After Writing a Story for My Husband and Brother

After a satisfying and intense sexual experience, before half past eight, they lay side by side, each holding a cigarette between their fingers. 

Zhong Shao extinguished his cigarette and cut off the one in Yu Cheng's hand. 

"Are you not hungry yet?" 

"You just cut off my food supply, didn't you?" Yu Cheng raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards the half cigarette Zhong Shaoyan had taken. 

Zhong Shao took a drag from Yu Cheng's half cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke. 

"Taste good, but not filling," Zhong Shao patted Yu Cheng's thigh, "Freshen up, I'll take you to taste authentic cuisine in City B."

From getting out of bed to leaving, it took only a few minutes.

A black sedan drove along the night road and finally parked near a high school. 

"I heard there's a snack street behind every high school, are you trying to make me reminisce about my youth?" 

Yu Cheng teased sincerely, and Zhong Shao did not hide the fact, "Reminiscing about youth is true, but over a decade ago, there was no snack street behind the north gate. I really don't know if it exists now." 

Zhong Shao put on a baseball cap, held Yu Cheng's hand, and walked straight to the back gate. 

"I moved to City B when I was 15 and lived with my auntie. The apartment we stayed in these days was where I lived. I attended the First High School back then." 

"How were those years for you?" Yu Cheng asked. 

"Those years..." Zhong Shao played with Yu Cheng's fingers, half lost in thought, "My aunt and I were like partners helping each other stand up again. There were unhappy times, but also happy times, mostly just ordinary days. Because of my good grades, I had a good reputation at school. I wasn't too talkative, but I could play basketball with friends. Without Spring, I would never have considered entering the entertainment business. I didn't think too much about the future back then, just taking each day as it came."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the alley near the north gate of the First High School. 

"Now I can confirm, the back gate of the First High School has remained the same for decades, without a snack street." Zhong Shao turned to Yu Cheng with a smile, "You'll have to endure a little longer." It was a row of street-facing storefronts, with student supply stores and print shops along the street. 

Yu Cheng chuckled along with Zhong Shaoyan's words, "Love for studying, sacrificing sleep and meals, I can relate."

Two individuals walked along the northern gate and headed back towards the main entrance. 

"After filming 'Spring', I had an opportunity, so I moved out from my aunt's place," Zhong Shao said. "Actually, moving out from my aunt's house was always planned, just a bit earlier than expected. Besides marriage, she also has her career and dreams. She can take care of me when she wants to temporarily escape from some things, but I cannot become dependent on her. Her life has always been vibrant and brilliant." 

The relationship between Zhong Shao and Zhong Jing is difficult to describe in a few words - they are aunt and nephew, friends, confidants, or even a different kind of family. The vibrant and brilliant life is not only Zhong Shao's definition of Zhong Jing's life but also Zhong Jing's expectation for Zhong Shao's life. 

"Where did you live later on?" 

Due to filming 'Spring', Zhong Shao took a year off from school, and when he returned, he moved out of Zhong Jing's place. 

"There was a residential area across the south gate, where I rented an apartment back then." 

Recalling some funny and random moments, he added, "The advantage of living there was that I could snooze until five minutes before the alarm went off, but the downside was... many teachers from the school were buying houses there, so it was easy to run into them." "When I returned to school, 'Spring' had just been released. During that time, I felt a bit out of place in campus life - the whole campus was both familiar and unfamiliar. Luckily, it was my senior year, and everyone was striving for their own future. I managed to graduate smoothly." 

With just one phrase of "feeling out of place" and "familiar yet unfamiliar," one can imagine the scrutiny and surveillance Zhong Shao faced on campus.

Yu Cheng looked at Zhong Shao with keen eyes.

"Why are you looking at me instead of the road?"

"I'm looking at the teenage Zhong Shao."

Not the teenage Zhong Shao in the movies, nor the teenager in front of the media camera, but the most ordinary yet unique high school student among them.

Yu Cheng's gaze was like a pure blue flame of purity, igniting a smile in Zhong Shao's otherwise calm eyes. Zhong Shao asked, "What do you think of the teenage Zhong Shao?"

"Thank you to the teenage Zhong Shao for bringing the young Zhong Shao to me. The teenage Zhong Shao is very good, even better than anyone could imagine." Yu Cheng paused, gazing deeply into Zhong Shao's eyes, embracing his soul.

Zhong Shao still carried shadows of his teenage self, not in his appearance, but in the habits that grew with him. He had adapted well to the new environment, yet he still disliked speaking too much in front of the media; he was surrounded by flowers and applause, but he always preferred to stay behind the scenes, listening to the world in his own way.

"Thirty-something Zhong Shao thanks Fang laoshi for affirming the teenage Zhong Shao."

Yu Cheng was taken aback, "Fang laoshi ?"

"Remember our first meeting?"

"Yes."

Their first meeting was just half a year ago. Yu Cheng remembered how that night and the next day, Zhong Shao emphasised not to call him 'teacher.'

"In this industry, everyone has their own standards. I dislike it when others flatteringly call me laoshi because I haven't reached that height yet," labelling cooperating actors as 'teachers,' whether in jest or earnest, is a derogatory term for the word 'teacher' and a disrespect to the profession of 'actor.' However, this 'teacher' is a gesture of reciprocity and is commendatory."

Listening to his words, Yu Cheng wondered if the man next to him knew he was a bit adorable.

"You're quite hypocritical."

"This is being forthright."

Upon arrival, Zhang Shao pointed his right hand, which held Yu Cheng's hand, to the right. It was the main gate of No. 1 Middle School. The grand gate stood magnificently in an embracing manner, exuding the fragrance of pine and the scent of ink, witnessing generations of Confucian scholars advancing diligently. On the oblique stone at the side, the words "B City No. 1 Middle School" were inscribed. Although Zhang Shao gestured towards the gate of the school, he led Yu Cheng into a dumpling shop directly opposite the main entrance. 

"This was the place I frequented the most when I was studying." 

"Do you like dumplings a lot?" 

"No, I just find the dumplings here exceptionally fresh." 

Yu Cheng understood that it was not because he liked eating dumplings, but because he had grown accustomed to them. 

"What filling would you like?" Zhang Shao asked. 

"What kind of filling does Young Zhang Shao usually have?" 

"The Family Feast." 

One of each filling.