CH 49
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Mimosa
Lu Xiaobei had three clients scheduled today with small tattoos; one for the back of the hand and two arm-bands which were still enough to fill up his entire day. He had never liked summer as he was used to wearing a mask while working and no matter how high the AC was, he still felt stuffy.
“Handsome man, will mine be finished in another hour?”
Lu Xiaobei didn’t look up. He tugged on his mask and said, “Yes. It’ll only take about half an hour.”
He had already finished the main design on the back of the hand and only needed to add a few lines on the client’s fingers. Lu Xiaobei used his thumb and forefinger to hold onto the client’s finger, and he used his ring and middle fingers to hold a cotton swab as he carefully finished the last lines. His phone vibrated twice in his pants pocket, but he had no time to worry about incoming messages.
After finishing up, he sprayed soap onto the finished design. As he wiped it off, the client expressed his satisfaction. Lu Xiaobei picked up the coil and darkened a few areas before he was satisfied and asked, “Is it okay? Anywhere you want to change?”
The client was already satisfied, and the result was a little better than he had initially expected. He was very quick to take out the phone to transfer the final payment, and Lu Xiaobei said, “Awesome, my buddies also want to get tattoos and I’ll definitely tell them to come to you.”
Lu Xiaobei took off the gloves and mask before he said, “Thanks, if you feel that the color is too light, contact me for a touch-up.”
“Okay.”
After the customer left, Lu Xiaobei took out the store’s cell phone to collect the money, and then took out his personal phone to check the previous text messages. There were two WeChat messages on the screen which were from the little fool Lin Cheng. He opened it and looked.
[Brother, when do you have time, ah?]
[I want to invite you to dinner.]
Lu Xiaobei raised his eyebrows and moved his fingers to reply to him, [Just say it.]
Below in the lobby, his next client was already here. After sending this message, Lu Xiaobei didn’t have the chance to pick up his phone again for the rest of the afternoon. The next two arm-bands were both for girls who were roommates that came here to get tattoos with matching designs together. By the time he finished, it was already dark out. The little girls’ eyes were red from the pain. Lu Xiaobei spoke with the girls about the precautions and received the money before he sent them on their way.
He had been stuck behind the mask and tattooed for the entire day. He fell limp onto the sofa, and didn’t want to move as he was too lazy to even blink. Many people felt that tattoo artists earned money very quickly. They were able to earn thousands of yuan or even ten-thousands just by poking an image onto someone’s body which they called highway robbery.
In the end, it wasn’t easy earning money which those in the industry knew that it was tiring. Sometimes, they would have to sit there for an entire day without time to eat or even go to the bathroom. To finish a tattoo, they could even work for a dozen hours continuously. After rushing a full-back tattoo, every bone in their bodies would feel stiff and all their joints would pop so they would wish to take their bones out.
Lu Xiaobei pulled out his phone and held it up in front of his eyes. Before he had put it away last time, he had been looking at his chat with Lin Cheng. Thus, after unlocking it, the phone was still on this page. Lin Cheng had replied to him twice since then.
[I don’t need anything. I just want to have a meal with you.]
[Is that okay, brother?]
Lu Xiaobei did not reply and read the other unread messages before he put the phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes as he continued to act dead.
The customers of his elder brother, Zhou Zui, had also left. When he walked to him, he tapped the top of his knee, “Don’t sleep here, get up, eat a meal and go home.”
Lu Xiaobei opened his eyes and grunted, “Big brother, I’m tired.”
Zhou Zui looked at him and laughed while saying, “I am also tired. Who is not tired? If you’re tired, get up and eat, and go home early to sleep.”
Yes, who was not tired? His elder brother was now past the stage of tiredness as he no longer needed to accumulate experience or refine the technology, and he was still doing drawings every day for sometimes more than ten hours a day, not to mention that he was 37. In this industry, there was no one that wasn’t tired. If they weren’t tired, they would regress and become stagnant which would be by choice.
Lu Xiaobei was 25 this year and to have the skills at his age was very impressive. This achievement couldn’t be separated from the fact that he had a good master as he had been with Zhou Zui for over a decade. When he first started following Zhou Zui around, he hadn’t even been in high school.
At the time, his grandfather had been running a small convenience store while Zhou Zui’s shop had been right next door. When Lu Xiaobei didn’t need to go to school, he liked staying in the shop. Since there weren’t that many people who wanted to get tattoos then, Zhou Zui had a lot of free time too.
Later on, his grandfather died of a sudden heart attack. Out of the blue, Lu Xiaobei no longer had any family in this world as his parents had passed away long ago. From a young age, he only had a grandfather and an uncle who he wasn’t close to. After his grandfather’s death, Lu Xiaobei became lost for a period of time. He knew very clearly that he needed to stay alive, but he didn’t know how to stay alive. How could he stay alive? How could he have aspirations?
The day that the little convenience store got sold, Lu Xiaobei squatted in front of it while smoking. At the time, he was only in eighth grade and also looked young. When passersby saw him smoking, they would jeer at him. ”Stinkin’ little kid is going down the wrong path. He stole an adult’s cigarettes to smoke.”
A while later, Zhou Zui walked out and asked him, “Where’s your uncle?”
Lu Xiaobei said, “Dunno.”
Zhou Zui squatted there as he watched him finish smoking that cigarette, and then he lit one sideways before he said, “From now on, you can follow me.”
Lu Xiaobei turned his head to look at him as he didn’t quite understand, “Huh?”
Zhou Zui reached over and touched his head which he pressed and shook before he said with a cigarette in his mouth, “You will follow me.”
Lu Xiaobei let Zhou Zui shake his head until his feet felt unstable, and his squatting posture did not hold so he almost fell from the top of the steps.
From then on, he had a big brother who let him go to school, provided food and shelter, and gave him money to spend. Later on, when he was older, Zhou Zui began to teach him to draw, and also some simple tattoos. He would start with those easy letters and patterns, and would say to customers, “Let Xiaobei do it for you, no charge, if you don’t like it, I’ll fix it.”
While others were still asking for money from home in high school, Lu Xiaobei was already earning money and watching over Zhou Zui’s house. He went to school during the day and went back to the store at night to paint. Zhou Zui did not require him to, ‘You should live in whatever way makes you happy, do not learn if you don’t want to learn.’ Later on, Lu Xiaobei did not get into a good university. He barely got into an undergraduate university and graduated with a two-year degree. However, it did not matter anyway as college students did not earn more than him.
He worshiped and looked up to Zhou Zui, and the two words “Zhou Zui” were his faith. After long years together, what remained was a strong friendship. Lu Xiaobei never mentioned how indebted he was to Zhou Zui as the word “indebted” felt too foreign. To describe their relationship with the word “indebted” was not right as it was not comprehensive enough and also too indifferent.
On his 18th birthday, Lu Xiaobei used one hand to tattoo two words on the inside of his big arm, “Never forget.”
He should not forget too many things.
Up until now, Lu Xiaobei never thought to leave Zhou Zui alone here, he had to be here for life as long as Zhou Zui did not expel him. Even if he did expel him, then he still wouldn’t leave since being called “big brother” meant that they were a big brother for life.
Lu Xiaobei and Zhou Zui had some dinner back at his home. He lived in a small apartment that he bought himself which totalled more than 40 square feet for one-bedroom and was a ten-minute walk from the store. Zhou Zui did not let him buy this and wanted him to buy a larger one, but Lu Xiaobei insisted on buying this one. He was on his own anyway so it was more or less the same. His money also had to be saved for Zhou Zui’s retirement, although his big brother saw no need for him to use his money on his retirement.
When he went back to bed after showering, he touched his phone and looked at the messages that Lin Cheng had sent him. He moved his fingers and pulled down the chat interface to look at the previous chats between the two. The last few messages were ones that Lu Xiaobei had not responded to until now.
…
In the beginning, they had gotten in contact through the shop’s WeChat account. After his first tattoo, Lin Cheng would occasionally send a few messages. Lu Xiaobei would actually reply each time. Later on, Lin Cheng started randomly sending silly videos and funny stories. Lu Xiaobei thought that this kid was a bit crazy while simultaneously also happily looking through these messages.
Lu Xiaobei didn’t really like casually chatting through the shop’s account. Thus, he told Lin Cheng to add him on his personal account. After adding him, Lin Cheng completely exposed himself as he was shy at first but couldn’t fake for too long so he was revealed to be a completely psychotic teenager, when talking to him, Lu Xiaobei would have to pick out the words from the sea of “Hahahaha” and the majority of the page was full of ” Hahaha”. The other would also make indecent jokes, and he would sometimes send voice recordings to tease Lu Xiaobei.
According to the character of Lu Xiaobei, he should have actually been annoyed since he had little patience and could not talk to unfamiliar people. Lin Cheng said that he was moving to a dormitory, and Lu Xiaobei asked him which day.
That was the first time that Lu Xiaobei entered the university, a proper university instead of the sketchy associate’s program he was in. He went around twice before he found Lin Cheng’s dormitory and knocked on the door. Lin Cheng opened the door directly without asking and was surprised to see that it was Lu Xiaobei so he had a shocked face. At that time, Lin Cheng asked him, “Brother, why are you here?”
Lu Xiaobei still had that cool and cocky look as he mildly said, “Aren’t you moving out of the dormitory? Have you finished packing? If you are, let’s do it.”
In fact, he did not think too much of that day as he just felt that it would be difficult for the small body of Lin Cheng to move many things and move directly out of the school since too many trips would be tiring. Lu Xiaobei helped him to move everything into his car after a few trips, and drove everything over to the small apartment Lin Cheng was renting off-campus.
Lu Xiaobei asked him why he did not live in the dormitory, and he said that it was not convenient to shower as there weren’t any bathrooms in the dorm and also cats weren’t allowed.
That was the first time the two of them saw each other after the tattoo. In person, Lin Cheng was different from how he seemed through a phone screen as he wasn’t so strange since he still appeared to be quite shy. However, he really liked to smile. In his own words, the genes in their family had gotten unbalanced. He laughed like an idiot everyday, but his sister never really smiled. In their family, they had an idiot and a cool girl.
Lin Cheng sometimes connected with him through calls, and Lu Xiaobei would talk to him if he was free. One day, Lu Xiaobei was putting clothes in the washing machine when the other called him, and he chatted for about two hours after he got through.
Lin Cheng would talk about his school, his family, and his cat. Lu Xiaobei listened to him and heard him giggle like a madman. After hanging up the call, he frowned as he pulled clothes out of the washing machine to hang them up since he had the feeling that this did not seem fucking right.
After a short while, he saw Lin Cheng posting a status update, [I love talking to you.]
Lu Xiaobei looked at that status and blinked. Aside from him, there could be no one else this post was about. Lu Xiaobei was not brain-dead about the meaning of this, and it meant that Lin Cheng really had feelings for him.
However, Lu Xiaobei really did not want to proceed any further with him. It wasn’t because he wanted to resist falling in love and making friends, but rather that he viewed Lin Cheng as a child who had been trying for only two days and a half so it wasn’t qualitative enough. His own personality was poor and was not the kind of temperament that could coax people. The other was too young that he really did not dare to reach out. He also had already told Lin Cheng’s cool older sister this when she had come to get a tattoo. He told her that she was overthinking it, and that he didn’t have such intentions.
Lin Cheng could tell that Lu Xiaobei was trying to put distance between them. The little boy acted like a crazy person with how much he laughed normally, but inside, he was very detail-oriented and sensitive. Later on, he even stopped sending messages so frequently. Lu Xiaobei had already gotten in the habit of checking his phone every once in a while. Even though things had cooled down between them like he had wanted, he still occasionally felt empty in his heart. He didn’t know what to do while holding his phone.
On the day of Lin Cheng’s birthday, the other uploaded a picture of a small square cake and a fat cat sprawled out next to it, [This will probably be the last birthday you’re spending with me. We’ve already had twenty of them together, which is enough. Thank you for this lifetime.]
Lu Xiaobei knew that his cat was close to death since his first tattoo that had this cat’s name on his wrist. During a later conversation, he had also mentioned that the cat was very old and had difficulty eating.
Under this, Lu Xiaobei left a comment wishing him a happy birthday.
Later on, Lin Cheng replied to him, [Thank you, brother!]
This state of nonchalance was maintained until Lin Cheng came to the store for the second time to get a tattoo. Since the part that had to be tattooed was the thigh, he wore a pair of loose shorts. Lu Xiaobei had designed it early on, and it was a rainbow flag fan that was very fresh. When they had chatted about it previously, Lin Cheng had already finished blindly praising it.
Lu Xiaobei considered himself to be a professional tattoo artist as he could give people a tattoo no matter which body part without waves in his heart. However, when it came to Lin Cheng here, Lu Xiaobei surprisingly was a little reluctant to start when looking at his thin and white legs as the inner thigh was a relatively painful location. Lu Xiaobei held the motor machine and suddenly felt less tolerant.
Lin Cheng was also very nervous while clutching the leg of the pants upwards, and his eyelashes quivered as he asked in a small voice, “Brother, why haven’t you started?”
Lu Xiaobei looked at him and pulled the mask but did not say anything as he lowered his head with the needle.
Lin Cheng unconsciously shivered, and his legs obviously shook a little.
Lu Xiaobei looked up at him again, and then began to do the line work without further pause.
Lin Cheng was still nervous, and his hands were clutching his trouser legs while his legs were shaking every time he paused before the needle. For the first time in his life, Lu Xiaobei had an unforgiving emotion when it came to tattooing as he didn’t even dare to do it.
There was a tattoo exhibition in a few days, and Lu Xiaobei had to bring his older brother’s work to the exhibition. Zhou Zui let him bring his own work and when discussing models, Lin Cheng jumped in, “I can do it.”
Lu Xiaobei looked at him, and Lin Cheng was in pain and sweated but still said with a smile, “Brother, I can be your model, you can do whatever you want, as long as it’s not the neck or the wrists that are exposed.”
Lu Xiaobei ignored him as if he did not hear.
The little fool continued to say, “I can really, ah. You can not find any models, and I am readily available.”
Lu Xiaobei thought to himself, You can, my ass. Your skin is so sensitive that your eyes have already turned red from the pain because of a small tattoo the size of a palm. You’re even making my hands sweat. You clearly don’t know the extent of your own capabilities.
It was probably to distract himself, but Lin Cheng kept finding things to talk about with Lu Xiaobei. He didn’t speak very loudly and also looked very shy in person. Lu Xiaobei thought of how wild he was while chatting online; this contradiction made him laugh soundlessly behind his mask.
When the main body of the fan was finished and only the surrounding designs needed to be added, Lin Cheng suddenly lifted his hand silently to brush it against Lu Xiaobei’s ear. He had probably been intending to touch the earring but missed. His fingers made contact with the ear itself instead. Lu Xiaobei’s ears were actually very sensitive. He felt goosebumps appear instantly on the skin surrounding the area that Lin Cheng had gently caressed.
Lu Xiaobei’s hands paused from where he was switching needles. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the other, and his gaze caused Lin Cheng to become very nervous. He curled his fingers in and appeared very awkward as he slowly said, “Brother, this… looks really nice.”
Lu Xiaobei was still staring at him.
Lin Cheng didn’t dare to look at him as he dodged his gaze, and his face got a little red. In fact, this child is quite good-looking with a pair of large eyes that are very spiritual and white skin. He was a small, handsome man. This moment, his drooping eyes revealed his long eyelashes, and he looked very obedient.
In a few seconds, Lu Xiaobei’s brain flashed with a lot of thoughts, and he could give a variety of responses like pretending nothing happened or a light joke to move on from the situation. Finally, he closed his eyes before he came close to whisper in his ear, “…Don’t blindly ruffle me.”
Brother Bei’s not some nice guy. If you keep scooting closer to my mouth, don’t blame me when I really bite you.
After the process, Lin Cheng seemed more uncomfortable as his legs were always moving.The left hand of Lu Xiaobei pressed against his leg, and the tattooed part was swollen red and even oozed blood. This coupled with white skin and black gloves gave a series of color contrasts that had a certain impact on the human eye. Lin Cheng estimated that his heart was not that calm since both were men so some parts of the body could visibly express the thoughts of the brain. The good thing was that the tattoo was really painful so there was little energy for there to be a reaction. Even though it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t enough to make it really awkward between the two.
Lu Xiaobei scoffed at himself in his heart, Lord Bei started tattooing in high school. From then till now, it’s been over ten years. My professionalism has all disappeared because of you today.
Lu Xiaobei didn’t accept the followup payment for this tattoo. Lin Cheng stubbornly transferred the amount to him three times, but Lu Xiaobei didn’t open any of the transfers. He sent a voice recording to Lin Cheng, “Don’t send it to me. This is your brother’s gift to you.”
“I don’t want it. It’s too expensive. Brother, can you receive the money and then treat me to a meal?” Lin Cheng transferred the money again after sending this voice message.
Back when he had paid the deposit, they hadn’t chatted before. He had paid a thousand then. This time, the tattoo had taken more than three hours, and the design fee was still more than three-thousand. Lu Xiaobei didn’t accept it in the end. To him, 3,000 yuan didn’t matter. He was so familiar with Lin Cheng that he couldn’t accept it and really didn’t want it. The little fool also came to the store on purpose and brought cash for 3,000 which he put into an envelope in the front room that he threw over to Xiao Lin whom he asked to hand it over to Lu Xiaobei before he ran away.
When Xiao Lin brought it in, Lu Xiaobei was tattooing someone’s body. Xiao Lin put the envelope in front of his eyes. There was writing on the envelope: “Brother, I made my own decision and wiped out a zero. I want to invite you to see a movie with the change, and I can also buy two large cups of coke, OK?”
Lu Xiaobei frowned and looked up before he asked Xiao Lin, “Where is he?”
Xiao Lin said, “Gave it to me and ran away.”
Lu Xiaobei frowned and nodded before he continued to bow his head and tattoo.
That night when he got home, Lu Xiaobei sent Lin Cheng a voice recording. “You’ve grown capable, huh?”
Lin Cheng replied very quickly, [Huo hahahahahahahahaha huohuohuohuohuohuohuohuohuo.]
Ey, there’s been something wrong with this keyboard recently. Why did it type huo…
[Hahahahaha brother, aren’t I clever?]
Lu Xiaobei had a headache looking at that string of haha’s and huohuo’s. He said, “Didn’t you want to treat me to a movie? Let’s go.”
Lin Little Bean, [Really?!]
Lu Xiaobei, [Really. But I’m going to Shanghai next week. Let’s wait until I get back.]
Lin Little Bean, [Aaaaaaaah okay! Brother, what kind of movies do you like?]
Lu Xiaobei thought to himself, Ge likes to watch porn. Are you gonna treat me to watch those? What he actually said was, [Anything. Buy tickets to whatever you want to watch.]
A movie was promised inexplicably. When Lu Xiaobei was in Shanghai to attend the exhibition, he looked through Lin Cheng’s circle of friends, and his daily energy allowed for the feeling of nausea and vomiting from the tattoo exhibition to be relieved a lot. He lived every day around his big brother and Brother Xiao which made always feel like he was still a child while his big brother also called him a little kid all day long. However, Lu Xiaobei felt that he was not young when looking at Lin Cheng’s photo. He was not a child anymore, but this little one was really young and indeed a child as he was happy every day.
Once back from Shanghai, Lu Xiaobei did not rush to line up customers for work and rested for several days. He really had a psychological shadow of the tattoo, and seeing a large tattoo now would make him want to vomit. Tattoo shows were that place in this lifetime that he did not want to go to again, and he could not point out the high-end and more awesome figures near the end of the event.
He found a day for him to take Lin Cheng out and waited at the school door after driving there. Lin Cheng came out with a cup of milk tea that he handed to him after he got into the car. His eyes were bent into a smile, “Brother, you drink first. This store just opened in our school. It’s not that sweet.”
Lu Xiaobei grabbed it and took two sips. It truly was alright, but he wasn’t very interested in these things. He didn’t like sweets that much.
It was the afternoon. The two of them first went to watch a movie, then went to eat. The movie was a Western blockbuster. They said that they were going to watch a movie so they literally only watched the movie. Neither interacted with each other during the film. They didn’t even speak to one another until the movie ended, after which Lin Cheng finally smiled as he asked, “Let’s go eat?”
“Sure, what do you want to eat?”
Without even thinking about it, Lin Cheng said he wanted to eat Japanese food.
After the two of them sat down in the booth, Lin Cheng suddenly smiled and asked, “Brother, it feels like we’re on a date, right?”
Lu Xiaobei glanced at him and laughed. “Date, my ass. This is a family meeting, not a meeting between couples.”
“Why is this a family meeting?” Lin Cheng first asked while glaring. After, he came to a realization and giggled as he said, “Brother, you’re taking advantage of me.”
“Yep.” Lu Xiaobei shrugged.
Lin Cheng really loved to laugh, and whoever was with him could probably be quite happy. This child smiled with his eyes narrowed which was especially sweet. He should be very happy indeed as his spirits have always been very high. After dinner, Lu Xiaobei sent him back even though he was still a bit reluctant to go, and he said to Lu Xiaobei, “Brother, you want to walk around our school, ah? Our school is quite big, so it’s comfortable to have a good time.”
Lu Xiaobei saw that he had been very happy today and did not have the heart to refuse him so he found a place to park the car and followed him. Lin Cheng was laughing next to him, and Lu Xiaobei later could not hold himself back as he also laughed before he asked him, “Why are you so silly?”
“I don’t know, my mother said that she was pregnant with me when she ate cold medicine.” Lin Cheng touched his nose. “Actually, I’m okay, I just get excited when I’m with you, I’m usually quite normal.”
These words were ones that Lu Xiaobei could not take so he simply did not make a sound.
Their school was indeed not small, and Lu Xiaobei came once before but only on the dormitory building side. Today, they walked along the field and the lake. A good school was indeed different as the scenery was very good. A pair of young couples in the school were talking about love at night. Lu Xiaobei’s bald head in the school was a bit eye-catching, and people would often look at him. Whenever someone looked at him, Lin Cheng would intentionally lean towards him to look like they were very close.
Lu Xiaobei thought of something and suddenly said, “Let me use your phone.”
Lin Cheng didn’t even think about it, and he took out the phone which he unlocked and handed it to him. He hesitated after unlocking it, but Lu Xiaobei already reached out and took it.
He froze when he saw the screen, and the finger that originally was going to open WeChat also stopped.
The screen was a photo that Lu Xiaobei used to post for his circle of friends. He was wearing a black hat and a black mask with black circle earrings on his ears. Although only the double eyes were visible, he still looked cool with sexy eyes. Lu Xiaobei occasionally would take a few of these pretentious photos, and play around at the store.
Lu Xiaobei only paused for two seconds, and then naturally clicked on WeChat while his mouth mildly asked, “This person is so pretentious.”
“He’s not pretentious.…” Lin Cheng secretly raised his eyes to look at him as he said that with a soft voice. It was embarrassing that the main person involved had seen him taking his photos to use as wallpaper. Since the man had seen it anyway, he simply gave up and closed his eyes before he said, “It’s my husband, my idol.”
Lu Xiaobei used his own phone to transfer the three thousand over, and then used Lin Cheng’s phone to receive it. Lin Cheng’s nickname for him on WeChat was “Brother Bei”. He had just finished transferring the money when he heard Lin Cheng’s words and Lu Xiaobei stilled. Afterwards, he sighed again and returned the phone to the other. He put his own phone back into his pocket as well. As they walked, he asked, “Your husband?”
Lin Cheng clenched his teeth. “Ah… yes.”
Lu Xiaobei stopped and stared at Lin Cheng’s nervous face as he got closer and closer to the point where his breath could spray into his face if he got any closer.
Lu Xiaobei asked him in a low voice, “So you are my… wife?”
Lin Cheng’s eyelashes fluttered and he lifted his eyes to look at Lu Xiaobei. He forgot to breathe as he was in shock. His fingers were shaking with the tips of his thumb and ring finger rubbing against each other, and his voice shook as he responded in a small voice, “… May I?”
The two of them were at the edge of the lake, with no one around and a row of trees behind them to keep them out of the way. Lu Xiaobei’s action came very suddenly when he reached out and grabbed Lin Cheng’s back to bring him over before he bit him on the chin.
Lin Cheng was startled and whimpered.
Lu Xiaobei did not let go of him and opened his collar. He gripped his neck, and then grinded his teeth on his collarbone.
Lin Cheng’s entire body was trembling under his hand as he shivered from feeling very nervous and probably a little afraid.
Lu Xiaobei was bald and gangly-looking with cool black earrings on the ears. No matter if they looked or dressed in a cool manner,they also looked like villains. Their current state makes people think that it was a standard crime scene with a criminal and a small sheep at the mercy of others.
After Lu Xiaobei let go of him, Lin Cheng covered his neck with trembling fingers. lu Xiaobei’s voice was muffled, and his breath sprayed on Lin Cheng’s chin when he spoke.
Lin Cheng could feel the sweaty hairs standing up with his breath, “Afraid?”
Lin Cheng did not say anything and felt really stupid.
Lu Xiaobei whispered in his ear, “I am such a person, don’t take me as a decent person. I am not cultured or mannered. If you want to tease me again, then I will fuck you. If you don’t want me to fuck you, then get away from me, and the next time you come up to me and flirt with me like this, I will definitely not be a good person anymore.”
Lu Xiaobei finished hooking up his lips and laughed as he stood up straight and jerked his bald head to turn around and walk away.
Lin Cheng stood still in his wake, and Lu Xiaobei walked a long way but he did not move.
Lu Xiaobei sat in the car but did not start it. He lay down on the steering wheel and froze. He felt really fucking bewildered as just now he intended to scare the child because he was afraid the other would take the bull by the horns so he scared him. However, he didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t really fucked anyone for more than 20 years that he possessed a fake style as he just now took two bites out of impulse- extremely impulsive.
‘Fuck.’ Lu Xiaobei thought that Lin Cheng was just scared with that silly look as his face paled. It was alright if the intent was to scare the other, but he ended up reacting as a result. Lu Xiaobei sat up to start up the engine as he snickered, Beibei, enough, you beast.
Lu Xiaobei really didn’t dare to take a bite out of this small sweet bean. Sweet beans should always be happy and pure. What would happen if he took a bite out of one? When the sweet bean grew up and became more mature, he would feel regretful and leave. He would probably also resent Lu Xiaobei in the future.
As a result, Lu Xiaobei did not expect the small sweet bean to quickly give a response before nighttime. He came home and took a shower. He had not finished showering when he received a message from Lin Cheng. Once he finished, he saw a series of messages.
[Brother, I’m not afraid, I just didn’t react.]
[What kind of people do you like?]
[I am indeed a homosexual, I knew it when I first developed in my adolescence, but I never liked anyone, never had a heartbeat. But the first time I saw you, my heart was blown away. When you disinfected my wrists, my heart was beating very fast, probably mainly because you were so eye-catching at first glance. You should not really take me for a child, I am also twenty, I am not afraid of what happened, ah, I am an adult.]
[Brother, can I be your wife?]
….
The last chat between the two of them, without counting the new ones received on this day, stopped here. Lu Xiaobei didn’t respond as he started to type out responses but was unable to hit send.
[I just want to have a meal with you.]
[That’s okay, Brother?]
He had not yet given a response to the two messages that Lin Cheng had sent during the day. He touched his head and noticed that his hair stubble had grown out again, so he would have to shave tomorrow. He sighed and clicked onto Lin Cheng’s circle of friends to look at his recent photos.
It’s true that he liked to look at them.
He was looking at it when Lin Cheng sent him another message.
Lin Little Bean: [Is that okay?]
Lin Little Bean” [Is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay.]
Lin Little Bean:
[I’m going to throw a tantrum if you still don’t reply.]
Lu Xiaobei didn’t realize that he was smiling. The angle of his eyes was very gentle. His eyes that were normally very wicked could also be gentle when he smiled.
Lu Xiaobei: [Fine.]
Originally, the top of the screen indicated that the other was typing. However, after he sent this message, this suddenly disappeared. A moment later, his phone started beeping like mad.
Lin Little Bean: [Aaaaaaaaah!]
Lin Little Bean: [Aaaah!]
Lin Little Bean: [Aaah you scared me so much! Then let’s go eat out tomorrow!]
Lin Little Bean: [Brother, what do you want to eat? Do you mean what I think you mean by agreeing to go eat with me?! Do you?!]
Lu Xiaobei sighed and asked him: [What do you think I mean?]
Lin Little Bean: [You know what I mean! Last time you kissed me! I wasn’t scared! I’m a grown man! Why would I be scared?! It felt really nice!!! Aaaaaah!]
Lu Xiaobei burst into laughter. He really couldn’t match these words to Lin Cheng’s small face. In front of people, he was timid as could be, but through a phone and across the Internet, he was incredibly flirtatious.
Lin Little Bean: [I wish you would kiss me a hundred more times!]
Lu Xiaobei smiled and replied: [You’re the one who said that. Won’t get scared?]
Lin Little Bean: [Won’t get scared! Why would I be scared? I’m going to face things head on! Whoever’s scared is a dog!]
Lin Cheng’s words were so beautiful, but when faced with their first real kiss, he was still weak. His eyelashes fluttered as if he had lost his thoughts, and Lu Xiaobei was afraid to really scare him like last time when he did not kiss him on the mouth. This time, it was not ambiguous as he directly nibbled on his lips. Lin Cheng’s face was red, and he let go after grunting, “My first kiss with someone.”
Lu Xiaobei pulled up the corners of his mouth to smile without saying anything and just reached out to press his head and shake it. Brother Bei had been pressed on his head every day, and this was finally a chance for him to shake someone else’s.
‘Heh. The first time you kissed someone? Master Bei is also pure, Master Bei is also a virgin.’
Lu Xiaobei did kiss the other, but wasn’t actually planning on doing anything further. He also wasn’t planning on doing anything further in the near future. Brother Bei looked very unreliable, but actually, he had a very traditional mindset. Unless they were truly in love and serious about each other, he didn’t want to reach that base.
Brother Bei was still a kid in the eyes of Zhou Zui and Xiao Ke, but now, he had to placate a kid by himself every day. Only, his child was very obedient. He listened and was well-behaved. When they met in person, he would softly speak sweet nothings. When they didn’t meet in person, he had a bunch of flirty lines that he’d send through the phone screen.
Lu Xiaobei really liked him and was always thinking about him. He changed the name on his cell phone contact and WeChat to “Little Cheng Cheng.”
When he had work, he would work to earn money. When he didn’t, he would spend his time placating and teasing Cheng Cheng. Master Bei’s spring had come. All the flowers were in full bloom. They competed with each other to see who was the most beautiful. Their romance was sweet and sincere. When Lu Xiaobei watched his big brother and Brother Xiao show off their relationship, he would mutter in his heart, ’who doesn’t have that?’
Lin Cheng Cheng truly was Brother Bei’s little sweet bean. His daily smiles and laughter made him happy, and his entire world was brighter because of his smile. However, happy beans would occasionally feel sad. When he smiled, he was extremely sweet. When he cried, he couldn’t handle it.
One day, Lu Xiaobei finished a sleeve tattoo for a client. On the way home, he called Lin Cheng and as soon as the other answered, Lu Xiaobei could tell that something was wrong. He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong?”
He had never heard Lin Cheng speak in such a tone that was a really sad one. The tone was low, and very sad, “Brother Bei, my cat is gone….”
Lu Xiaobei opened his mouth without knowing how to comfort him. He knew Lin Cheng cared a lot about that kitten named Emmy, which he had picked out for himself when he was a child and had been raising until now. Although he was prepared for the cat’s death, this day still must be difficult.
Lu Xiaobei has seen the cat as he has been to the small apartment that Lin Cheng rented. It was a very lazy cat. Lin Cheng had hugged her, and she nuzzled Lin Cheng’s arm as she waved her tail a little.
Lin Cheng was crying silently, but he could still hear it through his breath. Lu Xiaobei, who could not stand this, cupped his phone and said, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
“She’s been staring at me since yesterday, not even moving next to me,” He said slowly. “I guessed it, I didn’t go to class this morning, I watched over her.”
“It’s good that you were with her. She won’t feel any regrets and neither will you.” Lu Xiaobei heaved a long sigh in his heart. He really didn’t know how to comfort people since he had never done it before and had also never expected that one day he would need to.
“Yeah,” Lin Cheng agreed on the other end. He didn’t cry very loudly, nor did he say anything depressing. Even when he was in such great pain, he was still so well-behaved.
Later, Lu Xiaobei rushed to buy two new kittens. He bought one that was the same breed as Emmy, and he picked the most beautiful and cutest one. He also bought a fat-faced “Garfield”. He thought this little thing’s face was so round and looked very cheerful. He hoped that his Sweet Bean would be happy looking at it.
Lin Cheng did like them very much. For the first time after Emmy’s passing. he smiled. He pursed his lips as he smiled and said to Lu Xiaobei, “Thank you, brother.”
Lu Xiaobei touched his head and said, “Don’t cry again, I can’t stand it.”
“I don’t like to cry. I was too upset that day.” Lin Cheng put his hand on his head to press it on the back of Lu Xiaobei’s hand as he smiled slightly, “She was with me for a long time, I want to save my tears for her.”
“Yeah.” Lu Xiaobei looked at him, “Just consider them the new “Emmy”. She’s still with you.”
“That won’t work,” Lin Cheng shook his head and hooked the corners of his mouth as he smiled very shallowly, “Emmy is Emmy, she’s irreplaceable. I can also raise them with as much care as I did for Emmy, but they are not Emmy.”
Lu Xiaobei had never had a cat and could not understand these complicated thoughts. Anyway, what he said was what it was. In fact, he did not like cats and did not like these things with hair so he did not like to keep pets as he thought it was very troublesome.
However, Lin Cheng liked them so he began to like them.
Master Bei is a big-hearted and unscrupulous kind of person, and his temper is also very impulsive. When the fire could not be suppressed, he burst like a machine gun to diss people. However, after getting a wife, he truly doted on the other. He wasn’t any worse when compared to his big brother in spoiling people.
‘Which man does not love his wife? Is there anyone?’
Editor: Mimosa
Lu Xiaobei had three clients scheduled today with small tattoos; one for the back of the hand and two arm-bands which were still enough to fill up his entire day. He had never liked summer as he was used to wearing a mask while working and no matter how high the AC was, he still felt stuffy.
“Handsome man, will mine be finished in another hour?”
Lu Xiaobei didn’t look up. He tugged on his mask and said, “Yes. It’ll only take about half an hour.”
He had already finished the main design on the back of the hand and only needed to add a few lines on the client’s fingers. Lu Xiaobei used his thumb and forefinger to hold onto the client’s finger, and he used his ring and middle fingers to hold a cotton swab as he carefully finished the last lines. His phone vibrated twice in his pants pocket, but he had no time to worry about incoming messages.
After finishing up, he sprayed soap onto the finished design. As he wiped it off, the client expressed his satisfaction. Lu Xiaobei picked up the coil and darkened a few areas before he was satisfied and asked, “Is it okay? Anywhere you want to change?”
The client was already satisfied, and the result was a little better than he had initially expected. He was very quick to take out the phone to transfer the final payment, and Lu Xiaobei said, “Awesome, my buddies also want to get tattoos and I’ll definitely tell them to come to you.”
Lu Xiaobei took off the gloves and mask before he said, “Thanks, if you feel that the color is too light, contact me for a touch-up.”
“Okay.”
After the customer left, Lu Xiaobei took out the store’s cell phone to collect the money, and then took out his personal phone to check the previous text messages. There were two WeChat messages on the screen which were from the little fool Lin Cheng. He opened it and looked.
[Brother, when do you have time, ah?]
[I want to invite you to dinner.]
Lu Xiaobei raised his eyebrows and moved his fingers to reply to him, [Just say it.]
Below in the lobby, his next client was already here. After sending this message, Lu Xiaobei didn’t have the chance to pick up his phone again for the rest of the afternoon. The next two arm-bands were both for girls who were roommates that came here to get tattoos with matching designs together. By the time he finished, it was already dark out. The little girls’ eyes were red from the pain. Lu Xiaobei spoke with the girls about the precautions and received the money before he sent them on their way.
He had been stuck behind the mask and tattooed for the entire day. He fell limp onto the sofa, and didn’t want to move as he was too lazy to even blink. Many people felt that tattoo artists earned money very quickly. They were able to earn thousands of yuan or even ten-thousands just by poking an image onto someone’s body which they called highway robbery.
In the end, it wasn’t easy earning money which those in the industry knew that it was tiring. Sometimes, they would have to sit there for an entire day without time to eat or even go to the bathroom. To finish a tattoo, they could even work for a dozen hours continuously. After rushing a full-back tattoo, every bone in their bodies would feel stiff and all their joints would pop so they would wish to take their bones out.
Lu Xiaobei pulled out his phone and held it up in front of his eyes. Before he had put it away last time, he had been looking at his chat with Lin Cheng. Thus, after unlocking it, the phone was still on this page. Lin Cheng had replied to him twice since then.
[I don’t need anything. I just want to have a meal with you.]
[Is that okay, brother?]
Lu Xiaobei did not reply and read the other unread messages before he put the phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes as he continued to act dead.
The customers of his elder brother, Zhou Zui, had also left. When he walked to him, he tapped the top of his knee, “Don’t sleep here, get up, eat a meal and go home.”
Lu Xiaobei opened his eyes and grunted, “Big brother, I’m tired.”
Zhou Zui looked at him and laughed while saying, “I am also tired. Who is not tired? If you’re tired, get up and eat, and go home early to sleep.”
Yes, who was not tired? His elder brother was now past the stage of tiredness as he no longer needed to accumulate experience or refine the technology, and he was still doing drawings every day for sometimes more than ten hours a day, not to mention that he was 37. In this industry, there was no one that wasn’t tired. If they weren’t tired, they would regress and become stagnant which would be by choice.
Lu Xiaobei was 25 this year and to have the skills at his age was very impressive. This achievement couldn’t be separated from the fact that he had a good master as he had been with Zhou Zui for over a decade. When he first started following Zhou Zui around, he hadn’t even been in high school.
At the time, his grandfather had been running a small convenience store while Zhou Zui’s shop had been right next door. When Lu Xiaobei didn’t need to go to school, he liked staying in the shop. Since there weren’t that many people who wanted to get tattoos then, Zhou Zui had a lot of free time too.
Later on, his grandfather died of a sudden heart attack. Out of the blue, Lu Xiaobei no longer had any family in this world as his parents had passed away long ago. From a young age, he only had a grandfather and an uncle who he wasn’t close to. After his grandfather’s death, Lu Xiaobei became lost for a period of time. He knew very clearly that he needed to stay alive, but he didn’t know how to stay alive. How could he stay alive? How could he have aspirations?
The day that the little convenience store got sold, Lu Xiaobei squatted in front of it while smoking. At the time, he was only in eighth grade and also looked young. When passersby saw him smoking, they would jeer at him. ”Stinkin’ little kid is going down the wrong path. He stole an adult’s cigarettes to smoke.”
A while later, Zhou Zui walked out and asked him, “Where’s your uncle?”
Lu Xiaobei said, “Dunno.”
Zhou Zui squatted there as he watched him finish smoking that cigarette, and then he lit one sideways before he said, “From now on, you can follow me.”
Lu Xiaobei turned his head to look at him as he didn’t quite understand, “Huh?”
Zhou Zui reached over and touched his head which he pressed and shook before he said with a cigarette in his mouth, “You will follow me.”
Lu Xiaobei let Zhou Zui shake his head until his feet felt unstable, and his squatting posture did not hold so he almost fell from the top of the steps.
From then on, he had a big brother who let him go to school, provided food and shelter, and gave him money to spend. Later on, when he was older, Zhou Zui began to teach him to draw, and also some simple tattoos. He would start with those easy letters and patterns, and would say to customers, “Let Xiaobei do it for you, no charge, if you don’t like it, I’ll fix it.”
While others were still asking for money from home in high school, Lu Xiaobei was already earning money and watching over Zhou Zui’s house. He went to school during the day and went back to the store at night to paint. Zhou Zui did not require him to, ‘You should live in whatever way makes you happy, do not learn if you don’t want to learn.’ Later on, Lu Xiaobei did not get into a good university. He barely got into an undergraduate university and graduated with a two-year degree. However, it did not matter anyway as college students did not earn more than him.
He worshiped and looked up to Zhou Zui, and the two words “Zhou Zui” were his faith. After long years together, what remained was a strong friendship. Lu Xiaobei never mentioned how indebted he was to Zhou Zui as the word “indebted” felt too foreign. To describe their relationship with the word “indebted” was not right as it was not comprehensive enough and also too indifferent.
On his 18th birthday, Lu Xiaobei used one hand to tattoo two words on the inside of his big arm, “Never forget.”
He should not forget too many things.
Up until now, Lu Xiaobei never thought to leave Zhou Zui alone here, he had to be here for life as long as Zhou Zui did not expel him. Even if he did expel him, then he still wouldn’t leave since being called “big brother” meant that they were a big brother for life.
Lu Xiaobei and Zhou Zui had some dinner back at his home. He lived in a small apartment that he bought himself which totalled more than 40 square feet for one-bedroom and was a ten-minute walk from the store. Zhou Zui did not let him buy this and wanted him to buy a larger one, but Lu Xiaobei insisted on buying this one. He was on his own anyway so it was more or less the same. His money also had to be saved for Zhou Zui’s retirement, although his big brother saw no need for him to use his money on his retirement.
When he went back to bed after showering, he touched his phone and looked at the messages that Lin Cheng had sent him. He moved his fingers and pulled down the chat interface to look at the previous chats between the two. The last few messages were ones that Lu Xiaobei had not responded to until now.
…
In the beginning, they had gotten in contact through the shop’s WeChat account. After his first tattoo, Lin Cheng would occasionally send a few messages. Lu Xiaobei would actually reply each time. Later on, Lin Cheng started randomly sending silly videos and funny stories. Lu Xiaobei thought that this kid was a bit crazy while simultaneously also happily looking through these messages.
Lu Xiaobei didn’t really like casually chatting through the shop’s account. Thus, he told Lin Cheng to add him on his personal account. After adding him, Lin Cheng completely exposed himself as he was shy at first but couldn’t fake for too long so he was revealed to be a completely psychotic teenager, when talking to him, Lu Xiaobei would have to pick out the words from the sea of “Hahahaha” and the majority of the page was full of ” Hahaha”. The other would also make indecent jokes, and he would sometimes send voice recordings to tease Lu Xiaobei.
According to the character of Lu Xiaobei, he should have actually been annoyed since he had little patience and could not talk to unfamiliar people. Lin Cheng said that he was moving to a dormitory, and Lu Xiaobei asked him which day.
That was the first time that Lu Xiaobei entered the university, a proper university instead of the sketchy associate’s program he was in. He went around twice before he found Lin Cheng’s dormitory and knocked on the door. Lin Cheng opened the door directly without asking and was surprised to see that it was Lu Xiaobei so he had a shocked face. At that time, Lin Cheng asked him, “Brother, why are you here?”
Lu Xiaobei still had that cool and cocky look as he mildly said, “Aren’t you moving out of the dormitory? Have you finished packing? If you are, let’s do it.”
In fact, he did not think too much of that day as he just felt that it would be difficult for the small body of Lin Cheng to move many things and move directly out of the school since too many trips would be tiring. Lu Xiaobei helped him to move everything into his car after a few trips, and drove everything over to the small apartment Lin Cheng was renting off-campus.
Lu Xiaobei asked him why he did not live in the dormitory, and he said that it was not convenient to shower as there weren’t any bathrooms in the dorm and also cats weren’t allowed.
That was the first time the two of them saw each other after the tattoo. In person, Lin Cheng was different from how he seemed through a phone screen as he wasn’t so strange since he still appeared to be quite shy. However, he really liked to smile. In his own words, the genes in their family had gotten unbalanced. He laughed like an idiot everyday, but his sister never really smiled. In their family, they had an idiot and a cool girl.
Lin Cheng sometimes connected with him through calls, and Lu Xiaobei would talk to him if he was free. One day, Lu Xiaobei was putting clothes in the washing machine when the other called him, and he chatted for about two hours after he got through.
Lin Cheng would talk about his school, his family, and his cat. Lu Xiaobei listened to him and heard him giggle like a madman. After hanging up the call, he frowned as he pulled clothes out of the washing machine to hang them up since he had the feeling that this did not seem fucking right.
After a short while, he saw Lin Cheng posting a status update, [I love talking to you.]
Lu Xiaobei looked at that status and blinked. Aside from him, there could be no one else this post was about. Lu Xiaobei was not brain-dead about the meaning of this, and it meant that Lin Cheng really had feelings for him.
However, Lu Xiaobei really did not want to proceed any further with him. It wasn’t because he wanted to resist falling in love and making friends, but rather that he viewed Lin Cheng as a child who had been trying for only two days and a half so it wasn’t qualitative enough. His own personality was poor and was not the kind of temperament that could coax people. The other was too young that he really did not dare to reach out. He also had already told Lin Cheng’s cool older sister this when she had come to get a tattoo. He told her that she was overthinking it, and that he didn’t have such intentions.
Lin Cheng could tell that Lu Xiaobei was trying to put distance between them. The little boy acted like a crazy person with how much he laughed normally, but inside, he was very detail-oriented and sensitive. Later on, he even stopped sending messages so frequently. Lu Xiaobei had already gotten in the habit of checking his phone every once in a while. Even though things had cooled down between them like he had wanted, he still occasionally felt empty in his heart. He didn’t know what to do while holding his phone.
On the day of Lin Cheng’s birthday, the other uploaded a picture of a small square cake and a fat cat sprawled out next to it, [This will probably be the last birthday you’re spending with me. We’ve already had twenty of them together, which is enough. Thank you for this lifetime.]
Lu Xiaobei knew that his cat was close to death since his first tattoo that had this cat’s name on his wrist. During a later conversation, he had also mentioned that the cat was very old and had difficulty eating.
Under this, Lu Xiaobei left a comment wishing him a happy birthday.
Later on, Lin Cheng replied to him, [Thank you, brother!]
This state of nonchalance was maintained until Lin Cheng came to the store for the second time to get a tattoo. Since the part that had to be tattooed was the thigh, he wore a pair of loose shorts. Lu Xiaobei had designed it early on, and it was a rainbow flag fan that was very fresh. When they had chatted about it previously, Lin Cheng had already finished blindly praising it.
Lu Xiaobei considered himself to be a professional tattoo artist as he could give people a tattoo no matter which body part without waves in his heart. However, when it came to Lin Cheng here, Lu Xiaobei surprisingly was a little reluctant to start when looking at his thin and white legs as the inner thigh was a relatively painful location. Lu Xiaobei held the motor machine and suddenly felt less tolerant.
Lin Cheng was also very nervous while clutching the leg of the pants upwards, and his eyelashes quivered as he asked in a small voice, “Brother, why haven’t you started?”
Lu Xiaobei looked at him and pulled the mask but did not say anything as he lowered his head with the needle.
Lin Cheng unconsciously shivered, and his legs obviously shook a little.
Lu Xiaobei looked up at him again, and then began to do the line work without further pause.
Lin Cheng was still nervous, and his hands were clutching his trouser legs while his legs were shaking every time he paused before the needle. For the first time in his life, Lu Xiaobei had an unforgiving emotion when it came to tattooing as he didn’t even dare to do it.
There was a tattoo exhibition in a few days, and Lu Xiaobei had to bring his older brother’s work to the exhibition. Zhou Zui let him bring his own work and when discussing models, Lin Cheng jumped in, “I can do it.”
Lu Xiaobei looked at him, and Lin Cheng was in pain and sweated but still said with a smile, “Brother, I can be your model, you can do whatever you want, as long as it’s not the neck or the wrists that are exposed.”
Lu Xiaobei ignored him as if he did not hear.
The little fool continued to say, “I can really, ah. You can not find any models, and I am readily available.”
Lu Xiaobei thought to himself, You can, my ass. Your skin is so sensitive that your eyes have already turned red from the pain because of a small tattoo the size of a palm. You’re even making my hands sweat. You clearly don’t know the extent of your own capabilities.
It was probably to distract himself, but Lin Cheng kept finding things to talk about with Lu Xiaobei. He didn’t speak very loudly and also looked very shy in person. Lu Xiaobei thought of how wild he was while chatting online; this contradiction made him laugh soundlessly behind his mask.
When the main body of the fan was finished and only the surrounding designs needed to be added, Lin Cheng suddenly lifted his hand silently to brush it against Lu Xiaobei’s ear. He had probably been intending to touch the earring but missed. His fingers made contact with the ear itself instead. Lu Xiaobei’s ears were actually very sensitive. He felt goosebumps appear instantly on the skin surrounding the area that Lin Cheng had gently caressed.
Lu Xiaobei’s hands paused from where he was switching needles. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the other, and his gaze caused Lin Cheng to become very nervous. He curled his fingers in and appeared very awkward as he slowly said, “Brother, this… looks really nice.”
Lu Xiaobei was still staring at him.
Lin Cheng didn’t dare to look at him as he dodged his gaze, and his face got a little red. In fact, this child is quite good-looking with a pair of large eyes that are very spiritual and white skin. He was a small, handsome man. This moment, his drooping eyes revealed his long eyelashes, and he looked very obedient.
In a few seconds, Lu Xiaobei’s brain flashed with a lot of thoughts, and he could give a variety of responses like pretending nothing happened or a light joke to move on from the situation. Finally, he closed his eyes before he came close to whisper in his ear, “…Don’t blindly ruffle me.”
Brother Bei’s not some nice guy. If you keep scooting closer to my mouth, don’t blame me when I really bite you.
After the process, Lin Cheng seemed more uncomfortable as his legs were always moving.The left hand of Lu Xiaobei pressed against his leg, and the tattooed part was swollen red and even oozed blood. This coupled with white skin and black gloves gave a series of color contrasts that had a certain impact on the human eye. Lin Cheng estimated that his heart was not that calm since both were men so some parts of the body could visibly express the thoughts of the brain. The good thing was that the tattoo was really painful so there was little energy for there to be a reaction. Even though it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t enough to make it really awkward between the two.
Lu Xiaobei scoffed at himself in his heart, Lord Bei started tattooing in high school. From then till now, it’s been over ten years. My professionalism has all disappeared because of you today.
Lu Xiaobei didn’t accept the followup payment for this tattoo. Lin Cheng stubbornly transferred the amount to him three times, but Lu Xiaobei didn’t open any of the transfers. He sent a voice recording to Lin Cheng, “Don’t send it to me. This is your brother’s gift to you.”
“I don’t want it. It’s too expensive. Brother, can you receive the money and then treat me to a meal?” Lin Cheng transferred the money again after sending this voice message.
Back when he had paid the deposit, they hadn’t chatted before. He had paid a thousand then. This time, the tattoo had taken more than three hours, and the design fee was still more than three-thousand. Lu Xiaobei didn’t accept it in the end. To him, 3,000 yuan didn’t matter. He was so familiar with Lin Cheng that he couldn’t accept it and really didn’t want it. The little fool also came to the store on purpose and brought cash for 3,000 which he put into an envelope in the front room that he threw over to Xiao Lin whom he asked to hand it over to Lu Xiaobei before he ran away.
When Xiao Lin brought it in, Lu Xiaobei was tattooing someone’s body. Xiao Lin put the envelope in front of his eyes. There was writing on the envelope: “Brother, I made my own decision and wiped out a zero. I want to invite you to see a movie with the change, and I can also buy two large cups of coke, OK?”
Lu Xiaobei frowned and looked up before he asked Xiao Lin, “Where is he?”
Xiao Lin said, “Gave it to me and ran away.”
Lu Xiaobei frowned and nodded before he continued to bow his head and tattoo.
That night when he got home, Lu Xiaobei sent Lin Cheng a voice recording. “You’ve grown capable, huh?”
Lin Cheng replied very quickly, [Huo hahahahahahahahaha huohuohuohuohuohuohuohuohuo.]
Ey, there’s been something wrong with this keyboard recently. Why did it type huo…
[Hahahahaha brother, aren’t I clever?]
Lu Xiaobei had a headache looking at that string of haha’s and huohuo’s. He said, “Didn’t you want to treat me to a movie? Let’s go.”
Lin Little Bean, [Really?!]
Lu Xiaobei, [Really. But I’m going to Shanghai next week. Let’s wait until I get back.]
Lin Little Bean, [Aaaaaaaah okay! Brother, what kind of movies do you like?]
Lu Xiaobei thought to himself, Ge likes to watch porn. Are you gonna treat me to watch those? What he actually said was, [Anything. Buy tickets to whatever you want to watch.]
A movie was promised inexplicably. When Lu Xiaobei was in Shanghai to attend the exhibition, he looked through Lin Cheng’s circle of friends, and his daily energy allowed for the feeling of nausea and vomiting from the tattoo exhibition to be relieved a lot. He lived every day around his big brother and Brother Xiao which made always feel like he was still a child while his big brother also called him a little kid all day long. However, Lu Xiaobei felt that he was not young when looking at Lin Cheng’s photo. He was not a child anymore, but this little one was really young and indeed a child as he was happy every day.
Once back from Shanghai, Lu Xiaobei did not rush to line up customers for work and rested for several days. He really had a psychological shadow of the tattoo, and seeing a large tattoo now would make him want to vomit. Tattoo shows were that place in this lifetime that he did not want to go to again, and he could not point out the high-end and more awesome figures near the end of the event.
He found a day for him to take Lin Cheng out and waited at the school door after driving there. Lin Cheng came out with a cup of milk tea that he handed to him after he got into the car. His eyes were bent into a smile, “Brother, you drink first. This store just opened in our school. It’s not that sweet.”
Lu Xiaobei grabbed it and took two sips. It truly was alright, but he wasn’t very interested in these things. He didn’t like sweets that much.
It was the afternoon. The two of them first went to watch a movie, then went to eat. The movie was a Western blockbuster. They said that they were going to watch a movie so they literally only watched the movie. Neither interacted with each other during the film. They didn’t even speak to one another until the movie ended, after which Lin Cheng finally smiled as he asked, “Let’s go eat?”
“Sure, what do you want to eat?”
Without even thinking about it, Lin Cheng said he wanted to eat Japanese food.
After the two of them sat down in the booth, Lin Cheng suddenly smiled and asked, “Brother, it feels like we’re on a date, right?”
Lu Xiaobei glanced at him and laughed. “Date, my ass. This is a family meeting, not a meeting between couples.”
“Why is this a family meeting?” Lin Cheng first asked while glaring. After, he came to a realization and giggled as he said, “Brother, you’re taking advantage of me.”
“Yep.” Lu Xiaobei shrugged.
Lin Cheng really loved to laugh, and whoever was with him could probably be quite happy. This child smiled with his eyes narrowed which was especially sweet. He should be very happy indeed as his spirits have always been very high. After dinner, Lu Xiaobei sent him back even though he was still a bit reluctant to go, and he said to Lu Xiaobei, “Brother, you want to walk around our school, ah? Our school is quite big, so it’s comfortable to have a good time.”
Lu Xiaobei saw that he had been very happy today and did not have the heart to refuse him so he found a place to park the car and followed him. Lin Cheng was laughing next to him, and Lu Xiaobei later could not hold himself back as he also laughed before he asked him, “Why are you so silly?”
“I don’t know, my mother said that she was pregnant with me when she ate cold medicine.” Lin Cheng touched his nose. “Actually, I’m okay, I just get excited when I’m with you, I’m usually quite normal.”
These words were ones that Lu Xiaobei could not take so he simply did not make a sound.
Their school was indeed not small, and Lu Xiaobei came once before but only on the dormitory building side. Today, they walked along the field and the lake. A good school was indeed different as the scenery was very good. A pair of young couples in the school were talking about love at night. Lu Xiaobei’s bald head in the school was a bit eye-catching, and people would often look at him. Whenever someone looked at him, Lin Cheng would intentionally lean towards him to look like they were very close.
Lu Xiaobei thought of something and suddenly said, “Let me use your phone.”
Lin Cheng didn’t even think about it, and he took out the phone which he unlocked and handed it to him. He hesitated after unlocking it, but Lu Xiaobei already reached out and took it.
He froze when he saw the screen, and the finger that originally was going to open WeChat also stopped.
The screen was a photo that Lu Xiaobei used to post for his circle of friends. He was wearing a black hat and a black mask with black circle earrings on his ears. Although only the double eyes were visible, he still looked cool with sexy eyes. Lu Xiaobei occasionally would take a few of these pretentious photos, and play around at the store.
Lu Xiaobei only paused for two seconds, and then naturally clicked on WeChat while his mouth mildly asked, “This person is so pretentious.”
“He’s not pretentious.…” Lin Cheng secretly raised his eyes to look at him as he said that with a soft voice. It was embarrassing that the main person involved had seen him taking his photos to use as wallpaper. Since the man had seen it anyway, he simply gave up and closed his eyes before he said, “It’s my husband, my idol.”
Lu Xiaobei used his own phone to transfer the three thousand over, and then used Lin Cheng’s phone to receive it. Lin Cheng’s nickname for him on WeChat was “Brother Bei”. He had just finished transferring the money when he heard Lin Cheng’s words and Lu Xiaobei stilled. Afterwards, he sighed again and returned the phone to the other. He put his own phone back into his pocket as well. As they walked, he asked, “Your husband?”
Lin Cheng clenched his teeth. “Ah… yes.”
Lu Xiaobei stopped and stared at Lin Cheng’s nervous face as he got closer and closer to the point where his breath could spray into his face if he got any closer.
Lu Xiaobei asked him in a low voice, “So you are my… wife?”
Lin Cheng’s eyelashes fluttered and he lifted his eyes to look at Lu Xiaobei. He forgot to breathe as he was in shock. His fingers were shaking with the tips of his thumb and ring finger rubbing against each other, and his voice shook as he responded in a small voice, “… May I?”
The two of them were at the edge of the lake, with no one around and a row of trees behind them to keep them out of the way. Lu Xiaobei’s action came very suddenly when he reached out and grabbed Lin Cheng’s back to bring him over before he bit him on the chin.
Lin Cheng was startled and whimpered.
Lu Xiaobei did not let go of him and opened his collar. He gripped his neck, and then grinded his teeth on his collarbone.
Lin Cheng’s entire body was trembling under his hand as he shivered from feeling very nervous and probably a little afraid.
Lu Xiaobei was bald and gangly-looking with cool black earrings on the ears. No matter if they looked or dressed in a cool manner,they also looked like villains. Their current state makes people think that it was a standard crime scene with a criminal and a small sheep at the mercy of others.
After Lu Xiaobei let go of him, Lin Cheng covered his neck with trembling fingers. lu Xiaobei’s voice was muffled, and his breath sprayed on Lin Cheng’s chin when he spoke.
Lin Cheng could feel the sweaty hairs standing up with his breath, “Afraid?”
Lin Cheng did not say anything and felt really stupid.
Lu Xiaobei whispered in his ear, “I am such a person, don’t take me as a decent person. I am not cultured or mannered. If you want to tease me again, then I will fuck you. If you don’t want me to fuck you, then get away from me, and the next time you come up to me and flirt with me like this, I will definitely not be a good person anymore.”
Lu Xiaobei finished hooking up his lips and laughed as he stood up straight and jerked his bald head to turn around and walk away.
Lin Cheng stood still in his wake, and Lu Xiaobei walked a long way but he did not move.
Lu Xiaobei sat in the car but did not start it. He lay down on the steering wheel and froze. He felt really fucking bewildered as just now he intended to scare the child because he was afraid the other would take the bull by the horns so he scared him. However, he didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t really fucked anyone for more than 20 years that he possessed a fake style as he just now took two bites out of impulse- extremely impulsive.
‘Fuck.’ Lu Xiaobei thought that Lin Cheng was just scared with that silly look as his face paled. It was alright if the intent was to scare the other, but he ended up reacting as a result. Lu Xiaobei sat up to start up the engine as he snickered, Beibei, enough, you beast.
Lu Xiaobei really didn’t dare to take a bite out of this small sweet bean. Sweet beans should always be happy and pure. What would happen if he took a bite out of one? When the sweet bean grew up and became more mature, he would feel regretful and leave. He would probably also resent Lu Xiaobei in the future.
As a result, Lu Xiaobei did not expect the small sweet bean to quickly give a response before nighttime. He came home and took a shower. He had not finished showering when he received a message from Lin Cheng. Once he finished, he saw a series of messages.
[Brother, I’m not afraid, I just didn’t react.]
[What kind of people do you like?]
[I am indeed a homosexual, I knew it when I first developed in my adolescence, but I never liked anyone, never had a heartbeat. But the first time I saw you, my heart was blown away. When you disinfected my wrists, my heart was beating very fast, probably mainly because you were so eye-catching at first glance. You should not really take me for a child, I am also twenty, I am not afraid of what happened, ah, I am an adult.]
[Brother, can I be your wife?]
….
The last chat between the two of them, without counting the new ones received on this day, stopped here. Lu Xiaobei didn’t respond as he started to type out responses but was unable to hit send.
[I just want to have a meal with you.]
[That’s okay, Brother?]
He had not yet given a response to the two messages that Lin Cheng had sent during the day. He touched his head and noticed that his hair stubble had grown out again, so he would have to shave tomorrow. He sighed and clicked onto Lin Cheng’s circle of friends to look at his recent photos.
It’s true that he liked to look at them.
He was looking at it when Lin Cheng sent him another message.
Lin Little Bean: [Is that okay?]
Lin Little Bean” [Is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay is that okay.]
Lin Little Bean:
[I’m going to throw a tantrum if you still don’t reply.]
Lu Xiaobei didn’t realize that he was smiling. The angle of his eyes was very gentle. His eyes that were normally very wicked could also be gentle when he smiled.
Lu Xiaobei: [Fine.]
Originally, the top of the screen indicated that the other was typing. However, after he sent this message, this suddenly disappeared. A moment later, his phone started beeping like mad.
Lin Little Bean: [Aaaaaaaaah!]
Lin Little Bean: [Aaaah!]
Lin Little Bean: [Aaah you scared me so much! Then let’s go eat out tomorrow!]
Lin Little Bean: [Brother, what do you want to eat? Do you mean what I think you mean by agreeing to go eat with me?! Do you?!]
Lu Xiaobei sighed and asked him: [What do you think I mean?]
Lin Little Bean: [You know what I mean! Last time you kissed me! I wasn’t scared! I’m a grown man! Why would I be scared?! It felt really nice!!! Aaaaaah!]
Lu Xiaobei burst into laughter. He really couldn’t match these words to Lin Cheng’s small face. In front of people, he was timid as could be, but through a phone and across the Internet, he was incredibly flirtatious.
Lin Little Bean: [I wish you would kiss me a hundred more times!]
Lu Xiaobei smiled and replied: [You’re the one who said that. Won’t get scared?]
Lin Little Bean: [Won’t get scared! Why would I be scared? I’m going to face things head on! Whoever’s scared is a dog!]
Lin Cheng’s words were so beautiful, but when faced with their first real kiss, he was still weak. His eyelashes fluttered as if he had lost his thoughts, and Lu Xiaobei was afraid to really scare him like last time when he did not kiss him on the mouth. This time, it was not ambiguous as he directly nibbled on his lips. Lin Cheng’s face was red, and he let go after grunting, “My first kiss with someone.”
Lu Xiaobei pulled up the corners of his mouth to smile without saying anything and just reached out to press his head and shake it. Brother Bei had been pressed on his head every day, and this was finally a chance for him to shake someone else’s.
‘Heh. The first time you kissed someone? Master Bei is also pure, Master Bei is also a virgin.’
Lu Xiaobei did kiss the other, but wasn’t actually planning on doing anything further. He also wasn’t planning on doing anything further in the near future. Brother Bei looked very unreliable, but actually, he had a very traditional mindset. Unless they were truly in love and serious about each other, he didn’t want to reach that base.
Brother Bei was still a kid in the eyes of Zhou Zui and Xiao Ke, but now, he had to placate a kid by himself every day. Only, his child was very obedient. He listened and was well-behaved. When they met in person, he would softly speak sweet nothings. When they didn’t meet in person, he had a bunch of flirty lines that he’d send through the phone screen.
Lu Xiaobei really liked him and was always thinking about him. He changed the name on his cell phone contact and WeChat to “Little Cheng Cheng.”
When he had work, he would work to earn money. When he didn’t, he would spend his time placating and teasing Cheng Cheng. Master Bei’s spring had come. All the flowers were in full bloom. They competed with each other to see who was the most beautiful. Their romance was sweet and sincere. When Lu Xiaobei watched his big brother and Brother Xiao show off their relationship, he would mutter in his heart, ’who doesn’t have that?’
Lin Cheng Cheng truly was Brother Bei’s little sweet bean. His daily smiles and laughter made him happy, and his entire world was brighter because of his smile. However, happy beans would occasionally feel sad. When he smiled, he was extremely sweet. When he cried, he couldn’t handle it.
One day, Lu Xiaobei finished a sleeve tattoo for a client. On the way home, he called Lin Cheng and as soon as the other answered, Lu Xiaobei could tell that something was wrong. He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong?”
He had never heard Lin Cheng speak in such a tone that was a really sad one. The tone was low, and very sad, “Brother Bei, my cat is gone….”
Lu Xiaobei opened his mouth without knowing how to comfort him. He knew Lin Cheng cared a lot about that kitten named Emmy, which he had picked out for himself when he was a child and had been raising until now. Although he was prepared for the cat’s death, this day still must be difficult.
Lu Xiaobei has seen the cat as he has been to the small apartment that Lin Cheng rented. It was a very lazy cat. Lin Cheng had hugged her, and she nuzzled Lin Cheng’s arm as she waved her tail a little.
Lin Cheng was crying silently, but he could still hear it through his breath. Lu Xiaobei, who could not stand this, cupped his phone and said, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
“She’s been staring at me since yesterday, not even moving next to me,” He said slowly. “I guessed it, I didn’t go to class this morning, I watched over her.”
“It’s good that you were with her. She won’t feel any regrets and neither will you.” Lu Xiaobei heaved a long sigh in his heart. He really didn’t know how to comfort people since he had never done it before and had also never expected that one day he would need to.
“Yeah,” Lin Cheng agreed on the other end. He didn’t cry very loudly, nor did he say anything depressing. Even when he was in such great pain, he was still so well-behaved.
Later, Lu Xiaobei rushed to buy two new kittens. He bought one that was the same breed as Emmy, and he picked the most beautiful and cutest one. He also bought a fat-faced “Garfield”. He thought this little thing’s face was so round and looked very cheerful. He hoped that his Sweet Bean would be happy looking at it.
Lin Cheng did like them very much. For the first time after Emmy’s passing. he smiled. He pursed his lips as he smiled and said to Lu Xiaobei, “Thank you, brother.”
Lu Xiaobei touched his head and said, “Don’t cry again, I can’t stand it.”
“I don’t like to cry. I was too upset that day.” Lin Cheng put his hand on his head to press it on the back of Lu Xiaobei’s hand as he smiled slightly, “She was with me for a long time, I want to save my tears for her.”
“Yeah.” Lu Xiaobei looked at him, “Just consider them the new “Emmy”. She’s still with you.”
“That won’t work,” Lin Cheng shook his head and hooked the corners of his mouth as he smiled very shallowly, “Emmy is Emmy, she’s irreplaceable. I can also raise them with as much care as I did for Emmy, but they are not Emmy.”
Lu Xiaobei had never had a cat and could not understand these complicated thoughts. Anyway, what he said was what it was. In fact, he did not like cats and did not like these things with hair so he did not like to keep pets as he thought it was very troublesome.
However, Lin Cheng liked them so he began to like them.
Master Bei is a big-hearted and unscrupulous kind of person, and his temper is also very impulsive. When the fire could not be suppressed, he burst like a machine gun to diss people. However, after getting a wife, he truly doted on the other. He wasn’t any worse when compared to his big brother in spoiling people.
‘Which man does not love his wife? Is there anyone?’
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