When Zhou Heng came downstairs, Lin Shuicheng was still sorting his things. The dilapidated old neighborhood was full of noise, and a group of children were staring at the luxury hovercar before the building from afar.
Lin Shuicheng had just returned from school, and there were a few streaks of dust on his shirt from the stairs. He struggled to poke his head out from behind his stack of boxes, apologizing softly: “Sorry, there’s still a few things I have to bring.”
There was a red tear mole at the corner of his eye. Seeing it made the heart leap.
Zhou Heng said politely, “Mr. Fu said that you don’t need to bring anything. Once you move to Star City, you can buy everything you need.”
Lin Shuicheng insisted, “I’ve already thrown away everything I can. These are my books and research. There’s my cat too.”
He put the boxes into the trunk of the car, and then went upstairs again. He was slim and pretty, and had manners as well. Yet he had the obstinacy of a research scientist.
If you wanted to be polite, you could say he had a scholarly air. If you wanted to be a little rude, he was unsophisticated and odd.
He had taken the boss’s money to serve the boss’s boy. Zhou Heng had been Fu Luoyin’s assistant for a long time, and had handled many affairs for him, but he’d rarely seen someone as odd as Lin Shuicheng.
This research data was what they had toiled for in the student laboratory, but gaining results was a matter of a sentence from Fu Luoyin.
Lin Shuicheng was busy with his research data, and didn’t realize the great opportunities that awaited him after today. Right now, he was at the Jiangnan branch of Star City University. He had entered both with the same scores, but how could the Jiangnan branch compare to the main branch in terms of location and resources? How could he worry over having no new projects to undertake? The data from Jiangnan would be useless in the city.
Lin Shuicheng had been with Fu Luoyin for two years, but he was still the same as when Zhou Heng had first seen him.
Only when they sent him luxurious clothes would Lin Shuicheng wear them. If Fu Luo didn’t call him, he could wait at his dining table for a few months.
Zhou Heng thought, this was probably a common type of kept-man relationship. At first, Lin Shuicheng had done it for money, but later on, his heart stirred. If he didn’t run into a wall, he wouldn’t give up.
The last thing Lin Shuicheng brought down was a round beaker, containing a pale blue liquid.
Because it was a fragile object, he held it in his hands the entire way. When they were at the security gate in the airport, the security officer flagged him and asked, “What is this?”
“Copper sulfate solution,” Lin Shuicheng said. “There’s also a little potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride, ethanol and camphor in it.”
“What’s it for?”
“This solution can precipitate crystals when the temperature changes. Another name for it is a storm bottle. It’s quite beautiful.”
They were using Fu Luoyin’s personal VIP passage. The security officer was just going through the motions. After asking a few questions, she let them go.
Lin Shuicheng’s tuxedo cat wasn’t checked in with the luggage, and boarded the plane with him. There was added oxygen in the plane. This mongrel cat without the slightest breeding enjoyed a high-level treatment. Once he finished eating his foie gras, he laid on Lin Shuicheng’s legs and fell asleep.
It took five hours to fly from the Jiangnan branch to central Star City. Lin Shuicheng didn’t sleep. He looked down at his phone and opened his messages.
[Five hours ago: ]
[Fu: Xiao-Zhou will come pick you up in a while, and help you move.]
[Lin Shuicheng: Okay. Will you come home tonight?]
[Two hours ago: ]
[Lin Shuicheng: I’ll make dinner. If you’re tired from work, you can come home and eat.]
[Now: ]
[Lin Shuicheng: I’ve boarded the plane.]
Once he finished sending the message, he turned off his phone.
Zhou Heng had nothing to do, so seeing the storm bottle on Lin Shuicheng’s table, he suddenly asked, “Aren’t you a researcher? You like chemistry as well?”
Lin Shuicheng said, “My major was chemistry. When I entered graduate school, I changed my major to quantum analytics.”
“I can’t understand it no matter what it is, but your grades must have been great.” Zhou Heng sighed. “This profession doesn’t earn much. I heard Director Fu say that the salary for the Xiao family’s quantum analyst is the same as what your brother costs in a year in the ICU!” He immediately found his words weren’t too tactful, and added, “But you should be able to graduate pretty soon.”
His hands were still gesturing the difference in numbers. The joy of young city workers was discussing money. Sure enough, he saw Lin Shuicheng turn to him and smile quietly, saying, “Yes.” His tone was calm.
Lin Shuicheng’s little brother would be fifteen years old this year. A few years ago, he had suffered serious brain damage in a car accident, and he hadn’t woken up to this day. With an invalid in the household, every hour and second burned money.
Zhou Heng wasn’t sure of how much money Lin Shuicheng could earn by himself, but he had researched his background for Fu Luoyin in the beginning, and he knew his household was in dire financial straits. Back then, Lin Shuicheng had received financial assistance for four years of college, and after working for two months after graduation, he had met Fu Luoyin. Only then did he have the funds to continue pursuing his studies.
As soon as they touched the ground, they headed straight for his new home.
Zhou Heng helped Lin Shuicheng organize his things, though there was really not much to organize. This was a house Fu Luoyin had acquired a few years ago. He’d never lived in it, but it was fully furnished.
Lin Shuicheng didn’t let him touch his large boxes of books and accumulated handwritten notes, so Zhou Heng went to take care of the tuxedo cat. He set out the cat bed and assembled the climbing tree. Someone soon came to the door to deliver common articles and clothes. Everything was complete, down to the cat food. Zhou Heng opened a bag of food and took out a pellet to tease the cat with. “Do you want to eat? Come and shake my hand.”
The cat walked over and put its paw in his hand, then took away the cat food with its mouth.
“How smart. You taught him? What’s his name?” Zhou Heng praised him.
He hadn’t interacted much with Lin Shuicheng. There was nothing else for him to talk about, so he talked about the cat.
The average person, asked about their pets, would go on as ceaselessly as a river, but Lin Shuicheng paused for a moment, and then said lightly, “His name is Chief.”
Zhou Heng laughed. “Chief?”
He waited for Lin Shuicheng to say something in return, but the other man seemed to think the conversation had ended. He went to the refrigerator and took out some vegetables, preparing to make dinner.
Zhou Heng: “...”
As if he had only just noticed, Lin Shuicheng looked up at him and asked politely, “Will you stay for dinner?”
Zhou Heng said, “No, if there’s nothing else, then I’ll go ahead and leave. If you have any problems, contact me directly. I’ll arrange for your brother to transfer hospitals tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Lin Shuicheng sent him to the door.
Before Zhou Heng left, he looked back at him. The light of the entrance hall shone down on Lin Shuicheng, illuminating the refined, beautiful face of the young man before him.
Lin Shuicheng’s eyes were as moist as a kitten’s, yet they were so calm that they seemed to never reflect anyone’s silhouette.
***
When Fu Luoyin opened the door, the housekeeper was in the middle of clearing the table. Seeing him, she smiled awkwardly. “Second Young Master, you’ve come home. President Fu said to clear the table as soon as the hour for dinner passed, and asked that you go to his study to see him once you returned… How about I make some noodles for you?”
It was raining outside. Fu Luoyin’s coat was covered with drops of water. He casually hung it on the rack by the door, and said, “No need, I’ll go out for dinner.”
These were the rules of the Fu family. Once the hour for dinner had passed, even God himself couldn’t scrounge a bite to eat. Their daily schedule was regimented as the military. Of all the noble families of the Alliance, only the Fu family had such strict customs. Ever since they were small, the two Fu children had never slept in, for a simple reason—if they slept in, they wouldn’t have anything to eat.
Such family customs had produced two sons that people praised endlessly. The older son, Chu Shihan, had been engaged in chemical research, and had produced brilliant results. The younger son, Fu Luoyin, had joined the army. At a young age, it seemed he would soon be promoted to a branch commander.
If not for the tragedy of two years ago, this would have been a perfect family.
“President Fu and Madam Fu are both very happy that you were able to come back to Star City. Ever since the eldest young master passed away, Madam Fu has…” Just as the housekeeper was about to continue speaking, Fu Luoyin interrupted her. “Where is my mother?”
“Madam Fu recently underwent a small operation to remove a fibroma, and she is currently resting,” The housekeeper said.
“Does she still pick up my brother’s photograph and stare at it all afternoon?” Fu Luoyin looked upwards. The light was off in the sewing room that Chu Jingshu favored.
The housekeeper didn’t quite dare to respond.
Fu Luoyin didn’t say anything more. He took out something and handed it to her. “I brought this brooch for her. I won’t go to the study; tell my father I have an assignment.”
“Ah? You’re this busy? I haven’t made the noodles for you yet…”
“No need.” Fu Luoyin walked back to the entrance, taking up his rain-wet coat once again.
The driver opened an umbrella for him outside.
***
At Starfantasm Nightclub, the lighting was indistinct.
“No, Fu-Er, you haven’t gone home for two years, how can you only stay for this long? We thought you weren’t going to come tonight.”
Faced with Fu Luoyin’s calmness, Dong Shuoye almost choked on his wine. He immediately lowered his voice and said, “But I…can understand. After all, your brother’s accident was a great blow to your father and mother. They might not have been able to pay attention to you for a while… But Fu-Er, let me tell you, it’s good to be free like us as well. There’s no one to care about us when we have fun! What’s so good about going home? Those old busybodies have great heaps of lectures to give. Every time I go back, I have to bear the brunt of a lesson, tsk.”
“That’s the case, but I feel like your unfettered days are about to come to an end. It was great at the Jiangnan Branch, let me tell you guys. The last time I went to Fu-Er’s place to scrounge a meal, I saw the little beauty of Star University. Do you know, that little beauty had a tear mole at the corner of his eye, a red one! It was really something to die for, just like something written in a novel!”
Su Yu clapped his thigh at the side, having thought of something. He asked Fu Luoyin, “Fu-Er, how come you didn't bring that little beauty of yours? If you don’t want him anymore, give him to me. I have a pretty boy to trade him for who’ll raise your interest.”
Fu Luoyin glanced at him, his expression indifferent, but he wasn’t polite. “Keep dreaming.”
“You really brought him over here?” Su Yu suddenly realized, “Oh, Star U’s main branch is here, so it’s easy to transfer him. The next time we see him, will we have to call him Sister-in-Law? Heh, this is really a big scoop. The last time we called someone Sister-in-Law, we were still in high school. Back then, Fu-Er and Xia Ran hadn’t…broken…up…yet….”
His last words grew smaller and smaller in volume, as the air pressure in the private room lowered.
Dong Shuoyue looked pityingly at Su Yu. “Bro, you really know how to talk.”
The name Xia Ran was Fu Luoyin’s taboo.
This man had been a part of Fu Luoyin’s life from his childhood to his adolescence. In high school, they had a dramatic love affair, but in the end, he threw Fu Luoyin off cleanly before college. Xia Ran was like his name, Ran for “ignite.” He was passionate as fire, and his temperament was decisive. Of everyone in the Alliance who had grown up with the Xia family, who hadn’t secretly liked Xia Ran when they were young?
The second taboo that no one dared mention was that in all the boyfriends and girlfriends that Fu Luoyin found afterwards, one could see Xia Ran’s shadow.
They were passionate, seductive, charming, or they had little dimples when they smiled… Fu Luoyin easily fell into relations with these kinds of people, but just as quickly, he lost interest and threw them aside. Many people said that Fu Luoyin’s personality was cold, because most people, even if they changed partners like flowing water, would at least try to have physical relations with them. But Fu Luoyin seemed to be too concerned with cleanliness to do so. In the past, there had been boys who looked just like Xia Ran, who, just because they stole a kiss from Fu Luoyin when they were drunk, were kicked aside for their troubles.
While they had a smoke outside, Su Yu quietly told Dong Shuoyue, “Fu-Er might be serious this time. The last time I saw this little beauty, he didn’t look a bit like Xia Ran. To be honest, I think he’s better-looking than him.”
“I didn’t think you’d say that.” Dong Shuoyue leaned closer and said, “Do you have a picture?”
Su Yu said, “I took a bunch of pictures on the down-low, but I wasn’t brave enough to let Fu-Er know about them.”
He scrolled up in his phone’s photo album until he reached the fall of last year. A young man with a red tear mole appeared before them.
In the picture, Lin Shuicheng was wearing a white sweater and a camel jacket, as well as a backpack. His features had the air of a student, beautiful and restrained. There were a few pictures in the lot that were live, and as soon as he moved, they couldn’t move their eyes away.
“This is him. His name is pretty too — it’s from ‘a journey by mountain, a journey by water,’ Cheng for ‘journey,’ Shui for ‘water,’” Su Yu recalled. He came close to drooling over the picture. “Damn, you didn’t see it, but that little beauty was cold to everyone. As soon as he saw Fu Luoyin, though, stars came into his eyes. Fu-Er shouldn’t be looking for Xia Ran in this one.”
“I say…is there something wrong with your brains?” The farther upwards he scrolled, the tighter Dong Shuoye’s frown grew. He sucked in a lungful of smoke and asked, “You think he doesn’t look like Xia Ran?”
“He doesn’t look like him, they’re not even the same type.” Su Yu thought about it and said, puzzled, “What, you think they look alike?”
“Beauty is in the bones, not the skin. If you want to say they look alike, you have to look at the bones.” Dong Shuoye reached out and showed him. “Look at his expression, his eyes, and his…tsk, the way he looks up and to the side. Look at him carefully, and then tell me whether he looks like Xia Ran or not?”
“Fuck!” Su Yu was struck dumb. “As soon as you say that, it’s true, this guy really resembles him, down to the little gestures. I was wondering why he felt so familiar. At the time, I was even thinking… No, isn’t this too magical?”
Dong Shuoye gave him a pitying glance. “In the future, eat more walnuts and nourish your brains. Fu-Er doesn’t love morons as much as me. Next time, he’s sure to kick you out the door.”
***
When Fu Luoyin came home, the lights were off. Lin Shuicheng was curled up on the couch, dozing off. In his daze, he seemed to know that someone had come in, and got up to reach for the light. Yet his hand was caught, and pressed back on the soft cushion.
In the darkness, the tuxedo cat meowed a few times.
Fu Luoyin pressed him down on the couch and kissed him, his breath softly caging him, making him a little dizzy. There was the fragrance of wine on him, but there was no taste of alcohol in his mouth, only the faint taste of mint.
Lin Shuicheng gradually woke up.
When Fu Luoyin let him go for a moment, he reached out and put his arms around his neck, his soft voice a little nasal: “You’ve come home.”
The French windows let in a little moonlight, lighting the ripples in his eyes. It was enough to tempt Fu Luoyin’s soul.
Fu Luoyin didn’t reply. He caressed his face, feeling a warm burst of breath, and a light sting—
Lin Shuicheng had turned his head and bitten him.
Like a kitten’s bite, it didn’t hurt much. Lin Shuicheng mumbled, “You’re not allowed to move.”
Time seemed to return to a moment from his memory.
Fu Luoyin stepped forward, but the passionate and flashy boy before him dodged aside. “You’re not allowed to move! Fu Luoyin, you stood me up and you still want to kiss me. You must be dreaming.”
Xia Ran had the eyes of a fox. When he lowered his head and looked at you, his eyes tilted upwards, ripples glancing within them.
“Don’t rush, don’t rush, eat…eat dinner with me first, you.” Lin Shuicheng pushed him aside and went to turn on the light, laughing.
Lin Shuicheng was quite the cook.
The dishes on the self-heating round table were still rotating: honey-glazed pork ribs, chicken stewed in sauce, lemon-fried tilapia, a few stir-fried side dishes, and a beet soup. Fragrant steam billowed from them.
“You waited for me to eat dinner again?” Seeing Lin Shuicheng busying himself before his eyes, Fu Luoyin finally spoke.
“What do you think?” Lin Shuicheng sat down, holding his head with his hand. The cat jumped onto the table, but he shooed it down again.
***
It was the depths of the night.
The sounds that came from the room were as ambiguous as a hazy dream. The cat scampered back and forth in the living room, so scared its fur stood up.
This cat had never liked Fu Luoyin. They didn’t know why, but anyone could hug and stroke this cat, except Fu Luoyin. It would spit at him every time he came, as if it wouldn’t allow a second being to infringe upon Lin Shuicheng.
But he was only a cat. He couldn’t express a clear protest to his owner. The movements from the bed were so large, he was afraid Fu Luoyin would do him to death.
Fu Luoyin hid Lin Shuicheng’s face in the pillow, as usual. Half-stifled, Lin Shuicheng was in his best state.
He didn’t look at his face.
When he saw it from time to time, that passionate yet wanton expression would startle him so that his heart sank.
It wasn’t that he didn’t look like him, but that he looked too much like him.
***
cela’s notes
This is just a teaser; I’m not translating the rest of the novel, so whoever wants it can pick it up. This is my last novel before I return, unfortunately, to that boring Chinese medicine book.
2 hours and 37 minutes for 3,362 words, or 4.7 minutes for every 100 words. I feel like that’s a record. A total of 3 hours and 7 minutes for 3,816 words, or 4.9 minutes for every 100 words.
If you appreciate this translation, please consider encouraging me on Ko-fi! 💛
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