To save electricity, the old man only left a small lamp on in the shop, and was cleaning the water-stained stove in the dim light.
Li Xuan was still a little dazed. He handed the bowl over. The other party said thank you twice, and he finally heard it.
"It's okay, it's what I should do." He shook his head, walked out of the shop, looked at the unfamiliar alley, stood there in a daze for a while, took out a lighter, sat on the bluestone slab by the roadside and lit a cigarette.
It was less than ten o'clock, the time when the city's nightlife had just begun, but the town was already silent, with only the faint sound of mahjong coming from who knows where. The stars were twinkling in the distance, and tomorrow would probably be a good day. While smoking a cigarette, the dew had already wet the hem of his shirt. He didn't want Sheng Min to smell the cigarette, so he stayed for a while longer before going back.
Sheng Min had already fallen asleep. Li Xuan leaned against the door, listening to his shallow, almost inaudible breathing for a while before taking his clothes and going to the bathroom.
The lights were off, and the water heater wouldn't light up for some reason, so I simply rinsed it with cold water. I came out wiping my wet hair with a towel, and saw Sheng Min's coat slip off the back of the chair. I walked over and bent over to pick it up, and a boarding pass fell out of it.
The date was today, and the place of origin was a coastal city famous for its pearls. Li Xuan picked it up, took a look at it, and put it back.
Slowly pushing open the bedroom door, Sheng Min was still sleeping, his posture hadn't changed at all, tall and thin, curled up in a small ball. However, just as Li Xuan walked to the bed and squatted down to look at his face, Sheng Min woke up again, slightly opened his eyes to look at him, and said dazedly: "Come up and sleep." Subconsciously, he moved to the bed to make room for him, and said in a hoarse voice: "Don't sleep on the floor, why do you always sleep on the floor? It's very cold."
Li Xuan wanted to explain that he didn't, he just wanted to get closer to see him, but in the end he said nothing. He got on the bed as he was told, covered himself with the half of the blanket that Sheng Min had passed to him, then turned sideways, pulled Sheng Min into his arms, and let him lean on his arms.
This position is not actually comfortable, but leaning against each other, it is always warm. Sheng Min was very obedient from beginning to end. Li Xuan lowered his head and kissed his neck. He only grumbled a little that it was itchy, but he did not dodge.
"Go to sleep." Li Xuan patted his back.
Sheng Min stopped talking. After a while, she suddenly asked him in a low voice, "Did you take the bowl away?"
"It's gone."
"I wanted to wait for you, but I fell asleep..."
"It's okay. It won't matter this time."
He hummed, half awake, his tone confused, and rubbed his head against Li Xuan's shoulder: "Their water heater seems to be broken... Can you fix it?"
Li Xuan was unsure whether he was awake or asleep. He had never repaired such a thing before. After thinking for a while, he said, "I'll try."
"Please help them fix it." Sheng Min's voice became lower and lower, intermittent.
Li Xuan patiently answered him, "Okay." Then he asked, "If I can't fix it, can I buy a new one?"
Sheng Min did not answer, and gradually, his breathing became steady again. Li Xuan felt the regular heartbeat in his arms, and the late sleepiness slowly came over him, and he finally fell asleep.
He originally didn't choose the right seat, but he was worried about something and couldn't sleep well. He couldn't wake up several times that night, and it seemed like it was all a dream. It was very difficult to wake up.
When he opened his eyes again, he thought it was daybreak, but when he looked closely, it was just moonlight. He didn't know when his arms had been empty, but half of the bed was still warm. Li Xuanxin immediately felt empty as well, and sat up immediately: "Sheng Min!"
No one answered, and he hurriedly got out of bed. His calf hit the post at the foot of the bed, but he didn't feel any pain. He pushed open the bedroom door and saw the thin shadow on the bay window. His heart fell heavily into his chest again.
"What are you looking at?" He walked over, sat next to the window, blocked the wind for Sheng Min, and put his coat on him.
Sheng Min slowly turned around, looked at him for a while, and reached out to touch his face: "It's still early, why are you up?"
Li Xuan smiled, tilted his head and kissed his palm: "Looking for you."
"Why didn't you call me? ... ... Did you call me?" Sheng Min looked apologetic, "I didn't hear you."
"It doesn't matter."
Sheng Min's expression and movements seemed slower than during the day, as if he was sleepwalking. While Li Xuan was answering him, he noticed a small white bottle in the corner of the windowsill and reached out to take it. Sheng Min realized it later and wanted to grab it, but he was not as fast as Li Xuan. There was no label on the bottle. He held Sheng Min's wrist with one hand and unscrewed the bottle with one hand. There were capsules inside. He had seen all the medicines Sheng Min took one by one and recognized it easily: "Tandrostenone?"
Sheng Min looked like he had been caught doing something wrong. His eyes flickered and he lowered his eyes: "I only took two pills, not too much."
Li Xuan felt sour and blocked in his heart. He pinched his palm with his nails where Sheng Min couldn't see him. He smiled very gently, "Yeah, I know. Are you feeling better now? Is it bitter? Do you want some candy?"
He remembered seeing a sugar jar on the table downstairs, and whispered to him, "Shall I go and mix you a bowl of sugar water?"
Sheng Min said nothing, so Li Xuan took it as his consent. He straightened his clothes again, stood up and was about to get him some water. After taking two steps, he felt a sudden weight on his back. Sheng Min rushed over and hugged him tightly.
"What's wrong?" Li Xuan was startled and patted the back of his hand. "You want me to carry you?"
"I don't want to eat candy." Sheng Min buried her face in his back, her voice muffled.
"Then don't take it... I'm afraid you'll feel sick to your stomach after taking the medicine."
"It's not uncomfortable." Sheng Min said.
"Okay." Li Xuan took advantage of this posture, bent down slightly, held his legs, carried him on his back and put him back on the bay window. Seeing Sheng Min looking at him with bright eyes, he leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips.
"Does it smell like medicine?" Sheng Min asked.
"Sweet." Li Xuan pressed his palm on his white instep, which looked like jade under the moonlight. "Are you cold? Your feet are so cold, you should go to bed."
Sheng Min leaned against the window frame. It was close to the mountains, so it was fine during the day, but it was very cold at night. The wind blew his soft hair. "But I want to see the moon."
"** can see it too."
"I want to watch it here." Sheng Min thought about it carefully and shook his head.
His tone was slow and weary, completely different from the daytime, half because of the medicine and half because of sleepiness. Li Xuan couldn't tell which state made him feel more soft-hearted and uncomfortable, but he couldn't do anything about him, so he could only say yes. He quickly went to the bedroom to get a thin blanket, wrapped Sheng Min tightly, hugged him like a dumpling, and couldn't help but lower his head and touch his cheek.
No one spoke for a long time. The sound of dewdrops rolling down the leaves and the chirping of insects were faintly discernible. This was actually not a good place to enjoy the moon. A clump of vines hanging from the eaves blocked out most of the moonlight. The morning glory or windmill jasmine flowers had already withered, and the broken petals made it difficult to distinguish their original appearance. Only the faint fragrance of the vines and leaves filled the air.
For a while, Li Xuan thought Sheng Min had fallen asleep again, and he tilted his head to look at him. Without warning, Sheng Min suddenly spoke: "Is this a waxing or waning moon? Why is it so bright?"
His voice was light, like a breeze at night, and Li Xuan had to pay close attention to hear it clearly: "It should be the first quarter moon, not even past the fifteenth... The air is good here, so of course the moon is clearer."
"Really?" Sheng Min leaned her head on his shoulder, playing with Li Xuan's fingers from time to time, her voice hazy, as if she was telling a dream she had just woken up from, "They said that the moon was also very bright the night they found me."