The following evening, still at the little cabin beneath the Rocky Mountains, Mr. Ling and Yan Xiaodao hosted a private gathering for close friends. The pine-scented warmth of the fire filled the cabin’s living room.
Starting around noon, cars began arriving one after another along the mountain road, laboring over patches of slick ice.
Mr. Yan spent the whole afternoon taking rescue calls. First Liu Huizhen phoned to say that Mao Zhixiu had driven their four-wheel-drive SUV into a ditch beside a creek.
Yan Xiaodao was startled. “Into the creek? Are you two all right?”
Liu Huizhen said, “We’re fine. The creek is frozen over, so we climbed out. We’ll just have to trouble you later, Mr. Yan, to help pull the car back out of the ditch…”
These girls really did give Mr. Yan plenty to worry about. Ever chivalrous and softhearted toward women, he hurriedly threw on his coat, went outside, and brought the two of them in.
Not long afterward, Su Zhe called. “Mr. Yan, save me! I, I, I can’t get in!”
Yan Xiaodao asked, “Where did you fall this time?”
“I didn’t fall anywhere. I haven’t even gotten into the mountains! My little car can’t make it!”
Immortal Mao snatched the phone away and scolded him. “A-Zhe, you brainless thing, you’re always dragging everyone down! You knew we were heading into the mountains and you still drove that ridiculous toy car. Were you planning to carry it in on your back?”
Su Zhe shouted, “I don’t care! Mr. Yan, hurry up and come get me. I’m still at the gas station in town!”
So Yan Xiaodao personally drove back into town and collected the troublesome Su Zhe. All the way home, he listened to Su Zhe chatter beside his ear about recently opening a French café and breakfast shop in Denver, becoming his own little boss, making some money, and planning to find a dependable husband as soon as possible so he could live a sweet married life.
Little Su had changed his hairstyle again, this time covering his head in tiny braids.
Yan Xiaodao asked, “How do you wash your hair like that?”
Su Zhe said, “You use a cleansing solution once every two weeks. You can’t wash it normally or you’ll ruin the style. It costs six hundred dollars every time I get it done.”
Yan Xiaodao frowned. “Wonderful. Six hundred dollars just to make yourself look like that…”
Su Zhe grinned. “One of these days I’ll introduce Mr. Ling to my stylist. His hair is even longer than mine. He’d look amazing with this style!”
Yan Xiaodao rejected the idea instantly. “Absolutely not.”
Su Zhe gazed out at the lake and mountains, twirling one of his braids as he sighed from the heart. “If even Mr. Ling managed to marry himself off successfully, then I can definitely get married too.”
……
The gathering was a casual Western-style family meal. Ling He moved efficiently around the kitchen, filling the long table in the living room with all kinds of tempting snacks. The aroma of charcoal-grilled veal and baby octopus mingled with pine resin, Burgundy wine, and hot black tea, leaving the whole cabin pleasantly warm and almost intoxicating on that winter evening.
Four-Fat peered through the warm, red-glowing window glass. Two black-bean eyes stared inside, eagerly awaiting his late-night feeding.
The guests were all close friends Ling He had made during his years in North America. Yan Xiaodao looked around and realized he knew almost everyone in the room. Ever since the fight at Linwan Pier, they had traded blows and blood, gone from enemies to allies, and crossed north and south together. Every face was familiar now.
Everyone clinked glasses, drank, caught up, and gathered in a circle for Texas Hold’em.
Near the living-room bar, a slender young man with a cool expression worked with sleepy-looking efficiency. In moments, he had prepared two cups of coffee. He handed one to Ling He and gestured toward Yan Xiaodao with the other. “Mr. Yan, soy lattes for you and Mr. Ling.”
Yan Xiaodao strolled over and accepted the coffee appreciatively. “Excellent work.”
The young man gave him a cool glance from beneath lowered lids. “Your eyesight is terrible.”
A short, chubby girl in glasses walked past carrying a garbage bag from the kitchen and added, “Mr. Yan, after you finish the coffee, don’t forget there’s mango milk tea for dessert. The boss ordered it especially for you.”
The background noise to Mr. Yan’s evening was now an entire room mercilessly mocking him. Mao Zhixiu sat with both legs propped over the arm of the sofa, looking utterly at ease. After laughing herself breathless, she hurried to defend him. “Don’t get too smug. Mr. Yan just can’t be bothered exposing your secrets! Is Mr. Yan afraid of the two of you staking out his company entrance? Of course not. Surveillance is simply a form of romance between husbands. It’s fun!”
The whole room immediately began heckling again, demanding that Mr. Yan and Mr. Ling explain exactly what sort of romantic entertainment “surveillance” was supposed to be.
Ling He dried his hands and sauntered out of the kitchen, elegant as ever. He said nothing, but the hooked look he sent Yan Xiaodao said everything for him: The pleasure of following, spying, and listening in is that you can stand before me in a suit looking perfectly respectable, Mr. Yan, while in my eyes you have never worn a stitch. I see straight through you. I know everything about you. Every part of you belongs to me.
Of course, Ling He no longer played those tedious surveillance and eavesdropping games. At the root of it, his mentality and way of life had changed. He no longer had the same unhealthy psychological need for them. Yan Xiaodao was beside him now. They lived together, saw each other from morning to night, and were practically inseparable. What was he supposed to do, bug one room from the next?
The two sat together on the same sofa. Where no one else could see, beside his thigh, Yan Xiaodao wrapped a hand around Ling He’s wrist. “You worked hard today.”
Ling He smiled faintly. “What exactly did I work hard at?”
Yan Xiaodao thought that having someone like Ling He at home was an extraordinary luxury. Once you managed to peel away that unapproachable mask and hard shell, strip off the illusion and expose the truth underneath, Ling He was intelligent, capable, efficient, and nearly perfect as a life partner.
“The cornmeal pizza was good. Different from what you get outside.”
“How many pieces did you eat?”
“There were six slices in that pan, right? I ate half. Delicious! Hurry up and have some.”
“It was vegetarian pizza with eggplant, onion, and peas. No meat. You ate half of it. Have you gone vegan?”
“You made it… I could smell your meat.”
By the time everyone was pleasantly half drunk, night had fallen outside while the cabin remained brilliantly lit. Slow, swaying soul music played from the jukebox. Captain Mao started throwing meaningful looks around again, rallying the crowd to demand that Ling He and Yan Xiaodao dance.
Mao Zhixiu said, “None of us have ever seen it. Come on, dance one!”
Liu Huizhen said, “We heard Mr. Yan asked Mr. Ling to tango at the company. We want to see too.”
Ling He gave a cold laugh and corrected her. “I asked him.”
Su Zhe said, “Then this time Mr. Yan should take the initiative!”
Mao Zhixiu said, “Quit being coy. Be men about it. We want tango!”
Yan Xiaodao was not coy at all. He stood first. Wearing an easy, handsome smile, he wandered half a circle through the room, repeatedly checking Ling He’s expression while rolling the sleeves of his cashmere sweater up to his elbows.
Every now and then Yan Xiaodao rubbed his nose. His gaze wandered beneath his lashes and occasionally flicked toward the windows. From Ling He’s perspective, those tiny expressions meant either a guilty conscience or some hidden agenda.
Yan Xiaodao was not the only one whose eyes kept darting around, whose mouth carried a secretive smile, and who communicated through little gestures. Everyone in the room looked exactly the same. The sight made Ling He even more suspicious. What is Yan Xiaodao planning?
At precisely the right moment, the jukebox switched to a South American tango. Yan Xiaodao walked toward Ling He with unusual solemnity and tenderness, then pulled him up from the sofa.
The room was honestly too small for dancing. The living room was already cramped before the furniture and guests packed it full, leaving almost no room to turn. Many people had already flattened themselves against the walls or climbed onto the sofas, voluntarily clearing space for the evening’s main attraction.
The cabin ceiling was lower than most. A simple hanging lamp swayed faintly above Yan Xiaodao’s head, making him feel as though the overactive thing might smack him in the face at any second. Warm yellow light spilled over both men’s shoulders and cast beautiful layers of shadow across Ling He’s face, sharply defined and irresistibly striking.
There were advantages to a small room too. They had no choice but to press their chests closer and tangle their legs more tightly, making every step more intimate. Ling He’s leg repeatedly brushed Xiaodao’s knee as the tango beat hammered at their hearts and their bodies were allowed to speak freely. For one brief moment Yan Xiaodao forgot himself. The hand supporting Ling He’s lower back stroked him heavily, while Ling He’s fingers clearly found the hollow at the back of Yan’s neck and slipped teasingly along the edge of his sweater collar.
Yan Xiaodao had taken the initiative this time, finally giving himself the chance to dance the lead. Surprisingly, Ling He did not fight him for it and obediently followed. With so little room, they dispensed with the spins altogether. They simply shifted their hips, moved their legs, stepped back, then forward again, so practiced that their bodies seemed naturally made to fit. The close, heated movements made everyone around them gasp and shout. Now this was something worth seeing.
The last time they had danced at the company, everything between them had been secretive. They had pretended restraint even in the way they looked at each other. This time they were declaring themselves openly before everyone, with nothing left to hide.
Yan Xiaodao stared into Ling He’s eyes and nearly felt his soul pulled clean out by that pair of pale green irises, drowning in deep water. He wrapped an arm firmly around Ling He’s waist and guided him forward. Ling He followed the pressure, bending backward in a deep dip as his long hair suddenly spilled toward the floor, breathtaking.
Ling He straightened again, and the ends of his hair sprang up and brushed across Yan Xiaodao’s face. Wherever their gazes collided, sparks seemed to burst.
The song ended, but neither was ready to stop. Their fingers remained intertwined, unwilling to separate. They could dance like this for a lifetime and never grow tired.
Their clinging fingers finally parted. Ling He sat back down on the sofa, but Yan Xiaodao remained standing in the middle of the room.
Ling He repeatedly studied the preoccupied man from below. He really is up to something today.
Mao Zhixiu winked at Liu Huizhen and Su Zhe. The show is starting.
A handsome smile appeared at Yan Xiaodao’s lips. He snapped his fingers toward the yard.
The snap was a signal. Someone nearby quietly opened the glass door leading from the living room to the porch, leaving a narrow gap.
The moment the glass door opened, Four-Fat shot through the crack. His fluffy tail swayed behind him as he darted around in search of treasure. He was an extremely well-fed and happy squirrel. When he stood upright, his soft belly sagged so heavily that anyone who did not know better might assume he was pregnant. In reality, he was very much a male squirrel. He simply ate too much every day because his owners provided absurdly good Chinese and Western food.
Someone had secretly scattered a trail of hazelnut powder all the way from the porch into the living room, luring Four-Fat along the predetermined route. The squirrel came charging in, licking up the hazelnut powder as he went.
Yan Xiaodao held a cashew in his palm. Dragging his considerable belly behind him, Four-Fat climbed over Yan’s shoes, hauled himself up his trouser leg, and finally reached his hand, panting hard. He snatched the cashew in one bite.
Yan Xiaodao shot him a look. Where’s the thing?
Four-Fat rolled his glassy eyes at him. What thing? I want the cashew.
Yan Xiaodao: The important thing you were supposed to bring me!
Four-Fat: To hell with that. Lord Four wants cashews. More!
Yan Xiaodao bared his teeth silently. Go back and get it, or you’re not getting another one.
Four-Fat tumbled all the way down Yan Xiaodao’s trouser leg, slipped back through the crack in the glass door, then returned a short while later carrying something. He stuffed it into Yan Xiaodao’s hand.
Yan Xiaodao looked down. In exchange, Four-Fat had brought him half of a pinecone with one side already chewed away. The squirrel had grown tired of eating it and apparently wanted to trade the leftovers for superior human snacks.
Four-Fat stretched out his paws and squealed. Cashew!
Yan Xiaodao finally lost patience. Where the hell is the treasure I told you to bring me? We trained for half the day yesterday and you did perfectly. Now, at the crucial moment, you’re screwing me over?
Everyone in the room collapsed. Ling He covered half his face with one hand. He had already realized exactly what Yan Xiaodao was trying to do, but how could anyone entrust something like this to a lazy, gluttonous, stubborn creature like Four-Fat?
Mr. Yan, did you honestly think Four-Fat possessed the intelligence, emotional awareness, and obedience of Bear Two and Third Lady, the Alaskan Malamutes you had raised for years? This was a fat squirrel. He was not an Alaskan Malamute. He did not follow commands.
One of the younger men slipped outside to investigate, then came racing back with a look of horror, desperately signaling Yan Xiaodao with his eyes. It’s gone. Lost.
Yan Xiaodao stared. Lost?
Ling He looked even more shocked. Lost?!
Ling He could no longer bear it and stood up. His expression was so complicated that he seemed to swallow an entire breath of frustration, clearly tempted to bite Mr. Yan.
Yan Xiaodao’s expression was even more complicated. He strode out of the living room, ignoring the cold, and rushed toward Four-Fat’s little shelter beneath the porch. He climbed up, reached into the entrance of the squirrel’s deluxe private house, and felt around inside. He pulled out broken cashews, screws, glass marbles, and assorted treasures, but not the object he was looking for.
Now he was truly screwed.
Four-Fat had already scampered away in delight, bounding across the snow and rolling around happily in the thin white layer covering the yard.
Ling He hurried out of the living room, pulled Yan Xiaodao down from the ladder, and stared directly into his eyes. “What did you hide?”
Yan Xiaodao struggled to maintain his smile. “You’ll know when you see it.”
Ling He held out one hand. “Give it to me. I want to see.”
Yan Xiaodao said helplessly, “Let me find it first.”
Ling He snapped, “Where did it go?!”
They both understood perfectly without either one saying it aloud. But knowing Ling He’s temper, if they could not find the thing he wanted tonight, he would probably tear Four-Fat apart first and then pin Yan Xiaodao to the bed and have his way with him to vent his frustration.
Everyone lit lamps and candles and charged into the freezing yard together, hunting Four-Fat and searching for the treasure.
Squirrels had a habit of digging deep holes and storing good things for winter. Tonight that instinct was going to kill Yan Xiaodao. How were they supposed to find anything?
“Where did he hide it?”
“He could dig a hole beside any tree or in any corner of the yard and bury it there.”
“Maybe we should wait until summer when all the snow melts. Four-Fat will dig the treasure back up himself!”
“It’s over. Mr. Yan’s ‘Four-Fat Plan A’ is going to be delayed for another few months…”
……
Four-Fat ran one cheerful circuit along the porch, then quietly slipped back inside. Drawn by the warm glow filling the house, he felt a profound attachment to the human warmth within and an equally profound sorrow over the lonely tragedy of being a single squirrel. He jumped across a tray of lemon cheesecake, hopped down from the kitchen counter, and scampered into his two masters’ bedroom.
Ling He locked onto the conspicuous target of Four-Fat’s enormous tail and charged into the bedroom after him. “Where did you hide my thing?”
Four-Fat bounced once, twice. Stupid human food-provider. Catch me if you can.
Ling He kicked off his slippers and chased Four-Fat around the bedroom barefoot.
He weaponized a pillow and struck Four-Fat’s tail with perfect accuracy, instantly disabling the squirrel’s helicopter rotor. Four-Fat dropped onto the bed in free fall with a heavy thump.
Ling He lunged with the force of someone sweeping an entire battlefield, diving headfirst onto the bed just in time to watch Four-Fat leap neatly through the gap between his arms.
The phone in his trouser pocket chimed. Someone was requesting a WeChat video call.
The moment Ling He saw that the video call had come from across the ocean, half the murderous energy he had been using to fight the squirrel immediately vanished. His tone switched instantly to that of the obedient son-in-law. “Mom?”
Madam Yan was still not very skilled with WeChat video. She kept adjusting the camera, searching for the best angle so she could see Ling He clearly. “Xiaohe, what are you doing?”
Ling He regretted opening video the moment he answered. He should have accepted audio only. Now his mother-in-law was going to inspect him from head to toe again.
Madam Yan’s eyes lit up at the sight of Ling He. “I know your friends are visiting today, Xiaohe. Are you having fun?”
Ling He was still half sprawled across the bed. “Mm, it’s been nice. How are you, Mom?”
“Huh? Where are you? Didn’t you say a lot of friends were coming over?”
“Oh. I’m in my room. The bedroom.”
“Oh… the bedroom. Oh…”
Ling He sensed danger and hurriedly corrected himself. “Well, not exactly the bedroom. I…”
At that exact moment, Yan Xiaodao pushed open the door with absolutely no awareness of the situation, lunged onto the bed, and landed astride Ling He’s waist. His enormous face sailed straight into camera range.
Ling He reacted instantly and shoved Yan Xiaodao away.
Yan Xiaodao caught sight of the familiar, kindly face on the screen, turned, and fled in panic, rolling clean off the bed with remarkable efficiency.
Madam Yan had already seen him. “Oh, Xiaodao is there too.”
Ling He said, “He isn’t.”
Ling He turned his head and silently mouthed at Yan Xiaodao: Go catch that bastard Four-Fat!
One man was on the bed and the other on the floor, conducting an entire conversation through gestures. Madam Yan understood perfectly. “All right, all right. I just wanted to see whether you two were doing well. I won’t bother you. You’re both grown men already, honestly…”
Ling He quickly turned back. “Mom, you’re not bothering us.”
By then Yan Xiaodao had chased Four-Fat under the bed. No one knew where the squirrel had gone, but the whole bed shook beneath Ling He as though it were about to be overturned.
Ling He slid awkwardly down to the floor. Four-Fat shot past his arms, tail spread wide, and escaped again. One second later, Yan Xiaodao came crawling out from beneath the bed and rammed into Ling He’s waist, making him grunt.
From the limited view available through the camera, Madam Yan saw Ling He with his hair in disarray and his brows faintly drawn, his waist apparently being bumped from behind by someone she could not see. Then half of Yan Xiaodao’s sweaty face appeared over Ling He’s shoulder.
Madam Yan remained perfectly composed and smiled with exquisite tact. “I think I’ll hang up after all. I won’t disturb the two of you.
“You two shouldn’t overwork yourselves. You’re still young, but take care of your health or you’ll regret it when you’re older.
“I’m not there with you, so I can’t make soup and good food every day. Xiaohe, remember to stew some Chinese yam and pork-kidney soup. Both of you should drink it. That one really works…”
Outside the camera’s view, Ling He roughly shoved Yan Xiaodao back under the bed with one hand.
Ling He finally ended his mother-in-law’s routine inspection and immediately ordered Yan Xiaodao, “Four-Fat comes into our bedroom all the time. What if he hid it in here? Search!”
The two launched another carpet search, practically excavating the bedroom down to its foundations. They looked like a married couple in the middle of a fight, hunting for each other’s secret stash of money. They even pulled apart the gaps beside the mattress and checked the heating vents.
Inside a book box in the bedside cabinet, Yan Xiaodao found an Eight of Characters mahjong tile. It looked extremely familiar. Its edges and corners had been worn smooth, perhaps from being held and licked in someone’s mouth far too often.
Excitement and tenderness flashed through Yan Xiaodao’s eyes. “You still kept it?”
Ling He snatched away the mahjong tile, that cherished token of love. “Mine. Don’t touch it without permission.”
Yan Xiaodao smiled with smug satisfaction. “If you like it that much, I’ll give you a few more to play with.”
Ling He sneered. “Just wait. Tonight I’ll make you eat this one.”
Yan Xiaodao laughed without the slightest fear. “Why so vicious with me? Where are you planning to feed it to me?”
“You tell me.” Ling He stared at him. “Where are you itching? Where are you hungry?”
Even while trading idle insults, they still had not found the ultimate treasure. Their eyes swept left and right, passed over the seductive sight of Four-Fat dangling by his huge tail from the curtain rod, then finally settled on the large chandelier overhead.
The chandelier cast a soft, layered light that illuminated all four walls.
Yan Xiaodao looked around. He needed a chair to stand on.
Ling He walked directly beneath the chandelier and crouched down, signaling: Up, up, up.
Barefoot, Yan Xiaodao stepped onto Ling He’s shoulders while Ling He steadied his calves. Leaning upward, Yan felt around the top of the chandelier and found, tucked into the center of its brass candle-shaped frame, a dark red velvet box that Four-Fat had hidden there for the winter.