Chapter 14 A Fleeting Lover.
With grass seeds and leaves buried in their hair, Li Jiazong and Li Sheng emerged from that deserted place. The sheep had already gone far away. Li Sheng went to find them, while Li Jiazong stayed behind. For a moment, he felt absurd. He wiped his hands clean with leaves, let out a long sigh, and looked at Li Sheng's excited running back. Then he felt that none of it mattered.
In this situation between him and Li Sheng, neither of them suffers a loss, and neither of them benefits. It's quite convenient.
He went home first. There was a small wooden hut in the yard with a water bag on it. When the sun heated it up, the water inside could be used for bathing. Li Jiacong took off his clothes, went in to wash his hair, and rubbed the clothes that had been stained with some kind of smell by hand.
Li Sheng arrived after a while. He seemed to have washed up as well. He came into the house, sat down next to him, and started helping him with his homework.
Clean fingers pressed the pages, then the pen fell, mimicking his handwriting. Li Jiacong glanced at it unintentionally and suddenly felt a little distracted—an hour ago, these hands had clumsily given him a great pleasure.
Looking down at the words in his hand, the titles seemed to have turned into astronomical phenomena, and not a single word could fit into his head.
He then realized that this kind of thing could be addictive...
As the weather gets hotter, butterflies begin to lay their eggs. The humid, stagnant air, without any rain, creates a warm, sticky atmosphere in the quiet room.
He and Li Sheng had sex once, then twice, then three times... it was out of control.
He broke up with his girlfriend from school before he even had a chance to hold her hand, and the little bit of naivety he had been suppressing was gradually brought to the surface. Curiosity drove him forward, drove him to explore.
Li Sheng was a man of few words and few actions, a personality that suited his temperament perfectly. Moreover, compared to the cautious probing between men and women, he and Li Sheng could be much more open. The emptiness of a world devoid of games and entertainment would be gradually filled by this physical pleasure.
......
"It's too bright."
Li Jiacong looked out the window, as if the afternoons here would be longer and brighter.
The single-story house offered little privacy. His yard faced south, and the main window let in plenty of light, making it easy to see what was happening inside. His grandparents could appear at any time, and he couldn't keep the curtains drawn all day long, as it would arouse suspicion.
Going to Li Sheng's place will only get hotter. There's no fan.
Li Sheng squeezed behind Lei Gao's bedding, reached down a towel from the balcony, and wiped the sweat off Li Jiazong.
"Let's not do it anymore. Let's do it tonight," Li Jiacong said.
"Tonight?" Li Sheng asked. "Come to your place?"
“Yes,” Li Jiacong sat up, “I’ll stay here.”
They had just crawled out of bed, drenched in sweat, and Li Jiacong had drunk a large glass of water when suddenly they heard someone knocking on the door and calling out, "Jiacong!"
It was Zhao Cheng; he called him that rather affectionately.
Li Jiacong got dressed and went to open the door. He opened it a crack, and Zhao Cheng, with a sneaky smile, asked, "Want to play, Jiacong?"
Li Jiacong: "Where?"
Zhao Cheng: "Let's go to town. There are fun places there. We have a car!"
Li Jiacong looked at his shifty eyes and chuckled: "Be more specific."
“It’s not that specific,” Zhao Cheng said. “We only need one trip to get you to town. You can go wherever you want. We’ll bring you back tonight. We’ll just charge you two yuan for the fare.”
He's here to make money again. Li Jiacong admires him a bit. He hasn't been out for a while, and the cigarettes he brought are almost gone. The village store doesn't sell the one he likes to smoke yet. "Okay, I'll go with Li Sheng."
"Huh?" Zhao Cheng seemed surprised. "Li Sheng is going too? Oh my, you and Li Sheng can hang out together?"
Li Jiacong blocked the doorway, and now Li Sheng was standing behind the door: "Why can't we do it?"
“Li Sheng, he never interferes with us…” Zhao Cheng suddenly laughed. “That’s right, you’re different from us, he likes to talk to you—the car is waiting at the village entrance, see if you have anything you need to take. I’ll go call someone else.”
Zhao Cheng walked away from his door, and Li Jiacong turned around and asked Li Sheng, "Are you going?"
Li Sheng: "If you go, I'll go."
Li Jiacong: "Can't you have your own ideas? Do you want to go?"
"I have a feeling that Zhao Cheng won't take us to a good place."
"Oh?" Li Jiacong blinked. "I'd like to see that too."
Li Sheng smiled bitterly and said, "Then go... I want to go too."
Li Jiacong begged and pleaded to get 20 yuan from his grandmother. Under the pretense of taking Li Sheng out, he asked for another 5 yuan. Then he went to his grandfather and shamelessly asked for some more money. After collecting all the money, he told Li Sheng to leave. Li Sheng was carrying a crossbody bag and looked like he was going to school.
He thought there would be a bus parked at the village entrance, but when he got there, he found it was a three-wheeled vehicle, open-top.
Li Jiacong was shocked: "This isn't a pig transport vehicle, is it?"
Li Sheng: "The pig haulers are bigger than this."
Li Jiacong rolled his eyes at him, and Zhao Cheng ran over and said, "You're here, let's go up."
"Zhao Cheng, you're not going to throw me out of the room, are you?" Li Jiacong said. "Do you have a seatbelt?"
"Don't worry, young master," Zhao Cheng said, "hold it tight, it won't bounce out!"
A small three-wheeled vehicle was crammed with nearly ten people. It bumped and jolted its way to town. When Li Jiacong got off the vehicle, he felt nauseous from the jolting and leaned against a telephone pole, feeling dizzy for a while.
Li Sheng supported his arm as he recovered, while Zhao Cheng led the group ahead, calling out, "Hey! Come on!"
Li Jiacong patted his chest and walked in that direction. When he got there, he saw the place Zhao Cheng was pointing to—the Enchanting Night Dance Hall.
Li Jiacong was in a bad mood: "I fucking can't dance."
Zhao Cheng laughed and patted him on the back: "You'll see when you come in!"
The dance hall had a narrow entrance, a semi-basement, with colorful lights projecting onto the dirty floor, and the unlit areas were pitch black. The music was deafening.
Some people were dancing, but most were in pairs, men and women. It wasn't so much dancing as one person roaming over another, offering mutual physical comfort. Around the perimeter were chairs where women, their faces obscured but dressed provocatively, sat.
In the gloomy trading place of the "Ten Yuan Black Three Songs" game, Li Jiacong had only been standing there for two minutes when a woman approached him, pinched his waist without hesitation, and teased him: "Want to dance? I'll teach you."
Li Jiazong stared at the woman's face. The light was too dim, and he couldn't see her true appearance—just a heavily made-up exterior. He shook his head, then turned and saw someone talking to Li Sheng next to him. Li Sheng was like a wooden statue, completely still.
As Li Jiacong walked over, Li Sheng immediately grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "Shall we go?"
Li Jiacong chuckled: "Ten yuan for a ticket, aren't you going to stay a little longer?"
Li Sheng glanced at him, grabbed his hand, and walked out.
Li Jiacong was laughing the whole time after he came out. Li Sheng asked him what he was laughing at, and Li Jiacong said, "I was laughing at how you were like Tang Sanzang just now, almost like you were chanting a mantra. Could you not be so stiff?"
"dislike."
"Hmm. It's really just so-so." Li Jiacong turned to look at the signboard, bright red and green. "It seems like the people inside aren't very young. What kind of taste does Zhao Cheng have?"
Li Sheng frowned, speechless. Li Jiacong suddenly noticed something, his eyes lit up, and he pointed, saying, "This is a good place!"
Li Sheng went to see—Li Jiacong's favorite place: the arcade.
The arcade was filled with smoke and fumes, like it was submerged in an ashtray. Li Jiacong bought some coins and became completely absorbed in the game, his gaze more focused than ever before.
Li Sheng sat there blankly, staring at him.
Li Jiacong manipulated the joystick for quite a while before noticing Li Sheng idly: "Why don't you play something?"
"Um."
"It's my treat." Li Jiacong stared back at the screen.
Since their kiss, Li Sheng had never called him "brother" again. It felt strange and distant. Hearing Li Jiacong say this made Li Sheng's expression turn sour, as if they were just lovers for a short time.
Perhaps, not just seemingly, they were each other's...unspeakable tools for a moment.
Li Sheng stared calmly at the game console in front of him. It was King of Fighters '99, a game where two people fight each other. So many people liked it, but Li Sheng couldn't find any enjoyment in it.
He asked Li Jiacong for a cigarette and squatted outside to smoke it.
Li Jiacong played until he ran out of coins. He stretched, got up and went to find Li Sheng. He looked around but there was no one in the arcade. He went outside and saw Li Sheng leaning against the power cord, doing his homework.
The bag slung over his shoulder was actually filled with his homework. Li Jiacong exclaimed in admiration, "You're really dedicated to your studies. It's a real shame you didn't go to high school."
Li Sheng put it away: "Finished playing?"
"Ah," Li Jiacong said, "what time will Zhao Cheng's car be back?"
“It’s 5:30,” Li Sheng said. “There’s still an hour left.”
Li Jiacong looked around and asked him, "Where are we going?"
Li Sheng pointed to the small shopping mall next door: "Let's go in and have a look."
This small shopping mall sells everything—clothes, curtains, and daily necessities. Li Sheng stopped in front of a photo booth. Before he could speak, Li Jiacong said, "This is too girly."
Li Sheng: "Keep this as a souvenir."
Li Jiacong was reluctant: "We're both men..."
Li Sheng tugged at him, and Li Jiacong clicked his tongue and walked in helplessly. He covered the lower half of his face with his hand, and Li Sheng put his arm around his shoulder like a good buddy.
"Take your hand away," Li Sheng said.
Li Jiacong sighed, a slight twitch at one corner of his mouth, and turned to look at Li Sheng: "You're more photogenic than me, why don't you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Sheng suddenly kissed him, and Li Jiacong covered his mouth with a look of horror.
Click, the photo booth picture is done.
Li Jiacong lowered his voice: "You're fucking crazy!"
Li Sheng looked at him, looking completely innocent.
Li Jiacong: "If we take these kinds of photos and someone sees us kissing, I'll..."
"I won't let anyone see it."
Seeing that Li Sheng was speaking very seriously, Li Jiacong didn't want to continue blaming him and ruin his good mood. Anyway, the photo wasn't of the two of them kissing, so he waved his hand, lifted the curtain, and went out.
By the time Li Sheng finished picking up the photo booth pictures, it was time to leave the small shopping mall and they took a tricycle back home.
The group of people on the bus all smelled unpleasant, emanating a strange, pungent stench of sweat. Li Jiacong felt numb and closed his eyes—he needed to take a good shower that night...
Hmm, Li Sheng needs to take a good shower too.
I came back, got home, ate, and washed up. It wasn't until 9 p.m. that we all went inside. Click. The light cord was pulled, and the whole room went dark. The curtains were drawn shut, and the door was locked.
Li Jiacong's hair was half-dry; he had just washed it and was too lazy to dry it. While he and Li Sheng were chatting on the kang (a heated brick bed), they rolled around together, helping each other out.
Li Sheng's forehead and cheeks were covered in streaks of water dripping from Li Jiacong's hair.
Li Jiacong suddenly said, "You still haven't answered me last time. Have you ever seen those kinds of movies?"
"Have you seen it?"
"I've actually seen it..."
"you……"
“My classmate sent it to me, I glanced at it,” Li Jiacong propped himself up on his arm, “Do you know how to do it?”
"I think I know," Li Sheng said hesitantly.
Li Jiacong didn't respond, as if waiting for him to speak. He always found himself in this proactive situation with Li Jiacong, needing to figure out Li Jiacong's intentions and say what he wanted to say first, which would then turn into Li Jiacong's own invitation.
"You want to try?" Li Sheng finally asked.
"I'm just killing time anyway."
Li Sheng repeated what he had said: "Idleness is idleness, isn't it?"
"Yeah, what else would they do? No wonder people in the countryside get married so early, they have nothing to do. Finding a wife, getting married, and having kids is really good. You have someone to keep you company, someone to make a fuss with." Li Jiacong was probably influenced by Zhao Cheng and his group during the day, which made him dissatisfied with this.
Li Sheng went off-topic and said, "Neither of us will have children."
"You still want children?"
No...that's not what I meant.
Li Jiacong then asked, "You like children?"
"If I had one, I would really like it."
"Oh." A dry, emotionless "oh" ended the conversation. "So, want to give it a try?" Li Jiacong said.
In the darkness, Li Sheng could see Li Jiacong's bright eyes looking down at him with a seductive gaze.
Li Sheng understood him, and he knew that the conditions for him and Li Jiacong to do this were different. He wasn't doing it because he was "idle anyway," but Li Jiacong rubbed his lower abdomen with his hand, and Li Sheng nodded.
Having received permission, Li Jiazong quickly got out of bed, groped his way out of the dark, took out a bottle of wine, took a big gulp for himself, and then held it to Li Sheng's lips, saying, "Drink some to reduce the pain."
The smell of alcohol is pungent.
No beer, just 62-proof Erguotou from Li Jiazong's grandfather.
A note from the author:
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