Fu Baizhou appeared so suddenly that Lin Zhuo dropped his phone onto the sofa. He hurriedly picked it up, glared at Fu Baizhou, and snapped, “Can you stop popping up out of nowhere? And sneaking a peek at other people’s chat logs is rude!”
Lin Zhuo had intended to instill a worldview aligned with core social values in Fu Baizhou, but the man had already formed his own set of inherent logic, making it nearly impossible to turn him around.
Yet this was precisely what piqued Lin Zhuo’s curiosity. Fu Baizhou wasn’t human and possessed his own unique mindset, yet it was obvious this wasn’t his first time interacting with humans; he handled every situation remarkably well.
Before he lost his memory, meaning before they met, had Fu Baizhou encountered other people who influenced him?
His habits, his personality, and so on.
Fu Baizhou was a master at playing the fool, particularly fond of smiling at Lin Zhuo, as if he wanted to thoroughly weaponize the old saying about never hitting someone who is smiling: “Wife isn’t other people.”
See that? He had his own unique logic.
Lin Zhuo was already too tired to argue with him about this; arguing was useless since the man wouldn’t listen anyway, and saving his breath was better.
He sent He Hongdou a cheerful sticker in reply.
Making a friend had put Lin Zhuo in a great mood. Happily heading to the bathroom to wash up, he returned to lie in bed and began reciting English vocabulary words.
If you skip looking at this stuff for a single day, you forget it all. Having finally made some headway, he couldn’t let his previous efforts go to waste.
An hour passed by the time he finished studying that day’s English vocabulary. Stepping out of his bedroom, he found the living room unlit.
Retrieving a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and drinking more than half of it, he turned around to head back.
Fu Baizhou sat on the sofa, his entire figure practically blending into the darkness.
When Lin Zhuo’s gaze drifted toward him, he gave a start.
The more he got startled, the bolder his nerves grew. His breathing skipped a few beats before he quickly adjusted himself.
He asked, “Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Actually, he shouldn’t have opened his mouth to ask, though by the time he realized this, it was already too late.
Light from outside the window fell upon Fu Baizhou, and in the darkness, only a blurred silhouette was visible: “Is wife trying to dump me? Did you take a fancy to that woman?”
Lin Zhuo furrowed his brows. “No. Can you hear what you’re saying?”
Relentless, Fu Baizhou pressed on, “You’re dodging the question!”
Lin Zhuo slapped the light switch, and the living room instantly lit up. “Fu Baizhou, before I lose my temper, speak properly.”
Fu Baizhou’s habitual tactic was to shed a couple of tears to show weakness first, and only after making Lin Zhuo’s heart soften would he state his demands.
Lin Zhuo knew moving out was also a way to create distance from Fu Baizhou.
Fu Baizhou must have known that too, which was why he expressed his dissatisfaction and ultimately achieved the result he wanted.
Yet when it came to making friends, Fu Baizhou had no leverage to constrain him, which was why he resorted to showing vulnerability.
Lin Zhuo understood all of this, yet he still gave in anyway.
Putting on a weak front, Fu Baizhou said, “Wife, I just don’t want you getting too close to that woman.”
Impatiently, Lin Zhuo retorted, “So now I’m not even allowed to choose who I befriend without your permission?”
Fu Baizhou answered, “No.”
“If not, go back to sleep.”
As Lin Zhuo stood up to head toward his room, Fu Baizhou grabbed his wrist.
He stopped. No matter what, Fu Baizhou was still his observation target, so he couldn’t push things too far.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Zhuo compromised and threatened him all at once: “She and I are just ordinary friends. Don’t force me to resort to physical measures.”
Generally speaking, once things reached this point, Fu Baizhou wouldn’t push his luck any further, which was precisely why the two of them managed to get along peacefully.
Sure enough, Fu Baizhou took a step back. “Then wife has to bring me along.”
Rolling his eyes at him, Lin Zhuo retorted, “When have I ever gone out alone? Besides, do you even have time this weekend? Don’t you have to work?”
Fu Baizhou explained, “My working days are Monday through Friday.”
“Well, that’s surprisingly humane.”
When Lin Zhuo collapsed onto the passenger seat, yawning continuously, he completely took back what he said the night before—it wasn’t humane at all. What kind of decent person went to work at the school before seven in the morning? Even morning classes weren’t this exploitative.
Yet Fu Baizhou remained unhurried, to the point where Lin Zhuo almost suspected he was exacting revenge for what he had said the previous night.
The car drove into the school and pulled into the parking lot.
When Fu Baizhou got out, Lin Zhuo was still fast asleep.
Taking off his own jacket, Fu Baizhou draped it over Lin Zhuo before getting out of the car and walking toward the cafe.
The early autumn morning was piercingly cold, and wearing only a thin gray hoodie, he walked beneath the unlit blue canopy of dawn.
Dim, warm yellow lights glowed inside the cafe. Pushing open the door, Fu Baizhou brought a draft of chilliness in with him.
The store manager, a woman around thirty years old, was cleaning equipment. Catching sight of Fu Baizhou, she beckoned him over.
The previous afternoon, Fu Baizhou had learned how to make coffee at the cafe. To her astonishment, he proved far smarter than expected, mastering the process after just a single explanation and executing it flawlessly. This dramatically shortened the training time, allowing him to take on his duties much sooner.
“You come wash these, I’ll go prep the ingredients.”
After assigning the tasks, the store manager turned and walked into the storage room in the back.
The cafe was small, furnished with a few wooden tables, and featured a decor style blending Chinese and Western elements, offering a vintage yet unique vibe.
While Fu Baizhou was washing the equipment, someone pushed open the door and walked in.
With ten minutes still remaining before opening time, the manager finished preparing the ingredients and emerged. Seeing a young man sitting at a table playing on his phone, she quickened her pace to set out everything needed.
When business hours arrived, the young man put away his phone, walked up to the counter, and without glancing at the menu, familiarly ordered an iced coconut latte.
The manager punched the order into the register and handed the ticket to Fu Baizhou, who recreated the drink without a single omission using the methods he had learned yesterday.
Wearing a green apron and standing in the preparation area making coffee, Fu Baizhou cut a remarkably pleasing figure.
The manager felt as though she had struck gold, a sentiment that reached its peak when the cafe officially became a hotspot for check-ins.
Business at the cafe had never been quite as good as the milk tea shop next door, but thanks to Fu Baizhou’s arrival, the cafe’s threshold was practically being worn flat.
Starting from half-past seven in the morning, the rush didn’t begin to slow down until half-past eleven at noon.
The manager hadn’t expected Fu Baizhou’s first day on the job to wear him out quite this much, and she felt rather guilty about it. Yet the man himself seemed completely unbothered.
With half an hour left before his shift ended and the cafe crowd having thinned out considerably, the manager told Fu Baizhou, “The morning rush is pretty much over, and things should be quiet now. Go ahead and grab lunch early. Once the students finish class later, there’ll be a long line.”
“Alright.”
Without rushing to take off his apron, Fu Baizhou sent a message to Lin Zhuo.
[Wife, I brought you a cup of coffee. Waiting for you downstairs.]
After sending the message, Fu Baizhou leisurely brewed a cup of coffee.
Assuming he had made it for himself and figuring it was reasonable for him to reward himself with a cup after working so hard today, the manager was surprised when he packed the coffee to go, removed his apron, and walked out of the cafe.
The cost of a single cup of coffee wasn’t high, but the manager still felt a sour taste in her mouth.
He was just an employee, and though he was quiet and taciturn, walking off with a takeaway coffee without saying a word showed a complete lack of respect for her as the store manager.
Then, thinking back on how the majority of today’s revenue stemmed from him, she swallowed her resentment.
Even so, Fu Baizhou gave off a rather bizarre vibe. She had felt that way from the very first moment she met him.
Handsome though he was, getting close to him gave people the chills, especially when those eyes of his looked at someone without warning, making it feel entirely like staring at a lifeless object.