Chapter 50

Upon stepping out of the airport, Xu Er immediately felt the temperature of City W.

Fortunately, Song Ruichi had prepared two light down jackets before they left, so wearing them now kept him from being chilled to numbness by the wind.

Once inside the car, Xu Er checked the weather forecast again. Seeing that the snow icon had not disappeared, he felt somewhat reassured.

"Song Ruichi," Xu Er asked, "what if it doesn't snow these next two days?"

Song Ruichi replied, "Nothing of it."

"Would you have any regrets?" Xu Er pressed. "Coming all this way for nothing."

"I wouldn't regret it just because it didn't snow."

"Then what would you regret?"

"I would only regret it if you weren't happy."

Xu Er smiled. "With you saying that, wouldn't it be a terrible sin for me not to be happy?"

Song Ruichi asked, "Then are you happy?"

Xu Er nodded vigorously. "I'm happy! I've been happy for a long time already."

"So it doesn't matter even if it doesn't snow."

Xu Er was already very happy, but hearing Song Ruichi say this made him even happier.

Song Ruichi really knew just what to say.

"You two here to see the snow?"

The driver in the front chimed in.

Xu Er answered, "Yes."

The helpful driver said, "With this weather, it's bound to snow. How many days are you staying?"

"Two days," Xu Er replied.

The driver reassured them, "Don't worry, your trip won't be in vain. It might even start snowing by evening today."

Xu Er let out a cheerful "Whoop!" and said to Song Ruichi, "That's wonderful."

The driver asked, "Where are you folks coming from?"

"City A."

"City A is a nice place."

Xu Er smiled politely. "Ha-ha."

The phone in Xu Er's pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and saw it was still Xu Chen.

He had already replied to Xu Chen's previous question, but Xu Chen had asked another one afterward which Xu Er hadn't seen, and now he had sent yet another.

The two questions were:

Xu Chen: [Well, did Song Ruichi bring it?]

Xu Chen: [Is it snowing in City W yet?]

Xu Er replied to the first one first: [He didn't either.]

Then the second one: [Not yet, but it might start in a little while.]

Xu Er: [I'll take pictures and send them to you later.]

Xu Chen: [How do you know he didn't?]

Xu Chen: [I'm dying of envy. I want to go up north to see the snow too.]

Xu Er: [Our things are packed in the same suitcase.]

Xu Er: [You can come whenever you want. You don't have many classes right now, isn't that the time to go wherever you please?]

Xu Chen: [Ah, oh well. To think neither of you brought any.]

Xu Chen: [All things aside, it's best to wear one anyway, you know what I mean?]

Xu Chen: [Though Song Ruichi definitely knows.]

Xu Chen: [Hearing you talk about it makes my heart itch.]

Xu Chen looked like he couldn't help but say it, and Xu Er looked like he couldn't help but reply.

The two brothers were communicating in secret codes, tossing in some extra banter as a buffer.

Xu Er: [Of course I know...]

Xu Er: [We just came here to have fun, look at the snow for a couple of days, and go back.]

Xu Er: [As long as you want to, you can leave right now.]

Xu Chen: [That doesn't conflict.]

Xu Chen's sudden mention of "no conflict" left Xu Er completely bewildered.

Xu Er: [What doesn't conflict?]

Xu Chen: [You guys playing for two days and that thing, no conflict.]

Xu Chen: [Hahaha, never mind, never mind. I was just talking nonsense.]

Xu Chen: [You're making me all shy.]

Xu Er tossed a universal emoji over.

Xu Er: [...I should be the one feeling shy.]

Xu Chen: [Hhahahaha]

Xu Chen: [Seriously though]

Xu Chen: [It's one thing for you to be pure love, but Song Ruichi is pure love too?]

Xu Er secretly glanced at Song Ruichi.

Xu Er: [Pure love for now, anyway.]

Xu Chen: [Alright, alright.]

Xu Er: [Alright, alright.]

The silence came to an end.

Xu Er put away his phone, and Song Ruichi asked, "What did Xu Chen teach you this time?"

Xu Er froze. "Huh? No, nothing. Just chatting randomly."

Song Ruichi noted, "Your expression was very serious."

Xu Er touched his face. "Was I looking serious?"

At that moment, he suddenly thought of something Chen Nan had mentioned before—roughly that the more suggestive the novel or comic a person was reading, the more serious their expression would become.

Feeling thoroughly guilty, Xu Er offered a weak "I guess not" and turned to look out the window.

The pure-love duo quickly arrived at the hotel.

The two steps from the car had no central heating, so Xu Er locked his eyes on the entrance and made a brave dash straight inside.

Of course, they weren't limited to just those light down jackets; Song Ruichi had placed an order that morning for clothes and shoes appropriate for City W's current season.

Those items were already waiting in their hotel room.

Even better, as soon as they entered the room and pulled open the curtains, they saw it was snowing outside.

"Wow, wow, wow, wow!" Xu Er immediately started shouting. "Song Ruichi, come look! It's snowing!"

With that, he went right over, pulled the other man to the bedside, and said, "Look, look! It's snowing, it's snowing!"

It was a heavy fall of snow all at once. The snowflakes drifted against the windowpane, leaving patterns shaped like snowflakes as if painted on the glass.

"Song Ruichi!" Xu Er grabbed Song Ruichi's wrist, pointing at the window. "Look at this snow, it looks just like this."

Xu Er quickly and simply sketched a rough outline of a snowflake in mid-air. "How magical. So real snowflakes actually look like snowflake drawings."

As he spoke, he shook Song Ruichi back and forth while Song Ruichi just looked at him and smiled.

Forgive him; a southerner seeing snow for the very first time was bound to be extremely excited.

The snow was drifting down. Xu Er pressed against the window and locked his eyes onto a single flake.

Is the counterword for snow flake or grain?

It didn't matter. He locked onto one and followed its trajectory with his gaze until it blended into the distant crowd of snowflakes beyond the reach of his vision.

"It's snowing."

Xu Er smiled as he turned his head and repeated those words to Song Ruichi.

Song Ruichi smiled and nodded. "It's snowing."

Visible to the naked eye, the snowfall was getting heavier. The snowflakes grew larger, falling more frequently and with greater density.

"Want to take a picture?" Song Ruichi asked Xu Er.

Xu Er nodded. "Sure, sure."

Xu Er took out his phone, and just as he was preparing to take a close-up of the snowflakes, Song Ruichi said, "I'll take one of you."

Xu Er let out an "oh" and handed his phone to Song Ruichi. "That works too."

Xu Er was genuinely thrilled, though he wasn't great at posing, only knowing how to stand right where he was and flash a peace sign.

"Lean to the side a bit, look at the snowflakes," Song Ruichi instructed.

Xu Er uttered an "oh" and followed the directions. "Like this?"

Song Ruichi: "Look at the camera."

Xu Er looked at the camera instead.

Song Ruichi: "Got it."

After taking the photo, Song Ruichi didn't return the phone to Xu Er right away, but first transferred the picture to his own device.

Taking back his phone, Xu Er glanced at himself in the album and couldn't help uttering a "wow." "Not bad."

Putting aside Xu Er's appearance and the framing, the picture of Xu Er taken by Song Ruichi easily reminded him of the video he'd watched on the plane where Xu Er and Soso were gazing into each other's eyes.

It was a photograph filled with emotion.

After looking at the ones Song Ruichi took, Xu Er started taking his own photos and videos, casually forwarding them to their four-person group chat as well as the family group chat with his parents.

Everyone was clearly surprised by his sudden dash to City W.

Yet they quickly accepted it—such a move was very much in character for Xu Er.

Exiting the group chats, Xu Er noticed that a new notification had appeared under Song Ruichi's Moments updates.

Xu Er immediately tapped into it and saw the post Song Ruichi had just uploaded.

He had posted a picture of Xu Er—specifically, the one where Xu Er was turned slightly sideways toward the camera, pointing at the snowflakes on the window and smiling brightly.

The accompanying caption read: "Older brother, look, real snowflakes actually look like snowflake drawings."

The caption felt like a voiceover for the image, and Xu Er could practically hear his own voice.

Those hadn't been Xu Er's exact words at all. That guy Song Ruichi was really something.

Xu Er gave it a like and left a comment underneath:

"Xu Er: Hey! What are you doing!"

The snow kept falling, making the ground look beautiful, the trees look beautiful, and the rooftops look beautiful.

Xu Er pulled a sofa over and sat down to enjoy the view. After watching for a while, Song Ruichi walked over after finishing tidying up the luggage and the things they had bought that morning.

"There's still a sofa," Xu Er pointed enthusiastically toward the spot beside the television. "Put it next to mine, sit down too."

Instead, Song Ruichi shook his head. "Stand up."

Xu Er: "Huh?"

Puzzled, Xu Er nevertheless stood up.

To his surprise, the moment he stood up, Song Ruichi usurped his sofa.

Before Xu Er could say anything, Song Ruichi grabbed his hand and yanked him over.

Just like that, Xu Er found himself sitting on Song Ruichi's lap.

Well then.

That worked too.

Sitting like this, Song Ruichi naturally ended up slightly lower than Xu Er. He wrapped his arms around Xu Er's waist, pulling him in tight.

Once an intimate relationship was established, everything felt fresh. Song Ruichi's action gave a subtle tug at Xu Er's heartstrings.

"Am I heavy?" Xu Er asked after sitting for a moment.

Song Ruichi gripped Xu Er's hands. "Not heavy."

"Really not heavy?" Xu Er felt a bit mischievous; he lifted himself up slightly and then dropped back down.

The moment he sat back down, he heard Song Ruichi let out a muffled groan.

Xu Er: "..."

Oh...

Xu Er: "Sorry."

Song Ruichi chuckled softly. "Don't move around."

Xu Er behaved himself. "Got it."

The two of them quietly watched the snow, the wind, the pedestrians on the street, and the passing cars.

Fearing that he might be too heavy and that Song Ruichi wouldn't be able to bear it for long, Xu Er slid sideways, planting his bottom onto the empty space of the sofa while simply resting his legs across Song Ruichi's lap.

"This is so cozy," Xu Er sighed.

Song Ruichi responded, "Mmm."

"This feeling is too comfortable."

Song Ruichi suddenly called out, "Boyfriend."

Hearing the fresh term of address, Xu Er smiled. "Present."

Song Ruichi: "Let me have a kiss."

Xu Er obediently turned his head over.

Song Ruichi's "one kiss" turned into many.

He pressed against the back of Xu Er's head, kissing him until Xu Er was nearly out of breath.

When the kiss finally ended, Xu Er's face was flushed red.

Song Ruichi stroked the corner of Xu Er's mouth. "Who is cute to death?"

Xu Er pressed his lips together and turned his head back to look out the window. "I am not answering your question."

"I'll answer it myself," Song Ruichi said, actually answering it. "Little Xu Er is cute to death."

Xu Er couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

Song Ruichi was the one who was cute to death.

Damn it, it was sweet enough to kill.

After watching the snow in silence for a little longer, Xu Er sighed again, "This is truly comfortable."

Song Ruichi: "Mmm."

Xu Er: "Let's talk about something."

Song Ruichi: "What do you want to talk about?"

"You decide," Xu Er tossed the question back to Song Ruichi. "You start a topic."

But a moment later, Xu Er added, "Actually, I'll start."

Song Ruichi remarked, "It seems Mr. Xu has something on his mind."