TSIBAMS Chapter 48

Ye Xing, who hadn’t slept much since last night and had traveled a long distance early in the morning to rescue someone, felt like he couldn’t get enough sleep. When Qi Guang’s alarm woke him up, the sun had already set. The two ordered takeout, and after eating, they fell asleep again shortly after.

Huang Shanshan’s guess was indeed correct. The next day, Qi Jingsheng didn’t send anyone to the train station to wait for them, and their “escape” went very smoothly.

Qi Guang looked at the scenery outside the train window. The passing villages and stations were not much different from what he remembered, giving him a sense of things having changed.

His mentality had changed a lot in the past two years.

His hatred for Qi Jingsheng had gone from being aggressive to being disdainful.

He also had more determination to live well.

He had forgotten where he had seen the saying: “How do you know you’ve lived? At least you must have a heart that is willing to die for something.”

It was to die, not to passively slack off on life.

So, what exactly were those “somethings”? He couldn’t think of it for the time being.

He glanced at Ye Xing beside him, who, due to sleeping too much, was now in high spirits and actually playing cards with others, and said, “What are your plans for today?”

Ye Xing looked at the cards in his hand and threw out a pair. “Drawing.”

Huang Shanshan had told him that Ye Xing had taken on some illustration work, so he wasn’t surprised. He didn’t ask anything else and just quietly watched them play cards.

After a while, a game was over. Ye Xing glanced at him and asked, “What did you want to say just now?”

“Do I still owe you something?” Qi Guang said.

Ye Xing smiled. “You owe me so much, just leave your life here.”

Qi Guang bumped him with his knee, leaned back in his seat, and stopped talking again.

“Okay, I’m free today,” Ye Xing said. “Tell me what you want to repay me with.”

“I’m not free, I’m going to help out at the bar today.” Qi Guang watched the young girl across the table shuffling cards, then turned to look at him. “Why don’t you come over to play tonight? There’s a band performance today.”

The young girl finished shuffling the cards and dealt them one by one. Ye Xing leaned over, picked up his cards, and shook his head. “I’m not going.”

He didn’t like crowded places very much, nor did he particularly enjoy drinking alcohol without barbecue.

Qi Guang leaned over to look at his cards and muttered, “I thought you were quite familiar with Brother Xu and Bai Shu…”

“I’ll go.” Ye Xing interrupted him.

He didn’t know why, but even though his first reaction was not to go, after hearing a certain name, it seemed as if he had been motivated and changed his mind.

It was perplexing.

The weather in March and April was even more perplexing. Just a few days ago, there was a continuous drizzle, and now the sun was hanging in the sky as if in defiance, radiating heat. By the time they arrived in Chen Town, it was almost noon. The first thing Ye Xing did when he got home was take a shower.

Summer was really coming in a bumpy way. He didn’t know if this back-and-forth cold spell had completely ended yet. However, it seemed that he had always only superficially experienced cold and heat, and had never properly observed the fleeting spring in between.

In the bathroom, he couldn’t help but think of certain fleeting and intense scenes again.

He truly experienced what it meant to be unforgettable.

Was it because only the first kiss was so unforgettable, or was it because the other person was Qi Guang that it was so unforgettable?

Perhaps only another kiss could make a comparison.

After showering, Ye Xing sat at his desk, staring blankly at a pile of papers and workbooks. It seemed that the mid-term exams were coming soon? He flipped through the book for a moment, but other than weakening his youthful vigor, it didn’t seem to have any other effect.

He closed the book again and simply took out his drawing tablet and computer.

The illustration work he had taken on wasn’t difficult, and the amount wasn’t too much. He estimated that he could submit the drafts by the end of the month. Thinking that these things could be exchanged for real money, he suddenly felt greatly motivated.

Qi Guang cleared all the tables in 1984, stacked the chairs to one side, leaving the space in front of the stage open, and then went to the storage room to get a broom.

At this time, Shuai Xiaoyun pushed the door open and walked straight towards him.

Qi Guang looked up and was a little surprised to see her. “Why are you here?”

“Just passing by,” Shuai Xiaoyun said. “I saw your motorcycle parked at the door, so I came to find you.”

“You’re pretty free.” Qi Guang swept the floor.

Shuai Xiaoyun snatched the broom from his hand and looked at him. “Where did you go yesterday?”

“Did Ye Xing tell you?”

“Yeah, he sent me a WeChat message yesterday,” she touched her phone in her pocket. “Later, I asked him, but he didn’t reply.”

“Yesterday…was a bit chaotic.” Qi Guang swallowed.

At this time, Brother Xu, who had been sitting at the bar playing games, came over. “How chaotic? I also want to know why you skipped work all day yesterday without saying a word.”

Qi Guang was helpless.

Then, Bai Shu also came over with a rag.

“Bai Shu?” Qi Guang looked at him. “You’re here to join the fun too?”

“I feel like there’s a story to listen to.” He smiled.

Qi Guang leaned against the table behind him and rubbed his forehead. “How about I get you three some popcorn?”

When Ye Xing and Zhou Tian arrived at 1984, it was almost dark. Some people were standing at the door smoking and drinking, so it was obvious that there were already many people inside.

The band hadn’t arrived yet. Everyone was standing and chatting with their drinks. Jazz Hip-hop was playing on the speakers, probably to set the mood. However, with this gentle yet deceptive style of music, plus the ambiguous lighting, it was estimated that some people wouldn’t last until the band came on stage before finding another place to date.

Ye Xing looked around at the door but didn’t see any familiar figures, so he walked towards the bar.

Just as he was getting out of the crowd, Shuai Xiaoyun’s voice came from the bar.

“The little hero is here!”

Ye Xing and Zhou Tian looked up at the same time and saw three pairs of eyes looking at them with smiles.

“Sister Xiaoyun!” Zhou Tian ran over excitedly. “What little hero?”

“Ye, the little hero!” Brother Xu leaned on the bar. “Without him, our little princess Qi Guang might still be guarding his castle.”

“What? What good show did I miss?” Zhou Tian looked at them, confused.

Bai Shu brought two high stools over for them. “It’s indeed a good show, you missed quite a bit. Didn’t Ye Xing tell you?”

Zhou Tian quickly moved the stool closer to Shuai Xiaoyun and sat down contentedly.

“It’s more appropriate for Qi Guang to tell you this himself.” Ye Xing sat down next to Bai Shu. “Where’s Qi Guang?”

“He’s setting up equipment on the stage!” Shuai Xiaoyun interrupted. “Do you want me to take you to find him?”

Before Ye Xing could speak, Zhou Tian, who was sitting between them, jumped up, looking excited. “Take me! I want to hear his castle story!”

Watching Zhou Tian happily follow Shuai Xiaoyun to the stage, Bai Shu sighed beside him. “The only straight guy.”

Although the voice was not loud, Ye Xing still heard it. He glanced at Bai Shu thoughtfully.

He didn’t expect that Bai Shu was turning around to talk to him at this moment. When their eyes met, he was a little surprised, but he quickly smiled again. “Just kidding.”

Now it was too late to pretend he hadn’t heard it.

But he really didn’t want to delve into the meaning of the sentence, so he changed the subject and asked, “There are a lot of people in the bar today, but you guys don’t seem busy?”

“Oh, Qi Guang cleared all the tables this afternoon. There are a lot of people, but at least we don’t have to serve them table by table. They can just come to the bar to buy drinks.” Bai Shu said. “What would you like to drink?”

Ye Xing waved his hand. “I don’t drink.”

“Then how about a Coke.” Bai Shu handed him a can of Coke and a glass with ice.

“Thank you.” Ye Xing took it, opened the can, and poured all the Coke into the glass.

Bai Shu threw the empty can into the trash and casually said, “No wonder Qi Guang wouldn’t let you drink a drop of alcohol that day in Li Zhendong’s private room.”

He didn’t know if the speaker didn’t mean anything and the listener was overthinking, or if his casual remark was actually carefully considered.

Ye Xing suddenly didn’t know how to respond.

His previous exclamation that Zhou Tian was the only straight guy was already strange enough. Although he had been restraining himself from thinking about it, the information he was receiving was making his single-core operating system unable to process it all.

At this moment, Brother Xu, who had been playing on his phone for a long time without paying attention to them, stood up, stretched, and twisted his neck. “I’m starving, I’m going to buy something to eat.”

Then he squeezed into the crowd.

Ye Xing looked at the direction he had left, somewhat grateful that he had suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

It was like having a pile of messy homework in front of you, and just as you were worrying about it, someone suddenly set fire to it and burned it all.

He drank the Coke, not saying anything for a long time.

As fate would have it, no one came to the bar to order drinks for a long time. Bai Shu was probably too bored, so he opened his mouth again after a while and asked him, “Ye Xing, did you go to rescue him alone yesterday?”

“No, there was his sister too,” he replied.

“I mean, did you leave Chen Town alone?” Bai Shu asked again.

“Yeah…” Although it sounded like casual chatting, Ye Xing always felt that he was probing for something.

As expected, the topic was brought back again. Bai Shu said, “When I saw you guys being harassed by Li Zhendong that time, I knew that you had a good relationship.”

The implication was, “I knew your relationship was not ordinary.”

“Yeah.” Ye Xing felt like the homework that had just been burned had been completely copied by the classmate next door.

Okay, it wasn’t anything terrifying.

I know you care about Qi Guang, and I also know that you might be hostile to me.

But, I’m not afraid, bring it on!

Contrary to his expectations, Bai Shu didn’t bring anything on. His tone was still understated, and even had a gentleness that was hard to refuse. “By the way, happy birthday, although it’s already passed.”

“Thank you, just say what you want to ask.” Ye Xing had lost his patience and was too lazy to guess the hidden meanings anymore.

Bai Shu was stunned for a moment and smiled. “I probably shouldn’t be curious, but I don’t have any malice.”

“Yeah.” Ye Xing continued to look in the direction of the crowd.

Bai Shu took a sip of a freshly mixed drink from the bartender. “You must have heard some rumors about me, right?”

Ye Xing turned to look at him.