Xu Zejun · Conversa

In early December, the F1 season finale had already come to a close. Team GOD held onto their position as the annual Grand Prix champions without any suspense. At the GOD team base in Shanghai. Su Wang had already called several times to urge Xu Zejun to return to Beijing. Xu Zejun's birthday was on December 23rd, and Su Wang had been busy organizing a birthday banquet for him at home long ago. However, Xu Zejun had no intention of going back, making up a bunch of excuses to brush her off every time he was urged. "Zejun-ge, are you really not going back?" Gu Bei'an asked vaguely while munching on potato chips. Xu Zejun was slumped on the sofa, looking completely unrefined, and replied without lifting his head, "Not going. I'll spend it here." Caviglia, with a cigarette in his mouth, happened to pass by and greeted them in broken Chinese: "Hey, guys. Xu, what are you worrying about?" He always loved learning Chinese, especially following his Chinese teammates to learn regional dialects, and he would intentionally mimic their unique accents quite convincingly. "My birthday. Any ideas?" Xu Zejun glanced up at him slightly and added, "On the condition that it stays legal." This made both Gu Bei'an and Caviglia burst out laughing. Caviglia waved his hand and said, "I'm a law-abiding citizen. Gu is already an adult; we can go to a bar." Hearing that he was included, Gu Bei'an immediately tossed his snacks aside and bounced toward Xu Zejun: "I want to go!" The teenager was so excited that his voice inadvertently rose several octaves. Business manager Zhou Chen happened to push the door open at that moment, hearing Gu Bei'an's excited shout loud and clear. He raised an eyebrow, walked over, and asked, "Where are you going? You three better not cause any more trouble for me. If I remember correctly, on the 4th of last month, someone personally gave their word to Sister Ji." Xu Zejun, Caviglia, and Gu Bei'an looked at each other, instantly forming a united front. Caviglia snapped to attention, and Gu Bei'an turned to wash off the snack crumbs on his hands. Both gave Xu Zejun a "good luck" look before slipping away like they were on greased lightning, afraid of being caught in the impending "crossfire." Xu Zejun sat up straight on the sofa properly and spoke with an innocent face, "How could we cause trouble? Zhou-ge, you have way too little trust in us." Their credit with Zhou Chen had long since settled firmly in the negatives. Zhou Chen gave a cold, annoyed snort and added before heading up the stairs, "Planning to spend your birthday here? Do you want the team to organize some activities for you?" Xu Zejun immediately raised both hands in a gesture of headache, "Zhou-ge, I just want to have a quiet birthday. Please, none of those marketing stunts." Zhou Chen didn't respond further and turned to go upstairs. On the night of December 22nd, Gu Bei'an specifically dug out a leather jacket to wear. The boy's face still hadn't lost its childishness, and he couldn't quite fill out the frame; instead, he looked like a child who had secretly put on an adult's clothes. Xu Zejun and Caviglia stared at him for two seconds and couldn't help but laugh out loud. Xu Zejun casually grabbed the black coat draped over the back of the chair, threw it over his shoulders, and lightly flicked the tuft of hair sticking up on Gu Bei'an's forehead. The three of them timed it so that Zhou Chen was in his office checking the year-end reports, then hunched their shoulders and quietly slipped out through the side door of the base. Fine snowflakes drifted through the streets, and the sweet scent of roasted chestnuts from a roadside stall wrapped in the cool night breeze, persistently creeping into the gaps of their collars. Gu Bei'an clutched the hand warmer he had secretly stuffed into his pocket earlier and stood on his tiptoes to look into the distance, quickly spotting the blindingly bright neon sign at the entrance of the bar. Xu Zejun and Caviglia were much more composed. The two of them slowly strolled to the bar and chose a booth in the corner to sit down. Gu Bei'an propped himself up and looked around excitedly, while Xu Zejun had already ordered the drinks. Caviglia leaned against the back of his chair, quietly scanning the room to scout for his targets for the night.