"Go to hell!" Zijie bared his teeth and brandished his claws, using both hands and feet to deliver a punch to Chen Song's stomach. Chen Song cried out in pain, clutching his stomach and squatting on the ground: "You, you, you, you're too cruel! Murdering your own husband!" His expression looked extremely painful, his face turning pale.
"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Zijie knelt down in front of him with concern to rub his stomach, but before she could reach out, Chen Song grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. Zijie realized she'd been tricked and started punching and kicking him again. Just as they were fighting fiercely, a loud "bang" was heard from inside, and the two of them immediately jumped up and rushed inside.
"Le Xi!" Zi Jie pushed the door open and entered. Le Xi was kneeling on the floor, her body leaning weakly against the wall, her face deathly pale.
"What's wrong?" Zijie reacted quickly, squatting down to support Lexi's swaying body.
"No...it's nothing..." Le Xi gave a weak smile. "I just squatted down to get something, and I stood up too quickly."
"Come on, lie down on the sofa for a while, okay?" Zijie tried to help him stand up, but he couldn't muster any strength.
"Can't you stand up?" Zijie frowned.
"It seems so..." Le Xi smiled apologetically. Before she could say anything more, Chen Song had already squatted down, picked her up, and placed her on the sofa.
"Here, have some sugar water," Zijie said seriously, handing the water glass to Lexi.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm probably just too tired lately." Le Xi held the cup in her hands and comforted Zi Jie with a smile.
"The way you look right now..."
“I’m fine, I’m eating well and sleeping well,” Le Xi retorted.
"So you're saying you can eat well and sleep well? Have you been eating and sleeping properly these past few days? You only get a little sleep at night with sleeping pills, do you think I don't know?" Zhang Zijie said with exasperation. "You don't even want to talk to us about what's on your mind. How can you be like this! Do you even consider me a friend?"
"What do you mean?" Yao Lexi said with a grin. "Do I look like someone with something on my mind? I'm so busy all day long, what could I possibly be thinking about?"
"Lexi...don't be like this. I know you're hurting. I know you can't sleep at night, I know you hide in your room and cry. It's been so long, just forget about it!"
Lexi took a day off to rest, and Shilu offered to take a day off to be with him, but Lexi insisted that it wasn't necessary. When he called, it would always ring many times before Lexi answered. Shilu sensed that Lexi was deliberately avoiding him.
One day, Professor Liu called to ask if Le Xi had time to be a model for his sketching class. Le Xi glanced at his schedule and, since he wasn't busy, agreed. However, once he arrived at the studio and was ready, he felt a little awkward. Although he knew that being a model meant being completely naked, he still found it quite embarrassing. With so many students staring at him, and him being the only one completely naked in the entire classroom, it was understandably awkward.
"What's wrong, Xiao Yao?" Professor Liu asked with concern when he saw him standing there with a flushed face.
"Professor, I..." Le Xi blushed and clutched her trench coat tightly in embarrassment, her body underneath completely naked.
"Hehe," Professor Liu patted his shoulder, flicked his nose with his finger, and said affectionately, "It's all for art, isn't it? To become a great fashion designer, you must first understand the structure of the human body, right? Besides, your models will all be handsome men and beautiful women, and you might even see them naked. Are you going to be shy?"
Le Xi nodded as if she understood, looked up at Professor Liu's concerned eyes, made up her mind, took a deep breath, calmly walked to the stool in the middle of the studio, and slowly unbuttoned her trench coat.
The students around him were stunned for a moment. They had never seen such a slender man, and his skin was flawless. His alabaster skin looked almost translucent under the light. His bone structure was unusual, making him appear somewhat thin, yet his features were remarkably soft. For a moment, he seemed like Narcissus, the beautiful youth from Greek mythology, looking down at his reflection in the water.
Lexi sensed something was off. She glanced around and saw everyone standing there, stunned. She coughed softly twice, and everyone snapped out of it, quickly grabbing their paintbrushes and starting to paint. Lexi looked at Professor Liu with a questioning gaze and found him smiling at her, giving her a thumbs-up and mouthing "Well done." Her previous shyness instantly transformed into determination and courage.
It was quite late when they left the art studio, so Professor Liu suggested that he treat a few of his star students to dinner. Le Xi wanted to decline, but the students were so eloquent that within a few words, Le Xi felt that if she didn't go, she would become the greatest villain in history. Left with no other choice, she reluctantly went.
The restaurant near the school was quite nice. Professor Liu ordered a small private room and some more wine. He jokingly said to the students, "You bunch of wine connoisseurs, I, this old man, can't outdrink you. But you still need to be polite, lest you go out and tell people that I, Old Liu, didn't even let you drink comfortably."
Le Xi was the youngest and least experienced among them, but he was Professor Liu's favorite student, so he was seated next to Professor Liu. Professor Liu leaned close to Le Xi's ear and whispered, "Several of these senior students have won awards in national design competitions. You should learn from them."
Le Xi nodded earnestly, wishing he could write down every word his teacher and senior brothers said. His obedient appearance was so endearing that several mischievous senior brothers teamed up to tease him, introducing him to girlfriends and urging him to drink, leaving Le Xi overwhelmed.
After several rounds of Tai Chi, Le Xi was forced to drink several glasses of baijiu (Chinese liquor). He wasn't a good drinker to begin with, and now he was even more confused, completely disoriented. Just then, the phone rang. Le Xi fumbled around for a while before finally pulling his phone out of his pocket and answering it with a casual "Hello."
"……What are you doing?"
"Who is it?" Lexi asked groggily.
"I am Shi Lu."
"Oh. Aru, come on, let's have a drink!"
"...How much did you drink?" The other person seemed to be speaking in an unfriendly tone.
"No, not many!... Ah? Senior brother, come on, finish them off! Hehe..."
"...Where are you?" Shi Lu asked, somewhat exasperated. She'd called him so many times without getting an answer, forcing her to call Yan Shuang's shop and Zi Jie's place to inquire about him, only to be teased by both of them. Everyone was incredibly worried about him, but he'd gone out drinking with friends!
Note: Narcissus mentioned here is the well-known daffodil in Greek mythology.
Capture
The result of a hangover is an endless headache. Zijie looked at Lexi, who was holding his head and frowning as he slumped over the sewing machine, with a smug look on his face. He had said too many mocking things, so he stopped teasing him and instead chatted idly with Yan Shuang and Shi Lu, who had come to visit.
"Is the new rented house all set up?" Yan Shuang asked, cracking sunflower seeds.
"Yes, Chen Song is taking care of things over there, and we can move in tomorrow."
"That's pretty good! They're all nearby, which is quite convenient."
“Yes, it’s close to Lexi too. Right, Lexi?” Zijie laughed. He had originally planned to rent a bigger house for Lexi to move in with him, but Lexi said she didn’t want to be a third wheel and wanted to stay in her small, run-down house.
"Yes." Le Xi flipped through the "Shanghai Fashion" magazine with a gloomy face. She had finally made it to the weekend and wanted to do something, but unfortunately, her headache was too bad and she couldn't do anything now. She should have known better than to drink so much alcohol.
"Your alcohol tolerance is really not that great!" Yan Shuang patted his shoulder. "I wonder if you got drunk and cried and laughed like Zijie said yesterday?"
"No way!" Lexi retorted. "Sister, don't listen to Zijie's nonsense."
"Really not?" Yan Shuang looked at Shi Lu, who was standing with his arms crossed, incredulously, seeking confirmation.
"No, there isn't."
When I went to pick him up, I just hugged myself and called him "brother" over and over again, silently shedding tears. That's all.
That's all.
"Look, look, there's nothing there!" Lexi said, unconvinced.
"That's right, but I kept complaining of a headache when I woke up the next day," Zijie persisted.
Lexi stuck out her tongue: "Yes, yes, you have a great capacity for alcohol, while I am the worst drinker!" After saying that, she went into the inner room to study her fabric and needlework, ignoring the people still laughing and joking outside.
"Yao Lexi! Yao Lexi!" Before Lexi could even go inside, Pan Ge rushed in, shouting exaggeratedly, "Hurry to the main conference hall! There's a lecture, and the department requires everyone to attend! I couldn't get through to you on the phone, so I came straight here."
"A lecture? What kind of lecture?" Le Xi frowned.
"I don't know! I think he's a senior from our school, and I heard he's really good!"
"Do we have to go to all of them?" Lexi rubbed her temples and asked hesitantly.
"The homeroom teacher is taking attendance! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
"Look at you academic bureaucrats! You have to make sure every lecture is packed, even though hardly anyone actually listens. You still have to find people to fill the seats and take attendance. How boring!" Yan Shuang sneered at Shi Lu.
Shi Lu shook his head. Every year, the school's comprehensive evaluation includes the number of lectures and activities held. Many lectures that are clearly uninteresting rely on students from the department to fill the seats. Each class is assigned a lecture, and all students take attendance. However, the students in the audience either chat or sleep; very few actually listen. The Q&A session with the guest speaker is particularly awkward, either resulting in silence or just a few student union officers asking questions. Some bolder students even leave one after another. Therefore, the department leaders are also racking their brains to organize more popular lectures to attract students. Especially this lecture, which reportedly required a lot of effort to invite today's speaker. This speaker is now one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the country and was once a prominent figure on campus, scoring a perfect TOEFL score and going to a prestigious American university. Recently, he seems to have come to Northwest China to invest. The topic of his lecture seems to be about youth student entrepreneurship, no wonder the student union officers are so excited and the school attaches so much importance to it.
The conference hall was packed with people, many of whom were students from other departments. Pan pulled Lexi to her class's seat. Perhaps due to a hangover, Lexi felt a little dizzy.
"Is she still not better?" Pang asked with concern, looking at Lexi's pale face.
"No, just a headache." Le Xi rubbed her temples with a wry smile, probably because she really drank too much last night.
Before Pan Ge could say anything more, thunderous applause erupted in the conference hall. A resounding voice came from the microphone on the stage: "Today, we are honored to have Mr. Qi Hui, Chairman of Feiyu Group, return to our alma mater to give a lecture on entrepreneurship for young students..."
It was deafening. It was as if the whole world consisted of only this sound, as if I could only hear this name.
Lexi remained frozen, leaning towards Pange, her hand supporting her head. Her body was stiff, her fingers trembling. Something seemed to be welling up in her eyes, about to overflow.
"What are you standing there for? The lecture has started!" Pang said excitedly to Lexi. "Look, it's a senior from our school! He's now the boss of a multinational corporation!" Lexi sat up straight as if startled awake, but dared not look up, dared not look, afraid to meet those bright eyes that appeared in his dreams night after night. His palms were clenched tightly, tighter and tighter, as if they were about to be cut open, causing a sharp pain. He felt himself trembling uncontrollably, his heart in his chest as if it were about to jump out, as if it were already terminally ill.
"I'm sorry..." Le Xi quietly stood up, thankfully she was sitting on the very edge, closest to the door.
Brother, your attention should be entirely focused on the leaders and students standing up to shake your hand and the enthusiastic applause, right? You won't see me. As long as I quietly walk out and aren't seen. As long as you don't see me, that's fine.
Like a criminal on the run, Lexi rushed out of the conference hall, not daring to look back, not daring to look up, not daring to let anyone see the disheveled expression on his face. He ran for his life, completely ignoring Pang's calls for him. As he ran, he bumped into someone making a phone call, bowed his head to apologize, but his voice trembled uncontrollably, and tears streamed down his face without warning.
Ignoring everything else, Lexi rushed into the bathroom like a headless fly, squatted down, hugged her head, and began to tremble uncontrollably as if it were the end of the world.
"Yao Lexi?" Someone walked in, squatted down next to Lexi, and gently patted his shoulder. "Yao Lexi?"
Lexi curled up, burying her head in her arms, her mind in turmoil. She wanted to say nothing, do nothing, only to curl up like an ostrich, burying her head in the sand, as if that would allow her to escape the pain within. She had always found it unbelievable, thinking ostriches were foolish, when she heard that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when in danger. But now, she wished she could be an ostrich. Fragments of memories, big and small, scattered and chaotic, shattered in her heart with a "whoosh," then pieced together into silent plays, replaying before her eyes again and again. Salty tears, bloody smells, bustling streets, cold morgues—these filled her senses, making her unable to see or hear anything.
"Yao Lexi? Can you hear me?" The person in front of him was still patting his shoulder relentlessly, then began shaking him, trying to pull him up from the ground. Lexi closed his eyes, sighed, and slowly raised his head, meeting a handsome face—a face he'd seen on TV before! The man standing behind Qi Hui, Yang Jingyu. Right, that voice...how come he hadn't recognized it before?
"I'm sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else," Le Xi said calmly. Yang Jingyu was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and started laughing. As he laughed, he tightened his grip on Le Xi's shoulders, laughing until he was almost out of breath before saying, "I know who you are. Your photos used to be all over Qi Hui's bedside table and walls, in his wallet, and on his phone. Do you think I'd mistake you? What, are you trying to run away?"
Le Xi lowered her head and bit her lower lip. The words that Yang Jingyu had spoken were like two blades joined together, cutting into her heart without drawing blood, but the pain was so real and so profound.
"I...I said, I...I...I'm not..." Le Xi tried to remain calm, but his voice betrayed him.
“Qi Hui told me to keep watch outside the conference hall, saying you were definitely trying to run away, and he was right. Get up, come on, I'll take you back.” Yang Jingyu ignored Le Xi’s words, pulled him to his feet, and waved. Two tall and strong men came over from behind, one on each side, and dragged Le Xi outside.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?!" Le Xi began to struggle, but the two men beside him quickly restrained his movements, rendering him unable to move.
“I’ll take you back to Qi Hui’s apartment. Don’t get so excited. He’ll be here after his lecture.” Yang Jingyu smiled again, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes; it even carried a hint of hatred. This made Le Xi’s heart pound, and she felt a chill run down her spine for no reason.
"I won't go, let go!" Unable to exert force with her hands, Le Xi started kicking, raising her voice, "This is in school, what are you doing? Is this illegal detention?"
"Illegal detention? Hah, Yao Lexi, how can you be so funny? What kind of older brother detains his younger brother? If you have any complaints, go talk to Qi Hui, don't go crazy here!" Yang Jingyu couldn't dodge Lexi's kicking legs, and a big footprint was imprinted on his pants. He looked at Lexi with a cold smile, gritting his teeth as he spoke each word.
Le Xi kept twisting and turning, trying to break free, struggling desperately like a fish on a chopping board. He opened his mouth to scream, but his mouth was covered as soon as he opened it, and he could only make intermittent sounds. He felt an unprecedented fear in his heart. He seemed to see Qi Hui's face in front of him, that deep, wise face, but with no discernible emotions.
Qi Hui hates him! Because of him, the conflict between Aunt Lan and Uncle Qi escalated. Aunt Lan lost her chance to save herself while trying to save him, and in the end, she left him. Qi Hui has nothing left. Nothing at all…
Meet
Lexi felt a slight tingling sensation in his arm, then slowly the figures around him blurred, the sounds faded into the distance, and the scenery before him began to change. He slid helplessly to the ground, his body tilting uncontrollably. Someone picked him up and carried him for quite a distance. Along the way, they encountered teachers and classmates. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. Some people blocked their view, and Lexi raised his hand to grab them, but his arm felt as heavy as if it were no longer part of his body. Later, he was placed on the back seat of a car, lying on his back like a rag doll, the scenery outside the car window rushing by.
Brother, what do you really want? I'll give you everything—my life, my dignity, everything I have. It's all shattered anyway; nothing is whole. I've died so many times, yet I shamelessly continue living. Whatever you want, I'll give it all to you. Everything, I'll give it all back.
The scene before her eyes was like a curtain slowly being drawn down in a stage play. Before plunging into darkness, Lexi thought resentfully…
Yang Jingyu took Le Xi back to the bedroom of Qi Hui's newly purchased apartment in downtown L, locked the door, and returned to the company to handle daily affairs. Le Xi's drug effects wouldn't wear off until the evening, so there was no need to worry about him slipping away again. Qi Hui had a meeting that afternoon, and when Yang Jingyu sat next to him, he expected him to ask about his "precious younger brother," but Qi Hui didn't mention it at all. This reminded Yang Jingyu of a discussion about eating cake—faced with tempting, sweet strawberries on a cake, do you eat your favorite strawberry first or save it for last? Yang Jingyu felt that Yao Le Xi was that strawberry, "at the mercy of others," while Qi Hui was the calm and collected diner with his knife and fork. The longer one saves, the more composed and confident one becomes. Unfortunately, that confidence wasn't for Yang Jingyu. For no reason, Yang Jingyu felt annoyed.
It was already 4 PM when the meeting ended. Qi Hui reviewed several documents, looked at some reports, and then toured the key departments before leaving the company. He sat in the car for a while, lost in thought, until the driver asked him where he was going. Only then did he slowly say two words: "Home." This was the only sentence he uttered that day, apart from the lecture.