The afternoon sun shone through the branches of the trees and on Ye Yao's face, as well as on the small piece of paper, which was bright yellow and glowed brightly.
A simple statement, the most essential of blessings.
Ye Yao's eyes were sore and he blinked to keep the tears from spilling onto the paper.
Lu Xun never fails to give him the answers he expects, and he never fails to give him better answers than he expects.
Lu Xun did everything just because he liked him so much.
He also likes Lu Xun.
There is nothing better than that.
Ye Yao tied the talisman back to the tree and hurried back with hasty steps.
He came and went so quickly that it was still far from ten minutes, but he saw Lu Xun standing in the doorway as he walked out of the temple.
Lu Xun is a tall and long-legged man who stands out wherever he is. Many people who come to offer incense and pray for blessings stare at him frequently, but he does not return a single glance, silently looking down at the ground with an aura of "don't approach".
Ye Yao walked around behind Lu Xun and patted him on the shoulder.
Lu Xun was obviously extremely upset by the encounter, he turned his head back with a cold frown, and then changed his expression the moment he saw who was behind him, his whole frown softening.
Ye Yao smiled along with him as he took Lu Xun's hand, "Let's go."
*
There was little else to see in this small town, so after a night's rest they flew again to Ye Yao's home.
Ye Yao Home Lu Xun has been here countless times, but this time was different from all the others, he was in a different position.
Lu Xun was a bit nervous and looked at his phone screen to fix his look before seeking Ye Yao's advice: "How do I look?"
"......" Ye Yao said reassuringly, "They've seen you many times, it's okay, don't be afraid. And they've agreed for the two of us to be together."
Lu Xun took a deep breath: "You're right, an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet his father-in-law."
Ye Yao's parents were already waiting at home, but even though they were prepared, they were still stunned when they heard Lu Xun call out to them directly.
Ye Yao's mother burst out laughing and let them in as he chattered to them, " Little Lu, the boy is still so enthusiastic, you've been together for years, it's not easy to hold back until now to tell us."
Ye Yao knew that the family had misunderstood and explained helplessly, "We just got together not long ago and told you that we were really just friends before."
"What, you've only just been together for a short while?" This time it was Ye Yao's father's turn to be surprised, he looked at Ye Yao and then Lu Xun with disbelief on his face.
However, Ye Yao's father opened the good wine he had in the house and filled it up for both Lu Xun and Ye Yao during the meal.
Ye Yao remembers that Lu Xun doesn't like to drink, and when he does get drunk, he may even go crazy. If he wasn't there, Lu Xun could still be a cool boss when he was drunk, but if he was there, Lu Xun would do something completely unpredictable.
It would be a hilarious scene if he was forced to hold him down and kiss him in front of his parents.
Ye Yao knew that Lu Xun would not agree if he told him not to drink and that it would spoil his father's fun, so he decided to find another way.
The amount of wine in a bottle is fixed, and as long as he drinks more, the amount that goes into Lu Xun's mouth will be less.
As long as he drinks enough that's all that matters.
*
"...... Ye Yao, Ye Yao classmate?" Lu Xun touched Ye Yao's shoulder carefully and got a sideways glance from Ye Yao.
Ye Yao's cheeks and earlobes were all tinged with a scarlet red, and his eyes were watery, and even though his expression was serious, he did not look intimidating.
"Are you drunk?" Lu Xun asked.
"How can I get drunk," Ye Yao frowned, "I could do with another ten bottles, Dad, where's the wine at home?"
"There's more, I'm going to get it, just wait." Ye Yao's father said as he looked at his son's drunken appearance in wonder, before being slapped by Ye Yao's mother.
"What nonsense, don't drink any more." Ye Yao's mother glared at Ye Yao's father, then smiled and said to Lu Xun, "Little Lu, please help Ye Yao to take a rest in his room, his father and I will just clean up here. Ye Yao has never been drunk before, so I need to ask you to take care of him."
Lu Xun was already a bit impatient to see Ye Yao in this state, and it would be a waste not to take this opportunity to talk to him.
Lu Xun helped Ye Yao into the bedroom, the door closed and he turned on the light.
Ye Yao, as if some mechanism had been triggered, automatically went to the desk and sat down.
Ye Yao always had a book on his desk. Ye Yao took one out and opened it in front of him, then turned his head with a serious face: " Lu Xun, what are you doing standing there? Come and read the book with me."
Lu Xun happily drags another chair over to sit next to Ye Yao and turns his entire upper body in Ye Yao's direction, propping one hand on the desk and staring straight at Ye Yao.
As Ye Yao looked over in confusion, Lu Xun raised his lips in a smile, "I don't want to read a book, I just want to see you."
Ye Yao frowned again, "How do you get into college without reading? How can you stay with me for four years in college even if you don't work hard to get into college ......?"
Ye Yao's voice began to trail off as he spoke, his watery eyes looking at Lu Xun, whose heart softened again as he and Ye Yao looked at each other.
"Then give me a kiss and I'll read with you." Lu Xun said.
Ye Yao's memory had probably regressed back to high school, and when confronted with Lu Xun's flirtatious comment, he pondered for a long time before wondering, "Do you have to start kissing to be friends now?"
"That's for sure." Lu Xun was all serious nonsense, "That's how our socialist brotherhood works, how do you prove a good relationship without kissing, are you still my best friend?"
Ye Yao and Lu Xun stare wide-eyed at each other.
Lu Xun knew in his heart that if the real Ye Yao from high school was here, he would not have taken his nonsense seriously and Ye Yao would not have kissed his friend.
But now he is faced with Ye Yao, who has become his boyfriend and is drunk.
Ye Yao slowly leans in and Lu Xun opens his mouth to receive a deep kiss from his boyfriend.
Ye Yao didn't kiss for long, he withdrew with a frown, "Your mouth smells of alcohol, you must have had too much to drink."
Lu Xun is as good as his word: "Yes, I drank most of the bottle, and I was so drunk that I was eighteen again."
Ye Yao's mind was now too muddled to hear Lu Xun's message. He sat back down and tried to study with Lu Xun to pull his grades up.
He looked to his desk to get Lu Xun a book and pen and paper, yet froze again when he saw what was on the desk.
Nothing on the table belongs to Lu Xun, it's all his own stuff.
Even the pen holders are full of his pens, and Lu Xun's used pens are nowhere to be seen.
Ye Yao jerked to his feet and turned to scan the room behind him.
No, there's nothing from Lu Xun anywhere.
Ye Yao's head was too foggy to remember much, and he vaguely remembered that the room should have been stuffed with Lu Xun's objects, large and small, and should not have been so clean.
"Why is this room so empty." Ye Yao asks Lu Xun, "Where are your things?"
This is a question Lu Xun also wonders about, remembering the last time he entered this bedroom at Ye Yao's house, annoyed by the absence of any trace of his presence in the room.
The explanation Ye Yao gave him at the time was that he "didn't know he was coming over, so he put his things away."
If Ye Yao had not mentioned it, Lu Xun would not have thought about it for a while. Now that he mentions it and looks at the room without his life in it, Lu Xun is a bit bored.
Not wanting to speak loudly to Ye Yao, he asked softly in return, "Yeah, where's my stuff, where did you put it?"
Ye Yao slowly sits back in his chair, one hand covering his forehead.
Lu Xun reached out to rub the corner of Ye Yao's forehead as he was having a hard time with his head after drinking.
"Lean into me." Lu Xun said, "I'll rub it for you."
When he was drunk, Ye Yao was very good at talking and fell on top of Lu Xun, allowing him to rub the corners of his forehead.
As Ye Yao pondered, Lu Xun did not rush him and let him take his time to think.
After thinking about it for a while, Ye Yao suddenly popped up with the words, "...... I seem to be bent."
Lu Xun didn't know why asking where something was placed would remind Ye Yao of being bent, but agreed, "Yes, you are bent, completely bent."
Ye Yao slowly slides down and ends up on Lu Xun's lap.
He looks at Lu Xun from the bottom up, an angle of death for most people, but Lu Xun still looks handsome from this angle, with a high nose and a pronounced jawline.
Good-looking and from a good family, he was the schoolboy crush of many.
Ye Yao looked at such Lu Xun and suddenly popped out, "I have a crush on someone for ...... a long time."
Lu Xun's hand on the corner of Ye Yao's forehead shook as the subject suddenly turned to an unexpected place, and his mood, which had been bright and sunny until recently, sank to the bottom.
After they got together, he never mentioned that person in front of Ye Yao, hoping that Ye Yao would slowly forget.
But when he was drunk, Ye Yao still remembered that person.
Lu Xun pressed his voice and also his temper to inquire, "Didn't we just talk about where we put the stuff, what are we talking about him for?"
Drunk Ye Yao, who speaks without logic or cause and effect, pointed to some cupboard in the corner of the room, "So I put your stuff away, stuff I put there, er ......"
Ye Yao couldn't go on, he covered his mouth and got up from Lu Xun's lap and ran to the toilet in the room.
The toilet door snapped shut and Lu Xun was left alone in the bedroom.
Lu Xun sits like a stone in his chair, his hands clenched and his fingertips dug hard into his palms.
Ye Yao's words had hidden meanings he didn't want to think about, but his brain defied his instructions and analysed the reasons and put them in front of him.
Putting away all his stuff because of a crush on that one guy.
Why?
What a simple and well connected reason.
Because Ye Yao loves that person with all his heart and soul, he doesn't want to see his things in the room, after all, it would be a kind of blasphemy against the person he likes.
Just as he likes Ye Yao, he would never put gifts from other friends in his bedroom. The bedroom is an intimate place where only his and Ye Yao's things can be kept.
He believes that Ye Yao is thinking the same thing as he is.
It turned out that Ye Yao had liked that man earlier than he had thought.
It turns out that there is also a heart for that person, already to this extent.
Lu Xun rises from his chair, his steps heavy as he slowly walks towards the cupboard Ye Yao is pointing towards, and slowly opens it again.
He saw what was stacked inside.
One after the other, neatly arranged.
Exercise books, pens, toy robots, and a photo of the two of them together in high school.
The photo shows them still young, with innocent joy on their faces.
Lu Xun's hand squeezed tighter as he held the picture frame.
The sounds in the toilets began to change as a drunken Ye Yao vomited and then very consciously began to wash up.
After washing up he probably started to realise that he too smelt of alcohol all over him and turned on the shower again.
The sound of running water stimulates Lu Xun's nerves as he stands up and walks over to the bathroom door, knocking on it.
"It's dangerous to shower when you're drunk," Lu Xun's voice trailed off, "open the door."
"...... But I'm not drunk." Ye Yao, inside, said.
Lu Xun took a deep breath, "You forgot to get your clothes, open the door."
This reason persuaded Ye Yao to open the door.
Ye Yao's dark hair is dripping with water, droplets of water dripping from the ends of his hair straight down to his collarbone, which is steaming pink from the heat of the water.
Ye Yao was now clearly delirious, but he saw Lu Xun and flashed a smile.
The smile easily broke Lu Xun's last line of defence, and he stepped forward, grabbed Ye Yao by the back of the head and kissed him.
Ye Yao struggles a little and quiets down to accept the wild kiss.
The tips of their noses bumped against each other, their breath hotter than the current, Lu Xun nibbled on Ye Yao's lower lip and asked in a husky voice, "Do you like me?"
"...... likes it."
Lu Xun holds his tighter and presses his further, "Do you like me the most?"
Ye Yao's vision was misty, his eyes were like a mist, and his voice was slurred, "Well ...... most like."
Lu Xun's intensity seemed to strangle people into their own flesh and blood as he continued to press, "Do you know who is kissing you right now?"
The two faces are separated by some distance and Ye Yao struggles to focus on Lu Xun's face before smiling again, a light smile.
"...... Lu Xun ."
That's enough asking.
Lu Xun knows that it is not advisable to look into many things, and that it is better to be open-minded about everything and not to ask questions.
But he couldn't help it.
Lu Xun lowered his voice: "Do you still like the guy you had a crush on?"
Ye Yao blinked softly, the moisture making his eyelashes wet and gathering in clusters, "Like it."
A monstrous rage can consume the whole heart, even breathing becomes so difficult.
He should not put up with it any longer.
Lu Xun pins Ye Yao against the wall and asks fiercely, "Who is that guy you have a crush on and what is his name?"
The drunken Ye Yao's entire reaction was half-hearted, and he looked at Lu Xun as if he didn't understand the question.
Lu Xun was about to ask a second time when he suddenly saw Ye Yao open his mouth and spit out two syllables.
"...... Lu Xun ."