This was the first time Fan Jun had spent this long in a place other than Nanzhouping.

From past ten in the morning all the way to four in the afternoon.

After lunch, they rode the mini train and the Ferris wheel, and even the merry-go-round… If the lines hadn’t been so unbearably long, this bunch probably could have played until nighttime.

When they left the amusement park and got back in the car, Fan Jun felt like the world had gone quiet. He leaned against the driver’s seat backrest, closed his eyes briefly, and let out a soft breath.

For him, it had been a genuinely enjoyable time. But it was also exhausting—more exhausting than being drilled by Lü Ze for an entire day of training.

“Want me to drive?” Zou Yang asked from the passenger seat.

“Have you even touched a car since you got your license?” Liu Wenrui asked from the back seat.

Zou Yang rubbed the dashboard, then turned to look at Liu Wenrui: “I have.”

“Let the adults drive, Yang-Yang,” Li Zhiyue said, leaning against Zhang Chuanlong with his eyes closed.

Fan Jun smiled: “I’ll drive.”

“Fair enough. If you get tired, switch with Liu Wenrui.” Zou Yang buckled his seatbelt, leaned back against the headrest, and yawned. “Do we need GPS for the way back?”

“No need.” Fan Jun started the car.

The car had barely been driving for ten minutes before the sound of snoring drifted from the back seat.

Fan Jun glanced in the rearview mirror. The three of them had piled on top of each other and fallen asleep. He glanced to his right—Zou Yang was asleep too. His arms were crossed over his chest, head tilted slightly back, his glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose. Compared to the three in the back, this sleeping posture was considerably more composed, still carrying that trace of arrogance he had sensed when they first met.

The road from the amusement park back to Nanzhouping wasn’t short, but Fan Jun had always had the habit of memorizing routes. Having driven it once was basically enough.

As Nanzhouping grew closer and closer, his whole body slowly relaxed.

It was only now that he noticed: somewhere inside him, a string had been taut the entire time. It had been taut since the moment he left Nanzhouping… Actually, maybe not just one string. Several.

So after the ride ended and the happy mood gradually dissipated, he felt tired.

“Zou Yang.” Someone was calling his name beside his ear. The voice was very soft.

Zou Yang felt the voice was somewhat familiar, but couldn’t place it for a moment.

Then a very light snap of fingers sounded near his ear.

…Fan Jun.

Zou Yang opened his eyes. He first turned to look at the driver’s seat. Fan Jun was looking at him: “We’re here. Are you all eating dinner together, or…”

“Hmm?” Zou Yang turned to look ahead and realized the car had already pulled into the parking lot at Baishun Plaza.

He glanced back at the rear seat. The three of them were sleeping like logs in a stack.

“I’ll go in with you,” Zou Yang said. “Now that I’m here anyway, might as well check in on my mom.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded, opened the car door, and got out.

Zou Yang also got out. Before closing the car door, he roared at the back seat: “Up!”

Then he slammed the car door shut with a flick of his hand.

Through the window, he could see the three people in the back seat jolting up from their sleep in a panic, sending the car rocking twice.

“Are you insane?!” Liu Wenrui cursed as he got out.

“Drive yourselves back,” Zou Yang said.

“You’re not going back?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“My mom’s here,” Zou Yang said. “If I come all this way and don’t go in, she’ll think I don’t want to see her.”

“Fair enough,” Liu Wenrui nodded. “Tomorrow’s plan is hiking. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“I’d rather be dead.” Zou Yang said.

“Brother Fan,” Zhang Chuanlong popped his head out the car window. “Remember to help us ask the chairwoman when we can take the photos…”

“Which chairwoman?” Fan Jun asked.

“The principal!” Li Zhiyue said.

“The studio principal,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“Hurry back,” Zou Yang yawned. “Li Zhiyue, sit in the front and help your Wenrui-ge keep an eye on the road.”

During the May Day holiday, the mall seemed a bit busier than usual. The small stalls lining the surrounding streets had also multiplied noticeably, making the whole area look bustling and chaotic all at once.

Zou Yang walked back to the new studio with Fan Jun.

Actually, besides the fact that he was already here and didn’t want to upset his mom by not visiting, he also felt a sense of responsibility—like he had “taken” Fan Jun out, and now he had to “bring” him back.

After all, today Fan Jun had been like a “little kid” experiencing things he’d never eaten or played before.

As they walked through the narrow side lane beside the mall, an electric three-wheeled vehicle turned in from ahead. The person on it spotted Fan Jun and casually tossed something at him, calling out:

“Jun-er!”

Zou Yang was startled. He had no idea what had been thrown, but it was aimed right at Fan Jun’s head. By the time he processed what was happening, it was already too late to block it.

But Fan Jun simply raised one hand and caught it cleanly.

It was an orange.

“Going out?” Fan Jun tossed the orange in his hand as he asked.

“Delivering goods,” the electric tricycle pulled up closer. The person on it looked about Fan Jun’s age, a cigarette dangling from his lips, eyes half-lidded. “Play a few rounds tonight? That new place that just opened.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun replied.

After the tricycle drove off, Zou Yang looked back: “Your friend?”

“Same street. His family sells fruit.” Fan Jun said.

“He’s inviting you to play cards?” Zou Yang asked.

“Billiards,” Fan Jun smiled. “You want to come?”

Zou Yang had played billiards plenty of times with his dormmates, but honestly, he wasn’t too keen on playing with that electric-tricycle guy. He hesitated for two seconds before shaking his head: “…I don’t know how.”

Fan Jun said nothing more. After a brief silence, he held out the orange in his hand: “Want some?”

“Sure.” Zou Yang took the orange. Rather than peeling it bit by bit, he simply pinched the middle and snapped it in half, then held one half out to Fan Jun.

Eating the orange, they walked into the new studio to find that both Uncle Lü and his mom were there. Uncle Lü was over in the training area with some workers, installing an additional training platform. His mom was sitting at the front desk.

When she saw the two of them walk in, his mom stood up with a look of surprise: “You two went out together?”

“Yeah,” Zou Yang replied, somewhat surprised by her surprise. “I went to the amusement park with my dormmates and swung by here to grab Fan Jun on the way.”

“Oh… oh…” His mom looked at Fan Jun. “Was it fun?”

“Very fun.” Fan Jun nodded, then looked toward the training area. “Wasn’t it supposed to be someone coming tomorrow to install this?”

“At lunch they said they had some free time and just came over.” His mom said.

“I’ll go take a look.” Fan Jun shrugged off his jacket and walked over.

Zou Yang grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge, scanned the QR code, and took two big gulps.

“You…” His mom walked over to him and lowered her voice. “What made you think to invite him to the amusement park?”

“Liu Wenrui suggested it. More people, more fun.” Zou Yang paused. “Why? Did he have something going on today?”

“Nothing like that, it’s his day off,” his mom said, pulling him closer to the front desk. “It’s just… he doesn’t usually go out much.”

Zou Yang looked at her, not quite following.

“He stays right here. Rarely leaves Nanzhouping.” His mom said quietly.

“…Really?” Zou Yang froze.

“Don’t ask him about it,” his mom said. “I don’t know the full picture either. I’ll tell you more when there’s time.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang acknowledged.

He thought of what his mom had said to him before.

A child who’s been through hardship.

What kind of hardship, exactly?

How bad was it?

“Stay for dinner later,” his mom said. “No kids today, and Lü Ze isn’t here either.”

Zou Yang clicked his tongue: “I don’t care whether he’s here or not.”

“You don’t care,” his mom clicked her tongue in turn. “That hand of yours—you got it fighting with him, didn’t you.”

“…Fan Jun grabbed me.” Zou Yang kept firmly blaming his own coach.

“Jun-er wouldn’t do anything that careless,” his mom said. “Lü Ze, on the other hand, could definitely come to blows with you.”

She really knows them both well.

Zou Yang stayed quiet for a moment: “It really was Fan Jun.”

“Alright, alright, it was him, it was him, it was absolutely him.” His mom waved her hand dismissively. “I’m going to buy groceries. Are you staying here for a bit?”

“I… don’t want to walk anymore.” Zou Yang hesitated, but ultimately declined.

He had originally intended to go with his mom to buy groceries, but he was worried it would make Fan Jun think that the moment he arrived, he rushed to pull his mom aside and pry into his business.

“You’re still always running at school,” his mom said, grabbing a reusable bag and heading out. “Seems like you can’t handle even this much.”

“Today was way too intense.” He laughed a little, walked over to the front desk, and flopped face-down on the counter.

“Move it a little more to the right over there?” Uncle Lü was looking at the position of the training platform.

The platform wasn’t fully installed yet, so it wasn’t hard to shift. Fan Jun answered with a sound, lined himself up with the edge of the platform, and gave it a kick.

The platform slid two inches to the right.

At the same time, it scraped a sharp sound against the floor.

“…Great.” Fan Jun quickly squatted down to take a look. A scratch had been left on the floor—not too deep, but pretty obvious. He ran his fingers over it. “Lü Ze is going to kill me.”

Uncle Lü laughed: “Just say I did it.”

Fan Jun said nothing. He lifted the platform and slowly dragged it back, covering the scratch: “That’ll work. A little crooked is fine.”

“When he sees it’s crooked,” Uncle Lü sat to the side, laughing as he watched him, “the second he straightens it, he’ll see it.”

“Then he did it himself.” Fan Jun said.

“Ha.” Uncle Lü said.

Fan Jun smiled and picked up the wrench to start securing the platform.

“Jun-er,” Uncle Lü sat down on the platform to his right. “Where did you and Zou Yang go today?”

“The amusement park,” Fan Jun said, his hands still working. “Him and a few of his classmates.”

“Oh,” Uncle Lü paused, then looked up. “Those kids are pretty interesting. They’re college students after all, and at a better school than Lü Ze and his lot.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“Was it fun?” Uncle Lü asked.

“Really fun,” Fan Jun looked at Uncle Lü. “The roller coaster and stuff—pretty thrilling.”

“Is that so? I’ve never been on one,” Uncle Lü said, a note of wistfulness in his voice. “I remember they used to show roller coasters on the news when we were little.”

“When you have time, I’ll take you…” Fan Jun stopped abruptly midway through his sentence, his heart suddenly lurching with unease.

His hands stilled too.

“Today…” Uncle Lü scooted closer to him and patted his shoulder gently. “Did something happen?”

Fan Jun was silent for a long time. The unease and panic that he had been suppressing all along rose back up again.

Not as intense as before, but still clear.

“I…” Fan Jun sat down on the floor, exhaled softly. “When I was buying snacks, I ran into Sister Xiaotong.”

“Xiaotong?” Uncle Lü thought for a moment before it came to him. “The little girl who used to live in No. 17?”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“Did she recognize you?” Uncle Lü asked.

“She probably wasn’t sure, or… with all these scars on my face, it’d be hard not to recognize me even if she tried,” Fan Jun said quietly, his words coming quickly. “But I walked away. She asked Zou Yang if my surname was Fan, and Zou Yang said my surname was Zou…”

“Then it’s fine, it’s fine.” Uncle Lü kept gently patting his shoulder. “She definitely didn’t recognize you. And even if she did, it’d still be fine. Her family moved away a long time ago, they don’t live there anymore. She doesn’t know where you live.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“Nobody from that neighborhood would have any connection to Fan Gang anymore,” Uncle Lü said. “Besides, who wouldn’t run as far away from him as possible when they saw him? It’s fine.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun replied. “I know that, actually.”

“It’s normal to be scared. Anyone would be—I’m scared of him too,” Uncle Lü said. “But we’re in Nanzhouping now. It’s far away… Didn’t you go visit your grandpa’s place last month? No news of him there either, right?”

“Mm.” Fan Jun picked up the wrench and went back to work.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. The only person who could be bothered with him would be his own father,” Uncle Lü said. “Your grandpa’s had no news of him for so many years. Maybe he’s dead.”

Fan Jun looked up at Uncle Lü and smiled.

“Need any help?” Zou Yang’s voice came from behind them.

“Just finished.” Fan Jun turned around.

“So this is where the coach beats up his students from now on, huh.” Zou Yang stepped up onto the training platform.

“Don’t spread rumors.” Fan Jun laughed.

“How many classes have you had?” Uncle Lü asked.

“Just one so far,” Zou Yang said. “Planning to book another one in the next couple days.”

“Jun-er teaches very thoroughly,” Uncle LuLüsaid. “Those kids—Monkey and the others—they were absolute beginners when they started. After a few years, they’re competing in tournaments now.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang nodded.

After Uncle Lü walked away, Fan Jun stood up: “I’m going next door.”

“To find Chairwoman Rong?” Zou Yang asked.

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“I’ll come with you.” Zou Yang said.

“Which ones are they?” Rongrong sat on a chair swinging her legs, cradling Xiao Bai’s head and rubbing it back and forth.

“They came a little while back.” Fan Jun said.

“Oh!” Rongrong slapped her thigh and pointed at Zou Yang. “Are they the ones who were there the day you and Lü Ze had your showdown?”

“…Yeah.” Zou Yang was sitting in the corner farthest away from Xiao Bai. Had he known the dog was here, he wouldn’t have come.

“They all seem so refined, why would they want photos like Lü Ze’s?” Rongrong said with a slight frown.

“Like Fan Jun’s.” Zou Yang corrected her.

“That’s even harder,” Rongrong slapped her thigh again and burst out laughing. “Fan Jun is so good-looking. Lü Ze doesn’t even have the face to back him up.”

“Hey.” Fan Jun glanced toward the door.

“Is he here?” Rongrong immediately looked out the door too.

“No,” Fan Jun said. “They don’t need to look super professional—just the right feel.”

“Alright,” Rongrong then looked at Zou Yang again. “Zou Yang should actually photograph well though. The two of you could even do a duo shot… oh wait, right—how about they let me take a few promotional photos for our dance studio too?”

“Then you need to pay me,” Fan Jun said. “You have to add extra for false advertising.”

“How would you charge?” Zou Yang asked.

“Why are you playing along with him?” Rongrong rapped on the table.

“…I was asking for my classmates.” Zou Yang said.

“There’s no need for all this formality,” Rongrong waved her hand. “I don’t have anything going on these days anyway. I’m so bored I’m going stir-crazy. No charge—consider it making a few new friends.”

Zou Yang said nothing and glanced at Fan Jun.

“Thanks.” Fan Jun said.

That evening, only four of them were having dinner. His mom made a simple stew pot.

Normally, fewer people would have made Zou Yang more uncomfortable, but perhaps because Lü Ze wasn’t there, he felt considerably more at ease. Though when he listened to Uncle Lü and his mom chatting over the meal, he still had that strange feeling.

Not like he’s family with mom… and definitely not family with Uncle Lü either…

He poked at his food a few times and leaned back against the chair. Not sure if it was because the day had been so lively and busy, but he suddenly felt very lonely.

“You heading back in a bit?” Uncle Lü asked Fan Jun.

“Going to play some billiards with Old Si and Big-Headed Fish.” Fan Jun said.

“Oh,” Uncle Lü thought for a moment, then looked at Zou Yang. “Little Yang, do you want to…?”

“He doesn’t know how.” Fan Jun cut Uncle Lü off.

Zou Yang said nothing. He felt slightly awkward.

“Ah, I see,” Uncle Lü laughed a little and then clarified. “Old Si and Big-Headed Fish, they pretty much grew up alongside Jun-er. They’re all from around here in the neighborhood.”

With that explanation from Uncle Lü, it became even more awkward.

“Old Si is the one we ran into today,” Fan Jun said. “Big-Headed Fish is the owner of Rookie’s.”

“…Mm.” Zou Yang replied.

“I’ll just play a bit and head back.” Fan Jun said to Uncle Lü.

“How about…” Zou Yang bit his lip, turned to look at him. “You teach me?”