Chapter 39

"Good morning, Director Yu." He Lezhi ran into his yawning leader at the elevator entrance.

"Morning." The leader was carrying a laptop backpack on his back and holding another one in his hand, looking like he hadn't woken up.

"Stayed up late?" He Lezhi asked.

"Went to bed at five, I'm going blind," the leader said.

He Lezhi chuckled, "I told you I could take on more work this year, but you wouldn't let me."

The elevator doors opened, and the two of them stepped in together. The leader was about to speak when he saw the corner of He Lezhi's forehead and stopped short.

"You..." The leader was too embarrassed to ask directly.

"I bumped it," He Lezhi answered proactively, "I didn't get into a fight."

"Where did you bump it to get like this?" the leader asked in surprise, looking at the bruise around his eye.

He Lezhi said helplessly, "On a kid's schoolbag."

If it weren't for He Lezhi's usual conflict-avoidant personality, his colleagues would have really thought he had been in a fight. But the idea of him getting into a fight seemed impossible; in his years at the company, they had never seen him argue with anyone.

They just hadn't known him long enough. He was once a hot-blooded boy who would unhesitatingly get into a group fight for a good friend. That time, he really got hit in the face, leaving a purple bruise.

Xiao Yao would remember this for a lifetime. A gentle person like He Lezhi getting into a fight for him, plus the always steady Han Fangchi—after that, Xiao Yao even got jealous less often.

So this time, when Xiao Yao saw He Lezhi's face, the memory was instantly triggered.

"What happened?" Xiao Yao looked at He Lezhi in shock. "Who hit you?"

He had come over to pick something up. He needed to go back to his parents' place to fix a cabinet door and came to Han Fangchi's to get some tools, taking the opportunity to invite them for a meal. He Lezhi opened the door for him, and Xiao Yao saw it as soon as the door opened.

Xiao Yao stepped inside without even taking off his shoes, reached out, and pushed all of He Lezhi's hair back to look at his face. He wasn't gentle, making He Lezhi squint.

"Did you get into a fight?" Xiao Yao asked.

"I bumped into something," He Lezhi said. "Who would I fight with?"

Han Fangchi pushed Xiao Yao's wrist away from the side and went to get the toolbox for him. "It looks like you're about to fight him."

"I wasn't rough." Xiao Yao asked again, "You bumped it and it looks like this?"

He Lezhi said, "What's that smell on your hand?"

"Ah!" Xiao Yao laughed loudly as he changed his shoes and came in. "Sorry, I was just moving some motor oil, but I wiped my hands!"

Xiao Yao had a friend who owned a car repair shop, and he sometimes hung out there. After having his hair tousled by him, He Lezhi's every breath was filled with the lingering smell of motor oil. "I've really had it with you."

He Lezhi washed his face, but the smell didn't go away, so he had to wash his hair as well.

Han Fangchi found him a new towel. He Lezhi kicked Xiao Yao in the shin while drying his hair.

"I'm sorry! Hahaha," Xiao Yao said heartlessly.

He Lezhi had already started moving his things bit by bit. He didn't have much; since he started moving from place to place last year without a permanent residence, many things hadn't even been unpacked and could be moved directly.

Since it was close by anyway, he would take a few things over each time he went to open the windows, cleaning up as he went.

One time, while packing small items of clothing, he instinctively froze the moment he opened a bag.

In the bag were several of Zhou Muyao's baseball caps, mixed in with his own hiking hats. He hadn't noticed at the time and had brought them out together.

In a few more days, it would be exactly a year since He Lezhi heard a drunken confession from his boyfriend's lips.

He hadn't received a call from Zhou Muyao for some time now, only getting an occasional drunken text message. No more long-winded confessions, sometimes just a simple "Lezhi." Compared to the period right after they broke up, the calls from people who thought they were still together and tried to find Zhou Muyao through him had also nearly disappeared.

Time had moved on unhurriedly at its own pace for a year. It seemed to be forever composed, never speeding up or slowing down for anyone. But for He Lezhi, this year felt like his original life had been brutally cut off, and after a long period, a new connection had grown. It was like a scar that would eventually heal, left on the year he turned thirty.

He Lezhi thought about how at this time last year, he was waiting for the ring, planning to give it to Zhou Muyao on his birthday. Thinking back on everything that happened after, he felt that life was absurd beyond description.

But as time settled the surface-level emotions—anger, reluctance, doubt, and even a sharper hatred—they were all blown away by the winds of time. When everything returned to memory itself, these eight years were still a beautiful past for He Lezhi. Even if the result was full of regret, the process was pure and passionate, and it would never be forgotten.

He couldn't bring himself to just throw the hats away, but he couldn't deal with them at the moment either. He could only put the bag into a corner of the wardrobe and not touch it for now.

But as he continued to go through things he hadn't organized before, and as all the clothes were hung up in the wardrobe one by one, He Lezhi discovered that it wasn't just a few hats that had gotten mixed in with his belongings.

Clothes, miscellaneous items, personal effects—quite a few things here and there. Some were in the boxes Zhou Muyao had packed, while others were things He Lezhi himself had brought out at the time. Trying to sort through the mixed-up items, he couldn't be both quick and accurate.

After all, eight years was a very long time.

He Lezhi packed them all up in a large paper bag, planning to have Xiao Yao take them back to Zhou Muyao the next time he came over. The two of them lived close to each other and saw each other often.

When Han Fangchi came over, he saw the hats stacked on top of the bag and asked, "Xiao Hei's?"

"Yeah," He Lezhi said. "You can even tell that."

"This hat was left at my place for over a month before, hanging by my door every day," Han Fangchi said.

He Lezhi remembered now. There was a time they went to Han Fangchi's place, and Zhou Muyao left both his hat and umbrella there. Back then, Zhou Muyao was still in Beijing. Later, when they went out for a meal together, Han Fangchi brought them to He Lezhi and told him to take them back.

"I remember now," He Lezhi said.

"Why is it here?" Han Fangchi asked.

He Lezhi said, "I was thinking of having Yaoyao take it to him next time."

"I'll take it," Han Fangchi said. "We're seeing each other next week."

"Okay." He Lezhi asked casually, "Are you guys getting together for something next week?"

Han Fangchi grunted in affirmation. "My cousin is getting married next weekend, he has to be there."

Both Han Fangchi and Zhou Muyao were the groom's older cousins. They had to go over the night before to see if there was anything they could help with. Han Fangchi worked overtime for a bit. By the time he got there, the wedding apartment was almost fully decorated. Zhou Muyao was standing on a stool, sticking decorations to the living room ceiling.

"Bro, you're here?" He greeted Han Fangchi when he saw him walk in.

"Aren't there any chairs?" Han Fangchi looked around but didn't see any. "That stool doesn't look sturdy."

"It's said to hold up to a hundred kilos," Zhou Muyao said with a smile. "I'm not a hundred kilos, so it's fine."

Han Fangchi went into the bedroom to greet the elders, then found a currently unoccupied chair, brought it over, and said to Zhou Muyao, "Come down. Stand on this."

Zhou Muyao jumped down with a smile. "If you hadn't come, no one else would have been worried about me falling."

Whenever the family elders gathered, Han Fangchi and Zhou Muyao would inevitably get lectured. The elders couldn't say much about Zhou Muyao's orientation, almost as if trying to spare his feelings, but it was a different story for Han Fangchi.

The Pang Family was a relatively traditional and large family. Han Fangchi had grown up on an excellent trajectory, seemingly living up to everyone's expectations. In the eyes of the more traditional and rigid elders, Zhou Muyao's life had already gone astray, while Han Fangchi had always been obedient since childhood, never once straying from the path.

Anyway, he wouldn't reply no matter what was said to him. Zhou Muyao quietly nudged Han Fangchi's shoulder. They exchanged a look of tacit understanding and slipped away together when no one was paying attention.

"I have something for you in my car," Han Fangchi said after they left the residential complex.

"What is it?" Zhou Muyao followed him to the car and got into the passenger seat. "Perfect, I didn't drive here. Bro, you can give me a lift."

Han Fangchi grabbed the things from the back seat and gave them to him. "Lezhi packed these up."

"...Ah." Zhou Muyao looked through them and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought he would have thrown them all away."

Han Fangchi started the car.

Zhou Muyao had been in a good mood, but now he seemed to have quieted down.

He didn't speak for the first half of the drive, then suddenly asked, "Bro, does Lezhi ever mention me?"

"Occasionally," Han Fangchi said.

"What's his attitude?" Zhou Muyao asked. "Is he disgusted?"

"No," Han Fangchi said after a moment of thought. "A normal attitude."

Zhou Muyao nodded. "That's how he is."

Zhou Muyao had stopped making a fuss now, and he didn't ask about He Lezhi too much in front of Han Fangchi and Xiao Yao anymore.

But the bag of things on his lap had brought back many old memories, and Zhou Muyao couldn't help but ask, "Bro, can you help me ask Lezhi something?"

Han Fangchi glanced over. Zhou Muyao said, "Ask him if he's still angry. Is there any chance for us to start over?"

Han Fangchi turned back and drove in silence for a moment before saying, "I can't ask that."

"Why?" Zhou Muyao asked. "Because you're his friends? So you and Yaoyao aren't willing to help me."

"That was the reason before," Han Fangchi said.

"Before?" Zhou Muyao looked at him blankly. "What about now?"

Han Fangchi only said, "It's not appropriate."

He didn't say why it wasn't appropriate.

Zhou Muyao hugged the bag, didn't ask any more questions, nodded, and said softly, "Oh."

When He Lezhi had first suggested moving over, Han Fangchi had shown a bit of emotion. But when He Lezhi actually moved, he showed no emotion at all. He seemed very calm, helping to bring all the remaining things over.

The straight-line distance between them stretched from a dozen meters to several hundred, and they could no longer just go over in their loungewear and slippers.

Eating together was no longer a given; even their key cards were no longer for the same building.

This was perhaps a very suitable distance for friends—able to see each other whenever they wanted, but not so close as to blur the boundaries.

It just didn't apply to Han Fangchi.

After a week, He Lezhi discovered that perhaps the reason Han Fangchi hadn't shown any emotion was because, for him, not much had changed.

He didn't care about the few hundred meters at all, traveling back and forth between the two residential complexes across the street very casually.

On the first weekend after he moved, He Qi, his Little Aunt, and the others came over to his place for a housewarming meal. Han Fangchi and Xiao Yao came too. He Lezhi said they should eat it all in one day, otherwise he'd have to clean up twice.

Xiao Yao brought a housewarming gift: a coffee machine.

Han Fangchi came empty-handed. Xiao Yao said to He Lezhi, "Can you tell who's closer to you and who's more distant?"

He Lezhi smiled and nodded. "I can tell. Thank you, Yaoyao."

He Qi laughed along at the side. Xiao Yao asked, "Who are you closer with?"

"With you," He Lezhi said.

Han Fangchi had no objections and didn't say a word.

After everyone left, Han Fangchi helped him clean up the room. Before they were even finished, it had gotten dark.

After turning on the lights, the floor-to-ceiling window reflected the entire clean living room and the two of them dressed in loungewear. They didn't speak, each cleaning up their own area.

This was starting to feel a bit like a home.

He Lezhi spoke up, "I can handle the rest myself."

Han Fangchi asked, "So I should just sit here?"

He Lezhi was taken aback for a moment, then said with a laugh, "Go home and sit."

Han Fangchi put the things on the coffee table back in their place, ignoring his words.

When the doorbell suddenly rang, He Lezhi glanced over in surprise.

Han Fangchi silently went to open the building's entrance door and waited by his apartment door.

He Lezhi watched him receive something, say thanks, and close the door.

"Who was that?" He Lezhi asked blankly.

Han Fangchi walked straight to the dining area with the item. He Lezhi watched, stunned, as he took out a fruitcake.

Han Fangchi went to the kitchen, found two spoons, and walked over carrying the cake tray.

He Lezhi hadn't kept the original balcony space; instead, he had a tatami platform built, on which he placed a tea table and cushions.

As Han Fangchi walked over, he turned off the lights. For a moment, the only light in the room was the moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window and the glow of the streetlights from the complex. The room became dim and hazy, yet everything was still visible.

"Making up for your birthday, since you weren't back then." Han Fangchi placed the cake on the tea table and turned around.

His silhouette was tall and straight, his face handsome. In the dim light of the night, he looked at He Lezhi and said, "And while we're at it, there's something I want to talk to you about."