The ringback tone went on for a long time. Yan Heqing waited patiently.
Just before the final note ended, the call was finally answered by a very impatient man.
"Who is this!"
Yan Heqing asked politely, "Hello, is this Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home?"
The man raised his voice. "We're full. We don't have any beds available for orphans right now!"
"I'd like to apply to volunteer." Yan Heqing remained calm and courteous.
Hearing that he wanted to volunteer, the man immediately changed his attitude. "Sure, fill out an application and send it to me. I'll contact you if you're approved. My WeChat ID is my phone number. Add me first."
Yan Heqing added the man on WeChat. Soon, the man sent over an application form. Yan Heqing filled it out carefully and sent it back.
"OK," the man replied. "I'll submit it for review and let you know when there's a result."
Yan Heqing replied, "All right, thank you."
The conversation ended, and Yan Heqing put down his phone.
Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home was the orphanage where he and Lin Fengzhi had lived as children.
It was also where Lu Muchi's mother worked. She had never left the capital.
In the original novel, Lin Fengzhi was very upset after Yan Heqing died and returned to Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home in search of memories of the past.
Naturally, he ran into Lu Muchi's mother, who worked as an art teacher at Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home.
Lin Fengzhi then immediately called Lu Muchi over and began mediating the rift between mother and son.
Lin Fengzhi and Lu Muchi's relationship heated up once again. In the abandoned storage room where Yan Heqing had hidden for an entire day so the Lin couple would adopt Lin Fengzhi, the two lost themselves in passion and had sex all night.
His stomach churned violently, and the urge to vomit grew stronger. Yan Heqing hurried into the bathroom and threw up as soon as he reached the sink.
Everything he had just eaten came back up. Yan Heqing gripped the edge of the counter with both hands and remained still for a long time before lifting his head.
In the mirror, the boy's face was pale. He was so thin that a slightly stronger wind could have swept him away.
Yet his eyes were utterly resolute, leaving one utterly certain that no matter how fierce the wind and snow he faced, he would not be knocked down.
*
That afternoon, Yan Heqing received a text from the bank.
His wages and bonus from the bar had arrived, totaling 17,656 yuan.
A call from Lin Fengzhi followed right after.
"Could you bring it to Ruixing Plaza? It's right near your place! Really close, only a ten-minute walk!" Whenever Lin Fengzhi felt guilty, he spoke incredibly fast. "I want to treat you to a meal!"
Yan Heqing had already packed the things into a paper bag.
Lin Fengzhi was very worried about others discovering their relationship. Last time, Yan Heqing had deliberately drawn Lu Muchi over, frightening Lin Fengzhi so badly that he did not dare come to his door again for the time being.
Yan Heqing picked up the bag and headed out. "Sure."
When he opened the door, the boxes of canned cat food stacked against the wall were still untouched.
After going downstairs, Yan Heqing walked toward Ruixing Plaza and arrived about ten minutes later.
He spotted Lin Fengzhi from a distance, wearing a creamy-white cashmere coat, a dusty-blue knitted scarf, and a burgundy knitted hat.
Standing beside the bronze statue in the plaza, he looked sweet and pretty, drawing plenty of attention.
A little later, Lin Fengzhi also spotted Yan Heqing and waved from where he stood. Yan Heqing suddenly stopped.
He gazed quietly at Lin Fengzhi. This time, he did not move any closer to him.
Lin Fengzhi waited a while. Seeing that Yan Heqing remained rooted to the spot, he finally took the initiative and jogged over.
"What's wrong?"
Yan Heqing's lips curved slightly. "I'm a little tired from work, and my eyesight isn't very good. I didn't see you."
Lin Fengzhi first looked at the paper bag Yan Heqing was carrying and asked casually, "What kind of work?"
"Waiting tables."
Yan Heqing did not hand over the paper bag, and Lin Fengzhi felt too embarrassed to reach for it himself, which would make him seem anxious. Thinking about that piece of white ceramic, he was somewhat distracted. "Is waiting tables that tiring?"
Yan Heqing smiled faintly. "It's not too bad. Mostly, it's working several part-time jobs back-to-back. I've quit one now, so things will be much easier from now on."
"That's good." Lin Fengzhi nodded and touched the tip of his nose. "Are you hungry? Shall we eat first? Which restaurants here are good? It's my first time here."
"It's my first time here too. I'm not sure."
Lin Fengzhi found that hard to believe. "Are you a shut-in? This place is so close to both your home and your school, and you've never been here!"
Yan Heqing gave a faint smile. "No, it's just that things at the mall are too expensive. It's not for me."
Embarrassed, Lin Fengzhi quickly took out his phone and led the way toward the mall. "Come on, I'll look up the rankings." He opened an app and sorted by highest rating. "How about Japanese food? The reviews are good. There's hot pot, barbecue, and Cantonese food too."
"Hot pot, then." Yan Heqing coughed softly a few times. "I still have a bit of a cough. I'd like something hot."
Lin Fengzhi nodded. "Sure."
The hot pot restaurant was in unit 3033 of Building F. Lin Fengzhi had a terrible sense of direction, and others usually led the way, but today he was with Yan Heqing. Too embarrassed to say so, he could only steel himself and lead the way.
He led Yan Heqing around for over ten minutes without seeing the hot pot restaurant. Every shop along the way sold children's toys.
They had actually ended up in the children's section.
"That's strange..." Lin Fengzhi muttered as he looked at the red dot on the map. "It's supposed to be here."
Just then, a finger-length Ultraman figurine appeared in front of him. He froze for a moment, then turned and found himself looking straight into Yan Heqing's smiling eyes.
"Ultraman was your favorite when you were little." Yan Heqing's lips curved warmly. "Once, you broke one of Ultraman's hands and came running to me in tears, saying Ultraman couldn't defeat the monsters with only one hand."
Lin Fengzhi did not remember that at all. As far as he remembered, he had never liked Ultraman as a child either. He had liked Transformers.
He pressed his lips together. "I don't remember..."
"I do." A scattering of amusement shone in Yan Heqing's eyes. Their eyes shared the same quality: beautiful when they were not smiling, and even more radiant when they did. "Here."
Yan Heqing placed Ultraman in Lin Fengzhi's hand. "I've always wanted to give you another Ultraman. Now I've finally fulfilled that wish."
Ultraman held a faint warmth, the warmth of Yan Heqing's skin. Suddenly, Lin Fengzhi felt as though a cat's paw had scratched at his heart, leaving a tiny, insistent itch.