E ⋆ Chapter 1

Yu Zhinian felt that his zodiacal year seemed particularly cursed with moving.

In just the half-year since returning to Ning City, he had already changed residences three times.

From November to December when he first returned, he had lived fairly stably in the exchange student dormitory arranged for him by the project group.

Starting in January and continuing through April of the following year, he and his fellow student and friend Shao Xilin conducted fieldwork on the floating population in the community for their project, renting two single rooms in an urban village in the city.

In early April, the two of them returned to school and discovered that there had been some problems with the dormitory allocation. Yu Zhinian’s original room had been occupied by someone else, so he had to move to another suite in the adjacent building.

The new dormitory was on the seventh floor of the adjacent building, at the far end of the hallway, near the direction of the school’s grove. It was considerably quieter than the previous suite, which had been on a lower floor along the main road. Yu Zhinian settled in to carefully organize his notes, analyze materials, and write the project’s phase paper. He even found himself feeling a kind of blessing-in-disguise about it.

But the good fortune didn’t last long. One afternoon in late April, just before a project meeting began, his advisor suddenly told them that the project’s work in Ning City would be ending in late May, and they should book their plane tickets to return home soon.

Yu Zhinian had been looking at the materials his advisor had passed around for review. At these words, he looked up and remained stunned for a long time.

Before bringing Yu Zhinian and Shao Xilin to participate in the academic collaboration with Ning University last year, the advisor had estimated that they would need to stay in Ning City for at least ten months. Now, after only a little more than five months, it was ending early. For Yu Zhinian, it was truly quite sudden.

Yu Zhinian hadn’t finished his thesis, several interviews he wanted to complete remained undone, and besides, the house he owned in He City was sitting empty, with a couple of friends temporarily staying there. He would have to wait more than two months for his friends to graduate and vacate before he could move back in.

But the most important thing was the personal belongings Yu Zhinian had left in the place where he used to live with Yang Ke.

Yang Ke’s lawyer and assistant had already called Yu Zhinian many times, pressing him about when he would return, hoping he would go pick up his things as soon as he arrived.

According to his original schedule to return to school in September, he would have had plenty of time. But returning to He City early meant Yu Zhinian himself couldn’t find anywhere to stay, let alone deal with the things he’d moved out of Yang Ke’s place.

After that, the meeting began. The advisor discussed progress and plans with the students.

Yu Zhinian’s mind wandered the entire time. He didn’t absorb anything and even randomly thought up several excuses for requesting a delayed return to school.

But letting personal matters affect the project’s progress was neither respectable nor professional, so after the meeting ended, Yu Zhinian half-heartedly scrolled through He City’s rental property websites, trying to find a room to rent and get through the most awkward three months.

Short-term rentals in He City were difficult to find. Some rooms had nice renovations but were too far from school. Others were close to school but were old and decrepit, with water-seeping walls and insect infestations. The rare few that had both decent conditions and a reasonable distance had prices that were far too high.

Yu Zhinian gradually became absorbed in looking, carefully comparing each listing, until the campus broadcast suddenly started playing its six-thirty opening music outside the building. Only then did he realize the hour was late. The sunset outside the window had almost completely faded.

Originally there had been a room full of people, but now only Shao Xilin remained, sitting not far from him looking at his tablet.

“Xilin,” Yu Zhinian called to him, “why haven’t you gone to eat yet?”

Shao Xilin looked up at him and said, “You seem to have something on your mind.”

Shao Xilin was straightforward in nature and had a good temperament. Yu Zhinian got along well with him. However, Shao Xilin had mild OCD in his daily life and couldn’t share living space with others.

Yu Zhinian thought for a moment, then decided to tell him: “I might not have a place to live when I return to school.”

“I’ve been looking at rentals this whole time with no luck,” Yu Zhinian asked without much hope, “do you have any connections?”

“Aren’t you living in that big villa in the Luoser district?” Shao Xilin said, “I heard someone mention it.”

“That’s not my place,” Yu Zhinian really shouldn’t have had any feelings about it anymore, but being suddenly forced to mention the Luoser district still caused an inexplicable ache in his chest, “I can’t live there anymore.”

Shao Xilin made an “oh” sound and didn’t ask further. He suggested, “You could contact a property manager and have them help you find something.”

Shao Xilin’s reminder made Yu Zhinian think of someone.

This person was named Lin Kai, a real estate agent. A few years ago, the house Yu Zhinian owned in He City had been purchased with Lin Kai’s help.

The house was a coming-of-age gift from Yang Ke’s grandfather. From the time of purchase until now, Yu Zhinian had not been in contact with Lin Kai again.

Yu Zhinian wasn’t sure if he also provided rental services. Treating a dead horse as a live one, he dug out Lin Kai’s number from his contacts and sent him a message.

Lin Kai called back very quickly. He was very enthusiastic, said he did provide rental services, and after hearing Yu Zhinian’s full situation, confidently promised that he would find a suitable property very soon.

After hanging up, Yu Zhinian returned to his dorm and continued writing his thesis.

During breaks from writing, he also arranged an interview with a subject, wanting to do one more supplementary interview before leaving Ning City.

After learning that his time in Ning City was limited, Yu Zhinian’s efficiency seemed to increase. By ten that night, he had surprisingly completed half of the first draft.

He closed his laptop and was about to go wash up when Lin Kai called him.

“Mr. Yu,” Lin Kai said cheerfully, “good news. I found an off-market property. The owner is willing to rent it out. However, the asking price is five percent higher than your budget. I’m not sure if you can accept that.”

He sent over photos. The place was far better than any of the ones Yu Zhinian had looked at himself, and the location was very close as well.

Yu Zhinian confirmed the house and transferred the rent to Lin Kai, breathing a sigh of relief.

Coming out of the bathroom, he noticed three missed calls on his phone, all from Yang Ke’s assistant, Smith.

Yu Zhinian sat down in a chair and, while wiping his hair dry with a towel, called Smith back.

Ning City in April still had some chill. The moisture left on Yu Zhinian’s body carried away a little warmth. He listened to the dialing tone and felt somewhat cold, and also a tightness in his chest that made it hard to breathe.

“Mr. Yu,” Smith answered the phone and politely greeted him, “may I ask if you’ve confirmed your return date?”

Smith’s timing in calling was a little coincidental, but he had been calling frequently lately anyway, so Yu Zhinian didn’t think much of it and told him: “Early next month, the fifth or sixth, I think.”

“That’s wonderful,” Smith said, “your belongings have been packed and placed in the storage room. When would be convenient for you to come pick them up?”

Yu Zhinian paused for a moment and felt his throat go dry. He set down the towel, curled up in the chair, and said numbly to Smith: “I haven’t bought my ticket yet. I’ll contact you once I’m back.”

“If you really can’t wait, I can have a moving company transfer them to their warehouse first,” Yu Zhinian tried to think of a solution and suggested to him, “let me look into it and I’ll call you back.”

It was only a few days until his return. He could cover a half-month of warehouse fees.

But for some reason, the line on Smith’s end went quiet for a moment, and then he said to Yu Zhinian: “Mr. Yang doesn’t want a group of strangers coming into the house. You should come pick them up yourself.”

Yu Zhinian agreed and hung up the phone.

The call hadn’t been very long, but he felt exhausted. He went to the bathroom, dried his hair, turned off the light, and lay down on the bed. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly realized that since returning to Ning City, he seemed to have never heard Yang Ke’s voice again.

During the latter half of the year-plus they’d lived together, he’d hardly dared to run into Yang Ke. If he heard Yang Ke talking to the housekeeper while going downstairs, he’d go back to his room and wait a while before coming down again.

Because he was no longer the very brave Yu Zhinian he once was.

He lay there for a little while, looking at the pitch-black ceiling. His eyes weren’t sore, but his head hurt a little.

In another week or two he would have to leave this dorm again. He felt tired.

At that moment, Yu Zhinian’s phone screen lit up. He picked it up and glanced at it. It was a text from Shao Xilin asking if he’d found a place, and then, as though it pained him to say it, Shao Xilin told Yu Zhinian that if he really couldn’t find anything, his place had an empty room. But his living habits were quite strict, and he followed up by sending Yu Zhinian a long, sprawling page of shared-living rules.

Yu Zhinian read it carefully, and halfway through, couldn’t help but laugh. He texted Shao Xilin back: “I’ve already found a place, thanks.”

Shao Xilin quickly sent him back an “okay.”

Yu Zhinian set his phone aside and closed his eyes. He thought again of Smith’s urging.

Having moved so many times over these past months, his luggage had become increasingly sparse. He’d come to realize that things he once thought he absolutely had to bring weren’t actually necessary at all.

Yu Zhinian suddenly wanted to look at the thing tucked between the pages of his books, but he didn’t want to get out of bed again or turn on the light. So he squeezed his eyes shut and imagined walking over to his suitcase, opening it, and taking out Yang Ke’s train ticket from the inner compartment.

This ticket was something he had stolen.

Two years ago on Christmas Eve, he had gone out with Yang Ke for the first time, taking an intercity train to visit Yang Ke’s grandfather, who was critically ill.

While Yang Ke wasn’t paying attention, he stole Yang Ke’s ticket stub as a keepsake.

Back then, Yu Zhinian still had courage. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t learn to conceal his feelings for Yang Ke. He would send Yang Ke messages, and even knowing he wouldn’t get a response, he would still feel some sweetness and anticipation.

Not like now, when just imagining drawing close to Yang Ke felt like he was already beginning to freefall, his legs going numb, wanting only to get away.

Each time he recalled that chaotic Christmas Eve, Yu Zhinian felt as though he were watching a reassuring film.

That night had carried so many of the good things Yu Zhinian longed for, and so he kept turning them over in his mind with clear awareness, spending much of the night that way.