Three Years and Three Years

Chapter 81: Declare Sovereignty

“Hello, I’d like a room with a king-sized bed,” Zhou Mushi said.

“Sir, do you want two rooms?” the waitress asked with a smile.

“No, just one,” Zhou Mushi grinned, showing his perfect teeth even better than the waitress.

“Okay… here’s your room key,” she said, turning around. At that moment, Jin Yang showed a reserved smile as he looked at Zhou Mushi.

Zhou Mushi looked around and realized that he wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, so he leaned in and asked, “Is there something on my face?”

Jin Yang suddenly held his hand, whispered in his ear, and said, “It seems like I need to declare my ownership.”

“Why?” Zhou Mushi asked.

“That waitress just stared at you for too long,” Jin Yang said.

Zhou Mushi couldn’t help but laugh and cry. This was really not something that Jin Yang could do. It was because someone looked at him for a little longer than usual and he had to assert his dominance. There were so many people on the street who were willing to look at him for a little longer, did Jin Yang really have to treat them all as rivals?

In late April, when the weather was getting warmer, the two of them finished dinner and were walking on the street. They couldn’t help but think of Labor Day when they first got together.

“Hello, is this the parent of Zhou Mushi? I’m the class teacher, and I’m calling to confirm whether your child won’t be going home on Labor Day1 May 1st, or “五一” (Wǔ Yī), is also known as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day. It is a public holiday in China and many other countries around the world, and is a day to celebrate the achievements of workers and the labor movement, and to advocate for workers’ rights and better working conditions ?”

Zhou Mushi stood in the office, trying to control his expression and look like a good student.

Although he was surprised that all of his classmates in the class were going home, the school had explicitly stated that students could stay in the dormitory during the Labor Day holiday. It was just that there were fewer people in their class this time, so was it really necessary to call parents?

He didn’t need to listen to his dad to know what he was going to say. It was nothing more than the fact that the child’s family was far away and the child didn’t want to be too tired from going back and forth, so let him stay at school.

“Most of the students in our class have gone home this time,” the teacher added, not giving up.

Zhou Mushi sneaked a breath and thought to himself, ‘Could it be that as a 1.8-meter-tall guy, I could still be kidnapped?’

After some twists and turns, he finally lay in bed and sent off his roommate on the day of the holiday, and began to enjoy his own holiday.

The usually crowded small dormitory seemed a bit empty after Lin Shucheng left. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he did feel a little lonely.

The main problem was that the student apartment didn’t provide electricity during the day, and only had electricity from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm in the evening, which was a bit terrible.

He slept until past eleven, cleaned himself up and went out to get a haircut, ate a bowl of braised chicken with rice, took his dinner back, climbed into bed and waited for a call.

Jin Yang’s invitation to spend Labor Day together came in a text message sent at eight o’clock that evening.

At that time, Zhou Mushi wasn’t as experienced as he is now. At the age of eighteen, he had never been in a relationship before. When he was with Jin Yang, the two of them were like internet friends. Suddenly being invited to someone’s house made him feel a little embarrassed.

The hand holding the phone was sweating so much that he froze for about ten minutes before finally sending a reply with a simple “okay”.

“I’ll come pick you up,” Jin Yang’s text message followed closely.

Zhou Mushi subconsciously resisted and said, “No, it’s okay. I’ll just take the bus over.”

Jin Yang replied, “I’m already downstairs at your dormitory building.”

Who knows how effective these short words were? The heart buried in his chest was beating wildly like it had taken an adrenaline shot.

Trembling fingers finally sent out the message, “I’m coming down now.”

He grabbed his keys and rushed down the stairs. When he saw the man in a white shirt and black pants standing at the bottom of the dormitory building, Zhou Mushi’s emotions, which had just calmed down a little, were stirred up again.

He didn’t know why he was so weak back then, even just looking at Jin Yang made him feel like a deer in headlights2 “Deer in headlights” is a state of being frozen or paralyzed, similar to the way a deer might become paralyzed when caught in the glare of approaching headlights..

It’s not like now, where he can bring Jin Yang to a hotel room without feeling embarrassed.

At that time, Jin Yang wasn’t much better than Zhou Mushi. He held his heart carefully, not daring to be too far or too close, not daring to take one step more or one step less, afraid of making any mistakes.

The love between ‘an experienced person in society’3 社会老油条 (Shèhuì lǎo yóutiáo) is a Chinese idiom that can be translated to “an experienced person in society”. It refers to someone who is skilled in navigating and dealing with various situations in society and has a wealth of experience in doing so. and ‘beautiful flower on the motherland’4 “祖国花骨朵” (Zǔguó huāgūduǒ”) is a metaphor for a pure and innocent person., he realized that he was very guilty, like a heartless human trafficker, deceiving a cute and innocent young boy.

Jin Yang had originally prepared two bottles of beer, but when Zhou Mushi looked at him with his pure and innocent eyes, he could only boil a kettle of water.

When you are in love with someone who is more than three years younger than you, there is always a vague sense of guilt.

So on Labor Day, the two of them just sat on the couch and watched “The Legend of the White Snake” all night.

Although the atmosphere was just right, they were speechless. Jin Yang felt bad for leading the young boy on, while Zhou Mushi was too reserved. They looked at each other for a long time, and in the end, Jin Yang had to clean up a guest room.

The master bedroom and the guest room were separated by a wall, but they could not conceal the sweetness between them while lying in different rooms.

The early stages of love are always extra sweet, like strawberry ice cream in the summer, making people feel sweet from their mouths to their hearts, without feeling sick.

As Zhou Mushi walked along the street and looked up at Jin Yang, time flew by. It had been seven years since they met until now. Jin Yang was no longer the sunny senior he used to be. But it’s still okay. He hid that bit of light in his eyes, and it would all be released when he looked at him.

“Hey, if we didn’t get together back then, would there still be a chance between us after I came back from the United States?” Zhou Mushi asked as he chewed on a skewer of grilled gluten.

Jin Yang ordered a glass of soy milk and turned back to look at him.

“Are you doubting your own charm?”

After thinking about the meaning of this sentence, Zhou Mushi couldn’t help but laugh: “Are you saying that my charm is irresistible and will attract your attention no matter what?”

The man who was reluctant to speak sweet words of love turned his face away and said, “I didn’t say that.”

Feeling a little disappointed, Zhou Mushi whispered, “But if you think so, I can cooperate.”

“Oh, so fearless?” A younger person jumped over, handed over the grilled gluten he had bitten into, and said with a smile.

As people passed by on the road, Jin Yang felt a bit uneasy and cleared his throat, then quickly took a bite of the gluten, which was indeed delicious.

Zhou Mushi secretly scratched the palm of his hand with his little finger, and as soon as Jin Yang’s grip loosened, he slipped his five fingers inside and held them tightly together.

“What are you doing?”

Zhou Mushi raised his chin and said with a sense of entitlement, “The lady who sold the grilled gluten just now looked at you more, and I want to assert my sovereignty.”

Jin Yang laughed, “But wasn’t she an auntie?”

“I don’t care, just because she’s an older woman doesn’t mean she can’t have a crush on you, right?”