TVDC 43: A Little Physiology Lesson

Qiu Xuning took off his soft fabric pants and sat at the foot of the bed, staring at the damp stain on them for a long time. A faint mist of moisture welled up in his clear, gentle eyes.

It wasn’t that he was completely naive—he vaguely recalled some unspeakable fragments from the dream, and that was what made his heart ache.

He sat for a while before finding a clean, fresh pair of pants to put on. Then he rolled up the soiled ones and slipped out of the room like a thief.

It was already midnight, and everyone was asleep. The stairwell was pitch-dark, and Qiu Xuning felt a little scared. Only after switching on the lights in both the second-floor living room and the stairs did he dare to go down.

Once downstairs, he didn’t dare make a sound. On tiptoe, he went into the bathroom and began to wash the pants.

After washing the pants, he went back to the second-floor balcony to hang them out to dry.

Just as he hung the pants on the bamboo pole and turned his head, he saw He Zhiyuan standing behind him, watching.

Qiu Xuning was startled, his face showing a trace of panic and nervousness. “Y-You, how come you walk without making any sound?”

He Zhiyuan looked at him with a hint of probing scrutiny and said, “You’re not sleeping?”

Qiu Xuning stammered, “I… I couldn’t fall asleep.”

He Zhiyuan’s gaze passed over him and landed on the freshly hung pajama pants, still dripping with water. Qiu Xuning noticed where he was looking, and his face flushed scarlet, like a boiled shrimp. Just as he was about to say something, He Zhiyuan suddenly asked, “A wet dream?”

The words in Qiu Xuning’s stomach hadn’t even made it out when He Zhiyuan’s sudden remark made him cough violently. This was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life. After steadying his breathing and swallowing a few times, he whispered in a feeble defense, “I was drinking water and accidentally spilled it on my pants.”

He Zhiyuan lowered his gaze, watching the way Qiu Xuning twisted his fingers. The corners of his lips lifted slightly, and he chuckled. “It’s just a wet dream, that’s all.”

Qiu Xuning lifted his eyes a little and saw the faint smile on He Zhiyuan’s face under the dim light. His lips parted, but suddenly, he couldn’t utter a single word of denial.

He Zhiyuan’s voice was low, carrying a faint huskiness. “I’ve had it happen too. A wet dream just means you’re healthy—your body functions are normal.”

Qiu Xuning didn’t know how the topic had suddenly turned into a biology lesson. His face was still burning red. In the dim yellow light of the balcony at night, the embarrassment and awkwardness on his face weren’t all that clear, yet the aura of shyness and unease radiating from him could still be felt.

He Zhiyuan seemed not to notice at all. As if nothing were out of the ordinary, he casually asked, “Did you dream?”

Qiu Xuning lowered his head, feeling his mouth go dry, unable to form any words.

He Zhiyuan said, “Having a wet dream is perfectly normal. It’s not an illness, there’s no need to be afraid.”

Qiu Xuning softly retorted, “I’m not afraid.”

After a pause, he added, “I know it’s normal. You don’t have to explain it to me, I’ve studied biology.”

He Zhiyuan asked, “So, what did you dream about?”

Qiu Xuning’s face flushed even deeper. He lifted his eyes to look at He Zhiyuan. His expression seemed casual, just a simple question, yet it made Qiu Xuning’s whole body tense up. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he said, “I’m not telling you.”

He Zhiyuan lowered his head to look at him and suddenly asked in a quiet voice, “Did you dream of me?”

“…” Qiu Xuning froze, then quickly lifted his face and stammered in panic, “How could that be possible? Don’t joke like that—I don’t like it!”

After saying this, he didn’t dare glance at He Zhiyuan’s expression. He shoved him aside and bolted back to his bedroom like the wind, slamming the door shut with a bang.

The air still seemed to carry the scent of adrenaline—tense and chaotic. He Zhiyuan chuckled, turned off the light, and walked into the living room. He glanced toward Qiu Xuning’s door, where a sliver of bright light spilled out through the narrow crack like strands of silver thread.

Qiu Xuning sat on his bed, his heart still pounding violently. A thin layer of sweat dampened his back, and his whole body felt as though its temperature had risen a few degrees, burning until his mind grew hazy.

What on earth had he been saying to He Zhiyuan? Do boys usually talk about such things so casually as if it were nothing?

Qiu Xuning’s mind was in complete turmoil. On one hand, he kept suspecting that He Zhiyuan might have found something out; on the other, he felt it could just be boys carelessly joking around.

He remembered how it was back at school, it had been the same. Those boys would crowd together in the back, laughing as they talked about things like doing it by hand or other crude topics, not even bothering to avoid speaking about such things in front of the girls. They would even go to the bathroom together, deliberately comparing the size of their “jiji.”

In some ways, boys could be really careless, paying no attention to privacy at all, even going so far as to watch porn together.

All these things seemed to prove that what He Zhiyuan had said to him might not have carried any special meaning at all. Perhaps it was just something casually flirtatious, spoken without thought?

But Qiu Xuning’s heart was in utter chaos. That low, husky “Did you dream of me?” from He Zhiyuan felt like it had pressed a repeat button in his mind, playing over and over without end. And the button to stop it seemed broken—he simply couldn’t shut it off.

Did you dream of me?

Did you dream?

That voice kept echoing inside Qiu Xuning’s head, questioning him again and again. He curled his legs up in shame, his cheeks flushed a deep crimson, as if someone had splashed paint across them.

He remembered now—he really had dreamed of He Zhiyuan. In the dream, against a backdrop of blue sky and green grass, He Zhiyuan held his face gently in his hands and kissed him.

Qiu Xuning didn’t manage to fall asleep again for the entire night. When morning came, faint dark circles had already appeared beneath his fair eyes.

The moment Zhou Mingmei saw him, she said, “What’s wrong with your eyes? Didn’t sleep last night? Were you out stealing or something?”

Qiu Xuning mumbled, “I just couldn’t sleep.”

Zhou Mingmei seemed to think of something. “Worried about your exam results?”

“Huh?” Qiu Xuning was a little dazed, but he didn’t feel like explaining. He just vaguely went along with her words, “Mm, yeah, thinking about the results.”

Zhou Mingmei’s mood seemed to dip, but she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she asked, “What do you want for lunch? I’ll go buy it.”

Qiu Xuning thought for a moment and said, “Kelp. I want to eat kelp.”

Zhou Mingmei said, “Alright then, kelp stewed with pork ribs.”

Since Qiu Xuning had woken up late, He Zhiyuan had already left for school. The two of them didn’t meet and that was just as Qiu Xuning intended. He still hadn’t figured out how to face He Zhiyuan.

Now that exams were over, Qiu Xuning had instead become the most idle person in the house.

When Zhou Mingmei came back from grocery shopping, Qiu Xuning helped her shell beans. Since it was the holiday now, she didn’t refuse his help. Looking at her younger son’s increasingly handsome features, she remembered something, and the corners of her mouth drooped. “Ningning, do you think you can get into the experimental class?”

Parents are mostly like this—though it wasn’t their exam, they could never feel at ease, always wanting to hear reassurance from their child. Qiu Xuning didn’t find it bothersome. Without looking up, he replied, “I guess so… I finished everything.”

Zhou Mingmei asked, “You only finished everything?”

Qiu Xuning said, “Yeah, I finished everything.”

Zhou Mingmei replied, “Finishing isn’t enough. You have to get them all correct. Do you think you answered them right?”

Qiu Xuning mumbled vaguely, “Probably.”

Zhou Mingmei said, “Your dad and I discussed it. If you can get into the experimental class, we’ll buy you a vehicle. Whatever you want, we’ll get it for you.”

In truth, Qiu Xuning had very few material desires, hardly anything he really wanted. Hearing her say this didn’t move him much. Still, getting into the experimental class wasn’t difficult for him, and he did want to make Zhou Mingmei happy. So he straightened his attitude a little, set aside some of his reserve, and quietly said, “I calculated my score. If it’s not too far off, I should be able to get around 700.”

His physical education grade wasn’t very good. He had lost more than ten points there but he could make up for it with his other subjects. Out of a total score of 750, reaching around 700 shouldn’t be a problem for him.

When Zhou Mingmei heard him say around seven hundred, she actually didn’t believe it. “You can really score that high?”

Qiu Xuning nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “It’s just my own estimate. There might be some difference, but I should be able to get into the experimental class.”

Though still half in doubt, Zhou Mingmei couldn’t hide her happiness. Her voice was full of delight as she said, “Ah, never mind then—if you really do score seven hundred, your dad and I will definitely hold a banquet for you.”

Qiu Xuning blinked and said a little shyly, “Isn’t a banquet unnecessary?”

Wouldn’t throwing a banquet just for getting into high school be a bit over the top?

Zhou Mingmei said, “Of course we’ll hold one! If you can really score over seven hundred, then in the future Tsinghua or Peking University will be yours for the choosing. That would be like our ancestors blessing us from the grave, our family producing a top scorer in the college entrance exam!”

She kept exaggerating, and Qiu Xuning’s face turned red from what she said. “That’s still a long time away, I might not be able to do it…”

Zhou Mingmei said, “What do you mean, you can’t? If I say you can, then you can. If you can get into Tsinghua or Peking University, your parents will also benefit from it.”

As she spoke, her brows and eyes relaxed, and she showed a joyful smile. “Let’s see how your results turn out this time!”

Qiu Xuning responded softly, without saying anything more. He realized that just by mentioning a possibility, Zhou Mingmei had already planned out his entire future.

In the evening, He Zhiyuan returned.

Qiu Xuning was sitting in the yard, playing with the neighbor’s pug. It was a small dog, incredibly enthusiastic, running around Qiu Xuning in circles. The pug was well-groomed with a purple silk ribbon tied around its neck and a little bell attached, which made it look very cute. Because of this, Qiu Xuning had no hesitation in reaching out to pet it.

When he saw He Zhiyuan return, he felt a bit awkward. His eyes shifted around, unsure of where to look.

It was He Zhiyuan, however, who seemed unaffected, casually walking over to him and asking, “Do you like dogs?”

Qiu Xuning softly said, “Ah,” then lowered his eyes and added, “I like them, especially cats, but my mom doesn’t let me keep any.”

He Zhiyuan thought for a moment then softly replied, “In the future, we can raise them together.”

Qiu Xuning paused for a moment, unable to help but look up at him. “We?”

He Zhiyuan gazed into his eyes, those light brown eyes deep and mysterious, like a vortex that could pull Qiu Xuning’s entire heart and mind into it.

Qiu Xuning stared back at him, his heart suddenly racing, and it felt like the blood was rushing to his face.

He averted his eyes, his lips trembling slightly, unable to say a word.