Under Clear Skies Chapter 49: Literati’s Fengliu

Chapter 49: Literati’s Fengliu

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

They didn’t say anything else that night. After eating, Li Yuechi brought out the clothes that Tang Heng had changed out of. Tang Heng lay in bed, listening as Li Yuechi washed dishes, wiped the table, and washed his clothes outside. Low roars sounded on the second floor after a while and Li Yuechi’s mom went up to soothe the boy. Soon, the upstairs quieted down.

It was still raining and the village had quieted down too. It was pitch black outside the window; he couldn’t see a thing.

Tang Heng listened quietly as Li Yuechi scrubbed, poured water, filled it up again with water. The wooden basin made muffled thuds when it hit the concrete ground, while the sounds of him pouring and filling water was crisp. The two sounds mixed together, having some kind of rhythm.

Perhaps he did this often, doing things alone in this quiet village. Whether it be spraying pesticides onto the tree or washing clothes and dishes, Tang Heng didn’t know what Li Yuechi thought while doing all of that. Would he feel lonely? Or perhaps he didn’t think about anything—just mechanically repeating it day after day, year after year.

Li Yuechi finished washing the clothes and walked in. He handed the phone to Tang Heng.

“It’s charged,” he said. “I didn’t turn it on yet.”

“Leave it off.”

“Many people are looking for you.”

“Didn’t you forbid me from contacting the outside world?”   

Thus, Li Yuechi stopped speaking. He held the phone and exchanged stars with Tang Heng for a few seconds. Then he pulled open a drawer and placed the phone inside.

The two squeezed onto the twin-sized bed, pressing against each other. Tang Heng grabbed Li Yuechi’s hand and whispered, “Do it again?”   

Li Yuechi touched Tang Heng’s forehead with the back of his hand. “Not burning anymore?” he replied.

“Mn.”

“Then, sleep.”

“…We can do it in the future.”   

Li Yuechi didn’t respond. It was like Tang Heng said that sentence for himself.

    

The next morning, it was another clear, sunny day. Li Yuechi collected the clothes that he’d washed yesterday and placed it by the bed. “Can you get dressed by yourself?”

The shirt was warm from the being dried under the sun, but the cuffs of the jeans were still a bit damp. “The clothes aren’t dry,” Tang Heng said.

Li Yuechi felt them. “Not dry?”

“You know me.” Tang Heng pushed the clothes to the side. “Used to being spoiled.”

Li Yuechi: “…”

“I’ll just wear your clothes.”

Li Yuechi nodded, giving up. He stood and brought over two of his own clothes. One was a simple white t-shirt, the fabric already a bit threadbare. He’d probably worn it for a long time. The other was a pair of black sweatpants. They were very baggy.

Tang Heng leaned on the bed and slowly got dressed. After thinking for a moment, he said softly, “Xuezhang, I’m all yours from the inside and out. Even my underwear.”

Li Yuechi didn’t reply to that and asked instead, “Are you hungry? There’s food in the kitchen.”

“I want noodles.” Tang Heng had decided to be a brat. “The ones you used to make, remember? Cook the green onions, fry an egg, put some sour cowpeas if you have any…”

Li Yuechi was silent for a few seconds before he said coldly, “Wait.” Then he took off his jacket and tossed it into Tang Heng’s lap. “Zip up the zipper.”

“Huh?”

“Your neck.”

“Oh—” Tang Heng lifted a hand to touch the red mark above his collarbone. Li Yuechi had created it yesterday. “I would’ve forgotten if you didn’t mention it.”       

Li Yuechi turned and walked out, closing the door a bit forcefully like he was having a fit. Tang Heng wrapped himself up in Li Yuechi’s jacket, feeling very proud of his pettiness.

 

Director Xu arrived before he finished the noodles. Tang Heng hadn’t seen him in two days and he indeed looked frailer. Dark circles hung under his eyes and his voice was raspy. He didn’t look as authoritative as before and instead seemed a tad miserable. Meanwhile, Tang Heng wore those baggy sweatpants and a jacket pulled up to his chin, resting in bed while completely covered up like an old guy who smoked opium.   

“Xiao Tang, how are you?” Director Xu’s voice was very concerned. “You don’t have a fever anymore, right?”

“I’m fine,” Tang Heng said, smiling. “I won’t die.”

“Oh, you rascal! Stop messing around and rest well to recover. We’ll return to Macao.”

“Return to Macao?” Tang Heng glanced toward the doorway. He didn’t see Li Yuechi. “Director Xu, you can go back if you want.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have other things.”

“I understand, I understand!” Director Xu glanced out too. Then he got up to close the door and said in a low voice, “You think I don’t know about you and that guy?”

Tang Heng: “Oh.”

“Xiao Tang, if you want to teach him a lesson, then you should tell me sooner! No need to make this mess…”

Tang Heng: “Huh?”

“I really never expected this! You could run into your family’s enemy in this poor remote place!” Director Xu scooted his chair forward and got close to Tang Heng. “If you want to give him a hard time, you should’ve just said it. Why did you have to bring Sun Jihao down too?”

Tang Heng was speechless for a moment. Then he asked, “Who told you all of this?”

“Nobody needed to tell me. Clearly, you couldn’t do anything because you thought Sun Jihao was in your way.”

Tang Heng: “…”

Was Director Xu too imaginative or not imaginative enough?

“Then, why do you think I came to look for him?” Tang Heng asked hesitantly.

“You have to find him, obviously,” Director Xu said matter-of-factly. “What if he ran away?”

…

That was logical, actually.

“Xuezhang!” Tang Heng called out.

Nobody replied, so Tang Heng raised his voice and yelled, “Li Yuechi!!!”

“Hey, what’re you doing?!” Director Xu cried. “Don’t be impulsive, Xiao Tang! We can make a long-term plan. This can’t be rushed—”

Li Yuechi came in from the yard. “What’s wrong?”

Tang Heng crossed his arms, looking like a couch potato. “Light a cigarette for me.”   

Director Xu peered at Li Yuechi in confusion.

Li Yuechi stood there without moving or speaking. “There’s Zhonghua in the drawer,” Tang Heng urged. “I’ll buy you more after I finish them.” Finally, Li Yuechi pulled the drawer open and tossed the pack to Tang Heng’s side. Tang Heng pulled a cigarette out and held it in his mouth. “Where’s the lighter?” he asked unclearly.

Director Xu seemed to finally react and say awkwardly, “I have a lighter…”   

With a dark expression, Li Yuechi found his lighter and helped Tang Heng light it.

“Anything else?”

“Mm.” Tang Heng patted the bed. “Sit here.”

Director Xu: “Then, Xiao Tang…”

“It’s alright.” Tang Heng took a deep breath, feeling the smoke rush directly into his lungs and relaxing his entire body. “I’m super close to Xuezhang.”

The atmosphere became odd—three men sitting in the cramped room, one who was sickly but smoked, one who had a cold expression and didn’t speak, one who was confused and wanted to speak but didn’t.

After a long while, Tang Heng had enough of the cigarette and finally asked, “Do you know about Lu Yue and Tang Guomu?”

Director Xu looked to the left and right. Then he pointed at himself. “You’re asking me?”

“Yeah.”       

“No way.” Director Xu chuckled. “Lu Yue said you didn’t know and I didn’t believe it.”

Tang Heng stubbed the cigarette and stared coldly at him.

“Since we don’t need to keep it from Xiao Li, then I’ll cut the crap.” Director Xu crossed his legs and his tone became ambiguous. “I’m telling you, Xiao Tang, this kind of matter, it just depends on how the result is—if there’s a problem, then it’s illegal, but if it’s not a problem, then it’s just the literati’s fengliu.”

Tang Heng suddenly clenched his fist, feeling the burning cigarette in his palm getting crushed.

“Your uncle was quite skilled. Any girl became his fengliu experiences with him.” Director Xu shrugged and said innocently, “I thought you knew all about it.”

 

Translator’s note: the Chinese phrase fengliu is hard to translate because it has several layers of meanings. According to yabla dictionary: 1) distinguished and accomplished, 2) talented in letters and unconventional in lifestyle, 3) romantic

 

Tldr: fengliu in this novel is used as an ironic way to say that Tang Guomu was able to get away with sexually harassing his students by saying it’s just the unconventional romance of a renowned scholar