Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
The night before Zhou Shirui’s graduation ceremony, Le Cheng was even more excited than Zhou Shirui himself.
The two of them lay on the bed, each looking at their tablet. Before long, Le Cheng leaned over and said, “You’re graduating tomorrow.”
Zhou Shirui glanced at him, responded with an “Mm,” then reached over to pat his head, indicating that he should play by himself.
Le Cheng curled back up. Ten minutes later, he wriggled over again and said, “You’re really graduating tomorrow!”
His voice was just a tiny bit louder than last time.
Zhou Shirui also responded with another “Mm.”
Le Cheng curled back up again. This time, he lasted a little longer. From the corner of his eye, Zhou Shirui saw him tilt his face up and wriggle around again, so he immediately said, “I’m graduating tomorrow.”
Le Cheng’s line had been stolen from him, so he tossed his tablet aside and rested his head against Zhou Shirui’s chest, saying with a hint of emotion, “How did it happen so fast? After tomorrow, you won’t be a university student anymore.”
Zhou Shirui casually agreed at first, but after a moment, he sensed something was off. He slightly furrowed his brows and asked, “So?”
“And me.” Le Cheng looked at him. “I’m still a university student.”
Before Zhou Shirui could answer, Le Cheng deliberately said in a playful tone, “So what are we going to do? From now on, you’ll be a ‘working member of society,’ Zhou Shirui. You’re actually an old cow eating young grass, how embarrassing.”
As he said this, he poked Zhou Shirui in the waist with his finger.
Zhou Shirui almost laughed from exasperation. He caught his hand and bit it lightly by the lips. Le Cheng immediately widened his eyes. He had originally wanted to continue, but after thinking it over, he released his hand and leisurely answered, “Mm.”
As soon as Le Cheng pulled his hand back, Zhou Shirui pinched his cheek, squeezing it into the shape of a little goldfish, and asked, “Since I’m the old cow eating young grass, what should you call me?”
Le Cheng’s gaze wandered. He slapped his hand away, too embarrassed to say it, then turned his head and pretended to obediently look at his tablet.
There were some forms of address that almost never appeared in everyday life and only came out when Le Cheng was “begging for mercy.”
Yet Zhou Shirui leaned over, his chest pressed tightly against Le Cheng’s back, and deliberately asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
After being asked several times, Le Cheng finally turned his head, cupped Zhou Shirui’s face, and kissed him several times before praising him. “Actually, even though you’re a year older than me, you really don’t look it at all. You’re still so handsome. You have to know, it’s really difficult to be as handsome as you…”
Zhou Shirui curled his lips, amused as he looked at him. “Then who was it just now who said I was an old cow eating…”
Before he could finish, Le Cheng reached out and covered his mouth, telling him with righteous conviction, “Wrong, completely wrong! That was me five minutes ago who said that. Now I’m me five minutes later. The me from five minutes ago has already passed and cannot be recovered, so the me from before is not the me of right now. Therefore, I didn’t say it.”
What a convoluted argument.
Zhou Shirui reached out and pinched his face. Le Cheng released his hand and heard Zhou Shirui comment, “Cheeky.”
Cheeky Le Little Cheng didn’t care in the slightest. He hummed twice and burrowed back into the blankets.
The crisis had been resolved, but he only settled down for a little while before climbing out of the blankets and darting off.
Zhou Shirui didn’t bother with him. A few minutes later, Le Cheng came back holding a camera. He half-knelt on the bed, fiddling with the camera as he asked, “Where did you put the lens you bought for me before? Is it this one?”
Zhou Shirui took it and looked it over. “This is the one. What are you doing with the camera?”
“Taking pictures of you tomorrow.” Le Cheng said it as though it were obvious. “You’re graduating tomorrow, so I’m going to take pictures of you. These are going to be the last precious photos of you as a student at school.”
Le Cheng talked to himself as he prepared to take a test shot right then. Zhou Shirui didn’t say anything from the side. After Le Cheng finished taking the picture, he pulled him over and looked at him with dark eyes. “Do you really like university students more?”
Le Cheng froze for a moment, then smacked him on the shoulder. “What are you thinking? I just want to commemorate it.”
Zhou Shirui stared at him without speaking. After a few seconds, Le Cheng leaned over and kissed him, lightly pecking his lips. He hesitated for a moment before saying seriously, “I just want to take all the photos of the things in your life that are worth remembering, then make them into an album. We can take it out and look through it again in the future. That would be pretty nice, wouldn’t it?”
Every time Zhou Shirui heard Le Cheng mention words like “in the future” or “later on,” his emotions would settle, as though they had already grown old together. He wrapped an arm around Le Cheng’s waist and said quietly, “Okay.”
After putting away the camera, Le Cheng wiped the lens twice more. The two of them lay back down on the bed, turned off the lights, and prepared to sleep. Then Le Cheng suddenly got up to get out of bed, only to be scooped back up by Zhou Shirui, who told him sternly to go to sleep.
Le Cheng refused. “I want to find the clothes you’re going to wear tomorrow.”
But before Zhou Shirui could say anything, Le Cheng suddenly remembered something. He laughed awkwardly twice and said, “Oh… right. You’re wearing your graduation gown tomorrow.”
Only then did he settle down and go to sleep properly.
The next day, at the graduation ceremony, Le Cheng clapped until his hands turned red while Zhou Shirui was speaking onstage. When the ceremony ended, he went over and showed Zhou Shirui his hands. Like someone acting spoiled, he let Zhou Shirui take them into his palms and slowly rub them.
The two of them leisurely wandered outside. Le Cheng showed him the pictures he had just taken, admiring them as he said, “You actually look pretty good in this graduation gown.”
The graduation gown itself was ordinary, but Zhou Shirui was tall and long-legged with excellent proportions. He could stand out from the crowd even wearing a sack. Le Cheng was very satisfied, and then pulled him along to feed the cats.
Almost all the stray cats on campus knew him. After Le Cheng meowed a few times, several colorful little cats came running over with their tails held high, their fat bellies bouncing as they ran. Le Cheng reached out to pet one, took out the prepared tubes of cat treats, handed a few to Zhou Shirui, then crouched down to feed the cats.
“This is also the last time you’ll be feeding cats at school.” Le Cheng stroked one of the cats’ heads. “So you have to give them something good to eat, so the kittens will remember you.”
Zhou Shirui didn’t know whether the kittens would remember him because of the delicious cat treats, but looking at Le Cheng’s serious and peaceful profile, he understood that Le Cheng really wanted the cats to remember him.
After feeding them for a while, Le Cheng stood up and took several pictures of Zhou Shirui feeding the cats, going “click, click, click,” before finally following him back, completely satisfied.
As they walked, Le Cheng looked through the camera. Zhou Shirui reminded him twice to watch where he was going. Le Cheng verbally agreed, but didn’t change at all in practice.
Zhou Shirui took the camera away from him. Looking down, he discovered that the photo Le Cheng had been staring at so intently was actually a little orange cat. The only part of himself visible in the entire picture was his fingers holding the cat treat.
Zhou Shirui was so exasperated that he wanted to laugh. He reached out and pinched Le Cheng’s cheek. “Is this how you take pictures of me?”
But he wasn’t actually angry. Before Le Cheng could answer, he added, “If you like them that much, why don’t we just get a cat? A puppy would work too.”
“What? I was taking a picture of you!” Le Cheng protested.
Zhou Shirui went along with him without believing him. “Mm, taking a picture of me.”
Le Cheng snatched the camera back and showed him. “Look, I really was taking a picture of you. This picture just happens to capture your finger with your ring on it, and the kitten is rubbing against your ring. Don’t you think it looks good? Doesn’t it have meaning?”
Only then did Zhou Shirui fall silent for a moment and take a careful look. “So that’s what it was.”
Le Cheng hummed twice. “You misunderstood me. Hurry up and apologize.”
Zhou Shirui said obediently, “Sorry, Chengcheng.”
Le Cheng generously said, “I’ll reluctantly forgive you.”
“But did you really mean what you said about getting a kitten or a puppy?”
Zhou Shiru: “Mm. Do you want one?”
Le Cheng hesitated for a moment. “I do, but I already have lots of cats. As for a puppy, we live upstairs. Wouldn’t that be inconvenient?”
After all, puppies loved their freedom.
Zhou Shirui thought about it for a moment. “Then we’ll get a different house after you graduate.”
He owned villas as well, but since this place was the closest to the school, they had never moved out.
Le Cheng agreed. After a while, he asked, “Then can we get one with a pool?”
Zhou Shiru: “Hmm?”
“I also kind of want to raise fish.” Le Cheng answered honestly.
Zhou Shirui nodded. “Okay.”
Although Zhou Shirui had misunderstood Le Cheng about the photos, after Le Cheng used the excuse, “This is the last time you’ll ever get to eat street food outside school!!” to eat a whole pile of snacks, Zhou Shirui grabbed him by the back of his collar and asked with an amused, knowing smile, “So this is your excuse for openly eating all this?”
Le Cheng slowly let out a burp, wiped his mouth, and asked him, as if trying to change the subject, whether he had wiped his mouth clean.
“It’s clean,” Zhou Shirui said.
“Then let’s go.” Although Le Cheng said this, he still obediently lined up at the ice cream stand, staring at it with eager eyes.
Finally, Zhou Shirui dragged him away from the bustling snack stalls by the collar. After returning home, the weather was hot, and even while lying on the sofa, Le Cheng insisted on exposing his stomach. Zhou Shirui pulled his shirt back down, so he lifted it again. Zhou Shirui pulled it down again, and he lifted it again. In the end, it took a smack on the butt to make him settle down.
But after all that messing around, half an hour later, Le Cheng inevitably began to feel a little bloated. At first, he didn’t dare say anything, but Zhou Shirui noticed from his stiff posture. For a moment, he was both exasperated and worried. With a cold expression, he stuffed Le Cheng back into bed and tucked the blankets around him, leaving only his pair of big eyes exposed. Zhou Shirui told him not to move around and went out to get him some medicine.
Le Cheng guiltily obediently said okay.
However, when Zhou Shirui returned with the medicine and a glass of water, he discovered that the blanket had risen slightly. Le Cheng had not listened. Zhou Shirui set down the glass with a light “clink,” startling Le Cheng. He stuffed whatever he was holding into the blankets, blinked innocently, and said, “You’re back.”
“What is it?” Zhou Shirui frowned. “Take it out.”
Le Cheng pretended not to hear him.
Normally, Zhou Shirui would have let it go, but today he had already given in too many times, and in the end, all that leniency had caused Le Cheng to become sick. His tone became serious as he repeated, “Take it out.”
Le Cheng slowly and reluctantly pulled it out. Zhou Shirui held out his hand, and Le Cheng placed it there, looking rather unhappy.
Zhou Shirui lowered his gaze to the thick notebook. It was quite large, with two fluffy little animals sprawled out on the cover, basking in the sun, a little squirrel and a little gray wolf.
His expression paused for a moment. He opened it, only to find his own photographs filling the pages.
Some were pictures he had never seen on Le Cheng’s phone and had never even noticed being taken. They included, among other things, his side profile while sleeping, his lowered lashes while cooking, him wearing headphones while looking at his computer, and him taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Some angles made it obvious that the photos had been taken secretly, and some of the angles were particularly unusual. One showed him helping Le Cheng tie his shoelaces, taken from above. Another captured him slightly curling his lips while looking at a family photo. There was even one of him absentmindedly tugging at a stuffed toy Le Cheng had bought while talking on the phone.
There were so many. He hadn’t even reached halfway through the notebook, but a rough estimate put the number at more than a hundred. On the back of each photograph, Le Cheng had written the date and time, occasionally drawing a little expression to show the photographer’s mood. The notebook was heavy and substantial, with two-thirds of it still blank.
Zhou Shirui’s mind stopped for several seconds before he looked up at Le Cheng.
Le Cheng’s lips drooped. “You’ve seen everything now.”
Zhou Shirui’s voice was somewhat inexplicably hoarse. “…When did you start making this?”
He had thought that when Le Cheng talked about making an album for him, it was only a plan. He hadn’t expected it to already be something he had actually carried out.
“Early June last year.” Le Cheng looked dejected. “I was originally planning to show it to you after I got the graduation photos printed.”
“It’s fine to look at it now.” Zhou Shirui walked over and touched his cheek, then lowered his head and kissed him. “Take your medicine first.”
Le Cheng took the medicine and swallowed it. Zhou Shirui then asked him, “How come I never noticed you taking pictures of me?”
Le Cheng became smug. “Of course you didn’t know! I always took them secretly!”
Looking at his curved, smiling eyes, Zhou Shirui suddenly wanted to kiss him again.
So cute. It was as if he had suddenly filled his entire heart.
And Le Cheng had already coaxed himself into a good mood again. “But now that I’m showing them to you, it doesn’t matter anymore. There’s only the graduation photos left.”
Zhou Shirui nodded, then turned around to get his own phone. He said to him, “You drew the two of us on the cover, right? Then it should have photos of both of us.”
Le Cheng lowered his head and discovered that Zhou Shirui actually had a private album. It was filled entirely with secretly taken photos of him.
There was one of him covered in dirt and grinning foolishly while making pottery. Another showed him soaking wet while catching fish in the river at his parents’ home. There were photos of him pretending to be angry while secretly peeking at Zhou Shirui, and countless others…
There were even more than the photos Le Cheng had secretly taken. And the earliest one was actually from the very beginning, when he and Zhou Shirui had spent Chinese New Year together, showing him earnestly carving a radish lantern.
Le Cheng was stunned, but his heart also felt warm. He leaned against Zhou Shirui and burrowed into him a little before saying weakly, “Why did you take so many? And they’re all secret photos…”
Zhou Shirui answered smoothly, “But you took pictures of me too.”
“Print these photos out and put them in too,” Zhou Shirui said. “Okay?”
There was no way Le Cheng could disagree. He answered brightly, “Okay!”
So the two of them lay on the bed, shoulders touching, and selected the photos that would “make the cut.”
By the end, Le Cheng began to worry. “Will we be able to fit all these? Won’t there be too many?”
Zhou Shirui thought for a moment. “We can make several albums. If we’re recording our lives, one definitely won’t be enough.”
Le Cheng said, “At the rate we take photos, won’t our house eventually have little mountains of photo albums everywhere?”
Before Zhou Shirui could answer, Le Cheng happily kicked his little legs back and forth. “But I like it!”
“When we’re older, we can look through the albums together in winter, leaning against each other under a blanket and drinking warm tea. The sun outside will be bright and warm.” Le Cheng leaned back into Zhou Shirui’s arms again, his fluffy hair brushing against his cheek and making it itch. He sighed emotionally, “Just thinking about it makes me feel so happy.”
Zhou Shirui’s heart warmed along with his. “Mm. So happy.”
But perhaps what Zhou Shirui imagined was slightly different from Le Cheng’s vision. It wasn’t just the scene itself that would make them happy. More importantly, being together with Le Cheng would make him happy.
Le Cheng sat there with his feet propped up, resting his face in his hands as he selected photos. His long eyelashes lowered, casting a small shadow. Zhou Shirui watched him for a while before quietly taking out his spare phone and snapping a picture.
Actually, this moment was very happy too.
