Everything Was Just Right

A group of children gathered around, craning their necks to look at the person in the photo.

"We know him! That big brother is really nice. He comes to our orphanage all the time."

"And he brings us lots of snacks every time."

"Yeah! His snacks are so yummy."

Ye Qing patted their heads one by one. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Go ahead."

"What does that big brother do with you when he comes?"

"He plays with us. We play lots of games, and he's really patient."

"Yeah, he plays whatever we want to play."

"He teaches us to write and draw, too. He's really nice!"

"Does he ever touch your bodies?"

The children thought for a while before slowly answering, "No. He only pats our heads."

"That's right. He just gives us gentle pats."

Ye Qing praised each of them, then asked, "Shall we go see what Brother Gu is doing over there?"

They walked over to Gu Ze. The children had instinctively chosen the older brother whose personality was more like their own. Compared with the chatter around Ye Qing, Gu Ze was surrounded by quiet, shy children.

They were all looking up at Gu Ze as they listened to his story. As soon as Ye Qing brought his group over, things grew noisy.

Unlike the children who had been listening quietly, the newcomers were much more enthusiastic, chattering and asking questions without pause.

They only stopped when the other children got upset.

"Stop asking questions. Can't you wait until the story's over?"

"Yeah! We were all listening quietly before."

"You came over and ruined everything."

"All right." Gu Ze smiled and patted a child's head. "Listen to the story first. When it's over, you can ask your questions one at a time, okay?"

The children settled down obediently.

Gu Ze was a wonderful storyteller. He even used different voices as he spoke, delivering the lines so well that it was no wonder he held the children's attention. Ye Qing found himself drawn in too.

Ye Qing lay down on the grass close to Gu Ze, propped his chin in his hands, and listened quietly.

Some of the children copied him and lay down as well.

It was afternoon, and the sunlight felt warm against his skin. Ye Qing couldn't help yawning.

Gu Ze had a lovely voice, deep and rich, with a gentleness all his own. It was unmistakably his.

I'm getting sleepy, but Brother Gu tells stories so well.

Ye Qing tried hard to fight off his drowsiness. The story happened to be a gentle one without many twists, and Gu Ze's soft voice only made him sleepier.

His head began to nod. In the end, he couldn't help tipping over. He was already close to Gu Ze, who deliberately shifted as Ye Qing fell.

Ye Qing's head landed on Gu Ze's thigh. Perhaps it felt too comfortable, because he even nuzzled it lightly.

Gu Ze paused mid-story, then resumed.

When the children saw that Ye Qing had fallen asleep, the already quiet group grew quieter still.

After finishing that story, Gu Ze began another, this time speaking even more softly. A closer look would have revealed one of his hands covering Ye Qing's ear.

The breeze, the sunlight, Gu Ze's deliberately softened voice, the children gathered around, and the person lying beside him—everything felt just right.

By the time Ye Qing woke, the sun had begun to sink westward. The children were playing nearby.

His mind was foggy and his body felt weak after his nap. He could hear them, but for a moment he couldn't remember where he was.

Not wanting to get up, Ye Qing closed his eyes again. Whatever lay beneath his head felt pleasantly soft, so he raised a hand to touch it.

But the more he felt around, the firmer it seemed. Puzzled, Ye Qing pressed harder.

A muffled groan came from above. Ye Qing looked up in confusion and met Gu Ze's somewhat contorted expression.

Ye Qing looked down. He had been resting his head on Gu Ze's thigh, and it was Gu Ze's thigh he was squeezing now.

Thinking back to how hard he had squeezed, he realized he might—perhaps, possibly—have used a little too much force.

Gu Ze had moved his hand away when he sensed Ye Qing was about to wake. He hadn't expected Ye Qing to stay there a while longer, much less reach out and feel his thigh.

His muscles had long since relaxed, but the sudden touch made them tense again.

Then Ye Qing squeezed harder, and Gu Ze couldn't hold back a sound.

Embarrassed, Ye Qing lowered the hand he had started to raise.

I was going to give it a pat to make him feel better, but touching him there would be awkward too.

In the end, all he could do was offer a heartfelt apology.

Gu Ze didn't mind. People fresh from a nap were like that.

Ye Qing glanced at Gu Ze's thigh, then pretended to touch his own face by accident.

I didn't drool, did I? There's nothing on my face.

Gu Ze knew perfectly well whether Ye Qing had drooled, but the thought of drool on his thigh was still more than he could bear.

At least, it was more than Gu Ze could bear right now.

Ye Qing had already stood up. Gu Ze glanced at the sky. It was time to head back.

He stood, then sat down again almost immediately.

Ye Qing hadn't realized anything was wrong. "Brother Gu, do you want to stay a little longer?"

Gu Ze nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I suddenly thought I'd take another look around. Who knows when I'll come back?"

Ye Qing thought that made sense and looked around. Well, to be honest, there wasn't much to see besides the children playing.

Still, since Gu Ze wanted to stay, Ye Qing looked around with him.

Just then, the children noticed Ye Qing was awake and rushed over, clamoring for him to play with them.

Unable to refuse such an eager invitation, Ye Qing told Gu Ze he was going and joined them.

Gu Ze couldn't have been happier to see him leave. Once he was sure Ye Qing wouldn't look back, he slowly stood and moved his leg.

Ye Qing had slept on it for so long that it had gone numb. When Gu Ze tried to move earlier, it had felt as though thousands of ants were crawling over it. If he hadn't sat down in time, he might have fallen flat on his face.

He would have found that humiliating, so he had made up an excuse.

Only when the sun had fully set did Gu Ze and Ye Qing leave. The children were reluctant to let them go; few people stayed and played with them for so long.

The two promised to come again when they had time. Only then did they leave under the children's wistful gazes.

Back on set, they returned to their daily routine of filming. But one ordinary night, an extraordinary piece of news began to spread quietly.