EWH Extra 5

The two of them had been together for many years, and the road was anything but smooth.

The first big hurdle came on Yang Moshun’s thirtieth birthday.

That day, Xu Wanhe almost got killed by an old enemy. He lost too much blood and fell into a coma, lying unconscious in the hospital. Yang Moshou stayed by his bedside day and night without sleeping, talking to him until his throat went dry.
It took a hell of a lot of effort just to nag him back to life.

The rest of the hurdles were all about the countless fights and breakups. Too many to even count.

Most of the time, it was because Xu Wanhe didn’t like that Yang Moshun kept going off with Mo Mo to fix up cars. He didn’t like how Yang Moshun had been a little cold toward him lately. He didn’t like how Yang Moshun didn’t react when other men tried to hit on him. Worse, he’d even chat with those guys like nothing was wrong. God knows what he said, because afterward, those men would act like Xu Wanhe was some kind of virus and avoid him completely.

But the worst fight they ever had was over their so-called “first love.”

Yang Moshou proudly said that Xu Wanhe was his first love. He had never been with another man. Xu Wanhe, not to be outdone, insisted that Yang Moshou was his first love too. He stubbornly refused to admit that Tang Ziyan was his first love, claiming it was just a secret crush, and if it had never been confessed, it did not count.

He even tried to argue that the flowers he sent back then were just because Tang Ziyan’s birthday was coming up, and it was just an early gift. Since he never confessed, Tang Ziyan never knew, so it did not count.

As for hating Shen Han, he insisted it had nothing to do with liking Tang Ziyan.
It was because Shen Han had no manners and once mocked him for being dark-skinned. That was why Xu Wanhe hated him so much.

That fight between them was a real war.
Fed up with Xu Wanhe’s stubbornness and mule-headed temper, Yang Moshou packed up the food from the fridge and was ready to leave.

But in the end, he still got dragged back by the collar.

Later, as Xu Wanhe got a little older, he could not drag him by brute force anymore.
Instead, he would just hook him with a cane and pull him right back.

The old grudges piled up one after another,
to the point where the metaphorical ledger of grievances was so thick the pages were yellowing.

But no matter how much he remembered, Yang Moshou never really took revenge.

Because when Xu Wanhe was good to him, he was truly good.

Just because Yang Moshou was a little greedy for snacks, Xu Wanhe went and gifted him an entire supermarket.
Eating out together was nothing special either. Every now and then, when Xu Wanhe was in a good mood, he would even cook something himself for Yang Moshou.

Xu Wanhe only ever learned how to cook one dish in his entire life. He said back then, to please their old boss, he had even spent money to take classes at a culinary school.

But Yang Moshun said cilantro causes erectile dysfunction, and after that, Xu Wanhe never made it again.

Deep down, he always felt a little guilty.

Their old boss really did end up impotent, and Xu Wanhe was never sure if his dish had anything to do with it.

Once Xu Wanhe had secured his position, he settled down and moved in with Yang Moshou. No matter what happened, no matter how late he stayed out, he would always come home.

When they were young and full of energy, they would fuck a few rounds before sleeping. When they got older and could not go as hard, they just curled up and slept together.

In short, their life gradually started to feel more and more like a real home.

They never found a surrogate to have kids, and they did not even bother raising cats or dogs. As Yang Moshou put it, “Dealing with Xu Wanhe every damn day already drives me crazy. Who the fuck has time to raise a kid or a pet on top of that?”

Xu Wanhe completely agreed.
This way, all of Yang Moshou’s attention could stay on him.

It was just a bit of a shame that Yang Moshou’s good genes never got passed down.

But once Xu Wanhe got old and officially retired from his business, that flaw became more and more obvious.

Yang Moshou wasn’t old enough to retire yet. He still worked every day, and without a bunch of underlings buzzing around him anymore, Xu Wanhe ended up sitting at home all alone.

Yang Moshou racked his brain trying to find ways to keep him company, thinking up things for him to do.

At first, he tried to get Xu Wanhe interested in fishing. But all Xu Wanhe did was fall asleep at the fishing spot, and he refused to use a sun umbrella because he thought it was too girly. So he went bare under the sun, got tanned even darker than a donkey, and decided fishing was boring and miserable. He never went again.

When fishing failed, Yang Moshou took him out to play cards and chess with other people.

But Xu Wanhe had a bad temper.
Every time he played cards, he would just get pissed off. Arguments were a given.
One time he even swung his cane and beat the old man sitting across from him.

After that, none of the old guys in the neighborhood dared to play cards with him.
They even warned each other behind his back to stay the hell away from Old Man Xu, saying he had a nasty temper and violent tendencies, better not to get involved.

So in the end, Xu Wanhe was left with nothing but going for walks.

No matter if it was winter or summer, after every meal, Yang Moshou would drag Xu Wanhe out for a walk, looping around the neighborhood again and again.

He even bought matching hats for both of them, winter and summer versions,
so that even if they got separated in a crowd, they could spot each other easily.

In summer, they would walk a bit apart.
But in winter, Yang Moshou would bundle himself up with a thick scarf, a knitted hat, and a bright-colored coat so people would not realize he was an old man. Then he would sneak his hands into Xu Wanhe’s overcoat pockets, and the two of them would walk leaning against each other.

But Xu Wanhe, always feeling it was embarrassing, refused to put his own hands in his pockets. So it looked like Yang Moshou was reaching into his coat from behind to steal something.

Because of that, Yang Moshou even got warned once by the neighborhood committee aunties.

—

That summer was scorching. Yang Moshou could not fall asleep during his afternoon nap, sweating all over the bamboo mat.
He flipped over a few times, opened his eyes wide, and kicked the person next to him.

“Old Xu… fan…”

Xu Wanhe was a light sleeper. The moment he heard Yang Moshou asking for a fan, he woke up. He reached around but couldn’t find it, so he got up and went out to look.

Yang Moshou was confused. “Where are you going?”

It took a while before Xu Wanhe came back from the living room.

He was about to ask where the fan had gone, but then he spotted it right next to Yang Moshou’s head. His face soured instantly. “The damn fan’s right next to you, and you didn’t see it? I almost fucking went blind looking for it…”

Yang Moshou tossed him the fan. “Too hot to sleep. Fan me a bit.”

Xu Wanhe took the fan and started waving it. “Why not turn on the air conditioner?”

Yang Moshou closed his eyes again, enjoying the breeze. “Old folks shouldn’t use too much AC. Not good for the body.”

Xu Wanhe did not say anything after that, just sat at the head of the bed fanning him.

After a while, watching Yang Moshou about to drift off, he felt a little bitter inside.

“Why the hell do you get to sleep while I have to sit here fighting sleep to fan you?”

Yang Moshou frowned slightly, turned over, and faced away from him.

“You are older than me…”

Xu Wanhe gave him two hard flaps with the fan.

“Bullshit! Isn’t it all about respecting the elderly and loving the young? I am older than you, and you don’t show me a shred of respect!”

Yang Moshou answered lazily.

“Respect the elderly? I am an old man too.
Old to old, there’s no respect issue anymore. But I am younger than you, so you are supposed to love and take care of me.”

Xu Wanhe racked his brain and could not come up with any way to argue back.
All he could do was keep fanning him.

After a while, feeling more and more upset, he threw the fan aside, got out of bed, and stormed out of the room.

As he left, he threw out a stiff sentence.

“Fine! Yang Moshou! Now I finally see you for who you are! You don’t fucking care about me at all!”

Yang Moshou quickly got up and followed him. But when he caught up, he saw Xu Wanhe standing in front of the wardrobe, trying on clothes for ten minutes straight.

In the end, he got himself all dressed up nicely, put on a pair of sunglasses, and looked like he was ready to storm out.

Yang Moshou did not go over to pull him back. Instead, he just walked over to the fridge and started packing things up with a loud clatter.

Xu Wanhe had originally planned to make a cool, dramatic exit in front of him.
But when he saw Yang Moshou packing up the fridge, his heart started feeling uneasy.

“Fuck! What the hell are you doing now?”

Yang Moshou kept packing fruits one by one into plastic bags.

“I am going to stay at Xiao Shitou’s place for a couple of days. You can stay home and think real hard about whether I treat you good or not.”

Xu Wanhe’s chest tightened. He rushed over and grabbed the bag out of his hands.

“You little fucker, do you ever get tired of messing with me? Don’t you fucking go anywhere. Fine, fine, you treat me great, alright? Fuck, I’ve had enough!”

Yang Moshou calmly shut the fridge door.

“Then go wash a peach for me and I’ll forgive you.”

Xu Wanhe started putting everything back in place. “Fucking hell… whatever…
Just keep bossing me around while you still can. Once I’m dead, you’ll have nobody to order around. Fuck, back in the day I…”

Yang Moshun cut him off immediately. “Alright, enough with the back in the day bullshit… You bring it up so much my ears are growing calluses. Hurry up and wash it.
I gotta get to work soon.”

Xu Wanhe took off his sunglasses, still all dressed up neat and proper, and went to wash a peach for Yang Moshou.
After washing it, he came back and handed it over.

“When are you going to quit your job?
I am fucking sick of waiting for you.”

Yang Moshou did not take the peach.

“Bite it first. See if there are any worms.”

Xu Wanhe took a bite, then handed it back.
“None.”

Yang Moshou sat on the couch and started eating the peach.

“Pretty soon. I don’t have many years left to work anyway. Oh yeah… once I quit, let’s go travel. You have all that money saved up with no one to spend it on.”

“Sure,” Xu Wanhe grinned.
“I always had this wish, that someday the two of us could go to Africa together,
experience what it feels like to be a white guy.”

Yang Moshou curled his lip.

“That is not my wish. Africa’s too damn hot, and the conditions are rough.”

Xu Wanhe’s face darkened a little.

“Fucking picky… Fine then, what’s your wish?”

Yang Moshou stared at him while finishing the peach.

Truth was, he had never really thought about where he wanted to travel.
Being asked so suddenly, he honestly did not know.

He might not have had a dream destination,
but back when he was young, he sure had plenty of other wishes.

But the one thing he remembered most clearly was that he had truly wanted to spend his whole life with Xu Wanhe.

And somehow, he really had.

The two of them were this old now, and they were still together.

Yang Moshou looked at the man in front of him. Even though he had aged, he still thought Xu Wanhe looked fucking cool.

“Fine, we will go to Africa. Just don’t go carving your name into the pyramids and embarrassing all the Chinese.”

The old man across from him let out a cold snort, still wearing that arrogant face.

“You think I would do something that stupid?”

“True. You are a fucking illiterate anyway.”

“Fuck you. Spit out my peach right now!”

-END-