Chapter 32: Sweet Past

Chapter 32 Sweet Past

He spotted a photo taken when they first moved into this house.

Xu Moxing suddenly remembered!

He lived in a dormitory during his internship, but the dorm conditions weren't great—four people per room.

At that time, Su Lichen's company didn't provide dormitories, so he rented a place himself. But to save money, he didn't live in anything nice either.

After officially graduating, Xu Moxing had had enough of dorm life, and besides, to save money, sharing an apartment with someone else was no better than just moving in with Su Lichen.

They talked it over and decided to move in together. They were both frugal, but Xu Moxing was even more so. They searched many places before finally renting this apartment.

The price was reasonable, and the landlord was a decent guy.

Xu Moxing remembered how low his salary was right after graduation.

During his senior year, before he started his internship, Xu Moxing was nearly broke.

The final year before the internship was really busy—not with classes, but with other things.

Graduation thesis, job hunting, buying formal wear, taking graduation photos—everything cost money.

He was so busy he had no time for a part-time job, and his mom only gave him eight hundred yuan a month for living expenses, sometimes she'd forget to send it.

Xu Moxing couldn't bring himself to ask his mom for more money. He knew she worked hard too, so he just had to scrimp and save.

Su Lichen came from a well-off family, but Xu Moxing didn't want to spend his money. That's why Su Lichen always ordered a lot of food on purpose, then shared it with him.

Xu Moxing saw through Su Lichen's little trick, and he didn't refuse his kindness.

But Xu Moxing kept it all tucked away in his heart. Looking at the photos, he thought to himself: I wonder if I ever properly thanked A Li afterward.

At first, the house had almost no furniture—just a bed frame and a water heater. That's why the rent was so cheap.

All the other furniture and appliances they bought little by little as they saved up.

Back then, Xu Moxing was worried about formaldehyde, so he bought a bunch of pothos plants. Even though they're easy to care for, he still managed to kill a few pots.

Xu Moxing picked up another photo. It was from when he got his first raise and treated Su Lichen to a big meal.

"Big meal" was relative to Xu Moxing's standards; Su Lichen had eaten much more expensive things, but that memory was beautiful.

They'd had a few drinks that night, and on the way home, Xu Moxing held Su Lichen's hand tightly, saying, "Let's always be like this."

Su Lichen said, "Alright."

There was another photo of them cuddled up on the sofa watching a movie on the weekend.

They both worked hard to make money and often worked overtime. On the rare weekends they had off, they'd decide to watch a movie at home.

Halfway through, Xu Moxing fell asleep. When he woke up, he found his head resting on Su Lichen's lap. Su Lichen was on his phone, gently stroking his hair.

Those scenes flashed through his mind like a movie.

Xu Moxing sat there, stunned for a long time.

Suddenly, he smiled.

So they had shared so many days together.

So they had always been this good together.

So he had forgotten all those beautiful times they had spent together.

That evening when Su Lichen got home, Xu Moxing was busy in the kitchen and didn't hear him come in.

Su Lichen stood at the kitchen doorway for a while, watching. When he realized Xu Moxing still hadn't noticed him, he finally said something.

"You need any help?"

Xu Moxing heard his voice and turned to meet his gaze with a beaming smile. "A Li, welcome home. Dinner will be ready soon."

Su Lichen went to get the bowls and chopsticks, then helped bring out the dishes.

Suddenly, Xu Moxing pulled him into a hug.

"What's wrong? You're being so affectionate today."

Su Lichen gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good thing I cleaned up and washed my face after cleaning up. Otherwise, you'd be kissing a mouthful of oil right now."

Xu Moxing released him and went back to stir-frying.

"That's okay. If there's oil, I'll just wash it off. I don't mind."

Without waiting for Xu Moxing's reply, Su Lichen helped carry the dishes to the table.

After dinner, Su Lichen cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher.

The dishwasher was kind of a pain—you had to scrape off the food scraps first before putting them in—but Su Lichen really hated washing dishes, so they bought one anyway.

Convenience depends on the person; for them, it worked out fine for them.

While Su Lichen was roughly scraping off the food scraps from the dishes, Xu Moxing came into the kitchen, wrapped his arms around his waist, and pressed his face against his back.

"What's wrong? You're being so clingy today."

"A Li," Xu Moxing said softly into his broad back, "I remembered a lot of things today."

"Bang!"

Su Lichen lost his grip on the spoon, and it clattered into the sink.

He tensed up, but forced himself to stay calm.

Su Lichen lost all interest in scraping the dishes and stopped what he was doing.

"What did you remember?"

Xu Moxing didn't notice anything unusual and explained why he was being so affectionate today.

"I remembered us deciding to live together, looking for a place. I remembered the first time I got a raise and treated you to a big meal. I remembered that weekend we watched a movie together, and I fell asleep halfway through, only to find myself with my head on your lap."

Xu Moxing's face was still pressed against Su Lichen's back, his voice slightly muffled but his voice light and joyful, "We were so good together."

Su Lichen was silent for a moment. Though his heart was in his throat, his head was still clear, and he pressed for more details.

"Did you remember anything else?"

"Unfortunately, no. That's all I can remember. I looked at other photos, but they still didn't bring anything back."

Xu Moxing figured he only remembered things from when he was 23; the other four years were still a total blank.

"Photos?"

Su Lichen latched onto that key point.

"Yeah, photos. I did some deep cleaning today and found an old photo album. After seeing those pictures, I remembered some things, but I still don't remember most of the pictures."

Su Lichen finally understood what was going on.

So Xu Moxing hadn't fully remembered; he just recalled some things from the first year after graduation.

Objectively speaking, he should have been disappointed that Xu Moxing hadn't fully remembered, but deep down he was glad Xu Moxing still hadn't remembered everything.

He pulled off his rubber gloves and hugged Xu Moxing back.

"Hmm," he said.

Xu Moxing looked up and met his eyes.

"I like you so much," he said.

Su Lichen looked into his eyes, which were full of light, without a trace of shadow.

His heart suddenly clenched.

"I like you too," he said.

Xu Moxing smiled.

They were of similar height; Xu Moxing could kiss Su Lichen by tilting his head up slightly.

Xu Moxing kissed Su Lichen on the cheek.

Su Lichen, feeling mixed, also kissed Xu Moxing's cheek before going back to cleaning the dishes.

After cleaning, he placed each utensil into the dishwasher, while Xu Moxing stuck to him the entire time.

After finishing the chores, the two left the kitchen, clinging to each other like conjoined twins.

Xu Moxing had had enough cuddling with Su Lichen and went to take a shower.

Su Lichen stood there, watching his back, and made a decision.

He decided to make a little confession to Xu Moxing.