Evening Stars Chapter 42 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 42.2
The signal was poor and kept cutting out. Through the static, Xu Nanheng vaguely heard Fang Shiyou asking, “Are you feeling a little down?” He hummed in affirmation, and Fang Shiyou said, “Hold on a second.”
Then, for the brief span of a blink, the phone went completely silent. The next moment, Xu Nanheng heard the familiar, sweeping sound of the mountain wind. The signal suddenly cleared as if by a miracle. He could even make out the rustle of Fang's white coat flapping in the wind.
Fang Shiyou had switched to speaker mode and lifted his phone.
The wind from the northern slopes of the Himalayas could never blow to Beijing, and the evening stars of the Southern Tibetan Plateau could never shine into Line 4. But Dr. Fang made it happen.
When the signal automatically cut off the call, Xu Nanheng slowly took the phone away from his ear. The next subway train arrived, and he sent Fang Shiyou a WeChat message.
[Thank you, Dr. Fang, I feel much better now. You truly are a divine physician.]
He deliberately made a wisecrack to show that his mood was genuinely much improved.
Then he slipped his phone into his pocket and boarded the train. He was heading to Peking University's East Gate. His father needed to take a high-speed train that day, but traffic had been terrible, so he'd abandoned the car midway and switched to the subway. Xu Nanheng was going to pick up the car and drive it home.
So there he was, stuck in the traffic that his father was supposed to be stuck in. The sky in Beijing darkened and grew darker, then vast swaths of city lights turned on, making the night bright and dazzling.
As he inched forward in traffic, he wondered what to eat later. Maybe spicy hot pot in Wudaokou, or hot pot skewers in Dongzhimen? Then he remembered the leftover yak meat at home and decided to cook a bowl of noodles with it, just like Fang Shiyou once had.
Since it was still summer break, Beijing was packed with people everywhere. After much back-and-forth, Xu Nanheng and the other three volunteer teachers finally set a dinner date for one evening.
That day, his main motivation for going out was that the results of the Tibet Autonomous Region's senior high school entrance exams had just been released.
From eight in the morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, he had been messaging and calling Sonam Tsomo, asking whether Dasang Choedon had checked her score yet. He really needed something to take his mind off it.
Principal Sonam, caught between comforting the equally anxious Choedon and replying to Xu Nanheng, explained that the system didn't show results right away. The release time varied by county and city.
So Xu Nanheng finally went out. Under the summer heat of Beijing, he squeezed bravely onto Line 5 to meet the others.
The four of them met at Exit F of Yonghe Temple. The subway had been so crowded that Xu Nanheng felt like everyone inside the carriage was packed together like meat paste in Pangpang's cat food can.
He had originally planned to stop thinking about the exam results for a while. But the moment they met, Teacher Tan greeted him with, “Did you get the scores!?”
Xu Nanheng: “……”
Although they met at Yonghe Temple, they didn't actually go inside. There were too many people, with the queue snaking around several corners. They went directly to the alley across the street and chose a coffee shop to sit in.
Xu Nanheng kept bouncing his leg anxiously, while Su Yu and Dai Jimian shared a slice of cake. But his shaking grew so relentless that the cake Dai Jimian was scooping up was shaken back onto the plate twice.
“Teacher Xu, did you just get electrocuted or something?” Dai Jimian asked.
“Oh.” Xu Nanheng stopped bouncing his leg. “I'm just too anxious. Principal Sonam still hasn't replied to my WeChat.”
Teacher Dai: “How long has it been since you sent it?”
Xu Nanheng: “A full thirty-five seconds.”
Teacher Dai: “……”
Su Yu suggested that since they were already waiting for the results, they might as well visit the Confucian temple to pray. It wasn't far anyway.
Ten minutes later, they realized it really wasn't far. Precisely because it wasn't far, they could already see the long line from a distance.
The group fell silent again. Late July in Beijing felt even hotter than before.
In the end, they decided to go to HOPS ON, a large shopping mall, to find a restaurant for dinner and walk around afterward.
During the meal, Xu Nanheng sighed, “It really is vacation season. Even the 318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway is completely jammed.” He showed them a video that Fang Shiyou had shared. The clip showed drivers playing cards by the roadside on the National Highway 318.
Just after they finished eating, Sonam Tsomo finally sent a message. It was a spreadsheet. Dasang Choedon had done exceptionally well, with scores high enough to qualify for one of Lhasa's top senior high schools.
That same night, Fang Shiyou was at the small hospital writing a summary report. After a brief meeting, the doctors went to the homes of a few villagers for final follow-up checkups.
He and Professor Gu had already bought their plane tickets. Fang Shiyou's car would stay behind for now. Several members of the medical aid team were still assisting with surgeries in a nearby county. Once they were done, they would drive his car back to Beijing for him.
On the day Fang Shiyou left the village, Sonam Tsomo and the villagers came to see off the aid doctors. She asked Fang Shiyou to pass on her regards to Teacher Xu.
A few days later, Fang Shiyou and Professor Gu took the same flight. The plane departed from Gonggar Airport, flying through the turbulent air above the plateau mountains, and transferred in Chongqing. Having lived at high altitude for too long, both father and son experienced mild oxygen intoxication after suddenly descending to the plains. While waiting for their connecting flight, they dozed off on the lounge sofas.
Fang Shiyou's physical condition was good. After sleeping for half an hour, he felt much better. The moment he woke up, he sent a WeChat message to Xu Nanheng. He had already messaged him earlier when the plane landed, then fallen asleep.
Xu Nanheng replied quickly: [Did you land alone, Dr. Fang?]
What a question. Fang Shiyou smiled faintly at his phone. He had already given Xu Nanheng the flight number, told him it was landing at Daxing Airport, and mentioned that he was traveling with Professor Gu.
Coincidentally, Professor Gu, leaning against the sofa nearby, had also woken up.
Fang Shiyou: “How are you feeling?”
Professor Gu rubbed his face. “Much better. Ah, I'll go get some hot water.”
Saying that, he stood up. Fang Shiyou cleared his throat and said, “Dad, um…… after we land in Beijing, I won't go back with you. You and Aunt and Uncle can head back first.”
Professor Gu stood there, looking down at him for a while, thinking of his son's partner, the volunteer teacher who had returned to Beijing a month ago.
So he said, “Fine, I'll just buy a high-speed train ticket to Huaxi and ask if they're hiring a chief physician from Beijing.”
“Hey, don't be like that.” Fang Shiyou couldn't help laughing. “It's not that I think you're in the way. Dad, come on……”
Who couldn't tell what he meant? Professor Gu came back with a cup of hot water, sat down, and rolled his eyes at him.
That night at eleven, their plane landed at Daxing Airport.
His aunt and uncle came to pick them up. Fang Shiyou was no longer a child, so if he chose not to leave with his elders, he wouldn't.
It was summer vacation, and the terminal was packed with people. Planes were constantly taking off and landing on the runway. Fortunately, the night sky over Daxing was calm and clear, perfect for flights.
After watching his father, aunt, and uncle leave, Fang Shiyou was about to take out his phone to ask where Xu Nanheng was, but before his hand even reached his pocket, someone grabbed his wrist with considerable force and pulled him away.
Xu Nanheng was wearing that familiar baseball cap and a plain black short-sleeved T-shirt from a luxury brand. Its sophisticated tailoring was deliberately low-key, featuring no visible logo.
Without saying a word, he pulled Fang Shiyou straight toward the exit.
In the parking lot stood a dark, familiar car. Teacher Xu started the engine and drove off. He didn't speak, and Dr. Fang, in quiet understanding, didn't either.
Under the cover of night, the enormous city of Beijing seemed to breathe steadily, and the streetlights shone into the car in streaks.
To Fang Shiyou, the city's glittering nightscape couldn't compare to the person driving. The whole way, his gaze never left Xu Nanheng's profile.
It was true that hotels in Beijing were hard to book during summer vacation, but that rule didn't apply to Young Master Xu. If the six-thousand-a-night rooms were full, he booked the fifteen-thousand ones instead. As soon as he stepped inside, he took off his cap, pressed Fang Shiyou against the door, and kissed him.
Fang Shiyou responded almost instantly. His palm slid to Xu Nanheng's lower back, pulling him close. His other hand cradled the back of his head as he took a few purposeful steps forward, taking the lead and pinning him against the wall beside the entryway.