A leaf floated down from above, gently landing at his feet. Gu Wenxi picked it up, seemingly bored, and smoothed out the slightly curled yellowed surface.

Du Yunyan asked him to wait for a moment and brought out some food—fruits and bread he made himself, and even a small bag of jerky for him to take on the road.

Gu Wenxi chuckled when he saw it. The interrupted conversation on New Year’s Eve didn’t add any awkwardness to their interaction. He was instead grateful that he hadn’t said anything rash too quickly.

Words like “like” or “love” were not difficult for Gu Wenxi to utter as terms of endearment, but facing Du Yunyan, the words he didn’t express last night, possibly accompanied by frivolous language, could not be considered a meaningful “choice”.

……………

The faint morning light stretched their shadows on the ground, even though they stood some distance apart, their shadows seemed to lean towards each other.

Gu Wenxi’s credit card was unfrozen, and he wanted to settle the food and accommodation fees he owed. Du Yunyan didn’t accept it. “No need, you helped around.”

“What I helped you with doesn’t cover the room fee—” He suddenly stopped, his gaze circling around the other’s face, “Or do you think I’m special, so you don’t want to take money? If that’s the case, then I won’t be polite,” he didn’t give Du Yunyan a chance to retort, and continued, “Or I can pay you next time I visit.”

Du Yunyan pursed his lips, his eyes always lowered, looking at the shadows on the ground, and replied with five words: “Take care on the road.”

The weather was clear. Standing by the fence, the dark ridge in the distance had already taken shape. Yangyang and Beibei circled around Gu Wenxi. These dogs were truly sentient beings; they knew he was leaving and were closer to him than to Du Yunyan all morning.

Du Yunyan watched him get into the car and saw him lower the window and wave at him. Gu Wenxi’s smile was hearty and carefree. Perhaps he was always like this, bidding farewell to every transient traveler in each journey.

As for the words he said, Du Yunyan didn’t take them to heart too much. Everything would eventually return to normal. When the white SUV disappeared from the country road, he turned and walked back to his solitary little building.

However, at noon, he received a registered letter from City S, which unexpectedly disrupted the rhythm of his peaceful life.

The car drove along the winding mountain road. The weather changed abruptly. The clear and vast visibility just now was soon replaced by sporadic light rain.

The temperature hadn’t dropped below freezing, so the raindrops didn’t freeze into snow but fell gently. The wipers switched to automatic mode, swiping lazily only when the raindrops were dense enough. Then new drops fell again, still weak and insufficient to obstruct the view. But the glass gradually fogged up, and Gu Wenxi had to turn on the defogging mode.

The rain followed him almost all the way. At noon, when he reached a rest stop, he didn’t get off to find a restaurant but took out the food Du Yunyan had packed for him.

The bread was similar to what he had for breakfast the first time, except this time it had red bean paste inside, sticky and faintly sweet.

In the afternoon, his car ran into traffic as soon as it entered City S. It wasn’t until dark that he saw the silhouette of the apartment building. The city lights twinkled, and the high-rise buildings in the night looked like giant ships floating on a dark ocean.

The Gu mansion was further away, but he didn’t go there today. He went straight to his own little nest.

Opening the apartment door, he turned on the light switch, and the neat and clean lobby was clearly visible. The white porcelain tile floor shone like a mirror, obviously recently cleaned. It was probably arranged by Gu Yuching or Gu Wenheng. They were the only ones with keys to this place.

As expected, there was also some food in the fridge. Even if someone had prepared the ingredients for him before, he used to be too lazy to cook himself and would rather order takeout. But now he could make more things, and he didn’t have much appetite for a big meal at the moment. He cooked some rice first and then randomly picked out a couple of pieces of meat to thaw.

He sent a WeChat message to Du Yunyan informing him of his arrival, then sat on the sofa and read a magazine, occasionally glancing at the phone on the coffee table, quietly.

After a few minutes, instead of a message from Du Yunyan, it was Gu Wenheng’s call.

“Ge,” his voice was as energetic as ever, “how’s the apartment? Is it cleaned up nicely?”

“It’s quite good,” Gu Wenxi understood as soon as he heard it, “did you arrange it?”

“I was just a supervisor. It was arranged by Dad’s people.”

“Is that so…” It wasn’t too surprising. Gu Yuching was strict, but he also had a sensitive and delicate side. “Thank you.”

“Are you coming back home tomorrow?”

The “home” he mentioned naturally referred to the Gu mansion. Gu Wenheng didn’t like living outside of campus, and he spent his summer and winter vacations at home. Gu Wenxi pushed the magazine aside and nodded unconsciously into the phone, “Yes, I’ll be coming back tomorrow morning.”

“That’s great! I’ll tell Aunt Mei to make some more food.”

Aunt Mei was the maid they hired, with no other relatives in the house, she stayed at the Gu household even during Chinese New Year.

“Yeah, sure.”

After hanging up the phone, Gu Wenxi’s heart softened a bit. However, the WeChat conversation with Du Yunyan still remained on his phone screen, with the message he had sent, “I’m home.”

The apartment was kept at a constant temperature throughout the year, and even wearing a sweater was a bit hot. He leaned back on the sofa, his eyes slightly closed. The aroma of the cooked food wafted into the living room, but he had already fallen asleep.

The next day, Gu Wenxi returned to the Gu family’s residence as planned.

“Wenxi is back?” The first person to greet him was Gu Wenheng’s mother, Zou Hui.

“Yeah, Auntie Zou, hello.”

The whole family was present, and Gu Wenheng eagerly went to help him with the drinks he had just bought.

Gu Yuching saw his eldest son, who had been away for several months, without any estrangement or exaggerated enthusiasm. He put down the phone he had been looking at halfway, and looked at him, asking, “Didn’t you say you lost thirty kilograms?”

Gu Wenxi was stunned for a moment, then laughed, “Dad, didn’t you say you didn’t believe it?”

“Of course I didn’t believe it,” he glanced meaningfully at his son and stood up from the sofa, “Come with me for a moment.”

Father and son went to the tea room on the first floor for a private conversation. Gu Wenxi was a little puzzled, “What’s the matter? Why so mysterious?”

“Wenxi, that day—” Gu Yuching lowered his voice, “wasn’t it your mother’s death anniversary?”

Gu Wenxi’s memory immediately returned to the day they quarreled. He had spent most of the day at the cemetery, and came home late, which directly led to the argument that followed. But it had been so long ago, he had long since let go, and even didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Why bring this up now?” Gu Wenxi pursed his lips, “It’s all in the past.”

“I still want to say to you—sorry. I forgot, but Mei reminded me later, and I understood why you were so angry.”

Gu Wenxi knew his father was a man of sentiment, perhaps there wasn’t much love for his mother, but guilt was always real. He said slowly, “It’s been so many years, I think she wouldn’t want you to be troubled.”

After a while, neither of them spoke again. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy, and Gu Wenxi joked casually, “Just now it was so serious, I almost thought you were going to discuss which prestigious family’s daughter I should marry.”

“You—” Gu Yuching’s expression was half-smiling and half-awkward, “Don’t be so irreverent, I would never interfere in your and Wenheng’s future marriage.” Having experienced it himself, how could he use such restraints to confine his children?

“Really?” Gu Wenxi chuckled, “Are you saying I can marry anyone I want in the future?”

“Yes, as long as you can settle down,” Gu Yuching said, realizing something, “Are you dating someone again?”

“No.” Nothing had been decided yet, he didn’t dare to show off in front of Gu Yuching, so he could only test the waters indirectly, “I just wanted to ask, are you sure—you’re okay with whoever becomes your child-in-law?”

“Of course, what? Are you planning to marry a monster?” Gu Yuching also liked to joke, “Even if you really find a monster, as long as you can control it, it’s fine.”

Gu Wenxi comforted himself, thinking it was better to find a man than a monster, right?

But now that Du Yunyan guy was ignoring him, who knew if the flame of love could survive until the day it became a raging fire.

“Also, my birthday party is next Tuesday, do you have time?”

“Of course, no problem,” Gu Wenxi came back to his senses, “Do you need any help?”

“No need, Xiao Zhou has arranged everything, just go there directly, dress a little more formal.”

This had been decided last year, and Gu Wenxi had no objections.

He stayed for lunch at the mansion with his family. In the afternoon, Gu Wenheng had a gathering with some classmates, and Gu Wenxi offered to drive him.

“Are you sure you know the way?”

“It’s fine, it’s just a matter of stepping on the gas pedal, right?” Gu Wenxi had just finished speaking when his phone rang. Without checking who it was, he answered directly, “Hello?”

“Wenxi, are you back?”

Jiang Chen’s voice was already familiar to him, but it seemed this guy really understood his whereabouts well. He had posted a photo of the apartment on his friend circle in the morning and had already been found out.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Don’t you remember? I said I have something to tell you!”

It seemed like there was such a thing, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it. “Then can we meet at a café?”

“Wenxi,” Jiang Chen hesitated, “can you come to my apartment?”

“Why do you want me to go to your apartment?”

They used to visit each other’s apartments frequently in the past, even with a year of dormancy. But after the relationship with Jiang Chen became awkward, Gu Wenxi found it hard to regain their former intimacy. Couldn’t they talk about it in public?

“Can you do me this favor just once?”

His tone sounded pitiful, leaving Gu Wenxi even more puzzled. Based on their past interactions, Jiang Chen had usually been accommodating to him, rarely making such requests.

“Alright, I got it. Are you at home now?”

“Yeah, are you coming over now?”

“I’ll drop off my brother first,” Gu Wenxi quickly glanced at the passenger’s seat, “then I’ll be free.”

After ending the call, Gu Wenxi shifted the car into drive.

“Ge, do you need anything?” Gu Wenheng basically heard everything, “Should I call a cab?”

“No need, it’s still on the way.”

The champagne-colored sedan drove out of the villa area, merged onto the elevated road, and joined the traffic flow.