The group drank happily. Even when they left, they were still exchanging hugs outside the izakaya and arranging to meet at the vineyard the next day to keep talking.
The last time Pei Yan had shown up uninvited at Zhuang Xiao’s house, he had come to pick a fight. This time he had arrived uninvited again, but his mood could not have been more different, and Zhuang Xiao’s house was far quieter than before. It was a secluded mansion halfway up a hill on the edge of the city. At night, a few small lights glowed in the courtyard, and alternating bands of brightness and shadow rippled over the swimming pool like fish scales.
"So those brothers of yours don’t actually live with you?" Pei Yan wandered freely through the vast living room.
"No." Zhuang Xiao said, "They’ve all got their own places. Most of them usually work on sets all over back home, making a living. Xiao-Sa is back home too."
"Then last time I came, why the hell were all of them at your house, bottled up and waiting to beat me?!" Pei Yan still held a grudge.
"You were unlucky last time. That was the one day everybody happened to be here, all bottled up and waiting to beat you!" Zhuang Xiao laughed.
"Fuck…" Pei Yan moved through the living room like he knew the place already and sat down on the familiar sofa.
"You dripped two drops of blood on this sofa last time. I cleaned them off," Zhuang Xiao said.
"Oh? Let me see. Can you still find any trace of your grandpa here?" Pei Yan immediately got up and crouched in front of the sofa to inspect it. The wound on his earlobe had healed long ago, leaving a pale little scar where it had once split. Memories that carried even a faint smell of blood now seemed sweet to him.
The sofa was dark gray. How could there possibly be any bloodstain left? Like a man possessed, he leaned in and sniffed, though what he wanted to smell now was obviously no longer his own trace.
"You dripped blood on my clothes too," Pei Yan said. "Every time we meet, somebody bleeds."
Zhuang Xiao brought tea over, holding the heavy teapot in his left hand and supporting two empty cups with his injured right as he sat down.
Pei Yan glanced at him and suddenly shot a vicious heart-piercing palm toward the cups, trying to snatch them!
Zhuang Xiao dodged at once and set the teapot down between them with a clunk, but before Pei Yan could grab it, his hand pressed down on the lid.
Pei Yan refused to give up and went for the cups again. Four hands traded more than a dozen moves around that teapot. Zhuang Xiao had a competitive streak too. The pot and cups simply would not change hands, while Pei Yan kept the spout pinned so Zhuang Xiao could not pour. After all that struggling, not a drop spilled, but no tea came out either. A perfectly good pot was nearly cold…
Always waiting for each other, always ready for a silent contest. They both enjoyed it, and neither would easily admit defeat.
Pei Yan’s fingers were fierce as he caught one cup and tried to wrench it straight from Zhuang Xiao’s palm.
"One month apart and your finger work has improved," Zhuang Xiao said, watching him.
"I spent a month lying in a hospital bed. I didn’t train!" Pei Yan admitted with complete honesty. "I even got fat!"
The moment he finished, he saw the hand Zhuang Xiao had wrapped around the cup. A very thin layer of gauze still covered the palm.
Pei Yan’s hand relaxed immediately. He surrendered…
Obviously his skills had not improved. Torn muscle did not heal that easily. It had to hurt. Zhuang Xiao’s hand definitely was not as useful as before and still needed time to recover.
*
Fine. The tea could cool. They drank it cool, four legs stretched out toward the coffee table while they lounged and talked and watched movies.
Without hesitation, Pei Yan rummaged through the cabinet under the television for Zhuang Xiao’s old films and deliberately put on one award-winning movie he especially liked, the classic role of the young drifter.
The face in front of him and the face on the screen were clearly the same. Only the Zhuang Xiao of today had lost some of that youthful, fearless blood and gained the calm weathering of years.
Watching yourself act while the male lead was physically present was not especially comfortable. Zhuang Xiao frowned. "Don’t watch this. Change it…"
Pei Yan smiled. "Not changing it. None of your other movies is as good as this one. Best Actor."
"Stop watching." Zhuang Xiao shut his eyes with a frown. "I can recite how every shot was done, every move, every line."
"I can recite them too," Pei Yan said softly without meeting his eyes.
They occasionally touched lightly on family matters. Pei Yan asked, "How old were you when you started your childhood training?"
"Little." Zhuang Xiao answered, "I entered that club at nine."
What parents sent a nine-year-old child to a club to fight? Had Zhuang Xiao been an orphan from the Daliang Mountains? No. Some things could not be asked one layer deeper.
Pei Yan asked, "What happened later? After you made that movie, you still kept fighting at the club, right?"
Zhuang Xiao said, "A few more years. Then I hurt my lower back. I physically couldn’t keep fighting in the ring, so I quit."
"What about you?" Zhuang Xiao asked him in return. "Your family, why were they willing to let you enter this line of work? It’s hard, and injuries come too easily."
"I liked it," Pei Yan said carelessly. "They couldn’t stop me anyway!"
Sitting close beside Zhuang Xiao, Pei Yan turned to look at him and said with unusual seriousness, "I’ve collected a lot of your discs. Every movie you’ve ever made. I think it’s deeper than a fan liking an idol, really. How many of your star-chasing fans actually followed you into the same profession? …For me, your work was basically a textbook for getting into the industry, and a lighthouse showing me where to go."
Zhuang Xiao paused, visibly affected. "Really?"
"Really." Pei Yan nodded. "I grew up watching your movies too, okay!!"
The sincere late-night conversation instantly collapsed into laughter. There was no way to continue seriously…
Face heating, Pei Yan mocked himself and reached for the teapot. "I’m too excited meeting my life idol again. Hurry, put out the fire. Give this grandpa a pot of cool tea!"
Zhuang Xiao said, "That’s bad. I added red dates and dried longan because I thought somebody recovering from a serious illness needed to replenish blood and qi."
Pei Yan laughed. "Right. I’ve eaten too many dates already."
Pei Yan glanced toward the screen, where someone appeared bare-chested. Back then the young man’s brows and eyes still carried a trace of youth, but the clean bone structure and solid chest had already begun to reveal the sensuality of an adult man. It was dangerously attractive.
"My blood’s full. What am I supplementing…" Pei Yan rubbed his nose uncomfortably. "It’s about to overflow."
*
The next morning, Pei Yan woke in the large guest-room bed. He cracked one eye open at the sunlight coming through the window, smelled the California sunshine, and felt extremely good.
Nothing had actually happened. He had never intended for anything to happen on this trip. He had flown across the ocean to this patch of land, taking an extravagant flying taxi with a stopover, simply to see Zhuang Xiao once. He did not dare harbor improper intentions.
He could not beat the man in a fight. What else could he do? Force him?
Zhuang Xiao was obviously very straight. The way he treated Pei Yan was no different from the way he treated those younger brothers from the Zhuang Stunt Team who dropped by, bothered him, or stayed overnight. He was good to everyone, but never excessively warm.
A single man lived here, so the house was simple in its lines, furniture and decor sufficient and nothing more. Cabinets and walls displayed paintings and souvenirs brought back from shoots around the world. Pei Yan had rummaged through each one.
Like a little thief, he searched for photographs or belongings left behind by former girlfriends. He found none in the guest room or living room. The glass cabinet only held group photographs of the Zhuang Stunt Team and various trophies and medals. There were no family photos, much less traces of an ex. That gave his heart, which felt like it was frying in oil, a little comfort.
It turned out the rear deck was where Mr. Zhuang practiced every morning.
Pei Yan shot over in huge strides and almost succeeded in a surprise attack, only for Zhuang Xiao to catch him with a palm coming up beneath his arm, seize his wrist, twist him half a turn backward, and immobilize him.
Pei Yan did not use any strength. He disarmed himself first, then turned his palm and held Zhuang Xiao’s right hand. "Is the wound okay? Does it still hurt?"
Zhuang Xiao opened his palm, revealing several deep pale scars lying across it like the bones of a scorpion’s tail. Even after healing, the skin still looked unnaturally tight, with dark-red tearing around it.
"Healed. Nothing serious," Zhuang Xiao said.
Zhuang Xiao obviously was not going to complain afterward, and Pei Yan did not want to spill a lot of sentimental gratitude either. Between the two of them, there would be plenty of time ahead.
A wooden dummy stood on the deck.
"Wing Chun’s 108 wooden-dummy techniques?" Pei Yan’s eyes flashed as he raised his lids.
Zhuang Xiao nodded. Standing before the wooden dummy, he casually ran through all 108 techniques. His palms and wrists cut, chopped, rubbed, and struck in flawless sequence, so fluid it dazzled the eyes.
"I’m here and you’re still using that fake wooden dummy? Then what am I for?" Pei Yan grinned at him and formally took his place in front of Zhuang Xiao.
Under the morning light, in the garden halfway up the hill, wind chimes stirred gently beneath the porch while the grass in the back garden glowed green.
Both men wore fitted white tops and the simplest black practice trousers. Their eyes met, they saluted, and both raised their hands into stance…
Wrist met wrist, then forearm and shoulder. Bone and muscle struck together with hard, ringing force… Deep beneath the collision of flesh, thought and emotion blended at a more profound level, merging into the world around them.
Only neither knew how much of what each was feeling happened, by coincidence, to quietly overlap with the other.
For one moment, Pei Yan fell into a daze, morning light flowing from the bottom of his eyes. For him, this was the harmonious, peaceful life he dreamed of, the man he wanted to see every morning when he woke.
There was an activity room on the second floor of Zhuang Xiao’s house, with some ordinary exercise equipment and a pool table in the middle. His brothers probably came over often to play.
At one point, a younger teammate living nearby called his ge and said he needed to come pick up some equipment. Zhuang Xiao simply told him to enter through the front door. The key was in the little box by the entrance.
People came and went casually. The owner did not even bother going to the front hall to open the door.
Pei Yan secretly glanced over from beside the glass door to the backyard. The visitor never noticed that somebody had actually spent the night at Zhuang Xiao’s house.
After their morning practice, both men were exhilarated, sweat not yet dry, and went upstairs to play pool.
Pei Yan prowled around the room carrying a cue. "You deliberately pick the moment my hands are shaking most to make me play pool with you?!"
In fact, he had clearly been the one who suggested playing. Anything was fine as long as they were doing something together.
"Already shaking? Low on salt or calcium?" Zhuang Xiao laughed at him.
"Don’t underestimate me. I’m damn good at pool!" Pei Yan said.
"You’re still too light. Not enough muscle strength," Zhuang Xiao told him.
"Not enough muscle? I’ve got plenty when I take my clothes off," Pei Yan said. "I just haven’t taken them off yet."
They traded nonsense back and forth as they took turns with the cue. Brightly colored balls drew invisible patterns over the dark-green felt and struck the table edges with quiet clicks. What they were really knocking around was mood.
Pei Yan had barely finished saying "I’m damn good at pool" when he sank his own cue ball. "Fuck… who played that shot…"
His mind was no longer on the game. Every time he struck, the ball seemed headed for Zhuang Xiao’s waist.
Zhuang Xiao then cleared the table without mercy.
Pei Yan slowly collapsed forward with a bang, sprawled himself over the table, and occupied more than half of it. He spread his arms and blocked several pockets at the rail like an utter cheat. "You’re amazing. Come on, shoot. Let’s see how you sink anything now."
Zhuang Xiao stared at him. A grin suddenly burst across his mouth. He was bad too. Without warning, he jabbed the cue.
A red ball shot straight toward the exposed hollow of Young Hero Pei’s armpit. There was no time to dodge. It hit dead center. With an "ah," Pei Yan curled violently as though his entire body had cramped…
Pei Yan grabbed the red ball and hurled it straight back. You dare bully me?!
Sharp-eyed and quick-handed, Zhuang Xiao caught it in the air and made as if to throw it back. Pei Yan covered his head, rolled off the pool table, and slid directly underneath it.
Zhuang Xiao had never actually released the ball. It was heavy. Who would seriously throw a pool ball at someone?
Pei Yan crawled sideways beneath the table with remarkable agility, then suddenly rose again right in front of Zhuang Xiao…
They were much too close. Face to face, eye to eye, chests nearly touching.
The light in their eyes met without any possible escape and clung there, already crossing the boundary that should exist between men. For one startled instant, Zhuang Xiao instinctively began to pull away. Before he could, Mr. Pei, jumpy as a startled bird, retreated first…
The phone rang. Liang Youhui was probably still not satisfied after last night’s fun and wanted to meet again for morning tea.
"Perfect. We didn’t eat enough breakfast anyway. Let’s go have tea." Zhuang Xiao headed downstairs, peeling off his sweat-damp white shirt as he walked and tossing it into the laundry basket in the corner before putting on a clean black one, basically the exact same cut.
A beautiful flash of bare skin passed in front of Pei Yan.
Pei Yan lowered his eyes and did his best to hold himself steady, silently following behind Zhuang Xiao with light steps, obedient as a house cat raised in this home.
People were always like this. The more genuinely they liked somebody, the more cowardly they became…
The Cantonese seafood restaurant in town served morning tea, and Liang Youhui, glowing with good spirits, treated them. Several people sat around a round table drinking tea, eating dim sum, and talking.
Pei Yan casually asked, "What part of Tianjin do you hang around in? Which district?"
Liang Youhui said, "Binhai New Area, right by the sea. That new development across from the Public Security Bureau building."
"Why live somewhere like that?" Pei Yan sneered. "You don’t dare do anything bad, do you?"
"Don’t dare do anything," Liang Youhui said, grinning until his big eyes narrowed. "Security’s great right in front of the police bureau. Nobody breaks in. And family members can visit work conveniently."
Pei Yan thought, Fuck, here we go again. Another round of showing off the romance. Get the hell out of here.
It was at this moment that Zhuang Xiao received a call from his agent. Something urgent had come up and they needed to talk.
Zhuang Xiao lightly nudged the person beside him with an elbow. "I’ve got something to handle. I’m heading over. You guys keep having fun."
Pei Yan was a little disappointed. "Busy…? If you’re going to set, I’ll go too.
"Oh, not going to set? Then… I’ll go back to your house and wait for you?"
Zhuang Xiao said, "Let Youhui keep you company. Go walk around the beach! The bay here is beautiful."
Pei Yan thought, Not as beautiful as you.
Liang Youhui was the truly enthusiastic type, mouth never stopping. He pulled up several popular tourist spots on his phone and said he could take Pei Yan out on a yacht to fish. Pei Yan made no commitment. Who the hell needs Young Master Liang to keep me company? Look at that smug face of a man in love. Your partner is a cop, right? Who the fuck can’t guess? Showing off in front of all us single dogs? This grandpa is nothing but a lonely single dog bleeding from all seven orifices. I’m not trying to sleep with you. What the hell am I supposed to talk to you about?
Pei Yan rested a hand on the table and sipped from his teacup, watching Zhuang Xiao walk out…
Zhuang Xiao drove away, wearing a headset in the car. On the other end of the line, usually mild-tempered Fatty Bao had already exploded.
"Boss, I heard Mr. Pei came over again, and this time he came specifically to see you? Is he with you right now?" Bao Pengzhi asked.
"Came yesterday. Stayed at my house. What about it?" Zhuang Xiao said.
"He stayed at our house last night?!" Bao Pengzhi used "our." After all, the Zhuang Stunt Team were family. "You entertained him and gave him food and lodging too?"
"Is somebody saying something online?" Zhuang Xiao assumed people were chewing gossip and manufacturing headlines again. Friends spending time together, what could they possibly spin from that? He did not care.
"No, not that." Bao Pengzhi said, "Boss, listen. The producers and network people are going to talk to you in a while about Season Five of Knights of the Distant Stars. Our formal contract isn’t signed yet. Everything was agreed verbally, but until black ink is on white paper and you’ve signed, casting can still change. Nothing is certain. Keep that in mind."
"I’m in Hong Kong now. Old Sha and his crew just joined a production, and I was here keeping an eye on them. I’ll fly over tomorrow and talk about this myself." Bao Pengzhi then added, "Boss, you really think Pei Yan took a flying taxi all this way just to catch up and chat with you? Come on. Everybody’s this busy, schedules this tight. What do you think he came here for?"
Zhuang Xiao’s expression abruptly darkened as he drove. He said nothing.
Fatty Bao said, "Pei Yan’s team contacted the Knights production for an audition. Several people came. His company’s agents and team are already in Los Angeles. Did he tell you that? You think this kid came here on vacation?
"I guessed right, didn’t I? He definitely didn’t tell you the truth!
"Boss, wait for me to get back and talk to both sides. Don’t ask anything yet. Let me come back and handle it."
*