Wilderness Vegetation Chapter 56

Chapter 56

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Xu Yan woke up in the guest room at Ji Huai's house, feeling short of breath and suffocated. As he opened his eyes, he found a leg draped over him – Xu Nian's leg.

"Get off..." Xu Yan kicked him. Xu Nian grumbled, rolled over, and continued to sleep soundly.

Last night had been a bit out of control. Xu Nian got high while DJing at the bar, and Xu Yan had been heavily plied with drinks by a few friends, resulting in a blackout. Now lying in bed, he struggled to recall the events but could only vaguely remember bits and pieces.

He remembered that halfway through drinking, Yu Xue called to wish him a happy birthday. Upon hearing he was at the bar, she wanted to come over, but Xu Yan discouraged her, saying he didn't want to end up on the entertainment headlines with her the next day.

He remembered Xu Nian playing a club mix of "Happy Birthday" and asking into the microphone, "Ge, what exactly do you want to tell me? Please, just tell me quickly."

He remembered Ji Huai and Lu Sen disappearing together for a while. When he went to the bathroom, he ran into Ji Huai in the hallway and, in his daze, noticed a fresh hickey on Ji Huai's neck. Xu Yan patted him on the shoulder, slurring with understanding, "I won't tell them about your romantic encounter."

He recalled running into Lu Sen shortly afterwards and noticing that Lu Sen's lips were red, with a cut on the corner, and possibly even a mark on his neck. Concerned, Xu Yan approached and asked if he had gotten into a fight. Lu Sen smiled and said yes, he had. Xu Yan became furious, shouting that he wanted to seek revenge and call the police, but Lu Sen stopped him.

......

In short, it had been a chaotic night, with clinking glasses, deafening music, and a raucous crowd.

The clearest memory he had was of a guy from the next booth asking for his WeChat. Drunk, Xu Yan looked up at him and saw a white T-shirt and black-rimmed glasses. For a moment, he thought he saw Shen Zhi, not sure if it was the Shen Zhi from university or the one he met earlier that evening. But on closer inspection, it wasn't him.

It wasn't Shen Zhi.

Xu Yan sat up in bed, clutching his head. Seeing Xu Nian sleeping so soundly, he smacked him on the back. Xu Nian yelped and woke up.

After some pushing and shoving, they washed up and left the room, only to find Ji Huai and Lu Sen sitting side by side at the dining table, eating breakfast.

"Morning," Ji Huai said. "Come and eat."

Xu Yan and Xu Nian walked over and sat down opposite them. Xu Yan glanced back and noticed that the living room sofa was neatly arranged, with no sign of anyone having slept there.

Xu Nian, clueless, asked, "Did you two sleep together last night?"

"Mhmm," Lu Sen replied, sipping his soy milk.

It made sense. Xu Yan thought, among the four guys present, Xu Nian was the only straight one. Both Ji Huai and Lu Sen had shown some interest in Xu Nian, so it made sense for him, as the older brother, to share a room with Xu Nian.

With this thought, everything seemed clear. While eating breakfast, Xu Yan glanced up and saw the hickey still visible on Ji Huai's neck. He clicked his tongue twice in his mind, then looked at Lu Sen's cut lip. For some reason, Xu Yan couldn't click his tongue again.

He felt something was off.

"Did you get into a fight last night?" Xu Yan asked.

Lu Sen lazily smiled, "Had a bit too much to drink, can't remember."

"No way, we need to check the bar's surveillance footage, we can't just let someone beat you up for no reason," Xu Nian said seriously.

"No way," Lu Sen replied lightly, with a hint of playful ambiguity. "What if we see something we shouldn't? That could be awkward."

After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways. Xu Yan went home, took a shower, and started packing for his business trip. His next shoot was in Santorini, and the flight was in the evening.

In the afternoon, he went to the company to check and pack equipment. Once done, Xu Yan drove to a restaurant for a dinner appointment with the designer of his new home.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late," Xu Yan said as he quickly sat down, smiling. "There were some things to deal with at the office."

"No worries, I just arrived too," the designer, who was young and wore thin-framed glasses, replied with a faint smile as he extended his hand. "Hello, Mr. Xu, I'm Song Jin."

They had previously only communicated via WeChat, where Xu Yan had roughly discussed his style and colour preferences. He wasn't looking for anything high-end or exquisite, he preferred simplicity. However, the simpler the design, the harder it was to execute. Song Jin had also been very busy, so they would have to wait until autumn to start the renovation.

Halfway through the meal, Song Jin showed Xu Yan the initial design model. At first glance, Xu Yan knew it was perfect, it felt incredibly comfortable and matched his desired aesthetic almost exactly. The feeling of seeing the mental image he had envisioned materialise was immensely satisfying.

"This is excellent. When I get back, we can discuss the furnishings," Xu Yan said, feeling quite pleased. As he swiped the screen, his finger accidentally brushed the bottom of the tablet, switching it back to the home screen. He noticed the wallpaper was a photo of a guy holding an orange cat, only showing part of his chin. The orange cat was chubby, with a sullen, droopy expression, looking both timid and cute.

"You have a cat?" Xu Yan handed the tablet back, asking casually.

"Yeah, its name is Grapefruit," Song Jin replied after sipping some juice. "It's on a diet recently."

Xu Yan chuckled and nodded seriously, "It does need to lose weight."

Shen Zhi visited Lan Qiuchen's private clinic yesterday and went to the hospital today to get new medication from him. It happened to be after work, so they went out for dinner together.

"I see you've got a lot of work here, are you planning to buy a house? It would be more convenient," Lan Qiuchen asked.

"I had thought about it before," Shen Zhi replied. "But not anymore."

"I understand." The reason was clear, during psychological counselling yesterday, Shen Zhi had already said everything he needed to. Lan Qiuchen sighed, "During this time, be extra careful, take your medication on time, don't drink alcohol, and try not to stay up late."

Completely cutting off this relationship was undoubtedly a heavy burden for Shen Zhi. Lan Qiuchen had never been so worried, afraid that Shen Zhi wouldn't be able to bear it and would completely break down.

Shen Zhi said, "I took a month's leave today."

"Really?" Lan Qiuchen was somewhat surprised. Although a month off wouldn't bring about recovery, the decision reflected Shen Zhi's attitude to some extent. Lan Qiuchen stared at him, "Can you manage to come to the clinic regularly during this month?"

"I'll try my best." Shen Zhi looked pale and exhausted, hardly resembling someone about to enjoy a month's holiday.

After settling the bill, they left the restaurant. Lan Qiuchen was on the phone with his girlfriend, arranging where to meet her. As he was talking, he sensed something was off. Turning around, he saw Shen Zhi standing still.

"What's wrong?" Lan Qiuchen hung up and walked back.

Shen Zhi didn't speak. His expression was very calm, but Lan Qiuchen sensed that it was a kind of deathly calmness. He followed Shen Zhi's gaze to the left, where, under a tree by the restaurant entrance, two men were standing, smiling and chatting face to face.

The one in the black T-shirt looked familiar to Lan Qiuchen. He quickly remembered seeing him at Ji Huai's birthday party, he was Ji Huai's childhood friend and a photographer for TIDE.

He was about to ask something when he suddenly couldn't utter a word. Shen Zhi had always referred to the other party in his feelings as "he" during counselling, without mentioning a name. Lan Qiuchen only knew "he" was Shen Zhi's university classmate, ex-boyfriend, who had been abroad for three years and was a photographer.

Unexpectedly, there was now an answer, "he" was Xu Yan.

"Xu Yan, we met at his friend's birthday party," Lan Qiuchen spoke quickly, "He knows I'm a psychologist."

It was only because of this sentence that Shen Zhi snapped out of his daze. He turned to look at Lan Qiuchen, his throat moving as if speaking was difficult. After a while, Shen Zhi finally said, "You go first."

In fact, what he wanted to say wasn't "you go first" but "you need to leave quickly." If he were normal, he would have been calm, not caring whether Lan Qiuchen had met Xu Yan or whether Xu Yan knew Lan Qiuchen was a psychologist.

But he was ill, so even having dinner with a psychologist felt like a suspicious situation. He felt guilty, lacking the confidence to face things calmly and fearlessly.

"Call me when you get back to the car," Lan Qiuchen whispered. "Or anytime, if you feel something's wrong, contact me."

Given Shen Zhi's condition, Lan Qiuchen felt very uneasy, afraid he might have another episode like the previous two times.

After saying this, Lan Qiuchen decisively walked in the opposite direction. At the same time, Xu Yan, sensing the gaze, turned his head, only to see Shen Zhi standing alone at the bottom of the steps.

The sun had set, and the brightly lit restaurant was behind Shen Zhi. Xu Yan looked at him for a moment before turning back to Song Jin and saying, "Alright, thanks for your hard work, let's check out the house when I get back."

"Sure."

"Where are you headed? I'll send you there."

"No need, someone is picking me up. They should be here soon, I'll meet them by the mall," Song Jin glanced at his watch. "See you next time, and drive safely."

"Alright, goodbye."

Watching Song Jin walk across the crosswalk, Xu Yan stood still for a moment before turning to walk towards Shen Zhi and casually asking, "Here for dinner?"

Shen Zhi was lost in thought, even as Xu Yan approached. He felt Xu Yan's voice was distant, and after a few seconds, he responded somewhat irrelevantly, "I didn't know I'd run into you."

He was afraid Xu Yan might think he was orchestrating a chance encounter. He should have left before Xu Yan saw him, but he couldn't move, unsure if it was because of exhaustion or reluctance.

"I didn't mean it that way," Xu Yan said. Seeing a group of people heading towards the restaurant door, he pulled Shen Zhi's wrist, saying, "Let's go."

The warmth of Xu Yan's hand only lingered on Shen Zhi's wrist for a moment. Shen Zhi looked down at his wrist, a beat slow, then heard Xu Yan ask, "Are you in a hurry?"

"No," Shen Zhi's voice felt so faint that he doubted Xu Yan heard it.

But Xu Yan did, and he said, "Then come with me to the car to get something."

What was he getting? Shen Zhi couldn't think of anything. As they walked side by side, Shen Zhi felt detached from reality, his steps light and unsteady. Only when his shoulder brushed against Xu Yan's did he momentarily snap back to the present.

It didn't take long to reach the car. Xu Yan unlocked it, opened the passenger door, and bent down to retrieve something from the glove compartment. Shen Zhi stood aside, feeling like a student faced with a question beyond their ability, unable to solve it and waiting for someone else to give the answer.

Xu Yan quickly straightened up and handed Shen Zhi a small parcel.

Inside were the stack of memory cards and USB drives Shen Zhi had sent him a few days ago.

This was the only thing Xu Yan had asked for after they parted ways. It took a lot of determination for Shen Zhi to decide to send them back. They felt like a full stop, a punctuation mark Xu Yan had already placed countless times, but Shen Zhi had stubbornly resisted, only to finally surrender and draw the line himself.

Yet, Xu Yan told him he no longer needed them and said he'd consider giving them back. Shen Zhi hadn't held out much hope, but when Xu Yan handed them over, he realised that there was no way he could take them.

He had asked Xu Yan for them, and Xu Yan had obliged, so why didn't he want them now? He thought he'd put an end to it with great effort, but Xu Yan had been even more ruthless, repeating it right in front of him.

The weakly beating heart was plunged into boiling oil, sizzling and bubbling, the pain coming and going. What should he do? Stop torturing me, Shen Zhi almost wanted to turn and leave, at least still able to say goodbye to Xu Yan.

"You said you wanted them," Xu Yan said when he saw that Shen Zhi didn't answer for a while.

Shen Zhi finally snapped out of it. Before he could speak, Xu Yan continued, "I'm heading to the airport soon, I'll be back in seven or eight days."

He had originally planned to talk about it after returning from his trip, but since they had coincidentally met today, it felt like a strange twist of fate. He decided to go with the flow and say it now. It was inevitable, after all. Being straightforward would be better for everyone.

Shen Zhi finally raised his hand and took the parcel, his hand trembling noticeably. He didn't know if Xu Yan noticed. Shen Zhi took a deep breath to steady himself and said, "Take care."

"Alright," Xu Yan replied. He didn't worry about whether the conversation felt awkward. Suddenly, his palms started sweating, and his heart raced, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

It felt like when he had confessed to Shen Zhi over seven years ago. Even though their positions, circumstances, and emotions were different now, looking at Shen Zhi, that nervous excitement resurfaced – because they were on the verge of a new phase in their relationship, even if the outcome was uncertain.

Let's give it a try.

"Shen Zhi," Xu Yan called him, somewhat seriously.

Shen Zhi wanted to step back, afraid that Xu Yan would say more than he could bear.

The last rays of the setting sun were sliced into a straight line by the buildings, just covering their upper bodies. They stood facing each other as the evening breeze blew past, dispersing the past and leaving a quiet space.

"Hmm?" Shen Zhi finally managed to respond softly after a long pause.

Looking into his eyes, Xu Yan said, "Let's give it a try."

———

The author has something to say:

Shen Zhi (crashing): ...? ...?? ...???!!!! ...???!!!!!!!! ...????????!!!!!! ...????????!!!!!! ...????????!!!!!!!!

Shen Zhi (calmed down): It's an illusion.

[The sweetness is being brewed]

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: October 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 27, 2024 by Angel