“This child is young with steady hands—clearly suited for holding a scalpel. Young man, do you currently have a teacher?” A professor’s eyes glinted as he kindly asked Lu Youling.
“Not yet, I—”
Before the flattered Lu Youling could answer, another professor jumped in.
“I think this young man’s foundation in traditional Chinese medicine is better than my own disappointing disciples. Our field of TCM is still lacking. Young man, how would you like to come study with me? My exclusive acupuncture techniques—I guarantee once you learn them—”
“Hey! You shameless old man! You already have twenty or thirty TCM disciples! Why are you competing with us Western medicine folk?! Our field has only been expanding for the past two years—we’re desperately short of people!”
The previous professor finished his tirade, then instantly switched to a kindly face and coaxed Lu Youling, “Young man, come to Western medicine. I’ll personally teach you.”
Lu Youling said, “Well…”
“Alright, stop arguing. How old are you all, making a fool of yourselves in front of a child?”
Just as the professors were about to come to blows, the dean sternly stopped them.
The professors looked embarrassed and fell silent.
Lu Youling, intimidated by the imposing dean, felt a little scared as well.
Just then, the stern, scary dean cleared his throat and suddenly softened his voice. “How about this—let Grandpa Dean teach you instead? They’re all six of one, half a dozen of the other. Grandpa Dean is a bit better.”
Lu Youling: …
The professors: …
Hey, you, Dean! That’s too underhanded!
Amidst the bickering of these old rascals, a resigned and amused Lu Youling somehow became a medical student, with several senior medical experts willing to give him extra lessons.
He had stepped onto the future that had always been his.
That day, after leaving the private room, Gong Ze, Lu Youling, and Feng Xueping had a few more drinks at the house Gong Ze had bought in the capital.
Worried about Gong Ze’s health, neither of them let him drink too much.
Even though Gong Ze was actually the best drinker among them.
After several bottles of foreign liquor, except for Gong Ze, whose whiskey had been replaced with tea, both Lu Youling and Feng Xueping were a bit drunk. The atmosphere among the three grew gradually warm.
Lu Youling, smelling of alcohol, leaned his head on Gong Ze’s shoulder and sobbed softly, saying he was sorry, that he had let down Gong Ze’s expectations.
He talked about his dreams, about how he was going to become a big shot in the medical field.
Gong Ze held his forehead and responded softly, “You will. You definitely will.” This is your future. This story exists because of you.
But soon, the drunk Lu Youling started shouting, “Studying medicine can’t save the world! I’m abandoning the pen for the sword! I’m going to conquer the world!”
Gong Ze was caught between laughter and tears.
And Feng Xueping, though his face was stern, had cheeks flushed red from the alcohol. He nodded seriously. “Yes, conquer the world! One day, I will force every nation in the world to submit, make them bow to our Hua nation, make Hua stand tall, make yellow skin a color that everyone envies, make those arrogant foreigners sing nothing but praise for Hua.”
Gong Ze held back a laugh. “Yes, you will too. You definitely will. In the future, we will be strong.”
Feng Xueping nodded gravely. “Mm.”
But the glazed look in his eyes gave away that he was already far gone.
After a while, Feng Xueping said he needed to use the bathroom. Although his expression was still as surly as ever, as if nothing was wrong, he nearly fell down when he stood up. Worried he might end up in the toilet, Gong Ze got up and helped him go.
After washing his face, Feng Xueping was much more sober.
He wiped his face, then took out a cigarette. “Got a minute to talk?”
“What do you want to talk about?” Gong Ze asked.
“Let’s go over there.”
They went to a small window in the second-floor corridor. Opening the window, Feng Xueping lit a cigarette. Gong Ze asked him for one.
“Can your body handle it?”
“It’s fine. Just one.”
So the two of them silently looked at the streetlights outside, smoking together.
After a long while, Feng Xueping’s voice, hoarse from the alcohol, said, “Are you sure he’s the one?”
This “he” referred to Lu Youling.
Gong Ze exhaled a plume of nicotine smoke, the cigarette held between his fingers. “Mm,” he replied.
“You’ve done so much for him, encouraged him to go from a little beggar to where he is today. Have you ever thought that one day, if he succeeds and sees a wider world full of glamour and temptation, he might betray you?” Feng Xueping turned his head to look at Gong Ze.
“I remember you weren’t initially attracted to men,” he added.
Gong Ze was silent for a moment, then responded with another “Mm.”
“I said I believe in him, but you wouldn’t accept that reason. Still, people live in the present. I feel that as long as we love each other right now, and he hasn’t left me and is still loving me, then my efforts at this moment are worthwhile.”
The future was too distant to grasp.
No one could predict it.
“I can’t guarantee that neither of us will ever change. Many solemn vows aren’t lies—it’s just that the person who said ‘I love you’ then, and the person who says ‘I don’t love you’ later, are both him.”
“Both are true. It’s just that people change, and feelings change too.”
Gong Ze also looked at Feng Xueping and smiled faintly. “We can’t give up on the person we love now because of some possibility in the future. That’s called borrowing anxiety.”
“As for sexual orientation…” Gong Ze shook his head. “Whether I like boys or girls depends on whether he is a boy or a girl.”
Feng Xueping was silent.
After a long while, the cigarette between his fingers had nearly burned down, a long column of ash falling to the ground.
He said, “If only I had been the one to meet you first.”
Upon hearing this, Gong Ze paused, then looked at him in surprise.
But Feng Xueping had already turned, stubbed out his cigarette, and walked away. Gong Ze blinked, then after a moment, let out a quiet laugh, extinguished his own cigarette, and followed in his footsteps.
There was no need for further questioning or explanation, because those things were meaningless.
Gong Ze, Lu Youling, and Feng Xueping were three close friends in this world.
Always would be.
·
“No need to see me off. It’s cold outside. You should go back in.”
Feng Xueping held an umbrella, one hand in his coat pocket, and walked across the wet street in the spring night rain, leaving Gong Ze’s house.
Gong Ze waited a moment, then turned and went back inside. He came to the dining room, where Lu Youling was slumped over the table, drunk and rambling nonsense. Gong Ze helped him up and headed upstairs.
The leftover wine and dishes on the table would be cleaned by the maid tomorrow.
“Gong Er~~~” Lu Youling called out softly, all mixed up.
“Stop fooling around. Put on your pajamas.”
Gong Ze took off his shoes and was amusing himself helping him into his pajamas when suddenly Lu Youling grabbed his wrist.
The little bun at the back of Lu Youling’s head had been mussed. His jet-black hair fanned out behind him, spreading across the bedding. His eyes were wet as he looked at Gong Ze. His pajamas were draped over him, the buttons not yet done up. His pale chest was bare, rising and falling with each breath.
His alcohol-soaked eyes held a hazy temptation.
Lu Youling kicked off the pajama bottoms that Gong Ze had only pulled up to his knees.
Like a lamb offered in sacrifice, everything was laid open to Gong Ze.
Gong Ze’s eyes darkened.
He leaned over, bracing himself above Lu Youling. “What are you trying to do? Hmm?”
Drunk, Lu Youling still stared directly at Gong Ze. “I’ve been drinking.”
“Mm.”
So?
Gong Ze raised an eyebrow in question.
“My body temperature is so high.”
“…”
Lu Youling tilted his head back like a swan stretching its neck. His lips touched Gong Ze’s bobbing Adam’s apple. His wine-laden breath and racing heart seeped into every inch of the air, burning hot.
His hoarse voice was seductive.
“Do you want to come inside and warm up?”
“…………”
Gong Ze was silent. A minute later, his eyes dark, he flipped a squealing, laughing Lu Youling over onto the bed.
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