Fan Jun’s whole hand was shaking as he gripped Zou Yang, but the strength behind it was startling; Zou Yang could even feel a sharp ache in his wrist from the pressure.

“Let go!” Zou Yang, anxious and angry, gritted his teeth and roared.

Fan Jun didn’t make a sound, and naturally, he didn’t let go.

There was nothing but empty air beneath Zou Yang’s feet. He was certain he was dangling in a ditch, likely carved out by running water or melting snow. He didn’t know how deep it was, but it wasn’t too wide; his legs could reach both sides.

“Are you hurt?!” Boss Ding lunged over, reaching out to grab Zou Yang’s arm as well.

However, the edge of the ditch was made of loose dirt and dead branches. Fan Jun was only keeping himself from sliding in by clutching a tree root with his right hand. The moment Boss Ding approached, his whole body started slipping down, forcing him to quickly scramble back a bit.

Zou Yang figured that if he forcefully twisted his wrist a few times, he could probably break free from Fan Jun’s grasp, but he didn’t dare. All he could do was frantically kick and step against the sides of the ditch, trying to find a foothold in the shortest possible time to relieve the weight on Fan Jun’s arm.

He had twisted his foot when he slipped down. He didn’t know if it was serious, but he couldn’t feel any pain yet—only a dull, aching pressure.

After kicking at both sides a few times, the tip of his right foot found a hard protrusion, probably a tree root. The moment he put his weight on it, a sharp pain shot through his right ankle, but he couldn’t care about that now. He pushed back with his left foot, wedging both legs against the walls to suspend himself in the middle of the ditch.

“Let go! I stepped on something!” He looked up at Fan Jun and pushed a bit harder with his left leg, lifting his body slightly, which finally allowed Fan Jun’s taut arm to relax a fraction.

“Are you steady?” Fan Jun finally spoke.

“Steady.” Zou Yang looked down at both sides again. There was nothing to grab, but if he just braced himself, he could maintain this suspended horse-stance in the middle.

Fan Jun’s hand slowly released its grip. He paused for a few seconds to ensure Zou Yang wouldn’t slide down, then exerted force with his right hand gripping the root to pull himself away from the edge. “Is it deep down there?”

“Let me see.” Zou Yang peered down.

Fan Jun began stomping lightly along the edge, probing for a safe foothold. “If you can’t climb up, slide down and walk along the bottom to find a shallower spot.”

“It’s full of random garbage, I can’t tell how deep it is…” Zou Yang observed.

Below, amidst the dead branches and rotting leaves, he could see torn fertilizer bags, beverage bottles, snack wrappers, a single ruined cotton shoe, and something completely discolored that might have been a shirt, pants, or a bedsheet. They had probably all been washed together by the water. He couldn’t help but frown.

But if he didn’t drop to the bottom of the ditch, someone would still have to pull him up. The edge was loose and couldn’t provide solid footing; pulling someone up required leverage…

“I’ll go down,” Zou Yang decided. Walking the ditch floor was the simplest solution right now. “Help me see which way to go.”

“Towards the road,” Fan Jun said. “The terrain is higher there; the water all washes down from that direction.”

“Okay.” Zou Yang relaxed his left leg slightly, sliding down a bit, then braced against the dirt wall while his right leg left the tree root to follow.

However, his right ankle was weak and useless, leaving only his left leg and two arms to support him as he scrambled awkwardly down the slope. Fortunately, the ditch wasn’t incredibly deep. His feet pushed through the thick layer of branches and garbage until he hit bottom. He looked up; it was a little over two meters deep where he stood. He turned and slowly made his way along the ditch floor toward the road.

“You hurt your foot?” Fan Jun asked from above.

“Yeah, twisted it,” Zou Yang said.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier!” Fan Jun suppressed a yell. “Can you walk?”

“What do you care if I can walk?” The anger Zou Yang hadn’t had the time to unleash earlier flared back to life. “You don’t need to worry about my foot, and I won’t worry about your arm.”

“Eh?” Boss Ding, who was bent over peering into the ditch, blinked in confusion.

“What other choice did I have but to grab your hand in that situation!” Fan Jun was agitated too. “Who knows what’s down there! Or how deep it is!”

“Uh…” Boss Ding turned to look at Fan Jun.

“How deep could it possibly be!” Zou Yang raised his voice. “Would it have killed me?!”

“Even if it didn’t kill you, what about getting injured?!” Fan Jun yelled back.

“How bad could an injury be! It’s just a ditch, I wasn’t rolling down a mountain! How hurt could I get!” Zou Yang stopped and roared up at him. “So what if I got hurt!”

“Eh?” Boss Ding also stopped.

“So it’s fine if you get hurt, right?” Fan Jun halted too. “If you getting injured is totally fine, then why do you care if my hand gets injured or not!”

“Are the injuries the same?! Are they?!” Zou Yang pointed at him. “I’m asking you, are they the same! Adding a new injury to an old one, is that the same?! You just complained your gunshot wound hurt yesterday! Are they the same!”

“Eh?” Boss Ding was shocked. “What?”

“Fuck you.” Having said his piece, Zou Yang continued limping forward.

“Who knows if they’re the same, are you a doctor?” Fan Jun was probably still shaken from the scare, and surprisingly didn’t drop the argument.

“If I say it’s not the same, it’s not the same!” Zou Yang bellowed. “Falling down has unknown consequences! But the consequence of pulling me like that is perfectly predictable! What if you aggravated it and ruined your arm permanently?! I guess you’re not worried about your arm being crippled now, huh!”

“Eh?” Boss Ding seemed to have given up trying to process the situation, merely pointing ahead. “Over there, you can climb up…”

“If it’s crippled, I have you!” Fan Jun retorted. “Would you just abandon me if I was crippled?!”

Zou Yang’s forward momentum halted. He stared at his feet for a moment before looking up at him. Fan Jun didn’t speak, simply meeting his gaze.

“Fine.” Zou Yang suddenly laughed, the corners of his mouth turning up. “Okay. Remember you said that.”

Fan Jun remained silent.

“Let’s go,” Zou Yang said, and resumed his slow walk forward.

Further ahead near the edge of the road, there was a scatter of broken wood and rocks. Zou Yang climbed up two steps from this spot, grabbed Fan Jun’s extended right hand, and hauled himself out of the ditch.

“Twisted your ankle?” Boss Ding bent down to look at his foot. “Can you walk?”

“I can walk. It’s not like I crawled my way over here,” Zou Yang replied.

Boss Ding laughed. “As long as it’s not severe. I have medicine at my place.”

“Sorry about that, Brother Ding,” Zou Yang said. “Must’ve given you a scare.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Boss Ding waved it off. “To be honest, during the three months of peak season, you wouldn’t believe how many people fall or twist an ankle every day. I’ve seen much scarier than this…”

“Let’s go check on that tree first,” Zou Yang suggested. “Mine is a minor issue; I’ll deal with it when we head back.”

“We’re not looking at it,” Fan Jun interjected. “Let’s go back and apply some medicine first.”

“No need,” Zou Yang insisted.

“How about…” Boss Ding rubbed his hands together.

“Actually, fine,” Zou Yang changed his mind. “We’ll go back to check on your arm.”

“My arm is fine,” Fan Jun said.

“Don’t ever let me hear you say ‘it’s fine’ again!” Zou Yang exploded. “Why is everything always ‘fine’?! If everything is fine, then what actually counts as a problem?! Huh? What counts as a problem?!”

“…Let’s check the tree first, just wait here,” Fan Jun cast his eyes down at Zou Yang’s foot. “I’ll just take a couple of clear photos.”

Zou Yang said nothing, simply leaning against a nearby tree. Fan Jun turned and walked toward the jujube tree. Boss Ding hesitated, torn between accompanying Fan Jun to take photos or staying behind with the “casualty.” He ultimately stayed put. Zou Yang could guess exactly why he didn’t follow Fan Jun.

“Is your foot swollen?” Boss Ding asked.

“A little bit, but not severely. It shouldn’t be a big deal; I’ve twisted it playing basketball before. As long as I don’t run, it’s fine,” Zou Yang replied.

“Oh, that’s good then,” Boss Ding nodded. “Boss Fan… his injury… a gunshot wound?”

“Hm?” Zou Yang shot him a look, already anticipating the question.

“He has a gunshot wound?” Boss Ding probed.

“Yeah.” Zou Yang nodded without elaborating, leaving a bit of suspense hanging in the air.

“Working in this line of business…” Boss Ding mused, a bit emotional. “It’s quite dangerous…”

“It’s alright,” Zou Yang said.

After taking the photos, Fan Jun walked back, reaching out to support Zou Yang as they returned to the small path and headed back.

“Let’s eat dinner at the guesthouse next door later,” Boss Ding offered. “I own that one too. Since it’s the off-season, I only hired one auntie to cook over there.”

“Mm, sounds good,” Fan Jun nodded.

“It’s all local specialty dishes, very tasty,” Boss Ding looked between the two. “If you don’t have plans tonight, you can go up to the rooftop to look at the Milky Way. I just washed the glass ceiling a couple of days ago.”

“You washed the glass ceiling in this freezing weather?” Zou Yang asked.

“You’d be surprised, but starting this month, people come specifically to see the Milky Way and all that,” Boss Ding laughed. “The folks staying upstairs from you are here for stargazing. Photographers come too.”

Upon returning to the guesthouse, the three tourists staying on the upper floor were taking pictures in the courtyard.

“Head over for dinner in a bit,” Boss Ding called out to them.

“How long until the food’s ready?” a girl asked.

“About half an hour,” Boss Ding replied. “If you’re cold, you can head over early; there’s a large fireplace.”

“Okay,” the girl smiled, but paused when she noticed Zou Yang. “Are you injured?”

“Just accidentally twisted my ankle,” Zou Yang smiled back.

“I’ve got medicine here,” the girl offered enthusiastically. She immediately began rummaging through her backpack and pulled out a box of medicated patches. “Here, put it on tomorrow—wait 24 hours. For now, apply an ice pack. Keep it on for a little over ten minutes and then stop. If it’s still swollen after an hour, ice it again. Don’t ice it continuously…”

“Thank you.” Zou Yang couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. He just accepted the patches and hurriedly walked away.

“Did you hear that?” Fan Jun followed behind him. “Ice it for ten-something minutes at a time. Don’t ice it all night…”

“Shut up,” Zou Yang retorted, turning his head slightly.

Back in their room, Zou Yang collapsed onto the small sofa next to the bed. He took off his shoe and inspected his ankle. It was a bit swollen, but not too severe.

He glanced toward the door—Fan Jun actually hadn’t followed him in?

Was he this arrogant now, running off after just a few words of arguing?!

Zou Yang got up, went to the bathroom, and ran cold water over his ankle for a while. By the time he returned to the sofa and sat down, Fan Jun walked into the room carrying two popsicles.

Oh. For an ice pack.

The mini-fridge in the room had a tiny freezer compartment. Fan Jun tossed one popsicle in, then walked over to Zou Yang with the other. “Ice compress.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang reached out and took the popsicle. “Do I just hold it against it?”

“Wait.” Fan Jun pulled a small toiletry bag from his backpack and opened it. Zou Yang leaned in to take a look: kinesiology tape, bandages, medicine…

Fan Jun grabbed a roll of bandage, wrapped the popsicle in Zou Yang’s hand, and pressed it against his ankle. “Hold it.”

“How’s your hand?” Zou Yang asked, holding the makeshift ice pack in place.

“The muscle probably got pulled,” Fan Jun replied. “It’s not a big problem.”

He actually avoided saying ‘it’s fine’.

“Your hand was shaking violently when you pulled me earlier.” Zou Yang stared at Fan Jun’s left hand, which was busy unwrapping the kinesiology tape.

“Yours would shake too if you exerted that much force.” Fan Jun dropped to one knee in front of him, grabbed his ankle, and rested it on his own knee, preparing to secure the popsicle with the tape.

“I’ll do it myself,” Zou Yang offered.

Fan Jun ignored him and started wrapping the tape.

“Alright then.” Zou Yang leaned back, resting his arms behind his head, looking down at him with half-closed eyes. “Don’t wrap it too tight, you’ll cut off circulation.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun assented, using his finger to push aside the small gold coin charm on Zou Yang’s ankle.

Then, he saw the faint red scar.

His movements paused. After all this time, it was the first time he had seen the scar on Zou Yang’s foot. It wasn’t as deep as the ones on his wrist or neck; give it a few more months of healing and it probably wouldn’t even be visible. But looking at it right now still brought out an indescribable feeling.

He gently touched the scar.

“The ice is melting,” Zou Yang pointed out.

“Mm.” Fan Jun pressed the popsicle down and finished wrapping the rest of the kinesiology tape.

“How is your hand?” Zou Yang asked once again.

Fan Jun looked at him.

“Let me see,” Zou Yang demanded.

Fan Jun said nothing. He gripped Zou Yang’s leg just above the ankle with his left hand, and then applied pressure. His hand trembled. The sudden burst of strength earlier had vastly exceeded the intensity of his usual physical therapy, but to his own surprise, his grip was noticeably stronger than before.

“Can you feel it?” he looked at Zou Yang.

“Feel what,” Zou Yang met his gaze. “There’s only ten minutes until dinner, we don’t have time for me to ‘feel’ anything.”

“…Zou Yang?” Fan Jun was somewhat speechless.

“Let go,” Zou Yang said. “I felt it earlier. Your grip was much stronger than usual. Do you think that’s a good thing?”

“Isn’t it?” Fan Jun didn’t let go.

“Isn’t this just like…” Zou Yang furrowed his brow, seemingly searching for the right phrase. “Terminal lucidity…”

“Shut up.” Fan Jun let go, grabbed a slipper from under the nightstand, and tossed it in front of him.

“It might not necessarily be a good thing.” Zou Yang pulled his leg back and slipped his foot into the shoe. “If this was all it took to recover, the doctor would’ve had you swinging a sledgehammer around ages ago.”

Fan Jun didn’t answer. He sighed softly and stood up.

“As soon as we get back, go straight to the hospital for a check-up.” Zou Yang stood up as well, walking to the refreshment cabinet to grab a bottle of water. Thinking about it, he still felt uneasy. “Take off your shirt, let me see your wound.”

Fan Jun hesitated for a moment but ultimately obeyed and took off his shirt.

Zou Yang slowly walked over, his eyes fixed on the wound on Fan Jun’s left chest. Fan Jun suddenly felt a bit unsure; he didn’t know if that sudden jolt had affected the wound, so he also looked down. The gauze taped over the injury was a little rumpled, and a faint red could be seen bleeding through, but it should be…

Zou Yang raised a hand and peeled back the already loosened gauze, examining it with furrowed brows. “Looks okay.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun replied.

Zou Yang then pulled Fan Jun’s left hand over, slowly running his own hand along the length of the arm. He could feel the muscles beneath the skin still trembling slightly. Even if there was no major damage, it proved the exertion earlier had been too extreme.

“I’ll go to the hospital with you tomorrow when we get back.” Zou Yang turned back to the refreshment cabinet and took a sip of water.

“I can go by myself,” Fan Jun said.

“My anger hasn’t completely subsided yet,” Zou Yang warned, looking at him. “Don’t force me to start yelling again.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun conceded.

“Let’s go. Time to eat,” Zou Yang declared.

As Fan Jun put his shirt back on, Zou Yang inspected the two small shelves on the cabinet. For a guesthouse, it was quite well-stocked: coffee, tea bags, small snacks, and… Zou Yang picked up the items one by one. He was a little hungry and wanted a quick bite.

“Fuck me,” he muttered, freezing as he picked up one small packet.

“Hm?” Fan Jun walked over while buttoning his shirt. “What is it?”

Zou Yang tossed the item in his hand back onto the shelf.

Fan Jun picked it up, glanced at it, paused, and put it back down as well. “Why is this… placed with the food…”

“Let’s go eat,” Zou Yang announced abruptly.

The two men exited the room and strolled slowly toward the guesthouse next door. Neither of them spoke along the way. Zou Yang didn’t know what Fan Jun was thinking, but whatever he was thinking definitely wasn’t fit for public consumption. He guessed Fan Jun was probably in the same boat.

After a few steps, he couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at Fan Jun’s face. Fan Jun quickly turned his head to meet his gaze. “What?”

“What are you thinking about?” Zou Yang asked.

“Nothing,” Fan Jun lied.

“Those things are inventoried. If you use them, they have to restock,” Zou Yang remarked. “You’re here on a business trip. You’ll be dealing with these people in the future; you’re not just a one-time tourist…”

Fan Jun stared at him without a word. After a long moment, he finally turned his head away and burst out laughing. “Fuck.”

“Stop, don’t think about it anymore.” Zou Yang couldn’t hold back a laugh either.

Fan Jun reached out, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer. “You’re not mad anymore, are you?”

“Mad about what? What do I have to be mad about?” Zou Yang scoffed.

“Your temper flared so hot you reduced Boss Ding to nothing but exclamations,” Fan Jun pointed out.

“Was I the only one who got mad?” Zou Yang looked at him. “You didn’t get mad?”

“You yelled at me first,” Fan Jun argued.

“Just admit whether you got mad or not!” Zou Yang demanded.

“…I did,” Fan Jun admitted.

“Then there you go,” Zou Yang said. “Neither of us is any better.”

Fan Jun sighed.

“But actually, wasn’t it pretty satisfying?” Zou Yang asked.

“Hm?” Fan Jun didn’t understand.

“Getting angry,” Zou Yang clarified. “It’s like taking a good beating. Pretty satisfying.”

“…Ah,” Fan Jun stared at him, taking a long moment before uttering, “Zou Yang.”

“What? Yeah, I’m twisted like that,” Zou Yang clicked his tongue.