The moment Qin Shi stepped outside, before he had even left the alley on Baogong Street, he spotted two bicycles leaning against the walls at either end of the lane.
He looked toward the two familiar faces skulking around and joked with a laugh:
"Brother Yuan, Brother Cheng, long time no see. Why are you hiding from me? Zhou told me you two became business owners, so you don't want to acknowledge your old poverty-stricken buddies anymore? Afraid I'll ask to borrow money?"
At the mouth of the alley, Xie Yucheng, his hair slicked back until it shone, and Li Yuan, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, turned around awkwardly and said sheepishly:
"A Shi... Brother Qin. We heard from the neighbors that you'd come back to Old Factory Street, so Brother Yuan and I came over to thank you. That's what we were thinking."
After most of a summer, some of the boyishness and frivolity had faded from Xie Yucheng's expression. He seemed much more mature now.
"We're all buddies. No need to be so formal. Eldest Sister told me you two found the workers and put in the effort to renovate this shack. You even drove the appliances over yourselves."
Qin Shi smiled. He no longer wore the composed expression he'd shown Fang Putang, Kang Yun'er, and the others. As his features relaxed, he seemed more like a cheerful, sunny young man.
"It was no big deal."
Seeing that Qin Shi wasn't putting on airs as they'd feared, Xie Yucheng relaxed too, and his smile grew more genuine.
"Brother Qin, tell us about the Top 100 Competition in the Tai'an Metropolitan Area. Before, they were promoting it everywhere on TV. There were so many impressive people from Central City. I only remember Zhou Yuanchen. They talked him