Father Ye’s students couldn’t be kept, and they left before lunch.
In the afternoon, Father Ye had to return to the study to deal with some matters, and Mother Ye went to the flower shop. Ye Wenyu was given the task of showing the out-of-town guest around, temporarily acting as the promotional ambassador of Wucheng’s image.
Once they left the house and were out of the parents’ sight, as soon as they entered the elevator, their hands naturally found each other like the positive and negative ends of a magnet around an obstacle.
“Everywhere’s quite lively during the New Year.” Ye Wenyu asked Yan Chen, “Where do you want to go?”
Yan Chen: “Where do you usually go when you’re at home?”
Ye Wenyu: “Most of the time I just go back and forth between home and school. On weekends I sometimes go to the stadium or a bookstore with friends…”
After saying this, he suddenly remembered something and his eyes lit it: “There’s a place I promised to take you to.”
Ye Wenyu took Yan Chen to his high school. But not to show off the campus, instead, they walked to the back entrance and found a little stall selling takoyaki.
The stall owner was an elderly man with a kind face, wearing a hat and gloves. Though the stall was a bit cramped, he kept it tidy and clean, with the scent of cooked food wafting through the air.
The old man clearly recognized Ye Wenyu. When he looked up and saw him, he greeted cheerfully, “Xiao Ye, are you on a break?”
Ye Wenyu nodded politely, “Grandpa Chen, are you still setting up your stall this New Year?”
Grandpa Chen flipped the takoyaki skillfully. “Ye, I have nothing to do at home anyway. My two little grandsons are so troublesome, so I might as well come out and get some peace.”
Grandpa Chen’s takoyaki were generous in ingredients and rich in flavor. One bite gave you a big chunk of octopus meat, so he had always been popular among young people in the area.
When they arrived, there was no one at the stall. But after waiting a bit, a small crowd had gathered. One pot sold out quickly, and it looked like he’d have to cook two more batches.
Ye Wenyu bought a large portion and stepped out from the crowd. He fed one ball to Yan Chen. “How is it?”
Yan Chen chewed a few times, then looked puzzled. “Why’s there no flavor?”
“No flavor? How could that be…”
Just as Ye Wenyu was about to try it himself, his vision flickered. Yan Chen grabbed his hand and quickly kissed his lips, then pulled away and nodded solemnly, “Now it has flavor. It’s really delicious.”
“…” Glancing around to make sure no one noticed, Ye Wenyu silently rubbed his ear with the back of his hand and shoved a takoyaki into his own mouth. “Classmate Yan is so childish.”
“Really?” Yan Chen looked pleased. “Classmate Yan thinks it’s fine.”
During the break, the school didn’t allow outsiders on campus, so Ye Wenyu couldn’t give him a campus tour. He settled for walking him around the perimeter instead.
Beyond the wall, rows of tidy school buildings stood amidst the trees.
Ye Wenyu pointed to one of the buildings. “That was our classroom at the far right end on the fifth floor. We stayed there all three years.”
Yan Chen: “You don’t switch classrooms as you move up grades?”
“No.” Ye Wenyu said, “Once the senior class graduates, the next year’s new students move in. Unless something unusual happens, classrooms don’t change easily. Does Xuan Middle School switch?”
As he spoke, his mouth curled up slightly. “Sorry, I almost forgot…someone ran away from home in high school and went to deal cards in Las Vegas.”
Yan Chen didn’t expect him to bring that up. He raised an eyebrow. “And who did I do that for?”
“I don’t know.” Ye Wenyu smiled with pursed lips. “It wasn’t me anyway. I was diligently studying in Wucheng at the time.”
The more he thought about it, the funnier it was. He poked Yan Chen’s arm. “So did Yang Liang actually believe your nonsense?”
Yan Chen: “It seems like it. He even asked me if being a croupier was tiring and if the pay was good.”
Ye Wenyu: “Really? And what did you say?”
Yan Chen thought for a bit. “I said, the base salary is 3,000, the monthly income 20,000, 17,000 of which came from your tips.”
They chatted idly, strolling leisurely beside the school’s outer wall.
From the banners printed with motivational slogans, to blackboards tracking class hygiene scores, to the canteen with rolled down shutters, to the bulletin board listing top students.
The wind occasionally swept up a dry leaf or two. Beyond the wall, the memories were beautiful, and the reality was just right.
They couldn’t enter the school, but the stadium across from the gate was open.
Normally, the stadium was bustling, with students running, uncles strolling, aunties dancing. Come evening, the crowd would be huge.
But today was the first day of the Lunar New Year, so it was relatively empty. Ahead, there were just a few high school boys practicing shots at the hoop.
One of them put too much force on a shot so the ball missed the basket, bounced off the board, and rolled across the ground all the way to Ye Wenyu’s feet.
Ye Wenyu bent down to pick it up and handed it to Yan Chen. Yan Chen took it, gave it a few test bounces, then threw it up. The ball arced in the air and landed in the hoop accurately.
The boys watching couldn’t help but exclaim in unison: “Fuck! So cool!”
All were in sync, which was inexplicably funny.
“Master! So awesome!”
“Brother, play a round with us?”
“Big brother! Happy New Year! Can you teach us a few moves?”
Ye Wenyu hadn’t seen Yan Chen play in a while, so he gave him an encouraging look and urged him to play.
Yan Chen took off his coat and handed it over.
The high school boys were tall and looked skilled, probably the top in their school. Unfortunately, they were not good enough in front of Yan Chen. They couldn’t steal the ball, couldn’t stop his shots, and got crushed by his accurate three-pointers.
While they were very serious, Yan Chen played at ease and with a lazy air. It was obvious that he was not going all out, and there was a high suspicion that he was bullying the kids by relying on his superior basketball skills.
Ye Wenyu found it somewhat amusing watching the boys go harder and harder as the game went on. Looking around, he spotted a small shop nearby and walked over.
Carrying five bottles of water in one hand was a bit difficult, so he used both arms to cradle them, grabbing a packet of wet wipes from the shelf on the way to the counter.
By the time he returned, the game was almost over. The boys were panting heavily, bent over with hands on their knees.
Yan Chen looked completely fine. There was no redness on his face, or shortness of breath. He casually walked over and took his coat. “Where did you go?”
“I went to get some water.”
Ye Wenyu handed him a bottle, then walked to the center of the court and passed out the rest to the high school boys.
“Wow, thank you so much!”
“Happy New Year! Best of wishes and may you prosper!”
“Are you from Wu Middle School too?”
“No.” Ye Wenyu shook his head. “We’re from Xuan University.”
“Xuan University! A top school!”
“Their cutoff score last year was very high, and my brother didn’t get in.”
“Fuck, you’re a god of studying! Let me bow to you!”
Ye Wenyu chuckled and walked back to Yan Chen. Seeing that he still had his coat slung over his arm, he urged him to put it on.
“I’m not cold.” Yan Chen screwed the cap back on and was about to touch Ye Wenyu’s face to prove he was warm, but remembering he had just played basketball, he redirected his hand and touched the back of his hand instead.
Ye Wenyu took the chance to grab his hand, tore open the wet wipes, and carefully wiped his palm clean.
“Master! Are you playing again tomorrow?!”
A few of the boys shouted over, “We’re coming again! If you come too, we’ll treat you and your classmate to water…no, milk tea!”
‘Tomorrow?’
Tomorrow was the second day of the New Year. Normally they should start visiting relatives. But he hadn’t decided yet whether to take Yan Chen with him or leave him at home. If he stayed, then of course he would have time to come play again.
Ye Wenyu’s mind was entirely occupied with thoughts of tomorrow’s plans, so when Yan Chen suddenly said “we’re not classmates”, he didn’t react for a moment.
Of course, judging by the reactions around them, he wasn’t the only one who failed to react right away.
“Huh? Didn’t you just say you were both from Xuan University?”
“Brothers? You do kinda look alike, both are handsome!”
“Nope,” Yan Chen said in a casual tone. “Boyfriend.”
The moment those words fell, the boys who had been chirping non-stop suddenly fell silent. Their eyes blinked, and several pairs of eyes rolled back and forth between the two of them.
Ye Wenyu was stunned. His hands stopped moving, and he couldn’t help but look up at him.
Seeing that his hands were clean, Yan Chen smoothly hooked Ye Wenyu’s hand and held it. Along the way, he took the used wet wipes and tossed them into a nearby trash bin. He lifted a hand casually toward the people on the court as a farewell gesture, then turned and was about to leave.
But they hadn’t taken more than a few steps when someone shouted from behind in a loud and clear voice, “Master!”
Ye Wenyu turned his head back. The seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys were holding their basketballs, beaming as they shouted at them, “Then you guys can play video games together at home, that’s so fun!”
“You can also watch Transformers and Ultraman together!”
“What kind of talk is that? Girls can watch too, okay?”
“Of course I know that, but boys watching with boys is definitely more fun!”
…
His palm was gently scratched. Ye Wenyu returned to his senses and looked up. Yan Chen was looking down at him with half lowered eyelids, and his eyes were so soft that it seemed as if there was a layer of lazy starlight.
“The feng shui in Wucheng is not bad,” Yan Chen commented sincerely. “The takoyaki are good, and the people are interesting.”
Ye Wenyu also smiled and tightened his grip on his hand. “Mm, come more often in the future.”
As lunchtime approached, Ye Wenyu received a message from his father, saying that he and Mother Ye had something to do in the evening and wouldn’t be coming home. They told them to eat out and even transferred a generous dinner allowance.
Ye Wenyu gladly accepted and took Yan Chen to enjoy some of Wucheng’s local specialties. He also planned to use the remaining money to buy two movie tickets.
“It starts at 8 and ends at 10:30. By the time we get home, my parents should be back already.”
There were a lot of New Year’s films released today. Ye Wenyu picked out two and let Yan Chen choose. Yan Chen leaned over to take a look and picked one: “Let’s go with this one.”
Both were light comedies. Ye Wenyu originally thought he’d choose the one with a more famous cast. “Why this one?”
Yan Chen: “The brat on the cover looks like my cousin.”
Ye Wenyu realized, “So you want to see…”
Yan Chen: “I want to see how he gets beaten up in the movie.”
Ye Wenyu: “…”
They arrived at the theater twenty minutes early. Yan Chen went to pick up the tickets while Ye Wenyu queued to buy Coke and popcorn.
Because of the holiday, the concession stand had an unusually long line. After finally making his way back with the snacks, he saw Yan Chen standing by the ticket machine with a subtle expression on his face. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Yan Chen lifted his chin slightly toward something behind him.
Ye Wenyu turned his head. His gaze swept past the crowd and locked precisely onto the backs of a couple at the other ticket machine.
The man was tall and upright, the woman slender and gentle. The two stood close together with their hands linked, looking very familiar in Ye Wenyu’s eyes.
Who else could it be but his parents?
