That night, Qi Gu stayed over at Lin Hanzhi's home again.
The first time was unfamiliar; the second came easily. Qi Gu had never experienced stubbornly insisting on sleeping over with a friend during his rebellious teenage years. Instead, he got to experience it several years after graduating from university.
Though these days, the old man had no time to care where he slept at night or whether he came home.
Qi Gu stayed in the same suite as before. It had everything he needed, and all the furnishings were luxury brands, elegant and soft. A single item cost as much as a month's net profit at Floating Mist Temple.
That night, after spot-checking Mu Xingchen's schoolwork, Qi Gu sat on the balcony for a while but still felt no sleepiness. After some thought, he finally decided to go bother Lin Hanzhi next door.
Passing through the covered corridor, with lanterns hanging on either side, Qi Gu knocked on Lin Hanzhi's door.
"What is it?" Lin Hanzhi's voice came from behind him instead, accompanied by a faint fruity scent. His voice sounded a little odd too, his speech slower than usual.
"How did you..."
"I was looking for something on the first floor," Lin Hanzhi explained. "Did you need something?"
"Nothing really. I just can't sleep, so I thought I'd sit with you for a bit. If you're tired, never mind." During middle and high school, Qi Gu had rather envied his classmates. He envied them for having friends they could walk to and from school with, or stay up talking with all night, only to turn up at school the next morning with enormous dark circles and get scolded by their teachers.
People weren't made of wood or stone; everyone got lonely. And during those years, Shifu had been