Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 50

It was past eleven when Zhao Kaile finally finished packing up all the gifts, a total of five full sacks. But he couldn’t manage them alone, so he had to ask other staff members to help carry them to the car.

Zhan Hang watched from behind with a splitting headache. “That’s enough, don’t take back every useful and useless thing.”

Zhao Kaile agreed on the surface, but in reality he didn’t take his words to heart at all, still huffing and puffing as he moved the gifts into the trunk with others.

It was almost midnight by the time they got home. Zhan Hang was exhausted beyond measure. After washing up, he collapsed onto the bed and was practically asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Zhao Kaile crouched by his bedside and carefully poked him, asking, “Hang ge Hang ge, can I help you open the gifts?”

Zhan Hang closed his eyes, frowned, and said, “Open yours, don’t bother me.”

After speaking he pulled the quilt up over his head, cutting himself off from the world.

Having received permission, Zhao Kaile ran out joyfully and began his grand unboxing endeavor in the hallway.

From the gifts sent, one could also see that most of Zhan Hang’s fans were female, and mostly in the 15 to 30 age range. There was someone who had printed and custom made a human shaped pillow from Zhan Hang’s standee, someone who had photoshopped their own photo together with Zhan Hang’s and stuck it in a postcard, and someone who sent a diamond ring. Whether it was real or fake Zhao Kaile couldn’t estimate for the moment. In short, each one was more outrageous than the last.

Besides these gifts, there were also letters and greeting cards of various sizes, all writing congratulations and confessions. Apart from this primitive method, Zhao Kaile would also see such messages daily when checking Zhan Hang’s official Weibo and official email.

To be honest, at first Zhao Kaile was quite moved by these, but over time he became somewhat numb to them.

He was about to casually arrange them neatly and put them in the bookcase drawer, when he suddenly came across an unusually long letter. It stood out glaringly among the large stack of formulaic blessings, causing him to involuntarily pick it up and read it carefully.

Dear Zhan Hang:

Happy Birthday!

Thank you for Shadow. That was your drama from 3 years ago, I don’t know if you still remember it? Like Yi Yi whom you portrayed, I am a depression patient. I started paying attention to you from this work.

I think you must have done related research before filming, because you interpreted this character very well, and it resonated deeply with me. From the moment Yi Yi walked back through the school gates, I was hopelessly captivated by you.

I envy Yi Yi very much, because he made it out. I also envy you, because you always smile so happily.

Whenever I am sad, when even medication cannot overcome it, I will pull out your films and watch them over and over again. Seeing you speak, laugh and play around, or cry and shout, I always feel much better.

In these years of being your fan, I truly feel that I am almost saved. You are like a beam of light, guiding me to desperately climb out of the quagmire, telling me that the world is good, that it is wonderful, that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.

But recently too many things have happened. I am too tired, and can hardly keep going.

My friends encouraged me to write you a letter, so before leaving, I mustered my courage and wanted to tell you all of this, so there would be no regrets.

What was attached at the end was a simple smiley face drawn in pen.

Zhao Kaile finished reading in a daze. He turned the page and discovered that the rest was all golden quotes and lines she had excerpted from Zhan Hang’s works. The paper was somewhat old, as if it had been treasured for many years. In the corner there was a small line of text, a date. Starting from Shadow, every work Zhan Hang had participated in, every character he had portrayed, every song he had sung, was excerpted in this lengthy letter.

He stood frozen in place, as if something was choking his throat. A moment later he came back to his senses and tried to find the sender’s address, only to discover that the sender’s column only simply had a fan nickname filled in, with no other detailed information.

This girl seemed to simply want to tell Zhan Hang that there had once been someone in this world who had liked him for several years.

As if sensing something in the dark, Zhan Hang woke up restlessly in his sleep. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, turned on the light, put on his coat, and walked over in his cotton slippers to open the door, discovering that Zhao Kaile was indeed still standing there.

“Still not sleeping?” he frowned and said. “Sleepwalking?”

Zhao Kaile held the letter paper, looked up at him, his face covered in tears.

Zhan Hang: “…….”

Zhao Kaile went over and handed him the letter paper, wiping his face haphazardly. Zhan Hang took it without understanding why, and after reading for a while he fell silent.

“The gifts……..” Zhao Kaile asked, “when are they generally sent out?”

“They’re all sent three or four days in advance, so that they can be received on my birthday for sure.” Zhan Hang lowered his head and turned a page of the letter, arriving at a cruel and realistic conclusion. “The person is probably already gone.”

Zhao Kaile: “Is there any way to find her?”

Zhan Hang couldn’t answer.

Zhao Kaile said, “This is the first time I’ve felt that being liked by someone can be this heartbreaking.”

After speaking he closed his mouth, as if saying a few more words would make him unable to hold back his tears again.

The soft light spilled over his head, illuminating a fluffy warm glow. Zhao Kaile kept wiping his eyes, like a stubborn child who had just been told that Ultraman didn’t exist in this world.

Zhan Hang’s Adam’s apple moved. He stepped forward and hugged him, gently patting his head.

“Actually, there was once such a girl before too.” Zhan Hang rested his chin on top of his head and said softly, “She had cancer. I invited her to my first concert. The ticket was sent over, but she never came.”

Zhao Kaile sniffled hard, trying his best not to cry too loudly.

“When the soul is gone, love is eternal.” Zhan Hang said, “Isn’t this the sentence you wrote in your story? You should understand better than me.”

Zhao Kaile choked up for a while, then said with difficulty, “That’s completely different.”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement and said nothing more.

Outside the window, the pitch black sky began to drift with scattered snow, a peaceful night.

The next day, both of them slept until very late before getting up.

Zhao Kaile sat up in a daze. Beside him, Zhan Hang hissed as if woken by the cold. He pulled the quilt over a bit more, half asleep and half awake as he complained, his words very mumbled.

So Zhao Kaile was stunned again, his heart experiencing an earthquake and landslide.

My god!!! How did I end up sleeping in Hang ge’s bed!!

He tumbled and crawled out of bed, dressing in a fluster, trying hard to hypnotize himself into forgetting last night’s embarrassing incident, and ran out of the room with a face full of panic. Zhan Hang opened his eyes and also sat up, leaning lazily against the headboard, beginning to reflect on his own strange behavior last night.

After washing up, Zhao Kaile casually cooked some congee. He greeted various housekeeper aunts on WeChat, then hid in the cat room to start building a relationship with the two money guzzlers.

KIKI remained enthusiastic and clingy, beginning to rub against him after eating. Zhao Kaile picked it up and placed it on his lap, sitting by the floor to ceiling window watching the snow. A moment later TITI also came over, lying not too far and not too close, its glass bead like beautiful eyes curiously examining the outside.

Zhao Kaile said, “It’s snow, babies. Province A rarely gets snow. Since you were born this should be your first time seeing it.”

KIKI flicked its tail, as if it really understood, which counted as an answer.

Having received a response, Zhao Kaile excitedly gave it a good rua, but then the letter from last night suddenly popped into his mind, and the happy mood didn’t last long.

“No matter what happens, everyone should live well, right?” he lowered his head and said to KIKI, “Only by living is there hope. Only by living is there a chance to wait for the person you like to respond to you.”

KIKI meowed, tilted its head, rolled over to expose its belly, and wriggled on his lap with a well behaved look begging to be petted. Beside them, TITI alertly perked up its ears and looked back toward the door.

It was Zhan Hang coming in.

“KIKI is eight months old.” He was still wearing his bathrobe, holding coffee as he said, “TITI is one and a half, neither has seen snow.”

Because Province A had no snowfall last year, only minimum temperatures.

Zhao Kaile was startled, turning back to look at him in surprise, still feeling somewhat awkward in his heart.

Zhan Hang followed and sat down beside him, letting out a breath when lowering himself to the floor. Zhao Kaile’s head was covered in black lines, inexplicably feeling that he was like a middle aged uncle who hadn’t exercised in a long time, getting tired from doing any movement with slightly large amplitude.

“Any plans for today?” Zhan Hang took a sip of coffee and asked while looking at the snowy scenery outside.

Zhao Kaile said, “Sister Li told you to read the script more when you have nothing to do, nothing else…….. Oh, and, I’m planning to visit Xiao Li today. Do you want to come along?”

Zhan Hang nodded. “Sure, you go buy some supplements and fruit in a bit.”

“I even ordered flowers already……..” Zhao Kaile said. Zhan Hang laughed, “Not bad, getting more and more reliable, Assistant Zhao.”

Zhao Kaile: “…….”

TITI had been hiding on the cat tree for half a day, as if finally recognizing its owner. It hesitated as it circled Zhan Hang once, then went over to let him pet its head. Zhan Hang picked it up and placed it on his lap, gave it several rua, and sighed comfortably.

The two people and two cats sat in the glass room with the heater running full blast, quietly enjoying the snow for a while.

Zhao Kaile still felt somewhat uncomfortable facing him. He still hadn’t been able to fully comprehend the meaning of Zhan Hang’s hug last night, only feeling that two guys hugging each other was quite awkward. But then he thought about how Zhao Kaiming also often treated him this way, and thus he relaxed again.

After a while, both of their phones rang with notification sounds at the same time.

They looked at each other, picked up their phones to look at the messages. It was an electronic invitation sent by Lu Jiayin to a group.

To XXX:

We respectfully designate the 20th day of January in the year 20XX / the 18th day of the 12th lunar month in the year 20XX, Saturday, to hold the engagement ceremony for Lu Jiayin and Zhou Chong. We have prepared a banquet with respect.

Banquet time: 18:00

Banquet address: Donglai International Hotel

Lu Jiayin Respectfully invites

Zhao Kaile hurriedly replied with congratulations. Zhan Hang sent an 888 yuan red envelope over.

Lu Jiayin sent a voice message, teasingly asking, “Hang ge, you only give this much for the engagement, will you give a bigger one for the wedding?”

“Sure.” Zhan Hang said readily, “Anyway when I get married you’ll have to pay back double.”

Lu Jiayin: “…….Devil!”