The red light came on.

The cautious local car thief, Liu Wenrui, finally found a chance to speak.

“Let me ask you two questions first. Confirm them for me.” He turned to look at Zou Yang.

“Mm.” Zou Yang glanced at him. “You’ve been holding it in all the way to catch this green-wave stretch, huh?”

“You’re not about to go crazy at your family gathering later, are you,” Liu Wenrui asked, “like announcing you found yourself a boyfriend or something.”

“And then saying the boyfriend is you?” Zou Yang asked.

“I’m seriously asking! Answer me!” Liu Wenrui shouted.

“Am I insane? Pulling something like that with someone who has nothing to do with me?” Zou Yang shouted back.

“Then that’s fine.” Liu Wenrui nodded, then added after thinking for a moment, “Though actually, with eight poles you still could reach them. They’re your uncles and aunts. You wouldn’t even need eight poles.”

“Come on, what else.” Zou Yang said.

“Have you and Fan Jun made it official?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“Made what official?” Zou Yang froze.

“What else could I mean! Officially pissing me off!” Liu Wenrui glared at him. “What do you think I mean? Officially defining the relationship! The relationship! Have you or not!”

Zou Yang kept staring blankly, and only after a long while did he say, “I don’t know.”

“Zou Yang, did your damn uncle chew away your IQ?” Liu Wenrui said.

The car ahead started moving, and he turned back to the road, still cursing under his breath as he drove forward.

He really hadn’t thought about it.

Even though the past few months had been agonizing for him, and he knew perfectly well what that agony was for, and had even more than once felt like boiling the mandarin ducks alive, if you counted carefully… from the time he and Fan Jun vaguely understood each other’s feelings—or vaguely got some kind of response from the other—the amount of time they had actually spent together…

Was two days.

Two days.

Only two days.

“Holy shit.” Zou Yang let out an exclamation tinged with panic.

“What happened?” Liu Wenrui panicked too. “Did the camera flash just now? Did it catch me? I wasn’t really doing anything, was I? I’m wearing my seatbelt…”

Halfway through, he quickly swept his eyes over Zou Yang too. “You’re wearing yours too. Did I speed? No way, right?”

“Just drive. I’m not ‘holy-shitting’ because of you,” Zou Yang said.

“If not me, who are you relying on? In a bit you’ll have to rely on me to ease the boredom of eating with your relatives,” Liu Wenrui said.

“Do I need to confirm it with him?” Zou Yang asked.

“Huh?” Liu Wenrui blanked for a moment before reacting. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Wouldn’t that be too deliberate? Like shouting ‘ready, set, go’?” Zou Yang said. “It’s not a performance.”

“Ah…” Liu Wenrui sank into deep thought.

“Hey!” Zou Yang shouted. “You’re driving. What are you thinking about!”

“I’m not thinking,” Liu Wenrui hissed, muttering as he went on. “I’m just wondering, with your situation, do you need to… I mean, in TV dramas there’s always that thing, right, a confession… Ah, right, it’s not a performance. So in real life… none of us have really dated… let alone dated a guy, and with two guys…”

“I shouldn’t have asked you,” Zou Yang said.

“Then who else could you ask?” Liu Wenrui grinned happily. “Besides me! Who else could you ask! Pathetic!”

“I’ll ask your brother Zhiyue,” Zou Yang said.

“Li Zhiyue… actually, don’t say that, he probably already senses it,” Liu Wenrui said. “That bastard’s quick-witted and sensitive, and you’re pretty obvious.”

“…Am I obvious?” Zou Yang looked at him.

“How are you not obvious!” Liu Wenrui said.

“Then why didn’t Zhang Chuanlong notice?” Zou Yang asked.

“He’s an idiot. Forget noticing—if you told him directly, he might still not process it,” Liu Wenrui said with great disdain.

“I recorded that.” Zou Yang waved his phone.

“We’re done! Friendship over!” Liu Wenrui roared.

To be honest, Zou Yang still hadn’t figured it out the whole way there.

Whether they should just let things happen naturally, or “deliberately” call out a ready-set-start—but whichever it was, it still needed to be made clear.

Everyone thought he and Fan Jun had dated, broken up, and gotten back together.

Who would know they hadn’t even properly held hands…

What a loss.

A huge loss.

When they got to the restaurant, his mom had just arrived too. Everyone else was there except Second Aunt’s family.

Second Aunt’s family was always late. They needed everyone to wait for their grand entrance, and then Second Uncle-in-law would raise his glass and make a speech. Whenever he and Dad crossed paths, it was always a spectacular show.

Liu Wenrui was pretty familiar with the relatives on his mom’s side; he’d met all of them. He wasn’t familiar with the ones on his dad’s side, because Zou Yang had never brought him around there. Dad classified that sort of thing as lacking manners and upbringing, even though he could never give a real reason why.

Zou Yang wasn’t close to any of these cousins either. At occasions like this, Liu Wenrui really was his lifesaving… barnyard weed.

After greeting everyone, the two of them sat by the table and could just eat, drink, and chat.

But this dinner had a bit of an accident: Cousin Lin brought her boyfriend.

That fresh new romance instantly activated a part of the usual dinner routine that normally no one really brought up.

“Xiao Yang is twenty already, right?” Eldest Aunt suddenly asked. “Junior year?”

Among the younger generation, Zou Yang had the least contact with these relatives, so none of them knew much about his “personal life.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang immediately grew alert and gave not one extra word.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Eldest Aunt asked with a smile.

“No,” Zou Yang answered.

“No way, right? There are lots of girls at your normal university, aren’t there?” Second Uncle chimed in. “Such a handsome young man, and no girlfriend? Liu Wenrui.”

“Huh?” Liu Wenrui was suddenly named and startled. “Our dorm’s all guys.”

“You tell us—does Xiao Yang have a girlfriend or not?” Second Uncle asked.

“Nope.” Liu Wenrui waved a hand. “He’s not like me. I’ve already broken up twice.”

“Oho.” Everyone burst out laughing.

Just as Zou Yang was about to relax, Second Aunt spoke up: “Sooner or later you have to bring her back for us to see. What’s so hard to say about it, Xiao Yang?”

Zou Yang took a sip of tea and said nothing.

“See?” Second Uncle-in-law laughed. “That expression of his—he’s exactly like his dad, cut from the same…”

“When is Xiao Lin getting married?” Mom suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Second Aunt froze.

“Soon, right?” Mom asked again. “After dating for half a year or a year, that’s about enough to get married. When are you planning to have kids?”

Zou Yang turned to look at her in shock.

“Ah, no rush, no rush.” Second Aunt gave two dry laughs.

“When it’s time to hurry, you should hurry,” Mom said. “Have the child earlier, it’s easier to recover while you’re young. And while you still have the energy, you can help raise them.”

Zou Yang kept looking at his mom. After the shock, he was already starting to want to laugh.

Mom didn’t look at him. She gazed sincerely at Second Aunt, waiting for her answer.

“Oh dear… we don’t want to bother with all that…” Second Aunt said.

“That’s enough.” Cousin Lin cut her off quietly, then looked around at everyone. “Did anyone call the waiter to bring the dishes?”

“I’ll go call!” Liu Wenrui stood up, pulled open the private room door, and shouted outside, “Waiter! Bring the dishes, please!”

The waitstaff quickly started serving food, and the topic finally changed direction, turning into discussion of Second Uncle-in-law’s scholarly accomplishments.

Zou Yang lightly patted his mom on the back.

“Eat your food,” Mom said.

“Mm.” Zou Yang answered. He could tell that although Mom had helped him out, she wasn’t in a good mood at all.

“Know why?” Liu Wenrui asked by his ear while crunching cartilage.

“Swallow whatever’s in your mouth before you talk to me,” Zou Yang said.

Liu Wenrui really was worthy of being his childhood friend—their brainwaves could sync right back up.

Liu Wenrui swallowed the cartilage, drank a sip of tea, and lowered his voice. “Sure, she was definitely annoyed that they kept pressing you. But she was probably also afraid you’d lose your temper and come out on the spot.”

“…Am I that kind of person?” Zou Yang said.

“How are you not?” Liu Wenrui looked at him. “You once beat up my cousin in front of my whole extended family during New Year at my house.”

“How old was I then!” Zou Yang glared at him.

“Sixth grade,” Liu Wenrui said. “So what? I still wouldn’t dare hit your cousin now.”

Zou Yang smiled, then turned to look at his mom again.

It felt like his mom had been avoiding his eyes the whole time. Even now she wasn’t looking at him, just eating on her own.

By the time the dinner ended, Zou Yang had barely exchanged a few words with her.

Dad always said Mom was slow.

How was she slow at all?

Zou Yang knew his mom had already sensed what he was thinking.

And she very clearly wasn’t willing to give him a chance to talk about it.

After dinner, everyone dispersed. Liu Wenrui rubbed his belly. “Auntie, I’ll drive you guys back. I didn’t drink.”

“No need,” Mom said with a smile. “You take Zou Yang back.”

“Where are you going?” Zou Yang was startled.

“I’m going to… Nanzhouping,” Mom said, sounding a little guilty.

“Now?” Zou Yang checked the time. It was after nine. If she insisted on going, it wasn’t really too late—but saying it right when Zou Yang said he was going home made it feel deliberate.

“Now?” Even Liu Wenrui froze.

“Mm.” Mom nodded. “I’ll just take a taxi.”

Liu Wenrui turned to look at Zou Yang.

“Take my mom first. It’s not easy to get a cab right now,” Zou Yang said.

Even though Mom was unwilling, she was still pulled into Liu Wenrui’s car and delivered downstairs to Uncle Lü’s place.

The whole scene was pretty awkward. When Mom got out of the car, she didn’t even say goodbye, just jogged off.

“Your mom and Uncle Lü…” Liu Wenrui sighed. “When are they getting married?”

“If my thing with Fan Jun isn’t resolved, they’ll never get married,” Zou Yang said, frowning.

“This thing called love,” Liu Wenrui clicked his tongue and shook his head, “can’t touch it, can’t touch it.”

“Haven’t you been through two breakups? You’ve touched it plenty,” Zou Yang said. “One abandoned seed of love.”

“Zou Yang! For whose sake am I doing this!” Liu Wenrui shouted.

When he got home, that earlier hollow loneliness was gone.

Probably because his mom had come back, cleaned up, and cooked.

Dahei meowed and ran over, circled around his legs once, then darted back into its little nest.

“Dahei-hei,” Zou Yang took off his coat, crouched by the nest, and rubbed it. “Tomorrow I’m taking you to see Brother Fan Jun. Happy? You haven’t seen him in a long time, right?”

[Zou yang] I’m home after eating.

[Fan] Was it fun?

[Zou yang] Not fun. Ate too much.

[Fan] Go run two laps.

[Zou yang] Don’t learn from the champion.

Zou Yang took a picture of Dahei and sent it to Fan Jun.

[Zou yang] Want to video call and look at the cat?

[Fan] Right now?

Zou Yang couldn’t be bothered to drag it out, so he directly sent a video call.

Fan Jun picked up. The phone was shoved right up in front of his face, so the whole screen was just face.

“Damn,” Zou Yang laughed. “Hold it farther away.”

“I…” Fan Jun lifted his eyes and glanced ahead. Not only did he not move the phone farther away, he even turned off the light. “I’m not at the shop.”

“Then where are you?” Zou Yang froze.

“Nanzhouping,” Fan Jun said.

“Huh?” Zou Yang was a little surprised. “You haven’t moved out of the apartment yet?”

“It was rented till the end of the year originally,” Fan Jun said. “But we still hadn’t caught Dahei, so Uncle Lü renewed it for another three months. It’s almost up now too.”

“Oh…” Halfway through the sentence, Zou Yang suddenly thought of his mom. “Holy shit, it’s because of you!”

“What?” Fan Jun froze.

“My mom insisted on going to Nanzhouping right after dinner,” Zou Yang said. “We just dropped her off there. She went to find you, right?”

“Find me… for what?” Fan Jun looked confused.

Yeah—what for?

Mom wouldn’t even talk to him. Would she go talk to Fan Jun instead?

And Fan Jun clearly looked like he had no idea.

“It’s nothing,” Zou Yang quickly turned the camera around. “Look at the cat.”

“You brought that cat bed over too?” Fan Jun said.

“Yeah.” Zou Yang crouched in front of the cat bed, pulled Dahei out, and held it up to the camera. “Look. Isn’t its face rounder?”

“It’s grown a lot,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang looked at Fan Jun’s face on the screen and could see tiny glimmers of light in his eyes.

“You can pet him tomorrow,” Zou Yang flipped Dahei over onto the sofa and poked at its belly. “So much fat on his stomach. When he sits, it touches the ground.”

Fan Jun laughed. “Can’t let him get too fat.”

“I’m not as good at raising cats as you are. It’s always asking for food, and I keep feeding it,” Zou Yang said. “Feels like no other cat is as greedy as this one.”

Fan Jun just smiled and said nothing, only looking at the screen.

“What time are you going back to the shop tomorrow? Or should I go find you in Nanzhouping?” Zou Yang asked.

“I’m going back to the shop first thing in the morning. I have to be there by nine, and open before ten,” Fan Jun said. “Just come directly there.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang thought for a moment, still uneasy. “Why did you go back to Nanzhouping today?”

“To see Uncle Lü. I only have one day off. Wouldn’t it be a huge loss if I went back to the shop that early?” Fan Jun smiled.

“That’s true.” Zou Yang sat down on the sofa and turned the camera back toward himself. “Just right, I also have something I want to talk to you about tomorrow.”

“What is it?” Fan Jun asked.

“It’s not exactly ‘something,’” Zou Yang frowned. “Let’s just talk.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun responded.

Zou Yang didn’t say anything else. He looked at Fan Jun on the screen. Fan Jun seemed to be in the bedroom now, no longer using his face to block the living room that might make Zou Yang start imagining things. The phone was farther away now, and Zou Yang could see he was wearing a T-shirt.

Something suddenly stirred in Zou Yang’s heart. “Hey.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun still just answered.

“Let me see…” Zou Yang hesitated after starting to speak, suddenly feeling like some kind of pervert.

“Seven stars with the moon?” Fan Jun asked.

Caught off guard by that line, Zou Yang burst out laughing. Suddenly he didn’t feel like such a pervert anymore—some roadside weed had dared make a request like that in broad daylight in public…

“Yeah.” He nodded.

Fan Jun didn’t move. After a while, he set the phone down on the table facing himself, then took off his T-shirt.

Zou Yang’s first reaction on seeing the screen was that although Fan Jun’s left arm hadn’t recovered, he clearly hadn’t stopped training. His body was still… thinner than before, but still in very good shape…

But at the same time, the patch of scarring under his left collarbone came into frame and immediately smashed apart all of Zou Yang’s extra thoughts.

The half-round scar with an opening in the middle was startling—it had to be where the bullet hit. Beside it was a spread of fine healed scars that seemed like they would never disappear. Even the small wounds nearby were this severe…

“Closer.” Zou Yang pushed up his glasses and leaned toward the screen.

Fan Jun also stepped closer to the phone and bent down near it.

Zou Yang felt himself repeatedly jumping between having impure thoughts and not having them, until in the end he was defeated by the sight of all those scars. He frowned. “That’s… really close to your heart, isn’t it?”

“Not really,” Fan Jun said. “Still pretty far. It’s okay.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang’s voice was very low.

After a while of silence, he turned his head away, set the phone on the side table, and took off his glasses to wipe them. “So, um… do you still want to look at Dahei?”

“You can hold him directly tomorrow,” Fan Jun said. “Go to bed early. You’ve got dark circles today.”

“Do I?” Zou Yang put his glasses back on and turned toward the screen, discovering Fan Jun had already put the T-shirt back on.

“You do,” Fan Jun nodded.

“…Alright then.” Zou Yang smiled.

Fan Jun didn’t sleep very well that night. He woke with a start many times, and each time needed several minutes to calm down and confirm there was no one else around him. It wasn’t until right before dawn that he managed to sleep soundly for a little while.

As usual, he went out for a run, planning to stop by the old gym before heading back to the shop.

Yesterday, Uncle Lü’s meaning had still been that he shouldn’t go directly to Sister Shan. If he really wanted to talk, Uncle Lü would first speak to Sister Shan, test the waters, and at least give her some buffer.

And with Zou Yang suddenly saying yesterday that he wanted to talk today… Fan Jun also planned to first see what exactly Zou Yang wanted to say.

When he entered the yard of the old gym, Fan Jun saw Sister Shan sweeping the ground.

He hadn’t seen her in quite a long time, and at that moment he suddenly felt awkward and at a loss.

When Sister Shan turned and saw him, she was actually pretty calm. She asked, “Back from your run?”

“Mm.” He answered and quickly walked over, taking the broom from her hand. “I’ll do it.”

“You haven’t had breakfast, have you?” Sister Shan asked. “I’m boiling dumplings. Eat some.”

“Okay.” Fan Jun lowered his head and swept.

Sister Shan didn’t say anything else and went into the kitchen.

After a short while, Uncle Lü came out and leaned in close to him, lowering his voice. “In a bit… Sister Shan wants to talk to you. Watch what you say. Don’t be too…”

“What?” Fan Jun froze.

“Weren’t you saying you wanted to talk to her? No need now,” Uncle Lü said. “She wants to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Fan Jun pressed the broom down against the ground. So suddenly?

“Finish sweeping and come in. Eat while you talk.” Uncle Lü squeezed his shoulder.

“Did Zou Yang say something to her?” Fan Jun snapped back and asked.

“Not yet,” Uncle Lü said. “I don’t know why. I asked her and she wouldn’t say…”

Fan Jun, uneasy, dragged his feet through finishing the sweeping before going into the kitchen.

If he were the one seeking out Sister Shan, he was mentally prepared. Even if he didn’t know the exact words yet, at least he had a general direction. But for Sister Shan to suddenly want to talk to him felt like a complete ambush. He had no idea what she wanted to say.

He was panicking badly.

Even back when Lü Ze would come back furious after standing in for a parent-teacher conference and want to beat him up, he had never panicked this much.

“It’ll be done in a second, they’re boiling now.” Sister Shan stood by the stove.

Uncle Lü gave Fan Jun a look.

Fan Jun slowly walked over to the stove. “Sister Shan.”

Sister Shan didn’t speak. She stared at the dumplings in the pot.

Fan Jun took a plate and set it beside her hand.

“Jun’er,” Sister Shan finally spoke, still looking at the dumplings, “you were out shopping with Zou Yang yesterday, right?”

Fan Jun glanced at Uncle Lü.

Uncle Lü looked equally clueless and made some meaningless hand gesture at him. Fan Jun had lived with him for over ten years and had never once seen that gesture before. It was obviously just random flailing.

So he could only turn back. “Yes.”

“I knew it,” Sister Shan sighed softly. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. “Those things he said when he was in the hospital…”

He remembered them all. They’d even been reviewed again the night before.

“I feel like he… so I thought I should ask you first…” Sister Shan’s tone was calm, but she was a little incoherent. “I mean, are you…”

Fan Jun also looked at the dumplings in the pot, waiting for her to reach the point.

“Are you…” Sister Shan finally stopped looking at the dumplings. She glanced at Uncle Lü, then turned back, seeming to steel herself. Leaning close to Fan Jun’s ear, she asked in a very low voice, “When he said he wanted to, well… are you… do you also want to marry him?”