CH 6

After a few days of light rain, the long-awaited sunny days finally showed up in late August.

The radiant sun was high in the sky, the world was gilded with sunlight, and the oiled roads seemed to be on fire. Small insects flew past every now and then, and the cicadas sounded hoarse and continuous, endlessly.

Yun Li felt like she was going to melt by the sun.

After meeting up with Deng Chuqi, they didn’t bother to pick a shop and went straight to the Haitian Commercial City next door.

The two of them went into a random wonton shop.

“This shitty weather is just going to roast people alive.” It was only when the air conditioner was blowing that Deng Chuqi felt alive, “I really can’t stay any longer, it’s better to be in Xi Fu, I don’t feel this hot in Xi Fu.”

Yun Li denied, “That’s because you haven’t been back for too long, it’s so hot in Xi Fu too.”

“Is that so? All right.” Deng Chuqi said, “Ugh, I wish it would rain for a yuqian (green tea picked before Grain Rain (谷雨)) in Nanwu, the temperature was very nice just the other day.”

“Then Nanwu will have to be flooded.”

“Or don’t let the sun out all the time!”

“Why can’t you see the light yet?”

“…” Deng Chuqi couldn’t take it anymore and leaned in to pinch her face, “Yun Li, you really are such a prick! I should have brought a needle and sewed your mouth shut when I came over today!”

Yun Li hid herself back in pain, laughing and begging for mercy, “I was wrong, I was wrong.”

Only then did Deng Chuqi reluctantly stop. After the brawl, staring at Yun Li’s face, she couldn’t help but sigh, “I remember the first impression I had of you was that although this girl was good looking, why was she so reserved and why does she act like a pretentious prick?”

Yun Li glanced at her, “Watch what you say.”

Deng Chuqi: “It turned out that only after getting acquainted did I realize that your previous lack of words was probably just a means of protecting yourself.”

“Hn?”

“To avoid offending multiple parties and being assassinated.”

“…”

The waiter happened to bring up two bowls of wonton.

Deng Chuqi poured a spoonful of chili and suddenly remembered, pointing upwards, “By the way, is that VR experience fun? I was planning to go there before the trial business, but I was so busy that I forgot about it.”

“I kinda liked it.” Yun Li said truthfully, “I was a bit regretful about taking it, but after I went there, I thought it was quite profitable. There’s money to be made and fun to be had.”

Deng Chuqi was curious: “Apart from you, who else did you guys invite?”

After racking his brain for a long time, Yun Li reported a few names that he could still remember. One of them Deng Chuqi had heard of, and she immediately spoke excitedly about the rumor she had heard about this person before.

Yun Li listened with rapt attention and commented, “It feels so fake.”

After a while, Deng Chuqi asked again, “Are these the only ones? Are there any more?”

Yun Li pondered for a moment, but she couldn’t really think of any. When he looked at Deng Chuqi’s expectant expression, the words “Fu Zhi Ze” that he had searched for on the web the day before suddenly came to his mind.

She twitched her lips and hesitantly asked, “Do you remember when we were in high school, there was a video that had become a trend on the E site?”

Deng Chuqi: “What?”

“It was that what,” Yun Li was not good at mentioning names directly, and held it in for half a day before coming up with a sentence, “…the moon of the earth.”

“The moon?” Deng Chuqi’s face was bewildered.

“It’s that…one from Xi Fu University.”

“Oh! Is it that genius from Xi Fu University?” At the mention of the keyword, Deng Chuqi immediately responded, “I remember, when I first went to your house in high school, I also saw you posting his picture on the wall like an worship——”

“…”

Also forgot that there was such a thing.

The embarrassing thing she did when she was young was mentioned and Yun Li’s cheeks burned as she interrupted her, “Alright, alright, let’s eat.”

Deng Chuqi was overjoyed, “Why are you suddenly bringing up this person? I’ve forgotten what he looks like.”

Yun Li paused for a few seconds before replying, “I think I’ve seen him.”

“Huh?”

“But I’m not quite sure if it was the same person.”

It was actually similar to what happened when she went to EAW this time and met a few bloggers she had only seen on screen before. But compared to that, the emotions that meeting Fu Zhi Ze brought up were definitely a little more intense.

After all, it was a person she had adored.

Yun Li only felt slightly strange in her heart.

What was strange or add about it, she couldn’t tell.

That she didn’t recognize the person.

Or was it the unexpected sight of someone she thought she would never ever meet in her lifetime.

It’s been seven years since then,

The young man had grown taller, his facial features had grown, and he had added a maturity that could not be disguised by time. His appearance was not much different from before, but what was most different was the aura he displayed.

It was really different from what she had imagined.

The few times we had met, he had acted a little antisocial and not able to get along well with others.

She had expected a man like this to be the center of her attention, the moon surrounded by stars. He was a man of grace and appropriateness, handled things carefully and skillfully since he realized the way of the world but also unsophisticated, persistent, indestructibly powerful, and kept on fighting in spite of all setbacks.

This should not be as it is.

The light seemed to be covered in a layer of gray and fused together with the night.

Silent and decayed.

Yun Li was distracted for a moment, remembering for no apparent reason the image of him lying asleep on the sofa. The man was slightly curled up, his body thin, the outline of his butterfly bones visible through his clothes.

Disheveled, fragile and untouchable.

“Then maybe it’s not really the same person, maybe it just looks like one.” Deng Chuqi didn’t give it a second thought, “I remember this genius seems to be the same age as us, right? Several years had passed and it didn’t necessarily still look like the one in that video.”

Yun Li responded and smiled, “That’s also true.”

When she thought about it, she seemed to be overdoing it.

Even if it really was the same person.

He was probably just low in spirit because he’d had a cold the last few days.

There are many neighborhoods, both old and new. Yun Li was not too bad with money and chose the neighborhood with the best environment and security. Across the street was the Haitian Commercial City, which was less than ten minutes away from the Southern Polytechnic.

After the meal, Yun Li contacted the agent again and confirmed the time so he dragged Deng Chuqi over with him.

The house was fully furnished and completely clean.

Deng Chuqi had just signed a rental contract and had a little more experience, so she was the one who communicated with the agent throughout the whole process. The landlord’s requirement was that the person must stay for a year and pay a three-month deposit in cash.

Yun Li did not find it unacceptable.

It was quickly decided and the rental agreement was signed the next day.

After Deng Chuqi went home, Yun Li went online and found a cleaning service to clean the house.

One by one, they bought a lot of necessities, filming equipment and small items online to fill the space.

The day before the hotel room was due to expire, Yun Li officially moved in.

By the time Yun Li had finished tidying up the house, it was already dark. As an afterthought, she felt hungry and remembered that she had packed a dried fried noodle in a food court next to NIT during her last review, which tasted very good.

Later, when she went back to Xi Fu, she ate at several restaurants and felt that it was not good enough.

Thinking of this, Yun Li looked around for takeaways, but couldn’t find any.

She didn’t think that this restaurant had takeaway service.

Yun Li looked at the wall clock, it was a little after ten o’clock.

Looking out the window, he could still see the brightly lit Haitian commercial capital.

It was not too late, and as the cravings were rising, Yun Li had a feeling that she would not rest until she ate today. She simply went to his room, changed her clothes, grabbed his wallet and went out.

With a rough memory, Yun Li went out of the district, crossed the road and walked along the Haitian Commercial City. On the way, she saw it several times, several people burning paper for the dead on the roadside.

Puzzled and uneasy, Yun Li took out her mobile phone and looked at it.

Only then did she realize that today was the (Hungry) Ghost Festival (15th day of the seventh lunar month when sacrifices are offered to the dead).

“…”

Yun Li’s scalp tingled as she instantly regretted going out.

But having already traveled most of the way, it was no good to come back empty handed.

Yun Li continued walking, crossed a square, crossed another road and arrived at the familiar snack street.

The street lights were bright and there were many pedestrians. She breathed a sigh of relief with it.

Earlier, Yun Li had come here for a celebgram’s milk tea shop, and within a few steps of coming out, she could see the fried noodle shop. At this point she couldn’t quite remember the exact location, only that it was quite inclined to one side.

Yun Li opened the navigation.

Following a hundred or so meters ahead, she didn’t know if it was a delay or not, but the route on the navigation was crooked next. The direction she was reminded of was for her to go through an alleyway.

The inside was dark and the ground was wet; ten meters or so away was a corner.

From here, turn right and then left, and there was another street.

It wasn’t far, so Yun Li plucked up her courage to walk in, and just as he turned the corner, he heard the sound of men laughing and giggling from the front. As he looked up, she smelt the overwhelming smell of alcohol.

Two men appeared in the field of vision.

One had dyed light blue hair and a string of letters with unknown meanings tattooed on his collarbone; the other wore a vest that showed off large muscles on his arms.

A dark and isolated alleyway,

This scene made Yun Li avoidably even afraid as she didn’t even dare to look face to face at them either and continued on calmly. Before she could take a few steps, she was blocked by Lan Mao: “Hey, little sister, how are you?”

Yun Li backed away warily.

The big man on the other side flirted, “Da Feng, what do you act indecent for?”

“Where did I act indecent?” Lan Mao intoxicatedly said with a big tongue, “I, I just said hello!”

Yun Li tried to get around them, but the alley was narrow and blocked by the two men with no way out. Afraid that looking too timid would make the other party go too far, she said softly, “Can you move over? I want to go over there.”

Lan Mao shamelessly said, “Sure, I’ll let you pass, and you can accompany me to have a midnight snack later.”

“……”

“Is that alright ah, little sister?”

“…Okay.” Afraid of offending him, Yun Li didn’t dare to refuse and could only pull reasons to stall for time, “Can you let me pass first? I still have to go shopping.”

Lan Mao shrugged his shoulders and turned sideways to vacate a place.

The few shops along the alley were closed, and the left side was empty, like entering a no-man’s land. On the other side, a few meters away under a dim streetlight, a man stood next to him, his head down and smoking.

With his back to the light and his face pale and bloodless, he looked gloomy and deceptive.

Like a lonely ghost from a foreign land that enters the earth in the dead of night through a ghostly door.

Yun Li’s heart skipped a beat and he saw his face almost immediately.

It was Fu Shi Ze.

She didn’t think that they would see each other again.

At this moment, he also seemed to hear the movement as he looked up.

Not knowing what the two men behind her would do, Yun Li did not want to provoke them by rashly speaking out. She pursed her lips, with a little look of help in her eyes.

The two people’s eyes met for just a second.

Fu Shi Ze then looked away and exhaled a cloud of mist as if he hadn’t seen it.

Yun Li stayed still in place.

For a moment, he did not dare to believe the meaning of his gesture.

——He had no intention of helping her.

The blue-haired man in the back began to urge, yelling with little patience, “I told you to come over, go have a snack sister, why aren’t you moving? Go back on one’s word——”

Yun Li’s voice trembled and she couldn’t help but shout, “Fu, Fu Shi Ze!”

The air seemed to freeze as the words fell.

Even Lan Mao’s stance seemed to fade for a few moments, and he quieted down with it.

After what seemed like a long but brief silence, Fu Shi Ze tilted his head and waved lazily. Yun Li’s hope was raised, and she thought it was a gesture towards her and was about to go over.

But who knew the next moment, a blue-haired man walked past, wondering, “Ge, you know him?”

“…”

Yun Li’s mind went blank.

The dream he had had the other day, which had blurred quite a bit, became incomparably clear again in this instant.

That young man at the airport laughed as the words he was yelling in her ears echoed again: “Stupid, aren’t you? You didn’t expect it, right? He’s the boss!”

For her part, Fu Shi Ze didn’t express his opinion, “What are you doing?”

Lan Mao’s expression was a matter of course, “I let her go and have a late night snack with me. I didn’t do anything.”

“Have a midnight snack with you…” He repeated carelessly and then looked at Yun Li, “Would you willing to go?”

The sky was high and the stars were far away, and the wind was dry and long, blowing for a long time and still leaving a lingering heat.

That moment,

Yun Li didn’t know where she got the courage to shake her head.

Fu Shi Ze then, ‘hn’ softly and relayed for her, “She doesn’t want to go.”

Lan Mao seemed to be still sober after drinking wine and he tried to reason with her. Before he could make a sound, he was pushed on the shoulder by Fu Shi Ze. He stumbled twice, nearly falling over and turned back.

“You’re scaring people,” Fu Shi Ze said gently, “Go over and apologize.”