Thinking of Song Yi and Lin He sitting inside the room, Xiang Xi felt much more settled inside. He was no longer as nervous. Aside from the two of them, there were not many other people in the room, which was quite good. He only hoped that after his master finished his part and he went up, not too many more people would come.

« What song do you want to hear? » Hu Hai asked from the side. His qin had already been brought into the room.

« Me? I wouldn’t know. The pieces you usually play, I don’t even know what they are. » Xiang Xi glanced at Old Lu, who was quietly talking with Peng Yunfan about something. « Once Master finishes his thing, you… »

« You go up first. » Hu Hai reminded him.

« Huh? » Xiang Xi was startled. He suddenly remembered that this seemed to have been the plan before, but after entering the room, his mind had been entirely occupied with the thought of following behind Old Lu…

« If your master leaves, the guests might leave too, » Hu Hai said with a smile. « They all came because of him. »

« That would be too awkward. » Xiang Xi sat down beside Hu Hai. « What if they came to see the immortal-like, refined Old Mr. Lu, and then the person who comes out is me wearing jeans? Wouldn’t they flip the table? »

« They probably wouldn’t flip the table, » Hu Hai said. « But whether you can make them wait patiently until he comes out depends on your ability. »

Xiang Xi bit his lip and said nothing.

The tea tables and tea utensils in the room had already been prepared. Hu Hai also went over, and the sound of the qin could soon be heard.

Xiang Xi felt that he had truly gone all out. He stood up, crossed the corridor, and entered the room.

The number of people had not changed much; it was still more or less the same group. Actually, he did not even know whether more people had arrived or some had left. He simply did not dare look around. He did not even have time to glance at Song Yi and Lin He’s table.

He just walked over stiffly with a straight face, went around to the back of the tea table, and sat down.

This tea table was much larger and more impressive than his master’s. The chair was also very large. Once he sat down, Xiang Xi felt as though his butt had no support on any side, leaving him with a strangely empty feeling.

Hu Hai’s qin music had paused briefly when Xiang Xi entered the room, but after he sat down properly, it began playing again.

Hearing the familiar qin melody, Xiang Xi slowly calmed himself. He looked at the tea utensils, then raised his eyes and swept his gaze across the room.

After that one glance, the emotions he had just calmed down began trembling again.

He did not know whether the guests thought someone had sat at the wrong table, whether they had never seen someone dressed like him making tea, or whether it was simply because the person sitting there was not Old Lu. In any case, all the guests in the room were staring at him.

From childhood until now, Xiang Xi had never been watched by so many people like this. The life that Uncle Ping had given him had always required him to hide himself in the most inconspicuous corner. Besides, he had always found everything boring and had already grown accustomed to not being noticed.

Now, suddenly having to accept so many eyes fixed on him at once, he almost wanted to stand up and leave.

But leaving was no longer possible. A young female server wearing a white top with blue floral patterns and blue trousers walked over beside him and placed the tea ordered by the guests in front of him.

Xiang Xi inhaled, then slowly exhaled. Forget it, whatever. His master had said he could do it; Lu Miaoyu had called him a master; Cheng Boyan had said he possessed a very special kind of presence.

That was enough. People who knew tea, people who did not, and people halfway between the two had all praised him. What was there to be afraid of? As long as he did not smash the tea utensils, he was only brewing a few pots of tea. Could it really be worse than standing in the freezing cold northern wind in the middle of winter while people chased him away?

Xiang Xi lowered his eyelids, picked up the kettle beside him, and slowly poured hot water over the teapot and cups, warming the pot and scalding the cups in preparation for brewing tea.

This whole set of movements had no particular standard for Xiang Xi. He simply picked things up as he wished, poured as he wished, then took the tea leaves, used the tea scoop to measure them, put them into the pot, and rinsed the tea.

As long as he did not look around, he could calm his mind.

In his ears was the familiar sound of the qin. Before his eyes were the tea utensils that he had carefully handled and played with one by one. He could already smell the faint fragrance of the tea leaves after rinsing, though it still carried a slight lack of clarity and purity.

He tapped the hot-water kettle lightly with his fingertips. After judging that the temperature was suitable, he poured the water into the rinsed tea leaves, watching the steaming water trace an arc through the air.

Just as he picked up the lid of the teapot, preparing to cover it and seal the pot while waiting, he heard a “click” coming from diagonally in front of him—the sound of a phone taking a picture.

He covered the teapot, raised his eyes, and looked in the direction of the sound.

At the tea table to his front left sat two girls in their twenties. One of them was still holding her phone, not having lowered it yet. Seeing Xiang Xi look toward them, the girl smiled a little awkwardly.

That smile contained only innocent goodwill and embarrassment, causing the tension Xiang Xi had been unconsciously holding onto to ease. He poured water around the already-covered teapot and smiled at the two girls as well.

After relaxing, Xiang Xi finally began carefully observing the people in the room.

There were quite a lot of young people coming to drink tea today. Apart from two tables occupied by men who looked about the same age as Cheng Boyan’s boss, the other tables were mostly people in their twenties.

However, probably because the person making tea had changed, the guests in the room were still somewhat curious about him. From time to time, someone would look over. Of course, there were also people who kept watching him the whole time.

Song Yi and Lin He by the window were exactly like that.

After their eyes met, Song Yi, while eating a small pastry, gave him a thumbs-up. With his mouth, he silently said: « Awesome. »

Xiang Xi smiled. Song Yi’s gesture gave him a great deal of confidence. Seeing that the time was about right, he picked up the tea tongs and used them to move the teacups into position.

When the tea poured out of the pot, the full fragrance of the tea drifted over. Xiang Xi praised himself inwardly: Not bad!

*

Cheng Boyan had a surgery today. He entered the operating room at ten in the morning, and by the time he came out, it was already past lunchtime. However, he could no longer really feel hungry.

There was a message from Xiang Xi on his phone. He looked at it and smiled.

There were several more messages below, all sent by Song Yi.

—We’re here.

—Your little heavenly god has arrived. Handsome.

—How are you dressed so stylishly.

—It’s started. I’ll report back to you after I finish watching.

—So handsome. I’m not praising my own people, he’s genuinely handsome. He’s completely different from the old man and that young woman. Too bad we can’t applaud.

—A young woman took a picture. You need to pay attention. I’ve realized this job of his is really too likely to attract young women.

Near the end of his shift, Cheng Boyan originally wanted to call Xiang Xi, but he was afraid Xiang Xi might be busy, so he called Lin He instead.

« Finished work? » Lin He answered the phone very quickly.

« Yeah, almost. Are you still there? Wait for me, we’ll have dinner together. » Cheng Boyan said.

« We’re still here. Xiang Xi already went to rest. Now it’s the old man’s turn. That’s his master, right? » Lin He said. « I feel like this old man and him have completely different styles. How did he even teach him? »

« Did he smash the teapot? » Cheng Boyan asked.

« You… » Lin He laughed. « He didn’t smash it. He just sat there with that arrogant, confident attitude, and surprisingly looked like he actually knew what he was doing. »

Cheng Boyan did not ask any more questions. Knowing that Xiang Xi had gone smoothly today was enough to put his mind at ease. Learning that he had performed quite well was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

After work, he drove straight to Yunshui Fanxin. The road was somewhat congested, and when he arrived, he was worried he might be late. Just as he was about to park, Lin He called again, saying that he and Song Yi were about to come out, while Old Lu and Xiang Xi would probably leave through the back entrance.

Cheng Boyan drove around to the back entrance and parked. As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Old Lu and a woman walking out from the back door, followed behind by Hu Hai and Xiang Xi.

The moment he saw Hu Hai and Xiang Xi walking side by side and talking, he immediately swung the car door shut and strode over. When he was several steps away, he called out: « Old Lu. »

« Ah, Boyan. » Old Lu smiled as soon as he saw him. He turned to the woman beside him and said, « My disciple has someone here to pick him up. »

« You’re here! » Xiang Xi turned his head and saw him. Immediately, his eyes seemed to disappear from smiling so widely.

Xiang Xi introduced the woman to Cheng Boyan. She was boss Peng, the owner of Yunshui Fanxin. Cheng Boyan was somewhat surprised. This seemed to be the same woman who had introduced tea leaves to customers the last time he came. She was actually the owner?

« Mr. Cheng, » Peng Yunfan extended her hand. « Have you been here before? »

« Hmm? » Cheng Boyan was startled. He shook her hand. « I’ve only been here once. »

« It was about two months ago, right? » Peng Yunfan said with a smile. « You came with a friend. I remember. »

« It was with me. » Xiang Xi said from beside them.

« Really? » Peng Yunfan turned to look at Xiang Xi. She seemed surprised and slightly embarrassed as she said, « Then my ability to remember people is really not very good. »

« Your memory is actually quite good, » Cheng Boyan said with a smile. « You even remember someone who only came once. »

« Mr. Cheng hasn’t come again since that time, has he? » Peng Yunfan smiled and took a business card from her small bag, handing it over. « Come by for tea when you have time. If there’s any tea you want to drink, you can tell me. »

« Thank you. » Cheng Boyan accepted the card.

After chatting a little longer, Hu Hai went to bring Old Lu’s car over. Old Lu got into the car. « I’ll leave first. I’m hungry. »

« Take care, Old Lu. » Peng Yunfan said with a smile.

After the car drove away, she turned back to Cheng Boyan.bv« Did the two of you drive here? I can give you a ride if you need. »

« We drove here, » Cheng Boyan said. « Boss Peng, you’re too kind. »

« Calling me “Boss Peng” is what’s truly being polite. » Peng Yunfan smiled. « Then, Mr. Cheng, come over for tea when you have time. »

« All right. » Cheng Boyan nodded.

« Then take care on your way. » Peng Yunfan looked at Xiang Xi again. « Xiang Xi, I hope you come often. Your style is very rare, and the effect is especially good. Next time you come, I want to properly observe it and drink a cup of your tea. »

Xiang Xi smiled without saying anything.

When Cheng Boyan and Xiang Xi went to get their car, Song Yi called to hurry them.

« We’ll go have dinner with Song Yi and Lin He later, » Cheng Boyan said after getting into the car. « To celebrate that everything went smoothly today and that you’ve gotten off to a good start. »

« Mm. » Xiang Xi nodded and fastened his seat belt. « You don’t know, at the beginning I was so nervous I thought I was going to die. The moment I sat down, everyone stared at me. They probably thought some idiot from whose family couldn’t even tell which seat belonged to him had sat down there. Everyone just stared at me—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. »

« And then the moment you made your move, you shocked all of them? » Cheng Boyan asked with a smile.

“Of course,” Xiang Xi said, rubbing his nose and waving his hand as he gestured a few times. “With a face this handsome, who else could it be but me!”

Xiang Xi’s nervousness had long since disappeared. Now, whenever he talked about it, his face was full of pride and excitement. Before Cheng Boyan could even say anything, he slapped his thigh and said, “Ah, it was so cool! I can’t even imagine it. The moment I think about it carefully, I can’t help but praise myself.”

Cheng Boyan did not say much. As long as he casually started a conversation, as long as it was related to the tea performance that afternoon, Xiang Xi could keep talking endlessly.

It was obvious that he was in a good mood. The gloom from failing to find his older brother the day before seemed to have temporarily been pushed aside by the joy of successfully completing his first official performance.

On the way to dinner, Xiang Xi had already praised himself from head to toe twice. When they arrived at the restaurant, Song Yi and Lin He continued by praising him from toe to head once more.

“I give up on you two,” Cheng Boyan said with a laugh. “You can’t exaggerate like this. Judging by your attitude, tomorrow he’ll be able to steal Old Master Lu’s livelihood.”

“The main thing is that he’s special,” Song Yi said. “Think about it: a cool, arrogant little handsome guy sits there, and what he’s playing with is tea. That strong contrast is so attractive. And on top of that, no matter how mesmerized people are watching him, he won’t even lift the corner of his eyes toward them…”

“I really just didn’t dare look anywhere else,” Xiang Xi said, laughing. “I was too nervous.”

“You won’t need to be nervous anymore,” Song Yi said. “Xiang Xi, this is actually a very good path. If you seriously walk it well, you’ll make something of yourself. You can earn quite a lot of money just from this. I guess your master is probably quite wealthy too.”

“A refined and elegant pursuit like this can’t be measured entirely with money,” Lin He added.

“Xiang Xi isn’t being refined and elegant right now; he’s making money,” Song Yi glanced at him. “Don’t talk yet.”

“But I feel like my master is living pretty well, quite comfortably,” Xiang Xi said thoughtfully. “When he took me to the tea house today, he drove a Q7. I don’t even know how he made his money.” (NT: An Audi Q7 costs around € 100 000)

“He used to make tea himself. After he earned enough and wanted to take it easy, he started doing this,” Cheng Boyan said with a smile. “Now he’s just doing it as a hobby, purely for enjoyment.”

“I want to live like that too,” Xiang Xi said, resting his chin on his hand. “When will I ever reach that level…”

“You’ve already started,” Cheng Boyan said.

After they returned home, Xiang Xi was still full of energy. After taking a shower, he looked even more refreshed and bounced out of the bathroom.

“Hey, when you have time, go take a look. I can’t see what I actually look like myself. Go look and tell me. I’m not nervous anymore. Next time Master asks me to go, I’ll try to aim for the evening…”

“Song Yi took a few photos of you and just sent them to my phone. Go look at them, they’re pretty good,” Cheng Boyan said. He was crouching in front of the sofa, examining it carefully. “What’s this?”

Xiang Xi was still caught up in his excitement and had not noticed what Cheng Boyan was doing at all. After hearing the question, he leaned over to look. “Soup juice, probably. When I was eating…”

Only after the words left his mouth did he suddenly realize what had happened. Cheng Boyan had discovered the spot he had covered with a cushion before he had even figured out how to remove it.

He immediately grabbed Cheng Boyan’s arm and put on a pitiful expression. “I don’t even know how it got there. I only noticed it when I was cleaning up after eating. Really, Dad, don’t scold me.”

Cheng Boyan was amused by his tone and the perfectly coordinated pitiful expression on his face. “You’re really a professional. You act pitiful just like a little puppy.”

“Little puppies are so cute, right?” Xiang Xi continued acting. “Woof! Dad, don’t be angry. Woof!”

“I’m not angry,” Cheng Boyan said helplessly with a smile. “I was just asking what this was. What if you missed me so much while you were at home that you held it in until you got a nosebleed and this dripped here? Then it wouldn’t come out.”

“How would I have had time to miss you today?” Xiang Xi instantly dropped the act and returned to his usual tone. He took Cheng Boyan’s phone and scrolled through the photos Song Yi had taken. “My whole head was filled with tea, tea, tea today.”

“I’m going to take a shower,” Cheng Boyan said. “Play by yourself for now.”

“What about that soup stain? Can it be washed off?” Xiang Xi asked while still looking down at the phone.

Song Yi had used a phone to take the pictures, but they were actually pretty good. The person in the photos felt somewhat unfamiliar to Xiang Xi, but he really did look quite impressive.

“Just take a small brush, put some dish soap on it, and scrub it later,” Cheng Boyan said. “Whoever did it cleans it up.”

“Oh,” Xiang Xi said while scrolling through the phone. “I don’t know who did it. Whoever did it can clean it up.”

“You’re pretty impressive now. You’re not just acting arrogant like you've got the two-five-eight tiles anymore—now even four-seven-ten can't hold you,” Cheng Boyan looked at him. “Master.”

(NT: The numbers (2-5-8 and 4-7-10) are sequences of "wan" (character) tiles in mahjong. The slang uses these tile numbers as a random catchphrase for "acting big," and Cheng Boyan escalates the numbers to tease that Xiang Xi's arrogance has grown off the charts.)

“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it,” Xiang Xi said.

In his heart, he was quite impressed that Cheng Boyan had instantly added a “two” to two-five-eight and gave the answer without stumbling at all.

Cheng Boyan ignored him and went into the bathroom. Xiang Xi sat on the sofa looking through the photos.

Song Yi had taken around twenty photos. Some were horizontal, some vertical; some were close-ups, some were taken from a distance. Xiang Xi enlarged each one carefully and found them rather interesting as he looked through them.

After finishing the photos, the next ones were pictures Cheng Boyan had taken of some unknown patient’s leg. The knee joint was swollen, and Xiang Xi could not help rubbing his own knee.

The next few pictures were all of patients: medical records, X-rays of bones. Cheng Boyan had probably taken them for research. Xiang Xi flipped through several of them without much interest. Just as he was about to put down the phone, his finger accidentally swiped again, and the photo moved to the next one.

The moment Xiang Xi saw this picture, he was stunned.

There was a gleaming white figure just sprawled out in the photo!

Xiang Xi stared at the picture in shock for several seconds before realizing that the person in the photo was himself, lying on the bed, sleeping completely unaware.

After realizing it was him, he was even more shocked. He flipped past several bone X-rays and found another one.

He was sleeping again!

A few pictures later, he found another photo of himself.

This time it was a close-up of his butt!

Xiang Xi had never known that when he slept, he could somehow sleep with half his butt sticking out of his underwear…

“Cheng Boyan!” Xiang Xi pushed open the bathroom door and held up the phone, showing Cheng Boyan the photo of his own butt. “You’ve kissed me, bitten me, jerked me off, and even slept with me. How are you still not satisfied?”

Cheng Boyan had his head covered in shampoo foam. He wiped the water from his face, saw what was on the phone, and leaned against the wall laughing so hard he could not stop. “Hey, this is my son’s growth diary. Don’t randomly flip through it.”

“No, seriously, are you sick?” Xiang Xi swiped through the photos twice. “Look, you even took so many pictures of bone scans here. Were you planning to discuss them with your director? You’re halfway through the discussion, and then you say, ‘Director, look, there’s another one here. I’m not sure about this.’ Then you flip—whoosh—and a butt appears! What were you thinking?”

Cheng Boyan was nearly choking from laughing after hearing his rant. He waved his hand at him. “Go out first. I’ll talk to you after I finish showering.”

“I really don’t understand the world of old men like you,” Xiang Xi said, glaring at him a few times before turning back to the living room. “Seriously…”

After Cheng Boyan finished showering, he was drying himself with a towel when Xiang Xi suddenly rushed back into the bathroom holding the phone and took several pictures of him in rapid succession.

“Revenge?” Cheng Boyan turned around and looked at him.

“Turn around,” Xiang Xi pointed at him. “I want to take a front view.”

“And then you’ll show people the photos you took and say, ‘Look, there’s another picture of the scenery here.’ Then they’ll flip through it and suddenly find a full-frontal nude photo of your boyfriend,” Cheng Boyan narrowed his eyes slightly. “You’re pretty generous. I didn’t even have the heart to take a frontal picture of you.”

“…You actually have an argument?” Xiang Xi clicked his tongue.

“Go ahead and take it.” Cheng Boyan turned around and even spread out his arms.

Xiang Xi took one picture of him with a click, then turned around and walked away.

When Cheng Boyan came out after showering, Xiang Xi was lying on the sofa watching television.

He walked over and directly pressed himself down onto Xiang Xi, then kissed his neck several times forcefully. “Little brat, you took a few pictures of my butt and you’re already taking revenge?”

“You really have a great body,” Xiang Xi said, taking the phone and showing him the photos. “These small muscles are so perfectly toned—fat but not greasy.”

“What kind of description is that?” Cheng Boyan laughed. “Did eating just make you hungry again?”

Xiang Xi chuckled twice. “Hey, when I think about it sometimes, I’m actually pretty lucky. To have such a great boyfriend—some people might not even get to meet someone like this in their entire life, and I actually managed to get one I can touch and rub against every day.”

“I’m the one who got lucky,” Cheng Boyan whispered softly beside his ear. “Really. That’s why I’m willing to spoil you like this. I’ll spoil you however you want.”

“Then next time I go to Yunshui Fanxin, you drive me there. Anyway, it’ll be at night, and my master has a dedicated car; I’ll have one too,” Xiang Xi said.

“Sure,” Cheng Boyan replied with a smile. “I think Boss Peng seems quite satisfied with you. Do your best, and maybe she’ll even arrange a dedicated car for you.”

“Hey, was she the person who introduced tea to the customers in the lobby when we came last time?” Xiang Xi asked. “I never thought she would be the owner.”

“I remember it was her,” Cheng Boyan said, gently biting his neck. “I just didn’t expect her memory to be so good.”

Xiang Xi did not say anything. After a while, he pushed him lightly. “Her memory is good? When I went there today, she didn’t even recognize me… What does that mean?”

“Hmm?” Cheng Boyan looked at him.

“Could it be that she…” Xiang Xi’s eyes slowly widened. “The two of us went there together, but she only remembered you. She only gave you her business card and asked you to come drink tea… Damn! Cheng Boyan! Could it be that she has a thing for you?”

“She has a thing for me?” Cheng Boyan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “Wouldn’t that be normal? We’re about the same age.”

“What did you say?!” Xiang Xi shouted.

“Are your ears deaf…” Cheng Boyan burst out laughing. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“Who’s jealous? I’m questioning you,” Xiang Xi said.

“Questioning me?” Cheng Boyan was still laughing. “Like the time you questioned me about who that woman with the long legs was? Speaking of that, were you already jealous back then?”

“You really think highly of yourself,” Xiang Xi clicked his tongue twice. “Tie a rope to you, let a bit of wind blow, and you’d be able to drift ten miles away with it!”

“Isn’t it still you holding the rope?” Cheng Boyan sat up, wrapped his arms around Xiang Xi’s waist, and lifted him from the sofa. As he carried him toward the bedroom, he said, “You don’t need to be jealous about this.”

“Why?” Xiang Xi asked, tilting his head back comfortably.

“I’ll prove it to you right now.” Cheng Boyan tossed him onto the bed and took off his clothes.

 

Translator : DarNan