"Agreed."

He Lezhi finished answering with a smile, then added, "I'm really not holding a grudge."

"I'll still practice with you for a month," Han Fangchi said.

So the next weekend, He Lezhi didn't go back to He Qi's house.

He Qi sent a message: Not coming back today?

During a break from playing, He Lezhi came over to drink some water. Across from him, Han Fangchi picked up the shuttlecock tube from the floor to get a new one, and He Lezhi casually snapped a picture and sent it to her.

He Qi: Found something fun to do again?

He Lezhi: [Happy/]

"Tired?"

When He Lezhi came back from drinking water, Han Fangchi asked him.

"I'm okay." He Lezhi raised his sleeve to wipe his sweat. Han Fangchi was making him run all over the court, and at a very fast pace. It was a completely different thing from his usual endurance running.

Han Fangchi played a lot of indoor sports. Compared to He Lezhi, his movements were effortless, making him truly just a practice partner.

"What should we eat later?" He Lezhi asked.

Han Fangchi waited for him to serve and smiled, "Didn't you just eat before you came?"

"I think I burned it all off," He Lezhi also smiled, "I'm feeling hungry for some reason."

When He Lezhi came out to exercise, he didn't wear his glasses because they were inconvenient; he wore contacts instead.

After showering and changing at the gym, He Lezhi came out to find that Han Fangchi had already finished changing and was talking to someone—he'd run into an acquaintance. He Lezhi didn't say anything and stood waiting at a distance that was neither too far nor too close.

Han Fangchi turned and saw him. He was about to turn back to the person to say goodbye, but just as he turned, he looked back at He Lezhi again.

He Lezhi raised his eyebrows, asking what was wrong.

"I'll get going then. Call me if you need anything," Han Fangchi said.

"Alright, Brother Han. See you."

As the two walked downstairs side by side, Han Fangchi asked, "What's wrong with your eye?"

He Lezhi made a sound, "Hm?" and said, "What's wrong with it?"

"Why is it so red?" Han Fangchi looked at his left eye, which was clearly abnormally red. "Did you get hit while playing?"

"Ah, it's nothing," He Lezhi said nonchalantly. "I got some water in it when I was showering just now. It's like this when you get water in your eye with contacts on."

"Did you take them out?" Han Fangchi asked.

"Took them out."

Han Fangchi asked, "Can you see clearly?"

"My prescription isn't strong," He Lezhi said. "It's just a little blurry."

Han Fangchi grunted in acknowledgment and told him, "Try not to shower or wash your face while wearing them."

He Lezhi smiled and said, "Okay, doctor. I forgot today."

In truth, even if Han Fangchi didn't practice with him, He Lezhi wouldn't have brought up that phone call again. But since Han Fangchi had offered, he was doing a proper job of it.

At least two practice sessions a week, and sometimes they could go play for a bit on a whim after work in the evening. They lived close anyway.

He Lezhi was athletic and had good stamina. After two weeks of practice, he played much better than before. During this time, he and Han Fangchi also played a match with Ning Ken and the others. The two of them went from not being able to win a single game to occasionally winning one now, though it wasn't often.

At Ning Ken's enthusiastic invitation, He Lezhi teamed up with him for a while. Ning Ken had originally wanted to carry him to a satisfying victory, but after just one game, he sent him back.

"Go on, go back." Ning Ken pushed his shoulder from behind with his racket. "Hurry up and get back to the other side."

"What's wrong?" He Lezhi, utterly confused by the push, asked, caught between laughter and tears, "Am I that bad?"

"You're too polite! What kind of engineering guy are you? Get back over there, now!" Ning Ken said, exasperated.

He Lezhi wasn't that familiar with him, so every time he hit the shuttlecock out of bounds or missed a shot, he would habitually say "Sorry" or "My bad." He was indeed a very polite man. But Ning Ken was more casual and didn't pay much attention to his words, so He Lezhi's civility and good manners put pressure on him.

After He Lezhi was sent back, Shang Qi sauntered back to the other side and said to Ning Ken, "He already said he didn't want to team up with you. You insisted on calling him over, only to chase him back again."

Han Fangchi had gone to get some water. When he turned around, He Lezhi was back. He asked him, "What happened?"

He Lezhi stood beside him, swinging his racket, and said, "Brother Ning told me to come back. He doesn't want to play with me anymore."

"Why?" Han Fangchi asked.

"He got tired of me apologizing," He Lezhi said with a laugh.

Han Fangchi picked up a used shuttlecock from the floor, hit it with his racket to tap Ning Ken on the shoulder, and said to him, "Are you that bored, messing around like this?"

"He keeps apologizing!" Ning Ken also picked up a shuttlecock and hit it back, but Han Fangchi blocked it by holding up his racket.

"Let him," Han Fangchi said.

He Lezhi didn't need to apologize to Han Fangchi. They were familiar with each other, and he was used to losing.

Life recently had been quite comfortable for He Lezhi. It was simple and peaceful: work, exercise, go back to He Qi's house, and arrange his other time as he saw fit.

His persona at the company had never been that of someone who would die for his work. He had already told his superior that he didn't want to take on any new projects this year, so when the superior came to ask if he could take one on, the question was posed rather cautiously.

Unexpectedly, He Lezhi agreed readily, saying calmly, "No problem."

The superior looked at him in surprise.

He Lezhi found his superior's incredulous expression a little amusing and said, "I'll be in charge of it."

The superior asked with concern, "Will working overtime be a problem at home?"

'What home?' He Lezhi thought.

"No problem," He Lezhi said with a smile. "I can handle it."

"Alright, Engineer He," the superior praised him, "your status has certainly risen."

He Lezhi smiled but didn't reply.

Now, there was no lover at home who needed his company, and he no longer had to coax anyone or explain himself when he worked overtime.

It was a rush job, and the overtime became endless, day and night.

Naturally, he couldn't practice badminton with Han Fangchi anymore. He Lezhi took the initiative to send a message: Director Han, requesting an extension for the practice sessions.

Han Fangchi: Reason?

He Lezhi: Overtime. A new project came in.

Han Fangchi: Approved.

He Lezhi: Thank you, Director Han [Happy/]

Han Fangchi: Tell me when you're done.

He Lezhi: Okay.

This busy period for He Lezhi fell at the tail end of summer. This year's summer seemed particularly long to him, longer than any other. His summer had started with overtime and was now ending with it.

In this intense, beautiful, and long summer, his long-term relationship had ended, washed away by one downpour after another. That passionate love hadn't made it through another full summer.

The last typhoon season of the summer brought a rainstorm that lasted for several days. The roads were flooded, traffic was restricted, the subway was suspended—it was a downpour that nearly qualified as a flood, bringing the summer in this area to a chaotic end.

He Lezhi lived on a high floor, so he wasn't much affected.

He Qi's house was on the first and second floors. Fortunately, the ground wasn't too low, situated on higher terrain within the residential complex. Although some water got into the house, it wasn't severe. He Lezhi was far from her, and after the first day of the downpour, the roads were closed, and he couldn't get through.

He Lezhi told her over the phone, "Turn off the circuit breaker and go stay at Little Aunt's house. Don't worry about the house."

He Qi said, "I sleep on the second floor anyway, it's fine."

He Lezhi said, "How can you live there with no electricity?"

He Qi said, "I'll see how it goes."

He Lezhi stressed to her seriously, "You must turn off the power."

"I know, I know. Do you think I'm that stupid!" He Qi said with a laugh. "Don't worry about me."

The rain didn't stop. When He Lezhi called again that night, He Qi told him, "Xiao Hei is here."

He Lezhi paused slightly. He Qi then added, "He's staying here tonight."

He Lezhi didn't know what to say. After a long moment, he said, "If more water gets in, you two should leave immediately."

"Don't worry, we know what to do," He Qi said.

Over the phone, He Lezhi heard Zhou Muyao's voice: "Is that Lezhi? Tell him not to worry."

He Lezhi closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and said, "Then you guys stay there. I have to work overtime."

"Make sure you rest," He Qi said.

Zhou Muyao's parents also lived in that district, not far away. When the rain started, he called He Qi to ask how her house was. He Qi said a little water had gotten in, but it wasn't a big problem.

About an hour later, Zhou Muyao arrived with a few people. He Qi was very surprised when she opened the door and saw him.

Zhou Muyao was wearing a raincoat over a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a pair of flip-flops on his feet.

"Auntie." Zhou Muyao smiled at her. His smile was the same as before, with a hint of silliness to it.

"You came over in such heavy rain?" He Qi asked.

"You're home alone. I came to keep you company." Zhou Muyao walked in. The floor was already covered in water, so it didn't matter whether he changed his shoes or not.

He gestured for the people behind him to come in and said to He Qi, "I'm here for something important, too."

Those men were people Zhou Muyao had specifically sought out. It hadn't been easy to find them in this weather, and they were all tall and sturdy.

He Qi watched as Zhou Muyao took off his raincoat, tossed it into the bathroom, and said to the men, "This way."

He Qi's house had two pianos, both on the first floor. If the house became uninhabitable because of the flood, she wouldn't care much about her other belongings, but she couldn't let go of the pianos.

Of the two pianos, one was a piano she had bought herself in recent years. She would be heartbroken if it got waterlogged, but it would be bearable. The other was an imported Yamaha that He Lezhi's maternal grandfather had bought for her behind the whole family's back when she was fifteen. At the time, Little Aunt had even cried in anger. Now, more than thirty years later, He Qi maintained it with extreme care. She couldn't even bear to use it for teaching students, only lovingly opening it to play herself when she had free time.

Zhou Muyao led the men to the piano room on the first floor. Seeing only the new piano, he turned around and asked blankly, "Where's the other one?"

He Qi realized that Zhou Muyao had brought people to move the pianos, and for a moment, her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

He Lezhi never hid anything from her, so she had known about him and Zhou Muyao from the very beginning of their relationship. Back then, Zhou Muyao was in his early twenties, a lively dark-skinned boy with a wonderful personality. He would go shopping with her and had even bought a camera specifically to take beautiful photos of her when they went out.

Now that he and He Lezhi had broken up, He Qi's anger was real, but it was also true that she had treated him like a son for so many years.

Now, Zhou Muyao stood there soaking wet, blinking his dark eyes and asking her about the piano. He Qi's nose tingled. She paused for a few seconds before smiling and pointing upstairs, "Lezhi had the property management help move it up."

"Oh, okay." Zhou Muyao asked, "Then why wasn't this one moved?"

He Qi said, "The property management is crazy busy. It took many phone calls just to get them to come. It's already good that they moved one."

"We should still move it up. It's worth over a hundred thousand, you could buy me with that much," Zhou Muyao said with a smile.

The men Zhou Muyao had hired for a lot of money, along with him, worked together to move the piano, which weighed several hundred pounds, up to the second floor.

Throughout the process, He Qi could hear him constantly telling the others, "Careful, careful, be extremely careful."

When they reached the second floor, the workers wanted to place the two pianos together, but Zhou Muyao said, "Just put it here. Don't put them too close, so they don't get bumped."

The two pianos were placed safely on the second floor. Now, no matter how hard it rained, He Qi had nothing left to worry about.

The workers left on their own. He Qi brought a towel upstairs and handed it to Zhou Muyao.

Zhou Muyao squatted down and began to wipe the piano. After all that moving, it was covered in fingerprints and water marks.

He Qi tapped the back of his head lightly and said with a laugh, "Why are you wiping that?"

Zhou Muyao turned back, "Then what should I wipe?"

"Wipe yourself." He Qi also squatted down. She unfolded the towel, flipped it over, folded it again, and wiped Zhou Muyao's forehead forcefully, like wiping a naughty little boy. "Your whole head is wet."

"Ah, I thought it was a rag," Zhou Muyao said with a laugh.

Zhou Muyao was extremely familiar with this house; he had stayed here many times.

Even now, there was still loungewear he used to wear when he visited in the closet.

He Qi said, "The clothes are in Lezhi's room. Go get them yourself."

Zhou Muyao lowered his head and said, "Mm."

He Qi sighed. She stood beside him, stroking his head, and said, "But I can't let you stay in his room anymore. I'm sorry, Xiao Hei. I'll get a bigger room ready for you."

Zhou Muyao was silent for a few seconds, sniffled, then nodded and said, "Okay."