Summer of the Seventh Year

Portuguese translator shou × younger mixed-race gong

Road-trip story, happy ending

When Jiang Shouyan went to Lisbon to clear his head, he met a mixed-race man.

Wild, free-spirited, and in great shape.

The man dragged his surfboard over to Jiang Shouyan, who was sunbathing on the beach, and asked in perfect Mandarin, “Chinese?”

Only later did Jiang Shouyan find out that the man was his landlord.

Cheng Zaiye only rented his house to Chinese tourists. He always kept wine and fresh Portuguese egg tarts in the house.

All because he had once run into a Chinese man by chance outside a dessert shop.

They’d only met a few times, but he’d remembered him for six years.

After that, he came to Lisbon for a few months every year. Then, in the summer of the seventh year, he emerged from the cool sea just like he had every year before. By chance, he caught sight of a familiar figure.

A little thinner than he remembered, a little taller, with a more languid look in his eyes.

He slowly walked over. He could hear his heart pounding like a drum, but his voice remained calm. “Chinese?”

The moment Jiang Shouyan looked up, no summer had ever been brighter than this one.

[Coming soon] I’m Not That Easy

Lin Su yin and Qin Guanyun first met at a bar before entering the desert.

Qin Guanyun ordered him a Sex on the Beach.

Lin Suyin raised an eyebrow at the peach-colored drink.

After one night together, they silently agreed to become travel buddies. They rented a car, crossed the uninhabited desert, and spent two months together, as close as a couple.

Until the day they parted, when Qin Guanyun asked from the car, “Will we see each other again?”

Lin Suyin smiled. “If fate brings us together.”

Only then did Qin Guanyun realize that to Lin Suyin, he was nothing more than a brief fling.

*

They met again later at a restaurant.

Lin Suyin wore a hoodie and jeans, while Qin Guanyun wore a suit beneath his lab coat.

They stood in the hallway and fell silent for a moment.

Lin Suyin reached out to straighten the pen clipped to Qin Guanyun’s chest, then looked up and asked, “Are you free tonight?”

Qin Guanyun took a step back. “I’m not that easy.”

Lin Suyin: “…”

*

One night after they got together.

Lin Suyin sat in the passenger seat and lit a cigarette. “Your colleague said you never used to join group outings, let alone pick where everyone would eat. So that uncharacteristic burst of enthusiasm the day we ran into each other again was because you knew I was having a celebration dinner at that restaurant too? And you still acted all proper back then.”

Qin Guanyun took the cigarette from his hand and took a drag. Instead of answering, he asked, “Otherwise, were you going to use me and dump me again once you’d had your fun?”

Lin Suyin: …

Qin Guanyun gong × Lin Suyin shou

Theme: Freedom, courage, hope, and love