【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

Back to the morning, the 32nd floor of Hongyuan Building.

The door of the exclusive meeting room for the board of directors was ajar, and it was a quarter of an hour before the meeting started.Ye Mingkang stepped out of the elevator, and saw Ye Wanyi and Zhou Zekai in the distance.

Some aspects of the two mother and son are really carved out of the same mold-for example, they are always good at hiding their emotions in public.Ye Wanyi looped her arms gracefully, while Zhou Zekai looked at her calmly, occasionally nodding slowly and unhurriedly, completely in a working and communicating atmosphere.

Unfortunately, this is just an appearance.Ye Mingkang could guess with his toes that Ye Wanyi must be "pointing up" Zhou Zekai again, and the theme was nothing more than those things--going to meet the so-called "good" girl who is "well-matched", how to behave positively in front of Ye Hongyuan —It's sad, isn't it?Obviously blood is the closest, except for these, Ye Mingkang can't imagine what else she can communicate with Zhou Zekai.

At this time, Ye Wanyi said something, and Zhou Zekai shook his head resolutely.Ye Wanyi's expression froze, the temperature in her smile dropped, her mouth shape seemed to say whatever you want.

Zhou Zekai nodded with a graceful smile and said: Yes.

Ye Wanyi turned around with a cold face, not paying attention to Ye Mingkang's existence, and stepped into the meeting room first with high heels.

Ye Mingkang walked over in two steps and patted him on the shoulder: In a good mood?

Zhou Zekai turned his head, and the perfunctory smile from the last second was a bit more realistic: so-so.

Ye Mingkang had a guess in his mind: Could it be that you and Sun Xiang——?

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Zekai quickly admitted: Yes.

Ye Mingkang: ...

There's a world of difference in the impact of being personally confirmed versus just guessing.He caught Zhou Zekai's slightly rising ending, and felt particularly sad - at this moment, Zhou Zekai remembered that he was an elder, and hinted in a childish way that he should say congratulations.

He has mixed feelings: Congratulations.

A smile appeared in Zhou Zekai's eyes: Thank you uncle.

Ye Mingkang was taken aback by this smile.

He keenly felt that the shell that had been covering Zhou Zekai before had been softened by something magical.It seems as if you can just move your fingers and it will peel off effortlessly.

Whose credit is this?The answer is self-evident.

Ye Mingkang took a deep breath and let it out slowly.He is used to calming down in this way.

He wanted to be happy for Zhou Zekai, but couldn't stop worrying.Talking to Sun Xiang in Tokyo before Christmas, he has basically accepted the possibility that Zhou Zekai will be with his former teammate.But things progressed so quickly, beyond his expectation.After all, this kind of thing is very important to their family. If it is made public, he is more worried that someone else will take the opportunity to add insult to injury and affect Zhou Zekai to do what he wants to do, rather than worrying about the old man's thunderous anger.

But right now is definitely not a good time to communicate. He looked at Zhou Zekai, and was about to say something, when a voice of conversation came from around the corner.

"Damn, the old man is here." Ye Mingkang hurriedly dragged Zhou Zekai into the conference room, and lowered his voice when he opened the door, "You really know how to pick the time to surprise me."

2.

Ye Mingkang was absent-minded several times, because he found that Zhou Zekai, who had never touched his phone in a meeting before, was replying to WeChat for the first time.

Shocked and curious, he couldn't help staring in Zhou Zekai's direction for a few more seconds, but Zhou Zekai was not found, but he was caught by the old man.

"Mingkang will report on the progress of the 157 plot project."

What? Plot 157?Hasn't Zhou Zekai been doing this investment integration all along?And he doesn't want to get in touch with this right away. This is one of Zhou Zekai's most convenient projects in the group. If he really takes it away, there will only be various fringe businesses left, which means that Zhou Zekai has completely separated from the core business of the group. .

Ye Mingkang cast his eyes on Zhou Zekai in a daze.

Zhou Zekai hinted: "When we talked last week, Mr. Kang was present."

Depend on!Ye Mingkang remembered.

Last week, the old man did mention whether he should take over.But because of the above concerns, he dealt with it vaguely at the time, saying that he would cooperate with Ze Kai first to see, why did it suddenly become a formal handover?

Perhaps dissatisfied with his hesitation, the superior Ye Hongyuan said flatly: "Mingkang."

Normally, when this kind of ambiguity occurs, he just needs to say "look at my memory" and smooth things over.But at the moment Ye Mingkang is preoccupied with whether this matter has anything to do with Zhou Zekai's love, whether Zhou Zekai has come out to the old man, and so on. When he was distracted, he made a low-level mistake.

"Dad, the handover is not yet clear..."

Ye Hongyuan was on the left, and the financial executive who had been friends with Lisa coughed quickly.

Immediately afterwards, all the different eyes in the meeting room swept towards him.

Especially the look in Ye Wanyi's eyes, it is simply...unspeakable.

"Stay here later." Ye Hongyuan said displeased.

Ye Mingkang later realized that he was being used by Zhou Zekai. He was angry and wanted to laugh. When the topic changed, he mouthed to Zhou Zekai, "Wait for me."

3.

Ye Mingkang was scolded by his father for a quarter of an hour, but he didn't get out of the way, and he did a lot of work, and there seemed to be no room for change in the handover of the 157 project.

He was very depressed, and after entering Zhou Zekai's office, he closed the door and said angrily, "You didn't even discuss what you had planned a long time ago?"

"Anyway, you won't agree." Zhou Zekai happily turned his pen around.

Ye Mingkang choked, unable to refute: "Damn!"

After thinking about it, he asked again: "The old man is so anxious, it's unscientific, where did you get the news in advance?"

Zhou Zekai said frankly: "No. Reasonable speculation."

"What is reasonable speculation?" Ye Mingkang stared at him, "Wait a minute! You... came out with him?"

"Almost." Zhou Zekai nodded briskly, as if what he admitted was not a big deal at all.

"...You," Ye Mingkang almost spat out a mouthful of blood, "I'm so mad! No, no matter what, in order to appease my uncle's wounded heart from being tricked, you are a treat tonight!"

"I don't have time tonight." Zhou Zekai refused simply, "Noon."

Ye Mingkang hated himself for being too smart: "A man's career is the most important thing, so it is necessary to stick together right after falling in love?"

Zhou Zekai said confidently, "It's just going home."

"How do you know he doesn't work overtime? Working overtime at the end of the year is the norm!" Ye Mingkang was not so much struggling as purely unhappy, wanting to hate everything.

"Well, he's going to Kunshan today." Zhou Zekai said.

Just as Ye Mingkang showed half a smug smile, Zhou Zekai added the second half of the sentence: "But I will definitely come back at night."

Ye Mingkang hehe: "Kunshan? Isn't it just about the peripherals? I know more or less about Sun Xiang's business. It's all hard money. It may not be possible to run the factory in a day."

"Indeed." Zhou Zekai nodded, "But he won't."

"Where did you get the confidence?" This is already a bickering at the elementary school level.

Zhou Zekai still cooperated: "I don't know. Intuition."

Ye Mingkang slapped the table angrily: "Lunch is lunch, I'm hungry, can I go?!"

4.

It was still the same English restaurant, Ye Mingkang's anger came and went quickly, not to mention he understood Zhou Zekai's difficulties.After calming down, he raised his concerns with Zhou Zekai while cutting the freshly baked puff pastry.

"My mother doesn't need to say, hey, I'm more worried about your queen mother." He complained about his elder sister who was always very direct, "Once this woman is provoked, I can't guarantee what she will do, don't you worry about Sun Xiang? "

"Well... I'm too anxious." Zhou Zekai's expression froze, he didn't dare to tell Ye Mingkang that he actually came out to Ye Hongyuan earlier, "Sorry, I made you worry."

"You... hey, forget it!" Ye Mingkang patted him on the shoulder.

It was rare for him to see this side of Zhou Zekai - no longer doing everything perfectly, unable to grasp the degree of balance between reason and emotion, so he showed weakness to himself.

Ye Mingkang was heartbroken by being stuffed with dog food, and his heart was inevitably softened.

There was no way, he felt that he had plotted against his nephew earlier, and he had always felt that he owed Zhou Zekai, and he wanted to find opportunities to make up for it, hoping that the other party would not go well.

"Kaikai," he thought for a while, and revealed to him that he could exchange another piece of business with Zhou Zekai.

"No need." Zhou Zekai shook his head, "If others are interested, I'll let it go." It's a market-related business, and the old man doesn't care much on the surface, but it doesn't mean he doesn't care.If it were Zhou Zekai who took over, Ye Wanyi would definitely push him to the head of the bar again, fighting and grabbing.

"I know what you are worried about, but..." Ye Mingkang insisted unexpectedly, "Inside information, the old man will announce a strategic adjustment at next year's shareholders' meeting and cut this business out."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Zekai's eyes lit up, "I can use it—"

"Think about it yourself!" Ye Mingkang blinked and smiled mysteriously, "And that's just one of the reasons."

"Second?"

"Secondly," Ye Mingkang put it off, "The matter you asked me to inquire about last time has a result!"

"What?" Zhou Zekai leaned forward involuntarily, showing a rare nervous expression, "How is it?"

Ye Mingkang thought about what it was related to, and he was filled with emotion: "The answer is, yes."

Zhou Zekai's eyes lit up suddenly, and for a moment, Ye Mingkang almost thought that he would stand up excitedly.

But he didn't.He lowered his head and stroked the cup, his fingers trembling slightly.

After being silent for about three to five seconds, Zhou Zekai raised his eyes: "Since this is the case, if you don't give it, I will speak up."

Ye Mingkang shook his head helplessly: "I didn't expect you to be so obsessed."

Zhou Zekai didn't answer, just smiled calmly: "Thank you, uncle."

Ye Mingkang rubbed his nose, unexpectedly sore, and snorted: "Come on, who are we with whom?"

This was the long-lost good atmosphere between them. Ye Mingkang was full of emotions and wanted to talk a little more.As a result, just one second before he spoke, Zhou Zekai's phone vibrated.

"..." Ye Mingkang wanted to pretend he couldn't see Sun Xiang, but he couldn't do it, "You go back first."

After answering, Ye Mingkang coughed, and the phone vibrated again.

Zhou Zekai looked at him.Ye Mingkang made a gesture of surrender: "Come back."

For a while, Zhou Zekai simply didn't put down his phone.

Ye Mingkang changed from being busy with leisure to digging for mashed potatoes.

Zhou Zekai finally put down the phone, and smiled sullenly when he saw this: "What?"

Ye Mingkang said blankly, I just read an article and counted the most abhorrent behaviors at dinner parties, TOP1 is called the mobile phone party.

"I see." Zhou Zekai responded quickly, "I'm not going back."

It's just his gaze, no matter how you look at it, there is an indescribable grievance and innocence.

Ye Mingkang was defeated: Cough, cough cough - you answer yours!Am I embarrassed to disturb other people's love? !

Zhou Zekai immediately picked up the phone, like a baby: OK.

Ye Mingkang almost became No.1 who was choked to death by mashed potatoes, he coughed violently, and didn't even have the strength to roll his eyes: Don't show your love to me, I don't bother to care about you!

After a few minutes, he probed his head unconsciously: "What's there to talk about?"

Zhou Zekai showed him openly.

Ye Mingkang saw the two discussing when to meet at night, and his tone was serious as if he was asking a client, so he laughed: Seeing that you are inexperienced, is it the same as talking about business when you are in love?

Zhou Zekai looked at him thirsty for knowledge.

Ye Mingkang was proud at once: Add one more emoji, won't you?There will always be emoticons!

Zhou Zekai nodded very teachably.

After a while, Sun Xiang received a new message from Zhou Zekai.

"Zhou Zekai: About eleven o'clock. Penguin paddling happily.jpg"

Sun Xiang was stunned.This is Zhou Zekai himself?

Before Sun Xiang asked.A new one was sent over there: ps Someone asked for a note, directed by Ye Mingkang

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Sun Xiang laughed so hard that he almost fainted.

Fang Minghua looked at him suspiciously: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Sun Xiang wiped away Xiaofei's tears, "It's so good to be in love. I regret it, why didn't I feel it earlier, so I could have pierced the window paper earlier?"

While muttering, he replied, come on, Penguin.jpg

Fang Minghua's expression at this moment was in sync with Ye Mingkang's.

Penguin numb.jpg

5.

……

Twelve hours later, after listening to Zhou Zekai's retelling, Sun Xiang was happy that the other party was unreserved, but also extremely helpless about the details.

"So that's why you had to add an emoji to any news later?"

Even "see you in the parking lot" must be followed by a penguin nod.jpg

And in a sense, Zhou Zekai is not so good—after so many years, he still remembers the set of reincarnation penguin emoticons released after they cooperated with the aquarium.

"I can't see anyone," Zhou Zekai said, "Try to convey your feelings."

Damn, is this also taught by Ye Mingkang?foul!

Sun Xiang wanted to cover his face.

He changed the subject very bluntly: "Well, what did you just say, where are you going?"

Um.Zhou Zekai looked at him quietly, not revealing.

"Have you had dinner?"

"Probably?" Zhou Zekai thought about it, and went to socialize once in the middle, because the other party was a vegetarian, the table was full of tofu and green leafy vegetables, and he was chanting sutras even in his stomach.

Sun Xiang no longer had to think about where to go on a date, and said with a distressed heart: "How can this be called eating? It doesn't taste like meat, let's go for a skewer!"

6.

The place Sun Xiang was looking for was the legendary gourmet street, but unfortunately because of winter, the stalls were all housed, so we couldn't see the legendary grand occasion of fireworks along the road.

But looking from a distance, the glass windows of every restaurant are full of steam, and the heads of people moving inside are vaguely revealed, but it is not deserted.

After entering the door, Sun Xiang skillfully asked the little brother for the menu, and quickly drew in circles.

"Here, place an order at table C14!"

"Good Le!"

After the little brother left for a while, Sun Xiang suddenly came back to his senses, and asked rather guiltyly: "Zhou Zekai, did I forget to ask your opinion just now..."

Zhou Zekai smiled: "You remember everything."

Sun Xiang's face brightened, carefully recalling the order just now, it seems that Zhou Zekai's favorite food was indeed ticked off unconsciously.

"Haha, that's a must." Sun Xiang felt a little flustered immediately, "You probably don't know that this is the most famous barbecue chain branch next door to Samsara."

"Well, you often ordered takeaway at that time." Zhou Zekai nodded.

"Hey, you actually remember?!" Sun Xiang said unexpectedly, "That's right, I seem to have invited you once, but you declined. That's why I didn't dare to call you afterward."

"En." Zhou Zekai nodded.Let alone takeaways back then, his mother's desire for control was almost at its peak, and she was not even satisfied with the food in the reincarnation cafeteria, so she almost sent a nanny to deliver meals every day, because he strongly opposed it.

"What the hell is that scary?" Sun Xiang couldn't help but widen his eyes, "Terrible!"

Zhou Zekai smiled and said nothing.

Sun Xiang thought for a while and said, "By the way, there was one more thing I was very curious about at that time."

"what?"

"You drag a suitcase away every Saturday, and then come back before evening training. It's mysterious. What do you usually do when you go home? Isn't it to say hello to the elders one by one?" Sun Xiang tried hard to dig out his few truths. Impression of TVC house fighting drama.

"It's not that exaggerated." Zhou Zekai was taken aback, "It's just that my mother wants to see me."

At first, Ye Wanyi would feel flustered and anxious if she didn't see him, and she had to see him to feel at ease.Occasionally he couldn't go home for a game, and he had to video with the opponent that night.

Half a year later, she focused on her career, but she refused to loosen her control over Zhou Zekai, asking him to return to the old house, which became a means of "confirming that Zhou Zekai is still obedient".

Zhou Zekai has clearly remembered the whole process from getting on the car at the back door of Samsara to the old house of Ye family.

The interior of the car is high-end and luxurious, the leather goods are soft and comfortable, and the perfume is light and elegant, but the atmosphere is extremely dull.From the beginning to the end, the driver seemed to be invisible—except for saying hello and putting your luggage, just get out of the car and be careful—he was like a lonely "cargo" who was "designated to transport" and was not qualified to discuss the scope of action. I could only sit in the car blankly, watching the scenery outside, and unconsciously memorized the appearance of every road.

Sometimes when he encounters a traffic jam, he calculates that his actual time at home has been reduced a lot, and he will feel a little happy, and then his heart will feel like being poured with various seasonings, and there will be more inexplicable feelings.

Does it make sense?he asked himself.

7.

He couldn't figure out the meaning of such repeated meetings to fulfill obligations.

Inevitably, he became more and more like his father, he knew it.Not only because I can see the appearance in the mirror, but also because every time my mother looks at me for the first time, the flash of disgust in my eyes should not be an illusion.

But if he couldn't go home because of something, his mother would still forcefully request a video call.

Why?Since it is so painful, it is better not to meet or reduce the number of meetings.

It's good that I moved out completely this time, Zhou Zekai thought, it can be regarded as a belated rebellion, and it will be a relief to both sides.

Zhou Zekai's confession suddenly stopped here.

He was surprised to realize that unconsciously, for the first time in front of Sun Xiang, he had told his past that he had never told anyone before.

"I'm sorry," Zhou Zekai said self-reproachingly, "When you're so happy..."

"How could it be!" Sun Xiang shook his head desperately, "I'm very happy to hear that, very happy."

In order to enhance his persuasiveness, he forgot the environment he was in, forgot to be ashamed, held Zhou Zekai's hand tightly, and looked firmly into the other's eyes: "Anything is fine, you can say anything to me, and you can say it anytime. "

"Send WeChat during a meeting, wake me up in the middle of the night, and talk until dawn, as long as you want."

Sun Xiang felt a deep sense of powerlessness.The environment in which he grew up, both the parent-child relationship and the parent-child relationship were very harmonious, and the most serious trouble was the time when Sun Xiang asked them to sign for the youth training camp.

He knew that the pain he felt in this aspect was completely incomparable to that of Zhou Zekai. If he insisted on telling Zhou Zekai, I can empathize with you, and I understand you, it would be a complete lie.

It is impossible for Sun Xiang to lie. .

He can only say what he can.

"In short, I don't want today to be the last time. Whenever you are happy or unhappy, you can tell me, you know?"

8.

After he finished his rhetoric, Zhou Zekai didn't respond, he just looked at him quietly and deeply.

Sun Xiang's face was hot and hot, and he was the worst at dealing with Zhou Zekai's moves.He later realized that he was still holding on to the other person's hand, so he quickly retracted it, pretending to be calm and scratching at his hair: "Okay, a certain kid who doesn't like to go home, don't be in a daze anymore."

Zhou Zekai suddenly laughed.

"What?" Sun Xiang's heart was inexplicably itchy from his laughter, as if he had been gently scratched by a soft brush.

"One more thing." Zhou Zekai lowered his voice.

"What did you say?" There was too much noise around, Sun Xiang couldn't hear clearly.

Zhou Zekai remained motionless.

"Okay," Sun Xiang had no choice but to move his seat and put his ear closer, "I can't hear you clearly, please say it again."

"I've already changed it." Zhou Zekai said seriously word by word.

"Changed it? What changed it?" Sun Xiang was confused.

"Now every day..." Zhou Zekai's voice was extremely low, his lips almost pressed against Sun Xiang's ear, "I would like to go home."

"——!" I don't know whether it was because the soft and hot breath caught me too close, or because the sentence itself was explosive enough, Sun Xiang was startled and almost retreated reflexively.

After the distance was drawn, the eyes seemed to be attracted by magnetism, and they inevitably collided together.

Zhou Zekai was embarrassed first, and quickly turned his head away slightly, as if he suddenly became interested in delving into the menu on the wall.

In this way, the red auricles covered by the black hair naturally came into Sun Xiang's eyes.

"..." Sun Xiang was stunned for a while, his expression changing rapidly.

Even though he had said more heart-pounding words and done more intimate things before, with Zhou Zekai's personality, it was indeed too difficult for him to say such lines in public with so many people when he was not drunk.

His gaze slowly moved from Zhou Zekai's pinnae to his surroundings.The noisy and ordinary corner of the world is filled with the oil fragrance called happiness.

At this moment, the conversations, laughter, and yelling from the back kitchen all became the background of the stage. They tightly surrounded the small table, casting invisible spotlights on him and Zhou Zekai.

He used to watch TVB with his mother, and would scoff at similar episodes.What's flushed, what's heartbeat like a sea tide like a drum, why can't help but don't look at each other in embarrassment at the beginning, he just took it as exaggeration.Now I finally understand that the acting skills of the actress and actor in every frame are truly restoring the most original heart-pounding scene between lovers.

He unconsciously raised his hand, wanting to find Zhou Zekai's under the table.

But he was immediately grabbed by the latter and held tightly.

The normally cool palm was pressed against the back of his hand.The heat is pumped backwards along the blood all the way to the heart.

If it wasn't for the barbecue restaurant where the crowds were running around, Sun Xiang would want to kiss him right now.

He was distressed and happy at the same time, so happy that he wanted to shout to the whole world: Look, he likes me so much!

He refrained from looking at Zhou Zekai, to avoid staring at his lips.He was surprised to find that compared to grilled skewers, it seemed that Zhou Zekai was more like the food that met his needs, the kind that filled his turbulent heart.

This is of course a bit exaggerated, but it's not a lie. To be precise, the longing that Sun Xiang can feel at this moment has nothing to do with physical impulses, but the instinct of wanting to be alone with each other, to be intimate and possess each other.

Is it possible to get back in the car now?

No no no no!The villain in my heart was shaking his head frantically.

Is that still called a date?

Wait, date?Sun Xiang had a flash of inspiration.

In the next second, he eagerly looked at Zhou Zekai: "Have you seen the midnight movie?"

9.

After 10 minutes, Sun Xiang regretted this decision very much.

"Sir, no, I'm sorry, we only have an exclusive VIP sofa lounge during this period of time." The oversized sunglasses couldn't hide the handsomeness of the man in front of him.The little conductor girl's heart was beating so hard that she stumbled a bit.

"OK, any hall is fine."

"No, sir, I mean, this hall, it only has... the sofa seat, that is, you have to pay for two people at once." The professional ethics reminded the little girl seriously.

"Okay, I'm just two people." Sun Xiang hadn't reacted yet, he turned his head when he heard the movement in the middle of speaking, "wow~~ Big popcorn, I love it so much!"

"En." Zhou Zekai held two bottles of Coke in his other hand, "Are you ready?"

"Right now," Sun Xiang turned and urged, "WeChat, Alipay, cash and credit cards are all acceptable, please hurry up. There are only two tickets, and the more central the location, the better."

"Okay, wait a minute, sir!" The little conductor's eyes flicked back and forth between Sun Xiang and Zhou Zekai, and she was suddenly filled with strange excitement, "Here is your ticket, please take it, after the ticket check in front, turn left and take the second hall!"

"Thanks." Sun Xiang took the ticket without looking at it carefully. After passing through the ticket gate, he found the screening room. To confirm the seat, he glanced casually, embarrassing.

It turns out that the full name of the exclusive VIP sofa lounge is...

Exclusive VIP starry sky 4D romantic couple sofa lounge.

TBC