Chapter 23

“I came to find you,” Yun Li didn’t deny, murmuring, “You’ve had too much to drink, I came to take you home.”

Fu Shizhe: “Did you come by yourself?”

Yun Li nodded and then added, “The others drank a bit too much, they’re not very mobile.”

Fu Shizhe: “I’m smoking right now.”

He wasn’t done yet.

Yun Li caught the implication in his words and stayed put, “Then we’ll go back after you finish smoking?”

Seeing that Fu Shizhe didn’t respond, she looked around and spotted a place, “You smoke then, I’ll wait for you over there, a bit farther away.”

After walking over, Yun Li played with her phone for a while. Deng Chuqi told her: [The bar owner is damn handsome, where did you go? If you meet him, you’ll forget about Xiaxia’s Uncle.]

Yun Li: [I’m very faithful, I only have an old love, no new love.]

Whether it was drinking to drown sorrows or smoking to ease them, Fu Shizhe had tried it all tonight. Yun Li was also worried; before leaving the bar, she hadn’t gotten any information from Xia Congsheng, and they weren’t close enough to speak frankly.

Speaking of closeness – did he call her Yun Li again?

Yun Li zoned out for a while. Was it because everyone else called her Li Li? Why did he add the extra word ‘Yun’?

Fu Shizhe walked back into the shadows, pulled out a cigarette, and was about to light it when he caught a glimpse of Yun Li standing by the bridge, wrapped up in her light blue jacket.

He looked back the way she came. When he arrived, he hadn’t paid much attention – both sides were lined with early resettlement houses, low-wattage lights swarming with the remains of insects, and a few drunken figures slumped in the darkness.

With her sheep-like demeanor, it was hard to imagine her walking alone in this dark alley.

He put the cigarette away and walked up to Yun Li: “Let’s go back.”

Yun Li wasn’t sure why Fu Shizhe suddenly changed his mind about going back. After mulling it over, she said, “I read that drinking sweet soup can sober you up, and I found a dessert shop nearby.”

Yun YongChang, when he drank too much, always had something sweet, saying that his stomach felt uneasy after too much alcohol. Yun Li quickly searched on her phone and discovered an old shop just four hundred meters away.

Fu Shizhe was unappreciative: “No need, I didn’t drink that much.”

Undeterred by his rejection, Yun Li said, “Actually, I had a bit to drink myself, and it’s too late to order takeout. Could you accompany me there?”

She turned towards the darkness, “It’s not far, just a few minutes’ walk.”

Looking in the direction she indicated, the roads on both sides were pitch black.

Fu Shizhe: “Show me the map for a second.”

Yun Li enlarged the map and handed it to him. He only glanced at it before giving the phone back.

On their way, only the two of them were present. Yun Li kept some distance from Fu Shizhe, expecting him to be unsteady from the drink, but he walked with a stable gait.

Yun Li had never been to this area before. The path was full of potholes, and hidden corners everywhere were occupied by couples hugging and kissing.

A few unsteady figures wandered off to secluded spots, slurring their words, trying to undo the metal clasp without success.

Suddenly, Fu Shizhe stopped and turned to look at her: “Walk close to me.”

“Oh…” Yun Li jogged to his side.

The dessert shop was located in a small alley opposite the Work Overtime Bar, with a modest storefront and six or seven small round tables. Only the owner was working in the open kitchen.

The menu was written on a small blackboard.

“Take a look and see what you’d like.”

Fu Shizhe had already found a seat. Now that the lighting was clear, Yun Li noticed his eyes were misty. He didn’t look at the menu and just said, “Coke.”

“…”

Well, it’s sweet, so it’s not entirely incorrect.

Yun Li ordered a skewer of glutinous rice dumplings and a cup of mung bean ice, then sat beside him.

The food arrived quickly, served on small plates. Yun Li picked up a dumpling, hesitated for a moment, and then placed it in front of Fu Shizhe.

“Do you want to try this? I’ll share half with you.”

Fu Shizhe didn’t refuse, sliding one onto his bowl with chopsticks.

“This drink…”

Yun Li sipped the mung bean ice, which was as thin as water and sweetened with black sugar, creating a peculiar taste that left her at a loss for words.

On the other side, Fu Shizhe waited a good while for her to continue, then slowly asked, “Are you going to share half with me too?”

“…”

After wrestling with her thoughts for a moment, Yun Li slid the mung bean smoothie she had sipped from across to him, positioning the straw towards him.

It was her first time making a direct move, and although Yun Li kept her composure, her heart was racing wildly.

What if he notices?

What if he doesn’t?

These thoughts oscillated back and forth in her mind as she carefully watched Fu Shizhe’s expression. He seemed not to notice and pushed the iced mung bean drink back towards Yun Li, saying, “Never mind.”

“Order some more?” Having not eaten in the evening, Yun Li was also a bit hungry. Seeing a stall outside the dessert shop selling stir-fried rice noodles, she asked Fu Shizhe to wait and went to buy a serving.

Returning with the stir-fried rice noodles, she saw two little stray dogs wagging their tails, sitting by the shop door, with Fu Shizhe sitting on a curb, holding a bowl of fish balls and poking at them with a skewer.

Each time he speared a new one, the dogs would climb onto his lap, and Fu Shizhe would tease them by shaking it a bit before giving it to them.

It was a rare sight, this warmth emanating from him.

Seeing her return, Fu Shizhe placed the bowl on the ground and folded it back into the shop: “Let’s eat before we leave.”

Yun Li: “Chuqi just told me she and Xiaxia went back already. I’ll take it to go.”

Fu Shizhe looked at her and said, “I want some.”

After sitting down again, Yun Li realized Fu Shizhe’s words had no other motive. He scooped some noodles into his bowl, took a pair of new chopsticks, and mixed in some of the braised dishes she had also bought.

Fu Shizhe seemed half awake, his movements steady but his gaze somewhat off, as still as a dead pool of water.

Or it could be seen as gently as a river in spring.

Yun Li found it hard to eat under that gaze, so she moved her chair closer to his direction, so they didn’t have to face each other.

He takes another pair of new chopsticks.

“…”

Yun Li realized this odd feeling wasn’t just her imagination, “Uh, you seem to have drunk a bit too much, maybe we should head back early for some rest.”

Fu Shizhe stared at the noodles: “…Let’s stay outside a bit longer.”

Yun Li: “?”

Fu Shizhe: “Trouble sleeping.”

After that, until the meal ended, he didn’t say much more, quietly eating his noodles. Yun Li sat beside him, trying her best to make conversation, but Fu Shizhe hardly reacted.

When Xu QingSong came to pick them up, they had finished their meal. The family had sent a car, and he had the driver take Yun Li and Fu Zhengchu back.

Fu Shizhe got into the car himself, with Xu QingSong sitting next to him, handing him a wet wipe.

“Still awake?”

“hmm.”

“Where to? Beishan Forest Community?”

“No, to Jiangnan Garden.”

Xu QingSong was silent for a moment before teasing, “How come you let a young girl take care of you, you old drunk?”

Fu Shizhe pressed his forehead: “Is that so?” His head was throbbing. He rolled down the car window, letting in the cold air and the rumbling drive half sobered him up.

He suddenly remembered what Yun Li had said before they parted.

“If you ever have something on your mind, want someone to listen but don’t want it to be known.”

“…You can whisper it into my left ear.”

After arriving home, Fu Shizhe switched on the lights in the dark, revealing a vast, silent room with only basic furniture and no signs of life. He grabbed a bottle of ice water from the fridge and pressed it against his forehead, trying to relax his tense nerves.

Glancing at his phone, he saw a couple of calls from his parents. Fu Shizhe ignored them, tossed the phone aside, and splashed his face with cold water to dissipate the effects of the alcohol that had accumulated over the evening.

He took a black-packaged box out of his bag, unwrapped it, and placed the drone inside on the coffee table.

After a long while, in the empty room, his gentle voice broke the silence, “Happy Birthday.”

The next day, Monday, Yun Li arrived early at EAW.

The office was still quiet. After clocking in and checking the group chat for any pending tasks, she picked up the bread and milk she had bought on the way and went to the break room for breakfast.

The break room was empty except for a stack of flyers scattered on the long table. She picked one up and glanced at it—it advertised a Halloween event at EAW Science City tonight, featuring a market square.

Yun Li, lacking enthusiasm, put it back and settled into a beanbag chair.

Scrolling through her phone, images of the dream she had the night before came to mind. The scenes played back slowly, several of them quickening her heartbeat, ending with the memory of him sitting silently in the dessert shop, like a forlorn, fragile porcelain doll.

Not long after, the door to the break room opened, and Yun Li looked up to see Fu Shizhe walking in with a cup in his hand. He had changed clothes and was no longer in the drunken state of the previous night, his eyes clear, sharp, and cool.

Yun Li hadn’t expected him to arrive so early: “Good morning.”

Fu Shizhe nodded politely and turned toward the coffee machine.

“…”

“?”

Although Yun Li hadn’t expected much of a response from Fu Shizhe, their interaction, as if they were strangers, was not something she had anticipated.

Fu Shizhe took a bag of coffee beans from the cabinet above, weighed it in his hand, and frowned slightly.

Upon opening it, as expected, there were only a few beans left. He poured the remaining beans into the grinder, folded the empty bag into a small ball, and tossed it into the trash.

Seeing his actions, Yun Li asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

Fu Shizhe answered, “We’re out of coffee beans.”

Yun Li leaned in to look, noting the scant amount left: “Is that enough for one cup?”

“Should be just enough for one.”

Noticing Yun Li standing there, Fu Shizhe looked at her: “Do you want it?”

It made her seem like a bully, as if she was there to snatch away the last cup of coffee.

Yun Li shook her head: “No, that’s not it.”

She then remembered the market stall mentioned on the flyer, known for its coffee roasting, and handed it to him: “There’s a Halloween event tonight at Haitian Commerce with lots of stalls, including one selling coffee beans.”

“Okay.”

Yun Li, being more direct, said: “I want to buy some coffee beans too, but I’m not good at choosing them.”

“Could you come with me?”

Fu Shizhe watched the coffee drip and asked, “What time tonight?”

Yun Li hesitated: “Eight o’clock.”

“Okay.”

Unable to suppress a smile, Yun Li, not wanting Fu Shizhe to notice, quickly added: “I’ll go to work now.”