A Dog Out of Nowhere Chapter 56

Dinner was very plentiful. Besides the braised fish Sun Wenqu had ordered, there was also the char siu Fang Chi liked to eat, and in addition chicken and duck, none missing, and a pot of pork rib soup.

“This is way too much,” Fang Chi said while gnawing on a rib. “We won’t finish it even in three days.”

“You rarely come back,” Grandma said. “If it doesn’t get finished, then it doesn’t get finished. Once you go off to university, you’ll come back even less. Look at Old Li’s grandson, he went off to university and didn’t even come back for the New Year.”

“That’s because he went to his girlfriend’s house,” Grandpa said.

“I would never not come back for the New Year,” Fang Chi said with a smile. “If I have time, I’ll come back.”

“That’s hard to say,” Grandma sighed. “If you find a girlfriend, won’t you have to please her and go with her to her home?”

“I…” Fang Chi quickly swept a glance toward Sun Wenqu. Sun Wenqu was seriously lowering his head and picking fish bones out of the fish. “I wouldn’t.”

“You’re so silly,” Grandma clicked her tongue twice.

“He’s so silly, maybe after four years of school he still won’t manage to get a girlfriend,” Sun Wenqu said while picking out fish bones.

“Exactly!” Fang Chi nodded quickly. “Yes, I’m too… silly.”

Sun Wenqu laughed and looked up at him.

Although they were eating this meal in the courtyard, they still ended up sweating all over. As soon as Sun Wenqu put down his bowl he went to take a shower, and he didn’t come out for a long time. Fang Chi was so hot he had no choice but to go to the backyard and rinse off with the hose Grandpa used to water the vegetables.

“You take a cold shower right after eating!” Grandma frowned. “That’s not good for your body!”

“I’m dying of heat.” Fang Chi swayed a little in the bamboo chair in the courtyard. After the cold rinse his whole body felt comfortable.

The water in the bathhouse in the front courtyard was still running. Grandma went over and knocked on the bathhouse door again. “Shuiqu!”

“Grandma, what are you doing?” Fang Chi jumped in fright.

“Shuiqu!” Grandma knocked twice more. “Don’t use cold water, use hot water!”

“Oh,” Sun Wenqu answered from inside. “Grandma, I’m using hot water.”

Only then did Grandma walk away. Fang Chi followed her and whispered, “Grandma, he’s a man taking a shower, knocking on the door like that isn’t very good.”

“What’s not good about it? He wouldn’t open it anyway. Besides, he’s the same age as my grandson,” Grandma shot him a glance. “If it were you inside, I’d go straight in without even knocking.”

“…Oh.” Fang Chi didn’t know what to say and went back to sit in the bamboo chair.

The water in the bathhouse splashed noisily. Sun Wenqu was really something, just taking a shower and nearly twenty minutes had passed and he still hadn’t come out.

Splashing.

Fang Chi suddenly began to feel a bit restless again. When the image of Sun Wenqu by the pool earlier, wearing only his underwear, flashed through his mind, he helplessly bent his legs and placed his feet on the chair.

Actually, before today he had thought of Sun Wenqu quite a few times, but never like now, so casually that he could get a reaction. Sun Wenqu’s words about “opening the floodgate” really hadn’t been wrong.

Fang Chi, you’ve opened the floodgate.

Sun Wenqu finally came out of the bathhouse, bare-chested and wearing a pair of loose sports pants. His hair was wet and there was still heat rising off his body.

Fang Chi glanced at him. The emotions that had just calmed down were quickly stirred up again. He hurriedly turned his head away and stared at Xiaozi stretching lazily nearby.

“What are you doing?” Sun Wenqu walked over and flicked him on the head.

“You…” Fang Chi didn’t look at him. “After bathing like that won’t you just end up sweating again?”

“No,” Sun Wenqu said. “It’s quite comfortable. At first I wanted to use cold water, but it froze me with a jolt. The water at your place comes down from the mountain, right? It’s way too cold.”

“Yeah,” Fang Chi scratched his head. “It is.”

Sun Wenqu didn’t say anything else and turned to go upstairs.

Fang Chi continued sitting in the courtyard in a trance. Only after the sun had completely set and mosquitoes began flying out did he get up and return inside.

None of the rooms in the house had air-conditioning except Sun Wenqu’s. Grandpa and Grandma didn’t need it. Fang Chi was fine with just an electric fan blowing on him.

The delicate Sun Wenqu couldn’t stand the heat, so when summer began he bought an air conditioner and had it installed. Grandma had even felt bad about the money he spent.

Fang Chi went upstairs and wandered around his own room, not knowing what to do.

Now that the college entrance exam was over, the previous state of racing against time to review suddenly vanished like stepping into empty air. All at once he had so much free time he didn’t know what to do with himself.

After grabbing this and touching that around the room for a while, Fang Chi still ended up standing at Sun Wenqu’s door and knocking.

“It’s not locked,” Sun Wenqu answered from inside.

Fang Chi pushed the door open and saw him sitting at the desk. He was no longer bare-chested; he had put on a rather loose T-shirt and looked ready to work.

“You…” Fang Chi hesitated. He knew Sun Wenqu worked very seriously.

“It’s fine,” Sun Wenqu glanced at him. “You can stay. It won’t affect me.”

“I just…” Fang Chi went over to the bed and scooped up the big chubby Chief Huang who was trying to leave, rubbing him. “I’m just bored and don’t know what to do.”

“Watch me work,” Sun Wenqu curled his lips slightly.

“Mm.” Fang Chi nodded.

Sun Wenqu lowered his head and continued drawing diagrams. Fang Chi shuffled onto the bed, leaning against the wall and tugging at Chief Huang’s leg as he tried to escape.

He hadn’t looked carefully before when he came back this time. There were several more jars and bottles in Sun Wenqu’s room now, and on the pottery wheel in the corner there was a strangely shaped bottle that was only half finished.

These things together with Sun Wenqu, who was bent over drawing, created a very comfortable atmosphere.

Although if he stared at Sun Wenqu for too long, Fang Chi always felt a little restless inside, he still enjoyed this feeling for the moment.

Very relaxed.

He didn’t have to think about the pile of problems he hadn’t finished.

He didn’t have to worry about exams.

And he didn’t need to keep suppressing those emotions in his heart anymore.

He had said it.

Even though there were still many uncertainties and perhaps helpless things waiting for him far ahead.

But he had received a response, and that was already enough for him to relax.

Just watching Sun Wenqu’s profile like this, he didn’t think about anything.

It wasn’t until his phone rang that he snapped back to himself. He quickly pressed answer and jumped off the bed, running out of the room, he was afraid of disturbing Sun Wenqu.

The call was from Xu Zhou, his tone cheerful. “Hey Fang Chi, did you go back to your grandpa’s place?”

“Yeah,” Fang Chi responded as he went into his own room. “What’s up?”

“A bunch of us are talking about going out to have some fun,” Xu Zhou said. “How about it? Do you have time?”

“Who’s going? Did you call Xiao Yiming?” Fang Chi’s first reaction was that Xiao Yiming should come. With his current situation, he needed to relax the most.

“Yeah, we called him. He’s coming too,” Xu Zhou said. “You’re not busy, right?”

This group had been talking about coming to hang out for a whole semester. Now that the holiday had finally started, they were probably too excited to sit still. But Sun Wenqu was here, and Fang Chi hesitated.

“I’m not sure yet,” Fang Chi thought for a moment. “I’ll ask my grandpa if there’s anything going on these next few days. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

“Okay,” Xu Zhou said.

He went back to Sun Wenqu’s room. Sun Wenqu had changed his posture but was still bent over the drawing.

Unable to find a good moment to start speaking, Fang Chi stayed silent and stood behind him waiting.

After a while Sun Wenqu suddenly turned his head. “What’s up?”

“Oh,” Fang Chi rubbed his nose. “It’s… a classmate called just now. A bunch of people want to come over to hang out.”

“Hm?” Sun Wenqu looked at him. “Isn’t that good? I see you’re so bored you’re almost counting cat hairs.”

“It’s not that,” Fang Chi laughed. “I’m just worried that if they come… they’re a pretty noisy group. Will it affect you?”

“No,” Sun Wenqu answered very decisively. “They won’t come into my room to make noise.”

“Then…” Fang Chi was still hesitating.

Sun Wenqu put down his pen and stood up, walked over and wrapped his arms around him, and softly said by his ear, “It’s fine. If classmates come to hang out, let them hang out. As long as you don’t overthink things, no one will think anything.”

“Mm.” Fang Chi nodded, tightening his arms around Sun Wenqu’s waist. “I just… actually it’s nothing.”

“It was nothing to begin with,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile.

“Am I kind of useless like this?” Fang Chi sighed, rubbing his hands on Sun Wenqu’s back.

“That doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with whether you’re capable or not.” Sun Wenqu kissed his neck, then suddenly let out a very soft laugh. “Actually it’s pretty capable already, just saying a couple words and you can already raise the flag.”

“I…” Fang Chi’s face immediately turned red. He wanted to stick his butt out but felt the posture would look too stupid, so he could only stand stiffly. “I’m just too young.”

“Mm.” Sun Wenqu nodded with a serious face, though there was still laughter he couldn’t suppress in his voice.

“No,” Fang Chi glared at him. “You’ve never had times like this? What are you laughing at?”

“I’m not laughing, really not,” Sun Wenqu released him and stepped back, patting his shoulder. “Chive spirit, it’s like this.”

“What spirit?” Fang Chi froze for a moment.

“What your Uncle Liangzi said,” Sun Wenqu leaned against the table. “Chive spirit.”

“Chives? What about chives?” Fang Chi didn’t understand.

“Chives boost virility,” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue.

Fang Chi held back for a moment and then laughed. “Man, if he didn’t stutter he’d be even more annoying.”

“That’s why heaven made him stutter, so he wouldn’t get beaten up,” Sun Wenqu said.

After laughing for a while, Fang Chi walked up to Sun Wenqu, leaned over and kissed him, then wrapped his arms around him and pushed him toward the bed.

“Hm?” Sun Wenqu looked at him.

“Let’s kiss for a bit.” Fang Chi pressed him down onto the bed. “Just kiss for a bit. Chive spirit.”

Sun Wenqu laughed and lay there without moving.

Like searching for treasure, Fang Chi kissed all over his face and neck, then hugged him and sighed heavily. “With my situation, should I take some medicine or something?”

Sun Wenqu had originally been feeling quite something from the kisses, but when he heard that he immediately laughed so hard all the mood was gone. Still laughing, he said, “What medicine would you even take? One sentence from you and all the passion I had is gone.”

“Tonight,” Fang Chi pressed down on him without moving, “tonight I’ll sleep here with you, okay?”

“Mm, sleep here then,” Sun Wenqu pushed him. “Get off. You’re crushing your dad to death.”

Fang Chi rolled over and lay flat on the bed, letting out a long sigh.

Once Sun Wenqu entered work mode, he could stare at the diagram in front of him for an entire hour without even moving.

Fang Chi watched helplessly as two mosquitoes landed on his arm. He had no choice but to find a small spray bottle, pour Grandma’s homemade mosquito repellent into it, and spray it around Sun Wenqu.

After staring at Sun Wenqu working for more than an hour, Fang Chi quietly walked out of the room and closed the door.

Grandpa and Grandma were still talking downstairs. As soon as Fang Chi came down, Grandma pulled him onto the sofa to sit. “Before, every time you came back you stuck to us. These past two times you’ve been sticking to Shuiqu all the time.”

“…No I haven’t.” Fang Chi suddenly felt both guilty and embarrassed and wrapped an arm around Grandma’s shoulders.

“Young people have lots to talk about,” Grandpa said with a smile from the side. “You can’t always chat with old folks like us.”

“I have lots to talk about with you too,” Fang Chi slid down a little and leaned against Grandpa. “Even when there’s nothing to talk about I still like listening to you chat.”

“You just know how to say nice things to make people happy.” Grandma patted him.

Fang Chi smiled and said nothing.

Grandpa and Grandma continued chatting, talking about things concerning the younger generation, the shop his parents ran, the house at his aunt’s place. Fang Chi listened with half-closed eyes.

The fan’s breeze swept over him from time to time. It felt very nice, like he had returned to childhood.

“Your dad and mom really are big-hearted,” Grandma said, patting his leg. “The college entrance exam is already finished, and up to now they still haven’t even called to ask about it?”

“They don’t even know when my exam was,” Fang Chi said with a couple of chuckles.

“Then you should tell them,” Grandma frowned. “Raising a son like this is really worry-free, don’t have to care about anything.”

“You two are here, they don’t need to care,” Fang Chi said with a smile. After thinking about it he added another sentence, “Oh right, my classmates are coming over tomorrow to hang out.”

“Classmates coming to play? That’s good,” Grandpa said quite happily. “How many are coming? Our house can’t fit that many, right?”

“Seven or eight,” Fang Chi said. “We can fit them. It’s so hot, at night we’ll set up the bamboo beds and lay down a couple of mats on the floor. The girls… can sleep in my room.”

“There are girls too?” As soon as Grandma heard that she became interested. “Are they pretty? How tall? Fat or thin?”

“Hey…” Fang Chi scratched his head. “They’re just classmates, female classmates. Grandma, you’re thinking way too far ahead.”

“I’ll have to take a look tomorrow,” Grandma said with a smile, ignoring what he said.

After chatting a while longer, Grandpa and Grandma settled on a menu for when the classmates came to eat, then went back to their room to sleep.

Fang Chi teased Xiaozi for a bit more, then went upstairs.

When he pushed the door open he saw Sun Wenqu standing in the room stretching his arms.

“Finished working?” He went in and closed the door.

“Mm,” Sun Wenqu turned his head. “My whole body’s sore. If it weren’t so hot right now, I’d want to go out and run a couple laps to relax.”

“How about…” Fang Chi hesitated. “How about I… massage you?”

“You know how?” Sun Wenqu looked at him.

“I know a little, I guess,” Fang Chi said. “My grandma’s waist likes to ache. I used to massage her waist for her, and she said I did it pretty well.”

“Then give me a massage. When I first sat down I twisted something a bit, my back’s pretty sore.” Sun Wenqu lay face-down on the bed, stretching his arms and legs out.

Fang Chi rubbed his hands together and stood by the bed, searching for a posture for quite a while but couldn’t find one that felt right.

“What are you doing?” Sun Wenqu tilted his head and asked.

“I’m thinking about what position would be best for massaging.” Fang Chi knelt one leg on the edge of the bed.

“You’re going to massage my back,” Sun Wenqu squinted his eyes, “or you want to touch me?”

“…Massage your back,” Fang Chi said.

“If it’s massaging your back, what other position could there be? Just sit on my legs and massage,” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue. “Look how tangled up you’re getting.”

Fang Chi didn’t speak. He climbed onto the bed, straddled him, and sat on his legs. “Am I heavy?”

“Barely manageable,” Sun Wenqu said.

“Oh.” Fang Chi nodded and pushed his shirt upward a bit.

When his hand landed on Sun Wenqu’s back, Sun Wenqu added another sentence, “Actually if you want to touch me, this position works too.”

“Why are you so annoying?” Fang Chi raised his hands and frowned.

Sun Wenqu didn’t speak, just smiled with his eyes closed.

Fang Chi kept his hands raised for almost half a minute, concentrating all his attention on his hands as if gathering strength, feeling like he had become invulnerable to swords and spears. Only then did he place his hands on Sun Wenqu.

The moment he put them down, just touching Sun Wenqu’s back made him feel a little dizzy.

But he still clenched his teeth and began knocking and kneading along Sun Wenqu’s back and waist.

“Lighter,” Sun Wenqu bared his teeth slightly. “Are you beating a thief?”

“So delicate,” Fang Chi reduced his strength. “Even like this my grandma still says I don’t dare use enough force.”

“Can I be compared to your grandma?” Sun Wenqu closed his eyes. “Last month when I accompanied her to the market, she carried more than I did and walked faster too.”

“Yeah,” Fang Chi laughed. “You really can’t compare to her. Rural grandmas, after working their whole lives, they all have that skill.”

Speaking of it, Sun Wenqu did have muscles on his body, fairly solid too, but the feel of them really was quite soft. Fang Chi didn’t dare look at him; he kept staring at the wide and narrow patterns on the bedsheet.

“Do the waist like you did earlier a few more times,” Sun Wenqu said. “Those few knocks just now felt pretty comfortable.”

“Mm.” Fang Chi gently knocked and pressed at his waist.

“You were chatting with your grandparents just now?” Sun Wenqu asked.

“Mm.” Fang Chi nodded, then after thinking sighed. “My grandma lately always…”

“Hoping for a great-grandchild,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile.

Fang Chi’s hands paused for a moment. He said softly, “Yeah.”

“Don’t think about those things,” Sun Wenqu reached back and touched his leg. “Even if you were going to find a girl and get married, it’s not something that has to be done right now.”

“Just take it one day at a time?” Fang Chi grabbed his hand.

“Save up,” Sun Wenqu said. “Save up enough reasons and courage that can’t not be said, and only then think about these things.”

“Mm.” Fang Chi answered.

“When it sounds like that, it’s almost like saying enjoy the moment,” Sun Wenqu’s fingers scratched lightly in his palm. “But it’s not the same. Responsibility can’t be forgotten, but the premise is reaching the day you can bear it.”

“Mm.” Fang Chi looked at his profile.

“Although liking someone, whether they’re a man or a woman, isn’t wrong,” Sun Wenqu closed his eyes, “that’s just something people say. Everyone else walks on the right side of the road, and we just happen to walk on the left. From that day on, you carry that thing on your back, you can’t shake it off… Is that a bit too heavy?”

“No,” Fang Chi smiled. “I actually like hearing you say these things. It’s only at times like this that I feel you’re really ten years older than me.”

“You felt warmth from your dad, didn’t you, son,” Sun Wenqu said.

Fang Chi didn’t speak. After being silent for a while, he bent down and kissed his back.

Sun Wenqu’s skin was quite firm, warm.

Fang Chi’s kisses moved upward along the way, finally stopping at his earlobe. Perhaps because his breathing brushed Sun Wenqu’s face, Sun Wenqu kept his eyes closed, his eyelashes trembling lightly.

Fang Chi leaned over and kissed the corner of his eye again, then pressed himself tightly against his back, his hand reaching forward in front of him.

…

Originally Fang Chi thought that in such hot weather, the two of them squeezing onto one bed would probably make him wake up from the heat in the middle of the night.

But the delicate playboy Sun Wenqu not only turned on the air conditioner, he even set the temperature quite low, sleeping very soundly wrapped in a small blanket.

When Fang Chi was woken by a phone call in the morning, he realized he was clinging to Sun Wenqu like an octopus, both arms and legs wrapped around him.

While answering the phone he carefully released Sun Wenqu. Sun Wenqu immediately rolled over and let out a long breath as if he had been freed.

“We’re setting off now!” Xu Zhou shouted on the phone. “We should be able to reach your place before noon. Come out and meet us, we don’t know the way.”

“Mm,” Fang Chi responded. “When you get to the chicken farm, call me. I’ll meet you at the intersection.”

“The chicken farm?” Xu Zhou paused. “How would we know where the chicken farm is?”

“The bus conductor will call it out. There’s a stop there,” Fang Chi said softly and quickly, afraid of waking Sun Wenqu. “Call me when you get there.”

“Okay!” Xu Zhou said excitedly. “Barbecue tonight! Your backyard! Or we can go into the mountains! You can be the guide, ”

“Shut up and get on the bus,” Fang Chi said, hanging up.

“Your classmate?” Sun Wenqu muttered from beside him.

“Mm.” Fang Chi hugged him and kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m going downstairs first. Sleep a bit more.”

Sun Wenqu hummed and continued sleeping.

Fang Chi got up and dressed. Standing by the bed he stared at him for a while longer before turning and leaving.

Grandma was cooking noodles in the kitchen. Fang Chi leaned against the kitchen doorway, yawning. “I want sausage noodles.”

“That’s exactly what I’m cooking,” Grandma said, glancing back at him. “Your classmates are arriving at noon?”

“Mm, they just called me. They’ve gotten on the bus,” Fang Chi nodded.

“Then we need to prepare lunch for them,” Grandma said with a smile. When Fang Chi was about to go wash up, she suddenly came over and grabbed him. “Hey, let me ask you something.”

“Mm?” Fang Chi looked at her.

“You slept in Shuiqu’s room last night?” Grandma said. “I saw your room empty this morning.”

“I…” Fang Chi froze. His heartbeat suddenly went completely out of rhythm, pounding wildly. “Ah, yes.”

“What were you doing going to sleep in someone else’s room?” Grandma asked.

“Just… talking, chatting for a while,” Fang Chi’s tongue nearly twisted. “We chatted late and I fell asleep…”

“He already stays up all night not sleeping, and you follow him and don’t sleep either. What were you chatting about? Can’t you chat during the day?” Grandma patted his face. “You haven’t rested properly for so long, and after coming back you still won’t behave and sleep!”

“I understand,” Fang Chi said.

Grandma smacked him lightly and went back to cooking noodles.

When Fang Chi walked out of the kitchen he realized his whole back was soaked with sweat.

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