Spring came late this year. It wasn't until the beginning of March when the weather finally started to warm up. All the trees and flowers began to blossom. The yard in ZhouXiang's neighborhood planted many flowers and trees. At this time, the season is flourishing with great vitality.
Since they came back from YanDeJiang's place that day, sure enough, YanFei never interfered with them. Many of the things they were worried about have been alleviated. Although YanFei still refused to talk to YanMingXiu, Mother Yan's attitude softened very quickly. One day, she even invited YanMingXiu and ZhouXiang out to have a meal, carefully inquiring about ZhouXiang's situation.
After the meal, the two drove home, YanMingXiu said to ZhouXiang, "My mom likes you very much."
ZhouXiang blinked, "How do you know?"
"My mom likes handsome guys. She especially liked WangYuDong before, but the things he did was too overboard in the last two years. Hearing from my brother, whenever my mom sees your ads on TV, she would just stare.
ZhouXiang smiled, "Then I'm going to hit the gym this winter so I can show your mom my ripped abs in the summer. Wouldn't this effect be a bit better?"
YanMingXiu warmly responded, "Not only my mom, it's also effective for me too."
ZhouXiang squinted, "Wait till you're fully recovered, you also need to go workout. Otherwise, when summer comes, our vacation plan is going to be a bust. I'm going to run to some handsome guys. As a good breed of GAY, I can't stand next to a boyfriend who doesn't have eight packs."
YanMingXiu groaned, "Whether or not I have eight-packs, you'll know after you count."
"It doesn't count if you have it now. You need to keep it for 4-5 months. Seeing you now, food is fed directly to your mouth, bathing you just need to lift your arms, and even dressing is with my help. Since your cast had been removed, how can you still be so fragile? In this month, you've already gained 4 pounds. If you continue on like this..." ZhouXiang laughed, "You don't have to bother with fading out of the ET industry, your fans will dump you."
YanMingXiu reached out and pinched his waist, curling his lips, "What about you? You're also going to dump me? Even if I become a big fat guy, you can't run to any other handsome guys."
ZhouXiang laughed cheerfully, "So petty. I was just joking. But really, is your arm really not healed yet? I have to feed you and help you dress every day, wasting so much of my time. Can we live a little more efficiently?"
YanMingXiu smiled with his eyes squinting, his face exposing a satisfied expression, like a satiated fox that had eaten and drank enough, "When I say it's healed is when it's healed."
"Hey, how can you be so shameless?" YanMingXiu laughed without saying anything.
ZhouXiang was about to continue on pressuring him but the phone suddenly rang. He pulled the earphones out of his pocket and stuffed it into his ears. Since he is driving, he pressed the answer button and answered with a "Hello?" without looking at the screen.
"Xiang Ge, it is me."
"Ah, XiRong." ZhouXiang was a little surprised. He subconsciously glanced at YanMingXiu and sees him bunching his brows.
"Xiang Ge, what are you doing?"
"I'm driving."
"Then I'm going to make this short. I'm going to America tomorrow. I might not be coming back for several months. Can we meet up before I leave?"
Even though YanMingXiu can't hear what LanXiRong is saying, seeing ZhouXiang's hesitant expression; he probably can guess that LanXiRong wanted to meet up with him. Without even thinking, he reached out to try and take ZhouXiang's earphones.
ZhouXiang leaned his head away and softly scolded, "Stop causing trouble."
LanXiRong paused on the line, "Are you with him?"
"Yeah, we're going home."
LanXiRong is silent. After a long time, he forcefully laughed, "I still can't be compared to him."
ZhouXiang heaved a sigh in his heart. He felt that it is too dangerous to evade YanMingXiu's actions while driving so he swerved the steering wheel to stop on the side of the road.
He covered the earphone and says softly, "XiRong, thank you for all your help before. Without you and Wei Ge, it would have been very hard for me to get pass that time."
"You know that these polite words are not what I wanted to hear." LanXiRong's voice is particularly nice, clear and adorable, making people feel the breadth of youth assaulting their senses. It's no wonder that he's a natural born actor and singer. Everywhere on his body had a part that is captivating to people. Initially, ZhouXiang was really very interested in him. In his memory, this boy is adorable and very lovable. But he could no longer remember the loving affections he had for LanXiRong at that time.
If LanXiRong had accepted him then, everything would have been different.
But there is no "if" in life.
ZhouXiang sighed, "These aren't polite words. XiRong. I'm very thankful to you. I'm also very happy for all your achievements. People like you are suitable for the greatest and finest beauty... forget your Xiang Ge."
LanXiRong heaved a long sigh, this sigh that is tinged with sorrow and sadness made ZhouXiang feel a bit pained.
"Xiang Ge, I'm leaving tomorrow, you really can't meet up with me?"
ZhouXiang pondered for a moment, "It's not like you're not coming back. We'll meet up next time you come back. For sure, okay?" He thought, when LanXiRong returns again, he would be able to candidly accept his relationship with YanMingXiu. Then maybe it won't be so awkward at the time.
LanXiRong hoarsely voiced, "Xiang Ge, I hope you didn't make the wrong choice this time."
ZhouXiang smiled, his eyes unconsciously fell on YanMingXiu and responded softly, "I hope so too."
After hanging up the phone, ZhouXiang turned his head and sees YanMingXiu's dejected expression. He was obviously suppressing himself from exploding, so much that he is feeling very unsettled. Immediately when ZhouXiang hung up, he asked, "What were you guys talking about? Wanting to meet up with you? How could this guy not fucking let go already. There was nothing between the both of you from the beginning to end. Why is he still lingering on?"
ZhouXiang responded, "Don't say that. He just cares about me."
YanMingXiu scoffed and muttered, "Just stay in America, why keep coming back."
ZhouXiang patted his face, "Don't be so immature ah, how old are you?" After saying that, he was going to restart the car but YanMingXiu grabbed his hand and grinned at him.
There is no light in the car, only the street lights from the outside penetrating within. So it is very dim. YanMingXiu's eyes are particularly bright in the dim light, as if it could shine into people's hearts.
"What is it?"
"Xiang Ge, no matter how good others are, you can't see... can't think of them."
ZhouXiang can't help laughing, "What are you talking about..?."
"I am serious. I know that your relationship with this surname Lan was quite good before. You obviously liked him, right? I am gay like you. I understand how men think. I don't believe you felt nothing when he was constantly around you before."
ZhouXiang raked through his hair, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Yeah."
YanMingXiu gripped onto ZhouXiang's chin, their eyes looking directly at each other, "Xiang Ge, but that is all in the past. You have me now. Regardless of him or other people, you can only look at me... think of me. In this world, nobody needs you more than me. Don't make me worry, okay?"
ZhouXiang looked at YanMingXiu quietly, the emotions in his eyes revealing an honest and sincere expression. He patted YanMingXiu's face gently and said softly, "Don't worry. I only have you in my eyes."
YanMingXiu finally laughed. He gripped ZhouXiang's face and kissed his soft lips intimately. ZhouXiang took the initiative to hold him. The two heartily kissed each other in this small confined space. Their wet lips, warm oral cavities and that familiar feeling giving them that peace of mind made the meaning of this simple kiss substantially different. This is the person they truly love. To be able to embrace each other in this warm and cold time and absorb the intoxicating temperature from each other is a kind of happiness.
This is just a kiss, but it's enough to make people enthralled.
The two had planned to go directly home but ZhouXiang suddenly remembered that Mother Yan had given them some fresh mackerel. It was more than ten kilograms. They couldn't eat it all so he wanted to take some back to ChenYing. They headed to her place.
ChenYing had already given her implied approval to their cohabitation so she wouldn't call and ask if ZhouXiang didn't come home. She knew that she will have to get use to her son growing up and moving out regardless. Even if the person he is with is not a man but an actual daughter-in-law, this would have happened sooner or later. Despite feeling very depressed, ChenYing did not visibly show it. She only reminded ZhouXiang to come back to eat once in a while when he's not busy. She usually has Aunt Wang accompany her so she doesn't feel too lonely. However, seeing the two men coming back together, she is both surprised and happy. When they entered the home, she quickly asked if they had "eaten?"
"Mom, it's already after eight o'clock, of course we've already eaten. MingXiu's mother gave us some mackerel. It's frozen and still very fresh. We can't eat it all so came to give you half."
"Oh oh, that good stuff. Aunt Wang, can you put it in the refrigerator?"
Aunt Wang very delightedly looked at YanMingXiu and ZhouXiang over and over again, liking them more and more no matter how much she looked. She even wanted them to be her sons. Upon hearing ChenYing's words, she reluctantly took the fish to the kitchen.
ChenYing wore her glasses and took out her medical file, "I've been looking at this for two days but the doctor's handwriting is too ugly. I can't guess what he's writing."
"Auntie, you don't have to try and guess what it is. If you have any questions, you can ask the doctor directly when doing your dialysis."
"Ahhh, I'm afraid to trouble people... he seems very busy."
"Mom, you can't be afraid to bother people for medical treatment." ZhouXiang paused, "Mom, I've been thinking about something for a long time. I want to talk to you about it today."
"Say it."
"It's about your kidney transplant."
ChenYing nodded, "Oh, this... I've heard that the chance is slim unless it's from..." ChenYing suddenly opened her eyes and looked at ZhouXiang, "I'm telling you, with the kidney donor, you better not do any test matching. Even if I die, I don't want your kidney. Don't even think about it."
ZhouXiang didn't expect ChenYing's reaction to be so extreme, "Mom, let me explain it to you, a person has two......"
"Don't tell me this. I already know these things, but I definitely won't allow it. To cut something out from somebody's body, how could there not be any harm? I definitely don't believe this. I'm already sixty years old and you're only in your twenties, so young. You still have a long road ahead of you. Even if yours is a match, to give yours to me, is it worth it? Anyway, I definitely don't want it. This... you're not allowed think about it. Even if I die, I don't want it. Without a kidney transplant, there's not much change to my life. It's not a big deal. But if my son sacrifices his health for me, I might as well die early." ChenYing's tone is a bit riled up, her position in this matter extremely determined.
YanMingXiu tried to smoothly advised, "Auntie, your concern I understand, I also don't agree with Xiang Ge donating his kidney to you. Although it is a bit selfish for me to say this, I believe you can understand. I will search for a kidney donor all over the world. I believe that there is still great hope."
ZhouXiang sighed and looked at ChenYing's resolute expression and then look at YanMingXiu's gentle but intense expression. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get pass them on this.
He can understand ChenYing's thoughts. If it was himself, he also won't allow his young child take this risk. But, he's always felt that he owed it to ChenYing. After all, he had taken this body from her son.
ChenYing grasped his hand, "Ah Xiang, you need to understand mom. If you really want me to be well and live for a few more years, don't think about this so I can be at ease. Promise me."
Under ChenYing's resolute expression, ZhouXiang could only nod helplessly.
ChenYing breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "What time did you guys eat? Has it fully digested? Aunt Wang and I learned how to make this dessert from TV. I'll get you some from the refrigerator."
The two stayed there for a while, eating dessert and accompanying ChenYing to watch TV. They stayed till 10pm before leaving to go home.
When ChenYing walked them to the door, she sighed and smiled, "My son has grown up and have his own family. It's really fast."
ZhouXiang lowered his head and smiled, then suddenly pulled YanMingXiu's neck, "Mom, just treat him like he's also your son."
The rim of ChenYing's eyes turned red as she smiled lovingly.
End of the Chapter