What Are Your Tastes? chapter 67

 Afraid You’ll Laugh at Me

It takes only about two hours to travel from S City to Sen City by high-speed train, but Sen City’s high-speed train station was quite far from the city center, requiring almost an hour’s drive. Zhou Yanchuan had an early morning ticket. Lu Yunchu got up early with him and dropped him at the station before going to work.

Besides Zhou Yanchuan, his assistant and a manager were also traveling with him. They had arrived earlier, and Zhou Yanchuan received their messages on the way.

“No need for you to get out,” he said to Lu Yunchu, who was about to unfasten his seatbelt, “Parking is difficult here, and you should head to your studio.”

“Alright,” Lu Yunchu glanced at the security check entrance, “Be careful on your way.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back next week.” Zhou Yanchuan smiled and waved before turning and walking into the station.

Lu Yunchu watched him for a moment, then drove back to the city.

He never found living alone difficult, but after two months of living with Zhou Yanchuan, he had gotten used to being greeted by Zhou Yanchuan’s loud voice every time he came home, and to their occasional walks and dinners together. Everything seemed fun when they were together, unlike that night, where despite turning on the lights as soon as he got home, the place felt noticeably emptier.

Zhou Yanchuan arrived in the morning and sent a message on WeChat but didn’t contact him after that. He was probably very busy, and Lu Yunchu didn’t want to disturb him. He also finished work late and bought some ready-to-eat food from the supermarket, along with some porridge for dinner.

The house was unusually quiet. He turned on the TV and flipped through several channels before stopping on the news. The news reported that S City was experiencing high temperatures, approaching 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

Lu Yunchu had lived in S City for over twenty years, but now when he heard information about the place, his first thought was that Zhou Yanchuan was there on a business trip.

As for himself, he would never go back.

The apartment kitchen had a dishwasher. After dinner, Lu Yunchu put the dishes in to be cleaned and then went to the balcony to bring in the clothes he had hung out to dry in the morning.

He heard two dogs barking downstairs and looked out the window. Two small dogs were challenging each other, almost fighting, but their owners pulled them apart with their leashes.

Lu Yunchu thought, maybe in the future, they could consider getting a dog, something like Sabrina.

After a while, he walked into the living room, took out a small ashtray he brought from next door, and lit a cigarette.

Zhou Yanchuan wasn’t used to the smell of smoke and would cough if it was too strong. So this was the first time he smoked at home since they started living together.

His phone was nearby, and when Zhou Yanchuan called, he quickly answered.

“Are you home?”

“I’ve been home for a while,” he asked, “Are you done for the day?”

“Yeah, I’m in the room,” Zhou Yanchuan’s voice sounded a bit hoarse, possibly due to the heat, “What are you doing?”

“Guess.” Lu Yunchu’s cigarette was almost finished.

Zhou Yanchuan paused, then told him, “Smoke less.”

“You can really guess,” Lu Yunchu was surprised and put out the nearly burnt-out cigarette. Zhou Yanchuan didn’t interfere with his habits, at most gently reminding him that smoking was bad for his health. Recently, he had been smoking less, “It’s pretty hot there, almost forty degrees.”

“It’s unbearable outside… Did you watch the weather forecast?”

“Yes.”

Zhou Yanchuan chuckled lightly, “We’re mostly indoors, so it’s not too bad.”

After some casual chatting, Zhou Yanchuan asked if he had seen a business card holder at home.

“What does it look like?”

“It’s black, probably in the bedroom.”

Lu Yunchu searched the drawers of the bedside table but didn’t find it.

“Not by the bed.”

“Maybe it’s in the storage cabinet, I forgot which drawer,” Zhou Yanchuan said apologetically, “Look around a bit, but if you can’t find it, it’s okay.”

“Is it important?” Lu Yunchu started searching from the top drawer.

“Not that important,” Zhou Yanchuan told him, “Just need a friend’s number.” He had a good friend in S City whom he hadn’t contacted for a long time. Since he was there, he thought it would be a good chance to catch up, but he couldn’t find the number on his phone, even though he remembered saving it.

“Let me find it.”

Zhou Yanchuan’s belongings were always organized. Every drawer was neatly arranged and easy to search through. If what they were looking for was indeed here, it shouldn’t be hard to find.

But just as Lu Yunchu was about to open the last drawer, Zhou Yanchuan suddenly shouted, “Wait—there’s no need to look anymore!”

“Why?”

“I-I-I can just ask someone else!”

Why is he so flustered? Lu Yunchu wondered, Is there something in the drawer? He quickly pulled it open and found the business card holder stuffed in the corner.

“Found it.” His hand touched the edge of the holder, but his attention was drawn to a box deeper inside the drawer. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was identical to the packaging of the artwork he had auctioned. “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Oh, um,” Zhou Yanchuan stuttered, “It’s a manager named Zhang Jing. Can you read me his number?”

Lu Yunchu retrieved the business card holder and quickly found the name Zhou Yanchuan mentioned. After reading him the number, he pulled out the box he had noticed earlier.

As he opened the lid, his blood seemed to freeze, and he stood there, motionless.

Zhou Yanchuan’s voice still echoed in his ears, but he seemed unable to understand the words, staring blankly at the dancing human sculpture inside the box.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Zhou Yanchuan sensed something was wrong. “Can you hear me?”

“I hear you,” Lu Yunchu sniffed, “Yanchuan, I need to ask you something.”

Zhou Yanchuan held his breath. “Did you see what’s in the drawer—”

“Were you worried I’d see that?” Lu Yunchu asked. “My sculpture?”

“…Yes,” he said regretfully. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I was afraid you’d make fun of me.”

He had occasionally opened the box to look at the sculpture, but after they got together, he felt embarrassed at the thought of it being discovered, so he had hidden it away.

“Why would I make fun of you?” Lu Yunchu felt a swelling in his chest. “Do you know how much—”

“How stupid of me, right?”

“Of course not,” he responded gravely. He knew Zhou Yanchuan well. He would never have bought such an item if it weren’t related to him.

“Well,” Zhou Yanchuan said sheepishly, “I just wanted to buy your stuff.”

“So you went to the auction that day…” Lu Yunchu recalled and thought about Lin Yizhe’s strange call. “Did you run into Lin Yizhe?”

Zhou Yanchuan rarely got annoyed. “Why bring him up?”

Lu Yunchu chuckled. “I was worried he’d bully you.”

“Pfft,” Zhou Yanchuan burst into laughter, his usual gruff voice returning. “He can’t bully me.”

“Maybe not, but his words are unpleasant.”

“What’s the point of arguing with him?” That day, Zhou Yanchuan had thought Lin Yizhe would participate in the auction but he didn’t. Whatever Lin’s thoughts were, they didn’t matter now. Zhou Yanchuan said to Lu Yunchu, “What matters is how you feel, not him.”

“Alright,” Lu Yunchu said with a smile. “If you keep talking like this, your sweet words will lose their value.”

“Fine, no need to get mushy.” He then asked if Lu Yunchu needed anything else and gave a few more life-related instructions, and then hung up.

Lu Yunchu gently ran his hand over the statue’s surface and after a moment, put it back in the drawer.