Chapter 27

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Future\nDu Jing’s case came to a standstill that day at the embassy. It was easy enough to get a Cambodian tourist visa, but it would be very risky to go and carry out an investigation with that alone.\n

He needed the French embassy’s assistance in pressuring the local Cambodian government in addition to the local Chinese embassy’s cooperation. The Chinese embassy in Ho Chi Minh City had actually been very cooperative, but all the writing back and forth took up a lot of time.\n

Finally, at the end of September, the landlord agreed to Zhou Luoyang’s demands.\n

With this, he only needed to pay three hundred thousand dollars out of Du Jing’s savings in order to open up shop.\n

Thus, Zhou Luoyang once again used up all of Du Jing’s generous salary in the blink of an eye. All that remained was a little over two thousand.\n

I need to earn money, or else I’m being unfair to Du Jing…Zhou Luoyang felt guilty. Du Jing wouldn’t receive his next paycheck until October. Until then, they would be strapped for cash. The price of pork was going up, and with it, the price of beef and lamb. Zhou Luoyang had no choice but to feed Du Jing more vegetarian dishes, but fortunately, Du Jing hadn’t noticed. He ate whatever Zhou Luoyang made, and he always seemed satisfied with it.\n

After he registered for a business license, Zhou Luoyang hired a couple workers and had them do some basic renovations. The previous renter had run a silk clothing business, and the store didn’t need to undergo huge changes. He just needed to adjust the layout a little bit.\n

The store wouldn’t be depending on strangers or tourists for profit, anyway.\n

During this time, Du Jing dropped by twice. Zhou Luoyang was very mild-tempered and easygoing, so the workers often slacked off around him. Once Du Jing showed up, however, they would immediately go straight back to work.\n

“Still no progress?” Zhou Luoyang asked. This was the last day before National Day vacation. Du Jing was driving Zhou Luoyang to the store before he would head to work himself.\n

“Nope,” Du Jing replied. “I’ve prepared some detailed reports, and I’m going to make a trip to the French embassy today. I’ll pick you up in the afternoon, and then we’ll go pick up Leyao.”\n

“Time to open up?” Zhou Luoyang asked.\n

“Time to open up,” Du Jing confirmed.\n

That day, they held a small ceremony—together, they flipped over the “Closed” sign on the handle of the glass door. Du Jing looked up at the shop’s signboard where, in big, gilded lettering, were the words “Chang’an Clocks and Antiques.”\n

Just like that, Chang’an Clocks and Antiques opened for business in a corner of Wan City, quietly and without fanfare.\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nZhou Luoyang had been up to his neck in things to do recently. He was busy with the move, as well as managing the newly opened store. The weather was getting colder too; this year’s winter had arrived much sooner than the previous year’s, and the entire city experienced a drop in temperature as soon as September was over.\n

Leyao was moving into their new home for the first time today. Zhou Luoyang had already made all the arrangements, and he’d decided that tonight, the three of them would celebrate.\n

“I just got paid,” Du Jing told Zhou Luoyang. “Check my account. Let’s buy pork chops tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten pork chops.”\n

There was no news under the sun that could possibly top this. Zhou Luoyang was elated. But then he thought, So Du Jing had noticed after all…Zhou Luoyang only cooked extra dishes whenever Leyao was home.\n

I feel so bad…Zhou Luoyang wore a small smile, but on the inside, he felt guilty. Du Jing made four hundred thousand a month, and yet he couldn’t even afford to eat pork chops. \n

Meanwhile, business was beginning to take shape. Zhou Luoyang personally hung two thangkas up right in the middle of a wall and brought a silk Dunhuang rug out of storage, which he rolled out on the floor of the store. He set up twelve shelves that displayed porcelain, jade, lacquerware, carved ivory, Buddha statues, and gold and copper ware. Paintings, calligraphy scrolls, and signets were stored in a camphor chest.\n

Zhou Luoyang had also commissioned a case made out of wood and glass, with nine rows and nine columns. Behind it were the two thangkas, which were surrounded on all sides by an expanse of clocks and watches with complex inner workings. Some of the clocks he’d repaired, and some of them he didn’t dare tinker with and had left broken. \n

Within the 81 sections of the case, the hands of the clocks and watches moved along in sync, their quiet ticking a reminder that the passage of time was inevitable and unceasing. It was a magnificent sight.\n

There was a small table beneath the thangkas, with a teapot and a set of teacups made of zisha clay sitting on top.\n

Aside from Du Jing, these were all that Zhou Luoyang had.\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\n“Feel free to look around,” Zhou Luoyang said when he heard the bell on the door handle ring.\n

He was currently on his phone trying to decide where to post the news about his store’s opening. He hoped that with the help of some of his grandpa’s old friends, he could re-apply for membership with the Antiques Association.\n

“The bell sounds lovely.” The person who’d just entered the store was a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes, but he spoke fluent Chinese. He was accompanied by a long-legged Chinese girl wearing a scarf and windbreaker.\n

“It’s an evil-vanquishing bell.” Zhou Luoyang only looked up briefly before going back to composing his WeChat message to the association’s vice-chairperson. His message was ingratiating and respectful, since he was a member of his grandson’s generation.\n

“May I ask if you have any jade pieces?” the foreigner asked.\n

“Yes, we do.” Now Zhou Luoyang had to set down his phone. “Please wait just a moment.”\n

“Have you just opened?” the foreigner asked.\n

“We just opened today. You’re our first customer,” said Zhou Luoyang, “though this is just a soft opening. We aren’t officially opening until November, so they’re not out on display yet. What kind of jade ware are you interested in?”\n

Zhou Luoyang pulled on a pair of gloves with practiced ease. These gloves were supposedly very expensive, and they were precisely the ones from his and Du Jing’s little stint as thieves. He’d appropriated them from Du Jing, so Du Jing had had to have someone custom-order another pair from overseas.\n

Zhou Luoyang set down a velvet cushion and placed three pieces of jade on top: a jade cup with a couple red markings at the bottom, an engraved Hetian jade tablet, and a string of smooth and shiny jade beads. Looking at the jade cup with the naked eye, it seemed no different from those sold by any run-of-the-mill street vendor.\n

Zhou Luoyang turned on the overhead light and switched it to the brightest setting.\n

Now the jade pieces immediately grew more captivating, in three parts due to their quality and seven parts due to the way they shined and gleamed in the light.\n

“What dynasties are they from?” the foreigner asked.\n

“Did you want to add it to your personal collection?” Zhou Luoyang asked. “Or is it a gift?”\n

The foreign man thought for a moment and did not respond. His female companion commented, “This cup is pretty nice.”\n

“It’s a Ming dynasty artifact, recovered during the Republic of China¹,” Zhou Luoyang said.\n

The woman walked off to examine the items on a different shelf. The foreigner took out a loupe about as long as a finger and inspected the jade cup closely. He was clearly completely uninterested in the other two items.\n

Zhou Luoyang’s goal had been to test him when he’d brought out all three items at once. The jade cup looked like something you could find anywhere, but it was actually the most valuable of the three, an authentic Ming dynasty artifact. The other two, the tablet and the beads, only cost a little bit over two hundred dollars if you bought them wholesale at a jade market.\n

Of course, if the foreigner’s attention was first drawn to one of the other two items, it wasn’t like Zhou Luoyang would’ve raised the prices.\n

“May I see the bottom of the cup?” the foreigner asked politely.\n

Zhou Luoyang flipped the cup over with his gloved left hand, showing him the bottom. His gaze drifted over to the pretty, long-legged girl wandering around the store, a bit of a distance away. Her hands were stuffed in the pockets of her windbreaker, and she was staring up at the giant wall of clocks.\n

“Thank you.” The foreigner nodded when he saw the inscription on the bottom of the cup: third year, Hongzhi² reign. Zhou Luoyang set the cup on the velvet cushion.\n

“Do you have anything else?” the foreigner asked.\n

Zhou Luoyang put away the three jade pieces and smiled. “We’re still in our soft opening, so we haven’t received all our merchandise yet. How about you leave your contact info? I’ll let you know when I have time, and you could come have a cup of tea?”\n

The foreigner nodded but did not give his contact information. Just then, the Chinese girl said, “Daniel, look at their wall.”\n

“Indeed.” He smiled and pointed at the thangkas. “Are these your store treasures?”\n

Zhou Luoyang looked over at them. “Oh, no, those aren’t antiques, though they are from before nineteen fifty-one. My great-grandfather brought them with him when he came back from liberating Tibet³.”\n

The foreigner looked embarrassed, but Zhou Luoyang paid it no mind. He had guessed that the man was probably British.\n

“You don’t often see these mandalas being circulated nowadays,” the Chinese girl said.\n

The two thangkas were worn at the edges, their color slightly faded. The lotus flower in the center of each thangka emitted thousands of beams of light that spread outward. On the right, the light was silver. On the left, the light was gold. The beams of light were just like countless meteors streaking into the vast, open space during the birth of the universe.\n

Despite having gone through the baptism of time, the thangkas’ precious, expensive pigments remained bright and colorful.\n

“How rare,” the foreigner remarked with a nod. “I’ve only seen one other like them. There’s no way they were created in nineteen fifty-one.”\n

“They represent the passage of time,” Zhou Luoyang said. “The one on the right represents the past. The one on the left represents the future. Supposedly, there are three scrolls in total, and the center one represents the present and the boundless universe in Buddhist thought. The scroll you saw at the museum in Great Britain was likely stolen in nineteen fifty-one and added to Britain’s museum collection.”\n

“Yes.” The foreigner wiped the hungry look off his face and composed himself. He turned around and met Zhou Luoyang’s eyes with a smile.\n

“These were obtained in nineteen fifty-one, but it’s not actually clear when they were created,” Zhou Luoyang amended. “These two thangkas aren’t for sale. If you like them, you’re welcome to visit our humble store and admire them when you have the time.”\n

“Well, is your store treasure here?” The Chinese girl smiled at Zhou Luoyang in a moment of camaraderie, as if to say, Great retort. I like what you said.\n

“No, our store treasure…isn’t in the store right now,” said Zhou Luoyang.\n

The girl was still looking around. This person’s pretty interesting, Zhou Luoyang thought. She must read too many novels. But it was true that some antique stores would claim an expensive item to be their “store treasure.”\n

“Where is it?” she asked. “Do you have other branches?”\n

“Uh…” Zhou Luoyang’s previous response had simply been a tactful evasion; they didn’t really have a store treasure. Now he wasn’t sure how he would explain himself, so he just offered a random excuse. “Our store treasure…is currently being worn on our big boss’s wrist. It’s a watch. He wore it out.”\n

“They’re a clocks and antiques store, not an antiques and clocks store,” the foreigner called Daniel said with a smile. “Of course their main business focus is clocks.”\n

Zhou Luoyang could tell that they still had more questions, so he voluntarily explained, “I’m the secondary boss.”\n

Daniel looked at the Chinese girl, and the girl nodded at him.\n

Daniel took out a business card from his inner pocket. “I work for Sotheby’s auction house. I’m the investment manager of the Asia-Pacific region. This is my consultant, Miss Lin Di.”\n

Word gets around fast for you buyers in the auction industry, Zhou Luoyang thought. Perhaps they’d already taken notice of his store as soon as the signboard went up, before he’d even opened for business.\n

Zhou Luoyang stuck his hand out for a handshake and said, “Why don’t I make tea? Though I’ll have to ask you to take off your shoes on the tea settee.”\n

“Would you be interested in participating in our autumn auction?” Lin Di asked, smiling. “I’ve heard of your grandfather. We’ve worked together before.”\n

Zhou Luoyang realized they had come prepared. “I don’t have any suitable pieces right now, do I?”\n

“Your thangkas are very nice,” Daniel commented. “I have faith in them.”\n

“You’d better give up on them,” Zhou Luoyang said, caught between laughter and tears. “If I tried to go through customs with these, I’d be thrown in jail. I’ve only just opened this store, and I need items to put on display. Once my business is up and running, I’m going to donate them to the National Museum, maybe swap them out for an embroidered pennant.”\n

“What a shame,” Daniel sighed.\n

Lin Di felt a bit awkward. In all honesty, ever since Daniel had come inside the store, there’d been a bit of tension between him and Zhou Luoyang. Zhou Luoyang could sense it too. He thought to himself, What a shame my ass. You just want to send them back to Great Britain and complete the set of three, don’t you?\n

Actually, it was very fortunate that his relatives didn’t know much about antiques. After his grandpa passed, his aunts and uncles had divided up all the fine antiques between themselves. They’d left behind a stack of old, fading calligraphy and paintings, thinking they were just scraps. This allowed Zhou Luoyang to rescue them. \n

As for how much they could be auctioned off for, he genuinely had no clue.\n

Right on time, Lin Di stepped in to mediate. “Daniel just meant that you don’t necessarily need to donate them to the National Museum…”\n

Zhou Luoyang smiled. “If I donated them to a different museum, the National Museum will snatch them up anyway. The result will be the same.”\n

“You could take this moon flask⁴ to the auction,” Lin Di said, after her failed attempt to mediate.\n

“The moon flask won’t sell for much,” Zhou Luoyang responded. “It’s a Qing dynasty piece.”\n

“We do need some smaller items as well,” Daniel said.\n

“The entire globe is in an economic downturn. Even you guys are cutting costs?” Zhou Luoyang said with a smile. He pulled on his gloves and picked up the moon flask. Daniel put on gloves as well and took the proffered flask, inspecting it closely.\n

“We can provide certification so you can bring them out of the country lawfully and without any trouble,” Lin Di said.\n

“For something from the late Qing dynasty, sure,” Zhou Luoyang agreed. “It’ll be no trouble for me to ask the association to issue certification. But the thangkas really can’t go.”\n

“When will your head boss arrive?” Daniel asked.\n

“He doesn’t work in this industry,” Zhou Luoyang replied. “He’s only responsible for providing funds.”\n

Zhou Luoyang figured they wanted to see the “store treasure,” but he didn’t want to give them the chance to ogle. Even Zhou Luoyang himself wasn’t sure about the origins of Du Jing’s watch.\n

“How about I show you guys an antique Daytona?” Zhou Luoyang was still diligently trying to sell that Rolex—purely because he really didn’t like Rolexes and wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.\n

“Alright.” Daniel had only just taken off his glasses, and now he put them back on again. “Let me see?”\n

In the end, both sides came to an agreement. Zhou Luoyang would take part in Sotheby’s autumn auction with two watches. Daniel was visibly quite satisfied to have accomplished his mission for the autumn auction during this visit to Wan City.\n

“I’ll send you an invitation letter in the near future,” Lin Di told Zhou Luoyang. “It was very nice to meet you.”\n

When Zhou Luoyang was little, his grandpa had brought him to one of their auctions, and Sotheby’s buffet dinners had left a deep impression on him. Du Jing’s been eating only vegetables lately. It’d be nice to bring him along so he can experience it, Zhou Luoyang thought, and happily said, “I’d like two invites.”\n

“For a lover?” Lin Di readily agreed. “No problem. I’ll take care of it.”\n

Just then, Du Jing’s car parked outside the store. He was here to pick Zhou Luoyang up. Both parties got to meet face to face.\n

Why is his timing so perfect?! Zhou Luoyang wondered.\n

“Hi! Vincent!” Daniel was very surprised to see Du Jing.\n

No way, you guys know each other? Zhou Luoyang thought.\n

Daniel made to give Du Jing a hug, but Du Jing simply held a hand up, stopping him, and instead shook his hand.\n

Everyone’s gazes traveled simultaneously to the watch on Du Jing’s wrist.\n

“This is our big boss,” Zhou Luoyang said.\n

Du Jing seemed pretty pleased about his title as the big boss. He gave an enigmatic nod. “Take care.”\n

Daniel had no choice but to say, “We’ll be in contact, Mister Zhou. Please give me a call any time.”\n

Zhou Luoyang walked them out and headed back inside the store with Du Jing. \n

“Arrogant British guy,” he said offhandedly.\n

Du Jing was evidently not surprised that Sotheby’s had come to visit. He could easily surmise what had happened. “Did they want you to provide items for their auction?”\n

“I gave them two watches,” Zhou Luoyang said. “How do you know them?”\n

“I helped Sotheby’s track down a collector’s item once,” Du Jing explained. “A national cultural relic of Turkey. It was stolen from backstage by mercenaries disguised as security guards sent by Erdogan.”\n

This was Zhou Luoyang’s first time hearing a story so similar to a movie plot. All he could do was nod.\n

It wasn’t yet the time they’d agreed to meet up in the afternoon, just barely past 1:30. They took off their shoes before the elevated settee and took a seat next to the tea table.\n

Zhou Luoyang rinsed the teacups and steeped some tea. “Why are you so early?”\n

As Du Jing pulled out the packed lunch Zhou Luoyang had made yesterday from his lunch bag, he cursed, for once. Then he knit his brow and answered, “I just went to the embassy. They only gave me ten minutes, and I failed again. Have you eaten lunch?”\n

“I’ll order takeout,” Zhou Luoyang said. “I just had some tea and snacks. I wasn’t very hungry at noon.”\n

“Eat this,” Du Jing said, pushing his lunchbox to the middle of the table. “I’ll use chopsticks, you use a spoon.”\n

So the two of them began to eat the meal Zhou Luoyang had prepared for Du Jing the day before.\n

Du Jing wasn’t planning on returning to his company’s building in the afternoon, so he lay down on the settee and took a nap. Ever since he’d begun living with Zhou Luoyang, the symptoms of his disorder had eased to a miraculous extent, and he was getting much more sleep. This is how it should be. Du Jing exerts his brain too much—he must spend at least ten hours a day tackling very challenging problems and making deductions. He needs sufficient sleep, Zhou Luoyang silently mused.\n

Zhou Luoyang sat next to him. The chairperson of the association added him to their WeChat group, where everyone assiduously avoided mentioning his debt. Zhou Luoyang added his grandpa’s old friends, one by one, and asked them for the contact details of a couple past clients.\n

He planned on adding them all and irregularly posting photos of his antiques in his WeChat Moments. In December, he would be bringing some items with him to the exhibition the association was holding.\n

Sotheby’s commission fee was very steep. He hoped they would be able to sell the watches for a good price.\n

In the afternoon, several more people wandered in intermittently. They were all young people who had dropped by just to see what was up. Zhou Luoyang glanced at the time and got ready to leave to pick up Leyao. But just then, he heard the door open again.\n

“Apologies, we’re closing. This is just our soft opening, so we’re only open until three—Leyao?!” Zhou Luoyang exclaimed, shocked.\n

Aaron Zhang was pushing Leyao up the wheelchair ramp. Leyao was beaming. “You renovated beautifully!”\n

“Leyao said he wanted to visit, so I came to drop him off. It just so happens I don’t have any classes this afternoon,” Aaron told Zhou Luoyang.\n

Aaron’s family’s car was parked outside, and the driver carried Leyao’s luggage inside. Zhou Luoyang hurriedly thanked the two of them. Aaron said, “I’ll be off then. Bye, Leyao. See you after the break.”\n

Leyao and Aaron said their goodbyes, and Leyao wheeled himself around the store, careful to look at everything only from a distance. Zhou Luoyang said, “You can get a little closer if you want. Though you’ve already seen everything. It’s all the same old stuff.”\n

Leyao smiled. “They all look completely different after you packaged them up. I’m scared to get too close in case I knock into something.”\n

Du Jing walked over to him and wheeled him around the store. Zhou Luoyang began gathering his things and getting ready to leave.\n

“Is there anything here I can afford? I’d like to buy something,” Leyao said.\n

Zhou Luoyang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Could you please not bully your brother?”\n

Earnestly, Leyao insisted, “I really do want to buy something. It’ll have a real commemorative meaning behind it! This is your store.”\n

Zhou Luoyang wiped the teacups clean. “It’s our family’s store.”\n

“But I didn’t do anything at all. Oh, right, why did you name it Chang’an?”\n

Du Jing suddenly changed the subject. “I wanted to buy something too, previously, but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance.”\n

Zhou Luoyang remembered the way Du Jing wanted to buy the watch from him. Maybe this was their way of expressing their love for him.\n

“Alright,” Zhou Luoyang relented. “Hi, handsome, may I ask what your budget is? Are you looking for a gift for a friend or something to keep for yourself?”\n

“I want to keep it for myself. I have a bit of money saved up, but only around two thousand bucks, so it can’t be anything too expensive,” Leyao replied.\n

“Then I think this might suit you,” Zhou Luoyang said, taking out an enamel watch. “It was custom-made in Italy, sold to us by an earl. The atelier no longer exists, and this design is no longer in production.”\n

Leyao studied the watch. It was indeed very beautiful. A muscular giant was carrying a massive globe on his shoulders, and there were three hands of a clock fixed on top of the globe, which curved gently outward.\n

“This must cost more than two thousand,” Leyao said. “Why do I get the feeling that there are a couple zeroes missing from the end there?”\n

“We can accept payment in installments,” Zhou Luoyang said firmly. “You can take your time paying it off in ten years.”\n

Leyao laughed, and Zhou Luoyang continued, “This is the Titan Atlas on the face of the watch. He carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders to keep the heavens and earth from devolving into primal chaos.”\n

“I like it.” Leyao understood the meaning behind it, of course. His brother hoped he could have a strong spirit and become like a Titan, just like Atlas, who silently shouldered such a heavy burden.\n

Zhou Luoyang took out the credit card reader, and Leyao cheerfully swiped his card, which contained his pocket money.\n

“Should I put it on for you?” Du Jing asked.\n

Leyao lifted his hand, and Du Jing fastened the strap of the watch around his wrist. Leyao met his brother’s eyes. “Thank you, boss.”\n

Zhou Luoyang laughed, and Du Jing carried Leyao onto the car.\n

“Break starts tomorrow,” Du Jing remarked as he drove, his expression normal. “You have seven days off. Where would you like to go?”\n

Leyao said, “Our class has plans for an autumn outing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday…Wait, this isn’t the way home.”\n

Zhou Luoyang beamed as he wheeled Leyao into the elevator and then to their new home.\n

“Initiation ceremony.” Du Jing and Zhou Luoyang had already moved everything over the previous day and spent the night, but they hadn’t properly cooked a meal yet; they’d only used the microwave.\n

“Why don’t you open the door?” Zhou Luoyang suggested, handing Leyao the keycard.\n

Leyao swiped the keycard. Du Jing pushed the door open, and Leyao whooped gleefully.\n

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view was stunning. Zhou Luoyang had already put everything in order. \n

“The room on the right is yours,” he said.\n

Leyao wheeled himself over. As he passed by Zhou Luoyang’s room, he unconsciously glanced inside. The new apartment was much cleaner. All those stacks of miscellaneous junk and antiques had either been put away in the storehouse or put on display in the store. The view from Leyao’s room was the best.\n

“Did you buy or rent this place?” he asked.\n

Zhou Luoyang went off to prepare dinner. Du Jing changed out of his suit and answered from where he stood behind Leyao, “Rent.”\n

When Leyao heard Du Jing’s voice, he visibly paused for a moment, then looked up at Du Jing and recovered his smile. \n

“It must have cost quite a bit, huh?”\n

Du Jing gave a simple reply. “Not much. Do you want to shower first?” \n

“I can do it myself,” Leyao answered. “Thank you.”\n

All of a sudden, the interaction between Du Jing and Leyao became a bit stilted. Du Jing didn’t say anything and simply closed the door for him.\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nZhou Luoyang had been kept busy for over half a month moving and opening the store, but the moment he saw Leyao’s smile, he felt that every second had been worth it.\n

That night, they ate the food Du Jing and Zhou Luoyang had cooked together. They poured themselves some liquor along with it, while Leyao had a non-alcoholic beverage, and they all drank a toast.\n

“Can you drink?” Zhou Luoyang asked, concerned about Du Jing’s state.\n

“I can,” Du Jing answered placidly. “It’s not a big problem.”\n

“Don’t overdo it.” Zhou Luoyang didn’t interfere too much with Du Jing’s alcohol intake; he knew Du Jing was aware of his own limits. \n

“Tired?” Zhou Luoyang noticed that his brother’s expression was a little strange.\n

“A little. I’d better go to sleep early and try out the new bed. It looks very comfortable,” Leyao said.\n

After dinner, Zhou Luoyang sighed with feeling. Finally, he had a temporary reprieve from his recent lineup of responsibilities. He lay on the couch, lost in thought.\n

The store was now open, and they had finished moving. Everything was taking a turn for the better. The predicament he had found himself trapped in previously was now gradually becoming less dire. And all of these changes had been brought to him by Du Jing.\n

Zhou Luoyang gazed at Du Jing’s back as he did the dishes, his emotions complicated. He didn’t know how to repay him, but he knew that once he expressed the intention to do so, Du Jing would certainly be angry.\n

As if Du Jing could feel Zhou Luoyang’s eyes on him, he turned around and glanced back at him indifferently.\n

“What?” he asked.\n

Zhou Luoyang shook his head, his cheeks pink from the alcohol.\n

Du Jing unloaded the dishwasher and made his way over to the couch. He hadn’t changed out of his shirt yet.\n

“Scoot inwards,” he instructed.\n

Zhou Luoyang did as he was told. The couch was very big, and Du Jing lay down next to him. They lay there side by side, deep in thought.\n

“Leyao seems to be preoccupied with something,” Zhou Luoyang said.\n

“If he doesn’t want to talk about it, just pretend to be clueless.”\n

Zhou Luoyang tilted his face toward Du Jing and asked suspiciously, “He’s not dating, is he?”\n

“Everyone goes through adolescence. Leyao isn’t any exception.”\n

Zhou Luoyang didn’t reply to that. The alcohol was making his heart beat a little faster than normal.\n

Du Jing turned towards him too, and they lay there face to face, silently soaking in each other’s presence. They’d both had Irish rum that evening, and Du Jing’s face was slightly flushed, while Zhou Luoyang’s breath carried the sweet smell of raspberry rum. \n

Wan City glittered outside the window, its tens of thousands of lights stretching for miles.\n

“Thank you,” Zhou Luoyang said with red-rimmed eyes. “Du Jing, you’ve always been the most important person in my entire life. No matter what happened in the past, I’m so glad to have met you again.”\n

Du Jing was silent for ten seconds, twenty seconds.\n

After half a minute, he let the tipsiness propel him forward, and he planted a kiss on Zhou Luoyang’s cheek.\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nFootnotes:\n

<ol>The Republic of China was established after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912. It was first under the Beiyang warlords’ rule, then under the Kuomintang/Chinese Nationalist Party’s leadership, up until they were defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in a civil war. The Communist Party then established the People’s Republic of China (not to be confused with the Republic of China!) in 1949. [Back]10th emperor of the Ming dynasty. [Back]China annexed Tibet in 1951. In the decades before that, the British Empire had been creeping in on Tibet from India during Tibet’s independence after the fall of the Qing dynasty. [Back]Lit. moon-embracing flask. A type of ceramic bottle with a flattened circular body and rounded handles on either side of the neck. [Back]</ol>\n\nBonus thangka pics because they’re pretty (:\n\n\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator">\nTranslated by beansprout. Edited by opal. \n

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