Fang Chi didn’t wake up naturally in the morning.
Even though he had to go home early today to talk with his parents, after last night’s “grand chive stage” finally opened, applause thundering, a perfect performance, he slept so deeply he didn’t even have time to dream. It felt like he had just closed his eyes when he heard Sun Wenqu talking on the phone.
He groggily opened his eyes, about to say “who are you talking to in the middle of the night,” but then saw Sun Wenqu with a toothbrush in his mouth.
“No matter which way I turn it, there’s no hot water,” Sun Wenqu mumbled around the toothbrush. “It was fine last night… oh, oh… okay, I’ll go check again.”
“Who was that?” Fang Chi asked after he hung up. “What time is it?”
“The landlord. Almost eight, son,” Sun Wenqu tossed the phone onto the bed and turned to walk out. “Get up, you said you’re going back early today, didn’t you?”
“…Feels like I just fell asleep,” Fang Chi rubbed his eyes. “Don’t go, come here, let me kiss you.”
“My mouth’s full of foam,” Sun Wenqu glanced back at him.
“I don’t care.” Fang Chi opened his arms.
Sun Wenqu walked back, braced an arm on the bed, lowered his head and rubbed his mouth all over Fang Chi’s forehead, nose, and lips, then jumped off the bed and went out.
It took Fang Chi a while to come back to his senses. He felt toothpaste all over his mouth, then touched his face, his hand came away covered in foam. He immediately woke up fully and sat up: “Sun Wenqu, what kind of behavior is this?”
“I already told you my mouth was full of foam, and you still insisted on kissing me, so I had to use actions to show you that you bear the consequences,” Sun Wenqu said from the living room. “We’ll go mooch breakfast at Liangzi’s in a bit.”
“Mm.” Fang Chi slowly got out of bed, shuffled in his slippers into the bathroom, and hugged Sun Wenqu from behind while he was washing his face.
“Don’t retaliate,” Sun Wenqu said.
“I’m a civilized person,” Fang Chi let go of him, squeezed beside him, and picked up a toothbrush. “Is this the one I used before?”
“No, new one,” Sun Wenqu said.
“The last one wasn’t even used twice and you threw it away?” Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “Wasteful.”
“Toothbrushes should be changed every month.” Sun Wenqu wiped his face and leaned closer to the mirror.
“But mine hadn’t even been used a month,” Fang Chi said.
“Are you done yet?” Sun Wenqu glared at him through the mirror. “When I change mine, I change yours too. I don’t care if you used it or not, I like having both the same sitting there.”
Fang Chi froze for a moment, then smiled. “Then you could also…”
“No, I also don’t like using the same style every time,” Sun Wenqu cut him off. “Hurry up and get ready. So early in the morning and you’re already this talkative, how come I never noticed before?”
“How do you know what I was going to say?” Fang Chi grinned while brushing his teeth.
“I was about to graduate elementary school when you were just forming in your mom’s womb, kid,” Sun Wenqu flicked his face and turned to leave.
Hu Yuanyuan made fried dumplings and soy milk for breakfast. Fang Chi ate happily, except he kept getting stared at while eating.
The moment he looked up, he saw Chief Huang and Sesame Paste sitting side by side on the table, staring straight at him.
“These cats are treated way too well here, they’re even on the table. If you don’t stop them, they’ll be digging into my bowl in a second,” Fang Chi pointed at Chief Huang. “Huang-skin paste, you’ve already gotten as fat as four jars of sauce and you’re still eyeing my food?”
Chief Huang didn’t move at all, as if he hadn’t heard him. The one beside him, Sesame Paste, let out a meow instead.
“This white one’s fine now?” Sun Wenqu put down his chopsticks after a few dumplings, tapped lightly on the table with his fingers. Both cats immediately turned and leaned over to his hand; Chief Huang even lowered his head to rub against his palm.
“Mm, as soon as we brought it back it perked up. Took it to the hospital, healthy, got its vaccines and all,” Hu Yuanyuan said. “I was thinking, maybe we pick up a few more. Didn’t we plan to turn the city shop into a café-ceramics place? We can put the cats there.”
“Chief Huang would be too ugly for the shop,” Fang Chi tugged at the tip of Chief Huang’s tail. Chief Huang immediately swiped a paw at his hand. He clicked his tongue. “With that temper, you think people can pet it in the shop?”
“It only scratches you. Did you abuse it before?” Hu Yuanyuan laughed.
“When I picked it up it was almost dead, I nursed it for a week before it recovered,” Fang Chi tugged its tail again. “Then the moment it saw Sun Wenqu, it defected. Ugly eunuch.”
Chief Huang pounced at his hand and unleashed a flurry of invisible palm strikes on his arm.
“Hey!” Fang Chi stood up. “Let’s go!”
This time going back, compared to before the New Year, Fang Chi’s mood was already very different.
The nervousness, fear, unease, and guilt that had been entangling him since the moment he decided to speak up were slowly fading. The unease was still there, and the guilt remained, but the strongest feeling now was determination.
Facing his family’s compromise and worry, the only thing he could do was prove it to them.
Prove that their compromise and tolerance were worth it.
“Pay attention while driving,” Sun Wenqu said from the passenger seat.
“…I am paying attention,” Fang Chi snapped back to himself and glanced at him. “Weren’t you sleeping?”
“You swerved twice and woke me up,” Sun Wenqu closed his eyes again. “Your gaze went blank… what are you thinking about?”
“Thinking about the future.” Fang Chi chuckled.
“You sure think a lot,” Sun Wenqu yawned. “Chief Fang, applying for it, next month I need to transfer money to Liangzi.”
“How much?” Fang Chi asked.
“Round it off and send it all over,” Sun Wenqu said. “It’s not much anyway.”
“Alright,” Fang Chi nodded, then thought about it and laughed. “I should withdraw all the cash and bring it to him in person.”
“Idiot,” Sun Wenqu laughed.
“What do you think he’d say if I really did that?” Fang Chi asked.
“He’d say, ‘S-so little and you went th-through the trouble to-withdraw it… better if it were small bills, looks like m-more,’” Sun Wenqu imitated Ma Liang’s stutter.
Fang Chi burst out laughing at the road ahead.
There were already more cars on the road today, people doing business were out working, those resting were out having fun. Fang Chi felt a bit sentimental; this was the first holiday where he hadn’t gone out with classmates.
Just as he was thinking that, his phone rang in his pocket. Sun Wenqu took it out for him and looked: “Xiao Yiming.”
“Headset’s in my pocket,” Fang Chi said. Sun Wenqu plugged it in for him. As soon as the call connected, noisy sounds came from the other side.
“How is it?” Xiao Yiming asked before Fang Chi could speak.
“Not bad. They all know now,” Fang Chi said. “I went back to the city yesterday. I’m driving back now.”
“With Uncle Sun?” Xiao Yiming asked.
“Mm.”
On the other end, Xiao Yiming said softly to someone beside him, “It’s fine now.”
“You’re with Cheng Mo?” Fang Chi asked.
“…Mm.” Xiao Yiming cleared his throat.
“You’ve been together the whole New Year?” Fang Chi pressed.
“Yes,” Xiao Yiming said. “He didn’t go home for New Year.”
“D*mn,” Fang Chi laughed. “Then where did you guys spend New Year?”
“I was working during New Year,” Xiao Yiming said. “Just had a meal together on New Year’s Eve.”
“So basically you’ve been glued together these past few days?” Fang Chi laughed.
“I told him to go home, but he wouldn’t, so I stopped bothering,” Xiao Yiming’s voice became muffled, like he was eating. “Anyway…”
“Anyway, if he doesn’t go home, you’ve got unlimited chestnuts,” Fang Chi said.
Xiao Yiming laughed. “Here, Cheng Mo wants to talk.”
“Fang Chi,” Cheng Mo’s voice came through immediately, “what’s the atmosphere like at your house now?”
“So-so. Not especially miserable, not especially happy,” Fang Chi said. “But seriously, I need to thank your mom. When I have time, I’ll treat her to a meal.”
“No need, treat me instead,” Cheng Mo said. “Does your house need someone to help lighten the mood? Like help create a cheerful New Year atmosphere?”
Fang Chi paused, then laughed. “You two?”
“Mm. But if it’s inconvenient because your brother’s there, then forget it, we’ll go find somewhere else to hang out,” Cheng Mo said.
“Sun Wenqu isn’t staying at my place,” Fang Chi glanced at him. “He’s going to his friend’s farmhouse.”
“Farmhouse?” Cheng Mo perked up immediately. “Nice. Then we’ll stay at the farmhouse with your brother.”
“Can Li Bowen’s farmhouse even host people yet?” Fang Chi asked Sun Wenqu.
“There must be places you can stay,” Sun Wenqu smiled. “He’d have to stay there himself too.”
“Then it might be a bit rough,” Fang Chi said into the phone. “Just…”
“No problem. Just staying a couple days to have fun and experience New Year in the countryside,” Cheng Mo said.
Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “Tell me, are you coming to help my family’s atmosphere or just to play?”
“To play,” Cheng Mo laughed. “But seriously, if you need us to liven things up, just say the word, we’ll show up immediately.”
“Call me when you get here,” Fang Chi said with a smile.
Xiaozi was still waiting at the intersection. It recognized Sun Wenqu’s car, when it saw it from afar, it ran over barking, its tail wagging in circles.
Fang Chi rolled down the window: “Xiaozi, be good, stay away from the car, or you’ll get your paws run over!”
Xiaozi ran alongside the car all the way to the village entrance.
“Where should I park?” Fang Chi asked.
Sun Wenqu looked at the half-renovated farmhouse ahead and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Park at the entrance.”
The farmhouse was still half-finished. The ground had been paved, and two existing two-story buildings had been renovated, but everything else hadn’t started yet, looked about the same as when Fang Chi saw it that night.
No one was visible at the entrance, just a dirty farm vehicle parked there.
Sun Wenqu got out and walked around first. Fang Chi didn’t follow, just stayed at the entrance playing with Xiaozi.
After making a round, Sun Wenqu came back: “Pretty big scale.”
“I think there are workers inside,” Fang Chi said.
“Let’s go in.” Sun Wenqu adjusted his scarf and walked in.
“Xiaozi, stay here,” Fang Chi patted its head.
Last time Fang Chi came, he didn’t get a clear look inside. Today, he could see it clearly, the scale really was big. The entire open area had been enclosed, including a small fish pond and a vegetable plot.
Fang Chi clicked his tongue. Looks like Li Bowen really planned to seriously run a farmhouse.
If it weren’t for the owner being Li Bowen, he would’ve thought having such a large farmhouse was actually pretty nice.
There were people inside. Hearing movement in the courtyard, someone came out.
Fang Chi turned to look, and it was Li Bowen.
Staying here even during New Year?
Pretty dedicated.
“Wenqu?” Li Bowen froze when he saw who was in the courtyard.
“Happy New Year.” Sun Wenqu smiled with his hands in his pockets.
“Happy New Year,” Li Bowen glanced at Fang Chi, then looked outside the courtyard. “Why did you… come here?”
“Just taking a look, my good buddy’s farmhouse,” Sun Wenqu curled his lips. “Only came today, I’m already not being very loyal.”
Li Bowen’s face twitched, like he wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Want to come in and sit?”
“Not yet,” Sun Wenqu looked around again. “Are you staying here now? Got the living space ready?”
“A few rooms in the building are ready to stay in, all set up,” Li Bowen’s expression wasn’t great. “But I don’t stay here…”
“That’s perfect,” Sun Wenqu patted Fang Chi’s shoulder. “Let’s go look at the rooms.”
Fang Chi nodded and went in with him.
There were two other people inside, likely workers, looking at blueprints.
Sun Wenqu went straight upstairs. Fang Chi followed, looking around. The interior had been renovated, the plain white walls repainted, nice lights installed. It had a rustic countryside style and felt quite comfortable.
The second floor had distressed wooden flooring, with railings and doors made of aged wood. There were even oil lamps hanging in the corridor.
“Quite a vibe,” Sun Wenqu pushed open a door and looked inside.
“Wenqu,” Li Bowen followed up, his face still stuck in that twitching, forced smile. “What do you mean by this?”
“This room,” Sun Wenqu pointed. “I’ll stay here tonight. The one next door is for Fang Chi’s classmates.”
Li Bowen’s expression froze. “What?”
“I’ll stay here. Fang Chi’s two classmates will stay there,” Sun Wenqu looked at him. “The radiators aren’t installed yet, right? But I see the air conditioners are.”
“…Yes,” Li Bowen stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“It just means three people are going to stay here for a night,” Fang Chi clicked his tongue. “I’ve said it three times already, can you understand now?”
Li Bowen didn’t speak. When facing Sun Wenqu, there was still a trace of his habitual smile on his face, though it was obviously not very pleasant. But when he turned to look at Fang Chi, the smile disappeared.
He stared at Fang Chi for a long time, then suddenly roared: “I don’t understand! Just say directly how you want to mess with me!”
That shout was full of force, completely unaffected by the cold, unheated house, soaring straight up, startling Fang Chi so much he almost lunged forward to punch him.
“Whoa,” Sun Wenqu was startled too and stepped back. “That high note, I almost applauded.”
“Wenqu,” Li Bowen took a breath, trying to control his tone, “why don’t you go stay at his place? His house is so close… There’s already such a big misunderstanding between us, and now you’re coming here to stay, what exactly are you trying to… do?”
“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding is there between us?” Sun Wenqu raised an eyebrow. “Was that what you called me about that day? I didn’t even understand.”
Li Bowen stared at him, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. “You really don’t know?”
“I said it that day,” Sun Wenqu shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall, “I don’t have the time to mess around with you.”
“Fine, let’s say you don’t know,” Li Bowen closed his eyes, took another breath, and slowly exhaled. “Then I’ll tell you now, my dad thinks I like men… no, he thinks I like… you!”
Sun Wenqu froze for a moment, then laughed.
Fang Chi, standing to the side, asked, “So do you like him or not?”
“I’m not f*cking gay!” Li Bowen turned his head and shouted at him in a low voice. “I’m not!”
“Oh.” Fang Chi responded.
“Wenqu,” Li Bowen looked at Sun Wenqu, “I can’t even leave the house now. This place just started, and my dad directly made me pull out…”
“Isn’t Uncle Li pretty open-minded?” Sun Wenqu looked surprised.
Li Bowen stared at him. “He is pretty open-minded. He said he can understand me liking men, but not liking you!”
Sun Wenqu held his gaze for a few seconds, then burst out laughing, leaning against the wall, unable to stop.
“Stop laughing. I just came today to grab some things, and my dad almost had someone escort me out… Wenqu,” Li Bowen pointed at himself, “don’t you know whether I like men or women?”
“I really don’t know,” Sun Wenqu said with a smile.
Li Bowen opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything. His expression twisted so hard it looked like a blade, you could take it off his face and use it to cut someone.
The three of them fell silent. Sun Wenqu suppressed his laughter, Li Bowen was probably suppressing his anger, and Fang Chi lowered his head, playing with his phone.
After quite a while, Fang Chi’s phone rang, and he walked aside to answer it.
Li Bowen glanced at him, stepped closer to Sun Wenqu, and took a deep breath again: “Wenqu.”
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu looked at him.
“There’s a misunderstanding between us,” Li Bowen frowned. “You have a misunderstanding about me.”
“Is that so?” Sun Wenqu smiled. “Maybe.”
“No matter how you see me, whether I have that kind of intention toward you or not,” Li Bowen said, “you should know. Now that my dad thinks this of me, no matter how I explain, he doesn’t believe me.”
“Uncle Li’s personality is pretty stubborn,” Sun Wenqu said.
“I don’t care how he came to think this, but only you can help me say something,” Li Bowen sighed. “Right now he’s convinced that I’ll harass you.”
“Then just don’t harass me, wouldn’t that solve it?” Sun Wenqu narrowed his eyes slightly.
“I…” Li Bowen looked at him, the fire in his eyes almost singeing his eyelashes.
“Bowen,” Sun Wenqu smiled, reaching out to pat his shoulder, “we grew up together. Not super close, but we understand each other pretty well. I’m lazy, unless I’m really pushed, I don’t even bother to move, and I definitely don’t go looking for trouble.”
Li Bowen stared at him, saying nothing.
“The two of us, just ordinary friends,” Sun Wenqu said. “Same as Luo Peng and the others. You don’t need to explain so much to me. I’m just borrowing a couple rooms to stay, you don’t need to read too much into it. As for Uncle Li…”
Sun Wenqu smiled: “He’s not stupid. Whether it’s true or not, over time he’ll figure it out himself. If I go explain to him, aren’t you afraid he’ll think I’m being threatened by you?”
***
Cheng Mo and Xiao Yiming were taking the afternoon bus over. Fang Chi had arranged for them to come to his house for dinner, then hung up the phone.
Over there, Sun Wenqu and Li Bowen had stopped talking. Li Bowen stood in the corridor with a cigarette in his mouth, while Sun Wenqu walked back and forth between the two rooms a couple of times, declaring the living conditions quite good.
“Fang Chi, go home first,” Sun Wenqu said. “I’ll sleep for a bit. Didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Oh, then…” Fang Chi glanced at Li Bowen, a little uneasy.
“Bowen has to head back to the city too,” Sun Wenqu said. “He just came to grab some things. If he’s late, Uncle Li will be unhappy.”
Li Bowen opened his mouth, and after a long pause finally said, “Fine, I’m leaving.”
Watching him turn and go downstairs, Fang Chi chuckled. “Internal injuries.”
“They’re coming this afternoon?” Sun Wenqu asked with a smile.
“Mm. They’re coming to my place for dinner tonight. All the relatives have left these past couple days, so it’ll be lively,” Fang Chi sighed. “Even though everyone knows about them… it’s still better than just the few of us at home. My grandpa likes things lively.”
“Then go back first,” Sun Wenqu touched his face. “Talk more with your parents. If things are okay, I’ll come over tonight too.”
“Alright,” Fang Chi leaned in and hugged him. “Want me to bring you something to eat at noon?”
“No need, I’m not hungry,” Sun Wenqu patted his back. “I’m just exhausted. I’ll sleep first. If I get hungry this afternoon, I’ll call you.”
“Mm.” Fang Chi nodded.
Since there were still two workers downstairs and he was in a hurry to get home, Fang Chi didn’t linger too long with Sun Wenqu. He ran downstairs and out of the courtyard.
Xiaozi was still waiting obediently at the gate. Seeing him come out, it immediately wagged its tail and ran over.
“Good boy.” Fang Chi patted its head, then turned and noticed Li Bowen still sitting in the farm vehicle nearby. He walked over and knocked on the window.
“What.” Li Bowen lowered the window with a frown.
“You’re not leaving yet?” Fang Chi asked.
“I’m leaving!” Li Bowen shouted, eyes wide, then slammed the accelerator. The vehicle roared loudly as it shot off.
Fang Chi watched the car disappear in a cloud of dust and laughed in place for a while.
Xiaozi barked at him twice. He bent down and scratched its ears: “Got it, let’s head back now.”
Fang Chi let out a breath and ran toward the village with Xiaozi.
Every time he went home, he had the habit of running. Before, it was because he wanted to get home quickly. Today, even though he felt uneasy and wasn’t especially eager to arrive, he still ran out of habit.
As usual, Xiaozi started barking when they were still more than ten meters from the courtyard gate. Grandpa leaned out halfway from inside: “You’re back?”
“Grandpa!” Fang Chi called out, speeding up as he ran over.
The earlier uneasiness instantly disappeared when he heard that “you’re back.”
His dad and mom were both in the courtyard. His dad was fixing the sunshade under the eaves, and his mom was holding the ladder beside him.
“Dad,” Fang Chi called, going over to steady the ladder. “Mom.”
“We thought you’d come back after lunch,” his mom patted the dust on his sleeve. “Didn’t play a bit longer?”
“No. My classmates… Xiao Yiming and them, they’re coming over this afternoon,” Fang Chi said.
His mom didn’t look very energetic, she probably hadn’t slept well the night before.
“Xiao Yiming?” Grandpa said with a smile as he walked toward the kitchen. “That’s good. I’ll have your grandma cook some nice dishes tonight.”
“Got it, I heard you,” Grandma responded from the kitchen. “Hot pot tonight?”
“Alright,” Grandpa replied.
Grandpa and Grandma stayed in the kitchen. In the courtyard, only Fang Chi and his parents were left. None of them spoke, and Fang Chi suddenly felt the tension and awkwardness.
“Dad,” he cleared his throat and looked up, “I’ll do it, you come down.”
“Okay, you do it,” his dad nodded and climbed down. As Fang Chi climbed up the ladder, his dad patted his back. “Little Chi.”
“Mm?” Fang Chi turned his head.
“It’s alright,” his dad said. “It’s alright.”
Fang Chi froze, not understanding what he meant.
“I talked it over with your mom,” his dad patted his back again. “It’s alright. Don’t worry about what we think. We… about this matter, your mom and I… we have no objections.”
Fang Chi paused. As he climbed up, he almost missed a step. He steadied himself at the top of the ladder, reached up to rub his eyes. “Thank you.”
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