Chapter 39

“You want some?” Qin Zui stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, tilting his chin towards the table.

“Yeah, of course I’m eating.” Jiang Chu reached out to grab a chicken wing. Qin Zui let out an “Aiy,” and handed him his own chopsticks instead.

Jiang Chu took a chicken wing, bit into it, and went to reheat everything.

Standing in front of the stove waiting for the pots to heat up, he thought about Qin Zui hobbling to the market on his crutches. He couldn’t help but sigh again. When he came back out to the living room, he ruffled Qin Zui’s hair. “Poor little thing.”

Qin Zui looked at him, a trace of a smile on his face.

“Help me with the ice pack later, okay?” he said, patting his casted leg.

“I’ll take care of it.” Jiang Chu was practically willing to do anything for him at that point. He crouched down in front of Qin Zui and gave the cast a gentle pat too.

The next day, Jiang Chu purposely set his alarm for the same time as Qin Zui’s and drove him to school.

Originally, Qin Zui said he would just take a taxi. He’d already arranged with Gao Xia to meet him at the school gate.

“No way.” Jiang Chu didn’t agree. On the way, he bought two portions of breakfast. “I’ll pick you up after school. Same spot at the back gate?”

“Yeah.” Qin Zui didn’t argue either. Compared to taking a taxi, he was more than happy to be chauffeured around by Jiang Chu.

The only thing that bothered him was that Jiang Chu would have to lose almost two hours of sleep every day.

When they got to the school gate, Gao Xia was already waiting, just as promised. He was leaning against the big pillar of the bus stop sign with his arms crossed, looking like he’d just woken up. One hand was tucked into his sleeve, holding a jianbing, which he was taking lazy bites from.

When he saw Jiang Chu’s car, he raised the jianbing in greeting.

“Statue of Liberty,” Jiang Chu said, rolling down the window.

“Bro,” Gao Xia said with a smile.

Jiang Chu got out to get Qin Zui’s crutches. Gao Xia stuffed his jianbing into his backpack and went over to the passenger side to help Qin Zui out.

“Leave him to me, Bro. I guarantee he won’t fall once,” he said, steadying Qin Zui as he got out and got his crutches set. Then, quite naturally, he wrapped his arm around Qin Zui’s waist.

Jiang Chu’s eyes flickered over the way they were standing, pressed together. He handed over Qin Zui’s backpack with a smile. “Well, that puts my mind at ease.”

“Drive safe,” Qin Zui said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Worry about yourself first,” Gao Xia said, guiding him through the school gate. Quite a few students were looking their way, and even the security guard at the gate looked like he was itching to come help.

They worked pretty well together. Gao Xia kept leaning in to say something to Qin Zui, making him laugh. Jiang Chu watched them until they disappeared into the school before he turned around, got in his car, and drove off.

Didn’t he say he didn’t like being touched? He looked pretty natural being touched to Jiang Chu.

Driving to the office, Jiang Chu’s mind kept replaying the image of Gao Xia’s arm loosely draped around Qin Zui’s waist.

The movement was so smooth and natural.

Then he remembered that biology teacher from junior high Qin Zui had mentioned, the adult version of Gao Xia. Jiang Chu let out a faint “Tsk.”

He felt more and more like a parent these days. His thought process was so textbook.

He used to constantly worry about Liang Xiaojia and Du Miaomiao, like he was trying to prevent his kid from dating. And now, thinking about it, he was totally focused on the wrong direction.

This train of thought led Jiang Chu to imagine the scene where Qin Zui finally brings Gao Xia home and introduces him. “This is my boyfriend.”

Theory and practice were definitely different. In theory, Jiang Chu’s stance was pretty solid: liking boys or girls was perfectly normal.

But actually imagining Qin Zui bringing a boyfriend in front of him… that was definitely awkward.

The relationship was just too easy for his mind to wander. Jiang Chu’s thoughts drifted to that other, smaller image that could make a jaw dislocate.

Before, when he only pictured himself in that role with Qin Zui, the awkwardness was mixed with an unspeakable, subtle reaction.

But picturing Qin Zui and Gao Xia as a couple? It was just pure and simple awkwardness.

Fucking hell.

Jiang Chu forcefully interrupted his own train of thought.

What the hell was he doing, constantly fantasizing about his brother’s sex life?

Like a pervert.

Gao Xia kept his promise, taking great care of Qin Zui at school. No falls, no bumps.

By the time the first snow of the year started falling, Qin Zui successfully had his cast removed. Jiang Chu made him get a full checkup with the doctor. The recovery was excellent, and the weight that Jiang Chu had been carrying for a month finally lifted.

“It won’t become a habit to dislocate, will it, Doc?” Jiang Chu was still thinking about that guy with the chronic dislocations and couldn’t help but ask again.

“It’s not that easy to get into a habit of dislocating.” The doctor pressed on Qin Zui’s ankle. “Just try not to put too much weight on it for a while. Walk slowly. It might feel a bit sore for the first few days. Rest if it’s uncomfortable. You did get injured, after all. You still need to rehabilitate.”

“Alright.” Jiang Chu nodded.

Qin Zui was much less concerned than Jiang Chu. The first thing he did after the cast was off was go home and take a long, satisfying shower.

He hadn’t had a good wash in a month, just making do with a towel every day.

He scrubbed himself twice, and was just about to soap up with body wash and rinse off, when Qin Zui paused, loofah in hand. He put it back and cracked the bathroom door open to call for Jiang Chu.

“What’s up?” Jiang Chu was off work today, lying on the sofa with his legs crossed, playing a game with Da Ben and Fang Zi. They were planning to pool together for a hotpot voucher to take Qin Zui out for dinner.

“Help me scrub my back,” Qin Zui said.

“Sure.” Just then, Jiang Chu got killed in the game. He typed in a symbol, leaving his character AFK and hiding.

He dropped his phone, got up, and went to the bathroom. The moment he pulled the door open, Qin Zui was already standing there, bracing himself against the wall with one hand, his back to him.

Jiang Chu’s eyes lingered on his silhouette for a moment.

The bathroom was steamy from the heater, the warm yellow light casting a hazy glow over Qin Zui’s shoulders, back, and waistline. Droplets of water shimmered in the heat as they rolled down his skin. Jiang Chu’s gaze involuntarily followed them down.

“Hm?” Qin Zui felt Jiang Chu standing there and looked over his shoulder.

“Give me the scrubber.” Jiang Chu closed the bathroom door behind him to keep the steam in.

Qin Zui handed him the scrubber. It was already wet and wrung out.

Jiang Chu took it and slipped it onto his hand. He placed his other hand on Qin Zui’s shoulder. The moment he pressed his palm, still wrapped in the scrubber, against Qin Zui’s shoulder blade, he felt Qin Zui’s back muscles tense up.

“Is that thing of yours selective?” Jiang Chu pressed his shoulder firmly and scrubbed hard.

“What?” Qin Zui asked.

“I saw Gao Xia put his arm around you to help you out, and you were totally fine with it.” Jiang Chu felt the warmth beneath his palm. Qin Zui’s back was beautiful. His shoulder blades were firm and defined, and there was a sexy dip along his spine. “But the minute I touch you, you flinch.”

“When did he ever put his arm around me?” Qin Zui didn’t remember.

“Back when he was your crutch guard.” Jiang Chu slid his hand with the scrubber down to Qin Zui’s waist and scrubbed horizontally across it.

Qin Zui didn’t say anything. He turned his head again to look at Jiang Chu.

Jiang Chu finished scrubbing his back with broad strokes and was about to say there wasn’t much dirt, when Qin Zui finally spoke. “That’s different.”

“What is?” Jiang Chu was a bit confused.

Qin Zui didn’t turn around. He reached back and grabbed the scrubber from Jiang Chu’s hand, then turned on the shower.

“It’s different having someone support you through your clothes and having someone rub their hands all over you when you’re naked,” he said.

A thought flickered through Jiang Chu’s mind. He looked at Qin Zui from the side, a helpless laugh threatening to escape. “Do you have to be like this?”

“Do you like what you see?” Qin Zui asked.

“…Are you about to start acting crazy again?” Ever since that night Qin Zui lost his mind, Jiang Chu never knew how to respond to the weird things he would occasionally blurt out.

“Then why are you still staring?” Qin Zui raised an eyebrow, glancing at Jiang Chu from the corner of his eye.

As he spoke, he even started to lower his arm. “Aren’t you going to get out?”

Jiang Chu was completely speechless.

He pointed a finger at Qin Zui, rinsed his own hands, and turned to leave.

If he didn’t know how easily this kid got out of control, he would have been so irritated by that remark that he’d feel like flicking him hard right on the head, or bending him over and giving him a good smack.

This goddamn disrespectful little bastard.

After Jiang Chu left the bathroom, Qin Zui spent at least another twenty minutes inside.

Finally, he heard the bathroom door click open. Jiang Chu felt almost relieved for him.

“So your little plan to ‘control yourself’ just means you’ve graduated from surprising me with shithead moves to giving me a damn heads-up first?” Jiang Chu threw a throw pillow at Qin Zui’s face.

Qin Zui raised his arm and caught it. He was only wearing his sweatpants, his upper body still glistening with moisture from the shower. He smiled at Jiang Chu, a lazy, contented look on his face.

“I said I’d do my best.” He tossed the pillow back to Jiang Chu and walked towards his bedroom, toweling his hair dry.

“You’ll exhaust yourself to death one of these days.” Jiang Chu had nothing to say, but he still felt like laughing. “Put some clothes on! Let’s go eat!”

They left the house around six in the evening. It was already fully dark outside.

The first snow of the year had been light and scattered at first, but it had held up. It had been falling all day and was still going, tiny grains dancing under the streetlights.

Qin Zui rolled the window down a crack. Just out of the shower, the wind felt invigorating.

“Roll it up a bit.” Jiang Chu held it in for a while, then turned his head and sneezed. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Us teenagers have good internal heat,” Qin Zui said, rolling the window back up.

“Holy shit.” Jiang Chu really had no way to deal with him. He didn’t know if it was because after their talk, they’d both developed thicker skin, or if they were just more relaxed now. Jiang Chu looked at Qin Zui and found himself laughing for a long time. “Are you never gonna stop with this?”

His funny bone was a bit weak today, as if he’d had a drink.

Qin Zui turned his head and watched Jiang Chu laugh, as if he found him amusing. Watching, he felt like laughing a bit himself.

“When’s your birthday?” he suddenly asked Jiang Chu.

Jiang Chu let out a questioning “Huh?” and looked at Qin Zui. “Want to celebrate my birthday? A little repayment from your puppy?”

Qin Zui didn’t deny it. He just waited for Jiang Chu to answer.

He waited. Eventually, Jiang Chu stopped at a red light, rolled down the window, and said, “I don’t celebrate my birthday.”

“Why not?” Qin Zui asked after a pause.

“It’s no fun. I’m not a kid anymore, who needs a birthday and New Year’s just to have a good time?” Jiang Chu bit down on a cigarette and lit it, turning to look at Qin Zui. “Do you celebrate yours every year?”

Qin Zui didn’t speak.

“So we’re pretty much the same.” Jiang Chu smiled. “The grown-ups always forget, and after a few years of being forgotten, even you forget to celebrate it.”

He talked all around it, but still didn’t mention what day his birthday was on.

Qin Zui was about to say something else when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen, frowning.

“Who is it?” Jiang Chu asked.

Qin Zui didn’t say a word. He just turned the screen around so Jiang Chu could see it.

-Qin Shuman