Category: His Character Isn’t Quite Right (Page 2 of 3)

Zhong Weishi was momentarily dazed by the words “be careful.”

He watched as the figure in front of him moved forward, bit by bit. In the darkness, Gu Lizhou looked around, his arm half-lowered, shielding Zhong Weishi in front of him.

It was as if he was… protecting him.

This feeling was something Zhong Weishi had never experienced growing up.

It was so strange, so strange that… for a moment, he forgot what they were even doing.

Until a low bark suddenly came from one of the walkways: “Woof!—”

Their first reaction was that Er’Gou had encountered a real dog.¹His name was ‘二狗’ which is Er’Gou and the ‘狗’ here meant dog.

The barking sounded a bit distant, and based on the direction, it seemed to come from one of the houses on the right.

Zhong Weishi quickened his pace, but at the same time, he was worried that Er’Gou might suddenly jump out from one of the dark alleys and ambush them unexpectedly. So, he turned around and moved backward, back-to-back with Gu Lizhou.

Gu Lizhou was inexplicably bumped into and his right hand trembled. He glanced back, shocked. “What are you doing ah?!”

“Don’t you watch TV dramas?” Zhong Weishi clasped his hands together, making a finger-gun gesture. “You can’t leave your back exposed to the enemy.”

Even in this tense and thrilling atmosphere, with them hidden in the shadows while the enemy could see in plain sight, Gu Lizhou couldn’t help but retort, “Are you retarded!”

Zhong Weishi couldn’t quite figure him out. Just a moment ago, he raised his hand to protect him like a mother hen shielding her chick, full of devotion, and now he was cursing at him again.

He was also protecting him ah!

The two men’s backs were pressed against each other without a gap, and through the thin fabric, they could even feel each other’s rising body heat.

Gu Lizhou frowned uncomfortably and muttered, “Are you a heater! It’s so damn hot. Can you move away from me a bit?”

The other party didn’t appreciate it. Zhong Weishi pouted and reluctantly turned back around. Just then, a dark figure suddenly shot out of the house at an incredible speed, accompanied by heavy panting and the faint sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Under the phone’s light, their pupils dilated instantly, and they sucked in a mouthful of cold air.

A massive black dog with a bulky body was charging at them.

Its messy and long fur almost covered half of its face. It looked so fierce that from a distance, it resembled a lion—a lion with an exaggerated, edgy hairstyle.

“fvck! What the hell is that…” Zhong Weishi saw its bared teeth, drool dripping from its mouth…

He had a bad feeling.

“Tibetan mastiff.” Gu Lizhou replied.

The killer Tibetan mastiff barked twice at them, its voice deep and heavy like a boulder, rooting Zhong Weishi’s feet to the ground.

When he was young, he wanted to have fun and teased a stray dog by the roadside. As he joyfully petted the stray dog’s head, it suddenly let out an ‘ao wu’ and bit down on his forearm.

The sharp teeth pierced his flesh, and blood flowed profusely. No matter how much he cried and screamed, the stray dog wouldn’t let go, even violently shaking its head.

Until now there was still a clear scar on his arm.

Once bitten by a snake, you’ll be afraid of a rope for ten years.

The imposing presence of the Tibetan mastiff made Zhong Weishi’s legs tremble, and in his mind, he could already picture the dog tearing him apart.

“Why are you stepping on a sewing machine now?! Run ah!” Gu Lizhou grabbed his wrist and took off.

Zhong Weishi’s legs were slow to react, and at first, he was practically being dragged by Gu Lizhou. However, he quickly broke into the fastest sprint of his life, shouting as he ran, “‘ll distract it! You run that way!”

Gu Lizhou really wanted to retort, ‘Distract, my ass ah! Have you watched too many fvcking anti-Japanese war dramas?’ But he didn’t have the energy for nonsense.

“Run back!” Gu Li Zhou’s legs moved while he felt the words bursting out of his throat.

His mind was a complete mess, like a tangled ball of mush—chaos, panic, fear, all sorts of emotions flooding over him.

Whose dog was that?

Why wasn’t it leashed?

Would it bite?

Would tomorrow’s headlines read: Tibetan Mastiff Mauls Resident in Neighborhood, Scene Too Horrific to Witness…

The clearest thought he had was: What kind of sin did I commit to promise Zhong Weishi to watch some square dance performance? Otherwise, I’d be lying in bed asleep right now!

The barking continued right behind them.

Zhong Weishi didn’t dare look back. What shocked him the most was that the same total noob who hesitated to climb the fence just a few minutes ago had already grabbed the bars and jumped over ahead of him.

His posture was wretched but his momentum was lightning fast!

Zhong Weishi followed quickly, grabbing the bars and flipping himself over with all his strength.

There was a light at the door, bright and glaring.

Stepping on the horizontal bar of the fence, Zhong Weishi panted heavily, his throat unbearably dry.

The huge Tibetan mastiff was staring up at them, growling defiantly, “Woof, woof!—”

The fence shook with its impact.

“fvck you!” Zhong Weishi steadied himself and pointed at the dog’s nose. “If you’ve got the guts, come up here and fight me one-on-one ah!”

The Tibetan mastiff raised its heavy front paws, pressing them against the fence.

Zhong Weishi let out an “Oh yo” and climbed a bit higher in fear, his toes desperately pressing against the fence to prevent himself from slipping.

“Idiot,” Gu Lizhou muttered. He picked up something from the ground and tossed it inside, making the Tibetan mastiff pounce towards it.

Hanging on the fence, Zhong Weishi watched the Tibetan mastiff sniffing around the ground. Zhong Weishi didn’t dare say anything.

The Tibetan mastiff didn’t find anything and circled back to pace around beneath them.

“Hurry down already,” Gu Lizhou said, frowning, holding back a laugh. “I’ve seen cowards before, but never one as cowardly as you.”

“And I wonder who it was earlier that climbed faster than me…” Before he could finish, he froze.

When he let go of the bars, he realized he couldn’t get down.

The top of the fence had anti-theft spikes, and his clothes had gotten caught on something. He was stuck, unable to move up or down.

He was left hanging to dry on the fence!

“fvck.” Zhong Weishi looked up at the top of the fence and cursed repeatedly. “What to do ah? What the fvck do I do? My clothes are caught.”

In his panic, he heard a certain someone burst into laughter.

Zhong Weishi had been feeling tense and embarrassed, but when Gu Lizhou laughed, he couldn’t help but laugh too. “Stop laughing already and help me down ah. My neck’s hurting.”

Gu Lizhou said, “Alright,” but he quickly pulled out his phone, afraid that this person might get down any second.

Zhong Weishi pointed at the camera with one hand, but before he could say anything, he heard a rapid “click, click, click, click, click, click—”

A passionate continuous photo taking.

The laughter was unbridled.

“…” Zhong Weishi expletives were stuck. This old man’s childishness was beyond anything he could have imagined.

Just as Gu Lizhou put his phone away, several beams of light shone from a distance. Qiangzi shouted at the top of his lungs, “Ge! What are you doing hanging up there?!”

At critical moments like this, you could only rely on your own brothers—this was what Zhong Weishi thought as he stepped down onto Qiangzi’s shoulders.

Once he landed, he didn’t forget to mock a certain someone. “All you know how to do is watch the spectacle.”

Unfortunately, Gu Lizhou was shameless. “And it was quite the spectacle.”

The fabric of Zhong Weishi’s clothes was of poor quality, so when he came down, there were already two large holes in the back, and his shoulder blades felt a chill.

15 yuan, and he had only worn it twice before it was ruined.

Zhong Weishi sighed.

What surprised Gu Lizhou was that Huangfu Qiang had brought along a bunch of monkeys.

Five or six electric scooters gradually pulled up to the entrance, and about a dozen men, all looking c0cky and sporting outrageous hairstyles, got off.

One of them, with yellow rooster-comb hair, asked, “Where’s the guy? Where is he?”

Zhong Weishi turned and pointed. “In there, but there’s a dog.”

“Dog?”

Since they had lost sight of their target, Gu Lizhou figured that tonight’s operation to catch Er’Gou was probably a bust. Just as he was thinking about heading home to shower and sleep, he saw the group of men, who just arrived, jump over the fence one by one.

The boy leading them fearlessly beckoned the Tibetan mastiff with a finger. “Here, here, here, sit down!”

The Tibetan mastiff stared at him, not moving.

“Then stay standing.” The man said.

“This Tibetan mastiff might’ve been set loose by him to scare people,” Zhong Weishi said. “Look at its chain—it’s unfastened, not broken.”

“Today, we’re gonna beat him so bad his head comes out of his ass,” Said a man wearing a big gold chain around his neck.

Gu Lizhou saw Zhong Weishi chatting with them cheerfully and hesitated about whether to go in again.

“I’m wearing a skirt…” Da Fei said, clutching his upper thigh, also hesitating. Unlike a girl, he didn’t have safety shorts underneath. Shi-ge had lent him an ultra-short skirt, and it was already a struggle considering his height.

“You stay outside and keep watch,” Zhong Weishi said, glancing at Gu Lizhou without saying anything further.

With their current numbers, they didn’t really need one more person, especially if he might just slow them down. The main thing was that he suspected Gu Lizhou might not want to climb the fence again.

However, Gu Lizhou’s thought was: Since I’m already here…

A cold breeze swept past his ears as Zhong Weishi watched the man once again climb over the fence.

Having learned from his earlier experience, Gu Lizhou’s movements this time were swift and smooth.

This time, he truly felt that the man’s legs were indeed long.

When Gu Lizhou landed in front of him, a few loose strands of hair fell, partially covering his eyes, which still showed a hint of weariness and impatience.

“Let’s go, together.”

Zhong Weishi felt a wave of emotion he couldn’t quite express.

Since he was young, he had always believed that there was strength in numbers, and with enough people, anything could be accomplished. Those commissions seemed almost within his grasp.

“Er’Gou is dead meat tonight. We’ll dig him out, even if we dig three feet into the ground!”

Gu Lizhou heard his impassioned words and added casually, “En, let’s hope so.”

But just as they finished planning their strategy and were about to move forward, the sound of blaring sirens roared from a distance, rapidly approaching.

Zhong Weishi felt a chill down his spine, and his eyelid twitched violently.

As they turned, a bright beam of light shone on all of them, casting red and blue hues that illuminated the entire night sky.

It was blinding.

Gu Lizhou raised his hand to cover the light.

Two police cars pulled up at the entrance, followed by several police motorcycles.

A man in uniform leaned out from the passenger seat, holding a megaphone. “What are you doing?! I’m talking to you guys! Get out here, now!”

Gu Lizhou didn’t understand what was going on. When he turned around, he realized that the once intimidating, swaggering group of men beside him had already taken off, sprinting away.

Zhong Weishi patted him on the arm. “Retreat!”

Retreat, what retreat? Where to retreat ah!

They hadn’t done anything illegal, so why retreat ah?!

Gu Lizhou froze, completely at a loss.

Just a few minutes earlier, a concerned resident had reported suspicious individuals climbing the fence into the neighborhood. Before the caller could hang up, they frantically shouted, “Ah, ya, ya, ya, another big group of thugs just arrived! It’s the mafia! The mafia! Ai ya, ya, ya, ya… This is terrifying la!!”

“Hello? Hello, which neighborhood is this?!” The operator kept asking.

“Ah, ya, ya, ya… they’ve climbed over ya! We’re doomed!”

Yucheng had recently launched a special crackdown on gang activity, with banners promoting anti-crime initiatives hanging everywhere. Hearing the terrified screams over the phone, the police sensed this could be the biggest bust of the year.

They immediately dispatched a large force, determined to capture the criminal group in one fell swoop.

Every officer’s heart surged with passion, as if they were back to that time when they just stepped into the police station.

“Stop! Don’t run!—” The loud warning tore through the hot, humid air.

As Gu Lizhou watched a large group of officers vault over the fence, he felt like he was dreaming and needed someone to slap him awake.

“Are you with them?” A police officer came over and snapped Gu Lizhou out of his daze.

“No.” Gu Lizhou shook his head firmly without hesitation. “I don’t know them.”

The officer looked him over—his refined appearance and tidy clothing didn’t fit the image of a gangster. The officer nodded, “If you have nothing to do, don’t wander around aimlessly. Go home and get some rest.”

“He’s lying!” A woman suddenly appeared.

She was the enthusiastic citizen who had called the police earlier. Now that the officers were there, she stood straighter with newfound confidence. “I saw him climb in, then climb out! And then he climbed back in again! He’s clearly with them!”

Gu Lizhou: “…”

The officer gave him a scrutinizing look, his expression shifting subtly. “You’ll have to come with me.”

No matter how many people there were, they couldn’t outnumber the police. No matter how fast a rabbit jumps, it can’t outrun well-trained cheetahs. Both the front and back exits were blocked, and the group was trapped like fish in a net—none of them managed to escape.

In less than ten minutes, the police arrested all of them.

What they couldn’t see clearly in the dark earlier was now visible: the group was full of people with tattoos, earrings, wild hairstyles, and flamboyant outfits—none of them gave the impression of being upstanding citizens.

The lead officer’s face lit up with satisfaction as if it was harvest time. “What are you all doing here so late at night ah?”

“We came to fix a water pipe la, really didn’t do anything wrong… Believe me ah, ah sir.” Zhong Weishi’s imitation of a Hong Kong accent was spot on.

Gu Lizhou’s mouth twitched.

This person is engaged in what?!

“If you didn’t do anything wrong, why did you run?” One officer asked, “Speak properly! We treat our compatriots from Hong Kong and Taiwan equally!”

“I, that…” Zhong Weishi stammered, “Well, everyone else was running, so I thought not running would make me stand out.”

Gu Lizhou: “…”

Policemen: “…”

Zhong Weishi thought that the feeling people described online as ‘a deer caught in headlights when running into the girl you like’ was just like that.

His heartbeat had never been so intense, almost pounding its way up his throat.

The Er’Gou they had been obsessively tracking for nearly a month, dreaming about catching, was now less than ten meters away from him.

Seeing Er’Gou was like seeing stacks of banknotes waving at him.

That was several thousand yuan.

It could top two months of rent.

As Zhong Weishi led Da Fei in a circle, getting closer, he mouthed to Gu Lizhou, “What should we do?”

It was his first time in such a situation; besides feeling nervous and excited, he was also afraid of alerting the target.

Gu Lizhou quickly switched to a spy-movie mode, giving Da Fei a look.

Da Fei immediately understood, stopped playing around with Zhong Weishi, and started glancing occasionally at Er’Gou’s position.

At that moment, Zhang Gou was focused on recording a young woman, completely oblivious to them.

“Notify Qiangzi and the others first,” Gu Lizhou said as he got closer.

Qiangzi’s group wasn’t responding for some reason, so Da Fei had to leave the stage.

As soon as Da Fei left, Zhong Weishi’s exaggerated Yangge dance moves came to a halt.

An auntie next to him asked with a smile, “Why aren’t you dancing ah? Young man, your moves are so graceful ah”

“Really?” Zhong Weishi was surprised, not expecting anyone to pay attention to him. “I was just messing around.”

Gu Lizhou went over to him, “Do you really think people are praising you?”

Zhong Weishi shot back, “If you think you can do better, go ahead. If not, shut up!”

As the dance music came to an end, the crowd scattered like birds and beasts, and Zhong Weishi felt his heart tighten as he watched Er’Gou put away his phone.

Not good!

Qiangzi and the others hadn’t arrived yet.

“Does it take a plane to get from the South Square to here?” Gu Lizhou said.

At this point, Zhong Weishi wanted to curse as well. “fvck, we’re not waiting! Let’s chase after him!”

Qiangzi and A’Wei both had electric scooters. One was parked on the south side and the other on the north side to avoid missing Er’Gou if he showed up unexpectedly.

Zhong Weishi had a key in his hand.

This was the first time Gu Lizhou had ever been up close with a small Aima¹Brand lady’s electric bike that he didn’t know where to put his legs—It was even an eye-catching hot pink.

Before he could make a snarky comment, Zhong Weishi dramatically waved a hand at him. “Get on!”

The way he said it, with such flair, made it seem like he wasn’t riding a scooter but rather soaring on a rainbow cloud.

As Gu Lizhou climbed on, he felt all the eyes in the square on him.

He desperately lowered his head, rubbing his forehead. “You bought this thing ah?”

“Ah? This isn’t mine. It belongs to A’Wei’s jie,” Zhong Weishi said.

“Oh…”

Just as Gu Lizhou was about to comment on the color, he heard a voice in front say, “If only it were mine.”

“…” Gu Lizhou fell silent.

“Your feet, don’t let your feet touch the ground ah!” Zhong Weishi shouted as he drove at about 12 mph, trying to keep pace with Er’Gou. The guy behind him was still stepping on the ground for some reason, making the scooter wobble unsteadily.

“Then where am I supposed to put my feet ah!” Gu Lizhou was simply speechless. Sitting on this scooter was even lower than if he were squatting, leaving his long legs with nowhere to rest.

“Footboard ah, on the sides of the wheels. Just look down,” Zhong Weishi said, too busy keeping an eye on Er’Gou to glance down.

Gu Lizhou supported his waist and took a quick look. He confirmed that there was no footboard on either side, just two rusty screws. However, there was a footboard at the front.

Zhong Weishi’s feet were planted on it, trembling like he was operating a sewing machine, either out of nerves or excitement.

Gu Lizhou lifted his legs and placed them on either side of the footboard.

Zhong Wishi’s feet instantly stopped shaking.

“Why are you stealing my spot? Trying to show off your long legs?”

“What do you mean your spot? Did it say your name on it? Besides, my legs are long anyway; I don’t need to show off.”

“Shameless.” Zhong Weishi said.

Gu Lizhou slapped his waist. “Hurry up! Er’Gou’s turning!”

“I’m not fvcking blind!” Zhong Weishi shot back as they turned into a dimly lit alley.

Er’Gou was walking ahead, holding his phone in his right hand, seemingly talking to someone, his pace neither fast nor slow.

Zhong Weishi didn’t dare to get too close, maintaining a steady speed of 6 mph. With someone riding behind him, it was slow but it felt a bit strenuous.

“So why exactly are we riding this?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“I thought he had a car ah.” Zhong Weishi replied in a small voice.

Once they exited the alley, they found themselves on a narrow bluestone road that was over a meter wide.

Er’Gou was about thirty meters away from them.

Zhong Weishi wasn’t very familiar with this road—besides the routes within a kilometer of Lanshan Apartments, he was lost in the rest of the area.

The narrow path had no streetlights, and the end was invisible in the darkness.

On their left was a sewage canal, its surface covered with a layer of dark green moss, releasing a strange, pungent stench into the air. To the right were old houses with blue bricks and white walls.

Gu Lizhou pinched his nose: “What’s that smell ah?”

“It’s the smell of dead bodies. A while ago, someone found several corpses floating in the river,” Zhong Weishi replied somberly. “When they were discovered, they were already decayed, like pig trotters boiled for a day, flesh and bones separating. They couldn’t recover them all, so the remains are still in the river…”

“Are you serious?” Gu Lizhou frowned as he looked toward the canal, his grip on Zhong Weishi’s shirt tightening unconsciously.

The imagery was vivid in his mind.

For a brief moment, he truly believed this was once a crime scene until he heard Zhong Weishi’s laughter.

The kind of laugh that was very light, like someone reveling in a devious plot.

“Help me call to ask where Qiangzi and the others are,” Zhong Weishi said. “My phone’s in my pocket.”

Gu Lizhou rummaged through his pants pocket for the phone. “Password.”

Zhong Weishi: “Six eights.”

“How cliché,” Gu Lizhou said as he entered the numbers.

Zhong Weishi: “Cliché, yet you can’t guess it.”

“If you give me time, I’ll definitely get it right…” The vehicle was so small that when Gu Lizhou leaned down, his head nearly bumped into Zhong Weishi’s back. The bumps and jolts of the ride caused him to hit it several times.

His hair was all messed up.

“Is it done?” Zhong Weishi asked.

Gu Lizhou’s fingertips slid across the screen, spotting several names of top-tier celebrities. As well as, why does he have Spider-Man in his contacts?

“What did you note to Qiangzi?”

“Ancestor Yan.”²’彦’ means man of virtue and ability. ‘祖’ means ancestor, forefather, grandparents.

“…”

Just as Gu Lizhou pressed the phone to his ear, a mechanical female voice echoed, “Your phone has been suspended.”

“How is it suspended again?” Gu Lizhou asked. “Wasn’t it just a few days ago?”

“Oh,” Zhong Weishi replied casually, “I forgot to top up.”

Gu Lizhou found it hard to comprehend.

Using his own phone, he dialed the number. Before he could even say “hello,” a rapid stream of words burst forth from the other end like a dam breaking: “Where are you guys ah? Why is everyone dispersing? What about A’Wei’s bike? Did you ride over there? Is that person definitely Er’Gou?”

Gu Lizhou said, “We’re following someone right now, I’ll send the location to the group, you can come over by yourselves.”

“Success! We’ll meet up soon. I trust that…” Before Qiangzi could finish, the other side ended the call.

“… This person is a bit cold,” Qiangzi said to the blackened screen.

Previously, they had analyzed the situation and, using Gu Lizhou’s “Circular Hypothesis Theory”³Changing the name to this. I’ll probably edit the previous one… soon. deduced that Er’Gou’s residence was likely around the vicinity of Xingfu District.

Gu Lizhou turned on the hotspot and glanced at their current location while sharing the location.

They were quite close to Xingfu District.

However, Qiangzi and the others were still at North Square.

As their coordinates drew nearer to Xingfu District, Qiangzi and the others slowly began to move.

Gu Lizhou was focused on the enlarged map when the vehicle suddenly slammed to a stop, causing his face to crash into Zhong Weishi’s back.

Alongside the scent of tobacco, he caught a whiff of a faint medicinal smell.

Rubbing his nose, Gu Lizhou tilted his head and saw that Er’Gou went into a residential area.

This area was directly across from Xingfu District, featuring self-built two- to three-story duplexes. To enter the main gate, one had to swipe a card or enter a password to unlock it.

Due to the distance separating them too far, before they could figure out the situation, the gate behind Er’Gou had already locked itself automatically.

fvck,” Zhong Weishi shook the iron railing at the entrance. “This shitty place even needs a password.”

Gu Lizhou was about to suggest they wait until tomorrow to squat when Zhong Weishi had already stepped on the central horizontal bar of the railing and flipped over into the compound.

Under the dark moon and gusty wind, he moved with the agility of a habitual criminal.

Gu Lizhou had no choice but to give him a thumbs up from across the railing.

“Hurry up and come over too ah!” Zhong Weishi urged in a hushed tone. “Didn’t you say your legs are long!”

Gu Lizhou hesitated. Not to mention that the railing was at least three meters high, making it easy to sprain an ankle if he jumped down; he had never done anything like this before, not even watched anyone else do it.

Since getting to know Zhong Weishi and his gang, he had been continuously reevaluating his understanding of “moral boundaries.”

The expression on the man’s face inside the fence shifted from anxious to doubtful, as if the words “You can’t be serious, can you?” were etched on his face.

For the sake of a man’s dignity.

In the end, he still jumped over.

As he landed, a sharp pain shot through the soles of his feet. Fortunately, Zhong Weishi reached out to steady him, allowing him to regain his balance.

The sound Gu Lizhou made when landing was quite loud, causing Er’Gou to glance back. Whether he sensed something or not, he suddenly quickened his pace.

Thinking that they now had the advantage of two against one, Zhong Weishi pointed at Er’Gou’s head and shouted loudly, “Stop! Don’t run!”

Gu Lizhou couldn’t stop him even if he wanted to.

The two were initially only about 20 meters from Er’Gou, but as soon as Zhong Weishi shouted, Er’Gou darted away like a weasel, disappearing around the corner in an instant.

Zhong Weishi chased after him like a gust of wind, quickly turning the corner.

At this point, the sky had darkened, and there were no streetlights in the community. As they turned the corner, a sense of foreboding washed over them.

The path ahead was empty.

These small duplex buildings were separated by a distance in the middle of each two households, making it clear that Er’Gou had slipped away through one of the gaps after turning.

It was highly likely he was hiding somewhere nearby…

Perhaps even watching them.

Both of them had the same thought, and they couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.

Zhong Weishi stared at the rows of identical buildings, and sank in despair.

Just then, a beam of light illuminated the path in front of him.

Gu Lizhou held up his phone and waved it side to side.

Neither was occupied.

“Be careful.”

Gu Lizhou whispered, stepping in front of Zhong Weishi and instinctively placing a hand in front of him.

“Thanks,” Gu Lizhou waved his hand, declining their good intentions. “I can’t eat spicy food. If I do, I get small red rashes on my skin.”

“Then you’re quite sensitive,” Zhong Weishi said. “This is the first time I’ve heard of someone being allergic to spicy food.”

“Maybe it’s hormonal imbalance ah,” Da Fei said with concern. “A’Wei had a terrible acne breakout recently. When he went to see a traditional Chinese doctor, they said it was a hormonal issue. How’s your bowel movement? Are you constipated? Is it dry?”

Gu Li Zhou held his head, speechless.

He shouldn’t have lied about being unable to eat spicy food just to avoid the spicy snacks!

Da Fei ate the spicy strips slowly, and the conversation shifted from constipation to discussing what men should eat for kidney deficiency, with him and Zhong Weishi chatting enthusiastically.

Gu Lizhou didn’t really want to join their conversation, but it was no use at all.

“Are you impotent?”¹This literally translates to “Do you have kidney deficiency?”, but in this context, it’s commonly used as a euphemism for male sexual weakness or impotence, as the kidneys are believed to play a key role in reproductive health according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The question came out of nowhere.

Da Fei’s curiosity stemmed from fear, as he’d heard that men tend to develop deficiencies as they age. Among them, only Gu Lizhou could be considered “a man of a certain age.”

Seeing the fragile neighborly relationship they had built with great difficulty about to break, Zhong Weishi quickly grabbed Da Fei’s sleeve. “What kind of question is that! Even if he had kidney issues, would he tell you!”

Gu Lizhou didn’t know how many times he recited in his heart: ‘We live in a society governed by law, killing is illegal,’ ‘Neighbors should get along peacefully,’ ‘Don’t argue with fools.’ Then he took a breath and smiled, “My kidneys are just fine, thanks for your concern ah.”

“You’re welcome.” Da Fei adjusted his wig and joined the group of dancing elderly women.

His slender figure, his back indistinguishable from the male or female, swayed gracefully. His thin waist danced more precisely than anyone else’s in the square, successfully attracting the attention of both single and married men.

Zhong Weishi recorded a short video of Da Fei and sent it in the group chat.

[Huangfu]: fvck, Da Fei’s got some serious moves with those hips ah!

[Weishi]: Honestly, with that figure, he’s no less than a woman.

[Wei-ge]: I’m starting to suspect there’s a little princess living inside him.

[Huangfu]: Too much of a goddess.

[Huangfu]: Da Fei, why don’t you just start wearing women’s clothes from now on?

Zhong Weishi stared at the screen, laughing uncontrollably, and gave a thumbs-up to Qiangzi’s “goddess.”

Da Fei, fully immersed in his role, gave him a flirtatious wink.

Zhong Weishi chuckled. “I suddenly realize Da Fei has a real talent for being a woman ah.”

The square was noisy, and Gu Lizhou couldn’t hear clearly, so he moved a little closer to Zhong Weishi. “What did you just say?”

Zhong Weishi turned to him and said loudly, “I said, do you want to go up there and dance for a while? It’s good for your body and mind!”

Gu Lizhou immediately refused the suggestion. “No, no, no, no, absolutely not. I don’t know how.”

“If you can’t, just learn ah. Look at Da Fei, he’s just moving randomly.” Zhong Weishi said.

“He has a natural talent for it,” Gu Lizhou said.

“Give it a try ah!” Zhong Weishi nudged his chin. “You might have talent too! With your long arms and legs, won’t it be a shame not to dance?”

Gu Lizhou was resolute. “No way, I’d rather die than go.”

After about half an hour, the sky gradually darkened.

Even though the warm breeze still blew through the square, the crowd had noticeably thinned, and some of the elderly participants started to leave one by one.

Gu Lizhou hadn’t really expected to find Er’Gou here; he was just there for the fun of it. After finishing his milk tea and cleaning up, he asked, “Do you guys want to head back?”

“No,” Zhong Weishi’s head was still bobbing to the rhythm of the music. “You’re leaving ah?”

“Ah, it’s getting dark. Er’Gou probably won’t show up. Let’s try again tomorrow,” Gu Lizhou said.

Zhong Weishi glanced at him. “Then you go first. I’m not leaving; I’ll wait.”

“What are you still waiting for ah?” Gu Lizhou sighed, scanning the area around the square. “The crowd’s almost gone.”

“It’s not completely gone yet. You never know,” Zhong Weishi said.

“Why are you always thinking ‘you never know’?” Gu Lizhou muttered to himself, then turned to him. “Don’t you feel like you’re wasting time?”

Zhong Weishi stopped bobbing his head. “Why are you suddenly saying that?”

Gu Lizhou licked his lips and voiced his concern. “There’s a chance Er’Gou won’t show up around Fenglin Community anymore. Isn’t it pointless for you to keep waiting here? Even if we found Er’Gou and his place, what if he’s already spent all the money? You guys wouldn’t get anything out of it. Why bother with all this effort?”

They obviously don’t have any brains, skill, money or support.

There was obviously the high probability of it being fruitless. Why were these people still willing to put in time and energy?

Gu Lizhou really couldn’t figure it out.

“How would you know if you don’t try?” Zhong Weishi braced both palms on either side of him and turned his head to look at him. “Everyone has a day when they reach the end of their life. So if we already know there’s an endpoint, why do people still strive to live?”

Gu Lizhou was silent.

“Because there’s light ahead,” Zhong Weishi smiled. “Where there’s light, there’s hope. If we assume ‘Er’Gou definitely won’t show up,’ then, of course, it loses its meaning. So we have to believe ‘Er’Gou will appear.’ Even if today’s attempt fails, what does it matter? There’s always tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that… Only by making a genuine effort can people see the direction clearly.”

Only by making a genuine effort can people see the direction clearly.

Zhong Weishi’s words felt like nails being hammered into Gu Lizhou’s heart, each word striking deep.

He, too, once had a direction to strive for and had seen hope before.

But fate had played a cruel trick, causing him to lose all his glory.

For the first time, Gu Lizhou questioned his past.

Was it fate?

Or had he given up hope first?

As another song ended, the square fell quiet for a few seconds before another familiar tune started playing. This time, it wasn’t a DJ version; the melody was much softer than the previous ones.

The crowd quickly scattered like grains of sand, as men and women paired up, each holding their partner’s hand until everyone formed a large circle.

This was going to be a duo dance.

Before Gu Lizhou could think clearly, Da Fei suddenly approached them.

“Everyone has a dance partner, and I feel so embarrassed being alone. Come dance with me!” Da Fei grabbed Zhong Weishi’s wrist.

“No, no, no!” Zhong Weishi clung desperately to the tree behind him, motioning toward Gu Lizhou. “Ask him to dance with you.”

Gu Lizhou waved his hand with a cold expression, so Da Fei didn’t dare to speak to him further.

“It’s fun ah, just try it with me.”

“No, I can’t, my limbs are uncoordinated.”

“I saw you doing flips earlier, and you seemed pretty coordinated ah,” Gu Lizhou said, gloating. “Weren’t you the one who just said to give it a try?”

“Roll! I’m withdrawing now!”

Da Fei, determined, wrapped his arm around Zhong Weishi’s and pulled him backward, baring his teeth.

Such a humiliating thing, of course, he had to drag someone down with him!

The two struggled like they were playing tug-of-war, neither willing to let go.

Several men watched Da Fei, secretly feeling pity. Such a feisty and attractive girl, and she already had a boyfriend.

Gu Lizhou circled behind the tree, gripping Zhong Weishi’s fingers, prying them open little by little with force.

Their strength was evenly matched, and Zhong Weishi’s fingernails turned pale as he shouted angrily, “Gu Lizhou, you fvcking let go of me!”

Gu Lizhou pulled a thorn off a nearby iron tree.

…

Zhong Weishi was yanked by the collar by Da Fei. He was dragged backwards all the way into the circle, and gave Gu Lizhou a middle finger.

Gu Lizhou laughed with his eyebrows bent, as he mouthed, “I’m watching you.”

“Say bye-bye to the gloom~ Let the beautiful rainbow stay~ Grab your hand, and dance wildly~ Sing out the brilliance of tomorrow~ La la la la~”

“Throw your worries to the Ninth Heaven²The highest of the heavens~ Let happiness and joy come your way~ Grab your hand, and dance to your heart’s content~ Dance out a bright future~ La la la la~~”

Zhong Weishi danced to the melody.

His dancing style was so clear and strange that he was particularly eye-catching in the crowd, while others were dancing in pairs while holding hands, he was just twisting rice-planting songs.

His movements were so clear and outlandish that he practically stood out in the crowd. While others held hands for a partner dance, he was doing a completely different style—his hips twisting to Yangge.³A popular rural folk dance.

His lack of coordination exceeded Gu Lizhou’s expectations. If he wasn’t stepping on his own feet, he was stepping on Da Fei’s.

The two kept bumping into each other in ways that defied explanation.

The final dramatic dip move ended with Da Fei being dropped to the ground.

Gu Lizhou couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he laughed so freely; he laughed so hard he couldn’t straighten up.

His fingers gripped his phone, shaking as he managed to record a clip and shared it with Cao Zhiheng.

[Useless Yet Awake]: Spot the highlight.

[Cao Zhiheng]: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha⁴I counted and it was 17 lol

[Cao Zhiheng]: Where are you at?

[Cao Zhiheng]: Who are these two idiots ah?

[Cao Zhiheng]: fvck, isn’t that 301? Hahahahahahahahaha, what is he doing, acting like he’s downed a kilo of shaojiu?⁵Name of a famous Tang dynasty whine, same as Baijiu

Gu Lizhou didn’t even want to waste a second replying. He held up his phone discreetly, suppressing his laughter until his belly ached.

As Zhong Weishi spun around, he happened to make eye contact with Gu Lizhou. He felt something odd about the way Gu Lizhou had his arms crossed, and then he noticed the phone tucked inside his elbow.

“Are you secretly filming me!” Zhong Weishi pointed at him. “Watch out, or I’ll sue you for violating my image rights!”

“No, how could that be.” Gu Lizhou smiled, not the slightest hint of guilt on his face.

“Then put your phone down.” Zhong Weishi was spun in place by Da Fei. “And don’t point the camera at me.”

Gu Lizhou boldly raised the phone directly at him. “With such graceful dance moves, I have to capture this for you…”

His voice suddenly cut off, and his fingers moved quickly across the screen.

He zoomed in.

Zhong Weishi, feeling embarrassed and ready to retreat, noticed the playful expression on Gu Lizhou’s face suddenly freeze.

An eyebrow was raised.

He signaled with a glance.

Zhong Weishi immediately picked up on it and turned to look behind him.

Not far away, a man crouched behind a flower bed, staring lecherously at a girl’s legs.

“It was probably around one or two o’clock in the afternoon, someone heard crying at the orphanage’s entrance and picked me up. That’s why I was named ‘Weishi.’”

When Zhong Weishi said this, his face was expressionless, and his tone was as calm as if he were recounting an unrelated piece of news.

But to an outsider’s ears, it was rather shocking.

Gu Lizhou stared at the little brat before him, who was probably about 12 years younger than him, with a complicated expression.

He had mixed feelings inside, but mostly disbelief.

There had never been a situation like this around him.

Wasn’t throwing away children something that only happened in the news or TV dramas?

“So how did you grow up?” Gu Lizhou looked at him. “Adopted?”

“Sort of.” A wisp of white smoke blew from Zhong Weishi’s lips.

It was the first time Gu Lizhou saw the boy with his eyes downcast.

There was an indescribable feeling.

Sadness?

Not really. In his opinion, Zhong Weishi wasn’t the kind of weak person who needed others’ pity.

He still remembered the scene at Qingfeng Garden when Zhong Weishi had pinned him against the wall and warned him.

It was the recklessness unique to youth.

Like a plant growing wild.

The crowd in the square grew larger, and the sound of people was so loud that it was almost like a swarm of demons.

But at this moment, in Gu Lizhou’s eyes, there was only the reflection of a slender, lean boy.

Gu Lizhou could tell he didn’t want to talk much about his childhood, so he tactfully changed the subject. “My name is Gu Lizhou—‘Li’ as in gift, and ‘Zhou’ as in oasis.”

“I thought it was the ‘Zhou’ for a small boat.”¹His Zhou was from “洲” which came from ‘绿洲’ meaning Oasis. ZW thought it was ‘舟’ from ‘小船’ which means small boat. Zhong Weishi laughed.

Gu Lizhou furrowed his brows briefly, then relaxed. “I heard it was originally that ‘Zhou,’ but later, my aunt asked someone to read my fortune. They said I lacked water in my fate, so they changed it to the ‘Zhou’ with the water radical.”²The water radical in the 洲 ‘zhou’ in his name here is ‘氵’ this one.

Zhong Weishi nodded thoughtfully. “They’re both nice. They suit you.”

The two had been at odds for several weeks, so hearing a compliment out of the blue, Gu Lizhou almost felt flattered.

Out of politeness, he returned the compliment. “Well, you cried at just the right time. If you had cried at one or two in the morning, your name would’ve been Zhong Choushi.”³The ‘丑’ chou in Choushi can also mean shameful, ugly, disgraceful or clown, other than in 1-2am.

Zhong Weishi burst out laughing and couldn’t hold back a curse. “fvck you.”

After a while, he rubbed his nose and moved closer. “So, what, I just cursed out of habit.”

Gu Lizhou wanted to say, “I know ah,” but for some reason, the words twisted on their way out. “Apologize.”

Zhong Weishi had never apologized to anyone in his life. He hadn’t even apologized for mistaking Gu Lizhou for Er’Gou and pinning him against the wall last time, let alone for cursing at him.

Seeing Zhong Weishi hesitate for a while without responding, Gu Lizhou cleared his throat. “If you don’t apologize, give me back the chicken wrap.”

“fvck,” Zhong Weishi’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you the one who forced me to eat it! You didn’t say anything about paying ah!”

“But you still ate it.” Gu Lizhou shrugged. “So, either apologize or pay up.”

“If you’d told me you wanted money, I’d have thrown it up.” Zhong Weishi slapped his palm. “Wait till I get rich, and I’ll treat you to a big meal.”

“Will that day ever come?” Gu Lizhou shot him a sidelong glance.

“Don’t look down on people,” Zhong Weishi flicked away his cigarette butt. “One day, I’ll bury you alive with coins.”

The rhythm of the square dance was so strong that even while Gu Lizhou crossed his legs, he couldn’t help but tap his foot to the beat. In the end, he forced himself to put it back down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gu Lizhou noticed Zhong Weishi’s leg shaking like he was working a sewing machine.

Da Fei had somehow crossed over from the south square, carrying a plastic bag in his hand.

Gu Lizhou saw Zhong Weishi pull out a cup of milk tea, pierce it with a straw, and start drinking it in big gulps without even saying thank you.

Gu Lizhou thought the two brothers were going to sit down and chat, so he shifted to the side. Unexpectedly, Da Fei handed him another cup of milk tea. “Want some? It’s on me.”

Although Gu Lizhou had seen all kinds of shameful performances from this group, knew their twisted taste, had seen Da Fei cross-dressed, and even conspired with them on the “catch Er’Gou plan,” he still didn’t consider them familiar.

Just as he was hesitating whether to take the milk tea, the person next to him nudged his arm. “Try it. The boba milk tea here is really chewy.”

Gu Li Zhou took the milk tea.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had this kind of milk tea. The only time he ever ordered milk tea was at a tea restaurant, where he’d get the plain kind without any add-ins.

“What’s a boba milk tea?”

Da Fei looked at him in shock. “Is this your first time drinking milk tea?”

Zhong Weishi almost choked on his own milk tea, thinking, are these rich people really like the ones on TV who don’t eat or drink junk food? What’s the point of life if that’s the case!

“Boba is just pearls, those round balls,” He explained, making a circle with his slender fingers. “Made from tapioca, I think. Anyway, they’re chewy.”

“Then why call them boba instead of pearls?” Gu Lizhou pierced the milk tea and took a sip.

“Doesn’t boba sound bigger!” Zhong Weishi puffed out his chest.

Gu Lizhou choked on the milk tea he had just sipped. “Oh.”

The legendary boba was indeed quite chewy.

Gu Lizhou felt that this cup of milk tea tasted different from what he remembered.

The milk flavor was a bit stronger than the black tea, and the aftertaste was a bit cloying.

When he lifted it up to look, he noticed that the toppings had almost piled up to the middle of the cup.

Nata de coco, red beans, pudding… He tasted all sorts of things.

“Are all these ingredients free?” Gu Lizhou couldn’t help but complain.

“Yes! How did you know!” Da Fei pointed to a direction. “There’s a ‘7 O’Clock’ milk tea shop over there. The owner is really nice—toppings are all free. Guaranteed to fill you up with just one cup!”

“…” He had no intention of going there.

Da Fei sat between the two of them, opened a bag of snacks, and handed some to Zhong Weishi, pointing at the dancing aunties. “Honestly, I could dance better than that.”

Zhong Weishi replied, “Then hurry up and open my eyes.”

Da Fei said, “Let me finish this bag of spicy strips first.”

Gu Lizhou was initially texting when he suddenly caught a whiff of spice and turned to look.

Zhong Weishi and Da Fei were each holding a bag of spicy strips, watching and eating, laughing as they enjoyed themselves.

Since Da Fei was currently dressed as a “woman,” he delicately nibbled on one strip, even sucking his fingers afterward. The person next to him, however, grabbed the bag and shoved a handful into his mouth at once.

He ate the spicy strips with the vigor of a tug-of-war.

Gu Lizhou struggled to hold back his laughter, turning on the recording function and pretending to scratch his nose as he aimed the camera at Zhong Weishi.

The gang was practically a fountain of joy for him!

Da Fei suddenly leaned closer to Zhong Weishi and whispered, “He was just looking at me. Should I offer him some?”

“Give ah.” Zhong Weishi mumbled, “Give him yours. I’ve already bitten into mine.”

“But he doesn’t look like the kind of person who eats spicy strips.” Da Fei looked around sneakily, whispering as if he was afraid Gu Lizhou might overhear.

“Just in case he likes them.” Zhong Weishi smiled and nudged Da Fei. “Try it.”

Gu Lizhou thought his secret filming had been discovered, so he calmly put away his phone and ran a hand through his hair.

He stared seriously at the lead dancer auntie in the square.

“Um…” Da Fei, acting as if he were meeting a blind date for the first time, shyly extended the spicy strips. “Want some?”

“Ah…” Gu Lizhou was still caught up in his thoughts—’Did they catch me filming? How awkward. How should I explain?’—and didn’t react immediately.

Zhong Weishi tilted his head, recommending the spicy strips just like he had recommended the milk tea. “Try it. Weilong, an old brand. It’s really good, trust me.”

Gu Lizhou: “…”

---

Author’s Note:

Key takeaway: The easiest way to compliment a person’s good temperament?

You don’t look like the kind of person who eats spicy strips.

The next day, Gu Lizhou was still lying in bed dreaming, when he heard a burst of laughter and chatter outside.

The soundproofing in old buildings like Lanshan Apartments was terrible, and the laughter penetrated the walls like a construction drill, echoing non-stop.

It felt like thousands of flies buzzing around, and Gu Lizhou was immediately furious. He wanted to see which idiots were causing the noise.

The moment he opened the door, the laughter in the hallway abruptly stopped.

Four heads looked at him in unison.

“What’s all this noise? It’s early in the morning—can’t you let people get some sleep!” Gu Lizhou frowned and growled, noticing there was even a little girl among them.

“fvck, it’s already past three in the afternoon, and you’re calling it early in the morning? You must’ve slept through time itself.” Zhong Weishi pointed at the sun overhead. “See that? Even Mr. Sun is about to clock out.”

Gu Lizhou raised his wrist to check the time. Sure enough, it was past three.

He had struggled to sleep last night, being particular about his bed, and ended up sleeping through the entire morning until the afternoon.

It was as if it was a lifetime ago.

This was the first time Zhong Weishi had seen Gu Lizhou without his usual groomed appearance.

His slightly curly hair was a mess from sleep, with a stray tuft sticking up like an antenna. His skin was fair, and he wore a black silk pajama set, giving off a relaxed and lazy vibe.

But the furrowed brow made him look impatient, as if the words “Don’t mess with me” were written on his face.

Yet, even in this state, his aura still threw off of the locals in Xicheng District by miles ahead.

Huangfu Qiang was surprised at first, as there had been no progress on the 300,000-yuan job. His years of professional instinct made him approach with a grin, “What a coincidence, ge. You live here too ah?”

Gu Lizhou brushed off the topic and looked at Zhong Weishi. “What the hell are you all up to? Laughing like a bunch of drills.”

A’Wei immediately pouted.

“Making art,” Zhong Weishi replied without hesitation, pointing back at Da Fei beside him. “My creation. What do you think? Looks like a woman, right?”

Da Fei felt a bit embarrassed in front of strangers. He awkwardly squeezed his slender legs together beneath the dress and shrank behind Zhong Weishi, his eyes timid, like a frightened rabbit.

Gu Lizhou rubbed his sleepy eyes, staring for quite a while, unsure if that was really a man.

Da Fei wasn’t very tall, about 1.7 meters, and he wore color-block stockings—white below the knee and nude above. A navy plaid skirt barely covered half of his thighs, and he paired it with a white blouse adorned with a huge bow at the collar.

He also had a light brown shoulder-length wig on.

The bangs were thick.

The breasts were stuffed with something unknown…

Large and eye-catching.

In all his years, Gu Lizhou had never seen a cosplayer up close before, and his worldview collapsed a little. “What’s this thing? Are you cosplaying Sailor Moon?”

Zhong Weishi rolled his eyes and shoved Da Fei closer to Gu Lizhou. “A high schooler! Doesn’t this look like a high schooler? It’s the ultimate uniform temptation ah.”

God fvcking damn uniform temptation .

Gu Lizhou thought to himself: You must’ve seen high schoolers in Japanese adult films.

Can a Chinese high school student look like this?

A real school uniform’s sleeves could be used as props in an opera.

A’Wei briefly explained the situation and their strategy: “Anyway, that’s how it is. Even if Er’Gou doesn’t approach Da Fei, we’ll have Da Fei ask for his contact info. Then, step by step, we’ll get the money he took back!”

“…” What a terrible idea.

Dressing as a woman was clearly just to satisfy their weird tastes!

Gu Lizhou had little hope for recovering the 300,000 yuan. As he headed back inside, he casually remarked, “Those chests look fake. Er’Gou won’t fall for them.”

“You know that again.” Huangfu Qiang pulled his voice. “So, what’s your plan then?”

Gu Lizhou’s action of closing the door paused, then indifferently walked toward 301, leaning against the window. “To deal with a repeat offender like Er’Gou, tricks won’t work. You can only confront him directly. Once you find where he actually lives, the only chance you have is to threaten him to pay back the money.”

“First, we need to gather more people…”

Qiangzi and Da Fei nodded dumbfoundedly as they listened to Gu Lizhou’s flurry of analysis. “Right, right, right, what you’re saying makes a lot of sense ah.”

Zhong Weishi countered sensibly, “You’re just all talk.”

As it turned out, provoking a man…

Was quite effective.

Gu Lizhou regretted agreeing to go stakeout Er’Gou near Fenglin Community with them later that night almost immediately.

It was true that it wasn’t advisable to sleep for a long time during the day, otherwise it clouds your mind.

However, a man’s words are like spilt milk, he has to follow through, no matter what.

Fenglin Community had two gates, one to the south and one to the north. The southern gate was near the commercial area, with a large square bustling with people. Qiangzi and A’Wei stationed themselves at the southern square.

Zhong Weishi and Gu Lizhou squatted by the flowerbed in the northern gate, while Da Fei, still dressed as a woman, moved between the two squares.

“Didn’t I say not to dress as a woman? Why is he back in costume?” Gu Lizhou complained as he ate the burger he’d grabbed from KFC, having missed dinner.

Zhong Weishi sniffed the aroma and said softly, “What man hasn’t thought about wearing a skirt?”

Gu Lizhou didn’t think twice, “Not me.”

Zhong Weishi shot him a glance. “Liar.”

“…” Gu Lizhou realized what he meant. “So you want to wear one, too?”

“I’ve worn it ah,” Zhong Weishi shrugged nonchalantly. “I once played a palace maid in a production and even fed gr4p3s to Emperor Shunzhi.”

A vivid image suddenly popped into Gu Lizhou’s mind.

With a “pfft”, he burst out laughing.

“Laughing your ass off. There’s nothing wrong with sacrificing for art,” Zhong Weishi said, eyeing him seriously. “I think you’d look pretty good in women’s clothes; your face shape is just perfect for it…”

Gu Lizhou blocked his mouth with a chicken wrap.

In the summer, the days are long and the nights short. By six o’clock, it was still bright outside, and the elderly residents who had finished dinner began to gather around the community.

Two aunties carrying speakers squatted down, fiddling with something.

In less than ten minutes, the leading auntie waved her hand, and the scattered crowd automatically lined up in neat rows.

Gu Lizhou watched in astonishment.

Back in his school days, their military training had never been like this; it was probably even worse… The instructors would yell until they lost their voices, yet the team would still be lazy.

Really admirable.

As the speakers turned on, a powerful DJ version of a square dance song echoed throughout the square.

“Flowers, dance up~ Willows, dance up~ We dance together with the sky~”

“Rumba, samba, jitterbug, go crazy and dance~ Under this starry sky~ Let’s dance together~”

As the singing began, more and more people joined the center of the group, including some young and beautiful girls who moved gracefully without a hint of shyness.

The crowd consisted of a variety of people, including children in split-crotch pants, wiggling their asses along the music, while parents nearby held up their phones to record.

The center of the square resembled a gigantic stage, with everyone moving in time to the music, waving their arms in unison.

The scene was shocking.

Gu Lizhou watched mesmerized, an involuntary smile creeping onto his lips.

He started to understand why his mother enjoyed square dancing so much.

It was lively.

A brief escape from worries.

Zhong Weishi leaned against an unknown small tree, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He was about to casually ask the guy next to him if he wanted one but hesitated as he didn’t have the heart to do so.

The other guy would definitely look down on his 12-yuan-a-pack cigarettes.

Sure enough, the pretty boy also pulled out his own pack.

But he had no lighter.

Zhong Weishi pretended not to notice, only to feel a gentle elbow nudge him a moment later.

“Hey, lend me a light.”

Zhong Weishi turned to him. “First, I don’t go by hey; my name is Zhong Weishi. Second, I’m not the one pulling; I just don’t want to lend you one. You’ll have to beg me, ah ah ah ao—”

Before he could finish, the last “ah” unexpectedly turned into a high pitch.

Gu Lizhou had grabbed him by the neck and pushed him into the flower bed, swiftly snatching the lighter from his hand.

Zhong Weishi cursed as he brushed off the dry leaves stuck in his hair, rubbing the spot on his neck that had just been squeezed.

The guy looked refined but had surprisingly strong hands.

After Gu Lizhou lit his cigarette, he raised an eyebrow. “What did you just say your name was?”

“What a terrible memory you have ah.” Zhong Weishi picked up the cigarette that had fallen onto his leg and blew on it. “Zhong Weishi. The ‘Zhong’ with the gold radical, and ‘Weishi’ as in the time of ‘weishi’ in the twelve hours.”

“Are you born in the Weishi time ah?” Gu Lizhou turned to look at him.

“I don’t know,” Zhong Weishi replied. “I’ve never met my real parents.”

“Huh?” Gu Lizhou’s expression froze.

The singing in the square was loud, and Zhong Weishi thought Gu Lizhou hadn’t heard him clearly, so he repeated himself.

“No, what I mean is… You’re…” Gu Lizhou hesitated, not daring to voice his guess.

Zhong Weishi narrowed his eyes and took a deep drag from his cigarette.

As the smoke dissipated, Gu Lizhou heard him say, “I was thrown away.”

Gu Lizhou narrowed his eyes and took a drag of his cigarette. “You just flipped from 301 to 306. Isn’t this ticket a bit overpriced? Are you bullying me?”

How is this bullying?!

Zhong Weishi had a whole new understanding of the term “shameless.”

“One minute on stage, ten years of practice off stage. That was just a rehearsal; this is the real performance. How could it be the same?” Zhong Weishi stuffed the money into his pocket. “If you want the full show, you’ll have to pay more.”

In all his years, Gu Lizhou had never encountered a guy with this kind of temperament before. He smiled and pulled out his wallet.

Before coming to City B, he happened to withdraw some money from the bank. Inside it was a bunch of brand new Grandpa Mao that were at least two or three thousand yuan.

Zhong Weishi’s eyes nearly popped out. He then heard the other party’s low voice, “Money isn’t the issue. It’s all about your performance. If I’m satisfied, all of this is yours.”

“…” Why did that line sound worse the more he listened?

Was this the young version of Fifth Master Qin?¹Fifth Qin Master, alias Fifth Master, is an upright character in the TV Series “Deep Emotions in the Misty Rain”. He is the owner of the Shanghai Opera House. He has a clear sense of right and wrong, a sense of justice, and often helps others when he sees injustice.

Without much thought, Zhong Weishi took a few steps back to the 301 door.

A few simple flips were nothing to him, especially since it was the first time someone was willing to pay to watch him perform.

“Watch closely ah.”

Zhong Weishi adjusted his pants, his stance was full of confidence. “Let me show you what a whirlwind looks like…”

Because he was standing too far, Gu Lizhou couldn’t catch the last few words clearly. He just leaned against the balcony, watching the boy, who always had a fierce expression and kept saying things like “none of your business,” launch himself into the air with one leg.

A beautiful side flip.

It was immediately followed by several more perfectly executed front flips in succession—all without the boy’s hand ever touching the ground.

Gu Lizhou wondered if the boy had springs attached to his feet.

The boy’s legs were slender and powerful, generating an explosive force as he flipped, cutting through the air in front of him like a gust of wind.

Gu Lizhou stared intently, and the acrobatic performance he had seen on TV not long ago suddenly flashed in his mind.

This boy’s performance was even better, with various flips seamlessly flowing together, creating a dazzling display.

Watching up close brought an even more powerful visual impact.

After flipping to the door of 306, the boy didn’t stop; instead, he planted his hands on the ground and proceeded to walk forward on his hands.

His calves bent slightly to maintain balance, and he moved at a pretty fast pace.

By the time he reached the doorway of 303, his ears had turned bright red from the rush of blood.

As if provoking, the boy hooked his lips at him and smiled.

The night breeze brushed past his ears, carrying a bit of chill, washing away the exhaustion and irritation of the day.

Gu Lizhou saw the boy’s T-shirt gradually slide up from his waist to his chest, revealing a wide expanse of toned muscle. As he breathed, his lower abdomen tensed slightly, probably from the effort.

This posture wasn’t exactly sexy, but the figure was undeniably impressive.

Zhong Weishi’s eyes were fixed on the ground as he worked hard to maintain his balance, his elbows trembling slightly.

Gu Lizhou stubbed out his cigarette and tilted his head, catching a glimpse of the faint groove on the boy’s lower back…

“What are you grinning at? You look like a complete idiot.” Cao Zhiheng came out of the kitchen after cleaning up the dishes and saw Gu Lizhou staring at his phone with a silly smile.

“Good stuff.” Gu Lizhou dragged the progress bar back to where it started.

Cao Zhiheng saw a boy on the screen, walking on his hands, with taut lines along his arms and waist.

It was the kid from 301.

He had no idea how long he held that position, but his T-shirt was almost covering his face, making him look rather pitiful.

Suddenly, Gu Lizhou’s slightly hoarse and playful voice came from the side. “Great job. Come get your money.”

Zhong Weishi hadn’t expected this pretty boy to be friends with the guy from 303 who was into art—in his worldview, anyone who could make money without stepping outside was an artist.

What he didn’t expect even more was how generous this pretty boy turned out to be.

2,000 yuan.

A stack of Grandpa Mao bills with Mona Lisa-like smile was handed right in front of him.

“Take it, your ticket money. Don’t say I bullied you.”

Zhong Weishi tugged at his waistband. As he walked over, he caught a faint scent of tobacco.

That little pretty boy’s addiction to cigarettes seemed pretty big; in the time it took for him to do a few flips, he was already on his second cigarette.

But smoking wasn’t the same for everyone—different grades of cigarettes left different scents. He had smelled the overwhelming, choking stench of smoke that filled internet cafes and the faint aroma lingering on a certain famous artist.

He wasn’t sure what brand the pretty boy smoked, but you had to get close to catch the scent.

It was barely there.

There was even a drop of good smell.

Zhong Weishi figured his nose must have automatically activated a filter because of the appearance of this stack of Grandpa Mao.

For someone who barely had enough to eat but not his next, 2,000 yuan was considered a huge sum of money. But holding the money didn’t sit well with him. After hesitating for half a day, he only pulled one bill from the top.

“One hundred is enough, otherwise it’s really bullying you.”

Gu Lizhou smiled without saying a word and turned to head back into 303.

The pretty boy’s smile was quite nice—almost like a celebrity’s. Zhong Weishi thought about it while lying on his bed.

No, wait. Just because someone paid for a ticket doesn’t mean they’re a good person!

Zhong Weishi started to feel curious about the pretty boy’s occupation.

He flipped through his phone’s calendar to check the date they first met; it happened to be a weekday.

Could he also be an artist?

No, no, no. What kind of normal person would throw money around like that?

Zhong Weishi recalled the pretty boy’s exact words: “Money isn’t the issue. It’s all about your performance. If I’m satisfied, all of this is yours.”

As if he had a bubble in his brain.²Implies that he must’ve something wrong in his head.

His tone and expression were annoyingly punchable.

Zhong Weishi figured it was more likely he was some hedonistic son of rich parents, a rich and powerful second-generation…

But why would a rich second-generation live in a shitty place like this?

Running away from marriage?!

The real-life version of “The Young Master’s Escape from Marriage”?!

Zhong Weishi rolled over, deciding it was better to focus on how to get through tomorrow.

The Wi-Fi from upstairs was slow, and it took ten minutes just for the rental page to load.

There were no new messages.

When he tried to refresh the page to search for jobs, a network connection error appeared.

With a cup of instant noodles in hand, Zhong Weishi squatted on the balcony of 301, checking the group chat messages.

[Huangfu]: What do you guys think about using a honey trap to lure Er’Gou out?

[Da Fei]: Very good ah, I second the motion!

[Wei-ge]: Then, where to find a beauty?

Zhong Weishi laughed and muttered, psychopaths, as he scrolled up to read the chat history.

It turned out that last night, Qiangzi and the others had been staking out at Fenglin Community when they spotted a man who looked like Er’Gou.

A clue so soon?

Since he had nothing better to do, Zhong Weishi became interested in the honey trap idea.

[Weishi]: Tomorrow, I’ll borrow a costume from a friend in a film crew. Da Fei, you’ll have to make a sacrifice.

[Da Fei]: No, no, I can’t… I’ve never dressed up as a woman before…

[Huangfu]: Da Fei! Have you forgotten what I told you? The word can’t should never exist in a man’s vocabulary!

For the first time, Da Fei had a stroke of genius: How about you do it instead?

[Huangfu]: My figure won’t allow it. Otherwise, I’ll do it.

[Weishi]: Da Fei, don’t you want to experience what it feels like to wear a dress at least once?

The following day at noon.

Gu Lizhou woke up from a nap in the hotel’s big bed and lazily glanced at his phone with two unread messages.

[Cao Zhiheng]: When are you coming over today? I’ve already tidied up the room for you. It’s the one by the balcony.

[Cao Zhiheng]: I need to head to the film set first, so I might be home late. The key is under the green flower pot outside the balcony, stuck with transparent tape. Clean yourself up and wait for me on the bed. [Sassy whoosh.jpg]

Gu Lizhou replied “stupid”.

With no one around and nothing to do, Gu Lizhou bonelessly lay on the bed, ordered takeout, and watched a documentary while he ate.

It wasn’t until three o’clock in the afternoon, when the hotel called to ask if he wanted to extend his stay or check out, that he remembered he had to check out.

He hadn’t planned to stay long anyway, so he didn’t have much luggage. He finished packing in about ten minutes and dragged his luggage to the hotel entrance to hail a taxi.

The trip from the hotel to the Lanshan Apartments in Xicheng District took over an hour.

It wasn’t far, but the traffic was terrible; he had to wait through three or four red lights before he could get through.

As he sat in the car, the sun shining down made him drowsy. He watched the army of electric bikes and bicycles whizzing past and felt utterly helpless.

He finally realized why Cao Zhiheng said he didn’t want to drive.

When he got out of the car, he caught a whiff of takoyaki.

A granny pushed a stall cart by a flower bed, with two young girls waiting nearby.

The cart looked pretty simple, and on it, there was a crooked A4 paper sign that read: 10 yuan a serving.

Gu Lizhou suddenly recalled the image of the black tank top wolfing down takoyaki last night. He crossed the road and ordered a serving for himself.

The two girls, who had been busy taking pictures of the old woman’s takoyaki, instinctively turned to look when they heard his voice. Once they did, they found it hard to look away and shared a sly smile.

Granny was quite old and slow in her movements. In just a few minutes, the crowd around her grew larger, and it took a while for her to prepare two servings.

“What sauce do you want?” The granny looked up at him.

“Any cheese?” Gu Li Zhou asked.

“What?” The granny looked at him.

“Cheese.” Gu Lizhou gestured with his hand, “The yellow kind that can stretch.”

The granny nodded calmly and smoothly squeezed out a stringy salad dressing. “Is it like this?”

Gu Lizhou was taken aback. “Ah, yes…”

Maybe it was because he was hungry, but he found the takoyaki quite tasty and finished it in one go while sitting by the flower bed.

As he approached the entrance of the apartment building, he heard a girl’s voice calling “handsome brother” from behind.

He didn’t feel like turning around.

How embarrassing it would’ve been if he wasn’t being called.

“Handsome brother! Hey! The one in the white shirt! Wait!” The girl’s voice grew closer.

Gu Lizhou looked down at his t-shirt.

White.

So he turned around and recognized that it was the two girls who had been in line with him for the takoyaki.

“I’ve been calling you for half a day la, why didn’t you answer?” One of the girls was pushing his suitcase.

Only then did Gu Lizhou realize he had left his luggage at the granny’s stall.

Spending all day lazing around really brought him a step closer to dementia.

After thanking them, Gu Lizhou sighed and turned to the apartment.

The Lanshan Apartments had a concave design, with two stairway entrances located at the ends of the concave shape. Each floor housed twelve households, though only a few were currently occupied.

To reach Cao Zhiheng’s place, Gu Lizhou had to pass by three households.

301 was at the end of the corridor.

As he went upstairs, he instinctively glanced at the door; it was closed.

On the balcony, a T-shirt and a light gray pair of underwear were hanging. The underwear had a yellow cartoon chick printed on it, with an eggshell perched on top of the chick’s head.

What a damn taste.

Before long, Cao Zhiheng returned home carrying a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables.

While changing his shoes, he shouted, “Yo, look at you, so well-behaved. Waiting at home for me, huh? I’ll make you braised pork for dinner tonight. Do you like that?”

“Whatever, I’ll eat whatever you make.”

“Would you eat poop?” Cao Zhiheng carried the vegetables into the kitchen.

“Old Cao.” Gu Lizhou peeled a banana. “You’re a grown man now; can you stop bringing up shit and urine? Do you have the nerve to say such things in front of your girlfriend?”

“Of course not.” Cao Zhiheng laughed. “But our relationship is special, isn’t it?”

“Scram.” Gu Lizhou took a bite of the banana.

“I won’t. I want to annoy you to death,” Cao Zhiheng shouted from the kitchen. “What are you standing there for? Don’t you have eyesight? Come over and wash the vegetables.”

Gu Lizhou had never done much housework in his life, but being a guest in someone else’s home meant he had to contribute in some way; otherwise, it would be unreasonable.

He couldn’t wash vegetables; he was afraid of bugs.

He couldn’t peel potatoes, he’s never done it before.

When he tried to rinse rice, he accidentally spilled it, prompting Cao Zhiheng to say “roll” at him several times. He rolled away as if relieved.

When it was time to eat, Gu Lizhou was idly wandering in the hallway when he saw the granny who had sold him takoyaki earlier locking her cart at the bottom of the stairs. She was slowly making her way toward the hallway.

“It’s you,” The granny recognized him. “You live here too?”

“Mn,” Gu Lizhou nodded, ”I just moved here today.”

As the granny climbed the stairs, her bag tore, and apples scattered all over the floor. Gu Lizhou hurriedly turned on his phone’s flashlight and went down to help.

“Ai, I don’t know what’s wrong with this light, it’s always broken. I can hardly see anything,” The granny said, using her clothing to gather the apples. After counting them, she added, “Thanks for your help ah. Here, take a couple to try. They’re crunchy and sweet.”

“Thank you.” Gu Lizhou smiled.

When Zhong Weishi returned home, he was surprised to find that the hallway light, which had been broken for a long time, was now working.

He wondered which god did this.

While collecting clothes, he heard laughter coming from the direction of apartment 303.

“Is it that funny?” Gu Lizhou squinted at Cao Zhiheng, whose face was shaking from laughter. “Can’t you think from another perspective?”

“Seriously, your mom is something else. She got scammed out of over 300,000 just like that?” Cao Zhiheng continued to laugh.

“Ghost knows. She’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed, and she insisted on learning to do business,” Gu Lizhou said.

“Then you persuade her ah.” Cao Zhiheng said.

“Persuading is useless,” Gu Lizhou replied, picking up a piece of braised pork. “She’s just idle. Whatever, when she loses all her money, she’ll stop playing.”

“Since you’re so free, why don’t you start a little café business?” Cao Zhiheng suggested.

“I’m just not cut out for business…”

As he spoke, Gu Lizhou faintly heard a “thump-thump-thump” noise coming from the hallway outside.

It had been going on for a while and was quite disturbing.

“What’s that noise? Are there children living on this floor?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“Oh, that kid from 301 is practicing martial arts,” Cao Zhiheng said casually. “Just some exercise before dinner.”

“Practicing?” Gu Lizhou paused, recalling that he had been told that person never trained.

Little liar.

Besides playing eunuchs and corpses, Zhong Weishi also occasionally took on stunt double roles.

Stunt double paid better than actors.

In order to increase his physical strength, he often worked out at home.

Just then, he had been tumbling over ten times in the empty hallway, doing flips from 301 to the door of 306.

He had started walking on his hands, attempting to get back to 301. However, halfway through, he suddenly spotted a familiar face in his line of sight.

That person had a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth and was looking down at him with a smile.

In that brief moment when their eyes met, Zhong Weishi’s elbow gave way, and he almost fell face-first onto the floor.

“fvck.” Zhong Weishi stood up and looked up at him. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was embarrassed after being caught or because he had been tumbling around for a long time, his cheeks and the roots of his ears were flushed red. “What are you looking at?”

“Why did you stop?” Gu Lizhou replied, his words slightly muffled by the cigarette still in his mouth, leaning casually against the doorframe. His relaxed posture made him look like an audience member watching a show.

Zhong Weishi wasn’t particularly familiar with the people in this building, but he had exchanged greetings with them.

At first, everyone would look at him twice, but after seeing him perform a few times, they got used to it. No one paid him any mind, so suddenly having someone stare at him made him feel inexplicably shy.

The main reason was that this person possessed a certain aura that felt out of place in Xicheng District, making Zhong Weishi feel like his gaze was mocking him.

Zhong Weishi didn’t reply and walked straight toward 301.

Gu Lizhou pinched the cigarette between his fingers, softening his tone but maintaining his lazy demeanor. “I’m asking you, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“None of your business.” Zhong Weishi glanced back at him. “You’re not paying for a ticket, so why should I let you watch for free ah?”

Even though this man shamelessly claimed to be his employer yesterday, he didn’t acknowledge it.

Aside from the matter of finding Er’Gou, they had no relationship, and it was even worse than being strangers.

The grudge from the tattoo was too deep to reconcile!

“Such a big temper?” Gu Lizhou stepped closer to the balcony and shook off some ash. “How much for that performance? How much would it take to see it again?”

Zhong Weishi: “…”

Though it had been his idea to bring it up, he felt that the line wasn’t quite appropriate.

Noticing he stood still and was silent, Gu Lizhou took out a small change from his pocket. “50. Is that enough?”

Was a man’s pride only worth 50 yuan!

Zhong Weishi hesitated for half a second, then did two cartwheels on the spot and snatched the money from him.

“fvck, it’s still fvcking there.” Zhong Weishi exclaimed in surprise, eagerly leaning in to tap the avatar.

The fluffy and soft hair lightly touched someone’s cheek.

It was a bit itchy.

Gu Lizhou touched his cheek and shifted the phone a little farther away.

From a distance, it looked like the two of them had their heads huddled together.

The lighting in the last video was a bit dim, but it was clear that the background was a huge shopping mall. The colorful ground lights beneath flickered on and off.

Zhong Weishi turned up the volume.

His phone was a classic model—no longer in production.

Nothing worked but if put out, it was NB.

A booming dance track, mixed with crackling static, echoed sharply in the quiet hallway.

“In my hand, the rose has burned to ashes,

In front of the girl, people come and go…

…

Sincerity, real intention, true love, true feelings are rare,

It’s not a crime for a man to be penniless.

Will you choose Chen Shimei¹Chinese opera character and a byword in China for a heartless and unfaithful man. He was married to Qin Xianglian, also translated as Fragrant Lotus. Chen Shimei betrayed Qin Xianglian by marrying another woman, and tried to kill her to cover up his past. or become a butterfly, flying in pairs…”

There was even a bit of a tongue-twisting rap in the middle, but Zhong Weishi only caught two lines clearly.

“Love, love, I ask you.

What the hell is it!”

When he looked up, he noticed that even the pretty boy was laughing.

The camera first focused on a woman’s chest, then panned down her curvy figure.

“Damn. What the hell is this pervert filming?” Zhong Weishi’s hand slipped, and he almost accidentally liked the video. “How the hell did your mom end up with this kind of person?”

Gu Lizhou’s tone was cold, “I don’t know.”

Zhong Weishi continued scrolling through the videos.

Most of them were candid shots taken in public squares, with a clear focus on attractive women—those with good looks, graceful figures, and talent for dancing.

Eventually, Zhong Weishi came across a video of Li Yuqin. She stood out in the center of the square like a crane among chickens, happily spinning and leaping in her dance.

“I’ve got to admit, your mom’s dance moves are pretty good,” He remarked, almost tempted to double-tap for a like.

Gu Lizhou handed the phone back. “Although these filming locations aren’t all the same, we might be able to deduce his current residence using the ‘circumference theory.’”

“The what theory?” Zhong Weishi was completely lost.

Gu Lizhou briefly explained, “Draw markings on all the squares that appear in the videos on a map. Then, take the distance between the two furthest locations as the diameter and draw a circle. If nothing unexpected happens, Er’Gou’s usual activity range will be within that circle.”

“You’re that sure?” Zhong Weishi was deeply skeptical.

“If it were you, and you went out at night to dance in a square, where would you go?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“I don’t dance in squares,” Zhong Weishi shook his head.

“Assuming you dance,” Gu Lizhou said.

“Then why don’t you assume you dance?!” Zhong Weishi stretched his neck.

Gu Lizhou replied calmly, “If it were me, it’d definitely be near my house—someplace I could walk to or get to by electric scooter. It’s more convenient that way.”

“You some kind of criminal investigator or something ah?”

Gu Lizhou shrugged, “Some theoretical common sense.”

Though this guy deserves a spanking, Zhong Weishi had to admit there was some logic to the theory. So, he sent the clue to Qiangzi and the others.

[Huangfu]: Holy crap, NB ah ge! You actually found him! I’m gonna go follow him right now.

[Wei-ge]: I think this circumference theory makes a lot of sense.

[Da Fei]: Genius!

Zhong Weishi noticed Gu Lizhou still watching his screen, with a smile lingering on his face, so he replied: Don’t rush to praise just yet—we still don’t know if we’ll actually find him.

Gu Lizhou withdrew his gaze and continued, “Besides his residence, we might also be able to predict his next filming location based on these spots. You should keep an eye on the areas around your neighborhood where people gather to dance.”

Zhong Weishi responded with an “oh” and turned to head home. It wasn’t until after he finished gathering his laundry, closed the door, and sat down at his small desk by the window to reply to messages that he suddenly remembered—he was still connected to Gu Lizhou’s phone hotspot.

The point was that the hotspot actually hasn’t been disconnected!

When he looked up, he saw a pair of eyes staring at him through the half-open window.

Just then, a breeze blew past outside the window, lifting the curtains, and causing the face outside to flicker in and out of view, startling him.

Zhong Weishi pushed the window open and poked his head out. “What are you doing just standing there? You scared the hell out of me.”

“You live here?” Gu Li Zhou asked.

“Yes, why?” Zhong Weishi couldn’t figure out why this man was so curious.

“Alone?”

Noticing that Gu Lizhou was eyeing his room, Zhong Weishi grew defensive. “I have a roommate.”

“Oh.” Gu Lizhou folded his arms and kept looking at him. “What kind of work do you do?”

“Acting ah.” Zhong Weishi was stunned—never in his life did he expect to have a man chatting him up through a window. He added in shock, “My friend works in loans and debt collection, so sometimes he looks for us to help out.”

Gu Lizhou nodded thoughtfully, “Is it the first time?”

His stiff attitude and suspicious tone sounded like a police officer conducting a routine interrogation after catching some prostitutes.

“What exactly do you do?” Zhong Weishi asked.

Gu Lizhou: “Your employer.”

Gu Lizhou had been a little hesitant, wondering if calling out to him so abruptly might be a bit too forward. After all, the other person might’ve already forgotten him. However, the word “again” from the other party made him want to continue.

He pointed at the wall full of small advertisements and asked, “Did you post these?”

“How could I? Do I look like that kind of person?” As soon as Zhong Weishi finished speaking, he spotted a refreshingly out-of-place missing person notice amid the ads for “genital enlargement surgery.”

With a heavy “ai” he lazily admitted, “Yeah, I posted them. What’s the problem?”

Gu Lizhou stifled a laugh and crossed his arms. “Is this how you guys look for people?”

“What’s the problem?” Zhong Weishi countered.

Gu Lizhou sneered, spreading his left hand. “Hand me your phone.”

“What for?” Zhong Weishi instinctively reached for his pocket, suspicious that the man might take advantage of the darkness of the night as a cover to steal his phone and run.

“To help you find someone,” Gu Li Zhou said indifferently.

Zhong Weishi looked at him suspiciously, “How?”

“By using your brain.” Gu Lizhou hooked up his fingers. “Give me the phone.”

Wow!

Look at that NB¹牛(niú) 逼 (bī) – equals to fvcking awesome in English. attitude—he could blow a rhino up to the sky with it.

Zhong Weishi had seen shameless people before, but never anyone this shameless.

Suppressing the urge to kick him down the stairs, Zhong Weishi fished out his phone and handed it over, ready to poke holes in his boasting.

Gu Lizhou flipped the phone so the screen faced him. “Unlock.”

“I’m telling you, calling won’t help. My friend tried countless times, and it just gives a busy signal.” Even as Zhong Weishi said this, he unlocked the phone anyway.

Who knows how many years the phone case had been used? The printed design was almost worn down to a solid black.

There were seven pages of apps in total, mostly games and video software. Each time he flipped through a page, the phone lagged a little.

Seeing him tapping away at the screen as if searching for something, Zhong Weishi couldn’t help but lean in. “Don’t go snooping ah. I’ve got a lot of little secrets in there.”

Gu Lizhou lifted his eyelids and gave him a knowing smirk as if something had come to mind.

Zhong Weishi didn’t need to guess to know what he was thinking. “Not the kind you’re imagining. I, am a decent person.”

Gu Lizhou didn’t believe it at all. “If you can’t reach him through WeChat, try other apps. There are so many ways to communicate these days, you’re bound to find something that works. Why is your phone disconnected from the internet?”

“Oh, the service was cut off,” Zhong Weishi said.

That night, he had planned to leech off the upstairs Wi-Fi to top up his phone bill. But when he opened WeChat, he found he only had 25 yuan—just short of the minimum required to recharge. So, he decided just to make do until next month.

Gu Lizhou asked, “Your service got cut off, and you’re not topping it up? What, are you planning to display this crap for an exhibition ah?”

Zhong Weishi wanted to save face, so he stuck out his neck and said, “What’s wrong with not topping up? Can’t I just use it to check the time?”

Without another word, Gu Lizhou turned on the hotspot on his phone and connected it to Zhong Weishi’s.

Zhong Weishi couldn’t help but grumble, “Why are you using my phone when you have yours?”

Gu Lizhou straightforwardly replied, “I don’t want to download Kuaishou.”²A short video social media platform where users can create and share their content in a convenient and simple way.

“Oh…” Zhong Weishi dragged out the sound, then frowned and asked, “Then, why do you think I’d have Kuaishou on my phone ah?”

Gu Li Zhou said without lifting his head, “Temperament.”

Zhong Weishi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He never thought he’d one day hear something like that from someone else.

The truth was, he did have Kuaishou on his phone, but that was only because Qiangzi, trying to mimic some kind of eating broadcast trend last year, had begged him a thousand times to download the app and help boost his presence.

He would never forget that sunny afternoon when he finally found Qiangzi’s livestream. Qiangzi was sitting in the back of a tricycle, with a vast golden wheat field as the backdrop.

Inside the tricycle sat a huge rice vat, large enough to fit two Sima Guangs, filled with fiery red chili oil and instant noodles.

Qiangzi, grinning ear to ear, basked in the joy of the harvest as he spoke to the screen, “Today, I’m taking on the instant noodle challenge! There are 100 packets of noodles here, and since I like my food spicy, I bought the spicy beef flavor and added two jars of Lao Gan Ma. If you like this, follow me oh!”

That day, Qiangzi summoned almost every brothers in the internet cafe to come online and send him gifts, driving the viewership into the four digits.

It was like the whole place was in a state of flux.

It felt like he was peaking the moment he debuted.

Qiangzi used both hands to shovel noodles into his mouth, devouring them like a king, his sheer presence oozing from the screen.

That was also the first time in Zhong Weishi’s life that he’d ever tipped a streamer.

By the time Qiangzi had eaten half the vat, he couldn’t stop hiccupping, clutching his round belly, so stuffed he could no longer speak.

As expected, Qiangzi ended up wrecking his stomach.

That very night, he vomited and had diarrhea, eventually needing to go to the hospital for a three-day IV drip. When Qiangzi’s mother came to bring him some food, he took one look at the noodles and directly threw up.

From that point on, he developed a strong aversion to eating live streams.

“I downloaded it and forgot to delete it,” Zhong Weishi concluded.

Gu Lizhou believed his lengthy explanation, especially since the only streamer in his follow list was one called “Big Stomach King Huangfu.”

The last post on that account was from June of last year.

He resisted the urge to click and witness that heart-wrenching eating show.

What surprised Zhong Weishi, though, was that after Gu Lizhou entered a string of numbers into the search bar, an ID actually popped up.

The avatar was Er’Gou.

Gu Lizhou was at the hotel, packing his luggage and getting ready to take a shower. When he saw the message, he immediately called his mom.

“That kind of person is obviously a scammer, how could you still believe them ah?”

“He seemed so sincere when he spoke. He didn’t really seem like a scammer ah…”

Gu Lizhou sighed. He finally understood why elderly people can get deeply trapped in pyramid schemes. Even someone as educated as his mom could be so easily fooled.

“An old sow wearing a bra—one trick after another.¹This was the literal translation. It means someone who is continuously scheming or using tricks which often implies that their schemes are outlandish or unsuitable for them—much like the absurd image of a sow in a bra. If you give them money now, they’ll definitely come up with ways to ask for more. When you’re free, you should read more social news. There are countless stories of scams like this.”

“Then what about the money I already lost?” Li Yuqin said pitifully.

“Didn’t you already report it to the police? They’ll investigate and open a case. Investigations take time, so don’t be anxious.”

Gu Lizhou thought that if worse came to worst, he’d cover the lost money himself to spare his mom from any more stress.

“In short, don’t trust those people, okay?”

“Oh.” Li Yuqin responded with some disappointment.

In her view, those people didn’t seem like bad guys at all. In fact, they were even a bit cute.

If they really were scammers, it meant she had a terrible sense of judgment.

Seeing how sincerely they discussed plans in the group chat, she felt a bit bad. So, she sent a 500-yuan red envelope as a token of goodwill, thinking that if they were scammers, she’d just consider it her way of doing charity.

[Perfect Marriage]: I’ll send more once you make some progress.

Ever since Huangfu Qiang added Auntie into the group chat, he created a smaller four-person chat where he was currently giving an impassioned speech on video.

“Don’t look down on this 500 yuan. Even a fly’s worth of meat is still meat. Since she’s willing to give, it means she trusts us! Let’s have faith, determination, and perseverance to help her recover the 300,000 yuan she lost.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Zhong Weishi was staring at familiar faces on the screen, he might have thought he had accidentally wandered into some sort of pyramid scheme himself.

“What’s our slogan?!”

“The strongest in the Xicheng District—”

Before the sentence could be completed, the screen suddenly froze. Except for Zhong Weishi, who had no idea what the slogan even was and remained blank-faced, the other three were frozen in grotesque expressions, baring their teeth.

Bad signal?

Zhong Weishi raised his phone and moved closer to the window.

The network was completely disconnected.

What the hell?

Returning to the bed, Zhong Weishi realized that even his computer had lost its connection.

He tried calling Qiangzi’s phone.

“Your phone service has been disconnected.”

“…”

During the time when Zhong Weishi had lost contact with everyone, Huangfu Qiang took the photos provided by Li Yuqin to a print shop and had a stack of missing person posters made.

“Zhang Gou, male, 38 years old, from Zhangjiagou Village, speaks with a non-standard Mandarin accent, left home after a family argument and hasn’t returned since… Any information leading to his whereabouts will be greatly rewarded. Contact number: xxx.”

Gu Lizhou stood in front of a telephone pole by the apartment entrance, staring at the missing person poster, feeling conflicted.

This definitely seemed like the kind of thing only those retards would come up with.

Could they really be looking for someone?

[Cao Zhiheng]: Have you arrived?

[Useless Yet Awake]: Downstairs.

Gu Lizhou looked up at the old apartment building.

Over thirty years ago, he was born here and lived with his grandparents.

From kindergarten to elementary school and then middle school…

As far as he could remember, his parents were always busy, only coming home during the Chinese New Year or any holidays.

He always looked forward to the New Year.

He couldn’t remember the exact day, but one time his parents both came home and took him out to a fancy restaurant for dinner.

Before they had even eaten much, his father suddenly announced with a grim expression, that he was divorcing his mother.

That was the first time he understood what it felt like to be struck by a bolt from the blue.

No one enjoyed that meal.

The harmonious family that everyone envied was split in two.

At the top of the apartment building, the large pendulum still hung, with a second hand over a meter long, moving slowly like an elderly person, ticking forward bit by bit.

Coming back here now felt like he had traveled through time.

He still remembered that when he was a child, the clock on the roof would chime “dong, dong, dong” at noon every day.

Times had changed. The elderly members of his family had passed away, and the house was sold to someone else.

He hadn’t been back here for about ten years.

The stairwell was still narrow and dark, with barely any light even during the day. The peeling walls were plastered with crude small advertisements.

“Three-minute painless abortion,” “Genital enlargement surgery, make your partner scream nonstop,” “Guaranteed cure for gonorrhea and syphilis,” “Personal mortgage loans,” “Quick processing for college and vocational diplomas”…

Still that familiar smell..

Cao Zhiheng’s home used to be just a couple of doors down from his, on the third floor, apartment 303.

As Gu Lizhou walked upstairs, he noticed that all the lights in the stairwell were broken.

“Why hasn’t anyone fixed the lights?” He asked, turning off his flashlight as he stepped out of the stairwell.

Cao Zhiheng, leaning against the corridor wall with a handful of melon seeds, replied, “These old apartments are all rented out to migrant workers now. I guess there’s no money in it, so the property management ran off long ago.”

Seeing Gu Lizhou glance towards apartment 301, Cao Zhiheng casually asked, “Wanna check it out?”

“Is anyone living there?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“Probably not at the moment. The landlord rented it out to two young guys, but I haven’t seen one of them in a long time. Maybe he moved out; I’m not too sure.”

As they spoke, the two had already wandered to the doorway of 301.

Back in the day, to guard against thieves, the whole building had a uniform design: security gates and barred windows. Standing at the entrance felt like visiting someone in jail.

The layout of the apartments was equally simple: entering the front door led to the dining room and living room, with the master and secondary bedrooms on the right side. All the rooms together formed a big square.

The tenants of 301 hadn’t completely drawn their curtains, and through a small gap, Gu Lizhou could see the interior.

The living room was filled of old furniture.

When he was a child, his family was poor, and the sofas and chairs were custom-made by an old village carpenter in the countryside, painted with a coat of red varnish to make them look festive.

He’d heard those pieces were part of his grandmother’s dowry.

As their lives gradually improved and his parents moved into a new home, the old furniture was left behind in the old house.

Gu Lizhou was relieved to see that the tables and chairs were still intact, and the entire living room was reasonably tidy.

The corridor acted as a balcony, and the weather was nice today. As far as his eye could see were bed sheets, duvet covers, and clothes hanging to dry.

Among them, his eyes fell on a black tank top that looked awfully familiar.

The crew neck of the shirt had stretched into a V-neck, and next to it hung a pair of men’s underwear with a cartoon elephant printed on the crotch. A pair of plain black “Anima” brand sweatpants flapped in the wind.

The person’s sense of style was utterly perplexing.

An image of a certain retarded individual vaguely appeared in Gu Lizhou’s mind, but he figured he was probably overthinking it.

Black tank tops were everywhere.

“Do you know the person who lives here?” Gu Lizhou asked as he turned to walk back.

“Nope. I just happened to run into him twice on the subway and saw he was also headed to the film studio. He looked pretty young. Not sure if he’s even old enough to be working,” Cao Zhiheng said.

Gu Lizhou let out an “oh” and didn’t continue the conversation.

Cao Zhiheng was a prop master specializing in the film and television industry. He excelled in painting and carving, having inherited the trade from his father. Now, he was a somewhat well-known sculptor in the industry, with many directors competing to have him on their sets.

The ninety-plus square meter apartment was packed with various finished and half-finished products, leaving Gu Lizhou with no place to stand when he entered.

“Have your parents moved into their new place already?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“Yeah, they moved last year.” Cao Zhiheng shifted things from the sofa to the floor, clearing a spot for him to sit.

Gu Lizhou picked up a wooden sculpture nearby and fiddled with it casually. “Then, why didn’t you move out with them? This building’s practically a condemned D-Class structure. I just saw a crack in the stairwell wall wider than my finger.”

“It’s not that bad,” Cao Zhiheng chuckled. “I’ve gotten used to living here, and I’m too lazy to move. Plus, it’s closer to the film studio.”

“If it’s far, just drive.” Gu Li Zhou said casually.

“Traffic jam ah, and no available free parking. I can’t afford to pay for parking. An electric scooter’s way better,” Cao Zhiheng said, handing him a yogurt from the fridge.

As Gu Lizhou looked around the familiar little room, his eyes unintentionally fell on a woman’s jacket.

“You’ve been seeing someone, huh?”

“Yeah,” Cao Zhiheng smiled. “Yes ah, been dating for over half a year.”

“Very good,” Gu Lizhou nodded with a smile. “We should have a meal together sometime.”

“What about you?” Cao Zhiheng asked.

“Not interested,” Gu Lizhou replied without hesitation.

Cao Zhiheng narrowed his eyes.

His childhood friend had been single for over 30 years. In the past, he could use the excuse of being too busy with work, but now he wandered around like a ghost, showing no interest in women. It inevitably lets people’s imagination run wild.

“Are you not interested in dating, or are you just not interested in women ah?”

“Neither.” Gu Lizhou shrugged his shoulders.

After some casual chit-chat, a thought suddenly crossed Cao Zhiheng’s mind. “You know who I saw at the film studio the other day?”

“Who?” Gu Lizhou raised his eyes.

“Cui Sheng.” Cao Zhiheng’s expression changed.

Gu Lizhou’s movement to unscrew the bottle cap paused.

His fingers instinctively tightened, and the bottle deformed under the pressure.

With its fake smile concealing malice, Cui Sheng’s face surfaced in his mind again.

“Thank you all for choosing to support and believe in me. I will prove through my actions that you haven’t misplaced your trust. Good and evil will eventually be repaid. God is watching…”

Good and evil will eventually be repaid

How laughably ironic.

Gu Lizhou’s nails almost dug into his flesh as it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, his frustration threatening to explode.

Those words echoed in his mind, and a burning sensation rose in his chest.

The very thought of it made him feel sick.

“That s/ut is currently making a movie, “Storm”, working with Director Gu Chuan…”

“Enough.” Gu Lizhou coldly interrupted, his voice sharp. “I don’t want to know these things.”

Cao Zhiheng froze for a moment, feeling a bit awkward. “Sorry about that.”

Gu Lizhou lowered his head in silence for a moment. “I’m not blaming you. I just don’t want to hear that person’s name.”

“I get it.” Cao Zhiheng patted his shoulder and changed the subject. “How’ve you been lately? Looking for a new job?”

“No,” Gu Lizhou shook his head. “I don’t even know what else I can do. What’s the point of living anyway?”

Uh-oh.

He’s hit the bull’s-eye again.

Cao Zhiheng quickly tried to comfort him. “Come on, you’ve made plenty of money, bought a car, a house, and you don’t need to worry about food and clothing. Don’t overthink it.”

Gu Lizhou sighed quietly, stretching out lazily on the sofa. “But life feels pointless ah. Every day is just eating and waiting for death. What’s the difference between me and a useless person?”

“Man, you don’t know how lucky you are. Plenty of people would envy your life,” Cao Zhiheng hooked an arm around his neck. “If things really feel that bad, why don’t you come with me? Help me with some carving work and drop it off at the sets. There are plenty of beautiful actresses on the crews.”

Gu Lizhou glanced at him but didn’t say anything.

“How about it ah?” Cao Zhiheng turned to look at him. “I’m telling you, all your problems come from having too much time on your hands. Get busy with me for a few days, and I guarantee you’ll sleep like a baby, forget all your worries.”

“Really?” Gu Lizhou chuckled.

“Absolutely ah!” Cao Zhiheng slapped him on the shoulder. “It’s settled, then ah. You stay here with me for a while, and I’ll pay you at the end of the month.”

“How much will I get?” Gu Lizhou asked.

“Depends on your performance.” Cao Zhiheng said.

When Gu Lizhou left Cao Zhiheng’s place, the sky had already darkened significantly.

He had originally planned to stay a few days before heading back to City B, but for some reason, he impulsively agreed to stay longer with Cao Zhiheng.

However, thinking about it, it didn’t really matter. Anyway, he was a salted fish,²Similar to a couch potato or a slacker. it was the same anywhere. Maybe having some company would improve his mood.

Gu Lizhou turned on his flashlight, illuminating the stairs in the dim corridor.

After taking just a couple of steps, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the darker part of the hallway below.

He stopped somewhat cautiously.

Crashing into view was a tall man, devouring a box of takoyaki with his head down, clearly wolfing down his food.

From his vantage point, Gu Lizhou looked down at the man’s head and found the hairstyle somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite make out his face from this angle.

His line of sight moved along with the man.

Just as they were about to pass each other, a sudden realization flashed in Gu Lizhou’s mind, as if a light had gone off.

“Hey—” He couldn’t recall the name of the guy in the black tank top.

Zhong Weishi was lost in his own thoughts, and the sudden call startled him so much that his soul seemed to tremble.

The takoyaki he had just picked up slipped from his grasp, rolling down the steps. Zhong Weishi was furious.

“Shit, you scared me…” He turned his head, the curse dying in his throat as soon as he recognized the person. “Why is it you again?”