When she saw who was outside the door, Zhou Hui was initially stunned. Then, she hastily made way for them. "Aiyo, why did he drink so much? Quick, come in."
Yi Zhe greeted her with an "Auntie" and directly carried Xu Tangcheng into his room on his back. Zhou Hui removed the down jacket draped over Xu Tangcheng and let Yi Zhe put him on the bed.
"If he's a lightweight, then he should drink less. Why insist on drinking more if he gets drunk after just a few gulps…"
Even though her mouth was grumbling non-stop, Zhou Hui still carefully removed Xu Tangcheng's outer layers, then went to another room to grab a thinner quilt to cover him. The edge of the quilt reached Xu Tangcheng's nose. Yi Zhe saw Zhou Hui tug it down a little, carefully tucking it under Xu Tangcheng's chin.
"Why did you give him your jacket?" After taking care of the sleeping person, Zhou Hui turned around and noticed that Yi Zhe was wearing nothing but his school uniform and that his face was already red from the chill. Her brows furrowed and she exclaimed, "Aiyo, what if you fall sick from the cold?"
"It's okay, I'm not cold." Zhou Hui had draped Yi Zhe's down jacket over a chair just now. He took a couple of steps and slung it over his arm.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Zhou Hui quickly reached out to stop him. "Don't be in such a hurry to leave. I boiled soup, it's for getting rid of the chill. Why don't you have a bowl before you leave?"
"There's no need-"
"Drinking a bowl of soup won't delay you much," Zhou Hui cut off his refusal and smiled at him. "I've already boiled it. I'll get you a bowl."
Without waiting for Yi Zhe to respond, Zhou Hui opened the door and left, her steps small and hurried. Yi Zhe faced the door, his mouth opening, then closing again soundlessly.
Zhou Hui's departure made the room suddenly unusually quiet. Yi Zhe stood beside the bed, holding his down jacket. Very naturally, his gaze moved away from the door and settled on the bed. He didn't know if Xu Tangcheng could not sleep well, or if the light was shining in his eyes, or if he was feeling uncomfortable from drinking too much; even in his dreams, his expression was not completely relaxed. His forehead was a little creased the whole while, like he was in some pain.
Yi Zhe pressed his lips together. Softly, he made his way there.
He bent down, casting a shadow that fell right over Xu Tangcheng and in this shadow, his eyes never left Xu Tangcheng. After a while, Yi Zhe shot a glance at the tightly shut door. In the silence, he slowly raised a hand.
The tips of his fingers moved forward, slow and steady. Just as they were about to reach the forehead, the person on the bed seemed to have gotten some sort of fright and let out a sudden murmur, then pulled the covers tightly over himself and turned over.
Yi Zhe stared blankly. His hand paused in midair.
Xu Tangcheng had shifted to lay on his back, his face slightly facing the other side. Yi Zhe's line of sight shifted and he saw that a corner of the quilt was covering Xu Tangcheng's mouth.
The sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the door. Yi Zhe quickly withdrew his hand. Ears red and heart pounding, he straightened up.
"Come and have some soup." The door was pushed open. Zhou Hui held the door handle and spoke in a soft voice. After speaking, she turned and took a couple of steps, then turned again to point at the switch on the wall. "Switch off the lights for him."
Yi Zhe nodded and walked towards the door.
The room's lights went out swiftly. Very soft footsteps moved away from the bed, then came back. Two fingers pinched the corner of the quilt that covered Xu Tangcheng's mouth, gently drawing it away and tucking it under his chin with infinitesimal care.
Zhou Hui had made the soup in advance because she saw that the temperature was low today and was afraid that Xu Tangcheng would catch a cold coming back. When she came out of the kitchen, she saw Yi Zhe standing there in a daze, staring at the bowl of soup in his hand.
"Why are you standing? Sit down and drink."
As Zhou Hui spoke, she pulled out a chair. Yi Zhe sat down obediently, yet his other hand did not let go of his down jacket.
"Why don't you put your jacket aside first? Just drape it over the chair."
Yi Zhe's hand moved and draped his jacket as he was told. This series of movements appeared calm and unhurried, but resembled even more the movements of a robot carrying out commands. Whatever Zhou Hui said, he did. If examined closely, there was a fair bit of caution and discomfit in his actions.
Dense steam rose from the bowl. When the first spoonful of soup entered his mouth, Yi Zhe felt his entire body warming up.
A bowl of soup could be so effective?
"It's a little hot, drink slowly. After you drink this, go back and cover yourself well when you sleep. If you want to shower, raise the temperature of the water a little higher. Otherwise, it's easy for you to catch a cold after freezing for a night."
Yi Zhe brought his head up to look at the person opposite him and saw that Zhou Hui was looking at him with a smile.
"Mm." After assenting, Yi Zhe added, "Thank you, Auntie."
"Why are you thanking me? I should be the one thanking you for bringing Tangcheng home." When she said that, Zhou Hui suddenly thought of something. "Ai? I remember that he went to meet up with his school friends. Why was it you who brought him back?"
Yi Zhe looked at the steam rising from the soup and fell silent for a while.
"I bumped into him by coincidence."
Zhou Hui yawned twice in succession. The corners of her eyes were also a little red from sleepiness. Yi Zhe lowered his eyes and finished the soup in two large mouthfuls, then picked up his down jacket and got up to take his leave. Zhou Hui sent him all the way to the door. As she held the door frame, her mouth was still repeatedly reminding him not to catch a cold and to take the chance while his body was warm to quickly wash up and sleep. Yi Zhe nodded, then stiffly squeezed out a "Thank you, Auntie."
As usual, the lights in his own house were dark. Yi Zhe pushed the front door open, then stood there facing the messy living room, spacing out for a long while before switching on the T.V. and loading a game.
The music of Battle City began to play. Yi Zhe didn't need to look at the T.V. or the controller; with familiar ease, he picked the solo mode and entered the battle screen. The controller clattered under the force of his pressing. Yi Zhe sat cross-legged on the rug on the floor and watched the tank in the screen advance, passing through stage after stage, yet his face was expressionless throughout. After gaming for who knew how long, he finally realised that he was unbearably thirsty. He dragged his stiff and aching body up, wanting to drink a glass of water.
He shook the empty water container and all at once, felt rather irritable. They should have bought water two days ago but when the people delivering water were at work, he was at school. Every day, he left early and came back late, and didn't have the time to order water at all. He ran a hand through hair in frustration and looked around him, then went to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water.
The glass turned from full to empty, then finally touched the marble top with a crisp clinking sound. Yi Zhe sat back down before the T.V. and continued to direct the little tank to charge untiringly into the enemy lines.
He didn't turn on the lights. In the early hours of the morning, Xiang Xiyi opened the door and entered. When she saw his face illuminated by the flickering lights of the screen, she immediately let out a curse. Almost at the same time, a coat suddenly flew towards Yi Zhe. The solid metal buttons hit right against his brow bone and immediately, the spot above his eyes started to hurt.
"What's wrong with you?" Yi Zhe was feeling irritable in the first place. He tore the coat off his body roughly and immediately stood up.
"There's something wrong with you, pretending to be a ghost here in the middle of the fucking night." Xiang Xiyi's tone was even more unkind. She slapped the switch to turn on the light. When she saw Yi Zhe's sullen face clearly, her face also suddenly turned dark.
"Fuck." After letting out a curse, she grabbed an outer garment hanging near the door at random. Like she was venting her emotions, she threw it at Yi Zhe's face with all her strength. "Don't give me that mournful face."
Yi Zhe was prepared this time and caught the outer garment that was thrown over. He stood there with his face cold and stared at Xiang Xiyi, motionless.
"I'm warning you, don't make a sound. I'm going to sleep, I'm so damned tired."
Xiang Xiyi acted like she had not seen Yi Zhe's furious eyes. After giving her order, she kicked off her heels and yawned as she walked barefeet into the bathroom.
The heels she had kicked off hit the water dispenser stand. The plastic outer casing and the shoe collided, setting off an unpleasant and irritating noise.
The bathroom door closed. Very quickly, shower sounds came from the inside.
Yi Zhe gripped the garment in his hands and stared grimly at that door. He took a few deep breaths. In the end, all he did was let go of the garment and sit back down dejectedly. His head leaned back against the sofa and he stared at the empty ceiling and spaced out. His eyes stayed open for too long; there was an aching and moist feeling. In the instant that he closed his eyes and sank into the darkness, he heard a noise—very familiar, yet seemed to have been missing for a very long time. He startled, then turned his head and cast his gaze out.
His bedroom door was not closed. At that moment, multi-coloured lights were piercing through the window to fall into his pitch-dark room, staging a story of interchanging lights and shadows on the wall.
After sleeping until past midnight, Xu Tangcheng woke up from the heat. When he woke up, he felt that his head was aching unbearably. He buried his face in his pillow and remained like that for a while before his symptoms slowly abated. His entire body felt dehydrated to the point of discomfort and he wanted to go out to get a glass of water. He blinked his eyes to wake up completely, then changed into his pajamas in the dark. But when he got down from the bed and put on his slippers, he suddenly saw his own thermal mug on the bedside table.
He picked it up and shook it. It was indeed filled with water.
Xu Tangcheng's lips quirked up. He could already picture Zhou Hui seeing him drunk and muttering rebukes in a low voice while carefully tending to him at the same time.
The warm water relieved his parched throat. He switched off the lights and had just lay down in his bed, ready to continue sleeping when suddenly, a few scenes from earlier flashed past his eyes: Yi Zhe under the tree, the red mountain bike, and one more scene that was unclear and from a very strange angle.
He got drunk, and then Yi Zhe brought him home?
He rubbed his temples. He could roughly remember what happened earlier but still could not figure out what that scene flashing past meant.
Loud booms sounded outside the window, making him stop this fruitless pondering. He turned his head to look towards the window, thinking that it was strange. There were still people setting off fireworks at this hour?
He peeled off his covers and walked over to the window. When he saw the dazzling colours in the sky, his headache seemed to get a lot better. The shape of the fireworks were rather special, the patterns they formed in the sky were all heart-shaped.
Setting off so many hearts in a tranquil night like this, there should be a special meaning. Xu Tangcheng leaned against the side of the window and looked up in thought. Perhaps it was a marriage proposal?
It was quite romantic. However…
He smiled, wondering if all this fuss would result in complaints tomorrow morning from the nearby residents.
In another room, a tall figure stood at the window for a very long time, looking at the bright stars ascending to the sky one after another, then breaking the darkness and emitting light in all directions.
Fireworks. Excitement. It was nearly the Lunar New Year.
Outside the door, there was the sound of a woman cursing, the words she was spitting out rather unclear. She probably had a facial mask on and couldn't open her mouth wide but this did not impede her at all in sending her regards to the eighteen generations of ancestors of the person setting off the fireworks.
It was in a state of numbness that Yi Zhe listened to this increasingly vehement cursing, the same state of numbness in which he watched the fireworks outside the window.
"In the future, live the life that you like. Wouldn't that be good?"
His eyes closed, Yi Zhe replayed this line from the past a few times in his mind.