TSIBAMS Chapter 78

Chapter 79

After Huang Shanshan opened the door for Qi Guang, the two went straight to the third floor without any hindrance.

Qi Guang took out the key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it a few times. The door opened smoothly.

A smell of accumulated dust rushed out, and he subconsciously rubbed his nose.

He touched the makeup table, its color faded by dust, with his index finger and thumb, causing a large amount of fine dust to fall. This was the room his mother lived in before she passed away. After discovering Qi Jingsheng’s affair, she moved to this room to sleep alone. The objects and decorations in the room had not been moved, and everything was still the same as when Qi Guang last saw it.

When he left two years ago, although he never thought of coming back, he took the key to this room as if by some ghostly inspiration. Now it seemed like fate.

Unexpectedly, Qi Jingsheng did not ask anyone to unlock or move anything in this room. Whether it was out of fear or respect for the deceased was unknown.

Huang Shanshan stood at the door without entering, leaning against the door frame watching Qi Guang carefully rummage through things inside, then putting them back in place.

After waiting for almost ten minutes, she asked anxiously, “Did you find it?”

Qi Guang, who was kneeling on the carpet going through files, looked up, “Is someone coming back?”

“The housekeeper will probably be back soon from buying groceries,” Huang Shanshan said.

“You should go first!” Qi Guang said, “Don’t let anyone see you with me.”

“But…”

“No buts, I’ll tell Qi Jingsheng that you opened the door for me and went to the art studio.” Qi Guang said while calmly flipping through the files. “If he finds out I took something later, it won’t involve you! Go quickly, don’t let the housekeeper see you with me.”

Huang Shanshan sighed, “Okay, I’ll go out first, watch for a while at the door, be careful.”

The phone beside the pen holder vibrated.

Ye Xing, his hands covered in charcoal ash, casually wiped them with a tissue, then picked up the phone to look at it.

It was a bank notification, not too much, a little over eight thousand. This client was quite generous, not delaying the payment and paying it all at once.

Compared to the excitement of receiving his first payment, he was much calmer now, even with some lingering anxiety. He washed his hands in the sink and then took his phone to the balcony.

Although smoking was forbidden in the studio, there were still many cigarette butts in the sliding tracks of the balcony windows. He looked at the cigarette butts silently for a while, sighed, and then opened his phone’s contact list, swiping a few times before making a call.

“Hello, Mr. Zhang, I received the payment… Yes, that’s right… Thank you! I’ll finish the next manuscript as soon as possible… Thank you for your recognition of my professional skills…”

People often do inexplicable things when they are nervous. For example, Ye Xing was now picking out the cigarette butts one by one, gathering them in his hand.

The good hygienic habits he developed over several months with Qi Guang were completely gone the moment he entered the studio.

The studio had such magic that even if your body and face were dirty, no one would despise you, as if your own sloppiness could be exchanged for an impeccable work. If someone could complete a good piece while having flowing hair and wearing white clothes, that must be a scene from an art film.

He took a breath, hesitated, and then opened his mouth again, “Could you possibly advance part of the payment? It’s okay if not… Thank you for trusting me.”

The conversation was much easier than he had imagined. He thought that such a request would either be rejected or ignored, but surprisingly, the person agreed as soon as he asked.

Ye Xing’s expression relaxed, and a hint of relief appeared on his face.

He threw the handful of cigarette butts into the trash can and stood on the balcony for a while.

Qi Guang still hadn’t come, and hadn’t replied to his messages. He didn’t know how he was doing.

The sound of a car door closing came from the garage. Soon, the elevator door next to the living room opened.

Without thinking, he knew it was Qi Jingsheng. To prevent anyone from sneaking into the garage and taking the elevator up, the elevator was usually locked. And at this moment, there was no one else in the house except for the housekeeper.

When he saw Qi Guang sitting on the sofa, his face was full of surprise, “Qi Guang?”

Then he turned to look at the housekeeper, who should have been busy in the kitchen but had come out after hearing the elevator.

She nervously opened her mouth, about to speak.

Qi Guang said lightly, “Your non-biological daughter opened the door, she left with her sketchbook as soon as I arrived.”

He deliberately used this way of speaking, not to deliberately antagonize Qi Jingsheng, but to hide the fact that he and Huang Shanshan were on the same side.

“That girl, she is still so shy! Rushing to paint!” Qi Jingsheng said, trying to repair their relationship with great effort. This look was laughable to Qi Guang. Then he asked, “How did you…”

“Want to ask why I am here?” Qi Guang raised an eyebrow, “It seems Mr. Qi isn’t too accurate about my schedule lately, not even knowing that I’ve finished my exams.”

Qi Jingsheng laughed, “I was negligent, I should have picked you up.”

He walked over and picked up the bag next to Qi Guang, intending to put it aside, but Qi Guang grabbed it back and hid it behind him.

He awkwardly rubbed his thighs and sat on the sofa next to Qi Guang.

“You don’t need to be so obviously complacent,” Qi Guang moved to the side, “I came to you just by the way.”

“Right, by the way, mainly to accompany your classmate surnamed Ye, right?” Qi Jingsheng blurted out.

This seemingly casual sentence instantly ignited Qi Guang’s anger.

“You’ve gone to great lengths to investigate everyone around me.” Qi Guang glared at him, saying each word clearly, “I said, don’t hurt my friends, come at me if you have any problem!”

“Hurt? Friends?” Qi Jingsheng tilted his head, looking at him calmly, “I don’t seem to have done anything, have I?”

“You better not let me find out you did anything!” Qi Guang met his gaze, expressionless, “If something like 1984 happens again, I won’t let you off.”

Qi Jingsheng chuckled, “A place like a bar was never meant to be the place for you to work.”

“Don’t twist the concept here. I’ll reiterate – don’t affect my friends!” Qi Guang grabbed the pillow next to him in annoyance and threw it away, then moved further away.

“Friends?” Qi Jingsheng was still smiling, smiling inscrutably, “What about boyfriends then?”

Qi Guang was instantly ignited, jumping up and shouting at him, “Qi Jingsheng, what do you mean!”

“You really are my son!” Qi Jingsheng looked at his angry appearance, as if his guess had been confirmed. His tone was a mixture of smugness and helpless disappointment at his incorrigible son, “Before, you went around saying that your dad had a messy private life, now look at how you live your life! No respect for elders! No distinction between men and women!”

Qi Guang picked up the glass of water next to him. Qi Jingsheng subconsciously flinched. Who knew he would raise it up and gulp it down himself.

After drinking, he placed it heavily on the marble coffee table, creating a clear and eerie sound.

Qi Guang suppressed his anger, looked at him, then took two steps back, folded his arms, and looked at him.

Qi Jingsheng seemed quite calm.

“I really don’t know if I should say you’re naive or ignorant,” Qi Guang said.

“Don’t rush to define me, you can play however you want now, I won’t interfere.” Qi Jingsheng lit a cigarette, leaned back on the sofa, and began to smoke.

“Before I came, I imagined maybe we could resolve this peacefully,” Qi Guang glanced at him and scoffed, “Now it seems that the older you get, the more biased you become. I won’t argue with you, whatever you want.”

He grabbed the bag on the sofa and threw it over his shoulder.

“I don’t care how you play,” Qi Jingsheng, holding the cigarette, reached over to shake it in the ashtray on the coffee table, “but after graduation, you must come back, come back here!”

“So, is this the real purpose of you calling me here?” Qi Guang said, “After all this time, can’t you come up with something fresh?”

“Of course, you have other choices,” Qi Jingsheng smiled at him, took a deep breath of the cigarette, and then slowly exhaled, “I will also have other people I can choose to deal with…”

“Ah choo!” Ye Xing sneezed, and his hand holding the pen shook.

“Ye Da, you’re not wearing enough!” Huang Shanshan leaned over.

Ye Xing sniffled, looked at her, “You’re here?”

“Just arrived, came to see you!” Huang Shanshan handed him a glass of juice, “Here, I brought this for you!”

“Thank you!” Ye Xing took it, put in the straw, and took a few sips, “That… how is Qi Guang doing?”

Huang Shanshan was stunned, not knowing if she should say too much, then narrowed her eyes and smiled, “I opened the door for him and then left. I guess he’s met with Uncle Qi by now.”

Ye Xing opened his mouth, wanting to ask more, but Huang Shanshan had already been called away by the teacher.

He opened his phone and looked, still no replies.

He suddenly felt annoyed.

Damn it! Qi Guang, if you get locked up again, you deserve it.

He painted absentmindedly all afternoon, not completing a single sketch, but going to the balcony several times to get some air.

On his eighth trip to the balcony, his phone suddenly vibrated.

He quickly took out his phone – a notification that four thousand had been credited to his account.

For a moment, he didn’t know what kind of expression to make.

Although his facial system was temporarily frozen, his mind was still working. He calculated that the balance on his bank card was only a little over ten thousand.

Tsk, money is hard to earn and life is difficult.

Ye Xing stretched his arms and neck, then returned to the studio and walked toward the water dispenser. The water dispenser was near the door, and outside the door was a small living room, usually used to store items, and sometimes people would take naps there. This door was usually closed during classes.

He crouched down and opened the small cabinet under the water dispenser where disposable paper cups were usually kept, but it was empty.

He was in this position in a daze for a while before he realized there were no paper cups, shook his head, then stood up and walked toward the storage cabinet in the living room.

The moment he pushed open the door, he never imagined that the person he had been worried about all afternoon was sitting leisurely on the sofa.

Still wearing the same clothes as when they separated, he was sitting there safe and sound, chatting and laughing with the person across from him.

Even more unexpectedly, the person sitting across from him was Teacher Xia.

“Qi Guang?” Ye Xing froze in place with the door half-open.

The two people heard the sound and looked up.

Qi Guang looked at him, smiled, and put away a red paper slip on the table.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it should be a receipt.

“I was just about to call you over,” Teacher Xia came over with a smile and pulled him, “You actually came out, what a telepathy!”