“Get, get up!” Ma Liang came into the bedroom and tossed all the clothes and pants Sun Wenqu had thrown all over the place onto his bed.
“No,” Sun Wenqu curled up in the blanket, burying his head as well, “I said I’m not going to the hospital.”
“You’ve got a fe– fever!” Ma Liang rubbed his hands and touched his forehead, “in, in winter you’re a ball of fire already! Get up!”
Sun Wenqu didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, clutching the blanket tightly.
“You little brat! I’m go– going to hit you!” Ma Liang shouted.
Sun Wenqu didn’t want to move, didn’t want to talk either. His whole body felt cold; in the middle of the night he had shivered for a while, and his throat was dry and sore. It wasn’t unbearable, but if he had to push through it, it also felt like he couldn’t quite make it.
Going to the hospital meant getting out of bed, putting on clothes, pants, washing up… too troublesome.
Thinking about all that, he suddenly felt he should rise to the challenge, test himself and see how long he could endure.
But Ma Liang didn’t give him the chance. He grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the blanket. Just as Sun Wenqu frowned, about to get angry, Ma Liang said, “You be– better believe I’ll tell Fa– Fang Chi.”
“Go ahead, having the same illness and sympathizing isn’t bad,” Sun Wenqu said weakly, but still slipped his arm into the clothes Ma Liang was holding open for him, “I’m telling you, Liangzi, if you ever have a kid, they’ll definitely be annoyed to death by you. Sooner or later they’ll dig you up on Parents Are the Problem.”
“Shut up.” Ma Liang said irritably.
Sun Wenqu was dragged to the hospital, found an acquaintance, and after a round of examinations was pulled into the IV room, lying in a small ward with a drip.
“Anyone who doesn’t know would think I’m undergoing final emergency treatment,” Sun Wenqu lay on the hospital bed, “there’s not even a pillow on this bed. Lying down feels like my brain’s congested; might as well sit.”
“Less, nonsense,” Ma Liang frowned, “I’m going to pee, you want to ea– eat something?”
Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue, “Can those two not be said together?”
“What do you want to eat?” Ma Liang asked again.
“Hot chocolate with crushed walnuts, preferably with some crushed peanuts too…” Sun Wenqu yawned.
Before he finished, Ma Liang had already turned and left: “Stay hungry then.”
Fang Chi got up very early. It wasn’t due to a good biological clock, he had barely slept all night.
Although his grandfather’s attitude had softened, and his grandmother wasn’t blaming him as much, the two elders’ sorrowful compromise still felt like a ball of thorns stuffed in his chest.
He thought about it all night. This was already the best outcome. Compared to Xiao Yiming, who couldn’t even go home, his situation could be considered smooth sailing.
Sun Wenqu’s room had been smashed into a complete mess by Grandma. The desk lamp was broken, the mattress had several holes chopped into it by a firewood knife, there were knife marks on the table, drawers had fallen to the floor. Only that chair you couldn’t get up from once you sat in it had escaped disaster, just flipped over.
Fang Chi tidied up carefully while marveling at Grandma’s explosive strength, but then felt heartache thinking about it, this strength had been forced out of her by him.
He squatted on the ground, picking up the design drafts Sun Wenqu hadn’t taken with him; the numbering was all messed up.
He arranged the drawings one by one according to the numbers. Even though these were drafts, he could still see how that set “Waiting” gradually approached the final version everyone saw at the exhibition.
With each drawing, Fang Chi could also recall the scene of Sun Wenqu sitting at this desk, immersed in drawing, the side of his face that made Fang Chi feel warmth and steadiness at a glance.
He took all the drawings to his own room and put them into a drawer.
When one day Sun Wenqu became a master like Sun Zhengzhi, he could take these drawings out and auction them.
Fang Chi didn’t know whether he was too absorbed in missing Sun Wenqu or too absorbed in imagining auctioning the drawings, but when Grandpa held a stack of money out in front of him, he was so startled he almost jumped.
“Grandpa?” he looked at the money, “what’s this for?”
“Give it to Shuiqu when you see him,” Grandpa looked around the room, “I saw your grandma smashed quite a lot, and I don’t know how to price it…”
“Grandpa, it’s fine,” Fang Chi stood up, “I checked, not much is actually broken. How strong could Grandma be? There’s no way he’d accept this money.”
“Then buy him something, or replace what’s broken in this room,” Grandpa thought for a moment, “accounts should be kept clear.”
“That doesn’t need your money either,” Fang Chi stuffed it back into Grandpa’s pocket, “Grandpa, let me tell you, I earn quite a lot from part-time jobs. I don’t even need my parents to pay my tuition.”
“Your parents…” Grandpa sighed at the mention of them, “if they have any opinion about this matter, I really want to say a few words to them, raising a son is easier than planting a tree.”
“Did they say when they’re coming back?” Fang Chi felt a bit worried.
“The day after tomorrow. There’s no business now, they’ll pack up and come back,” Grandpa patted his shoulder, “don’t think too much.”
Although Sun Wenqu didn’t get sick as rarely as Fang Chi, he still didn’t fall ill often. Something like getting an IV drip only happened once every few years.
He was quite afraid of IVs. The moment the needle went in, he immediately felt like that arm was useless, not daring to move. He didn’t even dare change the angle of his hand, always feeling that if he moved, the needle would break through the skin and blood would spurt everywhere.
Today it was in his left hand, so when the phone in his left pocket rang, he kept his arm rigid at ninety degrees, not daring to move, and no matter what, his right hand couldn’t reach the phone.
“Wha–what are you doing?” Ma Liang, who was playing with his phone nearby, looked at him.
“What are you doing? Done watching the show?” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue, “Is this your first day knowing me?”
“Hey,” Ma Liang laughed, reached over to take out the phone for him, glancing at it, “your dear son.”
Sun Wenqu took the phone and answered, “Hello.”
“Busy?” Fang Chi asked from the other side, “took you so long to pick up.”
“Not busy, just couldn’t get the phone out of my pocket,” Sun Wenqu smiled, “your voice sounds a bit better today.”
“Mm, much better,” Fang Chi chuckled twice, “I told you it’d be fine in a day or two, no need to worry.”
“Don’t get cocky, rest a bit more,” Sun Wenqu felt that just from Fang Chi’s voice, he could roughly judge his grandparents’ attitude.
If anything went wrong again, Fang Chi’s voice would immediately go hoarse again.
“Where are you?” Fang Chi suddenly asked, “hospital? I hear someone shouting something about a skin test.”
“Mm, at the hospital,” Sun Wenqu glanced at Ma Liang, “your Uncle Liangzi drank too much yesterday, slept in the car all night, and has a fever this morning.”
Ma Liang clicked his tongue, leaned toward the phone and coughed twice: “Big, big nephew, your dear dad is here at the hospital with me and is not attentive at all.”
“Take care, Uncle Liangzi,” Fang Chi laughed, “weren’t you supposed to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk?”
“Then why’d you get drunk?” Sun Wenqu looked at Ma Liang.
Ma Liang mouthed: you’re asking me?
“Yeah, asking you,” Sun Wenqu nodded.
Ma Liang clicked his tongue: “Vo, Vo, vodka, not used to it.”
Fang Chi laughed on the other end: “Vodka?”
“The fact he can even say it is impressive,” Sun Wenqu heard Fang Chi’s laughter, and the tension he had been holding finally eased, at least he was in the mood to laugh, “the studio’s closing in a couple of days, I plan to go home for a bit.”
“Don’t argue with your dad,” Fang Chi immediately said, “talk properly. If you end up fighting during New Year, are you really going to Ma Liang’s place? They’ll also go to the elders’ place.”
“Got it, won’t argue,” Sun Wenqu smiled. Fang Chi’s instant concern for him, even in his current situation, made him feel both heartache and a bit displeased, “I know, stop worrying about me.”
After chatting a bit more, Fang Chi seemed to be in a better mood.
Sun Wenqu hung up and stared at the floor in front of him, lost in thought.
After playing with his phone for a while, Ma Liang asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“Guess.” Sun Wenqu said.
“Your so– son? Just finished talking and already missing him?” Ma Liang smiled, “but that’s normal, I used to be like that.”
“Not thinking about him,” Sun Wenqu said, “thinking about Li Bowen.”
“Huh?” Ma Liang turned his head, “brain’s burned out?”
“There’s this,” Sun Wenqu pointed to his chest, “a breath stuck here for days.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to get entangled with him?” Ma Liang said.
“He pushed my son to this point,” Sun Wenqu said, “now I don’t mind.”
“What are you planning to do?” Ma Liang smiled.
“Do I look pretty haggard right now?” Sun Wenqu turned his face toward him.
Ma Liang nodded, then reached out to touch his face: “poor thing.”
“In a bit, take me to Uncle Li’s place,” Sun Wenqu curved his lips, “he made Fang Chi have a bad New Year, he shouldn’t expect to have a good one either.”
Li Bowen was quite filial, and a little afraid of Uncle Li too. Sun Wenqu felt that this was also why, all these years, Li Bowen had kept pretending to be iron-brothers with him.
It wasn’t that Uncle Li didn’t love this son of his, but like his own father, he more or less looked down on the fact that, as the son of a painter and calligrapher, Li Bowen couldn’t produce anything worthwhile in either calligraphy or painting.
So he was somewhat partial toward Sun Wenqu, who could put on a decent show in all the arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
In a certain sense, Li Bowen was just as stifled as he was. The difference was that Sun Wenqu didn’t need to maintain a relationship with his father, while Li Bowen had always been striving for his father’s approval, all while having to keep up this “good brothers” friendship with Sun Wenqu.
“Why no–not… go to his house?” Ma Liang parked the car in front of Uncle Li’s gallery and pressed a hand against Sun Wenqu’s forehead. “You’re still burning up.”
“His family’s got too many people around. I need to talk to Uncle Li alone about this.” Sun Wenqu scratched at his hair in the rearview mirror, making it a little messier.
“R-remember your limits. This is Uncle Li, not Li Bowen,” Ma Liang reminded him.
“I know.” Sun Wenqu opened the car door and got out.
The gallery was very quiet. As soon as Sun Wenqu entered, he happened to run into Uncle Li’s assistant coming out. The assistant’s surname was Liang, and Sun Wenqu had always called her Sister Liang.
Sister Liang froze for a moment when she looked up and saw Sun Wenqu. “Wenqu? What happened to you…?”
“Hm?” Sun Wenqu touched his face. “Nothing. Is Uncle Li here?”
“He’s in the studio,” Sister Liang said with a smile. “Having tea. You can interrupt him.”
“That’s good.” Sun Wenqu walked farther inside. “I’m here to chat with Uncle Li.”
“I’m going to buy pastries. Old Li wants red bean paste filling. What do you want?” Sister Liang asked.
“Same thing is fine.” Sun Wenqu said.
Uncle Li was usually at the gallery. He had a studio of his own there, a small house nestled among bamboo, woodwork, and artificial rock formations, though now that it was winter, the scenery looked somewhat desolate.
Sun Wenqu knocked on the door, and Uncle Li answered from inside, “Who is it?”
“Uncle Li, it’s me,” Sun Wenqu replied.
“Wenqu? Come in, quick!” Uncle Li’s voice immediately rose.
Sun Wenqu pushed open the studio door and walked in. Uncle Li was brewing tea, and the whole room was filled with the fragrance of it.
“Lapsang souchong,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile. “Uncle Li’s been drinking black tea lately?”
Uncle Li smiled and pointed at him. “This kid really does suit my tastes. Come sit, have some with me.”
Sun Wenqu sat down in the chair. After finishing the tea, Uncle Li looked him over several times. “Wenqu, your… complexion looks awful.”
“Does it?” Sun Wenqu lifted a hand and scratched at his hair, smiling. “I’m fine.”
“Feeling sick?” Uncle Li set a cup of tea in front of him. “Are you ill?”
“I’ve got a fever. Just finished an IV drip at the hospital,” Sun Wenqu said, picking up the cup. He first examined the tea liquor, then smelled it before taking a sip. “Good tea.”
“You’ve got a fever?” Uncle Li leaned over and touched his forehead. “Oh my, you’re still burning up! Why aren’t you home resting? What are you doing running over here?”
“Just sitting for a while,” Sun Wenqu leaned back in the chair. “Haven’t chatted with you in a long time.”
“You think I don’t know what kind of person you are?” Uncle Li frowned. “Coming out to chat with me while running a fever? You can’t even be bothered to move around when you’re healthy. Come on, say it. Did you come looking for me because something happened?”
“Tea first.” Sun Wenqu took another sip and got up to wander around the room. “Bowen’s busy over New Year’s, huh? When’s he coming back?”
“No idea what he’s busy with, always running off to the countryside,” Uncle Li said with a frown. “He’ll be back tomorrow. Who knows what nonsense he’s messing around with.”
“Back tomorrow, huh…” Sun Wenqu walked over to the large table nearby and looked at one of Uncle Li’s freshly finished paintings. “Winter Delight. Uncle, I like this one.”
“You can’t have this one, I’m giving it away,” Uncle Li laughed. “But I want you to help me mount it. How long’s it been since you helped me out?”
“That’s easy enough,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile. “When do you need it?”
“We’ll talk after you’re better.” Uncle Li pointed at the chair. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on.”
“Alright then.” Sun Wenqu sat back down, took the teacup, and stared at it for a long while. “Uncle, you know I have a boyfriend, right?”
“I know. I’ve known for years,” Uncle Li said. “Your dad can’t stand hearing about it, but with me it’s fine. I understand you.”
“That’s why I dared to tell you about this, and why you’re the only one I can tell.” Sun Wenqu took a sip of tea, holding the cup in both hands. “I’ve been seeing someone for a year now. I’m serious about him.”
“That’s good.” Uncle Li nodded. “Time for you to settle down a bit.”
“That’s what I thought too. Wasn’t easy finding someone who makes me want to spend my life together with him.” Sun Wenqu sighed softly. “But Bowen, he…”
“Bowen?” Uncle Li froze for a second. “What about him?”
“I can’t really explain it.” Sun Wenqu knitted his brows and pressed at his temple. “Uncle, before this, whenever he had opinions about my boyfriends or got upset, I let it go. Throwing tantrums, stirring up trouble, even if he managed to break us up, then fine, we broke up. I didn’t care. After all, we grew up together, practically like real brothers…”
“What did he do?” Uncle Li sat up straight. “Why’s he acting like this?”
“Bowen told my dad my boyfriend went to a gay bar, but those days he wasn’t even in the city… Before that he even picked a fight and got into a brawl; even Liangzi couldn’t stop him. Recently he went to my boyfriend’s hometown to mess around with some farmhouse tourism business.” Sun Wenqu sighed. “I honestly don’t know why he’s acting this way. He… forget it, Uncle Li. I didn’t originally want to tell you this… Bowen’s genuinely been very good to me. Whenever anything happened, he always protected me and helped me… but I really can’t understand this…”
“Did he make you so angry you got a fever?” Uncle Li stood up. “What the h*ll does he mean by all this?”
Sun Wenqu opened his mouth but said nothing.
“Could it be that he… that he…” Uncle Li frowned and fell silent for a long time before turning to grab his phone. “I’m calling him!”
“Don’t, Uncle!” Sun Wenqu quickly jumped up and grabbed his arm. “I don’t want him knowing I came to you.”
“What’s he trying to do?” Uncle Li was furious. “Causing you trouble and picking fights all day long, what’s his problem?”
“I don’t know, I…” Sun Wenqu still had his brows tightly furrowed.
“Do you think he might also…” Uncle Li looked at him.
“Uncle Li, you can’t casually say things like that,” Sun Wenqu quickly cut him off. “I don’t know, and I’ve never thought that way. Bowen’s never lacked girlfriends.”
“Not one of them serious! He changes them every few days!” Mentioning Li Bowen’s girlfriends always made Uncle Li furious. “A cover-up!”
“Uncle.” Sun Wenqu looked at him. “If you’re going to make wild guesses like that, I won’t dare tell you anything anymore.”
“Wenqu, I’ll handle this matter.” Uncle Li looked at him seriously. “You’ve fought against your father your whole life, but you’ve never once spoken badly about anyone. For you to come to me like this today, you must’ve really been pushed to the limit. Don’t worry. If Bowen dares pull anything again, he won’t be stepping out of this house.”
When Sun Wenqu got back into the car, he shut the door, flattened the seat, lay down, and closed his eyes. “Man, even my head hurts now.”
“What… did you do?” Ma Liang asked as he started the car.
“Didn’t do anything. Just lodged a complaint,” Sun Wenqu said. “I think my acting skills are pretty decent. Probably better than my son’s.”
Ma Liang glanced at him without asking further. “Going back?”
“Yeah. I need to sleep.” Sun Wenqu said.
The IV drips had to continue for several days. Even though Sun Wenqu still didn’t want to leave the house, Ma Liang came by early every morning on time, dragging him out of bed and hauling him to the hospital.
“Your wife’s going to get jealous,” Sun Wenqu yawned.
“Then tomorrow… I’ll let her drive you,” Ma Liang said.
“Don’t.” Sun Wenqu laughed. “You…”
As he was speaking, his phone rang. The IV hadn’t been hooked up yet, so Sun Wenqu easily pulled his phone from his pocket. One glance at the screen made him click his tongue. “Li Bowen. Where the h*ll did he get my number?”
“Uncle… Li, probably.” Ma Liang frowned.
“Wenqu.” Li Bowen’s voice sounded unpleasant, filled with barely suppressed anger. “What’s your problem?”
“Hm?” Sun Wenqu responded blankly.
“What did you say to my dad?” Li Bowen asked. “Did you go talking nonsense about me to him?”
“That’s funny.” Sun Wenqu laughed. “I’ve been chatting with Uncle Li for twenty-five years if not thirty. Since when has any of it been serious? We just bullsh*t around.”
“I mean, did you say something about me to my dad?!” A little burst of anger leaked through Li Bowen’s voice before being forced back down again. “Wenqu, what’s this supposed to mean?”
“Li Bowen.” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue. “Did you just wake up? If you’re not awake yet, go sleep some more. I’ve been sick for a whole week, camping out at the hospital every day. You think I’ve got time to talk about you? Who the h*ll are you?”
“You didn’t say anything? Then why did Fang Chi that day… If you didn’t say anything, why would my dad suspect I’m gay? He won’t even let me leave the house now!” Li Bowen shouted in a low voice. “You think pretending to be sick can fool me?”
Sun Wenqu froze for a second, then laughed. Fang Chi hadn’t gone into detail with him about what happened with Li Bowen, but from the sound of it, the two of them had somehow clicked onto the same wavelength?
He laughed for quite a while before finally stopping. His voice suddenly turned cold. “Li Bowen, you’ve known me for how many years? You know better than anyone how I’ve treated you. And you know best yourself what you’ve done. You also know perfectly well whether I’ve ever said a bad word about you behind your back. I’m in the IV room at People’s Hospital right now. If you want to come sit with me while I get a drip, then come.”
Li Bowen fell silent on the other end. After a while he stiffly said, “Get some rest.”
Sun Wenqu hung up and clicked his tongue twice. “Even this pissed off, he still didn’t forget to keep pretending.”
“What… did you do to him?” Ma Liang asked.
Just as Sun Wenqu was about to answer, Ma Liang’s phone rang. He grinned. “He’s calling you. Put on the headset, I wanna listen.”
Ma Liang plugged in the headset and answered, sounding extremely impatient. “What?”
Ma Liang always spoke to Li Bowen with this attitude, and every time Sun Wenqu heard it he wanted to laugh.
“Liangzi,” Li Bowen’s tone was noticeably less restrained talking to Ma Liang than it had been with Sun Wenqu, “what the h*ll did you do?”
“What… bullsh*t?” Ma Liang glanced at Sun Wenqu.
“You went to my dad, didn’t you?! F*ck!” Li Bowen shouted.
“The painting… and calligraphy world has no overlap with our ceramics business,” Ma Liang said. “Can’t… find him.”
“Quit f*cking pretending! Did you say something about me to my dad?! He misunderstood me because of you! And now Wenqu misunderstood me too!” Li Bowen half-roared.
Ma Liang sneered. “You giving… me two million…”
“What the f*ck would I give you two million for?!” Li Bowen fully shouted this time.
“…or not?” Ma Liang finished calmly.
Sun Wenqu turned his head aside and bit down hard on his teeth to keep from laughing out loud.
Li Bowen was stunned too. “What the f*ck are you even talking about?”
“If you–you’re not giving it, wh–why… should I care about you?” Ma Liang said. “I’ve got a two-million-dollar order keeping me busy. You think I’ve got time to talk about you? You really think you’re important enough to make the cover page or something?”
“Stop dodging the question! Just answer me, did you say something about me or not?!” Li Bowen demanded.
“You’re not worth it.” Ma Liang hung up immediately after saying that.
Sun Wenqu gave him a thumbs-up. “Same thing I always say, good thing you stutter.”
“F*ck off.” Ma Liang laughed. “What did you do to him?”
“Really didn’t do anything,” Sun Wenqu leaned back in his seat and tilted his head against it. “The one who can really do something to him is Uncle Li… I want coconut cream bread. The kind with a slightly flaky crust.”
“Were you… my son in your last life or something?” Ma Liang stood up, turned, and walked out.
Laughing, Sun Wenqu pulled out his phone and called Fang Chi.
It rang for quite a while before Fang Chi picked up. “You getting your IV now?”
“Yeah.” Sun Wenqu glanced at the needle in his hand and carefully rested his hand on his leg. “Just got hooked up. You feeling better?”
“One two three four five, going up the mountain to fight the tiger,” Fang Chi said. “Listen, my voice isn’t hoarse anymore. Fever and all that cleared up ages ago.”
Sun Wenqu smiled. “What’re you doing?”
“My parents came back yesterday, remember?” Fang Chi said. “My uncle’s family is coming back today too. I’m heading out to pick them up in a bit. Everyone’s gradually coming back these days. More people than last year.”
When Fang Chi mentioned all the relatives returning, Sun Wenqu could clearly hear the anxiety in his voice. He smiled. “You going to play mahjong with them?”
“Probably not. Don’t want to,” Fang Chi said.
“Then chat with me,” Sun Wenqu said. “Whenever you miss me, go back to your room and call me. We’ll talk.”
“Aren’t you going to spend time talking with your dad?” Fang Chi asked.
“Talk? Half an hour with him is the limit. Talk too long and we’ll end up fighting,” Sun Wenqu said. “We can video call too.”
“…How exactly?” Fang Chi paused.
Sun Wenqu didn’t answer. He just started laughing.
“That’s not what I meant,” Fang Chi hurriedly explained. “I mean… ah, fine. That is what I meant.”
“Whatever you say.” Sun Wenqu laughed so hard he couldn’t stop for a long while.
Author’s Note:
Oh right, before this I wrote the title of Sun Sheshe’s art series wrong. It’s Waiting, not Growth. No wonder when I wrote it before it felt like something was missing.
