Xie Zhuxing was a person who didn’t have many requirements for his residence; he mainly just needed a place to sleep. As long as the place wasn’t messy and the environment wasn’t noisy, he didn’t give much care to how old or new the furniture was or whether the decorations were high quality or not. He quickly looked through a house with the agent and selected one. The rent was reasonable, so he paid the deposit.
When he parted ways with the agent, he was very close to a large shopping center. He went in and decided to have lunch there.
But since it was the weekend and many were out shopping, the majority of the restaurants upstairs all had queues. He chose a fast food place with a short line. There were only three girls waiting—after their turn it would be his.
The girls on the side were chattering and gossiping while waiting. They bantered about which male idol was handsome, rambling about “have you seen his newest show” blah blah blah.
Xie Zhuxing didn’t sit down. He took his number and went to stand on the side. He saw that his phone was almost out of battery. He fumbled through his bag to find a power bank.
One of the three girls saw him and bumped her friend, gesturing to look over. Then, they put their heads together and whispered excitedly, “He’s so handsome!”
He pretended he didn’t hear them. He found his power bank and connected it to his phone.
Tomorrow was Monday. The release of IceDream’s publicity posters was going to start tomorrow. Being the first, he will be presented to the public eye at 8pm tomorrow.
Very quickly, he will become the topic of girls’ gossip, no longer just a stranger they can describe as “he’s so handsome”.
Wang Chao slept until he was basked in sunlight. Then, he got up slowly and went home.
His second brother, Wang Jin, was currently sitting on the first floor reading a book. He watched him bring his suitcase in and said as he furrowed his brows, “You’re not moving back in are you?”
Wang Chao was originally excited and happy, but his face suddenly dropped. “What do you mean? My own family isn’t happy that I’m back?”
Wang Chao turned and continued to read his book. “I’ve finally gotten a few days of peace and quiet.”
Wang Chao wasn’t happy hearing this. He opened his mouth and jabbed at his weak spot, “Have fun with your peace and quiet. It’s no wonder you’re 30 and still don’t have a lover.”
Wang Chao felt that something was wrong as he finished speaking. Without taking his suitcase, he ran to the stairs. But only after running for a few steps, he was caught by Wang Jin. He pinched him harshly as he pressed him against the handrail of the staircase. He cried for mercy, “Ah! I was wrong, I was wrong! Stop pinching! Ow ow ow….hurts hurts hurts…”
His brothers had different methods when it came to beating him. Wang Qi had a stern face. When he got violent, he liked to beat or kick his butt directly. Wang Jin’s appearance was gentle, and it wasn’t often that he’d get physical with him; but when he does, his hands will land on his waist and thigh, pinching . Compared to Wang Qi’s beating, his pinching had much longer-lasting effects.
When Wang Jin let him go, he ran upstairs as he sobbed. He flipped and rummaged through his favorite clothes and shoes, thinking that he’s never going to come back again; he’s never going to be close with his second brother ever again.
Wang Jin came up and pushed open the door. He was scared, thinking that Wang Jin still hadn’t pinched him enough. He scowled miserably, “Wang the Second! I only mentioned one thing. Do you think this is worth it?! It’s not like I’ve never said anything about your partner. Then again, is that person worth dangling over for so long? They’re not even that good looking! And you’ve never slept together before. What are you so hung over them for?”
In all seriousness, Wang Chao actually wasn’t fond of Wang Jin’s first love whom he couldn’t get over. “Can you hurry up and find someone who’s hot and fuckable? Stop letting out your anger on me all day. It’s fine if you pinched me when I was younger ‘cause I was fat, but now I’m a 20 something year old adult! And I’m this skinny—fuck are you pinching? Feels good, huh? I don’t know what kinda bad luck I have, ending up as your brother!”
He brought in the suitcase that Wang Chao had forgotten downstairs.
Wang Chao was stunned. His brother had helped him bring up his suitcase, but here he was, adding salt to his wounds.
“I didn’t even use much strength. Does it hurt that much? You’re really howling a lot,” Wang Jin said.
Wang Chao rubbed his leg, then felt that it didn’t seem to hurt that much.
“I haven’t even touched you and you’re crying. Where do you look like a 20 something year old?”
While he was scolding Wang Chao on one hand, he was helping him fold the clothes he picked out on the other. After he organized them, he helped him carry them downstairs again.
Wang Chao wasn’t mad anymore. He felt that his second brother was actually pretty good to him.
Wang Jin said to him, “You need to watch your mouth. You have no bad intentions, but all you know how to do is say nasty words. When you get into trouble, you’ll be losing face on Wang Qi’s behalf. No one’s going to say anything about you, but they’ll say that Wang Qi doesn’t know how to teach his brother respect.”
Wang Chao looked down as he said, “Only my agent knows. I’ve never told anyone else what Wang Qi does.”
Wang Jin nodded, then continued, “Wang Qi is busy, too. If you have any problems, go find Liang Xi. He told me a few days ago that he’s got a dog. He’s probably going to start shitting out of boredom now.”
Wang Chao thought about it, then asked, “What are you doing tonight? How about we call up Liang Xi and have a meal? I have something I want to ask him tonight.”
Wang Jin had nothing to do today, so he said, “Then I’ll call him.”
Wang Chao started smiling immediately. “Alright, tell him that I’m going to bring a friend. Someone he’s met before.”
Wang Jin was curious. “Which friend?”
Wang Chao triumphantly declared, “You don’t know them! It’s my teammate. He’s a really good person!”
In the afternoon, he gave a call to that good teammate of his and asked, “Are you done with the houses?”
“I’ve already paid the deposit,” Xie Zhuxing said.
Wang Chao was a bit disappointed. “I was hoping that you could’t find a house so I can sleep with you for a few more days. Where are you right now?”
“At the company. I was dancing for a bit.”
Wang Chao was a lazy guy himself. He especially envied this level of diligence. “Are you done dancing? I’ll go pick you up.”
“No need. I’m going to go back by myself in a bit.”
“I invited Liang-ge for dinner tonight; I’m gonna bring you along.”
Xie Zhuxing was a bit surprised. “Liang Xi?”
“Then I’m not gonna go. It was so awkward last time. He’s gonna be embarrassed if he sees me too.”
Wang Chao smiled. “He’s not gonna be embarrassed, he’s an extremely shameless person. My second bro is also coming along tonight.”
Once he heard his brother was coming along, he didn’t want to go even more. “It’s not fitting for me to go. Forget it.”
Wang Chao wasn’t happy. He said, “What do you mean not fitting? I already told Liang-ge I was going to bring you along. Your personal profile is going to be released tomorrow. I was thinking of asking him to help you share it.”
Xie Zhuxing, “…” This person….ah.
“Where are you? Don’t come pick me up. I’ll go by myself when the time comes.”
Wang Chao told him the address happily, then said, “It’s at 6:30. Watch the time. Don’t be too late. Change into something nice.”
Wang Chao suddenly thought of something, then said, “Don’t wear something too nice – you’re already good-looking. Liang-ge he…anyways, just come, I’m here too.”
He only spoke half of his thoughts.
Xie Zhuxing immediately thought of the rumor about Liang Xi liking men.
He arrived at 6:30 – right on time. He told the waiter he had a reservation under “Wang”, and the waiter brought him in.
As he pushed the door open, he heard Wang Chao BB-ing inside warmly.
Wang Chao pulled him aside happily and introduced him, “Ge, this is Xie Zhuxing. We all call him Xiao Xie. This is my second brother.”
Xie Zhuxing greeted, “Hello.”
Wang Jin greeted him back politely, praising him, “Much more earnest than Wang Chao.”
Wang Chao wasn’t annoyed. In fact he also chimed in, “Xiao Xie’s a really good person; we’re super close.”
Xie Zhuxing didn’t like speaking during a meal. He sat on the side as he listened to the brothers chat.
Wang Chao continued boasting about how Xiao Xie was good at this, good at that, then talked about how laborious this period of singing and training was.
Wang Jin squinted at him, saying, “Laborious? Then how come I’ve heard Wang Qi talk about how you opened a private room in a nightclub during the training period? Have your kidney stones healed yet?”
He felt guilty and discontent. “Can you two respect my privacy?”
Wang Jin, “Where are we not respecting you? You’re using his card. There’s details within the bill.”
Wang Chao was especially embarrassed because of Xie Zhuxing on the side. He boasted, “Settling accounts with me now, huh? Just wait till I debut and make money. I’m not gonna use one cent of yours anymore.”
Wang Jin broke his stage. “Stop talking big. Debut and make money? People run around all day trying to make money, but you sleep around all day sticking money on models. Are you not ashamed?”
Wang Chao talked back, “So what if I sleep with models? I’m already 20 something. If I don’t sleep around then I’m gonna suffocate. Not to mention, I’m a real stud.”
The real stud tugged Xie Zhuxing and lifted up his t-shirt for him to see. He complained, “I should’ve gone to look at the houses with you. Look at how Wang Jin pinched me.”
There were two purple marks on his waist, clearly from being pinched.
Xie Zhuxing, “…” I’ve heard about the oldest brother’s reputation. It seems like the second brother is no less impressive ah.
“Thank god I’m debuting soon and I need my face. He used to pinch my cheeks all the time. ” Wang Chao pointed to his right cheek and said, “One year during the holidays, he pinched my face so hard that it left two fingerprint marks on my cheeks. I couldn’t go out to play at all. I’m telling you: he pinches people without batting an eye. He pinches me wherever it hurts, not even mentioning how cruel that is.”
Wang Jin said, “Then why don’t you tell Xiao Xie why I pinched you that year? As soon as I put up the lanterns and connected the electricity in, you threw the firecracker in. The whole house’s circuit was turned off and we couldn’t even watch the Spring Festival program.”
“Who even watches the Spring Festival program nowadays? All they do is compete with comic dialogues and lip-sync songs.”
Liang Xi coincidentally pushed the door open at this time, furrowing his eyebrows. “Who did you say lip-synched?”
Xie Zhuxing suddenly remembered—Mr. Liang had lip-synced a song during the Spring Festival program last year.