Chapter 116 #2
“Listen.” Jiang Cheng lifted his butt and slammed it down a few times. The bed creaked. “Hear that?”
“It’s been like that since before you left,” Gu Fei said. “Why don’t you reflect on how we were going at it all day and all night back then?”
“Before I left?” Jiang Cheng thought about it and laughed. “Shit, really? I didn’t notice.”
“Want some food?” Gu Fei picked up his phone. “I can order takeout for you.”
“They deliver this late?” Jiang Cheng asked. “Isn’t it midnight already?”
“Not eleven o’clock yet. A few places are still open for delivery. What do you want to eat?”
“Let’s see…” Jiang Cheng rolled over in bed and closed his eyes as he conjured up images. “Grilled wings. The kind with lots and lots of cumin.”
“Sure.” Gu Fei nodded.
***
The days of hanging out with the boyfriend were pure bliss—they could do as they pleased, making love, then eating, then sleeping. It was wanton yet calming. Jiang Cheng didn’t even feel anxious when he saw the photos Zhao Ke posted to his WeChat moments when he was studying at the library.
Normally, whenever one of the other guys went to the library, he’d feel as though he was wasting his youth away if he didn’t go too. But right now, youth was spending time with his boyfriend.
Just as he had promised, Gu Fei had planned each day of their break very well.
The overarching theme, of course, was lovemaking, followed by eating and drinking.
There wasn’t really anything fun to do in this place, so aside from eating meat pies at Wang Xu’s place and visiting Lao-Xu and Lao-Lu, all other fun activities pretty much merged into the lovemaking.
Wang Xu had lost weight all right, and his mom was quite broken up about it.
“I really didn’t lose weight from all the studying.” Wang Xu closed the door of the private room and set a basket of meat pies on the table, then ladled some lamb soup into a bowl for each of them. “I just pined it all away.”
“Why don’t you try the studying thing on the side? It won’t take up too much time, and it’ll impress Yi Jing to boot,” Jiang Cheng said, and took a big bite of the meat pie.
“That won’t necessarily impress her.” Skeptical, Wang Xu pointed at Gu Fei. “Take him, for example—we’re about the same, right? So how did he impress you, huh?”
Neither Gu Fei nor Jiang Cheng answered. They stared back at him silently and in unison as they ate.
“What?” Wang Xu was still holding a meat pie in his hand, but he didn’t dare to take a bite. Cautiously, he asked, “Am I wrong?”
“The fundamental difference between you two is not your grades. If you want to bridge this gap, you’ll have to be a lot more ruthless with yourself , ” Jiang Cheng said unhurriedly. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who Yi Jing used to like…”
“Okay, okay!” Wang Xu slammed on the table and forcibly cut him off. “I got it already. Shush.”
Gu Fei just smiled.
“Should we ask Yi Jing to hang out and let off some steam?” Jiang Cheng wondered. “It’s been a while since I saw her.”
“She won’t come out, especially with you here,” Wang Xu sighed. “Frankly, if it wasn’t for you, she might not have pushed herself so hard. She never got first place again after you arrived here.”
Jiang Cheng chewed on the pie in silence.
“There’s still a long way to go,” said Gu Fei. “She might burn out again if she’s already putting so much pressure on herself now.”
“This time around is a little better,” Wang Xu said. “She’s learned from experience. I think it’s more that she just doesn’t want to see Jiang Cheng—she’s probably a little embarrassed. She’ll be fine once she gets into a good school.”
“Then can you pass on a message for me?” Jiang Cheng asked. “Tell her I’m rooting for her, and that I’ll take her out to eat once she gets there.”
“Sure!” Wang Xu nodded, then continued to look at him expectantly.
“I’ll take both of you out to eat,” Jiang Cheng amended.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Wang Xu nodded again happily.
***
Visiting the teachers, attending a Class Eight gathering, and listening to everyone excitedly relaying their latest life updates—this series of activities took up a whole day of their weeklong holiday. Jiang Cheng somewhat lamented the loss of this day’s time, but he enjoyed himself nonetheless.
A number of people showed up for the class gathering. Almost everyone was present, aside from the ones who’d gone away for school and wanted to use the break to do some traveling. It was as Lao-Xu said—after the farewell dinner, it would be hard to get everybody together in one place again.
Jiang Cheng had always had trouble recognizing everyone, and now, two months later, he suddenly felt as if there were a few more unfamiliar faces in the room.
He looked at the smiles all around him. Now that he’d embarked on his new life, he felt an affectionate familiarity toward these people he’d passed by during the disorienting eighteenth year of his life.
***
Months could slip by in an instant, never mind a mere handful of days; that was the nature of time. About halfway through a vacation was when people started feeling anxious.
After the gathering with their teachers and classmates, Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei didn’t really go out again. They talked, watched TV, or found movies to watch in bed together.
Gu Fei still ate breakfast with Gu Miao every morning, and he would go home to hang out with her every other evening, only coming back to the apartment after she went to sleep.
Jiang Cheng didn’t go with him back home or to the store again.
He was a little hurt by Gu Miao’s reaction, but at the same time, he hurt for her.
If Gu Miao needed to protect herself, then he would let her be.
After all, there were no immediate solutions that would convince her to let down her guard.
Meanwhile, Gu Fei planned to take Gu Miao back to that therapy class. Jiang Cheng agreed that this was the only viable option for the time being.
Gu Fei had fewer courses to attend at his school, and he didn’t need to mind the store anymore, so time wasn’t an issue. Only… Gu Fei never mentioned it, but Jiang Cheng knew the cost was steep. It would be a burden for an ordinary working family to bear, never mind Gu Fei, who was only a student.
Jiang Cheng’s focus swiftly shifted from Gu Miao’s reaction to the cost of the therapy class. He took stock of his finances: If he started tutoring as soon as he returned, how much money could he save up by Lunar New Year?
“Let’s go out later.” Gu Fei interrupted his train of thought. “I want to buy something warm for you to wear.”
“Hm?” Jiang Cheng looked at him. “I have clothes.”
“I know you do. These days, clothes don’t really fall apart with wear, either. The ones you have will probably last you all the way until graduation,” said Gu Fei. “I just want to buy you something, that’s all.”
“Sure.” Jiang Cheng laughed. “Get me a down jacket, then. I’ll wear it all winter.”
“All right, let’s go.”
“Let’s get two, couples’ style.” Jiang Cheng got out of bed and pushed Gu Fei up to the full-length mirror so they were standing side by side. “What do you think?”
Gu Fei nodded. “Sure.”
Jiang Cheng took out his phone and snapped a photo of their reflection in the mirror. The photos he’d taken in the last few days were practically maxing out his phone storage.
Since he got packed up and shipped to this place, Jiang Cheng had only gone clothes shopping once. It was when he’d jumped out of Li Baoguo’s window without a jacket and had to buy one the next day.
All this time, he’d never bought more clothes. He was too lazy to make the trip, and he thought the clothes in this town looked ugly.
But now, with Gu Fei taking him around the mall, he suddenly thought that it was all acceptable. No matter how ugly any particular piece of clothing was, it would still be something his boyfriend bought him—and it’d be part of a matching pair.
Even if it looked bad, at least they would look bad together.
Still, Gu Fei’s taste was on point. There were a few jackets that didn’t look like much on the rack but made a much better impact when they tried them on.
In the end, they picked out a gray down jacket with no extra embellishments that looked a little dull on the hanger, but turned out quite flattering on them. More importantly, it made their legs look long—a very important point of merit in Jiang Cheng’s eyes.
He immediately tutted when he took a look at the price tag, though. “So expensive.”
“Not like it’s an everyday purchase,” said Gu Fei. “But it’s something you can wear every day. It can last three years no problem, and if you spread out the cost per day…”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Jiang Cheng laughed. “This one it is.”
By the time they brought the new clothes back to the apartment, he suddenly felt a little glum again. As he watched Gu Fei pack the suitcase for him, filling it with cold weather clothes, he didn’t even feel like talking anymore. He sat there in silence, staring at Gu Fei’s back and spacing out.
What the hell kind of vacation was this? It was over before it had even started.
After this, there would be no more vacations until Lunar New Year. October, November, December, January…
When is Lunar New Year this year?
When does winter break start?
“Don’t worry about getting up tomorrow morning. I’ll wake you when it’s time,” Gu Fei said as he flattened the clothes in the suitcase. “I’ll bring breakfast too, after I go home to check on Gu Miao. What do you want to eat?”
“Mm.”
Gu Fei turned and glanced at him. “I’m asking you—what do you want to eat for breakfast?”
Jiang Cheng nodded. “Mm.”
“Have I fucked your brains out?” Gu Fei asked.
“Ah.” Jiang Cheng nodded again.
“Jiang Cheng!” Gu Fei raised his voice.
“Hey!” Jiang Cheng was so startled he hopped a little from his perch on the edge of the bed. He looked up at Gu Fei and glared. “What?!”
“What do you want to eat for breakfast tomorrow?” Gu Fei repeated with a smile.
Jiang Cheng thought about it briefly. “Lamb vermicelli.”
“Sure, I’ll go get the takeout.” Gu Fei reached out and stroked Jiang Cheng’s leg. “It’s only a few months—not that long at all. We only need to turn on the phone to see each other.”
“Mm.” Jiang Cheng gave him a strained smile.
That’s right. Only a few months.
It’s only a few months.
If they were to go by months, he and Gu Fei had only been together for “a few months” several times over, but it already felt like forever. And the fact that they’d been together for so long was the whole reason he couldn’t bear even a moment of separation.
So by that logic, a few months…was a very long time.
Almost as if by habit, the kind of habit formed after only a couple of times, neither of them was able to fall asleep the night before Jiang Cheng’s departure.
There were only a few hours left; it would be a waste to sleep through it.
If they kept their eyes open the whole time, even without speaking, they would at least know the other person was right by their side.
They held hands through the night, arm pressed against arm, close enough that each could hold the other just by rolling to one side.
When the sun came up, the alarm on Gu Fei’s phone sounded.
Chirp.
Jiang Cheng burst out laughing. “What’s the point of an alarm like that?”
“What’s important is that I can hear it,” said Gu Fei. “I was mostly concerned about waking you. Who knew you’d stay up all night?”
“How did you expect me to sleep?” Jiang Cheng rolled over, put his arms around Gu Fei, and rubbed against him. “Are you going home now?”
“Yeah,” Gu Fei said. “You should sleep for a bit. It’ll take about half an hour for me to go home and then go get the lamb vermicelli. I’ll wake you when I’m back.”
“I’ll go with you.” Jiang Cheng sat up in bed.
“Huh?” Gu Fei blinked.
“Er-Miao doesn’t want to see me, so I won’t go up. I’ll just wait for you downstairs,” Jiang Cheng said. “Then we can go eat vermicelli together. No need to get takeout.”
“…All right.” Gu Fei leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
In the hours before Jiang Cheng was due to board the train, he kept track of practically every second. Compared to when he left for registration the last time, this brief reunion only made the parting even harder.
It was the same for Gu Fei. After spending some time with Gu Miao through breakfast, he practically bolted down the stairs. As he dashed out of the stairwell, he tripped and stumbled the rest of the way onto the sidewalk until Jiang Cheng leaped forward to stop him.
“Holy shit,” Gu Fei giggled. “I’ve never embarrassed myself like this in my life. If you hadn’t stopped me, I probably would’ve rolled right into the street and fallen over.”
Jiang Cheng had been laughing from the moment Gu Fei tripped; by now, his cheeks were sore. “And to think that this is the Young Tyrant of the Steelworks.”
“All right, c’mon,” Gu Fei said, laughing too. “Let’s go get some vermicelli.”
The noodles were the same exorbitant price as last time. Jiang Cheng paid for it and added five yuan’s worth of extra lamb for each of them.
“I feel like not even eight hundred yuan of vermicelli can satisfy my wrath.” Jiang Cheng glowered as he ate. “One of these days, I’m gonna take over this place and turn it into a meat pie shop!”
“You have my full support.” Gu Fei gave him a thumbs-up.
After breakfast, they went back and retrieved Jiang Cheng’s suitcase, then took a taxi to the train station. They timed their arrival almost down to the minute, all to avoid a tearful goodbye at the gate.
“I’m just going to head right in,” Jiang Cheng said. “You should go home and sleep. I’ll be sleeping on the train.”
“Mm.” Gu Fei nodded. “Text me when you get there.”
They were more practiced this time around than the last time they’d said goodbye. But unlike when he sent Gu Fei off at the station before, Jiang Cheng didn’t mention not turning back again—he simply walked backward through the gate.
Through the gate. Onto the train. Sit down.
Text Gu Fei.
Jiang Cheng tried hard to compose himself. He needed to get used to this kind of reunion and parting, and quickly. It was a scene that would play out over and over again for the foreseeable future.
As the train started moving, he got a message from Pan Zhi.
- the train’s leaving now, right?
- it just did, excellent timing
- no shit, I’m THE most civil person, and I never come in the way of lovers saying their goodbyes. I’ll pick you up later
- nothing to do today huh?
- Gramps! school starts tomorrow! if we don’t see each other today, I feel like you really will keep me away until New Year’s!
Jiang Cheng laughed out loud at his phone.
- I won’t. can I reserve you for Sunday morning? come to the hospital with me
- to abort the baby?
- shut up, I want to consult a psychiatrist about Gu Miao’s condition
- sure, I got time. what a model boyfriend you are