Gu Zhuoyan didn't know how he rode back home, but he knew he was going to have another sleepless night.

A knock sounded at the door. Sister Hu had cooked some ginger soup and brought it over. While Gu Zhuoyan was drinking the soup, she collected his soaked clothes and prepared another clean school uniform for him.

Gu Zhuoyan glanced at the red school uniform top, not really wanting to wear it. Sister Hu saw through him and said with a smile, "Red is very spirited. The Zhuang Family kid often wears it, and I think it looks very nice."

Gu Zhuoyan thought of the Zhuang Family's kid and raised the bowl to drink the soup, hiding the slight ripple in his eyes with the rim of the bowl. The soup had a strong ginger flavor and was hot, scalding its way down into his stomach.

Sister Hu reminded him, "You have to dry your hair, or you'll catch a cold."

"I know." Gu Zhuoyan agreed perfunctorily, but after Sister Hu left, he didn't move for a long time. The rain outside was still falling. He looked through the glass at the damp terrace, feeling like he was still riding his bike through the streets.

Zhuang Fanxin slipping inside his clothes...

That sensation—whether it was the cheek pressed against his back or the hands wrapped around his abdomen—Gu Zhuoyan remembered it all clearly. When they parted in the alley and Zhuang Fanxin left his body, perhaps it was the cold wind that rushed in at that moment, but he actually felt a sense of emptiness.

Gu Zhuoyan didn't dry his hair or do his homework. He leaned against the headboard, lost in a daze. This weather was a god-sent opportunity; he should show some proper concern for the other person. However, he picked up his phone and put it down again, unable to make up his mind.

A sudden ringtone snapped him back to his senses. The caller ID showed "Zhuang Fanxin," as if he'd been caught red-handed.

As far as he could remember, after they exchanged numbers, they often sent messages or commented on photos, but had only spoken on the phone once. Gu Zhuoyan shook off his dazed state, hid his wildly pounding heart, and decided to play it cool first.

"Hello?" he answered, his voice lazy. "What's up?"

Zhuang Fanxin said, "Nothing much, just that you got soaked. Be careful not to catch a cold." He paused for a moment, then added in one breath, "Take a hot shower, drink some ginger soup, wear a jacket when you do your homework, and get some rest early tonight."

Gu Zhuoyan heard the rustling of paper. 'Could it be that these reminders were written down beforehand?' He bluffed, uncertain, "Stop looking at your cheat sheet."

There was a pause from the other end of the line, then Zhuang Fanxin said, embarrassed, "How did you know..."

These were all things Zhao Jianqiu had reminded him of. He had jotted them down in a notebook and then called to relay them to Gu Zhuoyan. He originally thought he was so clever but never expected to be found out right away.

A warmth spread through Gu Zhuoyan's heart. He didn't know if it was the effect of the ginger soup or because of Zhuang Fanxin's concern. "What about you?" he asked in return. "Did you take a hot shower?"

Zhuang Fanxin said, "I did. I just finished dinner."

Gu Zhuoyan asked again, "Then did you drink any ginger soup?"

No, he hadn't. Zhuang Fanxin didn't like the taste of ginger. He had made a cup of hot milk and was now carrying it to the study to do his homework. While talking to Gu Zhuoyan, he turned on his computer, logged into the class email, and saw that the listening material had only been downloaded a single-digit number of times.

"Oh right, my dad is driving me tomorrow," Zhuang Fanxin said. "What about you?"

The roads were quite flooded. Gu Zhuoyan said, "The driver will take me, or I'll take a taxi."

Zhuang Fanxin said, "It's hard to get a taxi on a rainy day, and the driver has to take my little sister. Why don't you come with me?" This was the main purpose of his call. The other guy had given him a ride all the way through the wind and rain, and he felt bad about it.

Gu Zhuoyan could guess his thoughts and reassured him, "Alright, see you tomorrow morning."

There was nothing else to talk about, and Zhuang Fanxin's scheduled online class was about to start, so they both said "goodbye." Just as he was about to hang up, Zhuang Fanxin suddenly called out, "—Wait a minute!"

At that very instant, Gu Zhuoyan felt inexplicably nervous. 'Why wait? What else does Zhuang Fanxin want to say? Is he going to talk about what happened on the way home? Is his heart beating as fiercely as mine?'

Gu Zhuoyan clutched his phone, putting on a performance of composure better than an Oscar-winning actor. He maintained a calm and gentle tone and asked, "What is it? Go ahead."

Zhuang Fanxin said, "Remember to do the English listening practice, bye-bye."

...Never mind questioning life, Gu Zhuoyan questioned the entire universe as he looked at his screen and confirmed that Zhuang Fanxin had already hung up. 'Do the English listening practice.' Fucking hell, what's so damn important about some stupid English listening practice that he had to say 'wait a minute'?!

Gu Zhuoyan was utterly speechless! Then he obediently logged into his email and downloaded it.

The rain, sometimes heavy and sometimes light, fell throughout the night, turning into a drizzle by dawn.

Zhuang Xianyang drove the kids to school. They left very early, anticipating they would get stuck in traffic. The two kids sat in the back. Gu Zhuoyan had changed into the red tennis shirt, and Zhuang Fanxin had changed into the white one, the exact opposite of the day before.

Gu Zhuoyan didn't look at Zhuang Fanxin the entire time. He felt like there was a construction crew in his heart; it was more bearable if he didn't look. Otherwise, it was a sledgehammer one moment and a small hammer the next, much more dangerous than the legendary fluttering of a deer's heart.

But Zhuang Fanxin just had to lean toward him and even took the initiative to ask, "Want some yogurt? I brought two."

"No," Gu Zhuoyan said, pretending to be cold. After saying it, he remembered the other guy's dad was still there, so he had to turn his head to look back at him. He saw that Zhuang Fanxin's face was fair, but there were faint dark circles under his eyes, and asked, "What time did you sleep last night?"

Zhuang Fanxin said, "After finishing my online class and then doing homework, I didn't get to sleep until after one."

Gu Zhuoyan asked casually, "What online class?"

"Art-related, design." Zhuang Fanxin took a slurp of yogurt, feeling a little sleepy. He gradually closed his eyes in the traffic jam. When the car made an occasional turn, he leaned against Gu Zhuoyan's shoulder due to inertia.

Gu Zhuoyan pressed his lips together, suppressing the slight upward curve of his lips. Then he gently took the yogurt from Zhuang Fanxin's hand to prevent him from getting poked by the straw during a bump. Zhuang Fanxin slept all the way to the school gate. By then, Gu Zhuoyan's palm had warmed up the yogurt.

Whenever it rained, the students would be openly lazy. They would drowsily get through the first two periods, only perking up a little during the long break.

Zhuang Fanxin was bored, so he decided to collect a debt. "Deskmate, when are you going to pay me back my two hundred yuan?"

Qi Nan changed the subject. "Next class is Chemistry, right? I'm going to memorize the periodic table." He avoided the topic, really because he was broke. There was nothing he could do; to cure his severe addiction to in-game purchases, his mom had left him with pockets cleaner than his face.

"Memorize what?" Zhuang Fanxin wasn't really trying to collect the debt. He changed his tone and began to earnestly persuade him, "Deskmate, you shouldn't be addicted to online games. Every time you top up, that's ten cups of milk tea. If you keep it up, you'll lose a whole apartment."

Qi Nan hated being nagged the most. He threw an arm around Zhuang Fanxin's neck and whispered, "I've been playing this recently, let me show you."

The two of them huddled together, looking down at the phone. Their furtive actions held a hint of close camaraderie. Zhuang Fanxin took a look and saw it was the same game Gu Zhuoyan had introduced him to. Because he was too much of a noob, he had never logged in again after that.

Just a moment ago he was like an anti-gaming ambassador, but Zhuang Fanxin's expression changed in a flash. "Add me, add me! My username is Annoyed Again Today."

Probably because his joy was written all over his face, the Class Monitor smelled the excitement from across the aisle and came over to join the discussion. After a short while, boys from all directions gathered around, reporting their usernames and adding each other as friends.

Gu Zhuoyan had gone to the restroom. When he walked back into the classroom, he saw the circle of people with Zhuang Fanxin surrounded in the middle, laughter drifting out from time to time. He walked past them like a master player walking past a group of newbies, without leaving a trace.

Phones were considered contraband at school, so everyone put them away after adding friends. But they weren't done messing around and were still gathered there chatting. Zhuang Fanxin wasn't sitting up straight. He leaned his head back limply and suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.

The group stared at him, knowing he had something good to show off.

Zhuang Fanxin started unbuttoning his shirt. "I'll show you guys something cool."

Gu Zhuoyan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. He hadn't expected so many other spectators after just Qi Nan, but he didn't have that many pen caps. He watched as Zhuang Fanxin pulled open his collar, revealing his collarbone, and delightedly called the circle of people over to admire his tattoo. He understood now. After this batch was done admiring it today, another batch would probably come tomorrow. No one in the entire class would get to miss it.

Just then, the homeroom teacher appeared at the door, holding a chemistry book. As soon as he entered the classroom, he would definitely discover the group of people gathering to admire Fanxin. Zhuang Fanxin's tattoo probably couldn't be hidden anymore.

If Gu Zhuoyan had just spoken up to warn them, everyone would have scattered.

But he didn't make a sound, because he wanted this batch to be the last batch. He wanted Zhuang Fanxin to keep his buttons fastened and his collarbone tightly covered from now on.

Xia Wei walked into the classroom, heard a number of "Wows" and "Holy shits," and followed the sound to the densely populated area in the third row. With his hands behind his back, he said, full of curiosity, "Let me see, too."

Zhuang Fanxin twisted his body. "Take a look!"

The circle of people screamed in terror and scattered like birds and beasts. Zhuang Fanxin was just frozen there, dumbfounded, his clothes in disarray as he looked up at the teacher. Xia Wei glanced at the heart and said, "Not only did you perm your hair, you got a tattoo too?"

Zhuang Fanxin said in a soft voice, "Teacher, I was wrong."

"Why didn't you think about whether you were wrong when you were violating the school rules?" Xia Wei slapped the book on the desk. "Stand up."

Zhuang Fanxin stood up, receiving the scolding with his head lowered. The entire class watched without daring to make a sound. Students from other classes passing by the classroom door also glanced over curiously.

Until the bell rang for class, Xia Wei asked, "Do I need to free up a class period for you to show it off?"

Zhuang Fanxin quickly shook his head. Forget showing it off; he wouldn't even unfasten his top button anymore. When class started, he sat listlessly in his seat, his shoulders slumped, looking even more pitiful than the Little Match Girl.

Gu Zhuoyan could see clearly from the back. He felt a little regretful. As someone who wasn't the least bit afraid of being reprimanded by a teacher, he had seriously misjudged the situation.

However, after one class ended, after school let out in the morning, after the lunch break, and all the way until the evening self-study session began, Zhuang Fanxin didn't smile again for the rest of the day. He sat quietly during class and lay quietly on his desk during breaks, not budging no matter who called him.

During the break before the last evening self-study period, there weren't many people in the classroom. Everyone had gone to the cafeteria or the tuck shop to buy food, and Zhuang Fanxin was lying on his desk alone. Gu Zhuoyan walked over, squatted down next to Zhuang Fanxin's chair, and poked his ribs through his uniform.

Zhuang Fanxin kicked his legs, his voice muffled, "What do you want."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Should we go buy something to eat too?"

Zhuang Fanxin refused, "I'm not hungry."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "I'm hungry."

Zhuang Fanxin fished a box of cookies out of his schoolbag. "Go eat."

Gu Zhuoyan was out of options. He pinched the back of Zhuang Fanxin's neck, forcing him to look up, and saw the grievance on his face. He said, "It was just a scolding. He didn't make you write a self-criticism letter, nor did he make you get the tattoo removed. Stop being so depressed."

Zhuang Fanxin scrunched up his face. "I just am depressed."

And he lay back down.

Gu Zhuoyan went back to his seat and ate the cookies. They were strawberry-filled and cloyingly sweet. As he ate, he understood. If Zhuang Fanxin had been scolded alone, it might have been fine, but having it witnessed by the entire class in public had hurt his pride.

He could also tell that Zhuang Fanxin did well in school and was popular, and today's incident had made him lose face among his classmates. A young boy like him would care a lot about that.

The evening self-study session began. Everyone was studying seriously, and there wasn't the slightest noise in the classroom. The drizzle was still falling, but it grew heavier just as school was about to end, as if it was timed perfectly.

Xia Wei sat behind the teacher's desk grading homework. He didn't need to look up to supervise; with him presiding in person, no one dared to make a ruckus. After grading the last assignment, Xia Wei finally looked up, and his gaze was drawn to the last row.

"Gu Zhuoyan... what are you doing?"

Everyone turned to look back. At the last desk by the window, Gu Zhuoyan was leaning lazily against the window, holding a Chinese textbook in his left hand and holding up an umbrella with his right.

That's right, holding up an umbrella indoors.

He looked up. "Teacher, I'm reciting a text."

Xia Wei looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "What text are you reciting that requires such a dramatic performance?!"

Gu Zhuoyan recited in a deep voice, "Rainy Alley. Holding an oil-paper umbrella, I wander alone in the long—long—and desolate rainy alley, I hope to meet a girl, like a lilac—bound with sorrow and resentment."

It was so fucking ridiculous. The whole class was laughing so hard they were falling over. Zhuang Fanxin turned his head to watch, and after twitching the corner of his mouth, he ultimately couldn't hold it in and let out a chuckle.

Xia Wei's mouth twitched. "Put the umbrella away and do your homework properly!"

Gu Zhuoyan closed the umbrella, and the classroom gradually quieted down. Zhuang Fanxin turned back to continue working on his test paper. Just as he finished reading a question, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He secretly took it out to look. It was a text message from Gu Zhuoyan.

—Feeling any happier?