Reverse Approach

The Su family’s New Year’s Eve dinner was very sumptuous, and it was all the specialties of Su Grandma and Su Jing. Su Ya’s culinary skills were not as good as them, so she could only help out on the side, and she almost delivered the salt as a sugar. For this reason, Grandma Su often scolded her for her inferior cooking skills. Su Ya was good-tempered, smiling gently, helping to set the plate end dishes.

Everyone had to wait to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Although there were only five people at the table, the dinner was lively.

Su Beimo gave Liao Nanqing the fish belly, and put it down with chopsticks. It was full of New Year’s taste.

Grandma Su took the lead in giving the New Year’s money, but Liao Nanqing didn’t expect that he would have it too, so he didn’t dare to accept it. Grandma Su’s eyebrows were kind and affectionate, urging Liao Nanqing to accept it quickly. The red envelope was the highlight of the Chinese New Year so you couldn’t not accept it. Liao Nanqing took it with both hands and said thank you many times, during which Su Beimo suddenly shook his hand under the table.

A short gesture, with such a warm atmosphere, made Liao Nanqing’s heart miss a beat.

It was as if he was also a part of Su’s family, and this illusion made him very happy.

Immediately afterwards, Su Jing and Su Ya both gave Liao Nanqing the new year’s money. Liao Nanqing had tears under his eyes, fearing that he would cry if he was not careful. The three red envelopes in his hands were unprecedentedly precious. He pursed his lips and looked towards Su Beimo, waiting uneasily for Su Beimo to say something.

But Su Beimo just picked the dishes for him, plainly, as in previous years: “Eat more, We’ll have a New Year’s Eve celebration later.”

Grandma Su was getting older, and she went to rest early. Su Ya and Su Jing were not more energetic than young people, but someone in the family had to wait for the New Year celebration. This task was naturally handed over to Su Beimo and Liao Nanqing.

The small town was no bigger than the big city. The fireworks here had not been banned. Su Beimo took Liao Nanqing to set off fireworks when it was almost 12 o’clock. Every family found an open space one after another, and the sky exploded one piece after another. Liao Nanqing took a lighter to light the fireworks and hid behind Su Beimo, covering his ears and waiting with interest for his fireworks to rush into the sky.

“It’s new year!”

From a long distance, he heard a child shouting at the window.

He also turned to Su Beimo and said, “It’s new year!”

A bunch of fireworks behind him are like splashed ink, covering each other’s sights in full bloom. Su Beimo exhaled a white mist and said in a steady voice. “Yes, time has passed so quickly.” Su Beimo’s toes were freezing cold, and he rubbed his hands together and stuck them in his pants pocket.

Because of his height, Liao Nanqing looked up at him slightly.

“What are you looking at me for?”

“…” Liao Nanqing was silent.

“Nanqing.”

“En?”

“Do you have any New Year’s wishes?” Su Beimo asked him.

Liao Nanqing thought for a while, and there really was one, but it was difficult to achieve, like a dream. Seeing that he did not answer, Su Beimo stood there for a moment and sighed helplessly: “Sometimes I really suspect that you have cotton in your ears, your reaction is a few beats slow.” After finishing speaking, he habitually rubbed Liao Nanqing’s head.

Liao Nanqing was deafened by the fireworks exploding in his ears, rumbling a few times, his gaze lingered for a long time.

The moment they heard the fireworks ending, from a distance, a faint sound came out through the half-open windows of other houses. It was the voice of the TV host of the Spring Festival Gala, biting the words squarely, counting down: five, four, three…

The surroundings were silent, and the dust of the fireworks was drifting slowly.

He breathed slowly in his nose.

Su Beimo lowered his head slightly and kicked away a ball of snow. He turned his face sideways, showing a mouthful of white teeth in the glow of the streetlights, “Happy New Year.”

…Two, one.

Happy New Year!

Liao Nanqing was instantly caught in a beautiful dream, his thoughts were chaotic. He slowly reached out his hand and cupped Su Beimo’s face.

A new round of fireworks bloomed, and today’s night was no longer a night. It was a brilliant day, falling in Liao Nanqing’s heart.

He stepped a little to the left, his cheeks flushed, and taking advantage of the New Year night when no one saw him, he quickly touched Su Beimo’s face and kissed it lightly. It was not warm, but a slightly cool and soft touch.

Like fireworks, it blossomed incomparably in Su Beimo’s heart.

Su Beimo took a deep breath and was silent as he took the key and opened the door. He took Liao Nanqing straight to his room and enclosed the cowering Liao Nanqing against the wall. Su Beimo supported himself with one hand, blocking the other’s escape inside and out.

Whether it was Grandma Su, or Su Ya and Su Jing, they were all resting early in the room at this moment. Outside was the continuous sound of firecrackers in the spring night, louder than the previous moment that they had to speak to their ears to hear each other’s voices clearly.

Warm, tingling, extremely strange and throbbing.

Su Beimo’s breath brushed against Liao Nanqing’s ear, but within a few seconds, Liao Nanqing was completely awake, and he timidly looked at Su Beimo.

The temperature inside the room was so different from the outside that it made Liao Nanqing’s head buzz with pain and his earlobes tingled with the coldness. Any physical reaction was delayed for a second, and all of his body became hot, unlike himself, like a red-boiled shrimp. The sensation of being surrounded by Su Beimo was familiar, even clinging. What Xu Yanyan said was true; some of their actions were like lovers.

But Liao Nanqing did not dare to speculate: “I…”

The word had not become a sentence, his eyes were wet.

Knowing that it was an unfulfilled New Year’s wish, it was taken apart and put in front of Su Beimo, self-defeating, collapsing. With the disappearance of the fireworks outside the window, it was as long as a day and night dream.

Su Beimo’s voice was calm, and every word sounded square and round, and every stroke was covered with trembling: “Tell me.”

Three characters, a period, short and long in echo.

Liao Nanqing’s ears burned, and his rapid heartbeat brought him back to reality and pushed him back into the dream world. This was repeated over and over again, and he looked like he had made a huge mistake, his eyelashes trembling uncontrollably.

“Nanqing.” Su Beimo called to him.

Liao Nanqing looked up at the sound of his voice, only to see Su Beimo’s urgent and eager eyes, which penetrated through his heart and bones, seeping into his bone marrow, like a suppressed wave of shock.

But Liao Nanqing could feel that Su Beimo was not angry, even waiting.

He seemed to be alarmed by Su Beimo’s response and took a deep breath in dumbly.

Su Beimo was not as strong or lazy as usual. Su Beimo, who grew a year older after the new year, seemed to be an adult who was at odds with Liao Nanqing’s youthful atmosphere and exuded a mature charm. He attracted Liao Nanqing, to put it bluntly, that he was seducing him all the time.

Su Beimo touched Liao Nanqing’s face, his eyes were endlessly lustrous. The room did not have the lights on, and with the bright light from the window, Liao Nanqing was able to see Su Beimo’s expression. A second ago he was turbulent, now like a lake ripples, a stone falling into it, and the ripples scattered. It was a feeling of anxiety as before, he liked it as always

“Nanqing, say it.” He pleaded, “Tell me.”

Liao Nanqing was possessed, caught in the path of Su Beimo.

He finally figured out that Su Beimo was a rare maze for him, and once he entered, he could never get out. The exit had been welded shut, he could only spend his youth in this like, usher in the snow white head.

He floated a sinking boat, swam here, even if this drowning was his destiny.

So, he spoke.

“I like you.” He said it close to Su Beimo’s ear, and not only that, Liao Nanqing reached out and hugged Su Beimo tightly, repeating defiantly, “Like you, like you so much.”

From the beginning I miss you, to today’s I like you, the honesty from the beginning to the end, without any hint of pomposity or deception. He pressed his cheek to Su Beimo’s chest, listened to his heart beating violently, and heard his own heart rolling with excitement.

I like you——

Like you——

Happy from beginning to end.

So brave.

Liao Nanqing found himself being held tightly back by Su Beimo, and he could feel the arms wrapped around him tightening up more and more.

It felt as if he was afraid that he would suddenly run away and would disappear.

Because Su Beimo told him, “I like you, too.”

Like very much, like very, very much.

At 12:20 in the morning, the new year had only begun for the twentieth minute, and a thousand colors bloomed in the dark night sky, the New Year’s bell echoed in people’s hearts for a long time, and they kissed.

Su Beimo took the initiative, he held Liao Nanqing’s face, lowered his head to kiss Liao Nanqing’s slightly cool lips. Careful, gentle, better than spring water flowing through and light wind blowing through. With wings brushing over Liao Nanqing’s sour first love, flowing down the slow flow of sweetness. The dry kiss, courtesy of the touch couldn’t meet the desire of Su Beimo’s heart.

Su Beimo’s kiss gradually became moist, stubbornly sucking Liao Nanqing’s soft lips, wetly cutting across the wings of Liao Nanqing’s lips that could hardly breathe properly. The warm tongue swept unreasonably across Liao Nanqing’s lips, startling him to open his mouth, and just like that, Su Beimo’s tongue managed to break into Liao Nanqing’s unfamiliar mouth, entwining his tongue in and out.

It was the first time that Liao Nanqing kissed, and he reacted to Su Beimo in a dazed manner.

It was also the first time that Liao Nanqing knew that exchanging saliva with someone was such a comfortable and sweet thing. Just once, it could make people’s body heat up around them and put them in the clouds. But thinking about it carefully, as long as he was with Su Beimo, everything was good.

He closed his eyes in a daze, accepting Su Beimo’s long-suppressed feelings. The body was hot, Liao Nanqing’s lower lip was bitten by Su Beimo, very light, not too hard, but he could sense Su Beimo’s emotions.

He was kissed so much that he didn’t know how to breathe, his chest couldn’t stop rising and falling, and he could not easily stop, panting heavily. Even those legs became limp and weak, struggling to hold Su Beimo in order to barely stand.

Liao Nanqing opened his eyes tremblingly and whispered Su Beimo’s name, small and timid, with a hundred kinds of dependence and waiting.

Su Beimo let out a soft sigh from between his throat, revealing a nice smile, still hugging him tightly and kissing his forehead twice: “Thank you for liking me.”

That night, Liao Nanqing and Su Beimo slept together, and he had a good dream.

He dreamed that he had gotten into a university in City B, but Su Beimo didn’t know it yet. In order to tell Su Beimo, he took the acceptance letter and set off on a moving train. He didn’t bring anything, he went with an acceptance letter in his pocket. Just like that time when he waited alone at Su Beimo’s neighborhood with a cake in his hand.

Just ask.

Who had not been impulsive in their youth? An hour and a half of the train ride is actually not a big rebellion. Liao Nanqing felt that he liked Su Beimo to an extent that it couldn’t be explained with this small impulsive act.

His liking should be like the vast universe to match Su Beimo’s goodness.

So because of this dream, he woke up with a smile.

On the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, Grandma Su cooked sesame filled dumplings. When Liao Nanqing got up and finished washing up, Su Beimo was already sitting in the living room eating half of the bowl. Su Ya and Su Jing went out to buy groceries, and Grandma Su stayed home to wait for the two little ones to get up and cook the dumplings.

“Come on, Nanqing. Wake up early on the first day of the new year and have dumplings, so that you can have a happy life from now on.”

Grandma Su also served him a bowl, and Liao Nanqing sat down next to Su Beimo with the bowl, who swallowed a mouthful of soft dumplings: “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Liao Nanqing ate one by one with a red face, glancing at Su Beimo beside him every now and then.

Su Beimo ate the dumplings quietly and occasionally had a few words with Grandma Su, but not a word with Liao Nanqing. Liao Nanqing ate a few dumplings in silence and couldn’t eat any more. He got up to help Grandma Su to wash the dishes and came out to see Su Beimo answering the phone. It seemed to be Su Beimo’s mother calling, and they talked for about half an hour before hanging up.

When Liao Nanqing walked over, Su Beimo threw him an orange: “We’ll make dumplings together later.”

His tone was calm and he was scrolling the news with his phone as usual.

Liao Nanqing hesitated, unsure if last night’s confession and kiss were real. Maybe it was a dream he had, after all, he also dreamed that he had gotten into the undergraduate program in B City. At this thought, he lost and his eyebrows drooped even more.

“Why are you standing?” Su Beimo said, “It’s a nice day, let’s go outside and play badminton together for a while this afternoon.”

“Okay, but at two o’clock I have to go to the restaurant to wash the dishes. I already took a day off yesterday.” Liao Nanqing nodded like a chicken pecking rice, peeled the orange and stuffed two pieces into his mouth casually.

Sweet, but the heart was sour.

He hoped that everything last night was not a dream.

Su Beimo peeled another orange, Grandma Su nagged: “You eat a few less oranges, do not get angry again.” At the end, she asked Nanqing, “Nanqing, what kind of dumplings do you like? Do you want to eat Shepherd’s Purse?”1

Liao Nanqing returned, “Grandma, I eat it all.”

“Hey, good kids just aren’t picky eaters.” Grandma Su was mixing the stuffing and turned her head to Su Beimo and said, “Go see if the store is open and buy a bottle of fresh soy sauce.”

“It’s New Year, they’re not open!”

“Then you can go to the market to have a look!”

Su Beimo got up, went to his room to get his coat, and called out to Liao Nanqing: “Go get a coat, let’s go together.” Liao Nanqing followed without saying a word, but once he arrived at the room, Su Beimo locked the door smoothly, pressed him against the door, cupped his chin and kissed him without any accommodation.

Liao Nanqing didn’t react for a while, and Su Beimo stuffed five hundred dollars into his clothes pocket coldly.

“No going to wash the dishes, your next few days, I’ll buy it.”

Liao Nanqing raised his eyes, half confused, half awake, and said pitifully: “I thought it was a dream yesterday, you didn’t care about me just now.”

“Stupid, you’re only in your third year of high school, falling in love now is puppy love, do you know?” On the contrary, Su Beimo reasonably lectured him, “How can early love be blatant, don’t you think so?”

Knowing that Su Beimo was teasing him, Liao Nanqing still responded and said foolishly, “So are you and I going to have a secret puppy love?”

“Remove the word ‘you’2, only you are in puppy love, I am not.” Su Beimo kissed him again and said especially reluctantly, “Just take a few days off, don’t go to work, and stay with me for a few days.”

Liao Nanqing agreed, as he only had a week of holiday and he wanted to stick to Su Beimo.

Su Beimo squeezed his face: “Really obedient.”

1

also known as jicai (the pinyin of it). This is a legit name for it, idk any other name for it except for the scientific name – Capsella bursa-pastoris

in chinese we is wǒmen(我们) while I/me is wǒ(我), which is why I changed we to you and I