After Yan Hui left, Yu Xiang sat alone in the Siamese restaurant for a full hour before finally getting up to leave.
Back at the hotel, he immediately threw himself back into his work. It was not until Chu Zizhen called that he finally broke out of his state of high concentration, massaging his forehead as he pressed the answer button.
“Oh! You actually answered! I thought you were having too much fun to take my call!” The teasing voice came through the earpiece, sounding rather grating.
Yu Xiang pulled the phone a bit farther away, his brow furrowing slightly. “State your business if you have any. Otherwise, I am hanging up.”
“Hey, you! Your buddy is just trying to care about you!” After making a fuss for a moment, Chu Zizhen chuckled and asked, “How did your date go at noon?”
Yu Xiang retorted, “How else can a meal go?”
There was a moment of silence on the line. “And then?”
Yu Xiang stood up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the gray sky with an unnaturally calm tone. “Everyone went their separate ways home.”
Chu Zizhen was shocked. “No way, Yu Xiang? You spent ten years looking for Yan Hui, and after finally finding him, you let him walk away just after having a meal?”
“What else was I supposed to do?”
“For starters, you could at least have confessed your feelings!”
“Confessed what feelings?” Yu Xiang stared at the raindrops on the windowpane. “Didn’t I mention it already? He has a boyfriend.”
“What does him having a boyfriend have to do with you? They aren’t married yet. Anyone can chip away at the foundation of a relationship if they try. It all comes down to ability, so don’t tell me you chickened out!”
A flurry of slapping sounds came through the phone. Yu Xiang could practically picture Chu Zizhen slapping his own thigh in anxiety, and he twisted the corners of his mouth without any humor.
“This is not a matter of chickening out. I failed him ten years ago, and now, ten years later, I am supposed to ruin his relationship? That would make me too scummy.”
Chu Zizhen was baffled. “What does that mean? Wait, weren’t you staying in Jindun just to win Yan Hui back? Why are you starting to back down just after a single meal?”
“Who said I stayed in Jindun to win Yan Hui back? I just wanted to see if he was doing well and whether his boyfriend was dependable. Once I figure out the situation, I am heading back to Yunju.”
“Yu Xiang, put your hand over your heart and tell me, is that your honest-to-goodness thought? Who are you trying to fool?”
Yu Xiang did not answer. He merely watched the winding tracks of water on the glass in silence.
After a long while, Chu Zizhen clicked his tongue. “Fine. If you want to deceive yourself, go ahead. So, did you gain anything from this meal? What is Yan Hui doing nowadays? What kind of background does his boyfriend have?”
At the mention of this, Yu Xiang’s expression darkened. “Yan Hui is working in new media, and his boyfriend is still a student.”
“Whoa!” Chu Zizhen let out a whistle. “Not bad, Yan Hui! He went for younger blood, which is way better than you guarding an empty tomb for ten years.”
Yu Xiang endured it for a moment, but ultimately failed.
“Better my ass! A punk who hasn’t even grown all his hair yet, how is he supposed to take care of Yan Hui? Can he shelter him from the wind and rain? He probably still relies on Yan Hui to support him! I really don’t understand why Yan Hui found someone like that, and goddamn it, the guy is a shorty who barely stands at five feet seven inches!”
Yu Xiang ranted for a full minute before stopping. The phone was dead silent for a long time until a light chuckle came through.
“I should have gone to Jindun too.”
Yu Xiang frowned. “What would you come here for?”
“To watch you get angry and curse! You have to admit, after all these years, I really missed this side of you,” Chu Zizhen said cheaply.
Yu Xiang fell silent once again, while Chu Zizhen changed the subject. “Still, since the kid is a student, that makes things simple. We can just go to the university and check the student roster. I have connections in that area. Let me help you look him up. What is the kid’s name?”
Yu Xiang did not utter a sound.
When Chu Zizhen waited for a moment without getting a reply, his pitch shot up by an octave. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Yu Xiang? You didn’t even ask for his name? Are you even trying?”
“Yan Hui was not willing to tell me, so what could I do? I could hardly hold a knife to his neck.”
“Damn it! Just because Yan Hui wouldn’t tell you, you are out of options? Aren’t they living together? Send someone to track them down! Once you have the address, finding a specific person is a breeze.”
Yu Xiang massaged his temples. “I know! We just haven’t reached that step yet. Why are you in such a rush?”
“Fine! I am in no rush!” Chu Zizhen clicked his tongue, paused for a moment, and asked, “Once we find out who he is, what do you plan to do?”
Yu Xiang opened his mouth, closed it again, and took quite a while before lowering his voice to reply. “Let’s wait until we find him first.”
“Alright then, you better hurry up. Every extra day you waste is another chance for that little punk to dig in.”
Before Chu Zizhen could finish speaking, Yu Xiang hung up the phone directly. With a gloomy face, he gazed out at the street scene where the rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared, his gaze dark and obscure.
Yet very soon, the churning emotions calmed down, leaving behind nothing more than a pool of bitter, stagnant, and rippleless water.
When all was said and done, the person who had pushed Yan Hui into someone else’s arms was none other than himself.
Ten years ago, on the day the college entrance examination scores were released, Yu Xiang was hanging out with a bunch of childhood friends at a club.
Yan Hui found the noise annoying and did not go. Instead, he called Yu Xiang right on schedule to urge him to check his score so they could discuss filling out their college applications.
Yu Xiang acted annoyed on the surface, complaining that Yan Hui was nagging, but his palms were actually slick with sweat.
Prior to that, he had half-heartedly agreed to let Yan Hui tutor him, hiring private tutors in secret and studying day and night simply to narrow the score gap between them and avoid holding Yan Hui back.
Fortunately, his hard work paid off. The score he pulled up was only ten points lower than Yan Hui’s.
The moment the scores came out, everyone was stunned. Screams and whistles echoed through the private room. Yu Xiang did not hear a single word of what Yan Hui was saying on the phone; he just stared fixedly at the numbers, his chest heaving with churning emotions.
He would be able to attend the same university as Yan Hui, and perhaps even major in the same field and share a dorm!
By then, they would be living under the same roof, eating and staying together, spending day and night side by side, having the home-court advantage.
Just as Yu Xiang was failing to control his soaring thoughts, a sentence drifted into his ears.
“Big bro Xiang is amazing! Stringing Yan Hui along as a free tutor is practically a thousandfold return on investment!”
Yu Xiang felt a jolt in his heart and immediately looked at his phone, only to realize the call had already ended. He let out a sigh of relief and lowered his head to take a sip of his drink.
Seeing that he remained silent, his fair-weather friends instantly grew bolder.
“Totally! Aside from anything else, Yan Hui’s score predictions are insanely accurate. Even I managed to clear the junior college cutoff line!”
“Then you better thank Big Bro Xiang properly for sacrificing himself to benefit the brotherhood!”
“Big Bro Xiang really had it hard, being pestered by Yan Hui for two whole years. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stand it for even a single day.”
“Me neither. Just the thought of being liked by a man makes me feel sick.”
Yu Xiang’s movements paused. Chu Zizhen picked up an empty beer can and hurled it at the person who had called it disgusting.
“What is this? Are you homophobic? What era are you living in, crawled out from which Qing dynasty elder’s tomb are you?”
“Bro Chu, how can you call this homophobia? What straight-laced real man would want to be pestered by another man? Anyway, I wouldn’t!”
“With looks like yours, Yan Hui wouldn’t even look at you in the first place!”
“That is why I feel aggrieved for Big Bro Xiang! Big Bro Xiang only got pestered by Yan Hui because he is too handsome, leading to this whole mess!”
Chu Zizhen glanced at the silent Yu Xiang and smiled. “How do you know Yu Xiang was not willing? Yan Hui is so pretty, what is wrong with being liked by him?”
“No matter how pretty he is, he is still a guy! Big Bro Xiang is not gay!”
“Exactly. If he didn’t have such a thick skin and keep pestering him, would Big Bro Xiang even give him the time of day?”
“How can someone be so shameless? Big Bro Xiang’s attitude was already so obvious, why doesn’t Yan Hui know how to take a hint?”
“He was in such a rush to urge Big Bro Xiang to check his scores just so he could go to the same university. It is seriously sickening.”
“Alright! Enough!” Yu Xiang slammed his beer can down onto the table with a loud bang, and the private room fell instantly silent.
After a brief stillness, someone muttered under their breath. “No way? Is Big Bro Xiang actually into Yan Hui?”
The speaker’s voice was not loud, but in the pin-drop quietness of the room, it rang in Yu Xiang’s ears like a thunderclap, startling him into an almost reflex-like reply.
“No way!”
After a pause, he casually picked up his beer can, brought it close to his lips, and added with a flippant air. “We have to respect our tutor.”
The private room instantly burst into roars of laughter. Amidst the cheers and chuckles, Yu Xiang thought he heard the sound of a door closing.
He looked up, but only caught sight of the tightly shut door of the private room, so he assumed he had imagined it.
It was not until the party broke up that he acted on an inexplicable impulse and asked the waiter stationed at the doorway. “Did anyone come by this afternoon?”
The waiter lowered his head respectfully. “Young Master Yan came by. He stood at the doorway for a while and then left.”
Yu Xiang still remembered that feeling vividly to this day.
Pulling his thoughts back, he checked his watch. Seeing that the time was about right, he unlocked his phone and pulled up Yan Hui’s phone number.
Right then, Yan Hui was driving on his way to pick up Yan Sheng. His phone was connected to the car’s audio system, playing a playlist titled Healing.
Therefore, when the incoming call interrupted the female singer’s line about being young and in love, he clicked his tongue first before glancing at the display screen.
“Yu Xiang?” Subconsciously reading out the caller ID, Yan Hui hesitated for a short moment before pressing the answer button.
“Hello, Yan Hui.”
The deep, rich male voice, akin to a cello, was amplified by the surround-sound audio system and echoed inside the car cabin. Yan Hui raised a hand to touch his ear and went straight for the jugular.
“What is it? Have you finalized your return time to Yunju?”
The audio system fell completely silent for two seconds before resuming. “I will not be returning to Yunju for the time being.”
This answer caught Yan Hui completely off guard. He frowned and glanced at the display screen. “Why? Hasn’t the new factory site already been selected? Are you not going back to take charge of the big picture?”
The construction of Zhengxin’s new factory was easily the biggest tech news of the year. It was not just a new milestone for Zhengxin as a company, but it also signified a national breakthrough in the semiconductor field.
To lure Zhengxin into building a factory locally, various regions had rolled out their most favorable policies. Jindun had just won the prize, and news reports were plastered everywhere, oozing an unmistakable sense of bragging.
Yan Hui had learned about Yu Xiang coming to Jindun precisely by seeing the news, and he had even fantasized about a chance encounter reigniting their old flame.
As it turned out, they did run into each other, and the flame did reignite, but just like ten years ago, it was a one-sided burn.
Yu Xiang vaguely replied. “Things need to be overseen here too. I can work remotely.”
Yan Hui intuitively felt something was off, but before he could speak, Yu Xiang preempted him. “What happened today at noon was my fault. This coming weekend, I would like to invite you and your boyfriend to dinner so I can apologize in person. Would that be okay?”
Huh?
Yan Hui glanced at the display screen, checked the road conditions, glanced at the display screen again, and finally simply swung the steering wheel to pull the car right over to the side of the road.
“Did I not just say it? I am busy this weekend. Besides, what was your fault? Was it your malicious speculation about my boyfriend, or your speculation about my boyfriend’s motives?”
Yu Xiang fell silent. “Is there a difference?”
“Ha!” Yan Hui let out a cold laugh and restarted the engine. “None at all, and I am busy!”
“Then how about tomorrow? Can we do tomorrow?”
“No.”
This time, Yu Xiang’s silence lasted a little longer. Yan Hui glared at the vehicle ahead, his fingers tapping irritably against the steering wheel.
Finally, just as Yan Hui’s patience was wearing thin, Yu Xiang asked again. “What about you then? When are you free?”
Yan Hui’s fingers paused, and he bit his lip. “Didn’t I say it before? I am a freelancer. Aside from weekends and evenings, I am free anytime.”
“Then tomorrow afternoon,” Yu Xiang said immediately. “I know a really good ice cream shop. Let me treat you to afternoon tea.”
“Oh.”
Hanging up the phone, the music resumed, and the female singer continued calling for love at the center of the universe. Yet Yan Hui’s mood underwent a complete one-eighty turn, growing more irritated the more he listened, until he finally snapped the audio system off.