Chapter 26: Eruption.

There was a candied chestnut stand nearby.

The night breeze carried the scent of chestnuts and roasted sweet potatoes.

Yu Ting was uncharacteristically silent.

The person Lu Jue liked… was him?

He tried to pull his hand back.

It didn’t budge.

Lu Jue looked at him for a long moment, then let go. “Lele, I’m serious.”

His hand falling back to his side, Yu Ting’s mind went briefly, completely blank. He tried to organize his words, but for a long while couldn’t find any use for them. He said quietly, “Sorry.”

The same as refusing everyone else.

Lu Jue laughed. The mirth spread through his eyes. His voice was also very soft. “Alright. Pretend you never heard it.”

“…”

…

When Yu Ting returned to the classroom, the whole place reeked of hotpot.

He glanced at the empty seat next to him. Same as always, he pulled out his exercise book to grind through problems.

The pen tip landed on the paper. Several minutes passed. The only thing on the page was a very light dot of ink.

He stopped writing.

Yu Ting set down his pen. He rubbed his temple, then simply put his head down and closed his eyes.

Was his mind so chaotic because the person confessing this time was a guy?

Or was he worried about hurting Lu Jue.

Yu Ting suddenly sat bolt upright. The movement was a bit forceful. The girl in the front row looked back, curious. “God Ting?”

“Nothing.” Yu Ting lowered his head and took out his phone.

He flipped to Lu Jue’s text message thread. He typed out a line — I refused not because you’re homosexual…

That didn’t seem right. He jammed the delete key repeatedly, clearing it all, then typed again — I just don’t want to date…

Deleted again.

Yu Ting stared at the phone screen — Male or female, I don’t like anyone…

Deleted that too.

He was just thinking maybe he should give up, when something suddenly dropped in front of him.

He instinctively looked up and saw the cover of that book — the one he hadn’t finished reading yesterday.

Lu Jue walked past from behind him, pulling out his chair and sitting down.

Yu Ting glanced sideways. Lu Jue, just as he always did, was pulling out the problems he’d compiled to work on.

Noticing Yu Ting’s gaze, Lu Jue turned his head, a faint smile on his lips. “Something up?”

“…No.”

Yu Ting shook his head and looked away.

It was as if that sentence had truly just been something he’d hallucinated.

~

When he got home that night, Zhao Rufei gave Yu Ting a small booklet.

The cover read — How to Choose the Right Major for You.

Zhao Rufei patted him on the shoulder. “If you don’t like computer science, then don’t study it. Mom isn’t trying to force you into a lucrative major. As long as you stay away from the ocean, any major is fine.”

Yu Ting responded with a low sound of acknowledgment. “I’m going to my room.”

Zhao Rufei smiled. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

When he entered his room, Yu Ting didn’t lock the door. Zhao Rufei never went through his things without permission.

Back in elementary school, for summer Chinese homework, the teacher had assigned a holiday diary. In his whole class, Yu Ting was the only one whose parents never flipped through his diary.

Yu Ting pulled open a drawer. Lying quietly inside was that magazine with the Olympic-class ship on the cover.

The majestic, spectacular vessel gleamed amid light and shadow.

Yu Ting stared at it silently for a long while. Then he placed the small booklet on top of the magazine and closed the drawer.

When he came out again, the light in Zhao Rufei’s room was already off. She’d left half the hot water for him. Yu Ting took a quick shower. The weather was stiflingly hot. He went to the fridge, dug out a salted ice pop, opened the door, and sat on the steps, phone carelessly placed beside him.

There were no houses opposite his home. A hundred meters away was the ocean.

Looking far into the distance, you could already see lightning over the sea.

A storm was coming.

Yu Ting wore a thin T-shirt and shorts, flip-flops on his feet. The wind blowing in from the sea carried a chill, dispersing the heat of his recent shower. He bit into the ice pop. The icy sweetness spread across his tongue.

He gazed out at the sea and inexplicably thought of the blue rain Lu Jue wanted to see.

He wondered if it would happen tonight.

His phone buzzed.

Yu Ting tilted his head to glance at it. The name “Lu” popped up. He crunched down, shattering the ice in his mouth. Picking up the phone, he opened the brief message.

“Can’t figure out this problem.”

Another text came in — a photo message.

Yu Ting opened it. It was a photo of a math problem.

The time displayed at the top of the screen was 23:01.

Papap!

Heavy raindrops suddenly hammered down from the eaves.

In an instant, it was a downpour. The distant lightning carried a purple glow. Yu Ting’s long legs were propped on the lowest step. Raindrops splashed onto his skin, wonderfully cool.

The weather made sitting here quite pleasant. He didn’t feel like going back inside to solve a math problem.

A few seconds passed without his reply, and Lu Jue sent another message.

【Sorry, you must be asleep. I’ll be more mindful of the time next time.】

Yu Ting didn’t even want to type anymore. He just directly called back.

Lu Jue picked up instantly. “Thought you might not talk to me anymore.”

“…” Yu Ting pulled the ice pop out of his mouth. Only a tiny chunk of ice remained clinging to the stick. “Wouldn’t. You told me to pretend I didn’t hear it.”

Lu Jue chuckled softly. His voice was deep and magnetic, like a subwoofer right next to his ear. “Alright, your wish is my command.”

“Are you free to look at the problem now?” Lu Jue asked again.

Yu Ting bit off the last piece of the ice pop. This chunk had no sweetness left, pure ice. He slowly let it melt in his mouth. “What’s your QQ? I’ll add you, start a voice call, and explain.”

Lu Jue laughed. “Don’t have one. Isn’t it more convenient to add on WeChat?”

“…”

A few minutes later, Yu Ting tossed a WeChat ID to Lu Jue.

He logged into WeChat. A small red notification dot had already appeared in his contacts.

It was his first time using it. He figured it out with a few glances. He tapped the red dot. The profile picture was a hydrangea bloom.

At first glance, it looked pretty similar to the flower-filled scenic photos Zhao Rufei and Zhang Minhua used.

Looking once more, Yu Ting recognized it. It was the two pots of Endless Summer hydrangea he’d placed on Lu Jue’s balcony.

Yu Ting’s profile picture was still the default WeChat avatar. He didn’t bother changing it. An invite from Lu Jue popped up. He directly accepted it. Suddenly, Lu Jue’s face appeared on the screen. Yu Ting’s ice-chewing motion froze.

He’d thought Lu Jue was requesting a voice call.

He was holding his phone casually. From Lu Jue’s side, the video showed the young man’s slender neck and clean, smooth jawline.

Lu Jue asked flatly: “Still outside?”

Yu Ting paused for a second, then flipped the camera. The lens swept over the torrential downpour beyond the eaves.

He flipped the camera back, this time aiming it at his own face. “It’s hot inside. Outside, cooling off in the breeze.”

Feeling it was a bit strange to chat face-to-face like this, Yu Ting said, “Aim your camera at the problem. I’ll dictate.”

The video tilted around, quickly centering on the exam paper. It also showed where Lu Jue was.

He was on his balcony. Behind him were the two pots of Endless Summer hydrangea.

Yu Ting’s side was at the height of the storm, but the city proper hadn’t started yet. Lu Jue’s side was very quiet.

Yu Ting put down the finished ice pop stick and got into the zone, explaining the problem-solving approach to Lu Jue.

~

The day after the thunderstorm was fresh and clean beyond words. The sky was a crisp, brilliant blue.

When Yu Ting arrived at school, someone was already in the classroom, against all odds. Just one person. Lu Jue.

Lu Jue was working on the physics exam paper Yu Ting had compiled.

“…”

A thought suddenly popped into Yu Ting’s mind. Is Lu Jue studying this frantically because he doesn’t want to be re-seated away from me?

He sat down and said, “In a short period, no matter how hard you push, you can’t break into the top ten.”

The top ten of Grade 11 Class 3 were all within the top fifty of the entire grade.

Lu Jue stopped writing and looked at him. Yu Ting analyzed seriously: “At your current pace, you can shoot for the top thirty in the class by the final exams.”

He thought for a moment but ultimately didn’t mention that he always chose the last row and that picking last wouldn’t matter anyway.

“Let’s make a bet.”

Yu Ting turned his head. Lu Jue’s expression remained flat, but the corner of his lips was slightly curved. “If I get into the top ten on the next monthly exam, Teacher Yu has to give me a gift.”

Yu Ting countered, “And if you don’t?”

Lu Jue said: “The terms are yours to set.”

Yu Ting agreed.

~

Some classmates arrived. Yu Ting pulled out his textbook and was just about to open it when Lu Jue spoke quietly beside him. “I’ll tell you my gift in advance.”

The male voice, deep and low, lingered in Yu Ting’s ear.

“If I get into the top ten, let me like you.”

…

~

The first afternoon class was Chemistry. Yang Shuyun suddenly appeared in the hallway. Said something to the chemistry teacher, then called Yu Ting out. She also had Yu Ting pack up his schoolbag.

They didn’t go to the office. Yang Shuyun spoke to Yu Ting right there at the stairwell landing. “Your mother called saying she’s feeling a bit unwell. Told you to come home right now.”

Yang Shuyun had a class next period and couldn’t get away. She asked Yu Ting, “Got money on you? Take a taxi back.”

Yu Ting said, “Yeah.”

He sprinted out of the school and rushed to the curb to hail a cab. Arriving at his doorstep, he paid the fare and ran all the way home.

He pushed open the front door. Without changing his shoes, he ran inside, but in the next second, he stared in shock at his room.

Zhao Rufei walked out of his room. Her complexion was normal—she didn’t look unwell anywhere. In her hands, she held two books.

One was the major-selection booklet she’d given him last night. The other was the Olympic-class issue, the cover reading in large print: “Ship Science and Technology Issue 221.”

Zhao Rufei’s fingertips were trembling. She gripped her hands tightly, trying to force a smile.

She held it up, gesturing with effort. “Is this… a classmate’s? That Xiao Lu’s book?”

For a split second, ice ran through Yu Ting’s veins.

But he quickly calmed down. He stopped hiding it. “No, it’s mine.”

Zhao Rufei froze for a second. Blood rushed from the soles of her feet straight to her head. She suddenly threw away the booklet and, in an instant, tore “Ship Science and Technology” into two halves.

Still not satisfied, she stormed to the dining table, snatched a pair of scissors, and shredded the magazine into smaller and smaller pieces.

Watching Zhao Rufei’s frantic actions, Yu Ting took a deep breath and suddenly spoke. “Dad’s death was an accident. Can you not be so extreme?”

The scissors stopped. Zhao Rufei looked up at Yu Ting. Her eye sockets were bright red. She hurled the remaining shreds in her hand onto the floor. She gestured passionately —

“You are forbidden from going into shipbuilding! Forbidden from going near the sea! If you won’t listen to your mom, then don’t call me Mom from now on!”

The room was very quiet.

However intense Zhao Rufei’s emotions, her hands could only stir a few faint, negligible breezes inside this house.

An itch rose in Yu Ting’s throat. It had been a long time since he’d felt such emotions.

He suppressed the urge to argue with Zhao Rufei. His fingers interlaced, digging hard into his palms. He didn’t look at Zhao Rufei. “I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back late. Don’t worry about me.”

Without waiting for Zhao Rufei’s reply, Yu Ting turned and walked quickly out of the house.

~

He didn’t take the bus, nor did he call a car. He followed the road all the way toward the sea. Before nightfall, he reached his secret sea cave.

Despite their protective book covers, the various books about shipbuilding in his bucket had all grown damp from the seaside environment.

Yu Ting cradled the water-damaged books, gently, futilely blowing on the pages, bit by bit. He knew it was useless. He just didn’t want himself to stop, didn’t want to think.

Didn’t want to think about anything.

The gap in the cave wall faced the ocean. Not a sliver of light there. In the darkness, the crash of the waves was exceptionally loud.

He wanted to build ships.

He wanted to build the safest ships in the world!

Yu Ting hugged the book tight, burying his face hard into it.

He stayed quiet for a while. An indistinct rustling sound mixed in with the waves. Yu Ting instantly looked up. He turned his head. A large shaft of orange light surged up from below the cave entrance. A face appeared right after.

Yu Ting’s eyes had adapted to the darkness. He easily made out the person’s features.

He was stunned.

Lu Jue also immediately spotted the small, unmoving figure not far away, knees hugged to his chest.

He easily climbed up into the cave.

Holding a flashlight, he walked forward and half-squatted in front of Yu Ting. Lu Jue reached out, his touch very light as he brushed aside a few strands of Yu Ting’s somewhat messy hair.

His eyes were an unfathomable, deep black. “Lele, running away from home isn’t what a good kid does.”