Under Clear Skies Chapter 105: Long Time Ago

Chapter 105: Long Time Ago

Translated by KarateChopMonkey of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

At the end of May 2018, Tang Heng came to Tongren’s Shijiang County in Guizhou for the second time.

The last time he was here was two months ago, and Tang Heng remembered that evening he vented to Li Yuechi… which was embarrassing enough, and Li Yuechi was mocking him. At that time, he almost wanted to escape back to Macau overnight.

Only two months had passed, and now he had to stay here for a long time.

Stepping onto the heavy stone slabs again, he felt a sense of being in a different world.

Li Yuechi’s residence in the county was very cramped, a forty-square-meter old unit, half of which was used as a warehouse for Wang Di’s clothing store, and the other half was for Li Yuechi. Now with Tang Heng added, they naturally needed to rent a new place. Tang Heng suggested buying a property in the county, which would also be convenient for accommodating his mother and younger brother. Oh, it seemed they would need to buy two… There was a new housing development by the riverbank that Tang Heng thought was quite nice, and he even picked out two adjacent units.

Li Yuechi was silent for a few seconds and said softly, “I don’t have that much money.”

Tang Heng said, “I do.” Besides, properties in this small county were really cheap.

“That’s your money to keep—”

“Li Yuechi,” Tang Heng pinched his chin, feeling like one of those wealthy tycoons from the movies, “we agreed on this before.”

Li Yuechi feigned ignorance, “Agreed on what?”

“I’ll spend money on you, and you can’t refuse.”

“But it shouldn’t be spent like this,” Li Yuechi smiled, then said seriously, “I won’t let you stay here indefinitely, so there’s no need to buy a house. And you’ve only been working for two years, how much could you have saved?”

“Do you know how much I earned per month in Macau?”

“How much?” Li Yuechi paused, “I heard that university professors don’t earn particularly high salaries.”

“In the mainland, it’s indeed not high, but in Macau, it’s sixty thousand patacas a month.”

Li Yuechi’s expression froze, “Sixty thousand?”

“Yeah,” Tang Heng continued to stroke his chin, “about fifty thousand yuan in RMB. Besides, I got a full scholarship for my Ph.D., saved some money, and there’s the money my mom gave me…”

Li Yuechi turned his head silently, as if suddenly losing the drive to strive.

Tang Heng said, “Senior, what’s wrong?”

Li Yuechi said, “I’ve made myself poor.”

Tang Heng burst into laughter.

After some discussion, they ultimately didn’t buy a house. After all, they wouldn’t stay in Shijiang County in the future, so it wasn’t necessary to buy a house just for temporary accommodation. Li Yuechi had thought about renting a place in the riverbank housing development, but Tang Heng stopped him.

They rented a place on a nearby street from the store instead. The old house smelled musty, but fortunately, it had a spacious balcony.

Summer in Tongren often brought rain. Tang Heng bought some green plants from Taobao, which thrived in the shade and humidity, perfect for the north-facing balcony. Before long, lush vines covered the iron railings. Tang Heng also bought two rocking chairs, and in the evenings when Li Yuechi returned from the store, he would bring Tang Heng’s favorite lamb noodle soup. After they ate and drank their fill, they would lie on the chairs and chat. As they rocked back and forth, their conversations became more relaxed and informal. Sometimes, Li Yuechi would get up, touch Tang Heng’s face lightly, and say, “Let’s go to bed, you look tired.” Tang Heng would squint but not move, and Li Yuechi would smile, bending down to carry him into the bedroom.

Of course, most of the time, Tang Heng stayed in Li Yuechi’s store.

His reappearance in Shijiang caused some anxiety among the local leaders, fearing he was up to something again. However, after each leader subtly probed him, they were surprised to find that Teacher Tang seemed to be genuinely on vacation this time.

“Look at him, he quit his job in Macau, doesn’t even talk about what happened in Wuhan, and now he’s just sitting in Li Yuechi’s store, working as customer service for his Taobao shop.”

When a certain leader came to “visit,” Tang Heng calmly said, “I’ve come to see everything in a different light now. Haven’t you heard that poem? Written by Su Shi, sigh! The mist of Mount Lu, the tide of Zhejiang, not a thousand regrets remain upon departure. Returning, nothing else matters, the mist of Mount Lu, the tide of Zhejiang. I truly feel that all those fame and fortune are just illusions now…”

Though the leader didn’t understand the poem, he got the gist of Tang Heng’s words and smiled broadly, saying, “So you’re just here for a vacation this time?”

“Yes,” Tang Heng said, “The air in Shijiang is good, and my senior is here, so I came to hang out with him.”

“That’s great, that’s great…” The leader picked up his briefcase, preparing to leave.

“Oh, Director Wang,” Tang Heng stopped him, “We’ve got some new five-spice beef jerky. Would you like to try some?”

In the end, everyone who came to “visit” Tang Heng bought a bunch of beef jerky from Li Yuechi’s store, doubling the monthly turnover.

Tang Heng rested his chin on Li Yuechi’s shoulder, smiling and asking, “Senior, am I impressive?”

Li Yuechi felt a bit helpless but also very tenderly replied, “Yeah, you are.”

On weekends, Li Yuechi would take Tang Heng back to Banxi Village.

His mother was still unaware of their relationship. Li Yuechi only told her that he and Tang Heng were very good friends. Every time before going back, Tang Heng would receive many parcels, which he would then bring to the village. Li Yuechi’s home gradually changed. It started with new lights, making the rooms much brighter and more spacious. Then they got new pipes, new appliances, and new furniture. Later on, Tang Heng spoke to Li Yuechi’s younger brother.

Li Yuechi’s younger brother was named Li Yuepeng, bearing a striking resemblance to Li Yuechi, but slightly chubbier and looking a bit simple-minded. Tang Heng said to him, “I’m your brother’s friend.” He scrutinized Tang Heng slowly, as if trying to remember something. After a while, Li Yuepeng spoke in a vague Guizhou accent, “You’re the phone person.”

Tang Heng didn’t understand and asked, “What phone person?”

“My brother’s… phone.”

“Have you seen me in your brother’s phone?”

Li Yuepeng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Tang Heng told Li Yuechi about it. Li Yuechi didn’t say anything. Tang Heng repeatedly asked, and Li Yuechi had no choice but to hand over that old phone. Yes, it was the Samsung Tang Heng had given Li Yuechi six years ago. The text messages he sent to Li Yuechi were neatly stored in the inbox. Whenever he opened them, they were always long. Tang Heng said somewhat absent-mindedly, “I used to talk a lot back then.”

Li Yuechi softly completed the second half of the sentence, “To save on phone bills.”

When Tang Heng opened the photo album on the phone, his fingertips trembled slightly.

The first photo that caught his eye was taken on April 23, 2012, showing his back as he dragged a suitcase. Tang Heng thought for a moment; it was probably taken when he flew back from Beijing to Wuhan, and Li Yuechi came to pick him up at Tianhe Airport.

As he scrolled back, the photos became progressively earlier, but without exception, they were all of him or related to him. Him sleeping, him bowing his head to eat hot dry noodles, him leaning back on the bed reading, his guitar, his navy blue coat, his orange-red hair tip.

Tang Heng rubbed his nose, then handed the phone back to Li Yuechi, and asked him, “Do you want to take pictures now?”

Li Yuechi smiled, “Let’s go somewhere.”

Tang Heng sat in the back, reached out to hug his waist, the motorcycle started with a buzz, the mountain breeze brushed past their ears, and Tang Heng pressed his face against Li Yuechi’s back.

Through the thin T-shirt, he could feel Li Yuechi’s taut muscles and firm bones. Li Yuechi was still thin, and Tang Heng silently resolved to fatten him up a bit in the future.

The motorcycle wound through a few bends, the mountain road was winding, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of summer plants.

Li Yuechi brought Tang Heng to a small hill. The stream flowed gently, sunlight filtering through the leaves fell on the water, making the ripples glisten. They found a rock to sit on, their shoulders pressed together. It was very quiet all around, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.

Tang Heng leaned against Li Yuechi like a boneless creature and asked him, “Do you come here often?”

“I used to come here to study during high school.”

“Alone?”

“Why not?”

Tang Heng nodded in satisfaction, “That’s good.”

Li Yuechi smiled and lightly encircled Tang Heng’s waist. It seemed like there were only the two of them in the whole world as they sat quietly together. Suddenly, Li Yuechi asked Tang Heng, “Why don’t you wear that brand anymore?”

“Which one?”

“The one you really liked, here,” Li Yuechi pointed to his chest, “there’s a red heart.”

“Comme des Garçons.”

“Yeah.”

“I used to be younger, and I always wore formal attire after I started working.”

“You can wear it when you’re not working.”

“A T-shirt for several thousand yuan,” Tang Heng shook his head, “It’s not necessary.”

Indeed, on the one hand, Tang Heng had outgrown wearing trendy brands himself, and as a teacher, it would be awkward if he wore the same clothes as his students. However, he didn’t tell Li Yuechi the other reason, which was that in the six years they were apart, whenever he unintentionally saw the logo with the red heart, he would always think of the night they first met.

That night he was wearing a white T-shirt from Comme des Garçons, and later he regarded clothes from that brand as lucky shirts. Then… Tang Heng thought it was better not to mention it.

Li Yuechi said softly, “You looked good in it.”

Tang Heng joked, “I look good in anything.”

“Once, I had a dream,” Li Yuechi slowed his speech, speaking earnestly, “I dreamed that I brought you back here, to this place, um… it was also summer in the dream, and you were sitting by the river wearing that brand’s white T-shirt, singing.”

“When did you dream that?”

“A long time ago.”

Tang Heng fell silent for a moment, then reached into his pocket. He remembered putting the pen in his pocket yesterday after helping Li Yuechi balance the accounts… Sure enough, he pulled out a red carbon pen from his pocket.

Red. Perfect.

Tang Heng lowered his head and crudely drew a heart on his chest with the carbon pen. “Is this okay?”

Li Yuechi chuckled, “Okay.”

Then he looked at Tang Heng calmly, as if he already knew what was coming.

Tang Heng moved his lips, feeling a tickle in his throat, perhaps from nervousness.

“I might go off-key…” Tang Heng said, “It’s been too long since I sang.”

“It’s just the two of us,” Li Yuechi blinked at him, “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Then I’ll sing ‘Southern’…”

“Okay.”

He used to always sing “Southern” in Wuhan, but in fact, the song was about memories of leaving Wuhan. Now, he was in Guizhou, and it seemed more appropriate.

Fortunately, as he recalled those years along the melody, the people in his memories were right beside him.

“There’s always dampness there, there’s always softness there. There are always trivial things there, there’s always red and blue…” Was he off-key? He didn’t know. Well, as long as he could sing it, it was good. He thought he couldn’t sing anymore.

Tang Heng was singing earnestly when a series of ringing abruptly interrupted him.

The song was cut off, and Li Yuechi frowned. Tang Heng saw the two words “Jiang Ya” on the screen and answered the call with annoyance, “What’s up?”

“Son!!!” Jiang Ya’s voice broke, “Tang Guomu has been officially arrested!!!”

 

The author has something to say:

At the end of Chapter 83 of Yue Chi GG’s dream guidance.