Ch.103 – The Star Around The Sun

At dinner that night, Jiang Zihe drank a little too much. Once Yang Youming could no longer bear to watch, he snatched the bottle of wine right out of his hand and asked Xia Xingcheng to help him up to the second floor guest room. 

Although it had been renovated and redecorated, the room still had the smell of wood that was typical of old wooden buildings.

Jiang Zihe laid on his side. His brain was soaked in alcohol; he was dizzy yet not sleepy. The fact that he had the unexpected chance to spend a night in this building was like a dream—just like the fact that Yang Youming had a young, gay lover. 

Why did it have to be Xia Xingcheng? Why couldn’t it be him? Jiang Zihe’s burning face pressed on the chilly bed sheets; the bitterness of his jealousy overwhelmed the alcohol, and he turned to look up.  

He then heard a light rattling, which caused him to go dumb for a moment before he flipped over to face the ceiling and focus on the sound—only to realize that the rattling was coming from the room directly above his. It had the regular rhythm of a rocking bed, the creaking sounds made by its legs as it dragged against the wooden floor. 

Yang Youming came out of the bathroom to the sight of Xia Xingcheng lying on the bed, deliberately rocking his body dramatically, making the bed creak from the friction. 

He casually threw his towel back to the edge of the bathroom sink, then made his way over to the bed and said, “Stop making noise.”

The only thing Xia Xingcheng had on his body was underwear. He stopped, then turned to Yang Youming, grinning as he said, “Just teasing him.”

Yang Youming sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached out and put his hand on Xia Xingcheng’s thigh. Feeling the slightly cold skin, he pulled the blanket over him. 

Just then, Xia Xingcheng’s phone on the bedside table suddenly rang—it was Huang Jixin calling. 

Xia Xingcheng was lying on his stomach. Too lazy to hold up the phone, he directly answered and put it on loudspeaker. 

Huang Jixin asked, “What are you up to?”

“I’m getting ready for bed, do I need to tell you what I’m doing with Ming ge?” Xia Xingcheng said.

Huang Jixin let out a heartfelt sound of disgust, “Tsk!”

Hearing this, Yang Youming couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Pay attention to your words, Ming ge can hear everything,” Xia Xingcheng warned. 

Huang Jixin snorted. “There’s a script for a male lead in an ancient fantasy drama of a big IP adaptation. You interested?” 

Xia Xingcheng propped himself up on his elbows, his face on his hands with his upper body raised. He stretched his legs out of the blanket, bent them, and teased Yang Youming with his toes, all the while he continued, “What’s it called?”

Huang Jixin said, “The novel is titled ‘Legend of Immortal Feng Yulong’, but the name of the drama is subject to change.” 

“Is it a webdrama?” Xia Xingcheng asked. 

On the other side, Huang Jixin surmised, “I’m not sure, it’s hard to say whether the subject matter can be aired on TV.” 

Xia Xingcheng kicked his leg at the approximate direction of Yang Youming’s face, when out of nowhere, his ankle was grabbed. The arch of his foot was suddenly scratched, and Xia Xingcheng couldn’t stop a low shout from escaping his mouth. He pulled his foot back and turned over on the bed.

Huang Jixin was silent throughout.

Xia Xingcheng glanced at Yang Youming, reached over to grab his phone, then continued asking, “What about the director, screenwriter, and production team?”

Huang Jixin’s tone was laced with a slight impatience. “It’s not fixed yet. I’m only giving you a heads up. Think it over first.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “Uh-huh.”

Jixin added, “Ask Ming ge what he thinks.”

Xia Xingcheng looked at Yang Youming, and said, “Okay.”

Right before Huang Jixin hung up, he paused briefly, like he was holding back, but in the end he couldn’t help himself from saying, “Pass this on to Ming ge for me—make sure he takes care of his health.” He uttered it all in one breath, not even giving Xia Xingcheng a chance to respond as he hastily hung up. 

With the phone in his hand, Xia Xingcheng looked at Yang Youming blankly. After a while, he said, “I didn’t say anything.”

Youming remained silent for a bit, then said, “He does have a point.” With that, he lifted the blanket and laid down. “Let’s sleep a little earlier tonight.”

Xia Xingcheng shifted closer to him, looked at his eyes, and said, “Are you mad?”

Yang Youming said, “What’s there to be mad about. We have a guest today, it wouldn’t be appropriate to make so much noise so late.”

Xia Xingcheng grudgingly turned his head and rubbed his face against Yang Youming’s chest. After a bout of rubbing, he lightly licked at it with the tip of his tongue, tracing circles around and around. 

Yang Youming subconsciously tilted his head, letting out a sharp, low gasp from his throat. He pulled at Xia Xingcheng’s arm until he sat on his body. 

Xia Xingcheng snuggled close to his ear and said, “It’s okay, Ming ge, I’ll soak some goji berries tomorrow to nourish your health.”

    ……

The next morning, Jiang Zihe forwent his makeup after getting out of bed, had breakfast, then fiddled with his tripod in the entrance hall, his entire being listless.

Yang Youming wore a snow white dress shirt, his cuffs and collar neatly buttoned, and a pair of jeans on his lower body. 

When he walked up to Jiang Zihe, Jiang Zihe was squatting on the floor. He looked up at Yang Youming, stole a glimpse at his crotch that was covered by the hem of his shirt, then lowered his head once more. “I’ll test the lighting angles in a bit.”

Yang Youming smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Xia Xingcheng got up late. He was also wearing a white dress shirt, yet it was half tucked in, and the buttons were fastened incorrectly. His shirt was lopsided, and the collar was skewed open. 

His footsteps were brisk as he descended the stairs. He ran into the kitchen and asked Auntie Tian for a steamed bun, stuffed it into his mouth, then swallowed it as he took the warm milk from Auntie Tian’s hands and drank it in large gulps. 

When he finished his breakfast, Yang Youming called him over and helped him re-button his shirt. The two then sat on the two-seater sofa in front of the stairs with their arms around each other.

Jiang Zihe viewed them through the camera lens. 

Both of them were actors; they had small, three-dimensional faces, and they looked good on camera. At this moment, they leaned towards the other with their heads tilted together—it was the standard pose for wedding photos. 

Jiang Zihe took a few shots of them like this, then had them change their pose. They grabbed the stool Xia Xingcheng had sat on the other day, and Xia Xingcheng stood behind Yang Youming with his hands around the other man’s shoulders.

When pressing the shutter, Jiang Zihe felt a bit strange. Nowadays most people rarely took wedding photos indoors in such a serious manner. Xia Xingcheng’s expression was too solemn, as if he were carrying out a serious ceremony. 

Afterwards, Yang Youming turned to look at Xia Xingcheng. Xia Xingcheng also faced him, and the two men gazed at each other for a long time. When Jiang Zihe noticed Xia Xingcheng’s gradually reddening eyes, his hand on the shutter unintentionally trembled.

Through the lens, Jiang Zihe watched Yang Youming take Xia Xingcheng’s head into his hands, slightly pull him down, and kiss his eye. He immediately captured this scene; his heart throbbed violently, and his eyes never left the camera as he looked at them dazedly. 

“What’s the matter?” Yang Youming asked Xia Xingcheng, his voice low and gentle.

Xia Xingcheng said, “Just happy.”

Yang Youming then smiled at him.

Jiang Zihe momentarily stood in place and abruptly found that he was no longer envious of Xia Xingcheng. Somewhat at a loss, he thought, compared to finding a man like Yang Youming, perhaps it was more difficult to find somebody so loving that you’d want to shed tears when you look at him. From then on, he yearned for such a relationship.

After the photoshoot that morning, Jiang Zihe didn’t even eat before he left to contact a studio and develop their photos. When he returned that afternoon, he brought back three photos in wooden frames. One was of the two leaning towards each other as they sat side by side, and in accordance with Yang Youming’s request, this photo was printed in a large size, to be hung up on the wall. The other two photos were small-sized, to place by their bed; one was of the two of them looking at each other, and the other was of Yang Youming kissing Xia Xingcheng’s eye. 

Hearing Yang Youming say that he was planning on hanging the photo, Jiang Zihe wondered where he would be hanging them, so Yang Youming invited him to go up to the room on the right of the second floor. 

This room had always been closed before, and Jiang Zihe had never inquired about what was inside either. Now, he followed behind Yang Youming and Xia Xingcheng as they entered the room, and when he looked around, he was too surprised at the sight of the two old photos to even react.

Yang Youming climbed up a ladder to hang up the third picture. Holding the photo frame, he first asked Xia Xingcheng to show him the appropriate position for the photo, then marked the place for the nail. He then passed the photo to Xia Xingcheng, took out the nail he held between his teeth, and hammered it into the wall. 

All the while, Xia Xingcheng said, “Be careful with your hands, let me do it instead.”

Yang Youming said, “It’s fine.”

Jiang Zihe retreated to the back, and he stared at the three photos for a long time. Once Yang Youming came down, he said, “Ming ge, I’m off.”

Yang Youming was clapping the dust off his hands. When he heard this, he turned to Jiang Zihe. “Stay and play for a few more days, you’re rarely free anyway.”

“I still have some work to do, so I can’t hang around. Have a good vacation, you two,” Jiang Zihe said. 

Behind Yang Youming, Xia Xingcheng waved goodbye. 

Facing him, Yang Youming said, “I really appreciate it, Zihe.” 

Jiang Zihe shook his head. “I don’t know what else to say. I wish you both happiness.”

Xia Xingcheng couldn’t help saying, “Thank you.”

Jiang Zihe waved at him. 

After Jiang Zihe left that day, Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming were once again the only ones in the house, along with Auntie Tian, who sat in a recliner watching TV in her room every day.  

Every day, Xia Xingcheng accompanied Yang Youming to organize his old books; he also watered the plants, and even took out a pen and ink set to practice calligraphy. He passed his days happily until he inadvertently reached the expiration date Huang Jixin had set for his break.

As they were packing up their things on the day before their return to Beijing, Gradual Distance’s trailer suddenly blew up on the internet. 

The trailer was, of course, released officially. It was naturally not intended for a domestic screening, but for He Zheng to submit to a European film festival—this trailer was the one for the film festival.

The short trailer contained a few scenes; the first time Fang Jianyuan met Yu Haiyang in his family’s grocery store as the older man bought cigarettes, Fang Jianyuan and Yu Haiyang messing around with water in Fang Jianyuan’s rooftop garden, the two men riding a bicycle along a quiet street. The shots leapt quickly, always accompanied by the scorching summer sunshine and a cacophony of cicadas, along with close-ups of their clingy and anxiety-ridden eyes, their sweaty shirts, and the restless love of two men.

Xia Xingcheng used Yang Youming’s laptop to go on the internet. Almost as soon as he opened Weibo, he was flooded with all sorts of messages, and he watched as his follower count soared rapidly. The most reposted trailer was reposted more than twenty thousand times, and people kept @-ing him nonstop. He clicked to read the comments, and the most popular comment was: “I’m going crazy! They completely brought my imagination of a male-male romance to life!” There were countless more comments below expressing agreement.

The sudden attention made Xia Xingcheng a little timid. He didn’t have the heart to open the trailer, and silently quit Weibo. 

Yang Youming stood behind him with a cup of hot water. Seeing the odd expression on his face, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xia Xingcheng turned back and told him, “Gradual Distance’s trailer is out.”

Yang Youming didn’t react much, and merely asked, “You’re not going to watch it?” 

Xia Xingcheng bent over on the desktop, his forehead bumped the laptop’s touchpad, and his voice was muffled as he said, “I’m too embarrassed to, let’s not watch it.”

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – their movie ;___;

⟵ Chapter 102| TOC | Chapter 104 ⟶