The fingers brushing past Xu Fangfei’s hair by her ear seemed to graze the girl’s fair, tender cheek without intention, like a match striking against a phosphorus surface, unexpectedly igniting a blaze across both of her cheeks.
In her moment of inner panic, Xu Fangfei instinctively turned her head aside, avoiding Zheng Xiye’s hand. Then she looked at him, her face flushed red and her expression a little at a loss.
Zheng Xiye let his hand drop. After a brief half-second of silence, he said calmly, “I didn’t mean it.”
Xu Fangfei didn’t understand and asked in a small, puzzled voice, “What didn’t you mean?”
Zheng Xiye said, “Touching your face.”
Those three lightly spoken words made Xu Fangfei’s face burn even hotter, her heartbeat quickening as well. She shifted her gaze elsewhere. After a moment, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing herself to calm down before squeezing out a sentence: “I know.”
That reply, however, surprised Zheng Xiye a little.
He raised an eyebrow. “Know what?”
The end of his sentence lifted slightly, showing confusion.
“I know you didn’t mean it.” Xu Fangfei met his gaze again, her expression turning more serious. “Because you’re not that kind of person.”
Zheng Xiye stared at the young girl’s delicate, vividly flushed face and suddenly smiled with an unreadable meaning. “What kind of person?”
Xu Fangfei was momentarily stunned by the question.
Usually, this man always looked cold and roguish, as if he didn’t care about anything at all. Yet his gaze was extremely sharp and wild, filled with a strong sense of aggression and pressure, making it so that people normally didn’t dare act rashly around him.
Facing those eyes, Xu Fangfei was truly intimidated. After standing dazed for two seconds, she stammered in reply, “The kind who would take advantage of girls.”
Zheng Xiye bent down closer to her, tilted his head slightly, and the curve of his lips turned arrogant, unrestrained, and lawless. “I’m utterly heartless and have done every bad thing imaginable. Taking advantage of you would be perfectly normal.”
Xu Fangfei: “……”
She fell quiet for a moment. Only after quite a while did she lower her lashes and speak softly, “Actually, I don’t know why either. I just feel that, deep down, you’re not a bad person. You wouldn’t bully me, and you wouldn’t hurt me.”
As her words fell, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, with only the gentle sweep of the evening breeze.
At such a close distance, Zheng Xiye looked at Xu Fangfei and could almost see the soft, fine fuzz on the young girl’s face, as well as her jet-black, thick, long eyelashes.
No one knew how much time passed before the smile on Zheng Xiye’s face faded.
He slowly straightened up again, lowered his eyes to look at her, and said calmly, “Then what if I tell you that every time I see you, I want to bully you?”
Xu Fangfei froze. Immediately after, she snapped her head up to look at him, her eyes widening in shock, disbelief written all over her face.
Every time he saw her, he wanted to bully her……
What did that mean?
Xu Fangfei’s mind buzzed, and for a moment, she didn’t even know how to react.
However, just at that moment, the man in front of her lazily hooked his lips, lifted his hand, and casually yet gently ruffled the back of her head. He said offhandedly, “I was just joking with you. You’re really that easy to scare.”
*
Perhaps because the night breeze wasn’t strong and the sound of leaves and branches being stirred was too pleasant, Xu Fangfei’s mood remained cheerful throughout.
The corners of her lips curved upward as she walked alongside Zheng Xiye, the two of them entering the building entrance together.
They went up to the third floor, and it was time to part.
Xu Fangfei turned her head to look at Zheng Xiye. The stairwell light cast a warm orange glow, and the man’s cold, sharply defined facial contours seemed to be softened by that dim, hazy layer of light, revealing a gentleness that felt unprecedented.
Her heartbeat fell into disorder again. She forced herself to stay calm and said, “Thank you for coming to pick me up after school.”
Zheng Xiye drooped his eyelids. “We live just upstairs and downstairs. It was nothing more than a small effort. You don’t need to be so polite with me.”
“Mm.” Xu Fangfei responded, then stretched out a slender index finger and pointed toward the tightly closed door of 3206, poking at the air. “You should go back now. I’m going upstairs.”
After all, she was still a little girl. At times, her words and actions were a bit silly, childishly cute. Zheng Xiye took in her small gesture, a very faint smile seeping into his eyes. He nodded and didn’t say anything.
“Then,” Xu Fangfei waved at him again. “Goodbye.”
Zheng Xiye said, “Goodbye.”
After saying their farewells, Xu Fangfei turned around, pressed her lips together in a small smile, and continued climbing the stairs with light steps, her schoolbag on her back. When she reached her own front door, she stopped and slipped her hand into the pocket of her school uniform pants to feel for her keys.
She felt around twice and didn’t find them.
Xu Fangfei went to feel in the other pocket. Still nothing.
Huh?
She blinked in confusion. In the end, she simply hugged her schoolbag against her front, pulled open the zipper, and searched through it carefully. Finally, even after turning the entire bag upside down, she still didn’t see any sign of her key ring.
Strange. Where were the keys?
Xu Fangfei frowned slightly. As she put the textbooks and exercise books she had taken out back into her bag, she carefully recalled in her mind. Yesterday, when she came home, she had used the keys to open the door, then held the keys while changing into slippers, and after that, she was called by her mother to eat dinner……
At that thought, Xu Fangfei suddenly slapped her forehead.
Right.
At the time, she had casually placed the keys on the shoe cabinet……
After confirming that she hadn’t brought the keys out of the house, rather than having lost them outside, Xu Fangfei’s tightly strung nerves finally relaxed. She put her schoolbag back on and raised her hand to knock on the front door a few times.
Bang, bang, bang, bang.
No one opened the door.
She knocked again. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Still, no one opened it.
Xu Fangfei felt puzzled. She pressed her ear against the door to listen carefully and found that it was completely quiet inside, without even the faintest sound of footsteps or voices.
It was as if no one was home.
Xu Fangfei had no choice but to take out her phone and call Qiao Huilan.
The call went through, and after several beeps, it was finally answered. Qiao Huilan’s voice came through the phone. “What’s wrong, Feifei?”
Xu Fangfei heard noisy, bustling sounds on the other end. Combined with the fact that Qiao Huilan’s breathing sounded a bit heavy, she judged that her mother was probably on the move or carrying goods or something like that. She asked, “Mom, you’re not home yet?”
“Not yet.” Qiao Huilan took a couple of breaths. “I picked up a job this afternoon and went to Laohuai Village to help set up a mourning hall. I originally thought I’d have to stay in the village for a few days, but that family saw how hard I’d worked and settled the payment early, letting me leave first. I’m pretty much done now.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a loud voice rang out from not far away, shouting, “Sister Qiao, the red envelope here is packed for you. Come over and count it!”
Qiao Huilan quickly moved the phone a little farther away and replied with a cheerful laugh, “Hey, okay! Thanks, Brother Liu! I’ll be right there!”
Knowing that her mother was busy, Xu Fangfei decided to keep it brief. “Laohuai Village is pretty far, Mom. Then how are you getting back later?”
Qiao Huilan said, “They’re holding banquets here for three days, and there happens to be a truck delivering pigs that’s about to leave. I’ll have him give me a ride to the town first, and then I’ll ride my bike back.”
“Ride your bike?” Xu Fangfei’s brows knitted together. “Mom, Huaishu Town is so far from the city. Did you ride your bicycle all the way there?”
Qiao Huilan laughed softly on the phone, her tone gentle. “When I went there, the one-stop funeral service team gave me a ride. They had a lot of things to transport and drove a pickup truck. I saw that there was just an empty spot left in the cargo bed, so I had them put my bicycle up there too.”
Xu Fangfei knew her mother was trying to save the taxi fare for the return trip. Her heart suddenly felt as if something had clenched it, pain and sourness intertwining. After quite a while, she gently let out a breath and said in a deliberately light tone, “Got it. Then, about what time do you think you’ll be back?”
Qiao Huilan thought for a moment and replied, “If I calculate it, it’ll probably still take one or two hours to ride back.”
At this point, Xu Fangfei remembered another crucial matter and hurriedly asked, “Has Grandpa eaten dinner?”
“Before I left this afternoon, I warmed up some lean pork porridge and put it on the table by his bed. He should’ve eaten,” Qiao Huilan said, then paused as she realized something. “You’re not home yet?”
Xu Fangfei said awkwardly, “I forgot to bring my keys.”
Qiao Huilan sounded a little anxious. “Then what should you do? Why don’t you go sit with Uncle Zhang at the guardhouse for a while? I’ll try to get back as quickly as I can.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Mom, don’t worry about me,” Xu Fangfei said. “When you’re riding, ride slowly, watch the road, and be careful.”
“Mm, okay.”
Qiao Huilan hung up the phone.
People in rural areas believe in superstitions, and funerals are handled more elaborately than in the city. The elderly person who had passed away in this family had just turned eighty this year. According to local customs, this was considered a joyous funeral, so the funeral was to be treated like a happy occasion. Not only was a mourning hall set up and grand banquets laid out, but professional opera troupes and acrobatic performers were also invited to put on shows.
At this hour, with the night deep and dark, the entire farmhouse courtyard was unusually lively. Plastic stools filled the yard, every seat occupied. On the stage, several young performers with painted faces were doing their best to clown around and act ugly, making a group of villagers cracking sunflower seeds burst into loud laughter.
Qiao Huilan hunched slightly as she threaded her way through the crowd and found Liu Dafu from the one-stop funeral service company in a corner of the courtyard.
“Brother Liu, sorry to keep you waiting,” Qiao Huilan said with a smile.
Liu Dafu was sitting on a plastic stool, cracking sunflower seeds while watching borderline livestreamers on his phone. Those young girls in tight outfits twisted and swayed to the music, leaving Liu Dafu staring wide-eyed. Hearing Qiao Huilan’s greeting, he didn’t even lift his head and casually tossed a red envelope over.
Joy appeared on Qiao Huilan’s face. She quickly opened the red envelope, rubbed her fingers twice against her slightly damp sleeve cover, and counted the money. When she finished counting, she froze and said hesitantly, “Brother Liu, this… this is two hundred less than before.”
Liu Dafu shot her a glance and frowned impatiently. “This family knows how to bargain. The overall price went down, so of course, your share went down too. What, do you want me to take two hundred out of my own pocket to make it up for you? Sure, I can do that. I’ll make it up to you this time, and from now on, when it comes to setting up mourning halls, I’ll find another paper offerings shop.”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” Setting up a mourning hall was a big job. Qiao Huilan had gone through a lot of trouble and spent money pulling strings to get connected with Liu Dafu’s funeral company. How would she dare offend him? She panicked and hurriedly put on a smiling face. “Brother Liu, whatever amount you say is the amount. I trust that you wouldn’t cheat me.”
Liu Dafu tossed a black sunflower seed into his mouth and squinted sideways at the middle-aged woman in front of him. “So are you still going to do it in the future?”
Qiao Huilan nodded repeatedly. “Yes, of course I’ll do it.”
Liu Dafu let out a snort of laughter and waved his hand. “Go on. Wait for my call next time there’s work.”
“Alright.” Qiao Huilan forced a smile, tucked the red envelope into the inner pocket of her jacket lining, turned around, and prepared to leave.
Just then, an acquaintance who had come to this family’s event spotted her and called out in surprise, “Huilan! Qiao Huilan? Oh my, it really is you!”
Qiao Huilan didn’t recognize the person at first and frowned as she tried to recall. “You are…?”
“Oh! It’s me! We used to be in the same production team! I’m Li Shujuan!”
“Oh, oh, hello, hello.”
“We haven’t been in touch for so many years! You still live at No. 9, Xiwang Street, right?”
“Yes…” The two old neighbors started chatting.
Unexpectedly, when he heard the three words “Xiwang Street,” Liu Dafu’s gaze sharpened instantly.
He spat out the sunflower seed shell in his mouth, strode over, and bluntly inserted himself between Qiao Huilan and Li Shujuan. Seeing that this man looked fierce and not like someone to mess with, Li Shujuan didn’t dare stay any longer. She casually found an excuse and slipped away.
Suppressing her confusion and anger, Qiao Huilan kept smiling. “Brother Liu, is there something else?”
Liu Dafu sized her up a few times. A glint of sharp light flashed in his mung-bean-sized eyes as he asked slowly, “Sister Qiao, you live at No. 9, Xiwang Street?”
Qiao Huilan nodded.
Liu Dafu then looked around, pulled up a photo on his phone, and held it right in front of Qiao Huilan’s eyes. Lowering his voice, he asked again, “Then do you know this person? He also lives there.”
Qiao Huilan looked at the phone screen, her expression unchanged. She calmly shook her head.
Liu Dafu narrowed his eyes, his voice turning more vicious. “Sister Qiao, you know what kind of temper I have. If you dare to fool me…”
“Oh my, Brother Liu, listen to what you’re saying.” Qiao Huilan hurriedly put on a flattering smile. “You’re someone of your status. Even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare lie to you. I don’t know the person in the photo. I really don’t know him. You can tell at a glance that this young man isn’t an old neighbor. There have been so many tenants these past years, one coming today and another leaving tomorrow. How could I possibly recognize them all?”
Liu Dafu stared at Qiao Huilan, his eyes rolling around a few times, then said, “Alright.”
Cold sweat soaked Qiao Huilan’s back. She let out a breath of relief and was just about to leave when Liu Dafu called out again, “Wait.”
Qiao Huilan turned her head back.
Liu Dafu reached into his pants pocket, took out a wallet, opened it, pulled out several hundred-yuan bills, and handed them over together.
Qiao Huilan froze. “Brother Liu, this is…”
“Sister Qiao, I was in a bad mood just now, and my tone was a bit harsh. Don’t take it to heart,” Liu Dafu said with a faint smile. “I thought it over just now. I miscalculated your pay, so I’m making it up to you now. You’re not allowed to be petty and get mad at me.”
Qiao Huilan felt both shocked and suspicious, but she didn’t dare ask more. She took the money and hurried away.
“Brother Liu, want a pack of cigarettes?” a family member handing out cigarettes asked.
Liu Dafu took the pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, pulled one out, lit it on the spot, then walked to an empty area. He turned on his phone and dialed a number. It didn’t take long for the call to connect.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Dafu was smiling obsequiously, his face blooming like a flower, servile to the extreme. “Third Master, good evening! It’s me, Fuzi.”
From the other end of the line came an impatient tone, perfunctory as it asked, “What do you want?”
Liu Dafu replied eagerly, “Third Master, I found out about something here. I don’t know if it’s important or not, but I thought I should report it to you.”
“Just spit it out.”
“Last time the Li family held a funeral, didn’t you see a little girl who was pretty close to your brother? I know that girl. Her mother is a widow who runs a paper offerings shop. I only found out today that the mother and daughter also live at No. 9, Xiwang Street. I was thinking that your brother’s relationship with that pair of mother and daughter probably isn’t ordinary.”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds before a reply came: “Got it.”
Liu Dafu chuckled twice and went on, “Third Master Chen, look, I’ve provided you with this bit of information. Then, could you waive the interest on the money I owe you?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen San on the other end sounded as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. He sneered coldly, “Liu Dafu, who the hell do you think you are, daring to bargain with me?”
Liu Dafu also laughed, neither angry nor annoyed, and said leisurely, “Third Master, I know you don’t get along with that man. You’ve had people watching him from behind for so long, and it wasn’t easy to finally grab hold of one of his soft spots. You probably want to make something out of it too, right? Tell me, if I were to tell your brother everything you’ve been doing behind his back, would he let you off?”
The receiver on the other end was silent as death. After several seconds, Chen San gritted his teeth and said, “Fuzi, you’re really asking for death, daring to threaten me?”
“Hahahaha.” Having a firm grip on Chen San’s weakness, Liu Dafu spoke with even more confidence. “Third Master, daring to make a move on Zheng Xiye, you really have my respect. But one thing is one thing. Think it over yourself.” With that, he hung up the phone with a snap.
*
At the other end of the city, No. 9 courtyard on Xiwang Street.
Xu Fangfei’s small shoulders slumped as she let out a helpless sigh. She put her phone back into her pocket, then bent down and sat on the stair steps with her schoolbag in her arms, planning to use the stairwell’s motion-activated light to do some homework first.
Unexpectedly, just as she took out her exercise books and pencil case, a set of footsteps came from the stairwell below. Unhurried and lazy, they gradually grew clearer, drew closer, and then stopped.
Xu Fangfei’s hand holding the pen froze instantly, and her eyelids lifted slightly.
On the landing between the third and fourth floors, Zheng Xiye’s tall, slender figure was leaning lazily against the wall. His eyelids drooped as he looked at her without much expression.
“You…” Xu Fangfei paused. “Is there something you need?”
Zheng Xiye’s dark eyes swept over the locked door of her apartment. He lifted his chin slightly. “Can’t get in?”
“Mm.” The tips of Xu Fangfei’s ears grew warm as she nodded hesitantly. “I forgot to bring my keys. My mom won’t be back for another two hours.”
Hearing this, Zheng Xiye didn’t say anything else. He simply took long strides up the stairs, walked up to Xu Fangfei, stopped, and reached out to grab her schoolbag in one motion.
Xu Fangfei looked confused, staring at him blankly. “What are you doing?”
Zheng Xiye said, “Come on.”
Xu Fangfei was even more bewildered. “Come on, where?”
“To my place.” After saying that, he turned around and left with her schoolbag in hand, not giving her any chance to refuse or protest. “Follow me.”
Xu Fangfei watched helplessly as Zheng Xiye took her schoolbag, her whole person stunned into stillness. Fortunately, she quickly came back to her senses. Hugging her exercise books and pencil case, she jogged after him and hurriedly said toward the man’s back, “No need, no need. Thank you for your kindness. I can just do my homework by the door and wait for my mom…”
The other party tossed back a sentence expressionlessly: “Military academies have eyesight requirements.”
Xu Fangfei’s gaze flickered slightly, and her words came to an abrupt stop.
Zheng Xiye stopped in front of the door to 3206, took out his keys, and unlocked it. He turned back to look at her and asked calmly, “Doing homework under a stairwell light, do you still want these eyes of yours?”
Xu Fangfei was left speechless.
Zheng Xiye reached out to push the door open and stepped aside half a pace, his pitch-black eyes fixed straight on her. He didn’t speak.
Even though the surrounding air was quiet to the extreme, at this moment, silence spoke louder than words.
Xu Fangfei swallowed dryly, took several deep breaths in a row, and in the end steeled herself and stepped forward, passing by Zheng Xiye and entering that pitch-black, lightless doorway.
*
Click.
The wall switch was flipped, and in an instant, the entire room was brightly lit.
Her eyes, accustomed to darkness, found this sudden brightness hard to adapt to. Xu Fangfei instinctively narrowed her eyes and raised her right hand to block the light.
A few seconds later, the stinging sensation faded, and only then did Xu Fangfei slowly lower her arm.
She turned her head to look around. This was an apartment identical in layout, structure, and size to her own, but because there was very little furniture and belongings, it looked much more spacious than her home.
One table, a few chairs, a long sofa, and two cabinets made up the entirety of the living room.
The light-colored square floor tiles were probably left behind by the previous owner. Like all the furniture, they had been cleaned spotlessly, to the point that there was hardly any sign of someone living here.
Taking in everything around her, Xu Fangfei’s eyes widened slightly, unable to hide her surprise.
She recalled the rental apartment of her cousin Xu Zhijie that she had once visited with her mother. Clothes and trousers were thrown all over the floor, instant noodle soup dripped down the side of the trash bin, and the entire space was filled with an unpleasant, sour, rotten smell.
She had originally thought that inside 3206 would also be a messy doghouse.
She had never expected that the place where this man called Zheng Xiye lived would be so empty, clean, and tidy.
“Sit.” A voice suddenly sounded behind her, casual and indifferent.
Xu Fangfei’s wandering thoughts drifted back. She nodded stiffly. Turning her head to look, the nearest seat to her happened to be a chair beside the four-legged table, so she carefully bent down and sat.
Zheng Xiye casually set the white schoolbag on the table, then turned and went into the kitchen.
Taking advantage of this moment, Xu Fangfei couldn’t suppress her curiosity and quietly lifted her gaze again, examining the apartment.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the doors to the two bedrooms opposite were both open. The one farther inside was pitch-black, while the one closer to the outside was lit, probably because Zheng Xiye had turned on the light after coming back.
So, this one was his bedroom.
Xu Fangfei’s heart thumped twice. She leaned to one side and stretched her neck, peering inside with some effort. Unfortunately, the door was closed a bit too much, and most of what was inside couldn’t be seen…
“There’s no hot water.”
Suddenly, a voice sounded right by her ear, startling Xu Fangfei so badly that she almost fell off the chair.
She swayed twice, quickly sat upright, lowered her head, and fixed her gaze on the tip of her nose, her nose on her heart, not daring to glance sideways.
“I’m boiling water. You’ll need to wait for a while.” Zheng Xiye walked out of the kitchen, bent down to take a clean paper cup from the cabinet and held it in his hand. He lifted his eyelids to look at her. “Or if there’s something you want to drink, I can go downstairs and buy it for you now.”
Xu Fangfei hurriedly waved her hands. “I’m not thirsty. Don’t trouble yourself. Thank you.”
Hearing this, Zheng Xiye set the paper cup on the table, then straightened up and walked to the bedroom with the light on. He reached out and pushed the door wide open.
Xu Fangfei blinked in confusion.
Zheng Xiye turned his head to look at her and crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”
Xu Fangfei didn’t know what he meant, but she still stood up and walked over. Standing beside him, she asked blankly, “What is it?”
“Weren’t you stretching your neck earlier trying to look at the room where I sleep?” Zheng Xiye said lazily. “I’m letting you look.”
Xu Fangfei: “……”
So earlier, when she was sitting on the chair, wobbling back and forth like a roly-poly and trying hard to peek into this bedroom……
He saw all of it?
A flush rapidly spread across Xu Fangfei’s cheeks, neck, and ears. She was so embarrassed that her toes curled against the floor. After stammering for a long while, she finally squeezed out a few words. “I, I was just looking casually. It’s not that I’m especially curious about your bedroom.”
Zheng Xiye: “.”
Zheng Xiye leaned diagonally against the doorframe, lowered his gaze, and looked at her with a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile, saying nothing.
Xu Fangfei’s face was as red as the glowing clouds at the horizon. She covered her face, cleared her throat guiltily, and emphasized, “Really.”
“Oh.” Zheng Xiye nodded. “I see.”
Xu Fangfei nodded hard as well. “Yes.”
Zheng Xiye suddenly said, “Student Xu Fangfei.”
Xu Fangfei said, “Go on.”
Zheng Xiye said, “I’m now inviting you to visit my bedroom.”
Xu Fangfei: “.”
He stared straight at her and raised his eyebrows slightly. “Not going to give me some face?”
…Uh.
Alright then.
Since this big shot had sincerely extended the invitation, if she didn’t take a proper look, it really would be disrespectful.
Thinking this way, Xu Fangfei suddenly didn’t feel so guilty anymore. She patted her face, straightened her small waist, took a breath in and out, turned her head, and finally looked openly at the bedroom in front of her.
The bedroom in 3206 was the same as the living room. You could take it all in at a glance. One wardrobe, a simple desk, and a bed. The sheets and duvet cover on the bed were all dark gray. The quilt was folded neatly, every detail cold and precise to the point of rigidity.
Xu Fangfei looked around once, and her dark pupils suddenly lit up.
She saw the clay doll she had given to Zheng Xiye.
It had been placed on the desk, right in the center, toward the inner side.
“It seems I’ve always forgotten to ask you.” Xu Fangfei unconsciously curved her lips. Her gaze shifted to Zheng Xiye at the doorway, and she smiled softly. “Do you like this clay doll?”
Zheng Xiye quietly watched the girl in front of him, watching her brows, her eyes, her smile.
On the other side, Xu Fangfei waited for a while. Seeing that he still didn’t make a sound, she thought she hadn’t made herself clear. Just as she was about to repeat herself, Zheng Xiye spoke.
He said calmly, “I changed the placement of this clay doll a total of four times.”
Xu Fangfei was very surprised and asked, “Why?”
“At first, I put it by the bedside. Later, I put it by the washstand. Later still, I put it on the desk.” Zheng Xiye paced over to the desk, picked up the little clay figure, and rubbed it lightly between his fingers as he played with it. “Because after comparing, I found that when it’s placed here, I look at it most often, and I see it for the longest amount of time each day.”
At this point, he paused slightly, then lifted his eyes and looked straight at her. “So tell me, do I like it or not?”