Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 115

From Province A to Zhan Hang’s hometown, the whole trip was about 1,700 kilometers, and driving would take over twenty hours.

At the crack of dawn, Zhan Hang got up unusually early for the first time ever. He personally went to the cat room to feed the two fur babies, brush them, and scoop their poop. Meanwhile, Zhao Kaile was still not fully awake when Zhan Hang dug him out of his blankets, pushed him into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, and all the way until he was sitting in the passenger seat, the man was still dazed.

It wasn’t until the car was about to get on the highway that Zhao Kaile finally yawned, looking blankly out the window, and realized that the route Zhan Hang had set was heading out of the city, not making the usual rounds inside the city like normal. What was going on…

Realizing this, he finally woke up a lot more. He sat up a bit straighter, turned his head to look at Zhan Hang in puzzlement, then looked back out the window, confirming he wasn’t seeing things.

The red light ahead, Zhan Hang slowly braked, raised an eyebrow at him, and teased: “Your soul back in your body yet?”

“Where are we…” Zhao Kaile asked: “Where are we going?”

“Anyway, it’s pretty far. Probably won’t get there until midnight.” Zhan Hang said vaguely, then reached out and pointed at the car’s treasure box: “Brought the PSP. Go play for a while.”

Zhao Kaile didn’t really feel like playing games. He rubbed his fingers, a bit troubled, and said: “But I promised Sister Li I’d look at the scripts first.”

Zhan Hang made a “I knew it” face, tilted his head to indicate he should look at the back seat. Zhao Kaile followed his direction and looked back. On the back seat, a stack of folders was neatly piled, along with his laptop bag and the crossbody bag he usually used.

This scene was so rare that Zhao Kaile felt genuinely pleased: Brother Hang actually packed things himself, and even brought everything that needed to be brought!

That expression falling into Zhan Hang’s eyes was completely silent praise. He comfortably moved his eyebrows, his fingers happily tapping on the steering wheel.

The red light turned green, and the SUV started moving forward again.

But the pleased feeling didn’t last long before Zhao Kaile thought of something rather important.

“Are we going to stay overnight there?” he asked worriedly: “Did you bring clothes for overnight?”

“……” Zhan Hang said calmly: “Just buy a new set when we get there. We won’t be staying many days. Isn’t bringing so much stuff cumbersome?”

Zhao Kaile said seriously: “New underwear also needs to be washed once before you can wear it!”

Zhan Hang: “Ugh, I know. We can’t turn back now, what a hassle.”

The two bickered a few sentences, and the more they bickered, the more off topic they got. For some reason, they got back to that one time they made their three rules agreement, so they decided to start debating again from the beginning.

Zhao Kaile said cautiously: “The dash cam can record audio. Don’t think you can weasel out of it!”

Zhan Hang laughed: “Who would use a dash cam to record this kind of thing!”

“Anyway, you can’t go back on your word anymore. Your credit score is already very low, you understand?” Zhao Kaile imitated Zhan Hang’s tone, challenging him.

Zhan Hang couldn’t help laughing, amused by him. Since he was driving, he couldn’t fuss with him, so he could only nod: “Okay, okay… then may I ask, Little Classmate Zhao, how should I build this credit score back up?”

Zhao Kaile thought about it seriously, counting on his fingers: “Fold your own blanket, plus one point. Find your own clothes, plus one point. Throw dirty clothes into the laundry basket, plus one point. Go to bed early and don’t stay up late, plus one point…”

Zhan Hang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “You’re really giving me a rating system!”

The sun gradually moved westward, and the whole trip was more or less smooth.

Except at the toll booth, when Zhan Hang rolled down the window and forgot to put on his mask, and the female attendant recognized him at a glance. Fortunately, she had very professional ethics and didn’t scream out loud. She only held back her excitement and joy, politely greeted Zhan Hang, and didn’t do anything else extra.

Seeing this, Zhao Kaile finally truly realized that Zhan Hang had indeed become famous. Famous enough that if you randomly picked a passerby on the roadside, from an eighty year old granny down to an eight year old little girl, they might all recognize who he was. For him to just casually and recklessly take just himself out like this was actually quite a dangerous thing.

Zhao Kaile said a bit worriedly: “Is it okay?”

Zhan Hang: “Hmm?”

“Won’t she go back and tell her friends about this?” Zhao Kaile started wildly imagining: “What if one of her friends is your crazy fan, and comes to stake out this route every day? We’ll still have to drive this road back, won’t we?”

“That won’t happen.” Zhan Hang said calmly: “I just told her I was filming a show, the content needs to be kept confidential, and I hoped she wouldn’t leak it.”

Zhao Kaile breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, great, fans these days are all so well mannered.

Along the way, Zhan Hang would drive for a few hours and then rest for an hour. Originally Zhao Kaile proposed they take turns driving, but Zhan Hang firmly rejected him on the grounds that he had never driven long distance before.

So by the time they reached the small town of their destination, it was already past two in the morning, almost three.

Zhan Hang parked the car and signaled Zhao Kaile to get out.

The moonlight in the sky was dim, but Zhao Kaile was completely without sleepiness. Coming to an unfamiliar environment, he was somewhat nervous and curious, turning his head to look around from time to time, his mouth subconsciously making small sounds of wonder.

Zhan Hang took his hand and stuffed it into his own coat pocket. They walked slowly on the empty streets, the faint moonlight sprinkling down, stretching long thin shadows at their feet. Occasionally there were still private shops with lights on or 24 hour convenience stores on both sides of the street.

“Let’s go get a room and sleep first. We’ll go tomorrow.” Zhan Hang asked: “Sleepy?”

Zhao Kaile shook his head, looked up at the moon, and said: “I think I know where this is.”

Zhan Hang rubbed his palm with his fingertips, raised an eyebrow and asked: “Where is it?”

“Your hometown.” Zhao Kaile pinched that mischievous hand, turning his head to look at him: “You’re taking me to see your grandpa, right?”

Zhan Hang was startled for a moment, his footsteps slightly pausing, then he said teasingly: “I see your skin isn’t thin either. You haven’t even married in yet and you’re already calling him that.”

Zhao Kaile said embarrassedly: “That’s just how you address him. What else would I call him…”

Zhan Hang let out a hum of a laugh. While he was completely off guard, he leaned over and kissed him. Zhao Kaile instinctively wanted to dodge, then remembered there was no one around at all right now. His tense heart finally relaxed, and he kissed back a bit defiantly.

“……” Zhan Hang’s other hand touched his own face, still a bit incredulous, looking at him in astonishment.

Zhao Kaile didn’t dare look at him anymore, afraid something would happen from staring like last time.

There weren’t any proper hotels in the small town. The only place with the word hotel in its name was actually just a slightly more fancily decorated motel.

When checking in, the front desk girl was originally still half asleep and dazed. The moment the two of them walked in, she suddenly woke up. After all, one of them was very tall and wearing sunglasses and a mask, seeming very aggressive, while the other had an innocent looking face with no guard in his eyes, seeming like a naive college student who hadn’t seen much of the world.

Two people coming in with such an intimate vibe, it was hard not to make one think of some strange things.

Zhan Hang impatiently knocked on the counter and said to her: “What are you looking at? Check us in.”

“Okay, okay… give me your ID cards.” The girl looked at him suspiciously, only feeling that this voice was very familiar.

Zhao Kaile handed over his ID, and they got one room. Although the girl was puzzled, she didn’t dare ask more. She checked them in as told. Originally their place wasn’t a very formal hotel either. She just hoped they would behave themselves and get through one night without causing any extra trouble.

The two of them got the key and were about to follow the girl’s directions to go upstairs and find their room, when they heard her ask uncertainly: “Are you… Zhan Hang?”

Hearing this, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

Zhao Kaile reacted first, turning back with a calm smile: “How could that be, beautiful? How could Zhan Hang be in a place like this? A big star like him would need at least a five star hotel to sleep in, right?”

Zhan Hang deliberately lowered his voice, putting an arm around his shoulder: “Stop talking nonsense with her. Let’s go.”

The girl who got a negative answer awkwardly touched her own face, opened her mouth in a yawn, and thought to herself, yeah, I really was half asleep. How could Zhan Hang come to this remote small town? It was probably just a man whose voice sounded very much like Zhan Hang.

Entering the room, there were two beds inside. The screen window was slightly open, and the air was still relatively fresh.

Zhan Hang directly took off his sunglasses and mask, taking a deep breath. Zhao Kaile locked the door from the inside, thinking to himself, that was close.

“I didn’t expect people in this place would recognize you too…” Zhao Kaile couldn’t believe it, a wave of emotions in his heart, unable to tell if it was nervousness or surprise: “Brother Hang, do old neighbors, people from the same place, still recognize you?”

“I don’t know.” Zhan Hang went into the bathroom on his own, turning on the faucet to wash his hands: “Before, my grandpa only interacted with Zhou Jiyang’s family. Later, Uncle Zhou went out to do business, and his grandma also followed him to Province A. As for other people, I don’t really remember.”

Zhao Kaile gave an “oh,” lowering his head to dig out the disposable supplies he had gathered from the convenience store just now from his bag.

The two of them washed up and each went to bed to sleep. The long drive had made Zhan Hang truly exhausted. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.

In the middle of the night, Zhao Kaile woke up restlessly, somehow feeling a bit unaccustomed. He sat up hugging his pillow, looking at the sleeping Zhan Hang with sleepy eyes, as if sleepwalking.

He didn’t know if Zhan Hang could receive his gaze even in his dreams, but after a moment he also opened his eyes, reaching out toward Zhao Kaile, his voice slightly hoarse: “Come here.”

Hearing this, Zhao Kaile finally moved, slowly crawling onto his bed, burrowing into Zhan Hang’s embrace, smacking his lips and continuing to sleep.

The two slept side by side, one foot touching the other, all the way until the sun was high in the sky.

Past ten, Zhan Hang suddenly woke up with a start. When he got up, he nearly knocked Zhao Kaile off the bed. Fortunately, his eyes were quick and his hands were fast, and he promptly pulled the person back.

Zhao Kaile was sleeping as if the sky had collapsed, not knowing what day or year it was, seeming even more tired than Zhan Hang who had been driving.

“……” Zhan Hang really couldn’t wake him up, pinching his face and softly cursing: “Pig.”

With no other choice, he could only get up first, wash up and get dressed, then go out fully disguised, send a message to Zhao Kaile’s phone, leave him alone in the room, and go out on the street to buy the things they would need in the afternoon.