Evening Stars Chapter 37 (Part 3)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 37.3
One week rolled into another, and the days passed in a blur.
In Xu Nanheng's class, Dasang Choedon was already showing signs of becoming the top scorer. Until New Year's, Xu Nanheng kept a close eye on her, making her do endless practice papers, not just in math, but also English, Physics, Geography, and Chemistry.
Choedon didn't let him down. In the unified mock exam, she ranked first among all the volunteer teaching posts. During the volunteer teaching conference, Xu Nanheng's name was praised by the Beijing school leaders for a solid thirty seconds. He didn't even listen. While his laptop was connected to the meeting, he was busy using Fang Shiyou's computer to make more exam papers.
That day, in the small hospital's on-call room, the meeting ended just as the light outside hovered between dusk and night. Xu Nanheng packed his things, gathered his textbooks, and left the computer behind to head back to school to check on the exam results in Teacher Tsering's class.
The evening stars of the Southern Tibetan Plateau dotted the sky, hanging one by one above the lake-blue horizon.
Standing with his textbooks in hand, the tall and refined Teacher Xu gazed upward. Under a gentle breeze and faint clouds, the Milky Way shimmered with a soft ripple.
Fang Shiyou had just gone to the on-call room but didn't see him there. Stepping outside, he spotted Xu Nanheng standing not far away, wearing a mid-length cool-silver down jacket, his head tilted back, watching the stars.
Fang Shiyou stopped at a short distance, his eyes fixed intently on him.
In truth, as Teacher Xu looked up at the stars, he wanted to sigh something poetic.
Unfortunately, as a math teacher, his literary foundation was as thin as paper. All he could murmur was, “Ow, my neck.”
“Let me rub it for you.” Fang Shiyou walked over, placing one hand on the back of his neck, massaging it with light but firm pressure, and then leaned in to sniff his nape. “Stop using those medicated patches all the time.”
“Ah.” Xu Nanheng closed his eyes in comfort, looking at him with a faint smile. “This semester is almost over.”
With winter break just around the corner, Xu Nanheng wished they could be like the third-year senior high class in Gonggar, taking only a week off as a token holiday for the New Year. Fang Shiyou nodded. “I understand, but you also need to take care of your health.”
The sudden, steep temperature drop in Tibet had already given Teacher Xu a bad cold. He still showed up to class wearing a mask despite being sick. When Fang Shiyou discovered this, he ordered him to rest at the hospital, while Fang Shiyou oversaw the class as the students took a test.
Fortunately, the semester was almost over. After this one, there would be only one more before graduation.
Feeling relaxed from the massage, Xu Nanheng moved his neck around and said, “Ah, that's much better.”
“Stop using those medicated patches so much. How many do you even have left? I'm not giving you more next time.” Fang Shiyou frowned slightly. “Medicine always has side effects.”
He knew Xu Nanheng's neck and shoulders often acted up. It was a common occupational hazard for teachers. But in this place, there were no massage parlors or gyms, and Xu Nanheng didn't want to waste time traveling elsewhere. So he'd been getting plenty of pain relief patches from Fang Shiyou.
“If you won't give me any, I'll have Choedon trick you into handing some over.”
“Teach them something good for once,” Fang Shiyou said with a laugh. “If it gets bad again, call me. I'll come over and help you loosen it up if I have time.”
Dr. Fang, who had done preliminary diagnoses in orthopedics, had excellent technique and precise control. Xu Nanheng switched his textbooks to the other hand. “Alright. You head back. I'll check on the test papers from Teacher Tsering's class.”
Although Teacher Xu had practically turned volunteer teaching into a full-time grind, even he couldn't cancel winter break. On the last day of class before the holiday, Teacher Xu entered the classroom with Zhou Yang, Diki, and Dorje following behind him.
This was actually quite unusual, as these three were the troublemakers. The moment the four of them entered the room together, the entire class went silent.
The three of them were helping Xu Nanheng move the winter break homework.
Xu Nanheng carried a tall stack himself, and the three boys each carried another, setting them down on the lectern. Everyone was afraid the old, rickety thing might collapse under the weight.
“What are you standing around for? Start handing it out,” Xu Nanheng said. “Overcome all difficulties. Whether you're herding yaks or sheep, loosening soil or planting crops, you have to finish it. If you don't, then when school starts you'll be spending every evening self-study and morning reading session to complete it all.”
By this day, no one remembered the anticipation they felt when the principal had first mentioned, ‘A volunteer teacher is coming from Beijing.’ So much for a teacher from the big city. He'd devoured people alive and not even spit out the bones.
Once the winter break began, no one else came to school. Principal Sonam had originally worried that Teacher Xu would have no one to look after him and had planned to invite him over for meals. But that wasn't necessary anymore because Dr. Fang would take good care of him. So during the final teachers meeting before the break, when someone asked whether Teacher Xu had a place to stay since he wasn't going home for the New Year, Principal Sonam quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.
And just like that, Xu Nanheng naturally moved into Fang Shiyou's small single apartment in the county.
As the year drew close to the Lunar New Year, the county town was adorned with festive ornaments. The Tibetans celebrated both the Lunar New Year and the Tibetan New Year, each with its own customs. They wrote Lungta papers to take to the temples, and the ceremonies were elaborate. During the holiday season, the hospital was relatively quiet.
Earlier, Fang Shiyou had mentioned he'd saved up some days off and wanted to take Xu Nanheng on a trip. In the end, Xu Nanheng turned him down. But Teacher Xu said they could go someday after they returned.
“Dr. Fang,” Xu Nanheng called lazily.
“Yeah,” Fang Shiyou's voice came from the kitchen, “Teacher Xu.”
Xu Nanheng lounged carelessly on the sofa, laptop in his arms. “Can you manage? If not, let's just eat out.”
At the moment, Fang Shiyou was in the kitchen kneading dough — an adult man over six feet tall wrestling with a lump of flour on the counter.
“I can manage.”
“Let me see.”
Xu Nanheng went into the kitchen too, pressing his chest against Fang Shiyou's back as he craned his neck to look at the dough. “Is this how you're supposed to knead it?”
“I think so.” Fang Shiyou wasn't entirely sure himself. “My aunt said that's how it's done.”
“Ah……” Xu Nanheng didn't know either. He pulled back his arm, rolled up his sleeves, and dutifully wiped the sweat from the doctor's forehead before planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
Fang Shiyou laughed at the unexpected kiss. “Forget it, I'll just video-call my aunt.”
Earlier, when Fang Shiyou had messaged his aunt on WeChat asking how to knead dough, she'd been surprised. But after thinking about it, she figured he was probably cooking for some girl for the New Year, so she sent him a voice message explaining the steps.
The video finally connected, though the connection on Fang Shiyou's end was a bit laggy.
“Auntie,” Fang Shiyou said, lifting the dough. “Look, is it okay that I've kneaded it like this?”
“Yes, yes, that's fine,” she replied. “This is the dough that's been resting for twenty minutes, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then poke a hole in the middle and roll it out into a long strip.”
“Got it.”
The video call lagged a little, and the exchange between aunt and nephew came with delays. Some words cut off, others overlapping, the conversation a bit disjointed.
In any case…… after all that effort, Fang Shiyou felt something was wrong. He had followed his aunt's instructions exactly, yet what he'd rolled out was a dumpling wrapper.
His aunt was baffled. “Weren't you making dumplings!?”
“……” Fang Shiyou was on the verge of tears. “Auntie, I-I was trying to roll out noodles to make braised sauce noodles.”
“……” His aunt went silent for a moment, then exclaimed, “Quick, quick, knead that dough back together again!!”
In the living room, Xu Nanheng was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
The sauce for the noodles was also made by Fang Shiyou himself. While he was struggling and stressed out with the dough in the kitchen, Xu Nanheng wasn't idle. He was busy getting in the way.
“Hey, in the operating room, do the nurses usually wipe your sweat with cotton balls?”
“Yeah,” Fang Shiyou replied, rolling out the dough.
Xu Nanheng crumpled a tissue into a ball, dabbed it lightly, and pressed away the sweat on Dr. Fang's face with a practiced touch. Then he said, “Hey, do you have a hair tie? I'll help tie up your bangs.”
“Counting my time in the womb, I've been single for thirty years before meeting you. Where would I get a hair tie?”
“What a shame. I should've asked Choedon for one before the break.”
When Fang Shiyou started cutting the noodles, Xu Nanheng reached out and ran his hand over the man's upper arm, admiringly saying, “Very nice. These arms are just right.”
“Just right for what?” Fang Shiyou grabbed a handful of flour and shook the freshly cut noodles loose.
“Just right for my taste.”
“And when did you develop that kind of taste?” Fang Shiyou asked casually, though he was really probing when Teacher Xu realized he liked men.
“Just now,” said Xu Nanheng.
Fang Shiyou laughed.
For the topping, he stir-fried some minced meat. Dr. Fang's culinary skills were impressive. He'd chosen pork belly with a three-to-four fat-to-lean ratio, chopped it fine, fried it, then added water to braise it. For garnish, he added a few shreds of cucumber. Worried it might not be hearty enough, Fang Shiyou wanted to run out and buy more food, but Xu Nanheng told him not to bother. He only wanted this meal.
The small apartment in the county had turned into a warm, cozy home. That evening, the two of them nestled in bed. They were lying comfortably at first, one reading a book and the other looking at problems on his phone.
Including today, Xu Nanheng had already been staying in the apartment for nearly a week. The first few days they slept together without incident, but that was because Dr. Fang had surgeries and was out early and back late.
These past two days, he was finally free. A hand under the covers rested on Xu Nanheng's lower abdomen. He froze, turning his head to look at Fang Shiyou, and in the next second, Fang Shiyou kissed him. The two young men naturally embraced, kissed, and rolled together.
Heat rose, hearts quickened, and the air grew restless.
The usually gentle and mild Dr. Fang seemed to transform. Xu Nanheng thought the panting against his ear sounded like the low howl of a wolf he had heard not long ago. Dr. Fang was like a wild beast.
The tranquil night on the plateau was filled only with the ceaseless wind, and the old wooden bed frame let out a creaking sound, causing Xu Nanheng's face and ears to flush. “This bed…… won't collapse, right?”
Fang Shiyou gave a low laugh from deep in his throat. “You're worried about the bed, not yourself?”
Xu Nanheng looped his arms around his neck. “Not worried. You think you could fxck me to death?”
“……”
Fang Shiyou's expression shifted slightly. His Adam's apple moved as he reached for something in the nightstand drawer.
Xu Nanheng raised a brow. “When did you buy that?”
“This morning.” Fang Shiyou leaned down again, kissing the shell of his ear, his voice low and rough. “You said you'd give me three children.”
Just how cheeky was Teacher Xu? His eyes drooped lazily as he looked at the packet, then at Fang Shiyou, and smiled. “With that on, you won't get me pregnant.”