Jiang Xinghuai’s eyes widened, as if he had been scared stiff.
Fu Yan didn’t know if it was because the temperature in the car was too high, but after saying that sentence, he suddenly felt a bit hot.
He loosened his tie, then lifted his gaze again. Their eyes met, and Jiang Xinghuai quickly looked away.
Fu Yan frowned, beginning to wonder if what he had just said might have crossed the line. After thinking for a moment, he explained: “Jiang Xinghuai——”
“A guy in a suit can even tell dirty jokes, huh,” Jiang Xinghuai suddenly spoke.
Fu Yan was stunned for a second, then immediately laughed: “And why can’t a guy in a suit tell dirty jokes?”
“Not really that…” Jiang Xinghuai also laughed. “It’s just, in my opinion, you don’t seem like someone who’d tell dirty jokes.”
“Hurry and go pee.” Fu Yan laughed as he urged him, then reminded, “Don’t go too far.”
“What, you want to watch?” Jiang Xinghuai raised his brows, then turned to walk toward the back of the car.
After making sure he had stopped in a spot where Fu Yan couldn’t see him, he clenched and stretched the fingers hanging at his side with all his strength, finally dispelling the tingling at his fingertips.
Jiang Xinghuai took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him either. The moment Fu Yan had said those words, his whole body felt a little numb.
Maybe it was just from holding in his pee. Jiang Xinghuai rubbed his face with his hands, then threw a quick set of punches to shake off the discomfort in his body.
Watching through the rearview mirror, Fu Yan almost burst out laughing.
The kid, face flushed red, performed a perfectly standard set of military boxing, then even propped one leg up on the car for a side split, and finally ended the routine with a flawless ballet finishing pose, completing the whole performance.
Really just a kid.
Stubborn to death, awkward, and especially fond of putting on that ‘I’m not scared at all’ front. But in reality, he was just a little paper tiger of a brat.
“I’m done peeing.” Jiang Xinghuai walked back with a perfectly normal expression. He even had a stalk of grass, who knew from where, dangling from his mouth, putting on a hooligan act as he lifted his chin at Fu Yan. “You really don’t need to pee?”
“You want to watch?” Fu Yan raised a brow, saying this as he made a show of pushing open the car door to get out.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t look!” Jiang Xinghuai was so startled he backed away again and again. He didn’t dare keep up the little thug act, spat out the grass stalk, eyes round and wide, hands pressed to his pant legs, standing up ramrod straight.
“Get in the car, let’s eat.” Fu Yan stopped teasing him, smiling as he called him over. “Your godfather made a lunchbox. It’s still warm.”
“I don’t want to eat rice.” Jiang Xinghuai opened the door and got in, twisting around to drag over a big bag from the back seat. “I’ve got lots of potato chips and beef jerky, too.”
“Eat first.” Fu Yan unscrewed the thermal container and handed it to him.
“I want to eat chips.” Jiang Xinghuai buried his head in the bag, excitedly rummaging through the snacks.
Fu Yan didn’t say anything.
Jiang Xinghuai’s movements, shuffling through the snack packaging, gradually slowed. With his head still buried in the bag, he froze in that position for a moment.
In the end, wearing a miserable expression, he lifted his head and took the lunchbox from Fu Yan’s hand.
“Milk.” Fu Yan inserted the straw and passed it over.
“Thanks…” Jiang Xinghuai mumbled as he chewed on rice, reaching out to take it, full of resentment yet not daring to voice it.
Jiang Xinghuai’s temper came quickly and went just as quickly. After finishing off a whole container of rice, then crunching through five bags of chips, and gulping down a bottle of cola, he let out a satisfied burp.
“I love my godfather,” Jiang Xinghuai sighed with feeling.
“I’ll drive.” Fu Yan glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was exactly one in the afternoon. “Rest for a while longer, then we’ll head out.”
“I’d better drive,” Jiang Xinghuai quickly said. “I’ve eaten my fill. I’m totally energized.”
“I’ll drive,” Fu Yan said.
“…Fine.” Jiang Xinghuai swapped seats with him.
When the car started up again, Fu Yan’s driving skills were clearly much better than his.
From the steadiness of the speed to the smoothness of the braking, it was obvious that Fu Yan really was a man of mature years. He was calm and steady.
Rubbing his full stomach, Jiang Xinghuai unconsciously tilted his head, staring at Fu Yan’s straight back, and his vision gradually blurred.
He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he woke up to the sound of coughing.
Fu Yan had one hand on the steering wheel, the other covering his mouth, suppressing a faint cough.
“You didn’t rest well, did you?” Jiang Xinghuai rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, eyeing him suspiciously. “You’ve caught a cold.”
“…Seems like it.” Fu Yan frowned and stepped on the brake.
“What do you mean seems like it? You definitely did. You’re even from a medical background, aren’t you? Honestly, you, who studied health supplements, did you at least finish your brown sugar water?” Jiang Xinghuai rattled off, then waved his hands repeatedly and twisted around to yank his bag from the back seat. “Forget it, forget it, you should just take medicine. I’ve got some in my bag.”
Before Fu Yan could even get a word out, the medicine was already being shoved right up to his mouth.
“I—”
“Hurry, water.” Jiang Xinghuai twisted open the bottle cap and handed it to him.
The water was placed into his hand.
“Take the medicine quickly. I’ll drive. This medicine makes you drowsy.” After saying that, Jiang Xinghuai pushed the door open and got out of the car.
Fu Yan was stunned for quite a while. Looking at the medicine in his right hand, then at the water in his left, he sighed: “How did it end up with you taking care of me?”
Only after watching Fu Yan swallow the medicine did Jiang Xinghuai start the car.
Fu Yan rarely got sick, and his body was sensitive to medicine. After taking it, he grew drowsy in no time.
But he didn’t feel at ease letting Jiang Xinghuai drive alone. He fought to keep his eyes open, dozing and waking in turns, until finally he sank into deep sleep.
Jiang Xinghuai wasn’t very familiar with the roads. He drove a while, then stopped a while, checking the map while also keeping an eye on Fu Yan.
It left him feeling extremely busy.
By the time the sun was sinking lower, Jiang Xinghuai stopped the car again, studying the map to figure out their route.
It was already close to five o’clock. After driving for so long, his eyes were unbearably sore. He rubbed them hard, confirmed the direction, and then glanced at Fu Yan again.
Fu Yan had already been asleep for over three hours. Why hadn’t he woken up yet?
Following the steps he had learned, Jiang Xinghuai reached out to feel Fu Yan’s forehead.
The temperature that came through his hand left him stunned.
“He’s starting to run a fever?” Jiang Xinghuai’s brows furrowed tightly.
At the last intersection where he had stopped, Fu Yan’s forehead hadn’t had any heat at all.
Fu Yan’s lips moved slightly, as if he were trying to say something.
Panicking, Jiang Xinghuai hurriedly leaned closer, reached out, and shook him: “Fu Yan! Fu Yan! Uncle! Wake up!”
Fu Yan didn’t respond in the slightest.
Jiang Xinghuai grew frantic: “Shit! Shit, what do I do, Uncle! Shit—”
“Jiang Xinghuai.” Fu Yan suddenly opened his eyes.
Jiang Xinghuai was startled.
“What did I make you promise me?” Fu Yan fixed his gaze on him, face stern.
“What?” Jiang Xinghuai looked completely blank.
“Looks like there still has to be punishment.” Fu Yan sat up and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Ah?” Jiang Xinghuai remained blank.
“When we get back, you’ll do one of the math problems Teacher Geng assigned.” Fu Yan looked at him.
Only then did Jiang Xinghuai realize, recalling the three rules they had agreed on, with the first rule being no swearing.
“I got anxious just now. I promise, really, last time. I’ll never say it again.” Jiang Xinghuai grinned ingratiatingly.
“Make it two problems.” Fu Yan didn’t buy it. After saying that with a frown, he coughed twice more.
“Do you need water?” Jiang Xinghuai hurriedly turned to look for some, but only found a few empty bottles. He shook the empties. What little water clung to the bottoms wasn’t even enough to wet his lips.
The bottles of mineral water in the car had already been finished off during the earlier part of the journey.
The rest of the mineral water was stored in the trunk.
“Wait here, I’ll go get it for you.” Jiang Xinghuai pushed open the car door and jumped out.
“Watch your leg,” Fu Yan reminded, also pushing his door open and getting out. He glanced around.
The place where they had parked was wide and open, with a clear view all around. Outside the car window stretched a field of burnt wheat. Scattered across it lay dozens of charred corpses, their faces barely recognizable.
Fu Yan walked closer and saw bullet holes in the ground, spent shell casings scattered about, and a small torn piece of fabric. It was military camouflage.
Fu Yan let out a slight breath of relief. There were already signs of combat and expulsion here, which meant the military had taken action. At the very least, the capital region might have already begun eliminating and controlling the infected.
Their journey ahead might be a bit easier.
“Fu Yan!” Jiang Xinghuai shouted from the edge of the field ridge. “What are you doing! Don’t look at that. What if something suddenly jumps up and takes a bite out of you!”
Fu Yan couldn’t hold back a small laugh. He walked over and took the water from his hand.
“We haven’t reached your marked spot yet, and it’s not dark. Let’s hurry up and get back in the car and go,” Jiang Xinghuai said.
“Not going yet. We’ll rest here.” Fu Yan shook his head. “You can’t keep driving.”
“Then are we sleeping in the car tonight?” Jiang Xinghuai bent down, pounding his sore calves a couple of times.
“Mm.” Fu Yan crouched down, tugged up his pant leg, checked his wound, and pressed his leg a bit. “Come on, let’s eat something first.”
Dinner wasn’t as fine as lunch had been. The dishes and rice in the thermal lunchboxes had already been eaten up.
The two of them had just eaten some biscuits and canned food with water when the sun went down, leaving only a thin layer of afterglow at the edge of the sky.
“Wash your hands and face.” Fu Yan said this as he went to open the trunk, preparing to lift out the big container of water for daily use.
“Don’t move, I’ll carry it.” Jiang Xinghuai immediately squeezed past him and, with one hand, lifted the large reserve bucket of water down. He also took out a collapsible basin, filled it with water, and said: “Wash.”
“Addicted to taking care of people, huh?” Fu Yan couldn’t help but chuckle at his eager manner. After soaking a towel and wringing it out, he first wiped Jiang Xinghuai’s face for him.
“I’ll wipe yours, too.” Jiang Xinghuai had found a new source of fun. He grabbed the towel, dipped and wrung it in the water again, then rubbed it over Fu Yan’s face.
Fu Yan hadn’t been wrong when he said Jiang Xinghuai was addicted to looking after people.
He really did quite enjoy the process. The feeling of taking care of someone wasn’t bad at all. Since he was young, he had never taken care of anyone, nor had anyone needed his care.
Back then, when he told Fu Yan about the elementary school teacher’s assignment—to wash his dad’s feet and massage his mom’s shoulders—he really hadn’t done it.
But at the time, he had brought it up. The result was his dad saying he was busy, and his mom telling him to stay away.
That kind of thing… how to put it. Carrying a warm heart forward, only to run into the words “cold indifference”.
It stung, pierced, and hurt too much. So he never did that kind of foolish thing again, never took the initiative to show goodwill.
After the two of them finished washing up, night had already fallen.
They laid the back seats flat and lay side by side, legs bent, squeezed together in the space.
The place where they had stopped was especially quiet. Aside from the sound of wind slipping through the crack of the slightly open window, there was no other noise.
Jiang Xinghuai lay sprawled across the seat, chewing on the end of his pen, his expression full of struggle.
“If you don’t know how, you can ask me.” Fu Yan held the light for him.
“There aren’t any stars tonight.” Jiang Xinghuai sighed as he looked out the window. “Tomorrow, it’ll probably rain again.”
“For this problem, look at the conditions given first.” Fu Yan reached out and pointed at the question. “Look here, the known condition is that line AB and—”
“Ah, I’m so sleepy, my eyes hurt so much.” Jiang Xinghuai whined as he shut his eyes.
Fu Yan: “………………”
“Just do one problem.” Fu Yan lowered the requirement.
“Multiple choice.” Jiang Xinghuai bargained.
“Fine.” Fu Yan compromised.
After driving all day, Jiang Xinghuai’s eyes really were bloodshot from the strain.
Jiang Xinghuai immediately perked up and opened his eyes excitedly.
“Today, there’s a special reason, but punishment can’t be canceled. So the two problems are postponed instead. Tomorrow you’ll do three.” Fu Yan said.
Jiang Xinghuai: “……………………”
Enjoying one carefree day was like gaining a day. After hearing the multiple-choice question, Jiang Xinghuai immediately flopped down and fell asleep peacefully.
“Good night.” Fu Yan said, then turned off the light.
Once the light was off, the night felt even quieter.
The seat was big, but still uncomfortable to sleep on. Jiang Xinghuai tossed and turned for more than ten minutes, unable to fall asleep.
All sorts of things popped up in his head at the worst possible time.
Fu Yan with his upper body bare.
Fu Yan saying to him, “Want to try?”
Fu Yan when he was sick.
All Fu Yan. Clearly, Fu Yan was right there beside him.
Maybe it was because tonight there was no moonlight, no stars, and the darkness seemed especially heavy.
Maybe it was because the space that belonged only to the two of them was too small, the distance too close.
Maybe he’d caught a cold, too.
“Uncle, do you remember I told you before that I had a crush on someone?” Jiang Xinghuai suddenly asked.
It was a long moment before Fu Yan’s voice came from the darkness on the other side: “What about it?”
“Lately, I don’t seem to think about him that much anymore.” Jiang Xinghuai turned on his side to face Fu Yan. “Actually, I thought about it, and maybe I didn’t really like him.”
Fu Yan: “……………………”
“Because I forced you to do math problems?”
Fu Yan turned over helplessly: “Why… would you think that way?”
“Well, just that…” Jiang Xinghuai probed, “It’s like now I keep thinking about someone else.”
Fu Yan’s back suddenly went rigid. His expression remained calm, his voice steady: “Who is it?”
“Uncle, do you hear some strange sound?” Jiang Xinghuai suddenly asked.
“No.” Fu Yan’s expression was calm, and his voice just as steady.
Jiang Xinghuai perked up his ears and listened for a long while, then slowly leaned closer to Fu Yan, exclaiming in surprise: “It’s the sound of you grinding your teeth!”
Author’s note:
Fu Yan: That’s not teeth grinding, that’s the composure of a thirty-year-old man.
