DCISBS chapter 82

The night market was bustling, with all sorts of food stalls and game booths lined up in a row. Xie Quan was even more excited than Lu Nanyang, buying one thing from every stall from south to north.

Watching Xie Quan — who had just come off work, neat and tidy in a crisp shirt — holding starch sausage and a spiral potato in his left hand, and tofu puffs and takoyaki in his right, Lu Nanyang couldn’t stop laughing beside him.

“What?” Xie Quan squinted at him.

“I’m just saying, you have no idea how much gutter oil you’re about to eat tonight,” Lu Nanyang said with a laugh.

“Life is meant to be enjoyed. The one person in the world you should never wrong is yourself,” Xie Quan said, pointing at Lu Nanyang with the sausage. “You should learn from my life philosophy.”

“Learn how to eat gutter oil?” Lu Nanyang leaned over and took a bite out of the sausage in Xie Quan’s hand.

The flavor exploded in his mouth — crispy on the outside, soft on the inside — bringing a cheap but deeply satisfying taste.

“Alright, just one bite!” Xie Quan quickly pulled his hand back and glared at Lu Nanyang. “If you want more, go buy it yourself.”

Ever since regaining his sense of taste, Xie Quan’s appetite had increased. He slowly but surely finished off all the snacks he bought.

Not far away was a shooting booth. The owner had clearly invested a lot — the prizes on display were impressive and had drawn in a lot of kids. But despite the crowd, no one had won anything yet.

The owner, clearly smug, shouted loudly, “Shoot the balloons! Shoot the balloons! Hit half and get a puzzle, hit eight and win a desk lamp!”

Noticing Xie Quan’s attention drifting toward the booth, Lu Nanyang asked, “Interested?”

“Since we’re already here, why not play?” Xie Quan pulled Lu Nanyang over to the booth. “Boss, one round please.”

Lu Nanyang was caught off guard and tugged forward. The soft glow of the streetlights fell across Xie Quan’s face, highlighting his excited expression and the upward curve of his lips.

Lu Nanyang found it hard to believe — Xie Quan was unexpectedly childlike today. For the first time, he truly felt that Xie Quan, just like him, was also just a college student who hadn’t yet graduated.

Usually, Xie Quan was too mature, too adept at handling social rules, making people forget his actual age.

Before college, Lu Nanyang had served in the army for two years — and Xie Quan was actually a year younger than him.

How much must a person have carried on their shoulders to seem so unlike their age?

And how much trust must he have in someone to show such a vulnerable, hidden side of himself?

Lu Nanyang couldn’t help but lace their fingers together, feeling the warmth seep through his skin.

Xie Quan had already picked up the gun and turned his head with a sigh. “If you keep holding me like that, how am I supposed to aim?”

So Lu Nanyang let go of his hand and quietly slipped his arm inside Xie Quan’s jacket, wrapping it around his waist. “This way, you can still shoot, right?”

From a distance, the movement might not be noticeable, but if someone looked closely, it was far more intimate than just holding hands.

Still, Xie Quan didn’t stop him — he just said softly, “So clingy.”

Lu Nanyang laughed quietly, like a pleased puppy, and gave Xie Quan’s waist a gentle squeeze.

The booth owner was busy entertaining other kids and hadn’t noticed the interaction until Xie Quan started shooting.

The balloons popped one after another.

One, two, three, four, five…

Xie Quan quickly drew the attention of all the kids nearby. They gathered around, cheering every time a balloon burst.

“Amazing, amazing!” the booth owner clapped. “First try and you’ve already won the puzzle. Want to go again?”

Xie Quan picked up the puzzle and placed it at his feet, giving an innocent smile. “Sure.”

He reloaded. Aimed. Fired.

One, two, three, four…

The children gasped and cheered louder with each shot. The owner’s face grew more and more sour.

Xie Quan shook out his slightly sore hand.

Five, six, seven, eight.

The kids around them were screaming in excitement, acting like they had won themselves. One even ran to the owner and shouted, “He hit eight! Eight!”

“What’s the prize for eight?!”

“The lamp! The lamp!”

The owner reluctantly grabbed the lamp from the shelf.

“Excuse me, do you have another color?” Xie Quan asked politely. “White gets dirty easily — I prefer blue.”

“…” The owner’s face darkened, but he swapped the color and forced a smile. “This gun’s pretty heavy. You must be tired after two rounds. Why don’t you take a break and let your friend have a try?”

Xie Quan glanced at Lu Nanyang — who was clinging to him like a big puppy — then turned back to the owner with a smile. “Are you sure?”

The owner was confused but nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you’re here together. Let your friend have a couple tries too!”

Xie Quan lowered his head and smiled faintly, pushing the gun toward Lu Nanyang. “Alright, then I’ll take a break.”

Lu Nanyang took the gun, weighed it in his hands, then looked through the scope a couple of times. He lazily narrowed his eyes and looked at the shop owner. “What prize do I get if I hit all ten targets?”

The shop owner quickly patted the giant teddy bear behind him, about as tall as a person, and said confidently, “If you hit all ten shots, you can take this treasure of my shop! Let me tell you, ever since I opened, no one’s ever managed to take it!”

…

Lu Nanyang walked down the street carrying the giant teddy bear that was almost the same height as him, drawing everyone’s attention from south to north.

A few people even recognized his and Xie Quan’s faces and began discussing them in surprise.

The smile on Xie Quan’s lips hadn’t faded at all. “That shop owner’s expression just now was hilarious—he was staring at you like a fool, completely stunned.”

“Shops like that usually just stuff something heavy into the gun, make the bullets lighter, and blow the balloons up smaller,” Lu Nanyang said. “It can fool most people, but not a pro. I could tell from the two rounds you fired. I just adjusted the angle a little when it was my turn.”

Xie Quan’s eyes lifted at the corners, and the curve of his lips was soft. “Lu Nanyang, you’re so sexy.”

Caught off guard by his boyfriend’s sudden compliment, Lu Nanyang blushed, coughed, and awkwardly looked away.

Xie Quan reached out and secretly hooked Lu Nanyang’s pinky finger. Hidden behind the giant bear, no one could notice the tiny motion in the dark.

Lu Nanyang’s heart skipped a beat—then without hesitation, he intertwined their fingers.

He thought of many words to describe Xie Quan tonight.

Pure, sincere, straightforward, childlike… but none of them felt quite right.

Those words couldn’t fully explain why he was so moved now—like cheese slowly melting in an oven, melting into the warmth that was Xie Quan.

Now he had the answer. The purity in Xie Quan’s eyes, the honest and unreserved expression, the way he held his hand so tightly on the edge of the cliff without a second thought—

There was a perfect word to describe it: bravery.

His lover, his boyfriend, his Xie Quan—like a flower growing in the mud, blooming courageously toward him despite all the scars and wounds.

It was only at this moment that Lu Nanyang realized—for this flower to bloom, he was willing to give everything.

Just as they were about to reach the end of the night market, Lu Nanyang’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a little girl crying.

A girl, around three or four years old, was sitting on the ground bawling. What appeared to be her mother held her hand helplessly. “Stop crying, stop crying. I’ll buy you a teddy bear when we get home, okay? The one you saw through the shop window last time…”

The girl cried even harder, shaking off her mother’s hand. “Nooo… I want that one, I want that one!”

Her mother was starting to look frustrated. “That big one was already taken by that big brother, what can I do? Stop crying, you’re embarrassing me!”

The girl plopped down on the ground and threw a full tantrum, flailing her arms and stomping her feet, crying heartbreakingly. “I want the big teddy bear! Big teddy bear! Waaaah…”

Lu Nanyang paused, changed his mind, and walked toward the little girl.

His face was hidden behind the giant bear, and the girl stared blankly as it walked toward her, forgetting to cry.

Lu Nanyang squatted down in front of her, peeked out from behind the bear, and smiled. “Gege will give you the bear, so don’t cry anymore, okay? Go home with Mommy like a good girl, alright?”

The girl’s mother clearly recognized Lu Nanyang and was shocked, covering her mouth to stifle a gasp. She looked like she wanted to pull her daughter away from the infamous playboy, but hesitated—because the boy in front of her looked clean, tidy, and warm, nothing like the scandalous image plastered all over the internet.

Maybe she had mistaken him for someone else?

The little girl stared at the bear, then at Lu Nanyang, and suddenly broke into a smile through her tears. “Really?”

“Really.” Lu Nanyang shook the bear in front of her. “But you have to promise me—you can’t cry and throw tantrums on the street anymore. Your mommy works hard to take care of you every day. When you get home, remember to thank her, okay?”

The girl wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded seriously. “Okay! Thank you, gege!”

Lu Nanyang smiled and stood up, handing the teddy bear to the mother. “Here you go. It’s a bit heavy—hold it carefully.”

The mother was shocked. “You really want to give it to us?”

“Yeah, I don’t really have a use for it,” Lu Nanyang said with a smile. “If your daughter loves it this much, doesn’t that make it even more worthwhile?”

The mother and daughter left with the bear, thanking him repeatedly. The girl held her mother’s hand and kept turning back to wave at Lu Nanyang long after they walked away.

Xie Quan leaned against a streetlamp and had watched the whole scene. Only when Lu Nanyang turned back and gave him an apologetic smile did he slowly speak up.

“Only an idiot like you would give away such a glorious trophy.”

“Sorry, no more bear for you.” Lu Nanyang hugged him, rubbing his chin quickly against Xie Quan’s neck. “But I have something else for you.”

“Hmm?” Xie Quan lowered his head.

Lu Nanyang fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small protective charm.

“Remember I told you, when I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the temple near our house?” Lu Nanyang said. “This was something we got there. It has my family name stitched on it.”

Xie Quan stared in shock at the small cloth charm. A tiny red “谢” (Xie) character was embroidered on it.

“No way… this is too precious, you can’t just—” Xie Quan stumbled over his words.

“It protected me for a long time. Now, I want it to protect you.” Lu Nanyang placed the charm in Xie Quan’s palm and closed his fingers around it. “Xie Quan, I promise you, I’ll never say those things again. From now on, you and I—we’re going to stay together, for real.”