When Fang Chi opened the car door and jumped out, he looked around, no one was there. He tugged at his pants and bounced a couple of times.
“Don’t do that,” Sun Wenqu also got out. “Anyone who didn’t know would think we just had a quickie in the car.”
“I’d like to,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “But since this car isn’t yours, it wouldn’t be great, so I had to make do and satisfy the craving a bit.”
“Go clean up again,” Sun Wenqu stretched, leaning against the car. “Check if we left any… descendants on the seat… we should wash the car before returning it.”
Fang Chi laughed, climbed back into the passenger seat, and carefully wiped things down with a couple of wet wipes. “Nothing.”
“Let’s go eat, I’m hungry,” Sun Wenqu said.
There were only two tables of customers still chatting in the restaurant after finishing their meals. The two of them comfortably chose a corner seat by the window.
The server brought over the menu. Just as Fang Chi was about to discuss what to order, before he could speak, Sun Wenqu had already collapsed onto the table and closed his eyes.
“I’ll just order then?” Fang Chi said.
“Mm,” Sun Wenqu responded. “I want fish without bones.”
After looking for a while, Fang Chi ordered mandarin fish, then asked the server to recommend two other dishes.
When the server left, he felt like Sun Wenqu had already fallen asleep, his eyelashes didn’t even tremble.
Sun Wenqu’s eyelashes were quite long. From this angle, they looked neat and well-behaved, drooping evenly.
Fang Chi watched for a while, then couldn’t resist gently reaching out to touch them.
“Such restless hands,” Sun Wenqu’s lashes trembled, his eyes opened briefly and quickly closed again. “Feel nice?”
“Thought you were asleep,” Fang Chi smiled, leaning on the table to look at him.
“Even if I’m asleep, touching eyelashes can wake me easily,” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue. “No common sense.”
“That’s not common sense I have,” Fang Chi said. “I’ve never touched anyone else’s eyelashes, and no one’s touched mine.”
“I’ll touch yours every day from now on,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Yeah right,” Fang Chi felt a bit gloomy hearing that. “We’re not even together every day.”
“We won’t be apart forever, will we,” Sun Wenqu opened his eyes, resting his chin on his arm as he looked at him. “Once you graduate, it’ll be fine.”
“We could buy a place,” Fang Chi looked at him too.
“Mm, best if it has a yard,” Sun Wenqu said. “Plant a bunch of little flowers and grass…”
“How big would that yard have to be?” Fang Chi felt a bit worried. “I probably can’t afford suburban housing prices.”
“You’ve got me,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Save your money,” Fang Chi thought for a moment. “If you end up doing something with Uncle Liangzi, won’t you need all that money?”
“You think too much,” Sun Wenqu sat up and took a sip of tea.
“If you don’t tell me what you’re thinking, I can only think more myself. What if you haven’t thought of anything at all?” Fang Chi said.
Sun Wenqu looked at him without speaking, just smiling.
The restaurant He Dongbao recommended really was good, prices weren’t high, but the taste was excellent. Even Sun Wenqu, who had a picky palate, said the fish was delicious, and even used the steamed fish broth to mix with a bowl of rice.
“This place was recommended by your classmate?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“Mm,” Fang Chi nodded. “That climbing team captain I mentioned, the one from Cheng Mo’s dorm.”
“That Cheng Mo,” Sun Wenqu said, “has he connected with Xiao Yiming yet?”
“They have,” Fang Chi laughed thinking of yesterday’s events and told him everything. “Do you think they’ve got a chance?”
“Who knows, I don’t know either of them well. But it’d be best if they do,” Sun Wenqu called the server to settle the bill. “Otherwise that guy hanging around you all the time isn’t safe.”
“What do you mean not safe,” Fang Chi laughed, pulling out money. “His attention’s all on Xiao Yiming, has been for years.”
“That’s best. You should give them a push,” Sun Wenqu smiled.
While driving back toward the school, Fang Chi’s phone chimed.
“Check it for me,” Fang Chi said.
Sun Wenqu pulled the phone from his pocket and looked. “It’s Xiao Yiming. He says it’s peak season right now, you should book the cable car tickets up the mountain in advance.”
Fang Chi smiled. “See? He’s even more worried than I am. I just mentioned it casually, didn’t even ask him to check.”
“Should we book in advance then?” Sun Wenqu said.
“I’ll ask him how to do it later,” Fang Chi said. “You okay staying at the same inn as last time?”
“Fine.” Sun Wenqu yawned.
“How many days have you not slept properly?” Fang Chi frowned.
“My sleep’s always like this, any little noise wakes me up, I can’t sleep deeply,” Sun Wenqu smiled.
“Really? I never noticed,” Fang Chi glanced at him. “Feels like you sleep pretty soundly.”
“That’s because you’re not beside me right now,” Sun Wenqu curved his lips.
Fang Chi sighed.
“Don’t worry,” Sun Wenqu yawned again. “It won’t affect your evening activities. Might not even make it to evening.”
“…What activities do I have?” Fang Chi clicked his tongue.
Sun Wenqu just smiled without answering.
“I feel like my image is completely ruined,” Fang Chi said gloomily.
“It’s not bad,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile. “Your current image is ‘never wilting spear,’ a flag-bearing wild dog, very healthy image.”
“Cut it out!” Fang Chi shouted.
After settling into the inn, Sun Wenqu went to shower while Fang Chi called Xiao Yiming to ask about booking tickets. Xiao Yiming sent him the booking link.
“Let’s book the tickets in a bit,” Fang Chi leaned by the window. “Have you been in touch with Cheng Mo these past couple days?”
“Yeah,” Xiao Yiming said. “He called me last night.”
“What did he say?” Fang Chi immediately asked.
“Nothing much, what can two people who don’t know each other say?” Xiao Yiming said. “He said, ‘Hi, I’m Cheng Mo,’ and I said, ‘Oh perfect, do you know what we should pay attention to when going up the mountain right now?’”
“…Huh?” Fang Chi froze.
“He said you need to buy cable car tickets in advance,” Xiao Yiming said.
“And then?” Fang Chi asked.
“And then we hung up,” Xiao Yiming laughed.
“You two are really domestic, first phone call and you’re already discussing how someone else should have fun?” Fang Chi couldn’t help laughing.
“What else should we talk about,” Xiao Yiming laughed. “If not that, I’d just say hi and have nothing else to say… oh, we also talked a bit about my part-time job…”
After chatting idly with Xiao Yiming for a while, Sun Wenqu came out of the shower, flopped onto the bed, and turned on the TV.
Fang Chi hung up, tossed his phone aside, and pounced onto Sun Wenqu, kissing and touching him all over, even biting his shoulder twice until it turned red.
“Help…” Sun Wenqu laughed, pushing against his chin with his hand.
“I just want to touch you,” Fang Chi pulled his hand away, pinning it to the bed, continuing to kiss and nibble all over him. “Just want to kiss, knead, touch…”
“Bullsh*t,” Sun Wenqu laughed, smacking his back. “As if you’d be that well-behaved.”
“Really, I just, ” Fang Chi kissed him again, his breathing getting a bit uneven, hips lifting slightly. “Should I go take a shower first?”
“You think I can’t tell you’re hard just because you’re sticking your butt up?” Sun Wenqu narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to shower after just a few kisses? I don’t mind, really.”
Fang Chi glared at him, then jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom.
Sun Wenqu lay on the bed laughing for a while, then after thinking about it, got up and picked up Fang Chi’s bag from the floor, opened it and rummaged through it. When he saw the unopened bottle of lubricant, he immediately burst out laughing and fell back onto the bed: “Fang Chi!”
“Hm?” Fang Chi stuck his head out from the bathroom.
“You really aren’t shy at all anymore, huh?” Sun Wenqu shook the bottle in his hand.
“…D*mn.” Fang Chi quickly shrank back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Fang Chi knew Sun Wenqu was sleepy, but he still couldn’t quite wait, so he showered pretty quickly. After washing, he wiped himself carelessly and ran out without even putting on clothes.
But in just that short time, at most five minutes, Sun Wenqu had actually already fallen asleep lying on the bed, one arm still hanging over the edge.
Seeing him like this, Fang Chi felt a bit pained, but then looking at himself, completely naked, the heat he had finally doused with cold water flared up again the moment he saw Sun Wenqu.
So he stood there by the bed with an er*ction, staring at Sun Wenqu, feeling a bit conflicted.
Sun Wenqu, who looked to be sleeping deeply, suddenly opened a slit of an eye, then the corner of his mouth curled up: “Nice muscles, smooth lines…”
Fang Chi raised an eyebrow, walked over, grabbed his pants and yanked them down, pressing him onto the bed, leaning close to his ear and saying: “You keep teasing me, you’ll regret it.”
Sun Wenqu laughed and struggled a little: “Seeing you like this, I just can’t help teasing.”
“Like how I can’t help wanting to do you when I see you?” Fang Chi grabbed the bottle tossed aside, quickly tore it open, his hand moving downward: “I’m really… about to burst…”
…
When Cheng Mo’s call came in, Fang Chi had just finished cleaning up, tucked Sun Wenqu in with a blanket, and when the phone rang he jumped in fright.
“D*mn,” he said softly, “if this had come ten minutes earlier I would’ve gone limp from the scare.”
Sun Wenqu half-squinted and smiled, flipping through channels with the remote: “Who’s got such perfect timing?”
“Cheng Mo,” Fang Chi glanced at him and answered the call. “Hello?”
“You and your brother going up the mountain tomorrow?” Cheng Mo didn’t even say hello, just asked directly.
“Yeah,” Fang Chi responded. “Why?”
“Bought the tickets yet?” Cheng Mo asked.
“Not yet, was about to,” Fang Chi said. “You calling just to remind me?”
“Don’t buy them,” Cheng Mo said. “I’ve already bought them, four tickets.”
“Four wh, no, wait,” Fang Chi froze. “What do you mean?”
“I bought the tickets. Tomorrow morning or evening, whenever you have time, I’ll give them to you,” Cheng Mo said. “You call Xiao Yiming and come with me. Once we get there, you two can just do your own thing.”
It took Fang Chi a while to understand: “You… why not just ask him directly? And what if he’s not free?”
“I checked. His part-time job is weekends during the day and Monday, Wednesday, Friday nights. He’s free tomorrow during the day,” Cheng Mo said. “Also, if I ask him directly, do you think he’d come?”
“Probably… not,” Fang Chi sighed. “Man, you’re really going through a lot of trouble.”
“No trouble. I’ve got nothing better to do,” Cheng Mo said. “It’s settled. Remember to call him.”
Before Fang Chi could respond, Cheng Mo hung up.
Fang Chi stared at his phone, not knowing what to say for a long time.
“What’s wrong?” Sun Wenqu put down the remote and asked, resting his head on his arm.
“This Cheng Mo…” Fang Chi said, “he already bought tomorrow’s tickets, four of them, and wants me to bring him and Xiao Yiming along to climb the mountain…”
Sun Wenqu laughed as soon as he heard it: “Man of action.”
“No idea if Xiao Yiming can handle that,” Fang Chi thought about it and wanted to laugh. “Xiao Yiming’s personality is slow as a snail.”
“Complementary,” Sun Wenqu said. “Pretty good.”
“Like us?” Fang Chi asked.
“Mm. A show-off expert and a poor student,” Sun Wenqu said leisurely. “An upright good youth and a hooligan…”
“Can you compliment me for once?” Fang Chi sighed.
Sun Wenqu thought for a moment: “Lazy bum and busy-for-nothing?”
“That even rhymes,” Fang Chi burst out laughing, pouncing onto the bed and hugging him. “Ah, whatever. Anyway, I’m whatever you picked, right?”
“I mostly just didn’t dodge,” Sun Wenqu ruffled his hair.
“Wasn’t it me who didn’t dodge?” Fang Chi clicked his tongue.
Sun Wenqu just smiled without speaking.
“Let me call Xiao Yiming first,” Fang Chi sighed again. “Why do I feel like I’m some kind of matchmaker…”
“A model matchmaker of the new era,” Sun Wenqu said, reaching toward the bedside table for water.
Fang Chi dialed while grabbing the water and handing it to him.
Sun Wenqu took a sip: “Even the activity of getting water is skipped, sooner or later I’ll get fat.”
“You’ve got room for it now,” Fang Chi said, giving him a quick feel.
Xiao Yiming picked up. After a moment of hesitation, Fang Chi directly explained Cheng Mo’s call and asked if he wanted to go together.
“Sure,” Xiao Yiming said. “I don’t have anything tomorrow anyway. I was just thinking about where to freeload a meal.”
“Alright, we’ll come pick you up tomorrow. Wait for my call,” Fang Chi said.
“Mm,” Xiao Yiming responded. “Do I need to prepare anything?”
“No, just don’t show up in big shorts and flip-flops again,” Fang Chi said.
“Hey, can we not bring that up,” Xiao Yiming laughed. “That was a rare loss of image for me.”
After the call, Fang Chi lay back down, and the two of them stayed in bed until dinner time.
Sun Wenqu was sleeping. Fang Chi dozed for a bit too, but woke up quickly, feeling like something in his subconscious kept reminding him, not to sleep. They only had a few days together; spending it all sleeping felt like a waste…
He’d watch TV for a bit, then turn to look at Sun Wenqu.
Around six, Cheng Mo messaged asking where to meet to hand over the tickets. Fang Chi shifted, grabbed his phone, and told him to come to the school gate.
When Fang Chi got out of bed to get dressed, Sun Wenqu turned over and woke up: “Where are you going?”
“To the school gate to get the tickets,” Fang Chi said. “Go back to sleep.”
“I won’t sleep,” Sun Wenqu pinched the bridge of his nose. “Slept too hard, my head feels stuffy. I’ll come along. We can eat too, I’m hungry.”
“Alright.” Fang Chi smiled and kissed him.
Cheng Mo was straddling a bicycle waiting at the school gate. Seeing them approach, he got off and greeted, “Hello, brother.”
“Couldn’t you just give these to me tomorrow?” Fang Chi took the tickets.
“Who knows if plans might change? What if he suddenly shows up on his own?” Cheng Mo said. “Can’t let him notice the pattern every time.”
“You think this leaves no trace?” Fang Chi laughed. “Besides, I already told him it was you who asked me to invite him.”
Cheng Mo glared at him: “You sold me out that fast?”
“Of course, he’s my buddy. If I’m selling someone out, it’s definitely you,” Fang Chi rubbed his nose. “Anyway, he agreed. Try your best tomorrow. After that, just ask him directly.”
“Thanks. Then go eat with your brother,” Cheng Mo patted his shoulder, then looked at Sun Wenqu. “You’ve gotten thinner since last time, eat more.”
After Cheng Mo left, Fang Chi stared at his back for a long time before clicking his tongue: “Why do I suddenly feel like rushing after him to beat him up?”
“Am I thinner?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“You’ve only slimmed down this tiny bit,” Fang Chi pinched the air with two fingers. “I notice because I think about you every day. He’s only seen you twice, how can he tell you’ve lost weight? D*mn.”
Sun Wenqu laughed: “You can even drag jealousy back from beyond the Milky Way…”
“I even get jealous over Xiaozi and Chief Huang, let alone a person,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue, lightly bumping his shoulder. “Let’s go. I’ll take you for barbecue.”
At the barbecue place, Fang Chi ordered two pitchers of beer. They chatted and drank, eating until after nine.
When Fang Chi went out with classmates, he didn’t talk much, just drank quietly and listened. But with Sun Wenqu, he talked a lot.
Dorm stuff, classmates, school, seeing Sun Wenqu made him want to say everything.
“After the break, are you going to the club?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“Yeah, I called and arranged it,” Fang Chi said. “Just that I’ve never been a coach before, and they’re all kids, I don’t know if I can handle it.”
“Kids are easy,” Sun Wenqu said. “Show them a trick first, stun them, and they’ll be easy to teach.”
“That’s if there aren’t kids like me,” Fang Chi laughed. “I only started training seriously in middle school, and even then I already didn’t take our coach seriously, he wasn’t as good as me.”
“Your current coach, Chen Xiang, right? He’s good?” Sun Wenqu asked with a smile.
“Not that good, but he’s good at teaching,” Fang Chi grinned. “And good at scolding too, I was really afraid of him at first.”
“Do you want to go work with him after graduation?” Sun Wenqu looked at him.
“Yeah,” Fang Chi nodded. “My plan is to work there first. I know everyone, it’ll be easier. Learn more, understand more, then… don’t laugh at me.”
“Why would I laugh?” Sun Wenqu took a sip of beer.
“I want to start something myself eventually,” Fang Chi said. “You don’t need a big space at first, indoors or outdoors works, just one wall is enough to start.”
“That’s good,” Sun Wenqu nodded. “Matches your major too.”
“I need to save enough money first,” Fang Chi thought.
“You can ask Uncle Liangzi to invest,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile.
“Really?” Fang Chi’s eyes lit up. “True, I hadn’t thought of that. But I need to prepare thoroughly first, or I’d be trickster… Why didn’t you say I could ask you to invest?”
“I’m afraid you’d worry I can’t make money,” Sun Wenqu curved his lips. “Liangzi’s money is ready-made.”
“I’m not worried you can’t make money,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “I’m worried you’re so carefree, you might just quit if you feel like it.”
Sun Wenqu laughed, leaned back in his chair, and looked at him for a long time before saying: “I won’t.”
On the way back from the barbecue stall to the hotel, Fang Chi felt light on his feet. Two pitchers of beer shouldn’t be enough to make him float like this.
It was mainly because he was with Sun Wenqu. Just seeing him made him feel like he could flap his arms and fly.
Passing by the school, Sun Wenqu went with him to the dorm to grab some clean clothes. Most people had already left; only Li Zheng remained, and he had gone to his brother’s place today.
In the dorm, Fang Chi hugged Sun Wenqu and kissed and touched him for a while. Sun Wenqu leaned against the desk, a bit helpless: “I’m going to shout.”
“Go ahead,” Fang Chi laughed, letting go.
“Someone—” Sun Wenqu suddenly raised his voice and shouted.
Fang Chi jumped in fright and quickly covered his mouth: “Are you crazy! There are people in other dorms!”
“You told me to shout,” Sun Wenqu said against his palm.
“Go, go, go, go,” Fang Chi grabbed his clothes, tugged his arm, and dragged him out of the dorm, “go back and sleep.”
Fang Chi behaved very well the whole night. After they returned to the hotel, Sun Wenqu leaned against two pillows watching TV, and he lay beside him, holding Sun Wenqu’s waist.
“Want a pillow?” Sun Wenqu asked him.
“No,” Fang Chi pressed his mouth against his waist, “I can sleep in any position, even head down.”
“I’m sleeping too, sleepy as h*ll.” Sun Wenqu pulled over a pillow and stuffed it under his head.
“Hey,” Fang Chi fixed the pillow, turned off the TV and the light, then hugged him again, “where did you put Chief Huang these past couple of days?”
“My aunt’s taking care of him,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Did you tell her the cat can’t go out? If it goes out it’ll definitely run off,” Fang Chi was a bit worried, “even though it’s fat now and can’t run fast…”
“Don’t worry, she ties a bow on it every day and carries it in her arms.” Sun Wenqu smiled.
“…A bow?” Fang Chi laughed, “Chief Huang’s cat life is really rough.”
“Oh right, let’s agree first,” Sun Wenqu turned his head, “I’m not climbing tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere without paths or cable cars, and I’m not going anywhere with long routes either. If you want to run around, I’ll just wait where I am.”
“I won’t run around,” Fang Chi kissed him, “where you are is where I am. I have to cherish these few days.”
