Chapter 30: Winter Melon Green Tea and Grass Jelly Honey
Xie Kang parked the car at the intersection of Kaiping Street, took out the car keys and followed Zhuang Yongyuan up the stairs.
Zhuang Yongyuan opened the door and turned on the light. Xie Kang followed in, closed the door, turned off the light, and in the dark, he put his arm around Zhuang Yongyuan's waist, held his face with his other hand, and leaned over to kiss him.
The rustling sound of clothes rubbing against hair was thin and dense, and after a while, there was the sound of wet and sticky water and chaotic breathing.
"Hiss——" Zhuang Yongyuan suddenly took a breath, and pushed Xie Kang away in pain. He fumbled to turn on the light, and checked the wound on his tongue in the mirror. His mouth was full of rust.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I bit you accidentally." Xie Kang looked embarrassed.
Zhuang Yongyuan said nothing. He was afraid of pain, but the sudden pain had made him a little excited. He licked the canine tooth vigorously with the tip of his tongue, feeling the short, shallow wound.
"Don't be angry. If you can't do it, just bite it back." Xie Kang went to pull his hand.
The first floor of Zhuang Yongyuan's house still retains the furnishings of the former barber shop. Several sponge swivel chairs are pulled to the corner, and large mirrors are embedded on the two opposite walls. The bluish mirror surface reflects countless figures of the two of them.
After the housekeeping team cleaned up, the musty smell in the house dissipated, and the smell of old shampoo and hair cream emerged.
The wooden cabinet that used to hold various barber tools has become Zhuang Fu's memorial tablet. Zhuang Yongyuan inadvertently glanced at the black and white photo in the frame.
His heart sank, and he said to Xie Kang, "Go and lock the door."
"Lock it after I leave..." Xie Kang was halfway through his sentence when he saw Zhuang Yongyuan's eyes and suddenly understood what he meant. He felt hot all over in the middle of winter and said, "I'll go buy some condoms."
Zhuang Yongyuan licked his lips and said, "I want it now."
"It's better to buy it."
Xie Kang was in a hurry to go out when his right foot was tripped by Zhuang Yongyuan from behind. He stumbled and fell backwards on Zhuang Yongyuan.
Zhuang Yongyuan helped him stand up, reached out to lock the door, and said, "Why are you so patient today?"
Xie Kang turned off the lights again, his belt buckle and trousers falling to the ground. He reached into Zhuang Yongyuan's clothes and said in a hoarse voice, "You've always been patient, right?"
"At least not the first time." Zhuang Yongyuan said, and cried out in pain.
Xie Kang was about to stop when his right hand suddenly touched the uneven skin on Zhuang Yongyuan's right shoulder near his arm. It was originally a cyan birthmark with a blurred border, which felt no different from normal skin.
He had changed, but he didn't know it.
Xie Kang lost his mind in an instant.
The light hanging from the ceiling flickered and lit up. Zhuang Yongyuan squinted his eyes at the sudden brightness and bent down to pick up his clothes from the floor.
Zhuang Yongyuan and Xie Kang were both wearing jeans today. Zhuang Yongyuan didn't notice clearly and picked up the wrong pair, so he ended up wearing Xie Kang's pants. When he was tying his belt, he realized the size was too big, so he took off his pants again.
He looked up and saw Xie Kang staring at him blankly. He asked Xie Kang with amusement, "Is this the first time you saw me without clothes?"
Xie Kang pointed at his shoulder and asked, "Your birthmark..."
"Oh, no wonder you kept touching there just now." Zhuang Yongyuan tilted his head and looked at his back in the mirror. The original birthmark was gone, replaced by a regular scar floating on the skin.
Besides Zhuang Yongyuan, there were two wet handprints on the mirror, along with a large cloud of mist. As Zhuang Yongyuan stood between the two handprints, touching his scar, Xie Kang felt his heart skip a beat.
He swallowed and asked, "Why did it turn into an ice cream cone?"
Zhuang Yongyuan smiled, showing his teeth, and said, "Skin cutting and tattooing, haven't you heard of it?"
Xie Kang pulled out his phone and searched for the term. Unlike regular tattoos, which use a needle to inject dye into the skin, dermal tattoos involve cutting directly off the surface of the skin. As the wound heals, a raised scar forms on the original skin. The scar takes the same shape as the cut skin.
Xie Kang approached Zhuang Yongyuan and took a closer look at the McDonald's ice cream cone-shaped tattoo.
"Have you seen enough?" Zhuang Yongyuan asked him.
"Does having a birthmark affect your performance?"
"I'm not some idol star! I'm a talented creative musician!"
Xie Kang suddenly said something in Minnan dialect: "Bed mother."
"What did you say?"
"Do you know the Bed Mother? It's said that she's a goddess who protects children. Before you turn sixteen, she'll secretly protect you. The birthmark is the mark the Bed Mother left on you, so she can easily recognize you from other children."
"If you say so, then I should have this birthmark removed. The gods and people here have nothing to do with me."
“Why an ice cream cone?”
"Is it not okay because I love to eat?" Zhuang Yongyuan rolled his eyes and said, "Shouldn't you go home?"
"Throw it away after use?" Xie Kang said, thinking of the many ice cream cones he and Zhuang Yongyuan had eaten together, all the way back to the one he bought for Zhuang Yongyuan on their first date in Xinding City during their sophomore year of high school.
"How do I know if you have a curfew?"
Xie Kang heard the sarcasm in his words and asked Zhuang Yongyuan, "Do you have any extra pajamas?"
Zhuang Yongyuan hesitated for a moment, and Xie Kang added, "It's not the first time I've stayed the night at your place."
"I drank too much that time."
"It's like you're not drunk yet." Xie Kang deliberately sniffed a few times and wrinkled his nose. "Fortunately, it's the weekend tomorrow, otherwise it would be unethical of a teacher for you to go to school like this."
He leaned close to Zhuang Yongyuan's ear and said, "Besides, we're all together now. What's so strange about spending the night together?"
"It's just a matter of a few months, but you make it sound like we'll be together forever." Zhuang Yongyuan patted Xie Kang and said, "We're just killing time together. Don't overthink it."
Xie Kang adjusted his clothes in front of the mirror, and the mist and fingerprints on them gradually dissipated.
He buttoned up his shirt and asked Zhuang Yongyuan, "Want to go out for a walk?"
"Haven't you walked enough tonight?"
"I haven't been to this area in a while. I miss it a little bit. Do you remember when we used to take walks around here after high school?"
"That happened so many years ago..." Zhuang Yongyuan muttered, putting his phone and keys into his pocket.
Zhuang Yongyuan's home was near Pingnan's most popular night market, Wuhe Road. It was the only place in Pingnan that was packed late at night. They left the house and, as usual, headed that way, not talking much on the way.
When they reached the middle of Wuhe Road, Zhuang Yongyuan glanced at the roadside and said in surprise, "Duoduozi is open so late now?"
Xie Kang also looked at the bright and shiny grass jelly shop and said, "Duoduozi is now an internet celebrity shop. Many people come to Pingnan for tourism just to drink this."
Zhuang Yongyuan said in disbelief, "Who wants to travel to Pingnan?"
"There's nothing fun in Pingnan, but the Duoduozi is still delicious." Xie Kang blinked and said, "How about you drink the winter melon green tea?"
"If you drink dessert at night and get fat and out of shape, I won't be able to stand you for a few months."
"I just did some intense exercise. You used to drink every day, but nothing changed, right? There were so many people standing in the front row taking pictures of you during the performance."
"How do you know? Have you been to Lily Heart's performance before?"
"I saw a lot of accounts, and when I clicked on them, they were all photos and videos of your performances." Xie Kang said with a smile while scanning the code to place an order.
There were still several people standing at the entrance of the store. As Xie Kang finished speaking, two girls who had been secretly observing them for a while came over and asked Zhuang Yongyuan, "Sorry to bother you, are you the lead singer of Lily Heart?"
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