Lin Yansheng pushed open the door of the cafe.
It took only a moment before he spotted Luo Yaoshan sitting alone in a corner.
Luo Yaoshan was wearing a floral shirt with a turned down collar.
His hair had grown past his ears, naturally soft and slightly tousled, the kind of look that, once brushed by the wind, resembled the movie stars in old Hollywood pictorials. The heavy gold ornaments on his body somehow did not appear gaudy on him at all.
On the table stood a glass bottle overflowing with fresh roses. A thick, sweet fragrance spread quietly through the air.
Lin Yansheng sat down, restrained and somewhat nervous.
Luo Yaoshan asked, “After you went back last time, did anyone cause trouble for you? If I’m going to do a good deed, I might as well see it through to the end.”
Lin Yansheng said no, everything had gone smoothly.
Then he brought up Qin Shun’s schooling, gently hinting at his wish to borrow money.
Luo Yaoshan pulled out a checkbook from his pocket. “How much do you need?”
Lin Yansheng thanked him repeatedly.
“It’s nothing,” Luo Yaoshan said with a faint smile. “I just hope that kid studies hard, makes something of himself in the future, becomes a lawyer or a doctor. That way it won’t be for nothing, all the times you’ve humbled yourself for his sake.”
“Yansheng, how many years has it been since we last met?”
“Thirteen years.”
“Heh, time really never comes back once it’s gone.”
Under the table, Lin Yansheng twisted his fingers together tightly. Gathering his courage, he said, “You… is there anything you need me to do, as long as it’s lawful and proper, I’ll do my best…”
Before he could finish, Luo Yaoshan burst into loud laughter.
Was it really that amusing?
In truth, Lin Yansheng knew his words were rather overestimating himself.
But still, he couldn’t just accept help without offering anything in return.
“Hahaha, you’re still the same as before.”
“Maybe there’s somewhere I could be of use.”
“What do you think you can do for me?”
“…For example, I could write for you.”
“Hm? That’s actually not a bad idea. You could write me a biography. I think it might sell, people love stories about shaking off poverty and building something from nothing.”
“Isn’t it a bit too early to write it now?”
“So you want to wait until I’m 70 or 80 before you write it? That’s fine too, not too late. Didn’t Jiang Ziya meet King Wen at 80?”
Lin Yansheng couldn’t help but laugh.
Ding ling, ding ling
The doorbell chimed, someone had entered.
Lin Yansheng turned at the sound.
A young, delicate looking man had already stepped inside and was striding straight toward them. His expression was far from pleasant. One glance was enough to tell that anger simmered beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment.
He approached.
From head to toe, his gaze carefully measured Lin Yansheng.
Lin Yansheng felt the hairs on his body stand on end under that stare.
Who was this?
Why was he looking at him like that?
On the other side, Luo Yaoshan’s expression had already darkened. Clearly displeased, he asked, “Were you following me?”
The stranger’s gaze remained fixed solely on Lin Yansheng. Curling his lips in disdain, he said, “Who told you to act so suspicious? Getting up early and picking out clothes like some lovestruck kid, I thought you were going to meet some breathtaking beauty and this is it? Luo Yaoshan, looks like you’ve grown tired of delicacies and now want to sample something plain and salty for a change.”
Lin Yansheng: “…?”
In an instant, realization dawned on him.
Good heavens, had he just been mistaken for Luo Yaoshan’s lover?!
He was an honest, ordinary man. How could he ever have imagined encountering such a situation?
His face flushed red immediately.
He was just about to defend himself.
Luo Yaoshan cut in first, a cold edge in his voice. “Shut up.”
His expression was so grim that even Lin Yansheng fell silent in fright.
The air slowly thickened, heavy and stagnant.
It was unbearably awkward.
“Young man, you’ve misunderstood. I’m a friend of Boss Luo,” Lin Yansheng finally spoke, his voice timid. “All I feel toward Boss Luo is respect and gratitude.”
All his life, Lin Yansheng had feared nothing more than trouble.
Matters of the heart were the hardest to explain clearly.
He took several wrinkled banknotes from his wallet and placed them on the table, speaking tactfully. “Boss Luo, I’ve caused you inconvenience. I’m truly sorry.”
“How could that be? I should be the one apologizing.” Luo Yaoshan rose to see him out, brushing past the man standing by the table.
Lin Yansheng felt his scalp tighten.
Outside the door, he glanced at the young man, whose face still carried stubborn dissatisfaction. Dryly, he tried to mediate, “He must like you very much. That’s why even someone as insignificant as me could make him jealous. It’s all just a huge misunderstanding.”
Luo Yaoshan looked at him without saying a word.
At that moment, a voice cut in from the side.
“Uncle.”
Qin Shun had been waiting outside the entire time.
He stepped forward, placing himself between Lin Yansheng and Luo Yaoshan, leaning slightly. “Uncle, shall we go home?”
As soon as they arrived home, Qin Shun immediately went to wring out a cold towel. “Uncle, wipe your sweat. Do you want a bath? I stored water this morning. Change your clothes, I’ll wash them.”
Ever since returning, Ah Shun had behaved like a professional housekeeper, attending to every detail of Lin Yansheng’s daily life.
But today, for some reason,
His movements carried a restless edge.
Without warning, Qin Shun said, “Uncle, there’s something rather strange about the relationship between those two men.”
His heart gave a sudden, jarring leap.
He said, “In quiet moments, reflect upon your own faults; in idle moments, do not speak of others’ wrongs.”
“Are they homosexual?” Qin Shun asked.
“Where did you learn that?” Lin Yansheng blurted out, as if struck by lightning.
“I read it in the newspaper.”
“Shameless media, poisoning children!”
Lin Yansheng truly did not want to talk about such matters. To him, it carried the vague unease of something strange, almost monstrous yet he was not the type to loudly condemn it either. The way of a gentleman lay in moderation. Keeping a respectful distance was enough.
“Uncle, I can’t imagine how two men could be together.”
“Why are you thinking about that? Don’t be curious about everything! Stop asking.”
That night, Lin Yansheng was once again rushing to finish a manuscript. Qin Shun sat beside him, helping to proofread.
They divided the work between them, their cooperation smooth and unspoken.
By eleven o’clock, Qin Shun reminded his uncle that it was nearly time for bed.
“It’s still early.” Lin Yansheng didn’t even look up.
Midnight came yet the pen never paused.
The only light in the room was the small lamp on the desk.
From the dim corner by the wall, Qin Shun watched Lin Yansheng bent over his writing. His body leaned forward slightly. The pajamas he wore were made of cheap fabric, washed too many times until they had thinned almost to transparency, faintly revealing the narrow back beneath, bones lightly protruding along the ridges.
It was undeniably shabby.
And yet, for some reason, Qin Shun could not help finding the sight pleasing.
Unlike himself, who planned everything in advance,
Lin Yansheng sometimes wrote endlessly once he began. Persuasion was useless. He would even argue with conviction, saying, “How can I stop? Once emotion appears, it must be written to its conclusion. Otherwise, my heart won’t be at peace.”
Qin Shun remembered again the question he had asked earlier, whether those two men were homosexual. Lin Yansheng had only told him not to ask.
Qin Shun walked forward and simply picked up the lamp. “It’s very late, Uncle.”
Lin Yansheng froze in surprise.
But he had already been scolded before. To be cared for by family was often its own kind of happiness.
Despite the hardships, despite the debts weighing on them, he had no objections to the fragile stability they had regained.
As long as one was still alive in this world, there would one day come a turning point.
Two months later, the newspaper headline was printed in enlarged red characters: The Rong City government announces the demolition plan for Kowloon Walled City, proposing a compensation fund of 2.7 billion. Original residents may choose public housing resettlement.
See? The air had finally begun to move.
Lin Yansheng responded immediately.
Once the compensation money arrived, he paid off all debts at the first opportunity. It was enough to purchase another property, with a modest sum left over.
Through cold winters and hot summers, through sunshine, rain, wind and frost, in the blink of an eye, four years passed.
Another spring arrived.
“Goodbye, Teacher Lin.”
The young children called out one after another as class ended, filing out the door.
Beside the entrance hung a small sign: Lin Yansheng Calligraphy Classroom.
He enrolled young pupils, teaching them the fundamentals of calligraphy.
Classes during the day, writing at night. Nestled in his small home, life felt quietly comfortable.
After tidying up, he went to hang laundry out to dry.
A commotion rose from downstairs.
He saw groups of boys and girls returning from school in clusters of twos and threes.
Among them, one boy stood out, tall and strikingly handsome, surrounded by several girls. A string of laughter drifted over from afar.
Youth was wonderful.
Lin Yansheng thought.
Simply standing there, chatting and laughing, could make the air feel fresh and bright.
During adolescence, A’Shun’s romantic luck was flourishing.
He often complained to Luo Yaoshan that the newly installed telephone rang endlessly every day, all of them calls asking for Ah Shun.
Qin Shun’s eighteenth birthday happened to coincide with his graduation examinations. He was at a crucial turning point.
As soon as Qin Shun entered, he sat at the entryway to change his shoes.
“A’Shun,” Lin Yansheng called.
“What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Uncle, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“It’s not that!”
Qin Shun turned his head. “Then is there anything else?”
Lin Yansheng stared at him for a moment, slightly dazed, before saying, “Never mind. Go work on your exercises first. The exams are more important.”
He returned to the room that served both as study and classroom.
Spreading a sheet of xuan paper, he began practicing calligraphy.
Qin Shun could not help glancing over a few more times.
Lin Yansheng’s hands were long and well proportioned, the joints slender but not frail. The way he held the brush was especially beautiful, worthy of imitation, calm, refined and elegant.
Yet what Qin Shun most wanted to see was the look of Lin Yansheng when he lowered his head.
The hair at his uncle’s nape was always trimmed clean and neat, soft little tufts lying in even clusters.
Smooth.
A small stretch of skin showed at the back of his neck, very pale, so pale it seemed almost translucent, faintly bluish, like jade that had been stored away for too long, quietly waiting for warmth.
After copying the Heart Sutra once, Lin Yansheng went to find Qin Shun.
Qin Shun was working through a mathematics problem.
Holding onto the doorframe, Lin Yansheng drew a deep breath and said, “A’Shun, well… recently someone introduced me to an Auntie Zhang. She’s about my age and has two daughters. I was thinking of inviting her over for dinner the day after tomorrow. Would that be alright?”
Qin Shun kept his head lowered, rigid.
A sudden tremor ran through his entire body.
The tip of his fountain pen snapped.
Crack
Ink leaked out, spreading across the page in a dark, blooming stain.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Did you enjoy that? Excellent. Coffee. Now. ☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · UncleChapter 2 · Ran AwayChapter 3 · TimidChapter 4 · DeceasedChapter 5 · Grow upChapter 6 · CharmChapter 7 · EndureChapter 8 · Biological FatherChapter 9 · ContestChapter 10 · MisunderstoodChapter 11 · BreakChapter 12 · ReunionChapter 13 · MeetChapter 14 · To clearChapter 15 · InstructionsChapter 16 · RegretChapter 17 · SecretChapter 18 · Subtle SophistryChapter 19 · GuestChapter 20 · KissingChapter 21 · Extra 1Chapter 22 · Extra 2Chapter 23 · Extra 3Chapter 24 · Extra 4Chapter 25 · Extra 5Chapter 26 · Extra 6Chapter 27 · Extra 7Chapter 28 · Extra 8