Chapter 48: The Beginning of a Fairy Tale
For this New Year’s gift, Zhu Zhixi had racked his brains and started preparing very early on. He had always had plenty of strange little ideas, but in his mind, he rejected one idea after another.
Not enough. None of them were good enough. None of them could express his heart.
Until he saw Fu Rangyi hollow himself out completely in front of him.
In that second, he decided that he would make up for the little box Fu Rangyi had lost.
So every day after leaving the museum, he would return to his own home and go through everything from his childhood until now, picking and choosing little things that were worth putting into the box.
The candy wrapper was from the first piece of candy his mother had left behind for him to eat; the dried flower branch was the first branch he had snapped with his own hands when his father lifted him up as a child; the magnetic dolls were what he had grabbed during his first-birthday object-grabbing ceremony; the canna specimen was the result of a handicraft class; the little rabbit towel was his favorite comfort towel when he was small.
The vinyl record was a gift he bought with the money from his first part-time job; the shirt was the future coming-of-age gift he had bought when he was seventeen. He had thought that a year later, he would grow much taller, so he bought one size up. But eighteen-year-old him was far less strong than he had imagined, so he bought another one that fit.
In truth, none of these things had much value. He had also wondered whether they would have any meaning to Fu Rangyi, but very soon, he rejected his own doubt.
He believed Fu Rangyi would understand these metaphors.
When he counted out these “treasures,” a story automatically wove itself in his mind—a dream where he and Fu Rangyi had been inseparable from childhood to adulthood. Every item was “proof” that they had accompanied each other. Perhaps parallel universes truly existed in this world.
And so Zhu Zhixi wrote this wildly imaginative letter.
He needed a piece of paper with special meaning to carry the record.
“Dad, do you have any… paper that’s been kept for a really, really long time?” Zhu Zhixi asked his father for help. “It’d be best if it had something to do with me.”
“Paper?”
His father, who handled countless affairs every day, immediately put down his work and went with him to the storage room to explore Zhu Zhixi’s childhood.
“How about this? The first test paper you ever got full marks on. Second semester of first grade…”
“No, no, no. If a university professor sees an elementary school test paper, he might get an occupational disease…”
“What about this? The paper airplane you folded when you were little. Ah, and this one, the drawing you made for your mom and me when you were little. But I don’t want you writing on this. What about this one? The letters you sent me and your brother when you went away to study…”
Faced with this pile of paper, Zhu Zhixi was very distressed.
His father was also distressed.
One could not choose. The other could not bear to give any away.
“What are you looking for?” Zhu Zeran appeared in the underground storage room at some point.
After learning Zhu Zhixi’s request, his first reaction was to laugh. “Writing a love letter?”
“What love letter? Can you stop talking nonsense?”
“If it isn’t a love letter, why make such a big fuss?” Zhu Zeran crouched down, rummaged through the pile of collections on the floor, picked up a drawing Zhu Zhixi had made as a child, clicked his tongue in disdain, then said, “Originally, I thought of something good. But, well, since you’re not writing a love letter, it’s not worth taking out.”
Zhu Zhixi: “…Give it to me.”
Zhu Zeran: “Do you admit it’s a love letter?”
Zhu Zhixi was furious, but he held it in. “It’s whatever you say it is.”
After succeeding, Zhu Zeran left. Not long after, he returned and took a yellowed sheet of paper from his work notebook.
It seemed to be nothing more than a sheet casually torn from a notebook. Very ordinary, but very clean. It had been pressed flat, without a single crease, and had been preserved very well.
Zhu Zhixi took it and finished reading what was on it, then looked puzzled. “What is this?”
Father Zhu took it and looked. Realization dawned. “Before you were born, your mom and I discussed what we needed to bring for delivery. Your mom asked me to write it down and bring it. But the day you were born, everyone was in such a rush that I didn’t even know where this paper went.”
“I picked it up.” Zhu Zeran half-crouched between the two of them, raised his hand, and smiled. “I found it in the car. I even checked all the things on this maternity memo one by one, though none of you knew.”
“You?” Zhu Zhixi could not believe it.
He had only been six years old then.
“Yeah. I also had a sense of participation, okay? The little blanket you were wrapped in when you were born, and the little towels, were all checked by your brother here.” Zhu Zeran raised a brow. “How about it? This paper is pretty meaningful, right?”
Yes.
A light, thin sheet of paper carried all the love and anticipation of his family on the eve of his birth.
“But this is very precious too, isn’t it?” He looked up at his father and brother. “This counts as something Mom left behind…”
Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Zeran, then looked at him, his gaze gentle. “You and your brother are the most precious things Mom left me.”
Zhu Zeran’s face was filled with resistance. “All right, Old Zhu, stop being so sappy.”
“Thank you, Brother. Thank you, Dad.”
Zhu Zhixi hugged one, then hugged the other, taking the chance to assign them new tasks.
“On New Year’s Eve, everyone has to cooperate with my plan. Dad, you’ll help me with the lighting. I’ve already drawn a layout. We’ll discuss it later, and you can help me see if there’s anything that can be improved. You also have to help keep an eye on the process. You’re the chief director.”
Old Zhu smiled. “Giving me that much power?”
“Of course.” Zhu Zhixi looked at his unreliable brother. “Big Zhu, you’re also very important. On the day itself, you’ll be responsible for guiding Teacher Fu.”
Zhu Zeran frowned. “You’re using me like an NPC?”
“What NPC? You’re an actor. I even prepared your lines for you.” Zhu Zhixi poured sweet soup into him. “This mission really tests your ability to improvise. Fu Rangyi is very sharp. I only trust someone as clever, quick-witted, and psychologically strong as you.”
“I could do that too,” Father Zhu said.
“No, Dad. If you personally go call him downstairs, it’ll be too scary.”
“Fine, then.” Once someone fought him for the job, Zhu Zeran agreed.
But during rehearsal, Zhu Zeran began complaining and looking for trouble again. “Why is this so troublesome? Can’t I just bring him over directly? We even have to time everything and make it so complicated. Are you proposing?”
It was already cold enough in the garden at night. Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi’s face fell. “Are you doing it or not?”
“If you put it like that, I really don’t want to do it.”
“Then I’ll tell Dad about how you made sister-in-law pass out from hate-sex.”
Zhu Zhixi threatened him and ran. As expected, Zhu Zeran grabbed him back at once.
“I’m warning you not to spread rumors. I did not make him pass out. His fainting had no direct relation to what I did!” Zhu Zeran emphasized.
After hearing this, Zhu Zhixi raised his brows. “Oh. So you didn’t deny two things. One, he’s my sister-in-law. Two, you two did it.”
“…You really are something. You’re the golden hoop Mom left me with a curse attached. The second you open your mouth, my head hurts.”
Zhu Zeran compromised and obediently cooperated with him to finish the rehearsal. He even helped pour sand into the box.
For a moment, the two of them seemed to return to childhood, playing a childish, meaningless game.
“Let me see the love letter you wrote.” Zhu Zeran reached out.
“No.” Zhu Zhixi meticulously smoothed out the sand, then began installing the sensor lights. “It’s not a love letter. It’s not like I’m confessing to him.”
“Come on. Like I don’t know you?” Zhu Zeran sat on the lawn with both hands propped behind him. “Your eyes are practically glued to that guy.”
Zhu Zhixi switched the box open and shut repeatedly, testing the effect. The lights brightened and dimmed.
He sighed and said frankly, “I do like him. To be honest, at first I really thought, why not just take this chance and confess directly? But after thinking it over for a long time, I still felt it wasn’t good.”
“What’s not good about it?” Zhu Zeran had never understood his thought process. “Are you afraid he doesn’t like you? Afraid he won’t agree?”
Zhu Zhixi shook his head. “No. I think he would agree. You don’t know. He’s the kind of person who gives whatever you ask for.”
He should… have feelings for me too.
I’m special.
He could even cut open old scars and dig out a bloody heart for me, just because I said I wanted to see.
Zhu Zhixi knew all of this.
“Then I understand even less.”
“Of course you don’t understand. You’re someone who gets whatever you want.” After Zhu Zhixi said this, his eyes lowered slightly. “He isn’t. Anyway, I just want this gift to be a little purer.”
As he spoke, he looked at his brother. “I want to tell him that I wrote this letter not because of sexual possessiveness. I’m not trying to make him decide to be with me because of a momentary burst of emotion after reading it. That isn’t my purpose in doing all this.”
He only wanted to give him a simple surprise, stitch up his wounds, and give him one firm, unwavering choice.
This was something Fu Rangyi deserved in the first place.
After copying the letter, burying it, and laying the turf over it, Zhu Zhixi wondered whether Fu Rangyi would cry after reading it.
The last time he saw him cry was during his susceptible period.
To be honest, he did look forward to it a tiny bit.
But when he actually hid behind a tree with binoculars and saw Fu Rangyi take off his glasses to wipe his tears, his heart ached again. He nearly forgot the procedure and wanted to run over, hug him, and wipe his tears.
But Old Zhu was truly a dutiful chief director. “Wait a little longer. Rangyi definitely hasn’t finished reading yet.”
“All right.”
After enduring those anxious, heartaching minutes, Zhu Zhixi took the sapling from his brother and quietly approached the fence.
He had wanted to give him a surprise, but Dog Doctor was far too alert. The instant he pulled open the fence gate, Fu Rangyi turned his head.
Amid the specks of golden starlight, the two of them looked at each other for a few seconds, and Zhu Zhixi suddenly grew nervous. He felt that the hard, taut shell around Fu Rangyi seemed to have melted and fallen all over the ground. The person inside was extremely soft, and his eyes were full of flowing ripples.
In the silence, Fu Rangyi was the first to speak. His voice was softer than the night. “So there really is a tree to plant.”
Zhu Zhixi nodded, approached, and crouched down. Then he felt it still was not close enough, so he shuffled nearer to Fu Rangyi. He put the tree down, turned his face sideways, and stared at Fu Rangyi, almost pressing against his face.
“Did you cry?” he asked softly.
Fu Rangyi did not speak. He only smiled.
Zhu Zhixi reached out and touched his face. His fingertips brushed past the corner of Fu Rangyi’s eye.
Wet.
“Thank you.” Fu Rangyi covered his hand with his own. “This is the best gift I have ever received.”
Zhu Zhixi lowered his eyes and muttered softly, “Don’t say that so early. In the future, maybe…”
Before he could finish, Fu Rangyi suddenly asked, “Can I kiss you?”
Zhu Zhixi froze and nearly sat down in the dirt. “My… my dad and my brother are both watching.”
“That’s exactly why.” Fu Rangyi’s voice was very light, patient and persuasive. “At a time like this, wouldn’t it be stranger if there weren’t any intimate gestures?”
That seemed quite reasonable.
Zhu Zhixi’s heartbeat sped up little by little. He took a deep breath and was about to lift his face, but the kiss had already landed first.
Fu Rangyi kissed his forehead.
Then he hugged Zhu Zhixi, gently, as if he did not dare use too much strength.
It was such a strange hug.
Perhaps it was because the wind was too strong, but Zhu Zhixi’s eyes also began to sting and ache.
He buried his face in Fu Rangyi’s shoulder and took a deep breath.
If only he could smell Fu Rangyi’s pheromones at this moment.
Even just a little would be good.
When aroused, there was more floral fragrance. Then what about when he was sad? Would it be a lush, overgrown field of wormwood?
“Zhu Zhixi.”
“Mm?”
The archaeological professor, who was so rigorous that he could be called meticulous, suddenly asked a wildly imaginative question.
“Which universe are we in right now?”
The tear he had held back and held back finally fell.
Zhu Zhixi hugged him tightly and said in a low voice, “I don’t know. You name it. You’re the native resident.”
Fu Rangyi gave a soft laugh. “Then… Universe 1214.”
Zhu Zhixi raised his head and smiled at him. “Okay.”
And so, Fu Rangyi and Zhu Zhixi of Universe 1214 moved the treasure box out together and planted a small tree in the hollow of the turf.
To be precise, it was a cypress.
“Why plant a cypress?” Fu Rangyi asked, even though he knew the answer.
But Zhu Zhixi simply refused to play by the rules. “Because cypresses are cool. Did you know? The tree in Van Gogh’s Starry Night that almost grows up into the sky is a cypress. How full of life.”
“Is that so?” Fu Rangyi smiled and said softly, “I didn’t like cypresses before. But some time ago, when I was reading literature, I learned about the special meaning of cypresses, and then I thought they were quite nice.”
“What meaning?” Zhu Zhixi asked.
Fu Rangyi did not answer immediately.
In the past, he had only felt that this kind of tree was always planted beside cemeteries. Sometimes, when he smelled his own pheromones, he would wonder whether this was the scent closest to death.
Only later did he learn that cypresses also symbolized “eternal life.”
For the first time, he realized he was this superstitious.
“Just like you said, it’s an evergreen, with very strong vitality.” Fu Rangyi glossed over it. “I’ll find that paper and send it to you.”
After leaving the garden, Zhu Zhixi took his hand and led him around the side of the house to a glass room.
It was filled with flowers and plants, like a beautiful greenhouse. Passing through layers upon layers of moth orchids, they walked to the very center, and only then did Fu Rangyi discover that Father Zhu and Zhu Zeran were both inside.
Apart from them, there was also a large colored photograph in a golden frame, placed among clusters of flowers. The face in the photo smiled brightly and brilliantly, and indeed looked very much like Zhu Zhixi.
Father Zhu turned back to look at him, his smile kind. “Rangyi, come meet Mom.”
Zhu Zeran also handed him a lit stick of incense, then turned back and smiled. “Mom, this is the kid who abducted Zhu Zhixi.”
“Mom, don’t listen to his nonsense,” Zhu Zhixi immediately retorted.
When Fu Rangyi straightened up, Old Zhu even hugged him. Like an old father, he patted Fu Rangyi’s shoulder.
“Come home with Xixi more often from now on.”
At the turn between the old year and the new, Fu Rangyi received a box he had lost many years ago, a letter from another world, and a glass greenhouse so beautiful it felt unreal. All of it was like a fairy tale.
The beginning of the fairy tale was that he had fallen into a rabbit hole and caught a rabbit.
In a trance, he thought that even if this were a dream, it would be fine.
He could not even dream of such a good dream.
After the emotion passed, Fu Rangyi began to feel embarrassed, because compared with Zhu Zhixi’s carefully arranged surprise, his own seemed so ordinary.
Although he had spent a very long time on it, doing his utmost, it seemed that from the very beginning, he had been afraid Zhu Zhixi would not like it, would not be satisfied. So he made one thing after another, thinking that surely there would be at least one thing he would be satisfied with.
But Zhu Zhixi did not ask him for anything.
After returning to the room, he kept muttering, finding suitable pajamas for Fu Rangyi, then asking if he wanted to take a bath, saying he had many bath bombs.
“Or… or do you want to just rinse off casually?”
Zhu Zhixi actually had moments where he stammered too.
As if possessed, Fu Rangyi still opened his mouth. “Actually, I also prepared a gift for you.”
Zhu Zhixi froze, and the eyes that looked at him slowly widened.
After several seconds, he pursed his lips and smiled. “Really? I get a gift too?”
“But it isn’t as good as yours. It’s very ordinary.”
There would never be a better gift in the world. Fu Rangyi was certain of that.
“Who said so?” Zhu Zhixi moved closer and grabbed his clenched hand. “You’re the one giving it to me, so I’m the one who gets to review it. Hurry and show me.”
Fu Rangyi could only compromise and take out a very small item, handing it to him.
When Zhu Zhixi saw it, he was somewhat surprised. “A USB drive?”
“I… I saw that you’ve been busy with the museum work, and it seemed very difficult, so I went to Director Zhou and asked for all the materials for your current exhibition, along with the cultural relic catalog. I marked the background, dynasty, and excavation time of every relic.”
“Besides that, based on literature and other background materials, together with the summaries you wrote yourself, I wrote the introduction and annotations, and sorted out the order. You can use them directly. Also, from an archaeological perspective, I helped you correct some small problems in the current plan. I saw that you wrote many questions in the comments, so I answered them one by one. There shouldn’t be anything missing.”
As Fu Rangyi spoke, he explained, “I’m not trying to interfere with your work. I just thought this would make the rest of your project easier to move forward.”
Heaven.
Zhu Zhixi stared at the tiny USB drive, simply not knowing what to say.
Fu Rangyi was like someone who had quietly opened a true museum for him, and it was only open to him alone.
He answered his questions and cleared obstacles for him.
He had actually done all of this alone. How long must it have taken?
“This is what you call a very ordinary gift?” Zhu Zhixi hugged him. “I’ve been worrying myself sick over all this every day. You have no idea how important this is to me.”
This might very well be the last exhibition I ever work on in my life.
“Actually, this is only the first gift.” Fu Rangyi’s voice was very low. “There are two more…”
“There are more?” Zhu Zhixi raised his head.
As if performing magic, Fu Rangyi took out the second gift. This was something he had searched everywhere for some time ago before finally finding a shop to custom-make it.
The packaging was beautiful. A small square box, tied with a ribbon bow.
Zhu Zhixi had received countless gifts before, but when he opened it, he was still full of anticipation.
“Scented candle?” Zhu Zhixi looked at him and blinked.
Fu Rangyi nodded. “It’s custom-made.” As he spoke, he took a silver lighter from his pocket and handed it to Zhu Zhixi. “Do you want to light it now and try it?”
“Now? But I just got it.” Zhu Zhixi held the snowball-like candle, round and white, and frowned. “I’m a little reluctant to use it.”
Fu Rangyi took a deep breath. His fingers toyed with the lighter, opening it and closing it.
In the end, he finally admitted it. His voice was so low it was almost inaudible.
“This is a candle that simulates the scent of my pheromones.”
Zhu Zhixi froze in place. His clear eyes reflected Fu Rangyi’s tension, anticipation, and unease.
“Pheromones…”
“Don’t be reluctant. If you like it, I can make more.”
Fu Rangyi’s voice grew lower and lower, until the lighter was snatched away, and he was yanked down, forced to sit together with Zhu Zhixi on the fluffy carpet.
Snap.
The flame flickered and danced on the pink wick, reflected in their palms, and also illuminated the two faces pressed extremely close together.
The fragrance had not yet had time to spread, but Zhu Zhixi’s eyes were already red.
It turned out that when a person felt happiness, they really could shed tears.
He tried to use a joke to suppress the tears welling up. “Fu Rangyi, you’re glowing.”
Plop.
Fu Rangyi stared at the drop of milky-white wax oil that fell, and answered softly.
“I’m melting.”
