SG 17

On Mondays when he had his day off, Chu Baiyan’s days were always the same. He would sleep in, get up to make lunch, then scroll through his phone and play games to kill time. He had only recently moved to Jindu and had no interest in going out alone. But today’s day off felt completely different because of Yan Anqing.

That afternoon, the little rose had almost dried. Before glazing the other pieces, Yan Anqing brushed a thin layer of glaze on it and set it aside. The finished clay blanks were all sorted on the storage rack. Each piece required a different glazing method depending on its shape and size.

Before glazing the cups, they needed to be moistened and wiped clean of dust. Chu Baiyan couldn’t handle the more technical parts, but he could help with this. After watching Yan Anqing wipe the inside and outside of a cup with a damp sponge once, he understood what to do. The two worked together. Chu Baiyan moistened and wiped while Yan Anqing focused on glazing, and the speed instantly improved.

When he handed the prepared cup to Yan Anqing, Chu Baiyan’s gaze drifted to his face. He noticed that Yan Anqing didn’t look blank while working. He looked focused and calm, and whenever an action went exactly as he expected, there was a fleeting light in his eyes.

Chu Baiyan could feel the calm and concentration in Yan Anqing’s movements. At that moment, Yan Anqing seemed simple and pure in a way completely different from the quickness people often called clever. He was as clean as a newly opened ball of white cotton.

He slid his hand into the cup to hold it and dipped the outer wall into the glaze. For the inside, he poured glaze in with a container, then slowly poured it back out. After each cup was glazed, Yan Anqing wiped the base with a damp sponge.

“Why do you wipe the base with a sponge?” Chu Baiyan asked as he watched him repeat the same steps again and again.

“The part that touches the kiln board can’t have glaze. After firing, it’ll stick and can’t be removed.” Yan Anqing explained without stopping his work.

The sunlight dimmed little by little. The door chime rang now and then. When customers peeked in to ask questions, Chu Baiyan caught Yan Anqing’s glance and stepped forward. After helping once before, he was already used to it.

When all the pieces were glazed and set on the racks to dry, Yan Anqing stretched and started loading the kiln. The dried pieces were arranged by size, evenly spaced so they wouldn’t stick together.

After each layer was filled, he added a kiln shelf to separate it. The “merman” plate went in too. On that layer were only that plate and the rose from today, which had dried enough to be fired.

Before closing the shop that night, Yan Anqing told him good night and reminded him that the plate would be ready the next day.

“When you wake up, you’ll see the new plate.” Just before Chu Baiyan turned to leave, he asked, “What do you want for breakfast tomorrow? Still tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, and rice cakes?”

He thought anyone would get tired of eating the same thing for days. If Yan Anqing wanted something else, he could buy something different.

“Tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, rice cakes.” Yan Anqing nodded without hesitation.

“Alright, as long as you’re not sick of it.” Chu Baiyan smiled. “Good night. See you tomorrow.” He waved and pushed open the glass door.

Yan Anqing stood still and watched him walk out. His eyes followed his back until it disappeared beyond the glass. In his mind, he still saw Chu Baiyan’s smile from that last moment. The corners of his eyes raised. There was a trace of laughter in his eyes, and his features softened under the light. The sadness was gone, and his smile was hard to look away from.

After checking the starfish’s thermometer and cooling pump, Yan Anqing said good night to them all, locked the shop, turned off the lights, and went upstairs. When he entered, he noticed an unfamiliar pair of slippers by the door. When Chu Baiyan had worn them, they hadn’t stood out, but now that they were left behind, they looked strangely out of place.

He circled around the slippers once. It was the first time something that didn’t belong to him had appeared in his home. He didn’t know what to do with them. He couldn’t decide whether to throw them away. He didn’t like having other people’s things in his space, but he didn’t dislike Chu Baiyan’s slippers either. Without them, the floor would get dirty, and he disliked mopping even more.

Back at his own place, Chu Baiyan didn’t know that his slippers had gone through such an internal debate before being placed in Yan Anqing’s shoe cabinet.

After his shower, lying in bed, Chu Baiyan thought of what Grandma had told him. When he remembered that Yan Anqing had said he would protect the “merman,” trust his words, and never let him turn into bubbles, warmth rose in his chest. He knew Yan Anqing wasn’t talking about him. He just happened to fit the image of the “merman” in Yan Anqing’s mind.

Even so, the sincerity and kindness he received from Yan Anqing were things he had never known before. His parents’ relationship had always been poor, and their arguments were constant. A child raised in that kind of home didn’t get much affection.

His parents had let him grow up on his own. The only friend he had since childhood had drifted away after they entered different universities. Now they only sent each other a message on holidays. Yan Anqing’s reliance on him made him feel calm. For the first time, he felt that someone valued and needed him.

The next morning, when he went to buy tofu pudding and fried dough sticks again, the vendor already recognized him.

“We use old yellow soybeans for the tofu pudding. They don’t make much milk, but the taste is better. Once you eat it, you won’t want anyone else’s.”

Chu Baiyan couldn’t tell any difference, but he still agreed politely.

After buying breakfast, he went to “Starfish Pottery.” Yan Anqing was taking the fired ceramics out of the kiln. His “merman” plate was on the worktable in the most visible spot, with a small rose beside it.

Yan Anqing didn’t look very cheerful. Chu Baiyan helped him move the finished pieces into the cabinet. During breakfast, the other man still seemed listless.

“The plate’s done. You can take it now.” After breakfast, Yan Anqing held the plate with both hands and handed it to him.

“This one’s even better than the last. Why aren’t you happy?” Chu Baiyan examined it closely. It was more vivid, almost perfect.

“If you take the plate, you won’t come again.”

Chu Baiyan set the plate down and took out his phone.

“Add my WeChat. When you want me to come, just message me, and I’ll come.”

Yan Anqing’s WeChat only had Grandma, Grandpa, and his parents, but he rarely used it. He usually called Grandma directly. His parents occasionally sent him red envelopes on holidays with brief greetings. Grandma told him to accept them and reply with a “thank you,” so that was all he used WeChat for.

Chu Baiyan took his phone, scanned his own QR code, and after verification, their chat windows appeared.

A notification sounded. Yan Anqing opened it. It was a message that read, “If you want me to come, send me a message.”

“Okay.” Even though Chu Baiyan was standing right in front of him, Yan Anqing still replied through WeChat.

Chu Baiyan tapped his profile picture. It was a green bamboo stalk. “Your profile picture’s a bamboo?” he asked curiously.

Yan Anqing leaned closer and looked at his own picture from Chu Baiyan’s phone. “Bamboo means peace and safety. Bamboo is green. That’s ‘Anqing.’¹

Grandma had chosen it for him when he first started using WeChat, and he had kept it ever since.

The ends of his hair brushed against Chu Baiyan’s lips. The scent of citrus filled his breath. Now he understood where Yan Anqing’s name came from.

“Are you happy now?”

Yan Anqing didn’t answer, but his face already showed the answer.

With the “merman” plate in its special box and the small rose from yesterday resting in his palm, Chu Baiyan left “Starfish Pottery.” He opened his hand under the morning light. The rose was rimmed with gold from the sun. The petals were a little rough, but the two carved leaves made the whole flower look endearing.

When he thought of how hard Yan Anqing had worked to save that little rose, Chu Baiyan smiled under the sunlight.

1. ” 安 (An) means peace or safety. 青 (Qing) means green or blue. He’s explaining that his WeChat profile picture represents his name. Bamboo is green (青) and symbolizes peace or safety (安), so together it matches “Anqing.” ↩︎