HS Chapter 52

They visited the Notre-Dame de Paris which was under repair, then the Louvre to admire treasures steeped in history, strolled down the world-famous Champs-Élysées, and visited the Arc de Triomphe built to commemorate the founder of the First French Empire…

In Ye Wenyu’s earlier plans, he had always intended to visit France.

But the exact timing kept getting pushed further down in his packed schedule. He didn’t expect Yan Chen to be so decisive, saying they’d go, and just like that, they went. Even though the trip was short, it couldn’t dampen the joy of a long-cherished dream coming true.

Different environments foster different customs and cultures, and the cultural differences were massive. Many aspects were a world apart from those in China.

They could be compared, but there was no need to rank them.

Right now, everything felt overwhelmingly fresh to him. Even a street sign marked with north and south, a strangely shaped tile on the ground, or an unfamiliar species of street tree could spark his interest.

Ye Wenyu finished watching a street band performance while holding Classmate Xiao Yan’s hand. The square was full of people: children blowing soap bubbles, young couples strolling idly, flower vendors and sellers of colorful spinning tops, and elderly men surrounded by pigeons feeding them bits of bread.

The pigeons at the Arc de Triomphe were very used to people and showed no fear of the crowd. Even when naughty kids ran at them with arms spread wide, they merely flapped their wings a little, not like they were scared, more like they were humoring the children out of boredom.

After flying low to the ground, they strutted with their heads held high. Only when breadcrumbs hit the pavement would they deign to lower their noble heads for a nibble, or flap into the air in twos and threes to peck from human hands midair.

Yan Chen had brought along a high-playability film camera this time, but hadn’t expected the film to run out so quickly. He’d only planned enough for half a day, and it was all used up. He had to go off and find a shop to buy more.

While waiting for Yan Chen, Ye Wenyu spotted an old man nearby lazily feeding pigeons from his palm and felt a wave of envy. He really wanted to try it too. But after a glance at the pigeons’ sharp beaks, he felt a little scared. After some internal struggle, he decided to just watch from the sidelines.

He watched intently, unaware that at some point a large bunch of brightly colored balloons had appeared next to him. He turned his head and locked eyes with a pair of light blue eyes.

The beautiful, glass-marble-like eyes belonged to a young boy.

He looked to be at most fourteen or fifteen, dressed in a black jacket with a crossbody bag. He was holding all the balloon strings tightly wrapped around one hand. He looked at Ye Wenyu with sparkling eyes full of goodwill and curiosity.

“Ni hao?”

Before Ye Wenyu could even respond, the boy greeted him in clumsy Chinese with a heavy European accent: “Ni shi zhong guo ren ma?”

It took Ye Wenyu a moment to mentally decode the sentence. He nodded and before the boy could speak again, replied, “C’est bon, je parle français.” (It’s okay, I speak French.)

Unexpectedly, the boy immediately waved his hands frantically, making the balloons bob up and down along with his head. “Bu bu bu, wo, zai xue xue zhong yin, wo xiang gen ni yong gu hua, suan hua!”

Ye Wenyu: “…”

Boy: “Ni zhen hao kan, ke zhen xi yi duo bai… bai e hua, shi wo ji gua zi hao kan de zhong guo ren, bi wo bian guo hao kan.”

Ye Wenyu: “…”

It wasn’t Chinese. It wasn’t French either. It sounded like the boy was trying to communicate with a completely new, self-invented language. Ye Wenyu had no idea what he was saying.

But the boy looked so happy, so earnest, and was working so hard to talk to him. Ye Wenyu couldn’t bear to kill his enthusiasm. Guessing and fumbling through, he tried to respond, “Your balloons are really pretty. Do you want me to buy one?”

The boy paused for a second, then looked even more excited. “Wo xi huan ni, ni xiang yao wo de qi qiu, bu yong mai, wo song gei ni!”

Ye Wenyu stared in confusion as the boy happily untied a balloon and held it out to him. He figured he must’ve guessed right. But when he reached into his pocket, he realized that all the money was with Yan Chen. He had no idea how French coins worked, so he hadn’t brought any.

No money…how could he buy a balloon?

The boy had already extended the string toward him. He had no choice but to decline. “Sorry, I didn’t bring any money. I can’t buy it. Or maybe you could wait a bit? My boyfriend will be back soon.”

Upon hearing that, the boy grew anxious and began babbling excitedly in completely incomprehensible “Chinese” again. At the same time, he kept trying to shove the balloon into Ye Wenyu’s hands.

Unable to refuse, Ye Wenyu reluctantly accepted it…only to see the boy pull out a phone from his bag, open the camera, and lift it high above his head while leaning close, standing on tiptoe and making a peace sign.

He was clearly getting ready to take a selfie with Ye Wenyu.

“?” Ye Wenyu was even more confused.

Was the boy afraid he would skip out on paying, so he wanted to take a photo in advance as evidence?

“Look over here.” Yan Chen’s voice came from the side. Ye Wenyu and the boy turned their heads at the same time. Yan Chen was holding up his camera, half of his face hidden behind it, and pressed the shutter at just the right moment.

Ye Wenyu felt a wave of relief the moment he saw Yan Chen. He opened his mouth, about to call him over to pay, but a voice beat him to it: “Stinky cousin!”

The pronunciation was crystal clear and incredibly standard, completely different from the earlier jumbled bargain-bin Chinese…it was obvious he’d practiced it countless times.

Yan Chen admired the photo he’d just taken before walking over with the camera: “I can see you. Why are you yelling?”

The boy glared: “Stinky cousin! Ni zheme wu, gan wu wu qi wo jia, pa wo zou ni…”

Yan Chen drawled lazily, “What the hell are you even saying? If you can’t speak properly, just don’t speak.”

The boy said, “Na wu qu wu dou, ni shi idiot, zhi you ni ting wu duo, ming, ming ming fei ci dou dou ting yi dong…”

“Stop babbling. He can’t understand you anyway.” Yan Chen casually threw his arm around Ye Wenyu’s shoulders. “If you really can’t speak human language, go talk to them instead.”

As he spoke, he raised his chin toward the group of pigeons nearby.

The boy: “…”

The boy: “Jili guala#—@&#+!”

Ye Wenyu looked at the balloon boy, then at Yan Chen, and recalled how [Maoqiu] once said Yan Chen had studied French just to argue with his cousin. Combining that with their dynamic and that perfectly pronounced “stinky cousin”…

Ye Wenyu asked softly, “Your cousin?”

Yan Chen replied, “A bit embarrassing, yeah.”

So it really was. Ye Wenyu was astonished. “What a coincidence, to just run into him like this.”

Yan Chen said, “It’s not that much of a coincidence. His house is nearby.”

If his cousin lived nearby, then by conversion, didn’t that mean Yan Chen’s uncle’s house was nearby? And since they were already at the doorstep, how could they not go visit?

But wouldn’t that be the same as meeting the parents?

Ye Wenyu took a light breath, suddenly nervous.

The cousin: “Nie jie…”

Yan Chen shot him a casual “go ahead, no one will understand you anyway” kind of look.

The cousin: “…”

The cousin: “Pourquoi ne pas comprendre, j’ai appris le chinois mingming si bien! (How could he not understand? I clearly studied Chinese really well!)”

The cousin: “Tu veux te disputer? Amener des camarades de classe en France ne m’appelle pas non plus, tu veux te disputer? (Is that your classmate? You bring a classmate to France and don’t even call me? You want to fight?)”

Yan Chen corrected him: “He’s not a classmate, a boyfriend.”

And just in case he didn’t understand, he repeated it in French. The damage wasn’t great, but the insult was enormous. The effect was immediate, the little cousin flew into a rage.

The cousin: “Je comprends! J’étudie avec papa depuis longtemps! (I understand! I’ve been studying with dad for a long time!)”

The cousin: “…Petit ami? (Boyfriend?)”

The cousin: “Des gens méchants comme toi@#￥%……*)!@#”

The cousin was so emotional, his face turned red and his neck thickened. Ye Wenyu tried to concentrate but only caught the first few words, something like “mean people”…he didn’t catch the rest at all.

“What is your cousin saying?” he asked Yan Chen for help.

Yan Chen: “He’s reciting the French national anthem.”

Ye Wenyu: “…?”

The cousin: “?”

The cousin: “@#*#&#（&!@……#￥%）”

Now Ye Wenyu really couldn’t understand a single word and his head ached. While the cousin continued reciting the anthem, he took the chance to ask Yan Chen, “Did you get the film?”

Yan Chen said he did and handed over the camera.

Ye Wenyu opened the camera and was stunned.

The display showed the photo Yan Chen had just taken, when he and the cousin had been standing together. More precisely, the one Yan Chen took of him with the cousin.

In the frame, it was just him and the cousin’s half-raised hand making a “V” sign.

Xiao Classmate Yan didn’t seem to think his blatant favoritism was a problem at all. He saw that the balloon in Ye Wenyu’s hand was shaped like Mickey Mouse, with a little glitter inside. He tugged the string so the glitter would shimmer, it was kind of cute, and suited his obedient character.

Ye Wenyu suddenly remembered he hadn’t paid for the balloon.

“No need to pay.”

Yan Chen tied the balloon to his wrist. “Think of it as a gift from him to you for your first meeting.”

‘Gift…’

Ye Wenyu was speechless.

Yan Chen asked, “What do you want for lunch?”

Ye Wenyu thought about it. “Anything, as long as it’s not a sandwich.”

By the time they finished discussing, the cousin had also finished his tantrum. He calmly organized his balloons and tossed his chin at Yan Chen: “Allez, chez moi. (Come on, to my house.)”

Then he turned to Ye Wenyu and instantly brightened: “Bonjour frère, allez-vous chez moi pour écouter l’hymne national? (Hello brother, want to come to my house and listen to the national anthem?)”

Ye Wenyu: “…”

The national anthem had far less appeal than the terrifying thought of”meeting the parents”. Ye Wenyu pursed his lips and silently slid his hand back into Yan Chen’s.

Switching roles again, he was still more suited to being the little one.

Yan Chen’s eyes filled with a smile, but he remained indifferent as he tossed two words at his cousin: “Not going.”

The cousin was confused, “Pourquoi? (Why?)”

Then he realized: “Oh, vous courez si loin en France, certainement aller à la municipalité d’abord pour enregistrer le certificat! (Oh, you came all the way to France…of course you’re going to the city hall first to register your certificate!)”