The snow was getting heavier. They didn’t walk too far. Closer to the mountain, it got colder, so Fang Chi pulled Sun Wenqu back toward the village.
From far away they could already hear firecrackers going off in the village, along with smoke rising through the falling snow.
“Making noise this early in the morning,” Sun Wenqu tugged at his hat.
“My aunt will probably arrive soon,” Fang Chi rubbed his hands and bounced in place. “I wonder if Fang Hui has gotten up yet. My clothes are still in that room.”
“If he hasn’t gotten up, then he hasn’t. Can’t you just go in and grab some clothes?” Sun Wenqu said.
“No,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “Just thinking about him sleeping on my bed wrapped in my blanket pisses me off. If I see it in person I’m afraid I’ll jump on him and beat him up.”
“Bad temper,” Sun Wenqu stretched lazily, spreading his arms and quickly pulling them back. “Your younger brother is just a bit chuunibyou. The age where you look for attention.”
“Why didn’t I have that age?” Fang Chi glanced at him.
“You matured early,” Sun Wenqu draped an arm over his shoulder. “Actually your family’s adults have big hearts, just throwing a kid outside and not caring.”
“They didn’t not care. They call often,” Fang Chi rubbed his nose, glancing sideways at Sun Wenqu’s hand. Thinking about it, that hand looked pretty nice even when it was covered in clay. “I’m not used to them caring about me too much anyway.”
Sun Wenqu smiled.
When they returned home, Dad and Mom had already come over, and Second Uncle said he would arrive soon. The kitchen was already steaming with activity.
Sun Wenqu went upstairs, closed the door, and didn’t come down again.
Fang Chi looked at the door of his own room. It was still closed, Fang Hui probably hadn’t gotten up yet.
So d*mn annoying.
He went into the kitchen wanting to help, but Mom chased him out. “Stop getting in the way.”
In previous years he would usually stay in his room at this time, or watch TV in the living room. But this year he felt a bit aimless.
Watching TV in the living room for a while wasn’t interesting either. He wanted to go upstairs, but he had no room.
Go to Sun Wenqu’s room… but he had said not to watch him work.
“Ah…” Fang Chi sighed.
He stared at the TV in a daze for a while when Mom came into the living room. “Little Chi, go meet your aunt on the road. They’ve arrived and are carrying a bunch of things…”
“Okay.” Fang Chi was just feeling bored; so when he heard that he immediately jumped up. Then he pointed upstairs. “Let Fang Hui get up too. It’s almost noon.”
“He still hasn’t gotten up?” Fang Yun’s voice came from the yard. Second Uncle’s family had arrived. Fang Yun frowned as she entered the house. “I’ll go wake him.”
Fang Chi ran out of the courtyard with Xiaozi.
The cold, fresh air smelled faintly of gunpowder. Fang Chi ran comfortably, picking up small stones as he went and tossing them to the side, watching Xiaozi run and bark while chasing them.
After running along the road out of the village for about ten minutes, Fang Chi saw three people ahead waving at him. He smiled and waved back.
His aunt’s family had indeed brought a lot of things. One large woven bag was full of food. Fang Chi swung it onto his back, and when it landed it made him cough from the weight.
“Xiaozi, I have chocolate! Wait, I’ll get some for you.” His cousin Hu Ying patted Xiaozi’s head, fumbling in her backpack.
“Dogs can’t eat chocolate,” Fang Chi said. “You eat it yourself.”
“Why can’t he eat it?” Hu Ying sighed. “That’s abuse. Xiaozi, you’re being abused again.”
“Just give him another kind of candy,” Fang Chi glanced at her. Last year she had still looked pretty short, but in her third year of middle school she had suddenly grown about ten centimeters taller. “Don’t pretend to be dumb and ask every time.”
“Then you can pretend to be dumb and explain it again,” Hu Ying said with a grin, taking out a milk candy and giving it to Xiaozi. “Hey, where’s Brother Little Hui?”
“Sleeping. Probably just got up,” Fang Chi said.
“Have you two fought yet?” Hu Ying stuffed another milk candy into his mouth.
“No fight. Yesterday his dad fought first,” Fang Chi smiled.
“Oh man, what a pity I didn’t see it,” Hu Ying covered her mouth and laughed loudly.
“Crazy girl,” Auntie slapped her lightly.
Downstairs was lively. Sun Wenqu sat beside the pottery wheel, staring at the pot and slowly refining its shape. Fang Chi’s aunt’s family must have arrived.
Next door Fang Hui had also gotten out of bed and was being chased downstairs by his sister.
Sun Wenqu let out a breath of relief. Last night he had been wearing earphones and had been too absorbed to notice, but just now he realized Fang Hui’s snoring sounded like it could shake his pot apart.
Sun Wenqu picked up the earphones and stuffed them into his ears, but didn’t turn on the music. It only blocked out some of the surrounding noise. It was too noisy to focus, but complete silence would be unbearable too.
After finishing shaping the pot, he leaned back in the chair and stared at it in a daze.
This time he should be able to make up that “little bit missing.” For now the pot could stay like this. After everything was finished he would look at the whole thing again.
The door was knocked lightly twice.
“Who is it?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“It’s me, Fang Chi.” Fang Chi’s voice sounded from outside the door.
Sun Wenqu stood up and opened the door. Fang Chi was leaning against the wall beside the doorway.
“Come downstairs to eat at noon?” Fang Chi asked.
“Mm,” Sun Wenqu nodded. “Are all your relatives here?”
“They’re here,” Fang Chi smiled. “We’ll drink a little at noon. Want some?”
“Sure,” Sun Wenqu turned and sat back down in the chair. “Are you a good drinker?”
“I can drink okay. I…” Fang Chi was just about to step into the room when footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Hu Ying ran upstairs holding a bag. “I forgot to give you this, I knitted these gloves.”
“Thanks,” Fang Chi took them. “You can knit gloves now?”
“Mm,” Hu Ying smiled and leaned her head into the room to take a look, then smiled a little shyly. “This is the friend Grandma mentioned, right?”
Fang Chi nodded and was about to introduce her. “Yeah, this is, ”
“Hello, Uncle Shuiqu,” Hu Ying said.
Sun Wenqu curved his lips into a smile. “Hello.”
“What did you call him?” Fang Chi suddenly turned his head.
“Uncle Shuiqu,” Hu Ying repeated. “That’s how Grandma introduced him, your brother’s friend Uncle Shuiqu lives in the empty room on the second floor. But he doesn’t really look like an uncle.”
Sun Wenqu couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. “Calling me uncle is good. Uncle is pretty good, no generation gap.”
“Then come down to eat later, Uncle Shuiqu,” Hu Ying said politely with another smile. “Our family has lots of delicious food during New Year. From the thirtieth to the fifteenth it’s never the same!”
“Okay.” Sun Wenqu kept laughing.
Watching Hu Ying dash downstairs, Fang Chi finally managed to say, “But his name isn’t Shuiqu.”
“My son,” Sun Wenqu leaned back in the chair laughing so hard his eyes nearly disappeared, “you have to accept reality.”
“I need to have a talk with my grandma.” Fang Chi turned, closed the door, and ran downstairs.
When Sun Wenqu went downstairs to eat, Hu Ying had already changed the way she addressed him. Now it was “Brother Sun.” No one knew whether Grandma or Fang Chi had corrected her.
Sun Wenqu greeted everyone and sat down on a small stool in the corner.
There was a stove burning strongly in the living room. Later they would probably cook hotpot on it. The dishes were already finished and being carried inside, filling the table.
The table was a low one, and everyone sat on small stools to eat. It looked like they were about to scramble for food, very appetizing.
Looking at how lively Fang Chi’s family was, it felt like this meal might go straight on until evening.
“This lamb is really fresh,” Grandma said, pointing at the boiling soup pot in the middle. “It was just brought back yesterday. Let’s finish it all today. Hurry up, start eating.”
“Let’s raise a toast first,” Second Uncle picked up his cup. “Wishing everyone a new atmosphere in the new year.”
Everyone in the room raised their cups. They were all talking at once; it was impossible to hear what anyone was saying.
Sun Wenqu asked for a cup of Grandpa’s homemade liquor and raised his cup too. He tried to hear what Fang Chi on his right was saying, but Fang Chi only mumbled a few “ah ah ah ah” sounds and then drank his liquor.
Sun Wenqu wanted to laugh. When he heard Hu Ying on his left also saying something like “ah ah ah ah, good good good,” he turned to Fang Chi and asked quietly with a smile, “Do kids in your family all say toasts like that?”
“There aren’t any new phrases left to say,” Fang Chi laughed. “As long as the noise is big enough, that’s good. It’s lively.”
Fang Chi’s earlier warning had been correct. His dad and second uncle were the kind of people who weren’t satisfied just drinking themselves, they had to get everyone at the table drinking together.
At first they didn’t go too far, just pulled Grandpa, Fang Chi’s uncle-in-law, and brother-in-law to drink with them. But halfway through the meal everyone got excited, and with the uncle-in-law and brother-in-law also warmed up from drinking, they started pouring wine toward Sun Wenqu.
“He can’t drink that much,” Fang Chi blocked his dad, who was about to pour Sun Wenqu a third cup. “You guys just drink among yourselves.”
“Didn’t you say you’d only drink homemade liquor?” Dad replied irrelevantly in the noisy room. “This is homemade liquor.”
Sun Wenqu patted Fang Chi on the back, picked up his cup, let Dad pour him another drink, and then smiled at Fang Chi. “This little bit is nothing.”
“Drink slower,” Fang Chi said quietly. “If you drink that fast, even if you didn’t want to drink they’d still urge you. If your cup empties they’ll definitely refill it immediately.”
“Got it.” Sun Wenqu nodded.
Lunch was very lively. Sun Wenqu felt warm all over; there was even a faint sweat on his back.
Grandma directed everyone to clear the empty plates from the table and move the dishes onto a small side table. She sent the few still drinking to the side. “Leave space here to make dumplings.”
“We’re playing mahjong too. We can make two tables, right?” Fang Yun said.
“Start with one table first,” Grandma said. “When they finish eating we’ll open another.”
“Alright, then my mom plays first. Add my aunt too. Shui… Wenqu, do you play?” Fang Yun counted the players.
“He plays,” Fang Chi remembered Sun Wenqu saying he wanted to play mahjong.
“Does Little Hui play?” Fang Yun asked her brother again.
Fang Hui had also drunk quite a bit today. When he turned his head his face was already red. He glanced at Fang Chi. “If he plays, I won’t.”
“I’ll play,” Fang Chi said.
“I won’t play,” Fang Hui immediately replied.
“Perfect,” Fang Chi laughed and sat down at the table. “Thanks. There wasn’t a seat for me before.”
“You!” Fang Hui glared.
“Hey, if you all play, who’s making dumplings?” Mom laughed. “I’ll make dumplings with your aunt. Little Hui, you play.”
“I’m not playing!” Fang Hui still glared at Fang Chi.
“Then go make dumplings,” Fang Chi waved a hand. “Hu Ying, want to play?”
“Okay!” Hu Ying immediately jumped to the table.
Second Aunt gave her seat to Fang Yun and also went to make dumplings. In the end the people playing mahjong were Fang Chi, Sun Wenqu, Hu Ying, and Fang Yun.
“A table of juniors,” Hu Ying said while pushing the tiles. “All greedy and lazy.”
“The greedy ones are over there,” Fang Chi pointed at his dad and the others still drinking nearby. “We’re just the lazy juniors.”
“Aren’t I an uncle?” Sun Wenqu said.
“Oh stop mentioning it, it’s all Grandma’s fault,” Hu Ying laughed, lying on the table.
“Grandma must have said something random again. One moment Shuiqu, the next moment uncle,” Fang Yun sighed.
Fang Chi didn’t say much. He felt a little dizzy from drinking and didn’t really want to talk, so he just kept watching Sun Wenqu’s hands.
Sun Wenqu sat upstream from him. At some point he had gone to make himself a cup of tea and occasionally took a sip.
When someone has beautiful hands, everything they do looks good, picking up the cup, putting it down, pushing tiles, stacking tiles, drawing tiles. All of it was pleasing to watch.
Fang Chi couldn’t really judge how good Sun Wenqu was at mahjong. After playing two rounds he only noticed that when Sun Wenqu drew a tile, he liked to keep it in his hand first instead of placing it in front of him, flipping it back and forth on the table with his fingers.
“Play your tile, Brother Little Chi,” Hu Ying nudged him.
“Oh.” Fang Chi responded and took a tile from in front of him and threw it out.
“Hu,” Fang Yun pushed over her tiles. “I was waiting for that one.”
“Huh?” Fang Chi froze for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“What were you thinking about?” Fang Yun laughed.
“Nothing.” Fang Chi scratched his head.
He usually didn’t play these games much, only a few rounds during New Year. He normally only paid attention to his own tiles; not dealing into someone else’s winning hand was already his highest goal.
Sun Wenqu, however, was actually quite good at mahjong. He counted tiles clearly too. Since everyone at the table was the same generation, he probably wasn’t holding back. After a few rounds, aside from Fang Yun winning twice, all the other wins were his.
“I’m done,” Sun Wenqu pushed the tiles away. “Tired.”
“Expert,” Hu Ying said with a grin. “Are you tired, or just unwilling to play with us rookies?”
“Probably bored playing with us,” Fang Yun sighed. “I only won twice. You two are real money-scattering boys.”
“I scatter money every year anyway,” Fang Chi chuckled. “I’m not playing either. Let my mom play.”
“Fang Hui, want to play?” Fang Yun turned and tapped Fang Hui, who was staring blankly at the TV. “Little Chi isn’t playing anymore, you can come to the table.”
After leaving the mahjong table, Sun Wenqu headed upstairs. Fang Chi hesitated for a moment, saw the cup Sun Wenqu had left on the table, picked it up, and followed him.
Just as he reached upstairs, Sun Wenqu came out of the room again.
“Getting your cup?” Fang Chi asked.
“Yeah,” Sun Wenqu smiled and took the cup. “Come sit for a bit?”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Fang Chi saw some fatigue on his face.
“Can’t sleep,” Sun Wenqu said, going into the room and flopping onto the bed. “I just want to lie down for a bit.”
“Then you… lie down,” Fang Chi placed the cup on the table and turned to leave. “I’ll go read in my room.”
Downstairs was still lively. Fang Chi looked around, people drinking and chatting, playing mahjong and chatting, making dumplings and chatting; the whole house was full of people.
New Year really was something that made people happy.
He pushed open the door to his room, but a room that Fang Hui had slept in really made him unhappy.
The quilt hadn’t been folded; it was bunched up messily on the bed. One corner even hung down to the floor. The two pillows weren’t in their original places, one thrown in the corner of the bed, the other wrapped up in the quilt.
Fang Chi felt a burst of anger. When he turned and saw the socks thrown on the table, he had the sudden urge to go downstairs, drag Fang Hui up, and shove the socks into his mouth.
There was no way to stay in this room. Fang Chi slammed the door and walked out irritably.
He wandered downstairs for a while and didn’t know what to do. Aside from him, everyone seemed busy, even Xiaozi had already eaten a bowl of leftover food and was now lying happily in the yard sleeping in the afternoon sun.
So he went upstairs again. Passing Sun Wenqu’s room, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Sun Wenqu said from inside.
Fang Chi pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. Sun Wenqu was still lying on the bed in exactly the same position as before.
“If you don’t mind,” Fang Chi said, “can I read over here?”
“If you don’t mind,” Sun Wenqu smiled.
“…Oh.” Fang Chi went to grab his backpack and brought it in. “I don’t mind.”
The desk in Sun Wenqu’s room was also newly bought. There hadn’t been one in the room before. But instead of that endless black table, it was a computer desk that looked very high-end and capable of holding many things, yet only a notebook and a pile of papers and pens were on it.
“I’ll move your papers to the side,” Fang Chi said. “Are there numbers or anything? I’m afraid I’ll mess them up.”
“It’s fine. I wrote the dates on them,” Sun Wenqu said with his eyes closed.
“Mm.” Fang Chi organized the papers and notebook to one side. “Do you play mahjong and cards all the time? Your level feels pretty high.”
“Oh? With your level, where even when I fed you tiles you still wouldn’t take them, you can tell someone’s good?” Sun Wenqu said.
“Huh?” Fang Chi froze for a moment. He ran that sentence through his mind several times before understanding. “You fed me tiles?”
“Yeah. Seeing you deal into your sister’s win was pretty pitiful, so I fed you a few tiles. If you’d just taken them honestly you would’ve won several times, but you didn’t take a single one,” Sun Wenqu sighed.
Fang Chi smiled and didn’t say anything. He sat down and took out his book.
Sun Wenqu didn’t speak again either. He placed his arm over his eyes and didn’t move.
Fang Chi looked at him a few times, unsure whether he had fallen asleep or was just resting with his eyes closed.
After the door was shut, the noise from downstairs became much quieter. Occasionally firecrackers from the village could be heard. The feeling was quite comfortable.
Fang Chi rested his chin on his hand and opened his English materials, planning to roughly memorize the two pages the teacher had marked as key points.
He recited one sentence very quietly and turned to look at Sun Wenqu. It shouldn’t disturb him, so he lowered his voice a bit more and continued with another sentence.
With this pronunciation… he glanced at Sun Wenqu. Even he himself felt embarrassed hearing it, so he lowered the volume again and changed to a whisper.
He looked at Sun Wenqu again… and after that he simply picked up a pen and started writing while silently reciting in his mind.
“Hey,” Sun Wenqu laughed. “Say it out loud. I won’t laugh at you. Why are you writing it now?”
Fang Chi felt a bit embarrassed. He threw down the pen and turned his head. “Are you sleeping or not?”
“I told you I can’t fall asleep. I’m just lying down for a while.” Sun Wenqu lowered his arm, opening his eyes into a slit to look at him.
“Then lie down if you want. What’s with secretly watching people review?” Fang Chi clicked his tongue.
“If I didn’t open my eyes and look, how would I know you were studying while sneaking glances at me? Recite one sentence, look at me once, I already wanted to laugh, but I was afraid I’d scare you,” Sun Wenqu said, closing his eyes again with a grin.
Fang Chi stared at him for a long time, then dropped onto the desk. “…Don’t make any noise. I’m going to memorize my book.”
“Go for it,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile.
Fang Chi didn’t make a sound. Just like before, he silently recited in his mind while repeatedly writing it down on the paper.
Before even finishing one page, Fang Chi felt sleepy. He had slept too late and gotten up too early, drank alcohol, and then chose the noon break to memorize English, this was practically inviting the greatest sleep in the world.
Fang Chi kept going for another half hour. Feeling like he would fall asleep the next second, he stood up, planning to chat with Sun Wenqu for a bit to wake himself up.
But when he walked to the bed, he discovered Sun Wenqu had already turned his face to the side and fallen asleep.
“Hey, didn’t you say you were just lying down for a bit?” Fang Chi bent down to look at him, a little depressed, speaking very quietly. “Didn’t you say you couldn’t fall asleep?”
Sun Wenqu’s breathing was slow and steady, and his eyelashes didn’t even move. He had clearly been asleep for a while.
“You’re not very loyal…” Fang Chi sighed softly, took a step back, and sat down in the chair again.
He rested his arm on the desk, propped his head in his hand, and watched Sun Wenqu.
The way this person looked while sleeping seemed rather serious. Not like his usual especially lazy state, and not with that big aura he had when making pottery.
He just looked like a normal, ordinary… somewhat more handsome than average mid… no, young man.
Fang Chi watched Sun Wenqu’s face. He didn’t know why he wasn’t continuing to study anymore. Probably because he was sleepy. Right, sleepy.
He yawned and stood up, moved to the lounge chair beside him that looked like a wine glass, and copied Sun Wenqu by dragging the chair a bit closer to the bed. Then he lay down in it, put his feet on the edge of the bed, and closed his eyes.
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