Chapter 4: Showering Together.

【004】

The rain came fast and fierce.

By the time they got home, aside from their hair, Yu Ting and Lu Jue’s sleeves and pant legs were soaked through to varying degrees.

The living room window was lit, the orange glow misty and blurred by water vapor in the rainy night.

Worried Zhao Rufei would come out, Yu Ting went straight to the warehouse. After parking the car, he thought for two seconds and decided against turning on the light. He pulled out his phone, lit up the screen, and handed it to Lu Jue. “My mom isn’t used to having people stay over. She goes to bed early; once I’m inside, she’ll go to sleep without worry. I’ll come get you in a bit.”

In the dim space, the phone’s light fell on Yu Ting’s face, his long eyelashes casting two large, fan-like shadows on his cheeks. Lu Jue smiled as he took the phone.

After Yu Ting left, his phone lit up. An incoming call, an unsaved number from an international area code.

Lu Jue hung up directly.

A moment later, a text message popped up—

【Brother Ting asleep? This is my overseas number, I’ll contact you tomorrow! Li Chengxi.】

Lu Jue’s brow moved slightly. He let go of the phone.

Within minutes, Yu Ting came running back.

This time, he turned the light on.

The warehouse light was also an orange glow, low wattage enough not to be harsh, but Lu Jue still squinted slightly.

In his vision, Yu Ting had changed clothes—a simple black-and-white striped T-shirt and beige wide-leg shorts. The shorts stopped just above his knees, his legs seeming to sway unfilled within the wide legs, straight and slender.

Yu Ting dried his wet hair with one hand and handed a blue towel over with the other. “Let’s go, my mom’s asleep.” He paused, then suddenly asked, “Can you drink ginger soup?”

Ginger soup generally wasn’t on anyone’s dietary restriction list, but the world was full of strange, rare illnesses. To be safe, Yu Ting asked anyway.

Lu Jue reacted a second late, a smile rippling out in the light. He took the towel and wiped his hair. A faint fragrance passed by his nose—a particularly clean soapberry scent, the kind sun-dried. He curved his lips. “I can.”

It was quiet inside, only the violent sound of rain pelting the windows. Yu Ting glanced several times at Zhao Rufei’s room to confirm the door was tightly shut. He immediately turned and signaled Lu Jue to follow him in, pointing at the lit area on the right. He whispered, “That’s the bathroom. You go wash up first.”

Lu Jue suddenly leaned close to Yu Ting’s left ear, lowering his voice. Warm breath puffed against the tiny, deep red mole. “You’re not washing up?”

Yu Ting’s house used an old-style electric water heater. It could only heat a fixed amount of water at a time. Once used, it would take hours to heat more. Normally, Zhao Rufei was very frugal with water; one heating was usually enough for mother and son to bathe.

Today, with Lu Jue here, washing one more person would mean using cold water.

“I’ll go later.” Yu Ting took off his shoes and stepped barefoot onto the living room’s concrete floor.

This little house had no flooring, just the simplest cement, yet it was polished exceptionally clean, so clean it reflected like a mirror.

Lu Jue observed the entranceway out of the corner of his eye.

The entranceway was sunken, a few centimeters lower than the living room. It held a plastic shoe rack, three tiers, white, with worn-off patches in many places, but exceptionally clean. Four pairs of shoes were neatly placed there.

One pair of men’s canvas shoes, one pair of men’s running shoes, two pairs of women’s athletic shoes.

On the floor sat a pair of women’s sandals and a pair of plain black men’s flip-flops.

Yu Ting indicated for Lu Jue to wear his flip-flops.

Once Lu Jue changed shoes, Yu Ting quickly picked up the paper bag with the phone and Lu Jue’s shoes and dashed into his room.

Yu Ting’s room was right next to the bathroom. He moved on tiptoe the entire time, silent, like a kitten sneaking food, afraid of waking its owner.

Lu Jue’s lips curved silently. He went to the bathroom.

The bathroom was tiny, only four or five square meters. On the left side of the entrance was the sink; the cabinet surface was printed with faded flowers. A round mirror was affixed to the wall. A clear, water-rippled shower curtain hung in the middle. The squat toilet was in the innermost part, and above it hung the electric water heater, a bit rusted. The red numbers showed 55. A handheld showerhead hung on the other wall.

Directly opposite was a small window, covered with bumpy, diamond-patterned frosted film. On the windowsill sat a small bottle of shampoo, a slightly crooked little red label stuck on its sticker, with black block letters reading “Complimentary”. Right next to the shampoo was a soap dish holding half a bar of pale pink soap.

The bathroom floor was also cement, the reflective surface bearing traces of water. The cramped space was filled with a faint scent of soap.

On the countertop by the sink was an empty mineral water bottle, holding two lively, large blue hydrangeas in full bloom.

Yu Ting had said this flower was called—

Endless Summer.

A summer that never ends.

A bath towel folded into a tofu block and a change of clothes were packed in a clear plastic bag and hung on the row of hooks behind the door.

Lu Jue opened the plastic bag.

A loose black T-shirt similar to the one Yu Ting had worn earlier, and a pair of big black shorts.

Lu Jue took out the T-shirt and brought it to his nose. It had the same sun-soaked soapberry scent as the towel.

It was also the scent on Yu Ting’s body.

The rain smashed against the window with a shattering sound. Soon, a violent heartbeat drowned out the heavy rain.

Minutes later, Lu Jue lifted his face from the T-shirt, put the clothes back into the plastic bag, turned around, and turned on the shower.

~

In the next room, Yu Ting put Lu Jue’s shoes under the bed. To be extra safe, he re-made the bed, pulling the sheets down several centimeters until they were almost level with the floor, completely hiding those shoes.

When he came out, the sound of trickling water came from the bathroom. Yu Ting sighed in relief and stepped toward the kitchen to make ginger soup.

“Creak.”

The door opposite suddenly opened.

Zhao Rufei, wearing her pajamas, walked out of her room. Her eyes weren’t fully open, and she held an empty cup in her hand.

Probably woke up thirsty, coming out for water.

“…” Yu Ting froze in place.

Hearing the water, Zhao Rufei became slightly more alert, her eyes returning to their normal state. She turned her head to look at the bathroom. Seeing Yu Ting standing at the bathroom door, she signed, puzzled.

“Why is the water running? Aren’t you going in to shower?”

Yu Ting’s brain short-circuited for the first time. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

“?” Zhao Rufei was even more awake and started to walk over.

“I’m going in now!” Yu Ting suddenly raised his voice. “Forgot something, came back to get it!”

Counting down two seconds in his mind, Yu Ting turned sideways, grabbed the door handle, and tried twisting it.

“Click.”

The lock opened.

Yu Ting’s tense spine finally relaxed a little.

Zhao Rufei couldn’t help but laugh. She smiled and shook her head. It was only at times like these that she could feel Yu Ting was just like other boys—still a child who could be forgetful.

She raised her cup slightly and shook it twice, meaning she had come out for water.

From the corner of his eye, Yu Ting saw Zhao Rufei was still there, her gaze already drifting to his bare feet. His heart hardened. He pushed the door open a crack, swiftly slipped sideways into the bathroom, and quickly shut and locked it behind him.

The lock had opened just now. Lu Jue should have… heard what he said outside, right?

He must have prepared—for him to come in, right?

Yu Ting had always showered alone. It was his first time barging into someone else’s shower. The swirling steam made the small bathroom feel even narrower. Yu Ting didn’t even have time to turn his back. Through the hazy heat, he caught a glimpse of a perfectly standard abdominal muscle.

Sick as he was, yet he still had abs…

Yu Ting’s mouth opened slightly. He couldn’t be loud for fear of Zhao Rufei hearing. He shifted sideways, scooting two steps deeper inside, trying not to look at Lu Jue. But the space was too small, and Lu Jue’s presence was intensely strong. He couldn’t help but see Lu Jue’s broad shoulders, rolling with water droplets.

“My mom’s awake.” Yu Ting’s voice was nearly silent. He looked down, glancing at the water-beaded wall. “Keep washing. I’ll leave once she goes back to her room.”

He was about to go when a hand suddenly blocked his chest.

At the same moment, the water sound stopped.

The familiar scent of soap drew closer, warm heat puffing behind his ear. He heard Lu Jue say, “I’m done. You wash. There’s still 35 liters of hot water left.”

Lu Jue had never seen an electric water heater before. When he saw the red numbers continuously dropping as he showered, he guessed the hot water wasn’t endless.

Sure enough, after he turned off the shower, the water heater number stopped dropping.

Yu Ting hastily lifted his foot to block the door, speaking low and fast. “You can’t go out now. My mom…” He exhaled. “My mom is still in the living room getting water.”

Lu Jue chuckled softly. “I didn’t say I was going out now.”

“…”

Actually, there was a bathhouse near Yu Ting’s house. When it was especially cold in winter, Zhao Rufei would grit her teeth and splurge on visiting the bathhouse.

As Zhao Rufei put it, rather than catching a cold bathing at home, which would affect her ability to earn money, she’d prefer to spend this extra bathing fee.

Yu Ting showered at home no matter how cold it was. A bathhouse was a public bath, and he wasn’t used to it.

He lowered his eyes. “Oh, I’ll wash later—”

“Knock knock.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

The bathroom door in Yu Ting’s house was a wooden door.

Yu Ting’s pupils dilated briefly. He immediately responded, “Mom, what is it?”

The answer was a series of knocks on the door.

This was the mother and son’s private language. Zhao Rufei was asking, “No hot water already? Mom will boil some for you with the kettle.”

Zhao Rufei had heard the water stop in the bathroom.

Surprise flickered in Lu Jue’s eyes. This kind of look wasn’t unfamiliar to Yu Ting.

When he was little, his mother would take him shopping. He always heard people whispering under their breath.

“What is she gesturing? Why is a kid doing the shopping?”

“You don’t know her? She’s the famous Mute Beauty! Her husband died at sea, and she can’t speak. We can’t understand her signing, and she can’t read either. She has to bring her kid to buy groceries.”

At parent-teacher conferences, those adults would also press him with questions: “Oh my, there’s a mute parent in the class?”

“She’s Yu Ting’s mother. Pitiful, a widow and orphan, it’s really tough. Yu Ting is such a good kid, never seen one more sensible. Truly pitiful, dad’s dead, and mom’s mute too.”

…

He had long gotten used to it.

Yu Ting stopped looking at Lu Jue. He walked around Lu Jue and turned on the shower. Hot water poured down, drenching him.

He replied to Zhao Rufei, “Still have some. I’m just washing my hair. Mom, go to bed early, don’t worry about me.”

At the same time, he looked at Lu Jue calmly and said, “Forgot to tell you, my mom can’t speak.”

The hot water soaked half of Yu Ting’s hair and T-shirt. The thin fabric clung tightly to his skin. The hollow at his collarbone was deeply sunken. The area behind his neck, where the ointment patch was stuck, was also soaked. The small red mole above it, drenched through by the water, glistened even more brilliantly.

Lu Jue’s dark eyes fixated on that red mole. Soon, the sound of a door closing came from outside. Zhao Rufei had returned to her room.

He said softly, “I’ve never met my mom. They say on the day I turned one hundred days old, she couldn’t be saved. She died on the operating table.”