6.9

Lu Shenxing put the letter in the drawer. He sat on a chair and smoked two cigarettes, his reason sweeping through thousands of emotions.

It was time to eat, to sleep, everything was business as usual.

In the twelfth lunar month, Wu Yuan came back. Lu Shenxing was twenty-eight by the time he appeared in front of him again.

His hair was shorter and he was taller, and his eyes were black and shiny, as if washed with water, and his handsome outline had become clearer.

Lu Shenxing was holding a stack of paper, he took out his key, and had just stepped in two steps when a body hit him back, hugged his neck and kissed him.

The paper spilled all over the floor.

Between moments of their fiery entanglement, Lu Shenxing looked at the once self-restrained teenager, "Weren't you talking about coming back during the New Year?"

Wu Yuan hugged Lu Shenxing, immersed in the heat from his neck, he smelled like jasmine. He laughed dumbly, "I missed you too much."

The two kissed each other again, hating to be apart so much that they would tear each other apart and swallow them whole if they could.

Lu Shenxing reached into Wu Yuan's collar, making him shiver from the cold on the neck. All the way down, goose bumps instantly covered his whole body.

"Why are you like ice?"

"I'm old."

Wu Yuan, "..."

He held Lu Shenxing, put it to his mouth, then frowned and said, "Don't mention that, I don't like to hear it."

Lu Shenxing was almost sucked dry by him.

The two raised their guns to start a fire, and in the next moment they attacked with all their strength, a war with gunpowder began.

After the war, the ground was a mess.

The window was opened, and the cold wind flowed through the building. Lu Shenxing picked up his trousers off the ground, "Do you want to eat?"

Wu Yuan was wrapped in a quilt with a sweater on, "Yes."

Lu Shenxing went to make noodles, putting in root vegetables and ham sausage, it looked a little wrong.

Wu Yuan got dressed. His legs swayed and the soreness spread along his waist, the sensation was extraordinary.

It was him who provoked it, and it was him who was defeated.

Lu Shenxing put the pillow on the chair and Wu Yuan sat down slowly holding the corner of the table, he took a breath.

"I said it was fine, you wanted to finish it."

Wu Yuan was embarrassed easily and he immediately turned red. He coughed shyly, the same him who kept saying more before.

"Eat quickly, it'll be cold in a while."

Lu Shenxing put the paper away.

Wu Yuan ate two bites of the noodles. He said, "You never returned my letters."

"I did." Lu Shenxing said, "I returned them in my heart." He was so numb, he had broken the routine with Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan's mouth twitched.

At night, Lu Shenxing and Wu Yuan were lying in bed and watching TV. There were cartoons on the screen, and his little brother got into trouble again.

When Lu Shenxing got up in the morning, he saw a silver ring on his ring finger. The pattern was simple and pure.

The size was just right.

Lu Shenxing patted Wu Yuan who was pretending to be asleep on the pillow next to him, "This ring is a gift."

Wu Yuan scratched his hair, "That's why I wanted to see you."

Lu Shenxing was going to pull off the ring, but Wu Yuan held his hand down, "Don't take it off, I want you to keep wearing it."

"When someone asks me about it, what do I say?"

This era was conservative. A ring has only one meaning, and they couldn't be worn in the name of fashion.

Wu Yuan frowned, "Just say...say it's your..." He spoke awkwardly.

Lu Shenxing raised his lips, "It's from my wife."

"..." Wu Yuan burned with embarrassment, "You can say it's your lover."

Lu Shenxing bowed his head and kissed Wu Yuan's face. Just as he was about to tease him a few more times, there was a bang.

"Who is it?"

"Your father!"

Lu Shenxing and Wu Yuan stared at each other, and then jumped out of the bed.

Wu Yuan casually grabbed his toothbrush cup and stuffed it into his bag, hurried to put on his clothes and shoes, only to find that he was barefoot and had no idea where his socks were.

Lu Shenxing grabbed some socks from the bedside and gave them to him, "Don't panic."

Wu Yuan licked his lips nervously. He hissed, they were bitten last night.

"Do I look like I spent the night with you?"

Lu Shenxing glanced at him with hair like a chicken coop, "Yeah."

Wu Yuan quickly dipped his hands in water to flatten his hair, then he took a deep breath and signaled to Lu Shenxing that he was good.

Zhang Fu almost broke his mouth calling. He was carrying porridge, and had spilled a lot, getting it all over his pants and shoes.

Lu Shenxing opened the door, "Dad, why did you come here so early?"

"It's your mother. She rushed me early in the morning and asked me to send you this porridge. This porridge is from home..." Zhang Fu's nagging voice stopped abruptly when he saw Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan greeted calmly, "Hello, sir"

Zhang Fu already had a foot in the coffin. He'd lived to this age and his heart had become like a mirror, he wondered a little bit strangely, "Son, whose child is this?"

Lu Shenxing, "He is a student from my class, Wu Yuan."

"Sir, I just came back from university and asked the teacher to help me apply for tuition. His seal was left in the house, so I came with him to get it." Wu Yuan lied.

Lu Shenxing looked at Zhang Fu and nodded, "What he said."

"Sir, Mr. Lu, I'll head off."

Wu Yuan went with his backpack under Zhang Fu's stare.

Lu Shenxing turned back, leaned out the door and waved at Wu Yuan.

After he left, Zhang Fu stepped forward and asked, "What's with the ring you're wearing? Did you remarry Shuzhen?" He cared more about the ring his son wore than him being with a young man.

"This." Lu Shenxing stroked it, "I'm just wearing it for fun."

Zhang Fu patted the table, rubbing his beard and staring, "Can you wear a ring for fun?"

Lu Shenxing nodded his head, "Yes."

Then he coughed and said with a smile, "Dad, you have a daughter-in-law again."

Zhang Fu was stunned, then he was happy, "Really? When will you bring her home? Both me and your mother want to meet her."

Lu Shenxing said, "He's out of town."

"Out of town? How will you have a baby?" Zhang Fu paced back and forth, "How old is she?"

Lu Shenxing touched his nose, "Nineteen."

"What? "Zhang Fu was shocked, "So young?" "

"Are you looking for a wife or a daughter?"

"..." Lu Shenxing's mouth twitched.

Zhang Fu asked, "Who approached who?"

Lu Shenxing raised his eyebrows, "Is that important?"

"It was him the first time." After he'd kissed him secretly and confessed.

"Then it was him the second time, the third time..."

"Shameless!" Zhang Fu was angry, "You let a girl take the initiative, is that fair to say?" Not just once, but two, three times.

He was a girl, Lu Shenxing was speechless in his heart.

Zhang Fu knocked on the table and said, "Bring her back this year for the New Year." He laboured his point, "You've tied the knot, and your mother and I are..."

"Knot." Lu Shenxing held his forehead as soon as he realised.

"Dad, he's still underage."

Zhang Fu was suspicious, "Really?" Why didn't he know about the legal age changing.

"Yeah, you'll know when you go back and ask Uncle."

"I'm going back. The porridge should be drunk while it is hot, your mother made it for you in the morning."

Zhang Fu came in a hurry and went in a hurry. Lu Shenxing rubbed his temples, fidgeting, he was troubled.

The next day Wu Yuan turned up, and Lu Shenxing studied his ears.

Wu Yuan's scalp was numb.

Lu Shenxing kissed him, "Do you want to pierce your ears?"

Wu Yuan immediately retreated, "I'll think about it."

His reaction was really quick. Lu Shenxing showed a harmless animalistic smile, "Just one jab."

Wu Yuan resisted, but still had a hole poked in his right ear and a white stud put in. Under the sun, the light reflected between his black hair, and was very eye-catching.

Lu Shenxing had fulfilled one of his wishes. He used to think that Wu Yuan's ears were very beautiful, and were very suitable for wearing studs.

"Is it ugly?" Wu Yuan was actually thinking about other adjectives.

Lu Shenxing leaned over to kiss his right ear and laughed lowly, "Very beautiful."

Back at school, Wu Yuan was dragged into the dormitory to answer questions all morning, he was so stunned he only uttered a few words.

All the girls in the class knew Wu Yuan was taken, in addition to being envious, they were also jealous. Seeing the stud in his ear, they were even more curious about his mysterious lover.

Their curiosity, however, didn't affect Wu Yuan's life and he remained busy and happy, with some spare time to let himself loose.

Two springs, summers, autumns and winters passed. Lu Shenxing received twenty-four letters from Wu Yuan and he finally bought a bus ticket.

Wu Yuan was anxious all day, only calming down when he ran to the station to wait.

Every time the speaker sounded, Wu Yuan would look up, going through each bus one by one, then looking back down in disappointment.

When Wu Yuan saw the man in the crowd, he stayed where he was. He didn't move until someone ran up to him and held him carefully.

Lu Shenxing stabilized his body, put his bag on the ground, and stretched out his arms to hug Wu Yuan.

People around them thought that bonds of brotherhood were really good.

The two quietly embraced for a long time before they separated. Lu Shenxing looked at the young man in front of him, his brows were handsome, the corners of his lips were slightly raised, and his eyes seemed to be laughing. He felt like a spring breeze.

The past two years had passed, and now he was right here before him.

Lu Shenxing patted Wu Yuan, who was still excited, and asked strangely, "How did you know I'd be here today?"

Wu Yuan smiled, "There are only three buses in total, I would just come again next time to wait for you."

At the front desk of the hotel, a woman watched TV and put on a sweater. She looked at Wu Xuan and Lu Shenxing, but was distracted by the wonderful plot on the screen.

Wu Yuan took Lu Shenxing to the reserved room.

Lu Shenxing looked at the room, it was simple and clean, "How much is it for a night?"

"20." Wu Yuan's chin rested on Lu Shenxing's shoulder.

Lu Shenxing said, "Expensive."

The heater was trembling as it worked, but it was better than nothing.

Lu Shenxing and Wu Yuan looked at each other on the bed, then smiled and kissed, both full of enthusiasm.

As they tumbled, Lu Shenxing touched the calluses on Wu Yuan's fingers, "What are you working so hard for?"

Wu Yuan hooked his foot around Lu Shenxing, "I want to support my family."