Chapter 14.5 #2
“Not exactly. I trained in high jump for a couple of years, but then my father passed away. So instead of going to university, I followed in my brother’s footsteps and joined the workforce,” Yan Jun explained. Zhang Yuwen nodded. “What about you? You’ve never mentioned your parents.”
“They’re divorced, and they have their own families now. My grandparents raised me, but they passed away while I was still in school.”
Yan Jun hummed in acknowledgment and picked out some food for Zhang Yuwen, who ate it.
“What did your grandparents do?” Yan Jun asked.
“They were doctors.”
“Sorry, should I not have—”
“No, no,” Zhang Yuwen said, amused. “I’ve already eaten it, see? Let me get you some vegetables.”
“I know children from doctor families are…” Yan Jun trailed off.
“Not me,” Zhang Yuwen assured him. Zhang Yuwen knew what Yan Jun wanted to say.
It was true he rarely ate from someone else’s bowl; he grew up in a household fastidious about cleanliness, after all, and they never ate food that had been in contact with someone else’s utensils.
Teasingly, Zhang Yuwen said, “The hot pot would have killed the germs anyway, and prohibiting the sharing of food has no real significance other than psychological reassurance.”
Yan Jun laughed, with a look on his face like a shy high schooler’s.
“No wonder you and Chen Hong have so much to talk about,” Zhang Yuwen added.
“Yeah.” Yan Jun reverted to his usual serious expression. “He’s a jock too, so we get along well.”
That wasn’t all: Another thing Yan Jun and Chen Hong had in common was that they were more mature than the others, having firsthand experience of the hardship of making a living in this society.
They could act as each other’s dumping ground for negative energy, and also encourage each other from time to time.
“I guess I must come across as a boring person,” Yan Jun said.
Huo Sichen came over, and they both looked up at him. “I’m done eating,” he told them. “I’ll go back to my room first.”
Zhang Yuwen was a little embarrassed about having left Huo Sichen to eat alone. “I’m almost done too.”
“No, no,” Huo Sichen said hurriedly. “It’s fine. Take your time.” Yan Jun waved goodbye to him, and Huo Sichen patted them both on the shoulders before leaving.
“You just don’t like to talk,” Zhang Yuwen said, picking up the thread of their conversation. “But you’re a very gentle person once people get to know you better.”
“I’m boring. You don’t need to reassure me.”
Zhang Yuwen could tell that Yan Jun wanted to fit in with them, to joke around without holding back and burst into hearty laughter with everyone else, but he just couldn’t find the right way into the conversation.
Talking about work was dull and wouldn’t resonate with anyone, and Xiao-Qi…
Well, it would be better not to overdo it.
Everyone liked Xiao-Qi, but they didn’t necessarily want to listen to Yan Jun monologue about the art of parenting.
Yan Jun rarely paid attention to the pop culture the rest of them were into, and when it came to joking, he just didn’t have Zhang Yuwen’s comedic timing, and things sometimes ended in awkward silence.
But Zhang Yuwen could tell from the flip Yan Jun did earlier that he wanted to have fun with them.
“You’re very cool,” Zhang Yuwen said softly. “You know? Cool guys are very attractive. When I was a kid, I tried to act cool by not talking for several days…”
“And?”
“And then I was taken to the psychiatric ward for evaluation and ended up getting a beating.”
Yan Jun didn’t quite know what to say.
“Let’s go see the snow,” Zhang Yuwen suggested.
Having eaten their fill, they put on their jackets and went to the platform at the top of the mountain to take in the snowy view. Outside, the cold wind howled. It was really freezing out there.
“Are you cold?” Yan Jun asked.
Zhang Yuwen waved his hand. In truth, he was shivering from the chill, but it was bearable. Sleet swirled in the sky, the snowflakes yet to fully form. At the side of the platform was a wide—and slippery—marble surface.
A thin layer of ice had formed on the ground. “You can ice skate here,” Zhang Yuwen said. He stepped onto it and made a skating motion, and Yan Jun followed close behind him. “Be careful,” Zhang Yuwen said, but just as the words left his mouth, he slipped.
Yan Jun reached out to pull him up, but he was dragged down with Zhang Yuwen instead. Panicking, Zhang Yuwen tried to get up, and he ended up tripping Yan Jun a second time in the process.
The others came outside. “Are you guys wrestling?” Zheng Weize asked.
“Stop taking photos!” Zhang Yuwen was mortified with all the visitors watching him, yet there Chang Jinxing was, snapping away.
“Why do you always have your camera?” asked Yan Jun.
“I thought it was Huo Sichen,” Chen Hong said from his position off to the side.
Everyone was taking in the sorry sight they made, but no one came over to help. “Give us a hand, here!” Zhang Yuwen pleaded.
At last, Yan Jun had almost made it to the steps… Then he slipped into a split, startling everyone for a moment. Then they broke into applause. Yan Jun was speechless.
“Wow!” Zhang Yuwen blurted out. “You’re so flexible!”
Finally, reaching the edge of the ice, Yan Jun said, “Let’s go back! It’s too slippery here.” He half carried, half dragged Zhang Yuwen to safety.
With his pants and jacket soaked through, Zhang Yuwen fled to his room. He slipped and almost fell again as he went, eliciting another round of laughter.
Back in the room, the extra blanket had already been delivered, and Huo Sichen was on a call. He glanced at Zhang Yuwen, who made a beeline for the bathroom to take a shower. Vaguely, Zhang Yuwen heard Huo Sichen saying, “The cable car won’t resume operation until tomorrow morning… Yeah.”
Probably explaining where he is to his girlfriend, Zhang Yuwen thought as he showered. Brrrr, the water’s freezing!
It was so cold, in fact, that his teeth were chattering when he got out of the shower. He put his wet pants, jacket, and T-shirt on the miserable heater, which now had to shoulder more than it could take. Then he got into bed, wrapped himself in his blanket, and continued shivering.
Huo Sichen disconnected the call. Zhang Yuwen blurted out, “It’s really too cold!”
“Put this on.” Huo Sichen removed his jacket and handed it to him, before going to take a shower of his own.
“No, no. No need…” Zhang Yuwen said. “Oh, well, if you insist. This feels so much better.”
He was naked apart from his underwear, but the jacket still retained some of Huo Sichen’s body heat, which was better than nothing and gave him some warmth in the freezing night. It even smelled a little like Huo Sichen.
The winter night was so frigid that even the straight guy couldn’t help but wail. “Brrrr! So cold!”
After his shower, Huo Sichen put on a T-shirt, which was one layer more than what Zhang Yuwen was wearing. He tossed his pants aside and, just as Zhang Yuwen had done earlier, jumped into bed.
Zhang Yuwen was just starting to feel warm and, fearing that Huo Sichen would fight him for his blanket, he quickly motioned for Huo Sichen to use his own. “That blanket’s yours!”
They huddled under their respective blankets and traded blank looks.
Meanwhile, in another room, the actual sports jocks were very calm. Chen Hong had showered and was watching TV when Yan Jun came over, drying his hair.
“Aren’t you going to video call Xiao-Qi?” Chen Hong asked.
“I did,” Yan Jun said. “She’s in bed already.” Then he sat on the bed to watch TV with Chen Hong.
Chen Hong offered him the remote control.
Yan Jun took it and surfed through a few channels before settling on a dating show.
It was the kind of wacky entertainment show meant purely for killing time, and it was pretty attention-grabbing, so they each wrapped themselves in a blanket and leaned back against the headboard to watch.
In the third room, Zheng Weize had his eyes on Chang Jinxing’s phone, which was plugged into the charger and kept lighting up with notification alerts. He wanted to ask who kept messaging him, but it wasn’t his place. Instead, he said, “Do you have something important going on?”
“Nah, just friends,” Chang Jinxing said dismissively.
“Oh?”
Zheng Weize tried to peek at his phone out of curiosity, but Chang Jinxing closed the chat screen, placed the phone on the bedside table, and patted him on the head. “Aren’t you going to sleep? I thought you were tired.”
Chang Jinxing had recently found a way to make money—by working as a personal photographer and acting as a temporary boyfriend for others online.
In other words, still playing the eunuch.
He rented himself out to girls, going shopping with them, carrying their bags, dining and chatting with them, and even helping them scout for places to take pretty photos they could post on social media.
He earned a daily fee, and if he served them well, they’d even tip him.
Apart from kissing and sex, Chang Jinxing would fulfill almost any of their requests, although, to avoid gossip, he drew the line at appearing in their photos.
Occasionally, he would hold their hands as a little treat.
This business brought him quick cash, and it was easier than taking on a job from the studio.
And he was less likely to be humiliated out of left field, too.
After all, he was attractive, and even if customers had complaints about him, they tended to let it slide because of his good looks.
He had repeat customers, too. One girl had purchased his services three times in a row, hoping to flirt with him and start a relationship.
It couldn’t be helped; he was too handsome. People tripped over themselves to fork out money for that face.