The sun set and the moon rose, and the people in the company gradually disappeared one by one. The light in He Chu San’s office, however, never came on. Sometime after ten at night, the sudden ringtone of a mobile phone sounded outside his door.
He Chu San, lying flat on the sofa, opened his eyes slightly, then closed them again.
The ringtone continued over and over. There was no sound of anyone walking outside or answering it.
“Kevin?!”
No one answered.
He Chu San sat up. Irritated but still vigilant, he cracked the office door open and looked outside. The vast office lobby was empty. Far away, several of his bodyguards stood at the reception area near the company entrance. A brand-new brick phone lay directly at his feet, shrilling out an obnoxious ringtone.
He picked up the brick phone, closed the door, and answered it in confusion.
“Hello?”
“A’San, it’s me.” Xia Liu Yi’s voice came through from the other end.
All the blood in He Chu San’s body seemed to catch fire. He hurried away from the door, hid beside the window, and lifted one corner of the curtain to look downstairs. Lowering his voice, he demanded anxiously, “Didn’t I tell you not to contact me for a while?! Do you know how many pairs of eyes might be watching me right now? How many ears are listening?!”
“Shh, shh. Don’t panic,” Xia Liu Yi said gently. “Listen to me. Go out through the back of the company, take the fire stairs, and go up to the roof…”
“You can’t come over! There are people watching downstairs!”
“I know, I know.” Xia Liu Yi continued soothing him patiently. “Just listen to me and go up to the roof first, all right?”
He Chu San’s mind was in chaos. Still holding the phone, he hurried out of the office. He did not let the bodyguards follow and entered the stairwell alone, climbing through the darkness to the top floor.
Pipes crisscrossed the rooftop, with puddles of standing water scattered around. He Chu San looked anxiously in every direction but saw no sign of Xia Liu Yi. “Where are you?!”
“Face the harbor and walk to your right.”
He Chu San went all the way to the edge of the rooftop. The sea wind roared beside his ears, and he heard the same noise through the phone. He climbed onto the stone railing and looked ahead. On the rooftop of another building several dozen meters away, a figure beneath the moonlight was waving frantically at him.
“Can you see me?!” Xia Liu Yi shouted through the phone.
He Chu San’s nose stung. “I can see you.”
“I can see you too. You’ve lost weight again.”
He Chu San wiped the corner of his eye. “Nonsense. How could you possibly see clearly from this far away?”
“Kevin told me.”
“Did he ask you to come?”
“He only said you weren’t doing very well. I decided to come myself. Don’t blame him.”
“Mm. I won’t. I’m very happy to see you.” He Chu San sniffed, his voice unconsciously returning to its usual clingy, spoiled tone. “I really want to hug you.”
“Sure! I’ll jump over right now!” The figure across from him made an exaggerated jumping motion.
He Chu San burst out laughing. The filthy, crushing burden on his back seemed to vanish in that instant. He leaned over the railing and laughed so hard he could barely straighten up.
“Is it really that funny?” Xia Liu Yi laughed too.
“Mm. It’s funny. Brother Liu Yi even knows how to joke around to cheer people up now.”
“How is that cheering you up?” Xia Liu Yi laughed. “Now this is. Just wait!” The figure suddenly disappeared.
“Where did you go?”
The brick phone seemed to have been abandoned where it was, with nothing but the roar of the wind coming through the receiver. He Chu San rose onto his toes and craned his neck to look. Suddenly, a sharp Fweee—! exploded through the phone.
A beam of golden light shot from the opposite rooftop straight into the sky, bursting into a brilliant tree of silver and gold against the deep-blue night.
Fweee—! Fweee—! Fireworks followed one after another, crowding the sky as though a colorful bridge had been built between the two rooftops, joining two hearts gazing toward each other from afar.
Tiny phantom-like sparks rained down, illuminating He Chu San’s deep, dark eyes and gathering brilliant light within them once more. Entranced, he stared up at the sky until the final firework faded into the night wind.
“Do you like it?” Xia Liu Yi’s voice finally came through again.
“I like you.”
“Hahaha!” Xia Liu Yi laughed smugly from the other side. “There’s more. Look over here!”
He Chu San blinked. Across the gap, the figure on the opposite rooftop lifted an enormous heart-shaped sign. Tiny bulbs covered its surface, glowing in gaudy multicolored light. It was one enormous glittering heart, flamboyant beyond words.
The paper sign was nearly as tall as a person and swayed violently in the wind. Xia Liu Yi could barely hold onto it with both hands. Pinning the phone between his shoulder and his head, he panted, “Can you see it?”
“I can.” He Chu San could not stop laughing.
“I also li—” Before Xia Liu Yi could finish, a gust of wind knocked him over, sending both man and heart tumbling backward out of sight. He Chu San heard a long series of clatter-bang-crash sounds through the phone before Xia Liu Yi’s dejected voice returned. “Fuck!”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Fucking hell, the wind blew my heart away.”
“Mm. It blew over to me.”
Xia Liu Yi laughed, climbed back to his feet, dusted himself off, and returned to the railing. “You’re still better at saying sappy things.”
“Hahaha. You’ve improved a lot already.”
Xia Liu Yi’s voice softened. “A’San.”
“Mm?”
“Did something happen?”
He Chu San’s smile stiffened slightly. “It’s fine. I can handle it.”
“Do you remember what you told me? ‘You’re my lover. No matter what happens, we can carry it together.’ The way you are now makes me worried. Do you really have to carry everything by yourself? Can’t you tell your husband what’s happening?”
Holding the phone in both hands, He Chu San curled up and sat on the rooftop. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke in a deeply suppressed voice. “I saw him in person. He’s terrifying, like a black hole. Everything that gets close to him gets sucked in. I was so afraid then. I thought I was going to die…”
Xia Liu Yi’s fingernails dug hard enough into his palm to draw blood. “A’San, listen to me. There’s still time for you to stop. I’ll protect Dad, Mom, and Xin Xin. Go downstairs and stay with your bodyguards. I’ll bring people over to get you right now.”
“No, no.” He Chu San shook his head violently. “Don’t come over! I really am fine! Listen to me. I’m just a little short—just a little short of trapping him. I can finish this. Right now, I just… I don’t have much money left.”
Elio’s Notes: In stock-market language, 套牢 means being trapped in a position you cannot exit without taking a loss. He Chu San uses it figuratively here: he is only a little short of trapping Xie Ying Jie so completely that he will no longer be able to escape.
“How much do you need?”
“Twenty million.” He Chu San hesitated. He knew the condition of Xiao Qi Hall’s “head office.” After several rounds of bloodletting and asset restructuring, it had at most a few million in liquid funds.
Xia Liu Yi did not hesitate for even a moment. “All right. When do you need it?”
“Within two days.”
“Fine. Don’t worry. Dong Dong and I will find a way.”
“The money has to be clean.”
“All right. I know.”
“I have to go. If I stay on the roof too long, they might get suspicious.”
“…All right. Be careful.”
“Mm. I will.”
He Chu San kissed the receiver and ended the call. Climbing onto the railing, he took one final look at the figure on the opposite rooftop, then turned and hurried downstairs.
The career that had already taken root, his aging parents who could never leave their homeland, and his obsession with settling his lover’s old grievances so they could live peacefully together in this city from then on—all of it wrapped around him like water weeds. He did not dare keep talking to Xia Liu Yi. His heart was not indestructible. If they spoke even one sentence more, he was afraid he would throw everything away, rush across to embrace the man, and wander the world with him, never separating for even another second.
If only people could truly be as free as birds.
…
Escorted by his bodyguards, He Chu San got into the car and returned to his hotel. He had not seen Kevin anywhere along the way. The bodyguards told him Kevin had left several hours earlier after dropping off the new brick phone. He Chu San casually used the new phone to dial Kevin’s number.
It took a long time for someone to answer. No one spoke for several seconds.
“Hello? Kevin? Where are you?”
A young man’s voice answered, “He’s taking a shower.”
“Who are you?” He Chu San asked suspiciously. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.
Apparently the other man thought He Chu San sounded familiar too. “Who are you?”
Kevin snatched the brick phone back at that moment. “Don’t answer my phone without asking. Hello?”
“It’s me.”
Kevin seemed to sneak into the bathroom. He Chu San heard a door close. “Are you feeling better?”
“Much better. Thank you. I’ve been in a terrible mood lately. I’ve made things difficult for you.”
“It’s fine. As long as you’re okay.” Knock, knock, knock! sounded from Kevin’s end. Kevin shouted through the door, “Wait a minute!”
“Where are you right now? Who was that?”
“Ahem. Someone I met at a bar.”
…So he’d been so aggrieved that he went drinking at a bar and ended up having a one-night stand.
Kevin sounded deeply embarrassed. “Sorry. I drank a little too much and then… Do you need me for something? I can come back right now.”
“No, no, no. You—no, both of you get some rest.”
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