When Qin Youyou came home two days later, upon walking through the door he spotted a brand-new desk by the back window, with a small desk lamp on it.

He stood in the doorway staring before shouting out “Ge!”

Wei Dong came in from the balcony, wiping his hands and smiling. “Did you have a look? Do you like it?”

Qin Youyou laughed and ran over, reaching out to grip his hands. “Is this… Did you buy this for me?”

“Yes,” Wei Dong took his heavy bag from him and took out all the books and put on the table. He hung up the bag on the clothes hook. “I know someone next door that works at the furniture market and offered me a good price. Now you can study here in the future, you don’t need to sit on the bathroom floor.”

Qin Youyou stared blankly before rushing towards Wei Dong. He rubbed his face all over his shoulders. “I’ll definitely use this to study, Ge.”

“Mm,” Wei Dong patted his back.

“Wait until I get my certificate and get a good job, I will make money to pay you back.”

“Okay,” Wei Dong smiled at him, holding his face and kissing him. “Then I will wait for you.”

Qin Youyou studied even harder.

Wei Dong didn’t know how many times he woke up in the middle of the night and found him having fallen asleep under the small lamp. After sighing and carrying the person back to bed, he decided to have a talk with Qin Youyou.

“Resign?” Qin Youyou bit the fruit jianbing[1] and stared.

“Your few temporary jobs come and go, so it doesn’t count as a resignation. They take up a lot of time and pay less money, so it’s not necessary to do them.”

“But less money is still money. If I don’t…” Qin Youyou didn’t say anything more. He lowered his head and took a bite of his jianbing, his expression a little stubborn.

Wei Dong looked at him. “Every person only had a finite amount of energy every day. The pressure for you to take the self-study exams is quite high, and you can’t manage with both responsibilities. What will you do if your health is affected? Listen to me, Youyou. The self-study exams are already a big deal. Focus on that, you don’t need to worry about the money.”

“Ge,” Qin Youyou lowered his head and rubbed his nose. “If I allow you to take care of all my expenses, I won’t say anything about it. But my mom has a lot of expenses every month, and it’s a lot. I can’t let you take responsibility for them.”

“I’ll only do it for a few months. When you finish your exams and can you work, then I won’t stop you.”

“You earn money by working very hard. My mother’s expenses every month are a little more than half your monthly salary.”

Wei Dong smiled. “I have enough savings. Don’t worry so much. You just study well. If you need to buy any materials… I don’t understand those things. You just go ahead and buy them. Don’t be reluctant to spend the money.”

Qin Youyou’s head was lowered the entire time. He just slowly chewing his jianbing. After a long time, a teardrop fell on the back of his hand. He sniffed and turned his head away.

Wei Dong sighted. “Don’t always cry, Youyou. I don’t have the ability to do a lot for you. You’ve done so much, and watching you hurts my heart.”

Qin Youyou wiped his tears and looked up at him with his red rimmed eyes.

This pitiful look amused Wei Dong. He reached out and wiped the corner of Qin Youyou’s eyes. “And besides, aren’t we… Am I not your boyfriend? I should be able to do things for you. I can’t help you study, so I can only try my best to share the rest of the burden. That’s how two people work together as one, wouldn’t you say so?”

Qin Youyou finished eating the mouthful of fruit jianbing and wiped his face. He got up and straddled Wei Dong’s lap, lying across his chest. Wei Dong immediately wrapped his arms around him.

“I’ll definitely pass, Ge. Within two years at most, I’ll definitely get my graduation certificate.”

“Good,” Wei Dong patted his back. “But your health is more important, you got it?”

“Mm” was Qin Youyou’s response. After a while he buried his face.

—-

Wei Dong was spending more time at work, standing in for other people at the construction site. Sometimes he’d come back after working all night, take a shower and go sleep for a bit, before getting up the afternoon and leaving again.

Qin Youyou was so distressed he didn’t know what to say. He felt that anything he would say would be redundant.

When Wei Dong goes to sleep, he is used to holding him so he crawls into bed to lie down with him for a bit. Wei Dong’s eyes were closed and he held his hand. “Don’t think about it too much. I’m just working a little harder. Your studying uses more brains. That’s far more exhausting.”

Qin Youyou didn’t say anything, he just held him. He waited until he fell asleep, then got up to continue studying.

Previously, Qin Youyou had failed one of the unified exams in April. In October he’ll take another three exams [2]. Before, his temporary jobs had occupied too much of his time so time was a bit tight. But now he can’t concern himself with worrying about it—he can’t be distracted.

The apartment suddenly had more cow’s milk appear. Wei Dong started to pick it up by the box at some point, saying that Qin Youyou needed extra nutrition. He even bought several containers of zinc and calcium supplements, and he watched him drink them down every day.

Qin Youyou was obedient.

Wei Dong didn’t have a lot of time to rest, but every few days he would go out and buy a chicken or a few catties of pork ribs to stew, giving extra nourishment to Qin Youyou.

He was as before—still not fond of talking, but yet he expressed himself through every action and every movement. He never uttered sweet nothings, but Qin Youyou knew every day he was doted on. He was so pampered he could cry.

Qin Youyou felt like his heart would explode from happiness.

When he originally decided he wanted to be with Wei Dong, he didn’t have many demands. He only wanted to be by Wei Dong’s side—to be near to this person, to be able to hold him when he needed to. He’d never imagined Wei Dong go to this level of care for him.

Qin Youyou previously had not a single thing to his name, and he recognised that he had nothing in this life. But now he won’t allow himself to think like that anymore— now he has something he wants to fight for.

He was going to try his utmost to rise above, so that he would have the ability to one day pay back Wei Dong. He wanted to reciprocate what everything that Wei Dong gave him, a hundred times over.

The exams were over a weekend, and Wei Dong accompanied him. There were many people outside the exam centre and Qin Youyou appeared calm. He stood by a corner of the wall, close to Wei Dong, waiting with everybody else to enter.

Wei Dong—who was usually calm in any situation—now seemed to be infected by the atmosphere, and showed a hint of nervousness.

“Do you want some water?” He took out a bottle of water from his bag.

Qin Youyou shook his head. “I already had water.”

“Then don’t worry about it. Drinking too much water will make you need to go to the bathroom, and that’s not good.” Wei Dong put the bottle back in his bag. “Then do you need to go to the bathroom? Before you go in?”

Qin Youyou laughed and shook his head.

Wei Dong came closed and whispered, “Don’t feel pressured. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked; you’ve done your best.”

Qin Youyou looked up and him and smiled. “Ge, are you scared I won’t pass?”

“I’m not scared of that. I’m worried you’ll be heartbroken if you don’t pass.”

Qin Youyou wanted to hold him, wanted to kiss him, but there were too many people all around so he could only gaze at him, unable to do anything. “Ge, I will definitely pass, you don’t have to worry.”

Wei Dong smiled. “Okay don’t think about it. When the exam is finished, I’ll take you to have a nice meal.”

The crowd started going in. Qin Youyou glanced at it and then turned around.

“Then I’m going in.”

“Okay.”

Qin Youyou took advantage of the fact that the crowd wasn’t paying attention and grabbed Wei Dong’s hand. Wei Dong immediately gripped it and squeezed it tight.

Qin Youyou smiled and turned to walk in.

The entrance of the exam centre was all of a sudden silent and empty. Wei Dong found a garden bed under a tree and sat down, lighting a cigarette.

He pulled out his phone and took a look at the time.

Time was going by quickly. It seemed like the last few months had gone by in a flash.

He didn’t know if it was because he’d never had a taste of happiness before, but the past while had felt particularly sweet, particularly serene. As if he had endless strength, not knowing exhaustion.

For many days and nights, the two of them—one sweating on a rumbling construction site while one was focused in a quiet room studying under the desk lamp—rushed towards the same direction, their hearts never more determined.

Qin Youyou walked in to the exam room and sat down after he found his seat. He looked out the window in the direction of the entrance gate.

Life is long, and you need to keep a slither of hope so that when the opportunity comes, you can reach out and grab it—that’s what Wei Dong told him. The opportunity to change his life—that’s what Wei Dong has given him.

This time, Qin Youyou thought, it’s not only for himself, but also for both of them.

The morning exam was over quickly. Wei Dong found himself sitting there thinking of many things, and before he could calm his heart, the bell signalling the end of the exams sounded.

Qin Youyou walked out. Wei Dong stared at his face for a few seconds, and Qin Youyou only smiled back at him. Wei Dong felt assured. “Come, let’s go eat.”

“You’re not going to ask how I did?”

“I don’t need to ask. The exam is finished so it doesn’t help wondering. What do you want to eat?”

Qin Youyou could only laugh. As he smiled, he let out a breath and relaxed.

Wei Dong wanted to take him to have a proper meal. There was a restaurant not far away that looked fancy. Wei Dong had enough money—it should be enough for a meal.

He started walking that way, but Qin Youyou tugged him back.

“Ge, last time I came to take the exam I was alone. At lunch time I sat next to the side of the road and had water to wash down two steamed buns.”

“Last time you didn’t have me, this time is different.”

“Indeed.” Qin Youyou smiled. The sun shining gave his face a tint of red. He whispered. “This time I have you. In the future I’ll still have you, so our days are not limited to this time. That restaurant’s meals are about three or four hundred yuan—it’s too wasteful.”

“But saying that—” Wei Dong started.

Qin Youyou pulled him forward. “I want to eat noodles. A big bowl.”

The two of them eventually sat down at a beef restaurant. The place was packed, showing it had a good reputation.

Qin Youyou stirred the bowl with a hefty portion of beef in it and looked up at the quiet Wei Dong. “Ge, I know you don’t want me to feel slighted, but I feel bad. These few months you’ve stretched yourself thin to make money. How can I possibly eat at that kind of restaurant?”

Wei Dong picked up his chopsticks. “You don’t understand my intention. It’s not about the meal.”

Qin Youyou placed a large piece of beef into Wei Dong’s bowl. “What don’t I understand, Ge? It’s not about this meal—we have many more days ahead of us.”

Wei Dong smiled but didn’t say anything further.

Qin Youyou’s third exam ended in the afternoon the next day. A stream of people walked out of the exam centre with him. Wei Dong is a tall man and he looked around for him.

“How do you feel about it?” he asked as they squeezed through.

Qin Youyou didn’t say anything, he only took Wei Dong’s hand and walked outside. Wei Dong paused but didn’t pull his hand away, quickly following.

“Are you hungry? We can go eat something first.” Wei Dong said.

Qin Youyou didn’t utter a word, he only kept walking forward.

There were a lot of people milling around the exam centre, so holding hands was a bit conspicuous. The two of them walked to the main road and Qin Youyou pulled him in to an alley next to it.

“What’s wrong?” Wei Dong looked down at him.

Qin Youyou leaned against the wall and didn’t say anything for a long time.

Wei Dong looked around. There wasn’t anybody. He held his face with both hands and said, “Don’t worry. Next year you can take it again. I told you not to worry too much.”

Qin Youyou inhaled through his nose and looked up. “I passed, Ge. I definitely passed.”

“Oh?” Wei Dong stared.

“I knew most of the questions. I feel good about it.” Qin Youyou’s eyes were red, and he burst out laughing.

Wei Dong’s heart had almost stopped. He let out a sigh of relief. “You almost scared me to death.”

Qin Youyou pushed his head into the hollow of his shoulder. “I feel like I’m a university graduate now. I feel like I’m already waving my certificate around.” He was laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking and his voice was thick.

“Really?” Wei Dong laughed. “Didn’t you say there was exams in December?”

“That’s the school entrance exam. It’s easy, so I’ll pass. My graduation certificate will come next year, Ge.” Qin Youyou held on to the corner of Wei Dong’s shirt and spoke with a low voice. “Then I can find a decent job, and I won’t have to worry about my mother’s medical expenses anymore. I won’t need to lower my head in shame because of my criminal record. Ge, I’ll be able to walk into the light and start a new life.”

“Yes.” Wei Dong smiled.

Qin Youyou stared at him. He stood on his tiptoes to give him a kiss, his expression glowing. “Together with you.”

---

T/L note:

As far as I can tell, the tongkao is for single subject college entrance exams, and it seems like it might differ from region to region. I honestly have no idea what school entrance exam he’s talking about in December. I initially thought it was the gaokao but that’s much earlier in the year, and the words 校考 were used. If anybody knows for certain, feel free to let me know.

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[1] A savoury Chinese crepe or pancake.

[2]The tongkao is for art and vocational skills, and that should be the one from April. In China, you can apply for the self-study exams, which is what QYY is now preparing for in October. This allows him to graduate without physically haven got to school.