As soon as Gu Xingye came home, Jiang Jinyue knew things hadn't gone well for him that day. The atmosphere around him was icy.
But he showed no reaction and went about his own business.
Jiang Jinyue didn't know what Gu Xingye had done, but his old friends were all avoiding him. Though they hadn't blocked him or anything, whenever he contacted them, they would find an excuse to end the conversation in a hurry.
In time, Jiang Jinyue understood and stopped troubling his friends.
He ate and slept quietly, without asking about Gu Xingye's affairs.
But someone saw it differently.
Seeing Jiang Jinyue so calm and indifferent to him made Gu Xingye miserable. He seized Jiang Jinyue by the wrist and asked in a low voice, "Zhao Pingchuan beat me. Are you happy?"
As far as he was concerned, Jiang Jinyue's silence was the same as mockery.
Jiang Jinyue looked up at him, his eyes clear and perceptive. He offered no more explanations, but smiled instead. "Really? Zhao Pingchuan beat you? Then I am happy."
Those words ignited Gu Xingye's suppressed anger. He shoved Jiang Jinyue against the wall and seized him by the throat. "How dare you!"
Jiang Jinyue kept smiling. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
Gu Xingye sneered. "You really are in league with Zhao Pingchuan."
And to think he had nearly believed Jiang Jinyue's explanations and excuses before.
Jiang Jinyue looked at him coldly and ignored him, no matter what he did.
Gu Xingye couldn't stand this sort of silent treatment. He dragged him back to the bedroom, threw him onto the bed, and leaned over him.
He kissed Jiang Jinyue's neck. Jiang Jinyue struggled, but Gu Xingye pinned his wrists with a grip so tight it seemed he meant to snap them.
Gu Xingye had completely lost his reason. Rough and overbearing, he had turned into a beast, wanting only to use this most primal method to draw some reaction from Jiang Jinyue's beautiful, cold face.
He vented all the rage in his heart on Jiang Jinyue this way.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
Jiang Jinyue's body trembled slightly, his heart filled with sorrow. A trail of tears slipped quietly from the corner of his eye onto the pillow, but he remained just as calm, refusing at all costs to give Gu Xingye what he wanted.
When it was over, Gu Xingye calmed down a little. Looking at his lover's bruised and battered body, he realized with a start what he had done. Had he forced himself on A-Yue?
Jiang Jinyue had already passed out.
Gu Xingye reached out with a trembling hand and caressed his cheek, his touch full of tenderness. He smoothed Jiang Jinyue's soaked hair, his voice shaking too. "I'm sorry, A-Yue. I'm sorry."
He pulled Jiang Jinyue into his arms, breathed in his scent deeply, and pleaded, "Don't leave me."
Naturally, no one answered him.
That night, Jiang Jinyue came down with a high fever. Gu Xingye rushed him to the hospital, where his fever finally subsided after he was given an IV.
The doctor knew who he was and didn't dare say much, but the disdain and contempt in his eyes were plain to see. He only reined them in when Gu Xingye shot him a fierce glare.
The next morning, Gu Xingye opened the door to the hospital room with breakfast in hand and found the person in the bed already awake.
His face was almost as white as the sheets, and his black, gemlike eyes were devoid of life.
It felt as though a hand had closed tightly around Gu Xingye's heart, hurting so much he could barely breathe.
He walked over and asked gently, "A-Yue, you're awake. Is anything still bothering you? Should I have a doctor come take a look?"
Jiang Jinyue's eyes turned toward him, but it was as though he couldn't see the person before him. He didn't react to his words, either.
Overnight, the last trace of life in him had vanished, leaving only a perfect shell.
Gu Xingye grew anxious. He held Jiang Jinyue's hand and apologized again and again. "A-Yue, don't be like this. I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I absolutely won't ever do this again."
Still, no one answered.
Gu Xingye moved close to Jiang Jinyue, their heads touching and their cheeks pressed together. Feeling how cold Jiang Jinyue was, he pressed closer, hoping to warm him this way.
Despite the intimacy of the gesture, their hearts were a thousand miles apart.
Despair washed over Gu Xingye. He knew A-Yue would never forgive him. With his proud nature, he would rather break than bend. How could he endure being treated like this?
Why had things come to this?
Autumn gave way to winter, and Li City welcomed its first snow.
Ji Ran got up and drew the curtains. When he saw the silver-white scene outside, his eyes lit up. "That's so much snow!"
It was the weekend, and everyone had slept in. Only a few elderly people had risen early to buy groceries, leaving several trails of footprints in the thick snow.
Ji Ran ran excitedly to Zhao Pingchuan's bedroom door. Hearing movement inside, he knocked tentatively and asked, "Brother, are you up?"
The door soon opened. Zhao Pingchuan was already fully dressed. "What's up?"
"It's snowing!" The excitement in Ji Ran's voice was unmistakable. "Brother, will you come build a snowman with me?"
How could Zhao Pingchuan refuse? After a moment's thought, he said, "Go put on some warm clothes. We'll build snowmen in the park next door. The snow there is clean."
Ji Ran cheered. "Okay! Thanks, Brother!"
He quickly changed into a short down jacket that would make it easy to move around.
Zhao Pingchuan also added a scarf and hat, and got gloves ready for him to put on after they finished building the snowmen.
The two went out on foot under an umbrella.
Ji Ran stepped through the snow, listening to it crunch beneath his feet, and felt wonderful. No matter how old he got, on a snowy day like this, he still felt like a carefree child.
Zhao Pingchuan looked at the smile that never left his face, warmth spreading through his heart. "Do you really like snow?"
"I do!" Ji Ran answered. "But I never had anyone to play in the snow with before, and playing alone wasn't much fun."
Zhao Pingchuan said, "I'll keep you company from now on."
Ji Ran's smile grew even wider. He was truly the happiest person in the world.
They walked over to the lawn, where the snow was clean and untouched. They could scoop up a great deal with a single handful.
Zhao Pingchuan put the umbrella aside and rolled snowballs with Ji Ran.
It was rather strange for two grown men to be building snowmen here so early in the morning. The older men and women passing by glanced over, and now and then a child pointed at them and said something to a parent. But Zhao Pingchuan's expression remained unchanged, and Ji Ran didn't mind either.
The two of them rolled two snowballs, then packed them tight with their hands and shaped them.
Ji Ran looked them over and suggested, "Let's roll two smaller ones for the upper bodies."
Zhao Pingchuan agreed and made two more small ones.
Ji Ran lifted the small snowballs onto the big ones, and the two snowmen stood side by side.
He broke a few dead twigs off the nearby trees to use as the snowmen's arms.
Zhao Pingchuan studied them carefully. "Some eyes would bring them to life."
Ji Ran searched around and eventually found four black pebbles of roughly the same size. He pressed them into the small snowballs, and the round black eyes were quite cute.
Zhao Pingchuan added noses to the snowmen.
Ji Ran burst out laughing. His exposed face had been reddened by the cold, and with those puppy-dog eyes, he was even cuter than the snowmen. "Brother, these are the two of us."
As he spoke, he put his own hat on one of the snowmen and announced solemnly, "This one is Ji Ran."
Seeing this, Zhao Pingchuan took off his scarf and wrapped it around the other snowman's neck. "This one is Zhao Pingchuan."
Ji Ran was delighted. Seeing the two snowmen nestled close together, he wanted to capture the moment.
He took out his phone, switched to the selfie camera, and beckoned to Zhao Pingchuan. "Brother, let's get a picture of all four of us."
Zhao Pingchuan readily walked over. On the screen, their faces were close together, both smiling, with the two snowmen in the background.
Ji Ran snapped several pictures in quick succession, then took a separate picture of the two snowmen together. He looked at his phone as though he had found a treasure and immediately set the picture as his screen saver.
Watching him, Zhao Pingchuan felt a stirring in his heart. "Send me the pictures too."
"Sure, sure." Ji Ran's fingertips tapped nimbly at the screen a few times, sending all the pictures to Zhao Pingchuan.