Chapter 23
Shi Ye froze with the ice cream in his hand.
Shi Ye: “Hm?”
Shi Ye: “It’s nice.”
Everyone had moles on their body. A mole on the skin was perfectly normal.
He lowered his head and took a big bite of ice cream.
Xia Fengsheng turned sideways and leaned his face closer. “What about the mole?”
Half of Shi Ye’s body went numb.
Hadn’t he already said it was nice?
Xia Fengsheng stretched his neck, the skin there just as snow-white as his face. His lips were naturally red, like berries ripened to the fullest. After eating the ice cream, the color had deepened even more, and the mole beneath the corner of his mouth pushed the gloomy air about him up yet another level.
His lips edged a little closer to Shi Ye’s face.
“Is it pretty or not?”
The distance in his voice was short, as if he were speaking right against the base of his ear.
Shi Ye grew a little irritable and abruptly shifted a good distance away, his tone not especially gentle as he said,
“I already said it’s nice.”
Thump—
Ding Qizhen, squeezed right off the bench: ……
Big brother, maybe look to your side once?
Shi Ye lowered his head. “Why are you sitting on the ground?”
Ding Qizhen said, “Do you actually care?”
If he cared even a little, he would know exactly how Ding Qizhen had ended up on the floor. But Shi Ye did not care. He only cared about himself!
After finishing their ice cream, they strolled around the wetland park a little longer, then headed back.
The warmth hit them the moment they entered the hotel.
Because he had received a new project, the moment Xia Fengsheng returned to his room, he threw himself into work.
Before this, he had always been heavily suppressed under Yang Liwan, living so poor he could barely keep the pot boiling.
Now that he had come out to cooperate with Qin Buming, he brought out twelve parts spirit, determined to eat until he burst.
Qin Buming’s team, including himself, had four people in total. The other two were Qin Buming’s childhood friend Zheng Xing, an IT guy from a science-and-engineering background, and a junior girl from the same major, Zhan Shengyao.
The four of them had a group chat. Xia Fengsheng joined, and the four of them chattered away through an entire afternoon meeting.
After shutting the computer, Xia Fengsheng leaned back in his chair and let out a breath.
He was hungry.
A hungry Sheng.
Stepping out of the room, he happened to run into Shi Ye wandering around the kitchen looking for food.
A hungry Ye.
It was nearly seven in the evening now, prime dinner time.
“Anything to eat?” Xia Fengsheng walked over.
The open kitchen had been prepared for guests who liked cooking.
Xia Fengsheng did not know how to cook. Shi Ye liked cooking, but not right now, because the fridge was short on supplies.
If they took everything out, it would barely make one dry, miserable meal.
Neither of them was used to white people food, and they were already tired of the hotel food too.
Shi Ye suggested going out to buy groceries.
Xia Fengsheng was surprised. “You know how?”
More shocking than knowing how to buy groceries was the fact that Shi Ye actually knew how to cook.
His impression of Shi Ye had always stayed in their younger years—the pampered young master whose ten fingers never touched spring water, who had once burned up a pot trying to cook instant noodles.
“Of course.” Shi Ye looked absolutely certain. “I’m really good at cooking.”
There was a streak of pride in his words.
Since they were going out, the two returned to their own rooms to change clothes.
It was already dark outside now. At below-zero temperatures, water would freeze as soon as it dripped. If they went out, they would definitely shiver like popping candy.
The temperature difference between day and night was huge.
Xia Fengsheng pulled out his fuzzy pajama pants from the suitcase.
He used to sneer at them. If it had not been for the sake of disgusting people, this kind of ugly, thick pair of pants with no sense of beauty whatsoever would never have appeared in his wardrobe.
Until he wore them out twice and discovered they were not cold at all in subzero weather, after which his relationship with them went from hate to love.
He was no longer as resistant as he had been at first.
The temperature outside now was not joking matter. In two or three motions, he slipped his long legs into the pajama pants.
A major factor in why he liked wearing them was that in Beautiful Country, nobody knew him.
White down jacket on top, elderly-style black floral fuzzy pajama pants below.
After getting dressed, Xia Fengsheng sat in the living room waiting for Shi Ye.
Time passed minute by minute. Fifteen minutes went by, and there was still no movement at all from Shi Ye’s room.
He went over and knocked.
Xia Fengsheng: “Ready yet?”
A voice drifted out from inside. “Not yet.”
The room door was not closed.
Xia Fengsheng looked in. A number of clothes were scattered across the bed. Shi Ye was wearing a loose grey hoodie with jeans on the bottom, and was in the middle of fastening a watch onto his wrist.
“Ready.”
He said loudly.
Then he turned back and saw Xia Fengsheng standing in the doorway waiting for him.
“Let’s go.” Shi Ye was still carrying a pair of brand-new sneakers in his hand, planning to switch into them before they went out.
Other than the hoodie, he did not have even a coat on.
So during all that time spent picking clothes, had he made up his mind to freeze to death outside?
Xia Fengsheng looked at what he was wearing. “You’re going out dressed like that?”
Shi Ye, who had put careful thought into his outfit: “What’s wrong?”
He had chosen for quite a while.
Something casual for the supermarket—something that matched the whole supermarket vibe.
“Are you wearing thermal pants?”
“Thermal pants?”
Shi Ye would never wear that sort of thing until the end of his life.
“No.”
Xia Fengsheng nodded and turned away.
When he came back, there was now an extra pair of fuzzy pajama pants in his hand.
His other great general: blue fuzzy pajama pants with yellow ducks on them.
This was their second meeting, it and Shi Ye.
Though they had already met once, this second meeting struck Shi Ye with the same force as the first.
Why had he brought those ugly pajama pants with him all the way to Beautiful Country?
He lowered his head.
Xia Fengsheng was wearing a pair himself too.
Shi Ye cracked apart.
“You’re not going to make me wear that, are you?”
“Why else would I be handing them to you?” Xia Fengsheng said.
Shi Ye looked at the pajama pants as if facing a great enemy. “We’re driving there. There’s heat in the car, and warm air in the supermarket too. No need.”
Xia Fengsheng said, “There’ll always be some stretch outside.”
Then he nudged the pajama pants closer to Shi Ye. “What? As a boyfriend, you won’t even wear matching outfits?”
Shi Ye: ……
Ten minutes later—
Two pajama-pants people walked out through the hotel lobby.
The valet drove the car over, and Shi Ye plunged straight into the driver’s seat.
From the moment he stepped out the door, his face had never lifted once. When extra passengers entered the elevator with them, Shi Ye wished he could bury his head right into his crotch.
In contrast, Xia Fengsheng was much more natural.
His whole body radiated the calm composure of an old artist.
There were not many supermarkets in Beautiful Country that sold fresh produce. They had to drive to a large joint supermarket for centralized shopping, a trip of more than an hour.
All the way there, Shi Ye never stopped trying to prepare himself mentally.
Yet when it came time to get out of the car in those fuzzy pajama pants, he discovered that all of it had been useless.
Xia Fengsheng pushed a shopping cart over and comforted him, “It’s fine. There aren’t that many spectators in everyday life.”
The next second—
A voice called from the distance.
“Shi Ye!”
They turned around.
A young black-haired man in his twenties waved excitedly in their direction.
Then he strode over.
“It is Shi Ye, right?”
Shi Ye: ……
Xia Fengsheng: ……
Shi Ye’s usual vitality withered all at once.
The child seemed to be sick.
Autism.
The young man was one of Shi Ye’s classmates from his study-abroad days.
After graduating with an undergraduate degree in China, Shi Ye had been admitted to a famous music academy overseas, though after one year he had applied for a leave of absence.
He was still officially on leave now.
The reason his overseas social media had so many followers was not just because of his looks, but also because he was a modestly well-known composer.
The classmate had not expected to run into him here. Ever since Shi Ye took leave and went traveling around the world, they had not seen each other again.
“Shi Ye, what a coincidence. Never thought I’d meet you here. How have you been lately?”
Shi Ye: …Lately?
If the man had asked about this morning, he would have said good.
Sure enough, misfortune never came alone. The moment he wore ugly pajama pants out, he ran into someone he knew.
Back when they were classmates, the two had gotten along well. This time, when Shi Ye came to Beautiful Country, the classmate had known too, but they had never found time to meet.
Who would have thought they would run into each other here?
“And this is?” the classmate asked, looking at Xia Fengsheng.
Shi Ye reached out and caught Xia Fengsheng’s wrist where it rested on the shopping cart. “He’s my boyfriend.”
The classmate was surprised. “Hello, hello.”
Xia Fengsheng responded politely, “Hello.”
Once the excitement of seeing an old classmate had gradually settled, the young man finally noticed what Shi Ye was wearing.
His eyes widened slightly, though he did not say anything.
Looking at that expression on his face, Shi Ye felt dead inside.
Might as well just say it.
While the two of them were catching up, Xia Fengsheng pushed the cart over to the fruit section to shop. When he returned, the cart held quite a few more fruits. There was one with a strange appearance he had never seen before. Picking it up, he asked Shi Ye whether he had ever eaten it and whether it tasted good.
Shi Ye lowered his head and softly explained to him.
Once Xia Fengsheng learned it did not taste good, he put it back and turned to return the fruit.
When Shi Ye looked up again, he saw the classmate staring at him with a face full of disbelief.
Shi Ye blinked. “What is it?”
The classmate said, “Did you thicken your voice with cornstarch or something?”
Shi Ye: ……
Who exactly had just been talking?
He had half thought the pajama pants on Shi Ye’s legs had spoken.
After parting from the classmate, Shi Ye threw himself into the grocery shopping.
Xia Fengsheng had thought Shi Ye saying he could cook was just talk. He had not expected him to be so capable at buying ingredients too.
He even knew how to judge meat, how to pick vegetables, and how to find exactly the seasoning he needed from among a dazzling wall of condiments.
The two returned to the hotel, where the staff helped carry the ingredients into the kitchen.
After changing clothes, Shi Ye immediately got to work cooking.
Hearing the commotion, Ding Qizhen came out in search of food.
All he saw was Xia Fengsheng standing there, his gaze examining Shi Ye at the kitchen counter as he handled the ingredients.
Compared to high school, he was a completely different person.
Not only was he skilled at cooking, even his wok-tossing was smooth and effortless.
Xia Fengsheng asked, “When did he learn how to cook?”
He was even more curious about what could possibly have made a pampered young master who never touched household work learn to cook in the first place.
With clothes put on for him and food served to him, there had been no need for him to learn it himself.
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ding Qizhen said, “Huh?”
His gaze shifted around. “J-just… maybe he learned it in college when he was bored.”
As for Shi Ye in that period, Ding Qizhen still remembered it vividly even now.
As he recalled, it seemed to have started after the college entrance exams, when Shi Ye’s family suddenly found out that he liked men.
Among all the elders, the one who had the hardest time accepting the truth was Shi Ye’s maternal grandfather.
The older generation had a huge, unbridgeable ideological gap with the present, and thought that Shi Ye must be sick.
Grandfather: “Something must be wrong over at the ancestral graves!”
By then, Shi Ye had stopped dancing and had begun planning other directions for his future. He was no longer as strict with food and daily routine as he had been before.
Using his connections, Grandfather had Shi Ye tossed into the army during every winter and summer break. Whenever Shi Ye went home, Grandfather also found all kinds of Chinese medicine for him to take.
When he could not finish it there, it would be packed into bags, one bag a day.
He was determined to “correct” the homosexuality out of him.
Once Shi Ye’s bones fully opened and developed, his physique completely changed from that period onward too.
Back when he danced and trained, it had already been hard enough, and Shi Ye never blinked. The army was hardship piled atop hardship, not even leaving a person enough strength to cry out.
Ding Qizhen remembered sneaking off once to see him. At first glance, he had not even recognized him.
Back then, Shi Ye wore a buzz cut. He stood under the blazing sun every day, his skin darkened to a honey-black, blue veins always standing out along his arms. He had come over to the wire fence with his cap in hand to meet him.
Ding Qizhen had stared in shock, half convinced the person in front of him was not Shi Ye at all, but a black bear.
The transformation was so dramatic that he could not speak for a good while.
“What’s wrong?” Shi Ye had asked him.
There had still been abrasions on his face.
“I’m serious, are you even still Shi Ye? How did you become like this?”
This was even more outrageous than turning into a different person.
Before, because of dance, Shi Ye had also had muscle on him, but it had never felt this powerful. Now it seemed like he could punch Ding Qizhen to death with one blow.
Shi Ye had a good temper, but in the army he had never been obedient. He talked back to this one, talked back to that one. Physical punishment had become a routine thing, accompanying him as regularly as three meals a day.
That day he had just clashed with someone and was still waiting for the punishment to come down.
Ding Qizhen chatted with him for a bit, then could not help letting out a wow when he looked at the muscle on his body.
He felt a little envious.
“You’re a real man now.”
He punched Shi Ye on the shoulder with his fist, and the joints in his hand hurt.
Ding Qizhen shook his hand, thinking maybe he should go in and train for two days too.
Then he saw the schedule inside: two hundred push-ups a day to start with. He instantly fell silent.
Could anyone even still be alive after doing two hundred?
Later he heard that because Shi Ye had talked back to his squad leader, he had been sent to the kitchen squad for a month.
And the family had given instructions too: make him do the heaviest, hardest tasks.
Apparently after flipping a wok for one whole month, his arms had turned hard as stone. With both hands working together, he could rip Ding Qizhen in half.
Ding Qizhen laughed and said, “A hobby, I guess. Everyone’s hobbies are different. He just likes cooking.”
Xia Fengsheng did not ask any further.
The dinner turned out unexpectedly delicious.
Xia Fengsheng was not surprised. Shi Ye really was the type of person who, once he decided to learn something, would definitely learn it well.
Because the team had taken on a project, Xia Fengsheng gradually became busier over the following days.
Busy working. Busy taming his limbs. Determined to prove who the real master of this body was.
After several busy days came the entertainment event he had been looking forward to most.
The opening baseball game of the year.
The game started at nine in the morning.
The weather was bright and clear, not a cloud in sight.
The three drove to the stadium. At a glance, all they could see was dense streams of people lining up to enter.
Media reporters were doing interviews right there on the street. Everywhere was full of cheers, and people waved all sorts of support banners and props in their hands.
The atmosphere had already been pulled to its peak.
Though Xia Fengsheng’s face remained outwardly calm, his emotions were quietly drawn along with the crowd. It was his first time seeing a match live, and the feeling was both strange and marvelous.
The three of them, dressed in Flying Eagles team merch, took their seats. There was still an hour before the game began, and passionate current pop music thundered through the stadium.
Soon, the giant screen hanging high overhead began showing the faces of audience members in the stands.
The music did not stop. The camera swept the stadium once, then landed on a female fan supporting the Brown Bears.
She was startled at first, then confidently and generously stood up and began dancing hotly to the music.
The atmosphere in the stadium climbed to yet another peak.
After the cheers and applause, the camera moved on to pick the next spectator.
A kind of pre-game hype-up entertainment.
Whoever got the camera had to stand up and dance.
Xia Fengsheng’s brain started spinning rapidly.
The past few days had been so busy that breaking up had fallen off the schedule.
Looking at the men and women dancing wildly on the big screen—some perfectly at ease, some awkward in all four limbs—he began to think.
What would happen if he got picked to dance?
The sort of dance a white old lady had once called dogshit.
If he embarrassed himself in a stadium with this many people, it would definitely be humiliating.
And humiliation lowered a person greatly in other people’s minds. When that happened, what would Shi Ye think of him?
Of course he would not break up immediately.
Disappointment and dislike could happen in an instant, but accumulating them bit by bit would gradually turn into impatience, until eventually the relationship broke.
At that moment, Shi Ye beside him was asking the stadium vendor how much the popcorn and hot dogs cost.
Ding Qizhen, meanwhile, was chatting enthusiastically with other baseball fans.
No one was paying attention to him.
Xia Fengsheng licked his lips, then spread his arms and began waving to attract the camera’s attention.
On screen now was a child waving and dancing, then a man with a huge beard, then an old white-haired lady who was still remarkably nimble. The next shot went to a girl whose dance movements were smooth and skillful.
The girl danced with great rhythm and looked like a professional. She bent backward, sprang back up, whipped her hair, and the whole stadium gasped aloud and cheered for her.
Meanwhile, Xia Fengsheng had already been windshield-wipering away tirelessly for fifteen full minutes.
Just when he thought the camera would never land on him—
A face with the mysterious features of the East appeared on the giant screen.
There were very few faces as distinctive as his. Black hair combed straight back. A damp, cold aura. Being looked at by him felt like being wrapped by a venomous snake.
It was him!
When Xia Fengsheng stood up, he deliberately made a huge amount of noise. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Shi Ye turning his head.
Embarrassing himself in dance required no extra effort. His limbs would naturally guide him to the peak.
As for what kind of dance moves to do, Xia Fengsheng had never thought about it.
Not a single second of camera time could be wasted.
He reacted quickly and copied the moves of the girl from just now, the one the whole crowd had cheered for.
That way he could not only embarrass himself, but also achieve a copycat effect.
How did the dance go again?
Xia Fengsheng recalled the girl’s earlier movements, bent backward with the music, then sprang up and whipped his head hard—
And then—
Xia Fengsheng: everything went black.
