Between Us : Chapter 33: Don’t Do That

Chen Qian had never seen anything like this.

Every few months he went to visit Chen Qingrong at the fourth prison. Every time he went, he looked forward to it. Every time he left, he was reluctant to go. And before Chen Qingrong was imprisoned, although mother and son didn’t talk about everything, they could at least chat about a few things over a meal.

Even though he had witnessed the near hostile tension when Xu Jue talked to his mother on the phone before, Chen Qian was still surprised by how Xu Jue was now scrambling to avoid her.

He didn’t speak. He half raised his eyelids and casually sized up that table of people. It was a rather cramped booth. A man sat with his back to them, only the back of his head and his shoulders visible. You couldn’t see his face, but from his straight posture you could tell he was a respectable person.

At the other end of the table, a woman with delicate features had her hair in a bun. The lower half of her face looked a lot like Xu Jue. But looking at just the upper half, her slightly high cheekbones and narrow eyes made her seem far less approachable than Xu Jue at first glance.

The woman was coaxing a child of about seven or eight. This was probably the annoying little brother Xu Jue had mentioned. Ding Xuezhou had a loud voice. He held up a tablet horizontally, mimicking the high volume sound effects from a game, completely ignoring everything his mother said.

A server came over with the menu, politely asking what they would like to order. Ding Xuezhou snapped his tablet shut and shouted, “Mom, I want a hamburger!”

They weren’t far away. Their entire conversation was clearly audible from their little corner. Fu Han said softly, “They don’t have hamburgers here. Let’s have the flying pancake.”

Ding Xuezhou wouldn’t have it. “I want a hamburger!”

His father rapped on the table to signal him to be quiet. “Put some lettuce and a meat patty between two flying pancakes and you’ve got a hamburger. Quiet down.”

With a thud, Ding Xuezhou threw his whole back against the chair. “I want a hamburger right now!”

“Alright, alright. Mom will go buy it for you right now. Don’t make a fuss.” Fu Han picked up her bag and stood up. “Lao Ding, you watch him.”

The sound of her chunky heels on the floor was mostly drowned out by the noise in the restaurant. But Fu Han’s complaint, full of displeasure, floated precisely over to their corner.

“The older brother doesn’t know where the hell he died off to. Not here when he should be.”

The tail end of her words still lingered on the second floor, but she was already downstairs. Xu Jue lowered his eyes and stared straight at the rim of his bowl, swallowing his defiance, swallowing his resentment. All these emotions mixed together. He tried his hardest to hold back his anger, but still couldn’t help slamming down his chopsticks with force. “She’s really got a screw loose.”

Chen Qian had watched that whole drama play out. Last time he could stay detached and listen to Xu Jue pour out all the details. This time he genuinely felt Xu Jue’s annoyance and unhappiness.

Raising a second child and tipping the scales. You could only say it was the tragedy of being a parent.

Chen Qian reached over, palm up, and cupped Xu Jue’s chin, forcing him to lift his face. “Still want to eat?”

The chopsticks thrown on the table and the cold food had already killed the appetite. Everyone knew the real reason deep down. Xu Jue said, “No.”

Chen Qian could see Xu Jue was trying his hardest to pull back the sullenness all over his face. A puppy punished to stand outside the door didn’t look as hurt as his eyes. Like when he was little and would secretly bring a wronged puppy home to wash off the mud, Chen Qian also wanted to chase away the bad mood Xu Jue shouldn’t have had today. “What gifts does your brother usually get for Christmas?”

Xu Jue pulled up the hood of the sweatshirt underneath, in case Ding Xuezhou’s sharp eyes recognized him and came running over to make trouble. “Whatever he wants, my mom buys it for him.”

Chen Qian called the server over to pay the bill, then asked right after, “What gifts does she give you?”

“If she doesn’t order me to use my competition prize money to treat Ding Xuezhou to fast food, that’s her being generous,” Xu Jue laughed. “Actually, my dad sends me model kits.”

Chen Qian followed up. “Did he send one this year?”

“No,” Xu Jue said. “He’s abroad, isn’t he.”

Chen Qian smiled. “That’s pretty rough.”

The cups and plates were cleared from the table. He stood up, grabbed the drawstring of Xu Jue’s hood dangling against his chest, and tugged lightly. “Then let’s go. I got you a gift.”

Following that almost negligible force, Xu Jue was pulled up. The sudden joy swept away the gloom from just now. He had no time to fret over Fu Han’s favoritism anymore. He followed behind Chen Qian, pressing for answers. “How did you get me a gift? When did you prepare it? Couldn’t have been prepared a long time ago, right? And then last night you said those things to make me misunderstand. You did it on purpose. Even Jiang Taigong couldn’t fish as well as you.”

Walking out of the restaurant door, the wind blew against their faces. Those noisy game sound effects finally quieted down by their ears.

Xu Jue looked across the street and fell silent too. The hamburger shop across the way was running a promotion, with a long line snaking outside. Fu Han stood in the middle with her arms crossed, anxiously craning her neck to look around from time to time.

Chen Qian also stopped and asked, “What did I say to make you misunderstand?”

Xu Jue said, “You compared me to thousands of dollars in tips.”

“Only an idiot would think they’re worth less than a few thousand in tips,” Chen Qian said. “And only an idiot would think no one cares about them or favors them.”

Xu Jue snapped back to his senses. His gaze shifted from Fu Han in the distance to Chen Qian’s face beside him.

The night market lights of Yunxia City were so colorful. They all fell into Chen Qian’s eyes. Only an idiot wouldn’t see that.

Xu Jue didn’t care about anything else anymore. He got his bike back and said, “Actually I wasn’t full just now. Now I want fried chicken.”

Chen Qian got on and, as usual, poked Xu Jue’s tailbone. “Let’s buy it from the shop on Dongkang Road. Theirs is good.”

There was a bike shed near the shopping center on Dongkang Road. After Xu Jue bought the fried chicken, he tossed the bike inside, and walked along eating with Chen Qian, holding the chicken box.

This shop made good fried chicken, but they were stingy. They only gave one disposable glove. Xu Jue put it on, picked up a piece, dipped it in sauce, and held it to Chen Qian’s mouth. The sweet and spicy sauce got on Chen Qian’s lips. He paused slightly, then turned it around and put it in his own mouth. “This piece is too small. Let me get you a bigger one.”

Chen Qian stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked away a speck of bright red hot sauce by his lip. “It doesn’t have to be too big. If it’s too big I can’t hold it in my mouth.”

A hot blooded teenager imagined something into everything he saw and heard. Xu Jue deliberately grabbed the biggest piece and held it in front of Chen Qian, speaking so righteously it didn’t seem like he was implying anything else. “If you can’t hold it in your mouth, then use your hands to help!”

“I don’t want to get my hands dirty.” Chen Qian grabbed Xu Jue’s forearm, and bit into the piece held to his mouth. Through the thin film of the glove, his tongue swirled once over Xu Jue’s thumb that was coated with sauce. Chewing on the tender meat with half closed eyes, he said, “It’s really good.”

Xu Jue’s fingers were about to catch fire. How could this person be like this!

He was still torn over whether to eat the half piece left in his hand. Chen Qian nudged him with his elbow. “Hurry up and eat. After we finish, let’s go check out the front. It’s pretty lively over there.”

Like he was being driven, like he was being encouraged, Xu Jue ate the half piece. Then he dipped a new piece for Chen Qian. When Chen Qian opened his mouth to take it, he pulled back slightly.

“What’s wrong now?” Chen Qian looked up at him.

Xu Jue scratched the edge of the box. “How come I’m always the one feeding you? You’ve got both hands in your pockets. Don’t you plan to do something meaningful?”

Chen Qian couldn’t keep up with the high schooler’s thinking again. “Something meaningful?”

Xu Jue weighed the box in his left hand, hinting. “Some response, or some encouragement.”

Chen Qian understood. He pulled out a pack of tissues, took one out, unfolded it, and reached up to wipe the grease from the corner of Xu Jue’s mouth. “Like this?”

They hadn’t even finished the fried chicken yet, what was he wiping his mouth for? Xu Jue turned his head to dodge. He spotted a little girl across the plaza with a Christmas stocking shaped pouch on her back. A staff member dressed as Santa Claus was stuffing gifts into her bag. He sighed. His hints had failed. He was so worried he was about to lock himself in a dark room. “Maybe I should pin a Christmas stocking on me too.”

“Then learn from that little girl and go beg for gifts?” Chen Qian put his hands in his pockets, fully displaying his empty handed stance. “Didn’t you just get a whole basket back on Christmas Eve last night? Still not satisfied?”

Meeting Chen Qian’s smiling yet not smiling eyes, Xu Jue felt like he was being played. Whether he was actually being played or not, he couldn’t tell and couldn’t figure it out. Chen Qian had a new trick every day. He was just a pure high schooler with all his brainpower used on studying. Someone at Chen Qian’s high level, he could only…

Xu Jue took off the grease stained glove, crumpled the empty box, and tossed it in the trash. The pure high schooler lifted his chin, wanting to seize back the initiative. “Let’s go. Didn’t you say we should walk around up front?”

Up front, where the crowd was gathered, an event was going on. About a dozen easels were set up in the open space. The easel at the very front had a completed watercolor piece on display. On the paper was a simply decorated Christmas tree. The color scheme was very pleasing.

The other easels had white paper laid flat, with only the outline of a Christmas tree sketched in pencil, waiting for someone to pick up a brush and fill it with color. Most of the easels already had people sitting in front of them. Some were kids with a talent for painting. Some were young people acting on a whim. Anyway, it was a free event. Anyone could scratch the itch.

Xu Jue had known about this event early on. Their art studio had opened a branch these past two days, and this event was hosted by the teachers at the branch. To promote the location and attract students, these watercolor paintings created by passersby would be taken back to the studio under the guise of needing to dry, and could be picked up the next day.

There were a lot of people. Xu Jue pulled Chen Qian into the middle of the crowd. There was only one empty spot left. Chen Qian asked, “Want to show off your skills?”

Who knew Xu Jue would push him down into the seat and shove a paintbrush into his hand. “You do it.”

Chen Qian was stunned for a moment.

In school he had represented the school in English speech contests. At the Elk he would occasionally get on stage to sing a song to please the bosses. It was all being in the spotlight. But right now, because it was something he wasn’t good at, he felt timid.

He wanted to get up. “I don’t know how.”

His stiff right hand was held by Xu Jue. “I’ll teach you.”

There was only one stool in front of the easel. Since Chen Qian was sitting, Xu Jue had to lean over standing up. His chest pressed against Chen Qian’s shoulder. His arms circled around both sides of Chen Qian. In a hands on teaching posture, he possessively trapped the person in front of him. Even the voice brushing against Chen Qian’s ear tip was lowered. “First mix the colors. Lay down the base colors.”

Left hand on the palette, right hand on paint or brush. Chen Qian was wrapped in a pair of hands. The burning hot palm of the young man was completely different from that snowy night when they first met. He vaguely had an illusion of being controlled.

Having experienced his ex cheating on him, Chen Qian didn’t really want to touch green paint. “I want to paint a pink and blue tree.”

“Okay.” Xu Jue picked out a few tubes of paint and taught him how to mix. “Add a bit of white. Not too much.”

During this time, a few teachers from the branch studio walked around giving guidance. Xu Jue gave them a look. A teacher who had worked at the main studio recognized him, so they didn’t come over to disturb them.

Laying down the big color blocks was easy. Xu Jue grabbed Chen Qian’s wrist to adjust his posture, casually asking, “If you hadn’t taken leave tonight, could you really have earned thousands in tips?”

A thin layer of sweat seeped from between Chen Qian’s fingers. He could barely hold the brush. He was entirely supported by Xu Jue’s hand. “Yes. If I let people pinch my butt, or touch other places more deeply, I could earn a bit more.”

The force wrapped around the back of his hand tightened. Xu Jue said darkly behind his ear. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Here in the painting. Be bold with the brush. Don’t get stuck on the details and refuse to let go.”

Chen Qian curved the corner of his mouth. He didn’t know which question he was answering. “I know.”

“Then,” Xu Jue chose his words carefully, “since you know how much you could earn on Christmas, does that mean you’ve worked every Christmas in past years?”

Chen Qian’s heart skipped a beat. If he weren’t being controlled by Xu Jue, he would have already left a ruined stroke on the paper. “Yes. For these ordinary holidays, I rarely celebrate them.”

Rarely celebrate them, or that person never specially made time to celebrate them with you?

Xu Jue didn’t ask this question out loud. Some things, once he knew as much as he was willing to know, could be turned over and left behind. He didn’t hold it against him.

“Since I cost you thousands in tips, let’s decorate the Christmas tree with gold coins then.”

Using pure white as ribbon, using gold as accents. Chen Qian asked, “A money tree?”

“Yeah. Shake it until it’s about enough and then…”

“Then what?”

Xu Jue wanted to say, shake it until it’s about enough and then stop being a little worker bee, okay? But he didn’t ask it out loud. He was afraid Chen Qian would refuse. Even more afraid Chen Qian would ask him his reasons. He didn’t have the right standing.

“Then it’s your turn to paint yourself,” Xu Jue let go of Chen Qian’s hand. “You should have found the feel for it by now. Give it a try.”

He stood behind Chen Qian and watched for a while. His left hand fished around in his pocket and found a perfume bottle with a round body. After the glass bottle was warmed by his body heat, he held it in his palm and pulled it out of his pocket. He leaned over again and grasped Chen Qian’s hand holding the brush. “The brightness here isn’t enough.”

Using the intimate movement, he quietly slipped the gift into Chen Qian’s pocket.

They took the pink and blue money tree Christmas tree with them. Xu Jue, relying on knowing the teacher hosting the event, was pretty brazen about it.

But the watercolor wasn’t dry yet. The paper couldn’t be rolled up. On the way back, Chen Qian sat on the back of the bike, holding the paper spread out to admire. “What do you usually do with your paintings?”

“Leave them there,” Xu Jue rode slowly, not wanting Christmas to pass just like that. “The big ones get rolled up and stuffed in a tube. The really small ones become bookmarks. The rest just get piled up randomly in the study.”

Chen Qian only had this one in his hands, so he treasured it especially. “Can watercolor paintings be laminated?”

“Yes,” Xu Jue said. “After laminating they last longer.”

Right after he answered, his tailbone got poked again. If the force weren’t so light, Xu Jue suspected he would eventually be poked into half body paralysis by Chen Qian. “What is it?”

“Turn at the intersection up ahead,” Chen Qian blew at a spot on the watercolor that wasn’t dry yet. “Go somewhere.”

Past nine at night, the Christmas themed red bike glided into the quiet old city district, stopping in front of the Xiao Yu Studio.

“Wait outside for five minutes. I’ll be out soon.” Chen Qian got off after saying this, holding the watercolor and pushing open the door.

Through the glass door, Xu Jue could finally look at Chen Qian’s face openly. The other person was chatting with a guy with somewhat long hair, smiling from time to time, always habitually rubbing that lip stud with his knuckle.

Xu Jue locked Chen Qian into his own eyes with unhidden gaze. While they were painting just now, he had been restraining himself. With so many people around, he had wantonly used his breath to color Chen Qian’s earlobe. Actually he wanted to kiss it even more, to see if it would turn red.

Suddenly, Chen Qian looked up. Xu Jue hurriedly switched to his usual innocent face, grabbed the handlebars, and glided two or three meters away.

He couldn’t stay idle. Turning the corner he saw a flower shop. He squeezed the brakes. Looking down, he actually spotted a bouquet of asters tied to the flower stand. Light purple fading into dark purple, with scattered bits of white in between. Exactly the same as the picture in Chen Qian’s photo album.

Xu Jue betrayed without a hint of guilt. Just a few days ago he had asked the girl at the flower shop on Sixth Lane to stock asters. Now he was pulling out his wallet to buy at another shop, even making excuses for himself. It was because this shop’s wrapping paper was prettier. Pink and blue, matching the money tree Christmas tree.

The flower shop owner showed the payment code and said, “Buy a bouquet of red and white roses too. They’re suitable for giving to a girlfriend on Christmas.”

Xu Jue took the bouquet. “No need. My sister just likes asters.”

“Oh, sister…”

Not listening to the flower shop owner’s sales pitch, Xu Jue held the flowers in one hand and the handlebars in the other, turned around and zipped off again.

Chen Qian was already waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. Seeing him come back carrying a huge bouquet, his eyes widened in surprise, thinking he had accidentally walked into the filming set of some romance drama.

“Who are these for?”

Xu Jue shoved the flowers into his arms. The meaning was obvious. But on the surface he still had to cover up his impure thoughts. “The vase on the TV cabinet is still empty, isn’t it? Just bought them on a whim.”

Chen Qian’s whole embrace was filled with fresh floral fragrance. “You bought such a big bouquet on a whim?”

“The flower shop owner wanted to get off work early to spend Christmas, so I helped her out,” Xu Jue was afraid talking more would expose his thoughts, so he quickly changed the subject. “What are you holding?”

Chen Qian copied his tone. “Just a portfolio I bought on a whim.”

The portfolio really was something Chen Qian bought on a whim. He had grabbed it at the stationery shop when he saw the size was right. After all, it wasn’t the main character among the gifts. He didn’t expect Xu Jue to eagerly stretch out his arm. “Put it on me.”

Chen Qian didn’t move. “Did I say it was for you?”

Xu Jue pursed his lips and looked at him for a moment, then looked away and made a move to leave. Chen Qian hurriedly pressed down on the handlebars. “There’s something else inside the portfolio.”

Xu Jue stretched out his arm again, his tone gaining a hint of forcefulness. “Put it on me.”

The floral scent drifted all the way. Chen Qian said, “Ride faster. If we don’t get back in time, we’ll miss the hot water.”

Xu Jue had no intention of slowing down. “Who doesn’t want to. The tires seem like they’re almost flat…”

They had already glided onto Changnian Road. Chen Qian shifted his body. “Let me get off. Don’t bother.”

“Don’t move. It’s the tires that are flat, not me!” Xu Jue pedaled a few more rounds. When they were almost at Sixth Lane, he suddenly squeezed the brakes hard. Chen Qian was caught off guard. His body leaned forward into Xu Jue from inertia, his hand instinctively grabbing the other person’s clothes.

“Damn…” Xu Jue cursed softly under his breath. “We really didn’t check the calender before going out today.”

Chen Qian was about to ask Xu Jue if he had run into his mom again. But his heart trembled, noticing that Xu Jue had said “we.”

The hand gripping Xu Jue’s clothes loosened. The spot that had been clutched left a few creases of varying depths.

A bit like the wound in his heart that hadn’t been completely smoothed out yet.

Chen Qian jumped off the bike. Without Xu Jue’s back blocking the view, the scene ahead suddenly became clear.

At the entrance of Sixth Lane, under the shade of the trees by the road, Jiang Linsheng stood there, silently looking toward them.