DP Chapter 33

Chapter 33

A moment later, Xu Chuo reminded him that they were almost there. Xiang Yiye responded, knowing that the previous topic had been lightly sidestepped.

After passing through a small forest, the Little Cang Mountain Sanatorium slowly unfolded before them. The interior of the sanatorium was spacious, the buildings were appropriately spaced, and the vegetation coverage was significant, but it did not affect the lighting. There was no feeling of constriction and tension like in the city center.

They first went to the medical center. Xu Chuo asked about Xie Lei’s condition in recent days. The medical staff said that his health had improved significantly, but he was still withdrawn, sometimes moody, and would smash things for no reason.

The area for activities within the sanatorium was large. Xie Lei’s private area occupied a suite, but he had hardly ever left the bedroom.

Before going into the room to visit, Xiang Yiye offered to wait outside. He knew that Xie Lei didn’t like him very much and didn’t plan to go in and cause trouble.

“Think about what to have for dinner, and tell me when I come out.” Xu Chuo seemed worried that he would be bored alone. “You can wander around, too.”

“Got it, I’m not a child,” Xiang Yiye said.

When Xu Chuo went in, Xie Lei was standing on a stool, reaching for a decorative landscape painting on the wall. He walked over and helped take the painting down.

Xiang Yiye sat in the outer hall for about ten minutes when he suddenly heard a loud crash from inside the room. He walked to the bedroom door and looked inside through the peephole.

Xu Chuo was squatting on the ground, picking up something that seemed to be a picture frame.

Xie Lei’s voice was angry: “If you don’t listen to me, then this is the end. You don’t have to be my student anymore.”

Xu Chuo picked up the glass from the floor: “I promise I will concentrate on painting in the future.”

“You can’t guarantee it. If you can’t give up everything, live in seclusion for painting, then continuing to paint is just a waste,” Xie Lei said.

Xu Chuo stood up and put the picture frame full of glass on the table: “Does it have to be so thorough? I don’t have your kind of courage.”

Xie Lei’s pursuit of art had almost become a belief. He could refuse the family business and rebel against the Xie family for the sake of painting, and not even blink an eye at his wife’s departure. Xu Chuo couldn’t achieve such extreme and devout dedication. He had family and wanted their approval; he had someone he liked and couldn’t bear complete loneliness.

“Half-hearted is better than giving up!” Xie Lei said, “The best protection for your talent is to stop here and not go any further. Just like a beauty shouldn’t head towards twilight, she should die at her best age.”

Xiang Yiye had never heard such bizarre reasoning. He opened the door and went in: “Nonsense! Just because your life failed, you want to ruin others’?”

Xie Lei glanced at him and said coldly: “My words just now were not for you to hear, and you probably wouldn’t understand them anyway.”

“I would rather never understand this kind of contemptible self-pity,” Xiang Yiye said indignantly, “You are just projecting your own life onto Xu Chuo, using your narrow understanding to decide what he should do. But he is an independent person, not something for you to use for trial and error!”

Xu Chuo grabbed Xiang Yiye’s arm, telling him not to say anymore.

Xie Lei sneered and said, “Little friend, before showing loyalty by sowing discord, first correct your own identity. You and I, including you and Xu Chuo, are not on the same level to have a conversation. A leech that sucks human blood is talking about independent spirit, isn’t it a little ridiculous?”

The most extreme insult is often not in the form of hysteria, but rather appears cold and distant, and there isn’t even a dirty word to be found in the words. Xie Lei compared Xiang Yiye to a leech, clearly saying that he lived by relying on others and categorized him as a bed-warmer who sold his looks for profit.

Xu Chuo stiffened, pulled Xiang Yiye behind him, and said to Xie Lei, “You can say whatever you want about me, but you can’t say that about him… I will withdraw from that competition, I have already withdrawn, and the application has been submitted.”

“Chuo ge, don’t compromise with him…” Xiang Yiye said, then stopped, looking down and seeing a dark mark on the sleeve of his denim jacket. Xu Chuo’s hand had been cut by the glass.

“Teacher, withdrawing from the competition is the last request I will agree to,” Xu Chuo said.

Words like “last” more or less carried a sense of farewell, and the room fell silent.

Xu Chuo said, “Sometimes I trace back, trying to figure out how I came to like painting, but I can only remember the first time I saw you painting.”

During the summer vacation when he was thirteen years old, Xu Chuo rode his mountain bike through the streets and alleys and chose a small road he wouldn’t usually take. When he passed Stone^3 Drawing Studio, he saw Xie Lei painting inside.

Xu Chuo had already forgotten what he was painting. In the world of children, everything is very concrete. He didn’t know what art was, but he was just curious about what could make someone so focused.

“Maybe at first, I didn’t like painting, I just wanted to become someone like you. You were the one who made me realize how enjoyable creation is. Now, I can’t meet your requirements, but I can’t give up painting either. I’ve disappointed you, I’m sorry.”

“If there is really no room for maneuver, then as you said, let’s end it here.”

With these words, Xu Chuo generously erased the mentor who had taught him for ten years from his life. He kept his voice as steady as possible, but Xiang Yiye could feel his hand trembling slightly.

When picking up the car, Xiang Yiye looked at the bandage wrapped around Xu Chuo’s index finger and said, “Your hand is injured, let me drive.”

Safety issues could not be ignored. Xu Chuo didn’t insist. His tone was as usual, with a smile at the end, and he let out a breath: “Finally, the two-person world is about to begin.”

Following the navigation, Xiang Yiye arrived at the destination around four in the afternoon. The mountain villa was located on high ground. After parking the car, they still had to walk up dozens of steps to reach the black courtyard gate.

The villa had two floors. The first floor mainly consisted of the yard, swimming pool, living room, kitchen, and living room, while the bedrooms, study, and guest rooms were on the second floor.

Probably because it rained a lot in the mountains, the swimming pool was indoors, surrounded on three sides, with one side transparent. When they passed by, Xu Chuo said, “Currently, the only sports facility is this. I’ll add some fitness equipment for you later.”

“Isn’t it troublesome to bring it over? I can’t stay here for too long,” Xiang Yiye said.

“It’s not troublesome, just tell me what you’re missing. Only if things are complete will you be willing to stay longer,” Xu Chuo said.

Xiang Yiye said, “It’s not that I’m missing anything, just a truly happy owner.”

Xu Chuo paused and said, “Then you come more often, spend more time with me, and I’ll be happy.”

After a brief tour and introduction, Xu Chuo said, “I didn’t want to be disturbed, so I didn’t call anyone over. If we want to eat, we have to do it ourselves. It’s your first time here, you’re a guest, let me show off a little.”

Xiang Yiye thought that “showing off a little” meant cooking instant noodles, but he opened the projection in the living room and watched a documentary for half an hour, and there wasn’t a sound from the kitchen.

The kitchen was open. He walked to the island counter and asked Xu Chuo what stage he was at and if he needed help.

“Still flipping through cookbooks,” Xu Chuo said, “Want to make a few creative dishes.”

An occupational hazard of artists is probably that they have to come up with something creative. But as a newbie in cooking, it’s already not easy to make a few simple but classic dishes in a proper manner. If you want to innovate before you’ve laid the foundation, you’re likely to crash.

Xiang Yiye didn’t want to throw cold water on him, but just said, “Your hand can’t touch water, can it? I’ll be your assistant.”

Two new stars in cooking couldn’t save a meal. Xu Chuo wanted to make a cold dish with shredded apples and chicken breast, but Xiang Yiye stopped him.

Xu Chuo said, “Doesn’t cold noodles also have apples in them?”

Xiang Yiye: “Well… you’re right…”

Xu Chuo wanted to pan-fry chicken wings with orange juice, but Xiang Yiye stopped him again.

Xu Chuo said, “There’s no Coke, so it should be about the same to replace it with orange juice, they’re both drinks.”

Xiang Yiye: “Well… that makes sense…”

Xu Chuo wanted to put purple cabbage in the soup, but Xiang Yiye didn’t stop him anymore, knowing that he couldn’t stop him, but just reminded him: “The color after cooking might be a bit…”

Xu Chuo’s ideas were indeed strange, but Xiang Yiye’s execution was also quite brilliant.

He wasn’t used to going into the kitchen and was a bit of a clean freak. After washing vegetables, he had to wash his hands and dry them. After cutting vegetables, he also had to wash his hands and dry them. If oil got on his hands, he had to wash his hands and dry them. There wasn’t enough paper towels in the kitchen for him to use.

They worked from four o’clock to six-thirty. By the time the last dish was out of the pot, the first dish was already cold.

Xu Chuo tasted each dish with chopsticks, but couldn’t bring himself to say a compliment. Finally, he said, “…Let’s just cook instant noodles, you boil the water, and I’ll cook.”

Xiang Yiye tried to make up for it: “Actually, that soup is still drinkable, it just doesn’t look very good.”

The last thing they cooked was a pot of soup with a strange purple color, like a magic potion brewed by a witch.

“Don’t eat it, be careful you get sick. Next time, let’s just call Auntie over to cook,” Xu Chuo said.

After dinner, around seven o’clock, the two watched the news in the living room for a while, and then Xiang Yiye went to swim in the pool.

Xu Chuo’s hand was injured, so he didn’t go into the water. He opened a bottle of wine and sat on a lounge chair by the pool reading a book.

The book was brought by Xiang Yiye, a specialized book on film theory. While casually flipping through it, Xu Chuo discovered the letter paper inside.

He read the contents of the letter paper, put it aside, and looked at the surface of the water.

After a while, Xiang Yiye came ashore, draped in a bath towel.

“Not swimming anymore?”

“Get some water.”

Xu Chuo glanced at the skin under his bath towel, drank the wine in his glass, and beckoned to him.

Xiang Yiye knew what he was up to and didn’t plan to cooperate, but he couldn’t resist Xu Chuo’s persistence. He grabbed him and pushed him onto the lounge chair to kiss.

After being fed half a bottle of wine, Xiang Yiye was dizzy and heard Xu Chuo ask, “This book doesn’t have a label, it’s not borrowed from the library, who gave it to you?”

“Gu Wenyu’s daughter gave it to me,” Xiang Yiye said, looking at the letter paper on the table and realizing, “That wasn’t written by her…”

He left that letter paper, indeed wanting to squeeze Xu Chuo a little, otherwise it would be too unbalanced if only he had a sense of crisis.

Several days had passed, and he had forgotten about the existence of that letter paper, and Xu Chuo happened to see it.

To this, Xu Chuo only had two words: “Tear it up.”

“What if I don’t tear it up?” Xiang Yiye said.

“Then you’re not allowed on my bed tonight,” Xu Chuo said.