Taking you out for meat

Someone afraid of the dark had been forced to walk through it.

Hungry and thirsty, in unfamiliar surroundings, without a penny to his name.

Ding Ding could hardly imagine how Bai Congming had made his way home that night, step by step.

Even after getting home, he hadn't been able to rest. He'd still had to look after Ding Ding, who had passed out at his door.

-Ding Ding certainly wasn't going to believe that he'd woken up clean and fresh thanks to some magic spell.

After the visitors left, only Bai Congming and Ding Ding remained in the house.

Ding Ding was so upset he could barely breathe properly, yet the one who had suffered came out after washing his hands as though nothing had happened and asked him hopefully whether they could leave the diced cured pork out of today's potato rice.

There was no fridge at home, so naturally, meat wasn't bought in bulk like stock for a shop.

Usually, apart from potatoes, Bai Congming only bought as much of anything as they could finish in one go.

It wasn't really deliberate. His mother had simply taught him that without a fridge, he couldn't buy lots of things at once.

They'd come back too late today, and the place selling cured pork had already closed.

Today, at Ding Ding's insistence, Bai Congming wore a bright yellow short-sleeved shirt, his busy figure fluttering around the house like a butterfly.

But that didn't seem right either. What butterfly had suffered as much as he had?

"Come here." Frowning, Ding Ding pulled him close. "I think you're like a potato!"

He said it through almost gritted teeth, but Bai Congming covered his mouth and laughed.

"Like a potato, good! Tasty!"

Ding Ding rolled his eyes and made an exaggerated show of biting Bai Congming's cheek without applying any force. After letting go, he pretended to spit at the floor a few times in disgust.

"Not tasty. Not tasty at all!"

Bai Congming rubbed his cheek, then rolled up his sleeve and offered his arm for Ding Ding to bite.

"Face isn't tasty. Here is tasty!"

People in love really did have mush poured into their brains.

Silently mocking his own childishness, Ding Ding helplessly bit his arm and acted as though it tasted good.

"How about we skip potatoes today?"

Thinking he only wanted plain rice, Bai Congming solemnly refused.

"Just rice, not tasty."

Ding Ding sighed and patted his bottom, getting him to stand up straight. "Go change. I'll take you out for meat."

Whatever they did, being with Ding Ding made him happy. Bai Congming cheered.

"Meat!"

"..."

Meat meant meat. Ding Ding took Bai Congming to a barbecue restaurant that wasn't very busy.

He'd discovered it on his way over from the lake that night. The smoky aroma had nearly stopped him in his tracks with hunger.

Now he really couldn't walk.

Seeing that Ding Ding had come to eat there even with a cast on, the owner brought them several complimentary side dishes.

"We can pay cash, right?" Ding Ding asked. "I don't have my phone on me."

"Of course," the owner said amiably. "Enjoy your food and drinks. Want me to get someone to grill for you?"

Ding Ding shook his head. "We'll do it ourselves."

Ding Ding didn't like having someone standing beside him while he ate. It always felt as though he was bullying them.

The weather was still hot, and the brazier heated them both right through as soon as it arrived. Bai Congming kept shrinking back, afraid the crackling sparks would land on his face.

He'd forgotten Bai Congming was afraid of fire too.

"Come sit on my side," Ding Ding told him. "I'll shield you."

Bai Congming shook his head and said something very quietly, but Ding Ding still heard him.

"Everyone else sits like this."

The longer they spent together, the more Ding Ding realized that Bai Congming was actually very sensitive.

That sensitivity lay in knowing he was different from other people and not wanting anyone to discover that difference.

Like a candy with a sour filling hidden inside: until someone bit into it, they could only guess at its sweetness from its pink shell.

His mother-in-law must have had her reasons for teaching him this, but Ding Ding didn't want it that way.

He wanted this candy, and whether it tasted sour, salty, bitter, or spicy, he would eat it, and he would love it.

His preferences would grow from it, unmoved by anything outside it.

"Come sit here!"

Ding Ding repeated himself, very insistently, so Bai Congming came over.

"Why do you care what everyone else does? Don't you want to sit next to me?"

"I do!" Bai Congming's brows knitted. "I do!"

Only then did Ding Ding finally smile. "That's more like it."

The grill went over the fire, and the big slices of meat went onto it. As the sizzling began, a drop of drool landed on the back of Ding Ding's hand resting on his knee.

"..."

Looking guilty, Bai Congming wiped his hand. "Hungry!"

"I know." Ding Ding sounded helpless. "Count from one to... eighty. Once you reach eighty, you can eat."

Bai Congming swallowed audibly, closed his eyes, and began counting.

He couldn't see it now, but the aroma kept wafting straight into his nose. Every ten numbers or so, Bai Congming took a deep breath, exhaled contentedly, then continued.

When he reached sixty-seven, the aroma grew stronger, as though it were right by his mouth. Bai Congming could even feel the lingering warmth of the meat.

He opened his eyes. Sure enough, the meat was right by his mouth.

"Open up. It's not hot anymore."

The charcoal fire rendered the fat out of the meat, replacing it with a distinctive roasted fragrance. It was delicious enough eaten on its own, let alone the next pieces Ding Ding fed him, wrapped in perilla leaves, wrapped in lettuce, or paired with sliced garlic.

Bai Congming ate until his mouth glistened with grease, and Ding Ding slowly wiped it clean with a hot towel.

Watching him enjoy the food left Ding Ding satisfied too. Of the half kilo of meat, Ding Ding barely ate two slices. The rest all went into Bai Congming's stomach.

"Tasty?"

"Tasty!"

Ding Ding wrapped the final slice of grilled meat in kimchi and fed it to him. "Full?"

"No." Bai Congming rubbed his flat stomach. "Not full..."

Honest, at least. Ding Ding rubbed that round head. He liked this kind of honesty.

He called the owner over and ordered a bowl of cold noodles. Just as the owner nodded and turned to leave, Ding Ding stopped him again.

"Sir, I just remembered something urgent. Could I borrow your phone to make a call?"

The owner was quite a character. As he handed over his phone, he craned his neck, searching Ding Ding for something.

"Where's the camera? Are you wearing a camera? Is this an ad? For phone credit or a secondhand marketplace?"

Ding Ding laughed goofily and pulled out both trouser pockets to show the owner,

"I really don't have my phone. Thank you!"

"Oh, no sponsorship, huh? That's no good. You're not going to pull out a leaf later and ask to trade it for your meal, are you?"

"..."

Jokes aside, once Ding Ding dialed the number, the owner moved farther away.

Bai Congming ate his cold noodles with his ears pricked, thinking Brother Ding was so impressive. He could even understand what the owner was saying...

As the call rang, Ding Ding wanted to hang up several times, but after thinking it over, he kept his hand still.

He wouldn't bow for five pecks of rice, but perhaps ten would do.

A woman's low voice came over the line and said hello. Ding Ding coughed to cover his awkwardness.

"Um, it's me... Look at the trees by the road tonight. Don't they look like the twenty thousand yuan I gave you a few years ago?"

"..."