ASSHKHME Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Chinese Medicine Packet

Chen Zhuo slightly stood on his tiptoes, leaned close to Xie Yu’s ear, and with warm breath, said, “But everything I said is true.”

Xie Yu’s fair neck was right in front of him, and Xie Yu could even see the pulse beating there.

Xie Yu couldn’t resist grabbing it, and in the process, switched positions, pinning Chen Zhuo against the tree trunk, and said fiercely, “Don’t talk nonsense anymore!”

Chen Zhuo’s head hit the back of Xie Yu’s other hand. He raised an eyebrow, grabbed his wrist, and said with a smirk, “Not strong enough.”

Xie Yu could feel the vibration of Chen Zhuo’s throat as he spoke in his palm, as if he could break his neck with just a little force.

His chest felt like it had been set on fire, and as the breeze, still carrying the summer heat, swept over him, it blazed fiercely and became scorching.

The two stared at each other in silence.

Suddenly, a whistle sounded loudly in his ear, startling Xie Yu. It was as if a secret had been exposed, like a fig leaf being torn away. Feeling guilty, he let go of Chen Zhuo and turned his head to look.

A security guard in uniform, holding a rubber baton, was blowing a whistle and shouting at them, “Hey! What are you two students doing behind the tree! What are you doing! Stop! No fighting!”

Xie Yu was about to say “Let’s go,” but before the words could leave his mouth, he realized that Chen Zhuo had already run far away, leaving only his back view.

“Scumbag, so disloyal.” Xie Yu was speechless and amused. He glanced back at the security guard’s position and quickly left.

Chen Zhuo rode his little electric motorcycle, and after teasing Xie Yu, his mood was much better. He hummed a song as he headed towards the cafeteria.

On the way, he ran into Li Ang, who was walking side by side with a shy and timid female classmate from their class. As they passed each other, Chen Zhuo whistled at them in a hooligan-like manner.

—

Saturday, the dormitory was unusually quiet.

Zhao Jiashu went to attend a club interview, and Li Ang took the goddess out to see a movie.

The most annoying Xie Yu had an elective course to attend, leaving only Chen Zhuo holed up in the newly bought computer chair doing the tracing assignment left by the teacher.

Inside the room, only the “rustling” sound of Chen Zhuo’s hand drawing could be heard. He had a foundation in art, and line practice was not difficult for him, it just required patience.

Chen Zhuo’s career plan was very clear. He didn’t want to become an architect like his father. He was only interested in conceptual design, and incorporating his ideas into cold buildings was more attractive to him.

In late October, the weather was no longer so hot.

The broken fan on the ceiling got a break, and the window was half-open, allowing sunlight and breeze to spill into the room together, landing on half of Chen Zhuo’s body, which was quite pleasant.

Chen Zhuo focused intently on the drawing paper, his thin lips pursed tightly.

Eyelashes like raven feathers cast a soft shadow on his cheek, and the outline of his profile was even cleaner and neater than the lines in his drawing. The warm sunlight made him appear particularly gentle.

With the last stroke completed, Chen Zhuo blew away the eraser shavings on the drawing paper, carefully put away the neat assignment, and his right hand was stained with some black lead dust.

Chen Zhuo got up to wash his hands on the balcony, and the dormitory door was pushed open from the outside. He subconsciously turned his head to look, and it was Xie Yu, who had returned from his elective course.

Xie Yu had been a bit strange lately. The strangeness was that he had become much more sensible, didn’t provoke him anymore, and even seemed to be avoiding him a little.

Chen Zhuo believed that these changes stemmed from his own “teasing.” After all, Xie Yu was a straight man and definitely didn’t want to be harassed by a homosexual like him.

Although life had become a bit more mundane, it seemed good to keep things separate and avoid a lot of trouble.

Chen Zhuo didn’t greet Xie Yu, withdrew his gaze, picked up the ebony rose-scented soap, rubbed it into a lather, carefully applied it to both hands, and then rinsed it off with water.

Xie Yu casually tossed his notebook onto the desk, cleared his throat, and looked up at Chen Zhuo, who was drying his hands with a towel. “Um, my parents just called me and asked me to take you home for dinner.”

Chen Zhuo thought that Xie Yu’s Chinese score of 120 was questionable. The way he said the last sentence made it sound like his parents wanted him to bring a future daughter-in-law home to meet them.

“Your parents want to invite me to dinner?” Chen Zhuo corrected Xie Yu’s wording and asked in a soft voice, “Why?”

Xie Yu unscrewed his water bottle and took a sip, explaining, “Wasn’t your mom my mom’s college roommate? They have a relationship. And now we’ve accidentally ended up in the same dorm. My mom thinks it’s fate and wants me to get along well with you.”

Chen Zhuo continued to correct him, “Get along.”

Xie Yu pulled open a drawer to get his phone charging cable. “Anyway, that’s the gist of it. They might reminisce about the past, maybe talk about things from back then. Are you going or not?”

Chen Zhuo’s heart stirred slightly. He had no other relatives left.

For the past ten years, the Xu family had deliberately avoided talking about these things, perhaps afraid that he would relapse, or perhaps not wanting to mention the past again. It made him feel like his parents were being forgotten by the world.

If he went to Xie Yu’s house for dinner, maybe he could hear some stories about his parents that he didn’t know. That way, there would be more traces of his parents’ existence.

As Chen Zhuo was pondering, he suddenly saw a liquid bag stuffed in Xie Yu’s half-open drawer, like a packet of brewed Chinese medicine.

He subconsciously asked, “What’s this? Chinese medicine? Are you sick?”

A look of surprise flashed across Xie Yu’s face. He slammed the drawer shut, with a hint of annoyance between his brows, and his ears burned. “No, you saw wrong!”

Chen Zhuo narrowed his eyes, looked at him scrutinizingly for a few seconds, then took two steps back, covering his mouth and nose defensively. “How come I haven’t seen you drink it? It’s not tuberculosis, is it?”

Xie Yu was defeated by his amazing train of thought and helplessly rubbed his forehead. “Ugh, no, I’m not sick. It’s just… tonic, yes, tonic. Don’t talk nonsense, okay?”

Chen Zhuo said “Oh,” then said, “Looking at your physique like a wild boar, you should be pretty healthy.”

“…Who are you subtly insulting?” Xie Yu glared at him, then said awkwardly, “Are you going to my house for dinner tonight or not?”

Chen Zhuo tore open a bag of small bread and ate it, saying vaguely, “Sure, your family is so rich, the food must be delicious.”

Xie Yu chuckled. “Promising.”

While Chen Zhuo was in the bathroom, Xie Yu hurriedly threw the Chinese medicine for treating homosexuality from the drawer into the black trash bag.

He bought it from an old Chinese medicine practitioner who had a shop in a small alley. Xie Yu thought it looked like a product of dubious origin and didn’t dare to drink it.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the two walked out of the school gate.

Chen Zhuo opened a ride-hailing app to ask for Xie Yu’s home address, but Xie Yu hooked his lips and waved his car keys in front of him. “My car is parked in the nearby parking lot. Let’s go.”

Chen Zhuo put away his phone and walked beside him. “A free parking lot?”

Xie Yu said smugly, “I have an annual pass, 20% off.”

Chen Zhuo got into the passenger seat of the Mercedes-Benz and fastened his seat belt. “Let’s go to the mall first. It’s not appropriate to freeload empty-handed.”

Xie Yu glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and drove out of the underground parking lot. “I didn’t realize you were so polite.”

“Be glad you’re driving. I can’t be bothered to argue with you.”

Chen Zhuo wanted to adjust the seat back and asked, “Does your passenger seat work?”

Xie Yu asked in confusion, “What?”

Chen Zhuo said leisurely, “Don’t have a girlfriend or any female friends you’re pursuing, right? If I adjust the seat and cause you to be misunderstood, that wouldn’t be good.”

Xie Yu scoffed at him. “What nonsense. It’s just a stupid chair. Adjust it if you want, so pretentious.”

Chen Zhuo leaned back in the adjusted seat and chuckled. “Straight man.”

Xie Yu agreed. “That’s right, I’m a straight man.”