PL | Chapter 4

Red Rose

Gu Zhong had no idea when Qi Yue had seen his pants… but he had only changed into this pair today, and the only places he had gone were school and the Paolou.

The day they got hurt, Qi Yue had driven him all the way to a pretty distant top-tier Grade A hospital.

It had made getting his dressings changed a pain, since he had to take a bus and then transfer. He had not expected Qi Yue to be so unpicky about where he got hospitalized.

There was only one hospital around here, the kind of place you would not even notice unless someone pointed it out, and hardly anybody went there.

When Gu Zhong walked into the hospital, he felt oddly excited. He could not really say why.

Maybe it was because they had not seen each other in so long… and now they were meeting again? Or maybe it was because it suddenly occurred to him that the reason Qi Yue was hospitalized here might be that his injuries had been too serious, too sudden, and there had been no time to send him anywhere farther away.

A hospital with few people in it was a good thing. It did not take long to find out which room Qi Yue was staying in.

Gu Zhong strode toward the room, but just as he was about to go in, he stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he turned around and walked back toward the elevators.

As he walked, he pulled out his wallet. He had been too excited and come up empty-handed. He ought to buy a bouquet of flowers at least. But what kind? Carnations? Baby’s breath? Morning glories?

Peonies… ah, peonies, you have one ring more than the Fourth Ring…

Gu Zhong shook his head hard, throwing the Song of the Fifth Ring out of his mind. Frowning, he realized these were the only flowers he could think of, and he had no idea which one was suitable. If he were the one in the hospital, what flowers would Qi Yue bring him?

That unreliable lunatic might even bring a bouquet of chrysanthemums.

“Hey!” someone called from behind him. “Where are you going, kid?”

Gu Zhong froze for a second. When he turned around, he saw Qi Yue in a hospital gown, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, leaning against the doorway.

Before Gu Zhong could answer, a nurse frowned and pointed at Qi Yue. “Bed Thirty-Six! I told you no smoking! Why are you still smoking!”

“I’m just holding it in my mouth for a bit.” Qi Yue took the cigarette into his hand. “I’m not smoking it.”

“As if I’d believe you. Give it here!” The nurse strode over, took the cigarette from his hand, then went into the room and made a round inside. When she came back out, she had a cigarette pack in her hand. “Don’t go running around. I told you to get out of bed and move a little, not run out into the street!”

Qi Yue watched the nurse leave with a deeply mournful expression. Then he turned to look at Gu Zhong. “You came to visit a patient empty-handed?”

“No… I…” Gu Zhong stammered. “I was just… going to buy flowers.”

“Roses,” Qi Yue said.

“Huh?” Gu Zhong was taken aback.

“Red ones.” After saying that, Qi Yue turned and went back into the room.

Red roses? Red my ass.

Gu Zhong stood stiffly by the elevator doors. For one instant, he really wanted to forget it and just leave.

But for some reason, maybe because he had not seen Qi Yue in quite a while, that tiny little exchange just now made him feel a little happy.

He quickly gave up on the idea of leaving, ran downstairs to the flower shop, bought a bouquet of red roses, and carried them back to the hospital.

What exactly was there to feel happy about? He could not say.

Maybe it was because they had taken a beating together. Or maybe it was because he had suddenly realized that when Qi Yue drove him away, it was because he did not want to drag him into it.

It was so melodramatic, like some eighty-second-rate TV drama. But it was still touching. For the moment, Gu Zhong could overlook all the teasing and sarcasm Qi Yue usually aimed at him. All of a sudden, he felt like there was something else between them besides the relationship of former boss and former employee.

Emotionally, it felt like they shared some kind of unspoken understanding.

When Gu Zhong pushed open the door with a bouquet of roses in his arms, he heard laughter from the nurses’ station behind him.

They were definitely laughing at him. When Qi Yue had said he wanted “red roses” just now, there had already been laughter. Gu Zhong sighed and walked into the room carrying the roses and a bellyful of helplessness.

The room was a double. The bed closer to the door was empty. Qi Yue was lying in the bed by the window. Hearing the door open, he turned his head. “You really bought them?”

“Yeah.” Gu Zhong answered. When he looked up, he discovered that there was another cigarette in Qi Yue’s mouth. “Damn, didn’t the nurse confiscate a whole pack from you just now? How do you still have more?”

“Do I look like the kind of person who’d come to the hospital with only one pack of cigarettes?” Qi Yue smiled around the cigarette.

Gu Zhong walked over, took the cigarette away, and threw it into the bathroom.

“You’re just like my wife,” Qi Yue clicked his tongue twice.

“You have a wife?” Gu Zhong shot out of the bathroom, still holding the flowers, staring at him in shock. “You’re married?”

“Your heart shattered, huh?” Qi Yue looked at him.

“I just think it’s weird.” Gu Zhong set the flowers on the bedside cabinet.

“What’s weird about it? Isn’t it perfectly normal for a man my age to have a wife?” Qi Yue said.

Gu Zhong thought about it for a few seconds. “True.”

After that, he pulled over the little stool nearby and sat down. He did not say anything else. He did not even ask about Qi Yue’s injuries. He just felt a little down, for reasons he could not identify, with feelings he could not sort out.

Qi Yue smiled and asked, “No classes today?”

Gu Zhong did not even hear clearly what he had asked. He suddenly looked up. “If you’re married, why are you still living at the shop?”

“Hm?” Qi Yue looked at him. “When did I ever say I was married?”

Gu Zhong opened his mouth. It took him quite a while before he said blankly, “You just did.”

“I did not.” Qi Yue hooked up one corner of his mouth. “Your IQ is a perfect match for that crappy school of yours.”

“Really?” Gu Zhong glared at him. He had to collect himself and replay their earlier conversation in his head. In the end, he sighed and leaned back. “You messed with me again.”

“You’re so fun to mess with, it’d be a waste not to.” Qi Yue looked very pleased with himself.

Gu Zhong frowned and stared at him for a while. “You’re grinning this hard. Your injuries probably aren’t serious enough to need hospitalization, right?”

“Who says?” Qi Yue was still smiling. “A few days ago, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I needed someone to help me bathe.”

“Who helped?” Gu Zhong could not help asking.

“The male caregiver.” Qi Yue glanced at him. “But hiring a caregiver is pretty expensive, so instead…”

“No.” Gu Zhong cut him off decisively. “A person who insists on making beef short ribs just because he likes eating them, even if they do not sell out every day, definitely cannot afford a caregiver.”

“Heartless,” Qi Yue said.

“My conscience can be shown in other ways,” Gu Zhong said.

“Like what?” Qi Yue asked with interest.

“Like…” Gu Zhong fell into thought.

Like making something to eat, or boiling chicken soup or something.

Gu Zhong asked a nurse and, after confirming that Qi Yue did not have too many food restrictions now, he went home and asked his mother to help him make a pot of chicken soup.

“For who?” his mother asked.

“My… former boss, no, my fri… end,” Gu Zhong said.

“Nope. Make it yourself. How hard is it to look up a recipe online?” His mother refused flatly. “I thought it was for your girlfriend.”

Gu Zhong stared at her. Forget chicken soup, he had never even made tomato and egg soup before. If he really cooked it himself, even if Qi Yue dared drink it, he would not dare let him.

After saying that, his mother turned and walked off with absolute resolve. Gritting his teeth, Gu Zhong chased after her and added, “Actually… it is for a girlfriend.”

“Oh?” His mother turned back. “Wasn’t it your former boss?”

“Our boss is a woman,” Gu Zhong said.

“An older-woman-younger-man relationship?” his mother asked.

“She’s not that much older than me, and she’s really petite.” Gu Zhong thought back to Qi Yue’s face. Without the gauze wrapped around it, he was still very handsome.

His mother did not ask any more questions. She went off to make a phone call and had someone deliver a native chicken.

Watching her, Gu Zhong had no idea whether, in his biological mother’s heart, he was too important or not important at all. Faced with the idea of her son, who had only just started his first year of college, being in an older-woman-younger-man relationship with the owner of a coffee shop, she was unbelievably calm.

The chicken soup smelled wonderful. After his mother filled the insulated container, Gu Zhong looked inside, scooped out a spoonful, and tasted it. It was delicious, and the ingredients were very generous. It honestly felt like the soup had been stewed according to postpartum confinement standards.

“Are you coming back for dinner tonight?” his mother asked.

“Not sure. I…” Gu Zhong checked the time. If he went over now, it would be just about dinner time. But the nurse had said Qi Yue was not allowed to leave the hospital, so there was no way they could go out and eat together. He would probably still have to come back.

Before he could finish thinking it through, his mother had already cut him off. “Then don’t come back. Your dad isn’t coming home to eat either. I’ll just have a salad by myself and lose some weight.”

“Oh…” Carrying the chicken soup, Gu Zhong opened the door.

After leaving the residential compound, he barely hesitated before turning into a supermarket and buying some prepared dishes.

Having a meal with Qi Yue at the hospital sounded pretty good too.

But when he pushed open the hospital room door, he was a little stunned.

The room, which had felt very spacious and comfortable when Qi Yue was the only one in it, was now so crowded it seemed like even the light from outside could barely get in.

Qi Yue was still the only patient in the room, but there were eight or nine people standing in a circle around his bed. They were all big, tall men. Standing together, they had a formidable presence, and they blocked Qi Yue from view completely.

When they heard the door open, every one of them turned their heads, and all those gazes landed on Gu Zhong in unison.

Aside from classroom introductions at the start of term, Gu Zhong had very rarely experienced being so openly looked over by a whole crowd. He instantly stiffened awkwardly by the door.

“Who ordered takeout?” someone asked.

Gu Zhong looked down at the food bag in his hand.

Who asked that? Are you blind? What kind of takeout delivery guy dresses this well and looks this handsome?

“Chuan’er?” Qi Yue’s voice drifted out from between the gaps in the crowd.

“Yeah.” Gu Zhong had no choice but to quickly accept the nickname.

“Come in,” Qi Yue said.

Gu Zhong hesitated for a second, then walked over and put everything he was carrying on the bedside cabinet. A few people moved aside, and at last he got a clear look at Qi Yue propped up against the bed.

“That much stuff?” Qi Yue looked at what he had brought. “What’s all in there?”

“Just…” Gu Zhong glanced at the people around the bed. “Food.”

“You made it yourself?” Qi Yue asked.

“Sort of.” Gu Zhong pointed at the insulated container. “This one’s chicken soup. The rest I bought.”

“I’m hungry.” Qi Yue looked at the people still crowding the bedside. “You guys can go.”

“Qi-ge, we…” one of them started, but Qi Yue cut him off almost immediately.

“Go.” He waved a hand. “Didn’t you see my Xiao Zhongzhong brought me dinner? I’m going to eat.”

Gu Zhong whipped his head around so fast he could practically hear his neck crack. “What did you just say?”

But apparently nobody except him found that nickname strange. The man only frowned at Qi Yue. “But about this matter, we…”

“What business is it of yours?” Qi Yue interrupted impatiently. “Hurry up and go.”

“Qi-ge, you’re already like this…” another man began, but Qi Yue cut him off too.

“This is my business. I’ll handle it myself.” Qi Yue looked at them. “You’re not kids anymore, so stop getting hot-blooded all the time. You might scald yourselves. Go on. I’m going to eat, and I didn’t prepare any for you.”

The men hesitated. They looked at each other, sighed a few times, then finally turned and left together. Just as they were shutting the door, one of them added, “Qi-ge, if you need help with anything, we’re here. No questions asked.”

Qi Yue did not answer. He only waved a hand toward the door.

As soon as the people left, Gu Zhong immediately felt the room relax. He sat down on the little stool by the bed and let out a breath.

Just from the bearing and presence of those people, he did not even need to ask Qi Yue to know who they were. They were all his brothers, or rather former brothers, the kind of companions he used to run with back when he and that boss of his were the stuff of local legend.

They were different from the punks he saw all the time. This sort of grown former hoodlum carried a much stronger aura. Gu Zhong felt an intense pressure from them, like if he was not careful with his words, he might get beaten up on the spot.

But what the hell was Xiao Zhongzhong?

Gu Zhong yanked himself back to the important point and glared at Qi Yue, who was unscrewing the lid of the insulated container. “What did you just call me?”

“Did you bring bowls?” Qi Yue asked. “How are we supposed to drink from a whole big container like this?”

“I’ve put up with you calling me Er and Chuan’er,” Gu Zhong glared at him, “but what exactly is Xiao Zhongzhong supposed to mean?”

“Smells good.” Qi Yue unscrewed the lid and took a sniff. “This definitely wasn’t made by you…”

“Oh, come on.” Gu Zhong felt the hard-won feelings he had built up toward Qi Yue slowly draining away. “Please just call me Gu Zhong, okay, Qi Laoban?”

“Gu Zhong.” Qi Yue glanced at him. “Did you bring bowls and chopsticks?”

“Yeah…” Gu Zhong took out disposable bowls and chopsticks from the bag.

“Such a huge reaction over one little Xiao Zhongzhong…” Qi Yue tried to pour the soup into a bowl, but failed twice. It looked like his arm was injured. He set the insulated container back down.

Gu Zhong stood up, picked up the container, and got ready to pour the soup for him. While he was at it, Qi Yue added, “Wasn’t I just trying to comfort you?”

“Comfort me?” Gu Zhong froze mid-motion, thoroughly shocked.

“The minute you heard I had a wife, you got all down. Didn’t I have to comfort you a bit?” Qi Yue said. “Especially after you brought me red roses.”

Gu Zhong felt like there were eight tornadoes twisting through his chest all at once. He stared at Qi Yue for quite a while before managing to steady his hand and pour the soup into the bowl. “Let me remind you that those red roses were something you forced me to buy.”

“Oh.” Qi Yue took the bowl and drank a sip of soup. “Then why did you buy them?”

“You’re not my boss right now.” Grinding his teeth, Gu Zhong pointed at him. “I’m only doing this because you’re a wounded patient…”

“Your mom made the soup, right?” Qi Yue asked.

Gu Zhong stared at him for a while, then sat back down on the stool helplessly. “Yeah.”

This time Qi Yue’s injuries were serious. While they were eating, Gu Zhong tried several times to ask about them, but Qi Yue never answered directly. He always changed the subject and talked around it. Even so, Gu Zhong could still tell from the way he moved.

He walked very slowly. He could not lift his arm properly while eating. After sitting and eating for a while, he had Gu Zhong raise the hospital bed so he could lean back against it. He was probably hurt in the waist or the abdomen too.

Gu Zhong did not know whether Qi Yue’s injuries this time had anything to do with what happened last time. What he did know was that Qi Yue had gotten it pretty bad.

“Is the Paolou still open?” he asked.

“If it doesn’t open, what am I supposed to eat?” Qi Yue answered. “I’ll reopen once I’m discharged.”

“You’ll have to hire people all over again, right?” Gu Zhong thought back to the first time he had gone to the Paolou.

“Yeah. I still kept that cardboard recruitment sign you wrote,” Qi Yue said.

“Then… how about…” Gu Zhong hesitated. “Let me go back?”

Qi Yue glanced at him but said nothing.

“Anyway, I still need to find a place to work.” Gu Zhong said, “At the Paolou I can at least enjoy the air-conditioning, drink coffee, and eat a plate of beef short ribs.”

“You shouldn’t go back.” Qi Yue said. “If you want to find a coffee shop job, I can introduce you to one. It’ll be even easier than working at mine, and you won’t have to clean a three-story place. Food and drinks included.”

This time it was Gu Zhong who fell silent. Logically, if there really was a place with basically the same environment and benefits where he would not have to work as hard, he ought to be happy.

But he was not happy. On the contrary, he felt pretty disappointed.

“What, now?” Qi Yue popped a peanut into his mouth. “You really bought a full spread, huh? Even peanuts. Why didn’t you buy alcohol too?”

“The doctor said you’re not allowed to drink.” Gu Zhong rummaged around in the food bag for a bit, then pulled out a can of beer, opened it, and took a swig.

“Oh?” Qi Yue stared, momentarily stunned. “So you’ve learned how to piss people off now? Want to see if I can beat you up?”

“Oh, please. What are you going to beat me with?” Gu Zhong glanced at him and took another gulp. “Feels like there isn’t a single part of you left that’s in good condition. Is there anywhere on you that isn’t hurt?”

Qi Yue laughed. “When the nurse comes in later, she’ll deal with you. No drinking in hospital rooms.”

Gu Zhong said nothing. He tipped his head back and poured more than half the can down his throat in one go. Then he wiped his mouth and said, “I left you two mouthfuls. Want them?”

Qi Yue reached out for the can. Gu Zhong pulled his hand back. “I don’t want to go to some other coffee shop. Let me go back to the Paolou. I’ve gotten used to the place.”

“Don’t you complain every day that the way I talk is inappropriate?” Qi Yue smiled.

“Anyway, I’ve gotten used to you insulting me too.” Gu Zhong sighed.

Qi Yue did not speak. He took the can from Gu Zhong’s hand and drank the little bit that remained.

It was not until they had finished eating and Gu Zhong had cleaned everything up that Qi Yue finally leaned against the headboard and said, “You know, you can’t go back. Other people can, but not you.”

“Why?” Gu Zhong looked at him.

“Because other people would run.” Qi Yue turned his head and looked at him too. “You wouldn’t.”

“You’re talking about what happened that day?” Gu Zhong frowned. “If something like that happens again, I’ll run too.”

“Really?” Qi Yue narrowed his eyes.

Gu Zhong paused. Actually, looking back now, he also felt that, rationally speaking, he should have run that day. But reason was not something people managed to hold onto all the time.

And besides… that had been Qi Yue.

“I don’t know,” Gu Zhong said. “But in a situation like that, you were my… my old…”

“That excuse is way too flimsy.” Qi Yue cut him off. “Are you an idiot? You’re that loyal to the owner of some coffee shop you work part-time at?”

“Not exactly…” Gu Zhong quickly imagined himself in other jobs. Waiter at a snack shop, waiter at a barbecue place, clerk at a clothing store, waiter at a milk tea shop, waiter at a restaurant. He genuinely could not imagine throwing caution to the wind for a boss from any of those places. “You’re… not the same as other bosses.”

“Because I’m too handsome?” Qi Yue said.

“Because you’re too shameless.” Gu Zhong sighed. Every conversation with him somehow always ended up dying like this.

Even though Qi Yue refused to let him go back to the shop, he still cheerfully demanded that Gu Zhong bring him chicken soup every single day.

“My mom definitely can’t make it for you every day,” Gu Zhong said. “She has to diet, do beauty care, drink tea with her friends, go shopping. She’s very busy.”

“Then you make it.” Qi Yue said. “I never said your mom had to be the one to do it in the first place.”

“You’d dare eat something I made?” Gu Zhong asked.

Qi Yue thought for a moment, then nodded. “I’d dare. That’s life. You’ve got to be brave enough to take on challenges. I’m that strong.”

Gu Zhong sighed.

As far as he could remember, Gu Zhong had only ever properly cooked twice. Once had been for a school assignment, where he had to go home and make a meal for his mother. He had made tomato-and-egg soup and scrambled tomatoes with eggs.

As for how it tasted, he had no idea. No one had eaten it anyway. The other time was when he had gone on an outing with classmates and made a pot of half-raw rice and a pot of broken-skinned dumplings that were not cooked through.

In order to cook for Qi Yue, he had no choice but to seriously look up recipes online, and he even asked the girls in his class for advice.

After assessing his aptitude, the girls concluded that his talent in this area was in the negatives. So they taught him the simplest thing possible, chop up whatever ingredients you want to use and stir-fry them all into the rice.

Gu Zhong gave it a try. The process really was simple. Although he could not actually achieve anything that deserved to be called “fried rice” and mostly just stirred things around in the pan, when it was done and he tasted it, the result was surprisingly good.

“Not bad… actually pretty tasty.” Sitting on the hospital bed and holding the lunch box, Qi Yue took a bite.

“Really?” Gu Zhong smiled. “I think it tastes pretty good too.”

“You already tried it?” Qi Yue glanced at him.

“No, I just tasted one bite.” Gu Zhong took out another lunch box. “I packed one for myself too.”

“Eating this reminds me of when I was little,” Qi Yue said.

“Huh?” Gu Zhong had not expected his handiwork to produce such a strange effect.

“When I was little, I lived in the countryside with my grandparents.” Qi Yue ate while speaking in his usual unhurried way. “My grandpa kept a few pigs in the old house, and every day I helped feed them…”

“I think you can stop talking now.” Gu Zhong had a bad feeling. Sure enough, this guy simply could not say anything proper.

“Mix the leftovers into the feed…” Qi Yue continued.

“Okay, enough.” Gu Zhong stood up. “Enough, enough. I get it.”

Qi Yue tipped the lunch box toward him and smiled. “Just like this.”

“Can I break off relations with you?” Gu Zhong asked very seriously.

“If you didn’t come visit me in the hospital,” Qi Yue replied just as seriously, “we’d already count as having broken off relations.”

Gu Zhong froze. He fell silent and stared at him for a long time before finally sitting back down on the stool and lowering his head to eat a couple bites of “pig feed.”

“It really is pretty tasty.” After he finished eating, Qi Yue said, “Thanks.”

“This is the only thing I know how to make.” Gu Zhong said, “If you have to eat this every day from now on, will you mind?”

“So we’re not breaking off relations anymore?” Qi Yue asked.

Gu Zhong frowned. “Seriously, after you reopen, are you really not going to ask me back? Are we really not going to stay in touch anymore?”

Qi Yue looked at him and said nothing.

Thinking it over, Gu Zhong felt that saying something like that was a little awkward. He picked all the last grains of rice out of the lunch box before raising his head. “After all, a skilled handyman like me isn’t exactly easy to find right away.”

Qi Yue still did not say anything. He just started laughing.

“Forget it.” Gu Zhong gathered up the lunch boxes and carried them into the bathroom. “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Chuan’er.” Qi Yue slowly got out of bed and walked over to lean against the bathroom doorway. “Actually, I like you a lot. The first time you came to my place, I was already thinking, if this kid comes, he should be pretty fun.”

“You sick of playing with me now?” Gu Zhong clicked his tongue.

“Don’t say it like that.” Qi Yue laughed. “The way this sounds, it’s like I dumped you.”

Gu Zhong sighed. He had no energy left to argue.

Qi Yue was very satisfied with the fried rice. For the next half month or so, every afternoon Gu Zhong ran home, cooked this stuff, and took it to the hospital.

He even admired his own perseverance. He had no idea what he was doing it for.

He had never before done anything to this extent. When his mother called his father, she even said, “Your son is possessed.”

Possessed? Not exactly. Gu Zhong felt it probably had something to do with the season.

The weather was changing day by day, turning colder bit by bit. There were fewer and fewer leaves on the trees, and every morning when he got up, he could see more fallen leaves lining the roadside.

He felt a little lonely.

Staying at the hospital and chatting with Qi Yue somehow always made him feel comfortable, even if their conversations often ground to a halt because of Qi Yue.

Compared to that, Qi Yue was much more interesting than the blockheads around him at school, even though Gu Zhong himself was one of those blockheads too.

That was probably what you called charm. Qi Yue was a very charming man. The green youthfulness had faded from him. He had gone through joy and anger and everything in between, and what was left on him was a settled calm. And a trace of irreverence.

After nearly twenty days of “fried rice,” school was almost on break, and Qi Yue was ready to leave the hospital too.

Qi Maomao called and said she had tidied up the shop, and that she had cleaned Qi Yue’s little attic room as well.

“How come she never came to the hospital?” Gu Zhong found it a little strange.

“She doesn’t dare come,” Qi Yue said with a smile.

“Why not?” Gu Zhong was puzzled. Then after a while he realized. “Don’t tell me it’s because she told me you were hospitalized, and she’s scared you’ll settle the score with her?”

“The score definitely has to be settled.” Carrying his bag, Qi Yue walked out of the room. “She’s just dragging things out.”

“She’s just one little girl.” Gu Zhong clicked his tongue twice. “Do you not know how to show any tenderness toward women at all?”

“You don’t get it,” Qi Yue said.

When they got back to the Paolou, Gu Zhong stood at the entrance looking for quite a while. It was only after Qi Yue pulled the rolling shutter up from inside that he finally walked in.

Actually, he passed by here every day on his way to the hospital. But standing outside the shop again today somehow made it feel as if a very long time had passed. He even felt a little emotional, and a little relieved too.

Relieved that he was still here, that he had not ended up “losing contact” with Qi Yue.

Qi Maomao really did seem to have cleaned the place up. The floor had been swept spotless, the dust on the tables had been wiped away, the machines behind the bar had all been cleaned, and every one of them had even been used once. The milk frother had been touched too, and there was a newly opened carton of milk sitting beside it.

“Help me hang that cardboard sign outside.” Qi Yue picked up the milk and took a couple swigs. “Time to reopen.”

Gu Zhong took the recruitment sign he had written out of the drawer under the bar. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Should I come tomorrow?”

“Your exam week starts next week, right?” Qi Yue said.

“Yeah.” Gu Zhong held the cardboard sign and tapped it lightly against the bar. “But our exams aren’t hard. At our garbage school, I’m considered one of the better students.”

Qi Yue smiled.

“I don’t want to switch places for my part-time job,” Gu Zhong said softly. “You won’t run into another boss like yourself, and you won’t have an easy time finding a second employee like me either.”

“Go hang it up.” Leaning against the table by the window, Qi Yue lit a cigarette. “We’ll talk again after exam week.”

“Once vacation starts, I can work full-time.” Gu Zhong looked at him.

“A raise is out of the question,” Qi Yue said.

“I didn’t say anything about wanting a raise,” Gu Zhong said.

“You know?” Qi Yue turned his head and crooked the corner of his mouth at him. “If you admire me, you have to say it out loud. I will definitely smash through worldly prejudice and embrace you.”

“Shut up.” Gu Zhong took the sign and went to hang it by the door.

Exam week meant nothing much to Gu Zhong. Even though he had never attended class all that seriously, the people around him were even more hopeless, so by comparison he became one of the key people others copied from during exams.

During those exam days, he still kept dropping by the Paolou. The shop probably had not fully staffed up yet. The atmosphere during business hours was as slouchy as the owner, and there were not many customers either.

“Why do you keep running over here when there’s nothing going on?” Qi Yue said.

“To see whether you’ve hired enough people yet.” Gu Zhong glanced around. “Looks like you still haven’t?”

“Someone’s starting at the bar tomorrow.” Qi Yue smiled.

“What about the misce… I mean, the waitstaff?” Gu Zhong asked anxiously.

“Two came by today. They’re from your school too,” Qi Yue said.

Gu Zhong froze, then slapped the bar. “No way. Students from our school definitely won’t work out. You have no idea how lazy those people are. They are so lazy they cannot even be bothered to go sleep during class, and they do not even want to walk from the dorms to the classrooms…”

“That includes you?” Qi Yue asked.

“I’m an exception. I…” Halfway through, Gu Zhong sighed. “Stop messing with me already, okay? It’s just one sentence. Are you taking me back or not?”

Qi Yue looked at him and sighed too. Only after a while did he finally say, “Come after your exams are over.”

“See?” Gu Zhong lifted his brows. “That was easy.”

The Paolou was still just the same as before. After Gu Zhong finished his exams and returned to the shop, he felt as though this place had gone unchanged for a hundred years.

The coworkers he could never get familiar with because everyone was always busy. The boss who always stood lazily by the window looking at the scenery. The little ornaments sitting quietly on tables and windowsills without ever changing. And the style of a place that never had promotions or discounts no matter what the occasion was.

As Gu Zhong wiped tables, he let out a cheerful whistle.

Someone came upstairs behind him. He turned, ready to say “Welcome,” but found that it was Qi Yue.

“Aren’t you making beef short ribs?” He checked the time. “Around now people should start ordering actual meals.”

“Not today. Don’t feel like eating them.” Qi Yue said. “Come on, I’ll take you to see the view.”

“Oh… see the view where?” Gu Zhong asked.

Qi Yue raised one finger and pointed upward.

“Up there?” Gu Zhong was startled. This was already the third floor. “The roof?”

“Yeah.” Qi Yue walked over to a small cabinet and dragged it aside, revealing a narrow little door that looked only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. “This is a secret.”

Gu Zhong stared at that door in surprise. Only after Qi Yue took out a key and opened it did he throw down the rag and hurry over to peer outside.

Beyond it was actually a small balcony that curved halfway around the back wall of the Paolou’s third floor.

“Whoa.” Gu Zhong stepped out. A gust of cold wind blew over, and he tugged at his collar. “This is amazing… come on, say it. Besides your room and this balcony, what other secrets does this building have?”

“One more.” Leaning against the wall, Qi Yue looked into the distance and stretched lazily. “I’ll tell you slowly, later.”

“Why hide the door?” Gu Zhong looked out over the view in front of him. “People would definitely love coming up here.”

The Paolou was not especially tall, but from here you could still see quite far across the area. Buildings of different heights, staggered together, some new and some old, all somehow looked a little lonely in the cold wind.

“If someone fell, I’d have to take responsibility.” Qi Yue stretched out his leg and lightly kicked the black iron railing. It really was a little low. It did not even reach waist height.

“You could make the railing taller. Or…” Gu Zhong turned to look at him. Then, seeing the expression on Qi Yue’s face, he understood. “Right. That’s too much trouble, and you can’t be bothered.”

Qi Yue smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“For someone this lazy, it’s kind of amazing you even opened a shop,” Gu Zhong said.

The hand resting on his shoulder paused. Qi Yue looked into the distance, tilted his head back, and let out a light breath. Then he leaned against the wall, sat down on the wooden floor of the balcony, and lit a cigarette.

Gu Zhong sat down too and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“A long time ago, somebody once said something pretty similar to me.” Qi Yue had the cigarette in his mouth, eyes narrowed. “Back then I wanted to open a coffee shop, and he said… someone as lazy as you actually wants to open a coffee shop.”

“Who said that?” Gu Zhong asked curiously.

“A friend.” Qi Yue turned his face slightly and smiled. “Sometimes when I look at you, I feel like there are a lot of ways you’re similar to him. Similar to me too.”

“My mouth isn’t as nasty as yours,” Gu Zhong immediately said.

Qi Yue laughed. After a long while, he finally stopped. He took a drag on the cigarette and watched the blue smoke rise between his fingers. “That’s exactly why I don’t want you staying here. Loyal, impulsive, never understanding how to back off.”

Gu Zhong did not say anything. He stayed quiet for quite a while before finally speaking. “It depends on who it is. You’re annoying as hell, but I treat you as a friend.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” Qi Yue reached up and ruffled his hair twice. “Doing things for a friend.”

“I get the feeling you don’t even have any friends,” Gu Zhong said, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.

“Right now, I don’t,” Qi Yue said.

“Don’t I count?” Gu Zhong said. “I think I should count.”

“You don’t count,” Qi Yue said.

Gu Zhong propped his legs up on the railing. “Anyway, I get what you mean now. You’re telling me not to be so impulsive, right? If somebody comes looking for trouble with you again, I’ll run.”

“Yeah.” Qi Yue nodded.

“But that day, I did run.” Gu Zhong said.

“You never should have come back in the first place.” Qi Yue pinched his arm. “That arm healed up properly yet?”

“I could swing it hard enough to kill a cow.” Gu Zhong smiled. “Honestly, don’t you think you’re being a little too careful? It’s not that… you’re too… I can’t explain it. What happened to you to make you think this way? I feel like some things aren’t really about right or wrong. When it’s for a friend, you should…”

“But there have to be limits.” Qi Yue cut him off. “Don’t go wearing loyalty on top of your head. Some things can’t be solved just because you’re willing to stand by your friends. Once something goes wrong, it lasts a lifetime.”

Gu Zhong opened his eyes and looked at him in confusion.

“If you don’t understand now, that’s fine.” Qi Yue’s voice was a little low. “Just remember it.”

“Mm…” Gu Zhong answered.

After finishing two cigarettes, Qi Yue got up and went back inside.

Gu Zhong stared blankly at the two little heaps of ash left on the balcony.

Qi Yue was a little too cautious, a little too tense about Gu Zhong getting into trouble because of so-called loyalty. In the eyes of a normal person, it was hard to understand. Yet he kept emphasizing it, over and over again.

Gu Zhong sat there in the wind for a long time. This state of mind simply felt too unlike Qi Yue. There was not a trace of his usual lazy ease or carefree composure.

But if he fitted that jianghu rumor onto Qi Yue, then everything made sense.

If that rumor was true, then Qi Yue must regret it. He regretted not running back then because of loyalty, and that boss had also chosen, out of loyalty, to hold out to the bitter end.

Gu Zhong frowned, tapping his fingers against the wooden floor one after another.

Maybe that was not the only thing Qi Yue regretted. Maybe he regretted stepping into that world in the first place, putting one foot into the so-called jianghu, the same way he mocked Gu Zhong’s so-called “hot blood” whenever he got the chance.

Maybe.

Gu Zhong slowly stood up and dusted off his pants. Suddenly, he felt a wave of warmth.

He went back inside, shut and locked the door, and pushed the cabinet back into place.

The voices and laughter of customers downstairs, along with the noise of traffic from the street, flowed back into his ears. He picked up the rag, wiped down the table he had not finished cleaning earlier, then went downstairs.

Qi Yue had already returned to the first floor and, as usual, was standing by the window looking outside in leisurely fashion.

There was now another waiter in the shop besides Gu Zhong. The moment he came downstairs, the guy lowered his voice and said, “Where the hell did you go? I’m swamped!”

“Sorry.” Gu Zhong smiled and ran to the bar to take the prepared coffee over to a customer.

Around then, more customers started coming in. Gu Zhong kept running back and forth. The third time he passed by Qi Yue, he could not help walking over.

“Hm?” Qi Yue turned his head and glanced at him.

“I already locked the door,” Gu Zhong said.

“Mm.” Qi Yue nodded.

Gu Zhong hesitated for a second, then asked softly, “That friend you mentioned… who was he?”

Qi Yue stared at him for nearly ten seconds before finally saying, “Qi Maomao’s dad.”

“Oh.” Gu Zhong paused. He had always guessed as much, but actually hearing Qi Yue say it still shocked him. “Then he… went to prison?”

“So you really did take those rumors seriously.” Qi Yue laughed. After laughing for a while, he said softly, “He died.”