TSIBAMS Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

When he downloaded and logged into Weibo again, his follow list had grown by a bunch of strangers, so many that Qi Guang wanted to abandon the account for a moment.

But considering how hard it was to recover the password, he held back and followed Huang Shanshan and Ye Xing on their recommended pages.

Ye Xing indeed had quite a few fans, but his account didn’t seem to update often. The most recent post was a panorama of Chen Town, seemingly drawn from an elevated spot. The focus, however, was on the exaggerated clouds above, pouring out from factory chimneys, looking both oppressive and magnificent.

Another perspective of Chen Town.

He scrolled down and saw a picture that was the same as the one in his Moments.

Although he knew that Ye Xing had posted this picture, seeing it with his own eyes plucked at a certain string in his heart. The comments were all praising Ye Xing in various ways, and no one cared about who the person in the picture was or what his relationship with Ye Xing was.

Qi Guang smiled. A secret feeling suddenly invaded his heart, making him secretly happy. He couldn’t quite describe what the feeling was.

The same routine days made Qi Guang experience the monotony and boredom of high school life for the first time. When bored, he would go through Ye Xing’s Weibo. Though it was impossible to wait for an update, digging through the past was also a kind of fun. After going through all the Weibo posts, he’d look at the liked content. Finally, he was so bored that he began reading the comments.

[Has Ye Da not recovered his password yet??]

[Missing you!!!!!!!!!]

[How long will you disappear this time?? Even posting an ad is fine!!! But it seems like you haven’t taken any ads either…]

He suddenly realized what he had been doing for the past few days. It wasn’t so much guilt for not seeing him off, but rather, he was unaccustomed to losing contact with him without any warning.

In a way, he wasn’t much different from those fans.

But this “unaccustomed” feeling made him think a lot. He had never felt this unaccustomed to the departure of any other friend.

From when he first met Ye Xing until now, it had only been a few months, and for a long time, their relationship had been switching between being annoyed with each other and regaining trust. Yet, it felt like he had known him for several years.

Qi Guang didn’t like to be too close to friends, and he was used to being cautious, but he never had any bad suspicions about him.

Yes, never.

From their first less-than-pleasant encounter when he was thrown off by the skateboard, to the senseless fight in the KTV bathroom, then to the later escapist fishing trip where Ye Xing chased him down and cursed at him, or even the time he kissed him when he was drunk…

All the seemingly unpleasant confrontations faded into the background of his memory. Looking back, it was just a real teenager.

This teenager was always gullible and impulsive, kind and easily angered.

It was just that kiss, it couldn’t be generally categorized as an unpleasant confrontation. Since it had happened, he had been trying to dilute this memory, unwilling to face it. But his body’s instincts couldn’t be ignored.

Yes, there was no unpleasantness, no particular resistance, only tension.

If Ye Xing hadn’t suddenly left and lost contact, he wouldn’t have noticed the changes in his mindset. This empty feeling, which he had never experienced before Ye Xing appeared, was a unique feeling that arose when he suddenly left.

Equally inexplicable was that he suddenly didn’t feel much of an urge to smoke. He wasn’t exactly addicted before, it was just a way to relieve stress and pass the time. But now he had suddenly lost all interest and energy.

He stared at his phone’s black screen, his eyes unfocused.

Qi Guang, what the hell is wrong with you?

The days at the art studio were not as boring as he had imagined. Perhaps because he had a direction and motivation, everything in life had become interesting.

Interesting and regular.

Every day he was frantically practicing sketching. In the morning, he would copy from picture books, then there was lunch and a nap. In the afternoon, he would do still-life drawing, then spend a few minutes during dinner time chatting with Fang Rong using Li Ke’s phone. After dinner, he would come back to listen to the teacher’s comments. This kind of life where everything was arranged for him was like a salvation for Ye Xing.

This kind of life where he was immersed in learning, ignoring the passage of time, this kind of life where he had no time to think about his worries, this kind of life that was not, “I’m just a piece of trash.”

Staying away from his phone meant staying away from passion.

Staying away from passion meant staying away from danger.

But there were also times when he doubted life. It was clear that the copies were perfect, and the teachers and classmates were full of praise, but every time he did still-life drawing, the result was unbearable to look at.

There was a saying from a writer, that for ugly people, looking closely was a kind of cruelty.

Every time Ye Xing looked at his still-life paintings, he could deeply understand this feeling. If only he could see the rainbow-fart comments from his fans at times like this, or see Qi Guang’s pictures to replenish his HP.

“Hey, Ye bro, what are you thinking about?” Huang Shanshan’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

Ye Xing turned his head, a hint of surprise in his eyes, “Why are you here!”

A fan was here! And she was Qi Guang’s sister!

Double happiness!

“It’s the weekend today! I’m here to study!” Huang Shanshan moved a drawing board to sit beside him. “Ye Da, you’ve been in the studio for a week, and you’ve lost weight.”

It’s been a week already…

He suddenly had a dreamy feeling. It had been a long time since he had such a fulfilling and serious life.

“My phone was confiscated, so I have no sense of the date anymore.” Ye Xing smiled.

“I know,” Huang Shanshan dragged a trash can over, and while sharpening her pencil, she said, “Qi Guang couldn’t reach you on the phone, so he came to ask me. I guessed you must have given your phone to Old Brother Xia.”

Ye Xing was stunned.

“You guys have a really good relationship,” Huang Shanshan sighed as she said this, “But how did you forget to tell him before handing in your phone? He was so worried…”

It wasn’t that he forgot, he just had a little selfishness.

He could have had a few more minutes to send a message to Qi Guang when Teacher Xia collected the phones, but looking at the date on the chat box, which was still from a few days ago, he suddenly didn’t know how to start the conversation.

Would he feel unaccustomed because he had left?

Or, because of losing contact?

He had already taken ninety-nine steps forward. Did he even notice?

Of course, his ninety-nine steps didn’t seem very successful. Even kissing him while drunk, he could reasonably digest it as being due to poor behavior while drunk. At this moment of morale depletion, temporarily leaving was undoubtedly the best option.

It couldn’t even be called an option, it was just a delaying tactic.

But after hearing Huang Shanshan’s words, he was a little pleasantly surprised.

The word “worried” had never sounded so sweet before, as if it carried a hint of ambiguous affection and tacit understanding. He spent the whole afternoon immersed in this sudden joy. The paintbrush in his hand seemed to be divinely assisted, and the still-life drawing results didn’t look so bad anymore.

He was in high spirits until the end of school. When the teacher held his phone out in front of him, he still had an unreal feeling.

“This is a reward for your hard work this week. Ten minutes,” Teacher Xia held the phone carefully, afraid of getting dirt on it from his hands. “Enough for a phone call, right!”

Ye Xing’s eyes widened.

Was this a cheat day??? Did someone recharge his NPC???

“Thank you, teacher!” He wiped his hands clean and carefully took the phone.

The 1984 bar was as bustling as usual on the weekend, even though the weather was so bad that it was windy and rainy.

But the worse the weather, the better it contrasted with the singing and dancing indoors. It was like how many people find sleeping on rainy days to be therapeutic. This kind of extreme doomsday feeling aroused a strong sense of security, making excited people more excited and calm people calmer.

The theme for today was jazz, which made Qi Guang feel a bit drowsy. He could only walk between the different tables to stay awake.

His phone had been charging at the bar, unattended. After all, very few people contacted him. When Bai Shu told him that his phone was vibrating, he subconsciously thought it was harassment due to information leaks.

“Hang it up, I’m busy.”

Bai Shu moved closer to look at the caller ID, “It’s Ye Xing.”

What the heck?

Did he mishear or did he get the date wrong? Hadn’t it only been a week?

He reached into the bar, took out the phone, and after looking at it, his heart suddenly sped up. Then he quickly rushed out of the door.

“Hello?” Qi Guang pressed the answer button.

The long-lost voice came from the other end of the phone, “What are you doing?”

All the emotions were burned away after this question. What was he doing? He was startled by his own sudden excitement. It was just a phone call. He had made phone calls before!

But it felt very different.

Before, when he made a call, whether it was to Ye Xing or Xu Ge, it was always straightforward and to the point. He never chatted idly. Of course, he had never looked forward to a call so much either.

Looking forward to it so much that he didn’t even know what to talk about.

At this moment, the rain wasn’t heavy. He stood under the eaves, watching the falling drops of water, gradually regaining his composure.

“At 1984…” He almost said “busy,” but swallowed it back, changing it to “…hanging out.”

Afraid that the other party would just say “Then you go ahead and get busy!”

Fortunately, Ye Xing didn’t answer that way, but he didn’t reply immediately either. The phone was silent for several seconds. Qi Guang even had a feeling that he was also struggling to find a topic.

After a while, Ye Xing spoke again, “Who’s singing today?”

“Don’t remember the name, singing jazz,” Qi Guang quickly replied, then added to avoid the next topic from being cut short. “The voice is quite nice.”

“Is it nicer than your voice?”

Ye Xing’s voice was very calm, so calm that Qi Guang didn’t know why his heart was inexplicably stirred.

Of course it was nicer than his voice, they were professionals!

But Qi Guang didn’t want to answer like that, and he didn’t want to kill the conversation. His thumb rubbed against the edge of the phone, trying to make his voice sound just as calm, “Then I’ll sing for you next time.”

“Okay, I’ve noted it down,” Ye Xing said, “You record it on the app and send it to me. No one else can hear it.”

The atmosphere had been a bit tense, but Qi Guang laughed immediately upon hearing this, “Why is that?”

“I’m afraid someone will hear it and steal you away,” Ye Xing paused, “After all, you have to focus on your studies now. You don’t have time to sing for others.”

Qi Guang smiled from ear to ear, “Got it.”

Then there was another silence, and all the tiny sounds were amplified at this moment.

“How come I can hear the sound of wind?” Ye Xing asked.

“Yeah,” Qi Guang covered the microphone and brought his mouth a little closer. “I’m at the door, it’s too noisy inside.”

“I can hear the wind is pretty strong, don’t catch a cold,” Ye Xing’s words were not as firm as before, even his voice was a bit quieter. “Or else you should…”

Or else you should go inside.

He had indeed avoided “Then you go ahead and get busy” and “Or else you should go inside”.

All idle chatter that was not about serious matters before a relationship was confirmed was easy to end prematurely. The more careful they were, the more they were afraid of disturbing the other, the easier it was to become an unbearable lightness.

Qi Guang had no experience in this area, but his emotional intelligence didn’t allow that sentence to come out. He immediately interrupted Ye Xing, “I’m not cold, I won’t go inside.”