The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: So This Is Why You Didn’t Come Home, Not Answering Calls…

Qi Mingfeng’s heart gave a heavy thud. Looking through the peephole, he saw it was a delivery courier.

Zhou Zhixi had insisted on compensating him with a phone. Since it wasn’t convenient for him to go to the flagship store himself, he had called a courier to buy one and deliver it.

Relieved, Qi Mingfeng brought the phone into the house.

When he returned, Zhou Zhixi was sitting on the sofa and asked naturally, “Senior, I’m a bit thirsty. Where is the water in the house?”

Qi Mingfeng felt a bit awkward. “Actually, I don’t live here. There’s probably nothing in the fridge. I’ll order something for delivery.”

“Then let’s just boil some tap water,” Zhou Zhixi didn’t mind, getting up to help. “I see the water and electricity are both connected.”

Qi Mingfeng followed him to the kitchen island. The glassware in the house hadn’t been used in a long time and needed a good washing.

Zhou Zhixi helped Qi Mingfeng wash them, chatting along the way: “Didn’t you go abroad to study, Senior? Why are you back at this time? Do international schools have summer break now?”

Qi Mingfeng’s movements paused as he washed a cup. “There was an accident; I didn’t end up going.”

Seeing that the clothes and items Qi Mingfeng used were quite expensive, Zhou Zhixi didn’t think much of it: “I see. So what are you doing now? I haven’t seen you release a new song in ages.”

“Not much. My brother isn’t feeling well, so I’ve been with him at the hospital lately. I just got back today,” Qi Mingfeng didn’t want to say more and changed the subject. “What about you? What have you been up to lately?”

Zhou Zhixi said nonchalantly, “Enjoying retirement.”

Qi Mingfeng: “Retirement?!”

At the train station, he had heard Zhou Zhixi mention his assistant quitting to take the civil service exam, but Qi Mingfeng hadn’t taken it seriously.

With Zhou Zhixi’s status, he surely had more than one assistant; if one left, countless others would break their heads to interview for the spot. And yet, Zhou Zhixi said he was enjoying retirement?

Qi Mingfeng: “You only graduated from university not long ago, right? How did you jump straight to retirement?”

Zhou Zhixi looked perfectly reasonable: “Yeah, I fired my manager and my assistants. Anyway, I’ve earned enough money to last a lifetime. What’s wrong with early retirement?”

Everyone has their own pursuits. Qi Mingfeng didn’t feel it was his place to judge Zhou Zhixi’s choice, but he felt it was a bit of a waste.

Though Zhou Zhixi’s vocal technique wasn’t top-tier, his creative talent was definitely in the first echelon—a true genius. Moreover, he was still so young…

“However,” Zhou Zhixi suddenly turned to him and smiled, “if it’s for you, Senior, I’m willing to try writing songs for you.”

Qi Mingfeng chuckled. “Then I’ll wait for you to write. When the time comes, you write and I’ll sing. If you truly retire completely, it would be a huge loss for the music industry.”

Zhou Zhixi: “Tsk, I still remember how our collaboration fell through back then. Your company boss was really sick in the head—ignoring a golden goose like you just to force a push for a piece of trash like Ruan Zhiyan.”

Qi Mingfeng looked down at the water flowing over the back of his hand, his eyelashes fluttering slightly. “The boss, well, he had his own ideas.”

Zhou Zhixi curled his lip. “It’s a good thing you terminated your contract. Staying with that kind of boss for too long would make you lose ten years of your life from anger.”

Qi Mingfeng really enjoyed chatting with Zhou Zhixi. Zhou Zhixi was naturally friendly and outgoing, and he spoke in a very interesting way.

After drinking some water, Qi Mingfeng took Zhou Zhixi to the second floor to hang out.

The second floor had been completely opened up. Against the walls, various musical instruments were categorized and either hung or placed. In the center stood microphones, and on the windowless side, there was a mixing console.

These were all high-quality items bought by the teacher. When Qi Mingfeng studied with the teacher, he had touched all kinds of instruments, but unfortunately, his talent was limited and the results were average.

However, Zhou Zhixi was very skilled with instruments.

After getting permission, Zhou Zhixi skillfully took down a guitar, sat down, performed a barred chord, and strummed a series of pleasant sounds with a plectrum.

Zhou Zhixi: “Senior, how long has it been since you touched this guitar? It’s out of tune.”

Qi Mingfeng said helplessly: “My skill with instruments isn’t great. Later, the teacher simply stopped teaching me, and they were left here as decorations.”

Zhou Zhixi became excited: “Since we have nothing else to do, I’ll tune them all for you one by one!”

As Zhou Zhixi tuned, he began to play. The music was extremely infectious, and Qi Mingfeng couldn’t help but hum along. Seeing this, Zhou Zhixi switched to a song better suited for singing. Back and forth, they ended up starting a chaotic two-person concert.

They were indeed students taught by the same teacher. Even though this was only their third meeting, they coordinated perfectly without needing to practice.

Zhou Zhixi knew when Qi Mingfeng wanted to skip a note; Qi Mingfeng knew when Zhou Zhixi wanted to change the melody. By the end, they didn’t even need words to understand each other’s meaning. They cooperated to perform their songs from over the years, as well as songs previously released by their teacher.

The teacher was a natural talent who became famous early; inevitably, there were a few songs written in the arrogance of youth just to show off technique.

Halfway through singing, Qi Mingfeng felt the buzzing in his ears suddenly drown out Zhou Zhixi’s drum kit.

His vision darkened in waves, making him almost unable to stand.

Zhou Zhixi quickly came over to support him: “What’s wrong, Senior? Did you skip lunch and get low blood sugar?”

Qi Mingfeng stood still for a moment. Fortunately, the buzzing in his ears gradually faded after he stopped. He said vaguely, “My body has been a bit weak lately; I can’t sing intense songs consecutively.”

“You gave me a fright,” Zhou Zhixi smiled and patted his shoulder. “You’re not even thirty yet, and you still have to hold concerts in the future. This won’t do! I’ll let you off today; let’s do something lyrical!”

The two hadn’t seen each other in a long time and were currently on a high from their seamless coordination; this small interlude didn’t affect the atmosphere.

Even though Zhou Zhixi specifically chose gentler songs, Qi Mingfeng still felt a sense of liberation.

He could vent all the anxiety, anger, and resentment of the past days into the music. The flowing melody felt like it was carving out a brilliant path for him. He sang loudly, running through the river of music toward the distance he wanted to reach.

Previously, his mind had been filled with the pressure of life and Qi Huan’s illness; dreams and passion had become ethereal things. Now that his mind was finally cleared, he found that he still loved singing and missed the stage.

The two played until they were covered in sweat. The water dispenser on the second floor hadn’t been used in years, and the water they had brought was finished, so they went down together to get more.

No one knew who had tripped over whom, but they both fell onto the sofa. Miraculously, they both held their water glasses steady, not spilling a drop. This tiny bit of luck made them both burst out laughing.

Zhou Zhixi rolled over, changed his position to lie on Qi Mingfeng’s lap, and smiled up at him: “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Qi Mingfeng: “Me too.” They were simply the most compatible partners.

Zhou Zhixi: “Can you still sing, Senior?”

Qi Mingfeng raised an eyebrow: “Of course, this is nothing.”

Zhou Zhixi hugged his waist, acting spoiled: “I want to sleep. Can you sing two more songs for me, Senior?”

Zhou Zhixi was truly too beautiful; his eyes were sparkling because of the sweat. When he spoke softly and acted spoiled, it was very hard for a normal person to resist.

Especially since Qi Mingfeng had just coordinated so perfectly with him, as if their souls were resonating.

Qi Mingfeng said “Okay” in a tone used to coax Qi Huan and began to sing a soothing melody softly.

Zhou Zhixi pillowed his head on Qi Mingfeng’s lap, his breathing gradually becoming regular.

Perhaps because he was both tired and happy, after two years, Qi Mingfeng eventually stopped singing and, for the first time, had the opportunity and the mood to fall into a deep sleep in the afternoon.

This villa carried his most carefree memories. Qi Mingfeng even began to dream.

He dreamed that he was adopted by the teacher into the villa at a very young age. Besides him, Qi Huan and Zhou Zhixi were also in the villa.

They grew up together. Qi Huan studied medicine, while he and Zhou Zhixi studied music. Under the teacher’s guidance, one played and wrote while the other sang.

In university, he followed the teacher’s arrangement to study abroad for further education. When he returned, Qi Huan was already working at a famous domestic hospital, and he and Zhou Zhixi had collaborated on many albums and held a concert specifically for the two fellow students.

The audience below waved glow sticks, a man-made sea of stars shining brilliantly. The loud final notes echoed over mountains and lakes; in the blink of an eye, flowers bloomed and snow melted. Everyone resonated through the music, singing their favorite tracks into the microphones. The teacher also stood in the shadows, applauding them.

They sang until they were covered in sweat, their makeup slightly smudged. After it ended, they went back to the backstage laughing and talking. Qi Mingfeng teased Zhou Zhixi for breaking a guitar string; Zhou Zhixi teased him for mixing up two lines of lyrics.

Qi Mingfeng felt his physical strength was a bit overextended; he felt like he was walking on clouds. Or perhaps it was an illusion brought by being too happy.

The hallway seemed endless. The volume of surrounding voices gradually decreased amidst their laughter. The staff in the corridor vanished unnoticed.

The lights went out one by one. He suddenly began to panic, his legs feeling as heavy as lead, unable to move. But he knew that if he didn’t run, he would be trapped in darkness forever.

He tried his best to move his legs forward, but without any reference point, he didn’t know how far he had walked.

Finally, a line of light appeared ahead—Qi Huan was holding a confetti cannon, smiling at him from a distance.

“A-Huan!”

Qi Mingfeng found the strength to run toward Qi Huan. With a loud bang, colorful streamers flew through the air, and the image shattered into pieces. In the next blink, He Xian’s face appeared before him.

“Bang—”

The villa door was pushed open heavily. Qi Mingfeng woke up from his dream with a start, looking toward the source of the crashing sound.

The sky was already dark. The streetlights outside the villa cast only a dim glow from a distance. He Xian’s tall figure blocked most of that light as he walked toward him from the doorway.

Perhaps he had just finished a formal meeting; he hadn’t even changed out of his black suit. The crisp sound of his polished leather shoes on the floor sounded like a death knell in Qi Mingfeng’s ears.

He Xian’s gaze coldly swept over Zhou Zhixi, who had also been startled awake and had just gotten up from Qi Mingfeng’s lap. The corners of his mouth curled, but there was no hint of a smile: “I was wondering why you wouldn’t come home and wouldn’t answer your phone. Turns out you were having so much fun with your dear junior that you forgot to go home.”

Zhou Zhixi had a bit of a temper when waking up, but hearing the subtext in the man’s words, he suppressed his temper and stood up to smooth things over: “This must be my sister-in-law? I’m so sorry. This afternoon I was chased by a group of reporters and happened to run into Senior. He was kind enough to take me in. We haven’t seen each other in years, so we talked for a while and accidentally fell asleep. As for not answering the phone…”

He pointed to the new phone on the table, which had just been unpacked and didn’t have a SIM card yet: “Senior really didn’t do it on purpose. I accidentally broke Senior’s phone. Look, the new phone only arrived a little while ago, and there hasn’t been time to insert the card yet. It’s all my fault for being playful. Sister-in-law, please don’t take it to heart.”

He thought he had clearly explained the sequence of events and the reasons, which a normal person would understand. This “sister-in-law” meeting him for the first time looked like a respectable person; even if he were suspicious, he should at least keep up appearances in front of him.

Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t even bother to pretend, and his words were extremely unpleasant: “Is that so? Just how ‘playful’ do you have to be to sleep on someone’s lap?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Qi Mingfeng saw Meng Ying outside the window seeing someone off. Judging by the outfit, it must have been a locksmith.

He hadn’t received He Xian’s call. He Xian had used some means to track him to this villa and come in person. When the doorbell went unanswered, he simply called a locksmith to break the door down.

He couldn’t stand listening to He Xian’s filthy implications and stood up: “Enough. Zhixi and I are simply fellow students.”

He Xian: “Is that so? You can never sleep well at home, but when you’re together, you can sleep so soundly you can’t even hear the doorbell?”

Zhou Zhixi said seriously: “Sir, as a partner, you should at least give my senior the most basic trust and respect.”

He Xian didn’t want to look at Zhou Zhixi and frowned: “What business is it of yours? Get out.”

Qi Mingfeng: “He Xian, do you even understand how to respect people?!”

Seeing Qi Mingfeng defend Zhou Zhixi, and the two “brothers” teaming up against him, He Xian’s suppressed fire burned even hotter: “Respect? Is he worthy? When he dragged you onto the hot searches, the news, and the newspapers because the media caught you, when he dragged you into a private meeting in a villa—did he ever respect me?”

Qi Mingfeng was stunned.

He turned on the villa lights, unpacked the new phone delivered by the courier, and inserted the SIM card into the slot to connect to the network. However, activating a new phone still took some time. Seeing this, Zhou Zhixi took out his own phone to search.

The reports online about him and Zhou Zhixi were varied, but the most widely circulated one was a photo of their backs.

Zhou Zhixi was pulling him with one hand and dragging his suitcase with the other. In Qi Mingfeng’s hand was the stack of cash Zhou Zhixi had given him to compensate for the phone, which he hadn’t had a chance to put away. They were practically running so fast they were a blur…

Qi Mingfeng had never been photographed looking so disheveled in his life, and the news headlines were even more bizarre.

— Shock! Zhou Zhixi and Mysterious Lover Elope with Cash!

— Creative Genius Zhou Zhixi Keeps Male Lover on the Streets!

— So Zhou Zhixi Retired for Him!

Qi Mingfeng: “…”

His lifelong reputation.