Before Shao Mingyin brought out the tomato and egg noodles, Liang Zhen had been obediently staying in the room. His phone had long run out of battery, and there was no compatible charger in Shao Mingyin’s place. Liang Zhen also didn’t know how to cook, so entering the kitchen would only cause trouble. Thus, after setting the table, he sat idly at it. Shao Mingyin’s apartment was small, consisting of just a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There wasn’t even a door between the two- to three-meter entryway and the bedroom. Liang Zhen had placed the folding dining table in that space. The kitchen’s oil-proof door was made of transparent glass, so whenever Shao Mingyin turned his head, he could see Liang Zhen sitting there motionlessly on a small stool. Shao Mingyin pushed open the kitchen door, walked to the bedroom, turned on the TV, and placed the remote control in Liang Zhen’s hand, suggesting he watch some TV for a while.

Once the noodles were ready, Shao Mingyin moved the table to the more spacious bedroom, away from the entryway. He rarely used the table for meals. For years, living alone, he would eat directly in the kitchen to avoid the hassle of moving things around and cleaning the table again. But today, with Liang Zhen here, it wasn’t practical for two grown men to squeeze into the kitchen, so he decided to use the table.

Shao Mingyin placed the noodles in front of Liang Zhen and handed him chopsticks. Liang Zhen took them and thanked him before diving into his meal.

He ate quickly because he was genuinely hungry, and the noodles were indeed delicious. This deliciousness inevitably reminded him of the instant noodles he had at the police station. However, the instant noodles were flavored with various seasonings that only created an illusion of taste. The bowl of tomato and egg noodles before him now had the simplest toppings, without even MSG, only using dried shrimp for extra flavor, yet it was genuinely tasty. He ate as if he had never tasted anything so good, finishing his bowl while Shao Mingyin still had half left.

Shao Mingyin, having seen Liang Zhen’s appetite at the station, had left more noodles in the pot for him. Without waiting for him to ask, he took his bowl and filled it with the remaining noodles. Liang Zhen, moved, took the bowl with both hands and said, “Officer, you’re really kind.”

Shao Mingyin just smiled without responding. When Liang Zhen’s eating pace slowed, Shao Mingyin asked, “So, tell me, what’s going on?”

With nothing to hide, Liang Zhen recounted the recent events. How his father disapproved of his music career, cutting off his financial support, how uncomfortable he felt living at Song Zhou’s place, and how he was gradually driven to the night market street by the city management officers. He was genuinely at his wit’s end when he met Shao Mingyin.

“That’s why I say, Officer, you’re really kind.”

Liang Zhen’s words were sincere, but Shao Mingyin seemed unimpressed, asking, “Kind? How so?”

“Of course, you’re kind,” Liang Zhen argued. “You made noodles for me.”

Shao Mingyin almost choked on his noodles at Liang Zhen’s words. After a few coughs, he asked, “You’re nineteen, right?”

Liang Zhen nodded, “Yes.”

“I brought you home for a bowl of noodles, and you’re so grateful. Why don’t you think about your parents, who raised you for nineteen years and cooked for you all that time?” Shao Mingyin said, tapping Liang Zhen’s forehead with his chopsticks. “And you argued with your dad and ran away from home. How old are you to be acting like this?”

“I—” Liang Zhen started to argue but then lowered his head and continued eating silently. After a long pause, he said quietly, “They never cooked for me.”

“How’s that possible,” Shao Mingyin started to respond, but then remembered it was Liang Zhen, the young master from a wealthy family in Lanzhou. His parents, busy making money and paving his way, couldn’t have been like ordinary parents who cooked daily.

But it couldn’t be that they never cooked, right? Shao Mingyin thought. Moreover, with Liang Zhen’s background, he must have tasted all kinds of delicacies. What was so special about a simple bowl of noodles?

He was about to make a joke but saw Liang Zhen stuffing his mouth with noodles, cheeks bulging, looking like he was holding back some pent-up emotion with nowhere to release it. Instead, it manifested as a subtle vulnerability.

That vulnerability disappeared in an instant when Liang Zhen noticed Shao Mingyin watching him. He quickly took another bite and complimented the noodles again.

Shao Mingyin grunted in acknowledgment and continued eating. Liang Zhen, thinking his praise was too perfunctory, tried again, saying Shao Mingyin was kind not only for making him noodles but also for taking him in.

Shao Mingyin hadn’t intended to let Liang Zhen stay overnight, but seeing the boy’s eager, shining eyes, he felt awkward to refuse directly. So he said diplomatically, “This place is too small. It’s probably smaller than the bathroom in your home or your friend’s place. You won’t be comfortable here.”

Liang Zhen caught on to Shao Mingyin’s reluctance, his eyes dimming as he continued eating slowly. The atmosphere grew awkwardly silent. To break the tension, Shao Mingyin turned on the TV again, tuning into the shopping channel “HomeEasy.”

Liang Zhen hadn’t watched TV in ages and had never heard of “HomeEasy.” Listening for a while, he realized it was a Zhejiang-based home shopping channel. He couldn’t understand why Shao Mingyin was so fond of this channel. Did he actually buy this stuff? Otherwise, why did he turn on the TV and it was immediately on this channel?

So, for about five or six minutes, the only sound in the small one-bedroom apartment was the enthusiastic sales pitch of the hosts. Initially, Liang Zhen found it noisy, but as he listened more, he found it somewhat interesting.

Whether it was truly live or not, the host confidently repeated every minute or two: “Everyone, this is a live broadcast, available while supplies last. The countdown for our program is at the bottom of the screen, but we will end this live broadcast anytime once we are sold out.”

With five minutes remaining, the host shouted again, “Almost sold out, almost sold out!” When the countdown entered the last two minutes, the product had already been restocked once, and Liang Zhen thought there would be no more tricks. To his surprise, the host brought in the president of the product’s company on camera. The president, holding several bundles of hundred-yuan bills, placed them on the table and thanked the people of Zhejiang for their support and love. He then decided to take a loss and add ten more sets, adding ten more sets!

“Wow,” Liang Zhen chuckled, “you Zhejiang people really know how to play this game.”

Just after marveling at this, Liang Zhen felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint what it was, so he set aside his doubts and asked Shao Mingyin, “Do you want to call and see if there’s any stock left?”

“What are they selling?” Shao Mingyin had been just listening to the sound. Liang Zhen’s suggestion made him look at the TV, “A robot vacuum? I don’t need that.”

“Wait a minute,” Liang Zhen waved his hand in front of Shao Mingyin, “You’ve been listening for so long, how come you don’t even know what they’re selling?”

Shao Mingyin replied, “I was just listening to the sound.”

Liang Zhen asked again, “If you were just listening to the sound, why this channel’?”

Shao Mingyin said, “Don’t you think this channel is always lively, with the two hosts chatting and laughing? It makes the room feel less empty and more alive.”

Liang Zhen was taken aback.

At that moment, Shao Mingyin had finished eating and took Liang Zhen’s bowl back to the kitchen to wash. When Liang Zhen wanted to help, Shao Mingyin told him not to cause trouble and pushed him out of the kitchen. Liang Zhen leaned against the kitchen door, openly watching Shao Mingyin busy inside. Shao Mingyin didn’t argue with him, letting him stand there and watch. So, Liang Zhen listened to “HomeEasy” on the TV and the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen.

Shao Mingyin washed the dishes skillfully, so skillfully that Liang Zhen could imagine his routine from the past days. After coming home, he would hang his regular clothes on the coat rack, revealing a navy blue short-sleeve shirt underneath. He would turn on the TV, which was still on the channel he watched the previous day, “HomeEasy.” He would cook noodles and prepare stir-fried tomatoes and eggs in another pot. After cooking, he wouldn’t use the folding table but would eat at the kitchen counter. After eating, he would wash the dishes and clean the pots, then dry his hands on a towel by the sink. Throughout the process, Shao Mingyin wouldn’t speak, and throughout the process, he was alone.

But now, Shao Mingyin, who was not alone, stood in front of Liang Zhen, holding a wet towel, asking Liang Zhen to move. Because of Liang Zhen’s presence, Shao Mingyin added a step of wiping the table today. He was still quick, wiping the table again with a dry towel, then folding it back and placing it beside the cabinet in the hallway. When he turned around, he was about to ask Liang Zhen how he was going back. Shao Mingyin had been in Wenzhou for three years, living in this rented apartment for three years, always alone. He didn’t think Liang Zhen would stay today, didn’t think Liang Zhen could stay.

But when he turned around, he found the TV was off. There was no more chatter from the “HomeEasy” hosts, and the small space suddenly became very quiet.

Normally, this kind of silence would make Shao Mingyin uncomfortable, but today he wasn’t alone in this room. The young man stood before him, with a guitar, casually strumming the strings with his right hand.

He saw the young man scratch his back awkwardly with his left hand, then pinch the strings and smile at him. Only then did Shao Mingyin notice Liang Zhen had a canine tooth showing.

“Didn’t you say you wanted the room to feel lively and warm?” Liang Zhen looked at him, still smiling, “What do you want to hear? I’ll sing for you.”