TSIBAMS Chapter 58

“Okay,” Ye Xing replied.

What to talk about became a question worth pondering.

Qi Guang leaned against the door frame, listening to the noisy sounds coming from the other end of the phone. It seemed that the art studio had finished school, and everyone was discussing where to eat. He even heard someone call Ye Xing’s name.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Huang Shanshan’s voice, but after saying goodbye to Ye Xing, the voice gradually faded away.

“Did Shanshan go to the art studio today?” Qi Guang asked.

“Yeah,” Ye Xing said, “She comes to paint on weekends, she just left.”

“Oh…”

Qi Guang had never felt that finding a topic was such a difficult task, even harder than the final question of a math exam. Just as he was worrying, he heard a clearer voice amidst the noise.

He turned up the volume and brought the phone closer to his ear. It was a stranger’s voice: “Let’s eat something light today, my stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately… Brother Xia left a long time ago, I even saw him drive away… Your ten-minute reward is really worth it, I definitely won’t snitch… You just chat with your little friend.”

Apart from the first sentence, Qi Guang had no idea what this person was talking about.

But he could occasionally hear Ye Xing casually respond with “uh-huh,” so he could determine that the person was talking to Ye Xing.

“Are you eating with your classmates?” Qi Guang asked.

“Yeah, it’s my roommate,” Ye Xing replied quickly.

But it was obviously not as perfunctory as his response to that other person. At least, besides “uh-huh,” there were five more words.

That was clout!

When he first came out, he didn’t feel much, but now he was feeling a bit cold. He just blamed himself for being too excited and not grabbing a jacket. Qi Guang rubbed the arm holding the phone, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “I didn’t see you off that day, are you angry?”

“Angry?” Ye Xing was a little surprised, “No, I’m not.”

He was more afraid that you would be angry because I came to this city!

“Then why didn’t you say anything when you arrived…”

Qi Guang felt a bit foolish when he said it, after all, they didn’t seem to have any such intimate agreement or understanding.

“I didn’t have time to say it, my phone was confiscated,” Ye Xing wasn’t very good at lying and couldn’t help but swallow.

“Oh,” Qi Guang subconsciously replied, “Really…”

Lies!

Why didn’t you say you didn’t care if I lived or died all day!

Ye Xing took a breath and didn’t speak.

Qi Guang sensed a hint of awkwardness, but he was satisfied with the negative answer and didn’t want to dwell on it. Otherwise, if he talked too much, it would make Ye Xing realize that he should be angry, which would be difficult to handle.

He tried to change the subject, “How are you doing at the art studio? They even confiscate phones, sounds pretty strict.”

“Don’t laugh when I tell you,” Ye Xing cleared his throat, “Actually, I kind of enjoy being managed.”

Qi Guang laughed, “I didn’t realize before, you have such a masochistic trait!”

“What, what trait?” Ye Xing asked.

“Nothing, little kid,” Qi Guang deliberately emphasized the last three words, and then added, “If you really need to be managed, I don’t mind supervising you to do the Five-Year Examination Paper.”

Ye Xing frowned, “Seriously, Brother Qi, ever since you regained your study-god attribute, you’ve become so boring! Has no one ever broken up with you?”

“No one has broken up with me,” Qi Guang shrank his neck, “After all…”

“After all, you don’t have any friends, do you!” Ye Xing’s voice got louder, “I! Ye Xing! As your only friend! Sincerely and kindly tell you! You’re really boring like this!”

Even through the phone, he could feel that the other person was jumping around like a frog.

“Oh,” Qi Guang couldn’t help but tease him, risking ending the conversation, “Then why are you calling me!”

Sure enough, the other end of the phone suddenly went silent, with no sound for a long time.

Just as Qi Guang thought he had won, he looked at his phone and realized that the call had already been hung up. So, the silence just now wasn’t silence, but the call had been disconnected.

He wouldn’t be so easily provoked, would he?

Qi Guang frowned. When he tried to call again, the phone was turned off.

Although it wasn’t broad daylight, it was still a bustling city. It would be one thing to encounter a phone thief, but snatching a phone was too disrespectful of the law, right?

When Ye Xing finished shouting at the phone, the hand holding the phone suddenly went empty. He turned his head in panic and saw a burly man holding his phone. The man’s hand was still in mid-air, looking at him with hostility.

Because he hadn’t washed his hair for several days, Ye Xing was wearing a fisherman’s hat that Li Ke had lent him. The brim of the hat blocked some of his view, and he had to lift his head slightly to see the person in front of him clearly.

Bald, with a scar on his head, not as tall as him, but much stronger.

He wouldn’t win in a head-on fight, and the other person didn’t seem to be running away. He just stood there, calmly turning off the phone and putting it into his pants pocket, then looked up at him.

It was as arrogant as a provocation!

He exchanged a look with Li Ke, then glared back at the burly man, “Who the hell are you?!”

The burly man didn’t speak, his hands hanging down by his sides. He took a quick step to the right, and a shorter man appeared behind where he had been standing. He was wearing a neat suit, with a shiny slicked-back hairstyle that was quite flashy under the lights.

The middle-aged man, although not tall, stood very straight. He raised his head, his eyebrows twitching, “You’re Ye Xing?”

“Fuck your grandpa, give me back my phone!” Ye Xing was in no mood to play tough. He was furious at being interrupted in his hard-earned phone call with Qi Guang.

Even if his phone had been stolen, he wouldn’t be this angry, but this phone call was with Qi Guang, and they hadn’t even had a proper conversation, let alone said goodbye properly. Any one of those three things could make him go crazy.

“I’ll ask you again, are you Ye Xing?” the slicked-hair man raised his head higher and increased his volume.

“I’ll say it again, give me back my phone!” Ye Xing yelled at him, “I am your daddy Ye Xing, so what?! Do you check people before you steal their phone?! I’m telling you there are cameras at the door, don’t be so arrogant with me!”

“It’s so hard to communicate with young people these days! You should’ve said so earlier, Ye Xing, kid. Wasted everyone’s time.” The slicked-hair man smiled and gave a look to the burly man.

The burly man immediately stepped forward and grabbed Ye Xing’s arm tightly.

“Damn it! Let him go, you believe I will call the police right now!” Li Ke pointed at him.

“Young man, don’t be so angry,” the slicked-hair man said while staring at Li Ke, then turned to look at Ye Xing, “I won’t hurt you, we’ll just chat somewhere else, and I’ll return the phone to you when we’re done.”

“Spit it out!” Ye Xing said, “Don’t act tough in front of me. Chat somewhere else? I don’t have time!”

“You don’t know what’s good for you,” the slicked-hair man said unhurriedly, “Chatting somewhere else is giving you face. We can talk here too. You better tell me everything clearly.”

Ye Xing glared at him.

The slicked-hair man looked back, still with his head held high, each word clear and forceful, “Tell me where Fang Rong is.”

Ye Xing suddenly froze as if struck by lightning. He widened his eyes, his heart feeling like it was suddenly being pressed down by something. For a while, he forgot how to breathe.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, then took another deep breath and slowly let it out…

After ten seconds, he finally spoke, “Who are you?”

“Shall we talk somewhere else?” the slicked-hair man asked.

Ye Xing tried hard to control his voice and replied, “Okay.”

The burly man let go of his hand and stood behind him.

“I’ll go with you,” Li Ke tugged at his arm.

“This kind of family matter isn’t suitable for too many people to know, right!” the slicked-hair man glanced at Ye Xing, “What do you say?”

He emphasized the word “family matter,” and Ye Xing knew what he meant.

Not only a family matter, but a family scandal!

If there was anyone in this world he could confide his family scandal to, it would only be Qi Guang, even Zhou Tian he didn’t have the courage to tell, not that he didn’t see him as a friend, but he felt that someone with such a warm family and high EQ might not understand.

It was fine if they didn’t understand, but he was afraid that their lack of understanding would bring him secondary harm.

And in this art studio, in this place that had made him feel reborn, even if it was an illusion, he didn’t want that feeling to be shattered. He didn’t want his miserable life to overlap with this place that had offered him salvation.

Ye Xing closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt like there was a mountain in his chest, heavy and suffocating, and maybe only a fight could make him feel better.

But if a fight ended up in the police station, it would only make the scandal worse.

He pushed Li Ke’s hand away and looked back at him, “I’m fine, you go eat first.”

Li Ke let go of his hand, watching the three of them walk away, his brows furrowed.

The slicked-hair man took him to an Italian restaurant, which looked quite upscale. The elegant floor-to-ceiling windows clearly showed the city’s traffic and constant flow of people. In the distance, they could even see the TV tower clearly. A grand piano was placed in the center of the restaurant, which looked much more expensive than the one he had seen in Chen Town last week, but unfortunately, no one was playing it at the moment.

Ye Xing looked at the piano and couldn’t help but imagine Qi Guang’s elegant figure. Then, thinking about the phone call that had been interrupted for no reason, he felt even more annoyed. He leaned back in his chair, picked up the lemon water in front of him, and took a big gulp. “Okay, who are you?”

The slicked-hair man sat opposite him, while the burly man stood by the table. He understood now, this man must be a bodyguard.

“I didn’t expect Fang Rong to be so carefree, running away herself, and leaving her son here,” the slicked-hair man moved the menu in front of Ye Xing, “What would you like to eat? It’s on me.”

Ye Xing pushed the menu back, “Thank you, I don’t want to eat.”

“Sulking?” the slicked-hair man pouted dramatically, “Even if you’re sulking with your mom, you can’t starve yourself.”

“I’m not used to Western food,” Ye Xing glared at him, “And my mom didn’t run away, nor did she want to leave me here, you better not talk nonsense!”