E ⋆ Chapter 40

Yang Ke slept for just over ten minutes before waking up, though he didn’t seem fully awake.

Yu Zhinian asked him quietly if he was very tired. He said no, but then reached out and pulled Yu Zhinian sideways into his arms, resting his head on Yu Zhinian’s shoulder as if that was how he could get some rest. He asked Yu Zhinian, “How long did I sleep?”

Yu Zhinian rarely saw Yang Ke like this, muddled and unfocused. Unkindly, he lied to him: “Two hours. The movie’s almost over.”

“…Yu Zhinian,” Yang Ke said, his face still buried in the crook of Yu Zhinian’s neck, “the main character hasn’t even changed clothes. Are you taking me for an idiot?”

When they came out of the cinema, it was already ten o’clock. There weren’t many people on Sanwen’s streets anymore. The only somewhat congested flow of traffic was the e-bikes and cars leaving the cinema, and even that dispersed after a while.

Yang Ke’s hotel was directly across from the shopping mall. He said he had brought some textbooks Yu Zhinian had mentioned wanting during their chats a few days ago, and asked Yu Zhinian to come back to the hotel with him to get them first. Then he made a call to his assistant.

The two of them crossed the street and walked into the hotel lobby.

It was the best hotel in Sanwen, a four-star rated establishment, but it had been built over a decade ago and never undergone major renovations. The facilities were quite worn.

The crystal chandelier in the lobby cast dim light. They went around the spiral staircase, and Yang Ke’s assistant happened to be coming out just then.

Yang Ke was staying on the ninth floor. When the elevator doors opened and they stepped into the hallway, Yu Zhinian caught a whiff of musty carpet smell, along with some dampness. The hotel’s air conditioning wasn’t running very strong, so the unpleasant odor was all the more noticeable.

Yang Ke had always had high standards for hotel accommodations, so Yu Zhinian felt a bit uncomfortable inside.

At the room door, Yang Ke’s assistant took out the key card. For some reason, he swiped it several times, but the door wouldn’t open.

“It worked fine when I brought the luggage in just now,” the assistant muttered, swiping again. It still wouldn’t open, so he had no choice but to take the key card downstairs to get it reissued.

Yu Zhinian watched his figure disappear at the end of the hallway and couldn’t help but ask Yang Ke, “Are you really comfortable staying in a room like this?”

“It’s fine,” Yang Ke said. “It’s livable.”

After a while, the assistant came back and opened the room. He inserted the key card into the power slot, and the lights came on.

Yu Zhinian noticed the light flickered slightly.

Besides the musty smell, there was an old, stale cigarette smell in the room.

Yang Ke’s luggage was on the luggage rack. He walked over, opened the suitcase, and took out Yu Zhinian’s books, which took up about a quarter of the suitcase space.

Yu Zhinian looked around, glancing at the bathroom, which didn’t look very clean. The bed sheets looked old too.

Yang Ke showed no particular expression, seeming not to care much, as he had the assistant put Yu Zhinian’s books into a bag. Then he turned back to Yu Zhinian: “All set. Let’s go to your place.”

Yu Zhinian looked at the large bed with its seemingly damp, flat bed sheets and called out to Yang Ke.

“What?” Yang Ke asked.

Yu Zhinian hesitated, then asked him, “Would you like to stay at my place instead?” The house he was renting was in a new residential compound in the southern part of Sanwen city, a two-bedroom suite of over eighty square meters. The landlord was a lawyer. The house had just been finished being decorated, and the lawyer had temporarily gone to another city to work. It was his first time renting it out, and while not luxurious, it had the advantage of being new and clean.

Yang Ke was taken aback for a moment, then said, “Okay.”

He didn’t have the assistant come along. He put the books back, dragged his suitcase out the door, hailed a taxi, and arrived at Yu Zhinian’s place.

Back at home, Yu Zhinian took out spare sheets and made up the guest bedroom bed for Yang Ke. Yang Ke helped him finish making it. Yu Zhinian showered first, then Yang Ke.

Yu Zhinian was flipping through the books Yang Ke had brought him in the living room when he was pleasantly surprised to find the selection very complete. He remembered only casually mentioning the categories he wanted, yet Yang Ke had gotten them all right. After flipping through for a while, Yang Ke came out wearing pajamas and sat down beside Yu Zhinian.

He looked down at the book in Yu Zhinian’s hands and asked casually, “Did I miss anything?” He didn’t touch Yu Zhinian, but sat very close. After asking, he picked up the remote on the coffee table, turned on the television, and habitually switched to the news channel to watch the day’s current events.

“No,” Yu Zhinian said, his hand resting on the book page, unconsciously stroking it. He joked casually with Yang Ke, “You got everything so right. It seems like you have real talent. Have you considered getting a degree in our department?”

“Your grade in the mathematical modeling course wasn’t bad either,” Yang Ke said, reaching over and pulling away Yu Zhinian’s ethnographic fieldwork notebook. “Why don’t you consider studying finance?”

Yu Zhinian immediately fell silent. He pretended to watch the news, but nothing registered. Finally he confessed: “I secretly copied a lot of your notes from the mathematical modeling review class. Thank you.”

Yang Ke said “don’t mention it” and “I know.” He reached out and gently tugged Yu Zhinian’s arm, pulling him closer into his embrace, half-holding Yu Zhinian as they watched the news. Yu Zhinian leaned against him, felt Yang Ke’s body heat, and felt nervous, yet at the same time it all seemed so ordinary, so happy, and so moving.

Halfway through the news program, the television station cut to an advertisement. Yang Ke seemed to remember something and asked Yu Zhinian, “Have you found a place to stay in Xiping yet?”

“Not yet,” Yu Zhinian said, sounding a bit worried.

When they had chatted before, Yu Zhinian had mentioned the housing problem to Yang Ke. Xiping wasn’t like Sanwen, where you could find listings online. Most permanent residents in Xiping were older and had little contact with the outside world. Information was scarce, and even telecommunications were weak. Cell phones often couldn’t get a signal, so you could only communicate by email.

Yu Zhinian wanted to live somewhere close to the village where people gathered, to make his fieldwork easier. He had gone into the mountains several times but hadn’t found a suitable room. Mei Qi had also helped him ask around at a few households, but ultimately Yu Zhinian had to go see for himself what was suitable.

“If you can’t find anything, just stay at the guesthouse first,” Yu Zhinian laid out what wasn’t really a plan at all. “Then look for a place yourself.”

Yang Ke commented that he was “making things difficult for himself.” Yu Zhinian defended himself: “It’s not too bad. I don’t have much luggage.”

“Feels like you’re already used to moving,” Yu Zhinian said to Yang Ke.

Yang Ke was silent for a moment, then asked him, “Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Yu Zhinian recalled the first half of the year. “When I came back last year to work on the project, I moved way more often than now. Lived in different places, threw away a bunch of stuff. I’ve really got the hang of it now.”

Yang Ke was quiet for a moment before saying, “You need experience even for that.”

The overhead light in the room was cool-toned. The sound of advertisements from the television mixed with the hum of the air conditioner, keeping the room from falling completely silent.

“Actually, things are better now,” Yu Zhinian said to Yang Ke. “At least…”

At least he wasn’t so unhappy anymore. Yu Zhinian didn’t say this part out loud. He felt such words were too deliberate, as if he were emphasizing how pitiful he was. Besides, he hadn’t even felt pitiful back then. At most, he had been evasive and numb.

Yang Ke didn’t press further. He rested his left hand on the back of Yu Zhinian’s hand. The warm ring on his ring finger touched Yu Zhinian’s skin. Since Yu Zhinian had taken off his ring, he hadn’t worn it again. He had put it in the fold of his wallet, and later, worried about losing it, had moved it to the document pouch in his suitcase. But Yang Ke hadn’t brought it up again. He stroked the back of Yu Zhinian’s hand very gently and said, “The company’s been pretty busy lately. I’ll try to get things done faster.”

He kissed Yu Zhinian’s neck and pressed him down onto the sofa.

The sofa was very soft. Yu Zhinian’s back sank into the plush cushioning, with half of Yang Ke’s weight on top of him. From his neck upward, Yang Ke kissed him in small presses, all the way up to his lips. Yu Zhinian felt ticklish and warm, and rested his hands lightly on Yang Ke’s shoulders.

Yang Ke’s reaction was obvious, and so was Yu Zhinian’s. Yu Zhinian bent his legs slightly. Yang Ke shifted a little to the side, looked at him, said “Yu Zhinian,” then kissed him again, biting his lower lip, saying “We’re already married.”

The news had long since resumed, but no one was watching anymore. Because they hadn’t prepared, Yang Ke didn’t go further that night. But the guest bedroom bed Yu Zhinian had made up for Yang Ke went unused.

The next morning, Yu Zhinian took Yang Ke to eat Sanwen’s signature breakfast.

The two of them walked around the area for a bit, then Yang Ke had to leave.

Yu Zhinian saw Yang Ke off to the train station. Before parting, Yang Ke hugged Yu Zhinian and told him to be careful when he went to Xiping, and to let him know once he had found a place.

On the way back, Yu Zhinian was distracted. He got out of the taxi, took the elevator up, opened the door, and saw the books beside the sofa, the cushion that had fallen on the floor, the TV remote Yang Ke had casually left on the coffee table. Suddenly, the room he had been living in for over a month, which he had never thought was very large, felt empty.

The house had Yang Ke’s scent, or maybe it didn’t. Last night seemed like just a dream.

Yu Zhinian picked up the book he had been reading again, looked at a few pages, but couldn’t focus. He picked up his phone, really wanting to send Yang Ke a message, but then wondered if it was too soon to reach out.

He stared at his phone. The screen suddenly lit up. Yang Ke had sent him a message asking if he had made it home.

Yu Zhinian replied “yes,” and Yang Ke called him.

When he answered, neither of them said anything at first.

After a few seconds, Yang Ke said “Yu Zhinian,” and then “I’ll come to Xiping to keep you company next time.”

The rainy season made it inconvenient to get in and out of Xiping. Yu Zhinian said, “If you come, I’ll meet you in Sanwen instead.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yang Ke said. “Next time I’ll stay longer.”

“Okay?” he asked Yu Zhinian.

Yu Zhinian said yes.