Chang Jinxing let Zheng Weize hug him as much as he liked. He was so tired that all he could do was lie on his side and play with his phone.
In another room, Chen Hong was again playing the role of a caring older brother. “You can’t go on like this.”
Yan Jun knew what he meant. “What else can I do? Are you going to introduce me to someone?”
Playing matchmaker for Yan Jun had indeed crossed Chen Hong’s mind, but this time he was serious about it; he wasn’t angling for a matchmaker fee. Yan Jun was a good guy. Chen Hong believed that, with time, he could overcome his difficult circumstances.
“I couldn’t do what you’re doing, in your shoes,” said Chen Hong.
Yan Jun thought about it. “Yes, you could,” he said calmly.
Then Chen Hong threw him a curveball. “Do you like the sub-landlord?”
The color drained from Yan Jun’s face. Flustered, he jumped out of bed and gestured frantically, reminding him that Zhang Yuwen was right next door!
“They’re across the hall,” Chen Hong said. “Xiao-Ze and Jinxing are the ones next door.”
Yan Jun breathed a sigh of relief and returned to bed, no longer in the mood to watch TV. After a while, he glanced at Chen Hong, feeling caught out. “No,” he said flatly.
Chen Hong only smiled.
“Really,” Yan Jun insisted, his tone serious. “Hong-ge, please don’t talk nonsense. It’s awkward.”
“I guess I must have been mistaken.”
Yan Jun sighed. “Maybe you misunderstood because of the way I act? I’m really not interested in him.”
“I know,” said Chen Hong. “You just feel like he understands you, so you can’t help but want to get close to him.”
Yan Jun’s complicated feelings showed on his face. How did he feel about Zhang Yuwen? He felt relaxed with him, like a weary person who had been healed.
“What’s your type?” Chen Hong asked. “I’ll look around for you.”
Yan Jun thought for a moment. “On the mature side—his personality, I mean, not his age. Someone who can accept Xiao-Qi. After all, she’s the most important person in my life. He has to be willing to help me take care of her. Hm… Preferably someone who’s not too busy with work. I can be the breadwinner. It’s like the traditional family. You know?”
“Why don’t you find a girl?” Chen Hong asked. “You can date women, right? I feel like you’re more bisexual than Chang Jinxing.”
“I could, but I don’t want to.”
“Huh?”
Reverting to a heterosexual lifestyle, getting married, and starting a family seemed like it would be the ideal course of action for Yan Jun.
“If I marry a girl, we might end up having a child, which would divide up the love we shower on Xiao-Qi. It hasn’t been easy for her, so I don’t want… The way it is now is just fine.”
“What made you realize you were gay?” Chen Hong asked.
“My desk mate in high school,” Yan Jun said. “You?”
“A client,” Chen Hong replied.
A few short words, but a sea of heartache.
“In short,” Yan Jun said, “he has to be truly willing to accept Xiao-Qi. Everything else is negotiable. I like people who read and people with white-collar jobs. Fair-skinned, too.”
“All the better if it’s fair with cool undertones,” Chen Hong quipped.
“I have dark skin,” Yan Jun said, “so I like people who are fair and handsome. Ideally with a sensitive body, the kind who would get hard with just a touch of the nipples…”
“Which part gets hard? The nipples or the little buddy down there?”
“Both. And my spouse and daughter can rely on me. I don’t mind. I’m willing to earn money to support my family and give it all to them.”
“You aren’t that dark, actually,” said Chen Hong. “That’s a healthy skin tone.”
“The muscles shouldn’t be too obvious,” Yan Jun went on. “Yeah, no musclemen.”
“What did muscles ever do to you?!” Chen Hong exclaimed, slighted.
Yan Jun laughed and grabbed Chen Hong’s pecs. Chen Hong held him down and tried to pull his pants off, but Yan Jun fended him off. They struggled briefly before Chen Hong realized that Yan Jun was stronger than he looked and might actually overpower him, so he wisely withdrew.
“A guy who’s gentle but resilient. Like a designer, writer, cartoonist, pianist… Someone who’s intelligent, sensitive, and creative.” Yan Jun knew that a guy like that was out of his league. “I have absolutely no resistance against people like that, but of course they wouldn’t be interested in me.”
“Don’t be so sure. As long as your hardware is impressive enough, you can still make it impossible for them to leave you.” Yan Jun laughed, and Chen Hong thought it over and added, “But doesn’t that still make the sub-landlord the ideal guy? He’s refined, good-tempered, emotionally stable, educated, and he has lots of time on his hands. Yeah, his salary is a little low, but you guys can work hard together.”
Yan Jun was taken aback.
“Go after him if he suits you,” Chen Hong said. “Why limit yourself? If you manage to woo him, maybe you can even persuade him to lower our rent.”
Yan Jun remained silent.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Chen Hong said.
Yan Jun, remote in hand, channel surfed until Chen Hong returned from the bathroom. Having thought about it for a while, Yan Jun said, “You know, Yuwen and I… I’ve contributed nothing from my end. Never had the opportunity to. All this time, he’s been the one helping me.”
Chen Hong understood, and he couldn’t argue. Yan Jun had nothing to offer Zhang Yuwen, who lacked for nothing. Zhang Yuwen was emotionally resilient and financially independent. Worse, they were both tops.
Love was a two-way street. Both parties needed to possess that spark to make each other happy; that was the only way the relationship would last. Having been on the receiving end financially in his own past relationship, Chen Hong understood Yan Jun’s feelings all too well. Thinking of his own past made him sad, and he fell silent too.
“Huo Sichen would be suitable for Yuwen if he weren’t straight,” said Yan Jun. “They’re well-matched.”
Chen Hong sighed. “Let’s go to sleep. We’re just rambling on meaninglessly.”
In the room across the hall, Zhang Yuwen and Huo Sichen were like a pair of grandpas with their sleeping habits. By ten, they were both sleepy. However, the room was still cold, perhaps because of the direction it faced. It felt to Zhang Yuwen like the window was letting in a chilly draft.
“Let’s put these two blankets together and cover ourselves with them,” Huo Sichen suggested.
“Okay.”
Zhang Yuwen was so tired he could barely open his eyes. Huo Sichen arranged the blankets, and they huddled underneath them. Zhang Yuwen felt much better. Their bodies were both warm, but the thin blankets had been making them lose heat; now, it was finally warm. Zhang Yuwen fell asleep just as Huo Sichen plugged his phone into the charger.
A few minutes later, Huo Sichen yawned and said, “Yuwen?” Receiving no response, Huo Sichen fell asleep too.
Zhang Yuwen slept restlessly. At home, he liked to sleep hugging a bolster, so when the temperature dropped further during the night he instinctively hugged Huo Sichen, taking him as his bolster and thinking he was still at home. He was naked, save for his underwear, and when he turned over to hug Huo Sichen, his thigh pressed against a particular part of Huo Sichen’s body. Several times, Huo Sichen woke up and struggled to shift his waist so that Zhang Yuwen wouldn’t rub against or press down on his stiff little friend.
Out in the winter night, the rain gradually turned to snow. It fell harder and heavier, fluttering and swirling down all over the mountain forest.