Chapter 39: Blue Hour

Chapter 39: The Blue Hour

In the end, Xu Xingli never learned why Xu Zhou suffered from PTSD.

The man’s lips were sealed as if locked, impossible to pry open.

Eventually, Xu Xingli grew weary and let it be. He had a premonition, anyway, that the true reason might bring him great unhappiness.

Because of Xu Zhou’s condition, Xu Ming no longer pressured him to go to the company as before. Perhaps it was the combined defiance of both brothers, Xu Zhou and Xu Xingli, like marionettes on the verge of breaking free, that left Xu Ming and Ye Jiating feeling subdued. For a time, the Xu family treated both Xu Zhou and Xu Xingli with newfound deference.

Yet, Xu Zhou was far from idle. Each day, he would spend several hours out, returning to play a few rounds of chess with Old Master Xu, then prepare some desserts, still finding time to spare.

During these moments, he would retreat to his room and take out the violin, long unplayed.

The violin’s melody always ceased promptly at 8 PM. Then, he would grab his car keys and leave, stepping on the gas to arrive early at the coffee shop where Xu Xingli worked part-time.

Xu Xingli was no longer as resistant towards him. After receiving the day’s pastries, he would willingly settle into the passenger seat and even proactively share trivial happenings from his day.

Mostly, these were complaints: yesterday’s exam was too difficult, today he was called upon by the teacher to answer a question he didn’t know, or tomorrow, perhaps, a peculiar customer at the coffee shop.

They could talk about anything and everything. Although Xu Xingli had never fully revealed his innermost thoughts, the distance between them was no longer so vast, and their relationship was gradually mending.

Today, Xu Zhou made blueberry tarts. Xu Xingli took a bite, then shook his head in delight.

“This is so delicious!” He wiggled his entire body, nodding enthusiastically in praise.

Xu Zhou turned the steering wheel, catching a glimpse of Xu Xingli’s joyful head-shaking in his peripheral vision, and a smile touched his lips.

Xu Xingli wolfed down one tart and reached for the second, finally broaching the day’s topic.

“It’s Lin Xie’s birthday this weekend, and she invited us. You need to come too, so remember to clear your schedule.”

Xu Zhou nodded, finally learning to engage in conversation: “Where are we going?”

Xu Xingli lowered his head, biting into the tart crust, not bothering to look at him. He preferred to eat the crust first, then the filling. But this time, with the blueberry jam prone to bursting, he ate with extra care.

Xu Zhou was in no hurry, waiting patiently.

The car slowly came to a stop before a crossroads. Xu Xingli finally had a moment to reply, “Her house.”

Xu Zhou raised an eyebrow.

Xu Xingli continued, “She originally suggested a hotel, but why should the birthday girl have to pay? So Jian Ran and I said we’d just go to her place, and we’d handle the food.”

Xu Zhou paused, glancing at him.

Noticing his gaze, Xu Xingli felt insulted and asked coldly, “What? You don’t trust me?”

Xu Zhou pursed his lips, suddenly recalling the food Xu Xingli had cooked in a previous life.

Edible, yes, but the taste…

Xu Xingli’s gaze grew sharper. Xu Zhou cleared his throat and finally said, “I’m afraid you’ll tire yourself out. How about hiring a temporary chef?”

Xu Xingli leaned back in his seat, slowly nibbling on the tart. After a moment’s thought, he nodded, “Alright.”

He hadn’t paid for his hospital check-up last time, and the hearing aid was also provided by Xu Zhou, so his current savings were quite ample.

Yet, Xu Zhou had even saved him that expense.

On Lin Xie’s birthday, the chef Xu Zhou hired arrived at the house early to prepare lunch.

Dramatically, Jian Ran and Song Yijin had also hired their own chefs.

Thus, three chefs bustled about in the small kitchen, preparing lunch.

Everyone else was completely free. Xu Xingli and Jian Ran had bought a large assortment of decorations, which were all affixed to the wall panels and furniture.

They also inflated a dozen hydrogen balloons, which floated haphazardly throughout the house.

All the gift boxes were piled on the low coffee table in the living room, with a huge, three-tiered birthday cake at its center.

After two “bang-bang” pops from party poppers, the candle representing “17” was lit. The girl wore a delicate crown, her face softened by the warm, yellow candlelight.

After everyone sang “Happy Birthday” in unison, they urged the girl to make a wish.

The moment Lin Xie opened her eyes and blew out the candles, Jian Ran, quick as a flash, smeared a layer of cream on Xu Xingli’s face.

“Jian Ran!” Xu Xingli looked at him in displeasure, narrowing his eyes, looking like a puffed-up pufferfish.

Jian Ran, who had been laughing happily, suddenly panicked. He quickly pulled out a tissue, intending to wipe it off, and said, “I was just joking, don’t… hey!”

Before the tissue could even touch Xu Xingli, he suddenly burst into laughter, smeared some cream on his own hand, wiped it on Jian Ran, then quickly dabbed some on Xu Zhou’s cheek.

“Li, are you messing with me?!” Jian Ran was provoked and began chasing Xu Xingli.

The others also joined the cream-smearing battle.

Xu Xingli ran incredibly fast, dodging all attacks, only to be cornered by Xu Zhou.

No one present dared to mess with Xu Zhou’s face; even Duan Yi restrained himself. So, apart from the random dab of cream Xu Xingli put on him, his face remained clean.

Xu Xingli, due to his swift running, was relatively unscathed. With his face still fairly clean, he raised his cream-covered hands and threatened the person in front of him: “Don’t come any closer! Otherwise, I’ll smear it all over your face!”

Xu Zhou smiled faintly, ignoring his warning, and approached step by step. Finally, he extended a finger and dabbed it onto Xu Xingli’s nose.

Then, a blob of white instantly appeared in Xu Xingli’s line of sight.

Xu Xingli: “…”

“You!”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Xu Zhou dabbed his other cheek as well.

Xu Xingli: “…”

The next second, Xu Zhou pulled out a mirror from who knows where.

He smiled, “You’re quite cute.”

In the mirror, the cream on Xu Xingli’s cheeks extended outwards along the shape of the finger, resembling little kitten whiskers, and with the dot on his nose, it looked even more so.

Xu Xingli’s expression instantly collapsed.

He was truly angry!

He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and finally couldn’t hold back. He raised both hands, cupped Xu Zhou’s face, and vigorously rubbed it.

Within a few seconds, Xu Zhou’s entire face was covered in cream.

Duan Yi, with his sharp eyes, noticed this scene almost immediately, and then burst out laughing, nearly choking.

“Hey, where’s my phone? Hahaha!” He grabbed his phone and rushed over, laughing as he opened the camera. “I have to take a picture of this for posterity, I’m dying of laughter, you really are something, Xingxing.”

He snapped away at Xu Zhou, then collapsed onto the sofa to admire the photos.

As he admired them, he let out a “huh” and grumbled, “He can still be this handsome even covered in cream like this, God is unfair!”

After his little outburst, he casually sent all these photos to Xu Xingli.

Xu Xingli was bewildered, sending back a single question mark.

Duan Yi waved his hand: “For your backup. I’m afraid I might get drunk one day and delete all this person’s embarrassing moments.”

Xu Xingli: “I might not be much better off; Xu Zhou will take my phone.”

Duan Yi raised an eyebrow: “He’s that much of a control freak?”

Xu Xingli nodded: “Didn’t you know that already?”

Duan Yi laughed: “That’s true.” Finally, he waved his hand, “Just save it; it’s rare to see this person in such a state.”

The party continued in full swing until the end. Two layers of the three-tiered cake were sacrificed, and Lin Xie cut the bottom layer.

The cake was huge, too much for a few people to finish. After sharing it with the three hired chefs, there was still some left, so Lin Xie cut another large piece and stood up to walk out.

She had barely taken a few steps when a knock sounded at the door.

When she opened the door, a slightly disheveled man stood outside.

Xu Xingli immediately recognized him; it was the neighbor they had met last time.

Lin Xie invited him in, but seeing the house full of people, the man paused. He shook his head and waved his hands, then held up a somewhat crudely made toy bear—a birthday gift for Lin Xie.

Lin Xie was stunned for a moment, then quickly refused after coming to her senses, gesturing in sign language: “No need for a gift, please go back.”

The man kept shaking his head, repeating the same gesture: “Take it, it’s not expensive.” He seemed a bit anxious, his hands moving continuously, and he kept making “ah-ah” sounds.

Finally, unable to refuse him, Lin Xie had no choice but to accept the toy bear, then handed the cake in her hand to the man and said goodbye.

When she returned, Song Yijin asked, “Is he your neighbor?”

Lin Xie nodded. The toy bear seemed out of place among the expensive gifts from others, but she carefully placed it among the other gifts.

“When my mom and I moved here when I was six, he had already been living here for a long time, but because he’s deaf and mute, he can’t find a job. He only gets a thousand yuan subsidy from the community each month, and he has to share a lot of it with his son.”

Jian Ran’s eyes widened in surprise: “He has a son too?”

Lin Xie nodded again: “He’s divorced and has a son, who’s supposedly around my age, but he doesn’t visit him often. The most recent time was before the New Year, late at night, they had a big fight and even got into a physical fight. I was woken up and called the police, and that’s how it stopped.”

Jian Ran angrily blurted out: “His son’s a beast, isn’t he? It’s one thing not to visit, but how could he hit someone? An ungrateful wretch?”

Lin Xie shook her head, lowering her eyes: “And after his son made a scene last time, his subsidy was gone for some reason, so now he can only go out every day to collect bottles and cardboard. The money he earns is already so little, but he still bought me a gift.”

Hearing this, Duan Yi was suddenly reminded of something, and he looked at her intently, asking, “The subsidy is gone? What’s his name? And send me his ID number, I’ll check.”

When it came to work matters, Duan Yi’s expression immediately became serious, and his tone became much more mature.

Lin Xie was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, “I’ll ask him later.”

Duan Yi also nodded, instantly ditching his work ethic. The next second, he went back to his usual playful self, pulling out two decks of cards from his pocket and shouting, “Who wants to play cards?! Watch how Brother Duan is gonna crush you all.”

At 8 PM, the group finally wrapped up their revelry. After wiping the cream off themselves and helping Lin Xie clean up her house, they headed downstairs and dispersed.

After a day of crazy fun, Xu Xingli was extremely tired. However, he couldn’t fall asleep once he got in the car, so he listlessly pulled out his phone, thinking of playing a rhythm game. Before he even opened the app, he suddenly remembered something and began to admire his photo album.

He was looking at the photos Duan Yi had sent him today. Honestly, even though cream covered most of his skin, it still couldn’t hide his overwhelming handsomeness.

It was truly something to be envious of and hate.

He pouted, mentally tracing the face on the screen with his eyes, but his gaze suddenly stopped at Xu Zhou’s earlobe.

That earring was still very conspicuous, making his eyes hurt.

He immediately spoke, “When did you start wearing an earring?”

The driver paused, then smiled, “You just noticed?”

Xu Xingli: “I noticed a long time ago; I just couldn’t find an opportunity to ask.”

Xu Zhou seemed to smile even more happily: “You care about me.”

Xu Xingli: “…” What’s with that brain? Did he ever say such a thing? Where did he get that ridiculous idea?

Noticing his speechlessness, Xu Zhou obediently answered his question: “When I was living abroad.”

Xu Xingli blinked, pondered for a moment, and finally asked, “I checked that shape; it’s a starburst.”

Xu Zhou paused.

“Is it because of me?” Xu Xingli asked.

After a long while, Xu Zhou admitted, “Yes.”

Xu Xingli was silent for a moment, then finally nodded, “I understand.”

He thought the conversation would end there, but Xu Zhou spoke again, “Because you are too important to me; I can’t let go.”

Xu Xingli’s emotions almost instantly shot into space. If he had an electronic bracelet, it definitely would’ve triggered an alarm.

It wasn’t love, nor excitement, but another, more complex, more awkward emotion that left Xu Xingli conflicted and disgusted.

He turned his face away and said coldly, “Don’t say things like that. I hate it.”

Silence fell.

This silence continued until the car pulled into the Xu family’s garage.

Xu Xingli pulled open the car door to leave, but Xu Zhou called out to him.

“Its name is -5°.”

Xu Xingli stopped.

“Its color is dark blue. It’s the color of the sky when the sun is 4 to 6 degrees below the horizon.”

“This is when day and night meet. It’s called the blue hour.”