The Long Night - Chapter 28

They made over a hundred calls in a single month.

Yan Liao didn’t get used to living in the hotel, so after his final exams, he flew straight home.

There was a big temperature difference between the north and south. As soon as he got off the plane, he saw snow everywhere. Tang Shaocheng, knowing Yan Liao would not be dressed warmly enough, brought a thick coat for him.

This time, Yan Liao looked much better than he had two weeks ago. He had put on some weight, unlike before, when his protruding bones would dig into Tang Shaocheng when he hugged him.

Tang Shaocheng unwound his scarf and wrapped it around Yan Liao’s neck. The boy’s nose was red from the cold, and the bottom half of his face was covered, with only his dark, moist eyes showing. He had been clinging to Tang Shaocheng since he got off the plane, and their hands had not let go once, as if they were locked together by a pair of handcuffs.

The taxi drove through the city’s nightscape. He could see the brilliant stars in the sky, unlike in Pingcheng, where the man-made lights completely obscured the starlight.

Yan Liao remembered how empty his heart felt when he left the college building and saw the flickering lights every night. But now it felt like it was being refilled. He looked over at the person sitting next to him and suddenly felt that no one else in the world could be better than him.

When they got home, Yan Liao almost cried. It felt like he had been exiled to Ningguta. He lay on the sofa, hugging a cushion, refusing to let go. Tang Shaocheng had boiled a pot of hot water before he left, and the temperature was perfect. He found two cold medicine tablets in the drawer under the coffee table. “Here, take these.”

“I don’t even have a cold yet,” Yan Liao pouted unwillingly.

Tang Shaocheng picked him up without hesitation. “You need to take them before you get a cold.”

The medicine tablet was more bitter than his life had been this past six months. Yan Liao’s face crumpled, and he had to listen to Tang Shaocheng’s nagging. “Didn’t you check the weather here before you came back? You got on the plane wearing so little, and I even told you on the phone it was snowing and cold these days.”

Yan Liao put down the cup of water. He didn’t want to listen anymore. He covered his head and groaned, “I don’t feel well.” He even coughed twice to sell the act.

He was clearly so invested in his performance, yet Tang Shaocheng could still see right through him. He was too familiar with this guy’s tactics and how he played on his soft heart.

“If you don’t feel well, then go to sleep.”

“No,” Yan Liao said, his eyes red and pitiful. “You’re not even going to comfort me.”

Tang Shaocheng chuckled. “You’re lucky I’m not scolding you.”

The act was a little too much, and he started to feel genuinely wronged. He wanted to cry. After being away from home for so long, he came back only to take a bitter pill and get a lecture. Yan Liao forcefully rammed his head into Tang Shaocheng’s chest and shouted, “Comfort me!”

Tang Shaocheng, who was almost knocked out, said, “You’re the best, you’re such a good boy, so amazing.”

The snow this winter was particularly heavy, and there was not a single sunny day. It gave them a good excuse not to go home for the New Year.

In his previous life, Tang Shaocheng wasn’t interested in stocks or funds. He only remembered a colleague who was always staring at the market, looking to buy more as soon as he opened his eyes. From the metaverse to artificial intelligence, he went in and out of the market, buying more as it fell and falling more as he bought. He hated the color green, and he couldn’t watch historical dramas because he couldn’t bear to hear the word “father.” He would always analyze whether liquor or gold was a better investment and loved to drag other colleagues into his research.

Tang Shaocheng wasn’t interested in these things and wasn’t good at them, but knowing about the future was an advantage. He remembered which stocks would rise later and which sectors were suitable for heavy investment at the moment.

He wasn’t greedy and cashed out as soon as he had enough money. The money he earned in the past few months was enough to get Yan Liao a better place to live. He also needed to buy plane tickets. He had promised to see him every two weeks and couldn’t break his word.

Yan Liao, who had been full of energy when he first came back, finally got a cold on the night before New Year’s Eve.

Tang Shaocheng left for work at his law firm in the morning. Yan Liao woke up feeling groggy and dizzy. He thought it was because he had slept too much, so he didn’t take it seriously and dutifully cooked a pot of congee.

The room was quiet. His long shadow stretched across the floor as he paced between the living room and the kitchen, waiting for the timer on the rice cooker to go off. Later, he got tired of moving and just stood by the stove, watching the sunlight from the window cast a small, bright spot on the tiles.

He felt a little dizzy, and his thoughts seemed to become dull. He illogically thought of setting a piece of paper on fire with a magnifying glass, and he had a hallucination of the light spot burning a small black hole in the tile and a wisp of white smoke rising.

He was still dizzy after finishing the congee. Feeling groggy, he went back to bed to continue sleeping. His eyelids felt heavy, as if a frozen river was weighing on them.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but when he woke up, his whole body ached as if it had been taken apart. It felt like someone had broken his bones and carelessly put them back together in the wrong places.

He struggled to open his eyes and saw Tang Shaocheng sitting on the side of the bed.

Outside the window, the setting sun was crimson, painting the floor through the curtains. Yan Liao raised his hand to rub his temples, his eyelids hurting as if they were being pricked by needles. “Why are you back?” His voice was dry and hoarse, startling him.

He sounded a little like Donald Duck.

“I called you, but you didn’t answer, so I took some time off and came back, thinking something had happened.” Tang Shaocheng said it lightly, but he looked like he had traveled a long distance, and his eyes were bloodshot. Yan Liao looked at him blankly and asked for the time. Only then did he realize he had been in a daze for nearly five hours.

“I changed my clothes.”

Yan Liao moved. He hated how clothes felt sticky like a second skin when he had a fever, but now he felt very refreshed.

Tang Shaocheng touched his head. “Yeah, I wiped you down with a towel, and you’ve taken your medicine.” His fingertips tapped Yan Liao’s forehead. “When I came back, the windows weren’t even closed. You didn’t even know you had a cold. Do you still feel bad?”

Yan Liao wanted to say no, but the words wouldn’t come out. He nodded with difficulty, opening his slightly unfocused eyes. “I felt dizzy when I woke up and thought some fresh air might help.”

“You were dizzy and didn’t realize you were sick.”

Yan Liao held Tang Shaocheng’s index finger weakly, his eyelashes lowered, his eyeballs rolling under his eyelids. “I thought it was probably low blood sugar and that I’d be fine after eating.”

“Were you better after you ate?” Tang Shaocheng asked patiently.

“… No,” Yan Liao said, sniffing, his voice innocent. “After I ate, I thought it was a carb coma, so I went back to sleep and forgot to close the window.”

Tang Shaocheng rubbed his forehead. The expression on his face looked like thin ice slowly cracking. He couldn’t bring himself to scold him when the boy was so simpleminded. He got up to get a glass of warm water. He blew on it before bringing it over, then helped Yan Liao sit up and slowly drink it.

Yan Liao wanted to lift his hand, but he had no strength and his hand trembled weakly. Tang Shaocheng squeezed the back of his hand. “Don’t move around. Just lie down.”

“I had a dream,” Yan Liao said, closing his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed, his voice slow and confused. “I think I dreamed about Einstein.”

“…” Tang Shaocheng took a deep breath and pushed back the bangs on Yan Liao’s forehead, which were damp with cold sweat. “Your voice is so hoarse. Don’t talk for now.” He placed his palm on his forehead to check his temperature. Yan Liao was shivering one minute and felt hot and uncomfortable the next. He subconsciously rubbed against the palm of Tang Shaocheng’s hand.

He couldn’t tell the temperature. Tang Shaocheng leaned down and pressed his forehead against his. “Your fever hasn’t gone down.”

The person below him whimpered softly.

They only had cold medicine at home, no fever patches. He went to the bathroom, soaked a towel in cold water for a bit, wrung it out, and folded it to place on Yan Liao’s forehead. He then took out a thermometer and checked his temperature; it was 102.2°F.

Tang Shaocheng frowned, worried. “Can you go to the hospital?”

Yan Liao shook his head. “I don’t have the strength. I don’t want to move.”

“Then you rest,” Tang Shaocheng said, tucking him in. “I’ll go find a doctor to come give you a shot.”

Yan Liao’s eyes, which had just closed, slowly opened again. He had been sleepy just a moment ago, but now he was wide awake.

“… A shot for who?”

“Who do you think?”

…

The community clinic was still lit up on New Year’s Eve. The doctor came upstairs with his medical bag and gave Yan Liao some antibiotics and saline. Before leaving, he said, “A cold from wind and chills takes a little longer to heal. You still need to rest.”

Yan Liao’s eyes were a little red, and he felt weak. The IV bag was hung on the clothes rack next to the bed, and the clear medicine dripped down, flowing into the blue veins on the back of his hand.

Tang Shaocheng peeled a piece of brown sugar plum and put it in Yan Liao’s mouth. He touched his slightly damp hair and comforted him, “You’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.”

Yan Liao nodded, habitually crushing the candy in his mouth. Soon after, he fell into a deep sleep again, feeling the blurry light dim little by little through his eyelids.

The clock on the wall showed eleven o’clock. A cold wind howled against the window. The sky was like a spilled ink bottle, pitch black. The clouds were thick tonight, and he couldn’t see the moon or the stars.

The IV drip lasted for more than two hours. The doctor had shown Tang Shaocheng how to remove the needle. He carefully disinfected the area and quickly pulled the long, thin needle out of the back of Yan Liao’s hand. A tiny bead of blood still appeared, so he pressed cotton on it to stop the bleeding. Yan Liao didn’t wake up, but he slightly furrowed his brows in his sleep. Tang Shaocheng leaned over and kissed his forehead, smelling a little of the bitter medicine in his breath.

Getting sick in winter was always a long and drawn-out process.

On New Year’s Eve, the sky was very low. Outside the window, people were intermittently setting off fireworks and firecrackers. The live broadcast of the New Year’s Gala was on the projector at home. Even if they weren’t watching, the sound added to the festive atmosphere. Tang Shaocheng was cooking in the kitchen. Even with only two people, he managed to put together six dishes. The New Year’s dinner always had to have a lucky number.

Yan Liao, who was told by the doctor to rest, had been in bed all day. He felt more energetic in the evening and was too excited to sleep. He wrapped himself in a blanket, dug a hidden red envelope from under the closet, and shuffled into the living room in his slippers. Tang Shaocheng was sitting on the sofa, cutting fruit. Yan Liao walked over and put the red envelope on his lap. “This is for you.”

Tang Shaocheng raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You’re so considerate. Why didn’t you wait until midnight?”

“I couldn’t help it,” Yan Liao said, sitting down next to him, so close he was almost melting into him. “I want you to be happy for two extra hours.”

The two of them snuggled on the sofa, holding hands while watching the New Year’s Gala. Tang Shaocheng, using the excuse that “we can’t both have a cold or no one will be able to take care of you,” stopped Yan Liao from kissing him. Yan Liao thought for a moment. “Then I’ll wear a face mask, and you can kiss me through it.”

“Don’t cause trouble. Just sit still for a bit.”

“Okay,” Yan Liao replied with a thick, stuffy nose. Wrapped in a thick quilt, he sat lazily on the sofa, occasionally grabbing Tang Shaocheng’s hand and kissing it.

When people were sick, they became more fragile and insecure. In front of others, Yan Liao would not want to talk, but in front of Tang Shaocheng, he loved to chatter. His voice was as hoarse as if he had smoked ten packs of cigarettes, but he kept talking nonstop, full of energy as if he were having a burst of false vigor.

A song and dance number was on the TV. The three layers of a dress spun open, and the music suddenly rose a key. Suddenly, with a “bang,” fireworks exploded outside the window, as if a shower of colorful petals and shooting stars were falling.

At such a romantic moment, it was easy to ask illogical, strange, and unreasonable questions. Yan Liao’s gaze slid to Tang Shaocheng’s face. “If I turned into a cockroach, would you still be willing to kiss me?”

“…”

“If I turned into a mosquito, would you still be willing to kiss me?”

Tang Shaocheng’s mouth twitched slightly. “Can you pick another species?”

Yan Liao complied. “If I turned into a zombie, would you kiss me?” To ensure that the other person’s actions were conscious and deliberate, he added seriously, “When you’re still a human, through a face mask.”

“…”

“If I turned into a…”

“Come here,” Tang Shaocheng said, laughing in anger while still a human. “Kiss.”

Yan Liao, who had gotten his way, wiped the moisture from his lips and mockingly said, “Kiss what?” He imitated the sound of the word. “You sound like a customer service rep.”

Tang Shaocheng, unable to bear it any longer, found an oral thermometer from the medicine box and stuck it in his mouth. The room was finally quiet, with only the cadence of the New Year’s Gala host’s voice.

Yan Liao couldn’t talk with the thermometer in his mouth, so he could only think. He couldn’t think of anything good. He wondered how people with gags in some of the movies he watched would say their safe words. He wanted to discuss this with Tang Shaocheng, but the other person had already gone to the kitchen to vent the pressure cooker. He heard the intermittent sounds of a phone call. During the New Year, people he hadn’t talked to in a long time would appear to exchange a few pleasantries. Yan Liao felt bored. He opened his phone and saw that the class group was giving out red envelopes. He casually clicked on one and got 3.20 yuan, making him the luckiest person.

His classmate was very supportive. “You’re going to have a very lucky year.”

Yan Liao snorted with the thermometer in his mouth. If you ignored his current state of having a stuffy nose, a sore throat, a dizzy head, and weak limbs, he was pretty lucky right now. Lucky Yan Liao also followed the unwritten rule that “the luckiest person has to send the next one” and sent a red envelope to the class group. He saw the excited comments below and then realized that he had accidentally added an extra zero because he was dizzy.

Why couldn’t you undo something you sent in two minutes?

Yan Liao was so mad that his head became even dizzier. He was so busy being angry that he forgot what he wanted to discuss with Tang Shaocheng when he came back with a glass of hot milk.

The New Year’s Gala on TV was showing a skit about arranged marriages. Tang Shaocheng put the milk on the coffee table in front of him. “I added honey.”

Yan Liao picked it up and chugged it down. His stomach felt better. He even comforted Tang Shaocheng. “I’ll get better soon. If I get you sick, I’ll take care of you.”

“How will you take care of me?”

“I’ll get on top and do the work.”

“…”

Yan Liao immediately put on a loving and considerate expression and said, “Okay, then I’ll just go to the bathroom and take care of it myself.”

…Tang Shaocheng closed his eyes. Was this what a nineteen-year-old was like? This was a side he had never seen in his previous life.

The two of them had a lively New Year’s Eve dinner, with the sounds of the bustling New Year’s Gala, the intermittent firecrackers and crackers outside the window, and the occasional phone ringing. When they finished eating, the TV was playing “Unforgettable Tonight.” After midnight, Yan Liao video-called his parents. The two of them were enjoying a rare moment to themselves and had gone to Hainan for the New Year. After half a year, they looked a few years younger, their two faces squeezed into the screen, looking as loving as a couple who had weathered every storm.

Yan Liao tried to talk as little as possible, but his mother still noticed his stuffy nose. She nagged him for a while, telling him to get better quickly and not to be a burden on “Xiao Tang,” his roommate.

Yan Liao tutted. “I can’t control how fast I get better.” Besides, right now, it was Xiao Tang who was adding to his burden. A hand that had been resting on his thigh hadn’t moved once.

After they hung up, Tang Shaocheng gave him more medicine to take. The only light in the room was the small lamp on the nightstand, and the warm, yellow glow made him feel peaceful and safe.

Yan Liao was in a good mood. He burrowed into the comforter and moved closer to Tang Shaocheng, kissing his face. He said with genuine emotion, “You’re a good boy.”

Tang Shaocheng chuckled inexplicably. “Okay, thank you.”

Yan Liao laughed. “What about me?”

The person lying next to him glanced at him. “You’re a bad boy.”

The bad boy bit Tang Shaocheng’s arm, leaving a ring of teeth marks, forcing him to admit that he was the best boy in the world.

When Tang Shaocheng opened his phone the next morning, he saw that the “Happy New Year” message he had sent to his mother had been replied to with a transfer for two people. It seemed his business was a success.

Yan Liao was sick on and off for a week. The first few days, he was still able to talk nonsense, but after that, he was completely bedridden. Curled up like a comma in the thick comforter, he coughed and had a runny nose. The skin on his nose was raw from wiping, making him look like a little red-nosed clown. He looked so pathetic, but Tang Shaocheng didn’t make fun of him. Afraid he would be in pain, he applied aloe vera gel to his nose and cheeks several times a day.

But the first time Yan Liao saw the thick, clear liquid between Tang Shaocheng’s fingers, the pupils in his eyes tightened. He licked his back molars, turned over, and mumbled, “I’m already like this, and you’re still doing that? Are you even a human?”

Tang Shaocheng, who was inexplicably questioned about his humanity, looked down at the aloe vera gel that had lingered too long and was now dripping down his finger. Then he looked at the sick person who, despite his harsh words, was already unbuttoning his pajama top. His expression changed several times.