Chapter 95 — Extra (III)
Winter in Nancheng was milder than usual this year. Snow came and went in a few light falls. As the New Year drew close, the skies cleared.
When Chen Jingshen woke, the room was pitch dark and silent. A bug had cropped up last night, and he had stayed at the office fixing and testing until past midnight before coming home. That is how this job is. If something breaks, you work through the holiday.
He reached out with his eyes still closed and grabbed at nothing.
He walked a circle through the apartment and did not see anyone, so he picked up his phone to call. Before dialing, he glanced at the time. It was already one in the afternoon.
The call connected quickly. “Awake?”
Chen Jingshen filled a glass at the sink, voice hoarse. “Where are you?”
“The hospital,” Yu Fan said. “Yu Kaiming died. I am here to sign papers.”
“…”
“Just sign here and it is done? … Mm.” A bit of muffled noise came through. After he finished, Yu Fan asked, “What do you want for breakfast? I will bring something back.”
“I will come get you,” Chen Jingshen said, setting the glass down.
“No need. Sleep a little longer. I will be done soon.”
“I am not sleeping.” Chen Jingshen tugged off his T-shirt with one hand and pulled a random sweater from the closet. “I will be there soon. Wait for me.”
The paperwork went quickly. Yu Fan paid what needed paying and kept everything simple. If not for the hospital’s sake, he would not have bothered at all.
Once it was done, he took the receipts into the elevator. With the holiday coming, the place was quiet. He stood alone in the car and, without meaning to, remembered the nurses chatting when he arrived.
They said that if he had managed himself, Yu Kaiming could have lived longer, but for some reason he was terrified, sleepless every night, and was gone in less than a month.
They said the person who had paid his medical bills did nothing else. She paid once and vanished, did not show up, did not hire a caregiver. One nurse even overheard a call between her and Yu Kaiming while changing his IV. A woman’s voice told him to take his pain slowly and not die too fast.
They said they had notified her today as well, but who knew if she would come.
The doors slid open. Yu Fan came back to himself and, on the way out, tossed all the receipts into the trash.
When Chen Jingshen arrived, Yu Fan was standing at the hospital entrance, cap and mask covering half his face, a plastic bag in hand.
He climbed into the car with the chill of winter clinging to him.
A fender bender up ahead had traffic backed up. It took a while for the line to inch forward to the hospital entrance, then it stopped again. One of Chen Jingshen’s hands rested idly on the wheel as he turned his head. “What did you get?”
“Sha County,” Yu Fan said. “Whatever. Just to fill the stomach.” He lifted a steamed dumpling and fed it to him.
They both picked at a few pieces. By the time they finished, traffic still had not moved. Yu Fan dropped the box back into the plastic bag, debating whether to step out and toss it so the smell would not linger in the car.
He turned to look for a trash bin just as a woman walked past the window.
He glanced at her without thinking, then let his eyes drift away. A few seconds later he froze.
Soft music played from the speakers. Someone stuck in back finally leaned on their horn. A passerby jumped at the sound and looked back to complain. In the midst of this jittery noise, Yu Fan slowly turned his head, matching the woman’s pace with his eyes.
She wore a camel cashmere coat, a handbag in one hand, walking slowly toward the hospital.
Yu Fan stared hard at her back. A tide of emotion surged into his head and he forced it back down. His lips parted, yet no sound came for a long while.
In the span of a few breaths, a small boy ran up to the woman. She turned slightly. The distance was too far to make out her face from here. In truth, he had only caught one hurried glance and could not be sure what he had seen.
The woman stroked the boy’s cheek. A middle-aged man came next, gently helped her put on a mask. They said a few words. Then the man took the boy’s hand and led him away, leaving her alone at the entrance.
Maybe she was sensitive to being watched, or maybe she sensed something. After a few seconds by the doors, the woman turned.
Yu Fan snapped his gaze away a split second before she did.
“What are you looking at?” Chen Jingshen asked, catching his reaction.
“Nothing. A trash bin.”
Chen Jingshen glanced back and made eye contact with the same woman. Her expression was soft. Her eyes and brows…
Yu Fan caught his face and turned it forward. “The car in front is moving.”
Chen Jingshen made a sound and eased the wheel, pulling away from the hospital.
Yu Fan’s face was calm. He stared unfocused at the slice of sky ahead. After a long stretch, a warm hand pressed the back of his, then drew his fingers down to rest beside the gear shift.
Yu Fan blinked back, frowning. “Chen Jingshen, drive properly.”
“Red light. Let me hold your hand.”
“Annoying.”
Even so, Yu Fan’s fingers shifted, turned, and hooked around Chen Jingshen’s.
He liked his hands. Broad, steady, warm. Good to hold. The touch made him feel safe.
The focus returned to Yu Fan’s eyes. That wave of feeling ebbed, leaving only the heaviness of being up too early.
“Where to. A restaurant or home?” Chen Jingshen asked.
Yu Fan settled deeper into the seat, eyes narrowed against the sunlight. He yawned lazily. “Home.”
On New Year’s Eve, Grandma called first thing to summon Chen Jingshen home for the reunion dinner. It was a Season family rule. He had to show his face.
Before leaving he stuffed a few pieces of bread into Yu Fan’s mouth. “I will be back soon.”
Yu Fan was on the couch playing video games. He had bought a PS5 recently. During the holiday they had been sprawled on the sofa playing co-op. If one of them had work to do, the other would play solo.
Without looking back, Yu Fan mumbled around the bread, “Mm. When you get back I am going to beat your record.”
Chen Jingshen glanced at the new game he had just started. He stepped out, then doubled back, slipped a palm under Yu Fan’s jaw and kissed the bridge of his nose. He watched Yu Fan’s character fall to its death from lack of input, then finally left.
The door had barely shut when a throw pillow thumped against it and a voice inside swore, “You asking for it, Chen Jingshen!?”
His smile did not fade until he was in the elevator.
Holiday Nancheng was quieter than usual. No traffic. Lanterns and red couplets lined the streets.
Red lanterns hung at the Seasons’ gate. When Chen Jingshen walked in, several relatives were in the garden playing with their kids.
The older generation swarmed with red envelopes. He refused. “I am past the age.”
“Oh, house rules. If you are not married, you are still a junior, juniors get hongbao. Take it, happy New Year, may your work go smoothly…”
“I am married,” Chen Jingshen said. “So I do not need it. Happy New Year.”
He handed out his own red envelopes to the younger cousins, then, under a dozen stunned looks, headed inside.
Ji Lianyi and Grandma were chatting on the sofa with the TV murmuring. Seeing him, Ji Lianyi turned her face toward the window without speaking. Grandma waved. “Jingshen, you are back. Come here.”
“Mm.” He sat across from them. “Mom. Grandma.”
“Good, good.” Grandma smiled and drew a red envelope from the red brocade pouch at her side.
“No need.”
“I know you are past the age. I also heard you are married,” Grandma said, tipping her chin toward the open window. “We all heard.”
“But this is still from me. No matter how old you are or whether you have a family, it is my regard and my blessing for your year.” She placed it in his hand.
He was about to demur when his fingers paused. He glanced down. Two envelopes lay in his palm.
He stared at them for a moment, then raised his head and said softly, sincerely, “Thank you, Grandma.”
Ji Lianyi felt out of place. She stood, checked the time, and said coolly, “It is almost time. Let us eat.”
She had just walked past when Grandma called her back.
“Lianyi. Do you not have something for your son too?”
They faced off in silence, one standing, one sitting. At last Ji Lianyi turned back. She pulled two envelopes from her pocket and set them on the armrest.
“I will tell the kitchen to bring the dishes out,” she said briskly.
“Thank you, Mom,” Chen Jingshen said.
She halted. Her chest rose and fell twice. “Wash your hands and eat.”
Maybe it was his imagination, but dinner felt livelier than usual this year.
Perhaps Grandma had spoken to them before he sat down. No one mentioned the “married” he had dropped at the gate. The Spring Festival Gala hummed on the TV. Cousins chatted now and then. People mellow with age no longer bristled at the former study god. A few little ones played games on their phones. When a parent scolded, Grandma waved it off. “It is the New Year. Let them.”
He ate a little and was about to head out when his seven-year-old niece tugged his sleeve and begged him to light fireworks with her.
“Do not bother your uncle.”
“It is fine,” Chen Jingshen said. “Where do you want to go?”
He lit two sparklers and gave them to her, then sat in the garden as his mind drifted. He checked his phone. The chat from the last half hour was still on the screen.
【s: The New Year’s Eve meal I ordered was delivered. Did you eat?】
【-: Chen Jingshen, how many people did you order for? I ate. Stuffed.】
【s: Did you beat my record?】
【-: No time. Did not play. You have not started dinner yet?】
【s: It started a while ago.】
【-: ?】
【-: Then why are you still messaging me? Eat your food.】
He typed again.
【s: I might be back late.】
【-: Oh. Do as you please.】
【s: What are you doing. Bored?】
【-: Watching the Gala. Not bored. Very interesting. Go do your thing. Ring in the New Year with your family and come back after.】
【-: Enough. Stop interrupting my TV, Chen Jingshen.】
Once his niece was happy, he said his goodbyes and left. Even emptier now, the city’s festive decorations felt oddly lonely.
He slipped into the underground garage just as flurries began.
Because of Yu Fan’s texts, Chen Jingshen expected to open the door to the racket of the Gala, Yu Fan peeking over the back of the sofa to announce with cool pride that he had smashed the record.
So when he stepped into darkness, he stood in the doorway for a long moment.
The place was so still it seemed empty. Only when he heard the soft, even sound of breathing from the far end of the couch did he relax and gently close the door.
He shrugged off his coat and went to the sofa. The person who had said he was watching the Gala and that it was very interesting was curled on his side asleep, phone by his cheek.
The curtains were wide open. Cold white moonlight washed his face with a loneliness that did not belong to the holiday.
Yu Fan’s first instinct upon being scooped up was to swing a fist. He blinked awake, saw who it was, and stalled.
All the strength left him. Drowsiness curled around his head like vines. Chen Jingshen settled him on his lap. The pose tugged at certain memories, and Yu Fan’s whole body prickled and went weak.
They had gone a little hard yesterday. Yu Fan had no strength today, but he could not bring himself to say I cannot. He gritted his teeth, pressed his face into Chen Jingshen’s neck, and ordered lazily, “Go get a condom.”
“No,” Chen Jingshen said, voice trembling against him. “Just hold you.”
Yu Fan hummed, eyes closed. He lay like that for a while, then fully woke.
He sat up nose to nose with him and frowned. “Chen Jingshen, did you get yelled at at home?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing right now?” Yu Fan poked his cool mouth. “Not even turning on the light.”
“You didn’t turn it on either,” Chen Jingshen said. “What was so good about the Gala?”
Yu Fan stared a few seconds. “Cai Ming’s skit was alright.”
“Mm,” Chen Jingshen said. “Cai Ming has not been on the Gala since 2019.”
“…”
Yu Fan searched for a way to patch the obvious lie. He found none, so he leaned down and kissed him.
Chen Jingshen tasted like cake, sweet. Yu Fan gathered it all up, then rubbed at his lips a few more times for good measure.
When he let go, the room was still dark. Chen Jingshen lifted something between them.
Yu Fan glanced down. “What is that?”
“Red envelopes.”
Yu Fan frowned. “Those are from elders to juniors. Trying to take advantage of me, Chen Jingshen?”
“No.” Chen Jingshen indicated the one on the left and explained softly, “This is from my grandma. For you.”
“…”
“And this,” he pointed to the other, “is from my mom. For you.”
“…”
Yu Fan sat there on Chen Jingshen’s lap for a long time before finding his voice. “Forget it. That is not really appropriate. Find a time to return them for me…”
“It is fine. They gave them, so we accept them.” Chen Jingshen took out his own. “I also received two.”
Yu Fan had not held a physical red envelope in a long time. In Ningcheng, Wang Yue would send one every year, but always by transfer.
He took them and muttered after a while, “Then tell them thank you for me.”
“Alright.”
“And happy New—”
A boom cut him off. They both turned to the window where a firework burst open in brilliant color.
Midnight. The New Year.
The light painted Yu Fan’s face in shifting hues. He lifted his brows, surprised. “Chen Jingshen, I thought Nancheng banned fireworks.”
“Mm.” Fire tore the sky open in glorious blooms. A few explosions later, the night went quiet again. Chen Jingshen said, “Whoever set those off is probably being chased by city management now.”
“…”
Yu Fan raked fingers through his sleep-mussed hair. He was about to climb off when an arm cinched his waist. A palm pressed warm through his shirt to his back.
“Yu Fan.”
He made a small sound and met his eyes. Chen Jingshen said nothing more, so Yu Fan squeezed his cheeks. “Talk, Chen Jingshen.”
Another volley exploded outside, louder than before, colors changing one after another and lighting the entire sky. Yu Fan laughed under the thunder. “Chen Jingshen, looks like the city cops did not catch them.”
“Mm.” Watching that smile, Chen Jingshen could not help lifting his head to kiss his chin. “Yu Fan, happy New Year. I love you.”
Yu Fan stopped short, blinking at him.
Chen Jingshen leaned back against the sofa, gaze steady and open. The fireworks pulsed light and dark across the room, but his eyes were always bright.
Yu Fan’s smile faded. The rims of his ears burned red. He still had Chen Jingshen’s cheeks pinched. Silent for a long beat, he finally said in a level voice, “Chen Jingshen, do not get all sappy.”
The next moment the fireworks lit the room again. Yu Fan tipped his face up and kissed him. His voice blurred into the crackling sky, awkward and quiet but true. “… Me too. I love you.”
— The End —
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