TOW 19

At the end of September, Xu Fei wrapped up all his scenes and returned to Pinghai. That night, he went out alone, wandering the streets. As he turned a corner, he saw a giant poster hanging in front of a building. Liang Xuan and Feng Zijun were lying on a lush green lawn, with a golden river flowing past them. Written beside it was: Cambridge Lovers. Official release date: September 25, 2015.

Xu Fei remembered how, during the reunion event, reporters had swarmed Liang Xuan with questions like, “Are you and Feng Zijun getting back together?” As if their relationship somehow mattered more than a forty-million-dollar film. The producers probably didn’t mind either. That kind of gossip saved them a huge chunk of the marketing budget.

That was Liang Xuan’s charm.

Xu Fei bought a ticket near the back. He sat quietly in a corner, watching Liang Xuan and Feng Zijun fall in love on the big screen. The plot wasn’t exactly new. Liang Xuan played a down-and-out poet who ran into Feng Zijun on a cold winter night. They talked about novels, poetry, Xu Zhimo, and the May Fourth Movement. Feng Zijun fell in love with him, then left, marrying someone else in England. She later sent him a postcard that read, “It’s as beautiful here as it is in poems.” Liang Xuan sold off the last of his valuables and flew to England to find her. They met again on the quiet streets of Cambridge.

The girls sitting next to Xu Fei cried their eyes out the entire time. They kept blowing their noses, clearly moved. Xu Fei could understand. No one could resist the tenderness and persistence in Liang Xuan’s eyes, or stay unmoved watching him stumble through wind and snow. By the end of opening weekend, he figured every girl in the Federation would be emptying their wallets for him.

The soundtrack swelled through the speakers. It started raining in the film. Liang Xuan tossed his umbrella aside and held Feng Zijun tightly. The rain soaked his clothes, wrapping around his body like a medieval statue. Xu Fei turned his head and noticed the girls had suddenly stopped crying. Their foreheads pressed together as they started giggling softly.

He let out a quiet laugh, shook his head, put on his sunglasses, and left the theater.

A college-aged girl stopped him outside the cinema.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said. “I’m conducting a short survey on Cambridge Lovers. It’ll only take two minutes, and there’s a prize!”

She held a thick stack of forms in one hand and a bag full of colorful pencils in the other. Xu Fei had nothing better to do, so he took one. The questions were all silly. “What was your favorite scene?” “Were you moved by the relationship between the leads?” He grabbed a pen and scribbled a few quick answers. The girl stood beside him, watching. Then she suddenly asked, “Are you…”

“You’re Xu Fei,” she said.

Xu Fei shrugged and kept scribbling on the paper.

She looked curious and asked, “You came to watch Liang Xuan’s movie alone?”

“Just happened to be passing by,” Xu Fei said, trying to stay patient.

“I really liked that movie you two did together. Southbound.” The girl said sincerely.

Xu Fei took off his sunglasses. “Thanks.”

She gave him a sweet smile. “I saw a picture of you two having dinner together. Everyone was excited, wondering if you’d collaborate again.”

Xu Fei froze.

The girl quickly explained, “There was a photo on Weibo of Liang Xuan visiting your set.”

“Oh,” Xu Fei responded.

The girl hurried to ask another question. “You don’t have a Weibo account, do you?”

“No,” Xu Fei replied.

“That’s a shame,” she said. “We really want to know what you’re up to.”

Wasn’t that terrifying? Xu Fei didn’t answer. He saw another wave of people coming out of the theater and handed the survey back to the girl. “I’ll be going.”

“Oh,” she said, looking a little disappointed. She was actually kind of cute. Xu Fei gave her a small wave and turned to leave, but the girl suddenly leaned in and, in a hushed, gossipy tone, asked, “Is it true about Feng Zijun and Liang Xuan?”

Xu Fei almost laughed. “Are you a paparazzo?”

“I’m a journalism major,” the girl said.

Xu Fei couldn’t help it and laughed out loud. “See you, paparazzo.” He put his sunglasses back on and picked out a dark green colored pencil from the girl’s bag.

In October, Wang Mian invited Xu Fei and Fu Zichuan out for drinks. The bar was quiet, with only a few people around. A beautiful woman was singing jazz into a mic in the background, soft and smooth, making Xu Fei feel too awkward to even speak loudly.

“I might be settling down,” Wang Mian said.

Both Xu Fei and Fu Zichuan raised their brows high. Wang Mian remained calm, pulled out his phone, and showed them a photo of a man in his thirties with a round face and a friendly smile. Fu Zichuan said, “Didn’t see that coming…”

Wang Mian put the phone away. Fu Zichuan leaned against the bar, head tilted as he looked at him. “I thought you and Xu Fei would end up together,” he said with exaggerated sorrow, like a kid learning his parents were getting divorced.

Wang Mian wrinkled his nose. “But Xu Fei…” He turned to look at Xu Fei, who calmly raised his glass and stared him down without a word. Wang Mian smirked slightly and let it drop.

“What?” Fu Zichuan suddenly sat up straight. “You’re hiding something from me. What is it?”

“We found a Neolithic pottery shard in Xinjing,” Wang Mian said.

Xu Fei laughed and clinked glasses with him. Fu Zichuan snorted, stole Xu Fei’s drink, and pointed at him. “Now I see you clearly. You’re always lying to me.”

Xu Fei looked wronged. “What did I lie about?”

“Like Liang Xuan,” Fu Zichuan said. “You’re clearly close with him. The guy even came to visit your set. But you told me you weren’t even friends.”

Wang Mian gave a small cough. Xu Fei looked a little awkward and didn’t know how to explain it. He could only punish himself with three quick drinks.

Fu Zichuan reluctantly let it go and said, “Next time, bring him out for drinks too.”

Wang Mian laughed. Xu Fei muttered, “Getting greedy now,” but still got pressured into downing three more rounds.

In November, Li Shanyi sent word asking Xu Fei to return to Xinjing for a few short promotional interviews. Onion had finished production and was already airing on New Line.

Xu Fei managed to catch an episode. It was still Li Shanyi’s signature style, carefully paced, but Onion leaned more toward the gloomy side. The tone of the story and the rain-soaked small-town setting pushed Xu Fei’s character into a grey and brooding corner, which strangely made his performance feel even more grounded and solid.

By the time the interviews ended, it was almost ten at night. Xu Fei drove back to his hotel, stopping at a red light by an intersection. When he turned his head, he saw Liang Xuan’s face again, plastered across a giant billboard. He stood tall in a crisp suit, brow slightly furrowed, eyes bright and focused. Xu Fei stared at the ad for a moment, then looked away.

Back in his room, he showered and went straight to bed. But around midnight, he suddenly woke up. He couldn’t remember the dream, but his breathing was unsteady, and a lingering unease kept him frozen with his eyes open. Outside, the city was still glowing faintly. Neon lights blinked atop a building in the distance.

Xu Fei took a deep breath, threw off the covers, and got out of bed to grab a bottle of water from the minibar.

His phone lit up on the nightstand.

It was a WeChat message from Old Pang. “Coming back tomorrow?”

Xu Fei replied, “I’ll book my own ticket.”

A second later, Old Pang sent another message. “You’re still awake this late?”

“Woke up from a dream,” Xu Fei replied. He didn’t want to keep talking to his human calendar, so he tossed the phone aside and got back under the covers.

But he couldn’t sleep. He flipped over again and again until he finally lay on his back, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. The clock on the nightstand glowed faintly in blue. It was 1:37 AM.

Xu Fei sat up suddenly. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Liang Xuan.

“Are you in Xinjing?”

His phone buzzed softly in his hand.

“At home,” Liang Xuan replied.

It took Xu Fei over an hour to drive to Liang Xuan’s place. The security had been notified prior to his arrival and let him through. Xu Fei walked up and knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock. Knock knock knock. Six times in total.

A few seconds later, Liang Xuan came and opened it.

Xu Fei took off his sunglasses. “I thought there’d be a bunch of paparazzi staking this place out..”

Liang Xuan pulled him inside, kicked the door shut, and pressed him against it to kiss him.

Xu Fei swallowed all the small talk. He cupped Liang Xuan’s face and kissed back, his hand slowly sliding down, brushing over the firm muscles under Liang Xuan’s T-shirt and slipping into his loose sweatpants. The man wasn’t even wearing underwear.

He gave a few squeezes to the cock that was always stirring up trouble in his ass. Liang Xuan moaned against his lips, his hand sliding down Xu Fei’s stomach and into his pants. They pressed tightly together, jerking each other off with the kind of urgency only horny high schoolers had.

Because of the height difference, Xu Fei was practically buried in Liang Xuan’s arms. He bit into Liang Xuan’s T-shirt, panting, while his fingers teased the slit at the tip of Liang Xuan’s cock. Liang Xuan leaned down to lick his ear, his hand tightening around Xu Fei’s dick. Xu Fei was throbbing so bad it hurt, but the pleasure was overwhelming, and his hips kept thrusting forward.

“Bed,” he said against Liang Xuan’s neck. “Let’s go to the bed.” He didn’t want to come just like that.

But the bed was upstairs. They didn’t have the luxury of time. Stumbling into the dining room, Liang Xuan lifted Xu Fei and sat him down on the edge of the island counter. Xu Fei wrapped his legs around Liang Xuan’s waist and reached over to pull down his pants. Liang Xuan was panting. “That eager?” He lowered his head to kiss him. Xu Fei tilted his face up, kissing him messily while pushing his own pants down. The fabric bunched up behind his knees, and when it wouldn’t come off, he just left it, grabbing Liang Xuan by the ass and pulling him closer.

Liang Xuan laughed close to his ear. That deep, husky sound turned Xu Fei on even more. “Hurry up,” he muttered, reaching down to stroke Liang Xuan’s rock-hard cock. He rubbed the precum down the entire length until it was slick. “I want to sleep after this.”

“Alright,” Liang Xuan said. He thrust his hips, his cock pressing against Xu Fei’s hole without a drop of lube. The pressure of the tip nudging his entrance felt both familiar and foreign. Xu Fei opened his mouth to gasp, fingers digging into Liang Xuan’s ass.

Liang Xuan shifted his hips again, letting the head slide out and grind at the rim. The precum made a mess of Xu Fei’s ass, leaving him agitated and restless. “You’re fucking with me again,” he growled and smacked Liang Xuan’s ass with a loud slap. Liang Xuan grunted and bit into Xu Fei’s shoulder, then drove his hips forward hard, pushing half his cock inside.

Xu Fei couldn’t even curse anymore. His whole body jolted, calves stiffening, pants swinging from his ankles. Liang Xuan asked, “How’s that?” and thrust again. This time the entire cock sank into Xu Fei’s hole.

He was filled to the brim instantly. His insides were tight, sore, hot, and aching. Still, he had to run his mouth. “Barely tolerable,” he muttered, but didn’t even finish the last syllable before moaning out loud. Liang Xuan braced himself on the table and slammed his hips forward, hitting Xu Fei’s prostate just right.

“What about now?” Liang Xuan asked again. Xu Fei’s eyes widened. He shot him a death glare, all pride and no surrender. But Liang Xuan only smirked, leaned in to kiss him, then shoved him flat against the counter. Xu Fei’s head nearly hit the surface. Before he could say a word, his legs were yanked apart and pulled forward.

“Liang Xuan!” Xu Fei let out a sharp cry, the end of it rising into a whimper.

Liang Xuan’s cock rammed deep into the furthest part of his passage. For a moment, Xu Fei genuinely thought he was being torn open. He tried to squirm, but Liang Xuan pinned a hand to his chest, the other gripping his thigh.

“This should do it,” Liang Xuan said and started thrusting hard.

The table scraped noisily beneath them. Every time Liang Xuan pounded into him, Xu Fei moaned in response. His sounds got faster and messier, a mix of breathy cries, soft sobs, and half-formed curses.

“Fuck you,” he groaned, forgetting it was him who begged Liang Xuan to fuck him harder. “How the hell are you so big. Are you even human. Liang Xuan… Liang Xuan… ah, ah, ah… no… there, right there… fuck me… fuck.”

Liang Xuan’s cock pounded relentlessly into his passage. The sounds of wetness, skin slapping, moans, and heavy breathing echoed back and forth in the dining room. Xu Fei clutched the edge of the table with one hand, the other gripping Liang Xuan’s arm that was pinning him down. His cock bounced with the rhythm, swinging from side to side. He felt like he was going to lose it. Liang Xuan’s rough thrusts, that burning hot cock fucking him senseless, and the desperate, broken moans above his head…

Xu Fei bit his lip, legs pulled taut, and came.

His cum splattered across Liang Xuan’s lower abdomen. Droplets dripped down, sticking to his pubes. Liang Xuan grunted, leaned forward slightly, and drove into him even harder. Xu Fei’s ass was tender, sore, and far too sensitive. After a dozen more thrusts, he couldn’t take it anymore. He arched his back, his ass trembling as he gasped, “Liang Xuan…”

Liang Xuan replied, “Let me come inside.”

Xu Fei’s mind blanked out. Just hearing that sent a spark of arousal back to his cock. He shook his head, panting, and reached to push Liang Xuan’s hand away. Liang Xuan, however, reached forward and tugged at his stiff nipples. Xu Fei cursed under his breath, moaning as Liang Xuan buried himself inside and came deep inside him.

Xu Fei trembled again, legs giving out beneath him. His pants finally slipped off with a thud onto the floor.

“Son of a bitch…” he muttered, his inside clenching tight. Liang Xuan’s face was flushed. He gave a few more shallow thrusts before slowly pulling out. The rim of Xu Fei’s hole stayed stretched, then pulsed closed again, thick white cum oozing out and dripping down onto the edge of the table.

“I’ll clean you up,” Liang Xuan said.

Xu Fei lay across the table and heard him walk away. Not long after, he returned with a warm towel and began wiping him down, carefully cleaning his ass. That finger wouldn’t stop poking around back there, making Xu Fei’s cock twitch again. He quickly shoved Liang Xuan’s hand away and said, “I’ll do it.” He slid off the table, still bare-assed, and wobbled toward the upstairs bathroom. But as soon as he turned the corner into the bedroom, he climbed into bed and flopped down, refusing to move.

Liang Xuan followed him in, knelt beside him, and continued wiping him off.

“No coming inside next time,” Xu Fei warned.

Liang Xuan pulled his finger out, dipped it in water, and gently wiped him again, whispering, “I couldn’t help it.”

Xu Fei kicked him. Liang Xuan caught his ankle and kissed his knee.