Good Night, Liang Xiao

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Ye Ji’an asked, taking the opportunity to start a conversation. “We’ll be heading out soon.”

“Oh, by the way, should I bring some sandwiches for the two of you along the way? As well as some coffee… Americano for Director Ye and a vanilla latte for Liang Xiao, right?” 

Xiao Li knew their tastes well and immediately turned around and trotted towards the elevator.

“Thank you!” Ye Ji’an called after her.

“Sorry to trouble you,” Liang Xiao added.

“…Thank you for earlier.” Ye Ji’an waited until Xiao Li entered the elevator then turned towards Liang Xiao.

“A razor? You’re good at making excuses.”

“It’s all for the sake of Senior’s reputation. Please rest assured. I haven’t come out of the closet yet in the company, so this shouldn’t have much impact.” 

Liang Xiao shrugged and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Ye Ji’an took a few looks at the closed wooden door and returned to his room. 

Reputation? It was true that the first thing he thought of was along this line. 

However, after thinking a little longer, Ye Ji’an realized: So what if we’re misunderstood? 

The company did not prohibit dating within the office. In the current era, being with someone who was both younger and also of the same sex, while inexplicable to some, was definitely not a shameful thing.

At most, they would just be a fresh new topic for the rumour mill. Perhaps some colleagues would bring them up during tea breaks.

However, the premise for all of these was that Liang Xiao himself did not mind. 

As for Ye Ji’an, he had already passed the years when he still cared about being the subject of a rumour. 

Besides, he did not have any intention of getting a girlfriend now. Being regarded as a gay man in a relationship would also deter interested colleagues who were appropriate age-wise. It would also stop others’ matchmaking attempts. 

In truth, Ye Ji’an felt that the only things he cared about on a daily basis were how his work was going, how his department was performing, whether he was at risk of being fired, and how he could get more bonuses and ease the pressure of his mortgage. 

It was not right to say that he had little desire for anything—he still had the desire to go outside. 

However, it was wrong to say he was passionate about life—far from it.

Damn, Ye Ji’an thought.

He was staring at his reflection again. His eyes were dull and pale and there was toothpaste smeared at the corners of his mouth. 

Aren’t you a little too lacking in your desires?

Is the house everything to you?

But what do you have apart from the 120-square-metre two-room apartment built right above the subway tracks of Satellite City that requires a payment of fifty thousand per month?1~8000 USD

Oh, you still have the public grave that the insurance company arranged for you. And fifteen years of tomb-cleaning services that will automatically renew.

Ye Ji’an felt that he was once again upsetting himself.

However, he was an expert in dealing with his own emotions. He quickly got himself back together, dressed up and sprayed on some Bleu De Chanel. 

He then hung up the wide-sleeved white shirt that he’d borrowed and headed to work, his bag in tow.

His colleagues were already in the car. Xiao Li handed over a paper bag containing his breakfast. It was rather heavy. Holding it in his hands, Ye Ji’an took a seat at the spacious last row of the Alphard and subconsciously glanced over to his side.

The Liang Xiao sitting beside him met his gaze and did not say anything. However, he soon stuffed a small object into his palm.

Ye Ji’an opened his palm and was stunned for a moment. An incredibly thin jade pendant sat in his palm. A smiling Maitreya was carved upon it. 

The carving was rough and shallow. The jade was made of poor material—it seemed to be neither emerald jade nor suet white jade.

The jade pendant had been hanging around his neck for as long as Ye Ji’an could remember. He’d never paid much attention to it. Over time, the string was worn thin and ended up breaking, falling onto someone else’s bed last night without his notice.

Despite all this, the jade pendant was ultimately still something he would rather not lose. After all, this was not something that the parents who’d raised him till eighteen had given him.

Instead, it was given by his birth parents and was the only thing he had left from the period of time prior to his adoption at three.

“Thank you,” Ye Ji’an said.

Liang Xiao frowned when he saw that Ye Ji’an had no intention of putting the jade pendant away, nor any intention of opening the paper bag containing his breakfast. 

“Isn’t this yours?” He asked quietly, his voice lower than a whisper.

Ye Ji’an, on the contrary, did not intend to hide their conversation at all. 

In a normal tone, he said straightforwardly, “It’s mine. The string might’ve broken due to wear and tear. I’ll replace it when I reach home.”

Liang Xiao’s nervousness seemed to decrease by a significant amount. He picked up the broken string from Ye Ji’an’s palm and used a lighter to burn off the fluff at its broken ends. 

“This is enough,” Liang Xiao said and approximated the string’s length. “Senior, lend me your neck.”

Ye Ji’an guessed what Liang Xiao was planning to do.

Before he could respond, he heard Liang Xiao explain further. 

“I’ll help you put it on,” Liang Xiao said, shaking the pendant in his hands. With an air of seriousness, he continued, “Then fasten the string.”

It was strangely quiet in the car. Ye Ji’an did not know whether this had always been the case or whether this was a new development. 

Ye Ji’an’s gaze swept across the backs of the seats in front of him. In his heart, he suddenly felt like he’d fully understood something.

This feeling came suddenly but brought a sense of calm and peace to him. It was akin to how dew would slowly gather on a leaf, slowly rolling down and increasing in size until it became too large and dripped down.

Ye Ji’an unbuttoned his shirt and loosened his tie before “lending” his neck to Liang Xiao. The string came into contact with his skin and a knot, so tiny that he could barely feel it, rested upon the back of his neck.

Liang Xiao’s fingers seemed to be trembling slightly—Ye Ji’an felt that this was probably not an illusion.

“This can be considered an amulet,” Ye Ji’an smiled and said. He tucked the Maitreya into his collar. Warmed by body temperature, it was not cold to the touch.

“If the hotel staff picked it up while cleaning the bed, it might’ve been difficult to get it back. You’re a meticulous person.”

His words seemed to make Liang Xiao feel shy—a rather uncommon occurrence. Liang Xiao watched him fix the collar of his shirt, then turned his gaze away to stare out the window.

Their work that day went quite smoothly. During dinner, Old Chen joked that it was all due to Director Ye’s lucky charm. Ye Ji’an smiled and agreed on the surface.

However, deep down, he thought to himself: Lucky? What a joke! Isn’t this all thanks to our ample preparation and reasonable cooperation?

***

They were currently eating at an unauthentic Indian curry restaurant. Choked by the spices, Liang Xiao could not stop coughing. He struggled to regain his composure while gulping down peppermint-flavoured water.

Still talking to Old Chen, Ye Ji’an beckoned to the waiter and ordered a thick potato soup that would help get rid of the spiciness.

That night, he took the Valentino shirt and stood in front of Liang Xiao’s room again. 

This time, the two had made preparations and contacted each other via WeChat beforehand. Ye Ji’an did not even have to knock on the door.

The next morning, their alarms were effective. Ye Ji’an calmly returned to his room, calmly went through the daily morning routine that always made him lose all hope, then calmly headed downstairs to take the car.2Author used “calmly” three times

The subsequent four or five days followed a similar routine.

Ye Ji’an found that he was pretty effective at coaxing Liang Xiao to sleep. However, he was not a miracle cure.

Even after helping Liang Xiao regain a basic amount of sleep each day, Liang Xiao still took a long time to fall asleep on occasion even if he was hugging Ye Ji’an in his arms.

On the bright side, Liang Xiao no longer stayed up the whole night.

Ye Ji’an secretly thought to himself that an addiction to pills was not something that could be stopped abruptly despite his wish for it to be so. After returning to China, Liang Xiao would still require appropriate treatment. 

In short, they had to tackle the problem of not sleeping using both Ye Ji’an himself and sleeping pills, before gradually reducing the dosage of his pills and slowly getting Liang Xiao adapted to natural sleep.

Ye Ji’an also discovered that Liang Xiao would receive calls late at night. These were almost a daily occurrence.

Liang Xiao’s phone would vibrate incessantly beside his pillow and he’d pick up the phone, roughly reject the call, then throw his phone onto the floor.

Their company required employees to keep their phones turned on 24 hours a day. They also forbade employees from changing their phone numbers unless they had special circumstances. 

According to Liang Xiao, the calls would always come from unknown numbers and thus could not be blocked. 

As a result, he had no solution to this problem and could only endure the harassment. 

Liang Xiao kept his mouth shut regarding other details, such as the identity of this obsessed person and how long the situation had been going on for.

Liang Xiao did not take the initiative to explain and thus Ye Ji’an did not try to ask about it.

It’s probably still the ex. Or perhaps it’s from Liang Xiao’s first love, who broke up with him before their graduation, Ye Ji’an silently thought to himself.

This little guy had received similar calls before, back when he was cooking at Liang Xiao’s apartment. 

Faced with Liang Xiao’s indifference, the whispers from the other side had turned into furious yells. Ye Ji’an couldn’t tell what language it was but he had a feeling that the other party was probably rather irate.

“Be careful, don’t wreck your phone with all this throwing,” Ye Ji’an warned one day at midnight, trying to pass it off as a casual reminder.

Liang Xiao did not seem to care. In a daze, he tightened his arms around Ye Ji’an and complained, “It’s so annoying. It even disturbed Senior’s sleep.”

These words made Ye Ji’an wonder how he would feel if he went back to sleeping alone. Would he find it lonely and cold?

When the time came, he wouldn’t end up turning into an insomniac himself, right?

Ye Ji’an did not discuss their arrangements upon returning to China with Liang Xiao. As the end of the business trip approached, Ye Ji’an became increasingly hesitant.

They were neighbours anyway. It was so cold in winter—why not just continue their current arrangements? He already had a plan for curing Liang Xiao’s insomnia.

Ye Ji’an nearly said this aloud and felt very puzzled by himself.

Disregarding everything else, next month, Liang Xiao would be visiting and spending Chinese New Year with his family who stayed within the country. There was no way he could bring someone like Ye Ji’an, who had no family to return to, along.

Ye Ji’an thought that he had to be going crazy. This was no longer just a matter of privacy. He thought that his inexplicable sense of dependence on Liang Xiao had come too quickly and bizarrely. 

This caused him to overthink and also led him to psychologically distance himself out of habit.

One comforting thing was that their work was completed within the schedule they had set for themselves, thus eliminating most of their worries before Chinese New Year arrived.

The night before their return to China, Ye Ji’an treated the team. The six of them drank in a traditional Russian bar. 

The female colleagues naturally had the freedom to choose fruit juice or yoghurt beverages in place of alcohol. Old Chen, Ye Ji’an and Liang Xiao, on the other hand, drank with the thought of getting completely wasted in mind.

There were many drunks collapsed outside the bar. In the bar, groups of well-built Slavic men were toasting and drinking, hollering out drinking toasts. 

Their table was not in any better state. Their female colleagues seemed to have no intention of cutting back on the alcohol.

All of them had been busy in the past year. They were all tired and aggrieved and wanted to indulge and let loose in this foreign country.

Only Ye Ji’an changed his plan for the night. Seeing that Xiao Li from the general department could no longer be relied upon, he thought that, as the leader of the team, he had to stay sober.

It was impossible to guarantee public security in a world like theirs.3Clarifying in advance: The author is NOT complaining about public security in Russia. This is a general remark that bad things can always happen and that you shouldn’t assume that ANY place is 100% safe; your personal safety is your responsibility. It would be exceedingly foolish for all six of them to get wasted.

As a result, regardless of how the others tried to persuade him, Ye Ji’an remained resolute and would only take tiny sips from his drink. 

Unexpectedly, this led to Liang Xiao drinking more. The kid was a little silly—he’d down cup after cup of alcohol on behalf of Ye Ji’an. He wouldn’t say anything else, only the four words:  “Hand it to me!”

“Hey, am I going to have to carry you later?” Ye Ji’an asked quietly, poking at Liang Xiao.

Liang Xiao shook his head and did not respond. He only smiled obediently.

After three rounds of drinking, Old Chen surrendered and left the table. Ye Ji’an watched as he headed in the direction of the bar’s doors instead of the washroom and assumed that Old Chen just wanted some fresh air.

Unexpectedly, after more than twenty minutes, there was still no sign of Lao Chen coming back. When Ye Ji’an called him, he found that the mobile phone was still on the table.

Ye Ji’an’s heart sank, afraid that Old Chen had gotten into trouble with the group of drunks outside.

Perhaps he’d accidentally stepped on someone and was currently being beaten up. There was also the possibility that Old Chen had passed out and joined the collapsed group outside.

In previous years, Ye Ji’an had heard rumours about drunk Russians who froze to death on the streets. This made him incredibly nervous.

With such thoughts in mind, he quickly woke Xiao Li, who was dozing while slumped over the table, and the translator up, asking them to watch over their things.

Ye Ji’an, on the other hand, put on his coat and walked out the door.

He eventually found Old Chen in a dark alley behind the bar. 

Old Chen looked as if he were dead. He was at the entrance of the alley, surrounded by seven or eight people, all of them smoking. It was a group of Russian youths.

The one in the lead had a head full of golden hair and seemed rather thin. It was a cold day with thick snowfall, yet the youth was only dressed in a tight T-shirt and ripped denim jeans. In the group, he stood out immensely.

Seeing Ye Ji’an, his supermodel-like face froze for a moment. Strangely enough, there were no other reactions. He simply continued to smoke quietly—though he didn’t forget to flick cigarette ash at Old Chen’s face.

“This is my friend.” 

Ye Ji’an took two steps closer and tried to communicate with him in English. 

“Let him go first. We can discuss everything else in a friendly manner.”

Someone turned to look at him, but the blond youth remained indifferent. The others seemingly dared not speak.

“My phone is right here in my pocket. I can call the police with a single tap.” 

Ye Ji’an was taking a risk here—he had no idea whether this would serve as an effective threat, or whether it would only enrage the group.

“It’s troublesome to rob foreigners. You probably know that.”

At his words, the blond youth started laughing. He had his back turned towards Ye Ji’an. Ye Ji’an stared at the back trembling in laughter but did not see the youth take any other action.

What kind of bullshit was this?

Ye Ji’an was so annoyed. They were about to return to China tomorrow, yet, on this last day, a situation like this had unfolded. 

He couldn’t count on the four wasted people in the bar. Was his only option the Russian police? Then, should he call them right now? 

Calling the police with muggers standing only five or six metres away was way too arrogant.

While Ye Ji’an was worrying about what to do next, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind. Though the sound was muffled by the thick snow, it seemed as if the person was in a hurry.

Liang Xiao was unable to stand straight without wobbling, but he had still run over.  He didn’t even have a coat on him, yet here he was, standing by Ye Ji’an’s side.

Liang Xiao’s eyes squinted for a few seconds.

“Roman,” he said in English, gasping for breath. “Do you want to go to jail again?”

Hearing this, the blond young man finally turned around. Ye Ji’an saw a pair of eyes rimmed with red. 

They looked like they belonged to a feral beast. And right now, that pair of eyes were staring straight at Liang Xiao.

1

~8000 USD

2

Author used “calmly” three times

3

Clarifying in advance: The author is NOT complaining about public security in Russia. This is a general remark that bad things can always happen and that you shouldn’t assume that ANY place is 100% safe; your personal safety is your responsibility.