Bai Liu paused for a moment, then changed the subject. "Can I bring someone over for hotpot?"
Lu Yizhan, on the other end, was briefly stunned, then quickly let out a helpless sigh. "…You really are milking this sheep for all it's worth. You can. Just make sure to buy more when you go grocery shopping. Buy enough food and grab some cola, Sprite, that kind of stuff too…"
"Also buy some fruits." Lu Yizhan's voice, however, carried a faint trace of a smile. "The oranges in the market below my place are having a discount today. Buy two jin."
After hanging up the phone, Bai Liu sent a message in the group chat asking if anyone wanted to have dinner together in the evening. He received replies almost immediately.
[music/Mu Sicheng]: Wow, a once-in-a-century sight—Bai the cheapskate is actually treating us!
[Mu Ke]: Do you need me to find a location? I know a few good private restaurants.
[Tang Erda]: Are we drinking? I can bring alcohol over @BaiLiu.
[Bai Liu]: It's not me treating. Taking you all to my friend's house to mooch a meal. Having hotpot. I still need to buy groceries later. If there's anything you like to eat, let me know, and I'll pick it up.
[Bai Liu]: @TangErda, bring it.
As soon as Bai Liu replied, the group chat instantly became lively:
[music]: Fuck, you're actually mooching! Bai Liu, your face is really thick!
[Bai Liu]: Then you're not eating?
[music]: As if! I'm eating! I want to eat shrimp paste! Beef tripe! Brain! Duck intestines! Spicy beef!
[Mu Ke]: Then I'll bring some regular ingredients to cook in the hotpot together. Does anyone have a seafood allergy?
[Tang Erda]: alcoholcabinet.jpg @BaiLiu, is there any alcohol you like?
Bai Liu lowered his eyes and watched the stream of messages scrolling down. His finger paused for a moment on the cracked phone screen before continuing to type:
[Bai Liu]: Do you all eat oranges?
[music]:? I eat them, why wouldn't I eat them?
[Mu Ke]: I quite like them.
[Tang Erda]: I eat them. @BaiLiu, I have two bottles of orange liqueur. The alcohol content isn't bad. Should I bring one?
Bai Liu replied with a few more messages, then called Liu Jiayi, saying he'd come pick her up later. Liu Jiayi coldly and ruthlessly refused, warning Bai Liu that the back seat of the HelloBike1 can't carry passengers. She then told him to send the address over, saying she could find her own way there.
In the end, it was just Bai Liu and Du Sanying strolling through the streets together. Along the way, Bai Liu bought half a jin of shiitake mushrooms, one jin of lettuce, one jin of enoki mushrooms, half a jin of sliced beef, grabbed a two-liter bottle of discounted promotional cola at the supermarket downstairs, and two jin of discounted oranges.
Bai Liu bought the shrimp paste, beef tripe, and duck intestines that Mu Sicheng wanted, but they were all frozen goods. There were no fresh ones available at this hour. Bai Liu personally didn't mind eating frozen food; he wasn't picky. It was probably Mu Sicheng who might make a fuss.
But even if he made a fuss, it was no use. This pile of items cost Bai Liu a whole 167 yuan2.
But in the end, Bai Liu still bought them.
He also picked up some crispy sausages and meatballs—foods kids tend to like. As for the brain and spicy beef, he couldn't get those. The supermarket didn't have them, and the wet market was already closed.
He bought everything bit by bit, and the total came to 218.2 yuan.
Du Sanying followed nervously behind Bai Liu, who was carrying plastic grocery bags, as they walked into an old residential neighborhood.
This neighborhood was nestled within a cluster of connected residential buildings. Nearby were one or two large supermarkets and a couple of convenience stores. The gatekeeper was an elderly man wearing a faded military overcoat, sitting on a rusty stool. He sat with one leg crossed over the other, eyes half-closed, dozing as he kept watch at the gate.
When Bai Liu walked over, this elderly man swept them a glance.
When the old man saw Bai Liu, his half-closed eyes suddenly opened. He stared at Bai Liu for a while, studying him intently. "You're Fang Dian's high school classmate?"
Bai Liu politely replied, "It's me. Long time no see, Uncle Li."
Uncle Li smiled and stood up, patting Bai Liu's shoulder in greeting, sighing with emotion. "Haven't seen you in two years—I didn't recognize you at first."
"Good thing your hair hasn't been this long since high school. After a few more looks, I still managed to recognize you."
Uncle Li asked, "You used to come here often with that kid, Lu Yizhan, back in high school, didn't you? These past two years, Lu Yizhan's practically moved in, but you—how come you haven't shown up at all?"
Bai Liu paused for a moment, then when he spoke again, the same flawless, polite, fake smile had returned to his face. "I got a job, so I've been very busy."
"You youngsters, always saying you're busy with work." Uncle Li shook his head in clear disapproval. "You've been friends with Fang Dian and the others for so many years. How can you just stop coming like that?"
"Back in high school, the three of you had such a tough time getting through it by supporting each other. That kind of bond is rare. If you don't cherish it now and the connection fades—if you end up hurting their feelings—where else are you going to find two friends who stuck with you all the way since high school?"
Uncle Li gave Bai Liu a gentle push inward and waved his hand, motioning for him to go on in. "I won't delay you any longer. You hardly come—stay in touch with them and maintain the relationship."
"Thank you, Uncle Li."
Bai Liu carried the bag full of groceries and walked deeper into the neighborhood.
The residential buildings in the neighborhood all looked quite old, none taller than seven stories, so there were no elevators. The electronic locks at the entrances were outdated, too; the display screens flickered, looking like they were already broken.
Bai Liu didn't bother with any of it. Without even entering a code, he familiarly pushed the door open and walked in.
Du Sanying asked Bai Liu, "Which floor?"
Bai Liu said, "Third floor."
As the two of them climbed the stairs, Du Sanying hesitated multiple times but still ended up asking, "Mr. Bai Liu, did you come here often while you were in high school?"
As soon as the security guard came over to chat with Bai Liu, Du Sanying quickly put some distance between them. He only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, but could tell the guard was very familiar with Bai Liu.
"En." Bai Liu turned on the stairs, walking up step by step, his voice calm. "This is Fang Dian's home."
"Sometimes, when I couldn't stay at the dorms and also couldn't go back to the welfare home, she would give the key to me and let me stay here."
Du Sanying didn't react right away. He foolishly kept asking, "Ah? Why couldn't you stay in the dorms or go back to the welfare home?"
"Because some people accused me of enticing classmates to gamble and fighting with them, and I was going to be expelled." Bai Liu's tone was indifferent. "The school was doing everything it could to distance itself from me, a future criminal. The welfare home was also reviewing my eligibility for financial aid, considering whether to transfer me to a juvenile detention center."
"I lived at an internet café for a week before Fang Dian found me and gave me her house key."
Bai Liu climbed the stairs step by step to the third floor. He carried the plastic bag that felt cold to the touch and stood beside the old, decaying staircase. Looking up, he could see the red stainless steel security door directly opposite him. Just two more steps, and he could get close to it.
In the very center of the door was a gold "福4" character pasted upside down. On both sides were remnants of Spring Festival couplets that hadn't been completely torn off. Above the door hung an Eight Trigram mirror, and next to it lay a bundle of withered mugwort.
He hadn't come in two years, but everything still looked the same as the first time he came.
In the dim and chaotic internet café, the side thick with smoke and haze, Fang Dian grabbed Bai Liu from the makeshift camp bed he'd assembled from two swivel chairs and tried to drag him out, intending to leave.
Bai Liu didn't let Fang Dian drag him. He restrained Fang Dian's hand as it dragged him, half leaning against the back of the chair. His head drooped to one side, and because his eyelids had folded into three creases from sleep, when his half-opened eyes looked at someone, his expression was both weary and cold. "…I'm not awake, what are you doing?"
"Go back to school." Fang Dian turned around to look at Bai Liu, her tone sounding as if it was expected. "You didn't come to class for a week. Lu Yizhan is about to go crazy looking for you. Didn't think you were hiding in this small internet café."
"He doesn't need to look for me." As Bai Liu spoke, his eyes began to close again. He slid downward along the curve of the chair's backrest. "We weren't originally people from the same world."
"Now that you've found me, can you let me sleep?"
Fang Dian squatted down. "An internet café isn't a place to sleep."
"Do what you're supposed to do where you're supposed to do it. Play games in the internet café, but once you've had enough, you have to go back to school." Fang Dian took out a key from her chest, putting it in Bai Liu's hand. She softly said, "Go home and sleep."
"Go home, Bai Liu. Lu Yizhan and I are waiting for you."
Bai Liu turned sideways, intertwining his hands around his school uniform jacket wrapped around himself and burying his face into the chair. His breathing was even, his eyelids didn't twitch, as if he had already fallen asleep and could no longer hear the outside world.
This meant he didn't want to put in extra effort dealing with Fang Dian and just wanted her to leave quickly.
Fang Dian couldn't help but laugh at Bai Liu's appearance. She reached out and vigorously rubbed Bai Liu's head. "Then stay here until you've played enough before coming back. I won't tell Lu Yizhan where you went."
"We've promised in the past—if you've done something bad, I'll help you hide it from Old Lu."
"But, Bai Liu, I can help cover for you when you've done something bad." Fang Dian got up and said, "I can't help cover for you when you've done something wrong."
"You don't feel guilty when you've done something bad, but right now you're suffering this much—is it really because you did something bad?"
Fang Dian looked at Bai Liu, who was lying on the chair, slightly curled up, and suddenly smiled. "When someone feels bad because they've done a bad thing, it shows that they think what they did was wrong."
"From this perspective, Bai Liu, you and Lu Yizhan are people from the same world."
Fang Dian kept her word. She left the key with Bai Liu and turned to leave.
Bai Liu could no longer clearly remember what happened after, as if he had stayed at the internet café until he ran out of money. All he remembered was that, in the end, he held the key and arrived at Fang Dian's doorstep. The moment he turned the key and opened the door—
On the sofa directly facing the door lay Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian, curled up together. Both looked exhausted and were sleeping deeply, completely unaware that the door had been opened.
On the coffee table in front of them was a chaotic mess of various documents—transfer papers, administrative forms, school regulations, legal documents, and several sets of unfinished practice test papers—all cluttered together. They were densely covered with notes. Nearby were numerous photocopied documents and a stack of unsent letters addressed to various welfare and government agencies, as well as some well-reputed schools.
At the very bottom were two neatly written letters of guarantee.
One letter of guarantee was addressed to the welfare home. It was assured that Bai Liu's upcoming moral education and the current incident were not his fault. The letter was over ten thousand characters long and ended with a promise that the guarantor would cover all of Bai Liu's future expenses. It was almost like begging the welfare institute to keep Bai Liu. The guarantor was Lu Yizhan.
The other letter of guarantee was addressed to the school. It contained no assurances, just a statement that if Bai Liu got expelled, Fang Dian would leave alongside him. Fang Dian was the guarantor.
Perhaps it was the sound of Bai Liu flipping through the documents that woke Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan. The two woke up drowsily, half-asleep, and vaguely confirmed that the person in front of them was Bai Liu.
There was no angry accusation, no furious scolding, no disappointed weeping.
Fang Dian lazily propped up Lu Yizhan beneath her and leaned forward from the sofa, reaching over the coffee table. Like a good brother, she gave Bai Liu a pat on the head. "You finally came home."
"Don't be afraid to come home because you've done something wrong," Fang Dian smiled. "You're just like a child."
Bai Liu, holding the plastic bag, paused for a moment. He stepped forward to knock, but the door suddenly opened from the inside.
Fang Dian, carrying a garbage bag, looked up at Bai Liu standing at the door. She paused briefly, then quickly curved her brows into a smile. With practiced ease, she reached out, laughing softly as she gave Bai Liu a quick pat on the head:
"You finally decided to come home."
She smiled at Bai Liu and said, "Don't be afraid to come home because you've done something wrong. You're already this old, yet you're still like a child."
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[1] HelloBike is a bicycle sharing system where, if you get a subscription, you can use the bikes for free
[2] about 23 USD
[3] about 30 USD
[4] The character 福 means fortune, and many Chinese homes have the character hung up for good fortune