Their English-speaking sessions had been delayed for two weeks because Fang Li had suddenly come down with a cold.
Qin Weidong felt extremely guilty. He couldn’t help thinking it was his fault—he’d been too harsh with Fang Li lately. He really shouldn’t have been so mean. After all, Fang Li had followed him all the way to America…
But Fang Li didn’t seem too bothered. He’d been prone to colds since he was a kid. Back then, no one realized it was because of a heart condition. In the countryside, who would go to the hospital for something so minor? A bit of running and jumping around, and he’d recover.
It was the same even after he grew up. An occasional sneeze or slight fever was no big deal. Now that they were abroad, with so many things to adjust to, a few small health issues were only natural.
Qin Weidong pressed his forehead to Fang Li’s under the blanket to check his temperature. Thankfully, he wasn’t running a fever. If he had been… even if Fang Li didn’t say anything, Qin Weidong would’ve been tempted to smack himself.
“Baby…”
Fang Li woke up to Qin Weidong’s kiss. He didn’t have classes in the morning like Qin Weidong did. Still half-asleep, he reached up to touch Qin Weidong’s chin and gave him a light kiss. “Go on to class. I’m fine. I’m gonna sleep a little more…”
Fang Li had seen Qin Weidong’s course schedule. To complete both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in a few years, he had to compress his time and work far harder than others. His schedule was packed tighter than a thick English dictionary. Just one glance had given Fang Li a headache.
And that didn’t even include Qin Weidong’s own study plans. Sometimes, Fang Li really thought he was made of iron…
Qin Weidong reached over for his phone and turned off all the alarms—one for piano practice, another for medication. Then he kissed Fang Li again. “Get some more rest. I’ll remind you to take your medicine when it’s time.”
Fang Li nodded and murmured, “I’ll remember on my own. Don’t wear yourself out…”
Unlike back home, Qin Weidong had clearly been pushing himself even harder since they came here. He already had a mountain of responsibilities each day. Fang Li might joke around a lot, but he did know how to be considerate.
Like with the English tutoring—he honestly didn’t think Qin Weidong needed to be the one teaching him. Every time they had a session, it was two or three in the morning before he could get to bed…
“Oh, by the way,” Fang Li said, “your mom called last night. But you were on the phone in the study, so I told her you were busy. She said it was fine. I forgot to tell you earlier… Do you want to call her back?”
“I will.” Qin Weidong added, “Next time, if you see her number, come get me.”
Clearly, he still hadn’t let that incident go.
Fang Li’s nose was a little stuffy. He mumbled, “It just slipped my mind.”
A week later, Fang Li’s cold had pretty much cleared up. He wasn’t sneezing anymore, and he finally met the new student tutor who’d be helping him with spoken English.
Qiao Shi was a boy about his age, a sophomore at Fordham University. His grandmother, who lived in Hong Kong, was a quarter British, which explained his naturally curly, light brown hair. When he smiled, he looked warm and charming.
“Come on in.”
Qiao Shi looked like he’d run all the way here. He was slightly out of breath as he set down his backpack, which had a little plush demon-winged figure hanging from it.
“Whew… Thanks! Sir, I’m not late, am I?”
“No,” Fang Li replied, giving him a glance. Qiao Shi’s cheeks were flushed from running, and he wore a light blue denim jacket. He looked every bit the cheerful, youthful international student.
“Sorry..! I’m still not good with the apartment’s security system.”
“It’s okay,” Fang Li said. “I couldn’t figure it out when I first got here either.”
He handed Qiao Shi a cup of coffee and waited for him to catch his breath before continuing.
“I’m Fang Li—Fang as in ‘square,’ Li as in ‘dawn.’ I’m not sure if Qin Weidong told you about me, but my English is terrible.”
“I know, don’t worry, Qin Weidong explained everything clearly in his emails. I’ve worked with very young children before, and they’ve all liked me. I promise I have plenty of patience!”
“Uh…” Fang Li swallowed his water awkwardly. He wasn’t supposed to be drinking coffee—Qin Weidong didn’t allow it.
Not long after, he received a text from Qin Weidong reminding him to take his meds. He replied with a simple “okay” and took the medicine right away.
“I hope I’m not too much trouble.”
“Not at all. Qin Weidong’s paying me really well—I’m actually really happy I got this job!”
Qiao Shi gave a sheepish smile when he noticed a corner of a stage costume from his side gig poking out of his backpack. He quickly stuffed it back in. Thankfully, Fang Li didn’t notice.
Qiao Shi brought along his usual English textbooks. After getting a general sense of Fang Li’s level, he efficiently drafted a personalized study plan.
“Qin Weidong mentioned in the email that the goal is just to reach everyday conversational fluency, right?”
Fang Li nodded. “I’m not studying here, so I don’t need to understand lectures or anything too technical.”
He had expected Qiao Shi to be at least a little surprised by this, but the boy didn’t bat an eye. He simply made a few quick adjustments to the plan with his pen.
“All right, got it. Does this look okay to you?”
Fang Li glanced at the schedule—it was mostly a dated progress chart. He’d never made a study plan before and had no real concept of what it should look like, so he just nodded.
They started with pronunciation practice. Qiao Shi really was a bright and cheerful kid. Even when Fang Li kept getting things wrong, he never lost patience. He would just look a bit exasperated, furrow his brows, and then switch tactics.
Fang Li found himself laughing at the boy’s expressive reactions more than once, which helped ease his nerves.
“I’m starting to believe you really did teach kids before.”
“Is it that obvious?” Qiao Shi put down a flashcard and scratched at his curly brown hair, embarrassed.
“I took a gap year before coming here. Back in Australia, I volunteered at a community program for children with autism. I had to dress up as cartoon characters and act super exaggerated just to get them to trust me…”
Fang Li chuckled. It was oddly charming.
Learning with Qiao Shi felt less like formal tutoring and more like two people around the same age having a relaxed conversation. Sometimes, Qiao Shi would guide him to talk in English about things he liked. Fang Li hadn’t chatted with anyone in ages, and Qiao Shi happened to know New York well, so their conversations easily flowed into shared interests—stage plays, live bands, even Broadway performances.
“It’s less than an hour from here to Carnegie Hall. If you’d like to go next time, I can take you.”
Their three-hour session passed easily in a relaxed atmosphere, without the oppressive pressure he used to feel when studying with Qin Weidong, always burdened with how much he had to learn that day.
The two young men had become more familiar with each other, and Fang Li was surprised to learn that Qiao Shi was actually half a year younger than him. He asked, “Did you start school early? Did you study in China?”
“I’ve studied everywhere.”
Qiao Shi was putting his books away. “My first stepfather was Japanese, so I went to school in Japan. The second was American, so I studied in Washington. Then there was an Australian, and I did volunteer work in Australia. My current stepfather is French—my mom lives with him in Nice, and I’m studying here.”
Fang Li paused for a moment. So this is what they mean by openness abroad, he thought. But Qiao Shi spoke of it all so naturally, without a hint of awkwardness—like it was perfectly normal for his mother to love and marry freely.
Qiao Shi checked the time. “Brother Li, your foundation’s pretty solid. I think in about two months, you’ll have no problem with daily things—restaurants, hotels, shopping, and so on.”
Fang Li was pleased to hear that.
Qiao Shi seemed to have another part-time job coming up—his phone kept beeping, with a little devil keychain dangling from it. As he was changing his shoes at the door, he handed over a business card. “Brother Li, if you have questions, feel free to call me…”
Fang Li had just taken it and glimpsed the word bar when the card was quickly snatched back.
“Sorry, Brother Li! Wrong card!”
Qiao Shi stuffed it back into his black backpack, which seemed bottomless, and rummaged around. But apparently, he couldn’t find the right one. Instead, he pulled out a blank white card and scribbled his number on it.
“If you get stuck on any of the exercises in that book before next class, just call me anytime. My phone’s always on.”
“Okay… thank you.”
After Qiao Shi left, the Chinese housekeeper Qin Weidong had hired arrived to cook.
She was a kind woman from Chaozhou who had settled here with her husband, a restaurant owner. Her Chaozhou-style home-cooked meals were excellent.
After eating, Fang Li put the leftovers in the fridge to reheat later when Qin Weidong got home.
The sun had set. He curled up on the carpet by the window, writing music. From here, he had a breathtaking view of Manhattan’s dazzling skyline—so different from back home. It felt like living inside an extravagant dream.
Just like the secondhand book had said, this city was full of global elites, rushing through intersections and streets, as if pausing even a second meant they’d fall behind. They flowed endlessly, like fuel feeding a massive engine, driving the mighty pulse of New York City.
It often sparked Fang Li’s inspiration.
That night, as soon as Qin Weidong walked through the door, Fang Li caught the scent of chocolate cake.
“You bought me cake?”
“Mm.” Qin Weidong hung up the call with Feng Hui. “How was your lesson with Qiao Shi this afternoon?”
“It went well. He’s quite a charming person, and since we’re about the same age, we got along pretty well.”
Getting along was all that mattered. Ever since Fang Li caught a cold, Qin Weidong had stopped worrying about his English. He figured Fang Li could study it for four years and he’d be fine with it.
Fang Li ran over and opened the cake box, delighted to find it was chocolate, his favorite flavor from his favorite bakery.
He picked off a strawberry coated in chocolate sauce and popped it into his mouth. “The key thing is, he’s taught autistic kids before—was it in Japan or Australia? He’s way more patient than you.”
Qin Weidong only let him have a bite. After seeing that Fang Li had saved him some food in the fridge, he said, “You didn’t eat enough tonight. Come have some more before you touch the cake.”
Fang Li was unwilling. “No way. I’m stuffed. Just cut the cake already.”
“You’re full but still have room for cake?”
Fang Li really wanted cake and urged him on. “Stop nagging. Are you cutting it or not?”
It wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet, and they’d already changed two different cooking aunts. Fang Li didn’t seem to like either of them.
That was just how Fang Li was—ask him what he liked and he couldn’t give you a straight answer, but serve something he didn’t like, and he’d pick at it like a cat, nibbling a couple bites before wandering off to amuse himself.
Qin Weidong felt a headache coming on.
Still, he reheated the food and dished out some for Fang Li. “Eat this first, then you can have cake.”
Usually Fang Li would’ve refused, but tonight there was cake. If he didn’t eat, Qin Weidong definitely wouldn’t let him have any. Not wanting the hassle, Fang Li grudgingly ate the food.
“I want to eat the whole thing.”
Qin Weidong frowned. “What if your teeth get messed up?”
“Then we’ll deal with it later…”
Seeing the sharp look in Qin Weidong’s eyes, Fang Li surrendered. “Relax, I’ve got strong teeth!”
He ended up eating most of the cake by himself, and if Qin Weidong hadn’t stopped him, he might have eaten until he threw up.
Later that night, after Qin Weidong bathed him and went in to wash himself, he came back out to find Fang Li sitting cross-legged on the bed in a bathrobe, a conversation book open on his knees, earphones in, looking quite frustrated.
“Qiao Shi gave you homework?”
“Mm… He gave me a cassette and a few exercises in the book…”
Fang Li stuck one earbud into Qin Weidong’s ear. “Help me listen to this—what’s the answer to this one?”
Qin Weidong glanced at the textbook. It was a set of chapter review questions. “C.”
Fang Li filled in C.
Qin Weidong dried his hair for him. Once finished, Fang Li lay on the bed and continued working. In addition to multiple-choice questions, there were also dialogue fill-ins.
It was already past ten at night. Seeing Fang Li frowning in frustration, Qin Weidong said, “If you don’t feel like doing it, then don’t. He only asked you to practice.”
It wasn’t mandatory.
“I know, but I paid for it…”
Even though money was no longer a concern for them, having once lived through poverty made him take spending seriously—especially when it was in U.S. dollars.
Qin Weidong looked at his book.
“Go to sleep. I’ll do it for you.”
He took over the exercise book. There weren’t that many questions, and just like Qiao Shi had said, it was all meant to reinforce what Fang Li tended to forget quickly.
Language learning—no matter what language—always came down to practice.
Fang Li was indeed getting sleepy, so he handed the book over.
When Qin Weidong finished, Fang Li opened his eyes and gasped, “Why did you finish it for me?!”
“You did the work—what am I supposed to do now? Erase it! Quick, erase it!”
Since middle school, Qin Weidong had always done Fang Li’s homework. It had become a habit for both of them. So under Fang Li’s protest, Qin Weidong flipped the pencil over and started erasing the answers.
Fang Li hit him with a pillow—twice. “You’re the worst… It’s your fault I can’t learn English!”
He turned his back and snatched the book from Qin Weidong, curling up to read it himself.
Qin Weidong stayed quiet. He knew now he really shouldn’t interfere with Fang Li’s English learning. When he tried teaching, he didn’t do it well, and it just made Fang Li lose his temper and argue with him. But when he didn’t intervene, and saw Fang Li struggling, he couldn’t help wanting to step in. It was a habit ten years in the making.
“Should we just stick with Qiao Shi? Or try someone else?”
Lately, because Fang Li had been sick, Qin Weidong hadn’t been sleeping in the study. He stayed here with Fang Li at night, watching over him until he fell asleep. By now, he had turned on his computer.
Fang Li couldn’t understand what was on the screen—just a blur of colorful charts. He’d asked before, and Qin Weidong had told him it was stock market data. He’d invested some money during the second week of the semester, so he had to keep an eye on it.
“No need to switch… Let’s keep him. I think he teaches well. Maybe we can hang out sometime too…”
Fang Li glanced at the book and yawned. “Forget it. I’ll finish it tomorrow…”
Axolotl Translations 
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