SBGS Extra 17

TL: Hua

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The man stood on the path a few steps away. In the lead-gray night, his pupils reflected a deep white light. He looked at the young man opposite him in an obscure way:

“Long time no see.”

Xia Shu’an took a breath and said:

“You are following me, Shen Boyan. This is not good, do you know?”

The man avoided the question and simply said:

“Don’t let them do that. What if something goes wrong?”

Xia Shu’an couldn’t help but complain, “That’s better than being a stalker.”

“You know this is illegal; can I call the police?”

Shen Boyan looked at him and said calmly, “The police can’t arrest me.”

Xia Shu’an: “OK, OK, OK, I don’t want to listen to your privileged class contempt of power.”

A cold wind blew, causing Xia Shu’an to shiver and sneeze. Shen Boyan frowned:

“Let us go back.”

“Not us. It’s me.”

Xia Shu’an felt like she had returned to simplicity after the car accident, and her attitude towards Shen Boyan was unexpectedly good. Perhaps the taste of freedom was too great, instantly nourishing his dry heart and making it full.

Shen Boyan ignored his correction and just said, “I’ll take you home.”

“Whatever you want.”

Anyway, this was not something he could stop. Xia Shu’an walked towards the community with his bag in a good mood. The garden was not far from the downstairs of the community where he lived. It took about six minutes to walk. Xia Shu’an soon arrived. He went into the building and looked at Shen Boyan outside. After thinking for a while, he said:

“Thank you for Yang Han’s matter.”

“Go back early; it’s too cold outside.”

Shen Boyan still didn’t say anything, but his two eyes stared at Xia Shu’an like light bulbs and radars. His eyes seemed to never get tired of looking at him. Xia Shu’an was really a little tired of this look. He took a breath, walked into the elevator room, and quickly closed the elevator door.

After Xia Shu’an disappeared, Shen Boyan did not leave immediately. He stayed in the cold wind for two or three minutes before turning around and walking outside the community.

The car was parked outside the garden, and he had to walk through it. It was very quiet inside, and not many people were walking around on a winter’s night. Shen Boyan walked to the intersection where he and Xia Shu’an had just met; his feet wandered, his palms stuffed in his coat pockets, and he finally took out a pack of cigarettes from the inside.

Because Xia Shu’an didn’t like the smell of cigarettes, he hadn’t smoked for a long time. At this moment, starlight was lit in the air, and under the red light, the man slowly exhaled a puff of turbid white smoke.

His mind kept replaying the five or six minutes he had just spent with Xia Shu’an, his every smile, the tone of his voice, the unhappy look after he sneezed, the way he opened his mouth to breathe, and was afraid of the cold.

Those tiny images of the lively Xia Shu’an kept flowing from his brain to his chest and into his heart, finally squeezing out the image of Xia Shu’an, who had been lying lifeless on the hospital bed, who had been covered in blood, and who had tortured him for more than five months.

All the photos of Xia Shu’an taken through secret observation were not as good as those brief five minutes of contact with him.

Five minutes, just five minutes.

In the lonely night, the man exhaled slowly and took slow steps.

The next day was Saturday. Xia Shu’an woke up naturally. When he opened the door, he saw people constantly going in and out of the elevator, carrying some furniture into the house next door.

?

He remembered that there was a family of three living in the house next door and it was quite stable. Why did they need to renovate it?

Just as he was wondering, a man walked out from the wide open door. He was wearing casual home clothes, with short and neat hair. His tall body was full of power, and his face was intimidating without even being angry.

Feeling the gaze from the opposite side, the man raised his head and looked straight at Xia Shu’an.

Then, he curled his lips and chuckled.

Xia Shu’an closed the door expressionlessly.

Damn, what’s going on?

Less than half a minute later, Xia Shu’an opened the door again. He moved aside to avoid the passing workers, entered the elevator, pressed the button for the first floor, and the elevator door slowly closed. Xia Shu’an began to think about where to have a good breakfast.

Finally, he chose that pancake shop. Their pancakes were so-so, but their soy milk was surprisingly delicious. Xia Shu’an thinks it’s best they would just sell soy milk. Why sell pancakes? It would delay their efforts in making soy milk. The weather was so cold that Xia Shu’an was not in the mood to take a walk, so he went back home after breakfast. When he came back, the workers had almost all left, and the corridor was quiet again.

Xia Shu’an was satisfied.

Shen Boyan and Xia Shu’an became neighbors in this way. They would probably see each other two or three times a week occasionally, usually in the morning. They would hardly see each other at night, and in rare cases, they might not see each other even once a week.

Xia Shu’an is a quiet person, and so is Shen Boyan. After surviving the disaster and regaining his freedom, Xia Shu’an decides to start a life that is different from the past, such as playing games.

Now, he is dragged by Lu Xin to play games every night. Lu Xin is very proficient in the game, but Xia Shu’an is a novice. After being brought to Lu Xin’s team, he was questioned by many people. But once they turned on the voice chat, those teammates who usually cursed people’s parents at every turn suddenly became tolerant after hearing Xia Shu’an speaking.

Later on, one teammate found a photo of Xia Shu’an and Lu Xin together. When they asked other people in the group if it was Xia Shu’an, Xia Shu’an came out to say yes. Since that day, there has been a significant change in the attitude of the teammates.

It is worth mentioning that there is only one girl in this team, but everyone, including her, has a better attitude.

A person who is addicted to games is often a person who forgets to eat. It was another weekend, and Xia Shu’an was so engrossed in playing games in the morning that he forgot to eat. It was only when it was past his usual mealtime that his stomach protested.

After finishing the game, Xia Shu’an was too lazy to go out, so he was about to order some takeout when he suddenly smelled the aroma of rice wafting in from the window.

They only have two rooms on one floor, and the fragrance must have been transferred over, so there is no doubt where it came from.

But—is this reasonable?

This fragrance, this delicious combination of smells, Xia Shu’an is very sure that Shen Boyan lives alone next door, and it doesn’t smell like insulated takeout, but is it reasonable?

Is it reasonable for Shen Boyan to be able to make such tantalizingly flavorful meals, when he’s been away from home for two months and only knows how to cook noodles and fried rice?

Regardless of whether it was reasonable or not, Xia Shu’an’s stomach was already hungry, so he quickly ran to the bedroom, closed the window, and opened the food delivery app.

This is unfair!

–

The next day, Sunday, the weather turned warmer—meaning it jumped from three degrees to five degrees.

Xia Shu’an is ready to go, with complete protective measures in place. From head to toe, except for the nose and forehead, the skin should not be exposed if possible.

He had just gone out and pressed the elevator button when the door of the house next door opened. A man walked out, wearing a coat and a suit, looking very imposing. When he saw Xia Shu’an, he was also stunned, then he calmed down and stood aside.

The elevator soon arrived, and the two entered the elevator together, standing on their own sides. The atmosphere was a little awkward. Xia Shu’an thought about it and took the initiative to speak:

“Going out?”

“Um.”

“Overtime?”

“Not really.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

This is the end of the dialogue for adults. Fortunately, the elevator in their community was very fast, and they arrived downstairs in just a few words. Xia Shu’an still didn’t like driving, so he tied a scarf around his neck and walked slowly towards the gate.

Shen Boyan went straight to the underground parking lot and watched as the young man’s figure drifted away. The elevator door slowly closed.

After that, the two did not meet again for several days. Shen Boyan seemed to be on a business trip; who knows? About a week later, Xia Shu’an came back from work with takeout and happened to meet Shen Boyan, who was going downstairs in the elevator. The two faced each other and were both stunned.

Xia Shu’an thought of the fragrance coming out of his room, and for some reason, he felt a little guilty. He held his head high and nodded to Shen Boyan, then walked past him.

“You—” Shen Boyan paused slightly and said, “Don’t always eat takeout.”

The same words were said by the auntie on the first floor. Xia Shu’an smiled and nodded as he did with the auntie, then ignored him and took out the key to open the door.

Time entered January, and on New Year’s Day, Xia Shu’an and his parents went on a short trip around the area. After having a new career, both Father Xia and Mother Xia were in very good spirits, and Xia Shu’an seemed to have returned to the time when the Xia family was not bankrupt.

After New Year’s Day is the Chinese New Year. This New Year, the Xia family is particularly busy because they have a store to take care of. They have to arrange for employees to go home, give bonuses to employees who don’t go home, and prepare for the New Year’s Eve dinner. In short, the three people in the family are busy.

After the Chinese New Year, Xia Shu’an went back to work and attended a cooking class. He is now a mature single man and must learn to take care of himself.

Most of the students are women, with only a few men. Among them, Xia Shu’an is the youngest and also the most popular. He has only been in class for a week, but he has won the love of all the female members, including a girl in her twenties.

To call her a little girl, she wasn’t really that young, but in Xia Shu’an’s eyes, she still looked like a little sister, and her round face made her look even more like one.

Xia Shu’an liked her very much, but his love was just that of a brother who liked the little sister next door.

The girl likes him too, but in a romantic way.

The other people in the class were all happy to see this happen and tried to match them up. That day, Xia Shu’an and the girl were assigned to buy cakes. They talked as they walked. The girl’s advances were not fierce, and she seemed very cute. If he were an ordinary single young man, even if he were not attracted to her, he would still have some feelings. But Xia Shu’an believed that he was already gay, so even if he was not a pure gay, it would be impossible for him to fall in love within two years.

He expressed his thoughts tactfully, and the girl was very smart and understood it quickly, but she did not give up. Instead, she showed the bold thinking of a modern woman: “Just flirt with him first. If you fail, you still get to know a handsome guy. If you succeed, you will make a fortune.”

Xia Shu’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he could do nothing about it. He couldn’t blame his own face, right?

He and the girl were walking along the road, talking and laughing. A car passed by, and the dark glass window reflected the man’s gloomy face.

It was already very late when Xia Shu’an returned home. After taking a shower, he was about to go to bed when suddenly the doorbell rang.

No one had ever come to see Xia Shu’an at this time. He opened the door with doubts. The man outside was still wearing the clothes he wore when he went out. His face was cold and expressionless. His tall figure was shrouded in the bright white light in the corridor, like a sculpture.

Xia Shu’an paused and was about to ask him what he was doing when the man outside the door suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

The man was too strong, and Xia Shu’an was caught off guard. His body was carried back a few steps, and he was held back against the door. The door made a loud bang, and Xia Shu’an was trapped in a huge embrace. He could still feel the smell of the cold wind from outside on the man’s body, which was as bitter as ice chips.

Xia Shu’an: ?

!

“What are you doing?!”

Xia Shu’an’s brain heated up, and he let out the first roar since the two met again. This hug reminded him of some unpleasant things. His body and mind were subconsciously unhappy, and he couldn’t help but reach out and push Shen Boyan away.

“Just let me hold you for a bit.”

Xia Shu’an paused. Shen Boyan’s voice was actually trembling.

——It doesn’t matter whether Shen Boyan trembles or not. The problem is that he is now in his own house, and the two of them are at an unobstructed distance. If Shen Boyan’s mind suddenly turns back on his old ways, won’t he be the one who suffers?

Xia Shu’an put his hands in the air, not knowing where to put them, so he simply put them in his coat pockets to keep warm.

Shen Boyan’s shoulders were still trembling slightly, and he sniffed the scent of Xia Shu’an hungrily like a traveler trapped in the desert. In the past six months, he thought that as long as he stayed close to Xia Shu’an, it would be enough to soothe his empty heart, but just a harmless little girl broke his fictitious peace:

He has never been a person who is good at waiting and guarding. Whatever he wants, he must get it. Even if I can’t get it, he didn’t want it to belong to someone else.

To do this, he can shatter all his dignity and principles.

“Xia Shu’an.”

His hoarse voice was filled with deep longing, and his sighs were filled with love:

“Xia Shu’an, Xia Shu’an, give me a little more time, give me a little more time, I can endure it.”

Although he hugged him very tightly, his actions were not outrageous. Xia Shu’an let him hug for a while and only pushed him away after his body gradually stabilized.

“Are you done?”

The man took a deep breath and gently let go of Xia Shu’an’s shoulders. Xia Shu’an noticed that his pupils were bloodshot and his face looked very tired. From the depths of his pupils, he also saw the familiar possessiveness and destructive desire of men.

In the past, when Shen Boyan showed this expression, either Xia Shu’an or someone else would be in trouble. In the past, Xia Shu’an could still make some guesses, but now he is free outside, talking to so many people every day, smiling at so many people, and having physical contact with many of them, so he really can’t lock on to the target.

Fortunately, he no longer has to worry.

Xia Shu’an tilted his head and looked calmly into Shen Boyan’s eyes: “Are you calm now?”

Shen Boyan took a half step back, his voice still hoarse: “Sorry.”

It’s rare that he would apologize.

Xia Shu’an stared into his eyes and said calmly:

“What’s the reason this time?”

Shen Boyan didn’t speak.

“No matter what the reason is, Shen Boyan, don’t touch the people around me anymore, and don’t try to threaten me with anyone. I’ve died once, and I don’t mind dying with you.”

The man’s expression stiffened, his voice rigid:

“Don’t say that about yourself.”

He actually cared so much.

Xia Shu’an sighed and finally decided to take off the veil:

“Shen Boyan, what do you mean by coming to me like this? I don’t mind if you want to be my neighbor. I’m not a person who cares about territory. No matter who you are, it’s up to you to live next door as long as you don’t disturb my daily life. But you rushing into my house like this has affected my normal life.”

Xia Shu’an is neither a generous person nor a stingy person. Everyone is free, as long as he has the money to buy or rent the house next door; it’s his personal choice. Moreover, Shen Boyan doesn’t play songs late at night, doesn’t quarrel or beat children for no reason, and doesn’t come over often to borrow things or food. He is truly an ideal neighbor.

But his behavior today shows that he is obviously no longer satisfied with this.

“Do you want to pursue me?”

“Yes.”

Xia Shu’an sighed, and the most annoying option appeared.

“You know,” he said calmly.

“I hate you.”

“It doesn’t matter!” the man said without hesitation: “Then torture me.”

“It’s no fun to torture you. You know, it’s unlikely that I will love you.”

“It’s okay.” Shen Boyan said seriously without blinking.

“Torture me, torture me only; don’t look at others.”

“As long as you are willing to be with me, it doesn’t matter if you torture me.”

Xia Shu’an corrected him, “I can torture you, but I won’t necessarily be with you.”

Shen Boyan: “It’s OK, it’s all OK, just don’t look at others.”

Xia Shu’an shook his head speechlessly. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, the arm cannot twist the thigh. He just wants to live a good life; why should he make trouble for himself?

Mfn: Metaphor: the weak cannot defeat the strong.

“Oh, by the way, what happened to Shen Shuwen? Did you do it?”

Shen Shuwen was his schoolmate.

“I did it.” Shen Boyan admitted very decisively, “But I didn’t use power. I used benefits to let him make his own choice. Xia Shu’an—” he said deeply: “He’s not the right one for you.”

Xia Shu’an couldn’t help but smile: “Really?”

How could he know if it was suitable or not? Anyway, he didn’t fall in love with Shen Shuwen.

If he is allowed to choose love rationally, regardless of his own situation, he will prefer to choose the one he likes rather than the one who is suitable for him.

But the strange thing is that apart from his simple view of love, he felt that Shen Shuwen’s choice was very correct. Because in his imagination, love is inherently related to interests. Except for those who love each other very much, most men and women in the world make trade-offs when choosing a partner.

And he doesn’t think he’s worthy of someone who puts aside his interests to love him, probably because he’s never loved someone in that way either, so he can’t understand that kind of sublime love.

The thought turned around in circles in his heart, and he hadn’t figured it out yet, but Shen Boyan seemed to understand his heart and said:

“I can explain to you what love is.”

Xia Shu’an flatly refused:

“You don’t have to.”

You should go to the emergency department and get a brain CT scan first.

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