The gray sky of early winter connects with the end of the long road. The car glides on the road, like a journey with no end.
At a cemetery on the outskirts of the city, You Shulang slowed down the car, and the tires rolled over fallen pine branches, making a fragmented sound.
The car stopped and Fan Xiao pushed open the passenger door. As soon as he stuck his head out, he was hit in the face by the cold wind. The alternation of cold and hot made him shiver.
You Shulang got down from the driver's seat, took off his scarf as he walked, walked in front of Fan Xiao, put it on him, and wrapped it around his hand a few times, covering half of the man's face.
Fan Xiao pulled down his scarf and revealed his mouth: "I don't need it. It's not that cold."
"Wearing it." You Shulang, who had already climbed up the mountain road, threw out this sentence without turning his head.
The scarf still carried body temperature, and it was warm. Fan Xiao sniffed it and found the tangled yarn smelled of refreshing shaving water, the scent of You Shulang.
"Wait for me." The corners of his lips were covered by the scarf, and only the arc of his eyes was curved. Fan Xiao reduced three steps to two and chased after the figure from behind.
Fan Xiao had seen the woman on the tombstone in a private photo he had taken.
You Shulang placed the flowers in front of the tombstone and gently called "Mom".
He smiled warmly, losing his maturity and composure, and suddenly became like a child: "Did you miss me? Did you learn all the words I taught you last time? I will teach you to read again when the weather gets warmer. It's too cold now, and you can't sit here."
He leaned slightly to the side and held out his hand to Fan Xiao: "Mom, I came here today to introduce someone to you. His name is Fan Xiao, and he's my boyfriend."
The hand in his sleeve suddenly clenched, and Fan Xiao's slightly stunned expression froze on his face. He hesitated for a moment before taking You Shulang's hand, stepped forward, and stood side by side.
"Didn't you say that if I find someone I like, I should bring him to you regardless of whether he is a man or a woman?" You Shulang cast a deep gaze at Fan Xiao. "Today, I brought him here. He is handsome, isn't he? He is also very good to me."
The wind was even colder halfway up the mountain, and Fan Xiao's hands were as cold as ice.
He didn't know what he said. It was all based on his subconscious mechanical reaction. He made a statement that was most beneficial to himself. However, it was blown away by the cold wind and had no weight at all.
On the way down the mountain, You Shulang handed him a note. When Fan Xiao unfolded it, he found it was an IOU.
He finally regained some consciousness and asked, "What is this?"
"I owe you the money you paid for my brother," You Shulang looked back at him on the mountain road.
"How did you..."
"Thank you." You Shulang interrupted Fan Xiao's words, held his cold hand and put it into his coat pocket. "I have seen the other party before, and he is not an easy person to talk to. So when my brother told me that the matter had been resolved, I knew it must be you who helped. After checking, it turned out to be true."
Going down the mountain is easier than going up. At this time, the two had already walked to the car. The suburbs were quiet and there was no one around, not even a passing car.
Suddenly, You Shulang gently pushed Fan Xiao against the car and quickly pressed his body on top.
The pressure was not strong, but it was not flirting either. You Shulang pulled Fan Xiao's chin to face him and taught him a lesson: "I didn't let you intervene because there might be legal risks in this matter. But you intervened thoroughly behind my back."
Fan Xiao was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and he hugged the person in his arms: "If it can be settled with money, it's not a big deal. Don't worry, there will be no risk." He was a little coquettish, and his tone was sticky. "The main thing is that you just changed the door locks, curtains and beds of your house. They are all quite expensive. It would be a pity to sell them."
You Shulang couldn't do anything to Fan Xiao, so he loosened his grip and buried himself in his arms. The man's body was not warm, but he blocked the wind for him.
"I have lived for nearly 30 years, and I have always been the one standing in front of others to protect them from the wind and rain. I never thought that there would be someone who could protect me from the wind and rain." His words were low and soft, like a rootless wind. "For so many years, I have been accustomed to being strong and insisting, but now, I actually find that I can also be a weak person."
Pulling a little distance, You Shulang stared at the man in front of him: "It feels good to be taken care of by my boyfriend, Fan Xiao, thank you."
He gave her a gentle kiss, driving away the chill on Fan Xiao's lips. But before they could get close, his sharp teeth bit into the soft flesh. You Shulang threatened in a low voice in the entangled breath: "However, if you dare to disobey me next time and do something behind my back, I will punish you without mercy!"
Fan Xiao didn't care about the pain and couldn't wait to deepen the kiss. There was no room for a cold wind between his hot lips and teeth. He only said a perfunctory "Yes, my Director You."
On the way back, the air conditioner in the car was very hot and Fan Xiao was drowsy. Suddenly, he became jealous for some reason.
"Has your ex been here too?"
"What?"
"To pay homage to your adoptive mother?"
You Shulang sighed secretly: "No, he has never been here."
Fan Xiao slowly straightened his back, his face full of suspicion: "Really? You're not lying to me?"
"Really, I'm not lying to you."
Fan Xiao sank back into his chair and asked loudly, "Why? You two have been together for quite a while."
You Shulang glanced at Fan Xiao and saw that he looked arrogant and proud, like a winner of a child's game. He said helplessly: "He is young and has not experienced much. There are some things he can't understand. He doesn't even know my past experiences."
As his mind turned to a thousand thoughts, Fan Xiao's eyebrows slowly dropped, and his whole body was gradually enveloped in a chill. He looked out the window, and said calmly and coldly: "Director You, do you think I'm too old? Or do you think you don't need to protect my pure heart?"
You Shulang glanced sideways, but only saw the man's well-proportioned profile. He turned on the emergency lights, stopped the car on the side of the road, and took Fan Xiao's hand to hold it, interlocking their fingers, one cold and one warm.
"To be honest, when I was with my ex, it was always a bit like coaxing a child." You Shulang leaned back in his chair, looking at the long road stretching out, and said slowly, "Except for our daily life, we rarely communicated on the spiritual level. I thought loving him meant taking good care of him and providing him with a comfortable environment and state of mind to the best of my ability."
"He broke up with me very suddenly. I didn't ask for the reason because I didn't want to embarrass him. He was very erratic during that period and his mind was not on me at all. What happened is self-evident."
Fan Xiao turned to look at You Shulang, with an inexplicable look in his eyes. You Shulang rubbed his fingertips and felt that they were really cold, so he turned up the air conditioner a few degrees.
"I looked generous on the surface, but in my heart I blamed him for betraying me. But later he told me that I was actually very cold to him. I closed myself off so tightly that he couldn't enter my world at all. This made him very sad and worried."
"It was then that I realized that I had never thought about letting him know the whole me, nor did I particularly want to know what he thought." You Shulang had a little self-blame on his face, "I don't think I really love him that much."
"What about you to me?"
You Shulang's hand was held back, and Fan Xiao, who was always strong, asked with some trepidation.
"To you?" You Shulang looked blank for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, "I don't know. In the past, when I was doing things, even before starting a relationship, I always analyzed the pros and cons and considered whether it was appropriate. But with you, I have done all kinds of stupid things and admitted all kinds of stupid things."
"Shu Lang." Clasp his fingers together, Fan Xiao came closer and asked faintly, "So, if your ex and I fell into the lake together, who would you save first?"
You Shulang was startled for a moment, then his defense broke. He said "Fuck" softly, shook off Fan Xiao's hand and started the car: "I've only been back home for a few days, and I've read a lot of jokes. Who should I save? If I don't save you, I'll love you till I die!"
The car slid out, raising a cloud of dust.