Chapter 3: “You Have Twenty Minutes to Come See Me.”

It seemed to Tong Xilin that Kong Ji had a prophetic way with words. Barely two days after receiving the scarf, a cold wave slammed into the city.

He knew it not from the weather forecast, but from the dull, vague ache in his right shin.

That fracture half a year ago hadn’t been severe. On the surface, he had recovered well—could run and jump, didn’t end up a cripple.

But after-effects remained. Whenever the temperature took a sudden plunge, a deep, bone-deep ache would radiate from within his shin.

Discomfort in his leg had stirred him from a dream. The sky outside the window was still dark.

He curled his leg, turning over, and fished his phone out from under the pillow to check the time. 5:17.

It was an awkward hour. He needed to get up for school at six-something, so trying to go back to sleep would be restless.

He spotted two WeChat messages on the notification bar. Squinting, he opened them. They were from Zhou Qi.

The first, sent at half past midnight, asking if he was asleep, and if not, to log in and play Honor of Kings.

The second was later, past two in the morning. Just one word: fuck.

He replied casually: Lost the match?

The message was barely sent when a reply came, almost instantaneous: You’re awake.

He didn’t know what to make of his schedule: Have you not slept yet, or are you up already?

Zhou Qi: Haven’t slept. Annoyed.

Tong Xilin: Your dad hit you again?

Zhou Qi: Come out and have breakfast with me. My treat.

Zhou Qi: Then we can head straight to school after.

Tong Xilin thought about it. He couldn’t sleep anyway, so he agreed to meet at the KFC at the intersection near the compound.

At five in the morning, the entire complex was still quiet. The sounds of washing up seemed especially loud.

Afraid of waking Kong Ji, he turned the water flow down low and tiptoed through his routine. He was just changing his shoes in the entryway when the door to the master bedroom opened anyway.

Kong Ji came out in his sleeping robe. Seeing Tong Xilin fully dressed with his backpack, ready to go, his eyebrow arched slightly.

“Heading to school?” he asked, walking over. “So early today.”

“Couldn’t sleep. And a friend asked me to get breakfast,” he answered truthfully. “Did I wake you?”

He ignored the second half of his sentence, reaching out to adjust his scarf that had come loose back around his neck. He asked casually, “Which friend?”

“Zhou Qi,” Tong Xilin kept his head lowered, letting him fuss. “My deskmate.”

The name sounded a bit like a girl’s name to an ear unused to it. He let out a small laugh and asked further, “A girl?”

He raised his head to look at him. The entryway light was off. Their gazes met in the dim space, looking a little hazy.

“A guy,” he blinked, adding extra, “The school heartthrob.”

Kong Ji asked no more. He cast him a look that seemed to find him rather amusing, then reached for the entryway cabinet, pulled out his own gloves, and with a fluid motion, tossed them into his arms. He turned and headed back to the bedroom.

“It’s gotten colder. Wear these. Let me know if you’re short on money.”

Tong Xilin stood there, squeezing the gloves in his arms, then methodically slipped them on his hands.

A little too big.

Zhou Qi was waiting under the traffic light at the intersection. Despite the bone-chilling cold, he hadn’t gone inside the shop first. Spotting Tong Xilin approaching, he raised a hand in greeting.

“Nice scarf,” he immediately noticed the new scarf around his neck, his hand reaching out to fiddle with it. “Your uncle’s pretty generous.”

Tong Xilin smacked his hand away, his eyes sweeping over Zhou Qi’s left cheek, which was still visibly a bit swollen. He pushed the shop door open and walked in.

He was long used to the fact that Zhou Qi got beaten by his father every so often. That was actually why they’d become friends.

When he first transferred and was assigned to sit next to him, his own nature was already reserved. Used to being isolated at his old school, he hadn’t thought about making friends. Zhou Qi hadn’t been very talkative either back then. He would either sleep, listen to music, play games, or occasionally skip classes. They sat together for half a month and barely exchanged words.

Until one morning, he noticed a blood-streaked scratch on his cheekbone. No ointment, just sitting there, boldly red and glaring on his face.

Tong Xilin had rummaged in his bag and handed him a Band-Aid.

Zhou Qi didn’t stand on ceremony. Chewing gum, he’d glanced at him with a roguish air and took it, sticking it on. Then he threw the half-pack of gum he had in his pocket onto his desk.

Later, as they got more acquainted, he learned his family was well-off. His parents were away on business year-round, only dropping back in every so often. And each time they did, the Head Teacher would call them in to complain, accusing Zhou Qi of fighting, cutting classes, being a bad student. Tong Xilin figured he deserved those beatings.

“What do you want to eat? Order up.”

Zhou Qi was utterly indifferent to his own swollen face. He leaned loosely against the order counter, eyes on his phone, waiting to pay.

Tong Xilin picked a breakfast combo. While waiting for their food, he also asked the cashier, “Are you hiring part-timers?”

Zhou Qi gave him a look of surprise.

“Huh?” The cashier paused. “You’d have to ask the Shop Manager about that. I don’t think we are at the moment.”

Tong Xilin nodded. “Thanks. Can I also get a cup of ice?”

The two carried their trays to find a seat. He pushed the cup of ice toward Zhou Qi, suggesting he could use it to bring down the swelling on his face.

“You’re looking for a part-time job?” Zhou Qi touched the cup, found it too cold, and pushed it away again.

“Yeah,” He wasn’t really hungry, just stirring his porridge.

“Why? Too much free time?” Zhou Qi lifted his chin toward his scarf. “Wearing a Burberry scarf while looking for a part-time job at a KFC.”

“The Burberry wasn’t bought by me,” Tong Xilin looked down, removed his scarf, and folded it neatly on his backpack, worried he’d get porridge on it.

Looking for a part-time job was something he’d been planning for a while.

He wasn’t short on money. When Tong Xilin had first moved here with Kong Ji, he’d wanted to give him the 30,000 yuan his father left, as payment for the surgery and thanks for taking him in. He had refused, told him to keep it for himself.

Besides his expenses on food, clothes, and studies, the daily red packet transfers on WeChat had never stopped. He’d also given him an extra bank card, telling him to manage his living expenses himself.

Tong Xilin had accepted it all, but saved the larger sums without touching them.

—Although he considered him as his inheritance, and Kong Ji was indeed good, never letting him feel the embarrassment of living under someone else’s roof, what belonged to someone else was ultimately not his own.

Kong Ji had no obligation to support him forever.

If he ever got kicked out, he’d need his own savings to feel secure.

“Bought by your uncle or not, what’s the difference?” Zhou Qi didn’t follow his logic. “Or is he not your real uncle?”

Tong Xilin gave him a look and didn’t answer.

He only told people that Kong Ji was his uncle. At most, Zhou Qi knew his parents were dead. He didn’t understand much beyond that.

“The internet cafe downstairs from my place seems to be hiring a shift manager,” Zhou Qi suddenly remembered halfway through breakfast. “Were you serious or just saying? If you’re serious, I can go ask for you.”

“Shift?” Tong Xilin had never been to an internet cafe. “What time periods?”

“Probably first half or second half of the night.” Zhou Qi couldn’t quite remember, only had a vague impression.

“Then right after school. I’ll skip evening self-study,” he decided to go check it out. “I’ll come with you.”

In his own estimation, he didn’t have much in the way of strengths, but his ability to take action had always been top-notch.

Like handling his father’s funeral. Like going home with Kong Ji.

Zhou Qi took absolute delight in skipping self-study. The moment afternoon classes ended, he grabbed his bag and started hustling him to hurry.

“Isn’t the Head Teacher on duty tonight?” Tong Xilin tried to recall the schedule.

“Doesn’t matter if she is,” Zhou Qi was past caring. “You have good grades. If she comes and sees you gone, the worst that’ll happen is she’ll scold you a bit tomorrow.”

The internet cafe wasn’t far from school, actually right outside his residential compound. It was a pretty large, clean place. Aside from the heavy cigarette smell hitting him the moment he walked in, it wasn’t the cramped, grimy scene he had imagined.

The manager at the front desk was a familiar face to Zhou Qi. Seeing him enter, he greeted him proactively: “Skipping class again? Your usual booth is open.”

“Not gaming today,” Zhou Qi leaned over the counter. “Brother Chen, are you hiring here or what?”

“Yeah, we’re hiring,” Brother Chen looked at him, then at Tong Xilin, who had remained silent beside them. “You applying?”

“My friend. He’s of age,” Zhou Qi pushed him forward. “You two talk it out.”

This Brother Chen was straightforward. No roundabout probing. He directly informed Tong Xilin they were looking to hire two night-shift assistants. The early shift ran from 6 PM to midnight, the late shift until 8 AM. The late shift paid a bit more.

“How much for the early shift?” Tong Xilin asked.

“Two thousand,” Brother Chen said.

“Can I do my own stuff when it’s not busy?”

“As long as you don’t fall behind on work, go for it. Just don’t leave the shop.”

Tong Xilin nodded. “Alright.”

He’d agreed too quickly. Brother Chen sized him up and down again for a long moment, then finally waved a hand. “You can trial run for a week first. If you don’t know anything, there’ll be training… We’ll see if you can stick with it first.”

Tong Xilin didn’t think there was anything hard to stick with.

As long as he told Kong Ji and the school that he’d signed up for a tutoring class, his evenings would be completely freed up, and it wouldn’t affect class the next day.

It was a much better fit than a lot of restaurants and convenience stores’ scheduling.

Zhou Qi completely hadn’t expected him to actually work this part-time job. He’d purely wanted to skip class.

Hearing him agree, he elbowed him in the arm horizontally. “Aren’t you gonna think it over a bit more?”

“I’ve thought enough,” He was very satisfied, already doing the math in his head: two thousand a month, that was twenty-four thousand a year.

Brother Chen checked Tong Xilin’s ID, took him on a tour around the entire internet cafe, and then had him sit at the front desk directly, teaching him how to select stations, manage time extensions, and handle the various operations.

His mind worked quickly, and these procedures weren’t hard to remember.

He was just mulling over whether to start his shift tonight when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

It was a call.

From Kong Ji.

It was the second period of night self-study right now. His heart gave a lurch. He couldn’t fathom why Kong Ji would look for him at this hour.

The internet cafe was too noisy. He gestured an apology to Brother Chen and quickly walked outside, phone in hand, before answering.

“Uncle,” he answered tentatively, “What’s up?”

“Where are you,” Kong Ji’s voice was unreadable, as calm and unhurried as always.

“School,” he kept his voice steady. “Second period of night self-study just ended.”

“I’m outside your school gate,” Kong Ji said. “You have twenty minutes. Come and see me.”