The first snow of 2012 fell on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
It was a heavy snowfall of goose feathers, lasting a full three days, pattering softly against the tarpaulin. On the day the snow stopped, Uncle got up early and went with Auntie to clear the accumulated snow off the flower greenhouse. When Lu Wenyuan’s family found out, they also went over to help.
Quite a bit of snow had piled up on the plastic roof of the greenhouse, causing the top to sag downward in an arc, looking as if it might collapse at any moment.
Uncle and Lu Qingyuan set up a ladder outside and used a shovel to shake the snow off the surface. Auntie directed from below, while Lu Wenyuan and Chen Annan were inside the greenhouse, using bamboo poles to push the sunken areas upward.
Whoosh! Large chunks of snow fell down, hitting the ground and kicking up a cloud of snow dust.
Chen Annan wasn’t watching his step. While knocking with the pole, he tripped and fell hard, knocking over several flowerpots and smearing half his body with mud and water. He was dazed for several seconds before he reacted.
Lu Wenyuan immediately dropped his bamboo pole and came to help him up.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Chen Annan apologized in a low voice.
“Why are you saying sorry? Don’t say sorry for no good reason.” Lu Wenyuan’s heart ached as he pulled the kid up and helped him to the side to rest. Chen Annan hopped on one foot; he’d twisted his left ankle just now and it hurt quite a bit.
Hearing the commotion, Auntie and the others immediately ran inside. Lu Qingyuan also dragged a foam box over for him to sit on, then crouched down and said to Chen Annan, “Let me see.”
Seeing everyone gather around, Chen Annan shook his head repeatedly, saying, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing, it doesn’t hurt. You guys go on with your work.”
Lu Qingyuan grasped his wrist and said, “Don’t move around. Let me take a look.”
Chen Annan had no choice but to obediently stretch out his hand. His palm had been scraped when he propped himself against the ground. No other place was injured, except that his ankle hurt more.
Lu Qingyuan took hold of his hand and blew softly on it.
It didn’t hurt that much, but the cold had turned his knuckles red. Chen Annan couldn’t feel the heat of the breath, only the tickle brought by that warmth, a numb, swelling sensation.
“Alright, alright, I’m not that delicate.” Afraid of delaying real work, Chen Annan urged him to go back quickly.
Lu Qingyuan stood up and felt his pockets. There was nothing in them to keep him warm. In the end, he could only take the disposable heat pack stuck to the inside of his clothes and hand it to him. “I’ll apply iodine to it for you when we get back. Rest for now.”
“Mm, mm.”
This whole exchange left Lu Wenyuan staring, dumbfounded. He looked at them strangely, then looked again, feeling something was off but unable to put his finger on it. It felt a bit sappy. But thinking it over carefully, these two had always interacted this way. So he didn’t dwell on it.
No wonder people said those two brothers had a good relationship. Even at this age, they still slept in the same room every night.
Lu Qingyuan couldn’t fathom his old father’s thoughts. They busied themselves for half the morning and finally finished clearing the snow. Clear sunlight shone through the plastic film onto Chen Annan’s face, very warm.
Auntie went home first to prepare lunch. Lu Wenyuan put the tools away and saw his son carrying the ladder as he hurriedly came in from outside.
“Still hurting?” Lu Qingyuan crouched down to ask.
Chen Annan shook his head. “Stopped hurting a long time ago.”
Lu Qingyuan turned his back to him. “I’ll carry you. Come on.”
Usually, Chen Annan would obediently climb on, because he was pampered. But this time, the pampered one refused. He thought his clothes were too dirty and would rub off on his Brother. Winter laundry in the old house was difficult and troublesome.
Lu Qingyuan didn’t say much. He stood up, unzipped Chen Annan’s jacket, and said, “Reach out.”
After taking off Chen Annan’s dirty jacket, he put his own clean jacket on Chen Annan. Then he crouched down again and said, “Get on.”
Chen Annan threw his arms around him and lay on his Brother’s back.
Lu Qingyuan’s breathing became slightly heavier.
Winter after the snow was truly cold. Chen Annan pressed his face against his Brother’s shoulder and nuzzled him. Then he placed his warmed-up hands over his Brother’s ears, gently warming them.
The greenhouse was in the fields. The snow had melted into the soil, making their shoes muddy with every step. Lu Qingyuan walked steadily with each stride. Chen Annan’s leg was supported, dangling. He wore thick clothes, and his Brother’s warmth enveloped him. It was just too warm.
In this moment, he felt as if he’d returned to the first time they met when they were little. The weather was also very cold then. The little kid had fallen on the ground and was finally carried back by his Brother, even having lost one of his little cotton shoes along the way.
Behind them, Lu Wenyuan had the dirty jacket draped over his arm. He followed behind the two of them, reminding them to be careful and not to fall again.
Chen Annan felt he was truly happy.
The 2012 Spring Festival was very lively. For the first time, Chen Annan received so many red envelopes. Before, in the city, it was basically just from Lu Wenyuan and Xiao Qingxiang. Sometimes an unfamiliar uncle, friends of Lu Wenyuan, would give him one too.
In the countryside, the amounts in red envelopes usually weren’t large; it was the thought that counted. Chen Annan was already very happy to receive so many blessings. He tossed the red packets one by one onto the bed and gleefully considered himself a little rich man.
The little rich man, Chen Annan, excitedly used this red envelope money to buy everyone a New Year’s gift. Uncle and Auntie also received some.
For Lu Wenyuan, he bought a fashionable leather jacket from the trade market. It wasn’t some expensive brand-name clothing, but it still made Lu Wenyuan so happy he was reluctant to take it off. He looked in the mirror for a long time, even took a photo, smoothed his hand over his hair, and smugly asked Xiao Qingxiang, “Handsome, huh?”
For Lu Qingyuan, he bought an extra-wide, oversized down jacket. It was big enough to cover two people inside. Once he put it on, he instinctively learned how to tuck both hands into his sleeves to keep warm, then lean in the doorway and chat with people.
However, tucking his hands in his sleeves was rare. More often, he still liked to stuff his hands under the hood of Chen Annan’s jacket, comfortably warming them.
The New Year passed with everyone in high spirits. Chen Annan even gained a little weight, his face slightly fuller than before. The childishness that had receded re-emerged. Whenever he had nothing to do, Lu Qingyuan would pinch his cheeks.
By the seventh day of the New Year, the snow had mostly melted. Lu Wenyuan had to take the children back. Before leaving, Chen Annan gave Auntie a brief hug.
Auntie reluctantly stuffed a case of peanut milk into their car, along with their own sun-dried sausages and salted fish, homemade meatballs, small dishes, and more. She practically wanted to fill the entire trunk. Lu Wenyuan refused to let her pack more, saying he was starting to look like a bandit coming to plunder.
Uncle deliberately put on a stern face and said, “This is for the kids to eat, not for you. Don’t interfere.”
Lu Wenyuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The car slowly drove out of the small yard with a rumbling sound. In the rearview mirror, Auntie wiped her eyes with her protective sleeve and said, “Nannan, will you come back home for the New Year next year too?”
“Okay—!” Chen Annan popped half his head out and waved at them. “I’ll be back next year! Bye-bye!”
The wind scattered his voice. Fluffy Dog chased after them, barking, then stood still at the fork in the road, watching from afar.
The Start of Spring came exceptionally early this year. Just as February began, faint, barely-there hints of new green sprouted from the sycamore branches. But as soon as the Start of Spring passed, this city’s unique late spring cold spell followed, and without any warning, it snowed again.
On either side of the clean road surface were piles of swept-up snow. Within a few days, they had frozen, mottled with dirt and grime, dark and dull—unsightly, even a bit disheartening to look at.
Just as even the best of times have their disheartening moments, the most disheartening, it seemed, was for Lu Wenyuan.
Lu Wenyuan slipped and fell while taking a shower. The fall wasn’t light, landing him directly in the hospital. When Lu Qingyuan asked him how it happened, he waved his hand and said with a laugh that while showering in winter, the steam could be overwhelming. He got dizzy from the heat and, not being careful, fell.
Fortunately, it was nothing serious. The X-ray showed a sprain, no bone damage. At middle age, bones start to become brittle. The doctor told him to be more careful usually. A middle-aged person breaking their lower back not only recovers slowly, but also tends to heal poorly.
At first, Lu Wenyuan was unwilling to stay in the hospital, disliking the smell of disinfectant. But in the ward were two other patients around his age. One of them hadn’t properly rested after an injury, resulting in poor bone healing. This time, he was back in the hospital for a check-up and still needed surgery.
Lu Wenyuan took this lesson to heart and obediently lay in the hospital for a few days. Lying there like that caused his work to fall behind.
Come to think of it, when Lu Wenyuan was raising two kids on his own, he was only just over thirty. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was approaching fifty.
Lu Wenyuan couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful that time could fly so fast, pulling both his family’s little cubs up so tall. He stared at the inside flap of his wallet for a long time.
It was a small two-inch photo on it. In it were Lu Qingyuan and Chen Annan when they were little, crouching together in front of the old house.
One was smiling foolishly, eyes squinted shut from smiling. The other was looking quietly at the camera, expressionless.
Back then, the two of them often had little quarrels, unlike now, when their relationship was so good.
Lu Wenyuan carefully put his wallet away. He took sick leave from school and brought his work home to do.
As the new semester arrived, Chen Annan’s study pace clearly became more intense. Music students had specialized vocal training camps. During training, they had to live on campus, only able to go home once a week. If they ran into extra teacher training sessions, they could only go home once every half month.
In the second semester of his senior year, Lu Qingyuan was also very busy, often spending entire evenings in the university’s study hall. Two busy people trying to be a couple, let alone dating—now even their time to see each other was pitifully scarce.
“Thinking of me this much?” Lu Qingyuan placed his phone on the stand and adjusted the angle, moving it towards the sunlight, because Chen Annan had said the previous angle was too dark and he couldn’t see clearly.
“Mm, I’ve been thinking so much I lost two strands of hair.” Actually, they fell out while showering. Chen Annan squinted, nearly blinded by the overexposure in the video.
The angle Lu Qingyuan adjusted to caused full overexposure; only the strands of his hair could be seen clearly.
In Chen Annan’s eyes, his Brother practically had no aesthetic sense. Forget selfies deliberately taken from the worst angles—videos were the same. A person wasn’t going to look good from all 360 degrees, but Lu Qingyuan often managed to get stuck right on that last angle, showcasing his ugliest side to the fullest.
“A little to the left. A bit more… Right there. Don’t move.” After giving his instructions, Chen Annan opened his own small video window and stopped looking at Lu Qingyuan.
He looked at the dark circles he’d developed recently from staying up late and felt a bit annoyed.
Lu Qingyuan watched the blurry video, where Chen Annan was staring earnestly at himself, looking both well-behaved and pitiful.
On his end of the screen, he pretended to rub Chen Annan’s head. “Don’t overwork yourself too much.”
Chen Annan nodded and asked, “Has Uncle been well lately? I miss him too.”
“He’s fine. He’s been busy turning the soil for his flowers again lately. Professor Yang from the Agricultural Science Academy gave him a newly cultivated grafted flower.” Lu Qingyuan didn’t mention his dad’s fall.
“That’s good.”
Lu Qingyuan seemed to remember something and added, “He asked yesterday what you wanted to eat. He’ll make it for you when you come home this weekend. Isn’t your birthday coming up?”
Chen Annan said gloomily, “I can’t go home. The teacher won’t approve leave unless a parent calls.”
“…Alright.” Lu Qingyuan rested his head on his arms, his breathing transmitted through the earphone cord, like a faint sigh.
Chen Annan tilted his head, feeling his Brother looked exactly like he was acting cute. He cheerfully took a screenshot and said, “Little Lu, you’re so pitiful.”
“Am I not pitiful?” Lu Qingyuan said. “You leave me alone at home. At night, there’s no one to stick close to me like a pancake. I can’t get the blankets warm.”
Chen Annan laughed, his brows and eyes curving prettily. “Little Lu is a clingy spirit. Shame on you.”
Lu Qingyuan made an “Mm” sound, uncharacteristically not retorting. “Then my birthday wish this year is to wish that Little Chen comes home quickly.”
“I understand. Don’t be sad.” Chen Annan brought the earphone cord close and said quietly, “Little Chen heard your wish, and has decided to send you a gift.”
After speaking, he leaned close to the phone and gently went “mua” towards the camera, planting a wet kiss for Lu Qingyuan through the screen.
