Yu Ting’s eyelid twitched very lightly.
He looked back.
The signal light had turned red. A few cars slowly started and drove past. On the opposite sidewalk, there were several people standing, waiting to cross the street.
Li Chengxi was not among them.
Yu Ting shifted his gaze back and glanced at the screen. In the small, square viewfinder, Lu Jue was wearing a black tank top, a strawberry-pink towel draped over his left shoulder.
His black hair was damp—he had just finished showering.
Yu Ting walked into the residential area. “Didn’t see anyone.”
The residential area’s security guard recognized Yu Ting by now. His No. 2 High School uniform was always spotlessly clean, and he commuted to and from school regardless of weather, exuding the air of a top student and well-behaved kid from head to toe. They all especially liked him and greeted him warmly. “Just finished school, huh?”
Yu Ting nodded politely. After passing the security booth, Lu Jue’s brow arched. “You’re pretty. It’s normal for people to sneak glances at you.”
Yu Ting didn’t reply. Once inside, he changed into his slippers, then said airily, “You’re handsome. It’s also normal that two girls asked me for your contact info today.”
Lu Jue only heard the first two words and asked with a smile, “You think I’m handsome?”
Yu Ting put down his backpack, took off his Bluetooth earphones, and went into the kitchen. “Yeah, very handsome.”
He pulled open the freezer door. Inside were neat rows of tightly packed, fully stocked food containers.
The food containers were filled with dumplings of various fillings, one box containing sixteen, exactly one meal’s portion for Yu Ting, all made by Lu Jue.
Yu Ting crouched down, slowly picking through the flavors.
His habit of eating a late-night snack could be considered thoroughly cultivated by Lu Jue.
Dinner at the school cafeteria had been tray rice. The dishes were either stewed too soft, soaking in watery oil, or full of finely chopped fatty meat. Yu Ting still felt the greasiness now. He wanted to find a box of pure vegetable filling dumplings.
He remembered telling Lu Jue to make a few boxes of pure fennel.
“What are you looking for?” Lu Jue asked.
“Pure fennel filling.”
One hand was slow to search. Yu Ting was just about to put down his phone when Lu Jue said, “In the second drawer, way in the back, there are three boxes.”
Yu Ting pulled out the second drawer. The backmost row of fresh-keeping containers held three boxes stacked. The lid of the top box had a label stuck on—— Lele’s requested pure fennel.
The corner of Yu Ting’s mouth curved slightly. He took out the top cold storage container, closed the freezer door, and went to boil the dumplings.
The video call never disconnected. Lu Jue dried his hair, Yu Ting boiled dumplings, each doing their own things, occasionally chatting a bit.
In the kitchen, the dumplings gurgled and rolled as they floated to the surface. Yu Ting mixed a chili vinegar dipping sauce, scooped out the plump, round dumplings with hints of green showing through their translucent skins, ladled a bowl of the dumpling water, and went to the dining table.
In the video, Lu Jue hadn’t made a sound for a while, probably having put his phone down to do something. Yu Ting didn’t ask him either, just quietly ate his dumplings.
Eating quickly was a habit Yu Ting had developed over many years. When Lu Jue was around, he always served him more food and interrupted with conversation, so Yu Ting ate slightly slower. During this period with Lu Jue gone, he ate very fast again. Sixteen dumplings disappeared from the plate in no time.
The dumpling water had a few droplets of oil floating on the surface. Yu Ting picked up the bowl and tasted it. Still very hot, with a faint, refreshing fennel aroma. He gently blew on the surface of the soup. From the phone, Lu Jue’s voice suddenly spoke up.
“Lele, let’s discuss something.”
The few oil droplets on the surface of the dumpling water rippled. Yu Ting blew another breath and asked, “What.”
“After the college entrance exams are over and I come back, how about discussing my official status?”
The soup was about cool enough. Yu Ting lowered his head to drink.
Probably already lying in bed, Lu Jue’s voice was low and deep, carrying a lazy, smiling tone. “Without a title or status, it’s not really good for me to keep being a free male escort, right?”
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The warm dumpling water rushed down his windpipe, and Yu Ting coughed violently enough to shake heaven and earth.
“Did you choke?” Lu Jue’s voice instantly became clear.
“Cough, cough…” Yu Ting was still coughing, touching his burning neck root.
One time, Lu Jue had kissed too intensely, and both had gotten a physiological reaction. Lu Jue used his hand to help Yu Ting, then silently went to the bathroom himself.
The next day, Yu Ting ignored Lu Jue for a whole day. After that, Lu Jue was slightly more restrained when kissing him.
But… it wasn’t to the extent of a male escort, was it?
And ‘keep’… it had only been that one time.
Yu Ting’s mind was running wild with various thoughts, his coughing gradually subsiding. Lu Jue was still saying something, but he didn’t quite catch it. He responded softly, “Okay.”
Lu Jue’s voice stopped abruptly. The room fell into sudden silence. Two or three seconds later, Lu Jue asked, “Okay to what?”
Yu Ting didn’t reply immediately. He tapped back to his chat interface with Lu Jue. It was the start of the month again, time to pay rent.
Listening to Lu Jue’s suppressed breathing, Yu Ting transferred the June rent. Then he clicked back to the video, met Lu Jue’s gaze, and his eyebrows curved slightly——
“Wait for you to come back, and discuss your official status.”
~
The 7th and 8th were both high-temperature days. During the exam times, vehicles were restricted, and all the buses across Lingjiang were plastered with slogans advertising free rides for candidates.
Yu Ting didn’t take the bus.
He was assigned to a testing center at No. 5 High School. Lu Jue had arranged a car for him a day in advance.
The chauffeur was a woman in her early forties, taciturn and quiet. She silently drove Yu Ting to the testing center, and punctually picked him up from the testing center to take him home.
On the 8th at noon, the car came again to take Yu Ting away.
“Hock-kha!”
The man spat several globs of thick phlegm onto the ground, emerging from behind a trash can next to the residential area. His gaze fixated on the car carrying Yu Ting away. He raised his hand and viciously made a throat-slitting gesture.
“I don’t believe you have someone with you every day!”
The last subject was English.
At half-past two in the afternoon, the fans spun like tops, but the exam room was still as hot as a steam box.
The moment the English papers were handed out, it felt even hotter. Some students had already given up and were sprawled asleep on their desks.
Actually, after the math exam yesterday afternoon, several seats in the exam room were already empty this morning. For the afternoon English exam, even more were empty.
Yu Ting’s seat was by the window. Even through the glass, the sunlight was incredibly glaring. One of the proctors, after distributing the papers, specifically came over and drew the curtain.
The proctor casually glanced at Yu Ting’s paper, her heavy brow relaxing considerably, then quietly returned to the podium.
Yu Ting finished his paper, reviewed it twice, and then the end bell rang. The proctor’s voice rose, “Everyone stop writing immediately! Leave the papers on the desk and leave the exam room now!”
The sounds of whistling and running footsteps already came from outside the hallway.
Yu Ting put down his pen. There weren’t many peopLeleft in his exam room. He put away his exam admission ticket, picked up his pen case, went to the podium to find his backpack, and carried it out of the classroom.
The hallways and stairwells were still full of students. Once Yu Ting exited the teaching building, he took his phone out of his backpack.
He turned it on, and Lu Jue’s video call invitation popped up immediately.
Yu Ting took out his Bluetooth earphones, put them on, and answered the video call.
“I’ll arrive in two and a half hours,” Lu Jue said.
Yu Ting looked at the screen. The surroundings in Lu Jue’s view looked like the inside of an airplane cabin. Clearly, he’d turned in his paper half an hour early.
Yu Ting said: “I’ll go home for a bit. What do you want for dinner? I’ll buy it on the way back.”
“The fastest dish possible.”
“?” Yu Ting was still pondering what the fastest dish was when Lu Jue added, “Eat quickly so we can discuss my official status earlier.”
“…”
Yu Ting left the school. The entrance was swarming with parents. His eyelashes lowered briefly. He walked towards the bus stop.
There were many other candidates going home alone like Yu Ting. Buses entered the stop one after another.
The crowd was too dense. Holding his phone was inconvenient. Yu Ting said, “Hanging up, the bus is here.”
Lu Jue responded. Suddenly, a figure squeezed forward behind Yu Ting. Lu Jue’s eyes narrowed. The video disconnected.
A short while later, the airplane took off.
Lu Jue was still staring at the black screen. A moment later, his pupils violently contracted.
Searching his memory, he pulled out the file he had seen at the police station. The boy who had bullied Yu Ting in school and led the smashing of Zhao Rufei’s flower nursery, his name was——
Zhao Yuanxiao!
Zhao Yuanxiao had been sentenced to one year in juvenile detention. He’d been out for nearly a year now. The one who tailed Yu Ting last time was also him!
All the veins on the back of Lu Jue’s hands bulged against his skin. He immediately dialed Yu Ting’s number.
A brief pause, then a mechanical voice said: “Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off——”
Lu Jue’s face turned ashen. He rushed to the cockpit, his voice trembling, “Must arrive in Lingjiang within one hour!”
…
Forty minutes later, the bus pulled into the stop near Yu Ting’s home.
This stop was one of the final ones. There weren’t many peopLeleft on the bus anymore. Yu Ting got off.
Zhao Yuanxiao got off as well.
Zhao Yuanxiao stared darkly at Yu Ting’s back, his teeth itching with hatred. He’d been tailing Yu Ting for nearly a year. Finally, Lu Jue wasn’t beside him!
During that year in juvenile detention, he’d learned a little about Lu Jue’s background. He hated Yu Ting even more. If not for Yu Ting, he would never have gotten involved with someone like Lu Jue in the first place.
And his face…
Zhao Yuanxiao touched the scar at the corner of his mouth. It was from a fight inside, which had completely disfigured him.
Now that he was out, his family completely disowned him. His old friends, upon hearing he wanted to borrow money, no longer answered his calls…
All this suffering he’d endured, it was all Yu Ting’s fault!
He’d come looking for Yu Ting the moment he got out of juvenile detention, even changed his number and sent Yu Ting text messages. But Yu Ting and Lu Jue were always inseparable, and he never found an opportunity.
Later, as the college entrance exams approached, Zhao Yuanxiao hatched an even more vicious plan.
Why not wait until Yu Ting finished his exams, then cripple him!
Cripple both his legs and both his hands. Let’s see Yu Ting attend university then!
The more Zhao Yuanxiao thought, the more pleased he became. Staring fixedly at Yu Ting, he was about to catch up when a woman walked out of a house ahead, warmly calling out to Yu Ting. Zhao Yuanxiao’s eyes rolled, and he quickly ducked behind a nearby wall to hide.
“Yu Ting, you’re back.” The woman smiled, squinting as she stopped Yu Ting. “Haven’t seen you in ages. Finished your exams?”
Yu Ting replied politely, “Yes.”
The woman suddenly thought of something. “Wait for me a bit, don’t leave! Just wait right here for me.”
She said this as she ran back into her house.
Yu Ting waited in place. The woman returned shortly, carrying a bag of eggs. She pushed it into Yu Ting’s hands, her eyes smiling into slits. “Eggs laid by your grandma’s chickens, only a dozen or so. Don’t mind it being so little!”
This household’s circumstances were also difficult, with both elderly and young to care for. Yu Ting was just about to refuse when the woman sighed. “Sister Zhao… when she was still here, she often gave me flowers and wine. Now I can’t even give her anything in return. Please accept these eggs on your mom’s behalf.”
Yu Ting then took them. “Thank you.”
The woman finally smiled. “There, go on home now. When the results come out, you absolutely must tell us. Our area hasn’t produced a college student before! Everyone would be happy for you too.”
Yu Ting agreed. After bidding the woman farewell, he walked for a few more minutes and arrived home.
The house had been uninhabited for too long; the furniture was all covered in a layer of dust. Yu Ting wiped the furniture clean while planning tonight’s dinner menu.
He had some good free-range eggs. He could go to the vegetable market and buy some shrimp to make shrimp with scrambled eggs.
Lu Jue liked Typhoon Shelter-style pork ribs; he would need to buy plenty of fresh spare ribs.
For the hot weather, he could also make a refreshing cold jellyfish salad, and a light stir-fried seasonal vegetable.
He needed to buy fruit too. There was no fruit at home.
While planning the menu, time passed quickly. Outside the window, it gradually grew dark. Yu Ting wiped Zhao Rufei’s photo frame clean, carefully placed it back in its original spot, then finally picked up the eggs, turned off the lights, and went out.
It was just dinnertime. The scattered lights of homes were mixed with the aromas of various meals, occasionally punctuated by a few dog barks.
The streetlights were on. The large clusters of hydrangeas by the roadside were indistinguishable in color, but a faint floral scent floated in the air. It should be Annabelle Hydrangea. Yu Ting lightly breathed in the fresh floral scent. Thinking Lu Jue would arrive soon, he quickened his pace and dashed towards the bus stop.
“Yu Ting!”
Suddenly someone shouted for him.
Yu Ting turned back. In his vision, a tall, thin figure charged over at high speed. Before he could react, he was heavily tackled to the ground.
The eggs instantly crushed beneath them.
“Yu Ting, you fucking ruined me! I’ll beat you to death!” Zhao Yuanxiao struck Yu Ting’s face with lethal force. “Ruined me, fuck your mom!”
The next second, Zhao Yuanxiao’s hand, swinging towards Yu Ting again, was caught. Yu Ting drove his knee up and flipped Zhao Yuanxiao off him, then clenched his fist and returned the blow directly to Zhao Yuanxiao’s mouth.
A gush of hot liquid flowed from Zhao Yuanxiao’s mouth. His jaw was crooked, blood continuously bubbling from his mouth. In sharp pain, he spat out a broken tooth, his speech becoming slurred. “Fuck… you, you dare hit back! Fuck your mom!”
Zhao Yuanxiao went crazy, lunging again to hit Yu Ting.
Yu Ting didn’t dodge either, allowing Zhao Yuanxiao to hit him. He focused solely on punching Zhao Yuanxiao’s mouth.
Punch after punch, not stopping even when his knuckles split.
Until Zhao Yuanxiao could no longer make a sound, lying on the ground panting heavily. Silently, Yu Ting wiped away the blood obscuring his vision, picked up the two eggs that remained intact, and dragged his leg towards the bus stop.
Zhao Yuanxiao’s eyes were bloodshot. He staggered up, suddenly reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a knife the length of his forearm. He pulled off the sheath, gripped the knife, and charged at Yu Ting’s back.
“Yu Ting!”
Yu Ting’s vision was blurry. He faintly saw a figure rushing over at full speed, and at the same time heard Lu Jue’s hoarse, broken cry.
It was Lu Jue!
His eyes brightened. He stepped forward, just about to run towards Lu Jue, when Lu Jue had already sprinted up to him. Lu Jue spread his arms and pulled him tightly, forcefully, into his embrace, then turned his body.
Everything happened too fast. A profoundly muffled sound flashed past Yu Ting’s ear, like a sharp object piercing through layers of flesh and muscle.
Drip.
Drip, drip.
Viscous, warm blood continuously dripped onto the road surface.
Ahead, the woman who had opened her door to look upon hearing the noise quickly shut and locked it again. A terrified scream tore through the pitch-black street.
“Murder!”
