【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

The team change was finalized, and the audit at the end of the year was successfully passed. Sun Xiang put down a day's work to give himself a vacation, so he rarely slept in.

On the flight back to Shanghai yesterday, he was woken up by a crying child. After watching half of the shootout movie, he was worried about the day when he would make up the follow-up. He didn't expect that he would think about it day by day and dream about it at night, and it would be so seamlessly connected up.

Booming, booming, the plot reached its climax. He and a group of companions who couldn't see their faces excitedly rushed to the enemy's base camp. At this moment, a pleasant bell rang and dragged him back to reality.

Sun Xiang touched the phone with his eyes closed, and said angrily, "Who is it?!"

"I'm sorry," said the other side with a good temper, "to disturb your rest."

"..." The familiar voice made Sun Xiang gradually wake up, "Zhou, Zhou Zekai?"

"Morning." There seemed to be a smile on the other end of the phone, "Do me a favor?"

It turned out that Zhou Zekai wanted Sun Xiang to find a file bag, saying that he needed it urgently, but he searched around in the office car and couldn't find it. He really had no other choice, so he chose this bad strategy, and then apologized again for interrupting his rare lazy sleep. .

"No way," Sun Xiang rubbed his eyes, and said to Zhou Zekai while searching for slippers, "...Don't take it to heart, I was angry because I didn't realize it was you just now."

His voice couldn't hide any emotions, and it was very easy to understand.Or, for Zhou Zekai, he subconsciously no longer hides it.So the opposite party not only accepted his embarrassment, but also quickly realized... Sun Xiang was in a daze again.

"Sun Xiang." Zhou Zekai urged slowly, "The black file bag."

"Oh oh oh," Sun Xiang woke up like a dream, grabbed his phone and jumped out of bed, and he didn't want his slippers, "Right now!"

The room was too big, and he hurriedly searched for it in a daze. During this period, Zhou Zekai heard the sound of bumping and bumping. He couldn't say he was more happy, but more helpless.

Three minutes later, "Yes!" The excited young man's voice came from the airwaves, "It's black, with two silver sides on the side, and English, right?"

"Yes. Thank you." Zhou Zekai breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait a minute, I'll ask Shansong to get it."

Sun Xiang woke up, thinking he was fine in the morning, so he casually said, "Aren't you in a hurry? It will take ten, twenty, ten minutes to deliver it in a flash. Send me the address, and I'll send it directly!"

Zhou Zekai was taken aback for a moment: "Okay."

2.

Three or ten minutes later, Sun Xiang stopped at the VIP parking space in Building A of Hongyuan Holdings.

It is a man's nature to love cars, and he couldn't help but take a few extra glances at the expensive car logos around him.After walking two steps, he raised his head, and at a glance, the towering building soared into the sky.He thought of Fang Minghua's carefully calculated and rented office in Lujiazui.Looking at others, the whole building was built by myself, and I can't help but feel that I have worked hard for many years in front of the real wealthy.

The front desk, like the doorman, was ordered by Zhou Zekai to come early to guide them.

"Go straight to the 76th floor." She blocked the elevator door, and said to Sun Xiang with a sideways smile, "You get out of the elevator, turn right and you will be there in the second room."

3.

Sun Xiang stepped out of the elevator and found that although there was no sign on each door on this floor, there were four rooms in total, and the second room on the right was easy to find.

only--

"Sir, please stay." A semi-open area was drawn near the elevator, blocking all the rooms.As soon as Sun Xiang appeared, a woman in her 30s got up, "Did you make an appointment before?"

Sun Xiang knew that the person sitting in this position was usually the chief assistant of a big company, and he was just making routine inquiries and would not embarrass himself, so he briefly explained the reason.

"It turned out to be Mr. Sun," the latter immediately showed a polite smile, but there was a trace of hesitation in it, "Mr. Zhou did make an appointment with you at ten o'clock, but there is a temporary situation right now, please wait a moment..."

Before she finished speaking, the door of the second office not far away suddenly opened.

"...Mr. Ye said that you are not busy in the morning, why don't you chat for a while and have lunch, how about it?" The woman's words floated out from inside.

Gossip mentality, everyone has it.Sun Xiang and his assistant Qi Qi followed the prestige.

The first thing Sun Xiang saw was Zhang's dignified and beautiful face, which also had a feeling of arrogance.It seems that whoever talks to her will get a condescending gaze.But at this moment, when she faced the man in front of her, her aura was very different.No matter from her slightly forward posture or soft expression, it can only explain one point - she is trying to lower her figure, establish a connection, and enhance the intimacy between the two.

Faced with this clear and blatant intention, if Sun Xiang dared to say he couldn't understand it, he might as well shave or become a monk.

However, she invited generously and sincerely, but the man with his back to Sun Xiang was very indifferent.

"Sorry, I have something to do next."

Zhou Zekai's reaction confirmed Sun Xiang's guess - he hated the scene before him, but because of his politeness and self-cultivation, he tried his best to endure it.

This inference is not entirely contrived.Even though he couldn't see this guy's face, he had been with him for several years, and had lived together after reunion. Sun Xiang was not unfamiliar with Zhou Zekai's body language at all——

Among other things, when Zhou Zekai was fighting with himself yesterday, his back was slightly tense, and the hands hanging by his side unconsciously half clenched, it was exactly the same as at this moment.

Sun Xiang had no doubt that Zhou Zekai's mask of modesty and politeness would shatter sooner or later if the other party made more excessive words or actions.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help gloating, but there was also a deep sense of displeasure in his heart.He attributed this to the fact that Zhou Zekai made an appointment with him first, and was disturbed by others, which naturally caused unhappiness, but he never thought about what the normal reaction of a normal friend in this situation should be—hand over the document to the assistant , Leave with interest, where do you need to care whether the other party has received other objects?

Sun Xiang thought about it for a second.

In the next second, before his assistant could stop her, he strode past her and strode into Zhou Zekai's office.

Hearing the movement, the two people in the stalemate turned around at the same time.

Zhou Zekai's eyes flashed, seemingly surprised, but also happy.

And the other was by no means so pleasant.

She immediately recovered her haughty look, and glanced at Sun Xiang vigilantly: "Who are you?"

Sun Xiang ignored her, closed the door first, and kept his composure the whole time—he always felt that he had to save face for Zhou Zekai—then he hugged his chest and looked back with sufficient momentum: "This is my problem, who are you beautiful? I made an appointment with Mr. Zhou at ten o'clock to discuss business and have lunch, and now, um, ten o'clock seven."

"So?" The other party knew that the meal with Zhou Zekai would not be finished today, but he couldn't bear it, "I don't understand what you mean."

"Come first, come first, please wait another day." Sun Xiang raised his chin slightly, and his expression was equally indifferent.

The woman opened her mouth: "..."

She looked at Sun Xiang suspiciously, constantly guessing about his origin.The young man in front of him has an outstanding appearance, his eyes are bright and arrogant, and his speech and demeanor have a feeling of declaring sovereignty.If she hadn't heard her mother say that Zhou Zekai was definitely not gay, she would have been unable to restrain herself from suspecting that Zhou Zekai had an unusual relationship with him.

At this moment, Zhou Zekai said, "Miss Li, my guest has arrived, sorry."

He said sorry, but didn't sound apologetic at all.Ms. Li lived so many years in vain if she didn't understand Zhou Zekai's meaning, she glanced at Sun Xiang depressingly, and then moved to Zhou Zekai, with faint hope.

Zhou Zekai didn't move his eyebrows, he opened the door and said calmly, "Go slowly."

Her complexion changed and she was extremely ugly, but she still remembered to maintain her manners. "Okay, let's make an appointment next time." After finishing speaking, she straightened her waist, hugged the documents in her handbag, and exited the stage proudly and gracefully.

The door closed again.

Sun Xiang raised his eyebrows, and was about to tease the other party, but he heard Zhou Zekai say, "Document bag?"

"Oh." Sun Xiang almost forgot the serious matter, and hurriedly handed it to him, "Throw away such important things, please have a longer memory."

Zhou Zekai didn't answer, just asked him to wait, took the file bag by himself, turned and went out.

Sun Xiang went to the window to pass the time by looking at the high-rise scenery, but the scenery is easy to get tired of looking at, and after a while, he sat back on the sofa bored.

After another ten minutes, Zhou Zekai opened the door and entered.

"How?" Sun Xiang asked.

"Thank you for delivering it in time, we caught up." Zhou Zekai said gratefully.

"That's good!" Sun Xiang stretched, then remembered the thing he was curious about just now, "That woman..."

The gossip started, and before I finished a sentence, someone interrupted me first: "What's for lunch?"

what.

Sun Xiang was stunned, not following Zhou Zekai's jumping rhythm: "Lunch?"

The latter loosened his tie, with a little smile in his eyes: I just heard, are you looking for me for lunch?Is not it?

The implication is that you invited me, but you can't deny it when you say it in front of others.

Sun Xiang took a while to react, he was angry and wanted to laugh: "Okay, Zhou Zekai, I will help you out, even if you want to treat yourself to a meal, you should pay the bill instead!"

Zhou Zekai answered very quickly: Good.

Sun Xiang was stunned, and suddenly had the illusion that Zhou Zekai was waiting for him to say this just now.

But since they have already made a trip to earn a lunch, it is also very reasonable, and he can't refuse.

"I'm not familiar with this place, and I'm not picky about food," Sun Xiang said lazily, leaning on the sofa, "It's up to you to decide."

After he finished speaking, he thought for a while, and added: "Isn't it just eating in the cafeteria?"

Zhou Zekai seemed to want to laugh for a moment, held back, and stretched out his hand to pull Sun Xiang: "Of course not. Let's go."

"Where are you going?" Sun Xiang got up with his strength and asked curiously.

"Delicious place." Zhou Zekai changed into casual clothes, took only the car keys and mobile phone, and called Sun Xiang to set off.

4.

Taking a special elevator, they go straight to the garage.Seeing Zhou Zekai's posture planning to drive, Sun Xiang's first instinct was that kind of high-end and hidden place, otherwise there is no need to make a special trip.

The facts disappointed him.

They did drive for a while, but the reason for the drive was that it was far from any subway entrance.

An ordinary little shop.In the old town of Huangpu, on a narrow alley.

At noon, parking space is not easy to find.When Zhou Zekai was reversing the car, Sun Xiang looked around boredly, and found that the old man's house was on both sides of the road. Occasionally, young tourists with DSLRs would pass by and stop to take pictures, but more people coming and going were Uncles and aunts with baskets and strollers.

"There is a shop you recommend in this kind of residential area?" Sun Xiang muttered.He felt that Zhou Zekai's life had always been lofty, and he really couldn't be connected with this place.

"Yeah." Zhou Zekai locked the car, "it's hard to find."

It wasn't a question that was hard to find, Sun Xiang felt that Zhou Zekai's answer was wrong, but that was not important, so he didn't ask any more questions.

They crossed the road and reached the door of the shop.I don't know what the boss thinks, the name of the store is very low-key, Sun Xiang looked left and right, and found a line of small characters on the wall beside the door after a long time.

Pie Kitchen

group?Is this delicious?Sun Xiang knew little about foreign cuisine, so he was very puzzled.

The store was empty, it was already noon, and apart from them, there were no other customers visiting.

The only waiter was lying at the bar and concentrating on playing with his mobile phone. When he heard the wind chime at the door, he didn't lift his head: "Sit whatever you want."

Zhou Zekai chose a table familiarly, and helped Sun Xiang pull up the chairs in a gentlemanly manner.

Sun Xiang slandered that it was unnecessary, but he stuck out his tongue and sat down.

The table was very clean, except for cutlery and an acrylic promotion card with the name of the wine on it.

Just as Sun Xiang was about to ask where the menu was, two glasses of lemonade suddenly "fall from the sky" and were placed next to them.

A brisk greeting floated above his head: "Long time no see, I feel that you are very busy recently."

"It's okay." Zhou Zekai took the menu and handed it to Sun Xiang.

The waiter touched a pen from the apron, and said with a smile, "Hey, you actually brought a friend. The friend is still a boyfriend. Why don't you introduce me?"

"Amy." Zhou Zekai slightly raised his voice.

"Okay, okay, no kidding." The waiter laughed, "What do you want to eat?"

Zhou Zekai looked at Sun Xiang inquiringly.

Sun Xiang didn't care: "I have no idea, I'll listen to you."

"Two cups are the same." Zhou Zekai said.

"Okay." The waiter wrote a few strokes, "What about the staple food?"

Zhou Zekai looked at Sun Xiang again.

Sun Xiang hesitated for a moment. To be honest, he realized that this is a purely British restaurant when he saw the menu. The pictures are all attractive, but none of them are sure: "Come on, meaty, you can eat enough." , that's fine."

Zhou Zekai didn't refuse anymore, and ordered a grand slam, a sausage and mashed potato, which really suited Sun Xiang's taste, and the scones and lemon tart, which Sun Xiang didn't like at first sight, probably Zhou Zekai ordered for himself.

The waiter went to the back kitchen to prepare. Sun Xiang drank his saliva and asked Zhou Zekai why he chose this restaurant.

"Ye Mingkang comes here often." Zhou Zekai explained.

In fact, strictly speaking, it is "often" for a certain period of time.

"He went to study in England?" Sun Xiang guessed naturally.

"Yeah." Zhou Zekai nodded, "I returned to China the year before last. Back then I was often brought here."

"That's right," Sun Xiang was searching Dianping just now, "There are really not many similar stores in Shanghai. Can't tell, he misses studying abroad so much."

Zhou Zekai smiled and told Sun Xiang that what Ye Mingkang misses the most is the freedom during his study abroad.You can do whatever you want, eight time zones apart, and you can't control it at home.Before he retired from the military, he deliberately flew back, described the vastness of the world outside, and encouraged them to go abroad to continue their studies together.

"He made a lot of sense, so why did you stay in Shanghai in the end?" Sun Xiang realized that with Zhou Zekai's family conditions, staying in Shanghai was indeed a waste.

"It's nothing, I promised the family." Zhou Zekai replied.

Sun Xiang couldn't hold back, and asked the question that had been buried in his heart for a long time: "You obviously like Glory so much...why did you retire?"

5.

The air suddenly became quiet.

As soon as Sun Xiang finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself, but it was a pity that the water splashed by his words could not be taken back.He looked at Zhou Zekai in embarrassment, ready to be angry, but Zhou Zekai just closed his eyes and stared at the water in the glass: "I like glory, that's right."

These soft words immediately aggravated Sun Xiang's annoyance, and he looked away.

Zhou Zekai glanced at him silently, and a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "But there are reasons for retiring."

"I've heard a rumor..." Sun Xiang couldn't help but clenched his cup tightly as he spoke. He split into two people in contradiction - one was afraid that Zhou Zekai would say "because I wanted to protect your hand", and the other was actually Unnecessarily, with a faint expectation of the same answer, "But I hope that's not true."

"If so?" Zhou Zekai didn't play cards according to the rules.

Even though it was a question sentence, a hypothesis, as soon as Zhou Zekai finished speaking, Sun Xiang felt his whole heart shrink tightly, as if being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, making it difficult to breathe.

He lowered his head and answered with difficulty: "If, I mean, if it is true, that person...will feel that he is very useless, sad, and frustrated. He can't protect the important things of his teammates, and instead asks others to protect them." Protection, and he didn't know about it from the beginning to the end, he..."

"It's fake." Zhou Zekai's voice was very soft, and with only three words, he rescued Sun Xiang from the strong negative emotions.

"Could it be—" Sun Xiang raised his head in shock, looking at Zhou Zekai, with both anger and joy in his eyes.

But Zhou Zekai immediately said: "Because the description is not accurate."

Sun Xiang was stunned.

Zhou Zekai looked at him with dark eyes: "She did threaten me with you. But she has more chips than you."

Sun Xiang opened his mouth, unable to process the meaning of Zhou Zekai's words for a while.

Zhou Zekai smiled suddenly: "She threatened me with herself."

6.

Sun Xiang was too dazed to say anything.

But luckily, the waitress lady appeared just right.Not only did she bring two glasses of elderflower sparkling water, but also a big pot of pie.

Finally, she put a round cupcake on the table, and said with a bright smile, "ha—"

"Thanks, Amy." Zhou Zekai interrupted very timely, "Always remember what I missed."

"Anyway——" The young lady's eyes flicked back and forth between Sun Xiang and Zhou Zekai, and she instantly understood, "Enjoy!"

This episode ended so quickly that Sun Xiang hardly noticed it.He touched the fork slowly and absent-mindedly, his mind was full of thinking about Zhou Zekai's revelation just now.

It's no exaggeration to say that it broke the news-it was like a bomb, and the whole head was dizzy from the explosion.

It turned out that it was true to threaten Zhou Zekai with ruining his career.And not only that, this mother actually... actually...

Sun Xiang grew up in a warm and harmonious family. The biggest disagreement was that he dropped out of school to play e-sports. He had never experienced such a thing. He couldn't imagine it. He couldn't imagine it at all. How could a mother be so cruel as to threaten her own flesh and blood? .

But he firmly believed in Zhou Zekai's words, knowing that Zhou Zekai could not deceive himself, and listening to his tone, this was by no means a serious degree.

Sun Xiang finally put down his fork and asked in a low voice, "What did she threaten you with?"

Zhou Zekai simply explained: "She has a tumor near here, and it must be removed."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Zekai pointed to his temple.

Sun Xiang's eyes widened, feeling that he was close to the truth: "She threatened you to retire by not having the surgery?"

"Almost." Zhou Zekai said lightly, "I'm not good either. I was supposed to do it in the tenth season, but I didn't want to, so she delayed it for another year."

Sun Xiang opened his mouth, feeling that all words were very pale.He can completely understand why Zhou Zekai delayed for a year.But then what?He should comfort Zhou Zekai, he thought, what is better?The matter has passed, and nothing else can be comforted.

It was Zhou Zekai himself who finally broke the deadlock.

He said calmly: "It's all over. She has always been paranoid and controlling, but I can't lose her."

So you have to choose to retire.Sun Xiang silently finished speaking for Zhou Zekai in his heart.Then he sighed heavily.

It's all gone.

So many years have passed.

He is no longer that impulsive young man who has no understanding of the world.He understands that some regrets cannot be made up for by others with annoyance and sympathy. If the person concerned chooses to look forward, as a friend, the best way to deal with him is to support and understand.

He regained his composure, took the initiative to divert the topic, and said naturally, "Speaking of which, the young lady mentioned Mr. Ye just now, could it be that your mother introduced him?"

"Probably so." Zhou Zekai glanced at Sun Xiang, "She was worried that Ye Mingkang would have offspring before me, and she never concealed her intention in this regard."

They continued to discuss this topic for a while, and Sun Xiang learned more details: On the surface, of course, Zhou's mother didn't make it clear, but arranged people to practice in the same building, and the position was so free that he could go to chat with Zhou Zekai every other day. The tacit consent of everyone can understand.

"It's too much, is this interesting?" Sun Xiang complained.

"It's boring." Zhou Zekai pushed a small piece of scones in front of Sun Xiang, "It's delicious, try it?"

"Well," Sun Xiang tried it, "it's a bit sweet. But it's better than expected."

"She wants to arrange my life, but..." Zhou Zekai continued, "The surgery is over and I'm recovering well. It's unnecessary."

Sun Xiang was stunned for a moment, and slowly realized what Zhou Zekai meant, and a huge joy rose in his heart: "This...it's great. It's great."

It turns out that when people are extremely happy, they will be short of words.Sun Xiang thought to himself, but at this moment, he was truly happy for Zhou Zekai from the bottom of his heart. This kind of happiness seems to be fully expressed with the words "great".

Oh, one more thing.

"Cheer." Sun Xiang picked up the glass of drink with cucumber slices, "Although Ye Mingkang's taste is not flattering, it's better than lemonade."

"Yeah." A relaxed smile appeared on the corners of Zhou Zekai's lips, "cheer."

At this moment, the noon sun was filtered by the shade of the tree, and the light coming in through the glass looked extraordinarily soft, falling on Zhou Zekai's body, naturally creating shadows, making his facial features and outline more three-dimensional.

His smile was so lethal that it stunned Sun Xiang for several seconds.

When he came back to his senses, in order to cover up his embarrassment, he hurriedly laughed and changed the subject, saying that Zhou Zekai would always be number one in the "League Male Player Most Wanted to Marry" back then, so it was understandable that he was popular with girls.

"What is this?" Zhou Zekai was surprised.

"...a wild list that my beautiful girls like to watch." Sun Xiang spread his hands and made a sad expression, "I often laugh at me for being in the second or third place. The past is unbearable."

Zhou Zekai: "..."

While Sun Xiang was immersed in the battle with the pastry, he didn't see the speechlessness in Zhou Zekai's eyes: "Speaking of which, did you fall in love after retiring?"

"No." Zhou Zekai said the answer that Sun Xiang expected, but when he heard this person say it himself, Sun Xiang was actually a little happy for unknown reasons.

"We're both the same. Career type." Sun Xiang began to cut the sausage, "I think it's good. Anyway, men don't need to hurry up to get married, and it's natural to talk about it when the fate comes. Why put psychological pressure on yourself."

Sun Xiang also mentioned the embarrassing things his beautiful girls did during his military service and summer break.It seemed to be trying to match him with the little girl next door, because she was born with a fair mouth and a sweet mouth, and she adored Sun Xiang.As a result, after Sun Xiang carefully tutored him with his homework for a few days, Mama Sun regretted it herself.I think it's not good to be young, so I told Sun Xiang to find someone who is three years older, the kind who holds a golden brick.In recent years, it has become more and more enlightened, saying that test tubes are fine, even if you don’t get married, it’s up to you.

Zhou Zekai relaxed, and joked with Sun Xiang, saying that he is so good at cooking and has maxed life skills, so he really shouldn't get married, otherwise there will be no chance for others to show off.

Sun Xiang snorted: "You are jealous! Somebody would break an egg, how dare you laugh at me?"

He ate almost, touched his belly, wiped his mouth, picked up his phone and refreshed WeChat.

As soon as his eyes touched the screen, he frowned deeply because of a message forwarded by Fang Minghua-"Sun Xiang, the three river-crossing tunnels will be overhauled next week, and you will have to take a detour to come to the company!"

"What?" Zhou Zekai paid the bill and noticed Sun Xiang's expression, "About work?"

"Ah, oh, no." Sun Xiang struggled for a moment, and shared the bad news with Zhou Zekai, "It's over, when I move back, I will drive at least half an hour longer to go to the company every day, and I don't know if the new route will be blocked or not. .”

He thought Zhou Zekai would sympathize with this.However, the development of the next thing once again exceeded his expectations——

"Oh?" Zhou Zekai didn't seem surprised at all, "Then continue to live."

TBC