Xie Dongcheng took a shower first that night. Usually, he would come out of the shower shirtless. But today, with an extra person at home, he finally put on a T-shirt before coming out of the bathroom.

“I’m done. You can go in now.”

Yu Zi didn’t bring any toiletries; he had been using hotel supplies for the past few days.

When he entered the bathroom, he found only a solitary bar of soap on the shelf.

Yellow, lemon-scented soap.

He opened the door and poked his head out, asking, “What about body wash?”

Xie Dongcheng pointed to the bar of soap, “This is it.”

“Facial cleanser?”

“Same.”

“Hand soap?”

“Well, that’s it.”

Yu Zi looked at the smooth round soap and fell into thought.

“What about shampoo?”

Xie Dongcheng touched his own buzz cut and said apologetically, “Um… that’s it too.”

The small bathroom fell silent for a dozen seconds. Yu Zi had encountered one or two IT tycoons who lived extremely minimalist lives before, but he had never seen anything as minimalist as this.

He wondered if he dropped this guy on a deserted island, would he survive with just this bar of soap?

“How about I take you to the supermarket tomorrow?” Xie Dongcheng tentatively suggested.

Yu Zi could only nod and watch Xie Dongcheng leave the bathroom.

After a while, he resigned himself to fate. He turned on the shower and gently lathered the soap in his palms.

Half a year ago, he couldn’t have imagined sharing a bar of soap with another man.

Half an hour later, Yu Zi finished his shower, dried himself off, and took down his pajamas from the shelf.

However, after putting them on, he discovered a large oil stain on the hem of the clothes.

After thinking for a while, he realized it must have been from that filthy bathroom in the motel. He walked out of the bathroom while rubbing his hair and felt increasingly uncomfortable as he wore the clothes.

After a moment of contemplation, he asked Xie Dongcheng in the living room, “Do you have any pajamas?”

Xie Dongcheng was busy with his fish and turned back, “Pajamas?”

“Yeah.”

Xie Dongcheng didn’t have such a thing as pajamas; he just grabbed whatever was handy when going out. He also didn’t have the habit of wearing clothes to sleep at home.

He scratched his head and rummaged in the bedroom for a while before taking out a T-shirt, “Is this okay?”

Yu Zi felt it with his hand; it wasn’t as soft as his pajamas, but it would do.

“Pants?”

Xie Dongcheng went back to the room and rummaged for a while, finally pulling out a pair of his own basketball shorts from the depths of the closet.

“This is all I have.”

Yu Zi took the clothes into the bathroom and came out two minutes later.

The clothes were passable; the T-shirt was just a bit loose. But Yu Zi’s waist was slimmer, and Xie Dongcheng’s shorts barely hung on his hips, as if they would slip off with a slightly larger step.

Yu Zi didn’t mind; he stood in front of Xie Dongcheng and lifted the hem of the T-shirt, carefully adjusting the elastic band of the shorts. After tying a knot, it finally fit him.

Xie Dongcheng glanced at him, then quickly averted his gaze, but couldn’t help but look back for another second.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he finally found a suitable topic, “Do you want me to wash your pajamas for you?”

He pointed to the light green wave washing machine on the balcony.

“No need. This can’t be washed in the washing machine,” Yu Zi rejected directly.

He spoke the truth; almost none of his clothes could be washed in the washing machine.

“Is there a dry cleaner nearby?”

“No.”

After getting this answer, he paused for a few seconds.

When he was staying at the hotel, he could ask the room service to help with the laundry. He couldn’t just stop wearing these clothes these days, could he?

Xie Dongcheng, rare to understand the hint, suggested, “Or I can find you some clothes to wear at home. You can wear your expensive clothes when you go out?”

Yu Zi thought about it and found it reasonable, so he nodded.

Soon, Yu Zi had two more T-shirts, a basketball tank top, and a pair of long pants that needed to be rolled up twice to fit.

Xie Dongcheng had already prepared the sofa in the living room with a mattress.

Then he opened the bedroom door for Yu Zi, “Feel free to use anything in the bedroom. There’s a socket by the bedside and a switch for the light.”

Yu Zi took out his favorite fragrance from his suitcase, leaving only the last half bottle. He used to spray two pumps, but this time he only sprayed one before putting it back.

Xie Dongcheng’s sheets looked freshly washed and ironed, smooth without any wrinkles. Yu Zi lay down gently and indeed smelled a faint scent of laundry detergent on it.

He didn’t quite like the smell, but it wasn’t unpleasant either.

He hadn’t slept well that night in the motel, and he thought he might get a decent night’s sleep tonight. However, the reality was different. Even though he had sprayed his usual fragrance and wore a satin eye mask to block out all light, he still tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Yu Zi had been picky about beds since he was a child. Even when traveling or staying in a resort hotel, he would bring his own familiar bed sheets.

Unfortunately, all these belongings had been cleared out by his stepmother and Yu Qing when they moved out of that house. Not a single thing was left for him.

With his eyes closed, he could hear the cries of wild cats and the sound of falling leaves.

Rustling, he felt his body become light, as if he had also turned into a leaf, drifting in the gradually cooling air of autumn.

In his memory, the detached villa in the western suburbs was extremely quiet, with strict property management. Even the leaves seemed obedient, making no sound at all. In his childhood, he always felt that these days were overly boring, but now he realized his previous immaturity.

Uninterrupted tranquility was a peace built with money.

Yu Zi had asked Shang Ping why he was given this name when he was very young. Shang Ping said it was because he was born in a hurry, coincidentally during a journey.

On this late night several years later, Yu Zi finally fully realized that perhaps his destiny had long been predetermined.

Heaven intended for him to wander aimlessly in the latter half of his life.

The next morning, Xie Dongcheng left early again. The house was very quiet when Yu Zi woke up.

There was a small desk opposite the bed, with a photo frame on it. Yu Zi walked over and glanced at it but didn’t reach out to open it.

He walked into the living room and saw a note left on the sofa, which he picked up and read.

“Made porridge in the kitchen.”

Yu Zi went into the kitchen, opened the pot on the stove, and indeed found a pot of white rice porridge.

However, he wasn’t used to eating too many carbohydrates in the morning. He scooped out a small bowl and only drank half of it.

Sitting by the dining table with his legs hugged to his chest, the window in the north-facing living room was slightly open, allowing the cold morning breeze to seep in through the gap.

He was still wearing Xie Dongcheng’s shorts, and as the breeze blew, the hem was blown up, causing him to shrink his legs.

“Hiss—”

Why was it getting cold so quickly this year? Yu Zi got up to change into a pair of long pants.

Surface-wise, Xie Dongcheng didn’t seem to mind how long he stayed, but Yu Zi still didn’t want to linger here.

He hated the feeling of being dependent.

After changing his pants, he opened his phone, thinking it was better to find another place to stay and move out as soon as possible. It wasn’t right to stay here every day like a useless person, waiting for Xie Dongcheng to return home.

During the days after the bankruptcy of the Yu family, Yu Zi had only contacted one distant aunt. She had politely said that if there was anything he needed help with, he could contact her. But there had been no news afterwards. Yu Zi couldn’t bring himself to ask again.

His finger hovered over the contacts list for a moment, but in the end, he found that aunt’s name and pressed the call button.

However, after three rings, he hung up first. What was the difference between going there and staying here?

At least this driver Xie seemed more sincere.

Thinking of him, Yu Zi remembered the way his ears turned red at the slightest provocation.

It was interesting. The heavens weren’t too unkind to him; even in this life, they still left him some amusement.

That day, Xie Dongcheng returned even earlier, probably around six in the afternoon.

“Going to the supermarket?” Xie Dongcheng pushed open the door and asked.

Yu Zi nodded at him as he got up. It was surprising that Xie remembered this.

Xie Dongcheng took him not to an imported supermarket or a membership supermarket occupying the second or third floor of a mall, but to a convenience store not far from the neighborhood.

As Yu Zi walked in, he found it crowded with mostly older people, as well as some younger factory workers. The place was bustling with noise.

It took Yu Zi quite a while to find the shampoo aisle. Squinting, he looked at the brands he didn’t recognize at all. In the end, he picked one that looked a bit sturdy.

“Aren’t you going to get a bigger bottle?” Xie Dongcheng stood behind him and saw that he only picked the smallest size bottle, so he asked.

“No need. I won’t be staying for long anyway,” Yu Zi replied without turning around.

The person behind him didn’t continue the conversation.

Yu Zi picked up some more daily necessities and tossed them into the shopping basket. The low ceiling made the air a bit stuffy, and he just wanted to leave this place quickly.

There was quite a long line at the checkout counter. Yu Zi stood at the back of the crowd, looking up at the ceiling as he waited.

Suddenly, an old man pushed past him from behind, causing him to lose his balance. He bumped into the small shelf next to the checkout counter with a bang.

Clatter— a row of items fell off the shelf.

“Damn it,” Yu Zi rolled his eyes at the disappearing old man.

He didn’t have time to get angry and could only bend down to pick up the items. Seeing him bend down, Xie Dongcheng also squatted down to help clean up the mess.

However, Xie Dongcheng immediately realized that these items were unusual. Orange, blue, gray, small boxes with various numbers and letters printed on them.

Tsk— Xie Dongcheng’s ears turned red again.

This old man sure could bump into things; he knocked down an entire shelf cover.

Seeing his ears, Yu Zi immediately felt like teasing him.

The two of them crouched down to pick up the boxes. Yu Zi shook one of the boxes in his hand and handed it to Xie Dongcheng.

Xie Dongcheng’s fingers paused for a moment, he cleared his throat, and it took him several seconds before he took it.

Yu Zi was bursting with laughter inside; this person was different from everyone else in his social circle, with a kind of naive stupidity.

Xie Dongcheng quickly tidied up the items on the ground and put them back in place, then paid for the items in the shopping basket without looking back.

Carrying the shopping bags, they walked in the night, but Yu Zi didn’t intend to let him off so easily.

“Xie Dongcheng,” he called out to him from behind.

“What’s up?” Xie Dongcheng asked, looking at the asphalt road ahead, answering softly.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Xie Dongcheng, realizing he couldn’t avoid it, could only look at the pavement ahead and answer softly, “No.”

“Boyfriend?”

The figure in front paused for three seconds before blurting out, “I’m straight.”

“How do you know you’re straight?” Yu Zi suppressed a smile and spoke in a feigned calm tone. “You’ve never had a girlfriend.”

That figure froze as if struck by acupuncture, not moving at all.

Uh-oh.

It seemed like Xie Dongcheng was genuinely stumped by this question.

How could he prove that he was straight?