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Chapter 18 - Butterfly Windstorm

Tang Kai didn’t know what he was thinking about, but he felt that Sun Zinan’s gaze had dimmed significantly. He realized he was probably recollecting an unpleasant experience.

He secretly regretted mentioning it, and tried to skirt around the subject. As he glanced about in panic, he saw Sun Zinan take a glass bowl and add flour in it. He created a crater in the middle and poured in a handful of white powder.

He was once again struck by curiosity. “What’s this?”

As Sun Zinan carefully poured warm water into the center of the crater he said, “Yeast. You really don’t have any basic knowledge, ah. You use it to rise the flour when steaming buns and mantou.”

Tang Kai was filled with wonderment.

“I’ll read you a bedtime story,” he said solemnly. “A fairy tale related to yeast.”

Sun Zinan laughed and felt like there were too many points he needed to start from. “What time is it even now that you’re reading bedtime stories? What will happen if I really fall asleep?”

Tang Kai was like a shy little white flower. “Friend, have you heard of Sleeping Beauty?”

Sun Zinan, “...Okay, you read.”

“Once upon a time, there was a small town. In the town, there was an old woman who ran a bakery. She had a cat...en, I forgot what the cat was called.”

Tang Kai had long forgotten where he had heard this story, and many of the details were blurry. Fortunately, he could still repeat the main frame of the story.

“It was always raining in the town, but this cat really liked playing in the water. One day, he was so soaked and dripping that he came back to the bakery and sneezed nine times.”

For some reason, Sun Zinan was struck by the desire to laugh, and he had to suppress it for a while.

Tang Kai had a patience suited for storytelling and followed his own rhythm, continuing not too fast nor slow.

“The old woman saw how pitiful it was. She dried it with a towel and had it drink a little milk mixed with yeast, then carried it over to the warm stove to warm it up. After doing this, she went to the store to buy things.”

Sun Zinan gloated over possible misfortune. “Did the cat get baked burnt?”

Tang Kai said, “Not quite.”

Sun Zinan, “You can continue.”

“Because yeast ferments in warm places, the cat rose like flour and became bigger and bigger. In the end, it filled up the entire house. Good thing the old woman came back, but when she saw the situation she screamed in fear. The cat woke up, stretched lazily, and the entire house collapsed.”

Sun Zinan, “Hahahahaha...”

Unexpectedly, Professor Tang looked serious and put on airs, but his heart was full of little sand sculpture stories.

The old woman became homeless. The mayor was willing to take her in, but the cat was even bigger than the house and the town was afraid it would harm people. So they drove the cat away into the mountains. The old woman was very heartbroken, but she didn’t have any choice. No one fed the cat on the mountain, so it could only catch fish from the river every day.”

“Suddenly one day, people heard a rumbling noise and ran out to see that it was cloudy. It rained day after day, and a flood broke out and rushed down the mountain. The cat thought, ‘If the flood comes up, all the fish will be washed away.’ So it sat down in the middle of the valley, blocking the flood behind it.”

Sun Zinan had been absorbed into the story and asked, “Then what happened?”

“The townspeople came to observe the situation and found the cat blocking the flood, creating a huge lake behind it. So the mayor said to the old lady, ‘They’re going to look for craftsmen to build a dam. Before that, will you have the cat stay where it is?’”

“The old lady said, ‘He’s a gentle cat. If you scratch his chin, he’ll listen to you.’”

“Thus, the townspeople took turns scratching the cat’s chin with a rake and fed it all kinds of good food. The craftsmen fixed the dam and the town was once again safe.”

“In the end, the residents of the town agreed that the cat was a hero who had saved them, so they gave it a medal and let it live in the town. Every morning, when it goes to the lake to catch fish, the police will open up the road for him.”

Sun Zinan, “That’s it?”

Tang Kai, “That’s it.”

This feeling of amusement mixed with a bit of emotional and lingering magical feelings...Tang Kai’s storytelling was really poisonous.

Sun Zinan was now kneading the dough, his head full of cats fermenting into giant loafs of bread, and his entire being was confused. Tang Kai stared at him eagerly, waiting for his reaction.

“It’s pretty interesting...” Sun Zinan racked his brains for a response. “I didn’t think a scientist like you would have such a childish taste...”

Tang Kai asked, “Are you a bit happier now?”

For a moment, Sun Zinan wanted to automatically reply, ‘When was I unhappy?’ but as the words reached his mouth, he suddenly realized and stared at Tang Kai in bemusement.

The inner mind was something difficult to accurately perceive, unless someone was inherently sensitive or had devoted considerable attention to the other.

He had been feeling a little down earlier, but he didn’t show it very clearly, even to the point where he himself didn’t really recognize it. But not only had Tang Kai noticed, he had even told him a long-winded story, just to ease away his little bit of unhappiness.

This was the first time he had been faced with such sincerity; someone had exposed his fondness. It was like a bright flame, attracting him to approach it, yet he was afraid of being burnt. Trembling, not daring to reach out and touch.

“Thanks...”

He spoke in a halting voice.

Tang Kai didn’t understand how Sun Zinan was speechless when he had been fine earlier, but his eyes were gleaming with light and looked at him quietly. There seemed to be a hint of tears within them.

The atmosphere was just right, the mood was there. It was the perfect timing. Tang Kai didn’t need anyone to remind him and for a moment, he felt like he had been blessed with good fortune. He stepped forward and hugged Sun Zinan around the waist.

Sun Zinan trembled slightly, but didn’t say anything.

“I said it wrong earlier.” The man smiled, lowering his head and touching the tips of their noses, saying affectionately, “There’s still more to the story.”

Sun Zinan’s mind had already ceased to function. “What more?”

Tang Kai, “After a bedtime story, there’s also a kiss.”

The dry, slightly warm lips pressed down. The gentle kiss was like a floating flower, resting on his forehead for a moment before flying away as if it was a butterfly.

Badum, badum, badum—

Each heartbeat felt like it was going to break out of a cocoon, and ten thousand butterflies flipped through his chest, creating a windstorm no one else knew about.

But there were no flashes of lightning, no thunder, no destruction and no disastrous collapse. There were only the butterflies flying off after the first one, turning into a shower of flower rain.

Sun Zinan’s hands were covered in flour, and he didn’t dare push him or return his embrace. Tang Kai took advantage of the awkward position of his hands and clasped the other tightly. “Thought you might get too excited so I didn’t try anything else.”

“But you’re going to have to get used to it...”

“Next time, I’m planning on kissing here.” He reached his hand out and poked Sun Zinan in the cheek, thought for a bit, then pressed against his ear and whispered, “When you’re ready, I’ll read ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for you.”

Sun Zinan finally recovered from the dream-like state he had been caught in. “You...”

As soon as he opened his mouth, for some reason his voice was suddenly a little hoarse. Tang Kai felt like he had been burned by this sound and shivered violently. He immediately let go of him and ran away.

The Sun Zinan who had been left behind with his head foggy with confusion, “What are you running for?”

Although he was confused he wasn’t stupid. They were both men, and he understood immediately after considering it.

Sun Zinan looked down at the cutting board and at the white, plump mass of dough at the bottom of the bowl. He didn’t know if it was because he had been seduced by Tang Kai, but that retreating figure had been a little silly, charmingly naive.

He tried his best but couldn’t restrain himself, his shoulders shaking.

“Hahahahahaha...”

After the whirlwind of the birthday banquet scandal, the two of them finally had some rare quiet time to themselves. Living together ground their habits against each other. As they became more familiar and intimate, the two of them became like a pair of gears. After a brief period of awkwardness, their shapes would be molded by the other side. Finally they’d fit each other tightly, turning smoothly together.

The original promise of one week together had been pushed to the back of their minds. Tang Kai spent the entire summer at Sun Zinan’s place, eating and sleeping with him, stealing kisses from time to time. He experienced the luxurious life of being pampered by someone else.

In contrast, this ‘someone else’ was feeling very stifled. Other good-looking young men were tender and considerate, never heading west when told to head east, never annoying the chickens when told to hit dogs. But why did the good-looking young man at his house dare to do anything just because he had good looks? He dared to take his clothes to wipe his glasses, refused to sell his scientific results to him, and even whined whenever he came back late from working overtime.

At the end of the summer vacation, Tang Kai was finally able to take a few days off from working at his lab. He volunteered himself as Sun Zinan’s chauffeur to and from work. The company happened to be at the center of the city and had a large shopping mall next to it. Tang Kai calculated that Sun Zinan’s birthday was coming up and decided to go pick a present for him.

It was too early to buy a ring, so a cufflink was more appropriate, but that didn’t stop him from stopping at the ring counter to think about what style he wanted a proposal ring to be.

The woman at the counter stood beside him, smiling as she asked, “Hello sir, are you choosing for your girlfriend, or looking for matching rings?”

Tang Kai corrected, “Boyfriend.”

The words were still lingering in the air when the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground came from behind them.

The two of them turned around in unison and discovered that a woman behind them had accidentally dropped her handbag. The male shop assistant beside her hurriedly picked it up for her. The woman wore a pair of sunglasses, and didn’t say anything. Tang Kai felt like she was looking in his direction, but his mind was fixed on the ring and didn’t observe her very carefully, quickly turning his head back to the counter.

The shop assistant took this moment to adjust her bearing and said with a face full of smiles, “The men’s designs are on this side. Please follow me, sir.”

Tang Kai followed her over and said offhandedly, “Right, I also want to look at cufflinks.”

In front of the necklace counter.

The woman clutched tightly at the handle of her bag, nearly leaving permanent marks with her nails. She seemed to be staring intently at the pendant on the black velvet display, but the conversation from the counter on the other side flowed unobstructed into her ears.

“He likes...simple designs, right, no complicated styles, more lowkey.”

“En, his fingers are thin, skin is pale...platinum looks better.”

“Wrap the cufflinks up for me, thank you...okay, I’ll come back after I make measurements.”

In the reflection of the shop window, the tall, handsome man finished paying and walked out the store holding a small paper bag. She clenched her teeth, her heart suspended, and chased after him.