“Da Hei was found?” Zou Yang grabbed his phone, jumping straight off the sofa.

“Yes,” his mom’s voice on the phone sounded very happy. “That old man just brought the cage over. It looks quite healthy to me, even grew a bit, just that its fur is a little rough.”

“Are you sure it’s him?” Zou Yang ran to the door, putting on his coat while slipping on his shoes.

“Lu Ze said there was a mole inside his right ear, right? It’s still there,” his mom said. “We’re absolutely certain it’s him.”

“I’m coming over now.” Zou Yang hung up the phone and headed out.

It felt like it was going to snow today; the wind outside was freezing.

Zou Yang originally wanted to take a taxi, but perhaps because it was close to the New Year, there were very few cars. He waited for thirty seconds, but no one took his order. So he gave up and decided to bike over.

He had rushed out too hastily and forgot to wear a hat, but fortunately, he hadn’t forgotten his scarf. Halfway there, he stopped, and imitating his mom’s style, wrapped the scarf around his head and then looped it twice around his neck.

“Your hands must be frozen useless!” The first thing his mom saw when they met was his bright red hands.

“It’s fine. Where’s the cat?” Zou Yang rubbed his hands together, realizing he actually had no sensation in them.

He couldn’t help but look down at his own hands, which still maintained the posture of gripping the bike handles. He tried to make a fist; the movement was incredibly sluggish.

Are Fan Jun’s hands like this?
Worse than this, or a bit better than this?
How are his hands doing now?

Walking into the warm kitchen and seeing Da Hei lying by the stove to keep warm, he finally snapped back to his senses.

“Da Hei-hei…” He walked over. As he reached out his hand, his tears started dripping just like a suddenly turned-on faucet.

It was indeed Da Hei. Even though there are so many white cats in the world and they all look the same, he could still recognize with a single glance that this was Da Hei.

It was just that Da Hei wasn’t as affectionate toward people as he was a few months ago. When he reached out, it didn’t rub its head against his hand, but shrank back there, staring blankly at Zou Yang.

“It’s me, it’s brother Xiao Yang.” Zou Yang picked up Da Hei and buried his face in Da Hei’s fur.

He didn’t dare to turn around. He didn’t want the people standing behind him to see his flood of tears.

No one knew what this cat meant to him. This was the cat Fan Jun had raised all along; it had spent much more time with Fan Jun than he had.

In this moment, Da Hei was the only connection to Fan Jun that he could touch and embrace.

It wasn’t until Da Hei started struggling slightly in his arms that Zou Yang raised his head and sniffled.

“This child,” his mom’s voice also carried a tremble. “Who knows how long it’s been since Da Hei had a bath, smearing gray dirt all over your face.”

“He shouldn’t be too dirty,” Lu Ze spoke up. “His nails have been clipped. Probably got taken home by someone a while back, and only ran out again these past few days.”

“No wonder we couldn’t find him for so long…” his mom said.

“This cat…” Zou Yang turned his head.

“If you’re willing to keep him, then you raise him,” Uncle Lu said. “If it’s inconvenient for you, leave him here with me. His bed and food and stuff are all still here.”

“I’ll take him home first,” Zou Yang said softly.

“Can you manage taking care of him?” his mom asked.

“Of course he can manage,” Liu Wenrui placed the cat bed under Zou Yang’s computer desk. “If you can’t, put him at my place. I don’t have anywhere to go during winter break anyway, I’m home every day.”

“Your mom would throw you and the cat out together,” Zou Yang said.

“She wouldn’t. If I tell her he’s yours, she’ll grit her teeth and endure it.” Liu Wenrui picked up Da Hei, strolling around the room while gently bouncing him like a baby. “Hei-hei, do you still remember me? Back then, I was the very first one who decided to save you. You have to call me your benefactor, understand? You have to repay this kindness when you get the chance. No need to transform into a human and marry me, just bring me some money. Our sugar daddy has a limit now, I haven’t even asked for this month’s money yet…”

“Throw another coin at him,” Zou Yang said.

“What?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“Even in front of a wishing well, I wouldn’t dare spout such nonsense,” Zou Yang laughed, lying down on the bed and opening his arms toward Da Hei. “Come, let brother hold you.”

“Coming, brother.” Liu Wenrui immediately pounced over, hugging the cat.

“Get lost!” Zou Yang roared.

Besides his childhood home, later Nanzhouping, and the places he had visited with Zou Yang, Fan Jun hadn’t even fully explored the map of this city.

These past few months, following He Chuan, he had gone out of town three times. Although they didn’t stay in other “cities”—they all went to the countryside.

He used to imagine traveling with Zou Yang—where they would go, what they would eat, what they would see, what they would encounter, whether he himself would be scared, whether any situations would arise…

Now he was actually out traveling. He wasn’t scared, and no situations arose.

But it was very bitter.

“Let’s make do for two nights,” He Chuan looked at the single bed in the dilapidated old house. “Good thing there’s an electric blanket.”

“I’ll sleep on the chair,” Fan Jun said immediately.

“The bed is big enough for both of us, neither of us is fat, especially me,” He Chuan said.

“I’m not used to it,” Fan Jun said.

“You can get used to sleeping on a chair?” He Chuan looked at him.

“I can,” Fan Jun nodded.

Not only could he sleep on a chair, he could sleep standing, squatting, or leaning. Although he hadn’t slept like that in over a decade, it was just for a few hours; he wasn’t picky about posture.

Because the Lunar New Year was approaching, the village was quite lively. There were various activities at night—beating gongs, sounding drums, and setting off fireworks.

But it had nothing to do with them. They were staying near the client’s old house, where there were basically no other households. At this distance, Fan Jun couldn’t even clearly hear those lively sounds from afar anyway.

It was very quiet.

So quiet that the stars seemed clearer than usual.

“You’re so lucky, actually thinking this is quiet,” He Chuan mumbled while lying in bed. “Right when I’m about to fall asleep, they start banging dong dong dong over there…”

“Trade you ears,” Fan Jun said.

“Sigh,” He Chuan sighed. “Don’t say that. I’m going to want to slap myself in my dreams tonight.”

“Go to sleep,” Fan Jun said. “If you actually slap yourself, I’ll stop you.”

Running around for two days was quite exhausting. They ate dinner at the client’s house and drank quite a bit of liquor.

He Chuan started snoring before long.

Fan Jun turned off the light, sat on an old rattan chair by the window, and looked down at his phone.

The faint starlight outside the window made the already old objects in the room lose their color even more.

But his Moments feed over the past few days was very rich in color. It was all about the Lunar New Year. Glancing over it, every post seemed to carry sounds of laughter and joy.

He carefully and slowly scrolled up the page.

Wanting to see something, yet afraid there would be nothing.

After swiping down two pages, amid a pile of lively nine-photo grids, he saw a short sentence.

-Only seeing the moon’s chill and the sun’s warmth, frying away human lifespans.
(Note: A quote from Li He’s poem “The Shortness of the Day,” meaning one only sees the cold of the moon and warmth of the sun alternating, while time relentlessly consumes human life.)

Fan Jun’s finger hovered in the air.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was very harmonious and lively.

Drinking, chatting, setting off firecrackers, watching fireworks…

Lu Ze’s girlfriend—the owner of that milk station a street away—was very nice. Unlike Lu Ze, she talked quite a lot once she got familiar with everyone, and loved to laugh.

Lu Ze was influenced by her to become much more lively.

Uncle Lu and his mom were also quite happy. Although his mom was still taking medication, her overall condition was very stable.

The only exception was Zou Yang, enduring the time amidst the lively crowd.

He felt somewhat lonely.

Faced with such clear happiness right in front of him, he didn’t have the indignation of “boiling the mandarin ducks alive” anymore.

What remained was only a loneliness as if he were in another dimension.

Whether time moved forward or stood still, it had nothing to do with him.

His mom could sense his low mood. Even before the New Year holidays were over, she forced him to go see his therapist, worrying he might be depressed.

“The psychology department doesn’t start working until the fourth day of the New Year,” Zou Yang said.

“That’s just two days away then,” his mom frowned. “Go on the fourth day.”

“Mm,” Zou Yang smiled.

“Big brother, we spent our entire New Year here,” He Chuan looked at the homeowner with a very displeased expression. “You can see whether we’re sincere or not. Think about how much just my time cost is. If you had said earlier that you couldn’t make the decision, we wouldn’t have come…”

“Who said I can’t make the decision!” the homeowner yelled. “My dad left this house to me. I can tear it down however I want, and sell whatever I want!”

“I’ve already picked the stuff. If you’re going to talk like that, I’ll pack it up right now,” He Chuan said.

“Pack it up then!” the homeowner waved his hand and walked out of the house.

He Chuan didn’t move, and neither did Fan Jun. He stood by the window where the frame had already been dismantled, watching the few people out in the yard.

They were all brothers and juniors of this family. If this group of people didn’t leave in a bit, it would be completely impossible for them to take the goods out of the house.

Just going through this exact routine, it had been three times already; they couldn’t get out.

When they argued earlier, Fan Jun was even threatened.

“If it weren’t for the fact that you’re crippled, I’d smash you to pieces with a hoe today!”

“Are we still going to be able to acquire the goods this time?” Fan Jun turned his head and looked at He Chuan, who was sitting by the table using a portable tea set to unhurriedly brew tea.

“We will,” He Chuan poured two cups of tea. “Drink tea.”

“When you collected goods in the past, who did you go with?” Fan Jun asked.

To be honest, with He Chuan looking this useless, any single person in the village could make him walk in vertically and be carried out horizontally.

“It varied. Sometimes I’d pull a friend along, sometimes I’d find a student from the sports academy,” He Chuan said.

“Are they reliable?” Fan Jun was stunned.

“Not reliable, they just serve as a deterrent effect,” He Chuan took a sip of tea. “If an actual fight breaks out, I get beaten while they run away.”

Fan Jun looked at him, and only after a long while did he ask: “If a fight breaks out in a bit…”

“You won’t run, you’ll save me, and you can actually fight,” He Chuan said.

“How much did you pay the sports academy students per trip?” Fan Jun asked. “The kind that leaves you behind and runs.”

He Chuan looked at him, and after a while said: “Master, the subsidy I’m giving you is for the kind that doesn’t run.”

“Oh.” Fan Jun smiled.

“Don’t you…” He Chuan felt a bit uneasy seeing him smile.

The people in the yard were already arguing in a chaotic mess.

Whatever they were saying, they couldn’t understand a word of it, but they could hear the high frequency of family-related slurs. This kind of cursing match between relatives felt like it could easily bounce back onto oneself, but everyone was very agitated and wasn’t debating the finer details.

After a while, a few more people entered the yard, stared at Fan Jun and He Chuan in the house for a moment, and then went outside the yard with the homeowner to talk.

A few minutes later, the homeowner returned and waved his hand at Fan Jun standing by the window: “Move ’em!”

“Move, we need to be fast,” He Chuan immediately stood up and said.

He Chuan would say this every time, the reason being he was afraid the other party would go back on their word and start dragging things out again. But he said it very urgently today; they probably really needed to be fast.

The items had all been sorted. Various wooden items that could be dismantled were already taken apart, plus some jars, pots, and stone carvings.

Fan Jun’s left hand couldn’t exert much strength, so he relied mostly on his right. He could feel that the person who arrived last was constantly looking at his hand.

He Chuan didn’t put on any boss airs. He carried things and ran back and forth to the truck with a clatter.

In no time at all, everything was loaded onto the truck.

The homeowner came over and handed a cigarette to He Chuan, then handed one to Fan Jun.

“I don’t smoke,” Fan Jun said, turning around and jumping into the truck bed.

The homeowner put the cigarette in his own mouth, cross-checked the items with He Chuan, and settled the bill.

Without an extra word of nonsense, He Chuan got into the car, started it immediately, and rushed toward the village entrance.

He Chuan’s vehicle was a pickup truck. Running on country roads was fine, just bumpy. They didn’t have time to secure the cargo in the bed, so right now Fan Jun had to hold onto a pile of violently shaking items.

They exited the village smoothly, but less than two minutes down the road, three motorcycles appeared on the road behind them.

“Don’t stop the car.” Fan Jun opened the window and grabbed a telescopic baton from the back seat.

“Safety first! If we have to, we leave the stuff!” He Chuan yelled. “It’s not worth that much money!”

“Got it,” Fan Jun responded.

On this kind of mountain road, motorcycles were more agile than their truck. Before long, they overtook them. Three motorcycles, five people, blocking the middle of the road.

He Chuan reduced the speed, but didn’t stop.

Holding the baton, Fan Jun jumped off the moving truck without pausing, charging straight at the group of people.

These guys looked like ordinary village bullies. Their actual combat experience wasn’t rich; at most, they bullied the old, weak, sick, and disabled in the village.

They probably didn’t expect Fan Jun to charge straight at them, and they all froze. A guy wearing a torn beanie was the first to react, swinging an iron bar as he came to meet him.

Fan Jun didn’t slow down. He rushed over, whipping the baton against the guy’s forearm. The beanie guy’s iron bar instantly slipped from his hand, and before it hit the ground, Fan Jun kicked it into the ditch beside the road.

The next second, without hesitating, he planted a kick on a motorcycle. As the motorcycle toppled over on the side of the road, he used the momentum from the kick to lunge toward the second person. This person was holding a broken hoe handle. Fan Jun smashed his baton directly onto the hoe handle.

Before the guy could even raise his arm, his weapon had already hit the ground.

Fan Jun stepped on it, dragged his foot backward to flick the piece of wood off the ground, and then with another kick, sent it flying into the field beside the road as well.

Then, not giving these people time to react, he kicked the second motorcycle over onto the ground.

He Chuan instantly understood his intention. Without stopping, he slowly drove the truck over the tires between the motorcycles that had fallen to either side.

Start to finish, it took only a little over ten seconds. By the time these people came to their senses, the truck had already driven past.

“You’re looking to die!” the most heavily built guy finally reacted, swinging the water pipe in his hand down toward Fan Jun’s shoulder.

Fan Jun tilted his head and shifted his body sideways to dodge it. With a skip step, he closed the distance, hooked his left arm behind the guy’s neck, violently wrenched him forward, and simultaneously jabbed the baton in his right hand directly against the guy’s eyelid.

“I’m not even afraid of guns, and you few think you’re worthy to tell me I’m ‘looking to die’?”

While these people were still stunned, Fan Jun released the heavily built guy, casually whipped the arms and legs of the three closest people a few more times with the baton.

Then he turned around and chased after the direction of the truck.

He Chuan was driving at a low speed waiting for him. Seeing him jump onto the truck bed in the rearview mirror, he slammed on the gas and sped off.

Fan Jun had to grab the truck bed tightly so he wouldn’t be thrown off the vehicle again.

“Holy fuck!” He Chuan turned his head and looked at him through the rear window. “Holy fuck!”

Fan Jun glanced back. No one was chasing them anymore. He let out a breath of relief and sat down leaning against the window: “Find a place to stop the car so I can get in the front, freezing to death out here.”

“You are my actual master!” He Chuan yelled. “My actual brother! My actual… boss! Boss Fan, you’re too badass! I didn’t even see clearly what happened! Teach me! Teach me when we get back! With one arm, holy fuck!”

Fan Jun’s brain was aching from his yelling, so he rolled up the window.

Coming out of the consultation room, Zou Yang waved at his mom, who was sitting in the waiting area. His mom immediately got up and ran over.

“I told you I was fine, it’s just anxiety,” Zou Yang said, handing the medical booklet and documents to her.

“Really?” His mom sighed in relief, putting everything away in her bag.

“Mm,” Zou Yang put his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll adjust fine, the doctor said I’m super tough.”

“You’re just bragging,” his mom smiled and playfully hit him.

If you had to say this Lunar New Year was good, it was quite good. After all, in the past, it was either spending it gloomily with his dad, or just the two of them.

But if you had to say it wasn’t good, it was undeniably the most agonizing Lunar New Year Zou Yang had experienced in his life.

It wasn’t even the sixth day of the New Year, yet younger students were already coming to the old martial arts hall for classes. Compared to usual, it was much livelier, and the nearby streets were also beginning to bustle.

Nanzhouping was faster than any other district in terms of development, but it was also earlier than any other district in ending the New Year holidays.

Since they were all small business owners, right after the third day of the New Year, many people started getting busy.

“Are you going to look for Liu Wenrui?” his mom asked.

“No,” Zou Yang said. “I’m going to see Lu Ze today.”

“What?” his mom was stunned. “Don’t they start classes on the sixth? Are you taking classes?”

“Not taking classes, just taking a look. I saw he’s already been heading over there these past two days,” Zou Yang said. “Got nothing else to do anyway.”

His mom obviously couldn’t understand his behavior, but she didn’t say anything more.

Lu Ze was a different story; he spoke more than he usually did.

While he wandered around the new-new hall, Lu Ze kept following behind him, talking: “If you want to book classes, it’s after the sixth.”

“Mm,” Zou Yang responded. The new-new hall here was bigger than the one at the mall. Half of it was fitness equipment and a free-weight training area, and the other half had the layout of a martial arts hall like before.

“Right now Tan Ru and Tie Bang are still on holiday, no one is taking classes,” Lu Ze said.

“Mm,” Zou Yang nodded.

“Your classes were… Fan Jun’s. More expensive than Tan Ru’s and Tie Bang’s,” Lu Ze said. “I should be teaching them, but I don’t have time right now.”

Zou Yang nodded.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Lu Ze couldn’t hold it in anymore. Probably because too much had happened, and it was still the New Year, he controlled himself and didn’t lose his temper.

“Where is Fan Jun?” Zou Yang glanced at him.

Lu Ze was stunned.

“Where is his new job?” Zou Yang asked again.

“I don’t know.” Lu Ze came back to his senses.

“Did Fan Jun forbid you from telling me?” Zou Yang looked at him.

“It’s other people’s private business, it’s not convenient for me to say.” Lu Ze frowned.

“That’s fine,” Zou Yang said. “I’m on winter break, I can come every day. You open at 8:30, right?”

“Are you sick in the head?” Lu Ze got anxious.

“Yes, I am,” Zou Yang said. “I just came out of the hospital’s psychology outpatient clinic.”

Lu Ze opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.

“What are you doing for lunch?” Zou Yang asked. “Going back to Nanzhouping or eating by yourself?”

“What?” Lu Ze looked at him.

“Lunch. Are you treating me or am I treating you?” Zou Yang said.

Lu Ze furrowed his brow. The look in his eyes as he stared at Zou Yang was hard to define—it was a mix of wanting to get angry, being speechless, and something else entirely; in short, it was very complicated.

“Where is Fan Jun?” Zou Yang asked again.

Lu Ze continued to stare at him, his gaze complex.

“If you want to hit me, avoid my ribs,” Zou Yang sat down on a training bench. “They’re healed, but might still be a little brittle…”

“Are you acting like a rascal right now?” Lu Ze asked.

“You noticed?” Zou Yang smiled. “I don’t have any other choice. I can’t exactly go act like a rascal with Uncle Lu, he’s an elder.”

“Exactly, so gifting this to an elder carries the best meaning, and it isn’t tacky either,” He Chuan was in the shop, on a video call introducing the newly brought back goods to someone. “The courtyard wall at your house still has that window from earlier, I’ll restore it for you… But it has to hang near the eaves, it can’t get rained on…”

Fan Jun leaned back on the recliner by the window, holding a dumbbell in his left hand, doing elbow curls one by one.

The very night they brought the goods back, He Chuan took pictures of many items and posted them on Moments. Today, the first day they opened for business, the customers started rolling in.

When He Chuan was around, Fan Jun basically had nothing to do. If another customer came in, he would just greet them, offer them some tea, and have them wait.

At this time, the sun hadn’t reached the street outside the door yet. The air coming through the window cracks was cool, mixed with the scent of gunpowder—the New Year atmosphere was still very thick.

Leaning here, he could see a strip of blue sky and white clouds above the eaves. The weather was very nice today.

Occasionally, groups of two or three pedestrians walked past in his peripheral vision. Having stayed here a while, he could tell which ones would enter the shop and which ones were just taking a glance.

For instance, this person who stood by the window for a while, and even picked up the ridge beast decoration placed outside to examine it, was likely to come in.

Sure enough, this person slowly took a few steps forward, pushed open the door, and entered the shop.

He Chuan had finished his phone call and was taking pictures of a few particularly impressive items. Hearing someone enter, he greeted them: “Happy New Year. Take your time looking around, there’s more inside.”

The person who entered didn’t speak. He turned and walked directly toward Fan Jun’s side.

In the backyard, Xiao Bai suddenly started whining very loudly.

Fan Jun abruptly moved the arm resting over his eyes.

The position he was sitting in was an inner section, separated from the entrance by a half-curtain, so he could only see the person’s legs.

Although they were just very common, ordinary black casual pants and skate shoes, he still began to feel a bit dizzy from nervousness.

Before he could think further, this person had already lifted the curtain and walked over, stopping only when he reached right in front of him.

It was Zou Yang.

Fan Jun moved to put down the dumbbell in his hand, which was trembling so much he almost couldn’t grip it, but misjudged the height, and the dumbbell smashed onto the floor.

“My floor!” He Chuan yelled. “Those are antique bricks, be careful!”

He slowly stood up from the recliner, looking at Zou Yang, wanting to confirm something, but not knowing what exactly he wanted to confirm.

He could only confirm that the person in front of him was Zou Yang.

After staring blankly for a good while, Fan Jun finally opened his mouth: “Hi, handsome.”