After putting away the pendant, Xiao Can immediately turned around and walked away. He took a few steps and found that He Xingzhou was closely following behind him.
“It looks good,” He Xingzhou said, “Why do you keep it in your pocket?”
“None of your business,” Xiao Can said.
“Is it… a gift from someone else?” He Xingzhou asked again.
Xiao Can remained unapologetic, “It’s none of your concern.”
But in his heart, he breathed a sigh of relief. From He Xingzhou’s questions, it was evident that he didn’t know the origin and purpose of this pendant.
The two left the living room and entered the corridor. Charlie, who had been neglected for a long time, finally couldn’t stand the loneliness anymore. Fluttering his wings, he wanted to come out of the claw machine and jumped into the delivery port.
The flap outside the delivery port pushed inward, and he couldn’t open from the inside. He anxiously shouted, “Hello! Hello!”
Xiao Can and He Xingzhou both stopped in their tracks and turned to look.
“He doesn’t want you to leave,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can suddenly felt a wave of hesitation.
He didn’t want to leave Charlie behind either. From the moment he entered until now, he hadn’t properly hugged this little guy.
He Xingzhou quickly walked to the claw machine, pushed open the flap, and Charlie immediately jumped out. He flew onto He Xingzhou’s shoulder, then spread his wings and flew towards Xiao Can.
Unfortunately, Charlie had some feathers clipped, so while fluttering forward, he also fell. Xiao Can quickly took two steps forward, crouched down, and caught him.
His little claws were a bit scratchy, and he looked chubby, but holding him in his hands, he was light and soft.
“He says you should stay for dinner,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can looked up, “he can speak for himself.”
“I’m all prepared,” He Xingzhou returned to him. “If you leave now, it’ll be another waste.”
Xiao Can ignored him, cradling Charlie as he quickly walked to the front door, with He Xingzhou still closely following.
“What are you doing? You’re not thinking of stealing my bird, are you?”
“Can’t you speak more elegantly?” Xiao Can was displeased.
“I am being elegant,” He Xingzhou said. “Among parrot enthusiasts, we usually refer to it as ‘chicken.'”
Xiao Can didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
At the door, he noticed the gift box he had left on the floor when he entered.
“Charlie, this is for you,” Xiao Can placed Charlie on his shoulder and squatted down. “It’s filled with your favorite treats.”
“Don’t open it!” He Xingzhou loudly objected. “He’s already eaten today!”
Xiao Can frowned. He had wanted to see Charlie enjoy the raspberries before he left.
Charlie seemed to smell the scent and excitedly jumped onto the box, tearing it apart wildly.
He Xingzhou hurried forward, picking up the gift box and stuffing it into the nearby cabinet.
Charlie jumped onto Xiao Can’s head, staring eagerly at the closed cabinet door.
Xiao Can felt both amused and sympathetic. “Remember to feed him,” he reminded.
He Xingzhou didn’t say anything.
“Charlie, I’m leaving,” Xiao Can lifted him off his head and kissed Charlie’s little head. “I’ll miss you. Be good.” He paused, then changed his words, “But even if you’re not, it’s okay as long as you’re happy.”
He was torturing He Xingzhou, after all.
As he took two steps forward to the hallway to change his shoes, He Xingzhou once again interrupted him, “Wait, I have a question!”
Xiao Can didn’t stop his movements. “Go ahead.”
“Do you know what happened with Tan Zhen?” He Xingzhou asked.
Xiao Can’s movements paused.
“He didn’t show up until over half an hour after you left,” He Xingzhou said. “It was almost the same time I woke up.”
Xiao Can nervously licked his lips and stood up. “What are you trying to say?”
“This means it’s impossible for me to have had sex with him,” He Xingzhou said.
Initially, Tan Zhen had chosen to protect him by not immediately confessing, and he had promised Tan that he would persuade He Xingzhou when the time came that he could no longer hide it.
Xiao Can turned away. “I know about this.”
He Xingzhou furrowed his brows. “Did you help him lie to me?”
“I…” Xiao Can said, “I didn’t want you to know it was me. Having someone else to replace me would have been ideal for me.”
“…,”
“So, if you want to blame someone, blame me.” Xiao Can said.
He Xingzhou looked very troubled and after a long while, shook his head and said, “Deceiving people is wrong.”
“Are you asking for an apology from me?” Xiao Can retorted.
“That’s not what I mean, but…” He Xingzhou clearly couldn’t let it go immediately. “I always felt sorry for him… but then…”
“You’ll always feel sorry for someone, it doesn’t matter,” Xiao Can said. “Knowing from the start that I was the one you needed to feel sorry for, does that make you feel better?”
His sophistry surprisingly worked, and He Xingzhou fell into silence with a dark expression.
Just when Xiao Can breathed a sigh of relief, He Xingzhou sighed and said, “You’re right, so I shouldn’t have told you. I should have just gone directly to him. This is between him and me.”
Xiao Can immediately raised his hand. “Wait!”
With a serious expression, He Xingzhou reluctantly squeezed out a smile. “After you go back, if there’s anything you need, as long as it’s something I can do, except for Charlie, feel free to ask.”
This sounded like he didn’t plan to keep him any longer.
But Xiao Can dared not leave easily now.
“After you find him, what do you plan to do? Demand an apology?” he asked.
“He owes me an apology,” He Xingzhou said. “I feel guilty towards you, and I owe him. These are two different things. Of course, I have to hold him accountable.”
Seeing him looking so serious, Xiao Can began to feel anxious.
In his anxiety, he suddenly had an idea.
“You said, apart from Charlie, I can ask for anything else, right?” Xiao Can asked.
“Of course,” He Xingzhou nodded.
“My request is that you don’t pick a fight with him,” Xiao Can said.
He Xingzhou paused, then shook his head in refusal. “That’s something I can’t do.”
Xiao Can was furious, “You can’t do anything but talk big!”
He Xingzhou seemed somewhat hurt, “He deceived me, I am the victim, and yet you’re defending him?”
Xiao Can thought to himself, of course. Tan Zhen wanted to confess for his sake, but he swallowed it back. If he didn’t reciprocate, wouldn’t it be a breach of trust?
“Oh, right, you hate me,” He Xingzhou said, his expression growing more desolate, “The person who hurt you is being played around, you must find it delightful, right?”
“…”
“I don’t blame your standpoint,” He Xingzhou forced a smile, “But these two matters cannot be lumped together for me. I must investigate.”
Xiao Can couldn’t say anything harsh anymore. After some hesitation, he asked, “So what do you want him to do?”
“I don’t know, I’ll talk to him first,” He Xingzhou said, “I want to know his attitude, at the very least, he should apologize to me.”
“Do you need a public apology, or a private face-to-face one?”
“It doesn’t matter,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can immediately felt relieved, “Okay, then call him over now, he’s free today.”
He Xingzhou looked slightly surprised, “But you…”
Xiao Can bent down to take off his shoes, “I’ll wait for him.”
If He Xingzhou wanted to pursue the matter, having him around might help, relying on He Xingzhou’s guilty conscience.
He Xingzhou’s gloomy expression suddenly eased, “That’s great, I thought the ingredients I prepared would go to waste again.”
He turned to Xiao Can and gestured, “Please.”
The two of them returned to the living room in silence.
Charlie seemed very excited, as soon as Xiao Can sat down, he began to sing.
Xiao Can focused on teasing him, deliberately avoiding eye contact with He Xingzhou.
He Xingzhou remained quiet for a while, then suddenly said, “I’ve done a lot of wrongs.”
“What?” Xiao Can was puzzled.
“When we were together in the past, I did a lot of wrongs, and I’m sorry for that,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can didn’t expect him to suddenly bring this up and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
“The last time you came to my place, I misunderstood you and said… some presumptuous things,” he smiled bitterly and shook his head, “I’m really ashamed. The same goes for the elevator incident, you must have been very uneasy then?”
“It, it was fine,” Xiao Can said.
It had been so long, and he vaguely remembered his emotions being intense at the time, but the specifics were already fuzzy.
Facing He Xingzhou’s sincere attitude now, he couldn’t be harsh anymore, and the thought of arguing disappeared.
“I was too much,” He Xingzhou said, covering his face.
“Don’t think about it,” Xiao Can said with a bitter smile, “It’s all in the past. I said I didn’t want to pursue it.”
“Why?” He Xingzhou lowered his hand, “Since you hate me, why let me off?”
“Charlie,” Xiao Can murmured to Charlie, “Your dad is so annoying.”
He Xingzhou pursed his lips, contemplated for a long time, took a deep breath, and finally made up his mind, “I can lend Charlie to you for a week.”
Xiao Can looked up in surprise.
“…At most for half a month,” He Xingzhou added, then clarified, “But at least split into two times, he has to come back and stay with me for a while in between, otherwise, I’ll miss him.”
He had thought it out quite specifically.
Xiao Can couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Actually, I don’t even know how to take care of him.”
“I’ll teach you,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can indeed liked Charlie, and when he said he wanted to take him home, he was sincere. But now he hesitated.
With his current busy schedule, he wasn’t suitable for taking care of a parrot that needed attention and loved to be pampered. The simple affection had become heavy with responsibility.
“He’ll probably miss you too,” Xiao Can said, “he won’t adapt well to a strange place.”
“That’s true,” He Xingzhou said, “I video call him every day when I’m out, otherwise, he’ll wreak havoc at home.”
Xiao Can poked Charlie’s head, “A clingy one.”
“Or… a compromise is also possible,” He Xingzhou said, “You can come live here and live with him.”
Xiao Can was dumbfounded for two seconds before saying, “Are you out of your mind?”
“No need for you to take care of him, but you can play with him,” He Xingzhou earnestly analyzed with him, “And you don’t have to worry about him not adapting to leaving home. Someone cooks for you every day. Isn’t that good?”
Xiao Can & He Xingzhou: The bizarre world of two (including a bird)
