It was Jiang Hengshu who caught Fu Zhen’s hands resting on his shoulders and pulled hard toward himself. Fu Zhen leaned forward and sat on Jiang Hengshu’s lap.
Jiang Hengshu’s arms wrapped around Fu Zhen’s waist, locking him inside his embrace.
Fu Zhen’s face instantly turned red, the flush spreading all the way down his neck. He looked like a boiled shrimp. Uneasy, he shifted slightly.
Jiang Hengshu said in a low voice, “Let me hold you for a while.”
Fu Zhen’s movements immediately stopped. His back was pressed tightly against Jiang Hengshu’s chest, as though he could hear the beating of Jiang Hengshu’s heart inside his chest. Jiang Hengshu’s broad palm covered the back of Fu Zhen’s hand. His breath fell into the hollow of Fu Zhen’s neck.
They were silent with each other. Fu Zhen’s heart was beating fiercely. Several times, he wanted to speak, but then he felt this quiet was also very good. If he could grow old together with Jiang Hengshu just like this, that too would be a kind of fortune.
Very soon, Fu Zhen noticed something a little different behind him. His face grew even redder.
He twisted his upper body, wanting both to break free and to move closer. His hands were still
hooked around Jiang Hengshu’s neck, and he buried his head against Jiang Hengshu’s chest. His voice was muffled as he asked, “Do you want me to help you?”
“No need.” Jiang Hengshu’s voice was deeper than usual, carrying a few more shades of magnetism and sensuality. His arms tightened around Fu Zhen even more.
Their breathing mingled together, for a time even drowning out the howling wind outside.
After an unknown amount of time, the two of them calmed down. Fu Zhen’s phone chimed. It was probably a message from the author who had commissioned him. Fu Zhen lifted his head
from Jiang Hengshu’s chest and glanced at the phone on the bed, but he also did not quite want to leave Jiang Hengshu’s embrace.
“Do you still have work to do?” Jiang Hengshu asked softly. Fu Zhen gave a hum. “I still need to draw.”
“All right. Wait for me.” Jiang Hengshu loosened his arms. Fu Zhen stood up from his lap and lowered his head to look at him.
Jiang Hengshu got up and left Fu Zhen’s room, but before long, he returned. In one hand, he held a foreign-language book. In the other, he held the computer Fu Zhen had returned to him that
day. He sat down by Fu Zhen’s bed and handed the computer to him. “Use mine.”
Fu Zhen had just opened his mouth when Jiang Hengshu added, “No need to say thank you.” So Fu Zhen swallowed the words already at his lips. He took Jiang Hengshu’s computer,
connected the drawing tablet, then picked up another sketchbook from beneath his pillow and sat
against the head of the bed to begin planning the draft.
Jiang Hengshu sat by the bed. The room quieted again. Outside came the sound of the tenants playing mahjong, the crisp clack of mahjong tiles colliding. Together with the sound of Jiang Hengshu turning book pages, it did not feel noisy.
Fu Zhen could not calm down. He put down the drawing pen in his hand and stared at Jiang Hengshu for a while. Jiang Hengshu probably sensed his gaze, because he lifted his head from the book. “Mm?”
Fu Zhen thought for a moment, put down what was in his hand, and climbed from the head of the bed to Jiang Hengshu’s side. Jiang Hengshu turned his head to look at him, a hint of a smile flashing through his blue eyes. Fu Zhen was Eve tempted by the serpent. He could not help lifting his neck, his lips parting slightly, looking as if he wanted to ask for a kiss.
Jiang Hengshu put down the book in his hand and gave a soft laugh. Fu Zhen felt his ears grow a little hot. Then Jiang Hengshu lowered his head and pressed his lips to Fu Zhen’s, deepening the kiss little by little.
Before long, Fu Zhen was panting. Jiang Hengshu let go of him. Fu Zhen lay on the bed, still tilting his head up to look at Jiang Hengshu, like a little beast returning from a hunt. His eyes were moist, his lashes fluttering, and his lips shone with a layer of wetness.
Jiang Hengshu’s hand brushed across Fu Zhen’s face and stopped at the corner of his lips. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something. He stood, took two steps toward the foot of the bed, and caught Fu Zhen’s leg.
“Don’t…” Fu Zhen had not expected this moment to come so quickly. His heart almost leaped out of his chest. He let out a tiny, faint sound, wanting to stop Jiang Hengshu’s next movement, yet making no movement at all.
“I’ll look at your leg.” Jiang Hengshu’s voice was hoarse and low. These words did not sound very convincing.
But in truth, after pulling Fu Zhen’s trousers down to his ankles, Jiang Hengshu really did only look at Fu Zhen’s left leg.
It had already been more than two years since Fu Zhen’s injury. Now, apart from the somewhat ugly scar, nothing much could be seen. It was only that his two legs looked weaker and paler
than an ordinary person’s, with the blue veins beneath the skin clearly visible.
Fu Zhen thought of what was below him. Even though Jiang Hengshu could not see it now, he still felt a little ashamed. He wanted to bring his legs together, only to find that there was no strength in his whole body.
Jiang Hengshu pulled Fu Zhen’s trousers back up. Whether intentionally or not, he only pulled them slightly above Fu Zhen’s thighs before stopping.
He got up from the bed and straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes. Lowering his head, he looked down at Fu Zhen lying on the bed. Fu Zhen’s breathing had not yet settled. His chest rose and fell, his eyes were hazy, and his cheeks were flushed.
“Go to sleep early.” Jiang Hengshu withdrew his gaze, bent down, and kissed Fu Zhen’s forehead. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
After Jiang Hengshu left, it took Fu Zhen quite a while before he sat up from the bed. Everything that had just happened still felt somewhat unreal, as though he were in a dream. He looked down at his trousers, and his face flushed red again.
Now he and Jiang Hengshu were truly together. Jiang Hengshu did not remember anything that
had happened that night, so he also did not know that Fu Zhen’s body was actually different from a normal person’s.
Fu Zhen pressed his lips together. He needed to find a chance to explain it clearly to Jiang Hengshu. If… if Jiang Hengshu could not accept him like that…
Fu Zhen was unwilling to think about that outcome. He sighed, fell back onto the bed, and pulled the blanket up, hiding his face beneath it.
He thought of that absurd night.
…
Early the next morning, Fu Zhen received a message saying that his package had arrived. When he left, he glanced at Jiang Hengshu’s room. The door was tightly closed, and he did not know whether Jiang Hengshu was inside.
When he came back from outside, he saw Jiang Hengshu coming down the stairs with a bag in his hand. After seeing Fu Zhen, Jiang Hengshu walked up to him, raised his hand, and rubbed Fu Zhen’s head. “I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Fu Zhen gave a hum, then turned and watched Jiang Hengshu’s figure gradually disappear from his line of sight.
Before two or three o’clock in the afternoon, Jiang Hengshu returned from outside. In his hand, he carried a black briefcase. After going back to his room, he casually tossed the briefcase into the corner. The quality of the briefcase was probably not very good, because it split open directly from the fall, revealing stacks of banknotes inside. Jiang Hengshu walked over and, expressionless, kicked the briefcase under the bed.
When he came to find Fu Zhen, Fu Zhen was drawing. Jiang Hengshu sat down beside him and said, “You draw first.”
The rough sketch was almost finished. Fu Zhen responded, the pen in his hand not stopping. Jiang Hengshu silently watched him from the side. He liked the way Fu Zhen looked when he worked seriously.
After about half an hour, Fu Zhen put down his pen. After looking at Jiang Hengshu, he turned and took a small black box out of the drawer of the bedside cabinet. Holding it in both hands, he presented it to Jiang Hengshu. His eyes were bright as he said, “This is what I wanted to buy for you for Christmas before.”
Jiang Hengshu had not expected Fu Zhen to buy him a gift. He accepted the box and opened it in front of Fu Zhen. Inside was a white tie with subtle silver patterns. The workmanship was very delicate.
Fu Zhen did not earn much. The price of this tie should have been no small expense for him.
Afraid Jiang Hengshu would not like it, and knowing that Jiang Hengshu’s background was
much better than he had imagined before, Fu Zhen said to him a little shyly, “I originally wanted to buy you a pair of leather shoes, but I didn’t know your shoe size. So after thinking about it, I bought this.”
Jiang Hengshu gave a hum and placed the tie in Fu Zhen’s hands. Fu Zhen’s pupils shrank slightly. He thought Jiang Hengshu did not want the gift, but then he heard Jiang Hengshu say to him, “Help me put it on.”
Fu Zhen tilted his head up to look at him. Jiang Hengshu’s expression was serious, making Fu Zhen unable to help thinking of his high school homeroom teacher. But his homeroom teacher had not had this much hair, nor had he been as good-looking as Jiang Hengshu.
The outfit Jiang Hengshu was wearing today was not suitable for a tie, but Fu Zhen would not refuse Jiang Hengshu. He took the tie from the box, measured it against Jiang Hengshu’s chest, then looped it around his neck.
Fu Zhen had not tied a tie in a long time. The last time he had tied one for someone had probably been three years ago. Now, his technique was somewhat rusty, and after he finished, it was crooked and truly did not look very good. Fu Zhen lowered his head, and Jiang Hengshu’s breath brushed over the top of his head.
Fu Zhen took a step back and looked Jiang Hengshu over from head to toe. Scratching his head, he saw that this tie did not match the outfit Jiang Hengshu was wearing at all. He said to him, “Maybe don’t wear it after all.”
Jiang Hengshu gave a hum. When Fu Zhen tugged the tie, he used a little force, and Jiang Hengshu’s head lowered with it, his lips landing on Fu Zhen’s mouth.
Like animals in heat, they wanted every moment to melt the other into their own body, exchanging saliva with each other. By the time they separated, the tie that had originally been around Jiang Hengshu’s neck had somehow ended up on Fu Zhen’s shoulder.
Jiang Hengshu raised his hand, his fingertip lightly rubbing Fu Zhen’s lips. Turning his head to glance at the sky outside, he said to Fu Zhen, “We should go. Change your clothes.”
Fu Zhen gave a hum, then stuck out his tongue and licked Jiang Hengshu’s finger.
Jiang Hengshu’s gaze darkened, but in the end, he did nothing more. He gently pinched Fu Zhen’s cheek. “I’ll wait for you outside.”
Jiang Hengshu stopped outside Fu Zhen’s door. A passing tenant saw him and, very curious, came over to ask, “When did you and that little cripple get so close?”
“We’ve always been quite close,” Jiang Hengshu said.
Before long, Fu Zhen opened the door and walked out of his room. He wore a white hooded sweatshirt paired with black fitted trousers. His hair was neatly combed, and he seemed to have put something on his face, making his complexion look much rosier than usual.
In a daze, he actually looked a little like the young master of the Fu family from back then.
Jiang Hengshu, however, frowned. He said to Fu Zhen, “Wear more.”
Fu Zhen did not move. Today, he was going to meet Jiang Hengshu’s friends. Most of the winter clothes he had bought focused on warmth and did not have much shape. He wanted to leave Jiang Hengshu’s friends with a better impression.
Jiang Hengshu felt as if he were facing his little niece at home throwing a tantrum and refusing to go to school. But Fu Zhen did not throw tantrums. He only stared at him with those round black eyes, silently protesting.
Jiang Hengshu pulled Fu Zhen into his own room, opened the wardrobe, picked through it for a while, and found a black wool coat. He handed it to Fu Zhen. “Put it on.”
This coat had been bought by Jiang Hengshu that autumn and had not been worn much. Fortunately, Fu Zhen and Jiang Hengshu were not too different in height, and it still looked quite good when worn over his outfit.