Silver Leaf Whale Chapter 20

My heart is at peace

Chapter 20: My heart is at peace

After several days of intravenous injection, Chen Runsong finally recovered from his illness. He repaired his minivan and before the New Year holiday, he went to an advertising company to print a bunch of “Baby Come Home” flyers.

In fact, Chen Runsong will print some new flyers every few months, and remove the ones that have been found, leaving them for the children who have not been found, but no matter how they are replaced, there is Chen Runsong on them.

“I’m sorry to trouble you this time, Xiao Xuan.” Chen Runsong took a stack of leaflets to the little painter and replaced them with the ones left before.

Qi Zhixuan looked at the childhood Chen Runsong on the flyer and nodded gently. Unfortunately, Songsong still couldn’t find his parents this year.

“By the way,” Chen Runsong suddenly remembered something, “If you don’t go back to Haicheng this year, you can celebrate the New Year with us brothers and sisters! I will make Babao duck for you, and I guarantee it will be more delicious than last year.”

He couldn’t forget that during the Chinese New Year last year, Qi Zhixuan planned to spend it alone, but he forced him to take him home.

But for Qi Zhixuan, who he lived with and where he lived seemed to be the same.

Most of my memories of Chinese New Year these years are vague.During the first few years when he was ill, he spent time at Zhu’s family. The whole family was lively and should have been happy, but he was so confused at the time that he can’t even remember the specific details now.

Later, he got better and traveled everywhere. He was afraid of stopping, so he kept walking. Even during the New Year, he took various means of transportation.

It wasn’t until last year that he stopped and opened a store. He was so busy that he wanted to take a few days off during the New Year, so he planned to stay in Beijing to celebrate the festival alone. Unexpectedly, Chen Runsong found out and took him to his home, where he also ate the fragrant Babao duck.

That was probably his freshest and warmest memory of the Chinese New Year.

“I don’t know yet, Songsong. I’ll tell you after I think about it.” Qi Zhixuan didn’t want to disturb others all the time. He thought that he had been busy this year and didn’t go out much. Maybe it would be good to go out for a walk during the New Year.

“Okay, you are welcome at any time~” Chen Runsong said and left with the discarded flyers.

Pang Jing had no class today. When he came over after moving a few boxes of goods, he happened to hear the two of them chatting about the New Year.

“You won’t go home during the New Year?”

He felt a little strange. He knew that Qi Zhixuan was from Haicheng, but he had never seen him go back and rarely mentioned his family affairs. He did not expect that he planned to stay in the capital even during the New Year.

Qi Zhixuan glanced at him, smiled lightly, lowered his head and tidied the things on the table: “My parents have passed away, and there is no one at home.”

Pang Whale suddenly froze, feeling depressed and a little uncomfortable.

So he lives alone?

Qi Zhixuan pretended that nothing happened and continued busy with his work. He was thinking about whether to go to Thailand or Mexico this year, where it would be warmer and easier to survive the winter.

“Go to my house, Xiaoxuan.”

Suddenly, Pang Whale held his shoulders with both hands and gently turned him to face him.

What?Qi Zhixuan looked up at him a little doubtfully.

“Go to my house to celebrate the New Year.” He repeated again, leaning down slightly to look at Qi Zhixuan’s face.

The two people’s eyes met. Pang Jing’s eyes were very bright. Every time he looked over, he was serious and focused. They were so close that you could even smell the faint smell of turpentine on him. It was very fresh. It should have been picked up when moving goods.

“I go to my grandma’s house every Chinese New Year. Although it’s a bit cold, I have a lot of fun. There is a big lake there. When it gets cold, we can go skating there and go to the morning market. There are a lot of delicious food. We can also take you to see people fishing in the winter. There are a lot of big fish and you can catch them.”

“If you want to eat Babao duck, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten it, but you can learn it. I can learn whatever you want to eat.”

Pang Jing was a little anxious and said a lot at once, for fear that if what he said was not good enough, he would refuse.

But Qi Zhixuan didn’t speak, as if he was thinking about something. Pang Jing’s heart pounded as he watched, thinking that if he didn’t agree, he would stay with him.

In the brief silence, Pang Jing looked over cautiously with questioning eyes, and Qi Zhixuan suddenly smiled.

“Then I…” Qi Zhixuan put a hand on Pang Whale’s shoulder.

“Just catch the biggest ‘little fish’.” He looked over with a smile, and there were stars in the other person’s eyes.

Yes, facing such eyes, he simply couldn’t refuse.

When Pang Jing heard this, he knew that he meant yes, and he was so happy that he put Qi Zhixuan’s hands on his shoulders, “Okay, I’ll catch it for you.”

When it snowed for the fourth time in Beijing, the final exam of Beijing Sports was over.

After taking the exam, everyone felt relaxed. The twins went shopping and were planning to buy something to take home to their friends. Xingxing lay on the bed and rolled over in boredom, the bed frame creaking.

“Don’t get out of here. I’ll catch it for you later, believe it or not.” Pang Whale was packing his luggage. He and Xing Xing’s bed were connected together. There was a creaking there, and he was also shaking here.

Hearing this, Xiao Pangxing stopped and looked at him and asked, “Boss Qi really wants to go to your house to celebrate the New Year.”

“Yeah.” Pang Whale raised his eyebrows.

“When will you leave?”

“It’s early, he still has unfinished business.” Pang Jing stuffed a bottle of perfume into the box. This was a birthday gift from his cousin when he came of age. He said it smelled like the sea and was very suitable for him. He didn’t know whether it was suitable or not. After all, he had never used it once.

“Then why are you packing your things so early and going to his house? You can’t stay at school for a few days.” Xingxing saw him stuffing perfume into his luggage and was surprised. “Hey, why are you still using perfume? I’ve never smelled it.”

“I’m happy to.” Pang Jing continued to pack things and ignored him. It was getting dark, so he wanted to finish packing quickly.

The school had an early holiday, but Qi Zhixuan still had work to do. Some of the customers’ paintings had not yet been framed, so they had to finish them before the end of the year.

But the dormitory had to be cleared out at that time. Pang Jing was waiting for Qi Zhixuan to finish his work and go home for the New Year, so he could only stay at his house for a few days.

“I’ll leave this for you to eat. I’ll leave first.” After Lightspeed packed up, Pang Whale left half of the bag of red bean wheel cakes he just bought in the cafeteria, said hello to Xingxing and left.

When he arrived at the little painter, Qi Zhixuan was packing his things and getting ready to go home.

“You’re here, let’s go eat first and then go home.” Qi Zhixuan shook his coat and slowly put it on. He was most afraid of the cold. The coat he bought was very thick and bulging like a little bear.

Pang Whale stuffed the wheel cake that was still warm in his arms into him, “Take a few bites, it’s still hot.” After that, he checked the doors and windows in a familiar way, turned off the lights and locked the door.

Qi Zhixuan wrapped himself tightly and stood at the door waiting for Pang Whale while eating hot wheel cakes. The sweet aroma of red bean filling wafted in the winter wind.

He was indeed a little hungry. After eating one, it wasn’t enough. When he was about to eat the second one, Pang Whale took the bag away from his hand. “That’s enough for one. We’ll have dinner later.”

“Okay.” Qi Zhixuan glanced regretfully.

When the two of them got home after dinner, Qi Zhixuan suddenly had a problem. There was only one bed in the house, so it was not easy to let guests sleep on the sofa all the time. But sleeping together… He is gay… I don’t know if they would mind…

“That… night…”

“It’s okay, I can just sleep on the sofa.”

Pang Jing held his swimming goggles and jerked off a few times. He looked at Qi Zhixuan standing in front of the bed and hesitated, guessing that he wanted to sleep outside but was embarrassed.

Upon hearing this, Qi Zhixuan quickly waved his hands, “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted to say if you mind sleeping with me.”

The hand that was petting the cat suddenly stopped and they fell asleep together… of course…

He looked at the neat bed. The quilt was very fluffy and should be very warm and soft. It might even smell like Qi Zhixuan.

Thinking of this, the Adam’s apple couldn’t help but jump up, as if it took a lot of effort to fall down, “No, no need… I can just sleep on the sofa. Your sofa is quite soft.”

“Huh? Then… okay then.”

Qi Zhixuan took out the quilt from the cabinet, touched it, and gave Pang Jing the thicker bed he was covering. He felt relieved when he saw the thick quilt piled on the sofa. Although there was heating, he was still afraid of catching a cold.

“Do you want to bring your swimming goggles with you during the Chinese New Year?” After the two of them took a shower, Pang Jing was leaning on the sofa playing with the cat, and the swimming goggles were jumping up and down chasing a cat-teasing stick in his hand.

“No, I have to take a car. I’m afraid it won’t get used to it. I have already agreed with Songsong that we will send him to stay there for a while.” Qi Zhixuan grabbed the tired kitten and stroked its little head. It immediately purred comfortably. Although it has grown up, in his heart it is still a baby that needs good care.

Pang Jing nodded without saying anything. The bell of the cat-teasing stick stopped, the kitten stopped running, and the room suddenly became very quiet.

“Well… how about we watch a movie?”

Qi Zhixuan also noticed this kind of quietness. Usually when he was at home, he didn’t feel it. He just stayed alone, eating and resting. Later, when he got swimming goggles, he just ate, petted the cat and rested. Now that there was an extra person, he felt cramped.

“Okay.” The two of them randomly found a movie on their mobile phones and cast it on the TV.

The movie is called “My Peaceful Place” and tells the story of the successive owners of a house who lived in it.

Each family has different experiences, including birth, old age, illness and death, joy, anger, sorrow and fear. One of the protagonists, a couple, sacrificed their dreams because of love and family. There were many conflicts and quarrels along the way. Finally, in middle age, they broke free and each pursued their youthful dreams. However, when they were old, sick and weak, they finally returned to this house.

“Margaret is very sorry. She wanted to be a lawyer, but she could only be a housewife and missed the best time.” Qi Zhixuan finished reading and slowly leaned on the sofa. His tone was also very regretful.

“There will be regrets in any choice.” Pang Jing said.

The TV started to scroll the cast list, Qi Zhixuan’s eyes were a little vacant, “I didn’t expect that in the end she would return to this house that she hated.”

Pang Whale glanced at him and didn’t turn on the light. The living room was dark, and the light from the mottled scene at the end of the film hit his face, flickering brightly and dimly.

Looking at his delicate and soft facial features, Pang Jing’s tone couldn’t help but become gentle, “She just hates the feeling of being imprisoned, not the house itself. The pain and joy here are real, and she is not afraid.”

“Pain and happiness are real, don’t be afraid…” Qi Zhixuan’s eyes were still blank, muttering these two sentences.

“Okay, it’s getting late, let’s go to bed.” Pang Jing stood up, touched his hair, picked up the swimming goggles from the corner of the sofa, put them in the cat’s bed, and drove one person and one cat to bed.

Qi Zhixuan found that he was treated the same as swimming goggles. Pang Jing always liked to touch his head. Considering his age, it was obvious that he should touch his head and tell young people not to think too much and go to bed early. This was right.

He was aggrieved, but because his parents were so tall, he couldn’t even touch it back, so he had to give up and go to bed in a hurry.

At night, Qi Zhixuan had a very strange dream.

In the dream, it was his long-lost home, and the camera slowly advanced like in a movie. He and his father were painting in the study, cooking together in the kitchen, and sorting books in the reading room. There was also his mother, who, although in poor health, always found time to teach him how to draw.He was very young at that time, naughty and impatient, but his mother always encouraged him gently…

He hadn’t seen his home for a long, long time, and he didn’t even dare to dream about it.

When his father died in a car accident and explosion, after he confirmed the surveillance, he could not forget the scene in his mind for a long time. Every moment at home and everything he saw was a sharp knife of memories for him. After Zhu Mingyue discovered that his condition was not right, he took him back to the Zhu family. Later, until his condition improved, he never went back.

He didn’t know how long he had been dreaming, but his father and mother in the dream became blurry. He was a little reluctant to let go, but he couldn’t hold any of them. In the end, he cried helplessly like an abandoned child.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry, go to sleep.” A pair of warm hands suddenly appeared, touching his head and coaxing him softly. I don’t know who it was, maybe it was his mother. He was too tired to think anymore, and in this gentle comfort, he fell into a deep sleep again.

Pang Whale sat on the edge of the bed, gently stroking his hair. After his breathing stabilized, he carefully wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and quietly exited the room.

Originally, the two of them went to bed separately after watching the movie, but the quilt that Pang Jing was covering was Qi Zhixuan’s. It smelled of him, and the scent of grass and trees covered him completely like a gentle net. Pang Jing went crazy, tossing and turning on the sofa, unable to fall asleep.

After flipping around for a while, he seemed to vaguely hear a sound in the room. He called out, but no one answered. The sound was always intermittent, so he walked in to see what was going on. Unexpectedly, Qi Zhixuan was sobbing into the pillow, making a very small sound, a bit like a kitten.

He didn’t know what he was dreaming about. He closed his eyes and frowned, with the corners of his eyes turning red. Pang Whale suddenly felt a pain welling up in his heart. He couldn’t help but lean over to comfort him. It took a long time before he gradually calmed down.

It had happened several times, including last time at the pet shop. Seeing him sad, Pang Jing wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he was afraid that he wouldn’t want to tell him. He was so confused that he had no other choice but to lie back on the sofa and continue to bake pancakes.