Chu Yi spent a good five minutes playing with a puppy through the pet shop window before continuing on his way.

The street was lined with restaurants of all sizes and styles, creating a lively atmosphere.

As he walked, Chu Yi habitually drifted towards the edge of the sidewalk. Without Yan Hang there to pull him back, he had to pay attention himself.

It had been a long time since he'd walked like this. Perhaps it was because he was in a new environment. Even though he'd studied the map countless times, actually being here made him realize this was a place he'd never been before. The surroundings were completely different from what he was used to back home.

This area was much more prosperous than where he lived. The storefronts on both sides were very stylish, and the people coming and going all looked quite fashionable. Of course, having spent most of his life shuttling between home and school, he didn't really know what counted as stylish or rustic.

In any case, he himself was quite rustic.

Especially compared to Yan Hang, it was very obvious.

Chu Yi's mind was spinning with many thoughts, some involuntary, some deliberate. He didn't dare let his mind idle and had to ponder something.

Because in another thirty meters, he would reach Little Li's BBQ.

There were still three clothing stores, a milk tea shop, a pastry shop, and... he couldn't remember what else separating him from Little Li's BBQ.

Twenty meters to go?

Ten meters?

When the red storefront of Little Li's BBQ suddenly appeared before his eyes, he was startled.

How did he get here so fast?

He quickly lowered his head and pressed himself behind a tree.

After completing this familiar motion, he stared at the tree bark in front of him, feeling a bit absurd.

Luckily it was getting dark, so probably no one noticed him.

He stepped out from behind the tree and stood beside it, peering inside.

Business was good, with almost all the tables occupied.

To confirm, Chu Yi looked up at the sign again. No mistake, this was the place.

His heart suddenly started racing.

Glancing into the restaurant again, he instinctively began searching.

Only after scanning each table twice did he let out a soft sigh of relief.

Yan Hang wasn't inside.

He walked a few steps to the side and looked up.

This was the spot, right? When Yan Hang took that photo, it was from this angle.

Near the door, he probably finished eating, walked out and took out his phone. Or maybe he had been holding it the whole time. Then he raised it and - click.

Chu Yi took a photo of the sign.

It looked a lot like Yan Hang's. He smiled.

"Hey kid, want some BBQ?" someone asked beside him.

Chu Yi was startled. He quickly looked up to see a middle-aged man wearing an apron with "Little Li's BBQ" printed on it.

"...No," Chu Yi said awkwardly, "I'm not, not..."

"Just taking a photo but not eating?" The man looked at him.

"Waiting for someone," Chu Yi said. "Taking a photo, photo of the address."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just send a location?" the man laughed. "Kids these days don't even know that?"

"I came from far away," Chu Yi said. "Still getting used to it."

The man walked towards the restaurant, chuckling. "Come wait inside then. It'll be full soon with no tables left."

He only hesitated for a moment.

Chu Yi followed him into the restaurant and found a small table to sit at.

It was about time for dinner anyway. Although BBQ was a bit expensive for him, it's not like he ate it every day. Just this once.

When ordering, the man asked, "Not waiting for your friend anymore?"

"Something came up, they can't make it," Chu Yi said.

The man gave him a knowing look and sighed, "Girls these days, not so easy to chase."

"...Ah." Chu Yi didn't know how to respond and could only nod along.

"No worries," the man still looked very understanding. "Don't give up, try asking her out a few more times."

"Okay." Chu Yi continued playing along.

Theoretically, BBQ should taste the same everywhere.

But maybe it was because Chu Yi ordered all seafood today, or maybe it was because Yan Hang had eaten here before. In any case, Chu Yi thought the BBQ at this place was especially delicious.

Perhaps it was because he was the only one eating BBQ alone, but the man seemed to pity him. He even came over to sit with him for a bit and wanted to give him a beer.

Chu Yi gratefully declined. When he finished eating and left, the man called after him, "Come again, kid!"

He would be back, tomorrow in fact.

Chu Yi had wanted to keep staking out the restaurant, as Yan Hang loved late night snacks and might come at night. But he still hadn't settled his bedding. If he didn't go buy it now, he'd be sleeping on bare boards tonight.

He had no choice but to hurry back first.

However, he wasn't anxious. It had been a year since Yan Hang left. When it came to finding him, Chu Yi had become very steady.

Chu Yi stood on the bus, watching the darkened sky and lit up lights outside the window.

Moreover, he hadn't figured out what to do after finding Yan Hang. His only thought was to find him.

Just like those lost in the throes of a secret crush, immersed only in the process.

Once a result appeared, they might actually be at a loss.

...What the heck secret crush?

There was a small supermarket by the school gate. Chu Yi had been a bit worried he wouldn't be able to buy bedding. But after getting off the bus and walking along the road, he realized how rustic he really was.

Forget the supermarket, even the little shops had signs out front advertising complete sets for freshmen at all price points.

Besides bedding, you could get a full set with toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, and washbasin.

He picked the cheapest set and lugged it back to the dorm.

There were eight people in the dorm. With him, five had arrived. Seeing the marker he left on his bed still in place, he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to butt heads with No Pimple...Zhang Qiang again.

After all, they had to live together in the same dorm for a long time.

Seeing Chu Yi enter, the few roommates who had been chatting all stopped and stared at him together.

This scene made Chu Yi very nervous. He put the things in his hands on the table and was silent for a while before saying, "My name is Chu, Chu Yi."

"Hu Biao." A chubby dark-skinned boy nodded at him.

Another boy leaning on the lower bunk didn't speak, staring at his phone.

"That's Su Bin," Hu Biao helped introduce, then turned to look at Li Ziqiang and Zhang Qiang, "You've met them, right?"

"Yes, met them." Chu Yi said.

Although there were people talking in the room before, the atmosphere was probably not lively. Now that he had come in, all the voices were gone.

Chu Yi unpacked the things he had just bought, put the basin and bucket next to the cabinet, and when he took the bedding to tidy up the upper bunk, Su Bin glanced at him, "Do you stutter?"

This question made Chu Yi a little embarrassed and suddenly a little depressed.

He always felt that as long as he changed to a new environment, everything would pass, but he forgot that some things cannot be shaken off.

"Mm." He responded and climbed onto the upper bunk.

"First time seeing a live stutterer," Su Bin said again, "Don't infect us."

Chu Yi froze, propping himself up on the bed board.

This feeling of inferiority or embarrassment or anger was very uncomfortable. The original idea of wanting to endure more and get along well with classmates was instantly suppressed.

"Then you and I have something to t-talk about," he said, "I'm also seeing a live i-idiot for the first time."

"Fuck," Su Bin jumped off the bed, "I didn't hear clearly, say it again?"

"He said you're a live idiot," Li Ziqiang also jumped down from the upper bunk and walked up to Su Bin, "Hear it clearly?"

Li Ziqiang was very tall and quite strong, standing in front of Su Bin he was a whole size larger.

Su Bin probably also looked at who he was talking to. When Li Ziqiang was waiting for him to say the next sentence, he silently turned around, took his toothbrush and towel, and went into the bathroom, closing the door.

"Harmony is still the most precious." Li Ziqiang patted Chu Yi's bed edge and turned to climb back onto the upper bunk.

"Brother Qiang is right, in a dorm, harmony is the most precious," Hu Biao said, "We need to be united."

Li Ziqiang and Zhang Qiang looked at him together.

"Which of you two is older?" Hu Biao asked.

So the two Qiangs compared birthdays, and Li Ziqiang was three months older.

"Big Brother Qiang is right, in a dorm, harmony is the most precious," Hu Biao repeated, "We need to be united."

"Your memory is not bad," Zhang Qiang said, "Not a word off."

"Little Qiang, your memory is not bad either," Hu Biao said, "You heard it was the same both times."

Everyone laughed.

Li Ziqiang stretched and lay down, "Tomorrow most people should arrive, don't know what the other three will be like."

"Seems they are locals?" Zhang Qiang said.

"Why would locals live at school." Li Ziqiang said.

"Maybe they live far," Hu Biao said, "Besides, living at school is so free, parents can't control you anymore."

Parents can't control you anymore.

Chu Yi also lay down after making his bed, looking at the ceiling.

His parents didn't control him in the first place.

He left home at six in the morning, and it was almost ten at night now. Even Coach He and Little Lin had asked about his situation, but he still hadn't received a call from home.

He turned over facing the wall. Although he had expected it to be like this, he was still a little sad.

It was his first time traveling far away, coming to a strange city to study alone, but his family's attitude made him feel as if he didn't exist at all.

It felt empty behind him.

No family, no friends, only a Yan Hang, but still not knowing how it would turn out.

Chu Yi suddenly felt his eyes getting a little hot and his nose a bit sour.

He quickly pinched his nose and rubbed it.

Su Bin stayed in the bathroom for a long time. Zhang Qiang urgently needed to pee and kicked the door twice before he finally came out.

"Constipated?" Zhang Qiang said.

Su Bin gave a cold laugh and went back to lie on his bed.

Except for him, the others used the bathroom quite quickly, showering in just a few minutes. Chu Yi was very touched. Usually at home, grandpa and grandma going to the bathroom could force him to go to the public restroom.

After washing up, he lay back on the bed and took out his phone.

He looked at the photo of Little Li's barbecue he took today and compared it with Yan Hang's. The angle was almost exactly the same. He was very satisfied and posted the photo to his Moments.

But set it to private.

-Brother Xiao Tian's signature barbecue, got it!

There were still two days before the start of school military training. In the morning, the guys in the dorm were all lying in bed and didn't get up.

Chu Yi was the first to get up and tidy himself up. He had a full schedule today, familiarizing himself with the school environment in the morning, going around nearby, and going out to find a part-time job after lunch.

After buying the train ticket and paying various fees, he didn't have much money left. Thanks to Coach He's money, he still had time to find a job.

He planned to have dinner at a fast food restaurant opposite Little Li's barbecue. He had found it earlier when looking at the map. That fast food restaurant was very cheap, with a sign at the door saying braised pork rice for 13 yuan.

Don't know if the price has gone up now.

After dinner, he planned to stay somewhere on the opposite street and see if he could run into Yan Hang.

"Where are you going?" Li Ziqiang asked, lying on the upper bunk.

"Going out." Chu Yi said.

"Where?" Li Ziqiang asked again.

"...Outside." Chu Yi replied.

"Oh." Li Ziqiang nodded and lay back down.

"Your conversation is really a classic of nonsense." Hu Biao lay on the bed with his arms pillowed, laughing for a long time.

"Will you be back at noon?" Li Ziqiang thought for a moment and asked again.

"No." Chu Yi said.

"What about in the evening?" Li Ziqiang continued to ask.

"What do you w-want?" Chu Yi was a little helpless.

"Let's have a meal together," Li Ziqiang said, "We'll be brothers from now on, don't we need to have a drink and a bite?"

"Oh," Chu Yi was stunned. He basically had no chance to get along with classmates and didn't know if this was a necessary procedure, "Then..."

"Wait until everyone is here," Zhang Qiang said, "There are only five people now, not much fun."

"Little Qiang is right." Hu Biao nodded.

"Four people." Li Ziqiang glanced at Su Bin who was playing with his phone.

"Then I...I'm going out." Chu Yi said.

"Take your time." Li Ziqiang yawned.

Chu Yi was in a good mood today.

The dormmates, except for Su Bin, weren't as difficult to get along with as they initially seemed.

The school was very large, with many trees.

There were several sports fields.

Their auto repair major also had a large field with some broken-down cars.

The weather was nice today, and the air was a bit more humid than back home.

Exhale, inhale.

The sea~~~ ah the sea~~~ is where I live~~~

He was indeed quite uncultured, the first song that came to his mind about the sea was this one that grandma always loved to sing...

He got up late in the morning, so after wandering around the school and surroundings for a bit, the morning was already over.

He randomly found a small shop and had a bowl of noodles, then started his job search plan for the afternoon.

Jobs weren't easy to find, he was very clear about that, especially for him, with no experience, just a student who could only work part-time, and not being articulate, jobs that required communicating with people definitely wouldn't want him.

In one afternoon, he first asked around all the shops posting job ads near the school, then took a bus to Little Li's BBQ, and searched all the surrounding places he could find.

In the end, he only found one job distributing flyers.

But the location was great, just handing them out at the entrance of the supermarket across from Little Li's BBQ, with daily pay, but because it started in the afternoon, it was only half a day's wages.

Chu Yi felt it was quite worth it, he could still earn some money while waiting for Yan Hang.

He and a girl each took a big stack of flyers and went to the supermarket entrance, with each responsible for one side.

This job was very relaxing for Chu Yi, it was best if people took the flyers when handed to them, but it was also fine if they didn't, even if they rolled their eyes he didn't really care.

Until it was almost dark, he had no idea how many flyers he had handed out, anyway there were still some left in his hands, he kept glancing at Little Li's BBQ across the street while handing out flyers to people passing in front of him.

Business was really good at Little Li's BBQ, several tables were already filled right when mealtime started.

The uncle was busy working with a cheerful expression.

Who knows if Yan Hang will come to eat BBQ today, if he'll come now for dinner or later for a late-night snack, if he'll come alone or with friends.

With friends.

Chu Yi paused for a moment, suddenly feeling a sense of loss.

Friends?

Yan Hang had said he didn't have friends, but for eating BBQ, people generally wouldn't go alone, right?

Yan Hang used to eat BBQ together with Uncle Yan... then what about now?

Buying it and taking it back to eat alone?

It didn't seem like Yan Hang's style, then who was he going to eat with?

Right.

Why would Yan Hang come here?

Is it because there are people he knows here?

Or... is Yan Hang even still here?

Chu Yi raised his head, his heart in a flurry.

His hands were trembling as he handed out flyers to the people beside him.

"I'm already out," the person next to him took the flyer, looking at it while talking on the phone, "Can't you eat something else? It has to be wide noodles?"

Chu Yi suddenly froze.

Unable to breathe, his heartbeat completely lost its rhythm, pounding explosively making his head almost shake along with it, he couldn't move, couldn't turn his head, couldn't move his shoulders, couldn't raise his arms.

Only his eyeballs could still move.

He looked over in the direction of the voice.

He saw the hand holding the flyer.

Slender fingers, slightly thin, with distinct but not protruding knuckles.

Such beautiful hands.

In this world, at least in his world, there was only one person with such beautiful hands.

This voice, these hands.

Yan Hang.

"Alright then, I'll just buy whatever in a bit," Yan Hang didn't notice him, still looking at the flyer in his hand, "Mm, milk tea? I won't drink it, I'll bring it for you if you want... Mm, baked rice it is..."

Baked rice.

The baked rice Yan Hang made was very delicious.

Who was Yan Hang going to make baked rice for?

Who was he living with now?

His new friend? Or an old friend?

For some reason, Chu Yi suddenly felt very dejected.

Find a true one-on-one English teacher for your child.

Yan Hang folded the flyer and stuffed it in his pocket, planning to throw it away later.

As he turned around to go to the milk tea shop to get Cui Yi a cup of milk tea, he suddenly realized the person who had handed him the flyer was still standing beside him.

Completely motionless.

Handing out flyers in this state, the stack in his hands would last until midnight.

Yan Hang walked towards the milk tea shop.

Halfway across the street, he frowned and looked back.

That person handing out flyers just now...

He had only glanced casually, barely looking at the face, but now he kept feeling that person looked like Chu Yi.

But thinking about it again, he felt he was being ridiculous.

How could Chu Yi possibly run over here to hand out flyers, and that person handing out flyers... he looked over, that person was still standing there, head lowered.

Yan Hang felt he might really be going crazy.

No matter how he looked at it, he felt that person was Chu Yi, he hadn't even clearly seen the face, but still felt the overall impression was very similar.

A horn sounded beside him, Yan Hang came back to his senses, he was standing in the middle of the road.

Hesitating for a moment, he turned around and walked back towards the supermarket entrance.

Even though he knew it was impossible for it to be Chu Yi, Chu Yi couldn't possibly be here, even more impossible for him to come here to hand out flyers, and even more more impossible... this person was much taller than Chu Yi, looking to be about 1.73 or 1.74 meters tall... he still wanted to go over and take another look.

Just as he was about to step onto the sidewalk, that person suddenly turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

Yan Hang was stunned for a moment.

That person walked quite hurriedly, taking big strides.

But it was fine if he didn't walk, the moment he walked, Yan Hang almost couldn't believe his eyes, this walking posture was almost exactly the same as Chu Yi's!

Without thinking, he took off running after that person's back, shouting, "Chu Yi!"

That person paused for a moment, not turning his head.

But a second later, he suddenly broke into a sprint and ran forward.

Yan Hang was so shocked seeing him run out over 20 meters before remembering to chase.

It was Chu Yi.

It was Chu Yi!

Running with Chu Yi every day, he was extremely familiar with how this kid ran.

After running a few steps while carrying a bag of groceries he just bought, Yan Hang felt it was too cumbersome, so he simply threw the bag into the flowerbed beside him.

"Chu Yi!" He shouted again while running. The boy who was running ahead with flyers suddenly threw the ones in his hand to the side and sprinted away as if someone was trying to kill him.

What a lunatic!

Yan Hang was speechless.

He didn't want to keep shouting on the street, so he could only grit his teeth and quicken his pace. Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing running shoes today, but a pair of damn casual shoes.

It had been a year since he last saw Chu Yi. The kid ran like the wind, and the key was that he was wearing running shoes. Yan Hang could even tell from the green circle on the shoe upper that they were the pair of NBs he used to own.

Chu Yi was here?

Handing out flyers?

He had grown so tall?

He had changed so much?

He... ran so fast!

Yan Hang had always been quite confident in his running speed and explosive power. Although Chu Yi ran like he was flying, if Yan Hang had been wearing running shoes today, he would have been able to catch up all the same.

But damn, they weren't running shoes!

"Fuck your ancestors." Yan Hang took out a folding knife from his pocket and threw it at Chu Yi's shoulder.

The knife hit Chu Yi's shoulder blade.

It didn't affect his running, but it gave him a big scare.

Yan Hang saw him jump violently, turning his head and reaching back to feel his back.

"Stop right there!" Yan Hang roared.

Taking advantage of Chu Yi's momentary daze, he finally caught up to him. He raised his foot and kicked Chu Yi's ass hard, "Try to fucking run again!"

Chu Yi staggered from the kick and crashed into a tree by the road.

Yan Hang went over and grabbed his arm.

But an unexpected scene suddenly appeared.

Chu Yi twisted his arm and broke free from his grip.

The strength and skill surprised him.

For a moment, he wondered if he had really mistaken the person.

Chu Yi turned around and wanted to run again. Yan Hang quickly grabbed his wrist, twisted it hard behind his back, and pressed Chu Yi against the tree.

"Speak." He pressed against Chu Yi's back.

"Speak what?" Chu Yi's voice was very low.

Yan Hang stared at his profile, "It's really you..."