【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

The words of my nephew Uncle Xiao have been circulating for a long time, and there is indeed some truth to it.Only two steps away, face to face confrontation, when Ye Mingkang stared at him with black and white eyes, Sun Xiang's first reaction was this sentence.

But he never had anything to do with stage fright.Ye Mingkang looked at him with a smile that was not a smile, and he straightened his back calmly and looked back.

With a youthful face and distinctive facial features, he looks like everything, but he doesn't look like anything.

Zhou Zekai's eyes are always like a deep pool, hiding many things, but there is absolutely no deception or vagueness in it.Ye Mingkang was different. There was a harmless curve on the corner of his mouth, gentle and airy, but it gave Sun Xiang a very direct half-truth, half-false and unpredictable feeling.

After calming down, Sun Xiang felt that there was something wrong with every word Ye Mingkang said.What the hell is a blind date?What does the former best partner have to do with this context?

Thinking of this, Sun Xiang couldn't help but smile.This smile is particularly eye-catching. It is completely different from the modest and polite way he used to talk about business in the past two years. On the contrary, it has a kind of arrogance at that time: "Mr. Ye, it is said that he is an ex-partner, so you must know that our The relationship is limited to this. If you want to inquire about Zhou Zekai's marriage and love, you may be asking the wrong person."

The "Double One" relationship is already a topic that everyone has to hear. As a person involved, I have survived the irritability stage 800 years ago. I think I am numb and used to it, and never take it seriously.Even in the past few days, he and Zhou Zekai lived in the same room at night, and his sister-in-law came and went in the game, he didn't feel anything wrong.

This just proved that he couldn't be straighter, frank and frank, Sun Xiang believed so firmly.

... Until today, when Zhou Zekai's relatives questioned him for the first time in his life, he suddenly felt his heart beating, as if he should not have enough confidence.

Sun Xiang was secretly in a daze, not daring to think about it deeply.Of course, he managed his expression very well, his eyes were firm, his mouth was clear and clean, and he kept the bewilderment and surprise in his stomach.

Ye Mingkang glanced at him, smiled, and there was some unreasonable interest in his eyes: "Is that so? It turned out that I was paranoid. You really don't know about the blind date banquet?"

"I don't know." Sun Xiang said honestly.He knew nothing about it and didn't need a show.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Ye Mingkang said, stepped forward to embrace Sun Xiang's shoulders, patted him affectionately, and pushed him towards the door.Sun Xiang was terrified by Ye Mingkang's gaze, and he had no suitable excuse to get away on this occasion, so he could only walk forward.Within a few minutes, the two walked through the brightly lit lobby and came to the main entrance of the hotel.

The sun has completely set, and the sky in the late autumn evening presents a temperatureless purple. The increasingly rapid wind squeezes away the heat from the body with a strong chill, making people shiver.

Fallen leaves scraped against the ground, and Sun Xiang's scarf was still on Fang Minghua's side. Even though he was young and able to carry it, he couldn't resist the coldness of his fingers and neck after standing for a long time.However, Ye Mingkang didn't seem to feel it, he stood leisurely and straight, chatting with him every time, and based on the dual factors of cooperation possibility and etiquette, he bit the bullet to accompany him.

What he didn't want to know, this person wanted to tell him, and even broke it down to explain the details.Sun Xiang couldn't figure out why the other party came, so he could only complain secretly.

That's right, Ye Mingkang didn't talk about any business-related topics, and every word was about the secrets of the rich.

2.

Ye Mingkang said that his older sister, Zhou Zekai's mother, somehow changed her gender, and in the past few years suddenly became keen on socializing with her plastic sisters.

One of the daughters came back from abroad.He studied in a top business major, he can draw, and he can play the piano well. Seeing his birthday approaching, he sent an invitation card half a month in advance, and Zhou Zekai's name was impressively listed.

In the name of the party, it creates communication opportunities for the outstanding young generation.The actual subtext is understood by everyone.

After Zhou's mother got the invitation, she agreed without saying a word.She didn't think there would be any harm in Zhou Zekai's contact with the other party. Regardless of the company's interests or the consideration of satisfying her face, Zhou Zekai had to go to this private banquet.In case they see each other right and form a marriage, that's even better.Anyway, marriage is not just a momentary passion and long-term benefits.The two sides are well matched, which is perfect.

And the time of this banquet happened to be last night.

"Wait, yesterday?" Sun Xiang realized something - when he invited Zhou Zekai yesterday, the other party never mentioned that there was such an itinerary.

"Yes." Ye Mingkang smiled, "Ze Kai's itinerary says, I saw it with my own eyes."

"Could it be..." The more Sun Xiang thought about it, the more wrong he became.Although Zhou Zekai did not need to tell himself the reason why Zhou Zekai hid from the banquet to find him for dinner, but conversely, he has no reason to have to tell Ye Mingkang about the meal with him in detail, unless——

"He didn't say your name." Ye Mingkang seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking, "I tricked you out."

It turned out that after the business analysis meeting in the afternoon, Zhou's mother called Zhou Zekai to stop and asked him to prepare for the evening's schedule in advance.Never expected that Zhou Zekai would refuse without warning.The atmosphere is tense and explosive.

The other executives did not dare to intervene in the Ye family's housework, and they all left at a faster pace. Only Ye Mingkang turned back leisurely, not only watching the show, but also putting his arms around his nephew's shoulders, adding fuel to the fire with a smile: "Sister Wanyi, Why is there such a big fuss about a dispensable party? Zekai is almost thirty years old, whether he wants to work overtime or date other girls is his freedom, right?"

Ye Wanyi stared at him for a long time, then her eyes stopped on the silent Zhou Zekai for a while, then she walked away without saying anything, with a blank expression on her high heels.

Afterwards, Zhou Zekai said to Ye Mingkang speechlessly: "We do have an appointment, but it's not a girl, it's just a friend."

He and Zhou Zekai had a good relationship when they were young, and they came up with the equation "friend = Sun Xiang" in a few words, and then there was this scene where they met today and couldn't help teasing Sun Xiang.

"I know you have no special relationship with Zekai, just kidding, don't mind." Ye Mingkang still smiled innocently and harmlessly.

It's a real joke and a fake joke, Sun Xiang can't tell it's a ghost.He was speechless for a while, but he couldn't say anything, so he shrugged: "Of course."

3.

The above is what Ye Mingkang revealed to Sun Xiang.

In fact, there was a lot of information that he didn't intend to tell Sun Xiang.

He is the old son of Ye Hongyuan, who is at the helm of the Ye family. He is more than 20 years older than his eldest brother Ye Mingbei, second brother Ye Mingqin, and third sister Ye Wanyi.If it wasn't for Ye Hongyuan's personal verification, no one would consider their siblings as a generation.

Because of this, in the whole family, the person he was closest to since childhood was his nephew, Zhou Zekai——

Ye Mingkang is only one year older than Zhou Zekai.From the perspective of age, there is almost no difference in the things they came into contact with in childhood and youth.When he was in elementary school, Father Ye was busy flying around the world, and Ye's house became a lifeless house. He hated facing his serious mother every day, and basically spent summer vacation at Ye Wanyi's house.Chow down on his sister's cooking, play chess with brother-in-law, listen to foreign literature, do homework with Zhou Zekai, and catch cicadas... Afterwards, glory rose, and Zhou Zekai secretly played with the computer, and it was the equipment he provided with pocket money. Feelings are not bad.

Even if Ye Wanyi filed for an earth-shattering divorce afterwards, returned to the old house, and became another person who could only feel at ease if he held the shares in his hands, and was always on guard against him from seizing power, it would not affect the family relationship between him and Zhou Zekai in the slightest.

Ye's father, who was married a few years after his mother's original spouse died of illness, was far inferior to his original spouse. He regarded him as the straw of his life and held on tightly. The winks of the others.And Zhou Zekai's mother, Ye Wanyi, since she was gradually relied on by Ye's father and gained a lot of power, she had planned early on to let Zhou Zekai succeed Ye Mingkang to inherit the Ye family, and thought it was for Zhou Zekai's good.

The similar pressure was transformed into sympathy and sympathy, which on the contrary narrowed the distance even more.

Zhou Zekai recorded every match from beginning to end.Whenever you have time, you must go to the scene to refuel.On the day Zhou Zekai retired, he specially flew back from abroad and went to the Meiben Ten Thousand People Arena, waving light sticks and pulling banners like ordinary fans, and his memory of everything that happened that day is still fresh.

He remembered that day, when Zhou Zekai returned to the car surrounded by reporters, the first thing he said to him was neither congratulations nor hard work, but—"The boy who handed over to you seems to be crying Why."

He swore his tone was not serious at all, it was light and joking.

"Sun Xiang doesn't have such a personality." The handsome nephew lowered his head, fastened his seat belt very slowly, and no one could see his expression clearly, "Don't be joking."

Ye Mingkang originally wanted to say "No, but I really saw him turning his back and secretly wiping his eyes", but when he looked at Zhou Zekai's overly serious eyes, he swallowed it back.

He sees that Glory is different from ordinary fans, the main reason is to support Zhou Zekai.When Ye Wanyi threatened Zhou Zekai with Sun Xiang's hand, he just sneered and let it go, the focus was on sympathizing with Zhou Zekai himself, and he didn't care about who the other protagonist was at all.But Zhou Zekai's glance made him take the name Sun Xiang seriously for the first time in his mind.

He secretly paid attention to his nephew's former partner.

Zhou Zekai never left Shanghai after retiring, but he promised his sister to break up with Glory, and he did what he said. Ye Mingkang admired and felt distressed, but secretly wondered that Zhou Zekai had never met Sun Xiang on any occasion.

Unexpectedly, after five years, when even he almost thought that this pair of best partners might not have a chance to meet in this life, they actually met again.

And they didn't meet a few times, and they actually lived together.

Zhou Zekai's private affairs, including the funds prepared for the e-sports project, including the company he secretly opened outside, and the customers he contacted, whether intentionally or not, kept it from almost everyone in the Ye family, but did not hide it from Ye Mingkang.

So it didn't take long for him to know about Sun Xiang living in Zhou Zekai's Lujiazui apartment.Zhou Zekai helped Sun Xiang renovate the house, and he quickly found out.

After learning all this, his first reaction was that Zhou Zekai and Sun Xiang really had no special relationship, otherwise it would be impossible for them to get along so openly and frankly.

But after meeting Sun Xiang today and observing his reaction closely, he suddenly became a little uncertain again.

...Maybe the other party didn't realize it, but when he said "I'm afraid I asked the wrong person", the young man's instant displeasure was too obvious.

4.

Dealing with Ye Mingkang made Sun Xiang feel really tormented, and he felt that time passed like a snail.In reality, less than 5 minutes had passed.

Five minutes later, a Bentley Mulsanne slowly slid up to the two of them and stopped.

"I had a good chat with Boss Sun today, but I have to go." Ye Mingkang smiled gently, took out a business card case from the inner pocket of his suit, took out a business card, and handed it to Sun Xiang.

Sun Xiang took it with both hands: "Mr. Ye is flattering you. I am also very happy. Thank you."

After watching Ye Mingkang get into the car, Sun Xiang felt relieved, turned around and was about to leave when he heard someone calling his name behind him.

He turned around.Ye Mingkang blinked after lowering half of the glass: "Business cooperation contact card. For personal matters, you must WeChat."

No, I have nothing personal to discuss with you.Sun Xiang put on a blank face and waved his hands, wishing that Ye Mingkang would disappear from his sight immediately.

5.

After Ye Mingkang left, Sun Xiang turned back to the hall and found Fang Minghua's figure among a group of people in suits and leather shoes who were chatting enthusiastically.

With his back turned to him, Fang Minghua didn't react immediately, but the person who was chatting with him quickly noticed Sun Xiang's existence.

"Xiao Sun, long time no see!" This middle-aged man is a well-known investor in the game industry. He owns several medium-sized mobile game companies and has always wanted to enter e-sports. Unfortunately, he was one step late when he invested in Mercury, so every time When they meet, they will not be discouraged and ask when they will open the C round.

Sun Xiang stepped forward to shake hands, and exchanged a few simple greetings, which were nothing more than "Come on, come on" and "Take care of me".

The other party changed the subject, and gossiped enthusiastically: "Mr. Sun and the Ye family seem to have a close relationship? We didn't know that before. Next time I have a chance to help introduce you?"

Sun Xiang paused, then unconsciously raised his hand and touched his nose: "You misunderstood. Just now the round table mentioned NFC, and we chatted a few more times. It's just a preliminary concept. I don't know if there will be a follow-up. But if you are interested, Mr. Li, can we talk about it?"

After four or two calls, Sun Xiang pushed back the words.

Later, when he and Fang Minghua sat down at a Sichuan restaurant and got a chance to communicate alone, if he used the excuse just now, it would have no effect.

"Ye family, Ye Mingkang, I know Zhou Zekai's mother's surname is Ye, why didn't I think they would have something to do with Zhou Zekai?" As soon as Fang Minghua opened his mouth, Sun Xiang picked up a chopstick silently.

For the first time, he was worried that he might have to explain his innocence to Fang Minghua.

6.

"So that's probably how it happened." Sun Xiang was extremely hungry, he finished speaking in one breath, and devoured it hungrily.

Fang Minghua was looking at Sun Xiang's mobile phone - he asked Sun Xiang for it just because he was curious about Ye Mingkang's circle of friends - his expression had a subtle and complicated expression: "Last summer, when we were struggling with our road show, he was watching penguins in Antarctica. , tsk tsk." "Hey, the Jade Buddha water head that Mrs. Ye wears is also really good."

"Don't tell me you're a boss. It's normal." Sun Xiang replied casually, and continued to fight against Garlic Fragrance.

"..." Fang Minghua put down his phone, and looked at Sun Xiang with a look of resentment, "I said, you really didn't understand what I meant?"

Sun Xiang was shocked, put down his chopsticks obediently, and asked if he didn't understand, "Brother Minghua, what do you want to say?"

Fang Minghua raised his forehead: "Do you still remember the styles of the other big guys we added?"

"What?" Sun Xiang asked.

"The circle of friends either only puts part of the content, or according to the timeline, it can be seen in half a year to three days."

"Oh yes. So... what?" Sun Xiang was not good at analyzing this kind of problem, so he still didn't turn the corner.

"So you and Ye Mingkang met for the first time because you were Zhou Zekai's former colleague, and then you can even see the intimate photos of Ye Mingkang's family gathering three years ago, and you still don't understand what it means?!" Fang Minghua almost rushed forward and shook Sun Xiang's shoulder fell.

Sun Xiang: "..." He understands, but he doesn't want to understand. Is there too much time for him to pretend he doesn't understand?

Fang Minghua glanced at him knowingly, and chuckled: "He is treating you as his own. You thought you explained it clearly, but in fact it wasn't at all, okay?"

Embarrassment is embarrassment, but Sun Xiang is a very ambitious person at heart, and he is never willing to miss any opportunity to make the company bigger and stronger.After dealing with Fang Minghua's teasing, he dragged people back to the office, and unexpectedly compiled a cooperation draft overnight and sent it to Ye Mingkang's mailbox.

"Do you want to talk to him on WeChat?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Brother Fang, don't make fun of me." Sun Xiang rubbed his temples and said tiredly, "For other customers, I can only move my fingers when I send a WeChat message. But they are so neat, it's too late for me to get rid of the relationship, How dare you."

Fang Minghua laughed loudly, patted him on the shoulder, and told him to go back and rest early.

When Sun Xiang arrived at Zhou Zekai's apartment, it was already past 1 o'clock in the morning.

He loosened his tie and collapsed on the sofa, so tired that he didn't want to move at all.

The lights in the room were not turned on, and the only light source came from the hazy moonlight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and the faint lights of tall buildings in the distance.

Sun Xiang stayed silent for a while, feeling that the room was too quiet.After thinking about it again, he realized that Zhou Zekai was always present in this room because of this point on weekdays.

...Thinking of this, Sun Xiang couldn't help pinching the center of his brows, "It's so annoying." He said to himself.

Relying on his memory, he stretched out his hand, groped for the note that Zhou Zekai left in the morning, picked it up, and read to the light:

"I'm not coming back today——Zhou Zekai"

Sun Xiang put down the note, and slowly exhaled: "It's a good thing you won't come back today."

For the first time in his life, he had this feeling of being undecided for reasons that could not be explained—if Zhou Zekai came back, he would have no idea that he couldn't help telling him about meeting Ye Mingkang, and he had no idea that he would write the book together At that time, Ye Guiren called his sister-in-law again, how would he react? He had no idea... how to face Zhou Zekai in private.

Sun Xiang rubbed his face heavily, got up from the sofa, looked at the direction of Zhou Zekai's study with his head propped up, and wailed in his heart: He obviously has no ghosts in his heart, why is it so annoying!

I don't know how long I sat there, suddenly, a series of pleasant sound effects sounded in the quiet night.

Sun Xiang raised his head, the sound stopped, he thought it was an auditory hallucination, and continued to be in a daze.

As a result, the same string of melodies sounded again, and this time it continued to sound stubbornly.

Sun Xiang was stunned for a moment, then slowly turned around and stood up.

He finally realized that this melody came from the door!

8.

The moment he opened the door, Sun Xiang was stunned.

Because of that note, at the very beginning, what Sun Xiang ruled out was the possibility of Zhou Zekai's return.

As a result, at this moment, less than one meter away, Zhou Zekai stood quietly in front of him, his cheeks were slightly flushed, his eyes were lowered, and he didn't know where he was looking.Hearing the sound of the door opening, Zhou Zekai raised his head and nodded slightly at Sun Xiang: "Good evening."

"Good evening." Sun Xiang thought to himself, his state was a bit strange, but he was indeed the real person.

"I'm sorry!" The young man in a suit and leather shoes beside Zhou Zekai half-supported Zhou Zekai's shoulders, and begged Sun Xiang, "President Zhou drank too much today, but he refused to let me send him back to the old house. I'll give you this address...it turns out..." The man obviously belonged to the kind of person who would come here, and although his eyes were filled with curiosity, he swallowed what he shouldn't have said quickly. He paused, and then continued, "You look sure Is he a good friend of Mr. Zhou? Can I... trouble you to take care of him?"

"Take care? No problem. But you, Mr. Zhou, really drank too much?" Sun Xiang looked at him suspiciously, "I think he looks normal...Zhou Zekai? Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Zhou Zekai replied calmly and quickly, "Yes. Don't stand at the door, Xiao Zhang, you can find a hotel nearby today. Let's go in."

He said the last half sentence to Sun Xiang.

Because of this, Sun Xiang became more and more sure that Zhou Zekai was not drunk at all.

"Okay then." Xiao Zhang handed Zhou Zekai's car keys to Sun Xiang, hesitantly said, "I'm leaving, anyhow, please take a closer look..."

"Okay, be safe." Sun Xiang waved his hand, turned sideways, and let Zhou Zekai in.

Perhaps because of Ye Mingkang's foreshadowing, after Sun Xiang started to be alone with Zhou Zekai again, he couldn't help becoming nervous.In terms of actions, he was embarrassed to look at Zhou Zekai, and walked into the room with his back turned to the person, speaking more and faster: "Although you feel that you are in a normal state, since all your subordinates are like this Having said that, I'll cook you a hangover soup, how much did you drink? White or yellow? Have you eaten yet? It's not easy to order some noodles..."

Before he could say the word "stomach injury", Sun Xiang's back was suddenly hit by something warm, and immediately after that, the heat left quickly, but his right arm was clenched tightly.

"Zhou Zekai?" Sun Xiang turned around reflexively, his nose suddenly hurt.

Under the force of the impact, he staggered back two steps, the porch shook, and several unknown things rolled to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Sun Xiang was not angry, only surprised.

But the instigator stood quietly in the darkness without saying a word, as if he had fallen asleep completely.

Sun Xiang finally realized what was wrong.

Zhou Zekai was indeed drunk.So when he asked himself, Zhou Zekai didn't respond.

He was under the light in the corridor before, all his actions were very normal, and he was able to command his subordinates normally, but his subordinates were worried from the beginning to the end, which shows that Zhou Zekai usually has a strong willpower to deal with drunkenness, including controlling behavior and maintaining basic rationality etc.

After entering the house, there is no need to be tense, the spirit is relaxed, and the response to my own inquiries is slow, which makes sense.

But there is one thing that doesn't make sense: Why does Zhou Zekai seem to be walking with his eyes closed at this moment, neither seeing his own existence nor the obstacles around him?

etc!The lights in the hallway...after entering the house...

A guess floated in Sun Xiang's mind.

In the next second, he reached out and "snapped" to turn on the light.

Light instantly enveloped the entire space.

"Sun...Xiang?" Zhou Zekai seemed to realize at this moment whose arm he was grasping so hard just now, and let go quickly and nervously, "Why are you here? No, why am I here?"

"You drank too much, colleagues sent here." Sun Xiang answered him.

Zhou Zekai stood still for a while, not knowing what he was thinking, then he moved slowly, supported the cabinet, took off his leather shoes, took a pair of slippers and put them on without any mistakes.

Sun Xiang stared at his movements the whole time, and now he has come to a conclusion.

"You have night blindness?"

The moment he blurted out, he felt a stuffy feeling in his chest.Sun Xiang didn't know that this strange feeling might be called pity, or it might be more appropriate to describe it as distressed.

TBC