Chapter 56 - The Art of Eros
When Lin Yunsheng came to a halt in front of Room 902, the clock had only just struck nine-thirty in the morning. In her left hand, she carried a cup of coffee; from her ring finger dangled a plastic food bag, cradling two steaming buns that radiated a gentle warmth.
Some time ago, while she and her younger sister were taking a post-dinner stroll, they had passed this particular bun shop. Chen Jinyue had remarked on how delicious it smelled, suggesting they come together for breakfast sometime. However, in the two months since that conversation, Jinyue hadn't managed to drag herself out of bed before ten o'clock on any of her days off. Since starting her new job, she had become incredibly busy, and her weekends were usually sacrificed to the altar of much-needed compensatory sleep.
Lin Yunsheng had decided to take matters into her own hands today, driving over to buy the breakfast herself before bringing it to Jinyue. If she let the matter linger any longer, winter would be upon them. And on winter weekend mornings, the world belonged exclusively to the warmth of the duvet she shared with Chen Jinyue. Those submerged in the depths of a passionate love had their own version of hibernation.
She raised her hand to the fingerprint lock but hesitated. Instead, she woke the keypad and manually entered the password, choosing the complex over the convenient. Efficiency mattered little to her now; she simply followed her whims.
Lin Yunsheng closed the door softly. As expected, Jinyue was still asleep. Stepping into the small living room, she noticed a new rug spread before the sofa and a floor lamp standing nearby. She set the breakfast on the coffee table and tested the temperature of the bag—it was still quite hot. Perhaps she could let Jinyue sleep for another half hour. She pulled out a book she had been reading intermittently over the past week, intending to finish it on this quiet Saturday morning.
She sat on the rug, leaning her back against the sofa. As she opened the book, she realized she had forgotten to use a bookmark again. *Where did I leave off yesterday?* She flipped through a few pages, guided by memory, until she found her place.
The sky over Haicheng was cloudless today. The sweltering summer had finally retreated, allowing autumn to step in as a brief transition. The air was finally losing its bite of heat, though it wouldn't be long before the bone-chilling winter arrived. But winter wasn't so bad; after all, she was quite fond of that old scarf.
*Should we visit Nancheng again this winter?* She recalled promising to "make up for that trip later." She would have to give it some serious thought.
Her reverie didn't last long before the bedroom door creaked open. Small apartments had their advantages—without long hallways, the moment a door opened, one was immediately face-to-face with the living room.
Chen Jinyue poked her head out from behind the door, her hair a messy nest, and beamed at her sister. Her voice was still thick with sleep, but her tone was buoyant. "You're here."
"Mhm."
"Wait for me!" Jinyue chirped before scurrying into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, she sat down beside Yunsheng, demanding a Saturday morning kiss. Lin Yunsheng tasted the sweetness of strawberry toothpaste and heard her murmur, "I missed you so much. This week was just too busy; I didn't even have time to see you."
Yunsheng let out a low laugh, telling her to rest well this weekend.
"Okay," Jinyue replied, then added, "Let’s kiss a little longer."
And so, they sank back into a long, lingering kiss. Lin Yunsheng, mindful of the breakfast that was rapidly cooling, finally found the resolve to pull away, urging Jinyue to eat while she returned to her book.
*Where was I?*
She searched for a moment. Ah, right—*“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe...”*
"Did you know? The ginkgo leaves are starting to turn yellow," Jinyue mumbled, her mouth full of food.
Yunsheng lowered her book. "Do you want to go see them today?"
"Sure!" Jinyue took another bite of her bun.
Yunsheng returned to the page. *“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe...”*
"These buns are actually really good. Have you tried them?"
"No, I had breakfast with Mom before coming over."
"Oh. Want a bite?" Jinyue held the bun out.
Lin Yunsheng shook her head, saying she was full.
"Alright then." Jinyue turned back and took a sip of her coffee.
Yunsheng didn't rush back to her book. She waited thirty seconds, hoping to avoid another interruption. Jinyue seemed to have finished her small talk. For the third time, she picked up the sentence: *“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe...”*
"But I think..."
"Xiao Jin."
"Hmm?" Jinyue tilted her head, blinking as she looked at her sister.
Lin Yunsheng had intended to tell her to finish her breakfast before talking, otherwise she would never finish this sentence. But then she spotted a tiny crumb at the corner of Jinyue's mouth. She reached out with her left hand to wipe it away, but realizing she had nowhere to dispose of it, she hooked her finger and tucked it back into Jinyue's mouth, letting her eat it.
"What were you going to say?" Jinyue asked, licking her sister's finger.
"...Nothing. What about you?"
"I forgot..." Jinyue gave her a silly grin before running back to the bathroom to rinse her mouth.
Lin Yunsheng finally had the chance to continue reading: *“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe, the only one capable of guiding her to triumph over the stars...”*
She was just about to turn the page when Jinyue returned, ducking under the arm that held the book. Her fuzzy head wedged itself between Yunsheng and the text, seeking another kiss. This time, the kiss tasted of mint. The flow of the prose was shattered once again.
"Stop reading, okay? Talk to me," Jinyue pleaded.
"Let me finish this chapter first." Yunsheng was becoming slightly stubborn about it.
"Fine." Jinyue shifted her position, lying across her sister's lap and closing her eyes obediently.
But when sight is lost, hearing becomes exceptionally acute. Just as Yunsheng turned the page, she heard Jinyue say, "Your stomach just growled. *Gu-ji, gu-ji.*"
"..."
"You're pressing against it."
"Am I? *Gu-ji, gu-ji.* Did you hear that?"
"..."
"No, maybe you're just leaning too close."
"Let me listen again." Jinyue leaned closer to Yunsheng's stomach, pressing her ear against it. "It's true. *Gu-ji, gu-ji.*"
"..."
"Digestion naturally makes noise."
"Really? Do you want to listen to mine?"
*How does she come up with such strange requests?* "No."
"Oh." Jinyue sat up and took a sip of coffee. She pouted. "Don't read anymore. We finally get to see each other."
Lin Yunsheng realized she stood no chance of winning an argument with her sister. Feeling helpless, she held the book up, displaying the page to Jinyue. "Then help me remember the page number. I forgot my bookmark."
"Okay!" Jinyue smiled with satisfaction, looking down at the corner. "Page 192."
Then her eyes drifted upward, curious about what Lin Yunsheng was so engrossed in. She saw the line: *“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe...”*
*Snap!* Lin Yunsheng closed the book before she could finish the sentence, feeling a small sense of petty triumph.
"Why didn't you let me finish?"
Lin Yunsheng just looked at her and smiled, saying nothing.
"You're so stingy, Lin Yunsheng."
Jinyue set the book aside and guided her sister to straddle her lap, exchanging breaths. The third kiss of the morning tasted of coffee.
When a kiss carries a flavor, memory becomes anchored to it. From now on, every time she encountered that taste, she would think of that unfinished sentence and the lingering intimacy of this Saturday morning—at least until the memory was refreshed by the next expression of love.
Why were human ways of expressing love so limited? As Jinyue tilted her head to lick her sister's lips, she wondered: *Stealing your breath, possessing your body... is there anything else? Can I make you squeeze my heart, let you see that while Haicheng has four seasons, it is always spring here because of you? Do you feel it?*
She sent a tremor through her fingertips, then held her sister close until their breathing steadied.
"Sister..."
"Mhm?"
"Do you like this rug?"
"...Yes."
"It seems a bit... soiled now."
Lin Yunsheng closed her eyes and leaned into Jinyue's embrace, ignoring her. She waited for her senses to return before getting up and heading to the bathroom. When she emerged, the culprit who had derailed her morning plans was already dressed and waiting on the sofa.
Seeing that her sister had composed herself, Jinyue ran over and took her hand. "Let's go for a walk on that old overpass from when we were kids, okay?"
"Of course."
Lin Yunsheng drove across half of Haicheng, steering them back into the past. The old rental houses had long since been demolished to make way for new buildings, and a shopping center under construction nearby promised a bustling future. This once-remote suburb was slowly taking on the flavor of a new city center. Only this overpass remained, like a frozen fragment of time, spanning the busy intersection through wind and rain.
Lin Yunsheng leaned against the railing just as she had as a child, looking down at the eight-lane road below—a relentless stream of traffic, a cacophony of congestion and flickering signal lights. People were always so busy, lacking a destination, left only with transit points.
The early autumn sun bathed her and her sister in light. The sidewalks on either side of the road were lined with ginkgo trees. Their yellowing leaves swayed in the autumn breeze, a vibrant trail stretching to the horizon. She rested her head on her arms, tilting her gaze to look at Jinyue, who was on a phone call that didn't seem particularly pleasant.
It occurred to her that her own nerves were no longer so frayed; she had the time to slowly read a book. Jinyue, however, had become the busy one. They had planned to meet Friday night, but a last-minute meeting had pushed it to this morning. But she would let it be; her sister had her own pursuits. Lin Yunsheng would always be here to accompany her.
She smoothed her hair in the cool breeze and idly counted three cycles of the traffic lights before the call finally ended. Jinyue stood beside her, looking like a puffed-up bird full of grievances, waiting for her sister to ask "What's wrong?" so she could pour it all out.
Lin Yunsheng propped her chin on her right hand. "Unhappy?"
And so, the complaints began. "How can they work like this? We agreed not to change it. The business plan was finalized, we worked overtime for two weeks to make adjustments, and now they say the data is wrong again." She shot a look at Yunsheng. "Our company's data department is so unreliable."
Lin Yunsheng chuckled softly, thinking: *Come on, colleagues, don't let me down like this.*
"And we don't even get overtime pay, only compensatory leave. I've saved up so many days, but they won't let me use them. I wanted to go to Hangzhou with you. My colleague said if you drive from Haicheng now, you can smell the osmanthus the whole way. I don't know if it's true. If I keep working overtime, autumn will be over."
Lin Yunsheng watched the chattering Chen Jinyue and suddenly felt a profound sense of peace. Seasons would continue to turn. After years apart, she and her sister had finally experienced a full cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter together. If they missed the osmanthus this year, they would have the next to make up for it.
There was no need to rush. Some people were destined to miss each other, while others were destined to reunite.
The light fell across Jinyue's face. Her expression was sour, but the fine down on her cheek looked youthful and endearing. Grievance and a heart full of love were happening simultaneously in this moment.
"And is this project really that urgent? I don't think a few days' delay would hurt anything. Don't you agree? Besides..."
"Xiao Jin," Yunsheng interrupted.
"...Hmm?" Jinyue hadn't had time to pull back her dissatisfied expression. Her brow was furrowed, her cheeks puffed out. Only her eyes softened as they met her sister's. She had been mid-sentence, but sensing her sister had something important to say, she fell silent and waited.
"What page did I leave off on?" Lin Yunsheng asked.
"...Ah, 192." She remembered clearly, but was that really important?
It was, of course, important. It was the excuse Yunsheng had wracked her brain to find because, in this instant, she desperately wanted to kiss her.
"You remember so well." She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jinyue's cheek as a reward. The fine hairs there trembled, just as they had during her adolescence.
Jinyue stopped thinking about work. She stopped complaining. she pulled her sister close and kissed her again. This time, it was the taste of early autumn in Haicheng. There were no osmanthus flowers here, but there was the earth covered in golden leaves, a vast and brilliant expanse.
Lin Yunsheng cupped Jinyue's face, unwilling to end the kiss. The world was occasionally tedious—the impatient cars at the red light, the ill-timed work calls, the book that never seemed to end...
But there would always be stubborn people. In the cracks of life, they would tenaciously guard a sliver of romance.
The page she had only glanced at earlier now completed the sentence she had read four or five times, followed by three more words: *“The only art commensurate with humanity and the universe, the only one capable of guiding her to triumph over the stars, is Eros.”*
So, in this moment, let this kiss—full of love and desire—be a confession of romance to the universe on behalf of the ever-busy Haicheng.
Wouldn't you agree?
***
