An old neighbor.

He’d seen an old neighbor and, before he could even be sure whether she’d recognized him, he’d already run away first.

And hidden himself this carefully.

Zou Yang had no way of guessing why Fan Jun would react like this, but it was obvious it wasn’t tied to anything pleasant. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say next.

“Has she left?” Fan Jun asked.

From the supermarket’s glass wall, you could actually see the pastry shop across the street, but Fan Jun had been standing with his back to that side the whole time, never once turning his head.

“I’ll check,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun immediately lifted an arm, as if to stop him from going over to the window.

But Zou Yang hadn’t planned on doing that anyway. If they were pretending not to know her, and he suddenly went to the window to observe, then if that woman across the street happened to spot him, the whole thing would fall apart on the spot.

Years of experience pretending in front of his dad meant he didn’t go over to look. Instead, he just took out his phone, snapped a slightly blurry photo of the line over there, then zoomed in and studied it carefully.

“She’s buying the mung bean cake right now,” he said. “She should be leaving any second.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded, but didn’t move.

Zou Yang felt deeply unsettled. He hadn’t known Fan Jun for very long, but even within that short time, whether it was going to cause trouble for someone, or flipping people off while driving… even though he was calm and steady most of the time, none of that matched the Fan Jun in front of him right now.

At that moment, Fan Jun’s tension and unease were practically spilling out of his body. Even the fingers of the hand he had unconsciously resting on the shelf seemed to be trembling slightly.

Zou Yang kept his eyes on the woman buying mung bean cake. The store clerk had already come around from the other side of the shelves and was staring at the two of them.

But Fan Jun didn’t move, so Zou Yang didn’t move either.

The whole scene felt bizarre.

“She’s gone,” Zou Yang said. “Bought it and left right away. She didn’t look this way.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun swayed faintly; Zou Yang could tell he had let out a breath.

“Do you need help with anything?” the clerk finally couldn’t help asking.

“We do…” Zou Yang turned to look at the clerk, and for some reason asked, “Do you have canned yellow peaches?”

“Yes,” the clerk nodded. “Over here.”

While Zou Yang followed the clerk to get the canned peaches, Fan Jun was still standing there without moving. Zou Yang saw another employee come over to relieve the first one and continue staring at this suspicious customer who wasn’t buying anything, just standing there with half his face hidden under a hat.

“Anything else?” the clerk asked, looking at the can of peaches in Zou Yang’s hand.

That did make him seem a little suspicious. Once the suspicious person had been identified by the clerk, they were only buying one can.

So Zou Yang casually pointed at the electric hot grill beside them. “And five grilled sausages.”

Anyway, the people in the car were capable of stuffing food into their stomachs anytime, anywhere.

A message came from Liu Wenrui.

• Everything okay? We still haven’t paid for parking, so don’t you two run off

Zou Yang smiled.

• Coming right away

After paying, Fan Jun seemed to have recovered a bit. He walked over to Zou Yang’s side, then froze when he saw the can in his hand. “Why’d you buy this?”

“No idea,” Zou Yang said, pulling a few skewers from beside the grill and handing them to him. As he twisted open the lid of the can, he added, “It just felt like you needed to eat a bite of this.”

Fan Jun lifted his head and looked at him from beneath the brim of his hat.

Today, fortunately, the lid came off smoothly.

After hesitating for a moment, Fan Jun used a skewer to spear a piece of peach.

“Escaped disaster,” Zou Yang said casually, claiming a bit of lucky wording. His mom loved doing this sort of thing—if a plate shattered, she’d say “peace year after year”; if chopsticks fell, she’d say “happiness”…

Fan Jun didn’t say anything. He just ate the peach in silence.

Only after swallowing it did he say, “Zou Yang, thanks.”

“Quit being polite,” Zou Yang said, screwing the lid back on and heading toward the supermarket entrance. “One bite’s enough for you. Otherwise the champion’s going to start nagging you about weight again. This stuff is sickeningly sweet. I swear on the ingredients list white sugar probably comes before water.”

Fan Jun laughed.

Zou Yang didn’t ask any more about what had just happened. Even if Fan Jun were willing to talk about it, there was no way he’d do it right then and there. The mood and setting just weren’t right.

When they got back to the car, the others didn’t ask much either. They just gave the canned peaches and grilled sausages a warm welcome.

On the way there, Fan Jun didn’t talk much. It was mostly Zou Yang and the others chatting nonsense, but Fan Jun at least looked like his mood had gradually come back a little.

Because of this detour, it wasn’t until they reached the amusement park that they remembered Fan Jun still didn’t have a ticket.

“The line at the window is way too long,” Liu Wenrui said. “Let’s just buy it online.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang took out his phone and glanced at Fan Jun. “Did you bring your ID card?”

“I did,” Fan Jun said, looking toward the entrance. “No rush. I’ll go ask first.”

“What?” Zou Yang was taken aback.

“Maybe I won’t even need to line up,” Fan Jun said.

“Why?” Zou Yang asked.

Fan Jun just smiled and said nothing, then turned and walked toward the entrance.

There were plenty of people lined up there to enter. Fan Jun walked straight over to one of the staff members, said a few words, then pulled out a card from his pocket that looked a bit like an ID card.

After the staff member checked it, they nodded and opened a small side gate.

And just like that, without lining up at all, Fan Jun went right in.

“What the hell?” Zhang Chuanlong was stunned. “What kind of move is that?”

“…Could that be a disability certificate?” Liu Wenrui said.

“Come on.” Zou Yang started walking toward the entrance.

It had to be a disability certificate.

He probably shouldn’t, but Zou Yang kind of wanted to laugh.

“Our amusement park’s pretty decent,” Li Zhiyue said. “Not even a discount—just straight-up free admission.”

“He seems pretty unfazed by it,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“His daily life doesn’t seem that affected, and he can still fight like that. Of course he’s unfazed,” Liu Wenrui said.

Even though Liu Wenrui’s logic skipped around a bit, Zou Yang felt like that was more or less what he meant too.

The four of them lined up at the entrance and went in one by one. Fan Jun was already sitting on a bench in the rest area by the gate with a few aunties, waiting for them.

He looked like he’d been waiting quite a while.

“Holy crap, hurry up,” Liu Wenrui said, stretching a hand out toward him. “Let me see.”

Fan Jun stood up, took the card out of his pocket, and handed it to Liu Wenrui.

The group immediately crowded around to look.

It really was a disability certificate.

Zou Yang had known that already. He’d known it the moment he saw Fan Jun use it to enter for free through the fast lane, and he’d even wanted to laugh then.

But now that he was actually looking at the printed words on the card, it still left him feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Your photo looks pretty handsome,” Li Zhiyue said.

Fan Jun smiled but didn’t say anything.

“This is the new version, right?” Liu Wenrui said. “Weren’t the ones we used to see all little booklets?”

“Mm, just got it changed,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang looked at the information on the card. There was only the name, issue date, a QR code, and a number. He couldn’t tell from that what Fan Jun’s hearing was actually like.

“How do you read this?” Zou Yang asked.

“Look at the last two digits,” Fan Jun said, pointing to the end of the number. “This 2 means hearing. And this last 3 is the grade.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang nodded.

This amusement park had been around a long time. It already existed when Zou Yang was little. He hadn’t really come much after finishing elementary school. The last time he’d been here was in freshman year with his dormmates…

“That one first,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“Right, let’s get revenge first,” Liu Wenrui nodded.

“Which one?” Fan Jun asked.

“Our dorm’s mortal enemy,” Li Zhiyue said.

“Not mine,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun had never been to an amusement park. Neither had Lü Ze. Before the two of them went away to school, their circumstances had been about the same. Uncle Lü and Aunt Li were both too busy and didn’t really have time to take them out to play.

At that moment, all Fan Jun saw was the dark, teeming crowd in the amusement park, and all he heard was the chaotic jumble of noise. Both what he saw and what he heard were unfamiliar, and he even felt a little dizzy.

Before he had fully adjusted to a scene like this, Fan Jun found himself standing in front of a boxing machine while a few young guys were swinging their arms at it.

Bang. Bang.

That thing wasn’t unfamiliar to him. There were similar ones in the arcade at the mall and in bars. He just had never played it.

This one had a maximum score of 900. Those guys had just gone through a round, and the highest score was a bit over 800, from some muscular guy who looked like he worked out year-round.

Liu Wenrui went to exchange some tokens, came back, inserted one, then turned to look at Fan Jun.

“Hm?” Fan Jun was startled.

“Throw one punch and let us see your strength,” Liu Wenrui said.

“You do a demo first,” Zou Yang said.

“Heh.” Liu Wenrui laughed. “Fine, I’ll embarrass myself first.”

Fan Jun watched him go through a full ten seconds of preparation.

Rolled his neck, loosened his shoulders, twisted his waist three times to each side, then threw a punch that used none of the above.

He scored 600.

“Damn.” He offered that brief summary, then turned and walked toward Fan Jun, spreading the tokens in his palm before him. “Here.”

Fan Jun took one, walked up to the machine, and inserted the token.

“Watch my bro blow this thing up,” Zhang Chuanlong declared.

The moment he said that, the people nearby all looked over.

Compared with Liu Wenrui, Fan Jun barely made any extra movements at all. He walked over, glanced at the target pad on the machine, then drove a punch into it.

It was so fast you could hardly feel him exerting force.

After the target gave a heavy thud, the number on the display began jumping wildly and went straight to 900.

The machine burst into cheers and music.

The people nearby started shouting in approval too, and one guy said, “You train boxing or something?”

Fan Jun didn’t respond. He just turned and walked back.

Cool.

Of course he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Yeah, he’s a coach,” Li Zhiyue nodded.

Partly answering for Fan Jun, partly looking proud as if he himself worked with him.

“So I guess the machine wasn’t broken?” Liu Wenrui frowned, pinched his chin, and looked at Fan Jun. “How’d you do it? Teach me and I’ll try again.”

“You… need to rotate your hips, and then…” Fan Jun stared at him for a while, then poked him in the back. “Your back and shoulders…”

“Hehehehehe—” Liu Wenrui immediately twisted away, scratching at the air behind him and laughing as he dodged.

“I’ll try,” Zou Yang said, grabbing Liu Wenrui’s hand and taking a token from him.

He actually did know how the power should be generated, and that was how he punched too, so his score probably wouldn’t improve that much. After all, the speed of Fan Jun’s punch wasn’t something you could reach just because someone explained it to you once.

He threw a punch at the target as fast as he could.

…Slightly better than last year. 820.

“Not bad,” Zhang Chuanlong said. “Just one lesson and you improved by 20 points.”

“With ad copy like that… Fan Jun should pay you for marketing,” Zou Yang said. “You guys go use up the rest of the tokens.”

“I’m not doing it anymore,” Liu Wenrui said, walking toward the change counter. “I can’t afford that kind of humiliation. I’ll go refund them. And pick up Fan Jun’s prize while I’m at it.”

“There’s a prize too?” Fan Jun asked Zou Yang.

“There should be. You maxed out the machine,” Zou Yang said, tugging at his sleeve. “Come on, let’s go see what the prize is.”

…An eye mask.

“That’s so…” Zou Yang stared at the eye mask. “Cheap?”

The group laughed all the way along with the eye mask in hand.

In the end, Fan Jun still put it away in his pocket. After all, it was his first time hanging out with friends like this, and he’d even won a prize.

“How about we do the exciting rides first?” Zhang Chuanlong, walking ahead, turned around and asked in a loud voice. “Roller coaster and stuff?”

“Sure.” Li Zhiyue nodded.

“Okay,” Fan Jun answered too.

“There’s nothing your ears make off-limits, right?” Zou Yang asked an extra question.

“It’s fine,” Fan Jun said. “Doesn’t affect anything.”

“Ever ridden a roller coaster before?” Zou Yang asked again.

“No,” Fan Jun said. “I’ve never done any of the rides in here.”

“Alright then.” Zou Yang nodded. “We’ll do them all today.”

This amusement park’s roller coaster was pretty old. Compared with the ones elsewhere, it wasn’t that intense—just one big loop and two small ones, no twisted corkscrews. Pretty suitable for a dorm full of people prone to heart palpitations.

When it was almost their turn, Zou Yang told Fan Jun, “Grab the front row.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“Psychopath!” Li Zhiyue cursed. “I want to sit in the back. Only perverts sit in front.”

“Pervert? He always sits at the bow on the pirate ship too,” Liu Wenrui said. “Back in middle school when we came to amusement parks, I had to split up with him for half the rides. It was lonely as hell.”

When their turn came, Fan Jun and Zou Yang happened to be in front, so they went straight in and took the front seats.

Liu Wenrui claimed he was scared, but he wasn’t actually that scared. He sat in the third row with Li Zhiyue. In the middle row were Zhang Chuanlong and an uncle who had already shut his eyes before even boarding; Zhang Chuanlong had practically helped him onto the ride.

Fan Jun turned to look at Zou Yang.

“If you’re scared, just yell,” Zou Yang said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Mm.” Fan Jun smiled in answer.

Most of the time this guy wore a hat that hid half his face. This was the first time Zou Yang had ever seen that scar across the bridge of Fan Jun’s nose this clearly and this close, under sunlight.

It wasn’t very wide, but the edges were uneven. It wasn’t a knife wound. It looked more like something blunt had smashed a cut open there.

Just looking at it made Zou Yang’s own nose ache.

When the safety bar came down, Fan Jun still didn’t feel much. He could even smile at Zou Yang.

But the moment the car started moving forward, he suddenly tensed up.

The smile was still on his face, but it froze there instantly.

Zou Yang, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered. Not only unbothered—when the coaster reached the end and was about to plunge, at the moment Fan Jun’s throat had already tightened, Zou Yang actually let out a whistle.

And right on the heels of that whistle, the front car dropped violently downward.

A chorus of screams erupted from behind them, accompanied by Zou Yang’s delighted shouting right beside his ear.

He really was a psychopath.

After the car plunged, it went straight into a back loop. From the ground it looked like it passed in an instant, but when you were actually on it, it felt like it turned painfully slowly. At one point, hanging upside down, it even felt like it was about to stop.

Honestly, Fan Jun admired the people screaming nonstop behind him.

At least they could make noise.

His own throat was so tight not a sound would come out. His hands clutched the shoulder restraints so hard he didn’t dare loosen his grip at all.

“How is it?” Even while hanging upside down, Zou Yang actually turned and shouted that at him.

Not great.

Your coach is about to die, student.

When the coaster dropped from another high point, Zou Yang shouted again, “Scared?”

Fan Jun simply closed his eyes.

“Just yell once and you’ll feel better—” Zou Yang shouted as he reached over and patted the back of Fan Jun’s hand. “Ahhh—”

The screaming from the rest of the car, which had calmed a little, was immediately dragged back into full force by him.

Fan Jun hardened his heart. In the middle of that whole mess of noise, he shouted too: “Ahhh—”

“Whoo-hoo—” Zou Yang yelled.

“Ahhh—” Fan Jun shouted again.

After they got off, the group lay flat on the grass nearby.

Fan Jun felt mostly fine otherwise, but his throat seemed to have gone hoarse.

“Zou Yang, you bastard,” Liu Wenrui panted, staring wide-eyed. “All I heard was you leading the group shouting. Are you sick in the head?”

“Didn’t it feel good?” Zou Yang asked with a grin.

“It did,” Li Zhiyue said.

“Come on,” Zhang Chuanlong suddenly sat up. “Let’s ride it again!”

“I’m not going again,” Fan Jun said at once, pulling the brim of his hat down to his chin. “My throat can’t take it.”

After fooling around for a bit, those few actually went right back to line up again.

Fan Jun listened for a moment. When he didn’t hear anyone talking, he lifted his hat and looked around, only to find that Zou Yang hadn’t gone. He was sitting beside him with his head down, looking at his phone.

“You didn’t go?” Fan Jun sat up.

“Your ears really are bad,” Zou Yang said. “I already said just now I wasn’t going.”

“It’s too noisy. When it’s like this, I can’t hear clearly,” Fan Jun said with a smile.

“Let’s go on this one,” Zou Yang said, holding his phone out in front of him. “Chair swing.”

Fan Jun leaned over to look. “Isn’t that for little kids?”

“This one is high. More exciting than the little-kid version,” Zou Yang said. “Besides, you never got to ride that stuff when you were a kid either.”

Fan Jun didn’t say anything.

Only after a while did he smile.

“Mm.”