Chapter Index

    Chapter 38

    Xia Yize went back and sneezed several times in a row. He took a hot bath and lay on the bed. The little black sesame ball came over and rubbed his hand. The furry touch made the soft parts of his heart become sensitive. He turned over and rubbed his eyes. He felt like he was lovelorn before he started.

    He had a dream at night. He was getting colder and colder as he walked in the heavy snow. When he felt like he was about to freeze, a car stopped next to him. With the warmth of the sun, the window slowly lowered. It was Qi Ge. He asked as warmly as the sun, “Are you getting in the car?”

    Xia Yize climbed into the car without hesitation. Not far away, he saw a staggering back. It was Qi Ge’s mother, Li Sha. Xia Yize said thoughtfully: “It’s aunt, take her with you.”

    Qi Ge stopped the car and pushed him out. Xia Yize fell down and sat in the snow.

    Xia Yize woke up from his dream as he stretched his legs. After a good sleep, his mind was much clearer. What happened yesterday still seemed unbelievable. It was a scene he had never seen in the past twenty years. A family could have any deep hatred. No matter how they quarreled, they would always love each other. This view was deeply rooted in his world.

    Even if he runs away from home, his brother will still send him money, and his parents will not sever ties with him. Although they have differences, they just have different opinions.

    In his heart, he couldn’t agree with Qi Ge’s approach, and he couldn’t understand why Qi Yuanshen couldn’t speak properly. On the other hand, Risa, although she had lied to him, but judging from the reaction of Qi Ge and his son, she was really desperate. How could he bear to criticize her harshly again.

    Xia Yize heard movement at the door, and the door opposite opened. He thought of the snacks he returned yesterday, and now it was too late to regret. He felt Qi Ge stay at the door for a while, and then the elevator opened and closed.

    Xia Yize looked through the peephole and saw that Qi Ge had not touched those things. He was angry yesterday and looked at them with an hungry stomach this morning. It was a bit tempting, but it would be too shameful for him to take them back. He was busy for their family harmony, so he was ungrateful, but Qi Ge left his mother in the cold weather, which was his fault.

    He leaned against the door and thought, maybe today Qi Ge would understand his painstaking efforts and send the snacks back in the evening, and then he would be able to accept them with dignity and endure it again.

    Suddenly the elevator opened again, and unfamiliar voices came in vaguely. Xia Yize saw several cleaning ladies coming up and taking away the snacks and gift boxes at the door.

    Xia Yize couldn’t help but open the door, “Auntie, this is not garbage.”

    The cleaner looked at him and said, “Of course not. It’s a specialty that the owner brought to the property management company on a business trip. The owners in our community get along really well with the property management company, and the quality of the owners is also high.”

    Seeing that the exquisite gift box and the spicy and tempting snacks were all taken away by the aunt, the cleaning lady saw that he had been standing at the door and watched eagerly, so she handed him a small snack and said, “You are neighbors, he didn’t bring it to you?”

    Xia Yize felt a knife in his heart, “I just moved here and I’m not familiar with him.”

    Xia Yize did not pick up the snacks, put on his clothes and went to take the bus. The cold wind was biting and it hurt his face. Qi Ge did not arrive as expected as in his dream.

    By the time he squeezed into school, he was like a deflated balloon.

    The boss of the printing company saw his gloomy look and looked at him for a few times without saying anything to find fault.

    Xia Yize worked hard all morning and went to eat by himself at noon. Since they were going their separate ways, he stopped sending Qi Ge food photos to remind him of his meal.

    At night, Xia Yize didn’t speak for almost the whole day. He didn’t look for Qi Ge, and Qi Ge didn’t pay attention to him. He was as upset as the clouds outside. He also took the access card of Qi Yuanshen’s house with him, wondering if he wanted to go at night.

    After hesitating for a while, he decided to go ahead. He was paid to take care of Qi Yuanshen, not bow to Qi Ge.

    He packed his things, but the thought of taking the bus and then transferring to the subway gave him a headache. Before he went out, Qi Ge sent a message, and he immediately put down his things and opened them. After reading this, his heart felt colder than the weather outside.

    [I asked my aunt to take care of my dad. Let’s put the access card on top of the fire box at the door of my house.】

    Xia Yize sat down. He really ignored him. Xia Yize began to panic. Qi Ge was not a willful and petty person. He knew how much time he had spent to gain Qi Ge’s trust, and was it taken back like this?

    Xia Yize lowered his head and walked into the cold wind outside, walking silently. He thought that if there was no Qi Ge in the future, he would feel as if he had been pulled out and hung on a flagpole and cut into pieces by the cold wind.

    Even he was shocked. When did Qi Ge take root in his heart, and it was so deep? He went home like a zombie, and lay directly on the sofa, with tears streaming down the corners of his eyes. He had no strength to do anything.

    He didn’t know why his first good intentions turned into this.

    At this time a call came in, it was Pan Yu.

    Xia Yize quickly wiped his eyes, and when he answered, Pan Yu’s voice was a little hoarse, “I haven’t contacted Xiaoxia for a long time.”

    Xia Yize cleared his throat, “You came just in time. I have something to ask you.”

    Pan Yu chuckled lightly and didn’t waste any time setting the stage. Classmate Xiaoxia’s directness was really endearing. Qi Ge was an idiot who couldn’t communicate. He pretended to be curious, “What’s going on?”

    Xia Yize told what happened in the past few days, how Risa came to find him, and how well-intentioned he was. While promising Qi Ge not to contact him too much, he hoped to promote harmony in his family. However, Qi Ge accused him of meddling in other people’s business and left him and Risa on the street without caring about his emotions.

    The more Xia Yize spoke, the more aggrieved he became, and the more disappointed he became, but it was nothing compared to Qi Ge no longer paying attention to his sadness, and unable to turn to Pan Yu for help, “What should I do?”

    Pan Yu took a deep breath. What Qi Ge said was simple. He just said that Xia Yize was deceived by Risa and didn’t want the things he bought. He was angry that he didn’t have any brains.

    Pan Yu originally wanted to explain to Qi Ge, who didn’t open his mouth, to save Xia Yize, but Xia Yize was even more worried. After listening, Pan Yu stood by Qi Ge, not because Qi Ge was his friend, but because he knew Qi Ge’s past and Qi Ge’s minefields. Xia Yize had done this, but Qi Ge didn’t fall out.

    Pan Yu tore the draft of his speech for Qi Ge into pieces in his stomach, “Do you know why Qi Ge won’t let you see his mother?”

    Xia Yize thought of the scene when they met. Qi Ge should have expected such an outcome, “He didn’t want his parents to quarrel.”

    “Then do you know why Qi Ge’s parents quarreled?”

    Xia Yize was silent, so he stood opposite Qi Ge indiscriminately.

    “Only a few of us know about Qi Ge’s family affairs. I shouldn’t tell you in private what you mean to Qi Ge. If you just treat him as a neighbor, it’s not a bad thing. Qi Ge is not a narrow-minded person. He has the courtesy of nodding when we meet.”

    Xia Yize’s tone was a bit urgent, “I don’t want to be just an acquaintance with him, I…” What do you want, I want Qi Ge not to be angry anymore, I want to be with him, but now it sounds like a joke.

    Fortunately, the considerate Pan Yu did not let Xia Yize hesitate and suffer for too long, “If you are willing to get to know him, I can tell you about it.”

    Xia Yize didn’t hesitate for a second, “Just tell me.”

    Pan Yu listened to his eagerness for knowledge and felt half relieved for Qi Ge. It was considered that his old tree was blooming and no one was unkind to him.

    Xia Yize couldn’t wait and said: “I will never tell anyone, you believe me.” In the end, he even choked up a little, “I don’t want to be just neighbors with Qi Ge.”

    Pan Yu said quickly: “I’ll tell you, let me think about where to start.”

    “Let’s start from the beginning.” Xia Yize felt aggrieved, but he really couldn’t let go of Qi Ge.

    “Actually, Qi Ge’s father’s arm was injured because he knew his mother had a conflict with his original wife and fell in anger. They had already intended to reconcile, but this time they were completely separated.”

    It was completely different from what Xia Yize thought. He vaguely smelled the truth, but he couldn’t believe it, “With the original wife?”

    “Yes, Qi Ge’s mother cheated on him. Qi Ge was sent to the nursery school when he was less than one year old. He cooked and ate by himself in elementary school. There were always quarrels at home and no one took care of him. He was even used as a punching bag sometimes. It wasn’t until the fourth grade of elementary school that he knew the reason for the constant quarrels at home. His mother was cheating on him. When he grew up, he accidentally discovered that his father had also done a paternity test.”

    Xia Yize’s hand tightened on the phone. No wonder Qi Ge’s father spoke vaguely in front of him.

    “It was really difficult for Qi Ge when he was a child. However, there were still people who discriminated against him in his primary school class. This also led to his later personality of being a loner, which was also a kind of self-protection, so he sometimes looked a little aloof.”

    Xia Yize took a breath. He had never thought that Qi Ge had grown up like this. “Was he like this when he was in college?”

    “He just entered college and spent all his time studying. He won many scholarship competition awards, but he couldn’t recognize everyone in the class for one semester. At first, he always ate and went to class alone. At first, I thought he looked down on us poor students. As time went by, I gradually realized that he had been alone since he was a child.”

    Pan Yu’s tone became serious, “Xia Yize.”

    “Huh?” Xia Yize’s voice was a little floating.

    “It’s not easy for him to open up his heart once. Sometimes what he does is really wrong, but I hope you can communicate well.” Pan Yu said in an entrusting tone.

    Xia Yize thought about how ridiculous he wanted to win over his parents, and was used by Qi Ge’s mother to make Qi Ge’s father forgive her for her repeated cheating, and let Qi Ge return to the shadow of the family where he grew up, standing on the opposite side of Qi Ge, blaming him for being too indifferent to his mother.

    Xia Yize put one hand on his knees and wrinkled up in his heart.

    “Qi Ge’s feelings are very pure. He cannot accept betrayal and deception. If it’s just for fun, it’s best not to provoke him. Xiaoxia, can you understand what I mean?”

    Xia Yize didn’t realize that he was sweating slightly on his forehead. Qi Ge was not a scumbag. He didn’t want to retaliate against him. He just wanted to be with him well, so what happened before was not considered a lie to him.

    “I understand.” Xia Yize was still a little guilty, “Can you tell me more about him?”

    They didn’t hang up the phone until late at night. Xia Yize sent a leave message to his boss and then locked himself in the study.

    Note