Between Us : Chapter 25: Have a Taste First

Having once been dragged out of bed at five in the morning, Chen Qian’s body clock seemed to shift at that very hour.

Normally sleeping in until eleven was a habit he had forced himself to develop after Chen Qingrong was imprisoned, but now, snapped back to the starting point in one go, he lay awake in the bedding, his foggy mind unable to figure out whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

The footsteps outside the bedroom door were kept very light. In the past, buried under the covers, he wouldn’t have heard them, but now, wide awake, with neither door nor wall soundproof, he heard the back and forth walking, the deliberately slowed water flow from the bathroom, the clinking sound of a toothbrush hitting the cup, repeated several times before stopping. Xu Jue had finished washing up.

The living room door opened and closed, and the house was quiet for a moment. Before long, keys turned in the lock. The person must have gone out to buy breakfast and come back.

Chen Qian got up and folded the blanket. There was little light in the room, and he didn’t turn on the lamp. He stood in front of the full-length mirror and retied the knot of his robe that had come loose from rubbing.

When he opened the door and went out, he happened to see Xu Jue bent over the coffee table writing a sticky note. The other party clearly hadn’t expected him to appear so suddenly; the pen tip shook and he wrote the wrong character. “Why are you up so early today?”

Chen Qian didn’t answer but asked back, “What are you writing?”

Xu Jue was on the third chapter of their house rules. There was a completely different nature between leaving something like this stuck somewhere for someone to discover later, and being caught in the act of writing it. He hid it, putting on an air of mystery, and following Chen Qian’s lead of not answering the question: “Breakfast is in the pot. Today it’s millet pumpkin porridge and pancakes.”

Chen Qian had no intention of prying into the contents of the paper. He stood by the TV cabinet fiddling with the fake flowers in a narrow-necked vase. “Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to buy me breakfast anymore.”

Xu Jue was having trouble writing properly. He suddenly looked up at the other person, thinking Chen Qian was disgusted that he didn’t pay rent, that he was being kicked out just two days after moving his stuff over. “Is it because…”

“There are plenty of breakfast stalls around Changnian Road. I’ll take you to try some others, save you the extra trip every day.” Chen Qian used his fingertip to rub away the thin layer of dust on the silk flower petals. “And I can supervise your vocabulary memorizing while I’m at it.”

So it had been a false alarm. Xu Jue felt relieved. It was still early, and gripping his pen, he filled both sides of the sticky note with flowing characters. This time there were many words, and he was afraid the ink would smudge if he stuck it on the pot lid. Since Chen Qian had already discovered him, he simply left the paper on the table.

Picking up his schoolbag and about to leave, Xu Jue was stopped by Chen Qian. Chen Qian pulled the dust-faded fake flowers out of the vase in one bunch and tossed them into a garbage bag, handing it to him. “Throw this downstairs.”

After Xu Jue left, Chen Qian washed up and did his skincare, brought his breakfast back to the sofa, and only then peeled off the light blue sticky note. The writer had pressed down hard with the pen, making the paper no longer smooth. Chen Qian ran his fingers over it as he read.

“Chapter Three of the House Rules (actually it should have been Chapter Two, but I accidentally used up one chance last time): The landlord is advised to pay attention to keeping warm at night, and to avoid wearing thin clothing that doesn’t match the season to work, such as sheer fabric shirts, windproof cross-strap tops, wide-necked knit sweaters…”

There was a long list after that. Chen Qian thought for a long time before remembering that Chapter Two was about not going to Paris with Jiang Linsheng, except it had been stated verbally at the time, and he hadn’t paid much attention to it afterward.

His hand, which had grabbed the pancake, was covered with a layer of grease. Chen Qian went to the kitchen to wash his hands, and passing by the refrigerator, he pressed the sticky note onto it.

He couldn’t comply with Chapter Three for the time being. Anyone who could work as a little bee at Milu had been screened during the interview; none of them had a face inferior to anyone else’s. The competition was fierce, and everyone put in great effort to get themselves picked out. So they wore heavy makeup, used every seductive trick in the book, had honey-sweet words on their lips, and twisted their throats cooing and sighing.

Chen Qian had too much pride for that. He couldn’t do those things. The first few times he went to work as a little bee wearing his school uniform, they didn’t give him tips and even crumpled his uniform. It turned out that just by dressing that way, he could arouse those customers below the belt. So Chen Qian started putting effort into his clothes.

Although he couldn’t agree to Chapter Three, Chen Qian could make up for it in other ways. He shortened his work hours, clocking out as early as nine thirty. On the way back, he texted Xu Jue saying study hard in class, no need to pick me up, just go straight home after school, I bought late-night snacks.

After doing this several times, on Wednesday Chen Qian walked out of the club doors with his phone in hand, and looked up to see Xu Jue standing on the steps below waiting for him.

He couldn’t quite describe the feeling. Before Xu Jue, he had always gotten off work alone. Usually he would walk out the east gate of Wandeng Li and buy a few wedges of pomelo or two or three oranges from the fruit stall, eating them as he walked home under the stars and moon. The fruit flesh would chase away the alcohol smell in his throat, and the lights at the entrance of Sixth Alley would draw near.

But Xu Jue’s pick-ups and drop-offs seemed to give him license to be willful. Subconsciously he felt it was fine to drink a little more with others, because there was someone outside waiting to take him home. Whether they waited for the bus together or walked back stepping on each other’s shadows, there was someone looking out for him.

By the time Chen Qian realized the dependent feelings that had sprouted, a cold sweat had broken out along his spine. Five years ago, such feelings had sprouted once before. He hadn’t stopped them in time, and the vines had grown wild, wrapping around his heart and connecting to his blood vessels. When they were pulled out, his face remained calm, but in reality every limb and bone had ached.

He didn’t want to go through that again, so the moment he spotted the signs, he nipped them in the bud. But perhaps he hadn’t rooted them out completely, because this damned thing had sprouted again from where it had been cut off, and in the dead of winter no less, with no idea where it got such stubborn vitality from.

Xu Jue had his hoodie pulled up, his school uniform nowhere to be seen. Chen Qian stepped down the stairs and walked up to him. Xu Jue closed his notebook, clearly having memorized the phrases Chen Qian would quiz him on tomorrow morning.

The temperature had dropped these past two days, and blown by the wind, Chen Qian’s expression cooled by half. “Did you finish your homework, or are you just wandering around?”

“I finished it ages ago. Today the English teacher went to another school for research, so without English homework blocking my way, my efficiency is pretty high.” Xu Jue tucked the notebook into his pocket and reached his hand out toward Chen Qian. “Let me show you something good.”

Not long ago, this was the same hand that gripped his wrist tightly every day to lead him through dark streets. This time Chen Qian didn’t respond, keeping his hands in his pockets. “An English test paper over a hundred points?”

“No, the test papers haven’t been handed back yet.” Xu Jue withdrew his hand and pointed toward a tree not far away. “Look over there.”

Where he pointed, a dark red bicycle was parked. There was a U-lock on the front bar, and what seemed to be a blue and white cushion on the back seat.

Walking closer, Chen Qian realized this was no cushion at all. It was clearly Xu Jue’s school uniform, folded into a block!

Chen Qian glanced at the English lettering on the frame and knew roughly how much it cost. This doomed kid wasn’t saying he was hard up for money? “Where did you get this bike?”

“I brought it over from home on Saturday. It’s been sitting in the garage downstairs and I hadn’t found a chance to ride it.” Xu Jue took off his schoolbag and hung it on the handlebars, then took off a plastic bag from the other side and handed it to Chen Qian. “Hold this for me.”

Waiting until Chen Qian caught it without understanding why, Xu Jue gave a sly smile, gripped the handlebars, and swung his leg over. “It’s tofu pudding from the old man at Xian Middle School. That grandpa only sells one vat every day. The first-year students get out of school early, so they always buy it all up.”

Chen Qian hadn’t eaten something like this in years. Back when he was in school, he would occasionally buy a bowl, either tofu pudding or sweet porridge, cupping the warmth in his palm to bring home for Chen Qingrong to eat after her night shift.

“How did you manage to get some today?” Chen Qian asked.

“Because I snuck out of half a period of self-study.” Xu Jue rang the bell. “Get on first, you can eat slowly on the way.”

Chen Qian finally understood what Xu Jue’s sly smile meant. That “hold this for me” had lured him into catching the food without suspicion, and the follow-up “you can eat slowly on the way” seemed to tell him plainly and simply: this was bought specially for you, and if you eat too fast and spill it, that’s your problem.

The north wind brushed past his ears. Chen Qian pressed his forehead against Xu Jue’s back, poked a straw into the plastic bowl with one hand, but didn’t drink. He flicked Xu Jue’s back with a bent finger. “Do you want to have a taste first?”

“No need.” Xu Jue kept his eyes on the road ahead, was silent for a while, then changed his mind. “I’m riding the bike, so save me a sip.”

An indirect kiss was being delivered right to his lips. It would be a waste not to take it, given how people had praised his clever brain countless times over the years.

Feeling pleased inside, Xu Jue didn’t notice the speed bump ahead. When they rolled over it, the bike jolted. The person wasn’t startled, but the notebook in his hoodie pocket was.

It would have been a simple matter of freeing a hand, but Xu Jue pretended to panic. “Chen Qian!”

Chen Qian was drinking his tofu pudding and only gave a questioning hum, his tone rising at the end.

“My notebook is going to fall out,” Xu Jue said. “Help me hold it down.”

Chen Qian could hold the plastic bowl in one hand. With his other hand, he reached around in front of Xu Jue, pressing down on the palm-sized notebook through the pocket before it could fall out.

Who knew why they set so many speed bumps outside the east gate. The bike jolted again, and Chen Qian’s hand slipped down the only place it could go. He didn’t know what it hit, but Xu Jue suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, and couldn’t even ride properly anymore. “Sis… no, bro, don’t touch randomly…”

Afraid of being thrown off the bike, Chen Qian quickly grabbed the fabric under his palm. “Don’t wobble the handlebars.”

“Damn it, holy crap,” Xu Jue wasn’t pretending to panic anymore, he was genuinely panicking. He forgot to squeeze the brakes, forgot to put his feet down. All his senses concentrated on the spot beneath the fabric where Chen Qian was gripping. He used the same focus he normally sat with in competition exam halls to steady the handlebars, then freed a hand to quickly grab Chen Qian’s hand and stuff it back into the pocket. “Just like this. Don’t move, okay?”

The wheels wobbled along for a stretch, and finally straightened out when they slid onto the main road.

And Chen Qian’s hand stayed put inside Xu Jue’s hoodie pocket, the back of his hand rubbing against the notebook, the palm through several layers of fabric faintly feeling Xu Jue’s abs. He couldn’t figure out how kids this generation grew so solid, or whether it was only Xu Jue who was like this.

Thinking about the commotion just now, he couldn’t help but laugh. It was silent, only a thin puff of mist by his mouth that quickly dispersed, not knowing whether it had mixed into the clear sweetness of the tofu pudding.

That tangled worry in his heart also disappeared with that puff of mist. A kid with no scheming, how could he be worth so much of his own calculation.

With the worry set aside, Chen Qian wanted to tease him again. “Why do you get aroused so easily? Are all high schoolers this impatient?”

Xu Jue was still embarrassed and, for once, didn’t respond.

Red light. By now Xu Jue had returned to normal reactions. He braked when he should brake, and put his feet down when he should put his feet down.

Chen Qian used his fingertip to wipe away the water mark on the straw opening, and said again, “How about I give you a few sips right now?”

Xu Jue gripped the handlebars tight, the tips of his ears flushing red, fortunately hidden by the night. “…What are you saying?”

Chen Qian raised his hand high, bringing the tofu pudding to Xu Jue’s face. “A few sips.”