Yan Hang held a cigarette, looking at the back of Chu Yi's head.

When he and his dad rescued Chu Yi together, he was still a kid who would silently endure Crab's bullying. If they hadn't shown up that night, who knows what would have happened to Chu Yi.  

But now, all he needed to do was stand here, while Chu Yi held a paper tube that could shock and anger the local boss without him daring to make a sound.

"What do you mean by this?" Crab looked at Chu Yi.

Yan Hang felt that line still held some power. The river was frozen now, so throwing him in wouldn't be too much of a problem for winter swimming, but throwing him onto the ice could cause some serious issues.  

"Just tell us," Chu Yi said, then put the paper tube away.

Not bad emotional intelligence, Yan Hang evaluated Chu Yi's performance from behind.

Chu Yi's style was different from his. He left some face for Crab, and if he had kept waving that paper tube in Crab's face aggressively, they probably would have ended up in a fight before he said anything.  

Whereas he would usually take the "I don't care" approach - if a fight happens, then it happens.

"Why do you say I would know?" Crab said.

"Don't you?" Chu Yi asked.  

Crab frowned without answering, turning his face to the side looking very unhappy.

Chu Yi also stayed silent, probably not knowing what else to say.

"Are you going to wait until the police come to ask before you say anything?" Yan Hang spoke up. "Maybe spend a few days inside too?"

Crab glanced over at him and Yan Hang squinted at him through the cigarette smoke.  

"Fuck," Crab gritted his teeth and swore, "I was just saying it casually, and he was just asking casually too. I don't dare guarantee it's true or not. If the cops really come, I'll say the same thing."

"Tell us," Chu Yi said.

"There was a guy who used to run with Old Ding. After Old Ding died, he went down south to work," Crab said. "He said he caught a glimpse of Old Chu, just a glimpse. Nothing more."  

Someone working down south claimed to have seen someone looking very similar to Chu Yi's dad at a labor market, but didn't say anything to him, only glimpsed him in passing.

After Liang Bing left, Chu Yi looked at Yan Hang, unsure whether this information was reliable enough to believe.  

"Why would my dad," Chu Yi said, "Go to a labor market? For temporary work?"

"What else could he do? Be someone's driver?" Yan Hang said. "He wouldn't dare use his ID or license. This kind of place is all he's got."  

Chu Yi frowned.  

"But if it's true," Yan Hang sighed, "he sure ran far away."

"My dad, really..." Chu Yi said softly, not finishing his sentence.  

His grandma always looked down on his dad for being timid and afraid of things. At the slightest sign of trouble he would flee for miles, abandoning his wife and child without a second thought. Now when he thought about it, his grandma never had anything good to say about anyone her whole life. She was always cursing this person or that. But her assessment of his dad didn't seem entirely groundless after all.  

If it wasn't because he was afraid to step up, then his dad's involvement in this matter was not as superficial as Yan Hang made it sound. He kept saying he didn't have the guts for it.  

Sometimes Chu Yi really resented his dad's cowardice, but other times he still hoped his only crime was being a coward.

"Hey," Yan Hang stood in front of the tree hollow, crouching with his legs bent. "Remember me?"  

Chu Yi smiled at him.  

The first time he ran into Yan Hang here, when Yan Hang came up to his special tree hollow to talk, he had been very unhappy.  

"I'm your generic-looking friend's friend," Yan Hang said. "Long time no see. The generic face grew up and got so good looking he's not generic at all anymore. Let's see if you can still recognize him later!"

After saying that, Yan Hang patted the tree trunk and went to sit on the stone bench by the river, looking at him.

When he went to stand in front of the tree hollow in the same posture as Yan Hang, he was suddenly overcome with emotion.  

"Didn't I get, a lot taller? Now I'm a, a giant," Chu Yi put his face to the hollow. "Didn't I use, to ramble on? Always saying, lots of wishes."  

He closed his eyes with a smile. "Now I don't, have any wishes for the moment. I'm very happy."  

After spending some time by the river, Chu Yi checked the time. "Let's go, back to my place."  

"Okay." Yan Hang pulled his scarf tighter. It was truly cold here after standing in the wind by the river for so long. Thankfully he had worn his warmest down jacket.  

He glanced at Chu Yi, who seemed perfectly comfortable. No wonder, growing up enduring the cold like he did.  

"If my grandma's, still making a fuss," Chu Yi frowned, "then we won't, go back."

"Alright," Yan Hang nodded.  

Chu Yi kept frowning after he said that, and had walked quite a distance when he suddenly reached up to press both hands against his forehead, using his fingers to smooth out the spot where he had been frowning.  

Yan Hang laughed. "What are you doing?"

"Smoothing out, my little wrinkles," Chu Yi said. "I'm only seven, teen I can't have wrinkles yet."  

"You're so old already," Yan Hang said. "And you still care about a few little wrinkles?"

"What do you, mean old potato? Only you, spring onions care about appearances!" Chu Yi said.  

"Oh shut it," Yan Hang knocked him lightly on the head.  

Things were much quieter around Chu Yi's apartment building now compared to the earlier commotion. But passing by some residents, Yan Hang could still see in their eyes a lingering aftertaste of enjoyment from his grandma's previous spectacle.  

Chu Yi went into the small shop downstairs and bought a pack of cigarettes.  

The shop owner glanced at him, sighing with a conflicted look like he wanted to say something.

Chu Yi didn't speak, just took the cigarettes and continued upstairs.  

Yan Hang followed silently behind him. He didn't know what else there was to say in this situation.

When Chu Yi took out his keys to open the door, he looked back at Yan Hang.  

"It's okay," Yan Hang said, understanding the meaning behind that look. This was probably Chu Yi's first time bringing someone home, and a home like that, it probably wasn't easy to reveal it to others.  

Chu Yi pulled up the corners of his lips in a smile, then lowered his head to put the key in the lock, only to stop suddenly.  

"What is it?" Yan Hang asked softly.

Chu Yi stared at the lock for a long time, then reached out to touch it. "They changed the lock."

Yan Hang was stunned.  

Chu Yi seemed relatively calm still. He bit his lip, then knocked on the door a few times.  

It took a while before there was any movement inside. Yan Hang first looked out through the peephole, and he heard the voice of an old man inside saying "A rare guest, huh."  

The door opened, and an old man was standing there - probably Chu Yi's grandpa.  

The old man looked a bit more normal than Granny, at least there was no scary makeup on his face, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he sounded just like one family with Granny.  

"Here to inspect eh, even brought a henchman along." The old man looked Yan Hang up and down.  

Yan Hang had originally prepared to politely greet "Grandpa", but this sentence and the look made him swallow it back involuntarily.  He didn't make a sound, and exchanged a look with the old man.  

"Where's Granny?" Chu Yi asked, standing at the door.  

Yan Hang found it very hard to endure - this old man kept holding onto the door, seemingly with no intention of letting Chu Yi in.  

"Tired from cursing, taking a rest," the old man said.  

Chu Yi was silent for a few seconds, took out that cigarette, and called into the room: "Granny, the cigarette for you."

"Why are you shouting!" Granny's voice came from inside. "Who's not letting you in!"

Chu Yi pushed the old man aside and walked in.  When Yan Hang was about to follow, the old man's hand reached out to stop him again. Chu Yi got ahead of him, grabbed onto the door frame: "Come on in."  

There was a heavy smell of dust in the house, and the lighting wasn't great either.  There were no windows in the living room, only the open kitchen door allowed some light in.  In broad daylight it was as dark as midnight inside.  

Yan Hang stood at the door, with no intention of going further inside.  

Looking at this living room, he couldn't imagine how Chu Yi had lived here for over ten years, how oppressed and inferior he must have felt before.  

Although the old furniture in the house was shabby as commonly seen in old houses, with eight out of ten households in this building probably like this, the utter chaos without any order made the house simply unlivable.

After Chu Yi gave the cigarette to Granny, he looked towards a closed room: "Where's my mom?"

"Ran off with someone," Grandpa answered very smoothly.  

Chu Yi turned to look at him.  

"You've grown a mouth, huh?" Granny slammed the cigarette onto the tea table. "You're so articulate, huh. Why don't you swallow your tongue! Missing a dipping sauce, huh!"

Chu Yi didn't say anything. He went over to open that room's door and took a look inside. When he turned back, the expression on his face was somewhat hard to describe, looking somewhat bewildered.