CH 12

On Jiang Heng’s twenty-fourth birthday, he shared his birthday with Ji Yao for the first time in the history of his birthdays.

When he ordered the cake, he clearly didn’t expect to be in such a good mood. He chose a very small size, so the entire birthday cake was gone in no time.

Reluctantly, Jiang Heng had to resort to his backup plan. He drove Ji Yao back to Wangfujing and got some hotpot for a late-night snack before finally dropping him off at school.

That birthday cake seemed to have melted away some kind of distance between them. Ji Yao unbuckled his seatbelt as he was about to leave and made a playful comment, “I thought you wouldn’t be sending me back to school tonight.”

“No rush,” Jiang Heng replied with his usual line. “We still have more opportunities.”

Ji Yao shrugged nonchalantly, took a couple of steps away, then turned back. He saw Jiang Heng’s car still parked in place, so after a brief thought, he walked back and tapped on the car window.

The window lowered quickly, revealing Jiang Heng’s face.

“What’s up?” Jiang Heng asked.

Now approaching midnight, the road outside the school gate was deserted. Ji Yao raised his hand to shield himself under the roof of the car, lowered his head, and swiftly planted a kiss on Jiang Heng’s lips.

“The birthday cake was really delicious,” Ji Yao said. “Order one for me in two weeks.”

Jiang Heng blinked.

“With mango flavor,” Ji Yao added.

Jiang Heng quickly realized the implication behind these words and curved his eyes into a smile.

“Make it a bigger cake too,” Ji Yao said, patting his shoulder. “Happy birthday.”

With that, Ji Yao straightened up, took something out of his coat pocket, tossed it into the car, waved, and turned to leave.

Jiang Heng watched him enter the school gate before opening the makeshift gift box in his hand.

The gift box was palm-sized, obviously bought hastily. The receipt had been taken away, but the small slip was still inside. Jiang Heng lifted the lid and found a pair of sapphire cufflinks.

Jiang Heng recalled that during dinner earlier, Ji Yao had left for about fifteen minutes. At the time, he thought Ji Yao had probably just stepped out to pick a call. Now, thinking back, it seemed Ji Yao had gone to buy this gift.

Jiang Heng suddenly smiled, feeling quite pleased, and promptly attached the cufflinks to his shirt.

The winter night breeze brushed against the thin branches of the roadside trees. Car headlights flickered across the road and soon disappeared into the flow of traffic at the intersection.

Ji Yao wrapped his coat tightly around himself and walked slowly back to the dormitory against the cold wind. He touched the corner of his lips and faintly sensed a lingering warmth there.

How had things developed into this? Ji Yao couldn’t help but wonder.

When he kissed Jiang Heng at the traffic light, he had been driven by a sense of revenge. He was annoyed by his parents’ need to control everything about him, and he felt wronged. So, he wanted to cement the deed and get back at them—he found Jiang Heng rather pleasing to the eye, so he simply accepted him, nothing more.

He had impulsively kissed Jiang Heng, intending to just engage in a passionate affair. However, he suddenly changed his mind, maybe because the strawberry cake tasted too good.

He realized he wasn’t in a hurry to determine anything so hastily. Let things develop naturally, he thought. Let it happen naturally. With Jiang Heng, someone he considered interesting, being too impatient would indeed be a waste.

So during the meal, he didn’t bring up the topic of their relationship. They both seemed to have silently accepted a certain level of intimacy between them, yet neither of them took the initiative to cross that line.

It only takes twenty-one days to form a habit. By the time Jiang Heng realized that their unspoken, ambiguous closeness had exceeded what he used to consider the “honeymoon phase,” Ji Yao’s chat box had been pinned to the top of his WeChat for a while.

They didn’t meet too frequently, nor too rarely—once or twice a week when busy, and two or three times when not. But no matter what, every month there were one or two private and intimate events that they would plan together.

“Ji Yao is quite impressive,” Ge xing’s voice came through the earpiece with a slightly hungover nasal tone. “This is simply the urban romance version of One Thousand and One Nights. Finding shared goals that create anticipation from time to time, stretching out the timeline, it’s brilliant.”

“Yeah,” Jiang Heng stood in front of his wardrobe, organizing his clothes. He neatly folded his thick coat and jacket into dust proof bags, then took out a slightly thinner shirt and coat, shook them out, and hung them in the wardrobe. “I feel the same way.”

“Ge xing…”

On the other end of the phone, there was an unusual two-second silence. After a while, Gexing’s voice came out somewhat awkwardly, “Your reaction… Why do I feel like you two are fishing for each other?”

Jiang Heng chuckled, “Really? Don’t think of me as that aggressive.”

“Forget it, I won’t get anything out of asking you.” Ge xing grumbled on the other end of the phone and turned the phone in a displeased direction. “So, are you going out tomorrow to have fun? Bluebar is having its grand opening, and they’ve invited an awesome underground band for the celebration.”

“I won’t make it.” Jiang Heng said, “I have plans.”

“I’m not surprised” Ge xing complained, “I just called Ji Yao, and he also said he’s not available—don’t tell me you two have plans together again? You just met last week.”

Jiang Heng adjusted his slightly askew Bluetooth earpiece and couldn’t help but smile at Ge xing’s words.

“you ask even when you know the answer?” Jiang Heng said.

“you two are hanging out so much, make some time for your friends as well, will you?” Ge xing exclaimed, “Are you really serious about him?”

Jiang Heng said, rather lightly, “In matters of love, breaking up when there’s no emotional connection is better for everyone, and if there’s a connection, of course we should continue and develop it further. It’s not like I’ll turn into a pumpkin prince if our relationship lasts more than a month.”

He slipped around like an eel, unable to give a straightforward answer. Ge xing, an experienced matchmaker, was driven to scratch his head in frustration. He wished he could dive into their phones and witness in real-time how far their relationship had developed.

“Anyway, you wait!” Ge xing grumbled displeasedly, “I need to speak to you about this in person.”

When Ge xing said he’d do something, he usually followed through. He hung up the phone immediately and appeared at Jiang Heng’s doorstep exactly twenty minutes later, banging loudly on his door.

Jiang Heng was amazed by Ge xing’s efficiency, “How did you get here so fast?”

Ge xing, not minding any formality, pulled Jiang Heng aside, rushed into the house, chugged down a glass of water, and then collapsed onto the couch like he had just come back to life. He asked in a breathless tone, “Spill the beans. Tell me everything.”

“Tell you what?” Jiang Heng said with a wry smile, walking over with his phone, “Are you here to demand a red envelope from me? Come on, tell me the amount—”

Ge xing ignored his playful tone and said solemnly, “I don’t understand. Do you two really have that intention? If not, clear up the space quickly. Don’t lead each other on, don’t half-date. Give the numerous single zeros out there a chance, there are plenty of people in line, holding love’s number cards.”

“I sometimes can’t understand you,” Jiang Heng said sincerely, “You were matchmaking us when I was single, and now that we’re together, you’re encouraging a second spring. What are you aiming for?”

“See, you admitted it. Isn’t that what I wanted?” Ge xing said, “Besides, both of you are interested. Just settle down sooner. Why enjoy the perks of being single and play around?”

“What’s the rush?” Jiang Heng poured Ge xing another glass of water, “It’s not like eating fast food. Once you’re full, that’s enough.”

Jiang Heng couldn’t quite explain why, but he instinctively enjoyed this comfortable feeling. The ambiguous and unspoken intimacy wasn’t fading with time; instead, it was becoming more subtle due to the accumulation of shared experiences and mingling social circles.

Like Ge xing, most friends in their circle had heard rumors about the two of them, so whenever they mentioned one, they’d naturally bring up the other.

This default sense of intimacy made Jiang Heng feel refreshed, and because it was Ji Yao, he didn’t mind.

“I do admire him,” Ge xing said with emotion, “How did he manage to reel you in? He could even teach a class on it.”

“It’s nothing, I’m pretty easy to please,” Jiang Heng leaned against the bedroom door, smiling.

Ge xing clearly didn’t believe this nonsense and rolled his eyes at him unceremoniously.

“But since you’re here, I don’t have to tell you separately,” Jiang Heng said, “Don’t look for me next week; I already have plans.”

“Why?” Ge xing finally noticed the open suitcase on the bedroom floor behind Jiang Heng and said in an irritated tone, “Are you two eloping or something?”

“I’ve finished my thesis, and it’s a perfect time as Ji Yao has a vacation. So, we’re planning to travel around Japan for a bit,” Jiang Heng said, “Seven days and six nights. You probably won’t be able to find us.”

The pleasure of the ambiguous phase was indeed intoxicating, but like a bowstring, no matter how elastic it was, it couldn’t stay stretched forever.

Lately, Jiang Heng had been vaguely sensing Ji Yao’s attitude, and he felt it was about time to move forward.

Ge xing admiringly gave him a thumbs up, “I didn’t expect this at all, you’re indeed serious this time. Getting into a relationship and even planning a trip to continue your love affair.”

Jiang Heng: “…”