Evening Stars Chapter 33
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 33
Fang Shiyou's arm around Xu Nanheng's waist tightened, as if no matter how close their bodies were, it still wasn't enough. He wanted even more.
The kiss was driven entirely by instinct. Their lips pressed together and brushed again and again, yet neither of them felt satisfied. They wanted deeper, closer.
The kiss began with the simple press of lip against lip. Then one of them parted his lips first, and the other followed. It turned out that under the influence of strong emotion, no technique or experience was needed. Pure feeling could guide every movement.
It turned out that all the exhaustion and tension they'd carried could dissolve in an instant, and that two cold lips in the wind could immediately become so hot.
They held each other tight, mouths and tongues entwined.
Their breaths came uneven from lack of air. Their Adam's apples bobbed as they swallowed between gasps. Xu Nanheng clutched the fabric of Fang Shiyou's white coat, kissed until oxygen-deprived, helplessly parting his lips with eyes slightly open. But his hands still gripped tight, arms still refusing to let go.
No fitting words arose in his mind to describe his current state of mind. All reason, calculations, and probabilities had vanished. All the questions, ‘what does he like about me,’ and ‘why do I like him,’ suddenly melted away like snow in boiling water.
The answer was right here.
The moment they saw each other, they both dropped everything and moved toward what their hearts wanted.
Fang Shiyou deepened the kiss. His hand moved to the back of Xu Nanheng's neck, fingers slipping through the strands of black hair. At this moment, even a single strand of Xu Nanheng's hair could send an electric current through his entire body. He was far more gone than he'd imagined. During those six days, there was no signal, cutting off all communication.
He missed Teacher Xu so much it nearly drove him mad. Before his phone ran out of battery, he took one last look at the photo in Teacher Xu's Moments, the one taken beneath a temple halfway up the county mountain.
That kiss nearly worsened Xu Nanheng's altitude sickness. Fang Shiyou finally eased his grip, letting a small space open between them.
The two people, breathing raggedly, looked at each other. Fang Shiyou brushed away a strand of hair stuck to the corner of Xu Nanheng's mouth with his thumb. Teacher Xu's eyes were hazy, still unfocused, as if he hadn't yet come back to himself.
Some words were no longer necessary to say, such as ‘How did you get here?’ or ‘Was your phone out of service?’ or ‘Does kissing me mean you like me?’
None of that mattered anymore. Actions spoke louder than words. Instinct and the heat in their eyes said everything.
Fang Shiyou looked at him intently, a faint smile touching his lips. “Nanheng.”
After six days apart, that was the first thing he said.
Xu Nanheng smiled back. He thought for a moment, wondering if calling him ‘Dr. Fang’ would sound a bit distant, then blinked and said, “You-ge.”
The way he said it was soft and intimate. His voice was still rough from the kiss, the words rasping like a small cat's tail brushing against Fang Shiyou's heart.
Fang Shiyou's dark gaze lingered on him, unable to look away even for a moment. He struggled to find words. “I…… Teacher Xu, before I……”
He called him Teacher Xu again. Xu Nanheng raised his hand and pinched him on the chin. “You said we'd talk when you got back…… Was this what you wanted to talk about?”
“Mm.” Fang Shiyou nodded and swallowed.
Xu Nanheng gave him a half-lidded look, his eyelashes fluttering. “Then we've finished talking now.”
The way he looked was too sexy. His waist was still trapped in Fang Shiyou's arm, his body pressed against Fang Shiyou's chest. Fang Shiyou had never imagined himself capable of this kind of recklessness. For twenty-nine years, he had trod a steady path, disciplined and respectful of propriety, never once crossing the line.
And now, here he was, holding someone and kissing him in broad daylight. So what?
He lowered his head slightly, resting his forehead against Xu Nanheng's. “So, did we come to a conclusion?”
This proximity of breath was like sprinkling a love potion on Xu Nanheng's face. Xu Nanheng tilted his chin up slightly, his lips brushing against Fang Shiyou's as he spoke. “Dr. Fang, you're really this innocent? Don't tell me that after we've rolled through two rounds in bed, you'll still ask me, ‘So are we dating?’”
He couldn't help but laugh at his own words. He looked nothing like a teacher then, but more like the mischievous kid sitting on the edge of the teacher's desk.
Fang Shiyou looked straight into his eyes and kissed him. It was not a gentle kiss. One could even call it savage. He came with forceful pressure, with a bit of fierceness, prying open his lips, his tongue pushing in, hooking Xu Nanheng's tongue, and then biting the tip of it.
So this doctor was truly wicked. By the second kiss, Fang Shiyou already grasped the key points. He sucked, licked, and, to maximize the provocation, he pressed down on Xu Nanheng's lower back, making his lower abdomen press against his own.
Xu Nanheng tried to open his eyes in protest, but Fang Shiyou hadn't closed his. Their gazes locked directly.
He hadn't expected such intensity in Fang Shiyou's eyes. For a moment, he forgot to breathe. His lower lip was gently captured and slightly tugged upward, forcing him to tilt his head back. The affection was becoming somewhat sensual. Their fronts were almost completely pressed together, both feeling the other's arousal.
They both let out a quiet laugh.
“Stop kissing me,” Xu Nanheng said. “It's the weekend for me, but you still have work to do.”
“Mm.” Fang Shiyou agreed in words but still leaned down to steal another kiss, catching Xu Nanheng's lower lip before letting go. His arms stayed locked around him, unwilling to loosen.
He really should have left. He'd come to fetch water from the mountain's other side, and now he'd been delayed nearly ten minutes. But he couldn't bring himself to go. It all felt like a dream. Xu Nanheng had come looking for him, and Xu Nanheng had kissed him.
Fang Shiyou looked at him, still dazed, as if unable to believe it was real. Xu Nanheng caught the expression and laughed. “You look stunned.”
“Tell me, is it possible that I actually died during the second landslide last night, and this is all an illusion created by my soul's final obsession?”
Fang Shiyou wasn't joking. This sense of unreality was too overwhelming. In a way, it was the defense mechanism of the human mind. If such excessive joy turned out to be false, the resulting disappointment would damage the brain's nerves. Thus, the brain would send a warning that it was just an illusion.
Xu Nanheng pretended to be indifferent. “Right. It's all fake. Let go of me, and I'll come burn incense for you on the seventh day.”
“Don't.” Instead of letting go, Fang Shiyou leaned down and bit his earlobe, the soft flesh caught between his teeth. “Don't burn incense for me. If I'm really dead, you can take a few photos with your Polaroid and burn those for me.”
Teacher Xu's sharp tongue could choke anyone, no matter the place. He leaned close to Fang Shiyou's ear and murmured, “What photos? I'll burn you a few pairs of my underwear instead.”
Fang Shiyou: “……”
To be honest, Fang Shiyou hadn't slept a full night in all six days of the rescue. He'd been running purely on professional habit built over years of work. After the caffeine wore off and the cigarettes ran out, he was pushing through on sheer willpower.
Then Xu Nanheng showed up, and everything inside him gave way. He didn't want to think about anything anymore. He just wanted to hold Xu Nanheng and sleep for ten hours straight on the grassland behind the mountain.
But he couldn't. He let go of Xu Nanheng and stepped back slightly. Xu Nanheng also understood that he had to go back to the camp to continue working. He raised his hand to tidy the collar of Fang Shiyou's white coat and said, “Alright. I…… I just needed to see you're okay. Go on. I'll head off soon too.”
“Wait for me a bit. I'll walk you down the mountain,” Fang Shiyou said, turning back to grab his water bucket.
Xu Nanheng smiled. “No need. Although the kiss did make my legs a little weak, I can still make it back to my car.”
“You're very honest,” Fang Shiyou said with a faint smile as he lifted the bucket. “Then be careful on the way. When you get back…… even if I can't receive it, send me a message anyway.”
Xu Nanheng nodded. “You take care too.”
“Alright.”
Fang Shiyou had lost some weight these past days. Xu Nanheng had felt it when he held him. He followed alongside Fang Shiyou back toward camp. When they arrived, Fang Shiyou set the bucket of water down. It wasn't for drinking, only for the most basic washing.
The emergency nurses were hurrying about. Fang Shiyou took a mask and latex gloves from a box and put them on. The past ten minutes were just a short break. Fang Shiyou in work mode was one hundred percent focused. With the mask on, the attention naturally focused on his eyes.
Xu Nanheng looked at them and said softly, “I'm heading off.”
Fang Shiyou nodded. “Drive safe. Take it slow.”
Xu Nanheng wasn't someone who cared about ceremony, though he respected those who did. Like when Fang Shiyou had asked, mid-kiss, ‘So, did we come to a conclusion?’ Xu Nanheng had thought, ‘I'm standing right here kissing you, and you still need to ask?’
But maybe for some people, that question mattered, just like the takeoff and landing instructions from the control tower to an aircraft. It marked a beginning, a moment worth remembering.
Thinking that, Xu Nanheng stopped walking. He turned around. Behind him stood three large military tents. He took a breath, then turned back and walked toward them.
Just then, the flap of the first tent lifted, and a man in a white coat stepped out. Their eyes met, and both smiled. Fang Shiyou quickly covered the distance to him in a few strides. He had taken off his gloves but his mask was still on, and he embraced Xu Nanheng tightly.
His voice was muffled through the mask as he spoke by Xu Nanheng's ear. “Teacher Xu, I like you. Let's date.”
Xu Nanheng smiled, wrapping his arms around him in return. “Okay, Dr. Fang. Let's date.”
That evening, after sunset, heavy snow fell across the Southern Tibetan Plateau.
When Xu Nanheng got back to the school, he sent Fang Shiyou a message on WeChat: Made it back to school.
Then another: You've worked hard, boyfriend.
That evening, Xu Nanheng was huddled in his quilt, lying down on his stomach as he looked at exam papers. It was freezing, and his blanket was the only warm place. Sonam Tsomo had said this winter might be an unusually cold one. She'd even suggested that if it got too bad, Teacher Xu could move into the classroom, where the stove could burn all night.
Xu Nanheng felt that was unnecessary. Sleeping alone was troublesome enough, and besides, fuel was a precious resource in winter. Once the snow accumulated to a certain depth, the yak dung would be completely buried by the snow in a short time.
When the weekend ended and the students returned, they came to class wearing thick coats over their uniforms. Xu Nanheng was already considering not going back to Beijing for the Spring Festival. He'd thought about it even before Fang Shiyou came into the picture. Given the students' poor academic foundation, if they took such a long winter break, all progress would be lost once the holiday ended.
On Monday after class, Xu Nanheng found a quiet spot to call his mother.
At first, she had snapped, “Then don't come back at all! Buy a house there and find yourself a wife!” But she wasn't an unreasonable person. His parents ran a company together, and as he explained his students' situation, the oxygen issues from flying back to Beijing, and the readjustment needed when returning to the plateau, she gradually accepted his decision.
The quiet spot he'd chosen was the courtyard of the small hospital, where he leaned against his car while making the call.
This phone call lasted quite a while. His mother asked about life there, and they chatted leisurely. She told him that a stray cat had jumped over the wall last night to snatch the koi from their pond. Their fat cat, Pangpang, had tried to defend the fish.
But how could the tabby cat beat a stray lihua cat? The latter managed to bite a chunk out of Pangpang's head, and Pangpang was very upset when they applied medicine today.
Xu Nanheng joked that when he finally got back to Beijing, he'd make sure to teach that stray cat a lesson himself.
They talked for quite a while before hanging up. Because of that, Fang Shiyou's call didn't go through. The poor doctor sent over a few sad emojis, asking why the call was taking so long.
Xu Nanheng quickly called him back. He couldn't let the good doctor shed tears in front of his colleagues.
“Teacher Xu.” The voice came first from the other end.
“Yeah, Dr. Fang.” Xu Nanheng had a cigarette between his lips but hadn't lit it yet. “I was on the phone with my mom. You didn't end up crying, did you?”
“Five more minutes and I would have.” Fang Shiyou said. “Our rescue work is all done. We're on the way back now, but we're heading to the county.”
The week-long rotation at the small hospital was over, though the entire week had been spent on rescue operations.
Fang Shiyou continued, “The following week is for free medical consultations. We need to go back to the county town to pick up the medicine and equipment for the consultations, so…… we're heading straight back to the county hospital.”
With the cigarette still in his mouth, Xu Nanheng leaned lazily against the car, his Beijing drawl carrying a smile. “Ah, I'm gonna miss you to death, then.”
“Yeah right, heartless brat. Only two messages in three days.” Fang Shiyou said.
“Tsk, you didn't have signal. What's the point of me sending a bunch?” Xu Nanheng thought to himself that he was quite speaking openly. “You in the car now? Is no one around?”
“In the car,” Fang Shiyou said. “Driving a separate vehicle to haul miscellaneous supplies.”
Xu Nanheng lifted his head slightly. It had been snowing lightly that morning, but it had stopped now. He said, “I just told my mom I'm not going back to Beijing for the New Year.”
There was a brief silence on the other end before Fang Shiyou said, “Then spend it with me. I'm not going back either.”
“You're…… not spending it with Professor Gu?”
“I'm on duty,” Fang Shiyou said. “We're both in cardiac surgery. If one's off, the other has to be on call. The schedule's staggered.”
Xu Nanheng paused. “So…… we'll spend it together this year?”
“Yeah,” Fang Shiyou said. “Your You-ge will make you a New Year's Eve dinner.”
“Can You-ge roll out noodles? I want braised sauce noodles.” Xu Nanheng stretched, his voice trailing to the other side of the Himalayas. “I'm dying for it. Besides McDonald's, this is the only thing I crave. You-ge will figure something out, right?”
Fang Shiyou couldn't resist that tone. Forget rolling noodles, if Xu Nanheng wanted typhoon shelter crab, he'd find a way to order one frozen, ship it to Lhasa, and drive there himself to pick it up.
“No problem,” Fang Shiyou said with a laugh. “You-ge will figure it out for you.”