In the darkness of the night, Chen Youhan did not see the tears that flowed down Ye Kai's face. He was stunned for a long time, as if he was observing that Ye Kai's existence was real, and as if he was trying to digest that the words he just said were not hallucinations. After a while, he said something ambiguous: "I haven't celebrated my birthday for a long time."
Ye Kai turned and walked forward, responding steadily: "I know."
Chen Youhan had many questions to ask at once, but he was picking and choosing in his mind, and felt that none of them were too heavy for him to handle. President Chen, who used to be decisive and victorious at the negotiation table, had lost his confidence and skills, and became more timid than ever before.
The mountain road was winding and the rumbling sound of the stream became louder as we got closer to the village.
Chen Youhan fell one step behind, and the two walked in silence all the way.
He lived in the most prominent family in the area. There were two stone houses in the stone wall, forming a corner. There was also a livestock warehouse. There were many disputes over the site selection of the new school building. The owner Sang Ji and the local village party secretary played an important role. Chen Youhan stayed in his house for many days and was treated like a home away from home.
Hearing Chen Youhan introducing him to Sang Ji as "younger brother", Ye Kai curled the corners of his lips without comment, while Sang Ji immediately asked his wife Mei Duo to add more dishes.
The stove was burning very brightly, with crackling sounds coming from the flames, and thick smoke was discharged from the aluminum-wrapped chimney into the embrace of the lonely mountains.
Meiduo is very good at cooking. She cooked mushrooms roasted in ghee, hand-pulled mutton, and ginseng yogurt rice, all of which were flavors Ye Kai had never tasted before. He sat beside her and helped her add firewood. He was very well-behaved, but he was basically doing more harm than good. The little boy Pingcuo squeezed a stool with him. He couldn't stand it, so he took the fire stick from his hand and poked it in the stove. Ye Kai picked him up and held him on his lap. Pingcuo's face was sunburned red. He sniffed with his round nose, and then grabbed Ye Kai's collar and sniffed harder without fear. After a whole day of traveling, only the last note of the perfume remained, which seemed particularly fresh in the smell of ghee that had accumulated over the years.
But this action obviously annoyed Chen Youhan, and he was pulled out of Ye Kai's arms by the collar.
Pingcuo was very familiar with Chen Youhan, and his five or six-year-old little fists immediately greeted him.
"Stop it." Chen Youhan threw him to the ground impatiently. Pingcuo ran to hug his mother's thigh. Ye Kai held his chin with one hand, casually poked the firewood, glanced at Chen Youhan with a smile in the firelight, and then lightly withdrew his gaze.
Chen Youhan lit a cigarette, turned around, lifted the curtain and went out.
The wind was so strong that it could blow people away. A cigarette was blown away after just a few puffs. He looked up at the stars, but damn, there were none.
The door curtain swayed, and Ye Kai approached him holding a cashmere scarf.
"You also get jealous of children?"
Chen Youhan took the cigarette from his mouth, turned his head, and ordered coldly: "Go back."
Ye Kai shook out the dark green scarf and raised his hand to help Chen Youhan wrap it around his neck. The two of them were very close, with a height difference of only six centimeters. He no longer had to stand on tiptoe. But his eyes were still downcast, not meeting Chen Youhan's gaze. His slender hands tied a knot around the extremely soft cashmere scarf. Ye Kai finally raised his eyes and met Chen Youhan's deep gaze. "Birthday present."
The moment he turned to leave, Chen Youhan raised his hand and grabbed his arm. He hesitated for an hour and blurted out the words he had not asked for an hour: "You broke up with Lucas?"
Ye Kai paused, and took a second to think of his answer: "No."
Chen Youhan let go of his hand: "Is it fun?"
The sound of sighs faded away in the wind, and Ye Kai said softly, "We had a fight, so let's go out and relax. Don't you agree?" He looked back and smiled faintly, "Didn't you let it go? I miss you - it's okay for a younger brother to come and play with his older brother."
Chen Youhan was speechless, the white cigarette pipe was almost deformed by his fingertips. He said coldly and helplessly: "Not yet."
The arc of his smile deepened, and Ye Kai responded half-seriously: "That's perfect, just treat it as desensitization treatment."
I clearly heard Chen Youhan curse "Fuck".
The ginseng fruit yogurt rice was so delicious that Ye Kai couldn't help eating two bowls, and even he felt rude. But Mei Duo was obviously very happy and kept urging him to eat more. Pingcuo took his bowl and ran to the kitchen to fill it up. He stared at Ye Kai with his black eyes and said in crisp Mandarin: "Have a nice meal, pretty brother."
Chen Youhan drank his tea leisurely, crossing his legs in a relaxed and lazy manner. No one noticed the smile that he couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth.
I am dying. Ye Kai looked at his performance tonight. He might need some stomach-strengthening and digestion-promoting tablets.
Sangji's parents lived with him. The bedroom was tight, so the only guest bedroom had been cleaned up to entertain Chen Youhan. After dinner, Chen Youhan took him to the village party secretary to arrange accommodation. The village was extremely quiet. You could hear Tibetans leading horses with iron handles through the alleys, making slow clattering sounds on the bluestone pavement. Occasionally, a few young people would sit on the fence and smoke, talking in Tibetan in a low voice, and a few sparks made the night sky even more lonely and cold.
When they arrived at the village party secretary's house to explain their purpose, the village party secretary's house didn't have any guest rooms, so they decided to take them to other houses in the village to ask. After many twists and turns, Ye Kai almost fell into a small puddle where the horse had pulled manure, but Chen Youhan quickly caught him. He was so angry that he cursed in a low voice: "Are you addicted to falling?"
The village party secretary laughed and said, "The roads here are either full of rocks or potholes. It's normal for kids from the city to sprain their ankles and fall down!" As he said that, he turned the high-power flashlight in his hand to make it brighter.
The peripheral light caught Ye Kai’s somewhat aggrieved face.
Chen Youhan was silent for a moment and went to pull Ye Kai's hand.
Ye Kai knocked it away decisively and walked forward angrily.
He said coldly: "None of your business."
Chen Youhan was pulled and beaten again.
After going back and forth twice, Ye Kai stepped on a stone and his thin figure swayed again in the night. He had no choice but to humbly say, "I was wrong."
He held Ye Kai's wrist through his sleeve.
There was no rejection this time.
It was just that their posture was awkward, and the village party secretary saw it and laughed at them: "What's the point of holding each other like this? It would be fun if both of them fell down together later!"
Ye Kai coughed softly and twitched his wrist, as if asking Chen Youhan to let go.
Chen Youhan stiffened for a moment, then finally relaxed.
Then he took his hand again without further ado.
One palm is hot, the other is cold.
Ye Kai shivered slightly from the heat.
Chen Youhan held the hand tightly, put his other hand in his pocket, and walked slowly. The road was much easier to walk after this section, but no one wanted to let go unless the village party secretary mentioned it.
This is not a village open to the public, and there are very few families with guest rooms. After going to several houses, I got an apologetic response from each one. As we walked further and further away, the dog was almost asleep, but was startled by the footsteps of the three people and started barking in surprise.
The village party secretary sighed, "It's not that there are no options, but the village is not so particular. We feel embarrassed to receive the kids from the city, right?" He added, "Why don't you squeeze in at Sangji's house? You can sleep together!"
Ye Kai was choked by the cold air and coughed. He felt Chen Youhan holding his hand tightly unconsciously.
He was the person involved, and if he didn't speak up, the matter would not be resolved. He nodded understandingly: "Brother Youhan, it's okay for me."
Chen Youhan made a prompt decision: "I will stay at someone else's house, and you can sleep at Sangji's. I will leave early tomorrow morning."
Ye Kai turned his head sharply to look at him, his eyes wide open, and then angrily threw Chen Youhan away, saying sarcastically, "Whatever you want."
The village party secretary's home and Sang Ji's home were in two different directions. Chen Youhan couldn't trouble the village party secretary to send Ye Kai off, so he apologized and thanked him. He glanced at Ye Kai and saw that he was getting farther and farther away, so he quickly chased after him.
"I know the way!"
Chen Youhan pulled his arm: "Don't walk so fast."
Ye Kai shook him off and said, "Get lost."
Chen Youhan laughed angrily: "You were wronged by your boyfriend so you want to be willful to me?"
Ye Kai stopped and said, "Is it not possible? Didn't you say that I can do whatever I want with you? Or is it that what you said two years ago is invalid, no longer counted, timed out, expired, and you won't give it to me anymore?"
Chen Youhan took a deep breath. Under the moonlight, he stared at Ye Kai with deep eyes. "Here," he took Ye Kai's cold hand and pressed it tightly against his chest. "It's really about to be stabbed to pieces."
Ye Kai looked at him for a while, then said coldly, "Liar."
I returned to Sangji's house unhappy all the way. Meiduo had already cleaned the guest bedroom. The floor was made of bluestone tiles, there was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the furniture was all hand-planed by the village carpenter, painted with varnish and waxed, looking heavy and simple. There were a few slices of cut watermelon on the low long table, and the teacup was filled with Pu'er tea, which was good for digestion and ready to drink.
Ye Kai threw his backpack in the corner, and his anger seemed to have subsided. He said to Chen Youhan obediently: "Brother Youhan, eat the watermelon before you leave."
Chen Youhan remained indifferent.
But he didn't leave immediately.
Ye Kai said in a very interesting way: "Eating watermelon around the stove, I have only seen it in geography class in the first year of high school. Brother Youhan, have you tried it? Is it fun? Is the watermelon very sweet?"
No one can refuse such a Ye Kai, not even Chen Youhan.
Ye Kai pulled his arm: "Okay? Eat the watermelon first before you leave."
He changes his temper faster than turning the pages of a book. Chen Youhan suspects that he has become a schizophrenic after having been in a relationship. Lucas must have doted on him, but he turned a well-behaved and good student into a troublemaker.
The two of them sat down around the stove. Ye Kai handed him a piece of cake in a serious manner, took one for himself, and clinked the cake in Chen Youhan's hand before taking the first bite: "Cheers."
Chen Youhan: “…”
As expected, after tasting the cool and sweet watermelon in front of the stove, Ye was happy and satisfied: "Let's have tea!"
He stood up again to get the Pu'er tea.
It was a very fragrant aged Pu'er tea, but it had been steeped for a long time and was a little bitter. Ye Kai took a sip, poured it out, and added hot water again.
"Brother Youhan, did you throw away the sapphire and ski board that I sent back to you?" Ye Kai chatted.
Chen Youhan moved his lips, as if he was caught off guard by the question and couldn't think of the most appropriate answer that would be good for everyone.
Ye Kai pursed his lips: "Throw it away?"
He nodded and said calmly, "That's right, you must have been fed up with me at that time, so it's normal to throw it away."
Chen Youhan could only agree with him: "...throw it away."
"I checked the sapphire. It turned out to be sold at Christie's for 7 million. You are really willing to give it away. Haven't you had a satisfactory relationship in the past two years? If not, you can give it away."
"You're so smart." Chen Youhan praised coldly.
"Not bad." Ye Kai took a sip of hot tea: "You taught me well."
"I've never done anything so tasteless."
"It's quite ungentlemanly of you to go back to your ex."
Chen Youhan cursed him out, but there was nothing he could do: "I didn't get to eat it, so I'm at a loss for cursing."
Ye Kai couldn't help laughing, and immediately turned his face to the stove, coughed, and asked seriously: "How do you want to celebrate your 36th birthday?"
Chen Youhan held the teacup, crossed his legs, and had a stern expression on his face: "Light thirty-six candles and make thirty-six wishes."
"How greedy."
"Who cares?"
"What's your wish? Tell me."
"What's the point of telling you?"
"What if?"
Chen Youhan put down his teacup and stood up: "It won't work if you say it out loud, haven't you heard it before?"
He walked toward the door.
Ye Kai raised his wrist to check his watch, with a faint smile on his face: "You're not going to bother others so late, are you?"
Chen Youhan stopped.
"It's almost eleven o'clock, even the dog has gone to sleep. Brother Youhan, you are very rude."
He crossed his arms and leaned against the closet door: "Sleeping with me, what are you afraid of?"
He was tricked. He dragged him to eat watermelon, drink tea and chat nonsense. It turned out that he was just trying to delay time.
Chen Youhan was helpless: "Xiao Kai, you really came here to torture me."
Ye Kai insisted on his statement: "I am here to celebrate your birthday."
Chen Youhan doesn't want to celebrate his birthday. In the past two years, his birthday has changed beyond all recognition. He had a birthday with a Himalayan conch fossil, a birthday with a confession, and a birthday with birthday songs sung in the cinema. They are vivid and profound, and can never be forgotten. Qiao Chu has asked him countless times, Chen Youhan, why don't you continue to enjoy your life of pleasure?
...He had love, and he can't go back.
He couldn't go back, but he couldn't move forward either. He was trapped in Ye Kai's 18 years old, wandering alone.
"Xiao Kai, once people are over 30, they don't like celebrating their birthdays that much." Chen Youhan gazed at him through the light with the deepest and most secret tenderness.
"I will make you fall in love with it again." Ye Kai said stubbornly.
Chen Youhan lowered his head and smiled: "You are really willful."
"Brother Youhan, I am only willful to you."
His heart inevitably trembled at these words. Chen Youhan turned around, came back to Ye Kai, lowered his eyes and looked at him, his eyes were deep, suppressing emotions that no one could understand.
It was the first time he saw Ye Kai openly in two years.
She had grown up, her immaturity faded, her beautiful facial features always looked calm, and only in front of him would she have a look other than coldness. Chen Youhan raised his hand to push aside Ye Kai's hair, and his warm fingertips stroked down along her forehead, temples, and the corners of her eyes, across her jade-like cheeks, and stopped at her pointed jaw.
Ye Kai felt his chin being pinched by him and lifted it up.
His eyes met Chen Youhan's.
Chen Youhan smiled and said, "Baby, so you hate me so much that you want to trap me for life."
Ye Kai did not comment.
Chen Youhan closed his eyes. He was used to the smell of butter lamps in the room, but he finally understood why Pingcuo couldn't help but want to smell the perfume on Xiaokai's body. It reminded Chen Youhan of the moment when he ran through the dense fir forest to the alpine meadow. He lowered his head and kissed Ye Kai on the forehead.
Ye Kai closed his eyes, his young Adam's apple trembling slightly.
The kiss burned his pale, thin eyelids.
Perm the tip of your nose to make it more upturned.
Perm his upper lip, which is shaped like a petal and is full.
Rubbing, holding, sucking and licking gently.
Ye Kai obediently opened his lips and felt Chen Youhan's deep kiss.
There was a strong wind outside the window, and the sudden rain was hitting the glass. He stood on tiptoe and put his arms around Chen Youhan's neck.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
