WHF Ch 81 – “You first?” 

Yu Tianbai was still lying on the floor. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “Are you crazy?”

Then he too climbed up, pushing aside the remote controls and game controllers blocking the way on the carpet. He stumbled around, fumbling for the light switch. When the light came on, they were both equally disheveled.

Even though the bright light made him blink repeatedly, Yu Tianbai still had to nag the young master a bit.

“You take a bite, I take a bite back, just like dogs. Are we going to do anything else tonight? And we haven’t even eaten yet.”

As he spoke, he made his way to the door, then stopped, steadying himself against the wall. He had stood up too fast and had been talking nonstop; he was probably feeling dizzy from a lack of blood to the brain.

Xiu Ma, too busy laughing on the floor, was in no hurry to get up. He sat up straight, craning his neck to watch Yu Tianbai get something, and then asked:

“What did you buy to eat?”

“You smelled it?” Yu Tianbai picked up the cluster of large and small plastic bags he had brought back and headed for the kitchen, raising his voice. “I’ll heat it up before we eat!”

“I smelled it while we were arguing!” Xiu Ma got up too, his voice rising to match Yu Tianbai’s.

It seemed food was the ultimate motivator; otherwise, he could have stayed listless on the carpet for longer.

The fried chicken he had just bought was almost completely cold, and the flower rolls had lost their fresh-from-the-steamer warmth. Yu Tianbai put water on to boil in the steamer and tossed the strawberries he’d bought into a basin of water. He hadn’t felt hungry at all when he was angry, but now that he had calmed down, he was so hungry he felt a little unsteady. He really was getting old.

While he was tilting his head back to let his blood pressure stabilize, the young master sauntered into the kitchen. But he wasn’t foolish enough to come over in just shorts and a t-shirt. He had wrapped the blanket around himself from head to toe, looking very much like an upright mummy’s sarcophagus as he walked in. For a moment, Yu Tianbai thought he had been transported to the British Museum.

“Marinated pig ears?” the mummy inquired.

“Yeah. You like them?” Yu Tianbai rolled up his sleeves and changed the water for the strawberries in the basin.

The young master nodded. Just as he was about to say something else, his mouth was plugged with a fresh strawberry—stuffed in by Yu Tianbai.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Yu Tianbai said dismissively. “Get the chopsticks and let’s eat.”

Xiu Ma didn’t answer—after all, the strawberry would fall out if he opened his mouth. Yu Tianbai carried the heated food out of the kitchen. Xiu Ma stood where he was, finished the strawberry in two bites, a secret smile leaking from his pursed lips.

If corn grits porridge with salted duck eggs was the state-banquet level of a Northeastern breakfast, then a full dinner set from the wet market was a formal feast fit for a wedding. Yu Tianbai even opened a bottle of alcohol—the foreign liquor the young master had bought a while ago.

They sat down, chopsticks neatly arranged. Yu Tianbai first poured a glass for each of them.

It was a foreign spirit, but not wine, so drinking it from wine glasses felt a bit strange. Yu Tianbai didn’t have any proper liquor glasses, so they were now using small white-liquor cups for the spirits. Making do with what they had, a blend of the refined and the common.

Six o’clock in the evening. Two people, two glasses of liquor, a table of simple, ready-made dishes, with a preference for sweet flavors. It didn’t sound like it cost much, but moments like these were rare in Yu Tianbai’s life.

He didn’t know if Xiu Ma felt the same way, so he raised his eyes to look at the person across from him. Just as Yu Tianbai was about to say something to break the silence, Xiu Ma suddenly grabbed the cup in front of him.

With perfect form, he held the small cup forward, tapped its base resoundingly on the table between them, and said, “To the heavens that let me meet you. Bottoms up.”

His light-colored eyes were filled with focus, and his tone was incredibly earnest.

After speaking, the young master truly threw his head back and downed the entire cup of spirits. The taste must have been harsh, as his expression contorted dramatically.

Yu Tianbai was stunned for two seconds. His first reaction was to let out a short laugh, but that laugh almost brought tears to his eyes—it wasn’t a laugh of ridicule.

It would be impolite not to reciprocate. Yu Tianbai also tapped his cup on the table and said, “Then here’s to letting me be with you as you grow up.”

With the pleasantries over, they both fell into the swift-acting after-burn of the foreign liquor. Once the burning sensation in their sinuses finally subsided, Yu Tianbai was the first to pick up his chopsticks.

“Don’t be so formal with me again,” he said. “A few more words from you and I’ll have to heat up the food all over again.”

Xiu Ma understood what Yu Tianbai meant. He knew Boss You was never good at handling such heartfelt, sentimental moments, so he cut the chatter and took a bite of pig ear.

“Is it good?” Yu Tianbai asked.

It seemed that every time they ate out, Yu Tianbai would always ask this question after Xiu Ma took his first bite. Even though they were both eating, Yu Tianbai placed particular importance on his opinion.

Xiu Ma nodded, giving an answer that satisfied Yu Tianbai: “It’s delicious.”

Yu Tianbai, relieved, began to serve himself. Xiu Ma was suddenly reminded of the old-fashioned fathers in TV dramas and almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

When his laughter had gone on long enough that Yu Tianbai stopped eating to look at him, Xiu Ma cleared his throat.

“I could never have imagined what we’d be like together before. It feels like this sort of thing came too late for me, and yet too soon,” Xiu Ma said, lifting his chin. His eyes were exceptionally bright after the drink. “I find it a little hard to believe.”

Yu Tianbai was in the middle of tearing a scallion pancake. He didn’t rush to respond to the young master’s words. He first put half of the pancake in his own bowl, then stretched his arm out and dropped the other half into the young master’s bowl before asking:

“Is that why you were looking for a reason to fight with me?”

Normally, such a sharp remark from Yu Tianbai might have made Xiu Ma angry, but having just had an argument, he was in an excellent mood.

“Yeah. I feel much better after fighting with you.” The young master accepted the pancake and took a fierce bite.

A young master is a young master. He had no interest in liquor; at twenty-one, he wasn’t at the age to appreciate tobacco and alcohol. Marinated pig ears suited him better.

Yu Tianbai, on the other hand, thought the liquor was quite good, though he was no expert. After pouring himself another glass, he asked Xiu Ma:

“How much was this bottle?”

Xiu Ma shook his head. “Forgot. I just told the owner to give me the most expensive one when I paid.”

Yu Tianbai understood. To the north was a villa district with an imported goods store that specialized in ripping off the rich. The products were genuine, but the prices were genuinely exorbitant. He even had reason to suspect the young master didn’t even bother to check the receipt after paying.

“And the game console and TV?” Yu Tianbai asked again.

Xiu Ma was busy eating and could only speak the truth. “Bought them at the experience store downtown.”

There was indeed a new shopping plaza on the city’s commercial street. The same verdict applied—the products were genuine, but the prices were genuinely exorbitant.

Getting no reaction to his jab, Yu Tianbai felt the urge to be a bit more of a jerk. “So one day, if you don’t like living here anymore, are you going to want to replace my apartment too?”

The moment he finished speaking, the young master looked up.

“No,” he replied with absolute certainty. “I like your apartment.”

Sincerity. Yu Tianbai could never win against it. He shut his mouth and looked around his home. He’d bought it years ago but had never felt any particular fondness for it. It was simply furnished; he’d never considered a more elaborate renovation. The apartment complex was old, the security booth just for show, but at this moment, its existence gave Yu Tianbai a completely new feeling.

The young master suddenly reminded him, “You were the one who said the food was getting cold. Why aren’t you eating?”

Only then did Yu Tianbai remember to pick up his chopsticks again. But before eating, he added one last thing: “I, for one, think the timing of us getting together was just right.”

The young master, abiding by their just-discussed theory of eating properly, didn’t say anything more to Yu Tianbai. However, to keep from laughing, he gnawed on several more fried chicken frames.

The late dinner ended at seven. The young master had only bought a monitor, not a set-top box, otherwise it would have been the perfect time to listen to the evening news broadcast.

Yu Tianbai was clearing the dishes. The young master hovered around him, but with only one good hand, he couldn’t do much. For the most part, Yu Tianbai did the work while Xiu Ma got in the way. After a few rounds of this, Xiu Ma finally offered a suggestion:

“How about I buy a dishwasher?”

Like all older people in China, Yu Tianbai shot him a glance. “Can those things even get anything clean?”

Xiu Ma was blunt. “You sound just like my dad when you say that.”

Yu Tianbai paused his scrubbing and replied with a straight face, “You may call me father today.”

The topic ended when Xiu Ma yanked open the back of Yu Tianbai’s collar and dropped a rock-candy orange, chilled from being on the balcony, down his back. By the time Yu Tianbai frantically wiped the water from his hands and chased after him, Xiu Ma was standing by the bathroom door with an innocent look.

“Don’t come over here. I’m going to take a shower.”

Looking at Xiu Ma’s eyes, which became especially bright whenever he feigned innocence, Yu Tianbai unhesitatingly grabbed the front of his shirt, wiped his hands clean on it, and then smoothed the fabric back down.

“By yourself?” he asked Xiu Ma.

In his hazy memories from a few days ago, Yu Tianbai seemed to recall helping him shower once. Back then, Xiu Ma had been in a semi-hibernating state from his injury, his consciousness running in the background, but he remembered the feel of Yu Tianbai’s hands.

Not rough, strong, yet his movements were delicate—a situation prone to sparking something.

“No,” the now-composed Xiu Ma said. “Otherwise, I’d just get soap suds all over you.”

“Oh,” Yu Tianbai was still stroking Xiu Ma’s collar. “We could just shower together, then.”

Oh no. He seemed to be serious.

Xiu Ma dodged the hand that was still roaming across his chest, leaned back against the door panel, and glanced toward the kitchen.

“Are the dishes done?”

“They’ll be done as soon as I put them on the drying rack.” Yu Tianbai’s gaze still hadn’t left his chest. “You first?”

His tone was casual, yet completely serious, as if they were about to do something utterly mundane.

And it was mundane, after all. They were already dating.

Xiu Ma was speechless for several seconds. He heard Yu Tianbai’s footsteps walk into the kitchen and stop in front of the dish rack, followed by the soft clatter of dishes being put away. The cabinet door closed, signaling the task was complete.

Then he heard the sound of Yu Tianbai walking back towards him.

Xiu Ma tossed the bandage aside with one hand and ripped off his shirt with the other—not because he was in a hurry to get undressed, but because he didn’t want Yu Tianbai to see him frozen in a daze.

But Xiu Ma himself knew that, at this very moment, his heart was pounding wildly.