Chapter 60 (1/2)

“Why do you stand here alone?” Zhao Yuan asked Lin Wenxi. He reached out his hand to wipe away the snowflakes from Lin Wenxi’s hat. He noticed that there was a thin layer of snow on his hat and knew that Lin Wenxi must have stayed here for quite a long time.

Zhao Yuan still acted cordially as if nothing had happened between Lin Wenxi and him.

Lin Wenxi looked at Zhao Yuan and felt deeply touched.

“You guys leave first. Excuse me for staying here for a while.” Zhao Yuan waved to his friends and said. His friends slowly walked away while humming some tune.

“Do you have some trouble? It’s getting late. Why don’t you go home?” Zhao Yuan asked while putting an arm around Lin Wenxi’s shoulders. They stood on the bridge and looked at the river together.

Lin Wenxi told him that he had left his keys at home and could not get into his home now. He also told him that his parents had gone to their village for the Chinese New Year. Upon hearing that, Zhao Yuan grabbed Lin Wenxi and slowly walked forward.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Lin Wenxi.

“I’ll take you to my home,” Zhao Yuan said smilingly. Lin Wenxi was a little embarrassed but still followed Zhao Yuan quietly.

When they reached Zhao Yuan’s home, Lin Wenxi saw a red lantern illuminating the whole courtyard. He felt warm upon seeing this lantern and said with a smile, “This lantern is really bright.”

Zhao Yuan smiled thoughtfully without saying a word. He opened the door and invited Lin Wenxi to come into his home.

The room was dimly illuminated, but Lin Wenxin clearly saw a picture on the wall which faced the door. An old-fashioned square table, which was wiped clean, was placed under the picture, and an incense burner filled with ashes was placed in the center of the table. Apart from the incense burner, there were an abacus and an old book on the table. Lin Wenxi felt curious.

He went to the table and flattened the ashes in the incense burner. After that, he was intrigued by the shiny black beads of the abacus and played the abacus for a while. He pointed at the picture and asked, “Who is this man?”

“Try to guess,” Zhao Yuan replied, his chin cupped in his hand.

“I guess that this is probably a portrait of Fan Li, the founding father of Chinese commercial business,” replied Lin Wenxi.

Zhao Yuan was impressed and threw a tin of beer to Lin Wenxi as a reward.

Lin Wenxi frowned and said, “I thought that you would at least pour me a glass of water.”

Zhao Yuan opened the tin, quickly gulped down half a tin of beer, and then give it to Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi could tell that Zhao Yuan was tipsy. He stopped talking about the picture and asked Zhao Yuan about his family. Zhao Yuan grumbled something, and Lin Wenxi sat quietly beside him. After a while, Zhao Yuan seemed to sober up and told Lin Wenxi where the bathroom and the bedroom were. Lin Wenxi went to the bathroom to wash up. When he returned to the living room, he saw Zhao Yuan watching a basketball game on TV. After a while, Zhao Yuan looked up at Lin Wenxi in a daze.

After quite a long time, they finally went into Zhao Yuan’s bedroom together. Zhao Yuan swiftly took off his clothes and got into his bed. Lin Wenxi felt somewhat awkward. He sat on the edge of the bed, tightly grabbed the quilt cover and looked at it in a daze. It seemed that he did not plan to take off his clothes and sleep here.

“What’s so interesting about the quilt?”

“Nothing. I just want to say that the carp embroidery on your quilt cover looks really nice. Your mother must have clever hands and good taste.” Lin Wenxi kept looking at the embroidery and added, “Why don’t you sleep?”

“You’re always talkative when you’re nervous,” said Zhao Yuan.

“Why don’t you turn off the light?” Lin Wenxi continued to ask.

“Can you take off your clothes and put them away if I turn off the light now?” Zhao Yuan suddenly clapped his hands and asked, “Are you shy?” A moment later, when he saw Lin Wenxi’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and anger, he felt naughty. He sprang up from his bed, put an arm around Lin Wenxi’s neck to pull him down on the bed and then quickly ripped off Lin Wenxi’s down jacket, Lin Wenxi struggled to sit up, and his chest heaved up and down. Although he wore a thick sweater under his jacket, he still looked slender. Zhao Yuan was excited and came at Lin Wenxi again, trying to rip off his sweater.

Lin Wenxi glared at Zhao Yuan and thought, “Is he so forgetful? I bit him and broke his heart not long ago!”