"You went to the club?"
Multicolored lights were spinning around the venue, each deafening beat shaking the ground.
Ji Ruan pushed through the writhing crowd and struggled to move to the side of the safety corridor, covering his phone and listening carefully: "What did you say?!"
It was quiet on the other end for two seconds. Ji Ruan glanced at his phone to check—there was no problem, the call was still connected. He pressed the phone tightly to his ear: "Hello?!"
Finally, there was a response: "You went clubbing?"
Gu Xiuyi sounded calm, recounting his belief that Ji Ruan was fooling around in a nightclub, with a hint of discontent.
Ji Ruan: "..."
Ji Ruan was a bit speechless: "No, what nightclub... this is a party! Do you understand party? Party—do you understand English? Party!"
"..."
Gu Xiuyi seemed to say something again, but the music was too loud. Ji Ruan was practically shoving the phone into his ear, barely catching a few tones.
A new round of drinking games started in the venue, and the music and voices surged again, piercing Ji Ruan's scalp with pain.
He hung up with a "snap" and switched to the chat interface with Gu Xiuyi, frowning as he typed away:
[I can't understand a word you're saying, can you text me? It's too loud here!]
The other side instantly showed "typing," and a second later: [Get out.]
Ji Ruan's eyes widened, rubbing his eyelids to look again—no mistake, it was indeed "get out."
It was the first time he directly felt such a strong emotion from Gu Xiuyi.
Gu Xiuyi was usually extremely calm, even in arguments he would be sarcastic, but this sudden bluntness caught Ji Ruan off guard, unsure how to respond.
The phone buzzed again: [Send me the address, I'll come get you.]
Ji Ruan snapped back to reality. Now, just through text, he couldn't sense Gu Xiuyi's attitude. He quickly sent his location and pocketed his phone, heading inside to grab his bag.
He swallowed nervously: "Why so fierce..."
His bag was with Han Xiaolin, who was sitting in a booth with two strangers, heads down, engrossed in something on the table.
Ji Ruan walked over and patted Han Xiaolin's shoulder: "What are you doing?"
Han Xiaolin looked up excitedly: "They're doing physics problems!"
"Phys-physics?" Ji Ruan wondered if his new hearing aid was malfunctioning again.
"Yeah," Han Xiaolin explained loudly, "these two guys got into the top university next door! They're having a competition with problems. The loser drinks—if you're slower, you drink beer, and if you get the answer wrong, you drink a mixed drink!"
Ji Ruan was stunned: "This bar has quite the talent pool..."
"Of course!" Han Xiaolin shouted proudly: "This is a free party, you can do anything! If you don't want to solve problems, you can dance—see that guy spinning like a top over there? He's last year's street dance champion!"
One of the guys solving problems looked up at Ji Ruan, warmly inviting: "Do you want to join? I have an extra set of papers—"
Ji Ruan felt nauseous just looking at the dense formulas and retreated two steps in fear: "No way—I majored in humanities!"
But his fragile voice was drowned out by the pounding music. The guy with the pen stared blankly for a moment, then looked at Han Xiaolin in confusion.
Han Xiaolin's voice was penetrating: "He said he wouldn't come—we're all liberal arts students—we can't do it—!"
The big brother nodded knowingly and immersed himself back into his sea of problems.
Ji Ruan pulled Han Xiaolin over and whispered in his ear, "I'm going back now!"
Han Xiaolin shouted, "Huh? You’re leaving after just a few minutes?!"
"Gu Xiuyi is here to pick me up!"
"Wow!" Han Xiaolin instantly became serious, grabbed Ji Ruan's bag, and led him out: "Then you better hurry up and go!"
The two stumbled and bumped into others in the shaking dance floor, struggling hard to find the exit.
Ji Ruan, being dragged by Han Xiaolin, felt dizzy and disoriented: "How could anyone do homework in a place like this?!"
Han Xiaolin pushed open the door, stepping onto the sidewalk, finally isolating the noise behind the door, but his loud voice still lingered: "They said they wanted to train their concentration and resistance to distractions in extreme environments—!"
There were still a few stores open on the street, and some people poked their heads out to look.
Ji Ruan awkwardly patted Han Xiaolin's shoulder: "Okay, okay, it's quiet now, speak normally..."
Han Xiaolin's excitement persisted silently for a few seconds, then he wiped his face and let out a long sigh, finally lowering his tone: "Oh man, it was so noisy, it made my heart pound..."
Ji Ruan swayed a bit, then suddenly leaned against the bus stop sign and dry heaved. Han Xiaolin jumped up to support him: "What's wrong with you?!"
Ji Ruan shook his head, pressing a hand to his stomach and closing his eyes. Looking very pale, he immediately removed his external device.
The excessively noisy environment was indeed not suitable for him. Just a few minutes in the bar made him feel as nauseous as if he had motion sickness.
Even in the middle of the night in summer, the air was still hot. Ji Ruan's T-shirt was soaked with sweat, sticking to his back, yet he felt a bit cold.
After a while, he straightened up and put the external device back on his ear, taking a deep breath: "I'm fine now."
"Are you really okay?" Han Xiaolin was still a bit panicked, "Why did you suddenly yack if you’re fine?"
Ji Ruan pointed to his ear: "I still can't handle it well, the noise makes me nauseous... but I feel much better now."
Han Xiaolin was relieved: "Don't even talk about you, my legs are weak..."
The two helped each other sit on the steps by the street, Han Xiaolin rubbing his arms: "Want an ice cream to calm down?"
Ji Ruan turned to look at him, his bangs slightly pricking his eyes, he raised his hand to brush them aside: "Sure."
"Alright," Han Xiaolin stood up: "Old-fashioned popsicle or small pudding, pick one."
"......"
"Don't look at me like that," Han Xiaolin cleared his throat: "Your brother can only afford these two."
"......" Ji Ruan waved him off: "Small pudding then."
Actually, Ji Ruan still hadn't fully recovered.
The rhythm of the music at the party was too strong and overwhelming, and he had a bit of beer. Now sitting quietly by the street, it felt like his blood was still pulsing inside his body, making him feel both excited and exhausted in a strange way.
Han Xiaolin came back with the ice cream and handed it to Ji Ruan, who quietly unwrapped it and ate, his gaze unfocused.
Han Xiaolin watched him for a while and suddenly, out of nowhere, said: "What if President Gu really falls for you in the future?"
Ji Ruan looked puzzled, frowning: "Did you drink too much?"
Actually, Ji Ruan's appearance was stunningly good-looking in any crowd. His skin was white, an extremely delicate cool white. On summer nights, with a bit of sweat and a breeze, the area around his eyes turned red, and even squinting at someone carried a unique sleepy charm.
Stunning yet not aggressive, soft like water.
From Han Xiaolin's shallow experience in relationships, a big shot like Gu Xiuyi would most likely prefer a beautiful boy like Ji Ruan.
"I'm serious," Han Xiaolin looked at Ji Ruan, generously praising him: "You know, you look like you're in a movie right now, and it's one of those artsy films by a top director."
Ji Ruan was amused. He bit into his ice cream and spaced out for a while before softly saying: "Let's talk about it later..."
"What?" Han Xiaolin was busy catching the melting old popsicle with his mouth.
"Let's talk about it when Gu Xiuyi actually likes me..."
"What?" Han Xiaolin's popsicle was melting, and he was busy trying to catch the drips with his mouth.
"Let's talk about it after Gu Xiuyi really falls for me," he handed a tissue to Han Xiaolin. "Why worry about something that hasn't even happened yet?"
Han Xiaolin took the tissue and wiped his mouth, "There's a saying, 'Prepare for a rainy day.'"
Ji Ruan lazily curled his lips, "So troublesome."
He glanced at the time and changed the topic, "What about you? Going home? Want a ride?"
Han Xiaolin waved his hand, "I'm not leaving, we still have another stop..."
"Another stop?!" Ji Ruan was surprised, "It's almost one o'clock... you guys are really something..."
Han Xiaolin nonchalantly replied, "The night is just getting started. We're heading to a murder mystery game next, want to join?"
"There's a murder mystery game at this hour?" Ji Ruan asked, crossing his arms.
"Of course, the ones on Zhanghua Road are open 24/7. Actually, it's the best time to go now, playing a horror script in the middle of the night! How fun!" Han Xiaolin raised his eyebrows, "Really not coming?"
"No way," Ji Ruan chuckled, "Gu Xiuyi will come and catch me..."
As he spoke, a black luxury car drove up from the end of the street and stopped in front of them. It was the same low-profile Mercedes Han Xiaolin had seen before.
The back door opened, and Han Xiaolin, sitting on the steps, saw an incredibly long leg step out. Even though he was dressed casually, the figure was still tall, straight, and powerful.
The renowned Mr. Gu, who only appeared in the news, showed up before Han Xiaolin, radiating an aura of authority.
And his good friend Ji Ruan, after throwing away the stick from his ice cream, naturally walked over to Mr. Gu's side. Despite not even reaching Mr. Gu's nose in height, he dared to get close and act cute, smiling sweetly, "You're here, I've been waiting for a long time."
Mr. Gu, who is cold and not fond of smiling, looked like a big tiger being teased by a little cat.A big tiger that could swallow the little cat in one bite!
Mr. Gu glanced at his phone, feeling a bit helpless, "Twenty minutes."
Ji Ruan pouted, "But I’ve already finished a small pudding."
"..." President Gu stopped arguing with the little kitten and looked at Han Xiaolin, "Are you Ji Ruan's classmate?"
"Yes, my good friend," Ji Ruan replied.
Han Xiaolin then came to his senses, stood up, and brushed the dust off his pants, "Hello, President Gu!"
President Gu smiled amiably, "Hello, thank you for taking care of Ji Ruan today."
"It's nothing really..." Han Xiaolin said awkwardly, "We take care of each other."
Gu Xiuyi pursed his lips politely, "It's getting late. Do you need a ride home? We can drop you off on the way."
"No, no," Han Xiaolin waved his hands repeatedly, "I’ll leave later, you should take Ji Ruan back first."
Hearing this, Gu Xiuyi didn't insist, he nudged Ji Ruan’s back, whispering, "Say goodbye to your classmate."
Ji Ruan smiled with dimples, waving at Han Xiaolin, "I'm leaving."
"Okay," Han Xiaolin watched them get into the car, leaning against the window, "Drive safely!"
After the Mercedes drove off and disappeared at the corner of the street, Han Xiaolin retracted his hand awkwardly, feeling a bit strange.
"Saying goodbye to a classmate?"
Han Xiaolin pondered for a moment.
Why did it sound just like what his dad said the first day he picked him up from kindergarten?
·
In the car, Song Ling, who was called up late at night to act as the driver, drove dutifully.
Gu Xiuyi sat beside Ji Ruan, fingers interlocked and resting on his lap, sitting casually and naturally, showing no sign of his mood.
"Seems like you had a lot of fun this time," he said seemingly casually, "Weren't you supposed to go to the arcade according to Aunt Zhao?"
"We did go to the arcade," Ji Ruan looked at the streetlights outside the window, "But we went to many places, there's daytime fun and nighttime fun."
He began counting on his fingers, "First the arcade, then we ate, at night we went singing at the KTV, went to a night market for barbecue, and finally the party. You know, Han Xiaolin and the others were planning to go and play a murder mystery game next, but I said no."
Gu Xiuyi nodded, the corners of his mouth drooping, "Quite eventful..."
"What?" Ji Ruan turned to look at him.
The streetlights outside flashed by one by one, each flash illuminating Ji Ruan's eyes, making them look like they held stars or fireworks, sparkling beautifully.
Gu Xiuyi stared at him for a moment, then said softly, "I said murder-mystery, why didn’t you go?"
"Because you came to pick me up."
Ji Ruan laughed, his eyes curved like they couldn’t hold the stars inside, spilling them out like fireflies flying to Gu Xiuyi.
"Ahem," Gu Xiuyi looked away, his tone unconsciously softening, "So obedient?"
"Of course."
"So obedient but still went to a nightclub in the middle of the night?" Gu Xiuyi changed his tone, "Don’t you know how dangerous society is?"
Ji Ruan: "..."
Ji Ruan laughed out of exasperation.
He sat upright, facing Gu Xiuyi, "I told you, it was a party! A big graduation party, all the people are my age, you need an admission ticket to get in!"
Gu Xiuyi snorted, "Your age... When I was your age, our graduation activities were all positive and uplifting."
Ji Ruan had never seen Gu Xiuyi this stubborn and unyielding, laughing so hard he leaned back, the party's aftereffect reviving in his blood, making him a bit hyper.
"You’re really snarky," Ji Ruan decided to argue properly with President Gu, "How are we not uplifting? Our theme was also positive and full of energy, 'Dance My Dreams, Sing My Youth!' Just listen, it could be a university banner!"
"By the way," he counted on his fingers, "We even had people competing in physics problems inside, losers had to drink."
"Pretentious." President Gu was unimpressed, but then his expression suddenly became serious, "Did you drink?"
"Uh..." Ji Ruan pouted, "I don’t know physics..."
Gu Xiuyi sighed in relief.
"But I still drank." Ji Ruan said cheerfully, satisfied with President Gu's widened eyes.
He waved his hand, not wanting to dwell on the drinking, and provocatively asked Gu Xiuyi, "What about you? Tell me about your healthy and positive graduation."
President Gu straightened up, a proud CEO's demeanor clear as day. "Of course, we went hiking."
Gu Xiuyi, confined all day without meetings, projects, or anyone to supervise, felt a surge of energy, buoyed by Ji Ruan.
Trying to restrain himself, he continued, "Lake Top Park, a group of ambitious youths discussing the past and future, with teachers and the headmaster present."
"Come on," Ji Ruan laughed out loud, "Anyone would think you were the leader of the May Fourth Movement..."
Gu Xiuyi, though choked, still tried to maintain his dignity, pressing down hard, "Ji Ruan."
Ji Ruan was completely hyped, ignoring Gu Xiuyi's expression, "Lake Top Park..."
He took out his phone, tapping on it, and showed it to Gu Xiuyi, "Look at the demographic of Lake Top Park yourself, 70% of the people who go there are over fifty. How can a bunch of eighteen, nineteen-year-olds talk about their dreams there? Really old-fashioned."
"Old-fashioned... I’m old-fashioned..." Gu Xiuyi pulled at his collar, "How interesting."
He had never been called old-fashioned before, especially by a slightly drunk, over-excited young man.
Gu Xiuyi looked at the young man's rosy face for a long moment, and finally decided not to argue with him.
Thinking of Lake Top Park still amused Ji Ruan, he leaned back in the seat, teasing, "Was it your headmaster who picked the place?"
From this angle, Gu Xiuyi could look down at Ji Ruan’s eyes.
The young man’s eyes were bright, with particularly long eyelashes, fluttering as he blinked.
He might have had a drink or two, not only was his face red, but his neck and exposed arms were also turning red, like a steamed pink cupcake.
Gu Xiuyi didn't say anything, but Ji Ruan knew he guessed correctly.
"Really?" Ji Ruan pinched his face to hold back a laugh, "It's the taste of older men."
Gu Xiuyi took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from the little pink drunkard.
With a blank expression, he nudged the bottom of the front seat with his toe, "Song Ling, what did you do after graduating from high school?"
Song Ling laughed so hard he almost reported the two in the back for distracting the driver.
In his memory, Gu Xiuyi's sharp tongue only appeared briefly in college. After that, he packaged himself as a serious businessman. Tonight, being suddenly activated back to factory settings almost made Song Ling die of laughter.
He initially resented being dragged out late at night to be a driver, but now he felt fortunate to witness the rare scene of Gu Xiuyi arguing with someone.
"We went on outings too," Song Ling struggled to suppress his laughter.
Gu Xiuyi immediately straightened his back, as if receiving great validation, and raised his hand towards Ji Ruan, "See?"
Song Ling continued, "But we went to the Science Museum. Those odd gadgets were pretty interesting."
Gu Xiuyi: "..."
Ji Ruan laughed until his eyes bent. Mimicking Gu Xiuyi's gesture, he raised his hand higher, "See! More sophisticated!"
Gu Xiuyi couldn't hold back anymore, his lips moved for a while before he squeezed out a sentence, "Ji Ruan, how much did you drink?"
Ji Ruan raised his eyelids, "What's wrong with half a cup of iced beer?"
"Not much," Gu Xiuyi crossed his arms, "But I hope you remember what you said tomorrow."
"I'm not drunk, of course, I won't forget."
"What did you eat to smell like this?"
"Barbecue, beer, and pudding," Ji Ruan pinched his collar and sniffed, "I just aired out most of it outside. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No," Gu Xiuyi glanced at Ji Ruan sideways, and the air suddenly became quiet.
Ji Ruan's eyes were misty and wandering, like a butterfly unsure where to land. After flying for a while, they finally settled on Gu Xiuyi's shoulder.
Gu Xiuyi raised his hand, lightly touched Ji Ruan's delicate Adam's apple with his fingertip, and said lazily:
"Just don't cry when your throat gives out tomorrow."
--------------------
Buy Me Coffee ☕
The author has something to say:
Ruan Ruan: Yesterday you showed me the dramatic life of the wealthy. Today I will show you what it means to be eighteen!
President Gu: Didn't win the argument, how interesting [expressionless.jpg]
Little Ruan Ruan, your mom is asking, what's the perfect pairing for barbecue, beer, and pudding? (starry eyes)