Translator: Lynn
Sponsored chapter (2/3)
For Jiang Yuduo, what Cheng Yi said today in front of so many people must have been a devastating blow.
Cheng Ke has always refrained from directly asking him about his mental health because he can sense that Jiang Yuduo is trying hard to cover up and pretend everything is normal. He wants Cheng Ke to see him as a regular person and prove that he is “fine” by admitting to seeking help from a psychiatrist.
More than worrying about whether Jiang Yuduo is okay or what happened, Cheng Ke is concerned about the impact of his “secret” becoming public knowledge. From Jiang Yuduo’s hesitant request to hold back his thoughts to accept the term “boyfriend” with a hint of happiness, from acknowledging that someone might have feelings for him, to carefully asking whether Cheng Ke likes him despite being called mentally ill.
The moment Jiang Yuduo pointed to his head, Cheng Ke felt a tender pain in his heart, an emotion he had never experienced before. “I like you,” he said, “When I met you, you were like this, and you are no different from before.”
Perhaps his love for Jiang Yuduo made his “like” far weightier than it should be, somewhat unfair even, but Cheng Ke momentarily let go of the rationality he had just held onto five seconds ago.
Even if it’s unfair, he still wants to give comfort to Jiang Yuduo, who stands before him with caution, trying desperately to prove himself but losing his confidence. Cheng Ke never thought he would have such a gentle, kind, and tender side, and he admires himself for it.
Jiang Yuduo looked at him without speaking, but his face relaxed slightly, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his lips. “Oh,” he said, rubbing his nose.
Cheng Ke didn’t press further on the topic of boyfriends needing mutual affection. Instead, he took a sip of water from his cup.
“Your birthday is tomorrow,” Jiang Yuduo mentioned, checking his phone.
“Yeah,” Cheng Ke nodded, realizing he might have forgotten about it if Jiang Yuduo hadn’t mentioned it.
Coincidentally, on the day before his birthday, Jiang Yuduo made a drastic decision, cutting off all ties with his relatives and past life in a single blow, using real violence for the first time in his life.
“You can sleep in my bed tonight,” Jiang Yuduo suggested, “I won’t be able to sleep myself.”
“Why can’t you sleep?” Cheng Ke inquired.
“I have a surprise gift for you,” Jiang Yuduo blushed, “It’s not finished yet, and I planned to work on it tonight.”
“I’ll keep you company,” Cheng Ke offered.
“It’s a surprise, young master,” Jiang Yuduo grinned, “I’ve seen all the surprises you’ve prepared for me.”
“Then go buy one,” Cheng Ke said playfully, “I’ve already memorized the process.”
Jiang Yuduo chuckled, “It’s still going to be a bit of a surprise. Don’t peek, I’ll be working on it in the yard.”
“It’s cold out there, you can do it in the living room or that room,” Cheng Ke suggested, “I won’t peek, I promise.”
“I’m not afraid of the cold,” Jiang Yuduo shrugged, repeating the same sentiment.
In order to have the time and space for careful craftsmanship, Jiang Yuduo took a big bag of materials with him and headed to the backyard after taking a shower.
Meanwhile, Cheng Ke was sitting in the living room, wearing Jiang Yuduo’s pajamas, and beneath them, he had on a pair of new underwear gifted by Jiang Yuduo. Earlier, when Jiang Yuduo helped him rub his back during the shower, they both remained silent throughout the process, their minds burdened with numerous thoughts from the day’s events. The experience seemed to have brought them closer in a different way.
“You even have spare pajamas…” Cheng Ke observed the loose-fitting pajamas he wore, which allowed for easy and comfortable movement.
“Sister Qian gave them to me,” Jiang Yuduo called from the backyard. “I wore them once, but found them uncomfortable for sleeping, so I never wore them again… If you don’t feel like sleeping, you can watch TV instead.”
“Sure,” Cheng Ke replied.
As Jiang Yuduo began crafting the surprise gift in the backyard, Cheng Ke resisted the temptation to sneak a peek, opting instead to watch a documentary on TV while cuddling with Meow in his arms.
All Cheng Ke could hear was the constant sound of movement coming from Jiang Yuduo’s side. It went like this: sawing wood, then sanding wood, followed by more sawing, and then back to sanding again.
Cheng Ke really wanted to ask why he couldn’t just saw everything first and then polish it.
After enduring the noise for a while, Cheng Ke couldn’t take it anymore and decided to glance over to the backyard. The door leading to the backyard was closed by Jiang Yuduo, but there was a window next to it, giving Cheng Ke a view of the yard. Hesitating for a second, Cheng Ke put Meow on the sofa, saying, “You sleep here, don’t go to the backyard, Meow meow.”
He then grabbed two cushions and placed them on either side of Meow, effectively trapping the curious cat.
As he made his way toward the backyard, he remembered what Jiang Yuduo had told him earlier. Suddenly, he turned his head and noticed that the spot where he had been sitting just now was likely where Meow had pooped last time.
Jiang Yuduo had mentioned changing the sofa, but it seemed that he hadn’t done so. Even the sofa cover remained the same!
Cheng Ke clicked his tongue and patted his butt with his hand.
Reaching the window, he carefully moved the curtain aside to observe the situation in the backyard.
A bright lamp illuminated the area, with Jiang Yuduo squatting on the ground with his back facing Cheng Ke. At his feet lay wooden slats of various lengths and widths.
Shouldn’t he be using leftover anti-corrosion wood? This is supposed to be a surprise?
Some surprise, Cheng Ke thought to himself.
Jiang Yuduo picked up a long piece of wood and sawed it into several sections. The length seemed random and not fixed, but he took great care while sanding them, which required an astonishing amount of time.
Standing for too long made Cheng Ke’s heels hurt a bit, so he quietly went to get a chair and sat down. As he watched, Jiang Yuduo finally changed his task.
Pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and studying it, Jiang Yuduo then picked up two wooden sticks and made gestures, crossing them in front of him and then on the sides. After that, he began drilling holes in the wooden sticks.
Cheng Ke was unsure of the exact type of lamp Jiang Yuduo was crafting, but based on his earlier description, it should be a wooden lampshade with numerous round holes and a lamp holder inside.
However, the materials currently at hand seemed worlds away from the intended design.
Glancing at his phone for the time, Cheng Ke realized they had returned from the hospital quite late. It was already past 12 o’clock after dealing with everything. And now he remembered they hadn’t even had dinner yet. Jiang Yuduo was someone who strictly adhered to three meals a day, and even if they missed one, they would make up for it later. Tonight, they had forgotten to have dinner.
Jiang Yuduo was screwing two pieces of wood together, seemingly without a specific angle in mind, just creating a random X shape that wasn’t symmetrical.
Cheng Ke gave up trying to guess and instead focused on watching Jiang Yuduo’s profile. The light from above cast shadows of his fluttering eyelashes.
It was rare to see him so concentrated, looking more serious than when he was eating. As he made gestures with the wooden sticks in the chilly wind, he appeared both cute and sexy.
Another wooden strip was pierced and intertwined with the previous irregular X, forming a Z shape that was not on the same plane.
Cheng Ke suddenly felt like he understood Jiang Yuduo’s thoughts.
The wood strips of different lengths were screwed on one by one, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in threes. There was no fixed direction, no neat edges, resembling a small, haphazardly stacked pile of wood or a disassembled birdcage.
Perhaps due to the shortage of screws, Jiang Yuduo stood up, peered into the nearby flower pond, and pulled out an old wooden railing from it. He removed a few screws from it to continue his work.
Cheng Ke had stopped paying attention to the time. This method of intertwining wooden strips to create an irregular three-dimensional space appeared simple but required skill to make it aesthetically pleasing.
He couldn’t fathom how Jiang Yuduo came up with such a structure. For someone referred to as a “San-ge,” it truly surprised Cheng Ke.
Jiang Yuduo spent a considerable time twisting the wooden strips together, even undoing his work a few times in the process. The patience he displayed was quite astounding, especially for someone known to tear apart a quilt cover by shaking it.
After unscrewing the last screw, Jiang Yuduo placed the completed lampshade—or rather, the lamp frame—on the ground. He stepped back a few paces, taking a walk around it, probably to inspect his creation.
The light frame’s diameter was about fifty or sixty centimeters, and the interlaced wooden strips displayed beautiful patterns. Under the light, it didn’t look as ugly as Cheng Ke had imagined before. Instead, it exuded a sense of clumsiness and simplicity.
Even though Cheng Ke had witnessed the entire production process beforehand, the surprise was still deeply felt, precisely because he had seen it from start to finish.
Jiang Yuduo fetched a box, opened it, and took out a retro Edison light bulb, the kind that feigned an old-fashioned style, along with a lamp holder attached to a wire wrapped in hemp rope.
Placing the lightbulb in the middle of the wooden frame, he screwed on the lamp holder, finally securing it to the top wooden bar. The lamp was now complete.
When Jiang Yuduo hung the lamp on a clothes rail in the center of the yard, Cheng Ke stood up and sensed his heart beating a bit faster.
The surprise was prepared, and it was time for Jiang Yuduo to go into the house and call him. However, he hesitated, unwilling to dash back to the living room pretending to be asleep while watching TV. Instead, he remained by the window, observing Jiang Yuduo.
Jiang Yuduo hung the light, plugged the wires into the socket, and switched off the light that had been on in the yard.
As Cheng Ke was about to rush back to the living room with the chair, Jiang Yuduo unexpectedly turned around, gazing at the window, and said, “Happy birthday, Cheng Ke.” At the precise moment he finished speaking, he pressed the switch, and the light illuminated.
Dim yellow lights beamed from behind the intertwined wooden strips, casting scattered light spots and shadows across the entire yard, with Jiang Yuduo standing amidst the glow.
Cheng Ke was momentarily frozen in place.
“Happy birthday,” Jiang Yuduo walked towards him. “I…Chen Qing said I sing out of tune, so I won’t sing you a birthday song…” Cheng Ke pushed open the door beside him as he stretched out his hand.
Jiang Yuduo stood at the door, smiling at Cheng Ke, and said, “How about you sing it yourself… But I didn’t buy a birthday cake…”
“When did you realize I was here?” Cheng Ke asked.
“I noticed when you arrived,” Jiang Yuduo replied, “The light in the living room was on, and your head’s shadow on the window was as big as a basketball.”
“…damn,” Cheng Ke said.
“Do you like it?” Jiang Yuduo pointed at the lamp, “This lamp, is it a surprise?”
“I like it,” Cheng Ke nodded, “I’m very pleasantly surprised.”
“Am I awesome?”
“Yes,” Cheng Ke stared at him for a moment, then grabbed his collar and said, “Come here.”
“Huh?” Jiang Yuduo took a step forward, standing face-to-face with him.
“I want to kiss you now,” Cheng Ke said, “It’s different from before.”
“Ah,” Jiang Yuduo was visibly taken aback, “Isn’t it a bit… silly to say it out loud like this?”
“It might be a bit silly, but I don’t want to ask for your consent, I just want to tell you,” Cheng Ke said, “Don’t hide, don’t push me away, I’m a patient in pain.”
Jiang Yuduo remained silent, looking a little dazed.
Cheng Ke hugged the back of his head and kissed him.
Translator notes
So sweet T^TPlease let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
Support me on ko-fi for faster releases ^^
