What Are Your Tastes? chapter 77
The Ring
Wu Lan did not stay long.
Lu Yunchu was drinking the soup Zhou Yanchuan had just brought—white fungus and lotus seed soup, with added goji berries and red dates, making it sweet.
The doctor had advised that he should avoid greasy and meaty foods recently. Eating bland porridge all the time was too monotonous, so Zhou Yanchuan had made a sweet soup to nourish the blood and energy.
“Try some too; it tastes good.” The thermos was filled to the brim, far more than one person’s portion.
“Oh,” Zhou Yanchuan took the bowl from his hand.
Lu Yunchu drank about half a bowl at once, feeling that Zhou Yanchuan’s attention wasn’t on the soup but was frequently glancing at him. He decided to put down his spoon and stared back. In that exchange of glances, Zhou Yanchuan’s expression became even more awkward.
He licked his lips. “Is there something strange on my face?”
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Yunchu,” Zhou Yanchuan, who couldn’t hide anything from him and wanted to hear it directly from him, asked, “Did you order a pair of rings?”
Lu Yunchu was taken aback, suddenly remembering his phone that he had forgotten to take out earlier.
“What’s the date today?”
“August 2nd.”
After a week in the hospital, he had lost track of time. Counting the days, it had been about three weeks since he had gone to the store. Lu Yunchu asked, “Did they call me?”
“Yes,” Zhou Yanchuan added quietly, “I didn’t know when you bought them…”
“I intended to give them to you on your birthday,” which was on the 6th. If nothing went wrong, he might have already received the rings, just waiting for the day to come. “But now it seems I won’t be able to leave the hospital by the 6th.” And the surprise effect would be lost.
Noticing that his focus was on this, Zhou Yanchuan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yunchu, it’s not about a particular date.”
“I know,” Lu Yunchu said with a hint of regret, “but I thought something like this would be better on a special day.”
Zhou Yanchuan had never worn jewelry and hadn’t considered the idea of two men wearing rings together. Learning that Lu Yunchu had made such preparations privately, he said with a touch of guilt, “Sorry, I didn’t even think of buying rings.”
The apology came out of the blue. After a brief silence, Lu Yunchu laughed and responded, “You don’t have to think of everything, right? I’m not just a decoration.”
“But—” Zhou Yanchuan, who had a tendency to take responsibility and felt he should take more care due to the age difference, felt even more embarrassed. “Alright, how about we go get them together after you’re discharged?”
“Sure.” Since he already knew, it didn’t matter if he got them alone.
They spent Zhou Yanchuan’s birthday at the hospital in a low-key manner.
Zhou Yanchuan didn’t care much for such days. In previous years, his subordinates had organized birthday parties for him, but later he felt that the company didn’t lack group activities. Celebrating his birthday with such grand arrangements was too flashy and wasteful, so he requested just a cake voucher like the other employees.
Most of his friends had families now, so he wouldn’t call anyone to celebrate his birthday with him. This year, he wasn’t alone anymore, which should have been special, but after going through a calamity, every day now held significant meaning for him.
The sky was overcast in the morning, a stark contrast to the blazing sun of the previous days. The hospital room had its lights on, and the curtains were half-drawn.
“Happy birthday.” After saying this, Lu Yunchu couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss his boyfriend’s lips.
A light initial touch evolved into the first deep kiss since their hospitalization. They hadn’t been intimate for nearly half a month, and both felt a mix of restlessness and shyness, but they had to stop.
“By the way, you had someone make the rings… how did you know my finger size?” Zhou Yanchuan remembered a question he had forgotten a few days ago. “Did you measure it?”
“Yes, while you were sleeping,” Lu Yunchu carefully took his hand, avoiding the bandaged area, and gently traced each fingertip.
Outside, a heavy rain began to fall. On the bedside table, clean dishes were placed. They sat on the bed, waiting for the rain to stop, like waiting for their rapid breaths to calm down.
Two days after Zhou Yanchuan’s birthday, Lu Yunchu was finally confirmed to be discharged. On the day of discharge at noon, they went to a restaurant with Wu Lan.
After eating vegetarian food for half a month in the hospital, even though Lu Yunchu usually preferred light flavors, he was tired of it and kept glancing at the various meat dishes on the menu.
Seeing this, Zhou Yanchuan reminded him, “You should be careful. How about we get fish soup? It’s less greasy.”
“But I want this.” He pointed to a picture of golden, crispy food.
“No, that’s fried.” Zhou Yanchuan said bluntly. “Or order it for me and Auntie; you can just look at it.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
“Just hold on a bit,” Zhou Yanchuan said with a smile, turning to Wu Lan. “Auntie, what would you like?”
Wu Lan looked at the two of them calmly. “Let’s keep it light. Yanchuan, you decide.”
“Alright, I’ll handle it.” He quickly chose several options and handed the list to the waiter.
While waiting for the food, they sipped on the restaurant’s floral tea and chatted.
Wu Lan’s mood was more stable than in the past few days, and she spoke lightly about her future plans.
“I’m heading back tomorrow,” she told them.
Both Lu Yunchu and Zhou Yanchuan were momentarily stunned.
“Can’t you stay a little longer?” Zhou Yanchuan asked. “We’re about to move to a new house and wanted to invite you to stay with us.”
“I have important matters to attend to,” she said, looking at her son. Lu Yunchu immediately understood she was referring to the divorce.
“Mom,” he continued, “once you’ve sorted things out, you can come visit us anytime.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Wu Lan smiled. “I have plenty of friends over there, and your aunties too. It’s not so miserable.”
“I know, Mom. Your real carefree days are just beginning.”
“Don’t tease me.”
However, Wu Lan had centered her life around family for many years. Once she stepped out of that role, she had her own plans. She was getting on in age and didn’t need to work in the family business anymore. She wanted to take advantage of her good health to travel and enjoy life with close friends.
As for Lu Yunchu, he had few worries. Though his life wasn’t exactly what was traditionally expected, he had found someone to share his life with, which allowed his mother to rest easy and focus on her own life.
“Alright, Auntie,” Zhou Yanchuan added, “once you’ve had enough time over there, come over here for a visit. It’s all family, and it’ll be more comfortable in the future.”
“Mm.”
She glanced outside. The weather was hot, but the air conditioning indoors made it pleasantly cool. Only the glaring light outside reminded her that summer hadn’t passed yet.
The next day, after seeing Wu Lan off, Zhou Yanchuan and Lu Yunchu went to pick up the rings as planned. After the staff confirmed the order, he handed them the rings in a small box without saying much.
“You can try them on to see if they fit.”
Zhou Yanchuan had not seen the samples before. He examined the rings closely after opening them. The inside of the rings was engraved with “Z&L,” and he liked them more the more he looked. However, he was a bit unsure which finger to wear them on, since they were custom-made by Lu Yunchu and the size was provided by him.
Seeing him hesitating with the rings, Lu Yunchu understood and smiled. He took the ring from Zhou Yanchuan’s hand, carefully slid it onto his left ring finger—it fit perfectly—and then put his own on.
“Perfect fit,” he told the staff. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied,” the staff said with a professional smile, handing them the packaging bag. “Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness.”
“Thank you.”
As they walked out of the store, Zhou Yanchuan repeatedly examined the ring on his finger and asked with a smile, “Does this mean we’re… that is to say—”
The ring on the ring finger signified marriage.
“What do you mean?” Lu Yunchu asked, feigning ignorance. “Or do you not want to wear it?”
“Of course I want to,” he said, covering the ring with his right hand as if afraid it might be removed, “but I didn’t expect you to choose the ring finger.”
“Yes, it means married,” Lu Yunchu admitted without hesitation, then took Zhou Yanchuan’s left hand, which was adorned with the ring.
The gauze on the back of his hand had just been removed, but the burn wound was still quite ugly and would need to be treated with medication for some time.
Lu Yunchu looked up and asked, “Shall I help you apply the medicine when we get back?”