Chapter 23
Neither of them mentioned their secret discovery, but they undoubtedly noticed the other's tenderness. An unspoken sweetness was hidden in every eye contact, brewing the intimacy of a long-awaited reunion.
More than 20 days after leaving, in the hospital parking lot, the roof of the black car was covered with golden dead leaves and the windows were covered with a layer of dark dust.
After three sprays of windshield washer fluid, the front windshield was finally clear. As Zhou Wangchuan started the car, he asked, "Baby, how have you been going to work for the past two weeks?"
Shang Mu leaned weakly against the passenger seat, hugging the pillow in his arms, and tilted his head to look at him: "Well, I pay for the service. Sister Zheng picks me up and drops me off every day, two hundred yuan a day."
Sister Zheng is his assistant in the company.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Wangchuan touched his hair and said nothing.
Shang Mu could drive, thanks to Zhou Wangchuan's personal instruction. With a good teacher and a talented student, Shang Mu passed every subject on his first try and earned his driver's license right out of college. But strangely enough, he didn't enjoy driving.
One year, Zhou Wangchuan bought him a car as a birthday present. But when he saw the car keys, his face instantly turned cold. He said, "If you think I'm delaying your work, just say so. Do you think I don't know you? You just don't want to take me to work every day, nor do you want to pick me up after get off work. You'd rather arrive at the hospital 20 minutes early to see a patient than take me to work!"
That was when they were arguing the most fiercely, often having a small quarrel every three days and a big quarrel every five days. Shang Mu would slam the door and leave after saying something, and would not return all night. Zhou Wangchuan had no choice but to return the car.
Zhou Wangchuan often thinks of the time when he taught Shang Mu how to drive. They were the sweetest during that time. They were a sweet couple who would take pictures of each other during every meal.
At the time, Shang Munian was a junior in college, learning to drive from Zhou Wangchuan. He felt no pressure at first, but when he learned that the nondescript black car was a custom-made, international brand with a seven- or even eight-figure price tag, he was terrified and refused to drive it.
“What if it gets scratched?” he said. “And it will definitely get scratched.”
Zhou Wangchuan just smiled and said, "If you get it rubbed against something, just send it in for repair. What's the big deal?"
The two drove all the way to a sparsely populated suburban garden. Shang Mu didn't know what magical operation he performed, but he drove the car onto a huge flower bed. No matter how he turned the steering wheel or stepped on the accelerator, it was of no use.
Zhou Wangchuan asked Shang Mu to switch seats so that he could drive, but Shang Mu was afraid that the bushes outside the car would dirty his clothes and pants, so he refused to get out of the car and only asked Shang Mu to switch seats inside the car.
Both of them were tall and long-legged, and the car's cramped space meant their bodies inevitably rubbed against each other as they swapped seats. It was early spring, and even through the thin layers of clothing, both of their bodies felt scorching hot. Soon, things got out of hand.
The passenger seat was fully reclined, and the passionate kiss quickly heated up the space, with clothes scattered all over the floor. Both of them were passionate young men, and the car stopped in the flower bed for a long time.
It lasted so long that the traffic police came and knocked on the car window.
The two people who were fully engaged were shocked at the same time, and then they heard a question from outside the car: "Is anyone in there?"
The two men saw the traffic policeman's stubble through the car window, and their bodies pressed against each other could hear each other's pounding heartbeats. They looked at each other for a while and held their breath at the same time.
The traffic police knocked a few more times and raised his voice, "Is there anyone inside?"
Zhou Wangchuan calmed down and whispered to Shang Mu, "It's okay. The car is well soundproofed and has good anti-peeping features. He can't hear or see anything."
Shang Mu looked at him nervously, his lips moved but no words came out, he just held his wrist tightly.
Before the traffic police knocked on the window for the third time, the two men quickly put on their clothes. Zhou Wangchuan lowered the window. The traffic police, who was holding a pager and preparing to call his teammates, was stunned: "Is this the owner of the car? Why didn't you say anything just now?"
Zhou Wangchuan said calmly, "I was fixing the car, I didn't hear you, sorry."
The traffic policeman asked, "Repair the car?"
"Well, the car won't start. I don't know what's wrong." Zhou Wangchuan lied seriously. He glanced at the passenger seat. Shang Mu was bent over, his elbows on his knees, covering his face with his hands and laughing, his ears still red.
The traffic police officer asked suspiciously, "Even if they want to repair the car, they should come out and open the hood to repair it. What are they doing inside?"
"Really?" Zhou Wangchuan looked at him sincerely, with an air of humility and eagerness to learn. "Sorry, officer, I just got my driver's license, so I'm not very clear."
His eyes were sincere, so the traffic police believed him for the most part. He then looked inside and saw that the passenger storage box had popped open at some point, and a wrench had fallen to the ground. The traffic police then completely believed him.
"Your car doesn't seem to be broken. It's probably because your skills are not up to par that you can't fall down."
Zhou Wangchuan said: "Thank you, police officer. I will try again."
He started the car and tried to back out of the flower bed. Normally, this would have been a piece of cake. But perhaps from the aftereffects of the shock he had just received, his hands were shaking, and he couldn't get out of the flower bed even after reversing several times.
Shang Mu supported his chin and jokingly said, "Doctor Zhou, your technique is not good enough."
The traffic police looked disgusted and couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he knocked on the car window again: "Get out of the car, I'll do it."
Finally, the two men stood on the side of the road, one looking up at the sky and the other looking at the ground, waiting for the traffic police to back the car onto the main road and call people over. When they looked at each other, they found that their ears were exactly the same red.
"Which of you two drove the car onto the flower bed?" asked the traffic police.
Shang Mu coughed lightly and stared at the flowers in the bushes in a daze.
Zhou Wangchuan said: "Sorry, my skills are too poor."
The traffic police said sternly: "Do you have a driver's license? Please show it to me."
Zhou Wangchuan took out his driver's license and handed it over. The traffic officer looked through it several times, handed it back to him, and muttered something to himself. Zhou Wangchuan vaguely heard him say, "How did you get a driver's license with this level of skill?"
Zhou Wangchuan: "..." He still maintained his smile.
The traffic police officer continued, "Be careful when driving next time. If you encounter difficulties, you can ask us for help. Don't do it on your own. Got it?"
Zhou Wangchuan agreed.
For the next half hour, there was an eerie silence in the car. The car stopped outside the school. Zhou Wangchuan tilted his head to look. Shang Mu was still in a daze, his ears red.
"Are we still studying next week?" he asked.
Shang Mu was still lost in thought and just casually replied, "Oh."
Zhou Wangchuan unbuckled his seat belt, leaned over and pinched his burning ears, and said jokingly, "What are you thinking about?"
Shang Mu came back to his senses and glanced at his neck, his face gradually flushing. Zhou Wangchuan saw the kiss mark on his Adam's apple in the rearview mirror, so he leaned over and unbuttoned Shang Mu's shirt, revealing a red mark below his collarbone, and smiled, "You have one too."
Shang Mu's eyes flickered, and he felt his face burning. He opened the car door and got out, saying, "I don't want to learn anymore! You're such a wild driver, you're leading people astray. I'm going to the driving school to sign up for lessons."
Zhou Wangchuan said with a smile: "Come here, your button is out of place, I can help you fix it."
Shang Mu looked down and saw that one of his shirt buttons was out of place. The hem of one side of the shirt was down to his thigh, and the kiss mark on his collarbone was exposed at the top of the shirt.
He was both embarrassed and annoyed, so he had no choice but to sit back in the car with a cold face, and let Zhou Wangchuan help him adjust his buttons without any expression.
When he was about to leave for the second time, Zhou Wangchuan stopped him again and said, "You were staring at the flower bed just now. Do you like peonies?"
As he spoke, he took out a pure white peony flower from behind him like a magic trick.
"Although the skills of the off-road drivers are not good, they are patient. Moreover, the teaching is one-on-one, and they are guaranteed to learn. Flowers will be given to the students after the practice. What do you think? Do you want to reconsider it?" Zhou Wangchuan handed over the flowers with a smile.
The white peony is in full bloom, its petals are thin and soft like silk, and its green branches are still oozing juice, giving off the sweet fragrance of grass, fresh and full of vitality.
Shang Mu lowered his eyes to look at the flower he had stolen from the bushes, reached out to take it, and sniffed it gently. Under Zhou Wangchuan's smiling gaze, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he whispered, "Then give the coach another chance."
In the early spring and summer of that year, they often drove to the suburbs and the mountains. They picnicked on the ground beside deserted streams and in remote mountain forests, and made love in the car.
That autumn, Shang Mu got his driver's license, and Zhou Wangchuan discovered his special hobby. Quarrels and cold wars began to spread between the two.
"Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful..."
The sudden ringing of the cell phone brought Zhou Wangchuan back to consciousness. An incoming call popped up on the central control screen, and he clicked the screen to answer it.
"Hello, Mr. Shang?" The assistant's voice was amplified by the car's Bluetooth and echoed in the car.
Zhou Wangchuan then realized that the car's Bluetooth was connected to Shang Mu's mobile phone, because Shang Mu liked to use Bluetooth to play his favorite music when commuting to and from get off work.
Shang Mu leaned lazily against the chair, hugging the pillow in his arms, and asked, "Sister Zheng, what's wrong?"
"I just want to confirm, do you still need to be taken home today?"
"No need." Shang Mu glanced at Zhou Wangchuan and spoke in a soft voice.
"Okay, I think so. After all, Dr. Zhou has returned to China. I won't bother you anymore!"
After hanging up the phone, Shang Mu said, "The 20-day transfer fee is 4,000, and the scalper number is 2,000. Reimburse me."
The traffic light ahead turned red, so Zhou Wangchuan stepped on the brakes and the car slowly came to a stop. Hearing this, he gently touched Shang Mu's chin.
Shang Mu felt unwell and rubbed his palm weakly, then turned his head, rested the right half of his face in his palm, and blinked at him.
Zhou Wangchuan looked at his pale pink profile and earlobes, felt the unusual warmth in his palms, and knew that he had a fever, so he lowered the seat so that he could lean back more comfortably.
"I won't die of illness, will I?" Shang Mu felt that the world around him was covered by a veil, and he murmured with his eyes closed.
"No." Zhou Wangchuan touched his forehead and said softly, "Don't worry about anything when you get home. Just get some sleep and let the doctor take care of you. I guarantee you'll be fine by tomorrow."
The red light turned green, and Zhou Wangchuan started the car smoothly.
After arriving home, Zhou Wangchuan helped Shang Mu out of the elevator. As usual, he reached out for his keys but couldn't find them. Shang Mu, who was leaning on him, moved and took out a bunch of keys for him.
Zhou Wangchuan took the key, opened the door, and carefully helped him sit down on the sofa.
Shang Mu was half-conscious from the fever, but he kept his eyes open as he watched Zhou Wangchuan busy himself. He took out an electric blanket from the top shelf of the wardrobe and laid it under the mattress. He then took out a hot water bottle from the bedside table and charged it, and finally made a cup of water.
Then Zhou Wangchuan walked towards him and said something that Shang Mu couldn't hear clearly. The voices in his ears were sometimes far away, sometimes near, and the things he saw were sometimes big, sometimes small. When he regained his composure, the clothes that had been shrouding him in cold air had turned into soft pajamas.
He was tucked into bed, and then a hot water bottle was placed in his arms, and his whole body felt unusually warm. After more than twenty days of tension, Shang Mu finally relaxed completely. He just wanted to have a good sleep in this warm bed.
Zhou Wangchuan put his arm around his shoulders and fed him a bowl of warm medicine.
Shang Mu could now hear the sound clearly.
"Cold powder, drink it first to warm your stomach." Zhou Wangchuan said, "It's not bitter, right?"
Shang Mu nodded slowly, then shook his head: "No."
Zhou Wangchuan leaned over and touched his forehead: "Why are you so dazed?" Then he helped him lie down and tucked in the quilt. "Baby, get some sleep first. I'll make you something to eat, and then take your medicine, and you can have a good sleep."
Shang Mu pulled his sleeve, took out something from under the pillow, handed it to him, and said slowly: "Exchange."
It was a small brass key.
Half an hour ago at the door, when Zhou Wangchuan took the key ring, he found that one was missing.
This one is not his, but the two coins are the same size and belong to two adjacent drawers in the study.
He turned his head to look, but Shang Mu had already closed his eyes, wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and fallen asleep.
"exchange".
Zhou Wangchuan vaguely understood that his thoughts had been unlocked. And now, Shang Mu gave him his key, opening his heart for him to unlock.
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