The little girl stood as if possessed, staring at Gu Zhuoyan, her big eyes shimmering with the faint light of someone looking at an idiot. Then, she chomped down on the arm Gu Zhuoyan was using to block her. Her sticky-rice white teeth could break down any food, and she bit with the ferocity of someone who would inherit the entire family fortune if she bit you to death.

Gu Zhuoyan hadn't even made a sound when he was punched by a sturdy guy from the basketball team before, but now, he furrowed his brows and cried out in pain, "Are you a dog!"

Gu Baoyan even wiped her mouth. "You're so annoying. I like Brother Xiao Zhuang, and it's useless for you to be jealous." She tossed the leash on the ground. "Walk yourself!"

The child ran into the building, and the German Shepherd ran outside. Gu Zhuoyan turned around to chase the dog, his forearm bearing two rows of clear, red teeth marks, still stained with shimmering drool.

Gu Zhuoyan walked the dog, bathed in the evening glow. The German Shepherd seemed to have taken a liking to a Samoyed at the intersection; it was especially fussy, needing to flirt for a while every day after doing its business. He leaned against the wall to wait, pulling out his phone to browse casually. Suddenly, he remembered that he had muted the four-person chat group all this time.

He opened it and scrolled through. The group name had been changed to—Did Gu Zhuoyan confess today?

Gu Zhuoyan hadn't said anything last time and had been silent for nearly ten days, so his bros sensed something was wrong. Lian Yiming had changed the group name. Gu Baoyan had called Lian Yiming to cancel their "engagement" and told him to give up hope. He couldn't bring himself to scold a child, so he could only mock his completely fabricated brother-in-law.

Making a fuss over nothing wasn't Gu Zhuoyan's style. He didn't say a word, simply changing the group name to "Warmly Celebrating Gu Zhuoyan Getting a Partner." In less than five minutes, all the ghouls and demons popped up. Lian Yiming asked, "From the sound of it, you've succeeded?"

Gu Zhuoyan replied, "I've made everyone worry."

Su Wang was always ruthless: "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare. The heart is yours, how could we dare to be presumptuous."

It took Gu Zhuoyan two seconds to react, and then he immediately cursed, "You punk." Just as he was searching for a bloody cleaver emoji, Su Wang diverted the line of fire, "You've been silent these past few days. Lian Yiming said you were dead."

"Fuck you, I said he failed his confession and jumped into the sea." After Lian Yiming finished cursing, he added, "Gu Zhuoyan, what the hell is going on with you? Not even a peep. When you get married, are you not going to invite your bros?"

He'd shamelessly declared he was going to confess before. Now, the more he hid it, the more suspicious he seemed. Gu Zhuoyan didn't plan to remain silent, but he also didn't intend to tell the truth.

"The day Zhuang Fanxin returned to the country, we went to eat hotpot." He started writing the script. "While we were eating, he started crying and said he missed me. After eating, we went to the arcade, and he couldn't help but hug me when I was shooting baskets. I won a stuffed toy for him from a claw machine. He really likes me, ah, I won a super ugly gorilla, and he liked it so much he wouldn't let go."

Su Wang: "You're so fucking cheap. The guy won an award for the country and returned, and you just treat him to hotpot and win him a gorilla?"

Lian Yiming: "It should have been Michelin three-star at least, right? Claw machine? Have you been babysitting too much? Cartier, Tiffany, or Chow Tai Fook would've been fine too. You don't give a ring or a bracelet when you confess?"

He hadn't written the script well; this bunch of spendthrifts didn't like simplicity. Gu Zhuoyan patiently explained, "Bro, our Xin participated in a jewelry design competition. What kind of ring or bracelet am I supposed to give him? Would you write a poem for Li Bai or compose a song for Beethoven?"

He continued making it up, "After we got home, Zhuang Fanxin brought gifts for Grandpa and Baoyan. Gu Baoyan is so shameless, she said she liked Zhuang Fanxin and even asked if he liked her. So I lied and told her she was already engaged to Ming-zi."

Su Wang asked, "Why Ming-zi?"

Gu Zhuoyan replied, "You're too cunning, my sister can't handle you. And Lu Wen is even less mature than my sister." Even scaring people required sound reasoning. "Then Zhuang Fanxin and I were alone in a room. He gave me a matching bracelet, hinting at me, so what was I waiting for? I hugged him and confessed."

Lian Yiming was excited, "So your neighbor agreed?!"

Gu Zhuoyan glanced at the black German Shepherd and the white Samoyed, twisting black and white as he said, "Zhuang Fanxin said—I don't like your sister, I like her brother."

After sending the message, he turned his head and saw Zhuang Fanxin himself. He was so scared he almost dropped his phone. Gu Zhuoyan broke out in a nervous sweat. "What a coincidence, darling. Where are you going?"

Zhuang Fanxin clutched a ten-yuan bill. "Going to the convenience store to buy bread. There's no breakfast for tomorrow." As soon as he left the house, he saw Gu Zhuoyan's back. They had just parted ways at the end of the alley not long ago, so how did he seem even more handsome now? "What are you grinning foolishly at your phone for?"

Gu Zhuoyan lied through his teeth, "Oh... just discussing how much dowry the family should give when Baoyan marries Lian Yiming in the future..."

The phone kept buzzing. The other two sent over a dozen congratulatory messages. Su Wang sent "May you have a precious son soon," but after sending it, he felt the difficulty level was too high and retracted it. Lian Yiming transferred 999 yuan, saying it was a gift for his first love and wishing his bro and his neighbor an everlasting love.

Gu Zhuoyan accepted the transfer, put his arm around Zhuang Fanxin, and said, "Why go to the convenience store? Come on, let's go to the supermarket. I'll buy you food."

After bullshitting for a while, Lu Wen, the most boisterous one, still hadn't surfaced, which was unusual. Gu Zhuoyan opened his Moments and took a look, discovering that Lu Wen had posted something after the exams: "The Day Doesn't Know How Dark The Night Is."

He probably hit a bottleneck with his music creation. Gu Zhuoyan gave it a 'like' as encouragement.

The midterm exam results came out quickly. The exam papers hadn't even been fully reviewed in class yet, but several versions of the rankings were already circulating privately. When the official results were released, the list of the top one hundred students in the grade was posted in the hallway. Like a magnet, it was crowded with gawking students early in the morning.

Gu Zhuoyan was in a hurry to do his class duty, so he just glanced at the list and left. It was easy to find; he was the very first one.

Actually, he already knew last night. Xue Manzi had called after getting the results, saying he had worked hard and that the confidential exam papers from his old school's teaching and research department had been sent via SF Express. She told him to work on them after he received them.

Zhuang Fanxin was looking at the list while holding a box of egg tarts. He had never dropped out of the top eighty before, but he was a little unsure this time. He had just looked through two rows from the bottom up when Qi Nan squeezed over, "Deskmate, you're seventy-second!"

The suspense was gone in an instant. Zhuang Fanxin gave him an egg tart. "You're so annoying. Go look for your own name."

Qi Nan said, "How could I get on this list? I belong in the top five hundred of the grade." The Class Monitor also came over and took an egg tart. The three of them huddled together conspiratorially, their gazes simultaneously landing on the column for first place in the grade.

The Class Monitor said, "I also want to taste what it's like to be first in the grade."

Qi Nan said, "No problem, Yinan's Time will launch a cake for you called 'First in the Grade.' You can try it then."

Chatting, they walked back to the classroom. The hallway outside Class 3 was wet, and Gu Zhuoyan's back was to them as he mopped the floor. The Class Monitor commented, "Not bad at fighting, not shabby at studying."

Qi Nan seamlessly followed up, "Pretty tall and handsome, bound to be loved by all."

Zhuang Fanxin, caught in the middle, felt a bit sullen. Back when Gu Zhuoyan was a model in the art studio, he received people's contact information within a few hours. Now that he was at school, wouldn't he attract even more people?

His Holmes' Heart had crashed and burned repeatedly, so he had no choice but to ask, "Who do you guys think has already fallen in love with him?"

The Class Monitor said, "I don't know about girls, but I know a guy who definitely loves him."

Zhuang Fanxin's face froze in fright. Had he been too obvious and given himself away? Or was it another gay guy? Was this school a port for gays? Qi Nan suddenly looked past him, nodded, and said, "That guy is here."

Turning around, he saw Xia Wei slowly walking over with the grade report, a faint smile on his face that said, "The grade's top student is in my class." Zhuang Fanxin breathed a sigh of relief, gave the last egg tart to Gu Zhuoyan, and hurried off to lead the morning reading session himself.

After mopping the hallway clean, Gu Zhuoyan saw Zhuang Fanxin standing at the lectern leading the English morning reading, half of his body obscured by the desk. As he walked past from behind, he mischievously patted Zhuang Fanxin's butt.

The hand holding the book trembled. Zhuang Fanxin's gaze followed Gu Zhuoyan to the back row, his heart pounding. When he looked down, he read the wrong line. All the way until first period, as he sat in his chair, his two not-so-fleshy butt cheeks remained tightly clenched.

On Friday afternoon, there were only two classes, followed by a parent-teacher conference. Everyone stuck their names on the corners of their desks. Zhuang Fanxin asked, "Deskmate, is your dad coming or your mom?"

Qi Nan said, "My mom. You wanna come with me to watch the shop?"

Zhuang Fanxin slung his drawing board over his back, under the pretext of going sketching, but in reality, he was taking advantage of the early dismissal to go on a date. He trotted to the back to find Gu Zhuoyan. That desktop was clean, with no name tag stuck on it, nor any paper and pen left out.

"Grandpa Xue isn't coming?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Gu Baoyan's school has a parent-child activity."

The school informed Gu Shibo and Xue Manzi about all his affairs. Xue Maochen lived alone like a carefree hermit; they had hidden the matter of his coming out from him, and they didn't dare to trouble the old man too much with the trivial matters after the school transfer.

All the other students' parents came, they had their moms and dads, but Gu Zhuoyan's spot was empty. Even as the top student in the grade, he looked lonely. Zhuang Fanxin, feeling both pity for him and a sense of returning home, squatted by his chair and clung to Gu Zhuoyan's thigh. "Do you miss your mom and dad? Why don't you give them a call?"

Gu Zhuoyan folded his exam paper. "I don't. They never had time to come to parent-teacher conferences before either."

His tone was quite sincere. Zhuang Fanxin thought of Gu Baoyan; the little girl was living happily in Rong City, probably without much parental company at home either. He said, full of pity, "With your parents being like this, does it make you sad?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "They earn so much money for me to spend, so I probably shouldn't be so melodramatic."

No need to worry about someone with immense wealth. The parents began to arrive one after another, so Zhuang Fanxin took Gu Zhuoyan to the Cultural and Creative Park for their date.

This was an arts district converted from an old factory area. The two of them found a coffee shop by a window. Zhuang Fanxin sketched the old building and green ivy outside, while Gu Zhuoyan worked on the confidential teaching and research papers. He had just opened the package when a card fell out. On it was Gu Shibo's fine handwriting: Do not slack off, persevere.

He crumpled it up. The school walls were full of these slogans, enough to make one's retinas detach. The ball of paper rolled across the table. Zhuang Fanxin picked it up and saw that there was another sentence on the back—Take care of yourself.

Gu Zhuoyan could imagine Gu Shibo as he wrote that. He probably hesitated for a quarter of an hour, afraid that writing it would make him seem uncool. A man in his forties, did he think he was some old ice-prince?

He tucked the card into his book and closed it, ending this moment of melodrama. He looked up and noticed Zhuang Fanxin watching him, then asked with a smile, "Are you sketching the scenery or sketching me?"

Zhuang Fanxin said, "Your dad actually cares about you a lot. You could send him a text back."

"Reply with what? That I'm taking good care of myself, that my food, clothing, housing, transportation, studies, and love life are all great." Gu Zhuoyan lowered his head to work on the paper, silently hesitating until he finished the multiple-choice section, just like some little ice-prince.

Zhuang Fanxin gradually finished his sketch. The scenery in the drawing was veiled with a luminous quality, an effect created by the glass window. The coffee shop owner took a liking to it and wanted to buy it. It was just a practice piece, but he sold it for eight hundred yuan. Zhuang Fanxin held the money and said, "I'm a little bit rich now. Shall we go spend it?"

Gu Zhuoyan asked, "What should we buy?"

They weren't short of anything. Zhuang Fanxin saw a couple at the next table wearing matching outfits and felt a little envious. Don't all those celebrities in secret relationships subtly use matching items? If you use one brand of tissues, I'll use the other.

The two went shopping. In a clothing store, they saw two denim jackets; one had a cross embroidered on the back, the other had Buddha's "卍" heart seal. They got one each. Zhuang Fanxin laid down a harsh declaration, "Whoever cheats will get their comeuppance and go straight to the Western Paradise."

Gu Zhuoyan was even harsher, "If you hide under someone else's clothes on a rainy day, heaven will take you. That'll cure you of that bad habit."

They then went into a shop that sold mugs. The word for mug, 'beizi', is a pun for 'a lifetime,' 'yibeizi'. If they didn't buy one, they might break up. Zhuang Fanxin picked out a mug for Gu Zhuoyan with a picture of the steadfast tin soldier. Gu Zhuoyan picked one for Zhuang Fanxin with a picture of Snow White and was promptly called a "pervert."

They bought quite a few trinkets one after another. Tired from walking, the two of them lingered, half-leaning against a shelf. Zhuang Fanxin poked Gu Zhuoyan's abs through his jacket and asked, "You wrote on the postcard that you'd take me out to have fun in the future. Does that promise still stand?"

"Of course it does." Gu Zhuoyan casually picked up a pair of socks. "I'll take you out to have fun, eat good food, stay at Lian Yiming's family hotel." He suddenly lowered his voice, "And I'll let you meet my grandpa."

Zhuang Fanxin smiled, "What if your grandpa doesn't like me?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "Then you don't have to like him either." Remembering what was said before, he added, "If we go abroad to study and I meet your grandparents, what if they don't like me?"

Zhuang Fanxin looked surprised. "You'd be at Harvard and they still wouldn't like you? What on earth could my grandparents be thinking?"

The two of them muttered while standing by a cabinet of cotton socks. Before leaving, they found a pair of pure white phone cases; one had an English question printed on the back, and the other had a math problem. They were practically tailor-made for them.

After finishing their stroll through the Cultural and Creative Park, they passed an old, bluish-gray wall on their way out. Tree branches spread over the top of the wall, and clusters of small, rose-red flowers bloomed among the twigs. Gu Zhuoyan reached up, plucked one, softened its thin stem, and wrapped it around Zhuang Fanxin's wrist.

His hands were stained with the moist green of the leaves, like the sweat of high summer, but more astringent. He clenched it in his palm, not wanting others to see, just like their secret, unknown love at this very moment.

The bus was very empty. They sat in the back row, drinking soda. Zhuang Fanxin let out an orange-flavored burp and said, "Today was our first date after getting together. We earned money, spent money, and bought couple's items. I'd say it was pretty successful."

Gu Zhuoyan nodded in agreement. "Next time will be even better."

Taking advantage of the driver being far away, they reflected on and summarized their date. The bus stop was very close to the small intersection; after getting off, it was just a few steps to get there.

The moment they turned into the alley, Zhuang Fanxin stopped mid-sentence.

The scene was familiar. A person was standing under the banyan tree in the alley—tall and well-built, with wheat-colored skin. He was looking up, observing the banyan's hanging aerial roots. Gu Zhuoyan hesitated, "...Lu Wen?"

Lu Wen turned around, his face covered in bruises.

Author's Note: It snowed today. An unconventional person like Zhuang Fanxin would definitely use his foot to draw his name in the snow. Gu Zhuoyan would press his own sister's head into the snow and say, "Eat snow, you."