Shao Mingyin and Liang Zhen first met two years ago at a dinner party that was reported for drug use. Liang Zhen was there and was taken to the Mushan Street Police Station.

Everyone in that group was a rapper, with tattoos all over, even on their scalps. Liang Zhen, with his clean and fair appearance, stood out like a sore thumb in the detention room.

This was Liang Zhen’s first time being detained, and he had no experience. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t scared, but he was confident because he had never touched drugs in his life. At that time, he hadn’t been in the underground rap scene for long, and everyone treated him like a younger brother because of his age. Liang Zhen didn’t believe that these loyal brothers would do drugs.

Four hours earlier, he attended a dinner party at K’s house. K was a big brother in the Wenzhou underground scene, organizing many competitions. When K invited him, he mentioned that some well-known figures would be there. Liang Zhen thought it would be good to network, so he didn’t refuse.

Who knew that halfway through the drinking, just as they started to get high, the police broke in.

They really did break in, kicking the door open, the lock falling off. The lead officer held up his badge and said, “Nobody move, police.”

Liang Zhen sat near the bars in the detention room, with a broad view of people walking outside. Someone came over and opened the door, taking him out alone.

He had already done a urine test. He thought the results were out and he was clear, so he could leave. He felt a burst of energy but was disappointed to find he was just moved from a six-person detention room to a single one. From one cage to another, he quickly wilted again.

Sitting on the bench in the detention room, Liang Zhen was fuming. He had a bad temper to begin with, and now he was even more irritable and confused. How did he end up in this mess? This was a stain on his life! He mentally noted down the name of the police station, Mushan Street Police Station? A local station dared to detain him, Liang Zhen! And that leading officer, many of his relatives were high-ranking officials, and this officer, just a sergeant, dared to handcuff him!

The more he thought about it, the more upset he got, and he started missing Lanzhou. This kind of blunder would never happen in Lanzhou.

But two years ago, he came to Wenzhou for university, three thousand kilometers away from Lanzhou. If he were in Lanzhou, he could casually mention any uncle’s name, and the station chief wouldn’t dare touch him.

Of course, all this was based on the fact that he was indeed innocent. Now in Wenzhou, he had no one to call for help. His family had explicitly stated they didn’t want him pursuing music, especially hip-hop. And now, being involved in a drug raid, he wouldn’t call his father for help but had a friend bail him out. So he had to go through the process and wait.

His longing for Lanzhou quickly grew in the Wenzhou detention room. He missed Lanzhou, especially the beef noodles. He loved eating “Er Xi,” where the noodles were just right, mixed with scallions and chili oil in a rich beef bone broth, steaming hot.

Liang Zhen swallowed his saliva. He wasn’t just missing Lanzhou; he was hungry.

It was almost midnight. He hadn’t eaten much at the dinner, having focused on drinking, though not much. The police broke in before he had a chance to eat, so now he was hungry.

He had never felt so wronged. In the station, it was cold, he was hungry, and he had no place to rest. Tonight, he experienced all the suffering he had never faced in his nineteen years. Leaning his head against the cold iron bars, his unfocused eyes glaring ahead, he found himself not as angry anymore; he was too tired to be angry.

Then he heard someone knocking on the bars.

Liang Zhen looked up, his sharp eyes fixing on the officer like he wanted to cut out a piece of him.

The officer wasn’t annoyed but smiled instead, “You hate me that much?”

Liang Zhen stood by the iron bars, not wanting to lose momentum. Standing up, he realized he was half a head taller than the officer. Liang Zhen didn’t speak, and the officer just smiled. Liang Zhen wanted to maintain his cool, but his sharpness quickly softened.

There was no helping it; the officer’s smile was too gentle.

It didn’t fit. Liang Zhen frowned, looking at the badge number on his chest—05124201. It was indeed the same 05124201 who had kicked the door in and handcuffed him. When he showed his badge, he was so serious, looking at everyone like they were addicts. Liang Zhen sniffed the air, smelling something nice. The officer, who had been hiding his hand behind his back, brought it forward. “Are you hungry kid?”

Liang Zhen bristled at being called a “kid,” raising his chin, “I’m nineteen.”

The officer kept smiling and handed over the cup of instant beef noodles, asking, “Want some?”

Liang Zhen turned his head away, snorting disdainfully, “No!”

If it had been any other officer, Liang Zhen might have taken it after a bit of struggle. But this officer broke the door and handcuffed him, so taking food from him now was too humiliating.

The officer asked again, “Not hungry?”

Liang Zhen didn’t look at him, “Not hungry!”

“Not eating?”

Liang Zhen quickly glanced at the food in his hand, “Not eating!”

“Alright.” The officer didn’t argue, the noodles were originally for himself. He had just thought the kid might be hungry, so he came over to ask. Since Liang Zhen was so adamant, he didn’t push further.

So he sat nearby and started eating the bowl of beef noodles.

Liang Zhen regretted saying “not eating” right after he said it. He hoped the policeman would leave quickly. Who would have thought he would leisurely eat in front of him? Liang Zhen, smelling the aroma and hearing the slurping sound of the noodles entering his mouth, almost cried.

He thought he had been deceived by that smile, that policeman was a tough one.

So Liang Zhen succumbed, hesitatingly said, “Police Officer?”

Liang Zhen didn’t know how to address him, but fortunately, the policeman didn’t trouble him. He quickly raised his head and met his gaze, saying, “My surname is Shao.”

Seeing Liang Zhen staring at his instant noodles, knowing he was hungry but embarrassed to ask, Shao Mingyin kindly asked, “Shall I make another bowl for you?”

Liang Zhen nodded reluctantly. Shao Mingyin looked at his half-empty bowl for a moment, hesitated, then handed it over to where Liang Zhen could reach, saying, “Have some to fill your stomach first.”

Liang Zhen took it, but didn’t eat it, just held it, staring eagerly. Shao Mingyin smiled again, turned and took a few steps away, then heard the sound of noodles being eaten heartily behind him. When he came back with another bowl, the first one was already empty, not even a drop of soup left.

Shao Mingyin: “Still eating?”

This time Liang Zhen didn’t hesitate at all: “Yes.”

Liang Zhen, eating the most delicious beef noodles of his life made by Shao Mingyin, didn’t feel as resentful as before. The “although but” in his mind had changed order—although Officer Shao kicked the door and detained him, Officer Shao also made noodles for him to eat.

“When I just came back, I saw your friend doing paperwork, is his name Song Zhou?”

Liang Zhen was truly enjoying the most delicious beef noodles of his life, didn’t have time to nod, just made a sound of agreement. Shao Mingyin continued, “Be more cautious with your friendships in the future, don’t hang out with these so-called friends.”

Liang Zhen heard this, reflexively wanting to freestyle a bit. Underground is one family, homies don’t differentiate between you and me, you can’t become estranged just because you’ve been in the same detention center. Liang Zhen gripped the large, round bowl of instant noodles, swallowing hard, waiting to finish eating to educate Officer Shao about the thick brotherly bond of the underground.

But before he could speak, Officer Shao mentioned the results of other people’s urine tests, his face lost its smile, his tone became indifferent.

“Except for you, the other five are positive.”

Liang Zhen’s mouth stopped moving, looking at Shao Mingyin, incredulous.

“I’ve looked at your file, how should I put it… you’re still young, focus on studying.” Shao Mingyin kindly reminded, “Although you haven’t touched it, this detention won’t leave a mark on your record, but going to the police station is definitely not a good thing.”

At that moment, another female officer brought Song Zhou over and, standing in front of Liang Zhen, unlocked the handcuffs after matching the numbers on her folder.

The female officer had just been transferred here and was not particularly familiar with the situation in Wenzhou. Looking at the name of Liang Zhen’s school in the file, she struggled to pronounce it for a long time.

“Wen Ken… Wenzhou Kenwiya University?” The policewoman read this rather chicken-soup name, thinking it was a third-rate university. Liang Zhen, being from the northwest, made her imagine a scene where his parents had worked hard to put him through school, and he had almost gone astray. The female officer, being a mother herself, took the opportunity to educate Liang Zhen.

But before she could say a few words, Shao Mingyin interrupted, “The entrance score for that university is over 230 points, it’s a joint venture between the Wenzhou Municipal Government and Kenwaya University, one of the top 100 universities globally, it’s for wealthy people to attend.” Shao Mingyin signaled to Liang Zhen with a glance and said, “Let’s go.”

“Thank you, Officer Shao.” Liang Zhen finished signing and, together with Song Zhou, left the police station. When they arrived at where Song Zhou’s car was parked, Song Zhou couldn’t help but burst into laughter and asked Liang Zhen, “Are instant noodles really that delicious? Still holding onto it like a treasure, why don’t you throw it away!”

Because there were no trash cans in the detention room, Liang Zhen had been holding onto the bowl of noodles all along, but on the way out, there were plenty of trash cans, but he seemed to ignore them, and he still hadn’t thrown it away.

He was no longer hungry, and upon reminiscing the taste of the noodles, it wasn’t as delicious anymore. Instead, it was the smile of Officer Shao that left a deep impression on him, the more he thought about it, the more attractive it seemed.

How could a man be described as attractive? Liang Zhen was straightforward, even describing others in such a way felt a bit too effeminate for him, but he couldn’t think of any other adjectives. He thought this Officer Shao, must be a good street cop. He would mediate any conflicts, stand there smiling as he listened to the ins and outs of the matter, and the tense situation between two people would surely dissipate by half.

Liang Zhen had no intention of seeking justice anymore; Officer Shao had shown him kindness with the noodles, which offset some of his actions. Of course, he also hoped not to see Officer Shao again, although Officer Shao’s smile was very attractive, he really didn’t want to go back to the police station.

But a few days later, Liang Zhen and Shao Mingyin met again.

Not at the police station, but at the newly opened gay bar in Wenzhou.