Zhuang Yiyun left so abruptly it caught Yan Yan off guard. On the way back, Yan Yan felt like a soulless being. They had only been together for a few months, and there were many things left unfinished. He was 22 and about to graduate from university, but could not yet face time and the future calmly.
His body was exhausted. Zhuang Yiyun was like an excited dog on stimulants the previous night, tossing him all night. But now, he felt it was right, at least it gave him a sense of reality. He dragged his tired body home and collapsed in the living room, not wanting to move.
He only got up when he felt hungry but didn’t want to cook. So he moved to another spot and lay down on the bed where he fell asleep using Zhuang Yiyun’s pillow.
Until he received a new message on his phone.
Zhuang Yiyun: [I just landed. We’re taking a car to the outskirts now.]
Zhuang Yiyun: [Have you eaten? Don’t starve. Gege worries about you.]
After reading the messages, Yan Yan buried his face in the pillow for a while before replying.
Yan Yan: [I haven’t eaten. I’m very hungry but don’t want to move.]
Yan Yan: [Gege, if you continue to coax me, I’ll feel very sad.]
Yan Yan: [I think I might like you more than I thought.]
Zhuang Yiyun’s heart felt both sour and tender. He was touched by Yan Yan’s words, but there was also pain.
Zhuang Yiyun: [I miss you a lot. I missed you even before we parted, now I miss you even more.]
Zhuang Yiyun: [Lie down for five more minutes, then open the drawer of your bedside table.]
He left something?!
Five minutes? Who could endure that?! Yan Yan immediately got up, rushed to the drawer, and opened it. Inside, he found a photo album.
He took the album out and flipped through it; it was all Zhuang Yiyun. He had asked him about his college photos last time, and Zhuang Yiyun had said he would show him his graduation photos. He had forgotten about it, but Zhuang Yiyun hadn’t. The entire album was filled with various photos of him from different sources, from his childhood to adulthood. Some of them looked like scanned copies of printed photos.
When did he do this?! They were together day and night, and he hadn’t noticed.
There aren’t many in total, only thirty or forty photos, and at the end were photos of the two of them. There were not many pictures from the time they went to Hainan, but he almost cried again when he saw them.
Feeling overwhelmed, he messaged Zhuang Yiyun.
Yan Yan: [Gege, did you also take my photos?]
Zhuang Yiyun: [Yes, I put them in my notebook.]
Yan Yan: [I think I’ve been infected by you and become stupid. We have each other’s photos on our phones, and we can even video call.]
Yan Yan: [Gege, are we in an online relationship?]
Zhuang Yiyun chuckled softly.
Zhuang Yiyun: [Yes. When are we going to meet in person?]
Yan Yan: [When my love can’t be satisfied anymore, we’ll meet in person.]
Zhuang Yiyun: [Shameless.]
Yan Yan didn’t reply. He got up to cook, making fried rice with eggs and sending a picture to Zhuang Yiyun.
Zhuang Yiyun: [Is this all you’re having?]
Yan Yan: [My husband just left, the lonely husband is online and feeling desolate.]
Zhuang Yiyun: […]
Yan Yan: [I will be sad for a few days, for sure, I probably won’t have a meal again after eating this one.]
Yan Yan: [But I plan to go home tomorrow and leech off my parents.]
Zhuang Yiyun: [Once your husband leaves, you abandon your home and work?]
Yan Yan: [Otherwise? This place is sad.]
Zhuang Yiyun’s finger hovered above the screen, unsure how to respond. It was his fault; he hadn’t given any buffer. Just when he was contemplating how to comfort Yan Yan, another message popped up.
Yan Yan: [But I’ve decided to take your pillow with me. You smell so good, gege.]
It seemed there was no need for comfort. Instead, he…he had been teasing Yan Yan, yet now, he was stirred by a few sentences and his chest felt tight. He was the one who needed comforting.
The car entered the base and underwent security checks. Zhuang Yiyun locked his phone screen. From the moment he entered the base, he was busy until late at night. The project team had been set up, and was considered a junior in the team. He had joined late, and barely exchanged pleasantries before diving into work. He had to review documents, participate in discussions, familiarize himself with the lab and get to know people. He even glanced at the room he would be staying in just once.
He was not allowed to bring his mobile phone into the laboratory. By the time he returned to his room, it was nearly midnight. Only then did he have time to read messages.
Late in the evening, Yan Yan sent a message.
Yan Yan: [Gege, have you finished work? How was your meal? How’s your accommodation? Are your new colleagues easy to get along with?]
Yan Yan: [Gege, show me your room, or my suspicions will haunt me.]
No response was received, and he sent another one at eleven.
Yan Yan: [You’re not still working, are you?]
Yan Yan: [Physical labor all night yesterday, mental work all day today. Gege, you’re not overworking, are you… gege, don’t scare me.]
Zhuang Yiyun wanted to laugh. Even when he was pretending to be well-behaved, he was never this clingy, bombarding him with questions like a little sticky spirit.
Zhuang Yiyun: [Are you cursing your husband?]
Zhuang Yiyun: [It’s not that bad, I slept on the plane.]
Zhuang Yiyun replied with two sentences and didn’t send more. Although he really wanted to hear Yan Yan’s voice, it was late, and he should be sleeping. He was not the only one who put in effort last night. Unexpectedly, his message hadn’t been sent for ten seconds when Yan Yan’s video call invitation popped up. Zhuang Yiyun’s heartstrings were suddenly plucked, and when he answered, he felt a strange nervousness.
The video call was connected, but neither of them spoke for awhile. They just stared at each other through the screen. Even though it had only been twelve hours since they last saw each other, it felt like a century.
“Gege…” Yan Yan broke the silence first.
“Yeah. Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
“My husband hasn’t replied to my message. How can I sleep?” Yan Yan’s gaze lingered on Zhuang Yiyun’s eyes. They showed signs of fatigue, with slight redness and dark circles under the eyes, but he looked alert.
“He just finished work, he’ll show you the room and then sleep.”
After saying this, Zhuang Yiyun turned the camera around, using the rear camera to show Yan Yan his room. It was a roughly forty-square-meter independent suite, with a bedroom and bathroom. There was a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small sofa—just these simple pieces of furniture. Although it was plain, it looked comfortable enough, and Yan Yan felt somewhat relieved.
It was too late, he was worried about Zhuang Yiyun’s health so he urged him to go to bed after a few words. Zhuang Yiyun didn’t want to hang up the video call, so he placed his phone beside him and went to take a shower. Yan Yan looked at the ceiling through the camera, listening to the sound of water coming from the bathroom. He didn’t want to hang up either. As he listened, he fell asleep, and his phone slipped onto the pillow.
That night, neither of them hung up the video call. They fell asleep listening to each other’s breathing until the phone ran out of battery and shut down automatically.
Humans are remarkably adaptable creatures. After the first few days of separation, they seemed to have adapted to the long-distance “online relationship” mode. Zhuang Yiyun was very busy, so they could only have a short video call before bedtime. Once Yan Yan got used to it, he found his own rhythm for life and study, immersing himself back into his exam preparations.
Soon, the day of Yan Yan’s graduation ceremony arrived. As a local, his whole family attended, and Yan Ximing and Qian Ruqing arrived at the university early. When they arrived at the graduation ceremony, Qian Ruqing scrutinized Yan Yan, paying attention to every detail of his image.
“Mom, it’s just graduation, does it have to be so perfect?”
“Why not? It has to be perfect! I want to take photos to show Xiao Yiyun. He’s serving the country; you have to appear vibrant, don’t let him get distracted because of you.”
Yan Yan rolled his eyes and retorted, “Come on, serving the country? He’s too old for the military. The military doesn’t want him.”
“You have such a sharp tongue!”
“That’s how I am. Why am I so good-looking? His husband is so beautiful, and he’s not around. Why shouldn’t he worry? It’s easy for someone to have designs on his husband. I’ve dressed up so neatly, and it’s still not enough for you. I think you want to distract him.” Yan Yan gestured to his graduation gown, tilting his chin defiantly.
“Okay, okay, your logic is outrageous.”
In fact, for ordinary students like Yan Yan, the graduation ceremony was quite limited. After the student representative and the president’s speeches, students took group photos, said their goodbyes, and received flowers and gifts from family and friends. Qian Ruqing and Yan Ximing also brought a bouquet of flowers. Yan Yan smiled as he accepted it, asking a classmate to help take a picture of the three of them.
Yan Yan’s mood was calmer than expected. Perhaps because he was already looking forward, moving forward with determination, he didn’t have much emotion left for the present. He said goodbye and was leaving amid laughter and hugs when he saw Zhuang Xian.
Zhuang Xian walked towards him gracefully, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in full bloom.
“Congratulations,” she handes him the flowers.
Yan Yan was somewhat surprised. He heard from his mother that Zhuang Xian was undergoing psychological treatment. But he hadn’t expected her to come specifically to his graduation ceremony, especially since she was so dissatisfied with him. Psychological treatment can’t change someone’s values entirely, right?
When Zhuang Xian saw that he did not accept the flowers in her hand, she spoke a little awkwardly: “Yiyun isn’t here. I thought I should be here to witness it. Congratulations on your graduation.”
Yan Yan didn’t comment. He wondered if she had attended Zhuang Yiyun’s graduation ceremony before. Pushed by his mother, he finally thanked her politely, albeit coldly, and took the flowers. He accepted the flowers, but his expression clearly showed his lack of approval. He didn’t think Zhuang Xian could represent Zhuang Yiyun.
Zhuang Xian didn’t force it; after giving him the flowers, she left without even taking a group photo.
At noon, Zhuang Yiyun checked his phone while having lunch and his screen was flooded with messages from Yan Yan’s family group chat, along with various messages tagging him. He read every message and saved every photo. When he learned that his mother had attended Yan Yan’s graduation ceremony, he paused for a moment while scrolling down, his eyes fixed on that sentence for a while.
He realized he didn’t feel any joy about this, and similarly, he didn’t have resentment when thinking about his mother anymore. He felt happy for her improvement in mental health- it reduced her pain. But the surplus emotions seemed unnecessary. The things he had once hoped for, he now possessed. Whether Zhuang Xian gave them to him or not seemed unimportant now.
Zhuang Yiyun continued reading the group chat logs.
Yan Yan: [@Zhuang Yiyun Gege, my mom insisted I photoshop you into the graduation photo. So I did, but then my mom complained that I only put your head and didn’t photoshop your feet…]
Qian Ruqing: [Exactly! How can you be so irresponsible? Just a head without feet, is that reasonable?]
Yan Ximing: [Hurry up, Yan Yan! Your mother is about to put back the weighed snails, she’s saying she won’t buy them.]
Yan Yan: [My mustard snails! I was wrong! I’ll ohotoshop them right away. I’ll photoshop my gege’s perfect proportions!]]
Zhuang Yiyun opened the edited group photo and smiled gently.
Zhuang Yiyun: [Yan Yan, happy graduation.]
Yan Yan replied instantly.
Yan Yan: [Gege!]
Yan Yan: [From today, I’m the freshly baked freeloader Yan.]
In the WeChat group, specific transfer information appeared; Zhuang Yiyun transferred money to Yan Yan.
Zhuang Yiyun: [Be a freeloading husband, not your parents’.]
Qian Ruqing: [Xiao Yiyun, what did you just call us?]
Zhuang Yiyun switched to voice mode. Two seconds later, a new voice message appeared in the group.
“Dad, Mom.”
Qian Ruqing’s voice message immediately replied, “Ah! Good boy! Xiao Yiyun, rest assured, Mom and Dad will take care of Yan Yan. We won’t let him go astray again.”
This was the first time Zhuang Yiyun had called them Mom and Dad. In front of the seafood stall in the market, Qian Ruqing grabbed her husband’s hand, excitedly patting it several times. Zhuang Yiyun had never addressed that way before, and while they hadn’t worried much, him referring to his partner’s parents as Mom and Dad meant he took the marriage seriously. Now, they were finally at ease.
Yan Yan’s voice was lazy, “What do you mean by ‘go astray’? When have I ever misbehaved?”
The group was filled with more than ten voice messages discussing this matter. Zhuang Yiyun remained silent, silently putting on his headphones and listening to each voice message one by one.
To meet his research deadlines, he compressed his lunch break. He hurriedly finished his meal, sent a message in the group, then returned to the lab. After putting his phone back in the secure cabinet, he entered the lab with a smile on his face.
Days became more regular, and he was busy almost all the time. Yan Yan enrolled in a cram school to prepare for his exam, staying late in the self-study room of the training institution every day. Both of them were occupied, but no matter how busy they were, their video calls before bedtime remained uninterrupted.
In August, Yan Yan’s parents followed their usual tradition of traveling during the summer vacation, and Yan Yan moved back to to their place. One night, Zhuang Yiyun returned to his room after work, opened his phone, and saw a message from Yan Yan, saying he was a bit tired and would sleep early today.
He suddenly slept early, and Zhuang Yiyun worried that he might not be feeling well. He sent him a message, but there was no response, indicating he was indeed sleeping. So, he checked Yan Yan’s moments, seeing if he had posted anything; Yan Yan had the habit of updating his moments.
Unexpectedly, upon entering, he saw a new photo Yan Yan had just posted. Two hours ago, he and Orange sat side by side in a street food stall, clinking beer glasses.
Caption: [Welcome to Xing City Orange Let me introduce you to my brothers and sisters. I’ve got them covered.]
There was a bang in Zhuang Yiyun’s head, and his brows instantly furrowed.
Did he go to sleep early because he went out for drinks with Orange?
Why did Orange come to Xing City? Was he not giving up, trying to take advantage of the situation?
