You Shulang has not gone out for almost a month since he was forcibly taken back to the apartment by Fan Xiao.
The June sun was already scorching, but the heavy curtains had never been opened.
Most of the time, there is no light in the guest room. The time sequence is chaotic, and there is no distinction between day and night. It is like a tomb of the dead, but it is imprisoned with living people.
Except when being dragged out by Fan Xiao to eat, You Shulang almost never left the guest room.
He was very quiet, as if he had gotten used to blending into the darkness. Except for the occasional sound of a lighter and a ball of fire that struggled to split the darkness, the entire room was occupied by coldness and silence.
During this period, Fan Xiao begged for forgiveness in countless ways, but never mentioned withdrawing from You Shulang's life.
He moved all his work back home, standing by the door of the guest room, discussing projects, holding video conferences, and reviewing documents. Every once in a while, he would open the door with all kinds of lovely objects and food, but often he would only get one sentence: Don't worry, I'm not dead yet.
When he has no work to do, Fan Xiao will squeeze himself into a corner and let the diagonal wall hold him tightly, as if that could support his only remaining obsession.
"I can't live without you." He often said to himself, "If you don't want me, who else will want me?"
The three meals a day were rich and were all prepared by Fan Xiao himself, but You Shulang was still visibly declining.
His hair has grown a lot longer, slightly covering his eyebrows and making his jaw look narrower. You Shulang has never had a weak face. When he smiles, he is gentle and gentle, and when he is angry, he has a strong aura. But now, he is only broken and sick.
He took a moment to adjust to the light before picking up the chopsticks. His bowl was already filled to the brim with food from Fan Xiao. He was never picky and would eat whatever was given to him, but he ate very little, less than one-third of the original amount.
"Shulang, I made some pork bone soup. Have a bowl."
Nowadays, Fan Xiao not only knows how to cook Thai food, he has also learned a lot of nutritious dishes from videos, and he puts them on the table in different ways every day.
"I've made this soup three times. The first two times it was either too salty or too bland. This time it's better. Try it."
You Shulang raised his head, glanced at the computer behind Fan Xiao, and then looked away.
He picked up the soup bowl and saw Fan Xiao's surprised expression; with a twist of his wrist, the whole bowl of hot soup poured onto his legs, and the surprise in Fan Xiao's eyes was reduced to shock!
"Shulang!" He stood up suddenly, walked around the table, took You Shulang's hand, knelt on one knee on the ground, and checked his injuries.
The thin silk pajamas stuck to his skin. Fan Xiao didn't dare to move. He found a pair of scissors and carefully cut open the trouser legs.
The burns were not serious. When the soup was handed to You Shulang, it had been left to cool for a while by Fan Xiao so that it could be taken in small sips.
The slightly red and swollen skin also scared Fan Xiao into a cold sweat, and he said in panic: "Let's go to the hospital."
"No."
You Shulang stood up and returned to the bedroom, but was stopped by Fan Xiao again: "No, if the burn is not treated, it will cause serious problems."
You Shulang glared at him and said sarcastically, "What kind of problem could be bigger than the problem between you and me right now?"
He waved his hand in boredom, turned around and repeated, "Not going to the hospital."
"Then I'll go buy some burn ointment." Fan Xiao pushed You Shulang to sit on a chair, "You sit here and wait for me to come back with the medicine. Don't move and don't touch the wound."
You Shulang's back sank into the chair, looking very impatient, but he did not object.
It was not until Fan Xiao left in a panic that he stood up again, walked slowly to Fan Xiao's temporary desk, and placed his slender fingers on the cold laptop.
Fan Xiao opened the laptop used for work, pressed the keyboard with his fingers, and a dialog box for entering a password appeared on the screen.
You Shulang thought for a moment, entered a set of numbers, pressed Enter, error.
He made a "tsk" sound, typed another group, pressed Enter again, and got the same error again.
After trying several times, it still didn't work, so You Shulang closed the laptop and sat back in his chair.
After applying the medicine, You Shulang returned to the guest room in silence, closed the door, and locked Fan Xiao's worried face outside.
With only an empty cigarette box left at hand, You Shulang went to look for cigarettes in the drawer. With his fingertips, he touched his cell phone which he had not used for many days.
The phone was still strong, with a little power left. The screen was triggered by the fingertips and lit up instantly. You Shulang subconsciously scanned it and saw many missed call reminders and a message lying on the screen.
He frowned slightly, picked up his phone and swiped the screen. His fingers were trembling, and he hesitated for a moment before clicking on a video.
The man in the video is sitting in the back seat of the car, his chin raised high, his face full of emotion, one hand moving regularly under his body, the frequency of which affects his expression. When it moves fast, he frowns, and when it moves slowly, he breathes low, a mixture of pain and happiness, and the one with this expression is You Shulang himself!
!!!
You Shulang exited the video, held the phone tightly in his hand, and sat for a long time before calling back.
The call was answered immediately, and he asked, "What do you want?"
This was the first time in nearly a month that You Shulang took the initiative to go out.
Fan Xiao held the door handle, his face solemn: "Can you tell me who you are going to meet?"
You Shulang said sarcastically, "Aren't you good at tracking? You can follow me and take a look."
"I won't follow you anymore, nor will I interfere with you." Fan Xiao let go of her hand and opened the door. "As long as you allow me to stay with you, I won't do anything to hurt you again."
You Shulang sneered, pushed Fan Xiao aside and walked out the door, leaving behind a light sentence: "The greatest harm you have done to me is that you still don't get out."
Fan Xiao: "…"
Away from the hustle and bustle of the cafe, music is melodious.
In the deepest corner, sitting opposite You Shulang was Qin Zhiyang.
The 20-year-old boy looked well-groomed, and his perfume was tangible. But when he saw the emaciated You Shulang, he flew into a rage! His uncontrollable anger was even more powerful than his perfume, and the sound of gnashing teeth broke the tranquility of the cafe.
"Fan Xiao tortured you like this, I'm going to call the police now!"
You Shulang's lips left the coffee cup, and the moist color of his lips brought a hint of brilliance to his face. His hair was too long, covering his eyebrows and eyes, and he used his long fingers to hook out a hair band provided by the coffee shop for ladies, combed the hair on his forehead back, and You Shulang casually put on the hair band.
An extremely gentle face, but with a hint of melancholy due to being thin, and now with her long hair casually tied up, it adds to her indifference.
"Don't be impulsive." He looked at Qin Zhiyang and said, "A video recorded by a dashcam can't be considered a candid shot, and he didn't spread it. You stole it yourself. If you call the police, it's not certain who will bear the legal responsibility."
Mr. Qin, who always had a cold face, clenched his knuckles and made a crackling sound: "Then it's not a crime for him to imprison you?"
You Shulang took a sip of coffee: "He didn't imprison me, it's just that I..." The man smiled a light and sad smile, "It's just that I wanted to escape."
Everyone outside the window had changed into light summer clothes, but You Shulang was still wrapped in a long windbreaker, like a cicada that had failed to emerge and would eventually die on a summer night.
You Shulang looked out the window and thought of the smiling face of the woman on the tombstone. He came from there, and at this moment, he was still wearing the grass and wood chips from the tomb.
A few hours ago, he removed the grass in front of the grave, sat on the ground, and leaned against the tombstone.
The mountain breeze is gentle, like a woman's calm gaze.
"Mom, I haven't come to see you for a long time. You won't blame me, will you?" You Shulang touched a cigarette and rubbed it slowly in his hand. "Has Xiaochen been here? I heard that he and that person were arrested by the police. The amount of embezzled funds is quite large, and they are said to be going to jail."
"Do you blame me? For not taking good care of Xiaochen." You Shulang tilted his head and looked at the woman, "Maybe you really shouldn't have picked me up and brought me home. Maybe you and Xiaochen would be living a happy life now."
The voice was blown away, and the warm breeze was like a woman's rough but gentle hand.
"Mom, the faith that has supported me for nearly thirty years has been shattered. Family, love, everything I worked hard for, have all backstabbed me." You Shulang laughed at himself, "What's the point of living a good life? Mom, you are wrong after all. Living a good life will not bring happiness in the end."
He bent his back and leaned against the tombstone, just like leaning into his mother's arms: "Mom, I'm tired, really tired. Sometimes I feel that I have been separated from this world. There is nothing here that I miss, and I no longer have any expectations for it. I haven't had a good sleep for a long, long time. I always dream of you, always dream of the past, dream of Xiaochen following behind me and calling me brother. Whenever I tell myself that this is the real world, you on the tombstone, Xiaochen lying on the roof, and crazy Fan Xiao, are all fake, it's all a dream, I will wake up, wake up from that beautiful dream, and my heart is empty as if I have lost everything."
You Shulang's body slowly slid down, curled up in front of the tombstone, and whispered: "Mom, when I have money, I will buy the place next to yours and occupy a place for myself. I will come to see you earlier, okay? Mom, I want to eat the dumplings you made," a tear slid down his eyelid, "pork and sauerkraut filling."
The music in the cafe changed, and Qin Zhiyang called back Shulang who had been wandering.
"You... Shulang," he had never called a man by his name. In the few days they had worked together, he had always addressed him by his job title. "What are you going to do in the future? If you need my help, just tell me."
You Shulang withdrew his gaze from the window, looked back at Qin Zhiyang, and asked, "Did you get the video by hacking into Fan Xiao's computer?"
Qin Zhiyang was quite invincible: "I studied computer science and technology in college. If my father hadn't forced me to take over the business, my dream wouldn't have been ruined. I wouldn't have fallen to the point where I can only deal with scumbags now."
"You can hack into all the computers?"
"It depends on the level of the defense system. Not all systems can be hacked."
You Shulang nodded, took out a chip from his pocket, and pushed it in front of Qin Zhiyang: "Can the program here be changed?"
The five fingers on the keyboard were so fast that only the afterimages could be seen. After a quick operation, Qin Zhiyang showed a look of contempt: "That's it? It can be changed."
You Shulang took a sip of coffee and said calmly, "How can I thank you?"
"Thank me?"
Not sure if it was his eyes playing tricks on him, You Shulang felt that Qin Zhiyang glanced at his collar and then glanced at his lips, and his face turned red.
Qin Zhiyang, who had always had a cold and stern expression, suddenly showed some embarrassment of a young man. His ears were burning, which was very eye-catching against his fair skin.
"Have you watched the video?" You Shulang suddenly asked while stirring the coffee with a spoon and lowering his eyes.
"No…no." Qin Zhiyang's embarrassment deepened. His fingers lightly wrinkled the tablecloth, and he pretended to be calm and steady. "I only watched the front part, and when I found something wrong, I turned it off. I'm not as perverted as Fan Xiao."
After thinking for a while, he explained: "You know, I am a spiritual Plato, not...kissing and making love."
"Yeah." You Shulang responded nonchalantly, "Tell me, how can I thank you?"
"You're welcome, but if... you leave Fan Xiao in the future, can I pursue you?"
Seeing You Shulang raising his eyelids to look at him, Qin Zhiyang explained: "It is not necessary to exchange chips. This is just my request. I hope you can give me a chance."
You Shulang pondered for a moment and tapped the table with his finger: "Sorry, I don't want to talk about feelings for the time being."
"Then wait until you want to talk. I'm young and can wait."
You Shulang: "…"
Qin Zhiyang left with his computer, and within a quarter of an hour, another person sat opposite You Shulang.
The man sat down reluctantly and started to complain: "Why did we meet in such a shabby place? The teahouse we met last time was so nice, we listened to Peking opera and drank tea, that's what elegance is."
Seeing that no one paid attention, he sighed and said, "Director You, when will Fan Xiao die in your hands? I'm so anxious!"