The Scorching Sun - 88
Fang Zhuo sat with Yan Lie in the lobby for a while. Although the enormous potted plant blocked most of the curious looks coming from the entrance, she still felt a little self-conscious. She tugged at Yan Lie’s clothes, signaling that he should go back to the room.
On the way to the elevator, Yan Lie had initially been leaning most of his weight against her. After two steps, however, he seemed to have grown a new set of bones. Suddenly, even on one foot, he was moving with remarkable agility.
Watching him hop around like a grasshopper, Fang Zhuo decided to let him temporarily borrow the crutch Ye Yuncheng had kept as a memento. She had no classes that afternoon anyway, so she might as well take the opportunity to go home and make Yan Lie some pig’s trotter soup.
She told Yan Lie to stay put at the hotel and not wander around, lest his restless nature earn him a second injury. Then she took a bus alone to Ye Yuncheng’s little house.
At this hour, Ye Yuncheng should have been at the shop.
After the shopping mall reopened, he shifted his focus back to the physical store. The delivery platforms took too large a cut, there was very little profit, and he simply didn’t have the energy to deal with them.
Fang Zhuo bought the ingredients she needed at the market downstairs, then freed one hand to unlock the door.
Out of habit, she turned the key to the right and was surprised to find that the security door hadn’t been locked from the inside. Before she could process it, someone on the other side pulled the door open.
The man wore a loose white T-shirt and black flip-flops, waving a cheap advertising fan of the sort pharmacies handed out on street corners. He looked exactly like one of those retired old men who wandered around the park after dinner to walk off their food. Disheveled, relaxed, completely unconcerned with appearances.
Coming face-to-face with him, Fang Zhuo froze.
The man stared back at her, then blinked.
Fang Zhuo took a step backward and gripped the doorknob. Before she could close the door again, the man gave her a light tap with the fan and laughed. “What are you doing?”
Fang Zhuo opened her mouth, hesitantly asked, “Are you really the person I know?”
Liu Qiaohong burst out laughing. He stepped aside to let her in, muttering, “It’s your Uncle Liu. I’m helping your uncle edit some videos. What, you don't recognize me anymore?"
He'd just gotten his hair cut in the same style Yan Lie wore. His old fringe had been trimmed to about two inches above his eyebrows, and with his naturally youthful baby face, the whole effect made him look considerably younger.
So it really was true. A hairstyle could make an enormous difference to a person's looks. Too bad his clothes were doing their best to undo all that good work.
Fang Zhuo went into the kitchen first and put the groceries in the sink. When she returned to the living room, she stared at Liu Qiaohong for another moment before observing, “So your eye bags aren’t natural after all.”
Liu Qiaohong was both exasperated and amused. He snatched up the fan and flung it into her arms.
Fang Zhuo pointed at his clothes. “Is this your style now?”
Liu Qiaohong bent down and quickly cleared the clutter from the table, then dragged a tiny folding stool over from beside the wall and patted it. "It's convenient in this weather. I didn't know you'd be coming back. Don't you have class today?"
The child-sized stool was hardly comfortable to sit on, it was barely half the height of Liu Qiaohong’s sofa stool.
Fang Zhuo hugged her knees and sat beside him, tipping her head back as she told him about Yan Lie’s glorious injury.
“Young people these days really need to exercise more.” Liu Qiaohong sighed, genuinely concerned. “There are sixty- and seventy-year-olds back in the villages who can still work the fields, while a bunch of vigorous college students run fifteen hundred meters and start yelling that they're dying."
“So, Uncle Liu,” Fang Zhuo asked, “why are you here?”
Liu Qiaohong's story was characteristically disjointed, with the crucial information he didn't want to reveal neatly tucked away between the lines. "Things were too busy for a while, so my supervisor gave me two days off. Then your old homeroom teacher decided to introduce me to someone again. I came here to seek refuge with your uncle.”
The story was missing an obvious link, and Fang Zhuo caught it immediately. "When's the blind date? Today? Where?"
Liu Qiaohong’s mouth pulled downward into an expression that plainly said, This child is seriously annoying.
Fang Zhuo wasn’t trying to tease him. She genuinely couldn’t understand, pointing at his flip-flops. “You’re going dressed like that?”
“I brought a shirt. I just haven’t changed yet. It’s hot. No point getting the good clothes dirty before I leave."
That made sense. Liu Qiaohong was meticulous by nature. Even if he wasn’t particularly interested, he would still show enough respect for his blind date to dress properly.
Fang Zhuo brightened. “Can I see her photo?”
Liu Qiaohong looked a little embarrassed and put on a stern expression, trying to intimidate her into dropping the subject. Unfortunately, he had never been very intimidating. He cracked first and laughed, waving the question away. “Ah, there’s nothing to see. She might not even like me.”
Fang Zhuo didn’t press him. “Don’t say that. Get yourself a decent hairstylist and you’re still pretty handsome.”
Liu Qiaohong felt somehow wounded by the compliment. He ran a hand through his hair. "Go make your soup."
Fang Zhuo went back into the kitchen to clean the pig's feet.
She poured water into the pot and, while she waited for it to heat, cut up a plate of watermelon.
Liu Qiaohong sat in front of the computer, tapped a few keys, closed the program, and nodded. "Thanks."
After a moment, he couldn’t resist adding, “I got promoted.”
“Congratulations. Isn’t that a good thing?” It was the first time Fang Zhuo had seen someone receive a promotion with this attitude, she couldn't quite summon the appropriate celebratory mood. Suspicion crept into her voice, “The township work must’ve been really busy during the pandemic these past couple of years. Does your new position mean you get to sit in an office now?”
"Yeah." Liu Qiaohong's voice softened. "I just don't really know what I'm supposed to do anymore. Suddenly having nothing to do feels…”
His voice trailed off. His eyes drifted toward the window, gradually losing focus.
Grassroots work often meant running yourself into the ground.
When there weren’t enough people, it didn’t matter what department you belonged to. Everyone was pulled into whatever needed doing. Poverty alleviation was one of the hardest jobs of all. It demanded endless work without offering much recognition, and many young people wanted nothing to do with it.
Over the years, he'd been cursed at and beaten. He'd explained government policies again and again to people who had no intention of listening, tried to persuade them to move out of unsafe houses, argued endlessly over the conditions for assistance, and watched the bittersweet changes that came with the passage of people and time. In his own way, he'd stood at the edge of the world and watched its rises and falls.
There had been nights when he was so busy he could barely sleep, when he thought this life was dull, an endless rush from one meaningless task to another. Looking back now, however, all those hardships seemed insignificant. They were so trivial they could be brushed aside with a single sweep.
When the official announcement came that the country had achieved complete poverty alleviation, he'd been genuinely happy. When his supervisor told him he'd been promoted, he'd been happy then, too.
But now that he'd actually moved forward, the rhythm he'd lived by for so long made him feel strangely guilty about having free time.
Fang Zhuo pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands. Crouching beside the trash can as she ate watermelon, she said, “Uncle Liu, you graduated from A University. Do you really think there's nothing you can do?"
Liu Qiaohong’s eyes shifted. He let out a long breath, braced both hands against his thighs, straightened his back, and forced some spirit into himself. "You're right. I should keep learning."
“I think you’re just too tightly wound. You don’t understand the joy of occasionally wasting time.” Fang Zhuo asked, “What time’s your blind date? Are you eating lunch at home?”
“I’m meeting her for lunch. Twelve-thirty.”
Fang Zhuo tossed the watermelon rind into the bin and wiped her mouth. “All right.”
When Fang Zhuo returned to the kitchen, the water on the stove was already boiling.
She quickly stir-fried the blanched pig's feet, transferred them to a small clay pot, and set them simmering over low heat. Then she dug a packet of noodles out of the refrigerator, planning to add them to the soup later.
She was halfway through preparing everything when someone knocked on the security door again.
Liu Qiaohong went to open it and found Yan Lie hopping inside on one injured leg.
Liu Qiaohong immediately reached out to steady him and scolded, “You really can’t sit still. Your leg’s injured and you’re still running around.”
“It’s not broken. I just twisted it.” Yan Lie pushed him aside and looked him over with renewed interest. “Uncle Liu, that’s a very retro look.”
Liu Qiaohong couldn't even summon the energy to argue. He waved him off. "Go find somewhere to sit."
Fang Zhuo came out. “Why did you come over?”
Yan Lie always had a perfectly good reason. “My girlfriend went missing, so I came to look for her. You weren’t answering my calls.”
He dug the crutch out from the corner and tried walking with it. After two steps, he discovered that his hands and feet couldn’t quite coordinate. It was somehow even less useful than hopping around on one good leg.
Liu Qiaohong checked the time. It was about right, so he hurried back into the room to change.
He had a gentle temperament and clear, open eyes. There was none of that sharpness that made a person seem difficult to approach. Once he put on the freshly pressed shirt, he looked less like a successful white-collar professional and more like a refined young man with an artistic air.
At last, he no longer looked like a retired grandpa wandering out for a stroll. He looked like the kind of straightforward young man people naturally wanted to like.
With both of them watching, Liu Qiaohong tugged at his collar, slipped on his leather shoes, and said nervously, “I’m heading out.”
“Take care,” Fang Zhuo said. “And try to relax.”
Her tone, full of air of someone speaking from experience, left Liu Qiaohong speechless. He closed the door behind him and made his escape in small, hurried steps.
Fang Zhuo’s pig’s trotter soup was ready. She carried it to the dining table and called Yan Lie over.
Although Yan Lie could barely walk properly, he insisted on washing the dishes himself after they finished eating.
Worried that he might smash one of the plates from her home, Fang Zhuo leaned against the refrigerator and watched, helping dry the dishes as she went.
Halfway through washing, Yan Lie asked, “Do you have class tonight?”
Fang Zhuo countered, “What do you have planned tonight?”
Yan Lie hesitated. “I rented a apartment near the school.”
Fang Zhuo's hand stopped mid-wipe. She stared at him in disbelief. "Why did you rent an apartment?!"
“My dorm is on the sixth floor, and there’s no elevator!” Yan Lie pointed at his injured leg. A few droplets of water splashed onto Fang Zhuo’s hand as he became even more agitated than she was. “And I hate communal living! Especially living with a bunch of other guys! You have no idea. One of my roommates never washes his socks. Every day he stuffs them under his bed, and in summer they stink so badly they can suffocate you. Another one likes looking at people's computer screens from behind. He has absolutely no respect for my privacy. I've decided to move out!"
He’d lived there for more than three years despite supposedly hating it.
Yan Lie shamelessly threw the blame onto everyone else, then, riding the momentum of his indignation, worked up the courage to ask, “Do you want to…”
Fang Zhuo raised an eyebrow.
Yan Lie swallowed and finished stiffly, “Help me move my things?”
Fang Zhuo put the clean plate back in the cupboard. She lowered her head in silence. Only after Yan Lie cleared his throat did she ask, "You've already paid?"
"Paid in full." Yan Lie answered instantly. "I even hired a cleaner. The place should be ready to move into this afternoon."
"Don't you have to apply to the school first?"
Yan Lie had thought of everything. "I mentioned it to my counselor. They don't check the dorms anyway. I'll move out first and get him to sign the paperwork tomorrow."
Yan Lie really did move at lightning speed.
Fang Zhuo thought about it for a long time. After finishing the chores in front of her, she finally answered lightly, “Fine.”
“Thank you for your help.” Yan Lie bowed to her with exaggerated sincerity. “To show my gratitude, if you’re willing, my place is always open to you for overnight stays.”
?
Curious about how Liu Qiaohong’s blind date had gone, Fang Zhuo decided to wait at home for a while.
Around two-thirty, Uncle Liu returned.
His expression was calm. There was no telling whether things had gone well or badly.
Fang Zhuo asked how things had gone. Liu Qiaohong answered succinctly, “So-so. We ate for a while, talked for a while, and then went our separate ways.”
“You didn’t go see a movie or something?”
“She said she had something to do this afternoon, so she left first.”
Fang Zhuo thought, That’s it, then. Looks like there's no hope.
Liu Qiaohong dropped onto the sofa stool and had Yan Lie massage his stiff shoulders.
He now seemed completely detached from worldly concerns, as if he'd just returned from some mountain monastery after years of spiritual cultivation. Nothing seemed capable of stirring the slightest earthly desire in him.
After stretching out his arms and legs, Liu Qiaohong suddenly brightened. "The restaurant we ate at today had a lucky draw for customers who spent over a certain amount. I had such good luck. I won a fifty-percent discount. I only paid a little over a hundred!"
Fang Zhuo: “…”
Liu Qiaohong offered his profound wisdom. “I think fate is like restaurant discounts. Of course you’re happy when you draw one, but if you don’t, it’s no big deal. Just make a little more money and pay the full price.”
Fang Zhuo tried to absorb this philosophy and was horrified to realize that it actually made perfect sense.
Liu Qiaohong happily entertained himself for a while, then took out his phone and began composing a message.
Fang Zhuo was getting ready to leave, and he didn’t even look up. Only after finishing the message did he explain, “I'm asking her to go back to that restaurant with me. The lucky draw runs until the day after tomorrow, and there's still a prize in the box that could get the whole meal comped. I want to try my luck."
Fang Zhuo was completely baffled. “Huh…?”
His phone vibrated. Liu Qiaohong looked down and broke into a delighted smile. “She said yes.”
Fang Zhuo stared at him, stunned by the entire sequence of events. Is this how normal people date?
Even after they left the apartment complex, she still couldn’t quite make sense of it. She asked Yan Lie, “If you want to invite a stranger to dinner, is saying you want to try a raffle a sophisticated excuse?”
“Why do you care?” Yan Lie shot her a dangerous glance. “You’ll never get the chance to put it into practice.”
Fang Zhuo shut up.
?
Yan Lie had quite a lot of personal belongings, and Fang Zhuo couldn’t exactly walk straight into the men’s dormitory. Fortunately, he had three strong roommates.
The three roommates Yan Lie had complained about were surprisingly enthusiastic. When they heard he was moving out, they voluntarily packed up all his things, then practically sprinted them down from the sixth floor and piled everything beside the flower bed.
They even pooled their money to give him ten clothes hangers.
The three men stood in a row, drenched in sweat and radiating righteous sincerity. They solemnly told Fang Zhuo, “Classmate, we’re counting on you to look after our brother. He can be a little fussy sometimes, but he’s actually pretty easy to get along with. If he does anything wrong, hit him, yell at him, whatever you need. Don’t hold back. He’s got thick skin. If you still can’t work off your anger, come find us. We old fathers are happy to do the job for you!”
Yan Lie hated the fact that he’d injured one leg and was now being shamelessly exploited by these idiots, but all he could do was stand behind Fang Zhuo and glare murderously at them.
Fang Zhuo bought the three of them bottles of water. The good brothers waved their hands frantically. “No, no! Don’t worry about us! It’s getting late, and time is precious. We’ll get your stuff moved over first!”
?
The apartment Yan Lie had rented was in the residential complex directly across from the east gate, less than two hundred meters from campus.
For the sake of their brother’s happiness, the three young men summoned every ounce of strength they possessed. Carrying the heavy boxes, they had everything moved into the apartment in less than five minutes.
Seeing that the backs of their shirts were completely soaked through with sweat, Fang Zhuo invited them to stay for some milk tea. They refused repeatedly, then fled as if escaping a disaster.
It was already evening, and only a thin layer of gray light remained along the horizon.
Yan Lie ordered takeout, then began sorting through the clothes in his boxes with Fang Zhuo.
The apartment he’d rented was a little over seventy square meters, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one living room.
The previous tenant apparently never used the kitchen. Even the plastic wrapping on the stovetop was still intact.
Yan Lie hobbled over with his crutch, placed one hand on the marble counter, and said ingratiatingly, “I’ll cook for you from now on.”
Fang Zhuo didn’t notice what he was getting at. Still sorting their things, she casually replied, “The cafeteria food is pretty good too.”
“Are you a heartless girlfriend?” Yan Lie accused. “All you ever think about is not coming home for dinner.”
Fang Zhuo: “…”
Yan Lie went into the bathroom to inspect it, then came back out with his report. “There’s no separation between the wet and dry areas. Let me see… The water heater is connected to the kitchen, so there might not be enough hot water. Probably not suitable for showering.”
Fang Zhuo stopped what she was doing and looked up. “You rented this place on a whim without even checking what it came with?”
Yan Lie answered honestly, "Yes. I didn't have enough time to find a good one. Otherwise, I would’ve rented a one-bedroom.”
Yan Lie’s ulterior motive was practically bursting through the seams.
He stole a glance at Fang Zhuo’s expression. Afraid that being too obvious might scare her off, he hastily added, “The other room can be a study. Otherwise the place wouldn’t be fully functional.”
The takeout arrived just then, and Fang Zhuo decided not to argue with him. The two of them sat around the long table and ate dinner first.
The light above the dining area was a warm yellow, though it wasn’t particularly bright.
Yan Lie’s eyes shone as he arranged the bowls and chopsticks in front of Fang Zhuo, constantly adding food to her plate.
“Did you know?” Yan Lie said. “My parents left for B Province to start a business when I was still in elementary school. Before I went to live with them, I lived with my grandma. She spoiled me terribly. Even when I was already pretty old, she still fed me.”
Yan Lie had actually been very well-behaved at mealtimes. Aside from not being able to handle spicy food, he wasn't picky about anything. When his grandma fed him, he would sit properly on his little stool with his mouth open, never making a mess with the food.
But Yan’s father and mother couldn’t stand that side of him. They thought it made him spoiled. For a boy, being spoiled was practically a fatal flaw, so they insisted that he feed himself.
Yan Lie would sulk and sometimes deliberately refuse to eat.
But his parents never gave in. Every time, he would eventually get so hungry that he crawled back to the dining table and ate the food after it had gone cold. Little by little, he broke himself of the habit of needing someone to feed him.
He rarely sat at the same table with his parents, and even more rarely experienced any sense of familial warmth during a meal.
Later, after getting together with Fang Zhuo, he finally felt that long-forgotten sense of closeness again. He began imagining all those scenes of family life he'd read about in books: warm lights, steaming food, boundless acceptance, and someone waiting for him to come home.
But in reality, he couldn’t quite call himself Fang Zhuo’s family.
He couldn’t greet her first thing in the morning, and once night fell, they still had to part ways.
No amount of warmth between them could change the emptiness of their separate homes. Their longest conversations still took place through messaging apps on their phones.
Fang Zhuo existed somewhere beyond his reach. Every so often, he had to check in with her just to give himself a brief moment of peace.
Fang Zhuo listened quietly as he spoke.
Some of the memories came in fragments because Yan Lie no longer remembered them very clearly. He simply mentioned whatever came to him.
The atmosphere seemed to dredge up all the grievances he had buried so deeply that they were almost forgotten. He no longer felt hurt by them now, but he still wanted comfort from Fang Zhuo.
As though her comfort could travel backward through time and teach the Yan Lie of more than a decade ago how to let go.
Fang Zhuo asked, “Do you like stuffed animals?”
Yan Lie looked puzzled. “Why do you ask?”
Fang Zhuo thought for a moment before saying, “Because I like them.”
She had never had a stuffed animal. When she ate with her grandma, the two of them usually sat in silence.
Her grandma ate quickly. Once she finished and cleared away the dishes, she would leave Fang Zhuo behind, and Fang Zhuo would talk to herself about all sorts of things.
In the countryside, old newspapers were often pasted onto walls to keep out the damp. Fang Zhuo used to tear all sorts of cracks into them, then paste them back together with rice.
Then one day, at an age she could no longer remember, someone from the village gave her an old sweater. Sewn onto the front was a little doll with braided hair. Fang Zhuo loved it. She wore it for years and, for no reason she could explain, felt less alone whenever she had it on.
In middle school, Fang Zhuo heard from a classmate about a marketing campaign run by a restaurant company. Apparently, people who came to eat alone would be given a large stuffed animal.
Everyone laughed and said it would be unbearably awkward. Fang Zhuo, however, felt something deep inside her stir. She was even a little envious. It was the kind of envy she couldn’t share with anyone.
“But later, I stopped liking them.”
Yan Lie instinctively asked, “Why?”
They spoke at the same time.
“Because I learned to accept being alone.”
“Because you met me?”
Fang Zhuo paused, then changed her answer. “Yes. Because I met you.”
The muscles in Yan Lie’s face tightened, emotion flickering across his features. He shifted closer to Fang Zhuo and kissed her gently. His left arm slipped around her shoulders, his fingers brushing softly over her ear.
Fang Zhuo took a sip of soup and swallowed with some effort. In a voice barely louder than a breath, she said, “Your whole face is greasy.”
“So will you stay?” Yan Lie whispered against her ear, offering terms that were almost impossible to refuse. “I can cook. I can do the laundry. If something breaks, I can fix it. If I don’t know how to do something, I can learn. If you're still not satisfied, I'll work harder and earn enough to hire someone to help. I just want you to stay with me."
He made it sound terribly tempting. Spoken in that low, pleasant voice of his, every word carried its own seduction.
"I can compromise on anything for you. I just want to be the person beside you."
His voice was warm and gentle. Fang Zhuo's ears began to burn. Before she'd even fully thought it through, she gave a vague little "Mm."
Yan Lie let out a quiet laugh, hugged her tightly for a while, kissed her cheek, then released her so she could finish eating.
After dinner, the two of them continued sorting through the boxes.
Yan Lie had moved in a hurry this time, there were still plenty of things they needed to buy. Dishes, properly sized bedsheets, and all sorts of other necessities.
Fang Zhuo also returned to her dorm and brought back a couple of changes of clothes.
After they came back from the supermarket, they began putting everything into the cabinets and making a list of what was missing so they could buy the rest the next day.
Yan Lie left half of every space empty, saying that those were reserved for the traces of Fang Zhuo’s invasion, so she could move her things in later.
"I want to buy a house." The more he organized, the harder it became for Yan Lie to hide his excitement. His grand ambitions came pouring out, “If I save up a little more, I can buy a place downtown. Then you’ll marry me?”
Fang Zhuo looked up and said flatly, “Go to bed early if you’re tired. Maybe you’ll be more lucid tomorrow.”
Yan Lie didn't mind her sarcasm in the slightest. He spent the entire evening grinning like an idiot.
When Fang Zhuo started going through one of the boxes, Yan Lie hurriedly reached out and held it down. “You can’t look in this one.”
Fang Zhuo had no particular desire to look. She handed the box back and watched as he carefully tucked it beneath the bed.
By the time they'd roughly finished tidying everything, it was nearly eleven at night.
During the repeated trips carrying things, Yan Lie had accidentally put weight on his injured foot several times. At first he hadn’t thought anything of it, but once he finally stopped moving, he noticed that it had become a little swollen, red, and hot.
The adrenaline had thrown off his perception of pain, so he paid it no mind and remained as cocky as ever. He grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom to shower while Fang Zhuo sat waiting on the sofa in the living room.
After working all evening, Fang Zhuo was tired. She half reclined against the armrest as her thoughts slowly grew hazy.
Perhaps something Yan Lie had said that day had struck an old, vulnerable place in her. She hadn’t shown much of a reaction at the time, but in that drifting space between waking and dreaming, strange and unreasonable things began to appear.
Like a house of her own.
Perhaps everyone who lacked a sense of security developed a particular longing for a house. Fang Zhuo had once desperately wanted one, something that belonged to her and no one else. But after learning what housing prices were like, she had abandoned the dream completely.
It was too distant a dream, one she wouldn’t dare to entertain until she had a job.
When she was young and reckless, Fang Zhuo had once imagined it beautifully. A house alone might not be enough. She had been greedy enough to want a family, too.
Wind carrying clear sunlight would pour through the floor-to-ceiling windows, wrapping itself tightly around them.
It was beautiful enough to feel unreal.
***
When Yan Lie finished showering, he found Fang Zhuo asleep on the sofa, the living-room window still open.
He hurried over and shut the glass window tight, then returned to the bedroom for a blanket and carefully draped it over Fang Zhuo before sitting down on the floor and watching her sleeping face.
In the stillness, the phone he had left on the coffee table suddenly vibrated, filling the room with a low buzzing sound.
Yan Lie jumped. Watching Fang Zhuo for any sign that she'd woken, he picked up his phone and checked the message.
It was a WeChat message from Xia Lan.
Lanlan: Junior, are you asleep? I’m really sorry. If you’re still awake, please reply.
They Call Me Lie: 1
Lanlan: I’m going back to C Province tomorrow.
They Call Me Lie: Okay. Have a safe trip.
Lanlan: Before I leave, there’s still one thing I want to ask you.
Lanlan: I really need to know. Otherwise, it’s going to bother me.
They Call Me Lie: [Scared] Go ahead.
Lanlan: Do I really look that ugly when I cry?
Lanlan: Fuck, I can't accept this. That bastard told me I look like a country mutt even when I'm crying.
Lanlan: I was young and gorgeous once too, okay? When he was chasing after me calling me “Sweetie,” why didn't he realize he was the mutt?
Lanlan: So am I really that ugly?
Yan Lie lowered his eyes to Fang Zhuo’s profile.
He didn’t know what she was dreaming about, but a trace of moisture had gathered at the corner of her eye.
Her brows were drawn tightly together. She looked almost sorrowful, and yet there was something about her expression that made her seem as though she desperately needed someone to protect her.
Yan Lie gently brushed the tear away with his fingertip. When his finger touched her eyelid, her lashes trembled, and her breathing deepened for a brief moment.
Yan Lie froze, afraid to move again.
He remembered their senior year of high school, when Fang Zhuo had fainted during a school-wide cleanup and everyone around them had erupted into panic. He had pushed through the crowd and carried her to the infirmary.
The light of dusk had been soft, the warm sunlight falling across her face. It had clearly been warm to the touch.
And yet Fang Zhuo had lain on her side, crying without stop.
Yan Lie had been completely at a loss. No matter how many times he wiped her tears, they wouldn't stop. And when Fang Zhuo was awake, she didn't need his comfort.
In those few stunned moments, Yan Lie had vaguely felt a heart-searing pain in the moisture clinging to his fingertips. Somehow, he had glimpsed the stubbornness Fang Zhuo kept buried deep inside herself.
Yan Lie looked away and replied to Xia Lan.
They Call Me Lie: Don’t cry in front of someone you don’t love.
They Call Me Lie: He won't be sad for you.
Xia Lan didn’t reply.
Yan Lie put down his phone, placed a hand on Fang Zhuo’s arm, and gently shook her.
“Zhuo Zhuo, baby. Wake up. Let’s go back to the bedroom and sleep, okay?”
---
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