It was the first kiss between them.

It's almost New Year's Eve.

It was Lin Jian's first New Year's Day after returning to China. Having been abroad for a long time, he thought he had gotten used to the alienation and coldness of a foreign country during New Year's festivals, and did not have a strong sense of anticipation for the traditional festivals.

And really, when the year was coming to a close, he realized that was not the case.

The hustle and bustle and companionship of those who were true and complete, the hustle and bustle of those who had been in his life, turned out to be something he still longed for.

And this year, he had Shen Ke with him for New Year's Eve.

A few days ago, Shen Ke really put off most of the work, the whole person presents a very leisurely state, even these years follow Shen Ke almost 365 days without rest Assistant Xu secretly smacked his lips, do not understand once the king of the work roll Chairman Shen how to suddenly began to play a body to recuperate and negative idleness.

Two mornings ago, when Assistant Xu delivered a business event proposal to Shen Ke for signing after the New Year, he secretly asked Lin Jian once: "Chairman Shen ...... has been at home lately? Like this ...... fixing flowers and teasing the dog?"

Lin Jian's line of sight swept over the door of the sunroom in the courtyard, the person who was grabbing the flower pot with Pi Dan, his eyebrows lightly raised, and asked rhetorically, "Isn't this good?"

"...... is good." Assistant Xu is puzzled and has a feeling of sympathy, "It's just so uncomfortable, yesterday I called to remind Chairman Shen of this afternoon's online video conference, but he actually seemed to have forgotten about it, and when he remembered, he even whispered something like 'what's the point of having a meeting in the New Year? meeting on New Year's Eve'? Damn - is this still the same boss I used to kill in the business world and roll in life and death?"

"......" Lin Jian's eyes have been falling on the back of Shen Ke not far away, silent for a moment, said, "These years ...... he lived too tired."

But he makes money.

-- Assistant Xu added mentally.

The day after Lin Jian returned from his hometown, Shen Ke gave his aunts and workers a yearly vacation, so Lin Jian and his family were the only ones left in the large villa for a few days.

The days are quiet and cozy.

Walking the dog and practicing calligraphy, making tea and reading, watching old movies or taking a walk. Occasionally, Shen Ke would get caught up in a temporary job, and Lin Jian would not wait for him, he would either go on with his own business, or he would go alone to fulfill the original plan of the two of them.

Since childhood, he has been so strong-minded and independent, never hiding his dependence in front of Shen Ke, but in the time without Shen Ke, he is stronger and calmer, more self-sufficient - dependent, not clinging, always awake to make himself a better person.

These are not words, these are habits that have long been developed in the details and were taught to him by Shen Ke as a child.

Lunar New Year's Day, the two of them went to the mall together, seven or eight bought a whole trunk of inventory, buy when not feel much, until the time to move to the car, Lin Jian can not help but mutter: "so much ah ...... home on two people, will not have to eat until next year's Spring Festival? "

And how is it that ...... buys so many bits and pieces that you wouldn't normally even buy?

Lin Jian looked at the large bag of lollipops and fell into self-doubt.

--Buying candy for Shen Ke, is he stupid?

"Not really." Shen Ke put the last shopping bag away, following his unspeakable gaze to lock onto its target, and after a pause she smiled and took one of the packets of lollipops out, tore open the wrapping and shoved one directly into Lin Jian's mouth before he could look back.

"Well!" Lin Jian looked at him in dismay, "...... Shen Ke!"

But with sugar in his mouth, the cross-examination was decidedly understated, more like a rant with a hint of sweetness.

"Even if there are only two people, you can't scribble for New Year's Eve." Shen Ke with a smile under his eyes, answered his first question about the overpurchase of supplies, and then looked at him for two seconds, indeed did not hold back, suddenly raised his hand and poked with the tip of his finger the bulbous pouch on the side of Lin Jian's face that had been toppled by the ball of lollipop, and asked, "...... What is the flavor of it, sweet or not. Sweet or not?"

"......" Lin Jian amazed at the degree of childishness of this person, staring at him stunned with sugar in his mouth, half a long time did not say anything, stalemate for a few moments, finally still in his warm and deep smile defeated, silently sighed, nodded, slurred answer: "Strawberry milk ...... sweet."

And then Shen Ke let out a very unreserved, off-center laugh.

The family aunts and workers before the holiday has been the whole villa from the inside and outside cleaned once, but one morning before the year, the two people still symbolically to the home to do a cleaning - the whole house intelligent sweeping and dragging all-in-one robots have led the order to go to war, less than two hours, the three-story villa indoor immaculate.

Lin Jian looked at Shen Ke who was watching a documentary in the sofa of the video room, enjoying the "technology changes life", but also sighing once again at this person's habit of not doing housework for so many years.

Since I had to take Pee Wee for a walk in the evening, practice time for the two in the den usually turned into the afternoon.

Cooked Xuan Xuan spread out, Shen Ke long stood in front of the case, holding the pen and ink, brush stroke is still the same careless and lazy posture, but the words under the pen after many years, once again surprised Lin Jian's eyes.

Flying text coloring Han, strong bone and abundant muscle.

This is the truth that people who practise calligraphy know very well. However, for a person like Shen Ke, who originally had no rest for years, this good handwriting is not to say that it is abandoned, but even more and more refined, it is not difficult to guess how he has been able to stabilize this good handwriting through self-cultivation and self-restraint.

As a result, Lin Jian is a bit hesitant to put pen to paper.

Especially when Shen Ke smiled and said, "Didn't you always mutter about giving me a birthday present in the past two days? Don't bother, just write a calligraphy and I'll frame it as a birthday gift from you." When Lin Jian said, "Don't bother, I'll frame it as a birthday gift from you." Lin Jian's weakness was at its peak.

The twenty-ninth day of the Lunar New Year is Shen Ke's birthday, and tomorrow, the thirtieth day of the Lunar New Year, is the first day of his thirty-fifth year.

Lin Jian stood in front of the case, holding the pen stumbled for a long time, and finally sighed, discussing with Shen Ke said: "Why don't you ...... forget it, I'll prepare another gift, okay?"

Shen Ke calmly waited for him to put pen to paper, and said without hesitation, "No, one character is enough."

And there was no way Lin Jian could refuse any request from this man.

In the end, he could only put down the pen with his head, and nothing unusual could be seen between the strokes of the pen and the movement of the wrist, but before the two words were finished, Shen Ke, who had been standing by his side, walked slowly behind him.

Outsiders look at what's going on, insiders look at what's going on-

Lin Jian's calligraphy appears to be "as graceful as a dragon", but in reality, the force between the strokes of the brush is virtual, and the hooks and drawings float on the paper rather than penetrate the paper.

And this, of course, is hard to escape Shen Ke's eyes.

"I ...... I am still ......" Lin Jian sighed disheveledly, just wanting to turn his head to tell forgiveness, the aura behind him steeply approaching, his voice lapsed, and in a flash, he closed his unfinished words.

The person behind him bent down slightly, and Lin Jian's entire spine was gathered in Shen Ke's arms, and through his clothes, Lin Jian could almost feel the beating of his heart.

Lin Jian gulped silently, his ringed form stiffening, not daring to move.

The next second, the wrist was Shen Ke from behind not light not heavy hold, calm and calm voice in the ear ringing, spit with warm breath: "finger, wrist, elbow, shoulder coordination, with wrist position low, not trembling not shake, hanging wrist pen posture is not limited, not confined to self-operation - when I taught you forgot?"

Lin Jian was held in Shen Ke's hand and rewrote eight large characters on the paper, holding his breath the whole time he put down the pen, and only when he closed the pen did he exhale silently and wordlessly.

I wish I could be with old friends for years to come.

Shen Ke looked at the words on the paper, gave a very soft "hmmm" and laughed softly, "It's finally something."

And with another inclination of her head, her eyes fell on the side of Lin Jian's rosy red neck.

"......" Shen Ke surprised slightly raised his eyebrows, reacted and couldn't help but feel funny, favoring Lin Jian always can't control his itchy hands, directly lifted his other hand, flexed his index finger, and gently scraped his bony knuckles on his neck, asked with a smile, "Why is it red like this ...... Well, it's still hot."

"......"

Now it wasn't just the neck, but even the side of Lin Designer's face was fleshly colored with a thin layer of powder.

Shen Ke was surprised and laughed, "You're ......"

"Shut up." Lin Jian popped out from the crack of his lips, tilting his head slightly with a cold, burning face, "Finished teaching? Then let go."

Although he had finished writing, Shen Ke still maintained the position of holding the person in his arms.

Lin Jian has been like this since he was a child, every time the more embarrassed, the more bluffing, deliberately cold face ice people, this trick to bluff people repeatedly, others as long as they see Lin Jian's face mood sink down, naturally will be far away from the avoidance.

And Shen Ke was never anyone else.

"Why are you suddenly losing your temper?" Shen Ke's posture didn't change, and he even gently shook Lin Jian's wrist that he was holding, and laughed in a low voice, "Why do you get more and more shy as you get older?"

"...... No." Lin Jian only felt half of his arms tingling slightly as he braced his face and retorted in a seemingly reasonable manner, "Besides, you didn't teach me that when I was a kid."

At best, he stood beside it, occasionally using his fingertips to press the small Lin Jian unconsciously raised his wrist, which has ...... at this time been so intimate?

"Oh, that's because I was incompetent in teaching." Shen Ke reflected guiltlessly, "I'll change and teach you properly again from today."

"You--" Lin Jian was completely clueless about this airy and laid-back look of his in private, "It's not like I'm eight years old, I haven't needed it for a long time... ..."

"Uh-huh." Shen Ke nodded slightly and followed up his words, "What I didn't have when I was eight, I'm just making up for now."

"......"

Lin Jian is completely out of temper.

Two big men with an average height of more than 185, it is not convenient for them to write for a long time in a stacked standing position, so in the next hour or so, Lin Jian sat in front of a long case, was ringed by Shen Ke's shoulder from behind, holding his hand, and seriously finished writing a congratulatory message, and wrote a few Spring Festival couplets for his family, before the end of this difficult "private lesson! The "private lesson" was over only after being held in Shen Ke's hands from behind and after writing a congratulatory message.

By the time Shen Ke finally mercifully released his wrist, Lin Jian's palm was already damp.

The person behind him pulled away a little, Lin Jian's movement of flinging his wrist to relax gave way, and the fire he had been holding in his heart finally burned into a blazing flame, and he said offhandedly, "Don't move."

Shen Ke sure enough stopped what he was going to do to get up, sat back down, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Jian rubbed his wrist and turned around, his face still burning, but his eyes fell flat on Shen Ke's face.

No matter what time of day it was, the man always had a look of equanimity.

Lin Jian couldn't help but make a mental note--

So why should I be the one who's always sulking?

Afternoon study quiet warm, one side of the long case placed on the pen and ink and just written words, the distance between the two of them is still very close, the fragrance of the ink by the earth's heat steam up, leisurely floating down in their surroundings.

Lin Jian subconsciously remembers that he should have approached first.

Near at hand between the breath, nose interlacing entanglement, and Shen Ke see him without a word slowly inclined his head to lean over the moment, just a slight flash of surprise in the bottom of the eyes, after the surprise, but quietly waiting in place, did not hide and did not move.

But Lin Jian was so sensitive that it was the flash of surprise in Shen Ke's eyes that drew him right out of the chaos and back into reality in a flash.

The great tide of embarrassment and embarrassment crescendoed to extinction--

Lin Jian suddenly thought, what am I doing?

Do you want a favor?

But the staggered smelling breath has not yet had time to completely away, and in an instant was pulled closer, a moment of panic, Lin Jian only felt his nose was not lightly touched, the next second, all his senses in an instant disappeared, only on the lips, in vain, left a touch of rolling warmth.

Shen Ke, at the moment Lin Jian inclined his head, suddenly raised his hand and pressed it against his jaw, and then in his slightly flustered eyes, he kissed him straight down.

I don't know exactly who should be considered active.

But it doesn't seem to matter.

It was the first kiss between them.

It's quiet and gentle, and it happens in a quiet way.

Shen Ke's kiss and his own, warm and calm and calm, self-restraint and stay in proportion. Even in such entangled charming and adhesive moment, still will not be overly intense, with a little connotation of indulgence, more like ...... afraid of disturbing the people in front of the fearful and uneasy.

Thick and sheer.

Lin Jian could hardly breathe, the bottom of his eyes gradually surged an unbearable blood color, a moment later, the corner of Shen Ke's lips slightly withdrew a little bit, but his lips pecked the beads of his lips one by one, and asked with a deep chuckle, "It's not even if you don't know that you have to close your eyes when kissing, you don't even know how to change your breath?"

His tone is too natural and gentle, if not for the slight mute in his voice, which betrays an emotion, Lin Jian would really think that he is the only one who is moved.

So he narrowed his eyes slightly and turned his head to kiss back at the end of Shen Ke's subdued, gentle voice.

*

On the evening of the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Zhangqian and his wife sent a transatlantic video.

Lin Jian was in the kitchen, with all her cooking skills, but she was at a loss for the laminating flowers on the cake, and only after a long time, she carefully squeezed one, and after looking at it from left to right, she still felt that it wasn't satisfactory enough, so she took the cake embryo with her and wanted to ask the birthday girl, who was sitting in the center hall on the first floor, if she could just omit this abrasive step.

"This cream flower ......" Lin Jian carrying a tray into the hall, a lift of the eyes to see Shen Ke is sitting on the sofa to play the video, while the screen side of the person heard his abruptly transmitted voice, first froze, then asked incredulously: "...... The one who just spoke, is it ...... Xiao Jian?"

Lin Jian remained frozen in place, holding the cake, and almost immediately heard Shen Zhangqian's voice.

"It is him." Shen Ke has no intention to hide, so he generously admitted, "Just returned to China in the latter half of the year, and ...... spent the New Year with me this year."

In the video, Mr. and Mrs. Shen Zhangqian could not hide their longing and excitement, saying repeatedly that they want Lin Jian to come over.

Shen Ke, however, turned to Lin Jian and asked, "It's my parents, do you want to meet them?"

He asked this question as if it did not matter if Lin Jian said "not really wanting to" at this point in time, and that he could calmly refuse on his behalf.

But Lin Jian only hesitated for a few seconds, but still nodded, put the cake on a low table to one side, and walked over.

The moment his face appeared in front of the screen, Shen Zhangqian in the video breathed a deep sigh of relief, while Cong Wan, sitting beside him, had a glimmer of crystalline water in the bottom of his eyes.

"Grandpa, Grandma." Lin Jian voice is also a bit slightly hoarse, "It's me who came back, how have you ...... been all these years?"

"Good, good, good." Shen Zhangqian and his wife are now living in Australia, where the temperature is warm. After many years of absence, Shen Zhangqian is still hale and hearty, and Cong Wan is always gentle and calm, but when they see Lin Jian, their emotions are a bit out of control.

"You child, you didn't come back for such a long time, grandparents miss you!" Cong Wan smiled and wiped the moisture from the ends of his eyes, saying, "But we've received all the gifts you've sent us every year, and every time your grandpa opens a gift, he can't tell you how happy he is."

"You're not leaving this time, are you?" Shen Zhangqian asked with a smile. Shen Zhangqian asked with a smile, "When will you come to Australia to see us? In a flash, our little Jane has grown up so big, grandparents miss you so much, if we had known that you were coming back this year, we would have gone back to the country earlier to spend the New Year with you."

"You two old people must not toss and turn." Lin Jian took a deep breath, suppressed the same undulating and churning mind, and said, "After the year ...... I'll find time to visit you both, and then ...... I'll play chess with you."

"Good good good!" Shen Zhangqian responded with a succession of smiles, and with a twist of words, asked, "Is this ...... preparing a birthday cake for your little uncle?"

Uncle Junior--

The first time this title appeared, it stunned the two people in front of the screen.

Once upon a time, this title only represented a not-so-small age and generation difference between them, and deeper still, it was more like a kind of self-awareness for Lin Jian.

And now--

For two people who have held hands and hugged within a few days, and even had a long, long, long kiss just half a day ago, the words "Uncle Junior", however they sound, carry with them a sense of taboo and hidden charm.

Lin Jian pursed his lips and did not squeak, but he could not help but raise his hand and rubbed the vaguely hot ear that was close to Shen Ke s side, and before his hand could be put down, he heard Shen Ke give a laugh and say, "It was me who had to hold people back for the New Year, and having a birthday ...... is rather a second."

Speaking of which, Cong Wan sighed as if in frustration, and said in an astringent voice, "It's been such a long time, ever since Xiao Jian left, I haven't seen you spend a year in peace, especially since your father and I haven't been by your side for all these years, you--"

"Mom." Shen Ke warmly interrupted her and blandly said, "Don't mention the past, I'm not doing fine here."

Cong Wan nods in response.

This is a bit of a tiger's tail, Lin Jian is suspicious, but he felt a sudden warmth on the back of his hand, he was slightly stunned, and then looked down at--

Out of sight of the video camera, Shen Ke gently holds his hand.

And so all doubts dissipated.

As Shen Ke said, it's all in the past and it's going to be okay.

Eventually, thanks to Lin Jian's persistence, the birthday cake was brought to the table in style.

Though the sell is still not superb, the birthday girl herself expressed great satisfaction, "It's pretty good, at least it's much better than the one I made back in the day."

"I prepared all the ingredients myself, how good can it be?" Lin Jian muttered, slicing off a small piece of cake and serving it on a plate, pushing it in front of Shen Ke, and faintly echoing his previous statement, "It's just that you're not picky."

"Nonsense." Shen Ke laughed a bit, suddenly thought of something, wiped a bit of cream with his fingertips, and in Lin Jian's unguarded situation, wiped a bit of cream directly on the side of his face, before leisurely saying, "I'm a person who has always been very picky."

"......" Lin Jian incredibly slightly widened his eyes, as if dismayed at the childish behavior that Shen Ke has shown again and again these days, for a long time, before he lowered the hand that had been lifted up and was about to rub against the side of his face, and spat out a sentence in a low voice: "...... soon to be thirty-five years old, how can you go back more and more? He spat out in a low voice, "...... is about to be thirty-five years old, why is he living more and more?"

It didn't rub after all.

Shen Ke's eyes fell on the youth in front of him who was shy and squirming at the same time, his smile silent and gentle.

After dinner, Lin Jian refused to allow Shen Ke to help clean up, even if it was as simple as putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Haven't you heard of it?" Lin Jian frowned and asked rhetorically, "If you work on the day of your birthday, you'll have to work for the rest of the year."

"There's such a thing?" Shen Ke couldn't argue with him, so she followed him empty-handed, leaning longingly against the doorway to the kitchen, smiling, "Our little Jane knows a lot."

Us, Jane.

Lin Jian gave a slight pause as he pulled the dishwasher door open, and then digressed, "Why are you standing here staring at me, afraid I'm going to steal the dishes?"

It was only after I said that I thought the analogy was really risqué and silly, and the words stuck in my throat for a moment, and then I instructed with a fervent voice, "Go get Pee-wee up and out to walk the dog."

Shen Ke looked past that, smiled, said goodbye, and turned to go get the skinny egg.

When they finished walking the dog, the two of them nestled in the den and flipped through their leisure books for a while, while each of them went to their rooms to take a shower and prepare for the rest of the day.

Shen Ke finished his shower and came out of the bathroom just as the door to his room was knocked twice.

He walked over and opened the door with a warm vapor, a few teasing smiles filling the bottom of his eyes, "We're the only two people in the whole house, so there's no need to be so polite all the time."

Lin Jian stood outside the door wearing the same style of robe as his, and opened his mouth at the words, but swallowed his retort and just passed the thing he was holding in his hand in front of Shen Ke and said, "For you."

Shen Ke unexpectedly lowered his eyes to look, but it was the "five-colored horse" Ping An Fu, which he had been carrying around all these years.

The original Ping An Blessing had been worn out and the threads broken in the smallest details over the years, but the one Lin Jian handed over to me was not worn out or damaged at all, and the small breaks that had once been there had been repaired one by one.

Shen Ke couldn't help but be surprised, "This is ...... something you patched up yourself?"

"Uh-huh." Lin Jian answered, shifted his line of sight to the side, and said in a low voice, "From the night I saw you at the bidding meeting, I ...... saw you carrying this, but after such a long period of time, it's inevitable that the weaving will be worn out, I... ...casually found the colored rope, simply repaired it for you, as a birthday gift for you, okay?"

And the writing in the study this afternoon--

Lin Jian decided at that time that he would keep it for himself and not give it to Shen Ke.

What a birthday present, he wrote it ...... being held in the hand and writing it counts as him writing it, so it's his.

Seeing Shen Ke's eyes have been dropping on the Ping An Fu in his hand, neither agreeing nor refusing, Lin Jian silently, finally put out the attitude of discussing with him: "Take this and exchange it with you for the painting in the afternoon, is it okay?"

There's no such thing as a swap, Shen Ke thought to himself--

The most sincere and pure emotions he had ever received in his life up to this point, after living for more than thirty years, all originated from this one person in front of him.

It may seem to Lin Jian that Shen Ke has been "giving" and he has been "getting" for so many years, but in fact, all the affection Shen Ke has gotten from him, thick and mellow, is not a bit less than that of Lin Jian. In fact, all the feelings Shen Ke got from him, thick and mellow, were not a bit less than Lin Jian's.

Even though they had once been on different sides, they had never run in both directions and made each other whole.

"Good, you said it." After a long time, Shen Ke took the five-colored horse Peaceful Blessing from Lin Jian's hand, held it in his palm, and said, "I like it very much, just as much as I did when I first received this gift."

Lin Jian's hanging heart then slowly fell, and then wordlessly hooked the corner of his lips, "There is another gift, also to be delivered in person."

Shen Ke smiled at his words and followed his question, "What is it?"

Lin Jian sank his breath, and suddenly took a step closer to Shen Ke in the halo of shadowed light.

The light from the wall sconce fell dimly and peacefully between the two men, and after a few moments, the two shadows on the carpet that had been clinging to each other became gradually entangled and dazzled.

Lin Jian tilted his head up, resisting the heat that welled up behind his ears, and reached out his arm to encircle the neck of the person in front of him, kissing Shen Ke very gently, but very lingeringly.

It was the second kiss between them in a day.

It was earlier than Shen Ke expected, but also sweeter than he expected.

Probably because Lin Jian said it was part of the birthday present.

And no one but the two of them will ever know-

Shen Ke, on his thirty-fifth birthday, was rewarded with an old object with a sentiment from his time, and a kiss that was belated, but so green that he had just learned how to change his breath in the interval.

When they parted, Lin Jian's voice whispered in his ear, low and soft:

"Shen Ke, happy birthday."

Blessings are said only once a year.

But I have a bright reason to be able to kiss you countless times throughout the year.

Not just today, not just tomorrow.

It's not too late in life for this love.