#also Qiuyan is so cheesy but sweet at the end there

[anon-apple]

Hot Soup and Soft Bread 12

Table of Contents and Synopsis <- Chapter 11 Read on WordPress here

Chapter 12: Instant Noodles with an Egg VI

Zhong Qiuyan held Zhou Cunqu’s hand and the two of them walked out a bit further from Breadfruit Street. That day, Cunqu told Qiuyan that he had a cousin named Zhou Pianyan who was the editor of a children’s magazine. He wanted to help A’Shan submit his story to be published.

But after Qiuyan contacted this cousin on behalf of Cunqu, she said: “Tell him to come see me himself.”

Cunqu didn’t say anything to that. Qiuyan held his hand and said: “No rush. It’s not like A’Shan’s in a hurry. He writes stories to pass the time anyways.”

Their midnight walks felt increasingly more like a date rather than a session to help with Cunqu’s recovery. After the date, Qiuyan always walked Cunqu back to the fifth floor. He would cling to him, hugging his waist and pressing him into his embrace as they kissed. Only after the kiss would he let him go.

Sometimes, Cunqu worried that Qiuyan didn’t have enough time to sleep and might have an accident at work so he would let him stay over in his room. But Qiuyan never just obediently went to sleep, instead, he stuck by Cunqu’s side and pinched and rubbed him here and there.

Because of how early he needed to get up, he sometimes would walk out of Cunqu’s room and run into Liu Xiaoying who was heading out for her morning exercises. He’d quietly sneak out of the condo, wait for Xiaoying to get downstairs, sprint up the stairs with the breakfast he bought, then open the door with Cunqu’s keys. He’d place the food on top of Cunqu’s nightstand and send a text message: Darling, breakfast is on the nightstand, don’t forget to eat it~ 

When Cunqu read the text upon waking, his first reaction was to find it both amusing and endearing. 

When Qiuyan was at work, he didn't text Cunqu much even during the breaks. He didn’t want to get distracted. After finishing his shift in the evening, he carried a bag and went to buy new books for Cunqu. The latter sent a text: Grandma said it’s almost dinner time, are you coming?

Qiuyan replied: I’m buying new books for our clever little bookworm. 

Cunqu laughed as he read the text on the phone screen. Qiuyan was capable of giving him hundreds of nicknames in a single day. Cunqu thought for a bit and texted back: Thank you Dudu baby.

Qiuyan cackled when he read the reply. 

That night, when they went downstairs for their walk, Cunqu said that he had made up his mind to meet up with Zhou Pianyan. Pianyan had a young child and couldn’t come out to see him at night. So Cunqu could only meet her during the day. To Cunqu, this was another challenge. 

Qiuyan said he would accompany him. That way if Pianyan did anything rude, then he wouldn’t be polite either. Cunqu smiled and said: “Yan-jie[1] isn’t like that.”

They decided to meet at Pianyan’s home. Qiuyan planned to drive Cunqu there. He watched Cunqu change his clothes and stand in the bathroom tying up his hair. He tied it, untied it, then tied it again. Cunqu finally asked Qiuyan, a bit exhausted: “Don’t I look quite awful right now?”

Qiuyan closed the bathroom door with his foot and hugged Cunqu as he replied: “You look great.” He then kissed Qiuyan’s cheeks and continued, “Don’t worry.”

That day was the first time Cunqu saw the staircase in the daylight. Grandma’s home was in fact quite old. Rust was prominent on the bars underneath the staircase handrail, and the walls were mottled with small advertisement leaflets. Qiuyan stood a few stairs below him and held out his arm as he said: “The pumpkin carriage has arrived downstairs. Let’s go, little princess Zhou Cunqu.” Cunqu couldn’t help but laugh.

When they reached the first floor, the “Double Yolk Egg” Grandpas turned their heads in tandem. One of them said: “Who is this? Someone from our building?” “From our building?”

“You’ve seen this person before?” “Haven’t seen this person before.”

The two got into Qiuyan’s car together. The two grandpas were still doing question and answer. “Is this new resident a guy or a girl?” “Was that person just now a guy or a girl?”

The car drove through the daytime streets. Cunqu felt that his eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the bright summer afternoon sunlight. Qiuyan played some gentle music in the car and then said: “Look ge. The little ducks in Moonlake Park are finally awake. We’re going to pass by the city’s art museum soon, then we’ll arrive after one more turn.”

Cunqu squinted his eyes and didn’t say anything. When they arrived at Zhou Pianyan’s home, Qiuyan said: “If it’s too much, let’s not go up. It’s not like you are responsible for helping A’Shan submit his story.”

Cunqu stayed silent for a bit, then he turned and smiled at him. He said: “The ball is about to begin, help me down from the carriage.”

As they entered the elevator, Qiuyan could feel that Cunqu was trembling. Twenty-nine years of someone’s life would be filled with countless restless, stuffy, stretches of daytime. Unfortunately in Cunqu’s case, those daytime meomries are anything but pleasant. 

When they reached the 10th floor, Qiuyan led Cunqu out of the elevator. The door to condo 1001 was open. When Pianyan settled down, bought this place, and did the interior design, she asked for and followed Cunqu’s advice. So he was rather familiar with the layout of the place. Pianyan was leaning against the wall at the entryway. He smiled at her. Pianyan suddenly covered her mouth and started crying. She couldn’t stop crying. She reached out and hugged Cunqu as she repeatedly said: “You are so thin now, you are…” 

The baby in the stroller in the living room also abruptly started crying. Qiuyan ran over and held her. Pianyan finally let go of Cunqu and turned to look at her child. Qiuyan held the five-month-old infant and grinned as he said to Cunqu: “Ge, you want to try holding her? She’s so warm to hug.”

Even by the time Pianyan came over and sat down on the couch she was still ruminating over this, mumbling: “He didn’t say she was cute, or that she feels so light to hold. He said that my daughter feels warm….?” 

Qiuyan said: “Hold it hold it, jie. We didn’t come to have a philosophical discussion on this.”

Pianyan took a look at A’Shan’s draft and agreed that the story wasn’t bad and they could try publishing it. She placed down the papers and once again stared at Cunqu. Her eyes reddened again and she lightly said: “I was scared that you wouldn’t be willing to come. In the past two years, I was afraid to even think about you. In the past, was there anything I did wrong?”

Cunqu smiled and said, “Don’t think that way.”

When they were heading back out, Pianyan hugged Cunqu and wouldn’t let go. Qiuyan pried at her hands and said: “Ok that’s enough, enough. He’s about to break.”

Pianyan held her daughter and walked them downstairs. Qiuyan started up his car. Cunqu had his head lowered all the way until they were about to exit this residential community. Then, he turned and looked at Pianyan. His tears suddenly started falling. This was the first time Qiuyan had seen him cry like that and hurriedly drove to a stop at the side of the road.

They stopped there for a long time. Cunqu cried until he was almost out of breath. He trembled as he stared at his own hands which were basically only skin and bones. Qiuyan held his hand with one hand and helped him wipe away his tears with the other. He lightly said: “Don’t cry anymore. Let’s go home and eat something good. What do you want to eat?”

Cunqu kept his head lowered. After a while, he lightly let out a sigh. “Let’s go,” he said.

Qiuyan started up the car again. The scenery outside the car windows rewound itself. They passed the art museum, Moonlake Park. Cunqu stared blankly at the row of pig bobbleheads. He suddenly said: “I want to eat instant noodles.”

Qiuyan glanced at him and said: “No problem. Whatever flavor you want, we have it.”

Cunqu wiped away the tear stains on his face and said: “And I want to add a fried egg on top.”

Qiuyan laughed, “Even if you wanted to add my heart, I would be ok with it.”

-> Chapter 13

Footnotes

[1] Zhou Pianyan is his older cousin, and it’s perfectly normal to refer to older female cousins that aren’t your actual sisters (or any slightly older female you’re close to) as “jie” aka older sister. Same concept as “ge” aka older brother. Also Qiuyan shortens “Pianyan” to “Yan.” Side note, while I translated all the names in the anglicized fashion of a single string as the first name, it’s more accurate to Chinese to actually write them as separate syllables because each Chinese character maps to one syllable. For example, Pian Yan instead of Pianyan. Same for Qiu Yan, Cun Qu, Xiao Ying, etc.