Ke Bu had just changed his shoes and gone up the stairs when he saw Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie carrying packages. Curious, he walked over and fiddled with them. One of the boxes was almost as large as Ke Bu himself.
“Who sent these?”
“Don’t know. They’re for Zhi Li. They were delivered to the classroom, so we helped move them over.”
At that moment, Zhang Luo came running over in a panic. He was panting, both hands braced on his knees, and it took him quite a while before he could speak. “Someone entrusted me with a video.” Zhang Luo handed a USB drive to Zhi Li. Zhi Li took it, glanced at it, then pulled out his phone and checked the date before throwing the USB drive into the trash.
“At least look at it before throwing it away.” Ke Bu picked the USB drive back out of the trash. A label was stuck to it: For My Dearest Little Baby. There was only one person in the world qualified—and bold enough—to call Zhi Li that.
“Lan Yin sent it, right?”
“That’s why it’s garbage.”
Ke Bu could not suppress the wicked urge to tease and make fun of Zhi Li. “There seem to be some other words written on it too—” Ke Bu had just opened his mouth when Zhi Li interrupted him. “Try reading them aloud. I’ll let you learn how short life can be.”
“Look at you. What kind of person do you take me for?” Ke Bu tossed the USB drive to Zhang Luo. “Play it.”
Several people gathered around. Lan Yin’s face appeared on the screen. She wore a stylish wide-brimmed hat and a long floral dress. Her enchanting eyes gazed at the camera as she raised two fingers in a V sign, pursed her lips, tilted her head, and murmured in a seductive voice, “Zhi~ Li~, my~ darling~”
“Turn off that pretentious woman immediately,” Zhi Li said without mercy.
“Wait, don’t turn it off yet.” Lan Yin in the video seemed to have anticipated what Zhi Li would say. She removed her hat, used the fingers that had just made the V sign to hold a cigarette, took out a lighter, and lit it. She exhaled a cloud of smoke toward the camera. “I’m on vacation right now, so I can’t come personally. But anyway, you’ve never wanted to celebrate your birthday since you were little. Not wanting to celebrate is your business; giving you presents is mine. I mailed the packages a few days ago, so they should already have arrived. One of them is an outfit I had custom-made for you overseas. Don’t say you won’t wear it. You still owe me from last time, and I’ll have Ke Bu send me a photo. Alright, that’s all for now. Since I rarely get to take a vacation, perhaps I’ll bring a new father back as your present. Do you want a scholarly type or a muscular type? Bye-bye, son. I love you.”
It seemed Zhi Li’s original decision to throw away the USB drive had been the correct one. Sometimes, Ke Bu actually envied Zhi Li and Lan Yin. Everyone in their family dared to say anything, hiding nothing. It was unlike his own family. Before the divorce, they had pretended to maintain things, both avoiding saying anything aloud, until it finally collapsed into intolerable breakdowns and endless arguments. After the divorce, they still continued pretending. Whenever those sensitive subjects were mentioned, everyone felt awkward and uncomfortable, so no one dared touch them. Even now, he rarely discussed his parents’ marriage. He was afraid he would be unable to accept an ending different from the one he wanted.
The screen went black for a moment, then suddenly lit up again. Dora was wearing a yellow dress, her face filled with grievance and anger. “Brother Zhi Li, my parents said exams are coming and won’t let Dora go over. I hate them to death! I hate them to death! Dora doesn’t care about exams. Dora only wants to stay beside Brother Zhi Li today. I sent you a present. Hurry and open it. Dora made it herself. Look, look, my hands are covered in wounds. Dora is so pitiful. Brother Zhi Li, blow on them for me. Brother Zhi Li, go look at the present first.”
After several seconds, the face on the screen changed. “Ke Bu, don’t get too smug. Do you think you can monopolize Brother Zhi Li just because I’m not there? I advise you not to get any ideas about stripping yourself naked and becoming a present. If you dare put yourself into a box, I’ll rush over overnight and mail you to Afghanistan. Anyone who dares touch Brother Zhi Li can go die, jump into a cesspit, and eat shit. All of you go eat shit!” Dora grabbed the camera and shook it continuously. “Brother Zhi Li, have you finished looking at the present? Brother Zhi Li, Dora loves you.” Dora placed her hand against her lips and kissed it before pressing her palm toward the camera.
The camera had already started recording, but Zhi Xiao Ke and Zhi Xiao Xun were still fighting. One grabbed the other’s dress while the other pulled her hair. It was not until someone beside them reminded them that recording had begun that the two finally stood properly as if waking from a dream. Wearing adorable animal costumes, Zhi Xiao Ke linked arms with Zhi Xiao Xun. “Daddy, we miss you very much. Look, after seeing Daddy, our relationship has become better and better.” This was a blatant lie told with their eyes wide open. “Mommy wouldn’t let us come over. She said we’d only cause you trouble if we went, and then you wouldn’t be able to have fun properly. So we originally planned to mail you a present, but…” Zhi Xiao Ke suddenly blushed and fell silent. She nudged Zhi Xiao Xun with her elbow. “You say it…”
“I’m not saying it. It was clearly your fault.”
“It was yours.”
“It was you.”
The two started wrestling together and soon began crying. Their wails were deafening. Both had tear-streaked faces and continuously wiped their tears with their chubby little hands as they sobbed toward the camera. “Daddy, we’re sorry. We spent all the money for your present on snacks. But Daddy, we love you.”
The video that left everyone unsure whether to laugh or cry came to an end. Ke Bu had thought he would see Zhi Li’s father and had even looked forward to it a little. It would have been a lie to say he was not curious. Zhi Li almost never spoke about his father. Did they have a bad relationship? But that explanation did not make sense either. Before meeting Lan Yin, Zhi Li had never talked about her, and yet their relationship was clearly very good. There were many things about Zhi Li that remained unknown, but Ke Bu was in no hurry. He wanted to learn them slowly, even more slowly, using an entire lifetime.
The group impatiently began opening the presents. First came Lan Yin’s. The small box was completely filled with cards, each printed with a bright-red lipstick mark, along with a sexy nightgown. Ke Bu handed Zhi Li the card with writing on it. Zhi Li held it between his fingers. Written across it in elegant handwriting were the words: These are Mommy’s kisses and Mommy’s scent. Without the slightest hesitation, Zhi Li picked up the box and threw Mommy’s kisses and Mommy’s scent into the trash. When no one was looking, Chu Hao Yu secretly retrieved them and hid them away. The presents grew stranger one after another until they took out the custom-made outfit Lan Yin had mentioned. Ke Bu lifted it from the box. It was an outfit whose visual impact could not be described in words: an ethereal, dreamlike blue, exquisitely tailored, neither ostentatious nor plain. Even the trousers and shoes had been prepared. Ke Bu had originally thought Lan Yin would use this favor to play a cruel prank on Zhi Li and send him some bizarre costume. But with one glance at this outfit, Ke Bu knew it belonged to Zhi Li.
Chu Hao Yu crooked a finger at Ke Bu. “Now isn’t the time to open presents. We’ll finish later. We’ll go ahead first, and you bring Zhi Li over afterward. Remember, act naturally. Don’t let him suspect anything.”
“You don’t need to remind me about something this simple. Don’t worry. Later, I’ll definitely charm Zhi Li until he’s completely dazed.” Ke Bu patted his chest and guaranteed it.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last sentence.” Chu Hao Yu gave the others a look, then stretched. “Ah, Xiu Jie? Didn’t you say your prostate was swollen? We’ll go with you to the hospital and get it checked.” Ying Xiu Jie smiled. “What do you mean, go with me? Isn’t your urinary and fecal incontinence also very serious?”
After watching them leave, Zhi Li picked up the outfit and walked into the temporary changing room Chu Hao Yu had built for Zhou Xin He in the hideout. Ke Bu folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “Zhi Li, I have a wish. I want to go into the city, lie on a rooftop, and count the stars together with you.”
“Your wish is incredibly idiotic.” He had not expected to be shot down the moment he opened his mouth.
“If you don’t go, I’ll die in front of you.” There was no response from inside, so Ke Bu continued, “Don’t think I’m bluffing. I really will…” Zhi Li came out after changing and leaned against the side. “You’ll really what?” Ke Bu’s gaze filled completely with Zhi Li. He felt as though he could not breathe quickly enough. The Zhi Li standing in front of him melted Ke Bu’s entire sense of beauty. He liked him, liked him very much, liked him so much that he even wanted to hide him inside a fairy-tale book where no one else could see him.
“I, I…” Ke Bu was left speechless. “Can I set you as my phone wallpaper?”
“No.”
“Stingy!!”
At this hour, there were few people outside the school gates, though it was not completely deserted. The two walked side by side. Ke Bu stepped on his own shadow, slowly extended his hand, and took hold of Zhi Li’s. Zhi Li lightly raised their joined hands and looked at them. Ke Bu narrowed his eyes and smiled softly. “It doesn’t matter today. It doesn’t matter if we’re seen. It doesn’t matter if everyone sees us. It doesn’t matter if we’re cursed at or talked about.”
Zhi Li said nothing. Ke Bu swung their joined hands in midair. It was faintly cool, Zhi Li’s temperature, comfortably soothing the heat in Ke Bu’s palm. The distance between them widened, then their joined hands pulled them back together. Ke Bu’s shoulder bumped Zhi Li’s arm, and he repeated the movement tirelessly.
“Are you done playing?”
Ke Bu gave an ambiguous wink with his right eye. “Well? Did that charm you?”
“What did?”
“You’re seriously too unromantic. Didn’t I just do this, like this?” Ke Bu continued desperately squeezing his right eye.
“Is something wrong with your eye?”
Ke Bu wrinkled his nose and turned his head away. The bus swayed to a stop, and the two boarded. At that hour, there was almost no one aboard. Only the two of them remained in the empty bus. Ke Bu rambled about trivial things. “The weather is so strange today. First it rained, then the sun came out. That auntie at the supermarket was wearing a very strange brown coat. Two girls in the class next door were arguing over a man…” Ke Bu talked endlessly about many things. He did not know why he was saying so much, yet the words he should have said remained stuck in his throat. “Um, well, today I heard Lan Yin, Dora, Zhi Xiao Ke, and Zhi Xiao Xun all say they love you. So, um, I thought I’d join in the fun too.”
The summer breeze blew gently, lifting Ke Bu’s short strands of hair. His pupils shone, and the sunset illuminated the line of his jaw. He leaned forward and gently kissed the corner of Zhi Li’s mouth, murmuring softly, “My Lord Zhi Li, happy birthday. I love you too.”
Zhi Li caught Ke Bu by the chin and kissed him. The taste of milk spread between them. Ke Bu chuckled softly. He had chewed a milk candy beforehand. “Well? Today it’s the flavor you like.”
“Now you’ve charmed me.”
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