This troublemaker, he hasn't taken the taps apart, has he? The tap was not as secure a fixture as the toilet bowl! Thinking of this, Yuan Ge no longer has the confidence to let him mess around and barges straight into the bathroom.
What he sees is Rong Qiuchen staring blankly at the shower and hose, not knowing what to do with them. Seeing Yuan Ge walk in, he whispers gingerly, "Childe Yuan, your excellent house has neither a ladle nor a basin, nor a water storage tank or a water boiling stove, I would like to …"
"I don't care what you would like to do! Cut the crap! Hurry up and take off your dirty clothes." Yuan Ge quickly loses patience with the young brat, urging him to take off his long, dirty robe before taking the shower off the wall bracket and explaining to him how to use it.
"Look, the water comes out from here … and this is the hose that connects the water to the source … hot water on the left and cold water on the right …"
After taking off his outer robe, Rong Qiuchen becomes completely naked. There is nothing inside to cover his private parts. Standing in front of Yuan Ge with nothing on, he is so embarrassed that he cannot pay attention to what he is saying. After explaining how to use the shower, Yuan Ge is about to walk out of the bathroom when a sudden splash of water hit him. It turns out that the boy held the shower in the wrong direction and in his haste has sprayed water on both of them.
Giving up any hope of reasoning with him, Yuan Ge has long since been tamed to the point where he had no temper left. He wipes the water off his face, gives a quick shake of his dripping wet hair and says helplessly, "Well, I don't have to stand in line anymore. Looks like we're gonna have to take a shower together!"
He strips himself naked in a few quick movements, turns on the shower, takes the flannel and says, "Master Rong, it looks like it's better for me to be your servant to wait on you in the shower."
This makes Rong Qiuchen feel even more bashful and ill at ease. He props himself up against the wall with one arm, buries his face deep in the crook of his arm, covers his private parts with his other hand and stands under the shower, exposing only his naked back for Yuan Ge to scrub.
"What's there to be shy about, haven't you ever lived in a dorm?" Yuan Ge tries to speak as calmly as he could, as if it is no big deal, even though he himself hasn't showered with anyone since he left the country over a decade ago.
He squeezes the shampoo out of the bottle and applies it to Qiuchen's long hair. "You've got amazing hair. How many years did it take you to grow this long?" Yuan Ge lathers his long hair from the roots and it takes half a bottle of shampoo to finally get it thoroughly cleaned.
Seeing the boy standing stiffly against the wall with his back to him, seemingly unsure how to wash himself, Yuan Ge takes the liberty of scrubbing him with the flannel, from his swan-like neck, to his smooth back, down to his slim waist, to his full buttocks … It's like touching silk, the skin is so supple and smooth, yet the muscles are so tight. For some reason, his heart begins to pound wildly, his blood rushing, and his face blushing.
And Rong Qiuchen, blinded by the foam of the shower gel, could only call out softly, "Childe Yuan … Childe Yuan …"
"Uh …" Listening to the boy's soft murmuring of his name, Yuan Ge feels his mouth growing dry, his heart beating faster, and all that comes to mind are fragments from his dream, where his body was intertwined with this beautiful man in front of him on that big mahogany bed. A shared shower that he had thought nothing of originally has suddenly become not so innocent.
What's wrong with me! Am I so obsessed with my film script? Not only do I have erotic dreams, but now I have dirty thoughts while showering naked with a man! What's wrong with me?
Yuan Ge turns the temperature down and sprays the cold water on his face and body, telling himself firmly that the regular physical urges of an adult male are entirely animistic and have nothing to do with the object or his own morality, but are simply the result of temporary stimulation.
No! I'm not a pervert who kidnaps demented children!
However, when he opens his eyes, all he could see is the naked perfection of Rong Qiuchen, who is now looking back at him with a look of helplessness and attachment in his eyes …
Oh, God! Please! Don't let him discover the changes in my body!
Yuan Ge wails inwardly, but when he meets Rong Qiuchen's gaze, it is like being struck by lightning and he actually forgets to breathe. Is this what they call "a glance of a million years"? --but the boy's naked body is just too beautiful--perfect flesh accompanied by the erotic dream of that night, tumbling before his eyes and eating away at his mind …
Yuan Ge can't stand it any longer and hands the flannel to Rong Qiuchen and hurriedly escapes from the bathroom.
… …
"How long does it usually take to groom this long hair of yours after each wash?"
When Yuan Ge finally calms down, Rong Qiuchen has also finished his nice hot shower and emerges from the bathroom with a content look on his face, wearing Yuan Ge's pyjamas.
"Two hours." Qiuchen says as he tries to dry his hair with a bath towel.
"So this is how time is wasted!" Yuan Ge says and takes out the hair dryer from the cupboard, but as soon as he turns it on, the roar of the hair dryer immediately sends Rong Qiuchen scurrying like a rabbit to the corner of the bathroom.
"Don't be afraid! This is the magic tool that will dry your hair in style in 20 minutes." Yuan Ge grabs him from the corner and blow dries Qiuchen's long, dark, shiny hair inch by inch. Feeling the softness and smoothness between his fingers, he can't help but exclaim, "It's a pain to take care of, but it sure is pretty!"
"One's body and hair are gifts from his parents, how can one easily part with them? May I ask why Childe Yuan cut his hair? Have you ever been a monk?"
"Of course I'm not! Didn't you see all the men on the street with short hair when we were coming back earlier? That's the standard in the modern world, even if they need to do costume dramas, they all use wigs. Out of 1.4 billion Chinese, there is probably not a single person with hair as long as yours. How about tomorrow I apply for a Guinness World Record for you?"
"What is Guinness?"
Yuan Ge doesn't bother to answer and just focuses on the task at hand. Rong Qiuchen soon falls in love with the hairdryer and follows Yuan Ge's example, blissfully blowing his hair, letting it fly freely and looking at himself in the mirror with delight.