EWH 12

Yang Moshou froze for a second, feeling a little pleased.

“For real?”

“Of course it’s real… come with me in a bit.”

“In a bit? Then what are we doing now?”

“Well, I’ve already wasted this much time. At least let me finish my meal first.”

Yang Moshou figured that sounded fair enough.

It’s easier to get things done after dark anyway.

The guy added, “Why don’t you come eat with us?”

Yang Moshou looked at the row of draft beers on the table. It felt like fate. Maybe he could even take advantage of the moment and mess around a bit after drinking. Seriously, what kind of heavenly sign was this?

But on the surface, he kept it polite. “No, no, I couldn’t possibly.”

“Oh come on, who knows what time we’ll be done. Just come over and eat with us. Once I finish eating, I’ll take you there.”

Yang Moshou didn’t refuse again. “Then I need to head home first.”

“What for?”

“Uh… to change clothes…”

“No need to change. You’re gonna take it off anyway,” the guy said with a grin that carried more than one meaning. “Hurry up and come sit. If you don’t come back later, I won’t even know where to find you.”

Yang Moshou shot him a look. “I’ll be back.”

Then he turned and left.

He really was going home to change clothes.

They had only met a handful of times, so he had to make the most of each one. He needed to pack every encounter with the stuff Xu Wanhe liked.

Like his favorite color combos.

The whole way home, Yang Moshou kept thinking about what Xu Wanhe had been wearing that morning. How could he pull off a matching outfit that looked like a couple’s look, without being as tacky as the other guy?

As soon as he got through the door, Yang Moshou started tearing through his wardrobe, checking every last piece of clothing he had.

Xu Wanhe’s shoes and shirt today were both green. His pants weren’t anything special. Yang Moshou figured he could pair it with red. But most of his clothes were black, blue, or gray. The stuff he ordered on Taobao hadn’t arrived yet either. All he could dig up right now was a Little Red Riding Hood hoodie and a red neckerchief.

The red neckerchief was definitely out. Yang Moshou tried on the Little Red Riding Hood hoodie, looked at himself in the mirror for a second, then took it off too.

He moved on to looking for something green.

After digging around for a while, he finally found a pair of green underwear and some green socks.

But Yang Moshou wasn’t satisfied. Those were hidden under his clothes. Xu Wanhe wouldn’t see them. What was the point of going green if no one noticed?

He needed something obvious. Something bold. Something that screamed green.

His gaze landed on a cucumber sitting on the desk.

He had no idea when he left it there. Probably after a snack. Maybe before.

He picked it up and held it in front of the mirror. For a long, silent moment, he seriously considered it.

Then he sighed, gave the cucumber a disappointed pat like it had let him down, and grabbed his red hoodie instead.

By the time he got back, six or seven people were already eating. When they saw him, they enthusiastically pulled out a stool and forced him down onto it.

The sky had gone completely dark.

Yang Moshou could hold his liquor. He didn’t flush when he drank, and ended up knocking back drinks until the others were slumped over, one after another, while he only started feeling a little dizzy.

By the time the drunk underlings and the tipsy Yang Moshou helped each other stumble back, it was already ten at night.

The red hoodie got left behind at the barbecue stall.

——

Xu Wanhe had long forgotten about Yang Moshou.

The guy had said he was going to bandage him up, then suddenly vanished. Xu Wanhe had wondered if he got jumped and told one of his men to go check on him.

When that guy didn’t come back either, Xu Wanhe thought about it for a moment, then let it go.

After all, there was always too much going on around him. Too many people, too many problems. A minor thing like Yang Moshou faded into the background without him even noticing.

That afternoon, someone from Yang De in the East District came by to drop something off.

Xu Wanhe had met Yang De back when he was still nobody. They were about the same age, and even then, he thought the guy was a sneaky bastard. But he also saw potential in him. In the end, the bastard devoured his own boss’s hard-earned work and climbed his way up to become a leader. It took him years longer than expected, but it was still within the realm of what Xu Wanhe had predicted.

Still, Xu Wanhe had no respect for him. First, because of the bad blood between them. Second, Yang De had been sucking up to Tang Ziyan so hard lately, even more than his old boss did.

Xu Wanhe had never kissed up to anyone. Everything he had, he got on his own. If it worked out, great. If not, then forget it.

What Yang De sent over was a pair of jade Buddha statues. Judging by the color and texture, they looked like old-mine jade, the kind worth some money. But around here, it wasn’t anything rare.

This area produced jade, and next-door Myanmar was known worldwide for it. Yang De sending something like this felt pointless. He might as well have sent nothing at all.

The underling who delivered the gift seemed to sense Xu Wanhe’s discontent. “Xu-ge, this piece is from the Qing dynasty.”

Xu Wanhe shot him a cold glare.

“So what if it’s an antique? You think I can’t afford to buy it myself? Take it back. Don’t fucking try to cozy up to me.”

Even someone as slick as Tang Ziyan wasn’t buying Yang De’s bullshit. Xu Wanhe had no reason to befriend someone like that either.

The guy looked awkward for a moment, then quietly packed the jade statues and slipped away without another word.

Xu Wanhe sat back in his swivel chair, legs crossed and resting against the corner of the desk.

He was already irritated, thinking about the current situation, when the landline suddenly rang. He frowned and glanced over, only to pause when he saw the number on the screen.

After all these years, Xu Wanhe couldn’t even remember his own phone number, but he had that one memorized. No matter how many times it changed, he never forgot it.

“What made you call this number?”

“Your cell’s off.”

For once, Xu Wanhe didn’t snap back. He pulled his phone from his pocket and saw it was dead, then tossed it aside.

“What do you want from me?”

—

The underling had originally planned to ask someone else to pass the word to Xu Wanhe, to let him know that Yang Moshou had been found. But after trying to call over and over and getting nothing but a shut-off line, he went straight to one of the people around Xu Wanhe and brought Yang Moshou over.

Since Xu Wanhe didn’t like being disturbed, the guys who followed him waited outside. Bored, they gathered in small groups to smoke and chat.

The underling opened the door and peeked in. Seeing Xu Wanhe still on the phone, he told Yang Moshou to wait outside, then went off to smoke and play cards with the rest.

After standing by the door for ten minutes, Yang Moshou pushed it open and stepped inside.

The room was filled with smoke.

The lights were off. The glow from a cigarette flickered by the window. The man’s voice was low and heavy.

“You really had to call me over something this small? Couldn’t you just find someone to pass the message?”

Yang Moshou followed the sound in silence, moving forward until his body bumped into the desk behind Xu Wanhe.

Xu Wanhe had a cigarette between his fingers, facing the window so his expression couldn’t be seen. He tried to sound like he was joking. “Could it be that you actually like me, so you came in person…”

But the moment the words came out, they were clumsy and didn’t sound like a joke at all.

A voice behind him answered, “Yeah.”

There was a laugh on the other end of the line. “Bullshit.”

Xu Wanhe turned slightly in his chair.

Yang Moshou gave him a crooked grin like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Xu Wanhe glanced at him, then turned his head back and continued the call.

The ash on his cigarette had built up long, dropping silently to the floor.

“I was kidding. Don’t take it seriously.”

Xu Wanhe really didn’t have the energy to get mad about this anymore. Not even a flicker of temper left in him. In this world, everything comes down to the mess we make for ourselves. There’s no one else to blame.

Yang Moshou’s stomach churned. Hearing Xu Wanhe talk on the phone like no one else was there made him feel sick. He suddenly retched and vomited all over the desk phone.

Tears streamed out with it.

The call abruptly ended. Xu Wanhe turned around in fury.

Yang Moshou glanced at him, then threw up again.

After few seconds of silence in the room, Xu Wanhe slammed the receiver down, shot up from his chair, grabbed Yang Moshou by the collar, and hauled him up. “You sick of living or what?”

Only then did Yang Moshou realize he might have actually drunk too much.

“It was just a damn phone call. Was that necessary…”

“If you’ve got the guts, hit me. If you hit me, I’ll remember it, and I’ll stop throwing myself at you.”

“If you’re not gonna hit me, then let me go. I’m leaving. You stupid black piece of trash.”

After yelling all that, he even stepped on Xu Wanhe before struggling to leave.

Xu Wanhe jolted, as if something suddenly clicked, though he wasn’t entirely sure.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing. The first two times I came to you, it was just because my ass was itching. It’s not itching today. Bye.”

Xu Wanhe stared at him for a moment. “You got feelings for me?”

“Who the hell would be blind enough to have feelings for you? Don’t flatter yourself just because you’ve got a hot body and some money. You think everyone loves you like you’re some perfect man no one can find even with a lantern… oh wait, that’s right, no one can find you with a lantern, because you’re so damn dark no one can see you.”

Xu Wanhe snapped. “Say that one more time, I dare you.”

“Let go!” Yang Moshou shouted, nearly puking on him again.

He struggled on tiptoe for quite a while. Then suddenly, the grip on his collar loosened. Xu Wanhe actually let go.

Yang Moshou took a long breath and rubbed the top of his head. “Where’s my hoodie? Give it back!”

The man across from him looked like his face had turned to charcoal.

“My hoodie! That kind of look doesn’t suit you. With a face like yours, you should wear a hair clip with a lightbulb on it so people can at least see your pitch-black face.”

Before he could finish, Yang Moshou felt his body go weightless. The next second, both his feet were off the ground as Xu Wanhe hoisted him straight up over his shoulder.