Under Clear Skies Chapter 51: Back to Wuhan

Chapter 51: Back to Wuhan

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Tang Heng exited from the app and placed Li Yuechi’s phone on the side. He massaged his temples, but it didn’t seem to work. That video was like a burst of fire that ignited a wire in his mind and countless words explode with a boom—those are the lyrics that Li Yuechi had written for him.

None of them thought Li Yuechi would write so many lyrics. Cover Gazing Eyes was four minutes and 11 seconds in total. The only repeating lines were Facing the rain splashed from the sky to the river, I love the gazing eyes covered by your long hair. Tang Heng remembered it now. Six years ago, he had gone to Beijing alone with their manager, lived alone in a brand-new loft in the third ring, ate alone, slept alone. Often, he would wake up at midnight and clutch his phone, hesitating if he should call Li Yuechi or not. Cover Gazing Eyes had played on repeat in his MP3 player, but he felt that his singing was seriously weird, so he’d called A-Hao to record a version in Wuhan and send it to him. After repeating that version for two days, he’d still found it weird. That song had been written by Li Yuechi for him. It probably shouldn’t be sung by others. A-Hao had yelled at him over the phone for being full of shit because of this.

So—where had that MP3 player gone? He had a vague memory. It was a white Sony MP3 player that Fu Liling had bought for him on a trip to Japan. He was certain that his version of Cover Gazing Eyes was in that MP3 player.

The other one who had disappeared was A-Hao. Tang Heng hadn’t contacted A-Hao again after leaving Wuhan—that short boy who was gay, just like him. Of course, it wasn’t only A-Hao that he’d lost contact with. Many old friends, those from the music scene, those who opened bars, instrument stores… Where had they gone? They’d gone without a trace, like fish entering the sea.

If he hadn’t come to Guizhou on this business trip, then just like these people, Li Yuechi would also be gone without a trace from his life.

If he’d believed Li Yuechi when he’d said, I’m not good enough for you, and gone back to Macao with Director Xu, then Li Yuechi would still be unreachable.

 

Tang Heng got up and slowly moved out of the room in his slippers. The bottom of his feet hurt badly. He didn’t know if his scabs had opened up again, but he didn’t care about this stuff now. He followed the bit of noise through the house and came to the kitchen door. Li Yuechi’s kitchen wasn’t big—it was practically filled up by the hearth. The hearth was made of cement, connected to the wall, with white tile on the surface. It was Tang Heng’s first time seeing a hearth like this.

Li Yuechi was squatting before it, adding firewood continuously. The smoke was thick and the wood crackled from the fire. Tang Heng coughed from the smoke and Li Yuechi finally turned around. “What’s wrong?” he asked in surprise.

“I’m gonna walk around.” Tang Heng looked at him. “Can’t lay around all day.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll help you after I’m done.”   

“Okay.”

Li Yuechi sped up his actions and sent the remaining half basket of firewood into the hearth in less than a minute. Then he walked to Tang Heng’s side and placed Tang Heng’s left arm across his shoulders.

Li Yuechi lowered his head and sniffed. “I’ll go change my clothes.”

“What’s wrong?” Tang Heng asked.

“The firewood smell is heavy.”   

“It’s okay.”

Li Yuechi seemed to consider it seriously before saying, “Right, you can just treat is as smoking.”

Tang Heng looked at him wordlessly. Li Yuechi continued, “You’re not allowed to smoke that pack of Zhonghua anymore.”   

“Why?”

“Bad for your voice.”

“I…”

“Don’t you want sex?” Li Yuechi suddenly lowered his voice. “There are still two cigarettes left in the pack. Exchange one for one time.”

“What happens afterward?” Tang Heng asked dumbly. Only two times?

Li Yuechi didn’t answer. He just said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you around.”

Tang Heng thought that around meant a few laps in the yard. Unexpectedly, Li Yuechi pushed his motorcycle out.

“We’re going for a ride?” Tang Heng was a bit surprised.

“Mn,” Li Yuechi said. “Wait here.”   

With that, he returned into the house and quickly came out with a basin of water and started wiping the motorcycle with a rag. He wiped the leather seat until it shone and even cleaned the pedal so it glinted gold under the sun.

Tang Heng saw that his forehead glistened too—he was sweating.

Li Yuechi sat onto the motorcycle and turned towards Tang Heng. “Come on,” he said.

Tang Heng scooted over, lifted his leg, and held onto Li Yuechi’s waist with both hands.         

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

He floored the gas pedal and the motorcycle drove out of the yard with a roar. It was close to noon and the sun was so bright that Tang Heng had to squint. The cool wind poured into his mouth and nose, and the nausea slowly scattered. There was greenery everywhere—the trees, grass, farmlands, and the patches of moss by the creek. There was nobody around, so Tang Heng hugged Li Yuechi, pressing his cheek against his thin back.        

“Li Yuechi!” It was windy, so he had to yell, “Where are we going!”

Li Yuechi didn’t reply, so Tang Heng stopped asking. The path was mountainous and sometimes extremely bumpy. Waves of pain traveled from the bottom of his feet. After that, Tang Heng decided to stretch out his legs, his feet hovering in the air. He felt like he was about to fly.

He closed his eyes, wishing the motorcycle would never stop and they would gallop in the wind forever.

But in the end, they stopped. Tang Heng sprawled against Li Yuechi without moving. “We’re here,” Li Yuechi said.

“Let me hug for a while,” Tang Heng said.

So, they stopped like that, Tang Heng hugging Li Yuechi from behind, his eyes still tightly closed. He didn’t know where he was. He just felt that the sun was even warmer, basking onto his back and even feeling a bit hot. The surroundings were silent—there were neither the voices of people nor the sounds of chickens and dogs.

It was very windy, but it wasn’t actually cold.

Later, Li Yuechi said, “Let’s get off.” Tang Heng closed his eyes and blinked. He discovered they were at the top of a mountain. It was a very tall mountain; when he looked down, he could see the meandering creek winding around the dots of villages and patches of fields.

Tang Heng surveyed the surroundings. “Is this the tallest mountain?” he asked.

“The tallest in this area.” Li Yuechi gazed down the mountain. “I often climbed up here to play when I was a kid.”

“Play with what?”

“Just sit and watch. I always felt like I could see further.” Li Yuechi laughed. “At that time, my elementary school teacher said that the city opened a theater. I really wanted to go see.”

Tang Heng was quiet.

Li Yuechi reached into his pocket and pulled out Tang Heng’s phone.

“Try turning it on,” he said. “The signal’s strong here.”

Tang Heng was taken aback. He didn’t expect Li Yuechi to bring his phone here—it had probably been when he went into the house to get water to wipe down the motorcycle. He’d planned this all along.

“You can’t keep it off your entire life,” Li Yuechi said. “It’s just sooner or later.”

Tang Heng accepted the white iPhone 8. After a moment of silence, he said, “Then, can you give me some space?”

“I’ll come pick you up later,” Li Yuechi said easily.

With that, he walked down the little path and his backside soon disappeared from sight. 

 

Tang Heng turned on his phone. As expected, messages popped out one after another. He ignored them all and dialed Jiang Ya’s number.

It took a long while before the call connected. Jiang Ya’s voice was sleepy and slurred. “Hello?” he said in English.

“Speak Chinese.”

“Uh—fuck, Tang Heng?!”

“Yeah.”

“Where the fuck you go?!”

“I’m—”

“I was about to call the fucking cops!” Jiang Ya yelled. “I just helped you test the sleeping pills and then you fucking go MIA. What the fuck happened?!”

“I’m in Guizhou.”

“I know!”

“I saw Li Yuechi.”

“…”

The other end of the call fell silent. Tang Heng asked, “Jiang Ya?”

“Aren’t you on a business trip?” Jiang Ya’s voice sped up. “How did you see him? Huh? What’s going on?”

Tang Heng thought for a moment and decided to start from the most important part. “We’re dating again.”

Jiang Ya: “…”

“But,” Tang Heng added, “that’s just what I think.”

“Stop kidding. It’s been so long…”

“Do I seem like I’m kidding?”

“Tang Heng!”

“I need to tell you something.”

“Li Yuechi will definitely not agree to it!”

“Yeah.” Tang Heng gazed at the deep blue horizon in the distance. “He doesn’t agree.”

“Right, see, since he doesn’t a—”

“You knew too, right?”

“What?”

“My uncle raped Tian Xiaoqin.”

“…”

“I’m just telling you, if you’re willing to, help me tell An Yun.” There was another gust of wind from the mountains. Tang Heng suddenly felt extremely calm and serene. “I’m going back to Wuhan.”

Tang Heng bought a highspeed rail ticket from Tongren to Wuhan, and turned off his phone.

He sat on the ground and stared at the shadows of the hillside trees. As the sun moved, the shadows stretched longer bit by bit, and he thought that Li Yuechi must have seen this sight before too.

He didn’t know what Li Yuechi thought about when he’d sat here.

 

“Tang Heng,” a distant call came from behind him. Tang Heng turned and saw Li Yuechi walking towards him. He had the endless blue sky and white clouds behind him, like he was walking out of the sky.

Even though he had messy stubble on his chin. Perhaps he hadn’t shaved in two days, and his t-shirt was faded after having worn it for so long. He was too thin—so thin that he seemed bleak, making one not bear to see him stand in the wind.

Li Yuechi walked before Tang Heng; Tang Heng gazed at his dark eyes. Six years had passed, but even after being imprisoned, his eyes were still so clear and distinct. It seemed that everything had aged; only his eyes never changed.

“I’m going back to Wuhan,” Tang Heng said.

Li Yuechi asked, “Is it possible to not go back?”

“No,” Tang Heng said.

After a pause, Li Yuechi said, “Going back won’t change anything.”

“Even if it won’t change anything, I can at least remember it.” Tang Heng paused. “You know, I’ve been thinking just now, if I didn’t come to Guizhou, what I didn’t know would forever be unknown. What I forgot would forever be forgotten.” 

“…”

“Like what you said to me before you stabbed Tang Guomu, I still can’t remember. There are many more things too, Tian Xiaoqin, Jiang Ya, An Yun…”

“It’s all in the past.”

“But I don’t want to forget you,” Tang Heng said, word by word. “And them.” 

“…”

 

Author’s note: next chapter will be back to 6 years ago =w= continue the sweet love