This New Year wasn’t really any different from previous years. The relatives all came back, chatting, laughing, fooling around, eating, drinking, and playing cards. It was lively and warm.
But for Fang Chi, simply because Sun Wenqu had spent one New Year at his house last year, this year’s holiday without Sun Wenqu beside him already felt strangely unfamiliar.
He missed Sun Wenqu terribly, but every time he saw Grandpa and Grandma, unease would rise in his heart. And whenever he saw his parents, nervousness and pressure wrapped around him together. He already didn’t talk much with them normally, and now he found himself even more unable to say anything.
When his father asked about school, he answered a few sentences before falling silent, unable to continue.
From New Year’s Eve to the second day of the new year, he hadn’t slept well at all. Ever since he was little, his parents had basically raised him free-range. They rarely interfered in his affairs. Whether he fought or argued with classmates, whether his grades were good or bad, they never really cared, and they’d never hit or scolded him either.
But if he could somewhat guess his grandparents’ attitude, then he truly had no idea what his parents’ attitude would be.
And having Grandpa speak to his parents for him about this matter made Fang Chi feel like he lacked responsibility. It was his own issue, yet not only had it troubled Grandpa and Grandma, Grandpa also had to rack his brain figuring out how to explain it for him…
But Grandpa’s attitude was very firm. Early on the third day of the new year, when Fang Chi was squatting in the backyard eating noodles with him, Grandpa shook his head.
“You can’t explain this clearly yourself.”
“I can explain it clearly,” Fang Chi said. “Grandpa, you…”
“I’m not only talking about this matter. I also want to talk with your parents about how they’ve raised you all these years,” Grandpa said. “Whenever something happens, your first instinct isn’t to tell your parents, it’s to tell your grandparents… Of course Grandpa’s comforted by that. My grandson trusts me and thinks of me when something’s wrong. But that’s not how parents should be.”
“Is it really okay to lump all that together?” Fang Chi asked worriedly.
“It is.” Grandpa nodded, then suddenly added, “Go into the city and have some fun today.”
Fang Chi froze. “What?”
“Go into the city. Come back tomorrow if you want,” Grandpa said. “Every New Year before, didn’t you always run off to find your classmates on the third or fourth day? Go have fun this year too.”
“I… maybe I shouldn’t,” Fang Chi said softly. “I should stay and keep you company.”
“Go on.” Grandpa picked a piece of breastbone out of the noodles and tossed it to Xiaozi. “Today I’ll talk to your parents about your situation. If you’re not here, it’ll give them time to process it.”
“Grandpa,” Fang Chi looked at him in surprise, “today?”
“Mm. They’re going back to the county town on the sixth anyway, every year they reopen on the sixth,” Grandpa said. “After the first and second, it’s about time.”
When Fang Chi went upstairs to change clothes, he didn’t even know what kind of mood he was in.
After telling Grandpa and Grandma about everything, he hadn’t thought at all about going back to the city to see Sun Wenqu. Knowing they were still hurting, there was no way he could just run off to see him.
But now Grandpa suddenly told him to go out and have fun. Even though he didn’t explicitly say to go see Sun Wenqu, Fang Chi’s mood shot up like it had caught the wind.
Then he thought about how his parents would find out today, and the wind dropped again.
Then he thought of Sun Wenqu, and the wind picked up again.
Up and down, up and down…
“You’re going back to the city?” his dad asked when he saw him coming downstairs with a backpack.
“Mm.” Fang Chi responded, not quite daring to meet his father’s eyes.
“Take some New Year goods with you. Your mom packed a few bags yesterday, take one,” his dad said, lifting a bag from the table. “All homemade. Take it for your classmates to try.”
“Okay.” Fang Chi took the bag.
“You’re not coming back today?” his mom asked.
“Depends,” Fang Chi lowered his head and looked at the contents, various meats, cured meats, dried goods. “Maybe tomorrow.”
“Don’t drink too much,” his mom said.
“Mm.” Fang Chi suddenly had the urge to grab the bag and run. Even his parents’ ordinary words made him feel uncomfortable.
It wasn’t until he left the village and got on the bus, watching Xiaozi run back along the road, that he finally took out his phone and called Sun Wenqu.
“Hello?” Sun Wenqu sounded like he had just woken up.
Fang Chi’s emotions, which had been rising and falling all morning, finally lifted completely when he heard his voice. He smiled. “Did I call too early?”
“For me, yeah, this is early,” Sun Wenqu chuckled, his voice carrying a slightly husky, sexy nasal tone. “You got up this early today?”
“Mm,” Fang Chi smiled. “Are you still at home?”
“Yeah,” Sun Wenqu yawned. “My mom told me to stay a couple more days, so I am. I’m going out later to chat with your Uncle Liangzi.”
“Oh, business?” Fang Chi asked.
“I mix business and nonsense together when I talk to him,” Sun Wenqu said. “Why?”
“I’m on the bus,” Fang Chi said, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. “Heading into the city.”
“Hm?” Sun Wenqu paused, his voice suddenly much clearer. “You’re out?”
“Yeah,” Fang Chi started laughing. “Came out. Grandpa told me to go have some fun.”
“You just left?” Sun Wenqu sounded like he had gotten out of bed, his voice trembling slightly. “I’ll come pick you up.”
“No need, it’s just the city, I know my way around,” Fang Chi kept laughing, feeling like he couldn’t stop grinning.
“Then where should I meet you?” Sun Wenqu laughed too. “Come straight to my place?”
“…Oh right,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue, then laughed again. “Then come pick me up.”
***
After washing up and getting dressed, Sun Wenqu went to the dining room. Everyone else had just gotten up too and were having breakfast.
He drank a glass of milk and didn’t touch anything else.
The caretaker was on break these days, so meals were either delivered or eaten out. Breakfast was made by Sun Yao, not very appetizing, so Sun Wenqu didn’t feel like eating.
“Going out?” his mom asked.
“Mm,” Sun Wenqu responded. “Picking up Fang Chi.”
Everyone who had been eating quietly raised their heads. Sun Jiayue smiled. “So are you bringing him back for dinner tonight?”
Sun Wenqu glanced at his father. His father was drinking congee, met his gaze, and set the bowl down. “Why are you looking at me?”
“Let’s eat out tonight,” Sun Wenqu said. “My treat.”
“Depends,” his father said and continued drinking.
“Where are we going?” Sun Jiayue asked eagerly.
“You pick,” Sun Wenqu said. “I haven’t eaten out in a while.”
“Alright, I’ll make the reservation,” she nodded immediately.
“Don’t pick somewhere too expensive,” Sun Yao frowned. “Or he’ll have to ask his boyfriend for money just to eat.”
“It’s fine,” Sun Wenqu smirked. “Then I won’t treat, Dad can.”
“Hm?” his father paused.
“Then Dad can treat,” Sun Jiayue said. “I was going to, but this works.”
“This kind of meal is more appropriate for the elder to host,” second brother-in-law said. “You’re peers, it’s better if Dad hosts.”
“True, settled then,” Sun Jiayue clapped. “I’ll go book it.”
***
Sun Wenqu hadn’t been out for days. He only knew it had been snowing, but once he stepped outside he realized how heavy it was, everything was covered in white.
There were only two garage spots at home, taken by his parents’ cars. The rest were parked along the street, now buried under snow.
His little red Beetle looked like a small bun, if it snowed any more, it’d be completely buried.
After quite some effort, he dug the car out. Just as he was about to get in, he noticed a lump of snow by the front wheel.
When he reached out to brush it off, he realized something was odd.
“…What the h*ll?” He crouched down and looked closer. “Hey, whose cat are you?”
A white kitten was curled up on the wheel, completely still. No idea when it had climbed up there. The car had been parked for days, normally no cat would do that.
This was a cat with no survival instincts.
He grabbed a towel from the car, wrapped the cat, and lifted it off the wheel.
It was small, its face covered in eye discharge.
After checking it, he figured it was half-frozen. Its eyes were half-open, barely struggling.
He considered taking it back inside, but after hesitating, he got into the car, turned on the heat, and set the cat in his hat on the seat.
***
Fang Chi stood by the bus door before it even pulled into the station. As soon as it stopped and the doors opened, he jumped off and ran all the way out.
Sun Wenqu’s red Beetle was easy to spot, parked right up front.
Fang Chi ran over, yanked open the driver’s door, leaned in, and started kissing Sun Wenqu all over his face.
“Hey, hey, ” Sun Wenqu couldn’t dodge him and started laughing, pushing the seat back. “Did you even check who’s in the car before you started kissing?”
“With your Beetle? Who else could it be?” Fang Chi climbed halfway into the car, practically on top of him, kissing and licking. “Missed you to death.”
“This is the bus terminal,” Sun Wenqu laughed. “People might think you’re robbing me. The police will show up.”
“Hey,” Fang Chi kissed him a few more times before wiping his mouth, stepping out, closing the door, and quickly going around to the passenger side. “Normally I just miss you. But with everything else going on… seeing you feels like I almost couldn’t.”
Sun Wenqu just tilted his head and looked at him, smiling.
“Stop smiling,” Fang Chi said after buckling in, reaching over to touch his leg. “Didn’t you miss me?”
“I did,” Sun Wenqu smiled. “Missed you a lot. But compared to you young people, I’m at a disadvantage when it comes to expressing it.”
“You’re not,” Fang Chi leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I know.”
“Let’s go eat first. Liangzi and his wife will be there soon,” Sun Wenqu started the car. “Okay?”
“Okay.” Fang Chi nodded, then sniffed. “You haven’t driven this car in a while, have you?”
“Why?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“There’s a smell.”
“Sharp nose,” Sun Wenqu said. “Picked up a cat earlier. It’s in the back, looked frozen. Not sure if it’s okay yet.”
“A cat?” Fang Chi turned around. “Holy, there really is a cat? Where’d you get it?”
“On the wheel. Couldn’t move,” Sun Wenqu said. “We’ll take it to a pet hospital later.”
Fang Chi climbed back and picked it up. “I’ve picked up cats in winter before… this one’s bigger than Chief Huang when we found him.”
The cat was all white, long-haired but dirty, especially its face. Maybe because of the heater, it could now lift its head and open its eyes.
“Hey… heterochromia,” Fang Chi held it up. “Look, different colored eyes.”
“Pretty,” Sun Wenqu said. “Prettier than Chief Huang. Male or female?”
“Female,” Fang Chi rubbed it gently. “Need to give her some water.”
“There’s water in the back,” Sun Wenqu said. “Take it home for Chief Huang to keep company.”
“He’d be pissed, such a pretty girl he can’t touch,” Fang Chi poured water into a bottle cap and let the kitten drink. “She’s fine, look, she’s drinking well.”
“You don’t get it,” Sun Wenqu said. “Chief Huang wouldn’t be mad. He’d see her as a sister now.”
Fang Chi burst out laughing. “If Chief Huang were human, he’d come argue with you.”
“Give her a name,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Chief Bai,” Fang Chi said immediately.
“…Anything else?” Sun Wenqu sighed. “Chief Huang’s already been renamed Huang Skin-paste.”
“Then Sesame Paste,” Fang Chi said.
***
They met Ma Liang at the same restaurant as before. He and his wife were already in the private room.
Hu Yuanyuan immediately took the cat, asked for warm sugar water, and accepted the name “Sesame Paste” without hesitation.
“I’ll take Sesame Paste home later,” she said while wiping the cat’s face. “About eight or nine months old, she’ll make it. I’ll take her to the vet this afternoon.”
“She’s yours,” Sun Wenqu said. “You’ve got space.”
“Come here, big nephew,” Ma Liang waved at Fang Chi. “Give your uncle a New Year kowtow.”
Fang Chi laughed. “What kind of rule is that?”
“New Year’s greetings. Red envelope,” Ma Liang said.
Fang Chi sat beside him and bumped his forehead against his shoulder twice. “Happy New Year, Uncle Liangzi.”
Then he turned to Hu Yuanyuan. “Happy New Year, Sister-in-law.”
“Good boy,” Ma Liang handed him a red envelope. “We wish you… great virility.”
“…Thanks.” Fang Chi laughed for a long time after taking it.
Before the food arrived, Ma Liang and Sun Wenqu quickly got into discussing ceramics.
Fang Chi sat to the side drinking hot tea. This recessed booth was very comfortable; the table hid half their bodies. Right now, even if he pulled Sun Wenqu’s hand over and stuffed it into his pants, nobody would notice.
Of course, he didn’t dare be that outrageous. He only held Sun Wenqu’s hand lightly on his lap, gently squeezing it.
Sun Wenqu’s hand was slightly cold. Fang Chi wanted to warm it up, rubbing the back of his hand. After only rubbing it twice, Sun Wenqu’s hand twitched lightly.
Fang Chi paused. It wasn’t the kind of movement meant to pull away, it was more like it hurt from being rubbed.
He hadn’t even used much force. Had Sun Wenqu’s delicateness really reached a whole new level now? He lowered his head to look at Sun Wenqu’s hand, and froze after one glance.
There was a bluish-purple bruise on the back of Sun Wenqu’s hand.
He leaned closer and stared more carefully, spotting needle marks along the vein.
Three of them.
“You…” He turned to look at Sun Wenqu.
Sun Wenqu was talking with Ma Liang and hadn’t noticed him. Fang Chi thought about it, then swallowed his words.
Fang Chi felt that he had become incredibly patient lately. He didn’t know whether these past few days had worn him into it or what. He endured all the way through the meal without asking, then waited through another hour-plus of business talk between Ma Liang and Sun Wenqu.
It wasn’t until after three, when they came out of the restaurant and got back into the car, that Fang Chi finally asked, “A few days ago, it wasn’t you accompanying Uncle Liangzi to the hospital, was it?”
“Hm?” Sun Wenqu glanced at him.
“He was accompanying you to the hospital, right?” Fang Chi lifted his hand. “Look at these needle marks. The other hand has them too, doesn’t it?”
Sun Wenqu laughed. “So that’s why you suddenly stopped rubbing my hand.”
“What happened to you?” Fang Chi frowned. “I counted the timing. It was the day after you came to my house. Did you catch a chill?”
“Mm. I’m just too delicate now. A little wind and I get a fever.” Sun Wenqu said.
“Did you stand in the wind for a long time?” Fang Chi pressed sensitively. “Grandpa said you waited by the riverbank. How long did you wait?”
“Ten-something minutes, maybe,” Sun Wenqu thought about it. “Not that long. The wind was just really strong that day.”
Fang Chi frowned deeply and pulled both his hands over to inspect them. “Have you never really had IV drips before or something? You don’t even know how to press the needle site? Both hands are bruised like this.”
“I couldn’t be bothered to keep pressing on them. After two minutes I stopped caring.” Sun Wenqu said.
“Serves you right. Lazy b*stard.” Fang Chi clicked his tongue, then sighed after a moment and touched the little bone hanging around Sun Wenqu’s neck. “You’re seriously unbelievable though. How did you even think of carrying the bone to my grandpa?”
“No one from your family came out, only Xiaozi did.” Sun Wenqu smiled. “Hey, let me tell you something.”
“What?” Fang Chi asked.
“Tonight…” Sun Wenqu picked up his phone to check the time. “Wow, it’s almost four already. Then it’s about time. Come have dinner with my family later.”
“Oh.” Fang Chi answered reflexively. Two seconds later he suddenly bounced in the passenger seat. “What did you just say?”
“Come eat with my family. Everyone’s here these couple days, my eldest sister’s family and second sister’s family are both back.” Sun Wenqu patted his face. “Come do a lap with me and establish your dominance.”
“Today?” Fang Chi still hadn’t recovered.
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu looked at him, then smiled again after thinking for a moment. “Not ready? We can change the time if you want.”
“No, no, no need.” Fang Chi immediately shook his head. Turning away, he frowned and thought for a while. “It’s fine. Let’s just do it today. Get everything settled.”
“Everything?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“Yeah. Everything. Today…” Fang Chi thought about it and suddenly looked depressed again, leaning back in the seat with a sigh. “Grandpa told me to come out today. He’s going to… talk to my parents about me.”
“Today? Your grandpa’s the one talking?” Sun Wenqu looked surprised.
“Grandpa insisted on being the one to say it. Sounds like he also wants to talk to them about how they never really paid attention to me growing up.” Fang Chi clicked his tongue softly. “Honestly, whether they cared or not, I’m already this old. I really don’t care anymore. But Grandpa insisted on handling it, and I couldn’t really argue with him. Do you think… doing it this way is okay?”
“Grandpa has his own thoughts,” Sun Wenqu said softly. “This might just be his way of showing support for you. After all, if you asked him to directly say ‘I support you,’ he definitely wouldn’t be able to say it out loud. He’d feel uncomfortable about it too.”
“Maybe.” Fang Chi took out his phone and looked at it. He’d received a lot of messages that day, and had taken calls from Xiao Yiming and Cheng Mo, but there was nothing from home. Grandpa hadn’t contacted him, and his parents hadn’t called either. “I wonder how things are going now.”
“When are you going back?” Sun Wenqu asked.
“Tomorrow, probably. I told them I’d most likely come back tomorrow.” Fang Chi said.
“Then call your dad tonight. Even if Grandpa helped you say it, you should still take some initiative yourself. Otherwise it’ll feel like you dumped everything on Grandpa to carry for you.” Sun Wenqu said. “And calling tonight gives them some time to process things first.”
“Mm.” Fang Chi glanced at Sun Wenqu.
It was exactly this feeling, the feeling he wanted whenever something happened and he wished Sun Wenqu were beside him. Just hearing him softly talk things through and help straighten out the mess in his head made him feel grounded again.
It gave him more courage.
To face his parents.
To face tonight’s dinner…
No. That dinner still wasn’t something he could feel calm about!
“Ah, ah… ah…” Fang Chi twisted his brows together and sighed mournfully for ages. “Your whole family’s going to be there tonight? Your dad, your mom, your eldest sister, second sister, both brothers-in-law?”
“Yep.” Sun Wenqu’s lips curled upward.
“Your second sister seems pretty nice. What about your eldest sister? And your mom? Ah, forget them, your dad’s the one I’ve offended several times already.” Fang Chi twisted around restlessly in the seat trying to adjust his posture. “And your eldest brother-in-law too. I called him a thug…”
“In my family, my dad’s the one who calls the shots.” Sun Wenqu laughed, lightly scratching at Fang Chi’s hair with his fingers. “You weren’t even scared of him, so what are you nervous about now?”
“Who said I wasn’t scared?!” Fang Chi turned and glared at him. “Last time I met him, I almost forgot how to walk.”
“Then what do you want to do? I offered to change the date, but you wouldn’t. Now I say come, and you’re nervous again.” Sun Wenqu laughed.
Fang Chi bit his lip and stayed silent for a long time before finally slapping his thigh. “Screw it! Offending them once is offending them anyway. A mountain of crimes doesn’t weigh you down. I’m definitely keeping this man no matter what.”
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