Lu Heyang heard the sound of the door opening when he was climbing the last few steps.
He looked up and saw Xu Ze pushing open the security door.
“Were you waiting by the door this whole time?” Lu Heyang asked with a smile when he saw him.
“I heard a car downstairs,” Xu Ze said.
He had not deliberately been waiting by the door.
He had simply known Lu Heyang was coming, and for the entire half hour, he had been so restless that whenever he heard any movement downstairs, he could not help going to the window to look.
“Have you eaten lunch?” Xu Ze asked as Lu Heyang closed the door.
“No. What about you?”
“I was just about to make it.” Xu Ze scratched behind his ear. “There are only two dishes. If it’s not enough, we can order takeout. It’ll just take a little longer to arrive.”
“That’s enough,” Lu Heyang said. “I’m not very hungry.”
Xu Ze nodded.
He seemed to want to say something else, but the moment he looked into Lu Heyang’s eyes, he became uncomfortable again and touched behind his ear before turning around and heading into the kitchen.
“What are you making?”
Lu Heyang put his car keys on the table and walked into the kitchen.
“Taro beef and vegetables.”
As Xu Ze answered, a taro slipped from his hand and fell into the sink.
Xu Ze normally did not cook much. Most of the time, he ate fried rice or noodles.
It was just that he had not had a competition last night, so he had deliberately cooked some dishes to take to the nursing facility and have dinner with Ye Yunhua.
Today’s dishes were leftovers from what he had prepared yesterday.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Lu Heyang asked.
The moment he finished speaking, another taro flew out of Xu Ze’s hands.
Lu Heyang picked it up, rinsed it clean beneath the faucet, and said understandingly, “Got it. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
Xu Ze looked at the cutting board and nodded.
After staying in the living room for less than two minutes, Lu Heyang was bitten by a mosquito.
It bit the back of his hand, leaving a small bump.
Lu Heyang stared at the bump for a few seconds, turned off his phone, stood up, and walked to the kitchen doorway.
“I got bitten by a mosquito in your house.”
The way he said it made Xu Ze feel as though he had a mosquito as a pet and Lu Heyang had come to demand an explanation after being bitten by it.
After a moment of silence, Xu Ze put down the food.
“I’ll get some ointment.”
“Where is it? I can get it myself.”
“In the desk drawer.”
“Okay.”
Lu Heyang went into the bedroom.
His textbooks and test papers were still spread across the desk, with pens and pen caps scattered separately.
Lu Heyang put the cap back on one of the pens, then pulled open the drawer.
Out of habit, the moment he opened it, the lid of a metal box inside shifted slightly.
It looked like something specifically used to store little odds and ends.
Lu Heyang figured the ointment would probably be inside, so he lifted the lid.
Unexpectedly, there was only a pile of things that looked like trash.
Not in a mocking or disdainful sense.
They genuinely looked like trash.
A folded tissue stained with something that might have been engine oil or ink.
Individually packaged, unused wet wipes.
Receipts whose writing had already become blurred.
Several unopened suppressor patches.
A mysterious object wrapped in a tissue.
And a photograph with obvious burn marks, of which only one corner remained.
Lu Heyang stared at them for a while.
Then he reached out and turned over the burned photograph, intending to see the front.
Bang!
Lu Heyang turned his head.
The half-open bedroom door had been pushed completely open.
Xu Ze stood in the doorway with his wet hands hanging at his sides, his face pale and his breathing heavy, as though he had just run several hundred meters.
He looked at Lu Heyang for one second before his gaze shifted toward the open drawer.
Lu Heyang remained completely calm.
He picked up the ointment from among the bottles of iodine and medicine, squeezed a little out, then closed the lid, put it back, and shut the drawer.
As he walked toward the doorway, he asked Xu Ze,
“Did the kitchen catch fire?”
“No.”
Xu Ze’s gaze darted away.
He seemed not to realize how dramatic his reaction had been just now and, believing he had left no opening, tried to change the subject.
“Did you find the ointment?”
“I found it.” Lu Heyang tilted his head slightly to look at Xu Ze’s eyes. “Didn’t you just see me using it?”
“…Okay,” Xu Ze said. “I’ll go cook.”
Lu Heyang sat down at the dining table, in a spot where he could see the kitchen perfectly. There was an old-fashioned radio on the windowsill. Lu Heyang studied it for a while before asking, “Does this still work?”
“Yes.” Xu Ze turned his head to answer him.
“Do you like listening to the radio?”
“It belonged to my grandmother.” Xu Ze lowered his eyes to the pot. “I listen to it sometimes.”
He had long since grown accustomed to being alone, but sometimes he would feel that the house was strangely quiet, and he needed some kind of sound to break the silence.
Lu Heyang watched Xu Ze’s profile without saying anything. Then he turned the switch. The radio crackled with static and buzzing signals. Lu Heyang slowly adjusted the frequency, and the voice gradually became clearer. It was the news on a public affairs channel.
The beef and taro soup bubbled gently, wisps of steam drifting out from the kitchen along with its fragrance. Sunlight streamed through the window into the living room like a glowing river. Xu Ze was cooking on the other side, while Lu Heyang was seriously fiddling with the radio. He tuned it to a music station, where a slow, mellow foreign-language song was playing.
In between tending to the soup, Xu Ze couldn’t help glancing at Lu Heyang several times. Lu Heyang seemed curious and interested in the radio, probably because he had never encountered such an old-fashioned object before. Xu Ze had always been numb to many things, but at that moment, he had the very cliché thought that the heavens were being kind to him.
The Lu Heyang who only ever relaxed enough to smile in front of He Wei and Gu Yunchi seemed to be showing a tiny bit of that side of himself in front of Xu Ze too.
After they finished eating and washing the dishes, Lu Heyang drank some water while checking the time on his wristband. Xu Ze asked, “Are you leaving?”
The meaning behind those words was obvious. Xu Ze himself simply didn’t realize it.
Lu Heyang looked at him. Xu Ze stood beside the table with both hands hanging at his sides. There was no particular expression on his face, yet somehow he looked like he was waiting expectantly, as though if Lu Heyang really left right now, Xu Ze would immediately become dejected the moment the door closed behind him.
“Do you want me to leave that badly?” Lu Heyang went over and set his water glass on the table. “Then I’ll head home first.”
“No.” Xu Ze hurriedly reached out and stopped him in front of himself. “That’s not what I meant.”
Lu Heyang simply smiled. “Are you going to take a nap?”
“I’m not.”
“But I’m a little sleepy,” Lu Heyang said. “I don’t have much energy. I tend to get drowsy in the afternoon.”
“If you don’t mind, you can sleep on my bed. I only washed the sheets a couple of days ago.” Before Lu Heyang could answer, Xu Ze seemed certain that he would mind and immediately added, “I’ll go change the sheets now.”
“No need. I don’t mind.” Lu Heyang picked up his water glass again. “Let’s go. To your room.”
Xu Ze’s wooden bed was a little hard, but the pillow was soft. It carried a faint scent of pheromones and the clean fragrance of shampoo—the brand Xu Ze commonly used.
Lu Heyang lay down on the bed and asked, “Are you going to sleep too?” Xu Ze had been standing there watching him the entire time.
“I’m doing my practice papers.” Realizing that his gaze had bothered Lu Heyang again, Xu Ze immediately turned around and sat down at the desk. He switched on the electric fan and pointed it toward the bed.
“Turn on the oscillation, or you’ll get hot,” Lu Heyang suggested.
He actually wasn’t sleepy, but he knew that if he didn’t say he was going to take a nap, Xu Ze probably wouldn’t be able to concentrate on studying.
“Okay.” Xu Ze pressed the oscillation button. The fan swept past Lu Heyang’s pillow, lifting the curtains before blowing toward the desk, making the corners of the books tremble slightly.
The air was quiet, carrying a very faint scent of gardenias. Lu Heyang watched the swaying curtains, thinking about a few things. Then, without realizing it, he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, nothing in the room had changed. Lu Heyang thought he had merely dozed off for a moment, but when he checked his wristband, he discovered that forty minutes had already passed.
He froze for a moment before sitting up.
A brightly lit room, without an eye mask or earplugs—he hadn’t been able to fall asleep under conditions like these for a very, very long time.
And yet he had fallen asleep so easily.
Hearing the movement, Xu Ze turned around. He was surprised to see the dazed expression on Lu Heyang’s face, his brows furrowed as though he were thinking about something.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Ze still had his pen in his hand as he turned around and asked.
Lu Heyang’s hair was slightly tousled from sleeping. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. “I’m groggy from sleeping.”
Bracing both hands against the edge of the bed, Lu Heyang shook off his previous daze and asked, “Finished your practice paper?”
“Finished.” Xu Ze had the very distinct feeling of being called on by Teacher Lu. He put down his pen and stood up. “I’m reviewing my notes.”
“Do you have to stand that far away to talk to me?” Lu Heyang slowly blinked. “You seem to always make a habit of keeping your distance from me.”
His expression carried that sort of feeling—like he had been hurt, but was still being completely sincere.
Xu Ze was unable to defend himself. He wasn’t good at explaining himself either, so he could only shake his head and say, “No,” before walking over to Lu Heyang and handing him the glass of water.
His phone chimed. After taking the glass from Xu Ze, Lu Heyang glanced at the screen but ignored it. He took a sip of water and said to Xu Ze, “I should go.”
Xu Ze’s eyelashes drooped.
Lu Heyang had already spent quite a long time with him today, but Xu Ze still felt that it had gone by too quickly. When Lu Heyang was sleeping, he had only dared to turn around and look at him every once in a while, and each time he only looked for one or two seconds.
“Okay. Drive carefully.”
Lu Heyang, however, asked him, “How should I thank you for cooking for me and lending me your bed for my nap?”
“It’s nothing.” Xu Ze took being completely oblivious to romance to the extreme. “You’re welcome.”
“Xu Ze.” Lu Heyang looked up at him, his tone somewhat helpless. “Do you really have to make me feel like I owe you something?”
At that moment, Xu Ze finally seemed to understand a tiny bit of what Lu Heyang meant. He began to think carefully and cautiously about what he could ask for.
“You can’t say again that you hope I won’t be unhappy,” Lu Heyang reminded him. “I wasn’t unhappy today.”
“…Okay.”
Xu Ze’s gaze fell on Lu Heyang’s face. He couldn’t think of anything to ask for. Being able to look at Lu Heyang a little longer like this was already wonderful enough—
Of course, if he could have the courage he’d had the last few times to lean over and kiss Lu Heyang, that would be even better.
“Where do you want to kiss?”
Lu Heyang met his gaze and asked very directly.
There was a sense of embarrassment at having his thoughts exposed, but Xu Ze didn’t lie. He answered honestly, “Your cheek.”
Xu Ze didn’t know if he had imagined it, but he thought Lu Heyang gave a very soft sigh. He immediately became nervous, worried that his request had put Lu Heyang in a difficult position.
But Lu Heyang placed the glass of water on the bed, stood up, lowered his head slightly, and leaned toward Xu Ze.
“Kiss me.”
When an opportunity is this close to you, that is probably when it is hardest to refuse.
Xu Ze couldn’t even bear to close his eyes. He turned his head and kissed Lu Heyang’s left cheek.
At the same time, his hand was caught. Xu Ze lowered his head and saw Lu Heyang putting a wristband around his wrist. It was brand-new, different from the one Lu Heyang usually wore.
“I might come by for food again next time.” Lu Heyang squeezed Xu Ze’s palm and smiled at him. “I’ll pay for my meals in advance.”
That meal bill was a little heavy.
Xu Ze had no idea how many meals he would have to cook for Lu Heyang to pay off a twenty-thousand-yuan wristband. By the time he realized what had happened, Lu Heyang was already walking toward the door.
When he reached the front door, Lu Heyang put his hand on the doorknob. Before opening it, he turned around and looked back.
Xu Ze was following behind him like a little tail. He said nothing and wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were bright.
Lu Heyang knew that Xu Ze wasn’t happy because of the wristband.
He was happy because he had kissed Lu Heyang’s cheek.
Xu Ze was probably one of the easiest people in the world to satisfy. He didn’t ask for much and had very few demands. Even when something was given to him, he didn’t know how to accept it. He was clearly empty-handed, yet he still had to wonder whether he was being too greedy.
Lu Heyang pressed his lips together. The hand resting on the doorknob seemed unable to exert any strength, and he couldn’t open the door.
After standing there for several seconds, Lu Heyang eventually turned back, wrapped an arm around the back of Xu Ze’s neck, and kissed the corner of his mouth.
“Why are you so dumb?”
Lu Heyang was smiling when he said it. He opened the door and waved at Xu Ze.
“I’m leaving now.”