An Zi Yan and Mai Ding, Mai Ding and An Zi Yan—they were only an ordinary couple too, the kind who argued over the smallest things.
“An Zi Yan, shouldn’t you share some of the housework with me? This is completely unfair. Why am I serving you like you’re some ancestral lord? Do you seriously think you’re some great northern master? I’m talking to you!”
“I’m busy.” The extremely busy An Zi Yan was sitting around bored, flipping television channels with the remote.
“You call that busy? Are you kidding me? Then what am I doing?” Bent over and vigorously mopping the floor, Mai Ding continued criticizing An Zi Yan while simultaneously regretting how he had ever fallen for such a lazy, shameless man. Heaven was seriously unfair. Though Heaven had it pretty miserable too: whenever An Zi Yan treated Mai Ding well, Mai Ding thanked Heaven for letting An Zi Yan fall in love with him; whenever An Zi Yan treated him badly, Mai Ding blamed Heaven for making him fall in love with An Zi Yan.
When An Zi Yan continued ignoring him, Mai Ding went on. “All this time, you’ve watched me work myself to death maintaining this household. Haven’t you ever felt even the tiniest bit guilty?”
“No.”
“You—! I can’t even find a word bad enough to describe you anymore.”
“Then stop looking.”
“If I stop looking, how am I supposed to insult you? Oh, right. Didn’t I tell you yesterday to buy toothpaste when you passed the supermarket? We’re almost out.”
Only then did An Zi Yan look directly at Mai Ding. Their eyes met, though this was hardly a moment that called for embarrassment or romance. An Zi Yan made the expression of somebody who had only just remembered. Mai Ding flung the mop at him and planted both hands on his hips. “You forgot again?! I knew you’d forget.”
“If you knew I’d forget, why did you ask me to buy it?”
“I—I only—” Mai Ding suddenly felt slightly guilty, then immediately realized something was wrong. He walked over and looked down at An Zi Yan on the sofa. “You’re the one who forgot, and somehow you’re acting like you’re right? Believe me, you’re being punished. No dinner for you tonight.”
An Zi Yan shrugged.
“I’m serious. Don’t think I’ll go soft. If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll really start believing I’m easy to bully.”
An Zi Yan pushed away Mai Ding’s face as it drew closer and closer. “Hurry up and mop. You’re blocking the television.”
“Am I your servant or your lover?!” Mai Ding pouted and went to retrieve the mop.
“Both.”
“Then you’re my chauffeur and my bank.” Mai Ding immediately countered.
An Zi Yan did not even get angry. “Exactly. We each get what we need. You’re not losing anything.”
Once An Zi Yan put it that way, Mai Ding actually thought it sounded reasonable. This arrangement seemed pretty fair after all, so he cheerfully went off to do the laundry and cook. Who knew what exactly these two had built their relationship upon?
An Zi Yan and Mai Ding, Mai Ding and An Zi Yan—they were also only an ordinary couple who could feel warm inside because of the smallest thing.
Mai Ding stood downstairs staring furiously into the distance. An Su had borrowed the car. An Su had also borrowed An Zi Yan. The only thing she had left behind was Mai Ding. Apparently something had happened at An Su’s workplace and she needed An Zi Yan’s advice, but just as Mai Ding had been preparing to climb into the car, An Su had sped away and left him standing in a cloud of dust. An Zi Yan had not even stopped her. Mai Ding felt deeply neglected.
He returned to the apartment alone and furious, then took his frustrations out on An Zi Yan’s piano, rubbing his hands all over it like some deranged pervert molesting the instrument. Roughly two hours later, Mai Ding’s phone rang. Seeing that the caller was Classmate An, Mai Ding tossed his head. So now you finally remember to call me? I refuse to answer. I’ll let you panic, you shameless bastard. That’s what you get for leaving with another woman. Just as An Zi Yan was about to hang up, Mai Ding answered and pretended not to care. “Oh, isn’t this An Zi Yan? What do you want? I’m very busy.”
“I see. Then keep working.”
“W-wait! Tell me what you wanted first. Otherwise you’ll accuse me of having no respect for you because I didn’t even listen.”
“Ride the bicycle over to An Su’s company and pick me up.” By “bicycle,” An Zi Yan meant the one Mai Ding had given his mother for her birthday. In the end, Mai Ding’s mother had returned it because there was supposedly no room at home to store it, something that had depressed Mai Ding for ages.
“Fine, I know.”
Just as An Zi Yan was about to hang up, Mai Ding stopped him again. “Hey, aren’t you going to remind me of anything?”
“Remind you of what?”
“Like telling me to be careful on the road and watch the traffic lights. That’s basic courtesy, okay?”
“Mm. Then be careful not to splatter blood on the bicycle.”
“AN ZI YAN! You’re cursing me!”
An Zi Yan had already hung up.
Half an hour later, Mai Ding arrived drenched in sweat. What a spoiled young master. If you don’t have a car, haven’t you heard of buses or taxis? Why do you specifically need me to pick you up? Though really, Mai Ding, nobody was forcing you to come either.
An Zi Yan was already outside An Su’s company, and he was not alone. An Su was there as well, along with a beautiful woman sitting in a sports car. An Su loved taking her younger brother out and showing him off. After all, having a younger brother whom practically everyone adored did wonders for her pride, even if his personality had become increasingly twisted.
“I knew you’d definitely be able to solve it, but—”
“Try talking in that voice one more time.”
“Lend me your car for a few more days. Mine is broken. How could you bear to make your beloved sister walk everywhere? Pleeease?” An Su twisted coquettishly beside An Zi Yan.
That sugary Lin Chi Ling-style voice had never been capable of moving An Zi Yan. The woman in the sports car spoke instead. “Handsome An, want me to give you a ride? The plum blossoms near my house happen to be blooming. They’re beautiful.”
Elio’s Notes: Lin Chi Ling is a Taiwanese model and actress particularly famous for her soft, sweet, high-pitched speaking voice.
“No.”
The woman still refused to give up. “Don’t be shy. I’m your sister’s coworker anyway.”
Mai Ding laboriously pedaled the bicycle over and immediately said to the woman, “He doesn’t like admiring plum blossoms. The only flower he likes admiring is a chrysanthemum.”
Only the perpetually serious-looking Mai Ding could say something this filthy with such a straight face.
An Su folded her arms and looked sideways at her impossibly ordinary brother-in-law. “You only have one chrysanthemum. What’s so interesting about admiring it? Besides, it blooms all year round.”
Elio’s Notes: “Chrysanthemum” (菊花) is a crude joking euphemism for the anus, turning “admiring flowers” into a sexual pun.
Mai Ding pouted when he looked at An Su and wisely stopped talking. He remained instinctively afraid of her. Ever since the time An Su had gotten naked and pinned him onto the bed, the incident had become a lifelong psychological shadow.
An Zi Yan frowned and tried his best to ignore the indecent conversation. He walked toward Mai Ding. “Why did you take so long?”
“You should be grateful I came at all.”
“Move to the back.”
Mai Ding climbed off the bicycle. An Zi Yan took the handlebars, planted one foot on the ground, and straddled the seat. Mai Ding jumped onto the rear rack and grabbed An Zi Yan’s sleeve. The woman in the sports car watched them curiously. “Who’s this kid?”
Usually someone nearby would answer that sort of question. Even if An Zi Yan himself answered, it would normally be something along the lines of none of your fucking business. Before An Su could speak, however, An Zi Yan answered first.
“This kid is Mai Ding. Mine.”
He said it casually, pushed off, and rode away. The setting sun stretched their shadows impossibly long behind the bicycle. Something surged inside Mai Ding, an emotion he could neither describe nor conceal. Still, he poked An Zi Yan in the back. “Who belongs to you? Have you no shame?”
“Then who do you belong to?”
“I don’t belong to anybody. I belong to the country. I used to want to join the military, but I didn’t pass the physical. Now I’m preparing to join the Party.”
“Mm. Do whatever you want. There’s only one thing I want.”
“What?”
“Don’t give your chrysanthemum to the country. Leave it for me to admire whenever I’m in the mood.”
“AN ZI YAN!” Mai Ding slammed his head against An Zi Yan’s back and sank his teeth viciously into him.
An Zi Yan stopped the bicycle outside a Korean barbecue restaurant. Mai Ding’s eyes immediately lit up. “How did you know I’ve been craving this lately?”
“You say it ten times a day. It’d be harder not to know.”
“Oh, you devil. I was only mentioning it casually. You actually remembered.” An innocent smile covered Mai Ding’s face while inside he celebrated the success of his sinister little scheme.
An Zi Yan said nothing and walked inside. Mai Ding happily trotted after him and linked his arm through An Zi Yan’s. “An Zi Yan, you’re the best.”
An Zi Yan’s expression remained blank, but what could possibly make someone feel more smug and warm than hearing that simple affirmation from the person they loved?
Mai Ding complained that An Zi Yan had the temperament of an overprivileged young master. An Zi Yan thought Mai Ding nagged far too much.
Yet neither had ever truly grown tired of the other. The irritating habits between them were indulged, spoiled, and quietly cherished by the person beside them.
An Zi Yan and Mai Ding, Mai Ding and An Zi Yan—they fought over small things like any ordinary couple and could feel warm inside because of one sentence from the other. They fell in love like everyone else, yet somehow they were special too. They would not separate. No matter how much more time they still had to spend together, they would never grow tired of it. What was that? It seemed to be love. And little by little, as it fermented and deepened, love became a habit.
Mai Ding waited. He waited patiently, remaining beside An Zi Yan.
A promise you made with your own mouth should be fulfilled by you personally.
Just wait and see. Let’s find out which one of us can love the other longer.
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