At the end of June, the sun was so scorching that it seemed like it would melt the roads and buildings. Shen Ti held his school bag, waiting for An Wujiu to come out of his teaching building.
Previously, he set a goal to get into An Wujiu’s school in the shortest time possible, ideally as a transfer student in the same grade. However, this beautiful wish was quickly shattered. Even though Shen Ti used his extraordinary learning ability, he missed the exam and had to wait an entire year.
As a result, he became his boyfriend’s junior.
Every day, he would go to school, eat, and pick him up after class with An Wujiu. Because he was too eye-catching and due to their previous public coming out, everyone knew that the newly enrolled Shen Ti was Shen An’s boyfriend. Even more absurdly romantic love stories were fabricated, inventing that their encounter was due to a beautiful chance meeting.
Shen Ti didn’t know if it counted as beautiful, but An Wujiu was certainly beautiful at the time, and there was quite a bit of blood.
“Shen Ti.”
Hearing An Wujiu’s voice, Shen Ti looked up and smiled, “Kept back again?”
“It was the teacher who needed me,” An Wujiu corrected him and walked over, “Are you hot?”
Shen Ti shook his head and naturally put his arm around An Wujiu’s shoulder, leaning in to kiss his cheek, “I’m hungry. How about we eat out today?”
An Wujiu was about to agree but suddenly remembered something and quickly changed his mind, “No, how about I cook for you at home?”
When it came to brains and brawn, An Wujiu was top-notch, but no matter the timeline, he was a kitchen novice. What he made wasn’t bad, but it was just not bad.
Shen Ti hesitated a bit, and in that tiny bit of hesitation, An Wujiu saw it as being picky and pinched his arm, “You don’t want to eat it, do you?”
“I’ll eat, I’ll eat.” Shen Ti covered his arm and smiled, “How could I not want to eat what my darling wife makes?”
“Don’t call me that.” An Wujiu glared at him.
“Alright, my dear wife.”
An Wujiu couldn’t do anything about him. After they got on the airbus, he took out his phone and secretly sent a message to Zhong Yirou.
[We are heading back.]
Soon, Zhong Yirou’s spirited reply came.
[Got it! Mission is proceeding smoothly!]
“What are you doing?” Shen Ti leaned over, his chin resting on An Wujiu’s shoulder, nuzzling like a cat, “Who are you messaging?”
“Yirou,” An Wujiu said without changing his expression, “She’s moving recently. I asked if she needed help.”
Shen Ti was a bit suspicious, “Moving? Why is she moving?”
“She and Erci plan to live together,” An Wujiu felt it was safe to say more, so he continued, “And they might live just downstairs from us.”
Shen Ti frowned, “No way, she’ll come up every day to see you, ruining my plans.”
An Wujiu bumped his head against Shen Ti’s head.
“What are you doing?” Shen Ti covered his head with his hand.
An Wujiu couldn’t help but laugh, “I just wanted to bump.”
Shen Ti didn’t stop him. Instead, he reached out to touch his head and asked, “Doesn’t it hurt to bump?”
“No, this is nothing.” An Wujiu looked up at Shen Ti’s lake-green eyes and suddenly thought of how he looked when they first met on the altar.
In comparison, back then, he was like a complete outcast from humanity, relying on imitation for everything, not understanding emotions. In the cruel, sunless game, he was seeking death so earnestly that it was almost endearing.
Now, it’s different.
“Let’s go, we’re home.”
Shen Ti held his hand, his palm warm.
“Yeah.”
The airbus stop was directly connected to the elevator of their apartment. An Wujiu checked his messages and found a new one from Zhong Yirou.
[Wait, wait, wait, Wujiu, slow down a bit! We’re not done setting up yet!]
But they were already in the elevator…
An Wujiu looked up, watching the elevator ascend and the floor numbers change, feeling a bit anxious. Without a better idea, he instinctively grabbed Shen Ti’s hand, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.
“Huh?” Shen Ti froze, forgetting to put his arms around An Wujiu’s waist.
An Wujiu naturally placed his hand on Shen Ti’s neck, hooking him, and said in a muffled voice between kisses, “Suddenly… wanted to kiss.”
Shen Ti, dazed by the kiss, placed his hand on An Wujiu’s back, got into it, and pressed An Wujiu against the elevator wall, his hand habitually sliding under his shirt.
The elevator stopped at their floor, the 56th, but since there were no new operations, it stayed still.
Shen Ti’s movements were almost unrestrained. If it weren’t for the elevator’s camera, he would have unhesitatingly released part of his true form to entwine An Wujiu, but now it was just his arms.
“Wait… wait…” An Wujiu regained some sense and tried to grab Shen Ti’s wrist, but the resistance only made Shen Ti more intense.
Ding, the elevator door suddenly opened.
Standing outside was a young couple, staring dumbfounded at the two in the elevator.
An Wujiu saw the open door and immediately pushed Shen Ti away, his face turning red down to his neck.
“Hurry up…”
Shen Ti cleared his throat, awkwardly laughed, apologized, and put his arm around An Wujiu’s shoulder, using his large hand to shield his face as they left the elevator.
Despite the awkward situation, it at least bought a bit of time. An Wujiu pretended to be out of breath, walking slowly, half-dragged by Shen Ti.
Seeing him like this, Shen Ti couldn’t help but tease, “This is nothing, my wife is so fierce, what’s wrong today?”
An Wujiu ignored him, unlocking the door. With a beep, the door opened.
“Finally home…”
Shen Ti had only said half a sentence when his face was suddenly smeared with some unknown sticky substance.
“What is this!”
“Ah.” Wu You glanced at the item in his hand and said with an overly calm demeanor, “I think I mixed up the streamers gun with the water gun.”
Shen Ti couldn’t even open his eyes, “Water gun?! You’re telling me this is water??”
Zhong Yirou raised her hand weakly, “Ah… it is a water gun, but I filled it with condensed milk because I wanted to make a dessert…”
Everyone exclaimed together, “You used a water gun to make dessert??”
An Wujiu couldn’t help but laugh, and the more he laughed, the harder it was to stop.
“It’s not impossible.” Yang Erci muttered a very biased statement.
“Forget it, forget it, let’s start over.” Zhong Yirou rallied everyone who had already posed, “One! Two! Three!”
“Happy Birthday!!!”
Yang Erci and Wu You calmly scattered the flowers from their pockets, Zhou Yijue and Viktor simultaneously fired their streamers guns, and streamers sprayed all over Shen Ti’s face.
“…I have condensed milk on my face, guys…”
Forget celebrating his birthday, Shen Ti wanted to die.
Zhou Yijue and Nan Shan looked at each other and, surprisingly, very tacitly tossed their guns aside, raising their hands to show it had nothing to do with them.
Next to them, Toudou Sakura sighed, “It’s all ruined now, it’s all falling apart.”
“That’s good.” Nan Shan said with a smile, “It saves us from smearing cake on his face later.”
Zhong Yirou pointed at Nan Shan and shouted, “Shut up, no spoilers allowed!”
An Wujiu, suppressing his laughter, helped Shen Ti remove the streamers and flowers from his face. They hadn’t finished tidying up when everyone together carried Shen Ti into the room. Matsubara Mori and Nan Shan pressed him down into a seat, Wu You put a pointed birthday hat on him, Yang Erci pushed out a big cake, Zhong Yirou set up the candles and plates, and Zhou Yijue and Viktor played festive music.
The birthday boy, Shen Ti, was being treated like a toy by everyone.
“Are you all giving me an automatic birthday?”
“Don’t you like everything automatic?” An Wujiu teased, “You even came out automatically before.”
The cake was two-tiered, very large and beautiful. Shen Ti glanced at it, “This doesn’t look like something Zhong Yirou made.”
“I bought it!” Zhong Yirou said somewhat defiantly, “But I still made a lot of dishes; I cooked them myself.” She pulled Yang Erci into the kitchen to bring out the dishes.
Shen Ti was a bit worried, “Is our kitchen still okay? It didn’t collapse, did it?”
Wu You suddenly chimed in, “It’s about to.”
“Hey, hey, hey, let’s cut the cake, I’m starving.” Zhou Yijue urged the proceedings.
Shen Ti pretended to be pitiful and showed a sad expression to An Wujiu, who was wiping his face, “Wujiu, he’s being mean to me.”
Zhou Yijue turned to Viktor and said, “Bring me the trash can, I need to throw up.”
Seeing everyone busy, Nan Shan took out the gift he prepared and said, “Shen Ti, happy birthday. I prepared some gifts.”
Opening the box, it was filled with yellow talismans. Nan Shan introduced them as if they were precious, “These are written by my master, this one is for longevity, this one wards off evil and protects you, though I think you might be the biggest evil walking on the street…”
“Hey Nan Shan, what are you talking about? Aren’t we good friends? What about our precious friendship?”
Nan Shan smiled sweetly, “It’s still there, it’s fine.” He took out one he thought was particularly impressive, “This one is great, it’s for boosting energy. If you feel low on energy, just stick one on, and you’ll feel refreshed and energetic…”
This long string of words made An Wujiu blush, remembering the scene in the elevator earlier.
Zhou Yijue commented, “Wow, a virility talisman.”
“Hahaha!”
Wu You muttered quietly, “Feels like the Taoist is scamming people again…”
“No, it’s real.” Nan Shan assured Shen Ti, “Trust me, it really works…”
Shen Ti, speechless, picked up a talisman and stuck it on Nan Shan’s forehead, “If it’s useful, you use it. I’m vigorous enough; this thing has no use for me.”
Viktor applauded, “Impressive, impressive.”
The three girls brought out the dishes one by one. An Wujiu glanced over them; they were generally dark in color, smelled strange, and none looked normal. No need to think; it was definitely Zhong Yirou’s cooking.
Shen Ti forced himself to take a few bites, chuckling, “Delicious, delicious,” but he didn’t swallow.
“Is it bad?” Zhong Yirou asked anxiously, “If it’s really bad, don’t force yourself.”
Shen Ti immediately spat it out.
Yang Erci couldn’t help but defend his girlfriend, “Shen Ti, eating a bit won’t kill you.”
Shen Ti drank some water, “More than that, I want to know how you’ve survived till now.”
“Then eat this, Wu You made a dish for your birthday.” Yang Erci handed over a dish that looked more appetizing than the others, except for the ingredients…
Shen Ti looked up and pointed at the plate to Wu You, “Why did you make me so much stir-fried small octopus?”
Wu You casually replied, “Don’t you think it looks like you?” He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers, “You are what you eat; have more.”
Everyone laughed; even An Wujiu couldn’t help but join in the fun, “It does look a bit like you.”
“How does it look like me?” Shen Ti, dissatisfied, speared a small octopus with his fork for a closer look.
“Not alike, not alike,” An Wujiu comforted him, “You’re much more vigorous than the small octopus.”
The gift-giving session inexplicably moved ahead, and everyone started to take out the gifts they had prepared. Matsubara Mori and Toudou Sakura gave them luxury adult hotel vouchers.
“I especially got these through a friend!” Toudou Sakura was quite proud, “I’ve heard it’s super exciting inside, with all kinds of themes, like hospital wards and air buses…”
Before she could finish, Matsubara Mori covered her mouth, smiling awkwardly, “Um… it’s best if you discover it yourselves.”
Shen Ti seemed to really like this gift, looking over the introduction on the vouchers again and again. “Thanks.” He handed the tickets to An Wujiu and said, “Wife, keep these for me.”
An Wujiu almost rolled his eyes but managed to hold it in.
“It’s our turn.” Zhou Yijue glanced at her boyfriend, and Viktor immediately understood, straightforwardly introducing their gift to Shen Ti: “We prepared an incredibly, incredibly comfortable big mattress for you.”
Everyone cheered in unison: “Wow—”
“And all kinds of condoms!”
“Wow—”
“And…” Zhou Yijue grabbed Viktor’s hand, which was about to wave, took out a slip from his pocket, and placed it on the table.
“A marriage registration appointment slip.”
An Wujiu was momentarily stunned.
Zhou Yijue feigned indifference, “Didn’t you two say you wanted to get married last time? It’s quite hard to get a reservation for marriage nowadays. I used my connections and got you a spot so you can get married this year.” He dreaded people thanking him, so he quickly added, “Don’t thank me; if you want to thank someone, thank the foolish couple who broke up after waiting for two years and didn’t want to get married anymore.”
Shen Ti’s joy was almost unrestrained, immediately hugging and kissing An Wujiu, “We can get married now!”
An Wujiu nodded, “We can make a reservation to get married.”
“I don’t care; it’s the same thing!” Shen Ti hugged him, thinking that now he was really his wife. Once they got their marriage certificate registered on the citizen chip, there would be no backing out.
Because he was so happy, Shen Ti forgot to close the empathy link between him and An Wujiu, so these small thoughts were heard by An Wujiu as well.
“I won’t back out.” An Wujiu kissed Shen Ti’s cheek.
The birthday party went on until almost midnight before everyone went home. Only the two of them were left in the apartment. An Wujiu couldn’t stand the house being untidy, even for just one night, so he pulled Shen Ti up to clean the dishes together.
The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, putting the dishes into the dishwasher one by one. An Wujiu leaned on Shen Ti’s shoulder, feeling an indescribable warmth in that moment.
“I quite like birthdays now.” Shen Ti suddenly spoke, “I used to not understand why humans celebrated birthdays and why everyone did.”
“Now you understand?” An Wujiu’s tone carried a smile.
“Yeah.”
Shen Ti grabbed his hand, shook it, and squeezed it, “What about you? What gift did you give me?”
An Wujiu raised an eyebrow and said, “Guess.”
“Don’t tell me it’s you.” Shen Ti stared at An Wujiu, who was wearing an apron and inexplicably had a housewife vibe, “If you say that, I’ll carry you to the bedroom right away.”
An Wujiu smiled, adorably, “It is, but…”
Shen Ti really intended to carry him, even moving his hands, “But what?”
“Come with me.” An Wujiu took off his apron, hooked his finger around Shen Ti’s, and led him to the bedroom. He kneeled by the bed and pulled out a small box from under the bed, something he had hidden there a long time ago.
“In a way, it’s me.” An Wujiu handed the box over with a smile, giving a little forewarning, “Just so you know, it’s very hard to find this kind of paper nowadays, so I used very ordinary paper.”
Paper?
Shen Ti opened the box and was surprised to find it filled with letters.
He picked one up, and on the envelope of the first letter was written – [Me as a newborn], with curiosity, he opened it to find a folded letter inside, along with a photo.
The letter read:
[Hello Shen Ti, I’m Shen An, also known as An Wujiu. Are you hiding in a little corner, secretly watching me as I was born? Do you think that newborn me is ugly, crying loudly like a little monster?
Shen Ti, I am working very hard to grow up, and we will meet.]
The photo showed newborn An Wujiu, tiny and placed in an incubator, looking very pitiful.
For some reason, the moment he touched the photo, Shen Ti felt as if something tugged at his heart. It was a peculiar feeling.
The second letter was [Me at One Year Old]:
[Shen Ti, I’ve grown a few teeth, very tiny, and they look a bit strange. But I can stand up now, and if I hold onto something, I might even take a few steps. Can you see it? Don’t laugh at me. I’m one step closer to meeting you! But it’s still a bit difficult to meet you like this, though I will keep trying.
Are you feeling lonely now? Wait for me, I’ll grow up soon.]
…
[Shen Ti, I’m six years old now, working hard in school, but memorizing texts is really tough. Are you helping me memorize them? You probably think I’m quite stupid now, but you can’t help but follow along, reciting with me, right?
I miss you so much, very, very much. I hope we can meet soon.]
…
[Shen Ti, today is Valentine’s Day. I received gifts and chocolates. It’s strange; I’m grateful to them, but I don’t want to be with any of them. Even though I didn’t understand anything back then, it must have been you messing with me. Did you see it? When I received the gifts, were you very angry?
I’m really sorry to make you sad. If only I could spend Valentine’s Day with you.]
Each letter opened was filled with memories—times Shen Ti endured alone and the trajectory of An Wujiu’s growth. It felt as if everything was replaying, but this time it wasn’t a one-sided longing; it was a distant mutual gaze across time.
Shen Ti opened the last letter.
[Shen Ti, my college life has always been quite dull, but recently many strange things have been happening. It’s because you’re coming, right? Finally, finally, I can meet you. It was really hard, but I’m so grateful. On June 30, I matched with you. This is the starting point and the ending point. Our destiny is an endless circular line.
Let’s meet quickly, even faster.
The last sentence, as Shen Ti saw it, An Wujiu also blurted out.
“I miss you so much.”
Shen Ti felt strange. The next second, he noticed a transparent drop of liquid sliding down his face, falling onto the letter.
“Are you crying?” An Wujiu looked down and wiped the tear away with his thumb.
“Crying?” Shen Ti was a bit confused; he had never cried before.
An Wujiu, however, smiled, hugging him tightly and repeatedly saying “I love you,” many, many times.
“Happy birthday.” Releasing his embrace, he kissed Shen Ti’s eyes and gently told him amidst the chimes of midnight.
“Even if I forget, even if you endure alone, avoiding all my timelines, I am still loving you.”
