Under Clear Skies Chapter 69: “My First Love was There”

Chapter 69: “My First Love was There”

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

When Tang Heng got home, Fu Liling was making a phone call on the balcony. She wore a charcoal cashmere coat that went past her knees. When she heard the commotion, she turned and shot Tang Heng a look. It seemed that she’d just gotten back and hadn’t had time to remove her makeup yet. Tang Heng sat down before her dressing table and peeled back the cake wrapper.

“It’s all thanks to you this time. Su-jie… you’re too polite, haha. See you Saturday then! I’ll go pick you up.” After Fu Liling ended the call, she sat down beside Tang Heng and affectionately patted his head. “Is it good?”

Tang Heng offered her the spoon. “You can try.”

“I’m on a diet,” Fu Liling said. “Honey, you eat up.”

The cake was chestnut-flavored. Tang Heng couldn’t see the brand, but the sweetness was just right and had a delicate texture. While eating, Tang Heng decided he needed to buy a piece for Li Yuechi too.

“I saw your uncle this afternoon,” Fu Liling said, hugging Tang Heng. “He told me.”

“What?”

“You tattled to Dean Zhang last time, right?”

Tang Heng froze. He held his spoon in his mouth and mumbled, “They bullied me… shixiong.“

“Which shixiong?”

“Li Yuechi.”

“Oh—the one who came to borrow books?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh you.” Fu Liling tapped Tang Heng’s head with her finger. “You just cause trouble every day.”

Tang Heng swallowed the cake in his mouth. “Because you’re all here for me, right?”

Fu Liling laughed too. She took her phone and replied to someone’s text without continuing the topic. Tang Heng secretly let out a relieved sigh.

He could see that she was in a good mood tonight. Tang Heng finished the cake and asked, “Where did you buy it?”

“You like it? I’ll have them bring more tomorrow, but don’t eat too much.”

“No need… What’s the store? I want to buy some for Jiang Ya and An Yun in a few days.”

“Panlinji, it’s by Shouyi Square. You can just call and have them deliver it. The store belongs to Su-jie’s friend.”

“Su-jie?”

“Dean Zhang’s wife.”   

“Oh,” Tang Heng said. “Since when did you become so close with them?”

“It’s just how you interact with people.” Fu Liling got up and tossed her coat casually onto the sofa. “Oh right, your uncle said you gave up on the exemption?”

This was actually from last month. Even though Tang Heng had gotten the test-exempt spot in the department and also passed the interviews and tests for Wuhan University and a school in Beijing, he passed up the exemption. The national exemption system had opened last month and he had not even submitted an application.

“Yes…” Inside, Tang Heng thought, We’re going to fight again.

However, Fu Liling was abnormally calm. She just nodded and said, “I’m treating Dean Zhang’s family to dinner Sunday evening. Your uncle will go too. Remember to leave space in your schedule.”

“You’re staying until Sunday?” It was only Monday now.

“I’m going back to Shanghai on the 20th.” Fu Liling yawned and said lazily, “Won’t have time next month. It’s always busy at the end of the year.”

 

Fu Liling staying at home for 10 days meant that Tang Heng had to stay home for 10 days too.

Thursday noon, he and Li Yuechi ate a quick lunch in the school cafeteria—it wasn’t that he was busy with band practice. It was purely because Li Yuechi had no time. His uncle’s project was indeed complicated. According to Li Yuechi, it was a poverty alleviation project for Dawu County in Hubei Province. They had to work with the local government and companies to help farmers sell agricultural products, as well as tracking and surveying a group of poor households. Li Yuechi had just joined the team and wasn’t familiar with the work yet. He had to complete his assigned tasks while spending time to learn about the previous work.

They could no longer cuddle for a long time. Even eating lunch together in the cafeteria was a feat. Tang Heng even started to complain about his uncle. “You and Tian Xiaoqin are only first-year students. Why’d he assign you so much work?”

“He said this project is very important and our names will be included in the published essays,” Li Yuechi said while wolfing down his food. “It’s not bad to get this chance.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tang Heng mumbled. “Eat more. I think you lost weight.”

Li Yuechi arched an eyebrow and laughed. “It’s only been a few days.”

“But you’ve been working so hard these days.” Fortunately, they were sitting in the corner. Tang Heng put his braised pork ribs into Li Yuechi’s bowl. “I can’t finish it.”

Actually, he didn’t like the cafeteria food at all, especially the one that Li Yuechi came to often—it was the cheapest one among all of Wuhan Uni’s cafeterias. A set of two dishes and one serving of rice only cost 3.5-kuai, and even came with a free bowl of seaweed soup. With this low price, it naturally wouldn’t taste that great. Tang Heng honestly couldn’t stomach the food here, so he’d buy some braised pork ribs or chicken from the neighboring window. It was seven-kuai per serving and didn’t taste that great, but it was better than the others. 

He didn’t know how Li Yuechi could eat the withered vegetables, floury sweet and sour pork, and the stiff and hard rice. Every time he wanted to buy braised pork ribs for him, Li Yuechi would say, “No need.”

Even though it was only 3.5-kuai more expensive.

“Do you have a meeting tomorrow night?” Tang Heng pulled away from his thoughts. “We have a competition tomorrow.”

“The Zhouheiya one?”

“Yeah, it’ll be at the new bar on Jianghan Road, LIL.”

“Tomorrow night… I’ll try my best.” Li Yuechi set down his chopsticks. “What time does it start?”

“Seven, but we don’t know what number we are.”

Li Yuechi nodded. “Got it.”

He finished everything on his plate, including the carrots in the seaweed soup—Tang Heng knew that he doesn’t actually like eating carrots.

Meanwhile, Tang Heng still had half a bowl of braised pork ribs.

The two brought their plates to the plate and utensil drop-off area and walked out of the cafeteria. Just as they separated, Li Yuechi said softly, “You don’t actually have to eat with me… You’re not used to the food, right?”

“No.” Tang Heng quickly shook his head. “I’m still full from breakfast.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”       

Li Yuechi chuckled. “Alright,” he said, a bit resigned.

Tang Heng opened his own umbrella and walked out of from under Li Yuechi’s. It was raining in Wuhan again. The weather forecast said that it would be at most five degrees Celsius tomorrow. This humid and cold weather annoyed him. It felt like winter would never end. 

They separated at an intersection. At this hour, there were students everywhere, so they couldn’t do anything except nod to each other. Tang Heng walked towards the subway station; Li Yuechi walked towards the lecture hall. The sky was as cloudy as a yellowed book. Tang Heng took 10 steps and looked back, seeing that Li Yuechi’s backside had already become tiny. He always walked quickly when he was by himself. Tang Heng knew that it was because Li Yuechi had to hurry back to the classroom and help grade the homework. After grading, he would have to go to class. After class ended at four, he had to work in the project team’s office until dinner. At night, he had to teach again.

He was like a spinning top that couldn’t pause for a second for anyone.

 

Hushituo practiced in their studio for the entire afternoon and evening. They ate a quick dinner in the small restaurant across the street. It was freezing outside, but in their studio, it was hot enough for them to wear only one layer and still be drenched in sweat.

Jiang Ya put down his drumsticks and sprawled on the sofa. “I don’t wanna hear South again in my life.”

Tang Heng lay next to him and mumbled, “Me too.”

An Yun finished a bottle of water in one gulp. “We’re definitely first place.”

“Ge, think of your melody first,” Jiang Ya said. “We have to submit the demo before January 20th.”

“Me? Did you finish the lyrics?”

“I wrote six lines!”   

An Yun side-eyed him. “Really?”

“Fuck, I’m serious! I’ll definitely finish before New Year’s.”

“You better.”

“I swear to god.” Jiang Ya ruffled his red hair. “I don’t even chat with girls anymore.”

All in all, Hushituo’s rehearsal was very successful. Jiang Ya didn’t mess up where he often made mistakes either.

 

Friday, Wuhan was still full of rain. They planned on meeting at noon. After all, they had to put on makeup and have stage rehearsal in the afternoon and the competition was at night—they needed to sleep in. Tang Heng got up at noon, ate brunch at home, and took the subway with Jiang Ya and An Yun to the LIL Bar on Jianghan Road.

The organizers had generously hired a professional hair and makeup team. They also booked the bar’s VIP room for the green room. Jiang Ya turned on the heat as soon as they entered.

“Too fucking cold,” he said, shivering. “I can’t stand Wuhan’s crazy weather. I even ran out of underwear.”

“Don’t you have a laundry dryer?” Tang Heng asked.

“Lulu broke it and I haven’t fixed it yet.”

“Lulu?” An Yun said coldly. “Last night, you said you didn’t have time to chat with girls.”

“I… ah.” Jiang Ya laughed guiltily. “That was last week. She insisted on coming. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Were you a fucking breeding pig in your past life?”

Jiang Ya laughed and oinked like a pig.

The makeup artist arrived soon. The three did their hair and makeup one by one. Jiang Ya’s was the simplest, but An Yun’s bowl cut required some effort from the hairstylist. As for Tang Heng, he was the main vocal. The makeup artist said his makeup was the most important.

At 5:30, they’d finished one round of dress rehearsals. Instead of singing, they’d just finalized the performance order and stage positions. There were 10 bands and Hushituo was the fifth to go up. “We’re pretty lucky,” An Yun whispered.

“Why?” Jiang Ya asked.

“When the competition first starts, the judges would be really strict. Near the end, they’ll be tired and not listen carefully anymore. Being in the middle is just right.”

“Shit, you’re right,” Jiang Ya commented. “Son, are you nervous?”

Tang Heng put his phone on silent and pocketed it. “Nervous my ass. I’m so sick of this song.”

He’d just texted Li Yuechi that they’d go onstage around eight. Li Yuechi said he could make it.       

To be honest, he was seriously not nervous at all. This was just like a gig. The only difference was that he had to wear in-ears. But he really wanted Li Yuechi to see this performance, because even though he was sick of South, he still wanted to sing it to Li Yuechi. My first love was there. His first love was here, his lover was below the stage.

At six, the contestants returned to their makeup rooms to rest and eat. Jiang Ya ordered white porridge and lotus pork rib soup to avoid any complications. He didn’t even ask for sauces.

At seven, they were sitting in the waiting area. The first band to perform was from Hanyang Music Institute. Of the five guys, three had ponytails while one had his shoulder-length hair hanging loose.

“Oh shit, our looks don’t stand out,” Jiang Ya whispered in Tang Heng’s ear.   

“We’ll stand out if you play the drums naked,” Tang Heng shot back.

Just as he finished speaking, a woman in sunglasses walked over and sat beside Tang Heng. She took off her sunglasses and smiled at Tang Heng. “We meet again, didi.”

It was Lin Lang.

Tang Heng wasn’t surprised to see her here.

“What are you singing?” Lin Lang asked.

“South.”

“Oh, I like this one.”   

The music started up and the two stopped chatting. Tang Heng received a text from Li Yuechi.

The meeting started. I can come over at 8.

His tone was certain. Tang Heng smiled at the screen.

At 7:40, the second band finished singing, the judges gave their feedback, and Hushituo was called to wait backstage.

Tang Heng took off his winter jacket before leaving. Inside, he was only wearing a white Comme des Garcons shirt—short sleeved.

“You’re only wearing that onstage?” Lin Lang asked in surprise. The bar had turned on the heat, but it was still very cold.

“This is my lucky shirt,” Tang Heng said with a smile.