Chen Wan’s heart sank rapidly.
Before he could react at all, there was only a bang as the photoelectric round cut through the wind and struck the bull’s-eye that had moved behind him at some unknown point.
Chen Wan stood where he was, his mind blank.
The target on the wall was mobile. It had only happened to drift behind him.
Zhao Shengge loaded the gun. His safety goggles hid his face, making his expression impossible to see. He changed directions and quickly fired another shot.
The gun rose and fell in one motion, decisive and arbitrary.
The mechanical female voice announced ten-ring hits in succession, ringing through the hall.
Less than a second separated the two shots. The sounds exploded beside Chen Wan’s ears, one after another, as countless images flashed before his eyes.
His expression did not change in the slightest, but in truth, cold sweat had already broken out all over him.
Zhao Shengge looked toward the bull’s-eye to confirm the score. Their gazes crossed for one ten-millionth of a second, the meaning obscure and impossible to read.
Chen Wan’s startled heart was startled again.
He could almost be certain.
This was Zhao Shengge’s warning.
Although it should not be that his unspeakable little thoughts had been exposed, he must have done something somewhere that had made Zhao Shengge uncomfortable, made him feel Chen Wan had crossed a line.
Chen Wan’s mind began turning rapidly, replaying everything one by one, guessing what exactly Zhao Shengge was warning him about.
But he believed he had hidden it rather thoroughly. Even Zhuo Zhixuan often said, “Sometimes I even wonder whether you really like him.” That proved his acting should not be so clumsy.
Where exactly had the problem appeared?
Chen Wan could not figure it out.
It was not that he cared how Zhao Shengge saw him.
To Chen Wan, what sort of person he was in Zhao Shengge’s eyes was not especially important. In any case, he had never wanted anything to happen. Ideally, he would be a passerby with zero presence.
Only that would make what he wanted to do convenient. Unnoticed by others, without alarming Zhao Shengge himself.
Chen Wan stood fixed in place, thinking.
Had his existence already become a disturbance to Zhao Shengge?
If so, then everything had gone completely opposite to his intention.
The starting point of everything he did had been wanting Zhao Shengge to live a little more easily. If he himself had become a presence that Zhao Shengge found displeasing and unwelcome, then there was truly no need.
That was only adding to someone’s troubles.
A secret crush had to be polite. A secret crush had its own basic law.
Not alarming the person himself was the bottom line. Silence was the principle.
There was no reason, and no justification, for Zhao Shengge to bear even the slightest effect brought by his feelings.
He had done wrong.
Chen Wan pressed his lips into a straight line. His heart sank completely into the ocean trench.
When it ended, he changed clothes first and went outside, waiting for the others by the lawn.
Hai City’s weather loved changing faces. One second, the sun was scattering gold everywhere; the next, a cloud drifted over and everything turned gloomy again.
Chen Wan looked at his phone for a while, then walked to the roadside. Behind a boy carrying a woven sack, he helped pick up a few empty bottles that had fallen out.
The child jumped in fright, turned back, and said thank you.
His face was flushed red from the sun, only his eyes especially dark. He was sweating all over, his gaze timid. Scavenging was not allowed in this area, for fear of offending the distinguished guests. He had crossed the road and slipped in secretly, because on the road sections where scavenging was permitted, he could not fight others for anything.
Afraid of alerting security, the child shouldered the woven sack and prepared to leave.
“Wait a moment.”
Chen Wan unscrewed the cap of his bottle, finished the black tea inside, and handed him the empty bottle.
The boy hesitated, sizing him up. Chen Wan handed the empty bottle a little farther in his direction, and only then did the child show a small, shy smile and say thank you again, very softly.
Chen Wan knew too well what he was afraid of. He watched him, though he did not know what he was looking at, and said gently, “It’s all right. They won’t come over here.”
The child looked a little embarrassed.
Chen Wan glanced at his full woven sack and suggested, “Wouldn’t it fit more if you stepped on the bottles and flattened them?”
“What?”
He did not speak Mandarin, so Chen Wan spoke to him in Cantonese. He took one bottle out of the boy’s woven sack and demonstrated—flattening, stacking, binding. His movements were practiced and smooth, completed in one go.
The child stared, dumbfounded.
Chen Wan said, “Together?”
The child joined in, and they dealt with the remaining bottles in the woven sack.
Chen Wan chatted with him idly. “Where do you usually look?”
Very softly, the child said, “Dongyang Street.”
Chen Wan tied all the bottles into one bundle. “It’s not easy to find them over there, is it?”
“Yes.” The child was very dejected.
“Then walk a few hundred meters toward Wong Tai Sin Park. There’s a little doorway in the back alley off Temple Street. You should be able to slip in. The security at Shao Residence doesn’t patrol there.”
The child looked at him, feeling that someone with this bearing and temperament teaching him scavenging experience was extremely out of place… strange. He did not quite believe it. “How do you know?”
Chen Wan smiled. “Go once yourself, and you’ll know whether what I said is true.”
“Oh.”
“Are you in school?”
“Mm.”
“Is it tiring? Going to school and picking up bottles too.”
The child nodded.
Chen Wan’s trouser cuff had gotten dusty. He bent down to brush it clean, then simply crouched there at the roadside, looking at the child at eye level.
“Why don’t you try thinking of it as an extra treasure-hunting game?”
“Treasure-hunting game? What can I find?”
Chen Wan was looking at him, and yet not looking at him. He said softly, “I don’t know. That’s something you have to find for yourself. What everyone finds is different.”
The child became a little interested and said, “Okay.”
Chen Wan helped him tie the mouth of the woven sack. His movements were practiced and efficient, as if he had done this thousands of times. He instructed, “This amount is enough for one weighing at the recycling station. Don’t save up too much each time, and don’t wait until after dark to go.”
At night, the price would be forced down. There would also be old hands waiting to reap without sowing, stealing or robbing the fruits of others’ labor.
The doors opened, and someone walked out.
Afraid of being scolded, the child looked reluctantly at Chen Wan, then hurriedly shouldered the heavy woven sack and left. He turned back twice, his lips moving, but in the end he said nothing.
The person who came out was Qin Zhaoting. He walked to Chen Wan’s side and asked, “A little beggar?”
He explained, “I’ve already had people increase patrols, but there’s no stopping them completely.”
Chen Wan did not comment and changed the subject.
Behind him, on the second floor, Zhao Shengge stood by the window of the innermost changing room, lowering his head to look at the scene downstairs while unfastening his wrist guard.
Who knew what Qin Zhaoting said to Chen Wan, but he smiled brightly and even rested a hand on Chen Wan’s shoulder.
Chen Wan was smiling too. There was an extremely subtle difference between the smile he gave Qin Zhaoting and the smile he gave the child picking up trash.
From the second floor, it should not have been possible to see clearly.
But Zhao Shengge’s insight was far too sharp.
After everyone had changed clothes, they came out one after another, talking as they headed toward the parking lot together. Halfway there, Chen Wan stopped and said he had left something behind and was going back to get it. He told everyone to go ahead and not wait for him.
He lowered his head and walked back, his hand clenched very tightly.
He should not interfere.
He had already made up his mind not to interfere.
There were so many pitiful people in the world. Chen Wan himself lived in constant fear. He could not be a savior.
But.
The child was dragging an overloaded woven sack and walking very slowly. Chen Wan quickly caught up with him.
The child turned back with his face full of wariness. Chen Wan smiled and said, “It’s me.”
The other boy’s eyes lit for an instant.
Chen Wan glanced at his toes, rubbed bloody from wear, and said, “Do you have a phone at home? Or how can I usually reach you?”
The child shook his head and gave him an address near Wong Tai Sin Park. It was one of his little hideouts. No one knew about it.
Chen Wan did not say much. He only nodded and said, “All right. Bandage your foot when you get back. I’ll see you next time.”
The child kept watching his back.
The setting sun gilded the young man in a gentle, holy rim of gold. He seemed to descend from the sky like a god, then gradually walked far away and disappeared.
When Chen Wan arrived, only the seat beside the host was left.
These young masters had eaten too many delicacies on ordinary days, so Qin Zhaoting had specially prepared some authentic homestyle Cantonese dishes today to give them a change of taste.
Even the after-meal dessert was put chai pudding, the kind only street vendors in Luochang Bay sold.
There were many flavors: red bean, coconut, pineapple.
For these people, eating put chai pudding was mostly a matter of nostalgia. After all, it had been a popular snack in Hai City during their childhood.
Before a table of rich fish and meat, the refreshing dessert was unexpectedly welcome. When only one was left on the plate, Zhao Shengge and Qin Zhaoting raised their chopsticks at the same time.
The atmosphere instantly became somewhat subtle.
Tan Youming slouched beside Shen Zongnian, his eyes nearly glowing with the desire to watch a good show.
It was not a matter of bringing up another plate. It was about this exact moment.
He was wicked in that sly, wilting way and loved watching people be embarrassed. Qin Zhaoting being embarrassed or Zhao Shengge being embarrassed—either should be quite entertaining. He had grown this old and had never seen Zhao Shengge embarrassed.
Unfortunately, he did not get to watch his show.
Wherever Chen Wan was present, it was truly difficult for things to become awkward.
Chen Wan asked Qin Zhaoting whether he wanted to eat his portion.
The put chai puddings were all individually served. After the server placed his in front of him, Chen Wan had not touched it.
Qin Zhaoting had an easygoing nature, and Chen Wan happened to be sitting beside him, so he asked casually. After all, it was not as if Zhao Shengge could be allowed to eat someone else’s food.
Qin Zhaoting asked, “You’re not eating?”
Zhao Shengge saw those slightly curved eyes turn toward Qin Zhaoting as Chen Wan politely said he was full; if Mr. Qin was willing to help finish it, that would be best, otherwise it would be wasted.
Chen Wan did not like put chai pudding.
Young masters who were accustomed to delicacies found it a fresh little thing to adjust the palate, but for Chen Wan, it was not anything like a good memory.
Back then, Song Qingmiao had hidden him in a tenement room of less than ten square meters, with no one to watch over him. The slums were a mixed mess of all sorts of people, and being bullied was commonplace.
Older children would throw the put chai pudding Song Qingmiao left behind into a dog hole and make Chen Wan fight a dog for food, or else stomp it dirty and have several people hold his head down, forcing him to eat it.
No matter how sweet a put chai pudding was, in Chen Wan’s mouth, it could carry a bitter taste.
Having failed to watch a good show, Tan Youming regretfully fiddled with Shen Zongnian’s phone.
The last put chai pudding on the plate eventually landed in Zhao Shengge’s bowl, though he only took one bite.
Being good to Zhao Shengge was an idea carved into Chen Wan’s bones. Seeing that he had not eaten much, Chen Wan subconsciously picked up the osmanthus seeds, wanting to say that he could try adding this.
But halfway through the motion, he immediately remembered that he should no longer do such things now, so he did not hand them over.
Tan Youming slanted a glance at Zhao Shengge. “What now?”
Zhao Shengge glanced at Qin Zhaoting, set down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, and commented, “Nothing special.”
Chen Wan paused. Then he lowered his eyes and set down the osmanthus seeds.
Qin Zhaoting directly took them from his hand and asked, “What is this?”
Chen Wan displayed a smile no one could detect anything wrong with. “Osmanthus seeds pickled in honey. You sprinkle them on put chai pudding.”
Qin Zhaoting asked, “Just add them directly? How much? Can you help me with it?”
Mechanically, Chen Wan brought his own portion of put chai pudding over, added a small amount, and placed it in front of him.
Qin Zhaoting took a bite, then smiled and said to everyone, “I actually think it suits my taste very well.”
During the tea break, servers came in and placed cigarettes on the table.
Tea cigarettes were currently popular in Hai City. Specially prepared tea leaves were added to the tobacco, letting the fragrance of tea seep into the nicotine. They were wildly sought after.
Some wealthy people, affecting refinement, refused ready-made products and insisted on making them by hand, so restaurants and teahouses had all added cigarette-rolling tools to their tea seats.
Chen Wan did not like stealing the limelight, nor did he go around making connections. He only stayed quietly in the corner rolling a cigarette. Only after he finished did he realize that what he had rolled was Big Red Robe.
He found it improper and immediately wanted to destroy it, but Qin Zhaoting saw it and said in surprise, “Chen Wan, is there anything you can’t do?”
Chen Wan shook his head and smiled. “I was just doing it randomly.”
Qin Zhaoting asked, “What did you roll?”
Chen Wan had not yet decided how to answer when Qin Zhaoting identified it himself. “Big Red Robe.”
“Let me try?”
Chen Wan was not very willing to give it to him. He knew perfectly well who he had made it for. Even if Zhao Shengge looked down on it, he did not want to give it to someone else.
“This one fell on the floor. It’s dirty. I’ll roll you another kind.”
In any case, boredom was boredom. He could roll a few more. Zhuo Zhixuan liked Iron Goddess of Mercy, Tan Youming liked sweet Silver Needle, and he could roll a few of the others too. Whoever wanted to try could come take one.
“Sure.”
Qin Zhaoting took the one in his hand and set it aside. “Go ahead. I’ll learn.”
Tan Youming saw them and protested, “You two are secretly playing with something good!”
At his shout, everyone came over to choose cigarettes. White Pekoe, single-bush oolong, Lapsang Souchong.
Zhao Shengge swept his gaze around and saw the Big Red Robe lying alone in the trash can, the scattered leaves broken into pieces, mixed together with fruit peels and scraps of paper.
Zhao Shengge stood quietly for a while.
No one noticed.
Someone did not have a lighter, so Chen Wan gentlemanly handed his over.
It was not Cartier.
It was a Zorro.
So Chen Wan had many beautiful lighters.
Expensive in price, but actually very cheap.
The lighter returned to Chen Wan’s hand, and he casually put it into his trouser pocket.
After coming back from the sea, he had changed the lighter he carried with him into the newest, best one.
But he would never use it again.
Everything was beginning to lose meaning.
Chen Wan had once been certain that as long as he did not alarm Zhao Shengge, did not affect him, he could go on quietly having this dream alone.
But apparently, he could not.
The dream was about to wake.