Under Clear Skies Chapter 94: New Home

Chapter 94: New Home

Translated by KarateChopMonkey of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

The next morning, as expected, Tang Heng caught a cold.

When he woke up he felt sore all over, Li Yuechi was sitting by the bed and reached out to touch his forehead. “Here, take your medicine first.”

Tang Heng’s voice was hoarse. “What time is it?”

“It’s eight o’clock. Take the medicine and then you can sleep a bit more.”

“It’s fine…” Tang Heng slowly sat up, his arms supporting him on the bed. Li Yuechi quickly supported him and let him lean against him.

After Tang Heng swallowed the pills, he leaned against Li Yuechi without moving.

Li Yuechi whispered softly, “Lie down and get some rest…”

“I can’t sleep…” Tang Heng spoke slowly, “Am I dreaming?”

Li Yuechi chuckled softly. “Wasn’t last night enough?”

“…”

If they hadn’t reconciled yet, perhaps Tang Heng would dare to say “not enough” — after all, Li Yuechi wouldn’t do anything to him. But last night… Li Yuechi’s attitude seemed like he wanted to make up for the past six years all at once.

It was like a floodgate opening.

Later, Tang Heng couldn’t bear it anymore and begged Li Yuechi in a daze, “Senior… really, I can’t anymore.”

“It’s okay…” Li Yuechi kissed his sweaty temple, “Be good…”

Although he said that, Li Yuechi stopped after a while and asked Tang Heng if he wanted to continue.

Tang Heng hesitated for a moment and said hoarsely, “Continue…”

Since the moment they confirmed their relationship, Li Yuechi had changed. No, not changed, perhaps he finally could release his true self completely in front of Tang Heng.

Now that they have confirmed their love for each other forever.

Li Yuechi’s gaze was still gentle, but his actions were accompanied by a hint of madness. In the haze, Tang Heng felt like he was a wooden boat rocking on a stormy sea, while Li Yuechi was the waves that kept lifting him up and pushing him down again and again. Or perhaps Li Yuechi finally revealed the totem he had hidden for many years; he was a person who walked out of a book by Levi-Strauss, from a melancholic tropical area far from modern civilization, with wild and innocent eyes.

Tang Heng could feel that Li Yuechi finally dared to demand from him without reservation. Wasn’t this the strangest love in the world? While others feared not getting enough, they only feared that the other wouldn’t dare to ask.

So now that Li Yuechi wanted, of course, he was willing to give.

The result was a sore waist and back… Li Yuechi got up and walked to the door, opening it slightly. Tang Heng heard him say softly, “He hasn’t gotten up yet…”

“Is he okay?!” Jiang Ya asked anxiously, with a hint of guilt, “Did I upset him last night? Oh, I didn’t know he was standing behind us… Should I take him to see the doctor I mentioned?”

Li Yuechi said something, but Tang Heng didn’t catch it. Then Jiang Ya exclaimed again, “No! I’m worried! Let me see how he’s doing—”

“I’m fine…” Tang Heng lazily replied.

“Son!” Jiang Ya had already rushed into the room, “You’re okay—what’s this?”

He stared at the mark on Tang Heng’s neck, looking confused.

Tang Heng closed his eyes, too lazy to look at him. “Haven’t you seen it before?”

A few seconds later, Jiang Ya cursed softly, turned to Li Yuechi, and said, “Didn’t you say you two are just friends now?!”

“Yesterday was yesterday…” Li Yuechi replied calmly, “It’s different today…”

“So what are you now…”

“Can’t you see that we’re together?” Tang Heng’s head was throbbing from his shouting, “Get out and wait, I’ll be out in a while.”

Jiang Ya walked away with hesitation in his eyes, as if regretting leaving too early last night.

Tang Heng rubbed his temples and got up. “I won’t sleep anymore…”

Li Yuechi leaned over and touched his forehead with his own to check if he had a fever.

“Feeling uncomfortable?”

“It’s okay, just a bit congested in the nose.”

“Let’s go out later in the afternoon, get some more sleep…” Li Yuechi said as he took off his coat, “I bought some buns, let’s eat them together after.”

For a few seconds, Tang Heng wasn’t sure what Li Yuechi meant by “eat them together”.

But when they lay down again, Li Yuechi just kissed Tang Heng’s lips.

Tang Heng pushed him away and mumbled, “Be careful not to catch the cold from me.”

Li Yuechi leaned in again and kissed him with a smile. “It’s okay, I’ve already caught it.”

That afternoon, Tang Heng retrieved his phone from Li Yuechi.

He knew that sooner or later he had to face some things. Shutting down his phone was just a helpless way of avoiding them. But now, he seemed to have found some strength. No matter how bad the outcome might be, he was sure that he wasn’t alone in this world.

He and Li Yuechi would face everything together.

He turned on his phone, and it took a good fifteen seconds to boot up.

WeChat, messages, emails, missed calls… they flooded in one after another. Tang Heng simply placed his phone upside down on the table. After half a minute, he took a deep breath and picked it up.

There were 47 missed calls from Fu Liling.

Next were 19 missed calls from Jiang Ya.

Director Xu had called eight times.

Tang Guomu… Tang Guomu had only called twice. Once when he was on the high-speed train, and once last night after nine. Tang Heng calmly said, “Bao Lei must have gone to see him.”

“What if he calls again?”

“Ignore him for now…” Tang Heng promptly blocked Tang Guomu’s number, “Who’s next?”

Just as Li Yuechi was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.

Jiang Ya walked in, holding his phone. “Anyun is back…”

At half past two in the afternoon, the three of them took Line 2 to arrive at Guanggu. When Tang Heng left Wuhan years ago, Guanggu was still a rundown suburban area, not even accessible by subway. But now, it has become Wuhan’s most famous high-tech park. Tang Heng picked up a real estate ad that read: “Study at Hongshan Top Universities, Enjoy the Scenery of Donghu Lake, Guanggu Huating Starting at 21,008 yuan per square meter.” Jiang Ya clicked his tongue and said, “Are the flats in Guanggu all this expensive? Can I sell my villa in Huquan for a few million?”

Tang Heng paused. “You haven’t sold your duplex yet?”

“Yeah, I was planning to deal with it earlier, but there was too much stuff, and I’m too lazy to go back to the country.”

“You do have a lot of stuff.”

Tang Heng remembered Jiang Ya’s duplex apartment, with at least two walk-in closets filled with various brands. There was even a music room on the ground floor dedicated to Jiang Ya’s drum set. He remembered at least three sets. In the living room, there was a long, wide sofa. They often watched movies there, and when they got tired, they just slept on the couch.

Jiang Ya said, “Come on, most of that stuff belongs to you guys, okay?”

“To us?” Tang Heng didn’t understand, “Me and Anyun?”

“You and Li Yuechi! You rented that rundown place, and all the random stuff inside was left at my place—”

Tang Heng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He first looked at Li Yuechi, who lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Then he looked at Jiang Ya. “What do you mean?”

“Uh…” Jiang Ya suddenly realized that something was wrong and stuttered, “Y-you didn’t know?”

“Our stuff, was it all at your place?”

“Yeah… isn’t that… Li Yuechi told me to do it back then.”

Tang Heng steadied himself. “When was that?”

Jiang Ya said softly, “He did the data analysis for my thesis, and Anyun gave me that file bag… there was a note inside, telling me to find time to move everything out of the rental house, leaving nothing behind.”

Tang Heng felt like his heart had been punched hard.

“I thought you knew…” Jiang Ya continued, “After all, your things were inside. I just took everything out. You didn’t notice?”

Tang Heng fell silent. After a while, he sighed silently.

“I didn’t notice…” Tang Heng said quietly, “After that day, I never went back.”

“What day?”

“The day he confronted Tang Guomu.”

This time Jiang Ya didn’t say anything.

“Am I useless? I didn’t even dare to go back and take a look until 2016 when I checked with Google Maps and found out that it had already been demolished. If I had returned to Wuhan earlier, maybe I could have…”

“Stop thinking about it…” Li Yuechi interrupted him, “It’s all in the past now…”

“Do you know when it was demolished?”

“November 24th, 2016.”

By then, Li Yuechi had already been released from prison.

Suddenly, Tang Heng had a certain premonition.

They were standing on the streets of Guanggu, surrounded by bustling traffic, while faint piano music emanated from a nearby western restaurant. But in Tang Heng’s ears, all he could hear was the thunderous sound of bricks and stones falling to the ground.

It was the sound of the glass they had cleaned until it was as good as new shattering.

It was the sound of the iron ladder they had climbed countless times breaking.

It was the sound of the screws they had tightened rolling away.

It was…

Tang Heng’s voice trembled as he asked, “On the day of demolition, did you go back?”

It was clearly a question, but he used a declarative tone, as if he already had the answer.

A few seconds later, Li Yuechi nodded slightly.

Even though he had guessed it, when Li Yuechi admitted it himself, Tang Heng still felt his breath catch. He didn’t know what Li Yuechi felt at that time, witnessing the house they had once lived in reduced to rubble.

At that time, Li Yuechi had just been released from prison, and over twenty years of his life had been wasted.

Did he feel regret?

At that time, they had been separated for nearly five years, both thinking they would never see each other again.

Did he miss those days?

Just imagining the scene of dust and darkness was already heart-wrenching for Tang Heng. He couldn’t fathom how Li Yuechi, who had witnessed it all firsthand, could bear it. Was it a paradox—how could he summon the courage to face a sight that filled him with despair?

“Tang Heng…”

Li Yuechi stepped forward, forcefully prying open Tang Heng’s clenched fist and holding his hand tightly.

“Listen to me, stop thinking about it…” Li Yuechi gazed at him, his eyes filled with determination, “From now on, we have a new home.”

 

Author’s Note:

Note: Levi-Strauss’s “Tristes Tropiques”