Fan Jun actually asking him to draw a profile picture was something Zou Yang hadn’t anticipated. He hadn’t even expected Fan Jun to tap on the profile picture he’d casually drawn during class, let alone notice the signature.

The guys in his dorm had lived together for two years, and they only belatedly realized it after Liu Wenrui pointed it out.

And none of them cared.

“Draw something simple,” Fan Jun said. “Like that little pig of yours. How long would it take?”

“That one’s way too simple,” Zou Yang opened his phone’s photo album and found a little Pixiu (mythical winged lion) he had drawn before. “I’ll draw something like this.”

“Will it be a bit too complicated?” Fan Jun looked at it.

“Not that complicated,” Zou Yang said. “Just a bit more detailed than that pig.”

“Then you…” Fan Jun nodded, “when you have time…”

“I’ll draw it for you in a bit,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun was taken aback, looking at him without speaking.

“It’s not a hassle, it won’t even cut into your sleep time.” Zou Yang leaned back in his chair.

“I didn’t mean that…” Fan Jun said.

“I know,” Zou Yang smiled. “I skipped all my morning classes anyway, this little bit of time doesn’t matter.”

There was no paper in Fan Jun’s small room, but miraculously, there was a set of markers.

“I saw them in a stationery store and thought they looked pretty, like a rainbow, so I bought them,” Fan Jun said. “I’ve never actually used them.”

Zou Yang found some paper in his backpack, sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the sofa, and placed the paper and markers on the small table. “I’ll draw Xiaobai and Dahei first to warm up.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun sat on the sofa watching.

“Xiaobai’s tail wasn’t docked, so why were its ears cropped?” Zou Yang asked as he drew.

“At first, I told the breeders not to crop the ears,” Fan Jun said. “But after I brought it home, its ears kept getting infected. I was afraid it would affect its hearing later on… so I had them cropped anyway.”

Zou Yang didn’t speak. He just glanced at Xiaobai and sighed softly.

Zou Yang drew quite fast. Without sketching a draft, he directly used a marker to draw on the paper.

The strokes looked very simple, but after just a few lines, Fan Jun could tell that it was a drawing of Xiaobai lying on the ground, followed by Dahei sitting on top of Xiaobai.

The amazing thing was, even though he was using a black marker, Fan Jun could tell that Zou Yang was drawing a black dog and a white cat.

When he first met Zou Yang, he only thought Zou Yang was flamboyantly handsome. He really hadn’t expected Zou Yang to be this kind of person—so… unique.

There was a sound when the tip of the pen scratched across the paper, but at this distance, Fan Jun couldn’t hear it with only his right ear. He could only see the pen swaying slightly at Zou Yang’s fingertips, giving off a gentle, dizzying sensation.

Fan Jun lay down on the sofa, resting his head on a cushion, and stared at his hands.

“Not bad, I’ve got the feel for it now.” Zou Yang switched to a new piece of paper and set the cat-and-dog drawing aside.

“Give me this warm-up one too,” Fan Jun said.

“Sure.” Zou Yang grabbed the cat-and-dog drawing again and signed his name on it.

“The Yazi doesn’t need to be too complicated, something simple is fine,” Fan Jun said.

“Mm,” Zou Yang turned to look at him. “If you’re sleepy, just sleep. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Not sleepy,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang lowered his head and picked up his pencil.

Fan Jun smiled. For the actual drawing, he still needs a draft…

Drawing this Yazi holding a sword was actually quite similar to drawing that little Pixiu from before. It was harder than the little pig, but it was just a big head attached to a small body, so it was manageable.

Zou Yang had just finished the pencil line art and was in the middle of revising it when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He took it out and saw it was from Liu Wenrui.

[Respect]: Are you picking someone up or staging a prison break?

Zou Yang checked the time. The first class, English, didn’t matter much. But the next two were smaller seminar classes that he couldn’t hide from. By the time he finished drawing, he probably wouldn’t make it to the first afternoon class either…

Screw it.

He replied to Liu Wenrui.

[Zou yang]: What’s in the afternoon?
[Respect]: History of Ancient Literature. Professor Zhou loves you; if you don’t come back, you’re dead.

Zou Yang put his phone back in his pocket. He glanced back and realized Fan Jun had already fallen asleep leaning against the sofa.

It seemed these past few days had indeed been very exhausting for him.

He lowered his head and continued drawing.

Fan Jun had actually said there was no rush and he could draw it whenever he had time.

But he just wanted to finish it right now and give it to Fan Jun.

Fan Jun didn’t want a little pig, dog, or cat; he specifically wanted a Yazi.

Beyond the Yazi’s “mythological background,” Zou Yang felt that perhaps what Fan Jun needed more was the Yazi’s symbolic meaning of bravery, resilience, and suppressing evil.

---

It wasn’t that Fan Jun hadn’t slept at all during his three days in the detention center—he had slept; it was impossible to stay awake for three days straight. But Fan Jun always felt there were too many things spinning in his head, and combined with the discomfort in his ear, he was just exhausted.

Right now, the scene of Zou Yang drawing was very comforting, safe, and peaceful…

He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he could feel he was sleeping very deeply.

Extremely deeply.
The kind of deep that sinks to the very bottom.

His dreams were chaotic, hovering between reality and illusion, filled with countless shadows and indistinct voices.

He heard his phone ringing, felt Xiaobai’s nose nudge his face, felt Dahei step over his stomach, saw shadows shifting before his eyes, heard someone talking to him…

But it all felt very far away.

“Is he awake?” he heard someone say.

It was a rather familiar woman’s voice.
Mom?

“Jun-er?” the woman called his name.
No.

“Jun-er, wake up,” the woman nudged him.
It was Sister Shan.

Fan Jun opened his eyes with some difficulty. The lights in the room were glaringly bright, making him uncomfortable, and he blinked continuously.

Someone walked over and turned the lights off.

Fan Jun let out a breath of relief. Only now could he clearly see that the woman in front of him was Sister Shan, and the person who turned off the lights was Uncle Lü.

“You guys…” Fan Jun finally came to his senses and abruptly sat up.

Before he could even steady himself, a wave of dizziness hit him, and he fell back down.

“Don’t move yet,” Uncle Lü said. “Your fever just broke; you’re probably still dizzy.”

“Fever?” Fan Jun was stunned.

“Oh my, you had a fever. You burned for two days and slept for almost three days,” Sister Shan said. “You woke up twice in between, but you were dazed and couldn’t even speak clearly.”

Fan Jun didn’t speak, still somewhat unable to process this.

Sister Shan poured him a cup of water. Only after he downed the whole thing did he ask: “Where’s Zou Yang?”

He remembered the last scene was Zou Yang sitting on the rug in front of the sofa, drawing.

“In school, having classes. He’s busy to death once classes start,” Sister Shan said. “He has to take the CET-4 (College English Test Band 4) next month. His English is terrible, so he has to stay up late reviewing. Until exam week or whatever next month, we probably won’t even see him on weekends…”

“Oh,” Fan Jun responded.

He suddenly realized: Right, Zou Yang is a far more genuine college student than Lü Ze.
Zou Yang has to study, review, and take exams…

After sitting for a while, he felt the dizziness subside, though his body was incredibly sore—probably from lying on the sofa for too long. The clothes on his body even felt a bit damp.

His gaze swept across the small table in front of the sofa and landed on the drawings. The paper and pens had been neatly put away.

He quickly grabbed the drawings to look at them.

The first was of Xiaobai and Dahei, drawn simply but very vividly. When he saw the second drawing, he spaced out for a moment. It was too beautiful—both cute and cool.

But when he looked closer, he froze.

It was a Yazi with a long sword in its mouth, eyes glaring with a resolute expression. It used a simple red and blue color scheme, with just a few strokes of color on the dragon horns and eyes, yet it looked incredibly lifelike.

And on the Yazi’s nose bridge and lip, there was a tiny scar.

“Oh, did Zou Yang draw this?” Uncle Lü came over and took a look.

“…Mm,” Fan Jun nodded.

“Not bad at all,” Uncle Lü said. “It’s drawn really beautifully.”

“He just doodles. He’s loved drawing big-headed stick figures and little animals since he was a kid,” Sister Shan said, patting his arm. “Stop looking at it for now. If you can move, get up and eat something.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun put the drawing down and took out his phone to check the time, only to find the battery was dead. “I’m fine now. You guys go back and rest.”

“We cooked some meat porridge for you in the kitchen; it’s still warm,” Uncle Lü said. “I took the dog out for walks, and it’s staying at the old gym, so you don’t need to worry about it. The cat’s been fed too.”

“Thanks, Uncle,” Fan Jun said.

Uncle Lü and Sister Shan gave a few more instructions before leaving together.

Fan Jun got up, went to his bedroom to grab a charger, and plugged his phone in.

First it was a few days in the detention center, then a few days of sleeping. His phone was flooded with messages from students. Fortunately, Iron Gang and Tan Ru had helped him arrange all his students’ classes.

Scrolling further down, he finally found Zou Yang’s messages. They were sent yesterday.

[Zou yang]: You fell asleep so I didn’t wake you. I fixed up the drawing, I’ll send you the image.

Following that was a perfectly resized profile picture of the Yazi. When zoomed in, he could see a signature identical to the one on the little pig drawing.

Fan Jun saved the image, changed his profile picture, and then switched back to the chat box.

[Zou yang]: Hey, surprise?
[Zou yang]: Still sleeping?
[Zou yang]: You’re in a coma, aren’t you?
[Zou yang]: My mom said you have a fever. Rest up first.

Fan Jun checked the time. It was almost 11 PM. It was late at night… and Sister Shan said Zou Yang had an exam coming up and was probably reviewing… Never mind.

CET-4, classes, exams, reviewing.
Drawing the sword startles the White Emperor of the West, the ghostly mother wails in the autumn outskirts…

Once Zou Yang left Nanzhouping, it was as if he became a completely different Zou Yang.
When he came to his senses, he would realize that he came from a completely unfamiliar world.

Fan Jun put his phone down. Better go eat something first.

---

“Let’s not eat at the cafeteria later. I successfully played the victim on my WeChat Moments, and my aunt sent me some money,” Li Zhiyue whispered from the back row. “I’m treating you guys to steak.”

“Sure,” Liu Wenrui said. “I want pizza.”

“No problem,” Li Zhiyue kicked the back of Zou Yang’s chair. “Yang, what do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine,” Zou Yang looked down at his phone.

“Eat shit then,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“Mm,” Zou Yang replied.

[Fan]: I’m fine now. I changed my profile picture, did you see?
[Zou yang]: Saw it. Do you like it?
[Fan]: I really like it. Thank you.
[Zou yang]: Stop being so polite all the time.
[Fan]: I didn’t expect it to be drawn so meticulously. I really mean thank you.
[Zou yang]: OK, you’re welcome. Let’s book a class this week.
[Fan]: My schedule is packed this week. There are a lot of students from before who couldn’t book.
[Zou yang]: Next week then.
[Fan]: Book after you finish your CET-4 exam.
[Zou yang]: ?
[Fan]: I looked it up. It’s a pretty important exam. Take your exam first. Sister Shan said you have to stay up late reviewing.
[Zou yang]: …
[Fan]: The card is valid for six months.
[Fan]: If you can’t finish it, you can apply for an extension.
[Zou yang]: ? Are you customer service?
[Fan]: No.
[Zou yang]: Transfer me to a human representative.

“Let’s go!” Liu Wenrui patted his shoulder.

Zou Yang exited the chat interface and put his phone back in his pocket.

After he asked to be transferred to a human representative, the other side had completely crashed and sent no more replies.

“Long-long,” Zou Yang turned to look at Zhang Chuanlong. “Did you book a class with Tan Ru?”

“Now? Haven’t booked yet,” Zhang Chuanlong was taken aback. “I told her I’d book in the middle of next month. Gotta pass the CET-4 first…”

Was this expected?
Of course it was.

A bunch of English trash who only knew how to say “respect” every day—did they really think they could pass the CET-4 without studying?

---

“My space here is over 200 square meters in total,” Old Liu said as he led a few people through the door of the new gym. “It’s big enough to do anything…”

Fan Jun put away his phone, lifted his chin, and swept a glance at them from beneath the brim of his hat.

“No need to greet us,” Old Liu waved a hand at him. “I’m just bringing some people to look at my venue.”

Fan Jun frowned and didn’t say much. He just shouted toward the inside: “Brother Bang!”

“What is it!” Iron Gang replied, walking over.

The expressions of the people Old Liu brought immediately changed, and they all stared at him. Old Liu raised an eyebrow, turned to Fan Jun, and asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“It’s training time. For safety reasons and to avoid accidental injuries,” Fan Jun stood up, then tilted his head toward Iron Gang. “Follow them.”

“Got it,” Iron Gang crossed his arms and trailed beside the group.

Old Liu pointed at Fan Jun, his finger jabbing in the air several times without being able to form words. Then he threw his hand down, turned around, and walked further inside: “Follow if you want, come on!”

Lü Ze had been quite busy these past couple of days. It seemed he was constantly running around outside. Coupled with the parting words Old Liu had dropped when leaving—”Remind Boss Lü that the contract expires in August”—it seemed they still hadn’t reached an agreement.

Because of this, Fan Jun didn’t eat lunch with Iron Gang and the others at the new gym. As soon as Old Liu left, he immediately got up and headed back to the old gym.

When he entered the courtyard, he saw Lü Ze’s motorcycle parked against the wall. He hadn’t gone out today.

Perfect.

He looked toward the training hall, and then heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“There’s still no concrete news about this,” Uncle Lü’s voice sounded somewhat agitated. “Rumors about demolition started last year. It’s just these neighbors spreading it among themselves…”

“It’ll be demolished sooner or later!” Lü Ze said. “We can’t just wait until disaster strikes to figure out a plan!”

“Don’t worry about the old gym’s affairs,” Uncle Lü said. “I’ve been here for over ten years. I’m not just going to leave at the drop of a hat!”

“Who told you to leave at the drop of a hat? I’m just telling you to have a plan!” Lü Ze said.

“Plan what? I’m not planning anything, I’m staying right here,” Uncle Lü said. “I know you don’t want to stay here…”

“Who wants to stay here? Who wants to? Go ask anyone here if they want to stay!” Lü Ze’s voice suddenly rose. “Anyone who could leave is long gone!”

Uncle Lü was silent for a good while before saying, “You go your way.”

“I know why you won’t leave,” Lü Ze’s voice trembled slightly. “I know. I just want to tell you, our family owes Fan Jun nothing. Raising him, protecting him for all these years—it’s enough. You guys could practically be on the ‘Touching China’ awards…”

“Shut your mouth!” Uncle Lü slammed his hand on the table. “Who told you I’m staying here because of Fan Jun? Why did your mother and I move back here? We grew up here! And we’ll die here!”

“Fine,” Lü Ze said. “Suit yourself.”

Fan Jun stood by the kitchen door. When Lü Ze stormed out, he didn’t even have time to step aside.

Lü Ze hadn’t expected him to be outside either. He froze, glaring at him.

After standing rigid for a few seconds, Lü Ze bypassed him and prepared to walk toward his motorcycle.

“Want…” Fan Jun said in a low voice, “…to talk?”

Lü Ze stopped, looked at him, and after a moment, said, “Let’s go.”

---

The milk station a street over was a place Lü Ze frequented.

The owner of the milk station was a woman surnamed Yu. Although Lü Ze had never mentioned it, Fan Jun could sense that even if they weren’t dating, they definitely had some mutual affection.

Lü Ze brought him here anyway, sat down on the long wooden bench by the door, and stared at a chessboard on the table.

Fan Jun sat down next to him.

Lü Ze didn’t make a sound, and Fan Jun didn’t speak either. He just stared blankly at the pedestrians on the road.

They sat in a daze for about two minutes before Boss Yu brought out two bottles of yogurt and placed them on the table in front of them. Only then did Lü Ze finally speak: “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’ve always stayed in Nanzhouping for my dad and this martial arts gym.”

Fan Jun didn’t speak.

“But I can’t be like this for the rest of my life, just staying here,” Lü Ze said. “Whether my dad leaves or not, I’ve decided. I’m leaving.”

“I’m sorry,” Fan Jun said softly.