A faint fragrance lingered in the bedroom. Lu Sili knew nothing about aromatherapy and could only tell that it was a woody scent, damp and earthy, like a forest after rain.
“Hm? Do you want some?” Su Yuan’s gaze was unfocused. Receiving no answer, he asked a second time and reached for Lu Sili’s hand.
He missed. Only his fingertips brushed lightly across the back of Lu Sili’s hand.
It tickled a little.
But the next second, Su Yuan reached out again and caught Lu Sili’s arm. Lu Sili tugged lightly and failed to free himself, so he simply crouched beside the bed to talk.
Lu Sili said, “I’m not hungry. Do you want to take your clothes off?”
Su Yuan shook his head.
Lu Sili said, “Want me to wipe your face?”
Su Yuan shook his head again.
He merely smiled at Lu Sili, then suddenly pulled Lu Sili’s hand against his cheek. As he gently rubbed against it, it almost felt as though he left a kiss on the back of Lu Sili’s hand.
Lu Sili was tipsy too. He pulled his hand back and gave an awkward smile. “You’re drunk. Get some rest.”
Su Yuan fell asleep quickly. Lu Sili had absolutely no experience caring for a drunk person, but he took off Su Yuan’s coat and wiped his face with a warm towel. Remembering that he himself tended to vomit when drunk, he placed a trash bin beside Su Yuan’s bed.
Before leaving the room, Lu Sili took a deep breath. The fragrance in Su Yuan’s bedroom seemed almost capable of confusing his emotions. Otherwise, why did his whole body feel so hot?
He could not help murmuring, “What kind of scent is this…?”
* * *
The year-end gala ended smoothly. There were no major accidents, and the media response was quite good.
Another thing that had gone perfectly was Su Yuan attending the gala as Lu Sili’s husband and performing well.
In the days after the gala, Lu Sili met one guest after another, and no one asked about his love life anymore.
Of course, he had not forgotten his promise. As soon as the gala ended, he went to the hospital for examinations. The results were ready today, and he and Su Yuan were going to meet Luke and the nutritionist together.
Su Yuan took a day off in lieu to accompany Lu Sili to the private hospital for the results.
Only after waking did Lu Sili remember that he was not going to the office that morning. For once, he lazed around in bed for a while, playing with his phone.
Grandma had sent him a flood of messages, repeatedly telling him to listen to the doctors, listen to Su Yuan, stop treating his body like a joke, and so on. Lu Sili replied to each one.
It was not that Lu Sili did not care about his health. He simply could not have both health and work at the same time.
Now that the most important task before the New Year was finished, the weight on Lu Sili’s heart had finally lifted. He even found himself looking forward to meeting a “healthy Lu Sili.”
While reading entertainment news, a WeChat message popped up from Li Ya.
Li Ya: [You’re going to the doctor today, right?]
F&A Lu Sili: [Mm. Why?]
Li Ya: [Nothing. Just wishing you luck. Is your husband going with you?]
F&A Lu Sili: [What do you mean “your husband”? You know perfectly well what’s going on with us.]
Li Ya: [Then what am I supposed to call him?]
It was a rare moment for joking around. Smiling, Lu Sili was just about to reply when Su Yuan knocked on the door.
“Awake?”
Lu Sili lifted the blanket. “Mm.”
Su Yuan said, “Eat some breakfast and then we’ll head out.”
“Okay.” Lu Sili got out of bed, phone still in hand, and replied to Li Ya: [Call him sister-in-law.]
Elio’s Notes: The Chinese term here is 嫂子 (sǎozi), literally an older brother’s wife. Lu Sili is jokingly assigning Su Yuan the “wife” role even though Su Yuan is his husband.
Lu Sili came out still wearing his slightly curled cotton pajamas, while Su Yuan was already fully dressed, apron on, looking energetic.
“Today we’re having lotus-root starch and little meat patties. The fruit is cherries and blueberries.” As Su Yuan spoke, he pushed the dishes toward Lu Sili.
Lu Sili took a sip of water. “Thanks. Did you get the money I transferred you?”
Su Yuan gave a small laugh. “I got it. That’s a lot.”
Lu Sili said, “It’s not. Tell me if it isn’t enough.”
Lu Sili had transferred him forty thousand yuan for household expenses. He rarely cooked or tidied the house himself, but money was one thing he had plenty of.
“Oh, right. My senior is coming with us today.” Su Yuan took a bite of the freshly fried meat patty.
Lu Sili said, “Your senior?”
Su Yuan said, “Dr. Jiang. The attending physician who treated you when you were hospitalized at Municipal Hospital.”
“He’s your senior?”
“Mm. Three years ahead of me.”
The spoonful of lotus-root starch in Lu Sili’s hand stopped halfway to his mouth as he stared at Su Yuan in disbelief. Then he realized his reaction was rather rude.
He composed himself. “Ah… really? Dr. Jiang does seem very steady.”
Su Yuan smiled. “My senior sacrificed a lot for work.”
Lu Sili took a bite of the lotus-root starch. “Why is Dr. Jiang coming today?”
Lu Sili was used to private hospitals. Although he knew the Department of Secondary Sex Characteristics at Municipal Hospital was excellent, he found public-hospital procedures complicated and the privacy poor. This time, the examinations had been done at the private hospital, and Luke understood Lu Sili’s health history better and could compare the results with his previous condition.
“My senior happens to be free today,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili took another bite of lotus-root starch, chewing the nuts mixed into it. “Dr. Jiang is a pretty nice person.”
Su Yuan smiled.
“What are you smiling at?” Lu Sili asked.
“Nothing.” Su Yuan restrained his smile a little and continued eating breakfast.
On the way to the hospital, Lu Sili received a call from Wei Yuan, the head of the Production Division. Ever since returning from Hokkaido, Wei Yuan had been under tremendous pressure and wanted to meet with Lu Sili to discuss the projects scheduled to begin filming next year.
It was one of the issues Lu Sili had been worrying about too. F&A China genuinely needed several award-winning films to strengthen its position within the Asian region.
After hanging up, Lu Sili stared out the window, thinking about the problem.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yuan asked softly as he drove.
Work had nothing to do with Su Yuan, so Lu Sili brushed it off. “Work.”
“Mm.” Su Yuan responded. After a brief silence, he suddenly added, “Maybe there’s something I can help with. Or you can just talk it through. I’m a pretty seasoned film viewer, after all.”
Lu Sili turned toward him. He happened to be frustrated, and talking would not hurt, so he said, “The Asian region may establish an Asia regional office next year, but the films produced by F&A China have been fairly average. We don’t have major awards behind us, and time is tight, so I’m trying to think of a solution.”
“You don’t have major awards, but China’s box-office numbers have always been far ahead,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili replied, “Yes, but F&A isn’t a company that only looks at box office. And I’m not that old. To headquarters, I probably look more like a businessman. Without recognition from mainstream awards, that image becomes even stronger. Maybe they’re worried that if I lead the Asian region, I’ll turn it into a popcorn empire.”
After saying that, Lu Sili laughed at himself. “Of course, getting the box office to this level is impressive too.”
Su Yuan smiled, clearly agreeing.
“What about awards that aren’t quite as mainstream?”
Lu Sili looked at him.
At a red light, Su Yuan eased onto the brake and stopped before the crosswalk. “Besides the international Big Three and Big Five, there are plenty of other film festivals getting a lot of attention now. Sundance, Atlanta, Women’s Perspective, and so on. Many of them have awards that support young filmmakers.”
Lu Sili frowned slightly. “I know all of those.”
There were twenty-three seconds left on the light. Su Yuan hesitated, but still voiced his thought. “The Big Three are difficult. You can’t make a short-term sprint for them. But for F&A China, wouldn’t an image like ‘discovering many outstanding young filmmakers’ have value too?”
The light changed, and Su Yuan continued driving.
Lu Sili was smart. Those few sentences from Su Yuan gave him a great deal to think about, and he remembered his conversation with Jiang Que at the gala a few days earlier.
Lu Sili did not speak again for the rest of the drive.
F&A China was an industry leader. Instead of blindly chasing famous directors and enormous productions, it could become known for “discovering many outstanding young filmmakers” and injecting fresh blood into the film market. The idea grew clearer the longer he considered it.
Perhaps some of the weakness in the Chinese market came precisely from a lack of fresh blood. And if F&A reached out to young filmmakers who lacked resources, how could that not create a strong image for the company?
“Su Yuan.”
“Mm?”
“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to have such a distinctive perspective and so many insights about film.”
The thanks came so suddenly that Su Yuan could barely contain his delight. Smiling as he reversed the car, he said, “There’s still a lot you don’t know about me.”
Lu Sili laughed, unfastened his seat belt, and turned to study Su Yuan.
This confident, relaxed Su Yuan possessed a different kind of charm.
A thought suddenly occurred to Lu Sili. Su Yuan was like an onion: peel back one layer, and there was always another, different version underneath.
Then what is Su Yuan like at the deepest layer? What is his heart really like? Lu Sili wondered.
They had arrived at the hospital.
Luke’s assistant was already waiting in the lobby. As soon as Lu Sili and Su Yuan went upstairs, they were taken to Luke’s office.
As a high-end private hospital, every client here had someone assigned specifically to them, and the doctors’ offices even had dedicated reception areas.
“My senior will be here soon. You go in first. I’ll wait here for him,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili stopped immediately. “I’ll wait with you.”
Su Yuan said, “No need. I can stay here…”
“I’ll wait with you.” Lu Sili was firm. He said something to Luke’s assistant, then turned back to Su Yuan. “Dr. Su, do I look like I have that little emotional intelligence?”
Su Yuan: “…”
Lu Sili said, “A department director from Municipal Hospital finally gets a day off. Why would he come all the way here to consult on a patient he barely knows? Since you asked him to help, I can’t be that rude, can I?”
“Sorry.” Su Yuan dipped his head slightly and smiled, looking a little shy.
The temperature was below freezing today. Lu Sili wore an off-white crew-neck sweater and a long white down coat stuffed so thickly that he looked almost puffed up. Su Yuan wore a turtleneck and a black cashmere coat, a mature and composed outfit, but he also carried a tote bag stuffed with Lu Sili’s old reports, a thermos, disinfecting wipes, little bread rolls, and all sorts of other things, making him look like an extremely dependable dad.
Before long, Dr. Jiang arrived.
Lu Sili and Su Yuan stood up.
“Senior.” Su Yuan smiled as he went forward.
Lu Sili followed beside him and held out a hand to Dr. Jiang. “Sorry to trouble you.”
Luke, Dr. Jiang, the nutritionist, and Su Yuan.
The four of them gathered around the computer, reading the reports and discussing Lu Sili’s condition. Whenever they disagreed over medication recommendations, they argued for a while.
Lu Sili, meanwhile, curled into the sofa hugging a cushion and stared blankly into space. Occasionally he pulled out his phone to check messages, only to find there was nothing that absolutely required him. Fiona had blocked everything else for him.
Such a rare stretch of leisure. Lu Sili even wanted to sleep for a while longer.
When the discussion ended, all four of them turned to look at Lu Sili at once.
“Finished?” Lu Sili asked.
Luke said, “Mm, almost. Now we need to match you with a pheromone.”
Lu Sili said, “What pheromone?”
Dr. Jiang explained, “An artificial pheromone injection with a compatibility rate of more than ninety percent with your own pheromones.”
Lu Sili asked, “What’s it for?”
“As we gradually reduce the suppressants, your pheromone levels may fluctuate during your heat. We can’t rule out the possibility that the suppressants could fail. If that happens, you’ll need appropriate soothing,” Dr. Jiang explained.
Lu Sili stared at him in surprise. “What do you mean, appropriate soothing? Who’s supposed to soothe me?”