As night gradually deepened, thick clouds drifted over from the east, obscuring the bright moon.
Just half a kilometer from the Semperoper Opera House, there was a small cafe with a handful of people inside. Amongst them, there were four sitting at the same table.
The last time these four people sat like this was last Christmas. Qi Mu suddenly had the inexplicable feeling of a "meet the parents" event. He sat on the inside with Min Chen, who was still calm but smelled of lilies.
Opposite Qi Mu was a woman with a gentle demeanor and beside her was. . .
If it wasn"t Zheng Wei Qiao then who would it be?!
The four sat together, but the atmosphere was so awkward Qi Mu, and Zheng Wei Qiao didn"t know what to say. Zhao Yue, Zheng Wei Qiao"s wife, didn"t know what happened, and as for Min Chen. . . ?
The handsome man sighed softly and pushed over the candies the water had sent over into the middle of the table and said, "Excuse me, do you want some candy?"
Qi Mu, immediately: "Well, I want some."
Once someone opened their mouth, everyone else knew what to do.
As one of the hosts, Qi Mu enthusiastically handed two over to Zhao Yue. When he turned to Zheng Wei Qiao, though, the man was staring at him with a hesitant, complicated expression. After a while, he said, "Xiao Qi. . . what the h.e.l.l is going on?"
Now that it had come to this, Qi Mu didn"t intend to hide anything. Though he only spent three to four months with Zheng Wei Qiao, he knew the man was gentle and had a good heart. Qi Mu always treated those who were good to him twice as good, so naturally, he wouldn"t deceive Zheng Wei Qiao.
Qi Mu confessed. He didn"t say much, just "We like each other," and all the words Zheng Wei Qiao wanted to say were swallowed back to his stomach. It also made the other stoic man smile unconsciously and softened up his entire face.
Zheng Wei Qiao never expected this. He intended to surprise Qi Mu today but ended up shocked himself.
Since his wife was pregnant, he stayed at home to rest. As a freelance writer, Zheng Wei Qiao never had too much work to begin with and could spend most of his time at will.
As Qi Mu was going to play 《The Magic Flute》 with the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, under his wife"s suggestion, they came to Europe to make up for the honeymoon trip they didn"t get to have after they got married. And their first stop——
Dresden.
It was good, coming to Dresden. He could see Xiao Qi, write an article about him, and sent it back to Huaxia to publish.
In these six months of not meeting each other, Zheng Wei Qiao always worried whether Qi Mu would be bullied at the Paris" National Conservatory and whether Akkad would be unkind to him.
During summer vacation, Qi Mu didn"t plan on going home but decided to continue his studies. This put Zheng Wei Qiao in the far east into a state of constant worry.
He hadn"t told Qi Mu he was coming to Dresden today to surprise him.
But when he got to the Semperoper Opera House with a bouquet of white lilies his wife carefully selected and waited for half an hour, he didn"t see Qi Mu but Mister Farrell Lewis leave.
From his daily phone calls, Zheng Wei Qiao knew Qi Mu was staying with Farrell. So he asked the man about his family"s Xiao Qi.
With a rather peculiar smile, Farrell said, "You"re Angel"s friend from Huaxia? Angel has something to do tonight, I"m afraid you"ll have to contact him tomorrow. Tonight, he"s. . . well, he should be busy tonight."
He didn"t inform Qi Mu to begin with, so he could only accept the situation. But, just as he and his wife were planning to leave and walked by a street behind it, Zheng Wei Qiao looked up——
And say Qi Mu"s arm being pulled by something about to receive A. Strong. Kiss!!!
That tall, st.u.r.dy physique over half a head taller than himself was clearly not a woman!
No! Even a woman couldn"t kiss his family"s Xiao Qi!
And so, without thinking, Zheng Wei Qiao took the closest thing at hand—the bouquet of lilies, and smashed it over the pervert"s head.
And after that. . . Qi Mu already knew.
After listening to Zheng Wei Qiao"s narration, Qi Mu only felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
He spent the entire morning searching for the "secret exit," and once he found it, first, he was caught by Min Chen. Then, Zheng Wei Qiao b.u.mped into them. Qi Mu wouldn"t even be surprised if Akkad somehow appeared in the cafe.
Now, Qi Mu"s heart felt choked. Zheng Wei Qiao, on the other hand, was on the verge of a heart attack and death.
His family"s sensible, well-behaved, and clever Xiao Qi had left Huaxia to study hard and improve his skills as quickly as possible. How come half a year later. . . suddenly, viola, he"s got a boyfriend!
And. . . this boyfriend of his was Min Chen.
Zheng Wei Qiao looked at the man sitting in front of him, and Min Chen did the same.
Min Chen"s eyes were deep and calm, but Zheng Wei Qiao was nervous facing him. He couldn"t help but recall the painful years he was tortured by this fellow"s songs.
It just so happened that Beethoven"s《Symphony No. 7》 performed by Bai Ai in last year"s concert played in the quiet little cafe.
The soft, pleasant melody lingered in the air, and Qi Mu stared at the coffee cup before him, unsure what to say. He had yet to make a move when he felt warmth on his hand. Qi Mu reflexively looked at the man beside him, and Min Chen calmly nodded with gentle eyes.
Qi Mu"s disorderly heart relaxed somewhat. The man"s warmth against his palm rea.s.sured him: as long as. . . this man was here, there was nothing to worry about.
Min Chen"s cold face was solemn. He looked at Zheng Wei Qiao opposite him and said, "Mr. Zheng, long time no see."
Zheng Wei Qiao also straightened up. Though he was a little timid in front of Min Chen, this matter involved Qi Mu. He pushed his gla.s.ses up the bridge of his nose and replied seriously, "h.e.l.lo, Mr. Min."
Zheng Wei Qiao"s serious demeanor earned him an appreciative gaze from Min Chen. The man was serious because he cared about Qi Mu, and he had taken care of Qi Mu before this, so Min Chen respected him a lot.
"Thank you for taking care of Qi Mu, and in the future. . . I will take good care of him, so rest a.s.sured." Without giving the man a chance to respond, Min Chen continued bluntly, "I love him, and he, me. I promise my feelings for him will last a lifetime, and I will spend the rest of my life with only him. So please. . . let me take care of him."
Min Chen used the formal "You" instead of its informal counterpart.
Such a respectful address surprised Zheng Wei Qiao. Qi Mu also turned to look at Min Chen.
He knew this man very well. He knew he was awkward, stingy, petty, had a poisonous tongue, was black-bellied, valued his face a lot, was afraid of bugs, but that he was also. . . confident and proud.
Min Chen rarely lowered his head to others and now. . . for Qi Mu, he faced his peer with the att.i.tude of a junior. And his words also warmed Qi Mu"s heart.
Now that he had already done this, Qi Mu felt he too had to do something.
Qi Mu smiled and turned to look at Zheng Wei Qiao who was still frozen in shock. Under the table, the back of his hand brushed Min Chen"s fingers. Following the gap between them, he slowly intertwined their fingers one by one.
This action stunned Min Chen, and he turned to look at Qi Mu. The beautiful young man had turned a brilliant smile on Zheng Wei Qiao. "Zheng-ge, I don"t know if you can accept us or not, but. . . I want you to believe in our relationship. No matter what happens, our feelings will not change, and I hope. . . you can give us your blessing."
Zheng Wei Qiao stared at the two sitting across him.
Such a harmonious picture made the two look as though they were the heavens" darlings. When the light shone on them, it reflected a layer of warm brilliance.
This gave Zheng Wei Qiao the feeling——
These two were meant to be together.