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Even though Mai Ding had earnestly asked An Su to let them be, he knew it was not going to be so easy. An Su herself was not going to let them off just because Mai Ding was so determined in his love for An Ziyan. An Su was equally determined.
 
Over the course of time, she had tried to break them up, but it was never successful. Mai Ding had also accepted it as part and parcel of his life with An Ziyan. He believed that with time, An Su would accept them and acknowledge the fact that her brother was in a gay relationship.
 
The school term, at this time of the year, was already about to end. It was soon going to be the winter holidays, and to Mai Ding, time has indeed flown by. Everyone was in high spirits. Li Ming was humming a tune to himself while dragging his suitcases out of the room. Mai Ding was also packing up the room, preparing to leave.
 
"Do you want to meet up tonight?" Li Ming asked.
 
"You must be joking. It"s my last day in school, and you want me to spend the evening with you?" Mai Ding retorted.
 
Li Ming shrugged. "Looks like our friendship is only of value when you are in trouble." "Glad you know." Mai Ding continued.
 
"The more you are with An Ziyan, the more heartless you become."
 
Now that Li Ming had brought him up, Mai Ding wondered if An Ziyan was already done with his last cla.s.s. Immediately he ran next door to check if his guy was around. An Ziyan wasn"t in his room. From the parapet, he looked down, and he saw An Ziyan amidst the crowd, and even though they were together for some time, his face brought a smile to Mai Ding.
 
"An Ziyan!" Mai Ding shouted from the fifth floor.
 
"Idiot." An Ziyan thought to himself as he gazed upwards.
 
It was going to be the start of the holidays, and Mai Ding was feeling a little upset that it was going to be month before he gets to see An Ziyan. He was used to his life with An Ziyan, all the sarcastic vibes, the cold shoulder he would receive, his rare moments of gentleness and romance... it was enough for Mai Ding. With the break, it was more difficult for the two to see each other. In his mind, Mai Ding wasn"t going to give up on any opportunity to be with An Ziyan, and without finishing his thought, he ran down the stairs to greet An Ziyan before An Ziyan could even come up to the fifth floor. See An Ziyan finally, he said, "We must cherish our last day together."
 
"Why? Are you going to die tomorrow?"
 
"Excuse me! How could you say such inauspicious stuff when the year is about to end? Isn"t tomorrow the start of the holiday? Stop acting. I know you will miss me."
 
Mai Ding insisted.
 
"You don"t have to worry about that."
 
Mai Ding didn"t want to continue. He felt that today it was his turn to "torture" An Ziyan somewhat. After all, he had been at the mercy of An Ziyan all this while. He knew An Ziyan hated shopping. And so with an innocent look on his face, Mai Ding asked, "Can you accompany me shopping today? There are some things I want to buy..." Without waiting for Mai Ding to finish what he wanted to say, An Ziyan was already starting to walk away. "Just for a little while?" Mai Ding tried to persuade him.
 
"Not possible."
 
"Can you just be like an ordinary lover? Just be with me for a day. Treat it like you are giving me a red packet for the New Year." (T/N: A red packet is a monetary gift that people in Chinese societies give to others usually during the New Year or on other important festivals. It is usually an elder giving a red packet to someone younger.)
 
A few weeks ago, he treated An Ziyan like a Santa Claus. Now, he wanted him to be
the G.o.d of Fortune.
 
Not giving him a chance to respond, Mai Ding dragged An Ziyan along.
 
They walked into a shop selling sungla.s.ses and he picked one up to give it a try. "Do I look ok with sungla.s.ses?" Mai Ding asked An Ziyan.
 
"I have no comment." But after seeing Mai Ding holding on to the pair of sungla.s.ses, An Ziyan continued, "But if you think that by wearing those shades, you are able to look as cool as those guys in the movies, you can forget about it."
 
"Why?" Mai Ding asked.
 
"People will only think you are just shielding your eyes from the sun." An Ziyan said
plainly. It was a cruel response, but in the end, Mai Ding decided not to buy the pair of shades. In the end, both boys ended up roaming the streets.
 
Mai Ding saw a stall selling Chinese savory pancakes, and told An Ziyan that he wanted to eat that. An Ziyan approached the stall, and the owner asked, "How many would you like?"
 
"One, no parsley."
 
"OK, please wait." The stall owner replied.
 
Mai Ding looked at An Ziyan in sheer wonder. "How do you know that I don"t eat parsley?"
 
An Ziyan did not reply him. He just wanted this whole shopping to end as fast as
possible.
 
After Mai Ding was done with the pancake, both of them were already tired. They decided to take a coffee break at one of the cafes. The weather was also getting cold. Mai Ding"s nose was already red from the exposure to the weather. Both of them decided to order a cup of coffee. When the coffee came, An Ziyan put sugar in one cup of coffee and pa.s.sed the cup without sugar to Mai Ding.
 
"How is it that you also know that I take my coffee without sugar? Have you been
checking up on me?" Mai Ding joked.
 
"You really think you are something, don"t you?"
 
"Then how do you know all these things about me? Quick, tell me." Mai Ding insisted.
 
"Why should I tell you?"
 
"If you don"t tell me, I"ll...I"ll start to sing." Mai Ding tried to threaten An Ziyan.
 
"You do know that the only one you"ll disgrace is yourself." An Ziyan calmly replied while sipping on his coffee.
 
"You taunt me with this info, and yet you aren"t willing to tell me. Tell me, please. Or else I won"t feel good for the New Year. Why don"t you treat it as if you are giving me a red packet."
 
"How many red packets do you want from me?"
 
"No one will complain that they"ve received too many."
 
"Why don"t you just pause to think? How will I ever know such details about you?" An Ziyan advised.
 
Mai Ding felt that what An Ziyan said sounded a little suspicious. Slowly he tried to think he was transported to the time he met An Ziyan and the time when both of them were at the military camp.
 
Hi! I’m Mai Ding, male, single, eighteen years of age this year. I ’m 1.78m tall. I’m a Gemini. Both my parents are still around. I hate parsley and I drink my cofee without sugar. I don’t eat bitter gourd. I don"t like polka dotted things because they just make me uncomfortable. I am healthy. l have a sunny personality. I hope to become really rich overnight so I keep buying lottery tickets.
 
If not for today, Mai Ding would have forgotten about that incident. To think that An Ziyan remembered everything he said. He actually remembered. And to think that he looked super p.i.s.sed off at that time. "That time I introduced myself. You did not introduce yourself. Quick, you owe me one introduction."
 
"Are you mad?"
 
"It"s OK. I"ll do your introduction — You are An Ziyan. Male, Single. You are 22 years old this year. You stand at 1.82m. You come from a rich background. You have a scary sister. You don"t like to smile, but you like to ridicule others. You hate shopping. You don"t like to eat bread or cakes. No lovey dovey words from you. Whatever it is, the things you hate are plenty. You have an extremely dark personality. You like listening to music, like to wine and dine and the thing you love most is Mai Ding!"
 
"You really are shameless."
 
"Is that how you treat your lover?"
 
"I have an extremely dark personality anyway."
 
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To be continued...