When Fan Jun led Zou Yang out of the old gym, Xiaobai—who had been squatting outside the kitchen door—trotted after them with its leash in its mouth, walking quietly behind them.

The sky had already grown mostly dark by now, and Zou Yang probably hadn’t even noticed there was a black dog tailing them.

Fan Jun pondered how to let Zou Yang know there was a dog behind them without scaring him.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he turned around and gave Xiaobai a hand signal: “Stay.”

Xiaobai immediately stopped in its tracks, making no further move forward.

“Hmm?” Hearing the sound, Zou Yang turned his head.

Before Zou Yang could fully turn around, Fan Jun grabbed his arm and took a few large strides forward before stopping.

“Wh—” Zou Yang had been dragged forward a distance before he had the chance to look back. He immediately muttered in a low voice, “Fuck me.”

However, because there was already some distance between them, he wasn’t too spooked.

“I always bring it with me when I go out at night,” Fan Jun explained. “So it started following the moment we came out. I’ll just let it go ahead first—”

“No need,” Zou Yang said. “Let it… just follow.”

It was a dog Fan Jun had raised since it was a pup. It wouldn’t make sense to banish the dog the moment he showed up—Fan Jun had even helped him look after his cat.

“Follow?” Fan Jun looked at him.

“Yeah,” Zou Yang gestured a distance with his hands. “As long as it’s not walking right up against me, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Fan Jun thought about it for a second, then patted the side of his left leg.

Obediently, Xiaobai trotted over, pressed itself against Fan Jun’s left leg, and looked up at him.

Fan Jun patted the dog’s head: “Is this okay?”

“…Yeah.” Zou Yang gritted his teeth and nodded.

Fan Jun caught that sliver of hesitation. He snapped his fingers at Xiaobai, then extended his arm horizontally.

Xiaobai moved further outward, maintaining exactly an arm’s length of distance.

“How did you…” Zou Yang was almost too distracted to be scared. “How did you train it like that?”

“Didn’t specifically train it,” Fan Jun said. “Just played with it a lot when I had free time. Over time, it just understood.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang nodded.

At night, Nanzhouping possessed a sort of hidden, secret prosperity. The main streets were very deserted, with shops closed and only an occasional lit window. But turn a corner into a residential area, and it was bustling with life.

Many first-floor apartments had been converted into storefronts. Open a door where a window used to be, and inside would be a noodle shop, dumpling joint, mini-mart, clothing store, nail salon…

The billiards hall was a bit further than the mall, requiring them to pass through a residential area and walk to the end of three streets.

This side of town was a bit more fashionable than the ancient, smoke-filled streets of North Alley, and they passed by several bars in a row.

Despite the trendier streetscape, there still weren’t many people around, and the streetlights remained dim, giving off an atmosphere that didn’t feel entirely safe.

So having a dog with them was actually pretty nice.

Fan Jun hadn’t spoken much along the way. He walked in silence, quite unlike how he was at the amusement park during the day. Having returned to his usual state, Zou Yang even felt like Fan Jun was quieter than before.

Was he tired from playing?

Or was it because of that neighbor sister?

“Do you always go play billiards?” Zou Yang asked.

“Not always,” Fan Jun said. “Just when others ask.”

“Are you good?” Zou Yang asked again.

“I’m alright,” Fan Jun smiled and pointed ahead. “We’re here.”

Zou Yang took a look. Make a Friend Billiards Hall.

Making friends here felt like it would be a bit difficult. The moment they stepped in, they were hit by the mingled scent of instant noodles and cigarette smoke. A quick scan of the room revealed several people whose vibes inexplicably matched that exact smell.

Old Si and Big-Headed Fish had already arrived and were playing at a table near the wall.

Old Si waved at Fan Jun, then whistled: “Xiaobai, come here!”

Xiaobai remained completely unmoved, acting as if it hadn’t heard a thing.

It wasn’t until Fan Jun said “Go on” that it finally trotted over.

“Who’s this?” Old Si asked. “Is this the guy you were with this afternoon?”

“Mm.” Fan Jun replied with a sound, neither answering Old Si’s question directly nor making any move to introduce Zou Yang to his two neighbors.

“Sister Shan’s son,” Big-Headed Fish chimed in.

“Oh…” Old Si nodded at Zou Yang. “Now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance.”

“We’ll play at this table.” Fan Jun tapped the billiards table next to them.

“Okay.” Zou Yang looked around. It was indeed a very new billiards hall; the felt on the tables hadn’t even shown much wear yet.

As the two of them went to the front desk to grab pool cues, someone yelled from behind: “Jun-er!”

Fan Jun didn’t turn around. He merely handed a cue to Zou Yang: “You use this one.”

Zou Yang originally wanted to look back, but since Fan Jun didn’t move, he also acted as if he hadn’t heard it and took the cue.

As they turned to walk back, the person over there yelled again. This time, the voice was full of lung capacity, echoing soul-stirringly through the billiards hall, accompanied by a gesture—a hand waving above his head.

Fan Jun turned his head to glance over.

“Play a couple rounds?” the man shouted.

Fan Jun didn’t stop walking. He simply tilted his head and pointed at his ear, indicating he couldn’t hear what the guy was saying.

“Play a couple rounds!” the man roared.

Fan Jun just completely ignored him, smiled, and kept walking forward.

“Fuck! What is he acting so high and mighty for!” the man cursed.

“He just doesn’t want to play with you, your skills are too trash,” someone laughed, fanning the flames.

“Wait for me a second,” Fan Jun glanced over, handed his own cue to Zou Yang, “Two minutes.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang took his cue.

“Even if his skills are good, isn’t it just…” The man was grumbling unhappily when he saw Fan Jun walking over. He paused. “Yo, playing, master?”

On the table was a half-finished game. Fan Jun asked, “Are you solids or stripes?”

“Stripes,” the man said.

“Whose cue is this?” Fan Jun asked.

“His.” The man pointed.

Fan Jun took the cue from the man’s opponent. Leaning over, he delivered a clean, sharp shot, sinking a striped ball. Then he walked to the other side and, almost without looking closely at the balls, immediately took another shot.

There hadn’t been many balls left on the table to begin with. With several almost unhesitating shots from Fan Jun, only the 8-ball remained.

“Fuck,” the man said.

This time, Fan Jun took a moment to aim. After he struck, the 8-ball dropped cleanly into the pocket as well. He handed the cue back to the guy beside him: “I’m keeping my friend company today. We’ll play another time.”

“Fan Jun! I’m seriously fucking done with you! I was about to win!” the man shouted. “You just came over here to show off to me!”

A wave of mocking laughter erupted around them.

Zou Yang estimated the time. From Fan Jun walking over to walking back, it really had been just about two minutes.

The guy over there went from cursing and swearing to… more cursing and swearing, his mood not showing much fluctuation.

And they call this place “Make a Friend.”

This place really did give off a very unfriendly vibe.

“Let’s go.” Fan Jun walked back to their table.

“Do you know all of them?” Zou Yang followed him, leaned in close, and asked in a low voice.

“Wouldn’t say I know them,” Fan Jun set up the balls. “They’re all from this area. Don’t know their names, but they look familiar.”

“Any grudges?” Zou Yang asked.

“No, that’s just how they talk.” After setting up the balls, Fan Jun broke immediately. “Have you played before?”

Zou Yang hesitated over how to answer. That casual “I don’t know how” from earlier was putting him in a very difficult position right now. If he said he knew how, he’d be lying. Why lie? Because he didn’t want to mix with this crowd from Nanzhouping’s North Alley West…

But if he said he didn’t know how, it would be really hard to fake it once they started playing.

Ultimately, he nodded and chose a compromise: “I’ve played, it’s just… I’m not very good.”

“That’s fine,” Fan Jun looked at the balls, leaning over to aim. “Just play however.”

“Can you…” Zou Yang had wanted to ask this earlier but didn’t get the chance. “See clearly?”

Fan Jun laughed, the tip of his cue accidentally bumping the cue ball. He straightened up: “Oops.”

“That wasn’t my strategy,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun flipped the brim of his hat up a bit: “I can see now. It was all blind shots earlier.”

“Then you’re pretty badass.” Zou Yang took the cue and looked at the balls on the table. “My turn to shoot?”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

Zou Yang leaned over, aimed at a ball, and then adopted the exact bridge hand posture Liu Wenrui had been endlessly mocked for when he first started playing.

After setting his bridge, he shot a glance at Fan Jun.

Fan Jun crossed his arms and looked back at him, not saying a word.

Zou Yang looked at the ball, randomly poked his cue forward, hit the target ball, but didn’t pocket it.

“Your…” Fan Jun picked up the cue ball and placed it in front of him. “This hand…”

“Mm.” Zou Yang leaned over and placed his bridge hand back on the table.

Fan Jun leaned over right behind him, reached out, and pinched his fingers to adjust his hand shape: “Rest the cue on it.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang rested the cue on his hand.

“Just a smooth push is enough. Hit the green one,” Fan Jun’s voice came from right behind his head. His hand reached around from behind Zou Yang, lightly tapping the right hand gripping the cue. “Don’t exert force suddenly. Just push it through.”

Following Coach Fan’s instructions, Zou Yang gave it a push.

He regretted it the moment he did.

Sure enough, it went into the pocket.

Neither of them spoke. After two seconds of silence, Fan Jun’s voice came from the back of his neck: “You really don’t know how to play?”

“I really don’t.” Zou Yang stuck to his guns.

“Then your standard for ‘knowing how to play’ is a bit high,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang sighed, straightened up, and leaned on his cue as he looked at him.

“Actually…” Fan Jun paused. “If you didn’t want to come, you didn’t have to force yourself…”

“That’s not what I meant…” Zou Yang quickly interrupted him, glancing around.

There weren’t many people in the billiards hall. Aside from the clack of the balls, it wasn’t too noisy, so a normal conversation could pretty much be heard by the neighboring tables.

He had no choice but to lean close to Fan Jun’s right ear and whisper, “It’s just uncomfortable for me to be around people I don’t know, that’s all.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded very seriously.

From this reaction, Zou Yang couldn’t tell whether he accepted or believed the explanation.

“I didn’t think too much of it,” Fan Jun also whispered. “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out.”

Zou Yang bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

“Your turn,” Fan Jun said.

“Oh.” Zou Yang had to turn back to look at the balls on the table.

Zou Yang hadn’t hit that last shot seriously. Even though it went in, the next ball was positioned awkwardly.

Fan Jun backed away a bit, watching Zou Yang look for an angle. This guy was very strange; he clearly wasn’t in the mood to play right now, yet he still seriously circled the table twice before finding the right spot to set his bridge.

This time, his bridge hand was absolutely perfect.

Fan Jun looked at Zou Yang’s hands.

His fingers were long, slender, and quite pale, but when pressed against the table, one could feel their strength. On his left wrist was a very thin, greenish-blue beaded bracelet—Fan Jun hadn’t really noticed whether he was wearing one before.

He had never seen hands like these in his own life.

They were both college students, but the difference between Zou Yang and… Lü Ze, could be this massive.

Whatever environment you grew up in, you bore its marks.

Zou Yang executed the shot beautifully, a two-cushion bank shot into the pocket.

He wasn’t pretending anymore.

He followed up with two more successful shots. Big-Headed Fish, who was currently being punished by having to stand on the sidelines, watched them for a while and sighed in admiration: “Little bro, you’re pretty badass.”

Right after he said that, Zou Yang missed his next shot.

“Yeah,” he replied, “I just can’t handle praise.”

“Wanna play a round in a bit?” Old Si, his interest piqued, came over and asked.

Before Zou Yang could answer, Fan Jun spoke up: “We’re just playing a couple games and then leaving. He doesn’t live around here.”

“Oh…” Old Si said. “Then next time! Next time!”

“Mm.” Zou Yang glanced at Fan Jun.

Fan Jun took his cue over. The path for the ball he had been eyeing earlier was just right.

Under the brim of his hat, he could actually see perfectly clearly. With his years of experience wearing hats, he was already capable of seeing things ahead clearly regardless of the brim.

However, he somehow managed to miss a shot that should have gone in even if he had mashed the hat directly against his face.

“Trash,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun smiled but didn’t say anything.

Zou Yang was very good at billiards. Once he seized an opportunity, he could sink balls consecutively.

If translated into martial arts terms, he could have fought Lü Ze evenly that day.

Thanks to Fan Jun’s baffling mistakes, Zou Yang easily won this game.

“Another round?” Fan Jun asked.

Zou Yang looked at him, remained silent for a moment, then nodded: “Alright.”

Fan Jun lost two games in a row.

By the time Zou Yang’s final shot sent the 8-ball into the pocket, Fan Jun’s balls were still surviving in large numbers on the table.

After taking the shot, Zou Yang kept his hands pressed against the table without moving, letting out a soft sigh.

Fan Jun wasn’t in the zone. When they first came in and he played the other guy’s half-game, it was obvious he was actually quite good. But his skill level right now would only be enough to fight a life-and-death battle with Liu Wenrui.

“Impressive,” Fan Jun said as he prepared to rack the balls.

“I’m done playing,” Zou Yang said.

“Hmm?” Fan Jun froze for a second, then put down the ball in his hand. “Okay.”

He snapped his fingers. Xiaobai, who had been sleeping curled up by the wall, jumped up and brushed against Zou Yang as it ran over.

Startled, Zou Yang instantly stood up straight and pressed himself against the adjacent table.

“One arm’s length,” Fan Jun stood next to Zou Yang, pointed at him, and then extended his arm. “Him, one arm’s length.”

Xiaobai stared at them earnestly, tapping its front paws on the ground back and forth, and let out a couple of whimpers.

“Can it understand?” Zou Yang couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know, never tested it,” Fan Jun said. “It probably understands.”

Although Zou Yang was afraid of dogs, his curiosity overcame his fear in that moment. He tentatively took a step forward. Xiaobai watched him. He shuffled another half-step forward.

Xiaobai began to back up.

“Holy shit,” he turned to look at Fan Jun. “It really works?”

Fan Jun smiled.

At this hour, it was easier to catch a cab back over by the mall.

Zou Yang knew the way back, but when they passed through the residential area where Fan Jun rented his place, Fan Jun showed no intention of stopping and just kept walking forward with him. So he didn’t say anything either.

They didn’t speak the entire way. All that could be heard was the scritch-scratch sound of Xiaobai’s paws hitting the ground and its heavy panting. This noise… provided a terrifyingly strong sense of security.

The atmosphere was a bit strange. It felt as if he had taken Fan Jun out to play with his friends today, but had somewhat stiffly and awkwardly refused to integrate into Fan Jun’s own circle of friends…

Of course, they probably couldn’t even be called friends. More like an ecosystem… What the hell.

Coupled with that bizarre encounter earlier.

In short, it gave him an indescribable feeling.

Zou Yang somewhat regretted not going grocery shopping with his mom today. So what if Fan Jun misunderstood and thought he was trying to pry into his business? Who wouldn’t be curious?

Since he didn’t ask his mom, now he couldn’t resist wanting to ask the person himself.

When they reached the street with the mall, Fan Jun stopped: “I’ll…”

“Why were you hiding from that sister today?” Zou Yang suddenly asked out of nowhere.

Fan Jun was stunned. He even lifted his head, peering at him from under the brim of his hat, as if trying to reconfirm the question.

“Is there… some kind of conflict with the neighbors?” Zou Yang asked again.

“…No,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang waited for a moment, but Fan Jun didn’t continue.

“Forget it,” Zou Yang turned around. “As long as you’re fine. I’ll go up ahead and catch a cab.”

He had walked several steps before Fan Jun’s voice drifted over from behind: “I’m afraid of my dad finding me.”

Zou Yang stopped and looked back.

“When he left the house, he said that when he came back, he would kill me,” Fan Jun said.