Chapter 35

Song Wenzhou didn’t notice the unusual look in Mu Chi’s eyes. For some reason, he felt a bit reluctant to meet Mu Chi’s gaze directly. It wasn’t that he was afraid, but rather that he wasn’t used to it.

Nearly three years without seeing each other had, after all, created some distance between them.

Aside from that, Song Wenzhou felt a bit hungry. Today wasn’t the weekend, and after his parents went to work, he was alone at home as usual. He just quickly fried some rice for lunch, and the little energy he had left was already drained during class. Now, his stomach was empty, eagerly waiting for food to fill it.

Others might have various reasons for coming to the reunion, but for Song Wenzhou, it was simply because he had listened to Qi Ling and came for the dinner.

…Before Mu Chi showed up.

As for now, he couldn’t really tell what else he wanted to do besides having dinner.

After waiting for a while, the dishes, which were ordered based on the collective opinions of the classmates, finally began to be served on the table. No need for the class monitor to speak, everyone eagerly picked up their chopsticks.

Extremely hungry, Song Wenzhou didn’t hesitate. Unlike some of the others who always had something to say, he silently stuffed food into his mouth.

Others were eating and chatting. The atmosphere grew livelier, and the conversation moved beyond superficial greetings. Many began to gossip, digging into the relationships of their friends since entering college.

Even Mu Chi, who had returned after several years abroad, wasn’t spared from the questions. In fact, compared to the others, his experiences seemed to draw even more attention.

After all, they had seen plenty of American TV shows, and the college life in Western countries seemed exceptionally exciting and thrilling.

Song Wenzhou appeared uninterested, ignoring the conversation, but he absorbed every word they said.

He heard someone ask Mu Chi if the men abroad were all passionate and outgoing, and if the women were all hot and sexy. Mu Chi smiled and answered that it wasn’t true, British people were generally more reserved and polite.

He also heard a girl ask if his foreign classmates were all blonde and blue-eyed, handsome in appearance. Mu Chi answered with a touch of narcissism, saying they were all quite good-looking, but none were as handsome as him.

—

Song Wenzhou couldn’t help but roll his eyes in his mind.

As the conversation continued, a male classmate teased Mu Chi, asking how many foreign girlfriends he had, considering all the beautiful women around him.

Song Wenzhou’s hand holding the spoon momentarily paused, and the dish of minced meat and egg custard that he had been eyeing only stayed in front of him for an instant before it was turned around by other classmates.

The next moment, he heard Mu Chi’s voice, both amused and serious.

“Foreign girlfriends? I like Chinese people.”

As he spoke, Mu Chi picked up the porcelain spoon resting on the edge of his plate. With his left hand, he stopped the rotating round table, took a large scoop of the egg custard, and naturally placed it into Song Wenzhou’s bowl beside him.

Song Wenzhou froze for a moment, not looking at him. His gaze lowered to the egg custard in his bowl, with a layer of minced meat wrapped in sauce on top, fragrant and appetizing.

Seeing that Song Wenzhou was staring at the food but not eating, looking dazed and still, Mu Chi thought for a moment, then waved the spoon in front of Song Wenzhou’s face and explained, “Don’t worry, this spoon hasn’t been used yet.”

Song Wenzhou glanced at him sideways, opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated, thinking to himself that he wasn’t concerned about whether the spoon had been used or not.

However, it wasn’t easy to express his feelings, so Song Wenzhou decided to just start eating, showing through his actions that he had no objection.

The warm minced meat was savory, and the soft egg custard had a smooth texture. The lower layer of custard was still slightly warm. Together, they combined perfectly in his mouth. He only had to take a few gentle bites, and the food smoothly slid down his throat, warming his entire stomach, which greatly alleviated his hunger.

“Is it good?” Mu Chi asked after he finished.

“Mm,” Song Wenzhou nodded, “It’s good.”

“I’ll scoop some more for you when it comes back around,” Mu Chi said, following his words.

It seemed as though Song Wenzhou could only have the egg custard if he relied on Mu Chi, as if he couldn’t scoop it himself.

…And as it turned out, this was indeed the case. When the porcelain bowl filled with egg custard rotated back to them, only a tiny bit of residue stuck to the bottom of the bowl remained.

They were all around twenty years old, and their ability to finish food should not be underestimated.

If Mu Chi hadn’t been quick to scoop a spoonful for Song Wenzhou earlier, he would have missed his only chance to see egg custard on the table, as he had been distracted by “eavesdropping” on other people’s conversation.

It wasn’t until the last classmate put down their chopsticks that this nearly hour-long dinner finally ended.

Some people, still not satisfied, shouted about changing the venue to continue partying, while others, in a bit of a hurry, said their goodbyes. Song Wenzhou was one of them.

Since Qi Ling was the one who had invited him, Song Wenzhou tilted his head towards Qi Ling when the group suggested moving to another place and quietly said, “I’m not going with you all. I still have class tomorrow.”

“Alright, then you go rest,” Qi Ling said without thinking anything was wrong. Since Song Wenzhou had something to do, he wouldn’t insist on keeping him.

However, Mu Chi, who had been listening intently, grew anxious. From a direction where Song Wenzhou couldn’t see, he kept making eye contact with Qi Ling and half-closed his fist, coughing lightly a few times.

Unfortunately, Qi Ling didn’t catch the hint and continued smiling, saying, “Mu Chi just got back to the country, he surely doesn’t have anything to do, right? You have to come out and drink with us tonight.”

Mu Chi wished he could kill him with a look.

Qi Ling had a girlfriend, but Mu Chi was still single. Who had the time to drink all night with him?

“No, I’m a bit tired,” Mu Chi exaggerated as he yawned. “I want to go back to sleep, let’s drink another day.”

“Stop bragging,” Qi Ling didn’t believe him. “What time is it, and you’re already tired?”

“Really, I didn’t sleep well last night,” Mu Chi said.

This was actually the truth. He had been thinking too much last night and hadn’t slept well.

After speaking, Mu Chi didn’t wait for Qi Ling to make fun of him again. His gaze locked onto Song Wenzhou, who was sitting between him and Qi Ling, and with a smile, he suggested, “Shall we head back together?”

Song Wenzhou didn’t think it was a good suggestion, but he wasn’t good at rejecting people. After two seconds of silence, he compromised under Mu Chi’s gaze. “Alright.”

Leaving the warm private room, Song Wenzhou zipped his jacket back up before the cold wind could reach him.

Mu Chi caught a glimpse of his movement and followed suit by pulling his coat together, though he still left it open.

He didn’t like to fasten his clothes properly, thinking that leaving them open made him look more graceful.

Back in high school, when the school required wearing uniforms, Mu Chi would only zip it up below his collarbone when there was a flag-raising ceremony on Mondays or when he ran into the headmaster on the street.

“It looks silly like that,” Mu Chi often said.

But…

Mu Chi glanced at Song Wenzhou, who had zipped his jacket all the way up and was carrying a backpack. He found himself repeatedly overturning the thoughtless words he had once said when he was younger.

It turned out that not everyone looked awkward dressed like that. At least not Song Wenzhou. He looked very well-behaved dressed that way.

“What’s wrong?” Song Wenzhou suddenly asked.

Mu Chi had been staring at his clothes for too long, and when he looked down to check, he couldn’t find anything unusual, feeling quite puzzled.

“Nothing,” Mu Chi rubbed his nose. “Let’s go.”

The two walked out of the restaurant side by side. It was now the busiest time of the night, with all sorts of neon lights showcasing the city’s vibrancy. Vehicles and pedestrians on the road were courteous, chaotic yet orderly.

“How are we getting back?” Mu Chi asked.

If it had been just Song Wenzhou, he would have planned to take the bus, but now with Mu Chi added to the mix, it was an unplanned change.

Song Wenzhou thought for a moment. “Let’s take a taxi.”

Before Mu Chi could respond, Song Wenzhou realized something. “By the way, where are you staying?”

“At home,” Mu Chi said. “At the same place as before.”

Song Wenzhou nodded, that was on the way, so a taxi would be perfect.

There were many people hailing taxis along the side of the road, so Song Wenzhou and Mu Chi moved to the back of the line.

For some reason, Song Wenzhou felt like Mu Chi had been talking less since returning this time, especially when they were alone together.

Song Wenzhou shoved his hands into his pockets, his fingertips rubbing his palms in a half-clenched fist. After a moment, he softly asked, “Did you come back alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Your grandmother…,” Song Wenzhou paused, “How is she?”

Over the years, when they had intermittent contact, Song Wenzhou always asked about this. He actually knew the situation with Mu Chi’s grandmother quite well.

But since Mu Chi was overseas, and the time difference was several hours, they rarely had the chance for normal back-and-forth conversations. Most of the time, one person would send a message in the morning and the other would reply at night.

“Same as before,” Mu Chi said. “She can’t stand for long, and she needs a wheelchair when going out.”

He then pulled up the corners of his mouth and added, “Everything else is fine. She’s already in the best condition possible.”

Song Wenzhou lightly nodded twice and asked, “So what are you doing here this time?”

Mu Chi gave a mysterious smile. “Taking care of some things.”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

Mu Chi glanced at him and tilted his head slightly. “Not sure.”

Song Wenzhou said “oh” and didn’t press further.

Worried that Song Wenzhou might think he was brushing him off, Mu Chi explained, “I don’t know when I’ll be able to finish everything.”

It seemed like it was something troublesome. Song Wenzhou casually asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Well,” Mu Chi squinted slightly, seeming hesitant to talk about it. He only said vaguely, “It’s something very important.”

Song Wenzhou wasn’t the type to pry, so seeing Mu Chi didn’t want to discuss it, he decided to stop asking.

A free taxi arrived just in time, and Mu Chi raised his hand to hail it. Once inside, he naturally told the driver Song Wenzhou’s neighborhood address.

Song Wenzhou felt inexplicably unsettled, and during the ride, he kept turning his head to look out the window, as though the passing vehicles were more interesting than the man sitting next to him.

The taxi slowed down and came to a stop at the neighborhood entrance. Song Wenzhou hurriedly said, “Goodbye,” and got out of the car without looking back.

Mu Chi sighed silently as he remained in the car. After giving the driver the address of his old house, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

It seemed like this very important matter wasn’t going to be easy to resolve, Mu Chi thought pessimistically.