Chapter 15
MORNING CAME.
Huo Sichen woke from the cold night with one arm around Zhang Yuwen, Zhang Yuwen’s legs around him, and both of them, naturally, sporting morning wood.
In another room, Zheng Weize opened his eyes to find himself alone, though the bedding was still warm from Chang Jinxing’s body. It had gotten colder in the night, so they, too, stacked their blankets and slept together under them. When Zheng Weize woke once, around dawn, Chang Jinxing was sound asleep. Pretending to be asleep too, he’d snuggled into Chang Jinxing’s arms, feeling bliss like he’d never felt before.
Yan Jun and Chen Hong, meanwhile, didn’t feel the cold at all.
They slept separately and didn’t even combine their blankets. Yan Jun got up early in the morning to brush his teeth and get dressed, then went to knock on his roommates’ doors.
“You guys up?” Yan Jun asked.
Still relishing the last bit of Chang Jinxing’s warmth, Zheng Weize rubbed his eyes and yawned.
Yan Jun knocked on Zhang Yuwen’s door next. Huo Sichen almost jumped out of bed, gripped by an unaccountable sense that he’d been caught red-handed. “Who’s there?” he asked warily.
“Me,” said Yan Jun. Huo Sichen rolled out of bed, put on his pants, and went to open the door, his hair still a mess. “Still sleeping?” Yan Jun asked. “Get up. Why’s your room so cold?”
“I don’t know,” Huo Sichen said. “Yours isn’t?”
Bleary with sleep, Zhang Yuwen sat up in bed, hugging the blanket like a child who had just woken. After a moment of eye contact with Yan Jun, he plopped back down.
Yan Jun checked the windows. “You guys didn’t close the ventilation window!”
Huo Sichen was lost for words. There was a ventilation window at the top corner of the floor-to-ceiling window that they hadn’t noticed. Cold wind had kept gushing into the room all night. Yan Jun closed the window for them, and the temperature indoors finally began to rise.
Zhang Yuwen came fully awake. Seeing Yan Jun lying beside him, playing with his phone, he asked quizzically, “Did you sleep here last night?”
“Yeah,” Yan Jun said, a smile quirking his lips.
Baffled, Zhang Yuwen’s mind flooded with questions. He couldn’t comprehend how the person sleeping beside him had gone from Huo Sichen to Yan Jun. Seeing Huo Sichen walk out of the bathroom after washing up only mystified him further. “The three of us slept together?”
he asked, bewildered.
“Yup,” said Yan Jun.
“Yeah,” Huo Sichen chimed in. “You slept in the middle.”
Zhang Yuwen didn’t know what to say.
Zheng Weize, meanwhile, was searching for Chang Jinxing room by room.
“He’s downstairs taking pictures,” Chen Hong told him. “Are you done packing? If so, let’s go.”
Everyone went down and gathered outside the mountaintop platform. “Wow!” they exclaimed in unison.
Fate had brought them together to see the first snow on Elephant Gorge—a rare experience. After all, no one knew when the first winter snow would fall, and to happen to stay overnight on the mountaintop on that very night was serendipitous.
Chang Jinxing had gotten up early, and he was on the platform, snapping away. As the sun rose, its golden rays cast a gilded glow over the mountain’s snow-covered pines. A few tourists were out enjoying the snow as well. Chang Jinxing found a perfect spot to set up his tripod and take a group photo of the guys standing in front of the railing.
A reporter from the TV station was there too, going around interviewing people and filming. When the cable car started running, the number of visitors swelled. Everyone finally managed to get tickets to return to the city.
The TV reporter interviewed them one by one. “Looking at this snowy landscape, are you happy?”
“No, I’m Yuwen.” Zhang Yuwen covered his face with Huo Sichen’s fanny pack, not wanting to be on camera.
After a night of heavy snow, they were all shivering and worn out as they got off the tour bus. It was just too cold.
“Are we getting breakfast?” Zheng Weize asked. “I’m so hungry!
Hey!” He shook Chang Jinxing, who kept sniffling and looking at his camera.
“Okay, okay,” Chang Jinxing said. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll pass,” said Huo Sichen. “I have to get home.”
Zhang Yuwen laughed. “Due for a scolding for staying out all night,huh?”
Without responding to him, Huo Sichen forced a smile and said his goodbyes.
“The temperature dropped so suddenly,” Chen Hong said. “It’s freezing out here.”
“I have to pick Xiao-Qi up,” said Yan Jun.
“I’ll go with you,” Zhang Yuwen said, surprising Yan Jun.
But Chen Hong had an idea. “Let’s all go together. We can grab breakfast on the way. It’s nearby anyway.”
They ate steaming hot porridge and fried dough sticks in a ground-level shop in the same building that housed the childcare center, and all of them felt much better after a hot meal. Then Yan Jun took them to the childcare center. Just as he’d said, there were a few children who had stayed overnight, with caregivers on rotating shifts looking after them.
When Xiao-Qi saw Yan Jun, she broke into aggrieved tears. Yan Jun was very busy, but it was rare that he had to leave Xiao-Qi in the childcare center overnight. She wasn’t even a year old, and already she seemed to understand some things.
The others’ hearts ached a little at this sight. But Yan Jun only had to pick her up, pat her, and say some comforting words, and Xiao-Qi stopped crying.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Yan Jun let Xiao-Qi lie on his shoulder, gently soothing her. “Papa was stranded on the mountain, but I’m here now.”
Xiao-Qi just hugged Yan Jun tightly around the neck and refused to let go.
“Stop taking photos already.” Yan Jun didn’t know what to do with Chang Jinxing. Even here he was trying to take a backlit narrative photo.
Under the beautiful sunlight of the early winter morning, the group strolled back to the warm and idyllic haven of No. 7 Riverbay Road. The moment they arrived, they each heaved a sigh of relief; they’d never realized just how wonderful a place home was.
“Home sweet home!” Zhang Yuwen said, heading directly to the kitchen to brew coffee.
“Oh, by the way, Yuwen.” Chang Jinxing set down his camera and put an affectionate arm around Zhang Yuwen’s shoulders. “I’ve got something good for you.”
Chang Jinxing transferred the money, and Zhang Yuwen received the rent in full, minus the deposit. Chang Jinxing’s luck had been good this past month; between his boyfriend-for-hire business and cash advances on his credit card, he’d gotten enough for the rent, although three months’ rent was already his limit.
“So, you finally remembered?” Zhang Yuwen asked.
Chang Jinxing grinned, still trying to act cute even though he’d gotten away with it. “Heh heh heh. You didn’t remind me, either. Want coffee? I’ll make it.” He took the coffee pot from Zhang Yuwen.
Zhang Yuwen glanced at Zheng Weize, who was returning to his room, and then back at Chang Jinxing, a warning look in his eyes. Chang Jinxing pretended not to notice and reached out to pinch Zhang Yuwen’s face, and Zhang Yuwen promptly retaliated.
“Careful!” cried Chang Jinxing, who was holding the pot of boiling water. “Hot water!”
“Don’t fool around if you want to be with him,” said Zhang Yuwen.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Chang Jinxing said. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“You can’t lead him on, either, even if there’s nothing between you.” Zheng Weize may not have had a great deal of emotional intelligence, but he was a kindhearted kid, and Zhang Yuwen didn’t want to see him get hurt. Moreover, everyone in the house was on harmonious terms, and Zhang Yuwen didn’t want that balance to be upset. “You hear me?” he told Chang Jinxing severely.
“Yes, sir!” Chang Jinxing replied loudly. He flashed Zhang Yuwen his handsome, innocent smile and looked him in the eye. “Then what if I want to date you, Yuwen-gege?”
Chang Jinxing was a few months younger than Zhang Yuwen, and the cute act he was playing left Zhang Yuwen defenseless against this flirt.
Zhang Yuwen put his hands in his pockets and kicked at him. “Shoo, shoo, shoo.”
He sat down and looked at Chang Jinxing’s camera. Having made coffee, Chang Jinxing came to stand behind the sofa and leaned over to touch the camera, moving his handsome face close to Zhang Yuwen’s.
“What a player.” Zhang Yuwen was long used to these tricks. “Stop flirting. Your moves don’t—work—on—me!”
Chang Jinxing burst out laughing. Zhang Yuwen put down the camera. Hearing some noise from Zheng Weize’s room and not wanting to cause any misunderstandings, he took the coffee and stood up. “Thanks.”
“I paid the rent,” Chang Jinxing said. “Are you gonna give me a little reward?”
“I’ll treat you to a meal sometime,” Zhang Yuwen said.
“Just the two of us, or with everyone?” Chang Jinxing asked. Zhang Yuwen ignored him and walked away.
Chang Jinxing could be both endearing and exasperating. He always behaved so suggestively, and he would flirt and run, but no one could get mad at him because of his good looks. Zhang Yuwen wasn’t bad himself, a solid seven out of ten if Chang Jinxing was an eight, so it wasn’t like Chang Jinxing was out of his league.
He had no interest in Chang Jinxing, but he longed to be in love again. It had all started when he thought of his ex out of the blue during the hike yesterday, and it just got worse when he slept in the same bed as Huo Sichen. It had been a long time since he last shared a bed with someone else. Then, after they got home, Chang Jinxing’s teasing seemed to awaken something inside Zhang Yuwen, and he suddenly wanted very much to be in a relationship.
He wanted someone to like, to pursue passionately and splurge on, to please and pamper without complaint. He wanted to be staring at his phone, waiting for messages that could come at any time, and to feel his spirits lift when they arrived. He wanted someone who would only have to say the word, and he would drop everything just to be with him.
He wanted to make love anywhere and everywhere, just like the time five years ago when he and his ex were head over heels for each other. He had banged his ex in the fire escape of the school building one spring night like they were two animals in heat. That was a sublime experience.
Zhang Yuwen heard Chang Jinxing leave again, so he took his laptop and went to the dining room to continue generating trash. But between the series of blows he’d been dealt and his current restlessness, he couldn’t get a single word onto the page. Writing such bland words every day made Zhang Yuwen feel like a programmer clocking in on time, day in and day out, to create bugs. Flipping through his earlier chapters, he began to doubt himself. What kind of nonsense was this? It was like the shitty pile of legacy code in the Google–Android codebase.
He finally shut his laptop, deciding to give up.
“Hong-ge, I want to date,” Zhang Yuwen said suddenly, startling Chen Hong and interrupting his lunch.
Thinking Zhang Yuwen had taken a fancy to him, Chen Hong was flattered. “What? You…you wanna…” Zhang Yuwen ate his lunch, finding everything flavorless. His fledgling career was showing no progress either. Life was like a pool of stagnant water; he was repeating the same few things day after day. When he was eighty, he’d be buried with that pile of unfinished trash. Just the thought of it made him despair.
“Do you know anyone you can introduce me to?” Zhang Yuwen asked.
“Oh…” Comprehension dawned on Chen Hong. He sat at the dining table, looking suspiciously at Zhang Yuwen, who raised an inquiring eyebrow in return. Chen Hong couldn’t resist teasing him. “You couldn’t have fallen for that straight guy, could you?”
“Absolutely not!” Zhang Yuwen said reflexively.
When he met Chen Hong’s eyes, though, something seemed to occur to him. It was a barely perceptible thought, one that had been floating around in his mind ever since he met Huo Sichen. Like a thread from a spiderweb fluttering in the wind, it was hard to spot.
“Maybe a little,” Zhang Yuwen admitted reluctantly.
Chen Hong was stunned by his honesty but managed to maintain a nonchalant expression. “I knew it.”
Zhang Yuwen still hadn’t quite figured out his feelings yet— whether he wanted to fall in love or if he’d already fallen for a specific person. “You know anyone suitable?” he asked. “You have a lot of friends, right?” Of his four roommates, he knew Chen Hong had to have the most contacts.
“I’ll look around for you.”
“If I get together with someone you recommend, I’ll waive your rent for a month.”
Chen Hong sat bolt upright. He got up and hurried back to his room, grabbed a notebook, and returned with it to sit at attention. He had to take this seriously. “What’s your type?”
“No specific type,” Zhang Yuwen said. “Maybe tall and thin. Better if he’s a bottom, but I don’t mind if a vers wants to try switching. Hm… This time around, I want someone a little more mature. I don’t mind if the top is the younger one.”
“Oh, so you like a younger top? How about a golden retriever guy?
The cute, innocent sweetheart type?”
“I’m not looking for someone to top me!” Zhang Yuwen corrected.
“I’m the top! I’m the younger one!”
“Oh, I see,” said Chen Hong. “So you want a mature guy.”
“Yeah, guys who are mature are less likely to pick quarrels. Not too mature, though. I don’t want anyone over forty. I’m looking for a spouse, not a sugar daddy. I’m all good as long as he has a stable job.”
“Then Chang Jinxing is out. I heard he doesn’t have a regular job.”
“No roommates! What are you thinking?”
“Okay, then I’ll voluntarily withdraw from the competition too,” Chen Hong said. Zhang Yuwen blinked blankly at him. “What do you like for appearance? Like, any celebrity comparison?”
“Uh…” Zhang Yuwen had seen his fair share of celebrities, and some of them had faces that made him weak in the knees. Chen Hong posed a good question, though. What kind of guy did he like?
All that came to mind was his ex’s gentle gaze, which was a bit reminiscent of his grandmother’s. Perhaps because of his family background, Zhang Yuwen was inclined to choose a partner who shared some similarities with his maternal grandparents. After a simple reorganization of his thoughts, Zhang Yuwen realized the guys he liked fell into two broad categories: the gentle, caring, and understanding bottom, and the steadfast, optimistic, and assertive top.
The gentleness and thoughtfulness came from his grandmother, qualities that Zhang Yuwen also found in his ex. His ex had been thoughtful and understanding, at least when they first got together. On the other hand, steadfastness, shouldering family responsibilities, and giving everyone a sense of security were all qualities that his grandfather had. He was a doctor and a former surgeon. His hands were steady, and his emotions rarely fluctuated. He was like a mountain: reassuring and reliable. His grandfather often smiled, and he was optimistic about life.
Zhang Yuwen didn’t explain that to Chen Hong, though. He just listed some qualities briefly. “A little gentler…and steady… Cancer.
Right. I like Cancers.”
“Okay, I got you,” Chen Hong said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t consider one of us? Yan Jun’s a Cancer.”
“If you suggest that again, the matchmaking fee will be halved.”
Chen Hong got to his feet and left.