Disobedience To Control chapter 14
Private Life Ban
Yang Xiaobei pointed at the banknotes in his hand several times, then looked up and down several times, with a smile that couldn’t be restrained at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t even hear Song Siheng talking to him.
“Hey, I’m asking you something.” Song Siheng nudged him with his elbow.
“Huh? What’s up?” Yang Xiaobei finally shifted his gaze away, but still tightly held onto the stack of crisp new cash.
“Do you want to go out?” Song Siheng repeated.
“Go out? Can I go out now?” Yang Xiaobei immediately jumped out of bed when he heard this.
“You talk as if I’m imprisoning you.” Song Siheng’s main itinerary in the northern city was over, and there were no other arrangements for the evening. As long as Yang Xiaobei was careful when coming and going, he wouldn’t attract attention.
“Let’s go, I’m dying to go out.” Yang Xiaobei began to look for his clothes as soon as he got out of bed.
But after searching the room in circles, he couldn’t find the beige hoodie he had worn yesterday. “Hey, where’s my hoodie?”
Song Siheng cleared his throat, kicked aside the nearby sofa, and dragged out a pile of clothes covered in dust.
…
The air fell silent.
Three seconds later, Yang Xiaobei pretended to be on the verge of tears again, “I know my clothes aren’t worth much, but you can’t treat me like this.”
Song Siheng remembered the situation in the morning and kicked the clothes even farther away with one foot, “Who told you to throw them around everywhere!”
Yang Xiaobei hurried over, picked up the clothes, and shook off the dust, intending to put them on.
“Don’t wear that.” Song Siheng reached out and took the clothes, throwing them onto the sofa.
“Aren’t we going out?” Yang Xiaobei was puzzled and pulled his thin T-shirt. “It’s below zero outside. I can’t just wear this.”
Song Siheng had already put on his coat again and turned around, “Are you coming or not? There’s a mall downstairs through the underground passage.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.” Yang Xiaobei neatly organized the banknotes on the bedside table, put them into the leather paper bag, and then stuffed them into his backpack.
“You’re carrying the money with you?” Song Siheng was speechless.
“It’s not safe to leave it in the room with people coming and going.” Yang Xiaobei said seriously, then patted his backpack, “I’ll carry it close to me for peace of mind.”
Song Siheng couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and pushed the door open to leave, “The mall closes at ten, you still have half an hour.”
Although the underground passage was enclosed, there was no heating, and Yang Xiaobei shivered as he walked. Song Siheng pushed him from behind, “Walk faster.”
“Help, you don’t know how cold it is.” Yang Xiaobei rubbed his arms and his teeth chattered.
Song Siheng sighed and quickly untied his black scarf, lifting his hand to wrap it around Yang Xiaobei’s neck, then tightly wrapping it around his shoulders.
“You won’t freeze now, let’s go,” Song Siheng urged.
Yang Xiaobei was almost choked. He loosened the tight knot that Song Siheng had tied and hurriedly followed behind with big steps.
At the end of the gloomy underground passage was a brightly lit area with warm air permeated by the scent of money.
Yang Xiaobei looked up and saw three huge light gold letters shining on the glass curtain wall across the street in the darkness.
As closing time approached, the salespeople in the mall lobby had already started cleaning, and the music had become soothing.
“Go ahead, turn left,” Song Siheng walked straight ahead without looking aside.
Yang Xiaobei took off the scarf and hurried to catch up.
Half a minute later, the two entered a shop that was about to close. The salespeople had already prepared to leave and were chatting gossip with their colleagues. But when they saw Song Siheng’s demeanor, they immediately put down what they were doing and came forward to greet him.
“Hello, what can I help you with?” A standard smile with eight teeth.
Song Siheng pushed the person behind him forward, “He’s buying.”
Yang Xiaobei quickly waved his hand, “He’s paying.”
The salesperson glanced at the two of them and immediately understood, “Do you need to see some coats? Our new styles this season are especially suitable for you.”
Before Yang Xiaobei could react, a whole row of coat racks had been brought over, neatly displaying four or five thick coats of the same style in different colors. The style was neat, and the fabric shimmered softly under the lights, looking quite expensive.
The salesperson quickly introduced, “These new styles are all made of 100% pure camel hair and hand-sewn, especially highlighting your temperament.”
Yang Xiaobei felt overwhelmed and turned to look at Song Siheng, “I’ve never worn anything like this before. If I put it on, I’ll look like a groom.”
Song Siheng impatiently asked, “Just tell me which one you like?”
Yang Xiaobei replied, “I’m just a student, I can just wear a down jacket.”
Before Song Siheng could say anything, the salesperson immediately withdrew the entire row of coats and brought over another row of new styles, as if by magic, clinking and clanking.
“Do you like this down jacket? This style is especially suitable for tall people like you. It’s made of high-density windproof fabric, so it’s perfect for outdoor hiking and such.”
Seeing that Song Siheng was waiting with crossed arms, Yang Xiaobei stopped hesitating and straightened up, “I’ll try this one.”
Yang Xiaobei tried three colors: black, white, and light gray.
Song Siheng still didn’t speak. Yang Xiaobei, however, became more confident, looking at himself in the mirror and asking, “Hey, baby, how do I look in this one?”
The salesperson glanced sideways and tried hard to suppress the corners of her mouth.
Song Siheng, who had been leaning against the wall, immediately straightened up and gave him a stern look when he heard this.
Yang Xiaobei didn’t think he had said anything wrong and asked cheerfully, “Which one looks better?”
Song Siheng rubbed his temples and pointed to the last one, saying, “That one.”
The salesperson immediately nodded repeatedly, “Let me wrap it up for you.”
“No need, let him wear it. Take off the price tag for him,” Song Siheng just wanted to check out and leave as soon as possible.
“Alright, I’ll go get your receipt. Will you pay by card or cash?”
“Card,” Song Siheng stood up straight and followed.
Five minutes later, the salesperson tore off the receipt and handed it to Song Siheng, “Please sign here.”
Yang Xiaobei stood behind Song Siheng, their distance less than a foot.
Song Siheng turned his head and glanced at him, and Yang Xiaobei instinctively turned his head away to avoid watching him sign.
Song Siheng signed quickly three times, handed the receipt back, and then turned to push Yang Xiaobei, “Let’s go.”
Yang Xiaobei had been worried about the backpack with a hundred thousand yuan, so he hurriedly hugged it back to his chest.
As they were about to leave, the salesperson quickly stopped them, handing over a receipt and a business card, “This is your receipt, please keep it safe. The one below is my business card. If you have any needs, feel free to contact me anytime.”
Yang Xiaobei lagged behind and turned to accept it, nodding politely to the salesperson.
But before they could walk out of the store, Yang Xiaobei screamed in shock, “Oh my God!”
“Can you stop being so jumpy?” Song Siheng was startled by him.
Yang Xiaobei looked around nervously, dragged Song Siheng out, and then turned around to ask anxiously, “Did you swipe the wrong card? This coat costs twenty-six thousand yuan?! Is it sewn with gold? There are no diamonds on it, either?!”
“Don’t want it or not? You can still return it now.”
“No, no, no. I’ll wear it,” Yang Xiaobei quickly patted his chest, “Just don’t waste money like this next time. I can endure the cold, but this money could have been given directly to me. Don’t let these middlemen make a profit.”
Song Siheng stopped and looked at him, “You’re really money-minded.”
Yang Xiaobei smiled and looked back at him, not denying it, “Whatever you say, baby—”
Song Siheng suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body, “Yang Xiaobei, let me emphasize this again. Don’t casually call me that, especially when there are outsiders around.”
Yang Xiaobei smiled again, “Oh, is it okay when there are no outsiders around?”
In the first twenty-nine years of his life, Song Siheng had written countless lines of code. It was the first time he encountered a situation where every line of code was completely correct, but the output result was always an error.
He reminded him again, “Just don’t call me that casually.”
Yang Xiaobei saluted him, “Yes, baby.”
Song Siheng lost his temper.
It was already past ten o’clock in the evening, and the lights in the mall behind them were gradually extinguishing. The exquisite lighthouse turned into a black steel box.
The temperature outside dropped even lower, and as the two walked back, they found that the entrance to the underground passage had been closed with a gate. It was cold, and the underground passage needed manual maintenance every night to prevent damage from long-term freezing.
“We missed it, let’s walk above ground,” Yang Xiaobei said as he walked to the gate, glanced around, and then turned back to tell Song Siheng.
The two of them had to endure the cold wind of the late night and walk back from the ground. The distance on the ground was a bit longer than that in the underground passage. They had to pass two intersections before reaching the hotel. In the past two days, there had been two light rains in the northern city, making the weather cold, and a thin layer of ice had formed on the road surface.
Yang Xiaobei felt warm and quickened his pace. Song Siheng walked behind, slowing down his speed. He hadn’t been to the northern city too many times. Over the years, he had only come to the branch company to meet Jin Shuming. When Li Ke traveled with him, it was always strictly business, and they rarely walked around late at night.
Song Siheng wasn’t accustomed to the northern city. Jiangcheng was lively, with distinct seasons. Typhoons and heavy rains came and went as they pleased. But the northern city was quite the opposite. It had long winters, with snowflakes mixed with ice chips, and the whole city was filled with the smell of rust.
Song Siheng’s mind went blank. He avoided the ice and walked carefully but didn’t notice that the person in front suddenly stopped, almost bumping into his back.
They had reached an intersection, and a biting wind blew in from the northwest, making it difficult for Song Siheng to keep his eyes open.
Yang Xiaobei stopped in place, looked into the distance, pointed in a certain direction, and said to himself, “What a coincidence. I used to compete here.”
Song Siheng followed the direction he pointed and saw a shiny square building in the distance, resembling a stadium.
“Compete? What kind of competition?” Song Siheng asked.
Yang Xiaobei opened his mouth, then hesitated for two seconds, and laughed, swallowing his words. “Never mind.”
Song Siheng glanced at him and scoffed.
Yang Xiaobei, with his hands in his coat pockets, turned to face Song Siheng. Then he leaned forward slightly, looking into Song Siheng’s eyes. “We agreed not to ask about each other’s private lives, didn’t we?”
He exhaled a puff of white air, appearing unusually confident.
Song Siheng didn’t expect to be outsmarted by him like this. He chuckled lightly and retorted, “Just a casual question, I’m not interested.”