CFHE Chapter 102

No matter how old you are, right now you’ve returned to when you were sixteen.

You are a high school student.

High school coursework is heavier than middle school. Often without realizing it, by the time you walk out the school gate it’s already past 5:30. Before school ended, the Chinese teacher assigned an essay topic—a topical essay on “What Love Looks Like.” You still haven’t thought of an angle and are distressed.

Today there’s light rain, falling in a fine, dense layer on the ground. The blue-gray sidewalk is dyed deep blue by the rain threads.

The sky is overcast, darker than usual. You hold up an umbrella, breathe in the damp, cold air, and feel a bit hungry.

Just the right food aroma drifts from ahead. You know those are the small stalls near schools that usually sell fried foods. These stalls flit through the city’s inconspicuous alleys operating secretly. They don’t follow regulations, but they’re truly lifesaving—at least they can save your dog life, exhausted from a day of studying.

So you walk over.

Unexpectedly, the cookie-cutter stall today does give you a new surprise. You discover that between the fried skewers and pancake stalls, the pushcart under the big umbrella is actually selling red bean taiyaki.

This exotic-style street food seems to only appear in film, anime, and literary works. It’s very rare in your life—at least not on the streets. You’re quickly interested. Hesitation only takes three seconds. Between the lingering fried skewers and the sweet, stomach-warming red bean taiyaki, you decide you want both.

Many people came to the stall, holding umbrellas and queuing up, gradually surrounding several pushcarts. You hate crowds, so after ordering, you unknowingly stood at the edge of the encirclement.

The pattering rain suddenly grew heavier.

When you noticed the rain sounds growing louder, your attention withdrew from the sizzling food, and you heard a low male voice from the right rear—quite pleasant to hear.

You couldn’t help but look back.

From the other side of the alley came two tall young men sharing one large umbrella. Whether it was their physiques and appearances or their act of insisting on squeezing under the same umbrella, it was enough to attract your gaze. Your eyes involuntarily followed them.

They were two very good-looking men who could fulfill every fantasy about the word “handsome” held by young boys and girls.

It was winter. The one on the left wore a black long coat. Under the heavy coat, quality suit and shirt could vaguely be seen. One of his long arms boldly stretched out to hook around the neck of the man on the right. The one on the right wore a deep camel-colored long coat, revealing a pure black turtleneck sweater underneath, making his skin look extremely fair. He held the umbrella. When his neck was hooked and pulled by the man on the left, his whole body tilted toward the other’s embrace.

A large raindrop fell on your umbrella. The different heavy sound and the turtleneck man’s complexion made you think of snow.

Tiny ice crystals rolled into the puddle at your feet.

No wonder it was so cold—turns out today’s rain was mixed with snow.

In the two seconds you were distracted, the two men walked in front of you and joined the umbrella-holding queue.

Their target was the red bean taiyaki. You could tell from their conversation.

“There’s actually taiyaki being sold here. Shall we buy two? I just watched Doraemon yesterday.”

“Keep your voice down.”

“Why?”

The previous sentence’s tone carried some feigned fierceness. The next second, the very fair man laughed softly: “At this age, never having watched Doraemon—if word got out, how embarrassing.”

“Dad, I’m twenty-six this year. Who’s ‘at this age’?”

“Anyway not me. I’m half a year younger.”

“Fu Yuhan, you’re very arrogant—” The suited man bared his teeth and pinched the soft flesh at the back of the other’s neck. “Besides, if I didn’t watch it when I was little, can’t I make it up now… It’s not too late.”

The man named “Fu Yuhan” wore a turtleneck sweater. You clearly saw the suited man’s fingertips very naturally slip into his collar, pinch twice, then withdraw.

You were surprised because this was an inconspicuous yet very intimate detail—something you usually wouldn’t see between straight men.

This scene sparked imaginative thoughts.

Surrounded by students who’d just left school, yet these two men in their twenties standing among high schoolers didn’t seem much older.

Youthful energy inspired yearning. Your mind began churning, involuntarily racking your brain, attempting to use all the pulp fiction you’d read in your life to reassemble new chapters and compose a lingering, touching love story for these two eye-pleasing gentlemen.

“Who’s arrogant?” Fu Yuhan smiled and glanced sideways. “I think I just heard someone call themselves ‘dad’?”

“You’re the dad, I’m the son.” The suited man instantly backed down under his gaze, leaning forward to shout at the middle stall owner. “Boss, two red bean ones!”

“Why are you so agreeable today… Then I also want fried skewers?”

“What skewers?”

“Mm… rice cakes.”

“Boss,” the suited man turned to the stall owner next door. “Two orders of fried rice cakes!”

So Fu Yuhan’s gaze became strange: “Want another order of stinky tofu?”

“Buy it, buy everything.” After the suited man finished speaking, he cheerfully ran to the third stall and ordered stinky tofu.

After buying their food, the two withdrew outside the encirclement, chatting while waiting for their food, happening to stand not far from you.

The good hearing trained by English listening tests actually came in handy. You discovered you could hear clearly what they were saying in low voices.

“Being so agreeable isn’t like you?”

“You’re talking nonsense. When have I ever not been agreeable with you?”

“Every day.”

“…”

“So hungry.”

“Wait a bit more and there’ll be food,” the suited man picked a piece of fluff off his hair. “I told you that down jacket this morning was shedding.”

“You already changed out of it, yet you’re still hung up on that jacket… Just wear it at home from now on.”

“Can’t wear it at home.”

“You could turn off the floor heating and then you could wear it. Didn’t the municipal government call you all for a meeting a couple days ago and promote a round of ‘energy conservation and emission reduction’?” Fu Yuhan laughed softly.

“…You’re really getting more and more wicked now. Who did you learn from?” The suited man said, puzzled. “Always picking on me for fun.”

“Who else could it be?”

The man named Fu Yuhan made a teasing sound. You turned your head to look and discovered those lively, spirited eyes had made half a circle, smiling as they looked at the person beside him.

That gaze was bright and burning, carrying something… you found very hard to articulate.

Then those handsome lips curved upward lightly and shallowly, his voice lowering half a tone: “Of course, my Wen Yu gege.”

You held your breath. The love stories flying through your mind began heading in an R-rated direction.

At this time, the freshly made food finally reached your turn. The stall owner called three times before bringing back your out-of-body wandering soul. You pressed your lips together, while taking out your wallet, you unconsciously kept your attention on those two men and continued listening.

“Hey, by the way, did you bring in the clothes at home?”

“Brought them in. Saw the weather forecast said rain this morning, so I brought them in.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“If you know I worked hard, then in the future don’t be so… intense…”

“Then I’m so wronged,” Wen Yu laughed. “Who was crying and begging me yesterday?”

Never expecting to hear such stimulating conversation on the street, you weren’t paying attention for a moment. When stepping off the curb, you missed a step and twisted your ankle at the height difference.

Just as you were about to fall, the queue encirclement in front of you made way. You thought you were done for—certain to face-plant on the asphalt road full of puddles. The school uniform you’d just changed into would need washing again, and you’d inevitably face a scolding from your mom.

In the nick of time, a strong hand reached out from the left rear and grabbed your arm.

You didn’t fall.

Startled, you hurriedly looked back and saw the turtleneck man looking at you with an indifferent expression, his tone carrying a certain coldness: “Be careful.”

This attitude was much colder than when he spoke with the person beside him. Thinking you’d caused trouble, you couldn’t help apologizing repeatedly. Unexpectedly, the suited man named Wen Yu had a very amiable attitude, leaning his head over to smile at you: “Don’t be nervous. He’s a bit of a poker face. It’s raining today, the ground is slippery. Don’t space out while walking.”

You nodded repeatedly, face burning as you went to pay.

Embarrassment made you wish you could disappear the second after getting the red bean taiyaki. Although you still wanted to hear more of their conversation, you were too embarrassed to stay and turned to leave.

“She’s also eating red bean taiyaki.”

“Smells so good… I’m so hungry.”

“You’ll be able to eat soon. Don’t rush.”

“But when I get hungry, my stomach hurts… It’s uncomfortable.”

“Then shall husband kiss you?”

Your footsteps halted. You looked back in surprise—

Then, standing in an empty spot, you saw the large umbrella tilted toward the crowd as a shield. The suited man quickly stretched his neck and landed a fleeting kiss on the sweater man’s cheek.

The sweater man who’d been cold-faced moments before unconsciously formed a very faint smile: “What happened to taking turns being husband? You bastard, taking advantage of me again.”

His gaze was tender and affectionate.

You suddenly understood.

“My every smile and frown is because of you”—this was perhaps what love should look like.

You seemed to know how to write your essay now.

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