SABA Chapter 15

The post-interview time was long, and it was past ten in the evening by the time all seven guests had finished.

Jiang Tiao sent Chu Yanhao a message as he walked out.

Jiang Tiao: [I’m done, I’ll go to Rubber Soul later.]

Chu Yanhao: [I have something tonight, I won’t be at the shop.]

Jiang Tiao: [No, you have to be there!]

Chu Yanhao: [why?]

Jiang Tiao: [Huo Shen is on a business trip, and I recorded a horror escape room, I’m a little scared.]

Chu Yanhao: [What does your fear have to do with me.]

Jiang Tiao: “……”

Damn it, friendship over!

Jiang Tiao: [Didn’t you post on Moments saying you were bored? Want to drink with me?]

Chu Yanhao: [Forget it, you go crazy when you drink. Huo Shen ge isn’t here, and I don’t want my shop demolished.]

“……….”

Jiang Tiao’s expression was very speechless. The downside of friends knowing each other too well is that they can dig up embarrassing history from years ago and shut you up.

“How are you getting back? By company car?”

The sudden voice startled Jiang Tiao. He saw Luo Xingwen leaning on the corridor railing, a lit cigarette between his fingers, looking at him with his head tilted.

Jiang Tiao said with a deadpan face: “Xiao Ming and Xiao Hua made a plan to go out, Xiao Ming hid behind the door to surprise Xiao Hua and scare her, then he had to go out alone. Do you know why?”

Luo Xingwen: “?”

Jiang Tiao: “Because scaring people to death is scary!”

Luo Xingwen chuckled slightly.

Luo Xingwen’s smoking technique wasn’t very skillful. Jiang Tiao remembered from his research that Luo Xingwen also had a singer identity. So perhaps to protect his vocal cords, he didn’t smoke much usually.

Jiang Tiao sighed: “Didn’t you finish your interview a long time ago? Why are you still here?”

“Nowhere to go,” Luo Xingwen lowered his eyes, looking at the staff members coming and going below, appearing a bit lonely, “and the company only sent one car.”

Unable to go to the place he wanted to go, Luo Xingwen had no interest in going home. The company had only sent one car. Theoretically, with his status, he didn’t need to wait for Jiang Tiao. However, he would rather stay here watching the staff clean up the venue than be alone at home. At least he could zone out and not think about things that made him feel bad.

“……….” Jiang Tiao’s expression was a bit complicated, “No need, someone is picking me up.”

Let alone that someone was picking him up, even if no one was, he wouldn’t dare to ride in that car!

Luo Xingwen said a soft “oh” without much emotion and turned to say goodbye to Jiang Tiao, but he happened to catch Jiang Tiao’s gaze.

Luo Xingwen seemed to want to say something, then stopped, then wanted to say it again: “Actually, there’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask you since we were filming today.”

“Ask away.”

Jiang Tiao sat up straight, preparing his words to explain clearly – it’s impossible, don’t fall for it, find someone else.

Luo Xingwen: “Why is there always a sense of pity in your eyes when you look at me?”

Jiang Tiao: “……”

Now the “wanting to say something but stopping” buff shifted to Jiang Tiao. He hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to indirectly persuade him, “…The world is so big, with over 8 billion people, why are you fixated on someone impossible?”

Jiang Tiao thought he had made himself very clear.

Luo Xingwen suddenly turned his head, incredulously: “You know?”

“?!”

Jiang Tiao was stunned. Had he not made it clear before, and this person was just too emotionally intelligent to figure it out himself?

“This……”

Luo Xingwen: “Did he tell you?”

Who? Jiang Tiao was confused for the first time.

“Do you believe me if I say I figured it out myself?”

Luo Xingwen was stunned for a moment, and after a long time, he thought, “Is it that obvious? Did he laugh at himself, saying, ‘Yes, there are over 8 billion people in the world, why am I fixated on this one person. Hehe, you’re right, very right……'”

Luo Xingwen said while smiling and shaking his head, and walked away dejectedly.

Jiang Tiao looked at Luo Xingwen’s gradually disappearing lonely back, his expression a mix of emotions…

What’s with this, making him feel like a scumbag.

Jiang Tiao, with a complicated mood, contacted his driver. He took the elevator down to the parking lot and saw his car from a distance.

“Uncle Tao~~” Jiang Tiao happily ran over, “I’m not going home today, take me to Chu Yanhao’s place.”

Uncle Tao was a middle-aged man nearing forty who had been the Jiang family’s driver for a long time, practically watching Jiang Tiao grow up. He was tall and strong, but when he smiled, he looked very kind. He didn’t answer immediately, but instead, with a smile, opened the car door for Jiang Tiao first.

In the back seat, Huo Shen was looking up and smiling at him. He had his legs crossed, with a very thin laptop on his lap, likely dealing with work. The soft glow of the screen cast on his face made his angular features appear somewhat gentle.

Jiang Tiao’s eyes lit up. He got into the car with surprise, “Why are you here? Weren’t you on a business trip?”

Huo Shen: “I watched the live broadcast of your show.”

Jiang Tiao didn’t know how to react. He looked at Huo Shen with shining eyes and asked happily, “So you were worried I’d be scared and specifically changed your business trip schedule?”

Huo Shen couldn’t help but laugh, he ruffled Jiang Tiao’s approaching head, “Yes, I’m leaving tomorrow morning, so I can spend the night with you. Are you happy?”

Jiang Tiao sat up straight and deliberately looked Huo Shen up and down, “Hmm… I think you must have been transformed from a cola spirit.”

Huo Shen played along: “Why?”

Jiang Tiao leaned in with a smile, “Otherwise, why would I feel like bubbling with happiness whenever I see you?”

Huo Shen just smiled.

The driver in the front laughed, and no longer asked Jiang Tiao if he still wanted to go to Chu Yanhao’s place.

Huo Shen: “How was it today? Was the escape room fun?”

Jiang Tiao: “It was okay, some parts were quite interesting in design. But it would probably be more fun if I were with you!”

He really enjoyed playing games with Huo Shen. Huo Shen was very smart and knew a lot of things. He thought if Huo Shen had been there today, whether he was assigned as his teammate or the ghost, it would have been more interesting.

Huo Shen saw Jiang Tiao’s eager, star-filled eyes and smiled, “Okay, let’s find a fun escape room another day and play together.”

Jiang Tiao was satisfied. He happily calculated who to invite; those who were too stupid wouldn’t do, and those who couldn’t lie were definitely out.

“Wait a minute,” Jiang Tiao suddenly sat up straight, his expression very serious, “Was I very obviously scared on the show? It’s only because you know me too well that you could tell, right? Others definitely wouldn’t be able to tell!”

Huo Shen couldn’t help but want to laugh when he saw Jiang Tiao’s expression, which seemed to be pleading, “Quick, tell me this isn’t true.” He found a video of Jiang Tiao in the secret passage.

The bullet comments were all laughing hysterically, and Jiang Tiao was being thoroughly ridiculed from all angles, his face turning red.

Jiang Tiao let out a howl and buried his face in Huo Shen’s lap, extremely dejected, “My cool guy image!”

Huo Shen’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. He patted Jiang Tiao comfortingly and said very “sincerely,” “You might have a misunderstanding about your image.”

Jiang Tiao got up, crossed his arms, and said in a cute but fierce tone, “Hey!”

Jiang Tiao’s hair was usually fluffy and felt great to the touch. Today, it was styled with hairspray and felt a bit stiff. His ahoge was also flattened, making him look even more handsome and angular.

Huo Shen helped him tidy his hair, pulled out that strand of hair that the styling gel could barely hold down, and suppressed his laughter, “Okay, you are a cool guy.”

Jiang Tiao snorted and decided not to bicker with him.

……

The car drove smoothly into the Yucheng district. The further it went into Yujing Garden, the quieter it became. Usually, he just found the environment beautiful, but now it felt unusually deep and quiet. Even the rustling of plants in the wind made him prone to overthinking. It was the first time Jiang Tiao felt that living in too quiet a place wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Jiang Tiao was actually quite brave. Under normal circumstances, he would only react at the moment of being scared. The reason he was so frightened this time was related to his childhood trauma.

It was when he was very young, seemingly in elementary school. It was summer vacation, and the Chu family was hosting a fashion show celebration in Paris. A group of children, bored, decided to explore the catacombs in Paris.

It was a time of youthful recklessness. Several children sat in front of an entire wall of skulls and leg bones, competing to see who could tell the scariest ghost stories.

Jiang Tiao was already a little scared, but as someone who never admitted defeat, he naturally couldn’t admit it. That night, back at the hotel, he was trembling and managed to force himself to sleep. In the middle of the night, he felt something poking him. When he opened his eyes, several skulls with red glowing eyes were surrounding his bed, gesticulating wildly. He was so terrified that he had a high fever the next day and didn’t recover for several days.

Chu Yanhao, as the instigator, was naturally spanked. It was said that he also couldn’t get out of bed for several days, just like Jiang Tiao.

From the moment the car drove onto the secluded Yujing Avenue, Jiang Tiao was in a state of alertness. He stayed close to Huo Shen, his eyes constantly darting around, observing the situation outside the window. If he were a small animal, his ears would surely be perked up.

Huo Shen felt a little regretful. He had thought that the familiar environment at home would put Jiang Tiao at ease, but he had overlooked the impact of the surrounding environment on Jiang Tiao.

He held Jiang Tiao’s hand, which was gripping his sleeve, “Why don’t you come to my place for the night?”

Jiang Tiao looked at him with confusion.

Huo Shen explained, “Sometimes when I’m busy, it’s inconvenient to come home, so I bought a house near the company for easy commuting. It’s not far from the city center, and there are many people around. It’s quite prosperous, so maybe you won’t be so scared.”

Jiang Tiao had been filming all day and was originally too lazy to travel back and forth, but he was also very curious about Huo Shen’s life over the past four years.

During this time, Huo Shen had been staying with him at home and had his assistant bring back a lot of his daily necessities. He could tell that Huo Shen probably hadn’t lived in Yujing Garden often in the past few years. However, this was understandable. His brother also lived outside after he turned eighteen, partly because it was closer to his company, and partly because, in his brother’s own words, he was an adult now and many things were inconvenient to do under his parents’ noses.

“Okay, I haven’t been to your place to see it yet.”

Jiang Tiao felt that if he didn’t go today, he would be restless and curious at home, unable to sleep.

……