Part 6: Now They Are Both Lost

Liu LiZhong's healthy morning sleep, which lasted until noon, was disturbed by fondling steady fingers running through his hair.

(Liu ShanShun:) - I will go and see how the things are going on there. We must tell your sister, she is sure worried to death... Put a chair to the door or somebody may come in.

Having stepped out, he immediately came back and commanded in whisper:

- Get dressed at once!

(Liu LiZhong:) - Yeah, yeah.

Liu ShanShun looked at the boy sitting in his bed and the fact he was going somewhere totally slipped his mind. Somebody might not see a sleepy, disheveled, muscular naked man, unshaved for three days, as a particularly cute object, but for Liu ShanShun he has always been and will be his dear bright-eyed boy, Xiao Rou. BaoBao.

Naturally, that little piece of shit (half a head taller than Liu ShanShun) didn't even care about getting himself dressed.

When Liu MiLi came in, he was sitting in bed in his birthday suit, beaming with joy and smelling of carnation oil, having shyly covered his nuts with bed linen.

Liu MiLi rushed to her little brother happily but halfway she figured out what had happened in the bedroom, so she ran in the opposite direction and cried with terror. Liu LiZhong beamed even brighter.

Liu MiLi bolted to her uncle to seek protection but she didn't go all the way either because finally she got the full picture in her innocent mind. There were two men in that picture. She wished they only "were"... And she wished they were at least wearing clothes...

All that time Liu MiLi was crying without a break changing the direction of her run and the pitch of her voice in accordance to the ideas starting up in her head:

"Aaaaaaaah! Oooooooooooh! AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Liu ShanShun saw his dear niece's terror he had caused and his heart filled with despair. That's why he said (meaning that if Liu MiLi thought there had been some assaultive actions taken place in the room, she was wrong):

"I haven't done anything!"

"Indeed you haven't. Three times don't count," Liu LiZhong supported him wholeheartedly keeping a sympathetic expression on his face and enjoying the scene secretly and immensely.

Liu ShanShun collapsed on the bed burying his face in the palms. The next moment he wished he hadn't: Liu LiZhong crawled over to his side and embraced his shoulders tightly. And laid his head on the uncle's shoulder.

"Ouch," he complained. "My back hurts... Sports injury!"

Liu MiLi burst into tears as loudly as she could.

"How are the things outside?" asked Liu LiZhong paying no attention to his sister. "Have they caught me yet?"

(Liu ShanShun:) - They are all looking for you, the Imperial Guard and the police. Though I can't say they are actually doing their best...

He looked sideway.

(Liu LiZhong:) - Why wouldn't they do their best?.. Hey, why are you shy all of a sudden?

(Liu ShanShun, not sure he should say that to Liu LiZhong:) - You see... In your regard, I have...

(Liu LiZhong, eager to help:) - ... seen me starkers in your dreams?

(Liu ShanShun, gives the nephew a reproachful look, his eyes pointing at crying Liu MiLi, bashfully:)  - I have strangled you and threw the body into a chasm.

A pause. One can hear only Liu MiLi's crying.

(Liu LiZhong, full of shock and grief:) - Your own nephew? This one?!.. You're a monster!.. With these very arms?

His fingers traces their way along the other man's prominently sculptured biceps, caressing it from neck to elbow.

Liu ShanShun shook his lowered head in agreement looking like a guilty newfoundland waiting to be slapped on the nose with a slipper.

"A-ah, ChiChi. I'll go and jump into the chasm myself," Liu LiZhong thought with tenderness watching Liu ShanShun's brows raise and knot guiltily over the nose bridge. Out of the unbearable emotion he buried his nose in his lover's hair curled in heavy coils.

Liu MiLi howled and ran away down the corridor cursing her miserable fortune at the top of her voice. The little brother gave her back a sinister glance.

"LeeLee, my little flower," shouted Liu ShanShun in a small voice, yet he didn't get up from the bed because Liu LiZhong's well-trained arms kept sealing him like coils of a tropical python. Also, he didn't really feel like getting up.

"Cut the crap with my little flowers," told him Liu LiZhong with no trace of humor. "You are a married man... Close the door, that idiot has left it wide open."

 

The rain died off towards the night. It was twilight in the bedroom. The lamp is radiating peaceful light. The last rays of sun are glowing red through maple leaves. The door is thoughtfully barred with a chair.

Liu ShanShun is lying with his butt in a puddle of oil and sperm (That's a new puddle! Of course, the linen has been changed!) The precious boy is naturally lying atop of him, his ear on the beloved one's wide chest.

(Liu LiZhong:) - ChiChi, have you ever considered living by the sea?

(Liu ShanShun, falling asleep:) - Yes, that would be nice. We could buy a small house with a large garden.

(Liu LiZhong:) - And easily keep an eye on the ships with merchandise.

(Liu ShanShun, waking up:) - Which ships? Are you still going to run trade business?

(Liu LiZhong, setting his elbows on the lover's chest and propping his face with the hands:) - But of course. It's not that I can do something besides silk trade.

(Liu ShanShun, a hint of hesitation in his voice:) - Do you understand that would be a total surrender to the merciless foe?.. rather disgraceful?

(Liu LiZhong, with all enthusiasm of youth:) - Exactly! Let us surrender... somewhere the further from here the better. I am not cowardly, I am strategic...  ChiChi, we will never defeat her... She'll have me sentenced to death and executed and you will end up at the marriage notary.

(Liu ShanShun:) - Total nightmare. I'll drown myself to death.

(Liu LiZhong:) - Where's your spirit? Are you a man or what? We must run away!

(Liu ShanShun:) - You'll have to change your surname.

(Liu LiZhong, carelessly:) - We'll think of something... Look who's talking: have you picked up your preference?.. Would you like to be charged with murder or arranging an escape? (cupping the other's cheek in his palms, kisses him on the lips) Still worth it.

(Liu ShanShun:) - Totally.

(Liu LiZhong, musefully:) - I'd been thinking... wouldn't it be better to set the mansion on fire...

(Liu ShanShun:) - (strokes the boy's hair silently)

(Liu ShanShun, looking at the junior with some indecisiveness): - Can I ask you something?

(Liu LiZhong, sighs, lowers his ear on Liu ShanShun's pectoral muscle again:) - Whatever you wish.

(Liu ShanShun:) - Hmm.. Why do you always have a getup when reminded about how I bathed you when you were little?

(Liu LiZhong, whispers so his breath brushes Liu ShanShun's chest:) - You see... it's a long story... while we don't have that much time,.. because you bloody had to remind about you bathing me!.. It all started twenty years ago when a little boy was born to one honorable family...

(Liu ShanShun, his uneasy jawbones giving a visible reaction to the lover's gentle breathing:) - You must learn to speak briefly.

(Liu LiZhong, pulling the older one to himself so the two aroused reproductive organs feel each other's warmth:) - It's a very scientific research on infant psychology. I will tell you in parts, as a bedtime story... night by night... So, bathing a baby...

 

A week later the Liu family left Mount Linux and disappered forever leaving the entire household and business assets to Madam Hu Zhei.

 

Ding XuShun went leisurely around the garden between flaming maples and rowans .

He watched mist clouds rising along black cliffs and smiled musefully while he remembered that epic battle between two men which had taken place in these parts - where one of them won and yet both were victorious. As long as the first has always known that he'd win and the second - that he'd lose...  

So this is where mom had grown up... It's beautiful here.

The loyal old servant was hiding behind a shabby pillar decorated with loose peels of old paint - not to get in the way.

Ding XuShun came up to him stepping lightly, took out a few coins and, without paying much attention to the old man's thankyous, said:

"I am sorry I have to bother you some more. This place is pretty... I bought it."

(TeaBag, bowing continuously, almost falling on the ground of surprise and servility:) - The young master must be very rich? This TeaBag knew at once you are from a prominent family!

(Ding XuShun:) - Not exactly... my father belongs to academic circles so his income is rather humble. But we are getting by... It doesn't really matter since what the uncles have are ours as well... I went to the best schools, besides, I travelled on business with them - which is quite educational too. They are not exactly my uncles: the younger one, er jiu*, is my own uncle, and da jiu* is mom's, her mothers' brother. But for convenience's sake I just call them "uncles". They are always together so there's really no need to talk about them separately... well..

"We are going to start some improvements here, you and me. The garden is gorgeous!  It is quiet noisy there at home and here, it is so peaceful... I would say, scenic. Makes me want to grab the brushes..."

"The foundation is golden, with this hard rock it will last for five hundred years. However, all wood is to be removed: the roof, the pillars, the frames and cases... Still , just a find. Really eager to lay my hands on this project."

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* er jiu - younger uncle, da jiu - older uncle

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(TeaBag:) - My, my, my! The young master is such a daring young man. Such expenses! To say nothing of... (he lowered his voice and pronounces the next word with a special attitude, like he was mentioning an evil spirit)... construction workers! Those ruffians, mark my words!..

"Ah, how I wish young Master Liu were still alive! How he used to beat this very thing out of the workers and not to give a... that thing about it... can you believe it? The work went in full swing!"

Ding XuShun believed it. He had witnessed it himself more than once.

(Ding XuShun, with creative inspiration:) - I am an architect by education so, you know, to beat the shit out of a construction crew and not give a fuck after that - isn't a problem, that's a must in our profession.

He took some time to enjoy the view of the speechless old geezer.

"Otherwise you just can't reach proper understanding with subcontractors."

"Certainly, certainly you can't," agreed the old man hastily anticipating a possible beating and not giving a fuck after that.

"Besides, you see, there was some bad influence upon me as well... being raised among silk trade professionals..."

"Who does he resemble, I wonder?" thought Green TeaBag. "Such energetic young master."

(TeaBag, has to fulfill his care-taker's duties:) - This Teabag begs you pardon, young master... I daresay, I presume the deed for the mansion has been registered already?

(Ding XuShun:) - But of course... Please, have a look. You are doing a great job here keeping order... the price is indicated too...

(TeaBag, doesn't believe his eyes, delivers a death cry:) - One hundred qians?.. One hundred qians for a whole half of Mount Linux including all buildings and constructions?!

(Ding XuShun, indifferently:) - Yes, it was an intra-family purchase so the price is not a real deal here, you know. Consider it a gift for my coming out of age.

Green Teabag losing his face took a hasty grab of the deed with his wrinkled bird's hands. The document was totally valid, with lots of seals and stamps and with the seller's signature at the end that was written in the steady calligraphic handwriting he hadn't forgotten in so many years: Liu ShanShun.

THE END

Instead of an epilogue... (to be continued)

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