helo > Recent Status Updates

“Head pillowed on his arms, Xiao Chiye lay on the barren sand and listened to the Chashi River lapping at its banks. Silently, he counted the stars above him.

He finished counting them once—it was Shen Lanzhou.

He counted them again—still Shen Lanzhou.”

“This waist,” Xiao Chiye said, measuring it with a spread hand as he guided Shen Zechuan back to lean on him, “is so slender it can fit in the palm of one hand.”

“That’s why they call it the thinning waist of Shen.”2 Shen Zechuan lay against Xiao Chiye’s chest. “So envy not, my beloved Xiao-lang.”

“In any case, it’s all mine,” Xiao Chiye said. “I’ll leave the envy to others.”