26

On the second Saturday of week two, Fei Bolin went to the hospital to get his stitches out. The wound Wen Fu had smashed open left a scar about two centimeters long along the bone under his chin, but it wasn't very obvious, and it sat low enough that you wouldn't really notice unless you got up close.

He left the hospital around three in the afternoon and swung by School on the way. They'd just finished midterms during the week, and the scores weren't out yet, so he planned to redo that final killer math problem he hadn't had time to fully work out during the exam.

This midterm had been brutal. When school let out that morning, teachers from every subject were in the office saying they figured barely any classes would even hit a passing average this time. Fei Bolin pulled out each paper and estimated his scores. He had a pretty good sense of it. Total score would probably land somewhere around six hundred thirty.

No idea how much that stray cat would score, though.

Fei Bolin glanced at Wen Fu's seat. It was empty. On a Saturday afternoon, in all of Department A, other than a study maniac like Fei Bolin, nobody would willingly come to the classroom for self-study.

He didn't feel like going home to cook today, so he just went to the cafeteria that afternoon instead. After a quick meal, he went back to the classroom and kept grinding through problems until ten-thirty before packing up his books and heading home.

As he left School and crossed the street, his phone chimed with a Q/Q message notification.

Once he reached the other side, he pulled out his phone as he walked toward the alley and tapped open the group chat.

[@It's One Not Zero: Next Next Week Sports Meet. Every class has to turn in the names for each event by next Friday. Which of you are signing up?]

[@It's One Not Zero: Talk.]

[@It's One Not Zero: Quit playing dead.]

[@It's One Not Zero: I'm about to start drafting people.]

Seeing nobody in the group was answering Xie Yining, Fei Bolin replied:

[@Lin: I'm good with anything. Just put me wherever you're short on people.]

[@It's One Not Zero: I knew our group leader was the best [/pitiful]]

[@It's One Not Zero: Then you'll do the usual two again, volleyball and the three thousand [/kiss]]

Fei Bolin smiled at the shamelessly fawning tone coming right through the screen and replied: Okay.

Every year, the long-distance events were a full-blown disaster for the class. Once all the fun ball games got snapped up, the distance races were always left sitting there with nobody touching them. The Sports Meet split events into boys' and girls' divisions. Signing up girls' events was never a problem. The second it came to the boys', they couldn't even drag enough people out.

Last year, school had only just started a few months earlier, and nobody really knew each other yet. When Xie Yining asked in the group chat, the replies came in scattered bits. In the end, Su Haoran and Fei Bolin stepped up and each took on two extra events, and that was the only reason they barely muddled through the Sports Meet at all. That was with the rule that one person could sign up for at most two events. But Su Haoran had wiped out in the boys' hundred-meter race and nearly broken a bone, so there was no way he could carry the running events by himself again this year.

The giant guys in Class 7 next door outnumbered the other science classes to begin with. At the last Sports Meet, when Classes 6 and 7 did tug-of-war, the ref hadn't even finished blowing the whistle before Class 7 had already won. Class 6 got crushed so badly it was hard to look at. People kept bumping the thread on the School forum and clowning them for two straight days, and even now, whenever Class 6 comes up, somebody still digs that out to mock them again.

Xie Yining had never gotten over it. This year, no matter what, she was going to get more boys from the class to join events. Not just join, either. They had to win enough places to finally get that bad taste out of her mouth.

Sure enough, once Fei Bolin agreed, Xie Yining went right back to roll call like the grim reaper in the group chat.

[@It's One Not Zero: @one piece Su Haoran, what about you? If you're not running, you can at least do high jump, right?]

[@one piece: Yes, Your Majesty [/salute]]

[@It's One Not Zero: I won't call people out for the other ball games and the four-hundred relay. Use your heads and sign up on your own. If nobody does, it'll be the same few as last year. Still need boys' fifty, one hundred, and one thousand. Who's doing them?]

[@It's One Not Zero: @Counterclockwise Zhang Chengfeng, one thousand meters. You bailed last year. You're doing it this year.]

[@Counterclockwise: I'm this fat. I really can't run [/crying] If I come in dead last it'll be even more humiliating [/wronged]]

[@It's One Not Zero: ...Fair point, actually.]

[@It's One Not Zero: What about the rest of you? All gone mute?]

[@one piece: What about that transfer student who came last week?]

[@It's One Not Zero: Right, where's that do-re-mi guy?]

[@one piece: Do-re-mi?]

[@Lin: Wen Fu.]

[@one piece: Oh, right. Is do-re-mi his nickname? Did anybody add him to the group?]

[@Lin: No. Pretty sure that's not what he's called.]

[@It's One Not Zero: I just said it randomly. Can somebody add him?]

Nobody replied.

[@It's One Not Zero: Does anyone have his Q/Q? None of you do?]

That got quick responses, at least. More than a dozen people in a row all said no, and the ones after that just kept hitting [+1].

[@It's One Not Zero: Fine, then. I'll ask him in class next week.]

[@one piece: Brave soul. Hope you become the first person to get him to open his mouth [/thumbs-up]]

[@It's One Not Zero: Not only am I making the mute talk, I'm making him sign up for the Sports Meet too [/dark face]]

Getting the mute to talk would be easy. Fei Bolin had already heard Wen Fu's light, quick way of speaking. As for signing up for the Sports Meet... that was harder to say.

He put his phone away and walked to the bend in the alley, the same spot where he'd run into Wen Fu robbing people before.

The second he got there, he stopped.

If it weren't for the fact that it hadn't rained tonight, he would've thought time had looped back on itself.

Same two high schoolers. Same Wen Fu. Same black windbreaker, baseball cap, and mask, wrapping him up so tightly not a single detail showed.

Maybe this kind of thing had happened more than once, because both sides moved like they knew the drill. Wen Fu just held out his hand to the two of them. 'Money.'

This time Wen Fu had deliberately lowered his voice. Fei Bolin silently took a step back and tipped his head against the wall.

He had no intention of meddling. It wasn't like he was some warmhearted model student to begin with—and even if he were, that would only apply inside School.

If the robbery hadn't happened right on the route he had to take home, Fei Bolin wouldn't have cared at all. He had no urge to play hero for those two, either. He just wanted to watch from the sidelines and get home as soon as it was over.

Fei Bolin stared coldly at the streetlamp across from him, and the image flashed through his mind of Wen Fu pinning a knife to his waist outside the equipment room.

His mouth tipped up a little. He unlocked his phone, turned it toward them, and started recording at an unhurried pace.

He knew Wen Fu could sense his presence right now too.

If Wen Fu had noticed him last time, then this time Wen Fu would know exactly what he was doing too.

But Wen Fu showed no sign of stopping. After the two boys handed over their money hesitantly, he still didn't let it end. He lifted four fingers. 'More.'

'That's still not enough?'

Wen Fu said nothing.

'...Don't push it too far!'

Wen Fu just stared at them without a word, his hand still out, not taking it back.

The two across from him swallowed their anger and handed over all the cash they had.

After taking it, Wen Fu counted the bills one by one, unhurried, and then heard them say, 'Can we go now?'

Without even looking up, he straightened the bills in his hand, turned slightly to the side, and gave them room to leave.

At the same time, Fei Bolin stopped recording too.

When he lowered his phone, Wen Fu's gaze came straight over. Same as ever—cool, flat, not a trace of emotion in it.

Meeting Wen Fu's eyes, Fei Bolin slowly walked over, then passed right by him and headed for the Alley Entrance.

A few seconds later, Wen Fu followed.

There was only one exit out of this alley. Fei Bolin had to take this road home, so the two of them walked one in front of the other. Eyes lowered, Fei Bolin caught Wen Fu's shadow trailing behind him in the corner of his vision, and an interesting thought occurred to him.

He waited for Wen Fu to speak up and threaten him to delete the video, but even when they were almost at the alley mouth, Wen Fu still hadn't said a word.

They went a little farther and reached the Alley Entrance. Fei Bolin saw two students in junior division School Uniform standing there, craning their necks at them.

Wen Fu walked over and handed the stolen money to the two junior division students. They took it and kept saying things like 'Thanks' and 'Thanks, ge,' looking genuinely grateful.

Wen Fu wasn't tall to begin with, and these two kids looked more than half a head shorter than him, all skinny and easy to bully.

The two of them pulled two ten-yuan bills from the money they'd gotten back and held them out to Wen Fu.

Wen Fu took them, and the two middle schoolers hurried off.

Watching the whole thing from the side, Fei Bolin understood almost immediately what was going on.

No.1 High School's junior and senior divisions were separated by only one wall. These past few years, School had put its focus on talent development and the teaching plan for Hanyang Class, and overall discipline had gotten lax. It was common for high school students to slip over to the junior division cafeteria and snatch food from the younger kids—and that was minor. More often, high schoolers climbed out along the junior division wall to go to internet cafes, or secretly extorted lunch money from the junior division students. It had gotten especially bad these last few years, and School still hadn't noticed, let alone investigated it properly. Nobody had taken it seriously.

Most likely these two junior division students had been bullied and shaken down by senior division students for a long time, but didn't dare alert teachers or parents. Somehow they found Wen Fu and secretly asked him to help them get the money back each time after they were extorted, then paid him ten yuan each as a fee.

The money made a full circle back into their own hands. Between taking a small loss and a big one, they'd chosen to let Wen Fu skim a cut.

Wen Fu stuffed the twenty yuan into his pocket and walked off with his head down toward Longtan Residential Area.

That happened to be Fei Bolin's way home too. The two of them walked in silence, looking like strangers, and yet somehow closer than most people passing on the street.

They didn't part until the last fork in the road, when Wen Fu stopped in front of a public phone booth at the corner.

This was one of the few public phone booths left in all of Rongzhou that still worked. Wen Fu dropped in two one-yuan coins, picked up the receiver, dialed a number, and after waiting a few seconds, got exactly what he expected: no answer.

Without any change in expression, he hung the receiver back where it belonged. But when he turned around, he found Fei Bolin still hadn't left.

Wen Fu looked at Fei Bolin quietly and decided that if he didn't speak within five seconds, he'd just leave.

...

...

Just as Wen Fu was about to go, Fei Bolin finally spoke. 'You don't have a phone?'

Wen Fu turned and left on the spot.

Fei Bolin didn't move. After Wen Fu had gone two steps, he suddenly called out, 'Hey.'

It wasn't loud, but the street was quiet. Wen Fu heard him and stopped, though he didn't turn around.

Fei Bolin still hadn't figured out why Wen Fu wasn't pulling a knife on him to make threats tonight, but that interesting thought hadn't gone away because of it.

Unhurried, he asked, 'Want some milk?'

Sure enough, Wen Fu turned half his face back.

Fei Bolin produced a carton of Jule Milk from who knew where and held it in his hand. When Wen Fu looked back, he held it out.

Wen Fu reached for it, and Fei Bolin pulled his hand back instead.

Wen Fu frowned and looked up at him, his eyes practically swearing at him in tiny feral-cat language.

A faint smile touched the corner of Fei Bolin's mouth. 'Where do you live?'

And just like that, one carton of milk successfully tricked Wen Fu into taking Fei Bolin to his 'home.'

They walked for a long time, crossing the entire Longtan area and two more intersections before reaching a cluster of messy residential buildings under Rongzhou Bridge. The roads kept getting narrower.

On both sides stood old slab buildings packed so tight there was basically no sunlight spacing at all. White and yellow light spilled from window after window, lighting up the buildings opposite. Smoke from one household's kitchen drifted out the window and straight onto another household's dinner table. TV noise and shouting all blended together until you couldn't tell which sounds belonged to which family. If Fei Bolin turned his head, he could even see what the people in a first-floor living room were doing.

Less than half a meter ahead of him, Wen Fu walked slowly, eyes fixed on the ground the whole time. He'd only washed his shoes yesterday, and this was the only pair he had to wear now. If he didn't carefully avoid puddles and mud, there'd be nothing he could do once they got splashed.

Wen Fu wasn't someone who started conversations. Add in the fact that he'd spent years keeping to himself, and outside of whatever everyday communication was absolutely necessary, he lived like a silent film. He never made small talk with anyone, and he probably didn't even have a concept of awkwardness. After walking with Fei Bolin all this way, he still hadn't said a single word.

By the time Fei Bolin stopped with him, the two of them were standing in a pitch-black corridor.

On the first floor of this old office building converted into housing, there was only one unit.

Fei Bolin had known Wen Fu's home situation probably wasn't good, but he'd never expected it to be at the point where you didn't even need to lock the door when you went out.

Wen Fu didn't even take out a key. He just walked straight inside and flicked on the light.

After a moment, he leaned back out from inside the doorway, half his body and his head sticking out. Seeing Fei Bolin frozen outside, he came back over to him and held out a hand.

Fei Bolin looked down, thinking Wen Fu was going to pull him inside.

The next second, Wen Fu said, 'Milk.'