CH 7

Pei Yu’s home was exactly as Xu Juan imagined; Clean and tidy, the decorations were detailed and refined, full of sentimental appeal –– as beautiful as its owner.

Xu Juan changed his shoes at the door. When he entered the living area, he noticed a refreshing fragrance. He sniffed a little, identifying the scent of jasmine and fruits. 

It was indeed tasteful. Xu Juan thought to himself that it was already pretty impressive for a straight man living alone to maintain cleanliness in his home. There was even a fruit platter and fresh flower arrangements on Pei Yu’s coffee table. For a person as busy as him, his quality of life was incredibly high. Then, was Pei laoshi really a straight man?

To put it this way may seem like he was stereotyping the majority of straight men, but based on Xu Juan’s twenty six years of life experience, he has really never seen such a meticulous straight man. Most of them tossed their stinky socks all over the place. After all, since they lived alone, if they could save themselves any sort of inconvenience, then they would save it.

To be honest, Xu Juan still held onto a vague hunch that Pei Yu wasn’t necessarily straight.

According to Tang Sisi, Pei laoshi was the representative of reserved and self-restraint. He appeared to be an iceberg that could not be scaled; Even with a crowd of girls pursuing him, with countless people throwing themselves into his arms, he remained unmoved. Even back when he was dating his ex-girlfriend, he was unromantic and unenthusiastic about going on dates, just like a block of wood. 

Was there really such a pure-hearted and ascetic man in this world?

As a man himself, Xu Juan firmly believed that there wasn’t.

All men were creatures who thought with their lower halves. The only distinction lay in who had the ability to move them into action.

Take Xu Juan for example, he had never struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. He was truly an open-minded person, the model representative of “face-sexual”. It didn’t matter if they were men or women, as long as they were beautiful, he liked them. As it was, life was bitter and short, one should just be happy. Why adhere to doctrines defining the relationships between men and women? Whether they were human or demon didn’t matter, either.

But judging from Pei Yu’s family background, upbringing and chosen career, he was obviously a relatively traditional person. Being traditional wasn’t a bad thing, but traditional men were usually more rigid and inflexible in their thinking. Should there be no one to enlighten him, even if Pei Yu naturally liked men, he wouldn’t have come to that conclusion.

Of course, this was one-sided speculation on Xu Juan’s end, verification was still needed to confirm if it were true or false.

It wasn’t difficult to get confirmation either. Xu Juan wasn’t opposed to hard work, voluntarily taking on the responsibility of “enlightening” Pei laoshi.

“Sit down. Do you want anything to drink?” While Xu Juan was letting his imagination run wild, Pei Yu took off his suit jacket and hung it up, pointing to the sofa. 

Xu Juan sat down: “No need to trouble yourself.”

Despite that, Pei Yu still courteously boiled water and made him tea. Xu Juan’s eye twitched as he watched him; His tendency to overdo things was literally like his father’s, what prudish and uptight behaviour. What was so good about drinking tea? Especially on a summer’s day like this, wasn’t it too warm?

But liking someone means accepting all of him, including his shortcomings, Xu Juan consoled himself while sipping tea and stealing glances at Pei Yu from the corners of his eyes.

Pei Yu seemed to have sobered up a little, no longer as muddled as he was earlier. After he finished his tea, he took the initiative and led the other into the study. 

Although it was called a study, it was actually one of the rooms in the two-bedroom and one-hall apartment. There were a lot of books, two rows on the shelves were crammed full, with a few stacks of books placed atop the cabinet. Xu Juan quickly scanned the room and noticed there were layers and layers of sticky tabs pressed between the pages of those books, probably used to bookmark reading insights. It could be ascertained that the owner was very serious about reading.

There was a large desk in front of the bookshelf, and the four treasures of the study indeed sat on top of it.

Xu Juan walked closer for a look. On the desk was a piece of calligraphy paper, copied on it was Wang Xizhi’s “Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion”. The script was unexpectedly quite good, surprising Xu Juan a little. However, he could discern Pei Yu’s calligraphy skills at a glance, coming to a conclusion in his heart.

Pei Yu peered at him and helped to set up the ink and brush: “Director Xu, give it a try?”

Xu Juan looked down with a smile, then walked behind the desk and rolled his shirtsleeves up, accepting the brush.

How did that saying go? The men who did things sincerely were the most charming. 

Rba bcis kjr We Aejc jvfqa ja gfjvlcu jcbatfg’r ybvs ijcuejuf, ab vfafgwlcf atf offilcur bo ktbfnfg tf kjr qegrelcu ogbw atflg yftjnlbeg, tf kjr fnfc wbgf jvfqa ja fzqgfrrlcu tlwrfio.

Pa kjrc’a fjrs ab yf j qijsybs. Tbe cffvfv j tlut SH, rb sbe mbeiv mbjz batfgr klat rkffa cbatlcur. Ktja kjr pera atf tjio bo la; Ktf batfg tjio, sbe cffvfv ab xcbk tbk ab yf mtjglrwjalm ja atf gluta alwf, ifaalcu atf batfg qjgas ifjgc bo atf wbwfcar lc ktlmt sbe kfgf wbra vjhhilcu, rb atfs mbeivc’a tfiq yea yfmbwf lcojaejafv klat sbe.

But it shouldn’t be too deliberate, lest it turned out greasy. It was important to know the limits. That’s to say, the so-called “a beauty is most mesmerizing while they are unaware of how alluring they are”.

Yet, how could it be possible for Xu Juan to be unaware of his fortes? 

He was just good at feigning ignorance. In short: acting innocent.

So, Xu Juan lowered his head, smoothed his left hand over the paper, and began to write.

“Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion” was praised as the “ultimate masterpiece in Chinese calligraphy”. Back then, while he was still studying calligraphy under Duan Xiyuan, he had copied it countless times. When he was young, he had also repeatedly performed this for the various aunties and uncles. He had written “Ninth year of Yonghe” so many times that he found it sickening.

He hadn’t expected for it to now become the trump card in his pursuit of Pei Yu. 

Xu Juan wrote attentively, Pei Yu also watched attentively.

Xu Juan’s calligraphic style was similar to Duan Xiyuan’s. Duan Xiyuan had a copy of “Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion”, it was one generally acknowledged as the best contemporary copy. Although Xu Juan could not surpass that script, he at least managed to attain a certain percentage of its brilliance. 

Comparison with his teacher aside, since Xu Juan had professionally studied calligraphy before, he had written it a lot better than the copy by Pei Yu.

To say that it was good did not depend solely on the difference in their fundamentals. Pei Yu’s calligraphy was very strict and controlled, seeking “likeness”. Of course, the likeness of his script was good, but practising calligraphy was not the same as printing an exact copy. No matter how alike the script was, could it encompass the same vigour as Wang Xizhi’s?

To borrow the words Duan Xiyuan used when teaching Xu Juan: A majority of the ones who sought to attain a high degree of likeness were beginners. Although the form of the script was important, a master should not only prioritize the form. “Intention” should triumph over “form”.

The entire piece consisted of over three hundred characters. Xu Juan set the brush down once he had finished writing. 

He turned to look at Pei Yu, but Pei Yu wasn’t looking at him. The pair of eyes that stirred his heart was staring at his calligraphy, it was clear he was stunned.

Xu Juan’s heart was fluttering, but he still feigned ignorance, putting on a show of modesty: “Did I do okay, Pei laoshi?”

“……”

Pei Yu looked up, finally meeting his eyes with a serious gaze. 

This gaze was full of intent and different from how he had looked at him all those previous times. Xu Juan understood; Pei Yu was finally regarding him as a person, and not just “that talentless and underhanded son of a rich family”.

Xu Juan glanced down with a small smile, his gaze falling upon his own hands.

His fingers were stained with ink, the familiar smell of it evoking some sort of nostalgia –– How many years has it been since he had so earnestly done calligraphy? To exert his best effort without the slightest intention of going through the motions, although his motivation for it was not the most decent.

“It’s so well written.” Pei Yu suddenly said, “With Director Xu’s level of mastery, I can’t possibly be so shameless as to give comments.” 

“You flatter me.”

Xu Juan was feeling a little warm and instinctively wanted to loosen his collar, but absent-mindedly recalled that the ink on his fingers had yet to dry, so he withdrew his half-lifted hand: “Could I borrow your washroom for a bit, Pei laoshi?”

Pei Yu agreed and brought him out of the study, then walked him to the door of the washroom.

Xu Juan pushed the door open himself and went in. 

Washing one’s hands shouldn’t take too long, but Xu Juan took his time, plotting something else in his heart.

He thought, what should he do so he could stay over tonight? Since he was already here, he should strike while the iron was hot and enlighten Pei Yu on his sexuality. He definitely hadn’t come here just as a fellow calligraphy enthusiast.

The cold water continued to flow as Xu Juan’s hands soaked in the sink.

He contemplated for about two seconds, then lifted his hands and rubbed the remnants of the ink against his shirt. The shirt he had on tonight was white. As the water and ink bloomed over the fabric, they created a very striking visual effect. 

Xu Juan called out: “Pei laoshi, where do you keep the laundry detergent in your house?”

Pei Yu had no inkling of what happened, pulling the door open to ask him: “What’s the matter, why do you need laundry detergent?”

“I accidentally got stains on my clothes.” Xu Juan said innocently, “It’ll be harder to wash off once it dries. Let me borrow some laundry detergent?”

Once said, he leaned closer to the sink. He tugged at the front of his ink-stained shirt and assumed an awkward posture before lowering his head and scrubbing at it. He was the spitting image of the half-wit son of a rich family who not only had absolutely no life skills, but even believed he was doing well, deliberately trying to show off. 

“……”

Watching the stains worsen the more he tried to wash it, even drenching a large area of his shirt, Pei Yu’s expression subtly flickered. Perhaps he could no longer tolerate the sight of it, so he reached out and dragged the other up, “Don’t wash it like that, you don’t want that shirt anymore?”

Xu Juan was addicted to feigning innocence at this point. He let an expression of awkwardness show on his face: “Ah, then how should I wash it?”

He looked down at himself, becoming dumbfounded as he “belatedly” realized just how wet his clothes had gotten. The drenched, translucent white shirt clung to his body, outlining his figure very clearly; It even seemed somewhat erotic. 

Xu Juan was very thorough in his performance, allowing the expression on his face to become even more awkward. He pretended to tug distractedly at the front of his shirt so it no longer clung to his body as much, then said to Pei Yu: “Why not… let me borrow your washing machine? Would this wash off in the washing machine?”

“……”

The look Pei Yu gave him showed just how speechless he was: “Just take it off and wash it by hand.”

“Okay.” Xu Juan accepted the packet of laundry detergent he handed over and placed it by the sink. He gripped onto his shirt and tugged it upwards, taking it off without a moment’s hesitation. 

It was summer, so naturally, he wasn’t wearing anything else beneath.

He stood half-naked in front of Pei Yu, perfectly straight. His figure was an asset that looked even better than his face; There wasn’t an imperfect line on his chest and abs, his narrow waist was tucked into a low-waisted belt, which was connected to a pair of long legs.

Pei Yu only spared him a single glance before averting his gaze. He turned away very quickly, as if he dared not look.

This reaction could be interpreted in two ways. One, Pei Yu knew he liked men. When a straight man was face to face with a half-naked gay, it was normal to feel awkward. Two, Pei Yu was pretending to be a straight man when he was actually deep into the closet. Then, of course, he wouldn’t dare to look. 

Xu Juan pondered over this for a while but didn’t let it show on his face. He tossed the shirt into the sink and poured some laundry detergent onto it before starting to wash.

It was true that he didn’t quite know how to do the laundry, though.

But he had no intention of doing it well from the start, he was only planning to wash it sloppily.

While he was putting on his act of washing, Pei Yu watched him from the side. The more he watched, the more his resolve thinned: “Let me wash it for you.” 

Xu Juan was flattered by the offer: “That’s too much trouble.”

Pei Yu let out a deep sigh. Xu Juan got the feeling that he probably wanted to scold him, but only held back due to his upbringing. Instead, he heard Pei Yu say: “I’ll wash it clean for you, just promise me one thing.”

“What is it?” Xu Juan never expected him to say this.

Pei Yu said: “Gift me your calligraphy scroll.” 

“……”

This made Xu Juan laugh: “And I wondered what the matter was! Of course, that’s fine, isn’t it just a calligraphy scroll? If you’d like me to write another, why don’t you let me stay the night, Pei laoshi?”

Pei Yu paused in the middle of washing the shirt.

Xu Juan took the opportunity to play up his misery: “It’s already the middle of the night, and Hong Uni is in a remote area so it’s not easy to hail a ride. I don’t want to go home in wet clothes, I’ll catch a cold.” 

He gave his reasons one after another, but this act was a little too excessive. No matter how ignorant Pei Yu was, he was still an adult man, not a naive sixteen year old girl.

Pei Yu said: “I’ll lend you a shirt, you can wear mine home.”

“That’s fine, too.” Xu Juan took whatever he could get.

Once Pei Yu had washed his shirt clean, packed it in a plastic bag for him, found him a coat and sent him to the front door, Xu Juan stood at the entrance and said very seriously: “Pei laoshi, as someone who teaches mandarin, you must have heard the story of travelling to the lake and borrowing an umbrella before, right?”

Pei Yu stared at him blankly, not quite following his train of thought. 

Xu Juan said: “Bai Suzhen travelled to the West Lake and borrowed Xu Xian’s umbrella. She then told Xu Xian that after the rain had stopped, he was welcome to pick his umbrella up at her home.”

“……”

“Retrieving the umbrella is just an excuse. Only when there is the process of borrowing and returning, can it conclude in a fated marriage. Am I right?”

Xu Juan was standing outside the door, and Pei Yu inside. 

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a while. Pei Yu belatedly realized that he had fallen for the other’s ruse and was mortified to the point of anger: “Director Xu, please leave. You don’t have to return my clothes!”

After he said those words, he slammed the door shut with a bang.

Author’s note: Hello, how are you, are there any comments QAQ please leave me comments.