After that Friday, Liang Zhen didn’t go to Shao Mingyin’s house for five or six days. He had Shao Mingyin’s phone number and seemed confident that Shao Mingyin would miss him. Every day, he would proactively text whether he would be coming over and, if not, why he was busy. Each time, Shao Mingyin wanted to reply with a snarky remark but, upon seeing Liang Zhen’s dozens of texts from the past few months, he would hold back. Sometimes he even typed out a joke but refrained from sending it.

After Liang Zhen was absent for an entire week, he sent Shao Mingyin a long string of “ahhhhh” and exclamation marks, clearly indicating he would be coming over. So, after work that day, Shao Mingyin unusually went to the market and bought some home-cooked ingredients.

Liang Zhen knocked on the door at the usual time, and as soon as Shao Mingyin unlocked it, he quickly went back to the kitchen without even looking at him, holding a spatula and stir-frying something. Liang Zhen stood at the kitchen door, leaning against the glass doorframe, sniffing the air like a cat being petted under the chin. He closed his eyes slightly and exaggeratedly exclaimed, “It smells so good.”

“Don’t you have any standards? You said tomato noodles smell good, fried dumplings smell good, and egg fried rice smells good.” Shao Mingyin listed all the simple or reheated meals Liang Zhen had mooched off him before. To Shao Mingyin, these were just to fill his stomach, but only Liang Zhen would think they were fragrant and delicious.

“It really smells good!” Liang Zhen took another exaggerated sniff. “Everything you make smells good and tastes good!”

Liang Zhen leaned forward, seeing Shao Mingyin holding a spatula, and asked, “Are we having…?” He thought it might be fried rice but then noticed the rice cooker heating in his peripheral vision. He walked into the kitchen and saw green peppers and shredded meat in the pan.

“Wow!” his mouth dropped open. “Wow! Officer Shao, you’re cooking today! Wow!”

Liang Zhen exclaimed “wow” three times, each louder than the last, making Shao Mingyin laugh. While stir-frying, he asked, “Have you never seen someone cook before?”

“I’ve never seen you cook. I’ve eaten so many frozen meals here. Even the packed lunches from the police station are a treat. I can’t believe I get to eat freshly cooked food today!” Liang Zhen said, reaching to open a plastic bag to see what other ingredients were there. Shao Mingyin smacked his hand away and rolled his eyes at him. “Who said I’m cooking for you?”

Liang Zhen confidently replied, “If not for me, why make so much?”

“I can cook as much as I want. What if I want to eat this for three meals?”

Liang Zhen couldn’t argue with that. He leaned closer, pouting and patting his stomach through his clothes. “Officer Shao, would you really let me go hungry?”

“I’m off duty. Stop calling me Officer Shao.”

“But I’m used to it.” Liang Zhen grabbed Shao Mingyin’s free hand and tried to place it on his stomach to show how much he craved the food. Shao Mingyin quickly pulled his hand back and smacked Liang Zhen’s hand.

“Enough,” he shooed him away. “Go check if the rice cooker’s temperature has dropped. If it has, serve the rice.”

Liang Zhen grabbed two bowls and asked, “How many should I serve?”

Seeing him taking advantage, Shao Mingyin threatened to kick him, but Liang Zhen dodged quickly, making a face at him before serving the rice and setting up the foldable table with two pairs of chopsticks. Soon, Shao Mingyin brought out two dishes: stir-fried green peppers with shredded meat and stir-fried green beans.

Sitting opposite Liang Zhen, Shao Mingyin said, “I haven’t cooked in a while. If it tastes bad, just keep it to yourself and don’t say anything.”

Liang Zhen nodded eagerly, immediately taking a bite. Chewing, he exaggeratedly widened his eyes and gave Shao Mingyin a thumbs up, quickly taking another bite as if someone might snatch the food away. When he finally swallowed, he looked as if he was about to cry from being moved.

“Can you stop being so dramatic?” Shao Mingyin looked at his emotional expression. “Do you act like this in front of your classmates and friends?”

“Of course not. I only act like this here.”

“How?”

“I just…” Liang Zhen took another bite, chewing while thinking about why he loved coming to Shao Mingyin’s place so much. “I just like being here.”

Unable to articulate further, he changed the topic. Still eating, he eagerly took out his phone, opened a music production app, and plugged in headphones, handing one to Shao Mingyin. “Listen to something awesome.”

“I’ve been working on this the past few days, making my own beat. The sample is ‘Saltarello,’ and I played the guitar myself, plugged in!” Liang Zhen gave a smug smile.

The music he played indeed had a certain flair. With some kind of mixing treatment, it carried a strong vibe, full of atmosphere. It wasn’t a complete piece yet, with the rap lyrics still unrecorded. Liang Zhen explained there were three blank parts, and he was almost done writing the verses. The final product would be ready soon.

“But the hook is done! Here it comes!” he excitedly announced.

As the hook played, following the melody of “Saltarello,” Liang Zhen sang four catchy and well-structured lines in a Lanzhou accent. When Shao Mingyin recognized the lyrics from the famous poem “Liangzhou Ci” and felt the vivid imagery of a lone fortress and willows at the Yumen Pass through the folk tune, he couldn’t help but be impressed. Liang Zhen swayed to the music and asked, “Isn’t it awesome?”

“I used to buy a lot of beats from a friend. Recently, I told him my idea, and he let me use his studio for free, teaching me how to make beats and mix tracks. When this beat came out, he was blown away. Trap is all about being awesome!”

Shao Mingyin removed the headphones, smiling softly at the excited Liang Zhen. Two months ago, he wouldn’t have believed he’d be sitting face-to-face with such a young man, still in his police shirt, listening to him talk about trap music. He suddenly realized that Liang Zhen was a rapper, even though he had been playing folk songs for the past two months.

Not being an expert, Shao Mingyin asked, “What exactly is trap?”

“It’s a style of rap music, but everyone has their own understanding,” Liang Zhen explained. “To me, trap is about being catchy and brainwashing. The name itself implies trapping the listener. Especially the hook, which plays three times in a song. A good trap song has a hook that listeners remember after hearing it three times and can sing along to.”

“Like ‘Liangzhou Ci’?” Shao Mingyin started to get it. “That really is something you can sing along to after hearing it three times. It’s quite cultural.”

“What did you expect? Did you think rap was just women, money, fame,” Liang Zhen said, holding up three fingers, then adding a fourth, “and cars?”

Shao Mingyin laughed and folded Liang Zhen’s fingers back. He nodded towards the dishes on the table with his chin and said, “Let’s eat first, future star.”

“Eat, eat,” Liang Zhen said, holding his bowl. After taking a bite, he exclaimed, “It’s really delicious.” But then he kept glancing at Shao Mingyin, though it was quite obvious.

Shao Mingyin asked, “What’s wrong?”

Liang Zhen put down his bowl, looking a bit shy. “Actually, I made two more beats.” He smiled, blushing a little. “Do you want to listen?”

Shao Mingyin initially wanted to say to eat first, but seeing Liang Zhen’s expectant face, he changed his mind. “Play them out loud then.”

Liang Zhen quickly took off his headphones, pressed play on the DJ app, and placed his phone in the middle of the table. Shao Mingyin had been eating non-stop with his chopsticks, but as soon as he heard the sound of the accordion and guitar, he froze.

He looked up at Liang Zhen. “Is this…”

Liang Zhen replied, “I recorded it that day. These two beats are samples from the time we played together.”