TSIBAMS Chapter 54

Xu Ge, who loves excitement, still didn’t miss any opportunity to drink and have fun. Taking advantage of the lively stage performance, he happily set up a table at the entrance, eating meat and drinking while declaring to passersby that he was the boss of 1984.

It was like an old man who had retired from the pugilistic world reminiscing about the past, indulging in a fantasy.

But this time it wasn’t a fantasy.

In addition to the young people of Chen Town who love to show off their individuality, there were also some less naive faces who came to patronize the business today. Before entering, they all bowed politely to Xu Ge.

“Xu Ge!”

“Hello, Xu Ge!”

“Xu Ge, your business is getting better and better!”

“Xu Ge, long time no see!”

“Xu Ge, your place is the liveliest on this street!”

…

Xu Ge waved his hand until he doubted himself, like a beckoning cat at the front desk of the KTV upstairs.

Bai Shu leaned close to Qi Guang’s ear and asked, “Do you know all these people?”

“They’re unfamiliar,” Qi Guang said.

Ye Xing glanced at the two of them.

“They’re all people who used to hang out with Xu Ge, it seems they’re not from the same group as you when you were a kid,” Bai Shu said.

“Even if they were, I wouldn’t remember them, I have face blindness,” Qi Guang took a sip of his wine, “I can recognize Xu Ge because he was my only friend before.”

“Only friend, huh?” Ye Xing interjected.

“Yeah, my childhood was miserable,” Qi Guang pouted, looking quite aggrieved.

Ye Xing resisted the urge to pinch his mouth and smiled, “It’s better than me, I didn’t have any friends at all before.”

“Hey! Artists are all lonely, so loneliness has made your talent for drawing, luckily you met me…” Qi Guang said, suddenly stopping and quickly hitting the brakes on the road of narcissism, adding, “…us, do you have any feelings to share now?”

He barely stopped the car for two seconds before stepping on the gas again.

Ye Xing angrily said, “I don’t care.”

“You’re so stubborn, it’s okay, I care!” Qi Guang leaned over and forcefully clinked glasses with him, raising his head to drink it all in one gulp.

Ye Xing stared blankly at the cola in his hand.

How did a vigorous young man with normal physical functions get tricked into drinking cola every day?

He also raised his head and drank the remaining black soda in one gulp.

“Why are you drinking cola too?” Xu Ge looked at Bai Shu’s bubbly glass and asked him.

“No one’s watching,” Bai Shu smiled, “I can only be self-aware then!”

“Damn it!” Qi Guang laughed, “Is this never going to end? Do you want me to give you two a Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Award!”

Oh, if we’re talking about actors, you’re the granddaddy.

Ye Xing curled his lips.

After a while, those gang members came out, carrying several boxes of wine. Ye Xing stared at them intently. Although he had previously felt that these people were different from other customers, he hadn’t thought about how they were different.

Now he could see it clearly.

The knife marks on their faces, the tattoos on their arms, and their unconventional attire all proclaimed that they had an unruly soul.

But it was strange, even though they all had a gangster vibe, they looked different from Li Zhendong’s gang.

Of course, they were even more different from Xu Ge now.

Nowadays, Xu Ge was dressed in a relaxed and casual style, carefully balancing between the boy-next-door and the business casual man.

But it seemed that their relationship was good. To be precise, their attitude towards Xu Ge was good. They were all respectful, even more so than Bai Shu was to him.

“Come on, come on, sit down!” Xu Ge moved to the side, using his foot to hook a few stools from the side, “This is Qi Guang, Ye Xing, and Bai Shu needs no introduction, you all know him.”

“Hello, Brother Qi! Hello, Brother Ye! Hello, Brother Bai!” The greetings rose and fell, echoing the screams of the so-called rockers inside 1984.

Ye Xing was startled. Qi Guang, afraid he would jump up, quickly pulled his arm and nodded his head in the direction of those people.

Ye Xing had to hold back his laughter and nodded his head as well.

Small scene, small scene.

A row of people sat down with a thump, and the atmosphere of this temporary dining table immediately changed, looking more like a gang of thugs discussing which street to collect protection money from today.

Ye Xing’s gaze was drawn to one of them who had a yin-yang tattoo on his arm. His thoughts flew off into space again, causing him to not remember any of the names Xu Ge introduced to him.

The yin-yang tattoo was the same as the one on the main character from the movie “One Day”.

Some indistinguishable names like Strong Nation, Big Noble, Pillar, and Wenchang entered his left ear, and then they lined up and came out of his right ear.

He only heard Xu Ge’s last sentence, “Qi Guang, go ask the boss to grill a few more skewers.”

When Qi Guang got up, he quickly followed him, “I’ll go with you.”

“If you’re not comfortable, go back earlier, 1984 closes quite late on weekends, didn’t you not stay until closing time last time?” Seeing that he seemed a bit absent-minded, Qi Guang said softly in his ear as he walked, “You have class tomorrow, I’m used to staying up late, it’s no big deal.”

“It’s okay, I don’t have class tomorrow,” Ye Xing answered quickly, realizing Qi Guang’s puzzled look, and explained, “I’m going to the studio tomorrow…”

“Okay.”

There was that reply again.

They were walking side by side but subtly picked up the pace.

The barbecue stall was not far away, the air filled with smoke and heat. Qi Guang quickly took two baskets of food and placed them in front of the grill.

While waiting, Ye Xing saw a familiar face at the barbecue stall… specifically, he saw familiar overalls. Judging by the looks of it, the owner of the overalls must be the child of the barbecue stall owner, the little boy who Bai Shu said had found his Buddhist beads.

Ye Xing sized him up, and he was also staring straight at the Buddhist beads on Ye Xing’s wrist.

“What’s your name?” Ye Xing squatted down.

The kid seemed shy, opening his eyes wide but not speaking, looking up at the adults who were busy and didn’t have time to pay attention to him, and then continuing to stare at Ye Xing and the Buddhist beads on his wrist.

Ye Xing shook his wrist, “You were the one who found these Buddhist beads, thank you for picking them up and returning them to me, you are a sensible kid.”

Hearing that he was praised, the little boy shyly smiled and hid behind the adults.

“I heard that these Buddhist beads are like a piece of flesh that grew on you?” Qi Guang said, feeling that his words weren’t quite right, and added, “Like something that’s equally important.”

“Although I said those words, why does it sound so weird coming from you?” Ye Xing stood up and noticed that Qi Guang, like the little boy just now, had the same look in his eyes as he stared at the Buddhist beads. “What? You want my flesh?”

Qi Guang turned his head and looked at him with a look that said, “Are you crazy?”

Ye Xing was amused and took the Buddhist beads off his wrist and put them around his neck. “See? It’s easier to observe this way.”

“I thought you couldn’t see it!” Qi Guang actually leaned in to look, even reaching out to touch it. “I’ve seen you wrap it around your wrist a few times and it’s quite loose. I always thought the design was unreasonable, so it turns out this thing is worn around the neck, it’s such a big string, isn’t it heavy?”

“It’s not about whether the design is reasonable,” Ye Xing simply took the Buddhist beads off his neck, held them in his palm and played with them, “The number of Buddhist beads is fixed at 108.”

Qi Guang looked at him, his eyes full of thirst for knowledge.

Every time he took off his delinquent or arrogant top student mask and showed this sincere look, like that of a child, the contrast made Ye Xing feel particularly endearing.

Ye Xing cleared his throat and continued to educate him, “There are many meanings to 108. In Buddhism, it is believed that humans have 108 kinds of worries. When you chant ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha’ once and move one bead, you can relieve your worries.”

“Then do you have so many worries?” Qi Guang asked.

Before coming to Chen Town, he had never seen what worries even looked like.

In just two months, he had tasted all kinds of worries, both big and small. He hadn’t counted if there were 108 types, but his mind had gotten used to being occupied by all sorts of worries, so it was true that it often went on strike.

Ye Xing smiled, “If Buddha says we have them, then we do.”

“Little Ye Xing has grown up, you have so many worries now,” Qi Guang sighed with mock seriousness, “Hey, what material is this? It looks quite textured.”

“Agarwood,” Ye Xing said, “It can be used as incense, medicine, and can calm the mind. It’s the crystallization of a spiritual tree that has been brought back from the dead.”

Qi Guang was stunned.

Brought back from the dead?

Then he curled his lips and laughed softly.

Perhaps it was because they had “guests” today, but Xu Ge was especially happy. Before, he would occasionally go into 1984 for a few rounds and then come out to drink again, but today he was glued to the chair and didn’t get up. Instead, Bai Shu was busy, going into the shop to help out and then coming out to chat with them. Sometimes, Ye Xing would go in with him to help.

However, Qi Guang was held back by Xu Ge and didn’t leave. He didn’t say much, but every time it was time to drink, he would drink with them.

Ye Xing had seen Qi Guang drink several times. Except for the time he was forced to drink with Li Zhendong’s gang, Qi Guang’s state while drinking was somewhat different each time. Today, his silent drinking was also a novel state.

But it was probably because the content of their conversations was too boring, going back and forth between gossip that was spread on the streets, and inevitably, it revolved around women and money.

Not to mention that Qi Guang wasn’t interested, Ye Xing was almost falling asleep. Every time he was about to fall asleep, he would go inside to help out, and when he was tired, he would come out to take a look at Qi Guang. Until the eighth time he came out, he finally saw that Qi Guang’s eyelids were starting to droop.

He looked at the time, 1:30 AM.

The performance had ended long ago, and the last customers lingering in the shop were paying their bills. He watched as the group of people finally lost their passion for giving grand speeches and started to giggle or close their eyes to rest. Like an old mother, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“You don’t have to worry about this, I’ll call someone to pick them up,” Bai Shu, the only other sober person, said to Ye Xing while tapping on his phone, “You just take Qi Guang back.”

“Okay,” Ye Xing yawned and helped Qi Guang up. “Be careful yourself.”

The streets were empty at this time, and even the streetlights seemed particularly lonely. After waiting for almost ten minutes, a rickety tricycle finally came over.

Qi Guang was not a light drinker, and he didn’t look particularly drunk, but he seemed to be too tired to be fully conscious.

There was silence along the way.

When they got to his building, Ye Xing asked the tricycle driver to wait, and then insisted on taking Qi Guang upstairs. Although Ye Xing knew he could walk on his own, there was a hint of unwillingness.

He was unwilling that he hadn’t talked to him much all night.

When they got to the door, Ye Xing moved his lips, “Qi Guang, I’m leaving.”

“Okay.” He replied while taking out his key.

Ye Xing didn’t move, watching him turn the key in the lock, open the door, and lean on the door to go in…

He wanted to reach out and support him, but held back.

“Give me a hug.” He spoke from behind Qi Guang.

Qi Guang’s mind was not very clear. When his brain received this request, he felt strangely confused. This awkward way of saying goodbye was not Ye Xing’s habit, nor was it his own.

But his brain couldn’t process any more information, so he simply turned around and embraced Ye Xing.