are a big star from some company."
Song Zicheng coughed lightly, his eyes darting away, ignoring Lu Zhiyan's teasing: "I have a bit of a cold, and I'm afraid of infecting others."
"You've caught a cold? You need to take good care of keeping warm, the temperature has dropped sharply recently."
"Um".
Song Zicheng followed Lu Zhiyan into the private room. Just before entering, he glanced at the door and saw a sign in the center that read "Luxury VIP Room," which was very eye-catching.
From the moment he stepped into the restaurant, he felt money flowing out of his pocket every second. He felt obligated to help others, and he didn't want to owe anyone anything, especially not this person in front of him.
Song Zicheng stared at the expensive dishes on the menu, unable to make a choice for a long time. Seeing his hesitation, Lu Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, blinked, and asked, "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Song Zicheng shifted his gaze from the menu to Lu Zhiyan: "No."
Lu Zhiyan nodded, looked up at the waiter and said, "Bring all your restaurant's signs up."
After the waiter left, only Lu Zhiyan and Song Zicheng remained in the large, luxurious private room. The two sat facing each other, neither too close nor too far apart.
The two remained silent, and the private room was completely quiet. Lu Zhiyan stared directly at Song Zicheng, who felt uncomfortable under the intense gaze. He lowered his head, held his cup, and drank water sip after sip.
Lu Zhiyan placed his fingers on his knees, sat back upright in the chair, looked at Song Zicheng in front of him, and smiled, saying, "Don't drink too much water later."
Upon hearing this, Song Zicheng paused, somewhat embarrassed, and put down his water glass. Just as he was about to speak, the door opened, and a waiter pushed a cart carrying dishes over.
One dish after another was placed on the table, and it took several minutes for all the dishes to be served, leaving the table completely full.
After the waiter left, Lu Zhiyan picked up the wine bottle on the table, slowly stood up, and bent down to pour wine into Song Zicheng's glass. Song Zicheng held the rim of the glass with one hand, looked at Lu Zhiyan and said, "Sorry, I don't drink."
Lu Zhiyan looked up at him, her eyes filled with disbelief. Song Zicheng then said, "I don't drink."
Lu Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, no longer insisting. He sat down, put the wine back, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a piece of meat in Song Zicheng's bowl: "Eat."
"I should have invited you to this meal a long time ago, but I kept putting it off until now. Did you enjoy the food?" Lu Zhiyan asked.
Song Zicheng hummed in agreement, then put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth: "Mr. Lu, you've gone to so much trouble."
"That's too formal. Just call me by my name."
“That’s not appropriate,” Song Zicheng replied immediately.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. If you hadn't saved me, I might have been tricked and wouldn't be sitting here peacefully right now. So there's nothing inappropriate about it. Just call me by my name."
Since he said that, Song Zicheng didn't want to go back and forth, chasing each other: "Okay, I understand."
Seeing that Song Zicheng was eating slower and slower, Lu Zhiyan looked at him with his head down, raised his eyelids, and said, "You like men."
This question was clearly meant to be a tentative one, but once Lu Zhiyan uttered it, it sounded like a certainty, an undeniable fact.
Song Zicheng's hand holding the chopsticks trembled. He slowly raised his head, his face serious and heavy, his eyes narrowed. He looked at Lu Zhiyan for a few seconds, then said in an icy voice, "What do you mean by that, Mr. Lu?"
Lu Zhiyan smiled and said, "Don't be so serious. It means exactly what it says."
Seeing Lu Zhiyan's grinning face, Song Zicheng appeared calm on the surface, but he was secretly nervous inside. He didn't know how Lu Zhiyan had figured it out, and not only that, but he had also said it so openly. He couldn't figure out what Lu Zhiyan was up to or what his purpose was in saying those words.
He had only told Jiang Yuebai about his sexual orientation; he had never told anyone else, not even his deceased parents.
Song Zicheng realized that something was wrong with his expression, forced himself to calm down, and said calmly, "Whether I like men or women is my private matter. It is not polite to pry into other people's privacy. I believe you are not that kind of person, Mr. Lu."
After he finished speaking, he stared intently at Lu Zhiyan. The two looked at each other for a few seconds. He saw that Lu Zhiyan's eyes had become much calmer, and a hint of amusement flashed in them. The scene became tense for a moment.
Lu Zhiyan spoke first: "Of course," and then he took out a small, exquisite box from behind him and handed it to Song Zicheng: "This is a thank-you gift for you."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Lu. You have already treated me to a meal, so there's no need for a gift. It's too much of a gift."
In fact, Song Zicheng only glanced at the box casually and didn't see anything clearly.
Lu Zhiyan did not retract his hand, but instead stretched it forward again. His attitude was firm and brooked no refusal: "It is far from enough for you to treat me to a meal. I spent a lot of time carefully selecting this gift. If you don't accept it, wouldn't you be letting down my full sincerity?"
Song Zicheng had a headache listening to this. He didn't want to stay here any longer, nor did he want to listen to Lu Zhiyan speak anymore. Looking at Lu Zhiyan's outstretched hand, he hesitated for a few moments, but still accepted it. The small box was clearly very light in his hand, but Song Zicheng felt it was extremely heavy.
He said, "Thank you, Mr. Lu."
Lu Zhiyan's expression relaxed slightly when he saw that Lu Zhiyan had accepted the gift.
Song Zicheng placed the gift on his right, glanced at his phone, and saw it was already past one o'clock: "Mr. Lu, I have something to do this afternoon, so I'll have to go now. Thank you for the gift, goodbye."
As he spoke, he packed his bag, got up, and prepared to leave.
"Wait," Lu Zhiyan called out to him. He walked up to Song Zicheng, lowered his eyes, and said, "I'll have someone take you back."
"No need, I have other things to take care of, so I won't trouble you."
"Okay, be careful on your way."
"good".
Song Zicheng walked very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Lu Zhiyan looked at his hurried back and murmured, "I'll see him again soon."
After saying that, Lu Zhiyan strode towards the window, put his hands in his pockets, and stood there straight, as if he was looking at something seriously.
After leaving the restaurant, Song Zicheng checked the route on his navigation app. It was quite convenient to get to the hospital from there by taking only one subway transfer. He put the small box that Lu Zhiyan had given him into his bag; it was tiny and didn't take up much space.
When Song Zicheng arrived at the hospital, it was only a little past two o'clock. He went straight to the ward on the ninth floor. When he opened the door, there was no one in the room. He looked around in every corner, but there was no one there.
Just as he was in a state of panic, a nurse came to check on him. Song Zicheng looked at her anxiously and asked, "Excuse me, where did the child in this room go?"
Upon hearing his question, the nurse seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, Dr. Ling took Zi'an out for lunch at noon, and they may not be back yet."
Upon hearing this, Song Zicheng's expression gradually relaxed: "Okay, thank you."
Instead of sending a message to Ling Chu, Song Zicheng took out a large bag from the closet and put Song Zian's clothes, shoes, and daily necessities inside.
He was sweating a bit from all the work, so he took off his long sleeves, sat down in a chair, turned on the fan, and let it cool him off.
With a "beep," the sound of swiping the access card instantly woke up Song Zicheng, who was feeling a bit sleepy.
"Brother, you're here!" Song Zi'an ran up to Song Zicheng as soon as he saw him, hugged his waist and shook him.
Song Zicheng patted his head and said softly, "You're back."
"When did you arrive? Why didn't you tell me?" Ling Chu asked as she walked forward from the doorway.
"Not long after I arrived, the nurse told me that you had taken Zian out. I had just finished packing my things when you came back."
Song Zicheng took a food box out of his bag and handed it to Ling Chu: "Dr. Ling, thank you for taking care of me this past month. Thank you for taking the time to help me take care of Zi'an today. This is a dessert I just made this morning."
Ling Chu reached out and accepted it, saying, "No need to be so polite, we've known each other for so long." After saying that, he walked to the table and handed the medicine bag to Song Zicheng, saying, "This is Zi'an's medicine. His condition has stabilized a lot now, and he's much more energetic."
Song Zicheng picked up his bag, took his younger brother's hand, looked at Ling Chu and said, "Dr. Ling, I'll be going now. I won't delay your work. Are you free tonight? If you have time, come over for dinner."
"Okay," Ling Chu agreed readily.
"Okay, then send me a message an hour and a half in advance. I'm leaving now, see you tonight."
Song Zi'an waved his little hand and said happily, "Goodbye, Dr. Ling."
Ling Chu smiled and said, "Okay, see you tonight, Xiao An. Be careful on your way back."
When Song Zicheng first came to Beijing with his younger brother, he broke down many times because of the housing problem and couldn't sleep for nights on end.
He needed to find a place that was both close to the hospital and cheap, but where could he find a cheap house near the hospital?
Just as he was feeling dizzy and anxious, Ling Chu, Song Zi'an's attending physician, introduced him to the house.
The landlady was an old lady, a relative of Ling Chu. The old lady had a kind face and a kind heart. She felt very sorry for Song Zicheng, who was taking care of his sick younger brother. Knowing that he had a hard time, she only symbolically charged him a few hundred yuan for the rent.
For Song Zicheng, besides Jiang Yuebai, Ling Chu was the only close friend in this city. Ling Chu had helped Song Zicheng a lot, and sometimes he felt that he owed Ling Chu and Jiang Yuebai too much and didn't know how to repay them.
In less than ten minutes, the two brothers arrived home. The creaking door opened from the outside, and a cool breeze blew into the room from the hallway.
Although it was still late autumn and not yet winter, Song Zian was in poor health and sensitive to the cold, so he naturally wore more layers.
After arriving home, Song Zicheng first helped him get used to the temperature, then slowly took off the scarf and heavy coat around his neck. He squatted down and asked, "Are you sleepy?"
Song Zian's eyelids were getting heavy. He nodded, and Song Zicheng patted his hair and said softly, "Go to your room and get some sleep. I'll wake you up later."
“But I want to help my brother pack his things,” Song Zi’an said softly.
Song Zicheng chuckled softly, "No need, there's not much stuff, I'll pack it up quickly. Go to sleep, sweetie."
Song Zian picked up his little doll from the sofa, hugged it to his arms, and went to the bedroom. After his younger brother closed the door, Song Zicheng began to tidy up.
He had just cleaned the house that morning, and all he needed to do was put away the things he brought back from the hospital. In less than a few minutes, he was done and ready to sit down and finish his homework that he hadn't completed that morning.
As soon as he opened his backpack, the exquisite box immediately came into view. Song Zicheng took the box out and examined it carefully; it looked like a jewelry box.
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