At this moment, Chu Yi's mind was spinning, his eyes didn't know where to look, and his fingers kept trembling a little. This feeling reminded him of the girl sitting at the next table, who said she was so excited when she went to see her idol's concert that she couldn't see anything and kept shaking like a sieve.

To confirm, Chu Yi opened the album. He was afraid that Yan Hang would delete the post, so he saved the photos.

He clicked open the photos to take a look. They were all in red background with black text, and the font... He switched back to the photo of the storefront to take a look, and the font was the same! Below the storefront... He switched back to the photos. The main subject of the photos was the storefront, with only a small corner of the walls on both sides visible, but it was roughly clear that they were red.

But he still couldn't be sure, after all, he had seen quite a few similar storefronts after searching for so long, and they were all the most common combinations.

After switching back and forth several times, Chu Yi finally found the definitive detail. He discovered that in the photo taken by Yan Hang, the hook below the character for 'Li' was missing a small piece, revealing the white underneath, while in the photo from the store, although it was taken from a distance, it could be also seen that the hook was round and had no point.

It was this one!

Chu Yi felt that he was a little too excited to know what to do now. He threw down his phone and jumped off the bed, punching the air a few times.

Still unable to vent, he bounced and punched all the way from the bedroom to the living room.

Grandma was watching TV in the living room, and when she looked at him, her eyes seemed to be looking at a lunatic, with contempt and shock: "Who knows what poison he's taken."

Chu Yi was in a very good mood and happily punched a few times at Grandma, even adding sound effects: "Swoosh swoosh! Swoosh!"

"With this energy, go out and beat someone up!" Grandma shouted, "Eating a little shit can make you so inflated! Don't chicken out when you go out!"

Chu Yi wanted to say that he had already beaten someone up, but in the end, he still bounced back to his room with "swoosh swoosh swoosh" punches.

There was no point in telling Grandma about such things. He didn't want to explain himself to anyone, and Grandma might not understand and might even say something more unpleasant.

Besides, he had things to do.

He lay back on his little bed and picked up his phone.

The Little Li's BBQ that Yan Hang photographed was in a coastal city. He first opened the weather app and added this city.

The real-time temperature was 6 degrees, with today's low being minus 2 degrees, sunny, and north wind at level 4-5.

After staring at the weather for a while, Chu Yi smiled and clicked open the city map.

After entering the address of Little Li's BBQ, he switched the map to street view and looked at it bit by bit, feeling as if he was walking on this street and standing at the door of this store.

He fiddled with the map, adjusting the angle. This was the spot, right? Where Yan Hang stood that day when he took the photo?

Chu Yi propped his phone up on the head of the bed and lay on his arms to look at it.

He had always thought that for a persistent pervert like himself, once he found the place, he would have a strong urge to go and see it right away.

But now he found that he didn't feel that way.

The moment he opened the map and saw the street view, he suddenly calmed down.

He looked at this street bit by bit. This store didn't seem to be some very impressive place that was worth making a special trip to eat at, so Yan Hang might live nearby.

This street was a place he would often pass by.

It seemed that this was enough.

Chu Yi stared at his phone. This was enough.

Just looking back and forth on this street and the surrounding few streets, the stores, offices, hotels, and residential areas on both sides, he felt very satisfied.

After looking for half an hour, he finally put his phone on the head of the bed, turned over and lay on the bed, looking at the flashing light and dark spots on the ceiling due to his eyes being dazzled.

Actually, it wasn't enough.

He just didn't dare to think about taking a step closer.

Between him and Yan Hang, there was a homicide case and two disappeared fathers.

The question he had never dared to think about carefully before still stuck in his heart.

Before his dad was found, he had no idea if Yan Hang would even be willing to see him again.

"Are you going to the supermarket?" Cui Yi called and asked.

"Huh?" Yan Hang glanced at the time. It was nine o'clock in the evening. He was actually thinking about whether to order takeout for a late-night snack or make something himself, but there were no more supplies at home.

With Cui Yi asking like this, he sat up, planning to go to the supermarket to buy some ingredients: "Yeah, let's go buy some food."

"That's great," Cui Yi said, "Help me bring back some noodles and leave them with the security guard downstairs. I'll pick them up tomorrow."

"...Lawyer Cui," Yan Hang was very speechless, "You're really amazing."

"Wide noodles are best," Cui Yi said, "I like to eat wide noodles."

"Will your legs break if you go with me?" Yan Hang asked.

"Yes," Cui Yi laughed, "I have a pile of documents to read here and don't have time to go out."

"Wide noodles, right?" Yan Hang stood up.

"Right." Cui Yi said.

Yan Hang opened the fridge and took a look. Generally, after the New Year, people would eat leftovers for at least half a month, but he and Cui Yi, let alone eating together only once during the New Year, even if they were partners, there wouldn't be much left.

He calculated what he needed to stock up on, then went out.

There were still quite a lot of people in the supermarket across the street at this time. Most of the people living in this area were young and got off work late, so they only came out to buy things after eating.

Yan Hang pushed a cart and strolled slowly.

After walking a few steps, the cart was grabbed by someone.

Before he looked up at the person, he first glanced at the hand. It was a girl's hand. He inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was because of what Cui Yi had said earlier that made him very vigilant.

The owner of the hand was the smiling Zhang Chen.

"You actually came to buy groceries!" Zhang Chen looked at the things thrown in his cart, "It's amazing."

"What else can I eat if I don't buy groceries?" Yan Hang said.

"Don't you single guys all eat fast food, instant noodles, instant rice?" Zhang Chen said with a smile.

"I'm at least a single guy working in a Western restaurant." Yan Hang said.

"Can you cook?" Zhang Chen picked up a piece of cheese and looked at it, "Are you going to venture into Western food?"

"Just picked it up randomly," Yan Hang looked at her empty hands, "Why are you here?"

"My grandma lives around here. I'm off tomorrow, so I'll come over to keep her company and make a meal while I'm at it..." Zhang Chen said, glancing at him. "Do you know what ingredients to buy for pizza?"

"I do," Yan Hang said, pushing the cart forward. "Let's go."

"Thanks." Zhang Chen followed.

Pizza, huh.

Yan Hang had made many sophisticated pizzas before, but right now his mind seemed to be stuck, only able to recall the ones he had made for Chu Yi previously.

No matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn't break out of it.

The memories were as if trapped in a tiny passageway, and all he could recall was just this little bit, going back and forth in the Linhe District where Chu Yi lived.

Ah.

He could even remember it was the Linhe District.

Of course he remembered. The memories there, good or bad, were pretty much the most profound period for him in over a decade.

"Is it?" Zhang Chen said beside him.

"Hm?" Yan Hang came back to his senses and glanced at her.

She was holding a package of sausage. "Is it this kind?"

"This smoked sausage has a strong flavor. If you like it, it's fine. If not..." Yan Hang looked at the pile of sausages on the shelf and pointed, "That one works too."

"Let's go with this. I like it," Zhang Chen said. "Do you have something on your mind? If you do, just give me a general idea and I can find things myself."

"I'm fine," Yan Hang said. "What's up?"

"You're seriously spacing out," Zhang Chen laughed. "But you always seem to be like this, the image of a mysterious, melancholic handsome guy."

"You're writing a novel," Yan Hang casually picked up a package of cheese and handed it to her. "When using this, just shave it down."

"Okay." Zhang Chen nodded.

Actually, Zhang Chen was a girl with a great personality. Among the group of young colleagues, she had the best interpersonal relationships - cheerful, easygoing, and willing to take a loss.

If it were someone else, Yan Hang wouldn't be leading them around to buy things like this.

But that was about it. Yan Hang used to think that he didn't have friends probably because he lacked opportunities to make friends. Later, when the opportunity came, he had Chu Yi.

After coming here, he would have more opportunities to make more friends.

But now it seemed that this wasn't quite the case.

Except for a few colleagues who were slightly closer than before, he still had no friends, nor did he have the inclination to move in the direction of friendship with anyone.

It appeared that Chu Yi was a special case.

"They say eating fish makes you smart," Zhang Chen said beside him. "My nephew eats fish every day, but I don't see him getting much smarter."

Yan Hang didn't know what her previous topic was, and wasn't even sure if he had responded, so he could only pick up from here: "Is that so?"

"Yeah, he's taking the high school entrance exam this year," Zhang Chen sighed. "I don't think it looks good. He won't get into a regular high school. All that fish eating was for nothing."

"When is the exam?" Yan Hang asked.

"End of June," Zhang Chen said.

"Is it the same everywhere?" Yan Hang asked again.

"Yeah, it's those few days everywhere," Zhang Chen looked at him. "Do you have a kid taking the exam?"

"...No," Yan Hang smiled. "Just asking."

"Oh," Zhang Chen thought for a moment. "I heard them say before that you don't have formal education?"

"I don't." Yan Hang nodded.

"That's amazing," Zhang Chen clicked her tongue in a string of admiration. "People like you who are self-reliant... that doesn't seem quite right, self-taught geniuses, I really admire you so much."

When he finished shopping with Zhang Chen and walked out of the supermarket, Zhang Chen pointed to a dessert shop next door. "Want to have a late-night snack? My treat."

"No thanks," Yan Hang said. "I'm stuffed from dinner. Can't eat anything right now."

"Then I'll go eat by myself," Zhang Chen waved. "Thanks for helping me shop."

"You're welcome." Yan Hang smiled.

It wasn't until he reached the entrance of the residential complex that he remembered he hadn't eaten dinner.

When he entered the complex, the security guard saluted him. Yan Hang smiled back at him. As he turned his head, he saw someone standing on the other side of the gate.

He looked over there again.

That person turned and walked away.

Yan Hang didn't move. He took two steps back and stared at that person.

Actually, with his experience, he could tell at a glance that this was just a passerby, standing by the gate only to look at the bus stop, and now was just walking over to the bus stop.

But he was just so easily nervous now.

He didn't even know what was going on with himself.

He had even stopped posting on Weibo because of this nervousness, and hadn't used WeChat at all since leaving.

He had thought about whether to contact Chu Yi.

Many times.

He wanted to tell Chu Yi that he was doing well, wanted to tell Chu Yi that when he left, he just didn't know what to say, so he had told... the tree hole.

But in the end, he didn't make contact.

He trusted his judgment. Following his dad around for so many years wasn't for nothing. So he didn't believe Chu Yi's dad could do anything major. But it was precisely because of this that he was also very afraid of continuing to get the completely innocent Chu Yi involved.

He sighed and turned to walk through the complex gate.

He put Cui Yi's noodles in the security room downstairs, then went back to his place.

Let's make a small pizza to eat, the kind he used to make for Chu Yi.

Every time Chu Yi took out his phone, he would habitually check the weather first.

The temperature on Yan Hang's side was slowly rising day by day. Occasionally there would be a drop, then it would rise again. Actually, the weather was the same everywhere, but he just found it particularly interesting to look at the weather there.

Like a lunatic.

It warmed up a bit faster there than here. When they still needed a jacket here, Yan Hang should be able to just wear a long-sleeved shirt there.

The seaside, ah.

Chu Yi leaned back in his chair, looking at the slogan written above the blackboard. Sometimes he would have the illusion that this tense atmosphere was as if he was about to take the college entrance exam.

The seaside, ah.

He had never been to the seaside before. To be precise, the farthest place he had been to in all his life was his grandfather's home.

Let alone an airplane, he had never even taken a train.

The seaside scenery only existed in landscape videos and photos. The scenery he had seen the most with his own eyes was the river view.

Well, the river view was actually very beautiful too.

The seaside, ah...

He couldn't remember exactly when the idea first came to him, but as the high school entrance exam approached, the thought grew stronger and stronger. Finally, when he saw the introductions in the promotional materials of various schools, he suddenly made up his mind.

He wanted to go to school by the sea.

And there seemed to be a suitable vocational high school by the sea where he wanted to go.

Perhaps he had this idea the day he confirmed the location of Little Li's BBQ, but he never dared to think about it and just forced himself to pretend he had never considered it.

But once he realized that all of this could really become a reality, the idea could no longer be suppressed.

Besides, he had always hoped to leave home, leave this place, and go somewhere without all those past memories.

"Are you sick in the head?" his mother looked at him, "What are you thinking about every day? Going so far away to school? The travel expenses are higher than the tuition!"

"And the accommodation fees," Grandpa said while peeling shrimp, "You can live at home if you go to school here, no need to pay for accommodation."

The shrimp were specially bought by him at the seafood market, hoping that if the family had a pleasant meal, they would agree to his request to go to school in another place.

"I can't afford that much money," Mom said, "Tuition, travel, meals, accommodation, buying this and that..."

"No need for you," he gritted his teeth, "No need for you to pay, I'll pay for it myself."

"Oh my! Listen to him, pay for it himself!" Grandma laughed with disdain while biting into a shrimp, "This child, swept floors for a few days and got the illusion of financial independence."

He ignored Grandma and just looked at his mom, "I saved some money..."

"How much money can you save? How much money can you save? You dare to mention you saved some money?" Mom frowned, "Do you know how much I earn in a month now? There's no news at all from your dad's side, don't even know if he's dead or alive, and here you are, saved a bit of money and want to run off?"

He looked at the steamed bun in his hand and didn't say a word.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Mom said, "I can't be bothered to care if you don't go to a regular high school, and you insist on running off? Who will we find in the future to run errands and handle things for the family?"

"Now that's getting to the point," Grandpa said while eating, "And your mom doesn't have money either, that little bit of money still needs to be saved, in case your dad..."

He knew what Grandpa wanted to say, and at this moment he wanted to shove the steamed bun in his hand into Grandpa's face.

Mom acted before him, picking up the bowl in her hand and smashing it on the ground, shouting, "Are we still eating this meal or not!"

He knew the family would never agree to him going to school elsewhere, and it wasn't just a matter of whether they would pay. Even if it was local, Mom probably wouldn't pay anymore. After all, for most of the past six months, besides being responsible for his own expenses, he would also give her some money.

But he didn't really care whether the family would pay or not, he wasn't a little kid anymore, he could figure it out himself.

Although the ways he could think of weren't many.

He worked part-time at the boxing gym and had also saved some money. The past expenses should be about enough. As for future expenses, he would continue working part-time.

"Not going to school here anymore?" Coach He looked at him, "Going so far away?"

"Mm," he nodded, "I want to go to the sea, the seaside."

"How romantic, I want to go see the sea?" Coach He said.

He smiled a little embarrassedly.

"Your family agreed?" Coach He knew a bit about his family situation.

"They don't agree," he frowned, "But I still want to go."

Coach He looked at him for a long time without saying anything. After a while, he asked again, "So do you have enough money?"

"Enough." He said.

"Going to find a place to work part-time there too?" Coach He asked again.

"Mm." He smiled.

Coach He didn't say anything else, patted him on the shoulder, and got up to leave.

He also stood up, planning to go clean. He could still work here for less than a month, and suddenly felt a bit reluctant to part with his mop and bucket...

As if his ideal was to be a cleaner.

When he went to get the mop, Coach He called out to him from behind, "Chu Yi."

"Huh?" He turned his head and saw Coach He walking over with a wad of cash in his hand. He immediately understood what was going on and hurriedly backed away while waving his hands, "No no no no no no no need..."

"Take it," Coach He grabbed his arm and stuffed the money into his pocket, "Let me tell you, when I left the countryside back then, I was about your age, on my own."

He was stunned for a moment.

"On your own, with no one to rely on, everything is quite hard," Coach He said, "I just see that spirit in you, always reminds me of myself back then... Take this money, consider it a loan from me. In the future when you make it, come back and pay me back."

He was silent for a long time before softly saying, "Thank you."

He felt like his family was the least like a family with a child about to take the high school entrance exam among all the 9th graders in the school.

Mom wouldn't even look at him anymore.

No one cared if he went to school or if he sat at home studying after returning from school.

No one even asked on the day of the exam.

But he felt it was very normal that no one asked him. He reckoned no one in the family even knew which day he was taking the exam.

However, when he went out, he ran into the owner of the small shop. The owner gave him a pack of instant noodles.

"Tongyi 100," the owner said, "There are several kids from around here taking the exam today. I give a pack to everyone who passes by, for good luck."

He smiled and put the instant noodles into his schoolbag, "Thank you, Uncle."

With this pack of instant noodles, his mood improved quite a bit. Before entering the exam room, he took out the instant noodles and munched them down.

"You're really in the mood, huh?" Li Zihao looked at him, "Still eating at this time?"

He took out a bottle of water and took a sip, "I'm still drinking too."

As for the two and a half days of exams, if you asked if he was nervous, he wasn't nervous. Although his grades weren't great, his goal wasn't a regular high school, so it wasn't a big problem. Besides, he had listened quite earnestly in class.

But if you said he wasn't nervous at all, he was nervous.

The first time seeing the ocean.

The first time living on his own.

The first time traveling far from home.

The first time taking a train... What a country bumpkin.

Yan Hang was totally right in calling him that.

Oh right, also the first time going to eat at Little Li's BBQ.

Little Li's BBQ, he could even recite the address of Little Li's BBQ by heart.

Although no one in the family agreed with him going to see the ocean, after the results came out, Chu Yi still wrote down the name of that school when filling out his aspirations.

Afterwards, he went and bought a suitcase by himself, packed his things and put it under the bed.

It wasn't until she saw this suitcase that his mom seemed to come to her senses, rushing over to try to drag the suitcase out.

"You're really something now, huh!" Mom shouted, "What I say is just fart to you, right!"

Chu Yi blocked his mom without saying a word.

"Throw this suitcase away for me!" Mom roared, "Who gave you the guts! Who in this family agreed to let you go!"

"I," Chu Yi grabbed her hand, "myself."

"What are you? What are you!" Mom wanted to shake off his hand, "You yourself, you yourself! What are you yourself!"

"Mom," Chu Yi still held onto her tightly, "I have nothing, j-just nothing, even with nothing, nothing, I will still go."

Mom was stunned, staring at his face, taking a while before speaking: "Are you crazy? Why are you doing this!"

"You know." Chu Yi said.

"You see," Grandma had leaned against the door frame at some point, "I said long ago, this son of yours is just a waste, useless, can't count on him in the future."

"Shut up." Chu Yi turned to look at her.

"What did you say!" Grandma looked at him in shock.

"I said, shut up." Chu Yi said.

"Did you hear that?" Grandma looked at his mom, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Did you hear..."

"I heard it!" Mom shouted.

"This family is done for!" Grandma walked out with a cigarette in her mouth, shouting, "This family is done for!"

Mom sat on the edge of the bed, silently staring at his suitcase.

Chu Yi wanted to say something, but really didn't know what else he could say. In these more than ten years, he never had any normal communication with his mom.

Even though he felt some reluctance to part and it pained him to see his mom like this, he couldn't find any words to say.

"If you want to go then go," Mom said, "But don't expect the family to be able to help you if anything happens, you know this family is like this."

"Mm." Chu Yi responded.