On the night of the Guangzhou concert tour, Xingtu booked a famous local restaurant and held a huge celebration party. All the staff members participated.
After half a year of preparation, the concert finally met with the fans, and the results were better than expected. At the end, many of the backstage staff members cried. Even Cheng Qiang, who had been playing the role of an old father, felt a lump in his throat when he heard their self-introduction. It was as if he had returned to the first day of their debut.
"First of all, congratulations on the success of our first concert tour!" Cheng Qiang, who was standing in the middle of the dining hall, held the microphone and said a lot of things with emotion.
Fang Juexia was chatting with Jiang Miao. He turned around and saw the champagne on the table, so he picked it up and looked at the brand. Unexpectedly, Ling Yi saw it and said, "Juexia, let me see!"
Fang Juexia handed the champagne to Ling Yi. Ling Yi was very excited. "I've never opened champagne before. They don't let me."
"I haven't either," Fang Juexia said honestly.
Pei Tingsong brought a glass of lemonade and walked over to Fang Juexia. "Drink more water." He glanced and saw Ling Yi fiddling with the champagne. "What are you doing?"
"Can't you just spit it out?" Ling Yi was confused.
"Just shake it a few times." Pei Tingsong said casually. He didn't expect Ling Yi to shake it to death with all her strength.
"Everyone has worked hard! Today, everyone has a good … "
Bang!
The cork was pushed open, and the champagne sprayed out with bubbles and foam all over Cheng Qiang, who was speaking. Seeing this scene, Fang Juexia almost spat out the lemonade.
Pei Tingsong was stunned for a second, then laughed and squatted down, hugging Fang Juexia's leg.
Cheng Qiang turned around and looked at Ling Yi, who was still holding the bottom of the champagne bottle against her stomach. "What the hell are you doing?"
Ling Yi awkwardly put the champagne bottle on the ground and tried to escape from the crime scene like a small crab. However, she was caught by Lu Yuan and He Ziyan and dragged back. "You still want to run?"
"You're pretty good, aiming directly at Chang Ge."
"Aiya, I didn't expect you to be so good at cursing …"
"Hahahaha!"
"Alright, alright, let's play by ourselves!" Cheng Qiang couldn't hold back his laughter.
Everyone was eating, drinking, and chatting. The entire first floor of the restaurant was filled with people from Star Map. Rather than a celebratory feast, it was more like a party. The lights were dazzling, and everyone was drinking, chatting, and relaxing to the music. Although the atmosphere was good, it was difficult for Fang Juexia to handle such a large gathering with ease, not to mention that he had other plans. When the restaurant's music was playing "Night Tour," he leaned over to Pei Tingsong's ear.
"Let's sneak away."
Of course, a romantic would not refuse a perfect elopement.
When they ran out of the restaurant, it was already 12: 30 in the morning. However, the night in Guangzhou would die out very late. The diffusing heat wave was like the smoke on the road, and it couldn't find an exit. The two of them, wearing masks and hats, got into a taxi that stopped randomly. They left the party and drove to a bigger party in the city.
The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He was very enthusiastic. As soon as he got into the car, he asked in Mandarin with an obvious Cantonese accent, "Are you here to visit Guangzhou?"
Fang Juexia smiled and replied in Cantonese, "No, I'm from Guangzhou." After that, he gave the driver an address.
The driver was a little surprised. He looked at Pei Tingsong in the rearview mirror and changed from awkward Mandarin to Cantonese. "Is this handsome guy also from Guangzhou?"
"He's not. He's accompanying me home."
"Ah, I knew it. He's so tall. I saw the two of you standing by the roadside at a glance. So handsome and tall." The driver joked. "People who don't know would think that you're celebrities."
Actually, it was true.
Pei Tingsong didn't quite understand, so he leaned closer to Fang Juexia and asked him what he was talking about. Fang Juexia smiled. "He's saying that you're tall and handsome. You can go and be a celebrity."
"Brother Driver, you have the potential to be a talent scout." Pei Tingsong joked.
"Hahahaha, really? Guangzhou is very fun. There's a lot of delicious food … "
Listening to their conversation, Fang Juexia felt very comfortable. He looked out of the car window. The glass reflected the neon colors, flashing by like a kaleidoscope above a concert.
After passing through the bustling commercial street, the lights outside gradually dimmed. The darkness of the night gradually returned. After entering the old city, Fang Juexia really felt like he was home.
After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic driver and opening the car door, they were once again immersed in the heat wave.
The streets here were much quieter. Some of the shop fronts had been rolled up with gray iron shutters. The rest were all kinds of snack bars and supper shops. They were lit up with red and yellow lights, and their signboards were shining. They were the most vigorous cells in the dormant city.
"Where are we?" Pei Tingsong wanted to hold his hand, but he resisted. He settled for the second best and put his arm around Zhang Zian's shoulder.
"The back door of my high school." Fang Juexia reached out and pointed to the shade of a tree behind a wall. "Do you see that over there? That's my high school."
"Really?" Pei Tingsong stopped in his tracks and looked over. "I want to go in."
Fang Juexia smiled and removed his hand from his body. He turned to face him and took two steps back. "That won't do. I'm a good student. I don't know how to climb walls."
His smiling eyes were unbelievably beautiful. Pei Tingsong grabbed his wrist. "You already have the idea of climbing walls in your mind. How can you still say that you're a good student?"
"Then I've been led astray by you." Fang Juexia shook his wrist and escaped. He turned his back to Pei Tingsong and walked in front.
He wore a fresh and clean white T-shirt and walked on the streets of the old town filled with the flavor of Lingnan. The streets were embedded with square slabs. It was a huge mosaic art that belonged to the city. The banyan tree extended its canopy to the top of the road. The colorful signboards and neon lights emitted a halo of light in the night, but they couldn't dye Fang Juexia's back. He was always clean and snow-white.
This time, Pei Tingsong didn't walk side by side with him like before. Instead, he walked a few steps behind. He walked slowly and looked at Fang Juexia's thin back.
The person in front of him gradually changed his appearance. He was shorter and thinner, like a willow tree. The clothes on his body changed from a white T-shirt to a school uniform. His walking posture remained the same. Every step he took was tall and straight.
At that time, he should have been the boy in many girls' dreams.
Pei Tingsong couldn't help but smile. It was as if he used to be like this, accompanying Fang Juexia on his way home after evening self-study.
As they walked, the person in front of him turned back. His fantasy returned to reality. "Hurry up," he urged.
"Okay." Pei Tingsong walked up quickly and stood beside Fang Juexia.
Fang Juexia led him through one street and then another. Finally, they stopped in front of a small shop. The words "Grandma Chen Xiaochi" were written on the signboard. The architecture of this row of small buildings along the street was also very special. When they went upstairs and down the corridor, they looked up. The upstairs windows were open and there were many flowers and plants. Standing below, they could smell the fragrance of jasmine.
"I used to come here to eat after school." There was no one else in the shop. Fang Juexia pulled him in by the arm. "It was easy to get hungry when I was in school."
The owner had changed. She was no longer the kind mother-in-law of Fang Juexia when he was a teenager. She had become a middle-aged woman, perhaps her daughter. "Come and have some sugar water."
Fang Juexia responded with a smile. He went to order some food and then came back to sit beside Pei Tingsong.
Pei Tingsong looked up at him. "This building is very special."
There was no air conditioning in the shop. The fans on the ceiling were whirring, dispersing the almost half-frozen moist air and creating a transparent hot vortex.
Hearing him say this, Fang Juexia was a little surprised. However, Pei Tingsong had always been a very observant person.
"This is the Cantonese Pavilion." Fang Juexia poured him a glass of water. "The earliest history … should be traced back to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was built by Zhang Zhidong, the Governor of Liangguang Province at that time."
Pei Tingsong nodded and looked through the door at the pavilion across the street. "I like this kind of architecture. It's a living history book. And these trees are different from the trees in other cities … "He tried to find a suitable adjective." It's very free. It feels very comfortable to extend and grow outwards. "
"These are banyan trees. Many of them are over a hundred years old. There used to be more of them than there are now. Later, they became fewer and fewer and became tall buildings." Fang Juexia looked outside and was a little lost in thought. "Guangzhou used to be a city that grew in banyan trees."
This sentence was very interesting. In Fang Juexia's words, the city was suddenly full of green vitality.
The owner came over with two bowls of sugar water and placed them on the table. He smiled very kindly. "Have two bowls of sugar water first."
A bowl of sweet potato sugar water and a bowl of sugarcane water chestnut sugar water. The two of them took turns to eat. Although Pei Tingsong did not like to eat sweets, this kind of sugar water was surprisingly sweet. After drinking it, his hot and dry organs were moisturized and half of the summer heat was dispelled.
Fang Juexia loved to eat. With every sip, he felt like he was back in his youth.
Pei Tingsong looked at him and thought that the way he ate was very cute. Therefore, he said without thinking, "You're a child who grew up with sugar water."
This sentence was not wrong when he thought about it carefully. Therefore, Fang Juexia did not refute.
The owner brought over two bowls of freshly baked rice noodle rolls, one of fresh shrimp and one of beef. Both were added with liuxin eggs. The translucent rice noodle rolls were as thin as a cicada's wing. The color of the beef, shrimp, and the golden color of the egg were all exposed. They were still shaking after being placed on the table.
"Try it. See if it's different from the ones in Beijing."
Pei Tingsong picked up a piece of rice noodle rolls with his chopsticks. The rice noodle rolls were too slippery to hold, so he used his spoon to finally take a bite. The rice noodle rolls were smooth and chewy, the beef was soft and tender, and the Cantonese soy sauce was sweetened. It was fresh and smooth. It was indeed delicious.
"It's really good. It's much better than what I ate when I was young."
Fang Juexia laughed. "You're really easy to feed. You like 11 yuan rice noodle rolls so much."
Pei Tingsong said seriously, "Value is relative. You sit here and eat with me. 11 yuan rice noodle rolls are also better than three Michelin stars. "
Everything was relative.
At that time, the rice noodle rolls were also very delicious. However, it seemed that this time when Pei Tingsong came back, it became even more delicious.
Two people were much better than one.
After filling their stomachs, they left the shop. Fang Juexia walked with Pei Tingsong, even though he was the one who couldn't see.
The street lights were dim in the early morning. Pei Tingsong was afraid that Fang Juexia would fall if he couldn't see clearly. He wanted to help him up, but Fang Juexia refused.
Only when he walked on this old street that he had walked countless times when he was young, would he show some of his habits. For example, when he walked, he would always lean against the wall with his hand subconsciously holding on to the wall. For example, when he took each step, the soles of his shoes would rub against the ground for a while.
As he walked, he stopped and touched the wall. He said with a puzzled tone, "There used to be a gap here. Has it been filled in?"
Pei Tingsong suddenly felt sad.
It turned out that in the past, Fang Juexia had used all of his senses except for his sight to remember the way home. The smell of the road, the sound of the insects on the banyan tree, the gap in the wall, the shape of the floor tiles, which would be loose and which would tilt. It was these feelings that brought him home.
"Can I hold your hand?" Pei Tingsong asked softly.
Fang Juexia turned his head to look at him. Although he couldn't see clearly, he still smiled. "Yes, there's no one here now."
He carefully held Fang Juexia's hand. Through the humid air, everything was deformed in the heat. Even time and space were distorted. It was as if at this moment, Pei Tingsong was holding the hand of a sixteen-year-old Fang Juexia, a boy who would be afraid to go home alone in the dark.
"You're so brave." Pei Tingsong was not stingy with his compliments, especially to Fang Juexia.
Fang Juexia smiled and didn't say anything. Under the moonlight, they walked hand in hand along the long street, soaking in the waves of cicadas. As they got closer to home, Fang Juexia suddenly said, "I feel like it's going to rain."
"Really? How do you know? "
"It's just a hunch." Fang Juexia said, "My hunches are usually very accurate."
So they quickened their pace and entered an old neighborhood full of shade from a street entrance. There were very few street lights, but Fang Juexia remembered. Finally, he stopped under a huge banyan tree. The shadow of the banyan tree was darker than the night.
"You live in a tree?" Pei Tingsong joked.
As usual, Fang Juexia asked him to shut up. He raised his hand and pressed it against the bark. Following the rough texture, he groped his way up until he found a bowl-sized hole in the tree. His slender white hand reached in as if he was looking for something.
"Do you need my help?" Pei Tingsong asked.
"I found it." Fang Juexia's face was full of surprise. "It's actually still here. It's been ten years."
"What is it?" Pei Tingsong leaned over. Under the moonlight, Fang Juexia opened his palm. In it was a round walnut.
"You hid a walnut for ten years?"
Hearing Pei Tingsong's incredulous tone, Fang Juexia burst out laughing. He used some force to open the walnut shell and took out a rolled-up piece of paper. He handed it to Pei Tingsong.
"I remember that one day … I was beaten up by Fang Ping. I was very sad and scared, so I wrote this down and hid it in the tree hole downstairs." Fang Juexia smiled. "I was afraid of being found out, so I hid the walnut shell and glued it up. I didn't expect that no one would find out after so long." His tone was as if he was saying that he was very smart.
Pei Tingsong carefully unfolded the piece of paper. Under the moonlight, he saw the words written on it.
[I can't become a bad person. I want to stand on the stage and not fall.]
Through this sentence, Pei Tingsong suddenly saw himself at that time.
He also finally understood why Fang Juexia had suggested that at the end of the concert, everyone should write down who they were ten years later.
Fang Juexia looked up, his eyes shining. "I'm giving you the me from ten years ago."
Pei Tingsong held the piece of paper and hugged him, kissing his forehead under the dark tree.
"Thank you."
Thank you for growing up so strong that you could meet me, who was late for so long.
The rain came without warning. Fang Juexia's premonition was not wrong at all, but he did not expect the rain to be so heavy. In an instant, it diluted the sticky air, and the smell of the earth surged. Pei Tingsong's first reaction was to hide the piece of paper. They were ready to escape, but they laughed tacitly and ran in the dark.
Ever since he got together with Pei Tingsong, Fang Juexia had imagined many scenarios of bringing him home, but his plans could not keep up with the changes. He did not expect them to go home in such a sorry state.
His mother, who had already gone to bed, woke up in the middle of the night to open the door for him. She looked sleepily at the two drenched children and found it very funny. "Why are you so good at picking the time?"
She invited them in. His mother was suddenly not sleepy anymore and urged them to take a hot bath. Fang Juexia let Pei Tingsong go first. He took a towel and went into the kitchen to stand beside his mother, who was making ginger tea.
"Grandpa is asleep?"
"Yes, I was waiting for you to come back. I dozed off watching TV and didn't even go into the house. When I received a call that you were having a celebration party, I went in myself." His mother put the ginger slices into the soup and stirred them. "If he knew that you were coming, he would be very happy tomorrow morning."
Thinking of the scene on stage, Fang Juexia asked, "Did Xiao Pei ask you to go? He didn't even tell me. "
"Yes, he specially went to the hospital to persuade your grandfather. I was worried at first, but I didn't expect them to get along so well. Xiao Pei told him that you actually missed him very much and hoped that he would appear at the concert. Actually, your grandfather wanted to go too. Neither of you could put down your pride. On the other hand, Xiao Pei dared to say anything. After he left, your grandfather secretly told me that he was relieved to see that you had such a good teammate. "His mother then added," I think so too. "
Fang Juexia wiped the water off his hair and took the towel down. He held it tightly in his hands.
"Actually …" His Adam's apple bobbed. "Mom, he's not just my teammate."
His mother's hand that was stirring the ginger tea stopped. The whirlpool in the pot was still spinning. She did not look at Fang Juexia and was surprisingly calm. "What do you mean?"
"I love him very much and so does he." Fang Juexia tried to use the most accurate way to describe their relationship. "We're lovers."
His heart was beating uneasily. The cicadas in his head were clamoring, saying that he was careless and that he should not have announced their relationship in front of his mother. Love was fragile. His mother knew it best.
"Actually, I can tell." His mother reached out and put two candies into the pot. She said calmly, "I've guessed your relationship. Xiao Pei cares too much about you. He doesn't seem like an ordinary friend. Also, the way he looks at you and the way you look at him can't lie. "
That's true. There was no way to hide his feelings, especially in front of his mother.
"I don't want to hide it from you."
His mother turned off the fire and turned to look at him. "Juexia, I thought you weren't an impulsive child. After all, you've seen …" She choked. "Look at me. It's not wise to be so stubborn in a relationship."
"I'm not being impulsive." Fang Juexia defended his love. "That's right. It's because of everything I've seen since I was a child that I was very resistant to love. I even thought that I would never have true love in my life."
Mrs. Fang's heart was filled with guilt when she heard Fang Juexia's words. This was the last thing she wanted to see, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her failed love and marriage had subtly changed this child, causing him to be taciturn and distant.
"If it wasn't for Pei Tingsong, I might not have been able to change in my life."
His mother sighed silently. "I'm not against it. I'm just afraid that you'll get hurt." After saying this, she felt like she had become a father back then, standing on the opposite side because she was afraid that her child would get hurt. This feeling was too contradictory and too conflicted. Back then, she had thought that she had met true love, but she had failed. She had failed completely. So she couldn't help but say, "Have you ever thought that this might be a wrong decision?"
After taking a shower, Pei Tingsong came out of the bathroom and softly called Fang Juexia's name. Then, she heard the conversation in the kitchen, so she walked over and was about to ask him to take a shower.
"Then I want to be wrong for once too."
Hearing this, he stopped in his tracks.
Fang Juexia's eyes were very stubborn, but every word he said was logical. "Because I lived in a failed case, I always thought that I would never succeed. But after meeting him, I don't want to live like that anymore. Even if we don't end well in the end, even if it's wrong, I want to try again. After ten years, twenty years, looking back at today, at least at that time, Fang Juexia followed his heart and made a choice without hesitation. "
His eyes were filled with tears that refused to fall.
"Even if it's wrong, it's still right."
She looked at her son standing in front of her, as if this was the first time she was seeing him. It was very unfamiliar, but he was no longer the stubborn Fang Juexia who pursued the right path. He didn't seem like an ordinary child anymore.
In his face, she could finally see a shadow of herself from back then.
His mother didn't say anything. She turned around and ladled the ginger tea into a bowl. The yellow tea rippled under the kitchen light.
"Bring it out and let Xiao Pei drink it while it's hot. Don't catch a cold. It's very uncomfortable to catch a cold in summer."
"Mom …"
"Then let's try it." His mother handed the ginger tea to him solemnly. She smiled with tears streaming down her face.
"You're luckier than me. It can't be wrong."
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