Between Us : Chapter 38: Don’t Play Around

The Sunday morning was dry and cold. A wooden nameplate knocked against the glass door as someone pushed it open, and a wisp of cool air slipped into Little Yu Studio.

Yu Huo was sitting at the computer editing photos. Before his eyes could even identify who had come in, the hand resting on the mouse shrank back half an inch first, and only then did he lift his gaze from above the computer screen.

When he saw who it was, he was stunned again, even forgetting to stand up and greet the guest: “You are…”

“I’m here to see you.” Xu Jue took off his backpack. “Do you take photo restoration jobs?”

As long as it wasn’t a job involving taking photos of people, Yu Huo agreed readily: “Yes.”

Xu Jue didn’t delay either. He pulled a file folder from his bag and carefully unfolded the several layers of full size paper inside onto the table. It was an intricate detailed drawing of city architecture with complex lines.

The drawing was done with non waterproof fine liner pens. A large area had clearly been exposed to water, and the ink had bled and smudged, becoming an impossible to ignore flaw in the entire painting. From the frayed edges, it was clear this drawing had some years on it, and the damage at the fold intersections was probably from being frequently looked through.

“I only need the digital file. Take as long as you need, no rush,” Xu Jue pulled out a chair and sat down. “I drew this seven or eight years ago. I was sorting through things last night and found it, and on a whim I wanted to restore it to its original state.”

For something with no time limit, usually you just give a few instructions, pay a deposit, and communicate any further requirements online. But Yu Huo could tell from Xu Jue’s manner that he probably had more to say, so he asked proactively: “Anything else?”

Xu Jue rubbed his phone case, then suddenly broke into a smile and said: “Yes.”

After all that groundwork, Xu Jue laid more groundwork. He went from leaning back to sitting up straight, mysteriously unlocking his phone and opening the photo album. He tapped open a recently secretly taken photo and moved it in front of Yu Huo, not embarrassed at all: “Can you restore this?”

The studio lighting was bright, and the photo was fully exposed before both their eyes. It was the small one inch photo from Chen Qian’s student ID card.

Restoring this was much easier than the previous one, yet Yu Huo showed difficulty, hesitating until the screen automatically dimmed without making a decision.

But Xu Jue still wasn’t satisfied, pushing his luck: “After restoring it, help me print it out too. Print about a dozen… never mind, just one.”

“Usually it’s a sheet of eight.” Yu Huo said.

Xu Jue didn’t care: “Then eight.”

The two added each other as friends, and when receiving the image, Yu Huo still harbored doubts: “Did Senior ask you to help with this?”

The carpet had already been rolled out to his feet inviting him into the main topic, so Xu Jue stopped with the groundwork: “Senior? Are you from the same middle school or university?”

Yu Huo glanced at him: “I also graduated from Xianzhong.”

“I figured as much,” Xu Jue said, “after all…”

“After all what?” Yu Huo looked at him again, unable to read any meaning in his eyes.

After all Chen Qian had said so yesterday. Xu Jue didn’t say this. He shifted the topic: “You met him outside of school, right?”

Yu Huo fell silent, lowering his head to tap open the photo Xu Jue sent, downloading the original, long pressing to save. He dragged out this series of actions before asking softly: “He told you?”

“No, I guessed that too. He’s several years above you. By the time you entered Xianzhong, he had already graduated.” Xu Jue read the situation, saw that the other’s expression wasn’t right, and made a gentlemanly concession. “It’s fine if it’s not convenient for you to say. I was just asking.”

He followed the process and sent the deposit to the other party. After sending it, he picked up his backpack to get up. Yu Huo suddenly said: “Why are you asking about these things?”

Xu Jue answered bluntly: “To understand him.”

“And after you understand him?”

Xu Jue hooked the corner of his mouth into a mischievous smile and asked back: “Can’t you guess?”

Yu Huo clutched his phone and said loudly: “Don’t play around!”

His fingertip accidentally touched the red envelope the other party sent. He had hesitated for so long just now, but now by chance he had received the deposit. It was too late for Yu Huo to regret it.

The sound of money arriving was so loud. Xu Jue shook his phone, which displayed the interface of the red envelope being collected: “I’ll come to pick up the photos next weekend.”

On Monday he submitted the competition registration form, and Xu Jue got busy. Every day after evening study session, he went to the chemistry teacher’s office for extra lessons, or to the lab to do experiments. By the time he left school carrying the bright moon and sparse stars, there weren’t many people left on the school path.

Chen Qian had pushed his get off work time back by an hour. He had taken too much leave recently, and many regular customers were very unhappy about not being able to find him. He was making up for it during this period. When he got tipsy, he went to the side door outside the club to get some air, lighting up his phone screen to send Xu Jue a message: Study hard for the exam, no need to pick me up.

Worried the tone was too cold and would hurt the anxious kid’s fragile heart, he added a word: Be good.

With the year end approaching, everyone in class was looking forward to the New Year’s Day holiday every day. The topic of discussion was all about where to go for New Year’s Eve. For example, Xu Jue’s deskmate and the person in front of him had made quite a few plans for this. When they couldn’t meet, they chatted in the group chat. When they met, they chatted during breaks.

In between doing problems, Xu Jue watched them exchanging glances like they were sending autumn waves, and joked: “Anyone who didn’t know would think you two got together already.” The atmosphere went silent for two seconds. Qiu Yuanfei put his arm on Xu Jue’s shoulder and whispered: “Well, isn’t it pretty obvious?”

Xu Jue was stunned: “…Holy shit.”

He kind of wanted to leave the group chat.

Wei Xiaoduo egged him on: “Today’s the last day of the year. Ask your sister out to count down tonight.”

Qiu Yuanfei echoed his wife’s words: “Exactly, you spent Christmas together, so why would New Year’s Eve be hard to ask about?”

Wei Xiaoduo daydreamed: “Kissing under fireworks, so romantic.”

Qiu Yuanfei was overjoyed but didn’t dare show it too much, holding it in until his face turned red: “Wei Xiaoduo, so you like this kind of thing.”

Wei Xiaoduo’s eyes narrowed, and she grabbed her pencil case to throw at him: “Get lost!”

Xu Jue twirled his pen. The clock above the blackboard showed four fifty. There were five minutes left until the last self study session of the year.

The sky outside the window was gray and hazy. The weather forecast said there would be light snow tonight. He wondered if Chen Qian would be cold getting off work tonight.

The birthday was already confirmed to be ruined. Was it too much to ask to spend New Year’s Eve together?

His phone hidden under the desk, Xu Jue tapped open the chat box and typed: Pick you up from work tonight?

The class bell rang. Xu Jue put his phone into the desk drawer. Although he had it on vibrate, he still couldn’t help taking it out to look every few minutes, suffering through this for half an hour like this.

Qiu Yuanfei was going out to play tonight, and couldn’t sit still for a single second in the self study session with no teacher watching. He leaned over wanting to copy Xu Jue’s physics homework, and was shocked to discover that the perfect score genius was writing even slower than him.

When Xu Jue pulled out his phone to look again, Qiu Yuanfei said: “Jue, is it that your sister is hard to chase or that you’re too dumb?”

Xu Jue sighed: “You don’t understand.”

Slap. Qiu Yuanfei slammed his palm on the homework book, drawing the attention of the duty class monitor who wanted to write down both their names.

“Jue, who doesn’t understand? The single one is you. The one bitterly chasing love is you. And me… forget it, I won’t rub it in.” Qiu Yuanfei spoke earnestly. “I really want to see your sister in person, that way Xiaoduo and I can help you come up with strategies, don’t you think?”

Think my ass. His phone vibrated. Xu Jue shoved Qiu Yuanfei aside. The moment the screen unlocked, the joy that had just reached his eyebrows faded again.

Chen Qian: No need, don’t mess up my plans.

It was followed by a patting dog head animated sticker, so the reply wouldn’t seem too fierce.

But Xu Jue had already been hurt by it. It was like he had caught an illness, lost his soul. His forehead rested on the edge of the desk, while both hands were still typing under the desk: Want to watch fireworks?

Before he could press send, his left arm was lightly touched, and then his right shoulder was patted. Xu Jue flipped his hand, seamlessly hiding the phone into his sleeve, and straightened up to look to his right.

Through the window, the chemistry teacher stood in the corridor outside the classroom, concerned: “Have I been giving you too many assignments recently? Not getting enough rest?”

Xu Jue stared at the papers in the other’s hand and said: “It’s fine.”

Actually it wasn’t fine. The sight of chemical elements made him want to throw up.

The teacher deliberately made him want to throw up, raising the papers in hand: “Come, I got two sets of treasure problems. Finish them and then rest well during the holiday.”

Xu Jue had no choice but to get up and go out. That message he had been thinking about never got sent.

Around nine o’clock at night, Chen Qian had poured out the fourth guest of the night. He collected the tips on the table and ran outside for some fresh air. The door pushed open, and a cold blossom bloomed on his nose tip. It turned out it was snowing, falling thick and soft.

The small path directly facing the side door had few pedestrians, and the wind skimming low was even colder. The sound of fireworks exploding in the distance only added to the turbulence in his chest.

But Chen Qian felt physically and mentally refreshed. He raised his arm to brush away the thin snow accumulated on the handrail of the steps, and plopped his butt down without minding the cold. He pulled out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, cupping his hands to strike the lighter over a dozen times before the cigarette lit.

The taste of strong liquor mixed with minty mist drifted from his lips. Chen Qian let fine snow fall on his hair and between his brows, focusing his gaze on the distant parking lot and remembering that the last time he sat in this spot smoking and spacing out was when he had proposed breaking up with Jiang Linsheng.

It clearly hadn’t been that long, yet it felt so far away. So far that when he suddenly recalled this person, he had already forgotten the feeling of that former passionate heart flutter. It was like the lengthened cigarette ash cooling and falling, covered by winter snow, then laid to rest in the old year.

A faint smell of cigarettes lingered on his fingers. Chen Qian’s cheeks were chilled by the wind. He brushed the snow from his shoulders and went back inside.

He had drunk quite a bit tonight. He didn’t go to the main hall, but went to the restroom first to relieve himself. As soon as he entered, he passed by a man with a beer belly who was adjusting his belt.

That wasn’t the end of it. Walking a few steps further in, one of the stall doors suddenly opened. Chen Qian locked eyes with the person coming out face to face. It was Yuan Shuang, who had been missing for a long time.

Yuan Shuang’s face was flushed with the redness of pleasure, the corners of his eyes moist, his mouth half open, with an unidentified liquid dripping from the tip of his tongue stuck between his lips.

His eyes widened, and he covered his mouth and ran to the sink to rinse. Chen Qian couldn’t be bothered to give him an extra glance, entering the adjacent stall and closing the door.

After relieving himself and coming out, Yuan Shuang was still standing there, face washed clean, applying lipstick.

Chen Qian turned on the faucet, first wetting his palms, then rubbing his fingers. After washing his hands, he pulled out a paper towel. When he looked up, he met Yuan Shuang’s gaze in the mirror without any fear, a gaze that had been waiting for him for a while.

“You must be thrilled to death.” Yuan Shuang said.

Chen Qian’s eyes were cold: “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

Yuan Shuang sneered, pulling out an eyeliner pencil. He had just uncapped it, but probably remembered being gagged by Chen Qian last time, and resentfully put the pen back: “What the hell are you pretending for? Didn’t Jiang Linsheng go back to find you?”

Chen Qian crumpled the paper. He didn’t want to engage with meaningless topics.

Yuan Shuang loved clinging to meaningless things: “The moment you mentioned breaking up, he dumped me! People with capital are all the same, rotten! Big appetite wanting to play some kinky stuff, couldn’t bear to ruin you, but I suited his taste just fine. Thinking about building up some feelings, just when there was a spark, you had to come out and stir up what kind of mess!”

Chen Qian still didn’t respond, putting both hands under the hand dryer. The hot air blew, whoosh, what did the guy surnamed Yuan say just now? Forgotten.

He turned and walked out. At the door he stopped a night shift cleaner, his tone neither warm nor cold: “There’s still some dirty stuff inside, remember to sweep it clean.”

Coming out of the restroom, Chen Qian stopped in the corridor to take a breath. He didn’t go toward the main hall, but turned and headed to the side door again.

The snow was still falling. The piercing scream when fireworks rose into the sky made people’s emotions rise along with it.

Chen Qian had originally planned to get off work at ten thirty and go back to spend New Year’s Eve with Xu Jue. Now he didn’t think about anything else, only thinking that there were so many unpleasant trivial matters, and he wanted to see the person who made him feel pleasant sooner, do pleasant things, and take a good look at whether this year’s fireworks were different from previous years.

He pulled his collar against the wind and walked a stretch, stopping at a street lamp. He pulled out his phone and typed: You there?

After typing he felt it gave people no desire to reply, so he deleted it and retyped: I’m back.

What if Xu Jue wasn’t home? High schoolers loved to slip out and celebrate with friends whenever they had free time. He had to think of a way to lure the person over.

Chen Qian deleted the words he had just typed all at once, and changed it to: Really want to watch fireworks.

The moment he pressed send, as if connected by heart and soul, Xu Jue’s message came through at the same time, also five words: Want to watch fireworks?