In Xi Cheng, the winter sky is always devoid of sunlight. The sky is a dull, crab-shell green, and the whole city seems wrapped in a layer of gray-green damp gauze.
“Tonight, Jian Hou said he wants to treat us to dinner.”
“I don’t want to go, too lazy to move.”
On the large bed, Jiang Yan, nestled in a soft velvet blanket, lazily turned over. He tried to pull back the foot that was pressed against the other person’s chest, but his ankle was suddenly caught and held in place.
Jiang Yan glared unhappily at the culprit.
At the foot of the bed, the man with beautiful emerald-green eyes was holding his wife’s pale ankle, toying with it. When he noticed Jiang Yan’s annoyed gaze, he took it a step further and planted a kiss on the ankle.
Jiang Yan gave him a light kick. “Pervert.”
In return, he received a satisfied chuckle.
This “pervert” was his husband, and this was their second year of marriage. Jiang Yan still remembered their first meeting during his sophomore year.
That afternoon, Jiang Yan was walking back to his dorm after leaving the library when it suddenly began to rain. Autumn in the south was often rainy, with a damp chill that seeped through his collar, biting to the bone.
Most of the students without umbrellas quickened their steps, some holding their bags or books over their heads as they ran. Jiang Yan, too, put a book on his head, but compared to the hurried people around him, he looked overly relaxed.
Just as he was about to reach the area below the cafeteria, a transparent umbrella appeared over his head. Jiang Yan stopped in his tracks and turned around to see a tall, black-haired, green-eyed boy with a face so perfect it seemed unreal, smiling at him.
In the misty rain, the boy’s green eyes glowed, momentarily mesmerizing Jiang Yan.
The boy handed him a flyer. “Hey, are you taking the CET-6 exam?”
By all accounts, a boy like Yu Xiu would’ve become popular the moment he entered the university, yet Jiang Yan hadn’t heard of him before, as if he’d appeared out of nowhere.
When Jiang Yan asked his friend Jian Hou about him, Jian Hou replied, “You don’t know him? He’s the heartthrob of the finance department. He even sang a song at last year’s club event—don’t you remember?”
“Is there?”
Jiang Yan frowned. “Is there really such a person?”
At last year’s club gathering, he had been dragged along by Jian Hou to watch the event, but he didn’t remember anything about Yu Xiu. Yet, the video Jian Hou showed him couldn’t be faked.
Jiang Yan watched the radiant boy under the spotlight on the screen and felt a strong sense of incongruity.
It was as if someone had forcibly erased everything about this person from his memory, or like someone had implanted these memories into everyone else.
This absurd thought flashed briefly through Jiang Yan's mind.
Maybe he had been reading too many novels, he thought.
And from that day on, Yu Xiu forcefully broke into Jiang Yan’s life.
Every day, three times a day, Yu Xiu would cook and bring meals to Jiang Yan, come rain or shine. He was even caught by the dorm matron for using high-powered appliances in the dorm and was publicly reprimanded throughout the school.
Two months later, Jiang Yan, utterly baffled, asked Yu Xiu, “Why are you so nice to me?”
“Because I like you,” Yu Xiu replied, as if it were only natural.
“So, are you pursuing me?”
“Can’t you tell?”
“Then don’t bother with the chase; let’s start dating.”
“...”
Later, Jian Hou asked Jiang Yan, “Isn’t this a bit too hasty?”
Sitting on his bed, eating the ice cream Yu Xiu had bought him, Jiang Yan lazily replied, “But I was going to say yes eventually, so why waste time?”
Jian Hou took off his headphones and looked at Jiang Yan curiously. “We’ve been friends since we were in diapers, and I had no idea you even liked guys.”
Jiang Yan thought for a moment and replied, “It’s not like I’ve always liked guys... Mostly, no one’s ever pursued me before!”
Jian Hou stared. “So, you agreed just because someone pursued you?”
“Do you have any idea how many people would be hurt by that answer?”
Who could’ve guessed that Jiang Yan, the “untouchable” high-cold beauty at the top of the school heartthrob rankings, could be won over with just a little persistence?
And so, Jiang Yan’s twenty years of singlehood came to an end, and he began the first romance of his life.
The two of them acted like any other campus couple—studying together, eating together, although Jiang Yan didn’t like to run around, so travel plans were ignored.
They even met each other’s families. Sadly, Yu Xiu’s parents passed away in a car accident during his junior year, which only made Jiang Yan’s parents feel more affection and sympathy for the well-behaved boy.
After graduation, the two inherited their family assets, becoming little “landlords,” and quickly registered their marriage.
Birth, school, love, marriage.
Jiang Yan’s life flowed as smoothly as if it had been molded by some divine template for an ordinary person. He didn’t have grand dreams; he’d flop onto the couch every day, and at night, Yu Xiu would carry him to bed, and just like that, another day would pass.
Barring any surprises, he would spend the remaining 21,900 days of his life like this, while Yu Xiu’s dream seemed to be Jiang Yan.
After their marriage, Yu Xiu’s cooking skills improved rapidly. He signed up for several cooking and homemaking classes, determined to care for his lazy, cat-like wife.
“Humans are social creatures,” Yu Xiu reminded him.
Jiang Yan half-closed his eyes and murmured a quiet “Mm,” as though these words somehow didn’t apply to him.
His husband wasn’t exactly normal, something Jiang Yan had always known.
Yu Xiu enjoyed making and collecting various animal specimens and did so at home, filling their house with the scent of blood, corpses, and formaldehyde.
Jiang Yan didn’t understand, but he supported him—after all, as long as Yu Xiu wasn’t breaking the law, it was his duty as a partner to support his husband’s hobbies.
So, they had a room in their home set aside specifically for Yu Xiu to make and store his specimens.
However, this “support” of his was also seen as rather strange by others.
Jiang Yan reached down to adjust the blanket beneath him. The blanket was something Yu Xiu had bought; warm, yes, but when they slept together, it could get a little hot.
Jiang Yan’s breathing grew unsteady. “Enough…”
At this moment, Yu Xiu was holding his ankle, placing gentle kisses along the faint red marks on his calf from the night before, savoring each small patch as he moved upward.
Jiang Yan half-closed his eyes as the ceiling above began to blur and sway, a hint of dampness making his vision hazy.
“Bastard…!”
A sudden, dull ache made him mutter a low curse, only to be met with his partner’s pleased chuckle.
—
“Hey! My young master, you actually came!”
Standing at the entrance of the rented party villa, Jian Hou looked at Jiang Yan, who was lazily leaning on Yu Xiu, with genuine surprise. Although they’d known each other since birth, Jiang Yan had barely attended Jian Hou’s birthday parties over the past twenty years!
It wasn’t personal; it’s just that Jiang Yan was practically the type who’d prefer to spend his life in bed!
His birthday also happened to fall during the New Year season, when Jiang Yan had to accompany his parents on their visits to relatives. By the time he was done with that, there was no chance he’d be up for going out again.
Yet, for the past two years since Jiang Yan got married, Yu Xiu had dragged him here for each birthday.
Honestly! Other than Yu Xiu’s somewhat unsettling hobby of collecting specimens, he was practically the perfect marriage partner in every other way.
So perfect, in fact, that even Jian Hou couldn’t help but feel a bit envious of Jiang Yan’s life.
Jian Hou had assumed that if Jiang Yan were to ever trip up in life, it would be because of Yu Xiu.
With his attractive face and flamboyant personality, Yu Xiu seemed like the type who’d only be toying around with Jiang Yan.
Not only Jian Hou, but even Jiang Yan’s parents had thought that dating Yu Xiu would be Jiang Yan’s first heartbreak, a hurdle in his otherwise smooth life. Otherwise, his life had been so free of struggle that Jiang Yan was practically content with anything, mild-tempered to a fault.
It had gone so smoothly that his parents and relatives worried—was there a storm lying in wait for him in the future, because everything now was too easy?
Jiang Yan’s mom was so concerned that she took him to a fortune teller to get his fate read.
The fortune teller had said, “There’s no big storm in his future, but his face bears a ‘widow’s mark,’ meaning he’ll bring bad luck to his spouse! To dissolve this, certain preparations must be made...”
“What? My son is bad luck for his spouse?!” Jiang Yan’s mom exclaimed in disbelief.
Upon hearing this, the fortune teller took off his round sunglasses that were purely for show, and stared at Jiang Yan in shock. “Huh? With a face this delicate, I thought you were a girl!”
“Why didn’t you say anything?! I assumed you were a young lady!”
“Fraud!” Jiang Yan shouted.
Jiang Yan’s mother slapped the table! If Jiang Yan hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve overturned the fortune teller’s stall!
“Happy birthday!” Yu Xiu handed over a box with a bright smile. “Here’s a gift.”
Jian Hou thanked him with a smile, taking the gift.
“We’ll probably party late into the night. Once the cake is cut, you can leave if you want. I know Xiao Yan doesn’t like this kind of atmosphere,” Jian Hou said.
Naturally, Jiang Yan hadn’t chosen this gift, but between spouses, it didn’t really matter who chose it.
Sometimes Jian Hou felt that Yu Xiu was a gift from the heavens to Jiang Yan, who was otherwise so mild-tempered. Everything Jiang Yan struggled with, Yu Xiu managed to handle with ease.
Midway through the party, Jiang Yan noticed that Jian Hou had sneaked away to escape the drinks, so he made him a cup of honey water and brought it over.
“Thanks!” Jian Hou, half-drunk, accepted the water.
“We’ll sit for a while longer, and then Yu Xiu and I will head home. We’ll catch up next time,” Jiang Yan said.
Jian Hou nodded, then glanced into the room.
Following his gaze, Jiang Yan looked through the glass doors along the hallway and saw Yu Xiu sitting in the center of the crowd, smiling brightly. But all those people were Jiang Yan’s friends; Yu Xiu… didn’t seem to have any friends of his own.
“I always thought that with your personality, you’d never get married, yet you’re the first of our friends to settle down,” Jian Hou said.
Jiang Yan turned back. “Isn’t getting married simple enough?”
Jian Hou laughed. “You think everyone can just casually meet someone like your husband who’ll treat them like a treasure?”
Jiang Yan replied indifferently, “Marriage is just about feeling at ease with the person.”
Jian Hou laughed, shaking his head. “But there should be love, right? Just marrying because you get along well… it feels like you’d end up a bit unfulfilled.”
Jiang Yan replied, “Being with Yu Xiu makes me feel at ease.”
“It’s different!” Jian Hou laughed. “Is your love for Yu Xiu the same as the way you feel about your parents?”
“How is it different?” Jiang Yan replied without a second thought.
Jian Hou was stunned, not expecting such an answer from Jiang Yan and momentarily at a loss for words.
Hearing this, Jiang Yan turned around to see Yu Xiu standing right behind him, looking a little pale. It was clear he’d overheard.
“Yu Xiu, hey… I was just joking with Jiang Yan!” Jian Hou quickly stood up, trying to smooth things over.
But Jiang Yan didn’t seem to think anything was wrong. He simply stood and asked Yu Xiu, “Shall we head home now?”
“Yes, yes! You two go home and get a good rest. Jiang Yan did have a bit to drink tonight,” Jian Hou chimed in.
Yu Xiu stayed silent, following Jiang Yan out.
They walked in silence the whole way home. Jiang Yan sensed Yu Xiu was upset, but he couldn’t quite figure out why.
He tried to recall if he’d said something wrong.
Once they were back, Jiang Yan expected Yu Xiu to have a fight with him.
It might be their first argument since they got together, and, strangely, Jiang Yan even felt a little anticipation.
But just as the door closed, Yu Xiu spoke calmly, “Yan Yan, let’s… get a divorce.”
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