Shen Fangyu had no idea that danger was looming. He only felt hot and wanted to take off his jacket, but his hands were weak after carrying something heavy.
Seeing Jiang Xu looking over, Shen Fangyu wiped the sweat off his forehead, spread out his reddened palm for him to see, and smiled. “My hand’s numb, can you help me unbutton my jacket?”
Jiang Xu immediately reached out and covered Shen Fangyu’s mouth.
Staring at the flashing phone screen, for the first time Jiang Xu felt that he would rather it be the hospital calling.
Every time his parents came to visit, they would tell him many days in advance. Most of the time, it was even Jiang Xu who bought their train tickets. For people in their fifties, the idea of “surprising your child” didn’t exist. A bad premonition crossed Jiang Xu’s mind, could it be that his parents were making a surprise inspection?
“Mom…” he blurted out instinctively, but was cut off by Mother Jiang. “Alright, phone bills are expensive, I won’t say more. Your father and I are about to enter the elevator.”
The call was abruptly hung up. Jiang Xu froze for a moment, then suddenly snapped back to himself. He let go of Shen Fangyu and pointed at the baby products scattered on the floor. “Quick, quick, my parents are coming, hide these things!”
“Your parents?” Shen Fangyu was stunned too. Under Jiang Xu’s urging, he hurriedly carried everything into the study, speaking in rapid fire: “Where are they now? Should we go pick them up? Do your parents know we’re living together now? Should I hurry and get out of the way?”
Jiang Xu felt utterly hopeless. “They’re in the elevator.”
“Shit,” Shen Fangyu cursed. “A surprise inspection? Do your parents do this often?”
Jiang Xu shook his head weakly, his breath almost gone.
“If it’s out of the ordinary, there must be something behind it. Could it be… they’ve found out about the baby?”
“Shut up.” Jiang Xu shoved Shen Fangyu and the large bags of baby products into the study and locked the door. The moment he turned around, the doorbell rang.
Jiang Xu’s parents were ordinary wage earners from a small city. Their clothes were simple and neat. As soon as the door opened and Mother Jiang saw him, her eyes filled with distress. “Son, you’ve gotten thinner.”
“Dad, Mom.” Jiang Xu handed them slippers, then said to his mother, “Work’s been busy, I haven’t had the time to take care of myself.”
“What kind of life are you living?” Mother Jiang couldn’t help but scold. “I told you to find a wife, but you never listen… Ah, forget it, I know you don’t like hearing this.”
Perhaps it was inevitable that middle-aged women always repeated the same reminders countless times, even knowing the other person didn’t want to hear them. No matter how many times Jiang Xu told his parents he had no intention of marrying, Mother Jiang always let it go in one ear and out the other. The moment she saw him, she would start nagging about marriage again.
Back in school, he used to hear his cousin complain about his family’s relentless matchmaking schemes and thought his cousin was exaggerating. But it turned out that his own mother was far more persistent than his aunt.
Jiang Xu rubbed his temples. “Mom, I’m doing just fine.”
“Xiao Xu, just do things the way you think is right. Don’t listen to your mother,” Father Jiang tried to smooth things over. “As long as you don’t go astray, that’s fine.”
Jiang Xu hadn’t yet figured out what exactly “go astray” was supposed to mean when his mother suddenly pointed at a pair of shoes on the rack. “Son, is there a guest at home?”
Jiang Xu’s heart skipped a beat. “Those are mine.”
“Really?” Mother Jiang withdrew her gaze, half-believing, half-doubting. “They don’t look like your shoes. Since when did you start liking this style?”
Jiang Xu’s eyes darted. “I just bought them randomly.”
But today, Mother Jiang seemed to have turned into Sherlock Holmes. As soon as she stepped inside, she went straight into the kitchen. “Son, don’t hide it from me. You just used the stove, didn’t you? Be honest, did someone else come over?”
Saying this, she opened the fridge to put away the food she’d brought, but when she saw it already full to the brim, she couldn’t help crying out in surprise.
“I cooked,” Jiang Xu lied without batting an eye, but Mother Jiang wasn’t buying it at all. “Impossible.” She knew her son inside and out. “The sun could rise in the west and you still wouldn’t cook of your own accord.”
“…” Jiang Xu muttered, “I suddenly developed a love for life.”
When Mother Jiang tried to go into his bedroom, Jiang Xu remembered there was still a floor mattress spread out inside. He barely reacted in time, quickly blocking her at the door. “Mom, my room’s a mess. Don’t go in.”
Mother Jiang gave him a meaningful look but, in the end, let herself be persuaded back to the sofa. Just as the situation seemed to calm down, however, a voice came from the bathroom:
“Xiao Xu, why are there two sets of cups and toothbrushes by the sink?”
Father Jiang emerged from the bathroom, his eyes full of curiosity.
Jiang Xu felt like he was tied to a stake at a public execution. Sweat nearly broke out on his forehead as he struggled for a moment before blurting, “I have a dog. Those are for the dog.”
“I don’t see any dog hair,” Mother Jiang pressed on, adopting the air of a strict judge as she slammed down her figurative gavel. “You’re living together with some girl, aren’t you?”
“No, really not.”
But as soon as he said it, Jiang Xu suddenly realized something was off. Wait a second, Shen Fangyu was a man. So what if his parents knew they were temporarily living together? Did he really need to act like he was hiding a mistress in a golden house, afraid to let them know?
What was he feeling guilty about just now?
Jiang Xu suddenly felt a little stupid. He was just about to explain clearly that Shen Fangyu was only staying here for a while when Mother Jiang abruptly dropped a bombshell, “Xiao Xu, tell Mom the truth. Do you like men?”
Jiang Xu: “?”
So his guilty conscience hadn’t been unfounded, his parents really were extraordinary.
But the speechless look on his face was taken by Mother Jiang as confirmation. Her expression changed sharply. “You really like men?” she asked cautiously. “Do you… like that Shen Fangyu?”
Jiang Xu coughed twice violently. Luckily he hadn’t been drinking water, or he surely would’ve choked.
What the hell was this even turning into?
“I don’t like men,” Jiang Xu said firmly. “Even if I did like men, I would absolutely never like Shen Fangyu.”
“But…” Mother Jiang hesitated for a while before saying, “That day on the phone, you said you weren’t getting married because of Shen Fangyu.”
Not getting married because of Shen Fangyu?
Jiang Xu froze, then suddenly understood why his parents had staged this entire ambush today.
Not long ago, his mother had called as usual. Amid her endless nagging, she’d added a new variation: “Mom remembers that back in middle school, quite a few girls liked you. So how come you still don’t have a girlfriend? It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have stopped you from puppy love back then. Now I can’t even hold a grandchild.”
Back in middle school, Mother Jiang really had forbidden him from dating, like most parents did. But that wasn’t the reason he was unmarried now. Somehow, though, she’d been led astray by some nonsense she heard. After repeatedly failing to pressure Jiang Xu into marriage, she started blaming herself instead.
When Jiang Xu told her it had nothing to do with her, that the problem was with himself, she only insisted again that it was still her fault, that it was she who had caused him to “have problems.”
Jiang Xu was no match for verbal sparring. In front of his mother, he had no way to defend himself. Just then, Shen Fangyu happened to message him saying he was on night duty and wouldn’t be leaving with him. Out of frustration, Jiang Xu simply threw the blame onto him:
“It’s not your fault. Do you still remember that guy who tied with me for first place in the city entrance exam that year?”
Mother Jiang thought hard, then vaguely recalled there had been someone. Back then, Jiang Xu had been so angry about not taking sole first place, having to share it with another, that he hadn’t eaten for an entire day.
Jiang Xu said, “If you want to blame someone, blame him.”
It wasn’t exactly unfair to pin it on Shen Fangyu. After all, Shen Fangyu had fended off so many admirers using Jiang Xu’s name and never got caught. Jiang Xu had only used him once as a scapegoat and this happened.
After he said it, he’d expected his mother to ask why he was blaming Shen Fangyu. He’d already prepared his answer: that their rivalry was too intense, forcing him to stay single-minded. But instead of asking, she’d simply hung up.
He never imagined that one offhand comment would make his parents misunderstand his sexuality. They’d even dug up an old newspaper, carefully read the entire report, memorized Shen Fangyu’s name and face, and then rushed to A City overnight.
Jiang Xu felt helpless. Shen Fangyu had used his name as a shield to reject countless admirers and never once slipped up. He himself had used Shen Fangyu as cover just once, and it blew up in his face.
“Mom,” he said, black lines all over his face, “it’s not what you think. We’re just ordinary colleagues.”
“Colleagues?” Mother Jiang repeated in shock. “You two are colleagues?”
Crap. He’d slipped.
Jiang Xu suddenly realized that his parents didn’t even know what Shen Fangyu’s current job was!
Mother Jiang pressed aggressively, “So you two interact a lot at work?”
Jiang Xu swallowed hard.
Not really… other than the fact that they’d slept together and now had a child. One could barely say there wasn’t much interaction.
Seeing his silence, Mother Jiang pressed again: “Then who exactly is it that’s living in your house right now?”
“…” If Jiang Xu said it was Shen Fangyu at this moment, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn’t be able to wash himself clean.
“Just a friend. You don’t know him.”
“Really?” Mother Jiang still looked unconvinced. She exchanged a glance with Father Jiang, then said to Jiang Xu, “Then call that Shen Fangyu out. Let’s all have dinner together tonight.”
Jiang Xu didn’t want Shen Fangyu to know about this mess, so he declined, “He’s really busy with work, no time. Isn’t it fine if I just eat with you two? We haven’t sat down as a family and talked in a long time.”
Mother Jiang looked uncooperative, clearly not believing him. She pointed to Jiang Xu’s phone. “Call him now.”
Jiang Xu took a deep breath and struggled, “He’s in surgery.”
Mother Jiang gave a cold snort, suspicion deepening in her eyes. “You even know what he’s doing at this exact moment?”
Jiang Xu: “…”
Father Jiang, looking like he was trying to smooth things over but actually making it worse, chimed in: “Xiao Xu, if calling’s not possible, you can at least send him a text.”
Mother Jiang echoed, “Yes, yes, send him a message.”
His parents stared at him from both sides, making Jiang Xu’s scalp tingle. With stiff fingers, he unlocked his phone. While praying that Shen Fangyu’s ringer was off, he typed slowly, painstakingly.
But before he could finish typing, a sound came from the study, an obnoxiously cheerful ringtone rang out for one second before being hastily cut off.
Jiang Xu and his mother looked at each other, identical question marks on their faces.
Inside the study, Shen Fangyu lowered his voice: “Zhang Cheng?”
“Where are you? Why are you speaking so quietly?” Zhang Cheng asked casually, then got straight to the point. “That meeting report I asked for last time expired. Send me another copy, will you?”
“You couldn’t just text me about something so trivial? You had to call?”
“What, am I not allowed to call you?” Zhang Cheng, a college classmate who’d stayed close to him, chuckled and teased, “Don’t tell me you’re watching a movie with some girl right now?”
Shen Fangyu really didn’t want to admit he’d been shoved into the study like a secret lover by Jiang Xu.
In the chaos earlier, Jiang Xu had suddenly locked him in before he could react. Once he calmed down, the more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. He could have just stood there openly when Jiang Xu’s parents arrived and said he was temporarily staying over. Then there’d be no issue. But hiding away like this, if discovered, it would only make it look all the more suspicious.
Trying to cover up only made things worse.
But since he was already shut inside the study, Shen Fangyu had no choice but to rely on Jiang Xu to smooth things over.
Only when the phone rang did he suddenly remember he’d forgotten to set it to silent. For a second, he debated letting it ring, so Jiang Xu could say it was another phone. But when he saw it was Zhang Cheng calling, he worried it might be about a patient.
In the end, his sense of responsibility as a doctor made him answer right away, only to find out Zhang Cheng just wanted a file.
Fuming, Shen Fangyu hung up after Zhang Cheng’s teasing, sent over the file, and then sat staring at the study door, praying.
Maybe he’d answered quickly enough that Jiang Xu’s parents hadn’t noticed that fleeting ringtone.
But such prayers were like praying to the “Night Shift God” during overnight duty, nothing but self-deluding comfort, almost useless.
With a click, under the interrogator-like stares of his parents, Jiang Xu reluctantly turned the key and opened the study door.
The elderly couple outside and the young man inside froze, staring at each other. The latter forced a stiff smile and raised his hand in a little wave.
“Hi?”
Mother Jiang blurted out, “Shen Fangyu?”
Unaware of the conversation in the living room, Shen Fangyu was taken aback. “Auntie, you… know me?” His social circle was broad, but mostly confined to A City’s medical field. Could it be he was now so famous that even some random elderly lady from B City recognized him?
But Mother Jiang didn’t answer. Her vision went black, and she collapsed into Father Jiang’s arms.