The summer after the college entrance exams was the most relaxing summer vacation for everyone who had done well. He Lezhi had enrolled in a school in another province, while Han Fangchi and Xiao Yao stayed local.

Xiao Yao gleefully told He Lezhi, "From now on, Fangchi is mine. Let's see how you two can still have your little clique."

He Lezhi glanced at Han Fangchi, not looking worried at all, and even said, "Congratulations, congratulations."

"Our schools are just a street apart, a ten-minute-or-so walk away," Xiao Yao said smugly.

He Lezhi played along, "That's great."

Xiao Yao sighed contentedly, "I get to experience what being two-thirds feels like too."

Although He Lezhi was playing along, he still told him, "You're very important, Yaoyao. You're not the one-third that's left out."

"Aiya, I know," Xiao Yao shook his head nonchalantly. "I'm a big boy now, I don't get jealous anymore."

The summer wind, though carrying the sweltering heat, was gentle and clean.

In the afternoon, He Lezhi was lying on his stomach on his small bed. The wind blew in from the window, and the room was filled with the sweet fragrance of the small cookies He Qi had baked, making He Lezhi feel comfortably drowsy.

Han Fangchi came in with a large bowl of cut watermelon chunks, placed it on the desk, and also came over to lie sideways on his stomach on the bed, parallel to He Lezhi.

The group chat was buzzing with messages. A few classmates they were on good terms with said they wanted to go out and asked if they were coming.

Lying on his stomach, He Lezhi asked, "Are you going?"

Han Fangchi said, "Depends on you."

He Lezhi asked again, "Is Yaoyao going?"

"He is."

"Let's go then." He Lezhi lay on his stomach like a seal, with his hands by his sides and his chin resting on the bed. His head bobbed as he spoke. "Let's go hang out with Yaoyao."

He Lezhi was no stranger to the grasslands; He Qi had already taken him several times. But going out with classmates felt different. They were packed boisterously into two commercial vans. He Lezhi held his bag and slept next to Xiao Yao, with Han Fangchi sitting behind them.

An enclosed area on the grassland had been made into a campsite, with ready-made small tents pitched one after another. Inside, there were ground mats laid out and small tables set up.

When it was time to divide the tents, it was two people per tent. Without needing to say a word, He Lezhi and Han Fangchi tossed their respective bags into the same tent at the same time. Xiao Yao knew they would do this, so he didn't even come over to their side, having long since learned not to get himself worked up over it.

In his memory, the weather that day was excellent. It wasn't sunny, and a light breeze was blowing, puffing up the short sleeves of the boys' shirts, making the youths look even thinner—a touch of fragility amidst their fervor. In the afternoon, the boys played poker and Werewolf, and had a whole roasted lamb for dinner. After dark, while the others continued to play, the two of them sat to the side, sharing a pair of earphones to listen to music.

Because it was cloudy, there weren't many stars in the sky. The moon hid behind the clouds, its light partially obscured.

Both of them sat curled up with their knees drawn to their chests. Not far away were their friends and a bonfire, and behind them was the dim yellow light from the tent.

He Lezhi held mosquito repellent in his hand, spraying it on them every now and then.

The light from the bonfire reflected on He Lezhi's glasses, dancing livelily on the lenses.

Later, when the phone was about to die, they put away the earphones and just sat quietly. The wind blew against their skin, cool and refreshing.

"Go wash up?" Han Fangchi asked.

"Let's go." He Lezhi pushed himself up with his arms and reached out a hand to Han Fangchi, pulling him up.

After washing up, the two lay on the grass with their legs inside the tent and their upper bodies outside, their heads resting on their backpacks, spread out upon the open wilderness.

Lying like this was a bit prickly, but also very comfortable, and they were reluctant to move.

He Lezhi turned his head toward Han Fangchi. There was a distance of half a meter between them.

The grass grew tall, standing straight around them. Han Fangchi's head was pillowed on his backpack, and through the gaps in the grass, He Lezhi could see his side profile and his high-bridged nose.

"Actually," He Lezhi turned back, looking at the hazy moon in the sky, and said with a small laugh, "when I think about going off to school by myself, I feel a little sad. Just a little."

Han Fangchi didn't turn over. He hummed in agreement and said, "Me too."

It seemed they both had things they wanted to say, but neither of them said anything, or perhaps they didn't know what to say.

Graduating from high school meant bidding farewell to such an important stage in life, and at the same time, bidding farewell to some precious people. Starting university meant embarking on a new stage and meeting new friends.

No matter how close they had been in the past, as distance grew between them, as new friends appeared, as they fell in love, things would eventually be different from how they were now.

For them at that time, this intangible feeling was hard to describe accurately. They were two good friends, feeling an inner emptiness and melancholy because of their impending separation.

Later, He Lezhi bent and stretched his legs a few times, wriggling back into the tent like a worm, and said groggily, "I'm sleepy."

Han Fangchi imitated him, dragging his bag and wriggling inside like a worm. He grabbed the mosquito repellent, sprayed it around, and said, "Then let's sleep."

He Lezhi folded his hands on his stomach and peacefully closed his eyes.

Han Fangchi zipped up the tent and lay down beside him, falling asleep as well.

The night was cool, and the bright moonlight spilled across the grassland. There was a dreamlike tranquility all around. He Lezhi woke up once in the middle of the night. Moonlight fell through the transparent top of the tent. He Lezhi turned his head and saw Han Fangchi beside him, frowning as if he were sleeping uncomfortably.

He Lezhi sat up, thinking he was cold. He took out the clothes he was going to wear the next day from his bag and draped them over Han Fangchi.

Han Fangchi woke up and opened his eyes to look at him.

He Lezhi smiled at him and said, "Go back to sleep."

Han Fangchi closed his eyes again, tucking his chin into He Lezhi's clothes.

After a while, Han Fangchi spoke his name.

"Lezhi."

He Lezhi responded in a small voice, "Hm?"

Han Fangchi said, "I'm hungry."

He Lezhi started laughing. "There's nothing we can do if you're hungry. Next time I have to remember to bring more snacks when we go out. We're always getting hungry."

Han Fangchi just repeated, "Hungry."

He Lezhi laughed and nudged his leg with his knee. "Stop thinking about it and get some sleep."

Han Fangchi turned over to face He Lezhi, his eyes closed, and eventually fell quietly asleep.

The next morning when Han Fangchi woke up, He Lezhi was already gone from the tent, and he didn't know where he had gone. After Han Fangchi finished washing up, he saw He Lezhi running back, clutching something to his chest.

"Fangchi!" He Lezhi called out to him, ran over, and stuffed the things he was holding into his hands, urging, "Quick, quick! I snatched them!"

Han Fangchi looked down and saw a pack of beef jerky and a pack of dried sweet potatoes.

Xiao Yao came running after them, shouting, "He Lezhi, give them back!"

He Lezhi laughed loudly, grabbed Han Fangchi, and ran off. He shouted back over his shoulder, "If you can catch me, I'll give them back!"

"Who can possibly catch up with you!" Xiao Yao yelled in exasperation. "If you two wanted to eat, you could have just asked me! Is it like I wouldn't have given them to you?! Why did you have to snatch mine!"

"Just 'cause," He Lezhi said, laughing.

He Lezhi liked boys; he had vaguely realized this during his adolescence. He didn't hide it and honestly told He Qi. He was still young at the time, and He Qi didn't brush him off. Instead, she had a long, serious talk with him, then told him not to try dating while he was still young, and not to date just to confirm his sexual orientation, whether with boys or with girls.

At the same time, He Qi told him that even if he really only liked boys, it wasn't a big deal. There were no men in his family, no father, and if this caused him to be more emotionally inclined toward men, it wasn't his fault.

Even knowing that her son's sexual orientation might lean toward men, He Qi never scrutinized them, despite the many times He Lezhi brought Han Fangchi home to spend the night.

Under her tolerance, He Lezhi never lied. Therefore, since he never said there was anything between them, there surely wasn't anything.

After He Lezhi graduated from high school, He Qi asked him about it once.

"Do you like Fangchi?" He Qi asked.

He Lezhi hesitated for a moment, smiled shyly, and said, "Actually, I've wondered about it a few times myself."

"And the conclusion?" He Qi looked at him gently.

"I don't know. I can't quite tell," He Lezhi said frankly. "We're too close. It feels like no matter how much I care about him, it's normal. He's my friend. Watching over him, worrying about him—I'm already used to it."

He Qi asked again, "Do you admire him?"

He Lezhi nodded and replied, "I do, of course I do. He's so outstanding, and he's also very warm and kind. Sometimes I also think about how handsome he is, hahaha, especially when I look at him from the side, his nose is really nice."

He Qi laughed too. "Fangchi is indeed handsome."

He Lezhi added, "But sometimes I also think Xiao Yao is cute. When his mouth is going on and on, I think he's like a little yapping puppy. I think about him a lot too, and I care about him. But the two of them are completely different, so my feelings are also different. Like, I don't admire Yaoyao, though I don't know if that's because there's nothing about him to admire, hahaha."

"What about physical intimacy?" He Qi looked him in the eyes and asked, "For example, are there moments when you want to hug or kiss him?"

He Lezhi shook his head decisively and said with certainty, "Never. The times I want to hug him are when I feel he's very sad, or when I'm sad. Kissing, never. Nothing else either. We're very pure. I never fantasize about him."

He Lezhi wasn't troubled by this question either. To him, it seemed whether he liked him or not wasn't very important.

He Qi smiled, patted his head, and said, "If you don't want to be in a relationship with him, then it's not romantic love."

"I don't want to be in a relationship," He Lezhi first said with certainty.

He curled up on the sofa holding a throw pillow, his legs crossed, resting his cheek on the pillow in his arms. He smiled shyly again and, looking at his mother, said, "I'm not willing to."

"Why?" He Qi asked, letting out a laugh. "Not willing to what?"

"He's normal. He doesn't like boys," He Lezhi said with a smile, burying his chin in the throw pillow.

Back then, the internet was not yet very open, and attitudes toward homosexuality were not very tolerant. Although He Lezhi had He Qi's acceptance, he didn't know much about the subject and didn't feel deep down that it was normal. Even though He Qi told him it was no big deal, he still felt it was something that shouldn't be. He had never once fantasized about his friend.

And Han Fangchi was indeed straight, without a doubt. He had never been exposed to homosexuality and had absolutely no understanding of it; it was a concept that had not yet appeared in his world.

Therefore, at that time, the two of them were absolutely open and honest with each other. Neither had ulterior motives, and neither wanted to cross the boundary of friendship.

In those years, apart from He Qi, Han Fangchi was the most important person to He Lezhi.