TYAM Chapter 61

The bedsheet was a bit of a pain to clean.  

The culprit didn’t feel the least bit ashamed, standing stark naked at the open window, stretching lazily with great satisfaction.  

The room was thick with the scent of hormones, making Ji Linqiu’s ears flush red. He quickly put on his pants and, while tidying up the sheets, scolded, “What are you doing? Aren’t you afraid Xingxing will find out?”  

“He’s off at tutoring,” Jiang Wang replied with a smirk, looking at him as if to say, ‘I wouldn’t mind doing something else.’

Ji Linqiu immediately covered his mouth. “Don’t you dare say it!”  

The man, his mouth covered, looked innocent. “Say what?”  

Ji Linqiu tossed the dirty bedsheet into his arms. “You wash it. By hand!”  

Jiang Wang leaned over to kiss his cheek, then turned and walked off with his long legs, humming a tune as he went to wash the sheets.  

“Put some pants on!”  

“Nope.”  

While Jiang Wang washed the sheets, Ji Linqiu took the opportunity to tidy up the bedroom, then leaned against the washing machine to keep him company.  

“Do you know what I came across at Hongshan Primary School the other day?”  

“What?”  

Ji Linqiu was in a good mood and teased, “On the last day of summer vacation, after Peng Xingwang finished packing up the last of his things at school, a little girl confessed to him.”  

She must have watched too many TV dramas. The little girl blushed bright red and loudly confessed to him, causing the whole class to erupt into a collective “Ooooh!” followed by applause.  

Jiang Wang rinsed the sheets again, tossed them into the washing machine, and asked casually, “What did the kid say?”  

“Peng Xingwang…” Ji Linqiu’s expression turned a little complicated. “He bowed to her.”  

Jiang Wang burst out laughing, clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle it.  

The kid probably didn’t want to hurt her feelings but had no idea how to handle it, so he tried to show the greatest sincerity he could muster.  

“I’m sorry. I like Meng Qingyuan, but she doesn’t like me. Anyway, I’m transferring schools soon, so it’s fine.”  

Peng Xingwang had said it with surprising nonchalance at the time.  

“My current goal is to get into Beijing or Shanghai. Dating would interfere with my studies. No way!”  

The little girl, not to be outdone, replied, “Fine! Then we’ll both go to Beijing or Shanghai and be classmates. Then we can watch ‘Iron Armored Little Bao’ together!”  

Ji Linqiu replayed the scene in his head and then glanced sideways. “It kind of had a mutual understanding vibe.” 

Jiang Wang chuckled. “Do we have that kind of mutual understanding?”  

“No,” Ji Linqiu said flatly. “I don’t form mutual understandings with people who refuse to wear pants.”  

Originally, Jiang Wang was supposed to go supervise a training center, while Ji Linqiu had planned to spend the day working on assignments.  

Ever since the end of the Spring Festival holiday, the two of them hadn’t had a proper day off. Jiang Wang, tired of being cooped up in the company every day, suddenly had the idea to plan a date with his boyfriend.  

“It’s been so long since we’ve been together, and we’ve never gone out alone to have fun.”  

That was true.  

Back on Valentine’s Day, they hadn’t confessed to each other yet. The “520[mfn]slang for “I love you”, and of course, it is kinda celebrated on May 20th[/mfn]” concept hadn’t become popular at the time, and both of them had been busy with work and moving.  

Now, it was late spring, heading into early summer—the perfect time for romance.  

Ji Linqiu, still a bit flustered from earlier activities – his neck was still faintly red – wasn’t exactly in the mood for assignments.  

So, they spontaneously booked two movie tickets and went out to soak in the atmosphere of love.  

In 2007, entertainment options weren’t plentiful, and there were only a few classic date spots for couples.  

They picked a screening of “The Disciples”. Although it was an old Hong Kong movie to Jiang Wang, it had been so long that he’d forgotten the plot entirely and found himself thoroughly enjoying it.  

The two of them were remarkably well-behaved, only daring to hold hands briefly in the dark theater. In contrast, they could distinctly hear the kissing sounds from the couple in the next row.  

As they walked out of the dimly lit theater, Ji Linqiu noticed Jiang Wang’s eyes were filled with laughter.  

“What’s so funny?”  

“Just sitting so close to you makes me happy.”  

Ji Linqiu’s breath hitched slightly, as if the man had once again hit him squarely in the heart. He murmured softly, “Me too.”  

It was their first relationship, and there was an inexplicable middle-school awkwardness between them — everything felt shy and new.  

It was still early, and conveniently, the theater was next to an arcade with several claw machines.  

Jiang Wang instinctively occupied a machine, carefully aiming at the drop points. After two tries, he stepped aside and said, “Your turn.”  

“I’m going to buy an ice cream,” Ji Linqiu said, shifting aside without hesitation. “Help me grab that cloud bunny and the pointy-eared wolf, the one with the squinty eyes and a smile.”  

Jiang Wang shook the coins in his little paper cup. “Got it. Wait for me.”  

His luck was impressive, snagging the cloud bunny on the first try. The wolf, however, had a long tail that shifted the center of gravity, requiring more finesse to reposition.  

A blueberry chocolate ice cream was brought to his lips. “Open up.”  

The man took a bite, looking very content. “Teacher Ji sure spoils me.”  

Ji Linqiu took a bite himself, clearly happy to indulge him.  

“I have to spoil you more, so you don’t run away.”  

With a satisfying “clunk”, the pointy-eared wolf dropped into the prize chute. Ji Linqiu cradled it with the bunny, and they finished just as the coins ran out.  

They laughed as they walked toward the exit, passing by a photo booth for selfies.

Jiang Wang glanced over instinctively, feeling a wave of nostalgia.

This kind of thing would soon vanish in a future flooded with filters and stickers, but here it still stood on every street corner, a true sign of the passage of time.

Ji Linqiu raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to take a photo?”

“Two grown men, what do we need with something so pink and girly?” Jiang Wang said with a hint of pity in his heart, though he looked cold on the outside. “Let’s go.”

Before he could even move, Ji Linqiu pulled him inside. “Nope, you’re going in with me.”

“Hey? Hey!”

Ji Linqiu didn’t like taking photos, but right now he was just accompanying him.

Jiang Wang’s likes and dislikes were so obvious.

It was easy to guess, which made it endearing.

Once inside, Jiang Wang was immediately drawn to the nostalgic retro frames on the walls, picking through them for a while. He and Ji Linqiu ended up taking ten photos, both acting like kids, complaining and laughing at the same time, though neither of them really knew what was so funny.

They were so busy taking photos that their ice cream almost melted. They hurriedly took turns taking bites, and in the end, Ji Linqiu gently licked his fingers, making Jiang Wang blink.

“Did you smell that?”

Ji Linqiu sniffed carefully. “Smell what?”

Jiang Wang looked serious. “The scent of love.”

Ji Linqiu: …?

Peng Xingwang had been doing his homework until 8:30 PM when he saw his brother and Teacher Ji come home together.

“Did you guys have another meeting?” The boy glanced at them. “I’ve already eaten. Did you… eat hot pot?”

“No, why?”

“Teacher Ji’s lips are a little red. I thought it was from the spice,” Peng Xingwang said with a sigh, propping his chin up. “I’m using my New Year’s money to treat the teachers to hot pot. Can they give me a little less homework?”

“Probably not,” his older brother said honestly. “Because I’m their boss.”

Peng Xingwang groaned and buried his head back in his homework.

Jiang Wang took a glance and went off to take a shower, leaving Ji Linqiu alone with the boy.

As soon as Ji Linqiu sat down beside him, the boy whispered, “Have you thought about what to give my brother for his birthday? It’s next week.”

Ji Linqiu stroked his chin and thought for a moment. “Maybe he’s already gotten it today.”

Peng Xingwang: …!!!

“I haven’t figured it out,” the boy said, frowning again. “I don’t want to just buy him anything, but my grades in art class are so bad. Everything I make is ugly.”

“It’s okay if it’s ugly,” Ji Linqiu said sympathetically, ruffling his hair. “As long as the thought is there, that’s enough.”

“By the way, you and he have the same birthday,” Ji Linqiu suddenly remembered. He paused for a few seconds before continuing, “…Same day. What a coincidence.”

There was that same mole, the same birthday, and that one coat…

“I don’t really like celebrating birthdays. It’s so unlucky,” Peng Xingwang shook his head. “I wish my brother could forget about it.”

“What’s wrong?”  

The boy only shook his head and refused to explain.

Ji Linqiu silently stayed with Xingwang for half an hour as he finished his homework, and then suddenly it clicked.

After the boy had showered and gone to bed, Ji Linqiu went to the balcony to help Jiang Wang fold the drying clothes. He suddenly said, “Next week, it’s Xingwang’s birthday. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, we’re going to the amusement park that day, or somewhere else to celebrate?”

“The point isn’t that,” Ji Linqiu thought for a moment, lowering his voice. “We need to let the boy know that he’s important.”

“Xingwang deserves love. He deserves to live a bright and happy life.”

Jiang Wang turned to look at him, a little confused, then smiled. “You’re sounding kind of poetic. I’m not used to it.”

“You’ll have to let me explain… it’s related to educational psychology,” Ji Linqiu explained slowly. He wanted Jiang Wang to pay more attention to this matter.

“Actually, all kids are narcissistic.”

He clarified, “This kind of narcissism isn’t about thinking they’re good-looking.”

“Instead, kids instinctively believe that they’re the center of the family.”

“When parents argue, when a family goes through changes or even breaks apart, they think it’s all their fault.”

—If I hadn’t been born, would you all be happier?

—If I didn’t exist, you wouldn’t fight or get divorced, right?

—Yeah, if I weren’t here, after the divorce, you wouldn’t have all this burden. You could have started a new life already, right?

I really… am unnecessary. Sorry.

Ji Linqiu frowned. “Xingwang seems cheerful on the surface, but he can’t help but feel that when his father gets drunk, when his mother goes to Cizhou, when she has another child, and all the things that followed… he’s been a burden to them. It’s his fault.”

Jiang Wang remained silent with his back to him for a long time, then softly said, “…Isn’t it my fault?”

Ji Linqiu thought these words must have reminded Jiang Wang of the unhappy past in his family, so he hugged him from behind and kissed his back.

“Sometimes, it’s harder for people to accept that they can be loved, rather than loving others.”

“Before I met you, I was stuck in that same mire.”

Jiang Wang remained silent for a long time, then finally spoke up.

“Alright, let’s prepare a gift for Xingwang.”

For a long time, Jiang Wang had thought of Peng Xingwang as just a younger brother, someone who was unrelated to him, a child to be dealt with.

But if he truly realized that he was caring for the younger version of himself, or perhaps trying to pamper his own self, it felt strange and unnatural, almost like doing something wrong.

At that moment, Jiang Wang truly wanted to reach out and embrace the version of himself from twenty years ago, that child who shouldn’t have existed.

It felt like doing so would take all of his courage.