KMYB | Chapter 69

Before returning to China, Xi Shui had already arranged everything he needed to handle after getting home, but once he was back on his native soil, back in Zhou Zeqi’s apartment, all he wanted was to sleep well.

The trip had been too exhausting, too draining.

Xi Shui took a shower, flung himself onto Zhou Zeqi’s big bed, rolled once, then again and again with the blanket wrapped around him. Sleep came quickly.

"It feels like a dream."

Zhou Zeqi tidied up the contents of his suitcase in the living room. The gifts were piled on the coffee table, and the rest, aside from some clothes, he left for Xi Shui to sort through himself.

When he returned to the bedroom, Xi Shui was already asleep. They had been on the road for nearly twenty hours, and even his sleep had been on the plane.

Zhou Zeqi lay down beside him and gently pulled him into his arms. Xi Shui showed no sign of waking. Just like before, he instinctively burrowed hard into Zhou Zeqi’s embrace.

He slept from noon until the sky turned dark. When Xi Shui woke, he felt dizzy and heavy-headed, and looking at the dim room, he thought he was still abroad. He sighed unconsciously.

"What are you sighing for?"

Zhou Zeqi’s voice sounded by his ear.

Xi Shui’s heart skipped a beat. He turned his head and could only make out Zhou Zeqi’s blurred outline. Only then did he come back to himself. He was home already!

"Zhou Zeqi!" Xi Shui hugged him and wrapped his legs around Zhou Zeqi’s waist.

Zhou Zeqi lowered his head and caught Xi Shui’s lips with perfect accuracy. In an instant, the air turned scorching hot.

Xi Shui’s pajamas were loose.

The moment their eyes met at the airport counted as a reunion, and this, too, counted as a reunion.

Zhou Zeqi said nothing throughout. It was only when Xi Shui finally couldn’t take it anymore and cried softly that he lowered his head and asked in Xi Shui’s ear, "Do you know how much I missed you?"

Xi Shui felt like he was about to be pierced through. He nodded repeatedly. "I know, I know."

Afterward, Xi Shui was washed clean and tucked under the blanket. Zhou Zeqi stood by the bed, pulling on a T-shirt as he said, "I’m going to cook."

Xi Shui was limp with exhaustion. In a soft, feeble voice, he answered, "Okay."

Only after Zhou Zeqi left the room did Xi Shui let out a breath. Zhou Zeqi had been so rough just now, even biting him. He felt like Zhou Zeqi wanted to swallow him whole.

And it hadn’t stopped in the bathroom, either. Even after they came out, Zhou Zeqi was still hard, and Xi Shui folded his hands over his stomach. He thought that eating dinner might just be a midgame break.

Xi Shui muttered, "First hurdle after coming back to China."

He heard the sound of washing vegetables from the kitchen. Xi Shui rolled all the way to the edge of the bed, reached for the thick notebook he had wanted to read before falling asleep, and picked it up from the bedside table. It was a thick volume, with black leather as the cover, a complete stretch of black with no text on it.

Before opening it, Xi Shui shouted toward Zhou Zeqi, "This thing on your bedside table, can I read it?"

Zhou Zeqi didn’t answer him directly. He came straight out of the kitchen.

Seeing the diary in Xi Shui’s hands, he paused for a moment. "If you want to read it, read it." With that, he went back inside.

Xi Shui switched on the bedside lamp, lay on the bed, and opened to the first page.

He thought it would be some kind of daily planner, because he wrote things like that too. Plans were what gave people motivation.

But it wasn’t. It was something completely unlike Zhou Zeqi’s personality, a diary.

9.29 Sunny Tomorrow I’m going to see my wife

10.17 Rain Xi Shui

12.19 Cloudy Newell is in another blizzard, and Xiaoxi caught a cold again, fuck

01.25 Sunny Happy New Year, Xi Shui

05.20 Sunny Countdown to my wife coming home: 30

…

Xi Shui read with great interest. He studied every page carefully, imagining what Zhou Zeqi would look like while writing a diary, and his heart turned a little sour again.

Less than an hour later, Zhou Zeqi called from outside to say dinner was ready. Xi Shui hurriedly got dressed and ran out. He trailed behind Zhou Zeqi, hovering about as he followed him around. "Zhou Zeqi, thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Zhou Zeqi put a bowl of rice into his hands and pressed him down into a chair.

"I finished reading the diary. I’ll treasure it properly."

Zhou Zeqi pushed the beef toward Xi Shui and gave a half-smile. "Did I say I was giving you the diary?"

Xi Shui: "…No."

"I can give it to you, but there’s one condition." Zhou Zeqi leaned in slightly and said something in a low voice.

Xi Shui could no longer even hold his chopsticks properly. His face turned as red as the chilies in the dish, and he kept saying, "No, no, I can’t. My technique is bad. Didn’t I even bite you last time?"

"Then you don’t get the diary."

"Are you threatening me?" Xi Shui narrowed his eyes the way Zhou Zeqi did.

Zhou Zeqi reached out and pinched his cheek. "No room for negotiation."

Xi Shui frowned. "Then… I’ll try."

Xi Shui’s attention slowly shifted back to the meal, and only after he had carefully eaten two big bowls of rice did he find time to speak. "Right, come home with me tomorrow, okay? I’m going to stay at my family’s place for a few days."

Zhou Zeqi poured him a glass of water. "You’re taking me home?"

"Of course. I just got back to China, and I haven’t been home in a year. My parents are there, my grandma is there, and so are my uncles, aunts, and maternal relatives. We’re having a family reunion dinner, so I definitely have to bring you."

Zhou Zeqi watched as Xi Shui kept stuffing rice into his mouth. After a while, he lowered his eyes. "Have you thought it through?"

"Thought what through?"

"Taking me home."

"There’s nothing to think about," Xi Shui said, setting down his chopsticks and swallowing the rice in his mouth. "I like you, you like me, and we’re together, right? Then you brought me to meet your family, so I should bring you to meet mine too."

"Not that many people, just, about twenty or so." Xi Shui had wanted to count them, but found he couldn’t quite keep track. "Though I’m not sure if all of them can come. But it’s summer vacation now, so a lot of my older brothers and sisters will probably come see me."

Zhou Zeqi asked, "You told them you’re bringing me back?"

"I did. I told my mom while I was still abroad. I said you like white rice, so tell Auntie to steam an extra pot." Xi Shui said it very seriously.

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

Athletes needed muscle gain, so they weren’t suited to low-carb meals, which meant they had some requirements for carbs too. When Zhou Zeqi was still in school, he ate a lot of carbs, and Xi Shui, who had to control his intake, had always been envious.

Zhou Zeqi reminded him, "Your dad probably doesn’t want to see me very much."

Xi Shui thought for a moment. "That he doesn’t want to see you is his business."

Then Xi Shui suddenly thought of something. "But if my dad gave you one million yuan to leave me, what would you do?"

Zhou Zeqi froze and looked at Xi Shui expressionlessly. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, right, you’ve got lots of millions. Then what if my dad gave you fifty million?"

"Not for sale."

"Sixty million. No more, that should be about all my dad’s total assets combined."

"Not for sale."

"You love me that much?" Xi Shui propped his chin on his hand. After thinking for a moment, he pushed the half bowl of rice in front of him across the table. "Then help me finish this half bowl of rice."

Zhou Zeqi: "…"

It was hard to say Xi Shui wasn’t smart. Wasn’t this very smart? He had talked for so long, only to be waiting for Zhou Zeqi here all along.

–

The next day, Xi Shui changed clothes and sat on the sofa, tilting his head back so Zhou Zeqi could disinfect the corner of his mouth. He had a little tear in the corner of his mouth from last night.

Zhou Zeqi was a little exasperated, but also heartbroken. "Didn’t I say I’d give it to you? Why were you so stubborn?"

"If you can’t keep it in your mouth, then spit it out. Is that so hard?"

Xi Shui felt wronged. "I only knew I was hurt afterward."

"Put a transparent bandage on it." Xi Shui took a tiny bandage, no bigger than a fingernail, from the box. The absorbent pad in the middle just covered the wound, and it was waterproof too. "Doesn’t that make it invisible?"

Zhou Zeqi: "A little better than before."

"Then this works. Let’s hurry home. My mom said my aunt brought you a gift." Xi Shui was still carrying his white crossbody bag, and a pink water bottle hung from one of the clips on the side of it. "Oh, right, I also need to open a can for Zhizhi."

Zhou Zeqi reached out and grabbed him. "I already fed her."

"Let’s go." Zhou Zeqi draped an arm over Xi Shui’s shoulder. "I’m hungry."

Xi Shui handed him the water bottle. "Drink some water."

In the elevator, Xi Shui suddenly asked, "Is the crystal medal I gave you still around?"

Zhou Zeqi took out a string of keys from his bag. The medal had been mounted inside a layer of glass-like material and attached to the keychain. Xi Shui took it in his hand, his face full of delight. "It’s pretty. I want one too."

As soon as he said that, he watched helplessly as Zhou Zeqi took the keychain back and put it into his bag.

"Where’s the gold medal I gave you last time?"

"In a bag. I’ve been carrying it with me."

The osmanthus blossoms at B University had bloomed and fallen once again. They went to catch a taxi, and passing through the campus was actually closer. Some departments still hadn’t gone on break yet, and the shade of the osmanthus trees covered the entire avenue. They were even more lush and green than last year.

Xi Shui held Zhou Zeqi’s hand. "When are you going to propose to me?"

"What?"

"Propose!" Xi Shui stopped walking. "You said it last year, that you’d propose to me."

He looked at Zhou Zeqi. "You forgot?"

Zhou Zeqi’s eyes were dark, with a trace of amusement in them. The green canopy above blocked the scorching sunlight. Xi Shui shoved him. "What are you smiling at?"

Zhou Zeqi caught Xi Shui’s punch, pried open his fingers, and took something hard from his pants pocket, placing it into Xi Shui’s palm.

Xi Shui lowered his head and slowly made out what Zhou Zeqi had given him. Even though the green leaves blocked most of the sunlight, the diamond still looked especially bright and dazzling, flashing with scattered light. The ring setting was plain platinum.

"Ho… how many carats?" Xi Shui asked, staring at the diamond that was almost the size of a small stone.

"Ten carats. I bought it while shopping with my mom during the New Year. I just happened to see its name, and thought it suited you, so I bought it." Zhou Zeqi kept his eyes lowered. "So, I’ve given you the ring. Do you want to marry me?"

Xi Shui put the ring on himself and nodded hard. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Zhou Zeqi’s eyes reddened slightly, and he still couldn’t help himself. On the avenue lined with osmanthus trees and dappled with light and shadow, he lowered his head and kissed Xi Shui.

After a while, Xi Shui walked on while carefully admiring the ring on his finger, curious. "You just said its name suited me very well. What’s its name?"

"Little Swan."

The ring’s setting was cut into a pair of delicate wings.

It took a long time before Xi Shui finally reacted. "Zhou Zeqi, you… really like me, huh? Luckily, I like you too, or else you’d be doomed."

Zhou Zeqi snorted with laughter. "As if you’re any different. You’re stupid too."

Luckily, the little swan had met Zhou Zeqi.

Zhou Zeqi was the fierce dog belonging only to the little swan, the sole audience for the little swan alone.

Their shadows slowly stretched out along the osmanthus-lined avenue. Speckled light fell over their hair and shoulders, and the avenue gradually unfolded into a bright, romantic oil painting.

That oil painting told a story.

In that story, he loved him most.

Author’s note:

He loved him most