#52: Sneakers

The sun was strong outside, and a sliver of light peeked through the curtains. Cheng Wanyue rubbed her eyes and said she was a little hungry.

Qing Hang found some clean clothes and stood by the bed, helping her put them on first.

“What are you planning to wear tonight?”

“Just anything, it’ll be dark anyway, no one will see.”

“Which shoes will you wear with it?”

“The ones from yesterday, they’re comfortable.”

Most of Cheng Wanyue’s shoes were pretty but uncomfortable to wear. When she had to walk a lot, she usually wore only a few select pairs.

“The heels are too high; standing for a long time will make your feet tired.”

“Then I’ll wear slippers.”

“There will be a lot of people; your shoes might be gone before you even squeeze in.”

“Should I buy a pair of sneakers? But it’s so hot outside, I don’t want to go out.”

Qing Hang said, “I bought some. Let me bring them over for you to try.”

Cheng Wanyue watched Qing Hang go to the living room. While he was showering, she had been looking for a suitable vase for her hydrangeas and hadn’t noticed the two shoe boxes.

Her memories of sneakers weren’t pleasant.

She had given Qing Hang many things before. He would keep even a small note torn from a notebook and casually thrown at him for a long time. The only thing he hadn’t accepted was that pair of shoes.

Intentions had no measure of worth, but objects had different price points.

After being rejected, she angrily threw the shoes into the junk pile. That day, Qing Hang watched her leave, instinctively wanting to chase after her, but his grandfather suddenly had a severe stomachache. He couldn’t leave the door and couldn’t care about the shoes. He only picked them up and cleaned them later.

He didn’t chase her that day, and Cheng Wanyue never went to find him again.

In senior year, they weren’t in the same class, and he rarely saw her at school. She was always surrounded by many people. They didn’t speak for a month.

After the guaranteed admission exams, Qing Hang waited for her by the sports field for several weekend afternoons, but she never acknowledged him, not even glancing his way. She still joked and played with different boys.

A basketball hit the backboard and rolled to his feet.

The jock, with an arm slung over her shoulder, shouted from afar, asking him to throw the ball back.

If he threw the basketball back, she would continue to mess around with the jock, fighting over the ball. So, he didn’t throw the ball back, nor did he let anyone else help.

He thought: Just one more time.

The atmosphere on the other side of the court was lively, with whistles and cheers echoing. The wind blew through the dense leaves, a small black dog wagged its tail, Building 3 was right opposite, but the sun was setting.

The last wait yielded no results, and the ping-pong paddle that had always been hidden in his desk was also thrown into the trash.

...

Qing Hang half-knelt by the bed and opened the shoe box.

Her toes curled slightly because he was holding her ankle, and her left foot couldn’t retract.

“Put on socks first,” he leaned down and kissed her calf. “This is my first time buying women’s shoes, I don’t know if I should pick half a size up or half a size down.”

She didn’t say anything.

Qing Hang tied the shoelaces. “Try stepping in them. If they rub, we won’t wear them.”

She still didn’t say anything.

“Wanyue,” Qing Hang rubbed his nose against her forehead, “Still mad?”

Cheng Wanyue looked at the white sneakers, her vision a little blurry. “I didn’t think you lacked branded shoes, nor was I comparing myself to classmates. I just wanted you to wear the same as me. The New Year’s money my second aunt gave me would have been spent on other things anyway, but shoes could be worn for a long time. Cheng Yuzhou and Cheng Yanqing both wanted them, and I didn’t give them to anyone, only to you, and you actually didn’t want them.”

What she cared about was the feeling of giving the gift, not the gift itself.

Whether the rejected item was an expensive pair of shoes or a worthless small note, it was the same to her.

Qing Hang said softly, “It was my approach that was wrong back then. It was my fault.”

Cheng Wanyue turned her head. “It was your fault. I wasn’t wrong.”

“Mm,” Qing Hang hooked his fingers with hers. “Will you forgive me?”

She hummed softly, her expression haughty. “Depends on your performance.”

Qing Hang made a very lavish lunch. Cheng Wanyue’s mood improved after eating, and the shoes fit her well and didn’t rub.

She slept until past six in the afternoon, then got up for dinner. Waiting always felt slow. She had slept a lot during the day and wasn’t sleepy at all, so she chose the clothes for the evening outing. Qing Hang would wear white, and she would wear black, the opposite of the shoes’ colors.

Huo Zhi had jet lag, so her routine was similar to Cheng Wanyue’s.

Cheng Yanqing decided to drive back to Nanjing and had already put her bridesmaid dress in the car. They would depart tomorrow afternoon.

Qing Hang was invited to give a campus lecture at his alma mater; the time had been set long ago, and he couldn’t take leave early. He could only go on the 5th.

Cheng Wanyue showed Qing Hang photos of Coal Ball. While flipping through her album, she found Zhou Yu and Cheng Yuzhou’s wedding photos. They looked at them for a long time. She thought it was late, but it was only eight o’clock.

“Can’t sleep, can’t sleep, I can’t sleep,” she tossed and turned on the bed, touching and kissing him, her hands restless. “Can you ‘perform’ again?”

Qing Hang opened his eyes. Before she could make a move, he rolled over and pinned down her restless hands and feet. “Don’t blame me if I don’t have the strength to go out.”

“I do! Don’t look down on me!” Cheng Wanyue reached into the drawer with one hand for condoms. “Don’t blame me if you’re drained, weak-legged, back-sore, and can’t get hard.”

The festive atmosphere was strong; she was a little excited.

She couldn’t sleep, and Qing Hang even less so. Every time he slept with her, he would only slowly feel sleepy after she had fallen asleep.

Cheng Wanyue’s hand holding the condom was pressed into the pillow by Qing Hang. She first bit him on the chest, where the teeth marks hadn’t faded. Her bent knee also rubbed against him. Although he could endure more now than before, he could feel the change beneath the fabric.

Previously, whenever she leaned against his shoulder reading manga, he would get hard.

She still remembered one New Year’s Day when, after dinner, everyone found excuses to slip away, leaving only her and Qing Hang in the room. She lay on the sofa watching the holiday special, one foot resting on his lap, when she felt something poking her. Thinking it was his belt, she mentioned it.

He said he wasn’t wearing one.

It took her a second to realize. When she did, she glanced down, and the amusement in her eyes never faded. She locked the door, jumped onto him, and he steadied her by the waist as she settled in his lap. Before she could tease him, he kissed her deeply.

That was Cheng Yuzhou’s room. He only kissed her, but he didn’t sleep a wink all night after going home.

•

“There are still six hours before we leave,” Qing Hang’s hand slipped beneath the edge of her panties, fingers brushing her soft entrance. ”You can try.”

When had she ever been the one to call it quits first?

Cheng Wanyue hooked her leg around his waist. ”Try it, then. Just don’t take any breaks halfway. Use all of these.”

There were plenty of ways to make him come without penetration.

“Qing Hang,” she murmured, her breath hot against his ear. His kiss grew rougher in response.

She laughed and pressed her lips to his Adam’s apple. ”Want to try something new?”