Dead but not stiff

When saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, people will always have a lot of emotions for no reason. Shen Bai, who came out from his parents’ house after the New Year’s Eve dinner, and drove Gu Xien through the night in the city, felt like the scenery outside the car window at this moment. Gorgeous and quiet.

The moonlight was cold in winter, but the heater in the car was fully turned on. Gu Xien, who was beside him, was persuaded by Father Shen to drink some wine at night, so he tilted his head on the seat and fell asleep, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Shen Bai turned his head to look at him, stretched out his hand to turn down the sound of the radio broadcast, the towering street lamps along the road shone light into the car, brushed against Gu Xien's quiet side face, brushed the ends of his hair and the corners of his mouth, his lover's The appearance has long been deeply engraved in the bottom of my heart, but every time I look at it, I can superimpose a deeper layer of nostalgia.

With the background music slowly flowing from the radio broadcast, in a small world inside the car, the airflows breathing in and out of each other are entangled together, lingering but quiet and beautiful.

The car drove off the elevated road and entered the urban area, raindrops fell from the sky without warning, crackling and hitting the window glass, mottled and spreading down.

The buffer zone of the road bumped a bit, and Gu Xien turned his head sideways on the seat, slowly opened his eyes, and looked at Shen Bai who was driving beside him and was looking ahead.

Just staring quietly for a while, Shen Bai suddenly didn't turn his head, but the corner of his mouth twitched suddenly, and said with a smile: "Am I so handsome? I can't even blink my eyes."

"Yes." Gu Xien's gentle voice was like the melody flowing from an old record player, "You also know that there is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"But I don't like the word lover very much." Shen Bai corrected him very seriously, "It's too frivolous, I prefer to use lover to describe each other who are in love."

"Bite words, just like your style." Gu Xien spit out a little.

"I can't help it, I always take extra serious where I have to be serious." Shen Bai turned to look at him, and smiled and winked at him.

They were quiet with each other for a while, the sirens sounded one after another in the street were cut off by the car windows, and only the lingering rhymes could be faintly transmitted in, like sounds from outside the sky.

Gu Xien suddenly asked: "The last time you mentioned getting married, when will you go?"

Shen Bai turned his head to look at him in surprise and surprise, a gentle smile appeared in his eyes the next moment, and said softly: "Go after the new year."

"But before that," he turned the steering wheel, and the car turned into the last road back home, "I'll accompany you to City B first."

Gu Xien's eyes widened slightly, the tire ran over the buffer belt and bumped again, matching his heartbeat, and hit his chest with a thud.

"I know what you said last time was angry. The matter with your mother must be resolved." Shen Bai stretched out his hand and pressed it on the back of his hand. The scalding temperature in his palm was like a signal of strength, which was transmitted through the skin to every nerve in the body.

"Yeah." Gu Xien looked away, feeling warm all over, not just because of the high heating.

The car parked in the underground garage, and the two got out of the car and walked towards the elevator together. At eleven o'clock in the night, the whole building was silent, and the elevator door opened, but unexpectedly met Zhong Li again.

"Hi~" She stood under the bright lights of the elevator and waved to them familiarly.

Gu Xien responded with a smile, but Shen Bai was rather displeased to meddle in business, walked in and asked her, "Why are you still outside so late?"

Zhong Li said evasively and embarrassedly: "...I can't help it, Idol has an event today."

Shen Bai suddenly realized something, but he still didn't forget to remind: "You should also pay attention to safety when chasing stars."

"Yeah." Zhong Li nodded hurriedly, looked at the two of them, but suddenly changed the topic, and asked, "You... are you considered HE now?"

Both Shen Bai and Gu Xi'en looked at her with question marks on their faces, Zhong Li came to his senses and quickly explained: "I mean," she gestured, "A complete and happy ending?"

"Yes." Shen Bai hugged Gu Xien's shoulders naturally and smoothly, and said to her, "And, next month, you will be able to eat wedding candy."

Zhong Li covered her mouth, her eyes were full of surprise and excitement, and her heart was filled with tears of old mother.

The elevator reached the seventeenth floor with a ding-dong, Zhong Li waved to the two of them, and finally said: "That's great." She smiled, "Congratulations."

Compared with the damp and cold city S, the coldness of city B is as sharp as a blade, and the dry air cuts through the sleepy nerves of people in winter.Gu Xien, who came out of the airport side by side with Shen Bai, saw the familiar black Mercedes parked at the exit, stopped in his tracks, and looked at Shen Bai with a shocked and surprised expression.

"I informed Uncle Li before I came, but he insisted on coming to pick me up, and I couldn't refuse." Shen Bai explained with a natural expression, without any sense of guilt at all.

While speaking, Uncle Li had already come up to him, took the luggage from Gu Xien, and said kindly with a smile on his face: "Little Master Gu, I heard that you are back, and Huang Dong and his wife are very happy."

Gu Xien gave a slight hum, and did not continue to pick it up. Shen Bai politely thanked Uncle Li: "Please come and pick it up yourself."

"No trouble," Uncle Li opened the door with a smile, "Get in the car first."

Perhaps because of the end of the new year, this metropolis, like City S, has always attracted people from all over the country, but the straight and wide main roads of the city are approaching empty and desolate at this time.

The car drove unimpeded all the way to the half-mountain villa of Huang's mansion. When getting off the car, Gu Xien hesitated for a moment, and Shen Bai patted him on the shoulder, "Since you've already arrived, don't think too much."

After entering the room, Huang Huaisheng was unexpectedly alone in the living room drinking tea and reading magazines. Shen Bai walked up to shake hands with him first. It's a rare thing for Mr. Shen."

Shen Bai laughed, and replied: "Dong Huang has seen a lot, in your eyes, I'm afraid there is nothing that can be called a rarity."

Huang Huaisheng smiled, stopped talking, and turned to the housekeeper, "Madam is still taking a nap?"

The housekeeper bowed slightly, and answered him: "It's time to wake up at this time, do you want to call?"

Huang Huaisheng didn't answer directly, but asked, "Is her cough better these days?"

The butler said in all sincerity: "I haven't seen better since I came back from S city last time, but I have had a serious cough in the past two days and nights. Madam is afraid that you will worry, so let us keep it secret."

Huang Huaisheng turned his head to look at Gu Xi'en, and said lightly, "Xiao En, come with me to see your mother."

Gu Xian paused for a few seconds before answering him: "Okay."

Shen Bai was left in the living room to drink tea, Gu Xien followed Huang Huaisheng upstairs, on the way Gu Xien turned back to look at Shen Bai, looked at him and silently mouthed to him: "Don't be afraid."

Jiang Jie had already got up, and was staring at them sitting on the chaise longue in the bedroom, dazed. There was a white and blue porcelain bowl on the carved tea table in front of her, with wisps of white mist floating from the mouth of the bowl.

"Why are you here alone?" Huang Huaisheng walked over and put his hands on Jiang Jie's shoulders. Jiang Jie looked up at him, and said in a sickly weak voice, "Wait for the medicine to cool down."

Huang Huaisheng tested the temperature, frowned and said, "Why don't you let them warm it up before serving it to you?"

"It's because I woke up earlier today, it's none of their business." Jiang Jie didn't see Gu Xien behind her, and asked Huang Huaisheng with some doubts: "Why did you come up?"

Huang Huaisheng looked at Gu Xien, "Xiao En, why don't you come over?"

Jiang Jie's body shook, and she turned around slowly, staring blankly at Gu Xi'en who seemed to appear suddenly.

Gu Xien slowly moved over, met Jiang Jie's eyes, and only after a while did he softly call out: "Mom."

Jiang Jie propped herself up on the armrest of the sofa, looked at him fixedly, and said excitedly, "You...you figured it out?"

Gu Xien's expression didn't change much, he just shook his head.

Jiang Jie's eyes dimmed, she turned around, and said in a stiff voice, "Then what are you doing here?"

Gu Xien smiled and said, "I just think that as a son, I need to come and apologize to you for my unscrupulous words last time, but if you don't accept it, I can't change anything."

"Are you still fighting with me?" Jiang Jie looked at him unreasonably, but there were tears in her eyes: "Could it be that mother will harm you? It was the right choice."

"Maybe." Gu Xien said lightly: "Maybe when I reach your age, I will have the same thoughts as you do now, but who knows? If my father hadn't sacrificed back then, what would you do now?"

Jiang Jie took a deep breath, savoring Gu Xien's aggressive questioning with an attitude like a spring breeze, for a long time, she shook her head and smiled bitterly: "It seems that we, mother and son, will not be able to talk together after all."

Huang Huaisheng, who was silent for a long time, suddenly interjected, but he just said lightly: "Drink the medicine first."

Jiang Jie took the medicine that Huang Huaisheng handed to her, lowered her head, took two mouthfuls, put down the bowl with a frown, and said, "I've drank so many times, but I'm still not used to it, it's too bitter."

Huang Huaisheng smiled and said, "Then you bear with it, I'll get you a candy."

Jiang Jie stopped him, looked at Gu Xien who was silent at the side again, but her expression was slightly relieved, and she said to him: "Actually, when I came back that day, I thought about it, since you were more than five years old, for such a long time, I have not been here. I have nothing to do with you, your food and clothing, but you can still call me mom, which is not easy. It would be a bit far-fetched to demand that you listen to me in everything. Tan." She sighed, but she didn't know whether it was regret or guilt, "You are used to being independent and like to make up your own mind about everything, so I won't bother you anymore. You can do whatever you want in the future, as long as you can continue I'll be satisfied if you recognize me as a mother." She looked at Gu Xi'en fixedly, "Do you think that's okay, Xiaoen?"

Gu Xien blinked lightly, with a calm expression on his face, and replied: "Okay."

Jiang Jie smiled, softened her tone, and asked him, "Do you want to stay for dinner tonight?"

Gu Xi'en recalled what Shen Bai explained to him on the plane, but he changed his words abruptly, and nodded in agreement: "Okay."

Shen Bai and Gu Xi'en had dinner at Huang's house, declined Uncle Li's suggestion to drive them off, walked to the foot of the mountain, called a taxi, and headed all the way to the airport. They booked a flight tomorrow morning, flying directly from City B to the United States Los Angeles.

The taxi was driving on the elevated highway of City B in the dark night. Gu Xien had been silent since he got in the car. Shen Bai didn't know what he talked about with Jiang Jie, and Jiang Jie didn't say anything to Shen Bai during dinner. Appear to express obvious likes and dislikes.

The two arrived at the hotel without a word, registered at the front desk and swiped their cards to enter the room. Shen Bai put down his luggage, went to the bathroom to test the water temperature, and shouted after coming out: "You should take a shower first." After waiting for a second or two, but No one responded.

Shen Bai went straight to the bedroom as if he had sensed something, and through the sliding door of the balcony, he saw a figure standing outside.

"Isn't it cold?" Shen Bai asked softly, Gu Xien shook his head.

The two of them stood quietly close to each other, looking at the blinking signal lights on the runway of the airport in the distance.

"She said," suddenly, Gu Xien finally spoke, his voice was neither high nor low, and he couldn't hear any emotion. "I'm used to being independent, so I like to make up my own mind about everything."

Shen Bai turned his head to look at Gu Xien's overly calm side face, a sudden pain came from his heart, and then he heard him continue to speak slowly: "But why did I become like this, doesn't she understand?"

Shen Bai stared at him, then stretched out his hand to rub his hair, said with a chuckle: "Gu Xi'en, look, it's not such a difficult and shameful thing to express the grievance and pain in your heart."

Gu Xi'en turned his head to look at him, Shen Bai took the opportunity to hold his shoulder, put a kiss on his forehead, looked at him with a smile and said, "However, it won't happen in the future."

"In the days to come, as long as I'm here, you won't be alone."