A Drunken Spectacle and a Morning After

Si Xi was just about to find someone at the phone store to replace his phone when he received Jing Chen’s reply, prompting him to happily send his location. His mood uplifted, he returned and downed a few more drinks, then began scattering red envelopes in the studio’s group chat. Had Xie He not snatched his phone away, he likely would have squandered all hundred thousand-plus of his pocket money. By the time Jing Chen arrived at the location, Si Xi’s studio employees had already dispersed, leaving only Si Xi and Xie He. Xie He had initially intended to hail a taxi to take Si Xi home, but Si Xi refused, claiming someone was coming to pick him up. Unwilling to leave the inebriated Si Xi unattended, Xie He feared he might cause a scene, running into the street to sing and dance, thus making headlines the next day. He insisted on witnessing Si Xi being picked up before he could relax. Upon receiving Jing Chen’s message, [I’m here], Si Xi immediately scampered out, pulling Xie He along. Xie He had expected Si Xi’s pickup to be either one of his rich second-generation friends or a driver from the Xi family. Instead, upon seeing the imposing aura of Jing Chen, he couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated.

‘This man looks more like an elder,’ he thought.

“You’re here!”

Even a day apart felt like an eternity; Si Xi, seeing Jing Chen who had, for some inexplicable reason, reached new heights of handsomeness, yearned to lunge forward and embrace him. However, even in his drunken state, he remembered his agreement with Jing Chen to act like brothers in front of acquaintances. Thus, he suppressed his impulse and introduced him to Xie He: “This is my brother, hehe, handsome, isn’t he?”

Xie He replied, “…Handsome.”

“Brother, this is Xie He, my high school classmate.”

Jing Chen nodded at him. “Hello.”

Xie He felt the man’s gaze settle on him, intensely powerful, creating a sensation of being utterly overwhelmed.

“Hello, haha, I’ll leave him to you. I’m off now, bye-bye!”

Without waiting for Si Xi to speak, Xie He swiftly made his escape.

“Huh, why does he have six legs when he runs?”

Si Xi watched Xie He’s retreating figure, first with confusion, then bellowed, “Monster! Get off my buddy!”

Jing Chen merely looked on.

Jing Chen grabbed the drunken man who was about to chase after Xie He, pulling him back to the car. As Si Xi was pushed into the passenger seat, he immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, squinting at Jing Chen.

“Brother, why have you turned into three, Brother?”

Then, as if a thought struck him, he whimpered, “No, no way, I can barely handle one of you. Three of you would shatter my chrysanthemum!”

Jing Chen was speechless.

‘What kind of outrageous words are these?’

With a dark expression, Jing Chen reached out to fasten Si Xi’s seatbelt. Si Xi, however, reacted like a chaste woman being molested, protesting “No, no!” and clutching his chest, refusing to cooperate. Noticing the strange glances from passersby, Jing Chen leaned close to Si Xi’s ear and whispered something. Immediately, Si Xi froze as if under a spell. Jing Chen seized the opportunity to buckle his seatbelt and close the car door. Only after Jing Chen had settled into the driver’s seat did Si Xi snap back to reality, his face instantly flushing crimson.

“Brother, you… you… you pervert!”

‘Just moments ago, Jing Chen had whispered in his ear, ‘You can use your mouth too, your mouth…’

‘Argh!’

It wasn’t until the car had driven a considerable distance that Si Xi finally processed the remark. Gazing at the rapidly receding streetscape outside the window, he suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, “Wrong way, wrong way! This isn’t it!”

“Precisely,” Jing Chen stated impassively. “This is the nearest five-star hotel in the vicinity.”

Si Xi, upon seeing Jing Chen, always harbored thoughts of intimacy, and Jing Chen himself would never opt for budget hotels or small inns. However, the area around Yan University was filled with such establishments, likely catering to the financial capabilities of students.

“Let’s not go to a hotel. I’ll take you somewhere fun.”

Si Xi opened his phone, taking a moment to finally tap open the navigation app. Jing Chen glanced at the destination, noting its somewhat remote location.

“What are we going there for?” he asked.

Si Xi chuckled foolishly. “You’ll know when we get there.”

“…”

Jing Chen lowered his gaze to Si Xi, and seeing his mysterious expression, he asked no further questions. Instead, he changed direction and drove towards the destination Si Xi had indicated. This place was even more remote than a horse ranch, already in the outskirts of Yanjing. Had he not trusted Si Xi, Jing Chen might have suspected a kidnapping plot, believing someone had lured him here to extort money. Si Xi seemed quite familiar with the area, leading Jing Chen effortlessly into a small park. Under the dim glow of the streetlights, they ascended a small hillock.

A peculiar phrase inexplicably popped into Jing Chen’s mind: ‘dancing on a grave’.

‘Honestly, given Si Xi’s current drunken state, he might actually do it.’

“Brother, look ahead.”

No sooner had Si Xi’s words fallen than a single firework suddenly burst forth in the open space ahead. Then came the second and third. The dazzling fireworks quickly merged into a continuous display, erupting into a sky ablaze with a “fire tree and silver flower” spectacle that lit up the night. Amidst the booming explosions, Si Xi tugged on Jing Chen’s sleeve. Jing Chen turned his head to look at him, their eyes meeting, and an ambiguous tension stirred in the air. As Jing Chen gazed at Si Xi’s silhouette, made even more ethereal and beautiful by the fireworks, he felt a strange enchantment. He instinctively lowered his head, about to kiss him, when Si Xi abruptly pushed him away. Before Jing Chen could even register his surprise, Si Xi winked at him provocatively and declared loudly, “Come dance with me!”

And then… he began tap dancing right there on the spot.

“…”

“…”

The fireworks continued to explode, dust billowed on the small hillock, and Jing Chen’s expression was utterly bewildered.

‘This is truly wild.’

‘How could anyone be so uninhibited when drunk?’

Fortunately, Si Xi was only indulging in his own antics and didn’t drag Jing Chen into them. Jing Chen watched the firework show and tap dance performance with a numb expression. Towards the end, he even found himself thinking that Si Xi’s radiant smile, as he danced against the backdrop of the fireworks, was quite beautiful. Finally, the firework display concluded with a willow-like explosion showering the sky, and Si Xi, with a flourish, performed a knight’s bow as his curtain call. He then tilted his head, smiling at Jing Chen, “Was it beautiful, Brother?”

Jing Chen replied, “…Quite beautiful.”

‘He just hoped Si Xi wouldn’t be so mortified tomorrow that he’d want to move to another planet.’

Si Xi, likely dizzy from dancing too vigorously, was steadied by Jing Chen’s approach. He instinctively wrapped his arms around Jing Chen’s neck, looking at him. “I didn’t intentionally not go to Jianhai with you today. I really had something important to do. Please don’t be angry, okay?”

Jing Chen paused, struck by a realization. Could it be that Si Xi had suddenly brought him to watch the fireworks as compensation for not accompanying him to Jianhai earlier that day?

“I’m not angry,” Jing Chen said stiffly.

Si Xi remained silent, merely gazing at him face-to-face. Then, he closed his eyes and lifted his head, drawing closer to Jing Chen. The atmosphere was now perfectly set. Jing Chen lowered his gaze, watching Si Xi’s increasingly close, flushed lips, and subtly closed his own eyes. The next second, their four lips were about to meet…

“I can’t, I’m so dizzy.”

Si Xi suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth, rushed aside, and began retching violently.

Jing Chen was utterly exasperated.

‘Let me be destroyed,’ he thought. ‘If I let this drunkard charm me again tonight, I’m a dog.’

It was past one in the morning by the time they returned to the city center. The moment Si Xi touched the bed, he fell into a deep, unconscious sleep, utterly devoid of energy for any more mischief. The next day, Si Xi awoke, roused by the urgent need to urinate. He groggily fumbled his way to the bathroom to relieve himself, and as his mind gradually cleared, memories of the previous night flashed through his mind, frame by frame.

*Smash.*

*Crash!*…

Something exploded in his head. It was his dignity, both outer and inner, utterly annihilated. ‘Why wouldn’t the ground just split open and swallow him whole?’

Jing Chen had already woken when Si Xi got up. He had initially intended to feign sleep, fearing Si Xi’s embarrassment, but when he realized the man hadn’t emerged from the bathroom for nearly half an hour, he grew worried. He walked over and knocked on the door.

“Stop hiding. I won’t mock you. Come out.”

Si Xi, still perched on the toilet, felt a pang of intense mortification.

‘Saying that is the greatest mockery of all,’ he thought.

“What are you saying, Brother? I don’t understand. I’m taking a shower.”

“…”

‘Feigning amnesia, quite clever.’

“Alright then, shower away. There are clean clothes in the closet. I’ll go prepare breakfast.”

‘Huh?’

Only then did Si Xi realize he wasn’t in a hotel. Nor was it his own bathroom. ‘So, Jing Chen brought him home?!’

At this point, Si Xi cast aside his embarrassment, hastily took a shower, and emerged to find a clean, bright room. With spotless windows, it exuded an indescribable comfort. He took a set of clothes from the wardrobe and put them on. They were likely Jing Chen’s size, a bit long, but wearable. Once dressed, he opened the door and cautiously peeked out for a moment, as if a thief. After confirming Jing Chen wasn’t in the living room, he tiptoed out, beginning to survey the apartment. The apartment wasn’t large, yet it was exquisitely decorated with impeccable taste. A two-bedroom, one-living room layout, it boasted excellent lighting, and its price was clearly substantial. It seemed like the kind of place an elite professional working in a high-end office building would rent.

“Finished showering?”

Jing Chen’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Si Xi. He turned his head to find Jing Chen emerging from the kitchen, carrying two breakfast trays. Upon seeing Jing Chen, Si Xi’s memories of last night surged back with a vengeance. Si Xi, suppressing the urge to curl his toes in embarrassment, feigned nonchalance. “Is this your home?”

“Yes,” Jing Chen replied. “I just rented it with the allowance you gave me.”

He placed the trays on the dining table. This apartment was right next to his company. Though the property was his, he would occasionally stay here to rest when projects kept him working day and night, unwilling to waste time commuting through traffic. Bringing Si Xi here was simply because he didn’t want the inconvenience of having to go out to a hotel every time in the future. ‘No wonder it’s as spotless as a show home, devoid of any lived-in feel,’ Si Xi thought to himself. ‘So he just moved in.’

‘He’s willing to spend money, which is good.’

“Let’s eat,” Jing Chen invited.

Si Xi had thrown up most of what he ate last night and was now ravenously hungry. He unceremoniously sat down at the dining table, and upon seeing the breakfast on the trays, asked, “Did you make this?”

On the trays were clear chicken soup, freshly baked pizza, freshly squeezed juice, and a steaming bowl of small shrimp wontons.

Jing Chen replied, “Bought them.”

“Oh…”

Si Xi sat down, picked up a spoon, and began eating the wontons. He had to admit, the wontons were excellent; he wondered what broth they were cooked in, as they were incredibly savory. “By the way, Brother, are you free next Friday?” Si Xi asked between bites of wonton.

Jing Chen’s hand paused. “Why?”

‘This week isn’t even over, and he’s already asking about rolling in the sheets next week?’

“It’s just… next Friday is our freshman welcome celebration, and I have a performance. Do you want to come and see it?” Originally, Si Xi hadn’t planned on inviting Jing Chen, thinking it would be too embarrassing. However, the thought of his utterly mortifying tap dance from yesterday made his scalp tingle and his toes curl. He absolutely needed to present something serious and refined to erase Jing Chen’s impression of him as a goofball.

Jing Chen was speechless.

Jing Chen’s spoon nearly dropped into his bowl.

“Your school’s freshmen finished military training so quickly?”

“Yeah, they started a week earlier than us, so it’ll be three weeks next week, and then it’s over.”

“And,” Si Xi said excitedly, “I heard that Yanjing’s richest man has a nephew or some relative who’s also a freshman. Do you think he might be invited too?”

Jing Chen raised an eyebrow. “You’re interested in the richest man?”

“Not really, it’s just that he’s so mysterious, and aren’t they saying he’s really cruel? I really want to see if he truly kills without batting an eye and devours people whole.”

Jing Chen was speechless.

‘He doesn’t know about others, but eating you certainly wouldn’t require spitting out bones.’