Under Clear Skies Chapter 40: Fifteen Cents

Chapter 40: Fifteen Cents

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

That moment, Tang Heng finally understood why moths liked to fly to the flame. It wasn’t about the pain—it was the warmth. There was no lighting in the Baotong Pagoda. The gray-white walls emanated a chilly lime odor and not even the sunlight shone into this corner. It was chilly all over, cold and dark. He threw himself toward Li Yuechi like throwing himself into a flaming ball of wildfire. Li Yuechi’s body smelled like the sunlight from outside the pagoda, the dry scent of tobacco, and sweat that smelled nice. He was warm.
Tang Heng cushioned Li Yuechi’s head on his right hand, fearing that the wall would hurt him. He’d never felt like this before. His right hand was used for writing and strumming the guitar. Such a precious hand, right? But it wasn’t precious right now. It could go numb and ache, it could get dusty, as long as the person before him wasn’t hurt.
Tang Heng kissed Li Yuechi recklessly and fiercely, wishing he could fit himself in a breath and offer it up to him.

In the end, it was Li Yuechi who gripped his shoulder. Chuckling, he said, “Take a break.”
The two separated. Tang Heng pursed his moist lips, but before he could say anything, his phone started vibrating again.
It was An Yun. Tang Heng’s first reaction was to hang up, but he felt like this would make him seem too rushed. He hesitated for two seconds and answered the call. “Hello?”
“What’re you doing?!” An Yun’s voice was extremely clear inside the quiet pagoda. “I called you so many fucking times! Didn’t you see?!”
Tang Heng felt slightly guilty. “What’s up?”
“Good news!” An Yun huffed. “I’m telling you, Li Yuechi’s looking for you! I lied to him that you’re going to Tokyo today and he hung up on me! You know what kind of person he is now, right?! I’m telling you, give up and avoid him these days!”
“I’ll talk to you later,” Tang Heng said awkwardly.
“Stop bumming around!” An Yun had been around Jiang Ya too long and was picking up his accent. “You think I wanna care about your shit? And lie too? I’m doing this for your own good—”
“An Yun, wait…” Tang Heng met Li Yuechi’s eyes in panic. The other boy was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. There was a smile in his eyes.
“Wait what? Can’t you tell? He’s just playing with you!”
“Li Yuechi’s right next to me,” Tang Heng muttered.
“…”
“An Yun.” Li Yuechi leaned over. “Thank you.”
“…”
“I’m not playing with Tang Heng though. We’re dating now.” He glanced at Tang Heng and said cheerily, “Right?”
“Yeah…” Getting stared at by him like this, Tang Heng’s heart started fluttering again. “Uh, so, I’ll hang up now.”
But before he could hang up, the other end of the call turned into static.
Static that was like barely-contained rage.
Li Yuechi laughed as if he didn’t mind at all. “Shall we continue?”
Tang Heng nodded. Then he shook his head, suddenly feeling stupid.
“Don’t take it personal,” he explained in a whisper. “An Yun’s not targeting you. She’s just—”
“Scared you’ll get tricked. I get it.”
Tang Heng looked at Li Yuechi and nodded dumbly.
“You’re scared I’ll trick you too?” Li Yuechi stopped smiling.
“I’m not scared. It’s just too sudden. I really thought…” The image of that woman leaning into Li Yuechi’s arms appeared before his eyes again. After a pause, Tang Heng continued, “Really thought you had a girlfriend.”
“Sorry,” Li Yuechi said.
“Huh?”
“I shouldn’t have lied to you.” He furrowed his brows slightly. “If I could go back in time…”
“If you could go back in time, you’d still lie to me.”
“You know the reason.”
“Even if I know the reason.”
“Even if you know.”
After saying that, Li Yuechi gave a small smile. A helpless apology flashed past.

Tang Heng felt like he’d seen this kind of expression from Li Yuechi. It was—he remembered. It was that night. That night, Li Yuechi had gotten into a fight for him, he wanted to go to his house, he refused, he insisted, the two had a stalemate. He ended up going, but before that, Li Yuechi had said, My house is dirty.
Yes, it was this expression, like he knew that what he wanted to hide could never stay hidden. Tang Heng thought of a saying: There are only three things in the world that can never be hidden—a cough, poverty, and love.
Tang Heng’s heart had never been so soft before, so soft that it rumpled into a ball, held in his palm, trembling to his pulse.

“I gotta go back to the hospital later,” Li Yuechi said softly. “Zhao-laoshi still hasn’t woken up. I have to watch over her.”
“Oh. Then… go after eating lunch?”
“There’s no time. The doctor will come at two.”
“Can I see you again at night?”
“Probably not. Dating me is really boring,” Li Yuechi said, half frustratingly, half self-depreciatively.
Tang Heng shook his head hard. “Then can I text you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I pay your phone bill?”
“No need.”
“I have nowhere to spend my money.”
Li Yuechi’s lips curled into a smile as he asked, “Do you know how much it costs to send a text?”
“Huh?” Tang Heng uttered in confusion. “How much?”
“Fifteen cents per text. A monthly package.”
“Oh.”
“A pack of Huangguoshu is five dollars fifty, enough for 36 texts.” Li Yuechi pulled a crumpled cigarette pack out of his jean pockets and stuffed it into Tang Heng’s hand. “I won’t smoke this month or next month. Text me however much you’d like.”