The kitchen sink was piled high with greasy, unwashed dishes.
Qin Shun was cleaning them.
After seeing the guest off and returning home, Lin Yansheng immediately found Qin Shun already busy with housework, without needing a single reminder.
Lunch had passed without incident.
Downstairs, with a faint smile lingering at the corners of her lips, Ms. Zhang had remarked, “That child is just as polite as you said. Is he always that courteous at home? It seems when he addresses you, he always uses ‘nin.’”
No. It was not accidental.
When Qin Shun spoke to him, he almost always used the formal “nin.” It was not that Lin Yansheng had never brought it up but Qin Shun never changed it and he had not insisted.
Now he stood by the doorway, momentarily distracted, his gaze fixed blankly on Qin Shun.
This boy had been tall from the moment he first knew him and he had grown quickly, so quickly that his clothes and shoes constantly had to be replaced.
It was only last year that his growth had finally slowed.
Then he looked at himself.
Compared to Qin Shun, his own build was far too slight. His shoulders were not broad enough; his arms were thin. His height could only be described as average. His complexion was overly pale, lacking the healthy wheat tone that lent a man an air of rugged masculinity.
In Plato’s Symposium it is written that in ancient myth there were originally three kinds of humans: those formed of male and female, male and male and female and female. No one objected to this but one day, the gods split all humans in half. Thereafter only two sexes remained in the world and ever since, people have spent their lives searching restlessly and anxiously for their destined other half.
So he had naively believed that one day he, too, would find his other half.
Even his flaws, perhaps, would appear as complementary irregularities in that person’s eyes.
But the truth was this: judged by the standards of courtship, women did not find him handsome or strong.
He was an unremarkable man.
“It’s almost exam time. Go study. I’ll clean up.”
Lin Yansheng said.
Qin Shun nodded and stepped aside.
He left just enough space for one person to pass.
But the kitchen was too narrow. It was unavoidable. Lin Yansheng’s shoulder brushed against Qin Shun’s chest.
Lin Yansheng felt a pressure.
Qin Shun was looking at him. The gaze that fell upon the back of his neck felt almost like a light bite.
When had this boy’s back grown so broad and solid? It was overwhelming, as though it could block out the sky. With only a single thought, a single extension of his arm, he could easily overpower him completely.
He thought.
For the first time, he thought this.
No wonder that in the wild, once a young male lion comes of age, it is driven out of the pride.
Over the past two years, he had occasionally felt an indefinable strangeness. Now he understood, it was the inevitable sense of threat that arises between two males coexisting within the same territory.
Early summer.
Qin Shun had finished his examinations.
That afternoon the sunlight was splendid.
The plane trees lining both sides of the road were lush and flourishing. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, spilling down and gathering on the ground into patches of flickering brightness.
“No matter what your results are, as long as you did your best, that’s enough.”
“In a couple of days it’ll be your eighteenth birthday. How many classmates are you planning to invite? I’ll reserve the seats.”
That night,
Lin Yansheng said gloomily to Boss Luo, “Guess what he said?”
Luo Yaoshan replied, “He must have told you not to spend money.”
“How did you know!”
“Haha, how could that boy bear to let you waste money?”
“But how can we not celebrate? You tell me, other people’s children cry and make a fuss if they’re neglected even a little. Sometimes I feel A’Shun is too sensible. Sigh. He lacks childlike innocence. He’s not adorable enough.”
“Lin Yansheng, you’re projecting. When you were little, because your parents forgot your birthday, you hid on the rooftop and cried. So you assume all children in the world are like that.”
“Did that really happen? I don’t remember!” Lin Yansheng said, flushing. “We’re talking about A’Shun.”
Luo Yaoshan remained unhurried. “Kids nowadays don’t have it easy either. If they ask for something, they’re called willful. If they don’t ask, you complain they’re distant. Besides, that boy lost his childhood long ago. What kind of child runs off to mix with society? And even does it convincingly? I think he was born a desperado.”
Lin Yansheng listened, stunned.
When he came back to himself, he grew displeased, instinctively protective. “Nonsense! A’Shun has always been a well behaved child who follows the rules. He’s a top student at school.”
In any case, he asked Boss Luo for a favor and booked a table at his hotel.
Luo Yaoshan’s business had been expanding steadily.
Just last month he had cut the ribbon for a newly opened Western style hotel. Lin Yansheng had never been there but he had heard it was resplendent like a palace, fully booked with reservations.
For Boss Luo, this was a trivial matter.
He agreed casually. Then, suddenly, he asked, “What about you? Good news soon, I assume?”
Lin Yansheng blinked. “Me? What about me?”
Luo Yaoshan said, “Aren’t things going well with your new girlfriend? When are you getting married? I’ll gift you a banquet.”
Lin Yansheng looked left and right, avoiding the question.
He rubbed the edge of his trousers awkwardly. “After thinking it over, now really isn’t a good time. Let’s wait until A’Shun officially enters university.”
That answer was half true, half false.
He changed the subject. “Forget about me. When are you going to settle down?”
Luo Yaoshan straightened up and leaned back against his chair. “You know perfectly well, I don’t like women.”
“Huh?”
Lin Yansheng said, “You can have stability with a man too. It’s your private life and it’s not really my place to criticize but you change partners far too frequently. Aren’t you tired?”
Luo Yaoshan fixed his gaze on him. Suddenly he smiled faintly. “Not tired. I like beauties, beauties of all kinds. Collecting them is my pleasure.”
To be that flamboyant almost made him seem frank and composed.
Lin Yansheng: “…”
He had nothing to say.
Soon enough, on the day of Qin Shun’s eighteenth birthday
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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← 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