Ji Xun decided to go to Huo Ranyin’s place on the afternoon of the next day.
On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, there were not many people on the streets. Most of the shops were closed, leaving only a few gift shops open, trying to make the last bit of money before the new year. The city suddenly became much more empty and quiet, as if it were about to enter a drowsy state with the coming of dusk.
It was customary to bring a gift when visiting at such a time.
Ji Xun walked into a gift shop. The first shelf he saw was filled with various kinds of wine.
He casually picked up a bottle of pink champagne and was about to pay, but suddenly hesitated.
Is bringing wine a bit risky? Although they were both men, and even if something happened, no one would be at a disadvantage, but for him to proactively bring wine during this ambiguous period, even without any subjective intention, objectively it would seem like he was eager to use alcohol as an excuse for some mischief…
He hesitated for too long, and the owner couldn’t help but urge him, “Are you buying it or not? I’m about to close. My wife is waiting for me at home.”
It’s better to be cautious and avoid suspicion.
“I’m buying.” Ji Xun came back to his senses, put down the wine, and casually grabbed a packet of tea leaves. “This.”
He took out his phone to pay. The phone dinged. It was a message from Huo Ranyin.
“Where are you?”
The owner had sharp eyes, saw his phone screen, and smiled knowingly. “Your family is waiting for you too.”
“It’s a friend.”
“Oh.”
When he was finally paying, the owner’s expression was full of disbelief, probably thinking, “Out of 365 days a year, you could meet your friend on 364 of them. Why must you meet on New Year’s Eve, a time for family reunion?”
Regardless of whether the owner believed him or not, Ji Xun carried the tea and knocked on Huo Ranyin’s door.
“You’re here?” Huo Ranyin opened the door, dressed as usual. If it weren’t for the fact that he had rushed to open the door, leaving a tiny trace of flour between his fingers, it would be hard to guess that he had just been busy in the kitchen.
Ji Xun held up the tea. “Happy New Year.”
“There are still seven hours until the new year.” Huo Ranyin corrected him rigorously. He took the tea, a look of confusion on his face. “Why did you bring tea?”
“I was originally going to bring wine,” Ji Xun blurted out, letting it slip. But it didn’t matter. He nonchalantly patched it up, “But I couldn’t find one I liked, so I brought tea instead. After eating dumplings, we can savor some tea. That’s also a great pleasure in life.”
“Don’t worry, I have a bar at home. I can make whatever you want to drink,” Huo Ranyin said as he put the tea away.
“Uh, that’s not necessary—”
As Ji Xun spoke, he entered the house and found that for a single person, Huo Ranyin’s home was terrifyingly large. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms, it looked to be at least 140 square meters. And the decoration was high-end and luxurious. Not to mention anything else, just the fully stocked wine cabinet in the bar Huo Ranyin had just mentioned was a testament to that.
But the most distinct impression this house gave was not its luxury.
He looked around, just a quick glance, but that was enough. He saw that there were no clothes hanging on the balcony, the glass cabinets were empty, there was nothing on the coffee table, and the sofa—the sofa was still covered in a layer of plastic wrap. How terrifying. Could it be brand new?
He turned back to look at Huo Ranyin.
Huo Ranyin was independent, and the house was also independent. He might rest in this luxurious and empty house, but he would never stay here. He and the house were both very unfeeling towards each other.
“I have a question,” Ji Xun said.
“What?”
“We met around the middle of last month, so it’s been about twenty days. Have you been home to sleep for a full week?”
Huo Ranyin hesitated for a moment.
“So that’s a no,” Ji Xun tutted. “Never mind the rent money and all that. You’re clearly in a bourgeois paradise, yet you’re willing to abandon the jacuzzi, give up the happy bar, forget the two-meter-wide bed, and part with the moon-gazing terrace. For the sake of the people, you’re not afraid of hardship or fatigue. You can climb mountains, dig dirt, fire guns, and save people. Just for this kind of awareness, where money is secondary to justice, the police station should really award you a few more medals.”
“…If you keep being so glib, I’ll be watching you instead of the Spring Festival Gala tonight,” Huo Ranyin said, annoyed. “I haven’t made many dumplings yet. Come in and join me.”
“Do you have a knife in your kitchen?” Ji Xun asked.
“Of course.”
“The knife and me, you can only choose one,” Ji Xun said with calm composure. “It’s me or it, it or me.”
“…”
Huo Ranyin’s kitchen was an open-plan kitchen with an island in the middle.
Ji Xun was sitting on the sofa in the living room. From his position, he could easily see Huo Ranyin, with his back to him, leaning on the table with both hands. His back alone seemed to write the large characters for “speechless.”
Then Huo Ranyin began to tidy up the countertop. All the knives and sharp objects in the kitchen were gathered by him and placed in the overhead cabinet.
“There,” he said after he finished tidying up, turning back. “Everything’s gone. You may grace us with your presence now.”
Ji Xun graced the kitchen with his presence.
In fact, most of the things in the kitchen were already prepared. The filling was mixed, the dough was rolled out. All that was left was to wrap the dumplings. There was indeed a full tray of wrapped dumplings, each one neat and uniform, as if they had been carved from a mold.
Ji Xun felt they lacked spirit.
Before he started, he looked for tools. “Do you have disposable gloves and an apron?”
Huo Ranyin: “In the second drawer under the counter next to the sink.”
Ji Xun quickly found the items. Similar to how Yuan Yue got an apron when buying groceries, Huo Ranyin’s apron was also a free gift with a purchase of cooking utensils. These small kitchen items seemed to never appear on a man’s shopping list. Ji Xun looked at the dark blue, patternless apron and, as usual, commented, “Although Yuan Yue’s pink apron was too garish and hurt the eyes, this kind of apron of yours is as bland as a plumber’s work uniform…”
He took out two aprons and said when he returned to Huo Ranyin’s side, “Aren’t you going to put one on?”
“I don’t need it,” Huo Ranyin said.
He really didn’t seem to need one. Making dumplings always required flour, and flour, if one wasn’t careful, would get everywhere. But Huo Ranyin’s hands seemed to have a magical quality. Even the finest powder, once in his palm, would behave, staying only in his palm. He remained clean and neat.
“Since you took them both out, you might as well wear one,” Ji Xun suggested. He had already shaken out the apron and was holding it in front of Huo Ranyin.
Huo Ranyin glanced at his own hands, which were holding a dumpling.
Ji Xun understood the unspoken meaning and proactively said, “Lower your head, I’ll tie it for you.”
Huo Ranyin lowered his head and raised his hands. Beneath his black hair, above his collar, was a swan-like neck. As he tied the apron, he inevitably touched Huo Ranyin’s waist. The other man had a great figure, but his waist was very thin. Not the soft thinness of a woman, but a firm, powerful thinness.
A memory was awakened in Ji Xun. Reality overlapped with memory, bringing a double stimulation, making him almost feel as if he had touched a vine. It seemed that if he lingered for two more seconds, this vine would climb up his palm and entwine him.
Ji Xun hurriedly tied a knot and quickly withdrew his hand. At this moment, Huo Ranyin said, “Is there something on my eye?”
He looked up and indeed, there was a little bit of flour on Huo Ranyin’s eyelid. It was probably from when he had raised his hand just now.
He took out a tissue.
Through the tissue, as Ji Xun’s finger pressed down, Huo Ranyin’s eyeball moved slightly. Through the gap between his fingers, Ji Xun saw a faint, diamond-like sparkle in Huo Ranyin’s eyes.
After the small interlude, both acted as if nothing had happened.
At least Ji Xun pretended that he was acting as if nothing had happened, and that he hadn’t felt the slightest bit of strangeness.
They continued to make dumplings, but the dumplings Ji Xun made were too “spirited.” After making just one, he was kicked out of the kitchen by Huo Ranyin. Fortunately, they were almost done anyway. Before long, the dumplings were in the pot.
After the water boiled three times, Ji Xun took the first bite. The hot, juicy dumpling entered his mouth, and he exclaimed in admiration, “I didn’t realize you had such a talent for cooking.”
Then he spotted the fattest dumpling among the ones floating in the boiling water—the one he had made.
He fished out this precious, one-and-only dumpling, and waved it in front of Huo Ranyin. “I made this. Do you dare to eat it?”
Huo Ranyin glanced at him, leaned forward, opened his mouth, and ate it.
The dumpling was a bit hot. It went from his left cheek to his right cheek in his mouth. Huo Ranyin gently exhaled and looked at Ji Xun with a raised eyebrow.
“You made the dumpling, I made the filling. Why wouldn’t I dare to eat it?”
It was just such an ordinary sentence that made Ji Xun feel a tiny bit of unease.
Then the dumplings were taken out of the pot. Huo Ranyin placed them on the table, then went to the bar. “What kind of wine do you want to drink?”
“None for me,” Ji Xun’s resolve was still firm.
Huo Ranyin didn’t try to persuade him, just casually agreed and started to fiddle with his bar.
He took out various kinds of wine from the wine cabinet and also a complete set of bartending tools.
The bartending tools were in slightly better condition than the sofa, looking like they had been used at least once or twice. Perhaps on some physically and mentally exhausting nights, or perhaps on some relatively leisurely nights, Huo Ranyin had come home and, instead of showering and sleeping directly, had mixed a drink at the bar according to his mood, and finally taken it to the terrace, gazing at the moon, or the city, slowly drinking until he was slightly tipsy.
At times like that, what was Huo Ranyin thinking? Or was he thinking of nothing at all?
Huo Ranyin’s movements were fast. The various bartending tools fluttered in his hands like butterflies. In just a few minutes, the cocktail was ready.
The drink Huo Ranyin chose surprised Ji Xun a little.
It was a Tequila Sunrise, the same drink Ji Xun had ordered for him when they first met.
Huo Ranyin also poured a glass of mineral water for Ji Xun.
Looking at the tasteless mineral water, Ji Xun, after a brief silence, went to the bar. In Huo Ranyin’s line of sight, he opened the tea leaves he had brought and made himself a cup of milk tea.
Huo Ranyin leaned against the side, watched for a long time, and finally said with a half-smile, “Is milk tea better than wine?”
Ji Xun said rigorously, “Humans need sugar.”
He picked up the cup and was about to take a sip when another cup was extended. Huo Ranyin, holding his cocktail glass, gently clinked it against his.
Clink.
After the light sound of glass, Huo Ranyin took a sip of his drink.
He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window. The orange-red cocktail was like the setting sun outside the window, just about to fall. Suddenly, the sun set, but the orange-red light lingered on Huo Ranyin’s face for a long time.
It was the color of the cocktail.
Huo Ranyin had a cool, pale complexion, and alcohol easily brought a flush to his face, but it wasn’t severe. Just a slight blush, as if someone had dipped their hand in rouge and gently wiped it across his cheek.
“You said before that this drink suited me,” Huo Ranyin said, swirling the glass. The liquid swirled gently, creating a small vortex. The vortex held an attraction, drawing Ji Xun’s attention. “What about now?”
“…Now,” Ji Xun’s gaze had to move from the drink to Huo Ranyin’s face, “of course, it’s the same.”
A smile appeared on Huo Ranyin’s cheeks.
The slightly tipsy beauty, holding a glass of wine, showed a satisfied smile upon receiving praise. Behind him was the starry night, the vast dark blue sky, and also the city, with its lights turning on one after another in the dark blue.
He cast a glance over, his eyes languid, yet unrestrained. His gaze swept over Ji Xun’s body, inch by inch, as if trying to overwhelm him with his gaze. This was a clear invitation, and even more so, a bold caress.
It was very beautiful, very attractive.
But not enough.
“If we had just met in a bar, then playing around a bit would be nothing,” Ji Xun said bluntly to Huo Ranyin. “But now that we know each other well, these things are a different matter. Making the relationship between us complicated would be difficult to handle.”
The person by the window paused, then looked over in surprise, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening.
If the beauty just now was a painting, now, the beauty in the painting had walked into the real world.
“Why would you think that sleeping together makes the relationship complicated?” Huo Ranyin said, and without waiting for Ji Xun to answer, he let out a light laugh and continued on his own, “Because deep down, you feel that sleeping together is emotional. It’s not a purely physical act, but an emotional one. Ji Xun, others just want to vent with you, but you want to talk about feelings with them.”
“No, it’s just a difference in threshold. When you know nothing, your perception of a person is only based on their appearance. Once you get to know them, their personality replaces their appearance and becomes the more important part of your perception. What stimulates the senses changes from appearance to personality. For the latter to reach the sexual impulse to sleep with someone, it’s still a bit difficult. There always needs to be a strong emotional stimulation in some specific situation. Tonight is still lacking a bit,” Ji Xun said eloquently.
“Isn’t attraction based on personality eventually just falling in love?” Huo Ranyin walked over from the window.
Only a bar counter separated the two of them.
“That’s still a bit different,” Ji Xun corrected. “Falling in love is a long-distance run. We’re talking about a momentary stimulation based on personality. It’s a very subtle middle ground that needs to be savored carefully.”
“How pretentious,” Huo Ranyin snorted with a laugh, the flush on his face and the affection in his eyes fading together. But the faint, mocking smile remained on his lips. It was quite interesting to listen to Ji Xun’s nonsense when there was nothing else to do. On the table, the steam from the dumplings was still rising. The faint sound of the evening news drifted in through the open window with the wind.
Huo Ranyin reached out and pressed a switch.
The light flashed on, and bright light filled the room, dispelling the last bit of ambiguous atmosphere.
“Let’s eat,” he said, and took a few bites of dumplings first.
Ji Xun, with a calm expression, also sat down and had dinner with Huo Ranyin.
But at that moment, Huo Ranyin’s phone on the table suddenly rang.
Huo Ranyin paused for a moment, then went to answer the phone.
“Hello?”
He said, and then his expression became serious and cold.
He hung up the phone and put on his coat.
“Something happened with Xin Yongchu.”
Before Huo Ranyin could grab his car keys, Ji Xun stepped forward. “Don’t drive after drinking. I’ll take you.”
“No need, it’s just a small matter. I’ll go take a look and come back. I’ll just take a taxi there and back,” Huo Ranyin said.
“Take a taxi on New Year’s Eve?” Ji Xun scoffed. “Also, are you underestimating my intelligence? If it were really a small matter, would they call you on New Year’s Eve, and would it make you leave without a moment’s delay?”
He finished speaking and came to a conclusion:
“Xin Yongchu is dead?”
“…”
“Ah, looks like I guessed right. You’re not saying it directly because you’re afraid I’ll be triggered by the scene?”
“You already know, yet you still have to say it out loud,” Huo Ranyin said.
“Because I have no scene to be triggered by, and no feelings to be stirred,” Ji Xun said lightly. “Let’s go.”
Huo Ranyin’s hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment.
Then, they went together.
