The evening barbecue party was arranged on the second-floor platform of the inn. Du Yunyan didn’t move the tables and chairs downstairs but set up two folding tables together, which could accommodate up to ten people. The inn’s barbecue grill burned charcoal and was placed next to the table, easy to operate.

The temperature was slightly low, but fortunately, there wasn’t much wind, so dining outdoors wasn’t too cold.

Du Yunyan offered to treat, and several young people were too embarrassed to just be idle. They wiped the tables, moved chairs, prepared tableware… whatever tasks there were, they did them.

After Cen Fei returned from the fields to the inn, Du Yunyan called out to her from the terrace: “Miss Cen, want to have barbecue together tonight? My treat.”

“Is it appropriate?” She put away her camera.

“Yeah, the more, the merrier.”

“Then I won’t be polite.” She smiled and then helped with the arrangements like everyone else.

The night fell early, and in the faint purple sky, some slightly darker clouds seemed like ink stains spreading.

For convenience, Du Yunyan invited Gu Wenxi to cut the purchased meat into small pieces, some of which were skewered with bamboo sticks. Gu Wenxi’s knife skills had improved, although the appearance wasn’t very neat, at least he managed to cut them into the specified size.

The terrace was lit up early with wall lamps, and Du Yunyan placed a high-brightness outdoor lamp on the empty chair beside the table.

With two waves of guests, along with Du Yunyan and Gu Wenxi, there were eight people in total, all young people, gathering together, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

Cen Fei, majoring in Chinese, had been chatting with two female college students also majoring in Chinese, while several boys excitedly discussed their experiences over the past few days.

“I think this place would be even better in winter!” The guy with the melon seed hairstyle exclaimed loudly.

“Haven’t you been here in the summer?”

…

Gu Wenxi leaned on his cheek and watched them, reminiscing about his university days when he was so carefree. He tilted his head and noticed that Du Yunyan wasn’t quite himself, glancing at his phone from time to time.

“Is there something wrong?” he glanced over casually.

“No, just asking a friend if they want to come join us this afternoon, but they haven’t replied,” Du Yunyan said, locking the screen.

“Friend?”

Du Yunyan didn’t say which friend it was, and his mood seemed a bit low. It seemed he didn’t want to continue discussing it, so Gu Wenxi didn’t ask further.

“Hey, let’s start early,” he changed the subject, “I’m starving.”

“Yeah,” the guy with the yellow hair stood up and called the other two guys, “Let’s serve everyone and let the boss rest!”

“Good!” The two also stood up readily.

Du Yunyan still seemed uneasy, intending to get up to help, but Gu Wenxi placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve cut so much meat and even skewered them. Aren’t you tired? Just wait to eat!”

“Why don’t you go grill then?” Du Yunyan glanced at him.

“I’ve worked hard during the day,” he said with a playful grin, “Can’t you stand to see me idle?”

Du Yunyan rarely chuckled, almost imperceptibly, and hardly anyone noticed.

The guy with the yellow hair was probably adept at this, needing no instruction from Du Yunyan. He slickly brushed oil onto the grill and placed the raw meat on it, sizzling and emitting steam, flipping it over as it cooked, alternating sides.

“Oh, by the way,” as the boys brought the first batch of grilled meat over, Du Yunyan said to the table, “I forgot to buy beer and drinks today, but there’s some homemade fruit wine in the fridge. I’ll bring it out for everyone.”

“Great!” Several people exclaimed, “The boss is so generous!”

Gu Wenxi felt a bit awkward when he heard it was the same wine he had been considering yesterday. Du Yunyan said it was given with fate, but this “fate” seemed a bit too casual.

“You were reluctant before, why bring them all out now?” Gu Wenxi tugged at his sleeve.

“This kind of wine isn’t good if it’s kept for too long,” Du Yunyan said softly, “Anyway, we can make new ones in the summer.”

Gu Wenxi drifted off for a moment. In the summer, he probably wouldn’t be here anymore… But he still took the initiative to serve the wine.

Most of the cut meat was almost grilled, and the guy helping with the grilling brushed sauce on them. There were two pots of lettuce on the terrace, and Du Yunyan had picked some lettuce leaves in advance. When eating meat, they could pair it with lettuce, reducing the greasiness.

Du Yunyan himself didn’t like meat very much, so he symbolically tried a bit of everything. 

Others were different. The college students had been very active these days, with excellent appetites. Gu Wenxi was also someone who could eat meat. Before long, the empty plates on the table piled up into a small stack.

“Boss, did you make this sauce yourself?” one of the female students asked.

“Yeah,”

Several people started discussing it one after another.

“The taste is amazing!”

“I’ve never had anything like this before…”

Du Yunyan smiled gently but remained silent. The sauce was made with different ingredients like soy sauce, chopped onions, cumin, oyster sauce, sesame, etc., based on feeling. In fact, there was no fixed recipe, so it would be a bit different each time it was made. Additionally, chili powder was prepared, so guests who liked it spicy could add it themselves.

Although the fruit wine soaked in white liquor had been diluted, the alcohol content was still relatively high. The girls didn’t drink much, just trying a little bit. Surprisingly, the three boys had unexpectedly good alcohol tolerance. After one cup, they poured another and then another… The level of liquid in the glass bottle quickly decreased.

Gu Wenxi knew that this wine had a strong aftertaste, so he drank it slowly. The sweet and slightly sour taste lingered on his palate, and the refreshing sensation as it went down made him constantly put down his cup, enjoying the food and chatting with people.

“One time, when I was in France…” In a slightly tipsy state, he spoke more than usual, even sharing solo travel experiences he usually felt embarrassed to talk about with the younger students, “The sea there was particularly blue, and I stood by the sea for a long time, reluctant to leave. Then, there was this uncle who came over and talked to me, but my second foreign language is French, and I’m not that proficient. He spoke so fast and with an accent, I didn’t understand what he was saying at first. So, I asked him what he meant? It turns out, he started telling me about his own life. This time I understood, but I didn’t understand why he was telling me these things? All about family and work troubles…”

“That uncle is so funny!”

“I was thinking, was he feeling down and just wanted to confide in someone?” Gu Wenxi continued, “Of course, I couldn’t just leave him alone, so I listened carefully. When he was tired of talking, I gave him some encouragement and comfort. Then, he was surprised and asked me, ‘Aren’t you feeling down?’ I asked him why I should feel down? Then the uncle said again, he thought I was going to jump into the sea!”

“Haha, Senior, that’s a bit tragic…” Several people laughed exaggeratedly.

Du Yunyan remained silent, drinking quietly, showing little interest. He usually only drank one cup each time, but tonight, unconsciously, he had three cups. Gu Wenxi, who was closest to him, noticed that his cheeks were gradually reddening, completely different from his usual demeanor.

“Are you drunk?”

“It’s okay,” Du Yunyan’s eyes were unfocused, fiddling with the buttons on his collar, probably feeling hot, “I’m just a bit stuffy.”

“You’ve had too much to drink, haven’t you?” Gu Wenxi grabbed his hand. He had been sweating from the smoke earlier, and everyone had taken off their jackets. Now Du Yunyan was only wearing a sweater, and it would be easy for him to catch a cold if he unbuttoned it.

The people at the table gradually showed signs of fatigue. Melon-head suggested, “It’s too late, let’s close up!”

“You guys go back and rest first,” Cen Fei said to Gu Wenxi, “We’ll take care of the cleanup.”

Du Yunyan had drunk too much and was no longer polite to them. After saying goodbye, he started walking towards his room.

“Hey,” Gu Wenxi didn’t expect his alcohol tolerance to be so poor. If he hadn’t pulled him, he might have hit the door frame, “Let me take you to your room.”

“No need.” He rubbed his temples, his voice faint, and Gu Wenxi took his arm on his own initiative.

The room was very close to the terrace, just a few steps away. Du Yunyan’s room was similar to the guest rooms in the inn, simple and clean, with walls painted light blue.

After entering the room, regardless of the other person’s dragging force, he rushed onto the bed, kicked off his shoes, and relapsed.

He turned over and squinted at Gu Wenxi, saying, “You can leave now!” His tone was quite imperial, like an ancient emperor dismissing a servant.

Gu Wenxi, who had been given the order to leave, felt mildly annoyed, but the face in front of him made him feel a bit distracted.

He had never seen Du Yunyan drunk before.

The man had fair skin, and even the slightest change was very noticeable. At this moment, lying on the bed, his cheeks were flushed, and his slightly open peach blossom eyes seemed watery. He didn’t look at Gu Wenxi, entirely lost in his own world.

“Hey,” Gu Wenxi called out to him, “Don’t you need to go to the bathroom?”

Du Yunyan’s eyes finally turned to him, still showing signs of intoxication as he spoke, “Even if I go, I won’t let you follow!”

“Do you think I want to follow you?” Gu Wenxi, seeing him listless, couldn’t be bothered to argue, “Are you not going to take a shower?”

He murmured softly, “In a moment.”

“I can see you’re about to fall asleep!” Normally, Du Yunyan would wash his hands even if they got a little dirty, so Gu Wenxi assumed he also had the habit of showering daily, “Should I help you wipe yourself down?”

Du Yunyan didn’t respond, so Gu Wenxi went to the bathroom, found a clean towel, soaked it in hot water, and returned to the bedside. He first wiped his face, to which Du Yunyan grumbled unhappily but didn’t push him away.

Then, just as he was about to lift his sweater, Du Yunyan waved his hand to stop him, “Don’t touch me.”

Gu Wenxi stopped, what kind of talk was that? As if he was going to do something to him.

“Don’t… don’t come into my room next time.” Du Yunyan turned away, his voice weak and breathless.

Gu Wenxi was both angry and perplexed, feeling like his kindness was being taken for granted. He placed the towel on the bedside table and, before leaving, saw Du Yunyan’s right hand rubbing against his pocket, as if something was uncomfortable.

He kindly moved his hand away and checked, only to find that his phone was poking into the pocket. So, he helped to take out the elongated device and placed it on the bedside table.

The phone vibrated, and a message popped up on the screen: “Yunyan ge, sorry, I just saw your message.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t pay attention, turned off the light, and left the room.

He had drunk a similar amount to Du Yunyan. Since he drank slowly, besides feeling slightly dizzy, he was fully conscious. After returning to his room to relieve himself, he began undressing to take a shower.

The water from the showerhead fell on his face, and he raised his hand to wipe away the droplets on his eyelashes. Immediately, his mind was unexpectedly filled with Du Yunyan’s appearance from before, like a haunting image on the misty water vapor, lingering and refusing to dissipate.

He didn’t know if that guy had taken a shower later.

If he didn’t, then he didn’t. Gu Wenxi thought angrily, he could stay dirty for all he cared.

Exiting the bathroom, a warm breeze was blowing out from the air conditioning vent. Feeling annoyed, he flipped through the remote control and decisively turned it off.

^[1]Author’s Note:

Gu Wenxi: Now that he doesn’t let me touch him, sooner or later, I’ll touch him all over.