For Chi Yao, his first meeting with Shen Chen was far from pleasant.
The fireworks over Victoria Harbour were dazzling, and the shipyard rang with noise.
Yet he stood in the middle of the private room, drenched in red wine. The liquid soaked through his white shirt, water dripping from his lashes. He looked utterly miserable.
The spoiled rich kid who had thrown the wine sneered, "Harvard? You need a recommendation letter for Harvard." Then he turned and called out with a laugh,
"Chen, did you hear that? He's going to your alma mater."
Chi Yao lifted his eyes, wine running down his face. Amid the wild revelry, a man sat in the corner of a sofa.
A tiny orange flame glowed between his fingers. White smoke drifted from his nostrils and curled upward, veiling his handsome features.
When someone called to him, he raised his eyes and met Chi Yao's gaze. His eyes were dark.
They stared at each other. He smiled, the cigarette between his teeth making his words indistinct and suggestive.
"Hong Kong is too small to hold you anymore."
One stood, one sat.
One was a mess, the other immaculate.
One was poor, the other rich.
In that hazy moment, the coffee table and liquor table between them seemed like an uncrossable chasm.
But Chi Yao probably never imagined that this man, whom everyone catered to, would hold an umbrella and quietly wait for him beneath a streetlamp
The yellow light made the snow look like a dream and softened Shen Chen's features. He slipped his cold hand into his coat pocket, took out a paper bag, and handed it to the young man.
"Chestnuts. They're hot."
An uncrossable chasm can be filled with a warm wool coat on a snowy day, freshly roasted sweet chestnuts on a late-night street, and... love.
This is a gong-centric novel! A gong-centric novel! A gong-centric novel!
A gentle, emotionally steady, wealthy young heir from Hong Kong with just a hint of daddy energy as the gong VS a poor student who is aloof and proud around others but soft on the inside as the shou.
A cigarette illustrates their dynamic:
Shen Chen waits for Chi Yao to come out, a cigarette between his fingers. Chi Yao comes up beside him, and Shen Chen switches hands, moving the cigarette to the one farther from Chi Yao. They walk side by side. He doesn't take a puff, letting the smoke drift away in the wind as the glowing ash falls along the way.
He won't stub out a cigarette for Chi Yao, but he will keep it away from him.
A slightly improper excerpt:
Shen Chen smokes long, slender cigarettes for men. They're quite rare in Hong Kong because their flavor is mild, with a hint of mint. You can't smell the rich aroma of tobacco, and apart from not irritating the throat, there's almost nothing else to praise about them.
One night, he flew to the mainland and walked around the university campus with Chi Yao.
On the path, they ran into an upperclassman from one of Chi Yao's projects. Chi Yao stopped to chat, and Shen Chen politely said he would go smoke nearby to give the two of them some space.
When Chi Yao finished and walked over, the not-so-bright campus streetlamps cast half of Shen Chen's figure in shadow. The cigarette glowed between his fingers, its ember red as it rose to his lips. Smoke curled around the white halo of light.
Shen Chen hadn't noticed him. His visible profile looked cold.
When he finally saw Chi Yao, he smiled. "Finished talking?"
Smoke drifted in the air, a long, slender cigarette between them.
He was angry.
Looking at him, Chi Yao realized with a strange clarity that Shen Chen hadn't moved the cigarette away. His eyes and brows were smiling, but the smile didn't reach deep.
Chi Yao pressed his lips together, hesitated, then tried to placate him. "I want to try."
He pointed at the cigarette between the man's fingers.
Shen Chen said nothing. He gazed at him calmly for two seconds, then curved his lips into a smile again.
"Sure."
He turned the cigarette around, putting the burning end into his own mouth and leaving the filter facing Chi Yao.
"Come on," he said. The tobacco and glowing embers seared his tongue, scorching it, but making his features look even gentler.
Someone gazed up at him and leaned in to take the cigarette from the man's lips as he bent down to offer it.
The cigarette wasn't long. Their lips met, and as they tangled together, Chi Yao heard the man's deep voice.
"Baby."
#At first, there is a relationship that is called being kept but is really dating
#Very little Hong Kong style, mostly a sweet romance
#The gong grew up on the mainland and speaks terrible Cantonese
Theme: Love can overcome anything. All you have to do is be brave.
