"What else do you want?"
“This.” Wang Kunxiang took out several comic books from his backpack and stacked them on the table. He said solemnly, “These are the comic books I borrowed from you before. I’m returning them to you.”
"...My parents'?"
"The uncle and aunt bought it with their own money."
"...Important?"
"You fought me to the death when I tried to borrow it back then, doesn't that matter?"
"..."
I have something to do today.
"Don't have anything come up today. I'm returning some things; they're quite important, belonging to my aunt and uncle."
As Zhou Zhou recalled the phone call, he stared blankly at the few palm-sized comic books, not even hearing the interesting stories about foreign countries that the other person then enthusiastically recounted.
"There are too many gay men overseas. After that harassment incident, I went to the gym every day, and that's how I got this strong physique today. So boys must protect themselves... Zhou, are you listening?"
Wang Kunxiang talked on and on for a while, only to find that the other person was just staring blankly at the comic books.
He blinked as if he had suddenly remembered something, his eyebrows lifted, and he looked at Zhou Zhou with expectant eyes, excitedly saying, "Zhou, I just got back. I heard you've started writing a book. I haven't read it yet, but could you add a character for me?"
Wang Kunxiang pointed at the comic book and said, "It would be best to be as awesome as these Saiyans in the book!"
Zhou Zhou raised an eyebrow, looking at him incredulously, and tentatively asked.
Saiyan?
"Uh-huh!"
“…I’ll start a new book for you, just about the two of us.”
"That's great! What should we call it?"
"Me and my idiot brother."
[Author's Note]:
Zhou Zhou slammed the book down, covered his head, and knelt on the ground: What a terrible thing to do!
I'll try updating twice tonight! Maybe the new chapter will be posted in the early morning, and if all goes well, you guys can read it when you wake up (just between us, maybe this doesn't count as updating twice? ORZ)
Chapter Twenty-Six: He hasn't been feeling well at night lately.
After saying that, Zhou Zhou didn't even want to drink the cappuccino anymore and asked the waiter to bring her a glass of ice water.
To lower my blood pressure which has just spiked.
“Zhou, it’s one thing to be unhappy that I’m back, but why are you scolding me?” Wang Kunxiang pouted unhappily, his resentful gaze making Zhou Zhou’s scalp tingle. “When I was abroad, you never contacted me first. When I contacted you, you said you were busy. When I asked you what you were busy with, you wouldn’t say. I could understand not mentioning your entry into the entertainment industry, or even your marriage, but you hid the news of Uncle Zhou and Aunt Yang’s passing from me. If I hadn’t seen the airline’s list of those who died in the plane crash on the news…”
When this heavy topic came up and he recalled the past, Wang Kunxiang's tears flowed like water. This tough guy covered his face with his hands and sobbed uncontrollably, becoming a heartbroken mess.
Zhou Zhou felt a pang of sadness as he looked at him, his gaze trembling. He tried to recall the fragments the other man had mentioned, but for that agonizing period, there was a blank.
"Wipe your tears." Zhou Zhou's throat tightened, and he handed her a tissue. She wiped her tears one by one until she had used up most of the pack of tissues on the table.
The wads of tissues from crying filled the entire trash can.
Seeing that he had calmed down, Zhou Zhou took a deep breath to compose himself and said softly but solemnly, "I'm sorry, I was just afraid that you would be as sad as I was." Zhou Zhou's gaze slowly shifted to the window, as if he were explaining to the other person on behalf of the original owner.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Kunxiang started sobbing again. The emotions he had just managed to control crumbled instantly. Between sobs, he said, "We're such good friends, and you won't even let me shed a tear for my aunt and uncle? Are you even human?! Do you know how devastated I was when I found out about this abroad?!"
Zhou Zhou was originally sitting opposite him, but seeing him crying like this, she simply sat down next to him and handed him tissues one after another.
The two grown men leaned on each other, and Zhou Zhou empathized with them, shedding many tears as well.
But later it just didn't work out.
A tough guy with a tender heart, Wang Kunxiang cried in front of him for nearly twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes later, Zhou Zhou's tears had dried on her face, and she still had to coax and persuade the other person to stop crying.
"Can we stop crying?" Zhou Zhou glanced at the people around him and, sure enough, they were all looking this way.
Perhaps it was novelty; it was the first time I'd ever seen two grown men leaning on each other and crying in public.
The young couple next to us, who had just been arguing, now had the woman nestled in the man's arms, both looking this way, and they had successfully made up.
Fortunately, Wang Kunxiang finally calmed down, sniffling, and sobbed, "Okay."
Zhou Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down opposite him.
"Zhou, let's just forget about this. It's okay, you still have me." Wang Kunxiang clenched his fist and pounded his muscular chest muscles. The originally bold action, coupled with his sobbing expression from crying, made him look a little comical.
This genuine beauty couldn't be faked, and Zhou Zhou smiled, "Okay."
Wang Kunxiang's return to normalcy is a stark contrast to his earlier crying fit.
“Zhou, I haven’t asked you about your marriage yet.” Wang Kunxiang only dared to bring it up with the other party in person after returning to China. Usually, the other party would either hang up the phone or disappear without replying to messages. “I really didn’t expect you to marry that kid Fu Hengzhi. That kid has always been arrogant and pretentious since he was a child.”
The Zhou family and the Fu family were on good terms with their parents, but their relationship with the Wang family was merely a nodding acquaintance.
The younger generation is the opposite. Zhou Zhou and Wang Kunxiang are inseparable since childhood, but Zhou Zhou and Fu Hengzhi are not close at all.
Hearing the other person describe Fu Hengzhi like that, Zhou Zhou chuckled twice, "I didn't expect that either."
I never even thought that same-sex marriage was allowed.
Wang Kunxiang hunched his arms, showing Zhou Zhou his muscular biceps, "If that kid bullies you, just tell me, and I'll teach him a lesson and let him know that you're not without support."
These words sounded heartwarming, and Zhou Zhouyang smiled and said, "Okay."
The two chatted about other topics and had a very pleasant conversation.
"It's good that you're not in the entertainment industry; it's a mess there." Wang Kunxiang wholeheartedly supported Zhou Zhou's decision to leave. "You're doing quite well writing novels now, so free and easy. I bet you're updating more than 10,000 words a day. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, or you'll easily develop a kind of obsession." Wang Kunxiang was the type to act on impulse, his thoughts wandering and he would talk about whatever came to mind, his topics never ending.
"A mental illness?" Zhou Zhou didn't quite understand.
“It was sleepwalking.” Wang Kunxiang whispered closer, “The uncle who guards the gate at my factory sleepwalked one night and locked himself in the freezer. Luckily, another old man who guards the gate got up in the middle of the night and found out something was wrong, so he went out to look for him. Otherwise, he would have frozen to death in the freezer.”
"Is this caused by stress?" Zhou Zhou didn't believe it. He knew that stress could cause hair loss, but he had never heard of stress causing sleepwalking.
But then I remembered what happened that morning and thought about it carefully.
Fu Hengzhi seems to be under considerable pressure.
Zhou Zhou was skeptical and asked what happened next, "So what can be done? It seems that sleepwalking is currently incurable in medicine, right?"
Wang Kunxiang shrugged. "Indeed, that uncle worked at my family's factory for quite a while. Because of his sleepwalking, my dad didn't dare to continue employing him, fearing that something might happen to the factory at night. He's currently taking traditional Chinese medicine to regulate his body, and his family is quite worried about him."
Can traditional Chinese medicine cure this?
"It's said to be possible, especially with proper rest." Wang Kunxiang looked at Zhou Zhou suspiciously. Zhou Zhou leaned forward, almost climbing onto the table. "Why are you so nervous? Is someone around you suffering from a mental illness? Who is it? It's not Fu Hengzhi, is it?"
Wang Kunxiang's words hit the nail on the head, and Zhou Zhou quickly said no.
"When I first entered the industry, I had only one assistant." Zhou Zhou lied through his teeth, apologizing to Xiao Zhao.
“Hey, as long as it’s not someone close to you, it’s fine. Let me tell you, this disease is dangerous.” Wang Kunxiang said seriously, “People in their sleep don’t know what they might do. If they do something illegal or disorderly, it could be a big problem.”
That's pretty terrifying. Wouldn't Fu Hengzhi be a ticking time bomb when he's asleep?
Zhou Zhou was a little flustered, but she couldn't show it under the other person's gaze.
Changing the subject, he asked, "So, what are your plans when you go back to China?"
"Me? I plan to..."
The two chatted until lunchtime, then left the coffee shop to go home. As they left, Wang Kunxiang saw Zhou Zhou's electric scooter and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you riding this? The Fu family is so wealthy, they can't even afford to buy you a four-wheeled vehicle?"
"No, no, no." Zhou Zhou quickly dispelled any further misunderstandings. "I just have a driver's license, I haven't passed the test yet..."
"Still haven't passed the test?" Wang Kunxiang was surprised. Before he went abroad, the other person had been stuck on the second part of the driving test for two years. "Where are you stuck? The second part?"
After receiving confirmation from the other party, Wang Kunxiang was shocked again, "You've been stuck on the second part of the driving test for three years?!"
"Huh." Zhou Zhou had no idea what was wrong with the original owner.
"Hmm..." Wang Kunxiang patted his shoulder, thinking to himself that he had been stuck on the second part of the driving test for three years, and who knows, he might be a road hazard when he got his driver's license.
He earnestly advised, "Maybe we're just meant to be driven, and sometimes, two wheels are just fine."
Zhou Zhou: "..."
When Zhou Zhou returned to the villa, it was already early dinner time. He opened the door and went in, only to find that the huge dining room was empty, with the food still on the table covered with a thermal cover.
"Xiao Zhou, you're back." Aunt Feng heard the noise, came out of the kitchen with bowls and chopsticks, and lifted the heat lamp cover.
Zhou Zhou took the bowl and chopsticks with both hands and asked, "Where is President Fu?"
"The company was busy today, so Hengzhi called."
Aunt Feng noticed a stack of paper packages next to Zhou Zhou, each one bulging and emitting a certain fragrance.
What is this?
"..." Zhou Zhou looked at the pharmacy he had passed on the way back and couldn't help but buy something. He paused for a moment and then said honestly, "Traditional Chinese medicine."
"Why are you buying Chinese medicine?" Aunt Feng asked anxiously. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no." Seeing Aunt Feng's worried look and her taking two steps back to take out her phone to make a call, Zhou Zhou quickly explained, afraid that she would make the call to Duan Yun or Fu Hengzhi.
"It wasn't me, it was President Fu."
"Oh? What happened to Hengzhi?" Aunt Feng asked anxiously.
“He…” Zhou Zhou blurted out, but could he say the other person was sleepwalking? Obviously not, he had promised the other person to keep it a secret.
He forced himself to change his words, but in reality, it was about the same, at least that's what Zhou Zhou thought.
“He hasn’t been feeling well at night lately, so I’ll give him some traditional Chinese medicine to drink.”
Lately, I haven't been feeling well at night.
Aunt Feng, being an experienced woman, strung these words together and couldn't help but clear her throat twice, but her expression remained unchanged.
"That must be because there's been too much work and too much pressure lately."
“Hmm…” Zhou Zhou nodded thoughtfully, “I think so too.”
[Author's Note]:
Xiao Zhao: "My Sleepwalking Friend"