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He immediately shut his mouth, crept over slowly, and curiously peeked around the corner—only to see Xu Nanxiao and Ying Yusheng locked in a passionate kiss!!!

Ying Yusheng was ferocious, nothing like his usual self—as if he wanted to devour the other whole. Their lips parted for less than half a second before pressing back together. Xu Nanxiao’s lips were crushed out of shape, a glistening strand escaping from the corner of his mouth.

Ying Yusheng had one hand cushioning between Xu Nanxiao’s head and the wall, the other gripping his waist, his thumb slipping under the hem of his shirt, lifting the fabric to reveal a sliver of waistline.

Liang Sihua was so startled that he immediately ducked back behind the wall.

Holy shit!!!! You two act like you’re not close on the surface, but behind the scenes, this is what you are?!

So the closest 0 to him wasn’t in his Alipay balance!

It took Liang Sihua a long time to calm his racing heart, his face feeling warm. He was also curious to peek again—he’d never seen two guys kissing in his life, let alone when one of them was his close buddy he saw every day.

Liang Sihua stuck his head out again, but this time, he saw that Ying Yusheng had pulled Xu Nanxiao’s hood up. Xu Nanxiao’s entire face was hidden in shadow, impossible to make out.

Then Ying Yusheng’s gaze slanted over.

Liang Sihua felt as if Ying Yusheng had shot him a fierce glare.

“Hey, Liang Sihua, hand me that wrench next to you.”

Liang Sihua pouted. “Liu Zhuo, pass the wrench to Nanxiao.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Xu Nanxiao stood up and gave him a light kick in the ass. “You’re right there—why are you calling Liu Zhuo?”

With that, he grabbed the wrench himself and went back to tightening the nuts.

Liang Sihua rubbed his butt, glanced guiltily at Xu Nanxiao, and then was grabbed from behind by Liu Zhuo, who locked an arm around his neck. “You’ve been acting weird toward Nanxiao ever since we came back from the tea house. What, mad that you had to pay? Look at you, so stingy.”

“Get lost, get lost.” Liang Sihua broke free. “You don’t know shit.”

Liu Zhuo pursed his lips, suddenly thought of something, and turned to Xu Nanxiao to brag: “Oh yeah, I saw Ying Yusheng hanging around our shop yesterday and chased him off.”

Before Xu Nanxiao could say anything, Liang Sihua gave Liu Zhuo a hard kick. “Mind your own damn business!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Liang Sihua looked tough on the outside, but inside he was a chronic overthinker. Xu Nanxiao didn’t know what had gotten into him, but from experience, he’d get over it in a few days, so he didn’t dwell on it.

His groceries were almost gone, so after work that day, Xu Nanxiao decided to go to the market to buy some more.

But as soon as he arrived at the market, he spotted Ying Yusheng from afar, picking out apples at a stall.

Xu Nanxiao immediately turned his face away, trying to slip past unnoticed, but Ying Yusheng spotted him first. He called out Xu Nanxiao’s name with a smile and quickly attached himself to him, walking close at his side.

Ever since that day at the tea house, Xu Nanxiao felt that Ying Yusheng had grown thicker-skinned, coming to find him every few days. Even when he was shut out, he didn’t seem discouraged, still wearing that smile, as if he had everything figured out.

Thinking of this, Xu Nanxiao felt a mix of embarrassment and irritation. He used his elbow to push the other man away and was about to tell him to keep his distance when someone suddenly tapped him lightly from behind.

Xu Nanxiao turned around, but the moment his gaze landed, he felt as if he’d been pinned in place.

It was a woman in her fifties. Faced with this unexpected face, Xu Nanxiao’s eyes went wide, and he couldn’t move a muscle. His mind went blank, as if scalded.

The noisy clamor of the market, the vendors’ calls—all faded into a muffled background hum. He didn’t know how long passed before the sounds came rushing back into his ears, buzzing with echoes.

“Is that you, Nanxiao?” The woman’s voice was also dazed, as if drifting from far away.

Xu Nanxiao didn’t answer.

He wasn’t even sure if he could still make a sound.

Ying Yusheng stood to the side, his gaze shifting between the two. Though he’d never met Xu Nanxiao’s mother before, he could guess who she was from the look on Xu Nanxiao’s face.

The woman before him had shrunk considerably from Xu Nanxiao’s memory. Her hair was mostly gray, hastily gathered at the back, with a few strands clinging to her temples. She carried an old mesh bag with two wilted cabbages inside.

After finally confirming that he was indeed Xu Nanxiao, the woman first showed excitement, then her gaze grew evasive, unable to meet his eyes directly. “I just happened to come to town today to help someone watch their stall. You… when did you come back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xu Nanxiao stood stiffly, still silent.

In truth, he had come to Hebei just to see her. But once he actually arrived, he could never muster the resolve. The ring was gone, and so was the reason to see her. If there was anything left unsaid, he didn’t want to admit it.

The town was small—so small that driving from one end to the other took just over half an hour. Yet it was also large enough that it had taken a rural woman who rarely left her home two whole years to come here.

“You buy your own groceries and cook for yourself? That’s good—clean…” Since Xu Nanxiao didn’t speak, she talked to herself.

Suddenly remembering something, she hastily reached into her mesh bag, fumbled around, and pulled out the two cabbages. Then, thinking better of it, her hand froze midair, unable to go forward or back.

In the end, she simply held out the slightly fresher-looking cabbage toward him, her movements stiff as if she were lifting something weighing a thousand pounds.

“This… this one’s still okay. Take it home and eat it?”

The edges of the cabbage leaves were a little yellow, and a bit of mud still clung to the root.

Xu Nanxiao stared at the cabbage, his throat tight, as if he’d swallowed a fishbone he could neither spit out nor swallow down.

Hate? It seemed dulled by time. Resentment? It had been building up for over a decade, and now it sat heavy in his chest, a dull, aching pressure.

Finally, he almost hastily shook his head at the woman and squeezed into the bustling crowd, fleeing.

The entire day, Xu Nanxiao was restless. He even misassembled a customer’s parts and got a good scolding from Ye Qiaozi.

He dragged his exhausted body home, turned on the light, and found the place cold and empty, the dining table bare. He thought to himself that even if he wanted instant noodles, he’d have to make them himself—this was just his life.

He opened the cupboard, took out a pack of noodles, and suddenly cursed under his breath. Then he grabbed his keys, planning to go to a restaurant to improve his meal.

Just as he flung the door open, he suddenly found Ying Yusheng standing outside, his hand raised, about to knock.

“Nanxiao.” Ying Yusheng was briefly startled, then beamed. “We’re truly in sync.”

And with that, he walked straight in.

“Hey, who said you could come in? Get out, get out.” Xu Nanxiao waved his hand dismissively, like shooing away a little dog.

But Ying Yusheng didn’t leave. Instead, Xu Nanxiao suddenly caught the smell of food—from the takeout containers Ying Yusheng was carrying. It seemed to be his favorites: cola chicken wings and candied sweet potatoes.

“I got some of your favorites from that restaurant you like. Want to eat together? I’ll leave after we finish.”

“…”

“How about it?” Ying Yusheng coaxed.

Who could say no to food?

And so, Ying Yusheng successfully took a seat at Xu Nanxiao’s dining table.

Ying Yusheng had packed four dishes: candied sweet potatoes, cola chicken wings, pan-fried beef bones, and garlic cabbage.

Xu Nanxiao looked at the plate of cabbage, his gaze dropping as if lost in thought. For the rest of the meal, he didn’t touch the cabbage.

As if reading his mind, after dinner Ying Yusheng casually asked: “By the way, did you ever go see your mother again?”

“No. What would I go see her for?” Xu Nanxiao pulled a box of toothpaste-flavored gummies from his pocket, tore it open, and popped one into his mouth.

“You said before you wanted to return her ring.”

The ring.

Xu Nanxiao’s movements paused, then he snorted. “Can’t find it. Who knows where it ended up.”

“Not going without the ring?”

“…Right.”

Ying Yusheng nodded and also took a toothpaste-flavored gummy. Xu Nanxiao immediately objected, tugging at Ying Yusheng’s arm to get it back. “Give it back.”

“It’s just one candy, Nanxiao. You’re so stingy.”

“This stuff is discontinued—every one I eat is one less. I’m not giving it to you. Besides, you only pretended to like them to talk to me back then. You never actually liked toothpaste-flavored candy.”

Ying Yusheng was taken aback by those words.

Seeing that Xu Nanxiao wouldn’t let it go, Ying Yusheng sighed softly and conceded. “Fine, fine, here you go.”

He placed something into Xu Nanxiao’s open palm, and Xu Nanxiao felt a weight settle there. When Ying Yusheng’s hand moved away, he saw not only the toothpaste gummy, but also a gold ring.

The ring Xu Nanxiao knew all too well—the woman’s ring.

In that moment, a powerful rush of air exploded deep in Xu Nanxiao’s chest. It had no shape, yet it blew his hair into disarray.

Life was truly absurd. Something he thought he’d never see again had suddenly reappeared before him; just like the person he thought he’d never see again was sitting right across from him.

“How did you—” The rest of the words died in his throat.

Ying Yusheng explained: “I noticed an odd transaction record from that cook, so I had someone look into it. Turns out he’d pawned a ring.”

“So you bought it back?”

“Mm.”

Ying Yusheng gently took Xu Nanxiao’s hand and closed his fingers around the ring. Then he said calmly: “Nanxiao, go give it back to her, won’t you?”

Asking around among the vegetable sellers, it wasn’t hard to find the woman’s home.

When Xu Nanxiao went, he brought nothing. Ying Yusheng, however, had packed the entire trunk with gifts.

“We’re just going to return something,” Xu Nanxiao emphasized before going in.

“Of course.” But Ying Yusheng smiled, looking cheerful.

Xu Nanxiao cursed inwardly, then took a deep breath and knocked on the rust-covered gate.

“Coming.” After a response, shuffling footsteps sounded from inside. The door cracked open, and the woman’s face appeared behind it.

Seeing it was Xu Nanxiao, she froze for a moment, then immediately grew flustered, pulling the door wide open. “Nanxiao… you, why are you here?”

“I have something to discuss with you.” Xu Nanxiao dropped his gaze, trying to stay calm. “This is my friend. He came with me.”

“Hello, Auntie.” Ying Yusheng smiled politely, offering the armful of gift boxes. “It’s our first meeting—just a little something for you.”

“Good, good, thank you.” She mumbled her reply, then suddenly remembering something, hurried back inside, where sounds of hurried tidying could be heard.

Xu Nanxiao took the chance to look around. The yard was just as he remembered—not big. Three single-story buildings, red brick walls with some peeling plaster, several stacks of empty plastic crates piled against the base of the wall, and plastic sheeting over the windows flapping noisily in the wind.

Soon, the woman came back out, standing awkwardly, wiping her hands on her apron over and over though they weren’t dirty. “A bit messy… come in and sit.”

Ying Yusheng placed the gifts on the table and tactfully said he wanted to look around the yard, then stepped out and closed the door.

Now only mother and son remained in the room. Silence filled the air like a solid thing.

The room was dimmer than outside, carrying a stale dampness. The furnishings were stark: a square table, two chairs, an old wardrobe, and a wooden bed with faded, bleached sheets.

“Sit, Nanxiao, sit.”

She pulled out the chair that looked sturdier and offered it to Xu Nanxiao, taking the wobbly one for herself.

Xu Nanxiao sat down, and again, silence fell between them.