Translator: Ying
Proofreaders: ayszhang, coolostyne, happyBuddha, MT, m@a
City of Endless Rain ch 3
Chapter 3
Tang Shan sat by the dining table with bacon, fries and steamed eggs in
front of him. He'd been pushed and dragged to the
table, and Li Yuanyu had
nonchalantly urged him to eat, even pouring a glass of milk for him.
"You'll
become more emotionally stable once you replenish the calcium in your
body," Li Yuanyu smiled gently as he pushed the glass of milk to him.
Tang
Shan rolled his eyes.
"You
took my locket away, didn't you?" he immediately accused.
"What
do you mean? Didn't you put it away?" Li Yuanyu feigned innocence, denying
his role in this.
"I
put it in my pocket but it disappeared!"
"So
you suspect me?"
"If
it wasn't you, who else could it be?"
Li
Yuanyu's face fell. It looked as if he was on the verge of losing his temper,
but he kept his cool and smiled as he maneuvered the plate till it was in front
of Tang Shan. "Eat up. It isn't raining today, so I'll show you
around."
"I
don't-" Tang Shan didn't even get a chance to reject him before a ringtone
interrupted him.
Li
Yuanyu left the kitchen to answer it. Tang Shan followed him with his gaze, watching
the door for a long time. Eventually, he couldn't contain his curiosity and carefully
followed in his footsteps and peeked at him.
Li
Yuanyu sounded annoyed, as if he was quarrelling with the other party.
"You
actually need me to handle such trivial matters? Just handle it
yourselves!"
The
other party said something, causing Li Yuanyu to fall silent for a long time.
"I
understand. I'll make a trip there." He hung up after he answered.
Li
Yuanyu walked towards the kitchen, and Tang Shan immediately rushed back to his
seat. He held his fork and started to push the bacon around on his plate,
trying to pretend he hadn't just eavesdropped on that conversation. However,
the harder he tried, the more obvious he was.
Li
Yuanyu leaned against the door, his arms tucked in front of his chest. Seeing
Tang Shan's unnatural actions- his head bent while he ate voraciously,
deliberately not looking at him- it was obvious he was feeling guilty.
"You
were listening." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Tang
Shan tensed.
"I
need to go out for a bit, so watch the house for me, alright? " Li Yuanyu
sounded forceful as he spoke, his gaze unwavering on Tang Shan.
Tang
Shan didn't raise his head nor attempt to look at him. He had no reaction to Li
Yuanyu's words.
Li
Yuanyu lingered for a moment longer, his thoughts unreadable. It didn't seem
like he had any intentions of coming closer, and he left the kitchen silently.
Tang
Shan listened closely, hoping for Li Yuanyu to leave as quickly as possible.
Not long after, he heard something metallic, and then the sound of the door
closing.
The
moment the door shut, he immediately ran towards the front door. He took a look
outside and ascertained that the man had really left, and then reached for the
handle and turned it-
"Clunk!"
The door handle wouldn't budge.
Tang
Shan was momentarily stunned, before he reacted and fervently turned the
handle, but once it reached a certain angle, the handle couldn't turn.
The door
was locked! He turned to find any other possible exits, running up the steps two
at a time, quickly rushing to his room. That was the only room that he knew had
a big window.
He put
the cactus elsewhere and pulled the curtains apart.
He was
stunned by the sight before him. The window had been sealed with wooden boards.
It had been sealed so well that no light could pass through.
Tang
Shan didn't give up and searched through the other rooms, thinking that only
his window had been sealed shut. However, after his search through all the
rooms, he found that only small ventilation shafts had been left unsealed.
Li
Yuanyu had locked him inside the house, and there was no way out.
Tang
Shan cried out as he broke down, having no other way to express his feelings.
Once he got tired of yelling, he collapsed on the ground.
He
watched the ceiling dazedly, unable to understand why Li Yuanyu was so obsessed
with him, to the point of limiting his personal freedom.
If he
had a chance to escape from here, he'd definitely sue Li Yuanyu to his last
penny and make him regret his actions! Tang Shan calmed down after this certain
thought.
He
suddenly noticed that the markings on the wooden ceiling were slightly strange.
There was a square section that was a little different from the rest. Tang Shan
stood up and studied it for a long time, before deciding to investigate
further.
He
remembered there was a storage room in this building, where he'd seen a broom,
mop, and the like. Immediately, he rushed to take one of the items and returned
to the room, knocking at the wood with a strange marking.
There was
a hollow sound, and the wood actually shifted upon impact!
Tang
Shan shifted the wood to the side and brought a chair. He then stepped onto it
to see what was up there.
There
was an attic with a glass window on the ceiling that had been sealed shut,
though it still allowed a stream of moonlight to shine through. He could just
barely see his surroundings with that small amount of light.
There
was a table, two chairs, as well as
other furniture that had been covered with a cloth. From the shapes, he could
tell that there was a bed, a sofa, an easel, another table, a candle stand- there
were all sorts of items.
There were also other things on the table,
but since they were too far away, he couldn't quite make out what they were.
Tang Shan gathered his strength and finally
managed to climb into the attic. He shook off the dust that had gathered on his
sleeves, not minding when he didn't manage to remove all of it.
He walked over to the table situated under
the window, moonlight shining onto its surface.
There were glass bottles full of paper stars
and even unused strips of paper left on the table. He seemed to have some
memories of that...
___
"You
will be granted one wish if you fold a thousand stars," Li Yuanyu stated.
He'd already folded two glass bottles full of stars. There were still some
paper strips in his hands, and he gave some to Tang Shan.
Tang Shan found his words absurd and teased him
about his belief in fairytales.
"Why are you laughing so hard? Don't
treat it as a joke, Mary folded the stars and wished to leave the city. Her
dream managed to come true not long after," Li Yuanyu defended himself.
"Really?!" Tang Shan felt a glimmer
of hope after hearing that.
"Really," Li Yuanyu answered
steadily.
"Then I want to fold a thousand stars
and make a wish to leave the city. Yeah, that, or I should make a wish to
return home," Tang Shan mused, pulling aside the chair next to Li Yuanyu,
and he started folding the stars as well.
Li Yuanyu's movements momentarily halted.
"If you leave, what's going to happen
to me?" From his tone, it was obvious that he was none too happy about it.
"I'll come back. I can't bear to be
away from you," Tang Shan laughed, leaning forward to give him a quick,
light kiss, and then pulling back with a grin that seemed to imply he'd done
something naughty.
"If you really can't bear to part with
me, then just don't go," Li Yuanyu sighed, sounding like a spoilt child.
___
Oh god! Yes, that had happened. He
remembered!
Tang Shan was so shocked that he retreated.
His movements were so big that he knocked into the easel beside him, and he
fell on top of it with a "crash". Dust flew around him as he coughed.
A corner of the canvas revealed itself, and
Tang Shan somehow felt that this reminded him of his own room.
He swept the white cloth aside and was
greeted with the sight of a painting of a nude body spread out on the bed,
grinning seductively at the artist. There was the cuckoo clock on the wall, the
books on the table, the cactus on the windowsill, and the figure on the bed-
him.
He was stunned, unable to get ahold of himself
for a long time.
Memories began to flow, and he remembered
the situation at the time...
___
Li Yuanyu had brought the easel over, saying
that he wanted to draw Tang Shan. He'd told Tang Shan to continue sleeping.
Tang Shan couldn't sleep no matter what he
tried. He was much too nervous and even used a pillow to attack Li Yuanyu,
though it was of no use.
Tang Shan burrowed his face into the
blanket, unwilling to let anyone see him. If it weren't for such an intense
session last night, he'd definitely escape elsewhere to a place where Li Yuanyu
couldn't see, and much less draw him.
"I'll make Borscht for you to drink
later if you stop moving."
"I'll hold you to that." He raised
his head from the blanket, easily bribed by the promise of Borscht.
___
He remembered everything, even the
expression on Li Yuanyu's face then. Yes, without a doubt, they had been in
love.
"Tang Shan? Tang Shan! Are you up
there?" Li Yuanyu's voice travelled from below. He then stepped on the
chair and poked his head in, discovering Tang Shan in the attic.
Tang Shan sat in a corner, hugging his knees.
He was glassy-eyed and didn't seem to have much of a reaction. He was like a
statue, unmoving.
Li Yuanyu seemed to notice something, silently
watching Tang Shan. He didn't like the lifeless look in Tang Shan's eyes.
"It's really dusty up there... Don't
stay there for too long, come down first," Li Yuanyu gestured at him.
"Tell me, how did we start
dating?" Tang Shan questioned, voice steady and unemotional.
"It just happened..." Li Yuanyu
sighed and held out his arm. "Come down, let's not discuss this up here.
I'll tell you everything."
Tang Shan didn't move.
"Should I go up there and bring you
down?" Li Yuanyu changed his methods of coercion to one more forceful, moving
as if he was about to climb up.
Tang Shan panicked, staring at him in shock.
No! He didn't want to stay here with that
man, in a place filled with items full of memories of their past.
"I- I'll go down!"
Li Yuanyu halted his movements and watched
Tang Shan for a while longer. He answered with an "all right" and
retreated.
Tang Shan got up slowly, his movements difficult.
The shock of knowing he was a homosexual was too much for him. Even though he
had a few friends who were gay, he couldn't believe he was one of them.
"Be careful," Li Yuanyu looked up at
him.
Tang Shan placed both hands on the
floorboard, letting his feet go down first. Unexpectedly, one of his hands
slipped and he fell to the ground- but luckily for him, Li Yuanyu managed to
catch him in time, saving him from imminent danger.
Li Yuanyu's hold on him was extremely
familiar. While his mind had forgotten, his body still remembered this feeling.
The moment he felt the man hold him, Tang
Shan almost cried, feeling so emotional that his consciousness began to fade.
"Breathe, damn it! Breathe!" Li
Yuanyu hit Tang Shan's face repeatedly, sounding extremely frantic, as if something
terrible was happening.
From Tang Shan's perspective, he'd only blanked
out for a second, but in reality he'd fainted for about a minute. He'd lost
consciousness and stopped breathing.
Tang Shan opened his eyes, feeling quite
confused. Seeing Li Yuanyu's face filled with concern, he said, "Yuanyu,
you look terrible."
Li Yuanyu stiffened at his words, watching
him with shock.
Tang Shan, who had awoken, gradually came
back to himself. Only then did he realise he'd said something strange.
"How much do you remember?" Li
Yuanyu asked.
"Not much. I don't really know
either," Tang Shan shook his head. He found himself lying on the floor and
slowly sat up. Thinking for a moment longer, he added, "I think we were in
love."
"Were?" Li Yuanyu repeated unhappily at his choice of words, "We're not done yet,
don't use past tense."
But it was over for him. He had no feelings
for Li Yuanyu whatsoever, or at least they were not romantic. Tang Shan didn't
want to argue with him about this. Based on past experiences, these discussions
always ended up unresolved.
"You haven't told me what happened
between us."
"You're persistent," Li Yuanyu sighed
and stood up, extending an arm as he planned to help Tang Shan up.
"It's fine, thank you. I can get up by
myself," Tang Shan refused him. Unexpectedly, Li Yuanyu grabbed him by the
arm, causing Tang Shan's heart to skip a beat in surprise.
Li Yuanyu pulled him up and immediately let
him go, patting away the dust that had gathered on Tang Shan's clothes. He
sighed again.
"Let's talk in the kitchen. I'll brew
some tea so we can drink while we talk." He then left the room, leaving
Tang Shan alone.
Tang Shan stood frozen at the spot, trying
to calm himself down. He had some reservations and suddenly had no desire to
know more about their story- he was afraid he wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Tang Shan?"
Li Yuanyu was already done brewing the tea,
and seeing that he wasn't coming down, called for him loudly from downstairs.
"I- I'm coming," Tang Shan got
himself to focus and made his way out of the room and down the stairs.
Li Yuanyu's signature was chamomile and linden
tea, which was served in a handleless cup. It was useful in soothing nerves.
Tang Shan was familiar with its aroma, and he stared at the tea and chamomile in the cup, feeling a
little dazed.
Li Yuanyu was telling him about their
meeting and how they came to fall in love.
"When you first moved to the city, you
were unfamiliar with everything. The landlord who'd promised to rent you a room
gave it to someone else who had moved in earlier, so you were homeless. Patrol
officers later found you on the streets and thought you
looked suspicious, so they took you back to the station for questioning. After
they found out your situation, they brought you to me.
"You may already know this, but I'm in
charge of this city. Anything that the police can't handle will be passed on to
me, so I provided you with accommodation. You moved in, and so we started to
live together."
Tang Shan was stunned, glancing at him for a
second, and then pointed out the problem, "Live
together?!"
"We weren't like that in the beginning,
but it eventually turned out like that." Li Yuanyu gave an embarrassed
smile, and then continued, "I don't deny that I fell in love with you at
first sight, and letting you move in wasn't entirely out of the goodness of my
heart."
As he spoke, all of his actions, his words,
his expressions, were that of strong adoration and fondness, causing Tang Shan
to feel stressed. He ducked his head and picked up the silver spoon on the
tray, stirring the tea despite the fact that no sugar had been added.
"Did I move here for work?" Tang
Shan felt that this was the most reasonable explanation. "What was my
job?"
"You're my lover, you don't need to
work," Li Yuanyu stated matter-of-factly, not finding it strange in any
way.
Tang Shan, who had been drinking his tea, almost
spat a mouthful onto Li Yuanyu's face at his words.
Li Yuanyu gave him a look of concern and
extended his arm, wanting to thump him on the back. Tang Shan rejected him
weakly.
"I'm fine, thank you."
Li Yuanyu gave him a smile and retracted his
hand, his expression gloomy.
"I'm sorry, but have I really been letting
you take care of me like some kept woman?" Tang Shan was extremely
concerned about this, looking uncomfortable.
So he was alright with being someone's kept
woman? No! He didn't think he was someone with so little dignity.
Li Yuanyu sighed silently, before he
explained further, "You had a job, though I don't really know the details.
It's probably got something to do with civil service. After you got fired, you
couldn't find a new job and I tried to reassure you that it was okay, but you were
insistent that a man should have a job. There weren't any in the city though,
so you wanted to leave to find one. It was just your luck that it'd been
raining badly then so you couldn't leave, and the matter was left like
that."
Tang Shan nodded, feeling more at ease.
Remembering the scene where they were folding paper stars, he asked,
"Where was my hometown? How long have I been here for? How long has it
been since I last went back?"
"You lived in City A, though I don't
know the exact address. You've been here for more than a year. You did mention
wanting to go back a few times, but the weather here was just too
terrible."
Hearing Li Yuanyu mention problems with the
weather, Tang Shan was unconvinced, "I know it's been raining these days,
but it isn't so bad that I can't leave. Why don't I start packing- "
Even before he'd finished his words, a
lightning bolt struck, followed by the sound of someone loudly yelling,
"The tree! The tree is going to fall!"
Tang Shan's attention was immediately diverted,
but he couldn't find a window he could see the outside through. In the end, he
settled on watching Li Yuanyu.
Li Yuanyu didn't seem to have any reaction
to the scene outside. He met Tang Shan's gaze without batting
an eyelid, and steadily said, "I think it's better if you wait till the
weather gets better. The wind's been getting stronger these couple days, so I
sealed all the windows. It's better if you don't run around, anyway."
From his words, everything seemed to make
sense. Keeping him captive in the house, sealing all the windows- all of these
was due to the bad weather.
"You're keeping me prisoner."
"It's for your own good. The weather's terrible,
and you're naturally curious and like to run around."
That just sounded good on the surface. Tang
Shan retorted, "Have you ever considered that if there ever was a fire, I
would get burnt to death without even an escape route?"
Li Yuanyu stayed silent, unable to reply.
"If you really love me, then don't lock
me in here." Tang Shan really didn't want to play this card since it made
him sound weak. It was true, though, that he was powerless in front of Li
Yuanyu.
"Don't question the love I have for
you, it hurts me so much. I'm heartbroken," Li Yuanyu furrowed his brows,
emphasising how wounded he felt. He
reached out and held Tang Shan's hand on the table tightly, as if he trying to show
his sincerity.
"I won't keep you locked in here
anymore. If anything suddenly happens in the future, I'll bring you
along."
Tang Shan stared at the hand covering his, wishing
he could retract it as soon as possible. Now, he felt panicky at any contact
with Li Yuanyu, though he couldn't tell if the increase in his heart rate was
because of fear and nervousness, or because of Li Yuanyu.
"Three soldiers got lost and wounded up
in the city in their jeep. I just went out to sort things out and helped them
find somewhere to rest for now." Li Yuanyu spared Tang Shan and let go of
his hand, changing the topic so as not to make it difficult for him.
Tang Shan retracted his hand and ducked his
head, not looking at the other man.
"What are you thinking about?" Li
Yuanyu inquired in a gentle but helpless tone.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Tang
Shan shook his head, keeping his head down.
Li Yuanyu stared at the spirals in his hair,
silent.
Even while feeling the strength of the gaze
on him, Tang Shan still didn't dare to raise his head, instead lowering it
further. Why wasn't his heart rate returning to normal?
In the end, only after Li Yuanyu left the
kitchen did he relax, his body
sprawled over the table as he stared blankly at the kitchen door for a long
time. His heart rate gradually reduced to its usual speed, and only then did he
realise how much his palms were sweating.
By the way, what did Li Yuanyu just say?
Something about being lost, soldiers, a jeep, a place to stay? He wasn't
listening closely, so he could only remember bits and pieces.
Not long after, the sound of a door opening
came from the hallway, immediately followed by Jake's complaints.
"Aren't
you over-exaggerating a little, to even call me over at this time and in this
weather? Aren't you aware that I'm usually sleeping at this time? If you two
have relationship problems, can you leave me out of it? I'm always stuck in the
middle, and you know I'm not
that free-"
Jake's voice came to a halt.
Curious, Tang Shan went forward to see what was happening and was met with the
sight of Li Yuanyu with his arms folded in front of his chest, expressionless. Jake, on the other hand, looked like a nervous child who had done something wrong, his gaze flickering around.
When he saw
Tang Shan, who had walked out of the kitchen, he suddenly brightened up, as if
he'd found his savior. "Hey! We meet again!"
"Hey..."
Tang Shan raised his hand and waved awkwardly.
Jake escaped
from Li Yuanyu's side and approached him. "Sorry for bothering you, I'm
here for the food."
"You two
can go to the living room and wait first, I'll prepare dinner. Is there
anything you want to eat?" Li Yuanyu followed suit and drew near to Tang
Shan, the question obviously directed at him.
Jake quickly
answered, "I want fried chicken!"
Li Yuanyu gave
Jake a brief, fierce glare.
Jake pouted in
reply, softly muttering, "It's just a suggestion."
The two of them
focused their attentions on Tang Shan. He considered Jake's hopeful look and Li
Yuanyu's questioning one, and eventually decided, "Fried chicken doesn't
sound bad, I want to have some too."
Jake gave a
bright grin as he raised both arms up high and cheered loudly, running to the
living room.
"Geez,"
Li Yuanyu shook his head, his hand naturally making its way to Tang Shan's
back. "Is there anything else you want to eat?"
Tang Shan
really wanted to avoid this overly intimate gesture, but at the thought of
something else, he endured it.
"Hm?"
Seeing him hesitate, Li Yuanyu tried to prompt him to go on.
"Borscht."
Li Yuanyu's
hand stopped its movement, and Tang Shan could feel that he'd stiffened.
Li Yuanyu gave
a forced laugh and patted him on the back. "Coming right up." He
walked past him and into the kitchen.
Perhaps Li
Yuanyu might have found it strange that he would want Borscht. Tang Shan could
understand the reason behind his reaction, though. The one who like Borscht was
the Tang Shan who had his memory intact, not the one who had lost his memory.
He was honestly
quite curious about the taste of this Borscht that had made him give in so
easily. Maybe it was so good that it would help him regain his memories! Tang
Shan wondered to himself, fantasizing situations that were largely exaggerated,
like those in Japanese manga.
Tang Shan
ambled to the living room and sat on the sofa. At the side, Jake was watching the
cartoon, "Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner" on television. There
were only exaggerated and comical sound effects with no dialogue at all.
After watching
a small section, Tang Shan found it boring and the wheels in his head began to
turn. He began to wonder if he could gather any information from Jake.
"Jake, let
me ask you, do you know how long I've known Mr Li for?"
"Don't
call him Mr Li, it sounds really awkward. If he hears you call him that, Li
Yuanyu's gonna freak out again," Jake rolled his eyes, looking irritated.
Tang Shan
stayed silent.
"You've
known him and been with him for a long time. Even though your brain wasn't in a
good condition and you frequently lost your memories, he still stayed by your
side. You should stop pitting yourself against him and treat him better!"
Jake took the chance to complain.
You're the one
with a bad brain! Those words sounded awfully harsh, but he couldn't deny it
either. From the reactions he'd seen, it seemed he really did lose his memories
quite often.
"The
weather gets terrible whenever he's in a bad mood," Jake nagged on in a
small voice.
"What?"
Tang Shan didn't hear clearly and pressed closer to him, hoping he would repeat
it in a louder voice.
"No-
nothing!" Jake immediately denied, opening his eyes wide innocently. It
was obvious he was feigning ignorance.
"Jake,
you-"
"Beep
beep!" Jake turned his gaze to the television, imitating the call of the
Road Runner. He was pretending to be childish.
Tang Shan
stared at him suspiciously. He knew Jake was hiding something, but he had no
way of knowing what it was.
______________
ayszhang: We have another chapter for you coming right up! :)
Chapter 2
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