Under Clear Skies Chapter 102: Night Falls

Chapter 102: Night Falls

Translated by KarateChopMonkey of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

The school’s supermarket wasn’t big. After searching for a while, they found that there was no Sichuan peppercorn, of course, nor the Sichuan pickled vegetables they used to buy frequently.

In the end, they settled for a bottle of green peppercorn oil, a bag of Korean spicy cabbage, two cans of luncheon meat, a row of eggs, and a pack of five packets of instant noodles. This type of noodles was actually instant noodles, very common in the Hong Kong and Macau region, but not so much elsewhere.

Li Yuechi carried the basket and took the food from Tang Heng’s hands, putting each item in one by one. In the end, they also bought a jar of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. It was the first time Tang Heng, who had been at school for two years, realized that the supermarket sold Lao Gan Ma.

Back home, Tang Heng dug out a brand-new pot and utensils from the storage cabinet—they were so new that the packaging hadn’t even been opened. Li Yuechi raised an eyebrow and asked, “Gifts from someone else?”

“Yeah, Director Xu gave them to me when I first joined,” Tang Heng smiled somewhat sheepishly. “He said this pot is particularly useful… I haven’t tried it yet.”

Li Yuechi said, “Let’s try it today.”

There were no aprons at home, so Tang Heng casually found an old shirt and tied it around Li Yuechi’s waist. Li Yuechi patted his head casually, “You can go wait.”

Tang Heng asked, “Don’t you need my help?”

“What help could you offer?”

“…I can crack an egg.”

Li Yuechi chuckled, “Go sit for a while, it’ll be quick.”

Tang Heng walked out of the kitchen but he couldn’t bear to leave like that. He sat in the dining room chair, chin resting in his palm, his gaze fixed on Li Yuechi. Li Yuechi had his back to Tang Heng, his body blocking the view of his hands, but through the distant sounds, Tang Heng knew what he was doing.

With a crisp crack, he cracked the eggs on the stove. With a flick of his thumb, egg white and yolk poured into the bowl. He cracked four eggs, then started stirring, the wooden chopsticks clinking against the porcelain bowl. One could imagine the eggs being stirred to a delicate consistency, with tiny bubbles forming on the surface.

When the oil was hot, he poured the egg mixture into the pan, sizzling sounds filling the air as the aroma of fried eggs wafted out. Tang Heng sniffed and couldn’t help asking, “Li Yuechi, how’s the pot?”

“Not bad,” Li Yuechi’s voice mixed with the sizzling background noise. “Not sticking at all.”

Tang Heng took out his phone and silently wrote in his notes, Buy a non-stick pan for the new home.

Using a spatula, Li Yuechi cut the fried eggs into pieces and placed them aside. Then he washed the pot, then put water on, and soon the water was boiling. Tang Heng couldn’t help but come over and help him open the packaging of the instant noodles, dropping three pieces into the bubbling water. Li Yuechi shredded the pickled vegetables, cut the luncheon meat into pieces, added the eggs to the pot, then poured in the green peppercorn oil and the seasoning packets that came with the instant noodles.

The warm aroma of noodles filled the air, making Tang Heng slightly dazed. Li Yuechi covered the pot with a lid, saying somewhat regretfully, “It would be great if the supermarket had spring onions and garlic.”

Tang Heng swallowed, “It’s okay… we’ll go to the other supermarket tonight, they should have them.”

The kitchen was small, so their arms brushed against each other, they were extremely close. Li Yuechi turned his face to Tang Heng, his eyes melting like the steam rising from the pot, becoming incredibly soft.

Tang Heng’s heart raced, and he was about to reach out and wrap his arms around Li Yuechi’s neck—

Gurgle… Gurgle!

Tang Heng: “…”

They were too close, so Li Yuechi also clearly heard the rumbling sound from his stomach.

Tang Heng felt extremely embarrassed all of a sudden and could only pretend to cough lightly, “It smells so good, um, I’ll wash the dishes later.”

Li Yuechi chuckled, “Sure.”

“Are the noodles ready?”

“They should be almost done,” Li Yuechi lifted the lid and turned off the heat. “Get the bowls.”

Two large bowls were placed on the table. The instant noodles and fried eggs were golden, the luncheon meat was pink, and the Korean pickled cabbage, stripped of its chili sauce, revealed a faint green color. Tang Heng stared at the noodles in front of him, momentarily unsure how to start eating.

He had never thought a bowl of noodles could be so beautiful, so delicious, that he was almost reluctant to eat it.

The air was filled with the aroma of food—the numbing taste of peppercorn oil, the fragrant oil from the fried eggs, the salty and spicy flavor of the pickled vegetables… He couldn’t believe that one day his home would be filled with these aromas. Would they be able to smell it in the hallway? The couple next door were mainlanders, the husband from Beijing who liked hot pot, and the wife from Sichuan who liked braised dishes. Sometimes Tang Heng would come home late from the office and catch them eating supper, and the whole hallway would be filled with the smell of food—those moments made him feel like he was already beyond this world.

He found the thought rather pretentious, so he let it pass.

“Tang Heng.”

“Hmm?” Tang Heng came back to reality, meeting Li Yuechi’s gaze. “What’s up?”

“Let’s eat,” his dark eyes were full of insistence, “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Uh… okay.” Tang Heng almost solemnly picked up the chopsticks, and picked up a piece of fried egg.

As he watched Tang Heng chew and swallow the egg, Li Yuechi immediately asked, “How is it?” Then he shook his head with a smile, “Forget it, it’s just fried eggs, they all taste the same…”

Suddenly, Tang Heng realized that he was as nervous as he was.

“It’s fine, just a bit more tender would be perfect,” Tang Heng said.

Li Yuechi paused, “Maybe it was cooked too long.”

Tang Heng nodded, “Yeah, there’s no shortcut to this stuff, just gotta practice more.”

Li Yuechi said, “…Alright,” then he smiled again, “I’ll leave it to Professor Tang to taste my dishes in the future.”

They were tired after a day of running around. After finishing their noodles and taking a shower, they both collapsed into bed. It was a habit of Macanese people to leave major matters until the workday, so no one contacted Tang Heng.

They slept in until past six in the afternoon, so Tang Heng woke up feeling a bit uncomfortable. His back was sweaty, as well as his forehead. A warm sea breeze blew in through the crack in the window, brushing over his sweaty face

Tang Heng felt dazed for a moment before realizing the situation. He turned over and met Li Yuechi’s eyes. It turned out he was already awake.

“The air conditioner suddenly stopped,” Li Yuechi said, “Did the power go out?”

“Oh… probably,” Tang Heng thought about getting up to charge his phone for the electricity bill, but his body, still heavy from sleep, didn’t move, so he lay there, “Bring me my phone, put it in the living room to charge.”

Just as he finished speaking, his eyes closed again.

He listened to Li Yuechi rustling as he got out of bed, walked to the living room, and then returned.

“Here you go,” Li Yuechi said.

Tang Heng opened his eyes to see Li Yuechi’s face suddenly looming closer.

Li Yuechi, bare-chested, leaned over Tang Heng, hands propped on either side of his pillow, lightly kissing his forehead, nose, corners of his mouth, and then slipping between Tang Heng’s lips. His movements were slow and restrained, but his breathing was slightly rapid, like a vigilant beast facing its prey, with an irresistible urge.

After kissing for a few minutes, Tang Heng pushed him away, breathing heavily, “Wait… hey, take a break…”

He murmured in response, releasing his weight and lying on top of Tang Heng.

The sea breeze blew in, lifting a corner of the thin curtains.

Tang Heng squinted, seeing the sunset outside the window, the sky red like spilled blood. It turned out there was a fire cloud today. Such dramatic sunsets were common in Macau’s summers, as if the sun were just tens of kilometers away, its edges blurred like melting iron, ready to devour everything.

Of course, including Tang Heng.

Suddenly, Li Yuechi lifted his hand, his warm palm slowly exploring from Tang Heng’s hair, to his ears, then to his cheeks.

Finally, Li Yuechi covered Tang Heng’s eyes. His vision turned pitch black, and he couldn’t see the burning sky anymore.

“Do you want more kisses?” Li Yuechi asked with a smile.

“Mmm…”

And then his kisses gently landed. Tang Heng heard him whispering in his ear:

“Don’t be nervous. After we finish kissing, it’ll be dark.”

 

Author’s note:

“After you wake up, it’ll be spring again” & “After we finish kissing, it’ll be dark,” Li Yuechi’s charm is as strong as ever.