Shan Yu’s neck was very warm, especially when Chen Jian’s nose—turned icy by the cold wind—pressed against it; it even felt a little hot.
He could feel the pulse beating on the side of Shan Yu’s neck, and the faint scent of seawater that diffused bit by bit with each throb.
He felt panicked.
A sudden, intense wave of panic.
There was a yearning for warmth.
And there was also fear and helplessness toward the unknown.
He stood there motionless.
He didn’t want to move, nor did he dare to.
It wasn’t until Shan Yu turned his head and gently pressed a kiss behind his ear.
As if suddenly jolted awake, Chen Jian jerked his head up, then turned and pressed a heavy kiss onto Shan Yu’s lips.
The wind seemed to suddenly stop.
The car’s headlights dimmed.
The ground beneath his feet vanished.
It was as if he had suddenly lost all consciousness. All his senses abruptly faded from his body in that instant.
All that was left was a soft, damp touch, carrying a trace of coolness.
…
This completely frozen world was shattered by a massive beam of bright light sweeping around the curve ahead. The light hit the woods beside the road, illuminating them entirely.
Then came the blare of a horn.
Chen Jian abruptly let go of Shan Yu, turning to lean against the car.
A few seconds later, a truck turned the corner ahead.
Its high beams were on, illuminating the road, their car, and the two of them leaning against it.
For a moment, Chen Jian didn’t know whether to stay put or hurry into the car.
But Shan Yu stood there very calmly, unmoving, so Chen Jian followed suit and didn’t move either.
Behind them was the car; in front of them were the woods by the road.
He figured the reason Shan Yu chose not to move was that, standing like this, the two of them looked very much like tourists who had gotten out of the car midway to take a leak together.
Uncivilized, yes, but plausible.
After the large truck passed, Chen Jian still stood motionless. His head was spinning with a messy jumble of images and thoughts.
“Get in the car.” Shan Yu reached out and lightly flicked him on the cheek.
“Mm.” Chen Jian snapped back to reality and replied.
From the back door to the passenger door was just one step, but Chen Jian took a long time. By the time he finally opened the door and got in, Shan Yu had walked all the way around the front and was already sitting in the driver’s seat.
Shan Yu turned his head to look at him.
Chen Jian was completely engulfed in a wave of intense embarrassment. He didn’t even dare to glance at Shan Yu out of the corner of his eye, but he could feel that Shan Yu was looking at him the whole time.
After a while, Shan Yu chuckled and said, “Seatbelt.”
“Oh.” Chen Jian complied and hurriedly gave the seatbelt a hard yank.
The seatbelt locked.
He released the tension, gently pulled it back out, and buckled it.
Shan Yu didn’t say anything else. He reached out to put on some music, couldn’t find any, so he tuned into a radio station instead and continued driving toward the town.
Chen Jian leaned back in his seat, staring straight ahead.
In the past, he often didn’t know what he was thinking about, but right now, it was a rare moment where he knew exactly what was on his mind.
His mind was filled entirely with that kiss just now.
He didn’t know if it was out of excitement or fear, but his hand, tucked in his pocket, kept trembling.
He didn’t think about anything else the entire way.
It wasn’t until the car stopped and Shan Yu reached over to pat him on the cheek that he suddenly jerked awake.
…Awake?
He stared blankly, turned to look at Shan Yu, then looked outside.
The car was parked on a cleared platform by the winding mountain road. Next to it was a brightly lit building with a sign that read: Hillside Restaurant.
When did they get here?
Shocked, Chen Jian pulled out his phone and looked at it. It was almost eight o’clock.
“Fuck,” he was incredibly shocked and confused. “Did I fall asleep?”
“I thought you passed out,” Shan Yu said.
“How did you drive up here?” Chen Jian looked at him.
“By holding the steering wheel and driving,” Shan Yu said. “Didn’t you say it? Up the winding mountain road, just past those few guesthouses.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian rubbed his face. “I might just be a little tired from the exam and the driving practice… Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“It’s fine,” Shan Yu said, lightly tapping his fingers against the steering wheel twice. He said softly, “If you don’t want to go to this dinner, we can head down the mountain right now.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to go,” Chen Jian said. “I just… haven’t completely recovered from just now.”
Shan Yu smiled. “Then we’ll go in after you’ve recovered.”
The server standing at the door saw a car pull up, came out from the entrance to greet them, and walked over to the driver’s side.
Shan Yu rolled down the window. “Give us a minute.”
“Understood.” The server bowed politely, turned, and walked back.
“Their greeter,” Chen Jian couldn’t help but say, “is so polite.”
“Different market positioning,” Shan Yu said. “It’s not like we couldn’t do it.”
Chen Jian imagined the Pigpen Gang standing at the door politely greeting guests… He felt that even if it was Hu Pan standing there, the vibe still wouldn’t feel polite.
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Shan Yu laughed at almost the exact same time. “Are we thinking about the same thing?”
“Probably,” Chen Jian turned to look at him, smiling. “Dayin’s greeters.”
As Shan Yu was laughing, his phone rang.
He felt around behind himself for a long time, yanked the phone out from the gap in the seat, and answered it. “Stop rushing us, we’re here.”
“There are two starving people waiting for you guys to eat!” Yue Lang said. “Come inside and eat, then you can go back to your fucking car and laugh all you want!”
Hearing Yue Lang’s voice, Chen Jian paused, then looked toward the restaurant’s large glass windows. He realized that in the second-floor window directly facing the front of their car, Yue Lang was holding his phone in one hand and pointing at them with the other.
“Ah?” Chen Jian looked at the second floor, keeping his voice down. “He can see us?”
“I can hear you too!” Yue Lang yelled. “Come up!”
According to Shan Yu, Yue Lang and his wife wouldn’t have waited for them to arrive before they started eating. But Chen Jian took one look at the completely clean table with only two glasses of lemon water on it and realized they really hadn’t eaten yet.
Shan Yu was also a bit surprised. “You really waited while starving?”
“If it were just you, let’s see if I’d wait,” Yue Lang took the menu the server handed him and placed it in front of Chen Jian. “Chen Jian, you order first.”
“Sister Xiao Yi should order,” Chen Jian tried to push the menu toward Yao Yi. “I’m fine with anything.”
He really was fine with anything, especially since he was hungry.
Besides, he really didn’t know how to order in this kind of restaurant. He didn’t know the portion sizes, nor could he guess how the dishes tasted…
“Let Shan Yu order then,” Yao Yi said. “Definitely don’t let me order. You guys definitely won’t be able to stomach the dishes I pick.”
“She only orders tasteless stuff,” Yue Lang said.
Shan Yu reached over, took the menu, and casually tossed Yao Yi’s conference pass onto the table. “Returning this to you.”
“Did you use it?” Yao Yi asked with a smile.
“If I took it, I definitely used it,” Shan Yu looked at the menu. “We’ll see what they decide. It’ll probably take a couple more rounds of back-and-forth.”
“Didn’t they already agree?” Chen Jian asked quietly.
“Once they turn around and discuss it, they’ll definitely add some conditions. Plus, there are a few Chen families who agreed without getting any benefits,” Shan Yu said. “Tomorrow, they’ll come looking for you to add conditions too.”
“Ah…” Chen Jian leaned back against his chair.
“It’s fine,” Yue Lang said. “If you can’t negotiate it, have them look for your boss. Boss Shan is awesome at other things, but his negotiation skills are even more awesome.”
Shan Yu smiled but didn’t say anything, and began ordering with the server.
He ordered a few signature dishes, a few specialties, and also asked for a small portion of fried rice, instructing them to bring the fried rice out first.
“How was the rafting?” Shan Yu asked after finishing ordering.
“Not bad. Quite a few people were doing it,” Yue Lang said. “So many people aren’t afraid of the cold.”
“Once you start playing, it’s not cold,” Yao Yi said. “You guys should go try it too, it really is a lot of fun. Today, the family sitting in the boat behind us were locals, from the old town.”
“We’ll go scout it out another day,” Shan Yu turned his head and said to Chen Jian.
“Mm.” Chen Jian smiled and nodded.
“Honestly, there are quite a lot of things you could develop around here,” Yao Yi said. “Do you remember what’s-his-name? Big Hei from Class 376 back then…”
“I remember,” Shan Yu said.
“He’s doing tourism now, running routes every day,” Yao Yi said. “Whenever you have an idea, I can set you guys up.”
“Which Big Hei?” Yue Lang asked immediately. “How come I don’t know him?”
“A classmate,” Yao Yi said.
“A male classmate,” Shan Yu added.
“Oh, what a coincidence?” Yue Lang said.
Yao Yi started laughing. “You must have seen him. We went to the same university. He was always playing soccer with that one guy, the really tall one…”
“Are you doing this on purpose?” Shan Yu said.
“Which really tall one?” Yue Lang said. “Taller than me?”
“No,” Shan Yu said.
“You know him too?” Yue Lang looked at him.
“I don’t know him,” Shan Yu said. “I’m just trying to piss you off.”
“Fuck.” Yue Lang laughed.
There weren’t many guests in the restaurant at this time, so the food came out pretty quickly. The first thing they brought out was the small portion of fried rice Shan Yu had asked for.
Only now did Chen Jian realize why he had asked for a small portion of fried rice first. In order to uphold his rule of “not speaking while eating” as much as possible, Shan Yu used this small portion of fried rice to line his stomach first. Later on, he could slow down, chatting a bit and taking a couple of bites here and there.
Separating the eating from the speaking.
Chen Jian didn’t actually quite understand if Shan Yu insisted on keeping this rule because he wanted to follow rules, or if he was just used to it, or if it was just a convenient excuse for when he didn’t want to talk.
But with Shan Yu’s personality, he probably didn’t need an excuse whether he wanted to talk or not.
Facing Yue Lang and his wife, Shan Yu clearly talked more than usual, and his state was more… it was hard to say, it just lacked a bit of his usual laziness.
Chen Jian, on the other hand, was truly practicing “not speaking while eating.” He could only chime in with a couple of sentences when they talked about the tourism situation over the past two days. As soon as the topic shifted, he could only remain silent.
Yue Lang and Shan Yu were friends of many years; Yao Yi and Shan Yu were high school classmates and had always stayed in touch. They simultaneously belonged to Shan Yu’s past and present, as well as his future.
Chen Jian quietly listened to them chat, earnestly eating his meal.
Good thing he was hungry.
He didn’t know if it was because he was hungry, or if the food at this restaurant was good, or if Shan Yu was just very good at ordering, but in short, Chen Jian ate with great relish.
The only downside was that he ate too fast. Shan Yu and the others were still eating, while Chen Jian already felt stuffed.
He leaned back in his chair to rest for a bit, then leaned slightly closer to Shan Yu.
Shan Yu’s body quickly leaned over as well. “Hmm?”
“I’m going to go check out their terrace,” Chen Jian said in a low voice. “It looks like there’s a big fireplace.”
“Go take a look then,” Shan Yu smiled. “Do some recon while you’re at it, see if we can build one.”
“…I’m off the clock right now.” Chen Jian said.
“Really?” Shan Yu glanced at him.
Chen Jian smiled, stood up, and was just about to tell Yue Lang and Yao Yi, when Yao Yi smiled and waved her hand at him. “Go ahead, I heard you.”
The restaurant had three floors. Both the second and third floors had a very large, semi-open terrace. On the side closer to the building was a huge fireplace, or rather, a fire pit.
The restaurant faced away from the direction of the old village, looking out toward the mountains, forests, and river. The field of view was even wider than the viewing platform where they could see the old village before. It was very open, the scenery wilder. Without the lights of the old village, a single glance outward revealed the silver moonlight and the thin silver snow on the mountain peaks.
It was a bit chilly.
Chen Jian stood by the railing of the terrace for a while, then walked over to a chair by the fire pit and sat down.
Staring blankly into the distance.
“Should we go keep him company?” From his angle, Yue Lang could see Chen Jian. “He’s been spaced out over there for a long time.”
“Let’s not,” Shan Yu didn’t turn his head. “We’d just interrupt him thinking about things.”
“Did something happen between you two over the past two days?” Yao Yi, being a girl, was a bit more sensitive. “The kid feels a little different.”
Shan Yu cleared his throat and didn’t say anything.
“Did he beat you up again?” Yue Lang asked.
“You just haven’t been beaten up enough,” Shan Yu said.
Yao Yi started laughing and smacked Yue Lang. “If he really beat him up again, he definitely wouldn’t be in this state.”
“Could you two show a little respect for the wounded?” Shan Yu said.
“Is this not respectful? I didn’t beat you up.” Yue Lang clicked his tongue.
Shan Yu leaned back in his chair and started laughing.
After a while, he sighed.
“I think he… might lack a sense of security.” Shan Yu said.
“Really? Maybe,” Yue Lang frowned, looking at him. After a while, he said, “Why do I feel like you’re the same way?”
“He always has been,” Yao Yi rested her chin on her hand, tapping her fingers lightly against her face. “The form of expression is just different. Most hedgehogs lack a sense of security.”
“You’re the hedgehog,” Shan Yu said. “You’re a porcupine.”
“Your buddy is calling me a pig,” Yao Yi looked at Yue Lang.
“A porcupine.” Yue Lang corrected her.
Shan Yu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“I’ll help you beat him up later.” Yue Lang pulled Yao Yi closer.
“I can’t watch this,” Shan Yu drank the lemon water in his glass. “I’ll go check on him. Are you two heading down the mountain later?”
“We’re going to the third floor to take night photos,” Yao Yi said. “Didn’t you notice I specifically changed into nice clothes to come here?”
“…I just noticed,” Shan Yu said.
“You really don’t need to specifically say that out loud!” Yao Yi started laughing.
“I’ll help you beat him up later,” Yue Lang said.
“Is your tape stuck?” Shan Yu stood up with a smile, grabbed his coat, put it on, and walked over to Chen Jian.
Chen Jian’s posture hadn’t changed since he sat down. He was just leaning back in the chair with his legs stretched out, his elbow resting on the armrest, and his fingers pressed against his temple.
He had maintained this posture—like pointing a gun at his own head—for at least twenty minutes.
“Is this fire warm?” Shan Yu walked over and asked.
“Hmm?” Chen Jian snapped back to reality, turned his head, saw it was him, pulled his legs in, and sat up straight. “It’s pretty warm. They just added firewood, so the fire is big.”
It was a two-seater chair. Shan Yu walked over and lightly tapped Chen Jian’s shoe. Chen Jian moved over a bit, and Shan Yu sat down next to him, slid down a little, stretched his legs out, and half-reclined.
“Done eating?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mm,” Shan Yu nodded. “Those two are taking photos on the third-floor terrace.”
“What about us?” Chen Jian asked. “Are we going back?”
“Let’s sit for a bit,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian didn’t say anything. He leaned back into the chair, and after a while, also slid down a bit, half-reclining in the chair alongside him.
“What are you thinking about,” Shan Yu turned his head to look at him. “Staying out here for so long.”
“I wasn’t thinking about anything.” Chen Jian said.
“Take a guess if I believe that?” Shan Yu said.
“You don’t believe it?” Chen Jian smiled.
“Even Xiao Dou’er wouldn’t believe it,” Shan Yu said. “I’m a whole year older than her, how could I possibly believe it.”
Chen Jian laughed, lowering his head to rub his nose.
“Is it because of what happened… on the road just now?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian’s raised hand paused. After a while, he slowly lowered it. “I… don’t know, I can’t explain it.”
“If it’s because of that,” Shan Yu paused for a moment, looking at him, and said in a low voice, “If you feel uncomfortable about it, you can pretend it never happened.”
Chen Jian didn’t say anything, still keeping his head down, staring at his own hands.
Shan Yu didn’t make a sound either.
Behind them, the fire in the fire pit was burning fiercely, making a crackling sound. Sparks flew out from time to time, quickly vanishing into the night wind.
“It’s this,” Chen Jian suddenly spoke up. “It’s this exact sentence of yours.”
“Hmm?” Shan Yu froze for a moment. “Which sentence?”
“You can pretend it never happened,” Chen Jian turned his head and looked at him. “If I don’t remember, you won’t remember.”
Shan Yu went silent.
“I’m very scared,” Chen Jian said.
Oh, baby 😢