CH 56

If they wanted to go to a better cinema, they had to go to the shopping center downtown. Had it been usually, and Jiang Cheng was made to bike all the way to the shopping center while carrying a person, he wouldn’t be willing – it was so far. 

But today was different. The person in the backseat who had his forehead pressed against his back, hand stuffed in his pocket, and tugged at his neck so much that it was a little suffocating was his boyfriend, Gu Fei. Prior to eight o’clock in the morning, this person was still simply his deskmate, but now, he was already his boyfriend. How wondrous.

He had many imaginations about “dating”; everyone would have some sort of fantasy at this age, but during the time he was with Yu Xin, he couldn’t match up with her at all no matter how hard he tried to understand her. Every time, he would even wonder if his own expectations were too high. 

That was until now. As he carried this person, wrapped up in both real and fake bandages, behind him on their way to watch the movies together – he suddenly, but finally, experienced the feeling of “dating”. 

Although this was a relationship that he had always been avoiding, always been resisting, and always been fearful of… in this moment, all the fear and anxiety that was hidden in the depths of his heart since the day he found out that something wasn’t right with him, were all pressed down by excitement and joy. 

When Gu Fei first suggested going to watch a movie, he couldn’t quite understand why they should go hang around a place with so many people. But once he started pedaling the bike while being blown by the breeze the entire way, he suddenly understood. 

It was precisely because of that feeling of being a small secret mixed in the crowd. 

You see, there are so many people, but we are right here; we come together and leave together, all while within the crowd and under the gazes of others, yet we have a clandestine sense of security. 

Gu Fei’s forehead which had been pressed against his back suddenly slid to the side, and following that, his body also tilted along and swayed to one side. 

“Holy fuck.” Jiang Cheng hurriedly stabilized the bike with the handlebar before turning back to face him, “Did you fall asleep?” 

“En.” Gu Fei once again pressed his forehead against his back, while also once again stuffing his hands back in his pockets, “You can just keep pedaling. I’m just going to doze off for a while.” 

“Do you know what ‘doze off’[1] means, illiterate?” Jiang Cheng teased, “You really did fall asleep.” 

“I really was just dozing off in the beginning, but then I actually fell asleep by accident afterward.” Gu Fei retorted. 

Jiang Cheng doubled up in laughter before letting out an audible exhalation after a moment: “How about we don’t watch a movie anymore. You should go back to sleep for a while?” 

“No need,” Gu Fei opposed. “The time has already passed for me to be able to sleep properly. I just want to go watch a movie with you.” 

“What would we do if you fall asleep in the movie theatre?” Jiang Cheng teased. 

“I won’t.” Gu Fei’s hand which was in his pocket suddenly felt along his leg, “If we find a movie that’s a little more stimulating, and use a slightly more stimulating way to watch the movie…”

“You, fucking watch out a little!” Jiang Cheng almost crashed into the electric scooter beside them because of this caress of his. 

“En, I’ll continue to sleep.” Gu Fei stopped moving afterward. 

Because there literally wouldn’t be anyone from the steel mill around the shopping center, the moment they arrived, Gu Fei had already walked up into a nearby sports shop before Jiang Cheng could even properly lock the bike. 

“You could walk a little slower at least.” Jiang Cheng caught up to him, “If you bumped into an acquaintance while walking at such a fast pace, you wouldn’t even have the chance to pretend.” 

“The steel mill is too far from here. I don’t even come here more than a few times a year.” Gu Fei walked slowly among the shelves, “They usually wouldn’t go shopping. And if they were to shop, they’d go to that area past the bridge at most – that commercial street where Jiuri’s house is.” 

“Really?” Jiang Cheng pondered over it for a while, “No wonder they all dress up like that. You wouldn’t even be able to buy that style of theirs anywhere over here.” 

“What style?” Gu Fei snickered. 

“Each and every one of them are as thin as toothpicks yet they still wrap themselves in skintight clothing! And the pants on their legs are even ankle-length! If you blink your eyes and don’t look closely, you might not even be able to tell that they have legs!” Jiang Cheng recalled the bunch of people from the night before, and the rage within him flared up again, “I told you that I would be able to hit the wooden planks from the nearby building! But if it were people, I may not necessarily be able to land a hit…” 

Gu Fei gripped a baseball bat as he convulsed with a long fit of laughter: “They’re not all skinny. There are pretty buff ones too.” 

“Ah yes, the one piece of ab on their stomachs makes them quite buff.” Jiang Cheng sneered. 

“Ai.” Gu Fei sighed after he had enough of laughing, “Aren’t there still those like me?” 

“You’re not included in that group of people.” Jiang Cheng shot a look at him, “Even though you were dressed flashy[2] enough yesterday, why aren’t you wearing that leather motorcycle jacket of yours today?” 

“It got ruined when I fell ah.” Gu Fei deliberated over something for a while, “Actually, regarding skin-tight clothes ba… I really used to have some…” 

“If you’re still wearing them now, I promise you that the two of us won’t even amount to deskmates anymore.” Jiang Cheng warned. 

“I’m soooo scared.” Gu Fei put on a baseball glove, took a ball, and tossed it in the glove two times. 

“You’re going to buy this to play with? You steel mill folk would even use weapons when playing basketball.” Jiang Cheng remarked, “So would you guys also throwing and catch grenades if you were to play with this ah?” 

“It’s for Er Miao to play with.” Gu Fei explained, “She saw these on TV the other day, so now she wants one.” 

“Buy a child-sized one ah. Isn’t this too big?” Jiang Cheng asked. 

“It has to be an adult-sized one. This stuff doesn’t break easily, so if she grows a little and the glove gets small, she would not only rage if you change it, but also rage because she can’t fit her hand in anymore if you don’t change it.”

“… alright then.” Jiang Cheng sighed. Who knew how much one had to consider in a day if they were to be Gu Miao’s big brother. 

After they finished buying the glove and ball, Gu Fei forcibly stuffed the things into Jiang Cheng’s schoolbag. 

“… I’m never taking my bag with me when I go out again,” Jiang Cheng grumbled. 

“Let me carry it,” Gu Fei offered. 

“As if. You’re a disabled public figure,” Jiang Cheng shot him down. “It’s not like I’m a girl either.” 

“Actually, I should’ve bought it when we leave.” Gu Fei uttered. 

“Ah.” Jiang Cheng gawked at him, “That’s right? Why did you buy it now?” 

“Yeah, why did I?” Gu Fei also gawked back at him. 

“I don’t want to laugh.” Jiang Cheng turned away and started to walk, “Really, the two of us should make an agreement. Let’s not go into giggling fits anymore in the future, it’s too stupid having done it every day.” 

“En.” Gu Fei caught up to him with a serious expression. 

Having finally stifled the urge to laugh in his nose, Jiang Cheng felt a sense of achievement. 

“Which floor is the cinema on?” Jiang Cheng asked when they stood in the elevator as it was about to go up. 

“No idea.” Gu Fei glanced around at their surroundings, then pointed at a sign behind them, “On the fifth floor.” 

“You haven’t come here before?” Jiang Cheng asked yet another question. 

“Nope.” Gu Fei reflected a bit before whispering beside his ear, “The last time I watched a movie should be when I was still in the reformatory school. The school would organize for us to watch a documentary about interviewing prisoners in prison or something.” 

“That can’t be called a movie ba.” Jiang Cheng suddenly felt a sense of discomfort, “Then what about before that?” 

“In elementary school. My mom had taken me to watch some sort of cartoon. I can’t clearly remember anymore,” Gu Fei replied. 

Jiang Cheng was hit with a burst of heartache: “Do you not normally go watch the movies with people?”

“Who would I go with?” Gu Fei smiled. 

Jiang Cheng froze, at a loss of words. 

That’s right ah, with who? With Gu Fei’s usual attitude, it was impossible to go with classmates. As for going with friends… just Bu Shi Hao Niao that bunch? They don’t look like the type of people that would go to the movies. With family… it was already shocking enough that Gu Fei’s mother had taken him to watch a movie once before. 

He suddenly felt that when Gu Fei wanted to go to the movies with him, it was possibly not just because he wanted to find a place where the two of them could intimately squeeze together even within a crowd, but also the reason for him basically never having watched a movie before. 

When they arrived at the cinema, they glanced at the scrolling screen – there weren’t many good movies during this recent time slot. The two of them seated themselves on a sofa, and Jiang Cheng fished out his phone: “I’m going to check out the discounted tickets first.” 

“I’ll do it.” Gu Fei started, “I…” 

“You would still have to download the app ba.” Jiang Cheng responded, “Don’t fight with me on this.” 

“Then you,” Gu Fei leaned back onto the sofa and smiled as he acquiesced, “Mustn’t forget to buy snacks.” 

Jiang Cheng flipped through the phone for a long time but couldn’t pick out a film he wanted to watch. Thus, he could only turn and look at Gu Fei: “Do you think a domestic horror movie[3] could still count as a slightly more stimulating film?” 

“… is there no other option?” Gu Fei asked. 

“All the others are literary films,” Jiang Cheng explained. 

“Then let’s just go with the domestic horror movie,” Gu Fei nodded. 

Jiang Cheng bought a meal set that included a large popcorn and beverages before pausing briefly in hesitation when it came for him to choose their seats. The room was still empty at the moment, so he chose the seats in the middle at first, but then felt that it may be too in the center after thinking about it. If they were to do something… thus, he canceled the selection and switched them to the last row instead. But after he finished choosing, he felt that it may be a little too shameless, as if he really did want to do something. He snuck a glance at Gu Fei who was beside him, with his head currently lowered as he immersed himself in playing Craz3 Match. 

Fine then, I’ll just compromise. So in the end, Jiang Cheng canceled the selection for the seats in the last row and chose some seats in the second-last row instead. He then pressed enter. 

After all that was done, he stood up. But just as he was about to go to the ticket machine to retrieve their tickets, a cinema employee came over while pushing a wheelchair: “Sir, this is the wheelchair that our cinema is providing for you.” 

“Ah?” Jiang Cheng was struck dumb. 

“The walk to the screening room is a little long,” The employee explained, “So it’s more convenient to use this.” 

“Oh.” Jiang Cheng stared at the wheelchair, “Thank… thank you ah.” 

“You can just place the wheelchair at the front desk when you leave.” The employee walked away after leaving the wheelchair. 

Jiang Cheng turned to look at Gu Fei. Gu Fei who was already shaking with laughter as he leaned against the sofa was using his hand to cover his face 

“Do you need it, sir?” Jiang Cheng asked, looking at him. 

“Of course I need it.” Gu Fei nodded his head, “How about you push me in later?” 

“Shit.” Jiang Cheng was a little speechless, “If the filmmakers knew that we would watch their domestic horror movie without any actual horror even if we had to push a wheelchair in to do so, they would probably be moved to tears ba.” 

“Hurry up.” Gu Fei glanced at the scrolling screen, still laughing as he said, “There’s only twenty minutes left.” 

After he finished retrieving the tickets, Jiang Cheng went to push the wheelchair over to Gu Fei’s legs: “Come on, Mr. Gu Fei.” 

Gu Fei propped himself up on the sofa’s armrests to stand up with much effort, hopped around twice on one leg to turn around, and supported himself on the armrests of the wheelchair to plop down in the seat: “All good now.”

“Such acting skill.” Jiang Cheng commented, “There probably wouldn’t be anybody who could act better than you in the movie we’re going to watch later.” 

“You flatter me.” Gu Fei placed his feet on the footrest, “So comfortable.” 

Jiang Cheng pushed the wheelchair as he went to retrieve the snacks, a large bucket of popcorn, beverages, and the water and wet wipes that the cinema gifted before putting them all on Gu Fei’s lap. 

As he pushed Gu Fei to the screening room, he could sense the astonished gazes of the people surrounding them. 

Oyo, this person must be bored to a certain extent to want to go to the movies in a wheelchair when there aren’t even any blockbusters to watch. 

“What’s the room number?” Gu Fei asked as he wiped his hands with the wet wipes in the wheelchair and pinched out popcorn to munch. 

Jiang Cheng didn’t respond. 

“En?” Gu Fei turned to face him. 

He glared at Gu Fei: “Are you enjoying yourself?” 

Gu Fei immediately turned back around and picked out a relatively more sugary piece of popcorn[4] and brought it to his mouth: “For you.” 

Jiang Cheng surveyed their surroundings first, and when he confirmed that nobody was around, he speedily bit the popcorn into his mouth. 

“You bit my hand,” Gu Fei complained. 

“Speak less nonsense,” Jiang Cheng retorted. 

Gu Fei ate two more pieces before he picked out two more sugary ones and passed them back again, to which Jiang Cheng once again lowered his head and bit into his mouth. 

It was a little stupid. 

But… even though he felt like he was just like a retarded hamster that was being fed, he also felt extremely happy. 

The ticket inspector in front of the screening room was just looking around, extremely bored, when he caught sight of the two of them coming over and was instantly dumbfounded. He immediately greeted them: “There are stairs inside, let me help you in.” 

“No need, no need.” Gu Fei hurriedly waved his hands, “I can just hop in.” 

Probably because there was no one watching at this time, the ticket inspector was too idle, so in the end, he forcibly helped them carry the popcorn into the room then turned back to push the wheelchair to right beneath the last step of the stairs. Only then did he finally leave while turning back to glance at them with every step he took. 

“Such treatment.” Jiang Cheng let out a sigh. 

“Why didn’t you choose the ones in the last row?” Gu Fei sat down. 

“… what do you want to do ah?” Jiang Cheng gaped at him. 

“Haven’t decided yet.” Gu Fei smiled and pointed to the seat closer to the inside, “You sit there.” 

“You can just directly go in and sit there,” Jiang Cheng said. “What’s there to fuss about this?” 

Gu Fei didn’t respond and just shook his bandaged right hand in front of his face. 

Jiang Cheng instantly understood what he meant, but also instantly felt his heartbeat accelerate. His face suddenly felt hot as if he was standing right next to an electric heater. 

When he briefly brushed against Gu Fei as he squeezed past him, he unexpectedly promptly felt the source of all evil[5] assumed a rebelling posture. 

“Ai.” He quietly sighed, sat down, and tugged at his pants. 

“Young man ah.” Gu Fei also sat down, then took a sip of the beverage. 

Jiang Cheng twisted his face around to peer at him. 

“I’m still very calm now.” Gu Fei also returned his gaze before directing a glance at his own pants, “Take a look.”

“Take a look, my ass!” Jiang Cheng simply wanted to give him a smack. 

Gu Fei continued to drink his beverage while gazing ahead with a smile, remaining completely silent. 

“To be honest,” Jiang Cheng murmured. “I never expected that you’d be somebody like this at first.” 

“I didn’t expect it either.” Gu Fei raised the armrest between the two of their seats and shifted over to him, so they were plastered right next to each other, “As a person who strikes fear into the hearts[6] of others just by hearing of me in the area around the steel mill…” 

“That’s enough from you.” Jiang Cheng cut him off before grinning again upon thinking about it, “Really, your sister is much cooler than you.” 

“Don’t try to win my little sister’s affections[7].” Gu Fei reached out and grabbed his hand, “Just focus on winning my affections.” 

“Oh.” Jiang Cheng gripped his hand back in return. 

Gu Fei’s hand was very warm; even though the weather had already warmed up, and the screening room was also warm to the point of being a little hot, he still felt that the temperature of Gu Fei’s hand made him feel very comfortable. 

Jiang Cheng glanced at the row behind them – there wasn’t a single person in the last row. However, even if there weren’t any people there, the number of people in the screening room wasn’t as few as he had predicted there would be. Especially in the last few minutes before the lights were switched off, when up to twenty people had suddenly come in pairs. 

One could tell at a glance that they were all young couples that came in for a date. 

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt a little… ambiguous. Caught in a group of people with clear purposes, his and Gu Fei’s purpose became all the more clearer. 

Fortunately, immediately following that, a family of four had come in and sat in the row in front of them. 

Jiang Cheng immediately let out a breath of relief. 

He didn’t know why he suddenly became so utterly hopeless. 

He snuck a glance at Gu Fei who was sitting beside him. Gu Fei was slowly eating the popcorn placed on his lap with an unperturbed expression on his face. 

“Gu Fei,” he called out to him. 

“En?” Gu Fei looked over. 

Actually, he had no idea what he even wanted to do when he called out to Gu Fei – there wasn’t actually anything he wanted to say. 

When Gu Fei turned his head over, the lights in the screening room abruptly shut off.  

Gu Fei’s face was immediately shrouded in darkness, leaving only the outline of his profile drawn by the light from the screen visible. 

Jiang Cheng didn’t even pause to think, and just straightforwardly moved in. But just when he started to make a move, Gu Fei had already leaned over, and lightly landed a kiss on his lips. 

The lights had just shut, and the people surrounding them were still moving, as well as those who were still talking. 

At present, the environment had yet to enter an atmosphere that made people feel particularly at ease, but Jiang Cheng’s breathing still slowed to a stop because of this kiss. On the other hand, the reaction coming from his heart was rather slow as it had only sped up into a frenzied rhythm after two seconds had passed – so frenzied that he felt like Gu Fei’s face in front of him was also swaying just a little. 

Gu Fei didn’t take any further actions – only pressing his lips gently against his. Neither of them moved. 

Compared to the various other contacts they had exchanged before, this sort of kiss really couldn’t amount to much. The two of them had even rubbed each other twice, yet Jiang Cheng had experienced a feeling that he had never felt before. 

Even as a xueba, he was actually unable to find any suitable words to describe it. 

After just quietly pressing their lips against each other, Jiang Cheng gave a fleeting lick to Gu Fei’s lips with the tip of his tongue. 

Very sweet. 

The movie was already starting, but Jiang Cheng didn’t have any desire to spare it a glance. Gu Fei’s lips were still here after all; his moist lips that carried a hint of the sweetness of popcorn was under the tip of his tongue. 

Nevermind a movie like this, even if somebody they knew was just standing off to the side, he may still take a few seconds to snap out of it…  

But reality always loves to slap you in the face. 

Even though the movie clearly wasn’t one that was capable of scaring people, the acoustics in the screening room was amazing, to say the least. 

Suddenly, a piercing scream simultaneously rang out from all around them, scaring all the people in the room into a series of shrieks. 

His heart that was already beating rapidly in the first place nearly burst out of his chest because of those screeches – his entire body was even briefly startled off the chair. 

Gu Fei had probably also been given enough of a scare, as he had also bounced off his chair concurrently with him. 

The two of them whipped their heads around to look at the screen before turning back to stare at each other within the darkness. Only after a long while did Gu Fei finally remark in a lowered voice: “Fuck, I was scared so much that it almost deflated.” 

Jiang Cheng froze, and only after a long while did he finally return to his senses. He suddenly couldn’t control himself anymore, lowered his head and started to laugh between gritted teeth. 

“Do you have any sense of empathy?” Gu Fei whispered as he asked, a hint of a smile in his voice. 

“Oh.” Jiang Cheng sounded. He turned to face him, not being able to hold back a laugh as he asked, “Then did it end up deflating?” 

“No.” Gu Fei responded, “Do you want to…” 

Jiang Cheng felt that the air freshener in the room was probably toxic, or if not, then the popcorn was poisonous. Or perhaps, it was Gu Fei’s lips that had poison on them… in any case, these symptoms of his were definitely from getting poisoned. 

He actually stretched out his hand and touched that part of Gu Fei, almost flipping the popcorn on Gu Fei’s lap to the ground. 

The smile that Gu Fei was originally restraining was instantly wiped off his face, and his entire body slightly stiffened. 

Jiang Cheng could detect on his palm that indeed, it didn’t deflate, and the reason why it didn’t deflate was likely because little Gu Fei was very strong…  

What the fuck? 

What are you doing, Jiang Cheng? 

Do you have to be so thirsty?! The movie hasn’t even started for more than two minutes! The side character had only just made an appearance and let out a scream! They haven’t even gotten to die[8] yet! 

He suddenly didn’t know where he should place the hand that was resting on Gu Fei’s crotch. 

He was frozen for a few seconds. Just when he finally made up his mind to disregard[9] everything and retract his hand, Gu Fei suddenly threw the popcorn onto the seat next to him and grabbed his hand. 

“Are there really infrared surveillance cameras?” Gu Fei pressed his hand down as he leaned his body over, whispering into his ear. 

“I have no idea.” Jiang Cheng whispered in response, “How about we… rein ourselves in a bit?” 

Gu Fei didn’t respond. He only slid back down and loosened the hand that was gripping his own. Yet, without giving him the chance to react, he directly slipped his hand into his pants. 

Jiang Cheng’s mind was instantly filled with all sorts of .avi films. He slid down along with Gu Fei, and also grabbed and pulled apart Gu Fei’s waistband. 

The movie was still playing, so for the sake of carrying through the principle of “reining themselves in a bit”, he and Gu Fei both faced the screen with their eyes trained on it, even as the two of them plastered themselves right next to each other. However, Jiang Cheng couldn’t tell at all what the woman on the screen was doing as she ran up and down the house. 

Swaying before his eyes were the intertwining light and shadows that shifted from between sudden brightness, and sudden darkness – a film that so far seemed absolutely ridiculous and unintelligible[10]. But because his brain had been heated to the point of confusion by the fire lit within his body, he suddenly felt that it was filled with a sense of mysterious beauty. 

The only thing that made him a little speechless was… the screaming. 

The shrieking side character’s ending and whereabouts were unknown[11], and the female lead took over her unfinished career. 

But with three consecutive screams, even if the two of them weren’t completely caught off guard because they were too immersed in doing perverted things, they still felt the other’s hand tighten. 

“We chose the wrong movie.” Jiang Cheng shut his eyes. 

“Cheng-ge.” Gu Fei tilted his head over as he called out to him. 

Jiang Cheng turned his head, and Gu Fei kissed him. 

The author has something to say: Continuing tomorrow. 

“I’ll let things be sweet first ba, but the next chapter won’t be following the end of this one oh~” The author smilingly said as she held a bowl of braised mutton. 

The author has something to say:

“Ji ji gu! &(ˉ^ˉ)&” The tiny black furry spirit squeaked. 

“My god! o(≧口≦)o My second little brother has cultivated into a chicken! o(≧口≦)o” The black furry spirit screamed. 

“w(゜Д゜)w” The little black furry spirit cried. 

The translators have something to say: 

Sae: I just knew ‘a dark corner’ would lead to something! Hot DANG! **

Ice: “Don’t try to win my little sister’s affections.” Gu Fei reached out and grabbed his hand, “Just focus on winning my affections.” DAMN GU FEI YOU SMOOTH FUCK.（ｉДｉ）

Now I just have to wait for the chapter where they finally actually xxx… *gets smacked* ｼ )ﾟﾛﾟ) *Sae smack, smack Ice* 

[1] Doze off – 假寐 is a rather literary way to say “doze off”, but it literally translates to something along the lines of “fake sleeping”. So here, Jiang Cheng is basically saying, “You aren’t just fake sleeping, you fell asleep for real.” but this nuance isn’t something that quite fits in English… so I translated more by meaning than literally instead here.

[2] flashy/showy (骚 sāo) – sāo alone can mean ‘coquettish’ or ‘sexy’ or ‘disturbing’ but in this case it’s derived from 骚包 sāobāo meaning (slang) alluring / showy / flashy and enticing person / painted Jezebel. There is a sense of sexiness to it but not quite entirely, but I’m sure that Jiang Cheng found Gu Fei plenty sexy in that leather jacket. XD – Sae

[3] Domestic horror movie – Because the only “ghosts” the Chinese government allows in cinema or television must be in the form of dreams or the imagination, no “real” ghosts are permitted in films because they represent superstition and sometimes cult activity in a realistic way. Thus, Chinese horror movies are known to be… less than scary. _ (:з」∠)_

[4] Sugary popcorn – Popcorn sold in Chinese movie theatres are sweet rather than salty. However, they aren’t like the caramelized sweet popcorn you’d see in the west, but kettle corn. Many Chinese people even find the idea of buttered popcorn to be strange.

[5] … the source of all evil assumes a rebelling posture – as a small reminder, the course of all evil is basically… his **… and so, I believe you can all get what it means here when it says it “assumed a rebellious posture”. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[6] Strike fear into the hearts (闻风丧胆) Idiom meaning to be alarmed by a mere rumour, or to be struck with fear upon hearing/catching wind of something, etc.

[7] Affection – 打主意 lit. means “to think of an idea” but it is also slang for “winning the affections of a young woman”.

[8] Gotten to die (何去何从) Idiom meaning to decide on what path to take, where to go, etc.

[9] Disregard (排除万难) Idiom meaning to push aside all obstacles/overcome all difficulties.

[10] Unintelligible (不知所云) Idiom meaning to be unintelligible, not able to make head or tails of, or not knowing what somebody is talking about.

[11] somebody’s end/whereabouts unknown (不知所踪) (for someone to go missing, but mostly likely dead tbh).

°