The next day was Sunday. Early in the morning, Du Yunyan disappeared again without a trace. The motorcycle was still neatly parked in the yard, so it seemed he walked out. Gu Wenxi enjoyed the hearty breakfast prepared in advance alone. He wasn’t sure if Du Yunyan had eaten, so he left some.

After finishing the meal, he cleaned up the dishes and heard footsteps rustling in the hall.

“Where did you go?” Gu Wenxi poked his head out from the kitchen.

Du Yunyan had a plastic basket slung over his right arm, filled with green leafy vegetables, with some stems and leaves poking out from the gaps in the basket.

“I went outside to pick some wild vegetables.”

Mountain vegetables absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, and there were many varieties in every season, making them the most natural ingredients.

“Why didn’t you call me to go with you?” Gu Wenxi felt a little regretful.

Du Yunyan glanced at him with a complicated expression and put down the basket. “I was afraid you’d pick something poisonous.”

This sounded like a taunt at first, but Gu Wenxi stared at his face for a few seconds and realized that Du Yunyan had seriously considered this possibility, not intentionally mocking him.

He awkwardly said, “You could teach me.”

Du Yunyan pulled out a chair and sat down. “Maybe next time.”

“By the way, have you had breakfast?” Gu Wenxi left some breakfast on the table by the window and gestured towards it.

“Of course, I have,” Du Yunyan took out some vegetables from the basket and removed the dirty roots, “Don’t you know what time it is now?”

“Oh,” Gu Wenxi sat down somewhat boredly next to him, imitating his actions to prepare the wild vegetables.

“Why didn’t you go outside for a walk?” Du Yunyan asked casually.

Gu Wenxi had been running around outside in the mountain village these days, and Du Yunyan could almost track his movements.

“I’ve walked around enough; I don’t have to go out every day.”

“Tired of it?”

“Not really,” Gu Wenxi fiddled with the vegetable leaves, asking thoughtfully, “Do you want me to get tired of it?”

“What does that have to do with me?” Du Yunyan’s movements didn’t stop, “If you get tired of it, you’ll probably leave sooner. If you don’t leave, it doesn’t have much impact on me. I just think… people like you probably find it hard to stay in one place for long.”

“What?” Gu Wenxi was a bit surprised. He rarely heard him express his opinion directly like this. It seemed like he didn’t care, but there were still some observations and thoughts in it. “Do you really think so?”

“Isn’t it?” Du Yunyan smirked, “You encounter setbacks in one place and move to another, get tired of it, then move to another… Isn’t that how you think?”

Gu Wenxi felt his observation was close to the truth, but still something felt off. At least this time, after becoming numb to the village life, he didn’t expect to leave. It wasn’t just because of economic reasons; if he wanted to earn money, he could easily move to a place with more job opportunities and not worry about being controlled by his father.

But he didn’t want to leave.

Gu Wenxi didn’t want to think about complex questions, feeling slightly ashamed that his usual principles were pointed out by someone else. But there was no need to dwell on philosophical issues. 

His gaze lingered on Du Yunyan, who had just cleaned the last bunch of vegetables.

“Hey, Boss Du, why don’t you accompany me for a walk outside?” he suddenly suggested.

“The vegetables have all been picked. What else do I need to go outside for?” Du Yunyan wasn’t very interested in this suggestion. “I still have to prepare lunch later.”

“You can’t always go out only when you have needs.” Gu Wenxi glanced at the motorcycle near the door and his eyes lit up. “How about I ride the bike and take you for a ride?”

“What bike?”

“Your motorcycle,” Gu Wenxi said proudly. “I’ve told you before, I know how to do a lot of things, and I used to play with motorcycles before driving cars.”

Du Yunyan frowned slightly. “That’s not a toy.”

“Okay, it’s a useful mode of transportation,” Gu Wenxi corrected himself, “but my riding skills may not necessarily be worse than yours.”

He stood up from the chair, but his arm remained on the table, his face close to the other person. After a moment of contemplation, Du Yunyan put the trash on the table into a plastic bag. “Let’s go buy some salt from the village.”

Why did they have to buy something again? Gu Wenxi was a little speechless. But, let’s just go.

Gu Wenxi was about to leave, but Du Yunyan walked towards the stairs.

“Where are you going? Isn’t the motorcycle outside?”

“I’m going to get another helmet,” Du Yunyan said. There was only one helmet on his bike.

“No need, it’s just a short distance,” Gu Wenxi said indifferently. “You can wear the one outside.”

“No.” Du Yunyan insisted, walking upstairs.

Gu Wenxi had no choice but to wait patiently for him.

Maybe Gu Wenxi hadn’t caused any trouble these days, and Du Yunyan was in a good mood, so he didn’t argue with him and sat in the back seat. The village shop was very close. Du Yunyan directed him along the correct route as soon as he got on the bike.

“Got it, hold on tight.” Gu Wenxi put on his helmet.

Du Yunyan’s hands circled loosely around his waist.

“This isn’t the route I told you.” As soon as the motorcycle started, Du Yunyan noticed his mistake.

“What’s the rush? Buying salt won’t take a few minutes,” Gu Wenxi said loudly. “Let me show you my riding skills first!”

“Hey, slow down!” The motorcycle raced recklessly along the rural road, and Du Yunyan felt increasingly uneasy.

Gu Wenxi seemed not to hear him, charging forward with determination. Du Yunyan had to repeat himself: “I told you to slow down!”

“So you’re afraid?” Gu Wenxi gripped the handlebars tightly, not slowing down but shifting to a higher gear. “This bike is pretty good.”

“Gu Wenxi!” Du Yunyan shouted loudly, his arms tightly wrapped around Gu Wenxi’s waist, his helmet against his back.

“Hahaha…” Gu Wenxi laughed loudly, the sound muffled by the helmet, combined with the force of the wind, making it sound ethereal.

To Gu Wenxi, the motorcycle was indeed like a toy. Before he turned twenty, he even enjoyed competing with others, eagerly pursuing speed. In recent years, he hadn’t been so childish, but occasionally, when he had the chance to ride, the desire for excitement returned a bit.

As the motorcycle continued downhill and turned two corners, they stopped at the riverbank they had visited before. After getting off the bike one after another and removing their helmets, Gu Wenxi turned around and saw Du Yunyan’s pale face, his hand covering his mouth, looking uncomfortable.

He was taken aback: Really? He got sick from this speed? Usually, climbing trees and walls, he didn’t seem so weak!

Gu Wenxi hurried forward to support him. “Are you okay?”

Du Yunyan gave him a fierce look, brushing away his hand, almost telling him to “get lost.”

It’s over, Gu Wenxi thought to himself, their relationship, which had finally become harmonious, was going back to square one.

Possibly even worse.

Sure enough, Du Yunyan ignored him and walked back along the same road they came, without even taking the motorcycle.

Gu Wenxi pushed the motorcycle to catch up. “Aren’t you going to buy salt?”

The person didn’t answer, taking several quick steps forward without looking back.

In his heart, Gu Wenxi didn’t feel as guilty as the first two times he caused trouble. Instead, he felt like laughing. For the first time, he felt endless fun challenging Du Yunyan’s bottom line.

Back at the inn, Gu Wenxi, who had been ordered by Du Yunyan not to wander around in front of him, was delighted to have some leisure time and went back to his room to rest. Based on his experience from the last two times, he knew that Du Yunyan wouldn’t let him go hungry.

But then he suddenly realized a problem. Yesterday, Du Yunyan said they could still eat meat today, referring to the preserved meat that Aunt Liu had sent. Now that he had angered him again, would he cancel the meat-eating privilege?

If only he had caused trouble one day later.

Gu Wenxi felt ashamed of himself for being so concerned about a meal of meat.

Estimating that Du Yunyan had finished cooking, he went downstairs cautiously. There was no one on the ground floor. As expected, he found his lunch waiting for him on the bar counter – a plate of scrambled eggs with wild vegetables, a plate of preserved meat and dried tofu, a plate of creamy cabbage, along with tomato soup and rice. Du Yunyan was quite reliable and hadn’t withheld the promised meat.

He moved the tray aside and revealed the note with the same content as the previous two times, except this time, there was a big exclamation mark after the word “reheat.”

If punctuation marks could move, Gu Wenxi had no doubt that the exclamation mark would turn into a stick and beat him up. He almost burst out laughing after holding it in for the whole noon.

Du Yunyan’s way of getting angry was unique, and Gu Wenxi wondered how many notes he would collect during his time at the guesthouse.

Instead of rushing to eat, he carefully took the note upstairs, found his personal planner, and placed it together with the notes he had received the previous two times.