The Long Night - Chapter 42

The house was equipped with blackout curtains in the summer. If you didn’t check the time, you would have no idea whether it was day or night. The room was dark and gloomy. After going through so much, their sleep quality had improved during this period, probably due to their regular and healthy routines and diets.

In the first two months after the incident ended, Yan Liao was like an animal that had finally escaped an iron trap. The superhero saved his life, which was temporarily stuck in a swamp, so he was able to pull his legs out of the mud and return to the ground.

It seemed like that should have been the end of it, but in the excessively hot summer two months later, the psychological trauma, which seemed to belong to a past life, came back to haunt him. While Yan Liao insisted, “I’m really okay,” he started to become addicted to various first-person shooter games.

He always saw things that shouldn’t be flying around flying around on the screen.

Tang Shaocheng found it hard to describe what it was like to be born in a peaceful era but be woken up by the sound of gunfire every day. The puppy, who was originally the first one to wake up in the house, now woke up with him every morning to the sound of tanks firing shells.

Tang Shaocheng saw the same shock in the puppy’s eyes as his own. It was the first time he had seen a dog with such a rich expression. The puppy kept barking, as if weeping, seemingly saying that its curriculum did not include post-war psychological trauma repair, and that it should have taken a guide dog elective.

The puppy deeply regretted choosing the wrong major. Tang Shaocheng also clearly felt the dog’s regret and explained to the neighbors that they weren’t illegally knocking down walls, but that their puppy was just under too much work stress and was running into the wall.

The only thing that comforted Tang Shaocheng was that Yan Liao never pretended to be someone else in front of him. What he was thinking was clearly written on his face and in his actions, like an open book. Even when he felt like he had caused trouble, he never deliberately acted obedient.

Because the two of them had always been honest and authentic with each other, for many years, even if life didn’t go smoothly and was occasionally hit by reefs or unexpected crises like a storm, there was never any deception, betrayal, or irreconcilable conflicts between them. There was only companionship as they faced everything together.

Yan Liao never treated overcoming setbacks as a hurdle race. He never moved forward bravely, never looked at obstacles with confidence, or wanted to rush to the finish line to win applause. He also didn’t have an unyielding spine. He was not like a young person who could withstand hardships and remain angry.

Although Tang Shaocheng was also as calm as water and didn’t seem to have a high fighting spirit, he had a more positive and relaxed attitude, methodically checking off things on his schedule. To him, there was nothing new under the sun, so he could accept and understand everything.

The two of them seemed to have increasingly similar personalities but different underlying qualities, so they would make different choices.

On a summer night, the evening breeze outside the window was cool and moist, carrying the fresh scent of plants. The occasional sound of insects in the bushes made the moon seem even more serene.

Tang Shaocheng called Yan Liao to the study, telling him to “come and chat.” He talked to him for a long time before the boy’s mood improved. Yan Liao had been crying in a muffled voice for a long time, and his red eyes were swollen like walnuts the next day. After slowly adjusting for a while, he finally made peace with that bad experience.

He had previously vowed that he would never draw again, but now when he was in the study with Tang Shaocheng, he was willing to pick up a pen and draw a few strokes on the paper.

It was easy to draw the familiar side profile as if it had always been in his sight and had never left.

It was a stuffy and hot Sunday evening. Going out was far less comfortable than staying home with the air conditioner on.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was a night scene of dazzling lights.

Yan Liao took a shower and came out wearing a bathrobe. A white towel was on his head. His face was steamed to a rosy white, and his dark, moist eyes seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of steam.

The puppy was lying on the mat in the living room. When it saw him, it immediately ran over, barked twice, and then rolled over to expose its soft belly. Yan Liao bent down and hugged the dog. “You seem to have gotten heavier.”

The dog grunted in its throat and wagged its tail, hitting Yan Liao’s arm.

Tang Shaocheng was sitting on the sofa wearing gray loungewear. His laptop was on his lap, and his fingers typed two final strokes on the keyboard before he pressed the sleep key.

“Come here.”

Yan Liao put the puppy on the floor and walked two steps toward the sofa. Tang Shaocheng closed his laptop and asked him, “Do you want me to dry your hair?”

“Yes.”

Tang Shaocheng put the laptop aside. “Go get the hairdryer.”

Yan Liao obediently went to get the hairdryer and plugged it in. He took the towel off his head and sat down next to Tang Shaocheng. The warm hot air made him sleepy. Yan Liao yawned lazily. Since he didn’t have to hold the hairdryer himself, his liberated hands fumbled around for a while and then rested on his lap, like a well-behaved kindergarten student.

Not long after, the puppy also trotted over, wagged its tail, and barked twice, remembering that it was also blown dry like this after a bath. Tang Shaocheng, in good spirits, took turns drying the two of them. By the time Yan Liao’s hair was completely dry, the puppy’s fur was also fluffy and soft like freshly baked bread.

“All done.” Tang Shaocheng ruffled Yan Liao’s hair. “Go change into your pajamas.”

“I’ll change when it’s time to sleep.”

Yan Liao was too lazy to move. The air conditioner in the living room felt very comfortable. Through the thin curtains, he could see the orange lights of the city in the evening, which diluted the cold and isolated feeling of the neatly arranged concrete buildings.

Yan Liao took a red bean double-skin milk from the fridge and sat on the sofa, slowly opening the spoon and eating a little. It wasn’t very sweet.

“I want to kiss you.” He said this as he leaned closer, sticking out his tongue and licking Tang Shao-cheng’s lips.

Tang Shaocheng sat upright, looking at him calmly, and squinted a little. Yan Liao’s lips were cold and had a hint of the sweetness from the double-skin milk he had just eaten. He held Yan Liao’s wrist and, like he was teasing a child, said, “I haven’t agreed yet.”

Yan Liao bit his lip and moved back a little. He knew this person was doing it on purpose and was cooperative. He knelt on the sofa and moved to rub against Tang Shaocheng’s leg. His eyes, as if they had been polished, were shining and black. “Then how can you agree?” he said, his voice getting softer and softer, and unconsciously with a sticky nasal sound. “Please, please let me kiss you.”

His knees were still on Tang Shaocheng’s legs and didn’t move forward anymore. He was very calm and restrained, treating him with mutual respect, but his unwillingly closed mouth looked a little silly.

Tang Shaocheng’s chest slightly vibrated with laughter. He imitated Yan Liao’s tone. “Okay.”

Their intertwined breaths were like two water sources that were originally separate but had merged into one. The flowing water converged into a lake, and a vast white mist floated on it.

Tang Shaocheng kissed Yan Liao’s forehead. His soft, dry lips moved to the bridge of his nose and then slowly touched his lips and bit them lightly.

His fingers ran through Yan Liao’s hair. The freshly dried hair was soft and smooth to the touch. Yan Liao seemed to be a little ticklish and shrank his shoulders. Tang Shaocheng rubbed his head. “Why are you dodging?” His fingers touched Yan Liao’s earlobe and pinched it. “Are you still shy after all this time?”

Yan Liao’s long eyelashes fluttered. He swallowed. His drowsy mind couldn’t come up with an answer to the question. He was in a daze for a while, and then his eyes suddenly opened wide. He thought of something in the midst of all this. “We still haven’t named the dog.”

“…Shut up.”

Tang Shaocheng laughed in exasperation.

Yan Liao was only wearing a bathrobe. The belt had somehow come undone, and the clothes were loosely hanging down. The collar was open, revealing his delicate, thin collarbone and half of his shoulder.

Tang Shaocheng’s fingertips slowly stroked his back like a piano scale from a low note to a high note. His finger lightly tapped on his tailbone.

“Mmm…”

Yan Liao clenched his fingers. Tang Shaocheng held his earlobe in his mouth, making a slight slurping sound.

He began to feel very hot, stuffy and hot. The air was humid, like weather where both a high-temperature and a heavy rain warning had been issued at the same time. It felt like he had been caught in a heavy rain, his clothes wet and sticking to his skin. The heat blocked his pores, and he felt weak and had difficulty breathing. A little bit of confusion slowly rose in his mind, like white smoke after a downpour.

Tang Shaocheng soothed him softly, “Relax.”

The air conditioner was tirelessly blowing out cold air. The puppy was lying comfortably in its bed, playing with a ball of yarn, its paws resting on it as it was about to fall asleep. The temperature in the living room was very comfortable, but the sofa seemed to have turned into a small steam oven.

He felt like he was about to be cooked.

Yan Liao felt Tang Shaocheng’s warm palm on his leg. The heat from his skin made his forehead sweat even more. Yan Liao grabbed Tang Shaocheng’s strong arm and couldn’t help but lean down and rest his head on the other’s shoulder.

He arched his back, enduring the shivering sensation from the other’s hand. His tense back was like a trembling tent in the wind. He half-opened his mouth and exhaled hot air. His red-rimmed eyes were filled with tears that were about to fall. “…No.”

Yan Liao couldn’t help but act spoiled again. He said no, but he couldn’t help but lift his leg and thrust his hips upward. Tang Shaocheng chuckled in a muffled voice and didn’t stop. He kissed his flushed ear and finished the rest of the work.

Tang Shaocheng took two tissues from the coffee table, slowly wiped his fingers clean, and then wiped Yan Liao’s legs. The puppy was already asleep, making a gentle snoring sound in the corner of the living room.

Yan Liao’s face was still very red, and his eyes were a little unfocused. His gaze was like a butterfly fluttering around in the air, missing everything. It took him a long time to come back to his senses. He reached up and felt that his body was covered in sweat. He mumbled a complaint that the shower he just took was for nothing.

Tang Shaocheng blinked and asked him with a smile, “Should I carry you to shower again?”

Yan Liao slightly moved his knees, stared into Tang Shaocheng’s eyes, and swallowed.

“…We can shower later.”

He raised his weak hand and clumsily started to unbutton Tang Shaocheng’s pajamas. “We’ll shower together later.”

…

Summer lasted for a long time.

On many mornings, as long as the curtains were drawn, the intense, dazzling sunlight would pour in like a bucket of water. The entire city was immersed in abundant light, as if it would slowly solidify into a golden amber.