If he were to immediately turn his head away right now, it wouldn’t be very appropriate.

But it was genuinely a bit awkward.

Zou Yang felt that when he brought Fan Jun to Lover’s Slope, he hadn’t thought too much about it. When he opened his mouth to introduce Lover’s Slope to Fan Jun, he hadn’t thought too much about it either.

During the earlier tour, with a teaching building on the left, a lab building on the right, and then a library, he felt this university tour had become way too much of an architectural journey.

Having finally reached a scenic spot, it was as if he was afraid Fan Jun would be bored, so he immediately started blabbering away.

But now, with Fan Jun falling silent, his silence made things a bit awkward.

He suddenly began to doubt whether he had some inexplicable thoughts in his subconscious when he introduced the spot to Fan Jun.

“Have you…” Zou Yang looked at the tip of Fan Jun’s nose, and now could only follow through with what he started, “…ever been in a relationship?”

Fan Jun seemed not to have expected him to ask such a question. He paused before answering, “No.”

“You’re almost twenty-four and you’ve never been in a relationship?” Zou Yang felt he wasn’t even awkward anymore, just quite surprised. “If it were someone else, by twenty-four they’d have already gone through several breakups, right?”

“Who else,” Fan Jun asked, “you?”

“Hey?” Zou Yang was stunned.

Fan Jun smiled.

“I’m only nineteen,” Zou Yang clicked his tongue. “Then… have you had anyone you liked before?”

“No.” Fan Jun answered very quickly.

“That definitively?” Zou Yang asked.

“Mm. A while ago, Sister Shan happened to ask me the same thing,” Fan Jun rested his head on his arms. “She wanted to introduce a girl to me…”

“Damn?” Zou Yang was truly shocked this time. Propping his head up with his hand, he glared at Fan Jun. “My mom actually worries about these things? She hasn’t even asked if I have a girlfriend!”

“You’re only nineteen,” Fan Jun said.

“Is that how you use that line?” Zou Yang asked.

“You were the one who just said it…” Fan Jun lifted the brim of his hat slightly.

Zou Yang clicked his tongue and didn’t speak, unable to describe the feeling in his heart.

His mom seemed to have never really worried about these matters of his. When Liu Wenrui was chased by his mom with a rolling pin for suspected puppy love, his mom just listened to it like a joke, and didn’t even casually ask him if he was involved in puppy love.

From being a minor to an adult, from puppy love to being allowed to date, his mom had never inquired about it.

It was as if her son were a monk.

And now she was actually worrying about introducing a girl to Fan Jun.

The “monk’s” feelings at this moment were quite complex.

“Who was she introducing to you?” Zou Yang lay back down, genuinely quite curious.

“I don’t know. I didn’t agree,” Fan Jun said. “So she didn’t introduce anyone.”

“Oh…” Zou Yang frowned, thinking for a long while but unable to figure out which of his mom’s friends had a daughter that could be introduced to Fan Jun. He glanced at Fan Jun. “Why didn’t you meet her?”

“I don’t know,” Fan Jun said softly. “I just never thought about this. Maybe I… was more used to being alone in the past.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang also replied softly.

Besides Old Four and Big-Headed Fish, two neighbors who could be considered friends, Fan Jun seemed to indeed have no other friends. The girl he had the best relationship with was the Chairwoman. If he forced it, there was also Tan Ru…

They stared blankly face-to-face for a moment, neither speaking.

The sunlight was slightly dazzling. Zou Yang took off his glasses, tossed them aside, and raised his arm to block his eyes.

“What about you?” Fan Jun asked.

“No,” Zou Yang closed his eyes. “Never dated, and never liked anyone.”

“But you’re so handsome, and… can recite poetry…” Fan Jun said with some effort. “There should…”

“Hey,” Zou Yang laughed upon hearing this. “Don’t insult people.”

“Really,” Fan Jun also smiled. “There should be a lot of girls who like you.”

“There are quite a few,” Zou Yang wasn’t modest either. “But I don’t have anyone I like. It’s a bit awkward.”

“Awkward?” Fan Jun looked at him.

“Mm,” Zou Yang nodded. “Liu Wenrui even said before that I might like guys.”

Fan Jun froze.

Zou Yang didn’t continue. After a while, he lifted his arm and glanced at him: “What is it?”

“…Nothing,” Fan Jun said.

How did the topic derail into this.

He was already too embarrassed to think back and ponder it.

However, right now Zou Yang no longer felt awkward.

There was only the refreshing feeling after throwing away his scrambled brain and speaking whatever came to mind.

Lying flat on his back on the grassy slope, with the wind sweeping across the tip of his nose, a person would feel a comfortable sensation of slowly flattening out.

Fan Jun beside him didn’t make a sound. Zou Yang felt a sense of loneliness, as if he were lying there alone.

He reached his arm towards Fan Jun’s side and bumped into Fan Jun’s arm.

“Mm?” Fan Jun seemed to be almost asleep, his voice nasal.

“It’s nothing,” Zou Yang didn’t move again. “Just wanted to make sure you’re still here.”

“Can’t see me?” Fan Jun said. “I can lend you Xiaobai.”

Zou Yang laughed with his eyes closed: “Make some noise. It’s too quiet, I keep feeling like you’ve left.”

Fan Jun was silent for a moment, then said softly: “I’m very happy today.”

“Are you?” Zou Yang kept his eyes closed, looking at the dizzying light before his eyes.

“Mm,” Fan Jun responded. “Your school is like a park.”

“Damn, you’re really easy to satisfy,” Zou Yang said. “Have you never been to a park?”

“I’ve been to an amusement park,” Fan Jun smiled.

“After I finish my exams, if there’s time,” Zou Yang opened his eyes. Strong sunlight rushed into his eyes, so he quickly shielded them with his hand and turned his face to the side. “If you have time…”

“Mm?” Fan Jun also turned his head.

“We can go traveling,” Zou Yang squinted at him.

“Traveling?” Fan Jun froze.

“Not the kind of trip those idiots in my dorm planned before,” Zou Yang propped up his body with his elbow. Speaking of traveling, he suddenly got a bit excited. “I mean real traveling. The kind where you pack your bags, buy a train or plane ticket, and go out.”

“Ah.” Fan Jun seemed to have never thought about it at all, unable to react for a moment.

“Liu Wenrui and I, we go out to play almost every summer break,” Zou Yang said. “Sometimes his parents take us, sometimes it’s just the two of us and classmates. Last year, the guys from the dorm and I even went to the seaside.”

“It must be very fun, right?” Fan Jun propped his head on his hand.

“It’s okay. Actually, a road trip is more fun, you stop wherever you go,” Zou Yang looked at him. “If you go, we can do a road trip. You and Liu Wenrui can take turns driving.”

“…I don’t mind driving the whole way by myself,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang paused, then started laughing: “Damn.”

“Going out to play like this,” Fan Jun also seemed to get interested. He pushed the brim of his hat up with his fingers and looked at Zou Yang too. “You must have to prepare a lot of things, right?”

“Not really, we can stop anytime. If we’re missing something, we just stop the car and buy it,” Zou Yang curled his lips. “Those guys can’t endure hardship, so camping is impossible anyway.”

“Sounds very simple,” Fan Jun said.

“It is simple to begin with. It’s just a matter of one sentence,” Zou Yang said.

“What sentence?” Fan Jun asked.

“Let’s go, depart.” Zou Yang waved his hand.

Fan Jun started laughing.

The short time at noon passed very quickly. The people on Lover’s Slope gradually became fewer.

“Did they all go to class?” Fan Jun sat up, looking around.

“Mm,” Zou Yang nodded. “Want to go take a look?”

“To class?” Fan Jun was startled, quickly shaking his head. “No, no.”

“The study room,” Zou Yang said with a smile. “Want to go sit for a bit? The guys from the dorm have definitely gone already.”

Fan Jun hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded: “Okay.”

When leaving Lover’s Slope, Fan Jun was too embarrassed to immediately look back.

After walking forward a distance, he finally turned his head to take a look.

Exactly what position they were lying in just now could no longer be determined. There were still a few students sitting or lying on the grassy slope, and the two of them had left absolutely no trace.

But he could still smell the scents—the smell of dirt and the fragrance of grass—and could still hear the sounds—the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves, although he couldn’t hear it clearly.

However, those words Zou Yang had spoken softly were heard very clearly, repeatedly sweeping slowly through his mind.

The study room was right in the library building. It was very quiet; this was the quietest classroom Fan Jun had ever seen.

When he was studying at the 21st Middle School, even during class, there would be all sorts of noises around him—dragging chairs, pushing desks, chatting, joking, clearing throats—all mixing into a buzzing drone.

University was truly different. It could be so quiet it was as if there was no one there.

And it was also at this moment that he could truly imagine how Zou Yang reviewed. Even Zhang Chuanlong, who usually looked like an idiot, was currently burying his head in a book, practically sniffing it…

When Zou Yang was about to lead him inside, he tugged at Zou Yang’s arm and said in a low voice: “I’m not going in.”

“Why not?” Zou Yang didn’t force it. He turned the scooter and walked to the staircase corner with him.

“Don’t disturb other people’s studying,” Fan Jun said. “Seeing something new is enough for me… You go on in.”

“Hm?” Zou Yang leaned on the stair railing and looked at him.

“I’m leaving,” Fan Jun said. “Hurry up and review. Don’t you have an exam tomorrow? That killer Ancient whatever.”

Zou Yang clicked his tongue.

Fan Jun didn’t speak.

“Alright then,” Zou Yang thought for a moment. “I’ll see you out.”

“Don’t bother.” Fan Jun looked at his leg.

“It’s not like I’m carrying you out on my back,” Zou Yang said, picking up the scooter and hopping towards the elevator.

Hailing a cab near the school wasn’t very easy either. The car that took their order was still almost two kilometers away.

Zou Yang sat on a shared electric bike, waiting together with him: “Think about it over these couple of days. If you have any ideas for your birthday, we’ll go with yours.”

“I… don’t really have any ideas,” Fan Jun said.

“Then listen to me.” Zou Yang looked up at him.

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

Just as Zou Yang was about to speak, his gaze swept behind him, and he suddenly raised his eyebrows: “Damn, a map car!”

“What?” Fan Jun turned his head.

A small car with a large lump on its roof was slowly driving over. As it got closer, they could see a bunch of cameras on top of the car.

“A map surveying car,” Zou Yang stood up very happily. “An opportunity! Hurry up, let’s take a photo.”

“Take a photo of what?” Fan Jun didn’t understand.

“It might photograph us,” Zou Yang said. “For many years to come, on the street view map, we’ll be able to see us today…”

Zou Yang looked down at his phone: “At 2:36 PM, the moment we stood at the gate of our school waiting for a car, a moment in our lives.”

“Ah…” Fan Jun was somewhat surprised, looking at the slowly approaching car.

“To what can human life be likened? It’s like a swan alighting on snowy mud…” Zou Yang draped his elbow over his shoulder and flashed a V sign in the direction the car was coming from. “Quick, smile.”

Fan Jun looked at Zou Yang, somewhat unable to snap back to reality.

Although he didn’t understand what this line of poetry meant, Zou Yang’s previous words made him tangibly feel, for the first time…

Romance.

It was just very romantic.

Zou Yang was a very romantic person.

As for the surveying car thing, he didn’t know if what Zou Yang said was true or false, but he didn’t hesitate, following him in flashing a V sign.

“Smile,” Zou Yang said.

As the car slowly passed in front of them, Fan Jun smiled at the bunch of cameras on the roof.

“Great,” Zou Yang said with a smile. “It should have captured it.”

On the car ride back to Nanzhouping, Fan Jun was somewhat in a trance, as if he hadn’t recovered from being dazed by the sun on the grassy slope earlier.

It was only when he got out of the car at the North Xiaojie intersection that it felt like waking up from a dream, returning to his everyday life.

The familiar, aged scenery all around brought a sense of peace mixed with depression.

Returning to the old martial arts hall, he happened to run into Uncle Chen, the landlord of the old hall.

The old man was advanced in years and rarely came by even once a year. For him to come over now, the matter of demolition was nine times out of ten already confirmed.

However, Uncle Lü and Sister Shan seemed to be in a decent mood, no longer possessing the panic and worry from a while ago.

Things were just like this; when they were forced right before your eyes, they actually felt more grounded.

“You’re back,” Uncle Lü said. “How was it? Fun?”

“It was fun.” Fan Jun nodded, opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of ice water.

“What’s so fun about a school,” Sister Shan said with a smile. “If you really want to go out and play, you should have Zou Yang accompany you. He used to not be able to stay still at home and was always running outside. He knows all the fun places.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun smiled.

He didn’t actually want to go anywhere to play. He wouldn’t think about things that were too far away. Right now, the furthest thing he could think of was probably his birthday at the end of the year.

With less than a week left, the days hadn’t changed just because he was going to “celebrate” his birthday this year.

Zou Yang buried his head in reviewing. He rarely posted on Moments, only posting a photo the day he went to get the stitches removed from his head, as a way to report back to Sister Shan.

Fan Jun gave it a like right after Sister Shan.

“Could you take a trip here this afternoon,” Lü Ze stood at the front desk, tapping his phone. “It’s a venue belonging to a friend of one of Tan Ru’s students. But I have an appointment with that Boss Li this afternoon, so for this place… could you go take a look?”

“Mm,” Fan Jun glanced at the address. “Where is this?”

“A bit far,” Lü Ze sent the location to him. “If it doesn’t work out, just let them know I’ll go over tomorrow.”

Fan Jun checked the distance on the navigation map. It was alright, even closer than going to Zou Yang’s university.

“I’ll go,” he said.

“Mm,” Lü Ze glanced at him, and as he turned to push the door open and leave, added, “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He smiled.

Just as he was about to go to the training area to stretch a bit, his phone rang.

It was Uncle Lü’s number. Generally speaking, Uncle Lü would send him messages and rarely called.

“Uncle Lü? What’s wrong?” He quickly answered the phone.

“Jun’er, if you… don’t have anything going on right now, come over here for a bit.” Uncle Lü’s voice was somewhat hoarse.

“What’s wrong?” Fan Jun immediately turned around and walked out.

“It’s nothing major, just come over first,” Uncle Lü said.

“Mm,” Fan Jun replied.

Thankfully he had bought an electric scooter, otherwise, as in the past, he would have had to run over if he was in a rush.

Now, riding the scooter, he zoomed right over.

When he turned onto the street where the old hall was, he could see a police car parked at the courtyard gate from far away.

Is there news about Sun Xulei?

He quickly twisted the throttle and accelerated, rushing over.

That’s not right. If Sun Xulei was found, they should contact Sun Laowu… Did something happen to the kid?

When Fan Jun rode the scooter into the courtyard, Sister Shan was standing at the kitchen door. As soon as she saw him, she quickly waved: “Jun’er.”

“What’s wrong?” Fan Jun got off the scooter and walked over briskly.

There were a few people in the kitchen: Officer Liang from the police station, and two men who weren’t in police uniforms but could be deduced to also be police officers.

He suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.

His footsteps instantly slowed down.

“Jun’er,” Uncle Lü walked out and patted his arm. “It’s fine, they’re just asking about a few things.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun replied, but couldn’t hear his own voice.

“This young man is Fan Jun…” Officer Liang was speaking to the people beside him. Fan Jun couldn’t hear his voice clearly, but he could see his lip movements.

Fan Gang’s son.