The Scorching Sun - 13

Fang Zhuo put her phone away and hurried into the kitchen to help Ye Yuncheng.

The kitchen itself was spacious, but it still had an old-fashioned wood-burning stove. The area with the gas burner was actually rather cramped. The moment Fang Zhuo squeezed in, the two of them immediately started getting in each other's way.

Working together with very little coordination, they spent nearly two hours preparing dinner. Afterward, Fang Zhuo moved the table and chairs in front of the television, turned the volume up, and listened to the songs from the Mid-Autumn Festival gala.

This was the first real holiday Fang Zhuo had ever celebrated. She was happy, but beneath that happiness was a constant sense of unease. She couldn't help worrying that if she came too often, she'd eat through what little Ye Yuncheng had managed to save over the years.

Noticing her gaze drifting, unfocused over the TV screen, and that she was picking at her food, distracted, Ye Yuncheng guessed what was troubling her. After pondering how to say it, he gently patted her thin shoulder, motioned for her to pull her chair closer. Smiling, he said, "Are you worried your uncle doesn't have money? I have money. Didn't I send you some before?"

"I know."

She knew he had some savings. It was precisely because she knew how he'd scraped that money together that she couldn't bear to spend it.

Fang Zhuo had known what real poverty looked like. When she was young, government subsidies for poor rural households weren't nearly as substantial as they were now. Her grandmother received neither an elderly allowance nor land-loss compensation, leaving her without any stable income. Fang Yiming wasn't a filial son. Over more than ten years, he'd only come home twice, staying less than half a day each time. She doubted he'd ever given them much financial help. For a long time, she and her grandmother had lived in extreme hardship.

Poverty meant never noticing the progress of society or the advance of technology. The only thing that mattered was whether there was a bowl of food in front of you.

Only after you had something to eat and your stomach was full did you have the strength to lift your eyes and look at the world beyond. Even if that strength amounted to nothing more than the faintest struggle.

She couldn't bear to watch Ye Yuncheng tighten his belt and deny himself everything just to support her. She hated that idea.

More than anything, she hated feeling like a burden.

Ye Yuncheng suddenly said, "I went to see you once. A long time ago."

Fang Zhuo looked up curiously.

Smiling faintly, he tilted his head. Half his face disappeared into shadow as he spoke in an even, peaceful tone. "I wasn't much older than you are now, still in high school. Though I was nothing like you. I didn't understand anything. I couldn't do anything. My family was gone, and I didn't even know what I was supposed to do with my life."

Fang Zhuo lowered her head and took another bite of rice. "...I don't really know either," she admitted quietly. "All I know is how to study."

"Studying is the right thing to do," Ye Yuncheng said. "But I couldn't keep going. I dropped out once in elementary school after becoming disabled, then again in ninth grade after my parents died. It was just... too exhausting. Every time I went back, I had to face so many unfamiliar people, so much unfamiliar knowledge. But none of it could tell me what my future was going to look like."

Confusion flickered across Fang Zhuo's face. She didn't know what she would have made of life either, if she had been in his place.

Maybe, if she'd actually faced it, she'd want to survive no matter how miserable life became. 

People like her were like the stray cats roaming the streets. They're not struggling because they believed some bright future was waiting ahead. Maybe they can't even see the ending. They fought simply because something in their bones refused to submit to fate, baring its claws with everything it had.

But Ye Yuncheng was different. He had once possessed a healthy body. He had once belonged to a warm, loving family. Every day after losing them, he had tasted the bitterness of life.

"Your grandmother may seem cold," Ye Yuncheng said softly, "but she's a good person. No one could give you very much. She couldn't protect you forever. In the end, you have to become strong yourself."

Fang Zhuo already knew that. Other than love, her grandmother had given her everything she possibly could.

Looking back, Ye Yuncheng said, "I dropped out during my second year of high school. Later, someone introduced me to a substitute teaching job at an elementary school. It wasn't an official position, but I did earn a little money."

Fang Zhuo hadn't expected that.

"You were a teacher?" she asked, genuinely absorbed. "Then why did you stop?"

"My health wasn't very good. I caused them a lot of trouble, and later the school didn't need any more teachers." Ye Yuncheng's expression grew distant. "Everyone has times when they fall apart..."

When someone becomes little more than a walking shell, even accepting someone else's concern feels like an imposition.

Day after day was simply the sun rising then setting.

The man whose face had been carved by hardship drew in a slow breath, then let it out in a long sigh

At last, he spoke the words that had been pressing on him for so long, openly and without hiding. "I was just so tired. It didn't seem like there was any point in living."

Once the words left his mouth, memories surfaced one after another.

Those endless years.

That insignificant past.

It was as though the heavy version of himself who had carried all that pain was finally set free, returning to the beginning, back when he still had his family.

Ye Yuncheng reached across the table and held Fang Zhuo's hand, looking at her with complete sincerity.

Every trace of warmth and moisture remained hidden behind his half-lowered eyes.

After a long while, he smiled. A new strength crept into his gentle voice.

"From now on, I'll find work, and you'll go to school. We'll both do what we're supposed to do and live normal lives. I believe things will get better soon."

His palm around hers was damp. Fang Zhuo raised her eyes and nodded with all her strength.

***

The day before the holiday ended, Yan Lie returned to school around noon. He went out to play basketball with some kids from another class for a while. By the time he returned to the classroom in the early evening, Fang Zhuo was back too.

Yan Lie sat down beside her, his hair still damp from a shower and carrying the clean scent of body wash. Smiling, he turned toward her. "Classmate Fang Zhuo. It's been a while. Can I ask you something?"

Fang Zhuo excelled at preemptive answers. She skipped directly past his question. "I had a great holiday. Everything went well. I didn't get lost. The chickens are still alive, living it up in a twenty-square-meter luxury villa. To thank you, my uncle asked me to bring you a gift."

Yan Lie completely forgot what he'd intended to ask.

Meanwhile, Fang Zhuo had already pulled out a familiar lunch box from her backpack and placed it on the desk.

"Sweet glutinous rice balls with red bean filling. We steamed too many mung beans, so we also made some mung bean cakes. We didn't have proper molds, so they don't look very pretty, but they taste good."

Yan Lie couldn't quite catch his breath. All he managed was, "Thanks."

Fang Zhuo kindly asked, "Anything else you wanted to ask?"

His mind had been wiped completely clean. Doubting himself, he slowly shook his head.

"Good."

She hung her backpack back on her chair before suddenly remembering something. "I have a question."

Honestly, Yan Lie wasn't sure he wanted her to ask it. He still couldn't remember what he'd wanted to say in the first place, and that alone was driving him crazy.

Fang Zhuo asked, on her own initiative, "Do you like five-nut mooncakes?"

Yan Lie hesitated. "They're... okay."

"That's great!" Fang Zhuo reached into her bag again and produced a small paper packet. With great enthusiasm, she said, "These are for you too!"

Seeing the obvious relief on her face, as though she'd finally found someone willing to take the burden off her hands, Yan Lie couldn't help laughing. "You people and your prejudice against five-nut mooncakes. They're actually pretty good."

Fang Zhuo nodded insincerely, urging him on. "They're yours now. Eat up. If you like them, I can share them with you again next year.”

Yan Lie paused halfway through opening the package. He lifted his eyes toward her as though he'd just caught hold of something important.

"Next year?"

Fang Zhuo thought about it and added, "If I manage to overperform and get into the same university as you."

Yan Lie smiled. There was a trace of youthful mischief in it, his eyes sparkling as he replied with mock seriousness, "In that case, for the sake of this precious friendship, this deskmate of yours will have to supervise your studies from now on."

"I already study very hard." Fang Zhuo said, tossing out the slogan half-heartedly. "Eat up. May our friendship last forever."

Having successfully found a new owner for the five-kernel mooncake, Fang Zhuo felt physically and emotionally lighter.

She stood up, took the plastic bottle with holes punched in the cap from the shelf at the back of the classroom, filled it with water, and went to water the plants as usual.

Wei Xi and several girls from her dorm made their way between the desks and surrounded her.

Fang Zhuo suddenly found herself boxed in on all sides. Four hands landed on her shoulders at once, pushing her forward under their combined weight.

Leaning close to her ear, Wei Xi whispered, "Fang Zhuo... what exactly is going on between you and Yan Lie?"

"We're deskmates."

Wei Xi looked unconvinced. "I thought you two were dating."

"We're not." Completely puzzled by the question, Fang Zhuo considered it for a moment before asking in surprise,"...Do you guys like five-nut mooncakes too?"

"That's not the point!" Wei Xi said sternly. "Although you really do look down on five-nut mooncakes!"

The dorm leader: "??" 

Are your thought processes even human?!

One of the girls beside them clutched at her chest dramatically. "It's because we think Yan Lie has double standards! He usually refuses gifts from other girls."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Didn't Yan Lie tell you he likes cake? Someone overheard that, so a girl from the next dorm bought him one, and he immediately gave it to a teacher while acting like he had no idea what was going on. It was right before the holiday. You remember?"

The whisper tickled Fang Zhuo's ear. She tilted her head away instinctively and didn't answer, just looked at them with a baffled expression.

The girls gradually lost confidence under that innocent stare. They began to wonder if they were the ones overthinking things. Maybe friendships during school really could be that simple.

To be fair, Fang Zhuo's stubborn, earnest personality was genuinely hard to dislike. And her thin, frail appearance did make a person want to look after her.

Wei Xi muttered, "Maybe Yan Lie isn't as much of an oblivious straight guy as we thought? Was he playing dumb on purpose before?"

The five pairs of eyes staring over together were apparently impossible to ignore. Yan Lie, halfway through eating his mooncake, sensed something and looked over.

The girls all turned away in perfect unison before quietly dispersing.

When Fang Zhuo returned after watering the plants, Yan Lie was still thinking about those strange looks. "What were you guys talking about just now? Were you looking at me?"

Fang Zhuo figured what they'd said was basically a compliment, so she relayed it faithfully. "They said you're not that much of a straight guy."

Yan Lie: "??"

What do they mean I'm not that straight?!

Seeing that he didn't seem pleased, Fang Zhuo quickly added, "They meant you're thoughtful and considerate. Nothing else."

His expression somehow became even darker.

Being treated like one of the guys was bad enough. Surely, she didn't see him as one of the girls too?

Unable to figure out what she'd said wrong, Fang Zhuo wisely decided to stop talking.

***

Fresh off a holiday, none of the students were really back in study mode.

And with the sports festival and National Day break coming right afterward, even the teachers stopped pushing too hard. They simply treated it like a grace period, handing out a few test papers due before the weekend and leaving the rest of the class time for rehearsing the opening ceremony march.

Yan Lie was athletic, good-looking, and naturally got pushed into becoming the flag bearer. On the day itself, all he had to do was carry the class sign and walk at the front, being the coolest person there.

Fang Zhuo blended into the middle of the formation, perfectly content to coast by. Fortunately, their class had never been the creative type. They only change formation once in front of the reviewing stand and shout a couple of slogans.

The same lazy routine they'd used for three years, one they would faithfully pass on to the next generation of equally unmotivated juniors.

Aside from Fang Zhuo, the rest of the class was brimming with enthusiasm for the sports meet.

Zhao Jiayou, for example, had been loudly proclaiming for several days that he was going to break the school record.

Listening to his grand speech at the front of the classroom, Yan Lie rested his head on the desk and slowly scooted closer to Fang Zhuo.

Bumping her shoulder lightly with his own, he asked, "Will you come watch my events?"

Fang Zhuo was buried in practice problems, her brain switching gears slowly. Four or five seconds later, she finally responded. "...Hm?"

Yan Lie tried again. "Do you think guys who do high jump are cool?"

Fang Zhuo set her pen down. Thinking of those stiff, zombie-like launches over the bar, she answered a little reluctantly, "I don't know."

Refusing to give up, Yan Lie continued. "What about guys who play basketball?"

Fang Zhuo was about to say "I don't know" again. She opened her mouth, then changed course. "They're okay. I like Slam Dunk."

Yan Lie instantly perked up. "You like Slam Dunk too?"

"I also like Naruto." After a pause, she added regretfully, "But I probably watched Shugo Chara! the most."

"Huh?" Yan Lie tilted his head cooperatively, intrigued. "Why's that?"

Fang Zhuo said, "I just watched whatever people requested."

Yan Lie stared blankly for a long moment before finally understanding. “You mean the old request channel on TV? ...That's really a relic of another era."

Fang Zhuo immediately disagreed. "It isn't a relic. It was the joy of my childhood."

Two minutes later, Yan Lie suddenly realized he still hadn't gotten an answer to his original question.

Every time he talked to Fang Zhuo, he listened so seriously that somehow his attention always wandered completely off course.

Last time, he'd wanted to ask why she hadn't replied to his texts. This time, he'd wanted to ask her to watch his competition. The outcome was exactly the same.

Feeling dissatisfied, Yan Lie wrote the question clearly on a scrap of paper, ready to pass it to her.

Holding it between two fingers, he glanced at his deskmate, who was still completely absorbed in the endless sea of practice problems. After a moment, he sighed and folded the paper away.

A melon forced off the vine might be sweet, but it'll never taste as sweet as one that comes on its own.

---

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