Only Natural

If there was a heaven on earth, it had to be Bai Congming's home.

That was what Ding Ding thought when he opened his eyes and saw the petals trembling in the wind outside the window.

The square window framed a moving painting, with someone sweeping up fallen blossoms in one corner.

His whole body ached, and his arms burned. Ding Ding slowly pushed himself upright, picked up the glass beside the bed, and gulped down the water.

The warm liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, then blended into his blood and flowed through his limbs. Only then did Ding Ding feel a little better.

"Brother Ding!"

Seeing through the window that he was up, Bai Congming dropped the broom and jogged inside. Everything on his mind showed on his face: the hurt and conflict of wanting to come closer but not daring to.

Ding Ding tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Come here."

It felt as though razor blades were lodged in his throat. Speaking took some effort, and Ding Ding wasn't sure the fool could hear him clearly, so he beckoned to him.

"Come here. Come over to me."

Bai Congming pressed his lips together and edged over to sit beside the bed. Remembering Auntie Zhou's instructions, he looked down at Ding Ding's foot.

"Hospital..."

"What?" Ding Ding, who had been trying to find the right words, froze for a moment. "What did you say?"

"Foot. Broken. Need to go to the hospital."

Ding Ding lowered his head. The sight of his bruised, swollen ankle didn't surprise him; he merely thought it looked ugly. He drew his foot back, hiding his sorry state, and cleared his throat.

"I'm fine." Ding Ding took another sip of water, then hesitated for a long while. "Why didn't you go to work?"

"Pest spraying," Bai Congming said. "Day off."

Strangely, Ding Ding could always understand what Bai Congming meant from his brief, concise words.

Ding Ding nodded and fell silent again.

He really didn't know how to ask for somewhere to stay.

Bai Congming suddenly moved, reaching out to poke Ding Ding's sunken belly before getting up and bringing him a bowl of potato rice that had gone completely cold.

"Eat. Have food."

Ding Ding had no appetite, but he didn't want to reject the fool's kindness, so he could only accept it and take a small bite.

The cold rice was still soft and sticky, but salty. Every mouthful took three sips of water to wash down.

When he truly couldn't eat any more, Ding Ding put down the bowl, his gaze falling on Bai Congming's forehead.

"What happened to your head?" Ding Ding asked softly.

Bai Congming raised a hand to cover the large bump and said plaintively, "A wall hit me!"

He probably bumped into it by accident, Ding Ding thought. He forced a smile and copied Bai Congming's tone. "Bad wall."

But Bai Congming shook his head. "Bad person. Hit me with a wall!"

"..." Ding Ding frowned. "Someone bullied you?"

Bai Congming murmured an assent, but gave Ding Ding no chance to ask more. He went out and brought in Ding Ding's clothes for him to put on.

"No hospital, can't walk."

The clothes smelled nice, bearing traces of being washed with soap and dried in strong sunshine.

The fool was very strong, and the listless Ding Ding was no match for him. In no time, he had been bundled into his shirt and trousers.

They had both stayed up all night, yet Bai Congming, who had taken a short nap, showed no sign of fatigue.

After waking at noon, he had first washed the sheets he had changed and Ding Ding's clothes, then run to the general store to buy new slippers.

Only one of Brother Ding's flip-flops was left, and it wouldn't come clean no matter how much he washed it.

Bai Congming set the slippers on the floor and squatted beside them, waiting for Ding Ding to put his feet out. Then he looked up at him.

"Thirty yuan."

Ding Ding's Adam's apple bobbed. "I..."

I'll pay you back later caught on his lips, because he heard Bai Congming say,

"Brother Ding should wear the best."

The bright red slippers were striking. Ding Ding suddenly realized that if he wanted to stay, he didn't seem to need any excuse or reason.

From the moment Ding Ding had woken up and been called "wife," he had become family in the fool's heart.

The best that thirty yuan could buy might not have earned a glance from the old Ding Ding, but now, it was truly precious.

Ding Ding closed his eyes. Only after a long while did he squeeze the words out of his throat.

"Thank you."

Once Ding Ding had his slippers on, he was practically hoisted off the ground. A man over six feet tall seemed to weigh nothing in the fool's hands.

Ding Ding started. "What are you doing?"

"Going to the hospital." Supporting him with one arm, Bai Congming reached into his money jar with his other hand, grabbed a fistful of money, and asked, "Enough?"

"No need to go." Ding Ding struggled a couple of times. "It's really fine. A couple of days' rest and I'll be better!"

Bai Congming wouldn't listen. He simply emptied the money jar completely and headed out with Ding Ding propped up against him.

"Hey, you..." Ding Ding had no strength, and the pressure against his ribs hurt terribly. "The door! You didn't lock the door!"

"No need to lock it," Bai Congming said. "I'm a fool. On Hongfang Street, nobody comes to the fool's home."

"..."

The words made Ding Ding's nose sting, leaving him unable to speak.

Only after Bai Congming had bundled him into a tricycle headed for the hospital, and the uneven road had jolted his whole body painfully, did Ding Ding come back to himself and gently take the hand of the person beside him.

"Who said you were a fool?"

Holding hands was a novel feeling. A little happy, Bai Congming scratched Ding Ding's palm with his fingers.

"Mom said so. Everyone says so too."

"You're not a fool." Ding Ding frowned, his tone allowing no argument. He seemed very angry.

"Your name means clever. How could you be a fool?"

The man pedaling the tricycle up front turned at those words and caught sight of their clasped hands. He was so disgusted that he couldn't say anything.

When they reached the hospital, Bai Congming supported Ding Ding as they got out, then politely asked how much it cost.

The tricycle driver lit a cigarette, looked the two of them up and down, and blurted out,

"Two hundred."

Bai Congming, who had no concept of value, thought it was a little expensive, but still stuck out his lips and lowered his head to dig into his pocket.

Ding Ding stopped him. "How much?"

"Two hundred!" the driver snapped impatiently. "Hurry up and pay. Don't hold up my business!"

"How about I pay you with a punch?"

The driver clicked his tongue. "Try it. Raise your hand and I'll extort you for everything you've got!"

Ding Ding laughed in anger, pulled ten yuan from Bai Congming's pocket, and delivered a threat in the local dialect.

"Fucking disgusting," the driver said, reluctantly accepting the money. "Now I have to wash the tricycle when I get back. What a damn loss!"

"Get lost, or I'll climb back in and piss in your tricycle!"

"..."

The tricycle rattled away, even its retreating form radiating fury. Beside him, Bai Congming showed no joy at having saved money. Instead, he looked at Ding Ding with a startled, solemn expression.

"You can't pee or poop wherever you like!"

"..."

No matter where you went, homosexuality seemed to come with the label of abnormality, doomed to hide in the shadows and never see the light.

In some people's eyes, a "person" didn't exist as an individual. A "person" was born with the duty to carry on the family line.

Until two people reached the end, they could never know how things would turn out: perhaps petty squabbles, perhaps an outward show of harmony while their hearts drifted apart.

Without love, that would be far too hard to endure.

Ding Ding had left home with that thought. He was unwilling to shoulder that duty, and he didn't care how other people saw him.

He had been born with genes that made him gay, destined to face this kind of confrontation.

...But what about the fool?

His life was already hard... What right did Ding Ding have to make it even harder because of himself?

"Come on. Get you treated!"

"...No."