E ⋆ Chapter 25

Twenty-Five (2019)

Early the next morning, Yu Zhinian headed to the library with his laptop on his back.

It wasn’t until noon that he had a chance to pick up his phone and saw that Smith had sent him many pictures and descriptions of hotels.

He skimmed through them roughly. It was indeed a beautiful resort hotel, with a swimming pool, a beach, lush greenery, and copper ceiling fixtures and color coordination in the rooms, very much in the spirit of a holiday getaway. But he still didn’t want to go.

Yu Zhinian thought it over and over, then carelessly sent Smith a message saying “received,” grabbed something to eat, and came back to continue studying.

When he was buying coffee, he glanced out the glass window.

It had been overcast in the morning, and now it had started raining again, about the same intensity as when he had registered his marriage.

He couldn’t quite explain why, but even though only a day had passed, Yu Zhinian felt that registering his marriage with Yang Ke was something that had happened a long time ago, deliberately stuffed into the most inconspicuous corner of his memory. Only the ring on his finger reminded him that this marriage was still ongoing.

At three in the afternoon, Smith called.

Yu Zhinian picked up. Smith asked him very politely: “Mr. Yu, of the suites I sent you, which one do you like best?”

“…They’re all quite beautiful,” Yu Zhinian said softly, declining. “But I have to write my thesis, so I don’t have time to go.”

Smith seemed to want to say something more on the other end, so Yu Zhinian added: “Sorry, I’m in the library. Let’s keep in touch by text.”

After that, Smith sent several more persuasive text messages, saying that the internet wouldn’t be interrupted during the journey, that a vacation wouldn’t affect his thesis writing, and that perhaps a change of environment would make his thoughts flow more smoothly.

Yu Zhinian felt embarrassed reading them. Smith’s excessive diligence and effort made him feel that work was much harder than studying. But he steeled himself, came up with all sorts of reasons, and refused Smith.

After going back and forth several times, Smith finally gave up trying to persuade him, and Yu Zhinian was able to continue focusing on his thesis.

By five o’clock, he packed up his things and prepared to go eat dinner.

His apartment was very close to the school. The library was right near the school gate, and it was only about ten minutes on foot to the apartment. When he left in the morning, he had taken a folding umbrella, but when he got to the library entrance, he found the rain was terrifyingly heavy. Even with an umbrella, he would probably still get soaked.

Yu Zhinian was worried his laptop and materials would get drenched. He was hesitating whether to leave his backpack at the library when he suddenly received a call from Yang Ke.

When he saw Yang Ke’s name on the screen, he answered in a daze. Yang Ke asked him: “Where are you?”

“At the library,” Yu Zhinian told him. “Getting ready to go eat.”

“I’m at school. I just finished meeting with someone,” Yang Ke said simply. “Let me give you a ride.”

Yu Zhinian didn’t have time to respond before Yang Ke added: “I’m almost at the library.”

Since Yang Ke had already said that, it seemed a bit affected for Yu Zhinian to refuse, so he waited at the entrance for a moment. He saw the car Yang Ke usually drove pull up and stop in a covered parking area.

Yu Zhinian walked over quickly and got in.

Yang Ke’s vacation had ended, and he had changed back into formal business attire. There was the scent of cologne on him. Yu Zhinian said “thanks,” fastened his seatbelt, and Yang Ke didn’t speak, driving slowly and silently through campus.

The car was quiet for a little while. Yu Zhinian found a topic and asked Yang Ke: “Did you come to school for something?”

“Yeah,” Yang Ke said the name of a biology professor. “I’m planning to acquire a related company recently, so I came to visit the professor and ask about some things.”

“Oh, I see,” Yu Zhinian looked at the road ahead. They were almost at the school gate, so he asked, “Do you not know where my apartment is? I can give you directions.”

“I know,” Yang Ke glanced at him and paused before saying, “Haven’t I driven you back before?”

“Huh?” Yu Zhinian was startled for a moment before he realized what time Yang Ke was referring to. “That was years ago.”

“You still remember that,” Yu Zhinian couldn’t help but say.

The car was driving somewhat slowly, moving through the mist of rain. Because the soundproofing was good, you could only see the rain pouring down heavily outside, barely hearing any sound.

After a little while, Yang Ke said to Yu Zhinian: “It hasn’t really been years.”

“Less than three years,” he said.

When he said these things, his expression was completely blank. You couldn’t tell if he was being nostalgic. It seemed like he had no emotion about it either, as though it was simply because he had a good memory and knew the route that he remembered it at all.

Yu Zhinian found it very hard to stop himself from looking at Yang Ke’s profile, but he knew he shouldn’t, so he forced himself to look away and joked with Yang Ke: “I must have been really annoying to you back then.”

Yang Ke took a moment before answering him: “No.”

The apartment was really very close. No matter how slowly the car drove, they arrived almost immediately.

Yang Ke stopped in the drop-off zone of the apartment building and told Yu Zhinian: “I’m going to the company to work overtime now. When I’m done, I can swing by and take you home on the way.”

“No need,” Yu Zhinian waved his hand. “It’s very convenient to get a taxi here.”

Yang Ke seemed not to have heard him and said: “Let’s be in touch later.”

Yu Zhinian’s apartment was on the sixteenth floor, approximately one hundred and eighty square meters, with French décor, beautiful window views, and two bedrooms.

At the time, Yang Zhongyin had insisted on buying him an apartment, saying he wasn’t picky and would just buy them all. Yu Zhinian had picked one from the options that was the lowest price and closest to school.

When Yu Zhinian walked in, he found that Ren Heng and Chu Sifan had already cleaned the apartment very thoroughly, and their luggage was packed up almost completely. It was almost no different from before they had moved in.

They had also prepared a thank-you gift for Yu Zhinian, telling him to open it later.

Ren Heng had prepared a whole table full of dishes for him and opened some wine. They chatted while drinking, talking about many interesting things from their university days, from freshman orientation to graduation ceremony.

Yu Zhinian had a great time chatting and accidentally drank too much. His head was spinning as he leaned back in his chair, hugging his wine glass and resting with his eyes closed.

When Chu Sifan saw him like this, she asked him with a thick tongue: “Zhinian, look at how much you’ve drunk. Why don’t you just stay the night? Ren Heng and I will go make up a bed for you.”

Yu Zhinian’s face was very hot, his mind a complete mess. The only thing he knew was that he desperately didn’t want to go home. He immediately said: “Okay, okay, thanks Xiao Fan-jie.”

“Shouldn’t you tell Yang Ke?” Ren Heng had the best alcohol tolerance and seemed to still have some of his wits about him.

“It’s fine,” Yu Zhinian waved his hand. “I’ll contact him later tonight.”

The three drunks worked together to get the bedding from the guest bedroom and made up the bed in an organized fashion. Yu Zhinian’s head spun even more, and he flopped down on the bed, making Chu Sifan laugh.

“Zhinian, get some sleep,” Chu Sifan swayed as she turned off the light for him. “I’m going to sleep too.”

Yu Zhinian lay face-down on the soft bedding and soon lost consciousness.

He didn’t know how long had passed when his phone vibrated and woke him. He picked it up groggily and answered. He heard Yang Ke speaking on the other end, but he couldn’t make out what Yang Ke was saying. He said “ah” several times before he finally understood that Yang Ke was asking him: “How was dinner?”

“Mm-hmm,” Yu Zhinian said to Yang Ke.

“…Yu Zhinian, I’m off work.”

Yu Zhinian said again: “Oh, oh.”

“I’m coming to pick you up,” Yang Ke said on the phone. “Come down.”

Yu Zhinian, in the darkness, closed his eyes and thought for a moment before saying: “I’m staying here tonight.”

“I’m already downstairs.”

Each of Yang Ke’s words seemed very far away to Yu Zhinian, floating in the air. After hearing them, Yu Zhinian had to reach for a while before he could grasp their meaning. If he couldn’t reach them, he didn’t understand what Yang Ke was saying.

“Yu Zhinian,” Yang Ke asked again, “Can you come down now?”

Yu Zhinian stared blankly and opened his eyes, looking at the pitch-black room. He took a moment to react before telling Yang Ke: “I’m staying here, you know.”

Yang Ke was silent, but he didn’t hang up.

Yu Zhinian held his phone and listened hazily to Yang Ke’s very soft breathing on the other end. Finally, for reasons he couldn’t explain even to himself, he said to Yang Ke in a dazed murmur: “Yang Ke, I really don’t want to go to Hawaii.”

“You go by yourself,” he told Yang Ke. “The pool is very big.”

After a long silence, Yang Ke finally said: “Okay, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go.”

“Can you come down and go home now?” Yang Ke asked.

Yu Zhinian lay there for a long time. Yang Ke urged him again: “Yu Zhinian, come downstairs.”

“Okay,” Yu Zhinian said.

He stood up unsteadily and walked out. Passing through the living room, he saw Ren Heng diligently putting dishes into the dishwasher. He told Ren Heng: “Yang Ke’s here to pick me up.”

“Oh,” Ren Heng, wearing gloves, smiled. “He really can’t bear to let you go.”

Yu Zhinian shook his head and said: “No.” He thanked Ren Heng and said goodbye, picked up his backpack, and went downstairs.

Yang Ke’s car was parked where he had dropped him off earlier. The rain had stopped.

Yu Zhinian got in the car and smelled a not-too-strong, not-too-faint scent of cigarette smoke. He pointed out to Yang Ke: “You’ve been smoking again.”

“Give me your backpack,” Yang Ke looked at him without answering his question and said, “Fasten your seatbelt.”

Yu Zhinian didn’t listen. He hugged his own backpack, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.