【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

Sun Xiang and Fang Minghua chatted all the way to the underground garage, when suddenly a flash light came on.

Sun Xiang subconsciously stood in front: "Who?"

"Hi, I, Lao Yang!" The glass of GL8 next door slowly lowered, revealing a familiar face.The other party held up the bill and pointed at them, "Seeing that you are so focused on chatting, there is no way to say hello."

Lao Yang was born in Shanghai Evening News. He is an old reporter who has been with Esports for many years.But Sun Xiang was an exception - they chatted well and often met for dinner in private.

Of course, Sun Xiang wasn't that stupid - the post-match press conference ended half an hour ago.The other party appeared here for no reason, not just to say hello.

Sun Xiang and Fang Minghua glanced at each other, stepped forward, and cut straight to the point: "What's the matter?"

Lao Yang blinked slyly: "Smart. There are still a lot of paparazzi squatting outside. I'll find someone to stop them. Please eat next time."

"No problem. You choose the location." Sun Xiang answered straightforwardly, "But you won't tell me the truth? What's the situation?"

This time Yang Ji was surprised: "You still don't know? Toutiao, you and Zhou Zekai are on the Toutiao! Oh yes, who is Zhou Zekai? Why isn't he with you?"

2.

Sun Xiang really didn't know.He has been busy with business just now, so he doesn't have time to check Weibo.

Lao Yang handed him the phone: "Here, look for yourself."

He and Fang Minghua stared at the video for a full 2 ​​minutes.

"Hey, what's the matter, you two won't have a real talk, right?" Yang Ji looked at him and then at Fang Minghua with an inquiring expression, not wanting to miss any suspicious reaction.

To his disappointment, both of them seemed to be in a daze.

"Sick to death." Sun Xiang returned the phone, with a calm expression, not pretending, "Just this video? Why don't you just sit next door and watch a game? It's normal for friends to watch a game together, it's just inexplicable!"

"That's right." Seeing Sun Xiang's reaction, Yang Ji was not reconciled.He rolled his eyes, "But my brother is not interesting, the secrecy work is so good. Even if there is no scandal, I am very interested in Zhou Zekai's material. Why did he go after he retired? Did he fall in love? What is his family background? ? Where is the high school now? How about it, how about building a bridge and getting to know each other?"

"Stop, stop, stop—" Sun Xiang, one head and two big, was so worried about Zhou Zekai that he had no energy to deal with him. He coughed and said, "Old Yang, I don't know anything like you. You can ask later." If he agrees, I will give you the contact information again?"

With Sun Xiang's words, Yang Ji accepted it when he saw it was good, and pointed to the back: "Okay! Then I won't keep you today. I will come out through Exit D later, and there is no one blocking it."

Sure enough, port D was quiet.They got rid of the paparazzi's siege and got on the elevated road smoothly.Despite this, Fang Minghua's worries have not diminished in the slightest.He was scrolling through Weibo in the passenger seat, his eyebrows furrowed tighter and tighter.

"Not right."

"What? Are you worried that Lao Yang will blow my mind? It doesn't matter what happened just now."

"It's not his business. How do you say, every time you two were hot searched before, it would be removed soon. It's almost three hours today, and it's still hanging up. It's strange."

When he said this, he directly brought up the bad premonition in Sun Xiang's heart.

"It's strange...I'll ask Zhou Zekai tonight." He was inexplicably irritable, and after thinking about it, he told Fang Minghua like this.

3.

The words are divided into two parts.

The glory forum server exploded three times in a row tonight.Even at this moment, the operation and maintenance personnel are still working overtime while chanting the names of Sun Xiang and Zhou Zekai.

It turned out that Sun Xiang had guessed it inadvertently—Lao Yang was a man with a lot of eyes, and when he saw Sun Xiang and Fang Minghua, he secretly turned on the recording.Rumor?fine.That is also an exclusive material!No, he turned around and threw the audio on his personal public account, and then he posted it on the Glory Forum.

The water area is bustling.Immediately, several technical geeks came to do voiceprint analysis.Conclusion, 100% Sun Xiang himself.

Sun Xiang would not lie, and if he lied, he would definitely be exposed.Regarding this point, over the years, not only his fans have been aware of it, but even the fans of other fans and Chigualu in the forum have probably heard about it.

The twists and turns of the plot once again made people fall into disbelief—could it be that Sun Xiangzhen and Zhou Zekai have no special relationship?

No.The melon that was picked up with great difficulty, how could it be put down so easily!Hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the Glory Forum, everyone is like a great detective with a microscope in his hand.For a while, except for a few dazed girls who said "Qiaoqiu, you must be real, don't break my heart again", more people chose to look back at the past and the previous intersection of Shenba, Trying to find clues and speak with evidence.

There are so many people and so much power, it actually made everyone dig out a few valuable things from the old materials——

For example, when Zhou Zekai retired, Sun Xiang turned his face away and secretly wiped away tears.

If Sun Xiang knew about it, he would definitely cry out for being wronged, saying that he just expressed his feelings at that time.But the current situation is special, this paragraph is enough...

Using the audio as the introduction, and the old tear-wiping gif as the ingredient, the keyword #我们是朋友# successfully became a hot topic on Weibo.

After Sun Xiang found out, he was completely speechless.First, he sent three angry emojis to Lao Yang, and then returned a grin on the other side.

Sun Xiang turned to find Fang Minghua: "Damn, why are you so boring!"

"Who told you to wipe it. Smile.jpg" Fang Minghua replied, "But don't worry too much, since you two are really nothing, after two days when a new hot spot comes out, no one will care about it."

4.

Fang Minghua's comfort was reasonable, but Sun Xiang lost the desire to continue chatting for some reason.He remembered that Zhou Zekai was going back to the apartment at night, so he simply started the game and waited for him while brushing the copy.

Coincidentally, Ye Guiren was online and quickly came to hug her thigh.Sun Xiang added him into the dungeon, but who knows, even this extremely dull guy chatted with him about "Glory's biggest gossip" with great interest, it was almost unavoidable.

Sun Xiang was extremely annoyed and laughed angrily.He asked Ye Guiren: "So do you think there is something wrong with them?"

"emmmmmmmmmm," Ye Guiren fell into serious thought, "Actually, I think the content of the video is normal!"

He followed up with an example. He used to watch the game with He Xi, "The stadium is so noisy, you can't hear us talking normally, and our innocent brothers have to yell at each other's ears."

"Exactly!" Sun Xiang typed on the keyboard indignantly, "If you are a person, you have to stick to it!"

"I don't understand!" Ye Guiren was good at reflex arcs, and only then did he recall, "Why do you slander my idol like this! You can't say they are gay just because they are both handsome! Can't there be normal friendship between handsome guys?!"

Sun Xiang almost sprayed the screen with a sip of Coke.

Being teased by Ye Guiren, coupled with the flattery of hitting him by mistake, he laughed for a long time, his abdominal muscles ached, and his mood really changed immediately.

It was almost eleven o'clock after finishing the book, and Sun Xiang rushed him to do his homework.The other party first agreed, and before going offline, he suddenly couldn't help poking Sun Xiang: Brother.

Sun Xiang:? ? ?

Ye Guiren: Well, did you quarrel with your sister-in-law?

what the hell!

The corner of Sun Xiang's mouth twitched, and he planned to answer in a timely manner: Yes, I went back to my mother's house to quarrel with my mother-in-law!

As a result, halfway through typing, his mood sank to the bottom for no reason - he was just affected by it, so irritable, if Zhou Zekai had just answered Ye Wanyi's call, who knows how bad and broken he would feel.

"...Kids, don't worry about it so much." After replying, he logged off in seconds and exited the game in seconds.

Facing the client interface, Sun Xiang sat blankly for a long time, feeling at a loss in his heart.

He thought, why Zhou Zekai hasn't come back yet.

5.

The dead of night is suitable for introspection.

Sun Xiang's thinking gears turned slowly.He wondered how this sudden carnival happened.

He inevitably traced back to Ye Mingkang's previous "misunderstanding", not only that, but also Fang Minghua's and Ye Wanyi's, and then he couldn't help feeling that he was implicated as well, Zhou Zekai was really not ordinary.

Just because you like Glory, love e-sports, just because of such a simple thing?Why did Zhou Zekai have to work harder and endure more pain than ordinary people from the past, to the present, and even in the future?

Retired early due to coercion by family; casually interacting with ex-teammates and being misunderstood as gay; working in a related industry has to be sneaky like an underground party...

He even seriously suspected that the dispute between Zhou Zekai and his family on his birthday was absolutely inseparable from Glory!

So why?

Zhou Zekai is obviously such an excellent player, but if he just wants to touch something he likes again, is it the original sin?

The most damning thing is that even so, Zhou Zekai is still unwilling to let himself share the pressure.

"It's okay." "It's okay." "I'm okay." He always perfunctory himself like this.

It's okay your sister!

The more Sun Xiang thought about it, the more angry he became, he thumped the sofa heavily.

At this moment, there was a sudden movement at the entrance.

Sun Xiang was taken aback, then raised his head: "Zhou Zekai?"

"Haven't slept yet?" The protagonist, who was worried and angry, was walking towards him at the moment.His figure was reflected in a pair of dark eyes with concern.

"...Zhou Zekai, I've thought about it. I can't just sit idly by this time." Sun Xiang clenched his fist secretly, as if he had made some kind of decision, "I'll make a statement right now!"

"Statement?" Zhou Zekai hung up his coat, turned around and looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes," Sun Xiang replied seriously, "to clarify that you and I have never had any relationship other than friends!"

6.

A second ago, Sun Xiang was expecting that Zhou Zekai would be very happy.

Who would have expected that after hearing his speech, Zhou Zekai's eyes suddenly became very strange.He stood there, looking at himself without blinking, and didn't express a word of opinion for a long time.

The air seemed to freeze gradually.

"What's the matter, talk?" Sun Xiang was extremely uncomfortable with this situation.

"Why, um, do you want to clarify?" Zhou Zekai's eyes flickered, something like anticipation flashed across his eyes.

The question was simple, but Sun Xiang hesitated like never before.Although he didn't know why, he just had an intuition that Zhou Zekai would be angry if he didn't answer well.

He opened his mouth and hesitated, "Because I don't want...they misunderstand you?"

"Misunderstanding that I like men?"

"En!" Sun Xiang thought he got the answer right, and nodded his head in relief.

However, he soon realized that this was not the case - the light in Zhou Zekai's eyes twitched for a moment, and suddenly dimmed, replaced by a deep sense of exhaustion.

Sun Xiang wanted to say something, but Zhou Zekai raised his hand to stop him.

"It's okay," the latter sighed softly, curling up his lips, but he didn't seem to be smiling at all, "No need to make a statement."

The exact same "it's okay", still came from Zhou Zekai's mouth, still with a bright prevarication.Sun Xiang thought he would be angry, but in fact, he wasn't.

He only felt a wave of intense panic rushing over like a wave, slapping his chest frantically.

At this moment, he was at a loss.He couldn't figure out which link had a bug.I don't understand why after hearing his proposal, Zhou Zekai would act so flat, so...not happy?

He got up in a daze and almost hit the coffee table.He felt like a child looking through an encyclopedia for the first time. The world is only question marks: "That...no, not...why?"

On a normal day, he would have asked questions like this, it was impossible for Zhou Zekai not to answer his questions.

Unfortunately, tonight is destined to be special, wrong, and full of chaos.

Zhou Zekai raised his lips again, as if smiling, but his eyes were deep and cold, piercing him calmly and directly.

"Good night, go to bed early."

7.

When he woke up the next day, everything that happened last night gradually returned to his mind, and Sun Xiang couldn't help but stare blankly in place for a long time.

Although he couldn't figure out the reason, he could accurately feel that the atmosphere between the two of them had suddenly changed since Zhou Zekai coldly said "go to bed early" last night - if he wanted to describe it in more detail, it was as if someone hadn't It was as if the progress bar was being dragged backwards without warning—from being familiar and intimate to being unfamiliar and polite.

Obviously it shouldn't be like this!what happened?

Throughout the day, during breaks between work, exercise, meals, and transportation, Sun Xiang kept thinking about why.

Obviously before this, the relationship between him and Zhou Zekai had entered an extremely comfortable state with blurred boundaries——

Their getting along is like mixing two liquids that can blend infinitely, they are always so compatible, there is no so-called solubility problem.

He clearly remembered Zhou Zekai's second business trip to Chongqing, and he took the initiative to ask him to bring food, and he didn't feel embarrassed at all.

Even if he was chatting with his friends later, it was too much to be complained about by the other party for such a "human flesh express", and it is obvious that he can send it directly to SF Express, so why bother Zhou Zekai.His first reaction was also to refute with confidence, saying that Zhou Zekai and I are not in a normal relationship that requires favoritism.

The air in winter is always so cold, every inch of skin that is exposed can't wait to find warmth.They often go out together, but since that night on Changle Road, Sun Xiang has become used to not carrying a scarf.His reason was that it was too hot to go out around, and it would be troublesome to take it off halfway, and the best solution was to borrow the one that Zhou Zekai had already warmed up when it was cold—telling this to other friends would definitely be criticized. Only Zhou Zekai could bear him, and he was willing to let him go with just one look.

When the weather is fine, the golden veil of sunlight will scratch his hair and eyelashes, and finally lay down where his cheek meets the fluff of the scarf.Zhou Zekai's scarf was soft and wide, warm and fluffy in the sun, Sun Xiang loved the texture so much, he secretly turned his head to rub it from time to time.Sometimes the fluff accidentally got into his nose and made him sneeze.Zhou Zekai heard it, stopped in his tracks, and turned around to help him tuck him in.But he half-closed his eyes, enjoying the conniving service of the other party very calmly.

Occasionally he has the urge to take pictures.Because the crimson sunset was reflected on the top of Zhou Zekai's hair, it made him feel like a painting.

Then he took a good one and took a bad one like a prank, and sent the latter one to the other party, in exchange for Zhou Zekai looking at him with a headache, he felt happy and never tired of it.

Sometimes they have too much supper and are full, so they will go downstairs to digest food.Shanghai is not always sunny, on rainy and snowy days, he is still so unceremoniously wrapped in Zhou Zekai's scarf.And the owner of the scarf, Zhou Zekai, was walking next to him.The moonlight leaked from the branches and shone on the path, showing a thin layer of water, which would reflect a shiny silver gray, like a mirror.He saw himself and Zhou Zekai in it, and felt that the time was leisurely and long.

He truly believed that there was no friend in the world who was more comfortable and connected with each other than Zhou Zekai.

Even slicing roasted pig's trotters, you cut each other, without any discussion, they can accurately save the next bite of the most desired part of the other party.

Yes... We are already so familiar, and it is not too much to say that he is a "confidant" from the bottom of our hearts. Apart from his parents, he is the closest to me. Why did he suddenly become like this just because he proposed to "clarify" up?

8.

Sun Xiang felt that he couldn't wait any longer.Although he still didn't understand what the clarification had to do with Zhou Zekai's anger.

Zhou Zekai's behavior in the next few days was extremely normal, and he even came over to help him turn off the lights before going to bed.But all the signs are confirming Sun Xiang's previous feeling - this guy's attitude towards him is no longer relaxed and casual.

He stayed up for two days, until the heat of the topic dissipated, Zhou Zekai remained the same.

Suddenly, he realized that he was like a boy who had just quarreled with his friends when he was a student. He had no patience to wait for things to improve naturally. He became more and more anxious, and it took double effort to concentrate on doing anything.

Finally, before Zhou Zekai went out on the third morning, Sun Xiang directly stopped him: "When will you be back at night? I have something to ask you."

In the end, Zhou Zekai replied with five words: Not necessarily, work overtime.

Sun Xiang choked on a mouthful of blood, and had no choice but to watch Zhou Zekai bypass him, close the door, and leave.

He wasn't the kind of character who could wrong him for too long. Just when a friend sent a message saying that he was broken in love and asked Sun Xiang to accompany him for a drink, he sent Zhou Zekai a message that he would not go home all night.

At this time, Zhou Zekai responded quickly as usual: "Address?"

Sun Xiang understood in seconds that he was worried about driving and planned to pick him up, so he should be happy.But at the moment he is angry, he said to you that you ignored me before, but now he is anxious to act as a good roommate, is it interesting?

He wanted to save face, but he didn't want to follow Zhou Zekai's wish: "You add your class and don't worry about me."

9.

It was a quarter past ten in the evening.Or a bar on Changle Road.

Downstairs, crowds of monsters danced wildly, while upstairs, Sun Xiang huddled in the corner of the sofa, with a complicated expression on his face.

He fell into infinite regret—it was definitely because he took the wrong medicine that he agreed to "borrow his sorrows with wine" together with this guy.

Bullshit lovelorn, bullshit in a trance, he was chatting passionately with the young girl who had just struck up a conversation, and occasionally remembered that he was silently eating shredded squid beside him, and all the words he threw were incomparably flattering.

"Brother Xiang, you just sit here and drink, aren't you bored?"

"How about, hey, I'll find you a girl?"

"Come on~ Pretentious~ Anyway, I have~ a lot of time~"

"I'm bah," it wasn't enough to say it a dozen or twenty times, and he sang instead. Sun Xiang couldn't help it, grabbed his phone and got up, "If you're so annoying, I'll go back now!"

"Don't, don't, brother, I was wrong," the friend regained consciousness, rushed over and hugged his thigh, and flattered him, "Sister, hiccup, those are all floating clouds, only brothers are the most reliable!"

Sun Xiang had goosebumps all over his body, and he pushed people away with disgust: "Goofy, I don't like men."

"But you don't like women either." Drunkards are the most unreasonable existences in the world.

"That's because I don't have time to date!" Sun Xiang sat back in his original seat.

"Sun Xiang!" The guy suddenly looked very serious, as if he was not drunk at all, "You are lying!"

"Huh?" Sun Xiang was confused.

"You, you go ask in the circle, everyone knows, and they all say behind your back that you have a fucking relationship! It's well hidden, but baby, everyone is curious, but no one has seen the true face of Mount Lu!" said the friend. After finishing, he hiccupped, "No one! No one has seen it before. What a fairy, worrying about us falling in love with you? It's not interesting!"

This is the first time Sun Xiang heard about it, and he was dumbfounded: "No... you all have delusions, I'm so busy every day that I can't breathe, where did I find someone? You found me?"

"Come on!" The friend glared, and the cup hit the table heavily, "Hypocrisy!"

"What and what?" Sun Xiang didn't bother to talk to the drunk.

But the drunk got excited, and maybe he finally caught the opportunity to complain about Sun Xiang, and he refused to let him go no matter what.

The man hugged the girl next to him, and snorted disdainfully, "Beauty~ Let me tell you, my brother can't even act, so I'll count it for you."

"Okay." The girl also giggled while holding the wine.

After having an audience, he became more energetic, and he really counted all kinds of evidences for Sun Xiang's "golden house hidden beauty" decently with his fingers.

"For example, ah, everyone went out to have a meal. Within an hour, this guy must have touched his phone. He either sent a message or sent a voice message to someone. What did he say, oh, I will go back at night."

"I used to go to other places to do an errand. At the airport, I hated us buying gifts for my wife and girlfriend. Later, I heard that a certain person always picks out souvenirs every time. He is so energetic. Tsk tsk, you have never seen it before. It is better than anyone else. serious!."

"Also, when we went back to the studio of a designer friend of ours, he saw a watch, but he didn't just ask for it. He, he, he took pictures, hahahahahaha, take pictures! He also sent WeChat after the shoot, you said Which single man wants to take photos and send WeChat messages before buying things? Hahahahahahaha! This is no match?! Hahahaha—”

……

The other party counted them one by one, and the more they counted, the more guilty Sun Xiang felt.

He still had the desire to refute at first, and Zhou Zekai, who refuted the other party, did the same.So he didn't see any problem at all.

But helplessly, the other party's logic was very clear, and the arguments were very sufficient. The other party only intended to prove one thing - since a certain day, another person had obviously participated in Sun Xiang's life, and the involvement was extremely close.And this kind of participation mode is almost exactly the same as "having a girlfriend" in the general perception of the public.

So he didn't say anything in the end, just listened in a daze, and when the words came to his lips, he slowly swallowed them back due to lack of confidence.

So Zhou Zekai has penetrated to this extent in his own life?

In the future, when Zhou Zekai has a real girlfriend, will he treat her like this?

Will remember the start time of each trip of the other party;

Will come to pick up people because they are worried about getting drunk;

Will introduce their hobbies to each other;

Will remember each other's preferences and share suggestions with each other before purchasing;

I will help dry my hair, remind me to take medicine, learn to cook and make a terrible mashed potato... I will come over before going to bed to help tuck the corners of the bed and turn off the lights, and then gently say good night.

This kind of life that Zhou Zekai cared for and took care of in all aspects... Will it end one day?

Sun Xiang was taken aback by the conclusion he had just reached, his complexion suddenly turned dark, and he stood up from the sofa abruptly, his movements were so violent that he knocked over several wine bottles.

The wine bottle fell to the ground, alarming the drunk friends.

"What's the matter?" The friend hugged the cup and hugged the girl, a little out of order, "Drink too much?"

"...Yes," Sun Xiang paused, "I drank too much, go to the bathroom."

He was in a panic like never before, almost rushing into the bathroom at the speed of escape.

It must be that the infield was too noisy, which affected my judgment.Just wash your face.he thought naively.

As a result, when the cold water splashed on his face and dripped down his jaw all the way into his neckline, he still couldn't get out of the panic and daze.

Even worse.

Compared to someone whispering "You have a partner" just now, at this moment, the quiet air in the bathroom scares him more——

He found that he was not disturbed and forced to think of Zhou Zekai at all.

He seems to have been an empty bottle of wine long ago, and now all the drunkenness inside comes from the appreciation and nostalgia for Zhou Zekai that has been filled unconsciously.

Even wiping the wet bangs, I can still think of the fingers that the guy brushed the broken hair next to my ear when he was helping with the hair dryer.

He turned on the faucet, turned it all the way, and started splashing himself again, using this clumsy method to calm himself down, but of course it didn't work.

He started thinking about the people he was going to meet tomorrow, the work he was going to talk about, the emails he was going to answer.

He even struggled to recall highlights from Mercury's last game.

But no matter what I do, it seems to be in vain——

The train of thought is like a circle of Mobius, no matter how many circles it goes around, it will eventually return to the word "Zhou Zekai".

Zhou Zekai is good at everything, everything suits him, and it seems that he has no problem being suspected of being his partner.

wrong.Think of something else, Sun Xiang!

Zhou Zekai's appearance perfectly fits his own aesthetics, everyone is willing to find a good-looking partner to spend their whole life with, isn't it?

Grass, stop stop!

Zhou Zekai is terrible at cooking, and the next job is as thrilling as burning a house, but anyway, he knows how to cook, no matter how bad he is, he can order takeout, so it seems that he can make do with it.

……Ruined!

How could he be like this!

Can't think about anything else!

Only Zhou Zekai, Zhou Zekai, Zhou Zekai!

Sun Xiang was going crazy. He had an illusion that if he continued to think about it, he might really want to call the other party right now.

Fortunately, at least for him, at this moment, the door of the bathroom suddenly slammed, and three men reeking of alcohol staggered in, and treated him very rudely. Roar: "Why is there someone here—?"

The anger of being provoked finally interrupted Sun Xiang's uncontrollable thoughts.

He took a deep breath and ordered himself to calm down.After bypassing the three drunks, Sun Xiang rushed out of the bar through the back door without looking back.

Just get some sleep.

After sending the message to his friend, while waiting for the substitute driver, he shivered in the cold wind, forcing himself not to think about the fact that Zhou Zekai's scarf was not available.

Facts have proved that blowing cold air is more effective than washing your face with cold water.

When Sun Xiang got home, Zhou Zekai hadn't come back yet, so he was very upset.The only fortunate thing is that my head is already dizzy enough, so dizzy that I can fall asleep if I touch the bed.

He moved to the side of the bed, and he had no memory of how he took off his coat. In short, he seemed to have touched the quilt, so he hugged it and lay down.

His last thought was: Fuck Zhou Zekai, Zhou Zekai, Zhou Zekai, I won't care about that bastard anymore when I wake up!

As everyone knows, the subconscious light left at the entrance is his instinct and true thoughts.

TBC