When Zhishu He woke up, he was left alone. Cold and empty, it looked like the doctor had left for quite a long time.

Zhishu He slowly rolled over and kept his eyes shut for a while longer. He was still weak; his waist and legs were sore and limp.

The door was mildly pushed open; Zhishu He didn’t move. The quilt was pulled up right after he felt someone standing next to the bed. Before he could sense the coldness, something warm was thrust into his arms; it was an electric warmer.

“Baby, happy birthday,” Ziyu Ai lowered his head, kissed Zhishu from his earlobe to his nape, “Rise and shine.”

Zhishu shrugged and held the electric warmer tight. “Don’t mess with me, it’s ticklish.”

Ziyu Ai didn’t go further, he just groomed Zhishu’s messy bangs. “You can stay in bed for a minute and get up later. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

After Ziyu Ai left for several minutes, Zhishu He got up reluctantly. He buttoned up his pajama and rubbed his temples.

Ziyu Ai was in the kitchen when he got downstairs. He leaned sideways to greet him once he heard him coming down. “You are up?”

On his floral apron, there was a mess of flour, his dummy smiley face was just like the dog. “I’ll make you a cake after I put these egg tarts into the oven.”

Zhishu He held the electric warmer, tilted his head and looked into the kitchen while standing away from it and said, “You are awesome.”

Ziyu Ai walked up to him, randomly dusted off the flour on his hands, lifted Zhishu He up and put himself down in the living room couch. The doctor’s hot hands massaged Zhishu He by his waist through his pajama.

Zhishu He felt a bit embarrassed; he wriggled. “You’ve got flour on me.”

Ziyu didn’t let go. “Let me massage you.” He wasn’t acting filthy though; he understood that Zhishu was feeling embarrassed. As much as he was patient and restrained enough last night, he was still doing everything he could to not hurt his feelings.

Ziyu Ai made him comfortable with the right skill and intensity; his hand totally relaxed Zhishu’s uptight muscle. Massage is an energy-consuming job; Zhishu didn’t want to bother Ziyu so much.

“I feel alright. You do your thing. You said the cake wasn’t done, right?” Zhishu pushed himself up from Ziyu’s arms and sat straight on the couch by himself.

Ziyu Ai didn’t say another word, he just caressed Zhishu’s cheek and got up. As he walked into the kitchen, he suddenly remembered something and he stood still.

“Silly me.” Ziyu Ai smiled at Zhishu He fawningly, and turned away to open the door.

Zhishu He was wondering what Ziyu Ai was up to. Less than three minutes later, a golden towser briskly rushed into the house. Ziyu Ai slowed down with two cats in his arms and followed by another two cats.

Zhishu He giggled.

“They all took parasite repellents and a bath in the morning. They’ll keep you company for a while.” Ziyu Ai walked up to Zhishu, grabbed one cat by its neck and passed it to Zhishu, “Cuddle him. Your favorite one. He’s grown a lot.”

Zhishu’s eyes were gentle and kind, filled with real joy. He reached out to hold the cat. How these little things have grown. The doctor had fed them well. They became big cats.

The dog snuggled with Zhishu’s legs, it shoved its big golden head into Zhishu’s arms hard but it got slapped by the cat in his arms. Its poor brown eyes were moistened.

Those poor eyes got Zhishu right away; he put down the proud cat and cuddled the dog and said, “Good boy.”

It licked all over Zhishu’s face.

Ziyu Ai got him a big plate of fresh fruits from the kitchen. “Have some fruits first. The dog likes them too, you can have them together.”

Zhishu He watched TV; the dog sat still and was happy being his cushion as it got snacks. Those cats went to the balcony for sunbathe. Today was a wonderful day.

The egg tarts Ziyu Ai made smelled good. The moment they came out the oven; the dog wooshed up, its tail wagging enthusiastically.

“Shoo, shoo, your mom hasn’t eaten one yet,” Ziyu Ai bent over and flicked on the dog’s head, turned away to Zhishu He and said, “You’ve been eating light food these days. You can have a little bit of sweet today.”

Zhishu He ignored the first part of his sentence and smiled. “Aren’t I a lucky birthday boy?”

Zhishu He took a bite on a tart. It was hot and sweet, not too sweet if he just ate a little.

Ziyu Ai’s eyes sparkled but he said nothing.

The cake came out around noon, right on lunchtime. Ziyu Ai got the dining table ready and called Zhishu He.

“Baby, happy birthday.” Ziyu half knelt beside the couch, looking up at Zhishu in a humble way.

“You said the same thing in the morning.” Zhishu reached out to touch Ziyu Ai’s smiling lips and chuckled, “Why are you acting like the dog?”

Ziyu Ai held Zhishu He’s hand, said very seriously, “This time, it comes with the birthday present.”

He took the present that had been waiting for so long out of his side pocket. It was a red little velvet ring box.

Zhishu He frowned almost imperceptibly.

Ziyu Ai opened up the box, where there was a platinum ring. On the ring, there was an oval-shaped flower with tiny little diamonds on it. It was a beautiful ring, every of its glow told gentleness. It wasn’t feminine though, which suited Zhishu well.

“Sorry,” Zhishu He closed the box, “I can’t take it.”

A ring means something special. One can’t take a ring if they cannot undertake the responsibility and love. When Zhishu He violently pulled the ring that he had for nearly eight years from his finger, he thought to himself “I won’t take another ring for the rest of my life”.

“Zhishu…” Ziyu’s eyes were as deep as the ocean, “Put it on…”

“I’m afraid I can’t… find you in this life…” So please put it on so that I can find you.

Zhishu He put on a wry smile. “Psychological comfort doesn’t really work.” They both knew Ziyu Ai was lying to himself but none of them pointed it out.

“Please, I’m begging you.” Ziyu Ai’s eyes were drooped; he opened the little box and took the ring out again on my own and tried to hold Zhishu’s hand. “Please… Put it on just for me once.”

Zhishu He’s heart jerked, briefly but acutely.

He withdrew his hand as he caught the sadness in Ziyu’s eyes. He stayed silent for a while and suddenly stroked Ziyu’s hair. “I could. But could you promise one thing?”

Ziyu Ai raised his head and looked into Zhishu’s eyes.

“When I’m gone… Don’t wait, have me cremated… I want a water burial so that I can travel to all those good places.” Zhishu He said in a calm tone as if it was a daily small talk. His eyes were soft. “You can have my one hundred and fifty thousand. You can donate it to charity… I know you have money…”

Ziyu Ai’s body twitched; he said nothing but tried to put the ring on Zhishu’s finger with his shaking hands. What he said meant yes.

The ring fit his third finger. It covered that old indistinct ring mark that hardly faded away.

Not until the whole ring-putting process was finished, did Ziyu stand up. He expectedly held the back of Zhishu’s neck and french-kissed him passionately. This was the first time they had this kind of kiss, which was more intimate than intercourse.