Good night

The weather gradually warmed, and people who had spent the whole winter feeling sluggish finally grew restless.

People were everywhere in the residential complex's square, gardens, and pavilions. Peach blossoms bloomed, and everything brimmed with life.

More people meant more trouble, and their workload steadily increased along with it.

Late one night, Cheng Yue had just tracked down the address of a drunk who was out cold and carried him home with a colleague.

As they were leaving, they could still hear the sharp smacks of someone slapping the drunk.

"Drink, drink, drink! Why don't you just drink yourself to death!"

His colleague declared with heartfelt conviction that he would never marry, then listed the miseries of marriage without naming a single benefit.

"What about you?"

The elevator arrived, and Cheng Yue stepped inside. "I'm not getting married either."

He would have liked to. The problem was, his circumstances hardly allowed it.

Delighted that they agreed, his colleague immediately slung an arm around his shoulders and loudly hailed him as a kindred spirit.

Cheng Yue discreetly shifted away. Ever since realizing he was gay, he had tried to avoid this sort of thing. Normal social distance was fine; physical contact was another matter.

It wasn't that he was being fussy. He had always been sensitive about personal boundaries, and close bodily contact made him deeply uncomfortable.

When the elevator reached the first floor, his colleague's animated monologue abruptly stopped.

Cheng Yue hadn't expected to see Ji Huaijin at this hour. He seemed to have been drinking, his suit jacket open and his tie hanging loosely around his neck.

Several days had passed since Ji Huaijin brought him dinner. Although they lived in the same complex, Cheng Yue had no idea which building he lived in.

Unable to find its owner, he had taken the washed lunch box home and put it on a high shelf in his kitchen cabinet.

With his colleague beside him, it wasn't convenient to say anything. Cheng Yue avoided Ji Huaijin's gaze and followed his colleague out of the elevator with his eyes lowered.

As they passed each other, a faint aroma of liquor drifted to his nose. Cheng Yue tilted his head slightly: caramel blended with the rich depth of sandalwood, leaving a clean, lingering finish.

That liquor had to taste good.

Just as he was about to ask what it was called, his colleague spoke, neatly interrupting his sudden lapse in judgment.

Cheng Yue thought this unexpected encounter would end quietly like that, but Ji Huaijin suddenly spoke.

"Could you press the elevator button for me?"

Cheng Yue stopped in his tracks and looked at him without the slightest surprise, as if asking what he was up to this time.

As though he had read his expression, Ji Huaijin chuckled. "I had a little too much to drink. I can't see the floor numbers clearly."

Residents were gods. Residents were honored guests. Since he had put it that way, if they refused to help, there would surely be a complaint waiting on their supervisor's computer tomorrow.

Cheng Yue glanced at where he and his colleague were standing, then silently turned and stepped back into the elevator. "Which floor?"

"The nineteenth."

Below the fifteenth floor, there were two apartments per floor. Above that, each floor was a single sprawling apartment with its own elevator access. Even though Cheng Yue already knew the people who lived here were either rich or influential, he couldn't help feeling a brief pang of envy.

The button marked nineteen lit up. Before he could step out, Ji Huaijin spoke again. "Cheng Yue."

His voice was slightly husky from drinking. Cheng Yue had never imagined his own name could sound so lovely.

A second before the elevator doors closed, Ji Huaijin gave a soft chuckle, his thin lips murmuring two words.

"Good night."

To welcome him aboard, the administrators at Kyoto University had insisted on treating him to dinner. Ji Huaijin had kept putting them off, but once he settled into life at the university, he ran out of reasons to politely decline.

He had never liked these dinners. The few gatherings he attended were among friends. They could get rowdy, but at least they didn't have this sort of foul atmosphere.

The administrators at Kyoto University were all getting on in years, and a little alcohol brought out their true colors. Every few sentences, someone would launch into "back in my day." After taking turns reminiscing about past hardships and present comforts, they didn't forget to drag Ji Huaijin into it.

The president of Kyoto University, his temples graying and his face flushed from drinking, said, "Back then, I had the good fortune to work with Elder Ji. Strictly speaking, I could even call him my teacher."

Before the bottles were opened: Professor Ji.

Three glasses later: Huaijin, my boy.

Ji Huaijin pinched the bridge of his nose, his head aching. His youngest uncle also worked within the public system, yet on the few occasions he remembered, his uncle had always emerged from these social obligations calm and unscathed, with at most a faint smell of smoke clinging to him.

What should have been a short dinner dragged on until the early hours. Ji Huaijin didn't join them for the next round. After politely declining, he turned and headed home on his own.

The instant he saw Cheng Yue, his restlessness and irritation suddenly faded.

The sight of him was just what his heart needed.

"You know him?"

Cheng Yue was still caught up in that inexplicable good night. At the question, he considered it briefly, then answered vaguely, "We've met a few times."

His colleague clicked his tongue in amazement. "He's seriously handsome, and rich too. Makes you so jealous you could go crazy!"

He had caught a glimpse just now, and the man's watch looked like a collector's edition from some brand, supposedly worth eight figures.

That was the equivalent of wearing a house on his wrist.

More importantly, he was eligible to buy one in the first place. That was the truly frightening part.

Not having the money was one thing; not being able to buy it was another. If you lacked money, you could still work hard and hope to make your dream come true someday. Something with a price tag but no availability was beyond even your wildest daydreams.

Cheng Yue didn't know much about luxury goods and naturally paid little attention to them. A cool breeze swept past, and he glanced at his colleague's shining eyes.

"It's the middle of the night. Stop saying things that send chills down people's spines!"

His colleague could turn into a monster if he wanted, but he had better leave Cheng Yue out of it. He hadn't lived long enough yet.

Early the next morning, Cheng Yue was stretching his stiff body after staying up all night when he spotted an energetic figure running toward him from a distance.

One was bright-eyed and refreshed; the other had dark circles so heavy they looked like smoky eye makeup.

Cheng Yue stared morosely at the figure running away and suddenly understood what his colleague had meant about going crazy.

Some people were so blessed it made you envious!

April fifth arrived, with the drizzling rain of the Qingming Festival.

Cheng Yue worked the day shift that day. At ten that evening, with fewer pedestrians on the streets, he gathered the things he had prepared beforehand, chose a quiet crossroads, and took them out one by one.

A light rain had been falling on and off all day, pausing briefly now and then before starting up again.

"I'm not going back this year. Make do with this money for now. If it's not enough, visit me in a dream and I'll get you more."

After completing the ritual as he remembered it, Cheng Yue took out a bottle of baijiu and poured it all over the ashes.

His face remained expressionless throughout. Watching the flames gradually die out, he stayed crouched there a little longer, then kowtowed, turned, and left.

He never looked back.

The rain continued into the next day. The team members who had taken leave to visit their hometowns and tend their ancestors' graves returned, and several were sharing local specialties. Cheng Yue received a few green rice dumplings too.

Whoever had made them knew what they were doing. At any rate, he thought they tasted better than the ones sold at convenience stores.

In the break room, a bunch of men drank tea and shot the breeze, making a noisy racket. A fine rain still fell outside. Cheng Yue put on his raincoat, picked up a flashlight, and went out on patrol.

"Captain? You're on the swing shift today too?"

Zhao Li stood straight-backed at the doorway, smoking. "Yeah."

His gaze lingered on Cheng Yue for a moment before he said in a low voice, "The rain's getting a little heavy. Wait a while before you go."

Cheng Yue turned his gaze toward the distance through the hazy curtain of rain and gave a faint smile. "It's fine. I'll just make a round and come back."