Chapter 28

Summer nights are as sticky as unmelted honey. On the rooftop of a handshake building in the old city, the tin shed is as hot as a steamer, and the old air conditioner hums and exhales cold air like the gasps of a dying man.

Wu Ye's arm was across Li Ruiyuan's waist, his sweaty chest pressed against his slightly cool back. It was already one in the morning, and his arm tightened, his nose burrowing into the back of his neck, rubbing against it repeatedly, like a puppy that had found its bone and refused to let go.

"Can't sleep?" Li Ruiyuan asked hoarsely. He was woken up just as he was falling asleep. There was a hint of restlessness between his brows, but he didn't push away the person behind him.

Wu Ye muttered a muffled "hmm," his hot, moist breath tickling his ridged spine. A rustling sound echoed in the darkness, and Li Ruiyuan turned over. His eyes, always half-lidded beneath his thick brows, rarely opened, staring into the young man's moist eyes through the residual shadow of the neon light filtering through the curtains.

"Then count sheep."

"don't want."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Kiss me"

Li Ruiyuan chuckled softly, his characteristic lazy voice: "You're really hard to please." Even so, he raised his hands to cup Wu Ye's face, his dry lips pressing a kiss to his eyelids, then to his nose, cheekbone, and finally across his tightly pursed lips. It was light, like a dragonfly skimming across a scalding pond.

Wu Ye clutched the front of his pajamas, his knuckles white. All he could muster was a choking, sobbing sound. Li Ruiyuan kissed him again, this time with a little force, like stamping a seal.

"Are you ready?" He ruffled Wu Ye's sweaty hair, "Go to sleep."

The twenty-year-old young man finally quieted down, burying his face in the crook of his neck. His broad frame curled up like a shrimp, carefully avoiding the man's thin waistline. Li Ruiyuan let him hold him, his fingers intermittently combing through his wiry hair. The neon signs outside the window cast a crisscross of red and blue on his face, making his thick eyebrows look even more fierce.

Wu Ye's breathing gradually calmed, but Li Ruiyuan stared at the ceiling, wide awake. A knife lay under his pillow, and a ledger was hidden in the nightstand. Tomorrow he would deal with the new arrival at the docks. He was like a venomous spider at the center of a web, his threads clinging to every dark corner of Guangzhou.

The person in my arms suddenly murmured in his sleep: "A Yuan..."

The air conditioner finally stopped, leaving only the murmur of intertwined breathing in the silence. September was almost over, and some things were always lost in the height of summer, such as justice, such as light, and such as the lives that should have been completely different.

But sleeping in each other's arms at this moment is enough.

The next day, Wu Ye woke first. His arms were still clasped, but his chest felt empty. The sound of chopping vegetables came from the kitchen. He stepped barefoot over the cigarette butts on the floor and saw Li Ruiyuan, wearing an apron, chopping pork ribs.

Li Ruiyuan didn't even turn his head, and the knife was raised and cut accurately. "Mom will be here soon, please pack up your books."

Wu Ye silently stacked the calculus textbooks scattered across the coffee table. Tucked into the spine of a book was a photo of Li Ruiyuan, a silhouette of him waiting for him downstairs in his dormitory last year, cigarette in hand.

The soup was bubbling when the doorbell rang. Li's mother rushed in, carrying a plastic bag from the market. "Yuanzi! Don't sleep all day after work, okay?"

Li Ruiyuan replied lazily, taking the winter melon from his mother's hand. Wu Ye, crouched in the corner, teasing the calico cat that had jumped in from the windowsill, heard Li's mother mutter, "Aye, you have to keep an eye on him! This poor brat never eats breakfast."

"I understand, Auntie." Wu Ye lowered his head and scratched the cat's chin, his ears slightly red.

The three of them sat on low stools, shelling corn. Suddenly, Li's mother said, "Xuanxuan ranked in the top ten in the class on the monthly exam. She's undoubtedly inherited my excellent genes." Li Ruiyuan curled his lips and tossed the tenderest corncob into Wu Ye's bowl.

In the afternoon, his mother left, and the two of them wandered to the banyan tree at the entrance of the alley. A stray cat pup emerged from under the car. Wu Ye crouched down and reached out, but Li Ruiyuan gently blocked it with the tip of his shoe.

"Silly pig, be careful of getting caught." (Stupid, be careful of getting caught.)

The orange cat rubbed against Li Ruiyuan's trouser leg. He flicked the cat's ears with his fingers and said, "What are you looking at? I'm a bad cat too."

Wu Ye suddenly said softly in Cantonese: "But I like evil cats." (But I like evil cats.)

The cicadas' chirping suddenly became louder. Li Ruiyuan glanced at him, kicked a stone at his feet, and his ears flushed slightly. The shadows of the trees danced between them, like a boundary that could never be crossed, or like the destiny that had long been intertwined.

The cat ran up the wall and left, and they remained where they were.

Wu Ye was still crouched there, the soft touch of cat fur lingering on his fingertips. Li Ruiyuan stood beside him, his hands in his pockets, his school uniform trouser legs stained with wall dust, and he leaned lazily against the mossy brick wall, as if he had no bones.

"It's so hot, let's go back." Li Ruiyuan kicked the tip of Wu Ye's shoe.

Wu Ye didn't move. His gaze fell on the beads of sweat on Li Ruiyuan's neck, which slowly slid down the curve of his Adam's apple and into the loose collar. The air was filled with the bitter aroma of the cold tea brewed by the neighbors, mixed with the dust from the old walls steaming in the scorching sun.

"A Yuan." Wu Ye suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse.

Li Ruiyuan glanced at him lazily: "What's the matter?"

The next second, Wu Ye suddenly stood up, grabbed Li Ruiyuan's wrist, and dragged him deeper into the alley. Li Ruiyuan was caught off guard and stumbled two steps. He frowned and said, "What are you doing, idiot?"

The alley turned a corner here, forming a hidden corner where several residents' discarded flower pots and old furniture were piled up. Dense bougainvillea hung down from the wall, casting a thick shade.

Wu Ye pressed Li Ruiyuan against the wall, his movements reckless and youthful. The moss on the wall stained Li Ruiyuan's white T-shirt, but he didn't care. He just squinted at Wu Ye and said, "Let go."

"No, I..." Wu Ye's Adam's apple rolled, and his eyes, which were always wet, were surprisingly bright at this moment, "I want to kiss you."

Li Ruiyuan was stunned

"You want more after we kissed so many times yesterday?" He frowned.

This wasn't their first kiss. They'd kissed many times in the dimly lit rental house, in countless unknown corners. But never like this—in broad daylight, in an alley where people might see them, while Wu Ye was sober and impulsive.

"You..." Li Ruiyuan was about to say something when Wu Ye leaned over and kissed him.

The kiss was a desperate one, rough and awkward. Wu Ye's teeth knocked against Li Ruiyuan's lips, tasting a hint of blood. Li Ruiyuan subconsciously tried to push him away, but his hand stopped mid-raise.

He saw Wu Ye's eyes tightly closed, his eyelashes trembling nervously. This young man, always self-deprecating and gloomy, seemed to have exhausted all his courage at this moment to do something extremely rebellious.

Li Ruiyuan cursed in his heart and closed his eyes.

Never mind, we’re together anyway, there’s nothing to be shy about, he thought to himself.

He reached out and put his arms around Wu Ye's neck, deepening the kiss. From outside the alley came the sound of motorcycles passing by, the distant cries of vendors, and the rustling of laundry drying on someone's balcony. But these sounds became distant and blurred, leaving only the rapid breathing and heartbeats of each other.

Wu Ye's hands clutched the corner of Li Ruiyuan's shirt tightly, his knuckles turning white. This kiss carried the unique heat of summer and the rebelliousness of youth, as if he wanted to vent all his hidden love in this moment. He kissed so hard, as if it was his last kiss before the end of the world.

Li Ruiyuan was breathless from his kiss, and pushed him away slightly, panting and saying: "Enough..."

Wu Ye kissed her again, this time much more gently, like an apology, like a plea. His tongue licked Li Ruiyuan's bitten lip gently, with careful care.

Deep in this sultry alley, two young people kissed passionately.

…………

On the second-floor balcony of the building across the alley, Aunt Chen was holding up her cell phone, her fingers trembling slightly.

She had been out collecting clothes when she stumbled upon two figures in the alley. At first, she thought they were fighting, but upon closer inspection, she nearly cried out in shock—wasn't that the Li family kid and the Wu family kid? How could they...

The cell phone camera showed the two young people hugging each other tightly and kissing passionately. Aunt Chen's hands were shaking even more violently. She should have left immediately, but an inexplicable emotion made her stay where she was.

She had watched Li Ruiyuan grow up. Although he was a rough-and-tumble guy, he was polite to her as a neighbor, occasionally helping her carry heavy items upstairs. Wu Ye was even more well-behaved and sensible, always greeting her politely when they met.

But now...how can this be?

Aunt Chen finally pressed the record button. She told herself it was for the children's own good. If this were to get out, how would they live? She had to let Mother Li know and discipline her children.

In the video, Wu Ye gently pressed Li Ruiyuan against the wall, his fingers carefully caressing his cheek. Such a gentle gesture would have made Aunt Chen, even at her age, blush. Finally unable to bear it any longer, she turned off the recording and hurried back inside.

On the phone screen, the short video lay quietly in the album. Aunt Chen sat on the sofa, feeling a conflict within herself.

She recalled the proud yet worried look on Li's face when she mentioned her son, and the lonely and helpless life of Wu Ye. If this video were to get out, the lives of these two children would be ruined.

But if I don't tell them and let them continue to make mistakes, wouldn't that be harmful to them?

Aunt Chen sighed and placed her phone on the coffee table. The sunlight streamed in through the window, reflecting a glaring light on the screen.

“Young people today are really… disgusting.”

In the alley, Li Ruiyuan finally pushed Wu Ye away.

"That's enough." He wiped his lips, looked at the blood on his lips, and glared at Wu Ye, "Are you born in the Year of the Dog?"

Wu Ye lowered his head, his ears red, and his courage seemed to disappear in an instant: "I'm sorry..."

Li Ruiyuan tutted his tongue and tugged at his wrinkled collar: "Let's go."

He was the first to walk out of the alley, and Wu Ye followed silently behind him. The sunlight stretched their shadows very long, overlapping on the bumpy concrete ground.

When Li Ruiyuan got home, the first thing he did was turn on the air conditioner and then collapse on the sofa to play with his phone. Wu Ye went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Do your lips still hurt?" Wu Ye asked in a low voice.

Li Ruiyuan looked up at him and suddenly smiled: "Are you embarrassed now? Weren't you quite capable in the alley just now?"

Wu Ye's face turned even redder, and he stood there awkwardly, like a child who had done something wrong.

Li Ruiyuan reached out and pulled him over to sit next to him, ruffling his hair: "You are really my big baby."

This intimate name made Wu Ye relax. He leaned on Li Ruiyuan's shoulder and smelled the faint scent of tobacco on him.

"Brother," he whispered, "will we be discovered?"

Li Ruiyuan's fingers paused, then continued to scroll the screen of his phone: "Are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid." Wu Ye said immediately, but hesitated again, "I just don't want to cause you any trouble."

Li Ruiyuan sneered: "What kind of trouble could I have?"

He spoke casually, but his eyes darkened. He knew better than anyone what kind of turmoil their relationship would stir in this conservative town if exposed. But he was never one to shy away from anything. Having chosen this path, he was ready to face it all.

Wu Ye leaned on his shoulder and gradually fell asleep. Li Ruiyuan put down his phone, looked at the young man's peaceful sleeping face, and gently brushed away the loose hair on his forehead.

The air conditioner blew cold air, and the chirping of sparrows came from outside the window. This afternoon seemed no different from any other, but they were unaware that the trajectory of their fate had quietly deviated.

Aunt Chen sat at home, watching the video on her mobile phone over and over again. Finally, she opened the address book and found Mother Li's number.

Her finger lingered on the dial button for a long time, but she didn't press it. Finally, she chose to send a text message.

"Sister Li, I have something to tell you. Call me back when it's convenient."

The message was successfully sent, and she breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had accomplished something important. The phone screen dimmed, reflecting her worried face.

In the rental house, Li Ruiyuan also received a message from his sister Li Xuan: "Brother, my mother just called and asked me if you are in a relationshipヽ(Д)"

Li Ruiyuan stared at the text message, frowning slightly.

Wu Ye moved on his shoulder and asked dazedly, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay." Li Ruiyuan turned off the screen, "Go to sleep."

But an ominous premonition had already quietly wrapped around his heart like a vine. Although Guangzhou was still hot, he felt a chill.

That kiss in the alley was like the last carnival of summer.