Meng Fu Yuan’s expression remained unchanged, “Had some errands. Had dinner with Qing Wu.”

Meng Qi Ran nodded.

Meng Fu Yuan glanced at him, “Isn’t the final the day after tomorrow? Why are you back now?”

Meng Qi Ran turned to Chen Qing Wu. Her expression was so faint it seemed it could dissipate with the wind.

He reached out and clasped her wrist, smiling, “I came back to talk to Qing Wu.”

Chen Qing Wu gently struggled but couldn’t break free. She sensed a resolute firmness in his grip.

Meng Fu Yuan’s gaze swept over Chen Qing Wu’s wrist but said nothing, only reminding, “Prepare well for the competition.”

Meng Qi Ran smiled, “I know.”

Meng Fu Yuan retracted his gaze, raised the car window, and calmly started the car, turning around in front.

Passing by the studio entrance, he didn’t look back.

Chen Qing Wu struggled again, “Why are you grabbing me? I won’t run.”

Meng Qi Ran let go, his previous playful expression gone, replaced by a deep gaze, “…I’m sorry.”

Not knowing if it was for now or for the past.

Chen Qing Wu didn’t respond, turning to walk towards the door.

Meng Qi Ran followed.

Compared to the last time he left, the studio seemed to have added more things. There were unopened packages, cardboard boxes, and woven bags piled in the corner. The floor was covered with felt, with round ceramic pieces laid out on it.

Meng Qi Ran looked at the pile in the corner, “Can’t the delivery be sent to the door?”

“I moved it myself.” Chen Qing Wu replied calmly, “Brother Yuan helped move some today.”

“My brother comes often?”

“Not often. He introduced my first client, occasionally checking on the progress.” Chen Qing Wu walked to the fridge, took out a bottle of water, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Meng Qi Ran.

Then she went to the workbench to organize the test pieces that hadn’t been stored yet.

Meng Qi Ran didn’t take the water bottle. He stood up and walked towards Chen Qing Wu.

Part of the light was blocked, casting a shadow on the workbench.

Chen Qing Wu looked up.

Meng Qi Ran stood opposite, gazing down at her, “…Qing Wu, why don’t you ever get angry at me?”

His expression was unusually serious, making her feel uncomfortable.

“That was your choice, why would I be angry?” Chen Qing Wu said calmly.

In the past few weeks, they had only been in contact through WeChat.

Initially, when Meng Qi Ran received Chen Qing Wu’s WeChat canceling their shopping plans for the next day, his first reaction was a sense of relief because he had been planning to escape and didn’t know how to face it.

In the following days, he went to the next competition site, with warm-up races, practice races, team training, tactical drills…

He convinced himself he wasn’t avoiding, just busy.

Until that race ended, he posted a moment on WeChat, and two hours later, Chen Qing Wu liked it.

At the time, he was having dinner with the team. Seeing her name in the like list, suddenly everything around him felt extremely dull.

He opened WeChat, and the last chat with Chen Qing Wu was his single “okay” reply.

Since then, she hadn’t sent him any messages.

In the past, no matter when, she would always share interesting things with him. Sometimes he replied, sometimes he forgot.

She didn’t mind, always treating him like a close friend or a social media feed.

He had seen countless sunsets in Cidu through her messages.

Almost involuntarily, he opened the keyboard and typed: Qing Wu, I made it into the top five on the leaderboard.

Half an hour later, she replied: Congratulations!

And then nothing more.

Next, he messaged: Made it into the top three.

Chen Qing Wu replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

They had had arguments before, but never like this. Their contact over several weeks had been so sparse it was less than that of ordinary friends.

Chen Qing Wu rarely posted moments, so he had no idea what she was doing now.

In the past, he would always know if she had eaten an egg pancake; if she had bought a scratch-off ticket from the lottery store next door and won 20 yuan, which she used to buy a cup of milk tea; or if the studio next door had fired an exceptionally good Langyao red piece, making Teacher Zhai Jingtang envious…

He almost felt like a door had completely closed on him.

The day after tomorrow was the first race of the Southwest competition. Today was the warm-up race, and there was a race review in the evening.

He asked the coach for leave, saying he had to see someone and promised to return for training in the morning.

The team, mostly young people, were used to impulsive actions, so the coach granted him leave.

He came straight to the studio after landing, arriving just as dusk was falling.

Qing Wu wasn’t there, and he didn’t call. He just stood at the door and waited.

Over an hour of waiting, the desire to see her grew so strong it made him restless.

Finally seeing her now, all the words he had been brewing suddenly felt timid when it came time to speak.

It was his first time experiencing such a feeling.

Meng Qi Ran took a deep breath, “Qing Wu…”

Chen Qing Wu looked up.

He gazed directly at her, showing no fear or retreat, “Let’s be together.”

Dark-eyed people have the advantage of seeming incredibly sincere when they stare at you, as if you cannot let them down.

Chen Qing Wu paused, then opened the workbench drawer, took out a cigarette and lighter.

Not the reaction he expected, Meng Qi Ran was a little stunned.

He watched her lower her head, put a cigarette in her mouth, and light it with practiced ease.

He was even more surprised.

“…When did you start smoking?”

“A long time ago.” Chen Qing Wu paused, “Brother Yuan said you have a competition the day after tomorrow?”

“…Yes.”

The Meng family had a group chat, where everyone’s activities were shared in real time.

“I hope my answer won’t affect your mindset.” Chen Qing Wu’s voice was light and calm, “Sorry, Qi Ran, I can’t accept you.”

“…Why?”

“Because I no longer like you.”

Her voice was calm, as if stating a fact.

Meng Qi Ran’s pupils slightly dilated.

The incident from the summer when she was nine wasn’t without follow-up.

That night, her room door was knocked on.

She was already asleep, groggily got up, and when she opened the door, Qi Ran said, “Shh,” then slipped in without giving her a chance to stop him.

She was still angry and didn’t say a word to him.

He ran over and closed the curtains fully, “Come here, Qing Wu, I want to show you something.”

She refused to move.

He walked over to her, raised his hand, and took something out of the hood of his jacket.

It was wrapped in black cloth, seemingly a jar.

He looked at her, then uncovered the black cloth.

A glass jar stuffed with grass, with glowing fireflies flickering like breathing lights.

“Fireflies!”

“Shhh!”

She hurriedly covered her mouth.

Qi Ran stuffed the glass jar into her hand, awkwardly saying, “… I’m sorry for what I said at noon. I was locked up by my dad for so long, I was going crazy, so I snapped at you.”

She remained silent, just staring at the fireflies.

Qi Ran said, “I swear, I’ll never leave you again. Okay?”

He looked at her seriously, the light in his eyes more beautiful than the fireflies.

Her anger disappeared instantly, “… You said it.”

“Yes. I said it.”

Chen Qing Wu looked up at the young man standing in front of her at this moment.

From birth, they had been bound together under the name of childhood sweethearts.

Since the age of sixteen, it was mixed with her love and his ambiguous feelings.

He was the most important part of her life so far, a tangled mess of love, family, and friendship, more complex and heavy than any other feelings.

But the problem was that it was too complex and too heavy.

Qi Ran didn’t know that she had released those fireflies in the middle of the night.

She sat on the bed and watched them flicker desperately, as if struggling against the inescapable darkness.

So she got up, opened the window, and lifted the lid of the glass jar.

They flew from the grass into the free night, disappearing into the trees.

“I’m not your responsibility anymore, Qi Ran,” Chen Qing Wu said softly. “You’re free to do what you want and love whoever you want.”

Smoke curled up from between her fingers, but behind the smoke were clear and decisive eyes.

Meng Qi Ran looked at her, feeling his eardrums buzzing and his mind blank.

Even though her words were clear, he seemed unable to understand, “…Qing Wu, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You understand,” Chen Qing Wu smiled at him. “Don’t worry, we will still be like twin siblings, that won’t change.”

Meng Qi Ran knew that this refusal was different from all the previous ones.

It was serious, removing the “love” part from their symbiotic relationship.

He thought he wouldn’t care so much.

But why did it feel like something was being stripped from his heart, inch by inch?

The pain made him instinctively take a deep breath, but it didn’t help at all.

“Qing Wu…”

Chen Qing Wu’s gaze moved past his shoulder to the clock on the wall, “Have you had dinner? Should I order takeout for you? I need to adjust the electric kiln later, so I might not be able to accompany you for long…”

Her words trailed off because Meng Qi Ran walked around the side of the table and hugged her tightly.

“Hey…” She quickly extended the hand holding the cigarette, extinguishing it on the corner of the stone table.

Meng Qi Ran lowered his head, resting his chin on her shoulder.

For someone so tall, this action made him seem extremely pitiful.

“…I’m willing to take on this responsibility, isn’t that enough?” he asked in a low voice.

Chen Qing Wu paused for a moment and finally sighed, “Do you love me?”

Before Meng Qi Ran could answer, she added, “I mean, do you love me in a way that you want to sleep with me?”

Meng Qi Ran was taken aback.

Such straightforward words were unimaginable coming from Qing Wu’s mouth, just like he never imagined she would smoke.

“I guess you’ve never thought about it,” Chen Qing Wu said softly, “otherwise it would have happened by now.”

Meng Qi Ran’s thoughts were chaotic, unable to refute.

Because he instinctively knew that every word tonight was important, and a wrong word would leave no room for redemption.

“Being with me out of responsibility, and then what? Qi Ran, don’t you think it’s absurd for me to accept that someone is with me out of responsibility, whether or not they sleep with me?”

He had felt this way before—sometimes, Qing Wu seemed more mature than him, more like an older sister than a younger one.

Today’s conversation was proof of that, as if she was looking down from a height at his immature confession.

—If it’s not real love, who cares about your “responsibility.”

He suddenly felt deeply ashamed.

Chen Qing Wu reached out and gently pushed his shoulder.

But he refused to let go, holding her even tighter.

Meng Qi Ran felt her resistance disappear, her arms falling to her sides.

But she did not hug him back.

For a long time, she never did.

He realized that no matter how many fireflies in the night; spending his first paycheck to take her on a cruise to watch fireworks; flying twenty hours to be the first to wish her a happy birthday; giving her all the trophies he won; writing a song for her over three days and nights…

None of these would get her response anymore.

At this moment, he was empty-handed and had nothing.

After a long time, Meng Qi Ran dejectedly released his grip.

Without looking back at her, he turned and quickly walked away.

Chen Qing Wu watched his figure.

Zhao Yingfei had asked her before what she liked about Meng Qi Ran.

When she was sixteen, a boy at school harassed her, and during a scuffle, she fell down the stairs and broke her left arm.

She was hospitalized, feeling extremely frustrated.

At night, after the nurse checked the rooms, the hospital entered resting time.

She didn’t know how Qi Ran managed to sneak past the nurses at the station and come in.

He brought her favorite roasted durian from the shop outside the school gate, even though he hated durian, handing it to her with a disgusted expression, saying he didn’t understand how she could like such a stinky thing.

It happened to be the day of Qi Ran’s skateboard competition, where he won the championship, but she missed it. Holding the durian, she felt even more wronged, saying she couldn’t eat it in the shared room as it would disturb the other patient.

Qi Ran thought for a moment and said, let’s go downstairs.

She didn’t dare, saying they’d be in trouble if caught.

Qi Ran said it was fine, the parents would only scold him.

So, she put on Qi Ran’s jacket, and he snuck her out like a top secret agent without being caught by any nurses.

In front of the hospital building, Qi Ran took off his skateboard from the back of his bike.

She munched on the durian while sitting in the VIP seat, watching his exclusive performance up close.

Qi Ran was agile and graceful, like a gust of wind. At one moment, he leapt into the air with his skateboard, the hang time so long it seemed like he was flying.

She was mesmerized, feeling her heart soar along with him, like the butterfly she caught at nine, fluttering into her heart.

Chen Qing Wu watched Meng Qi Ran’s figure disappear into the night as he walked out the door.

She took a long breath, her eyes misting over.

Her heart felt empty.

It once held the fierce wind from when she was sixteen.

The butterfly she had caught and released.

***

Two weeks later, Chen Qing Wu contacted Meng Fu Yuan to arrange the meeting with Zhao Yingfei.

Meng Fu Yuan replied on WeChat that he had a meeting with a venture capital firm and couldn’t pick them up in person but would send a driver.

Zhao Yingfei had requested to visit their company, as she didn’t like discussing professional matters over meals.

So, Pei Shao was the one to meet her.

Pei Shao, who had driven a bright yellow Porsche up the mountain for tea last time, did something even more shocking this time—he had dyed his hair a granny gray.

But because of his good looks, he managed to pull it off. However, paired with his fluorescent graffiti T-shirt, he looked quite childish, like someone trying to follow trends but failing comically.

Zhao Yingfei rolled her eyes unceremoniously, whispering to Chen Qing Wu, “Is he really the founder? Don’t fool me; I didn’t study much.”

Pei Shao casually extended his hand, “Nice to meet you, I’m Pei Shao. May I know your name?”

“Zhao Yingfei.” Zhao Yingfei didn’t bother to shake his hand.

Pei Shao wasn’t embarrassed and retracted his hand with a smile, “Is it the Yingfei from ‘flowers bloom and warblers fly’?”

“It’s not a scientific paper; you don’t need to know so precisely.”

Chen Qing Wu knew Zhao Yingfei’s personality well—she wasn’t afraid of offending people.

Her words could easily make others feel awkward.

Unexpectedly, Pei Shao nodded in agreement, “Names are important privacy; they should be well-protected.”

Pei Shao then asked if they wanted to tour the facility first or rest for a while.

“Let’s tour first.”

Their company occupied a three-story building in the tech park.

The entire second floor was dedicated to the R&D department.

The central hall had glass walls on all sides, with a mechanical arm inside. Someone was operating a computer to conduct tests, and the mechanical arm followed commands with great flexibility.

Pei Shao said, “This is our first-generation product. It’s based on an algorithm from a few years ago, only capable of assisting with low-difficulty surgical procedures. Anything more precise is beyond its capabilities.”

Zhao Yingfei looked at Pei Shao again, finding his serious tone about his job making his reported top-tier university background more believable.

Pei Shao continued walking, turning a corner. The rooms on both sides of the corridor were separated by frosted glass.

“That’s the hardware R&D department up ahead,” Pei Shao said, “Do you want to go in and take a look, Ms. Zhao?”

“That’s what I came here for. Nothing confidential, I hope?”

Pei Shao shrugged, “Our current research results are so early that no one would bother looking even if we released them for free.”

They put on masks and followed Pei Shao inside.

The place was bright and clean, orderly and neat.

Zhao Yingfei looked around, casually praising, “Not bad, you guys are willing to invest in equipment.”

“We used to outsource to third parties, but then we partnered with a company in the park to set up our own hardware R&D department. We’ll contract out production once we start mass production.”

“What part of the materials are you struggling with?”

“You can think of it as the ‘fingertips’ part. Right now, the coordination between hardware, chips, and the electrical transmission system isn’t great, making precise operations difficult…”

Chen Qing Wu watched Zhao Yingfei immediately dive into a heated professional discussion with Pei Shao.

With only high school-level science knowledge, she couldn’t understand the technical jargon they were exchanging.

After about ten minutes, Zhao Yingfei was still eager to continue.

But Pei Shao, not being a materials science expert, couldn’t go deeper. He suggested they move to the conference room and have the engineer responsible for this area join them.

The three moved to the conference room.

Pei Shao called for someone to serve drinks, then went to fetch the engineer himself.

The conference room was meticulously arranged, with potted plants, leather sofas, and a wooden coffee table with tea-making utensils on it.

The employee serving them smiled and asked, “What would you two like to drink?”

Zhao Yingfei said, “Lemon water for me.”

Chen Qing Wu looked at the neatly arranged tea cans on the tray, “What teas do you have?”

The employee said, “We have all kinds. Our boss, Mr. Meng, likes tea.”

Chen Qing Wu’s mind stirred, “What’s his favorite?”

The employee smiled, “Mr. Meng only drinks Wuli Qing.”

Chen Qing Wu was taken aback.

She had hoped for a different answer.

But the employee’s tone was even more certain than Pei Shao’s casual mention the other day.

Zhao Yingfei said, “That tea name sounds like your name, Qing Wu.”

Chen Qing Wu thought, don’t remind me, I know!

The employee observed their reactions and smiled, “Shall I make some Wuli Qing for you two to try?”

He turned and opened a walnut sideboard, taking out a set of tea utensils, “Mr. Meng usually uses this set for esteemed guests.”

He rinsed the utensils with clean water and set them on the table, then went to get a kettle to boil water.

Chen Qing Wu froze as she looked at the tea set.

Recognizing it even if it turned to ashes might be an exaggeration, but knowing it if broken wasn’t.

Because this tea set was one she had made herself—back when she worked with Teacher Zhai.

It was during the studio’s tenth anniversary, and Teacher Zhai, keen to cultivate his students, asked them to make a set of their most satisfactory work to be sold on the Jingnantang website.

Feeling her best work was still limited, she only shared her tenth-anniversary summary in her social circle without mentioning the official store sale.

Later, Teacher Zhai happily announced that the batch of works had sold out, encouraging them with a promising future.

That was her first commercially circulated piece bearing her name.

Not being curious about the buyer would be a lie.

But out of respect for customer privacy, she restrained the urge to ask the store operators.

Unexpectedly, she would encounter it here.

Zhao Yingfei nudged her with an elbow, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh… nothing.”

Just then, Pei Shao returned with the materials science engineer.

The conference room turned into an academic discussion session.

Unknowingly, the afternoon passed.

Pei Shao asked, “Hungry? How about we continue the conversation somewhere else? Mr. Meng has booked a place for dinner.”

The dinner spot was in a nearby commercial area, a Michelin two-star French restaurant.

They arrived shortly before Meng Fu Yuan.

He wore a more formal suit than usual, his frame straight and dignified, adding a radiant presence as he approached.

The waiter moved the chair, but he didn’t sit immediately. Instead, he extended his hand to Zhao Yingfei, “Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to guide us today. I’m Meng Fu Yuan, another head of the company.”

Zhao Yingfei unconsciously shook his hand, dazed.

Only then did Meng Fu Yuan sit down, unbuttoning his cuffs, explaining his tardiness, “Apologies, I just finished something this afternoon.”

Pei Shao asked, “How did it go?”

“Scheduled a future game.”

“Then it’s promising.”

The restaurant had a set menu, no need to order. Once everyone was seated, Pei Shao signaled the waiter to start serving.

As the appetizers arrived, Zhao Yingfei leaned closer to Chen Qing Wu, “Is he Meng Qi Ran’s brother?”

“Mm.”

“They don’t look alike.”

Chen Qing Wu thought for a moment, “I guess they don’t.”

“His presence is a bit intimidating.”

“No, he’s actually quite nice.”

They couldn’t continue whispering and sat upright.

Meng Fu Yuan then asked the company’s materials science engineer, “How did the tour with Ms. Zhao go?”

Pei Shao said, “Let’s focus on dinner.”

“…”

Chen Qing Wu couldn’t help but smile.

It was rare to see Meng Fu Yuan caught off guard.

Subsequent conversations steered away from work.

Meng Fu Yuan asked Zhao Yingfei, “How did you and Qing Wu meet?”

Only then did he openly glance at Chen Qing Wu.

She wore a tank top paired with high-waisted jeans in a washed blue color.

Her long hair was loose, cascading over her shoulders like ink.

Zhao Yingfei said, “She randomly came to our school’s biochemistry and materials science class to audit and grabbed me.”

“Grabbed you?”

Chen Qing Wu laughed, “At that time, I needed a chemistry-savvy classmate to help me mix my glaze. I didn’t have anyone around, so I went to find someone.”

Zhao Yingfei added, “She asked me for help, saying she wouldn’t graduate without it. I didn’t know her, thought she was crazy. But she’s pretty, and I’m tolerant of pretty people. At first, I thought she needed help with a graduation survey, but she wanted help mixing glazes, which was a huge hassle… somehow, I got roped in.”

Meng Fu Yuan said, “Interesting origin.”

Pei Shao said, “Why don’t pretty girls randomly grab me for help?”

Meng Fu Yuan said, “You’re learning to self-reflect. That’s progress.”

Pei Shao: “…”

Learning that Zhao Yingfei also did her undergrad in Beicheng, they found common ground, collectively complaining about Beicheng’s traffic, weather, and “cuisine.”

After dinner, Meng Fu Yuan drove Chen Qing Wu and Zhao Yingfei back since they were headed in the same direction.

Arriving at the university town, Zhao Yingfei got out first, telling Qing Wu, “I’ll come visit you tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

The car door closed.

Chen Qing Wu had been sitting in the back seat with Zhao Yingfei, and after she got off, she didn’t move to the front seat.

The car was quiet.

Chen Qing Wu felt a subtle discomfort, different from the time Meng Fu Yuan picked her up at the airport in Dongcheng.

After a moment of silence, Chen Qing Wu said, “Brother Yuan, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Today, when we were having tea in your conference room, I saw that tea set…”

“It’s made by you.”

Meng Fu Yuan admitted so straightforwardly that it left Chen Qing Wu speechless.

Meng Fu Yuan glanced at the rearview mirror, “I saw your tenth-anniversary works summary on your social media back then. The company needed a tea set, and yours fit the bill.”

“…You didn’t tell me.”

“I thought you might have your reasons for not promoting your work. Telling you might make you uncomfortable.”

“…I wasn’t satisfied with it.”

“Still, it works well.”

Chen Qing Wu awkwardly said, “Thank you.”

His explanation was watertight, fully self-consistent, wasn’t it?

But she still felt like she had been brushed off.

And instinctively didn’t dare to ask further.

She didn’t speak again, nor did Meng Fu Yuan.

When they reached the studio, he turned off the engine, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, “A few days ago, my mom and Aunt Liao went to see Qi Ran’s competition.”

Chen Qing Wu responded with a hum.

“They said Qi Ran seemed off, very aggressive, almost got into trouble.”

Chen Qing Wu looked up, asking anxiously, “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” Meng Fu Yuan turned to look at her, “Forgive my intrusion, Qing Wu, are you and Qi Ran not together anymore? I shouldn’t pry into your affairs, but the family is worried, and Qi Ran won’t talk.”

Chen Qing Wu was surprised but then thought it was not unexpected, “Brother Yuan, does everyone think Qi Ran and I are a couple?”

Meng Fu Yuan paused, “…Aren’t you?”

“No, never were.”

Meng Fu Yuan’s hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, his fingers digging in as if to contain the surge of emotions, “Then you two…”

He felt his voice falter.

Chen Qing Wu leaned back, sighing wearily.

In the past, she would never have thought of Meng Fu Yuan as a suitable confidant.

But she probably needed, desperately needed, someone in the family to understand, so she chose to be honest, “He never liked me. How could we be together?”

Meng Fu Yuan wasn’t entirely convinced by her judgment, but Qing Wu must have her reasons and perspective.

“Brother Yuan, you know the cup I made when I graduated from my master’s program? I gave it to Qi Ran.”

Flowers and Mist.

Of course, he knew.

Meng Fu Yuan hummed in acknowledgment.

“There’s a folk art theorist named Yanagi Muneyoshi who said that objects have a first half of life when they’re made and a second half when they’re used. At Qi Ran’s place, that cup’s second half of life is sealed away. Every time I go to his room and see that cup on display, I feel sad because a cup is meant for drinking water—can you understand?”

Feelings should also be used, not worshipped.

Meng Fu Yuan remained silent.

He didn’t dare say, “I understand.”

Chen Qing Wu covered her face with her hands, “… Please don’t ask me anymore. I don’t owe him any explanations. I’ve made things clear to him.”

Meng Fu Yuan heard the wetness in her voice.

He didn’t dare look back.

Perhaps because she was so sad, he didn’t dare look back.

Meng Qi Ran never entered the field, but that didn’t mean he could take his place.

Because her gaze was always only for Qi Ran.

So was her sadness.

It was dark now.

The car was as silent as a windless valley.

Thoughts swirled, too many to sort out.

He heard her stifled sobs, and in the rearview mirror, he saw only her long hair falling, obscuring her expression.

Chen Qing Wu suddenly heard the engine start.

The car began to move.

She looked forward, “…Where are we going?”

Meng Fu Yuan didn’t answer.

His silent profile had an unspeaking sternness.

Chen Qing Wu didn’t ask further.

Whatever.

The car drove towards the more remote suburbs, where the lights grew sparse.

After what seemed like half an hour, the car finally stopped.

They had arrived under a bridge, by a river with broken stones and lush reeds.

Meng Fu Yuan got out, took a step back, and opened the rear door.

Chen Qing Wu looked up.

He extended his hand with the ring on his pinky, “Come out and get some fresh air; it’ll help.”

“…Really?”

“Mm.”

He had tried countless times.