Times of Our Lives - Chapter 38

In his junior year, apart from two mandatory courses for his major, Xie Meng also took elective courses in banking accounting. When Han Dong chatted with him privately, he asked if Xie Meng was considering working at a bank after graduation. Xie Meng did not deny it.

 

“It’s not easy to rise quickly in a bank; you have to endure,” Han Dong said as they discussed, “Have you decided to stay in Beijing?”

 

Xie Meng replied, “I’ll go wherever Ji Qinyang goes.”

 

Han Dong clicked his tongue, “How romantic.”

 

Xie Meng smiled without arguing. The two continued chatting, and the conversation shifted to Zhang Ganggang.

 

“Has he still not met Rourou?” Xie Meng asked worriedly, “What’s going on?”

 

Han Dong looked at him with a complex expression, then sighed, “You’re even more clueless than I thought…”

 

Xie Meng: “??”

 

Han Dong: “Ji Qinyang actually has a hard time.”

 

Xie Meng was speechless, “…What does that have to do with him?”

 

Recently, Xie Meng’s friend Xiong Baobao frequently visited him. As Xiong Baobao was now in his junior year, he had started visiting various film sets. Having just finished writing a graduation script, he was preparing to find sponsors.

 

Xie Meng asked why he didn’t seek out Ji Qinyang. Xiong Baobao’s response was that the hero was not yet needed, so there was no rush.

 

Since the book-lifting incident, Zheng Ming and Xiong Baobao hadn’t had much contact. The film emperor was very busy, flying all over the world mid-month, and it seemed he was about to collaborate with a foreign director. His Weibo followers had surpassed ten million.

 

When Xie Meng saw it, he was curious, “Doesn’t his management company handle all this?”

 

Xiong Baobao refreshed the page, “It seems he’s managing it himself, but he doesn’t post much on Weibo.”

 

“I’m mutual followers with him,” Xiong Baobao said proudly, “He has liked all my Weibo posts.”

 

Xie Meng noticed Xiong Baobao’s latest post “Had five bowls of rice again today [picture]” with no comments, and the only like was indeed from Zheng Ming.

 

“…” Xie Meng asked, “What is your relationship with him, exactly?”

 

Xiong Baobao pondered for a while, “I want him to play the lead role, but I can’t afford his salary… What kind of relationship is that?”

 

Xie Meng was silent, “Have you mentioned this to him?”

 

Xiong Baobao said seriously, “I’m not famous enough yet. Once I become famous, I’ll invite him.”

 

Xie Meng looked at him.

 

Xiong Baobao: “?”

 

Xie Meng reached out and ruffled Xiong Baobao’s hair, smiling, “Keep it up.”

 

In his junior year at the Central Conservatory of Music, there were fewer specialized courses, but students were busier than when there were no classes. Zhai Lin and Guo Lin’an were hardly ever seen in the dormitory; they were either attending concerts or in the sight-singing and ear-training room, which had to be reserved in advance. Zhai Lin had been frustrated many times, with the corridor often echoing his furious rants.

 

“Stop making noise,” Guo Lin’an advised, “Let’s go to Yi Mei’s place and mooch off her.”

 

Zhai Lin responded, “Do you think others don’t need to? If I had known earlier, I would have rented a place too.”

 

Guo Lin’an said, “It’s rare to mooch once. Qian Mo’s band just had a concert a few days ago, so Yi Mei probably won’t recover so quickly.”

 

Zhai Lin frowned and hesitated. Normally, if he and Guo Lin’an went, Ji Qinyang would definitely not refuse, but as Guo Lin’an mentioned, Ji Qinyang was resting after the concert. With how busy he had been before, and how little time he had spent with Xie Meng, disturbing their private time now…

 

“Go, go,” Guo Lin’an said, hugging Zhai Lin’s small frame, “What’s the big deal?”

 

When Xie Meng returned, Ji Qinyang was still asleep, completely naked and curled up under the blankets. His hair had grown long, and his bangs were messily falling over his forehead.

 

Xie Meng picked up the clothes scattered on the floor, sorted them, and put them in the washing machine. He then tidied up the music room, throwing away instant coffee packets and beer cans, neatly stacking the unfinished scores on top, and finally went to the kitchen to cook porridge and prepare cucumbers. When he finished and returned to the room, Ji Qinyang was already awake, sitting on the bed with messy hair and bleary eyes.

 

“Why don’t you sleep a bit more?” Xie Meng sat on the edge of the bed and handed him his pants.

 

Ji Qinyang slowly put on his pants and glanced at Xie Meng, “It’s rare to be alone for half a day… It feels wrong to waste it by sleeping…”

 

Xie Meng couldn’t stop laughing. He reached out to smooth Ji Qinyang’s hair and helped him put on his socks, “Wash your face and brush your teeth. I’ll shave you. We’ll have porridge for lunch and meat for dinner.”

 

Ji Qinyang’s body hair was not dense, but after a month of seclusion, his chin had grown quite stubbly. Xie Meng had him sit on a small stool in the bathroom, tilted his head back, and applied shaving foam to his chin.

 

“…” Xie Meng looked down at Ji Qinyang’s hand reaching under his shirt, shaking the razor, “What are you doing?”

 

Ji Qinyang, with his face covered in shaving foam, mumbled, “Just touching.”

 

Xie Meng ignored him and carefully shaved his chin. Their faces were very close. Suddenly, Ji Qinyang lunged forward and gave Xie Meng’s lips a firm kiss.

 

“Pfft…” Xie Meng’s lips were covered in foam.

 

Ji Qinyang laughed, “Two old men.”

 

Xie Meng held Ji Qinyang’s face and said calmly, “Stop fooling around, old man.”

 

After shaving his chin, Ji Qinyang still needed to wash his hair. He pressed his wet head against Xie Meng, biting open the buttons of Xie Meng’s shirt, and began kissing from his abdomen up to his chest.

 

Xie Meng was lifted and sat on the sink as Ji Qinyang continued kissing him and took lubricant from the drawer. He softly said, “I didn’t bring any con–doms…”

 

Xie Meng’s fingers traced Ji Qinyang’s wet hair ends as he spread his legs around Ji Qinyang’s waist, silently inviting him. After a bit more kissing, Ji Qinyang slowly entered him.

 

“I’m afraid I’ll come inside,” Ji Qinyang suddenly stopped halfway through.

 

“?” Xie Meng was annoyed, “Why stop… Continue…”

 

Ji Qinyang flipped him over, entering him from behind in front of the mirror. He motioned for Xie Meng to lift his legs, and the mirror clearly showed their joined bodies.

 

Xie Meng’s face slowly turned red. He closed his eyes but was turned to face Ji Qinyang, who kissed him.

 

After Ji Qinyang finished, he didn’t stay inside Xie Meng for long. He pulled out, and a mixture of lubricant and se-m-en slowly dripped from Xie Meng’s legs.

 

Xie Meng had also come. As he leaned on the sink to regain his composure, he suddenly remembered, “Oh no… I was cooking porridge…”

 

Ji Qinyang was wiping him down with a towel, and Xie Meng ran to the kitchen without even putting on his pants.

 

Fortunately, there was enough water, and the porridge hadn’t burned. Xie Meng ladled it out just as he heard a knock on the door.

 

Ji Qinyang came out with pants and helped Xie Meng put them on, “Hurry up and get dressed.”

 

Xie Meng was flustered, fastening his buttons, and noticed Ji Qinyang’s legs were still bare, “Forget about me… What about your pants?”

 

Ji Qinyang only went back to his room to fetch clean pants after Xie Meng was dressed. When he came out, Xie Meng was opening the door, and Zhai Lin and Guo Lin’an walked in, one after the other.

 

“What are you two doing?” Guo Lin’an asked casually as he looked around, “Why did it take so long to open the door?”

 

Zhai Lin, more perceptive, glanced briefly at the mark on Xie Meng’s neck and quickly looked away, speaking to Ji Qinyang timidly, “Yi Mei, sorry to bother you… I was hoping to borrow the music room…”

 

Ji Qinyang smiled and took off the thin shirt he had just put on, covering Xie Meng’s head with it. He was only wearing a tank top, “It’s a small matter… Xie Meng, help me wash these clothes.”

 

Xie Meng was about to say that the shirt was clean when he saw Zhai Lin in the corner giving a secret gesture.

 

“…!” Xie Meng quickly used Ji Qinyang’s shirt to cover his neck.

 

Only Guo Lin’an, with his thick skin, envied, “Yi Mei is so lucky. I wish someone would help me with my laundry…”

 

Zhang Ganggang was in the darkroom developing the band photos he had taken a few days ago. He set aside the ones of Ji Qinyang and Xie Meng, hanging the rest up to dry.

 

He didn’t take many photos, but none were wasted. The quality progressed from initial inexperience to proficiency, showing care and improvement in each shot. 

 

A senior called him from outside the darkroom, and Zhang Ganggang responded.

 

“Since you’re about to be a senior, do you have any plans?” The senior was flipping through Zhang Ganggang’s developed photos. The school had its own photography competition, and Zhang Ganggang had consistently won top places.

 

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Zhang Ganggang said with a silly smile, “Do you have any recommendations?”

 

The senior said, “I have a few practice reports here. Take a look?”

 

Zhang Ganggang took them and saw the top one was a report on war correspondents.

 

“This one…” he pointed at the title.

 

The senior leaned in, “Ah, this one’s been quite hot recently… But not many have responded because it’s too dangerous. Maybe you should look at other options.”

 

Zhang Ganggang remained silent, putting all the practice reports into his bag and thanking the senior with a smile.

 

Rourou’s QQ was always online. When Zhang Ganggang returned, he left a message: “Are you there?” There was no immediate reply, so he occupied himself with other tasks.

 

Zhang Ganggang’s laptop, which he bought in his freshman year, still had a folder named “Rourou My Love” on the C drive. It contained screenshots of thousands of their chat logs, including SMS messages from high school.

 

Although it might seem unmanly for a guy to do this, Zhang Ganggang habitually looked through these familiar files whenever he faced issues.

 

“I’m here,” Rourou replied with a shaking window. “Aren’t you developing photos? How are you back already?”

 

Zhang Ganggang closed the folder and couldn’t help but smile at the chat window.

 

“Busy lately?” Zhang Ganggang typed, “Can we meet up?”

 

Rourou: “Sorry… I’m busy preparing for my internship, so I’m very occupied.”

 

Zhang Ganggang kept his hand on the keyboard, and after a long silence, he began typing: “When can we meet then?”

 

Rourou: “After graduation… I really want to see you too. I miss you so much.”

 

Zhang Ganggang bit his lip, the dim light from the computer screen highlighting his expression. He typed many words but deleted them. Finally, he sent just one message: “Okay.”