Disobedience To Control chapter 30
What Are You Wearing
Tim repeated the name and continued, “Which college is he from? Do you know?”
“Not sure. I only know he’s on the swimming team.”
“Alright. But let me just say, I’m quite busy lately. You’ll have to wait a while for me.”
“Sure, no problem. Just help me when you have time.”
“But who is this person? Why are you so concerned about him?”
“Just a friend.” Song Siheng could only say this much before making an excuse to end the call.
This Tim, whose real name was Yin Qi, was a friend Song Siheng had met while studying abroad. They were both from Jiangcheng, so they had some acquaintance. He preferred to be called Tim, and others followed suit. Currently, he ran his own gaming company and also worked as a guest lecturer in the computer science department at Jiangcheng University. Besides Song Qin, he was Song Siheng’s only connection at Jiangcheng University.
Since Song Siheng returned to China, the two hadn’t contacted each other for two years.
After hanging up the phone, Song Siheng stood in the cold wind for a while before flagging down a taxi back to the hotel.
As soon as the taxi stopped at the hotel entrance, Li Ke sent him a message: “Dinner is arranged downstairs. Waiting for you.”
Song Siheng walked straight into the hotel lobby and waved to Li Ke, who was sitting on a sofa on one side. “Here.”
“Huh? Just got back from outside?” Li Ke got up to greet him, noticing the taxi he just stepped out of.
“Yeah.” Song Siheng took off his cashmere scarf and draped it over his arm, without explaining where he had been.
The business car arranged by Li Ke was already parked at the hotel entrance. Li Ke gestured for him to go ahead. “Let’s go, dinner time. It’s too cold out, so I found a restaurant nearby.”
Song Siheng didn’t have high demands for dinner and always let Li Ke decide.
After driving for about ten minutes, the car stopped. When the electric car door opened, Song Siheng looked up at the signboard above the door, which belonged to a well-established old restaurant called Nanjiangge.
“Why are we here?” Song Siheng asked when he got out of the car, turning his head.
“You’ve been on a lonely island for a week. I was afraid you wouldn’t be used to Northern cuisine when you got back.” Li Ke got out of the car too, adding, “Jiangcheng cuisine.”
After entering the restaurant, the waiter led them to the private room on the second floor.
The private room had a large south-facing window facing the street, offering a view of the night scene in the bustling area of the North City.
They had just returned from their vacation and had a lot of catching up to do, so they took the opportunity to chat for a while.
“Where did you go on vacation?” Song Siheng asked casually.
“I stayed at home for a few days.”
“You didn’t go on a trip?” Song Siheng was puzzled. “You haven’t had any entertainment activities all year. Don’t you feel bored?”
“Heh. I’m used to it, being exploited by you.” Li Ke picked up the menu, calling the waiter over and ordering several signature dishes.
“Ha, so it’s my fault again? I did give you a raise at the end of last year.” Song Siheng was indeed generous, with each salary increase for Li Ke starting at 30%. Now, besides Jin Shuming, Li Ke was the highest-paid employee in the company.
“You… Didn’t my mom invite you to dinner?”
“She did. I didn’t go.” Li Ke answered in a low voice, avoiding Song Siheng’s gaze. Then he changed the subject. “How can you ask me that? You’re hardly ever home yourself. You want me to fulfill your filial duty?”
Once the topic turned to the Song family, it always ended abruptly.
Soon, the waiter opened the door to serve the dishes.
As the night deepened, the neon lights outside gradually lit up. At night, the streets of the old city seemed to boil like water gradually heating up. The dullness of the daytime was swept away, and tourists flocked in, with businesses opening their doors to welcome them.
Li Ke glanced at the calendar on his phone and suddenly looked up. “Oh, by the way, your birthday is coming up. How are you planning to celebrate?”
“I’m not.” Song Siheng took a sip of water. “I don’t have that habit.”
“Every time I ask you, you always say you’re not celebrating. Don’t you think it’s boring?” Li Ke took the opportunity to retort.
“That’s because my life is usually too exciting. It doesn’t matter whether I celebrate or not.”
Song Siheng indeed didn’t have a habit of celebrating his birthday. When he was young, Fu Xuehua would buy him a cake, and the family would have a meal together. But since he started junior high school, he began living in the school dormitory and didn’t like celebrating birthdays with them anymore.
As an adult, he rarely had any birthday parties.
Most of the time, he chose to play a good game of tennis at the tennis court or watch a boring movie at home.
Li Ke didn’t argue with him anymore. Three or four dishes were already served on the table. “Let’s eat. The airplane food today was terrible, so let’s make up for it with this meal.”
Song Siheng glanced up and felt that the dish looked somewhat familiar.
Seeing him not picking up his chopsticks, Li Ke asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t like it?”
Song Siheng shook his head. “No.”
The dish was exactly the same as the one Yang Xiaobei had cooked at his house during the New Year. For some reason, recently he couldn’t control the frequency of Yang Xiaobei appearing in his mind.
“Did you find a suitable coach for yourself later?” Seeing that Song Siheng was fine, Li Ke changed the topic again.
“What coach?” Song Siheng raised his eyebrows.
“Didn’t you tell me that the tennis coach at that club resigned? Later, I gave you a few coach’s business cards. Did you contact any of them?”
“Oh. I don’t play tennis anymore.” Song Siheng answered directly.
“Why? Found a new hobby?”
“Yeah, playing too much was a bit boring. Now I occasionally go swimming.” Song Siheng scooped up some soup for himself, but after taking a sip, he stopped. The soup looked fresh, but the taste was mediocre, not as delicious as the one Yang Xiaobei had stewed that day. Perhaps it was because of the different ingredients.
“Swimming? You found a coach yourself?” Li Ke was curious.
“Yeah,” Song Siheng didn’t explain further, just nodded.
When the two returned to the hotel, it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening. Song Siheng opened the door to his room, which was spacious and clean. The hotel staff had considerately warmed up the room in advance, and there was even a towel swan neatly folded on the bed. The curtains were drawn open, allowing the night outside to be clearly visible through the glass.
It was just a bit too quiet. Song Siheng found himself thinking so.
He took off his coat, walked to the side of the bed, and tossed the towel swan aside before lying down on his back. The last time he returned to this room, there was still a living person lying on this bed, and the TV was playing a lively soap opera.
It had been several days since he had last contacted Yang Xiaobei. They had always communicated by phone, only adding each other on WeChat just before the New Year. Song Siheng wasn’t afraid of him uncovering more of his privacy; his Moments were basically empty, with only a few superficial posts over the years.
The chat window of their WeChat conversation was still stuck on New Year’s Eve, where Yang Xiaobei sent Song Siheng a dynamic cat emoji wishing him a Happy New Year. The cat twisted and turned before a bunch of fireworks went off behind it.
Song Siheng had replied with a simple “Happy New Year.”
The air indoors in the north was as dry as ever. Song Siheng felt a bit stuffy after sitting for a while. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, trying to get some air, but to no avail. He got up and walked to the side of the bed, opening the window slightly to let in some cold air, which provided some relief.
After pacing around the room for a while, Song Siheng finally picked up his phone from the bedside table.
He opened the chat window with Yang Xiaobei, his finger hovering near the message box for about ten seconds. Just as he was about to type the first word, a video call request suddenly popped up from the other side.
The phone buzzed, indicating an incoming call, and it seemed like the caller wasn’t going to hang up anytime soon.
Song Siheng sat up straight and answered the video call after about half a minute.
“What’s up?” Song Siheng thought he might have something urgent to discuss, but when the camera opened, only half of Yang Xiaobei’s face was visible.
Yang Xiaobei’s eyes were still as beautiful as ever.
“Don’t you miss me?” Yang Xiaobei asked directly.
Song Siheng sensed something was off through the camera. “Where are you?”
The background above Yang Xiaobei’s head looked somewhat familiar, but it didn’t seem like a university dormitory.
Yang Xiaobei’s voice sounded muffled. “I’m at your place.”
For some reason, the sound of his voice transmitted through the signal made Song Siheng feel particularly itchy.
“Why did you go there by yourself?” Song Siheng had given him the entry code to the suburban villa just to make it easier for him to come and go during those days, not with the intention of allowing him free access.
“I wanted to come find you, but I found you’re not at home.”
Song Siheng avoided his gaze. “What do you want from me?”
“What do you think?” Yang Xiaobei finally revealed his entire face, but Song Siheng noticed that the person on the other side didn’t seem to be wearing a shirt.
The purpose of this video call was evident.
“I have an important meeting tomorrow morning,” Song Siheng cleared his throat.
“But it’s still evening now,” Yang Xiaobei showed no intention of hanging up.
Song Siheng didn’t know what else to say. He had never had such an intimate conversation with anyone over the phone before, and he felt a tingling sensation in his spine.
In the camera, only Song Siheng’s face was visible, with the rest concealed.
Seeing him silent, Yang Xiaobei took the initiative to ask, “What are you wearing now?”
“Me?”
“Yeah,” Yang Xiaobei nodded.
“A white shirt.” Song Siheng felt like he was under a spell, actually following his suggestion to lower the camera, revealing the unbuttoned collar and the skin beneath his neck.
“What about underneath the shirt?” Yang Xiaobei continued, his voice slightly hoarse. After being filtered by the signal, it sounded even more enticing.
Song Siheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, replying, “Nothing.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Yeah,” Song Siheng nodded slightly.
“Unbutton it and show me, can you?” His tone was pleading, yet commanding when put together.
Song Siheng’s brain lost its rationality with his voice. He raised his hand and dimmed the room’s lights. The video call had clearly taken a turn.
Half an hour later, a faint scent lingered in the room.
Song Siheng got up to go to the bathroom, and when he returned, the video call on the bedside was still ongoing.
Yang Xiaobei had somehow already put on a sweater. He seemed to be lying on the bed, facing this side of the camera as he asked, “When are you coming back?”
Song Siheng felt a bit tired, too exhausted to continue the conversation. “What’s the matter?”
Yang Xiaobei lifted his wrist, pointing to the date on his watch, his eyes curving into a bridge.
“I ordered you a birthday cake.”