The design of the haunted house had at least three levels. The introduction said the whole tour took about forty minutes, but that forty minutes probably did not include the time spent standing in place and screaming. Jiang Cheng felt like they spent almost twenty minutes screaming all kinds of bone-chilling screams while turning in increasingly dim rooms, without even going up a flight of stairs.

"Should we try to find a place to go upstairs?" Jiang Cheng asked.  

"I'm looking for it," Pan Zhi said from the front, "Have we been in this room before?"

"No," Gu Fei said.  

"Then we probably haven't gone through this door either," Pan Zhi pointed to a closed door ahead, "Maybe it leads to..."

Before he could finish speaking, a string of children's laughter drifted past them from behind.  

Although Jiang Cheng could tell from the electric current in the laughter that it definitely came from a speaker hidden in a corner, it still sent chills down his spine.

"Are there ghosts behind us?" Li Song asked.

"Let's go, let's go..." Xu Meng pulled on Li Yuqing's clothes, not even daring to look around.  

Just then, another string of laughter sounded.  

"Ahhhhh!" they all screamed at the same time, squeezing past Pan Zhi and rushing towards the door.

"Don't be scared, don't be scared, don't..." Pan Zhi was pushed so hard he couldn't stand steadily. He hurried to pull open the door, immediately followed by a roar, "Ahhhhh!"

Standing outside the door was a ghost, not sure if it was just passing by or had been waiting there for a while. Pan Zhi was pushed straight into the ghost's arms by the group.  

Amid the screaming, the ghost was pushed back against the wall behind him and had to push Pan Zhi forcefully away.  

"Ahhhhh!" The group turned and ran again.

There was another door behind them. In a panic, they rushed through it without thinking.  

Bright and dazzling sunlight poured over them amid their screams.  

They screamed a few more times before stopping and looking around in confusion.

"What the f*ck?" Pan Zhi squinted in shock at the sunlight. "How did we get out?"

"We didn't even go upstairs?" Jiang Cheng looked back at the small door. "This is a f*cking emergency exit!"

Gu Fei, standing at the back, cleared his throat with his arms crossed.  

"Hm?" Jiang Cheng looked back at him.

Gu Fei glanced to the right, and the group followed his gaze. They immediately wanted to squeeze back into the haunted house.

About 30 meters to the right was the entrance where people were lining up. Dozens of them were looking in their direction, with rather speechless expressions. Some were already laughing uncontrollably.  

"Who the f*ck led us here?!" Pan Zhi asked in despair.

"Fengfeng?" Li Yuqing said.

"Not me," Hu Feng said right away. "I was behind Da Li when we came out!"

"Me?" Li Song looked completely confused. He gestured with his hand for a long time. "I think I might have... opened a door?"

"Idiot!" Pan Zhi rushed over and punched him several times. Under his leadership, everyone else went over and gave Li Song a few hits.

Since they were already out, they couldn't squeeze back in. They had no choice but to keep a straight face and walk away from the haunted house with an "we just took a wrong turn" look, under the watching eyes of the people in line.

"Let's go to that ancient tower," Xu Meng suggested. "Cultural sights are quite interesting too."

"Okay," Gu Fei took out his phone to check the time. "After going up and down the tower... it'll probably be time to eat. There's a restaurant in the park with pretty good food, I need to ask where it is first."

"Are you bad with directions too?" Li Yuqing said with a laugh. "You don't even remember where the restaurant is?"

"No," Gu Fei said as he dialed. "The last time I was here was on a school field trip in elementary school."

"Huh?" Li Yuqing was surprised. "There's an amusement park and a zoo too. If it were me I'd probably come to play several times a semester."

"That shows you have an unhealthy mind," Pan Zhi said.  

"You're the unhealthy one!" Li Yuqing glared at him.

Gu Fei walked to the side, probably calling his brother Liu Fan again to ask about the restaurant.

Jiang Cheng watched his backlit figure.

Whether it was watching movies or going to amusement parks and parks, Gu Fei's entertainment activities seemed to be stuck in the distant past. Although he didn't like going to parks himself, he had gone with classmates and friends quite a few times too. After school trips were cancelled, they still often went out by themselves.

Gu Fei's life was just at the steel factory. Other than skipping school to go out and play a few times, he seemed to have always stayed around the steel factory.

Jiang Cheng's life over the past few months had been the same. If it wasn't for Gu Fei, his surroundings would be frozen. All the people were stuck within those few streets, trapped in this tiny space.

Living a dull and powerless life.

It was fine for a day or two, or gritting your teeth and bearing it for a month or two, but a year or two - he would probably explode. Jiang Cheng walked over to a trash can and lit a cigarette. Over time, maybe he would get used to it. Resignation or unwillingness, eventually it would sink down.

The ancient tower was by a lake in the park. The lake water wasn't very clean, but the tower was beautiful.

The tower was quite tall. Standing at the top, you could see the streets outside the park, the coming and going cars, but you could also see more clearly how shabby and bleak this city in the sunlight was.

"Let me take some notes," Pan Zhi said, taking out his phone to take pictures of the introductions on the wall. "Quite a lot of words, I'll copy them when I get back and my weekly essay will be done."

"Not bad," Li Song also started taking pictures.

"Let me tell you guys," Pan Zhi glanced at the few who had taken out their phones to take pictures of the wall. "Don't copy the exact same thing as me."

"No problem, as long as I cite it as a reference, it's fine. References can be the same anyway," Hu Feng said.

"Thinking about it, it's quite sad," Pan Zhi sighed. "A weekly essay with a few hundred words, probably just the last line is written by us - everything above is cited from the ancient tower travel guide."

They immediately burst out laughing.

"I haven't written a weekly essay in a long time," Jiang Cheng leaned on the railing and stretched lazily. "Old Xu doesn't require it either."

"Even if required, no one would write it," Gu Fei said. "If you asked me to write something like this every week, I definitely couldn't do it."

"No way, you definitely could," Jiang Cheng said with a laugh. "You can write poetry."

Gu Fei laughed. "Right."

"Let me tell you something," Jiang Cheng turned around, leaning on the railing, and glanced at Pan Zhi before turning back. "I think Pan Zhi has... figured it out."

"Yeah, I can tell he's noticed," Gu Fei also lowered his voice. "Will it cause any problems?"

"No," Jiang Cheng said. "I didn't even know how I would tell him anyway, it's good that he figured it out himself, saves me the trouble of finding the right words."

"He knew about you before, right?" Gu Fei asked.

"Yes," Jiang Cheng nodded. "He's the only one who knew... of course, now you know too."

Gu Fei smiled. "So I have dirt on you now."

"And I have dirt on you too," Jiang Cheng glanced at him.

Gu Fei just smiled without responding.

"Actually," Jiang Cheng was silent for a moment. "For you, this can't really be considered 'dirt', can it?"

"Is it for you?" Gu Fei asked back.

"I don't know, I guess so," Jiang Cheng frowned. "I can't explain it clearly. I don't like being stared at, being gossiped about. I really hate being...accused."

He paused for a while. "You're wrong to do this, you shouldn't do that, you need to correct this, you need to improve that - I hate being told that this is wrong, that is wrong. I've heard too much of that since I was little. I just really... I'm just really..."

"I know," Gu Fei said. "I understand what you mean."

"I didn't mean to say this," Jiang Cheng sighed softly. "I don't want you to think I'm... weak."

"I don't think it has anything to do with being weak or not," Gu Fei also leaned on the railing. "Not being weak doesn't mean you have to announce these things to the world. Just like I don't mind people knowing what my underwear looks like, but that doesn't mean I'll walk around in my underwear."

Jiang Cheng looked at him for a while, then couldn't help laughing. "What a stupid analogy."

"That's the best I can do," Gu Fei said.

Pan Zhi didn't bring up Gu Fei with Jiang Cheng again after the haunted house incident until the end of the vacation when they were getting ready to go back. That night on the train, after packing up in the rental apartment, Pan Zhi finally said: "You and that Gu Fei..."

"Hm?" Jiang Cheng was leaning back on the sofa.

"When did it start?" Pan Zhi asked.

"Not long ago," Jiang Cheng said. "Do you have any comments?"

"No," Pan Zhi smiled. "What's there to comment on? The sky wants to rain, grandpa wants to date. Perfectly normal things, why would I try to stop you?"

Jiang Cheng just smiled without responding.

"To be honest though," Pan Zhi said, "I'm quite surprised. I never thought you'd get into a relationship here."

"Why not?" Jiang Cheng looked at him.

"No reason," Pan Zhi sat down next to him. "I just didn't think you'd be in the mood for it under these circumstances."

"Yeah," Jiang Cheng lay back on the armrest. "I didn't expect it either."

"But it's understandable too," Pan Zhi thought for a moment. "I was quite worried about you before. Seeing that you didn't have a breakdown... it's better than being alone I guess."

Jiang Cheng didn't say anything, just stared at the ceiling lost in thought for a long time, then looked at Pan Zhi. "Pan Pan."

"Change the nickname," Pan Zhi rubbed his arms.  

"Grandson," Jiang Cheng said.

"What's up, grandpa?" Pan Zhi turned his head.

"Dating, or being in a relationship," Jiang Cheng said. "What's the difference in your opinion?"

"A brain teaser?" Pan Zhi asked.

"Teasing your mom," Jiang Cheng said.

"You're asking me this?" Pan Zhi looked at him. "That's not your style."

"I just want to hear what someone with lower intelligence thinks," Jiang Cheng took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. "Us highly intelligent people tend to overthink."

"Thinking too much versus being dumb eh," Pan Zhi said. "For example, me, I just want to date, that Huang Hui, or maybe..."

"No," Jiang Cheng interrupted him. "Let me rephrase it - what's the difference between wanting to date me versus wanting a relationship with me?"

"F*ck," Pan Zhi frowned. "So complicated. Then it'd just be exclusivity I guess, whether dating or being in a relationship, it'd have to be with you."

Jiang Cheng gave him a thumbs up.

Jiang Cheng felt that Gu Fei's thoughtfulness surprised him a bit. Dating versus a relationship - the "him" came first in both. No matter which answer, it was him. Not someone else.  

Jiang Cheng smirked. At least in this, Gu Fei understood what he was thinking.

He wasn't particularly lonely or needing someone to start a relationship with just because the other person was Gu Fei. Whatever kind of relationship, the premise had to be Gu Fei.

He had been mulling over this sentence the past couple days. He had actually already thought through the meaning of this sentence very clearly.

And understood the true meaning of Gu Fei's "I'll keep liking you until you no longer need me to like you."

He had to admit, Gu Fei really thought much more deeply than him. He couldn't say he was rash, but the main reason he took the initiative was - I like you, I want to be with you.

I want to date you, not just have a fling. It's you, not someone else.

This was the reason Gu Fei would wait for him downstairs in the end.

But if one day, there was no way forward, Gu Fei's choice would probably be "this is the end". What would his choice be?

That was the question Gu Fei wanted him to answer.

Gu Fei was probably used to thinking through everything, his upbringing, his family, his experiences, made him used to considering every possibility and finding coping methods for each one.

He was different.

He didn't have an environment that required him to think like this and determine everything. Even when he was suddenly thrown into this kind of place, he didn't think too much about it either. He dealt with whatever he encountered at the moment.

I'm not the biological child, my biological parents are like this anyway, I changed to a completely different environment... For every single thing, he never thought too deeply about it. All his actions were focused on the present - there's a rock here, how do I get past it; there's a ditch here, how do I cross it.

In this aspect, he and Gu Fei had completely different yet habitual thought patterns.

"Did he ask you this?" Pan Zhi asked from the side.

"I asked him," Jiang Cheng said. He picked up the ashtray from the coffee table and tapped the cigarette ash into it on the floor next to the sofa.

"No way," Pan Zhi looked at him. "I know you too well."

"Then watch out or I'll have to silence you one day," Jiang Cheng said.

“The vibe I get from him,” Pan Zhi took a cigarette from the pack on the table and lit up too. “Is like...how to put it, just looking at him makes me want to call him 'bro'.”

“He's younger than you,” Jiang Cheng said.

“...That's what I mean,” Pan Zhi clicked his tongue. “You're younger than me and I call you gramps. I mean he obviously looks like someone who's...been through a hell of a lot.”

“Is that so,” Jiang Cheng let out a soft sigh. That judgment was pretty accurate.

“You can tell with some people right away, like their aura or whatever,” Pan Zhi said. “Although in the haunted house...I still wanted to call him Brother Fei at first sight. You get what I mean right.”

“I get it,” Jiang Cheng said.  

“But that's not why I call you gramps,” Pan Zhi added.

“No need to specially clarify that,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Cheng'er,” Pan Zhi took a drag, pondering deeply for a good while with a grave expression. “What you had with Yu Xin wasn't really dating, not even close.”

“Ah,” Jiang Cheng grunted, also gazing at him with deep gravity.  

“So,” Pan Zhi was silent again for a long time. “Gu Fei is your first love then.”

“Damn,” Jiang Cheng laughed. “Held that in so long, I thought you had something big to say but it was just a wet fart.”

"I'm not done yet, not done yet!" Pan Zhi looked very unhappy. "Can you slow down your mockery of me from sprinting to strolling? Is taking it slowly going to kill you?!"

"Strolling, strolling," Jiang Cheng nodded. "Go on."

"Usually the first love... tends to hurt a bit, since we are... still young," Pan Zhi said haltingly, cigarette in hand, clearly struggling to phrase it right. "What I mean is, don't let yourself get too hurt, you know what I mean? Just... grandpa, I think your... my grandma... other grandpa, he's probably the kind who already knows how to protect himself... I don't mean anything else."

"Ah." It took Jiang Cheng a long time to parse Pan Zhi's jumbled terms and understand what he was trying to express.

"Don't think I'm speaking out of place," Pan Zhi said.

"Thanks," Jiang Cheng put out his cigarette and patted his shoulder as he got up. "I got it."

"Okay." Pan Zhi nodded.

"Tap the ash here," Jiang Cheng placed the ashtray in front of him. "If you tap it on the table again, I'll make you lick the table clean with your tongue."

"F*ck!" Pan Zhi was stunned. "I had paper under it!"

"That's why I'm not making you lick it now," Jiang Cheng laughed and fell back onto the sofa.

Gu Fei didn't join them again when he went to send off Pan Zhi and the others at the train station. Although he didn't participate in all the activities over the past few days, Gu Miao still felt that he was home less often. So that night, Gu Fei took her to Wang Xu's place to eat stuffed buns.

Jiang Cheng said at the train station: "That's enough, don't say any more sappy farewell words. I can't bear it."  

"We'll stop," Hu Feng said, "Come back and visit us during summer vacation, okay? Let's get together again, what do you think?"

"...That's really hard to say." In the past few months, Jiang Cheng hadn't thought about going back at all, no matter what he would do back there, he hadn't thought about it at all.

"Or we could meet up somewhere and go travelling together." Li Song said.  

"We'll make detailed plans when the time comes." Pan Zhi said.

"Oh right, Gu Fei's been playing tour guide for you all these days, but no one's thanked him," Li Yuqing handed a bag to Jiang Cheng, "Remember he said he had a younger sister? We didn't think it was appropriate to buy him a gift directly, so we got her a doll instead..."

Jiang Cheng smiled and took it: "You guys are too polite."

If this group had met that sister, they probably wouldn't have thought to buy her a doll.

After everyone else went into the station, Jiang Cheng turned and went to the bus stop, very frugally taking the bus back to his rented room.

Once inside, he took a photo of the doll and sent it to Gu Fei.

-A gift for Gu Miao from my classmates

Gu Fei quickly sent a reply.

-They left?

-Yup, are you guys still at Wang Xu's place?  

-Still here, are you coming over?

-Nah, I'm a bit tired, gonna lie down and rest my old bones  

-Pinching waists.jpg

Jiang Cheng laughed for a while. He paced around the room twice more, seeing if Pan Zhi had left anything behind, then went into the bedroom. It was still early, enough time to...do a set of practice problems.  

Jiang Cheng stood in front of his desk and deeply admired his own decision.

This is the quality of a top student.

Kowtow.

His phone rang again. Gu Fei had sent a photo of Gu Miao.

In the photo, Gu Miao was holding a pan-fried bun, with a blank look on her face.

-This was her expression when I showed her the doll pic

-hahahaha, you're such a good brother. Bringing her up into a little girl who can make this kind of face when seeing a doll

Jiang Cheng picked up the messy quilt on the bed and shook it out. Even though he was going to do practice problems, the environment still had an impact. It should be neat...He saw a black box peeking out from under the pillow.

He picked it up and glanced at it, then opened the box, although he had already guessed what was inside when he saw the box.

But when he opened it and saw a gaudy red fountain pen lying inside, he was still a bit shocked. He didn't expect Pan Zhi to gift him a pen.

There was also a small note inside, with a line of words.

-Too embarrassing to give this to you in person, so leaving it here. This pen is for you to always remember you're a top student.

Jiang Cheng sat at his desk holding the pen, smiling for a long time.

Then he sighed, thinking Pan Zhi was a good friend to have, enjoying the treatment of a grandson who had his grandpa in his heart.

He took a piece of paper and scribbled some random words. But with his handwriting, no matter what pen is used, it can't show off how good the pen is.

He stared at the paper for a while, slowly calming his mind, and wrote a line of words.

I hope we can be as brave as each other.