FF CH48
Fan Jun checked the time. It was just past nine. Going to look at the equipment would take… He opened the navigation app and checked again. The shop was in the new district. The recommended route took twenty-six minutes one way, meaning an hour round trip.
He changed his clothes, put a muzzle on Xiao Bai, and tied him up in a corner of the training area. Tan Ru liked dogs quite a bit and had specially bought a cooling mat for Xiao Bai to use here.
“Brother will feed you at noon,” Fan Jun rubbed the dog’s head.
Passing by the dance studio, he glanced inside. The dance studio was quite lively today. Chairwoman Rong was leading a few young girls in recording a video, sweating profusely from dancing.
“Jun’er,” someone called him loudly from behind.
“Yeah,” he turned around and saw it was Sister Qin, the boss of the maternity and baby store over there.
“Have you guys decided on a place?” Sister Qin waved him over.
“We haven’t finalized it yet, but it’s pretty much set,” Fan Jun walked over. The maternity and baby store didn’t have much business in the morning; Sister Qin was sitting alone at the door.
“Once you guys leave, my place is basically done for too,” Sister Qin sighed.
“That won’t happen,” Fan Jun said.
“This place was already empty behind me to begin with, I’m the last shop,” Sister Qin said. “It only didn’t seem so remote because of you guys. Now that you’re leaving, the spaces for three storefronts will be empty…”
Fan Jun didn’t speak. Looking at it this way, it was true. Once the martial arts gym moved, Sister Qin’s shop would be cut off from the ones in the middle, left isolated and remote in a corner.
“This broken-down place, it’ll empty out sooner or later,” Sister Qin said.
“I saw a ‘For Rent’ sign on the first floor,” Fan Jun said.
Sister Qin sighed: “Can’t make any money. I only rented here because it was cheap. Now I’m struggling to even pay the rent here, let alone the first floor…”
After chatting with Sister Qin for a few more sentences, Fan Jun went down to the first floor. He suddenly noticed that at some point, the milk tea shop had emptied out, and a new ‘For Rent’ paper was pasted on the door.
Fan Jun’s footsteps paused for a moment.
This place really was…
When he was about to ride his motorcycle away from the back door parking lot, he saw Hou’er, who was just about to head to the mall.
“Hou’er!” he called out.
“Brother Fan!” Hou’er ran over. “Heading out?”
“Yeah,” Fan Jun looked at him. “Final exams are coming up soon, why are you still running over here?”
“I’m relaxing a bit,” Hou’er scratched his head and leaned close to him. “Brother Fan, got any money? Lend me fifty bucks, I’ll pay you back next month.”
“You’re out of money?” Fan Jun looked at him.
Hou’er’s family gave him pocket money every month. He usually didn’t spend much and managed to save quite a bit.
“Lent it to a classmate. He broke someone’s phone and had to pay for it,” Hou’er said.
“Does your mom know?” Fan Jun took out his phone.
“She knows,” Hou’er said. “She scolded me and said she wouldn’t give me a dime until next month’s allowance, even if I starve to death.”
Fan Jun sent him a red envelope: “I’ll ask your mom later.”
“Okay,” Hou’er accepted the red envelope, turned, and ran onto the escalator. “Take me for some practice this afternoon—”
“No time.” Fan Jun stared at his retreating back for a while before starting his motorcycle.
As the motorcycle wove through the small streets of Nanzhouping, Fan Jun watched the passing pedestrians from the corner of his eye. The people of Nanzhouping seemed to bear a unique mark that could be recognized at a glance.
But after driving onto a wider road and continuing forward, the familiar scenery slowly disappeared. The aura of Nanzhouping would fade and ultimately vanish, turning into an unfamiliar world.
Looking at venues and checking equipment—these things were no longer difficult for Fan Jun to do. Occasionally, there would be brief moments of panic, but parking by the side of the road to steady himself for a moment was all it took.
Today the journey was smooth. He didn’t even wear a hat, just a pair of sunglasses.
He was no longer afraid of Fan Gang finding him.
Now, he was only afraid that he wouldn’t be the first person Fan Gang found.
Before finding him, if Fan Gang first bumped into Uncle Lü, Sister Shan, Lü Ze, or anyone closely related to him, it would undoubtedly result in unavoidable harm.
…Bumping into Zou Yang.
That was what he was most afraid of.
The kind of fear that made his heart palpitate just thinking about it.
The kind of fear that made him wake up directly from a dream and jump out of bed just thinking about it.
For every day Fan Gang’s whereabouts remained unknown, he could not have a day of peace, and the people around him could not be safe for a day.
If Fan Gang could never be caught in this lifetime, he could only remain solitary and alone for this lifetime.
This was a suffocating and despairing time bomb buried right beside him.
He could live recklessly, pretending it didn’t exist; perhaps nothing would happen for his entire life.
But if it detonated, the consequences were something he could not bear.
He could not lose any more important people.
He couldn’t accept it even just imagining it.
“Although my equipment has been sitting idle for over a year, the actual usage time for most of it is less than two years.” Boss Wang was a fitness fanatic, very muscular, and had to hold his arms out slightly when walking. “You can tell just by looking, they’re very new. A little maintenance and they’ll be just like new.”
It was basically all fitness equipment. Lü Ze’s plan for the new venue was to combine the martial arts gym with private fitness coaching. The stuff was suitable, but they didn’t need this much.
“We can’t take the whole package,” Fan Jun said.
“I won’t sell unless it’s a package deal. If I break it up and sell it slowly, the price will be much higher than the package deal,” Boss Wang said.
“You’ve been breaking it up and selling it slowly for over a year,” Fan Jun touched the butterfly machine next to him, his finger coming away covered in dust. “And you haven’t sold many machines…”
“Watch how you speak!” Boss Wang became displeased.
“We can probably take…” Fan Jun swept a glance over the equipment, calculating rapidly in his head. “…more than half. You can sell the rest slowly, and you won’t even need to rent such a large place to store them.”
“No way,” Boss Wang was very resolute.
Fan Jun frowned and glanced at the time on his phone.
“In the past few months alone, two gyms in your area went out of business, and no new ones have opened,” he spoke very quickly. “They’re all offloading equipment. Some are older than yours, but much cheaper. Anyway, since we might not stay open for long and could go out of business too, whether it’s a bit newer or older doesn’t really matter.”
Please forgive me, Boss Lv.
“…What?” Boss Wang looked at him, unable to formulate a response for a moment.
Fan Jun didn’t look at him. He took out the list Lü Ze had written for him earlier, which detailed the required equipment. He glanced at it and handed it to Boss Wang: “Take a look and see if you can do these. If not, I’m leaving. I’m in a hurry.”
“With an attitude like yours…” Boss Wang didn’t take it.
“We’re currently in the middle of going out of business and are about to be cleared out,” Fan Jun said. “I really am in a hurry.”
Boss Wang was silent for a moment, took the paper, and started reading it.
“This tastes awful.” Liu Wenrui frowned, slurping up the fried noodles in front of him one by one.
“You’re the one who insisted on eating it, I told you it wasn’t good,” Zou Yang lowered his head and ate his own pork chop rice. “Finish it all for me.”
“Are you really going later?” Liu Wenrui asked.
“Yeah,” Zou Yang responded. “I already booked the class.”
“You won’t even be able to train if you go,” Liu Wenrui picked up a noodle. “Won’t it be awkward for the two of you to just stand there?”
“I just…” Zou Yang hesitated for a moment. “I just don’t want to stay alone.”
“Eww…” Liu Wenrui curled his lip.
Zou Yang shot him a glance and didn’t speak anymore.
So there were some things that, even with a childhood best friend, couldn’t be fully discussed. Many things could only be held inside and slowly digested by oneself.
“Am I not human? I can do nothing all summer and just keep you company,” Liu Wenrui said.
Although sometimes childhood best friends could be very touching.
“It’s different,” Zou Yang said.
“Damn.” Liu Wenrui took a huge bite of noodles, swallowing with difficulty.
Zou Yang picked up his phone and ordered another serving of pork chop rice.
It was indeed different, although he couldn’t articulate exactly how.
When he was with Fan Jun, even if they didn’t speak, it felt very relaxed—that fuzzy sense of security like basking in the sun.
A sense of security that even his most longed-for home had never given him.
“I’ll call a truck to come pick them up in the next couple of days,” Fan Jun said. “I’ll have to trouble Boss Wang to come over and keep an eye on the loading when the time comes.”
“Mm,” Boss Wang sighed. “I took a loss on this.”
“Taking a loss is a blessing,” Fan Jun turned and walked toward the exit.
“Then why don’t you take this blessing?” Boss Wang clicked his tongue.
“Never enjoyed blessings before, I’m used to it,” Fan Jun said.
It was one o’clock.
Negotiating the price, counting the equipment, checking the equipment—the whole process took a lot of time. Lü Ze had dragged things out over the price for ages over the phone, as the funds on hand were limited after all.
Fan Jun got on his motorcycle and hurried back.
Only after turning into Nanzhouping did he slow down, looking to see if there was any lunch he could pack and take back along the street.
Just after crossing an intersection, he saw a flashy motorcycle ahead.
The same model as Zou Yang’s.
But at the same time, he saw the rider’s plaster-cast left leg.
He froze.
How did he ride over here?
Is he crazy?!
He hurriedly twisted the throttle and chased forward.
Afraid of startling Zou Yang, he didn’t even dare to call out his name when he pulled up parallel to him.
He merely passed him directly, stopped a little further ahead, supported himself with his legs, turned around, and pointed at Zou Yang.
Zou Yang was wearing a pair of sunglasses, looking ahead with a cold, expressionless face.
It was only when he saw Fan Jun that an expression appeared on his face, and he too was startled.
Then he quickly pulled over to the sidewalk, propped his right leg on the ground, while his left leg remained suspended in the air.
Fan Jun got off his motorcycle and walked up to him: “You really are…”
“Incredible,” Zou Yang said.
“…Yeah,” Fan Jun looked at his leg again. “Get off, leave the bike here.”
“Why?” Zou Yang asked.
“I’ll take you over,” Fan Jun said.
“I already rode all the way from my house to here,” Zou Yang didn’t move. “If I was going to crash, I would have crashed already.”
“Get off,” Fan Jun looked at him.
Zou Yang paused, clicked his tongue, and got off from the right side.
Fan Jun straddled his bike, rode it onto the sidewalk, and parked it in a parking space.
Zou Yang hopped over to stand next to Fan Jun’s motorcycle.
“Why didn’t you call a cab?” Fan Jun got on the bike.
“Inconvenient,” Zou Yang steadied himself by holding Fan Jun’s shoulder and sat on the back seat.
“If you ran into any emergency situation, you’d definitely crash,” Fan Jun turned his head back. “And wearing sunglasses too, can you see clearly?”
Zou Yang pinched the frame, lightly flipped it up, and took off the sunglass lenses attached to the glasses: “I can see clearly.”
“…Are they magnetic?” Fan Jun asked.
“Yeah,” Zou Yang nodded.
Fan Jun didn’t say anything more. He sighed softly, twisted the handlebar, and drove forward.
“What are we training today?” Zou Yang stood on one leg in the training area, holding onto a punching bag and looking at him.
“…Chest and shoulder strength,” Fan Jun said.
“My god, Zou Yang,” Tan Ru passed by and walked a shocked circle around him. “You really are… you really are…”
“Physically disabled but strong-willed,” Zou Yang said.
Fan Jun didn’t know what to say either. He grabbed a resistance band from the nearby rack and handed it to Zou Yang: “Do some shoulder dislocations to warm up.”
“Mm,” Zou Yang took the resistance band.
Fan Jun dragged a plyo box over: “Kneel your left leg on this.”
Zou Yang stood on one leg and kneeled on the other, holding the resistance band and earnestly doing shoulder dislocations.
Fan Jun watched him.
No emotion could be seen on Zou Yang’s face, but it was obvious his state was different from usual.
Fan Jun wanted to say something, but didn’t know what he could say.
He could only stand silently to the side, an indescribable feeling in his heart.
“What are we training now?” After finishing the shoulder dislocations, Zou Yang looked at him and asked.
“Activate with push-ups,” Fan Jun said, extending his hand.
“Mm,” Zou Yang grabbed his hand.
The moment their hands clasped tightly together, Fan Jun felt a momentary daze. The lingering sensation of Zou Yang’s fingertips pressing against the back of his hand from last night reappeared.
He steadied himself and slowly lowered Zou Yang down.
“Do them single-legged,” he said. Seeing Zou Yang plant his other hand firmly on the ground, he let go.
“Cast comes off in a week,” Zou Yang supported himself on the ground with his hands. “My left leg can touch the ground, as long as I don’t put weight on it.”
“Do them single-legged,” Fan Jun repeated.
“Sigh,” Zou Yang sighed and curled his left lower leg up behind him.
Sets of fifteen, five sets.
For the middle three sets, Fan Jun even placed a five-kilogram barbell plate on his back.
“Fuck,” Zou Yang gritted his teeth. There were four reps left. He held himself up without going down, feeling like he wouldn’t be able to get back up if he did.
Coach Fan hadn’t lowered the intensity in the slightest just because he was currently disabled and hadn’t trained for quite a while.
“Who does activations this ruthlessly?” Zou Yang turned his head.
“Last four,” Fan Jun squatted on one leg beside him, extending his hands loosely under his stomach. “If you can’t do it, I’ll help you.”
Zou Yang steeled his resolve and continued downward.
But the moment his stomach touched Fan Jun’s hand, the temperature of Fan Jun’s palm instantly transmitted through his clothes. Although he felt this must be an illusion, that bit of warmth still rapidly spread from his waist to his back.
With this momentary distraction, his arms gave out instantly, and he face-planted before he could even turn his head away.
Fan Jun reacted very quickly. One hand supported his stomach, while the other quickly reached under his face.
Zou Yang’s face landed squarely in his hand.
“…Holy crap,” he said, his voice muffled in Fan Jun’s palm.
Fan Jun didn’t speak. The hand supporting his stomach pushed upward, and Zou Yang used the momentum to push off the mat and straighten up.
After kneeling on the mat for a moment, he looked up at Fan Jun, who was standing directly in front of him.
Fan Jun hesitated for two seconds and stepped aside.
“…Screw you,” Zou Yang couldn’t help but laugh.
“Rest for a bit,” Fan Jun followed suit and started laughing too, pushing the plyo box in front of him.
“Sigh, let’s call it a day for today’s class,” Zou Yang pushed himself up using the plyo box, sat on it, took off his glasses, and took a look; the lenses were all smudged.
“Hm?” Fan Jun was taken aback.
“Can’t train anymore,” Zou Yang said, tossing his glasses onto the plyo box.
Fan Jun reached out, took his glasses, and placed them on the storage rack by the wall. When he walked back, he checked his phone: “Thirty seconds left.”
“What?” Zou Yang didn’t understand.
“Rest time,” Fan Jun said. “Next up is dumbbell bench press.”
“Can’t train,” Zou Yang said.
“Four sets,” Fan Jun said.
“Transfer to human agent,” Zou Yang clicked his tongue. “Agent 003, come out.”
Fan Jun smiled: “Agent 003 is currently arranging your training plan.”
“Fine,” Zou Yang sighed.
After finishing the four sets of bench presses, Zou Yang lay directly on the training bench without getting up.
Fan Jun sat on the plyo box next to him, watching him.
Zou Yang looked at the ceiling. Before coming to class, he had told himself that class was just class. Whatever it was like before, it would be the same now.
But it was very difficult.
Some things couldn’t be reversed.
He let out a soft sigh and turned his head: “Fan Jun.”
“Mm,” Fan Jun responded.
“I booked a class today,” he said in a low voice. Without his glasses, he couldn’t see what expression Fan Jun had. “I didn’t mean anything else by it… I just didn’t want to stay alone.”
“Mm,” Fan Jun stood up, walked over, and squatted beside him.
“I’ll book more classes later,” he said. “I’m on break.”
“Mm,” Fan Jun nodded.
Zou Yang wanted to say something else, but ultimately didn’t.
Fan Jun could sense it, but he couldn’t be completely certain either.
For the rest of the training, Zou Yang didn’t slack off and completed all the scheduled exercises.
“Later…” Fan Jun glanced at the time.
“I’m going straight home,” Zou Yang said.
“Are you going to the old gym…?” Fan Jun asked. “Hasn’t it been quite a while since you’ve seen Sister Shan?”
“No, I didn’t tell her I was coming to class either,” Zou Yang sat on the chair, propping his leg up on the plyo box. “We each have our own lives. We’ll talk whenever she comes home.”
“I’ll drop you off,” Fan Jun said. “Don’t ride your bike. I’ll put it away for you later. We’ll talk after your cast comes off.”
“I’ll take a cab,” Zou Yang smiled, then quickly added in a low voice, “Aren’t you afraid it’s dangerous if our relationship gets too close?”
Fan Jun didn’t speak. His hand trembled slightly.
When Zou Yang said those words, he felt as if something had fiercely gripped his heart.