For Fang Chi, that gesture didn’t mean much, it was just a kind of comfort. He had squeezed quite a few people’s shoulders like that before.
But after doing it, both he and Sun Wenqu froze for a moment.
Sun Wenqu turned his head first to look at Fang Chi’s hand still resting on his shoulder, then looked at Fang Chi and smiled.
“Suddenly you look a bit like Liangzi right now.”
Fang Chi also smiled, somewhat embarrassed, rubbing his nose and turning his head to look at the courtyard below.
“That middle-aged fat guy is my second uncle. He’s really strong. When I was little he could lift me up with one hand and put me on his shoulders. That idiot kid with glasses is his son…”
Sun Wenqu watched together with him, the corners of his lips carrying a smile.
“When he was little the glasses kid wasn’t an idiot. After he started school he suddenly became one. I’ve always suspected that from elementary school until now he’s probably been studying an idiot major…” Fang Chi poked the glass with his finger as he spoke, giving an enthusiastic commentary. “Black Tiger Steals the Heart! Didn’t dodge it! I knew he wouldn’t dodge it… Ladies and gentlemen please watch… Praying Mantis Fist! Missed the dodge again. Glasses kid’s combat power is too low, I estimate from my many years of experience that it’s probably in the negatives… Hand blade! Chop! Now glasses kid is about to run! Run! This move is called Bolting Out the Door, except the door is a bit far away from him… He’s out! Okay, he ran. Looks like Second Uncle has no intention of chasing him. Over. Live broadcast finished.”
Sun Wenqu leaned against the window laughing so hard he could barely stand and gave him a round of applause.
“Your mouth is really slick. I’ve never seen you talk this much normally.”
“You wanted commentary, didn’t you? Talking made me thirsty,” Fang Chi smiled. “Too bad Fang Hui can’t take a beating. Two moves and he ran off. If it were me… when my grandpa and dad beat me, I could at least run ten laps around the courtyard before they pinned me down.”
“Monkey,” Sun Wenqu nodded, handing him the cup on the table. “A monkey raised like a wild dog.”
“So am I a monkey or a dog?” Fang Chi took the cup and drank a sip. It wasn’t plain water, it was tea, and quite fragrant… this was Sun Wenqu’s cup.
Fang Chi choked on the tea, set the cup down, and coughed for quite a while.
“Oh dear,” Sun Wenqu picked up the cup and looked inside. “Did you spit any saliva into it?”
“Just pour it out. There might even be snot in there,” Fang Chi sniffed.
Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue and poured the water into the flowerpot.
The flowerpots in this room were the same as the ones in Fang Chi’s room, growing little green leafy plants without flowers. It was hard to tell what kind they were. Of course, in this season there weren’t many things that could still bloom anyway.
“Where did you get all these little leaves?” Fang Chi sat down in the chair.
Before he could even settle in, his whole body tipped backward and sank into it. When he tried to sit upright again he couldn’t.
The chair looked pretty normal, but once you sat in it you realized it was like a bowl. Unless you stood up, you could only half-lie in it like this. He felt a little speechless.
“What kind of chair is this!”
“A lazy chair,” Sun Wenqu lifted his leg and kicked the side of it. The chair swayed twice.
“Hey, hey, hey… I’m getting dizzy.” Fang Chi struggled out of the chair and stood up. Only then did he notice the chair had just one leg with a spring attached. Earlier he hadn’t paid attention, now he realized it looked like a giant cup.
“You get dizzy from that? Isn’t it like the recliner in your backyard?” Sun Wenqu flopped into the chair, comfortably putting his legs up on the bed.
“That one only moves back and forth. Yours moves front, back, left, right, up, down, there’s no telling. I can’t handle it,” Fang Chi sighed. “Don’t you get dizzy drawing while curled up in that thing?”
“Such a thick spring, didn’t you see how hard I had to kick it to move it?” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue. “With that kind of intelligence, it’s a good thing you’ve got that ‘heaven spirits, earth spirits.’”
“If I don’t do well on the exam, will you compensate me?” Fang Chi chuckled.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Sun Wenqu swung his foot. “You haven’t even taken it yet and you’re already thinking about failing.”
“Honestly I’ve never really thought about doing that well,” Fang Chi leaned against the table, looking at the drawings on it. This time he could see clearly, they were many teapots that looked similar but each had different details.
“Do you have a goal? Like which school, what major?” Sun Wenqu meowed toward Chief Huang on the bed. Chief Huang climbed along his leg onto his stomach.
“…No.” Fang Chi suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Facing someone who, although he hadn’t gone to university, was still clearly a top student, his answer felt lacking in confidence.
“When you have time, think about it,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Oh.” Fang Chi responded.
Neither of them spoke again.
Fang Chi reached back and pulled open the half-closed curtain completely. The sunset spread across the table.
The courtyard had already returned to quiet. Fang Hui, who had run off, hadn’t come back. Aside from Grandpa and Second Aunt busy in the kitchen, everyone else had returned to the living room.
Fang Chi touched the little green leaves on the windowsill.
“What is this?”
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know,” Sun Wenqu closed his eyes, his fingers buried in Chief Huang’s fur.
“Just say one and see. Maybe I’ll know,” Fang Chi looked at Sun Wenqu’s hand. Chief Huang was a short-haired stray cat, and Sun Wenqu’s fingers stood out clearly among the short yellow fur.
“Actually I don’t know either,” Sun Wenqu laughed. “I just told the flower seller to give me a few little things that don’t lose their leaves in winter, and he gave me these.”
“…Oh,” Fang Chi laughed too. “They’re pretty nice. I wonder if they’ll have flowers in spring.”
“When the time comes I’ll help you keep an eye on them. If they bloom I’ll take photos and send them to you,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Okay.” Fang Chi nodded.
Suddenly he remembered that when spring came and the flowers bloomed, he would probably already have been back at school for quite a while. It would be a long time before he saw Sun Wenqu again, maybe the next time they met would be after the college entrance exam.
He didn’t know how well he would do.
School?
Major?
“You…” Fang Chi tilted his head to look at him. “Why… why didn’t you go to university? Did you not take the exam, or did you take it and then not go?”
Sun Wenqu laughed with his eyes closed. “Are you a curious baby? Always asking.”
“I’m fourteen. Being curious is normal,” Fang Chi said.
“I didn’t take it,” Sun Wenqu said calmly. “I just went there to walk around and experience the exam atmosphere.”
Fang Chi frowned. “Why, ”
“Why?” Sun Wenqu opened his eyes. “Because where I go and what I study would never be up to me anyway. So I just didn’t take it.”
“Oh.” Fang Chi responded and didn’t ask further. From Sun Wenqu’s usual attitude and the things that had happened recently, he had already sensed that Sun Wenqu’s relationship with his family seemed very bad.
“Your house will have a lot of people tomorrow, right?” After a moment of silence Sun Wenqu stretched his arms in a lazy stretch.
“Yeah. My aunt’s coming back this year too,” Fang Chi nodded. “Three people in her family. That should be about everyone this year.”
“That’s really a lot of people,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Your family has fewer people during New Year?” Fang Chi asked. In terms of numbers, his family already counted as small in the village. His dad had only three siblings, while other families had five or six. If both sides of the in-laws were from the same village, there would be even more.
“My dad, my mom, my two sisters and their husbands. That’s about it,” Sun Wenqu counted on his fingers.
“No grandparents or uncles?” Fang Chi grabbed Chief Huang from him. The cat seemed very well-behaved today and didn’t look like it would scratch.
“No grandparents. My dad is the only son for three generations,” Sun Wenqu yawned and stood up. “Are you checking household registration?”
“We can check each other. No one loses out,” Fang Chi smiled. The smile hadn’t even fully formed when Chief Huang slapped him across the mouth. He tossed the cat onto the bed. “Go wander off, you sissy!”
Sun Wenqu laughed gleefully from the side. “Just give me the cat.”
“In your dreams,” Fang Chi said without even thinking.
When dinner time approached, Fang Chi went downstairs to help set up the tables. He saw Xiaozi dash quickly from the courtyard into the kitchen. Looking up again, sure enough, Fang Hui had come back.
Timing it perfectly with dinner, running away after getting beaten couldn’t delay eating.
“Is your friend not coming down to eat?” Mom patted the wall dust that had rubbed onto Fang Chi’s arm.
“Mm, I’ll bring it up to him,” Fang Chi said. “No need to worry about him.”
“Isn’t that a bit rude? Our whole family is eating together, and we’re not even inviting him?” Mom glanced upstairs.
“He…” Fang Chi didn’t know how to explain it. “He’s an artist. A bit… individualistic. That’s just how he is.”
“Oh, someone who does art?” Mom looked suddenly enlightened. “Without greasy long hair it’s really hard to tell.”
“Exactly,” Fang Chi laughed. “Anyway, during this time he’s just renting a room here. He’s our tenant, no need to keep fussing over him. Just let him be.”
“Alright then.” Mom nodded.
Fang Chi didn’t know what kind of reaction Sun Wenqu would have if he heard himself summarized like that. Although he could understand that Sun Wenqu liked staying alone in his room, not only because he had things to do but also because of his mood, others might not understand.
Running to the countryside alone during the New Year to rent a room and live there, keeping to himself and only occasionally going out for a morning run, well, lately he couldn’t even run because his foot hadn’t fully healed… A person like that, if you didn’t explain it by saying he was an artist, there was really no way to explain it to ordinary people.
Grandpa had cooked a lot of dishes today, all his specialties. Xiaozi was squatting in the corner of the kitchen, drool hanging nearly five centimeters long.
“Take this to Shuiqu,” Grandma handed a tray to Fang Chi. There were four or five bowls on it, all dishes.
“So many?” Fang Chi was stunned. With Sun Wenqu’s tiny appetite, finishing one bowl would already be impressive.
“If he can’t finish it, so what. During the New Year there should be leftovers,” Grandma seemed quite used to Sun Wenqu not coming downstairs to eat. “Besides, we should live up to the meal money he paid.”
Holding the tray, Fang Chi planned to go upstairs through the living room, but after hesitating he went outside and circled around to the backyard. He didn’t want Fang Hui to see, if Fang Hui started mouthing off again, he was afraid he’d dump the whole tray of food onto his face.
“Where’s my chocolate?” Sun Wenqu asked the moment he took the tray.
“Eat first,” Fang Chi sighed. “What’s wrong with you? Are you addicted or something?”
“Not really addicted…” Sun Wenqu thought for a moment. “Forget it, no chocolate today. If I keep drinking it I’ll get fat.”
“So you do know,” Fang Chi laughed. “I only drink it occasionally, but you treat it like a meal.”
“There are really too many dishes today,” Sun Wenqu set the tray on the table and bent down to sniff them. “But it smells amazing.”
“My grandma says when you eat during New Year there have to be leftovers,” Fang Chi said. “If you can’t finish it just leave it. Xiaozi’s hoping you can’t finish anything so it all goes to him.”
“Right. Today he even had his pride hurt. Later I’ll send him some food,” Sun Wenqu said.
Fang Chi closed the door and went downstairs. The dishes in the living room were all set out, and Dad and Second Uncle were outside in the yard preparing to light firecrackers.
“I’ll light them!” He pulled a lighter from his pocket and ran outside. He’d loved doing this since he was little. “Let me.”
“You do it, you do it,” Second Uncle said with a smile.
“Your grandpa encouraged you to smoke again, didn’t he?” Dad sighed as soon as he saw the lighter in Fang Chi’s hand. “Didn’t you say you quit?”
“Basically… quit,” Fang Chi said awkwardly. “This is a souvenir.”
“You can pick those up off the ground for one yuan each, and you call it a souvenir,” Dad said.
“Hey,” Fang Chi crouched in front of the firecrackers. “I’m lighting it. Step back a bit.”
The sound of the firecrackers downstairs startled Sun Wenqu. With a howl, Chief Huang jumped from the table straight into his arms. Sun Wenqu set down his chopsticks and pressed the cat’s ears with his fingers as he walked to the window, just in time to see Fang Chi hop into the yard from outside.
When Fang Chi wasn’t smiling he looked pretty cool. When he smiled he looked a bit silly, but still quite handsome, and the dimple added quite a few points. So Sun Wenqu rather liked watching him smile.
The string of firecrackers was long, crackling loudly. Smoke rising with the sparks quickly drifted into the courtyard. Suddenly Fang Chi, standing in the smoke, looked up and smiled toward Sun Wenqu’s window.
Sun Wenqu placed his fingers against the glass and made a V sign.
After the firecrackers finished, Fang Chi’s whole family went back into the living room to start dinner.
Sun Wenqu also sat down, holding Chief Huang, eating while looking at the drawings he had made.
Fang Chi’s dad and second uncle both had loud voices. Even upstairs he could hear their cheerful, excited conversation and bursts of laughter.
For Sun Wenqu, this lively scene of family reunion was unfamiliar. He found it interesting, but the feeling he had expected, that it would make him think of his own family, did not appear.
He felt as if he was simply experiencing it, experiencing Fang Chi’s life: an interesting kid and his lively family.
Fang Chi ate very quickly, especially when he wasn’t talking.
In situations where the whole family was chatting like this, he usually couldn’t get a word in. If someone asked him something, he would answer with a sentence. Otherwise he just buried his head in eating, and once he finished he went aside to play with Xiaozi.
Fang Hui, on the other hand, talked quite a lot. His grades were good, much better than Fang Chi’s, so during meals he usually held forth, commenting on politics and discussing national affairs.
Every time Fang Chi heard his speeches he felt deeply moved: a young man exhausting himself for the prosperity of the country and the people, pouring out his heart and blood… yet the nation and its people didn’t even know.
After playing with Xiaozi for a while, Fang Chi stood up and prepared to go upstairs.
“Not eating a little more?” Grandma called to him.
“I’m already stuffed,” Fang Chi patted his stomach. “I’ll go read for a bit.”
“Oh right, Little Chi is taking the college entrance exam next year, isn’t he?” Second Aunt said. “Then you should hurry and study. Go upstairs and close the door so we don’t disturb you.”
“It’s fine,” Fang Chi smiled.
“Is studying by yourself efficient, or just self-comfort?” Fang Hui’s speech had been interrupted but his enthusiasm remained. “What you’re doing has no efficiency. You might as well wait until school starts again for extra classes.”
Fang Chi walked two steps up the stairs and turned around. Fang Hui’s words weren’t exactly aggressive, but they still made him feel uncomfortable all over.
“I have a private tutor,” he said, glancing at Fang Hui before turning and going upstairs.
Once inside his room, he shut the door and sat at the desk feeling irritated.
No efficiency? How was it not efficient?
It was extremely efficient. Take out a book and memorize; take out a test paper and start solving.
He pulled over a set of math practice problems, leaned down, and began writing furiously.
After a few strokes he took out his headphones from his bag and put them on, selecting a playlist he used for solving problems and pressing play.
Everything on it was instrumental music, relatively soothing. Whenever Fang Chi felt the surroundings were too noisy to concentrate, he listened to these.
After finishing half the paper, he got stuck. He calculated on the scratch paper for half a page but still couldn’t figure it out.
He frowned. What kind of problem was this?
Just as he was racking his brain, a hand suddenly reached over beside his head and tapped the scratch paper.
“Ah!” Fang Chi shouted. Even though the moment he jumped in fright he had already recognized it was Sun Wenqu’s hand, he still shouted.
“Oh my god,” Sun Wenqu was startled too and stepped aside. “That explosive power, you should apply to the music conservatory.”
“How did you get in here?” Fang Chi yanked off his headphones and glared at him. “My intestines twisted from the fright!”
“You didn’t lock the door,” Sun Wenqu leaned on the desk laughing uncontrollably. “Twisted, huh? Want Dad to help massage them?”
“No,” Fang Chi laughed too and sat back down. “You finished eating already? Why did you come over?”
“Finished long ago. I even took the bowls downstairs and washed them,” Sun Wenqu dragged over a stool and sat by the desk.
“What are you doing?” Fang Chi looked at him.
“Explaining the problem. Aren’t I your private tutor?” Sun Wenqu pointed at the scratch paper. “You made a mistake right at the beginning but you were so persistent, you kept calculating the wrong way for ten whole minutes. I was so moved I almost cried.”
Fang Chi laughed awkwardly and rubbed his nose. “You heard that?”
“Heard what, the ‘private tutor’ thing?” Sun Wenqu said. “Of course I heard it. You said it so loudly on the stairs, how could I not?”
“…Then explain the problem to me,” Fang Chi handed him a pen. “Perfect timing. There are two earlier questions I’m not sure about either.”
Usually when problems were explained, Fang Chi felt like it took a long time. Today it felt like they had only gone through a few before they were interrupted.
Mom walked into his room.
“What’s up?” Fang Chi turned to look at her.
“Reviewing?” Mom looked surprised. “Shuiqu is explaining problems to you?”
“Yeah,” Fang Chi nodded, then thought about it and laughed. “Why are you calling him Shuiqu too?”
“Isn’t it Shuiqu?” Mom said. “Your grandma said his name was Shuiqu.”
“Wenqu. Sun Wenqu,” Fang Chi quickly wrote the characters on paper and handed it to her. “‘How can the canal be so clear? Because it has a source of flowing water.’”
“Oh, Wenqu,” Mom laughed. “Your grandma really just makes up names.”
“It’s fine,” Sun Wenqu smiled and stood up. “If Auntie has something to do I’ll head back.”
“I don’t have anything,” Mom said. “It’s just…”
“Got it. Fang Hui wants to sleep, right?” Fang Chi said irritably.
“They traveled all day today and are tired. Let him sleep. His sleeping shouldn’t affect your studying, right?” Mom said.
“It doesn’t affect my studying. It affects my mood,” Fang Chi stood up and stuffed the books on the desk into his backpack. “Have they gone back yet?”
“Probably in about half an hour. Fang Yun and her husband went back to their place to rest. Your dad and your uncle and aunt are still chatting,” Mom said.
“Then I…” Fang Chi glanced at Sun Wenqu.
Sun Wenqu smiled. “Come to my room.”
They had nearly finished explaining the problems. In Sun Wenqu’s room they talked for another half hour before Fang Chi heard Second Uncle and Second Aunt downstairs telling Grandpa and Grandma they were heading home to rest.
“I’ll have to go back to my place soon,” Fang Chi said.
“Mm. If there’s anything you don’t understand, I’ll explain it tomorrow,” Sun Wenqu yawned.
“I delayed your work, didn’t I?” Fang Chi remained seated.
“I don’t really have any serious work anyway,” Sun Wenqu smiled. “Private tutor, after all. I’ve drunk so much chocolate.”
“Honestly,” Fang Chi began slowly packing his things, “I’m not really used to being alone with my parents. It feels awkward.”
“You’re not together often?” Sun Wenqu said.
“Yeah. Basically we’ve never really lived together,” Fang Chi sighed. “Fang Hui is such a d*mn idiot.”
“Come over earlier tomorrow,” Sun Wenqu said. “Go running.”
“You? Running?” Fang Chi bent down and touched his ankle. The swelling had gone down and it felt normal. “You can’t run yet.”
“Then we’ll take a walk. I can’t sleep anyway,” Sun Wenqu picked up Chief Huang and rubbed the cat against his face.
“Alright,” Fang Chi stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Should I come call you?”
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu also stood and stretched his arms, holding Chief Huang like a dumbbell.
“Then I’m leaving.” Fang Chi walked two steps toward the door and stopped.
“What?” Sun Wenqu looked at him.
“Then we’re not making chocolate tonight,” Fang Chi said.
“Mm. Controlling weight,” Sun Wenqu continued lifting Chief Huang.
“Then…” Fang Chi slowly walked toward the door.
“Hey, if you don’t want to leave you can just sleep here,” Sun Wenqu laughed.
“Good night.” Fang Chi clicked his tongue and walked out, closing the door behind him.
