Between Us : Chapter 32: Never Tried It Anyway

The hallway was noisy during the break. Xu Jue walked along, head down, looking at the form in his hand. He only looked up when someone running and roughhousing bumped his elbow.

He went back to the classroom and sat down, grabbed a pen, and twirled it between his fingers. He stared at the form as if he had forgotten how to fill in even the basic information.

Qiu Yuanfei finished bickering with someone in the aisle and flopped into his seat. “What’s this? How come I didn’t get one?”

“Chemistry competition registration form. Old Hu told me to fill it out.” Xu Jue pulled off the pen cap, wrote his name, and stopped. He remembered how Chen Qian had compared him to thousands in tips last night.

Qiu Yuanfei asked, “National level?”

“City level. Shouldn’t be too hard, but the prize money is pretty good.” Just then the class bell rang, so Xu Jue set the form aside for now and tucked the paper into his textbook.

Maybe because everyone had eaten the homeroom teacher’s Red Fuji apples, nothing out of line happened in class that day. But as soon as the afternoon dismissal bell rang, the class showed their true colors. Some grabbed two brooms to pretend they were driving a sleigh. Others carried bags of trash to dress up as Santa Claus, getting chased and smacked by the students on duty, squealing and yelping.

Xu Jue finished packing his bag but didn’t plan to leave yet. He slouched in his seat recording a video. First he filmed those crazy classmates. “See that guy carrying the trash bag? It’s actually full of snacks. He said he’s gonna confess to our class hygiene officer later. I think he’s gonna get kicked.”

Then he moved the camera to the blackboard and zoomed in. “Ever since White Lady got back from her research trip, she’s been piling on English homework every day. I can’t take it anymore.”

Finally he tilted the camera up, focusing on the wall clock. “Damn, it’s already six. I’m out of here!”

He sent the video and grabbed his bag to leave. Downstairs, he got a reply from Chen Qian: Out and about, no time to watch.

Xu Jue pocketed his phone. Right, it was Christmas today. The Elk, being such a iconic entertainment spot, was definitely packed. He wondered what new outfit Chen Qian was wearing, and which big shot’s shoulder he was planning to lean against.

He wouldn’t actually tuck a Christmas stocking into his waistband, would he? Chen Qian’s waist was so slim. After those people stuffed their tips in, could they resist copping a feel?

He wheeled his bike out of the shed and hopped on, estimating how efficient it would be to do homework at the Elk.

That day he had been talking nonsense with Chen Qian, but he never expected to actually see someone holding a milk tea, wearing reindeer antlers, waiting for his girlfriend to get out of class. Xu Jue planned to take a photo and send it to Chen Qian to prove he was telling the truth. Just then his phone rang. The screen showed it was Chen Qian.

He picked up. The other end was very loud. You could tell it was a public place. Chen Qian’s voice was diluted by the noise, stripping away some of the emotion. “Jealous?”

“Jealous of what?” Xu Jue was still staring at that guy holding the milk tea. His girlfriend had come out. The moment they met, she fed him a sip. The air was so damn sour.

Chen Qian laughed very softly and said, “It’s pretty cold today. Come pick me up.”

So that meant…

He hung up. Xu Jue turned his bike around and headed toward Wandeng Lane. He hadn’t ridden many meters when he braked hard by the roadside.

Outside the school gate, under the Chinese scholar tree with its bare branches and dead leaves, Chen Qian stood holding a cup of milk tea. He wasn’t wearing a Christmas outfit. No stocking tucked in his waistband. Just his usual hoodie, jeans, and combat boots. He stood out in the crowd.

…So much so that Xu Jue had been so busy staring at other people that he hadn’t noticed the person he most wanted to see was less than ten meters away from him.

“Weren’t you at work?” Xu Jue dragged his foot along the ground, and the bike glided a short distance before stopping in front of Chen Qian.

Chen Qian poked a straw into the milk tea. “Didn’t want you going to Take it or Leave it looking for company.”

Xu Jue planted one leg on the ground, his palm warming the handlebar. “I can only afford fifty bucks to hire a fake parent. I don’t have that kind of spare cash. How long have you been waiting here?”

Before he finished speaking, Chen Qian lifted the milk tea and pressed it against his face. His cheek, stiff and cold from the wind at the school gate, instantly felt comfortable. Even the sour, stinky air from just now seemed purified.

“Warm?” Chen Qian asked.

Xu Jue said, “Warm.”

“I bought it when it was hot. Now it’s room temperature.” Chen Qian stepped forward and sat on the back of the bike, patting Xu Jue’s back. “Let’s go!”

He was copying the tone from the video Xu Jue had sent.

Xu Jue’s whole back felt warmed by that pat. Did this mean Chen Qian had actually watched his video carefully from start to finish?

And did that also mean he might be more important than thousands of dollars in tips?

He held the handlebars with one hand and made a move to pull his jacket zipper. “Don’t sit yet. I forgot to put a cushion on the seat.”

“My butt isn’t that delicate.” Chen Qian poked Xu Jue’s tailbone. “Go.”

Like a switch had been flipped, Xu Jue pedaled hard and the bike shot forward.

His tailbone kept tingling, and along with it, improper thoughts were crashing around in his head. Xu Jue thought to himself, he had never tried it anyway. How would he know whether Chen Qian’s butt was delicate or not?

It was rush hour. The roads were packed with traffic going every which way, not easy to navigate. Chen Qian grabbed a corner of Xu Jue’s school jacket. The yellow Shiba Inu on his backpack was swaying so much it made him dizzy. He grabbed it and pinched its nose and rubbed its ears for a good while. Unintentionally, he saw the tag on the doll’s butt. Someone had written two letters with a ballpoint pen: CQ.

He was so screwed.

That phrase shot through Chen Qian’s mind in an instant. He clutched the doll, staring blankly at its butt for a long time.

He didn’t know who was actually screwed.

The impatient car horns all around blended into a chaotic mess, making Chen Qian’s mind chaotic too. He couldn’t tell if this heart chaos was caused by the objective surroundings or by his own subjective imagination.

All the things he had deliberately ignored were now bubbling up, crowding his head so much he couldn’t push them down. But he didn’t want to think about it, and he didn’t dare to think about it. So he grabbed Xu Jue’s clothes, wanting to get it over with. “Xu Jue, what does CQ mean?”

The traffic noise on the road was too loud. Xu Jue stopped at a red light and turned his head. “What?”

Chen Qian didn’t look at him. He just held the doll’s butt in front of him so Xu Jue could see the words on the tag. “You wrote this, right? What does CQ mean?”

Xu Jue’s pupils contracted slightly. His brain, which had scored 141 in Chinese, spun at high speed. He answered in a light, casual tone. “Isn’t it just Shiba Inu?”

“Oh.” Chen Qian also smoothed over his emotions without a trace. “Who names a Shiba Inu ‘Shiba Inu’?”

The light turned green. Xu Jue kept pedaling. “Didn’t you also call the puppy at that shop ‘puppy’?”

Chen Qian flicked the doll and turned his head away to sip his milk tea. For some reason, he felt a sense of letdown.

At the next red light, he held the milk tea up to Xu Jue’s face. “Want a sip?”

Xu Jue turned his head and took a sip. Back and forth several times, the milk tea was finished, and they had reached the restaurant.

They picked a well-reviewed place on a whim. Chen Qian hadn’t made a reservation, so they had to take a number and wait. This time it was their turn to watch other people being led by the waiter to their seats.

There was a menu board at the restaurant entrance. While they waited, Chen Qian looked up at it for a long time. Xu Jue pointed at one of the pictures and said, “This should be their signature dish.”

Chen Qian nodded. “But it’s a limited supply.”

Xu Jue said, “We came all this way. Wouldn’t it be a shame not to get it?”

There were so many people waiting in line at the door. Not getting it would indeed be a pity. But Chen Qian knew best how to give up early. “Let’s eat somewhere else.”

“No way. I just want to eat this.” Xu Jue grabbed Chen Qian’s hand, snatched the number ticket, and squeezed into the crowd.

He was so tall and his face so outstanding. From outside the crowd, Chen Qian easily caught sight of him, watching Xu Jue throw his arm around some guy who looked like the owner, not knowing what he was saying. That smiling side profile under the bright lights was so eye-catching.

He had never experienced anything like this. When he was with Jiang Linsheng, going out to eat usually meant the other person had already booked a private room at the restaurant. Jiang Linsheng was rushing every minute of every day. He absolutely would not allow a situation where they had to wait for a table.

While he was lost in thought, a hand reached out from the crowd. Chen Qian was grabbed by the wrist and pulled over by Xu Jue. “Let’s go.”

It was a very familiar move. Chen Qian remembered there was a time when Xu Jue had pulled him out of the Elk just like this. But ever since he learned this was his job, Xu Jue only waited outside, and he had never been late even once.

In the corner on the second floor, the owner had set up a small extra table for them. No wonder their business was booming. Even when swamped with orders, the food came out so fast. The dish they had just been staring at on the menu board was now steaming hot, lying between their chopsticks.

Chen Qian served Xu Jue a piece first. “What kind of magic potion did you slip the owner?”

Xu Jue took a sip of water and smiled. “A love potion. Didn’t I tell you yesterday? Can’t let a pretty face go to waste.”

“His wife is sitting right behind the cash register. What’s she looking at your face for?”

“She thinks my face is pleasing to the eye,” Xu Jue said. “I just buddy-buddied with him a bit, said I brought a friend from out of town to eat at his place specially, and after we finish we gotta catch a train back.”

Chen Qian said, “He’s so busy his feet aren’t touching the ground, yet he still falls for your nonsense. Guess he really hasn’t seen anyone more pleasing to the eye.”

Whether it was because the atmosphere was too harmonious, or because the noisy chatter in the restaurant made his courage swell, or because the rising steam from the hot dishes gave him an excuse to blur his expression, Xu Jue wanted to give Chen Qian a heads up. “You listen to everything I say, good or bad. You don’t find my family gossip boring, you don’t think my awards are me showing off, you correct my stuttering English word by word. Is it also because you can’t take your eyes off my face?”

The smiling face behind the steam looked a bit carefree, but the eyes were very sincere.

Chen Qian couldn’t bear to lie, so he admitted. “I guess so.”

Actually there were probably other reasons, but he wasn’t too willing to think deeper. He was afraid he was reading too much into it. After all, he could mistake a Shiba Inu for his own name.

A table of people left noisily from the second floor. In their little corner, no one was hurrying them. Xu Jue had told the owner his out-of-town friend needed to catch a train after eating, but actually sitting across from Chen Qian, he didn’t want to leave at all.

Especially after Chen Qian had more or less admitted he liked looking at his face, Xu Jue’s urge to talk couldn’t be contained in this little space. “On a holiday like this, my little brother is definitely bugging my mom to take him out for good food.”

The moment this topic came up, Xu Jue turned into that kind of puppy in Chen Qian’s eyes, the kind that didn’t get enough attention. Chen Qian slowed down his chopsticks. “What about you? Don’t you bug her too?”

“How old am I, still bugging her,” Xu Jue scoffed. “I basically do the opposite of my brother. If he wants to eat out, I stay home. At first I thought my mom would pack food for me. After that fantasy was shattered once, I just ordered takeout at home from then on.”

At that empty booth, a server had already cleared the table, working very efficiently. Probably another group had gotten a table.

Before Chen Qian could think of something to say to comfort him, Xu Jue suddenly cursed under his breath.

He followed Xu Jue’s gaze and turned to look at the stairway. Xu Jue grabbed his hand. “Don’t look. Switch seats with me, quick.”

“Who is it?” Chen Qian got up. Xu Jue had already spun around lightning fast and sat down in his warmed seat, his face almost buried in his plate. “My mom.”