"Tsk, it's only been a year, how come your sense of humor has decreased again?" Song Xianji walked up to him and whispered, "But you really have guts, you actually are his brother."
He had always thought that Song Lang's claim of being Shen Zhifei's brother was just a private hobby between the two.
"You have no idea, when I found out the truth, I was so shocked that my family's ancestral graves almost exploded."
Song Lang didn't care about his family's ancestral graves; he cared more about Shen Zhifei.
"You came alone? How did you know my address?"
He looked around. Under the streetlights, the neighborhood was full of people who had come out for a stroll after dinner, but there was no trace of the image etched in his mind.
Song Xianji hooked his arm around his shoulder and said as they walked, "Don't bother looking, he didn't come."
Song Lang's face visibly darkened.
"Hey, what's with your reaction? We sacrificed our graduation trip and traveled all this way to see you, and you're just being disrespectful?" Song Xianji snapped his fingers. "Brothers and sisters, come out and beat him up."
Before the words were even finished, four or five people suddenly darted out from behind the surrounding green belts.
In the blink of an eye, the figures surrounded Song Lang, and began a series of gentle punches and kicks.
Holy crap!
Song Lang laughed and cursed, then excitedly opened his arms and hugged Meng Fanxing, Zhou Sen, and their few other close friends, saying, "Why the hell are you all here!"
Hao Wei was sandwiched between several tall and strong boys, barely able to breathe, and protested, "Loosen up a bit, Song Lang, you smell so bad!"
"Damn it! Don't take this opportunity to hug my Weiwei! Let go, let go!" Meng Fanxing was the first to break free from Song Lang's arms and rescue Hao Wei, which led to everyone ganging up on him again and cursing him for being a philanderer.
Song Lang wiped his stinging eyes, his throat tightening from the emotional turmoil: "Come home with me first, there are mosquitoes everywhere here."
Since Song Lifeng was away on a business trip, the group of them were completely at ease once they entered the house. Not having enough slippers, they simply walked barefoot on the floor. Before long, they were sprawled out on the sofa and the floor, with drinks and beer piled up on the coffee table.
Meng Fanxing took the stack of notebooks out of her backpack and handed them to him. "Auntie asked me to give these to you. She said that Xiao Fei specially compiled these knowledge points for you."
“…Hmm.” Song Lang took it but didn’t open it to look at it. His hands were still trembling a little, and it would be embarrassing if he cried later.
Zhou Sen raised a can of beer and gestured at Song Lang, "Dude, you just left without saying a word back then, wasn't that a bit too cold-blooded? I respect you for being a show-off."
"I also toast to you," Yu Mingtao picked up the wine bottle on the table, "to your hard work and humiliation back then in order to infiltrate our straight men's group and read so many teaching materials that Teacher Jing painstakingly collected."
Jing Muye kicked him, patted Song Lang on the shoulder, and said solemnly, "Song Lang, no matter if you're straight or gay, you'll always be my brother Lang, really. I won't say anything more, it's all in the wine."
The three musketeers clinked their glasses and tilted their heads back to gulp down their drinks.
Song Lang was very touched. He felt that his friends had not been made in vain. He wanted to down the whole bottle in one gulp, but Hao Wei stopped him: "Junior, you need to keep a clear head for studying. There's no need to drink horse urine to your brain. Just a little bit is enough."
Song Xianji smiled and nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, junior, take it easy. You won't graduate until next year."
"Are you two asking for a beating?" Song Lang chuckled, interrupted by their interruption. He sat on the floor, leaned back against the sofa, stared at the ceiling light for a long time, and then suddenly said, "Thank you."
Meng Fanxing's heart clenched. "Damn, why are you suddenly getting so sentimental?"
Hao Wei sat to one side, hugging her knees, resting her chin on her arm, tilting her head to look at Song Lang, her eyes slightly red.
Song Lang has changed. Although he looks the same as before, his eyes are much calmer than before. There is not much restlessness in them, but rather a firmness, which reflects the strong emotional bond between him and Shen Zhifei.
"It may be sentimental, but I still have to say thank you for what happened between Feifei and me. I'm really touched that everyone still considers me a brother." Song Lang sighed. "And thank you all for taking care of him this past year."
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy; no one knew how long it would be before the two of them saw each other again, and no one dared to ask.
Everyone has liked someone at this age, even to the point of wanting to give them the whole world, but not all liking can blossom into something beautiful.
They often end without any real cause.
Moreover, the two of them have a special relationship.
"Hey, they're the ones who should be thanking us," Song Xianji said, kicking one and then another to ease the atmosphere. "Last winter break, these few academic underachievers lined up to ask Feifei questions. The scene was so inspiring, it was truly heartbreaking to hear and tear-jerking to see."
"Go to hell, you're talking like you're not one of those academic underachievers," Zhou Sen retorted.
"I did get into No. 5 Middle School, so I can't be that bad, right?"
As soon as Song Xianji said this, he was immediately attacked by everyone. After all, he was the only "outsider" here.
Even Hao Wei got to try it.
.
While receiving his education, Song Xianji didn't forget to give Song Lang some earnest advice: "Junior, it's fortunate you left that 'melting pot' of No. 18 Middle School. You saw the quality of those people there! Study hard at your new school, and strive to be like them every day—"
Song Lang slapped him, and everyone started making a huge fuss.
When they were tired of playing around, they sat down together and chatted about their lives in the year since they parted ways, trying to make up for the emptiness of each other's absence.
After they finished talking, they hummed a song together, clinked glasses, and imagined which unfamiliar city they would start their university life in a month.
In the end, everyone was drunk and lay slumped together. Meng Fanxing clung to Song Lang, refusing to let go, crying and cursing him for being heartless: "I can forgive others, but we're best buddies, best buddies who've been competing since we were kids to see who could pee the farthest and run the fastest. You just left without a word, and there hasn't been a single word all year. Do you know how heartbroken I am?"
"Okay, okay, I'm heartless, don't cry," Song Lang wiped his neck, "You've soaked my neck with tears, I just took a shower."
"Little Fei is the same. He ran off without a word after the New Year, and he didn't even come back for summer vacation. He's always busy with this and that, I don't know what he's up to." Meng Fanxing was practically heartbroken. "Da Lang, do you think he's forgotten about you? Don't worry, if he dares to forget about you, I'll be the first to object!"
Song Lang pursed his lips and remained silent, only gently patting his back.
Meng Fanxing mumbled for a long time, repeating the same few sentences over and over, until someone kicked him in the butt, and he shut up and fell asleep.
Hao Wei stood by the balcony door and called Song Lang softly. Song Lang got up and walked over, and a letter was handed to him.