Picking Up Stars

捡星星

picking-up-stars

Chapter 30

Qin Fang got sick unexpectedly, but after all he was still the "big beast" in Hua Tong's words, with his excellent physical condition, he was back to his energetic self in about a week.
One morning, he woke up feeling fine, with no discomfort, no stuffy nose, and no headache. He got out of bed and took a shower. Chen Ke asked him, "How are you feeling?"
"Feeling good," Qin Fang said, wiping the water droplets from his hair with a towel. "Refreshed."
"Looks like you've recovered," Shen Dengke said with a smile while tying his shoelaces. "You were like a little sick chick the past few days."
Qin Fang shook his head and retorted, "You look like a chick yourself."
Chen Ke tossed him the cold medicine. "Take it for one more day."
Qin Fang shook his head. "No need, I'm fine now."
He definitely wasn't going to take the medicine. After being sick for the past few days, feeling groggy, now that he was energized, he couldn't stay put in the dorm.
People in the group had been @ing him to go out since early morning. Qin Fang first went to get his head shaved, as it had grown a bit long. The buzz cut was really addictive; once you shaved it, you didn't want to let it grow back.
When he was a child, every time after recovering from an illness, his grandfather would have someone come over to trim his hair, saying that only then could he be considered fully recovered. Qin Fang hadn't been sick much in recent years, but he still kept this habit.
His phone kept vibrating in his pocket while he was getting his hair cut. Qin Fang took it out and glanced at it after leaving the shop. It was all nonsense from the people in the group chat. But besides them, there was also a message from Xing Yan.
— Are you still feeling unwell?
Qin Fang looked at the message, not knowing how to reply. At first glance, it felt awkward, but after locking the screen and putting the phone aside, he felt like not replying was missing something.
Taking advantage of the red light, Qin Fang picked up his phone and replied: I'm all good now, out to have some fun.
Xing Yan replied: Okay.
Qin Fang's outburst last time probably had some effect. After that, Xing Yan wasn't as cold to him as before, possibly afraid that Qin Fang would say he wanted to cut ties like last time.
This made Qin Fang want to laugh every time, not knowing if this affected Xing Yan's cool guy image. Now, even though Xing Yan didn't want to pay attention to him, he still had to find topics to talk to him about.
When Qin Fang arrived, the others were huddled together playing poker - Xiao Peng and Dong in one group, Feng Zhe and Xiao Fan in another. Qin Fang watched and felt bored. "Can't you guys have some other entertainment?"
"The thing is, everything else is boring too, nothing to do," Feng Zhe said, squatting on a chair, holding a hand of cards, who knew what trick he was up to.
"There are, there are other things to do," Xiao Peng said, stuttering a little, not knowing if he was doing it on purpose to make fun of the two or if he really talked like that. "You two can play fight."
"Get lost," Feng Zhe glared at him. "The two of us can gang up and play with you instead."
Feng Zhe used his eyes to ask Fan Linyi if he had a king, and Fan Linyi shook his head slightly.
"You two, don't cheat, can you not," Dong said, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, eyes half-closed. "I have all four kings, I'm telling you straight up. This round, you two just lie down and pay up."
Feng Zhe cursed.
These two were really unlucky, getting dealt a lousy hand, and their teammate was even worse. After playing for an hour, they lost quite a bit.
Feng Zhe used his phone to transfer money to the others, grumbling as he did, "Next time I'm not teaming up with you, what kind of hand do you have, what kind of crappy cards did you get."
"Your cards were great," Fan Linyi said expressionlessly. "4556678899 weren't the ones you got."
"Fight!" Xiao Peng collected the money and gave half to his teammate. "You two, fight quickly, flip the table, smash the cups!"
Fan Linyi happened to be standing behind him. He lifted his foot and kicked Xiao Peng's chair, flipping him over along with the chair. Feng Zhe followed up with another kick.
Last time when Qin Fang came out for his birthday, he had a new flame on his left and an old flame on his right, but this time he came out alone. Someone asked him, "Fang-ge, where's your Yan-ge?"
Qin Fang waved his hand, telling them not to make a fuss.
Feng Zhe leaned over, pouting in front of Qin Fang, and asked him, "Fang-ge, are you two really... you know?"
"What?" Qin Fang looked at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Just... are you two really dating?" Feng Zhe tugged at his ear, which had a black earring, making his ear look quite white. He asked Qin Fang, "You weren't into this before."
"Don't ask," Qin Fang didn't want to say. "Worry about your own business."
"If Xiao Hua finds out, she'll be so depressed. She's liked you for over ten years, and in the end, you'd rather turn gay than be with her," Feng Zhe thought, feeling bad for Xiao Hua.
"Don't talk nonsense," Qin Fang picked up a deck of cards and threw it at him. "Shut up."
Fan Linyi grabbed Feng Zhe by the collar and dragged him away. Feng Zhe grumbled and cursed, his mouth never stopping.
Looking at Feng Zhe and Fan Linyi now, Qin Fang felt that even if they really got together, he wouldn't feel anything. But once he imagined this happening to himself and Xing Yan, it was hard to fathom.
He had originally planned to stay here until evening, have dinner with them, and then go back. But in the afternoon, Si Tu sent him a message. They had added each other on WeChat long ago but hadn't really talked, so Qin Fang was quite surprised to receive it.
Si Tu said to him: Want to come over for dinner tonight?
Qin Fang asked: Why? Is today a special occasion?
Si Tu said: No, I bought too much, can't finish it all.
Qin Fang: Haha, okay.
If it had been Han Xiaogong inviting him today, Qin Fang probably wouldn't have gone, as they were quite close. It was precisely because he wasn't that familiar with Si Tu that Qin Fang agreed to go when Si Tu invited him.
Feng Zhe wasn't happy about Qin Fang leaving. He frowned and asked, "Who's looking for you? Your Yan-ge?"
"A friend," Qin Fang said with a smile.
"What friend is more important than us?" Feng Zhe pouted. "Tong'er or Yan-ge?"
"Neither," Qin Fang pushed his head. "You guys eat dinner tonight, my treat."
"If you weren't leaving, we definitely wouldn't need you to treat," Feng Zhe pulled a face. "But since you're leaving, then you're treating. After eating, we're going out to have fun."
Going out to have fun after dinner could only mean the nightclub. Qin Fang shook his head and laughed. "I'll cover the fun too, but I'm not paying for any companions."
This was referring to Feng Zhe, who had hired young men before. Feng Zhe shrank his neck, glanced at Fan Linyi across from him, and waved at Qin Fang, gesturing for him to leave quickly.
Qin Fang left with a smile, feeling that Feng Zhe was much cuter than he was in high school. Back then, he had his eyes on the sky and only knew how to act cool. He was fine with Qin Fang, but he was too arrogant with people he wasn't close to, which was annoying to see.
Now, although he was still a bit of a jerk, he was quite interesting.
He didn't go to Si Tu's place empty-handed, bringing a bottle of wine.
Han Xiaogong opened the door for him, and Qin Fang went in and greeted him. Han Xiaogong asked him, "Yan-ge said you were sick, are you better now?"
"Ah," Qin Fang put the alcohol on the dining table, "I'm better. Where's Si Tu?"
"He went out to buy shrimp." Han Xiaogong said.
In late October and early November, the weather in the north was already quite cool. Qin Fang occasionally had to wear a thick coat or a thick hoodie when he went out. Si Tu looked like he was quite afraid of the cold, and he dressed as if winter had already arrived.
He opened the door and came in, saw that Qin Fang had already arrived, and spoke to him with a smile.
Qin Fang stood up to take the things from his hands and put them in the kitchen. He felt that Si Tu didn't look very well and asked him, "Do you have a cold too?"
"No, I don't," Si Tu went to his bedroom to change clothes, "I'm always like this when the weather turns cold."
On this rare day when everyone was present, Xing Yan and Zhou Siming also came over later. Xing Yan was a little surprised to see Qin Fang there too, and asked him, "Didn't you go out to play?"
"Si Tu asked me to come." Qin Fang moved to the edge of the sofa, "So I came out early."
Xing Yan sat directly next to him, but didn't speak to him again, and the two of them just sat on their own.
This semester was the first time Qin Fang saw Zhou Siming, and he looked much thinner than before. With everyone coming so fully, it definitely wasn't an ordinary day.
Qin Fang asked Xing Yan in a low voice, "Whose birthday is it today? Or what's the occasion?"
Xing Yan replied, "Si Tu's."
"Really?" Qin Fang blinked and asked him, "...Then why didn't you tell me in advance?"
"I didn't expect him to invite you." Xing Yan said to him, "You said you were going out to play, so I thought you wouldn't come."
The two of them were huddled together whispering like this. Although they didn't say anything special, the scene always showed a closeness that was different from others no matter how you looked at it.
The room was a bit cold. Han Xiaogong found a turtleneck sweater to put on. When he came out again, the two on the sofa were still talking in low voices. He laughed, "What are you two whispering about? Why don't you send WeChat messages?"
Qin Fang then took out his phone and joked along with his words, "Come on, Yan-ge, let's send WeChat messages."
Xing Yan didn't play along with him and ignored them both.
It was Si Tu's birthday, and Qin Fang was quite surprised that he could be invited. But thinking about it, there was nothing wrong. After all, the awkwardness between them had been so long ago that it was no longer a big deal.
When they were eating, everyone poured wine, except for Qin Fang. When he was about to pour, Xing Yan stopped him, blocking his glass and saying, "Forget it since you're driving."
It was just an excuse for Qin Fang not to drink.
Qin Fang originally wanted to shake his head and say it was okay, but when he made eye contact with Xing Yan, Xing Yan repeated to him, "Don't drink when driving."
Qin Fang also put it down according to his intention. He really didn't like drinking anyway.
Han Xiaogong brewed a pot of tea for Qin Fang and placed it beside his hand. Qin Fang poured a cup of tea and clinked glasses with Si Tu, saying, "Happy birthday, have peace year after year."
Si Tu smiled and said, "Thank you."
The atmosphere that night was rarely warm. Maybe the word "warmth" was not quite right, and it felt a bit out of place when applied to these few people. But it was indeed quite comfortable. Si Tu talked about a lot of things from their past.
These were all things that Qin Fang had never heard before, about their past, about Xing Yan's childhood.
The light on the dining table was set to a warm tone. Han Xiaogong casually took a few photos. Si Tu looked at him and said, "In the past, the one I worried about most was Xiaogong. Yan and Siming had excellent grades, only he was not good at anything. He was not good at studying, nor could he fight. He only had a pretty face. But when he couldn't protect himself, the prettier the face, the heavier the burden."
Han Xiaogong raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Now I also make a living with my face, isn't that pretty good?"
"Yes, pretty good." Si Tu nodded.
"Yan and I have birthdays very close to each other, just a week apart. In the past, we would pick a day in between our birthdays and celebrate together." When Si Tu drank alcohol, his eyes were not very clear, and the bottoms of his eyes were red.
When he thought of those things, his eyes were affectionate. "Later, he stopped celebrating, thinking it was boring."
Qin Fang had been listening quite seriously, but suddenly his train of thought was cut off here. He looked at Xing Yan and asked, "So your birthday is in a week? Don't tell me it's already passed."
"No," Han Xiaogong answered for him on the side, "next week."
Qin Fang looked at Xing Yan with raised eyebrows, and Xing Yan just nodded.
Qin Fang nodded to indicate that he knew. After a while, he suddenly said to Xing Yan, "Why didn't you say anything? Are you a tight-lipped gourd?"

Picking Up Stars

Picking Up Stars

Chapter 30 - Chapter 30

Windwalker