Mai Ding sat nervously on the sofa, constantly playing with his fingers in an attempt to calm himself down, but it was completely useless. He simply could not relax in front of Grandpa An. On top of that, he had chosen to wear a thick, dignified outfit in the middle of hot weather, so sweat kept pouring from him and had already flattened the formal hairstyle he had worked so hard on, leaving him thoroughly bedraggled. Grandpa An looked at Mai Ding’s sweat-covered head and said, “Take off your jacket. Look at you—you’re going to get heatstroke.”
“N-no, it’s fine. I’m fine.” Even as Mai Ding spoke, a drop of sweat rolled from his forehead. The weather was partly to blame. Even with the air conditioner on, he still felt unbearably hot. But it was not that Mai Ding did not want to remove the jacket. He had thought wearing too many layers would be hot, so beneath it he was completely bare.
“Stop forcing yourself. What are you embarrassed about?”
“I really don’t need to.”
An Zi Yan shook his head from the side. “You haven’t even been here twenty minutes and you’re already refusing to listen to Grandpa.”
The moment Mai Ding heard that, he panicked even more and hurriedly explained to Grandpa An, “Grandpa, I absolutely don’t mean to disobey you. It’s just that… um… I’m not wearing anything underneath.” His face turned red as he spoke. In front of Grandpa An, Mai Ding had become unusually nervous and shy, like a bashful little wife; his usual fierce, lecturing demeanor had completely disappeared.
An Zi Yan leaned toward him and whispered, “I seriously despise this little act you’re putting on.”
Mai Ding could only glare at him. Why was it that every single time Mai Ding mocked An Zi Yan for something, that petty man eventually found exactly the right opportunity to throw the same words back at him?
Grandpa An continued, “So you’re not wearing anything underneath. So what? You’re all men. What are you afraid of? Hurry up and take it off. If the heat makes you sick, how am I supposed to explain that to your parents?”
Since Grandpa had already said that much, Mai Ding could only take off the jacket with great embarrassment. He felt utterly humiliated that the first time he came to An Zi Yan’s grandfather’s home, he had ended up looking like this. It was certainly cooler once the jacket was off, but he also felt even more awkward, so he crossed both arms tightly over his chest to cover his nipples.
“Zi Yan, go upstairs and bring Xiao Ding one of your shirts.”
An Zi Yan shrugged and went upstairs. Left sitting opposite Grandpa An with his upper body bare, Mai Ding felt unbearably uncomfortable, so he stood from the sofa, walked behind Grandpa An, and placed his hands on the old man’s shoulders. “Grandpa, let me give you a massage. I won’t claim I’m good at much else, but I’m pretty good at this.”
Grandpa An laughed happily and nodded again and again. “Good, good. What a good child.”
When Grandpa An first saw Mai Ding, he too had wondered what An Zi Yan could possibly have liked about him. But very quickly, Grandpa discovered that spending time with Mai Ding was remarkably relaxed and comfortable. Whatever Mai Ding was thinking could be read perfectly clearly from his expressions, yet at the same time he approached everything cautiously, always afraid of doing something that might make people dislike him. That contradictory personality—innocent yet careful—was genuinely amusing.
“Does Zi Yan usually bully you?”
The moment this subject came up, Mai Ding’s stomach practically churned as all the grievances he had accumulated fought to pour out at once. “Grandpa, you have no idea how badly I’ve been bullied! During military training, I fainted right in front of him. Instead of helping me, he got this huge fat guy with terrible breath and body odor to rescue me, and I fainted again. He invited me on a date and took me bungee jumping. He lied that his car was voice-controlled and made me stand there shouting at it forever. On April Fools’ Day, he said he was going to marry Bai Xiao Si, made me cry, and then called me a sissy. On my birthday, he hired a bunch of gangsters to kidnap me…” There were simply too many of An Zi Yan’s crimes to finish recounting. Mai Ding caught sight of An Zi Yan coming downstairs from the corner of his eye and hurriedly shut his mouth; otherwise, he could easily have continued for three days and three nights.
Unfortunately, what An Zi Yan was holding was not a shirt but a tiny towel. He draped it over Mai Ding’s shoulder. “Couldn’t find any clothes. Make do with this.”
Mai Ding was so angry he tried to step on An Zi Yan’s foot, but An Zi Yan dodged. Mai Ding snatched up the towel. “What is this supposed to be? Do you think I’m sitting in a sauna? Grandpa, look at him!”
Grandpa An looked at An Zi Yan. “If you keep bullying him like this and finally drive him away, Grandpa won’t help you.”
“I’m developing his character.”
“Nonsense. Mai Ding already told me how you used to bully him. You’re not a child anymore, so stop playing around so much.”
Happiness had arrived so suddenly that Mai Ding nearly fainted. This was the first time in his entire life he had heard someone lecture An Zi Yan, and he was so moved he almost burst into tears. A halo seemed to appear around Grandpa An’s head. Could this be the legendary savior? An Zi Yan narrowed his eyes at Mai Ding. “You complained about me?”
“Grandpa, look! That expression right there! He always uses that expression to scare me.”
“With me here, you’re not bullying Xiao Ding. Now go find him a proper shirt. If you can’t find one, go out and buy one.”
An Zi Yan pursed his lips but did not argue. He turned and went upstairs again. Mai Ding felt as though he had floated directly into heaven. He had spent so long searching for An Zi Yan’s weakness, only to discover that it had been right in front of him all along. How wonderful this felt—no oppression, no tricks. Grandpa An had become Mai Ding’s greatest possible backer.
Mai Ding immediately pulled out every trick he knew to ingratiate himself. “Grandpa, you’re such a wonderful person. Does this feel good? I’ll massage here too. Later I can massage your feet, and when you take a bath I’ll scrub your back. Oh, right! I’ll cook dinner tonight.”
Older people loved this sort of thing, and sure enough, Grandpa An was soon completely won over by Mai Ding. Nobody had visited him for quite some time, and now the house had suddenly become lively again. Grandpa An was genuinely happy.
When An Zi Yan picked up the remote and changed the channel, Mai Ding immediately complained, “I was watching that.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Mai Ding raised his voice and shouted, “Grandpa! An Zi Yan won’t let me watch television!”
Grandpa An’s voice floated in from the garden. “Zi Yan, why are you fighting with Xiao Ding over the television? If you want to watch something else, go watch it in your room.”
An Zi Yan threw the remote toward Mai Ding, and Mai Ding immediately shouted again, “Grandpa! An Zi Yan threw the remote at me!”
“Zi Yan!”
When Mai Ding was preparing dinner, he called toward An Zi Yan outside. “Why are you standing there? Come help me.”
“Dream on.”
“Grandpa! I only asked An Zi Yan to wash some vegetables, and he told me to dream on!”
“Zi Yan, don’t be so lazy. Go help.”
An Zi Yan clenched his jaw and glared at Mai Ding. With Grandpa there to protect him, Mai Ding had become much braver. “What are you staring at? Hurry up and wash the vegetables.”
An Zi Yan walked into the kitchen without expression. “Mai Ding, there’s something you need to understand.”
“What? What are you planning? Be careful or I’ll report you to Grandpa.”
“You need to understand that you cannot stay at Grandpa’s house forever. The moment you leave this house, just wait and see how I deal with you.”
“You’re threatening me now? I’m not listening. Hurry up and wash the vegetables. Why are you taking so long? Even if you don’t want to eat, Grandpa and I still need dinner.”
“You are actively moving your own execution date closer.”
“Grandpa! An Zi Yan said the moment I leave this house, he’s going to kill me!”
“He wouldn’t dare!”
And just like that, Mai Ding became a shameless little tattletale, reporting An Zi Yan every chance he got without considering the consequences at all. With such a perfect opportunity for revenge in front of him, how could Mai Ding possibly let it go?
That night, An Zi Yan was leaning by the bedroom window when Mai Ding returned after taking care of Grandpa. The moment he closed the door, Mai Ding squeezed straight into An Zi Yan’s arms. “Move over. Give me some room.”
“Go away. It’s too hot.”
“Grandpa! An Zi Yan won’t hug me—” An Zi Yan clamped a hand over Mai Ding’s mouth. “Shout again and I’ll throw you downstairs.”
Mai Ding laughed and pulled An Zi Yan’s hand away, then looked out the window. “What are you looking at?”
The room had an excellent view, allowing them to see both the sky and the grounds below. A broken half-moon hung overhead, with only a few stars flickering around it. Occasionally, they could hear insects chirping, and a faint cool breeze drifted past. It was neither beautiful nor romantic. Mai Ding propped his chin in his hands and stared into the darkness. “Why is it that all my memories of you are about the different ways you bullied me? Don’t you think you should change the way you treat me?”
“You’re remembering the wrong things. Forget the things you should forget. Whatever remains is what you ought to remember.”
After hearing An Zi Yan say that, Mai Ding thought it actually made sense. Images began appearing in his mind: An Zi Yan buying him the Cinderella storybook; fulfilling every wish Mai Ding made at Christmas; introducing Mai Ding to his friends because he was afraid Mai Ding would be lonely; saying I love you at New Year; cooking for him; lying silently through the night even when Mai Ding’s head had made his arm go numb; singing that song for him on his birthday; continuing to love him without hesitation no matter how much the entire world opposed them. There were so many more memories besides those. Once the nightmare-like moments were removed, what remained was overflowing with the sweetness An Zi Yan had given him. It turned out that beneath everything else, An Zi Yan’s love had always been remarkably clear.
“When I think about it that way, you really do treat me pretty well.”
“I lied. You should remember all of it. I want you to know that I’m going to keep making your life sweet and bitter like this and torment you for the rest of your life.”
“An Zi Yan! You’re a demon!”
“If I let you spend your entire life enjoying yourself, wouldn’t that be letting you off too easily?”
“We’re lovers! Lovers!”
“Who told you to complain about me?”
“You petty, childish bastard!”
“Same to you.”
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