Under Clear Skies Chapter 35: To Tokyo

Chapter 35: To Tokyo

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

The next afternoon, the trio gathered in the practice room. Tang Heng didn’t mention the sociology project and An Yun seemed to have forgotten about it too. She didn’t say anything. They practiced for the entire afternoon. In the evening, the three were all covered in sweat. Jiang Ya had banged on the drums so much that he could barely lift his arms. Tang Heng like sapped of energy too. He was exhausted but also felt amazing.

“Enough, enough,” Jiang Ya wheezed, leaning into the corner of the wall. “Are you all fucking crazy? I’m so tired.”

An Yun wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Let’s eat dinner.”

Tang Heng didn’t reply and just packed up his guitar. As the three walked out of the room, An Yun asked, “What do y’all wanna eat?”

“Barbecue!” Jiang Ya yelled. “I’m going to 50 fucking sheep kidneys.”   

An Yun rolled her eyes and ignored him. Turning, she asked Tang Heng, “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine.” Tang Heng paused. “Find a quieter place.”

In the end, they went to a barbecue place with a private room. Jiang Ya muttered that it doesn’t feel right eating barbecue in a private room. An Yun slapped his head and told him to shut up, but Tang Heng still stayed mum and didn’t react.

When their food was served, Jiang Ya realized belatedly, “My son, are you upset?”

An Yun looked at Tang Heng and uttered, “Isn’t that obvious?”

 

“He’s been off since last night!” Jiang Ya’s forehead creased. “So that straight guy really is straight? Totally game over for you?”

Tang Heng: “Shut up—”

“Oh,” An Yun uttered, taken aback. Then she mused, “Which straight guy? How come I didn’t know about this?”

“Cut the act,” Tang Heng muttered.

“I told you from the beginning that he’s straight,” An Yun sighed. “You just wouldn’t believe me.”

Disbelief was written all over Jiang Ya’s face. “From the beginning? Wait, An-ge, you know that guy?”

“Eat your fucking food,” An Yun said. “Now you’re sure he’s straight, right?”

“I’m sure.”

“This is for the best. Anyway, even if he’s not straight… it’s best for you to avoid him.”

“Why?”

“As the saying goes, rabbits don’t eat the grass beside their home!” An Yun said matter-of-factly, as if she didn’t have any ideas about Tian Xiaoqin. “He’s your uncle’s student. What if you two break up? That’ll be so awkward! Plus, how can you date right in front of your uncle? You’ll get found out.”

“Hey, I don’t agree with that. Tang Heng should pursue who he likes. Guys shouldn’t worry about all that. The main problem here is that that guy’s het… Fuck, Tang Heng.” Jiang Ya slowly lowered the barbecued kidneys in his hands. “You’re not into that guy, right? Tian Xiaoqin’s classmate, that Li-something?”

Tang Heng didn’t answer, admitting by default. A moment later, he grabbed a skewer of grilled noodles. “There’s no chance anyway,” he said uncaringly. “Whatever.”

“I’ll tell you something else and you’ll understand,” An Yun continued. “You know why the project was suddenly given to the economics department? Because we gifted it to them.”

Tang Heng blinked. “Why would we do that?”   

“I heard my dad say that there’s a big project later, headed by the Development and Reform Commission. It doesn’t have anything to do with us, but Dean Tu wants to partner with the economics department, so we need to build those connections, right? So Teacher Tang gifted this smaller project to Zhang Baiyuan as a favor.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Pretty much.”

Tang Heng was speechless. He wasn’t exactly surprised—he’d heard about similar things from his uncle before. It was just an exchange of interests. What he didn’t understand was why his uncle didn’t tell him. Was it on purpose or had he just forgotten?

“Don’t overthink, though. Teacher Tang probably thinks that this might not work out, so he didn’t want to say too much about it.” An Yun drank some beer and continued, “So your project was given to Zhang Baiyuan, while Zhang Baiyuan is close with Pan Peng, you know, right? Pan Peng and Li Yuechi both graduated from Normal Uni and I heard they had some conflicts during their undergrad years.”

“Fuck,” Jiang Ya commented. “Is this some gossip hour?”

“So Pan Peng had Zhang Baiyuan kick Li Yuechi out?”

“Yeah, I think the girl that Pan Peng liked had a crush on Li Yuechi instead. That sort of stuff.”

“I see…” Tang Heng didn’t know what to say. So this was what happened. No wonder Li Yuechi had quit the team so easily. Tang Heng had thought it was all because of him, but now he realized that there was a deeper reason.   

“Just imagine. If you protest because of Li Yuechi, then that’s equivalent to making Teacher Tang go against Dean Zhang. It’ll be a hard decision for Teacher Tang,” An Yun advised patiently. “So that’s why I said that you shouldn’t get involved in Li Yuechi’s business.”

“Poor dude.” Jiang Ya shook his head as he listened on. “Worked so hard on that project and it’s given to someone else, wrapped up in a bow.”

“You could say Teacher Tang is protecting him too. If he doesn’t interact with Pan Peng, then there wouldn’t be any other issues.”

“That’s so annoying—you educated folk are so shady.”

“What does this have to do with me?” An Yun glared at him. “I didn’t touch this project at all.”

“Well, what you said, that Pan Peng is a shady fucker.”

“Anyway, he’s not a good guy.”

“Then you should tell Tian Xiaoqin to be careful!”

“Yeah, I told her…”

Tang Heng listened to them talk, but his heart wasn’t on it. In fact, he didn’t even feel very angry. He just couldn’t help but think of Li Yuechi—how had Li Yuechi felt when he’d gotten kicked out of Pan Peng’s team? Defeated, helpless, or furious? Tang Heng discovered that he couldn’t imagine it at all. He always felt that, deep down, Li Yuechi was an extremely proud person. After all, there weren’t many people who were both smart and hardworking. There were even fewer people who were smart, hardworking, and handsome. It disgusted Tang Heng that Li Yuechi encountered something like this—not disgusted for Li Yuechi, but disgusted purely as a bystander. This feeling was like seeing someone spit out some mucus before the Venus de Milo statue.

Of course, An Yun was right too. From a practical angle, having Li Yuechi step out of the team was the best solution. Li Yuechi must understand this too. At the end, Tang Heng was in no position to feel angry for him.

 

“So, it’s really game over for you two?” An Yun asked carefully.

Tang Heng nodded.       

“There are more fish in the sea.” Jiang Ya came over to hug Tang Heng. “It’s just a man. I’ll find you a better one.”

Tang Heng side-eyed him. “No need with your taste.”

“Don’t be stubborn. I’m telling you, there’s a kid from the Hanyang Art Academy. A freshman, the keyboard player of Deny—An-ge, do you know him?”

“Art Academy?” An Yun was thoughtful. “Is he the one with creamy skin? With a mushroom haircut.”

“Yeah, yeah, a good boy.” Jiang Ya smirked. “I heard he’s gay.”

“If you’re so interested, why don’t you go for him?” Tang Heng said coldly.

“Hey, I’m helping you two connect. Why don’t you go meet him?”

“No need. No time.”

“You fucking—”

“Alright, alright,” An Yun interrupted Jiang Ya. “He’s going abroad in a year. He’ll get those foreigners in the US.”

 

Later, Tang Heng really did meet that keyboard player—Jiang Ya had tricked him into going. He was indeed a pale, shy-looking boy with big eyes, and a mushroom haircut. Around 1.68 meters tall, he was like a high schooler. His name, Wu Zhihao, didn’t match his aura at all. Everyone called him A-Hao.

Tang Heng admitted to A-Hao that he didn’t want to date, to which A-Hao nodded in understanding. “I want to find someone shorter than me too.”

Tang Heng: “…Oh?” That would be hard, wouldn’t it?

“I think you misunderstood,” A-Hao said shyly. “I’m a top.”

Tang Heng: “…Oh.” He indeed couldn’t tell.

The two somehow became friends like that. As summer break came to an end, Tang Heng didn’t see Li Yuechi again. He either practiced and performed with Jiang Ya and An Yun, or he was going around with A-Hao. This boy was born and raised in Wuhan. He was more familiar with Wuhan’s gay bars than he was with his own home. The two bar-hopped with their arms across each other’s shoulders—one searching for a boyfriend who was shorter than himself, one trying to kill time because he was so bored.

After that, school started. Tang Heng and Jiang Ya became seniors, while An Yun started grad school. She and Li Yuechi were both students under Tang Heng’s uncle, so they should have classes together, but he never heard her mention Li Yuechi. It was probably on purpose. Tang Heng didn’t actually mind. He wasn’t so fragile. A professor from University of Chicago came to lecture at the sociology department at the start of September. This happened to be a school that Tang Heng wanted to apply to, so he naturally went to the lecture and unexpectedly met Li Yuechi—it wasn’t that unexpected. After all, they were still in the same department. Tang Heng arrived late and sat in the middle of the lecture hall. Li Yuechi sat in the third row to his right. Tang Heng quietly studied Li Yuechi through the various dark-haired or bald heads. After one month, Li Yuechi seemed to have become thinner, but he hadn’t changed much. Tang Heng thought he’d be sad, but he wasn’t. There was only some ineffable feeling that flashed past his heart like a dragonfly. It was gone just like that; he didn’t have to bring it up. When the lecture ended, the guests left first. Then the students surged to the front and back doors. The giant crowd squeezed out like toothpaste. It was at this time that Tang Heng saw Li Yuechi; Li Yuechi also saw him.

“Xuedi, you’re here for the lecture too?” Li Yuechi’s tone was both polite and distant as he said this meaningless thing.

“Mn, his lecture was quite good,” Tang Heng said. Also meaningless.

“Yes,” Li Yuechi said. Still meaningless.

They didn’t say anything after that. They exited and went separate ways.

 

Tang Heng and two classmates strolled to the entrance of the sociology department. It was past eight PM and it was raining in Wuhan again. The two discussed whether they should run back to their dorms under the rain or wait here for a bit before leaving. Then they asked Tang Heng if he wanted to eat hot pot in their dorms. “Sure,” Tang Heng said mindlessly. As soon as he spoke, his phone vibrated. It was a text from A-Hao, inviting him to see the Art Academy’s exhibit tomorrow because his art was included. There was also a text from Jiang Ya from an hour ago: Zhou Hei Ya is holding a school band competition. You wanna join?

Before that was actually a text from his counselor: Congratulations, Tang Heng! You passed the International Exchange Center’s selection! You can go to Tokyo next month!