When he spotted Lu Ping, Shen Yuze’s lips curved slightly, the distance in his demeanor vanishing. “Good morning.”
Lu Ping: “…”
He glanced down at his own slippers and half-eaten breakfast, then at Shen Yuze standing there with a faint smile. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole.
Just then, two nosy neighbors happened to pass by the Lu house.
One said, “Has the Lu family struck it rich lately? Keeps seeing this car parked out front!”
“That young guy’s pretty handsome. Dressed in a suit this early—could he be here to propose?”
“Propose what? Don’t talk nonsense. The Lu family only has two kids—the older one’s just seventeen, and a boy at that!”
The neighbors spoke in the local dialect, which Shen Yuze naturally couldn’t understand, but Lu Ping could! His face flushed beet red. He hurriedly dragged Shen Yuze inside, locked the courtyard gate tight, terrified some gossiping neighbor might barge in for details.
Shen Yuze didn’t get why he was overreacting and raised an eyebrow as Lu Ping pulled him into the yard.
Lu Ping stammered, “Shen Yuze, why are you wearing a suit today?”
At school, Shen Yuze wore the same sporty uniform as him every day—baggy like a sack, held together only by his looks. On weekends they’d met before, Shen Yuze dressed casually: jeans and Martin boots, no different from other boys his age.
But Lu Ping hadn’t expected a suit today!
At this age, the young man’s frame was starting to take on adult proportions, and with fine clothes setting it off, every gesture exuded noble maturity—like a peach ripening into a plum, captivating beyond words.
In plain terms: Shen Yuze was handsome enough normally, but in a suit, he left Lu Ping dizzy and disoriented.
Shen Yuze countered, “What, does it not look good?”
“It looks good…” Lu Ping blurted out the truth, then bit his lip and added quickly, “I’m the one asking questions here!”
Shen Yuze: “The teacher told me to dress formally for the afternoon English contest. Too lazy to change there, so I just wore it now.”
His explanation was perfectly reasonable and upright, neatly concealing his little peacock strut to show off for Lu Ping.
When Lu Ping had seen him step out of the car, his eyes had gone wide. Seeing him now all flushed and tongue-tied put Shen Yuze in an excellent mood.
Lu Mom, who was sitting in the living room, heard Shen Yuze’s voice and came out to greet him. “Little Shen, have you had breakfast? Would you like to join us for something simple? …Oh my, Little Shen, you look so handsome today!”
Shen Yuze, ever the one to put on a show in front of elders, humbly nodded. “Thank you, Auntie Lu. Sorry for the intrusion.”
He followed Lu Mom back to the living room on the first floor. Four chairs were already set around the family’s round dining table. An An, being too short to reach, simply knelt on her chair and scooped at the egg custard in her bowl with a spoon. When she saw her familiar Big Brother Shen, she grinned happily, but then suddenly remembered her missing tooth. Her words would whistle through the gap, so the little girl quickly pursed her lips shyly and covertly covered her mouth.
When Lu Dad saw the suit on Shen Yuze, a surprised expression crossed his face. His Mandarin wasn’t great, but he still stuck out his thumb and gave Shen Yuze a thumbs-up in his thick Jiaojiang-accented Mandarin.
Shen Yuze asked Lu Ping, “Is Uncle praising how handsome I am?”
“He’s saying you’re ‘dragon.'” Lu Ping pulled over a folding chair from the side for Shen Yuze and had him sit next to him. “It means ‘cool,’ ‘awesome,’ ‘badass.'”
As they chatted idly, Lu Ping set out a set of tableware in front of Shen Yuze. “You came at the perfect time. Mom made Food Pancake Rolls today. The north should have something similar, right?”
Business had been slow lately, and there were some leftover ingredients from yesterday’s market. Lu Mom had reprocessed the remaining meat and vegetables into fillings for Food Pancake Rolls.
The local Jiao River Food Pancake Rolls were actually quite similar to northern spring pancakes. They used a thin crepe made from two scoops of batter, filled with five or six types of stir-fried veggies—potatoes, carrots, onions, and bean sprouts for the vegetarian options; bamboo shoot and pork shreds, fried pork lard bits, dried shrimp with cabbage and glass noodles for the meaty ones. Of course, the Lu Family’s secret braised pork and sausages were essential.
The crepe was thin yet chewy. Depending on taste, the steaming stir-fried fillings were neatly arranged from end to end, the sides folded over, and carefully rolled up. No extra seasonings needed—this made a hefty, flavor-packed Food Pancake Roll.
One bite mixed all the ingredients in the mouth—salty, fragrant, with the occasional crunch of lard bits. The layers of flavor were rich, utterly refreshing.
Even little An An could polish off nearly half by herself. Lu Ping handled the remaining large half. He was at that age where he was growing fast and wanted to eat more to shoot up taller. Even if he couldn’t match Shen Yuze’s height, he at least didn’t want to be much shorter, right?
While Lu Ping buried his head and ate heartily, Shen Yuze still had the leisure to chat with Lu Mom as he ate.
In the past, Food Pancake Rolls were a Jiao River specialty eaten only during the Dragon Boat Festival, but in recent years, they appeared at many breakfast stalls. Since the fillings were similar to those in Glutinous Cakes—just with different wrappers—Lu Mom had been thinking of setting up another griddle on her tricycle cart to sell Food Pancake Rolls alongside Glutinous Cakes for extra income.
Shen Yuze nodded repeatedly. “Auntie, with your skills, business is sure to boom.”
Lu Mom beamed at his flattery and busied herself picking more fillings for him, urging him to eat more.
Lu Ping watched nervously from the side, terrified that Shen Yuze might accidentally drip some saucy filling onto that obviously expensive suit. But he underestimated Shen Yuze’s table manners. He finished the massive Food Pancake Roll with only a bit of oil on his fingertips—his clothes remained spotless, without even a wrinkle.
Lu Ping glanced down at himself… Yeah… Good thing his pajamas were due for a wash, or with all these drips, Mom would’ve skinned him alive.
After breakfast, Lu Ping went back to his room to change. Shen Yuze was dressed so sharply today; as his friend, he couldn’t look too shabby! He rummaged through his clothes, trying on several outfits, until he finally dug out a denim jacket his mom had bought him for Chinese New Year this year.
It was one of Lu Ping’s few “branded” items, bought from a store for over eight hundred yuan. When he tried it on back then, the sales clerk kept praising how good it looked, how handsome he was. Lu Ping knew his plain features had nothing to do with handsomeness and figured it was just sales talk. But Lu Mom was convinced by the clerk and bought it for her son anyway.
After buying it, Lu Ping was too reluctant to wear it, only pulling it out a few times for holiday visits. But today, on a whim, he took it off the hanger and slipped it over his T-shirt.
Then, he fiddled with his hair in front of the full-length mirror—bangs to the left, bangs to the right. Maybe it was just his imagination, but with the jacket on, he somehow looked inexplicably better.
…Walking beside Shen Yuze like this shouldn’t embarrass him, right?
Lu Ping didn’t dwell on it further. He shut the closet door and hurried downstairs. His steps started off eager, but gradually slowed, turning hesitant and uncertain.
What was he thinking? Never mind Shen Yuze’s standout features—he was wearing a suit today, while Lu Ping had on a very student-y denim jacket. Standing together, anyone would think they were from different worlds…
His sneakers thudded on the old steps, the wooden stairs creaking in a series of squeaks.
Shen Yuze, standing in the living room chatting with An An, had his back to the stairs, one hand loosely in his pocket, head slightly lowered. Hearing the footsteps behind him, he instinctively turned, lifting his gaze to the staircase.
The Lu Family stairs had a window at the landing. Now, morning light poured in through it, generously bathing the boy in gold-red glows that gilded his hair. Dust danced in the sunlit air, and the boy descended through the dust, sunlight, and distant birdsong—slowly, step by step.
He stopped in front of Shen Yuze. Seeing Shen Yuze staring at him, he fidgeted with his hair, embarrassed, and asked softly, “I changed up my style—is it kinda weird?”
“…No.” Shen Yuze’s gaze was captivated, his breath and heartbeat gradually ensnared. He heard himself reply, “You look great.”
“Really?” Lu Ping still didn’t believe it. He tugged at his jacket. He usually dressed so dowdily; this was the first time showing off something trendy in front of Shen Yuze. He was afraid of looking foolish. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel good, are you?”
Shen Yuze shook his head and repeated, “You look great.”
In school uniform, great. In a denim jacket, great. Eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth—all great. Smiling, great. Even mad, great.
His Ping Ping really was great-looking.
