The Aphrodisiac Snake & Cold Faced Man | BL

Chapter 20

Zhou RenShu never returned to Liu Yong's work. When painting the flora field he both loved and hated he wanted Liu Yong to feel the same love and hatred as him. He had spent an eternity in that field, whether the dream he had met Fan Lei in was real or not, the constant fear and loneliness he was forced to bear was real in his soul. Whenever he saw Liu Yong in the field during his dreams he would feel nothing but bliss but once the man left to enter the river, the fear crept up into his soul, turning his heart cold.

His love for Liu Yong was the same though. He hated Liu Yong but he loved him more. When they were apart it felt as if the eternal loneliness would never leave, almost suffocating him. One month had passed but it felt longer to Zhou RenShu, his body had become weak from lack of food and the vials Liu Yong had placed in his bag were all empty, once Zhou RenShu was able to read the list everything had been summoned.

The clothes were folded neatly and placed in the small closet, these were the only clothes he wore. The vials added up to almost thirty but they had all been used. Most times they had replaced a meal or two, Zhou RenShu felt warm whenever the essence inside the vial passed through his lips since it reminded him of the times Liu Yong had fed him. Now that all the vials were empty his body always felt cold, even the warmth from his stone necklace felt cold to him.

His tutor had also become worried since whenever she arrived Zhou RenShu would be wearing the same thing, winter pajamas and woolen socks. Although autumn had just begun, the weather was still warm, it always amazed her to see Zhou RenShu wear the hot clothes without breaking into a constant sweat.

"RenShu, do you want to try reading this poem out loud?" The tutor handed over a book but Zhou RenShu wasn't in the mood to learn, it had been close to one week after handing over the painting. He wanted Liu Yong to come answer his question but the man he missed never came to see him. "Teacher, I'm too tired. Can we end it early today?"

"You've been saying the same thing everyday, read this poem and re-write it then we can finish." Zhou RenShu reluctantly held the book of poems in his hand. He stared at the words before speaking slowly, the beautiful poem losing its vitality with the lackluster voice.

This spring morning in bed I'm lying,

Not to awake till the birds are crying.

After one night of wind and showers,

How many are the fallen flowers?

(by Meng Haoran (689-740) of Tang Dynasty (618-907)

"RenShu, is everything okay?" Zhou RenShu weakly nodded his head but his tutor wasn't convinced, he didn't want to talk about his pains and troubles so he kept his head down and focused on copying the symbols on the page. Only once everything was written correctly did his tutor leave. The room fell into a lonely silence as Zhou RenShu carried his cold body back to his bed. If his weight was heavier, a small hollow would have appeared in the mattress from all the time spent there.

Zhou RenShu could no longer cry after 5 weeks of separation, the amount of tears he had shed had dried his tear ducts. He was lying in bed trying to fall asleep so he could see Liu Yong again but a loud knock sounded at his door. Zhou RenShu didn't want to get up but the knocking wouldn't stop. His fear of answering doors had cleared quickly whilst living at the apartment since the building was under the protection of officers, if you weren't a resident or registered visitor then you couldn't enter. Although the fear was no longer there he was still reluctant.

The knocking persisted until the door was finally opened, Zhou RenShu thought it would be his tutor or Ms Wu since they were the only people to visit him but instead it was the officer that had offered to deliver his gift to Liu Yong. Officer Yu stared at the small boy wearing baggy winter pajamas. "Hello, I'm officer Yu. May I come in?"