Chapter 24: CH 24

Chapter 24

Gu Yaoyang didn’t ask him any questions, the answer could only be one of two anyways. It was either to play or to travel.

He dragged Lin Yuyan all the way back to the dormitory, without even saying a word. This little idiot of his was already spewing out all kinds of stuff. He told him to wear a hat, a scarf, and such, but forgot to look after himself, evidenced by his rosy nose going redder by the second due to the chilly weather.

He didn’t know if the other could even feel his freezing nose. He couldn’t retract his curling mouth, making him look a little stupid.

Lin Yuyan saw Gu Yaoyang’s new home through their video calls, so he wasn’t unfamiliar with it. He opened his suitcase first and pulled out a pair of cotton slippers to wear.

“Do you usually get off work at this time?”

Gu Yaoyang grabbed a remote control and turned the air conditioner to the highest setting as he answered, “It gets dark earlier here.”

Lin Yuyan checked the information he found before, it did say that it usually became dark a few hours earlier compared to his home. Lin Yuyan looked at the window to see the outside view, he couldn’t help but sigh in awe, “It’s beautiful here.”

Gu Yaoyang didn’t answer, he was merely standing in front of the phonograph as he quietly gazed at the other.

Lin Yuyan turned his head and met his eyes. He stared at him for a few seconds before looking away embarrassedly. He asked, “Are you hungry?”

“I’m fine.” Gu Yaoyang answered, “What? Do you want to eat?”

“What’s in the fridge? Why don’t we cook for ourselves?”  He seemed to be addicted to cooking, especially when he was cooking with Gu  Yaoyang.

Gu Yaoyang opened the refrigerator and let him see for himself. The top half was filled with beer and the bottom half had seven to eight packs of cigarettes. Lin Yuyan’s mouth twitched, he didn’t expect it to be worse than when the other lived on Wenchang street, at least there were pickles made by Grandma Hu before.

“Even if-” He spoke as his stomach rumbled with a “Gulu-Gulu” sound. He faced the fridge as his voice became smaller and smaller before he could barely hear it due to his stomach.

Gu Yaoyang asked, “What?”

Lin Yuyan dryly coughed and stared at the ground as he repeated in a small voice, “Even if you live alone, don’t smoke and drink too often… it’s not good for your body.”

Afraid that Gu Yaoyang would think he was being fussy, he ran to the door without waiting for a response and put on his jacket, “Let’s go to the supermarket and have a look there? We could buy something for us to eat.’

Gu Yaoyang nodded and put on his hat before walking out together.

The city of Mostin has many nicknames. It usually snows half the year, so most people like to call it the snow village because of how small it is. It wasn’t as big as the two districts of Linzhou city combined, but it’s beautiful: the scattered spire houses, the unique streetscape design, and even the roadside benches and lights paired. Snowflakes fell in clusters, falling onto the benches as the light shone on them, illuminating them into a glowing rhombus crystal.

There weren’t many people in the supermarket, and they were all residents living nearby. Lin Yuyan saw several young people of the same skin color and guessed that they were all students. After all, very few people immigrated here. Although the scenery here was mesmerizing, the quality of life here wasn’t very high.

Lin Yuyan carefully scanned the shelves, there were many oils, salt, sauces, vinegar, okra, mushrooms, and bloody fresh steak slices… many of which he couldn’t cook yet, but he wanted Gu Yaoyang to improve his diet, although he didn’t know how he has been eating ever since he joined the club. Regardless of the meal, when he’s alone he’ll definitely not cook. The steak will be a little bit difficult, so Lin Yuyan turned his head and asked, “Can we cook together?”

Gu Yaoyang helped push the cart and glanced at the ingredients in the cart, “Are you sure we’re cooking together and not me cooking while you stand on the side to avoid making trouble?”

Putting the steak slice into the shopping cart, he muttered, “Am I really that bad at cooking? Besides, do you think anyone could be as good as you, learning a recipe at a glance? You should give others time for them to practice.”

Gu Yaoyang was originally expressionless, but after listening to him, he abruptly laughed. Lin Yuyan instantly became nervous, he stammered as he asked, “You- what are you laughing at?”

Gu Yaoyang pushed the cart past him and lightly said, “It’s nothing.”

Lin Yuyan didn’t believe it and stared suspiciously. Looking at his back, he carefully recalled their conversation and hurriedly covered his mouth.

Their walk back to Gu Yaoyang’s place was much quieter. Lin Yuyan held a heavy bottle of olive oil and followed behind Gu Yaoyang. When they were near his home, he walked past him and glanced at the other’s raised mouth, he dimly said, “You laughed all the way back from the market.”

Gu Yaoyang asked, “And what’s the problem with that?”

He was the one who complimented the other without giving it much thought, yet now he’s feeling a little embarrassed.

Lin Yuyan didn’t want Gu Yaoyang to know what he was thinking. If he knew, he would definitely laugh at him for a long time.

The two of them cooked dinner together. Gu Yaoyang was in charge of frying the steak, and Lin Yuyan stood by as a mobile phone stand. He’d turn the page when the other ordered him to and read the instructions to him when the other asked.

It seems that Gu Yaoyang became tired of laughing as he now returned to his usual indifferent expression. Lin Yuyan happily hummed and relaxed around him.

Though, there was no denying that he looked really handsome when he smiled.

“What else?”

“Huh? “

“Side dish.”

Lin Yuyan said, “I want to eat asparagus.” Then he asked, “I hear them say that you came here to be a coach at the club’s entrance today?”

“Yeah.” Gu Yaoyang boiled some water and touched his trouser pocket. There was a pack of cigarettes in it. He was halfway to pulling them out of his pocket when he placed them back inside. He then took apart the fresh asparagus and threw it into the water to clean it.

Lin Yuyan said, “Why did you choose to be a coach? Don’t you have a chance to be a player?”

Generally speaking, if this opportunity is presented to other people, most people would choose to be a professional player, not to mention that Gu Yaoyang was still so young and capable. He could climb all the way up to the top of the circle and become a much-anticipated boxing star. On the other hand, being a coach doesn’t have many benefits, they couldn’t stand in the ring and could only do some behind-the-scenes work.

Gu Yaoyang didn’t speak, he merely took out the blanched asparagus and drenched it in cold water according to the recipe.

After waiting a while, he heard the other say, “I’m not worthy.”

When he said that, he kept looking at Lin Yuyan as if he was conveying another hidden reason to him.

It was also as if he was speaking to the spectacular boxing ring.

He grabbed the fried steak and walked out regretfully. He wouldn’t have asked if he knew about it earlier, so how could he cheer up the other now? He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything when he suddenly saw two red wine bottles in the corner. His eyes lit up as an idea popped up in his head.

Didn’t they say that drinking could relieve a thousand sorrows? He can forget the sadness by having a drink with him!

Yes! That’s it!

Gu Yaoyang randomly cooked another dish before coming out of the kitchen. Lin Yuyan was already sitting at the dinner table. There were two wine glasses on the table, he didn’t know where the other had gotten it from.

Gu Yaoyang asked, “Do you want to drink?”

Lin Yuyan nodded solemnly, “To celebrate me coming here.”

Gu Yaoyang asked, “You can drink?”

Lin Yuyan answered, “Of course, I can, don’t look down on me.” He poured the wine into his glass as he said that. His posture was quite professional. When his parents were not busy, they would occasionally hold a cocktail party in a villa in the outer suburbs. In fact, he had secretly tasted some.

But today, in order to comfort Gu Yaoyang, he was ready to go all out and hope that he could drink more and sleep well.

“Cheers.” Lin Yuyan took a sip to himself, then hurriedly cut a piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth, covering the bitter taste of the wine.

Gu Yaoyang shook his glass, looked at him for a few seconds, and then said, “Drink less, you’re still a minor.”

Lin Yuyan retorted, “You’re only a few months older than me, so what qualifications do you have to scold me?”

Then, he didn’t say anything else, merely thinking in his heart silently.

After taking a few more sips, he seemed to get used to the taste. Gradually, he could even taste a little bit of sweetness?

Lin Yuyan seemed to have discovered a new world. He blinked and poured another glass. After drinking, he forgot his original intention. He tilted his head, thought about it, and then couldn’t remember why he clinked glasses with Gu Yaoyang.

He seemed to drink really well, his face was not red nor was his heart beating fast. He ate the steak cleanly. Gu Yaoyang didn’t care about him anymore and chatted with him.

It wasn’t until he finished eating that he realized that something was wrong. Lin Yuyan followed him wherever he went. He took the plate, and Lin Yuyan also followed.

“I won’t wash it today, I’ll be resting early.”

Gu Yaoyang took the tableware and chopsticks in his hand and put it on the cupboard. He looked at Lin Yuyan, who nodded dully, and said, “Good night, then I’m going to wash up.”

After speaking, he raised his hand to turn on the kitchen faucet. After waiting a while, he suddenly stuck his head in!

“Hey!” Exclaimed Gu Yaoyang, who was startled by his abrupt actions. He hurriedly pulled him out, found a clean towel, and put it on his head to help him dry.

Lin Yuyan looked at the faucet, then looked up at Gu Yaoyang as he aggrievedly said, “Wanna wash, but why is the bath water so cold…”