The Scorching Sun - 17

Yan Lie still remembered the excuse he'd used for visiting Fang Zhuo's house. The moment they reached the yard, he dropped his backpack and immediately asked how his little Baldy was doing, insisting Fang Zhuo bring it out for him.

Seriously? People could barely recognize every human face they met, let alone chickens.

Fang Zhuo thought this overgrown child was a little too invested. Not wanting to listen to him complain, she casually reached into the coop, grabbed the nearest chick, and declared, "This one's Baldy."

Yan Lie took it, skepticism written all over his face, and studied the chicken's head for a moment.

Granted, a week was a lifetime for baby chicks. They grew fast enough to look completely different. Even so, armed with what he proudly considered eagle eyes, Yan Lie spent more than half an hour searching through the flock before triumphantly picking out the real Baldy.

"This is the chick-en mascot!" Yan Lie exposed her scheme, sounding thoroughly betrayed. "You actually lied to me?!"

Fang Zhuo clicked her tongue. "Seriously?"

Yan Lie demanded, "Were you trying to harm my chicken?"

"It's my chicken," Fang Zhuo corrected. "I paid for it. I bought its feed."

"I offered you the money. You wouldn't take it."

Fang Zhuo looked genuinely puzzled. "What's so special about it? Because it's bald? Why do you want to see it so badly?"

Yan Lie nearly shouted. It wasn't the chicken he wanted to see! He wasn't some weirdo! Shouldn't soulmates want to see each other every day? Did she even consider him a friend at all?!

Hearing the commotion, Ye Yuncheng poked his head out from inside and asked nervously. "Are you two arguing?"

"No," Fang Zhuo replied over her shoulder. "We're discussing chickens."

As far as chicken paradoxes went, the classic one was probably which came first, the chicken or the egg. But theirs wouldn't be laying eggs for another month or two.

When the two of them returned to the room, Ye Yuncheng handed each of them a boiled egg.

Fang Zhuo hated boiled eggs with a passion. The instant Ye Yuncheng wasn't looking, she slipped hers into Yan Lie's hand.

Holding the warm egg, Yan Lie was deeply moved. Fang Zhuo, who wouldn't spend a single cent on a text message, was willing to give him her egg. His voice softened as he asked, "Are you apologizing to me?"

After considering the question for a moment, Fang Zhuo asked instead, "How are you already eighteen and still this innocent?"

Yan Lie: "..."

Was that a personal attack?

A moment later, Fang Zhuo realized he might have been subtly calling her stingy, so she added earnestly, "I shared mooncakes with you before too."

At that moment, Yan Lie was helping Ye Yuncheng cook. The two of them turned around at the same time to look at her.

For some reason, the expressions on their faces were uncannily alike, as though they were the actual relatives.

Fang Zhuo shook her head. "Never mind. Carry on."

She went outside to refill the water basin in the chicken coop.

After just one week away, a fresh pile of soil had appeared near the entrance to the courtyard. It was for the vegetable patch Fang Zhuo had talked about planting. The dirt was still mixed with small stones that needed sorting, and Ye Yuncheng probably hadn't had time to finish the job yet.

Time seemed to pass incredibly fast. It felt as though Fang Zhuo had only just arrived, yet dusk was already settling over the yard.

Yan Lie watched television with them for a while before helping out with a few household chores.

Ye Yuncheng tried his best to keep the house clean, but his physical condition imposed many limitations. High shelves, window corners, and other awkward places were hard for him to reach. Several old light bulbs had also gone unchanged for ages. Yan Lie took care of all of it, then rearranged some of the furniture under Ye Yuncheng's guidance.

He had a remarkable way of helping people. Thoughtful enough to notice what they needed, careful enough never to make them feel pitied or embarrassed.

By the end of the afternoon, Ye Yuncheng had grown genuinely fond of him. Not the shallow admiration people reserved for top students, but the warm concern an adult naturally felt toward a mature, considerate young person.

Twice, he asked what Yan Lie's family did and whether his parents would worry if he stayed out so late after school. Yan Lie only smiled and steered the conversation elsewhere each time. Realizing the questions might make him uncomfortable, Ye Yuncheng let the matter drop and instead asked about life at their school.

The only mutual acquaintance they shared was Fang Zhuo. Naturally, the conversation soon revolved around her. The person they were discussing was out in the backyard digging dirt like an industrious little gardener.

Neither of them actually knew Fang Zhuo all that well, yet after pooling the little they each knew, both felt they'd learned a surprising amount.

Fang Zhuo hated five-kernel moon cakes. And she hated boiled eggs.

Ye Yuncheng committed both facts firmly to memory.

Forget the mooncakes. Next time he'd have to personally watch her finish the boiled egg.

Fang Zhuo's real birthday was actually September 28th. She shared a birthday with Confucius. No wonder she loved studying so much.

Yan Lie silently calculated. Wasn't that right around the sports meet?

He'd missed Fang Zhuo's birthday twice already. He might need to give her two sets of college entrance exam practice tests to make up for it.

The two men chatted happily.

Ye Yuncheng even asked Yan Lie to tutor Fang Zhuo with her homework and had already cleared the desk for them. It wasn't until Fang Zhuo laid out the dishes and called them to dinner that he realized night had fallen.

The three of them sat around the square dining table beneath the soft orange glow of the light. The house, usually occupied by two quiet people, somehow felt even warmer with Yan Lie in the middle.

He seemed to have a gift for quickly easing into any social situation.

"I'm really sorry," Ye Yuncheng said apologetically. "You came over as a guest, yet you spent the whole day helping out instead."

Yan Lie smiled sincerely. "Not at all. I really enjoy talking with you, Uncle!"

Ye Yuncheng laughed heartily and piled more food into his bowl. "Eat plenty. Someone gave us fresh free-range eggs. They're especially fragrant."

"Thanks, Uncle!"

The strange feeling in Fang Zhuo's chest deepened. She shot Yan Lie a suspicious look.

He looked less like a guest and more like someone trying to steal her elder away.

"Hurry and eat," Ye Yuncheng urged. "The last bus comes between eight and eight-thirty, though it's not always on time. Miss it and there's no more tonight. It takes over twenty minutes to walk there if you don't rush."

After dinner, Ye Yuncheng asked again, "Lie Lie, do you remember the way?"

Yan Lie had just picked up his backpack and was about to leave. Hearing the question, he froze.

He'd made a point of memorizing the first half of the route while walking here with Fang Zhuo. But once they'd entered the village, he'd been chatting with Ye Yuncheng while still riding the excitement of finally coming over.

That part... wasn't nearly as clear.

Fang Zhuo was oddly comforted to discover someone else who was just as hopeless with directions as she was. Especially someone who had rescued her in the middle of the night twice and subtly mocked her for getting lost.

"I'll walk you there," she volunteered.

"You sure?" Yan Lie asked. "I won't end up having to walk you back, will I? I've got navigation. It's fine."

Fang Zhuo was displeased. "At a time like this, 'thank you' is all you need to say."

Ye Yuncheng chuckled. "Then let Zhuozhuo see you off. I'll come pick her up after I finish the dishes. Both of you remember to wear a jacket. It's chilly outside."

Maybe because it had been raining for the last two days, darkness was falling especially early. Though it was only a little after seven, the road was already fading into shadow.

The night air had turned cold, and the wind was picking up. Wearing the jacket Ye Yuncheng had insisted he put on, Yan Lie led the way out of the narrow lane. He reached into his backpack and produced two flashlights, switching them both on as they walked.

"You carry flashlights with you?" Fang Zhuo asked in surprise. "Two of them?"

"I'm a little of afraid of the dark." Yan Lie swept the beam carefully over the ground, wary of the unfamiliar country road in case he stepped into a hole.

She eyed him skeptically. "You're afraid of the dark? Then why are you always wandering around so late at night?"

Yan Lie choked on the question. After a long silence, he answered, "I'm usually inside a shop somewhere."

Then, more quietly, "Besides... I hate being home alone even more."

A-City's infrastructure was fairly well developed, and his home was near the city center. Even in the middle of the night, the streets were never truly dark.

"You think I'm making it up?" Yan Lie said. "I really am scared of the dark. Well... not exactly the dark. I'm scared of ghosts."

Only then did Fang Zhuo realize something.

Yan Lie actually liked acting spoiled.

Whenever he did, his voice turned light and soft, and even his eyes looked pitiful. She couldn't tell if he was simply an excellent actor or if this was his real nature. With the night as cover, he seemed completely unrestrained.

Before she realized it, she heard herself giving in. "Fine."

"Then stay closer to me," Yan Lie said.

Fang Zhuo stepped up beside him, took one of the flashlights from his hand, and shone it ahead with him.

Yan Lie deliberately slowed his pace. After walking for a while, he spoke again. "I think you're amazing. You know how to do everything."

Fang Zhuo was baffled. Even she didn't know she could do everything.

"What exactly do I know how to do?"

"All kinds of life skills." Yan Lie said.

She looked at him in utter confusion. "Are you planning an expedition into the jungle? Or preparing for survival in the wilderness? Why would you envy my life skills?"

Yan Lie laughed quietly. His sense of humor had always struck Fang Zhuo as completely incomprehensible.

They walked on for another stretch. Gradually, the smile disappeared from Yan Lie's face.

He became increasingly restless, glancing over his shoulder every few moments and occasionally reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

As they neared the village entrance, he finally couldn't stand it anymore. He swung the flashlight toward the darkness behind them. The yellow beam swept across the road, and his body froze.

He blinked, then his expression tightened with fear.

He hurried closer, tugged lightly on Fang Zhuo's sleeve, and whispered, "There's someone behind us."

She shot him an impatient look and pulled her sleeve free. "Quit fooling around."

"I'm serious!" His Adam's apple bobbed. "Turn around if you don't believe me."

Fang Zhuo said, "No."

Yan Lie was frantic. "Look! I'm serious!"

Fang Zhuo assumed he was playing another childish prank meant to scare her. But once she actually listened, she could faintly hear footsteps.

Footsteps that didn't belong to either of them.

Frowning, she switched her flashlight to its brightest setting and pointed it straight behind them.

A dark figure darted across the beam before disappearing behind a nearby wall. Fast as the person was, there had been no hiding it.

The two of them fell silent.

Fang Zhuo turned to comfort Yan Lie.

Instead, she found his face drained completely of color, every trace of blood gone. He looked utterly horrified.

Without saying a word, he grabbed her hand and ran.

At that moment, Fang Zhuo finally believed him. 

He really was terrified of ghosts.

The violent tug nearly yanked her off her feet. One of her shoes flew off, and she ended up hopping after him on one foot. Yan Lie never let go. If anything, he looked ready to throw her over his shoulder and carry her. Yet throughout the frantic sprint, he never once screamed. Every sound was locked tight inside his chest.

They fled without any sense of direction.

By the time Yan Lie's overheated brain finally calmed down, they had already reached a place neither of them recognized.

Keeping his face tense, Yan Lie carefully scanned all four directions. Only after confirming no one had followed them did he finally exhale and turn toward Fang Zhuo.

Standing awkwardly on one foot, Fang Zhuo reminded him helplessly, "Lie-ge... I lost my shoe."

Still shaken, Yan Lie lowered his voice. It came out rough despite himself. "Aren't you scared?"

"I don't believe in ghosts," Fang Zhuo said matter-of-factly. "That was obviously a person. There are two of us. Why would we lose to one?"

The words escaped before she could stop them. Realizing they sounded a little too much like teasing, she softened her tone. "If you're really scared... I can hold onto your backpack."

For once, Yan Lie looked genuinely embarrassed. He simply couldn't believe it. A situation that eerie, and there was actually a girl who wasn't scared?

He asked, "So what are you afraid of?"

"Nothing." Fang Zhuo reached out and caught hold of the strap of his backpack. "Let's go back. It'll be fine. I'm here."

Yan Lie lowered his head, eyes half-lidded, slowly steadying his breathing. At last, some color returned to his face. Unfortunately, he no longer knew which way they'd come. Thankfully, his phone still had navigation. He pulled it out and tried to find the route back to the village entrance.

Before the directions even loaded, he noticed the time. It was already past eight. He had no idea whether he'd missed the last bus of the night.

The two of them retraced their steps through the darkness, searching for one lonely white shoe.

They successfully found the place where they'd fled from, but the shoe was nowhere to be found.

Just as Fang Zhuo was mourning the mysterious disappearance of her property, they ran into Ye Yuncheng, who had come looking for them with his crutch.

Her missing shoe was dangling from his hand.

"I was wondering why you still weren't back. Where on earth did you two go?"

Neither Yan Lie nor Fang Zhuo could exactly explain. The pair simply wore equally innocent expressions.

"Come home first," Ye Yuncheng said, laughing despite himself. "You scared Xiao Mu half to death.”

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