He ran upstairs without another word.
Lin Fengyi dropped his chopsticks and chased after him. "Zhizhi!"
Mother Lin wanted to go check on him, but felt it would be inappropriate. After deliberating for a long time, she apologized to Yan Heqing first. "Xiao Yan, please don't take it to heart. Zhizhi fell seriously ill after we brought him home, and when he woke up, he'd forgotten you. It's hard for him to accept this all at once. He'll be fine after some time."
Yan Heqing set down his chopsticks. "I understand. Fengzhi lost his memory, so it's perfectly normal for him to feel that I'm a stranger. I approached him without finding out about his situation first. I'm already very grateful that you don't blame me."
He politely rose to his feet. "I'll leave it here for today and head home. Sorry for the trouble, but please take good care of Fengzhi."
He bowed.
Mother Lin was stunned by how considerate Yan Heqing was. An eighteen-year-old child, only just an adult—how much must he have been through to become so considerate?
She pulled back her chair, went over, and patted Yan Heqing's arm. "Zhizhi is a kind, good boy. He'll come around soon. We'd already prepared a room for you, but with things as they are, it wouldn't be right to ask you to stay."
She warmly invited him. "Next time, then. Next time, come plant flowers with me and stay for at least half a month!"
Father Lin added, "And play chess with me."
Yan Heqing smiled faintly. "All right."
Mother Lin insisted on having the driver take Yan Heqing home. Yan Heqing didn't refuse and got into the car without fuss.
On the second floor, Lin Fengzhi hid behind the curtains with the lights off, secretly watching the car's lights recede. Only when they disappeared from view did he slowly let the curtain fall and slide down to sit on the floor.
He knew he had gone too far just now, but he couldn't control himself.
His parents liked Yan Heqing so much that he couldn't stop thinking: if the Lin family had adopted Yan Heqing back then, they would have loved Yan Heqing just as much as they loved him.
He wasn't special. Now, without any blood ties, he was even less irreplaceable.
Feeling wronged, Lin Fengzhi hugged his knees. Lin Fengyi knocked anxiously outside, but he ignored him.
After a while, faint voices came from outside the door. They were probably Father Lin and Mother Lin, talking to Lin Fengyi.
Before long, it fell quiet outside.
The light dimmed in Lin Fengzhi's eyes. Suddenly, he missed Lu Lin terribly. An inexpressible sense of grievance welled up again, even more fiercely this time, and his eyes and nose reddened.
He swayed as he stood up, walked to the bed, and felt around for his phone. He turned on the screen and composed a text.
[I miss you so much!]
Buzz.
A text arrived on the phone.
Lu Lin was reviewing reports. He freed a hand to pick up his phone and glance at it. Seeing an unfamiliar number, he deleted it without reading it.
He put down the phone and continued working.
Chapter 15: 015
The driver dropped Yan Heqing off at his apartment building.
"Thank you." Yan Heqing thanked him and got out.
At a corner of the wall not far away, a scarlet glow flickered in and out of sight. Lu Muchi was smoking, his eyes icy.
He recognized the car that had brought Yan Heqing as belonging to the Lin family.
Yan Heqing really had reunited with Lin Fengzhi.
Then Lu Muchi took out his phone and dialed Yan Heqing's number again.
"The number you have dialed is switched off-"
At the same time, Yan Shengbing heard the same message.
"Fuck!"
Yan Shengbing lowered his phone, swearing. "That little bastard still hasn't turned his phone on!"
It was bitterly cold. Cold air rushed into Yan Shengbing's mouth after just a few words. He wrapped his padded coat tighter around himself and complained incessantly. "It's already ten, and he still hasn't come out. Are we still waiting?"
He directed that last question at Zhao Huilin.
Zhao Huilin was just as frozen. Rubbing her hands hard, she looked toward Beijing University, whose gates had long since closed.
It really was strange. They kept watch every day, yet they hadn't managed to catch Yan Heqing even once.
Another biting gust swept past. Zhao Huilin shivered violently, stamped her feet a few times for warmth, and said through chattering teeth, "Let's go home!"
Yan Heqing cooked a bowl of tomato dough-drop soup.
After finishing the steaming bowl, he was warm all over. He washed an apple, carefully dried it with a paper towel, then returned to his room, turned on his computer, and began reviewing his coursework.
Final exams were only a month away.
With the radiant heater switched on, the area within half a meter of the coffee table was pleasantly warm. Now and then, the crisp crunch of a bite of apple rang out.
Downstairs, Lu Muchi still couldn't get through. He looked up at the lit window, his gaze unreadable.
Had Yan Heqing blacklisted him?
He called the car over, got into the back seat, and instructed the driver, "Give me your phone."
The driver was baffled, but quickly took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Lu Muchi.
Lu Muchi knew the number by heart and entered it directly.
-
"The number you have dialed is switched off..."
Lu Muchi's brow shifted slightly. He switched back to his own phone and dialed another number. "Check every phone number registered under Yan Heqing's name. Now."
The person on the other end soon sent him a number.
Lu Muchi took one look and knew Yan Heqing had changed his number. Anger instantly flared. How dare Yan Heqing! Ignoring him over and over again-he'd clearly told him to wait for his call!
His hand went to the door handle. Just as Lu Muchi was about to get out, his phone rang.
It was Lin Fengzhi.
All at once, the fight drained out of Lu Muchi. He stared at the screen, not answering for a long time.
They hadn't been in touch since he'd learned that Lin Fengzhi liked someone.
Lu Muchi hadn't asked whether the person Lin Fengzhi liked was a man or a woman. There was no point. Either way, it wasn't him.
Afraid that Lin Fengzhi didn't like men, he had kept playing the caring older brother, looking after him. He had planned to confess when Lin Fengzhi turned twenty, only for Lin Fengzhi to fall in love with someone else!
An indescribable frustration welled up in Lu Muchi again.
The phone fell silent before it had rung for long.
This was the first time Lu Muchi hadn't answered Lin Fengzhi's call. Clutching his phone, he lowered the car window and looked toward Yan Heqing's window.
The next second, the light went out.
Had he gone to bed?
A strange thought suddenly popped into Lu Muchi's head. He wondered whether Yan Heqing had fed raw fish to the stray cats again today.
Lu Muchi drifted into a daze. In his mind, he saw again the gentle hint of a smile on the boy's face in that dim stairwell that night.
Yan Heqing had never smiled at him so gently. In fact, he had never smiled at him at all.