YV | Chapter 13

Zhang Xu had a large flat in the city center, he had bought it a long time ago, but he did not renovate it and did not like living there. His daily life was on Jiangping Road, that was home. “One Stream” looked small, but in fact it had everything. The first floor shop operated to the public, the second floor had the living room, bedroom, and a dog bed, and Nianrou was happily darting about. The small attic on the third floor was not often used, and had gathered dust.

Zhang Xu quietly weighed it and modestly crossed out the claim that it had “everything”, the home had no kitchen, and he could not cook.

At one-thirty in the morning, after arriving on Jiangping Road, Zhang Xu took Sheng Xiaoyang to the noodle shop.

The noodle shop kept up with the times and had installed a fingerprint lock, however, like one covering one’s ears while stealing a bell, the rusty U-shaped lock was still hanging on the door bar, and over time, it looked like some kind of mark.

Zhang Xu entered his fingerprint, Sheng Xiaoyang stood five steps away, not looking with his eyes, unable to hear with his ears, he kept himself restrained, and looked sensible.

Two beeps, the lock opened, and in the silence of the night it stirred the heartbeat.

Zhang Xu opened the door slowly, his expression relaxed. He lifted his leg to step inside, then thought of something, drew his foot back, and turned to look at Sheng Xiaoyang.

Sheng Xiaoyang’s eyes were on the river surface, where a black-canopied boat was moored. There was clearly no wind, but the water had waves, and the small boat rocked lightly.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xu reached out to touch the wall and familiarly turned on the light.

Orange-yellow warm light spilled out from the noodle shop.

Sheng Xiaoyang came back to himself, first looking at Zhang Xu, very guilty, then shifting his gaze and glancing into the room.

The placement of the tables and chairs was not very familiar. Sheng Xiaoyang faintly returned to the miserable life of fleeing, where aside from Zhang Xu’s appearance, everything else was suffering.

The melancholy between his brows fell into Zhang Xu’s eyes, and it was a little hard to decipher.

Sheng Xiaoyang looked at Zhang Xu again.

Zhang Xu then turned off the light, turned it on, repeated it twice, deliberately calling him.

Sheng Xiaoyang could not even pretend to be blind and not see it.

He frowned awkwardly, probably asking, what are you doing?

Zhang Xu smiled and said, “The door is here.”

Sheng Xiaoyang had nothing to say, and his heart was pounding. When he walked, he did not pay attention to the height of the step and stumbled. It was as if this was his first time here. Later Sheng Xiaoyang thought that this really was the first time he had come in like this.

Zhang Xu’s expression did not change, his smile was still very good-looking, and he reached out to steady Sheng Xiaoyang, saying, Be careful.

Sheng Xiaoyang had been burned by it, and, with no reason to maintain distance, any slight movement made him look flustered. He looked like an idiot in front of Zhang Xu, Sheng Xiaoyang could only break the jar and say, and nod.

Oh, okay, I will be careful.

Zhang Xu could not see Sheng Xiaoyang’s contradictory, tormented thoughts, his words and actions were just right, polite and gentlemanly.

“Sit anywhere you like.” As he spoke, he went into the kitchen.

Sheng Xiaoyang chose the table by the west wall, pulled out a chair and sat down, placing both palms on the table, sitting very straight, unable to move.

Nianrou was there too, lying by Sheng Xiaoyang’s feet, both man and dog looking obedient.

The wooden dog by the windowsill, beside the greenery, was still there. After several days without rain, the greenery bathed in sunlight was bright, and the little dog also became more vivid.

Sheng Xiaoyang pressed his lips together, and a dimple came out.

So cute, he thought. Then his heart itched, and his hand itched too, so he reached down and touched Nianrou’s head.

Nianrou enjoyed it, and let out an awooo sound.

Zhang Xu was not good at cooking. Saying he would boil noodles for Sheng Xiaoyang, he could not control the amount well. After the water boiled, he first took a handful of noodles and put them into the pot, then after they boiled he felt it was not enough and added another handful. In the end the pot overflowed. The noodles that went in first were on the verge of being overcooked, and the ones that went in later were probably underdone.

Zhang Xu: “……”

Forget it, scoop them out and start over, this basin will feed Nianrou.

Sheng Xiaoyang’s stomach gurgled. During the stimulation in the daytime he had not felt it, but now that he relaxed, the hunger rushed straight to his head. His spirit was happy, his body was suffering a hit.

When could he eat? Sheng Xiaoyang’s head was practically smoking, so hungry.

The bamboo curtain at the pass-through was rolled up, and the inside could be seen. Zhang Xu took bowls, turned off the fire, brought the noodle soup out of the pot, then added the ingredients and plated it, looking orderly, very experienced.

The strong, clean muscle lines of his right forearm attracted Sheng Xiaoyang’s gaze. Like countless times before, he looked at Zhang Xu with complete focus, at this clean, bright person.

But the environment was different now, and Sheng Xiaoyang had never fantasized that the distance between him and Zhang Xu’s communication could be within ten steps, so he was actually a little nervous.

At this moment, Nianrou suddenly stood up, belly pressed to the ground, bared its teeth in the direction of the stairs as a show of force, a low growl sounding from its throat.

Sheng Xiaoyang could not hear any of this. After wandering for so long, he understood all kinds of dog habits, this was hostility toward something.

Without another word, Sheng Xiaoyang was alert, and looked toward the direction Nianrou was baring its teeth at.

Someone came down from the second floor, walking with his legs splayed, wearing flip-flops, no style, no grace, not even properly dressed, and the old wooden stairs were kicked by him until they seemed ready to crack.

Seeing the person suddenly emerge, he jumped in fright and shouted, “Fuck, who the hell are you?”

Nianrou barked angrily, woof woof!

Sheng Xiaoyang’s eyes darkened, and he grabbed a pair of chopsticks, alert and cautious.

“Fuck! A little thief even came stealing right over my head. What, you still want to use chopsticks to stab me to death?” He sized up Sheng Xiaoyang and sneered, “Have you even developed yet?”

Sheng Xiaoyang was a net height of 1.7 meters, maybe not even that. During the golden period for development he had eaten chaff and swallowed plain vegetables, nutrition had not kept up, and he was thin to the bone, still not filled out to this day. People said he was short, and that was the truth, but he was unhappy hearing it, and would still flip the table.

Nianrou did not like the person in front of him, and charged even faster than Sheng Xiaoyang.

Sheng Xiaoyang was afraid Nianrou would get hurt, so he hugged the dog and patted it.

That man froze. “Wait, this dog looks familiar.”

Sheng Xiaoyang raised his hand in a gesture and quickly made a few signs, all contempt from the corners of his eyes and brows.

“What are you?”

Sheng Xiaoyang paid him no mind.

That man stepped forward, menacingly. “Are you cursing at me?!”
“Two hundred and fifty.” Along with Zhang Xu’s ghostly voice drifting over, Nianrou instantly took on the air of a dog that bites people also looks to its owner.

Sheng Xiaoyang smelled the piping-hot salty fragrance just out of the pot, and when he turned around he saw Zhang Xu carrying two bowls of noodles out.

Zhang Xu looked at that man and said coldly, “I’m the one cursing.”

That man met Zhang Xu’s eyes, and the whole of him was full of the cowardice of daring to be angry but not daring to speak.

“Brother Zhang, you’re still not asleep so late?” The man rubbed his hands together and smiled awkwardly, “Eating a late-night snack?”

Zhang Xu withdrew his gaze and said nothing.

One bowl was placed on the floor and he called Nianrou to eat, one bowl was placed on the table and a spoon was set out. Zhang Xu beckoned for Sheng Xiaoyang to come over and sit.

Sheng Xiaoyang put out the fire, sat properly, picked up his chopsticks, and prepared to eat.

But Zhang Xu took the chopsticks in Sheng Xiaoyang’s hand.

Sheng Xiaoyang looked up at him, his eyes beneath thick lashes so clear.

-？？

“They’re dirty,” Zhang Xu said. “Change to another pair.”

Sheng Xiaoyang nodded after three seconds.

Zhang Xu carefully selected a pair with the same pattern from the chopstick tube and gave them to him. “Eat.”

That man seemed to have become air, unable to advance or retreat, and gave a sheepish smile. “Brother Zhang, is this your friend? Why didn’t you say earlier when you came, we almost had a misunderstanding. Hey, why doesn’t your friend speak? Pretty i.”

“Don’t keep calling me brother, I’m not familiar with you.”

That man came over wanting to sit together, but was afraid Nianrou would leap up and bite him, so he tried to curry favor from three zhang away. “You’re Su Miaomiao’s brother, then you must also be my brother, I...”

“Su Yaozu,” Zhang Xu called him by full name, interrupting his endless line of chatter, and asked, “What do you call Su Miaomiao?”

Su Yaozu rolled his eyes in his heart and, unwillingly, said, “... cousin.”

Zhang Xu rested his chin on his hand and looked at Sheng Xiaoyang. He was eating very intently, bite after bite, his appetite really good. And Sheng Xiaoyang held to the principle of leaving the good stuff for the end, so he did not eat the meat first, only chewed the noodles. Zhang Xu never ate after eight o’clock, but looking at it now, he actually felt a little hungry.

He had to shift his attention, and just happened to have a mallet delivered to his doorstep.

“Your cousin gives you a monthly salary of four thousand, with social insurance and housing fund, food and lodging included. Whether you go to work or not is up to you, and you’ve driven away several waves of customers by cursing them. Is that not enough for you to loaf around eating and waiting to die?”

Su Yaozu: “……”

What he feared most was running into Zhang Xu, who wore a stony face all day long, like a donkey, and whose mouth was poisoned. Even if Buddha came down to earth, he would not be able to stand that temperament.

Zhang Xu continued, “You eat one bowl of instant noodles for your three meals, and I don’t care if you spend the rest of your money tipping female streamers. But the cash in the drawer, when every few days it goes from one hundred and two hundred down to five hundred and six hundred, that’s a different matter.”

Su Yaozu’s face went white.

Zhang Xu was too lazy to indulge him. “Su Miaomiao doesn’t say anything because of her father’s face. You also don’t get to act like the boss of the noodle shop. Be careful, or my uncle-in-law will crawl out of the ground to have a heart-to-heart with you.”

Talking about this kind of thing in the middle of the night, Su Yaozu practically needed to pee.

Seeing that he was only wearing a pair of underwear and still trembling, Zhang Xu really found it hard on the eyes. However, he had good breeding, the eye-roll almost came out but did not. In the end he asked one more sentence, “So who do you think looks more like a thief?”

“I! I!” Su Yaozu wanted to kneel to Zhang Xu. “I’ll get lost, okay, stop talking!”

Zhang Xu lifted his chin, looked at him coldly, “Fine.”

Sheng Xiaoyang did not know what Zhang Xu was saying to that man, but he actually wanted to take a look. He secretly glanced over from the corner of his eye, and Su Yaozu had already fled past Sheng Xiaoyang like he was running for his life.

Sheng Xiaoyang:……

What was going on here? He was confused, and at the same time stuffed a huge clump of noodles into his mouth.

Knock knock——

Zhang Xu’s well-defined index finger reached over and tapped the porcelain bowl.

Sheng Xiaoyang saw how white and long that finger was, and his mind swayed. He looked up in a daze.

Zhang Xu somehow could read the meaning in his eyes, asking, what is it?

He poured Sheng Xiaoyang a cup of water and said, “Eat slowly.”

Sheng Xiaoyang slurped once, held the cup with both hands, and nodded.

Zhang Xu smiled and said nothing. He stood up, walked to the cash register, scanned to pay, 20 yuan.

Sheng Xiaoyang’s gaze followed him, then after a moment, dropped again in disappointment.

When Zhang Xu sat back down, besides the bowl and chopsticks, there were several wrinkled bills on the table. He froze slightly, unable to say what it felt like.

Sheng Xiaoyang had just relaxed a little, and it looked like he was about to become constrained again.

He pointed at the money and lifted his palm in a gesture.

They had to change the way they communicated. Zhang Xu took out his phone, unlocked the screen, opened the memo app, and gave it to Sheng Xiaoyang.

“What do you want to say?”

Sheng Xiaoyang still responded after three seconds, and pushed the phone back.

It did not look like hearing it, three seconds, Sheng Xiaoyang’s speed in understanding how normal people expressed meaning was already pretty fast.

So Zhang Xu also had to understand Sheng Xiaoyang’s meaning, and asked: Don’t know how to use it?

Sheng Xiaoyang smiled reluctantly and nodded.

Zhang Xu found pen and paper, then handed them to Sheng Xiaoyang.

Sheng Xiaoyang took them this time. The pen had taken root in the kitchen, wrapped in thick oil smoke, sticky to the hand, and it was not easy to write with. The paper was also wrinkled, missing a corner.

Sheng Xiaoyang wrote very carefully, stroke by stroke.

- My money is not enough, I’ll return it next time, is that okay?

Zhang Xu thought about it and said okay.

Sheng Xiaoyang smiled brightly, much more at ease.

Zhang Xu blinked, withdrew his gaze, and said nothing more. “Eat quickly.”

Sheng Xiaoyang ate very fast, having been hungry all day, and the noodle soup reached the bottom in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Xu asked whether he wanted more. Sheng Xiaoyang was embarrassed, afraid he would seem like a rice bucket, and refused.

But in fact he was not full.

Sheng Xiaoyang did not say it, and Zhang Xu would not know either, and at this moment he began to consider other things.

As long as he was in the same space as Zhang Xu, Sheng Xiaoyang’s heart rate would soar. Under the current strange emotions, confusion and calm were at a stalemate. Sheng Xiaoyang thought for a long time, and there were some things he had to say.

He wrote on the paper——

I can’t speak.

Zhang Xu said, Mm.

The pen tip trembled slightly, and the characters he wrote were crooked and uneven, like an electrocardiogram.

Sheng Xiaoyang took a deep breath and continued writing.

- I also can’t hear.

Zhang Xu lowered his eyes, thinking carefully.

Sheng Xiaoyang was nervous, put down the pen, and could not help but clasp his fingers.

Zhang Xu rubbed the paper, the cheap soft paper’s texture was clear under the light. He blinked and drew the pen over.

- Can you understand if I speak?

Sheng Xiaoyang pointed to his lips.

- Speak slowly, can understand.

The pen lay horizontally between the two of them, the barrel faintly warm, and for no reason there was silence.

Zhang Xu smiled and nodded, “Okay, I’ll speak slowly.”