Chapter 23 Hong Kong Twin Stars

Chapter 23: Hong Kong's Twin Stars

Weather on the island shifts every ten miles—a light drizzle in the mountains, yet bright and clear out at sea.

After two days of sailing, Tan Youming realized, just as he was about to come ashore, that he no longer had a car. He didn’t want to trouble Xu Enyi further; the yacht alone had been pushed to its limits and would soon need maintenance. After a moment’s thought, he sent a message to Zhuo Zhixuan.

Zhuo Zhixuan didn’t have a car either, so he immediately called his most reliable friend.

Chen Wan was cooking when his phone lit up on the counter. He was busy taking the pan off the heat, so Zhao Shengge glanced over and answered it for him.

Zhuo Zhixuan had no idea Tan Youming had been out at sea for days. His slightly anxious voice came through: "A-Wan, are any of your old clunkers still around? Can you spare one for Tan Youming to use for a few days? He’s staying at Xu Enyi’s place lately and doesn’t want anything too eye-catching to attract paparazzi. I figured only you would have something low-key."

"But don’t tell Zhao Shengge—if Shen Zongnian finds out, that drama queen will go off the rails again."

"Honestly, I can’t even. Who in this day and age hands over all their properties, cars, and cards to someone else? It’s just too ridiculous."

"Chen Wan?"

Zhao Shengge said, "Chen Wan’s cooking." There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before the call abruptly disconnected.

Chen Wan turned around and asked, "Who was it?"

Zhao Shengge replied, "Zhuo Zhixuan."

"What did he want?"

Zhao Shengge took the plate from him and said, "He wished you a Happy New Year."

It wasn’t until their lunch break that Chen Wan saw Zhuo Zhixuan’s long string of messages. Chen Wan couldn’t stop laughing.

Aside from mentioning Tan Youming’s need for a car, the message also questioned whether Chen Wan had joined the phone-swapping performance art movement.

Zhao Shengge was resting with his eyes closed, his head on Chen Wan’s lap. He lifted his eyelids, grabbed Chen Wan’s wrist to lower it, glanced at the phone, and without explanation, took Chen Wan’s hand, opened it, and placed it over his own eyes—as if to say, "I really need to sleep now. Turn off the lights."

Chen Wan indulged him, shielding Zhao Shengge’s eyes while planning to reply to Zhuo Zhixuan once he’d slept enough.

But messages kept pouring in.

The man on his lap stirred. Zhao Shengge moved Chen Wan’s hand away and said lazily, granting mercy, "Go ahead and reply."

He turned sideways, directly lifting Chen Wan’s sweater and burrowing underneath to block the light.

His nose and lips brushed faintly against Chen Wan’s soft abdomen—the very place he had entered just the night before. Warm, soft, intoxicating.

Chen Wan always carried a scent that seemed to emanate from his very bones.

As Zhao Shengge’s gentle breath tickled his skin, Chen Wan’s heart raced. He straightened his back, quickly replied to Zhuo Zhixuan, then lifted his sweater and looked down, smiling into Zhao Shengge’s eyes. "Alright, lights out," he said, once again placing his hand gently over Zhao Shengge’s eyes.

It was only after lending the car that Zhuo Zhixuan learned Tan Youming had been "Captain Tan" at sea for three days. He was fed up. He drove Chen Wan’s BYD to the pier to pick him up.

"What’s wrong, young master?" Zhuo Zhixuan hopped out of the driver’s seat, closed the car door, and tossed the keys to him.

Tan Youming caught them with one hand. "What?"

"You don't look right," Zhuo Zhixuan said, studying him. Tan Youming was usually full of energy and rarely even caught colds back in school. He was a bit worried. "Didn’t sleep well on the boat?"

"I’m perfectly fine." Tan Youming didn’t want to elaborate. He opened the door and got into the driver’s seat.

Ever since Tan Youming had once crashed into roadside trash cans and nearly driven into a green belt while parking, Shen Zongnian hadn’t let him drive anything with high clearance. But today, the coastal ring road was nearly empty. After a short familiarization, Tan Youming adjusted.

Zhuo Zhixuan thought he seemed listless. "Still mad?"

Tan Youming didn’t answer.

Zhuo Zhixuan genuinely didn’t understand why this had blown up so badly. "Just because he’s going on a three-month business trip alone?"

"Just?" Tan Youming frowned and turned to look at him. He couldn’t understand why everyone else failed to grasp the severity of the situation.

It was one thing for Zhuo Zhixuan not to get it, but even Shen Zongnian didn’t seem to understand.

Zhuo Zhixuan rarely saw him like this—the usually cheerful guy turning serious was downright alarming.

"You—" Zhuo Zhixuan started, then swallowed his words. He really wanted to ask why, exactly why, but he couldn’t. He was afraid Tan Youming might not know the reason himself, or worse, that he might actually start searching for it.

Tan Youming wasn’t Chen Wan. Zhuo Zhixuan couldn’t be the one to false guide him.

Besides, Zhuo Zhixuan was certain about Tan Youming’s sexual orientation. Whether it was his relationship with Huang Baoqi during German class or his shyness when senior members of the Wing Chun club guided his movements hands-on, it all proved he wasn’t.

The BYD cruised steadily along the coastal ring road. Zhuo Zhixuan thought Tan Youming’s driving wasn’t all that bad—it even gave him the illusion that things would work fine without Shen Zongnian.

Hoping against hope, Zhuo Zhixuan tentatively asked, "Then… in the future, when you both get married and have families, you won’t see each other every day anyway, right?"

Tan Youming thought that was far off but still looked at him strangely. "Why wouldn’t we?"

"??"

"We could buy houses next to each other. On weekends, we could have family BBQs or Double Dates. If there are kids, one car could pick them all up from school. There are plenty of family travel spots in Haishi now—Pinghai’s tourism industry is focusing on that this year. You should look into it."

"…" Zhuo Zhixuan’s brain blanked for a moment. He genuinely didn’t know what to say. After a long pause, he managed a compliment: "That’s… great. You’ve got it all planned out."

Another absolute genius had joined the ranks.

As the BYD entered the city, Zhuo Zhixuan suddenly remembered. "Oh, right, Xie Zhenlin hasn’t replied to me either."

Tan Youming frowned and grunted noncommittally.

Tan Youming dropped Zhuo Zhixuan off first before heading back to the family home.

Zhuo Zhixuan had risked getting scolded by his parents to brave the consequences and go out today. Tan Youming personally saw him to the gate. The Zhuo family, seeing it was him, welcomed him with smiles and didn’t say anything to Zhuo Zhixuan.

On the way back to the family home, Tan Youming’s thoughts raced, and he even felt a bit nervous. But when he got home, he found that Shen Zongnian hadn’t returned yet.

Instead, the old man had brought back the green parrot from the countryside. The moment Tan Youming stepped through the door, it fluttered its wings and shouted at him: "Shen Zongnian!! Shen Zongnian!"

"Hey—" Tan Youming, already in a bad mood, pointed at it and vented his anger. "You ungrateful wretch! Who fed you water when you were little? Who filled your feeder? Who took you out to the garden for some air? Did your conscience get eaten by that new dog back home?" He made sure no one missed his veiled criticisms.

The old man chuckled. "It’s just imitating you. When you were little, you talked about nothing but Shen Zongnian all day. Of course it picked it up."

Tan Youming, magnanimous, decided to give the bird a chance to reform. He leaned down, face to face, eye to eye. "Then say it: 'Shen Zongnian is an asshole!'" He planned to record it and share it on social media so the whole world would know how heartless and ungrateful that Shen guy was.

"Come on, say it: 'Shen Zongnian, asshole.'"

The parrot glanced at him and parroted back: "Tan Youming, total moron! Tan Youming, total moron!"

Tan Youming lost it: "Just you wait! Tomorrow we're having lotus root stewed with parrot meat! Not even Mazu could save you!"

The old man was laughing his eyebrows off.

Tan Youming couldn't deal with the ungrateful little bird anymore and asked the old man, "Where’s Grandma?"

"Old Li’s dog had pups, so she went to see them early this morning," the old man said, sipping tea. "Even dogs have offspring—when are you going to settle down?"

In a bad mood, Tan Youming wasn't holding back: "I’m not a dog."

The old man spit out his tea and raised his cane as if to hit him. Tan Youming easily dodged.

Guan Kezhi said Shen Zongnian had called to say not to wait for him and told Auntie to serve dinner.

Tan Youming wanted to ask why they shouldn’t wait, where he had gone—was his home a market, coming and going as he pleased?

He glanced at the Chinese yam root soup in his bowl, took a few random sips, and couldn’t taste anything. Usually, Shen Zongnian would pick out the scallions for him, but now that they were fighting, he didn't have the right to be picky. Tan Youming drank it anyway, listening to Guan Kezhi chat with Tan Zhongshan.

When Tan Zhongshan mentioned that Shen Zongnian had gone back to the Shen household, Tan Youming quickly finished the scallion-filled soup and said, "A friend is swinging by to drop something off. I’m stepping out for a bit."

He immediately stood up, grabbed his car keys, and left.

Before even leaving the garden, he ran into someone—Shen Zongnian, holding two boxes of pastries that Guan Kezhi loved.

Tan Youming didn’t speak, studied his face for a moment but was unable to read his expression.

Shen Zongnian nodded first and asked, "Going out?" His tone was neither warm nor cold, making him even angrier. Tan Youming replied flatly, "Just walking off dinner."

Like he couldn't be cool too.

Shen Zongnian glanced at the car keys in his hand: "Driving to help digestion?"

"Why not?"

Shen Zongnian thought of the unremarkable BYD parked by the roadside and nodded: "Enough to crash into the greenbelt a few times."

"..." Tan Youming’s face showed none of its usual smile. He licked his molars and retorted, "You’re such a great driver, yet you’re late for a family gathering."

Shen Zongnian looked at his noticeably dark circles for a moment, didn't explain, and turned to enter the house.

Tan Youming didn’t know whether to go back inside or leave, just as Gao Shuhong returned from seeing the dogs.

Gao Shuhong wore a wide-brimmed French pearl hat and an elegant brocade suit, rolled down the window of the Lincoln’s back seat: "Ming, what are you doing here?"

The car was bought specially for the elderly lady by Shen Zongnian. Gao Shuhong found it comfy and rode in it daily, no wonder Shen Zongnian looked down on the BYD Tan Youming borrowed.

Tan Youming said "Ah," unsure how to respond. The elderly lady got out of the car, took her grandson’s arm, and said, "Don’t just stand there, let’s go back. I brought goodies for you and Nian."

When Tan Youming returned inside, Shen Zongnian was still at the table. Tan Zhongshan and Guan Kezhi had finished but stayed seated across from him, chatting while watching him eat.

Shen Zongnian had always been quiet, following "no talking during meals, no speaking while sleeping," and didn’t mind the adults staring as he ate.

He was used to it—family meals had always been lively since he was young.

Guan Kezhi brought up Tan Zuyi’s engagement party after the New Year. She couldn’t be bothered with Tan Youming’s marriage plans, but she kept a close eye on Shen Zongnian’s. With no elders in the Shen family to make decisions for him, Guan Kezhi took it upon herself.

Shen Zongnian paused his chopsticks for a moment before continuing to eat.

The elderly lady had already eaten at her friend’s house but joined the younger generation to chat, serving Shen Zongnian another bowl of red bean soup and urging him to eat more.

Only Tan Youming remained in the living room, where the TV was playing the famous roadshow in Manchester that had made a splash on both sides of the Pacific before the New Year.

TCB was at their usual nonsense again, making up sensational headlines: "Heir’s Close Friend Conquers Manchester, Shakes the Pacific Bay; Hong Kong Twin Stars Make Appearance, Friendship Moves Heaven and Earth."

Bullshit.

Tan Youming changed the channel expressionlessly, catching sight of Shen Zongnian polishing off the plate of golden cakes that Guan Kezhi had burned.

Guan Kezhi, meanwhile, was happily devouring pastries Shen Zongnian had brought back from a five-star chef, one after another.

Shen Zongnian noticed the scallions in the soup and glanced toward the living room, just as their eyes met for a second before both looked away.

Guan Kezhi, while eating, couldn't help adding: "Ming, guess who we ran into on Feiling Island?"

Tan Youming, sensing something was up from her mischievous smile, soon confirmed his fears as Guan Kezhi teased, "Huang Baoqi said to wish you a Happy New Year."

Tan Youming instantly was embarrassed.

Guan Kezhi burst into laughter, while Shen Zongnian swallowed the sticky rice cake stuck in his throat.

When Shen Zongnian returned to Haishi from Fair Berkeley at seventeen, the first gossip he heard at the family dinner table was that Tan Youming had a girlfriend. Guan Kezhi joked with Shen Zongnian about her son: "Hahaha, Ming got his heart broken."

"Shit," Tan Youming widened his eyes, "Stop talking."

Shen Zongnian silently continued eating, thinking to himself, "So Tan Youming has already started dating."

What Shen Zongnian didn’t know was that it was less of a romantic relationship and more of a German study buddy situation.

Huang Baoqi was the German class monitor. Tan Youming, eager to learn German and go abroad to find Shen Zongnian, frequently asked her for help. The young monitor, teasing him because of his looks, said, "Sure, but you have to be my boyfriend."

Tan Youming, desperate to go abroad, agreed without a second thought. Being a boyfriend meant breakfast drop-offs and sweet talk—and since he was a slacker, it seemed fair for her efforts.

But within three days, the monitor declared in frustration, "Forget it, Ming, we’re not compatible."

"?" Tan Youming looked up from his test paper, which had 70% wrong answers.

The young miss Huang looked him over, feeling both heartbroken and regretful. The Tan family’s young master was truly handsome, with a sweet smile and cute little canine teeth—but his brains and grades were truly lacking. How could he not grasp the three German article genders after a whole week of teaching?

No matter how good-looking he was, it wasn’t enough. She needed someone who could get into Cambridge.

"Ming, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it," the straight-A student tried to erase this dating mishap from her record. "Let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?" Her flawless academic record from age four to sixteen couldn’t afford an failing boyfriend.

"Tomorrow I’ll bring you the basic exercises I’ve compiled—guaranteed to help you pass the quiz," Huang Baoqi felt a bit guilty herself. "Don’t hold a grudge, let’s still be good friends, alright?"

"..." Tan Youming was speechless but agreed, "Fine, fine. Just help me with this question. If you can get me through C2, I’ll call you grandma."

"Deal!"

Tan Youming thought to himself, it seemed the class monitor was quite steadfast—her ideal type hadn’t changed all these years.

The author notes:

Little Tan found the reason for being dumped—his poor grades—a bit embarrassing, so he never mentioned the truth to anyone. As a result, his friends all thought he had really dated Monitor Baoqi. Even Zhuo Zhixuan was fooled.