Chapter 56 - Love Song on Ice (13)
Ch56 – Love Song on Ice (13)
In the afternoon, sure enough, Dong Ge came to He Changsheng’s room, bringing with him a stack of foolscap paper and a pen.
He Changsheng had always lived alone and was honestly not very used to the feeling of someone else being in his room. As he lay in bed, he kept thinking about how he should strike up a conversation with him to avoid having him, the host, appear too rude.
……In the past, this job had always been Lou Sifan’s responsibility.
He tossed and turned as he thought for half a day, thinking until he was a little short of breath. After a lot of effort, he finally managed to squeeze out a complete sentence, “How have you been lately.”
Dong Ge, “Fine.”
He Changsheng, “…..How old are you this year?”
Dong Ge, “15.”
He Changsheng, “I’m three and a half years older than you.”
Dong Ge, “En, I know.”
……He Changsheng ran out of words.
As he was racking his brains to come up with the next topic, Dong Ge’s head was lowered, the tip of his pen scratching lightly against the paper. “He-qianbei, don’t worry, I’m also not very used to talking to others.”
He Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. “En.”
Dong Ge said, “You should sleep. I’ll draw the curtains in a bit, to block out the light.”
He Changsheng said, “You need to write.”
Dong Ge said, “Isn’t there a desk lamp here?”
He Changsheng, “The desk lamp is broken.”
Dong Ge’s eyebrows rose slightly. He picked up the desk lamp and looked it over. “It’s the tungsten wire that broke.”
After saying this, he got up and drew the curtains, suddenly throwing the room into a dim, drowsy yellow glow.
He Changsheng struggled to sit up. “You……”
Dong Ge touched a hand to his pocket, checking to make sure that he still had some change in it. “He-qianbei, you should sleep first, I’ll go out and buy a new lightbulb.”
He Changsheng, “Don’t trouble……”
“Insisting on niceties is even more troublesome.” Dong Ge walked over to the bed and pushed He Changsheng’s shoulders back down through the blankets, forcing that warm, soft body down onto the bed. “Try to sleep before I come back.”
He Changsheng pulled up his quilt and said, “When you return, I’ll pay you back for the lightbulb.”
Dong Ge said, “Pay me back after you sleep.”
After reaching an agreement with him, Dong Ge closed the door behind him and left.
061 said, “Your touch aversion has gotten better again.”
Chi Xiaochi had Dong Ge’s cold, cool expression on his face, but his tone was carefree, “It’s not like I’m tofu. As long as it’s not too intimate, it’s fine.”
061, “You touched his shoulders.”
Chi Xiaochi, “Wow, even touching someone’s shoulders is considered intimate.”
061, “Could you have casually touched someone’s shoulders in the past?”
Chi Xiaochi, “So strict, I’m going to call you Liu-zhuren instead.”
Liu-zhuren, “……I’m just saying, are you really planning on using He Changsheng?”
Chi Xiaochi went down the stairs, turned into the supermarket, and strolled along the aisles. “Yes, I am planning on using him.”
061 had the vague feeling that what he was saying was different from what he himself understood. “……You mean, Lou Sifan cares a lot about He Changsheng, so if you can pull He Changsheng to your side, you’ll be able to gain even more regret points from Lou Sifan…… That’s the wrong one, He Changsheng’s desk lamp uses a E27 screw.”
Chi Xiaochi put the B22 lightbulb back in its original place. “……Other than that, this time, Dong Ge’s tragedy won’t happen. Can you say for sure that He Changsheng won’t be fooled into getting together with Lou Sifan?”
Chi Xiaochi remembered that right after Dong Ge had been crippled, he had confessed everything to He Changsheng. He Changsheng, unable to believe that his friend was this kind of person, had gone and directly asked Lou Sifan about his relationship with Dong Ge.
And Lou Sifan’s resultant panicked stuttering proved everything Dong Ge had said to be true.
Forced to the point of helplessness, Lou Sifan could only confess his feelings to him, “I like you, Changsheng.”
He Changsheng said, “You like one, while sleeping with another. Lou Sifan, this ‘like’ of yours is truly impossible for anyone to bear.”
Lou Sifan begged, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, don’t blame me, don’t be angry, okay?”
He Changsheng said, “The one you should really be apologising to is lying in the hospital. If you’re still a person, either go and properly stay together with Dong Ge, or accompany him through this tough time before breaking up with him. Don’t hurt him anymore.”
But He Changsheng had never expected that Lou Sifan truly wasn’t a person.
Ever since then, his relationship with Lou Sifan faded, becoming distant.
During Dong Ge’s recuperation period, due to his own awkward identity, He Changsheng didn’t go and disturb Dong Ge.
Afterwards, Dong Ge’s entire person became useless. He Changsheng, who had already retired from skating, came to visit him many times in private. It was just that the Dong Ge at that time had already ceased to be very capable of recognising people.
If in this lifetime, Dong Ge went through the rest of his life without any troubles, without him to cause this relationship-ending conflict, would Lou Sifan end up together with He Changsheng?
If he were to get together with this kind of person, would He Changsheng truly end up happy?
“When all is said and done, He Changsheng is none of my business, and I can’t decide Dong Ge’s feelings towards him for him,” As Chi Xiaochi paid, he spoke sincerely, “I mainly just want to see Lou Sifan’s misfortune.”
061, “……En. Then you can lessen your contact with him.”
Chi Xiaochi, “I know, I know, Liu-zhuren.”
061 said, “I’m just worried about your body.”
Chi Xiaochi, “Liu-zhuren, I know, I know.”
061, “……Ai.” His student’s heart had become distracted, he wasn’t easy to guide anymore.
By the time he got back, He Changsheng had really curled up in his quilt and fallen asleep.
Chi Xiaochi praised him with a mentality unique to a compassionate father, “What a good boy.”
But when he walked closer, Chi Xiaochi found that He Changsheng’s sleep wasn’t very restful. His eyebrows were constantly furrowed, and his arms were wrapped around his chest, his sleeping posture as if he was defending against something.
Just as Chi Xiaochi wanted to reach out his hand, 061 gave him the exact data. “Body temperature, 37.5 degrees, it’s already fallen to be within the normal range.”
Chi Xiaochi thought, then why was he still uncomfortable.
He accidentally looked up and found that He Changsheng’s galvanised iron closet was open.
Chi Xiaochi remembered that when he left, the closet door had still been closed.
And looking at the angle of the opening, it seemed there was something big hidden inside which hadn’t been placed inside properly and was keeping the door propped open.
So he walked up to it and took a look.
The next second, he and 061 both couldn’t help but laugh.
Chi Xiaochi pulled out a Spongebob SquarePants from the closet.
The Spongebob SquarePants toy had probably been washed recently. Like He Changsheng, it had the light fragrance of black tea scented shower gel.
He carried Spongebob SquarePants over to He Changsheng’s bed and sent it into his arms.
He Changsheng dazedly let out a little nasal “mm”. He reached out his hands and brought it into his embrace in a practiced movement. He hugged it to his chest, then turned over and went to sleep.
Chi Xiaochi drew the mosquito net around his bed, then walked back to the desk, soundlessly replaced the lightbulb, turned it on, and wrote out his post-competition reflection.
When he was halfway through, 061 voiced out a warning, “Fang Xiaoyan’s here. She might be here for He Changsheng.”
Chi Xiaochi spent a second matching the person to the name.
Fang Xiaoyan, He Changsheng’s partner, the young lady who, according to the original timeline, should have been sent back to her original club a year ago.
Chi Xiaochi said, “These are the boy’s dorms. The dorm head downstairs……”
061 said, “She got in by climbing a tree.”
Chi Xiaochi, “……”
He stood up and walked over to the door. Not waiting for Fang Xiaoyan who’d sneaked her way over to knock, he pulled open the door in one smooth motion.
Even when she was given a shock, Fang Xiaoyan still didn’t forget to lower the volume of her voice, “Aiyo my god.”
Dong Ge brought his slender finger to his lips, pulling the door closed behind them while he was at it. “Shh.”
Recognising the person before her, Fang Xiaoyan immediately became excited. “Isn’t this the little beauty? You’ve already moved in?”
Dong Ge pointed at the room next door.
Fang Xiaoyan caught on. She raised the thermos tub in her hands. “I skipped class and made him some egg custard. How is he?”
“He just fell asleep.” Dong Ge looked down at the thermos tub in Fang Xiaoyan’s hands. “Isn’t there a rule against using high-power electrical appliances in the dorms?”
Fan Xiaoyan tch-ed. “There’s also a rule against staying in someone else’s dorm room, isn’t there?”
Dong Ge just looked at her.
Fang Xiaoyan also found that breaking into the boy’s dorms seemed to be more serious than staying in someone else’s dorm. She immediately changed the topic, “Can’t jiejie care about him? I’m a month older than him, you know?”
Dong Ge’s tone was cold and indifferent as usual, “He just fell asleep.”
Fang Xiaoyan was able to communicate with the refrigerator He Changsheng, so why would she be scared of this freezer? She casually waved him off, saying, “I know, I know, let him sleep. I put warm water in the thermos to keep it warm, and its heat insulation is good. When he wakes up, drinks the egg custard, and washes the tub, he can give it back to me tomorrow.”
Dong Ge nodded slightly.
Fang Xiaoyan shoved the tub into his arms. “Then I’m going back now.”
Dong Ge said, “Wait.”
Then, he stepped forward and removed a leaf that had been stuck in Fang Xiaoyan’s hair.
He said, “It’s fine now.”
Fang Xiaoyan was a little stunned. She giggled, “Then I’ll go now. See you tomorrow.”
As she slid down the tree trunk to the ground, Fang Xiaoyan was still thinking about Dong Ge’s gaze.
……A little fierce, but also a little gorgeous. Just a casual glance was enough to make one feel tingly.
Fang Xiaoyan sighed, sure enough, he was a little demon.
She then sighed again, such a pity, such a pity, if Changsheng were to have this attribute of Dong Ge-didi‘s, maybe he would have long since been able to find a girlfriend.
The next day was a Saturday. Lou Sifan’s parents came to the provincial team for a visit, so he was taken out early in the morning.
He Changsheng, who, sure enough, had completely recovered after a day of rest, got out of bed, full of energy.
He knocked on the door next door.
Dong Ge was inside.
Ever since that time Chi Xiaochi had held Dong Feihong’s hand in the boulevard in Toronto, 061 had been feeling a little out of order. He planned on making “Dong Feihong” stay a little further away from Chi Xiaochi for the time being.
As such, this weekend, something happened at Dong Feihong’s magazine publishers, necessitating him to go for a meeting, so he would be picking him up on Saturday night.
Upon seeing Dong Ge, He Changsheng thought of how, when he had woken up yesterday, he’d found himself with his Spongebob Squarepants toy in his arms. His face burned a little again in embarrassment.
He had never been the type to beat around the bush. He asked straightforwardly, “Do you want to train?”
When training was brought up, Dong Ge was also very straight and to the point, “Let’s go.”
On Saturdays, there were a lot less people staying to train, and the two of them had also come early, so He Changsheng and Dong Ge had a completely empty training area.
After warming up, Dong Ge asked, “Do you want to practice on the ice? Or on land?”
He Changsheng said, “On ice. Let’s practice throw jumps.”
Dong Ge’s expression changed slightly.
When talking about his area of expertise, He Changsheng was always especially serious, and he would also have more to say, “I’ve watched a lot of videos of your competitions. You’re very good in all aspects, it’s just that your coordination still falls a little short. For us pair skaters, throw jumps are a compulsory lesson. Every time we practice, I’m responsible for throwing and Xiao Fang is responsible for jumping. The height of the throw cannot be lower than 1.5m, and when Xiao Fang lands, she needs to land on one foot and the distance of her jump should be at least 5m.”
Dong Ge remained silent.
He Changsheng’s eyes were bright as he urged, “I know you singles skaters don’t do as much of this kind of practice. Because we need to get used to working with our partners, we have to practice this over and over again, until until it becomes muscle memory, and we know exactly how to work together with our partner, how to throw them, and how to land, for it to turn out perfectly. However, if you can practice this until you’re good at it, your limb coordination will be greatly improved.”
061 said, “No.”
Dong Ge looked up and said, “En. Le’s start.”
061, “……” What about his dignity as a teacher of the people.
But he quickly reacted, scanning He Changsheng’s irises and rewinding through his memories.
The image stopped at yesterday afternoon, as Lou Sifan coaxed, urged and encouraged He Changsheng. He could be said to have taken a lot of trouble.
As Chi Xiaochi changed into his ice skates, he asked 061, “Liu-laoshi, still want to persuade me otherwise?”
061 said, “Do what you want to do.”
As he said this, he added a spoonful of salt to Dong Ge’s water bottle and stirred it in, preparing it just in case.
Dong Ge smoothly completed the first five throw jumps.
From the sixth throw jump onwards, he began to constantly make mistakes, and his expression became a little worse.
He Changsheng thought it was because he was embarrassed by failing in front of his seniors, so he applauded him, then reached out a hand to pull him up. “Get up, let’s do it again.”
When he grasped his hand, He Changsheng felt a palm of cold sweat.
He found this a little strange, but didn’t think much of it, reaching his arms around Dong Ge’s waist once again and lifting him into the air. “Ready?”
Dong Ge said in a small voice, “He-qianbei, put me down.”
He Changsheng, “……” Yi.
He could hear that there was something a little off in Dong Ge’s tone and immediately put him down.
The moment Dong Ge’s feet touched the ground, he staggered to the emergency bathroom by the rink, collapsed by the sink and began vomiting uncontrollably.
He Changsheng, who had followed him to the entrance of the bathroom, panicked. He patted him on his back. “What’s wrong, what is this?”
Was he just unaccustomed?
No, that wasn’t possible. For them, this kind of speed and the number of turns was nothing.
Dong Ge truly looked very unwell, clutching his stomach and shaking uncontrollably. Only until there was nothing left to vomit did he sit up, exhausted.
He Changsheng looked expressionless, but his face had already turned pale from shock. He pulled him up onto his back and half-carried, half-dragged him all the way to the rest area. He helped twist open Dong Ge’s water bottle. “Here.”
Dong Ge’s hair was damp. He took the water bottle and took two sips, then said quietly, “Thank you.”
He Changsheng didn’t speak, just looking down at the blades of his ice skates.
Dong Ge clutched his water bottle. “Is He-qianbei not going to ask why?”
He Changsheng said, “If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.”
Dong Ge spoke the truth, “I have a bit of a psychological shadow when it comes to making intimate contact with other people.”
He Changsheng looked at his tear-dampened eyelashes. His brows furrowed tightly. “You’ve vomited until you’re like this. Is that just ‘a bit’?”
Dong Ge remained silent, just lowering his eyelashes.
He Changsheng immediately made the ordinary associations. “Don’t worry, I don’t have any untoward thoughts towards you.”
After a long period of observation, 061 found that Chi Xiaochi’s reactions were targeted.
First, was the attitude of the person touching him, and second, was the age of the person touching him.
Chi Xiaochi’s body was like a radar. If the person touching was a little too fond of him, he would immediately react with rejection.
The other factor was age.
Dong Ge’s coach was a middle-aged man. Even just a slight, light touch would make Chi Xiaochi react very strongly.
Correspondingly, he reacted much less to contact with people of a similar age to him.
As such, with He Changsheng, Chi Xiaochi’s reaction was actually unlikely to be that bad.
Firstly, He Changsheng’s age was there, secondly, when he hugged Chi Xiaochi for the throw jump, it was purely a hug, not much different from carrying a sack of rice.
But the key was……
“It’s hands,” Dong Ge answered, “One hand directly holding another. ……I’m not very accustomed to this kind of feeling.”
He Changsheng thought for a moment, then said, “I’ve never heard others say that you had this kind of problem.”
Dong Ge pursed his snow-white lips. “No one else knows. My coach also knows that my physical coordination has room for improvement. He’s brought this up with me many times, wanting me to find a partner to practice throw jumps with. But I didn’t want anyone to know…… Today, I thought that I would be able to hold it back if I tried. ……Sure enough, in the end, I couldn’t.”
He Changsheng looked at his reddened eyes, his heart as soft as anything.
He fell into deep thought for a moment, then asked Dong Ge, “What I wear gloves?”
Dong Ge, “Hmm?”
He Changsheng, “I won’t directly come into contact with your hand. We can both wear gloves. Would you be able to accept it if it were like that?”
Dong Ge considered it for a moment, “Probably……”
He Changsheng’s pale brown eyes gleamed like a cat’s. “If you want to practice throw jumps in the future, come to me, I’ll lead you.”
Dong Ge’s eyes widened in surprise.
He Changsheng said, “I know your secret, so I can do my best to take care of you.”
Dong Ge let out a rare, reserved side of himself, nodding slightly. “Thank you, He-qianbei. But……”
He Changsheng knew what he wanted to say. “This is our secret. I won’t tell other people.”
“Then Lou-ge……”
He Changsheng originally wanted to pat him on the shoulder, but the moment he raised his hand, he remembered Dong Ge’s problem and immediately retracted it. He grabbed the strap of Dong Ge’s carry-on bag and held it tightly, like he was making an oath.
When people who couldn’t speak emotional words made promises, they would always be awkwardly earnest. “Other people means people other than the two of us.”