Yan Hang quickly prepared breakfast for two. Today he made baked rice. Chu Yi stood beside him brushing his teeth and watching.

Before at home, he always thought having such a complex breakfast was unlikely, because even when his mom cooked tang yuan, she would get angry and scold people while cooking. He would usually just take some money, go out and buy a bun or something.

Now watching Yan Hang make the baked rice, he felt it probably depended on the person. After washing up, the two portions of baked rice were put in the oven waiting for the timer to go off.

"There's milk in the fridge," Yan Hang said. "If you want it hot, pour it out and heat it in the microwave."

"Cold is fine," Chu Yi said.

Yan Hang went to wash up. Chu Yi stood in front of the oven watching.

He didn't used to like the kitchen. His family's kitchen was very messy, with many places having oil stains that could never be fully washed off. The oil and salt jars had chips. No matter how you looked at it, it wouldn't put you in a good mood.

After eating at Yan Hang's house, he felt Yan Hang's kitchen was very different.

Clean and tidy. Although Yan Hang and Uncle Yan were both lazy about washing dishes, other areas were kept very neat, pleasing to the eye.

The kitchen, after all, should be the warmest place in a home.

The oven beeped.

"It's ready to eat!" Yan Hang shouted while washing his face.

"Ah!" Chu Yi also shouted in response.

Yan Hang suddenly poked his head out from the bathroom. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, what?" Chu Yi was stunned.

"Then why did you shout 'ah'?" Yan Hang said. "I thought you got burned."

"I was just, just responding," Chu Yi said.

"Can't you just say 'mm'?" Yan Hang said.

"The sound isn't, isn't loud enough," Chu Yi said.

Yan Hang laughed. "Alright, you take the food out first."

The baked rice smelled delicious. Chu Yi swallowed, poured the milk, sat at the table, and waited impatiently for Yan Hang to come out.

As soon as Yan Hang walked to the table, he immediately picked up his chopsticks and started eating with his head down.

"No need to wait for me," Yan Hang said with a smile.

"Just hypocritically, putting on a show," Chu Yi said while eating. "No, no need to take it seriously."

"Is it tasty?" Yan Hang picked up his chopsticks.

"Mm." Chu Yi nodded.

"Chefs love customers like you the most," Yan Hang said while eating. "Gives a great sense of accomplishment."

"Mainly because I, haven't eaten, anything so de-, delicious," Chu Yi smiled.

"After the new year, I want to apply with the manager to work in the kitchen," Yan Hang said.

"Not going to be, be the team leader anymore?" Chu Yi was a bit surprised.

"Didn't want to do it originally," Yan Hang said. "Working until the new year is just to familiarize myself with this part of the job. I still want to go to the kitchen."

"Then you'll have to start, start from the beginning again?" Chu Yi asked.

"Of course, I'm just a newbie in the kitchen. I'll definitely start from the most junior position," Yan Hang said. "Doesn't matter, I don't have anything else to do anyway."

"The money won't be, be the same," Chu Yi reminded him. "You'll be forced to become a penny, penny-pincher."

"How so," Yan Hang laughed. "Afraid your No. 1 penny-pincher status will be threatened?"

"I'll give it to you." Chu Yi waved his hand generously.

When leaving today, Yan Hang didn't specially call a car to the building. They left together and took the bus.

That day after he answered that strange phone call, why did he suddenly become so nervous? Chu Yi didn't ask more. He felt it should be related to Uncle Yan's matter.

Today he wasn't that nervous anymore. Perhaps it had already been dealt with? Or he had adjusted his mindset?

Chu Yi actually had many doubts. The medicine Yan Hang took didn't seem like something you could casually buy at a pharmacy. What medicine was it?

Why did he need to take medicine?

But he didn't dare ask.

He didn't even dare ask why Yan Hang had to go to work so early on Saturday.

For now, he only dared to take Yan Hang's current state as the standard. If Yan Hang was relaxed now, that was fine. If Yan Hang was happy now, that was fine. If Yan Hang was calm now, that was fine.

Anything else could wait.

"I'll be really busy these few days," Yan Hang stood beside him, looking out the bus window together with him. "Our work content has been adjusted now, there are quite a few issues. I probably won't have any rest this whole month."

"Oh." Chu Yi nodded. No wonder he had to go so early today.

"In the evenings I still need to go..." Yan Hang hesitated for a moment. "See a doctor, so I won't be able to ask you out to play for a while."

"What doc-, doctor?" Chu Yi turned his head.

"Psychologist," Yan Hang smiled. "It's nothing, I used to see one before too."

Chu Yi nodded without saying anything.

After a while, he asked softly, "If I go to eat, eat, can you give a dis-, discount?"

Yan Hang glanced at him and asked with a smile, "I can."

"Oh," Chu Yi responded. "Then..."

"If you want to go then go," Yan Hang said smiling. "Even if you just drink some water and don't eat anything, no one will chase you away."

"That would be too, not tycoon-like," Chu Yi said.

On weekends, besides Zhou Chunyang, the local Gao Xiaoyang and Wu Xu would go home. The others usually slept until noon.

But Zhou Chunyang always got up a bit earlier. It should be about time now.

Chu Yi bought a seafood noodle dish from the small shop next door.

This shop was discovered by Zhou Chunyang. One dish was 18 yuan and came with a small bottle of Coke. He said it was very cheap.

Chu Yi felt it wasn't cheap at all. The wholesale price of a small glass bottle of Coke was only one yuan. A 17-yuan noodle dish didn't seem to have that much seafood in it...

Carrying the takeout box, he had just walked to the fourth floor stairwell when he saw Zhou Chunyang stretching and yawning as he walked over.

"Chu Yi?" He stopped. "You're back so early?"

"Yeah." Chu Yi smiled.

"It's the weekend. I thought you wouldn't be back until Monday," Zhou Chunyang said.

"No," Chu Yi didn't know what to say, so he directly handed over the meal box in his hand. "For you."

"Oh." After taking it, Zhou Chunyang paused again. "What?"

"Seafood noodles," Chu Yi said. "Break-, breakfast."

"How many portions?" Zhou Chunyang opened the bag and looked inside.

"Is one portion not, not enough for you, to eat?" Chu Yi asked.

"You specially brought me a breakfast portion?" Zhou Chunyang looked at him.

Being asked this, Chu Yi suddenly felt a bit awkward.

"Ah." He responded.

"No need to be so polite," Zhou Chunyang said, "I'm just picking out a gift, and I was planning to go shopping myself anyway."

Thank heavens!

Thank the heavens above!

Amen!

Chu Yi suddenly let out a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that Zhou Chunyang found a reason on his own to avoid some awkwardness. At the same time, Chu Yi felt depressed that he didn't even think about properly thanking Zhou Chunyang for helping him pick out a gift all afternoon.

If it weren't for the coincidence that he brought Zhou Chunyang this seafood noodle dish for another reason, what would Zhou Chunyang think of him, after helping him pick out a gift for a whole afternoon...

Chu Yi sighed, feeling that he really had no experience interacting with people.

"Let's go hang out on the field for a bit," Zhou Chunyang said, "Daqiang didn't come back until almost dawn, and now his snoring makes me want to stab him with a knife."

"Okay." Chu Yi smiled.

"Did you get this noodle dish from the place I mentioned?" Zhou Chunyang asked.

"Yeah, with a small Coke." Chu Yi said.

"You can have the Coke," Zhou Chunyang said, "I'm on a diet."

Chu Yi glanced at him.

"I don't have a physique as good as yours," Zhou Chunyang said, "Other than playing some basketball, I'm too lazy to exercise. Controlling my diet a bit is just to make myself feel better."

"You're tall." Chu Yi said.

In this dorm room, except for Wu Xu, everyone was at a height Chu Yi envied.

"Being handsome isn't about height, it's all in the face." Zhou Chunyang said.

Chu Yi opened his mouth but couldn't get any words out.

There was no one on the field at this time. The two of them sat on the bleachers, with Zhou Chunyang happily eating the seafood noodles beside him while Chu Yi looked at the quiet court.

This was the first time he saw such a tranquil court since arriving at the school.

"You don't know how to play basketball, right?" Zhou Chunyang asked.

"Yeah," Chu Yi smiled, "I don't know how to play any sports."

"At first I felt you were quite introverted, but after getting to know you, from the way you talk, it doesn't seem that way," Zhou Chunyang said while eating, "But sometimes I still feel you are introverted."

"It's just that, talking is hard for me." Chu Yi said.

"Just speak slower," Zhou Chunyang said, "When I was little, my neighbor's kid always blinked his eyes. I imitated him for a few days and it backfired. I ended up blinking even more than him. My dad almost beat me to death."

Chu Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud, turning to look at him.

"Later, I deliberately blinked very slowly, forcefully controlling it," Zhou Chunyang said, "And it went back to normal. You can try it, just go slower."

"Okay." Chu Yi nodded, still wanting to laugh a bit.

But... speaking slowly, this reminded him of Uncle Yan.

That was the first person to comfort him, telling him that stuttering was no big deal.

"Do you have anything going on today?" Zhou Chunyang asked.

"No." Chu Yi said.

"Then let's go out for a stroll later, call up the others and hang out for a while." Zhou Chunyang said.

"Okay." Chu Yi nodded.

Going out to hang with the dorm mates didn't really have any particular goal. They would just take a bus somewhere, go to the city center, then wander the streets and eat when it was time.

But Chu Yi found it very interesting.

He used to be afraid of standing in crowds, but now if he was with these dorm mates, he could slowly relax and experience the feeling of 'my classmates'.

Li Ziqiang was forcibly dragged out of bed by a few people.

"I fucking just fell asleep!" He shouted, very dissatisfied.

"If you don't come with us, you'll be stuck with..." Zhang Qiang said, glancing over at Su Bin, "him for the whole day."

"Fuck." Li Ziqiang got out of bed.

Before leaving, Chu Yi glanced at Su Bin's bed. Su Bin was calmly playing on his phone.

Being ostracized is a very scary thing. Chu Yi had experienced this feeling in detail for over a decade.

Many times he would give signals, wanting to give Su Bin a chance to be with everyone, but... perhaps Su Bin didn't need it.

Unlike his own passiveness, Su Bin was actively isolating himself, filled with an air of disdain for associating with them.

Chu Yi sighed and closed the door.

There are all kinds of people in this world.

The most adorable is still the mutt.

The most handsome is Yan Hang.

"Let's go play around the train station area today," Zhou Chunyang said, "There are a lot of tourists coming these days. By National Day, basically everywhere will be packed with people."

National Day?

Perhaps it was because he hadn't fully adjusted to the new school and environment, but he had no awareness that National Day was coming up soon.

"Are you all going home for National Day?" Hu Biao asked.

"Of course," Li Ziqiang said, "You're not?"

"I'm definitely going back, to cry to my grandma and swindle some money." Hu Biao said.

"I'm also going back," Zhang Qiang said, "What about Chu Yi?"

"I'm not going back," Chu Yi said, "I'm going to find a part-time job."

"If my mom knew you, she'd definitely want to take you as her godson," Hu Biao said, "So capable, finally getting a break but still thinking of working."

Chu Yi just smiled without saying anything.

He really hadn't thought about whether to work or not. Yan Hang said he would ask around for him, so he wanted to wait for news from Yan Hang first.

Working over National Day was just an excuse.

Everyone in the dorm was leaving, all going home, except for him.

Since coming here, only his aunt had contacted him, asking about his situation on WeChat. The only ones he actively called were his aunt and grandparents.

Even now, he didn't dare contact his mom or maternal grandparents. He was really afraid the call would be hung up, or that he would hear some hurtful responses.

Most importantly, he felt no one at home was waiting for his call at all.

Let alone caring if he came home or not.

"Xiao Yan," Wang Qinqin walked over, "Take a look at the National Day shift schedule and see if your team needs any adjustments."

"Okay, thanks Sister Wang," Yan Hang took it and looked, "Aren't you going to take a couple days off during National Day to go home?"

Wang Qinqin wasn't a local, but her home wasn't too far away.

"No need, there's a bunch of stuff here. Going back for Chinese New Year is the same," Wang Qinqin smiled, "What about you?"

"I'm alone," Yan Hang said, "No need to go home."

Wang Qinqin paused for a moment before smiling again: "No wonder I feel you're more steady than kids your age usually are... Then let's both stay here for the holiday."

"Okay." Yan Hang nodded with a smile.

With the holiday approaching, the hotel had more guests, and their restaurant also had quite a few more customers. Even before the peak lunch hour, they were already getting busy.

Yan Hang stood behind the bar, watching the servers hurrying back and forth, ready to go over and help at any time.

Ma Li came over with two trays, put one tray on the front desk, and waited for other servers to have time to send it over.

Yan Hang went to take the tray.

He couldn't see Ma Li much now, as he had swapped shifts with someone to come over today.

Recently, Ma Li had been relatively quiet. Ever since Yan Hang dragged him to the back alley and beat him up last time, when he occasionally ran into Yan Hang, he acted as if he was looking at air. But those complaints and strange phone calls had temporarily disappeared.

As long as he didn't make trouble again, Yan Hang had no plans to do anything to him for now, after all they were short on servers recently and were still hiring.

Ma Li should feel lucky to be assigned to Wang Qinqin's group, otherwise Yan Hang would have kicked him out first after hiring enough people.

After helping serve dishes to two tables, when Yan Hang returned to the bar, Zhang Chen raised her chin toward behind him while holding two cups of coffee, "Brother Hang, your little brother is here."

Yan Hang paused for a moment and turned around.

He saw Chu Yi and those few boys from his dorm.

Chu Yi smiled at him a little embarrassedly.

"Come, sit at this table," Yan Hang walked over and led them to the table closest to the back door of the restaurant. "This table is the acquaintance special seat."

"What's an acquaintance special seat?" Zhou Chunyang asked.

"It's the place other customers don't like to sit," Yan Hang said.

Everyone laughed.

"Out shopping?" Yan Hang glanced at Chu Yi.

"Yeah," Chu Yi smiled. "We went to the train station this morning."

"Order then," Yan Hang looked at the few of them. "Same as last time? Saves me some trouble."

"You can remember what we ate last time?" Zhou Chunyang asked.

"I remember," Yan Hang pressed on the ordering device. "You guys can check it in a bit."

"They probably don't even remember themselves," Chu Yi said.

"Then that's perfect, won't feel like eating the same thing again," Yan Hang smiled. "Wait a bit, it's busy today, I'll come back later."

This meal today was Hu Biao's idea, and it was going Dutch. They wanted to spend all the money they had on hand before going home.

Chu Yi felt quite distressed. Although he really wanted to come see Yan Hang, but...

Originally he had wanted to come drink a glass of water like Yan Hang said.

And he also didn't want to have so many people come over.

Especially with Zhou Chunyang who had already amazingly come alone once before.

Chu Yi watched Yan Hang's back until he turned to the side of the main door and disappeared from view before turning his head back.

As soon as he turned back, his gaze met Zhou Chunyang's.

Zhou Chunyang smiled at him without saying anything.

Chu Yi didn't quite understand the meaning of his smile, but him staring at Yan Hang like that just now was indeed a bit funny.

The dishes Yan Hang served them were exactly the same as the first time they came, down to the last detail.

Perhaps others really didn't remember, but Chu Yi remembered very clearly. After all, he could count on one hand the number of times he had the opportunity to eat this kind of thing. He still remembered the specific contents of every big meal his aunt had taken him to eat.

The special skill of a country bumpkin.

But it was quite surprising that Yan Hang could remember. So many customers, so many tables, so many different foods every day.

"I'll bring you guys food when I come back," Hu Biao said while eating. "My mom will definitely buy a whole bunch."

"Same for everyone," Zhang Qiang said. "The food we bring back can probably last a month."

"Then you're underestimating the people in this dorm," Zhou Chunyang smiled. "Lasting a week would mean we're on a diet."

Perhaps because the holiday was approaching, there were especially many people in Yan Hang's restaurant today. Yan Hang was also constantly walking back and forth.

They ate and chatted for over an hour. The time Yan Hang stopped to rest added together probably didn't exceed ten minutes.

When they pooled money to pay the bill, Yan Hang finally came over, "It was too busy today, didn't have time to take care of you guys."

"We're all sitting in the acquaintance special seat," Zhou Chunyang said with a smile. "No need to take care of us. Next time we can go get it ourselves."

"That's right," Hu Biao said. "Next time we'll just do full self-service. Brother Hang, you don't need to worry about us."

"Save a bit, it's quite expensive to eat here, and you still come often?" Yan Hang said.

In this dorm, the only one who could frequently come eat was probably just Zhou Chunyang.

After finishing this big meal, the money on hand for the people in the dorm was pretty much gone. Plus having barbecue for dinner with a group every night after that, Li Ziqiang was already howling about having no money before the holiday even started.

"Good thing I saved money for the train ticket!" He tapped his wallet on the table. "Listen to this empty sound."

Chu Yi still had money though. He had always been quite frugal with money. Other than daily necessities, he had only spent some in the past few days to buy Yan Hang a birthday present, but it wasn't much.

He had always wanted to go to Yan Hang's restaurant to drink water, but felt embarrassed. He was afraid of making things difficult for Yan Hang and also knew Yan Hang had been extremely busy recently.

But not seeing Yan Hang for many days in a row also felt quite uncomfortable.

Other than these few dorm mates, in this city he still wasn't familiar with, Yan Hang was the only one who could make him feel at ease and have a sense of belonging.

There were two days in between when Zhou Chunyang didn't show up at dinner time. He almost wanted to call Zhou Chunyang and ask where he was, if he had run off alone to eat at Yan Hang's place again.

Of course, he was too embarrassed to do so.

This kind of childish jealousy like fighting over toys made him feel a bit silly.

-No one in the dorm?

Yan Hang sent him a message.

Chu Yi looked at the empty dorm. Tomorrow was the start of the holiday. At this time, besides Zhou Chunyang who was still waiting for his dad's car to pick him up, everyone else had already left.

-Yeah, just me and Chunyang.

-My room key is with the security guard. Come over directly in a bit.

Chu Yi paused for a moment, then suddenly stood up, staring at his phone.

He had only told Yan Hang before that he wasn't going home. Yan Hang also hadn't said anything else. Now suddenly saying this made him so pleasantly surprised he wanted to shout a few times.

-Why didn't you say so before?

He quickly replied.

-I didn't tell you?

-No!

-I've been as busy as a Western dog. Thought I told you?

-Western dog?

-Can I be some local breed with how stylish I am?

Chu Yi chuckled at his phone for a while.

"Are you going to the cafeteria in a bit?" Zhou Chunyang pushed open the door and entered the dorm room.

"Yeah." Chu Yi nodded.

"Want to grab a bite with me and my dad?" Zhou Chunyang said, "There probably aren't many people eating at the cafeteria right now, so I doubt there's much food left."

"It's fine." Chu Yi smiled.

"You... are just staying in the dorm these few days?" Zhou Chunyang looked at him.

"I'm going to Yan, Yan Hang's place." Chu Yi said.

"Oh," Zhou Chunyang nodded. After putting on his coat, he glanced at his phone, then turned his head to look at Chu Yi, "Chu Yi."

"Hm?" Chu Yi responded.

"There's something I've been wanting to ask you." Zhou Chunyang said.

"Ask away." Chu Yi said.

"You and Yan Hang," Zhou Chunyang pushed up his glasses, "are just ordinary friends?"

"Huh?" Chu Yi was stunned.

What are ordinary friends?

Then what are extraordinary friends?

"What I mean is," Zhou Chunyang cleared his throat, seeming a bit embarrassed, "you and Yan Hang, are you good friends? Buddies? Best buds? Brothers?"

"Ah," Chu Yi seemed to understand what Zhou Chunyang meant, but he still didn't know how to answer. He never had other friends, the guys in the dorm were close classmates, and besides them, there was only Yan Hang.

Yan Hang was a friend.

But he never thought about what kind of friend.

However, hearing Zhou Chunyang list out all those terms, he felt they could all apply to him and Yan Hang. Yan Hang could be any type of friend.

"Yes." He nodded.

"You sure?" Zhou Chunyang looked at him.

Being questioned like this made Chu Yi uncertain again. He hesitated, "What do you mean?"

"I'll be direct," Zhou Chunyang seemed to make up his mind and bit his lip, "Do you like Yan Hang?"

Chu Yi was stunned for a good ten seconds before suddenly remembering Zhou Chunyang's "gay" identity, only then coming back to his senses.

It gave him quite a fright.

"No no no, it's not, not like that." He quickly waved his hands.

"Really?" Zhou Chunyang asked again.

"Really!" Chu Yi nodded.

To him, Yan Hang was a very important person, an extremely important friend, the first friend in his life, someone who made him feel at ease, relaxed, a friend he could spend a year searching for.

But he wasn't "gay".

"Alright then," Zhou Chunyang smiled and grabbed his bag, "I'm heading out. I'm not going anywhere these few days, so if you want to go somewhere fun, just give me a call and I'll be your tour guide."

"Okay." Chu Yi said.