The clouds hung low in the sky, like curls of coffee art, everywhere felt hot, standing at the traffic lights felt like being scorched.

Lu Lin walked all the way to the opposite mall and saw Shi Sheng playing games there.

Standing behind the glass of the milk tea shop, he chuckled as he looked at the big “defeat” displayed on Shi Sheng’s phone screen. Shi Sheng was cursing and complaining with his mouth opening and closing, and he placed an order in the boosting group with his alternate account for the next game.

Lu Lin tapped on the glass, “Is the game fun?”

Shi Sheng suddenly looked up and saw Lu Lin, jumping up in surprise.

Shi Sheng pressed his face against the glass, motioning for Lu Lin he’ll be out soon. He then grabbed two cups of milk tea and rushed out of the shop door, “Making extra money for Nan er.”

“Alright, while I’m suffering over there, you’re conquering the King’s Canyon.” Lu Lin took off his headphones and flicked Shi Sheng’s forehead, “Don’t you worry about me at all?”

“Worried, worried, didn’t I get you some drinks?” Shi Sheng raised the milk tea above his head, looking sincere, “Arguing with your old man must be exhausting, so I specially prepared milk tea to reward you.”

Lu Lin chuckled as he took the milk tea and pulled his hand to walk forward. “You think you can bribe me with just a cup of milk tea? Quite ambitious.”

“In that case, shall I personally reward you tonight?” Shi Sheng jogged a few steps to walk side by side with him, tilting his head and showing a puppy-like smile.

“Approved.”

Lu Lin turned his head, smiling happily.

They wandered around the mall for a while, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting. Later, they played a round of an escape room game based on the “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” series and ended up covered in dust.

Who would have thought that the exit was actually inside a coffin, and there was a dummy lying in the coffin. When Shi Sheng rushed to the small door, he bumped into the dummy’s foot in a hurry, causing a sharp pain in his crotch.

In the end, Lu Lin had to drag him out.

As they left, the two girls watching the surveillance footage had expressions of full satisfaction.

“This is true love, wearing a suit and tie and coming to play escape room games with his little boyfriend.” One of them nudged the other with her elbow, “Hey, did you see how he carried him out? It was like holding a little chick, he’s truly an outstanding representative of modern white-collar workers!”

“He’s really handsome—”

Shi Sheng looked at his thin arms and legs, shook his head, “I’m hopeless.”

“You’re cute.” Lu Lin pinched his face.

By the time they left the mall, it was almost five or six in the evening. The evening street, with its pale sky, was adorned with the greenish-yellow branches of ginkgo trees. Lu Lin rubbed his head, about to say something, when his phone rang.

Shi Sheng stared at the surrounding shops in thought, not sure what to eat. He turned to see Lu Lin’s expression darken as he hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“New notice, vacation postponed, I have to go to Yunnan for training the day after tomorrow,” he said with his hands in his pockets, turning to look at Shi Sheng, “Our road trip will have to be postponed too.”

“Ah—” Shi Sheng was stunned by the sudden announcement, but Lu Lin made another call, and it sounded like it was to Lu Chengxin. Lu Lin tapped his foot against the ground, leaning casually against a pillar as he asked some questions, then responded with an “Hmm.”

“As I thought,” he smirked, tugging at his lip, “My dad contacted the leaders and said my recovery is complete, so I don’t need a vacation.”

Lu Lin chuckled, having repeatedly mentioned that his life didn’t need interference, nor did he need to live according to others’ expectations. But now, at the age of twenty-seven, Lu Songnian seemed to be intervening.

Shi Sheng asked cautiously, “Does that mean Uncle doesn’t approve of us?”

“Mm.”

“It’s okay, we still have plenty of time in the future,” Shi Sheng tried to comfort him.

Lu Lin walked ahead, his leather shoes tapping on the asphalt road, not waiting for Shi Sheng. Shi Sheng hurried to catch up, knowing that Lu Lin’s mood wasn’t very good at the moment.

In theory, Lu Lin had analyzed his father’s attitude and believed it was within the realm of persuasion, but this sudden move caught them both off guard. Since Lu Lin’s mother passed away and Lu Songnian remarried, the interaction between father and son had become increasingly rare, and Lu Lin’s visits home were also few and far between.

But Shi Sheng knew that Lu Lin still cared about his father, he just didn’t know how to express it.

“You go back first, I’ll walk around by myself,” Lu Lin stopped and turned to look at Shi Sheng. With the setting sun behind him, his hair shimmered, as he looked down lightly.

Shi Sheng pursed his lips and nodded in the end.

---

The streetlights ahead began to light up one by one.

Lu Lin was no longer in his rebellious years, nor would he act impulsively. He rubbed his fingertips, feeling a bit unusually confused, mostly about the future.

Every day, going to work, eating, sleeping, and slowly moving forward with Shi Sheng, like lovers, like partners, but also like family and friends, saying they liked each other, but fearing that one day this love would become formalized.

For couples, marriage and a thin certificate bind their relationship, nurturing their common offspring in the mundane aspects of life, and the so-called sense of security and stability in life also come from this.

But he and Shi Sheng were not like that.

He feared that between them, there was only affection, and when the affection faded one day, conflicts would arise, and they wouldn’t be able to reach the end of this road.

Lu Lin wanted to pass through the period of adjustment between lovers through this trip, he also wanted to receive the blessings of family and friends, and sometimes, lying in bed, he even imagined pulling out a diamond ring to propose in front of the sea, feeling a bit cheesy, and then couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

“It’s really hard for two people to like each other, and even harder to get married and grow old together.” Lu Yin squatted in the hospital room that day, shaking her head, “Ge, love isn’t always sweet, there are many external and internal factors involved, but no matter what, I still hope you two are happy.”

So Lu Lin began to consciously or unconsciously try to solve these obstacles. In general, he was a bit uncertain.

Lu Lin sighed, not yet sorting out his thoughts, only to find that he had unconsciously walked to the door of a ring shop. Under the gorgeous lampshade, the diamond shop was extremely bright, and the diamonds in the deserted shop sparkled, like the sacred and pure marriage hall that people fantasized about but were difficult to approach.

He took a few steps forward, wanting to go in and take a look, but then felt that he wasn’t qualified yet.

He continued to walk forward, passing by the shining signboards and noisy traffic, until he reached a place where the streetlights dimmed and the moths fluttered in the dim light.

He kept walking, until there was no one around, and it was very quiet. He suddenly started to think about Shi Sheng again, letting the guy go home like this, he didn’t know if he would start overthinking things because of this.

“Make a phone call.” Lu Lin thought for a moment.

He walked to the next intersection and suddenly stopped.

He saw Shi Sheng standing there with his hands behind his back, spinning in place, obviously waiting for a long time.

“I feel like,” Shi Sheng looked up at him and said, “I still can’t let you end up alone in the end.”