Under Clear Skies Chapter 106: Covering Eyes

Chapter 106: Covering Eyes 

Translated by KarateChopMonkey of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

After a year of being unemployed at home, Tang Heng finally started working again.

The school he joined was an ordinary, not well-known undergraduate institution, located on a small hill in the suburbs of Guiyang. The ecological environment was good, and there were even monkeys on campus. The students behaved like monkeys too, wandering around aimlessly every day, completely disinterested in studying.

The teachers had long realized that there was no future for research at this school, so they either busied themselves with part-time tutoring for entrance exams or went into business to make big money, treating teaching merely as a sideline.

Nobody cared about Tang Heng’s news in Wuhan, and Tang Heng was happy to be free.

Li Yuechi opened a factory in the outskirts of Guiyang. Of course, calling it a factory was an exaggeration; it was still just a small workshop. For the first three months, they couldn’t make any money at all. Later, by a stroke of luck, Li Yuechi met a friend he knew from prison.

This friend was called Brother Qiao, who had been in the underworld for twenty years and owned several KTVs and foot massage centers in Guiyang.

Brother Qiao thought highly of Li Yuechi, seeing him as a good kid who had received an education and would surely make it in the future. With a wave of his hand, he asked Li Yuechi to sell beef jerky at his KTV. And so, the beef jerky gradually gained popularity in Guiyang, and the online business also improved significantly.

In the first profitable month, after deducting labor costs, processing fees, rent, and so on, they netted four thousand yuan. Li Yuechi didn’t tell Tang Heng beforehand.

He bought a pair of rings from a jewelry store, the sizes measured while Tang Heng was asleep. The three-thousand-yuan rings were naturally not from any high-end brand, and even the packaging seemed hasty. Li Yuechi used the remaining one thousand yuan to treat Brother Qiao to a meal, and by the time the dinner ended, it was already late at night.

At the end of November, Guiyang was drizzling with cold rain, the chill condensed in the thick ink-like night, making people eager to get home quickly.

But after parking his motorcycle downstairs, Li Yuechi didn’t immediately go upstairs.

He stood in the corridor for a while until he felt the smell on his body had dissipated, then he touched the box in his pocket and walked upstairs.

Entering the room, he saw a faint yellow light shining from the bedroom, casting a slanting shadow on the floor.

Li Yuechi tiptoed into the room. Before reaching the bed, he saw Tang Heng opening his eyes.

“Not asleep yet?” Li Yuechi asked while standing. It was Tuesday, and Tang Heng had two evening classes. Usually, he went to bed early.

“I was waiting for you…” Tang Heng reached out to hug Li Yuechi, but he avoided it.

“I stink.” Li Yuechi thought he had gotten rid of it, but upon entering the room, the smell was still quite noticeable.

“You stood downstairs for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard the sound of locking the bike just now.”

“I’ll go take a shower first.”

“Senior.”

Li Yuechi paused for a moment, and Tang Heng had already gotten out of bed. He turned on the electric blanket, emitting a wave of warmth, even his hands were warm.

Tang Heng held Li Yuechi’s cold face and then leaned in, rubbing his own cheek against it.

“No more of this,” Tang Heng said, “It’s too cold.”

“… Smelling like chili and smoking in the evening.”

“It’s okay.”

“Tang Heng.” Li Yuechi intended to wash up first and then give it to him, but suddenly he couldn’t wait.

“Yeah?”

Li Yuechi took out the somewhat crude white velvet box. “This is for you.”

Tang Heng was stunned for two seconds, took the box, and opened it. Two plain rings appeared in front of him. Actually, the moment he saw the box, he guessed what it was inside, yet his heart couldn’t help but beat uncontrollably.

“I’ll get you better ones in the future,” Li Yuechi said softly.

“Senior,” Tang Heng stared at the rings, “Is this a proposal from you?”

“I always felt like we got married six years ago,” Li Yuechi picked up one of the rings and slowly put it on Tang Heng’s ring finger, “Consider this as making up for it.”

His words almost brought tears to Tang Heng’s eyes. He quickly put the ring on for him and urged, “Go take a shower, soak for a while… your hands are so cold.”

Li Yuechi smiled and turned to the bathroom.

Tang Heng rubbed the ring for a moment, then asked through the door, “Have you eaten?”

Li Yuechi’s voice mixed with water came out, “No, they just chatted and didn’t eat.”

So Tang Heng went into the kitchen, turned on the light, and boiled water.

He never used to lift a finger in the kitchen, but now he could manage to cook some simple meals. This was all thanks to Li Yuechi being too busy to keep track. Either they wouldn’t eat at all, or they’d just boil some instant noodles. Later, Tang Heng learned to make some simple bento boxes and asked Li Yuechi to take them to the factory.

As the water boiled, Tang Heng washed the Chinese kale, took out a slice of braised beef from the fridge, and then chopped some green onions and minced garlic. He enjoyed these bustling sounds and the bright kitchen light, all of which were because of Li Yuechi.

“So much noodles?” Li Yuechi’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Yeah,” Tang Heng didn’t turn around, gently stirring the noodles in the pot with chopsticks, “I’m a little hungry too.”

Li Yuechi stepped forward, resting his chin on Tang Heng’s shoulder.

His hair was damp, the tips brushing against Tang Heng’s cheek, slightly tickling.

“We made money this month, four thousand,” Li Yuechi said, “We’ll make more in the future.”

“Oh? How much does Boss Li want to make?”

“At least enough to buy a bigger house.”

“I think this one is pretty good already.”

“It needs two bedrooms and two beds.”

“Huh?”

“That way, we won’t have to change the sheets in the middle of the night.”

“…”

Okay. Since Li Yuechi was the one who always changed the sheets, Tang Heng had no say in this matter.

While they were eating noodles, Doupi tiptoed over. He was a little over a year old orange tabby cat. Since Tang Heng had taken him to the pet hospital to be neutered, his appetite had increased significantly, showing more of his feline charm day by day. This chubby cat was not only lazy but also had a talent for begging. He first rubbed his head affectionately against Tang Heng’s calf. Seeing no response from Tang Heng, he swished his tail and turned to pull at Li Yuechi’s pant leg, meowing softly.

Li Yuechi extended his index finger and tapped its forehead, “Be good, you can’t eat this kind of meat.”

Doupi: “Meow… Meow!“

Li Yuechi withdrew his finger, letting it tug at his pants.

“You should’ve known that when you picked him up,” Tang Heng said helplessly, “I thought he liked you.”

“I thought he liked you too.”

At the beginning of the year, during the Tang State Wood case hearing, they had returned to Wuhan for a trip. Doupi was the cat they picked up at Han Yang University. At that time, Jiang Ya was grumbling about being hungry, so he went to the canteen and bought three portions of tofu skin. Li Yuechi and Tang Heng sat on chairs eating tofu skin. After a few bites, a fluffy little cat came over and squatted a few steps away from them.

The cat was skinny and seemed very afraid, not even daring to make a sound. Yet it obediently sat there, looking very pitiful.

Tang Heng squatted down, picked out the bits of beef from the tofu skin, and placed them next to his feet.

The little cat hesitated, sniffed, and then quickly ate up the bits of beef.

Tang Heng thought it would leave after it had its fill.

But unexpectedly, this little cat followed them all the way, even when they were about to leave Han Yang University, it still didn’t want to part with them. Tang Heng had to ask Jiang Ya, “Do you want to keep a cat?”

“I’m allergic to cat hair,” Jiang Ya said from afar, with a look of regret, “I really want to pet it…”

In the end, the two of them refunded their high-speed train tickets, and Li Yuechi and Jiang Ya took turns driving all the way back from Wuhan to Guiyang, bringing this little stray cat back to their home.

Jiang Ya also stayed at their house for a few nights, suddenly expressing a strong yearning for married life.

After finishing the noodles, Li Yuechi went to wash the dishes, and Tang Heng lifted Doupi up lazily, asking, “Still hungry? Do you know you’ve gained weight again recently?”

Doupi grunted, looking unconvinced.

Tang Heng put him down, washed up, and returned to the bedroom to spread out Li Yuechi’s blanket, then picked up his phone to reply to Fu Liling’s message. Perhaps because she had completely opened up, Fu Liling became very interested in Li Yuechi’s business and would express her investment intentions from time to time.

[Baby, it’s the era of marketing now. What do you think of these Weibo KOLs? We can spend a little money and let them promote Xiao Li’s beef jerky.]

Although Tang Heng had rejected her many times before, he had to admit that his mother was experienced in business and worth learning from.

Tang Heng asked, [How much does it cost?] If the price was right, a bit of marketing wouldn’t hurt.

[About five hundred thousand!]

“…”

Tang Heng didn’t know what to say. Their Boss Li had only earned four thousand this month.

After chatting with Fu Liling for a few more moments, Li Yuechi finished washing the dishes, turned off the lights, and walked into the room. He leaned down to kiss Tang Heng, and the minty fragrance lingered between their lips. Tang Heng put down his phone, hugged Li Yuechi’s neck, and deepened the kiss. He murmured to Li Yuechi, “Do we need to get up early tomorrow?”

If they didn’t need to, maybe they could change the sheets tonight.

Li Yuechi chuckled softly, “No need to get up early.”

His words had just fallen when there was a sudden thud from the living room.

The two immediately separated.

The next moment, Doupi darted into the bedroom, jumping onto the bed like he owned it.

Li Yuechi rubbed his forehead, “I forgot to close the door.”

“Meow… Purr…” Doupi stretched lazily, his dark eyes half-closed, as if asking the two strange humans, “What time is it? Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

Tang Heng nudged Doupi with his foot, “Go back to your bed and sleep. You’ll have some fish treats tomorrow…”

Doupi closed his eyes and started to purr.

Tang Heng: “…”

Li Yuechi sighed helplessly, “Let’s do it tomorrow, baby.”

Tang Heng whispered, “I ate too much, I can’t sleep.”

Li Yuechi reached into his blanket and gently rubbed his belly, “Then don’t lie down, sit for a while.”

The romantic atmosphere from before was completely shattered by the fat cat’s snoring. Tang Heng leaned against Li Yuechi’s shoulder and watched as Li Yuechi replied to WeChat messages one by one. His WeChat profile picture had changed from the previous blurry dark blue to a bright blue. Later, Tang Heng found out that both shades of blue were the waters of Donghu Lake, the dark blue being the water on the day of the demolition of Donghu Village, and the bright blue being the water on the day they went to Lingbo Gate together.

Boss Li was busy with many things. As Tang Heng watched, he yawned, feeling a bit drowsy.

Of course, it could also be because of the fat cat at his feet.

“Baby,” Li Yuechi lowered his head and rubbed Tang Heng’s hair with his chin, “don’t sleep yet, Lin Lang sent over the demo.”

Tang Heng mumbled, “Let’s listen tomorrow…”

Li Yuechi simply plugged one earphone into his ear.

In fact, at this moment, Tang Heng was very, very awake.

He was just feeling a little embarrassed.

Lin Lang’s record company had bought the lyrics of “Covering Eyes,” rearranged the music, and handed it over to a newly formed band to perform. The band members were all young men in their twenties, the lead singer had a clear voice, sometimes with a slightly nasal tone when hitting high notes, making it both emotional and pure.

As the music started, the sound of the cello brought Tang Heng back to that summer night.

He took a bottle for him, and they returned to that stuffy little room together. He asked, “What’s your name?” He replied, “Moon’s moon, galloping gallop—”

I passed by that night

Like dust / falling into your cup

It’s so hot / the alley is dark

Your image / is worth wasting

Probably calloused fingertips first

Plucking strings / only then can they skim past your eyebrows

Old towers / new homes

Lake water / noodle soup

Facing the drizzle sprinkling the river and sky

I really like / being covered by your long hair, covering my eyes

Donghu Lake is gone / Luoyu is gone

Line 2 is gone

If there’s an apocalypse to linger

Of course, it’s / a sunny afternoon with spring blossoms flying

I don’t dispel charm / I don’t deconstruct

To be your mayfly

…

The song played for who knows how many times, and Tang Heng’s head tilted, as he really fell asleep.

Li Yuechi gently removed the earphones, arranged the pillow for Tang Heng, and tucked him in tightly. He looked at Tang Heng’s sleeping face, somewhat surprised to realize that the person he loved to the point of being willing to endure anything for was actually sleeping so peacefully beside him. Then he self-mockingly thought, after all this time, he still felt surprised by this thought.

Li Yuechi leaned down to kiss the corner of Tang Heng’s lips, but when they were just inches apart, Tang Heng suddenly murmured and turned over, facing away from him.

Li Yuechi smiled, raised his hand, and turned off the light.

He decided to kiss him again tomorrow morning.

 

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