Realizing that the document was an elementary school language test, Yu Xiang froze completely.
He slowly raised his head, staring at Yan Sheng. “You have a child? No! Whose test is this?”
Yan Sheng rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Mine. I failed, so I didn’t dare ask my dad to sign it. It is due next Monday.”
“How old are you?”
“I will turn ten right after the New Year.”
“Then who is your dad?” Yu Xiang asked, his voice shaking.
“Yan Hui, of course,” Yan Sheng answered, looking at him in confusion. “Aren’t you my dad’s good friend?”
Yu Xiang lowered his gaze to the name on the test paper, murmuring to himself, “I am. So your name is Yan Sheng? Sheng-sheng is your nickname, and I actually thought—wait!”
Yu Xiang suddenly snapped his head up, an inexplicable light bursting in his eyes. “Then your mother…”
“Yu Xiang!”
A furious shout interrupted Yu Xiang and cut Yan Sheng off mid-sentence. Panicking, the boy hurriedly gathered up the test paper, pressed a finger to his lips, and shrank back in fear, his features scrunched up.
“Shh! Don’t you dare tell my dad!”
Before Yu Xiang could respond, Yan Hui rushed over like a whirlwind, throwing his arms around Yan Sheng to shield him as he glared angrily at Yu Xiang.
“Why are you here? What were you saying to him? His last name is Yan! He is my son!”
Clutching his chest in fright, Yan Sheng let out a sigh of relief. After a moment of silence, Yu Xiang muttered, “Oh, I actually thought he was your boyfriend.”
Yan Hui was instantly at a loss for words. He turned and grabbed Yan Sheng by the hand. “Sheng-sheng, let’s go!”
“Wait!” Yu Xiang grabbed Yan Hui’s wrist. “Explain this clearly! Exactly what relation is he to you? Who is his mother?”
“None of your damn business! Let go!”
“I won’t let go! Not unless you explain everything!”
“Who the hell do you think you are! Why should I explain anything to you?”
“You have been leading me around in circles this whole time, don’t I deserve an explanation?”
“You!” Yan Hui was choked with anger, his face turning bright red. The two of them fell into a standoff, and the gossiping whispers of the surrounding crowd began to drift over clearly.
“What is going on? A same-sex love triangle?”
“Are the looks requirements for being gay this high nowadays?”
“I thought I heard something about a mother and a son…”
Seeing someone pull out a smartphone to record, a flash of panic crossed Yan Hui’s eyes. He turned to block the camera, gritting his teeth. “Let’s talk somewhere else!”
“Fine.” Realizing this wasn’t the place to talk, Yu Xiang snatched the shopping bag from the edge of the table first, treating it like leverage.
Yan Hui rolled his eyes at the sight and pulled Yan Sheng along as he walked away.
Yan Sheng stumbled along behind him, his gaze darting back and forth between his dad and the uncle, his expression a mix of naive incomprehension and a lingering trace of relief. Yay! Dad did not find the test paper!
In a corner not far away, a man with a camera hanging from his neck asked Yang Kexin, “Should we keep following, boss?”
Yang Kexin pondered for a moment, then gave a wave of her hand. “Follow, but keep your distance.”
“Got it.” The man was about to step forward when his steps suddenly paused. He turned back to persuade her, “Boss, cutting your losses is the right path! Investing in someone who is practically a cancelled celebrity is a bad deal!”
Yang Kexin: “Thanks a lot.”
A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at the video game arcade on the fifth floor of the mall.
Looking around at the dazzling array of arcade machines, Yan Sheng turned to look at Yan Hui in sheer disbelief.
“Dad, you are letting me play games?”
“Yeah, play whatever you want. This uncle is treating,” Yan Hui said with a smile at Yan Sheng, though he could not completely suppress his lingering anger as he gritted out the last few words.
Holding the shopping bag, Yu Xiang stood beside Yan Hui and said to Yan Sheng with a kindly expression, “That’s right, Uncle is treating. Play for as long as you want.”
“Thank you, Uncle! Let’s go buy tokens right now!” Dragging Yan Hui’s hand, Yan Sheng pulled him straight into the arcade, looking as joyful as if the New Year had come early.
Once they bought the tokens, Yan Sheng dashed off into the gaming world. Yan Hui and Yu Xiang followed at a moderate distance, finding a relatively private spot amidst the sound effects of the various arcade games where they could talk properly.
Yet, neither of them spoke for a moment.
It wasn’t until Yan Sheng picked up a prop gun to start shooting zombies that Yu Xiang lowered his voice and asked the question he wanted answered most.
“Are you married?”
Looking at a zombie lunging at the screen, Yan Hui replied expressionlessly, “Otherwise?”
“Who is she? When did you two meet?”
“What? Are you doing a household registration check again? You checked my son, and now you want to check my wife?”
Yu Xiang looked at Yan Sheng’s back and chuckled lightly.
“Yan Sheng said he will only turn ten after the New Year, which means he was born in February 2015. With a ten-month pregnancy, when Yan Sheng’s mother was carrying him, you were still in Yunjing.”
Still in my arms.
“Yan Hui, are you still trying to lie to me?”
“I am not lying to you,” Yan Hui glanced at him, keeping his composure. “Sheng-sheng’s birthday is not in February; it is at the end of March. Besides, he was a premature baby. His original due date was in April.”
“April. That means July.” Yu Xiang’s voice cut off abruptly.
June 24, 2014, was the first and only time he had ever truly had Yan Hui.
He would never forget that date for the rest of his life.
“I…” Yu Xiang’s voice was hoarse. “How do I know you aren’t lying to me again?”
“Tch,” Yan Hui scoffed, raising his volume. “Sheng-sheng, tell your uncle what month and day your birthday is, and Uncle will buy you a gift.”
“March 25th! Thank you, Uncle.”
Yan Sheng turned back and flashed Yu Xiang a huge smile, those phoenix eyes, so identical to Yan Hui’s, curving into two little crescent moons.
Yu Xiang fell silent, while Yan Hui felt a surge of inward smugness.
The highest level of deception is always half-truth and half-lie!
For instance, Yan Sheng’s due date really was in April, April Fools’ Day to be exact. And he really did have to undergo an emergency C-section because the situation was critical and surgery was mandatory. By the time of the operation, however, Yan Sheng was already full-term and could not technically be considered a premature baby.
By slightly blurring the due date and telling a small white lie about him being premature, the conception timeline was pushed back from late June to July. That tiny gap in time, combined with the absurdity of a man giving birth, was the foundation of his confidence in guarding Yan Sheng’s true background!
However…
Yan Hui glanced at Yu Xiang out of the corner of his eye and noticed his expression had turned terrifyingly ugly, looking deeply angry for some reason. He felt a bit puzzled.
Why is he so mad? That expression looks like he just found out his wife cheated on him.
Stop right there! Even wild delusions have limits. Wife my foot. Haven’t I learned my lesson enough times yet?
Yan Hui clicked his tongue internally and hastily began reciting the Great Compassion Mantra in his mind to calm down, only to hear Yu Xiang ask, “If that is the case, why did you lie to me and say Sheng-sheng was your boyfriend?”
“I… When did I lie to you! You are the one who misunderstood. I just didn’t deny it.”
Guiltily, Yan Hui averted his gaze, though he quickly regained his righteous posture. “Besides, does it matter whether I lied to you or not? Who I have around me and how I live my life has nothing to do with you.”
Hearing those words, Yu Xiang’s face darkened even further. “How does it have nothing to do with you? Back then, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have left Yunjing.”
“Ha!” Yan Hui sneered. “Stop flattering yourself. My leaving Yunjing had nothing to do with you.”
Yu Xiang gritted his teeth. “Then why didn’t you wait for me to wake up? I waited at your place for three days, and you left without bringing a single thing, disappearing completely without a trace!”
Ten years ago on that day, when he learned that Yan Hui had come to the club and left just as quietly, Yu Xiang instantly realized that the asshole remarks he had bragged about to his drinking buddies had been overheard by the person himself.
He panicked immediately, and his very first instinct was to go over and explain.
But when he actually went looking for him, those words, just like countless times before, got stuck in his throat, blocked by his ridiculous pride and ego, unable to utter a single syllable.
So he instinctively made up an excuse, saying he reeked of alcohol and didn’t want to go home to get yelled at, asking to stay over for the night.
Just like before, Yan Hui acted as if nothing had happened, leaning against the doorframe with a strange emotion in his eyes.
“Yu Xiang, are you treating my place like a hotel?”
“What is wrong with that? We are brothers, what is wrong with staying over?”
Yu Xiang spoke with absolute confidence, even as his heart hammered out of control, filled with a mix of anxiety and fluttering nerves.
All because there was an indescribable beauty to Yan Hui.
For some reason, Yu Xiang was reminded of his mother’s antique natural wild pearl necklace, worth tens of millions.
On the surface, the necklace looked delicate, soft, and restrained in its luster, but the strings inside had long since rotted away, scattering across the floor with just a gentle tug.
Those irregular pearls bounced and rolled on the ground, each one glowing with the misty, warm starlight characteristic of genuine wild pearls.
Yet such beautiful and expensive pearls had fallen to the floor, keeping company with the dust.
It was like a magnificent palace collapsing, like a beauty fallen into the mortal dust, piteous, lamentable, and unforgettable.
“Brothers?” Yan Hui queerly repeated the word before stepping aside to let him in. “Alright, you can stay, but you have to keep me company for a couple of drinks.”
Yu Xiang walked in, wiping his palms against the seams of his trousers without a trace. “Don’t you hate drinking?”
“We are so happy today, how can we not drink?” Yan Hui said as he ordered delivery, buying a whole pile of liquor, baijiu, and beer.
“Let’s get this straight first: if you get drunk, I am not taking care of you.” Walking over to sit on the couch, Yu Xiang delivered his heartless line.
“Relax. If you get drunk, I will take good care of you.” Yan Hui chuckled softly. His words carried the same ambiguous undertone as before, yet lacked a bit of his usual suggestive teasing, replaced instead by a trace of melancholy.
Yu Xiang sensed the difference, but due to his lack of life experience, he could not analyze the reason behind the shift. He only gave a disdainful, pretended snort.
“With your alcohol tolerance?”
“Underestimating me, aren’t you?” Yan Hui brought over two mugs and set them on the coffee table. “Make do with these. It is the only cups I’ve got.”
Yu Xiang frowned. “Are you trying to drink yourself to death?”
“How could I?” Yan Hui paused for a moment before offering a self-deprecating smile. “Still better than chugging straight from the bottle.”
Yu Xiang gave a couple of low hums and didn’t press further. When the delivery arrived, he opened a bottle of beer and poured a thin layer at the bottom of Yan Hui’s mug.
Looking at that tiny puddle of alcohol and then raising his gaze to Yu Xiang, Yan Hui suddenly asked, “Yu Xiang, have you figured out which university you are applying to?”
Yu Xiang tilted the bottle to pour his drink with a glug-glug sound. Hearing the question, he glanced sideways at him and only replied with a counter-question after filling his own cup to the brim: “And you?”
Yan Hui lowered his eyes. “Yunjing University, I guess. It is close to home.”
“What is so great about being close to home? Nagged every single day until your ears grow calluses.”
“Then where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know, haven’t thought about it yet.”
“When you figure it out, let me know.”
Yu Xiang gave a light snort. “Why should I tell you?”
Yu Xiang had expected Yan Hui to retort with Why do you think?, and then, while he feigned impatience, offer up some excuse about the two of them keeping each other company and taking care of each other, just like they had repeated countless times before.
Instead, Yan Hui merely smiled and spat out two words: “Fair enough.”
That reaction left Yu Xiang both perplexed and inexplicably panicked. Wanting to say something, he felt like his lingering doubts could not possibly be voiced aloud, so he could only lower his head and drink.
He had already been drinking all day at the club, and tossing back more alcohol on top of that meant it wasn’t long before his stomach felt overwhelmingly bloated, forcing him to get up and head to the restroom.
When he returned, his mug was once again filled to the brim with beer.
Yu Xiang looked suspiciously at Yan Hui, who tilted his head slightly, his bright red lips pressed against the rim of the cup with a shallow, slightly provocative smile.
“What? Drunk already?”
“Hh.” Yu Xiang sneered coldly, picked up the mug, and chugged it down in one go.
After that, the two of them never spoke of college admissions again. They simply competed in drinking until an inexplicable flame rushed to their heads, incinerating their reason and blurring their memories.
Perhaps it was the alcohol playing tricks, but Yu Xiang’s memories of that night were a chaotic mess. The sensations lingering in his hippocampus far outweighed any specific sequence of events, except for one single thing that he remembered with crystal clarity:
From start to finish, Yan Hui never once said a single word of refusal.
Yu Xiang had thought that was more than enough to make their stance clear. He thought the two of them had finally torn through that layer of window paper, and from then on they would be kindred spirits flying wing to wing.
Yet when the night of absurdity passed and he joyfully opened his eyes, what met him was nothing but an empty, silent room.