SYU 31. Do You Like Me?

The night was pitch black and stormy. On the road leading to the pastoral district, only a few dim lights remained. Thunder rumbled intermittently as wind-driven rain lashed wildly against the pavement.

There were no pedestrians or vehicles nearby. On the empty road, Chen Xiucheng could barely make out his way by following the railing beside him. Rain blurred his vision, turning everything around him into abstract shapes.

Suddenly, a beam of light flashed across his eyes, followed by the blaring of a car horn. Tires splashed through the waterlogged road, sending filthy muddy water flying in all directions.

Wu Jinshan rolled down the window and shouted, “Why the hell are you out here in this rain?”

A regular umbrella was no match for the fierce wind. The frame had been bent and twisted, leaving behind only a tangled mess of spokes. Chen Xiucheng gave up on it and tossed the broken handle aside, then grabbed the hand Wu Jinshan extended toward him. Stepping through water that reached above his ankles, he leapt into the car.

“Your phone wasn’t connecting…” His voice was trembling slightly, likely from the cold, his lips chattering.

“There’s no signal out in the pastoral district when it rains like this,” Wu Jinshan replied, glancing at his phone. The screen lit up, and the upper-left corner still showed zero bars.

Large droplets of water rolled off Chen Xiucheng’s soaked clothes and dripped onto the car seat. His light-colored shirt had turned semi-transparent, clinging tightly to his skin. He sat there silently, arms wrapped tightly around himself, his shoes waterlogged and his feet frozen and aching in the unbreathable cold.

He didn’t dare say anything about being worried. Just like his Second Uncle had said, Wu Jinshan was fine. He was the one who had panicked and run out into the storm for no reason, only to cause more trouble.

“Things have been hectic lately. A few days ago, we got the heavy rain warning, so we started flood prevention work in advance. From now on, I’ll…” Wu Jinshan started to explain, but suddenly paused mid-sentence. It sounded like he wasn’t sure if there would even be a next time. After a moment, he added, “I’ll make sure to call you beforehand.”

A blanket was tossed over from the front seat, landing on Chen Xiucheng’s head. He gripped it tightly in his hands. No matter how the wind howled and the rain pounded outside, or how loud the thunder roared, with Wu Jinshan beside him, all his anxiety disappeared.

When they got out of the car, Wu Jinshan took the only raincoat from under the seat and draped it over Chen Xiucheng’s shoulders.

“It’s pouring. What about you?”

“It’s just a few steps. I’ll be fine.” Holding him close, Wu Jinshan opened the door and nudged him toward the bathroom. “Go take a warm shower.”

As the light in the entryway came on, Chen Xiucheng finally noticed the bandage on Wu Jinshan’s left hand. The gauze had soaked through, and the mix of blood and water had turned into a horrifying red smear.

“What happened to your hand?”

“It’s just a small injury. Happens all the time.” Wu Jinshan sounded casual, as if it really was something ordinary and not worth mentioning. He handed Chen Xiucheng a towel and a change of clothes, then turned to head upstairs. “I’ll shower upstairs.”

Chen Xiucheng’s hair had grown a bit long. He hadn’t found time for a haircut since May. His damp bangs clung to the pale skin of his cheeks, though he didn’t notice how he looked in the mirror. There was a delicate, almost charming softness to his features, carrying a quiet allure that was hard to define.

After his shower, he couldn’t find the hair dryer, so he had no choice but to rub his hair dry with a towel. When he stepped out, he saw Wu Jinshan sitting at the dining table eating mooncakes.

The gauze on Wu Jinshan’s left hand had been redressed, but perhaps because it was done one-handed or in a hurry, the wrap was crooked and uneven, nothing like the meticulous, orderly style one usually expected from him.

Chen Xiucheng glanced at the plate and turned to the kitchen, bringing out the batch he had set aside earlier. “Those are for Yashan. Yours are over here.”

Wu Jinshan looked up briefly, then went on eating the one in his hand. “She can eat them and I can’t?”

“You can… It’s just, Aunt Shen said you prefer milder flavors…” Chen Xiucheng set down the plate and took a seat across from him. He watched Wu Jinshan eat with clear enjoyment, and for a moment, he was taken aback.

He clearly remembered Lin Xiulian saying that Wu Jinshan only ate plain sticky rice dumplings and regular lotus paste mooncakes, the kind without even a salted egg yolk. So when he went home, he had specially made a tray of plain lotus paste mooncakes with reduced sugar. But here Wu Jinshan was, determinedly eating through all the mixed and bizarre flavors.

“What else did she say I like?”

Chen Xiucheng froze for a second. His gaze drifted as he shook his head. “No… nothing else.”

Worried Wu Jinshan might accidentally bite into one of the “dark flavor” mooncakes, he began laying them out one by one and pointing out which was which.

“That one’s red bean. That’s mulberry. Dark chocolate…”

Wu Jinshan watched his movements calmly and said, “I know.” Then he named the correct fillings: “That one’s salted egg custard, black sesame, and matcha…”

To make them easier to distinguish, Chen Xiucheng had indeed marked the surface of each mooncake. But he had only documented them on his handmade food video account and had told no one else. He had no idea how Wu Jinshan figured it out.

He reached over and touched the bowl of fermented rice wine in front of Wu Jinshan. It had gone cold. He asked, “Do you want me to heat it up for you?”

Wu Jinshan gave a slight nod.

Chen Xiucheng returned quickly. The bowl he brought back was warm, giving off the mellow, sweet fragrance unique to rice wine.

Wu Jinshan noticed that he had been silently sitting nearby watching him eat. He seemed quieter than usual, not like himself. So Wu Jinshan thought of a topic to bring up and asked, “How did you make so many flavors of mooncake?”

“Uh… I guess I kind of bragged,” Chen Xiucheng replied with a sheepish smile. “I was chatting with Auntie about my dad, and I said I learned a lot from him growing up… so I ended up promising to make mooncakes for Yashan and Chongshan.”

“My dad was really good at cooking. He used to be the head chef at a high-end restaurant. After I was born, he quit to take care of me, but my mom has always been picky about food, so he learned a bunch of different dishes just for her…”

He trailed off mid-sentence. He realized he was running his mouth again, and now he had brought up his mom.

His mother was a university professor, respected and accomplished. She had a loving husband and a harmonious family. She bought her son clothes, towels, cups, all the little things he needed. She guided him in his studies, stayed by his side as he grew up, and would likely continue to do so for years to come.

Wu Jinshan didn’t have a mother, so he shouldn’t have brought up the word at all.

On a rainy night like this, in an old house left behind by someone who had passed away, it was the worst possible time to bring up such things. The more Chen Xiucheng thought about it, the more guilty he felt. He wished he could slap himself.

“I’m sorry.”

Outside, the rain grew heavier. The sounds of wind, thunder, and rain came together. Raindrops the size of beans slammed into the windowpanes, hammering out an anxious rhythm. Chen Xiucheng sat frozen at the dining table, feeling like he was awaiting judgment.

“It’s fine. Keep going,” Wu Jinshan looked at him and said gently. “So Professor Lin has a picky palate. Then what?”

“Then… then…” Chen Xiucheng suddenly didn’t know how to continue.

Wu Jinshan looked at him with a smile and gave a subtle wink. “Professor Lin is so fierce. Isn’t it nice to get a glimpse of what she’s like in private?”

“So you think she’s fierce too?” Chen Xiucheng finally perked up, and his eyes lit up.

Having lived for years under the authority of the household matriarch, he had always felt resentful but never dared say a word. Now, hearing Wu Jinshan agree with him, he felt seen. He almost clapped in delight and praised Wu Jinshan for his excellent judgment.

“Yeah, she really scolds people hard.”

“Has she ever scolded you?”

“Of course. Professor Lin is extremely strict. You can’t make a single mistake in her class. Back when we first started, we all got chewed out badly.”

“Didn’t expect you to get scolded too.” Chen Xiucheng slapped the table with excitement, having already forgotten his earlier guilt. Now he was just enjoying the moment, clearly reveling in schadenfreude.

“But it’s fine now. At least I’ve figured out the trick to avoid getting scolded too much,” Wu Jinshan continued. “Actually, Professor Lin mentioned you in class once. She said we were all dull as rocks, but she has a very lively son. If he were to attend class, there wouldn’t be a single dull moment.”

“A-hahahaha, if I really went, she’d probably explode from anger and spend the entire lecture yelling at me. That’d liven things up, alright.”

“Professor Lin just misses you.” Wu Jinshan said it softly.

Sometimes, people didn’t truly dislike someone. That person might make noise, cause trouble, and seem like a bother, but once they were gone, they would start to miss them. Only later would they come to understand that it had been fondness all along.

“Your mom teaches veterinary medicine. Why did you study anesthesiology?”

“That’s… a long story.” Chen Xiucheng scratched his head, a little embarrassed. Partly, he didn’t want to run into his mom at school, and partly, it was just him being stubborn with her. “You don’t know this, but she used to nag me constantly, saying I could study anything except anesthesiology, that my personality wasn’t suited for it. So obviously I had to choose that.”

Wu Jinshan understood and nodded with a small laugh.

“Aren’t you going to finish that?” Chen Xiucheng pointed at the half-finished bowl of rice wine in front of him.

“No, it’s too sweet. I still can’t get used to it.”

“I’ll eat it then.”

Wu Jinshan had thought he would switch to a clean bowl and spoon, but instead, Chen Xiucheng simply picked up the bowl and finished the rest directly. The gesture was so casual and natural that for a moment, Wu Jinshan felt something strange, as if they were already family who had lived together for a long time.

“Is there something on my face?” Chen Xiucheng asked.

“You’ve got a grain of rice on your eyebrow,” Wu Jinshan said, pointing to his forehead.

“How did it get all the way up there?” Chen Xiucheng rubbed around his forehead but couldn’t find anything. Wu Jinshan reached out and tapped him lightly.

Chen Xiucheng stared at the sticky rice grain on Wu Jinshan’s finger, then looked at the white rice dumpling in his other hand. Suddenly it dawned on him. “Did you put it on my eyebrow just now?”

Wu Jinshan played dumb. “Huh? No, I didn’t.”

“I ought to hit you.” Chen Xiucheng laughed and pretended to smack him. Then he gathered the dishes from the table and slipped off to the kitchen to wash them.

Wu Jinshan sat there alone and ate another two dumplings to fill his stomach.

After washing the dishes, Chen Xiucheng returned to the living room but didn’t see him. He searched around and found Wu Jinshan lying on the sofa, apparently fast asleep.

The television was still showing the evening news. He quietly picked up the remote and turned it off.

Wu Jinshan lay with his head resting against the armrest of the sofa, one arm draped across his face, blocking most of it from view. His breathing was steady, the corners of his lips relaxed, one arm and one leg hanging off the edge. He seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Chen Xiucheng leaned over the back of the sofa, resting his chin on the cushion as he studied the slight flush on Wu Jinshan’s cheek beneath his arm. He wanted to check his forehead to see if he had a fever, or if his hand still hurt. He thought about rewrapping the bandage on his left hand, but was afraid of waking him. More than that, he feared Wu Jinshan wouldn’t need him to do it at all.

Even if that worry was pointless, unnecessary, or completely one-sided, Wu Jinshan had already become someone he couldn’t let go of.

He could sulk for half a day over a few harsh words from Wu Jinshan, but also light up with joy for an entire day if he teased him a little. When he couldn’t see Wu Jinshan, he would worry. But when they were face to face, he never knew what to say. There was so much he wanted to express, yet the words always caught in his throat. At night, with just a wall between them, he would think of him in secret, sometimes feeling resentful that Wu Jinshan couldn’t understand his feelings.

The black screen of the TV reflected his face. Chen Xiucheng wobbled his head from side to side, rolled his shoulders, pulled a few silly expressions at himself, then suddenly had an idea.

“Do you like me?”

He mouthed the words softly, as if practicing a confession in front of a mirror.

“If you do, then I’m your boyfriend…”