Xing Yan couldn't answer his question. He glanced at him and said softly, "Let's not bring up the past."

Qin Fang was amused by his reaction. He had just been joking anyway and didn't continue.

Before heading back, they had to have a meal together, as this was likely to be the only time during the entire holiday that everyone would gather to eat, including Zhou Siming.

The atmosphere was surprisingly not bad, at least no one openly clashed with each other.

In fact, the only one who could clash was Zhou Siming. As long as he stayed calm, everyone else got along well.

Qin Fang sat with Xing Yan on his left and Si Tu on his other side. There was a faint scent of Chinese medicine emanating from Si Tu that could occasionally be detected. With the five of them sitting together, the conversation mainly fell on Han Xiaogong and Qin Fang.

Although neither of them were particularly talkative, if they didn't speak, the atmosphere in the room would freeze over.

Later, Han Xiaogong let out a long sigh and said, "Don't invite me to meals in the future."

Qin Fang could understand him well. He laughed and said, "Me too..."

The two of them exchanged glances, and Han Xiaogong said, "It's been tough."

Si Tu was amused by them. He clinked his glass with Qin Fang's and said, "Welcome here this time. Do you like this place?"

"I quite like it," Qin Fang replied. He had never really chatted one-on-one with Si Tu before and always felt a subtle awkwardness when facing him. Qin Fang said, "It's a good place to live."

"Then you can come often in the future." Si Tu was truly a very gentle person. Whether it was his speaking voice or his expressions and gaze while talking, he made people feel at ease.

He chatted with Qin Fang in a low voice, and after a while, Qin Fang loosened up. Some things had to be brought up sooner or later, so it was better to get it over with early.

Qin Fang poured Si Tu a cup of tea, clinked glasses with him, and said softly, "About the matter with Gong Qi... I really didn't know at the time. I'm sorry about that."

Si Tu waited for him to finish, took a sip of tea, shook his head and said, "It wasn't a big deal to begin with, you didn't need to keep it in your heart."

"It was a misunderstanding," Qin Fang said with a self-deprecating laugh. "But it's also good, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to know... you all."

In fact, when Qin Fang opened his mouth, the first thing that flashed through his mind was that it was quite nice to get to know Xing Yan because of this matter. But with so many people present, he changed his wording at the last moment. How could he single out Xing Yan?

Si Tu chuckled lightly and nodded, "Looking at it this way, it is quite good indeed."

With these couple of sentences, the topic should have passed. There wasn't much more to say. Qin Fang ladled himself a bowl of soup and took a couple of sips with his head lowered. Unexpectedly, Si Tu took the initiative to speak and said to him, "Actually, Gong Qi... is a very nice girl."

Qin Fang choked on his soup at his words, grabbed a tissue to dab at his mouth, and coughed until his eyes turned red. Xing Yan glanced at him and placed a glass by his hand.

Qin Fang took a sip, turned to Si Tu and said, "Are you... still misunderstanding something? I have no contact with her anymore."

The other three were all looking at the two of them. Qin Fang's throat hurt from choking. He cleared his throat and said, "Whether she's good or not has nothing to do with me anymore. Don't overthink it."

Si Tu saw his strong reaction and laughed, saying, "No need to be so nervous."

Qin Fang didn't say anything and waved his hand. Si Tu said softly, "She and I are a thing of the past. If you like her..."

"I really don't like her." Qin Fang interrupted him before he could finish. "It's been a long time. I really haven't thought about this matter again."

Qin Fang ran a hand through his hair, feeling extremely awkward.

"Keep her for yourself," Han Xiaogong took over the conversation from across the table and said to Si Tu, "Rather than telling him to pursue Gong Qi now, it would be more practical to tell him to pursue me."

Qin Fang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's also... quite impractical. I don't want to pursue you."

Qin Fang looked at Xing Yan, seeking help with his eyes.

"You don't want to pursue me?" Han Xiaogong asked him with a light laugh. "The holiday is almost over, have you turned gay or not?"

Qin Fang felt the question was inexplicable and didn't really want to answer.

Han Xiaogong looked at him, and after a while, pointed at Xing Yan and said slowly, "You don't want to pursue me... then do you want to pursue him?"

His words and gaze carried a hook, making Qin Fang subconsciously want to sit up straight. Qin Fang followed his words and glanced at Xing Yan.

If it had been Hua Tong or any other random person sitting beside him, Qin Fang might have put an arm around them and said, "Yeah, I want to pursue you." There were no limits to jokes between guys, and even kissing each other on the forehead was no big deal.

But at this moment, it was Xing Yan sitting beside him. Qin Fang somehow couldn't bring himself to play along with the joke, feeling that it was a bit awkward to joke like this with Xing Yan.

But if he seriously said he didn't want to pursue him, that would be even weirder and seem like he had a problem.

In the end, Qin Fang looked at Xing Yan and sighed, "Yan-ge, save me."

Xing Yan let out an "mm", lowered his gaze and said, "Don't pay attention to them."

Afterwards, Qin Fang himself felt puzzled. At that time, he actually couldn't respond to Han Xiaogong's words.

If someone asked him if he wanted to pursue Hua Tong, he could probably come up with a hundred ways to retort. But when he looked at Xing Yan, he got tongue-tied.

His mind went blank.

This time, Qin Fang didn't take the high-speed train with them. He booked a plane ticket and flew back first. Jian Muyang had been looking forward to his return, so Qin Fang went straight to the Jian family home from the airport.

He had just entered the courtyard and hadn't even reached the main door when Jian Muyang opened the door and rushed out, directly pouncing on Qin Fang.

Qin Fang was pushed back a step by his pounce and said as he supported him, "Do you know how old you are?"

"No matter how old I am, you can still hold me up." Jian Muyang jumped down from him and looked up at Qin Fang with an extremely happy smile. "I missed you so much, bro."

Qin Fang went inside with Jian Muyang. The house was very quiet, with only the auntie preparing dinner in the kitchen. Jian Muyang said softly, "My mom is in the room, probably sleeping."

Based on the timing, Dong Yin should be seven or eight months pregnant. Qin Fang asked, "Are the prenatal check-ups all normal?"

"Normal." Jian Muyang nodded.

"Have you finished all your homework?" Qin Fang patted Jian Muyang's head. Kids at this age grew too fast. After not seeing him for a summer holiday, Qin Fang felt that he seemed to have grown taller again.

"Finished long ago," Jian Muyang said. "With you not at home, no one played with me, so I used all my time to study."

Qin Fang flicked his forehead and said, "Little academic ace."

Due to her pregnancy, Dong Yin suffered from severe edema and was probably quite uncomfortable, so her mood had been poor. That day, she barely exchanged a few words with Qin Fang before staying by herself. Even Jian Muyang rarely spoke to her.

Jian Muyang said to Qin Fang, "My mom's mood has been terrible lately."

Qin Fang patted his hair and said to him, "Pregnancy is tough. In the future, you can help her take care of your little sister, or little brother more."

"I will," Jian Muyang said, "I'm a big brother now too."

Qin Fang came back and went out to have a meal with his friends. He hadn't caught a glimpse of them the entire holiday. The silly rich boys were still up to the same old stuff, nothing new no matter how you looked at it.

Hua Tong and Qin Fang sat together on the small sofa in the suite, heads together playing a game. Feng Zhe and the others were beside them noisily playing cards and cursing.

Hua Tong looked up and said softly to Qin Fang, "Feng Zhe got himself a partner."

"That's something?" Qin Fang said expressionlessly.

Hua Tong moved his head even closer and said, "This time it's a guy."

Qin Fang raised an eyebrow.

Hua Tong looked at him and nodded, "Hooked up with a waiter, spent a lot of money."

"Where's this waiter from?" Qin Fang glanced at Feng Zhe and asked.

Hua Tong said, "From a bar of course."

Qin Fang shook his head and said, "That idiot."

"What a dumbass," Hua Tong sighed, "Guys like Feng Zhe are just giving money away, a free ATM."

Feng Zhe was the youngest in their family. His dad was almost seventy and he still had two older brothers. A child in his old age, he spoiled him rotten since he was young. Who knows if he even has ten brain cells to rub together.

At this moment he was on the phone saying, "I'm fucking not going, you hurry up and get over here."

Who knows what was said on the other end of the line, Feng Zhe looked impatient, "Alright alright, I'm not going."

"Don't fucking nag, nag nag nag."

"Hanging up."

After saying that, he threw his phone and continued playing cards, squatting on the bed counting loudly. Qin Fang watched him and felt worried on behalf of his dad. Like this and still going abroad, how could he feel at ease.

"Where's Xiao Fan?" Qin Fang asked.

Hua Tong said, "Oh fuck, I forgot to say, those two got into it. Xiao Fan hasn't come out for a while."

Qin Fang looked at him in surprise. Hua Tong continued, "It's that waiter. Pretty sly, who knows how many people are keeping him. Xiao Fan cursed out Feng Zhe for being a dumbass. They cursed back and forth and later started fighting."

"Fighting?"

So much happened over a summer holiday at home, Qin Fang was having a hard time processing it all. Fan Linyi and Feng Zhe went to the same school. Usually their relationship was about the same as Hua Tong and Qin Fang's, but not as harmonious. Those two both had bad tempers. Occasionally there was conflict but they never got physical before.

"I don't always come out. I just happened to be there that day. They only exchanged a couple blows before getting pulled apart."

Hua Tong quietly recounted to Qin Fang, "Xiao Fan aimed for the face. Feng Zhe even teared up. I saw him hold it back."

Qin Fang didn't know what to say. Sometimes he really couldn't understand what they were all thinking.

The game finished. Qin Fang pocketed his phone, planning to go sit over there for a bit. Otherwise it seemed like he and Hua Tong weren't part of the group.

But as soon as he stood up, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Qin Fang took it out and looked. Two WeChat messages.

He opened them. They were from Xing Yan. One was a photo of Qin Fang's headphones. The other said: Brought them back for you.

Qin Fang asked: You're back?

Xing Yan: Yeah

Qin Fang: It was tough for you taking the train back.

Xing Yan said: Let me know if you want to play ball.

Qin Fang smiled and sent a silly emoji.

Hua Tong walked past him and said, "Who is it? Your smile looks a bit lewd."

Qin Fang pocketed his phone and cursed at him, "Fuck off."

"You have a new target again?" Hua Tong asked him.

Qin Fang didn't know why but he thought of what Han Xiaogong had asked. He felt it was ridiculous himself and repeated, "Fuck off."