11

On the way to the bureau, Adjutant Yang drove the jeep while Yang Chen and Zhou Di sat close in the back seat, holding each other's hands tightly, their love palpable between them. What was even more surprising was that both of them had tears in their eyes. Last night, Yang Chen had spent it in Zhou Di's room, imprinting every inch of Zhou Di with his kiss. It felt as though Yang Chen had merged Zhou Di into his own blood, leaving them both bewildered and dazed throughout the night. Now they sat in the car, facing the coming separation, a heavy silence enveloped the car for a long time. Yang Chen seemed unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere. He broke the silence by pulling out a small envelope and said:

"Dizi, this is 1,000 silver yuan for your restoration. Let's keep it strictly business."

Zhou Di replied firmly:

"No, I don't want it. We agreed earlier that you would donate some to our bureau and I would help you repair them. Now you've fulfilled your part so I keep my words."

Yang Chen persisted:

"My donation is for my charity. If you use the repair funds to compensate for this, it's not considered charity at all. Don't destroy my accumulated merit. And I have estimated the value of these porcelain items, even the least valuable ones are worth 200 silver yuan. I'm giving you 1,000 silver yuan, which isn't too much. Take it and don't make me angry."

Zhou Di looked at him and Yang Chen raised an eyebrows, handing the envelope to Zhou Di. Zhou Di had no choice but to accept it. Then Yang Chen took out his wallet, withdrew 500 silver yuan, and handed it to Zhou Di again, saying:

"This money is for you. You told me that you would visit your grandparents, right? Take this to buy some gift for them."

Suddenly Zhou Di remembered the mention of whoring money by Adjutant Yang and felt uncomfortable, saying:

"No, I don't want this. I have money to buy things for my grandparents."

"It's not for you, for your grandparents. I just want you to buy something for them. I don't know what they like."

"Why would my grandparents want your gifts? You don't even know them."

Yang Chen suddenly raised his voice:

"What are you talking about? Your grandparents are also my grandparents. Take it!" Then he leaned in and whispered to Zhou Di's ear, "This isn't the whoring money. It is to please my baby. My whoring money is my lifelong promise to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Di was momentarily stunned, but then felt a sense of happiness in his heart. However, his face blushed so he glanced sideways at Adjutant Yang sitting in the front seat. Yang Chen laughed, lightly patting Zhou Di's head, saying:

"You Brat!" He stuffed the money into Zhou Di's hand and continued to ask:

"Dizi, let me ask you whether your fiancée is beautiful or not."

Zhou Di shook his head slightly, saying:

"I don't know. I have never met her."

In the front seat, Adjutant Yang, seemingly surprised, glanced at Zhou Di through the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, Yang Chen burst into laugher, saying:

"Dizi, are you serious? You graduated from the university after all and are somewhat worldly-wise but you're so conservative. You're getting married without even seeing your fiancée. Is it an arranged marriage or something else?"

Zhou Di, with a bit of embarrassment, explained:

"Yes, my grandfather arranged this childhood engagement for me. He saw the girl when she was 5 or 6 years old. Now it has been more than ten years."

Yang Chen asked with a smile:

"So why can your accept this arranged marriage?"

Zhou Di replied calmly:

"My grandfather agreed to this marriage more than ten years ago. Of course, I must accept it without doubt now that I'm grown up. I can't break the engagement just because I don't have seen her. This isn't the way how to deal with it in my family." 

Suddenly Yang Chen couldn't laugh anymore. He just stared at Zhou Di in astonishment, while Adjutant Yang glanced at Zhou Di again through the rearview mirror and asked suddenly:

"If there is something wrong with this girl or if she is ugly, won't you be regret this marriage?"

Zhou Di couldn't help but lower his head and whispered:

"I will accept her no matter what kind of this girl she is. Besides, I...I'm afraid I've already let her down."

After saying this, he looked at Yang Chen, who was also looking at him. Yang Chen lifted Zhou Di's hand and kissed it. 

Seeing Yang Chen unexpectedly arriving at the Cultural Relics Bureau, Zhang Zhen quickly stepped forward, trying to please him, saying:

"Oh, Young Marshal, it's truly an honor for us that you're visiting our bureau suddenly. Unfortunately, our chief isn't here today."

Watching Adjutant Yang help Zhou Di move everything into his room, Yang Chen smiled at Zhang Zhen and said:

"I'm not here to meet your chief. I came to the city for business and decided to drop Zhou Di off on the way." Then he whispered to Zhang Zhen, "Leader Zhang, those bowls and plates Zhou Di brought back are the gifts from me, being payment for his restoration work for me. I've already donate the best pieces to your Cultural Relics Bureau. Please don't let him take out the rest anymore." 

Zhang Zhen replied in a low voice:

"Don't worry, Young Marshal, and no one can take them from Zhou Di."

"Where does Zhou Di live?"

"He lives here, in a dormitory in our bureau. His family is in Zhoujia Zhuang in the suburbs, a bit far so we arranged a dormitory for him."

"Do you have a phone here? Give me the number if you have."

Zhang Zhen quickly wrote down the number and gave it to Yang Chen.

Zhou Di watched with a sense of loss when Yang Chen's car drove away, then he walked into the exhibition hall and looked at the mummified corpse of Zhou Nie under the vacuum glass cover. He murmured:

"Zhou Chuyu, Nie Huanzhang, now I understand why I enjoy looking at you two and talking with you two so much. It turns out that, like you two, I have fallen in love with a man. To be honest I am a little scared. I don't know what happened to you two, but your ending is like this, leaving this world so young. I guess your premature death must be related to society which couldn't accept your homosexuality in your times. Over more than one thousand year have passed, the people still can't accept it now. So, I'm afraid our ending with Chen Ge will be the similar as yours. I don't mind what will wait for me but Chen Ge is the different man with high-minded and outstanding, the God's favored one. How lucky I am to have him and to get his love. I don't want anyone to disrespect him, especially causing harm to him because of me. Do you two understand my meaning, my ancestors? Although he wants me to stay by his side, I also want this, I can't let the people know about our relationship for his reputation, his pride and our respective families. Our relationship can only be kept secret. I know this will be a relationship without future, but I've still stepped into it. I don't know how it will end, maybe like yours. So, I want to ask you to bless us, no, bless my Chen Ge, let him be well and I am willing to bear everything. Do you understand? He just left but I already miss him." 

He spoke incoherently and as he reached the end, he couldn't control his emotions and started crying. 

The next morning, he carried some bags and took the bus back to his grandparents' house. He planned to spend two days with them. Unexpectedly, his grandfather brought up the topic of marriage:

The next morning he took a bus back to his grandparents' house, carrying a lot of things. He planned to stay at home for two days and accompany his grandparents. Unexpectedly, his grandfather brought up the topic of marriage.

"Di, you're already 23 this year, not young anymore. It is time for you to get married. Look around, the kids at your age are already fathers."

Zhou Di said with a bit of sadness:

"Isn't her family still in the mourning period? I'll get married when her mourning period is over."

His grandfather explained:

"I've talked with your father-in-law, Xiaoman, about this. He told me that his mother is in poor health. The doctor has given up hope to her recovery, only administering herbal medicine to prolong her life slightly. Xiaoman worries that if his mother passes away, they will have to observe the mourning period for another three years. By then, your fiancée, Ding Chunhua, will be 24 years old, a little older to marry at this age. Your father-in-law fears this delay might impact your marriage plan. So their family wants to arrange your wedding earlier. Besides, they also want to use your wedding to bring some joy to his mother so she can witness her beloved granddaughter's wedding." 

Zhou Di inquired:

"What do you plan, grandpa?"

"What do I plan? Of course I want you to get married as soon as possible, having your own child and this makes your grandma and me happy."

"Grandpa, it is up to you. I'm fine with any decision you make. By the way, this is the money I earned recently. Take it."

Saying this, he took out a small envelope and gave it to his grandfather. His grandfather opened it and was surprised:

"Why did you earn so much money? You should keep it for yourself."

Zhou Di explained carefully:

"The bureau introduced me to a client to repair the porcelains. The client was very satisfied with my work so he gave me extra payment."

"Good boy! Keep this money for yourself. Here's what I'm thinking: After you get married, you will live in the city with your wife. By then, you'll definitely need more money."

After speaking, his grandfather handed the envelope back to Zhou Di.

Zhou Di insisted:

"No, grandpa, I have my own plan. I can't stay with you and Grandma now. It's already unfilial enough. If my wife also comes to the city after getting married, it would be even more unfilial. It's better to let her stay at home and take care of you two. I'll come back every weekend to accompany you and Grandma."

"My boy, you're a good kid! Let us talk about this later."