TSIBAMS Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Ye Xing had no idea where the barbecue place Qi Guang mentioned was located. It felt like the taxi was about to cross the entire city, and it still hadn’t stopped. After being exposed to the wind for so long, he felt a bit dizzy. He closed the window and pulled the hood of his jacket over his head.

At that moment, Qi Guang suddenly spoke.

“I’m waiting for you to tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Ye Xing turned his head, the hood of his jacket covering half of his eye.

“About you and Huang Shanshan.” Qi Guang leaned back in his seat, looking completely boneless.

Ye Xing sighed. “She’s a fan of mine on Weibo.”

“You’re fucking…” Qi Guang sat up, looking at him in shock. “Are you an internet celebrity?”

Ye Xing shook his head. “Not exactly, just have more followers than an average person.”

Qi Guang looked him up and down, his gaze lingering on his face. “Your face, hmm, it’s definitely capable of having fans.”

“Shut your fucking mouth, I rely on my talent! Talent, you understand?!” Ye Xing, the green frog, jumped up again. “If there was even one picture of myself on my Weibo, I’d change my last name to yours.”

“Qi Xing? Sounds very united.” Qi Guang smiled. “So you hooked up with my sister… with Huang Shanshan?”

“Young Master Qi Guang, if anyone else talked to me like that, I would have already hit them.” Ye Xing said righteously. “There’s nothing going on with your sister. She’s just my fan. One day she suddenly saw a piece I posted on Weibo, the one I drew for you, and then she came to… approach me. According to her, you blocked her, so she could only come to me.”

“Oh.” Qi Guang returned to his limp posture.

“I won’t judge anything else, but I can guarantee that Huang Shanshan really wants to help you. She stayed up all night yesterday waiting for my reply, and today, it was thanks to her help.” Ye Xing said, taking off the bothersome hood. “You guys… were your relationship really that bad before?”

“Yeah, like fire and water. We’d want to fight each other every time we met,” Qi Guang said.

“Now you’re both much more mature,” Ye Xing said with a sigh.

“I’m an adult now!” Qi Guang wasn’t very satisfied with Ye Xing’s assessment, mainly because being called mature by someone more immature than him felt weird. He added, “She’s not, you can’t hit on her.”

What the fuck have I been doing today, who exactly do I look like I’m trying to hit on?

Young Master Qi, can your IQ keep pace with your EQ?

Qi Guang, seeing that he didn’t respond, suddenly remembered that it was his birthday today. Such an important thing had been tossed to the back of his mind thanks to a single phone call from Huang Shanshan. Feeling a bit guilty, he said, “You’re also an adult today. Do you have any wishes?”

“Yes, too many,” Ye Xing said.

Qi Guang glanced at him. “So greedy, kid?”

Ye Xing didn’t immediately refute him as usual. With a blank expression, as if talking to himself, he said, “Things I can’t change with my current ability can only be wishes.”

“Then choose an easy one to accomplish. I can help you,” Qi Guang said.

“For example?” Ye Xing asked.

“For example, improve your midterm exam score by one hundred places…” Qi Guang opened his notepad.

“Qi Guang, our friendship has capsized!”

Before Ye Xing couldn’t resist kicking Qi Guang out of the car, they finally reached their destination.

From the outside, it looked like a very ordinary barbecue restaurant, with few customers. Of course, it could also be because the mealtime was already over. However, considering Qi Guang’s dedication in crossing half the city to eat there, Ye Xing decided to keep a sliver of hope.

After Qi Guang had ordered a huge pile of food, Ye Xing finally reacted, “We’re not going to grill this ourselves?”

“My hunger level doesn’t allow me to waste any energy,” Qi Guang pointed outside. “If you want to grill yourself, turn right when you go out, there’s a Japanese barbecue place.”

“You just wished me a happy birthday, and now you’re turning your back on me,” Ye Xing looked at him.

Qi Guang smiled, picked up a small porcelain bottle in front of him and poured two glasses, handing one to Ye Xing. “Here, happy birthday!”

“What is this?” Ye Xing held the cup up to his eye.

“Plum wine,” Qi Guang took a sip.

“Isn’t this too stingy!” Ye Xing gestured to the glass that was barely half the length of his finger, and then pointed to the small bottle. “Even one bottle per person, I’d still think it’s dainty!”

Qi Guang didn’t know where his confidence came from. The plum wine wasn’t low in alcohol content. An average person would be knocked out after drinking a bottle. As for Ye Xing, who wasn’t an average person, he could probably pass out after half a bottle. However, luckily, he wasn’t an average person either. He could finish a bottle himself and clean up the remaining half bottle for Ye Xing.

He thought for a moment and said, “If it’s not enough, I’ll order more later.”

“Order now!” Ye Xing said. “One bottle per person!”

“As you wish, birthday star,” Qi Guang sighed.

The dishes were served quickly. Seeing how the guy was attacking the food like he hadn’t eaten in days, Ye Xing reminded him of his remaining rationality. “Aren’t we waiting for Huang Shanshan?”

“She already ate, she’s not eating,” Qi Guang picked up a skewer of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He spoke while chewing, “At this time, only we haven’t eaten, let’s fill our stomachs first.”

“Oh,” Ye Xing said, “Actually, I also ate before I went to rescue you.”

Qi Guang glanced at him, ignoring his words, and used his chopsticks to stir a bowl of something in front of him that was covered in scallions, garlic, cilantro, shredded radish, and chili peppers, but he couldn’t tell what was underneath.

The barbecue was indeed delicious, so delicious that Ye Xing had a kind of illusion that he hadn’t eaten lunch. He took a bite of the meat and poured a mouthful of plum wine from the small porcelain bottle.

Good wine and good meat!

Just then, Qi Guang picked up a piece of something white and tender from the complex seasoning bowl. It looked like tofu and was about to put it into his mouth. Ye Xing frowned and asked him, “What’s this?”

Then he stretched out his chopsticks to grab some.

Qi Guang took a bite. “Brain.”

“What?” Ye Xing’s chopsticks immediately withdrew. “Damn, you dare to eat anything!”

“Look at you, so scared,” Qi Guang took another piece, sending a mouthful of wine into his mouth, “If I were to chew on a rabbit head in front of you, would you break up with me again?”

Again?

Break up?

Ye Xing was stunned. So in Qi Guang’s eyes, all his previous irrational behavior was categorized as “breaking up.”

Although he had a straightforward temper, was impulsive and easily angered, he always said what was on his mind and didn’t like keeping things bottled up. But this time, the situation was special, and he was about to get an internal injury from bottling it all up. He had always wanted to apologize to Qi Guang properly, but he didn’t know how to start. Qi Guang had never shown the slightest bit of blame toward him, and this made the feeling of disappointment well up in his heart again.

Why didn’t he blame him?

Why was he ignoring it?!

If it was really like he said, that he was just “breaking up”, was he just going to let them drift further apart?

Scumbag!!!

Ye Xing took a big gulp of wine.

Qi Guang didn’t notice him drinking alone in a heroic manner. When faced with delicious food, the food definitely took priority. He ate with Xu Ge and the others too, even when people were chatting, he would just listen and only join the conversation after he was full.

Fortunately, Ye Xing didn’t disturb him. He was very touched that he and Ye Xing had reached a point where they wouldn’t feel awkward even without talking.

When the feeling of hunger had more or less disappeared, Qi Guang’s phone rang.

– Look what you guys missed.

Bai Shu sent a picture of a birthday cake with the words “Happy Birthday” written on it, along with some fancy-looking fruits. Zhou Tian, who was holding the cake, had a face full of resentment. Above the picture, there was a line of text that had been Photoshopped in – Leaving me alone at the KTV to have a lonely party.

Qi Guang was so amused he laughed for a full ten seconds and couldn’t stop.

Ye Xing didn’t originally plan to ask, but this person’s laughter was so arrogant and went on for so long that several tables of people next to them had turned their heads. He had no choice but to knock on the table in front of Qi Guang.

Qi Guang still couldn’t stop laughing. He laughed while trembling, “Just now… Bai Shu sent it…”

“Hm?” Ye Xing looked at him with a cold expression.

He laughed for another ten seconds before recovering. He picked up his phone and was about to continue speaking when a girl’s voice interrupted him.

“Qi Guang, Ye Da…”

They both turned around at the same time. A girl with bangs, big eyes, and who looked fifteen or sixteen years old, was standing in front of them, carrying a drawing board on her back and a cake in her hand.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Qi Guang’s step-sister, Huang Shanshan.

The power of genetics was that whether it was his older sister or his younger sister, anyone who was related to Qi Guang was fucking good looking, even this person who had no blood relation to him.

Oh, it’s because both of their mothers were beautiful.

Speaking of mothers, Ye Xing started to worry that Qi Guang and Huang Shanshan might feel awkward, since they used to be like fire and water. However, two seconds later, it proved that his concern was unnecessary. These two were acting as if they had met yesterday, completely naturally.

“I thought you’d be later getting the cake,” Qi Guang got up and put the cake on the table. “Have a seat!”

“I went out earlier to wait,” Huang Shanshan smiled and sat down, then looked at Ye Xing. “Happy birthday! Ye…”

“Ye Xing!” He quickly introduced himself, with no idol image in front of a fan.

Qi Guang opened the cake and looked at his phone. “Yeah, it’s just like the picture.”

“It’s hard for it not to be,” Huang Shanshan said. “It’s so simple after all.”

Ye Xing looked at the cake. Yeah, it was really simple. It was different from all the flamboyant and showy cakes he had eaten in his first seventeen years. There was no fruit, no small flowers. On top of the pale yellow cream, there were two macarons and the words “Happy Birthday” written below them.

If it weren’t for a frog jumping up right below the words, it would be worth praising.

“Is the frog also in the picture?” Ye Xing glared at Qi Guang.

He shook his head. “No, I requested it separately. Isn’t it drawn well!”

Ye Xing looked at the little fan girl, Shanshan, who was trying to hold back her laughter, and was contemplating how to accurately and ruthlessly smash the cake on Qi Guang’s smug face.

Qi Guang seemed to see through his thoughts and pushed the cake further away. “We’ll eat it later, don’t rush! Let’s finish the food on the table first!”