Evening Stars Chapter 43 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 43.1
With a loud ‘thud,’ Fang Shiyou's suitcase toppled over as they pulled at each other. Instinctively, one hand held the other close while the other hand fumbled to strip away both their clothes.
Fang Shiyou had arrived on an evening flight. He wore a thin plaid jacket over a T-shirt, but since the room lights were off, Xu Nanheng had no idea which part of it he was tugging at. He didn't care. He wanted this body bare.
So even when the sharp rip of tearing fabric cut through the air, neither of them stopped.
This room truly lived up to its price of fifteen thousand per night in the Chaoyang District. The mattress was soft yet firm, the bedding made of fine material that carried a quiet, soothing scent. The clink of a belt buckle sounded as they kissed and fumbled to undo each other's clothes.
Teacher Xu's belt was a fine one, an elegant brand his tasteful mother had bought him. Once Fang Shiyou unbuckled it, he pulled the entire belt out, and with the other hand, he grabbed Xu Nanheng's two wrists, lifted them up, and bound them with the belt.
Xu Nanheng froze for a second, then laughed. “It's only been a month, and you've already gotten this bad?”
The belt wasn't tied tight. Fang Shiyou kissed his cheek and said, “Be glad it's a belt and not a rope. Otherwise, I'd tie you a surgeon's knot.”
With his wrists bound, Xu Nanheng couldn't touch him back. Still, he couldn't resist teasing. “You're so good at controlling patients. You should just become a veterinarian.”
The next second, Teacher Xu couldn't speak anymore.
Because Fang Shiyou was going down on him.
Next, the two took a shower together. In the lavishly designed bathroom, they washed up and went back to the room to continue. Standing, straddling, lying down. The room, carpeted in thick long-pile, had excellent soundproofing. Not a single sound from inside could escape.
If Dr. Fang had been restraining himself in Tibet due to various factors, then in Beijing, in this room where he could completely let loose, coupled with nearly a month of separation, Dr. Fang nearly tormented him to tears.
Well, tears did fall, but not from crying.
Click.
Fang Shiyou turned on the bedside lamp. A soft amber glow filled the space. He lay on his side, propping his head up with one arm, watching Xu Nanheng.
Xu Nanheng had been staring at the ceiling. Slowly, he turned his head toward Fang Shiyou. The lamp on Fang Shiyou's side was behind him, and the way the light fell made the doctor's features stand out in sharp relief.
Xu Nanheng said, “Why are you looking at me with the eyes of a murderer appreciating the crime scene?”
Fang Shiyou laughed. “Don't talk nonsense. I swore an oath as a doctor.”
Xu Nanheng lifted an eyebrow, flicked the blanket off his waist, and pointed at the red marks on his skin. “Your crimes.”
Fang Shiyou pulled the blanket back over him. “Tsk, can't you just talk without lifting the covers? You'll catch a cold.”
Xu Nanheng was still catching his breath. “How much of your strength did you seal up when we were doing this in the county?”
Fang Shiyou smiled. “Sorry about that. Want some water? Are you hungry?”
Xu Nanheng reached an arm out from under the blanket and placed his palm over Fang Shiyou's face, as if stroking a Yuhuchun vase from the Northern Song Dynasty.
Fang Shiyou was also very cooperative, rubbing his face against Xu Nanheng's hand like a kitten.
“I want something sweet,” Xu Nanheng said. “Let's rest a bit more, then go out for milk tea. We can have the staff change the sheets.”
Fang Shiyou nodded in agreement. He admired Teacher Xu's straightforward and unrestrained nature. Xu Nanheng never felt ashamed about what they'd done. It was not that Fang Shiyou considered shame a negative trait, but rather that personal preferences differed, and Fang Shiyou was just fond of his type.
Xu Nanheng closed his eyes again, exhaling slowly in comfort. They lay there in silence for more than ten minutes, not even sure where their phones had ended up. The two of them stayed silently, savoring the intimacy of sharing that enclosed space.
After a while, Xu Nanheng had rested enough. His clothes and pants were beyond saving, but thankfully, Fang Shiyou had clean clothes in his suitcase and found him a set to wear. Although it was August, the early morning air was still cool, so he handed him a shirt to wear over it.
High-end hotels offered twenty-four-hour service. The two of them, with a very casual attitude, called the service staff to come and clean up. A cleanup at this hour meant, without a doubt, that things had been too intense.
It was past two-thirty in the morning. Beijing's nightlife wasn't all that lively. It was nothing like Sichuan or Chongqing, but it could still compete with Jiangsu. Fang Shiyou remembered an oyster place in Wangjing, but a quick search showed it closed at two.
Beijing, he thought, was actually quite like a ‘grandpa,’ not the pretentious kind, but the one who falls asleep on the sofa with the TV still on. His snoring has already started, but the moment you turn off the TV, he'll wake up, claiming he was still listening. Beijing was just like that grandpa. You'd think it was asleep, but the Gongti North Road was still buzzing. You'd think it was awake, but the Bird's Nest turned its lights off at nine-thirty.
The two of them sighed at the same time on the sidewalk.
A light breeze picked up. Teacher Xu crossed his arms, the hem of his shirt fluttering as he said, “In this vast Chaoyang District, is there nowhere to get a late-night snack?”
“Let me think,” Fang Shiyou murmured, pursing his lips. “Uh……”
“Let's find a barbecue stall.” Xu Nanheng took a step closer, slipped his hand into Fang Shiyou's jacket pockets, and asked, “Where's your cigarette?”
“I don't think I brought them,” Fang Shiyou said. “They're in the jacket you tore.”
“Then let's buy cigarettes first,” Xu Nanheng said.
Fang Shiyou actually didn't want him eating barbecue right after such intensity. It wasn't good for the body. But twenty minutes after buying cigarettes, they were sitting in a barbecue place anyway.
Teacher Xu was a bit drained, but not fragile. It was the kind of fatigue every twenty-six-year-old knew: always tired, never well-rested, telling people to drink more hot water while pulling a can of cold Coke from the fridge.
But Teacher Xu really wasn't fragile. He had the stamina to drive thirty-five hundred kilometers alone into Tibet, to ride horses, herd yaks, climb mountains, and work the fields.
A plate of grilled skewers was set down. The rich, smoky spice hit them all at once, and hunger followed immediately. After their intense workout, and being grown men, they exchanged a brief look, then silently started eating.
They ordered grilled crayfish and some vegetables, ate for over an hour, and finally leaned back in their chairs, eyes unfocused, feeling that life was good enough as it was. At 4:20 AM, they paid the bill and stepped out into the heavy night. Looking up, they could see stars over Beijing.
Fang Shiyou rubbed the back of his neck and teased, “How's your cervical spine holding up?”
“Ow,” Xu Nanheng murmured, closing his eyes a little. “Yeah, right there.”
Fang Shiyou laughed and kept massaging him.
Dawn was about to break. Xu Nanheng turned to ask, “Wanna go watch the flag-raising?”
“Sure, let's go.”
Somehow, when they were together, neither of them ever felt tired. The fifteen-thousand-a-night hotel no longer mattered. They held hands on the quiet early-morning street, flagged down a taxi, and when the driver heard they were heading to watch the flag-raising, he asked, “Oh, visiting Beijing?”
Xu Nanheng said, “Just got back. Haven't been home in a year.”
The driver asked, “Back from where?”
“Tibet,” Xu Nanheng replied.
The driver quoted a line that had become famous online, “Youth has no price tag, hard seat straight to Lhasa!”
Xu Nanheng wasn't about to let that line hang. “Indeed, one must drive the 318 in this lifetime, all the way west to Lhasa!”
Fang Shiyou laughed beside him.
Then the driver realized, “Beijing to Lhasa isn't on G318.”
Xu Nanheng: “Ah, I took G109. I even picked up a partner along the way.”
“That's great!” the driver approved.
By then, Tiananmen Square was already packed. In summer, the sun rose a little after five, and people who planned to see the flag-raising had started claiming spots around two or three in the morning. The two of them stood on the outer edge. Being able to see the flagpole was good enough.
Xu Nanheng found himself missing Tibet a little. There were national flags in every border village. He took a quiet, deep breath and looked at Beijing's blue sky. He thought that the wind from the Southern Tibetan Plateau must also be able to blow all the way to Beijing after traveling thousands of miles.
When they returned to the hotel, Fang Shiyou started packing his suitcase. Xu Nanheng pulled open the curtains and asked, “Why are you packing?”
Fang Shiyou paused. “Aren't we checking out at noon?”
Xu Nanheng curved his lips into a smile. “I booked it for three nights.”
Fang Shiyou: “……”
What followed was three days and nights of utter indulgence.
Making love, watching movies, and ordering room service.