【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

Continue to live?This is not a bad choice.It's just that he only considered moving out before, and when he read the news based on the above premise, he automatically ruled out the possibility.

Sun Xiang quickly calculated in his mind: The advantages of staying in Zhou Zekai's apartment seem to be more than the time saved in going back and forth every day.He thought of the frequency of Zhou Zekai's visits recently, his poor cooking skills, and his pitiful appearance when only his assistant delivered him to the door after he was drunk, and the balance in his heart became more and more tilted—if he stayed, he would still be able to take care of Zhou Zekai occasionally, wouldn't he?

Thinking about it like this, Sun Xiang's last hesitation disappeared.

He makes a decision.

"Then I won't be polite." Sun Xiang said playfully, "Thank you rich father for taking me in. But there is one thing we agreed on first."

"what?"

"The repair period of the tunnel is half a year, which is too long. If you ask me to pay the rent, I must pay it, otherwise I will not be able to justify it."

"Okay." Zhou Zekai had no objection. He knew Sun Xiang's financial strength well, knowing that this would not burden him, so he agreed with Sun Xiang to pay according to the market price.

After the meal, the two shared desserts. Of course, Zhou Zekai ate mainly, and Sun Xiang cooperated to solve the problem.The main ingredients are listed on the menu, and he took extra care to write it down, thinking that he can try to make it when he is free, and give the landlord a surprise.

Zhou Zekai had to return to the company before 1:[-] p.m., and the two parted ways downstairs in Hongyuan.It happened that there was a studio of an acquaintance of Sun Xiang nearby. He had contacted him on WeChat, so he stopped by to drink tea with him to connect with him.

Around four o'clock, Sun Xiang was a little hungry.A group of big men dominate the site, there is never a shortage of potato chips and fat house happy water, more than enough to fill the stomach.Interestingly, under Zhou Zekai's subtle influence, Sun Xiang's first reaction turned out to be "it's not healthy to eat this kind of food before meals", so he refused the other party's kindness to share the afternoon tea, took a few mouthfuls of chocolate, and got up to say goodbye—that's right, Because he was hungry, he thought about healthy eating and then about preparing dinner, Sun Xiang realized that there was one more important thing to do.

He needs to buy groceries.

2.

Since he plans to stay for a long time, Sun Xiang is embarrassed to use the backup in the apartment all the time.It happened that the vegetables in the refrigerator were also exhausted and needed to be replenished urgently.Taking these two goals as a reference, Sun Xiang drove to the nearest supermarket to the apartment.

He stopped in front of the first row of shelves, passing a man and a woman beside him.

They walked to a position two meters away from Sun Xiang and began to pick out items.

"The tomatoes I bought yesterday were not tasty, they were too ripe and too soft, let's buy them from another place of origin," the woman said.

"It seems that the moisture-proof agent is almost used up. Are there not enough hangers? Add some more." The man said.

They seem to be talking, but in fact the tone is declarative and the content is parallel, as if no one pays attention to the other, which is a bit funny, but the essence is that they all revolve around the same home, so they appear extremely harmonious.

Sun Xiang "eavesdropped" for a while, and couldn't help thinking of the scene where the two computers were busy in the same space with Zhou Zekai, and the way they went shopping was obviously completely different, but they seemed to have something in common, so he couldn't help feeling Laughed a bit.

He looked around and found that the supermarket was such a place full of life - the conclusion was obvious.Interestingly, however, he had never noticed this feeling before.

Sun Xiang guessed that this had something to do with his mentality change—for example, when he saw a bowl he liked just now, his first reaction was not to take it directly, but to hesitate to buy two sets—in case Zhou Zekai came back to eat , maybe it can be used?

It's amazing, Sun Xiang thought, at this point when white-collar workers don't get off work, most of the people who go to the supermarket should be for their families.But he was different—because he had to live with Zhou Zekai, who had been separated for many years and only recently became friends, and then suddenly decided to make a big purchase. It must be said that fate was amazing.

Then Sun Xiang naturally touched on the issue of distant fragrance and near odor.After all, he never lived with Zhou Zekai back then.If time goes by and conflicts continue to accumulate, will two people who are stubborn in nature quarrel, and will they express the disappointment of "Oh, so you are such a person"?

But as soon as this idea came to his mind, he immediately complained to himself speechlessly: What are you thinking, what a mess!To be precise, you are not the only one who wants to live forever?

Sun Xiang smiled self-deprecatingly, put aside the messy thoughts, and decided to seriously go shopping in the supermarket.

Unexpectedly, just after walking to the second row of shelves, a certain phone call came in.

--where?

3.

Sun Xiang forgot to look at the name when he answered the phone, he was stunned for a while, and then he immediately realized that the opposite was his landlord.

The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

——Because I suddenly realized that I and Zhou Zekai had only made phone calls counting on one hand, but each time they showed amazing casualness and intimacy—similar to never calling each other’s name or introducing myself at the beginning, as if very Confident that the other side can recognize who you are without looking at the name of the caller.

But this emotion is just a fleeting episode.

"In the supermarket." Sun Xiang's attention was attracted by the jam, and while studying the product description, he answered casually.

Zhou Zekai reported the name of a supermarket and asked if he was right?

Sun Xiang hummed.

Okay, Zhou Zekai said, wait for me for a quarter of an hour.

Eh--?Zhou Zekai's work is over for today?Isn't he so busy that he has to work overtime every morning?

Sun Xiang was very curious, and was about to ask what was going on, but the other end hung up the phone neatly again.

He was silent, and put the half-researched jam back on the shelf: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

4.

Although it was almost winter, the indoor air conditioner made people sweat like two seasons.Fortunately, ice cream was sold at the entrance of the supermarket. Sun Xiang ordered a matcha flavored one with Oreo pieces, picked a chair and sat down, enjoying himself while playing with his mobile phone.

After eating ice cream and washing hands, the time is almost a full quarter.Sun Xiang expected that people would be here soon, so he put away his phone and stared at the entrance in a daze.

... 10 minutes passed.

Zhou Zekai didn't show up and didn't contact him.

In fact, when friends meet, fluctuations within half an hour are very common - Sun Xiang has not experienced it before.But only this time, in only 10 minutes, he was extremely upset.

He cut to the call interface to confirm the time of the last call, very good, now the difference is 11 minutes and 07 seconds!

Sun Xiang was angry for no apparent reason, and decided that he had to do something, and he couldn't hold himself back like this.

His way of revenge was extremely naive—moving his fingers, he changed the note name of this string of numbers in the address book from "Zhou Zekai" to "Kaikai kid".

Once the modification was completed, Sun Xiang hurriedly took a screenshot triumphantly, and began to imagine that when Zhou Zekai called himself to apologize, the words "kaikai kid" would be displayed on the screen.

Since it is a child who made a mistake, then the mature big brother will forgive you magnanimously!

... His brainstorming came to an abrupt end.

A pleasant male voice floated above his head: "The entrance to the basement is blocked, there is no signal, sorry for the long wait."

Sun Xiang stood up and threw the phone into his coat pocket in a panic.

Zhou Zekai...shouldn't have seen the note I gave him, right? !No!Absolutely not! !

The villain in his mind scratched the wall frantically, wishing to find a time machine to rewind and start over, but that was impossible.Therefore, I could only look at Zhou Zekai with a guilty conscience, and said hello: "You, you are here!"

He thought that his acting skills were so-so, but he didn't know that he didn't immediately get angry and ask Zhou Zekai why he was late.

Zhou Zekai saw the five characters completely and clearly, and was speechless for a moment.

But afterwards, Sun Xiang's tense look was so funny, he immediately decided to sacrifice his "nickname reputation" to take the opportunity to tease Sun Xiang more.

He asked nonchalantly, "What's wrong?"

Sure enough, Sun Xiang stammered even more: "No, nothing!"

"Really?" Zhou Zekai blinked, and at the same time slowly moved his gaze to Sun Xiang's pocket.

Sun Xiang was so frightened that he quickly covered his pockets, turned around and went to get the cart: "Really, no, what! Hurry up, you're still late, what time is it if you don't go shopping anymore!"

He leisurely followed, staring at the back of Sun Xiang's stiff head: "Okay."

Can't be too funny.Zhou Zekai thought to himself, just let it go.

5.

After calming down, Sun Xiang noticed that Zhou Zekai was wearing a black mask.

"Why? Afraid of being approached?" Sun Xiang joked.

"The air is not good." Zhou Zekai replied, "Today is heavily polluted."

After speaking, he magically took out the other one from his coat pocket and handed it to Sun Xiang.

"Men still care about this, you are too careful." Although he said so, Sun Xiang quickly took the mask and put it on for himself.

The masks of the two are the same style, their heights are almost the same, and they are tall and tall. Just looking at the back is very pleasing to the eye.When you pass by passers-by, you will get a lot of heads and some whispers.

"Is it a couple?"

"It must be! You can see that their aura is super harmonious!"

"I feel super handsome just by looking at the back!! Why are you wearing a mask!!"

"I always feel like I've seen a star somewhere! Woohoo! I dare not go up and ask for an autograph!!!"

……

Of course Sun Xiang and Zhou Zekai didn't hear this, they were standing in front of the shelves in the living area and talking seriously.To be precise, most of the time, it was Sun Xiang who was talking.Similar to which brand of toothpaste I like, which body wash I buy the most, and what is the reason.

Zhou Zekai occasionally nodded, occasionally echoed, and most of the time just helped to pick up the goods and put them in the cart silently.

Before you know it, 2/3 of the space has been filled.Sun Xiang was belatedly aware: "... unexpectedly bought so many by accident."

Zhou Zekai comforted him: "Family packs are heavy."

It's okay not to say this, but it's even more subtle when I say it.

That's right, Sun Xiang bought family packs this time.He used to live alone, he was a single man, and he bought as much as he needed at home, and it was very convenient for him to run errand software to ask someone to go to a 24-hour convenience store to buy.This time I decided to move to Zhou Zekai's apartment, essentially I would continue to live alone, but for some reason, I changed the purchasing method.

The reason, even Sun Xiang himself, couldn't explain it clearly for a while.

In the end, he could only scratch his head in embarrassment, and laughed: "In case you live here someday, it's better to have a backup."

Zhou Zekai said understandingly: "Well, it is indeed possible."

Although this sentence sounds more polite, the effect is quite different when Zhou Zekai said it and Sun Xiang secretly guessed it.

Sun Xiang seemed to really believe it: "Actually, except for last week, I have never lived with anyone else. I have no experience, haha."

After two more steps, Sun Xiang overturned his own words: "No, a long time ago, a long time ago, I lived in a collective dormitory!"

It turned out that when he first entered Yueyun, Sun Xiang, like all the team members, was arranged to stay in the four-person room for a while.

"Up and down bunk, I live in the lower bunk," recalled Sun Xiang as soon as the floodgate opened, and he was full of emotion, "The brother above snores, and also hits the bed, shaking the mountain one after another at night, and can't sleep without earplugs. Don't mention it's scary! Luckily, it's only half a month!"

The boss of Yueyun was very realistic and divided the team members into ranks and grades. Sun Xiang's grades were outstanding, so he naturally received preferential treatment.

"Is it like this in the boys' dormitory?" Zhou Zekai asked curiously.

"Almost." Sun Xiang realized that Zhou Zekai was not as well-informed as he was in this regard, so he couldn't help being a little proud, and his words were exaggerated, "Didn't Jiang Botao tell you..."

He put together his own experience and the experiences he heard from others, and described it to Zhou Zekai, such as not liking to do hygiene, soaking a basin of clothes for a whole week without washing, differences in work and rest, complaining and quarreling with each other after the game up.

Zhou Zekai listened with relish: "It's very lively."

"It's lively, but it's also a lot of trouble. It's definitely fun in a single room!" Sun Xiang shrugged, "Speaking of which, you were really treated well in Samsara. I heard that there were double rooms or even quadruple rooms in Samsara before, but You've never lived there, have you?"

Zhou Zekai nodded: "My family does not allow the youth training camp to live in groups."

Later, he lived in a 5-minute walk next door to the team. After becoming the team leader, he was directly upgraded to a single room, so he never felt the troubles of Sun Xiang and the others.

"Hahaha!" Sun Xiang laughed, "I remembered, back then we privately called Gao Yingjie the Prince of Tiny Herb, and you just succeeded to the throne. Many players are jealous. How is Team Samsara? Are you not convinced?"

"Well," Zhou Zekai said calmly, "a lot."

Sun Xiang suddenly felt nervous for being late for many years: "Did they do anything excessive to you? Secretly tripping you up?"

Zhou Zekai thought for a while: "Does knocking on the wall in the middle of the night count?"

"Damn! Are you really doing tricks? Spicy chicken!" Sun Xiang rolled his eyes, "The strength is not as good as others, so I just want you to sleep well, it's too cheap!"

"Hehe." Zhou Zekai said, "It's okay."

Sun Xiang felt like a parent who had nowhere to vent his anger, distressed and angry: "What happened later? Did you tell the team?"

"I don't remember." Zhou Zekai said, "They may have left the team soon."

He spoke vaguely, and it sounded like he really didn't take it too seriously.In the past, Sun Xiang would have believed that, but now, after he gradually understands Zhou Zekai's true character, he is not so easy to fool.

"It must have been a difficult time for you." He stopped and looked at Zhou Zekai, "There is no such easy captain position."

The corners of Zhou Zekai's lips under the mask slightly raised: "It's not a big deal. Just ignore it."

"I don't know about you yet," Sun Xiang snorted, "With your style, after being provoked, your face is calm, and you will probably say in your heart, idiot."

Zhou Zekai actually thought about it for a while, then shook his head: "Don't use that word."

"what?"

"Paramecium, better to use."

"...I'll go!" Sun Xiang seemed to be on the phone suddenly, recalling the team summary meeting in the final round of the World Invitational Championship, "It was in Zurich, do you remember? It was just Lee from the Korean team, who was so fat No neck or waist..."

"Master of Boxing." Zhou Zekai added for him.

"Yes! That guy often provokes us. He has a dirty mouth and is super annoying." Sun Xiang picked up a piece of bread and compared it, "He's just in this shape."

Then when they complained about this person, Zhou Zekai said three words: "Paramecia."

"Ha ha."

"You're still laughing." Sun Xiang glanced at Zhou Zekai, "At that time, everyone thought you were talking about his body shape, and I was also deceived. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a blow to reduce the dimensionality of spiritual contempt. How cruel!"

"Ha ha."

"You..." Sun Xiang was about to say something, but his face changed, "Wait, I remember one time I went to Jiang Botao in the middle of the night, but I knocked on the wrong door and it was yours. I knocked for a long time..."

Zhou Zekai: "Huh? Then?"

Sun Xiang couldn't help it: "It's my fault for disturbing your sleep. But you really didn't complain about paramecia at that time?"

Zhou Zekai bent his eyes slightly, pretending he didn't hear anything, and went to pick out yogurt.

Sun Xiang stared at him angrily for a while, then dropped the cart, turned around and went to the vegetable area.

In less than 20 seconds, Zhou Zekai was strolling around in the cart when he heard a voice behind him saying forcefully, "Hey, zucchini or radish, which one do you want?"

6.

Although Zhou Zekai wanted to laugh, he held back.

"Hmph," Sun Xiang turned his face away uncomfortably, "Who is as childish as someone, I am mature, mature, understand?"

Zhou Zekai said, "Zucchini."

"Oh, you said you want carrots." Sun Xiang grinned, "Okay, okay."

Zhou Zekai couldn't help but laugh, but knowing Sun Xiang, he just got angry and didn't bother to defend himself, so he went to get the zucchini and stuffed it back into the cart.

This small episode passed quickly, and after a while, they began to push the cart together to study products.

Passing by the noodle shelf, Sun Xiang didn't intend to stop, but Zhou Zekai suddenly stopped and reached out to take a tube of noodles.

"Do you want to eat noodles?" Sun Xiang was curious.

"Suddenly want to eat." Zhou Zekai explained.

"Okay, I'll give you a noodle today!" Sun Xiang didn't deliberately think about the reasons behind Zhou Zekai's actions, but simply felt that since Zhou Zekai offered to offer nothing more than a bowl of noodles, he should help him realize his wish.

After returning to the apartment, Sun Xiang was in charge of cooking. Zhou Zekai wanted to help, but Sun Xiang kicked him out of the kitchen with the excuse of "don't ruin the fruits of my labor".

During this period, Sun Xiang came out twice, once with a plate of sauced beef for Zhou Zekai to rest his stomach on, and the second time he asked Zhou Zekai to wash his hands, and dinner can be served right away.

So when Zhou Zekai came back from the bathroom, he was greeted with two steaming bowls of noodles that were both delicious in color and aroma.

The super deluxe version has various ingredients added, and the soup has been carefully seasoned by Sun Xiang. According to Sun Xiang, this is the first day of his long-term rental. In order to repay the landlord, he must be careful no matter what.

The surprise didn't stop there. After eating the noodles, Sun Xiang brought out two small boxes of ice cream. The sweeter flavor was obviously bought according to Zhou Zekai's preference.

The joy on Zhou Zekai's face couldn't be concealed, the corners of his mouth continued to twitch slightly, and he even took out his phone very rarely to take a photo.

Sun Xiang asked if he would post on his social platform, right?Zhou Zekai ignored him.This aroused Sun Xiang's curiosity even more.

He scratched his head and wanted to know what Zhou Zekai's social account was, but he was embarrassed to ask directly, thinking that anyway, if he lived for so long, he would find out when he had a chance later.

With plenty of time after dinner, they naturally chose to play games.It just so happens that today is the first day of the New Glory Christmas series, and special copies will drop Christmas suits.There are special attribute rewards for the top 10 on the daily list.

"Are you interested in making a vote!" Sun Xiang rubbed his fists.

Zhou Zekai nodded: "Of course."

After that, it was more than four hours of the daily life of an Internet-addicted teenager.No one got up to drink water or go to the bathroom. They were all focused on running around the new map, killing monsters, solving puzzles, and having a great time.

"It's done! I'm exhausted!" Sun Xiang stretched his waist and excitedly gave Zhou Zekai a high-five.

In the game, the new suit has already been put on, and Sun Xiang happily admired the effect of his character, and then went to see the sharpshooter's outfit.

"The panel has increased by at least 10%. It's really hard work. I haven't been this crazy for a long time." Sun Xiang turned off the panel in satisfaction and moved his cervical spine.

Zhou Zekai tried several rounds of skills and gave the same evaluation: "It's crazy, but it's worth it."

"Unfortunately, Ye Guiren is not online, and missed our call. In the future, if you want a suit, you can only go to the wild group."

Zhou Zekai got up and poured a glass of water, and brought Sun Xiang a can of Coke.

"Thank you," Sun Xiang took it, unscrewed it, his mind was still highly excited, and his thinking was very wild, "You said that he has not been online all the time, don't you really mean it because of embarrassment?"

"Why are you embarrassed?"

"What other reason, He Xi told him our real identities. And I'll forget it, but you wrote your birthday in your ID, and he never recognized it, didn't you—"

The word "stupid" was stuck in Sun Xiang's throat, and he couldn't say it suddenly.

Who is more stupid? !

He turned his neck mechanically.His gaze was fixed on Zhou Zekai's game ID.

ZzK1124.

1124.

There was a bell in Sun Xiang's head, which was hit with a "boom".

The next moment, he quickly looked at the time in the lower right corner of the screen.

11: 56.

"Damn it!" Sun Xiang stood up awkwardly, "Today is your birthday!! And it's only 4 minutes away!"

Zhou Zekai: "Yes."

"You're okay!" Sun Xiang was furious, and didn't know if he should treat his extremely dull self more, or treat a guy who didn't say anything more, "Why didn't you remind me!"

Before Zhou Zekai could say anything, Sun Xiang continued irritably: "Don't talk about presents, it's all this, I don't even have time to cook you something delicious...you... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) I'm so mad!"

Zhou Zekai: "No—"

"Let me tell you first! Why are you like this? You like to hide everything! Just like last night, you were suddenly angry and unhappy, and you didn't explain or tell me the reason, of course," Sun Xiang said unhappily. He snorted, "I'm such a smart person, if I guess it's a matter of time...Damn! I'm digressing!"

Sun Xiang's eyes were full of helplessness: "Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to quarrel, and I didn't mean to criticize. Hey, I understand, for so many years, whether paramecium or other things, how to deal with the outside world, you have already It's a habit, right, I understand..."

He paused here for a while, pursed his lips, and somehow he became angry again with his calm expression, and raised his voice: "But, aren't we friends?! I'm sure it's not me who is being passionate, you are not in love with all kinds of things. They are all helping me, even considering the details of masks, I am not mistaken, right?"

Zhou Zekai hummed, and wanted to explain something, but was interrupted by Sun Xiang.

"You don't understand me, let me explain it to you! We are friends, not that kind, colleagues, superiors and subordinates, passers-by, friends are the kind of existence that can share a lot of information, so I am angry, so inexplicably angry, in I was still angry on your birthday, I felt so ashamed... But I couldn't help it," Sun Xiang took a deep breath, "If there is anything going on in the future, you can try to talk it out directly, and share the happy things together. Difficulties, of course I I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help you, but if one is worried, it’s better to discuss it with two people.”

Zhou Zekai didn't say anything this time, just nodded.

For a moment, Sun Xiang felt that the other party's expression was so innocent and aggrieved, but later he realized that his outburst just now seemed to be no different from bullying.

His heart was so soft that he softened his tone suddenly: "...I'm sorry, it's your birthday today, I shouldn't have said these words."

"It's okay." Zhou Zekai quickly answered.

Sun Xiang glanced at the time, and it was half a minute before 12 o'clock. He hurriedly said, "Back to the topic! A bit late but I caught up! Standing at thirty, I wish you can live the life you want to live, do what you want It's all right. It's going well, it's safe and sound."

"Thank you." Zhou Zekai looked at him deeply, "Thank you."

Sun Xiang rubbed his nose: "There is no gift, I will make it up for you tomorrow, okay?"

Zhou Zekai smiled slightly: "It's not important. Give me a hug?"

Sun Xiang was taken aback, laughed, and opened his arms without hesitation: "Of course!"

The last time they hugged was at Zhou Zekai's retirement press conference.

How heavy the mood was at that time, how relaxed and happy it is now.

Sun Xiang patted Zhou Zekai's back, rested his chin on this man's shoulder, and deliberately lowered his voice: "Mr. Landlord, I will take what you said seriously. In the future, please don't come knocking at midnight just because I didn't give you a present." wall."

"Hehe." Zhou Zekai didn't bother to pay attention to this person's trash talk, but he didn't let go immediately, as if he was still expecting something.

In the quiet night, the second hand approaches the position of "12" little by little.

Sun Xiang also didn't let go, keeping an eye on its trajectory, and in the last two or three seconds, he smiled and said:

"Happy birthday, Zhou Zekai."

"Take care of me in the future."

TBC