When they arrived at  Wudashan Town, it was already evening, and Qi Wang’s words were not wrong at all.

It was desolate and remote here; many young adults in the town had gone out to work, so there were especially many elderly people on the streets. Children played around in the alleys, adding a bit of vitality to the deserted town.

But the town still felt lonely and desolate, enveloped in gray-white hues, lacking fresh blood, lacking flowing joy, closed off and barren.

Qi Wang had booked a hotel in advance in the town, which was probably the best condition nearby. The room was spacious, but the furnishings were simple, with only two white beds and a table with an electric kettle. Qi Wang had brought a set of disposable bedding himself and didn’t use the hotel’s supplies.

Yu Nian sat on the bed with the new bedding that Qi Wang had changed, looking up at him.

Qi Wang was heating water with the kettle he brought.

Yu Nian hugged his knees, resting his chin on them, almost mesmerized as he watched Qi Wang.

After so many years, he still seemed to easily fall in love with him in these small moments.

Qi Wang, with his refined hairstyle, elegant attire in a Ralph Lauren sweater, and slender, beautiful fingers, even just making tea, appeared graceful and elegant.

But this beautiful Qi Wang was actually grown up in such a barren land.

He relied on the shelter of his parents and siblings to grow up smoothly.

But Qi Wang had nothing.

When they met at the age of twenty, Qi Wang was just an unknown pawn, without meeting Zeng Nanyue or the subsequent nurturing.

Yet during the years of growing up alone, Qi Wang never became a bad person. He remained kind, with an imperceptible gentleness in his bones. Not only did he not fall into corruption, but he also grew strong like a tree rooted on a cliff.

After boiling the water, making a cup of tea for Yu Nian, and checking the room inside and out again, Qi Wang took Yu Nian out to eat.

“Heading west, there’s a noodle shop with good food,” Qi Wang said, “I’ve eaten there a few times when I was a kid. The owner used to remember me, but now his son has taken over. He probably doesn’t remember me anymore.”

Yu Nian tightened his down jacket and followed Qi Wang.

They arrived at the noodle shop, and indeed, the owner was a man in his early thirties. His young daughter was running around by his feet, only calming down after being pushed a couple of times and then going inside to do her homework.

Qi Wang ordered two bowls of noodles and took Yu Nian to a table near the back.

Yu Nian curiously looked around, then at Qi Wang sitting across from him.

When they placed their orders, he heard Qi Wang speaking in dialect, which startled him.

It wasn’t that the dialect sounded bad, but since he had known Qi Wang, it was the first time he couldn’t understand a word. Yet the owner smiled and exchanged a few words with Qi Wang.

Seeing Yu Nian staring at him with wide eyes, Qi Wang asked, “What are you looking at?”

Yu Nian held his face in his hands and asked quietly, “Did you grow up in the orphanage here?”

Qi Wang pursed his lips.

Since their reunion, so much had happened that he hadn’t had the chance to talk to Yu Nian about his background. He had only mentioned how he met Zeng Nanyue.

So Yu Nian still didn’t know that he had found his biological parents.

Qi Wang shook his head. “No.”

He felt somewhat helpless and anxious. “That was a lie. Before I was fourteen, I never went to an orphanage. I lived at 46 Luohe Lane in this town, with a man named Li Weicheng and a woman named Luo Yingjia. They gave me a name, Li Xuyang.”

As he said the name Li Xuyang, Qi Wang felt a bit surreal.

He had carried that name for thirteen years.

Now, it sounded like a lifetime ago.

Yu Nian was speechless.

Qi Wang’s brief words left his brain feeling stuck. “No, then… were you adopted…?”

“No.”

Qi Wang fell silent.

At that moment, the owner brought over two bowls of noodles, one beef and the other a simple vegetarian one.

Qi Wang looked at the vegetarian noodles in front of him. The first time he came here as a child, he had eaten this because he was covered in bruises and hiding near the noodle shop.

He only had two dollars on him, not enough to buy noodles, but the owner still let him in and gave him a bowl.

Over a decade had passed, but he still seemed to remember the feeling of hot soup going down his throat and the dim yellow light overhead.

At that moment, he wished he could just die there, at least with a warm belly.

He murmured softly, “It wasn’t adoption, it was trafficking. I once thought those two people were my biological parents, so even when I encountered many terrible things, I only blamed myself for being born here.”

“But later I found out that they were just buyers. I was bought from human traffickers because Li Weicheng was impotent. They both only had elementary education, and back then, the area was even poorer. They didn’t even think it was illegal.”

Yu Nian’s spoon clattered into his bowl, and he looked at Qi Wang in shock, almost unable to speak.

On the other hand, Qi Wang remained calm, wiping the soup that had splashed onto his hand with a tissue.

“It’s dinner time. After we eat, I’ll take you to see my old school and the places I used to live,” Qi Wang said casually, as if he didn’t care about the past at all, “But that place is just as rundown as in the photos. You better be prepared.”

Yu Nian felt a lump in his throat and could hardly eat anymore.

But as he looked at Qi Wang’s calm face, he scooped up a spoonful of clear soup and took a sip. Despite feeling shocked, he tried to maintain his composure and manners, swallowing down the words he wanted to say and reluctantly picking up his chopsticks.

But before he could eat, he noticed that there was only vegetarian noodles in front of Qi Wang. He frowned. “Did you order wrong? Why is there nothing in your noodles?”

He didn’t remember Qi Wang liking clear soup noodles.

As he spoke, he casually took two slices of beef from his own bowl and put them in Qi Wang’s, then poured most of the fried shrimp into his bowl.

Originally, it was just clear soup noodles, like the ones he remembered. But in an instant, they became rich.

Qi Wang: “…”

Qi Wang looked at the two slices of beef in his bowl and then at Yu Nian, who seemed indifferent to worldly matters, and suddenly laughed.

Yu Nian was puzzled by the laughter and looked at Qi Wang suspiciously. “What’s so funny?”

Qi Wang shook his head and continued to eat his noodles quietly.

He just remembered that in C City back then, they were just an ordinary barista and a little worker. Yu Nian always wanted to share snacks with him.

Yu Nian was just like that.

Whenever he had something delicious, he wanted to share it with him. Whenever he saw a good movie, he wanted to watch it with him again, like a child sticking to his side, happy to see him.

Even though he ran away from home back then, he was short of funds, and whenever he saw something good, he always bought it for him eagerly, even if he was scolded, he never changed.

Even now, under his cold and mature appearance, he was still that innocent and sincere little devil.

Whether he was an unknown street kid or a reputable artist, to Yu Nian, he was still the same person who needed to share candy with.

---

After dinner, Qi Wang drove with Yu Nian to 46 Luohe Lane.

Just like in the photos, dust was everywhere. There used to be three households living in this lane, but they had all moved away, leaving behind unsellable old houses, standing desolately.

But in Qi Wang’s memory, this place used to be a bit more decent than it is now, not so dilapidated. The neighbors used to be noisy, but they would also go out for meals holding hands as a family.

Qi Wang leaned against the car, looking at the once imposing building that felt oppressive in his memory.

He once thought he would never leave this dark and oppressive place, that his life would only repeat Li Weicheng’s path, turning into a pile of mud.

But now he stood here well, with his lover by his side, and that couple had already been punished.

Qi Wang stared at the decayed doorplate, his voice faint, as if telling someone else’s story.

“I was bought by Li Weicheng and Luo Yingjia when I was two years old, so I don’t remember much about my original family. Now I’m starting to remember a little, but it’s all very vague…”