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Nie Mingjue was starting to worry. For a while now, Huaisang had been acting strange.
Everything had been normal about a month ago. Huaisang's university club had organized a week-long birding expedition on a boat to begin after the end of spring term, and he had accordingly celebrated. The club required everyone who didn't know how to swim to take swimming lessons, and he had accordingly complained. Nie Mingjue had had to kick him out the door before the first lesson.
But ever since then, Huaisang had attended the swimming lessons on time, unfailingly, without even a murmur of opposition. After he returned from the pool, rather than staring out the windows to look at birds, he would often stare out the windows and sigh wistfully!
It was beyond time, Nie Mingjue thought, as he watched his brother aimlessly sketch a few lines on his drawing pad, for a brotherly heart-to-heart. He'd approach the subject carefully, subtly…
"What's wrong with you these days?" Nie Mingjue demanded.
Huaisang looked up. "Oh, you were there, da-ge?"
Nie Mingjue sat down on the other end of the couch and set down two mugs of tea on coasters. "You've been acting weird lately. Why?"
"Have I been?"
"You're definitely not your normal self. It's like you're wandering around in a fog, except when you…" Hold on. Maybe he didn't need to worry. There was an easy, intuitive answer right in front of him. "…except when you go to swim class…" Could it be?
Nie Mingjue said, "Are you finally learning to appreciate exercise?"
Huaisang burst into laughter. "Oh, da-ge, never change."
Disgruntled, Nie Mingjue said, "If it's not that, then what is it?"
Huaisang gave him a considering look, then said, "Actually, maybe you can help me."
"Of course I'll help you."
This time Huaisang's smile was softer. "Da-ge, never change," he repeated. He set his sketch pad aside and drew himself up to face Nie Mingjue. Huaisang crossed his legs on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his steepled fingers. "Soooo," said Huaisang, "there's this guy."
"At swim class?"
"At swim class. The swim instructor, in fact." Huaisang played with the ends of his hair.
Bad sign. Huaisang's taste in boys had been, historically, terrible. Nie Mingjue said cautiously, "What's he like?"
"He's tall. Very handsome, great shoulders," said Huaisang, "and a striking face."
Nie Mingjue did not doubt this, nor was he reassured by it. "And his personality?"
"He's very strict in his lessons, and yells whenever anyone is doing something dangerous at the pool." A point in this mystery man's favor as a swim instructor, possibly a demerit as a potential partner for Mingjue's sensitive younger brother. "Kind of sarcastic. But…" Huaisang's eyes had gone distant, soft. "…he's also really good with kids. And even if he's strict, he's always encouraging. I swam across the pool without a board last week. I never thought I'd be able to do that."
Saying "so you have learned to appreciate exercise" would probably ruin the mood, so Nie Mingjue let the pink happy bubble of silence stretch out. Then he said, "What's this guy's name?"
Huaisang fiddled with his hair again. "His name, um. His name is Jiang Cheng."
"Oh, him," said Nie Mingjue. "He's my friend Yanli's didi."
A moment later, he let out an undignified yelp as Huaisang lunged forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You know Jiang Cheng's sister? And you didn't tell me?? Da-ge, you have to help me! I can't even hit on him at swim lessons because he's at work, do you know how hard it's been to hold back? Every week I've been tormented by this hot cute shirtless guy being right in front of me and not being able to flirt…"
"Didi, calm down." Nie Mingjue poked Huaisang between the eyebrows. "How was I supposed to know you'd be this crazy for him?"
"But you'll help me? Da-ge, please, I'm begging you!"
Nie Mingjue had met Jiang Cheng a couple of times. He was a good kid, responsible and respectful, and as far as Huaisang's crushes went, significantly above average. Still, what would be the fun in admitting that?
"I don't know," said Nie Mingjue. "Shouldn't you be focusing on your classes and not chasing after a relationship? Don't forget, between now and your birding trip, you still have to get through your final projects and exams."
Huaisang pouted. "What happened to 'of course I'll help you'?"
Maybe he should have gotten more information before saying that. But his word couldn't be taken back. With a shrug, Nie Mingjue said, "What do you even need me to do? I'll help, but I have my limits."
Huaisang sat back, grabbed one of the tea mugs, and sipped at it thoughtfully. "How about this," he said. "I'll behave until the end of the swimming lessons. In the meantime, you can put in a good word for me through the sister. Say that I really enjoy the lessons and that Jiang Cheng is a good teacher. That's all true, anyway."
Nie Mingjue nodded. So far so reasonable.
"I'll ask for his number on the last day of the lessons. While I'm on my trip, I'll text him photos of cool birds and nature. But I get the impression that he doesn't let people get close that easily, so I'll need your help again after I come back."
Nie Mingjue sighed. "What else do you want?"
"The next time Jiang Yanli visits her brother, instead of you two meeting up one-on-one to catch up, invite her—invite both of them—to our place for dinner."
Nie Mingjue raised an eyebrow. "You want to flirt with this guy while his jiejie is watching?"
"No, because you will be so busy catching her up on your life since graduation that she won't be able to notice that I'm putting the moves on him."
"Huaisang…"
"And!" Huaisang said, holding up a finger. "And, that dinner? I'll cook everything you don't want to, and I'll do all the cleanup."
Hosting a dinner for the Jiang siblings where he didn't even have to clean up didn't sound bad at all. Nie Mingjue pretended to think it over some more, though, just to keep Huaisang from thinking his da-ge was a pushover.
"I'll invite them both," he said, "but if only Yanli can make it, that's out of my hands."
"Sure. That's fair."
"If Jiang Cheng is uncomfortable with your flirting, you'll back off immediately."
"Yes, obviously."
"And…" Nie Mingjue looked Huaisang in the eyes. "And if you do start dating and he turns out to be a jerk, tell me right away. I won't hold back just because he's my friend's didi. You're my didi, so you come first."
Nie Mingjue held out a hand, to shake on the deal, but Huaisang tackle hugged him instead.
"Thanks, da-ge," he said.
…
On a warm summer evening, Jiang Yanli walked with her brother from the Nie apartment to the metro station. A-Cheng had been silent since they left, his brow furrowed. Yanli had to take his elbow to gently guide him out of the path of some kids on bikes.
They entered the station, joining the crowds waiting on the platform. They took the train back to A-Cheng's apartment, a tiny box of a studio. Still deep in thought, A-Cheng started making tea for two.
Finally, as they sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table, A-Cheng spoke.
"A-jie," he said, "I…I want to ask Nie Huaisang out. On a date. Do you think it would be a good idea?"
Jiang Yanli reflected on the bright smile with which Mingjue's didi had greeted them, the spicy Hubei dishes he had cooked for them himself, the genuine questions he had asked A-Cheng about his studies and research, the way he had leaned close to him on the couch after dinner to show off photos from his birding trip. She reflected, too, on how A-Cheng had mentioned a particular student of his swimming classes with suspicious frequency, how a stack of birding books had greeted her on his desk when she arrived.
She reached over and ruffled her didi's hair. "Oh, A-Cheng," she said. "I think that would be wonderful."
As A-Cheng's eyes brightened, a rare grin overtaking his face, she thought…next time, she and Mingjue would have a lot to discuss.