Page 15 of He Is My Bride

Li Ying made his landing on Shanghai soil in the tweed skirt and the tied blouse, carefully balancing down the airstairs in his boots with some help from Hanjun. Li Ying held his hand as the man walked ahead of him, looking back to make sure his boyfriend got down safely.

Well, aren’t I a damn princess! Why, why do I have to wear these ridiculous heels?! These are dangerous and should be illegal!

Li Ying made his way down sideways, unapologetically looking down at his feet to make sure he didn’t misstep, holding the handrail with his other hand until he was on solid ground. He’d made it out of the plane alive, at least.

There was a black car waiting for them, taking them from the runway to the terminal.

In the entryway were three men, two wearing ordinary, non-matching suits.

Not big guys or anything, and they weren’t wearing sunglasses either, but they got earpieces; personal security.

They shadowed the trio as they followed the third man, this one wearing a more formal suit and an ID tag; some kind of concierge.

“Miss Li,” Anne addressed Li Ying politely. They had agreed she should address him formally while acting as his personal stylist-shopper-assistant in public. She was looking at the bodyguards while handing Li Ying his large-framed Gucci sunglasses. “Better put these on.”

Li Ying would do anything Anne told him to at this point. He took the sunglasses and put them on right before they stepped through the next pair of doors to the land side. Coming out of the VIP terminal and into the main lobby, suddenly there were people everywhere, going to and fro.

Somewhere in the crowd there was a bright flash, then another. Li Ying noticed a couple of people with professional cameras pointed at them. One reporter tried to walk up to them, but the bodyguard subtly raised a hand towards him, shaking his head.

“Keep walking,” Hanjun spoke in a lowered voice. He was walking close to Li Ying, who turned his eyes back ahead and made sure to keep up with Hanjun like a duckling.

They crossed the lobby and followed the suit to the pick-up area outside. They hadn’t taken their luggage, but by now Li Ying would have been an idiot if he didn’t think it would all be taken care of. The sky outside was overcast, and a drizzle had begun coming down.

Great, my tits will literally melt off.

Luckily they didn’t have to go far until they heard someone call out to them:

“Hanjun!”

“…Hanrong?” Hanjun answered in recognition. “You wouldn’t have needed to come for us.”

Yet Li Ying could tell Hanjun was happy to see his closest cousin.

“I wanted to surprise you.” Hanrong smiled.

He looked so much like Hanjun, but his whole way of being was different: he was leaning casually on the white BMW Gran Coupé, a hand in his pocket, and his smile was charming.

Li Ying thought he had kind eyes and an approachable presence, whereas Hanjun was more reserved.

They couldn’t have been more different, even if they almost looked like brothers .

“Hanrong, this is Li Ying, my girlfriend.” Hanjun looked at him with soft eyes as Li Ying removed his sunglasses and smiled at the older cousin. “Li Ying, this is Wu Hanrong, my cousin.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Li.” Hanrong held his hand out for him.

Li Ying took his hand and gave it a shake. “Nice to meet you too, Wu Hanrong!” So, this is one of the cousins from Hanjun’s grandfather’s side . Li Ying recalled. The one Hanjun grew up with and trusts like a brother.

“Strong arm,” Hanrong noted, still smiling.

“Ahaha, I know!” Li Ying then introduced Anne as his assistant, and she and Hanrong shook hands.

“Let’s get in the car, I’ll drive you where you need to go.” Hanrong gestured towards the car and they all got in, Anne being aided by the man in a suit while Hanjun helped Li Ying sit next to her in the back.

“Myself and Li Ying will go to my place. Miss Lü will stay at this hotel nearby.” Hanjun showed Hanrong the address from his phone and he fed it to the GPS.

Hanrong drove them out of the airport and up to the motorway.

“How was your flight? Did you sleep?” he asked.

They chit-chatted on the way, and as Li Ying didn’t shy away from conversation, Hanjun fell quiet and let him and Hanrong carry on. They seemed to get along.

They both are the kind of people who get along with every one, Hanjun thought.

Hanjun was looking out of the window at the familiar cityscape for the first time in almost a year. He was feeling a longing of some kind, but why? He was home, wasn’t he? And the ones he loved were sitting right there. Maybe he was simply tired after the flight.

“So, Uncle Yiheng has arranged for afternoon tea tomorrow at The Peninsula hotel,” Hanrong said. Li Ying noted he, too, called the man ‘uncle,’ implying a level of familiarity with the current head of the family company. “It will be us, him, and your grandmother. ”

“Very well.” Hanjun acknowledged as if he’d receive a mission briefing.

Tea. That was something women like Mrs. Qian did with other upper middle-class wives, and which Li Ying knew nothing about.

Hanjun often made tea at home the traditional Chinese way, but Li Ying recalled the Western porcelain tea set in the Qians’ cabinet and expected a fancy kind of tea occasion would be of the British sort.

The mental image Li Ying conjured of posh people drinking with their pinkies up didn’t seem at all out of place for the Wu caliber, so he braced himself to read up on tea etiquette.

Li Ying was taking guesses as to which ultra-modern high-rise or perhaps Art Deco residential building they would pull up to.

They had just crossed a bridge over the Huangpu River, which divided the peninsula roughly in two: the East bank with Pudong and its towering landmarks, and the West bank, Puxi, with the city’s historical and commercial center, their current location.

Soon they were driving along more parksy roads lined with platanus trees and small boutiques and cafés. It reminded Li Ying of Europe, although it wasn’t exactly like any town he’d seen before.

“Welcome to the former French Concession.” Hanrong tour-guided.

“Looks like a nice place to live,” Li Ying noted.

“It’s nice that you would think that, because it’s going to be your neighborhood for the week.”

My new hoods? Not bad, Li Ying thought. The Concession felt less like a busy metropolis and more like a village.

They slowed and turned to drive through the gates of a neoclassical apartment building, and that’s where Hanrong left them.

An inconspicuous black car parked nearby.

Li Ying realized it must have been following them all the way from the airport, but neither Wu paid any attention to it.

He put his sunglasses back on and kept an eye on the tinted windows from the corner of his eye, but there were no sneaky cameras peeking out; these must have been their guys .

“Miss Lü , your hotel is just a ten-minute walk away from here, but I’ll be happy to drive you.”

“Thank you, Wu Hanrong.” Anne then addressed Li Ying, “We should receive our luggage soon, I’ll sort everything out for you then. Call me if you need anything, I’ll be just down the road.”

“Thank you, Anne.” Li Ying smiled, happy that he didn’t need to pretend to treat her rudely, the stewardess having let him know rich people could also afford courtesy.

Li Ying followed Hanjun inside the lobby, which in its marble-floored, chandeliered opulence could have been the reception of a luxury hotel. There Hanjun picked up his keys from the concierge.

“Welcome home, Mister Wu.”

Li Ying noted that the lady behind the desk actually bowed to him from the waist.

Hanjun lived on one of the upper floors.

Inside his apartment the decor was modern, but it wasn’t cold; warm gray and taupe tones and layered lighting created a cozy ambiance.

There were abstract art pieces in calm, earthy tones, and housekeeping had brought a fresh arrangement of orchids.

A small fountain burbled on the hallway side table next to them.

“Wow, Hanjun, your feng shui is impeccable.” Li Ying jested, but he knew that the man took that stuff seriously, and Li Ying had to admit: while money could buy the design and the professional to tastefully put it all in place, Hanjun’s place exuded a particular warmth.

Something Li Ying could only call good energy, and he immediately felt at home, even if it was the fanciest private home he’d ever been in.

He felt safe, like this was his stronghold.

“Welcome,” Hanjun said, closing the door behind them, and kissed Li Ying’s temple. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s cook together?” Hanjun thought it would be something familiar to do together to make themselves feel at home .

The pantry had been stocked with essentials, and they made vegetable dumpling soup.

It was the first time they had cooked together in a while, either of them always at work or school.

With Hanjun having not made much use of the kitchen before, they were both fumbling around looking for things, but they were having fun.

They decided not to go anywhere that day, so while the soup was coming along Li Ying went to take off his breast tape.

After sorting himself out, Li Ying sat at the small dining area, separated from the kitchen by sliding glass panels.

There Li Ying noticed something on the illuminated shelves on the other side of the table: there were rows upon rows of Chinese teaware, different kinds of clay and porcelain cups and pots, trays and tea scoops, and peculiar little clay figurines, some taking the shape of characters like a happy Buddha, mythical creatures, and rabbits.

“Hanjun, what are your little friends over here?”

“They are tea pets,” Hanjun answered while stirring the soup.

“Tea-what?”

“While making tea, you pour some on them and they bring good fortune.”

“Oh, now I get it; Hanjun’s zodiac animal is the rabbit!” Li Ying took two of the rabbits: small and round, stylized little critters in unglazed reddish clay. “So cute!” He made them smooch. “Does this one like this one?” he held them up.

Hanjun stared, not knowing what to say to that.

“Like this?” Li Ying asked.

“… No ! ”

Li Ying had put the other rabbit on top of the other and gently clinked their tail ends together, and for some reason this totally threw Hanjun off: the man dropped the soup ladle and strode towards Li Ying, who dodged around the oval table, snickering and continuing to make the clay bunnies bump uglies.

“They don’t do that!” Hanjun protested .

“Yes, they do! They’re rabbits, they do it all the time!

” Li Ying kept running from Hanjun as they chased each other around the table, until Hanjun really made a dash for it and Li Ying finally let himself be captured.

He was laughing hysterically while Hanjun grabbed his hands and brought the clay bunnies apart.

Hanjun was blushing from his ears down to his cheeks.

He was shocked to see his first-ever pair of tea pets, which he’d carefully nourished with respectful, solemn ceremonies, doing something like that.

Sure, he had a ravenous sexual appetite when it came to Li Ying, but some things were supposed to remain sacred.

Li Ying didn’t get what the fuss was about. “Why are you embarrassed? You know well what happens when a bunny likes another bunny very much and gives him a special hug.”

Hanjun’s hands were still gripping Li Ying’s arms. Hanjun could be so thin-faced sometimes, but Li Ying understood these things must have had a special meaning for him to get so worked up, so he apologized:

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have played with—” He got silenced by a kiss. Hanjun’s breath quivered against him as the man keenly explored his lips and beyond them, lapping at his mouth with his tongue.

This tastes like our first kiss. Li Ying closed his eyes and opened his mouth, moaning weakly as Hanjun’s teeth gently sank into his lower lip.

The house phone rang. Hanjun finished the kiss with a wet, smooching sound and left Li Ying and the tea bunnies standing there in a sweet stupor as he picked up.

“Yes?”

“Mister Wu? This is the concierge. Your luggage is here.”

“Send them up.”

After dinner, Li Ying had a call with Anne. They agreed she would come tomorrow to arrange Li Ying’s wardrobe and help him prepare for tea .

Hanjun sat and watched Li Ying pace before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the Shanghai skyline and playing with his nails while chatting with Anne.

“No, no, you go ahead,” Li Ying said when Anne asked if Li Ying would like to come browse the nearby shops with her, “I’m not leaving anywhere today.” He winked at Hanjun.

Hanjun smiled. Now it felt like home—Li Ying had brought home with him.