There were many people lining up in front of the self-service ticket machines outside the cinema. Most of them were couples. Their heads leaned close together as they whispered things only the two of them could hear.
The colored lights on the dome shone over the place in dazzling colors, and the air was filled with the fragrance of popcorn. Speaking of it, Fu Zhen had not stepped into a cinema in a very long time. The last time he had gone to see a movie seemed to have been two years ago, when Fu Jianchen had booked an entire theater for Tang Wanwan’s film and forced the whole family to go to the cinema to watch it.
Fu Zhen pressed his lips into a straight line. He really did not want to remember those unhappy things from the past.
The line was like an enormous silkworm cocoon, slowly wriggling forward. Everyone lowered their heads and whispered, their voices mixing with the music downstairs until nothing could be heard clearly.
At last, it was nearly their turn. Jiang Hengshu turned back and asked Fu Zhen, “What do you want to watch?”
Fu Zhen’s gaze swept over the screen in front of them. He had not expected that he might come to the cinema with Jiang Hengshu today, so he had not checked the movies currently showing.
“You choose.” Fu Zhen handed the decision to Jiang Hengshu.
In the end, Jiang Hengshu chose an action comedy packed with famous stars.
During holidays, cinemas were always far more crowded than usual. The good seats had already been chosen, so Jiang Hengshu could only pick two seats in the back row. The movie started at eight fifty and would end around eleven.
Fu Zhen had studied cinematography in university and had taken two semesters of film appreciation. Although he had a very serious filter when it came to Jiang Hengshu himself, he had to say that the movie Jiang Hengshu chose was truly terrible. Most of the jokes in it were old internet jokes that had been popular before. It was not that such jokes could not be used, but the screenwriter had no ability to harmonize them with the overall style of the movie. As a result, when the actors said them, it was awkward.
As for the costumes, makeup, and props, Fu Zhen did not even want to comment. He pressed a hand to his forehead. Suddenly, he felt something cold fall onto his face. Fu Zhen reached up and touched it with his finger, then put it under his nose and smelled it. There was no bloody smell. It seemed this was not a horror story.
Fu Zhen tilted his head up and looked at the high, dark dome of the screening room. All he could see was darkness. Water continued dripping down, falling onto the back of Fu Zhen’s hand.
The seats around them were already full. Besides, Jiang Hengshu was sitting beside him, and he did not want to be separated from Jiang Hengshu. From the corner of his eye, Jiang Hengshu
noticed something unusual about Fu Zhen. “What’s wrong?” Fu Zhen shook his head and lied to Jiang Hengshu. “Nothing.”
The light from the movie screen reflected on Fu Zhen’s face and on his fair, slender neck, as though it would snap with one light bend. His face was slightly flushed. If one moved a little closer, one could even see the fine fuzz on his face. Jiang Hengshu suddenly felt the screening room was a little too hot. When he came in just now, he should have bought two cups of cola.
Good films in the world generally shared certain similarities, but bad films could be bad in all sorts of strange and varied ways. The movie they watched today opened yet another door to a whole new world for Fu Zhen.
The movie lasted more than two hours, but for the last hour and a half, Fu Zhen barely watched it. From the corner of his eye, he secretly studied Jiang Hengshu beside him. Jiang Hengshu seemed very satisfied with the movie he had chosen. He watched with full concentration, occasionally even showing a knowing smile.
Gradually, Fu Zhen became bolder. He simply turned his head and openly examined Jiang Hengshu.
Jiang Hengshu was truly good-looking. His blue eyes shone brightly in the light, his nose bridge was high, and his thin lips were slightly pressed together. When Jiang Hengshu smiled, the
corners of Fu Zhen’s mouth lifted along with him of their own accord.
The two-hour movie finally ended. Fu Zhen had no idea what story the film had told. He only remembered Jiang Hengshu’s smiling lips.
Nights in deep winter were always chilling enough to make people shudder. The moment they came out of the cinema, the cold wind pierced over like a sharp blade. Fu Zhen shivered, then immediately sneezed. When he had gone out today, he had only worn a woolen coat. He should have worn something thicker, but the down jacket in his wardrobe was from two years ago and was somewhat worn. When he was with Jiang Hengshu, he always hoped he could look a little better.
Jiang Hengshu, who was walking beside him, stopped when he heard the sound. Fu Zhen tilted his head and looked at him, not knowing what he intended to do. Then he saw Jiang Hengshu take off his own trench coat and drape it over Fu Zhen’s shoulders.
Fu Zhen froze again. Jiang Hengshu had been too good to him today. It always made him feel as if he were dreaming. He secretly pinched himself. It was not a dream.
“I don’t need it.” As soon as Fu Zhen finished saying this, he sneezed again, greatly reducing the credibility of his words.
“Wear it. I’m not cold,” Jiang Hengshu said.
Underneath the trench coat, Jiang Hengshu wore only a black turtleneck sweater. Standing beneath the colorful lighted signs, he looked like a solitary, elegant pine. Fortunately, they only needed to walk a short distance before they could get a taxi.
Fu Zhen held the collar of the trench coat with both hands. He followed behind Jiang Hengshu, looking at his back. He could feel the warmth inside the trench coat continuously spreading into his body. At this moment, Fu Zhen suddenly possessed endless courage and motivation. He had to work hard to become a better person, to become someone worthy of Jiang Hengshu.
The atmosphere in the car was the same as when they came. Fu Zhen held Jiang Hengshu’s trench coat in his arms and turned his head to look out the window. Bare roadside trees flashed quickly past his line of sight. After a while, he turned back and looked at Jiang Hengshu beside him.
The car was far too quiet. Fu Zhen’s fingers moved slightly. He turned to Jiang Hengshu and asked, “What did you think of the movie just now?”
“It was all right.”
“…” That seemed to leave no way for the conversation to continue. Fu Zhen looked at Jiang Hengshu’s expression and found that he genuinely thought the movie just now was all right.
For the first time, Fu Zhen discovered that his and Jiang Hengshu’s tastes in film might have a tiny difference. But that did not matter. He would work hard to tolerate this little difference of Jiang Hengshu’s. Still, he was very curious about what aspect of the movie had led Jiang Hengshu to the conclusion that it was all right. He asked, “What did you think was good about it?”
Jiang Hengshu thought for a moment. “It was very interesting.”
His expression was solemn. It was already impossible to see the look he had worn when smiling in the cinema earlier.
Fu Zhen recalled several jokes that had appeared in the early part of the movie and agreed with Jiang Hengshu. “It was quite interesting.”
Fu Zhen did not know how to continue this topic. He regretted that in the cinema earlier, he had only been focused on watching Jiang Hengshu. As for the subject of the movie itself, he truly could not expand on it any further.
“Li Hualun acted pretty well,” Fu Zhen commented. That was the only merit he could find in that movie.
Jiang Hengshu said, “He did. I watched another movie of his before. He played a police officer in it. I liked that one too.”
Fu Zhen raised a hand and pressed his forehead. If he remembered correctly, the movie Jiang Hengshu mentioned, where Li Hualun played a police officer, should be the terrible film released during last year’s Spring Festival that had scored 4.1 on Douban. Fortunately, Fu Zhen had watched that movie from beginning to end.
So Fu Zhen smiled and said to Jiang Hengshu, “I liked it too. The way he jumped down from the third floor of the shopping mall was very cool.”
Jiang Hengshu was silent for a moment. “It was all right.” His tone was slightly stiff, as if he had lost interest in Li Hualun in an instant.
Fu Zhen did not notice this. The whole way back, he kept chatting with Jiang Hengshu about the movie Li Hualun had starred in last year.
The car stopped on the street outside the building. Jiang Hengshu paid the driver first. They got out of the car. On the quiet street, vehicles occasionally sped past. On both sides of the road, tall plane trees cast gloomy shadows on the ground beneath the streetlights.
Fu Zhen walked beside Jiang Hengshu. They were about to enter the stairwell when he hesitated, then asked Jiang Hengshu softly, “Can you tell me about the person you like?”
Jiang Hengshu’s steps paused for a moment, but he immediately continued forward as if nothing had happened. He shook his head and said to Fu Zhen, “There isn’t much to say.”
It was not that he was unwilling to speak. It was that he truly could not say anything. His memories of that night were chaotic and blurred. As for his little mermaid, he could only remember a vague silhouette.
Did he like that little mermaid? Jiang Hengshu believed he was not someone who would fall deeply in love with a stranger because of one accident. Back then, he had only been moved by the little mermaid’s sorrowful tears. He had once thought about finding him. But after finding him, what would he do? He had never thought about it.
Yet last night, he had met his little mermaid in a dream again. This time, the little mermaid’s figure became clear before him for the first time.
It was Fu Zhen.
He kissed the tears on Fu Zhen’s face while uncontrollably thrusting against him, demanding more. He wanted to cherish him properly, yet also wanted to crush him into his own body.
In a daze, Jiang Hengshu understood something. Every time he saw Fu Zhen, affection and tenderness would overflow in his heart.
Jiang Hengshu was not a person rich in sympathy. Yet after meeting Fu Zhen, his heart had inexplicably softened. It seemed to have started on the bus where they first met, from the moment Fu Zhen stumbled and fell into his chest. From that moment, the red thread of fate had begun winding around their fingertips.
The fate between them was far more tightly entwined than he imagined. Jiang Hengshu simply did not know it yet.
Fu Zhen did not speak again. He did not know what Jiang Hengshu’s answer meant.
In the dim stairwell, the sound of their footsteps interlaced, full of rhythm, like light rain tapping against a windowsill. The voice-activated lights in the stairwell lit up one after another with their steps, then went out one by one, returning everything to darkness.
At last, they reached the outside of the rental apartment. The two of them were about to separate and enter different rooms.
At the entrance of the rental apartment, Fu Zhen stopped and watched Jiang Hengshu take the key from his trouser pocket, insert it into the keyhole, and turn his wrist lightly. With a click, the door opened.
Fu Zhen took off the trench coat draped over him and handed it to Jiang Hengshu. “Thank you.” “Happy New Year,” Fu Zhen said.